Welcome to the Omicron Protocol Story Blog, where we’ll periodically reveal and post new stories about the world and its character through a series of blog posts. Through this blog, you’ll get to know the precarious situation that our heroes (and villains) are in, and what they need to do to survive and get out of San Lazaro. You’ll also get background stories that help you understand why your favorite (and most hated) characters are who they are today.
As Goddess approached Ryder and the enormous robot, Lady Rose gestured for Crimson and Jenny to follow her in the opposite direction. A man called Kuznetzov — apparently a Cynfo engineer — came hurrying up rambling about something, but Crimson shut him down. Lady Rose met Rhino and the gunmen behind the convertible and they all looked on as Goddess appealed to her former employer.
Standing outside the brewery’s loading yard, H3x could hear her puppets moving quietly around inside, safely secured behind a locked door. She checked the neural hacking interface that she used to monitor them. There were 261 CyMS spread across three floors of the brewery, all ready to do her bidding.
Plate stood with Nix, Threads and Lucky in the lobby of First National. Pai and Artemis had already disabled the bank’s security systems and — thanks to the Scientists — they’d also located the entrance to the secret government facility. It was an innocuous-looking door between the bank’s two main vaults. The door was, in fact, heavily reinforced and secured by a full-range bioscanner. Pai and Artemis were confident of getting around it, but had warned that might take a while.
Lucky was helping Gadget and Thug with the repair work at ATS when the call came through. After the Red Dragon raid, they had put up a metal grille to protect the front of the shop. Putting down their tools and leaving Thug on guard duty with Seeker, Lucky and Gadget hurried to the back. Artemis gestured to a nearby laptop and Lucky noted that the special encrypted comms channel was active. Already on the call were Buck and Pai of the Peacemakers and Cyborg of the Creators.
H3x winked at Rhino and Gudu as the trio were led towards three blue shipping containers. The camp on 10th Street was overcrowded and the desperate leader seemed keen to believe H3x’s story about testing out a new ‘cure’. The three Red Dragons had dressed smartly and were masquerading as members of a UN emergency response team. As they were unarmed and carrying only a case containing the ‘cure’, the leader had few reasons to be suspicious. He was a priest named Father Cullen, assisted by two young men who carried baseball bats and didn’t say much.
‘Boss, I’ve got something for you.’
‘Something else, H3x?’ answered Lady Rose. ‘The puppet trick was probably enough for one day.’
H3x grinned. It was always good to keep on the right side of the boss. Before replying, she checked the mirrors and the surroundings of her stationary SUV. Other than a couple of ambling CyMS in the distance, she saw no danger.
‘Actually, it’s kind of connected to the puppets. One of them was unusually lucid and I noticed a bottle of Kabalan sticking out of his backpack.’
The Red Dragons had gathered at the secret base beneath Chen Office Supplies. Lady Rose made a last adjustment to her hair in the restroom mirror, then entered the storeroom they used for meetings. With two men on guard duty – one underground, one on the street – she knew the location was secure. All her key personnel were present and already seated: Little Jenny, Rhino, Gudu, Fei and H3x. Lady Rose sat in her own chair, which was covered in best Italian black leather.
‘Are you sure about this, Buck?’
Pai looked across the table at the veteran police officer. The pair were alone in one of the station’s interview rooms, a laptop on the table in front of them.
‘We can’t go on like this forever,’ Buck replied. ‘These guys seem to be on our side. We were fortunate that the Purge Script ended up in our hands. Now it’s time to take action.’
To: Interested Parties
From: Friends
If you are receiving this transmission, you clearly possess specialist equipment and knowledge. We are exploiting a weakness in the communications blackout surrounding San Lazaro but only have a short window of time to communicate. We are contacting you to present an offer that can benefit both sides. We do not currently wish to identify ourselves but please be assured that our intentions are good. Our aim is to cooperate with individuals and groups such as yourselves and work towards solving this crisis.
Rose Lin – aka ‘Lady Rose’ – thought her crew had done a decent job of transforming a SUPER BUYS storeroom into an office. She took care not to spend too much time in one location and it was always useful to have another secure meeting place. As well as a large mahogany desk and numerous chairs, the office was furnished with a state-of-the-art computer and a few potted plants (all fake). The other essential she had insisted on was a small but well-equipped bar. Lady Rose only drank Taiwanese whiskey. She poured herself a good measure, added some ice, then sat behind the desk. It was to be a busy night and she wondered which of her subordinates would arrive first.
Fei had to search three cabinets before she found it. With the metal drawer open, the narrow beam of the flashlight illuminated a black, rectangular object that looked very much like a DNA drive. But Fei had memorised the images Lady Rose had sent and she knew what this was. By lifting the object and clicking a button hidden within a cavity, she activated the prototype
It was a shock but not a surprise.
Nikki had observed an increasing number of helicopters in the skies above San Lazaro since the crisis had started. Every day there were more of them: police and army choppers, hired transports, private birds. She reckoned it was only a matter of time before a collision occurred. When it did, it happened only a block away.
