conversations.from: system
conversations.value: #JANUARY 1959
  
  Although nearly twelve and a half years had passed since V-J Day, things had never really returned to normal for many veterans of the war in the Pacific.  For a small group of Marines who had survived a remote speck in the Marianas called Agrihan Island, "normal" would always remain an impossibility... 
  
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: You gotta stay alive!
  You *gotta* get home in one piece before the damn squids get all the glory...*and* the dames!
conversations.prefix: Get Home!:
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.value: Banzai charges?  Check.
  Kamikazes?  Check.
  Jungle rot?  Double check.
  Shitty c-rats?  Yeah.
  
  But I sure as hell didn't sign on for *this*...
conversations.prefix: What the Hell..?:
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: Let's just get the job done, Mac, OK?
conversations.prefix: How 'bout a nice cup of Shut The Hell Up?:
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.value: Sure, Gunny didn't say anything about killing undead Krauts or Nips back in bootcamp...but he *did* say something about "adapt, improvise, and overcome," didn't he?
conversations.prefix: Think, Marine!  Think!:
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: The real title is "gunnery sergeant," but hell, *nobody* uses that.
  
  You're the "Gunny," and the men will follow you through the gates of hell itself, if you're man enough to lead them.  
conversations.prefix: Gunny Sergeant:
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.value: You're a basic grunt.
  
  A United States Marine Corps rifleman.
  
  You and your rifle are the most deadly combination in the world...against *living* enemies, anyway...
conversations.prefix: Rifleman:
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: You are a gung-ho Marine.  You fought your way across the Pacific.
  
  Guadalcanal, Peleliu, Okinawa...
  
  You're battle-hardened and ready for *anything*...even the undead.  
conversations.prefix: Gung-Ho!:
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.value: That's what we do in the Marines.
conversations.prefix: Improvise!  Adapt! Overcome!:
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: Guess what..?
conversations.prefix: "It's tougher if you're stupid.":
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.value: They didn't call it "PTSD" back in 1945, but everyone knew what it was.  
  "Battle Fatigue"
  "Shell Shock"
  "The 2000 Yard Stare"
  
  Sometimes it hits you pretty hard...
conversations.prefix: Battle Fatigue:
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: Hell, who *wouldn't* be afraid of this shit?
conversations.prefix: Fear of the supernatural:
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.value: Using these are second nature to you...but will they work against *them*..?
conversations.prefix: Hand Grenade (US):
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: They work a little different...you have to slap down the knob on top to activate it.  Makes a hissing noise when the fuse is lit.
conversations.prefix: Japanese Hand Grenade:
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.value: An obscure island in the Marshalls located north of Guam, it was bypassed during the island hopping campaign.  No American has set foot on it...until now.
conversations.prefix: Agrihan Island:
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: If you don't have a wooden stake, this little baby still does the trick!
  
  *Hey, could this be made into a bayonett?* 
conversations.prefix: Bamboo Knife:
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.value: LT Mick Flannigan, Chaplains Corps, USN has been with your outfit since Peleliu.  Though he never carries a weapon, he's always in the thick of things ready to 
  
  
  carry a wounded Marine to safety and--if needs be--administer the Last Rites. 
conversations.prefix: Chaps:
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: When he was alive, he was known as Captain Ishiki Tonjo, the commanding officer of the Imperial Japanese Army contingent on the island.  Although his undead soul 
  
  is still imbued with the spirit of a Samurai, his loyalty is no longer to the Emperor.  The sovereign he worships now is a much *darker* character...
conversations.prefix: Ishiki Tonjo:
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.value: Although she was a civilian (back when she was alive), Fumiko Hanae could speak English with a near-perfect midwestern American accent.  The island had a 
  
  radio station used to broadcast propaganda messages.  Though nowhere nearly as famous as "Tokyo Rose," she now possesses skills never imagined by her former superiors at the Imperial Japanese High Command.
conversations.prefix: Fumiko Hanae:
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: Captain Ichiro Hashimoto is the garrison commander, one of only four (living) Japanese soldiers found on the island.  
conversations.prefix: Captain Hashimoto:
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.value: The four remaining Japanese soldiers present themselves to you.
conversations.prefix: Japanese Garrison...what's left of it.:
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: The LVT-4 Amphibious Tractor ("Amtrak") was a workhorse of the Pacific war.  Capable of carrying 18 Marines and equipment, it had armor which 
  
  provided some protection when hitting the beach.  If surf conditions were rough, it was prone to broaching and swamping, however.
conversations.prefix: LVT-4 Amtrak:
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.value: Standard USN issue.
conversations.prefix: Kapok Life Jacket:
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: Standard USN equipment found on any ship or watercraft.
  
