306 lines
15 KiB
Plaintext
306 lines
15 KiB
Plaintext
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Underground eXperts United
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Presents...
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[ The BIG System Vol.2 ] [ By The Chief ]
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-*-*-*- CHAPTERS 11 THROUGH 15 - VOL.2, VERSION 1 - THE REAL VERSION! -*-*-*-
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_______________________________________________________________________________
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CHAPTERS 11 THROUGH 15
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_______________________________________________________________________________
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11.....Andromeda 22
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12.....Easy school
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13.....2 Computers, all in one
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14.....Beach Party Panic
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15.....The Meeting
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_______________________________________________________________________________
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CHAPTER ELEVEN CHAPTER ELEVEN
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__________________________________ANDROMEDA 22_________________________________
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Andromeda 22 was seen as a glowing ball of fire after it's sudden
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and unexplainable appearance to the surprise of Earth's astronomers
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and scientists.
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You could barely see it as a small red spot with your eyes, but
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through Earth's best observatory on the island of Lunai, not far
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from Hawaii, it could be observed with careful and powerful
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strength.
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The Soviet republic and the United States of America had been
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cooperating with space exploration for a long time, to reach
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further together without unnecessary and often dangerous
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competition.
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When the space station SATCON 7 was built, the cooperation became
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stronger than before. Seven Americans and nine Soviets now worked
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together on the station, placed near one of Jupiter's many moons,
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IO.
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Steve Spingleman was one of the astronomers and scientists who now
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had gathered at the observatory to, if not exchange theories about
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A-22, to start a cooperation to get much closer to it.
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China was the nation that had a space station closest to A-22,
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right between the planet and Earth. The station, ZUR, wasn't manned
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but was built to handle a crew of five. The distance was a major
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factor. Journeys from the Earth to the station, whichever it would
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be, would demand large amounts of money in transportation and
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communication. If ZUR was to be used, the costs were cut to half
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comparing to if they were to use SATCON 7, because it was placed on
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the other side of A-22, between A-22 and Jupiter.
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Communication was the second most important factor. If you could
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cut the distance in half, you also cut the delay in time in half.
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The delay was a major problem when working with these incredible
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distances. Of course plasma energy was used which almost reached
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lightspeed, but the delay could still be about two hours if they
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used SATCON 7 instead of just one hour or less with ZUR.
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The third factor was the crew. China had many of Earth's best
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astronomers, but ZUR could only take five persons. SATCON 7 took
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fifteen...
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_______________________________________________________________________________
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CHAPTER TWELVE CHAPTER TWELVE
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__________________________________EASY SCHOOL__________________________________
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Fifteen minutes after I had put the phone down the error-test of
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The Metro was complete. Through my home-built error-checking system
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I found a small but not harmless fault. A quick change of the
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vacuum-freezed number generator that handled the identification-
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process with XX EXPRESS modems and everything seemed to work
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all right.
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A quick look at the watch told me that I wouldn't be able to try
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The Metro the same day. "School" was about to start and with it an
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essay which I'd forgotten. The subject was "Computer fear in the
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20th century". Info Addict was bound to have what I was looking for,
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so I called it up and started to go through the massive bank of
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information.
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Computer Anarchists, Computers & Cooking, Computer Evacuations, ah,
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Computer Fear! A large file of 150 pages plus thirteen other files
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covering subjects not close, but close enough to Computer fear.
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I lazered them over and copied a little bit of each file into one,
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made a few changes and ended up with an 80-page essay in six
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minutes. Sure, it wasn't very honest, but when everything's already
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written, and is accessible, why bother to write it again? You get
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my point? Well, I fed my essay into the school-drome and got the
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result 10 seconds later with an "A". The "School" took about two
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hours, then it was time for dinner and after that, the beach party.
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No, I hadn't forgot about Megan. That was exactly what I was
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thinking about.
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_______________________________________________________________________________
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CHAPTER THIRTEEN CHAPTER THIRTEEN
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___________________________2 COMPUTERS, ALL IN ONE_____________________________
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Spingleman's assignment was to build the computer that would handle
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the journey, most of the observations and even be able to handle
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the whole operation itself if it was necessary, but the time-delay
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factor made it almost impossible, but only "almost". The computer
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would need instructions from Earth and quick decisions was crucial,
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the slightest mistake could ruin the operation. Human assistance
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would therefor take care of that problem.
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Spingleman could stake all his knowledge on that the computer would
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manage all predictable and unpredictable situations even without
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human help, but everyone didn't share his trust in computers, so
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they decided on human assistance as a "safety net".
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When Spingleman had been contacted by the WSA three weeks ago, he
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had been working on the GCEC project, but had to drop that for the
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new computer. Now three weeks later, his standard prototype,
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connected with a couple of XX EXPRESS modems to the telephone net
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back home had been upgraded so it contained both projects. His
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customers were delighted to try out not one, but two new computers
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at the same time, adding their wants and needs to their lists from
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both computers.
