Vivisection Report - Conclusions:
I am now certain that the hivemind is real and still operating at present time. Furthermore, I think that it is now beyond doubt that the hivemind is not magical in nature, and is not accessed or channeled via the horn. Rather, I am sure that the discoloured gland near the brainstem (item #7) and its high concentration of psionic energy is what truly makes the hivemind possible. This would back up Dr. Eureka's original theory about the role that love plays in changeling feeding, with its empathic aspect being a vital component for the hivemind's operation.
As to the question of stopping the hivemind, since our current equipment is not designed to counteract it, cutting off a subject currently requires surgery to physically remove the gland. Since this is not practical on a larger scale, and would make further research on the hivemind difficult, I have already put some of the junior research staff to work on adapting a disabling spell gate that can block the channeling of psionic energy in addition to magic.
However, for the drones, this is only a precautionary measure. The energy readings taken during the vivisection indicate a highly limited range on their telepathic interaction, which probably would not stretch far beyond this facility. It is PARASITE's range which is the true concern. In her role as the hivemind overseer, her telepathic abilities seem much further-reaching, and she may be able to contact and direct drones as far away as Ponyville, or further. PARASITE is the one who must be restrained. The other drones are a non-issue in comparison.
The vivisection also served to clear up several mysteries with regard to the disguise element of changeling biology, and the answers are less than desirable.
Much like how an earth pony's entire muscular system acts as a channeling point, it seems that a changeling's exoskeleton is able to channel magic for their disguise ability, and give their whole body an elastic quality that allows them to change their shape. This ability is frighteningly versatile, allowing changelings to grow or lose limbs and other body parts, shift their weight to stand in different stances, puff themselves up to appear bigger, or even compress their mass to make themselves smaller. The altered form is then further augmented with visual, auditory, tactile, and olfactory illusion spells, allowing them to effectively mimic every aspect of their chosen disguise.
Worse, these abilities when taken collectively imply that changelings are far less limited than we previously theorised. All operations so far have assumed that changelings are only capable of disguising themselves as ponies, or at worst as quadrupeds of similar proportions. In reality, however, they seem potentially able to take the form of any species, even ones significantly larger or smaller than themselves, or even inanimate objects. I shouldn't need to state that the implications of this are terrifying, and I recommend an immediate facility-wide sweep on all our sites with every kind of detection spell we have.
The silver lining is that the disguise ability's sophistication and complexity also mandates high energy requirements. Changelings chitins are especially conductive to the particular spells used in their disguises, and the chaotic, passionate element of love energy is also well-suited to them. Yet even with these advantages, performing this many complex spells in tandem appears taxing on the changeling's energy stores. While a changeling drone likely would not consider it much effort to transform into an equinoid form for a few minutes or maybe even an hour, maintaining a long-term disguise, especially for a highly unusual form, would likely be exhausting for them. Fielding multiple deep-cover infiltrators, as the changelings did within our agency, was an extremely costly measure that they likely would not be able to repeat in their current state.
This perhaps sheds light on why the changelings prefer open conquest despite their abilities being more suited for stealth and scavenging, and it may also explain why PARASITE invested so heavily in striking within the EIS, while having comparatively few infiltrators elsewhere. While the Royal Guard may have been more of an immediate threat to the invasion of Canterlot, it surely would have been highly impractical to replace a significant number of them.
On an unrelated note, the complexity of the changeling disguise ability also raises questions as to the origin of their species. A slim possibility remains that they were the result of natural evolution in a high magic environment. However, it seem far more likely that they were designed intentionally by an outside entity, possibly TAU or MATRIARCH, likely using ponies and some unknown species of insect as the template. I doubt that this will be at all relevant to our interests, but it may be worth asking about as a matter of curiosity if PARASITE ever feels talkative again.
