Mike,  [Binary's first name.]

If you're reading this, then things have gone to hell like I predicted but you've managed to come back.  And you remembered where I hid the secret stuff.  A few months ago, some new NSA agents were assigned to the project, but they were very standoffish.  And just a little too curious.  Several of us programmers were suspicious from the get go.  Especially because they appeared to be communicating with someone outside the complex, using earphones attached with a wire--not typical down here, even for those PIG gooks.  And they used commonplace or movie names instead of real names.  Real strange.  Agent Eastwood, Agent Jones, Agent Skywalker, and the like.  There was something just not quite right about them.  We just called them the Agents.  They made us nervous.

Then the order came.  All computer software and hardware was to be destroyed.  Anything to do with our investigation and experiments regarding the Matrix.  The military moved in.  I think they might blow this place soon.

You won't find any digital copies of anything anymore.  Except that I made a couple of secret copies of key projects and downloads.  To keep them safe, I taped them in an envelope and put them on the bottom side of your desk drawer.  Since you're gone, your office is actually a safe place to hide things.  You need to get that critical information and upload it out of here.  To somewhere where they can't erase it.  It's our life work, Mike.  Don't let them destroy it.  After you left, we were working on things you won't even believe.  Such advances, and many of them without the need to leave the Matrix at all.

Three programmers have done like you and left the Matrix.  As soon as I write this letter, I'll be joining them.  I have the pill.  We've lost other programmers.  They just disappeared.  I don't know if they fled or were killed.  But I know they'll be hunted.  We all will.  I hope you can find them first.  They are:  Jonathan Price, Yusaku Kamakura, Ted Chung, Anthony Miller, Tony Hawkins, Jean luc Marx, Francis Capanelli, Elle Draney, Carey Ann Ross, and Thomas Anderson.  As you know, they're our best.  The most involved.  The names the machines fear the most.

I hope you've found that Zion you talked about.  I hope there's something out there.  Resistance from inside the Matrix is futile.  Fake.

If you get this, look for me at the Eastern Rim of Oxland 2.  If I can't find anyone when I get out of here, I'll hole up there and pray you find me.

Good luck,
Sam

"We've just picked up their trace signals, but plugging it into a map has made the situation a little...different than we expected.  We are nearing the border of the fields, where all the humans are kept in pods.  These scientists appear to be hiding in a deep hole or pit of some kind."

Locke opens some metal cabinets and begins hauling out thick rope attached to hooks.

"About a hundred feet down.  You can repel down there, give them a line, and be back up in no time."

Hammer walks in behind Locke.  "Tell them about the catch."

"Yes, of course," Locke says.  "We will be sitting ducks.  If there is a delay, we may need to drop your lines and retreat and then come back for you later."

"The other catch," Hammer urges.

"The machines don't appear to have any traces going down into the pit.  It's a safe haven from them for some reason.  Too bad we can't fit the whole Hyperion down there.  We don't know why the machines don't go down there, but it can't be good."

"Not good at all," Hammer agrees.  "Machines aren't afraid of nothin'."

"But we think they resist going down there," Locke continues, "because our scanners have detected several broken Sentinels down there."

"Hacked to pieces," Hammer clarifies.  "By something."

"So those scientists may also be sitting ducks," Locke concludes.

From the bridge, your pilot, Silicon, says over the intercom, "I've got a good lock on the position now."  The intercom cuts out, and then he cuts back in.  "But there's good news and bad news.  The good news is they appear to be located straight down a thirty foot diameter opening.  Should be easy enough to find them."

Locke punches the intercom button on the wall and says, "What's the bad news, Silly?"

You can almost hear Silicon's groan over the intercom.  He always hates being called that.  "The bad news is that the machines have detected us."

"Are you recommending we abort the mission and try again later?" Locke asks.

"Negative.  And let me tell you why.  It's because of the other bad news."

Locke sighs and frowns.  "What other bad news?"

"I think one of them scientists is hurt."

"So what do you suggest?"

Silicon pauses in reluctance.  "Uh, well, a quick drop, then a pass and return."

"Explain."

"We drop these guys off ASAFP and make a break for it back underground.  We hit the EMP when it's charged if we can't shake them and then come back for a pickup."

"What's our total roundtrip?"

"An hour, maybe two."