  Don't let the squids hear you call them "ropes."  Everyone knows the proper term is "lines."
conversations.prefix: Ropes:
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.value: Based on old surveys and more recent aerial photography, it's a fairly decent topographic map of Agrihan Island.
conversations.prefix: Map:
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: Carried by officers and senior NCO's, the 1911 model Colt .45 has a lot of stopping power.
  
  Damn good kick too.
conversations.prefix: Colt 1911:
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.value: The Model  M1918A2 Browning Automatic Rifle (usually just called the B.A.R.) It could fire 30-06 rounds at a rate of 500 per minute, though a typical magazine carried only 20 rounds.
  
  While most Marines carried the reliable M1 rifle, a typical squad had two BARs. One team would typically provide covering fire until a magazine was empty, whereupon the second team would open fire, thus allowing the first team to reload. In the Pacific, the BAR was often employed at the point or tail of a patrol or infantry column, where its firepower could help break contact on a jungle trail in the event of an ambush.
conversations.prefix: Browning Automatic Rifle:
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: "This is my rifle.  There are many like it, but this one is mine!"
  
  With an effective range of 500 yds., the M1 was the workhorse of the Marines.  Its 8 round magazine fires 30-06 bullets.
  
  If the order is given to "fix bayonets," this rifle becomes a deadly hand-to-hand weapon as well.
  
  Make every round count, Marine!
conversations.prefix: M1 Rifle:
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.value: Usually called just the "Thompson" or "Tommy-gun," it doesn't have near the range of the M-1 rifle (only 150 yards) but it can spit out those .45 rounds at the rate of 700 a minute (though the clip carries only 30).
conversations.prefix: Thompson M1 Submachine Gun:
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: Most people would simply call this "a shovel," but to the Marines, it's an "entrenching tool."  
  The blade isn't any sharper than a regular shovel (although it *does* fold), but in the hands of a Marine, it can still 
  
  do some damage.
conversations.prefix: E-Tool:
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.value: *Smoke 'em if you got 'em.*
  
  Share 'em with a friend.  
  
  (It's still 20 years until the Surgeon General's warning comes out...)
conversations.prefix: Lucky Strikes:
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: Although many K-ration and C-ration "delicacies" were barely identifiable as food, the ubiquitous chocolate bar earned its place in GI history for all the right reasons.
conversations.prefix: Chocolate Bar:
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.value: The first order of business is securing the beach.
  
  Always.
  
  Get it done, Marine.
conversations.prefix: Establish a Beachhead:
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: The company commander.  Annapolis Class of '42.  Capable and competent.
conversations.prefix: Captain Hank Jackson:
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.value: Maybe you won't need it, seeing that the war's officially over....
  
  **The card represents ammo for your particular weapon type.  You can "rewrite" it as your original weapon, or** 
  
  **you can simply play it as is, indicating that you're reloading and continuing to fire.**
conversations.prefix: Ammo:
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: It might be real "meat" inside these cans...but it's probably best not to dwell on the contents for too long...
conversations.prefix: C-Rations:
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.value: Hector Hickum is the unit's corpsman.  His official title is Navy Hospital Corpsman (HM) Petty Officer Second Class, but everyone just 
  
  calls him "Doc."  He's been with the company since Peleliu, and there's many a Marine who owes his life to this man.
  
  *Helpful Hint:  Don't call him a "medic," or he's likely to give you a fat lip for insinuating that he's some kind of Army asshole!  He's a Navy Corpsman!*
conversations.prefix: HM2 "Doc" Hickum:
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: All of Yablonski's bravado seems to have left him, although he is still fighting as if his life depends on it.  As your foxhole is swarmed, 
  
  though, Yablonski loses it.  
conversations.prefix: Yablonski (for Cohen):
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.value: These Nips seem *particularly* determined to get into hand-to-hand combat with you.  They're almost unstoppable!  *What kind of drug-laced Sake are they mugs drinking, anyway?*
conversations.prefix: Enemy Soldiers (Hammonds & Pickett) :
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: It's hand-to-hand trench fighting!  The Japs are on top of you almost before you know it..
conversations.prefix: Enemy Soldiers (McElroy):
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.value: "Chaps" doesn't have a gun, so it's up to you to stop these Nips before you're both gutted.
conversations.prefix: Enemy Soldiers (Gunny):
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: Dawn breaks over Agrihan Island, signalling the start of another period of blessed daylight.
conversations.prefix: White Beach, Agrihan Island:
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.value: The vegetation is lush.  Well camouflaged enemies could be anywhere.
conversations.prefix: Agrihan Island:  The Interior:
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: The Mission:  reconnoiter the area surrounding White Beach.  Get a body count.  Try to find Stoker, or at least try to find out what 
  
