Daily Reminder Lee is our one true god.

FOR THE QUEEN

>>39853853
Daily reminder that you should fuck off.

>>39853853
No.

>>39853853
Fuck off.

Daily reminder that the QUEEN is our one true god and everything even remotely different is the highest form of heresy

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>>39853883
>>39853890
>>39853904
Cunts
I'm not even that anon or a Leefag, you're just funhating cunts

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>>39853883
>>39853890
>>39853904
>All of these actual reply's
The fact all of you replied is just sad.

>>39853815
>A strange shape robbed in gossamer wings stands in the blurred light, gazing into him with large, blank eyes.“Get up.” She says, her face unmoving.
This is cool.

>>39853815
>“Get up.” She says, her face unmoving.

>“Sir, are you okay? You need to get up, this area is unsafe.” The fire fighter says as he helps Michael up and takes him from the billowing smoke.

I'm such a sucker for hallucinations that transition smoothly into the reality behind them.

>>39853815
Michael sits in the back of an ambulance as he waves off a medic.
"No, I'm fine, it's nothing." he says as the medic shines a light in his eyes. A figure seems to appear suddenly in the flash.

"What's the damage?" Killinger says, or at least the hologram of him does, the projectors shimmer on the ground at his feet.

"Pupils are dilated, signs of stress, blood shot eyes. They injected him with something in all likelihood, but we'll need a blood sample for-"

"That can wait." Killinger says, then turns to Michael. "You're safe now, and time is short. Do you know what happened to Yune?"

Flashes of fragmented memories flutter like dead leaves in his mind, refusing to form. "I... can't remember."

"That's to be expected." The medic says as he packs up his things. "Between the trauma and the drugs, I'd say it would be unlikely for you to remember much. We can treat that over time with neural therapy, but it will take a while." He leaves as a security guard asks for him elsewhere.

"The van inside was blown with plasma. If anyone was inside, there's nothing left to examine. Either they killed Yune and wanted to destroy the body, or they took him and want to throw us off." Killinger says as he looks to the building. "The council wants to talk to you about it, but you can take some time if you need it. Either way, we're accelerating events in light of these recent setbacks, so get better quickly."

Michael shakes his head as the hologram disappears. Michael gets up from the back of the ambulance and begins walking down the street to the local buss stop. He slips through the small crowd just as the police begin pushing them back and setting up a perimeter.

He contemplates heading back to the office, but you remind him of its destruction. A warm trickle is felt on his arm, and he looks down, finding a few drops of blood flowing from his elbow as he clutches something in his arms like a child. He had hidden it in his jacket earlier, he realizes.
cont.

>>39854213
>finding a few drops of blood flowing from his elbow as he clutches something in his arms like a child. He had hidden it in his jacket earlier, he realizes.

...an extra parasite, earmarked for the Doctor? Camouflaged as an object currently biting his vein?

>>39854213
>clutches something in his arms like a child
We forgot to search him last time?, Fuk

>>39854213
He arrives to his apartment with his groceries in hand, and the door opens to his voice. He places the bag of bread on the counter and turns to place his coat on the rack, and finds the blood stain on his shirt. He feels under it in search of a wound or a scar, but finds nothing. He presses on his stomach, and there is a shift of movement bellow the skin that sends a sharp pain through his body. He stumbles back to the counter, and his hand lands in a small puddle of dark liquid. He turns to see a parasite crawling its way from the bundle of rags where he thought he had placed his food, which he now recalls he never purchased.

He lets out a short, stifled shout and falls to the floor. When he looks up, it is gone. Replaced with the loaf of bread and a cracked glass of wine. He still doesn't remember purchasing either, but he dismisses the notion. The incident this morning had left him shaken, that was all.

>Have Michael keep your parasite in his apartment
>Have it sent back to your hive in the sewer
>Other

>>39854452
>Have Michael keep your parasite in his apartment

We need it for the Doctor after all.

>>39854452
>>Have Michael keep your parasite in his apartment

>>39854452
>>Have it sent back to your hive in the sewer

>>39854452
>>Have Michael keep your parasite in his apartment

>>39854452
>>Have Michael keep your parasite in his apartment

>>39854452
>>Have it sent back to your hive in the sewer

>>39854452
Keep it, might come in handy if someone important comes along. Easy implantation.

>>39854452
>Have Michael keep your parasite in his apartment

He quickly gets up and puts away the bread in the pantry. He piles some fruit around it and leaves to change into something more suitable for work. He has a meeting to attend, and he won't allow these recent events stop that.

He exits the shower and begins to dress, and he catches a glimpse of himself in the mirror. He turns with a fright as he sees a layer of dark chitin covering his back, but as he looks directly it vanishes. There is a distant voice, almost like a laugh from outside. He quickly finishes dressing and moves to the door, pressing the button for the camera. It displays no visitors, or anyone in the hallway. The audio recorder doesn't detect any sound, but the voice is distinct.

>Have him arrange his meeting with the council
>Have him return to the lab
>Other

>>39854909
>>Have him arrange his meeting with the council

>Have him return to the lab

>There is a distant voice, almost like a laugh from outside.
2spooky

>>39854909
I'm conflicted. Lab is more important, but maintaining cover requires contacting council.

We could just go to lab to gather more info to report to council, instead of just reporting on getting kidnapped.

Michael still has to explain why he cut off the conference call and then ordered everyone to burn everything.

He can just say his memory loss goes back to talking to Killinger, since the ceiling supposedly caved on his head.

>>39854909
Both are good choices...but lab is more interesting, though maybe risky?

>Have him return to the lab

>>39855097
Yeah, only one truck of stuff survived.

But do we know if they managed to fit any of those catatonic test subjects onto said single truck? The Flies were watching the whole time.

If any of them are alive, they might get less catatonic at the proximity of the parasite inside the Michael.

We should have turned Yune into a hybrid and had him assassinate council members.

>>39854909
hmm, both places risks him being scanned but since we have flies with the van we might as well check on the council and see just how much they know

>>39854909
>>Have him arrange his meeting with the council

>>39854909
>Have him return to the lab

>>39855261
Neither risk that. No one looks inside you for tumors in a security checkpoint.

Only an in-depth, time-consuming CAT scan picks up a parsite.

>>39854909
>>Have him return to the lab
Checking in on doctor first. Keeping him from going over our heads and reporting to the council himself.

>>39854909
>Have him arrange his meeting with the council

>>39855378
isn't it possible they have something to look for biological stuff? since it's space faring humans and we tend to take to extreme measures to kill people when we really want to

NIGGA WHAT

ON SATURDAY? GLORIOUS

>>39855527
They're called CAT scans.

>>39854909
our parasites are terrifying

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>>39853815
>Have him return to the lab

He tries to find the source of the voice. The walls feel as if they are moving, crawling over themselves.

There is a ringing, and he finds that his phone is in his ear, calling the lab. Someone picks up.

"Sir! Is that you? The top floors were almost totally destroyed, we were afraid you had died."

"I'm fine. Is the lab secure?"

"Everything was compromised. Most of it was destroyed as you ordered, but we managed to salvage some of it. We're airlifting the artifacts to a secure location now. The side offices are still intact, we're running the move from there."

"Good. I'll be over in a moment. Tell the research division I want a full debriefing." Michael says.

"Yes sir."

He hangs up the phone with a click and places it back on its charger. He quickly taps out a number on the keypad on the door, and uses his thumb to make a payment. The automated taxi is waiting for him when get gets to the street.

Cont.

>>39855791
>We're airlifting the artifacts to a secure location now.

Well that sounds really easy to track just by watching and following with flies. Unless they're sending decoy airlifting vehicles to several other locations at the same time?

HAHA
TIME FOR SPOOKY INFESTATION QUEST

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RM3KI7q-DNY

>>39855791
So did we give Thesus any codes/ passwords/locations that we gained from the bodies?

>>39856153
Good idea, would second

We are pretty fucking scary.

>>39856288
I hope we go full genestealer cults.

>>39855791
Hive tactical intervention with intervention horde when?

