14050/Operation WATCHFUL: Labwork

Operation WATCHFUL: Labwork
Date of Scene:	08 February 2023
Location:	Medical Ward: Triskelion
Synopsis:	Examining the sample from the medical lab raid, Agent Simmons conducts her work under careful HAZMAT procedures. In the end, what she finds is both a relief and... very much not. The sample is some kind of engineered retrovirus (with a very curious 'author'), but one that is missing it's DNA payload: a bioweapon without a warhead, leaving SHIELD to wonder what is supposed to go in there. While she works, the rest of the team observes and discusses the broader threat from the Shi'ar across many trajectories. Steve, admittedly, is mostly there for the coffee.
Cast of Characters:	Darcy Lewis, Natasha Romanoff, Steve Rogers, Jemma Simmons, Jane Foster

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Darcy Lewis has posed:
The Triskelion's Medical Ward has seen its history of strange cases, from alien parasites to mad scientist-engineered superviruses, and so the fact that it has a highly specialized HIDU - Highly Infectious Disease Unit - well separated from the general treatment areas should be no surprise. Here, there is every kind of necessary equipment to uphold the necessary best practices: negative pressure air systems and airlocks, HAZMAT gear, even remote-control tools where the need arises.

Also, everyone who DOESN'T need to be in there with the sample, well, isn't. There's a glass window for observation, and an intercom. Naturally, Darcy is on the safe side. As she always reminds people, she's not THAT kind of Doctor!

As for the sample itself? Well, OW-002 is the designation for a single sealed, temperature-controlled cannister recovered from the Vodaxa Pharmaceuticals facility (of Edison NJ) during a raid led by Agent Romanoff. The location is now owned through a number of still-shady shell corporations (Darcy IS working on that). The background to the incident leads back to a break-in at research building at a large NYC hospital, as well as to the spread of suspicious technology among various criminal groups.

Oh yeah, and Aliens. It's kind of a long story. Outside, Darcy has a coffee in hand, as she watches the cannister being unloaded and prepped for, well, opening that sucker up. "Let's hope it's not really, really bad. We have no idea how much of this the place made before we hit it."

Natasha Romanoff has posed:
Natasha Romanoff would shrug, "We'll have to track down whatever we can. THey seem to have done a good job of relaying their shipments around and covering their tracks." Annoyed. "And we don't know if this was their only production center. Unlikely." It was never that simple. More production centers meant they could sell more to customers, spread out their logistics, and it meant even if one hub was neutralized they had otehrs they could switch over to.

She goes to tap-tap-tap along a control panel, moving to bring up details over of the after action and other combat reports, and on what they had identified so far of the aliens and consistencies within the technology encountered and weapons. "We have a high degree of certainty at least one hostile asset was on both engageemnts with the unknown forces." High degree, yes. Total confirmation, no. But she was sure of it. She had fought the thing both times.

Steve Rogers has posed:
The footfalls of Steve Roger's boots as he comes down the hallway outside are not particularly loud, but enough they might be noticed by anyone who isn't too focused on other matters. Particularly when he swings open the door to the observation room and steps inside.

Steve is wearing a pair of jeans and a dark grey t-shirt that has a logo from the old Brooklyn Dodgers on it, the shirt visible where the leather jacket he has on hangs open. His hair is a little shorter than normal as if he's recently had a trim.

In his hand is a cup of coffee, which he blows on briefly before taking a sip as he steps inside and takes a look around to see what is going on. The white coffee mug has a single word adorning it: Cap.

Jemma Simmons has posed:
Jemma Simmons....is *that* kind of doctor. Perhaps much to her dismay. Though, judging from the fact that she absolutely refused to have anyone else go in the controlled room with her.

So, Jemma might be just a little bit excited. She is, of course, fully decked out for handling hazardous substances, including full hazmat and all sorts of safety precautions. It is obviously not Jemma's first encounter with playing with HIDUs. The com is off, for now, since there really isn't anything for Jemma to say, at the moment. But...just wait until the container is opened.

Jane Foster has posed:
Jane Foster is more than one-time over a doctor, albeit not so much of medicine. Not exactly, although her background is sufficiently high to make a capable helper and stand in as the medic in a pinch. See also her role on more than a few SHIELD missions. Truth told, she much prefers to stand outside the halcyon realm blessed by the caduceus and too many years in residency, for the average person. One, that means she can drink tea and take interesting measurements. Two, the possibility of unleashing a plague that inspires Director Fury to nuke New York as a precaution grows a step less than before.

