Somewhere in Fort Worth
Davis didn't waste any time. He did some digging from the privacy of his car as he drove circles around Fort Worth, stalling his return to the IRS building. He called Lauren and Alex back. Davis was quick to tell Lauren that, for once, she was wrong. Hills was implicated in the escape of Bradley Cane, however someone tipped him off that his arrest warrant was being issued and Hills fled. The fact that someone warned Hills was proof enough for Davis that Weiss was covering for him. Nobody else besides himself, Lauren, or Alex could have warned Hills. Weiss was protecting him.
Davis committed himself to Lauren and Alex over the phone. He told them that they should head to the IRS building as soon as possible because Mitchell was being delivered within the next two hours. Davis offered to try to keep the basement clear for the women to do their work, but they would have to be quick about it. He didn't know how long he could keep Weiss from noticing that Mitchell's body had been delivered to the IRS building.
Lauren and Alex grabbed a cab and headed to the IRS building. They didn't have much of a plan to sneak in. They attempted to gain access through the door that Weiss had used to escape from the sub-basement after he murdered the Anachron Team. The door was locked. They went back to the entrance and tried to come up with a way to create a distraction that would draw the security guards attention. As they schemed, a van pulled up and two men got out and wheeled out a gurney with a coffin sized box from the back of the truck. Mitchell had arrived and so had their distraction.
The women slipped inside the building as the retrevial team checked in with security. They swiped their IRS access badge to open an exit stairway and fortunately the card still worked. When they reached the sub-basement they were off in a dark remote corner. Any movement would set off the sensors so they waited. The retrieval team arrived within moments, the women listened. Off in the middle of the floor the elevator opened and the two men wheeled the gurney out. Nobody greeted them. The men were confused about what to do. They decided to just leave the gurney out in the open and returned to the elevator.
With Mitchell delivered and seemingly nobody else in the sub-basement Lauren and Alex made their way to the Anachron room. The mobile pod that was the Anachron room was covered over in plastic tarps, and Mitchell was parked right nearby. The women moved the tarps away from the entrance, went in, and turned on the lights. The room smelled like sterilizer and all of the bodies that had been in there just hours ago were gone. Blood had been washed from walls and floor, only the bullet holes remained as evidence of the carnage that had taken place in the space.
Lauren and Alex wasted no time setting up and loading Mitchell into the Anachron. Alex took Silvia's old seat and Lauren laid down next to Mitchell.
Anachron Sequence: Mitchell
Mitchell was driving his personal truck along the interstate behind General Hills. Mitchell found the whole situation a little strange but he wasn't about to question his superior about where they were headed or why he had to take his truck separately.
They approached a large causeway bridge and Hills began braking. The two vehicles stopped in the middle of the bridge and Hills got out. Mitchell watched for a moment to see what Hills was up to. Hills was walking across the road towards a large break in the guard rail on the opposite side. From the looks of it something big had smashed through the railing. Mitchell got out and followed after. There were skid marks all over the road and one set lead right up to the break in the guard rail. Mitchell approached the gaping hole in the guardrail and looked down the ravine to see what Hills was looking at. Mitchell didn't see anything down there in the darkness of the river below. That was when somebody spoke from behind them.
"Who's this?" asked the voice. Both Hills and Mitchell whipped around. It was dark but Hills obviously recognized the man because he coolly responded, "This is the man who helped you escape."
Mitchell's stomach dropped, and as he turned to question Hills about what he had said, Hills cracked him over the head with the butt of his handgun and Mitchell collapsed to the pavement. When Mitchell regained consciousness he was propped up against what was left of the smashed guardrail and Hills was talking with Cane a few feet away. Mitchell had a splitting headache and his thoughts came slowly at first. How had Cane gotten here and why was Hills talking with him? Had Hills attacked him?
Everything became clear all to quickly. Hills was chastising Cane over losing the prisoner transport truck. So they were working together Mitchell concluded. Hills got over Cane's mistake fast. Hills told Cane that he was to take Mitchell's truck instead. Hills gave Cane a duffel bag to change his clothes. As Cane changed, Hills laid out their plans.
Cane was to drive to Fort Worth, and get to a van that was waiting for him with a jamming device inside. Cane had to activate the jammer before he proceeded. Hills said that the jammer needed to be active within range of the President.
Wait, what? The President though Mitchell.
Hills handed Cane a backpack and continued with the plan. Inside the bag were explosives. From Cane's reaction, the bomb was way more powerful than he had been expecting. Hills laughed at Cane's reaction.
"You didn't think that you were going to live through this did you?" Hills said, "This is a closed loop operation, there is a timer that will detonate the bomb shortly after the President begins his speech. You must arrive in time or your efforts will be wasted. Oh, and just in case you happen to change your mind, I've just activated a tracker we installed on you. If you are separated from that bag by any more than 10 feet the bomb will also explode. Just kill the President; like we agreed, and there will be no evidence left behind."
Mitchell couldn't believe what he was hearing. That sinking feeling in his stomach started to overtake the pounding in his head. Hills turned his attention to Mitchell next. He pulled Mitchell to his feet and manuvered him so that his back was to the hole in the guardrail. "Wrong place at the wrong time, I'm sorry I have to do this." Hills said. Then he pulled the trigger. The bullet ripped through Mitchell's chest and he fell into the water below. The fall knocked the wind out of him but it didn't kill him. The river eventually took his life, but only after 6 long minutes of pain and struggle.
In the sub-basement during the Anachron Sequence:
Approximately 8 minutes into Lauren's Anachron run Alex heard an unsettling and familiar sound. The elevator to the sub-basement was moving and it was headed down. Alex had only seconds to prepare herself. The doors opened and Weiss stepped off the elevator. He was looking right at Alex. With Lauren loaded in to the Anachron she was on her own.
Weiss walked calmly to the Anachron room and opened the door. Alex checked her gun but instead drew the stolen FBI cellphone. Just as Weiss shut the door behind him Alex activated a voice recording app on the phone to record her confrontation with Weiss. Weiss saw her with the phone out and inferred what she was doing, but he did nothing to stop her. Alex expected Weiss to attack her or twist her words to support the fiction that Weiss had created to frame the Anachron Team as the master-minds behind the assassination. Instead he looked around the room as if he were taking it in for the first time. Once he was settled he asked her "Is this it? I mean, expected there to be more of you."
Alex didn't know how to respond. Seeing her hesitate Weiss moved on with his questioning. He asked her if Lauren was hooked up to Mitchell right then. Alex told him that she was. Weiss asked if she could hear their conversation. Alex lied and said that Lauren could hear even though she was completely oblivious, she didn't want to admit that she was all alone with Weiss.
The conversation that followed was cordial. In fact the politeness and naivety of Weiss' questions where so out of character for him given the circumstances that Alex was more unnerved than if he had come in guns blazing.
As the conversation went on it seemed as though Weiss kept playing dumb. Alex wondered if he was putting on a show for the voice recorder, trying to use the recording to his advantage instead of Alex's. Finally Alex called him out on his game. She told him that whatever he was planning that Lauren and her weren't going to allow themselves to be framed. She told him that they would make sure that he took full responsibility for his actions.
Weiss was shocked. If he was acting, he was doing a hell of a job. Weiss became defensive. He kept up his facade as he told Alex that he had no idea what she was talking about. Alex laid it out for him. She told him that he would be found guilty of helping Cane and Hills based on the evidence her and Lauren were going to present. Weiss finally snapped. "So your going to frame me for this crime now?" Weiss replied absolutely flabbergasted. "I can see now that coming down here was a mistake; I can't let you get away with this" he said, and with that he pulled his gun from his holster and pointed it at Alex.
Alex wanted a confession out of Weiss not another frontal attack. She reacted immediately and leaped out of her seat and knocked Weiss to the floor, his gun skittered across the floor. He could have fired but he didn't, Alex was fast, but not that fast. Alex stood over Weiss, her heart pounding, when all of the sudden it wasn't Weiss who was laying on the floor at her feet; it was Davis.
It took Alex a moment to understand what was happening. It had been Davis all along. The weird questions, his genuine shock at being accused of helping Cane, it all made sense. The Anachron was still playing tricks with her mind, blending reality with glimpses of the past and perhaps even dredging up some hidden fears she keep locked away in the far recesses of her psyche.
Alex helped Davis up and apologized profusely. She tried to explain that her confusion stemmed from a side effect from using the Anachron to many times in too short a period recently. Incredibly he seemed to forgive her even though he couldn't understand why she had essentially hallucinated during an entire conversation. Just as Davis began to accept her repeated apologizes Lauren returned from her Anachron sequence. Alex brought Lauren up to speed, admitting to Davis that she had lied about Lauren being able to hear their conversation. Lauren gave her account of Mitchell's final moments, and the three of them began to formulate their next move.
Weiss had to be brought down and the Anachron Team needed to receive the credit they were due for bringing to light the actual truth of the situation. In order to do that they were going to need to connect Weiss to the van with the jamming device. Weiss had to have been the one to plant the van and jammer. The fact that he used the same jamming device to block out the evidence of his attack on the Anachron Team supported the case that Weiss had planted the jammer for Cane to use in the first place. If they could pin Weiss to the van or the jammer, he would at a minimum be responsible for killing Jeremy, Silvia, and Dr. Saren. It wouldn't be hard to link him back to Cane and Hills either since all of the events were linked to one another.