>>39853935

Something fun stops being so when it's shoved down your throats every single fucking thread.

Seriously, I just lurk and didn't have a problem with it until like, the thirty second thread.

>>39855791
He sits in the taxi in silence, listening to the distant murmurs in his head. It feels like they've been getting louder, more persistent. He decides to take a nap as he heads to the lab. He feels tired.

You do not yet know the new site's location, but your flies continue to monitor the trucks as they evacuate what they managed to take. A cargo craft has landed near the roof, and humans load crates into it. You peel back Michael's mind against his subconscious protest and pluck at the memories in his head like strings, following them deeper in his mind.

"This is doctor Alex Gilliam, he's head of research and development. You will aid him however you can in addition to your other duties." Secretary Windsor holds out his hand as the doctor holds out his hand. Michael shakes it.

"I hope the new facility doesn't disappoint after being stationed on Path." He says.

"It would be hard to." Gilliam says dryly. "This may be a budget cut, but consolidating our labs should help us in the long run. We won't need to ship around the artifacts every time we want to perform an experiment at least. Speaking of which, I'd like those stored as far from our test subjects as possible."

Michael nods. "I'll have the security office on the top floor cleared out. We can house them there. The labs are in the basement."

They finish their handshake as the elevator dings, and a cargo pallet float in on a mag-lift. The doctor stops them.
"Hold on, I need to inspect them first. These are delicate materials." He says as he carefully slides a box open. Beneath is a transparasteel cube holding a small metallic spiral. Runic symbols cover the strange helix shaped device. He quickly looks it over, then replaces the lead and steel lined covering. "Good. Quickly, take it in with the others in the hangar."
cont.
Sorry for that delay, I was just attacked by a giant spider at my computer. Had to deal with it.

>>39856436
I bet you also don't like laying other queens you philistine.

>>39856329
If you want to go full genestealer then we not start with the Taidarens?

>>39856505

I'm actually fine with it, but after we deal with the Obsidian Queen and pick at her corpse to recognize some things we can look out for in our daughters.

>>39856512
Yes, why not? In fact, lets get right on that.

>>39856497
>runic symbols
The same kind the Ceph use, or the Hive use (when we need a written language)?

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>>39856497
>attacked by a giant spider at my computer. Had to deal with it.
But spiders are our friends!

>>39856536
Then we agree on half of the things brought up. I imagine everyone will quiet down about Lee once we have him secured on Leeland. Then we can get down to more important matters.

>>39856497

It's REQM trying to get rid of competition/mistook you for his dinner.

>>39856545
It's the Skyl's language.

>>39856633
I couldn't remember the word "Skyl" when I wrote that post so thanks for reminding me. But our race has used the same written language they do, historically.

Speaking of Skyl, can we get an update from Heretic on how the Skyl we delivered to him are doing?

>>39856633
If that's true, time to contact Heretic.

>>39856688
No it isn't.

It's the Skyl alphabet used to write an original language do not steal.

English Latin and French share an alphabet roughly but are different languages.

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>>39856593
They want to steal our soda anon.

They cannot be trusted.

>>39856812
>not getting the vengeful ancient AI involved

>>39856812
I don't think it's a hive made device.

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>>39856497
"What are they, exactly?" Michael asks. The doctor follows the crate with his eyes with an apprehensive stare, as if it was on the verge of shattering at any moment.

"We're still not sure. Relics of an ancient civilization found in the expanse. We only have a few intact pieces remaining, along with a pile of fragments. We've been slowly working on translating them, but I'm mostly focused on researching the strange effects they have when introduced to an intense electrical current. One of our first human subjects will also be helping you as an agent. Yune is one of our best. We used one of the smaller fragments to create a kind of implant by connecting it to his ocular nerve. So far results have been very interesting. He claims that he can sense the artifacts when they are activated, as if they're speaking, or glowing, as it were."

The secretary interrupts. "The good doctor here thinks there is a connection between the technology used here, and the technology found on the lunar base during the Colony Wars. Survivors of the facility suffered from similar voices and hallucinations after locating something beneath the surface. They went so far as to claim it told them how to build the weapon that wiped out half the Union fleet in a single shot." He pauses and clears his throat. "Obviously, this is top secret of the highest order. They claimed it could speak to them mentally. Through dreams or visions."

Michael looks confused for a moment. "I heard about the lunar incident in the briefing, but I didn't know about survivors."

"They have been transferred here too. They also seem to be sensitive to the artifacts, although less so. It's why I wanted the artifacts kept as far from the holding cells as possible, so as not to interfere in any experiments." Gilliam says, biting the nail of his thumb.

You examine the script along the artifact. It's a Skyl dialect, from after the revolution.
cont.

>>39856593
Except wolf spiders.

>>39857139
Hey nigga, wolf spiders are awesome.

>>39856874
It's definitely not, the hive does not leave notes, at least not in a visible form (either a mind raping highly traumatic device or a psionically attuned crystal)

Getting the urge to play XCOM again.

>>39857139
>Except wolf spiders.
horrifying
I am glad I live far away from creepyness like that.

>>39857139
>>39857173
So perhaps some pre-heresy Skyl-Void Shard relics?

>We used one of the smaller fragments to create a kind of implant by connecting it to his ocular nerve
Yo dawg, we have no idea what this is so lets just put it inside one of our guy's head for shits and giggles

>>39857139
> We used one of the smaller fragments to create a kind of implant by connecting it to his ocular nerve.

Haha, welp. Should have suggested tearing that out of his head before we vaporized him.

Also great, Skyl artifacts. Like the ones implied to be used in the construction of a Rip Drive.

>>39857263
Wait how the fuck did they get Skyl artifacts anyway?

>>39857222
It makes sense if you think about it. They clearly realized long ago that the artifacts operated on the same principles as the Ceph's thought shell. The same artifacts that somehow were capable of telepathic communication with Seiner and his lab assistants.

Not much of a leap of logic to attempt to facilitate the same sort of function through partial cybernetics.

so how bout dat heretic

>>39857313
Are you even reading the posts dude? They found them in the expanse, same as us.

>>39857313
We dont know, but soon enough it wont mater. Cuz we gonna melt that shit wid acid. Or steal it. Something or another

>>39857313
The Skyl empire extended to the stars around their own.

They probably left signs of themselves on some of the systems that humans have settled.

And disappeared or intimidated the settlers who discovered them.

>>39857313
>Relics of an ancient civilization found in the expanse
Probably from the initial surveys of Aral.

>>39857328
Yeah but still.
Aritifact with no dicernable function and you go ahead and put it in a person's brain.

>>39857395
I knew it. Aral is full of artifacts

>>39857395
>Probably from the initial surveys of Aral.
That was only scouted by the Valen ship for the first time this year.

And this memory is from long before that.

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>>39857395
You say harsh and arbitrary surgical alteration of an adult human's brain, I say SCIENCE.

>>39857440
>That was only scouted by the Valen ship for the first time this year.
It was scouted well before the Valen made a deal to colonize the planet for religious reasons.

>>39857263
We even already had these memories before we decided to blow up Yune.

It would've made sense to rip out his implant after killing him but before blowing up his body.

The knowledge that his implant was not entirely of human creation would've ensured that.

>>39857549
No it wasn't you retard.

You get a charter and the right to colonize, if even possible, in exchange for taking the risk of charting an unexplored system. The Clarke did it, the Hope did it, and the Sings Blissfully did it.

>>32362680
>>FG-883
>unexplored binary star system. A white dwarf orbiting a main sequence star. Exploration delegated to Valen cruiser Sings Blissfully under authority of Commander Fredrick Juric. Commander Swims in Deep Waters has waved all rights to colonial authority in exchange for religious charter.

>unexplored binary star system.
>unexplored

>>39857139
Written along the sides are exact measurements and scientific findings with regards to their own psionic research, although it is far behind yours, and mostly concerns to theories regarding their attempt to understand the void crystal technology.

