At 11/9/09 06:45 PM, TheMaster wrote: http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/200 9/nov/09/modern-warfare-2-game-review

Charlie Brooker reviews Modern Warfare 2.

He summed up everything I've felt about the game, at least the single player.

At 11/9/09 12:53 PM, Sheizenhammer wrote: Thing is, I've no idea if a striptease counts as 'sexual activity' in the eyes of whoever wrote the law it's referring to (probably not, but you never know...). Anyone study law around here that can clarify what exactly counts as 'sexual activity' here? Where's the line between porn and garden-variety tits here?

I like studying law (but I'm still a few years out from law school, or even any semblance of that).

I think "sexual activity" is defined as sexual intercourse, whether digital (as in with your hands), oral, vaginal, or anal. That could vary from country to country or even state to state though, so I wouldn't quote me on that.

It might also have to do with context. Something like historical paintings and sculptures (which have tits flying around like fireworks on the 4th of July) would not be considered porn, since it is artistic. Even some modern photography can be considered art and not porn (Met Art comes to mind, along with a NSFW tag).

Basically, if there isn't any penis in vagina (or anything put elsewhere, for that matter, whether you're alone or with another person), it's considered "art" and not "sexual activity". Lewd as it may be, soft core porn is acceptable

At 11/9/09 08:56 AM, gumOnShoe wrote: I will, however, bring up the issue of a rubric again with my fellow judges. We have yet to establish one, though its been brought up before. If you would rather have us systematically grade your piece based on a small set of criteria rather than the wholeness of the final product, I can look into doing so and you can expect further numbers in the future.

I think that it should stay how it is right now. Taking a page from the beginning of Dead Poetics Society (no pun intended), you can't create a systematic way to judge literature. Creating a rubric to base the scores on is stupid. It falls back on the point-scale argument. It's hard to quantify what the value of a story is. I only support the scale because it's an easy way to get a feeling about what a person thought about the story, and makes it easy to judge.

A piece of work is more than the sum of it's parts. It's the way that those parts were used that makes literature have value. You can't try to pack every kind of story submitted into some kind of cookie-cutter grading system.

At 11/8/09 09:54 PM, EagleRock wrote:

At 11/8/09 08:23 PM, TheThing wrote:

At 11/8/09 03:19 PM, Lizzardis wrote: Can I ask something....If you guys see that the users are off-topic, or if its staying too far off course, come you butt in and intervene? I mean....A little nudge wouldn't hurt.

Why not? It wouldn't hurt for the PD's big brother to step in and set it straight. And honestly, how much effort is involved in posting in the NGPD? We can even write something up to post there, if and when the situation arises.

I agree that we should help them out whenever we can, but please do remember that the NGPD is its own group, and the EGB holds no authority on it. We can make our friendly recommendations as allies, but Tails' leadership over the NGPD should be respected. I'm only saying because it's happened in the past, and Tails was understandingly pissed off because of it. However, I'm sure that your assistances would be only recommendations anyway, so I'm really just being precautionary. :-)

Of course we should respect Tails and his authority. But I don't think he'll mind some big and powerful EGB member coming in and saying "hey, you, stop it" when it looks like the thread will close. Sometimes you just have to step back and let some one else try their hand at stopping the madness.

At 11/8/09 07:15 PM, Hycran wrote:

At 11/8/09 05:16 PM, ZpLiNtEh wrote:

At 11/8/09 04:51 PM, TheMaster wrote: Raptors can open doors.

Yep, sure looks amazing...

Obviously the production quality isnt as high, but the game still looks great and you can punch a dinosaur in the face. Being sarcastic about this game is no longer allowed.

WHA! Hold it together Dylan. These little guys are vicious, and probably poisonous too.

Yeah, this game looks alright, but the dinosaurs go down too easy, the story and voice acting is horrible, and the graphics are not up to par. This might have been a good game 2 years ago, but not in 2009.

It's worth a look if it's used or the price is $20-30, but not $40

At 11/8/09 03:19 PM, Lizzardis wrote: Mmmkay guys. Just a quick heads up, it seems that Poozy is willing to let the NGPD have their last chance.

It has been unlocked.

Wow, hopefully it stays unlocked

Can I ask something....If you guys see that the users are off-topic, or if its staying too far off course, come you butt in and intervene? I mean....A little nudge wouldn't hurt.