However there was still one problem. The 'closed loop,' as Hills described it, left no room for any physical evidence with which to incriminate Weiss. Somehow they were going to have to get Weiss to slip up and incriminate himself, and when he did, they needed to document it. Nobody liked it, but the reality of their situation was that they were going to have to physically confront Weiss to get the evidence they needed.
Better gaming through discussion
Tuesday, November 12, 2013
Saturday, November 2, 2013
Anachron - 10
In the IRS Building
Alex and Lauren climbed the stairs to escape the danger in the sub-basement. They had two options: flee the building, regroup and strategize or hide right under Weiss's nose, stay in the building, and regroup immediately. By the time they reached the lobby floor they decided that they had best take their chances inside the building, not knowing if and when they would even be able to get back in.
They devised a plan to confiscate a FBI agent's cell phone and use it to contact Davis since he was the closest thing to an ally they could think of. The plan was risky though, who knew if Davis would trust them? Maybe he would just turn them over to Weiss, but maybe he might help. After all, Davis had seen the video of Hills helping Cane escape. He had to believe they were the good guys. Right?
Time was of the essence. Weiss was going to realize that they had escaped and come up out of the sub-basement even more determined to hunt them down. They had to get up to the 14 floor where the FBI team was setup. Up the stairs they went only to find that the doors to exit stair were locked. The doors required an access card, even Lauren's new knowledge of lock picking couldn't open the door.
Exhausted, they arrived back on the lobby floor, but they weren't ready to give up just yet. They snuck out of the exit and made their way across the lobby and into an IRS break room. To their horror their faces were all over the news broadcast on the televisions on the wall. It looked as though Weiss wasn't just trying to quiet them, he was framing them for the crime that he himself had taken part in.
Alex quickly intimidated a young IRS worker to give her her access card, and to keep quiet and lay low. Alex and Lauren went back to the lobby and grabbed the first elevator that they could board alone. They swiped the access card, punched the button, and rode 14 nail biting floors up, hoping the whole ride that the elevator didn't stop to pick up any other passengers.
They arrived on the 14th floor without incident and quickly slipped into the womens bathroom behind two FBI agents. Alex took a stall while Lauren stepped up to sinks and slipped her hand into one of the agent's purses on the counter top and stole her phone without anyone seeing. Once they had the phone they made their way back to the elevator and left the IRS building as quickly as they could.
Alex had an old school friend, Kate, who lived in the Fort Worth area that they could visit and perhaps get some money and shelter from. They hailed a cab and set off to Kate's address. Luckily Kate was home, she paid the cab fare for Lauren and Alex and let them in. Kate started to ask questions and Alex struggled to explain her predicament. Kate was apprehensive to help them, but she knew Alex growing up, and so she trusted her enough not to become to suspicious. Kate gave Alex and Lauren some space and alone they dialed Davis' number.
The call was simple. Alex talked and Davis gave no response beyond "go ahead" whenever Alex paused or asked a question. Davis was either playing it cool or he was being unhelpful. Finally Alex invited him to meet them in a park just down the street from Kate's address. Davis responded by saying "thanks for the tip" and then he hung up.
Before Alex and Lauren went to wait at the park for Davis they decided to turn on the TV and find out exactly what lies Weiss had spread about them. Kate came in to watch too. It turned out that Weiss had spun the situation to make it appear as though the Anachron Team planned the escape of Bradley Cane. The Anachron Team was being hailed as a secret division of the FBI that went rouge and began tinkering with cadavers, and performing unsanctioned scientific experimentation.
Kate didn't like what she saw on the TV. Alex tried to explain what had really happened but it all sounded more like a crazy sci-fi movie plot than a recounting of the actual events of the past few days. Kate couldn't stomach it and for her own safety she asked that they leave her home. Lauren and Alex realized that Kate's reaction was probably typical of the average American upon hearing the accusations on the TV. The Anachron Program was the stuff of books and movies, and it was easier to paint them as rouge FBI agents who murdered the President than it was to see them as crusaders of truth. If Lauren and Alex couldn't make Kate understand, how were they going to get the country to believe them?
Disappointed they left and headed to the park. Davis didn't keep them waiting very long. He came alone, which Lauren and Alex took as a vote of confidence. Lauren and Alex did their best to be apologetic for throwing Davis under the bus in front of Weiss over the surveillance tape in Wichita. Davis kept and open mind to what they said but offered up some counterpoints to their version of the truth. In the end Lauren explained that Weiss and Hills were working together and that if they could use Mitchell's body that they could finally have a clear understanding of how everything was linked between Wichita and Fort Worth.
Davis offered to release Mitchell's body if Lauren and Alex were willing to break back into the IRS building and use the Anachron one last time. Davis wasn't ready to fully ally himself with them yet but he was warming up to the idea of it. Just before Davis left Lauren planted one last seed in Davis' mind. She told him that as proof of Weiss' and Hills' alliance that Hills' name wouldn't be named in connection with the President's Death. She told him to watch and see, somehow Weiss would make sure that Hills got away with murder.
That final seed began to blossom as Davis drove back to the IRS building. If Lauren was right and Weiss let Hills off the hook, the only person besides Lauren and Alex who saw the surveillance tape and would know of Hills' guilt, was him. Davis didn't like the idea heading back to the IRS building to work on a fake investigation headed by a murderer. He decided to proceed cautiously and do some investigating on his own.
Alex and Lauren climbed the stairs to escape the danger in the sub-basement. They had two options: flee the building, regroup and strategize or hide right under Weiss's nose, stay in the building, and regroup immediately. By the time they reached the lobby floor they decided that they had best take their chances inside the building, not knowing if and when they would even be able to get back in.
They devised a plan to confiscate a FBI agent's cell phone and use it to contact Davis since he was the closest thing to an ally they could think of. The plan was risky though, who knew if Davis would trust them? Maybe he would just turn them over to Weiss, but maybe he might help. After all, Davis had seen the video of Hills helping Cane escape. He had to believe they were the good guys. Right?
Time was of the essence. Weiss was going to realize that they had escaped and come up out of the sub-basement even more determined to hunt them down. They had to get up to the 14 floor where the FBI team was setup. Up the stairs they went only to find that the doors to exit stair were locked. The doors required an access card, even Lauren's new knowledge of lock picking couldn't open the door.
Exhausted, they arrived back on the lobby floor, but they weren't ready to give up just yet. They snuck out of the exit and made their way across the lobby and into an IRS break room. To their horror their faces were all over the news broadcast on the televisions on the wall. It looked as though Weiss wasn't just trying to quiet them, he was framing them for the crime that he himself had taken part in.
Alex quickly intimidated a young IRS worker to give her her access card, and to keep quiet and lay low. Alex and Lauren went back to the lobby and grabbed the first elevator that they could board alone. They swiped the access card, punched the button, and rode 14 nail biting floors up, hoping the whole ride that the elevator didn't stop to pick up any other passengers.
They arrived on the 14th floor without incident and quickly slipped into the womens bathroom behind two FBI agents. Alex took a stall while Lauren stepped up to sinks and slipped her hand into one of the agent's purses on the counter top and stole her phone without anyone seeing. Once they had the phone they made their way back to the elevator and left the IRS building as quickly as they could.
Alex had an old school friend, Kate, who lived in the Fort Worth area that they could visit and perhaps get some money and shelter from. They hailed a cab and set off to Kate's address. Luckily Kate was home, she paid the cab fare for Lauren and Alex and let them in. Kate started to ask questions and Alex struggled to explain her predicament. Kate was apprehensive to help them, but she knew Alex growing up, and so she trusted her enough not to become to suspicious. Kate gave Alex and Lauren some space and alone they dialed Davis' number.
The call was simple. Alex talked and Davis gave no response beyond "go ahead" whenever Alex paused or asked a question. Davis was either playing it cool or he was being unhelpful. Finally Alex invited him to meet them in a park just down the street from Kate's address. Davis responded by saying "thanks for the tip" and then he hung up.
Before Alex and Lauren went to wait at the park for Davis they decided to turn on the TV and find out exactly what lies Weiss had spread about them. Kate came in to watch too. It turned out that Weiss had spun the situation to make it appear as though the Anachron Team planned the escape of Bradley Cane. The Anachron Team was being hailed as a secret division of the FBI that went rouge and began tinkering with cadavers, and performing unsanctioned scientific experimentation.
Kate didn't like what she saw on the TV. Alex tried to explain what had really happened but it all sounded more like a crazy sci-fi movie plot than a recounting of the actual events of the past few days. Kate couldn't stomach it and for her own safety she asked that they leave her home. Lauren and Alex realized that Kate's reaction was probably typical of the average American upon hearing the accusations on the TV. The Anachron Program was the stuff of books and movies, and it was easier to paint them as rouge FBI agents who murdered the President than it was to see them as crusaders of truth. If Lauren and Alex couldn't make Kate understand, how were they going to get the country to believe them?