"There were multiple dig sites found along the edges of the expanse. We've already set up plans for an expansion bill. It's sure to pass. The Greens have Mentan at their base, and they'd be jumping at the chance to study unexplored systems, Tories are sold on the notion of being able to flank Commonwealth territory, and the Nationals will ride along as usual, offering an act of debate for a bit before capitulating, so they can say they fought the expenditure. We plan on having some Valen trade deals involved to make it go down better, so they can say it will cover its own cost." The secretary says as he takes out his phone and begins checking something. "Rhinos will veto as usual, but they don't have the votes to mean anything. The Texas battle group will move in within the month, and we should hopefully start finding more of these things, or even the homeworld of this civilization." He holds up his hand. "I must be going, I have a meeting with a representative from Talgo. He says it's of critical importance."

He walks over to the elevator as the construction workers begin hauling in the walls for the labs. They begin hammering in the first of the containment walls. There is a series of loud bangs and the two of them begin to move to the offices.

Michael wakes suddenly to a series of rapid knocks against the glass window. An armed soldier stands beside the taxi with a blockade of armored vehicles in front.

"Sir! This is a restricted area."

Michael takes out his card and sticks it to the window. The soldier looks it over quickly. "Sorry sir, but no civilian cars are allowed in. You'll need to exit the vehicle."
Cont.

>>39857704
>There were multiple dig sites found along the edges of the expanse
THAT IS ARAL!
>We've already set up plans for an expansion bill. It's sure to pass.
OH FUCK HERE WE GO.

>>39857783
Dude, it already happened, thats what all those exploration ships like the Hope were for.

>>39857704
>>39857783
TIME TO KILL

SET UP CLOAKED AMBUSHES ALL OVER THAT SYSTEM

>>39857783
>>39857801
This is a memory. It is in the past. Not the present. You are watching an old recording.

The Expanse border was already SHRUNK in response to the disasters of the Clarke and the Hope.

Are you both retarded?

>>39857856
I've always questioned the reading comprehension of a good number of the anons here.
I too am guilty of that sometimes

>>39857856
There's no need for name calling, anon.

>>39857856
It's not anon. This is the present.
They are going to try to expand anyway.

>>39857931
>There's no need for name calling, anon.

What are you a newfag?

>>39857946
I..you can't be this stupid right? The Queen was in Mike's memories up until now.

>>39857946
>You peel back Michael's mind against his subconscious protest and pluck at the memories in his head like strings, following them deeper in his mind.

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>>39857946

>>39857946
>tfw when retard tries to convince everyone were not looking at memory

Top kek.

>>39857946
Please anon, I understand you do not want to concede since he is an asshole. But please, don't.

>>39857704
Michael exists the taxi, which promptly pulls out in reverse and moves down the street.

The lab is in ruins. Nearly the entire building has collapsed, crumbled to ash. Several fires smolder around the remains of the crashed air car beneath the surface, and the building itself is clearly unstable, with debris occasionally falling from above. The entire area has been sealed off, with an additional layer of armored vehicles around the building. Just across the walkway is a far smaller building where agents have congregated, and a radio truck sits in the front. He quickly makes his way to it.

Inside the office is busy with agents and filled with crates. People sort through burnt chunks of debris and melted plastic, as well as bodies. Gilliam is standing in a row of charred hunks of unrecognizable flesh picking at a set of teeth.

"This is number twelve, you can see the cap has been melted from the molar here." He says to an assistant as he stands up and removes his gloves. "Fill out the paperwork and take the body for proper disposal. No recycling, proper incineration. For all of them." He waves his glove at the other bodies and catches view of Michael.

"I've been looking for you among the dead all morning. Where in the hell were you, and where is Yune?"

>Let Michael explain
>Remove his memories of the attack
>Other (write in)

>>39858018
>Let Michael Explain

>>39858018
>Remove his memories of the attack

>>39858018
>>Let Michael explain

>>39858018
>>Let Michael explain

if we are going to act non-hiveminded when we contact humans and/or other races we should create a language of clicks and other sounds our drones can make for it to seem real, and it would be good for the first contact if we are supposed to have no or very little human contact before

>>39858018
>>Remove his memories of the attack

>>39858032
>>39858051
>>39858062
You do realize you're voting to let him tell his bosses about our parasites, right?

>>39858018
>>Remove his memories of the attack

>>39858108
Thought it was just the attack on the site, not the implant.

>>39858018
>Other
Maybe alter them to make him believe it was a Commonwealth operation?

>>39858018
>>Remove his memories of the attack

>>39858108
Its just the attack on the site, Stop being paranoid.

>>39858108
You do realize he has no memory of that. And we're talking about the attack itself, not what happened later.

>>39858134
I've been wanting to pin this on Commonwealth saboteurs too.

How to though. Say he recalls a phrase, "the Admiralty Council", but not much else while he drifted in and out of consciousness among his captors?

>>39858018
>Let Michael explain

>>39858018
remove any sensitive information about the attackers

>>39858018
>Let Michael explain
>>39858185
And this obviously

>>39858185
Michael lost consciousness in his office at the start of the attack.

From Flies poisoning him, but officially it can be the ceiling knocking him out.

So all he'd remember is being in his office just before the explosion happened.

>>39858157
And that in and of itself would entail details of our flies in action. The same drone type we're using right now to infiltrate the Union/Confederacy talks in Toliman.

>>39858018
Could you be a little more clear on what we're voting for?

>>39858018
Fuck this is the Doctor we need to implant.

He is the only other person Yune told about his Spider Sense tingling in the alleyway where he saw a bug watching him.

So I guess explaining would be less suspicious. It was just an attack after all. We have to make Michael seem like he's in a right state of mind, not an untrustworthy amnesiac.

Then we have to lure Gilliams somehow to his apartment I guess.

After the council meeting, give Michael a hallucination of orders from Windsor, orders that will get him and the doctor alone?

>>39858292
Have him roll to seduce.

>Then we have to lure Gilliams somehow to his apartment I guess.
And remember to have our hybrids on standby to subdue him.

>>39858366
Hybrids coming to his apartment would be suspicious and harder to keep off cameras.

Easier to infiltrate his apartment with a single fly to paralyze the victim and carve an incision in his belly.

/tg/... are we the evil race in this setting?

I feel as though were pretty evil, what with the horrifying biological weapons we're inventing and producing and the near mind control.

>>39858018
What do the choices even mean QD?

>>39858530
>are we the evil race in this setting?
No the Master race.

>>39858530
We're only concerned about the survival of our race and fulfilling Mother's wish to purge the galaxy of the Obsidian Queen's taint.

>>39858530
No the crystal gods are the evil race, what we are doing is pretty common, but frowned upon from the public eye.

>>39858580
>>39858582
I can't help but think we're just a different shade of evil.
Like one evil battling the other for complete and total supremacy of the lessers.

>>39858580
anon this is a christian image board please do not post about the obsidian queen's taint

>>39858530
>evil
No such thing.

>>39858530
We're a single individual that operates on the same scale as entire civilizations. It's like comparing some scientist dude to bacteria and saying he's evil because he fucks around with bactericides and genetic modification to produce oil or something.

>>39858621
Evil is relative anon. I prefer to think that what we're doing isn't anymore wrong than what the Union and the Confederacy's black ops are doing.
Only here we answer only to ourselves and dont have to care about superficialities like "public opinion".

>>39858621
our entire race has been locked in total war with an extra dimensional race of psychic slavers for what is most likely a millennium. and nothing we have done so far isnt something that other factions would not of done if they had the chance.

>>39858621
It's more complicated than that, look at the natives we already have complete control over. We could be farming these fuckers for the hive and we've left them alone,

That reminds me, when I was reading the archives I noticed the builder had taught them how to do agriculture, architecture and other shit but the knowledge has mostly been lost. Could we start easing this knowledge and possibly other knowledge back into their society QD?

>>39858733
You mean aunt Gardener.
And haven't we already been doing that on some level?

>>39858018
"Me and Yune were in my office and... I'm not sure. I called him in, and there was a... buzzing, I think. Then everything gets fuzzy, and I wake up by the space port next to a car bombing."

