Previously on The Outback Series…

Plot Summary

Central Anomaly
SCP-3502 - "An anomalous phenomenon […] (which) affects "kangaroo crossing" signs, commonly found in rural regions of Australia."

Chapter 1
The Outback Sends Its Regards - Wherein Michael has an encounter with 3502.

Chapter 2
Michael Sends His Regards - Wherein Michael - in Foundation custody - is questioned about his experience; following which, he assaults Researcher Bishop and escapes.

Chapter 3
Outback Law - Wherein Michael is pursued by Foundation guards; following which, a kangaroo kills said guards and abducts the unconscious Michael.

Chapter 4
Memories And Marsupials - Wherein Michael is introduced to Oliver the Kangaroo, as well as Isaac the Politician; following which, Michael is shown the Colony Outpost and the Hidden Sanctuary.

Chapter 5
Domino Effect - Wherein Researcher Bishop, following a period of medical leave, meets with Site Director Isabel to discuss the incident involving Michael's escape from Foundation detainment; following which, Bishop is tasked with the duty of relocating Michael and resolving the situation.

Chapter 6

Recon And Revelations - Wherein Researcher Bishop meets his new partner Agent Olguin, and the two of them work together to find a lead on Michael's location; following which they venture into the Outback.

..

"No," Agent Olguin conceded. "No, it's not great. Last known location: Middle of Nowhere. Presumed heading: Away." He dropped his copy of the briefing back onto the conference table. "Shoot, that ain't nothing to go on."

Bishop's morning had been up-and-down thus far. As soon as he'd arrived at Site-297, Director Isabel explained that she had arranged for a field operative - one Agent James Olguin - to assist him in tracking the escaped detainee. Bishop was meant to find his new colleague waiting in the station's conference room, which would serve as their workspace for the time.

Bishop ended up being the one waiting. And when the agent did get there, the introduction was limited to 'Hello', 'How are you?', and 'Let's get down to reading'. The two had then sat in silence until Olguin was caught up and were now evaluating their prospects for this mission.

"Well, we know it's got to do with SCP-3502."

"The kangaroos, eh?"

If you'd actually read the briefing instead of just skimming…

Bishop sighed and confirmed, "Yes. The kangaroos."

"Alright, that's a start." Olguin rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "But we would need info on them: where they've been spotted, where the signs are, dates and times they've been active…"

Oh, so just everything that Containment Technicians and Researchers have been recording for over a year now?

"We do have that information."

"Oh." Olguin paused a beat before adding, "Well, good then."

"We just have to go pull up the archived files on the computer -"

"And you can print all that stuff off?"

"Well yeah, but -" Bishop wondered why they would do that, instead of reading the data directly on the screen.

"Great. I'll let you get to it then." Olguin pushed away from the conference table and stood up.

"Huh? What about you?"

"Y'all are still shortstaffed here after that incident. Hannah has me pulling some guard duty while I'm here."

Hannah?

"Director Isabel?"

"Yeah - probably just up at the desk, watching monitors. So I'll catch up with you in a bit." Olguin left the room before Bishop could muster another response.

Bishop had papers organized in stacks across the table of the conference room when Olguin finally strolled back in, hours later. He had acquired a can of Coke during his time away. "So," he asked between casual sips, "how's this coming along?"

Bishop gestured in exasperation toward everything he had assembled: individual incident reports, detailed testing logs, spreadsheets summarizing weeks and months of data, graphs indicating trendlines over time - all cross-collated by dates and categories. His eye narrowed at Olguin's cola.

Olguin picked up on that and explained that he'd just had lunch. "Why, have you been in here this whole time?" Bishop compared the clock on the wall to his own watch and was unhappy to find that, aside from trips to the printer and back, he had been indeed. "Oh! Well… sorry, pal. Go get after a bite to eat; leave this with me for a bit."

Bishop gladly obliged.

Bishop was stunned when he returned to the conference room; he thought displays like this were just for television characters with big conspiracy theories. Pens, highlighters, and thumbtacks - all in assorted colours - could have been scrounged up from around the office… But where could the coloured string have come from in the short time he'd been gone?

Olguin, without taking his eyes off the chart-sized map spread across the corkboard, spoke over his shoulder: "Ah, you're back; great timing. I didn't want to shuffle everything around too much, but I couldn't find this missing guy's file on the table there."

"Well it's in our briefing folders."

"We have a summary profile in the brief." Olguin traced his hand down a gridline and placed a pin where it intersected a road. "I mean his full profile - all the background stuff."

"This is pretty much my first real day back after the medical leave." Bishop thought back to the last time he had handled the actual paperwork. He grimaced at the memory. "It's in my office, maybe. I'll go have a look."

Bishop's office was on the western side of the building. The setting sun beamed between the slats of the shades, casting a glare off his computer's screen. He rose from his seat and turned to adjust the blinds; when he turned back, Agent Oulgin stood just across the desk.

"Need any help?"

"Jesus!" Bishop startled. "Don't sneak up on me, man."

"Oh," Oulgin shrugged. "Alright, sorry. So, help with something?"

"Well, it doesn't look like anybody put that folder in my office for me," said Bishop as he sat back down. "I was going to just re-print a copy, but there's an issue with file corruption…" He tapped at his keyboard.

"Did you turn it off and on again?"

"The computer," - Bishop clenched his jaw - "works fine. It's the file that's corrupted."

"Oh." Oulgin glanced around the room. After a moment he offered, "Maybe it'll be quicker if I go ask Hannah where the -"

"No!" Bishop stopped him there. It was an extreme circumstance, but he still didn't want to go to her and say he had mislaid the paperwork. "I'll ask Amir later. He probably filed them somewhere."

Oulgin tilted his head. "Okay. Sure. We can work with what we've got for now."

…

"A-ha!"

The sudden outburst snapped Bishop out of a daze. It was as loud and expressive as his partner had been all week.

Olguin leapt up and strode to the map display, where he began removing certain pins according to a calendar printout in his other hand. "So, looking at the whole picture it seems pretty random," he muttered, more to himself than anyone else. "But if we focus just on this timeframe…"

"What are you thinking?"

"Well," Olguin replied, "if we ignore the incidents that happened before last summer, and highlight just the ones between then and now…" He trailed off again, glancing between another sheet of paper and his latest handiwork.

"Then what?" Bishop caught himself sounding more impatient than he'd intended.

"So, the yellow pins are these more recent incidents," Olguin explained. "The red pins are showing the places where they've been found bringing the stuff they steal. And the green strings are for the GPS signals, when they've been trackable."

