SV Must Secretly Save The World And Turn A Profit! (Young Justice Council RP)

[Gideon020]

Personal: Begin construction of the Wave Healing Infirmary.

Click to shrink...

Result: Auto-Success
The new Wave Healing Infirmary is built and already it sees usage when a catastrophic explosion tears through the Tesla Research Lab, killing 12 scientists and wounding dozens more. The new machines perform beyond expectations and by the end of the month all injured staff are fully recovered.

R&D: Research the ways that the Voices of living things can have impact on the Waves.

There has been the very real danger of injury since the start of my, and my companions, work. A close by and safe way to deal with any mishaps is as such, very very long over due. I won't push the issue of the SRS for now, and will instead focus on the well-being of our excellent staff and comrades. I'm not sure if it's the same in every department here, but everyone has started to feel like a family to me.

Working together for so long can stir up drama, and it has, but there is a real sense of growing comfort. I'd hate it if the more risky research ends up killing or permanently damaging anyone that works for us.

After the Infirmary is built I'll go back to marketing and selling the SRS. Maybe people will take a second guess after being left to think on it? For now we'll go on to explore another route of Wave Theory!

Click to shrink...

Result: Success!
There were records kept of small disturbances that occurred when team-members spoke, sang, or even so much as hummed while in the testing areas, small spikes of Dynamic D-Waves and in the background, nearly invisible, tiny flecks of larger signals that the machines just couldn't pick up fully until the creation of the SRS and the upgrades to the basic labs.

Well, now is the time to try and discover just what is so special about the human voice, and the mysterious signals that sound like unknown music, in what could be the largest experiment done in the Wave Research Building as the machinery is set up, a lump of quartz is set up on a table due to it's strangely compatible resonance with sound, and after some discussion, Melissa Burns is chosen to sing.

The results are incredible; as the minutes pass the strange signal begins to build and build as Melissa's voice hits the Quartz lump and while most people are watching the monitors, you are watching the lump of quartz, feeling a strange sense of dread as the lump begins to glow brightly but no-one notices, except for you.

Suddenly, quick as a flash, you throw open the door and yank Melissa to safety as the quartz reaches critical mass and in a flash of light and a burst of discordant, deafening sound, the two of you are thrown back by the shockwave to land in a tangled heap.

After extricating yourselves from each other, you run back to the test chamber and find it a ruin; the walls look like they are rotting to nothing in front of the stunned team's eyes, eaten away from glowing fields before they fade in ephemeral atonal noise.

Your eyes spot the lump of quartz, transformed by whatever had occurred into a roughly spherical lump of black rock and strange glowing crystals. Unlike the atonal noise eating the walls, the rock is faintly giving off a beautiful music and a strange, ghostly sound that seems like singing.

You bark orders to check the machines while you grab a hazard suit and a lead-lined container, carefully making your way across the room to secure the lump with heavy tongs before placing it in the case and locking it.

Several hours later, with the information from the machines decoded, you find the cause; a Dynamic D-Wave to Static D-Wave conversion reaction had occurred inside the quartz, starting a runaway reaction that then initiated a tap into the same source as the mysterious musical energy. The resulting tap then flash-converted the quartz into three distinct materials, releasing huge amounts of Entropic Energy in the process.

If you hadn't pulled Melissa back, she would have been annihilated instantly by the wave.

Even so, the beautiful stone is the first physical proof that Wave Energy can accomplish something beyond making pretty sounds, healing injuries or restoring crumbling buildings.

You don't know how, but this stone, this dangerous and beautiful stone could lead to incredible things.

(-$1,500,000)
(Songstone Acquired! More advanced research is possible!)

 

[Gideon020]

Personal:
-Open cyberware clinics in nearby major cities, to provide an outlet for sales and implantation of the newly developed limbs (and future products).

Click to shrink...

Result: Success!
Well, you manged to push this stuff through various medical review boards, spent a lot of money on the clinics, but you now have clinics in Berlin, London, Paris and Rome and the first sales are starting to pour in. While the new limbs are not going to provide superhuman strength, there is a massive demand for them from physically disabled peoples missing limbs and surprisingly a small transhumanist movement seeing the cosmetic appeal of 'getting chromed'.

By the end of the month, the New Horizon Group is sending through your first profits.

(Cyber-clinics opened in Rome, London, Paris, and Berlin)
(+$4,000,000 per month in sales and maintenance.)

R&D:
-Cyberjack drivers, for as many different platforms as possible!

Click to shrink...

Result: Auto-Success
The new drivers allow for seamless neural-interfacing with most modern computers, although there is a cutoff point in terms of year of manufacture, and even allow for limited Augmented Reality functionality in some aspects. Nice thing is that the driver release costs are practically invisible.

 

[Gideon020]

Personal:
Contact Wayne Industries and open talks of joint sale of the Hrunting Mk1 with them. Citing trust in them to vet the right buyers for us - Through New Horizon Group.

Click to shrink...

Result: Failure
First Universal Organs, then cybernetics, and now a powered suit? Wayne Industries cites your rapid product releases as deliberate economic brinksmanship as part of the reason they're refusing to enter into negotiations. Not only that, the rep, one Lucius Fox, has insinutated at New Horizon being merely a front company.

R&D:
Design a heavier version of Hrunting.

Click to shrink...

Result: Failure
This suit weighs six tonnes unloaded and nearly double that fully-loaded. It is a miracle of design that the fusion plant has enough power to allow it to walk, let alone run and even then it needs the booster system for any kind of high-speed travel. You cannot make this thing any heavier without fatally compromising elements of the design.

