The Hohenzollern Empire 5: Holy Phoenix - An Empire of Jerusalem Megacampaign in New World Order

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Sounds interesting, in fact maybe this could also be a factor for how Aliens could interact with humanity in Stallaris. Perhaps the Alien Civilizations unaware of humanities space fareing past could be relatively indifferent to them, xenophiles could be act with intrest to them and the Stagnat Accendeancies that were probably around during humanity’s previous position in the galaxy would react with worry towards humans. At least that’s how humanity relationship with alien civilizations could go among other routes.

Also just as a friendly reminder, you should probably include TWR97’s post for the ME3 intro as usual.
That sounds like a great idea.

I already added the ME3 intro yesterday.

Edit: ...or not. I'll get on that.
 
That sounds like a great idea.

I already added the ME3 intro yesterday.

Edit: ...or not. I'll get on that.
I think it will also be a good thing to credit @TWR97 in the table of contents given his summaries. Maybe you could commemorate @Osterreich Will Rule, @J_Master and @GhostRider124 for some lore contributions as well if you feel that is appropriate. I think they all deserve it.
 
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Walter controls arguably the most powerful company in the world... I look forward to the breather arc where Tesla employees lose their mind upon learning who their new boss is.
 
I think it will also be a good thing to credit @TWR97 in the table of contents given his summaries. Maybe you could commemorate @Osterreich Will Rule, @J_Master and @GhostRider124 for some lore contributions as well if you feel that is appropriate. I think they all deserve it.
Oh, yes, I'll definitely add them to the table of contents sometime later this evening.
Walter controls arguably the most powerful company in the world... I look forward to the breather arc where Tesla employees lose their mind upon learning who their new boss is.
It'll happen sooner than you think.
 
Willhelm Tesla leaving Walter all of Tesla Dynamic sounds like a recipe for disaster, thank Saint Gunhilda Walter's not as capable as Walternate despite sharing the same mad genius thinking though! :eek:

@CaptainAlvious Im glad you posted that song btw, really captures the heart of the ME trilogy despite what the rEApers did to the franchise :mad::mad::mad:, now I can see Malukah doing an end credits song (like OTL and TTL's ME1 M4 credits song) if players get a bittersweet or phyrric victory ending (And ME3 will indeed be a bittersweet one as Zen put it back in the previous pages on the Alliance clawing its way back to victory) while Miracle of Sound does a triumphant song should players get a golden ending (Though said song still has traces of being bittersweet), the third game will indeed feature recurring themes of the apocalypse and Rägnarok as well as versions of it from the other races. Defiance and Hope are the other recurring themes present in the game as well with either conversations, side quests or plot related missions. Defiance against the Reapers and Hope for the war to end. Since ME3 will bring the story full circle several notable themes from ME1 and 2 will return, Vigil's theme will be recurring in the series to emphasize the hope part while a newly improved version of Saren's theme stands as a leitmotiff (With its own combat version too) for the Cult of the Ascended and other reaper pawns (Though the Collectors still get their own theme as well as the Heretic Geth). One other major theme that will be present in the game is the tagline Bioware uses for ME3, Break the Cycle, thus emphasizing on the need to stop the Reapers (While Take Earth Back is badass it wouldn't make sense TTL especially since the Cycle has been built up ever since the convo with Sovereign)

The third game will be drastically different from the previous two as the limited open world exploration is no longer an option given the reaper invasion, the galaxy map once players are done with both Priority Mars and Priority Citadel 1 would get an overview of the situation as clusters either have Reaper icons on them or not, with most of what was formerly Batarian Space in Reaper hands while about 75% of the Terminus under the Cult of the Ascended (Their symbol being a skull icon with a machine-like appearance on half of said skull) blinking clusters would then indicate battles taking place (Like in the Turian home system), now moving on to the main feature in ME3, the War assets and galactic readiness system.

Now the galactic readiness system is drastically different compared to OTL as the default one has it start at 0% to explain the galaxy's unreadiness against the Reaper invasion, players who just started playing the game from 3 get this as the default starting scale while those who imported their saves from either the first or second game get varying degrees of galactic readiness with 45% being the highest from those who started playing from ME2 and a whooping 65% for this that started from the first game. Factors include minor decisions Shepard had made in the previous games (Wrex's survival and eventual leadership of Clan Urdnot, destruction or preservation of the Geth Heretics, Shepard urging the Quarian admiralty board to not wage war, the fate of David Archer and Project Overlord, the Rachni Queen's fate, Anderson's role in both councils and the fate of the Collector Base, and more) unlike OTL the readiness scale does not go down as fast as in OTL thereby letting newcomers and longtime fans get to a full 100% readiness even if they rarely play the Multiplayer section. The readiness scale goes up everytime a lore specific mission has been completed with those who have reached 100% before the penultimate mission boosting the War Asset numbers instead. The scale will play a factor during the final battle as it drastically affects Priority Earth's three-part stage.

Now the War Assets remain as they are in OTL as it represents the overall military strength of the galaxy, players aiming for the best outcome by the end of the game must have their war asset score past 6000 (Of course this gets harder as the game goes on since casualties are bound to happen) however with the right decisions (both minor and major) this can be achieved, players that started from ME2 can get up to 5500 and will inevitably suffer casualties while those starting from ME3 can get a bittersweet outcone or a phyrric victory. Depending on what Shepard chose by the end of ME1, the bulk of the armed forces of the galacy will either be the Alliance or the Citadel Council, each having different war assets to contribute, the fate of the Collector Base significantly boosts faction specific war assets depending on who Shepard gave it to with a shared +10 scale (Cerberus gets +5 while the Alliance gets +5 as well should Shepard gave the base to TIM) while destroying the Collector Base will only warrant a small +5 boost. Interviews with Emily Wong will also increase the war asset score for a bit while doing side quests on the Citadel boosts both the readiness and war asset score while also affecting the situation in the citadel by Act 3 of the game.

Multiplayer while not played much lets players get another view of the war on the eyes of someone that's not Shepard, there will also be lore specific Multiplayer matches that players can participate (The most popular being that of a hold the line scenario where Quarian players must defend a communications relay within the time limit while fighting against a never ending horde of reaper ground forces, essentially OTL ME3's Kal'Reegar's mission)

Now continuing where we left off, the Gibraltar manages to jump until they reached Mar's atmosphere, during the time getting there Shepard is forced to think of plans as Vega attempts to ask the commander on Admiral Anderson's whereabouts and leaving Earth. After Shepard berates Vega an emergency broadcast from Admiral Hackett occurs with the admiral urging Shepard to make haste to Mars where Liara T'Soni was waiting. It is here Johann tells Shepard on the reason of Liara's presence there (Dialogue will vary depending on whether players completed the Darker Powers side quest or not), Shepard and his team land on Mars as Johann stays on the Gibraltar in an attempt to contact the Alliance parliament or any Hohenzollern family member. Shepard and his team then head to where the Prothean archives facility is and immediately run into enemies in Cerberus armor, a brief firefight occurs before the small squad is defeated by Shepard's party who then proceed inside. Shepard will then be questioned by the Virmire Survivor on their allegiance and whether or not they still have ties to Cerberus, Shepard can either rebuff them or attempt to convince them of there severed ties with Cerberus, either way the Virmire Survivor would then say that the events of Arrival changed their opinion on the Commander.