I'm not colourblind, you dope! Get to the point!

"Now, this cluster of yellows," - an orange highlighter scrawled a border around one group of the pins - "that's from this past month." Another circle was made for the month prior, and for the one preceding that. "Do you see it?"

Bishop tilted his head, squinted. "They're … moving?"

"Expanding," Olguin clarified. "Westward, towards the Site here."

Bishop's eye widened. Now it was clear: apart from some overlap, like links in a chain, each month's activity was shifting to the left of the previous month. "We've gotta tell Isabel!"

"Tell her what? None of this gives us anything on the guy we're actually looking for." Olguin had a point. The task at hand was to locate the loose POI. "But, if we're going to find him with these kangaroos, then we've got someplace to start now."

Bishop thought back on the hours spent so far, poring over data and drawing lines across maps.

I thought we started days ago. And just what are we going to do now? Drive out that way with binoculars, look at kangaroos until we spot one that's actually a big bug-eyed bearded man?

"How will w-" Bishop began to ask, but Oulgin predicted the question and had his answer ready.

"I have a Ford Focus."

Almost predicted.

The plan agreed upon was to set out at dawn the following day, before the afternoon heat would become unbearable. Bishop was tired of being the first one into work and then waiting for his partner, but to his surprise Agent Oulgin was already in the parking lot outside Site-297, leaning on the door of a large SUV.

"Where's the Focus?"

"I've already had two big coffees, mate," Oulgin yawned. "This is as focused as I'll get." Chuckling at his own attempt at humour, Oulgin explained that he had reconsidered the terrain they might be covering today. "Thought some four-wheel drive might come in handy. Hannah made a call, and I was able to borrow this from that other Site's motor pool for the day."

With their packed lunches, spare water bottles, and a tote full of other supplies tucked in the backseat, they pulled out onto the road and started heading east. Bishop finally decided to broach a subject which had been nagging at him. "So… you and the Director are on a first-name basis?" This morning wasn't the first time he'd noticed it.

"Oh. Right - not in line with 'proper decorum', is it?" Oulgin smiled. "Old habit, I suppose. We actually worked quite a few of the same assignments, back when we were both just rookies."

This low-rent field agent and my Site Director started their Foundation careers at the same time?

"And she's in charge of a whole project now?"

"One ambitious lady. I could see it then too. Always eager to get on the highest-profile assignments, wanting those missions they hand out medals for." After a beat he added, "But then you're not supposed to show them to most people, so who knows what the point even is." Olguin looked like he might have more to say on the subject, but instead he suggested they put on some music.

The two men found unexpected common ground as Bishop rifled through the centre console and listed their options: Soft pass on Midnight Oil, they agreed; hard no to Air Supply; both were disappointed at a complete lack of Kevin Bloody Wilson. Ultimately they settled on INXS as the best way to wake themselves up. Bishop mused on his situation - suddenly being away from the labs and out doing fieldwork - while Michael Hutchence sang of a New Sensation.

As they drove on, Bishop regularly compared the vehicle's GPS display with a printed map folded in his lap. "Hey, slow down a bit here, okay?"

"What? I'm hardly going the speed limit."

"3052 affects any driven vehicles which do not decrease their speed as they pass the signs," Bishop recited.

"So if I were going twenty over the limit and I slow down to ten over, that's fine; but staying at the limit is a problem? That's dumb."

"It doesn't matter what you think is dumb," Bishop snapped. "That's how the anomaly works! We've studied it for months, run tons of tests, and that's the conclusion! Now slow down before -"

A blur of black-and-yellow flashing by his window only just registered in Bishop's field of view.

"Oh," Olguin glanced in the rearview mirror. "That was one of those signs, wasn't it?"

"Yeah," Bishop sighed. "it was…"

The pain was dull, yet intense. How many times had civilians described this experience to him before being amesticised and cut loose? And still the strange crushing feeling was nothing like he could have imagined. Darkness bled through Bishop's vision, until all was black.

xxx

Note: Adding some commentary like this as I reread. Not necessarily committing to it, just trying to retrace what narrative intentions might have been.

"No," Agent Olguin conceded. "No, it's not great. 'Last known location: Middle of Nowhere; presumed heading: even further'?" He dropped his copy of the briefing back onto the conference table. "Shoot, that ain't nothing to go on."

Bishop's morning had been up-and-down thus far. As soon as he'd arrived at Site-297, Director Isabel explained that she had arranged for a field operative - one Agent James Olguin - to assist him in tracking the escaped detainee. Bishop was meant to find him waiting in the station's conference room, which would serve as their workspace for the time.

Bishop ended up being the one waiting. And when the agent did get there, the introduction was limited to 'Hello', 'How are you?', and 'Let's get down to reading'. The two had then sat in silence until Olguin was caught up, and now were evaluating their prospects for this mission.

"Well, and we know it's got to do with SCP-3502."

"The kangaroos, yeah?"

You literally just read the briefing a second ago!

Bishop sighed and confirmed "Yes. The kangaroos."

"Alright, that's a start." Olguin rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "But we would need info on them: Where they've been spotted, where the signs are, dates and times they've been active…"

Oh, so just everything that Containment Technicians and Researchers have been recording for over a year now?

"We do have that information."

"Oh." Olguin paused a beat before adding "Well, good then."

"We just have to pull the files from the computer's archive-"

"And you can print all that stuff off?"

"Well, yeah." Bishop wondered why they would do that, instead of looking at the data directly on the screen.

"Great. I'll let you get to it then." Olguin pushed away from the conference table and stood up.

"Huh? What about you?"

"Y'all are still shortstaffed here after that incident. Hannah has me pulling some guard duty while I'm here."

Hannah?

"Director Isabel?"

"Yeah; probably just up at the desk, watching monitors. So I'll catch up with you in a bit." Olguin left the room before Bishop could muster another response.

Intro section: Introduces new character to Series. Establishing: He is a Field Agent assigned by Director Isabel to assist Bishop; he seems lax in his drive, maybe kind of dim; Bishop doesn't initially like him very much(?)

Establishing character moment/scene: Olguin 1) shows up late; 2) lazily skims over the briefing, asks questions that are answered in the briefing; 3) tasks Bishop to do a bunch of busywork; and then 4) leaves early to go off someplace else on Site. (To consider: Can/should these beats and interactions be made even more clear, or their significance more highlighted?)

Bishop had papers organized in stacks across the table of the conference room when Olguin finally strolled back in, hours later. He had acquired a can of Coke during his time away. "So," he asked between casual sips, "how's this coming along?"

