- From Europe, With Love -

I'm in Europe, currently. Guess who isn't?
If you guessed Devon, you'd be correct.

I decided to request all the government files that existed on Devon, or, rather, the only name I ever got out of her: Gabriella Moreno.

I learned a lot, the first part being that her last name isn't Moreno, at least, not anymore. Devon legally changed her last name to 'Gilman'. Her records, criminal and otherwise, are... suspiciously clean, other than a few charges of loitering and trespassing. Enough to make me order a deeper search for any records. Nothing has turned up so far.

The first thing that I noticed of some interest is that she owes a lot of money to some shady sources - loan shark types - to the tune of over one hundred thousand dollars. I can't find what this money was used for, but I'll see about getting some information from her lenders. If they find out that Devon is off the island, she could be in a lot of trouble. All the more reason to bring her in.

The other files brought in contained an old case file - kidnapping - handled by the FBI. Gabriella 'Devon' Moreno, age ten, was suspected as being kidnapped by an 'unidentified suspect, assumed male, height of over six feet, no further information'. This same kidnapper is also accused of the murder of one Eva Moreno and a second male, a Vittore Trevisano. Eva Moreno is Devon's mother.
A second section of the file contains a few reports of potential domestic violence, and a social worker case file of a member of CPS looking into Eva Moreno, under suspicion of child abuse. The case was closed when Eva was killed and her daughter disappeared.

Devon's records pick up again three years later, when she simply seems to pop back up on the radar at age thirteen. A year later, she has her last name legally changed, and from there the record is generally mundane, excepting the loitering, trespassing, and the loans.

I can put the pieces together from here, knowing Devon. Her mother was a... well. She was a whore. And she physically abused Devon, went through a lot of 'boyfriends', and was generally unstable. This explains Devon's hatred of "ho's", and... well, a lot, really. The kidnapping is... strange. Very, very strange. Whomever the man was, he's suspected of murdering Devon's mother and kidnapping her as well... but despite how these sort of cases turn out, Devon appears again, three years later, as if nothing had happened. No police reports, nothing, just a trail that goes suspiciously cold. Devon talked a bit about her past, and it seemed to be a less than straight-laced one, to say in the least... but there's nothing here to indicate that it ever happened. I'm not calling my sister a liar, no. I'm saying that something is up, and in more ways than one.

Devon has escaped the island, and in that time frame has found her way from Africa to Europe, evaded capture, left NO paper trail, and has caused me to empty at least two bottles of whiskey trying to drown out the headache this whole thing has been. This leads me to assume that Devon has access to transportation, FAST transportation, and possibly private transportation, as well as money. She's acquiring... things. Each picture I've recieved, she's been wearing different clothes, and she 'acquired' a watch, and something tells me that she didn't just steal it.

Devon has connections, at best, and at worst, she has friends in very high places. Connections I can deal with, but friends with power make things very hard. It also makes things much more dangerous for my operatives that are looking for her.

So, I'm taking this little goose chase underground. No more active, high-visibility hunting. We're gonna work quiet-like, probe around, try to piece together more of Devon's history, and hopefully we can find who is helping her. Devon thinks she can play hide and seek, and I'll admit, she's better at it than I am, but I have the resources of my position to back me up, now. I'll get some experts out into the world to hunt around her hometown of [REDACTED], look for those less-obvious connections... and maybe I'll find the characters known as 'D' and 'T', the two that Devon herself said had a large influence on her life.

--

One other update, the prototype has been delivered to the island, and received as well. It's out of my hands, now. I'll have to hope that Jara and whomever she can round up can do what needs to be done to catch Sil... then, well, hopefully I can bring Silcatra the closure she needs.

--

More to come. I'm heading back to the States tonight.

- Tally Ho -

IMPCOM-China got back to us. This is moderately embarassing...

Devon isn't standing on the great wall. She's standing in front of a famous painting of the great wall, which is on display in an art gallery in europe.

We know the gallery. My boys are on the line with IMPCOM-Europe. We're mobilizing a unit right now to track her down. When we've got her, I'll bring her in and find out what's the deal with the pictures and figure out what she's planning on doing off the island. She's up to something, and the taunting confirms it, in my mind.

The operatives that are on-mission have been given a strict non-engagement orders. Contain her, talk with her, and ask her to cooperate. If she refuses, back off, wait for me. If I have to, I'll come to her. I'm going to get to the bottom of this. I'm off right now to catch a flight off the tarmac. More after.

- Fox Hunt -

Our team arrived too late to the location we determined Devon was in. She was long gone. The little african port town was small, a few people saw her, but she left the town on foot, which limited how we could track her. The trail was a few days old, and she knows how to reduce her 'footprint'.

We just got another picture, though. No return address, unmarked. We're not sure how these are being delivered, because it's not by normal post.
Again, a picture of Devon, this time at... the great wall. She's looking at a newly acquired wristwatch, and obviously appears impatient. She's taunting me.
We're liasing with our IMPCOM-China representatives right now, and they're mobilizing teams. There's military units on station at the great wall, and there's not as much tourism. They'll find her fast, and our reaction time is much faster this time than the last time.

