Everything is fictional and bears no resemblance, blah blah blah
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>>>>>[Net.0. login authenticated]<<<<<
>>>>>[1 new message]<<<<<
>>>>>[Sender: 3v3nt H0riz0n 13:29 2-19-2021]<<<<<
>>>>>[Hey,
Found some crazy shit on that finance bro you flagged.
Check out this vid. Also, lemme know when I can post it.
You found the trail, but I get the cred for finding it, yeah?]<<<<
>>>>[Attachment: northpointcomislabs.mp4]<<<<<
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The video begins:
The image of a sterile, white room is captured in the wide-angled lens of a webcam. Stainless steel shelves hold a variety of lab equipment, and a table with rows of machinery can just be glimpsed in the lower right corner of the frame. A stainless steel door with a round, frosted glass window sits off to the left. A man in his mid-twenties stares into the camera, a white lab coat covering most of his collared shirt. He wears a white lab cap on his head, a few strands of sweat slick hair escaping from beneath the band. Brown stubble covers his low jaw, patchy and thin, and his eyes are wide and bloodshot. Terrified.
A shiny metal name tag reads: Patrick.
"I don't know what the fuck is going on, but all of the phone lines are down, there's no goddamn reception, and someone sealed the lab. I mean, what the fuck?" Patrick half sobs, spittle bubbling onto his lips, snot beginning to drip down his nose.
"This isn't the fucking CDC, or like, Raytheon or whatever," he continues, barely managing to contain himself.
"Goddammit, I didn't even want to move to Colorado, it was just too good of a job to pass up without a doctorate in particle physics. I'm just supposed to be an advanced imaging technician, not some -- some -- sacrificial lamb or something. I mean, Microsun Imaging Systems doesn't even have any government contracts, or anything! We mostly work with archeological artifacts! What the fuck is this?!"
Patrick's ranting is cut off as a furious pounding begins on the stainless steel door, and a furious wailing can be heard just outside.
"Oh shit, oh shit!" Patrick whimpers, whirling around to look at the door. "Ok, ok, I'm out of time. Listen, if anyone finds this, this all started after Mr. Ozob came back with some high priority object. All our projects were tabled and we got a whole slew of new security protocols. No one was really worried, we work with really fragile stuff all the time, but then weird shit started happening. Like, glitches in the software. LEDs started burning out. People's RFID cards got wiped. Then, all of a sudden, the head of the lab, Dr. McCray, started acting really weird. Like, he started staying at the lab all the time. I really don't think he slept for like over 60 hours! And...he started eating only fish. I know that doesn't seem important, but it's all he started eating, and he was microwaving it, and everyone was getting upset because the break room--"
Patrick cut off as the pounding against the door cut off with a sudden scream. He looked back over his shoulder, trembling. Then jumped, his hip smashing into the table and rocking the camera like it was in an earthquake.
The last thing that could be seen was a hand slapping against the frosted glass window, leaving a viscous smear of blood and mucous, and then the lights went out. Patrick's panicked whimpers could be heard, followed by the sound of something heavy slamming against the door, again, and again, and just as Patrick began to prey, there was the scream of buckling steel and the sound of something crashing through the room, equipment shattering on the floor, and then Patrick screaming, and screaming...
The video ended shortly afterwards.
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Information is gathered soon thereafter:
Microsun Imaging Systems, headquartered in North Point, Colorado, since 2004. Northpoint was a relatively small town, only about 6,000 people, maybe 10,000 if you counted the surrounding area. It was situated in a small mountain valley with a beautiful lake, lots of forest, and only one road in and out.
According to local news, winter storms had brought down some of the town's utilities, but repair crews were already underway...
Please feel free to plan and do any additional research, and let me know when your characters are ready to hit the road. Yes, road. Driving will be involved