Chapter 113 – the rant

This… is probably the nastiest chapter I have written so far.  I hope it’s not gratuitous.

It also contains proof that a certain old plotline has not been forgotten.

***

Primeval is back on our TV screens, which I think is great news.  Series 3 opened with an unusual episode based around Ancient Egyptian mythology, with a giant crocodile rampaging around the British Museum.

What I love about Primeval is that, much like Doctor Who, it’s delightfully silly.  The drama and the storyline are good, but they have a sense of humour, which makes them all the more entertaining.  Lester in particular is a brilliant character.  And Rex is adorable.

I liked the new character.  I expect we’ll be seeing her again in future episodes; I certainly hope so.

Chapter 113 – Tuesday

(kard)

The following account was written by the traitor, Tom Hogg, during his second day of punishment.

________________________

Bloody hell. Woke up to the sound of buzzing and yells. Looked out from behind the crates, and there’s a security guard armed with an ordinary carving fork, trying to fend off a lunatic wielding a string trimmer.

I can’t watch. A string trimmer does horrible things to human skin.

The buzzing has stopped. So has the yelling. Looked up. From the looks of it, the nutter has knocked out the guard with the string trimmer and stabbed him with his own fork. He hasn’t seen me. He’s crouching over the guard’s head. I can’t see what he’s doing.

I think he heard me typing just now. He stopped and looked around, like he was listening. Luckily, at that moment, another guard burst in carrying an old Winchester ’94 rifle and chased the madman off.

It was a while before I dared move. I went and examined the body. Some of the fingers on his right hand have been shredded by the string trimmer. There’s an “m” drawn on his forehead in marker pen. Some kind of cult thing?

Whatever. I am so out of here.

Chapter 112 – the rant

Once again, kard has disabled comments.

This wasn’t always the first time Tom was to carry a nail driver.  In an earlier revision of Chapter 88, he used one as a weapon, but this was substituted for a rifle.

You may also note the return of food pills, although these ones aren’t chocolate flavoured.

I’m planning to update this fairly frequently this week, for the sake of realism.  However, I have a coursework deadline this week, so no promises.

Chapter 112 – Monday

(kard)

There are certain organisations who seek to bring us down. They do this because they believe us to be a threat to their own odious goals. They are quite correct.

To this end, they have maligned us. They have posed as us and perpetrated unlawful actions in our name. Now they have announced their intentions to directly attack and destroy us.

We are prepared. Strike out at us, and we shall strike back with a fury so terrible you shall wish you had never been born.

We have captured an enemy of our organisation, and we intend to make an example of him. Let his fate be a warning to you all.

The Dungeon of Death is reserved for those individuals who are both irredeemable and a significant threat to Research Team Seven. Such individuals are placed in the Dungeon, along with an assortment of criminals and death traps. We have persuaded an enemy in the Dungeon to write a log of the experience.

The following account was written by the traitor, Tom Hogg, during his first day of punishment.

________________________

Woke up feeling very groggy, with a noxious taste in my mouth. I’m in a square-walled, grey room. The walls and floor are concrete, apart from the back wall, which is metal. There’s nothing in here but a door, a camera, and a box, where I found a small backpack containing this computer, a note, a food pill (flavourless) and a bread knife. The note says to find my way out if I can, and that I should write to keep you guys updated. This is weird. I’m going to try the door.

For some reason, the door was locked from the inside, and the key was on the wall. So naturally, I unlocked the door. It leads out into a concrete corridor.

I’ve had a look around. There are doors leading off the corridor. Some of them are locked, but others lead into rooms identical to the one I was just in. It looks like some kind of prison, but if so, it’s the least secure prison I’ve ever seen.

Jesus. There is a DEAD GUY in one of the rooms. What the hell is this?

There’s a camera on the wall. Why the hell hasn’t anyone been sent?

From the looks of it, somebody slit his throat. I don’t like this at all. I’m getting the hell out of here.

Been wandering around for a while now. This place is a maze. Cameras everywhere, but I haven’t met anybody, although I did find a dead LEOPARD in one room. I feel like I’m being toyed with. Not convinced there even IS an exit.

Now and then I’ve stumbled across boxes like the one in the room where I woke up. Some of them were empty, but some had food pills in them. One of them contained a nail driver, with three nails, but with the safety guard removed. I decided it would probably be a darn sight more useful than a bread knife if I get attacked, so I took it with me.

