Operation Macrocosm

Brogan tapped the screen on the table and the holo-display shifted to a new view. "Obviously timing is even more critical than usual. The coordination over such a large distance is part of what makes their ritual so genius, but so difficult to sabotage."

Viking grunted. "All three of us could hit one site and the whole thing falls apart."

Brogan smiled. "As always, your 'blunt instrument' approach is appreciated, but Objective One is to commandeer the ritual to our purposes. We want them to get as far as establishing the scaffolding, channeling the flow, and priming the delivery system -" With each point he tapped the screen and the display highlighted a different data-set. "- but then we want to divert the incoming Mana to a target of our choosing."

"So," Gauntlet interjected. "That will mean one of us at the airport, one at the resort and one at the stadium, with three separate counter-spells, simultaneous deployment, and completely covert."

Brogan nodded. "Or else they clue in and call it off themselves."

Gauntlet sighed. "You don't lack for vision, Mirk."

"And the new target will be?" Cube asked.

"That will already be encoded in the counter-spells. You just need to get there and cast."

Gauntlet said, her voice dancing the line between sincere and sarcastic, "Sounds like fun."


-- File Excerpt --
0903: Gauntlet casts counter-spell at Location Alpha. Viking casts counter-spell at Location Beta. Cube casts counter-spell at Location Delta.

0904: MK-Omega Satellite [Designation Hermit] tracks massive spikes in Mana [Types 7, 8, 17] at Locations Alpha, Beta, Delta.

0905: Hermit registers successful re-direction of Mana-flow to Target XXXXXXX.

0906: Cube begins exfil. Viking begins exfil. Gauntlet compromised, begins tactical engagement with opposition forces.

0907: Gauntlet clear, begins exfil.
 
0910: Local ground team confirms Target eliminated.

Operation Prometheus Unbound

-- File Excerpt --

Mission Overview
Hermit Satellite has confirmed the wreckage of a military-grade naval vessel off the coast of XXXXXXXXX [political affiliation unconfirmed] carrying a substantial amount of Type 20 Mana [source/configuration of Mana unconfirmed – possible link to recent archeological activity on mainland XXXXXXXXX]. Callsigns Viking and Cube deployed to site for containment and retrieval, Callsign Gauntlet coordinating remotely from Bisaillon Station.

Objective One: Prevent the Mana from being acquired by locals or competing interests.
Objective Two: Retrieve Mana and exfil to Station [Viking].
Objective Three: Investigate possible link to archeological activity [Cube].


Small talk on the plane.

“Back in the Forsvarets Spesialkommando, my unit would play Dungeons & Dragons during R&R.”

“That's awesome,” Cube said.

“I had a 12th Level Barbarian,” Viking continued. “I know, what a surprise.” He chuckled. “The adventures we would have together, in some ways they felt just as real as the missions we were assigned.”

Cube nodded. “I get that. I've cried more watching 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer' than I have at any funeral I've been to.”

Viking sighed. “And then MK-O recruited me, and there was all the conditioning, the drugs, the simulations... I became less sure than ever what was real and what wasn't.”

“But you keep searching...”

“The Quest continues – I suppose that's what my Barbarian would say.”

Operation Domus Tenebrae

-- File Excerpt --
Location: Morrison's Crossing, Rural XXXXXXXXXXX

Day Eleven: Cube registers zero fluctuation in the building's Mana-field. Occupants remain unaware of surveillance.

Day Twelve: Cube registers zero fluctuation in the building's Mana-field. Occupants remain unaware of surveillance.

Day Thirteen: Cube registers point-zero-one negative fluctuation in the building's Mana-field [within parameters]. Occupants remain unaware of surveillance.

Day Fourteen. Cube registers sudden two-point-one-three positive spike in the building's Mana-field. Occupants at risk from toxic levels of Mana [Types 4, 13 and 18]. Cube enters the building. Viking begins Galahad invocation in case exo-parameter entities manifest. Gauntlet follows Cube in.

Gauntlet nodded as she oiled the barrel of her shotgun. "Absolutely. Furniture was tossing about, shadows were growing and breaking, there were loud noises, like howling or metal grinding."

"As soon as Galahad took over I could feel the dark radiating, even from the road."

"I had the speaker hooked on my belt, hit play - I was using that Hebrew/Enochian mashup you heard last week. I start firing elemental shells in pentagram formations in each room -"

"Classic," Viking said.

"It felt classic, you know? Old school."

"And where's Cube?"

"Same place as when you finally made it in," Gauntlet said. "Crouched over the kids. He was talking to them, while everything was going bonkers all around them. Not sure what he was saying, but they were listening."