"A buzzing, like machinery?" He asks.

"Maybe, I'm not sure. I just remember calling him into my office after reading his report, but, I can't remember what it said, exactly."

He could, were you not scrambling that bit of data. His test results showed increased activity in the ocipital lobe, similar to when in the presence of an activated relic, but there were no relics in the area at the time. This was in addition to his complaints about sensing something in the building.

"I think it had something to do with his investigation."

"You mean his detection in the ally?" Gilliam says. "Yes, that is concerning. Someone appears to hold a far greater understanding of this technology then us. I was going to pass my concerns on to the council, but then we were attacked." He looks upon the cataloged rubble in disgust. "All this research, wasted! We saved the artifacts, but even the prototype interface was destroyed, along with the capture of our only two successful subjects." He looks up to Michael. "Have you heard from the council yet? I suspect they will want a report."

"No." Michael says, "but I was about to call in. They wanted to have a meeting. I wanted to come here first and see if there was any good news to give them."

"Hardly." The doctor steps over several bodies as they are taken by assistants and carried away. "Even worse, the implication of what Yune felt in the ally. Not many people know about this technology, and those that do work for us. He said he felt something, and almost instantly was set upon by an armed gunman."
cont.

>>39858530
I like to think of it as an alien moral compass. Humans think Valen are horrible scummy bankers for similar reasons, and Valen think humans are untrustworthy beggars in return.

>>39858733
You could.

>>39858783
>capture of our only two successful subjects."

>Lee
>successful
I mean he's correct. Obviously. Since Lee is sensing flies and parasites left and right.

But he has no way of knowing that. Is he being optimistic?

Michael told the council that Lee was still undergoing "initial treatment," so it was too early to tell whether he was going to go insane.

>>39858783
>the capture of our only two successful subjects."
So either we lost count of someone or he the "other subject" he was referring to as Lee.

>>39858783
>You could

Great, on behalf of everyone else in this thread I'll ask that you go ahead and do that then please.

>>39858861
>Lee
That was the obvious implication, yes.

>>39858018
>Let Michael Explain

>>39858861
Of course it's Lee, you think it's just a fucking coincidence that he's psychic now?

>>39858914
For fucks sake turn Auto update on.

>>39858783
The whispering returns. Michael holds his head for a moment.
"I'm sorry, my head is still hurting."

"Clearly. It's amazing you're alive at all. The building took a missile hit, after all." Gilliam sorts over a number of papers as he speaks, signing them with a pen. "But we're just about wrapped up here. We've just about finished burning the bodies, and the artifacts will be shipped somewhere else. I don't know the location of the new site yet."

>Ask about the attack in the ally
>Contact the council
>Say other (write in)

>>39858903
I would agree with this course of action, but if we could find the time I'd like to ask for volunteers from the best and brightest of their society. We scan them, give them symbiotes, and tell our story and our link to the Gardener to their greatest storyteller. We could have him bring our story to the people as a whole.

>>39858905
>>39858929
I honestly thought he just there in a "supervisor" role, with his growing psionics as an unintended side-effect of working too close to the artifact.

>Ask about the attack in the ally

>>39858959
>Contact the council

>>39858959
>Ask about the attack in the ally

>>39858998
>I honestly thought he just there in a "supervisor" role,

...Lee.

You thought LEE was a supervisor in mad science murder lab.

Motherfucking Ryan Lee.

Who was clearly shown strapped into a big tachyon emitting machine and then shot two guards to escape.

>>39858959
>>Ask about the attack in the ally

>>39858998
Dude, they had him wired to the machine in question. That made it pretty unambiguous.

>>39858959
>Say other (write in)
Tell him we were able to procure something that he might want to check out personally.

>>39859075
There are two layers of deception that need to be pulled off here.

We have to have a lie that will convince Gilliams to move into a vulnerable location, and we have to convince Michael to say that lie.

Michael is easier, because we can have a fake order from Windsor to do it.

We can tell Michael we suspect there's a Commonwealth mole in the lab, and the doctor is the first suspect for sabotaging research and leaking info both. Tell no one else of these suspicions, as a kidnapping victim you're the only person we don't suspect.

Get Gilliams to come to Location X, and our trusted agents will take it from there. The Union is counting on you, Michael.

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>>39858997
Yeah, implant a whole bunch of different assholes and give them different information.
Give a storyteller our story, their greatest builder knowledge on architecture, their greatest doctor any medicine our thinker discovers about their kind etc. Make them start writing all this shit down.

>>39858997
No.

>>39859146
You've pretty much hit the nail on the head m8

>>39859158
>http://www.omniglot.com/conscripts/index.htm
>http://idrani.perastar.com/ISMS_orthography.htm
What kind of writing system will they use?

>>39859332
we'll teach them american

>>39859392
lol

>>39859332
I don't know, unless you or anyone else has a preference we'll just delegate it to the thinkers.

>>39859392
Why use the most boring and ridiculous option possible?

the chief of engineering at Google has predicted that immortality will be available in 25 years with the use of nano machines

>>39859468
how the fuck would he know

>>39859468
I think he's full of shit but hope he is not.

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>>39859468

>>39859482
he works at google, the guys everyone asks everything about. if someone could know it'd be them

>>39859453
Because !FREEDOM!, Your not a filthy communist right?

>>39859540
i've googled the future as well so this guy doesn't know anything i don't

>>39859561
We are Commies dumbass. Can't you tell from all the red?

>>39859482
>>39859489
he's been right about a lot of today's tech, the nano machines would basically do the bloods job more effectively or something like that and you'd heal faster be able to stay under water for hours etc
>>39859539
exactly what i thought

>>39859332
Russian mixed with Chinese, Japanese and German

>>39859631
One step closer to a killswitch in every citizen. Progress is progress I suppose.

>>39858959
The whispering grows louder, more concise, as if they are speaking, demanding something.
They stop abruptly.
"Hold on. What was this about the ally? I was trying to ask Yune about it when we were attacked." Michael says. The doctor stops for a moment.

"Well, he said he was speaking with one of his street contacts when he felt a presence in the ally. He said it looked like some kind of animal, like a wasp. I told him that was impossible, but he insisted he felt something. He shot at it, and was almost instantly attacked. He took a shredder dart to the arm, this were clearly not some street gang or random mugging." The doctor gives him a serious stare and looks about the room. "Look, this whole string of events have been one impossible event after another. Disturbances in Earth's debris field, signals in the streets of Gemini, attackers from the woodwork. We have prepared for these things, and yet they knew where everything in the building was. They went directly for the labs. These people knew what they were doing, and they knew what they were after."

He glances over his shoulder at a passing researcher, then back to Michael. "I think we have a mole. Someone working from the inside."

Michael shudders at the thought. "But working for who?"

"Who else knows about this technology, and has a vested interest in us not developing it? Who is the one organization that managed to actually weaponise this technology?"

>Agree the Commonwealth is behind it
>Claim to have evidence of the mole
>Disagree about the mole
>Other

>>39859146
Oh right. Tell the doctor you want to have a late night meeting, wait for me in this camera-free alleyway.

Then have Michael forget he said that and just have the flies and hybrids corner the guy.

The trouble is, Michael doesn't seem to strictly outrank Gilliam.
>"This is doctor Alex Gilliam, he's head of research and development. You will aid him however you can in addition to your other duties." Secretary Windsor holds out his hand as the doctor holds out his hand. Michael shakes it.

So it'll have to be some juicy b8. Maybe make it so instead of the doctor being the suspect, have him be the only other trusted person? Get him to this location to be briefed on mole suspicions.

>>39859718
>I think it's the Ceph

File: Lee.png (138 KB, 350x350)

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>>39859718
Boy, looks like we and the doctor might just have a hivemind.

>>39859631
i would become a space pirate when the tech got good enough and if all the great mind were to life forever it wouldn't take that long

>>39859718
>Claim to have evidence of the mole

Operation Shady Alleyway Meeting is greenlit then?

