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Some time in the future…
Tony walked across the empty office. It was Sunday, and no other staff members were in the building. Even so, he could hear the ghostly sound of the past, voices echoing across distant space and the noise of Ali grumbling about the website to Loki. It used to be so much busier back then, but the Fog crew were now far away, letting others look after the planet and keeping watch in case the evil Gates returned.
It all started when FM went and got a full time job. He left the group meetings and others seemed to follow suit soon afterwards. Perhaps it was the club building, it had started off as a new and improved club house, with all the mod cons you could expect and a large observation tower for those who weren’t afraid of heights. The underground system had made getting there easier and many more members had joined soon after it was opened. Grix, Ant, Venombyte, Pb, Er-no and the rest of them had shown these new guys the ropes and they’d seemingly taken to things well, but they all wanted to do it a different way and soon there was chaos in the FOG HQ.
Nowadays it was full of noisy people and no one dared to go near the sink to wash up. There were still many problems solved and only recently the gang had saved London from a So Solid Crew gang who imitated their heroes raps as they committed crimes, but things just weren’t the same as they were, the old order had gone.
Tony absent-mindedly wiped his hand over a keyboard and jumped back as sparks flew across in a bright blue arc. The large video screen lit up and fizzled with static. He thought for a moment that he could hear a voice amongst the white noise on the monitor, so he listened closer.
“if…..they….come”
He strained to hear the rest of the message.
“if you….they…come”
It was getting clearer, or perhaps Tony was getting used to picking out the words now.
“if you open it, they will come”
‘What?’ he thought as he took in the cryptic sounding message. ‘What does it mean? Who will come? Open what?”
He sat down on a nearby swivel chair and swung around for a bit as he thought about the words. ‘They’ probably referred to the old FOG team, but surely they couldn’t come back now, not after the final break up when Mystique and Ant walked out of the club building in disgust?
Then it hit him. The building. It wasn’t the first FOG HQ, was it? No, that one was built under the Special Reserve Tower, the old cave with the large viewscreen. But that had been closed for years now, it was too small for all the new recruits and only offered then most basic of surveillance. All the same, he wondered down to the ground floor and into the elevator that would take him to the old cave entrance.
Pressing a concealed button that only Loki, Ali and himself knew about he soon found himself staring at the doors to the cave. They had been locked many years earlier and were now covered in a thin veil of dust. He wiped a finger over the dust in a thoughtful manner as he used the other hand to find the old keycard. The computer came to life instantly as he swiped the card over the door and the green light illuminated to let him know that he could enter.
A thin beam of light illuminated the old cave building, becoming longer and filling more of the room as opened the door. A quick fumble for a light switch resulted in the whole room being bathed in yellow as his eyes tried to refocus after the arrival of the new light source. Dust danced in the stale air and settled on the large keyboard in front of the viewscreen, Tony walked over and pressed a few buttons. The far corner of the room hummed in to life and he looked around at the tube that stood there.
The old transmat machine stood proud, but disused in the corner. He could still make out the footprints of Ant’s shoes left in the dust as they had left this place for the last time. A few games magazines lay on the large leather sofa, as did an old copy of FHM magazine and Sugar monthly. In the corner, the group’s grubby PS2 and Gamecube were stationed in clear boxes, with the Xbox space bare from where someone had taken it to the new building. He sighed as the past came flooding back. Did he really expect this to bring them all back together?
----
The days past and Ali noticed Tony had been gone a long time from his office. He caught up with him at the north lift as he went for lunch one day.
“Tony, you haven’t been around much lately, what’s happening?” he asked.
“Well, it may sound silly, but….follow me, I think I can explain it better if you come and see…”
Tony led Ali down to the old forgotten HQ and in through the doors. Ali gasped as he saw that the old place had been done up. A new sofa lay in the centre, along with some spy equipment and a whole line of new PCs linked together for multi-player gaming, as well as the serious stuff.
“But why?” was Ali’s only question as his brain took it all in.
