Welcome to the Omicron Protocol Story Blog, where we’ll periodically reveal and post new stories about the world and its character through a series of blog posts. Through this blog, you’ll get to know the precarious situation that our heroes (and villains) are in, and what they need to do to survive and get out of San Lazaro. You’ll also get background stories that help you understand why your favorite (and most hated) characters are who they are today.
Cyborg had suggested they use only audio for the call. With almost every member of the Creators, the Peacemakers and the Survivalists taking part, the holo-call system would be overwhelmed. Gathered with him in his office around his computer were Hiko, Threads, Kuklacı, Flyboy and Flash. Plate was still on guard duty. The exhausted Dr. Altmann was still resting.
Standing outside the brewery’s loading yard, H3x could hear her puppets moving quietly around inside, safely secured behind a locked door. She checked the neural hacking interface that she used to monitor them. There were 261 CyMS spread across three floors of the brewery, all ready to do her bidding.
The spider-shaped device landed with a crack and slid across the table. Buck, Pai, Lance, Flash, Ranger and Bolt all turned to Nix, who had just walked in. He looked exhausted.
"Long night?" asked Bolt.
Nix ignored her and nodded at the device. "That’s from my Agency partner. Inside is a data clip. Mike is warning us to get out of SL before the Omicron Protocol is enacted."
Spc. Mike Chang approached Davies as the agent exited his car. Behind Chang was the SUV and the small team he would be using for the night’s operation.
"Evening, Chang," said Davies, a broad-shouldered man with spiky gray hair.
"Evening, sir."
"As you know, this is my sector. We’re going to get some heat from the military for this stunt, but I’m told it could be important. Something about a partner of yours?"
Goddess was deeply concerned about Ryder, not to mention the missing Winner. She wanted answers, and she doubted Ryder would have thought her capable of the scheme she came up with: It involved a prototype Cynfo program called QuickClone, which she used to dupe Ryder’s BioAuth signature through near field communication. Even though they hadn’t slept together since he’d begun behaving oddly, Ryder had embraced her that morning, and the NFC did the rest. His BioAuth would give her everything she needed.
Plate stood with Nix, Threads and Lucky in the lobby of First National. Pai and Artemis had already disabled the bank’s security systems and — thanks to the Scientists — they’d also located the entrance to the secret government facility. It was an innocuous-looking door between the bank’s two main vaults. The door was, in fact, heavily reinforced and secured by a full-range bioscanner. Pai and Artemis were confident of getting around it, but had warned that might take a while.
Lucky was helping Gadget and Thug with the repair work at ATS when the call came through. After the Red Dragon raid, they had put up a metal grille to protect the front of the shop. Putting down their tools and leaving Thug on guard duty with Seeker, Lucky and Gadget hurried to the back. Artemis gestured to a nearby laptop and Lucky noted that the special encrypted comms channel was active. Already on the call were Buck and Pai of the Peacemakers and Cyborg of the Creators.
Are you sure about this, Walter? asked Jugger.
I’m sure, replied the chimp, before opening a very wide door at the rear of the store. See — even you can get inside. This is the best supply of food we’ve found. We have to take it while we can.
Jugger aimed her trunk at the nearby sacks of food. Isn’t this enough?
It’s just cereal, replied Walter. The good stuff is all inside.
Sometimes, the search for food seemed endless. Athena didn’t do it for herself; she could pick off smaller birds any time she wanted. She did it for her friends, but, unfortunately, elephants, wolves and bears always seemed to be hungry. Athena had noticed there were certain buildings where humans kept a lot of food; some of it just animal food. And it seemed she’d found another one.
Mayor Paris Ng was beginning to relax. Two weeks had passed since the avian flu pandemic had struck San Lazaro and, although challenging, the situation had been kept under control. The citizens were following lockdown procedures and media coverage had generally remained positive. Such outbreaks occurred from time to time, and Mayor Ng felt that her administration had coped effectively.
Winner would have preferred to stay at Cynfo headquarters and his concern over deploying Great Wall too early did not help. He was at least glad to have Crimson and Beater for company. The security chief had kept hold of her own BNW throughout the crisis and the trio used it for the journey to 13th Street.
H3x winked at Rhino and Gudu as the trio were led towards three blue shipping containers. The camp on 10th Street was overcrowded and the desperate leader seemed keen to believe H3x’s story about testing out a new ‘cure’. The three Red Dragons had dressed smartly and were masquerading as members of a UN emergency response team. As they were unarmed and carrying only a case containing the ‘cure’, the leader had few reasons to be suspicious. He was a priest named Father Cullen, assisted by two young men who carried baseball bats and didn’t say much.
It took a while for Lucky and the rest of Team 1 to be admitted to the 8th Street camp. Understandably, the guards on duty at the converted high school had to be sure the new arrivals meant no harm. Lucky was careful not to mention specifics, claiming only that he needed to discuss a treatment that might help us deal with the virus’. He, Thug, Flash and Cyborg were happy to leave their weapons at the guard post and were then escorted to the school building. They passed dozens of tents and makeshift shelters. The hundreds packed into the school compound didn’t seem overly interested in four new faces.
‘Boss, I’ve got something for you.’
‘Something else, H3x?’ answered Lady Rose. ‘The puppet trick was probably enough for one day.’
H3x grinned. It was always good to keep on the right side of the boss. Before replying, she checked the mirrors and the surroundings of her stationary SUV. Other than a couple of ambling CyMS in the distance, she saw no danger.
‘Actually, it’s kind of connected to the puppets. One of them was unusually lucid and I noticed a bottle of Kabalan sticking out of his backpack.’