  happened to him.  Engage the enemy if you encounter him. 
conversations.prefix: Patrol (17 Sep 1945):
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.value: The sounds of a firefight somewhere to the south are unmistakable.  The question is...who are they fighting?  It sure as hell isn't *you!*
conversations.prefix: Who are they shooting at?:
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: Yablonski seemed to get better right around sunset.  More calm, less agitated, more like himself.  You know...an *asshole.*
  
  But now...*this??*
conversations.prefix: Yablonski:
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.value: Up ahead are a group of soldiers.  They're definitely *not* United States Marines.  
  They see you .
  You see them.
  What now?
conversations.prefix: Japanese Soldiers:
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: The figures up ahead are definitely *not* United States Marines!
conversations.prefix: Japanese Soldiers:
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.value: They're exhausted, malnourished, and obviously frightened.  You've stripped them of weapons, but *now* what?  Gunny said to treat them well.  Wonder what their names are and if any of them speak American..?
conversations.prefix: Your New Guests:
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: One of the prisoners had a bottle of Sake on him.  That's some kind of booze, right?  Wonder if it's any good...?
conversations.prefix: Sake:
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.value: As Chaplain Flannigan holds the crucifix before his face, Yablonski grows increasingly fearful and agitated. 
conversations.prefix: Yablonski (for McElroy) :
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: The company commander.  Annapolis Class of '42.  Capable and competent.
conversations.prefix: Captain Hank Jackson (for GySgt Stillwell):
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.value: She is the Ancient One.  
  The oldest and most deadly vampire on the island, she is from the original generation of natives "turned" by whatever it was that arrived as unwanted cargo aboard a European ship a century earlier.  
conversations.prefix: The Mistress:
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: The combined force of US Marines and Imperial Japanese soldiers have erected a hasty defense which includes means both conventional...and those considerably *un*conventional.  Will it be enough?
conversations.prefix: The Defenses:
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.value: One victim was not enough to satisfy their hunger.  The vampires swarm your position again, and while they do so, one of their number engages in a special attack of *her own*...
conversations.prefix: The Second Attack:
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: An essential piece of equipment for clearing out bunkers and tunnels late in the war, the weapon's effects are horrific.  It was one of the most hated weapons from the Japanese perspective.  But it *is* good at burning things to a crisp.  Will it work on the undead?
conversations.prefix: Flame Thrower:
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.value: There are probably no vampires lurking this close to the entrance, but do you want to risk your life on it?
conversations.prefix: Clear the Entrance!:
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: They appear to be sleeping Japanese soldiers...peaceful but with the stench of *death* about them.
conversations.prefix: The First Lair:
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.value: 
  Others may call it a retreat, but the *only* path to safety requires an "advance to the rear."
conversations.prefix: Fight Your Way Out!:
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: Taking your eyes off the treeline for a moment, you watch your reinforcements coming ashore.  Upon order from Gunny, you collapse your perimeter and withdraw to the waiting 'tracks.  What are your thoughts?
conversations.prefix: The Evacuation:
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.value: He was your buddy.  You always thought the two of you would make it home.
conversations.prefix: Hammonds:
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: You did your part in the war.  Then there was that nightmare on Agrihan.  What the hell are you doing back here?!
conversations.prefix: Not this S--- Again!:
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.value: Did the bomb *really* kill them all? 
  
  Perhaps knowing the answer for certain will give you peace.
conversations.prefix: What happened to them?:
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: He was your buddy.  You left him here to a fate worse than death.  
  
  Is he finally at peace?
conversations.prefix: Ernie Hammonds:
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.value: Although you went your own ways after the war, you always wondered what happened to those magnificent SOBs you served with. 
   