For the record, the Ralighans use verbal language and do not have any formal written script. They do have a formal common language used between the many tribes, which involves the use of a special kind of hollow tree like a giant horn, by having an elder blow into one end while others operate holes cut into the branches. It is used for long range communication. In person, they use the air sacs on their bodies to drum out spoken language, but each tribe speaks its own dialect or language, which becomes increasingly dissimilar the further from you go from any one tribe. Most can understand their neighboring tribes, but otherwise have no organized language.

Should you openly endorse the dialect of a single tribe, of course, it would become more hip then the Asylum Demon in a hula hoop convention.

>>39859631
But DNA repair. But irreparable nerve damage.

>>39859718
>>Agree the Commonwealth is behind it

>>39859718
>Agree the Commonwealth is behind it
Sure a go talk to the council

>>39859718
>>Agree the Commonwealth is behind it

>>39859718
>Agree the Commonwealth is behind it
>Other
But even if it is the Commonwealth we no solid evidence.

>>39859920
>>39859937
>>39859956

Okay yes we want them to think that, but this doesn't lure him anywhere to be implanted tonight.

>>39859718
You seem tired.

>>39859914
even if it only extended your life a couple of hundred year our tech gain would increase at least tenfold since no scientist will die and those problems will have solutions

>>39859984
Well we would need to fine solid evidence. We could always use one of our flies to lead him.

>>39859984
present a course of actions for us to vote on if you want us to

>>39860068
>Well we would need to fine solid evidence.
What? No.

The whole ruse is to claim to have evidence, but we can only talk about this in a shady alleyway where I'll share it.

Then he gets implanted and the lie won't matter anymore.

>>39859718
>>Claim to have evidence of the mole

>>39860118
Couldn't we use one of our flies as bait?

>>39859718
>Claim to have evidence of the mole

>>39860160
A random giant mutated wasp? That would be retarded. They also lost all ability to sense psionics now, we killed Yune and kidnapped Lee.

>>39860098

>Claim to have evidence on the mole
>sensitive evidence
>that must be shared at night in a dark alleyway
>where it's easy to corner him

>>39859718
>Claim to have evidence of the mole

>>39860201
>That would be retarded
Why? It's suspicious enough for him to follow along.

>>39859718
>Claim to have evidence of the mole
Isn't this why we brought the parasite?

>>39860293
There is absolutely no reason to associate bugs and tachyons in the doctor's mind.

The doctor wouldn't be interested in seeing the specimen of the wasp Yune saw in the alley. It's an irrelevant distraction from the real threat-- the Commonwealth.

>>39860341
He would be if after said wasp was killed people started attacking and shit hit the fan, he might also wonder why such a large species just popped out of nowhere in that specific area exactly when shit hit the fan.

>>39859718
>Agree the Commonwealth is behind it

>>39860383
nah man that's too much of a stretch, put yourself in his shoes. you're biased with knowledge of what really happened.

>>39860458
>Well, he said he was speaking with one of his street contacts when he felt a presence in the ally. He said it looked like some kind of animal, like a wasp. I told him that was impossible, but he insisted he felt something. He shot at it, and was almost instantly attacked.

>>39860383
The doctor is smart enough not to think correlation = causation.

Invasive species happen all the time. Bugs in filthy alleyways are common. And he has no reason to think it "popped out of nowhere," neitherMichael nor the doctor have taken a thorough bug population survey of the planet and found that this species has only been seen in this city, and in the last week.

>>39860494
> I told him that was impossible,

And there you have it, anon. Besides, he already said himself that commonwealth is behind it. Sure they might use mech-wasps or bio-engineered wasps as scouts. But it's commonwealth, not us.

>>39860494
Yeah but even in reality, him shooting it had absolutely no causal relationship with Jackob tailing Pete and showing up.

Why would it have a causal relationship in his imagination?

>>39859718
>>Agree the Commonwealth is behind it

>>39859718
Michael looks over at the passing workers, then leans in, the whispers returning as his eye twitches slightly.
"Then we need to find out who it is." He says. "I think I may have some evidence, taken from that van they held me in. I hardly remember taking it, but I managed to stuff it in my pocket just before they left." He says as you fabricate the image of a torn and stained document. The doctor's eyes widen.

"That's great. You can send it to the council-"

"I figured we could look through it first. See what we can get from it. If we do have a mole in the organisation, I don't want to give them a chance to intercept it." Michael says. The doctor nods.

"You're right. I can stop by your apartment tonight and we can search through it. I'll bring a feild kit in case there are any finger prints or evidence on the document itself. You should go speak with the council now, you can at least tell them we still have the artifacts, and Lee was taken before he regressed, so try to fluff his case to sound more successful, after all we don't fully know his would-be status." He moves off and almost immediately begins berating a lab technician for something.

Michael moves to the rear office. There is a small communications area set up where agents are speaking with various crowd control officials around the area. He orders them to leave and enters in the code for the parliament building. The desk officer answers.

"Hello agent Devon, the council were in the middle of an emergency meeting, but they said to patch you through if you were available." The officer says.
Cont.

>>39860029
Not really, although I'm not used to running today. Figured I should since next week is going to be so horrible I won't have time for a long thread tomorrow.

>>39860676
>Lee was taken before he regressed
Now i'm more interested in what happened to the subjects that made them "regress"

>>39860819
Daemon Host

BURN THE WITCH

>>39860676
>"Hello agent Devon,
Finally the Michael gets a surname!

>Disturbances in Earth's debris field,
They have a way to monitor Earth?

Either a monitoring station on the surface, or a monitor satellite hidden among the debris in orbit?

We gotta dive his memories to see which and where it is.

>>39860963
Honestly i vote for a deep memory archive of all the important info, and anything that can be of use for thesus we trade it over.

>>39860963
Dude they control the earth system

Prob got patrols going round it and some satellites around it to keep watch

They don't need to hide

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>>39860676
The council are seated together at a table, although you recognize the flicker of holograms. They are not permitted to all be in the same room at once, for obvious reasons. You recognize them by name.

Secretary of State Neville Morgan looks harshly across the table as his projection flickers in the light. His false eye is no longer apparent, disguised with a membrane covering.

"Excellent." He says, "We were hopping you were not injured in the attack."

DuPont slams the table, making it all too clear she is present in the flesh, and nearly flipping the table in the process. Your view of them flickers for a moment as the cameras attempt to adjust.
"What in the fuck kind of show are you running? You hang up in the middle of a call to go and burn all of your progress, and then you let someone launch an attack in the middle of the capital district and make off with everything you didn't manage to burn! You have a lot to answer for."

"And he will answer to me, not you." The Secretary of Intelligence, Jack Windsor sits at his table in the flesh, his fingers steepled on the table, and his voice cold as ice. He is far more angry then DuPont at the moment, and Michael's mouth becomes dry. "I will remind you, Alexandra, this is still my department. As is this." He says as he places a piece of paper on the table in front of him. "I received a Code Green this morning, from an agent Dillon Reager, of the internal investigation division of Security Command. He claims to have concerns over the extent of corruption among the ranks of the BFI, and was involved in the raid of the facility. He opened an investigation into it after discovering BFI activity operating without his department's oversight." He pauses, breathing deeply. "Who was aiding someone in his free time, someone who was looking for Lee."

cont.

>>39861299
> "I received a Code Green this morning, from an agent Dillon Reager, of the internal investigation division of Security Command. He claims to have concerns over the extent of corruption among the ranks of the BFI, and was involved in the raid of the facility. He opened an investigation into it after discovering BFI activity operating without his department's oversight." He pauses, breathing deeply. "Who was aiding someone in his free time, someone who was looking for Lee."
Welp, no hope for Dillon now. Burn notice all the way.

>>39861392
He aint burned yet

Well, Dillon might be a dead man walking, now.

>>39861299
A pity Dillon insisted on that Code Green hail mary we knew would fail.

Not sure why the Commonwealth would be looking for Lee. Unless they somehow knew the explosion of his jail was related to secret research projects.

