August 30, 2014
With Enemies Like That

This week the O.S.I.R raided Melvin's home. A couple weeks ago during all of the excitement Mr. Peterson lent Melvin a surveillance drone. A friend of Melvin's operated the drone for him while he coordinated things using it, and hacking systems at the same time. The drone came with a second gift. There's a bit of backstory to it.

Mr. Peterson gave Melvin information to make it easier to gain access to O.S.I.R. data files. Word of that information passing hands got back to the O.S.I.R. and by all accounts got Mr. Peterson in hot water with the Minnesota O.S.I.R. lead agent, Tommy Dearing. Mr. Peterson would not stand idle for the dress down and informed Tommy that he would also be lending Melvin a spy drone. Said drone would come with one additional perk, a tracking device. The one catch was that no one could make a move on Melvin until after the current operation that Mr. Peterson was on had ended. Well that deadline came up this week.

Melvin and the rest of us had no idea any of this was going on. He had picked up the drone from Mr. Peterson at a safe location and then threw off any tails and returned home with the unit. Melvin knows all about the inner workings of these drones so he didn't bother checking it out. He certainly didn't expect any surprises given the stakes of what we were doing.

Tuesday the 26th at 8 a.m. a group of O.S.I.R. agents knocked down Melvin's door and threw in tear gas cannisters. They proceeded to enter his apartment and turn the place upside down and confiscate anything computer related. They did not find Melvin though. Taped to one of the many monitor screens in the apartment was a series of internal messages--email essentially--containing agent chatter about the mission. The messages were unsecured on the system.

Melvin lost a number of his antique computer pieces, a host of books on varied non-technical subject, and his favourite chair. The agents also left with a little something more. On the way out, using hidden cameras Melvin triggered several ceiling mounted traps splattering the agents with the same kind of dye that banks use on robbers. Then police showed up following a 911 call. It must have been quite the mess, in several senses.

Afterward, at a safe house, Melvin discovered video taken from the O.S.I.R.'s own internal camera systems. In the video Mr. Peterson was giving Tommy Dearing all kinds of flak for letting Melvin get away and running a sloppy operation. Mr. Peterson said that Tommy should have expected more from the psychic hacker responsible for taking out their own best hacker, Hierophant1100011. Mr. Peterson washed his hands of it all and said that his report would indicated that the failure was entirely due to Tommy. He didn't say it, but Mr. Peterson had skated on the info he gave Melvin because of the drone plan. Tommy of course had nothing to fall back on. All in all it was a bad day for Tommy.

Tags: blame, drones, hackers, Hierophant1100011, Melvin Klein, Minnesota, O.S.I.R., Mr. Peterson, OSIR, surveillance, Tommy Dearing, OSIR.

August 23, 2014
The Last Domine

I was on the street Wednesday when a man came up to me. He said, "I'm not the only one you've killed," and he pulled a gun and shot himself in the head before I knew what was going on.

Later that day I was out with Sarah and a woman asked me for the time. While I was looking she said, "I'm not the only one you've killed," and pulled a gun and shot herself in the head. Immediately two people from different directions shouted "I'm not the only one you've killed," and pulled a gun. I stopped the nearest one by snatching the gun away with my gift. The other person died. I told Sarah to run.

An older woman standing close to me lost her frightened look and pulled a gun. She said, "I'm not the on--" and I pulled the gun from her hand. I looked at Sarah who hadn't moved. The woman I just stopped let out a horrendous shriek and I heard the clatter of a gun hitting the pavement. Sarah yelled for me to hit her. I slammed the woman, careful of her head, against the nearest wall.

Sarah said, "She was faking it. I felt a burning hot, flash of hatred before I saw her pull a second gun."

Everyone cleared out except for the shooter I saved, and the attacker. I pulled the guns together and Sarah picked them up. She looked about for the Domine and found it a couple minutes later. It was stationary. Protectorate people watching it later reported that it was spent.

We took the woman away. Myron was going to question her, but she was more than willing to tell me why she attacked. It was the Heidi's mother. She had left one more Domine with her mother in case she died when I caught up with her. A Protectorate guardian came and took her mother away.

That night I woke up when Sarah climbed back into bed. She whispered into my ear, "I'm not the only one you've killed," and there was a deafening bang.

I woke up screaming, scaring Sarah out of a deep sleep. She sat up and held me and calmed me down.

Tags: aftermath, Domine, empathy (psychic), Heidi Caan, murder, The Protectorate, psychokinesis, revenge, Sarah Jayne.

August 16, 2014
The Domine Maker Final Assault

This is going to be a long post. There is a lot to tell. We found the Domine maker. Her name is Heidi Caan. The hacker manual led us to a house, which led us to another home, and finally to what I can only call Heidi Caan's stronghold.

