text } from "Images May Disturb You", the blog of Georgia Mason, entry #004

[choosetruth]

[Georgia’s done her research. She’s gotten her exclusive interview. Now, she’s written her article out and she’s ready to publish. Since it’s so specifically pertinent to imPorts, and since her readership is still relatively small, she crossposts it to the network.]

There have been unusual creatures appearing all over the world lately, starting with the appearance of the lake creature dubbed “Tessie.” These “cryptids,” as they’re commonly known, have universally been diagnosed with a disease that can only be cured by application of the same nanites that are injected into all imPorts without their consent on arrival. ImPorts have been working to round up these creatures. Once caught, they can either hand the cryptid over to the government or sell them to an anonymous donor.

[This part is old news, Georgia knows, but it’s important to provide the context. Not everyone keeps up with the news as thoroughly as she does.]

The anonymous donor has been very reclusive, but they are known to have ties to the “Otherworld Technologies Organization,” or OTO. In light of the OTO’s known anti-imPort sentiments, the donor agreed to an interview by phone to provide more information about them and their plans to better allow imPorts to make up their minds about selling cryptids to them.

The donor, who has chosen to remain anonymous because “Bad things have been known to happen to people imPorts take an interest in”, is financing their collection and research through generational wealth. Before Tessie’s appearance, they were already on the look out for “unique items of interest,” or more specifically, items from imPort worlds and hero memorabilia. They seem genuinely interested in maintaining the well-being of the cryptids they’ve collected, though they refused to comment on any other goals they have for their research.

As for their relationship to the OTO, they claimed to be willing to work with any researcher in the matter. “The government moves too slowly to be of real use in this matter.” They would not confirm whether or not that included imPort scientists, only stating that it would depend on the imPort. They were also unwilling to provide a tour of their lab.

According to them, they can only speculate at the OTO’s motivations, but they find the advancement of science “interesting” and see the OTO as forwarding those goals. Recently, the OTO has illegally experimented on cryptids to create hybrid weaponized creatures, as detailed in the most recent Majority Report. I’ve reached out to the donor for comment, but I have yet to receive a response.

[If she were home, this is where she’d end. But this isn’t home, and blogging hasn’t grown and established itself in the same ways. She still believes keeping fact and opinion strictly separated, but instead of a full op-ed, she elects to add a short paragraph at the end of the article, making sure to clearly denote where fact ends and opinion begins.]

I won’t tell you who to trust or what to do. My job is to provide the facts and let you interpret them as you will. If you want my opinion, the donor’s answers were evasive and vague. I would have known if they lied, but there’s a lot you can say without lying that isn’t quite telling the truth. They’re hiding something, and until I know what, they won’t have my trust. But that’s opinion, informed by the facts and my own personal biases. Draw your own conclusions.

Comments

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[andromedas]

Thanks for the reporting!

Any on-site confirmation on the symptoms of the cryptid diseases? Are the allegations of the anon donor verified wrt imPort retaliation?

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[choosetruth]

Yes. Again, Tessie remains the most well known case. Her limbs and flesh were rotting off until the nanite intervention. There have been reports of the same symptoms in the more recently encountered cryptids.

Depends what you consider verified. "Bad things" have definitely happened to people associated with imPorts. Bad things have also happened to people not associated with imPorts. And to imPorts themselves. I don't have the statistics to back it up, but I'd bet my favorite recorder bad things happens to people who associate with known terrorist organizations. It seems more like paranoia than fact to me.

Re: text;

[andromedas]

Alright. Guess it's okay to file the rest of this info under terrible and ominous, it's good to know my catch-up studies are really beginning to branch out in flavor.

(Does this Cerberus-lite group have a flavor?)

Thanks for the response. I'll look forward to your next article. For the quality of the writing...maybe less for the ever-impending nudge toward danger and armageddon.

[choosetruth]

Anything you've found that isn't terrible and ominous? It'd make a nice change.

Thank you. I'm posting regularly on my blog.

[She drops a link to the After the End Times site.]

Private text

[iminthebook]

Thank you. Definitely the more information we have about these people the better.

Private text

[choosetruth]

Happy to provide. I'll be providing updates as I discover them.