Dr. Horrible Experiment
A message to Professor Bizarre Chimera:
Since appointing you as head of the science department, I have been continually impressed with your results. Project: MIND DELVE has exceeded my every expectation, and that is not something that I say lightly. Your department's research has provided critical intelligence that will potentially save many lives in future, and I do not exaggerate when I say that I have never been prouder of this agency than I am at this very moment. If ever you or your department requires a favour for any reason, know that I will remember and consider your achievements these past weeks.
Regards,
Director Exuding Malevolence
Transcript of fifth interview with PARASITE:
Interrogator: I understand that you requested my presence?
PARASITE: What have you done?
Interrogator: I beg your pardon?
PARASITE: What. Have you done?
Interrogator: I'm afraid I don't understand.
PARASITE: What did you do to me? What did you do to my head? [Hissing] It's all silence! It's so quiet! I can't stand it!
Interrogator: Our scientists determined the method through which you communicate with your hivemind, and developed a disabling spell capable of cutting it off. You will be making no further contact with individuals outside of this cell.
PARASITE: [Hissing] Do you realise what you have done? Changelings are not meant to exist outside the hivemind! My children require my guidance to maintain their mental stability! Killing them would have been kinder than this!
Interrogator: Perhaps if you had cooperated in previous interviews, this might not have happened.
PARASITE: You will regret this, you wretched creatures.
Interrogator: If you feel like answering our questions now, this could be made a lot easier for you.
PARASITE: [Snarling] When I kill you, it will not be swift. It will be agonising. I will draw it out for days. I will make you beg for death.
Interrogator: So be it. Interview concluded—
PARASITE: I wasn't finished. You will beg for death. But even when I kill you, I won't let that be the end of it. I will consume your dying soul, assimilate you into our hivemind, and make you watch through our eyes as we tear down and destroy everything you ever loved. I will kill your loved ones with my own bare hooves, slowly, intimately, wearing your form, just so that it stings them that much sharper. You will feel every moment of it as if you were doing the deed yourself, and for as long as the changelings live, you will loop through that memory again, and again, and again. A personal Hell just for you, an eternity of torment, until the day you become too numb to feel the horror anymore, and only then will I devour what remains of your shattered psyche and end your miserable existence. That is the price you will pay for this. You and every single agent of this organisation.
Interrogator: [Pause] Interview concluded at 3:44 PM.
Transcript of second interview with CHARON-7 - Mirror Image:
Interrogator: Hello there. [Pause] You seem afraid. Might that be because you can no longer feel the influence of your fellow changelings?
CHARON-7: P-P-Please don't kill me.
Interrogator: We shan't have need to kill you if you cooperate.
CHARON-7: I-I'll cooperate! Please, just... don't cut me up again! Don't put me back on the table!
Interrogator: [Pause] Again?
CHARON-7: The table, in the room with the bright lights. [Whimpering] Please, don't take me back there!
Interrogator: [Pause] Are you referring to the research labs on level B?
CHARON-7: [Nodding] With the ponies in the white coats.
Interrogator: Tell me, do you remember the vivisection?
CHARON-7: [Weeping]
Interrogator: I said, do you remember the vivisection?
CHARON-7: He was screaming, and crying for you to stop! Why didn't you stop? It hurt him so much!
Interrogator: But that wasn't you. That changeling is dead. Do you remember this through the hivemind?
CHARON-7: Mother tries to take away the pain. She tries to shield us. Block our senses when ponies do horrible things to us. She's strong. But she can't take it all away. We still remember it. We all remember it.
Interrogator: This is why none of you previously responded to intensive questioning?
CHARON-7: [Weeping]
Interrogator: I need to begin asking you questions now. If you answer me honestly and to the best of your ability, we will have no need to harm you further.
CHARON-7: W-Will you reunite us with Mother?
Interrogator: [Pause] Of course.
Findings from drone interviews:
The drone interviews after the excising of the hivemind were a great help in providing information on changeling culture, social and military structure, and even some elements of biology.
