| Basilisk Patterns | |
| Faction |  Electrical Protectorate
|
| Function | Offensive Technology |
| Brief | Sensory patterns cause mental deterioration |
Theft of Thucydides Continues
Yesterday marked another inexplicable looting of the scrapped "Thucydides" game. These lootings have all so far followed a predictable, yet inexplicably bizarre pattern. A factory worker disappears approximatley two days before the operation, and then returns to work. Afterwards, it appears that this worker hides until the factory closes, and simply loots any and all copies of the game for unknown purposes. Any security in the building is efficiently killed, and in all cases have uniform looks of shock and horror on their faces. The worker is never seen alive again.
Coniuratio Games, the main producer of the new craze of 'video games', has reportedly pulled support from the subsidary responsible for the development of this game, although the exact manufacturer is unknown. Already "Thucydides" had brought significant troubles to the company; "beta" testers often experienced severe migranes, vertigo, insomnia and slight memory loss while playing the test version of this game. ANN interviewed Remus Mendax, the head of Coniuratio, yesterday afternoon. "These thefts are sudden and the reasons behind them unknown. However, we have deployed additional security to our factories, to prevent further looting. Unfortunatley, too many elements of "Thucydides" have been lost. We are unable to continue the project; the manufacturer has been bankrupted, and all remaining elements are to be transferred to another division."
However, the latest looting simply disrupted the convoy carrying the last elements of the game, killing all on board and removing any copies left. To compound this, Remus Mendax was found dead this morning. Police estimate him to have been dead at least two weeks.
The human brain. One of the most unusual things on this Earth. Everything we are, think of and percieve is created by a combination of chemicals and electrical signals in the right areas of the brain. This setup puts humanity at an advantage over the Protectorate; as well as benefits such as fuzzy logic, our minds are mostly 'tamper-proof'. Mostly.
Outside stimulus, such as sounds or sights, can cause certain electrical signals and chemical signals. If you were to carefully control this, you could roughly direct some areas of the mind. Although this process is not 'mind control', it cause less subtle effects; such as the atrocities seen from Protectorate Basilisk Technology.
It is unknown where the Protectorate initially sourced this technology, or even how it produces its nightmare-inducing effects, but exposure to Basilisk Patters causes a severe, rapid breakdown in mental functions of those affected. However, urban myths of these patterns being "100% fatal" are false. The death rate is only 35%; of the remaining 65% of people, 63.7% go irreversibly and violently insane. Cases of soldiers shooting themselves in the head, walking into water and drowning, or even force-feeding themselves to war bears are some of the horrors this technology produces. But what of the remaining 1.3%? These are also violently and suicidally insane, but if restrained for 3 months, and if they survive, improvement is possible.
