IC:
“…Almost as if overnight, numerous citizens across the Federation seem to have turned female, Federal Investigators are looking into probable causes…”
“…I would love to say it was only the Marshites, but there are documented cases of non-Marshites being affected too...”
“…This is God’s punishment on us for turning away from the one True Church! First we embraced the Neko, and now we…”
“….we have unconfirmed reports of a statement being released by the Holy Marsh regarding the incident, but Federal authorities have prevented…”
No matter the channel, every news station in the Federation was covering this. Men, typically of Marshite origin or religion, had turned into women. No, not actually women. Rumors claimed that ‘certain’ parts remained male, but the body shape and looks had very obviously switched. The Shift as it was called. Within hours of the event, the MBSA had sprung into action, attempting to block the news stations and control the flow of information to prevent a panic, but the modern information highways were too fast. Short of shutting down the entire nation’s communication network they had no choice but to let it flow. And so it did. Without knowledge of a cause or a purpose behind the event, the public had become aware of something not being right within the Federation.
Soon information began to flow out of the Holy Marsh regarding the origins, only this time the MBSA was ready and shut down connections to the Holy Marsh, controlling the information flowing towards the unsuspecting public. It would give them time to organize their plan of attack.
This time they would need more than a cover story; they needed more than a few well placed missile strikes and ‘training accidents’. This had happened without warning and there was no way to hide these events from the public anymore. The Masquerade was broken.
Or so it seemed.
Medical Camp 16
Outside Bogota, Sur Region, Mokastana
Special Situations Director Alejandro Null took a long drag on his cigarette, his dark brown hair and golden eyes hidden under an officer’s cap with only the letters ‘SS’ imprinted in the center. Black Trench coat, black slacks, black boots, red shirt with ‘SS’ along the collar. Everything about him screamed agent of the Mokastana Bureau of Secret Affairs, and the two letter acronym of his department was one that those even in the bureau doubted to actually exist. Yet here he was, as real as the events that summoned him.
To his side, another man of equal rank but different division stood in disbelief that the Special Situations Division was here to take control. Special Situations Director Benton Vasquez of the Biological Division, typically the most feared division for their expertise in chemical and biological weapons, and their ability to destroy any part of the nation in the name of public safety. They could make anyone disappear just by labeling them a biological hazard to the state. Sometimes they even did it to legitimate threats to the public welfare.
Yet Director Null had the power to make even other Special Situation Directors disappear if he needed them to. The SS Division could, and would, do whatever it took to ensure their secrets remained just that, and God only knew how they planned to handle this one. Breaking the silence Director Null looked at his notes:
“Preliminary estimates show that roughly 73% of Marshites in the Federation are expected to be affected by this affliction, with negligible but presentable non-Marshites affected as well. Some are even beginning to claim they have always been this way.”
“That is what my reports show. We have been rounded up affected individuals and quarantining them as per protocol.”
“Yet the only connection we could find between them was being treated by the Marshite Churches, but not everyone treated by a Marshite Church was affected, what do you make of that?”
“Well, as you know Mokan Law prevents blood samples being taken unless medically required, part of the Patient Privacy Act of 2010, we think there may be some connection to the Marshite obtaining blood samples and this, yet I know of nothing on Earth that can cause this kind of change without extensive or painful side effects.”
“That’s because we don’t know of anything on Earth that can do this, as such we believe the Marshites are withholding some sort of medical knowledge from us. Something that backfired horribly.”
“I’ve had Bio Division agents investigate some of the local churches, and well, the common responses from various Priests are disturbing.”
Vasquez handed over the folder to the man who could end his life on a whisper. His only response was to open it and begin reading the statements, one after another told a familiar but disturbing tale.
“I want any agent who has discussed this with a Marshite Priest to report to our command at once.”
“Yes Sir.”
Vasquez would, of course, collect his agents and bring them here, but he hoped that the SS was not here to liquidate them. If they were, the agents and himself were dead already, no need to try something that could ruin national security out of selfish desire to live.
MBSA Regional Headquarters
Special Situations Division
Mac Anu, Aqua Anu
Helen Fontaine checked her sidearm once more while waiting for the plane to take off. The standard issue Lyran Hellhammer .50 caliber pistol was a lot heavier than any other hand gun she had used before, but it was the choice of the Special Situations Division. Along with the Storm hammer sub machine guns her compatriots carried. They were a specialist Team formed under the command of Director Null, currently in Mokastana Proper. With the majority of Marshites in Aqua Anu, this place had the largest outbreak among the Federation.
Calling it an outbreak was not the correct term, but it was the closest they had. So far only a select few Marshites knew the truth about what happened, the rest were told only partial truths. The public still did not know about alien technologies or magic, hell many members of the public and international community still believed we were alone in the universe, including the Commonwealth Colonial Authority. Yet the events in Chernobyl-Pripyat had happened, leaving the MBSA with their own cache of alien goods from many years ago.
Still, it was only with this most recent outbreak that she learned it herself, and despite prevailing theories she was just as much Terran as the rest of her team. Even if they never made a plane’s seat comfortable enough to fit a tail.
Medical Camp 16 - Former Wellov Mining Office
Outside Bogota, Sur Region, Mokastana
Director Null removed his cap and walked into the holding room where the older Marshite priest sat. The door was unlocked and opened, but a guard was still stationed outside. They had made it clear that he was not being detained, but due to the nature of the incident, he was requested to stay to speak with Mokan Agents regarding what had happened.
The Room itself had been a conference room in the office building the MBSA had acquired to maintain the Medical Camp, complete with modern amenities such as large oak table and comfortable chairs. Motioning for the guard to close the door and leave them alone, Director Null extended a friendly hand to the Marshite Priest and began:
“Thank you for waiting so patiently, my name is Special Situations Director Alejandro Null of the Mokastana Bureau of Secret Affairs. I was told you know more about this current incident than anyone else in the Federation. Please have a seat. Can I get you anything?”