Margins: Fall of Empire Pt. 04

The prequel to Margins of Reality continues. While it's not necessary to read that story to understand this, it is definitely necessary to start reading this story from its beginning.

Thank you to anyone who's managed to stick with this. I know that the different format isn't quite to everyone's taste, but from here on out it's much more about individual interactions. We have characters and see their stories, just largely in the form of audio transcripts.

This story is long, and already complete. It will be posted in eight instalments, in as rapid succession as I can manage (without posting two the same day, ideally). In part 4, the wheels really start to come off the wagon.

Although certain characters are based on their prominent real-world equivalents, no claim is made as to the accuracy of that depiction. Each such character is a fictional creation, standing in for someone who actually exists, and may or may not resemble that individual. My depiction of them is entirely my own, and should not be confused with an attempt to accurately depict any real person.

Conversely, all other characters, all those who are not public figures, are entirely original characters and should not be conflated with anyone who might happen to be in a similar place at the time in question. Finally, it should go without saying that all dialogue and events are entirely fictional.

* * *

As always, the Quaranteam Writers' Room has been of enormous help, especially RonanJWilkerson. And of course, thanks are also due to my silent partner, who dealt with way more nightmare fuel than usual when supporting me writing this.

…Hits the Fan

TAC-COMMS 2026-03-22 09:57Z USSS

xUSSS-MOGUL-SHIFT@ANGEL IN-FLIGHT@32.7418N79.9492W 2026-03-22 09:57Z

o1USSS-MOGUL-DETAIL@ANGEL

oUSSS-MOGUL-ALL

…

o8USSS-MOGUL-07@ANGEL

o9USSS-MOGUL-08@ANGEL

x: Detail, Shift. I'm hearing intermittent screaming aft, advise?

xA: It's really very annoying.

x: We're investigating, Mister President.

o1: Video is down in several locations, crew investigating. All points, Detail, we're hearing disturbances, report by post.

o8: Press cabin, some of the staff think they saw something, there was screaming, investigating.

o8A: I'm telling you, it was a snake.

o8B: Sure thing, Dave. Now we just need to call Samuel L. Jackson.

o8A: Laugh all you want, Carol, it was a fucking snake.

o8C: [SCREAMS] Snake!

o1: Press cabin, can you see anything?

o8: Maybe, some movement down by the windows.

o9: [SCREAMING IN BACKGROUND] Staff cabin, something's going on in the galley, investigating. Excuse me, what's going— oh shit.

o9A: [AGONIZED SCREAM OF PAIN]

o9: [GUNFIRE]

x: Status, staff cabin.

o9: [BREATHING HEAVILY] Oob I think, looks like a snake but ballistic-resistant.

x: Say again?

o9: Nine-mil dented it, Shift.

x: Detail, Shift. I think we may have a DOWNWIND phenomenon aboard.

x: [SOUND OF DOOR OPENING]

xB: It certainly looks like that to me. Just left my office in a hurry. Damn things coming out of the drawers.

xA: What are you talking about?

xB: I'll explain, sir. Remember the briefing I gave you in the car, about [BECOMES INAUDIBLE]

x: Detail, Shift, repeat possible DOWNWIND aboard.

o8: Press cabin, that's confirmed.

o1: Explain, press cabin.

o8: Snake-form oob mesmerizing staff. Please advise.

o1: Wait, wait, incoming on another channel.

[SIGNAL ENDS]

* * * * *

AMBIENT 2026-03-22 09:57Z NIGHTWATCH-ALPHA

RECORDING CONFERENCE ROOM@NIGHTWATCH-ALPHA IN-FLIGHT@39.3532N76.3273W 09:57Z

PRESENT: SECDEF, CJCS, SEAC, CJCS-ADC, CSAF-ADC

CJCS: Thank you.

[SOUND OF PHONE HANDSET BEING REPLACED]

CJCS: Mister Secretary, Huntress is reporting irregularities in telemetry from Air Force One and its escort.

SECDEF: Irregularities?

CJCS: They weren't able to be any more specific, sir, not without becoming highly technical. Would you like us to connect to the live feed from the Rome command center?

SECDEF: What can I do about it?

CJCS: You have command authority, Mister Secretary, but I'm not suggesting that you use it. In this situation it's probably best if we keep you as up-to-date as possible.

SECDEF: Fine, get them on the line.

CJCS: Pete?

CJCS-ADC: Yes, sir.

* * * * *

PHONE-COMMS 2026-03-22 09:58Z SITE R

xBRIAN JENKINS@SITE-R 2026-03-22 09:58Z

oLORENZA RIVERA@CIA-HQ

JENKINS: Lorrie! I've been trying to reach you since I got here. More or less. We've been looking, I've got one of the Director's Special Assistants, Sandra, here, we've been looking at what we can, but there's too much to catch up on. And the model, I'm having trouble figuring out what it's saying.

RIVERA: Brian. Listen very carefully. Is there anyone senior there? Anyone who can give orders?

JENKINS: Not to anyone outside the mountain. We've got some of the Joint Chiefs and their deputies, but they're outside the chain of command. I imagine they've got a link to Air Force One and Nightwatch, though.

RIVERA: I need to speak to someone. Right the fuck now.

JENKINS: I can't just demand they listen to you. Tell me what you need to tell them. And be quick. I've only got this line until someone else needs the satellite link.

RIVERA: Satellite. Satellite! Carol, can you do anything with satellites?

JENKINS: Lorrie, focus. What's so important?

RIVERA: I was right, Brian. It's already here. If you want to check, look at the file with the 911 records. It's linked from the model, it wasn't easy to find.

JENKINS: Midnight?

RIVERA: Not quite. Sidereal time. So a minute or so before midnight local mean time. Indianapolis and Reno. The Reno one was, well, disturbing. But that's not all, Brian. It's not just urban areas. That carrier group, all but one destroyer in the carrier group had some sort of UBE rip through them. Oh, and I'm not sure about the "B" anymore. Hard to be sure, but one of them sounded like it wasn't physical. Another could get through dogged hatches.

JENKINS: [QUIETLY] Oh, no.

[PAUSE]

JENKINS: The carrier group. The carrier has a population density similar to a city. And it hits high population density areas harder than low population density ones even allowing for the simple difference in population affecting reporting. So population density.

RIVERA: The destroyers?

JENKINS: Maybe it has something to do with range. But if that goes up as well. And maybe there's something more to it.

RIVERA: The Navy ships were hit by UBEs that seemed to fit psychologically. A perfect and creative saboteur. Stereotypes of Muslims and Arabs. A kraken, Brian.

JENKINS: I'll try to call you again when I can. I have to go. I have to tell, I have to tell someone.

RIVERA: That's what I've been saying. Go!

* * * * *

TAC-COMMS 2026-03-22 09:58Z NORAD

xHUNTRESS@NORAD-EADS 2026-03-22 09:58Z

o1USAF-F35-95-5782

o2USAF-F35-95-5785

o3USAF-F35-95-5768

o4USAF-F35-95-5776

o5USAF-F35-95-5789

x: Archer One-One, Huntress. We're getting some weird returns around Package and interference on comms and link.

o1: Huntress, Archer One-One, same picture.

x: Drop link, inspect by radar and report.

o1: Wilco. I— I have no idea what that is.

x: Crown reports concerning traffic from on board. Do you have visual?

o1: This isn't the best light, Huntress. There's a white smudge. No, wait. Is Hammer maneuvering?

x: Can't tell, transponders are skipping and ghosting. Close for visual, Archer One-One.

o1: Two, One. With me, Gate, rejoin two-mile trail, step up one thousand.

o2: Two, Gate.

x: Update when you see something.

o1: Wilco. Verifying HMD and FCAM recording.

[SILENCE: 40 SECONDS]

o1: Huntress, Archer One— what the fuck?!

x: Say again, Archer One-One?

o1: There's some sort of… thing. It's flickering in and out. Package has fire on one and four, still flying. Looks like Hammer is trying to engage. I'm seeing wings, like a bat maybe, there's a tail, but there's metal parts and—

o3: [patchy, relayed automatically via o1] Can't … lock … [screams]

o1: Shit! Two of ours just blew, can't see what hit them. Hammer's transponders still on scope. All four, but I can't see the jets. I think… it's landed on Package and pieces are coming off and… Package is down, I say again, Air Force One is down, no chutes.

x: Archer One-One, evade. Sentinel, all Flights, vector 350, Buster continuous, climb to FL450. Form on Archer One-One, dispersed formation by twos.

o4: Wolf One-One, wilco.

o5: Archer Two-One, wilco.

o1: Ah, shit, Archer One-One, wilco.

[SILENCE: 1 MINUTE]

x: Sentinel, Huntress. New instructions from NCA at Site Romeo. Gate. Escort Archer One-One to landing at Hotel-Golf-Romeo where a Black Hawk will take pilot and data to Site Romeo. Archer One-One is priority. Once landing is confirmed, the rest of you double back to Mike-Romeo-Bravo and await further orders. Acknowledge by Flight.

o4: Wolf One-One, wilco.

o5: Archer Two-One, wilco.

x: Archer One-One, Huntress. Gate to Hotel-Golf-Romeo, land, retrieve data cartridge and rendezvous with Black Hawk. Rest of your Flight then proceed to Mike-Romeo-Bravo. Acknowledge.

o1: What… oh, yeah. Archer One-One, wilco. Book it to Hotel-Golf-Romeo, One to the deck, pull the brick. Two, Three, Four divert to Mike-Romeo-Bravo on my landing.

x: Huntress out.

