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Post by Carl on Apr 30, 2013 9:48:52 GMT -8
I have to keep at it. Keep looking. Keep searching for what I'm supposed to find.
I closed the door of Basement C behind me, shutting out the sparse ambient light of the underground corridor. Only the beam of illumination from my flashlight broke the perfect darkness that now surrounded me.
Down the corridor to the first fork in the maze. I saw the first of my many symbols I had marked on the wall, but I hardly needed it's guidance. The first part at least, I had memorized which ways to turn before I reached the undiscovered sections of this labyrinth. My search of Basement C had been going on for days now. I had both underestimated the size of the area I was exploring and the complexity of its layout. My days were filled with endless dead-ends and frustration, and thus far I had nothing to show for it.
But there is something down here....I just know it...
The beam of my flashlight lit up the last symbol I had put on the wall before giving up last time. New frontiers once again awaited no matter which way I turned.
I know you didn't lead me this far just to dead-end me, Mila. Whatever it is you want me to find here....I will find it...
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Post by liquia on Apr 30, 2013 11:24:45 GMT -8
To: Lucy From Beryl Subject Re:Re:Advice Do we have samples of this purple substance? Or do we have the results from the tests already? If so I would like a standard report of the findings to further understand this substance. As for the flow of the pipe, counter clockwise is usually associated to the left, and left-handed ness is a symbol of the devil, but the pentagrams related to Satanism usually have one or more circles enclosing the pentagram. At this point I am quite sure that its not trying to open a hell rift or channeling powers from hell. If we could gauge the flow rate of the pipe, we could see if it is a constant flow, or if pressure drops off at certain points. If we could find lower pressure or higher pressure areas, we could deduct whether its just running a circuit, or if it is being manufactured. On top of that, we could figure out where it is being manufactured from the pressure readings along the pipes. Do we know the diameter of the pipes? If so, are they consistent throughout? Having an underground lake is possible, but remote sensing images of the area shows many small ponds and lakes above the center region of the pentagram, which would mean an underground lake would have to exist quite deep, most likely at or under bedrock level. If I were to make an educated guess, I would say the lakes themselves are being used as storage, either tanks or some sort of separation at the bottom of those bodies of water. Has anyone looked into 'Dead Lakes' at the southern tip of the pentagram? I did a bit of digging, and it was supposed formed when sand bars created by the current of the Apalachicola River blocked the Chipola River. The ensuing high water killed thousands of trees in the floodplain, giving the area its name. On the Florida peninsula, just South East of the pentagram, there is a place called Lake Okeechobee, where a lake formed over a mass grave. I am suspecting the same type of phenomena here. The only difference are the trees which inhabited Dead Lake prior to its formation. My theory is that, much like many anima-sensitive trees around the world connected to Gaia, the trees at Dead Lakes were most likely anima filled. This most likely has some sort of connection to the goo, as they extended one of the points of the pentagram all the way down to Dead Lakes. I can't piece the puzzle together until I have more information at this point. I would like to know if this group of people using this pentagram have any type of background in Europe, Asia, or Africa. Any type of background to identify where they're from could pin point what type of ritual they are using and what they're trying to achieve. You also mentioned network branches off each of the points, pentagrams are not only 2 dimensional. Are there pipes which extend downwards, sideways? Or even a giant network which stretches outwards? Consider the following: If this IS the case, they have someone who knows what they're doing. Not that they don't know what they're doing already, making an anima filled pentagram on that scale. But it would just take it to a whole other level. Hope this helps, -BB
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Post by onlycore on Apr 30, 2013 18:22:03 GMT -8
To: Carl Weaver, Teresa Auerbach From: Megan Pacelli Subject: PRIORITY! CC: Lucy Randall, Brad King Attached Files: device1.png, device2.png, device3.png
Following a hunch I made a second pass at Scrapyard safe house while I was waiting for a new assignment and it's payed off, in the rubble of the main office area I found some sort of device that had been spare the worse of the flame and hidden under it was a printout,
I've included some photo's of the device, a mock-up number 7 according to the diagram of it on the printout, I'm assuming it's some sort of scale model/ proof of concept for something larger, I'm not really sure as you know I'm hardly a technical expert, to me it looks something like a mash up of a circuit board and some random plumbing but if someone went to the effort of making not one but seven prototypes of this I'm guessing it's far more than that.
