Dr. Amanda Ereb's Story

Mr. Ereb nodded at Jennifer in greeting. "Oh it is perfectly all right. Back in my early days I used to leave my work space in such a shamble." he chuckled. "I just decided to stop by and see your progress on our project. I am most curious on what you have discovered so far."

"Hi." the woman gave a friendly smile as she approached Jennifer with an extended hand. "I'm Amanda. Mr. Ereb is my father. I run Ereb Medical as well as some more... classified projects. It's good to put a face with the name, Jennifer. I've heard much about you from the other staff around here."

Jennifer gave a small smile and a chuckle to what Mr. Ereb said. "Progress has been good, mostly because I'm so intrigued by the DNA I can hardly sleep at night without dreaming about it, hence my little nap that I was taking when you arrived." she admitted. "But don't take that wrong, I can go a little longer without some sleep, I've done it before." she said.

She looked back to Amanda, and shook the young woman's hand with her own scaled and clawed one, holding the hand gently as to not puncture the skin of the hand in which she shook. "A pleasure to meet you, Amanda." she said with a smile. "Well it seems like everyone I've met here so far is in a high position within Ereb Industries. It makes me feel important." she said with a girlish giggle before she spoke again. "Really? You've heard a lot about me have you? From who? I rarely leave this lab, and don't talk to many people." she explained.

After a few seconds, she changed the subject again. "I noticed you were taking photos of what I have on the wall. That is only the surface of what I've done so far." she said, walking over to a machine and pressing a button, making about ten or fifteen more 3D holographic images of different genes appear around the room. "There's another portion, but that still isn't all of it." she admitted. "I keep the most important stuff in my notebook...Mostly because I end up breaking keyboards and screens with my claws." she said. "But as to where my notebook is..." she paused, hesitating as if she didn't want to give it to anyone.

"This facility is a bit... enclosed... with a limited number of people in it." Amanda mentioned. "When a nonhuman scientist comes in to work on a classified project, even for here, word gets around the work place..." she shrugged.

"So..." Mr. Ereb spoke. "Why don't you give me a brief summary of your findings? And don't worry about the equipment. Screens and keys are replaceable."

Jennifer nodded, "That seems logical." she said, adjusting her lab coat out of a old nervous habit. She looked to Mr. Ereb and nodded, all nervousness going away with a few blinks of her eyes.

"Well, over the past week, I've been able to identify every draconian gene, figure out what each of them does, figure out how to isolate them, how to clone them, how to integrate them with the genes of another person, how to remove them from a person all together, and any and all side effects the genes have on the person or thing that has them." she said.

She moved over to the main projector, snapping her fingers and making all other holographic images vanish and the lights of the room dim so that the 3D holographic model of the gene could be seen clearly.

"What concerns me however is this gene right here. It basically holds the consciousness of the dragon the genes would create, and it is very wild." she explained. "I'm sure Draco himself told you of this, or his old host, James, mentioned it at least once." she said, pulling a notebook out of her lab coat and flipping through the pages.

"I have predicted two different outcomes for James as long as he retains this gene: 1 is that it will take him another year and a half to tame it and become even more powerful than any of us presently here could imagine. 2 is that it will take about 3 months for him to completely loose his mind to it." she explained. "The latter will happen if he is strained too much, meaning missions or overly strenuous training exercises. Anything that can weaken his mind will not be good for him."

"To make that statement shorter, simpler, and easier to understand, basically all you have to do is not rush him, and don't throw him into hostile environments for too long or too often. Once every two weeks will be the minimum you can deploy him, and as for how long, I'd say no more than a few days at the most." she said.

She closed her notebook and put it away, letting out a sigh and sitting on a stool as if she was relieved to get that information off of her chest.

Dr. Amanda Ereb's plane touched down approximately five hours before the conference. She emerged from her plane wearing a thick jacket and dark sunglasses. Two heavily armored figures followed two steps behind and one step to her side. They made their way from the shuttle to the baggage claim, drawing all manner of eyes as they passed. Several pedestrians snapped photos of the group from their mobile devices - recognizing their identities.

Within minutes of their arrival, Amanda slid into the leather seat of a limousine and pulled out her tablet. Several pages of stock data, news reels, and other information scrolled passed the screen. Intelligent eyes focused on minute details that a layman would simply gloss over without a thought. A few phrases kept appearing every few lines, however.

Victims from Elysium keep rising...

...LogicRoad stocks plummet due to harmful drug scandal...

International terrorist Elijah Kenton vanished.

"Well then..." Amanda said to herself as she flipped through a few more documents. "Let's see what we can salvage from this..."

