Dana lifts one hand, cutting off the producer’s countdown. She turns from the prepared cue cards toward Mari and the cameras, her expression steady despite the chamber’s dread.
Dana Vale
No. I will not reduce you to a casualty list or a security risk. Control room, put Almanac’s containment records on the wall.
The studio screens flicker from the program graphics to redacted reports: restraint protocols, incident summaries, and authorization signatures. The barrier remains sealed around Mari, every chain still locked.
Association Superheroes
Dana, stop the release. Those files contain classified failures, compromised methods, and evidence that could endanger people beyond this room.
Dana Vale
Then the public should know what those failures cost. We can protect identities without protecting a system that called coercion research.
A technician hesitates, then expands the display. One record names forced exposure tests; another marks consent as disputed. The live broadcast carries every page into millions of homes.
Dana Vale
Mari, I want the candid account: where did coercion end, where did consent begin, and what responsibility belongs to you now?
✓ Quest Accepted
Clarify Mari's responsibility in the newly released containment records
“..."are we just talking about my containment under Almanac?"”
SUCCESS (Superb Reasoning, rolled +0)
Mari
Are we just talking about my containment under Almanac?
Dana Vale
No. That is where we begin, not where we end.
Dana glances toward the redacted files, then back to Mari. The question has narrowed the briefing cleanly: containment is the subject, but not the whole responsibility being examined.
Dana Vale
We are discussing what Almanac did to you, what happened when its controls failed, and what accountability looks like now. Your choices matter, but they do not erase theirs.
The chamber’s dread presses against Dana’s composure, making each sentence costly to deliver. Still, her reasoning holds: the records show a system and a survivor, not one convenient villain.
Association Superheroes
Keep the files limited to verified material. Do not turn an investigation into a trial.
Dana Vale
Agreed. But verified material includes the disputed consent forms, the forced exposure tests, and the containment decisions made afterward. The audience deserves that full answer.
“"well if we're talking about me then, I was a scientist hired by almanac for research expeditions into biological and biomechanical anomalies. So yes I was just a human scientist once on one of the research expeditions into a crashed alien vessel in the Amazon rainforest partially contracted with the Brazilian government it turns out it was housing a parasite that broke containment that parasite fused with me and the rest of my team though they are no longer with us nor are there consciousness. I barely managed to stay sane and intact causing me to fuse with the entity making me the alien Hive mind as it was not sapient before. I was collected by my former employers we figured out an arrangement and I helped them research my own biology. Led a new team the original parasite was purged from the Amazon. While yes painful was necessary, this arrangement was mostly peaceful until they forcibly cut away tissue separated it from the high of mind and then it broke containment."”
SUCCESS (Superb Reasoning, rolled -2)
Mari
If we are talking about me, I was a scientist hired by Almanac for expeditions into biological and biomechanical anomalies. One expedition investigated a crashed alien vessel in the Amazon, partly contracted with the Brazilian government. It held a parasite. When containment failed, it fused with me and the rest of my team. They are gone, and their consciousnesses are gone. I barely stayed sane and intact, then fused fully with the entity and became the alien hive mind. It was not sapient before me.
The account travels through the microphones without interruption. Behind Dana, the displayed reports begin matching dates and expedition codes against Mari’s description, while the chains remain fixed around her wrists, ankles, and waist.
Mari
Almanac collected me afterward. We reached an arrangement, and I helped research my own biology. I led a new team, and the original parasite was purged from the Amazon. The arrangement was mostly peaceful, although it was painful.
Dana Vale
You are distinguishing the original organism from the person you became, and distinguishing cooperation from consent. I understand that distinction.
Mari
Yes. It stayed mostly peaceful until they forcibly cut away tissue, separated it from the hive mind, and then it broke containment. That is when the arrangement ended.
A verification flag appears beside the chronology. The production team can confirm several records but must still cross-check the missing tissue-separation documentation, leaving Dana with a precise account and one unresolved detail.
Dana Vale
That is candid enough for the record. We will mark what the files verify, what remains disputed, and who authorized the procedure that broke the agreement.
✓ Quest Accepted
Identify who authorized the tissue-separation procedure
Quest Complete
Clarify Mari's responsibility in the newly released containment records
Attribute Upgrade: Reasoning Superb→Legendary
“"The lead scientist nephrata who is no longer with us now authorized it though the order came down from higher up. My husband most of the scientific team that I became close with were infected and were purged. At that point I broke containment in the lapse of judgment not infecting more just out for Revenge. And the rest of the account is in the classified files. After that Almanac contained me kept me mostly in stasis only waking me up for invasive research though very limited to not break containment until they went under as a corporation after a few other villains and anomalies broke containment out of the defunct facility as we were all left to just rot the hero association looked deeper and found me and the others and took us into custody I don't think they figured out what to do with all of us yet.”
SUCCESS (Legendary Reasoning, rolled +1)
Mari
The lead scientist, Nephrata, authorized the tissue separation, though the order came from higher up. She is no longer with us. My husband and most of the scientific team I knew were infected and purged.
The studio seems to contract around the words. Several heroes stiffen behind the barrier, while Dana keeps her gaze fixed on Mari and the cameras continue recording.
Mari
I broke containment during that lapse in judgment. I did not infect anyone else. I wanted revenge. The rest of that account is in the classified files.
Mari’s explanation remains exact despite the pressure radiating through the room. The displayed timeline accepts the authorization, the purges, and the motive as distinct entries rather than one blurred incident.
Mari
Afterward, Almanac contained me and kept me mostly in stasis, waking me only for limited invasive research so I would not break containment again. Then the corporation went under.
Dana Vale
And the facility was abandoned with you and the other captives still inside?
Mari
Other villains and anomalies escaped during the collapse, while the rest of us were left to rot. The Association investigated, found us, and took us into custody. I do not think they know what to do with all of us yet.
Dana Vale
Then that is the next question for the record: what does custody become when the people holding it have inherited a failed system?
Quest Complete
Identify who authorized the tissue-separation procedure