📋 INITIAL REPORT

Bureau command issued a priority assignment following delivery of a sealed dossier at headquarters. The matter concerns Argencorp and the reported disappearance of classified quantum computing hardware from West Coast operations. Primary site of record: the NeXstep research and fabrication campus in Redmond, Washington.

Supporting intelligence in the file notes a prior Argencorp acquisition of a compact auxiliary nuclear reactor, installed years earlier to supplement on-site power demand. Power draw versus public disclosure remains a Bureau interest line.

Due to prior Argencorp exposure (see related case file), Investigator 89 requested confirmation whether this facility employed autonomous building intelligence similar to the DC prototype. Director Katja confirmed: NeXstep does not use the same integrated AI building controller architecture; assessment focus remains physical security, inventory chain, and power budgeting.

🛂 SITE ENTRY & SECURITY POSTURE

After ground transport to NeXstep, field team made contact with Marcus Hale, shift lead for site security. Facility policy mandates storage of personal weapons and consumer electronics in guard-station lockers before interior access.

Operational necessity required retention of concealed sidearms and one portable computing package. Team coordinated timing and cover so screening gaps allowed equipment to pass without facility log entry. [Methods withheld — field supplement CLASSIFIED]

🔍 ACCESS ESCALATION

Initial escort confined movement to visitor corridors. To widen investigative range, the team demonstrated familiarity with Argencorp safety and compartment protocols sufficient to satisfy Hale. After credential verification and on-site interview, Hale authorized elevated clearance including escorted entry to restricted research laboratories on level 3.

🪪 FALSE IDENTITY & AFTER-HOURS ACCESS

Continued review of NeXstep access logs established that the restricted Level 3 laboratory had been entered on a recurring after-hours schedule using a valid badge credential. The name attached to the badge—K. Vance—does not correspond to any personnel file on record.

Two technicians interviewed earlier in the deployment stated the badge holder had been reassigned to reactor support by an operations supervisor also listed on shift rosters as K. Vance. Facility shift logs show work orders from "K. Vance" accepted across laboratory, reactor, and security teams without challenge.

🔬 LEVEL 3 INTERVIEW — DR. LILA CHIN

On Level 3, Chief Security Hale introduced the field team to Dr. Lila Chin, principal investigator for Argencorp's quantum computing program. Investigators questioned personnel scope, insider theft risk, and clearance requirements for extended lab work.

Discussion of federal clearance paperwork for the team included pointed exchange regarding Hale's enforcement consistency. Investigator 07 conducted a security sweep of the laboratory environment and assessed physical access as heavily hardened—unauthorized entry would require deliberate social infiltration rather than casual breach.

💻 TERMINAL REVIEW & CONCEALED ROUTING

Investigator 89 obtained terminal access through Hale and confirmed the missing inventory: quantum processing cores rated for cryogenic cooling and radiation shielding—specification consistent with auxiliary reactor power draw at the scale noted in the opening dossier.

While reviewing badge telemetry, Investigator 89 observed facility schematic data depicting conduit routing into a sealed room absent from published building layout maps. Investigator 89 and Investigator 66 independently noted discrepancies between labeled "quantum" inputs and expected output profiles for the visible hardware chain.

Hale—who appeared to register the team's findings without being shown the screen—approached, swiped his credential, and opened a concealed door into a service hallway. Hale stated the space had been intended for a diesel generator installation and that he believed the chamber was still under construction. When asked who else knew of the passage, Hale cited himself, Dr. Chin, Chin's crew, and approximately ten additional personnel.

☢️ REACTOR CONTROL SUITE

The concealed corridor terminated at a door marked REACTOR CONTROL. Hale expressed surprise at the signage; when Investigator 66 asked what lay beyond, Hale replied he did not know and proposed they find out together.

Interior configuration: multiple large display stations, operational workstations, and on a central desk a handheld instrument resembling a field telemetry unit of unknown manufacture (Bureau descriptor: "tricorder-class device"). Hale withdrew abruptly, stating he had no knowledge of the suite, needed to "bark up some trees," and would dispatch another associate to continue escort. He exited and secured the door behind him.

With Hale absent, Investigator 89 accessed a workstation and reviewed test logs. Records showed timestamp gaps, duplicate entries sharing process identifiers, and non-monotonic time jumps—all correlating with periods when the auxiliary reactor was marked operational. Encrypted maintenance segments contained scheduled commands affecting camera logs, timekeeping subsystems, and a planned systems purge held in reserve on what field notes describe as a dead-man trigger architecture.

Investigator 51 recovered a clipboard of financial ledgers near the consoles. Analysis supports misappropriation of reactor-line funding: an actor using the K. Vance identity appears to be routing DoD allocations through the quantum program as cover for an off-books project.

Investigator 13 experienced acute disorientation consistent with prior trauma response, moved toward the exit, and found the door locked. Facility alarms activated; Hale responded over comms that he was attempting override but could not regain access.

⚡ REACTOR CHAMBER EVENT

A secondary door opened from within the suite onto the reactor core chamber. The core exhibited pulsing luminescence; field assessment: environmental systems behavior suggested deliberate invitation toward the chamber threshold.

One monitor displayed flashing status text: FAIL SAFES DEACTIVATED. Ambient illumination from the reactor vessel intensified; mechanical humming rose; air pressure oscillation became perceptible. Investigator 89 attempted emergency shutdown from the nearest workstation.

A single high-intensity discharge followed. All visual and auditory input ceased.

🌲 DISPLACEMENT & SURVIVAL CONTACT

Consciousness resumed to woodland audio—canopy acoustics and moisture profile inconsistent with Pacific Northwest baseline for the operational date. Investigator 89 recovered a tricorder-class device at his feet matching the unit observed in the reactor control suite.

Before full situational orientation, the team registered deep infrasonic vibration and a large theropod-class predator at close range— genus/species classification pending; field descriptor: Tyrannosaur-type contact.

⚠️ CURRENT STATUS

Component theft is now understood as one layer of a larger fraud and concealed-reactor operation tied to the K. Vance identity shell. Reactor fail-safe status at time of discharge: deactivated per on-screen warning. Field team last reported from an unmapped biome with predatory megafauna contact—Bureau command has no confirmed recovery as of last update.

📊 INVESTIGATION STATUS