 

[Gideon020]

News For The Month:
-Local news takes note of the explosions that occured in the ATIC complex but your press statement of an industrial accident mollifies them.
-Wayne Industries stock begins to recover in the Stock Markets, although European investor confidence remains low.
-Dr. Serling Roquette reveals her Utility Nanofog and is nominated for a Nobel Prize.
-Floyd Lawton, the infamous Deadshot, has vanished from the United States.

Special Event:
The man at the gate staring at the security camera is accompanied by a little girl busy playing games while seated on a small suitcase, and while you all have your suspicions, his voice when he presses the gate intercom dispels them.

"Hello? My name is Floyd Lawton, and I heard you may be in the market for a security specialist."

-Turn 5: May, 2009-

Budget: $27,940,000
Income: +$15,000,000
Expenses: -$717,000

Staff:
Scientists x218
Office Workers x100
Security Staff x500
Intelligence Staff x100

Assets:
-Basic Airport: Luxembourg
-Basic Airport: Zurich
-Basic Airport: Helsinki
-Improved Factory
-Warehouses
-Improved Labs
-Steel Fence
-Steel Gate
-Wave Research Building
-Cybernetics Lab
-Nanotech Lab
-Tesla Research Building
-Wave Healing Infirmary
-10x Company Cars (Upkeep is Free)
-Gulfstream G500 Business Jet (Upkeep is Free)
-2x Helicopters

Available Projects:
-Qurac Power Plants

Available Buildings:
-Tesla Reactor
-Tesla Fence
-Security Command

Special Opportunity:
-Hire Floyd Lawton

 

[SlugSLinger]

May 2nd, 2009

In his office at ATIC headquarters, Anthony 'Slug' Dreas sat slouched forward in his office seat, looking over paperwork from last month. One of Tarrot's prototype DEWs (Slug refused to call those things Lightning Guns) suffered a catastrophic malfunction that left 12 great minds dead and himself gravely wounded, Warrich has encountered problems in developing his robots, and most alarmingly, Arundel may have compromised New Horizon as an ATIC font company to Wayne Enterprise.

Slug narrowed his eyes as he read the report over. The young man was no fool, no doubt Batman has has started investigating NH since he had released his Universal Organs for sale and it would only be a matter of time until the caped vigilante exposed it for what it was unless either necessary action was taken or the company was abandoned entirely. A headache that made him want to hit something.

Then there was the problem with the man who was currently standing out at the front gate from what the security guards had informed him. Floyd Lawton. Known also as Deadshot. Nemesis to Batman and an unmatched assassin. Hiring him would be a great boon to the up and coming Private Military Corporation Slug had founded, the Maverick PMSC. But his ties to the criminal underworld and known crimes would make him just as great a liability. But then, as far as Slug knew, Deadshot never had any children. Unless of course the child was a fake and a bargaining chip. Maybe this Deadshot was not a evil as his original counterpart?

Then there was Dr. Serling and her Noble Prize nomination. He had congratulated her on it a few days prior; she had looked positively happy to have been nominated. Maybe this time, she wouldn't be abducted by the League of Shadows to and-

Slug let his face plop to his desk, repeatedly banging it on its surface. He just had to tempt Murphy, didn't he?

Eventually, he stopped and drew his phone out of his pocket, dialing a number he had set to speed dial.

"Hansel?" he spoke to the current head of security, rising from his seat. "Open the gate and let the man and the little girl in. Bring them to one of the interview rooms, serve them warm food and drink; I'd like to have a word with them."

Personal Action:
- Hire Floyd Lawton, after a force of Intelligence agents begin a brief background check on him, with focus on the little girl he brought with him, and make a few minor changes here and there to allow for an employment that does not bring unwanted attention. See if there is anything we should be worried about and whether or not his continued employment is beneficial to ATIC in the long term, before placing him in charge of the newly formed Maverick PMSC.

R&D Action:
- With the Nanofog complete and ready, recruit Dr. Serling's help in researching the bio-material meant to replicate or replace conventional body armor, and see if the Coltan-Titanium alloy found on the Nanosuit can be replicated.

 

[Hyacinthium]

Personal: Begin to market and sell the SRS to various nations, and agencies, paying special attention to those most in need of it. Failing infrastructure is unfortunately everywhere, someone is bound to buy the SRS.
R&D: Look into the ways that the rest of the company's technology could possibly be of use, or incorporated, into Wave Theory.

It was bound to happen. On some level, I think we all knew that from the beginning. That the hows and whys were infinitely small when compared to the inevitable. Someday, whether soon or years after our task began, a person would be harmed. That lives would be lost.

There are ways to prepare for that. It's the fate of living things to experience death, and for those same living things to try and beat death back as much as they can. We uphold the safety of our labs very highly here, we always will, but when you aim for what we do then you know that mistakes happen.

Only it's more than just mistakes. The subjects we are researching can be so very dangerous and we aren't just going to let that stop us from improving the world. What kind of people would we be if we could contently sit back despite all we know? But god, god, does it hurt. So many people have been killed or injured in such a short amount of time.

I think I'm going spend a day or two playing piano, before the SRS starts being sold and Gus comes to round me up for more corporate politics.

If Melissa had... Well. She didn't. Something we can all be thankful for.

 

[DarthThrawn]

Personal:
-Release the datajack for production, sale, and implantation.