Disappointed they left and headed to the park. Davis didn't keep them waiting very long. He came alone, which Lauren and Alex took as a vote of confidence. Lauren and Alex did their best to be apologetic for throwing Davis under the bus in front of Weiss over the surveillance tape in Wichita. Davis kept and open mind to what they said but offered up some counterpoints to their version of the truth. In the end Lauren explained that Weiss and Hills were working together and that if they could use Mitchell's body that they could finally have a clear understanding of how everything was linked between Wichita and Fort Worth.
Davis offered to release Mitchell's body if Lauren and Alex were willing to break back into the IRS building and use the Anachron one last time. Davis wasn't ready to fully ally himself with them yet but he was warming up to the idea of it. Just before Davis left Lauren planted one last seed in Davis' mind. She told him that as proof of Weiss' and Hills' alliance that Hills' name wouldn't be named in connection with the President's Death. She told him to watch and see, somehow Weiss would make sure that Hills got away with murder.
That final seed began to blossom as Davis drove back to the IRS building. If Lauren was right and Weiss let Hills off the hook, the only person besides Lauren and Alex who saw the surveillance tape and would know of Hills' guilt, was him. Davis didn't like the idea heading back to the IRS building to work on a fake investigation headed by a murderer. He decided to proceed cautiously and do some investigating on his own.
Sunday, October 13, 2013
Anachron - 09
In the sub-basement of the IRS Building
Alex and Lauren were all that remained of the Anachron Team. Jeremy lay dead in the archives, and Saren and Silvia lay dead inside the Anachron room. There was no time to lose, Weiss could return any moment, so Lauren and Alex decided to use the Anachron one last time before they were forced to flee. They hoisted Silvia's body up onto the Anachron, and Alex took the her spot next to Silvia. With Lauren as her unskilled operator Alex loaded back into the Anachron.
Lauren and Alex hoped that reliving the scene of the murders that they could learn more about Weiss and perhaps learn his motive were for killing the team, if not learn how to protect themselves from him in the future.
Silvia's sequence was short due in part to a lack of skill on Lauren's part as an operator and also to a lack of skill on Alex's part as a proxy. The sequence began just as Saren was shot by Weiss. Jeremy and Silvia both immediately drew Lauren and Alex's handguns from their holster as they lay unconscious of the situation. They took Weiss by surprise and drove him back, but not before he shot Silvia cleanly through the abdomen as she fired her gun from her station.
Weiss fled the Anachron room and Jeremy charged after him leaving Silvia scrambling to maintain Alex's synchronization within the Anachron as she bleed out from her wound. Silvia's sequence ended just as she got Alex's levels back in line and heard an unanswered gunshot ring out somewhere out in the basement archives.
Waking back up in the Anachron room Alex gathered herself as quickly as she could and helped Lauren swap Silvia's body on the table for Saren's. The women switched seats, Alex operating and Lauren going into the Anachron as proxy to witness Saren's final moments. Alex made the final adjustments to the Anachron and Lauren loaded in. Before long Alex realized that she was completely comfortable in the operator's seat watching and maintaining Lauren's synchronization. Something of Silvia's skill seemed to have rubbed off on her. All of the sudden Alex was a wiz at using the Anachron.
Saren's sequence began back in the Anachron control room. The Team had just loaded in and Saren was watching the myriad of monitors showing everything from Anachron synchronization levels, to closed circuit video of the Anachron room, to live news broadcast. Suddenly all of the screens went black except for the Anachron synchronization levels. Saren had seen this before, it was exactly what happened just before the explosion went off in Burnett Plaza. Someone had turned on a jamming device within the sub-basement.
As that thought set in, Weiss walked out of the elevator and started to make his way to the Anachron room. Saren recognized the threat and headed him off just as he entered the room. The two men made small talk, both dancing around the suspicion that the other was somehow onto them. Weiss asked about the Anachron mainframe, Saren stumbled over the question and that's when Weiss drew his gun and said "I'm going to shut you down permanently."
Weiss leveled his gun at the mainframe of the Anachron and Saren dove, putting himself between the gun and the machine. Weiss fired and Saren was killed almost instantly, but not before he mentally made a final plea to the cosmos that his work not be wiped away by evil men like Weiss, especially since the Anachron had just begun to prove itself a useful tool in deciphering the Actual Truth of recent events.
Lauren sat up on the table in the sub-basement. There was little time to exchange what they had both witnessed in the Anachron before the elevator made a noise indicating someone was headed down to their level. Given the circumstances whoever was on the elevator probably wasn't friendly, so they hid within the Anachron room as quickly as they could.
The elevator doors opened and Weiss stepped off the elevator surrounded by 5 SWAT guards. Weiss called out "give yourselves up we know what you've done." Getting no response he had his men spread out. From her hiding spot inside the Anachron room Lauren spotted a maintenance panel just within her reach. She quickly pulled herself up through the panel and dropped down to the floor outside the Anachron room. Thinking fast she pulled out a laser pen and aimed it at the light sensors in a row of the archives. The laser tripped the sensor and lit up the row. Lauren lit another few rows leading away from the Anachron room. The guards saw the lights turn on and reacted immediately.
Weiss left one guard to check the Anachron room and took the other 4 guards with him in pursuit of the false trail laid by Lauren. Alex was alone in the Anachron room still hidden as the single guard approached the Anachron room. She tossed a small part she found on the ground near her at the light switch across the room. Her aim was good and the lights to the Anachron room shut off. The guard outside took notice. He crept to the door and opened it slowly. He stepped into the room sweeping the area with his flashlight mounted to his rifle.
Alex waited for him to step all the way into the room before she attacked. She jumped up and kicked the guards wrist that held his rifle. A sharp snap told Alex that she fractured or broken bone. The guard dropped the rifle and Alex pushed past him shutting the door behind her as she fled to muffle the guards shouting.
The two women took their chance to exit and made for the exit stair next to the elevator leaving behind Weiss and his men. They were leaving everything behind them, all of their evidence, the Anachron, and their fallen teammates. If they were going to make a case for their innocence and a case for the actual events of the plot to assassinate the President, they were going to have to make new allies and start over. Only this time, they were being hunted.
Alex and Lauren were all that remained of the Anachron Team. Jeremy lay dead in the archives, and Saren and Silvia lay dead inside the Anachron room. There was no time to lose, Weiss could return any moment, so Lauren and Alex decided to use the Anachron one last time before they were forced to flee. They hoisted Silvia's body up onto the Anachron, and Alex took the her spot next to Silvia. With Lauren as her unskilled operator Alex loaded back into the Anachron.
Lauren and Alex hoped that reliving the scene of the murders that they could learn more about Weiss and perhaps learn his motive were for killing the team, if not learn how to protect themselves from him in the future.
Silvia's sequence was short due in part to a lack of skill on Lauren's part as an operator and also to a lack of skill on Alex's part as a proxy. The sequence began just as Saren was shot by Weiss. Jeremy and Silvia both immediately drew Lauren and Alex's handguns from their holster as they lay unconscious of the situation. They took Weiss by surprise and drove him back, but not before he shot Silvia cleanly through the abdomen as she fired her gun from her station.
Weiss fled the Anachron room and Jeremy charged after him leaving Silvia scrambling to maintain Alex's synchronization within the Anachron as she bleed out from her wound. Silvia's sequence ended just as she got Alex's levels back in line and heard an unanswered gunshot ring out somewhere out in the basement archives.
Waking back up in the Anachron room Alex gathered herself as quickly as she could and helped Lauren swap Silvia's body on the table for Saren's. The women switched seats, Alex operating and Lauren going into the Anachron as proxy to witness Saren's final moments. Alex made the final adjustments to the Anachron and Lauren loaded in. Before long Alex realized that she was completely comfortable in the operator's seat watching and maintaining Lauren's synchronization. Something of Silvia's skill seemed to have rubbed off on her. All of the sudden Alex was a wiz at using the Anachron.
Saren's sequence began back in the Anachron control room. The Team had just loaded in and Saren was watching the myriad of monitors showing everything from Anachron synchronization levels, to closed circuit video of the Anachron room, to live news broadcast. Suddenly all of the screens went black except for the Anachron synchronization levels. Saren had seen this before, it was exactly what happened just before the explosion went off in Burnett Plaza. Someone had turned on a jamming device within the sub-basement.
As that thought set in, Weiss walked out of the elevator and started to make his way to the Anachron room. Saren recognized the threat and headed him off just as he entered the room. The two men made small talk, both dancing around the suspicion that the other was somehow onto them. Weiss asked about the Anachron mainframe, Saren stumbled over the question and that's when Weiss drew his gun and said "I'm going to shut you down permanently."
Weiss leveled his gun at the mainframe of the Anachron and Saren dove, putting himself between the gun and the machine. Weiss fired and Saren was killed almost instantly, but not before he mentally made a final plea to the cosmos that his work not be wiped away by evil men like Weiss, especially since the Anachron had just begun to prove itself a useful tool in deciphering the Actual Truth of recent events.
Lauren sat up on the table in the sub-basement. There was little time to exchange what they had both witnessed in the Anachron before the elevator made a noise indicating someone was headed down to their level. Given the circumstances whoever was on the elevator probably wasn't friendly, so they hid within the Anachron room as quickly as they could.
