1st Contract; video

[ninjamanager]

[the feed flickers on to show Charles in a neatly-pressed suit, looking about as professional as he always does]

Hello, everyone. Normally I wouldn't make this sort of open broadcast, but, ah - I need some information, and I thought asking the widest base possible might be the best course of action.

My name is Charles Ofdensen, I'm a recent arrival to the Initiative, and I've been doing a little field work for them, the past few days. I've run up against something unfamiliar, and I was hoping some of you might be able to tell me what a symbol means.

[he holds up a paper with this drawn on it]

Any information you have would be quite appreciated. Thank you for your time.

Comments

[vaudevil]

You are correct. The ones that had created it had long since incubated the ones that were brought to this island. Governments have been applying germ warfare for a long time to weaken a nation, this would not surprise me in the least if the United Earth was doing the same to us.

[ninjamanager]

I would honestly be more surprised if it turned out they weren't responsible, given what little the man my partner and I caught had to say.

Switched to [Private/Encrypted]

[vaudevil]

How interesting. I apologize if I had switched the encryption to a more secure one. I do believe that the sensitivity of this information had changed.

If say, by chance, that the Initiative is responsible, this could cause a widespread panic that would cause a serious complication.

[ninjamanager]

That was wise of you, and yes, I agree. Though I wouldn't put it past the Initiative to be a bit corrupt here and there in their pursuit of victory ... I think we can safely say that the virus itself was the United Earth's, ah... handiwork.

[vaudevil]

Agreed. Once we have certain evidence to support the claim, I would hold off any assumptions until then. With my experience working with various governments through contracts of a sensitive nature, I have no doubt that the Initiative would do just the same in order to stake their claim.

Though, in lieu of this revelation, they are using us to enact this purpose. We are in the midst of a war.

[ninjamanager]

Oh, I'm no stranger to intermilitary relations, myself. Believe me, we are quite on the same page. I know there's a lot more information to be gathered before any concrete actions can, or rather, should be taken.

[vaudevil]

Understood. The very fabric of our livelihood has been compromised once already with a previous encounter with a sleeper agent in the form of one of our own implanted with nanites that created a disturbance just last month.]

(A wild Amy appears...it's good that you caught it. XD)

[ninjamanager]

That was before my time here, Mr. Chaolan. I don't suppose you'd be willing to tell me more?

[vaudevil]

Ah, it's Mr. Lee. Chaolan is my given name, but that's not important.

Yes, I'm more than willing to share with you. A man named Adam Jensen was the man involved. I don't know the full extent of the details surround how he came to have those nanites, but according to rumor, he had infiltrated the UE and was captured.

Since he was a cyborg, the nanites were able to use his visual sensors to relay information about the Initiative. In doing so, this could be the reason why they chose to use a base biological weapon, though as crude as it was, it still proved effective.

There was an explosion in the lab when The scientists were trying to remove the nanites. We didn't know how long those nanites were there, but Adam himself had turned into a bomb, and a devastating one at that.

At the time, most of us were transported to various parts of a world time thread, which was around the time of the explosion. A man named Elmer had lost his home due to the United Earth taking control of the time stream. We were overwhelmed and undermanned.

[ninjamanager]

[instantly, Charles feels foolish. how did he manage to screw that up? he should have recognized an Eastern name, even used the proper honorific. he's losing his focus. he berates himself for it, internally, then has two words to say before they move on:]. My apologies.

I had read about the loss of that alternate Earth, but the details of Mr. Jensen seem to have gotten lost in the shuffle. That's one hell of a way to turn a security breach into an asset. I'm almost admiring the sons of bitches.

[vaudevil]

I agree. As much as I loathe the UE, I must admit that it was a brilliant tactic and one that fooled a great many of us. Even we didn't know until it was too late.

[ninjamanager]

As gambits go, it's a good one. .... You, ah, mentioned you work in a lab. What field do you study, exactly? I know that can be a very broad spectrum where war is concerned.

[vaudevil]

Robotics primarily, but I'm also well known in the environmental sciences primarily in the field of remediation and replenishment. It has been...a challenging effort.

[ninjamanager]

And something I'm sure a war-torn society like this would find very useful. They keep you busy, I'd expect?