R&D:
-Sensory replacements! Bionic eyes and ears for the blind and deaf! Also included: the ability to see and hear at wavelengths above and below the human norm.

 

[The Bird]

Personal:
-Bwgin producing securitrons for sale

R&D:
Nu-ZAX, a supercomputer based, at least conceptually, on the ZAX supercomputers. A major difference would, of course, be the lack of a atomic clock. Apply Auto-Success

 

[Tyrell]

Personal:
Begin sale of Powered Armor and modules to interested parties - legit ones

R&D:
Hire 15 leading materials engineers and have them begin seeing potential applications for the power armor.

 

[Gideon020]

Personal:
Begin sale of Powered Armor and modules to interested parties - legit ones

Click to shrink...

Result: Minor Success
You find several interested parties, mostly security companies who view the suit as a good, affordable investment that can be outfitted with a variety of non-lethal armaments. About time too.

(+$10,000,000 per month)

R&D:
Hire 15 leading materials engineers and have them begin seeing potential applications for the power armor.

Click to shrink...

GM Interrupt: Okay, you clearly are not being imaginative enough nor getting the hints I've been trying to drop so I'm just going to say it outright: Use the suit as the basis to make an entire line of power armors.

I'll get you started. You find that the thruster arrays for the suit, properly scaled up and distributed, could allow for improved mobility in space as well as limited flight capability in-atmosphere.

 

[Gideon020]

Personal:
-Begin producing securitrons for sale.

Click to shrink...

Result: Critical Success!

Finally! You get the bugs sorted out, you have the weapon mountings modified so that the missile launchers, submachinegun, laser and grenade launcher can be replaced with other equipment and weapons, the AI is debugged and updated, and at long last you find some clients.

As it turns out, the South African government has been looking into using robots to supplement their own police and your Securitrons fit the bill after they witness both a demonstration video and a private demonstration in South Africa, where the new Securitron proves that it's worth the price tag.

Before long, the Securitron is unveiled and quickly makes headlines when a single Securitron manages to suppress, disarm and then arrest a gang of nine men and women armed with assault rifles and even an RPG while only taking moderate damage and that was only from the RPG being detonated by its laser at close range.

Orders soon flood into The New Horizon Group and additional profits make their way to you.

(+$16,000,000 per month)

R&D:
Nu-ZAX, a supercomputer based, at least conceptually, on the ZAX supercomputers. A major difference would, of course, be the lack of a atomic clock. Apply Auto-Success

Click to shrink...

There is a critical and key difference between ZAX supercomputers and the ones that are currently available and that difference is that the ZAX is the only computer of its type to be able to support an Artificial Intelligence while still being an incredibly robust platform, a testament to being able to withstand hundreds of years of neglect and still be operational with a sane mind.

The Nu-ZAX, your attempt to match that lofty creation, requires an increased investment in certain isotopes and rare earth materials to compensate for the lack of atomic core, but after about a month of work and a stupidly huge amount of cash in order to get the final components and other materials, you finish the prototype and tentatively switch it on.

With a beep and a hum, the supercomputer comes to life and ATIC now possesses a very powerful computing advantage.

(-$19,000,000)
(New Facility Available: Computer Core)

 

[Gideon020]

Personal:
-Release the datajack for production, sale, and implantation.

Click to shrink...

Result: Success!

It doesn't catch on quickly, but soon the novelty of being able to access the Net, phone, email, radio, and a myriad of other small details without needing to look at a phone or take their eyes off the road leads to a surge in popularity which soon quickly gives you profits over the cost of manufacturing the datajack as well as implantation costs.

However, you note that while Europe and Japan take up the cyberjack with gusto, the United States imposes a moratorium on cyberjacks based on the FDA, lobbyists and as your intelligence staff quickly connects the dots, certain megacorps within the United States. Such as one that rhymes with 'Hex'.

Another minor surprise is the Middle East. Apparently the youth of the region have taken enough of an interest that many go to Italy just to get the implant and then return home.

(+$3,000,000 per month)

R&D:
-Sensory replacements! Bionic eyes and ears for the blind and deaf! Also included: the ability to see and hear at wavelengths above and below the human norm.

Click to shrink...

Result: Success!

The new line of bionic ears and eyes are easy enough to prototype and the new prosthetics promise to be earth-shaking. It's one thing to replace corneas and lenses like the Fred Hollows Foundation and many others can accomplish, it's another to give sight to someone blinded by chemicals, accident, or even the poor luck of being born without the capability.

The new bionic eyes have a significant high-resolution processing capability that based on initial external testing would allow a person to look at the world much like watching a HD television and also possess a limited degree of improved night-vision, enough that a person would be able to walk in a dark house and perceive it in a similar form to certain Infra-red and light-amplication systems.

Being able to see at differing spectrums however, has to be toned down as the human brain is not entirely capable of properly processing the data. As it stands it possible to overlay ultraviolet and false-colour thermal imaging onto real images but magnetic imaging, backscatter x-ray and radiation scanning is not possible without heavy alteration to the vision centers of the brain.

The ears are a much easier area of work, as the Nanotech Lab allows for the formation of artificial nerves and rapid-fabrication connections to the brain where in terms of hearing sensitivity, the new bionic ear can perceive at a level equivalent to a cat or dog. Smart firm-ware in the ear allows for the implant to actively filter out noise over a certain decibel range, which can be modified using a specialist app and a datajack.