Why not? It wouldn't hurt for the PD's big brother to step in and set it straight. And honestly, how much effort is involved in posting in the NGPD? We can even write something up to post there, if and when the situation arises.

At 11/8/09 07:27 PM, Idiot-Finder wrote: What the fuck just happened?

Usually that's Eli out there scoring that touchdown.

This wouldn't have happened if Tynes knew what the fuck he was doing. He has to learn 5 plays - Field Goal, Kick Off, Onside Kick, Fake Kick (pass), and Fake Kick (run), but he still fucks up.

At 11/8/09 11:38 AM, MattTheParanoidKat wrote: FYI: Please for the love of all that is holy, do not I repeat DO NOT give my story a grade, do not give it a rating between 0-10 or 1-10.

I see what you mean, but I find numbers are pretty helpful. They quickly quantify what a person (or I) feel about a story. Sure, it's a bit arbitrary, but they can be a quick indicator of how well you write. They are especially useful at the MWC's because not only do they have to find a winner, you usually only get a sentence or 2 from the judges on what they thought about the piece.

No, they don't have a tendency to get more infected. Most people usually start out with a very small piercing, if not a regular earring. Then they build up to larger sizes.

Generally, your ear won't go back to being completely healed. But it depends on how old you are when you pull them out, how long you've had them in, and how far you've gone. If they're pretty small, you're young, and they haven't been in there too long, you got a good shot at them closing completely.

My dad went to Catholic school in the 50's and early 60's. A few punishments that he told me were:

Kneeling on dry rice for hours saying prays.

Cleaning out every chalkboard eraser in the school (you'd choke on the dust, then get beat when you came home covered in chalkboard dust).

Writing on the chalkboard a few hundred times

Getting your knuckles hit with rulers.

He also said the nuns were great at hitting you with erasers or chalk. If they heard you speak, they wouldn't even have to turn around to throw something at you. They'd just whip around and hit you in the face with whatever they had in their hand.

Come on now, there's no reason to skip school for a video game. I'm considered a "hardcore gamer", and I don't even stay home to play a game. It's not like I won't be able to play it after school.

At 11/7/09 04:12 PM, BlueFlameSkulls wrote:

At 11/7/09 03:00 PM, scetch00 wrote: Shitty? There's a reason it already has over 2 million pre-orders.

The average consumer is an idiot or doesn't know what happens behind the seen.

FIFA and Madden get a shitload sold. Most of the time it's the same game as the year before.

Exactly. You can't go by how many are sold to prove how good a game is. Many people are buying MW2 based on how good CoD4 was, much like how they rebought CoD4 as WaW.

At 11/7/09 01:11 PM, FatKidWitAJetPak wrote: Alright im about to review a couple of stories, to make this fair I will review the first two who respond to this post. I would also enjoy it if someone were to review mine as well, its my first one so dont be like THIS SUCKED lol. ;)

If you could review mine, that'd be great. I'm in no shape to do any real reviewing (2 days removed from surgery), so I'll critique it later, when my head is on straight.

At 11/7/09 02:40 AM, EagleRock wrote:

At 11/7/09 02:26 AM, TheThing wrote: First, I can't sleep. It's more of a intermediate stage between being awake and asleep, and I'll pop out of it every once in a while.

Ouch. I know what that's like. It's worse than getting no sleep at all.

Yeah. Although I did find some sleep after posting that. Wasn't great, but it was better than what I was doing before that.

By the way, I don't know if you noticed, but I started a sequel to the original BUF, and something tells me you'll enjoy it so far. :-)

I'll have to check it out when I get a chance.

At 11/7/09 06:06 AM, Lizzardis wrote:

At 11/7/09 02:40 AM, EagleRock wrote: That actually doesn't look bad at all considering you just had surgery...If this keeps up, you should be healed in no time... :-P

The picture far below doesn't show my face too well, but most of the bruising has gone away. It just looks like I haven't had much sleep.

He should be healed externally, in no time. You forget that his sinuses had to be moved and muscles have been cut, its going to take a while to heal internally though.

Most of the bruising has gone away, but my nose still hurts a bit and is tender. Might be able to take the split off in another week or so, and then I shouldn't do any contact sports for about a month or 2.