Operation Ajna Nova

-- File Excerpt --
Location: XXXXXXX City, Downtown Core

17:34 Cube confirms eyes on the target. Maintains safe distance. 

17:35 Cube activates mission-issued sub-dermal ESP sync implant. Gauntlet [Mission Lead] gains "eyes-on" from position Beta. Viking moves to shadow position on Cube.

17:37 Cube maintains safe-distance stealth pursuit. Gauntlet assesses target's Mana level to be reaching critical point with no total-solution for clearing the threatened area of collaterals within the collapsing timeframe.

17:38 Cube proposes eliminating the target [Objective One is target capture, Objective Two is reducing collateral damage should the target discharge the rising Type 19 Mana]. Gauntlet denies request. Gauntlet gives Go-Code Aegis.

17:39 Viking initiates flash-invocation of Osiris and rushes the target. Cube begins firing his sidearm in the air in an attempt to clear the collaterals. The target discharges the Mana as Viking tackles them.

17:40 Viking absorbs 87% of the Mana, a lethal dose. The parameter modifications granted by the Osiris invocation successfully regenerate enough of the cellular damage to reduce the injuries to a survivable level. No collaterals are injured. Cube closes and secures the target.

17:41 Gauntlet confirms Objectives One and Two complete and initiates evac procedure. HQ deploys disinformation package #17 to local law enforcement and media.



"I don't trust him yet," Gauntlet says. "It's like he's got something to prove."

Viking shrugged. "Don't you think he does? Given what he did?"

"Plus he was willing to go off-book in the middle of a mission, when we already had contingencies in place." 

"There was no guarantee I was going to survive the Aegis play."

"Yeah, but the Aegis play still supported both Objectives." Gauntlet smirked and gave Viking a punch on the shoulder. "And since when did you have a problem with charging into certain death, anyway?"

Viking gave her a playful scowl.

Dossier

Name: XXXXXXXXX
Callsign: Viking
Heavy Weapons Specialist
Invocation Expert
Rage and Siege Tactics
Archetypography: High ratings in Types 5, 16, 19
Notes: During Operation Nexus Wave the targets detonated their source of Type 15 Mana rather than allow it to be captured by the Cadre field unit, resulting in mass exposure and infection of the local population. Viking completed a solo incursion into the area and successfully enacted an improvised banishing ritual that negated the outbreak. While the original mission objective was not achieved, Viking's actions prevented a disaster and saved hundreds of lives.
Recent Activities: After the shutdown, Viking has been employed as a college professor, teaching both engineering and writing courses.

Name: XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Callsign: Gauntlet
Close Combat Specialist
Enchantment Expert
Breach and Clear Tactics
Archetypography: High ratings in Types 8, 11, 14
Notes: Gauntlet was the sole survivor of a field unit investigating a Type 7 Event. Her memories of the incident are fragmented but a forensic telepath was able to determine that she spent over five hours in continuous combat with exo-parameter entities. When local emergency responders were dispatched to the location, Gauntlet was still standing.
Recent Activity: Since the cessation of operations Gauntlet has served as the personal bodyguard of former Cadre asset, the Ritualist Kevin Amirault.

Name: XXXXXXXXXX
Callsign: Cube
Infiltration Specialist
Illumination Expert
Hunter Tactics
Archetypography: High ratings in Types 0, 1, 10
Notes: During a routine mission to eliminate a Type 1 threat, Cube murdered his handler and disappeared. MK-OMEGA conducted a full investigation of the incident and cleared Cube of any wrong-doing [Investigation Records Clearance Level 23]. He is approved for reinstatement.
Recent Activity: Cube has been dark since disappearing but a standard surveillance sweep of regional law enforcement activity registered his admission to St. Anthony's Hospital [Flagged as Type 17 Event].

Eigenvalue

"Do you want to hit a drive-thru?" Brogan asked. "You're probably dying for a coffee."

"Sure, thanks." But when they pulled up to the speaker Max said, "Make it a tea."

When Brogan tapped the cigarette pack in the dashboard tray Max shook his head. Brogan kept his eyes on the road, headlights in the night, streetlamps, exit signs. "I guess it has been a while," he said.

Max almost said "Has it?" but he wasn't sure yet what was safe.

"Perhaps unsurprisingly," Brogan said, "catching the police report on you turned into a Type 17 Event."

Max tried to remember the jargon... Seventeen. The Star. This version of Brogan might be testing him. "An Omen of what?" Max asked.

"During my flight here to pick you up we got a call from MK-Omega. They want to put the Cadre back together."

Coordinates

There was a hallway, an elevator ride, and another two hallways until reception. Max had that long to figure out which version he was in.