* * * * *

Secure Conference 2026-03-22 09:59Z WHSR

xNOIWON-O2@CROWN 2026-03-22 09:59Z

oOPS-SAPF-B-SUPPORT@CIA-HQ

oOPS-SAPF-B@CIA-HQ

oOSE-WATCH-SAPF@CIA-OSE

oNGA-WATCH-SAPF@NGA-HQ

PRESENT: CAROL MALCOLMSON (NSA), ROBERT MCAULEY (CIA), LORENZA RIVERA (CIA); WILLIAM HEBERT (CIA); JOANN WONG (NGA); CPO LEIA FOSTER (WHSR); JAVID FARHANG (CIA)

RIVERA: Brian is letting them know. Now we need to figure out what this actually means. Jo, if I use a smart board, can you see it?

WONG: Just a second. Yeah.

RIVERA: Okay. Everyone. Time for brainstorming. We've settled the question of time, now we need to look at nature and location. Bob, code the reports with any word that comes to mind as you read them, with categories. Let's see, location, environment, nature of the UBE, and other, I guess. Just as quick as you can.

MCAULEY: No problem.

RIVERA: I need you to do it on your own, because we don't have time to establish a coding framework. We can't risk inter-coder validity questions.

MCAULEY: I got it.

RIVERA: The rest of you, just throw out ideas. I'll sketch.

HEBERT: Can I add something?

WONG: Bill! You haven't sent me any images in a while.

HEBERT: Sorry, we've been working on changing our approach. There's a fresh batch coming in soon. Do you have an automated pipeline for them?

WONG: That many?

HEBERT: Yeah.

WONG: I'll set up an email gateway for it, send you the details. You'll have to tell me who'll be sending them.

RIVERA: Did you have something to add, Bill?

HEBERT: If even half of what we've found is genuine, they're mostly violent, bloody. Some are subtle. But we've been coming across some stuff that isn't killing people. I don't know what they're doing, to be honest. There's a couple that seem [PAUSE] nice.

[SILENCE: 3 SECONDS]

MALCOLMSON: Well, that's different. By the way, I might have a way for us to use satellites, hmm, outside the usual channels. It will take a bit of work, and it might need someone to do the same thing at the other end.

RIVERA: We'll come back to that, Carol. Any other thoughts?

MALCOLMSON: The Arab and Muslim stereotypes. The camera. The kraken. There's an associative relationship there, if we consider the various semantic frames—

[LOUD BELL FOR 3 SECONDS]

[SILENCE: 3 SECONDS]

MCAULEY: Didn't we turn that off?

* * * * *

AMBIENT 2026-03-22 10:02Z NIGHTWATCH-ALPHA

RECORDING CONFERENCE ROOM@NIGHTWATCH-ALPHA IN-FLIGHT@39.6008N77.0563W 10:02Z

PRESENT: SECDEF, CJCS, CSAF, SEAC, CJCS-ADC, CSAF-ADC

RADIO: …pull the brick. Two, Three, Four divert to Mike-Romeo-Bravo on my landing. [DIFFERENT VOICE] Huntress out.

CJCS: Do you have any instructions for—

SECDEF: No. Shut it off. I don't have any instructions because I have no idea what the hell to do. Get people working on options, models, something.

SEAC: If I may, sir?

SECDEF: Go ahead.

SEAC: Given what just happened to Air Force One, might I suggest we relocate to a safe location on the ground?

SECDEF: Good idea. Do it. And someone get me the President.

CSAF-ADC: Ah, Mister Secretary, we just heard—

SECDEF: At Raven Rock, dammit. The President is there now.

* * * * *

AMBIENT 2026-03-22 10:02Z SITE R

RECORDING OPS CENTER@SITE-R/ANMCC 2026-03-22 10:02Z

PRESENT: VPOTUS, CMC, CNO, VCSO, VCNGB, VCSA, DCIA, SA-DCIA, BRIAN JENKINS (CIA), BATTLE DIRECTOR, COMMS OFFICER, ASSORTED MILITARY STAFF

JENKINS: I've checked, sir, and so has Sandra. We have to assume the effect has been present since midnight local mean time. It's all over CONUS. The delay is somehow related to people being asleep.

DCIA: Is this right?

SA-DCIA: Yes, sir.

CNO: We need to brief the President. Let every combatant command know. [SHOUTING] Get me a line to—

COMMS OFFICER: Admiral!

BATTLE DIRECTOR: Holy shit. Okay, get a line to every combatant command, we'll get a cable drafted with that new intel ASAP.

CNO: What about the President?

BATTLE DIRECTOR: Air Force One is down. No chance of survivors. Mr. Jenkins, please draft that cable. We also need to get a hold of the Secretary. Sir, what are our priorities?

[SILENCE: 3 SECONDS]

VPOTUS: Oh, shit.

* * * * *

AMBIENT 2026-03-22 10:03Z SITE R

RECORDING THE UNDERGRIND@SITE-R/BUILDING A 2026-03-22 10:03Z

PRESENT: JOHN WHARTON (AAFES), JOANNE WILLIS (AAFES), SIERRA ANDREWS (CONTRACTOR)

WHARTON: Good morning! How can I help you?

ANDREWS: Ah, I guess I should get decaf. I've still got a few hours before my shift. I should get a power nap or something.

WHARTON: There's always chocolate.

ANDREWS: Yeah, okay. Large, half white chocolate, two pumps of vanilla.

WHARTON: I always found that cinnamon made it a little bit more relaxing.

ANDREWS: Okay, I could go for that.

[TAPPING]

WHARTON: Can I get you any cookies, pastries?

ANDREWS: Nah, I'm good.

WHARTON: And can I get a name?

ANDREWS: Sierra.

[TAPPING, BEEPING]

WHARTON: Well, that won't be a minute.

ANDREWS: Is it usually this quiet in here right now? I haven't been in this early before.

WHARTON: Not so much. We're around watch turnover, so people are usually arriving, coming off break, leaving. I guess a lot of people who aren't working are sleeping.

ANDREWS: Yeah. I, ah, I just came from the chapel. It's not like it's crowded, but a lot of people are dropping in.

WHARTON: I plan to go to the quiet room when I'm on break, myself. Usually if I'm here this time on Sundays, I've been working alone overnight and just had people come on for shift change, then I get home in a couple hours. I won't be doing my usual Sunday routine, looks like.

ANDREWS: Yeah. None of us will.

WILLIS: [SHOUTING] Large hot chocolate for Sierra!

* * * * *

AMBIENT 2026-03-22 10:04Z NIGHTWATCH-ALPHA

RECORDING CONFERENCE ROOM@NIGHTWATCH-ALPHA IN-FLIGHT@39.7237N77.0594W 10:04Z

PRESENT: SECDEF, CJCS, CSAF, SEAC, CJCS-ADC

SECDEF: Thank you, Mister President.

[CLICK, BEEP]

PA SPEAKER: Take your seats, please, take your seats. We're making a rapid descent. It might get bumpy.

[DOOR BUZZES, CLICKS]

NOW PRESENT: CSAF-ADC

CSAF-ADC: We're coming in for an emergency landing at Harrisburg. Helos are already staging to transport us to Raven Rock.

[RUMBLING]

SECDEF: They practice this kind of landing, right?

CSAF-ADC: Yes, Mister Secretary.

* * * * *

Secure Conference 2026-03-22 10:04Z WHSR

xNOIWON-O2@CROWN 2026-03-22 10:04Z

oOPS-SAPF-B-SUPPORT@CIA-HQ

oOPS-SAPF-B@CIA-HQ

oOSE-WATCH-SAPF@CIA-OSE

oNGA-WATCH-SAPF@NGA-HQ

PRESENT: CAROL MALCOLMSON (NSA), ROBERT MCAULEY (CIA), LORENZA RIVERA (CIA); WILLIAM HEBERT (CIA); JOANN WONG (NGA); CPO LEIA FOSTER (WHSR); JAVID FARHANG (CIA)

RIVERA: Okay. The President's dead. I hope Brian calls back so we can get an idea of what the new President is doing. But that doesn't change our job.

WONG: Lorrie!

RIVERA: We don't have time for a moment of silence. This isn't about the President. This isn't about the government, except that they're the only ones who can do much with what we can find out. If we can figure out a connection, a consistent thread between these events, we can help people.

MALCOLMSON: Well, yes, as I was saying. We can see contextual meanings to the different manifestations. Maybe not the tunnel worms, but maybe that's because there wasn't a coherent psychological context.

RIVERA: I'm sorry, what?

MALCOLMSON: If we think of each event in terms of its semantic frame, we may be able to see the associative connection between the different manifestations.

RIVERA: I thought you were a network tech.

MALCOLMSON: Please. At my grade? Of course I can run the networks, but my job is semantic modeling. Our filtering looks at data and tries to spot if it's about, say, suicide bombing or assassination. Except most people talking about that aren't actually planning it, and they use all sorts of different words. You can't just do a keyword search. We use computer models to understand the meaning and intent of communications without worrying about specific words.

WONG: AI?

MALCOLMSON: No.

[SILENCE: 3 SECONDS]

MALCOLMSON: Look, our models are trained on real data. But, well, you can think of a semantic modeling network as a room with a huge number of idiots who are very well behaved and extremely well trained at a very narrow job. You could ask any of them what they do, and they would tell you. Things come into the room, and they pass them around, talk to each other about them, and send them back out with nice labels on.

WONG: So what does AI do?

MALCOLMSON: Well, an LLM is, by comparison, a giant hall with a much larger number of hyperactive five-year-olds who've been given instructions such that, taken together, they can make a passable imitation of a person with good general knowledge. However, they also have a wild imagination, and desperately want to tell you something. Anything. And there's no way to ask them why they do what they do.

RIVERA: Back on topic, please?

MALCOLMSON: Well, I suppose, in lay terms, what I'm saying is that there's some meaning, possibly, in each of these events that is more consistent than it appears on the surface.

* * * * *

AMBIENT 2026-03-22 10:06Z HIGH POINT

RECORDING COMMAND CENTER@HIGH POINT 2026-03-22 10:06Z

PRESENT: WATCH OFFICER, SOH, AG, COMM AIDE

COMM AIDE: New flash message, this one's from COLS.