The rest of the mission proceeds as in OTL with a brief fight between 'Cerberus' soldiers and Liara in the vents, Vega being sent back to the shuttle to cover their only exit, videos on a Dr. Eva Core being part of the Cerberus team sent to Mars before the revelation that they orchestrated the attack. It is here Liara reveals that the sabotage led to her files regarding the superweapon capable of defeating the Reapers had been deleted and so the group is forced to fight all the way till the archives section. One nasty revelation is what they discovered beneath one of the dead trooper's mask, and out comes a husk-like human face. Not just any human face, Shepard's face. When the Virmire Survivor questions Shepard about this they can either respond with a dismissive tone or (if they talked to Miranda back in ME2 regarding the Lazarus project) imply that Cerberus had cloned their body, and somehow used it as a template for their foot soldiers. Upon the group reaching the archives they immediately get to work retrieving the blueprints, as both Liara and the Virmire survivor do so Shepard wanders off to a part of the archives and here he sees a figure reconstructing itself with a technology Shepard knew all too well. The Illusive Man then talks to Shepard after they aski him of what his forces were doing on Mars, TIM replies with a smirk as he looks at the hologram of the superweapon before replying that he was after what he always wanted, a key to defeating the Reapers. (Players either wearing headphones or with really good hearing will start to notice a slight difference in TIM's theme as while the ME2 version had traces of morally gray benevolence the ME3 version is more menacing and random parts of said theme being more distorted), after Shepard either argues on joining forces or swearing to kill his traitorous hide TIM remarks that he was willing to go beyond what was necessary something that he believes Shepard would do as well, but at the cost of humanity's place in the galaxy (TIM's attitude will also depend on the fate of the Council and that of the Collector Base). Liara then calls after Shepard saying that parts of the archive regarding the superweapon was being erased and before Shepard could reply TIM disappears after bidding Shepard farewell.

The Virmire Survivor meanwhile tracks down the cause of the deletion and finds Dr. Core there, before they could stop the scientist however she attacks the survivor briefly before running away. A chase occurs after this as Shepard contacts Vega to get the shuttle up and running, Joker suddenly radios in telling Shepard to hurry as Admiral Hackett has sounded a retreat from the Sol System while the Gibraltar has detected reaper ships heading for Mars. The mission reaches its climax as Vega rams into the Cerberus shuttle causing it to crash. Of course it is revealed here that Dr. Core was a combat android all along and this shows when it overpowers the Virmire Survivor before it is ordered by a female voice to terminate every witness. Shepard and Liara then defeat the android and evacuate from Mars with both the injured virmire survivor and the deactivated android in tow just as Reaper ships start landing on Mars.

Shepard then has a nightmare on the child they rescued as voices of dead comrades whisper to them, the horns of the Reapers are heard as Harbinger seemingly tells Shepard of the inevitability of the cycle continuing before killing the child in front of Shepard.

The Gibraltar then journeys to the Citadel (With an improved version of ME1's Citadel theme playing in the background) it is here players will get a good look at how different everything is around the Citadel (With either the Alliance fleets patrolling the station or that of the Citadel Council plus the Destiny Ascension) after seeing to the Virmire Survivor's safety towards the hospital ward Shepard then heads to the council chamber where either the Alliance led council or the Big Three are waiting, both have varying degrees of conversations with Udina (With the Alliance led council reeling after the destruction of Arcturus Station and the loss of communication from Earth while the Big Three tell Udina that even if Earth was facing the brunt of the attack the main focus was to regroup), regardless it is clear the Council is unsure what to make of the supposed superweapon especially when it became clear that while they have enough resources to build the weapon a key component called The Catalyst was needed for its activation. Because of this the council could do nothing but merely order their forces to begin entrenching themselves.

Udina and Shepard then meet in his office and both discuss on what plans they can come up with to deal with the Reapers when an unexpected visitor arrives, which is revealed to be the turian councillor/liason (Either Turian Councillor Sparatus or his replacement Quentius) who says that while the predicament of the Alliance is unfortunate the Turian proposes a solution, that involving the Krogan, but in order to do that the elected Primarch of Palaven (And therefore De Facto leader of the Turian Hierarchy in times of extreme crisis) has to be the one to do make it happen via a War Summit and he's stuck on the moon base of Manae, the Turian rep then urges Shepard that if the Primarch is rescued then the war summit can occur. Udina agrees with this plan as both or just Udina reinstates Shepard's status as a SPECTRE (With either Udina or Sparatus lampshading the need to forego the whole ceremony thing). Shepard can then speak further with Udina and it is revealed here that most of the Alliance leadership was present on Arcturus station when it was destroyed by the Reapers, he then comments that no word has come from the leaders of Earth's nations as well with Udina fearing that even the Kaiser and most of the imperial family perishing during the attack. He then comments that the only Hohenzollerns they have accounted for was Prince Johann and his older brother Crown Prince Fredreich Augustin (Depending on who leads the council the crown prince is either the Hohenzollern representative or was there as a citizen to get away from Earthly politics).

With the Alliance leadership decapitated Udina then either says that his status as Councillor has led to him being the De Facto leader of the Entire Alliance and so creates a triumvirate with him, Hackett and Anderson being the members, if the council did not survive however he says that the Alliance led council now stands as the de facto leadership for the Alliance with himself as Chancellor. Regardless while Hackett is de facto supreme commander of Alliance forces Shepard is made overall commander of the galaxy as Udina remarks that despite previous grievances Shepard had with Udina he is willing to look past that for the sake of victory and so urges Shepard to 'do what he does best' and wishes him good luck. (I always had a soft spot for Udina's character development though in this version he will be actually present all the way till the end)

After this Shepard can take their time to journey around the new map of the citadel to interact with familliar faces (Punching Al-Jallani, Meeting Thane Krios and Commander Bailey of C-Sec, visiting the Virmire survivor, getting interviewed by Emily Wong whom Shepard can grant acess to the Gibraltar in return for exclusive coverage of the Reaper War, unexpectedly meeting Aria T-Loak, etc) and overhear the current state of the war (Even acquire intel on certain war assets). After that Shepard can return to the Gibraltar to begin the next mission.

Shepard can also explore the newly improved Gibraltar-SR2 (Long time fans will like the return of the Alliance aesthetic design of the ship's interior) with the SR2 theme having semblences of the first normandy's theme while still keeping its own version, the new war room lets Shepard view the war assets they have acquired as well as clusters and systems controlled by the Reapers and the Cult (To help playerswhen trying to find war assets), going down the Shuttle bay will have Shepard interact with shuttle pilot Steve Cortez (Plus a fenris mech one of Earth's engineers accidentally left behind, players can make the mech a pet or live it be) Both the MAKO and the Hammerhead are in the bay where Shepard can take either vehicles on small missions involving limited exploration. Shepard can also talk to the squad members here (A tradition by this stage) with Shepard expressing surprise on Liara's Shadow Broker equipment if they never did the LOTSB mission back in ME2, Johann takes up residence in Thane Krios' former quarters and conversation with Shepard reveals that the Hohenzollern imperial family has indeed lost much, when Shepard asks if he has contacted his older brother yet Johann says he has not although he's not sure if he should given neo maximists had considered Johann himself as his brother's replacement for crown prince. Shepard can either agree or still suggest that he call his brother for they were family after all. Regardless the decision Johann will say that he has some thinking to do. He then tells Shepard of an old family legend among the Hohenzollern family, of a White Stag with a double headed eagle birthmark always being seen before something big occurs. Johann then says he saw of such a creature hours before the fall of Earth. Shepard can either dismiss it as an old legend or simply say it is a mere coincedence.

After setting a course to the Turian Home system a cutscene plays as both Shepard and Joker prepare to arrive, Johann joins the two as they all wait in anticipation. The scene shifts to Turian ships already battling Reaper ships as Palaven is shown in the background with large swathes of land being in orange (Thus letting Shepard and the players know that the battle for Palaven had begun). The mission is mostly the same as in OTL, The elected primarch dead and the need to rescue the sucessor that was voted by the other primarchs, meeting up with Garrus Vakarian again, Liara going back to the Gibraltar cause of something happening to the same and EDI. After several close calls (Plus fighting TWO brutes, one normal, and one possessed by a Reaper) the group manages to get to where General Victus is. Victus reluctantly agrees to Shepard's suggestion on leaving the battlefield as he stares at Palaven from the base.

