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Regina Lab Rats
Free thoughts has recently become privy to a conspiracy so heinous in nature that, despite great risk to its staff and writers, has decided to publish. The conspirators include a powerful megacorp, a sinister off-world government and their craven puppets here on Regina. Their victims are everyone who call Regina home--men, women, children. The high born and the low.

Consider the following facts:

Last year a 'contaminant' in Regina's water supply is believed to have been the cause of a wild rampage that left scores of Zhodani aide personnel dead and worse.

Recently, after gifting Regina with free (untaxed) air, Duchess Corina (née Ling - as in Ling Standard) arranged for new air filters to be installed to 'improve' the air quality. Imported alien labor installed air purification units of unconventional design, at the same time making extensive modifications to the level 1 and 2 water systems that included installations of new 'filters'. The alien workers left immediately upon completing the job.

At about the same time, a particularly virulent form of the 'Regina Crud' began sweeping through the station.

Duchess Corina also had a rather dramatic falling out with representatives of Naasirka and Ling Standard, which resulted in the arrest of her Uncle Xavier Ling. She was obviously very displeased, because while Xavier was in Regina Police custody, there was an "attempted suicide" which left Xavier as a good potential body donor for a core job.

A seeming group of coincidences? Free Thoughts has learned the horrifying truth. It all begins with the arrival of an unassuming Solomani named Christopher Blaelok--now Solomani ambassador to the Spinward Marches. Quite a rise in rank for someone who reportedly left the rim under a cloud.

Together with Nathan Andrews, another shadowy figure, he founded the Palladium Group. Purported to be a private investigation firm, it has very few clients and seems very well financed. Free Thoughts has learned that Nathan Andrews has some connection with the Shelzie Medical foundation, which is involved in esoteric scientific research.

Rounding out the staff at the Palladium Group is powerful psionic Michael Griffin. Not only is Michael a talented adept, but his (now late) brother Andrew Trygaer was a brilliant bio-geneticist who had spent his career working for the Arkadians developing and refining Artificial Persons.

Andrew (and apparently Michael as well) maintained friendly relations with SuSAG general director Anton Solati, until Andrew was killed by SuSAG guards. Anton vanished not long after, believed to have been a victim of the industrial 'accident' that gutted SuSAG's orbital facility. A falling out?

Interestingly, a man coincidentally bearing a similar name and likeness to Andrew Trygaer, one Joseph Trygaer, had been indicted for war crimes because of his fiendish medical experiments on men, women and especially children. Trygaer disappeared after the civil war on his homeworld ended and his beastly work was revealed.; disappeared with a wife and child or children.

 Are his own twisted offspring now following in their father's footsteps? Is it because of familial duty, an inherited mental sickness, or something darker. Are Michael Griffin and Andrew Trygaer the results of Trygaer's unholy experiments, creatures manufactured to carry on with their father's works, so that the hidden power's plans should not be interrupted by even death.

All of this could be coincidence. It could be, if not for the evidence given to Free Thoughts by a highly placed government employee who could remain silent no longer. Though encrypted, our experts have extracted the following minimal information from the reams of coded data. One can only shudder at the thought of what remains to be discovered.

At the core of the infamous Solomani secret police, SolSec, is a fanatical core called the 'Palladium Section', also called 'Section 9'. It's mission is unclear, but it appears to be involved with long range security and future threats. Most disturbing, the following words were decrypted from the half page of data referring to Section 9: "manipulation", "biological", "conformity".

Oddly, the same data make several reference to an individual referred to as "Sontag". All queries on Sontag were rebuffed, and computer searches revealed not a single reference to anyone named Sontag.

Free thoughts was able to learn that Solomani Consul Christopher Blaelok made inquiries about an "Evan Sontag". Free thoughts was also able to find a reference to an Evan Sontag in an obscure 600 year old Solomani book called "The Struggle to Become: a history of artificial persons". Quotes from Sontag include the provocative "...not only will it be possible to create an artificial life form with such psychological make-up as we desire--a personality devoid of criminal intent, a personality given to acts of goodness, aiding the community, finding happiness in conformity ...it may be possible to apply derivative techniques upon the populace at large. At one stroke we can rid the human race of violence, hate, greed..." and, no doubt humanity.

It is no surprise that the Solomani (SolSec) are willing to stoop to any device to hold their citizens in thrall. Why should this concern us? Because they are testing the next generation of biological mind control right here on Regina!! Run out of the offices of the Palladium Group, now under the control of another mystery man, Damian White. A man who interestingly happens to have the same build as the late Nathan Andrews, and who keeps Andrews' dog as his own pet. Animal lover, or core-job?

Why here? It's a safe laboratory far from the rim in case of accident. After all, to them we are just 'inferiors'. How else to explain the facts? Have we not seen the results of these experiments already? The 'suicides' of both Collingwoods, strong willed men who exhibited no unusual personality traits until Regina. Our own Duchess' aberrant behavior. And now the disturbing reports of new 'symptoms' appearing.

Look around you. Look closely at your wife or husband, parent or child, friend or neighbor. Have they changed? Have they fallen under the spell of this Solomani malignancy? Have you?

It is only a matter of time.