Project Aphid

The Nowhere Incident

Project Aphid and The Nowhere Incident are directly intertwined, hence the reason they appear in the same article. This article will go into extensive detail on both the events of the incident and the major details of the project that led to the event's conclusion.
While The Helheim Incident is the most famous operation, The Nowhere Incident is the most important. First and foremost, it was the last operation conducted by organizations before The Web was officially created in 1985 and the incident was the catalyst leading to The Web's creation.
Another reason for its importance comes in how it is remembered. The impact of the incident is two fold:

• First, it is regarded as the prime example for what can be accomplished through unity and cooperation.

• Second, it is regarded as the prime example of failure due to disunity, secrecy, and isolationism.

Incident Origin

The Nowhere Incident began on July 4th, 1983 in the southern U.S. The small town of Nowhere, Georgia, population 390, served as ground zero. During the independence day celebration held in town square, three young girls made themselves known: Anna Lee (Age 12), Dani Lee (Age 16), and Georgie Lee (Age 5).
The girls spoke in unison, commanding the townsfolk to submit without resistance. Most did, and those who didn't were forced to endure pain beyond measure before having what little autonomy the girls promised taken away. The girls, referring to themselves as The Three Soldiers, or Attendees, then oversaw the construction of a massive structure at the heart of the town.
The incident continued for nearly a week before anyone could react. With most of the townsfolk under control, only those outside of town could alert authorities. A Troubleshooters living nearby went to town for supplies. Noticing the empty streets, they phoned for help immediately. Siegfried was the first to arrive, an operation center created on the west side of town. The Alexandrian University answered then, setting up their own facility in the south.

Fun Fact: And In this Corner…

The The university found the incident fascinating. Due to the lack of any threat, so long as peace was maintained, The Queen seemed inclined to allow this study. Agents were allowed to directly interact with the aphids and attendees if they were unarmed and allowed to study the structure they were building.
The structure didn't seem to have a purpose. Its design was nonsensical, talking to pieces many times before modifications allowed it to stand upright. The Aphids were mindless, not directly controlled but seemingly following orders they could never refuse.
Soon after these discoveries were made, Siegfried attacked. Further study became impossible. A breakthrough was denied, one that could have changed the tragic outcome of the event. Siegfried is known for its shoot first policy. A branch of the U.S. military, Siegfried killed 10 aphids, an act that led to extreme hostility.

The Queen

After many hostile interactions with the townsfolk and the three girls, the university managed to have a conversation. Through deduction and study, they determined the source of the incursion was not the three girls, but a hive minded entity, the first ever encounter. They named the entity "The Queen" due to how it approached control, and the names it gave to those it assimilated.
The Queen referred to the three girls as attendees, and operated through them. The conversations were vague, The Queen expressing great difficulty understanding such limited forms of communication. When asked, The Queen insisted that three girls were in danger, and seemed insulted at the question.
The Queen referred to the townsfolk as Aphids, and strangely, were rejected from the hive-mind. Aphids are controlled but separate. Their behavior changed entirely by the attendees.

Project Aphid

A joint effort between The Oxford Cabal and Task Force: Moreau of the university, Project Aphid aimed to understand, prevent, and hopfully contain (or terminate) hive minded entities, and other incursions that included hive mentality.
Moreau was established at the beginning of The Nowhere Incident, and began work on Project Aphid minutes after their inception. Due to insufficient hive minded entities available to study, the idea being purely theoretical before The Nowhere incident occurred, the project's goal was to successfully create a hive minded entity that could be studied.
The task force encountered many problems. First and foremost, there was no way of controlling the hive mind should they successfully create one. Secondly, they lacked the ability to create forms of life. Even if they understood how a hive mind works, creating one and ensuring that that hive mind would be friendly seemed impossible. Finally, they struggled to understand exactly what a hive-mind was. The many options theorized couldn't be tested due to Siegfried's actions.

Polyanimia

The problem with creating a Hive Mind was not the limits of the human mind, but that one mind in many bodies fails to properly define a hive-mind. Harris believed a hive mind required polyanimia, or many minds. Harris discovered that hive mind assimilation is a product of loneliness, opening up many avenues of research for the task force, also offering a humane solution to The Nowhere Incident.
Joseph's wife, Missy, died several years before the incident, along with his son Isaac. This left Joseph alone. Harris petitioned the Cabal to bring them back, and offered them each a set of shared vessels as well. The results led to an artificial hive mind that not only remained friendly, but had a direct and intimate interest in furthering the goals of organizations in The Web.
After successfully integrating 270 vessels into The Griggs Hivemind, each member of the family controlled 90 vessels, and was capable of sharing the strain. Project Aphid was complete, and a resounding success.