After this mission (As well as finding out EDI took control of the android and becomes part of the combat squad) Hackett debriefs Shepard on the situation as well on what the commander must do to ensure the resistance against the reapers can be maintained. As Hackett disconnects players then will get a look at the beginnings of the superweapon codenamed as the Crucible being built thus giving players incentive to defeat the Reapers. Several side quests plus one other lore specific mission activate after completing Priority Palaven. Several of these side quests will involve either sabotaging the Cult and the Reaper ground forces' war effort or stopping their attacks against several targets (OTL's Grissom Academy: Evacuation, Aralahk Company and Rogue Scientists ((TTL it's called Stranded Scientists)) are part of these, though all have a time limit as to when they can be completed so if players need every single war asset to get a favorable outcome during the final battle better to do the side quests immediately.) Some of these side quests will have Shepard reunite with some of their squad from ME2 so doing these will not only boost the war asset score but also make them available as squad leaders by priority Earth.

The other major mission is the one TTL Bioware have been teasing since ME3 was in development. From Ashes (Which is NOT a Day 1 DLC mission) has Commander Shepard return to where it all began, Eden Prime where they are given intel regarding a supposed Prothean weapon that has the Reaper controlled Cerberus faction and the Cult afraid. The mission goes as in OTL as Shepard, Liara and whoever they brought fight off a combined force made of Cultists (Who look like a mesh between organic and machine, cyborgs) and 'Cerberus'. Various resistance fighters would be periodically seen giving Shepard the oppurtunity to push forward while also giving crucial intel to them (Thus increasing another war asset's score), like in OTL Shepard will also get visions of the previous cycle due to the Prothean Cipher he had back in ME1, thus providing a first hand look on the final days of the Prothean remnants in Eden Prime and eventually the source of the alleged weapon. A real living prothean. Who upon getting thawed is surprised that humans are already in space. And the ones leading the charge instead of the Asari.

The Prothean, going by the name Javik looks the same as in OTL with the only difference being his personality, as while he still calls the species of the current cycle primitives he's more curious to the level of technology the current cycle possess (Codex entries from previous games plus Javik's convos will reveal that the Protheans were benevolent during the later stages of their empire), while his knowledge is only that of military he becomes a member of Shepard's crew (He still keeps his trolling however, after fifty thousand years locked in a fridge you tend to develop a coping mechanism), Joker will then jokingly lampshade the fact that if they were gonna lose the war they can just stuff Shepard in a fridge and wait for another fifty thousand year skip, thereby upgrading Shepard from being famous to outright legendary.

The next mission begins as the Gibraltar docks with other diplomatic ships where the Krogan chieftain, a Salarian Dalatrass and Primarch Victus were waiting. Whether the Krogan chieftain is Wrex or Wreav it is clear the Salarian dalatrass is hostile to the Krogan's demand concerning the Genophage. Primarch Victus is forced to accept the fact that it is the only way to get the Krogan to join much to the Dalatrass' chagrin. The Krogan chieftain then reveals footage that the Salarian union has been harboring fertile Krogan females via an informant (Depending on a certain Salarian's survival the leaked footage will either be handheld or from security cameras), Shepard then launches a mission to reterieve the females alongside the krogan chieftain after either berating the dalatrass for being too selfish or outright hostile for keeping this key to the alliance a secret, so Shepard's team then go down to the Salarian homeworld of Sur'Kesh to retrieve the females.

A brief conversation follows between Shepard's team with the Krogan chieftain and it is clear Wrex and Wreav are indeed polar opposites to each other as Wreav only accepted Shepard's help due to their reputation and as such they are only a means to an end for Wreav's plans for the future to which he emphasizes as that of Krogan dominance. Wreav does not discover Shepard's role in the deletion of Maelon's genophage data.

Wrex meanwhile will be jovial and friendly towards Shepard (Especially if the members brought in are the classic ME1 team) especially in regards to future plans on redeveloping Tuchanka while rediscovering the krogan's lost culture. Of course Shepard won't know any of this if Maelon's data was deleted as Wrex finds out about it forcing Shepard to either apologize or site their reasons to which Wrex will either be forgiving to Shepard's apology or state that he'll be looking out for his people after such a betrayal. Either way Maelon's data will be a factor at the end of Priority Tuchanka.

After a brief standoff at an STG base between Shepard's group, the Krogan chieftain and the Salarians, they are then allowed through except for the chieftain as a compromise. Shepard can take their time and interact with the personnel around the entrance (The feces analyser joke is still there because rule of funny :D:p), if Kirrahe survived Virmire he'll be able to talk to Shepard regarding their role in helping the STG team stop Saren even citing that their legendary standoff with Urdnot Wrex already being talked about in STG ranks (Wrex will then comment that so-called standoff was typical Krogan diplomacy with a slice of tension added before laughing) Kirrahe then whispers to Shepard that they can count on his support as well as that of the military arm forces regardless of the outcome (His replacement makes no promises and is an actual racist prick). There would be scattered convos on an anomaly in the sensors which then turn into the detection of a small fleet of Terminus ships appearing above the Salarian homeworld causing everyone into battle stations. After meeting Mordin (Or his replacement STG Agent Padok Wiks) and freeing the only surviving Krogan female the Cult of the Ascended arrives with Cerberus backing them up again. A fierce battle occurs as scattered STG convo chatter imply a traitor was working as the facility's location was top secret, Shepard is able to interact with notes and exhibits on dealing with the Reapers (Including a Yahg cameo complete with a comical reference to LOTSB), the firefight continues until it ends with the destruction of an ATLAS mech. Missions on Tuchanka are then unlocked including that of a bomb defusal side mission. Mordin/Wiks and the Krogan female; codenamed Eve can be interacted during their stay and here Shepard can learn more on krogan society as well as that of the roles of the female. Talking with Mordin/Wiks will give Shepard more information on them being the source as well as more bits on the females and the cure (With backstory dialogue for Wiks), Mordin wil also plan to retire to a beach running tests on seashells after it was all over.

As Priority Tuchanka begins, Shepard is then contacted by the Salarian dalatrass urging them to rethink their decision regarding the genophage while citing the long term consequences after the galaxy wins the war (Unlike OTL this is portrayed in a more grey area as players and Shepard contemplate on such a choice and the factors that go with it), the group then head down to Tuchanka's sacred hallows, Shepard will then have a tense moment where they can keep quiet or confess on the Salarian offer, here the situation then escalates into conflict upon ambush by reaper ground forces, Shepard's team dispatches the forces with ease as the krogan chieftain begins a speech on what lies ahead (Wrex's being reclaiming their lost heritage while Wreav's being the war ripe for vengeance) said speech is cut short as an opposition faction led by another krogan (Wreav to Wrex's and a Jorgal krogan to Wreav's), a brief standoff occurs before Eve rallies all the krogan into defeating the destroyer guarding the key to the krogan's future. The rest of the mission proceeds like in OTL, with Shepard discovering intact Krogan ruins and something about tge 'Mother of Thresher Maws, Ravagers make their appearance here again in their improved version, after the crew are rescued Shepard is given the choice to keep quiet again or confess on the Salarian offer, whatever choice was made the final act of Priority: Tuchanka begins with the Krogan chieftain giving words of assurance to Shepard (Wrex decreeing their name to be synonymous with Hero while Wreav encourages Shepard to 'fight like a krogan'), after a tough fight against ground forces that ends with an epic cutscene of Kalros 'Mother of All Thresher Maws' attacking the destroyer and dragging in to the ground. The final decisions begins here.

The fight between Reaper and Thresher Maw has left the facility heavily damaged and so forces Mordin/Wiks to activate the cure manually, they will then find out of the sabotage if Shepard never confessed, but this doesn't stop the Salarian scientists in activating the cure, Shepard can then attempt to persuade them of such a follow provided that several factors are put into play (A high diplo skill, Eve being dead and Wreav as leader), if the requirements are checked then this convinces the scientists to not cure the genophage, Mordin fakes his death then joins in contributing to the war asset score while Wiks will simply go into hiding. If Shepard fails to convince them (And this will be the case if Eve is alive and also if Wrex is the leader) however they have the option of shooting the scientists or letting them go. Shooting them will have Shepard throw away the pistol he held with disgust (To make matters gut wrenching it is the carnifex pistol, the same pistol Mordin gives the player back in ME2) all while Mordin/Wiks try in vain to activate the cure even going to the point of crawling towards the console.