  Unexpectedly, *now* is your chance to find out.
conversations.prefix: Reforging old bonds:
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: Guadacanal.
  Peleliu.
  Okinawa.
  And...*Agrihan.*
  
  Those aren't just names to you.  
  They changed you.  
  
conversations.prefix: What happened to you?:
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.value: You didn't *ask* to be brought here.  But since you're here, it's time to find answers to questions that have troubled you greatly for all these years.
conversations.prefix: Answers:
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: Last time you were here, the war was consuming every aspect of your life.  Your horizon ended at the treeline, or the next ridge.  Now you have a decade and more of peace and "normality" under your belt.  Your perspective is different.  Maybe even healthier...
conversations.prefix: There's more to life than the Corps:
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.value: Years of combat toughened you.  Put steel in your spine.  
  
  That steel abides in ways which may surprise you.
conversations.prefix: Residual toughness:
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: Before Agrihan, you had no idea that something like the "undead"  actually existed. 
  
  Your eyes are open now.
conversations.prefix: You've learned some things:
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.value: The things you saw--whether "natural," unnatural, or *super*natural--invade your sleep on a regular basis.  There are times when they overwhelm you during your waking hours as well.  
conversations.prefix: The nightmares.:
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: Is it chronic illness?
  Have you let yourself go with excessive drink or easy living?
  Or is it just that you're fifteen years older now?
  Whatever the cause, you lack the strength and stamina you once had.  
conversations.prefix: Out of shape:
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.value: As the sun sinks, you prefer to be inside with the doors and windows locked.
  
  It's been like this since September '45...
conversations.prefix: Afraid of the dark:
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: Although he coyly identifies himself as working for "the Company," he makes little effort to conceal his identity as a CIA man.  Pedantic and abrupt, he has the demeanor more akin to a tenured professor than a field operative...which in fact he was.  
conversations.prefix: Fenton Buckley:
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.value: This is *not* the posh interior of a Pan Am Super Constellation airliner.  The spartan interior reminds you that this is a no-nonsense military transport.  There will be no in-flight cocktails...
conversations.prefix: Aircraft Interior:
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: These are the men with whom you shared the most memorable--and terrifying--moments of your life.  You didn't have a chance to talk back in Honolulu before being hustled aboard the plane.  Now, on this long flight across the Pacific, you have a chance to catch up.
conversations.prefix: Reunion:
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.value: The caption on the slide simply said, "AGRIHAN ISLAND, 3 DEC 1945.  PERSONNEL IN CLEARING.  P-38 NIGHT FIGHTER PHOTO HEADING 230, 600 FT AGL."  
  
  Whether or not Buckley admits it, you know *what* that creature captured on the film is.  But *who* is it?  Is that a uniform it's wearing?  And if so, is the clothing of American or Japanese origin?
conversations.prefix: The Infrared Photo:
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: Hell, Gunny, you didn't just survive the heat of battle.
  
  *You thrived in it.*
conversations.prefix: You Survived.:
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.prefix: Wild:
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: Your left foot is missing part of its instep and nearly all of its toes.  
  
  They're probably still stuck in the frozen mud somewhere along the road from Chosin Reservoir...
conversations.prefix: You're a damn cripple:
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.prefix: Wild:
conversations.from: human
conversations.prefix: Wild:
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.prefix: Wild:
conversations.from: human
conversations.prefix: Wild:
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.prefix: Wild:
conversations.from: human
conversations.prefix: Wild:
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.prefix: Wild:
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: This *isn't* the theater you wanted to fight in, but there's still a job to be done!  The sooner you get it done--and done right--the sooner you can get home.
conversations.prefix: No Nonsense!:
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.prefix: Wild:
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: You've seen enough in the war that you have no illusions:  death is always lurking, ever only moments away.  This realization has made you cautious--perhaps *too* cautious--and at 
  
  times you hesitate when hesitation can be every bit as fatal as rashness.
conversations.prefix: Caution bordering on Hesitancy:
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.prefix: Wild:
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: This war--what happened to your people in Europe--well, that makes it *personal,* doesn't it?  You desperately wanted to fight in Europe to make a direct effort in defeating Nazism, but fate sent you to the Pacific.  Either 
  
  way, though, there are wrongs to be righted...and scores to be settled.
conversations.prefix: It's Personal:
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.value: Veteran of the legendary First Marine Division.  You made it through the toughest fighting in the Pacific:  Guadalcanal, Peleliu, Okinawa.
  *Then there was Agrihan Island...*
conversations.prefix: Private Isaac "Izzy" Cohen:
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: Not a day has gone by since you left that place where you failed to contemplate just what it was that went on there on Agrihan Island.
  What it meant.
  Fourteen years later you still have no answer, but pondering it all has made you into a bit of a philosopher.
conversations.prefix: Thoughtful:
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.prefix: Wild:
conversations.from: human
conversations.prefix: Wild:
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.value: There are times--in those nightmares you get with such regularity--where she seems so *real.*  Though you know she got incinerated with all the others the night they dropped the bomb, you wonder...
conversations.prefix: The Nightmares:
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: Why do new situations make you nervous?  Hell, you know why.
  