Bishop gestured in exasperation toward everything he had assembled: detailed individual incident reports, testing logs, spreadsheets summarizing weeks and months of data, graphs indicating trendlines over time; all cross-collated by dates and categories. His eye narrowed at Olguin's cola.

Olguin picked up on that and explained that he'd just had lunch. "Why, have you been in here this whole time?" Bishop compared the clock on the wall to his own watch and was unhappy to find that, aside from trips to the printer and back, he had been indeed. "Oh! Well… Sorry, pal. Go get after a bite to eat; leave this with me for a bit."

Bishop gladly obliged.

Passing time in the day for the story. Further establishing that Olguin is a slacker / Bishop is a relentless worker.

Bishop was stunned when he returned to the conference room; he thought displays like this were just for television characters with big conspiracy theories. Pens, highlighters, and thumbtacks - all in assorted colours - could have been scrounged up from around the office… But where did the coloured string come from in the short time he'd been gone?

Olguin, without taking his eyes off the chart-sized map spread across the corkboard, spoke over his shoulder: "Ah, you're back; great timing. I didn't want to shuffle everything around too much, but I couldn't find this guy's file on the table there."

"Well it's in our briefing folders."

"We have a summary profile in the brief." Olguin traced his hand down a gridline and placed a pin where it intersected a road. "I mean his full file - all of it."

"This is pretty much my first real day back after the medical leave." Bishop thought back to the last time he handled the actual paperwork. He grimaced at the memory. "It's in my office, maybe. I'll go have a look."

Showing that Olguin can be capable under certain circumstances. Setting up for Bishop to find that someone has removed/erased the important incident report.

Bishop's office was on the western side of the building. The setting sun beamed between the slats of the shades, casting a glare off his computer's screen. He rose from his seat and turned to adjust the blinds; when he turned back Agent Oulgin stood just across the desk.

"Need any help?"

"Jesus!" Bishop startled. "Don't sneak up on me, man."

"Oh," Oulgin shrugged. "Alright, sorry. So, help with something?"

"Well, it doesn't look like anybody put that folder in my office for me," said Bishop as he sat back down. "I was going to just re-print a copy, but there's an issue with file corruption…" Bishop tapped at his keyboard.

"Did you turn it off and on?"

"The computer," Bishop clenched his jaw, "works fine. It's the file that's corrupted."

"Oh." Oulgin glanced around the room. After a moment he offered "Maybe it'll be quicker if I go ask Hannah where the-"

"No!" Bishop stopped him there. It was an extreme circumstance, but he didn't want to go to her and say he had mislaid the paperwork. "I'll ask Amir later. He probably filed them somewhere."

Oulgin tilted his head. "Okay. Sure. We can work with what we've got for now."

Setting sun, whole day has passed. Bishop doesn't like Olguin? Something about Director Isabel?

Bishop was pacing back and forth while waiting for a fresh pot of coffee to brew. He was also doing his best to explain to Oulgin the intricacies of so many different summaries on SCP-3502 experiments and observations.

"So maybe they're just like traffic cops?" Oulgin swiveled idly in his office chair. "Got a monthly quota of tickets to give: crack down hard starting on the first; then later on it's okay to let a few off with a warning."

Is this a joke? We can not be considering ridiculous ideas like that!

"I doubt that," Bishop scowled. "Besides, it's not really so consistent. A bit more active in winter than summer, a bit more frequent in the first weeks of the month than the last. But there's no time of the year when we can speed around the reserve freely."

"Is that so?"

"To the best of our knowledge, yes. Although it's mostly based on civilian incidents." Bishop turned back to the brewer and filled his mug. "We had our big push on testing immediately after initial discovery; but that's been scaled way back. Focus now is on passive observation and containment."

"Enough there for two?" Oulgin, sudden and unexpected, was looming over Bishop's shoulder with his empty mug in hand.

Damn it!

Bishop jumped, sloshing half his coffee out of the mug and across the kitchenette counter. "Oh- oh, damn it!" He frantically moved to rescue the nearby paperwork.

A flat "Oops," was as much as Oulgin offered. While casually moving to retrieve a roll of paper towel, his phone chirped from inside his pocket.

Don't even think of leaving me to clean this up while you-

"I gotta go for a bit. Sorry."

Son of a bitch.

More demonstration of the characters working at solving the case. More of Olguin being annoying, but also that he is ducking out where Bishop doesn't know where he is sometimes/frequently (?)

"Well, what about the types of vehicles?" Olguin took another stab at pegging a possible pattern.

"It's done everything: dirtbikes, sedans, pick-up trucks… Anything from cargo vans to bicycles!"

"What kinda suicidal masochist would be pedaling a bike way out here?"

"It was us. For testing purposes."

"Did they take the bike?"

"Yeah they took the bike."

"Huh," Olguin shrugged. "Weird."

Bishop smiled to himself.

Not even the weirdest test I've ever conducted.

More of the characters at work (was there something like a montage to be here?)

##green| This scene and the one before it, I think we should consider combining / shortening to be more efficient. This Tale is already longer than any of the previous chapters, and we can probably communicate the essence of their working process in less space and get to the ending part quicker.

"A-ha!"

The sudden outburst snapped Bishop out of a daze. It was as loud and expressive as his colleague had been all week.

Olguin leapt up and strode to the map display, where he began pulling out certain blue pins and replacing them with yellow ones. "So, looking at the whole picture it seems pretty random," he muttered, more to himself than anyone. "But these dates…"

Bishop prompted him to elaborate on what he was thinking. "Well," Olguin replied, "if we ignore the incidents that happened before last summer, and highlight just the ones between then and now…" He trailed off again, glancing between a sheet of paper and his latest handywork.

"Then what?" Bishop caught himself sounding more impatient than he'd intended.

"So, the yellow pins are these more recent incidents," Olguin explained. "The red pins are showing the places where they've been found bringing the stuff they steal. And the green strings are for the GPS signals, when they've been trackable."

I'm not colourblind, you dope! Get to the point!

"Now, this cluster of yellows," an orange highlighter scrawled a border around one group of the pins. "That's from this past month." A green circle was made for the month prior, a pink circle for the one preceding that. "Do you see it?"

Bishop tilted his head, squinted. He was far too tired for this, so waited for Olguin to just come out and say what was there to see.

"It looks like westward expansion."

Bishop's eye widened. Now it was clear: apart from some overlap, like links in a chain, each month's activity was shifting to the left of the previous month. "We've gotta tell Isabel!"

"Tell her what? None of this gives us anything on the guy we're actually looking for." Olguin had a point. The task at hand was to locate the loose POI. "But, if we're going to find him with these kangaroos, then we've got someplace to start now."

