Hmmm...that's not such a bad idea. How's this for a starting point: Konoko may have killed her brother Muro and destroyed the Atmospheric Processors (is that their real name? can't remember right now...), but she surely didn't destroy the whole Syndicate. For one thing, there were plenty of doctors around in various areas that she didn't kill (unless she happened to be in a bad mood :-) One of these doctors, call him Andreas Siddiq, was studying the Daodan Chrysalis, and it was he who continued to implant the Chrysalises in Syndicate agents after Dr. Hasegawa was dead. Andreas is still alive, and has a Chrysalis in him, so he'll have no trouble surviving in the poisoned air. From the remains of the old Syndicate, he forms a new band of lawless scientists, protected by various unsavory thug-types whom they keep under control through their Chrysalises and drugs they use to make them stronger and faster.
Meanwhile, the TCTF has collapsed, and the government is on the verge of doing the same, as hundreds of angry mobs storm their regional capitals, outraged over the treatment of them and the planet. Konoko--now using her birth name of Mai--and Griffin have brought together some of the best of the old police forces--the ones who were there because they truly wanted justice, not because of the advancement opportunities they saw in the TCTF--and are trying to keep order among the people at least long enough to reorganize the government with honest people on top. They have no knowledge of the new danger rising out of the ruins, and even if they did, their hands are full right now.
Eventually, though, they do begin to hear rumors of what is going on, and they know that if this threat is real, it must be stopped before it grows beyond what they can handle. Griffin sends Mai out of the relatively pure area around the few remaining Atmospheric Processors, into the heart of the contaminated zone, back to the Syndicate's mountain headquarters...
Unlike the last time she was here, there were no guards waiting in the towers, ready to shoot her--or anyone else--dead on sight. The hangars, then surrounded by planes, were in ruins after the destruction of their occupants and five years of neglect. It was easy to get to the front door of the compound. No one barred her way at all.
Inside, her first objective was easy to find: the terminals that would access the central computers of the Syndicate outpost. They appear intact...but while there is a thin film of dust over almost everything, the terminals are clean. Someone has used them relatively recently. She turns the nearest one on.
Within a few minutes, she has hacked her way in. "Griffin's lessons are coming in handy already," Mai murmured. Unfortunately, while getting into the system was about as easy as getting into the compound, it seems that it will do her little good: the entire drive, over a hundred terabytes, has been completely wiped. Dead end.
Well, it's a beginning, anyway. Any thoughts?
Dan Aris