WATCH OFFICER: Hand it over.

[BACKGROUND NOISE ONLY: 10 SECONDS]

WATCH OFFICER: Here, sir, ma'am. NCA status update.

[PAPER RUSTLES SEVERAL TIMES OVER 15 SECONDS]

SOH: Well. I guess it's not just cities. And it's starting early.

AG: Get me a line to Site R. I better talk to the President.

* * * * *

AMBIENT 2026-03-22 10:08Z HEMA

RECORDING OPS CENTER@SEOC-HI, BATTERY BIRKHIMER 2026-03-22 10:08Z

PRESENT: GOVERNOR-HI, FEMA-FCO, COMMS DESK, HEMA LIAISON, HDLE LIAISON, HDOT LIAISON, POLICE LIAISON, ONHR LIAISON, OHA LIAISON, DOH LIAISON

GOVERNOR: Do we have hooks into 911 calls yet?

HDLE LIAISON: Yes, Governor.

GOVERNOR: Anything weird?

HDLE LIAISON: You might say that, sir, but this area isn't secure.

GOVERNOR: There's a fancy electronic keypad lock on the door and the FBI guarding it, and we're all read in. Do we really have to worry about that?

FEMA-FCO: Only if you want to risk prosecution, Governor.

GOVERNOR: Okay, well, what about the storms?

HDOT LIAISON: No one's out and about except for our crews.

HEMA LIAISON: A lot of rural homesteads will be flooding. Badly. We're looking at drainage overflows, so there will be contamination of farmland. And Molokaʻi is going to be having a real tough night. We have relief teams ready to go as soon as weather permits.

GOVERNOR: Where's Burroughs?

[DOOR BUZZES, CLICKS]

NOW PRESENT: SPECIAL AGENT BURROUGHS (ASAC-NS/I, HONOLULU)

BURROUGHS: What can I do for you, Governor?

GOVERNOR: It's going to be hard to do anything here if we can't talk about what's happening.

BURROUGHS: Yes, sir. I just got off a call and we've certified this room as a SCIF. We're also trying to parse some instructions from Washington and figure out who counts as a "local leader" for determining when it's appropriate to waive SCIF requirements.

GOVERNOR: Oh. Okay.

BURROUGHS: I also have some bad news. We just had an update to the model.

GOVERNOR: Your people should talk to the weather people, compare notes.

BURROUGHS: Yes, Governor. Turns out that an outside possibility in the model is accurate. The phenomenon begins in any given location somewhat before local mean solar midnight; it's getting earlier as it moves west, something about astronomy.

GOVERNOR: So what time are we looking at?

BURROUGHS: Hilo at about 00:18, Kahului at 00:23, and here at about 00:28.

GOVERNOR: That's not good. Should we be notifying people? Getting the word out, maybe protect the children?

FEMA-FCO: I can't recommend that. We'd be looking at mass panic.

HEMA LIAISON: And we don't want people rushing out in this weather.

BURROUGHS: Plus the information is still restricted.

GOVERNOR: Kevin, you said there were weird calls? FBI says we shouldn't have any yet.

HDLE LIAISON: Three calls from Native Hawaiian communities warning us that the spirits are troubled or something.

GOVERNOR: Are these calls coming from kahuna?

HDLE LIAISON: I think so.

FEMA-FCO: I'm assuming you usually ignore things like that?

GOVERNOR: Honestly, it's not unusual in bad weather. But I'm not inclined to assume that's all it is right now. I want observers or liaisons in or near every homestead. Especially the more traditional ones. Tell them to take their ponchos.

* * * * *

PHONE-COMMS 2026-03-22 10:09Z WHCA-SECURE

xPRO-TEM@SITE-R 2026-03-22 10:09Z

oSOH@HIGH POINT

PRO-TEM: So they're arguing about who should swear him in. The base commander could do it, and there's a military judge, but that's not much better.

SOH: They're worried about optics?

PRO-TEM: They're briefing the emergency pool now. Not that they'll be allowed to file until this is over. There's three of them, plus a cameraman. Not the full Downwind briefing, but enough to explain what's happening. They'll be recording the swearing-in.

SOH: And who's in command?

PRO-TEM: I'm not in the room, I just have staff giving me updates. Officially it's the President, but I get the feeling that JD is just nodding along with what the Chiefs tell him.

SOH: What's the mood in the mountain?

PRO-TEM: Most of the people in this building have no idea what's going on. Maintenance, services, off-shift people who'll be briefed when they go on shift. I've been trying to keep up morale. And make sure the Second, sorry, First Lady and her kids are okay.

SOH: What about the, uh, former First Lady?

PRO-TEM: I saw some chaplains heading to her room. I'm staying away for now.

SOH: Well, you've got a good excuse.

PRO-TEM: What's that?

SOH: We both need to read our briefing books real close now.

* * * * *

AMBIENT 2026-03-22 10:12Z SITE R

RECORDING OPS CENTER@SITE-R/ANMCC 2026-03-22 10:12Z

PRESENT: POTUS, CMC, CNO, VCSO, VCNGB, VCSA, CDR-SITE-R, DNI, DCIA, EA-DCIA, SA-DCIA, BRIAN JENKINS (CIA), BATTLE DIRECTOR, COMMS OFFICER, ASSORTED MILITARY STAFF

COMMS OFFICER: SECDEF and staff are lifting from Harrisburg, with armed escort. Desk five is monitoring their channel.

DNI: Mister President, even in this crisis, it's essential that we remain a civilian-led government. You are the Commander in Chief, but you are a civilian, and your authority is civilian in origin. You can't have that authority conferred upon you by a military officer.

POTUS: That authority was conferred on me by the Constitution the moment the President died.

DNI: And every other VP who succeeded under similar circumstances was sworn in as soon as possible, by a civilian. Symbols matter, Mister President. The Attorney General agrees, as do relevant OLC memos.

POTUS: Yeah, Pam already gave me an earful.

CDR-SITE-R: We concur, sir. I have the authority, but it's not appropriate for me to use it unless there's no alternative. It might be better to wait.

DCIA: I don't think that will be necessary, Colonel. I might be able to help, Mister President.

POTUS: Weird [PAUSE] things are appearing across the country, killing people. They've been killing them for hours. And we're worrying about this?

DCIA: Your soldiers, sailors, airmen and marines can handle things for a minute. And this won't take long. Colin?

EA-DCIA: I'm a notary, Mister President, commissioned in Pennsylvania. This wouldn't be the first time a notary public did the job.

POTUS: Okay, fine!

DNI: We have to document this. Get the press corps in here.

[SHUFFLING]

NOW PRESENT: PRESS

EA-DCIA: Please place your left hand on the Bible, Mister President, and raise—

POTUS: My right hand to God, I know.

EA-DCIA: Please repeat after me. I do solemnly swear that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States.

POTUS: I do solemnly swear that I will faithfully…

* * * * *

AMBIENT 2026-03-22 10:15Z HEMA

RECORDING OPS CENTER@SEOC-HI, BATTERY BIRKHIMER 2026-03-22 10:15Z

PRESENT: GOVERNOR-HI, SPECIAL AGENT BURROUGHS (ASAC-NS/I, HONOLULU), TAG-HI, FEMA-FCO, COMMS DESK, HEMA LIAISON, HDLE LIAISON, HDOT LIAISON, POLICE LIAISON, DOH LIAISON

GOVERNOR: What's happening with my family?

COMMS: They arrived five minutes ago, sir, but there isn't really room for them here.

GOVERNOR: There's barely room for us here, Kale. We'll have to work something out.

COMMS: And we're still trying to locate your daughter. Local law enforcement over there isn't being too cooperative.

[DOOR BUZZES, CLICKS]

NOW PRESENT: ONHR LIAISON, OHA LIAISON

GOVERNOR: Good. You're here. Do we have people in place yet?

OHA LIAISON: It's late, sir, and we don't have experts with the necessary cultural capital on hand everywhere. Travel is kind of difficult right now.

GOVERNOR: The big places have permanently assigned liaisons, right? I mean, they don't live there, but they come and go?

OHA LIAISON: Yes, Governor, but they're asleep. Or they were. We're waking them up.

GOVERNOR: Can we at least get some police to where they have eyes on the areas?

POLICE LIAISON: Yes, sir. County PDs are almost all cooperating, though they're already stretched thin. Everywhere near any significant town or city is covered. We have high-clearance vehicles on the way to the more remote places.

[BUZZ]

POLICE LIAISON: Excuse me, sir.

[POLICE LIAISON CONTINUES TO SPEAK QUIETLY IN THE BACKGROUND]

GOVERNOR: This has been going on across half the world now. Word must be getting out.

HDLE LIAISON: It's hard to say, sir. We have some people looking at social media.

BURROUGHS: Us, too. It's not sparked yet, but it could certainly catch fire. Fortunately, most people are in bed now.

GOVERNOR: Except the kahuna, apparently.

POLICE LIAISON: Sir, something's happened at Kalapana.

