opnet [OpNet] Node Harvesters : an update (read this!)

[Argent_]

Hello, again. This is Argent, back as promised if a little late.

First off, Jager; thanks for your concern considering my sudden departure from the world as we know it; miss Marlowe was kind enough to mention your efforts to be of assistance. Read on, and the situation will hopefully clear up.

Fisrt things first: I am currently a spokesman for a group of independent individuals with a common goal. A dear friend of mine jokingly nicknamed us "the muckrakers" and/or "The lone gunmen" (don´t think that the pop reference passed over my head, Gwyneth), which might be fitting, though perhaps not catchy, names. We are, basically, an investigative organization digging through quite some dirt to wash out the tiny fragments of truth; a proactive conscience, if you like.

Last time I checked in here, I and a few colleagues of mine was on the way to an investigation - a follow-up to a case concerning a joint-group subgovernmental Nova blackops project. I´m posting this to share some information that we came across.

Basically, we were involved due to the unexpected long-term effects of an earlier mission concerning a mass murderer code named "Legion", an investigation which quickly turned into a manhunt, culminating in our confrontation with said Nova in the Winter Palace of S:t Petersburg last spring. Legion was seriously demented and suffering from high-scale Taint effects on a scale that I previously hadn´t witnessed.

We decided to isolate him in a rather improvised "magnetical bottle" as a precautionary measure, since his powers made him rather hard to detain in more mundane means. Unfortunately for our investigation on the hows and whys for his disturbing behaviour, as well as the rapid rise of his powers, he passed away rather suddenly.

All this time, his body kept mutating, his Taint increasing on an arithmetical scale. Basically, his bones were unable to handle the pressure of his high-density musculature.

This might have been a closed case, were it not for the by-then unopened file called "The Node Harvesters".

Initially, we started investigating a severe case of "Mary Celeste" as the entire population of a small Siberian town north-northwest of Khabarovsk dissapeared overnight. We arrived shortly after reports on "strange lights" coincided with severe fluctuations in the spatial continuum near this spot.

Everything living was gone; zip, zero, nada, zilch presence. What we did find was residual traces of high-level quantum manipulations. With some time and effort we managed to recreate the scene from some hours before, allowing us to witness part of the spectacle that led to the dissapearance of 1,312 individuals (animals not included). It was a highly elaborate maneuver, even if 1,311 of the missing people were of little consequence to the perpetrators of this mass-abduction; they were simply in the way. The remaining individual proved to be the key to the mystery, but more on that later.

To make a long story short, we made enquieries and made decisions based upon the answers. This led us to a facility located in Antarctica, and it was here that the connection with Legion first revealed itself. I´ll just skip to the important parts here: we found a biomedical facility containing substantial proof that it had been used to expose baseline humans to some sort of high-energy emissions capable of causing a mutation leading to the emergence of a M/R Node. The test subjects, or rather what was left of them, were horribly mutated with taint side-effects. Those responsible for the process managed to make their leave before we could gain access to their location - the hows and whys of this is, again, something that I´ll touch upon later on.

Predictably enough, the installation was set to self-destruct and the medical records were destroyed. Fortunately, we managed to restore and decrypt enough of the records to make some interesting discoveries. These experiments were made with the sole intention of creating custom-made, artificial Nova life forms out of baseline individuals. The experiment was, in this phase, still flawed - as was the developed M/R Node. Most of the test subjects gained chaotic, largely worthless "powers" as well as major Taint with the associated side-effects; in this case, physical mutations seemed to take up the great part of these. Those few that managed to come through the process as fully functional Novas were initially weak compared to "natural" Novas, but an undisclosed number of them went through further mutations in short order, expanding their powers exponentially as the Taint level rose. Legion, our dear old serial killer of S:t Petersburg fame, was one of these cases.

(Note: These medical records will soon be available to peruse for those of you who would wish it; drop me a line and I´ll see to it. Soon, they´ll be all over the place anyway.)

By this time, I was thinking the same as a lot of the rest of you;could it really be a possibility to create artificial Novas?