All drones interviewed support PARASITE's claim that she is the only monarch of their species, and that the drones have the means of replacing her if need be. However, what PARASITE failed to mention previously is that this contingency is dependent on her continued presence in the hivemind. In essence, PARASITE is not truly replaced as the changeling monarch, but instead transfers her consciousness to a new body through the hivemind, allowing her old one to die without consequence. In her current state, however, this would be impossible.
Since the body of a changeling monarch is unique, and PARASITE relies upon it to run the hivemind, this implies that the drones are capable of physically growing a monarch body, even if they lack PARASITE's mind to inhabit it. However, when asked, the drones balked at the idea of any changeling other than PARASITE inhabiting such a body, and claimed that only PARASITE and a drone named "General Exact" know the secret of how to grow a monarch anyway. Exact, we are informed, was one of the drones who died under questioning.
Because of the necessity of the monarch to changeling society, and the inability of changeling drones to grow a new monarch without PARASITE's input, all the drones interviewed agree that it would be impossible for other changelings to form a rival hive of their own. However, they claim that rogue changelings ("mutants," "rebels," or "exiles," in their words) could theoretically survive without the hivemind and oppose their brethren, and indeed that some have done so before, lending credence to some of the rumours throughout the ages of so-called "good changelings," such as the changeling known as Morning Dew allegedly captured by authorities in 239 CR.
On the subject of changeling variants and societal roles, the drones clarified some key points of confusion. In biological terms, the changeling monarch and drone are distinct, and some other unspecified variant changelings were also mentioned, created by PARASITE for special purposes through alchemical processes and biomancy. However, changelings are apparently more often differentiated by knowledge and mental capacity than by biology.
For example, most of the drones claimed to be "soldiers," whom PARASITE infused specifically with fighting knowledge. Some others, in contrast, claimed to be "workers," gifted with knowledge for hive-building with changeling paste. Other potential roles mentioned include "infiltrators," who can maintain deep cover more effectively for longer periods; "commanders," who possess knowledge of military strategy and tactics, and can act as "signal-boosters" for the hivemind; and "heralds," who the drones describe as being able to directly channel PARASITE's will so that she may speak through them on the battlefield.
However, while all of this is valuable information, we still lack an accurate figure as to just how many changelings are still operating in Equestria, and how many remain connected to the hivemind. While several drones were willing to give estimates of the total changeling population, their answers were wildly inconsistent, varying between a hundred and a hundred thousand. Such inaccurate estimates are next to useless to us, and may betray the true weakness of the changelings species – their inability to count.
We were also unable to learn exactly where any such stragglers would gather. Although several drones did mention a "Changeling Kingdom" in eastern Thoroupe that would make a safe redoubt for CHARON, it is a significant enough distance away that attempting to return to it would be a difficult endeavour without PARASITE's guidance. It is highly likely, therefore, that any remaining CHARON forces in Equestria would remain in the Heartland until such a time as PARASITE is free. However, where they would gather in the meantime remains unknown, as no drone so far has been able to reliably name any kind of headquarters or potential meeting spot aside from Castle Black.
Agent Forceful
A memo to all EIS staff:
As many of you are already aware, the Bridge and the Prometheus Mobile Command were both captured this week in operations conducted by the Earth, Unicorn, Pegasus Guard at the behest of the Protective Pony Platoons. Fort Angel is currently under siege from the same entities, and is expected to fall within the next few days. As far as we are aware, Mother Base, Deep Freeze, and the Black Projects Laboratory are in no danger, but site lockdowns are being initiated as this memo goes out to prevent possible information leaks by agents of questionable character. For those who questioned the need for the recent loyalty inspections, this was the major reason for our concern.
These unwarranted and malicious attacks on our organisation are but the latest in a long string of offences the Platoons have committed against the intelligence community in recent years. The ponies attacking our San Palomino facility right now and holding many of our comrades captive are the same ones who failed to fight off the Bugbear, the changelings, and countless other threats that it has been the intelligence community's responsibility to deal with over the years. And those generals and bureaucrats who ordered this operation are the same ones who chose to sacrifice SMILE on the altar of their own political careers and ambitions, leaving so many of their former agents out in the cold, many of whom we now count among our own number.