Locke takes his finger away from the intercom button and looks around at you.  "I'm going to let all of you make this decision, but I think these researchers are too valuable to Zion to risk losing even one of them.  What do you say?"

As though he could overhear, Silicon says, "ETA to the drop zone, one minute, five seconds.  We gotta do this now or never."

"Uh, fifty seconds or so to the drop," Silicon says over the intercom.  "And these squids are riding my tail like chihuahuas on a rampage."

Locke looks at Jade.  "She's right.  X, get the meds."

X slips out the door and down the hall.  Locke calls after him, "And bring some light sources too."

You begin tying on the harnesses and attaching the ropes for the descent.

The intercom clicks on and Silicon says, "Uh, we might have a problem.  I'm not real sure.  Our sensors can't penetrate beyond a certain point.  That's really weird.  It's just dark down there.  I got no schematics, nothing."  You hear in the background the sound of him banging his hand on the computer screen.  "Nope.  Still nothing."

The intercom clicks off.  It almost instantly clicks back on.  "Oh, and it looks like you've got just over thirty seconds to the drop.  Good luck."

X appears in the doorway and tosses you each a widelens flashlight.  He puts a heavy duty lantern in Snow's hands.  "Best I could do on short notice.  Jammer's on the way with the--"

"Uh, more bad news, I'm afraid," Silicon cuts in over the intercom.  "At least, it might be.  I'm not sure.  I'm just picking up three life signs down there.  One injured, two okay.  Don't know where you're fourth researcher got off to.  Or if he's alive.  Could be in the area my sensors can't pick up.  Don't know."

The intercom cuts out and then it clicks back on.  "Um, fifteen seconds.  I'm bringing us in."

Jammer appears in the doorway and shoves a vest into Jade's hands.  "Here are the meds you wanted.  There's a--"

"No time!" Locke interrupts, pushing him out the door.  He opens the hatch, and you help open the other three.

Below you, the ground rushes by.  The Hyperion is gliding over the surface.  You see dirt and rocks and twisted metal like spider corpses.  Collapsed buildings and metal structures.  Humanity's last defense against the machines had been machines.

Still, to see the surface is euphoric.  Even though it is blanketed by eternal darkness from the aftermath of humanity's last experiment and shows nothing but destruction and darkness from the long war.  Take away the machines' energy source--light--and the humans thought they could defeat the machines.  They thought wrong.  Humans became their energy source.  The Hyperion slows down.  The structures take on more shape.  They are not pretty, but at least they are the real world.

The Hyperion finally slows near a bulbous structure protruding from the ground.  It rises approximately ten feet off the ground and is about a hundred feet in diameter.  You cannot tell how much larger it is below the surface.  Its rounded sides simply disappear into the dirt and rocks around it.

But in its center is your drop point.  The hole Locke spoke of.  The Hyperion comes to a complete stop over the hole.  All you see looking straight down is darkness.  The ropes are dropped, unwinding down into darkness.

"Go!" Locke yells.  "No time!"  He waves you forward to the ropes.

Barely audible above the purr of the ship, you hear a buzzing sound.  You recognize the sound immediately.  The Sentinels are approaching.

As Fault and Mitose are dragged up, the two strangers introduce themselves as Elle Draney and Ted Chung, both researchers on the Matrix project who escaped.  Nearby is a wounded and unconscious researcher, Yusaku Kamakura.  He is bandaged from head to foot and has scratches and tears in his clothing.

Ted says, “Don’t step outside that white line.  Never.  It’s all that protects us from them.”

Looking around, you see that you are standing on a cement floor of some kind.  The dome and dim light from above barely give you anything to see by, but flashing your lights around, you get a picture of the room.

It is roughly rectangular, about 200 feet in length by 100 feet in width.  On the south side, the floor suddenly drops out just outside the white painted circle.  There are train tracks there running east to west about eight feet down from floor level.  They run into the room from one side and out the other.  The northern side is the same except it has been damaged and flooded.  It is from the northern side that Fault and Mitose barely escaped.  In the center of each wall on the west and east are stairs that lead up and then T-off to the north and south walls.  Behind the stairs on each side are double doors leading out.

There are objects littering the floor.  Chairs, some tables, a broken kiosk.  At one time, this may have been a thoroughfare of some kind.  A time before the machines ruled the earth.  In the center of the white circle is a metallic structure.  Lot rubs his wounds, remembering being slammed into it.  About four feet high, it is a twisted group of wires, metallic parts, and buttons.