Apparently, the answer is yes, even if it is a flawed replication at best - and one that does not bring a long life expectancy to the poor test subjects. We have as of yet extremely limited samples of the technology involved, and I am still struggling to make sense of it in tandem with some of my colleagues. As of yet, it has resisted our combined efforts, which in and of itself is a mind-boggling thought. It is, to put it simple, advanced almost beyond my scope of imagination - even technology that is beyond our grasp usually makes some sense, but this is a different cookie. If I were more of an old-school UFO-ist, I…well, never mind.

The medical records also revealed the fate of all of the subjects that failed to develop useful quantum powers; their Nodes were harvested (hence the name of the casefile) as raw materials for further experiments and the subjects themselves incarcerated. Extremely efficient and totally disgusting. This was beginning to make us sick; you´d think that you´d get used to things like this after you dug for long enough to stain your nails, but no luck there. Somehow, this is comforting to me.

We also managed to find enough of the protocols for the Siberia op to puzzle the pieces together; it was both a recovery mission and a field exercise for the artificial Nova soldiers. The subject that they was sent to retrieve was Ilia Krodov, age six, newly erupted Nova with great as well as fluctional powers of precognition, interpreted by the boy as visions from God. As for the harvesters´ plan for Ilia, the facts are unconclusive; perhaps they sought a precog to enhance the experimental process bu ruling out which ways to pursue, perhaps they needed him as operations support for their black ops squads, perhaps they had another agenda. I can speculate, but I don´t really know. Suffice to say that the boy is now in good care… but back to the story at hand.

By this time, the Harvesters (as me might as well call them) had begun to take serious action against us. A telepathical entity, a body-parasite called Simm, was present at the Antarctica base and decided to burrow in the mind of one of our members to gain intelligence on our operations. It also fed us false information, which it has been hell to sort out from real files, let me tell you. Based upon our investigations, we decided to make a B&E operation against another Harvester installation, located in Ukraine. Unfortunately for us, Simm chose the moment to gain access to the mind of our teleporter, and instead of arriving at our set destination, we arrived somewhere else entirely - completely off-map, and in the middle of a prepared ambush.

Here, I am forced to skip on a large part of the story as I haven been asked to do so by some individuals in my trust. Suffice to say that me managed to worm our way out of that situation, but not without sustaining heavy injury. We also managed to cut off the Harvesters from their main base of operations as well as deprive them of the resources needed for the project. As for their proto-Nova soldiers - suffice to say that they are taken care of in a rather permanent manner.

What we still don´t know, and what I´m still doing my best to dig into, is the ultimate whos and whys; who would ultimately benefit from this? There are so many false leads and enough cover-ups to shame a conspiracy theorist on acid, but I´ll think of something.

Why am I posting this? Because everyone needs to know. The process that we stumbled on is a flawed one, and it depends upon technology that seems to be used for things that exceeds its primary functions, which leads me to speculate on whether it was salvaged from somewhere else. It got me thinking.

The unscrambled (and, unfortunately, uncomplete) medrecs is also available for perusal; I want you all to be aware, and to speculate about this.

Above all, I want the truth to be known. Damn the shadows - the world needs a big god damn flashlight.

I am currently convalescing after being ripped to pieces yet again (a specialty of mine, it seems), but I should be available for conversation, OpNetwise at least. You all take care.

-Argent

[ 10-29-2001: Message edited by: Argent ]

[Jager]

I await your update.

Can you tell me to what level they had advanced their neural-surgical techniques? What substances did they use to sustain the harvested nodes? and, How sure are you that you severed them from their resource base?

[Dr cornelius]

What does their tech look like, organic, hard and solid. Are there any strange symbols or glymphs on them. They could have something to do with the incursion some years back.

Some objects (3 in number spherical in shape, at leasts 20 meters in diameter) from space entered our air space over one of our isolated installations. They sent some drones down, turned out to be war drones. Drove the sphere ships of with a plasma and particle projection batterys, one ship was serverly damaged, it went of the scope and we lost its location, had some form of cloaqking tech. the other two enter orbot and disappeared, didnt warp or teleport, sort of slide away.

We suspect they may have been from a parallel world, either stealing what they could get, or with something else in mind.