According to the diagram the overall design was still missing a 'processor interface', the ODIN device perhaps? anyway I'm going scan the rest of the document in and send it too you as well so you have access to it on the system, the actual device and the hard copy I'll take direct to ESI hopefully someone down there can figure this out
Megan
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Post by onlycore on Apr 30, 2013 18:28:44 GMT -8
Scanned Document
(the top of the slightly charred document is taken up by a complex diagram showing an array of circuits and pipes with a number of notes indicating how it would be hooked up, also an arrow pointing at a central area indicating it is the housing for a 'central processing interface))
Observations:
Seems to use higher animals as "puppets", eyes and ears and hands. This suggests a certain level of immobility. Likely can't leave the confines of its superstructure, instead relying on remote infection to propagate its influence. Vectors: local parasites, preference for mosquitoes may be situational. Vehicles: water? Mosquito breeding ground, would perhaps account for more of the gross mutations. Also easily added to any medication. Hypothesis: local homeless often have access to drugs, legal and otherwise. Wouldn't be difficult to infect a half dozen or so. Would account for the spectators outside the building every night.
The source doesn't seem to have access to higher-level functions: a "true" psychic infection would imply total control to all of the host's faculties. Drones both here and on-site seem to be limited to the most basic of behaviors, and administrators requiring autonomy are the least controlled of all. Likely have an insurance measure preventing them from backing out of the source's service. Lower level workers, like those in the factories and the gentlemen loitering outside my window, seem to have lost most of their own personality. One imagines their wants have been replaced by the source's, which would in turn mean that it has some way of detecting the device.
That it can detect it at all, let alone with exacting accuracy from a thousand miles away, is worrisome. Will have to find a better hiding spot. Too, local drones seem to have no major difference from the ones closer to the source. Distance not a factor? Some sort of extra-spatial manipulation?
Thoughts:
Five sites of the superstructure are key. All main functions are here, and the outlying facilities were probably specialized developments that they don't need to support until they gain access to their device. That all the puppets seem to be capable of are gross physical action, limited communication, and fulfilling of basic needs implies either a primitive or very damaged mind at the source. Sensory inputs, but very little coordination or comprehension. One imagines that the device is there to provide these two things. One similarly imagines this would be bad.
Will work to keep the device out their hands for now. Can't guarantee more will be made. Shutting down the actual facilities would likely end the immediate threat, but the source itself would presumably survive. I doubt they built it themselves, which implies that it was there before the company was founded, and thus survived in a perhaps dormant state without any help.
Perhaps a modified version of the device? Cause degenerative feedback?
I trust your people will find this. If not, we both had entirely too much confidence in one another.
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Post by spidereyes on May 1, 2013 7:00:05 GMT -8
((almost all of the emails have went to investigations - so its safe to say at least spider would have all the above info. not sure how much went to the arcane department but its not hard to think that if you came in to help the investigation, Liquia you could have all the above info!)) ((Well, many of these, particularly responses from field personnel, are addressed to the heads of the respective departments. Since I can't see any reason that I would have access to the heads' emails, I remain confused. ))
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Post by effinfitz on May 1, 2013 8:32:48 GMT -8
((that's be no different than an attn: line on a memo. Everyone gets it, but some people in particular are being asked to read it. Department-wide e-mails are still department wide.))
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Post by tess on May 2, 2013 8:50:39 GMT -8
To: Investigations, Security, Occult CC: Seanne Rystaad, Brad King From: Teresa Auerbach Subject: ODIN
ATTENTION I am immediately recalling the investigation order on Jenna Mercado. For the love of God Ken I hope you read this before you go through with what you have planned.