As you settle down and finish first aid, Elle explains the situation:

”There were eleven of us in all.  We knew that the machine enforcers—these Agents—were onto us.  We had to escape, and quickly.  Ted here found an area where the machines did not enter, a black zone of high EM emissions.  A blind spot.  So we told the others to meet here at the Eastern Rim of Oxland 2.  Only four of us actually exited.”

She nods to her two companions. ”Us and Sam.  The other seven were fleeing inside the Matrix, each with their own plans of how to escape the Machines.”

Ted jumps in, ”But when we got here, we found out why the Machines don’t come here.  There’s a building across the street.  That’s where we got this.”  He nods toward the metal structure on the floor.

Elle holds up her hand.  ”Don’t get ahead of yourself.”  She looks back at you.  ”The building across the street was used by the military for experiments in the war against the Machines.  Just about the time they were blotting out the sun, they were also developing something else.”

“Mutants!” Ted says.

”Biogenetically altered,” she corrects.  ”They were human…at one time.  They were developed to emit natural EM radiation to repel the machines.  Our last defense once the humans realized they would become the new energy source.  But their research notes showed that it didn’t go well.  The…creatures…lost all human intelligence.  Their nails grew long, their faces flattened.  Their hair fell out, and their skin started to darken and harden.”

“I don’t know how long they’ve been breeding here,” Ted says, ”But they’re everywhere.  They’ll kill and eat just about anything.”

“The scientists had built that machine over there, originally to test against the machines.  Once their…test subjects…revolted.  Well, they found that the poles repel.  Like any magnet, EM has a positive and negative charge.  Like charges repel.  So this machine over here is all that has kept us from being attacked and eaten alive.”

Ted says, ”We had to drag that thing over here to find food and water.  We painted the line to know the boundaries.”

“But Sam went looking by himself.”  Elle nods down the train shaft to the south.  “There’s still a working train or subway car down the shaft a little.  Sam had spent the most time looking at the charts and maps.  He believed if we could ride the train far enough, we could outdistance these creatures.”

Ted shrugs.  “Of course, the downside is that then we’ll be fresh meat for the machines.”

“We’ve been here six, seven, maybe ten weeks.  Yusaku was attacked a day or two ago trying to run down the tracks.  He confirmed that there was a train down there, but at such a cost.  He’s been unconscious ever since.  We distracted the creatures and Sam ran down to the train.”

Ted winces.  ”That was at least ten hours ago.”

Now, during the researchers' expalantion, Mitose is silent, until they are done.  Feeling more composed, he asks, "What would an EM weapon do to one of those...things?"

Elle considers for a moment.  "I theorize one of several possibilities.  One, the polarization would cause the EM emission to reverse on the person shooting.  Two, it might absorb the energy and slack off what it doesn't need.  Three, it might do some damage.  Or four, any combination of the above."

Fault struggles to his feet, biting down on his lip as he puts weight on his injured leg. "Could we reverse the polarity of the EM Rifles?"

 "Theoretically, yes.  However, someone would have to test them first to see what their polarity is set at.  Each rifle is different, so it may end up destroying the rifles and shooters first.  I wouldn't advise it.  I'm not really sure what effect changing the polarities would do either since these creatures are full of EM energy."
 

He holds up an electric drill and pulls the trigger, and you hear scurrying from back in the darkness.

"They hate this," Ted says with a wicked smile as he lets go of the drill trigger.

Jade's light flashes up, illuminating a humanoid being clutching the pipes above you.  His eyes and ears are twice the size of a normal human, his ears pointed slightly.  He is hairless and his skin is a hard, crusty black, almost like dark scales scales with luminescent diamonds in the pattern of a rattlesnake covering his body.  He hisses at the light and sound of the drill, revealing huge pointy teeth that appear to be thick and strong--strong enough, perhaps, to even bite through metal.  His hands are oversized compared to his thin frame, and claws as thick and strong as his teeth extend from each finger and each toe.

He drops.  As he does so, you hear a shot ring out behind you.  The creature lets out a scream like an ear-piercing whistle, and a gooey red blood spurts from his shoulder.  He grasps it with one claw and disappears into the darkness again.

You hear murmuring from the shadows.  There are definitely more of them nearby.  Lucky for you Ted was a good shot.