If the above choice was taken a melancholic theme plays should Shepard shoot the scientist while convincing them will only play the first notes thus leaving tgat one in uncertainty. Vigil's theme will not play in both cases with only silence to fill the gap. The Renegade scale fills up significantly if the scientist was shot.

Choosing to cure the genophage will have the scientist comment on the future of the krogan (With a promising one should Wrex and Eve survive while an uncertain one if Wreav is the leader with no Eve around) before going to the tower, Shepard can attempt a paragon interrupt but this will not stop them, the scientist bids Shepard farewell (Mordin wishing to run his tests on the seashells while Wiks misquote's Gandalf), triumphant music plays as the cure disperses into the atmosphere while players get a good look on the scientist one final time before the room explodes, Vigil's theme will then play from this point until the end of the mission to emphasize on a new hope for the Krogan species. Wreav will comment on Mordin/Wik's role going unsung while with Wrex as leader he jokingly will pay tribute to the deceased scientist by naming their child after them, Eve then gives her true name to Shepard as she calls them a friend to the Vatarian people.

Hackett then debriefs Shepard on the situation and even comments on military defections from the Salarian Union alongside the entirerity of the STG while the admiral muses that the last time such a blatant disobedience to the union was not seen since the League of One's rebellion. After this Prinarch Victus bids farewell to Shepard citing the need to organize the newly contructed alliance between the Krogan and the Turian with the primarch wishing Shepard good luck.

Snother nightmare occurs after this with Shepard looking down on dead bodies in a location that depends ontheir military backgroun (Elysium, Akuze or Torfan respectively) Shepard is then taunted by these supposed dead people on the failure that will happen to him while whispers of their dead comrades continue.

A strange thing occurs after Shepard wakes up and is informed of their imminent arrival to the Citadel, this nagging feeling Shepard has is confirmed as the Gibraltar arrives on the Widow system where the Cotadel is, the fleets guarding the citadel have started fighting off ships that had traces of reaper tech attached to them. A race against time as the second battle of the Citadel escalates....

Act 2 has begun...

And that's the entirerity of Act 1, hope ya fellas find it good :D
 
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I just love the White Stag's (alleged) appearance. Great work as always.
 
Improbable, Part 1

Nicholasburg (Nicomedia), Federal State Kingdom of Anatolia, Holy Roman Empire - May 31, 2010, 9:09 AM

On a busy street and crowded sidewalk, Milo, a very focused man, stood and stared at the activity around him as he twirled and tapped the fingers on his right hand like an abacus. He studied a woman strolling on the opposite side of the street as she checked her watch and handed some coins to an older homeless man. She entered a flower shop to purchase some daisies. Milo adjusted his focus to the timing of the traffic lights at the nearby intersection, then to a city bus as it stopped for passengers. He then studied a man sitting on a bench near an Imperial Mail postal drop box. A deep pothole filled with water sat in the middle of street not far from the mail drop. Having developed his plan, he walked through the traffic to the mailbox. A car stopped and honked just short of striking Milo, who continued undistracted on his path.

Milo reached the mailbox and placed a ballpoint pen on top of it, standing it up vertically on end. Still focused on his plan, he took a second to study the balanced writing utensil and was temporarily delighted with his actions. On the street, a bike messenger raced from a distant intersection and down the sidewalk toward Milo's location. Milo mentally noted this and quietly moved away from the box and the balanced pen. The woman he studied earlier left the flower shop and walked to the intersection to wait for a crossing opportunity. She was preoccupied with her smartphone and wasn’t paying an inordinate amount of attention to her environment.

The detonator to Milo's planned chain reaction went off seconds later. A cab hit the pothole and splashed water onto the mailbox. The pen lost balance and fell to the sidewalk. The man sitting on the bench noticed the pen and walked over to pick it up. The bike messenger racing on the sidewalk crashed into the man and then slammed into a nearby fruit stand.

“Agh!” the biker shouted.

The grocer ran out of his store and over to him.

“You alright, sir?” he said.

As the fruit rolled onto the ground, the homeless man rushed over to grab some of it. Bystanders rushed over to help the man on the bench and the biker, while the grocer fought with the homeless man over the stolen fruit. The commotion on the sidewalk distracted the bus driver, who didn’t notice the light turning red and the woman and other pedestrians crossing. As the woman crossed, the bus slammed straight into her at full speed. Not bothering to watch the carnage unfolding, Milo casually walked away. He was a little sad, because he lost his pen.


X-Division headquarters (Omar Mukhtar Building), Konstanstadt - 10:00 AM

Angela got out of her car. She pushed a button on her remote key, and the car quickly drove off to find parking. She turned back to the building and walked inside, passing the lines for the security checkpoints by scanning her Show Me. She made a turn and walked down a flight of stairs before arriving at her destination…a small office in the basement. It was only when she was in the room that she realized she wasn’t supposed to be there. But why was she there then? Deciding she was just disoriented by her last mission, she turned around and left.

“Hey,” a voice said.

She turned back around and saw a woman in the purple robes of the imperial family sitting at a desk in the middle of the room. Behind her, a poster with a UFO and the phrase “I want to believe” had appeared on the wall.

“Remember me?” Elisabeth Alexandra said.

“No,” Angela said.

“Actually, you do,” Elisabeth Alexandra said.

“Angie?” Annie said, tapping Angela on her shoulder.

Angela looked at Annie and then back at the room, which was empty again. There was no poster on the walls.

“I saw you going the wrong way,” Annie said, “What are you doing here?”

“Uh…” Angela said. “I don’t know.”

“Come on,” Annie said, “We should be in the situation room.”

“Yeah,” Angela said, following her out of the office.

They took the stairs up to the situation room, where Olga was waiting for them.

“Welcome back, Agent Hansen,” she said, “You do remember me, right?”

“Yeah,” Angela said, “You're that tightwad who owes me seventy annons.”

“Damn it!” Olga cursed. “I was, I was hoping you'd forget about that. It's good to see you.”

“You too,” Angela said, shaking her hand.

“No worse for the wear,” Annie said, “You look like you got some rest.”

“A continuous IV drip and government-issue antipsychotics, it's like instant R & R,” Angela said.

“It sounds like fun,” Olga said, “Maybe I should, uh, dive off the deep end.”

“Hey, you think anyone would notice a difference?” Angela said.

“You know what I realized this minute?” Annie said. “I didn't miss you at all, not even an itty, little bit.”

Angela smiled. “Come on, you were lost without me. Admit it, cousin.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Annie conceded.

In Kurtz’s office, Kurtz and Walternate watched Angela talk with her cousin and colleagues.

“How does she seem?” Walternate asked.

“She seems like Angela Hansen,” Kurtz said.

“For all intents and purposes, she is Agent Hansen,” Walternate said, “She's internalized her traits, her memories, her knowledge. When tested, she consistently responds as our Agent Hansen would under similar circumstances.”

“And what about our Agent Hansen?” Kurtz said. “Has she made contact?”

“She is on the other side... focused on the task at hand,” Walternate said.

“Permission to speak freely, Herr Minister,” Kurtz said.

“Go ahead,” Walternate said.

“Putting an impostor on my team is too big a risk,” Kurtz said, “Now, you can run all the tests you want, but you don't know how this Angela will respond in the field.”

“We have no other choice,” Walternate said, “She needs to be completely immersed in Agent Hansen’s life. Over time, she will reach a plateau, and her new identity will become fixed, become permanent.”

“How much time?” Kurtz said. “Because I'm not willing to lose one of my legitimate agents.”

“You don't know what we have to gain,” Walternate said.