It the light of the new evidence provided by Agent Pacelli, it is now my firm belief that Mila Cameron was the person who stole ODIN from us. However I believe she did so with the best of intentions. That is to say, to keep it out of the hands of SenTaxx. All the pieces fit. Her security code being used, her Elemental and Blood magic specialty, her familiarity with the Solvall and ESI, the fact that she sold all of her SenTaxx stock shortly before ODIN was stolen.
I just needed on last bit of evidence to put the theory together and the charred note that Megan found was just that. "One supposes" it was very clearly written by Mila, and she was working with a second party in order to keep ODIN away from SenTaxx and whatever they had planned to do with it. I believe that the destroyed piece of technology found was ODIN, but I'm sending it to ESI for Brad to confirm. In the meantime it is my professional recommendation that we keep the second ODIN device under very heavy security.
Obviously Mila had the best intentions, but she still stole from us. I will meet with Ms Rystaad to determine what action, if any, will be taken against Ms Cameron.
We can now surmise that whatever SenTaxx is using as a replacement ODIN is not as effective at controlling the drones as they would like. Which would explain the degenerative condition they are suffering. I am now changing the field operatives primary objective to finding the central processor SenTaxx is using and taking it for study, or failing that, destroying it. Whatever they are up to is not good at all if Mila was so concerned as to steal from her former employers. Let's put an end to this.
~Tess
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Post by tess on May 3, 2013 7:11:41 GMT -8
To: Public Relations From: Teresa Auerbach Subject: Positive Spin
We're going to be starting an operation that has the potential to generate a lot of bad press for us if anyone found out. Just giving you the heads up so you can get a jump on the spin job.
One of our contractors will be starting a fire in a SenTaxx facility to evacuate the workers. We will then send a team in under the pretext of aid where they will infiltrate and attempt to capture, disable, or destroy a valuable piece of SenTaxx equipment.
Obviously arson and theft or destruction of property as well as corporate espionage are very bad things to come to light regarding our company so this is a warning so you can begin preparation in case we are discovered
~Tess
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Post by tess on May 3, 2013 7:37:15 GMT -8
To PR, IT From Teresa Auerbach Subject Addendum
Please delete the previous message after you have read it.
Anna can you scrub the servers in 2 days to erase that email from existence?
~Tess
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Post by sersi on May 3, 2013 12:50:48 GMT -8
From: D. Silverman, PR To: Investigations Cc: Security, Occult Re: Sentaxx
There has been unrest with how rooted Sentaxx is with the local communities. With the right push you may be able to go under the cover of a riot. Also I might suggest using as much outside contractor support as possible. They are a bit more deniable.
It is, of course your show. Please keep me updated with the plan, however and I'll do what I can in case of a worst case scenario.
Dani
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Post by effinfitz on May 3, 2013 19:43:09 GMT -8
A BELATED RESPONSE (Beryl) To: Beryl From: Lucy Cc: Boss Subject: Re: Advice Attachments: labresults.pdf, bradkingconvo.doc
Hey, forwarding you a conversation string between me and the director of ESI Labs about the facilities. Or, what's in them. Thought you might like it. The lab sample of the goo did suffer a few tests, I'll forward you those findings too.
The answer to most of your questions is "no idea." We're on something of a time crunch here. At present I think the main concern is making sure whatever the dopes running the show want to happen doesn't happen, and that seems to mean diving into the middle of things and making a mess. It's what we do best, I think.
Still, you bring up some good questions. If you're still interested after we're done and the world hasn't exploded or anything, would you want to run a follow-up investigation? We still don't know much about what's going on, or how it came about.
Thanks again!
- Lucy
This message is property of AEgir Communications and meant to be viewed solely by the proper recipients. Unauthorized access of private communications is a Level 2 security offense that will be acted on immediately. Have a nice day!