However, I do agree with Eagle, you go look great. I wish you the best of recovery stages :)

Thank you, and everyone else who has wished me a good recovery.

At 11/7/09 01:03 PM, SlntCobra1 wrote: Y'all think a 10 hour surgery is immense?! HA! My surgery on my back was much longer. I had to go in at 7:30 AM and my surgery was scheduled for 8 or 8:30 and I woke up about 6 or 7 that night in the ICU.

Yeah, it really wasn't that bad. Hell, it was really only a 3 hour surgery. The rest was prepping me and then making sure I wasn't going to die on the way home.

My mom says that it used to be that I would have had to stay in the hospital for a day or 2.

And I'm sure that Cobra had to stay around for a couple of days before he went home.

but one day while in the hospital I had to take a leak, so I got up and hobbled my way to the bathroom. When I came out of the bathroom, the doc walked in, mouth agape and I looked at him and blatantly asked "What? Never seen a guy leave a bathroom before?" That was fucking funny as hell!!

Lol. I seem to heal quick. When I donated blood in the spring, I was able to walk around normally. And even after the surgery, I was a bit weak, but still able to go to the bathroom just fine.

LizzardisNG 5:02 pm
Ahahaha. Dude....That would have been funny to see his reaction!
DragonMaster368 5:02 pm
it was.
he said 'GET BACK IN BED!"

Lol. I guess he was just trying to cover his ass. Imagine if you fell down or fucked up your back again. It'd be all on him.

Oh, and updated picture of me looking sexy. Taken about 5 hours ago.

Well, I'm finding another 2 things about the surgery that I hate.

First, I can't sleep. It's more of a intermediate stage between being awake and asleep, and I'll pop out of it every once in a while.

Second, it feels like my nose is constantly stuffy, like i got a cold. The only problem is that I can't blow my nose because it'll hurt like a bitch, and I'll break all the clots, which means I'll be bleeding like a woman.

At 11/6/09 03:55 PM, byteslinger wrote:

At 11/6/09 02:55 PM, TheThing wrote: Just got this surgery done yesterday...

Well, I am glad you're feeling a little better after surgery. Yes, Percosets are a wonderful drug. After
a couple of those, they can saw off your legs with a rusty spoon and beat you like a pinata, and all the time you'll be singing "Take a Chance On Me" from ABBA's greatest hits. Or so I've been told...

Meh, I just more talkative/funny, and had some funny gesticulations. Of course, I don't know what the size of the pill was, so it could have been whatever the lowest dose is.

I was fortunate enough to be in a relatively normal state when I woke up.

Normal, of course, being a completely subjective opinion based on your perspective. I seriously doubt anyone in this forum reading this post can be considered normal. But I am glad you'll be back to your old self in no time.

When I say normal, I mean not mumbling about the flying green hippo outside.

When you're 10 minutes out of surgery, don't hit on the nurses, even if they are hot. Because trust me, you look like to belong in the morgue.

Actually, from your picture, you look like a young Bill Gates that just got the crap kicked out of him in the school yard for telling everyone that "one day you will all bow to me, the King of expensive bloatware!"

All kidding aside, I hope your recovery goes well, and your can literally breathe easier from now on.

I was kid of hamming it up for that picture. I don't need to wear that thing over my nose anymore, so I just look like I got hit in both eyes and have a funny plastic thing over my nose.

At 11/6/09 01:59 PM, Lizzardis wrote: It would be nice though....Hmmm.

At 11/6/09 01:38 PM, TheThing wrote: Just got this surgery done yesterday.

Ooooo. Did it go well? Well obviously it did....But its only the day after.....How are you feeling?

Meh, my nose is a bit sore, but my throat feels so much better. Also, thanks to the miracles of drugs and ice packs, I've got very little swelling. Also still a bit weak.

1) You will never get any better sleep then when you're knocked out with anesthesia.

Apparently, it effects people in different ways. My uncle felt much better and very well rested when he went under the knife.

I am yet to have my operation, so I am looking forward to how it effects me :)

Some people end up a semi-conscious state where they randomly speak. My friend who had his wisdom teeth taken out was told that he was talking about the women in a photograph were dancing.

I was fortunate enough to be in a relatively normal state when I woke up.