Here, though, she needs to face a different set of interesting parameters. A tablet rests in her hands, complaining as usual. It nonetheless takes the feeds and filtered information provided through various SHIELD systems. "Interesting times, no?" She eases her way, listening to Natasha's explanation, and breaks into something of a grim smile to Darcy.

Darcy Lewis has posed:
"Yeah," Darcy echoes Nat. "The guy who you fought with." While she was out nice and safe in the van! "Have you been able to go over, well, any of your observations from the fight with Erickson? If our working theory is that this enemy asset is, well, another one of him, basically. Shi'ar intelligence. At least by training." Alongside coffee, she has her own tablet nearby, and goes to pick it up, tapping through her own notes to compare with Natasha. "Unlike the incident at the hospital, I got much better info on the weapons, this time. Both in-combat telemetry from our two tech'd up combatants, and looking at what we were able to recover. It's not identical to the salvage from the lunar incursion, but the tech is fundamentally similar. A little cheaper?" She searches for words. "If I had to put a name on it, I'd call them export models. US government does it; takes the best, cutting-edge stuff out of our weapons before we sell them in the Middle East."

Her attention turns back toward the glass as there's a bit of a (silent to them) hiss as the cannister opens, venting off visible foggy clouds. This is only the coolant reacting to the change in atmosphere, though. No alarms or sensors go off, and there is an interior container to be found inside the larger shell. The inner one is glass, filled with greenish-blue liquid. It's a pretty color, all potential fear factor aside. The interior container is also properly sealed, although obviously more fragile, and also more clearly meant to be accessed, with metallic caps on both ends of the cylinder. These seem to have a kind of twist-open locked/unlocked position, the latter exposing various small openings.

"Outside shell looks like transport, but inside could be for delivery," Darcy muses, watching. She's distracted by Steve's arrival, since he's, well, who he is! But quickly she looks back to her pad and then to the glass. "Interesting. Yeah. That's a word for it," she mutters in agreement.

Natasha Romanoff has posed:
Natasha Romanoff would nod over, "Likely the Shi'Ar have thier own export liscences." She would quip as if the largest galatic empire might sell their own things. "Or liberated ones." The largest galacstic empire no doubt had countless trillions of standardized weapons across their army and militia after all. Too easy for things to go missing.

"We know somewhat about their technology and their fighting tactics. I'm not sure if everyone has read Agent Erickson's briefings related to.. Others." Of the Fraternal Brotherhood of Raptors. Whether or not there was any relation between the two so far was up in the air.

Natasha goes to turn over to watch things being revealed, giving it her attetnion. "And this is I'm presuming another export to local buyers. Biomass?"

Steve Rogers has posed:
Steve Rogers sees Darcy's glance over towards him, and he tips his head towards her in a quiet greeting to not disturb the conversation. He does take another step or two nearer to the glass to be able to see around Jemma better and get his eyes on the sample.

The man's expressions are often easy to divine. Concern is writ across Steve's face from the slight lines forming across his forehead as his brow furrows, to the way his lips are pressed into a line.

True blue eyes glance over as Darcy and Natasha are discussing the aliens. That just adds another note of concern, a jaw muscle twitching as it tights slightly. Steve looks back to the lab then. For all his confidence in Jemma Simmons, he can't help but hold a bit of worry for her in there.

Jane Foster has posed:
Jane skims her thumb down the smooth glass of the tablet, properly interpreting perhaps whatever she might from the schematics and data from previous run-ins with the Shi'ar and elsewise. Clotted facts and details might be thin on the ground, but she's certainly not complaining about what she can manage to acquire, one way or the other. "What sort of readings and chemical composition have we identified from that sample, thus far? Does it match up against anything else in the databases that we've associated with the Shi'ar or elsewhere?"

A bit of a grim smirk there. "I realize I'm coming late to this party, so forgive the elementary questions."

Jemma Simmons has posed:
Worry for Jemma is touching, if Jemma would be aware of it.

However, at the moment, Jemma is not aware of anything much more than the container before her presently. She slowly pulls the container up to view, very very gingerly. The expression, almost hidden by the hazmat headgear, is inquisitive, but cautious. It might as well be an explosive device in her hands.