[Argent_]

(Update)

Jager: The level of the neural-surgical technology was stunning, to say the least. This, together with "liberated" records from the operations base, hints at Nova-produced technology. I am myself fairly competent in technological endeavours - moreso than any Baseline individual, at least - and I am stunned. So´s our resident cyberkinetist. We´re still working on this, and I am fairly confident of a break in the not too-distant future. I´ll most probably share it with the world when it comes to that. It might be noteworthy that while the technology involved here is extremely advanced, the methods themselves leave a lot to be wished for. They were, to put it bluntly, nothing less than sadistic.

I am extremely confident in having severed them from their base of resources; trust me on this. I´m currently quite busy in working things out, both for the aforementioned tech and some other great changes in our everyday life. In the near future, however, I might have the opportunity to show you - things will be much more clear then. In the meantime, I have taken the liberty to do a background check on you; please take no offense for this. I just want to make sure that I know who I´m dealing with.

Dr. Cornelius: A good day to you, doctor. I haven´t had the opportunity to speak to you in person (even through a third medium, like this), but I must say that your theories fascinates me. I am not quite sure that I´m game for theories concerning alien visitations and parallel universes, though; I´m fairly open-minded, but I have a problem getting my head around ceirtain concepts.

As for your questions: The technology in question seems to be a form of self-replicating nanotech-based circuitry; machine components mimicking the principles of a biological life-form, if my mind serves me right. The machinery looks fairly streamlined and organic; on an aesthetic level, it is an inbetween of cutting-edge nanoscience and a John Byrne illustration. Childish, I know, but it´s really the closest imagery that came to mind. I´ll try to submit some schematics when I get the time. Currently, though, I have been constantly active for 119 hours, which is a bad idea when your body is still in a vague state of posttraumatic shock. My second-in-command has made me promise to get some rest.

[Guest]

Hmm, Techno-Organics. An interesting choice for such an endevour. Argent, I am well versed in the design and implementation of Nanotechnology and Techno-Organics, it being my specialty before changing my focus to Biotechnology. If you would be willing to give me access to a copy of the schematics, I would be more than happy to lend my knowledge and experience to your investigation. Understanding your need to feel secure, I am sending you a complete profile of myself. I no longer have anything to hide from the world and it is unlikely a background check would reveal anything relevent. I await your response.

[Wizard]

[ 11-03-2001: Message edited by: Wizard ]

[Guest]

It is not the first time I have been mis-quoted Wizard. Still, they did not get my message completly wrong so I suppose I cannot be too upset.

I do find their lack of certain facts to be quite amusing though. I noticed they neglected to mention that the "nubile young baseline woman" refered to in the article is a brilliant scientist, a leader in the field of theoretical xenobiology. Ah well, without such, life would be rather dull, no?

[Wizard]

[ 11-03-2001: Message edited by: Wizard ]

[Argent_]

Atwight: Though I do not pretend to know your motivations, I appreciate your offer. Allow me some time to think it over, and I will get back to you on it. These last few days have given me much to think about.

Wizard: The consequences and ramifications of public knowledge is a complicated thing, yes. So´s responsibility. A close friend and colleague of mine is hard at work studying the entropic processes of cause and effect, diving into the source code of change to try and come up with an answer.

Will I, can I, make the executive decision to withhold these discoveries from the world? Who can really take it upon him/herself to decide what lessons the world should learn? What´d that make me?

Let it be said that I am sorely tempted to destroy all the remains of this technology, the medical hournals and the rest of the materials used for these crimes against everything that I hold dear. The question is, would it be for better or worse?

[Wizard]

[ 11-03-2001: Message edited by: Wizard ]

[Argent_]

All right, this has gone on for long enough. I´m short of plenty of time, so after consulting my friends and fellow "mystery men", this is my - our - decision:

In forty-five minutes, a complete download file of our findings will be downloaded to every media station on earth through the OpNet, through regular mail sources, microwave transmission protocols and radio transmits. This will include pictures and medical records on the victims, operations protocols on the protonova blackops unit, including (but not limited to) operations in Siberia, Pakistan, Peru, Russia and the UK. It will include as many of the secret funders of this project that we´ve been able to track down, including OpNet monetary transmission codes and personal letters.