Heidi liked not only to control people but to control her environment. She had the place heavily surveilled on the outside. Melvin's job was to get us in past the cameras, even though Heidi would know we were coming by his intrusion. Melvin said that the Heidi's security person had to be a real hacker and not another controlled person using a manual. He said he could handle anything this hacker could throw at him, and bust through his defences, but it would keep him busy. To keep watch over the outside we had an O.S.I.R. drone that Mr. Peterson lent us. Melvin asked a friend to operate it and watch when his concentration was elsewhere. I didn't catch her name but my thanks to her.

Sarah, Myron, and Madam Sarcova pooled their gifts to watch and coordinate on the stronghold's inside. Mr. Peterson was keeping local law enforcement off of us using Directive 7642C and disciplinary threats as needed. When we met with him before heading out he was showing his obviously blind eye, no longer hiding it with the contact lens we saw last time. I went in after Heidi with a group of Protectorate people and Jenny. Jack's job was to find and tie up Heidi's hacker. I'd have sent Jenny with him, but I needed her to handle Susan once we found her.

We entered the building at noon. I slammed the two guards at the front door together. My job was to follow Sarah's lead to find Susan D'Amico. Jenny held onto the black backpack I was wearing. We went down a hall to a stairwell and started up. The second floor was offices. A couple of the Protectorates stayed to clear the rooms. We headed up to the third floor. It was some kind of former dance school with only a few separate rooms. There were a number of people in there. We had to cross it to the other stairwell to avoid a trap in the one we started up.

I strode across the room with Jenny in tow. I pulled the Domines' victims' feet out from under them without slowing down. The rest of the Protectorates began to deal with the victims, none of whom stayed down at all. It turned into chaos with guns and blunt objects. The victims tried to kill our people. Our people shot kneecaps, while others had baseball bats and smashed hands. The plan then was to zip tie or rope up the disabled victims.

At home base Madame Sarcova shook her hands free of Sarah and Myron's hands. She stood up, but her connection to them showing the distant visions only wavered a moment. Madame Sarcova said she could not be a part of it any longer. Sarah begged her; told her that it was the safest way for everyone. It was better that they suffer than die. Madame Sarcova spat out that she thought better of us than murderers. Sarah explained that we had a strict deal with Mr. Peterson. He would keep the O.S.I.R. out of this if we captured Heidi Caan on the first attempt. Mr. Peterson informed us that new procedures had been put in place at the O.S.I.R. because of Domine. Those procedures were nothing short of broadly murderous. It was better we damage some limbs. Madame Sarcova sat down, but she kept her hands to herself. They went back to managing the situation.

Back in the stronghold there was one man with us. He had a bat and dodged and weaved around the chaos. No one could touch him. He bashed hands and kneecaps in some weird kind of dance. This next bit I was told second hand. When Jenny and I continued on things turned bad. There must have been more Domine. Our people started turning on each other. The victims weren't good shots but our people were and things turned into a blood bath. The dancing dodger avoided everything from both sides until suddenly he just stopped and stood still and was shot point blank in the face by his best friend.

We were on the fourth floor. Back at home base Madam Sarcova let out a gasp. A man lie dead on the floor. On of the Protectorates checked the corpse and reported he was cold and starting to smell. Sarah shook her head. "So that's what Heidi does to people she can't control. Some people can deny mind powers used against them. Their will is too strong."

Madam Sarcova told her, "I'll be glad when this grisly business is over."

Meanwhile up on fifth floor we found Susan in a big board room with the table and chairs all up against the wall, the table on it's side. Susan greeted us. A column of flame spun up beside her. It was my cue to get out of there. Fire blocked the door for a moment before the temperature in the room dropped precipitously. As I stepped out I heard Jenny say, "You're going to have to try a lot harder little girl."

I could hear the fighting in the room, and it broke into fisticuffs after a while. It wasn't long past that before Jenny came out with a struggling Susan tied up with rope. Susan had black hand prints on her arms and a bruise on her forehead. We had a Domine breaker with us. He went in and destroyed the Domine and Susan became herself again. I'll have tell you more about what Jenny told me of the fight another time.

I left Jenny to back up our Domine breaker in going back and destroying the Domines. I really shouldn't have, but I let Susan come with me to speak to Heidi. We entered a room on the sixth and top floor. Seeing Susan made Heidi smile. Heidi said, "Do you still want to play, Susan?"

Susan got right to it and told Heidi, "You made me murder and kept me aware of everything that was going on. Those deaths will haunt me for the rest of my life. I'll regret every single one of them. I'm going to kill once more, and this time I won't regret it!"

