By John Snead
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Prepared by Field Operations Leader Pei Ying Chih for Pan Afu, Sub-minister of the Ministry of Psionic Affairs
The field department has recorded a substantially increased number of anomalous activities in the second half of 2122. In addition to the unusual telepathic interference currently being studied by the noetic research division, there has been an 8% rise in aberrant activity; more importantly, the nature of some of the aberrant encounters has changed. Aberrants that are both far less and far more human than the norm have been reported.
Our research also indicates that these phenomena are increasing in frequency and I believe we must work to understand them as rapidly as possible. At this time we have no answers as to the nature of these new phenomena, but something new and unusual is occurring and I believe that all of these unusual phenomena are related and should be investigated together. However, it is important to remember that not all of these anomalies are harmful or negative. We now have a documented case of an active protopsion as well as contact with another individual that currently remains inexplicable, but who may possess an entirely new variety of psionic power. Perhaps by understanding these various new phenomena we can make significant breakthroughs in the study and use of psionics.
The following are a list of some of the most unusual cases related to these anomalies that we have so far encountered.
• Shan State: SE Asian field teams report an 11% increase in prohibited activity in Southeast Asia since August. The rate of aberrant eruptions has risen significantly, and technological White Codes are more common. Recently there have been several extremely disturbing incidents in Burma's Shan State.
In October, our department initiated a raid on a secret Samphan-Tzu clinic after intelligence indicated they were performing experiments with aberrant tissue. The initial plan was for a standard infiltration-and-destroy mission using telepathic impersonators. This failed utterly when their chief of security immediately saw through our agents' telepathic disguises. She also proved to be completely resistant to mental attack, as well as extraordinarily physically capable.
Agent Rebecca Wu was severely injured during the subsequent fight. To avoid death or capture, the remaining agents initiated a controlled retreat followed by an emergency pick-up. The operation was a complete failure, and when they returned the next day with a larger, heavily armed strike team the clinic was deserted. Fortunately, the leaders of the Samphan-Tzu Triad seem to have understood the reason for the raid. All taint-related research materials were still there, along with the body of what our clairsentient indicates was the researcher who was performing this work.
The clairsentient also indicated that there was no taint or quantum signature associated with the security head, nor was she a psion. Analysis of hair and skin samples recovered from a sweep of the compound confirms that she is not an aberrant, but indicates that she possesses an unusual genetic structure. We may be seeing the first of a new breed of genetically engineered supermen, or may have stumbled onto something else entirely. Efforts continue to track down the new location of this clinic. The recent psionic interference is the most likely partly responsible for our current lack of success.
• Greater Siam: The next incident is even more disturbing in its implications. Acting on an alert about strong active taint signatures, a heavily armed strike team entered northern Siam on November 22. Tracking down the source was relatively easy. At first it seemed like a small aberrant cult. There were a dozen people living in a village with one of the most deformed aberrants yet reported. If there hadn't been a very large taint signature, the team leader reported he would have assumed that the creature was an extraterrestrial. Now completely devoid of humanoid form, this creature's body consisted of a large, wide fleshy cone, 1.5 meters high, topped by a trio of thick, flexible stalks. Two of these stalks were complex branching arms, the other ended in an oval head with four large eyes and an array of other complex sensors. While it was not sessile, it could not move rapidly except when using its potent gravitic powers to fly. One of the team members attempted to telepathically subdue the humans, while the others attacked the aberrant.
The aberrant was immune to telepathic attack, but was unable to fully deflect conventional attacks. However, at this point one of the apparent humans surrounded himself with a shimmering nimbus of unknown power and began attacking the team. He generated some form of spatial shock wave that rendered most of the team unconscious, then opened a warp and departed along with the other aberrant. The humans fled into the jungle, but the two conscious agents managed to capture one. Memory probes indicated that the two aberrants had arrived almost a week ago, and were intimidating and paying the villagers into helping them search for the entrance to some type of cave. Since neither being appeared to be a typical aberrant, the villagers assumed they were both some type of gods or demons. An examination of the taint signatures around the village indicate the both creatures were clearly aberrants, but that the human-looking one had an abnormally low taint signature, especially considering its obvious level of power. Investigators are still searching for the cave these aberrants were seeking.
