Subject: Unauthorized Access
All-
There are several items that need to be updated per Oversight.
First, the investigation into the breach of our data is still ongoing. Benton, Brutus, Rasputin, and Nero have completed their investigation of the incident and have found no evidence of physical intrusion by an outside party or internal espionage. Quark and his team are still working through the cybersecurity angle, as we now believe that the intrusion was digital. Quark has the full backing of the company resourcesper Oversight and may request any additional resources necessary from any department as he sees fit.
We are continuing to monitor the breach and have identified that the intruder accessed more than originally believed. We have discovered that the full complement of files from Project Reality were obtained, as well as records from the public intranet and our tech and medical departments. This is deeply troubling, as it means that while this could be corporate espionage, it is more likely that it is specifically focused on Project Reality.
Next, the Horsemen have been working the files on the Project Reality participants known as X260, the newly resurrected 056, X300, X1753, and their families. They have split a new suburb off of the Resistance, known as Safe Haven. We feel this is dangerous, and though it is unnecessary to intervene as yet; we have dispatched a team to monitor. These individuals do not have the power X1501 does; therefore, we will be actively attempting to infiltrate their space with all available types of security and surveillance materials.
This will allow us access to those who are dually enrolled in both communities. We will use this to help continue to build profiles and study the subjects that we feel are appropriate to our newly resurrected 056, X300, X1753, and their families. They have split a new suburb off of the Resistance, known as Safe Haven. We feel this is dangerous, and though it is unnecessary to intervene as yet; we have dispatched a team to monitor. These individuals do not have the power X1501 does; therefore, we will be actively attempting to infiltrate their space with all available types of security and surveillance materials.
This will allow us access to those who are dually enrolled in both communities. We will use this to help continue to build profiles and study the subjects that we feel are appropriate to our project. Many of the extra subjects that they will add will not affect the most important parts of Project Reality, and we will not allocate resources to monitor them.
The Horsemen feel that with enough infiltration and pressure, the leaders (X300 and X260) will eventually either leave the Rift or fade into the background. They are profiled as self-absorbed narcissists and cannot maintain any sense of belonging for the members of the Safe Haven as X1501 does for the Resistance.
Finally, Oversight is concerned that the pressure on X1501 will cause negative reactions. X1501 is spiraling dangerously, and her team will watch closely. We cannot allow her to lose her leadership role, as she is a linchpin to Project Reality.
Her level of competency as an agent is beyond expectations, and her family has the most value to both the company and the project. We will not allow disturbances from less valuable subjects to affect them in such a way as to destroy this value.
Mikhail and Tiberius will keep a close watch on X1501’s progress and encourage her to help keep her on level ground emotionally.
The Cat And The Artist Sing The Blues
DELILAH
Four hours worth of whiny, immature bullshit to figure out shit I already knew.
That amount of time is what it costs to be a high-functioning empathetic leader in a world where perception matters more than intent, more than dead bodies or even the simple act of getting your hands around a problem and wringing its neck until it stops twitching.
Four hours of sitting with people who think their needs are greater than anyone else’s, and the sharpest weapon isn’t my claws, but someone’s traitorous tongue. I spent every minute suppressing the urge to carve up the sheep-like idiots with Talia’s former blade for fun. By the time Lily called the meeting, I felt like a caged pitbull at a vegan daycare.
Once I was free, I did exactly what I said I would do. I grabbed my husband, went out, and made a spectacularly gruesome mess at a known den of inequity on the other side of the portal.
Taurus and I ran the entire outfit through the wringer until the floors bled.
The first two targets were warm-ups, and I barely had to break a sweat. It’s always the same—some greasy little fucker with a warehouse and a contingent of rented meat-shields thinks they can defeat us. I don’t believe in quick or clean anymore; if efficiency was all I wanted, my life would be run by spreadsheet, and I’d have deleted the problem children long ago.
No, I wanted to feel everything.
The grit in my teeth, the burn in my calves, and the way the world slows down when you line up your next move… you know with a white-hot certainty—that you’re about to end someone who sorely deserves it. Taurus says I get a look in my eye when I’m about to be a problem. I’d ask him to clarify, but he spends most of those moments looking at me like I’m the world’s most delicious steak, so I doubt he’s paying attention to subtext.
We killed, devoured, and fucked with the city lights reflecting through the windows off his canines. Our little adventures are like a three-act play of horror—violence, appetite, and then aftermath.
I’m nothing if not capable of paying homage to the classics.
Afterward, Taurus walked the perimeter, leaving me on the floor as I came down from the pleasure. He’s a connoisseur of violence in the same way some people collect rare vinyl, and he loves to see my work. He counts my kills with his tongue pressed behind his teeth, every number making his smile wider.
It would’ve been easier to use my magick, but I’m technically on probation. Mickey’s exact words last time were “Try not to attract any more attention than normal killers.” That’s liketelling a tornado to mind its elbows, but I made do with claws and my knife. It was more labor-intensive, but I get satisfaction from taking out this kind of scumbag no matter what the manner of death is. Taurus gets satisfaction from watching me bleed, and then seeing who bleeds more.
By dawn, we’re both spent in the way only apex predators can be. I’m scatterbrained, my skin is singing, and my mouth is slick with copper and adrenaline. We apperate home holding hands like honeymooners, and I tell myself I’m going to shower and sleep. Instead, I slide into leggings and a leotard and stretch until my joints pop like bubble wrap.
Sometimes, I can’t help being such a masochist.
It’s Tuesday, which means I’m working on ballet. I’m improvising a schedule, trying to convince myself that self-care is a thing I deserve. I rotate between tumbling on Mondays, weaponry drills on Wednesdays, and contemporary on Thursdays. Taurus calls it ‘domesticated rage’, which is the most backhanded compliment he’s ever given me. He says I’m easier to live with when I’ve worn myself raw, and he’s not wrong.
I need to move to think, and I need not to move to not think.