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[/color] The sample made the rounds in Columbia University's Occult Research and Methodology basement labs. Heavily warded and handled only by researchers in full protective gear, all of whom requested a gratuitous payoff for being treated like CSI extras. Scientists. Honestly. As if they've anything better to do. The final conclusion was less than compelling, but there were several interesting finds that they were willing to share: 1. The stuff was MOSTLY water. Without getting into complicated chemical labels, the stuff was about 77% water, 11% lipid, 8% protein, 2% soluble organics, 1% carbohydrate, and 1% salt. 2. They had no idea what the heck this stuff was supposed to do, if anything. 3. Something funny happened when, on a lark, someone subjected the sample to an anima field. Everyone in the lab got a nose bleed. At the same time. They stopped messing around with it after that -- two days later, and some of the researchers STILL had headaches.[/quote] [/td][/tr][/table] THIS MESSAGE WILL SELF DESTRUCT AFTER YOU READ IT To: Colette, Megan, Juliet, Sera From: Lucy Cc: Boss, Chief Subject: Weekend Plans
---- CAUTION! Message is secured under: Level 1 clearance. Please input password below before timer expires. ---
************
–- Password accepted! –
Okay guys! We're on the season finale here. This Sunday we'll be making a targeted investigation of the Compass Lake facility, which, per all our best guesses, will be the site of whatever this "source" thing is. We're guessing, going by demographics alone, that most of the employees will be in church by noon. To clear out any others, and hopefully disrupt the anima field that seems to accompany the charged goo running through all the active pipes, a controlled burn be started by a contractor at twelve-thirty. The fire alarm will hopefully provoke an orderly evacuation. Hopefully.
Simultaneously, following a suggestion by our PR liaison, New Hope For Tomorrow will be leading an all-day-protest within their own communities to get QBL News's attention nice and spread out. No, they're not under our direct control, but it won't be too hard to get them nice and riled about another factory fire. Since our CEO is now a major, if not majority, shareholder of the company it won't raise any eyebrows if you guys are suddenly on-site "assisting further evacuations and investigations."
Once the Compass Lake contractor deems the place properly evacuated the plan is to creatively misuse of the same kind of swamp gas we found canned in great quantities beneath the New Hope facility. If Compass Lake has anywhere near as much down there, that should provide everyone a big enough hole to jump down before the dust settles.
At that point, it's a simple matter of finding the source, figuring out where it plugs in, and ensuring things are suitably wrecked. Good luck.
- Lucy
This message is property of AEgir Communications and meant to be viewed solely by the proper recipients. Unauthorized access of private communications is a Level 2 security offense that will be acted on immediately. Have a nice day!
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((And the OOC bit! This is looking like an IC dungeon run of Facility. Preferably Sunday, but it's operating under the same "ignoring real time" paradigm we used when we did the Ankh/New Hope run. In other words, ICly it happens this Sunday around noonish. OOCly it happens whenever we can all get together. Any questions, don't hesitate to hit me up. Cheers!))
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Post by effinfitz on May 5, 2013 17:27:48 GMT -8
A BRIGHT RAY OF SUNSHINE, ON A CLOUDY DAY
To: Teresa Auerbach From: Jean Martinique Subject: Guest Policy
M. Screwtape tried to leave our hospitality prematurely today. While the two guards assigned to him will no doubt have interesting stories to tell once they regain consciousness, for now I can but reassure you that M. Zukovsky managed to restrain him before he was able to alarm anyone with undue use of the fire alarm.
No explosives were needed or used, I'm pleased to say.
I bring this to your attention solely to ask how long, exactly, do we plan on subsidizing this man's worthless existence? M. Screwtape, that is.