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Of course, this was only known to himself and his customers,
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because no-one else had access to the prototype, or at least SHOULD
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have access to it.
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_______________________________________________________________________________
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CHAPTER FOURTEEN CHAPTER FOURTEEN
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_______________________________BEACH PARTY PANIC_______________________________
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Dinner was quickly finished and it was time to walk down to the
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beach and the party. It had started about an hour ago, but would
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surely last the whole night so I didn't need to hurry, and.. then
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it was that thing with Megan..
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Ten minutes later I was at the beach with a large drink in my hand.
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I noticed my sister and her friends but not Megan. Maybe she'd been
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held-up and couldn't come? Well, I managed to find a couple of my
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friends and sat down to talk a bit. It was Rob (Robert, who shared
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my interest in computers), Patrick, generally called The Professor
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because he could always come up with the most unusual and hard-to-
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get facts just like he had added another 20-Terrabyte HD to his
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brain. Then there was Mimi, whom I had grown up with and her friend
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Marcelline who I didn't know too well.
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We sat there and talked about everything. The party, the latest
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rumors, well, whatever came up. After a while we needed some new
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drinks, so we decided to walk around and see what was happening on
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the beach. A couple of bands played and we stayed for a moment to
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listen, and then started to walk towards the big fireplace.
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And then, I ran into Megan...
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_______________________________________________________________________________
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CHAPTER FIFTEEN CHAPTER FIFTEEN
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__________________________________THE MEETING__________________________________
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Right after the end of the meeting, the very impatient Dr Spingleman
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was called to the WSA presidential's office. His office, placed at
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the top of the magnificent SPACE COMMISSION building was The largest
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office in the whole building, because it covered the complete top.
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The building was described as a 220 meter high black building, made
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of the material found on the Moon a couple of years earlier. The
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material, called 'Lunar' was the latest word in strength and it
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didn't reflect any light. The sunlight that hit the building was
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absorbed and converted into pure energy. The building therefor
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didn't need outside sources to get light, heat, or power for it's
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massive amount of electronics. It was a magnificent sight.
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Big black doors (in the 3m class) opened when the guard received the
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word to let Spingleman in. Behind the doors, a man sat with his back
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turned against Spingleman in a big black chair. The man seemed to
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enjoy a good cigar of the latest artificial tobacco-free brands.
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When Spingleman got closer he recognized the worried look of his old
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friend, staring out a big black window, and seemed to be far away.
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- Frank?, Spingleman said clearing his throat.
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- Steve! I'm glad you could make it. Sit down, sit down.
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Frank Stechnykov's troubled look vanished, replaced by warmth and
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frankness.
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- It must have been..., Stechnykov hesitated, 10 years? Well, time
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really flies!
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- No no, Steve said making himself comfortable in a big black chair,
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it'll be 15 years next year, but you're still the same. The only
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change I notice is that round...
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- Hahaha, Stechnykov thundered, You know Jeanie's food is unresistable.
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It's really good to see you again Steve, he said and commented
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Spinglemans beard with just as much irony.
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After they'd covered what had happened the last 15 years, Stechnykov
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started to come to the reason why Spingleman hadn't been cleared to
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attend the meeting earlier that day.
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- China wants to do research by themselves, and have no intentions to
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let us in on it or to cooperate. He puffed a few rings of smoke before
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he continued. The Operation must therefor be run from SATCON 7, as you
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already know, which makes the whole thing much more complicated, plus
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the competition that surely will be dangerous. It isn't just the
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increased distance...
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Stechnykov had that worried look again. He raised from his chair and
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pressed a black button on his desk. Spingleman's chair rotated 90
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degrees, facing a big black wall. Stechnykov went up to the wall and
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turned to Spingleman.
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- What you're about to see is classified and has top priority in
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top security issues. This is, as you will see, a very delicate
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situation. Everything said in this room from now on must stay here.
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Spingleman nodded and Stechnykov pressed another black button. The
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room was now totally black. Big black shutters covered the windows
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and not a shred of light could enter the room. A big CCVS Screen
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(Computer Crystal VideoScreen) lit up with a picture of SATCON 7.
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A voice started to tell the story.
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_______________________________________________________________________________
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END OF THE BIG SYSTEM - VOL.2 - VERSION 1
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_______________________________________________________________________________
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Even more Questions, & more Questions
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-------------------------------------
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* What the hell is going on?
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* What about that BIG system?
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* Why didn't we get some answers about Marielle?
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* What happens with Megan?
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* Can you eat it?
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* Smoke it?
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* What is the number to Info Addict?
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* Is this going to be another Space story?
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* No sign of the missing Engineers?
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* Why is Public Enemy simply The Best?
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We can answer the last one right now: Because!
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Get the next Volume of The BIG System, and you'll will have the answers!
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ONLY from uXu - Underground eXperts United!
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_________________________________________________________________________
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_________________________________________________________________________
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