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DAY 1 - THURSDAY JUNE 3rd
My OPEX story begins Thursday, June 3rd. I took the day off work so I could get my apartment ready for the arrival of some forumites who would be staying with me -- mostly Servo. He arrived at about 4pm, fresh from his first of many trips on Toronto's delightful TTC.
We packed our things and quickly exited the building -- only to be stuck in rush-hour traffic on the TTC. No matter, for we had planned this, and arrived at the BBQ on time with time to spare. In fact, we were part of the first 10 or so people to show up. I introduced myself to some of the people I didn't know, and said hello to Ninjalicious and Liz. Ninj insisted I call him by his real name, and I thought to myself "This could become a problem". Nicknames are unique; real names are not. Anyway, I had brought a whole ton of discount party-style food, which I left on the snacks table for people to open. The mini-skittles disappeared pretty quickly!
| Polyester's Infiltration Cupcakes |
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Over the next several hours, more and more people showed up. Polyester arrived, with her Infiltrating Cupcakes (they were delicious!). Panic from Australia arrived, and he gave me some Australian money -- and demonstrated that it is nearly impossible to rip it when pulled end-to-end. It's also really cool, it has transparent plastic windows.
I really enjoyed meeting all these people who I mostly only knew online, or had a vague recollection of reading about in Infiltration. At some point during the evening, Ninjalicious suggested I take a group of people to the Hearn generating station. Although I really only wanted to take 6-7 people, the list quickly grew to 11, not including myself.
It was a quick 20-minute walk to the Hearn station. I was very nervous, taking such a large group into a building with active security. We all made it inside fine, and proceeded to the roof. There was some tension when we watched a car drive from the nearby road directly into the plant's driveway -- but as we watched a different car leave, it became clear that it was a shift change.
On the highest roof, I snapped some quick photos. Mark and another guy who'se name escapes me took off on their own. I later learned that they had snuck up to within 20 feet of the guard shack, and had taken a photo of the sleeping guard. I led my group about Hearn, showing off the control room and the turbines. It's been a few months since I was there, and the place is even more demolished now. Huge banks of machinery are just plain missing.
We all managed to leave the building safely and without being seen, and also without damaging anything. The fence is intact. After saying our farewells, Servo and I made a quick TTC trip back home.
DAY 2 - FRIDAY JUNE 4th
The next morning, we awoke at about 9am, for we had to arrive for Draining with Umbra at 11am. Our draining expedition was pretty cool, if somewhat uneventful. It was a neat drain. At one point, NZero splashed some water and filled my previously dry boots. After some drying in the sun, we were all set to be late for r0sie's lockpicking seminar.
We arrived nearly an hour late, but I was happy to see that the wandering Western Canada crew had arrived: Jester, Pixie, DarkTreader, and Damien. I asked Jester when he was doing his "Climbing Things with Jester" seminar, and he said it would start soon. Indeed it did!
Most of the group proceeded outside, and within minutes Jester began to climb the Sanford Fleming building. This building has ridges in the walls, and Jester had no problem climbing it. We then moved to Convocation Hall, where Slim Jim and Damien Nightbane also climbed about like monkeys. Several University of Toronto attendees stopped and watched, but none seemed to have a problem with it.
| jester outside the idiot's office |
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On a different building, Jester climbed to a window ledge and began to chimney up inside a little nook. He told us there was a guy in the office beyond the window, and also said the wall was too ridged to chimney. We moved en masse to the north side of the building, where Jester began to chimney up inside a different part of the wall.
He was maybe halfway up when the guy from the office appeared. He watched for a second, and I was about ready to think that he was about to say how cool it was, when he opened his mouth and spouted forth with "Would you like to get off the wall before I call campus security?" We all looked at him, and Jester said "Yes, actually, I would!" and began to climb down.
At this point, I think it was Crossfire who said to the guy "Excuse me, do you know where the washroom is?", the standard UE social engineering line. The guy looked bewildered for a moment, and replied with "there's washrooms all over these buildings..." Jester shouted from the wall "There's no washrooms on the roof!"
| jester chimneying the wall |
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I asked the guy if there was a problem. He informed me that yes; indeed there was a problem; and it was that we were climbing about on UofT property. Jester jumped in with "I don't see any 'no climbing' signs around here!" In response, the guy gave Jester a withering glare and said "You don't see any 'no jumping' signs on the Bloor Viaduct, but people don't do that!". This statement pretty much proved his intellect to us.
