Windows Mercury

So, a few years ago, I used to work at a tech shop called "Bits 'n' Bytes," which was well known for its high-quality pre-built systems, friendly staff, discounts on premium items, and more. My role primarily involved assembling pre-built PCs.
One day, after I finished testing one of the pre-builts, a co-worker mentioned something about the storage vault beneath the store. Many employees had reported strange noises, paranormal activities, and other creepy occurrences happening there. I usually scoffed at such stories, sometimes even cracking jokes about them. 
However, what my co-worker said next caught my attention. He informed me that he had once gone down there and saw multiple old PCs dating back to the early '90s, including some Compaq laptops and Gateway PCs. They even had copies of old games like Motocross Madness 1 and 2, Red Faction, Half-Life, Unreal Tournament, and many others. Intrigued, I decided to check out the vault before the store closed its doors.
It was nearing closing time, around 6:30 PM, when my manager tasked me with retrieving copies of Windows 8.1 from the vault. He also mentioned I could take some of the old tech and games home for free, knowing my passion for vintage technology. Eagerly, I accepted and went into the supposedly haunted vault. I did what he asked, while bringing back some computers, laptops, games, and even consoles with me. To my surprise, I encountered nothing paranormal—no eerie noises or ghosts. It seemed the rumors of hauntings were nothing but fabrications or exaggerations.
Back at home, I tested the consoles, laptops, and games I'd acquired. Despite their heavy usage, they all functioned, albeit with some minor issues. Exploring the laptops, I discovered personal documents and photos, likely left behind by their previous owners. It was clear these devices had seen plenty of use before finding their way into the vault.
Next came the computers, with the first two appearing fairy normal, but with some games built in like Flatout 2, GTA San Andreas, and more goated classics.
However, the last one was... just... very odd, to say the least.
Upon starting it up, it booted to a clean install of Windows XP Home Edition. When I say "a clean install," I really do mean a clean install, with the Bliss background, the default chess user icon, and the Recycle Bin being the only things present on the desktop. While I was browsing the contents of the hard drive, the disc drive started to make a very loud reading sound, which is common for disc drives to make those kinds of sounds, especially old ones. Suddenly, an autorun application ran with a nondescript title that read "Windows Mercury," with three buttons at the bottom:
"Install Windows Mercury."
"Check system requirements."
"Exit."
The odd thing about the application was that the background was completely transparent. I have rarely seen a program with a transparent background, let alone an autorun program. I had also never heard of a version of Windows with that codename. I closed the program, ejected the disc tray, and inspected the disc. It appeared to be a burned CD with the codename of the OS written on it in marker. I turned the disc around and saw it was heavily scratched, which might explain the loud noise. I put the CD back in the drive and ran the autorun program again, but this time, its background had changed to black. I was having suspicions of this thing, but brushed it off as some kind of a glitch with the program. 
Then I clicked on "Install Windows Mercury," and this is where things got pretty unnerving and disturbing. During the installation process, unnerving sounds started to play through the speakers—off-key piano notes, someone singing in a hallway, and voices speaking in a threatening manner, like:
"Why are you doing this?"
"Seriously?"
"Why are you doing this to yourself!?"
and many others that I forgot. 
All of those sounds were badly recorded and compressed. Despite their poor quality, these sounds managed to send chills down my spine.
The UI was very lackluster, just a black background with the same text and font from the autorun and a progress bar. The background would sometimes change from black to dark red, even at times would flash images of distorted faces and... an entity? I vividly remember one image showing a humanoid entity with long arms and legs and a distorted face staring at the photographer. That one scared me to my core, so much so that I turned off the monitor and speakers for a while. Then I realized that the photo was possibly taken from a videotape, raising even more questions and paranoia.