2) Percasets are one hell of a drug

Of course they are.

3) Even though the surgeons broke my nose and cut my nostrils, nothing hurts more than a dry throat sore from the breathing pipe they put down it for the anesthesia.

Hmmm. Well your mouth IS open for a long time during the surgery, and the tube. Dang....You would have thought they could have given you something for that :\

Well, since you can't drink any water except when you first get up, your throat is dry. Then they shove a plastic tube down your throat, which leaves it irratated. I went from about 7:30 AM to 4:30 PM without water.

Once again, percasets are one hell of a drug.

4) When you're 10 minutes out of surgery, don't hit on the nurses, even if they are hot. Because trust me, you look like to belong in the morgue.

Ahahaha.....You never know....Some people are into that type of stuff! XD

I would show you what I looked like about 30 minutes after my surgery, but my phone is gay and won't upload the picture. So here's what I look like now, about 24 hours after the surgery.

At 11/6/09 12:22 AM, boloneyman wrote: I like the idea of a two month long contest. It would have potential to yield some of the best submissions.

Same. It'll give me plenty of time to write my story and revise it. Well, it'll really just give me plenty of time to think about it then put it off until December 27.

I can't wait for the animator-writer-voice actor collab contest, even though it is really far down the line. I have some short plays I wrote that I'd love to see animated.

Same. I haven't written any scripts (besides a music video for a Bloc Party song that never came to fruition), but I would like to try my hand at a 30 second or 1 minute long flash script.

At 11/6/09 08:16 AM, BobbaQ wrote: Just pre-ordered MW2 on Amazon. £43 is a fucking lot for a game but this will be worth it.

Seems like a waste of money. Could probably find it cheaper after launch.

Also, no gaming for me until Sunday or Monday. Just got surgery done.

Just got this surgery done yesterday. It was a solid 10-hour day for me in the hospital. My nose is now pretty much centered, and, from what I've been able to do so far, breathes a lot better. But I did learn a few things while there.

1) You will never get any better sleep then when you're knocked out with anesthesia.

2) Percasets are one hell of a drug

3) Even though the surgeons broke my nose and cut my nostrils, nothing hurts more than a dry throat sore from the breathing pipe they put down it for the anesthesia.

4) When you're 10 minutes out of surgery, don't hit on the nurses, even if they are hot. Because trust me, you look like to belong in the morgue.

At 11/3/09 04:07 AM, reverend wrote: Week 9 Schedule:
Washington at Atlanta -

Falcons

Arizona at Chicago -

Cardinals

Baltimore at Cincinnati -

Good game, could go either way
Ravens

Houston at Indianapolis -

Colts

Miami at New England -

Upset of the week
Dophins

Green Bay at Tampa Bay -

Packers

Kansas City at Jacksonville -

Jaguars

Carolina at New Orleans -

Saints

Detroit at Seattle -

Seahawks

Tennessee at San Francisco -

Niners

San Diego at NY Giants -

Giants

Dallas at Philadelphia -

Cowboys in a thriller

Pittsburgh at Denver -

Good game
Steelers

At 11/3/09 03:24 PM, Dromedary wrote: What does everyone get on an average?

Well, if I'm in the basement, I get about a 50%. But when I'm on the other TV (which is right next to the router) I'm at 100%.

At 11/2/09 05:52 PM, TheMaster wrote: WHY THE FUCK WAS I NOT INFORMED THIS EXISTED?

Because it's a budget title announced 2 weeks ago.

It has nothing to do with Jurassic Park, unless you count the similarity to the initial plot of 3.

If you got $40 that has to be spent on November 3rd, go buy a hooker and some cocaine. I guarantee you'll have more fun.

At 11/2/09 07:43 AM, Idiot-Finder wrote:

At 11/2/09 12:04 AM, TheThing wrote:

I think the Giants will make it to the playoffs, fighting for a Wild Card, maybe the Division. But they won't go too deep.

I was ready to call you a pussy.

We may even be so lucky as to have a repeat of 2007; just making the Wild Card, winning 3 games on the road that no one thought we would win, then win the Super Bowl over a heavily favored team.

Actually, that won't happen. We had a much better team in 2007, and even in 2008 (up until Week 11 or so).

