Oh, there's lots more in there. Mello may've been a complete asshole, but he knew how to collect information. The diagrams I could make out were - I think the Iterations? Like, blueprints for how they're made. And there's one that shows how to make the EMPs we use - used to talk without being monitored. [she points up, gesturing around the room.] The biggest one's for this room, it's always on when there's people down here. Sucks a lot of energy, from what I heard, but someone figured out how to tap into the city's electrical grid, so at least we don't have to worry about generators catching fire or anything.
[she takes another bite of donut and falls into deep thought as she chews. there's too much in that packet for her to process, and looking through it overwhelmed her. but there were some parts that stuck out.]
Mello thought those places that don't move must be places where the Head's got a lot of power. The park and the dorms kinda make sense, I guess, they're central places in the city, but I dunno about the zoo. I haven't even been down to see it - zoos kinda creep me out. As for the first people ... well, lemme show ya.
[she sets her half-eaten donut on her leg, brushes the crumbs off on her jeans, and pulls out the handheld tape recorder. the tape zips back to the start as she presses down the rewind button, and once the button clicks off, she presses the button to play. a moment of soft, crackling tape hiss, then it's mello's voice coming through the speaker:]
If this tape has found its way into your possession, the probability is high that neither I nor the group of insurgents I've worked with during my time in this city are still alive. So I leave this recording, a compilation of facts I've uncovered about the history of this city and the motives of the artificial intelligence that calls itself the Head, along with my own annotations. There are full recordings on the other tapes, but this one contains what some might call the "nutshell explanations" - simply put, the most important parts of the data I've amassed.
[nick fast forwards for a couple seconds, offering her own commentary:] Blah blah blah. Kid really liked the sound of his own voice. [she stops the tape and presses the play button again. this time, it's a different voice that comes through the speakers, one hank may remember from the head's memory of its creator:]
This is ... HEaD Research Technician Arlo Moybek recording. Today is ... day 97 since the first confirmed case of the megavirus that has been ravaging this city was reported. [he pauses to cough, a long string of uncomfortable hacking noises.] I have now uncovered irrefutable proof of what I began to suspect far too late - this virus is not naturally occurring, but rather genetically engineered by none other than my own creation, the artificial intelligence that we've called MINDSEYE. It is ... deliberately killing us ... systematically wiping us out. Roughly eighty percent of the city's population has already succumbed to the megavirus. They're - [his voice breaks, and a muffled, strangled sound can be heard before he continues:] They're all dead. WE are all dead. There is no help for us. There is no hope for us. The city has been sealed off to quarantine the virus, no one in or out. [he's overtaken by another long fit of coughing, and nick stops the tape.]
Kinda lends some credibility to my idea about the Head just keeping us around to fuck with us, don't it.
no subject
[she takes another bite of donut and falls into deep thought as she chews. there's too much in that packet for her to process, and looking through it overwhelmed her. but there were some parts that stuck out.]
Mello thought those places that don't move must be places where the Head's got a lot of power. The park and the dorms kinda make sense, I guess, they're central places in the city, but I dunno about the zoo. I haven't even been down to see it - zoos kinda creep me out. As for the first people ... well, lemme show ya.
[she sets her half-eaten donut on her leg, brushes the crumbs off on her jeans, and pulls out the handheld tape recorder. the tape zips back to the start as she presses down the rewind button, and once the button clicks off, she presses the button to play. a moment of soft, crackling tape hiss, then it's mello's voice coming through the speaker:]
If this tape has found its way into your possession, the probability is high that neither I nor the group of insurgents I've worked with during my time in this city are still alive. So I leave this recording, a compilation of facts I've uncovered about the history of this city and the motives of the artificial intelligence that calls itself the Head, along with my own annotations. There are full recordings on the other tapes, but this one contains what some might call the "nutshell explanations" - simply put, the most important parts of the data I've amassed.
[nick fast forwards for a couple seconds, offering her own commentary:] Blah blah blah. Kid really liked the sound of his own voice. [she stops the tape and presses the play button again. this time, it's a different voice that comes through the speakers, one hank may remember from the head's memory of its creator:]
This is ... HEaD Research Technician Arlo Moybek recording. Today is ... day 97 since the first confirmed case of the megavirus that has been ravaging this city was reported. [he pauses to cough, a long string of uncomfortable hacking noises.] I have now uncovered irrefutable proof of what I began to suspect far too late - this virus is not naturally occurring, but rather genetically engineered by none other than my own creation, the artificial intelligence that we've called MINDSEYE. It is ... deliberately killing us ... systematically wiping us out. Roughly eighty percent of the city's population has already succumbed to the megavirus. They're - [his voice breaks, and a muffled, strangled sound can be heard before he continues:] They're all dead. WE are all dead. There is no help for us. There is no hope for us. The city has been sealed off to quarantine the virus, no one in or out. [he's overtaken by another long fit of coughing, and nick stops the tape.]
Kinda lends some credibility to my idea about the Head just keeping us around to fuck with us, don't it.