"She's asleep, but her interface is still running, ma'am. Chaos is running fine, every sector has successfully opened, and Ouroboros is still allowing us to get in and out of the Network."

"And the servers?"

"Our technicians are still trying to set them up. We can't have her files and everyone else's work jumbled in all of the same place, or else she could potentially die from the overload. Once the server is up, any personnel can start using the emailing interface, as well as anything else the technicians add to put in the Network."

"When should they have that done?"

"By this evening, ma'am. Since we have to have the meeting tomorrow, Tech is staying up until they've got the servers running."

"You told me that there was corruption on the Phase V files. Has Tech been able to assess that?"

"Yes, but they haven't given a diagnosis. She's been in and out of sleep for the last few days, but anytime she is awake, she doesn't want to talk. I haven't been able to debrief her about Chaos. I'm not sure of the affect corruption has on her, but I know she's been running a bit of a fever."

"Keep a close eye on her, Caduceus. She should come to the meeting with us tomorrow."

[Opening L̵̲̭̭̤͎̬̲̦͌͛̔͆̍̆ͦ̈ỏ̴̘̩͈͎̣̩͂ͧ͜ͅyͩͭ̌҉̡͖̫͈̻̪͞a̶̰͕̲̠̻̟̹͉ͯͮ̉̍̆͋̚͜ͅl̮̖̪͔̻͆̀ͭ̐ͨ ̶̪͙͓̗̖̮̈̇ͭ̀́I̶̫̪̺̰͛̇̑̏̅͋ͯ͡n̴̻̦͔̎̎́ͩ̔̉͆͟d̨̗̥̔͊͑̊ͫ͠i̝͎̫̖̝̺ͪ̐ͩ̎̍̏ͮͮv̸̩̟̹̱̝͕̰̪̏͐́̒̋́̽ͫ͌i͇̮̿̋ͩ̄̉͗̂d̋ͫ̄ͭ͊̿͏̸̝̜͙̘̯̀uͦͨ̂ͯ̑͌ͣ͗͏̗̺̟̳̝̩a̼͙ͮ͋̃ͩḷ̷͕̱̑̐ͫͫ͑͒ͬ͢s̸̲͍̦͕͖̒͆ͥ̊͒̚͘͞…]

[Activating S͉̬͔̱̮̰̲ͦ̋ͣ̏̌̈́ͨ͜ẹ͔̣̑̾̇͂̿͊̈́̃̀͞c̢̨̹̲͍̑͑̀͂ͨ̈ͤ͗̓t̸̖͇͈͇̗̲̣̾ͮ̄̀͋͝o̶̰͓̞̞̠͖̰̲͐̉͗̒͗r͛ͤ̏̏̆͋͏̝̼̦̖͇̙̞s͈̥̒͛̃̋̋ͯ̚]

[C̳̝̓ͅc̉̄̿͐͒҉̼͉̪͔͙c̃ͮͦ̏ĉ͊͠o̡̙̰̻͉̼ͭnͪ̆ͪ̈́̊̈͏̻͕̝t̨ͨ̓̊̈́̿a̰̥͚̻̺̲͝c̝͑͘ṱ̼̩̞̪͛͂̃ͣ̅̎i̾͏̼̻̥̣͖n͋ͮ̀g̥ͣ̾ L̵̲̭̭̤͎̬̲̦͌͛̔͆̍̆ͦ̈ỏ̴̘̩͈͎̣̩͂ͧ͜ͅyͩͭ̌҉̡͖̫͈̻̪͞a̶̰͕̲̠̻̟̹͉ͯͮ̉̍̆͋̚͜ͅl̮̖̪͔̻͆̀ͭ̐ͨ ̶̪͙͓̗̖̮̈̇ͭ̀́I̶̫̪̺̰͛̇̑̏̅͋ͯ͡n̴̻̦͔̎̎́ͩ̔̉͆͟d̨̗̥̔͊͑̊ͫ͠i̝͎̫̖̝̺ͪ̐ͩ̎̍̏ͮͮv̸̩̟̹̱̝͕̰̪̏͐́̒̋́̽ͫ͌i͇̮̿̋ͩ̄̉͗̂d̋ͫ̄ͭ͊̿͏̸̝̜͙̘̯̀uͦͨ̂ͯ̑͌ͣ͗͏̗̺̟̳̝̩a̼͙ͮ͋̃ͩḷ̷͕̱̑̐ͫͫ͑͒ͬ͢s̸̲͍̦͕͖̒͆ͥ̊͒̚͘͞]

[Welcome to The Serpent's Void]

