Don Rhodes - Revision history

VLEVE-2 at 10:45, 18 March 2018

2018-03-18T10:45:34Z

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VLEVE-2 at 05:33, 15 March 2018

2018-03-15T05:33:01Z

VLEVE-2 at 02:11, 13 March 2018

2018-03-13T02:11:06Z

VLEVE-2 at 21:57, 11 March 2018

2018-03-11T21:57:26Z

VLEVE-2 at 21:33, 11 March 2018

2018-03-11T21:33:53Z

VLEVE-2 at 17:52, 6 March 2018

2018-03-06T17:52:56Z

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VLEVE-2: /* December 29th, 2017 - In regards to Don Rhodes & the Venice leak: */

2018-03-06T14:38:25Z

December 29th, 2017 - In regards to Don Rhodes & the Venice leak:

VLEVE-2: /* December 29th, 2017 - In regards to Don Rhodes & the Venice leak: */

2018-03-06T14:35:32Z

December 29th, 2017 - In regards to Don Rhodes & the Venice leak:

VLEVE-2 at 14:34, 6 March 2018

2018-03-06T14:34:11Z

VLEVE-2: /* December 29th, 2017 - In regards to Don Rhodes & the Venice leak: */

2018-03-06T01:00:44Z

December 29th, 2017 - In regards to Don Rhodes & the Venice leak:

