The cold, quiet hallway, one of numerous less-known, unnamed, and relatively unused Islay’s corridors, has been disturbed from its usual and complete silence. The air there is once again given honour to conduct the blunt pulse-waves of the sound of footsteps, belonging to a young chap named Marvin, who is apparently in a hurry, while his pupils’ shape and his facial expression portray feelings of anxiety and deep concerns. The sound of his quick-paced footsteps travel along the corridor, then they travel along another one, then another one...until they quickly decrease their frequency and the footsteps come to a halt, instead replaced by quiet panting. Marvin now stands in front of Sequoia Hart’s doorway. He doesn’t ring or knock, instead he swiftly opens the surprisingly unlocked door, startling the apartment’s owner, who has apparently been asleep and is now staring half-frightened, half-irritated at the unwelcome guest.
“Miss Hart…” he speaks, still panting and making stops between every few words,“Mister Faolan…I know where he’s…gone to… I was passing round his flat…when I heard a signal distress trans…mittion…So I went in…apparently he wanted us to…find the message shortly…before he left, but he must’ve…delayed it accidentally by a few weeks…”
Before allowing Sequoia any time to react, he pulls out a datapad with an opened message and he throws it on the bed sheets in front of her.
The datapad has several files open, mostly chemical calculations, some articles about genetic alternation and mutations, a satellite map of a densely timbered area of land, all presumably having been open since Druce’s sudden and unannounced departure. There is also a message, which was set to be unlocked and send an alarm approximately three hours before now:
“Sequoia, I found somethin’ on Gran Canaria…Th’ thing that can explain th’ strang---###CRC ERROR###---though I dinnae know how big th’ affected area is, I cannae wait any longer…
No hard feelings fer settin’ it ta beep a day later, but I had t’ go alone, ya can kick me in---###CRC ERROR###---I return, heh. I’ll return in a few days at latest.
–
Druce”
Marvin looks at Sequoia with a worried face and whispers anxiously..."It's been weeks, Miss Hart..."
// I regret to say that my hiatus will continue for an indefinite period of time, hopefully as short as possible, though. Real-life is a dirty little devil, that tends to pile up stuff on you especially in large bulks, forcing you to put things like a favourite faction in a favourite space-game, no matter how important and fun and fulfilling, on a lower priority. I shall return once the RealLife pile lowers enough for me to be able to enjoy the game once again and be able to contribute to the action. So until then, cheers to all I've played with, to my beloved NLH, Bret & Vixen, Eriksson, and the rest of you whom I may have forgotten... I'll be back...
![[Image: ok7dc6.jpg]](http://i51.tinypic.com/ok7dc6.jpg)