“Which is what, exactly?” Kurtz said, getting up.

“Sit down,” Walternate said.

Kurtz immediately sat down.

“She can move between worlds,” Walternate said, “We have discovered some ways to cross over. But each comes with their own dangerous consequences and inefficiencies. She... she can cross without harm. The Science Division is working-up a series of experiments. We need her to submit willingly, which she'll only do if she believes that she belongs here. Wilhelm... if we can learn what she already knows…"

“We can begin to defend ourselves,” Kurtz said, “And what if her new identity doesn't hold?”

Walternate got up and walked away. “Then she'll no longer be necessary. Keep me apprised.”

"Yes, sir,” Kurtz said.


Nicholasburg (Nicomedia) - 1:00 PM

A black X-Division transport vehicle zoomed through the streets of Nicholasburg. Inside, Angela and the rest of the team prepared their equipment.

“Yesterday an Imperial Metro bus in downtown ran a red light, killing a person,” Annie said, reading a report from her tablet, “This morning, same thing happened again in Nicholasburg. Two mornings in a row, two buses, both of them human-driven, kill two people. Now, Di ran the probabilities through her head, and it's a statistical anomaly.”

“What happened at yesterday's crash?” Angela said.

“Police considered it a routine accident, so we have no more information,” Annie said, handing Angela the tablet, “You mind taking over?”

“Sure,” Angela said, “Okay... the first victim's name is Coleman Arnold, 43 years old. He was on his way to his job. He is a hospital case worker. There was an emergency that Sunday. Must've been his unlucky day.”

“Alright, we're coming in,” Olga said as the van slowed, “Oxygen, people. Nicholasburg has some of the worst pollution in the Empire, like Ratheim.”

They prepared oxygen masks.

“Air quality normal, no oxygen needed,” Annie said.

They put away their oxygen masks.

“Okay, listen up everybody,” Annie said, “Agent Kazdan will be meeting us on the site. She'll be calling the shots.”

They arrived at their destination and got out. Annie greeted a nearby police officer and took out her X-Division badge.

“Agent Humboldt with X-Division,” she said.

A few meters away, Louise walked around the site, Dr. Cabrera following after her.

“Watch the time Agent Kazdan,” Cabrera said, “I need you back in that chamber in eight hours, or your burns will regress. You can kiss all that healing goodbye.”

“Easy come, easy go,” Louise said.

“Oh, you think you're amusing,” Cabrera said.

“I am amusing!” Louise said. “God, I miss this.”

“I bet,” Olga said, “Did, uh, Kurtz download you yet?”

“Talked to him on the way over,” Louise said, “I need a victim ID.”

“I’ll see what I can do,” Annie said.

“Where's my—” Louise said.

Angela handed her a field kit.

“Here,” she said, “You look better. The scars are going away.”

“You look sane,” Louise said, “You doing alright?”

“So far,” Angela said, “I mean, it's my first day back, so... listen, I didn't know what I was doing. Something had happened..."

“But nothing happened,” Louise said, “We're good.”

“Yeah?” Angela said.

“Yeah,” Louise said.

“Don’t worry, Angie,” Annie said, “We’re good too.”

“And me?” Olga said.

“You still owe me those 70 annons,” Angela said.

“Damnit,” Olga said.

“She died on impact,” a paramedic said, pointing to the woman’s body, “No attempts to revive her were made.”

“Obviously,” Annie said, "Still have any fingerprints?”

“Right hand's probably your best bet,” the paramedic said.

Annie scanned the woman’s fingerprints on one of her devices.

“Name's Juliana Furstenburg, 32,” she said, “Lives right here in Nicholasburg.”

“Anything else?” the paramedic said.

Annie pointed at the flowers lying next to her. “She liked daisies.”

Louise walked around, scanning the air with another device. She put it away.

“No sign of environmental degradation,” she said, “Molecular cohesion is intact."

“So why is this an X-Division case?” Olga said.

Annie picked up the ballpoint pen.

“Hey, take a look at this,” she said.

“What, you got something?” Angela said.

“When's the last time you saw one of these?” Annie said.

“God, a pen?” Angela said. “I don't know. Preschool maybe.”

“I didn't know they still made these,” Olga said.

“It's obviously new,” Louise said, “No dents, no scratches.”

“Where'd you find it?” Angela said.

Annie pointed at the mailbox. “Right there, by the mailbox."

"Oh, that's where the bike messenger said he swerved, so he wouldn't hit some old guy who was bending down,” Angela said.

“Huh,” Louise said.

“Uh, you want to share?” Olga said. “Or are we supposed to stand here and watch you think?"

“Alright…” Louise said. “It's pretty rare finding one of these just lying around.”

“Well, maybe the old guy bent down to pick it up, and that caused the bike messenger to swerve away from him,” Annie said.

“Causing him to hit the stand,” Olga said.

“Like the pen started a... chain reaction,” Louise said.

Angela’s attention, though, was distracted by a familiar face on the other side of the streets. She saw Elisabeth Alexandra standing there, watching. A car drove in front of her, and she vanished.

“Hey, did you find something?” Annie asked.

“What is it?” Olga said.

“Sorry, I thought I recognized someone,” Angela said, shaking her head.

“You okay?” Louise said.

“Yeah,” Angela said.

“Alright, so…” Annie said. “X Incident... or not?”

“Not sure yet,” Louise said, “But something weird definitely happened here.”

“Definitely not the usual one,” Annie said, “But it’s a lot like the earlier X Incidents from twenty years ago.”

“Yeah,” Angela said.
 
Good to know Elizabeth Alexandra's gone the way of her ancestors and ascended as a force ghost. Perhaps we'll get a scene like in Lion King but this time with Angie and Elizabeth Alexandra :D:p
 
This Milo fellow seems like he is very good at understand cause and effect, and has decided to do awful things with that gift. Fun. On an actually positive topic, brainwashing seems to be ineffective.
 
Good to know Elizabeth Alexandra's gone the way of her ancestors and ascended as a force ghost. Perhaps we'll get a scene like in Lion King but this time with Angie and Elizabeth Alexandra :D:p
That would actually be a pretty touching and emotional moment actually, through I was under the impression that only Hohenzollerns could interact with force ghosts of their ancestors so it might just be a reversed Simba and Mufasa type sequence with Otto and his daughter.
 
Good to know Elizabeth Alexandra's gone the way of her ancestors and ascended as a force ghost. Perhaps we'll get a scene like in Lion King but this time with Angie and Elizabeth Alexandra :D:p
I can only imagine what Otto would do as a force ghost. Maybe he'll be the Obi-Wan to the Kaisers in Stellaris.
This Milo fellow seems like he is very good at understand cause and effect, and has decided to do awful things with that gift. Fun. On an actually positive topic, brainwashing seems to be ineffective.
I wouldn't say awful just yet...
That would actually be a pretty touching and emotional moment actually, through I was under the impression that only Hohenzollerns could interact with force ghosts of their ancestors so it might just be a reversed Simba and Mufasa type sequence with Otto and his daughter.
Or the Hansens are actually a Hohenzollern cadet branch. Not confirming or denying anything, but hey, you never know.;)
 
Plot twist, the Hansens are actually descendants of Owen Niederung's protege Bernadette thus connecting them to the Hohenzollerns and thus explaining Angie's abilities and her daughter's importance :eek:

Also as a side note, would Chris Hansen still exist in TTL? I imagine if he does his to Catch a Predator tv show would just be him working as an Athanatoi agent and arresting no good pedos :D. Now that I think about it, Zilla as a kaiju won't probably exist in TTL given that LegendaryGoji would probably be the first Roman version of the King of the Monsters, a shame if that happens, I quite liked the kaiju's design (Plus i grew up watching the cartoon sequel so I might be more open to Zilla's existence)
 
Plot twist, the Hansens are actually descendants of Owen Niederung's protege Bernadette thus connecting them to the Hohenzollerns and thus explaining Angie's abilities and her daughter's importance :eek:

Also as a side note, would Chris Hansen still exist in TTL? I imagine if he does his to Catch a Predator tv show would just be him working as an Athanatoi agent and arresting no good pedos :D. Now that I think about it, Zilla as a kaiju won't probably exist in TTL given that LegendaryGoji would probably be the first Roman version of the King of the Monsters, a shame if that happens, I quite liked the kaiju's design (Plus i grew up watching the cartoon sequel so I might be more open to Zilla's existence)
Not going to make it official (for now at least), but I like it.

