FCRT-14-1/STRH-XIV-B: "Lepidopterists"

Containment

Leviathan
Staff member

FCRT-14-1/STRH-XIV-B: LEPIDOPTERISTS


Base Location: L-14

Information:
The original proposal for an FCRT that utilized specimens of ACF-707 came in 2005 from Agent Ainslie Rowan, who at the time was A-Class-D and a member of former FCRT-14-1 “Spotters”. Primary researcher SV-2 “BUTTERFLY” refused the proposal in its initial form, but agreed to combat testing in a secure environment and under close supervision. The team was finally approved by Primary Researcher SV-2 “BUTTERFLY” following positive synergetic interaction between ACF-707-Euphydryas editha bayensis and Agent B. Richards, who was transferred to L-14 in 2011 following two (2) consecutive years of consistent interaction with the specimen. The team, called “Lepidopterists”, would not be given the position of FCRT-14-1 until 2014; Agent B. Richards was appointed the position of Team Lead FCRT-14-1-01 in 2017 following the death of A. Rowan in Incident I-ACF-7661-C, and FCRT-14-1 “Lepidopterists” was approved by ACF-707’s Primary Researcher and the Security Council for their first mission as an STRH Team in Incident I-U-176-1 in May 2018. See summary by Dr. Bindi Takahashi.

Personnel:

{+ FCRT-14-1/STRH-XIV-B-01: Bailey Richards, A-Class-E, "Checkers"}
[div style="margin-left:20px;margin-right:20px;"]
Male, DOB 9.7.1988 [34 y/o]. Brown hair, light green eyes. Caucasian.

Specimen: Euphydryas editha bayensis, Bay Checkerspot [“Little Bay”]

Specialty: Team Lead; tactician; close quarters combat

Receptivity Record:
In September 2009, a case of severe post-traumatic stress disorder due to improperly administered amnestics was reported regarding the recently promoted manager of location L-203, Bailey Richards [then an A-Class-C collections agent]. Amnestics were readministered under observation by senior research personnel, but the amnestic therapy resulted a second time in failure. Upon examination, Agent Richards admitted that in his experience “amnestic procedures didn’t work as well as I thought,” and that during previous amnestic administrations he had repressed but not fully forgotten certain memories. The symptoms of this memory repression had led to a misdiagnosis of anxiety disorder in Agent Richards’ standard psychiatric evaluations and subsequent incorrect treatments, which ultimately led to the anxiety break in 2009.

While termination from Foundation employment was briefly considered, Agent Richards’ abnormally high tolerance against medical and therapeutic amnestics was pointed out as a security hazard. Agent Richards also stated that he wished to continue his work with the Foundation for as long as possible. Several methods of treatment were proposed, among which was access to a specimen of ACF-707. When exposed to the greater body of ACF-707 at L-14, Agent Richards expressed comfortable preference for the bay checkerspot butterfly specimen, and as the specimen seemed to share that preference, it was assigned to accompany him back to L-203. The measures reduced Agent Richards’ stress levels and increased his productivity. When the Foundation considered separation of “Little Bay” and Agent Richards, the ACF-707 specimen refused to rejoin the larger kaleidoscope without B. Richards present. This information was submitted to primary researcher SV-2 “BUTTERFLY”, who approved of the continuation of the relationship until “Little Bay”’s services were no longer required for B. Richards’ continued mental health as long as regular reports were submitted following field operations.

The checkerspot and Agent B. Richards might not have been considered a uniquely synergetic relationship had it not been for Incident I-FCRT-14-1-707-62 in 2013. In this event, while on civilian leave, Agent B. Richards was confronted by an agent of GoI-823 “Fear Factory”. Agent B. Richards was engaged by the other agent, and was disarmed in the conflict. In his need for a weapon for self-defense, “Little Bay” produced a balisong knife - the first occurrence of any aspect of ACF-707 to ever produce a weapon in any context. The checkerspot has since produced the balisong knife on 3 occasions in combat, although it has been seen regularly during downtime at L-14.
{+ FCRT-14-1/STRH-XIV-B-02: Kim Gilroy, A-Class-D, "Peacock"}
[div style="margin-left:20px;margin-right:20px;"]
Female, DOB 2.10.1991 [32 y/o]. Dark blue or green hair (dyed, non-anomalous), dark brown eyes. Filipino heritage (matrilineal).

Specimen: Papilio chikae, Luzon peacock swallowtail

Specialty: Co-Lead; armorer; illustration and distraction

Receptivity Record:
In April 2010, the Foundation received a report of a memetic hazard at [REDACTED], Rhode Island; namely, an illustration that altered the perceptions of people who witnessed it. The illustration was found to be a project by sophomore student Kim Gilroy, who was unaware of the effects of the art piece on its viewers. She was amnesticized, and the item was removed, only for the incident to be repeated in May following the exposure of her class to her final project. When told of the effects of her work, she expressed concern that she may have to stop pursuing her passion for the safety of others. The Welcoming Committee offered her a position as a Class-A civilian contained within the Foundation so the patterns of her artwork could be studied under observation, and Ms. Gilroy agreed.