Bishop thought back on the hours spent so far, poring over data and drawing lines across maps.

I thought we started days ago. And just what are we going to do now? Drive out that way with binoculars, look at kangaroos until we spot one that's actually a big bug-eyed bearded man?

"How w-" Bishop began to ask, but Oulgin predicted the question and had his answer ready.

"I have a Ford Focus."

Almost predicted.

The characters crack the case and can go out to search for the Kangaroo Gang now.

The plan agreed upon was to set out at dawn the following day; before the midday heat would become unbearable. Bishop was tired of being first one into work and then waiting for his partner; but to his surprise, Agent Oulgin was already in the parking lot outside Site-297, leaning on the door of a large SUV.

"Where's the Focus?"

"I've already had two big coffees, mate," Oulgin yawned. "This is as focused as I'll get."

Chuckling at his attempt at humour, Oulgin explained that he had reconsidered the terrain they might be covering today. "Thought some four-wheel drive might come in handy. Hannah made a call, and I was able to borrow this from that other Site's motor pool for the day."

With their packed lunches, spare water bottles, and a tote full of other supplies tucked in the backseat, they pulled out onto the roads and started heading east. Bishop finally decided to broach a subject which had been nagging at him. "So… you and Isabel are on a first-name basis?" This morning wasn't the first time he'd noticed it.

"Oh. Right; not in line with 'proper decorum', is it?" Oulgin smiled. "Old habit, I suppose. We actually worked quite a few of the same assignments, back when we were both just rookies."

This low-rent field agent and my Site Director had started their Foundation careers at the same time?

"And she's in charge of a whole project now?"

"One ambitious lady. I could see it then too. Always eager to get on the highest-profile assignments; wanting those missions that they hand out medals for." After a beat he added "But then you're not even allowed to show them to most people, so who knows what the point even is."

He looked like he might have more to say on the subject; instead he suggested that they put on some music. Bishop rifled through the centre console and listed their options.

"Midnight Oil, Air Supply, Kevin Bloody Wilson…" Bishop mumbled.

Ogluin glanced at the list, and a particular band caught his eye.

"INXS, thought they were obscure in Australia."

Bishop made a face that consisted of bewilderment and downright dumbfoundedness.

"Guess you learn something new everyday." Bishop chuckled. Tapping the albumn cover on the screen, Bishop scrolled down and pressed one of the bands most famous singles: New Sensation.

Throwing it into drive, Ogluin speeds down the outback stretch, as the thrash of drums and heavy guitars echo through the windows.

As they drove on, Bishop regularly compared the vehicle's GPS display with a printed map folded in his lap. "Hey, slow down a bit here, ay?"

"What? I'm hardly going the speed limit."

"3052 affects any driven vehicles which do not decrease their speed as they pass the signs," Bishop recited.

"So if I were going twenty over the limit and I slow down to ten over, that's fine; but staying at the limit is a problem? That's dumb."

"It doesn't matter what you think is dumb," Bishop snapped. "That's how the anomaly works! We've studied it for months, run tons of tests, and that's the conclusion! Now slow down before-"

A blur of black-and-yellow flashing by his window only just registered in Bishop's field of view.

"Oh, that was one of those signs, wasn't it?"

Yes. Yes, it was.

Bishop didn't have time to say anything before the world went black around him.

Room for freer (more free?) establishment of each character in smalltalk. More implication of Olguin and his past connection with Director Isabel. Ends with them getting jacked by the Kangaroos; and they can meet Michael and Isaac face-to-face in the next chapter.

Final Notes: …

Copy of draft as of 24/04/20 - version on Draft 0 tab updated.

"No," Agent Olguin conceded. "No, it's not great. Last known location: Middle of Nowhere. Presumed heading: Away." He dropped his copy of the briefing back onto the conference table. "Shoot, that ain't nothing to go on."

Bishop's morning had been up-and-down thus far. As soon as he'd arrived at Site-297, Director Isabel explained that she had arranged for a field operative - one Agent James Olguin - to assist him in tracking the escaped detainee. Bishop was meant to find his new colleague waiting in the station's conference room, which would serve as their workspace for the time.

Bishop ended up being the one waiting. And when the agent did get there, the introduction was limited to 'Hello', 'How are you?', and 'Let's get down to reading'. The two had then sat in silence until Olguin was caught up, and now were evaluating their prospects for this mission.

"Well, we know it's got to do with SCP-3502."

"The kangaroos, yeah?"

If you'd actually read the briefing instead of just skimming…

Bishop sighed and confirmed "Yes. The kangaroos."

"Alright, that's a start." Olguin rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "But we would need info on them: Where they've been spotted, where the signs are, dates and times they've been active…"

Oh, so just everything that Containment Technicians and Researchers have been recording for over a year now?

"We do have that information."

"Oh." Olguin paused a beat before adding "Well, good then."

"We just have to go pull up the archived files on the computer-"

"And you can print all that stuff off?"

"Well, yeah." Bishop wondered why they would do that, instead of reading the data directly on the screen.

"Great. I'll let you get to it then." Olguin pushed away from the conference table and stood up.

"Huh? What about you?"

"Y'all are still shortstaffed here after that incident. Hannah has me pulling some guard duty while I'm here."

Hannah?

"Director Isabel?"

"Yeah; probably just up at the desk, watching monitors. So I'll catch up with you in a bit." Olguin left the room before Bishop could muster another response.

Bishop had papers organized in stacks across the table of the conference room when Olguin finally strolled back in, hours later. He had acquired a can of Coke during his time away. "So," he asked between casual sips, "how's this coming along?"

Bishop gestured in exasperation toward everything he had assembled: detailed individual incident reports, testing logs, spreadsheets summarizing weeks and months of data, graphs indicating trendlines over time; all cross-collated by dates and categories. His eye narrowed at Olguin's cola.

Olguin picked up on that and explained that he'd just had lunch. "Why, have you been in here this whole time?" Bishop compared the clock on the wall to his own watch and was unhappy to find that, aside from trips to the printer and back, he had been indeed. "Oh! Well… Sorry, pal. Go get after a bite to eat; leave this with me for a bit."

Bishop gladly obliged.

Bishop was stunned when he returned to the conference room; he thought displays like this were just for television characters with big conspiracy theories. Pens, highlighters, and thumbtacks - all in assorted colours - could have been scrounged up from around the office… But where did the coloured string come from in the short time he'd been gone?

