Awakening Hell's Gate

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22

22

Infobox
Canon: Baseline
Series: Fail-Safe
Canon: Baseline Series: Fail-Safe

Mornings weren't exactly in favor of Erin Philips due to his typical day of registering and classifying known paranatural anomalies from intermittency files and the Authority. He appeared at the floor office as soon as his foot took a step off the elevator. Something caught his eye as soon as the elevator shut behind him, the usual pile of journal subscriptions that had arrived at a coffee table adjacent to the rear window.

He hesitated for a moment until he began to shift towards the pile, snatching two articles that appeared to be dated recently; June 13, 2014. Something was unusual about these two pieces of writing. Aside from the date, it had extensive captions that mentioned a nuclear incident in Nevada and the name of the organization he worked for, the UNAAC.

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"Oh, shit."

Philip muttered to himself as he firmly clutched onto the two pieces, gradually turning and speeding to his superior's office, Chief Mooney, that was contiguous to his.

As he sped through the office, many of his peers watched him blaze through the cubicles while holding out the articles he carried. He barged inside his bosses' office without warning, tossing the two pieces onto his desk in front of him as he panted, catching his breath.

"What the hell is this, Philip?"

Chief Mooney pondered, examining the magazine covers that Philip brought. Philip maintained his silence, continuing to pant but in a gradual, quiet tone. Chief Mooney then peered through the pages one by one, his expression changed from an earnest to anxious cast.

"Is this for real?" Chief Mooney asked, peering at Philip's eyes.

"Well, I just received it from the pile by the elevator. So it's most likely."

Under the chief's breath, he recoils and focuses his attention back at both the articles. As he further examined them, Philip noticed the television programming a news network with the heading 'Nuclear Explosion.' He glances around the office, immediately taking the TV remote from the desk and increasing the volume.

"… Spokespersons from the state and defense departments refused to comment on this damming reports of a nuclear accident that occurred just two days prior. These documents contained back-channel logs of what appears to be a dialogue forum between a UN agency only referred to as the UNAAC …"

As both Philip and Chief Mooney watch, disturbed by the situation they're in, Chief Mooney's phone sprung to life and capturing the attention of both.

"I think I'll leave you to it, sir."


The international conference was assembled, several representatives were allocated into their own seats. Above the conference area was an observation room, consisting of observers cleared to watch the live assembly.

Dr. Andrea surreptitiously enters through the opening without disturbing the process. She leads herself to the back room, where a familiar face was anticipating her arrival. As she drew near, both of them made eye contact as she positioned herself beside them.

The person was an aged man in their service uniform, their eyes absent from Dr. Andrea and down at the assembly.

"Anything I missed so far, Sergey?"

"You've not missed much. We're just beginning, doctor." Said Lazarev in a thick eastern accent.

Colonel Sergey Lazarev was a bold yet committed officer for the Russian intelligence community. He was once posted as an inspectorate officer at a Site facility during the Soviet era, observing and maintaining containment standards for anomalies. Of course, his history with the Soviet Union has been dubious at best, but his expertise has been detrimental for a person like Dr. Andrea.

Colonel Lazarev lifts his receiver from his right pocket, examining his recent messages he'd be sent. Dr. Andrea takes a quick glimpse at the receiver before Lazarev places it away, bending closer towards the Colonel.

"So, I heard that the Russians are planning something. Got any interesting insights?"

Colonel Lazarev glances over at Dr. Andrea, exhaling the stress out under his throat.

"I'm going to assume you are aware of the recent leaks?"

"Yeah. I am very aware of it."

"Well, given the current circumstances, my government is planning to take," Colonel Lazarev pauses. "Extreme measures."

"What kind of measures are we talking about, Sergey?"

"Measures that may have implications, doctor. The President and his cabinet ministers call for 'total transparency' to evade public scrutiny if they continue to lie to the Russian people. Especially in times of an election."

"So, politics?"

"Da."

Dr. Andrea sighs to herself, untying her hair.

"What even is the point of hiding the truth from humanity. People have a right to know- people have died because of us."