For good or bad, let the truth be known. Let people decide what to make of it.

As for the quasi-organic nanoproject, I´ll let out partial schematics. The actual hardtech samples will stay out of common reach for the foreseeable future.

Let those concerned take their time to prepare for threats such as this one, and let them be aware of the bastards that has hidden under their skirts. Let the people know about the crimes comitted against Baseline and Nova alike... because this is our world - all of us - and I´ll be damned if I let assholes like these hide in the shadows.

As for those of the puppeteers who´s still in hiding, well... we´ll get them as well. Sooner or later.

Count on it.

[Wizard]

[ 11-03-2001: Message edited by: Wizard ]

[Guest]

A most regretable action Argent. Did it not occure to you that with the information you have provided, anyone with a modicum of quantum powered intelligence can rebuild this project in a matter of days? With the income most novas can generate with a simple merchandising contract, cost is hardly an issue.

Argent, your heart is in the right place, but if I have learned anything it is this; For the average person to go on with life, they cannot be forced to confront the existence of such things as this project.

For people to feel safe and be able to go on with their lives, they need to feel that they are in control. More and more baselines, and even some novas, are becoming aware of the reality that they are not in control of their own lives. Their very existence could be snuffed out at the whim of anyone who happens to have developed a node. This is not a comforting thought for most people and is part of the cause of growing rift between novas and baselines. Add in knowledge of such quantum powered atrocities and you only exascerbate the situation. This will not help anyone, in fact, my visions tell me that this will only cause panic on a wide spread level. Hopefully the authorities will be able to maintain order.

It seems I too must take measures to protect my interests.

[Hugin]

Well my goodness Argent, you followed through on your threat. Thank you very much. You saved me months of research time. However, this kind of ghoulish Dr. Frankenstein crap is not exactly my cup of tea. I prefer to focus on technology that will help, rather than hinder our evolution.

However, I am positive there are a bevy of sociopathic, short sighted, melodramatic fools out there who will happily run with this treasure trove of bad intentions. I expect that their future victims will thank you wholeheartedly.

Good Evening

[ 11-01-2001: Message edited by: James 'Prodigy' Meehan ]

[Dr cornelius]

Argent, you did it, all the information you down loaded was passed on to me, have reviewed it exspecially the schematics for the organic like nanotech, have compared it to the globa war drones, and what a surprise they have alot in common.

The AI computers have finally resequenced the mem's recovered from the war drones that were recovered, and from what we find its not good, their masters are not nova's or humans, but they once where human, they originate from a world next door, they never had nova's or psiads, in their evolution proccess, their world got more polluted, and had population problems that discovered upon nano-technology.

From the visuals of the nano constructs/creations, it would seem that they have discovered the method of transfering the mental being energy pattern that makes us into artificial constructs, in this case spherical neural nanotech devices (SNND), the size of a baseball that can be placed into what ever body they want.

For the most part all the war drones where just middly sophisticated artificial ai's, except for one their leader, which contained an SNND, we found it 2 days ago, we went back to the store rom, and found it had repaired 50% of the damage it had sustained, the communicates system had been taken out previously so no comm's. We used ion beam weapons to neutralise it temporarily, and now have the SNND with the living inteliegnce in isolation.

We are deciding what to do with him/her/it as in questioning, going to have to think how you question a inteligence stored in this medium without destroying it in the process.

[Argent_]

Cornelius: I´m in the middle of a HP situation - I´ll get back to you. An interesting read, I must say. (I´m doing a bit of research; hopefully, you won´t mind my scepticism. These reports of yours are pretty mind-boggling.)