At 11/2/09 09:30 AM, SlipperyMooseCakes wrote: I actually forgot a point. Achievements. Sony found out a lot of people were buying multiplatform games on the 360 simply because of achievements. While that may be a dumb reason and is a shame it was pretty true. Yay Trophies! ... =/

That too. Nothing makes some one buy something like the promise of extending your e-penis to slap bitches with

Sony has never been good at marketing until recently. They must have fired most of the retarded monkeys in the ad department.

There was one advertisement I really liked prior to the KB ones.
http://blog.us.playstation.com/2007/10/n ew-ps3-tv-ad-campaign/ Sony has always been good at montages even if they do recycle the same games over a few times in the same advertisement.

Forgot about that one. Yeah, it was good, but it was the only good one.

At 11/2/09 12:23 AM, Hycran wrote:

At 11/1/09 11:30 PM, TheThing wrote:

27M pstriples sold
31M xbroke3redrings sold

Really? I thought the margin was a lot higher. Like 7.04 million. Sure my numbers were off, but not that far off.

At 11/1/09 04:42 PM, Idiot-Finder wrote:

At 11/1/09 04:24 PM, TheThing wrote:

At 11/1/09 03:49 PM, Idiot-Finder wrote: I won't be surprised if the ESPN starts to count the Giants out completely,

As of week 8, they are out.

You're not giving up are you?

I think the Giants will make it to the playoffs, fighting for a Wild Card, maybe the Division. But they won't go too deep.

Unless Eli threw this game to cover some gambling debts. There's no way he could have been that bad without trying.

At 11/1/09 05:23 PM, phileeguy wrote:

At 11/1/09 04:24 PM, TheThing wrote:

Well I'd agree with you on 2 of the 3 analogies there comparing the Giants to the Eagles this week. When McNabb actually throws a catch-able pass the receivers like Jackson, McCoy, Avant and Celek usually make the grab. If you were to say this like 2-3 years ago, I'd probably agree on all accounts.

Even last year the Eagles receiving corps decided that they should be catching more cocks and less balls

C WAT I DID THAR?

A) They need the big play to move the ball. If it doesn't go for 7 or 8 yards, it goes for 0 or negative yards. And every touchdown was at least 20 yards, and all but one was over 40. If they face a team that can stop the big play, the Eagles won't score. Or if the face a team that has a defense that can line up correctly and cover the receivers, it'll be a close game.

I think this is indicative of an O-line that really isn't doing it's job. I mean I don't care how healthy Westbrook is or how explosive McCoy is, they won't get anywhere without a good O-line effort on the play. What with their issues regarding both tackle positions not playing all that stellar, compounded with McCoy's inexperience in picking up blitzes on blocking assignments, well that just spells trouble against teams that can get in the backfield.

Not only that, but the Giants fucked up about 99% of their coverages today, leaving Jackson wide open and a free lane to the end zone. If any team covers the Eagles receivers properly, you won't have that. Which, of course, would allow for the line to get into the backfield, but the McNabb could still get a pass off with such wide open guys.

B) They can't win the games they should. 2 weeks ago they faced the Raiders, and lost. But then they destroy the Giants. McNabb couldn't hit Warren Sapp's mass from 3 yards out last week, but could knock a needle off of a finger this week. They are just too inconsistent to go deep in the playoffs.

This has always been an issue with the Eagles. See the Bengals tie of last year. There's always that one game of the year against an "inferior" opponent and they somehow find a way to give it away. Then again they also usually seem to find that game to motivate them and do pretty well come November and December. As for the playoffs, I'd agree with them being too inconsistent.

Not even 1 game and the playoffs; they'll have close games that they should blow out the other team in. Sure they get the win, but it was a close win.

At 11/1/09 11:14 PM, SlipperyMooseCakes wrote: But games like Devil May Cry, Resident Evil 5, Tomb Raider, PES Soccer, Fifa, etc all sold better on the PS3 because the PS3 does better in the regions they were developed in and applies more to their user base. Games like Madden, CoD, Guitar Hero, etc will probably always sell better on the 360.

You also have to think about online. Microsoft has a better (and wider) online service than the PS3. Gaming has become something social now, and many people will get a game on one system because they know that their non-gamer friends will get it for that system.

When it comes to exclusives, Microsoft knows how to market and sell. That's something Sony is just starting to learn with Kevin Butler.

