Situation Report (from the debriefing)
(Continued) It was at 06:50 Hours that I was able to re-establish contact with Lt. Vixen. Vixen: Rudy, do you copy. Rudolph: That's Team Leader. Where in the name of Frosty's frost butt are you? Vixen: I noticed something strange about these guys and I had to check it out. At this point, Dasher interrupted to comm traffic: Dasher: Team Leader, we have a problem. Dancer just took a shot in the leg. He's down hard sir. I've given him a lolly-pop for now, but we're going to need some help real soon. Q-Pid: Team Leader, this is base. Help is on the way, but even at just over Mach 2, I estimate that it's still 20 minutes away. Rudolph: Can't you make them go any faster!?! Q-Pid: (in Scottish accent) - Captain! I can't change the laws of Physics, ya know! Rudolph: Team 3, do the best you can. Dasher: Roger that. Just be advised that the enemy is gaining ground. Vixen: Ah, Rudy - I mean team leader. Is it my turn? Rudolph: Go ahead. Vixen: I was watching these robot guys and I noticed that the way they were shooting and changing weapons was really familiar. That I realized why. When I popped the back of this guys head open it had a Nintega company video game chip in it. These "robots" were using the same software that Nintega's old "Captains of Destruction" video game uses. Rudolph: And that means what exactly..... Prancer: (cutting in to the conversation in a very weary voice) I used to play that game alot, before "Generals of Chaos" came out. The "Captains of Destruction" game had a bug in it. If you got to the highest level, the video bad guys would over-flow their buffers. Rudolph: Prancer - you're O.K.. I saw you go down. I though you were dead. Prancer: Well, I'm alive but OK is a bit generous. I'm trapped under a ceiling beam and I'm pretty sure my leg is broken. Rudolph: Don't worry. We'll get you out of there. Vixen: (cutting back in) Anyway, as the game progressed in levels the computer adjusted the time between actions to be shorter and shorter. To the player, the bad guys got faster and faster, but there's where the bug comes in. At that point, the time between moves gets so short it rolls from 00 seconds back over to 999 seconds and the bad guys basically stop. Prancer: If these robots are using the CoD chips, it means that if we can set them to level ten, they won't be able to move fast enough to hit the broad side of a barn, much less us. Vixen: Rudy, I've found a subroutine that's used in the mulit-player mode. In multi-player mode, there is communication between the players. There should be communication between the robots, too. I'm sending out a signal now that should set them to level ten and I'm trying something else, too. As we watched, the robots all dropped their dangerous shooting weapons and took a small pocket knife out and started waving it around. Then they all starting moving in the slowest of slow motion. Several of them walked into each other.At least one tripped over some debris and could not figure out how to get up again. Rudolph: Prancer - don't you ever let me give you a hard time about playing video games again. Prancer: I'm going to hold you to that, boss. Vixen: Hey, watch this! As we watched, Lt. Vixen walked up behind a now-clueless robot. With a small smack to the back of the head, the robot went stiff as a board and fell over. Vixen: They've got an off button. Who ever heard of a baddie with an off button? These dorks are never going to cut it in the video game world! Rudolph: Team Leader to teams 2 and 3. These robots have got an off switch at the back of their neck. If you can come up behind them you can turn them off. Vixen: And don't worry about the guns. I've set all their ammo reserves to zero! The only thing they have left is that little pocket knife. Dancer: Roger that team leader, and "Sugar Cookie" found out that they have some real problems on slippery surfaces, too. Like when somebody throws sled oil on the floor in front of them. Rudolph: Roger that. Q-Pid: Team Leader - this is base. I think we have an even bigger problem. I've sent the NCC 1225 rocket sled and I've been using the on-board sensors to monitor your location. I've just detected a high energy build up. Acording to the facility computer, a new self-destruct mechanism has been added and it's counting down. You've got just over 4 minutes left. Rudolph: And how far away is the sled? Q-pid: It's running max out, but it will be at least 7 minutes before it gets there. Rudolph: Aw, gumdrops!
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