* * * * *

TAC-COMMS 2026-03-22 10:19Z JTF-NCR

xNGPA-AH64-1104-5225@39.4019N77.4283W 2026-03-22 10:19Z

o1GUARDIAN MAIN

o2USA-MOCBUS-02

o3USA-MOCBUS-03

o4USA-MOCBUS-05

o5CONVOY-CDR-USA-M1117-289-0137

o6USA-M1117-289-0482

o7USA-M1117-289-0358

o8USA-M1117-289-0473

x: Bastion Six, Dragon One-Three. Hot spot on the road five klicks out. Didn't come from anywhere. Just appeared.

o5: Copy, Dragon One-Three. All units reduce speed, Bastion One, Dragon One-Three approach with caution.

o6: Copy, Bastion Six.

x: Copy.

o5: Guardian Main, Bastion Six. Possible threat on I-270 south of Frederick. Approaching with caution.

o1: Copy, Bastion Six. Update with intel.

o5: Bastion One, Dragon One-Three, include Guardian Main in transmissions regarding threat.

x: Copy. Guardian Main, Bastion Six, Dragon One-Three. Have visual on the hot spot. Looks like a cross between a bulldog, a bear and a cougar, about the size of an SUV.

o5: Say again, Dragon One-Three.

x: Bear-dog-cat thing, size of an SUV. Looks like it's drooling. It's on the US-340 overpass.

o1: Bastion Six, Dragon One-Three, Guardian Main. It's not the weirdest report we've had. Treat as high-threat contact. Recommend engaging with caution.

o5: Dragon One-Three, Bastion Six. You can't bring down that overpass, our straight path is under it. Can you engage with guns from a safe distance?

x: Affirmative, Bastion Six. Firing.

[SOUND OF CHAIN GUN]

[ROARING]

x: Confirm rounds penetrated, no other sign of damage. I think we made it mad.

[THUMP]

x: It's dropped to your level, Bastion Six. Bastion One, do you have eyes on?

o6: Damn that thing moves fast. Firing fifty-cal.

o5: Go for the eyes, maybe?

o6: That made it pause. Doesn't seem to be hurting it.

* * * * *

AMBIENT 2026-03-22 10:22Z USCP

RECORDING USCP-BUS-02@39.3993N77.42567W 2026-03-22 10:22Z

PRESENT: USCP-OFF-2, HOUSE-CA42, HOUSE-CA51, HOUSE-FL19, HOUSE-MN04, HOUSE-MN05, HOUSE-NY14, HOUSE-NY15, HOUSE-UT01, HOUSE-WI01, SENATE-AL-3, SENATE-GA-2, SENATE-MO-1, SENATE-OK-2, USA-SGT, USA-CPL-1, USA-CPL-2

HOUSE-UT01: Why are we slowing down?

USA-CPL-1: [MUMBLING]

USCP-OFF-2: Our escort spotted something ahead, they're just taking a look.

[SILENCE: 2 MINUTES]

[CRUMP]

HOUSE-UT01: Oh, fetch.

* * * * *

Secure Conference 2026-03-22 10:22Z WHSR

xNOIWON-O2@CROWN 2026-03-22 10:22Z

oOPS-SAPF-B-SUPPORT@CIA-HQ

oOPS-SAPF-B@CIA-HQ

oOSE-WATCH-SAPF@CIA-OSE

oNGA-WATCH-SAPF@NGA-HQ

PRESENT: CAROL MALCOLMSON (NSA), ROBERT MCAULEY (CIA), LORENZA RIVERA (CIA); WILLIAM HEBERT (CIA); JOANN WONG (NGA); CPO LEIA FOSTER (WHSR); JAVID FARHANG (CIA)

MALCOLMSON: So what the model does, basically, is define a distance in N-dimensional space between any two words or phrases, and the smaller that number the more related they are. That's their, well, let's call it semantic proximity. That's a reasonable lay translation, anyway.

[SILENCE: 3 SECONDS]

WONG: Well, I understood that. At least the math parts.

RIVERA: You can measure how close things are in meaning?

MALCOLMSON: That's a crude way of putting it, but, well, yes.

RIVERA: What about these frames you were talking about, associations, contexts.

MALCOLMSON: It's actually what I've been working on. There are layers of contextual meaning to everything, and I've got an experimental model that we think is properly representing adjustments to semantic proximity based on broader context. Rather than, say, bomb and terrorism having a fixed semantic proximity, or a full message affecting their semantic proximity when considered as both words and phrases, the model adjusts based on semantic frame matrices, all determined by the message context, and semantic proximities are frame-dependent.

[SILENCE: 5 SECONDS]

RIVERA: Jo?

WONG: Nope, didn't understand any of that.

* * * * *

TAC-COMMS 2026-03-22 10:23Z JTF-NCR

xNGPA-AH64-1104-5225@39.4039N77.4289W 2026-03-22 10:23Z

o1GUARDIAN MAIN

o2USA-MOCBUS-02

o3USA-MOCBUS-03

o4USA-MOCBUS-05

o5CONVOY-CDR-USA-M1117-289-0137

o6USA-M1117-289-0482

o7USA-M1117-289-0358

o8USA-M1117-289-0473

x: I'm coming up on it from the east. A Ginsu might get it out of the way. If it works, a few rockets might keep it down.

o5: Collateral?

x: Commercial. If we let it move up a little, it'll just be trees.

o5: Bastion One, Bastion Six. Pull back and fire controlled bursts.

o6: Copy.

x: Almost in position. Almost. Almost. Target clear.

o5: Engage.

[WHOOSH]

[THUMP, ANIMAL WHINE]

[RAPID SERIES OF WHOOSHES]

[LOUD CRUMP]

x: Road is clear. Try to keep the rubbernecking to a minimum.

* * * * *

AMBIENT 2026-03-22 10:24Z USCP

RECORDING USCP-BUS-02@39.4016N77.4280W 2026-03-22 10:24Z

PRESENT: USCP-OFF-2, HOUSE-CA42, HOUSE-CA51, HOUSE-FL19, HOUSE-MN04, HOUSE-MN05, HOUSE-NY14, HOUSE-NY15, HOUSE-UT01, HOUSE-WI01, SENATE-AL-3, SENATE-GA-2, SENATE-MO-1, SENATE-OK-2, USA-SGT, USA-CPL-1, USA-CPL-2

HOUSE-FL19: Now that's an impressive fire.

HOUSE-CA42: I'll say.

USA-SGT: Bus Two clear.

USCP-OFF-2: Hopefully we'll have smooth sailing once we're out of Fred—

[CRASH]

* * * * *

Secure Conference 2026-03-22 10:24Z WHSR

xNOIWON-O2@CROWN 2026-03-22 10:24Z

oOPS-SAPF-B-SUPPORT@CIA-HQ

oOPS-SAPF-B@CIA-HQ

oOSE-WATCH-SAPF@CIA-OSE

oNGA-WATCH-SAPF@NGA-HQ

PRESENT: CAROL MALCOLMSON (NSA), ROBERT MCAULEY (CIA), LORENZA RIVERA (CIA); WILLIAM HEBERT (CIA); JOANN WONG (NGA); CPO LEIA FOSTER (WHSR); JAVID FARHANG (CIA)

HEBERT: Okay, this is a little more in my wheelhouse. I can't program the damn stuff, but we use semantic matching at OSE. A more primitive system, I guess, but still. Carol, how well validated is your new model?

MALCOLMSON: Independent reviewers are looking at the fourth round of tests. If they give the green light, it's ready for deployment.

HEBERT: Is four rounds typical?

MALCOLMSON: We need two full-scale extended runs to be approved for long-term parallel testing. We got the first of those with the third round.

HEBERT: Can you access it?

MALCOLMSON: It's on my laptop.

WONG: You don't need huge clusters for it?

MALCOLMSON: Running it over our usual data stream, yes. That's an awful lot of data. The model itself could run on a PC from twenty years ago. Or fifteen, anyway. Of course, the frame data is a second level of training and needs some more space, but still well within a modern personal computer. But using it here isn't the same context as SIGINT. I don't know if the frames are still valid. I've been over their structure as part of the validation process, and I don't think it has much application to supernatural manifestations.

HEBERT: What about building new frame context from this data?

MALCOLMSON: That's [PAUSE] that might work. Actually, the frame context might be more important than the actual semantic matching of the data itself.

RIVERA: So we run the 911 data through the model, ignoring the existing frame data, build new frame data, and then you look at that rather than doing semantic matching on the text?

MALCOLMSON: That's not exactly how it works, but yes. The core of the model is basically the same architecture as existing lexical context-sensitive semantic networks. Modifications due to frame weightings are applied to it dynamically. There's three stages to training, and the core one is validated in isolation. What's left is the context frame recognition structure and the actual values in the frame matrices, how they affect the recognition and matching process. The aim is to reproduce what we currently believe to be the way that the human brain constructs meaning. If I divorce the core network from the existing frame recognition and application, and run the training over the Downwind data, it will construct a new frame network from that data. But it would be extremely narrow if we only use the data from emergency calls, and it could do with some human-generated cues to help establish context. Plus some description on everything of where it came from and what it is, the things that would be structural and semantic metadata on normal signals intelligence.

RIVERA: Bob's doing interpretive spontaneous coding on that data now, and we already coded a lot of stuff overnight. Every image, every video—

MALCOLMSON: This model can't interpret anything but text. We have separate engines that generate text from images, but those are much bigger, I can't access them.

WONG: Every coding block has a narrative with it. Produced by a trained analyst, mostly.

RIVERA: And there's all the reports from sources in Europe, and a few other places.

WONG: But what do we do about the third stage of training?

MALCOLMSON: If we want to finish the training, make a complete Downwind-specific model, we'd need to split the corpus.

RIVERA: Do we need the third stage? Wouldn't the frames themselves help us understand this?

MALCOLMSON: Perhaps, but I wouldn't want to nail my colors to that mast. Split the data horizontally by time. That is, so both sides have older bits and more recent bits. Then we can look at the frame network and see if it's better to add the linking data or refine that part of the model.

MCAULEY: What about coding consistency? I've been doing these reports by the seat of my pants.

MALCOLMSON: That's the beauty of starting with a validated semantic core. It, well, understands isn't the right word, but in a sense it understands word meanings, taking account of lexical context. Coding consistency would be nice, but a lack of it isn't a disaster.

RIVERA: Well then, sounds like a plan. Carol, warm up your model. Everyone look at a few of Bob's coded entries, just to get a feel for it, then jump in.

MALCOLMSON: You know, the model doesn't really need warming— yes, Lorrie.

RIVERA: [UNDERTONE] Why haven't we heard from Warrenton?