Sony has never been good at marketing until recently. They must have fired most of the retarded monkeys in the ad department.

Part 3

"Michael, Michael, calm ya'self. If ya' don't want to be compared to Jesus or Gandhi, and I don't know who wouldn't, ya' can think of it as bettering yourself. Yer getting new limbs!" He boomed over the loudspeaker. But Mike was far from listening; he looking around for something to free himself with. He shook his arms and legs, hoping that they could possibly shatter the bindings that held him. But it was no use; he was confined to that gurney.

The suit, seeing that his speech was no longer having any effect on the subject, went over a small control panel and hit some buttons. In the steel cube, a door opened, allowing six nurses through and into the room. When Mike saw them, he flashed back to the dream he had; these women were dressed exactly like the ones in the dream, their features just as demonic. Noticing this, Mike thrashed his arms, nearly punching one of the guards in the face.

But while Mike was trying to escape, the floor had opened up, and out of it came a table with nineteen body parts. There were five fingers and five toes, all different. There was also an arm, a leg, an ear, a nose, an eye, a heart, a lung, a liver and a kidney. Each sat on a petri dish with clear plastic tubes connected to each organ. A silvery liquid was pumped into each organ before flowing out again. With each pump of the plasma, a small noise could be heard, like a man trying to stop himself from vomiting.

An old rag was shoved into Mike's mouth to prevent any yells, but it only muffled the pleas for his life. A doctor appeared from the crowd and approached Mike, carrying a small, handle held saw. It was old; the blade had flecks of rust prominently on the teeth, while the rest of the device was covered in splotches of blood.

The suit called from up above down to the doctor. "Eh doc! Start off small. Take a finger."

Mike's eyes widened as the doctor stood over Mike. He tried to pull his hand away, but was restrained by the guards. The doctor bent over, a gleeful look in his eyes. He said "Don't worry; I've done this dozens of times. You'll feel every bit of it."

The saw revved up and slowly came down on Mike's forefinger.

Part 2

Wiping his mouth contently, he looked at the heavy steel door. It was inlaid a foot or two from where his walls were, and had a small barred opening roughly eye level. Peaking out, Mike saw a hallway not unlike his new room. Dim and damp, it was lit solely by the lights apparently coming from other cells. Not seeing anything of note, he sulked over to the bed and sat down.

Mike had no idea what was going on. Was this just a prank by the guys at work? Or maybe he was arrested by some secret police. But either way, he would be freed, right? They couldn't hold him forever in here, right? He laid down and, while staring at the ceiling, pondered any possible explanation for this situation.

But soon, Mike fell asleep, restlessly dreaming. Mike stood in a field, the wind causing the knee-high grain to bend. A range of mountains raised majestically out of the ground as small white clouds drifted overhead. A couple of yards away, six stoic nurses stood holding various oversized surgical equipment. Their uniforms were almost sexy, with skirts at mid-thigh and tops with the arms cut off. A rather large red cross marked their head coverings, and green, elbow high gloves protected their hands. Mildly amused, Mike hiked through the field towards the women.

But as he neared, he saw their faces. Their mouths and noses were covered by masks, but their cold, bloodshot eyes stared through Mike's soul, never wavering, never blinking. Stopping, he noticed their skin was not flesh colored, but grayed with their veins pulsing and prominent. Before, Mike thought they were just standing there, but from here, they were aggressive, prepared to slice with the scalpel, stab with the syringe, bind with the clamps. Unable to look away, he slowly backed up in fear. But the nurses matched his steps. They marched in lockstep, never breaking rank.

Suddenly, the mountains slid to the right, as if they were pulled by a train. The wheat caught fire, burned intensely, then turned to ash, all in an instant. Nothing was left but dirt and soot in this ominous wasteland. The clouds overhead slowly aggregated, calling brothers and sisters from all parts of the world to form a thick black curtain over the sky. Rumbling and glowing, they pulsed overhead, waiting for the moment to strike. Whispers were shouted from an abyss, echoing around the plain.

With a violent shaking, a fissure cracked open between Mike and the nurses, causing Mike to fall backwards. The gaping line slowly grew wider and wider, forcing the two groups further apart. At first, this was welcomed, until the hole began to draw everything into it. The fields were re-sewn and grown at a mindless speed before they were sucked towards the crack. The train that had so swiftly pulled the mountains away was driven to the chasm. The storm above gave one last crack before being drawn into the hell waiting below.