With no problems discovered during design, prototyping and testing, you should be able to begin releasing this product next month after the final bits of necessary busy-work have been dealt with.

(-$7,000,000)
(Cyber-Eyes and Ears now available for sale. Expected profits: $4,000,000 per month in sales, implantation, maintenance and firmware upgrades.)
(An important step has been taken...)

 

[Gideon020]

Personal: Begin to market and sell the SRS to various nations, and agencies, paying special attention to those most in need of it. Failing infrastructure is unfortunately everywhere, someone is bound to buy the SRS.

Click to shrink...

Result: Great Success!

After some consideration, a number of governments across Europe, Asia and South America take a second look at what is promised by the SRS and decide to purchase it for a few small cities as a test.

They quickly send in demands for more of the SRS as they see the results; crumbling buildings rebuilding themselves, clogged and filthy sewers flushing themselves into pristine cleanliness, roads rapidly sealing themselves up, it is as if a miracle is occurring before their eyes as soon as the system is brought online.

It gives you a warm feeling as you sign the production orders for the SRS.

(+$11,000,000 per month in sales and replacement parts)

R&D: Look into the ways that the rest of the company's technology could possibly be of use, or incorporated, into Wave Theory.

Click to shrink...

Result: Great Success!

Several important technologies have proven to be supremely compatible with Wave Theory and from them new paths have opened.

With the development of Cybernetic Ears and Eyes, it is now possible to create a modification that can perceive Dynamic and Static D-Waves as well as the mysterious 'Hymn Wave' that created the Songstone last month. By being able to perceive these energies and then linking the data to the Eyes, a sort of synaesthesia can be created where it is possible to perceive the ambient 'tone' of energy and matter and from there be able to see the Hymn or H-Wave as it is brought forward through interactions with the human voice.

As it stands, the bulk of the modification means that the equipment comes in the form of goggles and headphones, but with some help from the Nanotech Lab, it is possible to continue refining this so that a being could 'see' what is essentially the music of Creation.

Dr. Roquette's Utility Nanofog has opened up new possibilities in energy-matter interactions whereby the nanofog can actively manipulate molecular bonds as they resonate with song. With this, one of your team theorizes that it could be possible to avoid the massive release of Entropic Energy and in doing so create a safe way to manufacture more Songstone, although there needs to be a further guarantee of the singer's safety first.

The artificial bio-material being experimented on by Slug also has unique synergy with Wave Theory and that has opened your eyes to further advancements. Based on the interactions with the Wave Healing Infirmary with living tissue, you come up with a controversial and shocking possibility. It is possible to use Slug's bio-technology and the Nanofog to create a universal biofluid and through finding the right interaction with the Hymn Wave...

"You're insane." One of your team retorts, a dour man who nevertheless is a peerless genius in acoustical physics, "You're saying that you want to create life? Do you have any idea the kind of shit that would come down on us if you go through with something like that? For god's sake Alicia, do you hear yourself? Turning a lump of quartz into three separate high-energy minerals is one thing, but playing God? The UN would shut us down and that's only if the Justice League doesn't completely demolish this place first!"

Even so, you remain unbowed by his glare. Especially as the reports on how the HRUNTING/YGGDRASIL technology could be used as the basis for Wave Theory based exoskeletal systems. Because you know, more than he does, that every advantage is needed. Your decision stands, the data will be retain for future research.

"Well I won't be a part of it Alicia. Either you forget this...this lunacy, or I'm leaving the team."

A month of bitter arguments with him later, he leaves ATIC, sworn to secrecy by an NDA that promises crippling legal action against him if he speaks out in public about this data.

(New Paths are opened, but at a cost.)
(-1x Scientist)

 

[Gideon020]

Personal Action:
- Hire Floyd Lawton, after a force of Intelligence agents begin a brief background check on him, with focus on the little girl he brought with him, and make a few minor changes here and there to allow for an employment that does not bring unwanted attention. See if there is anything we should be worried about and whether or not his continued employment is beneficial to ATIC in the long term, before placing him in charge of the newly formed Maverick PMSC.

Click to shrink...

Result: Critical Success!

The girl is his biological daughter. This Floyd Lawton it seems is not the sociopath you are familiar with, but instead is a loving father who has a very particular set of skills he uses for a career, and not some kind of mental illness.

Doesn't justify the long, long list of killings he's done, but it does provide perspective.

In any case, the meticulous sweep of his history as well as the medical examination shows that he was implanted with a nano-explosive of some kind as a crude cortex bomb. The device, although inert, is removed surgically and send to the Nanotech Lab for study. Meanwhile, the bloodwork comes up clean of any kind of tracers or other covert surveillance that is backed up by a sweep of Dr. Roquette's Utility Nanofog as well. Both Floyd and the girl, Maria, are clean.

As for his story? Floyd informs you that he used be on a team called Task Force X, working for an unknown branch of the US Government, until it was shut down after a disastrous mission to Gotham and Arkham Asylum. The head of the task force, Amanda Waller, was placed in charge of a maximum-security metahuman prison, Belle Reeve Penitentiary while Floyd escaped, grabbed his daughter and found out about the mass recruitment drive you were doing through back-channels.

The man is still wanted, make no mistake if he goes back to the US he'll have the Bat and the Justice League on his ass, but your company offers him a chance to put his skills to work legit.

He's not going to come cheap; his gear and equipment are expensive to maintain and that's going to raise operating costs by a significant margin, but he's worth it.