* * * * *

TAC-COMMS 2026-03-22 10:24Z JTF-NCR

xCONVOY-CDR-USA-M1117-289-0137@39.4028N77.4292W 2026-03-22 10:24Z

o1NGPA-AH64-1104-5225

o2GUARDIAN MAIN

o3USA-MOCBUS-02

o4USA-MOCBUS-03

o5USA-MOCBUS-05

o6USA-M1117-289-0482

o7USA-M1117-289-0358

o8USA-M1117-289-0473

x: Dragon One-Three, Bastion Six. You keeping an eye on that thing?

o1: Can't see anything. The fire is saturating thermal, and pretty much blocking visual out of the canopy, too.

o3: Bus Two clear.

o7: Bastion Three clear.

o4: Bus Three cl—

[CRASH]

o1: Damn thing's still up. Bus Three is trashed. It's bearing down on Five. Engaging.

o5: [MANY VOICES SCREAMING]

x: Dragon One-Three, Bastion Six. Leave it to the ASVs. Resume route recon. We can still salvage something from this mess.

o1: What? Ah, shit. Wilco, Bastion Six. Breaking off.

* * * * *

AMBIENT 2026-03-22 10:25Z HEMA

RECORDING OPS CENTER@SEOC-HI, BATTERY BIRKHIMER 2026-03-22 10:25Z

PRESENT: GOVERNOR-HI, SPECIAL AGENT BURROUGHS (ASAC-NS/I, HONOLULU), TAG-HI, FEMA-FCO, COMMS DESK, HEMA LIAISON, HDLE LIAISON, HDOT LIAISON, POLICE LIAISON, ONHR LIAISON, OHA LIAISON, DOH LIAISON

GOVERNOR: Keaukaha too?

OHA LIAISON: And Waipiʻo Valley.

GOVERNOR: Fog?

POLICE LIAISON: That's what the observer reports say, sir. Domes of fog.

HDLE LIAISON: We're picking up strange 911 calls from all over Hawaii Island, sir. Not many, so far, though it might be hard to pick tell them apart from the weather-related issues.

FEMA-FCO: Should we be reporting this to whoever's working on this back in DC? Or wherever they've relocated?

BURROUGHS: They're getting the 911 calls already. But we should let them know about the domes.

GOVERNOR: What kinds of things are people calling about?

HDLE LIAISON: It's varied, Governor. Several children found dead already, one sea monster attacking a beach. A bush that's reportedly eaten people.

GOVERNOR: Do we have anyone in Waiahole? And get a closer look at those domes.

* * * * *

Secure Conference 2026-03-22 10:29Z WHSR

xNOIWON-O2@CROWN 2026-03-22 10:29Z

oOPS-SAPF-B-SUPPORT@CIA-HQ

oOPS-SAPF-B@CIA-HQ

oOSE-WATCH-SAPF@CIA-OSE

oNGA-WATCH-SAPF@NGA-HQ

PRESENT: CAROL MALCOLMSON (NSA), ROBERT MCAULEY (CIA), LORENZA RIVERA (CIA); WILLIAM HEBERT (CIA); JOANN WONG (NGA); CPO LEIA FOSTER (WHSR); JAVID FARHANG (CIA)

MALCOLMSON: [QUIETLY] Lorrie?

RIVERA: Yeah?

MALCOLMSON: I've been working on finding an, um, unofficial link, like you asked. If we can get an email through to anyone who can reach any JWICS node that we can reach, or at least any node that's vulnerable to a little [PAUSE] insider modifications, then I can get us a fairly low bandwidth tunnel. If we can get through to any NSA techs, we might not even need the modifications.

RIVERA: Good. Set it up with Raven Rock so we can talk to Brian, and try to get someone at Warrenton.

MALCOLMSON: Yes, I've sent some emails. I haven't actually had any bounce messages, but I've been trying to trace the mail routes, and well, there seems to be a problem with the network.

RIVERA: What do you mean?

MALCOLMSON: JWICS is fragmenting. I don't understand it, it shouldn't be possible. I can map links from us to some nodes, and from my NSA uplink to others. There's some on both lists, but I can't actually route from my NSA link back to here. Apart from partitioning for compartments, the system should be self-repairing. If A connects to B, and B connects to C, A should connect to C. And I just checked some things with Javid. Hard lines are going dark all over the place.

RIVERA: You think there's a UBE in the network?

MALCOLMSON: I wouldn't rule that out, but no. I think something, whether it's a Downwind entity or not, is messing with routing tables.

RIVERA: Can you fix it?

MALCOLMSON: I'd need physical access to the comms rooms. That whole hacker manipulating an entire network from their laptop thing doesn't really happen. Especially not with IC networks. So I started trying to contact people in the building here. Emails are reaching their destination, but I'm getting no response. Can we cable the ops center?

RIVERA: Of course. Unless they're getting a lot of flashes, my immediate release authority will get something there pretty quickly. The system seems quieter now, maybe because things aren't getting in or out.

MALCOLMSON: Okay. I've just sent you the text. But if we don't get a response, do we have a, you know, phone that can call outside this room?

* * * * *

TAC-COMMS 2026-03-22 10:30Z SITE R

xATC@SITE-R/OPS CENTER 2026-03-22 10:30Z

o1USA-MH60-DAP-160-M07

o2NGPA-UH60-28-M0102

o3NGPA-UH60-28-M0135

o4NGPA-CH47-28-F232

o5NGPA-CH47-28-F185

x: Prairie Dog One, Romeo Control. We have you on approach at four klicks. Any problems en route?

o1: Smooth ride so far, Romeo Control.

x: Intel suggests reroute to avoid built-up areas, Prairie Dog.

o1: We just passed Fairfield without a hitch, Romeo Control.

x: Advise increase altitude to five hundred.

o1: Negative, Romeo Control. Mission profile is for low-level high-speed transit.

x: That wasn't a suggestion, Prairie Dog. Unusual activity reported on the ground. Threat is un—

o2: One, Two. Unusual emissions from one of those houses.

o4: One, Four. We're seeing that too.

o1: Prairie Dog fligh, One. Disperse and climb to five hundred.

o2: [DIFFERENT VOICE] One, Two. Looks like a giant bird picking at a roof. It's on fire. The bird, I mean. Except it's too cold.

o2: [ORIGINAL VOICE] Is it looking at us?

x: Prairie Dog Two, evade! Treat as hostile.

o2: [SECOND VOICE] Door gunners taking aim. [GUNFIRE] No response. Looks like it's gathering for launch. Holy— [BRIEF SCREAM] [CUTS OFF]

o4: Two is down. Damn thing moved like a bullet. Wreckage dispersing, it's hovering.

x: Prairie Dog flight, climb and evade!

o4: It's looking at us now. Suggest everyone else bug out, I'll try to keep it occupied. [ROARING] Looks like we might be able to play matador, it overshot when I jinked. Can't see the damn thing now, th—

x: Prairie Dog One, status.

o1: Two and Four are off comms, Romeo Control. Three and Five on approach to you, I'm going to get a look.

x: Negative, One, we want everyone inside.

o1: No passengers aboard, Romeo Control. You need the intel. [HOT MIC] I have the controls.

o1: [DIFFERENT VOICE, HOT MIC] You have the controls.

x: Dammit, Prairie Dog, we don't need any damn heroics for intel.

o1: [ORIGINAL VOICE] It's hovering in place, doesn't seem to be much effort. Wings are moving lazily. Judging by debris it stopped as soon as it shredded Four. I'm going to see if I can take it out.

x: Negative, Prairie Dog. If it's not interested in you, just cover the transports.

o1: [ORIGINAL VOICE] Charges me if we survive. Get that stinger ready to fire.

o1: [SECOND VOICE] Target locked. Stinger away. [EXPLOSION]

x: Prairie Dog, Romeo Control. Results?

o1: [ORIGINAL VOICE] Through-and-through, detonation behind target. Think we made it mad. Switch to Hydras.

o1: [SECOND VOICE] Rockets, rockets, rockets. [SEVERAL EXPLOSIONS]

* * * * *

Mobile Recording 2026-03-22 10:31Z Hawaii PD

RECORDING HPD-BWC-034@19.3689N154.9648W 2026-03-22 10:31Z

PRESENT: HPD OFFICER WALSH,????

WALSH: I don't know if the camera's picking up the same thing I'm seeing. My radio's dead. I just hope this is recording something. There's, there's flashing light in the fog, kind of like lightning but slower, less angular.

[ROLLING SOUND LIKE A CHEAP THEATRICAL SOUND EFFECT FOR THUNDER]

WALSH: That's just fuckin' weird. Okay. I'm moving in closer. There's a sort of a stream running around the edge of the dome, like the surface run-off can't get in. I'd say I'm about ten feet away now and— whoa, okay. Uh, good boy?

????: [BARK]

WALSH: Are you telling me to back off?

????: [BARK, BARK]

WALSH: Hey, I'm not coming any closer. I'm just trying to find out if the people here are okay.

????: [SCREECH]

WALSH: Holy shit, some bird just went for my head. Couldn't see what it looked like. I'm advancing.

????: [RESONANT, RASPY] Who are you?

WALSH: [VOICE RAISED] I'm Officer Walsh, Hawaii County Police.

????: Why are you here?

WALSH: I just came down from Pahoa to see if things were okay here. The whole dome of fog thing. [UNDERTONE] And if the next question is about the speed of a swallow, I quit.

????: You care for these people?

WALSH: I mean, it's my job. I care for everyone. You know, lock up the people who want to hurt other people. Stop people from speeding. That sort of thing.

????: That is a strange kuleana.

WALSH: [TONE BECOMING MORE RELAXED] I don't know. I mean, there's a few hundred of us, and if someone didn't do what we do, people wouldn't be safe. There's not much need for us out here, normally, these people look out for each other, but when things go wrong, we help.

????: I see.