I grabbed Susan's arm and said. "You will regret it. Believe me. I know. You don't want that."

Out of my pocket I pulled a small carved wooden horse's head on a pedestal--a knight from a chess board. I handed it to Susan and said, "Get her out of here, Myron."

Susan got a glazed look and turned and walked away. That was also Myron's cue to make Madam Sarcova not remember all of what happened next.

Heidi told me, "I knew it would always come down to you and me. These others puppets are just going to stand by. You're going to get the worst of anybody for messing with me. The things I am going to do to you. First, do me a favor and say Okinawa."

I shook my head. She repeated the request and I had no choice but to do it. I knew I didn't want to, but I did it. Heidi said, "That's good. You have no defense. Do you have any last words Josh Rhoads?"

There was a clattering behind me and a couple of Heidi's controlled people looked like they saw movement. I told Heidi, "Yes. I have four last words."

She said, "Okay, what are these four last words?"

I raised my voice and said clearly, "Strike the anvil, Klavier."

A black glossy plank of wood appeared over my right shoulder. The edges showed the natural wood color. It had a bright red, childishly drawn, toothy-grin face painted on it. It's thin single-strip limbs dangled from eyehook joints. Hovering below one arm was a sledge hammer. Klavier raised the hammer at me slowly but only briefly. Heidi stared at the thing, "What is that?"

Klavier shot over to Heidi. Although he was in midair he pirouetted; bashing her across the mouth with the sledge. I turned away after seeing Klavier proceeded to bludgeon Heidi to death. Heidi Caan, the Domine maker, was no more.

Tags: Directive 7642C, Domine, drones, Heidi Caan, Jack Tourmaline, Jenny Brumal, Madam Sarcova, Melvin Klein, Myron Nath, Mr. Peterson, OSIR, The Protectorate, Sarah Jayne, Susan D'Amico, surveillance. Special Spoiler Tag.

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August 9, 2014
Nearing Domine

We are very close to finding the location of the Domine maker. We are so close that I dare not say any more. Check back next week. Sources tell me something big is going to happen to me this week.

Tags: Domine.

August 2, 2014
Circling In on Domine

Another step has been made on the path to the Domine maker. This time we even have a name. I'm not going to reveal it just yet because you probably remember we had the name Malcolm Jonovich and it didn't go so well. I'm not going to smear another innocent's name, or go in guns blazing until things are crystal clear. This step is thanks to the efforts of Madam Sarcova and our very own Jenny Brumal.

Jenny had the hacker's manual that we retrieved before my last posting. Jenny read it again and again with her gift. She picked up sensations, emotions, and the occasional flash of past events intimately tied to the making of the manual. With that information in hand I set Jenny and Madam Sarcova up to use their gifts in tandem. Jenny would focus on the making of the manual, seeing the room, smelling the smell of the paper and the printer toner, and try to feel what the place was like. Madam Sarcova could see the place. She had no idea where it was though.

The two of them pieced together clues and began to go out on the road to find what they saw. As they did that Jenny began to get a sense of direction for where the place was. Soon they were sort of triangulating a position. They mapped out everything and then finally Madam Sarcova felt that she could begin viewing the key areas and narrow in on the house. Hand in hand at a table Madam Sarcova and Jenny zeroed in on the location. The house was closed up but maintained. Sheets covered the furniture but there was little dust anywhere. The house was plain on the outside and would never raise any suspicion with its kept lawn. It looked just like any house.

After scoping the place out the two of them went to it along with Sarah. They used a key hidden under a rock beside the back porch to get inside. Sarah went first and checked for any sign of a Domine. It was clear. They checked out the house for other items for Jenny to read. Everything was good until they went to leave. A neighbour approached and asked them what they were doing. Jenny told him to mind his own business and he ignored her as if she hadn't spoken. He focused on Sarah. Sarah began spinning a story about checking on the house for the owner. When that didn't seem to work she tried to sense his mood and came up blank. Sarah sent a jolt of fear through Jenny and Madam Sarcova.

The man lunged at Sarah. Jenny grabbed his arm and twisted it behind his back. She said something to Sarah and her breath fogged in the otherwise hot air. Sarah told her not to hurt the man badly. The cold snap dissipated and Jenny propelled the man back to his house by the arm. Once there she took him to the living room and drove him to his knees. She kicked him in the head and hauled him up onto the couch. Then she went outside and all three of them drove away.

Jenny and Madam Sarcova will do the same thing with a couple new items as they did with the manual. Meanwhile Melvin will dig into the records of the house and the owners.

Tags: cryokinesis, Domine, empathy (psychic), Jenny Brumal, Madam Sarcova, Malcolm Jonovich, Melvin Klein, psychometry, remote viewing, Sarah Jayne.