We're coming for you, hermana.

- Surprise -

I received a letter today. No return address. I'm really not sure how the letter even found me, but... well, I guess I shouldn't be surprised.

Inside was a single photograph, recently taken. It was a picture of Devon, grinning her big Devon grin and staring into the camera with a look that said 'Come get me, pussy'.

Challenge Accepted.

R&D is analyzing the photograph. They're working on determining the location Devon sent the picture from, using the buildings in the background of the shot. I won't give it away here, just in case, but we're close to nailing down her location. I've already mobilized a team to go find her.

I have a feeling that my boys are off on a wild goose chase (or duck chase, as the case may be. QQQ and all that.) and when they get there, Devon will be long gone. But... we can start to track her, maybe determine where she's going next.

Big mistake, hermana. I'll find you soon enough. And hell, if you're just on vacation, I might join you.

Please, please, don't be up to anything stupid or illegal.

-

In other news, our hunt for #772 isn't going well. He's long gone, which isn't surprising. A focus like that can go ANYWHERE. A part of me is relieved, to be honest. He didn't hurt any of my men, and for that alone I owe him. But, it's my job to contain focuses. If he's cooperative and understanding, we can probably find a place for him to do some good, but... well, top brass is pretty firm on how we handle high-powered focuses. I'll put in a good word for our gentleman Focus, though.

Maybe it'll be enough.

Back to work.

- The Hardest Kind of Talk -

My daughter hasn't seen me, physically present, in real time, since she was nine years old, and she'll be turning nineteen soon.

I've made mistakes that I can't ever truly make up for, but I'll do my best.

That was hard.

R&D deserve a day off, after the PSU prototype is shipped, the whirlybird and holographic projection work perfectly. Gives me some hope.

EDIT:

To clarify, I used the newly installed Holographic Projection System to speak with Jara face-to-face, in a sense. The talk... well. It wasn't a happy reunion. Bittersweet, yes. It was so good to see her, to speak with her, but the situation is so bad, it was... hard.

I've got work to do.

- Mission Report 2 -

USAIMPCOM MISSION REPORT #A8443/#C772
OPERATION OBJECTIVE: Target Observation/Focus Containment
DATE: [REDACTED]
OPERATION STATUS: Pending

A group of IMPCOM Operatives who were on a mission were attacked by the target they were observing. The target in question had been suspected of being a Focus, and those suspicions were confirmed upon contact. IMPCOM Operatives attempted to subdue the Focus (Designated #772) with no success. #772 was strong, fast, and showed the ability to pass through solid objects. The Focus also appeared to be able to transfer this ability to others. Almost all of the Operatives were half-phased into walls or other objects by their arms, and then left. #772 walked out of the combat zone unharmed after incapacatating all the operatives. None of the Operatives were seriously injured, beyond minor bruises.

Heavy equipment was required to remove all the operatives from the walls of the building they engaged #772 in. IMPCOM medical personel on scene were able to discern that the clothing and dermis layer of skin that was phased into the wall was incorporated into the wall's structure as well, which explains why the Operatives were unable to simply pull their arms out of the wall. Minor surgery will be needed to completely remove fragments of the wall material from their skin. The medical personel note that while this situation was bad, the alternative - that the phased operatives's limbs could have been wholly incorporated into the wall's structure, which would require surgical amputation of their limbs - would be worse.

The CO in charge of the operation commented on #772's mental state as 'chatty and jovial'. He apparently became aware of the Operatives as they were conducting surveilance through unknown means, and approached the CO and his team, saying, quote, "Not quite as sneaky as you think. I've seen lions hide better than you lot."
The CO ordered his team to detain #772 for questioning, at which point, when an Operative attempted to detain #772, #772 manifested the aforementioned insubstantial ability, which R&D has dubbed 'Phasing'. Operatives were unable to make physical contact with #772, who appeared amused by their attempts to subdue him. Only after the Operatives surrounded him did he begin "sticking my men into walls like they weren't even there". One Operative opened fire in self defense, but the bulletts passed through #772. While engaging the Operatives, #772 apparently continued to chat "as if nothing was amiss", and "commented mainly on the weather and how the local sport team was doing poorly". After subduing the Operatives and CO, #772 admonished them, saying, quote, "You'll have to be more careful next time, boys. You're lucky I'm not crazy!"

IMPCOM Strike Teams and Negotiators are currently searching the surrounding area for #772, who is being considered a 'non-hostile Class-8 Focus' at this time.

END REPORT

RECOMMENDATIONS: Review CO and Operative's actions, determine if there was a breakdown in their surveilance training or stealth procedure that alerted #772. Have R&D further research the 'Phasing' ability, if possible, and determine countermeasures, if any exist.

- Jokerdom -

A quick note, here. Nothing new on the PSU, the second prototype is still being made. Just wanted to note that today, my daughter became a Joker.

I'm not sure if the island is ready. Hell, I'm not sure if SHE is ready. But here we are.

I've got to trust her, but I'd be lying if I said I wasn't worried and scared. Not only is she a Joker, but she's now able to face down her mother...

I'll go light a fire under the guys and gals from R&D. We need that prototype ASAP.