Handler’s Log – Sonjia Greene
Case File ATL2021.067a(DG) – Sara Martin Killing – Working Group “Phoenix”
Control of this case has been transferred to The Program. An analysis of the evidence discovered by the Agents in their investigation indicates a probable Unnatural source. Fortunately, all of the Agents involved seem to have some previous experience with such encounters. I will attempt to recruit them once the current Vector is contained and contact a containment team if they prove resistant to our contact.
Agents on the Incursion:
- Gregory Jefferson (played by Horst W.) – Agent Jefferson is an admirable profiler. He was a professional counselor before joining the Agency. He has commented about a cult worshiping an “alien god.” A preliminary analysis of his report is confirmed. Recommend dispatching a working group to follow up on his findings.
- Sharon Liu (played by Abe L.) – Liu is a Computer Intrusion and Signal Intelligence specialist. She has other valuable skills. She was a criminal hacker before being recruited by the NSA after reporting an Unnatural Vector to us.Agent Liu was instrumental in bringing our attention to Case Frozen Ozone. While we have not located the Vector source, we have managed to isolate it for the time being. I will attempt to get more information from her once I have gained her trust.
- Jean Oliver (played by Will H.) – Agent Oliver was a very successful television news investigator before she was abruptly shifted to “human interest” stories by her station. This was related to a story she ran about homeless people being used as “human sacrifices.” As an agent, her interpersonal skills have proved invaluable.The Program followed up on this after Ms. Oliver’s initial report, and the Vector has been contained. I will attempt to get more details from Ms. Oliver as soon as possible.
- Jackie Taylor (played by Puckett) – A consultant, Ms. Taylor’s knowledge of Anthropology, Bureaucracy, and Computers have proven invaluable in the past.Ms. Taylor has no law enforcement background but was one of those present at the beginning of Operation Geneva Crescent. She is a dubious asset due to her alcoholism, which we have used to our advantage by using it as an excuse for her frequent mentions of what she saw in Peru. I believe that she will be the most receptive to our invitation to the Opera once we make ourselves known to her.
I am not comfortable continuing with nothing but untested agents in the field. Still, they have already made enough connections with the local authorities that replacing them now would be problematic. Fortunately, all of them seem to have had some form of contact with the Unnatural in the past and may be more amenable to our contact. At the moment, it is my opinion that we should leave them on the case and attempt to recruit them at the end of the investigation. I do ask that we have an Omega Team on standby.
I have also contacted the authorities in the neighboring Brunswick county. I suspect that the local county authorities have been corrupted as at least one county council member seems to be a Vector. Brunswick County has agreed to help us without my having to give too many specifics. We will use them as support.
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I have contacted all of the Agents and have informed them that I am their new Handler. Agents Jefferson and Taylor contacted me quickly, but Agents Liu and Oliver took some time to respond. I am now in communication with all Agents. Agent Jefferson and Specialist Taylor are currently heading to a beach house owned by Dunwood Engineering and Design, while Agents Liu and Oliver are going to the Savannah Art and Design Institute to look for security footage of Ms. Martin’s vehicle.
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Jefferson and Taylor arrive at the beach house to find a closed gate at the driveway. There is an intercom, and Agent Jefferson uses it to contact the house. A somewhat confused person answers and says they can’t let anyone inside.
Specialist Taylor is unhappy with this and, walking around the gate, goes to the front door and fires multiple shots through the door. She kicks it open and proceeds inside.
She finds a panicked employee of “Eastern Horizon Security.” He is terrified and immediately tells her that he was only there because someone called Eastern Horizon to hire someone to watch the Beach House during the day. Agent Jefferson quickly arrives and, after showing him his credentials, tries to calm him down.
Specialist Taylor starts searching the property and explores the kitchen. She looks in the highly advanced refrigerator (industrial grade) and finds two coolers in the bottom of the freezer. She opens them.
One has a gallon milk jug filled with what seems to be frozen human blood. The other holds a zip-lock bag containing what she recognizes as a human brain.
She calls Agent Jefferson into the kitchen and shows him what she has found. They immediately report in.
At their request, I initiate an arrest warrant for Ashland Dunwood. I call the previously contacted Brunswick County and have directed their deputies to the Dunwood home. Agent Jefferson has indicated that he is heading there.
The Agents arrive at the location and spend some time waiting for the Brunswick LEOs to arrive. When they do, they find that Ashland Dunwood is not at the house.
They speak with Joann Stout, who turns out to be an in-home caretaker for Belinda Dunwood. She says that Ms. Dunwood had never recovered after the death of her husband and daughter and had been confined to her home since the accident.
The Agents do not follow up on Ms. Dunwood and instead ask where Ashland might be found. They are told that he has been living on a yacht owned by Dunwood Engineering Design, the Rodin’s Thought. They immediately head there.
