Subject: CARNIVORE SANDS - Briefing (Waller)

[Deleted]

ROUTING AND RECORDS SHEET: SECRET/EYES ONLY
FROM: XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX Director of XXXXXXXXX
To: EXECUTIVE SECRETARY: NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISORY:
CC: General Wade Eiling, 

Subject: "Carnivore Sands" - Briefing

PARTICIPANTS: Director Amanda Waller - CHAIR
              ICARUS
             

1. Debriefing of CARNIVORE SANDS, followup initiative. Asset ICARUS reports neutralization of DOMINUS subject BLACK ADAM through combination of usage of local asset and resources. He believes that with reconstruction and time insertion of intelligence assets into Khandaq can begin by the end of the year with development of new safehouses and local network assets. Asset SUNFLOWER to be inserted to help coordinate efforts as advisor, risk of death 84%. 


2. Regarding initial efforts in Khandaq, ICARUS states that underlying fissures can be found in the society for potential . . .        

Lex Luthor stood up from the table, the hovering holographic projector shut off as he reached over and slipped it back into his pocket, then back into his hand absentmindedly. The questions had been completed as Luthor finished the debriefing. He was quiet, had a distant look in his eye and a tan over his entire head. Thoughtful, irritated, there was something of a thousand yard stare to it all as he tried to maintain his calm, before sitting back down, placing the object on the table. 

The others had left, the debriefing had been cursory and shared what information was necessary, including some of the latest findings from the Black Adam incident, sorry CARNIVORE SANDS, or whatever they were calling it now. Eiling hadn't been able to make it, or some of the others, but enough had come for a quorum, assignments made, he was alone now with Waller. Director Waller had worked with Luthor for some time now, in some ways she was one of his better allies in the shadowy world of Metaespionage, although not his only one, certainly. He wouldn't call what they had a friendship, Lex Luthor really didn't have friends the way others did. Perhaps he felt close to others, but it was hard to tell, honestly. Men like that never really were much for friends. 

"When he had his hand around my neck, I looked into his eyes, Director. Such . . . arrogance, he'd ruled over his kingdom for so long, flew so high above humanity. . . I hated him, you know." He looked at the director for a moment, an odd look on his face. Luthor was an egotist, but a brilliant one. 

"I wanted to tear his eyes out, to open up my heart and pour every inch of hate I had in him. He was the one who had his power granted to him, and he used it so mockingly. But I didn't mind that. I just . . . saw him in all his majesty and all his glory and all his arrogance, and I knew then that he was an abomination and had to be destroyed, there's such a purity in that sort of hate. It wasn't like the Alien, though, different, but . . . fiery yet cold" He shook his head as he stood up, thenw alked to the wall, helooked at the flag for a moment, arms behind his back. "My mentor had fought him once, a long time ago. Dr. Sivana. I don't know if you've met my director of research, but . . . he was younger then. Dr. Sivana. Teth Adam? Immortal, powerful, unchanging, hovering as if he were some sort of force of nature. Towering above mankind as if he were our God. I hated him, and when I . . . " He made a fist, and then let it go, a calm went over his face as he shook his head "It felt good, Director." He smiled faintly at that, gleam in his eye as the thousand yard stare was gone.  

"To spit in his eye, to anger him, to stand unbowed before a god-king. I've never felt more . . . alive." he smiled as he put his hands together. "That's not for the report, however." He looked back over his shoulder at the Director. "I just thought you might want to know what it felt like, to have a hand that could crush diamond on my throat, with hatred in his eyes, and a desire to kill. To be held with contempt by the man who can call the lightning. . . and to live through it, and to win?" He started to laugh a bit at that. "Oh, it was ecstasy itself." He laughed a little harder and then shook his head as he exhaled. 

"Well, you an add that as an addendum if you want, for Secretary Poole. I'm certain he'll want to read it." He smiled as he went back to sit down with her saying "I should probably pick the location for debriefing next time, you tend to pick such dreary bunkers. I'm assuming from our return to Washington you've been able to secure your people, make certain there was no League Infiltration? I note I haven't been followed since my return from Khandaq." 

He straightened his tie, adjusting the tie pin for a moment, before leaning forward and placing the small glass and steel ball that is the holoemitter ont he table, fingering the top of it absentmindedly. "Since we've got time to meet in purpose, is there anything else we need to discuss? Concerns?"

[Deleted]

If anything could describe Waller, it's that she was cool clam and collected. Despite her very large physique she tried present herself with a type of grace.  a figure of authority. Waller had a lot on her shoulders  the entire fate of the country if not the world rested on her shoulders. Sometimes this meant having to make tough choices , or in this case have dealings with people that one may consider less than desirable.

There was no way you could call Lex a friend of Waller, maybe an acquaintance at best, but again this was at best, any dealings she had with Luthor was strictly business. It was not  because he was nice but because he was the best, that had been the case with a lot of her co-workers. it had to be like that. In her line of work it was dangerous to really have close friends, It was dangerous to get too close to people period.

