"No, nothing so severe at this time."  One can learn the measure of a soul by a handshake, in cultures that made use of them.  "I do hope you're up for some field work, though," Richard continued.  "Have you picked up anything about the current situation that the VIGIL amalgam is currently facing?"

"You're awake! I didn't realize it had done so well, oh wow.." Ai mused as she approached her teammate.

"You suffered from some serious burns, both internally and externally. I've been working on a new substance for quite some time to better tend to agents in the field. Until now, I had only used it on myself. I still haven't quite perfected it, but I'm really glad that it's helped you."

Vadim shifted slightly on his bed but otherwise was still sound asleep...despite AO's outburst and the associated talking.  Either he was a deep sleeper, good at taking power naps or was still far too wounded and his body needed serious rest.  Regardless his eyes stayed closed and...he didn't snore.

The door shutting behind Sandra echoed in the hall, followed by the soft sounds of her shoes as she walked at a fast pace down the hall. She was barely aware of anything around her and was walking on autopilot. Her brows and lips were turned downwards in an expression of hurt anger.

"Well its no secret you lost your old HQ and the RD's been hitting you so hard your team might need to be decommissioned. As for fielod work. Thats my day job just get me up to speed on the things i need to know and what you expect me to do."

Mister Light entered the recovery room"It was Stryker's team that got butchered, my team is still alive and fighting back, mister White. How about we get you and everyone else up to date in the briefing room?". He shook Matthew's hand:"Thanks for your assistance, I hope you can stay a little longer". He wasted no time to wait for an answer and slipped past Matthew to Jacki's bed:"I'm glad to see you're awake again. I hope Ai is taking good care of you. When you're ready to leave the hospital I want you to take some time off". He looked over his shoulder at Ai:"Keep at it until you have it perfected". His comment left little doubt that Light knew what Ai had been working on.
Jacki tried to smile again:"Thanks boss ..".
He smiled back at her, then looked over at Sandra as she stumbled by the medical facility trying to find a quiet spot, she wasn't looking too happy to see people:"Agent Reyes, I'm glad we have you back. From what Erin told me you found yourself in a difficult situation. But you got us the information we needed. We'll discuss the matter further in the briefing but I will let you know right now the two policemen you mentioned have been safely extracted from the library".
Vadim was still sleeping:"How is Vadim doing, Ai? Can we safely wake him? I'd like everyone to be part of the briefing".
This message was last edited by the GM at 22:59, Thu 13 Oct 2016.

As Mister Light stepped into the room, Ai noticeably tensed slightly. She didn't even look to him at first, but as he directed his words towards her, she gave a nervous nod. "Yes, of course, I'll get on that directly."

The question regarding Vadim's state caused her to turn her head to look tot he other agent. "He should be well enough to attend the meeting. He just needs to be careful getting up at first."

Matthew simply shakes the man hands with an equal firm handshake as he gave before and nods his head. It was clear mr Light was not here to talk so why waste words. He simply waits for directions or escort to the briefing room. As Sandra stumbles inside he gives her a soft smile and a gentle squeeze in her shoulder.

"You okay darling?"

"If we're all present and ready as we're going to get, then..."  Richard pauses, consults his watch, and nods outwards.  "No rest for the wicked, ladies and gents," he announces, a half-smile quirking on his face.  "We've got our next objective briefing awaiting us."

For those who were ready to go, he led the group out of the medical facility toward the briefing room for their new mission charge.

Sandra glanced around the medical facility. She was about to leave when Mr. Light called out her name. The man understated the mess severely as far as she was concerned. But the news that the police officers were recovered safely did much to lift her otherwise foul mood.

She nodded, still frowning and made to leave again when Matthew asked her if anything was wrong. She paused, unsure how to respond. The answer to his question was more complex than could be summed up in a sentence or two.

"Yeah..." she started. But the lie rang hollow even to her. She had never been good at it. "No. I'm not. But I won't let it get in the way. I just need to be alone for a-"

Sandra cut herself short when she heard Richard approach. Then she joined the others as they moved toward a briefing room. She found herself walking at the back of the group.

Matthew just shakes his head and eyes Sandra with an intent look thats not the kind look he gave her before but more one that tries to see if she was still a reliable ally after her 'debriefing'. He does respect her wish to be alone though and silently falls in with the group to hit the briefing room. Looked like this team was coming apart at the seams.