He might still exist. I could add a reference to him in the next story arc, where Angela is tired of being connected to him, or something like that.

Zilla does not exist, period, although it was the first Godzilla movie I watched and I really liked it as a kid (not so much now). Unfortunately, Legendary's Monsterverse might also not exist because I wanted the original Toho (what I'll call its Chinese equivalent out of universe) films to be their own precursor to cinematic universes and have international appeal.
 
Improbable, Part 2

Angela’s apartment, Deuteron - 6:00 PM

Angela sat on the couch, watching INN while munching on sunflower seeds. She didn’t remember liking sunflower seeds before, but she somehow felt the need to eat them. She couldn’t quite put her finger on it, but she was sure she got that from someone else. To ease her restless mind, she reached for something on her waist, hoping to listen to some relaxing music, but it wasn’t there. She looked down at saw her hand grasping at air. She didn’t know what she was supposed to get there. She sighed.

Demetrios walked over to the couch, setting down a large plate of skordalia on the coffee table.

“Hey,” he said.

Angela looked at the skordalia. “You didn’t have to do that.”

“Eh, well, I felt like it,” Demetrios said, kissing her on the cheek.

“Uh, thanks,” Angela said, “Alex!”

Alexandra ran into the room and sat down with them.

“Demetrios made your favorite,” Angela said.

Alexandra smiled. “Uh, thanks. What’s the occasion?”

“First day back at work for your mom,” Demetrios said, “How was it?”

“Yeah, it was…it was pretty good,” Angela said.

They started eating from the skordalia.

“It’s great,” Angela said, “As always.”

“I could always use some improvement,” Demetrios said, “My father’s never impressed.”

“And mine is dead,” Angela said, “It’s literally impossible to impress him.”

Demetrios chuckled.

“How was school, Alex?” Angela asked.

“Fine,” Alexandra said, “Magnus asked me out to prom, actually.”

“Magnus?” Angela said. “Him?”

“Yeah, him,” Alexandra said.

“Seems like a nice guy, right?” Demetrios said.

“Good grades, good looks,” Angela said, “Seems too good to be true.”

She looked mischievously at Demetrios, who responded by kissing her on the lips.

“Whoa there!” Alexandra said.

Angela playfully pushed Demetrios away.

“You heard your daughter,” she said.

“There’s also the father-daughter dance happening on Friday,” Alexandra said, “Dad, you available for that?”

Demetrios took out his smartphone and checked his work calendar. He was on-call all week, but he was otherwise free.

“I think I can make time,” he said.

“By the way, what’s happening in northern Bavaria?” Angela said, pointing at the TV. “I heard it's a pretty bad outbreak in Erlangen.”

“There are 22 confirmed smallpox cases so far,” Demetrios said, shaking his head.

“Has the ZKP called yet?” Angela said.

“No, no one's assigned me yet,” Demetrios said, “What are you saying?”

“You’re a doctor,” Angela said, “One of the Empire’s best. I mean, you treated the Emperor himself a few years ago. The Red Cross and ZKP would love to have you on the ground in Erlangen treating patients. They’d pay handsomely. And you can be back in time for that dance this Friday.”

“Wait, why are we talking about this?” Demetrios said.

“You scratch my back, I scratch yours, right?” Angela said. “Only fair I help your career out.”

“But why are we talking about me now?” Demetrios said.

“I don’t know,” Angela said.

“Mom, are you okay?” Alexandra asked. “How was it like being back at work?”

“Well, at first, it was normal,” Angela said, “And then we're out in the field, and... I saw a face.”

“A face?” Alexandra said.

“Yeah,” Angela said.

“Was it someone you know?” Demetrios said.

“Sort of,” Angela said, “It was this woman in an expensive purple dress, like a princess, but she wasn't Princess Eva or any of the other princesses. I never saw her before, but somehow…I feel like I knew her. She reminded me of you, Alexandra.”

“Was she me?” Alexandra said.

“No, she looked nothing like you,” Angela said, “It was like I was hallucinating.”

“Did you tell Kurtz?” Demetrios said.

“No,” Angela said.

“Maybe you should take leave again,” Demetrios said.

“But I want to be there,” Angela said.

“I know, but you have to tell someone, a doctor, at least,” Demetrios said, “Like me.”

“I just did, Demetrios,” Angela said, “But I need my life back.”

“And I love your gung-ho attitude, but honey, you just got over a breakdown,” Demetrios said, “If you need help, that's fine.”

“Demetrios, it was my first day back,” Angela said, “I was nervous. I don't think that it's surprising there's a trace..."

“It’s fine,” Demetrios said, “I can take myself off call. Maybe it's not a good time to travel. The folks at Erlangen seem to have things under control.”

“No, that’s not what I want,” Angela said, “You don’t have to make time for me. I can take care of it myself. By the way, are those avocados? Where did you get them? How much?”

“Don't worry about that, Angela,” Demetrios said, “What if it happens again?"

“It won’t,” Angela said.

“But if it does, you'll tell Kurtz, right?” Demetrios said. “Because I love you. I care about you.”

“I'll tell him,” Angela said.

“Thank you,” Demetrios said.

“Can we eat?” Alexandra said. “Food’s getting cold.”

“Yeah, sure,” Demetrios said.

“Okay,” Angela said.

They continued eating.

“So, father-daughter dance, go or no-go?” Alexandra said.

“Of course it’s a go,” Demetrios said.

“And Magnus for prom?” Alexandra said.

“Bring him over for dinner sometime, and we’ll see,” Angela said.


X-Division

While she ate from a bowl of takeout schnitzel-ramen, Louise reviewed video footage from the crash that killed Juliana. Annie sat at her desk nearby, checking Juliana’s and Coleman’s digital records for any connection, while Olga searched through the databases on her desk computer.

“Alright, help me out here,” Louise said, “So the first bus driver was distracted by tree trimmers when he ran the red light. The second bus driver was looking at a fight over oranges. Isn't distraction the root of every accident?”

“Listen, I'm not finding any connections in these victims' bios either,” Annie said, “The first guy, Herr Arnold, worked at a hospital for the past fifteen years. The second victim, Frau Furstenburg, landed her position at Gretel Electric a little over a year ago.”

“Maybe they knew someone in common?” Louise said.

“Or maybe, despite what Di said, it's just... two freak accidents,” Olga said.

“You know, Angie thinks I'm right... about there being chain reactions that led up to the crashes,” Louise said.

“Okay,” Olga said, "Well, now that you two have, uh, rediscovered your Vulcanian Mind Meld... do you think she's doing okay?"

“Yeah,” Louise said, “Why, you don't think so?”

“I don't know,” Olga said, “I just, I just feel a little uncomfortable.”

“That's not a shocker,” Louise said, “You let a Doppelgänger hit you on the head you with a bottle because you didn't pick up on the fact that she wasn't your partner.”

“Hey, for the record, she said sorry,” Olga said.

“And you would have?” Annie said.

“I just know Angie a little better, that's all,” Louise said.

“She’s my cousin, you idiot,” Annie said.

“Whatever,” Louise said, “The point is, I would've known.”

“Yeah, keep telling yourself that, okay?” Annie said. “When she was having her breakdown, she kept on and on about how they were trying to make her believe she was somebody else, that this wasn't her life. Okay, this is going to sound nuts. What if she's telling the truth? What if it's not the real her?”

“That is nuts,” Louise said.