Tony looked around. “I had a hunch, call it stupid, but I longed for the old days when we were more of an organised team and everyone knew each other.” They sat on the sofa as he continued. “Perhaps it was a silly idea, but I had to try.”
As they sat and took in the scenery, the transmit device hummed into life. Grix appeared and was as startled as they were when he spied them on the chair.
“er, my transmit watch started glowing for no reason, so I pressed it and found myself here…I like what you’ve done with the place Tony.” Said Grix, explaining.
As he looked around, several more of the team arrived in the same way. Ant and Mr Nice Guy wondered in, followed by Dan, Goatboy and Your Honour. Soon all of the old team were there, settled in and chatting about what had happened since they parted.
Tony surveyed the scene with a smile on his face. He tuned to Ali and could see that he felt the same. “I missed this, you know.”
Ali smiled back and they walked back into the SR office.
Tony walked across the empty office. It was Sunday, and no other staff members were in the building. Even so, he could hear the ghostly sound of the past, voices echoing across distant space and the noise of Ali grumbling about the website to Loki. It used to be so much busier back then, but the Fog crew were now far away, letting others look after the planet and keeping watch in case the evil Gates returned.
It all started when FM went and got a full time job. He left the group meetings and others seemed to follow suit soon afterwards. Perhaps it was the club building, it had started off as a new and improved club house, with all the mod cons you could expect and a large observation tower for those who weren’t afraid of heights. The underground system had made getting there easier and many more members had joined soon after it was opened. Grix, Ant, Venombyte, Pb, Er-no and the rest of them had shown these new guys the ropes and they’d seemingly taken to things well, but they all wanted to do it a different way and soon there was chaos in the FOG HQ.
Nowadays it was full of noisy people and no one dared to go near the sink to wash up. There were still many problems solved and only recently the gang had saved London from a So Solid Crew gang who imitated their heroes raps as they committed crimes, but things just weren’t the same as they were, the old order had gone.
Tony absent-mindedly wiped his hand over a keyboard and jumped back as sparks flew across in a bright blue arc. The large video screen lit up and fizzled with static. He thought for a moment that he could hear a voice amongst the white noise on the monitor, so he listened closer.
“if…..they….come”
He strained to hear the rest of the message.
“if you….they…come”
It was getting clearer, or perhaps Tony was getting used to picking out the words now.
“if you open it, they will come”
‘What?’ he thought as he took in the cryptic sounding message. ‘What does it mean? Who will come? Open what?”
He sat down on a nearby swivel chair and swung around for a bit as he thought about the words. ‘They’ probably referred to the old FOG team, but surely they couldn’t come back now, not after the final break up when Mystique and Ant walked out of the club building in disgust?
Then it hit him. The building. It wasn’t the first FOG HQ, was it? No, that one was built under the Special Reserve Tower, the old cave with the large viewscreen. But that had been closed for years now, it was too small for all the new recruits and only offered then most basic of surveillance. All the same, he wondered down to the ground floor and into the elevator that would take him to the old cave entrance.
Pressing a concealed button that only Loki, Ali and himself knew about he soon found himself staring at the doors to the cave. They had been locked many years earlier and were now covered in a thin veil of dust. He wiped a finger over the dust in a thoughtful manner as he used the other hand to find the old keycard. The computer came to life instantly as he swiped the card over the door and the green light illuminated to let him know that he could enter.
A thin beam of light illuminated the old cave building, becoming longer and filling more of the room as opened the door. A quick fumble for a light switch resulted in the whole room being bathed in yellow as his eyes tried to refocus after the arrival of the new light source. Dust danced in the stale air and settled on the large keyboard in front of the viewscreen, Tony walked over and pressed a few buttons. The far corner of the room hummed in to life and he looked around at the tube that stood there.
The old transmat machine stood proud, but disused in the corner. He could still make out the footprints of Ant’s shoes left in the dust as they had left this place for the last time. A few games magazines lay on the large leather sofa, as did an old copy of FHM magazine and Sugar monthly. In the corner, the group’s grubby PS2 and Gamecube were stationed in clear boxes, with the Xbox space bare from where someone had taken it to the new building. He sighed as the past came flooding back. Did he really expect this to bring them all back together?
