====== News ====== ==== Attention All Denizens - An Urgent Message ==== A major incident in Bibere and Dulcis stations has left two dead and several more wounded. Engineer Wyatt Preston and Scientist Jules Roth are the two casualties of the event. The full account of injuries has not yet been taken. Any and all information you may have about this event must be reported to Caput. Cohesion is essential to our survival. //The Director's Office.// ==== The Republic's Statement ==== Scientist Jules Roth. A kind person. Eager to believe in others and do what is necessary for the Underground. Engineer Wyatt Preston. A noble soul. A volunteer fire fighter. Willing to put themselves in danger to save other. Both gone, executed by Edwin Morari's ruthless actions at the Bibere border. Earlier this week I was informed of a potential attack against the Republic. I had hoped it wasn't true, that it was a false flag. I relayed this information to Manager Stanley Medar in the Director's Office. They assured me they would not let fighting break out. But it seems even their best actions were not enough. We were even sent robots by Republic believers inside the Director's Office. A measure of good will. A defensive wall, meant to uphold safety and security within the republic. But this wall was just a target for Edwin to throw their conscripted soldiers at. The robots were programmed to defend themselves, to defend the Republic. So when Edwin marched on the robots, their programming took over. Their attempt to shut down the Republic, to shut down what little free speech has tried to evolve here in the Underground has cost the lives of two of the Underground's finest. If the robots weren't there, I can only imagine the damage the dangerous enforcer-elect would have sought to deal to the Republic. Edwin Morari is a danger. A threat. A menace to the entire underground. If they continue their role as sole judge, jury, and executioner at Bibere then the entire Underground is at risk. Manager Stanley Medar. Manager Piper Monroe. Secretary Aslan Nureyev. Director Avgust Kovač. This is a public appeal. Remove Engineer Edwin Morari from duty immediately, or expect no further cooperation from the Republic. //On behalf of the People's Republic of Vicus and Viculus,// //Carlene Vanbend.// ==== Reduction In Service Announcement ==== The Drivers of the Underground regret to inform the Director’s Office that we are no longer willing to operate the routes around Nidus and Medicus. This is as a direct result of the intimidation, abuse and in some cases even violence we have suffered in this area. We no longer believe that the Director’s Office can guarantee our safety in this area, and in light of the fact that we do not consider it reasonable to venerate a god we do not respect in the course of our duties, we do not believe the “administrators” of these this area are willing or able to guarantee our safety either. We are also deeply concerned about the hostilities around Bibere, however as we appreciate the existential necessity of maintaining regular delivers to the station we will continue to operate normally around this area for now. If instability continues however, we will require credible guarantees of our safety. We hope that the Director’s Office, and the administration of the People’s Republic of Vicus and Viculus will act swiftly to address our concerns, so that we are able to restore normal operations. ==== Tales of Terminus ==== === Rats from a Sinking Ship === They say when a ship sinks, the rats are the first to leave. They don’t care for the ship, they don’t strive to fix or improve it, they take what they claim as theirs, and leave. This opportunistic, self-centered mindset is fully embraced by the rat cult, spreading like a plague through Terminus. Siezing broad swathes of stations, throwing our community into turmoil. Just last week, they claimed territory in Nidus and the nursery, forcing the populace into submission, and staking their territory in the name of their blessed rat. They took this territory violently. The tide of rats left destruction and injuries in their wake, and they don’t plan on stopping. There is substantial evidence that the fire in Helios’ bakery was arson, caused by a Rat Cult member, Don Castle. He was seen on the scene before fleeing and refused to acknowledge his presence there when confronted. This arson was a deliberate act; the rat cult destroyed Helios’ bakery due to their distaste for him serving rat meat in his pies. A full report of the evidence found at the bakery can be found below. The rat cult is a dangerous, violent sect who will stop at nothing to widen their influence over the underground, and will relentlessly do so until they take control, or until they are stopped. Brianna was