NOTE
As of April 14th, 2013, this site is no longer available in this format. See MBR Lab (hacking) for the current (Novos) version. This page is kept for historical purposes only.
Site
A computer system accessed from the Testing Lab choice encounter in Midgard Bioresearch. You must have a computer equipped to hack it.
Options and results are listed below. "Unplug" is always an option. Each action takes 1 energy and raises the alert by the amount listed below. If your alert gets to 100 you are kicked out of the system and gain 10 energy of Red Alert or fight 3 Midgard Security (see below).
| Action | Access | Alert* | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Elevate Privileges | - | variable | |
| Browse Public Files | Level 1 | ? | |
| Fake Test Scores | Level 2 | ? | |
| Browse Secure Files | Level 3 | ? | |
| Sound Alarm | Full control | ? | Only without Red Alert |
| Sound All Clear | Full control | ? | Only with Red Alert |
| Access Personal Logs | Full control | ? | With Biotech PDA equipped |
| Connect the PDA | Full control | ? | With encrypted PDA |
| Browse Security Logs | Full control | ? |
* Incognito reduces this - see Alert level for details.
Elevate Privileges
Engage in net combat:| Level | Defender |
|---|---|
| Level 1 | password-lock-pre-novos (1P,3M,3H,4A) |
| Level 2 | Gatekeeper (3P,6M,3H,3A) |
| Level 3 | Gatekeeper (3P,6M,3H,3A) |
| Full control | password-lock-pre-novos (2P,3M,3H,3A) Gatekeeper (3P,7M,3H,3A) |
Browse Public Files
You dig through reams of scientific data, medical records, and meeting notes. For all this place is supposed to be a research facility, almost all these files are targeted towards training.
On the bright side, it provides you a good chance to look up medical advice.
You regain 20-30 hit points!
Fake Test Scores
The testing system in place here is fairly rudimentary, so it's a simple matter to insert a passing grade. Moments later, the badge printer nearby spits out a badge for your use.
You found: Slags medical ID
Browse Secure Files
First time:
You open the files, expecting to find Midgard secrets or at least medical files. It's strange, though. There's only a handful of files.
You open one up and take a look. The one's title is 'Beach Life,' which could mean something harmless in another computer system. Here it's a summary of some of the more dangerous denizens of the beach east of the lab.
The primary subject of the file is creatures that lurk below the sands, entangling passersby with their long tentacles. Several scientists have their say in the report, but they agree the species falls outside and between normal classifications.
A footnote added by username Admin_Boris indicates the tendrils of the creatures, either shed naturally or "harvested directly" can be heated then compressed to release a golden fluid that helps speed natural healing. It would probably be easy enough to test it with a chemistry kit.
Towards the end of the document, there's a short note about reports of other creatures brought in under the effects of the Slags toxic rains. Everything from living mounds of sludge to flying eyeballs to singing fish has been reported. Whoever wrote that section of the report certainly doesn't hold back on the venom, but there is a short… almost fearful… note mentioning that reports on the creatures are very consistent between individuals.
You've learned a new chemistry recipe: Tendril Drops - Process down some Withered Tendrils into soothing drops
Second time:
The secured files haven't changed since you looked last, so you open the next one in the list. This file covers the drones used in and near the facility, referred to as CD and AD. The terminology is unfamiliar, but you recognize the CD line as the hound drones that accompany Midgard Security and ADs are apparently mobile weapon platforms held aloft by a rotor.
Apparently, CD security is standard at Midgard facilities, mandated from someone called Heimdall. However, he also mandates a wireless net to monitor their progress and allow them to sound alerts. You haven't noticed anything of the sort in their systems here.
The AD line are used heavily in patrolling the nearby shoreline and within the Slags, but can't be used effectively inside a building. Heimdall's suggestions for linking them into a computer net seem to have been ignored here as well. Unless it's well hidden, there isn't even a receiver that could catch their distress beacons from the shore.
There isn't mention of any other lines, but they're probably just not in use here. Unfortunately, the document doesn't include any advice on deactivating… uncooperative drones.
Third time:
The secured files haven't changed since you looked last, so you open the next one in the list. This one is titled, slightly ominously, "Patient 2946." None of the other documents seem to have anything to do with patient records so this one must be special.