{S̰͌ͩ͜ḧ̬̖̯̟̩̪́ͧ̂̊ͥ̏ͅe̝͙ͥ ͎̙̫̭̯͋̂̑̑ẃ̛͓̗̹̲͉̼̆̉ͭ̿̑͂ͅà̤̪̘s̳ͭ͐̃̔͘ ̈́̎̏̀wͭr͍̺͖͔̠̠̀õ̦̤̻̱͚̻̱ng, s̩̙̥̝̘ͥ̑h̃̏͂e̖̬̾͐͌ͤ̆ͧ ͎̙̝͈͖̫͇̿͟w͈̲̘̤̠̤̺͌̇̿̏a̖̼̹̹͌s ͍̅̂̂͆̓̌̒wͯ̈ͥͣͦͭͣ͏r̩͋ỏ̫͇̉͌n̴̝̞͖͔̺̤̔͒͋̍ͅg̮͕̫̝̻̣͎͌͗, s̮̗͎̓̂ͭ͂̓ͣ͞h̫̲͔̫̼̅ͨ͝è͕͔̺̓͐͞ ͉̣̙͟ẁ͎̯̘̣̤͖͍̌a͂ͩ̾͝s̱̫̪͑̍ ͇̰ͫ͆w̥͚̪̿̂͑̈r͡ȯ͖̖͍̘͙̻̎͋̿́̐ͪnͪ̈͆ͩg͙̗̿--}

[S͕̗͙ͥ͆̓̾͑́̚͢͝ḙ̶̸͕̗͓̈́͗ͩ̎c̴̨̗̝̻̻̥̩͔̤̈ͬţ̻̩̘̠̺͈̘̦̉̑̏̊̆͟o̐̉̂͏̯̀r͍̜̫̰̘͙̓̓̈́ 1 opening…]

“Ouroboros, get up. Come on, get up, Ouroboros, it will be okay-“

“No it will not!”

[S͕̗͙ͥ͆̓̾͑́̚͢͝ḙ̶̸͕̗͓̈́͗ͩ̎c̴̨̗̝̻̻̥̩͔̤̈ͬţ̻̩̘̠̺͈̘̦̉̑̏̊̆͟o̐̉̂͏̯̀r͍̜̫̰̘͙̓̓̈́ 2 opening…]

[S͕̗͙ͥ͆̓̾͑́̚͢͝ḙ̶̸͕̗͓̈́͗ͩ̎c̴̨̗̝̻̻̥̩͔̤̈ͬţ̻̩̘̠̺͈̘̦̉̑̏̊̆͟o̐̉̂͏̯̀r͍̜̫̰̘͙̓̓̈́ 3 opening…]

“Ouroboros, calm down. Take a breath, you’ll be fine.”

“I TOLD you not to login, I TOLD you not to do it!”

“There was no corruption-”

[S͕̗͙ͥ͆̓̾͑́̚͢͝ḙ̶̸͕̗͓̈́͗ͩ̎c̴̨̗̝̻̻̥̩͔̤̈ͬţ̻̩̘̠̺͈̘̦̉̑̏̊̆͟o̐̉̂͏̯̀r͍̜̫̰̘͙̓̓̈́ 4 opening…]

“YES THERE IS!”

{S̰͌ͩ͜ḧ̬̖̯̟̩̪́ͧ̂̊ͥ̏ͅe̝͙ͥ ͎̙̫̭̯͋̂̑̑ẃ̛͓̗̹̲͉̼̆̉ͭ̿̑͂ͅà̤̪̘s̳ͭ͐̃̔͘ ̈́̎̏̀wͭr͍̺͖͔̠̠̀õ̦̤̻̱͚̻̱ng}

“Sit down. Come on, sit down. I’m going to call someone, okay? They’ll be able to help you feel better, I’m sorry, you’re just going to have to breathe.”

[S͕̗͙ͥ͆̓̾͑́̚͢͝ḙ̶̸͕̗͓̈́͗ͩ̎c̴̨̗̝̻̻̥̩͔̤̈ͬţ̻̩̘̠̺͈̘̦̉̑̏̊̆͟o̐̉̂͏̯̀r͍̜̫̰̘͙̓̓̈́ 5 opening…]

[S͕̗͙ͥ͆̓̾͑́̚͢͝ḙ̶̸͕̗͓̈́͗ͩ̎c̴̨̗̝̻̻̥̩͔̤̈ͬţ̻̩̘̠̺͈̘̦̉̑̏̊̆͟o̐̉̂͏̯̀r͍̜̫̰̘͙̓̓̈́ 6 opening…]

[S͕̗͙ͥ͆̓̾͑́̚͢͝ḙ̶̸͕̗͓̈́͗ͩ̎c̴̨̗̝̻̻̥̩͔̤̈ͬţ̻̩̘̠̺͈̘̦̉̑̏̊̆͟o̐̉̂͏̯̀r͍̜̫̰̘͙̓̓̈́ 7 opening…]

"You lied to me..."

"It needs your login to finish downloading."

"But you don’t want me to login."

"Right."

"Why?"

"…You’ve read my file, haven’t you?"

"Yes, I have."

