Front Lines Communications

[ MÂDAR ]

So.

[ PROJECT: ASCENSION ]

Good evening, ladies and gentlemen.

I want to thank you all for staying strong through the crucible that has been the last few days.

I will be brief: President Winston has placed me on administrative leave pending the conclusion of an investigation into Corrine and her work here at the Project.

I do not know how long such an investigation will take, or how likely I am to be reinstated when it concludes. I do know that serving here with you has been the great privilege of my life, and I'm very grateful for all your support over the last ten years.

John Kincaid will be acting as Director going forward, per the President's wishes. I would ask that you treat him with the respect you would me. Though I am being removed from the chain of command, I have been allowed to remain here on Governors Island to continue to use my gift to help locate and consult new atavists.

Thank you.

[ P:A LEADERSHIP minus KINCAID ]

I pushed for Elliott, but I got shut down. They don't trust us to manage ourselves, clearly. But I don't think John is our enemy in this.

[ P:A LEADERSHIP ]

I'm being removed from this filter at midnight until the investigation concludes. If you need me, I can still be filtered normally as with any other account.

Good evening.

Project: Ascension thoroughly disavows the horrific crimes committed by Colonel Corrine Harper, which she hid for years with her powers of suggestion and mind control. We are seeking her victims to make restitution as best we can.

We have been cooperating fully with the authorities as investigation proceeds. This leak to the press is unfortunate, as it may complicate that investigation.

To the atavists of New York, I ask that you please not conflate the actions of one evil woman with the good work done every day by brave men and women at the Project who seek only to help and serve this community.

To the general public, I also ask that you not conflate one woman's use of her atavist gift for evil with the overwhelming majority of atavists, who possess their gift as a quirk of genetics and mean larger society no harm.

Thank you. I have no further comment at this time.

[ P:A LEADERSHIP minus KINCAID plus HECTOR ]

Barajas and I met with Kincaid. He's clean and genuinely seems to be on our side, insofar as such things go.

There is an active super-soldier program under the command of the NSC. The Bulletin's scoop in Kabul was legit. The President is looking to re-consolidate authority over atavism in his new cabinet department and dissolve the Project. Kincaid can't tell us who's in the new program, but it's actively recruiting.

This needs to be kept between us for now, while these hearings are happening, but I want all our agents to know there's something sinister in the air. Our work must be flawless right now. We cannot give the President any excuse to liquidate Project: Ascension.

[ PROJECT: ASCENSION ]

Good afternoon, everyone.

I know there's been a great deal of confusion and upset over the last month, especially with memories slowly returning to people following the death of Colonel Harper.

Consider this entry an open forum to ask me any questions you may have, which I will answer to the best of my ability. I believe transparency is of the utmost importance right now.

[ PROJECT: ASCENSION ]

Hello, all. I have a few announcements today.

First and foremost, thank you again for your patience while Mr. Kincaid and I have each been called away frequently for hearings in Washington. I appreciate it very much.

I have first some deeply unsettling news: we have determined that Colonel Harper was assassinated the night before the incident in Times Square. At this time, though the MAL has admitted culpability for her initial disappearance, we believe an unknown third party is responsible for her death. Solving this crime will be a major investigative focus for our Operations and Analysis directorates going forward.

In the wake of the colonel's death, her power has apparently begun to retroactively fail. You may have found, over the last two weeks, that you are experiencing the return of strange and perturbing new memories. It seems that she had used her power of suggestion on many of us, and there will also be a full investigation into what that means. Our therapists are on call.

Please congratulate Mateo Lange, who will be officially promoted to Deputy Director for Public Relations on a permanent basis. I'd also like to announce two other new appointments: Rafael Esposito will now be Assistant Director for Operations, serving under Deputy Director Conley, and recent recruit Bryan Andersen will be serving as our official liaison to the NYPD. Both these men, like Lange, were of enormous help throughout the recent crisis. Please offer them your congratulations as well.

[ P:A LEADERSHIP minus KINCAID plus HECTOR ]

Now that John and I have been in one place for more than 12 hours at a time, Agent Barajas and I are planning a joint conversation so we can assess his motivations.

I wanted to say this now, because it's only just come back to me: Corrine told me not to investigate Christian's death. She used her power to underline the matter. So... that's worth discussing, especially given the allegations made by the MAL 6.

[ ELLIOTT, DIO, NERO, DEREK, REDA ]

Williams, Mostafa: some of the memories I'm slowly recovering seem to involve you two in particular. If you want to talk, we are here for you.

[ MÂDAR ]

تولدت مبارک

Reminder: civilian classes at Project: Ascension's facilties on Governors Island will resume tomorrow as normal. Thank you for your patience with cancellations following the incident on the 25th.