The elevator doors opened and Weiss stepped off the elevator surrounded by 5 SWAT guards. Weiss called out "give yourselves up we know what you've done." Getting no response he had his men spread out. From her hiding spot inside the Anachron room Lauren spotted a maintenance panel just within her reach. She quickly pulled herself up through the panel and dropped down to the floor outside the Anachron room. Thinking fast she pulled out a laser pen and aimed it at the light sensors in a row of the archives. The laser tripped the sensor and lit up the row. Lauren lit another few rows leading away from the Anachron room. The guards saw the lights turn on and reacted immediately.
Weiss left one guard to check the Anachron room and took the other 4 guards with him in pursuit of the false trail laid by Lauren. Alex was alone in the Anachron room still hidden as the single guard approached the Anachron room. She tossed a small part she found on the ground near her at the light switch across the room. Her aim was good and the lights to the Anachron room shut off. The guard outside took notice. He crept to the door and opened it slowly. He stepped into the room sweeping the area with his flashlight mounted to his rifle.
Alex waited for him to step all the way into the room before she attacked. She jumped up and kicked the guards wrist that held his rifle. A sharp snap told Alex that she fractured or broken bone. The guard dropped the rifle and Alex pushed past him shutting the door behind her as she fled to muffle the guards shouting.
The two women took their chance to exit and made for the exit stair next to the elevator leaving behind Weiss and his men. They were leaving everything behind them, all of their evidence, the Anachron, and their fallen teammates. If they were going to make a case for their innocence and a case for the actual events of the plot to assassinate the President, they were going to have to make new allies and start over. Only this time, they were being hunted.
Saturday, September 28, 2013
Anachron - 08
7am - On the 14th floor of the IRS Building
The Anachron Team presented their findings from Wichita to Weiss, his assistant, and Davis. The video evidence was irrefutable. Weiss was pleased with their efforts even though they had broken protocol. The suspension was lifted and Anachron Team was restored to the investigation, but this time they were going to take the lead.
Under the Team's orders, Davis was assigned to find Mitchell, the missing security guard from Wichita, dead or alive. Weiss made one request before the Anachron Team investigated any further; he asked that they look into the deaths of his two two Secret Service (SS) agents that were with the President when he died. Weiss released the bodies of the two SS agents who were with the President on the stage on the afternoon of the assassination. The Team agreed and the meeting ajorned.
Anachron Field Log: Sequence 5
The President was just taking the podium in front of hundreds of spectators in Burnett Plaza. The two SS stood a few paces back from the President. Their radio earpieces were alive with chatter from the dozen or so SS and military guards scattered around the plaza grounds and rooftops. As the President began speaking things quiet down and an all clear was given over radio.
A minute or so into the speech a sharp pop could be heard over the radio. It was followed by three more pops. For the next few seconds nothing intelligible could be made out over the radio. People were screaming and running from Cane who had opened fire on the guards inside the Burnett lobby, but at the moment the SS and military couldn't make sense of the chaos being broadcast on the radio. Finally someone shouted in a clear voice that there was a shooter in the lobby.
The two SS agents turned around to look at the lobby back through the glass of building behind them. Cane was dashing from cover to cover and firing a handgun with deadly resolve. He had a determined look in his eyes that told the SS agents that he didn't care if he died so long as he finished what he had started. The question was, what had started?
It didn't take long for the SS to find out the answer to that question. Cane made a final rush towards the glass. His backpack was clearly visible and he was firing his gun at the remaining guards in the lobby in an attempt to get as close to the glass as possible without being fatally shot. The SS realized Cane's sinister intentions to late. Both SS dove to protect the President just as the bomb went off. One agent was cut to ribbons in the blast and died almost instantly. The other managed to shield the President and survived the blast.
In the sub-basement of the IRS Building
Lauren sat up on the table of the Anachron. Jeremy was not at her side as he should have been. Silvia was sitting across the way operating for Alex who was still synced up to her SS agent riding out the aftermath of the explosion that had just ejected Lauren from the Anachron. It only took a moment for Lauren to realize something wasn't right. She looked around and immediately noticed Dr. Saren laying face down in a pool of blood at the base of the Anachron mainframe.
Before Lauren could ask what had happened a shot rang out somewhere off in the basement. Silvia shrieked at the noise and called out, "Jeremy." Lauren reached for her handgun but it was missing. She looked to Silvia, and Silvia pleaded for her to help Jeremy. Lauren took Alex's gun and looked out into the expansive basement. She saw row after row of archive files. Occupancy sensors controlled the lights that illuminated the narrow rows of files. Jeremy, and presumably whom ever shot Dr. Saren were somewhere out in the archives and the occupancy sensors left a trail for Lauren to follow.
Lauren slipped quietly into the files, following the trail of illuminated rows. 15 or so rows in she came to the end to the illuminated trail. Who ever set off the sensors had stopped their escape just one row ahead of where she had stood. Lauren could see a boot sticking out from a row at the end of the trail. She tripped the sensor on the adjacent row to create a diversion and ran up the opposite side towards the boot. When she rounded the corner with her gun drawn and ready to fire. At her feet she discovered Jeremy laying on the ground with a gaping whole in his forehead. He had been shot from behind at close range. It was his boot that Lauren had seen sticking out of the row.
Somebody moved nearby and set off another sensor. Jeremy and Dr. Saren's murderer was still close by. Lauren took off without a second thought to confront the murderer. Lauren ran fast and made up the distance between her and the murderer within a few rows. Lauren rounded the last corner and found herself looking down the row at a man sprinting for an exit door leading up and out of the basement.
The man was making to exit the door. Lauren raised her gun. As the door swung open a light cast upon the face of the murderer. It was Chief Weiss. Lauren fired her gun but missed her mark. The door swung shut. By the time Lauren made it to the door it was barred closed. Lauren was alone in a remote corner of the sub-basement. Weiss had shot and killed Jeremy and Dr. Saren, but why?
Back at the Anachron, Alex sat up on the table. She was still shaken from her most recent brush with virtual death, this time being crushed by what remained of Burnett Tower as she hunted, via proxy, for the President in the rubble after the explosion. Alex's last minute as the SS agent had been strange. Time had shifted forwards and backwards and actual reality and virtual reality had started to blend. She recalled a disconnected voice speaking as over the twisted events saying, "I'm shutting you down permanently," and asking "Is this the mainframe?" However, the Anachron run was over now and presently she was sitting up in the sub-basement.
At first glance she noticed Jeremy and Lauren weren't at their station. Next she saw Dr. Saren dead on the floor. She whipped around to find Silvia vigilantly sitting at her station clutching her stomach. She had been shot and the wound had blossomed to stain her whole lower torso. Silvia was breathing in a soft wheeze. Alex applied pressure to the wound and Silvia's wheezing eased for a moment.
Alex asked, "What happened?"
Silvia responded softly, "I could tell you, but it would be easier for me to show you," as she slumped over dead in Alex's arms.
The Anachron Team presented their findings from Wichita to Weiss, his assistant, and Davis. The video evidence was irrefutable. Weiss was pleased with their efforts even though they had broken protocol. The suspension was lifted and Anachron Team was restored to the investigation, but this time they were going to take the lead.
Under the Team's orders, Davis was assigned to find Mitchell, the missing security guard from Wichita, dead or alive. Weiss made one request before the Anachron Team investigated any further; he asked that they look into the deaths of his two two Secret Service (SS) agents that were with the President when he died. Weiss released the bodies of the two SS agents who were with the President on the stage on the afternoon of the assassination. The Team agreed and the meeting ajorned.
Anachron Field Log: Sequence 5
The President was just taking the podium in front of hundreds of spectators in Burnett Plaza. The two SS stood a few paces back from the President. Their radio earpieces were alive with chatter from the dozen or so SS and military guards scattered around the plaza grounds and rooftops. As the President began speaking things quiet down and an all clear was given over radio.
A minute or so into the speech a sharp pop could be heard over the radio. It was followed by three more pops. For the next few seconds nothing intelligible could be made out over the radio. People were screaming and running from Cane who had opened fire on the guards inside the Burnett lobby, but at the moment the SS and military couldn't make sense of the chaos being broadcast on the radio. Finally someone shouted in a clear voice that there was a shooter in the lobby.
The two SS agents turned around to look at the lobby back through the glass of building behind them. Cane was dashing from cover to cover and firing a handgun with deadly resolve. He had a determined look in his eyes that told the SS agents that he didn't care if he died so long as he finished what he had started. The question was, what had started?
It didn't take long for the SS to find out the answer to that question. Cane made a final rush towards the glass. His backpack was clearly visible and he was firing his gun at the remaining guards in the lobby in an attempt to get as close to the glass as possible without being fatally shot. The SS realized Cane's sinister intentions to late. Both SS dove to protect the President just as the bomb went off. One agent was cut to ribbons in the blast and died almost instantly. The other managed to shield the President and survived the blast.
In the sub-basement of the IRS Building
Lauren sat up on the table of the Anachron. Jeremy was not at her side as he should have been. Silvia was sitting across the way operating for Alex who was still synced up to her SS agent riding out the aftermath of the explosion that had just ejected Lauren from the Anachron. It only took a moment for Lauren to realize something wasn't right. She looked around and immediately noticed Dr. Saren laying face down in a pool of blood at the base of the Anachron mainframe.
