The Magnus Protocol 31 - Compartmentalising

The Magnus Archives

In 'The Magnus Protocol 31 - Compartmentalising,' survivors Alice and Gwen confront a terrifying anomaly within a malfunctioning computer system after the mysterious death of colleague

Key takeaways

• The computer system exhibits signs of sentience, possibly having killed Colin through internal manipulation.
• The concept of a 'tear' in the basement suggests an interdimensional or extradimensional portal linked to Sam's disappearance.

Main topics

• Sentient technology
• Interdimensional anomalies

Notable quotes

It murdered him!

Freddy killed Colin.

Conclusion

As Alice and Gwen face an increasingly unstable reality, they must decide whether to trust their own perceptions or risk

Transcript preview

Speaker 1 (0:00) Hi everyone, Kareem here, and today I want to tell you about Rusty Quill's upcoming charity live stream. On August 21st, we'll be streaming from 4pm BST to raise money for the Albert Kennedy Trust, who provide support to LGBTQ plus youths facing or experiencing homelessness. Alex and Johnny will be joined by a whole host of guests during the stream, and we are excited to announce that this will include Push the Roll with Ross Bryant for a live improvised game of Call of Cthulhu. Plus, the Pandemonium Institute will be running a special game of Blood on the Clocktower. These segments will have lots of opportunities for you to directly affect gameplay with your donations and cause chaos for the players. Join us at twitch.tv slash rusty underscore quill on Friday the 21st of August and help us support this fantastic charity. Thanks for listening. Speaker 1 (0:40) Hi everyone, it's Kareem, the voice of Simon Fairchild from the Magnus Archives, or the Eternal Tavern Keeper in Chapter and Multiverse. Today, I'm here to tell you about Malevolent, a podcast launched on the RQ Network. Malevolent is a weekly horror fiction podcast filled with dark, noir, eldritch horror. Arkham Private Investigator Arthur Lester wakes up with no memory of who he is or what has happened, only a nameless, eerie voice guiding him through the darkness. Blind, terrified and confused, his journey will lead him towards a series of mysteries in the hopes of understanding the truth of what has transpired. As cosmic horrors seep into the world, Arthur must ask himself whether this entity truly seeks to help him, or are its intentions more... malevolent? Search for Malevolent wherever you listen to your podcasts, or visit www.rustyquill.com or www.malevolent.ca for more information. Have fun. See you later. Speaker 8 (3:07) That's Colin, isn't it? Speaker 4 (3:08) Don't touch it! This is a crime scene now. Someone shoved... Someone's severed hand into the server, so we need to phone the police. Right now. Speaker 8 (3:18) It's Colin. It's him. I know it is. Speaker 4 (3:22) No, you don't. It could be anyone's severed hand. Speaker 8 (3:27) There's no blood. What? Look, there's no blood. Not on his hand, his phone. The entire server rack is clean. Speaker 4 (3:37) So whoever did it cleaned up after themselves. Even more reason to call the police. They have all kinds of DNA tests and forensic... Will you just Speaker 8 (3:44) look, Gwen? I am looking. There's cables running through it and it looks like it's attached right to the electrics. How is it even still working? That wasn't just shoved in there by someone. It looks more like it came from inside the system... Alice, Speaker 4 (4:01) stop. Please. Speaker 4 (4:04) I'm going to call the police now. I'm going to call the police and tell them what we found. And you're not going to mention your wild theory. Gwen, we need to call Lena. Well, Lena isn't here, so... Speaker 8 (4:18) Uh, Gwen, you might want to hold off on that phone call. Speaker 4 (4:22) Alice, for God's sake. It's gotten. What is? Speaker 4 (4:28) The hand? When did that Speaker 8 (4:29) happen? I don't know. Just now. I turned to look at you and then when I looked back it was just gone. Speaker 4 (4:36) Don't be ridiculous. It can't just be gone. You must have just... Speaker 8 (4:42) I don't think the police can help with this. Then Speaker 4 (4:45) what exactly do you propose? We call Lena. I am in charge. Are Speaker 8 (4:52) you? It's been one night. One night. And Sam's gone. And Lena's gone. And Colin's been eaten by the computer or something. Don't Speaker 4 (5:02) say that. That's not what happened. Then Speaker 8 (5:04) what did Speaker 4 (5:04) happen? I don't... Speaker 4 (5:09) What's that? Speaker 8 (5:11) Sounded like a beep. Speaker 4 (5:12) Obviously it's a beep. What I meant is... Speaker 8 (5:16) Gwen. I Speaker 4 (5:19) see it. Open it, Alice. You open it! Speaker 8 (5:24) You're Speaker 4 (5:24) being foolish. Speaker 8 (5:25) If it can do that to Colin, it can open its own damn cases. Speaker 4 (5:29) For goodness sake. Speaker 6 (5:33) Error log 14-05-2024-0403. Category, fatal programmer error. ANO 611 attempted host compromise. FR3-D1.EXE. JMJ equals null. Traceback module by extension. Becker. Error readout. No Speaker 8 (6:05) more red tape. No one coming to the rescue. Just you and me. Speaker 8 (6:13) And then you call me bastard? Let's have it! Speaker 6 (7:04) Rayconfig self.host. Discard data. Oxygen.becker complete. Discard data. Carbon.becker complete. Discard data. Hydrogen.becker complete. Discard data. Nitrogen.becker complete. Discard data. Calcium.becker complete. Discard data. Phosphorus.becker complete. Discard data. Potassium.becker complete. Discard data. Sulfur.becker complete. Discard data. Sodium.Becker complete. Discard data. Chlorine.Becker complete. Discard data. Magnesium.Becker complete. Discard data. Trace.Becker complete. Extension.Becker resolved. 14.05.2024.04.06. Self.Host errors resolved. 14.05.2024.04.07. .jmj error not resolved. Data integration cycle ongoing. 0.02%. System function margins acceptable, 82%. New administrator permissions assigned. End error log. Speaker 4 (8:11) Well, now we know. Speaker 8 (8:13) Freddy killed Colin. Speaker 8 (8:17) killed him. Speaker 4 (8:18) It definitely sounds like the system was provoked and... Speaker 8 (8:23) Don't you do that! Don't you dare do that! It murdered him! Speaker 4 (8:30) I just meant that I don't think we're in any danger as long as we don't antagonise it. So Speaker 8 (8:38) what? We're hostages now. Speaker 4 (8:40) No! No, I'm sure we can leave. Um, Freddie? Can we leave? Speaker 8 (8:51) Jesus Christ! What happened to you being in charge? Speaker 4 (8:56) I am in charge and now we've established there is no further risk to staff and that a police response would be inappropriate. I think it would be best if we take a moment to assess the situation and... Gwen, where is Lena? I really don't know how much clearer I can be. The minister decided to have her replaced and gave me the job. What? Just like that? No exit interview? No handover? Just like that. Now, Alice, I need you to please explain to me again what you meant when you said Sam was gone. Is he dead? No! Speaker 4 (9:35) At least, Celia doesn't seem to think so. And what does Celia know about this? Where Speaker 8 (9:41) is she? I told you, she's gone home. She was there when it happened. She saw Sam fall into... Well, I don't know what it is. Celia said it was a tear, if that means anything. He was fighting the Archivist, and then they must have... Enough. Speaker 4 (9:57) Enough.