In reply to JohnA1nut (msg # 115):

"Stronger. Much stronger."  I look over at Angus.  "Are you related to Heracles?  Oh yeah, you did say you were.  Well, my friend, I think you're meant to have this Hammer.  It was his last words, so I think we should respect that."
I quietly try to take off the gauntlet.  I'm watching with fascination as Angus comes into his heritage.

Campbell looks at it fascinated. He says "I'm not surprised. According to legend, that gauntlet allowed Heracles to punch through stone. He could also throw light and fire from it, as well as the hammer. I don't know how much of that is true, but I wouldn't take that off if I were you. Especially if Heracles told you to wear it."




Angus begins tearing up. He throws his arms around you and embraces you in a bear hug that almost crushes your rib cage. When he pulls away, he's legitimately crying and he says "Thank you. Just thank you."



You can take off the gauntlet. But you can also tell that it doesn't want you to. It wants to stay with you. If you do take it off, you will see that it has grown in size. It was made to fit Heracles, and his arms and hands were considerably smaller than your own. But the gauntlet has expanded in size to fit you perfectly. It feels like it is calling to you to put it back on.

OOC) It's not magical at all. Think Iron Man. And it's got some cool features you've not yet discovered. Come on man, keep it.

(Doing Therapy)

I keep it.

So you keep the gauntlet. The Hammer of Heracles gets passed around for the others to examine. When it's passed to Bill and Ted, the strange white aura fades instantly.

But then it's passed to Campbell. In his hands, it once again begins to glow with that strange white aura.

Campbell is perplexed. "Why is this glowing for me? Am I a descendant of Heracles as well?"

Angus looks at him perplexed also. "Cousin???" he asks.

(Doing Therapy)

In reply to JohnA1nut (msg # 119):

I stare with everyone else.

After you finish staring, you go outside. When the gauntlet is exposed to direct sunlight, it starts to warm up. Looking at the back armor plate of it that covers the back of your forearm, you see a row of LCD type symbols appear. It's a four digit counter. The digit on the far right lights up. Then it changes. Then it changes again. After it's changed 10 times, the second symbol lights up, and it's the first symbol that was seen in the first row. It's apparently a counter and it's counting up.

After a few more seconds, the back plate of the gauntlet begins to glow. It resembles a smartphone touchscreen. There are several icons that appear on the back plate, each one is a different colored dot, with a word in a strange language written underneath it.

And the counter is continuing to count up.

(Doing Therapy)
This message was last edited by the player at 18:50, Sun 26 Nov 2017.

I tell the others I'm going to get some space, and I get a half a mile away, just in case this thing is about to do that Predator thing.  I keep an eye out as I do, not wanting to be ambushed by a Creaker.  And I wait...

So you leave them there. They agree to wait for you.

The longer it's exposed to direct sunlight, the more the counter keeps going up. After about a half hour, the third indicator comes on.

Whilst you're just absently staring at the gauntlet, a zombie manages to get the drop on you and sneak up on you. You instinctively grab it around the throat with the gauntlet hand.

And as you watch, the zombie's skin begins to change color. The green tinge fades and gradually returns to normal human flesh tone. The zombie's incoherent gurgling noises slowly changing into comprehensible speech.

"Let me..... let me go man. I can't can't breath."

It's a young man, early 20s. And he appears to be normalized.

You look at the energy counter, and it appears to have dropped somewhat as a result of this.

In reply to JohnA1nut (msg # 123):

I let him go, and start dancing around and whooping loudly in pure joy.

OOC) You didn't seem to like magic, so how about technology which is indistinguishable from it? The gauntlet is purely technological, the hammer is magic.

The guy, the former zombie, looks himself over. He's in awe. He says "What.... what happened. It was like I was in a haze. Then all of a sudden you lifted the veil."

He's completely grateful for whatever you just did.

In reply to JohnA1nut (msg # 125):

OOC: It's fine.

"Come on friend. Let's go talk to the others. You can tell them your story. And maybe get some food as well."  I lead him back to the others with a smile on my face.

The guy is gaunt, thin, his clothes are tattered and he's only wearing one shoe.

When you get back to the nursing home, Angus and the others are standing around examining the Hammer of Heracles. Angus throws a fireball harmlessly into the air.

Campbell says "The legends are true then. I wonder if this can heal the zombies...."

Then you announce yourself, they all turn around and look.

Bill and Ted point at him and say in unison "Is that guy a former zombie?"

My face cracks with a wide grin.  I can't hold it in.

