Chapter 124 – the rant

Poet and you didn’t know it, Tom.

More details of the Dungeon are revealed.  Nothing really to add. ^_^

***

Saw Primeval Episode 16 yesterday.  Oh.  My.  Gosh. O_O;

Chapter 124 – In the Dungeon of Death

(Tom Hogg blogs)

Well, hello there, Internet.

I don’t plan to make a habit of blogging, but after Kard posted all those “Dungeon of Death” logs online, I thought I’d clear a few things up.

The posts that you saw were assembled from a number of remarks that I’d made over the course of each day. The remarks were meant to let Iaru, Bradley, Megan and Johnny know I was OK. The computer I was given displayed a black screen, and when I typed, text would appear. I’d hit enter to send it to kard, who then edited it and censored out anything that suggested that I was talking directly to anyone in particular, as well as anything that suggested I had any notion of how to get out of the dungeon, and anything that contradicted her story about me betraying the others.

I think it’s only fair that I tell you what happened after my last set of remarks was posted. Renard – that’s the guy we met who was dressed as a guard, but I’m pretty sure that’s not his real name – was able to reprogram the computer’s transmitter and use it to contact Research Team Seven. Turns out he was a spy for Research Team Seven all along.

After that, it was just a matter of hanging about until Research Team Seven got there. They let us out, and we ran for it. Most of the Network people had fled with everything of value, including the clef, but we were grateful for that because that meant nobody was attacking us. After that, we got into a helicopter, and we got taken here, to Research Team Seven’s hideout.

Anyway, it turns out the Dungeon of Death was nothing more than an entertainment for kard, and a deterrent to anyone who felt like challenging the Network of Arms. Those people I took to be guards were actually a group who didn’t like kard’s leadership and tried to force her to step down.

Most of the prisoners from the dungeon have been rounded up and were anonymously delivered to the police last Thursday. Unfortunately, several of them escaped in the confusion.

We’re all of us unsure where we go from here. Research Team Seven offered to look after us, and we accepted their offer, but I’m not sure whether that was the right decision. I wonder how the farmhands are getting on without us.

Ilona’s been very quiet since we got out of the dungeon. I think she’s still in shock. As far as I can tell, she hasn’t talked much to anybody. I’m a little worried for her, I have to admit.

Chapter 123 – the rant

And it was a sunny day in real life, too!  Very pleasant.

Doctor Who was awesome.  I won’t spoil it, but it’s a good ‘un.  Also, Lee Evans stole the show as a UNIT scientist.

Happy Easter!

Chapter 123 – Sunlight

(honorineblanchard)

It was very sunny this morning. I went down to the lake again. Plenty of ducks, three swans, if you’re curious.

The man I mentioned in my last post was there again today. That’s the second time I’ve seen him there. He was sat on the bench with a notebook. He looked like he was sketching the lake. I wonder if he’s an artist?

Lately it’s been so bright and sunny. It’s really nice. It really feels like summer already. Much as I love the rain, nothing beats the warm sensation of sunlight on the skin. It’s the perfect weather for sitting outside and drinking in the sounds of nature.

Chapter 122 – the rant

Am I actually incapable of posting these at a sensible time?  No, I’m just rather rubbish at it.

Anyway, I think this should clear up a few more points.

Bradley’s illness is a natural consequence of being kept in such nasty conditions.  It is in no way influenced by how the author is feeling.

***

This has been a good week for TV, I think.  Saturday’s Primeval was pretty cool, and saw the team do battle with a gremlin in a creepy old house.

Then Monday’s Heroes was one of the best this season.  We found out who Rebel is!  I really wasn’t expecting it to be that person, but it’s awesome that it was!

Goodnight!

Current listening: Duke Ellington, “Rumpus in Richmond”.