If there is any sin for which the EIS is guilty, it is our refusal to lie down and accept whatever fate the Platoons have planned for us. The EIS will not be disbanding, and for this reason, despite our centuries of loyal service, and our vital role in combatting, studying, and containing the changeling threat, the EIS has now been officially designated a rogue organisation. It is the intention of the Platoons that all of you, our agents, are to be considered enemies of Equestria, despite your many years of service, and unwavering commitment to duty in the face of adversity. This betrayal, though typical of the Platoons' treatment of the intelligence community, is not acceptable to us, and this is a state of affairs we intend to change.
As of this week, the EIS has begun counter-operations against EUP forces, to secure our remaining facilities and the safety of all our loyal agents. It is our intention to resist them while continuing our service to Equestria on our own, with the goal of eventually being restored by Princess Celestia as Equestria's premier intelligence agency, outside the authority of the illegitimate and ineffective Protective Pony Platoons. To this end, we are hoping to undermine the authority of key individuals within the Platoons, with the hope of reversing their rulings and possibly removing them from power altogether, so that travesties such as this will never happen again.
However, for these goals to be attainable, it is of vital importance that all of this organisation's agents stand with us against our common enemy. Loyalty is demanded of each and every one of you, not just to the abstract ideal of Equestria, or to the bloated, bureaucratic monstrosity that is the PPP, but to the agency you serve, your brothers and sisters, and the memory of those who went before us. We fight to honour the sacrifices they made, the sacrifices our comrades are making right now, so that it will not all be in vain. Treachery will not be tolerated, and to those of you who who would side against your brothers and sisters, against this organisation and our mission, know that you will be shown no mercy.
Director Exuding Malevolence
Personal Journal of Dr. Eureka, entry #24:
I guess it all makes sense now, what they were doing those inspections for. We're at war with the Protective Pony Platoons!
This entire agency has officially gone insane. I don't know what the inciting incident was, but it's plain as day that Director Malevolence was the one who initiated hostilities. The Platoons might have threatened to shut us down, but they wouldn't be attacking our bases and trying to arrest us for no reason, and it's well known that Malevolence and plenty of other agents held a grudge over SMILE's shuttering. And hay, I don't agree with what the Platoons did to SMILE either, but with everything we've been doing lately, maybe they should have shut us down. We're not even a government agency anymore; we're a terrorist cell now.
I don't know what I'm going to do, but I can't stay here. I tried my best to swallow my disgust and keep doing my job for self-preservation's sake. I told myself that it was for the greater good, that we had to stop the changelings for the sake of Equestria. But if Director Malevolence is leading us into open rebellion against our own government, then how are we any less a threat to Equestria than they are? We've become everything we used to fight against. I've been taught since foalhood that the ends don't justify the means, but it took me until now to really internalise it.
Well, the rest of the agency may be willing to follow the Director down into Hell, but not me. I'm getting out of here, one way or another.
Message recovered from Dead Drop Point #417:
M,
ARES has taken direct command of ISCARIOT. OASIS has fallen. Several captured, but none yet compromised. ARES proposed interrogating captives through the Dreamscape to find remaining locations. Estimates less than a day before breaking. Recommend immediate withdrawal.
-X
Message sent to Dead Drop Point #417:
X,
Stall ARES by any means necessary. ISCARIOT must not discover remaining locations before full evacuation is complete.
DDPs #150-425 are discontinued effective immediately.
-M
A memo to all EIS staff:
ARES has taken direct command of ISCARIOT. Mother Base, Black Projects, and Deep Freeze are all to be considered compromised. This is now a Salted Earth operation. All sites are to begin purge protocols immediately. Dead Drop Points #150-425 are to be considered compromised. All those of level six and above clearance are to reconvene at Point Alpha. All those of level five clearance and below are to evacuate and await further instructions.
Do not attempt to obstruct evacuation or purge procedures.