[ PROJECT: ASCENSION ]

Please consider this an official request to keep even closer care of your official correspondence and documents going forward. Congress is calling hearings about the Project, and it will be an enormous help to me to have everything in order.

I'm going to be in Washington frequently until these hearings are over. This is likely to be the longest dog and pony show since Benghazi, so I don't expect them to be over soon. Luckily, we have teleporters, but I still want you to know I'll be busy and that I will greatly appreciate everyone else picking up the slack in my absence.

Consider my office door open for any questions or concerns whenever I'm here.

Good afternoon.

I understand there's a lot of confusion and alarm right now, and that's perfectly fair and reasonable.

Project: Ascension will continue to protect all atavist citizens of this country. The registry is not going public.

Secrecy about your personal status is now a matter of your own discretion. I would personally advise caution in deciding whom you want to tell. Anything on this network remains classified, for the safety of others. There will be consequences if it is shared or reproduced.

Thank you.

[ PROJECT: ASCENSION ]

First and foremost, I'd like to thank everyone for all their hard work in this crisis. I'm sorry I wasn't able to assist, but as you know something struck down myself and the rest of the Twelve original atavists beforehand. We are still investigating as to what that might have been.

We are not going to attempt to re-hide atavism. The President has made his choice, evidently, and we must follow suit.

You may disclose your atavist status if you wish. Any work with the Project, of course, remains classified.

What do we know about what happened in Times Square? And why it happened?

[ P:A LEADERSHIP ]

Something has happened to Corrine. I don't know what or how exactly, but something has gone wrong with her power. What is the status of our investigation into finding her?

Lange: good work. Keep it up.

[ P:A SIX ]

So.

Friday night, operatives of the MAL attacked a prison transport convoy.

Despite the valiant efforts of Project agents, several prisoners were released and remain at large. This includes the MAL operatives Maddox Archer, Jane Lee, Mia Kruger, and Rose Sutton, as well as several rogue atavists: Kara Kavanaugh, Ryan Landau, Xavier Levesque, Christophe Levesque, Keith Anderson, Emmett Montgomery, Karl Blankenship, and Floyd-William Bucephalus Henderson, Jr.

Unmasked but not apprehended during the conflict was MAL operative Noelle Woods, who was one of the perpetrators of the attack.

All of these individuals should be considered dangerous. Anyone who provides information leading to their arrest will be financially compensated.

We are taking this incident very seriously, and we have terminated the employment of the supervisor of the convoy, Special Agent Evan Chapman.

Thank you for your time and attention.

[ PROJECT: ASCENSION ]

Esposito, I'd like you to supervise a team to check in on family and friends of the escapees.

Mintz, Mostafa, and Mateos report that our address on file for Colonel Harper is incorrect. They can provide further information here. Deputy Director Conley is back on his feet and will be directing a search party.

[ P:A LEADERSHIP ]

Why would Corrine have a fake address on file?

[ PROJECT: ASCENSION ]

Agent Zayyad informs me that Colonel Harper isn't responding to urgent summons. I need the Information Suppression Team on duty immediately—we have multiple incident reports. Consider Special Agent Lange to be acting as Deputy Director in the absence of Colonel Harper, and follow his directives please.

I also need a few people to visit Colonel Harper's home and ensure nothing is amiss. Volunteers?

[ P:A LEADERSHIP + MATEO ]

Lange will be on this filter for the moment, to ensure he doesn't miss anything.

Project: Ascension refuses to entertain the conspiracy theories of terrorists.

If you have information that might lead to the capture of a member of the Movement for Atavist Liberation, please contact us. Financial rewards may be possible.

[ P:A LEADERSHIP ]

What do we think about bringing Arthur Kang in for questioning?

Obviously we don't want to infringe on the right to free press, but he's taking dictation from terrorists now.

[ PROJECT: ASCENSION ]

Good evening, all.

I've recently come to the decision that certain information be declassified to a lower level of clearance—that is to say, from leadership-clearance to general agent clearance. I would ask, obviously, that you keep this information within the Project.

My mother, Nasreen Vaziri, is an operative of the MAL. She has been for some time.

I made the executive decision to hold this information close for two reasons:

1. Due to her affection and concern for me, she has on occasion provided valuable intelligence about the MAL's operations.
2. In her time as a Project agent, every single one of her precognitive visions came to pass. She now has visions she claims favor the MAL and their cause. I did not want to hurt morale, either here or among the general population.

I'm telling you now because MAL activity is, obviously, accelerating in scope and violence. I do not want anyone saying something to my mother that they would not want the MAL to hear. I do not want anyone to allow my mother to influence them.

