Tink's Data Search result:
Most of the "legends" about Angel Towers being haunted can be traced back to a semi-mythical file supposedly passed around on runner 'Trix hangouts a few years ago: ATA_XR113.TRD, of which you were unable to locate a copy. In fact, most people never seem to ever have had a copy, just heard stories of what's in it "from a friend". Hearsay points to it being an amateur horror trid featuring of group of metaumans with lower-class English accents wandering around some dark, abandoned building. That, plus the ATA in the filename, lead most to assume it was filmed in Angel Towers. The strange part is no one, even those claiming to have seen it, has ever watched it all the way to the end. They claimed the file deleted itself before anything actually scary happened, making it a pretty poor excuse for a horror trid. ... except for one case. It was difficult, but Tink managed to pull a text file transcript from some obscure part of the Matrix that's supposedly related. No identification of anyone in it is provided. Transcript follows: Okay, I’ve got it. I think I’ve got it. Ha! Bastards. That’ll
teach ‘em to mess around with my ‘link.
I’m trying! It won’t—it won’t share. I don’t know why!
How the hell should I know? It just won’t share, okay? Look, I’ll
try to unlock it later, but right now I’m gonna watch it, before
something happens to it again. You can just listen.
I’m going to fast forward through the parts we already saw.
There they go, they’re walking down the corridor, they’re talking,
they’re joking, ha ha ha, yeah, same stuff. Okay, they went to the
one room, they looked in the empty barrel, water dripped on
their heads. Caught up now, slowing down. Let’s see what this
has got.
Second room. Still nothing. The dwarf suggests maybe they
split up, they could cover more ground that way. Yeah, good
move, dwarf guy. Splitting up in dark, creepy corridors always
works well for people. But they’re smart enough to stay together
and move on. Good for them.
And we have a noise! Distant, creepy noise. Everyone
jumps a little, looks around, then giggles nervously. It sounded
like something falling over. Maybe an empty barrel? But it
didn’t sound like it rolled after it fell. Everyone thinks it came
from above. Their nervous, but they’re moving on. They’re
moving slower now, scanning every centimeter of space, looking
down, looking—
—holy shit. There was something there. There was totally
something there! Right at the edge of the light, it just darted out
of the way. It was kind of long and thin, but I couldn’t make out
any details. I’ll go back later, get a freeze on it. Figure out what it
was. But I want to see this through.
They’re really nervous now, but they’re still moving forward.
They’re not even talking about going back. Crap, how desperate
are these guys? Where are they coming from that wandering
through here is a better alternative than where they normally
are? It’s just not nice here, it’s dark, it’s cold.
It’s cold. I feel it, it’s cold. There’s some simsense here! It
wasn’t there at first, but it’s there now. A simsense track. Holy
mother of hell. Anyway, this guy’s nervous. He doesn’t want to
be the one having to do the recording. He wants his hands free
in case something happens.
They’re moving to the next room. Slowly. The door here
is closed. It scratches across the floor at one point, and this guy
nearly jumps out of his skull. This is amped up, man. I think my
heart rate just doubled.
They’re looking in the room and—elation! Relief! There’s
stuff here. Boxes and boxes—cereal, dried grains, Maxiblast Sugar
Bombs, and Sweeteez. Sweeteez! They have a shelf life of forever!
Man, this guy’s hungry. I hadn’t noticed that before, but
he really is. Like he hasn’t eaten for days. Well, then go for the
Sweeteez, right? Rip ‘em open, squeeze the packaging, have the
soft parts bulge out, then lick it up. Go right for the sweet part.
Oh, that sugar is heaven. After going so long without food, it’s
better than jazz, it’s like it’s injected right into the bloodstream.
Did I mention this guy’s hungry?
Everyone else is looking at what’s here, maybe trying to
take an inventory, and he just downed the one cake and is going
for another. He’s inhaling—holy shit, it feels like I’m choking
on the thing. Is he trying to swallow it all at once? But there it
is. There’s the sugar rush, almost as good as the first one. He
feels so strong now! They’re counting up everything, reviewing
what they’ve just found, and I could carry it all back by myself.
I could take it now. Why do they need to count? I could grab
each and every box and carry it. They could put some on my
back. These boxes aren’t that big. I’m bigger than them now,
so much bigger. They’re still looking at the boxes, but look at
them. They are so small. And they are so slow, still counting.
And they are so … naked. So uncovered. Their skin, their weak
skin is exposed. They don’t cover it. Don’t they know how weak
they are? And beneath the skin—beneath the skin it pulses. I
hear it now, rushing around me, and I know what it is. I know
how sticky and sweet it is. And fresh. These boxes have been
sitting so long they are old, they are stale. They are not. They
are fresh. They do not know they do not expect they are still
counting they do not know what is happening they do not
know what is here.
They are so slow
It is a step it is a short step it is so easy it is a step it is a grab it
is a tear it is a slurp they have the soft parts and you squeeze and
the soft parts bulge out it is a drink it is a long slow drink it is a
drink that makes me more thirsty
they are still here they are around me they are loud
they scream and chitter or do they
chitter and tear
chitter and tear
chitter and tear and feed
i grab more i grab so many i grab eat feed drink
more
eat more
quiet now
quiet now eat more
eat more find more find more now follow sound follow
sound rushing sound all around follow sound find more eat more
now
Mr. Johnson sighs. "There's nothing specific, I'm afraid. Just vague tales of 'hauntings' always heard from a friend of a friend. All completely unverifiable, of course. I'm sure professionals of your skill won't be bothered by what is probably nothing more than a few devil rats".