Re: Private text

[iminthebook]

Its appreciated. I wish I knew more about how to stop a group like this.

[choosetruth]

It's never simple. Not when they're already so established.

The best tool we have against fear and hate is knowledge. Keep learning and finding the truth and there's nothing we can't fight.

text;

[fridgeflower]

So... A rich kid who cares more about idle interest than human life. Works for re-confirmation, I guess.

What use for it are they looking for, if the government works too slow to satisfy their needs?

I mean, I guess that's a hypothetical question. Specifying would probably be more than they're willing to divulge.

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[choosetruth]

They weren't incredibly fond of specifics, no.

I suspect they want us to believe all they're looking for is scientific advancement and the well-being of innocent creatures.

But yeah, I'd bet a lot on an ulterior motive.

text;

[fridgeflower]

They've already proven that the well-being of innocent creatures doesn't mean a thing to them. It's scientific advancement and screw everything else, basically.

Expressing genuine interest in the cryptids' survival may just refer to wanting to keep their hybridization experiments going. Or it could be related to the nanites, or something similar.

It could be lots of stuff, I guess, but it's probably not empathy.

text;

[choosetruth]

That's a lot of assumptions, and a lot of simplification. People are very rarely only one thing. Admittedly, their vague answers left a lot of room for interpretation, but the impression I got was that they do genuinely care about what happens to these creatures and believe themself to be taking actions towards protecting them.

Again, that does not rule out ulterior motives, and they wouldn't be the first to blind themselves to the collateral damage in the name of achieving their goals.

Text

[darkpants_warmfeeling]

How sure are you about whether they were lying?

Text

[choosetruth]

Depends how reliable my shiny new superpowers are. I can detect lies. I detected none.

But then again, they didn't say much that went beyond vague. It's pretty easy to be truthful when all your statements are so generic.

Text

[darkpants_warmfeeling]

That's a great power to have. Especially in your line of work.

So we can be pretty sure they're just after the cryptids out of curiosity. Like they're collecting trading cards or something.

Text

[choosetruth]

Not exactly.

We can be sure they're curious about the cryptids. We can't be sure that's the only reason. They wouldn't comment about ulterior motives.

not-a-text.

[obediences]

[ —are u KIDDING ME. Luther trips across this comment, and his brain record-scratches.

Allison just got lie detection recently, too.

He taps at his keyboard, then ultimately sets the communicator aside. Nothing he can really say. Whatever the universe has about the Masons and the Hargreeves, he's not sure what to make of it. ]

[PRIVATE] Text

[irwins]

I love watching you work. Just so you know.

So. Mr. Moneybags is willing to talk, but isn't willing to be forthcoming. I wonder what he's hiding. Or what he's afraid of.

Up for probing further? I've kinda got an idea

[Run Georgia. Run.]

[PRIVATE] Text

[choosetruth]

I'm glad you're not bored when I'm sitting still at my computer for hours.

[He is a DORK.]

I promised to maintain anonymity as a condition for the interview. But what's your idea?

[This can't possibly go terribly.]

[PRIVATE] Text

[irwins]

I've got way too much imagination to get bored that easily.

[Which is half true. Boredom is dangerous, but having George back means that sometimes it really is nice just to watch her.]

We hunt down a cryptid and offer it to this guy. See if they hold up their end of the bargain. Maybe find a different way to engage them.

Also I really want to wrestle a chupacabra or something. I think it'd be good for the site.

Two birds, one cryptozoological stone.

[PRIVATE] Text

[choosetruth]

Somehow, I knew this was heading in a "Shaun fights something stupid" direction.

You really miss having zombies to play with, huh?

text;

[fursleuth]

I have stepped in this kind of shit before, and it reeked bad then and it reeks even worse now.

text;

[choosetruth]

[That... could explain some things.]

Here or in your world?

[fursleuth]

Back home. Literally the last thing I remember before coming here is pretty much this, only... weirder. That is, unless you think this weirdo wants to merge everyone in the world with the cryptids. Then it'd be exactly the same.

[choosetruth]

They didn't give any indication that was their goal. I can't imagine why they'd want that. or why anyone would want that.