Before Lauren could ask what had happened a shot rang out somewhere off in the basement. Silvia shrieked at the noise and called out, "Jeremy." Lauren reached for her handgun but it was missing. She looked to Silvia, and Silvia pleaded for her to help Jeremy. Lauren took Alex's gun and looked out into the expansive basement. She saw row after row of archive files. Occupancy sensors controlled the lights that illuminated the narrow rows of files. Jeremy, and presumably whom ever shot Dr. Saren were somewhere out in the archives and the occupancy sensors left a trail for Lauren to follow.
Lauren slipped quietly into the files, following the trail of illuminated rows. 15 or so rows in she came to the end to the illuminated trail. Who ever set off the sensors had stopped their escape just one row ahead of where she had stood. Lauren could see a boot sticking out from a row at the end of the trail. She tripped the sensor on the adjacent row to create a diversion and ran up the opposite side towards the boot. When she rounded the corner with her gun drawn and ready to fire. At her feet she discovered Jeremy laying on the ground with a gaping whole in his forehead. He had been shot from behind at close range. It was his boot that Lauren had seen sticking out of the row.
Somebody moved nearby and set off another sensor. Jeremy and Dr. Saren's murderer was still close by. Lauren took off without a second thought to confront the murderer. Lauren ran fast and made up the distance between her and the murderer within a few rows. Lauren rounded the last corner and found herself looking down the row at a man sprinting for an exit door leading up and out of the basement.
The man was making to exit the door. Lauren raised her gun. As the door swung open a light cast upon the face of the murderer. It was Chief Weiss. Lauren fired her gun but missed her mark. The door swung shut. By the time Lauren made it to the door it was barred closed. Lauren was alone in a remote corner of the sub-basement. Weiss had shot and killed Jeremy and Dr. Saren, but why?
Back at the Anachron, Alex sat up on the table. She was still shaken from her most recent brush with virtual death, this time being crushed by what remained of Burnett Tower as she hunted, via proxy, for the President in the rubble after the explosion. Alex's last minute as the SS agent had been strange. Time had shifted forwards and backwards and actual reality and virtual reality had started to blend. She recalled a disconnected voice speaking as over the twisted events saying, "I'm shutting you down permanently," and asking "Is this the mainframe?" However, the Anachron run was over now and presently she was sitting up in the sub-basement.
At first glance she noticed Jeremy and Lauren weren't at their station. Next she saw Dr. Saren dead on the floor. She whipped around to find Silvia vigilantly sitting at her station clutching her stomach. She had been shot and the wound had blossomed to stain her whole lower torso. Silvia was breathing in a soft wheeze. Alex applied pressure to the wound and Silvia's wheezing eased for a moment.
Alex asked, "What happened?"
Silvia responded softly, "I could tell you, but it would be easier for me to show you," as she slumped over dead in Alex's arms.
Monday, September 2, 2013
Anachron - 07
Anachron Field Log: Sequence 4
Security was tight inside the lobby of Burnett Tower. It was lunch hour and people were milling about. A campaign tent could be seen through the East glazed wall. The President had begun his speech only minutes ago.
A large man with a black military backpack pushed his way through the security checkpoint line at the entrance of the lobby. People shouted angrily as he forced his way up to the metal detectors. He ran right through the metal detectors triggering blinking lights and a siren that sounded as angry as the people in the line behind him.
Without hesitation he pulled out a handgun and skillfully shot both security guards at either side of the metal detectors before they could draw their guns. The lobby erupted with screams as a fire-fight broke out. The man ran as fast as he could, soaking bullets and frantically returning fire, towards the East wall. He made it three-quarters of the way across the lobby where bloodied and firing his gun with both hands, he exploded.
In the debriefing room after the Anachron run:
The Anachron Team dissected the last moments of Cane's life. Cane as always seemed rushed. It was as if he were late for his own suicide mission. Cane exploded without warning. Had he planned this or was the bomb set to blow on a timer? The team begins to question whether Cane was in control of the situation in the lobby, in the taxi, or back in Wichita. Why is he always so desperate in all of his actions? Perhaps someone else is pulling his strings. Could it be General Hills?
The team couldn't be certain until they got the missing video surveillance video from the military prison Cane escaped from. Jeremy loaded a flash drive with a hacking program that the women could use to retrieve the missing surveillance video once they infiltrated the prison. All they had to do was get to a computer on the network and plug it in and let the hacking program do its work.
10 pm - On the tarmac of a military airfield only a few miles from the military prison in Wichita
Only 34 hours had passed since the President was killed, but four Anachron runs and lack of sleep was beginning to take its toll on Lauren and Alex. Two hours ago they were in the basement of the IRS building experiencing the explosion Cane set off in the Burnett lobby via the Anachron, and now they were in the present, in Wichita, attempting to covertly recover missing surveillance video from a high security prison. The present and past were blurring together, it was hard to judge when and where they were.
They were picked up and driven to the prison by a lieutenant. They entered the facility under the guise that they were investigating Cane's escape for the investigation back in Ft. Worth. They quickly learned that someone had already been sent by Weiss just a few hours ago to check the prison. The agent that came before them was named Davis.
The women were shown around the prison, but they speedily turned their attention to finding the missing video. The lieutenant brought them to the surveillance control room, but he forewarned them that Davis came up empty handed after looking for the missing video. The lieutenant introduced the agents to the security guard in the control room. His name was Evans, he looked exhausted. It was explained that another guard named Mitchell usually worked nights and Evans worked days. However, Mitchell went missing along with the video feed the night Cane escaped and Evans had been covering both shifts ever since.
The lieutenant left to get back to his duties, and Evans left to refill his coffee which left Lauren and Alex alone to poke through the video archive. Just as Davis had, they hit a wall. The video they wanted was missing from the archive. Even Jeremy's flash drive couldn't find the video. They simply weren't in the archive. Someone had to have moved them somewhere else, but where?
Hills' computer! Both agents came to the same conclusion simultaneously. They had to get to Hills' office and run the hacking program on his computer. They used the cameras to make sure Hills was not in his office. He wasn't, so they sprang into action. Alex stayed in the control room and Lauren rushed through the prison hallways to Hill's office.
Hills' office was locked, so Lauren picked the lock. She had never picked a lock in her life, but her hands moved with the dexterity of a master thief. As the lock clicked open something in Lauren's subconscious also clicked. She felt white hot heat wash over her and an explosion threw her against a wall. She could feel warm blood rushing down her forehead into her eyes. Suddenly it all went away and she found herself unharmed in the prison hallway with the door to Hills' office open before her. She had had a flashback, but the memory was not her own, it had come from her experience in the Anachron.
She shook off the flashback, entered the office, and plugged the flash drive into Hills' computer. Jeremy's program worked its magic. The missing video files were there, but it would take a couple minutes to download the videos to the flash drive. Meanwhile Alex was back in the control room watching as Evans returned from his coffee break. Alex kept Evans' eyes off the surveillance monitors long enough for Lauren to slip out of Hill's office unnoticed by flirting with him.
As Lauren made her way back to the control room Hills turned the corner and started walking down the hallway towards her. He was headed for his office and they were going to walk past each other. Lauren couldn't help herself not use this opportunity to talk briefly with Hills and see if she could psychoanalyze him. The two had a quick exchange of words that was more like a sparring match than a conversation. Lauren walked away certain that Hills was somehow involved in the assassination, but she let slip that she was working on the same investigation as Weiss.
Alex and Lauren reunited, and left the prison with little fanfare. They had got what they came for, all they could hope for was that the reward was worth the risk.
2 am - In the debriefing room after the trip to Wichita:
The Anachron Team loaded up the recovered surveillance videos and watched. There was no sound but the image was clear enough to work out what was being said by reading lips. Each of the 3 videos held incriminating evidence:
Video 1 - Shows Cane being loaded into the prisoner truck. The guards are dismissed by Hills, who then tosses something (presumably handcuff keys and a handgun) into Cane and cuts the pad lock that holds the doors shut.
Video 2 - Shows Mitchell sitting in the control room. Hills comes in and says "I've got a bad feeling about that prisoner transfer." Hills tells Mitchell to radio the truck and make sure everything is okay. Mitchell radios the truck but gets no response. Hills leaves the control room.
Video 3 - Shows Hills returning to the control room a few minutes later and ordering Mitchell to come with him to go find out what happened to the truck.
The Anachron Team has the video evidence they need to connect Hills to Cane. The team plans to show Weiss the video first thing in the morning.
Security was tight inside the lobby of Burnett Tower. It was lunch hour and people were milling about. A campaign tent could be seen through the East glazed wall. The President had begun his speech only minutes ago.
A large man with a black military backpack pushed his way through the security checkpoint line at the entrance of the lobby. People shouted angrily as he forced his way up to the metal detectors. He ran right through the metal detectors triggering blinking lights and a siren that sounded as angry as the people in the line behind him.
Without hesitation he pulled out a handgun and skillfully shot both security guards at either side of the metal detectors before they could draw their guns. The lobby erupted with screams as a fire-fight broke out. The man ran as fast as he could, soaking bullets and frantically returning fire, towards the East wall. He made it three-quarters of the way across the lobby where bloodied and firing his gun with both hands, he exploded.
