The Potential

A combination of forensic examination and interrogation results have revealed a chilling new modus operandi of an Esoterror cell. This cell, known to us as the Murphy-Hanson-Crawford organization (MHCO), and to its participants as the Gee-Gnomes, has been using genetic testing as a screening device for the recruitment of new members.

Under the guise of a biotech start-up principals Ella Murphy, Rhonda Hanson and Deanna Crawford attracted curious young entrepreneurs, coders and scientific researchers. Using social media and word of mouth, they spread rumors of a paradigm-breaking new technology offering lucrative opportunities for those willing to penetrate their secrecy and offer themselves up as early sweat equity hires.

Their firm’s doorbell, with the whimsical message “Insert Finger Here For Assistance” employed an as-yet inexplicable transfer technology to record the DNA of any person who pressed it.

Servers inside the firm’s offices then automatically sequenced the entire genome of each would-be applicant—along with couriers, delivery drivers and curious neighborhood kids. Naturally no permission was sought for this egregious privacy invasion.

Those whose so-called “junk DNA” contained a particular property were then approached with offers of employment. In all eleven persons were recruited into the cell, eventually becoming fully complicit Esoterror operatives.

Under interrogation Hanson referred to this property only as The Potential. Throughout the process she remained frustratingly vague on the details—while fully cooperating in the provision of much more directly incriminating testimony.

Chief interrogator AGENT TRIBUNE has come to believe that none of the group fully understood what The Potential meant. Her tentative conclusion: it searched for ancient inhuman ancestry. This forces us to explore the hypothesis that individuals bearing trace elements of outer-dimensional DNA might have the latent ability to achieve the goal the Esoterrorists have so long hungered after: to perform acts of ritual magic with an efficacy beyond the mere summoning of uncontrollable quasi-demons.

Although the MHCO acted independently of other cells and does not appear to have shared technology outside its own tight circle, it would be unwise to assume that no other such group will follow in its footsteps. For one thing, key techniques in the DNA screening process appear to have been transmitted to Hanson psychically, from entities of the Outer Dark.

We recommend a tasking of SIGINT to detect telltale keywords related to The Potential emanating from biotech labs worldwide. It is only a matter of time before someone else seeks to continue what the Gee-Gnomes started.

Needless to say, we must also keep a close watch on each and every individual their sequencers identified as having The Potential. Including those they failed to recruit.

The Esoterrorists are occult terrorists intent on tearing the fabric of the world – and you play elite investigators out to stop them. This is the game that revolutionized investigative RPGs by ensuring that players are never deprived of the crucial clues they need to move the story forward. Purchase The Esoterrorists in print and PDF at the Pelgrane Shop.