• Bangkok: Telepathic patrols in Bangkok have been both aided and hampered by the recent psionic disruptions. A cartel of slavers was disrupted when agent Ling Lung-Ren distinctly heard a young boy mentally calling for help when the slaver were getting ready to fit him with a biotech control collar. The boy was not a latent, and agent Ling had never met him, so there is currently no explanation for this event. However, since agent Ling was only two blocks away from the slave pens, his team was able to rapidly secure the area, capture the slavers and free all of their captives. Because the slavers followed the usual practice of keeping all of the captives lightly sedated until they were fitted with control collars, ordinary area scans have proved insufficient to detect the captives' muted emotions.
However, at other times, levels of psionic interference have been sufficiently high to prevent even powerful, highly skilled agents from communicating with one other. Field agent Win Mai Yu was almost killed when her undercover persona was compromised and she was unable to telepathically call for backup. As a result of this incident I recommend that all undercover agents be given shielded implant radios to allow them to discreetly keep in touch with other Ministry agents.
Bangkok was also the site of what could easily be the most disturbing event of the last several years. In late November several of our agents uncovered what initially appeared to be relic technology for sale by one of the Siamese organized crime families. The particular device was an interface helmet that used some form of electromagnetic induction to allow the wearer to experience full-sensory Virtual Reality without any form of suit or additional interface equipment. Initial tests indicate that this device can also be used to record a subject's sensory impressions in precise detail. While the device itself is not even classified as a Green Code threat, it is clearly beyond current technology and appears to use principles we have previously only seen in relic aberrant technology. However, when our technicians analyzed this device it is clearly based upon recent technologies that had no analog in the aberrant era. According to the reports I have seen, this is not a technological relic, it is a device that was designed within the past five years, using new applications of existing technology.
We have had no other reports of new aberrant inventions being manufactured. If a hyper-intelligent aberrant erupted here or if an old one has returned to Earth, then we must find it and stop it immediately. Detailed study of this device has thus far found no taint signature. I need your offices permission to send this device to ISRA for more thorough examination. We need to know as much about this device as possible. The dealer who sold it knew nothing about it. They assumed it was stolen Nihonjin technology. We are currently working to track down the actual source of this device.
Within China, Field Operations continue largely according to plan.
• Shanghai: We investigated reports of increased unrest in several neighborhoods near the docks. The curious point was that most of the problems were occurring in moderately affluent regions. Such places rarely experience the levels of minor violence, public rudeness, and petty vandalism that were occurring here.
Our agents eventually discovered that the problems originated from teens who attended the Shan Lung School. Their negative feelings and activities acted as a focus and amplifier for local unrest, and aggression between students created a general sense of distrust and hostility among residents. The problem was eventually traced to the new school administrator and the revised history curriculum he had recently introduced.
In an effort to promote feelings of patriotism and personal initiative he had ordered an in-depth study of 19th and 20th century Chinese history. Unfortunately, the neighborhood consists of a wide mix of inhabitants, with numerous ethnic minorities, including Tibetans, Mongolians and Muslims making up more than 35% of the student body. This new curriculum produced inter-ethnic rivalry that had escalated to the point that the students were creating voluntary ethnic-based associations and writing aggressive graffiti.
When confronted with the evidence, the principal, one Wong Zhang, initially denied responsibility for his actions and maintained that his new program was a positive influence on the youth. However, when was shown the full range of both statistical and telepathically obtained proof of the nature of the problem, he relented. The team determined that he was not suited for education and he has since entered career retraining and social awareness classes. To remove the negative influence, the operatives ordered the school and community center to begin team sports with randomly chosen teams, as well as a series of cooperative community works activities. Within 30 days evidence of the previous problem were largely gone.
This report seemed perfectly ordinary, until I read the noted appended by Wan Tai, one of the field agents who was involved. The agents were initially unable to determine the source of the problem - then one of them walked by the school and distinctly heard the principal thinking about the latest modifications he would be making to the curriculum. Agent Wan realized that he had in some unknown fashion unintentionally contacted the mind of the school principal. The brief contact the agent experienced led him to check to see if this man could be responsible for the current problems. While this incident was certainly very positive, it is also no less mysterious than any of the others. Scans of Wan Tai's mind indicate that he is in full control of his powers and that he did not accidentally scan the principal.