"Meet, uh, I didn't ask your name, but a former Creaker.  Gang, we have a way to rescue many.  But first this poor fellow needs a drink, a blanket, some food, and information, and then a bed, I assume in that order."  With that, I get them to taking care of this guy.  Once, he's set up, I go looking for another zombie...

The former zombie grins back. He's not sure why. But you're happy and that makes him happy.



Bill says "He ain't no Creaker. Creakers are bodybuilders. But you healed a zombie. That is totally station my man."

Campbell asks if he can examine the gauntlet. "I can understand a little bit of that language."

He looks at the back. There's an icon that's lit up. Campbell says "This says 'Heal' I think." Then he touches another icon. It lights up. "This one says 'Beam of light'. Try pointing it upwards towards the sky and making a fist."

So you do. A pitiful green laser beam fires into the sky momentarily. You can just tell it's supposed to be much, much more powerful than that. The energy counter drops to nothing and the gauntlet powers down. It begins recharging again after a few minutes exposure to direct sunlight.

Campbell says "Did you see that? A laser weapon. But it used too much power. You're gonna have to let this recharge. That might takes days. A week. But I'd love to see that at full power."

You would guess that the energy maximum would amount to 9999. It was at maybe 150 when you healed the zombie. Who knows how much energy the laser would require? But it is nice to know healing doesn't require much power.

But Campbell makes arrangements for the former zombie to stay at the nursing home for a while, until they can figure out what to do with him. He'll be cared for.

In fact, they're kind of planning on staying here for the night.



You're going to have to let the gauntlet recharge for a while. The others recommend waiting.

And Angus asks you if you've any thoughts on how to use the Hammer of Heracles to heal. Your guess is as good as anybody's.

(Doing Therapy)
This message was last edited by the player at 13:05, Wed 20 Dec 2017.

I go along with their plans.

"No, not really.  Um, we should pray about it."  So we do, as a group in a circle, asking for advice or insight.

Then I go out, and sit in the sun.  Need to bring that number back up to say 175, just to be on the safe side.

You feel God says back

"When the time comes, you will know what to do."

And He's speaking to you, specifically. That applies to using the gauntlet as well.



The sun is going down. It'll get maybe an hour of weak sunlight. Campbell suggests being up at sunrise.

"No reason to think the rising sun would charge it faster. But it couldn't hurt."

But he does tell you that you are going to be driving for the next 2-3 days so there will be plenty of time to hang your arm out the car window and let it charge.

And if there's nothing else, it's bedtime. When you wake up, you'll be driving immediately after breakfast. You find pointing the plate at the sun seems to charge it faster. When they stop again in three days, it'll be fully charged.

OOC) Any suggestions for where that stop will be?

(Doing Therapy)

"Probably noontime sun would be best.  Shortest passage through the atmosphere, so strongest light."

I enjoy hanging it out of the window, and watching the numbers go up.  I try to get them to stop to h eal any zombies we see.

As to stopping, a well-defended spot of high ground is always nice.

As the gauntlet charges, more and more features become noticeable to you. You try again firing the laser weapon. At full power, it's like a phaser stun setting. You can heat up rocks, cut holes in soft object, one of the peons volunteers to be shot with it. It knocks him out for several minutes. Takes about 500 or so units of power.

You accidentally magnetize yourself to one of the vehicles. Your hand is stuck to the hood of the car. It takes a few minutes of fiddling with the controls to get it to let you go.

You take special note when you heal a zombie. The back plate gives off a black and white real time picture of the zombie's innards. Like an X-ray. You spot two bullets that are inside his chest cavity. Someone suggests using the magnet to try to pull the bullets out. It works, but probably does more damage coming out than they did going in. But you heal the zombie of that and the zombie virus.

You're absolutely certain this gauntlet can do much much more than what you've seen.

Meanwhile, Campbell and Angus go to work with the hammer. They finally figure out how to use it to heal zombies. It works well.

OOC) Where do you want the story to go now?

(Doing Therapy)

"We need to heal more zombies." I say.  "Build a defensible base, go out, rope and lasso zombies, heal them.....do it every day until we clear this area."

Campbell says "I'm thinking more long-term. There's only two of us who can do this. There are legends of other weapons which are out there. I think, perhaps we should look for them. But at the very least, we should split up the healing devices. Any one of Angus's children or Cambell's brothers could wield the hammer. They're descendants of Heracles, after all. You don't have to split up the original team. Since you've got one of the healing devices, you've got first pick of your team. The hammer can be sent off to Angus's eldest son, or to Campbell's brother. They can decide who gets it by a predetermined competition of decidedly fair match."