Floyd Lawton is given a home in Luxembourg City and before long has acclimated himself well and is ready and able to be the head of Maverick PMSC.

(-$1,000,000 per month to maintain Deadshot's equipment, custom ammo, and other expenses.)

R&D Action:
- With the Nanofog complete and ready, recruit Dr. Serling's help in researching the bio-material meant to replicate or replace conventional body armor, and see if the Coltan-Titanium alloy found on the Nanosuit can be replicated.

Click to shrink...

Result: Success!

Dr. Roquette proves to be a key help in the research, as her intimate knowledge of her nanofog allows her to not only create a patch to allow it to function in fluids, but also to interact with biological cells and molecules to build tissue and bio-materials from the feedstock nutrients in the suspension fluid.

The resulting material, codenamed 'Boneskin', comes out as sheets of pale white material with a coarse, rubbery texture that can be easily cut, flattened, stretched and formed into a semi-flexible material that breaths, is comfortable to wear on skin, and can take a 7.62mm bullet without even bruising the wearer.

It takes further tests during the month, but it is possible to start selling Boneskin as an Aramid/Kevlar alternative immediately once the right facility is constructed.

The Coltan-Titanium Alloy proves trickier but like Boneskin it too proves feasible for mass-production once an appropriate facility has been constructed.

(-$2,000,000)
(New Facility Available: Nano-Cauldron)
(New Facility Available: Bio-Forge)

 

[Gideon020]

News for the month:

-New Horizons Group releases the first ever consumer cybernetic implant, the datajack. This tiny brain implant is connected to a series of input ports that allow the user to access their personal devices and computers and use them with minimal physical interaction. New Horizons has said that further upgrades will allow for wireless functionality and compatibility with wireless devices.

-A new Private Military Security Company, Maverick PSMC, has shocked security consultants by placing the infamous assassin Deadshot in charge. The newly formed company has released a press statement declaring that Mr. Lawton is not being forgiven for his many crimes, but is being given an opportunity to redeem himself and grow beyond his sordid past.

-South Africa has taken the world by surprise by unveiling a new addition to their police force, the New Horizon Group-manufactured Securitron Police Robot. This highly advanced robot may look like a throwback to the 1950's but it packs a heavy punch and has already begun having an impact on South Africa's growing crime rate, with one robot managing to arrest nine heavily armed assailants by itself with only moderate damage sustained.

Special Event:
It was a chilly night as Serling Roquette left the club and began making her way to her car, already wondering what she could work on after seeing what had been accomplished last month with the creation of that material. Shrugging and still feeling the light buzz from the drinks she had, Serling was about to reach her car when she noticed it in the quiet evening air.

The sound of more than one set of footsteps behind her. Shit, she knew that Luxembourg was a safe city but after her nomination for the Nobel Prize, this could have meant anything from an assassination attempt to a possible kidnapping to have her work on the nanofog for another company as she picked up the pace while rubbing her arms, feeling the cold in more ways than one.

Just as she reached the multi-level parking garage where she left her car, several more men and a woman appeared in front of her before the woman spoke, "Dr. Serling Roquette?"

There was no escape, a glance back showed her followers were now making themselves visible, and her shoulders slumped, "Yes, that's me."

"My master wishes to speak with you. You will come with u-" The woman suddenly stopped speaking, but that was likely because she was now missing her lower jaw and a good portion of her throat as she collapsed with a gurgling noise while the rest of her erstwhile kidnappers, spooked, looked around for her killer.

And then their heads started to pop, one by one, even as they shouted and drew guns and swords and began moving acrobatically, they all died in sprays of blood and gore, until Serling Roquette was left standing in the middle of an array of headless corpses before a dark shape appeared from a nearby alleyway, a glowing red optic regarding Serling evenly, "Hell of a way to end a night, huh Doc?"

"Deadshot?" Serling muttered, still a little stunned by the turn of events.

The man nodded, "The bosses were concerned about you getting kidnapped, so they tasked me with keeping an eye on you. Good thing too, these are League Of Shadows, so that means someone really wants you and your little robots."

Serling nodded, "I...I don't know what to do."

"Standard operating protocols," Deadshot answered, "I'm taking you back to the complex and you're going to stay there until we know you can head back to your apartment in the city."

-Turn 6: June, 2009-

Budget: $67,223,000
Income: +$55,000,000
Expenses: -$1,717,000

Staff:
Floyd Lawton aka Deadshot
Dr. Serling Roquette
Scientists x217
Office Workers x100
Security Staff x500
Intelligence Staff x100

Assets:
-Basic Airport: Luxembourg
-Basic Airport: Zurich
-Basic Airport: Helsinki
-Improved Factory
-Warehouses
-Improved Labs
-Steel Fence
-Steel Gate
-Wave Research Building
-Cybernetics Lab
-Nanotech Lab
-Tesla Research Building
-Wave Healing Infirmary
-10x Company Cars (Upkeep is Free)
-Gulfstream G500 Business Jet (Upkeep is Free)
-2x Helicopters

Available Projects:
-Qurac Power Plants
-ATIC Complex Expansion

Available Buildings:
-Tesla Reactor
-Tesla Fence
-Security Command
-Bio Forge
-Nano Cauldron
-Computer Core

Special Opportunity:
-Send A Message: We cannot allow the League Of Shadows, and by extension The Light, act as if they can push us around. It might be prudent to...enlighten them on how seriously we take threats to our property and people.

Medical Status:
-Dwennon: Healed Next Turn.