A man of decent stature stepped out of a taxi onto the street in front of the courthouse. Blond haired and fair, with Piercing blue eyes, it would be easy to mistake this man for some celebrity or similiar high status individual. At least it would be, if not for the military combat boots he wore, the duffle bag he slung over his shoulder, and the sidearm holstered at his hip. It was also difficult to reconcile the mans attractiveness with the more obvious Cybernetic augmentations revealed on his person. And that was only what could be seen, something in his step, in the way he moved, with a reckless confidence that showed either a lack of fear, and perhaps worse.

This man would walk towards Eros Fletcher, his eyes casually roaming around, picking out potential sniper nests, hideaways, escape routes, kill boxes, things a Mercenary tends to look for in their environment. Along his way he picks out the man he's here to meet, and takes a minute to observe him. The man detetcs the stress and anxiety of someone backed into a corner, and smirks to himself. Well I suppose they wouldn't hire me if they weren't backed into a corner.

Aloud the man calls out to Eros as he approaches. "Eros Fletcher? My name is Matthew Tametson, I was told to meet you here in regards to employment of my services?" He offers Eros his right hand, fully cybernetic to the shoulder, in greeting.

Noting the individual he glared, "We shall talk later whelp." he sneered quietly indicating he was to go, "I have more pressing matters like this press conference your employment shall be decided on later." turning away he took a long breath wrapping himself in his overcoat as he shivered, "Fucking weather, let's get this over with."

As everyone began to arrive to this metaphorical cattle market, the CEO approached the podium and waited for all to take their places, after a few minutes as everyone found their places, he began with his speech on the lectern, "I imagine many of you are wondering why I brought you here or well you all no doubt know. Firstly I must say just because we have not been dedicated in acting on this did not mean we were ignoring it, we just felt addressing the problems of Illumene would be far more productive. Nonetheless you have my most gracious apology." taking a pause he scanned the faces, "Now let's discuss somethings that could perhaps sour this gathering. I did not have those groups arrested they were found with a Class A substance and thus the law enforcement handled it, regarding those leaks we are addressing the irregularities as I speak. Finally, why would we make Bioweapons there is no money in it, the Aschen our benefactors already have suppliers we felt that having a worker who got themselves drunk at public function was just unacceptable."

Eros watching over the crowd he tried to measure the response, "Of course I am more than willing to address any questions addressing these before we move on to the main reason for this conference. Just go ahead and speak up."

Matthew chuckles to himself as Eros walks away and over to the podium. "Ahh that makes this much easier, always better to work for an asshole who wants to live rather than a softy too scared to live..." He says to himself, taking a step back to the side to avoid being near the center of attention. He instead returns to checking around, making sure his soon to be employer isn't already in someones sights.
He casually lets the duffle bag slide to the ground, it lands with a peculiar clinking sound, and rests a hand on the holstered pistol at his side. With his free hand he shades his eyes and scans the crowd, his ocular enhancements dialing on key individuals and running them against facial recognition. If anyone of particular note is out there, he highlights them in with AR and keeps an eye on their proximity to Eros.

Xiaolian frowned, the man was dismissing a number of scandals that people had already blamed LogicRoad for, especially the Elysium drug and it's lack of antidote. Pushing her way through the crowd to the front, phone in hand, the petite woman made judicial use of a few well placed jabs to get to where she wanted to be.

"Mr. Fletcher! Mr. Fletcher! Lisa Zhao with Press Sat news!" She shouted above the crowd in an effort to be heard. "What is the status of LogicRoad's antidote for Elysium and why were criminals found with a Schedule 1 drug?" Xiaolian asked, careful not to really reveal much information about herself or the news agency she supposedly worked for.

Amanda Ereb sat among the crowd gathered for Fletcher's speech. She was flanked by her two bodyguards Shadow-Sabre and Verhasst. The surrounding attendees maintained a respectable distance away from her - and consequently the two menacing supersoldiers. Many of the press would recognize her as the daughter of the billionaire Gabriel Ereb, the director of ErebLife, and heir to Ereb Industries.

Her attention was focused on Fletcher and his honeyed words. He played a big game - a dangerous game. A subtle smile graced her lips. She was used to dangerous games.

"Your denial is noted, Mr. Fletcher." Miss Ereb spoke up. "However, it hardly bears weight. You claim that your company is not responsible for the manufacturing of bioweapons, but there is significant evidence that proves otherwise. Just one example is the Elysium outbreak just last year. Close examination of the drug showed engineering markers specific to LogicRoad. Now, engineering bioweapons is perfectly fine as long as you have the proper licensing and clearance. However, this drug was found in the possession of terrorists. That brings the question... How did they acquire it?"