“Eh, I’ve heard worse,” Olga said.

“Okay, Louise, you’re right,” Annie said, “But for the record, you cannot tell those two apart. And when have I ever been wrong with my theories in the last twenty years?”

Louise pointed at the screen.

“Hey, look at this,” she said, “Over there on the ground, the lower corner.”

They saw another pen.

“That's another ballpoint pen,” Olga said.

“Get Angie, tell her we got something,” Louise said, “Someone is going around causing these accidents on purpose."

“How is that even possible?” Annie said. “I mean, what would be the odds?”

They all turned to Diana, who sat at her own terminal. She closed her eyes and then opened them again.

“0.000,” she calculated, “Impossible.”

“Di, we see impossible every day,” Annie said.

"You see improbable,” Diana said, “You're asking me if it is possible for a person to use a ballpoint pen to set off a chain of events culminating in someone getting killed by a bus twice?”

“Exactly,” Louise said.

“There's no way,” Diana said.

“But given how few ballpoint pens are out there, finding one at both crime scenes,” Annie said, “I mean, that's an anomaly. You said that yourself.”

“What if someone calculated the variables?” Louise said.

“37 people in the intersection, 22 cars, 4 trucks, 2 buses, wind speeds of 8-16 kph, and that is just to start, without factoring in chaos theory,” Diana said, “In total, we are talking about at least 120 variables in a dynamic system of differential equations. I can't solve that kind of a problem, much less manipulate the outcome to my advantage.”

“Guess getting hit on the head doesn’t always give you answers,” Olga joked.

Annie punched her in the arm.

“So there's not even the slightest chance we're dealing with a murderer?” Louise said.

“Come on, seriously?” Annie said. “What part of 0.000 don't you get?”

Diana’s computer beeped.

“What is it?” Annie said.

“It happened again,” Diana said.

“What did?” Louise said.

“Bus accident, East 85th and Gebhard,” Diana said.


Ostend - 6:30 PM

The team arrived at the accident scene, where police officers had already gathered around a bus which had crashed into a car. However, the driver was still alive.

“Have you called the ambulance?” Angela asked.

“It's on the way,” Detective Kresge said.

Angela stared at Kresge, almost as if she recognized him. Deciding it was nothing, she turned away and looked at the injured driver.

“Sir, we’re going to get you to the hospital,” she said.

“Thanks,” he said.

“Where were you sitting on the bus?” Louise asked one of the passengers.

“Right in the front, first seat,” the woman responded.

“Did you happen to notice a pen?” Annie said.

“What?” the woman said.

“ A-a pen, a-a ballpoint pen,” Olga said, “You use it to... to write with.”

“To write?” the woman said. “What’s wrong with a tablet and stylus?”

Annie walked over to Angela.

“Looks like there was some sort of commotion,” Annie said, “Dog ran into the street, distracted a bus driver. There is no way this is another coincidence.”

“Except this time it didn't work,” Angela said, “He'll make it.”

The driver tried freeing himself from his car.

“Sir, you need to stay still,” Angela said.

His movements caused a pen to roll out from under the car. Angela cursed and turned to Annie.

“It’s not over yet,” she said.

Annie ran over to Louise and Olga.

“He’s still here!” she shouted.

They scanned the crowded sidewalks for their suspect, but the sirens of the approaching ambulances made it hard to focus. Angela surveyed the crowd and soon found her suspect standing on an overpass. A pedestrian with earphones on jaywalked directly into the path of an ambulance approaching underneath and was immediately run over. Angela immediately began running toward the overpass.

“He’s up there!” she shouted.

Milo threw a bike off the overpass as Angela got closer. He stood and waited as Angela ran over to him, her gun drawn. Pedestrians gave her some room as she took out handcuffs.

“Stop!” she ordered. “Don’t move! Take your hands out of your pockets. You heard me! Put your hands on your—”

Milo looked to the side and saw a large van slowing and swerving around the bike he had thrown onto the street, making its way directly under him. He jumped off and landed on top of it, relaxing smugly as the van drove away.

“Goddamnit,” Angela said.
 
This new guy looks like he can predict stuff, the Anniona X-Division's gonna have a trickier time catching up to him if that were the case.
 
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This new guy looks like he can predict stuff, the Anniona X-Division's gonna have a trckier time cathing up to him if that were the case.
Oh, they're going to have a hard time finding him. He already knows they're onto him.
 
Props where its due, Milo knows how to make an exit. Still, I'm more interested in what Annie was musing over. We know her hunch is right, that Angela has been brainwashed. The question is who she helps in that scenario; Annie is ever the wildcard, going by her Hohenzollern-verse counterpart.
 
Props where its due, Milo knows how to make an exit. Still, I'm more interested in what Annie was musing over. We know her hunch is right, that Angela has been brainwashed. The question is who she helps in that scenario; Annie is ever the wildcard, going by her Hohenzollern-verse counterpart.
Annie isn't exactly like her Hohenzollernverse counterpart. She's gone through a different set of experiences to her counterpart. Instead, she's experienced similar things Anders did, so she's more like Anders now: always asking questions and snooping around for answers. But she's also lost two of her siblings, which makes her even more driven to find the truth. As far as Anders knew until recently, nothing happened to Anna other than she got sick for a period of time.
 
Improbable, Part 3

Ministry of Defense wing, St. Eudokimos Hospital - 9:55 PM

Louise and Angela walked down the hallway to the hyperbaric chamber.

“Give Di his physical description,” Louise said, “Have her run it through the database.”

“I did,” Angela said, “She's already working on it. You have to get back in that pod.”

“It's just a two-minute warning,” Louise said.

Cabrera emerged from the room just as they arrived.

“Agent Kazdan, what part of ‘be back in eight hours’ didn't you understand?” she said.

“You know, I still can't believe he knew the bike would cause the truck to slow down and swerve under the footbridge,” Angela said, “I mean, he didn't even look. How did he know precisely when to jump?”

Louise climbed into the chamber and closed the hatch.

“You should focus on why,” she said, “Why is he targeting these people?"

Angela took out her tablet. “Alright, I'm working on it.”

“The victims must have something in common,” Louise said, “There has to be a connection we're not seeing.”

“Cross-check their medical files, criminal records, job histories, tax histories…” Louise said.

"Shut up, okay?” Angela said. “I got it.”


Milo’s house, Ratheim (Nicaea)

Milo returned home to his sister Mary, who worriedly paced around the living room.

“Where have you been?” Mary said. "They've been calling all day.”

“What did you tell them?” Milo said.

“Nothing,” Mary said, "You have to call them back.”

Milo filled a glass of water.

“Each liquefied thing provides an instance of the proper gift being liquid,” he said, “Liquid and mass is equal. Passing through liquid and mass is the same.”

“If you don't call them, I will,” Mary said.

“But you won’t,” Milo said, "You see, your only action will be inaction. That's your pattern."

“What?” Mary said.

“97% of your actions prioritize relational bonds over other variables,” Milo said, “Eight out of nine times, you avoid making decisions that could result in a negative outcome.”

“I am not some collection of data you need to make sense of,” Mary said.

“I'm your sister,” they said simultaneously.

“I'm worried about you,” Milo said, preempting her now, “Can't you see that? All I want is for you to... be safe. That's all I've ever wanted for you. Go again. Stop finishing my sentences and let me help you. Trust me, Milo, I've always been there for you. I've always taken care of you.”

He laughed. “That was fun.”

Mary held up a small figurine of a horse, and Milo fell silent.

“Don’t,” Milo said, “I... Don't. Don’t."

“You didn't expect that, did you?” Mary said. “Because you've forgotten how to feel emotions.”

“No, no,” Milo said.

“You've forgotten us,” Mary said, "Mom gave you this as a reminder…"

“No,” Milo said.

“That you didn't have to do more than you were able to, that we loved you,” Mary said.

“That's irrelevant now,” Milo said.

