Protagonists#

• Short, Lance - Foreign Service Officer (Γιάννης)
• Miller, Liam (Agent Dave / Jocko) - Naval Special Warfare Group One (SEALs) (Παναγιώτης)
• Lensing, Emma - Professor of Philology (Τάσος)
• Bennet, Wendy - Criminal Intelligence Analyst / Assistant Professor of Criminology (Κωνσταντίνα)

Greeley Colorado, Wednesday, October 11th, 2017 – 12:30am#

Agents Jocko and Myra decide to inconspicuously lose the armored vehicle. Despite their efforts, they manage to get cornered by a couple of their chaser’s jeeps in a narrow street.

The decision was made to go on foot, but they both get arrested.

In the meantime, Agent Locke attempts to text them, but their phones seem to be turned off or out of service.

Dakota Knight’s Growth Journal#

Unable to reach their fellow agents, Locke and Nikita continue and finish their analysis of Dakota’s journal. Key points:

Excalibur Solutions & GAP (2013–2014)#

• Dakota Knight, son of a wealthy car dealer, starts Excalibur Solutions LLC, aiming to leverage family connections in Colorado.
• Hired by Genetic Agricultural Products (GAP) to help transition from medical to recreational marijuana.
• Knight faces secrecy and dysfunction at GAP, including questionable management and strange behavior from CEO Cho Chu-tsao.
• GAP’s flagship strain Yerba Loca (Y1) is potent but hard to scale. A new strain Yerba2 (Y2) fails health inspections due to insect contamination (Musca domestica DNA).
• GAP’s cannabis business struggles due to licensing issues and market competition. Cho pivots GAP back to agricultural biotech, shuts down cannabis operations, and fires Knight.

Avalon Gardens & ISD (2014–2015)#

• Knight steals Y2 seeds and starts Avalon Gardens, using family influence to fast-track licensing.
• Discovers Y2’s contamination is due to living insect legs growing from the plant—an innate mutation.
• Despite the issue, Knight continues using and marketing the strain.
• Due to banking restrictions, the cannabis industry remains cash-based, leading to security risks.
• Knight hires Instant Deterrent Security (ISD) for protection.
• In September 2015, Avalon Gardens opens its first dispensary in Greeley, Colorado, funded by a $10 million investment from Knight and his father.

Yerba al Cubo (Y3) – 2015#

• 16 OCT 2015: Dakota Knight develops Yerba al Cubo (Y3), a third-generation cannabis strain with exceptional yield, rapid growth, and high THCA concentration.
• Due to visible insect contamination, Y3 can’t pass state inspections in raw form. Knight pivots to distillates (vape liquids, oils, etc.), which remove contaminants and produce 67% more extract than typical strains.
• 29 OCT 2015: Avalon Gardens focuses entirely on Y3-based products, differentiated only by artificial flavorings.
• 1 NOV 2015: Attempts to develop a fourth strain (Y4) initially fail due to unknown fertilization issues, which he remediates by using a corpse as fertilizer.
• 12 DEC 2015: Despite soaring profits, Knight restricts Y3 cultivation to clones only, fires much of his staff, and limits greenhouse access to a select few he believes understand the plant, slowing Avalon Gardens’ growth.

Y4+ and Expansion – 2016–2017#

• 28 FEB 2016: Y4 is successfully cultivated, showing unique biological traits. Knight becomes increasingly secretive and protective of the strain. He convinces his father, Bill Knight, to start using the product.
• 1 MAR 2016: Knight launches a social media persona, @AvalonStrong, gaining over a million followers by late 2017. He uses it to find victims for his increasingly depraved urges.
• 16 JUN 2016: Avalon Gardens opens the Valley Dirtlands Sports Complex, enhancing its public image and community presence.
• 1 JAN 2017: Colorado has more dispensaries than Starbucks. Y3-derived products are widespread but marketed only to heavy users due to potency.
• 3 MAR 2017: A high-profile incident involving cannabis-induced psychosis draws attention to Avalon Gardens products, which are linked to multiple hospitalizations.
• Knight has been secretly enhancing staff samples with more potent Y4 variants.

Y6 and Beyond#

• An advanced strain, Y6, is cultivated in Growhouse C, reserved exclusively for Knight.
• Knight believes the strain has transformative properties and fantasizes about its potential, though he limits exposure to others.

Unknown location, Wednesday, October 11th, 2017 – 4:00am#

Agents Lance and Jocko find themselves in an underground bunker. Attempting to recall what happened, they conclude that Lance died and after he was brought back to life by God, he went on a hunt and murdered one of the security guards, while the other two ran off.

Both agents escape their temporary prison and find themselves in an abandoned farm. After walking a few miles, they hitch a ride to the closest gas station and contact Agents Locke and Nikita for a pick-up.

Moving to Evans#

Locke and Nikita check out from their hotel rooms, rent a van and drive to Evans, Colorado where they meet the other agents.

Evans, Colorado, Wednesday, October 11th, 2017 – 10:00am#

Working Group Masticate check-in at the motel.

Locke gets last night’s story from Jocko about what had happened.

He also remembers that each security guard had a sidearm and carried HK G36 rifles with optics, plus body armor and encrypted radios. They all had IDS insignia on them.

Jocko in his is reminded that Zen is currently being taken care of by Nikita’s brother.

The Dark Mother’s Touch#

Agent Locke calls Pitzerelli to request medical assistance for Lance. He provides the address of a Friendly in a town a few miles north.

In the meantime, Agent Nikita secretly performs on Myra the healing ritual she learned from Yelena’s notes. He almost fully recovers from his injuries.

But Nikita’s right palm starts aching and the skin starts flaking.

The group rests for a few hours to recuperate.

At 16:00, Myra wakes up and tells Locke about his condition.

Later in the evening, the agents prepare a report and send it to Pitzerelli. In contains detailed information on Dakota Knight’s journal, as well as the source of Y strain.

New Orders - Thursday, October 12th, 2017 – 10:00am#

Pitzerelli summons Working Group Masticate for a meeting at meet at 10:00 at Fourth Corner Credit Union bank.

Given what the agents reported, he issues new orders:

• Mass Exposure. Τhe substance that killed Reznik is being widely used amongst the population.
  • Provide evidence that justifies law enforcement action against Avalon Gardens.
  • Shut down Valley Dirtlands Cultivation Site and neutralize any threats.
    • Eliminate Dakota and Bill Knight, along with any collaborators or witnesses.
    • Destroy all Avalon Gardens products, production equipment, seed vaults, and facilities.
    • Destroy all forensic evidence, surveillance footage, and other materials linking Avalon Gardens products to the crimes or the involvement of the unnatural.
• Suspected Homicides. Evidence linking the Knights to multiple disappearances.
  • Identify a “suspect” for the disappearances of Shana Edwards, Benjamin Molnar, Cutter Lambert, Lola Delahoz, Taylyn Freeman, Lyle Carter, and Margery Lindbottom. The suspect must…
    • … be male and between the ages of 21 and 55, preferably white.
    • … be employed at Avalon Gardens.
    • … remain unassociated with the Knight family except in matters of employment.
    • … die “resisting arrest.”
    • Collect DNA evidence for identification of murder victims discovered on site.