In the debriefing room after the Anachron run:
The Anachron Team dissected the last moments of Cane's life. Cane as always seemed rushed. It was as if he were late for his own suicide mission. Cane exploded without warning. Had he planned this or was the bomb set to blow on a timer? The team begins to question whether Cane was in control of the situation in the lobby, in the taxi, or back in Wichita. Why is he always so desperate in all of his actions? Perhaps someone else is pulling his strings. Could it be General Hills?
The team couldn't be certain until they got the missing video surveillance video from the military prison Cane escaped from. Jeremy loaded a flash drive with a hacking program that the women could use to retrieve the missing surveillance video once they infiltrated the prison. All they had to do was get to a computer on the network and plug it in and let the hacking program do its work.
10 pm - On the tarmac of a military airfield only a few miles from the military prison in Wichita
Only 34 hours had passed since the President was killed, but four Anachron runs and lack of sleep was beginning to take its toll on Lauren and Alex. Two hours ago they were in the basement of the IRS building experiencing the explosion Cane set off in the Burnett lobby via the Anachron, and now they were in the present, in Wichita, attempting to covertly recover missing surveillance video from a high security prison. The present and past were blurring together, it was hard to judge when and where they were.
They were picked up and driven to the prison by a lieutenant. They entered the facility under the guise that they were investigating Cane's escape for the investigation back in Ft. Worth. They quickly learned that someone had already been sent by Weiss just a few hours ago to check the prison. The agent that came before them was named Davis.
The women were shown around the prison, but they speedily turned their attention to finding the missing video. The lieutenant brought them to the surveillance control room, but he forewarned them that Davis came up empty handed after looking for the missing video. The lieutenant introduced the agents to the security guard in the control room. His name was Evans, he looked exhausted. It was explained that another guard named Mitchell usually worked nights and Evans worked days. However, Mitchell went missing along with the video feed the night Cane escaped and Evans had been covering both shifts ever since.
The lieutenant left to get back to his duties, and Evans left to refill his coffee which left Lauren and Alex alone to poke through the video archive. Just as Davis had, they hit a wall. The video they wanted was missing from the archive. Even Jeremy's flash drive couldn't find the video. They simply weren't in the archive. Someone had to have moved them somewhere else, but where?
Hills' computer! Both agents came to the same conclusion simultaneously. They had to get to Hills' office and run the hacking program on his computer. They used the cameras to make sure Hills was not in his office. He wasn't, so they sprang into action. Alex stayed in the control room and Lauren rushed through the prison hallways to Hill's office.
Hills' office was locked, so Lauren picked the lock. She had never picked a lock in her life, but her hands moved with the dexterity of a master thief. As the lock clicked open something in Lauren's subconscious also clicked. She felt white hot heat wash over her and an explosion threw her against a wall. She could feel warm blood rushing down her forehead into her eyes. Suddenly it all went away and she found herself unharmed in the prison hallway with the door to Hills' office open before her. She had had a flashback, but the memory was not her own, it had come from her experience in the Anachron.
She shook off the flashback, entered the office, and plugged the flash drive into Hills' computer. Jeremy's program worked its magic. The missing video files were there, but it would take a couple minutes to download the videos to the flash drive. Meanwhile Alex was back in the control room watching as Evans returned from his coffee break. Alex kept Evans' eyes off the surveillance monitors long enough for Lauren to slip out of Hill's office unnoticed by flirting with him.
As Lauren made her way back to the control room Hills turned the corner and started walking down the hallway towards her. He was headed for his office and they were going to walk past each other. Lauren couldn't help herself not use this opportunity to talk briefly with Hills and see if she could psychoanalyze him. The two had a quick exchange of words that was more like a sparring match than a conversation. Lauren walked away certain that Hills was somehow involved in the assassination, but she let slip that she was working on the same investigation as Weiss.
Alex and Lauren reunited, and left the prison with little fanfare. They had got what they came for, all they could hope for was that the reward was worth the risk.
2 am - In the debriefing room after the trip to Wichita:
The Anachron Team loaded up the recovered surveillance videos and watched. There was no sound but the image was clear enough to work out what was being said by reading lips. Each of the 3 videos held incriminating evidence:
Video 1 - Shows Cane being loaded into the prisoner truck. The guards are dismissed by Hills, who then tosses something (presumably handcuff keys and a handgun) into Cane and cuts the pad lock that holds the doors shut.
Video 2 - Shows Mitchell sitting in the control room. Hills comes in and says "I've got a bad feeling about that prisoner transfer." Hills tells Mitchell to radio the truck and make sure everything is okay. Mitchell radios the truck but gets no response. Hills leaves the control room.
Video 3 - Shows Hills returning to the control room a few minutes later and ordering Mitchell to come with him to go find out what happened to the truck.
The Anachron Team has the video evidence they need to connect Hills to Cane. The team plans to show Weiss the video first thing in the morning.
Saturday, August 17, 2013
Anachron - 06
Anachron Field Log: Sequence 3
In the debriefing room after the Anachron run:
The team recognized that at least one person helped Cane escape from prison. The prime suspect is General Hills since he was the last person to shut the truck doors before the transport left. Also, there were no records of the transfer, but Hills definitely knew that a transfer was being made because he told the the driver "make sure he gets there."
During the run, Cane was not seen with the backpack that he later had in the cab and in the van. He must have gotten it after he escaped. Also, Cane had been talking with somebody on the truck radio after he handcuffed the two MP. The team needed to find out who he was talking to.
On the 14th floor of the IRS Building after the Anachron run:
The Anachron Team presented their findings from the MP run. Weiss was not as receptive this time around. Weiss found it hard to believe what the Anachron Team had seen because, unlike the information they had presented before, there was no physical evidence to support their claims about how Cane escaped.
Weiss took particular offense when the Anachron Team accused General Hills of being involved in a conspiracy to free Cane and murder the President. Weiss didn't want hear-say evidence brought forth by a rogue branch of the FBI to become the focus of the investigation. The Anachron Team pressed the issue, and the discussion became an argument. In the end Weiss suspended the Anachron Team's investigation due to unauthorized conduct.
In the debriefing room after the conference:
Whether the team was going to present their case to the American public or to Chief Weiss they had to have physical evidence to back up what they believed to be the truth. The team was created to dispel virtual truth and find actual truth, and they were making great progress, but if nobody believed them, the actual truth would never be accepted. The team was determined to get their evidence, even if they had to go behind Weiss's back to get it.
Jeremy Bell tried to access the surveillance video at the prison via the FBI network but the footage was protected and gave an error message that read: local network access only. If the Anachron team wanted the footage as evidence they would need to go to Wichita and get it themselves from the server on the prison's local network.
Jeremy also uncovered some information from the FBI database on the assassination investigation. The FBI recorded in their files that the van that Cane drove into the parking garage was the same van that contained the jamming device that broadcast the "ask not" message. The fact that the van and Cane are connected is being treated as inconsequential to the investigation and has not received much attention.
Somebody arranged for the Cane to get the backpack and the van after he escaped. Who was helping Cane, and where are they now?
A few miles outside of Wichita Kansas two MP were sitting in
the passenger cab of an armored truck in the loading bay of a military
prison. They had been woken up in the middle of the night to handle a
prisoner transfer. The engine was running as General Hills approached the
driver's side window and told them "make sure he gets there." The
General walked back to the rear of the truck and slammed the two rear prisoner
cab doors shut.
The two MP drove off into the night. All was normal as they approached a large causeway bridge across a wide river. The rear doors to the prisoner cab shut loudly as they approached the mid-point of the bridge. The two MP stopped the vehicle and got out to investigate the noise and make sure the prisoner was still locked up. 30 or so feet back from the truck they found a cut pad lock. The lock had to have been cut by someone from the prison facility before they left, there was no other explanation.
As they considered this, the doors to the back of the truck flew open and a man's voice called from the dark prisoner cab, "drop your weapons!" The driver spun around and fired a couple wild shots towards the voice. He missed, and was promptly shot in the left for his lack of cooperation. The other MP dropped his gun to the pavement. The prisoner quickly ordered the cooperative MP to put handcuffs on the driver. The cooperative MP put the cuffs loosely on the driver’s wrists. Then the prisoner ordered the cooperative MP to put handcuffs on himself. He did, and the prisoner ratcheted them on tight and tossed the key onto the dark ground.
The prisoner ordered the two handcuffed MP around the front of the truck. As the MP were escorted around the truck and into the beam of the headlights, the two MP we able to see the face of their attacker. It was Bradley Cane.
Cane drove the truck forward at a crawl and forced the two MP to walk in front of the truck as he sat in the passenger cab talking to someone on the radio. The two MP could not hear what he was saying or who he was talking to over the growl of the engine. Recognizing their situation was only going to get worse, the two MP decided to take action while Cane was distracted. The driver MP slipped his handcuffs off and both MP ran, one to each side of the truck, back down the road in an effort to find the handcuff key.