Atwight, Prodigy: I understand your resentment, but fact is that it would take a whole lot more to be able to reproduce this technology. I am myself blessed with higher than average quantum-powered cognitive and intuitive capabilities, and this has allowed me to expand my knowledge in various technological branches at a level wellZ

[Wizard]

[ 11-03-2001: Message edited by: Wizard ]

[Guest]

Argent, you misunderstand my comments and concerns. I feel no resentment towards you for your actions. I was merely attempting to impart to you a lesson I myself have learned the hard way. Also be aware that just because you have yet to understand this technology does not mean that others will have the same difficulty. I myself could easily replicate this project should I ever feel the need (which, I can assure you, I do not). I personally know about 4 other individuals who can do the same if they put their considerable intellects to the task.

Knowing thy enemy is a valid reason for your actions, however, there is another old saying that applies here as well; For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. Consider your actions and the repercussions of those actions. Already this has incited the members of the Church of Michael Archangel in the continental U.S. to increase their campaign of hatred. The long ranged effects of this simple revelation could be much worse than the original experiment.

Argent, I believe you and yours truly want to do good in this world and I applaud your efforts, however, if you are going to reveal this type of information to the general public in the future, perhaps you could...soften the blow. Sometimes leaving the story to the media is the worst thing you can do.

I hope your future endeavors go well my young friend. I hope this tactic does not backfire on you either. Good Luck.

-Atwight

[Hugin]

Argent, I, unlike Atwight am not so forgiving. By the way Atwight, you know 5 people who can duplicate this garbage. You've let the genie out of the bottle, they don't tend to behave once they're out.

Yes, the Michaelites are pissed, nothing new there though. One thing you might like to know about, my contacts who peek at the inner workings of Utopia tell me you're in big kimchee over this one. You see, you don't have enough proof to be able to blame this tech on someone else. Yes, what you have is pretty damning, but it isn't enough for certain courts, like the world courts that Utopia has such a strong relationship with. You can't blame anyone else for the tech which means they can blame you for releasing non-authorized technology that would certaintly have been banned. Sorry buddy, I've been on their list before, and that was only for a couple gene therapies for baseline diseases. You my friend, are screwed.

[Argent_]

Atwight: I know what you mean. Truly. Forgive me for misinterpreting your earlier comments.

I know that these actions were potentially harmful, but the alternative seemed even more so. Only the passing of time will prove whether I was right or wrong. This, I guess, is responsibility.

Meehan: Are you out of your mind? Among these files, a whole lot of names was displayed along with enough proof to judge them from here ´til eternity. These were the people who funded the operation. These were the people who initiated the original project. These were the ones who made the executive decision conerning the Siberia villages, the orphanage in Manchester, and the rest of these operations. Didn´t you read it?

As for the technology, the files clearly show that these people took the initiative to use it. I honestly don´t know if they were aware of the source of this technology, but I doubt it; as previously stated, much points to the "scrounging" theory. Are you stating that since it cannot be determined who exactly that came up with the tech, it´s got to be me? Really, Meehan. That´s a little bit too far-fetched, and no one´s been trying to reach me with any accusations. Why would they?

If someone disagrees with me damning these individuals by supplying full proof of their actions to the media, authorities etc., I can understand their resentment even if I don´t agree with it. If someone disagrees with me supplying partial, flawed schematics on the machinery in question (and I must say, it´s nothing less than miraculous to be able to reproduce the technology from there considering that the actual catalyst - the supraconnective nanoids - were missing from the prints. If you´d care to contact me with your explanation fo what this machinery´s actually built to do, I´d be grateful), I can understand that too.

That someone comes to the conclusion that I must have built this myself… I´d be flattered , but I´d also recommend closing one´s eyes, counting to ten, and hopefully look at the situation again with a clear vision. This is nowhere near useful technology, since being able to actually do something with the blueprint would constitute that you were able of making this invention before you saw it. What I displayed was the interface, not the brain.

Of course, Utopia can be a bit… conservative on these things. They´re welcome to reach me through the usual channels; see what I got for them then.

Argent, out.

[Hugin]

Argent-I am sure that your evidence would be more than enough to blow the lid off of this little conspiracy, a few dozen years ago. A list of names? My, how damning. Memos, interdepartmental communique, and the like? Shocking. Computer files and schematics? Good God, no one is able to fake that.