The guy wandered off, possibly in search of people who thought it was a bad idea to climb buildings. We moved back into the parking lot, coincidentally also in full view of the guy's office. A few minutes later one of us noticed that the guy was back in his office, leaning against the window with a phone to his ear. It was pretty obvious he was calling campus security. I left the property at this point, but as the story was told, Campus Security arrived within minutes on bicycles, and asked the group "We've got a report that a group matching your description is trying to climb onto the roof. Is this true?" At this point, every single person standing there said "No, no it isn't" since we weren't trying to climb to the roof, we just were climbing.
After this exciting event, most of us split up. Servo, Drie, PSXJSV, Slim Jim, and I went to the Don Valley Brickworks for a quick trip before dinner. On the way in, we ran into a group of about 10 other OPEXers on their way out. We took a lightning tour of the place, posed for one of Drie's patented "album cover" shots, and then left for dinner.
Dinner was at a restaurant on Front street named Joe Badali's. It was awesome fun to walk into the front door wearing my radio, backpack, and somewhat dusty clothing, and ask where the "office products" group was. It was even funnier when the waitress told me "in the back", with a straight face... I wonder what they must have been thinking!
Our waiter was one of those "in your face" types who likes to socialize and be really bouncy, hopefully in return for a larger tip. Actually, our tip was pre-calculated on our bills for us. Anyway, so at one point the guy asked what group we were part of. I told him "office products." I think it went something like this:
Waiter: Office products?
Me: Yes. (notices a blue ballpoint pen sticking out of the waiter's shirt pocket) I see you've got a blue ballpoint pen there.
Waiter: (pulls it out of pocket) Yeah, it's one of those clicky-ones. (clicks the pen in and out a few times) Do you guys have an industry name for that... the clicky pen?
Me: (with straight face) Yes, we call those retractable.
Waiter: Oh, oh! I'll remember that!
I burst out laughing as soon as he left the table. From that point on, pretty much anytime he was at the table to deliver food or clear dishes, I was suddenly deep in the middle of a conversation with the person sitting opposite me, such as "So that's when my company invented self-refilling staplers". The poor guy must have thought we were nuts - a whole room full of "office products" people with flashlights, cameras, backpacks, and radios?
After the dinner (which was a little pricey), we moved en masse to the location of our first game: the Distillery District. This is the area that consists of the buildings that once belonged to the Gooderham & Worts distillery, and has been there for over a hundred years. Most of the buildings are now in use for other things.
When we arrived, there was a large number of people milling about, and also a variety of tents. It would seem there had been some sort of dog convention or possibly a movie shoot which was being packed up. Regardless, we split into our three teams and distributed one flag to each team to hide. Since I was not familiar with the distillery district, and neither was anyone else on my team, we decided to explore a little first.
Entering the first building we neared that had a wide-open door, my team and I snuck past some people and up some stairs. At the top of the stairs was an unusual sight: A room full of old-fashioned sewing machines, spools of yarn, and a bunch of other old stuff. We didn't know what to make of it. Ignoring the machines, we climbed to the top floor of the building and hid our flag in plain sight behind some junk lying about.
I happened to look out the window, and noticed a group of explorers standing outside, talking. Just for laughs, I took some covert spy pictures of them using my less-than-stellar camera.
Anyway, our team left the building after some more exploring, and wandered about the neutral zone of the street. Soon the word came that team B's flag had been captured by team C, meaning that team B and team A were now collectively team A. I welcomed my new fellow teammates, and was told the location of team C's flag: In plain sight, hanging over the edge of a roof, 6 stories above the ground. The only access: a well-guarded fire escape ladder that went all the way up, unbroken.
Flock and Mokonax, members of our team, discovered there was an unguarded second ladder on the rear end of the building. Climbing quickly, they reached the roof and stole the flag out from under the noses of ShatterForce and another team C member, winning the game for us. I was just starting to climb the ladder when Polyester saw me, and began to chase me, so to the encouraging chants of my team members, I raced up the ladder in record time only to discover that the game had ended.
| the view from the top of gooderham |
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No matter, since the view was incredible. I took one photo before my camera crapped out and refused to take any more. I had left my extra batteries in my backpack, at the bottom of the ladder. ShatterForce and I descended the ladder in a timely fashion, ever more sped up by the presence of the security guard who was told by another security guard that we were "cool" and it was "alright".