"Then you know I can manipulate data."

"Datakinesis, I’ve heard of it."

"Well then you’d understand why I’m worried about these files. They’re corrupted, more corrupted than the Phase V files."

"Ouroboros, it’s a guise. They’re not corrupted."

“You don’t understand. They’re corrupted, I can feel it, they’re different from the Phase V files- Do you know what happens when corrupted files get into the Network?”

"Ouroboros, it’s fine-"

“No, it’s not! I’ve dealt with corruption before, I’ve had corruption there before, I do not want to go there again, we are not starting this-“

"You're getting yourself into hysterics, stop it-"

"No! You haven’t told me a damn thing, you’ve kept me in the dark about files that I can’t get into, even though they’re in my interface. I will shut down the Network before you can even start typing your login password.”

“Don't be irrational. If you do that, Echnida will get you and put you under her knife until she can pick out the remainders of the Network and put the pieces together. Stop it, Ouroboros. You're only putting yourself into a corner."

"Please... please, Caduceus, please don't."

[Text from {Caduceus}]: Are you finished with the laptop?

[Text]: Yeah. Why?

[Text from {Caduceus}]: Because I have to re-break into her apartment and put it back now. Either that, or we can find a place to dump it.

[Text]: Uuh. Which is safer?

[Text]: Did she wake up?

[Text from {Caduceus}]: Yeah, she did.

[Text from {Caduceus}]: We can always dump it. I don't want any of her neighbors to catch me shifted as Olivia, if they know she's still at the hospital.

[Text from {Caduceus}]: If she realizes someone broke into her house, it's only going to be her fingerprints there. It's no big deal.

[Text from {Caduceus}]: I'm going to stop going to the hospital. Eventually they're going to notice that the nurse stopped going to her own house. Once Olivia comes back home, you can take over surveillance over her again.

[Text from {Caduceus}]: We're still on hold, though.

[Text]: Right. It's at my apartment, you have the key. Get it when you can.

[Text]: Will you tell me about Phase V when you get back?

"You did what?"

"It's not like I walked up to her and said 'Hey, I'm in New York'. I only texted her. My number wasn't a US line."

"Are you trying to get us into trouble? Do you really want to know what'll happen if they find out you've been talking to ex-agents?"

"Aren't we going to be ex-agents?"

"...So it opened, then?"

"You knew about it?"

"Yes."

"Will you tell me what this is about?"

"Not until you're done with this laptop."

"...You broke into her apartment."

"I shapeshifted and went into her apartment."

"With a key?"

"With a paperclip. It doesn't matter, does it? You have her laptop, now get whatever files you can. I'm going to put that back as soon as you're done."

"Fine, I'll get started. But you- you're going to explain what this is about when I'm done. I still don't have access to all of the files on Phase V."

"If you can promise me you'll drop communications with that ex-agent."

"Then I just won't work on the laptop at all."

"We should send in someone better. Phaedrus Jasper, he’d be good at this. He could alter her perception completely.

"I know it’s a risk, but- but should we take further measures to make this work?

"It is a bit too much of a risk, isn't it… Well...

"I've thought about breaking into her apartment. Ouroboros could get into the computer, extract files that we wouldn't be able to obtain otherwise. It’d be easy."

"I’ll do that tonight. ‘Nurse McOwens’ has this Friday off. It’s perfect.

"Oh, Echnida? Yes, ah, I think the Intel has finally downloaded onto the Network. Yes, that one. Ouroboros told me about it the other day, she was concerned there was corruption.

"Once the files are downloaded completely, she’ll tell me. I’m sure she’ll be surprised. Her parents, they never said anything about it to her, did they?

"It’s a big step to take. I know everyone we have can pull it off, but…

"I’ve been waiting for eight years, I know you've been waiting longer, ma'am. We'll work diligently until we've had our success- we all will.

[Text From {Caduceus}]: What's wrong?

[Text]: I don't know. The Network's acting funny, there are things that are downloading that I can't access. Why don't I have clearance for this?

[Text From {Caduceus}]: I don't know. I haven't checked the Network yet. I can ask Echnida about it, if you want. Maybe she will know. What are the file names?

[Text]: They're folders, Phase V and Loyal Individuals.

[Text]: They're corrupted, I think. They have to be, they were spitting out things and it looked different from anything else downloaded on here.

[Text From {Caduceus}]: Is it affecting you?

[Text]: I don't know. Kind of, I guess.

[Text From {Caduceus}]: That's not helpful, I can't tell Echnida that. What's going on?

[Text]: It's nothing, I just can't access the files and it's pissing me off.

"Echnida?

"Good evening, ma'am.

"Ouroboros and I are laying low, like you asked. We haven't touched Phase 4 since you called. Are we off standby?

"...Oh. Yes, ma'am, I understand. Is there something you need done?

"Jacob Heugh?

"When do you want me to pay a visit?