Old Reckoning Video Entertainment Archive #949/GAG
Old Reckoning Video Entertainment Archive #949/GAG is a set of ten videotapes retrieved from the Outdoors by Vulture_Squadron_Bravo_9 three years ago. According to the mission reports, they ended up lost due to the excessive usage of one member's tacnuke shells (apparently provided by the Alpha_Complex_Rifle_Association_(ACRA)) putting off their compasses for a couple of days. They took shelter in an ancient dwelling, finding these records in a lower level sleeping quarters.
The tapes were on a variety of topics, all dealing (naturally) with Old Reckoning people and places. The videos are listed below with the most appropriate to this inquiry listed first.
Homemade tape of programs involving one Let-R-MAN. He had a guest on the first episode, Car-O-TOP, who covered his desk in little devices strongly resembling the ChatterBot mentioned in the Denta-Bots entry. The R&D team leader in charge of the ChatterBot project had checked out volumes in this archive before that project was establshed.
- "Red Dawn," a video production about young clones fighting Commies. However, the fact that a number of them began dressing as Commies, and apparently a somewhat sympathetic outlook toward these Commies at times (according to the note left by Paul-U-LEG-5) led to my predecessor's execution when a fellow High Programmer (identity as yet unknown) turned in video footage of him viewing such a scene to Friend Computer.
"Animal House," a record of the chaos that would surely come with a reduction of the hormone suppresants in the food supply of clearance VIOLET and below. It is worth noting, though, that VPR_Sector R&D had a Deathmobile in development when it was put offline (we had nearly solved the cake-cutting problem at the time).
- "The Rocky Horror Picture Show," another record of overactive hormones, this time with catchy music, at least according to my predecessor, Paul-U-LEG-6, who was executed for lack of hygiene after being overheard singing "touch-a touch-a touch-a touch me, I wanna be dirty" by a fellow High Programmer, identity as yet unknown.
"Star Wars Episode Two: Attack of the Clones," which was turned in belatedly after one of Vulture_Squadron_Bravo_9's troops found the title amusing. This turned out to be the one who liberally lobbed tacnukes around, apparently to defend against what appeared in the mission footage to be a pair of "small furry critters." The video was found in the executed clone's personal effects.
- Homemade video tape of Old Reckoning reproductive activity. Labelled "Skinemax Shows."
"Chris Rock: Bigger and Blacker," which seems to be largely inaccurate, as he seems no larger than many clones I've encountered around Alpha Complex (although, granted, scale is hard to establish) and the GeneScan_Image archives contain Genescans of people of all known shades of skin color.
- "Conspiracy Theory," a video that shows even in Old Reckoning times, Secret Societies were a threat. At least, that's what my predecessor, Paul-U-LEG-7 would say, up until a fellow High Programmer, identity as yet unknown, turned him in for apparently (from the name of the title) studying how to start a Secret Society.
"Office Space," a prescient Old Reckoning production that, were it not in the Old Reckoning, would look just like every CPU or PLC office I've ever had to enter. As it happens, a colleague at VPR_Sector R&D had a big hit on his hands among the INFRAREDs with his "Jump To Conclusions" mat, up until several hundred were executed (along with the mat's creator) after they jumped to treasonous conclusions.
"The Warriors," which I completed viewing after my predecessor, Paul-U-LEG-8, was shot by an apparent assassin who (according to information gleaned from the ongoing interrogation) thought he was looking into the KorDrill7 disappearance when a character on the video (another about a number of Secret Societies fighting openly on the streets of "The City") said, "can you dig it?"
Two things became clean from viewing this archive. First, that the ChatterBots did indeed seem to be inspired by this archive, and possibly the Denta-Bots from there, given the noted similarities. Second, someone is now trying to kill me (and succeeding at least three times). Perhaps it's the same one everyone else is worried about -- watch your backs!
Refs: Alpha_Complex_Rifle_Association_(ACRA), Denta-Bots, GeneScan_Image, KorDrill7, VPR_Sector, Vulture_Squadron_Bravo_9
Referenced by:
-- Paul-U-LEG-9
Commentary:
These attacks seem awfully specific to your access of the Archive. I wonder if we've got a band of overly-aggressive Romantics getting involved here? A lot of the ItemsInQuestion would be of interest to them, as well, I'm sure. It was during my predecessor's research leading up to what would have been his entry on the Items that he got killed; perhaps they kidnapped him, believing he could lead them to one or more of the Items, and when he couldn't, they killed him?
I've heard about this "Red Dawn" vid; apparently, the protagonists don't actually defeat the Communist threat in the end? Sounds like something nobody needs to see. Sometimes we forget that even the Old Reckoning vid-makers produced a failure once in a while.
And "Office Space", I must say, baffles me. Why isn't the protagonist simply executed for his behavior? Does he have a mutant power that clouds the minds of everyone else or something? And they take that poor facsimile device out and beat it with sticks... Why doesn't it defend itself with lasers and poison gas? Did fascimile machines not always protect themselves from angry users?
-- Knok-U-OUT-6
I don't know about the rest, and especially not about the ending of "Red Dawn" -- that was Paul-U-LEG-5. Perhaps it's true, but I'm not going to watch the thing to find out.
-- Paul-U-LEG-9
One problem: ORVEA #949/GAG appears as an original component of the Gatzmann_Archives. Has someone modified the table of contents for the Gatzmann_Archives, or was it stolen at some point? If the latter, who might have stolen it and left it in the Outdoors? Or has Vulture_Squadron_Bravo_9 been misusing their authority?
-- Jan-U-ARY-31
Can someone upload these files to my personal network? I need to...ummm...do some research.
-- Brush-U-TTH-33
To Jan-U: Interesting. It appears that the Archive my predecessors and I researched is a duplicate of a similar Gatzmann_Archives file. The confusion in that case is understandable. After all, even the Old Reckoning had mass production. I think we need to make sure that whoever is in charge of these things is labelling the archives properly. After all, we already know what happened to Developing_A_Better_Complex. Except for the "homemade" ones, of course, which is curious... To Brush-U: They're available to the panel, of course. Just try not to wear out tape six.
-- Paul-U-LEG-9