• Guandong: In late September, pro-Maoist dissidents in Guandong began causing a series of social disruptions. Their use of advanced variable-form disguises and concealed radios equipped for subvocal communications made them extremely difficult to track and identify. We initially hoped to find the dissidents' headquarters using long distance scans for anti-state thoughts. However, all such attempts proved unsuccessful. Our personnel also discovered that there were a number of zones of severe telepathic interference in Guandong.
Once these problems became clear, I dispatched a field team to infiltrate the rebel's ranks. Their primary recruiting ground was a weekly media-watching group that showed 20th century films. They offered open discussions after the films and invited likely candidates for additional closed discussion groups. Operatives Luke Yi and Zhou Jingwei posed as a married couple interested in joining the rebels' ranks. Operative Jingwei used his telepathy to identify the dissidents and persuade them of the operatives' sincerity. He also learned that the dissidents were all members of the New Red Guard. This group is considerably less powerful since our last major raid, but is still a significant threat. Yi and Jingwei worked with the NRG until late November, by which time they had met most members and had proved their loyalty sufficiently to allow them to meet the local leaders.
During a meeting when they were to be awarded a special commendation for the performance in an action using homemade EMP bombs to disrupt surveillance and traffic control in Guandong's market district, they called for law enforcement to come in. Unfortunately, almost a dozen of the 45 people at this meeting escaped. However, both Yi and Jingwei avoided blowing their cover and are currently attempting to use their contacts in the NRG to attempt to make contact with the organizations leadership in Beijing. Although this group remains a threat, we shall hopefully be able to root out most of them. I strongly recommend that the Office of Semiotics keep a closer watch on all groups devoted to 20th century arts, culture and history.
The most disturbing part of the dissidents' efforts was discovering the reason that we had been unable to find locate their base of operations. The leaders had built their headquarters inside one of the zones of psionic interference, and were schooling their new recruits in advanced meditation techniques designed to allow them to resist non-specific empathic and telepathic surface scans. These techniques are crude, but they are also somewhat effective. Somehow these rebels learned of the existence and location of one of the zones of interference and how to resist low-power telepathic scans. Yi and Jingwei are currently investigating these questions. Our best theories are that either a rogue telepath or a telepathically skilled protopsion is aiding them. In either case, we must track down the source of this dangerous new problem.
• Sichuan: The most unusual report is that we now have documented evidence of a functioning protopsion of considerable power. A monk named Wong Bing lived at the Ma Lung Monastery in western Sichuan Province. Records indicate that this monk is 62 years old and is a master of Wu style tai chi, as well as a healer who is skilled in both qi gong and acupuncture. In early September agents in the region began hearing reports that Wong Bing had begun performing miracle cures for serious illnesses. As you know, similar reports are exceedingly common in isolated areas. However, the parents of a child named Hsu Ling Ling showed one field agent their daughter. The child is two years old and has a birth defect that resulted in her left leg being withered. She was on the waiting list for vitakinetic healing, which was considered to be the only way she would ever have a chance of walking normally. The parents claim they took the child to Wong Bing for treatment after hearing about his miraculous cures. When the agent saw the child she was able to run normally and had two perfectly functional legs. At this point, the agent summoned his partner and they both went to the monastery to speak to Wong Bing. When Wong Bing came out and saw that two Ministry agents were there to see him, he apologized profusely for being unable to talk to them and vanished. All evidence points to the fact that he teleported away.
We now have a proven case of someone with advanced vitakinetic and teleportational powers who has never had contact with either the Vitakinetics or Upeo Wa Macho. While all indications are that he is a productive and law-abiding citizen, we need to talk to him as soon as possible. From the emotions he displayed immediately before he departed, it seems likely that he was merely scared to talk to our agents. Please send any reports of his current location to my office as soon as possible. I must stress again that while there have been several allegedly reliable reports of protopsions in other nations, this is the first such documented case in China. Holographic footage of Wong Bing's disappearance is appended at the end of this report.
Sub-Minister Pan, I am addressing this message to you because I believe this problem to be of primary importance. Protocol dictates that I should have addressed it to Proxy Bue Li, but I sent her a preliminary version of this report more than three weeks ago and have received no confirmation that she has had time to read it. There have been an increasing number of rumors that she is seriously ill, and if such is the case I trust that you will be able to see to the correct utilization of the data contained here.
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