MANTIS, Incorporated is the most prominent corpo within New Saint Louis. Headquartered directly across from the Gateway Arch, The MANTIS Tower - well - towers over the rest of the city, and can be seen as far away as the tail end of Old West Alton in the Free State of Illinois.
- Excerpt from a digi-brochure of New Saint Louis, recovered from the home of the Scolipendra Twins on 01 March 2285
Post on Seenit, 28 February 2286:
How exactly WAS the MANTIS Tower heist pulled off???
submitted 2 hours ago by neuroromancer21
274 comments spread save obscure give shiny report crosslink
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[–] glibson 2458 points 2 hours ago
Oh, you're just ASKING for MANTIS to come after you too lol
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[–] neuroromancer [O] 1987 points 2 hours ago
I don't think that'll be an problem. I'm decked out with the latest wetware VPN from Prion, so even if this did flag me, I'd probably be fine.
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[–] 2BooBeez 9850 points 2 hours ago
… MANTIS owns Prion u dumfuk
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[–] neuroromancer [O] 20205 points 2 hours ago
… SHIT!
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Sis: u see this?
Sis: seenit.corp/s/trucrime/discussion/H343SA/how_exactly_WAS_the_MANTIS
me: Yeah ofc
me: Shows how famous our stunt is
Sis: and how pissed MANTIS are still.
me: I don't blame them for being pissed.
me: We did make a show out of
me: all of that gmbo.
Sis: nows not a time for giggling
Sis: i think we need to move back into the library before l.s. seals the place off from this world
me: (Sighs) Yeah, you're right.
me: Lemme just archive some more things before we go, so we can reminisce later.
Sis: fine, but plz dont take too long.
me: You know me. Speedy.
Header from the New Saint Louis Post Dispatch website, 26 February 2285:
Freak Thunderstorms Strike
The Gateway Arch Three Days
In a Row
The tourist attraction has been closed to the public until further notice.
BY: GEOFF BIGLEY
Excerpt on a post on the forums of fringe internet encyclopedia Parawatch Wiki, 09 February 2286:
I 5wear on my life, I 5aw what helped cau5e the MANTI5 Tower Hei5t.
You all probably already know my re5earch on the Gateway Arch, and how it'5 been retrofitted with all kinds of metal5 and alloy5 in the pa5t few centurie5, e5pecially after the Mi55i55ippi Flooding of 2042 made it ru5t to hell and back.
Well, I di5covered 5omething very intere5ting about the late5t metal they reinforced it with.
5uppo5edly, it'5 5ome kind of metal that the old legend5 5ay can make 5omeone - or 5omething - more in tune with the world5 between world5. I can't know for 5ure, though; the guard5 threatened to 5hoot me for trying to take a 5mall 5ample of it home with me the la5t time I tried.
Anyway, you know tho5e lightning 5torm5 that'd targetted the Arch for about a week?
Well, the night the Hei5t happened, I 5aw from my apartment window two bolt5 hit both it and MANTI5 Tower at the 5ame time.
And I 5wear the Arch 5tarted glowing…Transcript of security footage of the Gateway Arch, on the night of the MANTIS Tower Heist:
21:00: Guards stationed near the right leg of the Arch are subdued by two memetically silhouetted assailants, and dragged to a nearby set of bushes.
21:01: The two assailants reapproach the right leg of the Arch. Upon taking notice of the camera, the leftmost one pulls out an unknown device and aims it at the camera, causing the two to disappear from view.
21:02: Guards near the Arch's left leg begin rapidly approaching the right leg, weapons drawn. Upon arriving, however, they find no traces of the perpetrators. The remaining guards are found - unconscious - in the bushes, and roused.
21:03: The guards begin sweeping the Arch's perimeter. Above the Arch, thunderclouds begin forming.
21:05: The perpetrators are seen through the observatory deck's windows, scaling the Arch through currently unknown means.
21:07: Lightning strikes the top of the Gateway Arch. In the distance, a second bolt can be seen striking the spire of MANTIS Tower.
21:08: The Gateway Arch begins to glow a vibrant green. Significant audio and video distruption is observed.
21:09: Visual feed is lost as the glow intensifies. The sound of roaring thunder and the screech of an unknown animal can be heard, before audio feed is also lost.
I am not 5hitting.
L.S.,
The Rounderpede has disappeared.
I have picked up residiual traces of a Way opening in the vicinity of their last known location. I'm currently doing my damndest to isolate where they could have gone.
—Artemis Mewler
Emergency header from The New Saint Louis Post Dispatch, 28 February 2285:
Explosion at the
MANTIS Tower rocks
New Saint Louis
Reports of giant creature being the cause currently unverified.
BY: BREAKINGNEWS.AIC
Transcript of security footage from MANTIS Tower:
Note: Due to the volume of the alarms, audio transcription was deemed impossible.
21:12: An explosion occurs on MANTIS Tower, destroying the 156-158th floors and leaving a gaping hole in the building. A gigantic centipede scurries across the remnants as alarms begin to blare. Two silhouetted figures hop off the centipede, and begin to head north to the 159th floor.
21:14: On the 159th floor, the two individuals approach High Security Vault 001, the post of which has been abandoned following the explosion. The rightmost individual pulls out a laptop and an unknown piece of headgear, and begins typing onto the former while donning the latter.
21:15: The other accomplice, who until now hasn't left the typist's side, goes up to the Vault's door, and begins tracing their fingers against the metal. Runes appear on the door, and then disappear as the Vault opens. The security system within simultaneously deactivates. The accomplice then enters.
21:16: The accomplice enters with [REDACTED] in their hands. They and the typist enter into an unheard argument. The typist closes the laptop, stows it and the headgear away, and pulls out an unknown device.
21:17: The typist fires off the device, opening an extradimensional portal. They and the accomplice hurriedly enter it, and the portal closes just as security personnel arrive.
??:??: The giant centipede dissappears from baseline reality.
Press Release From MANTIS, Incorporated, 01 March 2285:
Yesterday evening, a small group of extradimensional terrorists descended upon MANTIS Tower, causing an explosion that resulted in fatalities that are still being counted. We can also confirm that a priceless artifact had been stolen from one of our vaults. We are cooperating with all law enforcement agencies to ensure that these terrorists are brought to justice. We will be providing no further comment at this time.
me: To think
me: All that trouble
me: For a coin.
Sis: not just any coin
Sis: the coin
me: Well, I hope L.S. will be happy with it, after all the effort we went thru.
me: Anyway, archiving's done.
me: Let's get outta here.
Sis: finally. i already opened some ways for us
Sis: see u on the other side
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