I have no idea what time it is. I think I’m underground. I found a place to rest behind some stacked crates. I’ll try to figure out how to get out of here tomorrow.

Chapter 111 – the rant

Is that a threat, Richie-boy?

I realise, all these different mysterious bloggers and factions will quickly become just as confusing as the ridiculous number of minor characters in the early chapters, but at least they’re plot significant.

Of course, the real Cardinal Richelieu had evil psychic powers, so he’d be unambiguously a bad guy.  Or not.  Did you know, he was suspected of poisoning the king, even though the king fell ill after Richelieu’s death?

…Good grief.  I really am like Johnny, aren’t I?

Current listening: Porcupine Tree, “The Sky Moves Sideways Phase 1″

Chapter 111 – Regarding “kard”

(AJ Rich)

TO THE GENERAL PUBLIC

Dear sir or madam,

It has come to my attention that an individual or organisation going by the name of “kard” has claimed responsibility for the recent attack on Cannock police station, and the disappearances of the “teenage runaways”: Bradley Turner, Iaru Coen, Megan Rodriguez and Johnny Patel. The blog post issuing this claim purports to be a message from Research Team Seven.

Know this: “kard” is not Research Team Seven, nor is “kard” an individual or organisation in any way associated with Research Team Seven. Furthermore, Research Team Seven is in no way connected to the attack on Cannock police station, and has no knowledge of the current whereabouts of the aforementioned runaways, nor of the current whereabouts of Tom Hogg.

We do not know who “kard” is. We have our suspicions. We do not take kindly to being impersonated, and we will do everything in our power to ensure that the perpetrators of the aforementioned attack will not go unpunished.

We strongly recommend that the police do not waste their time following false leads. Thank you for reading.

Sincerely, AJ Rich

TO THE ONE CALLED “KARD”

Dear sir or madam,

Let me first establish a few points. You are not a member of Research Team Seven. Your actions have been despicable. We do not take kindly to being framed for such misdeeds.

While we have no proof as to your identity, we have some very strong suspicions. The name “kard” is not alien to us. We will find you, and you will know justice.

That is all.

Chapter 110 – the rant

Just when things were starting to make sense.

Kard returns!  It’s certainly a while since anyone heard from him/her/it/them.  This is a sign of impending weirdness in the story.

In fact, I’m going to be trying something a bit different in the next few posts.  Kard’s disabling of comments is only the beginning.

Chapter 110 – Hercynian Teenage Runaways Location

(kard)

This is a message from Research Team Seven.

The Hercynian teenage runaways are here. They are safe and happy in our organisation’s headquarters.

For the moment, they are taking a break from blogging. As I’m sure you can appreciate, they have had a very stressful time.

We apologise for the gas we used to rescue them from the police station – an extreme measure, but unfortunately entirely necessary.

In the meantime, we issue this warning: we do not like traitors. We do not like people who abandon their friends to danger. We do not like people who take advantage of the trust of the vulnerable and sell them out to their enemies. Tom Hogg is going to suffer.

Our goal remains of the utmost importance. Those who interfere will regret having done so.

Omake Rant / Giving Blood Again

This is the first omake chapter (the term is borrowed from manga).  Basically, it’s bonus information relating to the story, and absolutely isn’t just intended to distract you while I write up the next few chapters.

Honest.

Anyway, this should hopefully clear up some of the confusion regarding who’s who in the world of “the experiment”.  At present, it only contains the characters I consider most important, but it will almost certainly be subject to future updates.

***

Now I am going to subject you to tell you the story that I was too tired to include in my last post.

I went to donate blood for the second time on Thursday.  The last time I did this I was quite nervous, but I was a lot more confident this time now that I thought I knew what it would entail.  I was in for a slightly unpleasant surprise.

When I got there, by some absurd stroke of fortune, the exact same trio of friends that I’d met last time were there in the queue directly in front of me (this was not the unpleasant surprise; this was a nice surprise).  It was really funny, because while I’d known that one of them was also intending to give blood that day, we hadn’t arranged to meet up, and that’s the second time that’s happened.  My friend joked that she thought I was stalking them.

The not-so-pleasant surprise was when I was informed that, due to a technical problem the last time I’d donated, I would not be allowed to fill a blood bag this time.  I had been informed of the problem before, but when I’d asked an NHS help person over the phone about it, she’d said I would be able to donate.

Anyway, the nurse explained that there was a slight abnormality in my blood, which wouldn’t affect me, but could affect how long the blood could be stored.  She also told me that it had been used, which I was glad to hear, since I’d been worried it would have gone to waste.  However, this time my blood would have to be taken for testing.  I was to fill three small bottles, instead of the full blood bag.