Groaning at the prospect of another mission James eyed the departing figures before giving Jacki another nod and heading for the door behind them. Before he reached it though he paused to look back to the still prone Vadim and Ai as his doctor with a slight glint of mischief, "Reckon he'll be better being carted there in a wheelchair doc? I mean I've no problems taking him there and back and it might be a bit simpler if he's still a bit on the battered side."

"I was going to suggest Vadim could follow proceedings along on the monitor but if the doctor feels he can handle the challenge of a wheelchair perhaps he'll enjoy getting out of bed for a bit", he looked at Ai. Then he prodded Vadim to wake him up from his deep slumber:"Are you alright son?".

Vadim's eyes blinked as he was woken from the deep slumber that electrocution can bring on.  His head turned to take in the area again and listen to the question before responding, "As well as anyone who was struck by 1.21 jiggawatts Mister Light."  He very slowly shifted his legs so that they would help right himself into a sitting position as he nodded just as slowly, "What's needed of me?"

"Watching on the monitor would be fine. It's just not advisable for him to do anything particularly strenuous for the next day." She reasoned to Mr. Light. She gave another look towards Jackie, seeming clearly hesitant to leave her for long. "If I may, I think it may be best for me to remain here and monitor anyone who feels they would do best viewing the debriefing on the monitor."

Light nodded:"We can do the briefing here since everyone is here anyway. We'll keep it short".
Erin joined the room carrying a tablet.

"First of all. I'm glad to see Vadim and Jacki are out of immediate danger and on the mend, and for Sandra to have returned safely", Light started.
"We've gathered enough evidence to conclude that our enemies are a group called the Champions of the Unknown. We have gone on the assumption that the Challengers were all Marauders. Agent Reyes has confirmed that their leader is a telepath and has been making a habit of brainwashing people. So at present we cannot confirm that his followers are Marauders themselves or were mentally dominated to accept his world view. At present if spotted again contingency 5 remain in effect for all Challengers. Based on agent Reyes' firsthand observations we can safely assume one of the Challengers in the library was Patriot. She is assumed to rely on energy attacks, possibly biogenerated. We have identified the captured rogue HITMark as a unit Iteration X lost around 2 years ago during a raid on a Progenitor facility that was under suspision for deviant behaviour. It was suspected the main scientist, doctor Hendrik Mangler, was doing unauthorized genetic experiments on our own people, the purpose of which isn't entirely clear".

He activated a large screen on the wall:"Meet Doctor Mangler". On the screen was the face of a bald man, around 40-50 years old. Mister Light looked at Sandra:"Look familiar?". Mister Light started a movie file from a security camera showing a firefight in a medical laboratory: "Doctor Mangler resisted apprehension and in the ensueing fight he was shot 7 times. The HITMark sent along as enforcer suddenly turned against his team members, picked up the doctor's badly wounded body and fled into the night. Currently we assume the doctor had been experimenting on himself and had developed psionic abilities and went insane in the process. Mangler's work was encoded and selfdestructed when investigators tried decoding it".

He switched to another photo:"We believe this is Patriot. Also known as agent Susanna York, formerly with Iteration X. Contact was lost on August the 22nd 2014, 7 months after the Mangle incident. She had an examplary record up until her disappearance".


Erin took over:"I've put together a preliminary psych evaluation on doctor Mangler. Sandra's eyewitness report reveals a lot about our main target. We can't take everything at facevalue due to the target's irrational worldview, so here and there I've had to make some educated guesses: Doctor Mengele is doctor Mangler. Since Mangler blames 'Mengele' for his condition we are working under the assumption that he is suffering from Dissociative Personality Disorder. Split personality for the laymen. He sees himself as a rebel superhuman leader who is fighting the nazis and pulls other Technocrats into his twisted world to strengthen his delusion, 'freeing nazi superhumans' from fascist brainwashing. Pitching himself against his nazi alter ego may indicate a subconcious recognition that he is responsible for his own condition".