Shortly, Jemma's voice breaks in over the comms from the room. "Subject is a container, containing a liquid of yet to be defined origins. The container appears to be designed to aerosolize the contents within, with the caps on either end engineered to facilitate the process. Access appears to be either cap, though caution is necessary."

Well, way to be obvious, Jemma.

"Commencing action to retrieve sample." Which means Jemma is about to open the cannister.

Darcy Lewis has posed:
"Well, the guy you've scrapped with, assuming it's the same one, has never pulled the armor-out-of-thin-air trick, right?" Darcy confirms with Nat. It's in the reports, and not something she expects arguably their best spy to just 'leave out,' so maybe this is more a matter of rhetorical emphasis. "And you'd think he would, considering the firepower, rather than just running away from you. Best working theory I have is that it's at least two of them. We have another sighting for armor, during the Starport incident, with a similar incident profile to the time at the UN."

She glances over at Jane, grinning. "Have I mentioned it's handy that you have your own god powers? Really nice when killer alien Iron Men take pot shots at me during a power point presentation."

More seriously addressing her question, however, Darcy has to shake her head. "Nothing that came up on the 'scan it without opening it' level indicated anything alien. Terrestrial signatures only, in terms of things like base radiation. Not that I could do too much without opening it." She watches, since Jemma is doing just that, and really getting to the gooey insides. "Broadly, the idea of Shi'ar biotech is new. If we take it as kind of a given that they're a multi-species alien confederation and so there's a ton of biodiversity just baked in, what we saw from them in the past, innate abilities aside, was still mostly hard tech focus. Energy weapons. Shields."

'Aerosolize' is definitely a Big Concern word, though, and it draws her attention back to the window and the woman doing the hard work behind it. "THAT sounds very weapon-y, doesn't it?" And back to Jane. "Once she's got some out, we can put it under a spectrometer and confirm all that."

Natasha Romanoff has posed:
Natasha Romanoff would sigh, "And the way the mass transfer happened it's likely formed from some energy. Too much bulk to be nanites." Other-dimensionally summoned power armor? If only they could have such nice toys over on this place terrestrial-bound.

"So are there ideas on how we can pierce them for now? We don't have the firepower onhand to readily break through their defenses. And their personnel are skilled." Very so. One of them fought her to a standstill and likely would have won the fight if it kept on and the others hadn't inflicted enough damage to break up the operation and force a retreat.

Steve Rogers has posed:
Steve Rogers pulls out a small notepad and a pencil from his jacket pocket after hearing Darcy talking about 'biotech'. He jots something down in the notepad and then returns it and the writing utensil to his pocket.

Moving over to stand beside Jane, Steve's eyes and concern stay on Jemma as she does her evaluation. "So still working out exactly what it is we're dealing with?" he asks Jane. "Nick commented on something going on down here and summed it up as, probably the world about to end, same as any Tuesday."

"Sometimes I'm not quite sure when he's joking," Steve adds quietly.

Jane Foster has posed:
Jemma's familiar intonations in their crisp British delivery somehow bring an air of calm to the proceedings. At least for Jane. She's well and truly familiar with the way that the SHIELD biochemist tends to approach all manner of mysteries and scientific wonders, utterly pragmatic until a stroke of brilliance appears. Rather like Darcy, in some ways. Smartly, she waits, trusting in the wide array of instruments and that smart mind over there to pull back the curtain. And if the vial should prove to be really quite horrid?

They have Cap and Black Widow to deal with whatever nonsense pokes its head in. Joyous arrangement, really!

"They aren't mine," she asides to Darcy, though the smile is there. "Only until we locate Thor. Mjolnir is a gift, one I am grateful for, but only temporary." Hope of that nature is so deep that it transcends a simple description, becoming something else. "The advanced state of /any/ Shi'ar technology is concerning, if fascinating, and something that rather makes me feel like we're kids playing with firecrackers. Pragmatically, though, if that thing grows eyes and hisses, I'm hiding you behind me." She isn't making a threat so much as an honest observation, glancing from Nat to Steve. "Mass transfer that suggests projection. A variation on dimensional substitution or an astral attack, possibly, which puts us in an interesting position if they can do it with biological materials. I'm fairly certain it -is- a dimensional substitute, but that requires better sensors than I had at the time."