The party presses forward.  The creatures are obviously still wary.  Soon, Ted is far behind and you have gone several hundred meters into the train shaft.

Up in front of you a light flashes, and then you hear a rumbling sound.  Something is moving through the corridor like a wave.

You can't move.  And then it crosses over you.  Instantly, your flashlights go out and the drill stops.  It continues down the corridor.

Back by the EM emissions machine, the rest of the party looks from behind the white line as the rest of the party disappears down the corridor.  The flashwave approaches.  Suddenly, your EM machine flickers and turns off.

Mitose, Laz, Lot and Jade are running down the corridors.  With a quick turn of the buttons, the flashlights waver and then come back on.  The drill also starts up again.

Responding to the questions, Sam says, "I was able to clear away the tracks and find that the train seems to function.  I got the power on but it wouldn't move.  So I went into that room over there."

He points to a door with a sign:  "Employee's Only."

"I found a control board and got it online.  I think that's what woke it or disturbed it or somehow made it know I was here.  But there was a transformer blown.  I ran down the tracks to the next stop and grabbed one to bring back.  But I was too late.  It was coming closer.  It was giving these creatures their courage, and one got my shoulder.  But I kept on.  Then it sent a shockwave through a couple hours ago.  My flashlight and the drill went almost all the way out.  One of the creatures got me in the leg, and it was all I could do to crawl over to hide under this chair."

He holds out his hand, and you see a transformer in it.  "This must replace the old one in the room.  Then we can use the train."

He glances over his shoulder and down the train shaft.  "I saw it in a brief flash when it sent the first shockwave.  It is large and slimy and not human, not machine.  I don't know what it is, but we don't have much time now.  It must have sensed you coming.  It will be descending upon us soon."

And between this track and the next one, there is something else moving.  Something large enough to block out the camera, shifting and moving, but gaining speed as it approaches.  Its whale-sized body blots out the camera, and then the screen goes blank to static.

With the EM machine running low on power, the creatures are easing closer to where Elle, Ted, Fault, Snow, and Viper wait.  A couple of them even tentatively step inside the white line.

Ted fires the sniper rifle...and makes a solid shot to the head.  The party backs up slowly toward the EM machine.  There are at least 8 or 10 of the creatures circling slowly like a shark and its prey.

Fault steps up and yells, "Back off!" at the closest creature.  It stops a moment, its body still in shadows, and it appears to tilt its head.  Then sharp claws rise in front of its face in a defensive gesture, and it lowers itself to pounce on Fault.

At station 2, Jade and Lot step out of the "Employees Only" room.  The train appears to be fully operational to their left.  Laz, Mitose and Sam are facing Lot and Jade.  They are helping Sam stay on his feet when suddenly something drops right in the center of the group.  It is one of the creatures, and a drool is oozing from its mouth.  It is only about five feet tall, you notice, but it is crouched and ready to pounce.

Back at station 1, the creature is emitting a growl from deep within its gut.  The other creatures begin to growl in unison.  Fault is still well behind the white line, but the EM machine's signal has significantly weakened.  Snow, Viper, Ted, Elle, and unconscious Yusaku Kamakura huddle close to the machine.

Ted raises the sniper rifle.  "Should I fire at it?  What if I risk bringing them all on us?"

The mutant at station 2, looks back and forth at the two groups as if deciding who poses the most risk.

A sound near the train draws your attention there.  It is like the sound of nails against a chalkboard.  Another mutant is crawling up the side of the train, its sharp claws actually digging into the metal as it climbs.

And down the tracks, you hear something else.  The large thing, whatever it is, is getting closer.  It lets out a bellow like the call of a humpback whale that reverberates throughout the building.

At the sound, the mutant between you smiles, revealing razor sharp teeth.  Its claws are fully extended as it slowly turns and prepares to pounce...on Jade.

Jade and the others begin moving toward the train car.  At first, the mutant watches them with its bulging eyes.  Then it jumps.

Jade's EM rifle goes off at point blank range...it hits creature, which gets slammed backward as if hit by a freight train.  It slams against the far wall as you move toward the train.  But then it shakes its head as if to shrug off the blow, and it begins moving again toward the party.  The diamond-like scales on its body are glowing slightly, and its hands are shaking with ferocity.

The other one has placed itself between Lot, Laz, Sam, Mitose, and the train car.  It prepares to jump at Mitose.