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 = History =
 == Background ==
-Though not a matter of public knowledge for a number of riveting reasons, Don was once a young and underpaid stooge in the employ of a notary, translating and processing his office's immigration papers in total monotony. Where else but in Washington state?
+Though not a matter of public knowledge for a number of riveting reasons, Don was one-of-two underpaid workers in the employ of a notary in Seattle, translating and processing his office's immigration papers in total monotony. Where else but in Washington state?
-You would think, given the choice, Don would give anything to break the stress and disappointment. The typical dead-end life regrets, etc. He didn't have a choice, actually. A lot of the historical content we've been given here has been written with a clashing sense of emotion to it. In either case, Don's absorption into the secret world began some time in the fall of 2011.
+Given the choice, Don maybe would have given anything to break the stress and disappointment. The typical dead-end life regrets, etc. He didn't have a choice. That much was stressed, put in bold and underlined; there are some intriguingly emotional accounts that have come out of Verascu's cooperation, considering he never crewed with more than a handful of people at a time. In either case, Don's absorption into the secret world began some time in the fall of 2011.
-As it goes, The Dragon established a kamikaze cell, a ballsy bid in preparation for the Mayan End of Days incident, whose activities centered around the northwest-to-midwest portion of the United States.
+As it goes, The Dragon established a kamikaze cell, a ballsy and desperate bid in preparation for the Mayan End of Days incident, whose activities centered around the northwest-to-midwest portion of the United States.
-Their goal was to triangulate and draw Illuminati attention to the location of Mayan artifacts that later turned out to be vital in defeating the Vestiges of the Wayeb' during the Nameless Days of the Mayan calendar - The Dragon used various methods to meet these ends. One of these methods was torn straight from the Illuminati hand-book: subliminal conditioning. The making of sleeper agents via television hijack. Couch potato soldiers of chaos.
+Their goal was to triangulate and draw Illuminati attention to the location of Mayan artifacts that later turned out to be vital in defeating the Vestiges of the Wayeb' during the Nameless Days of the Mayan calendar - The Dragon used various methods to meet these ends. One of these methods was torn straight from the Illuminati hand-book: subliminal conditioning. The making of sleeper agents via television feeds. Couch potato soldiers of chaos.
-Don's dissatisfaction with work and life developed into paranoia, induced violent distractions, low self-esteem and, my favorite, unreliable memory recall. He never noticed, nor later cared apparently, how many lives he inconvenienced or endangered when he botched workload after workload of sensitive paperwork. Nor did he notice that his life was slipping into ruin, as Viktor Verascu put it.
+Don's dissatisfaction with work and life developed into paranoia, induced violent distractions, low self-esteem and, my favorite, unreliable memory recall. He never noticed, nor later cared apparently, how many lives he inconvenienced or endangered when he commandeered or botched workload after workload of sensitive paperwork at the office. Nor did he notice that his life was slipping into ruin, as Viktor Verascu put it.
-By the next year, The Dragon's agents had accomplished their aims in luring the Illuminati to far-off burial grounds, basically snatching pieces of the 'prize' out from in front of them. After that debacle, those different artifacts would eventually land where they needed to; Maine, Egypt, Transylvania. What can I say, typical behavior for the green-heels. By then, Don had been without a job for at least two months and was due to be cut off.
+By the next year, The Dragon's agents had accomplished their goal of luring the Illuminati to the burial grounds and artifacts, snatching pieces of the 'prize' out from in front of them, inciting a merry chase, getting some of the other factions involved, etc. After that debacle, the different artifacts would eventually land where they needed to; Maine, Egypt, Transylvania. What can I say, typical behavior for the green-heels in the end. By then, Don had been without a job for at least two months and his power was due to be cut off.
-The cell dissolved in the subsequent goose chases and flights to South America. The Dragon managed to relocate or decommission their incidentals in ways only they could accommodate, the Phoenicians did not specify details here. Don was the only hitch throughout that process.
+The Dragon cell dissolved in the goose chases and flights to South America. The Dragon managed to reassign or decommission their incidentals in whatever ways they could accommodate; the Phoenicians did not specify details here because I assume they didn't understand just how the job was carried out. Don was the only hitch throughout the process anyway.
-Did you know? Improper decommissioning can lead to severe psychological duress and lasting trauma. And so it did for Don, a man chosen for his total lack of importance and mundanity.  The Dragon had no intention to pick the guy up and his well-being was an easily measured expenditure.
+Did you know? Improper decommissioning can lead to severe psychological duress and lasting trauma. And so it did for Don, a guy chosen for his total lack of importance and mundanity as far as we know. The Dragon had no intention to pick the guy up and his well-being was an easily measured expenditure, we think.
-Except The Dragon miscalculated how their models would play out. They knew that Don wasn't ''utterly'' unimportant, he tested positively - and negligibly - for empathic abilities. Relatively common. No, the math took a turn - as Don's mental state declined, his violent thoughts didn't just echo endlessly in his head, they echoed ''out,'' not through organic minds, but through the inanimate. Through electronics and machinery. The occultech reverberations took out the infrastructure of a whole city block and replaced it with static approximations of Quentin Tarantino films.
+Going off of the idea that even they make mistakes, The Dragon likely miscalculated how things would play out. They knew that Don wasn't ''totally'' unimportant, he tested positively - and negligibly - for empathic abilities. Relatively common. No, the math took a turn - as Don's mental state declined, his violent thoughts didn't just echo endlessly in his head, they echoed ''out,'' not through organic minds, but through the inanimate. Through electronics and machinery. The occultech reverberations took out the infrastructure of a whole city block and replaced it with static approximations of Quentin Tarantino films.
-Purportedly, you could have heard generators sputtering to the sound of Jules Winnfield's "That ''IS'' a tasty burger!" ad nauseum for four days. Don had entered a stable thought-loop in little time, becoming less of a person than an occult gadget.
+Purportedly, you could have heard generators sputtering to the sound of Jules Winnfield's "That ''IS'' a tasty burger!" ad nauseum for four days. Downed powerlines that produced sparks of electricity to the tune of Ironside notwithstanding, Don had entered a stable thought-loop in short time, becoming less of a person than an occult gadget.