Light took over again:"Our contacts in the police have breached the library and gave an all clear. The Challengers escaped. The police men are safe. Lauren was not found and is presumed to still be with the Challengers. We've made some progress solving what happened to Gamma team in the past few hours. We still have the Las Flores boyscout camp to check out, the last location supervisor Stryker visited before his escape to our former HQ. There is also the Lockup theft of artifacts that occured at the same time as the atack on Gamma team. I don't believe in coincidences. Our work is not done until all the Challengers are off the board and we have answers to all our questions".

He stood up:"This does not mean we can ignore other activities in the city".
"Update on casefile Gamma/Barbeque: Until a few hours ago this was a surveillance case under observation by the Hub. 4 hours ago we received news that a bus of elderly church goers was burned to death on their way to an afternoon of bingo. Traffic cams captured the inferno". He started a moviefile showing a bus hitting a man who stood in the middle of the road. The bus subsequently blew up. Then about a half minute into the footage a flaming skeleton walked away from the fire, reconstituted into a man again and walked off. "We have removed the offending video material and replaced it with one where one of the burning bingo elders walked away from the bus before succumbing and started a media campaign to convince the masses the whole thing was a result of faulty wiring. HOwever this case isn't ending on its own accord".

He continued:"Update on casefile Gamma/Morlock: The CDC is mounting an investigation into an unknown deadly viral disease cropping up among sewer maintainance personell and homeless people who live in or near the LA sewer system. Rats are suspected of spreading the disease. This may or may not be related with the previous report by Gamma team about pale humanoids living in the sewers and the disappearances some conspiracy theorists have linked to the sightings. So far 12 people have died in the past 2 weeks, 4 more are in an isolated ward of the CDC, their condition reported as life threatening. We have requested the Progenitors use their influence to keep the CDC away from the sewers for the time being but this can't be done indefinitely if the virus continues spreading".

"Finally, for the past two days we have had increased activity among the vampire population we are keeping under surveillance. One corpse is in the morgue with a stake through its heart, two of the vampires we kept an eye on have not been seen for the past two weeks in their regular hangouts. In recent years we've seen a migration of vampires from Korea, China, Japan and Vietnam. Michael Moria .. ", He gestured to Vadim and Matthew:' .. of the Association has reported some of his contacts being pushed into joining the new asian factions. Two of them were shot in a restaurant by asian gangmembers yesterday".


"I'm opening the floor to questions and suggestions, after which i want a set of recommendations from your field leader as to which cases to act on first and who to assign for the mission", Light concluded.
This message was last edited by the player at 20:39, Mon 24 Oct 2016.

Taking a lean against one wall as the debriefing started James listened with interest, sending a brief glance Sandra's way when the telepath was brought up. That would explain the whole interrogation in a safe room. Not fun but also the right reaction given the possibility of compromise. As the summary of matters with the so-called Champions concluded and they moved onto other business James had to stifle a groan as things steadily grew worse.

Shoving his hands in his pockets as the summary concluded he paused for a moment before asking, "So with the resources we've got access to how likely are we to be able to get any info out of the HITMark we brought in? 'cause for these Champions we need more intelligence and given the last time we visited a place they'd been they hit us pretty hard as soon as we got there I'm cautious about what else we'll run into when we try to track them down."

"The bus attack we need to be able to track down the guy who was involved. We got any ID on him or notions about where he went after or came from before? Once we've got that the next question is how we bring down someone who walks off a bus hitting him. And then exploding."

"Morlock thing we need to know more about whatever the disease is but that's not my field. We could do a sewer dive but without some damn good hazard protection and a clear idea about at what point we pull back with the intel gathered it's going to be a rough one. Those sewers are big enough where you could end up down there for days. Assuming sewer people don't eat you."

"Any definite indication the vampire thing is aimed at the Association or are their casualties just part of the wider attempt? Makes a difference if they are trying a wide scale effort as opposed to focusing on one rival at a time."

"I might be able to establish a profile on our bus-burner with a bit of time and effort," Richard said, musing aloud, "but for best results I'll need a forensic examination of the scene -- which means I either need a detailed report, or the chance to be on-site."

He drummed his fingers once on the table, considering their options as James led off with his queries.  "We may have enough personnel on hand to investigate two additional incidents in addition to continuing to out the Challengers," he decided aloud.  "I'm inclined to say we focus on the two events that are liable to metastasize and escalate in scope: the sewer virus, and the vampire influences.  Does anyone have recommendations otherwise?"