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>>39861299
The Secretary of Commerce, a thin man named Nathaniel Anderson adjusts his glasses, a fashion accessory as much as a correctional device in an age of such common corrective surgery. "I have a file on this friend as well, a common hire in the underground for smuggling or outsourcing security. A mister Rogers, I believe. He has been used on many an occasion to secure less than legitimate trade deals with Valen organizations. He has a decent record, very dangerous man, but loyal if you're his employer. His record indicates signs of psychopathy and post traumatic stress, likely stemming from extensive prosthetic enhancement and numerous combat drops in the Commonwealth military. He has since defected, and is wanted by the penal colony Helviti." He taps his stack of paper files neatly on the table after being scattered by DuPont's outburst. "A regular upstanding citizen, really. He dropped from the grid some time ago, only to pop up after something explodes and disappear again."

"We think he's been using an alias, but he has good training and good mods. He's usually gone by the time we get an agent to his location, or our agent turns up dead." Jack says. "We've put up with him because it costs less to hire the bastard then it does to try to kill him. Since we've detected signs of him even taking contracts from the Unity, we've been giving him steady employment. He was last hired to obtain samples of a local intelligent species in the expanse when he went missing for some time, before suddenly showing up with a crate full of aliens."

"The Formicidae, yes." Anderson says. He shudders. "Wretched looking things."

cont.

>>39861660
"Rogers has killed at least one Smith during his time in the Commonwealth, and we lost another on the surface of the Bugger homeworld while he was MIA and assumed on the planet. Calling him dangerous is an understatement." He looks back to Michael, who gulps audibly. "What do you remember? Can you confirm the fate of Yune, one way or the other, and can you confirm the identities of those who did this?"

>Say Lyle was there
>Say you never saw them

>Claim Yune died in the explosion
>Claim Yune was taken alive
>Claim you can't remember

>>39861689
>Say Lyle was there
>Claim Yune was taken alive

>>39861689
>Say Lyle was there
>Claim Yune died in the explosion

>>39861689
Say Lyle was there
Claim you cant remember

>>39861689
>Say Lyle was there
>Claim Yune died in the explosion

>>39861689
>>Say Lyle was there
>>Claim Yune died in the explosion

Which is true. Also they're calling they're Cyborg/Terminator/Eversor things "Smiths"?

>>39861689
>Say Lyle was there
>Claim Yune died in the explosion

>>39861689
>>Say Lyle was there

>Claim Yune died in the explosion

>>39861689
I'm torn. I'm not sure what difference it makes if we confirm Lyle or not.

The Commonwealth would presumably want Yune alive, but if we say he was taken, they'll pursue Lyle much harder than if he's dead.

>>39861660
>Formicidae
Ants? They're calling us ants? Motherfuckers.

>>39861795

In the thread where the first one showed up it was noted by someone (Lee?) that any government agent named Smith was one of those things.

>>39861795
>Also they're calling they're Cyborg/Terminator/Eversor things "Smiths"?

No shit, this was already explained. Every single full-mod agent goes by the moniker "Smith." The agent on Leeland was "John Smith." They all share the same fake surname. Theseus spelled it out explicitly.

>"Well, they clearly believe you to be of some interest. The name, by the way, is a moniker. All such agents typically claim to be named as a Smith of some sort."

>>39861847
Well we have exoskeletons and six limbs

>>39861847
That was also explained many, many threads ago, it was the name Seiner dubbed the species in his academic publications, Xeno Formicidae.

Theseus gave us a copy of them in thread 27.

>>39861660
>He was last hired to obtain samples of a local intelligent species in the expanse when he went missing for some time, before suddenly showing up with a crate full of aliens."

>>39861689
> and we lost another on the surface of the Bugger homeworld while he was MIA and assumed on the planet.

Hmm. Well that is a convenient explanation for the cyborg's death.

Why look for Lee though. His suspicious death? Commonwealth spies seeing him on Long Island station by coincidence and then hiring Lyle?

>>39861689
>Say Lyle was there
>Claim Yune died in the explosion

>>38578863
> I don't give a shit who hired you or why, and I'll be sure to leave it out of my report, but otherwise I'm calling in the cavalry."

Oh, I thought Dillon had promised to leave out Lyle's mission out of the report entirely, but I guess that wasn't his wording.

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>someone who was looking for Lee."

Wait, wait.

Unless that was just a cover story he told Dillon, or that his bosses told him, to better obfuscate his true purpose.

To find the facility where Lee was being held, and destroy it. Which his bosses knew he was being held in, because they had a mole there. Who recognized Lee from the news.

Truth is lies, lies are truth.

>>39861689
An image of Lyle appears on the screen, as well as a list of accused atrocities and war crimes. According to the file, the one he was arrested for was striking an officer.

"Yes s-sir. I saw him with the group. He killed Yune, I know that much, but it's still blurry."

Jack sighs. "Lee was a case of convenience. We needed him out of the public light before xeno sympathy became too strong of a political platform, and we needed a destabilizing event to rally people around the king bill. Sending him to your lab seemed like the perfect rock to hide him under."

"His file indicates he has an excellent grasp of tactics, but poor motivation." DuPont says as she waves a small file around. "He was only passed up by the officer academy due to poor discipline." There is an image of a bunk room in the file she holds. You can see it is a mess. "It was only after his arrest that we discovered his connections to various online communities of dissenters, including several that were involved of the leaking of sensitive government data. Once we swing popular opinion away from a pro-underdog stance we can use that to help bury the incident once and for all, but at the moment we have been able to just insinuate connections to terrorist organizations."

Neville cups his chin in thought. "Then why would he be targeted? Do we have any reason to believe his connections to these communities go any further? That they could have funded a rescue attempt?"

"None yet." Jack says, "But even if we do find a connection, there's still the issue of them going through the trouble of taking Yune and Devon both. Why bother?"

"Perhaps it was your agent Reager taking the initiative?" DuPont says smugly.

cont.

>>39862397
"Things aren't adding up properly here." Anderson says. "We need to find the outliers and get them sorted. At the very least, we need to hunt down Rogers and his merry men of traitors." He pauses. "I recommend we deploy a Smith."

The others look almost shocked. Anderson removes his glasses to wipe them with a fine cloth. "Dillon clearly tried to hide Roger's involvement in this, he made no mention of allies in his attack. They are clearly working together. That's your top Sec Com agent and one of the deadliest men alive working together. We even have records of a third person, some spacer security for hire. I don't think this is a job for anything less."

"It takes a unanimous vote to deploy a Smith." Neville says. "Alright then, who's in favor?"

You watch as DuPont and Anderson raise their hands. They look to the other two, and Neville sits back in his chair and raises his.

Secretary Windsor rubs his temples and looks at the screen.
"Agent Devon. I want you to be frank with me. Do you feel that you would be capable, without regards to funding or other constraints, of locating the whereabouts of these traitors?"

>Claim you can
>Admit you can't
>Other

>>39862435
>>Claim you can
Wild goose chase? We send their pursuers one way and we send Lyle n crew the other?

>>39862435
>Claim you can

The only question is if we lead the Smith into a trap where Lyle and company blow him up, or to the wrong planet.

>>39862435
>Try to make a poor joke
"With enough money anything is possible! Err, no, sorry sirs i dont think i could."
>We could cocoon him into a loyal hybrid, just need to cash in some sick days or vacation

>>39862435
>Claim you can
I know a guys, he's not cheap, but he's helped me in the past. I'm sure the Couch vendor will be able to turn something up.

>>39862435
>Claim you can

>>39862435
>Claim you can

Supporting this >>39862511
Lead the Smith to a trap, take him out

>>39862435
>>Claim you can
You know what this is? A chance to capture a smith and hand him over to Theseus as a trade swap.

>>39862435
>Claim you can

>>39862537
You're joking, but with unlimited budget, we could embezzle money through Theseus's bank accounts and write off the expenses.

We give him 10% of the take.

Rolled 8 (1d100)

>>39862435
>Claim you can

Okay so the Cabinet/Advisory Council/Secretary Council has no interest in the bug aliens.

But Killinger's mole still hasn't been explained yet. He might still try and follow up on Seiner's work and get back his investment, bastard doesn't know when to cut his losses.