-Perhaps that's why the Phoenicians were so quick to find him. Not the Illuminati and certainly not The Dragon. The Brotherhood of Phoenician Sailors were expecting off-the-rails contraband they could reclaim, not a person. But they took that person in anyway. Hell, by all accounts they could have left him malleable, commoditized him and his ability. Instead, they reprogrammed as much of him to make him ... well, him, again.
+Perhaps that's why the Phoenicians were so quick to locate him. Verascu was rising up in the ranks at the time and his previous crew were in the area; The Brotherhood of Phoenician Sailors were expecting off-the-rails contraband that they could reclaim, not a person. But they took that person in anyway. Hell, by all accounts they could have left him the way he was. Malleable - they could have commoditized him and his ability. Instead, they reprogrammed as much of him as they could to a semblance of personhood.
-According to the personal notes from Agent Verascu, Don made sure he "never forgot the mercy shown to him." Even when he got stuck crewing up on what would become a suicide mission. However, there are elephants in the room when it comes to Don's movements post-reconditioning.
+According to personal notes included by Agent Verascu, Don made sure "to never forget the mercy shown to him." Even when he got stuck crewing up on what became a suicide mission. Of course, there are issues when it comes to Don's movements pre-incident that we may need to discuss.
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 **If you're businesslike about any grievances, I'll be businesslike. If you're calm, I'm usually calm, etc, but I'd like to think that's not necessary! However, Don can get heavy and abrasive out of nowhere so it's necessary to clarify this and communicate when things bother you.
-*I have a habit of writing too much about Don and moving entire pieces out of his SWLRP profile (which you should investigate if you haven't) since they're too long and uninformative. Some of these pieces can be found on the Black Watchmen's email servers in-universe. (wink)
+*I have a habit of writing too much about Don and moving entire pieces out of his SWLRP profile (which you should investigate if you haven't) since they're too long and uninformative. Some of these pieces can be found on the email servers of various groups-of-interest in-universe. (wink)
-== From the internal email servers of the Black Watchmen: ==
+== From the internal email servers of the Council of Venice & the Black Watchmen: ==
 <div class="spoiler mw-collapsible mw-collapsed">
-'''Memo rerouted from the Illuminati'''
+'''Memo rerouted to the Black Watchmen from the Illuminati'''
 <div class="mw-collapsible-content">
 <font face=Verdana>The man you're asking for is like a unicorn. Enigmatic, a smidge self-explanatory. Our agents typically overlook him after a while. But don't be fooled, he's the one snake hidden in the bushes.
@@ Line 245: / Line 245: @@
 [[File:Illuminati Symbol.png|150px|center|Don't believe everything you see.]]
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@@ Line 224: / Line 224: @@
 '''Thus, here are some common sense guidelines for you to follow:'''
-*DO engage Rhodes on non-hostile grounds when you encounter him.
+*'''DO''' engage Rhodes on non-hostile grounds when you encounter him.
-**Do NOT incite a hostile situation. We need organic footage, not a Michael Bay sitch with our investments blown or picked out as kill-on-sight by whoever owns his leash.
+**'''Do NOT''' incite a hostile situation. We need organic footage, not a Michael Bay sitch with our investments blown or picked out as kill-on-sight by whoever owns his leash.
-**Do NOT clue him into the fact that you are one of our's or that he is being observed. If it's obvious or inevitable, spin it into a personal project and not a corporate mandate.
+**'''Do NOT''' clue him into the fact that you are one of our's or that he is being observed. If it's obvious or inevitable, spin it into a personal project and not a corporate mandate.
-**Do NOT approach him if you value your cybernetics above your life. Or if they are what keep you alive in the first place.
+**'''Do NOT''' approach him if you value your cybernetics above your life. Or if they are what keep you alive in the first place.
-*DO get into his good graces. Like, if he's Phoenician, it pays to have a merc open to us. He apparently likes a good macchiato.
+*'''DO''' get into his good graces. Like, if he's Phoenician, it pays to have a merc open to us. He apparently likes a good macchiato.
-**Do NOT get attached. Seriously, you are not in a chick flick or a romance novel; if he doesn't somehow kill you after you bang, we will.
+**'''Do NOT''' get attached. Seriously, you are not in a chick flick or a romance novel; if he doesn't somehow kill you after you bang, we will.
-**Do NOT believe anything he says at face value. We'll tell you what to believe and what not to believe. Yes, even if he tells you that he prefers getting it on with guys - you would not believe the incidents. See bullet above.
+**'''Do NOT''' believe anything he says at face value. We'll tell you what to believe and what not to believe. Yes, even if he tells you that he prefers getting it on with guys - you would not believe the incidents. See bullet above.
-**Do NOT involve yourself in his business without prior authorization, keep it on acquiantance-level as we compile data. We are literally in no hurry to meet the doggy's masters.
+**'''Do NOT''' involve yourself in his business without prior authorization, keep it on acquiantance-level as we compile data. We are literally in no hurry to meet the doggy's masters.
-*DO keep in touch. With us, not him - see bullet above. We want eye-witness reports, uncompromised footage, occult telemetry, the whole shabang that you can get away with in casual weekend wear.
+*'''DO''' keep in touch. With us, not him - see bullet above. We want eye-witness reports, uncompromised footage, occult telemetry, the whole shabang that you can get away with in casual weekend wear.
-**Do NOT compromise yourself or go out of your way to dig dirt on this guy. We've tried, it's confusing, obnoxious, and lethal for reasons that are on a need-to-know basis.
+**'''Do NOT''' compromise yourself or go out of your way to dig dirt on this guy. We've tried, it's confusing, obnoxious, and lethal for reasons that are on a need-to-know basis.
-**Do NOT fabricate or fluff-up your reports out of fear that your career, i.e. your life, is on the chopping block. That will put it there, and 'impressing us' with 'groundbreaking' information is not cause to unflag you for termination anyway. Cite, cite, cite.
+**'''Do NOT''' fabricate or fluff-up your reports out of fear that your career, i.e. your life, is on the chopping block. That will put it there, and 'impressing us' with 'groundbreaking' information is not cause to unflag you for termination anyway. Cite, cite, cite.
-**Do NOT pester us with minutiae on his comings or goings. We have a dedicated team for that now and you're not getting yourself any favors for playing off as diligent.
+**'''Do NOT''' pester us with minutiae on his comings or goings. We have a dedicated team for that now and you're not getting yourself any favors for playing off as diligent.
 Keep to this plan and you'll be golden. I'm sure we'll get something out of your effort, so just keep forwarding your thoughts up the chain and we'll get back to you.
@@ Line 244: / Line 244: @@
 Also, it goes without saying that there will not be another public update on the matter of Don Rhodes. Assume that all new information is on a need-to-know basis and that that basis applies to you and only you. Yes, we're encouraging redundancy here. Don't wait up.</font>
-[[File:Illuminati Symbol.png|200px|center|Don't believe everything you see.]]
+[[File:Illuminati Symbol.png|150px|center|Don't believe everything you see.]]
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 <headertabs/>