Director Exuding Malevolence
Note for Dr. Eureka:
Some of us are meeting in the place where we saw the spider. You should attend.
Transcript of last contact with Black Projects Laboratory, Manehattan:
BP: Mother Base! Come in, Mother Base! This is Black Projects! Over!
MB: Black Projects, this is Mother Base. Over.
BP: Mother Base, we're under attack! Forces are assaulting our location! Over!
MB: Black Projects, can you confirm the enemy forces? Is it CHARON or ISCARIOT? Over.
BP: Negative! Enemy forces unknown! Over!
MB: Have purge protocols been successfully carried out? Over.
BP: Negative! Protocols were initiated, but one of our scientists stole a viral sample and escaped! We were tracking him when the attack began! Over.
MB: [Pause] Black Projects, confirm. Did you just tell me somepony escaped into Manehattan with a viral weapon? [Pause] Over.
BP: Confirmed! We believe Dr. Blacklight may have been replaced by a CHARON agent! Over!
MB: [Sighing] Damn it. Celestia damn it all. [Long pause] [Distant explosion]
BP: Mother Base, the enemy is closing in! What are our orders? Over!
MB: [Pause] Black Projects, finalise purge protocols by any means necessary. Over.
BP: Mother Base, the enemy are inside the facility! Over!
MB: Black Projects. Finalise purge protocols by any means necessary. Over.
BP: [Long pause] Mother Base, confirm. Any means? Over.
MB: Confirmed. Over.
BP: [Distant explosion] [Distant screaming] What about Dr. Blacklight? If he unleashes the virus—
MB: Mother Base will handle Dr. Blacklight if necessary. Black Projects, you must finalise purge protocols before the facility falls. If ISCARIOT discovers evidence of your activities there, they will legalise the death penalty just for us. Over.
BP: [Chuckling] Then it's death either way, isn't it? [Long pause] [Distant shouting]
MB: Black Projects, you have your orders. Finalise—
BP: Yeah, yeah, I'll finalise the damn protocols. Over.
MB: [Pause] Good luck, Black Projects.
BP: I hope you all choke, Mother Base. [Transmission ends]
From the desk of Professor Bizarre Chimera:
Director, this operation is in shambles over here. I've been trying to rein in the department and keep things under control, but it's not going over well. Maintaining morale was already difficult enough through the initial quarantine, but the junior staff reacted very badly to the news that we're all soon to be fugitives, not to mention the rumours coming in. Dr. Eureka is proving particularly troublesome, and even Dr. Experiment and his cohorts have not been as supportive as I would like.
There is also substantial outcry in the department against the purge protocols, due to their potential to hinder our ability to conduct further research on the changelings. And though we have taken precautions to cut PARASITE off from the hivemind, some have also raised the quite reasonable concern that executing her could allow her to later return in a new body, effectively escaping from custody. Had we the luxury, I would strongly recommend keeping the changelings alive and transporting them to Deep Freeze, but with the situation being as it is, we have no solution. Only chaos.
I write this to you not to make excuses for my failures, but to forewarn you of the actions which you may find necessary. I am all but certain that Dr. Eureka is conspiring with Agent Redwood and possibly others to obstruct the operations here, and I believe that they are using the PARASITE situation to stir further discontent in the department, possibly even in the agency as a whole. If it is indeed your intention to remove the disloyal elements and execute PARASITE, I recommend that you do both in one fell swoop, and that you do so quickly. Otherwise... I fear what damage the disloyal parties may be able to cause.
Transcript of transmission from Deep Freeze, Vanhoover:
DF: Mal, I've been trying to get through to you for hours!
Director: You and everypony else. In case you didn't get the memo, we're all a little busy at the moment. This had better be good. Have you finalised the purge protocols?
DF: Almost, but nevermind that right now. What the hell happened in Manehattan?
Director: Do you mean with Black Projects, or in the city?
DF: Both! Celestia, Mal, I am freaking out right now!
