Washington D.C.

Situation Room, White House

Sitting around a long brown mahogany table. The room they sat in was darkened, with only a small amount of light flooding in from the windows through the thick curtains. A strong aroma filled the air, a mix of coffee, perfume, and strong cologne. Members of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the Cabinet, and analysts from the CIA. Laptops, folders filled to the brim with papers, and potted plants were among the props decorating the room.

"I'd like to thank everybody for coming on such short notice," General Greene began, "But apparently it's been made aware to myself and the rest of leadership in command of Mysterium that there is a possibility of foreign involvement in the new world. Is this true?"

"Yes sir," said CIA director Hughes, "The CIA predicts that there is almost zero chance that both Russia and China aren't working on their own Portal Experiments. And to make matters worse, we knew of this chance before the Marine Corps was deployed into Mysterium."

"Walk me through what happened," Greene asked.

Hughes stood with a remote in his hand to control a projector. A white screen descended from inside the ceiling. With a press of a button, an image formed. The blurry image of a balding man with a thick mustache carpeting his upper lip formed. He looked around fifty or sixty years in age, "This gentleman, is a Russian G.U. agent responsible for the seizure of ACRA data and the spurring of the Russian Portal Program. His name is only known to us as Victor."

"When the Portal opened for the first time, the ACRA was one of the first institutes that the President contacted. They were in charge of researching the portal, giving us a period of about a week before the first Marines were sent into the New World," Said Defense Secretary Lamarr, "In that period of time, the ACRA compiled all of the data they had collected from the Blue Monday experiments and earlier, and used the Portal in Florida to find the final piece of the puzzle."

"And that piece was seized, four days before the first Marines went through the Portal. The CIA is positive that Victor, and Russia at large, is in possession of that stolen data," Hughes finished.

That explained some things, but also brought up new questions for Greene, "Well… what exactly is this Blue Monday, that I've heard about."

"That depends," Hughes pushed up his prescription eyeglasses, "Do you want the long answer or the short answer."

"I've got time."

"Well, in that case, our story starts in 1945. The fall of Nazi Germany. The Soviet NKVD released a document with the Western Allies that they had found a Nazi Research facility in Poland unlike any other. They believed that it was among the first attempts to open a portal to a new world," Hughes recalled the historical roots of the situation, "American OSS and British SAS forces found a similar facility in the forests to the southwest of Frankfurt. We believe that Nazi scientists were attempting to open a Portal in some bid to achieve teleportation, but the project was canceled in 1943. Both facilities were found abandoned for years at that point. Most likely, it was too resource-demanding and needed materials that Germany didn't have."

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"In the 1950s, relations between the USSR and the United States deteriorated, and both tried to sabotage the research facilities stationed behind their borders, while also actively trying to open portals of their own. NATO opened portal research facilities in Norway, New Mexico, Alaska, and Greenland. The Soviets opened their own facilities mostly in Siberia, Kazakhstan, and in Ukraine," Lamarr filled in, "But during the détente in the 1970s, Operation Blue Monday began, and the ACRA was founded to undertake it."

"Ah yes… Blue Monday," Hughes started up, bringing the attention of the conversation back to the mysterious operation, "NATO and Soviet scientists decided to partner up in the 1970s under Project: Blue Monday. The ACRA was founded between the United States and the UK to cooperate with the USSR, and as such, they contain the wealth of western knowledge on the portal. Blue Monday was a resounding technical success."

"They opened a portal?" Greene asked.

"Negative, but they came incredibly close. They advanced the cause of theoretical physics by a century. The ACRA reported that they were simply missing one piece in the puzzle. We now believe that we have that final piece. Blue Monday was shut down in the 1980s after the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, and the election of Ronald Reagan. After the collapse of the Soviet Union in '91, the CIA and MI6 both teamed up to destroy the ex-soviet Portal facilities. They managed to get all but two of them. One in Siberia, the other in Manchuria."

"So the Chinese have access to the portal as well?"

"We believe the Russian and Chinese governments are working together. That brings us to now, and our HVT, Victor. Victor was a leader in Russian intelligence during the '90s and he thwarted NATO attempts to shut down the last two remaining Portal facilities. Then, he became inactive. The CIA had tracked him ever since, and we correctly predicted that he would become active again once the Portal opened in Florida," Hughes pressed another button on the remote. And this time more faces and the map of a compound hidden in the mountains joined Victor's face shot.

"Three days after the ACRA gained access to that final piece in the portal puzzle, a copy of their data had been stolen. CIA analysts knew that it only could've been one man."

"Victor?"

"Sort of. Third-Party hackers based in China. However, we know for a fact that Victor was the one responsible for alerting them and potentially buying the information. The CIA organized a MARSOC force to track him down and recover or destroy the missing data. And the opportunity came," Hughes turned to Lamarr hoping he'd fill in the rest.

"For Victor to gain possession of the data, he organized an event to buy it from the Chinese firm. It was going to be organized in a villa far in the mountains of Baku, Azerbaijan. The entire event would be disguised as an international science expo, with legitimate civilians there to exchange research in the lower floors of the villa, while the trade deal went down between Victor and the Firm upstairs. MARSOC and the CIA organized a plan to raid the facility, recover or destroy the data, and take Victor and the hackers' prisoner. The Marine in charge of the MARSOC force…"

Lamarr pointed to a face shot of none other than Captain Newman, "Captain Newman…" Greene whispered.

"She wouldn't be alone. CIA also contacted MI6, and they sent in the SAS to assist MARSOC forces. At the head of the SAS team, was Captain Isaac assisted by Lieutenant Sherman. Both SAS. Their job was to raid the compound, keep the civilians safe, retrieve the data, and take the hackers and Victor prisoner with a CIA plant disguised as a potential buyer of the portal data. The operation, to put it bluntly, failed. While the data was recovered, the hackers were killed and Victor vanished without a trace. Judging by his activity, Victor managed to gain possession of the data, before the task force could reach him."

"So let me get this straight… you're telling me that Russia and China both have the capability to begin opening their portals into Mysterium, which could throw off our plans in the region?"

"Well not immediately. Opening Portals takes an extreme amount of time and resources. The last time the ACRA attempted to open a portal was in 1981. Since then, our facilities in Alaska, Greenland, and New Mexico have remained dormant. Even armed with the missing resource that they needed to open this portal, ACRA researchers predict that it will take a year and a half to open. A year if they work around the clock, which the president has ordered," Hughes told him, "Not only that, but we still have the advantage. We have more research compiled on the matter, and we have a head start with the only functioning portal in our territory."

"And what exactly is the missing resource, if I may ask?"

Hughes smirked, "Something that doesn't exist in our world… Ekron."

"I see, that comes from Dragon Scales correct?"

"Indeed. That gives us reason to believe that the portal in Florida was not a natural occurrence, but it was opened by somebody. Perhaps a rogue experiment. And some info from Unity squad inside of Mysterium, confirms that" Hughes passed Greene a sheet of paper.

The author… Hezekiah Brooks, "Staff Sergeant Hezekiah Brooks?" Greene asked.

"You've heard his name?"

"No. Who the hell is this guy?"

"He's a Marine based in Mysterium, under the command of Captain Newman. You might want to keep an eye on him."

Greene looked over the dossier of the man. From his photo image to the report he made, "I'll do that…"