Mente Materia Teaser · 1:37am Mar 23rd, 2014
Evening folks! Preliminary work has started on Mente Materia, though release will not be for a month at the minimum since I still want time to account for any possible changes that season 4 might cause. I might even hold back a bit and release it on Stardust's anniversary (early May) if I'm feeling like it.
Anywho, like the title mentions, I've taken a snippet of my work and I thought that everyone would like seeing this little window of what's to come. I hope you all enjoy!
WIRE TAP AND SURVEILLANCE LOGS OF DAVID BRADFORD AS OBSERVED BY NSA AGENTS [CENSORED] AND H BELL. PERSONAL NOTES OF AGENT H BELL ATTACHED BY REQUEST BY SEN PATRICK GOLEMAN AND THE INTERNATIONAL ARMED ORGANIZATION OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE.
Events listed below are those that are relevant to Sen Patrick Goleman's inquiry. Full surveillance logs are available upon request, TOP SECRET clearance required.
Physical Surveillance of David Bradford, September 24th, 2015.
6:05PM – Bradford spotted returning to his hotel room after committee meeting adjournment. While inconclusive, facial recognition of subject’s driver is a strong match for Shaojie Zhang, and ex-PLASOF soldier with known associations with the Chinese Triad. NSA information on Zhang can be found in file #[CENSORED].
6:08PM – Bradford stops to speak with one of the Marines working security for his floor (Sgt Kyle Banner) to arrange for room service to be delivered at approx 6:45PM. Bradford then looks directly at [CENSORED] before entering the staircase to his floor. [CENSORED] has since switched surveillance duties with H Bell, given the likelihood of cover being blown.*1
6:10PM – Wireless surveillance equipment inside hotel room confirms subject’s return to his room. He then moves the reclining chair to face the northeast corner of the room before sitting and reading a book for twenty minutes.*2
6:31PM – Bradford stops reading to look over at his cell phone, which was placed in its charging station on the tableside bed. Subject walks over to the phone and picks it up before turning to face the northeast corner of the room for two minutes and thirty four seconds.
6:33PM – Bradford speaks with unknown individual before ending call to receive the meal being delivered to his room. The contents of the call can be reviewed in the attached call logs.
------
DATE: September 24th, 2015
TIME: 7:46PM
WIRETAP: OVER [NUMBER CENSORED]
CALL FROM: UNKNOWN [NUMBER CENSORED]
CALL TO: DAVID BRADFORD [NUMBER CENSORED]
KEY:
David Bradford: DB
Subject A: SA (*3)DB: “Stop.*4 This line and my room are currently being monitored, so anything that you say will be heard by more than me so consider what you want to say carefully.”
SA: “Jester is gone.”
DB: “When you say ‘gone’, do you mean dead or no longer in the vicinity? Could he be hiding his presence?”
SA: “Unknown at this time. I’ve got my specialists constantly scanning for any sign of him but they have come up dry so far. That isn’t conclusive evidence that he’s no longer here considering how good he is at hiding, but for as long as we’ve been here we’ve always been able to find a trace of him.”
DB: “Any theories?”
SA: “I’m afraid not. Kaleidoscope will be up in two days and I’ll be sending a messenger back home to see if he’s turned up there. I’ll keep you posted as to what we find.”
DB: “Very good. And the other thing you wanted to ask me about?”
SA: “You know, I don’t know if I’ll ever get used to you doing that. Everyone here has been watching and it seems like you’ve been taking a bit of a beating. How are you holding up?”
DB: “I’ll manage. The hardest part about these hearings is that I have to live through them twice, but at least I am spared the nasty surprises the honorable Senator Goleman has planned for me.”
SA: “What’s your saying? ‘The cat is out of the bag?’ It was inevitable that the public would find out about the assistance we’ve been providing. Ever since Captain Song’s first mission we’ve been careful to use Wallflower to avoid unnecessary attention but you’ve got those pesky cameras everywhere.”
DB: “Not your fault or Captain Song’s. And you don’t need to worry about me. I’ll be able to handle whatever is thrown at me tomorrow.”
SA: “And on that note, I hear there is another saying that your people use. ‘When the refuge in anonymity is lost, the refuge in audacity is found.’”
DB: “Oh, no. I don’t think that will help in this situation.”
SA: “I’m afraid it’s no longer between the two of us. I had mentioned how unfair the senator was being to you, and how I would like to set the record straight, especially after how the hearing ended. Ten minutes later, Major Fujikawa informed me that your mysterious council representative wanted to speak with me about it. If I didn’t know better I’d think they had overheard the conversation in the rec room.”
DB: “We’ve got another saying that’s relevant. ‘It’s easier to ask forgiveness than permission.’”