Olguin, without taking his eyes off the chart-sized map spread across the corkboard, spoke over his shoulder: "Ah, you're back; great timing. I didn't want to shuffle everything around too much, but I couldn't find this missing guy's file on the table there."

"Well it's in our briefing folders."

"We have a summary profile in the brief." Olguin traced his hand down a gridline and placed a pin where it intersected a road. "I mean his full profile - all the background stuff."

"This is pretty much my first real day back after the medical leave." Bishop thought back to the last time he handled the actual paperwork. He grimaced at the memory. "It's in my office, maybe. I'll go have a look."

Bishop's office was on the western side of the building. The setting sun beamed between the slats of the shades, casting a glare off his computer's screen. He rose from his seat and turned to adjust the blinds; when he turned back Agent Oulgin stood just across the desk.

"Need any help?"

"Jesus!" Bishop startled. "Don't sneak up on me, man."

"Oh," Oulgin shrugged. "Alright, sorry. So, help with something?"

"Well, it doesn't look like anybody put that folder in my office for me," said Bishop as he sat back down. "I was going to just re-print a copy, but there's an issue with file corruption…" Bishop tapped at his keyboard.

"Did you turn it off and on?"

"The computer," Bishop clenched his jaw, "works fine. It's the file that's corrupted."

"Oh." Oulgin glanced around the room. After a moment he offered "Maybe it'll be quicker if I go ask Hannah where the-"

"No!" Bishop stopped him there. It was an extreme circumstance, but he didn't want to go to her and say he had mislaid the paperwork. "I'll ask Amir later. He probably filed them somewhere."

Oulgin tilted his head. "Okay. Sure. We can work with what we've got for now."

…

"A-ha!"

The sudden outburst snapped Bishop out of a daze. It was as loud and expressive as his partner had been all week.

Olguin leapt up and strode to the map display, where he began highlighting certain pins according to a calendar printout in his other hand. "So, looking at the whole picture it seems pretty random," he muttered, more to himself than anyone. "But these dates…"

"What are you thinking?"

"Well," Olguin replied, "if we ignore the incidents that happened before last summer, and highlight just the ones between then and now…" He trailed off again, glancing between another sheet of paper and his latest handywork.

"Then what?" Bishop caught himself sounding more impatient than he'd intended.

"So, the yellow pins are these more recent incidents," Olguin explained. "The red pins are showing the places where they've been found bringing the stuff they steal. And the green strings are for the GPS signals, when they've been trackable."

I'm not colourblind, you dope! Get to the point!

"Now, this cluster of yellows," an orange highlighter scrawled a border around one group of the pins. "That's from this past month." Another circle was made for the month prior, and for the one preceding that. "Do you see it?"

Bishop tilted his head, squinted. He was far too tired for this, so waited for Olguin to just come out and say what was there to see.

"It looks like westward expansion."

Bishop's eye widened. Now it was clear: apart from some overlap, like links in a chain, each month's activity was shifting to the left of the previous month. "We've gotta tell Isabel!"

"Tell her what? None of this gives us anything on the guy we're actually looking for." Olguin had a point. The task at hand was to locate the loose POI. "But, if we're going to find him with these kangaroos, then we've got someplace to start now."

Bishop thought back on the hours spent so far, poring over data and drawing lines across maps.

I thought we started days ago. And just what are we going to do now? Drive out that way with binoculars, look at kangaroos until we spot one that's actually a big bug-eyed bearded man?

"How will w-" Bishop began to ask, but Oulgin predicted the question and had his answer ready.

"I have a Ford Focus."

Almost predicted.

The plan agreed upon was to set out at dawn the following day; before the midday heat would become unbearable. Bishop was tired of being first one into work and then waiting for his partner; but to his surprise, Agent Oulgin was already in the parking lot outside Site-297, leaning on the door of a large SUV.

"Where's the Focus?"

"I've already had two big coffees, mate," Oulgin yawned. "This is as focused as I'll get."

Chuckling at his own attempt at humour, Oulgin explained that he had reconsidered the terrain they might be covering today. "Thought some four-wheel drive might come in handy. Hannah made a call, and I was able to borrow this from that other Site's motor pool for the day."

With their packed lunches, spare water bottles, and a tote full of other supplies tucked in the backseat, they pulled out onto the roads and started heading east. Bishop finally decided to broach a subject which had been nagging at him. "So… you and the Director are on a first-name basis?" This morning wasn't the first time he'd noticed it.

"Oh. Right; not in line with 'proper decorum', is it?" Oulgin smiled. "Old habit, I suppose. We actually worked quite a few of the same assignments, back when we were both just rookies."

This low-rent field agent and my Site Director had started their Foundation careers at the same time?

"And she's in charge of a whole project now?"

"One ambitious lady. I could see it then too. Always eager to get on the highest-profile assignments; wanting those missions that they hand out medals for." After a beat he added "But then you're not even allowed to show them to most people, so who knows what the point even is." Olguin looked like he might have more to say on the subject, but instead he suggested they put on some music.

The two men found unexpected common ground as Bishop rifled through the centre console and listed their options: Soft pass on Midnight Oil, they agreed; hard no to Air Supply; both were disappointed at a complete lack of Kevin Bloody Wilson. Ultimately they settled on INXS as the best way to wake themselves up. Bishop mused on his situation - suddenly being away from the labs and out doing fieldwork - while Michael Hutchence sang of a New Sensation.

As they drove on, Bishop regularly compared the vehicle's GPS display with a printed map folded in his lap. "Hey, slow down a bit here, eh?"

"What? I'm hardly going the speed limit."

"3052 affects any driven vehicles which do not decrease their speed as they pass the signs," Bishop recited.

"So if I were going twenty over the limit and I slow down to ten over, that's fine; but staying at the limit is a problem? That's dumb."

"It doesn't matter what you think is dumb," Bishop snapped. "That's how the anomaly works! We've studied it for months, run tons of tests, and that's the conclusion! Now slow down before-"

A blur of black-and-yellow flashing by his window only just registered in Bishop's field of view.

"Oh, that was one of those signs, wasn't it?"

Yes. Yes, it was.

Bishop didn't have anything to say before the world went black around him.

xxx

…

Space saver.

To keep track of feedback received (and to note who from).