The Oxford Golems

The Oxford Cabal received a message from Task Force: Crowley. Crowley assisted Moreau during the incident, and petitioned the Cabal for assistance on Project Aphid.
Anxious of the implications and dangers surrounding The Nowhere Incident, The Cabal was more than happy to assist. Oxford used Homunculi, fabricated life forms enchanted to simulate life. On a rare occasion, cabalists have extended their lives by creating homunculi designed to house one's soul, inhabiting a chosen vessel when they die.
A long-standing benefactor, Joseph Griggs, was offered such an escape after being diagnosed with cancer within two months of the incident. He found the idea of becoming a hive mind intriguing, and joined Project Aphid without hesitation.

Failure

Several cabalists, along with Joseph Griggs, traveled to a makeshift facility established in Nowhere, Georgia. The operation was successful, Joseph entered his new body with ease, leading to the official start of Project Aphid.
Vessels were built, slowly integrated, and brought into Joseph's control. With each new body, Joseph experienced new forms of stress the human mind was not designed to handle. The excess stress of having so many bodies, and so many simultaneous experiences, took its role.
Grigs adapted, but refused to have other bodies integrated after 10 vessels were added to the hive. Griggs often complained about mental exhaustion and being alone. A young biologist on Task Force: Moreau, Connie Harris, found a solution. Joseph confided in her, their friendship growing. This led her to a breakthrough on how hive-minds behave, and why. (See Sidebar)

The Griggs Hivemind

Now capable of mobilizing an army capable of being as coordinated and focused as the opposition, The Griggs Hivemind took the field on September 7th, 1983. The hive-mind possessed a major advantage over The Queen, The Griggs' vessels were remarkably hard to destroy.
This allowed The Griggs to subdue assimilated civilians, rather than killing them, a choice Siegfried refused to consider. Siegfried even resorted to exploiting the major flaw in every Homunculus, a weakness to high heat. By then end of the incident, only 40 vessels were destroyed, rebuilt by collecting the bodies and restoring their forms.
Animosity on the part of Siegfried grew leading up to the event's conclusion, which cemented a deep hatred of the organization for all other parties involved. Siegfried sought to sever control over the Aphids by attacking the three little girls under The Queen's control.

Tragedy

On September 15th, Siegfried launched a direct assault on the Lee sisters, disregarding orders from the US government out of fear. Despite the efforts of The Griggs Hivemind, 87 civilians died, nearly forty percent of Nowhere's population.
Among them, Anna and Georgie Lee were shot, both recovering soon after the incident despite attempts to execute them by Siegfried in hopes it would hinder The Queen's influence. Not only were they wrong, but they also brought on the collected anger of other organizations working the incident. These organizations resorted to shooting Siegfried members on sight.
The Griggs Hivemind ended the incident. They did so not in a single physical battle, but a battle of wits. The three acted independently, believing they could sever the connection to the queen directly, using their new abilities as a hive mind to render the queen effectively braindead, but risk the same fate themselves in the process.

The Conclusion

The Griggs Hivemind led a mental assault against the queen. They attacked the third member of the three little girls the queen directly controlled. After several hours, the Griggs successfully wrestled control away from the queen, which severed not only the connection the queen had with the attendees, but also the connection with the town's population
During this conflict, the Griggs relayed information through their vessels to those outside, unaware of the internal battle happening in the mind of the young girl. They discovered how the event began, why it began, and how crucial the little girls were. When that connection was severed, the little girl who was well aware of everything that had occurred over the previous months, immediately burst into tears. The organizations of The Web made a horrible mistake.
Siegfried, unable to make any progress due to the many hindrances brought upon themselves by their actions, attempted to mount a second assault on the young girls. They didn't know at the time the queen was no longer a threat, banished by the Griggs. When the soldiers of Siegfried discovered the truth behind the incident, many laid down arms and abandoned the organization, leading to the organization's controversial methods of eliminating emotion and morality from its membership through extensive conditioning. The information gained by the Griggs are listed below.

• The Griggs discovered the three girls were hypersensitive, natural psychics of tremendous power.

• The hostilities were on impulse as opposed to a defense. The Aphids were not defending anything, only attacking on reaction. Indicating aphids had no sense of self or inteligence.

• "The Queen" doesn't exist. The three girls were the true hive-mind. They used psionic power to blend their conscious minds. There was no higher power involved.

• The three girls were constructing a "tower to heaven," an idea that sprang from their mother after the death of the family dog. Their mother said, "Itchy went to heaven, you'll see him again one day."

Fun Fact: The Modern Day

In the modern day, Anna, Dani, and Georgie Lee all joined the Alexandrian University. The research and progress made on psionics allowed for the creation of university clerics. The three operate and make up the Task Force: Queen, which recognizes the three as its only members. Their primary function is to fully understand the limits and potential of psychic power. The three work closely with the magicians.
The Griggs Hivemind found themselves without a purpose after the incident. Content to live their days together, they chose to assist organizations of The Web as much as possible to repay the debt of their impossible reunion. After approaching The Chiron Group, they found a place operating safe houses in the form of bars across the world for The Null Precinct.