Director: Calm your shit, Life. You're an agent of the EIS! Get it together!
DF: [Deep breath] I know that, Mal, but you've gotta give me something to work with here! It's okay for you. You're at the nerve centre! We're all in the dark over here! I'm just trying to keep my ponies from losing their minds, but the news coming in just keeps getting worse and worse!
Director: [Sighing] Look, I don't know much more than you do, okay? Black Projects came under attack from an unknown enemy force, and one of their own absconded with a viral sample. They sent some of their own guys after him, but Ragdoll had to activate the final sanction to carry out the purge protocols before they were overrun.
DF: Well, that explains the explosion, but who attacked them? Was it the Platoons? How did they find them so fast?
Director: We've got no idea. Black Projects' last transmission didn't clarify, but Ragdoll at least seemed to believe that Dr. Blacklight was replaced by a changeling.
DF: Was he? I mean, Black Projects carried out their second sweeps just like the rest of us, right?
Director: Presumably. Can't really ask them anymore, can we?
DF: [Sighing] Celestia... How did this happen? Wasn't our guy on the inside supposed to buy us a couple days?
Director: You're assuming that it was the Platoons. We don't know that for sure.
DF: Come on, let's be real, Mal, they're the most likely culprits. Even if Dr. Blacklight was a changeling, the rest of them are in total disarray without their leaders. No way they could've organised a serious operation like that in their current state.
Director: [Grumbling] I wouldn't rule it out.
DF: So how the hell did they get to them so fast? Did somebody sell us out? Blacklight, perhaps?
Director: We're considering the possibility. Even if our agent's attempts to run interference failed, the dream interrogations shouldn't have yielded results that quickly. But it is interesting that only Black Projects has been hit so far. Anybody in the EIS who knows about them would also know about Deep Freeze and Mother Base. So why didn't they strike us too? It's not like they don't have the numbers for it.
DF: All evidence in favour of Dr. Blacklight, then... A distraction to cover his escape, perhaps?
Director: And evidence in favour of a changeling force, which is why I'm not ruling it out.
DF: And what's Blacklight's status? I hear conflicting reports.
Director: [Pause] We're still trying to determine that ourselves.
DF: Is he still at large?
Director: We don't know.
DF: [Sighing] Celestia save us...
Director: With everything going on in Manehattan at the moment, I would be extremely surprised if Dr. Blacklight or whoever was impersonating him survived, but we can't assume that.
DF: Have none of our agents reported back yet?
Director: No. I think it's safe to say that the agents Black Projects sent out were probably at ground zero, so little chance they made it. As for the Mother Base agents... we were expecting to hear back from them over three hours ago. Personally, I'm not confident.
DF: Who did you send?
Director: A couple new guys. You don't know them.
DF: New guys? A couple? Mal, we're talking about viral superweapon here!
Director: [Growling] I don't have the ponies to spare right now, Life! We're down three quarters of our staff, trying to cut and run before the Platoons find us, and Mother Base is damn near on the verge of mutiny over here. I want to contain this Manehattan situation, but it's just not our highest priority at the moment.
DF: How is the imminent end of Equestria not our highest priority?
Director: We can hardly save Equestria if we're all in prison cells, can we, Life? Besides, it's not like we're the only ones standing between this country and certain doom. The Platoons have already scrambled to contain the outbreak. We might just be able to leave this to them for once. It could even be to our advantage. All this chaos has got to have brought us at least a couple more days, right?
DF: [Sighing] We're all going to Tartarus for this.
Director: Oh, please. How is any of this our fault? Did I order Black Projects to create that virus? Did you unleash it on the city?
DF: That's besides the point, Mal. [Pause] Ah, who cares anymore? Listen, we're almost done our end. I should have Deep Freeze emptied out before day's end, and I'll see you at Point Alpha once we're done.
Director: Very good.
DF: Just... [Sighing] Just try not to burn down Canterlot on your way out, okay?
Director: No promises. [Transmission ends]