Back at station 1, Snow begins connecting his rifle to the generator, but it is taking a bit of time...

The mutants...and you see five, maybe...are starting to close in.

Ted takes close aim and shoots the sniper rifle, hitting the growling one in...the head, as planned.  It falls writhing on the floor, not dead, but out of commission for the time.

Four others seem to be slowly coming in from the darkness, two from the water area, and two climbing up over the train tracks and onto the platform.

And down the tracks to their left [east] they hear the slimy glup, glup as the large whale/slug-like creature approaches.  Although still cloathed in darkness beyond the waiting train, it must be closer than a 100 meters away, and it must be large...unbelievably large.

At station 1, Viper fires his EM rifle at one of the mutants...but it jumps sideways and rolls adroitly to the side.  Its diamonds light up as the beam touches it, but it does not appear to be injured.  It launches itself at Viper.

Fault takes the handgun and turns toward the mutants just as one jumps to pounce on Viper.

Ted is aiming to fire at another mutant.

Snow finishes hooking up his EM Rifle to the machine, mumbling, "I think it will work."

Elle says, "Stand away from the machine in case it blows!"

At station 2, the mutant launches itself at Mitose...

Seeing the way clear, the rest of the party hops into the train.

Mitose tries a judo maneuver to throw the mutant past him...but he fails.  The creature claws out at him, but his attempted maneuver throws off the creature's aim.  They both turn to face each other about ten feet apart.  Mitose is now between the creature and the train, which is about 20 feet away.

The others clamber into the train car and look at the control panel.  It consists of a single lever (presumably for traction and braking control), a reversing key, a small numeric and symbol keypad, and an LCD flat panel graphic/alphanumeric display (as in a laptop computer).  The display appears to be used in conjunction with the keypad to control doors, reset alarms of various sorts, display train speed and braking information, etc.  A direction indicator on the display indicates that currently the train will go forward toward station 3, directly into the approaching monstrous creature.

Laz, Lot, Sam, and Jade are in the train.  Mitose is 20 feet just outside the door.  The mutant is about 10 feet from him, and the second mutant is climbing up onto the far side of the platform another 15-20 feet from that.

The door is still open.  The train is not moving.  And that large monster is moving very quickly toward the train.  It makes deafening sounds like amplified seal calls.  A second later, 4 more mutants climb up from the far end of the platform.

Snow pumps another round into the shotgun.  The mutants are very wary, having learned from their mistake.

Elle pulls the dead researcher closer toward the EM machine.  "If you break that thing, all those things will rush you like a swarm of bees," she says to Snow.  "It's all that is keeping them back."


Jade pulls on the lever, and the train jerks into motion back toward station 1.  The mutants see it moving from them and begin sprinting after it.

A shriek bursts out from the giant creature approaching down the tunnel.  Electricity runs through the cables above, but instead of hurting it, the creature seems to be absorbing the power.  It is moving faster.  In fact, it briefly comes into view as it reaches the edge of station 2 just as the train is departing.

There are several thumps from the far end of the train.  It is hitting mutants on the tracks.  Then you hear another thump and the scratching like nails against a blackboard.  One of the mutants is on the train car.  You hear the sounds moving from the rear towards the front.

The mutant on the train car has moved to the top left corner and is scratching furiously at something.  It sounds like crowbars against a car, accompanied by deep scratching and the sound of metal being ripped apart.

From the distance, you see a brief flash.  Something is approaching you.  Since the train is moving, it appears to be in slow motion, and you recognize it immediately.  It is another one of those shockwaves - emitted from the mouth of the large creature.

It will reach the train car in probably about 10 seconds.

Elle is stabilizing Viper.

The EM machine is emitting a terribly loud whining and whirring sound.  Something is about to happen.

Snow aims at an approaching mutant with the shotgun.

Ted fires another round from the sniper rifle.  He hits a mutant in the head and it falls over, dead.

Snow fires the shotgun...and hits another mutant.  It falls over lifeless onto the ground.

More mutants - an entire hoard of them, in fact - begin climbing over the sides of the train tracks and onto the platform.  They are coming from the ceiling, from both tunnels, and popping up out of the water.  Obviously, their "queen" - for lack of a better word - has warned them or otherwise communicated something to them.  They approach quickly, shambling like monkeys in using their claws like third and fourth feet.  It does not appear that they will stop at the white line.  Something else is driving them...something that will push them beyond the pain of the EM emissions.