And I still managed to screw up.  Sometimes I think I can’t do anything right.  When she stuck the needle in my left arm, I shifted my arm ever so slightly.  She unplugged the tube after filling only one bottle, and told me that I’d messed it up by moving.  I think she thought it best to stop there, but I was determined to donate something, so I offered the right arm.  I made sure I kept very still that time.

Anyway, I ended up with two plasters (a friend quipped that I had both arms done to be nice and symmetrical), and a bruise on my left arm.  The nurse gave me a helpful pamphlet explaining to me about bruises.  Because obviously, I’ve never had a bruise before.  It was helpfully illustrated with pictures of bruised apples because, of course, bruised apples are so similar to bruised limbs.  Thank you, NHS.

They gave us biscuits after.  We were slightly miffed when, once we were done eating our plain biscuits, some Milky Way bars were put out.  We took four anyway, because we were greedy pigs.

Omake 1 – Characters

This is a list of some of the most important characters in the story.  Some minor spoilers follow.  This page is liable to be updated from time to time as different characters become more important.

Johnny Patel (johnny07) is a geeky Hercynian teenager and a pupil at Alexandra Lane School. Johnny is a history enthusiast and a hardworking school student. He is also a fan of classic rock, a video gamer, and a loyal fan of the local baseball team, the Halberdiers. Johnny is kind hearted and likes to help other people, but he is also prone to rash decisions. While he is generally relaxed, he has a tendency to overreact if pushed too far, and his sheltered upbringing means that he does not adapt well to unfamiliar situations. He also tends to fixate on specific issues to a level that often borders on obsession, which, when combined with his academic and non-mainstream interests, leads to him frequently being labelled an “otak” (Hercynian slang meaning “geek”).

Bradley Turner (bizzariarox) is a Hercynian teenage girl (her name is gender neutral, not masculine) and a pupil at Alexandra Lane School. Bradley is a very caring person who often goes out of her way to look after people who she perceives to be vulnerable or upset. Bradley is a huge music fan, who maintains a collection of “hard format” albums. She is a talented singer. She also enjoys sport and soap operas. Bradley tends to wear clothes that are associated with a slightly infamous youth subculture called “nettla”, in contrast to many of her friends. Making Bradley angry is emphatically not recommended.

Megan Rodriguez (CloudsAreGatheringOverMe) is a Hyperborean teenager who recently moved to Hercynia and attends Alexandra Lane School there. Megan is extremely shy and vulnerable, but attempts to compensate for this by projecting a cheerful, friendly personality when around other people. Megan has a fondness for dark clothes, but has recently made some attempts at presenting an image that’s more in line with mainstream fashion. Megan is also a writer, with ambitions of becoming an author. Megan is a very thoughtful person, but this means that she worries a lot more than she normally lets on.

Iaru Coen (Iaru01) is a Hercynian teenager and pupil at Alexandra Lane School, in the year above Johnny, Bradley and Megan. Iaru is somewhat quiet and sometimes comes across as rather antisocial, but in reality, he just likes to keep his thoughts to himself and not open his mouth when it’s not necessary. Iaru works at a warehouse in the South Dock. He is a skilled martial artist and fencer, and a decent footballer. He can be irritable at times, but is caring and honest.

Sakura Kim (funkyloon) is a Hercynian teenager who recently moved to Eiriendor City in California. Sakura is a close friend of Bradley, and they remain in contact with one another. Sakura can be slightly immature and childish, but she is not stupid. She cares a lot about her friends, and misses them immensely.

Tom is a Gloucestershire farmer. He lives with his sister Caitlin and his brother Mark. Tom is very practical and intelligent. He can be quite gruff, but he has a big heart.

kard is a shadowy and ominous figure, who is in some way connected to the even more mysterious Sapiens.

ianmalcolm is the author of a rather bizarre blog post, “i’ll See You Later, k?”. His relationship with the mysterious Sapiens is unknown.

Renard is an individual who intercepted various transmissions and placed them on the Internet. Little is known about him.

honorineblanchard is a blogger who likes to watch swans on a lake. She is quiet and introverted, and her brother worries about her.

AJ Rich is the name used by the author of a website purporting to be written on behalf of Research Team Seven. The name is actually derived from Johnny’s nickname for Cardinal Richelieu; the true identity of AJ Rich is unknown.