Chapter 122 – Sorry

(bizzariarox)

hi guys. as reported by johnny, we’re with the real research team 7 now. so, yay? i guess. i mean they’re nicer to us than kard was.

sakura’s been in contact with us. she and her family have had a hell of an adventure themselves, running from the network of allies in america. sakura’s dad was the one who stole the clef from footgood shoes, and the people at the network weren’t happy about that. i think i trust research team 7 now. well, trust isn’t the word. but they aren’t evil. they’ve been looking after sakura’s family, and they’ve been looking after mark and caitlin.

i’m still not happy about the kidnapping. it was kidnapping. and they haven’t been able to justify that. but you can tell they feel remorse for that, and looking back, they still treated us a hell of a lot better than the network of arms did.

i figure i owe you guys an apology. that last post, as you probably guessed, was a complete lie. sorry for lying to you guys.

i didn’t have any choice. kard would have killed me if i didn’t write it. i tried to put a hidden message in there so you’d know the truth.

kard is insane. tom is innocent. and i can’t imagine what it must have been like for him. since we got back, he’s been even less talkative than usual. i’m a little worried about him.

oh, and i seem to be coming down with a bit of a cold. bleh. don’t think it’s anything to worry about though.

Chapter 121 – the rant

I meant to post this on Monday, but Tuesday midnight came and it still wasn’t finished.   There may be a pause before I post any other chapters, although I’ll do my best.  I don’t have any written at the moment.

Something about these more exposition-y chapters never seems convincing.  I’m not happy with it, but any later posting would be rather unrealistic, so this will have to do.

***

I’m not very well.  I have a cold and a sore throat, so I feel pretty rotten.  I was supposed to be meeting some friends today and go bowling; we were going to meet up at 12:00.  I was woken at 12:20 by one of them phoning me to ask where I was.  When I tried to answer, I discovered my voice was going.  So I explained as best I could that I couldn’t get there in time, and if I did I’d only infect them all.  So today rather sucks.

What’s worse, dad had a cold yesterday, so I’ve probably caught it from him, and he was much worse today.  And yesterday we were visiting our Scottish relatives and my 80-something-year-old grandpa, so I hope we haven’t given them our disease, but we probably have.

I’m also disturbed to note that right-clicking a link no longer seems to do anything.  I hope I don’t have a computer virus on top of the real life one.

I’m too tired to talk about any other stuff.  I’m really not well.  I apologise for not having been following anyone’s blog recently.  I’m in a completely disorganised and wiped out state.

Chapter 121 – The truth about kard and Research Team Seven

(johnny07)

We’re free! Well, kinda. I’m now allowed to blog, and I have a proper bed, and I’m allowed outside, and I’m being allowed proper food rather than plain, slightly dry bread, which is certainly an improvement.

I think it’s only fair that you guys get an explanation of exactly what the heck happened after Megan last blogged.

I guess it all started on that Tuesday when we were arrested. That came out of nowhere. We immediately ran for it. Tom escaped in the confusion; the rest of us weren’t so lucky.

The rest of that week was just… waiting. I think I was asleep when the infamous gas attack took place, because I don’t remember it. All I remember is waking up in different cell to the one I went to sleep in.

I never saw kard. All I heard was this computerised voice telling me that I was in the headquarters of Research Team Seven, and now I was going to suffer for my insolence.

And there I was for the next week. No mattress, very little to eat or drink, bucket in the corner, changed daily. There was a screen on the wall which would come on every morning so that I could read about the adventures of Tom in that dungeon place. Apart from that, no contact with anyone anywhere.

Then, last Sunday morning, I heard all this banging and shouting, and I was terrified. I didn’t have a clue what was going on. Then a bunch of people came in, claiming to be the real Research Team Seven, and told me that there was no time to explain, and I had to come with them. There didn’t seem to be any choice, so I followed them.

We passed a box on a desk that had our stuff on it, and Iaru grabbed it. It’s all there and intact, as far as we can tell, with the exception of the clef, which has gone missing.

We left by helicopter. I’m not sure where we are now. We had to take a pretty roundabout route to avoid being followed.