Welcome to the Nova Age, Argent. Everything you presented I could easily fake myself. You provided the data all yourself, you, an unknown, untried source. Why should Utopia or the Directive believe you? Are you this uncorruptable, unimpeachable source of information? Of course you have no agenda of your own, nothing that you could be accused of.

Please understand, I try not to belittle your efforts or your beliefs. Simply that the world we live in is infinitly more complex than I think you have given it credit for. Cyberkinetics have complicated the effectiveness of many types of evidence. I just feel that you have taken some unsupportable risks in your hope for clearing this debacle up.

[Argent_]

Meehan: I appreciate you trying to give me a lecture as to the state of the contemporary world and the fleetiness of information. I even take some comfort in your patronizing attitude, due to the fact that it (at least for me) at least shows some basic human emotion.

However, you are seriously underestimating these efforts, and it´s extremely obvious that you haven´t taken your time to actually read through the material that I post as evidence. I know that you´re a very busy man (if that is what you wish to be called; I´m fumbling for definitions when it comes to Terats, I´m afraid. Individual?), so I can hardly blame you there.

Take your time, though, to read it, listen to it and experience it before jumping to hasty conclusions. It is already being acted upon - for some of these individuals, the pressure is through official and legal channels, for some... well, I have on good authority that one of them - russian politico Pavel Serejenko - has been permanently dealt with in a quite inofficial manner by his superiors. There are others, but you might as well look for yourself. Them´s the breaks, and I cannot really say that they´re undeserving of their fate.

Short version: Look at it, for God´s sake. I submitted it to some heavy scanning and crossrferencing, both through my own pretty considerate abilities and with the help of my allies, Nova and baseline alike. I came to the conclusion that it will mean ceirtain prosecution for most of these criminals, and as for the rest... well, they´re in for soem rough times.

That´s quite enough for me, for the time being.

I´m not even close to finished.

[Vile Bill]

Hey there Argent, I ain't here to lecture you like the smart guys do. Just wanna give you a heads up. You a hunted man baby. Boy but you've pissed off some purty rich fellas cuz the doller signs attached to your name has hit the top ten with a bullet.

So, I ain't got nothin' against ya guy, but should we happen to pound some of the same turf I am gonna have to let loose with the Nasty Black on ya. Ain't no man rich enough to ignore the cash they layin down on you. Who the hell you piss off?

Well, just to be on the fair side I'd have to suggest that you avoid Elites for awhile now. I'd hate for someone I didn't like to cash in on your ass.

Good luck sonny, you gonna need it.

[Elizabeth Rayne]

Quote:

Originally posted by Vile Bill:
Hey there Argent, I ain't here to lecture you like the smart guys do. Just wanna give you a heads up. You a hunted man baby. Boy but you've pissed off some purty rich fellas cuz the doller signs attached to your name has hit the top ten with a bullet.

Which more than anything else suggests that what she has found and posted is real enough to panic someone.

Quote:

So, I ain't got nothin' against ya guy, but should we happen to pound some of the same turf I am gonna have to let loose with the Nasty Black on ya. Ain't no man rich enough to ignore the cash they layin down on you. Who the hell you piss off?

Well at least you've given her fair warning, I guess. Just how much money is too much to ignore anyway.

As to who she pissed off. I would imagine it's the people whose names and files she posted.

Quote:

Well, just to be on the fair side I'd have to suggest that you avoid Elites for awhile now. I'd hate for someone I didn't like to cash in on your ass.

Yeah, Argent, keep a low profile. Unless you can afford to pay a bodyguard more than this price on your head. Which from what Vile Bill says is a lot of money.

What an amazingly stupid thing for them to do. Can you think of a better way to inform the world that Argent is not paranoid than actually making sure the World is out to get her?

Beth

[Argent_]

Thank you, Beth. Apart from the slight misunderstanding concerning my sex (male, last time I checked), I appreciate your post - it contained most of my thoughts on the matter, in fact. I wish you well on your personal endeavours; I´m sure that you understand that I´m too short of time to be of assistance to you.

Vile Bill: I suppose this is some of the macho-esque Elite boasting I´ve been reading about on the OpNet, right next to the trading card/action figure commercials. It´s pretty enlightening, and somehow I can´t help but feel like I´m trapped inside some lame soap opera. Perhaps it ws not your intent, but thank you anyway for putting a smile on my face.

