Fulcrum Rapid Response

Below is a potential hook based off prior conversation with other players. Rumi expressed interest in a super soldier with a degree of amnesia, Dieter as a pilot/smuggler with a penchant for Forerunner tech, Scott an engineer, and I favored a mad scientist/chemist/trader.

Concept

Fulcrum Rapid Response is a private security corporation on Martius III (pg. 40 of the pdf on Mercantile League). They recently fired their last director who was losing contracts and the new director invested in some R&D hoping to create a better breed of soldier to make the company more profitable.

Dr. Richard Nerva's Memos

Fulcrum Rapid Response Internal Memo on the Horizon Initiative Dr. Richard Nerva

First Memo: Project data remains difficult to interpret in almost all stages of the process. A promising subject, number 4311-9, had all the attributes we expected to correlate with success – strong physique, adequate but unimaginative mind, no next of kin – yet even after a mind wipe the subject continues to display hypergraphia using his own blood. The psychologist assures me the words written on the walls of the subject’s cell are indicative of schizophrenia and the subject is no longer viable to the project. I wonder what subject 4311-9 would write on the wall if he were illiterate. Unfortunately, there is no time for such idle conceits of whimsy.

Second Memo: We had an incident today when Dr. Moth suggested fortifying a subject with one of the enhancement cocktails he’d used for strengthening gladiators. The doctor was convincing but, in hindsight, I was too eager to try a new research approach since Director Harmon’s goons have been down here poking around for the last week. We had two security personnel hospitalized subduing the subject and lost lab three during the experiment. I angrily confronted Dr. Moth for suggesting the use of such a dangerous drug. The doctor, though his alien face is hard to read, seemed nonchalant and claimed that the experiment produced fine results for him. If I could find a replacement on short notice I would have expelled him from the project right then.

Third Memo: Finally a verifiable success! The subject is still healing from the surgery but the artifact wavelengths coursing through their flesh have remained stable for more than 72 hours – a 563% increase from our past best. Mental acuity and memory are at the same functional levels from before the experiment but physical attributes increased by almost 25% and that is while the subject is still in bandages (note to self: must conduct more stringent studies on pain tolerance both before and after. Will need to order neural pain amplifiers and find a smuggler to bring us Rokka’rn venom).

Fourth Memo: I’ve had to appeal directly to the private sector for more volunteers and while I was initially firmly against the idea necessity dictates that is my only option. Our mortality rate has remained fairly constant at 85% but the cost of securely eliminating failures has gone well over budget. Fortunately, we do have several graduates (as the team has taken to calling the survivors) but none are at even similar ability levels and we’ve had to devise a new classification system for reports to cast our results in a more favorable light.

Fifth Memo: We detected a spy from a rival corporation today. He was posing as a volunteer but our probes managed to pierce his mental conditioning and we dismissed him as a potential candidate. I ordered a security sweep afterwards and found evidence of internal tampering with our databases and even stolen equipment. I locked down the facility and had all the logs thoroughly examined by the techs. Someone (or a cabal) has clearly infiltrated yet I hope we caught them before they can do much harm. Personally, I blame the smuggler and his engineer but I have no evidence. They both seem professional and disinterested but I’ve relied on them too much and they seem clever enough to piece things together. Are they selling knowledge to our competitors?

Sixth Memo: Disaster struck today. Our premier subject escaped her cell, is deftly avoiding capture, but is still within the facility. We tried a remote mind wipe on her brain chip but she removed the chip from the base of her skull during the procedure and our success was only partial at best. Director Harmon declared the project a failure and her people are already en route to dismantle the facility. I accept full responsibility but still strenuously object that the Horizon Initiative was a failure. If we had more time and money this could still be a major money maker for the company.

Director Esmeralda Harmon's Final Report

Project went over budget and underperformed. Dr. Richard Nerva, while a capable administrator, was not prepared for the demands of project management and will be reassigned to munitions warehousing shift supervision. Subject Omega is still at large and a detailed description of her follows this report; she is to be captured if possible but the costs of assigning a team for that duty is still under consideration. The smuggler and his crew will also require watching and I want them questioned to determine their complicity, if any, in undermining the project’s security. Dr. Moth is also wanted for questioning and the alleged eating of eighty pounds of wool blankets above his food allotment.