User Guide

All was quiet except for a faint but noticeable murmur
of a power generator. I took a slow step out of the shadows,
looking to my right and left down each corridor for any
potential danger. But this wasnÕt a usual route around the
sector looking to bust armed U4 pushers. This was a real war
for some reason, but there was nothing here but very subtle
screams in the distance, gun blasts, explosions,
then more screams.
Then it kicked in: that adrenaline rush from hell. I bolted
down the metallic hallway with a 1000 years of rage on my
shoulders and seven hand-held CB-22 rockets in my backpack
for each of the souls IÕll take in the next half hour. The lives
IÕll devour to make me stronger and impenetrable.
As I ran, fitted in armor and conviction,
the familiar war sounds become louder and fed into my fury.
The screams were almost unbearable at this point.
The moment I turned the corner into a room with
this powerful blue light, blood and chunks of flesh sprayed onto my
pants from the poor disemboweled ÔCorps soldier to my right,
opened by a shot from an above tier and a keen eye.
A hoard of mutated bodies without faces eclipsed the light
and turned to me, armed with guns, bombs, and claws.
And the chase was on. I pulled a quick 180 and leapt across
the separation in the floor, only to duck behind a crate to
turn around and open fire. Four down. Time to move.
I quickly scrambled outside under the angered sky with
bullets darting past both my ears. One gets me in the
shoulder but proves tolerable. I found myself cornered
with nowhere to go except into a sea of death, already a
graveyard for many dead soldiers. I dove in while more bullets
burrowed into my suit and skin and bone. Just as I thought I was
safe,
I heard a splash only to look over my shoulder and see three
desperate beasts, but theseÉanimalsÉhad faces. And they were
scared, too.
Were they after me or were they running from fear themselves?
I immediately unleashed four more demons from my barrel, three
meeting their destiny. Although victorious, I choked on the thick water,
blood, and flesh that surrounded me, and died just the same.
As I floated slowly to the surface, a womanÕs laughter came from
somewhere above, as if I was part of an experiment or something,
like I was in a test tube. And then I woke up in a cold pool of sweat.
It is the calm before the storm.
My God, it is the calm before the storm.
Sin Manual 8/30/99 1:17 PM Page 2