----
The days past and Ali noticed Tony had been gone a long time from his office. He caught up with him at the north lift as he went for lunch one day.
“Tony, you haven’t been around much lately, what’s happening?” he asked.
“Well, it may sound silly, but….follow me, I think I can explain it better if you come and see…”
Tony led Ali down to the old forgotten HQ and in through the doors. Ali gasped as he saw that the old place had been done up. A new sofa lay in the centre, along with some spy equipment and a whole line of new PCs linked together for multi-player gaming, as well as the serious stuff.
“But why?” was Ali’s only question as his brain took it all in.
Tony looked around. “I had a hunch, call it stupid, but I longed for the old days when we were more of an organised team and everyone knew each other.” They sat on the sofa as he continued. “Perhaps it was a silly idea, but I had to try.”
As they sat and took in the scenery, the transmit device hummed into life. Grix appeared and was as startled as they were when he spied them on the chair.
“er, my transmit watch started glowing for no reason, so I pressed it and found myself here…I like what you’ve done with the place Tony.” Said Grix, explaining.
As he looked around, several more of the team arrived in the same way. Ant and Mr Nice Guy wondered in, followed by Dan, Goatboy and Your Honour. Soon all of the old team were there, settled in and chatting about what had happened since they parted.
Tony surveyed the scene with a smile on his face. He tuned to Ali and could see that he felt the same. “I missed this, you know.”
Ali smiled back and they walked back into the SR office.
Brilliant story pb. Love the descriptive parts :)
Where is Tony. Ditto onto Grix's post.
Its just not the same. We should all go and get him out of his forums to do with racing. What does he think he is doing :D
Come back Tony...
Where is Tony. Ditto onto Grix's post.
Its just not the same. We should all go and get him out of his forums to do with racing. What does he think he is doing :D
Come back Tony...
Excellent. This is what FOG Prime needs to get it going again.
Tony posted regularly? Before my time, obviously.
Tony posted regularly? Before my time, obviously.
We hope and dream, eh?
The day that will clench it for me, is the day Tony comes back and posts regularly.
The day that will clench it for me, is the day Tony comes back and posts regularly.
Some time in the future…
Tony walked across the empty office. It was Sunday, and no other staff members were in the building. Even so, he could hear the ghostly sound of the past, voices echoing across distant space and the noise of Ali grumbling about the website to Loki. It used to be so much busier back then, but the Fog crew were now far away, letting others look after the planet and keeping watch in case the evil Gates returned.
It all started when FM went and got a full time job. He left the group meetings and others seemed to follow suit soon afterwards. Perhaps it was the club building, it had started off as a new and improved club house, with all the mod cons you could expect and a large observation tower for those who weren’t afraid of heights. The underground system had made getting there easier and many more members had joined soon after it was opened. Grix, Ant, Venombyte, Pb, Er-no and the rest of them had shown these new guys the ropes and they’d seemingly taken to things well, but they all wanted to do it a different way and soon there was chaos in the FOG HQ.
Nowadays it was full of noisy people and no one dared to go near the sink to wash up. There were still many problems solved and only recently the gang had saved London from a So Solid Crew gang who imitated their heroes raps as they committed crimes, but things just weren’t the same as they were, the old order had gone.
Tony absent-mindedly wiped his hand over a keyboard and jumped back as sparks flew across in a bright blue arc. The large video screen lit up and fizzled with static. He thought for a moment that he could hear a voice amongst the white noise on the monitor, so he listened closer.
“if…..they….come”
He strained to hear the rest of the message.
“if you….they…come”
It was getting clearer, or perhaps Tony was getting used to picking out the words now.
“if you open it, they will come”
‘What?’ he thought as he took in the cryptic sounding message. ‘What does it mean? Who will come? Open what?”
