Operation Spywire: Marathon Chase

August 23rd, 7:30 AM. Your submersible ferry from Waikīkī arrives at the underwater base for RAGE. All around you are colorful tropical fish, swimming to and fro, but dead ahead sits this huge, ironclad monstrosity. Once inside, you are given a change of clothing and shown through a few sterile labs: the Lab for Unpleasant Stuff, the Lab for Really Unpleasant Stuff, and the Lab for Stuff Nobody Even Wants To Talk About. Truly you are in the midst of some diabolical evilness, and by the time you’re ushered to the central command room where Dr. Mischief awaits you, your hair might be standing a bit on end.

Still, you play it cool again as you approach Dr. Mischief in his chair. After all, you’re still supposed to be Jamie Pond, the investor with questionable morals. Dr. Mischief rises to greet you and shakes your hand. “Ah, you’ve arrived. Welcome,” he says, offering you a chair of your own while an attendant arrives with glasses of champagne for both of you. “Yes, now that you’re here, I will be happy to tell you all about how RAGE intends to acquire the Pinky data set.”

“Thank you,” you agree, just as planned. “As I told your associate before, I would be happy to supply some funds for your project, but I need to be sure you have a foolproof operation.”

That’s the moment when your watch’s emergency light flashes at you. Something is wrong at HQ. You quickly disable the light, but as you look back up at Dr. Mischief, he gives you a smug grin. “Well, not to worry, Jamie Pond… although we both know that’s not your real name. The way we’re going to get Pinky… is we’ve already got it. We just got it thirty seconds ago.”

Did they get the jump on us? No intel is perfect. Out of the corner of your eye, someone at a computer terminal jumps out of their seat, unplugs a portable drive, tucks it in a pocket, and runs for the exit. Hacked! Trusting your instincts, you use some quick martial arts to fend off a few of Dr. Mischief’s onrushing henchmen; then you sprint across the room to follow the hacker. Alarms and sirens set off in your wake, and you hear a recorded message: All RAGE agents to your evacuation stations. This base will self-destruct in five minutes.

RAGE must have intended to get a copy of the data, spirit it out of here, and leave you alone on the base to be lost in an explosion. Luckily, you manage to evade further capture, so if the base is going to blow up and destroy everything within, including their computers… all you need to do is retrieve the portadrive, which will have RAGE’s only copy of Pinky. Stealing a submersible, you follow the runaway agent’s own vessel to the surface back on the beach, then run after them to a row of motorboats. The agent jumps in one boat and speeds out across the Pacific, and you quickly follow suit. The chase is on!

Starting at 8:00 AM EDT on 8/23, you will have 24 hours’ worth of fuel to catch Dr. Mischief’s agent and recover the Pinky data! This marathon promises plenty of action.

Swag: 1 shirt, 1 mug, and 1 poster will be raffled among the top 25% of participating players!

Bonuses for your participation:
Trace 20 cubes – 2,000 point bonus
Trace 50 cubes – 5,000 point bonus
Trace 150 cubes – 20,000 point bonus
Trace 300 cubes – 40,000 point bonus
For every 150 cubes above 300 cubes – 2,500 points

If the cell is completed as hoped within 24 hrs, mappers who:

• Trace at least 50 cubes will win rights to vote on a new name for the marathon cell.
• Trace at least 200 cubes will win rights to nominate a new name for the marathon cell.

Go go go! The conclusion of Operation Spywire is in your hands!

Artwork by Daniela Gamba