right; the only way we – our underground community – will survive is to band together, outlaw the Rat Cult, and end this insurrection. You hear about rats fleeing from sinking ships. You never hear about why the ship sank in the first place. Helios’ Bakery: Investigation into the Possibility of Arson Evidence of arson: The bakery had been broken into prior to the fire, the lock on the front door having been broken down from the outside The ‘foolproof oven’ as the late Briana described it had been destroyed in an unusual manner, the twisted wires could not have been caused by simple overheating, someone manually chiseled through the oven’s heating elements to make it volatile. The bakery had been inspected two days before and no damage to the oven was noted in the report filed by the inspector. Evidence implicating a rat-cult motive: When the bakery was inspected two days prior there was a plenteous of stock of rats. When the fire brigade arrived the meat cupboard was completely empty- it appears a rat rescue and a fire occurred on remarkably similar time frames Edward Murk, leader of the rat cult, has been heard describing ‘cleansing’ as the appropriate way that those who eat rats should be treated Evidence implicating Don Castle: The late Briana witnessed Don leaving her bar just twenty minutes before the volunteer fire brigade arrived to find Helios’ bakery in a blaze. A man matching Don’s description was witnessed cheerfully entering the bakery whilst it was being inspected for evidence (witnesses say he was chuckling to himself). When he realized others were present, he attempted to hide his face and ran. Later that day the same man was heard at a rat-cult meeting claiming that he ‘couldn’t stand to see them strung up like bats’ and so ‘gave them a funeral’ before ‘dealing with’ the rest of the establishment. The dress, height, age, voice and build of this man matches how Don Castle was described when leaving Briana’s bar on the day of the fire exactly. Witnesses (those of us who are still alive) have remained anonymous for their personal safety but will be happy to identify themselves in the event that this is put to trial. Report conclusions: Arson undeniably was committed; it seems highly likely the perpetrator was affiliated with the rat cult Don Castle ought to be tried The whole of the rat cult may not be responsible, and we can still share spaces with kindness and respect, but those who do think their beliefs justify nearly causing several deaths in Ludere ought to be held to account, as do those who would seek to use a belief system to justify senseless acts of violence **Published by Sky Hansford. Written by Anonymous.** ==== The People's Herald ==== === The Republic's Advancement Of Mycology === The People’s Republic of Vicus and Viculus is proud to present to the Underground the results of our advanced bioreactor project at Providere. Proposed, constructed and managed by the Underground’s foremost expert on mycology, Amandine Jackson, this facility will guarantee the safety of the Republic’s food supply and is an important step towards our goal of achieving strategic independence from the Director’s Office. We would like to draw attention to the scale of what we have accomplished in just two short weeks since declaring our independence and contrast it to the decades of stagnation and crisis the Director’s Office has overseen. Further, we would pose the question to the Underground: if this is what we can achieve without the interference of the Director’s Office, what could //you// achieve without it? Viva la Republic! //The People’s Republic of Vicus and Viculus would also like to take this opportunity to refute in the strongest terms any question of Amandine Jackson’s credibility. In particular we refute the vicious and completely unsubstantiated rumours that human remains are, have been or will being used in their projects. These are completely transparently lies circulated by the Director’s Office to discredit them for their work with the Republic.// ====A note in Terminus Station==== //A handwritten note in calligraphic handwriting is posted in Terminus station.// To the public of Terminus, I am writing a public request to help find my dear sweetheart Svetlana. She hasn’t returned home in some days. I know she doesn’t always associate with the correct sort, so the sooner any information on the whereabouts of my daughter is given the better. I trust the good people of the Underground to come forward and tell me. Ludmila Popova ==== Director's Office Logistics Technical Report: 2141_01_08 ==== The lights in the Underground remain on. {{ :turn3news.drawio.png }} The Chief Tunnel engineer is happy to announce the opening of new routes between Nursery and Viculus, and between Profundum and Lapis.