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.
Pai and Gadget were on their own. The others — led by Buck, Cyborg and Lucky — had halted at the edge of Aureus Gate Park while Pai and Gadget advanced to the bridge to hack the entropic disruptor terminal.
Pai was controlling Timmy via her arm-mounted computer, and the drone was hovering just above them. "EFN active. Let’s hope it works as well today." Twenty-four hours earlier, they had tested Dr. Altmann’s device and found that it had successfully shielded them.
Nix lowered his binoculars. "Another team stationed near the junction. What’s that, the seventh?"
"Eighth," replied Bolt.
Two days earlier, the Peacemakers, Survivalists and Creators had all begun to notice small Army teams on the move around San Lazaro. The groups were typically composed of five medics protected by around 10 soldiers and one or two Agency operatives. They seemed to be setting up at strategic locations across the city. Drone reconnaissance by Flyboy and Flash revealed that the entropic disruptor was being temporarily lowered to let each team through.
Cyborg had suggested they use only audio for the call. With almost every member of the Creators, the Peacemakers and the Survivalists taking part, the holo-call system would be overwhelmed. Gathered with him in his office around his computer were Hiko, Threads, Kuklacı, Flyboy and Flash. Plate was still on guard duty. The exhausted Dr. Altmann was still resting.
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.
Cyborg didn’t know what to expect. He hadn’t heard from Ryder Arcadia for months and now suddenly the CEO of Cynfo wanted to see him. He would have expected the wealthy, well-connected businessman to have found a way out of San Lazaro but admitted to himself that events had overtaken many since the outbreak. He was also surprised to find the Kilcline building largely intact, with only a few broken windows on the lower floors. As he reached the entrance, the familiar figure of Scarlett ‘Crimson’ Young appeared. As usual sporting her augmented shades, she offered a thin smile and shook Cyborg’s hand.
The fog rolled in with remarkable speed. Thug, Sergiy and Flyboy found themselves suddenly surrounded by the ghostly white. They were less than a hundred feet from the drop coordinates.
‘Is this a good thing or a bad thing?’ asked Thug.
‘If anyone else is here, they won’t see us,’ said Flyboy.
‘True,’ said Sergiy. ‘But we won’t see them.’
‘Wait,’ said Flyboy. ‘I hear something.’
‘A drone?’ asked Thug.
‘Maybe.’
Danny was in bed with a cold, so Flyboy decided to take up an invitation from a new friend. That friend was Johnny Sinclair-Ariza, also known as Cyborg – an interesting guy Flyboy had met at a gaming convention. Cyborg was a well-known artist with a very rich father and the invitation was to the family mansion in Alturas, a wealthy neighborhood of San Lazaro.
Nix crept through the bushes, only stopping when he had a good view of the CyMS.
He tapped his earlobe to use his coms implant. ‘Bolt, any more of them in the area?’
The Russian sniper was stationed in a nearby church tower, providing overwatch for the operation. Nix had never tried to capture one of these things before and he didn’t want anything to go wrong. As he’d learned with the Rangers, planning and prep were crucial.
