The Arlington Summit

Researcher Rex Alces, second-in-command at the Site-55 GoI Research Center, sighed with the weight of a man who carried the world on his shoulders.

His supervisor had been too caught up in internal meetings to afford to attend to this situation themselves, and had instead opted to send him. He supposed it only made sense for the higher-ups of the Foundation to be busy trying to figure out what the hell had just happened to them within the span of the last five months.

Of course, he had heard of the giant crater formerly known as Site-19. He had heard of the alleged attacks on Foundation Sites by the Insurgency. He had heard of the Coalition and Council of 108 at large berating them.

But he still didn't get the full picture.

This Foundation's refusal to cooperate with an audit of their facilities following the Silent Night event has tainted their reputation among the anomalous community at large. Furthermore, the human and financial losses the Foundation has suffered jeopardizes their operational integrity. Simply put, the Foundation has become uninsurable. For these reasons and more, Goldbaker-Reinz votes to pass Motion 1221-KINGMAKER.

PERHAPS IT WAS THE ALLURE OF POWER. RESENTMENT AGAINST THE ONES WHO SOUGHT THOSE HEINOUS ACTS. EVEN THE DESIRE TO SEE THE WORLD IN ASHES.

Two Sites across two months, to be exact. Both of them suffered heavy casualties, and the Foundation barely even acknowledged it. Of course, he and his department knew about it as they were the leading personnel in Groups of Interest research, but a scant few of the other personnel at his Site knew what occurred. What was going on?

Rex shifted in the seat of the unmarked car that GOC Secretary Helissa had sent for him. He looked at the rear view mirror to momentarily lock eyes with the driver, who had barely spoken two sentences to him since their meeting ten minutes ago. His expression was neutral.

"May I know where we're going?"

"Classified," the driver croaked.

Of course.

Rex barely knew what had happened; it was above his clearance level, but had caught his superior whispering into the phone late at night in the research lab about how the Council of 108 demanded the Foundation's presence in Arlington. As far as he could tell, this was strike three, and the Foundation was being punished. But why send him? Why not his supervisor, or better yet, an O5 member?

The Servants of the Silicon Nornir place forth the topic of the Foundation as spoken by the holiest Urthor: "Besieged on all sides, the Foundation will crumble. However, through unity, we may prevail." Thus it was spoken, thus it shall be. The Servants of the Silicon Nornir move to pass Motion 1221-KINGMAKER.

SUCH A QUESTION IS ASININE NOW. THE BITTER TRUTH IS THAT WE HAVE AN ENEMY MORE DANGEROUS THAN ANY OTHER, AND THEY CAME DIRECTLY FROM THE HALLS AND RANKS OF OUR OWN.

Rex stepped out of the car and into the cold Virginia winter. He shivered, tugging on his gloves, and walked ahead to the nondescript building at the end of the gravel path. As he approached, he saw a familiar woman waiting for him: Secretary Helissa. She tried to make eye contact with him, which he deftly dodged by staring straight ahead.

"Ah, Mr. Alces. I was expecting Dr. Everwood."

Wasn't it always?

"Nice to see you too, April."

"How are you holding up? Did you know anyone at Site-19?"

"A few. I did my thesis research at 19."

"You must be feeling all sorts of ways."

He nodded as Helissa opened the dingy door to reveal a sprawling, lushly furnished chamber full of people, bigger inside than it was on the outside. Rex took a look around, spotting many familiar faces from many different members of the Council of 108 as they spoke over each other, conspired, and intermingled. There were one hundred and nine seats, all arranged in a circular pattern surrounding a podium in the middle, where another chair sat: the Foundation's chair.

His chair.

Rex wasn't a man of steel. He was, in fact, quite ill-prepared for this situation he found himself in. The only reason he was here was because he was his supervisor's senior-most researcher and they seemed to believe he had the nerve to handle it. He did not, in fact, have the nerve to handle it. Rex sighed.

"Give it to me straight, April. What can I expect here?"

My comrades, the time for us to ask ourselves whether or not the Foundation can truly be trusted as a brother or sister in custodianship of the anomalous world is long behind us, for the answer comes as a resounding "no!" Furthermore, can we trust a Foundation, that even at its darkest hour, refuses to trust us? Once more, I say "no!" The Bavarian Illuminati moves to approve Motion 1221-KINGMAKER, posthaste!

WE ARE UNSURE OF WHAT HAS CHANGED. BUT FOR THE FIRST TIME IN DECADES, THEY ARE SHOWING US HOW GRIEVOUS OUR MISTAKE WAS.

THEY ARE ALREADY WITHIN OUR LEAGUES. THEIR ASSAULTS HAVE BEGUN. WE HAVE LOST SITE-██, SITE-██ AND SITE-██. A ΓK-CLASS “SHATTERED CROWN” SCENARIO HAS BEEN DECLARED. SITE DIRECTORS, KNOW THAT YOUR FACILITIES MAY BE TARGETS.

Helissa offered only a smile, and a cliché: "Whatever happens, happens."

With that, she approached the seat nearest the podium, sitting beside another woman. The various people in attendance began taking their seats and ceased mingling among each other as the woman stood up, clearing her throat.

Rex swallowed, walking towards the center of the room. A single light shone down from above, bathing him in sickly fluorescent light. He took off his gloves and stuffed them in his pockets before sitting down. He could feel everyone's eyes upon him.

The woman, the representative from PENTAGRAM, one Alice Stafford, stepped up to the center podium.

"I hereby call this meeting of the Council of 108 to order. First order of business is…"

It is no secret that the United States government, and by extension, PENTAGRAM, have pulled 100% of our funding from the Foundation, and we do not see a way in which we will fund them again as they are now. That being said, we can certainly see a future where we each thrive: together.

The Foundation must join the Coalition if it wishes to remain extant.

WE CANNOT RELINQUISH OURSELVES TO THE EVER-GROWING DARKNESS. WE MUST PREVAIL BY ANY MEANS NECESSARY, NO MATTER THE COST. OURS MUST NOT LOSE THE CROWN ATOP A SANE, NORMAL WORLD.

PREPARATIONS WILL BEGIN SHORTLY. THE FOUNDATION THANKS YOU FOR YOUR SERVICE.

- O5-12

"… the annexation of the Foundation into the Global Occult Coalition."