Colonel Lazarev's eyes squinted towards Dr. Andrea, taking a note of her inconspicuous, unsavory comment.

"Are you implying that you are somehow behind the recent leaks, doctor?"

Dr. Andrea sternly looks at the Colonel, her eyes widening, and she shook her head. "That's preposterous Sergey, why the fuck would I do that?"

"I was messing with you. You Americans are too easy to be scared. "

Colonel Lazarev turns away from her, making a low audible chuckle that Dr. Andrea could pick up.


The conference room was in session. The subject of the matter was taken point by the Russians and Chinese representatives, with most of their intense scrutiny spearheaded against the Authority. All eyes and ears were towards the Authority due to Nevada's recent incident, specifically the destruction of Site-014, leading to its nuclear discharge.

The Chinese delegate was represented by Ambassador Xiao, a crafty diplomat, who was seated adjacent to the Russians. He briefly glimpsed at the American and Authority representatives as he faced the Speaker.

"As the Chinese diplomat, I tend to only express for my government, but I think I can speak for every member that this extremist group, these terrorists, have shown their true intention. And this is to carry the destruction of our world."

Ambassador Xiao hesitated, grasping his glass and sipping.

"Now, even if it was not their intention to do so, we must not allow them to continue to exist when they are capable of detonating weapons of mass destruction, which they have presented from to time. With this, I move a motion to allow the United Nations strike by releasing their existence to the world."

Ambassador Schimpff hinders Ambassador Xiao as he concludes his declaration.

"Apologies, Madam Speaker, and to Ambassador Xiao, but this motion is absurd and unprecedented. Letting the world know that this terrorist group exists will only strengthen their numbers and bring instability to our world. And quite frankly, what you are suggesting is to break our duties by maintaining normalcy of our world!"

Ambassador Xiao ridicules Schimpff as he shifts firmly to the receiver.

"Let me ask you this; if this happened to Germany, would you still think of that way?-"

"Mr. Ambassador, I'd be careful where you set such an example in this room, carefully."

"Enough." Shouted the Speaker as they struck their gavel towards Ambassador Xiao and Schimpff. "Let us not start a war within this room, please." A paper abruptly was carried to the Speaker. The Speaker picks it up and reads the contents of the sheet. "Now, those in favor of the People's Republic of China's motion?"

Each representative within the room paid attention to the monitor in front of them, casting their votes to China's contentious proposal. Swiftly, the motion lay dead as an overwhelming majority opposed to the action.

"Madam Speaker, if I may?"

The Speaker nods at GD-4, the Authority representative, as they wave their gavel for permission.

"Thank you, now I would like to add a few details to the commission's findings concerning the subject of the matter, of course." GD-4 pauses as they flicked through the copy of the report that they hold. "Within our own investigations, we've come to the conclusion that Mr. Anders was behind such atrocity and associated himself with the terrorist group, Church of Malthus."

The President of Russia, Petrov, tapped to their receiver, directing it towards the GD-4.

"Comrade GD-4, may I ask how a facility like Site-014 initiate self-destruct protocols?"

"Apologies, Mr. President, but I am not obligated to withdraw that information for safety reasons."

President Petrov shook their head. "Of course, of course. Still, I'm confused about how such a protocol would've activated when protocol also needs outside approval? If I am correct, a system like that would've not only deterred an incident but would also prevent the activation in the first place."

The assembly abruptly sprung into outrage. Many representatives clamoring within the chamber as the Speaker hammers the atmosphere into a vacuum.

"Order, please!" The Speaker exhales briefly. "GD-4, I believe it is within the best interest of this assembly to be transparent. Your response?"

GD-4 shifts to their staff and advisors, murmuring as they switched off their receiver for a second.

"I would like to convey the President's inquiry to my own people, but I will respond at the very end of this assembly as I get in contact with them. For now, I would live to move forward with the commission's own findings on the incident. "

"All in favor?"

The Speaker says to the assembly as they cast their vote to GD-4's request. The representatives reluctantly agreed for the time-being, excluding those from the Seventh Pact plus the Chinese and Russians.