11:18 <+Pratten> Kaden, Orchitty, for reference here's the link, at Draft 0, there is a synopsis as well, considering that this is the newest chapter in a series! http://scp-sandbox-3.wikidot.com/collab:outback-series-pratten-boogey
11:18 <Ryan87> but the concept for the scp itself
11:19 <Orchitty> I apologize for my bluntness, but the source material is still a bit more interesting than this modification of it
11:19 <Orchitty> The myth has cultural staying power for a reason
11:19 <Kaden> Pratten: Should I read the chapters on the first tab?
11:20 <Ryan87> ok bud does the revesion make it sound better?
11:20 <+Pratten> Kaden: If you would like, they are short, but are optional if you don't want to read them!
11:20 → @AbsentmindedNihilist (opped) joined
11:20 <Kaden> Alright! I might.
11:20 <Ryan87> just need to know if im makeing any progres
11:20 <Orchitty> Pratten: Is the thing you want critiqued under the Draft 1 tab, or is it yet to be sent
11:20 <rubberchickenzilla> Ryan87: what do you want the narrative to focus on?
11:20 <Orchitty> Ryan87: It's more interesting, but I don't think this line of anomaly will have much staying power
11:21 <rubberchickenzilla> Right now there's lots of stuff shoved together and it feels messy/tacked on
11:21 <+Pratten> Orchitty: It's under draft 0 tab!
11:21 <Orchitty> Okay coolio, time to read
11:21 <Ryan87> your still talking about the post right?
11:21 <+Pratten> Draft 1 has a bunch of notes between me and BoogeyMan23 XD
11:22 <Ryan87> because now that I take a closer look at the page layout part
11:23 <Ryan87> I still see stuff that from my last pusdo narative
11:23 <rubberchickenzilla> Even just the narrative part is off
11:24 <Orchitty> Pratten: Given the length of this, I'm gonna keep my (probably annoying) grammatical nitpicking to a minimum
11:24 <Ryan87> how so?
11:24 <+Pratten> Orchitty: If you want to, I don't mind the nitpicks!
11:24 <Orchitty> I'll keep my critique relevant to structure and plot thangs
11:24 <rubberchickenzilla> Like what do you actually want the story to be about? A GOC/Foundation teamup?
11:24 <+Pratten> Orchitty: That's fair
11:25 <rubberchickenzilla> Because it seems like more an afterthought at the minute
11:25 <Ryan87> it is, but at the same time it isn't
11:25 <Orchitty> (I'll be honest, combing for grammar stuff in anything of a certain length is a dreadful prospect. I enjoy critiquing, but I ain't no editor.)
11:25 <Ryan87> i know that sounds confuseing
11:26 <rubberchickenzilla> And, like orchitty says, the monster itself is kind of bland
11:26 <rubberchickenzilla> Which makes it hard for me to get behind the teamup
11:26 <Orchitty> Pratten: What I will say upfront though is that your prose and syntax feels excellent
11:26 <Orchitty> So I probably wouldn't be nitpicking too much anyway
11:26 → DrMarx joined (~ten.knilneddus.nyd.ser.10ktmctshc.76D84447-CRInys|criigc#ten.knilneddus.nyd.ser.10ktmctshc.76D84447-CRInys|criigc)
11:27 <+Pratten> Ahh, okay!
11:27 <Ryan87> by monster your talking about the crazy lady that's spreading the condition right?
11:27 <rubberchickenzilla> Yeah
11:28 <Ryan87> I probabily should explain more about her
11:28 <Ryan87> the deal is that she's not only nuts, but smart
11:28 <rubberchickenzilla> Like her being a "crazy lady" maybe isn't the best way to go about it
11:28 <Kaden> Pratten: Only one thing I've noticed so far is the used of differing regional slang
11:28 ⇐ Mortos quit (muiropme.elbbabonhcet.dna.gniman.skcipeci|kcipecI#muiropme.elbbabonhcet.dna.gniman.skcipeci|kcipecI) Quit: Reality is an annoyance I have to put up with every now and then.
11:28 <+Pratten> Kaden: Oh?
11:28 <Ryan87> crazy ladye is more of a name holder
11:28 <Ryan87> crazy lady
11:28 <Kaden> For example, I believe this is in Australia, right?
11:29 <rubberchickenzilla> So why does she want to spread the condition?
11:29 ⇐ bloohued quit (~PI.F3DB06A2.AD9EA3DE.FD480AA9|criigc#PI.F3DB06A2.AD9EA3DE.FD480AA9|criigc) Quit: CGI:IRC
11:29 <+Pratten> Yes, it's in Australia
11:29 <Orchitty> I'm a boring New Englander, so I can't give much input on slang myself
11:29 <Ryan87> hard to say, mainly because I'm not a regestered therprest
11:30 <Ryan87> with body armor
11:30 <Kaden> Well in Australia "Y'all" isn't really used.
11:30 <rubberchickenzilla> Well she needs a motivation beyond "she's crazy"
11:30 <+Pratten> Kaden: Wait, is that from Ogluin?
11:30 <rubberchickenzilla> Because that's boring
11:30 <Ryan87> sorry, that was me being "smart"
11:30 <Kaden> Uh lemme check back
11:31 <Orchitty> Pratten: My initial input is ready, if you'd want it now
11:31 <+Pratten> Orchitty: Shoot!
11:31 <Kaden> Yes, it's from ogluin
11:31 <Ryan87> what I meen is that she has this insaine and possiblal narsitic desire to make those in her own image
11:32 <Kaden> Oulgin*
11:32 <+Pratten> Ahh, I see
11:32 <Orchitty> Ryan87: That's still just taking an idea from a preexisting myth without much modification
11:32 <+Pratten> I'll discuss with Boogey whether that needs to be changed, because we actually don't know his country of origin..
11:32 <rubberchickenzilla> She's "insane and narcissistic" is the same as going "she's crazy"- why does she have that desire?
11:32 <Kaden> Well, even then he also says "Mate
11:33 <Kaden> So there's both Western and Australian slang
11:33 <rubberchickenzilla> She wants everyone to be like her, but why does she want that?
11:33 <Orchitty> Pratten: The events as they happen seem to logically follow each other, so no confusing ambiguity there. I haven't read the prior installments, but everything seems to make sense.
11:33 <Kaden> I should say Southern America, sorry
11:33 <Ryan87> basicly paint the world in her immage
11:33 <Ryan87> at least in my head
11:33 <Ryan87> that's not currently in my rough draft
11:33 <Orchitty> The prose is enjoyable, and the inner dialogue isn't too distracting
11:33 <rubberchickenzilla> Why does she want to paint the world in her image?
11:34 <Orchitty> The dialogue between the characters doesn't seem stilted, so no problems there
11:34 <Orchitty> Pratten: All in all, pretty solid
11:34 <Orchitty> I dig it
11:34 <Kaden> Oops, I also noticed some Canadian slang.
11:34 <+Pratten> Orchitty: Ahh, nice!
11:34 <Ryan87> basicly make all women have the same condition as herself
11:34 <+Pratten> Were there any issues that seemed to have sprung up?
11:35 <Ryan87> kind of like some sort of supervillin terrost
11:35 <+Pratten> Kaden: We maaay have to make that character ambiguous XD
11:35 <rubberchickenzilla> Okay, you're rephrasing the same point a lot
11:35 <Kaden> I'm Canadian, and I'm pretty sure they don't use it anywhere else, if they do my apologies, but I noticed Bishop (different character) said "Eh" at the end of the senence
11:36 <Kaden> Very common in Canada, and I assume it's regional to here, but tbh I'm not sure
11:36 <+Pratten> Oh wait, I see what you mean
11:36 <Orchitty> Pratten: I few minor grammatical errs, but mainly just personal preferences being at odds. Nothing outrageous. I good once-over reading it aloud should catch any wording that feels off.
11:36 <rubberchickenzilla> But you still haven't given me a real motivation: what made her this way, what made her "crazy"
11:36 <+Pratten> I think it needs to be more of an "ay?" than an eh, I shall edit that!
11:36 <Kaden> Grammatical errs
11:37 <+Pratten> Orchitty: Ahh, I see!
11:37 <Orchitty> I always read my own work out loud to catch anything weird
11:37 <Ryan87> I kind of want that part to be up to the reader
11:37 <Ryan87> the part as of why
11:37 <Orchitty> Ryan87: Ambiguity in this case isn't very captivating
11:38 <Orchitty> Pratten: All in all, Good Shit(TM)
11:38 <Orchitty> Two thumbs up from me
11:38 <rubberchickenzilla> That's code for "I don't know". As a writer you should know, even if you don't say it you should have something in your head
11:38 <Kaden> Pratten: Literally the regional slang was the only thing I saw wrong. I notice you and I have VERY similar writing styles when It comes to narratives… so I may be a tad bit biased when I say it was fuckin AMAZING
11:38 <+Pratten> Orchitty: Thanks man! I'll let my co author know!
11:38 <Orchitty> No problemo
11:38 <rubberchickenzilla> Generic bad guys with generic motivations and generic supowers just aren't enjoyable
11:38 <+Pratten> Kaden: Oh damn, nice!
11:38 <Orchitty> I'm probably gonna head out soon if anyone else has anything on hand
11:39 <Ryan87> Well, there is one possible explation ive been workin in my head, but it would likely require another ariticle
11:40 <anorrack> Would Anyone want to look at a horizon initiative draft of anti-sarkic propaganda
11:40 <rubberchickenzilla> Again you don't have to say it to the reader, but knowing it yourself will change how you write the character
11:40 <Kaden> Pratten: Honestly once I'm more experience and actually become a member, I would LOVE to do a collab with you, if that's okay.
11:41 <Orchitty> Okay I sadly rescind my prior offer cause
11:41 <Orchitty> I am more mentally tired than I estimated
11:41 <Ryan87> so I don't have to add it to the artical i'm writeing?
11:41 <Orchitty> I was on a roll and ignored my brain getting Stupid(TM)
11:41 <rubberchickenzilla> Not necessarily
11:41 <+Pratten> Kaden: Perhaps, yeah! Depends on my work XD
11:41 <Orchitty> Pratten: Glad to be of assistance
11:42 <+Pratten> Orchitty: And thank you for taking the time to read it!
11:42 <rubberchickenzilla> Orchitty you've done like a metric fuckton of crits today, congrats
11:42 <Orchitty> Nine-ish, yea
11:42 <Orchitty> Eight if I count a revision as one
11:42 <Kaden> Well, I'll have to see all of you later. I'm going night-night. If you wanna add me on Wiki-Dot my username is Kaden Maxwell
11:42 <Orchitty> Okey-doke
11:42 <Kaden> Night all!
11:42 <Ryan87> suprised that orchitty is not part of the butterfly squad
11:43 <+Pratten> Night Kaden!