Matthew scanned over Xiaolian, and then took a picture of her face with his enhancements. He then began running a program to match her to the company she claimed to work for, only to frown when he came back without a match. "Well... someones not who they say they are." He muttered to himself. He highlighted this woman in his AR system as well, and kept a special close eye on her while running another program to trace any footprints or tracks of her to be found on the net. She didn't look especially threatening, but she had lied, and Matthew made it a particular practice with him to ensure he had all the information that might be desired by his employers. Also it was a hobby of his to root out liars and snitches, one he was quite good at.

After her he scanned the next person to talk, and came back with a very interesting biography and history. Her marked her as purple in his AR system, a reminder that she was of particular note and required very careful observation. He also scanned her bodyguards, and after doing so slid his hand to his pistol. Warning flags popped up all over them, marking them with modified genetic markers identifying them as super soldiers. He didn't really listen to what she said, after all that wasn't what he was for, but from that point forward he made sure to keep those two living weapons in his line of sight.

Inwardly he chuckled to himself at Eros Fletchers delima. "That for sure is why I never bothered to go any higher than hired gun. Far too much trouble comes from being the guy on the throne." He said to himself, alone and at ease in the privacy of his own mind.

His eyes seemed to see red as he listened to both of them, it would almost seem if he was a dragon his nostrils would be flaring. Nonetheless he took a breath and first address the journalist, "Well no one said it was Elysium they were discovered with, I do believe it was something incredibly illegal and though they had claimed to have information exposing my Corporation, further research showed they had falsified the data. The police did a thorough investigation on our connection and found no impropriety on our part." with that he nodded giving warm smile, "That being said reason we were not working on any antidote was strictly speaking the Aschen system been uneffected by this epidemic, thus we focused our efforts on curing problems in this system and planet, we recently procured certain plants which may provide promising results in our trials to cure bone cancer."

Shivering due to the cold he wrapped himself tighter in the overcoat, before continuing, "That being said we are one of the number one Pharmaceutical Companies in this sector and operate a huge franchise, so we did realize sooner or later we would be called on. My Board Members thought it best we address this now, and thus I am. As of today..." he paused as he was suddenly interrupted...

"If you allow me Mam, one there is no proof that stood up in court regarding that slanderous claim and secondly Elysium was created by an exiled Aschen, I been informed of this. We would never make such a substance and I am frankly appalled you suggest this, if you have nothing of substance or evidence to back up said claims, I would ask you remain quiet. Because now we are on the main part of this conference and we specifically brought in one person who witnessed and saved someone who was exposed to Elysium, he shall explain what he knows and explain better what our plan is, his descriptions provided us with many facts that would would allow any cure to be concocted. I now introduce Cryoface."

With that he walked from the podium, allowing another to take over.

A hush went over the crowd as the hulking figure of snow and ice made its way out from the abandoned courthouse. Perhaps this would explain why they chose such a day to hold the interview...if so much as left in room temperature, he could very well melt away. In his gigantic hands was a crudely made broadsword, easily as long as a man was tall, with his torso half again that much, not counting the sinuous tail made of progressively smaller snowballs that writhed behind him and offered locomotion much in the manner of a snake. This would be the legendary Cryoface, the two-time chosen of the Ice Lord, and one-time champion of the infamous Gambit's Bar.

He cleared his throat, the deep rumbling sounding like the calving of an iceberg from a mighty glacier, before leaning into the array of microphones. "Ahem. Greetings, flesh-forms. As you have heard, I am indeed the one called Cryoface. Maybe you've seen me before, but if not, I used to work security at Gambit's Bar in Wing City. Some time ago, a woman came in having difficulty controlling her inborn ice magic. I couldn't exactly let her explode. Not only would there be a death on my watch, but even I don't like cleaning up that much blood and ice. Using my Lord-given connections to my creator, I was able to siphon off the excess energy until her madness subsided. Only then was she able to confess that it was this dastardly concoction of Elysium that tried to use her own magic against her. If both of us hadn't been in the right place at the right time, I would be unable to share this story with you.

Elysium is a bane on all of us magic-users. Those who are even the slightest bit taxed by their own power could turn into a walking, ticking time bomb. And if the overflow doesn't do it, the collateral damage just might finish the job on us and whoever's in the radius. Not to mention that it was intended as a weapon of chemical warfare by a genocidal maniac." And here he felt a little mischievous and went off the script. "I come here not to endorse Logic Road or its subordinates, but merely to spread awareness of the evil that is called Elysium. Only by thinking and acting of one mind can this menace be taken off the streets and make it safe to be who you are once again. I hope everyone gathered here heeds these words, because if even one of you does not, who knows who might next make it into headlines for the wrong reasons."