And the EM machine makes a pop sound.  It is about ready to blow and is shaking on its tripod...


Jade finds that the train is at maximum speed.  She can push it no further.

The ceiling is dented by the mutant on top of it.  Then a claw starts tearing through the metal like a knife through paper.

Sam is apparently stable for the time being.

Jade has no idea how to power down and doesn't have time to do anything about it because the shockwave hits...

The EM machine can last no longer.  It explodes, sending shrapnel and an EM shockwave out.

Elle, Fault and Ted manage to avoid the shrapnel, but Snow is hit by a flying piece of metal...luckily, it only scrapes his shoulder (2 HT dmg). 
<blue>Even though he is already negative HT, Snow makes a strong HT check and retains consciousness.
The shockwave sent out by the machine slams into the mutants like a wall, throwing them back in explosive force.  Bodies fly into the walls, the train tracks, and the water.  Those bodies that you can still see within the circle of light appear to be stunned, but not dead.  They are not really moving.

The EM blast did not appear to do anything else or harm anyone else, but the lights and electrical equipment flashed off for a moment.

The EM machine is no longer operating, so the white circle is meaningless now.

The shockwave hits the traincar, and it is like it has suddenly hit the brakes.  No one has braced for the impact, and everyone goes flying backwards...

Jade is thrown against the wall behind her in the control room but is not hurt.

Lot is thrown back but catches hold of the handrail.

Lazarus is able to brace himself against the wall.

Sam is in a seat and is best prepared, so he only slams up against the bar at the end of the bench.

Mitose is thrown completely off balance and slams face first into one of the center bars.  This flips him off his feet and hard to the floor.  (2 HT damage).  He is in no danger of losing consciousness. (8/10 HT remaining).

Although the shockwave is passing beyond the traincar toward station 1, its effects continue.  The traincar is still moving quickly down the tracks, but it is in a jerking motion, first slowing and then accelerating.  The control panels are lighting up and turning off randomly.  The doors to the train begin opening and closing sporatically.

You actually see the mutant's claw as it continues to claw its way through the ceiling of the traincar.

It is going to be a rough ride.

30 seconds to station 1.

You notice that the train has slowed at least another 10 kph.  It might not be going much faster than 25 or 30 kph at the moment.

And then you see the horde approaching.  Your jaws drop agape.  The mutants are running down the tunnel, climbing walls, and running at a pace faster than the train can outrun.  The first wave will reach the train in a minute, maybe less.  Although the tunnel is dark, you guess there are several hundred of them chasing after the train.

The window at the controls is now shattered from the previous mutant's entry.  Through that large opening, you hear the squeals, clicks, and other strange sounds as they march toward you.

Jade lifts the rocket launcher to her shoulder and prepares to fire.

Elle rubs her head and gets on her knees to inspect the mutant.

Above you, several mutants are ripping holes through the steel roof and ceiling, preparing to descend.

The doors to the subway car slam close and stop, somewhat stifling the outside sound, even though the rumbling of the train and screech of the mutants flows through the broken front window and the holes in the ceiling.

Jade fires, and there is an explosive whoosh as the rocket hits its mark.  An explosion of mutant bodies and squeal of pain is drowned by the explosion.  It is hard to tell the results in the dark, and because the explosion has thrown a thick layer of dust over everything.

"We have to get this back to Zion to investigate it," Elle says, pointing to the slimy dead mutant, apparently disinterested in the chaos around her.

Sam is also waking up, but still very groggy from the drugs.

Snow and Laz are under cover.  They peek out to see what Jade has done.

First one mutant, then two, crawl out from the explosion, making fast headway to the train.  Then you see more.  The horde has been reduced, but it is still there.  And it is still coming forward.  Jade has just bought you some more time.

You hear a squeal of joy as one of the mutants on the ceiling is breaking through the last layer and preparing to jump down through the hole.

A sudden beeping sound draws your attention down to the screen by Jade.  A message is flashing.

TRACKS BLOCKED AHEAD. DANGER. EMERGENCY BRAKES ENGAGED.

Funny.  You don't feel any brakes engaging.

Another message flashes red:

COLLISION IMMINENT. DISENGAGE THROTTLE. 30 SECONDS TO IMPACT.