As for the rest of your message: I´ve long since understood that the world is full of Novas who, for lack of an imagination, decides to use their gift in the most banal of ways: to make money. Use your Quantum stick to beat people in the head. Fun and profit, no? Since this is what I would expect, I don´t really take offense. I suppose that, in a way, you mean well - we´re just from two radically different worlds.

So, in return, accept my warning as well. I don´t decide to come up with actions like these on the spur of the moment, and without planning for the consequences. If you really feel that you need to take a shot at me, rest assured that I won´t pull my punches - neither am I interested in some two-fisted mano a mano-duel.

Damn. It has begun.

[ 11-05-2001: Message edited by: Argent ]

[Hugin]

Argent-I apologize if I have offended. You must understand something about my reasons for warning. One aspect of my Quantum enhanced intellect is that I tend to see the holes, the errors and mistakes in everything. I saw your list and your collection of data and automatically began to tear away at it, looking for the problems, looking to discredit it. Not because I do not believe you, but because that is what I do. I analyze. However, I seem to vacillate between two positions, the first is the realization that there are few individuals on this planet that can match me when it comes to the games of intelligence. The other extreme is that I forget the limitations of others and simply assume that everyone can see the same things I can.

So, I calmed down, I had some tea and re-examined the situation. Yes, you are correct, you are safe in your claims. Again, I apologize for suggesting otherwise. However, this worries me slightly. For my contacts in Utopia do verify that your packet of evidence has earned you some very harsh feelings in some corners of Utopia. Now, it had appeared to me that this was because your evidence did not sufficiently protect you. This not being the case what exactly do you suspect it could be?

Had you examined all of the threads of evidence as far as they could go? I shudder to think what might be in store for you should there be another level to this horror that you have come across.

By the way, ignore the blathering elite. Mercenaries tend to be not much of a threat unless someone provides them accurate intelligence. You are going to be putting enough effort into remaining hidden I am sure that you don't have to worry about them.

[Argent_]

Mr. Meehan:

I thank you for taking your time to re-evaluate your statements; stress is something that happens to all of us, and I for myself had already sorted your former postings into that cathegory, since you´ve always been unfailingly courteous in the past, even though I initially treated you less so.

I am, by way of my quantum enhancements, able to analyze inherent weaknesses in people, theories, battle plans, you name it. This is, as far as I see it, due to a combination of information processing and cross-referencing, and a zen-like state of awareness when I focus on one single task.

A close acquitance of mine, and also a collaborator on this project, is quite versatile in perceieving/manipulating entropic processes - something that she refers to as "hacking into the source code of reality". These documents and the assorted materials were reviewed by us two, as well as my other colleagues, Nova and Baseline alike, to get as many different views as at all possible.

As for the enmity of Utopia, I must say that I am quite bothered... if not all that surprised. They, as an organization, dislikes wild cards and free operatives. They are also an extremely large organization, and this concpiracy might extend into it at some point or other. This is, however, pure speculation on my part.

I am fairly confident in being able to stay out of reach of my pursuers for the time being. As for the future... my mother always used to say "God only knows". If there is indeed such a being, I would like to know what he is thinking right now. I knew from the start that this wasn´t a risk-free operation.

With sincere hopes of a brighter future,

Argent

[ 11-05-2001: Message edited by: Argent ]

[Elizabeth Rayne]

Originally posted by Argent:

Thank you, Beth. Apart from the slight misunderstanding concerning my sex (male, last time I checked), I appreciate your post - it contained most of my thoughts on the matter, in fact. I wish you well on your personal endeavours; I´m sure that you understand that I´m too short of time to be of assistance to you.[/quote}

Argent,

I apologise. I have no idea why I thought you were female but for some reason I did and given your current situation I quite understand.

Beth

[Jordan]

Christ on a crutch! There are some sick fucking people out there. So is anybody actually doing anything about this now that it's all "public"? I mean, what is Utopia, or the Directive, doing about these guys?