Something tugged at Mike's leg. Tripping, he fell to the ground and was dragged to the opening. As he slipped into the canyon, he turned around and grabbed hold of the edge, trying to delay his descent. Looking down, he saw dozens of men, women and children fighting to get out of the lava. Not wanting to join them, Mike clawed and the ledge, trying to pull himself up. With a groan, he lost his grip and fell screaming and tumbling into the fire below.

The nurses did not flinch for a second.

Violently waking up, Mike nearly broke his elbow against the cold stone wall that lay unmoving next to the bed. Jumping out of bed, he ran towards the steel door and began to beat his fists against it. He hoarse cries of "Let me out! Let me go! Jesus Christ, I want to live! Help!" reverberated through the endless hallway, but nothing happened. Nothing moved, not even the light being cast from the other cells. But still he continued to bang his fists against the cold steel in a vain attempt to break down the door, leaving bloody smears on its surface.

Without warning, an intense pain went through his arms that cast him back into the room. The electrical shock had been broadcast through the metal and had thrown Mike like a ragdoll. Dejected and defeated, he laid on the bed, not wanting to discover his fate.

------------

He woke again to the sound of steel scraping on stone. Looking up, he saw the same two men in white hazmat suits walking towards him. Springing to his feet, he tried to outmaneuver them, but the room was too small; Mike had nowhere to run. Grabbing him under the armpits and by the ankles, the men wrestle him onto another gurney and strapped him into place. Putting all of his strength into pulling off the handcuffs, he succeeded in only hurting his wrists.

One of the men grabbed onto Mike's hand and put in an IV. Trying to shake it loose, Mike did everything in his power to remove the small needle. He banged his hand against the bed, threw it about viciously, anything to free himself from whatever was about to be put in his body, but to no avail. The tube was connected, and the soft feeling of calmness drifted on top of Mike like a warm blanket in winter.

Relaxed and carefree, Mike was pushed down the hallway passing empty cell after empty cell. But as he got closer to his destination, he noticed small amounts of blood on the walls, human finger nails laying on the ground and imbedded into the stone, and rat-covered bones still decaying in the corners. But Mike only smiled and floated downstream.

As a door at the end of the hallway came into sight, Mike heard cries of terror and screams of pain emanating from each passing cell, the light casting over his face like their tears were cast upon the ground. But Mike only smiled and floated downstream.

Mike passed through the heavy, thick metal door at the end of the hall. When it closed, all sound ceased to exist, as if he had entered a church. In a stupor, Mike looked around the room. He looked up and down its clean steel walls, on the floor and on the ceiling before lazily saying "This place seems familiar."

With that, the ceiling became vaulted, rising up high above Mike. On the side of the enclosure that faced Mike, a window appeared. It sat above the ceiling's old position, hidden from the sight of any curious captive. A man in a fine suit stood at the window, surrounded by luxury. "As it should" he said in a British accent, holding a glass of white wine.

"This is the room where ya' were first taken. I know, I know, ya' loved it so much you didn't want to leave. But yer 'ere again, aren't ya mate? And you'll be in here a lot more." He nodded to the men who had wheeled him in. They removed the IV tube.

"Ya' might'av heard that scientists have found a way to make new, fully functioning body parts. But, they can only replace recently lost limbs; there's no way to reconnect dead nerves," he stopped to take a drink, "but there's a slight problem in that. Ya see, we can't be waiting round for some guy to lose a part fore we start testing these things." He began to pace back and forth in front of the window, almost taunting the helpless Mike with his unrestricted movement.

"So, we 'av to... persuade a few people nobody cares bout into.... donating their bodies for the good o' the rest of the world." By now, the drugs had worn off, and the scared feelings began to overwhelm Mike. But the suit continued. "Think about it; Jesus was nailed to the cross for other people's sins and Gandhi fasted himself to death so that India could have equality and peace. Think of ya'self as in their company."

Terrified, Mike began to struggle against his handcuffs, shaking the gurney and causing the guards to step in and prevent Mike from injuring himself. The suit tried to talk Mike down.