A piece of interactive fiction vs. role-playing game, where you get to suggest the next move and influence how the story progresses.
#24. Security
Monday, October 17, 2005 You trace your finger across the map, the first part of the grid reference points to a warehouse "atlantis". The second part, perhaps a container or room within the warehouse. The whole area hadn't been a live dock or shipping port for a long time now, but converted into self-storage warehouse units, the sort of place you could rent for a week, a month, a lifetime - and put anything you wanted hiding away. Most poeple would probably only use this place for old sofas, boxes from college, aged tape collections, but you think something more sinister is likely to occur when you reach the end of this trail of clues.You wander over to the blocks you identified on the map. It's already quite busy, people in heavily laden cars driving up to each unit's reception, signing up to long and short term deals, being shown the security in place, and generally shifting their crap from one location to another.
Atlantis warehouse looks the same as all the other warehouse frontages, but you recognise it from the photos in the security deposit box. A small shop front next to the warehouse reception, serving coffee, cold drinks and snacks has a few people sitting sipping at drinks whilst they wait for their partners or friends to complete off loading. you walk into the reception area - piped music plays whilst you stand at the desk, waiting for someone to come and answer your enquiry. Behind the desk is a bank of CCTV monitors, steadily switching from shot to shot of the interior of the warehouse, showing black and white images of corridors and rows and rows of shuttered doorways into containers. You can see numbers on the front of most container doors, and quite obvious heavy padlocks to keep you out.
You look down at the desk behind the counter, and see another bank of lights and buttons, as well as a bunch of keys and a swipe card. You wonder if that, quite literally, could be the key to getting inside, as you sure as hell don't currently have any other way in. The desk clerk walks back to the reception area, more a security guard than receptionist, carrying a pistol on his belt. He looks like the sort of guy who probably couldn't hack it in the army or police, so turned to a small security firm to get his authority fix.
"Can I help you sir?" he asks, and you wonder what to do next.
Not sure what to do you just mummble hello and shuffle your feet, then the guard says: "hey, don't I know you, weren't you here with that guy the other day, do you want to go see you unit?" Not knowing if you can stop this now you say hello to the guy in a more affirmative way and say yes you would like to go the unit but your friend has the key, could you get a spare.....?