Jemma Simmons has posed:
One of the caps is extracted, with the cap placed to the side. Holding the vessel, she takes a syringe and slowly extracts a small sample of the substance within, which is transferred immediately to a test tube vial. The vial...is then taken to a spectrometer for analysis. It is the safest of options for research, at least, apparently for Jemma.

Due to the hazmat suit, using a tablet wouldn't really work so well. So, it is keyboard typing for the scientist as she runs through the tests. And...what she comes back with is nothing extraordinarily good.

"Liquid is acting as a support medium for a synthetic retrovirus, designed to be inhaled via aerosol. Initial examination indicates that the retrovirus is meant to introduce foreign DNA into host cells, in much of the same way as common genetic therapies are performed today. DNA renders further examination."

Moving on to the delivery mechanism. "The device isn't particularly extraterrestrial, although it is rather advanced technologically speaking."

So...verdict for now is that the retrovirus may be alien in origin...but the bomb housing it is not.

Darcy Lewis has posed:
"The armor? Yeah. No way that is something they're carrying around on Earth, mass-wise," Darcy agrees with Nat. Of course, Jane's observation reflects that this is a topic the two of them share most, going back to those days with Dr. Selvig. "My assumption is that, yeah, they're 'beaming it down,'" she uses the well-established Star Trek lingo, for the sake of the non-Astrophysicists in the room (of course Steve missed that show...), "We know they have pretty robust teleportation technology and can use it to send soldiers directly, at least from low orbit, so transporting gear doesn't seem far-fetched. Bigger question there is the source, since as far as -I- know, there's only the one Shi'ar ship in our system. And it's here under diplomatic flag."

More background: There are 'friendly' Shi'ar, who have been engaged in formal relations via UNOOSA since the battle on the moon, including visits to the Starport. In theory, they're working in good faith and negotiating a permanent treaty!

As for countermeasures, she looks back pointedly at Steve. "The Wakandan UNOOSA rep penetrated it with her sidearm, so I think it's a fair bet Vibranium works. That at least, metallurgically, we're on par with them... for the very limited definition of 'We'." One country, versus the whole planet, and let alone a space Empire. She also doesn't comment on the 'World Ending' banter, but rather confirms: "Borrowed or not, I am definitely hiding behind you if anything goes wrong, in pretty much any context."

Turning back to the glass, she watches as Jemma gets to the really important part. There is a little holding of her breath as the careful syringe-work and other procedures are carried out. The room has all kinds of alarms to indicate failures or accidental spread, monitoring down to a couple particles per million in the filters. Nothing is going off, so far. And there's also the result. "Oh THAT sounds fun. Uh. Oh, wait wait." There's a bit of a Eureka moment, and she goes and gets her pad. "I'm gonna bring something up on your station. It's data from the hospital where the break in occurred. Do these match up?"

Natasha Romanoff has posed:
Natasha Romanoff nods over at Darcy, "And vibranium weapons aren't exactly standard field kit." Or elite field kit. Or special operative field kit. Clint -may- have a couple of vibranium tipped arrows and Cap has his shield, but those are likely it. She muses.. "Secondary adamantium unless the unique properties of vibranium were what let it penetrate.."

It's not like having secondary adamantium rounds for their sidearms is exactly part of the special oeprative field kit, no matter how useful it would be. She goes to watch. "And no real idea where the focal point of thier network is or where they're broadcasting from?" That's SWORD's purview or maybe Vision's depending on what a priority this is for the Avengers to track. Given current events alien gunrunners may not be high up the priority tier.

Steve Rogers has posed:
Steve Rogers listens to Jane's talk of dimensions and mass transfer and astral attacks. At the end of it he just gives a nod of his head rather than asking. It's a moment though to really need Clint standing beside him to lean closer and say quietly, "That means they pretty much don't know."

Another sip of Steve's coffee is taken, and then he sets down the mug on a clear spot on a counter before returning his attention to what is going on inside the glass. He crosses his arms, that concerned look still showing. "Is there any kind of defense we can come up with, if they are able to land troops anywhere they want?" he asks, looking over to the science folks.