The ritual in the motel room, then the attack... Military? Mercenaries? LEGACY? The Future? Where was he before the motel room? Maggie had been there, then she was gone. He had flashes of a diner, of a subway, of an apartment with a tent set-up inside it... Detectives, a hitman, a cheerleader, a kid in a school uniform with a huge gun and a wicked smirk... It was hard to tell if he was remembering events or scenes from movies, conversations or song lyrics. The lights in the hallway seemed too bright, the chime of the elevator sounded too loud. Ships sailing through space, packs of hell hounds prowling in a ruined city. Faeries dancing on water, a deck of tarot cards. Two pistols, a katana. A crow.

Last hallway. Max figured he would have to make a break for it. Get somewhere safe, meditate. Steal a cell phone, wait for a call. Start searching.

Relax, a voice said. This transmission is coming to you.

Bifurcation

"Max, I'm being honest with you when I say that I wish we had more time to talk," she said when she returned to the room.

"I believe you, Doc. Even if you haven't believed me."

Susan paused for a moment, thoughtful. "It's not that I don't believe you... It's complicated."

"It really is. But I do want you to know that I told you the truth. I can't do that with everybody. It means that you're good at your job."

Susan stared at the man in the chair opposite her. The bandages. She had studied medicine before getting into psychiatry and she could not see how the injuries he had come in with could have been self-inflicted. The officers who had brought him in had assured her, however, that there was no evidence of any other cause at the motel. She had a fleeting inclination to drive over there herself, just to see...

"Max," she said. "I'm going to make sure that the person who is here to pick you up has my card. And if you ever want to continue our conversation, please call and make an appointment."

Max smiled. "Thanks, Dr. Longfellow."

She returned his smile. "They're just finishing up the paperwork for your release now. The nurse should be in shortly."

"Doc, can you tell me who it is? Who came to get me?"

"His name is Brogan Mirk."



Previously in the Metaplex...

Eternal Recurrence

Previously in the Metaplex:

The Hunt of the Cube

The Lapse of Max...

The Rain Game

The Nowheresville Garage Depot Blues

... And on Monday Morning She Awoke

Crime Scene Investigators

Max Cube... Superhero

After the Shift, Nothing...

The Protector

The Art of Being

Remix: The Hellcat

Listening to the Night Surf
Asleep at the Reality 

“No, I understand. It's not my first psych assessment. I've been through it before.”

“I don't mean to be rude. I will continue to challenge your assertion, however, that the motel was the scene of a...” - Dr. Longfellow checked her notes - “ ...'grade-A-SNAFU-fight-scene'. There was simply no evidence to corroborate what you described. No bullet holes, no burn marks, no bodies.”

“Not because it was a delusion. Because it happened in another version. Unfortunately my wounds didn't get erased in the shift. And yes, I know that sounds crazy. Like I said -”

“ - this isn't the first time this has happened.” She nodded. “So... why don't you tell me what usually happens next?”

He smiled. “She finds me. That's how it goes. Or I find her. We find each other, we lose each other. Lost and found. Did you ever see that movie Ladyhawke? He's a wolf by night, she's a hawk by day, they're only together in those brief, liminal times. Sunset, sunrise. It's like that, but with weird biblical symbolism and the many-worlds-interpretation of quantum theory. The others never really notice how rare it is for us to be in the same version...”

Dr. Longfellow wrote down the title of the film, 'bible' and 'quantum'. She had a sense of deja vu.

“In some ways it's harder than before I met her, but in other ways it's so much... more worth it,” he continued. “Anyway, I hope it's her that comes. It isn't always.”

She looked up from her note pad. He looked serious in a way that he hadn't before.

“There are others who are looking for me,” Max said.

The nurse poked her head in the door. “Doctor, there's a call for you.”

+ PLEX TOURS .4 Metafesto

• The Bunker
• The Lab Level Two
• The Cast
• The Bookstore
• The Brownstone
• The Subway
• The Diner
• Chronoplex
• The Lab

(in one version this was found on a plaque in the wreckage of a space-craft, in another version it was found graffitied on the wall of a building in a combat zone, in another version it was found in the journal of a missing woman, in another version it was found in the preface to the best-selling novel Generation Plex)


The Metaplex is not Gender Binary. Don't assume that you know what sex each of the Dragons are, or what sex they were, or what sex they were assigned. And don't assume that you know who they want to have sex with, if they want to have sex with anyone at all, or that the answer cannot change.

The Metaplex is not Default White. Don't assume that you know what colour each of the Dragons are, or what colour their parents were, or what colour they recognize themselves to be. 