WALSH: Good. I don't. I mean, I don't see you. Unless you're this flashing cloud thing.

????: No. But it is part of me, and I am part of it. So were the pueo, and the dog. Why did you not turn away when warned?

WALSH: It's my job. My kuleana. I take risks to make sure people are safe.

????: Yes. You are not hoʻohaku. But I see, in the minds of my children, that many of you are.

WALSH: Not what?

????: You do not [PAUSE] betray your kuleana. You do not [PAUSE] act as a lord.

WALSH: Sure. You offer a job where you get to strut around in a uniform and boss people around, some bad people are going to want that. But most of us aren't like that. Maybe some parts of the other islands are more like that. Sure thing, over on the mainland.

????: Some of you distrust my children.

WALSH: You mean the folks who live here? Some people are assholes, don't like anyone who doesn't live and act like they do. Some of those assholes become cops. We try to keep'em out, but we're not perfect.

????: The land is not safe, Officer Walsh. The change has passed over the land, and it allowed my children to wake me. They do not understand yet. But this side of the ridge is safe, and my children are protected. When the pahulu come, let the naʻau pono journey here. You will be welcome, Officer Walsh. Others of my kind are waking. I cannot speak for them. Go now, and tell your poʻo.

WALSH: My what?

????: Hmm. [PAUSE] Your boss.

WALSH: [UNDERTONE] I hope this stuff recorded, no one is going to believe this.

[NOTE: THE VIDEO PORTION OF THIS RECORDING SHOWED FEATURELESS GRAY OVERLAID WITH MILD STATIC AT ALL TIMES. A GRAY-AND-WHITE DOG WAS VISIBLE AT APPROPRIATE TIMES, IN FRONT OF THE GRAY AREA AND UNAFFECTED BY THE STATIC.]

* * * * *

CABLE 2025-03-22 10:31Z (INTEL)

TOP SECRET//DOWNWIND//NOFORN

HQB DWD001-220326-03

PRECEDENCE: IMMEDIATE (O)

DTG: 221031Z MAR 26

FM: CIA HQ/DOWNWIND TASK FORCE

TO: CIA HQ/OPS CENTER WATCH

SUBJ: (TS//NF) NETWORK AND COMMUNICATIONS CONNECTIVITY

1. (TS//NF) IC network connections are showing an unusual rate of failure.

2. (TS//NF) Vault B personnel, including the NSA liaison, have identified a pattern of network fragmentation that is inconsistent with any normal failure state.

3. (TS//NF) Given the critical importance of Vault B operations and the current national situation, urgent diagnostics and priority network access are requested.

4. (TS//DOWNWIND//NF) The possibility that these technical issues are related to Downwind phenomena cannot be ruled out.

END

TOP SECRET//DOWNWIND//NOFORN

* * * * *

AMBIENT 2026-03-22 10:32Z USCP

RECORDING USCP-BUS-02@39.4262N77.4785W 2026-03-22 10:32Z

PRESENT: USCP-OFF-2, HOUSE-CA42, HOUSE-CA51, HOUSE-FL19, HOUSE-MN04, HOUSE-MN05, HOUSE-NY14, HOUSE-NY15, HOUSE-UT01, HOUSE-WI01, SENATE-AL-3, SENATE-GA-2, SENATE-MO-1, SENATE-OK-2, USA-SGT, USA-CPL-1, USA-CPL-2

USA-CPL-2: Dragon reports fires to the west.

USA-SGT: The woods?

USA-CPL-2: No, the suburbs over the ridge.

USCP-OFF-2: Problem, Sergeant?

USA-SGT: No, sir. We're steering clear of populated areas from here on out.

USCP-OFF-2: Thank you. Now, Senators and Representatives, we're about a half hour from our destination. I'm afraid we're going to be asking you to share rooms, because of our ID requirements. I'm waiting for clarification about whether it's okay to go to the bathroom alone.

[CHUCKLES]

USCP-OFF-2: Sadly, I'm not joking. For security, we're packing the living spaces where we're going. Four to a cabin, two to a room. So start thinking about who you're gonna bunk with.

HOUSE-NY14: There's thirteen of us. How does that work?

USCP-OFF-2: If the whole convoy had made it, there'd have been thirty-six.

HOUSE-MN04: And are we expecting anyone else to join us?

USCP-OFF-2: I don't know. I haven't had updates on other groups since our convoy linked up. So plan for this to be it.

[SILENCE: 5 SECONDS]

SENATE-OK-2: So, who's volunteering for the bipartisan cabin?

HOUSE-UT01: Ah, unless we're sleeping co-ed, we're going to need bipartisan rooms.

* * * * *

AMBIENT 2026-03-22 10:32Z HMX-01

RECORDING MV-22(CVR)@41.1492N72.2435W 2026-03-22 10:32Z

PRESENT: SECRETARY OF AGRICULTURE (SECRETARY), AIDE, MIL-AIDE, USSS-1, USSS-2, OSSP-1, OSSP-2, PILOT, CO-PILOT, CREW-1, CREW-2, SUPPORT STAFF

CO-PILOT: Okay everyone, we're coming in for our approach. We're holding a little to let the Coast Guard security boats clear out of the way so we can come in low. Won't be more than a few minutes until we touch— holy shit!

USSS-1: What's wrong?

PILOT: Skies clear, low altitude threat. Climbing to one thousand.

CO-PILOT: Something came out of the water and took out one of the boats.

SECRETARY: [AGITATED] Tell them to get out of the way, get away from that patch of water, land if they can.

CO-PILOT: Coast Guard vessels on Charlie Oscar Golf watch, Osprey on approach. All boats on west side of island, bug out. Move immediately to deep water or beach. Repeat, clear west side of island by any means available.

USSS-1: We need to land and get inside.

PILOT: Copy.

CO-PILOT: Damn, there goes another one. Coast Guard vessels, Osprey. All boats get clear, repeat all boats get out.

SECRETARY: Out of the water! They'll be safest out of the water!

CO-PILOT: Advise beaching, repeat advise beaching.

SECRETARY: What got them, Lieutenant?

CO-PILOT: Ma'am, I don't know. Never saw anything like it.

SECRETARY: Describe it.

CO-PILOT: A sea monster made of knives. Excuse me.

[BACKGROUND NOISE: 10 SECONDS]

CO-PILOT: Copy, get clear of the shore and stand by for instructions. Ma'am, we have twelve Coast Guard response boat crew members now on the island. Their cutter is standing off. What should they do?

SECRETARY: I have no authority to direct them, Lieutenant. I was just giving advice.

AIDE: Ma'am, there's one thing you have authority to do here.

SECRETARY: Oh, right. Lieutenant, get them to tell their CO that they're being invited into our secure facility. That's all I can do for them.

CO-PILOT: Yes, ma'am.

* * * * *

AMBIENT 2026-03-22 10:37Z SITE R

RECORDING OPS CENTER@SITE-R/ANMCC 2026-03-22 10:37Z

PRESENT: POTUS, CMC, CNO, VCSO, VCNGB, VCSA, CDR-SITE-R, DNI, DCIA, EA-DCIA, SA-DCIA, BRIAN JENKINS (CIA), BATTLE DIRECTOR, COMMS OFFICER, ASSORTED MILITARY STAFF

CNO: Mister President, we'd like you to review the updates from the ERGs. Almost all of Tier One have checked in and—

NOW PRESENT: CJCS, SEAC, CJCS-ADC

CJCS: The Secretary of War didn't make it, Mister President. He was on Prairie Dog Two, along with the Air Force Chief of Staff.

CDR-SITE-R: Excuse me, ladies and gentlemen, but I have someone I need to talk to.

NO LONGER PRESENT: CDR-SITE-R

CJCS: Mister President, I've been reading the latest updates from the Downwind Task Force. It looks like updates have been spotty—

EA-DCIA: There's some problems with our secure networks, General. The only thing that seems to be reliable is the secure network filesystems. No one can explain why.

CJCS: Well, Mister President, I'd recommend at this time that you contact STRATCOM and order a total stand-down, with physical disablement of all strategic assets. I'm concerned that these UBEs might compromise C3, given what happened in the Gulf of Oman. And not just here. The chance of any incoming threat being a deliberate strike is small, and maintaining immediate readiness isn't worth the risk of us launching unintentionally.

[SILENCE: 3 SECONDS]

POTUS: Do it.

* * * * *

AMBIENT 2026-03-22 10:38Z SITE R

RECORDING READY ROOM@SITE-R/NORTH PORTAL 2026-03-22 10:38Z

PRESENT: CW5 LAWRENCE HANSON, CW3 LUCY RICE, CW3 GURPREET BAJWA, CW2 LEJAMES LINCOLN, CW2 HOLMES, WO1 JAMIE BECKER, SSG JAMES THOMAS, SGT TAYLOR JACKSON, SPC ELAINE JONES, PFC EZEKIEL ROSEN

HANSON: [CALM] I don't know how good a look at it you got, but there was no way to evade it reliably. It moved so fast. I don't know how Lucas managed that jink, but then it was behind her, so she had no chance.

BAJWA: [AGITATED] So what did you do?

HANSON: Yeah, you couldn't have seen it. Well, no offense to Chief Rice here, but I took the flight controls. Playing matador didn't work that long for Lucas, so I figured we just had to stare it down. Lucy tried the Stinger, but it was out the other side before it detonated, so I ordered a switch to Hydras. Then it turned to us, started that headlong rush. I don't mind telling you folks, I thought we'd bought it, but then we were just surrounded by this cloud of glowing—

THOMAS: Attention!

[THUMPING]

NOW PRESENT: CDR-SITE-R, SGT BLACK

[SILENCE: 3 SECONDS]

HANSON: Ah, Colonel. I didn't think you'd be handling our debriefing personally, sir.