 

[SlugSLinger]

Slug sat in his office, reading over Deadshot's report on Dr. Serling's run-in with the League of Shadows operatives sent to apprehend her (curse his Murphy-tempting ways!). They probably wanted to use her to make a weaponized version of the Nanofog. He frowned and leaned into his seat, brooding at choices and their consequences.

So, the sharks have caught the scent of blood and are finally converging. Not good, this needed to be handled post-haste as to avoid a similar incident from happening again. But doing so might draw unwanted attention and that isn't what the ATIC needs, and the possibility of them retaliating is too great a risk to take and if they do, who knows what they might end up discovering.

"Fuuuuuuuuck." he swore. "One of these days, I'm gonna need to take a few days off and just relax."

Huh. Now that's an idea. Maybe he should extend the offer to Dr. Serling as well, considering what she recently went through. If nothing else, then perhaps he can get an extra few hours of sleep.

Personal Action:
- Allocate $15,000,000 for Deadshot to use in refitting and preparing Maverick with appropriate equipment and reinforced light vehicles. 'Donate' one of the company choppers to them and upgrade it for surveillance/tracking purposes. Once he's sure they're ready, he is to make use of what he has to... Send A Message. Preferably without getting caught and leaving no survivors.

R&D Action:
- The Nanosuit 2.0 was designed with several extra abilities to combat the alien Ceph. One of those abilities is increased physical strength via application of strengthening bio-nanites and the artificial muscle fibers that lined the suit itself. With research notes from developing the 'Boneskin', Dr. Serling's Nanofog, and the good doctor's help if she's willing, perhaps something similar or an equivalent to the N2's artificial muscles can be made using carbon-nanotubing.

 

[Hyacinthium]

Personal: Send out feelers for more scientists who fall within the previous criteria, this time paying attention to loyalty.

R&D: Start to work on improving the over all efficiency of the Wave Healing System.

I suppose that this too was bound to happen. It almost hurts even more than people dying, having to watch someone walk out on you and knowing there isn't much you can do about it. Even if it's a horribly risky idea- I-

I can't just ignore it and pretend it isn't there! It's not as though I plan on doing right away no matter what

I can't just let and even if I had no personal interest

Okay. I, mmm, took a step back and spent a few hours to calm down to clear my head. Our recent loss in personnel is a real shame, not only was Rupert a genius, but we're now understaffed. And compared to everyone else the Wave Science part of our little company already had few employees working in it! So the obvious solution is to hire more people.

Much easier said than done to be honest. More than ever, since undesirable traits in otherwise qualified people is fairly common. Hiring someone who turns out to be far less than even a moderately good person? Good intentions path rather terrible paths.

Paranoia vs Concern might be a valid worry for me at this rate. But if there was ever an area to be watched for mental instabilities it's the one where emotions have a heavy influence on everything.

I'm going to go see how the others are doing now. Talking may not make thing better right away, but well-

It's a step.

 

[The Bird]

Warrich Log, May 09.

I've done it! I have designed a working ZAX and began production of Securitrons! I think now that I will begin work on designing some...defensive minded robots.

On that note. One of our associated researchers was nearly kidnapped. This...will not do.

Unrelated, I think my next foray into research shall be designing a synth. Make my own budget superhero, if I can.

Personal Action: Computer Core upgrade

R&D: Begin working on a roughly humaniform robot. If necessary, incorporate research from colleagues, such as that power armor or that anti-entropic device.

 

[Tyrell]

Dead on his feet, that was the words to describe how Harrison was feeling, he'd finally got his Hrunting suit out onto the market but damn had it been hard, constant setbacks and then Wayne Industries irritating response. "Finally got it going" he muttered to himself as he eased back into his chair, around him scattered the latest reports on sales figures and production rates. Then a brief flash of light from his datapad alerted him to a new notification, curious he turned to it.

"Holy..." Harrison just stared. A whole new set of technology had been provided to him and it looked to be full of untapped potential. Nanotech-augmentations which anyone could take as the Nanotech somehow ensured 100% success rates via genetic manipulation, this was big. Suddenly any thoughts of how tired he might be were vanished from Harrison's mind as he began to work with what he'd just been given as he sent a silent and heartfelt thanks to that bastard that had stuck him down here.

Personal Actions:
Harrison has quickly come to realise that the New Horizon Group could not fulfill all the tasks he and his fellow board members were heaping on it and neither was it wise to have the Group sell such a myriad of different products as it lessened the impact of the brand. Looking it over he could see a definite trend of weapons and other defense related products coming off the production lines at A.T.I.C and so Harrison decided that a new Group would control this section of A.T.I.C's growing number of products.

The creation of a new company is done in Poland whose stated aim is to be a weapons manufacturer and seller. The Company's HQ would be on the outskirts of Warsaw. Very large grounds for facilities and more for them. This Company would be publicly known to be linked to the New Horizon Group. Named- ??? (Earth/European Aerospace and Energy Systems. or EAE systems - Looking to in the future buy BAE btw)

R&D:
Harrison sees that there is a whole new window of opportunity open to him and he's raring to go.

Harrison begins seeing what Hrunting and nano tech can be melded together, looking into possibilities of sharpening reaction times- human and tech wise specifically

 

[DarthThrawn]

Personal:
-Selling sight and sound to the blind and deaf, public product release as usual.