After about 40 minutes, the PC restarted to the desktop. Turning the monitor and speakers back on, I was greeted with a pitch-black background, along with the Windows 2000 taskbar and icons, with "Windows Mercury" text at the bottom right of the screen. This indicated that this version of Windows was built on the Windows 2000 NT Kernel. While browsing the contents of the OS, I found several new files in the "My Pictures" and "My Music" folders. The Pictures folder contained the images from the setup, except for one titled: "20020902-060.png." When I opened the file, it showed a photo of a bedroom, with the same PC I was testing, but with the same entity, a light pointed at it, close to the person who took the photo, their hand stretched out to grab the poor victim. It sent even more chills down my spine. I looked around the room, becoming even more scared, which made me quickly close the image and delete the rest of the pictures. I didn't check the music folder, unfortunately.
Then I discovered two games in the Program Files folder: "Revolver" and "Stop the Monster.".
I tried Revolver first. The objective was to kill some cowboys, and your primary weapon was, well, a revolver. I played the game for a bit, and it seemed to be your average FPS game that some teens made back in the 2000s, or so I thought. 
When I completed the first level, it went to a black screen for about 5 seconds before cutting to a video of someone entering a cabin with a flashlight, similar to the one in the image. The cabin appeared to be abandoned. There was also a date on the left bottom corner of the video - "02/03/2003". During his exploration, he started to speak quietly to the camera, giving some context about the place and the mysterious disappearances of those who dared to enter the cabin itself. 
"This place used to be a notorious hideout for outlaws back in the 1980s and 1990s," the man whispered, his voice trembling slightly. "But very recently, there has been many reports of people going missing around here. Some say it's haunted, while others believe there's something sinister. I'm here to find out the truth." The man approached an old, dusty bookshelf, his hand hesitating before he pulled out a worn journal. He opened it, revealing pages filled with frantic, almost illegible writing. "These entries... they talk about something lurking in the shadows, something that drives people mad."
A sudden noise from another room made the man jump, his flashlight beam shaking. "Did you hear that?" he whispered, his breath audible in the quiet. He moved cautiously towards the source of the noise, the camera capturing every tense step. The door creaked as he pushed it open, revealing a room that looked like it hadn't been touched in decades. In the corner of the room, something moved. The man swung his flashlight towards it, revealing a figure huddled in the shadows. "Who's there?" he called out, his voice barely steady. The figure slowly turned its head, revealing a distorted, ghastly face. The camera captured a brief, horrific glimpse before the video cut to static.
Then the game exited to the desktop. I was left speechless. What in the world did I just witness?
Then I tried Stop the monster. Oh, dear god, was that a mistake.
When I opened it up, it directed me to a level that was a one-to-one copy of the cabin. The objective was to hunt down a monster similar to the pictures and the tape. Your primary weapon was a double-barreled shotgun. The game was laggy, likely due to the low-end GPU and CPU.
I explored the cabin; nothing unusual happened until I eventually found the entity. Then a cutscene played of the thing carrying a corpse with a camera in its hand. After a while, the monster noticed me and proceeded to make an ear-piercing screech, sending shivers down my spine. I quickly fired my shotgun at the thing, but that didn't stop it; it made it even more aggressive, intensifying its screams. 
I started to sprint around the cabin until I came to a dead end. Then the entity cornered me, replicating the gruesome demise in the recording.
The game minimized and proceeded to open multiple Internet Explorer windows with websites featuring pictures of decomposed bodies and even worse distorted faces, accompanied by a distorted screaming sound. It was so loud, it almost destroyed my eardrums. In the chaos, the PC's fans kicked into overdrive, accompanied by a popping sound and the smell of burning electronics as one of the RAM sticks failed. I quickly unplugged the power cable and flung open the window to let the acrid scent dissipate.
I destroyed the CD and reformatted the hard drive, putting an end to all of that bullshit i just went through. However, the images, the unsettling videotape, and the disturbing games lingered in my mind for a while. Fortunately, I sought the help I needed to cope with the trauma, and eventually, I was able to move on.
But I can't shake off the feeling of dread and curiosity. At random times, I start to wonder what the inspiration and meaning behind the "Windows Mercury" OS could be. Who created it, and why? What was the purpose of such a terrible piece of software? The questions haunted me, and despite seeking help to cope with the trauma, the mystery of "Windows Mercury" remained an unsettling memory in my mind.
Category:Computers and Internet