The Speaker strikes their gavel once more, turning their attention to the commission's chief investigator.


The assembly was placed on an interim session, and GD-4 made their way to their allocated private compartment. An advisor held a black phone for GD-4 as he enters the room. Loosening their tie as they snatched it from the advisor with tension drifting over them.

"Nine, thank you for calling me on first notice."

"No problem, what's the issue, four?"

"It's the Russians. They told the World Security Council about the external authentication system. They knew about it."

"Shit, how much do they know?"

"I'm not sure, but they hinted to everyone in the chamber that we were incompetent enough to allow it to happen. "

"Have they mentioned anything about AEGIS?"

"No, but I have suspicions that they are going to spill shit on AEGIS."

"Great. What should I tell number fifteen and the rest?"

"Nothing. The WSC has it under control. They have contingencies."

"I'll make a note of a contingency of our own if they fail to hold it up. Speaking of contingencies, what are they going to do about the leaks?"

"They found a solution to deal with that fire, nine."

"What kind of solution?"


"The whistleblower, who leaked confidential U.N. reports of an alleged international agency, the UNAAC, was arrested by FBI agents after evidence surfaced of their involvement with Russian intelligence. The documents were confirmed as false by the Department of Justice …"

"Ouch. That's gotta hurt." Dr. Page says as she followed the news, eating a strip of chocolate adjacent to the radiator.

"Huh, and here I thought they were planning to cave in the crisis."

Dr. Page glances over to Researcher Kelsey, taking a nibble on her savory snack. "Nah. The Russians were going to plunge but chose to allow the whistleblower to be an 'asset' of theirs."

Researcher Kelsey exhales as they reached for the remote, amplifying the sound of the television.

" … In other news, the Director of the FBI released a new addition to the FBI's Most Wanted List; a man, in this photograph, is wanted for terrorism after they were observed selling nuclear materials to various militia groups within the United States."

"Say, who was the whistleblower anyway?" Researcher Kelsey shifted to Dr. Page as she withdrew from the radiator.

"They were apparently a researcher for the Authority." Dr. Page pauses, retracting their statement. "Who am I kidding? It was Dr. Andrea who leaked those documents, for whatever reason that is."

"Welp, the Authority and the world once more averted an international crisis!" Researcher Kelsey stated in a sarcastic tone, resuming to the news.

"U.S. defense inquiries into the nuclear incident on June 13, revealed that the nuclear explosion was the result of an accidental nuclear detonation when U.S. Air Force officials …"


"I would like to apologize for my avoidance of the President inquiry earlier on, but I do have your answers concerning the self-destruct systems."

President Petrov waves their hand at GD-4. "Please, indulge me."

"To the President's question: Yes, we do have an external authentication system that requires the authorization for self-destruct protocols as a measure to prevent any accidental or unauthorized activation."

The chamber is charged with whispering instead of clamoring but is then hushed by the Speaker's gavel.

"So you are admitting that there was someone who authorized Site-014's self-destruct procedure?"

GD-4 hesitated briefly, shifting towards President Petrov for a moment before continuing. "No."

"Can you elaborate on your response, GD-4?" Ambassador Xiao adds.

"What I mean is that the system was, and I say this with regret, compromised. Mr. Anders had found a way to bypass the external authentication process. How he could've done this is still being reviewed by our specialists."

President Petrov's advisor advances him from behind, rustling to him as he holds a glass of water.

"GD-4, I would like to ask one more question before we move on."

"Please."

"Has the Authority implement any form of artificial intelligence into its systems to which it would be in a capacity to authorize a self-destruct protocol, externally?"

GD-4 discharged his throat, leaning closer to the receiver.

"No, Mr. President. Frankly, that'd be of utmost dangerous and reckless. Would that be all?"

President Petrov recoils. "Nyet."

"Motion to adjourn?"

The Speaker says as they move forward a motion for adjournment. Votes were cast and counted once more, and a unanimous consensus moves to adjourn. The Speaker hammers their gavel for once more.

"This matter is concluded; assembly is adjourned."

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