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DATA LOSS // LOG 11: Administrative Override
The carbon-fiber security android stands perfectly still in the sterile fluorescent light, its laser rifle arm humming a low, lethal note as its faceless sensor array sweeps the hallway. I don't have armor anymore, and I'm not going to win a physical brawl against a military-grade chassis with a broken tool. But a piece of my mind is back online. I remember the high floors. I remember the executive privileges. If my digital ghost is still floating around in this network, it's time to see if the system still recognizes its maker.
ROOM 1: THE RESEARCH TIER (COMBAT)
Instead of ducking for cover or throwing a telekinetic blast, I stand tall, smooth down my filthy clone coveralls, and step directly into the android's line of sight. The machine’s sensor eye snaps a piercing crimson glare onto my chest, the laser rifle instantly tracking my movement, priming to turn me into ash.
Before it can pull the trigger, I clear my throat and speak into the corridor's intercom receiver, throwing every ounce of authority I have left into my voice. "Acoustic authorization code: Janse-Alpha-0-9. Terminal override. Identify unit as a localized threat asset. Authorization protocol: Purge." I'm gambling that the facility's legacy sub-routines will prioritize a founder's vocal biometrics over the metamind's corrupted programming, forcing the lab's automated internal defenses to turn on their own guard dog.
Janse is trying to use his newly recovered identity and technical logic to subvert a high-tier security threat. This utilizes the Logic skillset (Janse has a d6).
However, the rules allow an extra d6 if helped by a major circumstantial advantage. Because Janse discovered his true identity as the system's architect in the last room, the GM rules that this highly specific contextual leverage grants an extra d6 to the pool. We take the highest result.
Rolling 2d6... Results: 1 and 6. Highest Die: 6 (Success!)
The GM Renders the Verdict: A flawless 6! The executive authority holds absolute power in these lower sectors.
For a split second, the android freezes, its internal processors visibly hitching as my voice echoes through the sterile hall. Overhead, a hidden ceiling turret clicks awake. A computerized, synthesized voice booms from the PA system:
LEGACY FIREWALL ACCEPTED // ACCESS GRANTED:
"Welcome back, Director Janse. Threat assessment updated. Security Android unit flagged as un-authorized asset. Commencing local sanitization."
Before the android can adjust its target parameters, the ceiling-mounted heavy pulse turret opens fire. A hail of high-velocity, armor-piercing kinetic rounds rips through the corridor, shredding the android’s ballistic carbon-fiber frame in a spectacular shower of hydraulic fluid and severed wires. The machine’s laser rifle explodes harmlessly, melting its own chest plate before the smoking carcass collapses into a heap of useless high-tech scrap.
With a satisfying, heavy hydraulic hiss, the massive security blast door clicks unlocked and slides open, paving a clean path straight into the primary research terminal.
ROOM 2: THE MAIN RESEARCH CORE (INFO & RECOVERY)
I step over the smoking ruins of the android and enter the inner sanctum. The room is vast, filled with shattered glass stasis vats and walls covered in pulsing, violet crystalline grids. In the center sits a grand, holographic mainframe terminal. I bypass the physical keyboard, placing my palm directly onto the biometric scanner. The system purrs, feeding deep-tier files straight into my HUD.
Bypassing the room's primary puzzle with a perfect success grants Janse immediate access to the core data. We are unlocking a massive piece of the character's narrative puzzle.
PROJECT SAPIENCE // STATUS: EXTRACTED
"Director Janse's primary physical vessel was moved to the central hub under PROMETHEUS in the City center following his refusal to sign the corporate asset-mapping waiver.
Note: To prevent a system-wide administrative paradox, Janse's core consciousness was severed into isolated SOUL sub-routines and blacklisted across the backup grid. The Metaminds were instructed to hunt and disintegrate any clone bearing his genetic markers."
The truth hits me like a physical blow. I'm not just a clone trying to escape. My original body—the actual, living Director Janse—is being kept on life support inside the core of PROMETHEUS, the colossal metamind towering over the shattered urban hub of the City. The system isn't trying to keep me out because I'm a glitch; it's trying to keep me out because I'm the only person who can access the master kill-switch to shut down this entire planetary nightmare.
But the terminal isn't done. Tucked into the database is an experimental blueprint patch file. I lock onto the code and download it directly into my implant.
Acquired Arcwire Mod - doIT: Force a robot to take 1 simple action (Uses Logic to risk use in combat).
THE DEPTHS AWAKEN
The moment the download completes, the white lights in the lab violently flash to an emergency crimson. The crystalline grids on the walls begin to hum a deafening, high-pitched frequency that threatens to melt the teeth right out of my skull. A computerized warning alarm starts blaring:
CRITICAL ALARM // AIRLOCK CONTAINMENT BREACH:
"Metamind entity ERESHKIGAL has initiated deep-sector purge. No weapons permitted in the primary chamber. Lockdown active."
The exit doors behind me slam shut, sealing me in. The only way out is forward, through an armored airlock leading directly into the massive, cathedral-like chamber of ERESHKIGAL, the secret lab's resident metamind.
The warning on the door is explicit: *No weapons allowed.* Even if my Arcwire tool wasn't currently broken, the security fields would fry it upon entry. But tools—and implants—are perfectly fine. The terminal files indicate that entry into Ereshkigal's chamber is right at its eye-level, and anyone caught in its direct gaze risks instant death by an industrial laser array. To kill it, I have to leap onto its massive mechanical shoulder, climb behind its primary processor head, and sever its twin power cables.
If you're interested in playing 2400 Data Loss, you can find it here.