Dump is here, gonna sort in the morning, tired..

…

'The Outback' Project

Joining TheManhattenProject in contributing to their TOSIR tale series ("The Outback Sends Its Regards")

Relevant Reading

Central anomaly
SCP-3502 - "An anomalous phenomenon […] (which) affects "kangaroo crossing" signs, commonly found in rural regions of Australia."

Chapter 1
The Outback Sends Its Regards - Wherein Michael has an encounter with 3502.

Chapter 2
Michael Sends His Regards - Wherein Michael, in Foundation custody, is questioned about his experience; following which, he assaults Researcher Bishop and escapes.

Chapter 3
Outback Law - Wherein Michael is pursued by Foundation guards; following which, a kangaroo kills said guards and abducts the unconscious Michael.

Chapter 4
Memories And Marsupials - Wherein Michael is introduced to Oliver the Kangaroo, as well as Isaac the Politician; following which, Michael is shown the Colony Outpost and the Hidden Sanctuary.

Chapter 5
Domino Effect - Wherein Researcher Bishop, following a period of medical leave, meets with Site Director Isabel to discuss the incident involving Michael's escape from Foundation detainment; following which, Bishop is tasked with the duty of relocating Michael and resolving the situation.

Central Cast

Michael:

Civilian. Shipping service delivery driver. Australian "bogan".
Short temper, aggressive.

Bishop:

SCP Foundation Researcher; assigned to 3052.
Mild-mannered, slightly inexperienced.
Recently lost an eye to a violent altercation.

Olguin:

SCP Foundation Agent; brought in to assist Bishop in tracking Michael down.
Seems dull or unmotivated at most times, but very capable when it comes to their job
Typically quiet/reserved; folksy and affable when they do speak.
Familiar with Director Isabel - perhaps colleagues at one time, before Isabel's ambition led to advancement and promotions.

Oliver:

Sapient red kangaroo.
Killed four armed Foundation guards.
Speaks (with a super-Australian accent)

Isaac:

Civilian. Former owner/operator of a mining company; Former Member of Australian Parliament.
Reputation ruined following alleged involvement in one or more political scandals.
- Smear campaign was orchestrated by the Foundation in order to facilitate the acquirement of a property for the purpose of establishing containment of an anomaly: one of the mine sites within his operation.
Now lives among the sapient kangaroos in Hidden Sanctuary.

Isabel:

SCP Foundation Site Director; in charge of the facility dedicated to containment of 3502.
Outwardly affable, keeps a tidy workspace.
Hidden motive/goal: The ultimate neutralization of SCP-3502.
- Unsatisfied with assignment to a single-anomaly-dedicated facility in a remote location - requests for transfer via standard avenues have been declined.