I imagine some of you will be angry that I kept this from you for the past three years. I understand that as she is my mother, it may appear I sought special treatment for her out of sentiment. I can only ask that you accept my decision was made out of pragmatic concern for the health of the Project.

The floor is open for any questions.

[ PROJECT ASCENSION minus ANNETTE/PEYTON ]

It is with great regret that I must inform you of an incident that affects us all.

Yesterday, the MAL [...] launched an assassination attempt on Colonel Harper. Their operative was [...] Agent Christian Russo, who was apparently a mole in our organization. Colonel Harper was [...] forced to kill him in self defense when her powers proved ineffective for reasons as yet unknown.

Colonel Harper is quite shaken up over all this, understandably, and I would ask that you [...] give her some space at this time. Please also allow Agent Russo's sisters some space to grieve. We are confident they had no knowledge of their brother's [...] secret affiliation.

Counselors are on call for anyone who needs to talk, and my office door will be open all day.

Thank you.

[ PROJECT: ASCENSION ]

I'd like to take a moment to address the leak of classified information earlier this week, which I am treating very seriously.

First and foremost, I would like to offer the Executive Office's personal apology to Dr. Bryant, who came to us with sensitive information that was subsequently mishandled. It is very important to us that all of you feel comfortable sharing anything and everything with us that might pertain to an ongoing or opening investigation.

Assistant Director Bellamy and Special Agent Allen have both been suspended without pay following their disclosure to civilians of Ms. Sokolova's medical emergency. I have a zero tolerance policy on this issue. All work-related conversations on this filter are to be considered highly classified.

On Monday, Colonel Harper's team will be leading a refresher course on classified intelligence policy for all agents. This session is mandatory. Going forward, our newly-expanded Training Directorate under Deputy Director Russo will be implementing a more strenuous security clearance education program.

I would like to open the floor for comments and questions. Any questions that require privacy may be asked of me in person, and my office will be open all day.

[ P:A LEADERSHIP ]

Gordon has been removed from this filter for the duration of his suspension. He returns to the office on the 18th.

[ PROJECT: ASCENSION ]

I've tracked a new atavist to the Lexington Avenue-63rd Street subway station.

I'm getting kind of a nervous, manic energy. Animal-related, maybe.

Tate, can you take this one? Empathy feels like the order of the day. Mateos, if you'd assist please.

[ PROJECT: ASCENSION ]

Hello, everyone.

First and foremost I'd like to remind you all that we're having a barbecue here on Governors Island for the 4th. It's open to the public, and while you're not required to attend I absolutely encourage you to join us with your families, friends, and significant others.

I'd also like to take this opportunity to officially congratulate two of our senior staff taking on new roles. With the retirement of Deputy Director Stamford, the position of Deputy Director for Training & Security in the Directorate of Support was vacated. As the number of atavists has grown exponentially since the Project's inception, I have decided to split this position into two dedicated roles going forward. Dr. Annette Russo will be moving from her position at Research to become the Deputy Director for Training, and Abilene Tate has been promoted to Deputy Director level to serve as Deputy Director for Security. Please offer your congratulations to these two fine public servants.

With happy news out of the way, I also have an announcement regarding a decision I've come to after much debate and discussion in the Executive Office. As you know, in May operatives of the Movement for Atavist Liberation broke into our facilities to plant a device that enables the six founders of the MAL to access our network.

Special Agent Barone has been working tirelessly to eliminate this intrusion every time it appears, and she has done a sensational job for which I am very grateful. Unfortunately, the MAL has teleporters at their disposal who have been re-integrating the device in different parts of the grid each time Barone removes it. The end result has been a scenario whereby the MAL founders can access our network approximately every other day. While Agent Barone is more than capable of keeping this up and continuing to shut them out each day, I believe her time and energy can and should be better spent elsewhere.

More to the point, having the MAL Six on the network has actually led me to reassess our policy of banning them from it. By silencing them publicly, we have turned them into bogeymen. We have made them more than they are. It's probably a lot more alluring for neutral parties to talk about Leo Barone like he's Batman or something than it is for them to actually see him and his cronies on the network making asses of themselves. And asses they have made of themselves, repeatedly; PR clearly isn't their strong suit.

All this is to say that going forward we are going to allow the MAL Six to stay on the network and, hopefully, dig their own graves. I would ask that you continue to use discretion in how you engage with these people publicly. Each and every one of you is a representative of this Project.

Thank you. My door is open for any questions.

[ DIO ]

We will do everything we can. Please take as much time as you need. Heads are going to roll for this, I promise you.

[ ... ... ... ... MÂDAR, in Farsi ]

We must speak.