Michael Devon does know the mission Fake Lee was on, right?

We should start dropping to dilllon that we have contacts on the inside who have confirmed his code green is now being used against him, and that they are sending a smith against him. We don't even need to parasite him, they're doing a marvelous job turning him against them for us.

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>leading around entire governments by the nose

>>39862435
You bolster his confidence. Twelve milligrams of confidence to be precise, and the lump in his throat vanishes.

"Yes sir, I believe I can."

Jack thinks for a moment. "Then I vote no Smith." He says finally. "Agent Devon, you are being reassigned. It will take some time for the research division to get sorted, and while they take account for what's been lost and make the move to the new facility, you are to find these traitors and report their location. Your main priority is to discover what their motivations for capturing Lee is, and who hired them to do it. Is that understood?"

Michael sautes, his head launched into orbit from the cocktail of 'confidence' your parasite provided. "Yes sir."

"You are to report directly to me for any outstanding expenses, and they will be arranged depending on their nature. This is not a blank check, I'm giving you this because I want this done with less property damage and loss of life then deploying a Smith involves. Do it quickly, quietly, and efficiently. Once you locate them and get an understanding of the situation, then, and only then, will I be willing to contemplate sending a Smith."

The others nod in approval, and DuPont takes out another file. "As for other matters, we have detected an increase in activity in the Commonwealth's outer boarders. I recommend-"
The feed cuts out.

Michael begins to sweat profusely. He brings his hands up to his head in a panic as he paces the room. The drugs wearing off.
"I can't take on someone like that, that man's a monster! He'd literally tear me in half! Why did I say that, why?" He mumbles to himself, beating his forehead. The whispering has returned. A distant laughter, as if someone were mocking his predicament from a distance. He snaps his head to the window, sealed with the blinds down. The room is nearly soundproof. He checks for any microphones in a desperate attempt to find the source, ripping the drawers of the desk out and scattering their contents.

>>39862773
I wonder if he knows what the BFI knows about the pod crater in that corn field.

That might be a different division of the BFI looking at that.

>>39862942
Michael leaves the office at a rushed pace. Gilliam heads him off despite his best efforts.

"So what did they say? Did you mention the mole, or do you want to wait before we make such an accusation?" He looks around to make sure the others are not in earshot.

>Tell him not to speak with the council until both of them can review the 'evidence' tonight
>Tell him what happened
>Say other (write in)

>>39862942
>Twelve milligrams of confidence to be precise
lel

>>39862960
>>Tell him what happened, but also not to speak with the council until both of them can review the 'evidence' tonight

>>39862960
>Tell him not to speak with the council until both of them can review the 'evidence' tonight
There's no telling what equipment they've compromised.

I don't think mentioning our reassignment away from the research project that we want to talk to him about exposing a mole in would help.

>>39862960
>>Tell him not to speak with the council until both of them can review the 'evidence' tonight

>>39862942
>Michael begins to sweat profusely. He brings his hands up to his head in a panic as he paces the room. The drugs wearing off.
>He checks for any microphones in a desperate attempt to find the source, ripping the drawers of the desk out and scattering their contents.
The Queen is kind to her Children but not to her enemies

>>39862960
>Tell him not to speak with the council until both of them can review the 'evidence' tonight

>microphones
Do those all come bundled with sound emitting speakers in the future?

Oh, the Greens.

The Greens could be behind this. Knowing the Tories buried Lee to rob them of their election victories.

And the Greens would also be sure and arrange a leak to a reliable journalist to set up surveillance cameras that record everything the Smith does, and observe its true nature be revealed. Since we know in advance where it's going and what it'll look like.

>>39863021
>>39862960
Supporting this.

well we got options

So lead the trail to:
commonwealth
unity
scavengers
nothing
us
auntie
valen

so whats next then anons
i still want to start a war between the union and commonwealth

>>39863367
What about the Ceph?

>>39862652
I like it.

>>39863389
nah too tricky

we don't know any of there bases
and lyles has no contacts among them i think

>>39863367
Guys. Guiz.

Send them into Black Queen space.

What could possibly go wrong?

>>39862960
The whispering begins again, they hold a command,incomprehensible but undeniable. He knows he is in a rush.
"Sorry, I'll have to tell you later. Meet me tonight at my apartment, we can talk then." He says. Gilliam nods.

Michael leaves the building and reaches into his pocket. He still has his car keys. He moves over to the parking deck and clicks the button, and there is the sound of an engine echo through the concrete halls. It quickly drives up to meet him. He gets inside and tells it to drive, anywhere, selecting a location at random, and he buries his head in his hands. His fingers pull at the skin of his face, tempting himself to dig into his own eyes against the constant voices. He slowly digs at the skin with his nails as if trying to pull you out of his mind, his eyes swelling up.

"Shut up, shut up, shut up!" He shouts as his car reaches the freeway. The voice command beeps in confusion and he breaks down. "What do you want?" It is all he can think to say, shouting it in a raspy voice. The car radio begins playing an upbeat tune with that as the title.

>Have him return to his apartment and wait for Gilliam
>Send him to the BFI building to look up information on (write in)
>Retrieve additional parasites from your hybrids
>Other

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>>39863583
HAHA.

Everything.

>>39863623
>>Send him to the BFI building to look up information on the lunar event, and the artifacts recovered from it.

>>39863623
>>Retrieve additional parasites from your hybrids

The queen is having way too much fun, I love it

>>39863583
Eh that seems hard and risky
Still an option

>>39863623
>Send him to the BFI building to look up information on (write in)
Smiths
Fleet plans
Any planned movements into the expanse
Digsites for artifacts

>>39863623
>Send him to the BFI building to look up information on
The system where the Skyl artifacts were recovered.

>>39863623
>>Retrieve additional parasites from your hybrids

>>39863623
He's slowly losing his mind from our parasite.

>>39863367
The Green Party or the Valen are the only plausible suspect for wanting to get Lee, for shifting political discourse towards the Greens through him.

>>39863623
>Send him to the BFI building to look up information on (write in)
Members of the Green Party, and Valen they associate with.

And that satellite crash in that cornfield on the other side of the globe that happened last week.
And suspected Commonwealth infiltrators in the Union, especially on Long Island station.

>Retrieve additional parasites from your hybrids
>Other
Actually just make sure a Fly enters the apartment too and hides.

>>39863732
Speaking of our other hybrids, how is our little fledgeling hive under that protein plant doing?

>>39863623
>Send him to the BFI building to look up information on (write in)
Oh in addition to the above.

The known and suspected jobs for Unity that Lyle has taken, and the methods of detecting Unity infections reliably.

Theseus will want to know how the Union is detecting his presence. He suggested it would be impossible for them to do that.

And see if the BFI has any sources of information within the secretive Valen banks for tracking transactions.

Such as seeing who paid Lyle a large sum of money for this Lee-rescuing job, or who paid a potential mole inside the research facility. (We could frame one of the guards we killed.)

>>39863826
>>39863623
This is smart
Backing

>>39863670
Fleet plans and expanse expansion are irrelevant and would be extremely suspicious for Devon to look up.

What he looks up might well be logged.

>>39863623
>Send him to the BFI building to look up information on (write in)

Those "Earth debris field disturbances" that Doc mentioned.

How are those being detected?

In a place like that, anything he looks up will be logged. We need to balance getting info with blowing our cover.

>>39863623
>>Send him to the BFI building to look up information on (write in)
All the dirt on Killinger.

What if he set up his mole to fail, just to take all suspicion off of himself, after all?

Find out his movements, locations, and what all his juicy blackmailable secrets and bank accounts are.

>>39863623
Theses are good.
>>39863884
>>39863826

>>39863623
A ghostly hand reaches out, pulling his hand up to the control panel where he types in the address to the BFI office in the capital district. He turns to see your illusory visage in the passenger seat. Too tired and panicked to scream or move, he breaths heavily, his face paling.