“Milo, please!” Mary said, holding up the horse figurine. "I don't recognize you anymore. I made a mistake when I signed you up. I didn't mean this. You have to follow the rules. You have to do what they say. You're overreaching. Remember this.”


X-Division - June 1, 2010, 8:00 AM

“Li—listen, what time is your mommy gonna be home?” Annie said. “No, no, no, no, no, no, no. I don't want to hear you play your flute, kid. I’ll call you back.”

She hung up in frustration, and Angela rolled her chair over.

“You just hung up on a child,” she said.

Annie handed her a phone. “You talk to the next witness. I hope it's a tuba player, okay?”

“Fine,” Angela said, taking the phone, “Uh, this is Agent Hansen, can you go and connect me to the next witness, please? Excuse me? Hey, Annie.”

“Yeah?” Annie said.

“Since when do we need a code?” Angela said.

"They upgraded the system last month,” Annie said, "You don't remember?”

“Sorry,” Angela said, “I guess I'm still getting over the head trauma."

“Uh-huh,” Annie said, “Hey, Angie.”

“Yeah,” Angela said.

“You remember that time when we were at Rhodes in ‘76?” Annie said. “We were riding the Hellhole together, right? You got sick, and you threw up on the guy next to you."

“Yeah... except it was you who threw up all over that pretty boy next to you, so you can stop trying to rewrite history,” Angela said, “What, what made you think of that?”

“Witness is from Rhodes,” Annie said.

Angela looked at the case reports on the computer.

“Oh,” she said, “Hey, wait a sec…Juliana Furstenburg was a consultant for Gretel Electric.”

“I don't see the connection,” Annie said.

“The first victim worked at Brabant Hospital, right?” Angela said.

“Yeah, they mainly deal with neurological disorders, Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, PTSD, top-flight medical research,” Annie said.

“Okay, it says here Gretel Electric owns a subsidiary company called the Ivers Medical Group,” Angela said, “Ivers is also listed as one of Branbant Hospital's outside vendors.”

They looked at Olga.

“What?” she said.

“You’re driving,” Annie said.


Brabant Hospital - 9:00 AM

Angela, Annie, and Olga walked through the spacious and luxurious lobby of the hospital. Aside from the men and women walking around in lab coats, they wouldn’t have known this was part of the hospital.

“As hospitals go, not bad,” Olga said.

“Yeah, unless it's run by an evil genius who's creating accidents to kill people,” Annie said.

They walked over to a receptionist.

“Good morning,” Annie said.

“Welcome to Brabant,” the receptionist said, “What can I do for you?”

“Agents Humboldt, Hansen, and Kirova with X-Division,” Annie said, “We're here to see your Chief Medical Director.”

“Hold on, I'll let him know,” the receptionist said, picking up the phone, “Hi, it’s Violet. Could you let Doctor Levin know X-Division Agents are in the lobby? It'll just be a minute.”

She hung up. “Are we being contained?”

“Long answer?" Olga said. “Classified. Short answer? No.”

Annie pointed to the pens on the table.

“Are you seeing what I'm seeing?” she said. “Right there on the table. We're definitely in the right place.”

A doctor walked up to them.

“So sorry for the delay,” he said, “I'm Doctor Levin.”

“Agents Hansen, Humboldt, and Kirova,” Angela said.

“Please, my office is right this way,” Levin said.

They walked down a hallway, past several rooms where patients wrote and drew on paper using more ballpoint pens. Angela saw the Minister of Defense wandering around one room, but he looked too incompetent and clueless to be the dignified statesman Minister Humboldt was. She looked away for a moment, and he was gone.

“Doctor, we just noticed that a lot of your patients are using ballpoint pens,” she said.

“Well, many of our residents have trouble interfacing digitally due to their mental deficiencies,” Levin said, “Pen and paper is just a, well, an easier way to communicate.”

They sat down in Levin’s office, and Annie brought up Coleman Arnold’s picture on her tablet.

“Did you know Herr Arnold well?” Annie asked.

“We didn't socialize outside of work, but, uh, well, we were all devastated when we heard,” Levin said.

“What about this woman?” Olga said, showing a picture of Juliana on her tablet.

“Yes, Juliana Furstenburg,” Levin said, “She, uh, worked with the Ivers Medical Group. They were, uh, conducting a drug trial here. You're kidding me.”

Olga swiped left on her tablet, revealing the face of the man who was killed in the latest accident.

“Joseph Meyer?” Levin said.

“You know him?” Annie said.

“Yes,” Levin said, “But I, uh, I don't understand. He was killed too?”

“Doctor, we'll have to question all your science and medical personnel on staff,” Olga said.

“You're not looking for a doctor,” Levin said, “You're looking for a patient."

He tapped the built-in touchscreen on his desk, and a video played on one of the walls, showing several patients taking intelligence tests.

“We started this study a year ago,” he said, “We were working on creating nootropics.”

“Like smart drugs,” Annie said.

“That's right,” Levin said, “All of our test subjects started with an IQ of less than 65. Our aim was to increase their intelligence so they could function independently and normally.”

“That's a worthy goal,” Olga said.

“We thought so too,” Levin said, “And so did our sponsors.”

Angela recognized one of the patients taking a test. She was sure it was the man on the bridge.

“Stop,” she said, “That’s him.”

Levin paused the video.

“That’s Milo Stiller,” Levin said.

“You don’t sound surprised,” Annie said.

“I’m not,” Levin said, bringing up another video of Milo slowly drawing a picture, “This was Milo five months ago, measured I.Q. of 56, severe cognitive deficiency.”

He brought up a third video, where Milo was now reciting numbers in rapid fire.

“This is him after the first treatment,” Levin said.

“He's reciting the digits of pi,” Angela said.

“To one thousand decimal places, while simultaneously solving complex differential equations in his head,” Levin said.

“That is unbelievable,” Olga said.

“Eh…” Annie said.

“That was after one treatment,” Levin said, “We gave him five. Every time we administered the experimental drug, his intelligence increased exponentially. The final phase of the project allows subjects to be released under the supervision of a guardian's care.”

“And after that?” Angela said.

“After that, we return the subjects to their original state,” Levin said, “It’s mandated by Vienna. A necessary part of human drug trials. We had to determine whether there are any permanent adverse side effects."

“So Milo didn't want to be regressed, which is why he went after Coleman Arnold,” Annie said.

“We thought it was an accident,” Levin said, “I drove to Ivers and informed Juliana myself. She was concerned that the delay in regressing Milo might compromise the results. She offered to handle it herself.”

“So Milo killed her too,” Olga said, “So what about the third victim? Meyer?”

“A recovery specialist, who we contract with if somebody goes missing,” Levin said, “The thing is... I only put the order in yesterday evening, around 10, and your case file says Meyer was killed around 6:30. He hadn’t yet been assigned the task.”

“Okay, so who's Milo's guardian?” Angela said.

“Uh, his sister Mary,” Levin said, “She lives in Ratheim, I believe.”


X-Division lobby - 9:30 AM

“You really think he'd go back there?” Angela said as they walked back to the situation room. “He's got to know that's the first place people will look.”

“I’ve been to Ratheim,” Olga said, “Never seen a rat.”

“I can’t wait to tell Louise she’s right,” Angela said, “This guy can kill someone through a ridiculous chain reaction.”

“I’m more interested in what Di has to say,” Olga said, “I mean, she did calculate the odds as literally impossible.”

“I’m not watching the happy dance,” Annie said.

None of them noticed Milo watching them from an upper level walkway as they walked down a flight of stairs. He held up one hand and began tapping in the air, calculating all relevant probabilities he needed to avoid returning to the drug trial and being reverted to “normal.” Images flashed by in his mind depicting the chain of events the X-Division agents would most likely take to apprehend him. All of his scenarios ended in Angela dead under a pile of rubble. He walked away, ready to set his Goldberg machine of doom into motion.
 
Ah, so Milo is a twisted version of Charlie from Flowers for Algernon. Fun, but upsetting: I love that book.