And Featuring,

Locations

General setting: Queensland, Australia

Site-███: A minor Foundation facility dedicated to monitoring and containment of SCP-3502. Disguised as a Police Detachment and staffed by a minimal crew of guards and researchers.

Hidden Sanctuary: A secret location, the main headquarters and home of the sapient kangaroos (3502-1). Also Isaac's home following his departure from the public eye.

Outpost Colonies: Smaller semi-permanent settlements created by 3502-1, using the materials acquired from scavenged vehicles.

Ideas Moving Forward

Additional Character

Agent Partner (*placeholder name so they aren't just a pronoun every time I note them.)
A Foundation field agent assigned to work with Bishop on his mission to track Michael.
Previous involvement in the campaign to discredit Isaac. (Significance of this not recognized until later.)
Potential angle: Cast some suspicion on them. Could be genuine, or just a red herring.
- Isabel has specifically selected them for this duty. Because they're just a good tracker, or is there something more to their dynamic?
- Due to recent loss of four guards, the Site Security is temporarily understaffed; so Partner is also putting in time occasionally on guard duty. Logistical necessity, or an an excuse to be out of Bishop's presence at certain times?
- Maybe even just in their personality traits. Are they just reserved and cagey by nature, or is it because they have a secret?

The Search For Sanctuary

Bishop and Partner map out and analyze available data on 3502 incidents, searching for patterns.
Dispersal of activity is seemingly random - up until [X time ago, corresponding with Isaac's appearance and organization efforts], at which point incidents begin to appear consistent with pursuit of some larger goal.
- Theory based on: concentration and frequency of incidents; and, in cases where GPS tracking data is available, consistency in directional heading of vehicles from point of incident.
With a loosely defined target area, Bishop and Partner decide to go out themselves and take a look around.

Isabel's Plot

Wants reassignment to a bigger and better Site where there will be opportunity for recognition.
As her standard transfer requests have been repeatedly denied, she believes that the anomaly being terminated / declared Neutralized is the only avenue left to pursue.
Perhaps originally angling to downplay the incidents, create an impression that the anomalous activity is declining to near-zero, and that current containment measures have become inefficient.
- Perhaps the increase in 3502 activity, resultant of Isaac's influence on the colony, has discredited that line of reasoning and forced her to a Plan B of just killing off the 'roos.
Changing tactics, the routine field exercises carried out by SCP guards have gradually shift from passive reconnaissance to active engagement with lethal force.
- Perhaps Isaac's arrival came after this activity became routine, his influence saving the colony from the brink of extermination.
Encouraging Bishop to pursue target Michael with aggressive intent. Wants to escalate the situation, as some form of Uriah Gambit to her benefit?
- If Bishop joins the four guards as casualties of 3502 attacks, the assignment gains a reputation as increasingly dangerous. This may lead to more staff and resources being allocated to her Site, an expansion in the scope of the Site's duties, and thus raise the prestige of her current assignment.
- If Bishop succeeds, he may find a way to eliminate 3052 altogether.
- Isabel wants Michael to gets killed because she just doesn't like that guy.

Speculation / Big Picture Plot

…

Isaac's Plot

To build up a colony of super-kangaroos and use them to get revenge on the bastard SCP Foundation that ruined his damned life!
Just trying to live a life and help out these sweet animals.

Bishop and Partner

Go out to their target investigation site. A 3052-1 gang gets the drop on them, they're brought to an Outpost and presented before Isaac and Michael.
- Michael recognizes Bishop "the government fuck". Isaac recognizes Partner "the [depends how much Isaac has learned since his own life went sideways]".
- That the two are connected now is some kind of revelation to Isaac and Michael both.
Bishop and Partner avoid getting killed; by escaping, or being released by Isaac, and they return to Site to report to Isabel.

Reporting Back To Isabel

Partner and Isabel can exposition to Bishop on just who Isaac is and his past in regard to the Foundation.
- Isabel perhaps spins this as clearly proving the "Isaac wants revenge" angle. That would be a big deal - seem like one way or another her goal is almost in reach.
Isabel maybe wants to call in a Combat MTF and launch a full-scale assault on Hidden Sanctuary.
Any protest from Bishop and/or Partner on this plan of action might be disregarded at best; at worst, they are now pulled from the assignment ("Turn over all your findings - I'll find some other busywork for you to do while this gets handled my way.")
- "This doesn't feel right. We gotta do something!" Classic dramatic motivator: drives the heroes to 'do the right thing' even if that means disobeying their superiors and doing it on their own.
- Downside: Unoriginal plot device? What is 'the right thing' in this situation anyway?

Back At Hidden Sanctuary

Isaac and Michael consider the threat posed by the SCP Foundation.
- Bishop and Partner must at least suspect where Hidden Sanctuary is, based on how close they were.
Michael is insistent on taking an aggressive stance.
- Mostly due to his personality and attitude. Also wants payback the Foundation for trying to gas him / kill him.
Isaac feels that a full-on conflict will only end badly for Hidden Sanctuary.
- Business/political experience helps him to think in the longer term.
- The resources available at Sanctuary are limited to what is scavenged from 3502 incidents; they will likely be outgunned by opposition.
- Fighting a series of direct-conflict battles can't be sustainable for them.
If Isaac can't convincingly present a feasible alternative plan of action to take, there may be no choice but to prepare for war.

xxx

Climactic Action - Option 1

Events appear to be building to a major battle.
- Combat MTF will be coming out to fight.
- Kangaroos are armed and dangerous.
Determine:
- How close can this come to occurring, while still having a feasible way for Bishop/Partner/Isaac to stop it?
- What options are there to stop it?
  - Go over Isabel's head - get someone up the chain to listen to reason before it's too late.
  - Bishop and Partner go full traitor and join the Roos against SCP. (is that like what happened in Avatar?)
  - Build a decoy Hidden Sanctuary and trick the MTF. (like what happened in Blazing Saddles!?)
  - …

x

Relevant Reading / The Story So Far

Alright, alright, alright! We need some character pages! We need a template for these characters to make it easier to get everything down and get these guys fleshed out! I'll create a Tab for each character to make things more organized and easier.

Alrighty, we need a template

Name:

Occupation:

Physique:

Psyche:

Appearance:

General Personality:

Morals:

Secrets:

Backstory:

(Then put a portrait here or something if we ever do draw or manage a photo of one XD)

SCP Sandbox III

Sandbox III: Revenge of the Sandbox

Reconnaissance and Revelations

Previously on The Outback Series…

Plot Summary

The "Bigger Picture" Part