That's not his exact words, but that's the gist of what he's saying.

So, as the only one who can wield your healing device. (Untested, but it's according to legend.) You are Team Leader. Who do you want with you?

And you can even pick people who haven't even been introduced yet.

You can choose among the military forces of a 1980s or so military of the second largest country in the world. Or Anything. Do you hear me? Anything!!!!! Any person, any vehicles, mode of transit. You are boss.

(Doing Therapy)

Jeeps. One APC. A palisade or stone wall  too slick for zombies to climb.  A watchtower inside the wall. Gasoline tank, large. Electric generator. AC.  A tall walled corral to hold the zombies.  A loudspeaker or a large bell to draw in the zombies.  A set of mirrors to focus the sun on the gauntlet to speed up the regeneration.  An accurate map if they have one, if not, surveyors and a means to make a map.

We need to clear this countryside.

I try to look for defensible barriers to make a cleared zone, like a county wide area.  Wide enough rivers, or an impassable canyon or something.

Campbell thinks for a minute, then says "So you want a fortress where zombies can be brought and imprisoned until you can heal them? I'll get started on that right away."

And he walks off to go talk to some people.

So you're outside. You stun a zombie with the laser weapon and then grab it and heal it. Doesn't seem to matter what the target is. The laser puts anything down for five minutes. It seems the healing works if your palm is in contact with an injured or diseased person.

But after a few hours, Campbell calls you over. He's found the place. It's fifty miles west of here. Sounds like just what you're asking for.

Angus wants to go back to the island and see his family. Campbell's brother has been selected to wield the Hammer of Heracles. It's just as effective for him as it is for Campbell. They're both descendants of Heracles. It heals them much faster than your gauntlet, but still. Your gauntlet can do things their best scientists haven't been able to.

So you're holed up in your bunker. It's coming to resemble Auschwitz. Except the prisoners are zombies. You heal them faster than the gauntlet can recharge. You often need to take a day or two to rest and recoup. But the healed zombies are sent on their way by train or truck back to their homes.

Two Posts



Somebody devises a set of lenses and mirrors to focus the sun onto you. They manage to do it without cooking you..... too badly.

Fortunately, the gauntlet healing function seems to passively work on you at all times. So your sunburns heal and don't get...... too bad.

This charges the gauntlet significantly faster.

Campbell was right about the rising sun though. The first few seconds of the rising sun, when the sun is just beginning to peak over the horizon, causes the power indicator to jump about 100 points in a few seconds. The rest of the sunrise charges it faster than the lenses.

It's still got lots of functions that you've not yet discovered.

(Doing Therapy)

I try to get this going efficiently.  There are a lot of people who can be saved, and some assembly line like efficiency is going to make it work better.  One group to fetch zombies, one guy to stake down the zombie with a rope on the left, one on the right, one floor foreman to yell at everyone to remember their jobs, and me to run up, heal the zombie, and get out of the way while, the next group frees him, and takes him away to get a bath, food, explanations, and sleep.

Once that is done, I ask the mirror maker to make a bigger mirror.  Then I try and pray.

"LORD God, the three Hebrew children walked in the fiery furnace, and were not harmed.  I need to heal as many as I can.  Spare me from the mirror's burning, please."

You get your assembly line up and running. Angus, Campbell, Bill and Ted all left. You're pretty much the only member of the party left behind here.

You use the scanner and magnet to remove bullets, arrowheads, even the occasional broken off knife blade. Removal invariably does more damage than it did going in, but you can heal that wound as well.

You get asked occasionally to heal normal people of injuries. The gauntlet does it just fine.



And it's like you're wearing Sunblock 5,000. You feel nothing of the sun's rays. The mirror maker assures you that you should be cooked to death, but you're cool as a cucumber. It's still a losing battle with the power pack in the gauntlet though. You're still healing faster than it can recharge. But it's faster than before.

Word starts to get around about you. Pretty soon you've got people and zombies of all nationalities and races. They're locked in trucks or on train cars. You're completely surrounded by them. If the zombies broke out, you'd be screwed. But you can only heal them one at a time.

You don't do any healing at night. The gauntlet still has power of course, but the zombies become completely uncontrollable. Stronger, faster, more violent. Deemed too difficult to control safely.

The Mormon government is building here. You've got hundreds, maybe thousands of soldiers, contractors, construction workers, anyone you could think of at your beck and call.

OOC) Where do you want to go from here?