  How did it get like this and can you overcome it?
conversations.prefix: Who have you become?:
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.value: A very distant relation to the Confederate General whose name became synonymous with Gettysburg, Joe Pickett was a tough Marine, but lacked the dash and verve of his famous kinsman.  
  He landed on Agrihan thinking the war was *over.*  He and his best pal Ernie Hammonds, they *both* thought that...
conversations.prefix: Private Joseph Pickett, USMC:
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: As the ranking Japanese officer on Agrihan who had survived until the Marines landed, you were the garrison commander, one of only a handful of men who had survived the vampires.  That *any* of you--American or Japanese--survived the ordeal was largely due to your unique understanding of the situation.
conversations.prefix: Captain Ichiro Hashimoto, Imperial Japanese Army:
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.value: You took a leading role in the rebuilding of your shattered country, and have prospered as a result.  You were an electrical engineer before the war.  Now, you are vice president of Musashi Electric, and ready to exploit whatever *unique* resources might be found on this island.  
  Yet you remember all too well what happened here.  You have adjusted to those grim memories, and have them tucked neatly away...safely.  
conversations.prefix: Industrialist:
conversations.from: human
conversations.prefix: Wild:
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.value: Knowledgeable.  Calm to the point of apparent serenity.  Always the source of rational decisions.  
  This is nothing more than a fanciful mask of the kind used in *Noh* plays.  Inside, the memories of that place make you want to tear the very eyes from your skull.
conversations.prefix: A Diet of Falsehoods:
conversations.from: human
conversations.prefix: Wild:
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.value: When he was alive, he was known as Captain Ishiki Tonjo, the commanding officer of the Imperial Japanese Army contingent on the island.  You worshipped him.  Then he became one of *them,* and it took every strength you possessed to survive his cunning.
    The Americans say they saw him die in the cave.  *Can it really be so?*
  
conversations.prefix: Is he really dead?:
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: …McElroy was that "everyman" which gave the Corps its heart.  Not a big thinker, but a guy who'd get the job done.
  He did, however, have a bit of a reputation in his old platoon...
  
  "His buddies even had a saying:
  There’s going with your gut.  There’s acting on instinct.  There’s being impulsive.  Then there’s 'being McElroy.'"
  
  *Semper Fi, Mac!*
conversations.prefix: Private Gene McElroy, USMC:
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.value: You saved lives that day:  Chaps, the Captain, Gunny, your own.
  
  *But you had to kill a fellow Marine to do it.*
  
  You keep telling yourself you had to...
conversations.prefix: Yablonski:
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: You are a Marine's Marine!  You came to manhood fighting dirty little wars in Nicaragua in the '30's.  You were with the First Marine Division for every battle from Guadalcanal to Okinawa.  You survived the frozen bloody hell of the Chosin Reservoir fighting the commies in Korea.
  
  And, of course, there was that little island whose name you never mention.
  
  You are a Marine's Marine.  At least you *were...*
conversations.prefix: Gunnery Sgt. Jack Stillwell:
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.value: All you ever wanted to do was serve in the Corps.
  Live in the Corps.
  Fight in the Corps.
  Die in the Corps.
  Then they forced you to retire.  ("Medical Discharge, *my ass*!")
  What meaning has life held for you since then?
conversations.prefix: Once a Marine...:
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: These people are the *only* people with whom you're able to be open about the events on Agrihan Island.  You survived -- *together.*  There's a bit of freedom that comes with that realization.
conversations.prefix: Survivors:
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.value: Mac had always been an "act first - think later (if at all)" kind of guy, but the nightmares and the paranoia had driven him so far beyond that.  Mac was a loose cannon with a short fuse and a much more violent temperament.  And with the bulk he had added in the past 14 years, he was a force to reckon with.
conversations.prefix: Loose Cannon:
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: Over the years, Pick decided he could no longer subscribe to the idea of a benevolent higher power, shattering a large portion of what had been his identity. Now, what remains to provide hope?
conversations.prefix: Faithless:
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.value: That flask in your pocket has become very important to you...
conversations.prefix: Whiskey: