BURN
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Author: Peter Devlin
Homepage: http://www.flar.demon.co.uk/terror/welcome.htm
System: Call of Cthulhu
Type: Hook
Category: Horror
Requirements:

BURN
Peter Devlin

	The growth in the use of information technology in the 
1990s has made dissemination of information very easy. However 
there is a price to pay for such easy access to information. 
	On the Internet there are a growing number of computer 
users falling prey to a new computer virus called BURN. This virus 
is so new that most anti-virus software companies do not yet know 
of it. It is also unlikely that anyone will survive to tell the 
story of its most unusual effects. 
	Astute students of Fortean lore may note an increasing 
unusual death rate amongst Net surfers, and there are always going 
to be upset parents. Media types, always hungry for a new angle on 
the Internet, will also make much of the rising tide of bodies, 
linking them to Internet pornography. 
	Eventually the BURN virus can be traced (via assembly 
language code headers) to a compiler belonging to the Arkham 
Sanitarium. 
	Howard Barker is a deranged hebephrenic psychology 
postgraduate from Miskatonic Uni who works as a ward assistant. 
Lately he has been spending a lot of time with the computers in the 
building.

Possibilites
1       The two variants of the BURN virus target IBM-PC clones 
or Apple Mac clones which can handle high resolution graphics 
(i.e. 98% of all home computers sold since 1993). BURN infects PCs 
either via affected floppy disk or Internet downloads.
	BURN is a Trojan virus which hides itself inside other 
applications then attaches itself to video card drivers. The next 
time the computer is booted up the virus causes the VDU to pulse 
and strobe at a rate which hypnotises unfortunate onlookers or 
causes epileptic seizures.
	Embedded into the strobing is the subliminal text message 
KILL - ENJOY. After 15 seconds the virus shuts down and is deleted 
the next time the computer is booted. Victims immediately become 
mindless killing machines and end up dead, either shot by police 
as they stroll through a shopping mall armed to the teeth, or take 
their own lives after cheerily slaughtering their family and 
friends.
	Howard Barker is currently preparing his doctorial thesis 
on human psychological impulses and is testing a few of his 
assumptions before he submits his final paper.

2       The two BURN variants target sound card drivers, not video 
drivers. It causes the computer to produce an odd agglutinous 
chanting from the attached speakers. If the timing is correct 
(i.e. night and Fomalhaut is visible) the user will suddenly feel 
cold and tired, and a glowing ball will appear from the smoking 
remains of the computer.
	The chant is a summoning spell for a Fire Vampire and the 
user has just lost the requisite magical energy to summon the 
beast. There are a large number of recent cases of people burnt 
to a cinder alongside their melted computers, causing the major 
PC companies to suspect hardware faults; none have been found so 
far.
	The Fire Vampires, being balls of plasma, then run around 
the electrical circuits in the building causing major fires. In 
big computer installations the sprinklers/halon/CO2 extinguishers 
go off and the Fire Vampires usually get snuffed. Surviving 
security video footage from a nearby college campus may prove 
illuminating.
	Howard Barker is a mad genius who got a number of such 
spells piecemeal from one of the inmates. Said inmate is John 
Doe #23 and has an unusual case history.

3       The BURN virus is slow and insidious. It subliminally 
flashes unpronouncable text messages on screen, essentially a 
Contact Nyarlathotep spell. It also adds a bookmark Internet 
address to Web browsers (www.starry-wisdom/welcome.html). The 
address is that of the home page of the Starry Wisdom Brotherhood, 
a quasi-religious group who hold all kinds of odd beliefs. 
	Nyarlathotep contacts the unfortunate victim via dreams or 
e-mail messages from DARKHAUNTER@AOL.COM an apparently non-existent 
mail address. The net result is that the victim is seduced by the 
Mythos and joins the Brotherhood. Eventually the sendings (dream 
or electronic) command the victim to prepare for a journey to the 
throne of the Ruler of the Universe and to prepare offerings. 
	Howard Barker maintains the Web site and there is much 
circumstantial evidence pointing to him as the leader of the 
Brotherhood. Actually he is a front man and scapegoat for Dr. 
Eloise Whateley, a recent addition to the staff roster at the 
Sanitarium.

Copyright (c) 1997 Peter Devlin
pdevlin@scotsys.co.uk