Xiaolian frowned, that was a non answer and maybe even blatant denial of things if she ever heard them. Stepping aside, she allowed other people to ask other questions. 'This really is strange... why.. would he act like that if Logic Road didn't already have a stake in what happened with Elysium.' She thought to herself. The Council would definitely be interested to hear about this one once she got back. Eros was playing a dangerous game, and so far he hadn't been caught, but things could change.

However, it would take some time to acquire the personnel and the resources to get to the bottom of this and potentially stop the flow of whatever this stuff was into the black market. Just because Eros denied it, didn't mean it wasn't a real threat. After all, they'd already had one so called security breach, and Xiaolian bet there'd be another before the year was over. It seemed to her that this man operated his company under the premise that any publicity, good or bad, was good for the company.

Turning her attention back to the steps and the podium, she took notice of the huge ice creature dwarfing everyone surrounding it. "Holy shit..." She muttered snapping a few photos with her phone, then switching to video as it began to talk.

Giving a winning smirk, Eros watched as Cryoface spoke looks like the Board were right to get him this was certainly positive publicity and the fact this thing was so huge it was impossible to argue with what he said. Surprisingly there was few journalists, the weather had likely put them off, this fucking biting cold was torture, but one must maintain a sense of decorum and charisma for these affairs.

As the being finished speaking, he approached over clapping his hands as he returned to the podium, "Thank you, thank you Mr Cryoface, we at Logicroad take this very seriously and shall begin working on a cure. The data you provided is promising and very encouraging, from what we understand, it appears to heighten magical powers by switching off inner natural defences, of course this is merely a start." now at the podium he watched the figure walk away, thank god that thing was on their side, he would not want to be on the other end of that thing when angry, "As of today, I have my best scientists working on cure, of course a process like this is difficult without any samples and can take a great deal of time, but we are hoping that would not be necessary. If it is required we shall do the tests off the planet, but currently the results are very promising, what little we know is allowing us to construct an anti-toxin or antidote"

Shivering due to blasted cold he went on seeming once more in control, "Just note we are not halting any other operations on the planet, we have a lot to address, a great deal, but outside of any disasters we will continue to work on this issue of Elysium and if anyone can provide any of it so we can perform tests that would be amazing. Note though it is necessary and we do believe within half a year we will have results."

Matthew smiled at Eros' words. 'Sly devil you are, Mr. Fletcher' he thought to himself. He had kept his hand on his gun the entire time Cryoface had been at the podium, and even now he did not relax. As the speech finished and Fletcher took the stage again, Matthew stepped slightly forward to get a better look at Xiaolian, so to scan her face more accurately. As he did so his eyes would shine just slightly, the lenses rotating to zoom in on her better.

'What ever your secrets, Ma'am, I will find them.' He smirked silently to himself, using his net connection to begin searching for her digital footprint. Anywhere she's appeared on a camera, he would find her, and trace her to her origins and, he hoped, deduce her purpose here.

You could say he may be being paranoid, But he'd be quick to correct you. It's not paranoia, it's obsession, an obsession for information.

A sharp ping rung in Shadow-Sabre and Verhasst's helmets as Matthew was highlighted in their visors with a yellow tint. His handgun, along with any other weapons on his person, was tagged with a red glow. Though they made no visible reaction to his presence, the two Alpha Troopers kept a careful watch on the armed man.

<< P.O.I. Identified as "Matthew Tametson" >> a feminine voice spoke into their helmets while flashing a dossier of the man across their screens. << Mercenary. Records show he has been hired by subject Eros Fletcher to act as security at this event. Subject deemed a non-threat. However, caution is advised. >>

Amanda opened her mouth to retort Fletcher's obvious avoidance when Cryoface appeared on the stage. Her eyes widened in academic fascination as she lifted her tablet to take notes. She chewed on the inside of her cheek and wondered about the creature's physiology. What held it together? Was that real snow or was it just an illusion created by its unique cellular structure?

"Cryo?" Shadow-Sabre balked in recognition.

"Oy, Agares." Verhasst spoke to his colleague via their secure network. "Ya know this guy?"

"Affirmative. We worked together on occasion when Mr. Ereb ordered me to guard Gambit's."

Frowning, Xiaolian tucked her phone back into the safety of her coat. "There's more to this than meets the eye.." She muttered as she pushed her way back out of the crowd. Fletcher had been cagey when asked directly about Elysium, and that was never a good sign. 'I wonder...' Xiaolian thought to herself as she melted back out of view, eventually slipping out of sight.

There was a great deal to tell the Council, and whatever their decision was, it more than likely would call for a few heads. Xiaolian just hoped they didn't shoot the messenger this time, it was getting more and more difficult to get skilled people to work with them.