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 {{WIP}}
 == OOC Notes ==
 == From the internal email servers of the Black Watchmen: ==
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 ''As far as our luck goes in pushing the Council to fill in the gaps, they too have been uncooperative. Frankly, it feels like this release is just appeasement on the sailors' part, but to which party and for what is currently unknown. Certainly not related to us small fry.''
-''In either case, we're regurgitating the gist of all we've gotten. What follows is all of the supplementary info we've received on our small-time menace, as well as our thoughts. ''Feel free to refer to any and all documents relating to him by name, but steer clear of citing the incident files until we've finished our internal review.''
+''In either case, we're regurgitating the gist of all we've gotten. What follows is all of the supplementary info we've received on our small-time menace, as well as our thoughts. Feel free to refer to any and all documents relating to him by name, but steer clear of citing the incident files until we've finished our internal review.''
 <center><span style="color:#D8D7D7">RECEIVE - initiate Cronenberg frequency - SOMETHING WENT WRONG, SETH</span></center>

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 <center>[[File:4265747765656e20746865206c696e6573.png|frameless]]</center>
 === December 29th, 2017 - In regards to Don Rhodes & the Venice leak: ===
-''The contents here have been released to us (and others) via the Council of Venice by one '''Viktor Verascu''', allegedly a senior agent within the Brotherhood of Phoenician Sailors and allegedly the former handler and operations manager for our 'problem-of-interest', ''Don Rhodes''.
+''The contents here have been released to us (and others) via the Council of Venice by one '''Viktor Verascu''', allegedly a senior agent within the Brotherhood of Phoenician Sailors and allegedly the former handler and operations manager for our 'problem-of-interest','' '''Don Rhodes'''.
 ''These "facts" have been supported by a handful of junior PR officers under Elias Berbera, but both Berbera himself and the Phoenician council ambassador have avoided comment for indeterminate reasons. (Though we have a fairly good idea why, <u>See: Affiliations</u>.)''