After the game ended, most of us moved to the location of the Movie Night. Free t-shirts and colourful buttons were handed out, and after some technical difficulties, we were able to begin the viewing of the movies. Films by various people were shown, including the MECCA group from Kitchener, UEM from Montreal, a video by Freak from Alaska, an amazing video named Met State by some guy from the US (it was the most awesome UE-related video ever), and Panic's draining adventures video. These included hilarious scenes of Panic driving his Lada car at about 40-60 km/h through a storm drain, using the wipers to see.
DAY 3 - Saturday, June 5th
On Saturday, Servo, Nzero, Cosmic Bard, and Boffo had stayed over at my place. We awoke mighty early in order to get to "Draining with Kowalski" in time. We hopped a subway and met at Castle Frank subway station, arriving to a group of at least 18 people already there. Fun was had, discussions made, until Jester & Company arrived, late as usual!
We trudged into Rosedale valley as a group, which was quite a sight. So many people walking together, all with backpacks and boots and so on? It was awesome. Passing two other drains during our walk, we quickly arrived at our destination: the Park Drive Drain. It's a massive drain, about 4 metres in diameter, with a huge swinging metal grate covering the outfall.
Several people held the drain open, while the group slowly slipped inside. About 50 metres into the drain, there was a huge waterfall, and an elaborate catwalk system that required the climbing of 3 separate ladders and shimmying over a frame where there was once a catwalk. With 30 explorers, some afraid of heights, this took quite a while.
After the first waterfall, it was a long, long walk to the second one. Water began to splash into my boots, and before long I was pretty much soaked, but I didn't care. You couldn't experience this kind of atmosphere anywhere else. 30 explorers causing a huge cacophony: whooping and shouting, howling and screaming. Ahead of me bobbed headlamps; behind bobbed even more. My 2-million-candlepower spotlight allowed me to see pretty much as far as the drain went before the next turn.
At the second waterfall, most people were cold, wet, and tired, so it was decided we would turn back. The way out was much easier, as the water didn't splash into the boots as much. I still had to stop every little while to empty out my boots. At the exit, I had to wait a bit as more people showed up to help lift the grate.
My backpack – which I had thought made it dry – turned out to be soaking wet inside, but not from drain water. Alas, my Gatorade drinking bottle had leaked, and it was indeed quite a mess. After sitting in the sun to dry a bit, Servo, ShatterForce, Nzero and I went to have some lunch at the Dirty Bird (Swiss Chalet).
Wet, tired, and full of gatorade, it was time for a break. Back at my place, I cleaned my bag and enjoyed an hour-long nap. I had to wake too soon, because it was now time for dinner at Rancho Relaxo.
This is a small mexican eatery. We had reserved the top floor, and somehow the reservation got misunderstood to be 20 people instead of 60. As a result, very few people got their food, and those that did got it 2-3 hours late. Jester, fed up with waiting 2½ hours for his salad, and then being told it hadn't been made, went downstairs and grabbed a slice of pizza. He was eating within 15 seconds.
At 9pm was the official start time for Spy Games II, the second incarnation of the game that was so successful in April of 2003. Ninj explained the rules. All explorers, or "Authorized Agents", begin by wearing black shirts, with white shirts underneath. When an AA is caught, he must remove his black shirt, and becomes a "Forces of Evil", and can now catch other AA's. In the beginning, only Ninj was a FOE.
The game was off to a good start for me – I had won an immunity pass (kind of like a 'get out of jail free') and had teamed up with Vince, who also had an immunity pass. Vince also brought the foreknowledge of the buildings we were to be in, having taken the time to explore them previously. We slipped inside undetected and wandered about, first attempting to find the "antennae" on the roof, and then deciding to find the "battery" in the basement.
At one point, I found a row of unlocked lockers, and began to open them, thinking the "battery" might be inside. Vince heard a noise around the corner, and urged me to silence, leaving the lockers behind. I later discovered the "battery" was indeed inside those lockers.
Outdoors again after being chased by a FOE guard, Vince and I teamed up with some other AA's to try to find another entry point, when we heard a call over the radio that the REAL security was on their way. Re-grouping with a few people out front, I watched silently as a security car drove into the parking lot. I put out a call on the radio to all explorers to get out now! Several others also made cell phone calls to evacuate the game.