They found it quickly, but Cane was just as quick to turn the truck around; pulling a sloppy three-point turn and smashing one of his headlights on a guard rail. He lined the two MP up in the remaining headlight and charged at them with the truck. The cooperative MP fought back with the only weapon he had. He threw his unlocked handcuff at the truck which broke the remaining light. Nevertheless the truck kept coming and the driver MP narrowly escaped being crushed between the bumper of the truck and the guard rail of the bridge, but the cooperative MP was thrown from the bridge down into the water, where he eventually drowned.
Cane swung the truck around once more and the driver MP took cover as best he could behind a steel support and guard rail. Cane revved the engine and launched the truck at the MP. As the truck got up to speed Cane jumped out of the vehicle and the truck barreled towards the MP. The truck struck the guard rail and the steel support, but kept going. The MP was killed on impact, and the truck along with the MP's body fell into the water below.
The two MP drove off into the night. All was normal as they approached a large causeway bridge across a wide river. The rear doors to the prisoner cab shut loudly as they approached the mid-point of the bridge. The two MP stopped the vehicle and got out to investigate the noise and make sure the prisoner was still locked up. 30 or so feet back from the truck they found a cut pad lock. The lock had to have been cut by someone from the prison facility before they left, there was no other explanation.
As they considered this, the doors to the back of the truck flew open and a man's voice called from the dark prisoner cab, "drop your weapons!" The driver spun around and fired a couple wild shots towards the voice. He missed, and was promptly shot in the left for his lack of cooperation. The other MP dropped his gun to the pavement. The prisoner quickly ordered the cooperative MP to put handcuffs on the driver. The cooperative MP put the cuffs loosely on the driver’s wrists. Then the prisoner ordered the cooperative MP to put handcuffs on himself. He did, and the prisoner ratcheted them on tight and tossed the key onto the dark ground.
The prisoner ordered the two handcuffed MP around the front of the truck. As the MP were escorted around the truck and into the beam of the headlights, the two MP we able to see the face of their attacker. It was Bradley Cane.
Cane drove the truck forward at a crawl and forced the two MP to walk in front of the truck as he sat in the passenger cab talking to someone on the radio. The two MP could not hear what he was saying or who he was talking to over the growl of the engine. Recognizing their situation was only going to get worse, the two MP decided to take action while Cane was distracted. The driver MP slipped his handcuffs off and both MP ran, one to each side of the truck, back down the road in an effort to find the handcuff key.
They found it quickly, but Cane was just as quick to turn the truck around; pulling a sloppy three-point turn and smashing one of his headlights on a guard rail. He lined the two MP up in the remaining headlight and charged at them with the truck. The cooperative MP fought back with the only weapon he had. He threw his unlocked handcuff at the truck which broke the remaining light. Nevertheless the truck kept coming and the driver MP narrowly escaped being crushed between the bumper of the truck and the guard rail of the bridge, but the cooperative MP was thrown from the bridge down into the water, where he eventually drowned.
Cane swung the truck around once more and the driver MP took cover as best he could behind a steel support and guard rail. Cane revved the engine and launched the truck at the MP. As the truck got up to speed Cane jumped out of the vehicle and the truck barreled towards the MP. The truck struck the guard rail and the steel support, but kept going. The MP was killed on impact, and the truck along with the MP's body fell into the water below.
The team recognized that at least one person helped Cane escape from prison. The prime suspect is General Hills since he was the last person to shut the truck doors before the transport left. Also, there were no records of the transfer, but Hills definitely knew that a transfer was being made because he told the the driver "make sure he gets there."
During the run, Cane was not seen with the backpack that he later had in the cab and in the van. He must have gotten it after he escaped. Also, Cane had been talking with somebody on the truck radio after he handcuffed the two MP. The team needed to find out who he was talking to.
On the 14th floor of the IRS Building after the Anachron run:
The Anachron Team presented their findings from the MP run. Weiss was not as receptive this time around. Weiss found it hard to believe what the Anachron Team had seen because, unlike the information they had presented before, there was no physical evidence to support their claims about how Cane escaped.
Weiss took particular offense when the Anachron Team accused General Hills of being involved in a conspiracy to free Cane and murder the President. Weiss didn't want hear-say evidence brought forth by a rogue branch of the FBI to become the focus of the investigation. The Anachron Team pressed the issue, and the discussion became an argument. In the end Weiss suspended the Anachron Team's investigation due to unauthorized conduct.
In the debriefing room after the conference:
Whether the team was going to present their case to the American public or to Chief Weiss they had to have physical evidence to back up what they believed to be the truth. The team was created to dispel virtual truth and find actual truth, and they were making great progress, but if nobody believed them, the actual truth would never be accepted. The team was determined to get their evidence, even if they had to go behind Weiss's back to get it.
Jeremy Bell tried to access the surveillance video at the prison via the FBI network but the footage was protected and gave an error message that read: local network access only. If the Anachron team wanted the footage as evidence they would need to go to Wichita and get it themselves from the server on the prison's local network.
Jeremy also uncovered some information from the FBI database on the assassination investigation. The FBI recorded in their files that the van that Cane drove into the parking garage was the same van that contained the jamming device that broadcast the "ask not" message. The fact that the van and Cane are connected is being treated as inconsequential to the investigation and has not received much attention.
Somebody arranged for the Cane to get the backpack and the van after he escaped. Who was helping Cane, and where are they now?
Tuesday, August 6, 2013
Anachron - 05
Anachron Field Log: Sequence 2
A young professional who worked in the Burnett Building helped sneak his aspiring journalist girlfriend into the building to get a unique shot of the President's speech. The two hoped to get footage that they could sell to the media for big bucks. Instead they inadvertently captured the last few moments of the Presidents life before he was crushed to death by a partial building collapse that the young couple themselves set off.
Shortly after entering the elevator to ride up to the 6th floor office where the young professionals worked the elevator stopped running. Gun shots could be heard in the lobby of the Burnett Building thirty four seconds prior to the explosion that would rock the building. The couple scrambled up and out of the top of the elevator just after the explosion went off. They were on the 3rd floor, the power was out in the building, and smoke was filling the elevator lobby they were in. They rushed back into the shattered office space adjacent to Burnett Plaza in hopes of getting footage of the explosion aftermath.
Upon reaching what was left of the building that overlooked the plaza they saw the shredded remnants of the tent that the President had been addressing the public from. The tent was covered in rubble and the side of the building looked like a landslide of steel reinforcing and concrete had erupted and poured out into the plaza. Through the smoke, fire, and dust the journalist could make out a moving figure. She crept to the edge of the broken floor slab to get a good shot. Her weight set off a small collapse that sent her and her boyfriend tumbling down into the landslide below. As the journalist shook off the fall and grabbed her camera, a man covered from head to toe in dust stumbled up towards her and her boyfriend. He was feasibly calling out "Mr. President?" It was a Secret Service man who was looking for the President in the debris.
The last shot the journalist saw through the lens of her camera was the Secret Service man unknowingly stepping over the barely conscious body of the President who lay in the rubble. The Presidnet was still alive, when the second collapse happened. The young couple, the Secret Service and the President were all crushed to death and the camera was found a few feet from all 4 bodies.
4am - On the 14th floor of the IRS Building after the Anachron run:
The Anachron Team presented their findings to Chief Weiss and his staff. Chief Weiss was skeptical of the findings at first. Particularly the fact that the team was able to witness the death of the president and that they had been able to guide their retrieval team to uncover the camera from the journalist in the rubble.
A member of Weiss's staff, from the FBI, halted the Anachron Team's presentation once they showed the profile sketch of the hijacker and the surveillance footage of the same man entering the Burnett parking garage just minutes before the explosion. Nobody from the Anachron Team recognized the hijacker as Bradley Cane, the military man who had recently killed 28 Iranians in Iran, but the FBI agent recognized him immediately. The FBI agent had been working Cane's case prior to the assassination, and explained to everyone at the presentation that it was impossible for Cane to be at Burnett Plaza because he was under military custody in Kansas.
The Anachron Team insisted that someone call the facility that was holding Cane because they were sure that Cane had been in the cab with them on their first Anachron run. The FBI agent left to double check. When he returned he was white faced. He had discovered that Cane had escaped during an undocumented prisoner transfer sometime around five in the morning the same day the explosion happened. The military didn't realize he was missing for almost 16 hours because there were no records indicating that Cane had been ordered to be moved. According to the military the two military police (MP) who were transporting Cane were overtaken and killed.
The Anachron Team immediately put in the request for the release of the bodies of the two MP. The military confirmed the request and told them to expect the bodies to arrive in Fort Worth in 7 hours.
A young professional who worked in the Burnett Building helped sneak his aspiring journalist girlfriend into the building to get a unique shot of the President's speech. The two hoped to get footage that they could sell to the media for big bucks. Instead they inadvertently captured the last few moments of the Presidents life before he was crushed to death by a partial building collapse that the young couple themselves set off.
Shortly after entering the elevator to ride up to the 6th floor office where the young professionals worked the elevator stopped running. Gun shots could be heard in the lobby of the Burnett Building thirty four seconds prior to the explosion that would rock the building. The couple scrambled up and out of the top of the elevator just after the explosion went off. They were on the 3rd floor, the power was out in the building, and smoke was filling the elevator lobby they were in. They rushed back into the shattered office space adjacent to Burnett Plaza in hopes of getting footage of the explosion aftermath.