- Jean
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Post by tess on May 5, 2013 19:39:00 GMT -8
A BRIGHT RAY OF SUNSHINE, ON A CLOUDY DAYTo: Teresa Auerbach From: Jean Martinique Subject: Guest Policy M. Screwtape tried to leave our hospitality prematurely today. While the two guards assigned to him will no doubt have interesting stories to tell once they regain consciousness, for now I can but reassure you that M. Zukovsky managed to restrain him before he was able to alarm anyone with undue use of the fire alarm. No explosives were needed or used, I'm pleased to say. I bring this to your attention solely to ask how long, exactly, do we plan on subsidizing this man's worthless existence? M. Screwtape, that is. - Jean To: Jean Martinique From: Teresa Auerbach Subject: Guest Policy Ship him off to The Sponsors for Q&A. I'm done with him. ~Tess
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Post by effinfitz on May 6, 2013 8:10:01 GMT -8
AND THAT'S A WRAP! (Tess/Carl/E'ryone)To: Boss From: Lucy Cc: Chief Subject: Field action follow-up ---- CAUTION! Message is secured under: Level 1 clearance. Please input password below before timer expires. ---
************
–- Password accepted! –The assignment went off with minimal complications. Structural damage was more extensive than planned for, but casualties were minimal aside from one foreman, one laborer and the Board of Directors, all of whom initiated violent responses. Additional, ten factory workers were non-fatally injured in the course of the investigation and our currently being treated at the nearby hospital. We're working with PR right now to keep suspicions low, given the nature of the injuries, but with SenTaxx broken we're not expecting any serious follow up. In the worst case scenario we can point to their altered states of consciousness and the fact they had rifles in the basement as evidence they caused the fire in the first place. The ODIN processor replica they had constructed, as well as the entire housing it was attached to, seems to have been damaged beyond repair. they did manage to bring it online before we arrived, which may or may not be responsible the psychic projection that the field team encountered in the facility, and eventually exorcised. The actual "source" mentioned in the thief' documents was not encountered, but the lack of headaches*, vertigo, and disorientation lead us to believe that either the destruction of the central pipes prior to our insertion or the manifestation of the projection masked or diminished its presence to the point that they weren't able to notice it. Further considerations: - As of this very morning SenTaxx moved from Chapter 11 to Chapter 7, under considerable community pressure. Now an outsider's being brought in to sell it's remaining marketable assets, given it profit share, Ægir should be getting first dibs barring any Sponsor interference.
- We still don't know much about SenTaxx's objectives or what this "source" is. With SenTaxx out of the picture it might not be an issue, but Specter is sticking around disguised as disaster relief to see if she can find anything. I've also asked Miss Blyde from Occult whether she'd like to look into the pentagram issue more, but haven't heard any response yet. Any further investigations or queries will be directed to your offices for review.
- Christian Screwtape, the last surviving administrator of SenTaxx, has been delivered under heavy guard to the Labyrinth. I imagine we won't hear from him ever again.
- Our Sponsors must have been watching? Business is picking up, here. We're getting contracts from people that should have never heard of us. Nothing quite as traumatic, thankfully. At least not at first look.
This concludes my report on the SenTaxx investigation, and I'm suggesting we officially close the file and let any other follow up be indexed as its own investigation. Nice work, everyone. * Detective Pacelli experienced headaches starting about halfway through the run and periodically throughout, persisting even after the extraction via Agartha. Since she mentioned migraines and no other team member voiced complaints, we haven't raised any alarms yet.- Lucy
This message is property of AEgir Communications and meant to be viewed solely by the proper recipients. Unauthorized access of private communications is a Level 2 security offense that will be acted on immediately. Have a nice day!
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Post by onlycore on May 6, 2013 20:53:18 GMT -8
Megan Pacelli has not reported in for work Monday morning all attempts to contact her by phone or company comms have failed, also she did not show up for her day job at the NYPD... so far no one has seen her since she returned to New York from the SenTaxx raid on Sunday night...
((not directly related to the SenTaxx incident this is the opening of a new forum rp I'm setting up at the moment))
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