SA: “I’ll keep that in mind… regardless, arrangements have been made for me to speak tomorrow morning. I’m hoping I’ll be able to resolve this quagmire you’re in by putting all of Goleman’s concerns to rest.”
DB: “I’m assuming that you’ll have a plan for getting past the guards without violence then? You won’t be helping my case if you start a battle in the middle of the hearing just by showing up.”
SA: “From what I understand, that will be handled when I get there. The council representative said that arrangements were being made to ensure I would have my chance to speak before the committee.”
DB: “Well, I’m not confident that this is going to work out quite the way you think but if the council approved you sticking your neck out on the chopping block then far be it from me to question that. Just be prepared to defend yourself against that prick Goleman. He’s a career politician with an ambitious streak a mile wide.”
SA: “I’ve dealt with his kind back home, and while they might not have been as vigorous as this man is in pursuing what he wants, but I’m confident I can handle him. I learned from my wife that a blustering buffoon can be disarmed with patience and a winning smile.”
DB: “I’m afraid it will take more than that. Just remember not to rise to his bait. Stay calm. Speak clearly and concisely. The longer you stay composed, the more flustered he’ll get.”
SA: “I noticed that. He was starting to resemble an angry tomato by the end of the day today.”
DB: “Then you’re all set.” (knocking can be heard in the background) “And that’s my meal. Good luck, captain.”
CALL ENDS.
Notes by H Bell
*1 – [CENSORED] insists there is no way cover could have been blown. I’ve reviewed procedures followed and everything was done to the letter.
*2 – The northeast corner of the room contained a hanging lamp where our camera was placed, and the book he was reading was ‘The Shadow Factory’ by James Bamford.
*3 – The tech analysts have run several different tests on the voice samples from the person Bradford was speaking to and have come up with inconclusive results. Overall impression is male, mid to late twenties but the analysts and myself felt there was something off about the voice. We were able to confirm that the voice is completely natural with no synthesis but also has several frequencies that I’m told are impossible for anyone to create normally and as part of a conversation.
*4 – Its worth mentioning that the phone had run for less than half a second and Bradford spoke before anything else could be said on the line.It is this agent's opinion that there is a mole within the NSA feeding Bradford information about his surveillance, though there is no conclusion as to how this information is communicated to him as he's been under surveillance virtually twenty four hours a day since he made his presence known. A full review and reassignment is recommended once this detail is complete.
Hello Shiny
I almost forgot, I should also note this little preview was done without the aid of a pre-reader, and it is also very much an early edition of what is to come. I reserve the right to change things for the final version. >_>
Very much looking forward to this!
I can't wait ._.
Because bradford's mental abilities have gone beyond that of simply seeing into the future.
..."The tableside bed?"
Surely you mean the bedside table? Unless Bradford REALLY loves his phone...
1947515
Ha. Well, I'll leave it this way. As I said, first draft and no pre-reader. Will keep it for lols sake.
Definitely looking forward to this. Maybe Jester can fix things....
1947559
Oh you have no idea. Go look up that book he was reading on Amazon.
Is a phone running an actual term? Because I've definitely heard it used by... someone from Europe I think? I wasn't sure if they were just butchering English or if that was actually the way people refer to it overseas. Regardless, I suspect saying "had rung" would be clearer, even if that WAS intentional.
Good stuff though! Getting me all excited. ^_^
1947602
Another typo. Should have been 'Rung' instead of 'Run'. Again, first draft no pre-reader. Leaving the typo in for posterity. :P
SA...Shining Armor?
Had to search the book in google, talk about trolling them HARD.
So, the NSA are working for a dubious senator who aims to exert power over an extraterrestrial combat and research division, and unsuprisingly fail at it.
Senator Kinsey anyone?
PS: Looking forward to the Sequel, if it airs by the end of May it might even fall on my B-Day.
The words of xkcd strip 525 come to mind.
"Every now and then, I announce 'I know you're listening' to empty rooms. If I'm wrong, no one knows. And if I'm right, maybe I just freaked the hell out of some secret organization."
1947624
I'm afraid I don't get the reference. >_>
1947613 Bradford's got the future prep thing remember? And ohhhh that was some excellent trolling SA (Duh its Captain Shining Armor) and Bradford.
1947492
Or perhaps Fancy Pants.
1947633 It's an X-Men reference if I don't miss my mark.
EDIT: I'm wrong, it's a Stargate reference.
1947684
I -really- need to watch SG1. -_-
Speaking as 'your' EqD pre-reader, I spotted exactly ONE typo in all of that (in the line IDing Zhang, you used 'and' instead of 'an' in reference to their intel on him from his old job), and it read fluidly. You're golden, as far as I'm concerned. Also, I'm all charged up for Mente now! EEEEEEE
1947688 - Yes... Yes you do. It's wonderfully hilarious at times. So many great lines...