Upon reaching what was left of the building that overlooked the plaza they saw the shredded remnants of the tent that the President had been addressing the public from. The tent was covered in rubble and the side of the building looked like a landslide of steel reinforcing and concrete had erupted and poured out into the plaza. Through the smoke, fire, and dust the journalist could make out a moving figure. She crept to the edge of the broken floor slab to get a good shot. Her weight set off a small collapse that sent her and her boyfriend tumbling down into the landslide below. As the journalist shook off the fall and grabbed her camera, a man covered from head to toe in dust stumbled up towards her and her boyfriend. He was feasibly calling out "Mr. President?" It was a Secret Service man who was looking for the President in the debris.
The last shot the journalist saw through the lens of her camera was the Secret Service man unknowingly stepping over the barely conscious body of the President who lay in the rubble. The Presidnet was still alive, when the second collapse happened. The young couple, the Secret Service and the President were all crushed to death and the camera was found a few feet from all 4 bodies.
4am - On the 14th floor of the IRS Building after the Anachron run:
The Anachron Team presented their findings to Chief Weiss and his staff. Chief Weiss was skeptical of the findings at first. Particularly the fact that the team was able to witness the death of the president and that they had been able to guide their retrieval team to uncover the camera from the journalist in the rubble.
A member of Weiss's staff, from the FBI, halted the Anachron Team's presentation once they showed the profile sketch of the hijacker and the surveillance footage of the same man entering the Burnett parking garage just minutes before the explosion. Nobody from the Anachron Team recognized the hijacker as Bradley Cane, the military man who had recently killed 28 Iranians in Iran, but the FBI agent recognized him immediately. The FBI agent had been working Cane's case prior to the assassination, and explained to everyone at the presentation that it was impossible for Cane to be at Burnett Plaza because he was under military custody in Kansas.
The Anachron Team insisted that someone call the facility that was holding Cane because they were sure that Cane had been in the cab with them on their first Anachron run. The FBI agent left to double check. When he returned he was white faced. He had discovered that Cane had escaped during an undocumented prisoner transfer sometime around five in the morning the same day the explosion happened. The military didn't realize he was missing for almost 16 hours because there were no records indicating that Cane had been ordered to be moved. According to the military the two military police (MP) who were transporting Cane were overtaken and killed.
The Anachron Team immediately put in the request for the release of the bodies of the two MP. The military confirmed the request and told them to expect the bodies to arrive in Fort Worth in 7 hours.
Wednesday, July 17, 2013
Anachron - 04
Anachron Field Log: Sequence 1
Two campaign aids boarded a cab bound for Burnett
Plaza. Shortly into the ride the cab was
hijacked while stopped at a traffic signal by an unidentified man carrying a
military issued weapons backpack. One of the
aids attempted to flee the vehicle from the rear passenger door immediately as
the hijacker entered the vehicle. Her
attempt to flee resulted in the cabbie being shot from behind through the
stomach, and a broken leg on the part of the fleeing aid as the cabbie sped off after
being shot.
All four individuals were trapped in the speeding vehicle until the aid trapped in the rear middle seat attacked the hijacker with a small self-defense knife. The aid was able to stab the hijacker in the lower neck/upper shoulder and dial 911 for help. The hijacker quickly wrestled the knife from the aid and forced her to end the 911 call.
Just as the hijacker got control of the two women in the
back seat the cabbie turned on his dispatch radio and informed the cab company of
the situation. The dispatch call
distracted the cabbie enough to miss a car that pulled out in front of
him. The cab clipped the vehicle and
fish-tailed. The aid in the middle seat
once again attacked the hijacker, this time pulling open the rear driver side
door, pushing on the hijacker's knife wound, and forcing the man out of the moving cab.
The hijacker intentionally reached back to grab his backpack as
he fell from the cab. As he rolled on the pavement he protected the backpack at
great harm to himself. The cabbie
watched as the man rolled away, which caused him not to see a city bus that was
blocking the intersection they were approaching. The cabbie swerved at the last second, but it
was too late. The cab veered off the street and hit a traffic signal pole. The impact instantly killed the driver, fatally
wounded one of the aids, and caused the other aid to be rushed to an area
hospital in critical condition.
In the debriefing room after the Anachron run:
The team developed a profile sketch of the hijacker from the cab. The sketch was run through a program to find a match on one of the surveillance cameras at the Burnett Building. A positive match was found with a time signature just before the bombing. The team reviewed the tape and confirmed that the same hijacker from the cab entered the Burnett Building parking garage in a white contractor van 4 minutes and 23 seconds before the explosion. On the tape the military backpack was clearly visible on the hijackers lap in the van.
In the debriefing room after the Anachron run:
The team developed a profile sketch of the hijacker from the cab. The sketch was run through a program to find a match on one of the surveillance cameras at the Burnett Building. A positive match was found with a time signature just before the bombing. The team reviewed the tape and confirmed that the same hijacker from the cab entered the Burnett Building parking garage in a white contractor van 4 minutes and 23 seconds before the explosion. On the tape the military backpack was clearly visible on the hijackers lap in the van.
Saturday, April 27, 2013
Anachron - 03
Chief Weiss: "I'm going to tell you everything I know. I expect you then to go out and find what we don't already know. If you can't do that you might as well pack up your team and go home."
What happened 'in the black':
A blossom of flame can be seen emanating from within the Burnett Plaza building directly behind the President just before the television signals are blown out from the explosion. The public saw a black screen for one minute and six seconds. The Emergency Broadcast System (EBS) saw a black screen with two words in large white font printed across it. The message was simple: "ASK NOT." Live broadcast feeds are always on a 2 second delay before they go out to millions of American viewers. The EBS acted on standard national security protocol and broadcast a black image instead of the text until the live feed could be reestablished. Whoever killed the President planted a jamming signal to broadcast their message for all of America to see, but the message didn't get through.
Late breaking news:
A few miles away the local news took a moment away from the Presidential assassination to report a story where a taxi cab had crashed killing the driver and one passenger, and injuring a second passenger. Strangely enough the two passengers were both young female interns who worked for the President's election team who were headed to the rally. The surviving passenger was rushed to a local hospital.
What happened 'in the black':
A blossom of flame can be seen emanating from within the Burnett Plaza building directly behind the President just before the television signals are blown out from the explosion. The public saw a black screen for one minute and six seconds. The Emergency Broadcast System (EBS) saw a black screen with two words in large white font printed across it. The message was simple: "ASK NOT." Live broadcast feeds are always on a 2 second delay before they go out to millions of American viewers. The EBS acted on standard national security protocol and broadcast a black image instead of the text until the live feed could be reestablished. Whoever killed the President planted a jamming signal to broadcast their message for all of America to see, but the message didn't get through.
Late breaking news:
A few miles away the local news took a moment away from the Presidential assassination to report a story where a taxi cab had crashed killing the driver and one passenger, and injuring a second passenger. Strangely enough the two passengers were both young female interns who worked for the President's election team who were headed to the rally. The surviving passenger was rushed to a local hospital.
Sunday, January 20, 2013
Anachron - 02
A except from Dr. Saren's report "Accessing the past - The Anachron Project":
An excerpt from US News & World Report:
Headline - 28 Massacred in Iran
_________________________________________________________________________________
On the 14th floor of the IRS building in downtown Fort Worth Texas, overlooking Burnett Plaza, FBI agents along with members of the Secret Service are setting up their investigation of today's assassination attempt on the President of the United States of America.
Nearly 200 feet below them, in the sub-basement of the same building a burgeoning division of the FBI are setting up their own investigation.
There are two truths in this world. The Actual truth and the Virtual truth. When an event occurs the Actual truth begins its decent into misinformation immediately as eye witnesses die or forget, as documents perish, as physical evidence disappears, etc. Yet the Virtual truth, due to the reworking of memories, media coverage, hear say, and fiction (in short belief) grows truer than the Actual truth.
The Actual past is brittle, ever dimming, ever problematic to reconstruct or access. In contrast the Virtual truth is flexible, workable, and ever brightening, ever more difficult to circumvent or prove false.
Human will breeds mythologies and creates legitimacy in circumstances based on our desired outcomes. Human will presses the Virtual truth into its service. Human will seeks power. The will to power seeks new truths, more convenient truths, Virtual truths. The will to power has always sought to shape our understanding of the past. However with the Anachron, Actual truth can and will be known and schemes of Virtual truths can finally be cast aside.
An excerpt from US News & World Report:
Headline - 28 Massacred in Iran
Bradley Cane, 31 year old army specialist, was taken into custody by military police for the murder of 3 American service men, and 25 Iranian civilians, including women and children. A war crimes trial is has not been scheduled as of yet. The trial will be a closed military hearing. The FBI and the Army are working to investigate the cause of the incident. Early reports suggest Cane succumbed to combat fatigue. Cane had served two tours of duty in Afghanistan and was about to complete his first tour in Iran in under two and a half years.
_________________________________________________________________________________
On the 14th floor of the IRS building in downtown Fort Worth Texas, overlooking Burnett Plaza, FBI agents along with members of the Secret Service are setting up their investigation of today's assassination attempt on the President of the United States of America.
Nearly 200 feet below them, in the sub-basement of the same building a burgeoning division of the FBI are setting up their own investigation.
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