He sat down on a nearby swivel chair and swung around for a bit as he thought about the words. ‘They’ probably referred to the old FOG team, but surely they couldn’t come back now, not after the final break up when Mystique and Ant walked out of the club building in disgust?
Then it hit him. The building. It wasn’t the first FOG HQ, was it? No, that one was built under the Special Reserve Tower, the old cave with the large viewscreen. But that had been closed for years now, it was too small for all the new recruits and only offered then most basic of surveillance. All the same, he wondered down to the ground floor and into the elevator that would take him to the old cave entrance.
Pressing a concealed button that only Loki, Ali and himself knew about he soon found himself staring at the doors to the cave. They had been locked many years earlier and were now covered in a thin veil of dust. He wiped a finger over the dust in a thoughtful manner as he used the other hand to find the old keycard. The computer came to life instantly as he swiped the card over the door and the green light illuminated to let him know that he could enter.
A thin beam of light illuminated the old cave building, becoming longer and filling more of the room as opened the door. A quick fumble for a light switch resulted in the whole room being bathed in yellow as his eyes tried to refocus after the arrival of the new light source. Dust danced in the stale air and settled on the large keyboard in front of the viewscreen, Tony walked over and pressed a few buttons. The far corner of the room hummed in to life and he looked around at the tube that stood there.
The old transmat machine stood proud, but disused in the corner. He could still make out the footprints of Ant’s shoes left in the dust as they had left this place for the last time. A few games magazines lay on the large leather sofa, as did an old copy of FHM magazine and Sugar monthly. In the corner, the group’s grubby PS2 and Gamecube were stationed in clear boxes, with the Xbox space bare from where someone had taken it to the new building. He sighed as the past came flooding back. Did he really expect this to bring them all back together?
----
The days past and Ali noticed Tony had been gone a long time from his office. He caught up with him at the north lift as he went for lunch one day.
“Tony, you haven’t been around much lately, what’s happening?” he asked.
“Well, it may sound silly, but….follow me, I think I can explain it better if you come and see…”
Tony led Ali down to the old forgotten HQ and in through the doors. Ali gasped as he saw that the old place had been done up. A new sofa lay in the centre, along with some spy equipment and a whole line of new PCs linked together for multi-player gaming, as well as the serious stuff.
“But why?” was Ali’s only question as his brain took it all in.
Tony looked around. “I had a hunch, call it stupid, but I longed for the old days when we were more of an organised team and everyone knew each other.” They sat on the sofa as he continued. “Perhaps it was a silly idea, but I had to try.”
As they sat and took in the scenery, the transmit device hummed into life. Grix appeared and was as startled as they were when he spied them on the chair.
“er, my transmit watch started glowing for no reason, so I pressed it and found myself here…I like what you’ve done with the place Tony.” Said Grix, explaining.
As he looked around, several more of the team arrived in the same way. Ant and Mr Nice Guy wondered in, followed by Dan, Goatboy and Your Honour. Soon all of the old team were there, settled in and chatting about what had happened since they parted.
Tony surveyed the scene with a smile on his face. He tuned to Ali and could see that he felt the same. “I missed this, you know.”
Ali smiled back and they walked back into the SR office.
Tony walked across the empty office. It was Sunday, and no other staff members were in the building. Even so, he could hear the ghostly sound of the past, voices echoing across distant space and the noise of Ali grumbling about the website to Loki. It used to be so much busier back then, but the Fog crew were now far away, letting others look after the planet and keeping watch in case the evil Gates returned.
It all started when FM went and got a full time job. He left the group meetings and others seemed to follow suit soon afterwards. Perhaps it was the club building, it had started off as a new and improved club house, with all the mod cons you could expect and a large observation tower for those who weren’t afraid of heights. The underground system had made getting there easier and many more members had joined soon after it was opened. Grix, Ant, Venombyte, Pb, Er-no and the rest of them had shown these new guys the ropes and they’d seemingly taken to things well, but they all wanted to do it a different way and soon there was chaos in the FOG HQ.
