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Message: <blockquote data-quote="talien" data-source="post: 4815590" data-attributes="member: 3285">Dead Letter: Part 5 – My Friend FionaFiona was reaching for her car keys when she heard footsteps behind her. She whirled, pepper spray at the ready.“Wait!” Jim-Bean ducked out of the shadows.  “Wait, I know we got off to a bad start before.  But I believe that you’ll want to hear what I have to say,” he cleared his throat, “without, you know, all the drama of my compatriot.”Fiona’s aggressive stance didn’t change.  “You’ve got ten seconds before I call security.”“Do you know a Jason Jawolalski?”“No. Who is he?”“He’s dead. We found three words on a note in his car: FIONA and THE ECOTOPIAN. Whoever he was, he was looking for you.”“Why should I care?”“He was working for Amalgamated Bio-Carb.  And he had a very important package that I believe you’d be interested in.”Recognition flickered across Fiona’s features.  “ABC?  I wrote an article about them, they’ve performed all kinds of animal tests.”Jim-Bean looked over his shoulder.  “The security cameras are going to swing back this way in another few seconds.  Can I buy you lunch?”“Meet me at the Starbucks across the street,” said Fiona.  “I’ll see you there in ten minutes.”“How do I know you won’t call the police?” asked Jim-Bean.“You don’t,” said Fiona.  “But then, you came to me, so I guess you’ll have to trust me.”Jim-Bean nodded and faded back into the shadows. Sure enough, Fiona came into the Starbucks ten minutes later.  Jim-Bean was already seated at a small table.Fiona put her satchel down next to her.  She placed her pepper spray on the table, a very clear warning.“First, who are you really?”“I’m with…a group that has common interests to your own. My request to meet with you about my article was just a cover.  I’m trying to uncover whatever ABC was up to.”“What do you know about ABC?” she asked.“Not much,” said Jim-Bean.  “We know that ABC is an aggressive bio-technology research and production firm that seeks to patent new drugs and chemicals which have applications to human and animal medical needs.  They also subcontract their chemical and pharmaceutical production facilities, producing orders for customers around the world.”Fiona shook her head.  “That’s just scratching the surface. The long-term corporate goal is to turn their own production facilities to the production of patented drugs that ABC produces.” She pulled out her Macbook Pro and booted it up, tapping a few keys.  “ABC currently has twenty-tree drug patents pending.  They are particularly interested in drugs that affect the central nervous system: anti-psychotics, anti-seizure medication, etc.  Their first commercial product, currently undergoing FDA review, is a drug used to revive long-term coma patients.  They’ve also been seeking artificial neurotransmitters which could be used to ‘bridge the gap’ in severed nerve ganglia. But they’ve been burning through money like mad with their research division.”“I think that research has resulted in something,” Jim-Bean searched for the right word, “unnatural.”“Unnatural how?” asked Fiona.“Jason Jawolalski was dating a woman, Lucinda Ennis.  She received a chemical from Jawolalski that she used reanimate her father’s corpse—““Stop right there.  Did you say ‘reanimate’?”Jim-Bean nodded.  “Her father, Henry Ennis, killed several people in the town of Runville, Massachusetts, before he was finally destroyed.” The reality was that a Majestic-12 retrieval team had ferried the animated corpse off to a containment facility.  There was no stopping Henry Ennis. “This chemical, called Sapphire, reanimates dead tissue.  It took us awhile before we were able to track Jawolalski down.  By the time we caught up with him, he was dead.”  That was a lie too – Jawolalski was killed by the protomatter enlarged Phyllis Kraygen, but the details were unimportant. “Before his car was impounded, we found a box.  A box that moved.”Fiona leaned forward, intrigued.  “What was in the box?”Jim-Bean kept his expression grim.  She was falling for it.  “An animated dog’s head.”Fiona gasped.  The death of Jawolalski meant nothing her.  But to kill a dog…“We believe Jawolalski defected from ABC and was intent on rendezvousing with you.  His plan was to show you the dog head and convince you to help him bring down ABC, by force if necessary. The men who were pursuing me were tipped off by ABC.  They framed me under some ridiculous terrorist plot.”Fiona nodded.  “That explains a lot. There is a persistent rumor that ABC researchers conducted human experimentation in China as part of their program to repair neural damage, and their name was mentioned by congressional representatives in conjunction with the ongoing debate over high-technology leaks in China.”“I’m impressed,” said Jim-Bean.  “You’ve done your research.”“I’ve done more than that,” said Fiona. “I’ve discovered ABC’s Blackfoot production facility.  If they’re processing anything illegal, my guess is it’s there.”The name sounded familiar.  Jim-Bean recognized it as the same reservation Blade grew up on. “Where?”“It’s twenty miles north of Browning, Montana. The Blackfoot tribe is exempt from EPA regulations due to a legal loophole.  ABC took advantage of that and built a chemical production facility there.  Nobody’s supposed to know about it.”“That’s exactly what we needed.  Do you have information as to the location—““I do,” said Fiona. “But if anyone’s going to take down ABC, it’ll be me.”  She scribbled an address on a napkin.  “Meet me here at midnight.  I’ll assemble a team.  We’ll drive out to Montana – can’t appear on any passenger lists.” She stood up.  Jim-Bean, taken aback, stood up as well.  “I’ll find Guppy.  I doubt they can make any charges stick.”Fiona frowned.  “Fine, but make sure he keeps his ranting in check.  I’ve dealt with too many nutjobs in my day to have one endanger a mission as important as this.”She whirled out of the room, leaving Jim-Bean a little lightheaded.He tapped the hidden earpiece.  “So, uh…guys?”“What did you get out of her?” replied Hammer.“I think it’s the other way around.  Fiona just recruited me.”</blockquote>

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