R&D:
-Cranial communications implants! The ability to hold a telephone conversation with your thoughts, or tune your brain in to the radio! (implant options for people both with and without datajacks and cyberears)

 

[Gideon020]

Personal Action:
- Allocate $15,000,000 for Deadshot to use in refitting and preparing Maverick with appropriate equipment and reinforced light vehicles. 'Donate' one of the company choppers to them and upgrade it for surveillance/tracking purposes. Once he's sure they're ready, he is to make use of what he has to... Send A Message. Preferably without getting caught and leaving no survivors.

Click to shrink...

Result: :O Nat 100...
Bonus Result: :O Nat 100... Dear God...

The delivery of at least fifty HMMWV's, GAZ jeeps, and Land Rovers to the Maverick facilities is the only sign that anything has happened since Floyd took the money and vanished.

And then, it happens. A string of shootings, bombings, and several very high-visibility murders take place across the planet within days to hours of each other with such skill, stealth and precision that it is only through covert dead-drops that you even know that it's Deadshot conducting these killings.

It takes three weeks before Deadshot arrives back at the ATIC complex, carrying a large medical transport case. He hands over account numbers and passwords that Maverick quickly and immediately uses to siphon out massive quantities of money, weapons, and technology. But the real prize is the locations of League Of Shadow bases, confirmed by covert expeditions to be devoid of life, and full of corpses.

Cleanup is rapid and it seems that according to Shadow protocols, any compromised bases are to be permanently abandoned to prevent the Justice League using them as traps. Thankfully, their haste means that the base facilities are intact and usable. You just need to hose the blood off.

Much of the tech is barely better than the stuff being developed at ATIC and anything physical is taken apart for resources and study for minor improvements. The weapons go straight to Maverick which now has enough firepower to take down a continent.

The money is placed into secure accounts to be paid out monthly into the main ATIC account.

But perhaps the greatest sign of just how utterly and thoroughly Deadshot has been working to cripple the League Of Shadows is the contents of the medical transport box.

The head of Talia Al'Ghul.

"I'll be having that raise now Boss." Deadshot states with a grin.

Wordlessly, you sign the authorisation and are left staring at Talia's blank eyes before closing the container.

This is a guy who gets taken down by Batman and other heroes?

(Deadshot shows that he is not just someone who gets beaten up by heroes by waging a one-man war on the League Of Shadows.)
(The League Of Shadows is no more.)
(Talia Al'Ghul is dead.)
(There is no evidence linking ATIC to this.)
(+$10,000,000 per month)
(-$20,000,000)
(+50x Light Combat Vehicles)
(ATIC Security/Maverick PMSC is now capable of facing Military-Grade threats.)
(A bonus to all R&D actions is now in effect for the next six turns.)
(You now have bases in the following locations: Afghanistan, Iraq, Rhelasia/Korea, United States Of America, Russia, China, North Africa, India, Pakistan, Australia, Mexico, Panama, Columbia.)
(Deadshot upkeep increases by $1,000,000 due to him getting a raise. He earned it.)

Achievement Unlocked: The Fist Of ATIC
Completely and utterly destroy an antagonist organisation during the game.
Reward: +1 R&D Action, +1 Personal Action for ALL players. Comes into effect next turn.

R&D Action:
- The Nanosuit 2.0 was designed with several extra abilities to combat the alien Ceph. One of those abilities is increased physical strength via application of strengthening bio-nanites and the artificial muscle fibers that lined the suit itself. With research notes from developing the 'Boneskin', Dr. Serling's Nanofog, and the good doctor's help if she's willing, perhaps something similar or an equivalent to the N2's artificial muscles can be made using carbon-nanotubing.

Click to shrink...

Result: Success!

Compared to what happened with Deadshot your work with Dr. Roquette, who has come out of her near-kidnapping for the better after spending some time in counseling, proves to be rather relaxing.

Your new muscle fibre comes together smoothly thanks to the working fluid and Nanofog which results in a complex arrangement of very densely-packed carbon nanomaterial that if properly mounted could allow an arm to lift a car with minimal strain and can be tuned to maintain a human-level or peak-human level of strength since without proper reinforcement the usage of superhuman strength would destroy the shoulders.

It will take some further testing to be suitable for human usage, but right now the muscle fiber is perfect for robotics, mechanics, bionics to name a few areas.

(-$20,000,000)
(CNT Muscle Fiber now available.)

 

[Gideon020]

Personal:
-Selling sight and sound to the blind and deaf, public product release as usual.

Click to shrink...

Result: Success!

The public release by The New Horizon Group of practical, affordable eye and ear cybernetic replacements causes an even greater storm of press and media coverage than when you released the datajack and with good reason; millions of people live in darkness and silence, a large number of them children due to birth defects or inherited conditions.

And those rendered deaf or blind to industrial accidents, injuries in police and military service can also benefit from the chance to once again live a full life.

Your work in making sure that the models released are the most affordable and as maintenance-free has the added benefit of giving humanitarian NGO's an additional tool for helping those in need where possible, but while there are the usual religious and social outcries it is largely drowned out by people who just want to be normal, even if it means some chrome in their head.

Much like the datajack however, the United States widens the moratorium into a full government ban on any cybernetic enhancements, with exceptions given for confirmed members of the Justice League. It seems that certain parties are blocking your sales out of spite (Luthor) or paranoia (Wayne) but the profits from sales to other places in the world is more then enough.

You wonder how long before American tourists start finding ways to get cybernetics into the country and if this will be causing a social shift as well.

(+$4,000,000 in sales, implantation and maintenance.)
(A social shift is occurring...)