"I want you to know more about you." You say. The trailing robe of insect wings envelops the car like a cocoon. The spindly threads of thought spiral around your head like a crown fly off into the sky along your network, and into him like the strings of a marionette.

"I don't know. I won't tell you anything."

"You do. I know what you know, and I know what you don't know. I'd like to know what you don't know, and you're going to help me find out."

The whispers grow harsh and loud, inhuman in effect, but singular in intent. They screech and chirp like a swarm of locusts in his ears. Your enveloping wings become tighter, as if sealing around his neck to strangle him.

"You're not even real. I'm imagining this, the drugs they gave me, or the injuries. I, I need to go to a doctor, that's all." He says with false confidence. He reaches to enter a new address, and you pull out his pen and pin his hand to the armrest. He stairs at it for a moment in shock before screaming in pain.

"I would like to know more about humanity, and you will help me." You repeat as your grip loosens and your ghostly vision fades. Your hand blurs, and it becomes his own. He slowly realizes he can move his hand again, and he carefully pulls the pen from it. It spurts blood, but almost immediately begins to close. He watches in disbelief as the flesh sizzles from the contact of the medical paste.

The voices stop. He turns to look, and he is at the curb of the BFI building. The wound is gone, with only a small trace of blood pooled on the synthetic leather to remind him it was, in fact, real.

cont.

>>39864040
>"I want you to know more about you."

>Know thyself
Deep.

A typo. But deep.

The Queen should quote that self-help book the Thinkers read more often.

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>>39864040
Damn Queen, you scary.

>>39864040
You know that anything he searches will be logged, and potentially investigated. You carefully note the information he will recover for you with that in mind.

>Search details on the Earth debris field disturbances detected recently
>Search for details on Lyle's employers and middle man, as well as suspected and confirmed activity
>Search details on how the Union detects Unity infections
>Search for details on efforts to track Valen finances
>Search details on the satellite crash outside the city
>Other

>>39864128
>Search for details on Lyle's employers and middle man, as well as suspected and confirmed activity
>Search details on how the Union detects Unity infections
>Search for details on efforts to track Valen finances

Show them that we are focused on lyles contacts

>>39864128
>>Search details on the Earth debris field disturbances detected recently
>>Search for details on Lyle's employers and middle man, as well as suspected and confirmed activity
>>Search for details on efforts to track Valen finances
>>Search details on the satellite crash outside the city

Sorry Theseus. Investigating the methods, rather than just the results, would be too suspicious.

>>39864128
>Search for details on efforts to track Valen finances
>Search details on the satellite crash outside the city
>Search details on the Earth debris field disturbances detected recently
>Search for details on Lyle's employers and middle man, as well as suspected and confirmed activity

>>39864128

>Search details on the Earth debris field disturbances detected recently
>Search for details on Lyle's employers and middle man, as well as suspected and confirmed activity
>Search for details on efforts to track Valen finances
>Search details on the satellite crash outside the city

>>39864128
>>Search for details on Lyle's employers and middle man, as well as suspected and confirmed activity
>Search for details on efforts to track Valen finances
Everything else relates to info he shouldn't know or care about. If needed, he can come back later to 'follow a lead' (look up more of this info)

>>39864128
>>Search for details on Lyle's employers and middle man, as well as suspected and confirmed activity
>Search details on how the Union detects Unity infections
>Search for details on efforts to track Valen finances

>>39864128
>Search for details on Lyle's employers and middle man, as well as suspected and confirmed activity
>Search for details on efforts to track Valen finances

>>39864128
>>Other
Lee's dissident online group associations.

Perfect excuse for looking those up.

Would be nice to tie them to Commonwealth provocateurs somehow.

>>39864128

>Search details on the Earth debris field disturbances detected recently
>Search for details on Lyle's employers and middle man, as well as suspected and confirmed activity
>Search details on how the Union detects Unity infections
>Search for details on efforts to track Valen finances

>>39864128
>>Search details on the Earth debris field disturbances detected recently
>>Search for details on Lyle's employers and middle man, as well as suspected and confirmed activity
>>Search details on how the Union detects Unity infections
>>Search for details on efforts to track Valen finances

>>39864300
>>39864297
>>39864239
Unity infection are too suspicious.

>>39864321
This.

We can come back to that later.

>>39864128
>Search for details on Lyle's employers and middle man, as well as suspected and confirmed activity
>Search for details on efforts to track Valen finances
>Search details on the satellite crash outside the city

>>39864128
>Search details on the Earth debris field disturbances detected recently
>Search for details on Lyle's employers and middle man, as well as suspected and confirmed activity
>Search details on how the Union detects Unity infections
>Search for details on efforts to track Valen finances

>>39864128
>>Search for details on Lyle's employers and middle man, as well as suspected and confirmed activity
>>Search details on how the Union detects Unity infections
>>Search for details on efforts to track Valen finances
>>Search details on the satellite crash outside the city

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>Gaslighting Quest

>>39864128
>Search for details on Lyle's employers and middle man, as well as suspected and confirmed activity
>Search for details on efforts to track Valen finances
>Search details on the Earth debris field disturbances detected recently

>>39864321
Not really. We've been told that Lyle took jobs from Unity. We're just investigating if they're involved, that's all. As highly trained agent, we're just covering all our bases. Something like that.

>Other
Known contacts of Dillon.

And known contacts of those contacts.

Since he didn't get Jackob's name, just a description, a 'spacer'.

We find out all their known hideaways, then cross reference that with the hideaways Dillon and Jackob know about, so they can pick the unknown ones when they really want to disappear.

>>39864411
An investigator, not an engineer. We're not just looking at a list of infections, what we'd really want is the engineering method of detecting them.

Which is harder to excuse.

>>39864416
Seconding this along with my previous vote.

Wait, Lyle usually takes jobs through the Broker as a middleman.

This Lee job didn't go through the Broker.

We'll have to frame him hard to pull this off. Otherwise it'll look more like a "you got caught, do this in exchange for freedom" job.

>>39864411
>We're just investigating if they're involved
That's not what we're doing though. It's looking for something that would be considered suspicious.

>>39864431
Yeah, it's bullshit, but so what? This guy is expendable, we're just buying time. If we search for enough things like for example >>39864416 then we can just claim we're being thorough. It'll take them awhile to catch on and by then we'll have what we want and be gone on our mission.

>>39864489
>This guy is expendable
And yet we can get more shit out of him without just immediately throwing him away.

>>39864464
Yeah, I know. See >>39864489.

>>39864489
He's expendable in the same way Lyle or Lee is.

>>39864509
Ok, you make a good point, we could leave that off for later.

>>39864040
He gets out from his car, and it speeds off to find a parking deck. The knowledge you want fills his mind with burning questions, and your mind moves around him, comforting this time, like an enveloping warmth.

"Let me know if you need a hand." You say, your face flashing in an advertisement as if part of the hologram. He nervously rubs the fresh skin on his palm, picking off the dried blood.

He enters the building, and there is a quick flash from the top of the door that burns the eyes. A panel on the side of the door flashes his face and name, and a synthetic voice reads from the intercom as the doors open. "Welcome: Special Agent Michael Devon." He walks past several armed guards who quickly glance at him, as if to double check, and then nod.

"Morning, sir." One says. Michael gives a halfhearted wave.

He quickly finds a terminal and logs in, a retinal scanner flashes, burning his eyes again. He always hated the scanners.

The most critical data fills his mind first. Lyle's broker, and all the activity the Union is aware of. That information is the most simply to gather, given his now official duty, so he looks for it first.
He shakes his head in self loathing at the very thought of considering something his official duty, implying he had an ulterior motive.

"You do have an ulterior motive." You say, almost cheerful. "My motive." You help him click the search button and vanish again.

He quickly opens the relevant files and searches for the next one. Data regarding Valen banker activity. They would be an obvious choice for anyone who needed smuggling, however unlikely it would be for Lyle to use that route, so it would be easy enough to excuse. He opens the files.

The next you are unsure of.

>Search details on the Earth debris field disturbances detected recently
>Search details on how the Union detects Unity infections
>Search details on the satellite crash outside the city
>Other