Anyway, here we are at a facility owned by the real Research Team Seven. And as far as we can tell, they are the real ones. I mean, the woman we met up with who told us about the Network of Allies is here.

I know, we don’t know that we can trust them. The first thing we did when we got here, once we’d all washed and got a change of clothes, and laid down in actual beds and they’d presented us with food, was demand some answers.

The explanation we got was essentially the same one we got last time. The organisation that abducted us, which kard works for, is called the Network of Arms. They’re a militant branch of a larger organisation called the Network of Allies, so called because it consists of a number of smaller organisations working together to form a global organisation. FootGood Shoes, the American shoe company where Bradley’s friend’s dad worked, is a member of the Network. They also have people in governments and police forces worldwide; they’re the ones who framed us. They’re basically trying to get their hands on some old weapons technology that belonged to Research Team Seven, and Research Team Seven are trying to stop them. That’s why the clef is important. It’s a key that will enable them to access this technology. There’s three in total, and all three are necessary.

Currently, the Network has one (the one they stole from us) and RT7 has one (that they stole from FootGood Shoes). The location of the other is unknown, but it’s believed to be somewhere in Europe; it used to belong to a Spanish collector who offered to sell it to Birrow Fletcha, but it has been stolen, possibly by the Network of Allies.

They still haven’t told us everything. There are some points which they deliberately evaded. We’re going to keep trying until we get some straight answers out of them.

There’s some other news which you might find more interesting. Apparently, after Tom was abducted, police wanted to arrest Caitlin and Mark on suspicion of aiding and abetting known criminals. But they weren’t there. In fact, they’ve been here for the past two weeks. It sure was a relief to see some familiar faces. It was obvious that they had been worrying about us a lot.

We’re still not sure what to make of Research Team Seven, but at the moment, I think I know which side I’m inclined to support.

Chapter 120 – the rant

Left it late again, but at least it’s the holidays.

That laser gun is the most science-fictiony thing that has appeared in the story.  Or at least, the most sci-fi.  I don’t think it’s particularly far-fetched, though.  I believe current technology doesn’t allow the construction of lasers powerful enough to use as handheld weapons.  Within the world of ‘The Experiment’, the technology exists; it’s just expensive.

I hope this chapter clears a few things up.  If not, worry not, for I intend to include a better explanation in a future chapter.

However, I have completely run out of chapters, so I’m going to have to get writing.

Chapter 120 – Saturday

(kard)

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

________________________

Concrete floors are not comfortable, but I think that’s probably the most sleep either of us has had since we got here.

You know, I’ve been wondering about this back wall. It’s made of metal, while all the others are concrete. I think it might be some kind of door. Examined the floor by that wall, and found there’s a tiny gap next to the “wall”, where it slots into the floor. I can’t hear anything on the other side, though. Tried hammering on it but nothing happened. Didn’t expect it to, really.

We were just leaving the cell through the regular door when we ran into a guy in the same uniform as the security guards coming out of one of the other cells. He held up some kind of gun – a laser gun, by the look of it, god knows what one of those was doing here – and he demanded that we tell him who we were and what we were doing there. Well, you don’t argue with someone who’s pointing a gun at you, so we told him our names and how we got there. He lowered the gun, and said that we seemed like OK people. He offered us some food pills, which he’d been collecting and storing in one of the cells. He told us he’d been stuck here for weeks.

We thought this seemed pretty strange action for a guard, and he explained that the people in uniforms aren’t guards; they’re just Research Team Seven workers who managed to piss off kard. This whole place is a glorified prison. The point isn’t to escape, it’s that we kill ourselves trying. He warned us that a bunch of the uniformed people have banded together to try and find a way out of here, and that they are indiscriminately killing anyone who they come across who isn’t in uniform, since most of those are serial killers and terrorists who kard abducted.

He wants to borrow this computer. He seems an OK person himself, so I see no reason not to lend it to him.