'In the MIDDLE OF MY BACKSWING!!!!'
1947643
except I don't picture fancy pants learning about political blowhards from his wife, whereas Shiny almost certainly did. also, he did come over at the end of stardust.
(remove 'but')
Shiny's codeword to ensure it's really him is "corndog."
Oh shit I'm so goddamn hyped about this.
In what ballpark do you expect the first chapter to be, word-wise?
I think I'll speak for most people when I say the more, the merrier, even if it'll make the wait longer.
Long chapters really help immersion.
(Weren't you so good, I would wait until the story is finished, but with you there really is no way I'd ever resist the temptation.)
Also nice initials there, Shining Ar- uh, I mean Subject A.
Ironically, this is what the NSA is SUPPOSED to be doing.
Bradford's showing up with some shady characters in a hotel, aware that he's under surveillance...
And the NSA is completely inept at figuring anything out.
I can't wait to see Broken and this
Thus have you caused much anticipation.
Do continue.
1947630
I've so always wanted to do that (on numerous occasions), but I'm always paranoid that if there IS a secret organization listening in, then they'll nuke my house or something.
Ooh, I can't wait! I'll probably read Stardust at least two more times before Mente Materia comes out.
1947800 In their defense thy have no idea that magic super senses exist, let alone how to deal with them. Considering their massive handycap they are doing a great job.
Very cool!
I don't mind waiting for the actual story (as I have plenty of videogames including Xcom:EW) to keep me entertained till ya post this story.
Jester's (aka Discord) has gone missing! OH NOES! Oh where oh where has my little draconequus gone?!.... More than likely some dirty aliens got hold of him some how. Hope when he gets free he turns their spaceship into literal swiss cheese... WHILE IN DEEP SPACE!!!
Always thought that Senator Goleman was going to be a pain in the arse in a much BIGGER way than just his grumblings in the news reports in Stardust.
Still, looking forward to your other side story Broken .... any rough estimate when that might be out?
More XCOM? More ponies?
i.imgur.com/ELQ7mCB.jpg
1947948
Work has started on that. I'm actually in the process of contacting an artist to get some nice coverart made so depending on how long the art takes... who knows? : /
1947955 Fair enough. I will keep my eyes peeled for it whenever then.
"International Armed Organization Oversight Committee." That's a great name.
It's a perfect match for how shadowy the Committee is while also being completely unconcerned what anyone thinks of it.
So now that the secret organization that fights aliens is not so secret, we have politicians coming out of the woodwork to force oversight on them. I'm so excited to see where this goes!
I feel like the [CENSORED] brackets should be [REDACTED] instead, but that's probably just because I've been reading too much SCP-Foundation.
NSA trying to spy on or shadow a pre-cog?
Yeah, good LUCK!
1947688 Well, good luck with that. Aside of the 10 seasons of the originial show Stargate:SG-1 there are two spin-offs. Stargate:Atlantis (5 Seasons) and Stargate:Universe (2 Seasons, cliffhangered).
However, you will get loads and loads of both hilarious and dramatic situations. Among them what I call O'neill-moments, aka when a stupid remark leads to a breakthrough in a problem.
And then there is "Window of Opportunity"
1947684 Congratulations, you win an Internet Cookie
amegon.com/images/stories/COOKIE.gif
The anticipation is killing me.
1948354 I don't deserve it... I got it wrong on my first try...
1948399 There, there, we all make mistakes.
Also, this was just the price for second placed. If you had hit the spot on first try you could have won one million dollars and infinite girl/boyfriends.
1948403 What can I say? I was on a Marvel kick earlier and I mixed him up with Senator Kelly...
1948414 Now its my turn to be uninformed. I never watched the X-Men due disturbing lack of cable TV. I can only assume this Kelly was brobably a jerk too?
1948422 Eeyup. I don't know if he ever showed up in the TV show, but he was rather prominent in the comics. He kinda reformed near the end, but got assassinated for it
1948425 Kennedy-Syndrome at its finest. Become a "good" politician and get assassinated either by some lunatic or an entire organisation.
It seems like we are destined with shity leaders....
And I just finished a no-loss Impossible run. Awwwwwwwwww, yeah, bitches!
Also, nobody's punched an alien in the face yet. This oversight must be corrected. Lana's insta-kill karate chop doesn't quiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiite cover it. I finished said Impossible Run by punching the Uber Etherial off of his balcony.
Release it on the 21st of May. Then, I can pretend it's a birthday present, all for me.
1948042
I believe redacted would be better as well, but I'm very fuzzy on what internal NSA documents would actually look like. Of course, there's been some rather high profile releases of their documents to check against...