CDR-SITE-R: Oh, I'm not, Mr. Hanson. I just wanted to have a little chat with you and Ms. Rice. [LOUDER] The rest of you are excused. Sergeant Black will take you to another holding area.

[FOOTSTEPS, SHUFFLING]

BECKER: Can we get the rest of the story later, Chief?

CDR-SITE-R: That's yet to be determined, mister. You're excused!

[DWINDLING NOISE: 2 SECONDS]

CDR-SITE-R: Now, I know that you Night Stalkers are used to a certain amount of operational latitude. It's necessary in your line of work. But can you tell me, Mr. Hanson, how much latitude you have once you're in contact with air traffic control on an installation?

[SILENCE: 2 SECONDS]

CDR-SITE-R: Ms. Rice?

RICE: Air traffic control takes precedence within controlled airspace, sir, absent overriding tactical considerations.

CDR-SITE-R: And why did you think you could ignore that, Mr. Hanson?

HANSON: It wasn't a traffic control matter, sir. I was responding to a tactical situation.

CDR-SITE-R: And how did you determine that it wasn't a traffic control matter?

HANSON: No one else was in our immediate vicinity. There was no collision risk. There was a tactical situation involving a threat of unknown capability, and I determined that—

CDR-SITE-R: You might be right about that, Mr. Hanson. But how did you know? Did you check with control? Were your flight systems networked with ours?

HANSON: Sir, I—

CDR-SITE-R: No, Mr. Hanson, you did not check. You were not networked. I know that, because I was on the floor and I checked the logs. And I don't think I'm overstepping nt bounds to say that I don't see how a threat that was stationary and showed every sign of ignoring you was an overriding tactical consideration. Now, I'm not your CO, but we're about to lock this mountain down, so I expect you'll all be attached to this garrison, detailed to whatever I can find for you. I'll recommend it to the President. You're both going to be kept in isolation until your debriefing, that much I can order myself. I'll try not to make you wait too long. Your duties after that will depend on what I think of your explanations, but Mr. Hanson, I think you can expect to be babysitting civilians in Building A. Ms. Rice?

RICE: Chief Hanson was pilot in command, sir. I have no argument with his decisions.

CDR-SITE-R: No, I don't suppose you do. I do expect you to have opinions, and I expect to see them in the report from your debriefing.

NOW PRESENT: SGT BLACK

BLACK: Sir, the guardsmen are in the secondary security lounge, as ordered.

CDR-SITE-R: Good. Now, Sergeant, please escort these individuals to, hmm, I guess the stockade would be a bit harsh. Are any of the offices in Building D vacant?

BLACK: Yes, sir.

CDR-SITE-R: One office each, and post guards for continuous surveillance per Downwind protocols.

BLACK: Yes, sir. Sir, ma'am, if you'll come with me.

* * * * *

AMBIENT 2026-03-22 10:40Z HIGH POINT

RECORDING SECURITY OFFICE@HIGH POINT 2026-03-22 10:40Z

PRESENT: MWPD-WATCH, MWPD-OFF-1, MWPD-OFF-2, MWPD-OFF-3, MWPD-OFF-4, MWPD-OFF-5

WATCH: We don't have enough people to maintain this continuous verification. Anyone seen anything to worry about?

OFF-1: The Secretaries all seem to be staying calm.

OFF-2: Pretty much everyone is.

OFF-3: Outside is quiet. Are we ready to lock down?

WATCH: I'll ask the command center. I don't have the lists.

OFF-4: I'm getting tired of empty hall— wait, what was that?

WATCH: Play it back.

[SILENCE: 3 SECONDS]

WATCH: Looks like someone disappearing around that corner. Back that feed up, we should be able to get a reasonable view.

OFF-4: I swear, there was nothing before that flash of coat, or whatever it is.

[SILENCE: 2 SECONDS]

WATCH: You're right. Maybe someone just around the corner turned around, and their clothes sort of swished out. That's J-5. Holly, I think the next hallway is on your board.

OFF-5: I haven't seen anything out of the ordinary. Rolling it back.

[SILENCE: 2 SECONDS]

WATCH: What the hell was that? It looked like it came around the corner, then the camera went offline for a moment, and it was gone.

OFF-5: Maybe we'll get a clear view on a single frame. Just [PAUSE] let [PAUSE] me [PAUSE] shit.

[RADIO CLICK]

WATCH: Unit Five-Two, possible intruder in ventilation access two. Could be a UBE. Investigate with caution.

RADIO: Will do.

[SILENCE: 4 SECONDS]

OFF-5: I don't suppose anyone in the Cabinet enjoys cosplay?

WATCH: I might believe someone had some robes like that, maybe. Could be something religious. But no one's wearing facial prosthetics like that for fun right now.

* * * * *

Secure Conference 2026-03-22 10:43Z WHSR

xNOIWON-O2@CROWN 2026-03-22 10:43Z

oOPS-SAPF-B-SUPPORT@CIA-HQ

oOPS-SAPF-B@CIA-HQ

oOSE-WATCH-SAPF@CIA-OSE

oNGA-WATCH-SAPF@NGA-HQ

PRESENT: CAROL MALCOLMSON (NSA), ROBERT MCAULEY (CIA), LORENZA RIVERA (CIA); WILLIAM HEBERT (CIA); JOANN WONG (NGA); CPO LEIA FOSTER (WHSR); JAVID FARHANG (CIA)

MALCOLMSON: Um, Lorrie?

RIVERA: If you've run out of things to do, Carol, you can jump in on the coding.

MALCOLMSON: No, um, the training is running, I expect it will be done with what's already there by the time the coding is finished. I have a couple of answers to the communications problem.

RIVERA: Oh? Did anyone respond to that cable?

MALCOLMSON: No.

RIVERA: You have some other ideas?

MALCOLMSON: Well, I can definitely hijack satellite signals to get a secure, encrypted message out.

RIVERA: Good. Do it.

MALCOLMSON: But it would be physically received by everything that's listening to our military satellite communications. I can't go point-to-point. It would just be noise to anyone without the right high-side equipment, but the Downwind cipher keys are probably in quite a few systems now.

RIVERA: Okay, don't do it. I want Warrenton and Site R. High Point might be useful, but I don't have any contacts there. I want to reach our people.

MALCOLMSON: I did have another idea. The network filestore seems to still be working completely. That actually doesn't make a great deal of sense, given where it is. Distributed copies exist, of course, but checking the change records, they show that it's been read, and updated, by people at sites we can't reach.

RIVERA: How does that help?

MALCOLMSON: I was thinking maybe a document in the root directory. Called READ ME NOW. You know, big capital letters.

[SILENCE: 2 SECONDS]

MALCOLMSON: Maybe with some exclamation marks?

[SILENCE: 2 SECONDS]

RIVERA: Put it in the incoming-for-analysis folder.

* * * * *

FILE 2026-03-22 10:45Z incoming-material/BRIAN-READ-THIS. txt

To: Brian Jenkins

Hello, Brian. I'm Carol Malcolmson, NSA. Lorrie asked me to send you some instructions; I'm putting messages like this for your colleagues who should be at Warrenton, too. Hopefully some of you will spot them soon.

I have a way of getting around the fragmentation of the secure network. It's a bit non-standard, but if there's any communications people you trust, who might be willing to be a bit unconventional, give them the instructions below and we should be able to have a solid connection between this vault and Site R. It's a little bit against regulations, but we think this isn't the time to worry about that.

Failing that, you can always pass messages back like this. I've set up a watchdog to alert me to any filenames that contain any of our surnames. You can use that to let me know which node you're using for the ad-hoc connection.

We need to find a node that we can both reach. All the ones we can still access are listed below. Once I've confirmed we're looking at the same one, they'll need to forward a set of UDP ports on a machine on your network to the same ports on that node. I've put bash and PowerShell scripts to do it at the end of this file, but if they're doing it on Windows they'll need some privileges normally restricted to administrator accounts. You'll be forwarding ports 50000-50009 to the same ports on the intermediate node (if your tech is worried about port conflicts, tell them not to, I'm giving everyone different ports).

If your workstation lets you, you can just connect directly to those ports on the intermediate node, but if I remember the architecture of the ANMCC correctly, you probably can't do that. Your technician will need to run something to send encoded audio over those ports. There are a few options…

* * * * *

Secure Conference 2026-03-22 10:52Z WHSR

xNOIWON-O2@CROWN 2026-03-22 10:52Z

oOPS-SAPF-B-SUPPORT@CIA-HQ

oOPS-SAPF-B@CIA-HQ

oOSE-WATCH-SAPF@CIA-OSE

oNGA-WATCH-SAPF@NGA-HQ

PRESENT: CAROL MALCOLMSON (NSA), ROBERT MCAULEY (CIA), LORENZA RIVERA (CIA); WILLIAM HEBERT (CIA); JOANN WONG (NGA); CPO LEIA FOSTER (WHSR); JAVID FARHANG (CIA)

WONG: Have you guys seen these new reports from Hawaii?

RIVERA: No. What is it, Jo?

WONG: Some domes of fog have appeared, apparently. Around traditional Hawaiian communities. And one of them talked to a police officer. It sounded kind of helpful?

MALCOLMSON: Well, that's different.

RIVERA: Think you can code it for Carol's model?

WONG: Doing it now, but I'd feel better if one of you checked it. The images are, well, strange.

RIVERA: Pass it over when you're done, I'll take a look.

* * * * *

AMBIENT 2026-03-22 11:01Z USCP

RECORDING USCP-BUS-02@39.6466N77.4809W 2026-03-22 11:01Z

PRESENT: USCP-OFF-2, HOUSE-CA42, HOUSE-CA51, HOUSE-FL19, HOUSE-MN04, HOUSE-MN05, HOUSE-NY14, HOUSE-NY15, HOUSE-UT01, HOUSE-WI01, SENATE-AL-3, SENATE-GA-2, SENATE-MO-1, SENATE-OK-2, USA-SGT, USA-CPL-1, USA-CPL-2

HOUSE-NY15: Anyone know where we are?