While in containment, Kim began to express interest in the agency branch of Foundation work, and was allowed to train under Agent Helena Smith. Together they discovered that certain patterns, when applied to Foundation armor [theorized by Dr. Motya to be related to the sculpt and material of the armor], could disrupt certain anomalous behaviors during breaches in containment, and experimentation ensued under Dr. [REDACTED] for field testing. She was given access to ACF-707-Papilio chikae in order to prevent undesirable effects on civilian targets. Kim began to model her armor after the specimen and peacocks in general.

Due to her connection with ACF-707 and security background, Agent B. Richards requested that she be transferred to FCRT-14-1 as his co-lead following his promotion in 2017. This was approved, and the pair have worked together with little difficulty since.
{+ FCRT-14-1/STRH-XIV-B-03: Nova Neves, R-Class-D, "Snow"}
[div style="margin-left:20px;margin-right:20px;"]
Female, 11.14.1980 [42 y/o]. White hair, brown eyes. Hispanic heritage (matrilineal).

Specimen: Clodius parnassian, Snow Apollo

Specialty: Primary ontological expert; premonitions

Receptivity Record:
Nova Neves was one of the earliest research assistants to Dr. [BUTTERFLY] following the emergence of ACF-707. A junior intern at the time, she engaged regularly with the Butterfly Effect well into 2001 before attempting what Dr. [REDACTED] would call “Artificial Receptivity”, or intentional and consistent engagement with one specimen of ACF-707. Dr. [BUTTERFLY] allowed her to engage with ACF-707-Clodius parnassian for this purpose, with a great deal of success. Consistent engagement had several side effects; Intern [following this experiment, Dr.] Neves began to experience uncannily accurate premonitions, which allowed her to pursue her interest in ontological physics and metaphysics without severe mental side effects from repeated exposure to the impossible. This exposure to the “Snow Apollo” specimen also led to her hair becoming prematurely white.
[/div]
{+ FCRT-14-1/STRH-XIV-B-04: Roz Motya, R-Class-D, "Moth"}
[div style="margin-left:20px;margin-right:20px;"]
Female, DOB 8.16.1972 [51 y/o]. Brown hair with gray roots, brown eyes, Polish heritage (patrilineal)

Specimen: Polites sabuleti tecumseh, Sandhill Skipper [“Skipper”]

Specialty: Field Identifications Researcher

Receptivity Record:
Roz Motya was inducted into the Foundation following anomalous activity during an illicit archaeological dig in Turkey in 2001. Motya had engaged with such illicit activities since she was rejected from [REDACTED] University’s archeology department in 1997; following exposure to the Foundation, Motya became an eager student of anomalous objects and older anomalous entities.

During an excavation in southern California in 2005 to recover an artifact from the Sierra desert, Dr. Motya received permission to bring ACF-707-Polites sabuleti tecumseh. At the dig site she encountered GoI-382 “Ancestral Guardians”, also in pursuit of the artifact; with “Skipper’s” assistance, the artifact was safely recovered and Dr. Motya left the scene with only minor injuries. Following the encounter, Dr. Motya was permitted to bring “Skipper” on future digs in conjunction with any local FCRTs, and due to her field expertise and relationship with ACF-707, she was included by name in the final 2011 proposal for FCRT-14-7 “Lepidopterists.” Like Agents Bronoch and Richards, she has been with the team since its foundation.
[/div]
{+ FCRT-14-1/STRH-XIV-B-05: Donovan Bronoch, A-Class-D, "Widow"}
[div style="margin-left:20px;margin-right:20px;"]
Male, DOB 4.2.1967 [56 y/o]. Gray hair, light blue eyes. Irish.

Specimen: Nymphalis antiopa, Mourning Cloak

Specialty: Designated marksman

Receptivity Record:
In 1997, after some deliberation both Donovan and Katherine Bronoch were both accepted into the Foundation as field agents. Hesitance on the part of the Foundation was due to concerns that their personal relationship as spouses would take precedence over their loyalty to the Foundation. However, both agents proved invaluable to several field collections teams, including the “Spotters” [former FCRT-14-1], until Katherine’s death in 2002. While Donovan continued to work with the Spotters, he began to display irregularities and suicidal tendencies until FCRT-14-1-01, Derek Nevio, determined that these behaviors were a danger to the rest of the team and requested Donovan’s removal from his team, which was approved by [REDACTED] in February 2003.

At the request of [SV-5 STRINGS], and with permission from [SV-2 BUTTERFLY], Agent Bronoch was given regular security duties and downtime activities involving ACF-707 as an experiment in the relationship between ACF-707 and negative emotions. At the end of 2003, it was determined that a “receptive” relationship had been established between Agent Bronoch and ACF-707-Nymphalis antiopa, and he was allowed to return to the Spotters under the condition that ACF-707-Nymphalis antiopa remain with him. After several successful psychological evaluations, Agent Bronoch was asked if he would like to end the receptivity experiment, but he volunteered to remain involved until and after the formation of “Lepidopterists”.
[/div]
{+ FCRT-14-1/STRH-XIV-B-06: Ferris Piers, R-Class-E, "Grayling"}
[div style="margin-left:20px;margin-right:20px;"]
Male, DOB 5.16.1976 [47 y/o]. Graying blond hair, gray eyes.

