Front Lines Communications

[Elliott]

I'm going to be resigning from the Project.

I'm sorry. [...] I wanted to tell you before I made any official moves.

Good day, brothers and sisters.

I am The Maker.

I am writing you today, at last, because of the unfortunate incident which took place at 31 Whitehall shortly before Christmas. This violence was sparked by baseline extremists, and our security forces were acting in self-defense.

Let me be very clear: I unequivocally demand the immediate release of those three security guards from Project: Ascension custody.

Moreover, as the baseline government has proven itself incapable or unwilling to meet the needs and civil rights of atavists, I am declaring 31 Whitehall a sanctuary, above baseline law. Any further meddling in our affairs by the government or its agents will be met with force.

Atavism is here. The world has changed. Evolve or die.

[ MÂDAR ]

So.

[ MAL ]

What do we want to do now? As a group, I mean.

[ RAJ ]

I talked to mum and dad.

[ KAROLINA & JOY ]

Would it be strange to come by? I'm interested in seeing what you've done with the place.

Happy New Year from Project: Ascension!

To start 2018 off right, I have an exciting announcement: a cease-fire has been reached with the organization known as the Movement for Atavist Liberation. Known operatives of the MAL are no longer to be arrested on sight. The President has received critical intelligence from the Movement that he feels obviates the need for criminal prosecution, but exact details of that process are still to come.

For now, it is enough to be a united community again, and to bring this long nearly four-year conflict to a close.

I am available for any questions you may have.

[ KNOWN MAL ]

You are permitted to travel freely in atavist circles. I would ask only that you keep something of a low profile for now, as the President is still determining his strategy for defusing baseline public opinion about you and refocusing the general public on the threat posed by The Way.

So, our superhero initiative led us to dismantling a hostage situation in my hometown of Boston. At an Apple store of all places. Even criminals are capitalists I guess. It went better than expected really well, we were on the news! I know you guys haven't always had a lot of trust in the Project, but whether you believe it or not, our main objective is to help people, and we accomplished that yesterday.

[Project Ascension]

I know we're getting a lot of good feedback from the public for that one. I'm really proud of my hometown for supporting us, they've been through a lot, and they appreciate our help. My parents in particular were really grateful, for the thing we did but also not letting their kid die in the process. Obviously, my own training couldn't have anything to do with that, thanks Dad. But they wanted to thank everyone and sent us some fruit and snack baskets, they were delivered to the break rooms if anyone wants to grab anything. It'll still be here Monday probably, so.

[Superhero Team]

Idk guys, we're officially superheroes. How can we milk this for more freebies you think?? Some kid asked for my autograph, it was so fucking weird. We definitely should have gotten free iPhone Xs.


[Garret]
Wanna grab some pizza and beer and watch Netflix with me tonight? I'm so jetlagged.

How is 2017 already almost over??? It feel like it went so fast!! But also like it lasted about a decade...

Yes at the same time. Yes I know that doesn't make sense. Doesn't make it any less true though...

Anyway! Wishing all of you guys peace and happiness and all that other good stuff in the new year. Extra super emphasis on the peace. A girl can dream right?

[ Nadine ]

And speaking of peace: thanks again for your help on Christmas Eve!! Never thought you'd be saving my dumb butt again... Sorry I didn't get your tall friend's name and sorry I didn't get this message out until today but it's been kind of nonstop insane with my family and work since then. But really THANK YOU. And can you tell him I say thank you too? He was awesome.

I'm here at the airport waiting for this flight back to New York. I had a really good Christmas and I have a nice tan going so I'm feeling re-energized and ready to get back into things up north.

My ataversary (has anyone used that before?) is coming up in less than a week and I started thinking about how much my life has changed in a year. I was working at Disney still last year and here I am making my debut as Insight. It's a dream come true! (Having that conversation with my family was seriously super-fun, btw)

What did you guys do on your ataversaries? Is this something y'all actually have or do celebrate?

[P:A]
Backdated to 12/23, a few hours after this

Desai and I have contained the situation and Way security personnel are in custody. Looks like the crowd spooked the security detail and they decided de-escalation meant shooting into a mass of bodies. Three baseline casualties, plus about a dozen injuries.

We have statements, and the injured have been sent off to the nearby hospital to get patched up. NYPD is offering to inform the families of the deceased in our stead.