Jane Foster has posed:
"An accurate enough assessment, if a concerning one. Someone who can beam their armour down or transmit mass that easily definitely warrants consideration as a priority target. But given everything else, let's be rather satisfied by the limited number of such warriors or avenues for technology to reach our enemies." Jane, positive as ever, clicks onto Darcy's suggestions in the Star Trek venue and how that could possibly be dangerous for the rest of the world. "I am not convinced just /one/ Shi'ar ship is ever present, and the nearest ones are certainly going to be going in and out of Centaurian space on a regular basis. Established economic trade ties, even if Proxima and Alpha Centauri are fairly backwater and remote, as far as the Shi'ar are likely concerned. Low prospects for information, resources, and other valuable assets."

Watching Jemma is probably close to second nature by now, though she directs a considerable amount of her focus to the tablet and what precise information the painstaking work continues to represent.

Jemma Simmons has posed:
As far as what type of DNA is involved? That doesn't take too much for Jemma to determine. In fact, it seems that Jemma knows almost before the results of the computer analysis comes back. A split second, to be sure, if that. However, when Jemma speaks, it is with an certainty that those that really know Jemma have heard before. It is a tone that indicates what Jemma has to offer is solid and sound. "This particular retrovirus is inert." And...just to prove the point, Jemma reaches up and removes the headgear for the hazmat suit, revealing her expression to be one of minor relief. "The capacity to deliver a genetic payload is there, but the actual payload itself is not."

With the headgear off, Jemma is now free to remove those gloves of hers...which allows for a more fine control over the tablet that she now picks up in her hands, choosing that to look at the data Darcy is sending over rather than the monitor screen. "Are you speaking about the hospital data? Looking over what you have here....yes, the substance is a retroviral for cancer. I would say that it is the one and the same. All the markers are there and the composition is identical."

Darcy Lewis has posed:
"Beyond that one ship, I have no idea," Darcy admits, shaking her head at Nat's question. "Tracking them, and on monitoring nearby space in general, is one of SWORD's top priorities, but the technology gap hits pretty hard. I've come up with a method that works decently based on their engine, uh, emissions is the wrong word, but for simplicity's sake," is simplicity another name for Steve? "It's something like that. But I can't say for sure they couldn't get around it if they were taking greater care to be 'quiet.' And that's not getting into the weirder possibilities, like if their access to extra-dimensional spaces might work not just as a transport medium, but, say, allow them to actually sit there, outside of 'normal space.'"

At least his question about transporter defenses has a firm answer. "Good news: we actually have something like that. Again, 'we' being Earth, less so than, uh," she gestures among them, "us, SHIELD-wise. The Starport operates something like that. A redirection system. You try and transport in, it routes you to a fixed destination. Pretty cool." The Deputy Director has had her working there recently, so she got to see it! "All you need is Atlantean, Amazon and Wakandan tech and a bit of 'magic' thrown in." She scrunches her nose. "Which is to say, Earth-wide defenses might not be as practical."

And obviously, Jane has the best view of the bigger picture. "Right. Space is big. We have enough problem watching what is basically our own back yard, in the scope of these societies, but our ability to monitor, let alone project, in 'our' region of space is basically nothing. They could mass a fleet a few light years out and we might not even notice. Upside?"

There's an upside? "It's a long trip from here to M-33, and maybe the difference in scale is a factor in our favor. If I had to guess why we only see a few agents, or these small incursions? Its because they've got a lot on their plate. And Earth punches way above its weight class. So, better to subvert. To leverage disparities. And if these are some hostile faction inside the Empire, screw up our chance at normalizing relations, making useful alliances." Darcy folds her arms, almost an uncomfortable gesture. "I put it in my report, but to me, this reads like the worst parts of our own government history, like the CIA in South America. Selling weapons, messing with terrorist stuff. Big damage for low boots-on-the-ground effort."

Naturally, Jemma's stunt in the clean room causes a bit of alarm, a quick snap of Darcy's attention to the glass. "Wait, what-" It takes her non-medical Doctor brain a second to process that result. Galaxies and supernovas are one thing. But DNA and retroviruses. "So its... part of a weapon, maybe, but not the whole thing?" There's relief in her voice, although it's the kind of result that leaves questions to go with the answers: What are they planning to put in there? "Sounds like you're good to come out, procedure is gonna require the HAZMAT showers regardless," she adds as a reminder over the comm, before looking back at the others, and then offering her tablet for the others. "And... I have no idea what to make of this."

The tablet has a bunch of info brought up from the Hospital break in, including the inventories (which list the stolen retroviral materials), but also a related research paper. The author line includes an interesting list of names: Blumenthal, H., Jankovic, A., Kim, D., and Lykos, K.