EMERGENCY TRANSMISSION

STEELTOPIA IN FLAMES STOP REQUEST BACKUP FROM CVFB AND NEW BABBAGE WOMENS FIRE BRIGADE STOP QLI-2 PLEASE RESPOND TO TO TRANSCHRONAL MESSAGE ASAP END STOP

The Tempest

So much has happened, I can barely process it all.

My brother Ash has been kidnapped. To be precise, he was found collapsed from his desk at the Europan Consulate in Steeltopia. His soul chip has been removed from his body, leaving a hollow shell. There was no sign of struggle. He was deceived into accepting maintenance.

If he had gone to his next assignment as Steeltopian Guard Commander, he might have been able to protect the shipment of highly dangerous Omega particles that came under attack. The Guard was wiped out. The only clue to the identity of the attackers was a single shuriken.

Frau Lowey established a telepathic link with Ash's amorphous pet, Yoggy. The words we translated were "white...little...spinnyspinnyspinnyspinny". I can only assume it was a doll with a spinning turnkey.

Also stolen was the recently discovered Adventures of Jeremiah Mason, Gentleman Adventurer, which was recovered from the dust of Steeltopia's original library. Ash's attacker may have absconded with the journal itself, but she did not retrieve Ash's notes that he was compiling.

Either the journal is a hopeless mountain of lies, or...Jeremiah was indeed a hero once, who fell from grace. The text became increasingly disjointed and harder for Ash to piece together as he slipped from sanity, but he believes the tragedy begins when his wife Rachel...Darien's mother...refuses the Reanimation Serum which could have saved her from her fatal illness. She said "the price to [my] soul is too high".

Adding to the turmoil of the Steamlands, there has been an apparent coup d'etat in Steeltopia. Emperor Calamari has been usurped by one StormFront Aristocrat.

Now there is a rumor the Omega particles are hidden somewhere in Steelhead. Given the growing danger, I violated my own protocol and subversively conducted a search of Mr. Sawyer's workshop. This rumor that he is Jeremiah Mason may be horribly unfair, but it is not subsiding. There is no doubt he is a Spark. The portable plasma forge and robot parts on his table attest to that.

There was a passing resemblance to one assembled droid and the golems I encountered in the ruins of Jeremiah's laboratory. But it was a simple coal-fueled drone, almost a kit model. Not enough to prove a connection. Further, there was no evidence of Sorcery woven into his Science that is the Mason family's trademark. No visible stock of Reanimation Serum or ingredients thereof. And most importantly, no Omega particle energy signature.

Apparently the droid on his table was recording. That is why I am justifying my actions to you now, Dear Reader. Mr. Sawyer is justifiably upset. I will apologize to him in person, and hopefully dispel the mistrust in the air.

A Fascinating Development

To: Emperor SteelCobra Calamari; Baron Klaus Wulfenbach; Dr. Darien Mason; Fire Capt. Gematria (Qlippothic v3.3) CVFB

From: SG Capt. Ash Mason (Tumim), House Wulfenbach Liason

I was involved in security management as the Steeltopia Public Works tested the Molecular Destabilizer and successfully vaporized the old Steeltopia Public Library. The weapon urban planning mechanism was successful, leaving no physical evidence of the Library's existence, save for one artifact discovered on the thin layer of dust that remained. It was a book.

All reading materials were supposedly removed from the SPL before demolition. This book must have been hidden away in some sort of safe, strong enough to protect the contents even as it was itself disintegrated. It is a large tome, and it bore the embossed emblem of my family's former crest, identifying it as part of the Bloodwing Foundation Chronicles.

The title, however, was one I had no records of in my data banks. The Adventures of Dr. Jeremiah Mason, Gentleman Adventurer.

I am taking the book to the Europan Consulate in Steeltopia for further analysis.

-Ash Mason

Infiltration

I must report the strangest occurence. I was contacted by Oxbridge University. I received a call for assistance by the staff. A group of newcomers were chasing and shouting at nekos and furries in the area. They, like myself, assumed this was another "griefer" incident. Attempts to dissuade them were fruitless. They did not speak a language known by common translator gadgetry.

When I arrived, I was startled to hear the "griefers" speaking Ereb'ai. They were of the pale "goth" and "demon red" complexions, with the typical assortment of horns, wings and tails by clan ancestry. Five of them had a neko pinned to the ground and were brazenly conducting an interrogation. The lead spoke halting English.

"Are you of the Vortex? Are you Koen?"

I landed and ordered them in their own dialect to release the neko. They were obiously surprised I spoke their mother tongue.

"This is business of the Obsidian Realm, construct!", shouted the largest of them. "Begone!"

A opened my cranial chamber to blind them with the aura from my Sephiroth.

"Do you not recognize the slayer of the Hydra?"

The leader stumbled forward even as he kept his eyes covered. The neko crawled to safety as the other demons howled in pain.

"Gematria! It is the will of the Vortex that you aid us! The Koen aspect must be reunited..."

I shut my cranial unit. "That is for Koen to decide. He told me he is content to live the rest of this life..."

"TRAITOR!" he shouted, and threw a right hook at me. He was carrying a talisman. The burst of energy sent me sprawling to the trimmed lawn of the campus.

By the time my spheres realigned, I was surrounded by concerned staff and newcomers alike. I rose to my feet.

The neko approached me and shook my hands, giving her thanks. Apparently the agents cannot tell a male neko from a female one. She introduced herself to me as Aviva.

The staff told me before I arrived that dozens of these hoodlums scattered in all directions after rezzing in the Welcome Chamber. I've asked the Caledonian authorities to be on alert.