Specimen: Hipparchia semele, Rock Grayling

Specialty: Primary Medic

Receptivity Record:
Dr. Piers worked as an independent asset for the Foundation at [REDACTED] General Hospital in Milwaukee, WI, from 2007 to 2014. His unassuming demeanor and medical expertise combined allowed him to serve as an emergency medical aide to individual field agents in his local area. He may have continued this way had his unobtrusive personality not allowed a fellow doctor to pin a gross breach of conduct on him. He accepted the blame without argument, and after returning home, contacted the Welcoming Committee. He was transferred to L-14 within the week, amnestics effectively erasing him from the hospital’s memory.

He acted as a location medic for the remainder of 2014, at which point he petitioned to study the relationship between ACF-707 and the human body given its previously observed healing abilities. While the rock grayling specimen did not directly affect patients, it did offer an anomalous boost to the doctor’s personal surgical and diagnostic skills. He was almost refused a position on Lepidopterists when he requested it – although when he pointed out that there were many countermeasures to reality-altering healing, and that it would be best to have a receptive Class-E doctor on the team besides Motya, a doctor in archaeology, and Neves, a doctor in ontokinetic metaphysics, his request was passed.
[/div]
{+ FCRT-14-1/STRH-XIV-B-07: Vanya Swift, A-Class-C, "Aesop"}
[div style="margin-left:20px;margin-right:20px;"]
Female, DOB 12.9.1998 [24 y/o]. Blonde hair, blue eyes. Caucasian.

Specimen: Aglais urticae, Small Tortoiseshell

Specialty: Reconnaissance

Receptivity Record:
At the age when she was inducted as an intern into the Foundation, Vanya Swift was most notable for excelling in her extracurricular studies. This is noted on her personnel profile in several places – the ability to be timely, active, and focused on multiple projects at once, despite being an average student in areas like English, history, science, and mathematics. Once she was inducted into the Foundation in 2014, this allowed her to cross-train in several aspects of Foundational agency. She took a particular liking to field security and reconnaissance, which allowed her to put both her athletic and theatrical skills in particular to the test.

In 2016 it came to light that Intern Swift was utilizing Specimen ACF-707-Aglais urticae to leave L-14 for hours at a time as a form of information collection. Investigation by primary researcher [BUTTERFLY] revealed that Intern Swift and the small tortoiseshell specimen had been developing subtle bonds since her arrival at L-14 when Vanya volunteered to assist with the garden in CU-14-707. In a relatively unique situation, the small tortoiseshell butterfly seemed to have initiated the process of synergetic bonding and enjoyed the excursions.

After consulting Agent Rowan, location security allowed Vanya to continue regular interaction with ACF-707-Aglais urticae on the condition that they only leave L-14 under the supervision of FCRT-14-7. Under Agent B. Richards, and following Agent Swift’s promotion to Class-C, “supervision” has come to be a loose term for the tortoiseshell remaining in communication with the remainder of the team as Vanya is allowed to perform independent information gathering, and the filing of appropriate reports at the conclusion of all reconnaissance missions.
[/div]
{+ FCRT-14-1/STRH-XIV-B-08: Inigo Calida, A-Class-C, "Brimstone"}
[div style="margin-left:20px;margin-right:20px;"]
Male, DOB 10.17.1986 [36 y/o]. Black hair, brown eyes. Spanish. Notable burn scar on the right side of his face; appears to be blind in his right eye.

Specimen: Gonepteryx rhamni, Common Brimstone

Specialty: Demolitions; cleanup

Receptivity Record:
Brimstone likes to describe their function as “a self contained disaster.”

A former special effects technician, his scars are from an early incident of gross negligence on the part of a director that left him mostly blind on the right side. Inigo was inducted into the Foundation in 2013 following the anomalous disappearance of [REDACTED], a stuntman he was working with during the filming of [REDACTED]. At first, Inigo thought that the Foundation was an elaborate prank by some of his colleagues in the film industry until a breach of containment at L-14 the following week. During this breach, Inigo rigged several setpiece explosives, the destructive properties of which were contained by the oversight of ACF-707-Gonepteryx rhamni. While the breached anomaly was distracted, the individual ACF-707 specimen was able to make it so that the distracted entities had never escaped containment at all. He had an interview with the Welcoming Committee afterwards to discuss whether he wanted amnestics and a return to the industry, or the opportunity to put his talents to good use within Foundation oversight.

He chose the second, and was transferred to Lepidopterists shortly after.

While accompanied by the common brimstone specimen, Inigo may receive peripheral warnings of danger from his blind side. Evidence and his own testimony indicates that he cannot actually see out that side, just that he has “a bad feeling”. He also says that he knows whenever he passes by a flower on that side, which may be an important occurrence depending on your point of view.
[/div]
End of file.
[/div][/div]
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Back
Top