Sandra quietly listened, still sulking a little from the interrogation. But as the briefing went on, she felt more at ease. Perhaps it was the sheer amount of information being given to them, appealing to the scientist within her. Or perhaps she was starting to feel like a member of the team again.

Just as her mind was beginning to wander as she recognized the feelings, Mr. Light began displaying the photos of the Challengers.

Mister Light looked at Sandra:"Look familiar?"

Sandra nodded. "Those two-" she started, in a small and hoarse voice. She cleared her throat with some embarrassment and continued. "They were the ones I saw."

Matthew took in the information dump and looks around at the people that made up the core team VIGIL and see what their immediate response was while trying to process the data. It was not one of his strong suits. He was more a man of action still he was no mere brute and some questions formed.

"So are all these avengers rogue technocracy members? And what is our preferred method of dealing with them? We neutralize them first ask questions later or we rather want to try and apprehend them alive?"

When the side things are discussed he leans back. He had little to offer on most things there.

"Yes establishing if its a targeted attack on the Association is a priority. If they are just victims it means we have to proceed with infiltration. Especially with the lost HQ i fear we are in no position to allow to loose the revenue the organization pulls from that side of trade. I might make a few calls to see what the deal there is but it will take time to find out.

We could hit the bus scene to investigate while we wait what information i can dig up about the asians. I fear i will be of no use at all in the sewers. Get a research team in there."

She listened carefully, though the moment the sewers were mentioned, her eyes moved almost knowingly towards Alpha before returning to Mr. Light.

"I believe that project Alpha would provide the most assistance with the sewer issue. His body is quite immune to the worst effects of most viruses, and disease are a matter I'd be most suited for in assisting. However, I also believe that I would be helpful in the case regarding the vampires. You mentioned these are Asian gangs that we are dealing with, they do not typically take kindly to outsiders, and I would be able to translate to some degree." She admitted.

Light listened to everyone patiently then commented on the questions and remarks raised.

"The HITMark has mentally shut down, possibly the result of a telepathic suggestion placed in its mind in case of capture. Clever move. However we may have another way of getting information out of him. HITMarks have hardware in their brainpan, don't they James? They record everything. If we access that we should be able to tap into its hardware memories".

Addressing the gang violence Light commented:"At the moment we don't know exactly the reason for the attack. It could just as well be a basic powergrab as a direct attack against the Association as an organisation. We don't know enough right now".

"Well mister White, there does seem to be a pattern. The three we've identified were formerly Technocrats, and they tried kidnapping three more of us. We're still unclear on what made the assault on Gamma HQ different, but their recruitment does seem to be from our personell pool. Since we are unclear as to their status but strongly suspect at least one or more of them to be  Marauders kill orders remain standing until further notice", Light replied Matthew.

"We may keep you on the back burner for that."  Richard drummed his fingers on the table, musing, one rapid four-tap burst.  "The phrase 'Asian gang' covers a lot of ground, though," he continued.  "Politically, the Japanese, Chinese, Koreans, all have a distinct identity, and have a history of treating one another roughly as discourteously as they might Westerners -- and the tongs, triads, and yakuza likely have similar rivalries.  We'll need to determine who is backing whom first..."

It's enough to set his decision in process.  "While we wait for our captive's information hardware to be cracked," he said, "we'll do it like this.  I'll take Agents Reyes, Fujiwara, and Dragomirov to the site of the explosion and possibly to investigate the bus itself; we'll analyze the site in combination with the records we can gather, and see what we can pull from there.  Agents White, Ellings, and Drake, I will task you with getting information on the uptick of gang activity -- who's rustling whom, and what we need to do in order to get a handle on that situation.  Mr. White, you seem to have some expertise in this -- would you feel comfortable leading that effort?"

"They should have. It's recording was what I was thinking of, see if we can get some more intel whilst we have a chance to." As Richard handed out roles James straightened, nodding across to White as he did so, "Sounds good to me."

Matthew eyes Richard for a moment and then just nods.

"Copy that sir."

He then tursn to James as he acknowledges his task  with a nod and waits for Marcus to 'step up' to.

"Step one is to take out the word we need info on the case and then wait for the info to flow back to us. I think its best to do that from my place. But if you are squeamish we probably have to look for another place. Its a great place to play spider though."

He chuckles softly at his own joke.