HOUSE-CA51: Not a clue.

HOUSE-UT01: Don't you people look at maps? I mean, I recognized the roads until we got into the mountains.

HOUSE-NY15: I don't drive through Maryland that much.

HOUSE-UT01: We're heading up into the Blue Ridge Mountains. Not that that's what all the maps say, but it's the same formation. I'm pretty sure we're in the Catoctins.

[SILENCE: 5 SECONDS]

HOUSE-UT01: What, you think I sponsored a bill about mapping data and public access for funsies?

[SILENCE: 5 SECONDS]

HOUSE-WI01: Oh. I think I know where we're going.

HOUSE-MN04: Yeah, it just clicked for me, too.

HOUSE-WI01: Shouldn't we be somewhere under legislative branch control, rather than executive?

USCP-OFF-2: Ladies and gentlemen.

[BUS ENGINE STOPS]

USCP-OFF-2: Welcome to NSF Thurmont.

* * * * *

Secure Conference 2026-03-22 11:05Z WHSR

xNOIWON-O2@CROWN 2026-03-22 11:05Z

oOPS-SAPF-B-SUPPORT@CIA-HQ

oOPS-SAPF-B@CIA-HQ

oOSE-WATCH-SAPF@CIA-OSE

oNGA-WATCH-SAPF@NGA-HQ

PRESENT: CAROL MALCOLMSON (NSA), ROBERT MCAULEY (CIA), LORENZA RIVERA (CIA); WILLIAM HEBERT (CIA); JOANN WONG (NGA); CPO LEIA FOSTER (WHSR); JAVID FARHANG (CIA)

[BING]

MCAULEY: This is the last of the Hot Pockets. Anyone want half?

RIVERA: I don't think I want to eat anything but saltines, after reading all of that.

[BING]

RIVERA: Okay, that wasn't the microwave.

MALCOLMSON: Oh, that was the training run finishing.

RIVERA: You've got answers?

MALCOLMSON: I might have some newly synthesized data. Answers still need human beings to analyze it. That's your job. [PAUSE] Interesting. I'll have to do the first-stage analysis, none of you could read this, but I don't want to draw conclusions myself. I'm not actually an analyst.

RIVERA: Can you give us a quick summary?

MALCOLMSON: Well, the network has quite a lot of different latent frames specified, and there isn't much variety in, um, let's call it fundamental weight. That's not a surprise with a small data set, and they would be separately weighted for any given analysis if we were going to use this the right way around. But they seem to form two main collections, nearly orthogonal in terms of frame recognition data. That much I can tell with simple analysis. En by En matrices are simple to manipulate mathematically with a computer, even if N were in the thousands. But we need me to interpret these, which requires a little bit more complex manipulation with some human interpretation on top of that, not to mention analyzing both the recognition pathways and the impact of the frame on the underlying model. And that part isn't even fully trained yet, it's a very vague representation of the parts of semantic space the frame engages. If I—

RIVERA: I get it, this isn't perfect, maybe not even reliable. What does the model tell you?

MALCOLMSON: Well, one set is the physical or organizational context, and that's very varied. The other seems to be emotional. That shouldn't come up in this stage of training, but like I said, it's a small dataset. We'll have to do the final training step to understand how these are linked, I think. But still, the emotional context is, well, harder to decipher at this stage, and a lot less varied. Almost all of the variation in fundamental weight between the frames is on the emotional ones.

RIVERA: What do you mean? There's some dominant emotions in those things that map context?

MALCOLMSON: One, actually. That is, one emotion-oriented frame.

RIVERA: What is it?

MALCOLMSON: You need to understand, emotion wouldn't normally be part of these context frames. It's in the wrong layer of the model. If it weren't for the fact that the dominant emotional frame is only about ninety percent, I'd write it off as an understandable artifact of people's reactions to the manifestations. And in any case, interpreting the nature of these frames is chancy at this stage. The organizational ones aren't that different from things I've seen before. And these frames are latent, they don't correspond directly to semantic concepts that we would necessarily think of. So any interpretation I make is necessarily—

RIVERA: What is it, Carol?

MALCOLMSON: Fear.

* * * * *

AMBIENT 2026-03-22 11:07Z NSF THURMONT

RECORDING ASPEN-CONF-B@NSF THURMONT 2026-03-22 11:07Z

PRESENT: USCP-OFF-2, HOUSE-CA42, HOUSE-CA51, HOUSE-FL19, HOUSE-MN04, HOUSE-MN05, HOUSE-NY14, HOUSE-NY15, HOUSE-UT01, HOUSE-WI01, SENATE-AL-3, SENATE-GA-2, SENATE-MO-1, SENATE-OK-2, BASE-CO, USMC-CPL

USCP-OFF-2: [AMPLIFIED] Thank you for your patience, everyone. I'm told that they've decided what to tell us all, and I'll be joining you. The commander of this facility will be conducting our briefing. Commander?

BASE-CO: [AMPLIFIED] Thank you, Officer. I'll start by saying how much I regret that this room is so empty. I've been briefed on the unfortunate events of your trip here. I'll explain them as far as I can, if you'll all just sign the NDA that's being passed around. You're being indoctrinated into a Special Access Program in order to be given information about the current situation.

SENATE-OK-2: This isn't a SCIF!

BASE-CO: No, Senator, it's not. But the senior personnel at any location or facility, means me, here and now, can waive that requirement where operationally beneficial. I think it's beneficial not to put us all in a dark room, especially for this briefing.

HOUSE-MN05: Are we under military authority here?

BASE-CO: Actually, ma'am, thank you for raising that. It's an important point to make. Until further notice, and this order can only be countermanded by the President, this facility has been transferred to the control of the legislative branch. Procedurally, I believe you need to appoint a local Sergeant at Arms to whom I will then report. My manuals don't give me any guidance as to how you do that, so until you figure it out I'll consider myself and Officer Dietrich here as equals.

SENATE-AL-3: And what about the President? Where is he?

BASE-CO: The President is safe inside Site R, ma'am.

SENATE-AL-3: I didn't think Air Force One was that fast.

BASE-CO: It isn't. I don't know how to explain this properly without the briefing, but suffice it to say that Air Force One didn't make it. The former Vice President was sworn in about an hour ago.

USMC-CPL: Sir.

BASE-CO: Ah, thank you, Corporal. They all signed?

USMC-CPL: Yes, sir.

BASE-CO: Well, here we go, I guess. Since late yesterday evening, intelligence agencies have been tracking reports of strange events in Central and South Asia. The events have been moving west at a consistent speed. This information is classified under the Special Access Program designated DOWNWIND, and is need-to-know. You don't need to know everything I know, and I don't need to know everything there is to know, but a full archive is being maintained here that we can access if I deem it operationally necessary. Yes, ma'am?

HOUSE-NY14: Strange events like a giant cat-bear-dog that can survive missile strikes and likes attacking buses?

BASE-CO: Yes, ma'am, exactly that sort of thing. Urban areas, or other areas with high population density, seem to be the most affected…

* * * * *

AMBIENT 2026-03-22 11:10Z JTF-NCR

RECORDING BATTLE CAPTAIN'S DESK@JTF-NCR JOC 2026-03-22 11:10Z

PRESENT: BATTLE CAPTAIN, ASST BATTLE CAPTAIN, NCOIC, INTEL WATCH, LOGISTICS WATCH, COMMS WATCH, AVIATION LIAISON, FAA LIAISON, USSS LIAISON, USCP LIAISON, USMS LIAISON, DOJ LIAISON, FEMA LIAISON, CIA LIAISON

BATTLE CAPTAIN: Okay, we're past the scheduled lockdown time. Where are we?

FAA LIAISON: All ERGs have cleared DC airspace. Do we reopen to civilian traffic?

BATTLE CAPTAIN: Put that on a list to ask the President. Congress?

USCP LIAISON: We've confirmed loss on fifty percent of evacuations from the National Capital Region. Another thirty percent are out of contact. The other twenty have reached evacuation sites and were secure at last report. We don't have any consistent reports from anyone who was back in their districts.

BATTLE CAPTAIN: The court?

USMS LIAISON: Group four is still heading west. Group one, well, contact has gotten spotty. Group three is out of contact, their last message leads us to think they're gone. Group two has reached their safe house and our people report a clear perimeter.

BATTLE CAPTAIN: Cabinet and succession?

USSS LIAISON: Apart from the late President and Secretary of War, everyone is either where they should be or out of contact. [PAUSE] Agriculture has reported safe arrival, and their refuge is in good condition. Interior is out of contact. Everyone else has reported in at Site R, High Point, or Warrenton. The current second-in-line is reported to be staying out of the way, and we're encouraging him to keep that up. Our primary command center has gone dark. We don't know why, but the secondaries are up and running.

ASST BATTLE CAPTAIN: The senator isn't trying to weigh in?

USSS LIAISON: According to his detail, that doesn't appear to be his style.

BATTLE CAPTAIN: Okay, operational sites?

CIA LIAISON: We have voice contact with Warrenton, data is hit-or-miss. I'm sorry to report that Langley has all but gone dark. Someone's still updating files from there, but no comms.

FEMA: All the continuity facilities and emergency management locations are reporting in as fully operational. But something's not right at High Point. I'm trying to get the facility police to give a clear, comprehensive report.

[DISTANT GUNFIRE]

NCOIC: Sir, perimeter status is lighting up.

COMMS WATCH: Positions two and four report unidentified individuals approaching. Hang on. No, position four says it's a car. Apparently the car is demonstrating possible hostile intent.

[BELL RINGS]

COMMS WATCH: Flash from Site R. Decryption key for a briefing packet. Apparently someone thinks we should know what's going on now.

BATTLE CAPTAIN: [UNDERTONE] I'd prefer evacuation instructions, but it's something.