[NETTA]
I'm fine. I knocked the fuckers out before they noticed we were there.

[ESPO]
Up to five minutes now.

( BACKDATED TO DECEMBER 23rd )

jakda;

[ Project: Ascension ]

SOS SOS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

i'm at a way party
31 whitehall

THERE'S A MOB like a baseline mob outside and the way have their own security and i think they're armed???

PLS HURRY

FILTERED TO PROJECT: ASCENSION.

I have some good news to report: the Mother has been recovered and is safe in Project custody.

As a gesture of goodwill, the leaders of the Movement transferred possession of the Mother back to where she belongs. This is the first step in a process to broker an armistice with the MAL.

Of note is the absence of Leonardo Barone from this process. His location is unknown and the representatives of the MAL claim he went AWOL. He should still be considered a wanted individual.

So New York loves superheroes. Who knew? Hint, it was me

Everywhere I've gone this week, it's been free food, endless streams of selfies, and I even got to rescue a cat from a tree, which was nostalgic. I could get seriously used to this.

Hands down though, being able to tell my brothers has been the best part. "Well no, I didn't bitch out and quit being a firefighter to be a personal trainer. I've actually been a secret agent for years now, and now I'm a superhero."
Pretty sure a couple of them actually turned green. So that ruled.

Here's hoping it keeps catching and turns things around with the baselines.

I've fallen into that part of the internet: I'm taking Buzzfeed quizzes. So far, my atavism should be fruit salad making (I'm not certain how this is an atavism); my Disney atavist animal sidekick is Pascal; I'm actually 5'3".

This is going to be a long day.

[Project: Ascension]
Just a friendly reminder that annual psych evals are right around the corner. Dr Mizuno's and my schedules are up to date, so if you have a preference on when your eval is, please claim the slot. For anyone who chooses not to pre-schedule, you'll get an appointment confirmation by January 5th.

To bypass the annual deluge of questions: yes, you have to. Yes, it is mandatory. Yes, trainees are subject to this. No, you can't skip it. No, we can't just pass you without seeing you. No, not even if you bribe us.

[Friends]
Is there anyone staying here over Christmas who can check in on Catalina for us while we're gone?

[Matt]
What do you think the chances are that if I 'forget' to pack an ugly sweater, my mother will have one waiting for me?

FILTERED TO P:A LEADERSHIP AND AGENTS CALDWELL, DESAI, HALL, MINTZ, S. PÉREZ, RHODES, AND WALKER.

As operations director it's my privilege to inform the seven of you that you've been selected to participate in our "superhero" initiative. What this means for you in the immediate term is as follows:

- Each of you will need to come up with a code name, subject to approval by the leadership team.
- You will meet with costume designers, who have already started work on individualized costumes.
- You will attend media training tomorrow at 0800. The training is mandatory, Agent Pérez.
- If you would like input as to the team name, now would be the time.
- You will be introduced to the public tomorrow evening following media training.

Congratulations, agents.

[P:A LEADERSHIP + KNOWN MAL]
Since some of y'all know and some of you don't, this is a psa that Sanford has offered us a deal. From what we know, he's keepin' y'all in the dark about it. Don't know what he's aimin' for, and we got our guesses, but we figure loopin' y'all in is the right thing to do.

He wants the Mother and Leo. Personally, if we're handin' her over, I'd rather give her to you, and the rest of the group more or less agrees. We've got a drop off with him for the Mother scheduled for the 16th at [location]. We thought someone on your side would like to show up. Since he ain't told us to not tell the Project, it's an easy enough thing to say we arranged with y'all for proper pick up or something.

You got questions, ask 'em now.

[Nero]
We stalled long as we could. This seemed the best solution since he wouldn't accept anything without the Mother.

[Soledad]

Agent Pérez. The rocks.

KNOWN MAL

How is your search for Barone coming along?

LEV

Your mother told me to invite you for dinner tomorrow evening.

[Project: Ascension Leadership]
I was thinking that since we were outed now..I wanted to participate in the superhero program. I wanted to before, I just didn't want to out myself for it, but thanks to fucking Dora that's no longer an obstacle I guess. I know that try outs have passed, but I have an impressive resume and extensive fight training. I'll keep my mouth shut when there are cameras or press around. Besides, I'm a good watch out and the others might feel better knowing they have someone there that can get them out of a shitstorm pickle kerfuffle dangerous spot if it comes down to it. If you're still willing, I'd like to try out.