TRACKS BLOCKED AHEAD. DANGER. EMERGENCY BRAKES ENGAGED.

COLLISION IMMINENT. DISENGAGE THROTTLE. 10 SECONDS TO IMPACT.

TERMINUS DETECTED. 20 SECONDS TO END OF TRACKS.

The train exits the tunnel.  The mutants over the roof begin howling, and then they jump.  You see them quickly running back toward the tunnel.

The train is now above ground.  Those in the rear can see now that this once was part of a city.  It now is a demolished wasteland of rubble.  And part of that rubble is blocking the tracks, several large cement blocks (roughly 5' x 6') and two telephone poles.

The approaching horde was just seconds away from reaching the train.  Now, it stops at the edge of the tunnel, unwilling or unable to exit.  A hundred red eyes peer out at you, and the angry screeches are deafening.

Everyone braces for impact.  When it comes, you are slung toward the back, but everyone keeps their grips since the train is not going exceptionally fast.  The rear of the train buckles slightly, and the front where you are holding on lifts off the tracks.  Your body goes up and then slams back down as the train falls back, now derailed and at a complete stop.

As you start to brush yourselves off, you see movement.  Two of the mutants from the top of the train were running back to the tunnel.  As they run, a Sentinel spots them and descends to confront them.  They don't stop.  Instead, they launch themselves at the Sentinel and begin ripping it apart right before your eyes a couple hundred meters down the track.  Then they leave the husk of metal and retreat into the distant tunnel.

The city around you is mostly rubble, a reminder of the human world when it once dominated.  Before the machines.  About a hundred meters to your left is an open area, perhaps once a baseball diamond, but now a dark mass of dirt and a broken chain link fence.

From the way your hair is standing on the back of your necks, you get the feeling you won't be alone for long.

Laz is running all out toward the field.  Snow is not far behind him.  Fault and Jade follow cautiously, protecting Elle and the others.  Lot is putting the mutant corpse on his back.

And the party moves closer to the field...

The Hyperion glides nearby and begins its descent, its rotors swiveling to compensate.

And that's when you notice it.  Just small at first, and then rising.  A tremor in the ground.  It begins to tremble more violently.  And then the ground beneath the Hyperion becomes riddled with cracks.  You are astonished for a moment.

And then you realize what it is.

Laz has made it to the field.  The break in the earth makes him fall.  Snow is just outside the field, and the others are perhaps 50 meters away.  Oddly, the Sentinels seem to have pulled back, maintaining a safe distance.

And that's when its head surfaces.  The worm's mouth is initially closed, and then it opens as it crests toward the Hyperion.  You can only imagine Silicon's response as you see the ship jerk away and then watch a shimmer as a shockwave escapes the worm's mouth.

The Hyperion lurches.  Its lights cut out.  It begins to descend as it retreats.  The worm does not follow.  Instead, it arches around and snaps down at Laz...catching him in its mouth and snapping him up.  Laz disappears into the worm's maw as it turns to the others.

It is now at the field, its head turning left to right, blindly looking.  The Hyperion has retreated 300 meters to the edge of the tunnel entrance where it is safe from the Sentinels and the worm.  Ten Sentinels block your way to the tunnel, but they are not approaching the worm.

A rope is being lowered from the Hyperion, but its engines are flaring and it is lurching back and forth.  Obviously, the worm's shockwave has hurt its controls, and it is barely maintaining altitude.

The party doesn't have time to talk further.  You make a break for it toward the ship.  Lot has the mutant strapped to his back, and he helps Elle and Sam, who are still wounded.

Jade leads the way through the rubble, with Snow, Fault and Mitose trailing behind.

The worm moves its head from side to side letting out the same squealing shriek that you heard in the tunnels.

You put some more distance between you and the worm.  It is about 100 meters behind you.  The tunnel is about 250 meters straight ahead.

The worm's shrieks appear to help it like sonar.  Its head drops and it begins winding like a snake toward you.  The rubble appears to do it no harm against its hard shell.  But then it appears to get caught.  Shrieking, it dives again.  The sound is like that of an earthquake.

You are about 150 meters from the Hyperion, climbing over rubble as fast as you can.

The Sentinels approach.  Ten of them, but then you see something in the distance you first take as smoke.  A second look shows you it is a swarm...of Sentinels.  All headed your direction.  They are coming down out of the sky a couple of miles away behind you.  There is no doubt that they will reach you before you can get to the Hyperion.  The other ten Sentinels will reach you far sooner.  You have about 20 seconds...