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Meanwhile, Agents Liu and Oliver have gone to the parking garage near the Savannah Art and Design Institute and have investigated the security footage there. They find that a vehicle pulled into the garage, and a person exited it, placed an item or items in Ms. Martin’s car, then left. Agent Liu can clean up the footage enough to view the license tag and finds that it is a vehicle owned by Dunwood Engineering Design. They assume that the driver was Ashland Dunwood and that the person leaving the item was Faye Sparks, as the car was registered to the address of the Beach House. They go to join their colleagues.
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The Agents arrive at the yacht, and Agent Oliver and the two deputies from Brunswick county approach the guard at the end of the dock.
The guard at first objects to allowing them on board but quickly backs down when presented with official credentials. It turns out that he is also employed by Eastern Horizon Security. This is a new assignment for them. He allows them to pass and board the yacht.
The group quickly proceeds to the deck, where they encounter a crew member. He at first says that he will take them to Dunwood, then grabs a fire extinguisher and swings it at Agent Oliver. He is quickly subdued, but other crew members are seen fleeing the yacht, some leaping off the deck and into the water.
Agent Liu sees Mr. Dunwood throwing something from a cabin window onto the dock, then jumping out after it. She pursues and can intercept and capture him. He is placed in the vehicle, and the contents of the case he threw from the window are examined. It turned out to be several dozen packets of a coarse, yellow powder and a strange, hand-copied document titled Secrets Shouted by the Whisperer Beneath the Lake.
With Dunwood in custody, they, at my recommendation, proceed towards Brunswick. Mr. Dunwood remains arrogant the entire time, saying that he has “friends” and that they won’t be able to keep him in jail. Agent Oliver attempts to talk to him and gets him to speak for a bit. He talks about wanting to “free everyone’s sensations” and that “if we would only open ourselves, we would appreciate everything so much more!” According to him, people only need to open themselves to experience everything fully. And he wants to help everyone experience that! That is why he created the Savannah Artists Coop because artists understand more than anyone! And the Savannah Epicurial Society, because food is the most basic of sensations! And he has been working with the Savannah Historical Society to help everyone remember their heritage because that is where we all came from!
Agents Oliver and Liu both ignore his attempts to sway them and take him to the sheriff’s office in Brunswick. The Brunswick office is a bit confused as to why he was taken there but they have also been told by federal authorities that they are investigating corruption in the Savannah Sherrif’s office and are quite willing to cooperate.
Meanwhile, Agents Jefferson and Taylor have received word from their colleagues, and Agent Jefferson is preparing to go to Brunswick. Agent Taylor wants to investigate the Historical Markers further. After an argument, Agent Jefferson leaves Specialist Taylor beside the road and drives off. Specialist Taylor calls an Uber.
Specialist Taylor goes to a Home Depot and collects tools, then heads to the most out-of-the-way monument she can find; this one in an industrial park. When the Uber leaves, she attempts to attack the monument with the sledgehammer she has brought. She cannot do any damage to the monument.
She then removes the bronze plaque on the top of the monument. It comes free, ripping what looks like a “root” with it. On the inside of the plaque is a symbol. The symbol is connected to the memetic hazard known as [redacted] and is related to [redacted]. Aleph level clearance may access file “Carcosa.”
Specialist Taylor decides to attack the marker again, and this time it shatters easily under the blows from the sledgehammer. She finds that the monument consists of a series of marble sheets (consistent with those found at the Savannah Artists’ Coop) and a concrete core. The core is discovered to contain a human brain, which had somehow “grown” nerves to fill the monument’s interior. She reports this to me.
We now have all the data we need to contain this Vector. I am recalling all of the Agents and will attempt to recruit them. I am contacting an Omega squad to take care of Dunwood and Sparks, as I believe that terminating them will terminate this Vector. We will urge the other members of the “Epicurial Society” to remain silent, or the Omega Squad will take care of them as well. We will eliminate them later so that no association might be drawn between them and the earlier deaths.
I will also ask that the Agents turn the copy of Secrets Shouted by the Whisperer Beneath the Lake over to me and the packets of the substance that the Agents found. Hopefully, this will be the end of this incursion.
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I have met with all of the Agents involved, and all seemed receptive to our contact. Specialist Taylor was happy to contact us as it seemed to confirm something that she had encountered in her past was “real.”
Working Group [redacted] will take care of Dunwood and Sparks. I am told it will be a murder/suicide, which seems acceptable. With the destruction of Secrets Shouted by the Whisperer Beneath the Lake, this should terminate this Vector. I have contacted all of the “special” members of the Savannah Epicurial Society and given evidence that someone is aware of what they have been involved with. They have agreed to stay quiet to prevent the information from becoming public. Working Group [redacted] will ensure that they are eliminated as soon as possible when they find a method that will not draw undue attention.
Report ends.