The record picks up with a team finding a young woman washed up on the nearby beach, covered in the toxic sludge Lake Metroplex has become known for. After a strange altercation where the team's drone misidentified her as a target and had to be put down, she was brought in for treatment.
Aside from two factors, she was found to be in perfect health and sound mind. She suffered from a mild case of "Slags Toxification" after exposure that would have melted the average person. And, more interestingly, she suffered from a strangely functional amnesia.
The report goes on for almost a dozen pages discussing her resistance to toxins and swift recovery from the drone attack, but leaves the amnesia mentioned only as a passing irritation until several weeks later.
She'd been allowed access to the lab's break room between tests. Returning from one break, she flatly requested to see someone. The request was granted and he arrived to take her away within the hour.
Unfortunately her request is recorded as "I need you to contact REDACTED from REDACTED. Tell him REDACTED passed through REDACTED. What… what's REDACTED?"
Fourth time:
The secured files haven't changed since you looked last, so you open the next one in the list. You might hope a document titled "The Slags" would contain some interesting history or scientific summary, but you'd be disappointed.
It mostly covers the security for the Slags gate. The only people allowed in are the specially-trained guards, certified medical staff, and the occasional guest cleared by Midgard Special Projects.
The guards at the gate are otherwise authorized to kill anyone who approaches, aided by turrets built into the wall itself. Drones also patrol the wall itself, with programming to kill anything climbing.
If they didn't have to let people in and out constantly, it'd be almost impenetrable.
Fifth time:
The secured files haven't changed since you looked last, so you open the next one in the list. This safety document is title "Toxic Rains." You can see from its security settings that dozens of people have access to it, so at least someone thinks it's useful.
The document itself details the rain storms common over the nearby beach. Although some rains are harmless, most carry the risk of "Slags Intoxification."
It has a few suggestions for conquering the storms. Anyone dispatched to the beach should wear an air filter of some nature and a containment suit if possible. They should also carry at least one vial of Slags Antidote, either for themselves or their team mates.
The last piece of advice is a bit stranger. "Anyone suspecting they have been poisoned should make contact by comm for treatment rather than returning to the facility directly. Until that time, avoid any patrolling AD or CD units."
Subsequent times:
The secured files haven't changed since you looked last, but you grab one at random to reread.
(followed by text from one of above)
It's interesting, but you can't shake the feeling that someone has taken great care to remove the useful information from this system. It seems like these people must know more about the Slags, but it's just not here.
You've earned 4 XP in Perception
Sound Alarm
You enter a few quick commands, causing alarms to ring throughout the building. Well, what's life without a few challenges, after all?
You've gained 25 energy of Red Alert.
Sound All Clear
You sound the all clear. Alarms and klaxons throughout the facility switch off.
(Lose all energy of Red Alert)
Access Personal Logs
First time:
The terminal helpfully displays 'External Device Recognized! Access Recognized! Greetings Admin_Boris!' and displays a list of personal log entries.
It seems all of Boris's logs are here, from the day he started heading the facility about three years ago. They're tagged by date rather than subject, which means your best bet is to skip through them until you find something interesting.
Luckily, the very first entry fits the bill. It begins with a voice recording.
"Hello, this is Boris, new head of Midgard Bioresearch, MBR. I've created this log to get the thoughts out of my head. Can't tell anyone else, after all. Ha ha ha. HA HA HA HA HA!"
"Even with Midgard's best Cleaners having gone through the place, you can still smell death. I finally got the promotion. A lab of my own. A chance to prove myself! Fate is a funny woman."
"The old staff is all gone. Management says there was a chemical leak, killed them all. Probably means it's something even worse, da?"
"I heard one of the Cleaners. She said half the eggheads were in straightjackets after killing the other half. More truth in that joke than a thousand memos."
"Anyway, time to meet the new eggheads and see what's left in the holding pens. Boris out."
Second time:
The terminal helpfully displays 'External Device Recognized! Access Recognized! Greetings Admin_Boris!' and displays a list of personal log entries.
You skip ahead, past hours of boring medical records and management details until you hit the next interesting entry. The voice recording picks up.