In the Arcana of the Plex, sometimes the King of Swords is gay, sometimes the Knight of Wands is trans*, sometimes the Queen of Pentacles is native, and sometimes the Page of Cups has an invisible disability.

Simple Simon

Simon sat in Barren's Cafe sipping his $8 latte. Four morning newspapers were sitting at the table with him and he had his tablet opened up as well. He kept his eye on the ticker scrolling past. BEXT had taken a serious hit; he was glad that he had gotten out of that one.

RDAQ  85.6^.... 1.78% | LING  123.8^.....6.32%| BEXT  44.6_ .....44%| EAV...

He checked in on some of the other stocks prior to getting in the office before the bell rung. He liked doing research in a place like this; he was a hunter by trade, and a very damn good one at that. He scanned through the news articles as well, stories about businesses, corporations, wars and natural disasters, to see what he should do with the billions of dollars that his clients and corporation had entrusted him with.

"Morning, Mr. Light," a woman said as she approached him.

"Ah," he replied, recognizing one of his clients, a strikingly beautiful woman with red hair and dressed to kill in a red jacket and skirt. "Ms. Morningstar, it's good to see you as well," he lied with all the conviction of a shark.

"Fancy meeting you here in a place like this," she said coyly.

"I've been coming here for years, before the bell opens," Simon said with a smile. He knew she was up to something; much like a super-hero who had senses tingling when trouble was near, so were his. "It's the first time I've ever seen you in this place."

"Oh, I like to keep an eye on who's doing what with my finances," she replied. She sat in the comfy chair across from him.

"No need to worry," he assured her. "I know what I'm doing."

His phone alarm chimed, the old 80's song 'Eye of The Tiger' sounded off.

"That's my cue to go, Ms. Morningstar," he said as he turned off his tablet and gathered up the papers. "Let's see how much money we can make you today."

Riveta's Round

She plopped her feet up on the desk, leaned back and took a puff from the cigarette. She had been trying to quit but like her father always said, "Only Quitter's Lose". She didn't mind the chaos about her, as officers walked back and forth, the phones constantly chiming in, and the clacking of an old typewriter in the corner.

That was George typing up a report. He was old school. She was going to ask him why he preferred that antique over the laptops but she guessed he was one of those 'can't teach an old dog new tricks' kind of guy.

"Yo, Riveta," said Lugerelli, "Put that shit out now."

"Make me," Riveta replied.

She hated that creep with a passion; she didn't know what it was about him but she hadn't liked him from day one. He had that look about him that made her want to bash in that face of his.

"You're given me second hand smoke," he scolded. "And besides, it's office policy not to smoke inside."

"You gonna arrest me?" she asked him.

"Christ, Riveta," Monnette said as he walked past her desk. "You know that's a $200 fine if the shop steward sees ya."

"I know, I know," Riveta replied to him. She butted it out; all she wanted was a taste. Besides, it helped her relax some.

Lugerelli threw some nico gum on her desk, "Chew on these."

"You wanna chew on my fist for a while?" she asked at him. Lugerelli was about to say something but he saw George in his corner shaking his head at him. Lugerelli then went back to his desk and answered a phone.

"What's your beef with him?" Monnette asked her. He plopped his rear on the corner of her desk.

"I don't know," Riveta confessed. "It's just that whenever I see him I have this urge to spit."

Monnette chuckled at that.

Like Water For Chocolate

"You should ask him out," Mayganne said.

Aqua stood there looking at her and contemplated the statement. Mayganne could see the little wheels turning behind those eyes of hers and thought the hamster was working overtime. Then she let out a chuckle with that image in her head.

"What's so funny?" Aqua asked her.

"Oh nothing," Mayganne replied.

"You don't think I will do it, do you?" Aqua said. "You don't think I could ask him out to see Veronica Mars."

"Oh, it wasn't that..." Mayganne started but couldn't finish when Aqua stomped off.

For some reason the staff room at the Hubert H. Humphrey Secondary School was quiet. Mayganne knew she shouldn't have laughed but the imagery of an animated hamster moving around in Aqua's head made her chuckle. Somehow that seemed fitting.

A student was approaching Aqua as she stormed down the corridor; he thought better of asking her a question, seeing that Ms. Marine seemed to be troubled by something, and steered clear.

Aqua went into the staff washroom and slammed her fist into the wall, then she gathered her composure and walked to the sink. 

She cooled her jets in the staff washroom, splashing water on her face and taking deep breaths. Aqua didn't really know why she had become a substitute teacher in the first place, when she was dealing with anger issues. She thought that she had it under control but every now and then a word or something said would get to her.

She felt much calmer and cooler with the sound of running water from the tap.

"I got this," she said.