[Project: Ascension]
So, holiday party at Dio's or?? Mayne Annette's, I heard she has the good booze. I'll bring the store-bought frosted cookies!


[Soledad]
Hey, when you tried out for the Atavengers thing, was it hard? I mean like I know you're awesome so it probably wasn't, but did they make you do anything dumb?


[Garret]
I'm gonna see if they'll let me join the superhero group, now that we've been outed. Did you decide not to try out?

[ PROJECT: ASCENSION LEADERSHIP ]

Dora Barone's defection has been all the news can talk about this week. To try to swing the narrative back around I'm looking to finalize the superhero team this weekend, and would like your input on the agents who've been trying out over the past few weeks. You all work more closely with them than I do. Here are my impressions:

• CALDWELL: Has a mouth on him, but his power looks fantastic on camera. Needs media training.
• DESAI: A little stiff in front of cameras, but follows orders without complaint and also has a flashy power.
• PÉREZ: Loyal company gal, young (we want the millennial crowd to be invested), excellent command of her abilities.
• RHODES: Excitable, but works hard. Eager to really lean in with all the superhero trappings, which is good when most of the others seem more reluctant.

Then there's the trainees.

• HALL: Impressive power, and impressive growth in her control of that power. Looks like a supermodel, which doesn't hurt with the media angle.
• WALKER: Not sure about throwing him into combat outright, but a psychic is always useful and rounds out the team nicely when presenting their powers to the public.

Personally I'm inclined to go with all six, and expand if more agents express interest going forward.

Thoughts?

Howdy, folks. Just wanted to send out a friendly PSA that the network security has not been compromised by Ms. Barone's defection. Her control over the Project server depended on physical proximity, and, as you might have gathered, she is no longer near it. If anything, your risk of private messages going to The Way is lower now.

Carry on.

[Project: Ascension]

Sorry about the text-to-speech functions in the internal network. It had a German accent before I tried to fix it and wound up with French. Still not sure why. I'll try to get it back to normal next time.

I left some notes for myself when I was in one of the brain blast fugues, and that might have an answer, if anyone more tech-savvy than me wants to take a crack at it. I can try to help with the shorthand, but I don't remember a lot of what I was thinking at the time. I went on for pages about why P = NP, and that makes no sense.

( Spoilers )

[Remaining 12]

Hello.

I have tried to remain an independent contractor in this struggle for dominance, and so I think that it's a good idea if I provide the following information to both parties:

Your great and grand Idol is not a God, it's a machine. Sorry. Right now, the context is closest to a particle accelerator; the resonance of the material in conjunction with the actual shaping of it is creating a field that is perpetuating continued movement of particles through the system it creates. Considering the low-frequency nature of the radiation from those particles (I don't have enough experience to say WHAT kind of particles they are, just what the characteristics are), it is not surprising that past attempts at analysis have not detected it -- it wouldn't have stood out from normal Earth readings on magnetometers and stuff.

I also understand that the split of the idol has increased this acceleration and continues to do so; unfortunately, bringing it back together will not cause it to cease and the field will continue to grow.

I'm still processing my way mentally through this, so I'm sure I will have more to say in the days ahead. But I wanted to leave you with one last point and I think this is very, very important:

Neither halves of the idol have a fail-safe that I understand will cause someone to fry to death. I don't know what the hell happened with Heather White but... I guess... are you SURE she's dead? Cause... you know, people thought that Ricky guy was dead too.

( spoilers )

Filtered to RAD;

So, remember how great it was when Arthur gave me a full time job at the Bulletin and I found myself gainfully 100% employed again, with a nice paycheque? Yay.

Let's hold onto that wonderful feeling, because...

I'd like to take a moment to introduce everyone to the new member joining the Bueno-Moretti-Rouvas household;

( Not Cut IC. )

On a more serious, topical note, I'm going to be starting up a new project in my freetime;

For a variety of reasons, I got to thinking about who we are and our stories. We're the first generation of Atavists, and while we don't know if we're all going to lose our powers in a year or if there'll be generation after generation after us, our stories are important. And right now, other people are telling them for us.
So I'm going to be filming a documentary. One camera, simple, stripped down. We'll be the subject.
Anyone who wants to can arrange a time to sit down in front of the camera, and talk. About your atavism, about what it means to you, about how it's shaped your life, hell even just about someone cute you met at Throwback.
The only condition? No politics. I'm not blocking anyone from participating, but I want to hear from you. Not who you represent. I'm a fan of a tight edit, and any needless soapboxing will be cut. This is going to be about us as people, not us as members.
I know it's a little cheesy, but I think that no matter where we end up, it's important that we get our voices out there in a way that's ours to control.