"I think someday Special Projects is going to kill me. I just hope it's with needlers and not with heart attacks. Go out fighting like dad. Show 'em the Claw. Heh heh heh heh heh."
"They're pulling out all the high security patients, moving them down to the Slags facility. They say it's so there isn't another Class S event this close to civilization."
"I ask them how this toxic pit is close to civilization. But they don't really get angry until I ask them what a Class S event is. Looked ready to fill me with needles. Forgot the first rule: never ask questions."
"So tomorrow, all the test subjects are gone. We do… nothing. Good thing we got that new break room. Heh. Boris out."
Third time:
The terminal helpfully displays 'External Device Recognized! Access Recognized! Greetings Admin_Boris!' and displays a list of personal log entries.
You skip ahead, past hours of boring medical records and management details until you hit the next interesting entry. Boris's voice kicks in, sounding a little dulled. "Ahhh, poor Murphy. So young, you know? He doesn't understand Midgard yet."
"He asked me to check with Special Projects about getting Patient two nine four six back. Murphy thinks she's the key to reinhabiting this area, making it safe. He thinks… quietly, not even in his message… but he thinks that she might be the key to true regeneration. I prefer metal myself, but I hear some people like fleshy limbs. Crazy, I know."
"I told Murphy I couldn't do it. He might be right. It doesn't matter. Never has. You don't ask questions."
"I hope he listens… Boris out."
Fourth time:
The terminal helpfully displays 'External Device Recognized! Access Recognized! Greetings Admin_Boris!' and displays a list of personal log entries.
You skip ahead, past hours of boring medical records and management details until you hit the next interesting entry. There's a long pause before Boris's voice comes on, sounding strained. "Murphy, Murphy, Murphy. Why is he so stupid? He does these things… not understanding Midgard… not understanding Slags… not understanding Special Projects."
An electronic buzz echoes through another long pause. "He is so stupid… he goes over my head, to head of division, da? Never found what he said… never will, now."
"When Murphy had to go home early today, said his daughter was sick, came home from school… I knew already." Boris's voice pauses again and you can hear nothing but ragged breathing and that buzz for a few seconds. "One of the security guys saw it on the cameras. We had to sedate him… in cell 15."
"The spiders… waited in her until he was there… they… Never mind, this isn't helping." The recording ends with a click.
Fifth time:
The terminal helpfully displays 'External Device Recognized! Access Recognized! Greetings Admin_Boris!' and displays a list of personal log entries.
You skip ahead, past hours of boring medical records and management details until you hit the next interesting entry. The audio recording kicks in halfway through Boris saying something. "…citing development today! A few of the staff were caught by a freak storm near the beach, got poisoned pretty bad."
"Which I'm sure was terrible. But while they were poisoned, all of them had the same hallucination about walking on an oil slick. One of them was dragged under by a humanoid thing made of sludge."
He breaks into laughter which seems rather inappropriate for the topic. "Two nine four six had talked about them. She'd seen them too, but none of the staff out there had ever talked to her!"
"She talked about pulling out one of their hearts. I think I know what I can do next time management lets me send somebody out there. Heh. Ha ha ha HA HA HA… ahem. Boris out."
Subsequent times:
The terminal helpfully displays 'External Device Recognized! Access Recognized! Greetings Admin_Boris!' and displays a list of personal log entries.
You seem to have run out of log entries, so you loop back and reread one of the interesting ones.
(followed by text from one of above)
Connect the PDA
The computer pops up an error reading "Hardware Not Recognized" then runs through some diagnostics. It seems to have even less of an idea of what to do with this PDA than you do.
It's possible this facility isn't considered secure enough. Either that or nobody bothered to install the software. Assuming it's a security precaution makes you feel a bit better.
You've earned 2 XP in Perception/Will
Browse Security Logs
It's pretty lonely in here. Your account sticks out like a sore thumb when you look for it.
Getting Kicked Off
(If Red Alert is not active)
You're snapped out of your hacking stupor by the sounds of klaxons nearby.
You've gained 10 energy of Red Alert.
(If Red Alert is active)
As you're disconnected, you can hear several sets of footsteps approaching. Three Midgard Security officers burst into the room, guns at the ready.
(Fight 3 Midgard Security)