R&D:
-Cranial communications implants! The ability to hold a telephone conversation with your thoughts, or tune your brain in to the radio! (implant options for people both with and without datajacks and cyberears)

Click to shrink...

Result: Success!

If it wasn't for nanotechnology, you'd probably be resorting to cutting out sections of the brain and skull just to fit the hardware, but with the nanofog and Nanotech Labs, you can create a multi-function PDA implant that is physically distributed across portions of the brain with a set of small hexagonal transceiver panels to allow for calls and receiving radio signals.

The phone function requires practice, but after a few hours the staff member who volunteered for the experimental surgery reports that he can phone his parents and hold a conversation with no discernable difficulties in multi-tasking nor anything anomalous with hearing and speaking essentially in his mind.

The implant will need further safety and medical testing to ensure that a glitch doesn't fry the user's brain, but as far as the product itself? It's good to go for sale. As an added bonus, cybereye users will be able to hold video calls using the appropriate apps.

(-$6,000,000)
(Infolink Implant now ready for sale. Expected profts: +$6,000,000)
(Another important step has been taken...)

 

[Gideon020]

Personal: Send out feelers for more scientists who fall within the previous criteria, this time paying attention to loyalty.

Click to shrink...

Result: Success!

It takes a while, but you manage to attract an additional 40 scientists, many of them ambitious but loyal young guys and gals looking to get their names known and they are meshing well with your original team.

You feel better knowing that the workload is now being distributed more evenly and that there are more people around to help in case someone gets into trouble.

(-$2,000,000)
(+40 Scientists)

R&D: Start to work on improving the over all efficiency of the Wave Healing System.

Click to shrink...

Result: Minor Success!

You manage to squeeze out the last of the potential performance out of the Wave Healing System. But the system cannot be improved or fine-tuned any further.

On the plus side, you can now save critical injuries, regrow limbs within a five day time-limit and the system can and will cure cancer, HIV/AIDS and other otherwise terminal or incurable diseases thanks to the upgrades allowing the Wave Energy to penetrate much deeper at the cellular and possibly the genetic level.

One thing that is more important is that you've gained enough insight into the system that it should now be possible to make a portable version of the Wave Healing System.

(-$150,000)
(It is now possible to create Portable Wave Healing Devices)

 

[Gideon020]

Personal Action: Computer Core upgrade.

Click to shrink...

Result: Auto-Success!

The new Computer Core facility comes online on time and on budget. The Nu-ZAX immediately begins work and manages to streamline several areas of operations which reduces operating costs.

(Facility Built: Computer Core)
(-$2,000,000)
(Operating Costs reduced by $700,000 per month)

R&D: Begin working on a roughly humaniform robot. If necessary, incorporate research from colleagues, such as that power armor or that anti-entropic device.

Click to shrink...

Result: Success!

The HRUNTING/YGGDRASIL system manages to be the most help, although the SRS system is in fact rather handy as a self-repair/maintenance system, but the power armour with it's bulky, multiple-redundancy systems provides the perfect framework to base a similar humaniform robot off.

Using a mixture of hydraulics and wire-guided systems, the skeleton of the robot gives the appearance of a slightly hunch-backed but large man, not perfect but perfectly serviceable. The arms are slightly longer than normal, but the robot can use tools and weapons made for humans without difficulty and is capable of hitting hard enough to crack a car's engine block in half.

There's still a lot of work that needs to be done but so far, this one might actually be useful.

(-$3,000,000)
(Continue working to finish your robot design.)

 

[Gideon020]

Personal Actions:
The creation of a new company is done in Poland whose stated aim is to be a weapons manufacturer and seller. The Company's HQ would be on the outskirts of Warsaw. Very large grounds for facilities and more for them. This Company would be publicly known to be linked to the New Horizon Group. Named- ??? (Earth/European Aerospace and Energy Systems. or EAE systems - Looking to in the future buy BAE btw)

Click to shrink...

Result: Success

The new European Aerospace Energy Systems corporation in Poland comes on the heels of a public announcement from the Horizon group that due to cost-cutting measures the company would be splitting off its weapons manufacturing and development branch into a new company.

In reality this is yet another front company and distribution hub for ATIC dressed up with the necessary production facilities to do the finishing work for products such as the Securitron Droid. Built along the lines of the ATIC complex in Germany the EAES complex has its own airfield and the workforce is drawn entirely from the Poles, with a staff of Maverick security personnel rotated in to make sure the facilities are secure.

Due to its status as another front company, EAES creates no profits but draws no notable levels of operating costs either.

(-$12,000,000)
(New Front Company: EAES Poland)

R&D:
Harrison begins seeing what Hrunting and nano tech can be melded together, looking into possibilities of sharpening reaction times- human and tech wise specifically

Click to shrink...

Result: Failure

Dr. Roquette is very unimpressed with you. Your attempts to create a nanotech bridge to the soft-contact neural interface used by HRUNTING/YGGDRASIL are in her opinion so utterly dangerous that attempting to use them would be a crime, mostly because the nanites would lead to fatal tumors and brain hemorrhages. She then proceeds to put you through an extended series of lectures on proper nanobot design and proper programming which the rest of the Founders find mildly amusing.

Still, she admits, it is possible, particularly if the hydraulic systems can be replaced with the new CNT Muscle Fiber that she and Slug developed, which he is retaining sole permission to release even to other research projects.

(-$2,000,000)
(Dr. Roquette is keeping an eye on you.)