[Contact details] If you're interested, shoot me an e-mail and we can work out a time that works for you. If you're self-conscious, we can work out a way to shoot without me in the room or we can even conceal your face. Just let me know.

soooooooooooooooo if you're subscribed to Midtown Comics' newsletter, you might've received a very!!!! special!!!!! email today about the first atavist artist book signing next Friday. did I actually agree to this? WHAT A GOOD QUESTION. answer: I might've, or my editor thought I'd say yes or didn't care what I'd said and went ahead to respond to some of the interested venues who sell my books. so, that's happening. my first book signing. I'm trying to decide if I'm excited or terrified or proud of myself or like all the above because I'm fucking shaking

MAY THE MAKER'S LIGHT SHINE BRIGHTLY UPON ME SO I MAY WALK BY HIS SIDE

In case y'all haven't seen it yet, consider the main network compromised. Anythin' you say or even hint at under filter will likely be seen by the murder cult. If any of you or your friends and family are havin' problems now that y'all have been outed courtesy of Barone Jr, let us know asap. We've got the safehouses, and I've got a few connections to get some non-operatives outta dodge.

Just in case, we might wanna settle on some rules of engagement in the event some baselines try to start somethin' with any of you. I'd suggest not usin' your atavisms unless absolutely necessary. We didn't start this fire, but there ain't no sense in throwin' gasoline on it.

Where we at with the people who were supposed to be lookin' into the murder cult? We find anythin'? What about Leo? Dora seems to think he's still with us, so he likely ain't at Whitehall.

[Gayatri]
Lito wants to do this now. I'm reluctantly inclined to agree.

[Leadership]
Where we at with Sanford? Does he know Leo's gone? Somethin' needs to be done about The Way. And I'm proposin' we put our cards on the table with the Project. We've both now had murder cult moles, however willing, and neither of us has the upper hand. They got more resources and we got the freedom to move about without havin' to worry about Sanford's and Winston's oversight. Even if it's just a temporary thing, I don't care, but we can't sit here and say we want the best for atavists by concealin' shit and lettin' things like this keep happenin'. And the Project can't even attempt to pretend they care when they don't know anythin'.

[Pat]
We're bringin' Lito in tonight to see the Mother.

Hello.

Many of you have been concerned about what's become of me. There is fear on the network that I have been harmed, that I may have been forced into something.

I have not.

I am where I belong.

We are the divine, those who bear the light. We have been from the moment we were born, blessed from the very minute we were brightened by its touch. We have always been this way, you and I, even before we knew it.

There is one who knows what we can't begin to understand. Can see in us what we cannot see in ourselves. The Maker is the Light, in ways you can't yet imagine, in ways that are greater than we can comprehend.

It is difficult to understand. It's meant to be.

We are the chosen ones. And now that we have been revealed to the world, we can revel in it as we were meant to. We can reach out to one another, and support one another, in this new world order as it reveals itself.

This was my gift to you. So the world will see you for the flames you carry inside you. So that you can be free, and join us.

I have been waiting so long.

if any of you are regulars at my brother's diner or at suyin's gym, can you please help make sure nothing bad happens there? i tried but i'm not intimidating

( text to Gus )

If yooooooou're suspended from active duty pending investigation, clap your hands! If your extremely Catholic family now thinks you got the devil in you, clap your hands! If you're an atavist and you know it and you really didn't want to show it, if you're an atavist and you know it clap your hands!

If you haven't done so already, it's probably a good idea to make any social media accounts you may have private. It seems like less than scrupulous reporters are trying to find people through Facebook and Instagram to try to get some sort of story out of them, and a few of my baseline friends have been contacted for 'comments.'

[MATT]
I feel like I should be used to these kinds of messes by now, and yet.

[RUBY]
I've never been so happy to have already told my parents than I am right now.

[TANCY]
Hey. You okay?

[...]

[GARRET]
Hi.