You feel something rumbling under the ground below you.

The ground beneath you stops rising.  You realize that the worm is getting ahead of you, tunneling in the area between you and the Hyperion.

The swarm of Sentinels advances, and you move quickly, but the hundreds of Sentinels there will doubtlessly reach you before you reach the ship.

The Hyperion is merely 100 meters away when the ten closest Sentinels reach you.  Looking around, you see that your EMP Rifles will be far from sufficient to take them all down.

And then a strange thing happens.  The Sentinels stop perhaps ten meters away.  They dart in a circle around you, wary of something.  Your eyes all turn to the mutant corpse.  Even in death, it repels the Sentinels.

You breathe a sigh of relief and feel a rush of hope...

...but you know the giant worm is somewhere underneath the ground.

And you advance.  50 meters to the Hyperion...and it is bare ground from here to the tunnel entrance, above which the Hyperion floats.  The rubble has ended, although the ground is still rough.  You can sprint across it in probably less than 10 seconds.

From the tunnel, you see many blinking eyes as the other mutants are crouched in darkness.

The radio is making strange sounds.  It might be working on a different channel

The ground is already breaking open when Mitose is the first to arrive.  The others jump for cover, but it is too late for Mitose.  The worm rises from the ground and slams down as it turns toward Lot.  Mitose is caught underneath...(-48HT)...and his mangled form is lost forever.

Jade, Fault, Snow, Elle, and Sam jump to the side out of the way.

Lot's ruse appears to have worked.  The five jump onto the waiting gurneys, which immediately begin to rise.

Lot is now facing the worm alone about 50 yards from the last waiting gurney.

Lot tosses the still squealing radio and the large rock to the side and bolts toward the Hyperion.  Fortunately for him, the emerging worm seems to have come upon the mother load.  It begins tossing and turning, sending out shockwave.

Lot is seconds away from the gurneys when he sees the Sentinels falling from the sky, twitching and buzzing as the worm's shockwaves take them down.  He launches himself onto a gurney and manages to dodge a falling Sentinel.

The others make it safely to the top, being pulled back into the safety of the ship by the crew.

The gurney begins to rise, and the Hyperion begins to ascend before it has pulled Lot up.  The mutant corpse on his back makes his balance awkward.  The worm turns when it notices the movement and engines of the Hyperion and sends a shockwave.  It hits, and the Hyperion lurches, sending Lot flying around like a ball on a tether.  His grip and balance begin to fail him from 100 feet in the air.  He is staring down at hundreds of fallen Sentinels piled like a junkyard below.

The worm is still turning, sending out waves.  The Sentinels are thrown into confusion.

...Lot regains his balance and grip and the gurney reaches the top.  As the hatch closes below you, you see the chaos the worm has created.  Even the mutants are rushing out to attack the Sentinels that are falling.  In the confusion, none of the Sentinels follows the Hyperion.

"Take us out of here!" Locke yells to Silicon over the intercom.  In a few minutes, the Hyperion finds its entrance and descends into the belly of the Underdark.

"Well, wasn't that fun," X comments sarcastically, pulling over the injured and asking for medical attention.

Locke seems to be thinking deeply.  Finally, he says, “We have to harness this power.  I’ve never seen anything take on the Sentinels like that.”

Sam, the only other surviving scientist of the four you went in to rescue, says, “Preserve that mutant corpse, and we’ll have to see what we can do.  You have scientists who can research that type of thing?”

Locke nods, still in thought.

“Where are we going?” Elle asks.

“Zion,” X says.  “Or as I like to call it…heaven.”  Sam and Elle look confused, so X explains that Zion is the city of those freed from the Matrix, and the freeborn as well.

Locke begins pacing.  He looks at the bodies of your friends, those killed in the last two missions.  “How’s the research on the CD’s going?” he asked, indicating the data you managed to upload after the first mission.

“It’s coded really well.  I’m not sure I can break it.  We might have to take it back to Zion.”

Sam begins to laugh, a deep rumbling from his gut.

“What?” X asks, somewhat perturbed.

“We all programmed different parts of the code, but it’s locked in partitioned locks.  We’re gonna need Vincent.  He locked it with some unbreakable code he claims he invented.”