Someone had brought a scanner capable of listening in on the security frequency, and we heard a description that applied to many of us: "late teens, early twenties, white shirt, long pants, no glasses". When Ninj arrived sporting his white shirt, he was quickly told to replace it with his black one.
The game ended prematurely, we headed to the after-party location, the Red Room on Spadina. It was here that I discovered the actual location of the "battery", and how close I had come.
Anyway, it was getting to be about time for my own OPEX event: "Abandonment Exploration with Avatar-X". I left the Red Room with a few people in tow, to get to the assigned meeting point in time.
Once there, we waited around until all 12 people had showed up. Reduxzero from Edmonton was nowhere to be found; we later discovered he had not heard the call to abort Spy Games and exited the building much later, confused that everyone was gone.
My plan was to take the 12 people to a nearby abandoned chair factory, and play a game similar to hide-and-seek. I had scouted out the location just a week previously, to ensure the entry points were still available. But when we got there, the place had been re-sealed.
Slim Jim squeezed in through an insane way that I won't describe, but suffice to say it requires some serious climbing. Jester climbed in and through a window and was inside, and opened the door for the rest of us. The group was split into two teams: the "explorers" and the "guards".
I took the guards to the "guard shack" – an isolated room at the front of the building. The explorers took off, and were given about 15 minutes to explore and then to find a good place to hide. After that, the guards were allowed to hunt for them, but still had to be careful not to shine their lights too brightly.
Jester and DarkTreader won the first round, remaining unfound even after about half an hour of hunting by 6 people. His hiding spot was incredible – he had squeezed himself between a pipe and the ceiling about 8 feet up, and covered himself with his camo jacket. Nobody thinks to look up.
The second round lasted much longer, to my immense surprise. In the end, only Slim Jim was not found after about 45 minutes, but only because he hid behind the rickety old elevator which I told Jester was probably not very safe and he should probably not climb around in.
At this point, it was already about 1:45 AM, and getting a little late. Most of the group left at this point, but 4 people joined me in the second part of my outing: The exploration of an abandoned alloys plant in East York. Since the subways were closed, we took the night busses to get there. Our driver was a maniac; he would frequently swerve into the opposite traffic lanes to pass slow-moving cars in our lanes.
We arrived at the alloys plant at about 3:30 AM, and spent a short time exploring it. It was really late however and we had a full day tomorrow, so we split up and went home. I got home at about 5:15 AM, and pretty much went straight to bed.
DAY 4 – SUNDAY, JUNE 6TH
Servo and I woke very late Sunday afternoon. Jumping out of bed, we dashed off to the Photo seminar and caught the last few minutes of it. With nothing to do afterwards, Slim Jim, Servo, and I teamed up and explored the MaRS construction again, which has reached newer heights since my last visit. The view was incredible.
Sunday's dinner was at a small bar known as the Green Room. The food was good, and we personally knew the serving staff, so it was all cool. After the dinner, it was time to play the Smuggle the Body game, which was to begin at BCE place.
We made our way to BCE Place, and the rules were explained. Team 1 had to get Rufus the inflatable buffalo from BCE Place to the Metro Toronto Convention Centre without taking him outside – that is, using only the PATH, subways, vehicles, etc. Team 2 had to prevent it, by taking Rufus hostage.
I was on Team 2, and we quickly staked out our locations. The game hit a little snag when we discovered the only PATH-Accessible entryway to the MTCC was locked. Servo and I went outside to confirm, sneakily entering the locked MTCC via a currency exchange place. The guard asked us for our business as we passed, and I informed him that we "needed to get to the other building." He supplied our cover story: "Oh, you parked your car there?" to which I agreed.
We arrived on the OTHER side of the locked door, only to discover it was locked with a key and not openable. I made a call to Ninj and informed him of this, and he made the decision to call off the game.
However, the other team still "won", kind of. They had placed Rufus into a car by using the loading docks of BCE place, then driven him into the loading docks of the MTCC, where they unloaded him and brought him to the stage. Of course, since the game had been called off at that point, there was nobody to stop them. Oh well.
With OPEX almost over, Servo and I elected to join Drie, PSX, Noah Vale, and a few others at the farewell BBQ at their campsite. It was fun, although I was incredibly tired and soon went home.
It was an incredibly awesome weekend that could not have happened without the great planning force that is Ninjalicious, and all the people who volunteered their time, their space, and their equipment to make it all work. I can't wait for next year.
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