>From: cs201141@umbc5.umbc.edu (cs201141)
Subject: The Monk
Date: 30 Nov 90 15:24:56 GMT


      Vincent St. Ignatius began his new tale.  "You ask what are my interests
in companies, in corps?  It is not a happy story, perhaps not even very
interesting, it is more a story of my naive youth, and decrepit age", Vinnie
settled into his chair, shifting uncomfortably, he would not enjoy telling this
story.
      " Almost seventeen years ago, when I was decades younger and not of my
current appearence", Vinnie said referring to his cybernetics, " I was newly
wed to a beautiful historian, her name was Delta.  I was a scientist at the
cybernetics branch of the Order of Theotechnetics, the males were referred to
as Brothers, and the women obviously Sisters and marriage was not prohibited.
I had been working in this field for a few years, and my future
was promising.  To the Order of Theotechnetics the burden of curbing the
technological abuses of corporations had not yet fallen.  We were about
to take our first step."
      " One day a corp-warrior from one of the larger outfits came to us.
Curious enough, he had a conscious, and for it he would pay: he told us
of project NASCENT, he was obviously nervous, yet the honor that was in his
character steeled him from the dangers lurking and told us of the project.
Project NASCENT was a research brainstorm of a scientist by the name of
John O'Sullivan, a brilliant man with whom I had attended some seminars with.
It was obvious upon my first meeting him that his intelligence knew no bounds,
but neither did his ambitions and coldness.  His project consisted of the
ubduction of children illegally, or the legal sale of children on the markets,
though those children rarely met with his specifications, and other more
horrible plans."
     "Upon procurement of the children he began complete cyborg synthesis
of the children into technological monsters.  The capabilites of the
intellects once developed would exceed that of any previous known intellect,
human or computer.  Think of the capabilities of an entity born as a human,
with the unique human abibilities trained and molded in the forms of computers.
A synchretic being that could control the nets.  Several of these
entities working together would soon BE the nets, and they would work in
the interests of those who controlled them, which should not prove hard since
they were evolved with obedience in mind, and the deformed human side still
required nourishment, provided by tubes."
     "We did not know what to do at the time, but we decided to stop it, and
attempt the rescue of the tortured souls."
     "Several people in cybernetics volunteered, as well as people from other
departments, including Delta.  The corp-warrior also had friends that would
attempt the attack, plenty of people had gripes against this company."
     "The morning of a Tuesday a motley crew of people had assembled,
men-at-arms in battle suits, and young proffesionals, scientists, even an
accountant.  After 8:00 a.m. we set out, the gun slingers were armed and ready,
some of our people were also armed, some weren't.  We arrived at the gates
of the fortified building, the gate and outer security systems were easy
to break, some of the people had designed them.  Hopes were high, yet
Lienor, the man who had originally came to us warned us, that we could not
program our way around troops holding personal cannons.  The large truck that
carried us blasted a whole through the main entrance of the building
and smashed its way through the opening, doors were thrown wide, and the
sounds of battle were all around us.  Our soldiers were out the doors before
I knew it, the weapons on the truck provided cover so that
they could get to positions and begin the penetration into the corriders,
Lienor was shouting orders to the men.  I heard, 'GO!', and some of us were
wisked away while avoiding explosions, rubble and dead boddies.  I was in a
group with Delta, the accountant and a few others from Theotechnetics, Lienor
and a few of his soldiers.  We were running down a long corrider as fast as we
could.  Such a corrider was extremely dangerous since we were easy targets to
any fool that could fire a stream down the corrider.  We encountered
a turn and a foritfied security station, which now resembled a pill box.
They immediately let loose with a laser cannon, some of people fell.  The
accountant survived the first bout of fire and rushed the fortification with
a coil-bomb, destroying the fortification and himself.  A man I talked to in
the lunch line now lay splattered on everything within a ten foot radius of
where he used to exist."
      Vinnie again shifted in his seat though he was seemingly no longer aware
of where he was, only where he once was.  A battle scarred soldier had
silently entered the Chatsubo and now stood off to the side of Vinnie listening
to the story intensely.
      "Yet we continued on, and came to an elevator, Lienor obviously knew
where he was going, giving us orders, while talking to others through his
squelch box.  We arrived at an elevator shaft, the door promptly opened and
inside uniformed gaurds stood with their weapons raised, people from
Theotechnetics reacted, yet Lioner's soldiers quickly prevented any violence,
this must have been some of the inside people Lienor had spoken of."
      "Silence accompanied our journey towards the top of the building,
occasionally disturbed by a distant explosion and yells from the comm units
of the soldiers."
      "We arrived at our predestined floor, it was quiet and deserted, Lienor
motioned us towards a door, which one of his men was cutting an opening in.
'We can secure our position for thirty minutes, do what you can.'  We ( the
cybernetics specialists) rushed through the door to find ourselves in the
midsts of a huge breathing machine.  Dark metal and flickering sreens joined
cables and tubes in a incomprehensible conglomeration of vile purposes.  In
the center of the huge contraption small lighted units existed.  I rushed over
to find children's bodies of various ages each in compartments that were
part of the huge machinary.  The bodies were pale, the older children had
horribly atrophied: limbs distorted from nonuse.  We had to take a good bit of
the hardware to keep the children alive, it was agonizing work, a race against
time.  One of the older children died soon after his disconnection from the
computers. Yet we would could not leave any of them.  Some of the younger
children were disconnected in a relatively short time, though they became
extremely agitated, the older children were trickier to work on and took
a longer time, with alot more hardware having to have been taking with them.
But we had it done.  We left in another war wagon that had pulled up
on the grounds outside the door.  It was extremely crowded do to the children
and excess equipment that supported their fragile lives.  I mused the room
we did have was provided because people that used to occupy those spaces were
now dead.  (Though some were able to escape by other means.)  I was suprised
the first truck had not been used, when the ground heaved and a huge explosion
rocked the air outside, it sounded as if the earth had fallen in.  Lienor
said, 'The first truck had a small nuclear device', I was a little shocked, it
seemed someone with alot of money had a gripe with O'Sullivan everything
was then very quiet as we felt ourselves moving quickly on paved road."
      "I sat lost in thoughts of death and gore yet as from far away, I hear
Lienor, always in command, communicating with some of his forces outside
of the truck.  Through the mists that surrounded my mind I heard him say,
'But we failed to get O'Sullivan.'  I panicked in remembrance of my wife,
I looked beside me, and there she was exhausted and blood smeared, leaning
on my shoulder.  Of course, she was there, she was there the whole time,
screw O'Sulliven they failed to get Delta.  And with that my thoughts
fell into disjointed, but relieved slumber."