[ PROJECT: ASCENSION minus DEPUTY DIRECTOR STAMFORD ]

Hello, all. This is just a reminder that the retirement party for Deputy Director Stamford is this Thursday the 8th at 2000 hours. Come honor the man who has led our Training and Security departments since the inception of this Project!

Gifts are encouraged but not required. His wife Edna has asked that we not gift him with any liquor, as he's already "got more of it 'round this house than any man needs, by God".

An announcement will be forthcoming regarding Deputy Director Stamford's replacement.

[ BIBI ]

Do you have a moment to talk?

[ ANNETTE ]

Got time for a meeting?

[ DORA ]

Barone. I have a task I'd like to discuss with you.

[ P:A Leadership ]

I'm contemplating an explicit gag order on speaking to the fugitives publicly. For? Against? I want your thoughts.

Meanwhile: Nero, Bibi, any further developments with the White case?

[ PROJECT: ASCENSION ]

Security and technical teams: where are we on the network situation? Obviously the initial measures didn't do the trick permanently.

Barone? Sinclair? Anyone else?

[ PROJECT: ASCENSION ]

We've got a new atavist. I'm tracing the signal to the home of one Kezia Prasad, sister to telepath Ariel. Could be a roommate, but it does run in families after all.

Caldwell, you're familiar with the family. Want to take this? I'll forward you the coordinates.

[ PROJECT: ASCENSION ]

We've had an atavization at NYU-Langone. One of the doctors at a conference, an Audra Livingston.

It feels like a psychic ability to me. She collapsed on the scene and was admitted to the hospital.

Tate, Moon, please coordinate a transfer to our infirmary. Form's on your desk, Tate.

[ PROJECT: ASCENSION ]

All agents: mandatory meeting at 5pm in the Situation Room.

Do not be late.

[ PROJECT LEADERSHIP ]

This concerns the mole.

Keep an eye on each and every one of them while I'm briefing.

[ PROJECT: ASCENSION ]

Thanks to all who participated in Outreach Day. I think it was important for us to interact directly with the community after a contentious month.

I'm looking for agent volunteers to coordinate vetting and orientation for two prospective trainees. Inquire within.

[ PROJECT LEADERSHIP ]

Our internal investigation into the leak of the 'supersuit' information has been proceeding. We're through all the engineers and administrative staff, now, and moving on, regrettably, to agents.

I wanted to keep you all apprised. Have any of you turned anything up?

[ KAYA ]

Hello, Ms. Di Miceli. I wanted to extend my personal gratitude for your assistance of Special Agent Barajas in the field during the attack by the MAL. You may have saved his life.

[ MARISOL ]

Hello, Ms. Díaz. Have you thought more about the trainee program? I can assign one of our agents to work with you directly.

This afternoon, terrorists from the organization known as the Movement for Atavist Liberation (MAL) attacked a Project: Ascension transport vehicle as it was preparing to ferry to Governors Island.

Classified equipment was stolen from the cargo. The dock and surrounding area at the Battery Maritime Building were extensively damaged by the use of atavist powers. Several Project: Ascension agents were injured, including two taken to our infirmary in critical condition. Two civilians were also injured, 'collateral damage' in the MAL's sudden assault.

MAL cell leaders Gayatri Kaur and Jackson Galloway were positively identified among the attackers at the scene. Both should be considered extremely dangerous.

Anyone with information as to this terror attack, including information on other unidentified MAL operatives, is encouraged to contact Project: Ascension immediately. We will offer rewards for information aiding in the apprehension of these violent criminals.

[ PROJECT: ASCENSION ]

Status report.

[ MARISOL ]

Ms. Díaz. We need to talk.

Project: Ascension is aware of the unusual wave of activity today. If your atavism is behaving strangely, please contact a member of our staff. We have doctors and trainers on-site to help contain any unexpected fluctuations in power.

[ PROJECT: ASCENSION AGENTS ]

Anyone whose power is out of whack needs to get to containment. We can't have our team out of control in public.

Díaz, I want your daughter in here ASAP. Where is she now?

Decorso, Tate, what do we have on Heather White at this point? Still missing?

Project: Ascension is delighted to announce we will be opening a new area on Sublevel 5 of the Governors Island facility to the public. This hangar with very high ceilings will be used for a new flying class. Thank you all for your patience as we've refitted this new area for discreet flight training. All questions can be directed to Abilene Tate or Anthony Caruso.

[ PROJECT: ASCENSION ]

Accolades are in order for Agent Thomas and Field Team Gamma this morning, as in the wee hours of last night they managed to apprehend Kara Kavanaugh, a.k.a. 'Kara the Karaoke Bandit, Scourge of K-Town'. She will plague the bars of 32nd Street no more. Anyone who's been working this case is invited to stop by processing to question Ms. Kavanaugh at their discretion.