Nowadays it was full of noisy people and no one dared to go near the sink to wash up. There were still many problems solved and only recently the gang had saved London from a So Solid Crew gang who imitated their heroes raps as they committed crimes, but things just weren’t the same as they were, the old order had gone.
Tony absent-mindedly wiped his hand over a keyboard and jumped back as sparks flew across in a bright blue arc. The large video screen lit up and fizzled with static. He thought for a moment that he could hear a voice amongst the white noise on the monitor, so he listened closer.
“if…..they….come”
He strained to hear the rest of the message.
“if you….they…come”
It was getting clearer, or perhaps Tony was getting used to picking out the words now.
“if you open it, they will come”
‘What?’ he thought as he took in the cryptic sounding message. ‘What does it mean? Who will come? Open what?”
He sat down on a nearby swivel chair and swung around for a bit as he thought about the words. ‘They’ probably referred to the old FOG team, but surely they couldn’t come back now, not after the final break up when Mystique and Ant walked out of the club building in disgust?
Then it hit him. The building. It wasn’t the first FOG HQ, was it? No, that one was built under the Special Reserve Tower, the old cave with the large viewscreen. But that had been closed for years now, it was too small for all the new recruits and only offered then most basic of surveillance. All the same, he wondered down to the ground floor and into the elevator that would take him to the old cave entrance.
Pressing a concealed button that only Loki, Ali and himself knew about he soon found himself staring at the doors to the cave. They had been locked many years earlier and were now covered in a thin veil of dust. He wiped a finger over the dust in a thoughtful manner as he used the other hand to find the old keycard. The computer came to life instantly as he swiped the card over the door and the green light illuminated to let him know that he could enter.
A thin beam of light illuminated the old cave building, becoming longer and filling more of the room as opened the door. A quick fumble for a light switch resulted in the whole room being bathed in yellow as his eyes tried to refocus after the arrival of the new light source. Dust danced in the stale air and settled on the large keyboard in front of the viewscreen, Tony walked over and pressed a few buttons. The far corner of the room hummed in to life and he looked around at the tube that stood there.
The old transmat machine stood proud, but disused in the corner. He could still make out the footprints of Ant’s shoes left in the dust as they had left this place for the last time. A few games magazines lay on the large leather sofa, as did an old copy of FHM magazine and Sugar monthly. In the corner, the group’s grubby PS2 and Gamecube were stationed in clear boxes, with the Xbox space bare from where someone had taken it to the new building. He sighed as the past came flooding back. Did he really expect this to bring them all back together?
----
The days past and Ali noticed Tony had been gone a long time from his office. He caught up with him at the north lift as he went for lunch one day.
“Tony, you haven’t been around much lately, what’s happening?” he asked.
“Well, it may sound silly, but….follow me, I think I can explain it better if you come and see…”
Tony led Ali down to the old forgotten HQ and in through the doors. Ali gasped as he saw that the old place had been done up. A new sofa lay in the centre, along with some spy equipment and a whole line of new PCs linked together for multi-player gaming, as well as the serious stuff.
“But why?” was Ali’s only question as his brain took it all in.
Tony looked around. “I had a hunch, call it stupid, but I longed for the old days when we were more of an organised team and everyone knew each other.” They sat on the sofa as he continued. “Perhaps it was a silly idea, but I had to try.”
As they sat and took in the scenery, the transmit device hummed into life. Grix appeared and was as startled as they were when he spied them on the chair.
“er, my transmit watch started glowing for no reason, so I pressed it and found myself here…I like what you’ve done with the place Tony.” Said Grix, explaining.
As he looked around, several more of the team arrived in the same way. Ant and Mr Nice Guy wondered in, followed by Dan, Goatboy and Your Honour. Soon all of the old team were there, settled in and chatting about what had happened since they parted.
Tony surveyed the scene with a smile on his face. He tuned to Ali and could see that he felt the same. “I missed this, you know.”
Ali smiled back and they walked back into the SR office.