Yet here he was sitting before her, cool calm and collected yet with a sort of excitement as he described his encounter with Black Adam, CARNIVORE SANDS, or whatever they were calling it. Yet here she was with nothing more than a stone-faced expression not expressing one viewpoint or another. She then took a swig of her soda before taking a deep breath.

"I'm not here to be told. Stories. I want to know what your next move is. What progress has been made? What all messes there are to cleanup? I want to know the facts. 

[Deleted]

"You should always take time to admire and appreciate the little things in life, Director." He was not about to let his good mood be pushed aside by Waller attempting to stay as cool and as unmoving as a brick wall. She was formidable, yes, she was tenacious, and exactly as flexible as the aforementioned wall, about as facile of mind as well, although she at least had a mind, which was more than Luthor could say about most people in the government. It was one of the reasons he'd worked with her so well over the years, although he'd worked with others as well, she was, for the most part, a strong enough partner that she could at least be trusted to maintain her part of a bargain without stupid backstabbing or attempts to ignore long term planning in exchange for short term profits. That was a problem that many of Luthor's competitors and compatriots suffered, short term thinking. Always sacrificing their companies for the short term profit, the quick selloff to luxury. They'd sell out American resources for a promise and a momentary gain, winning a hand to lose the game. 

Luthor did not begrudge the short sightedness of most people, after all it was how he came to elevate himself from the depths of the Suicide Slums to where he was today, a man to dictate terms to the world and to have them take it or leave it. It was why he contented himself with plunging himself against Gods and other worthy adversaries. In addition to his own personal hatred of those who hung above him, and the logical and rational reasons for such activities, Luthor also enjoyed the impossible challenge, the only real challenge for genius. 

Waller, while hardly a genius in Luthor's category, at least had the capacity to think in terms of the long term, and she understood profit and the game of power as well as anyone else, even if she had her moments of posturing and irritation, it was a necessity to her work. She'd started with less of a hand than even Lex Luthor had, and found a way up herself. This was to be admired, treasured, and Luthor did. She was human, and that was something to be treasured. 

"There's a joy to living vicariously through the impossible, yes, but to be there and to take part? To really. . . " he squeezed his hands into fists and then let them go. "There's no comparison." He exhaled. He was different since he'd come back. Some part of deep visceral rage had been touched, Waller had known some of his history, he'd quite the expansive one, the protoge of Dr. Thaddeus Sivana, himself an eccentric adventurer and scientist, known for extreme theories that had little basis in normal scientific thought, Luthor had taken an early tragedy of fate, the death of his parents, and used that as an opportunity to transform himself through clever use of patents, inventions and then investments. There were those who said he was the smartest man on Earth, although the metrics for that sort of thing were impossible to say, needless to say he was a polyglot, a master inventor who had, almost uniquely, turned his scientific genius into other fields, both economic and political, with great acumen. He owned senators, had the ear of the president, and somehow had been able to transform himself into a pop icon through his sales of personal electronics, as well as an influential political figure through his sales of . . . impersonal electronics. 

With Wayne Enterprises moving away from weapons sales and transforming itself since the rise of Bruce Wayne into a wholly different sort of company, it left LexCorp as the primary game in town in terms of development and military industrialism, which was fine . . . frankly Lex was easier to work with, once you got around his ego, which was impossible to get around. Still, he'd given the United States Military their technological edge in the last several wars and was one of the few organizations offering solutions for the war that would be coming, a war that would be different than any war ever fought before. 

"But you want to know about progress, we're progressing. The damned Metro Genetics mess that you've stuck me with is . . . being addressed. The damned thing in Metropolis was just one of many surprises that we have found, and so far we've found and been able to neutralize another seven disasters before they've come to street level. You can see the injury reports as well as the LexCorp Biocleaner data, although I'd appreciate it if you'd clear another three facilities for TOP SECRET projects and get the scientists security clearances sorted, we're running out of facility space at two of our primary research centers and if you want this done, I'd very much appreciate it if our own security apparatus doesn't get in the way." 

He shrugs as he says "As for CARNIVORE SANDS, I can say that preliminary application of the work of PHOBOS was effective, despite his eccentricities, I imagine we'll be able to get positive results. He's currently secured at the SWAN site, although DAGON should be coming online soon in the face of the whole, Arkham thing." He shakes his head as he says "Still, I can say for certain that our mutual associate is connected to the entire project, and I'd imagine, if I know the man at all, that he'll be putting a lot of resources into it. It'll represent a distraction for him, as he's convinced that the entire project is his path to the future. This is not new for him, he has a history of these grandiose projects and they almost always tend towards eugenics or philosophy. His attention will be there, primarily, for some time. If I were you, and I know you'll ignore me, I'd let it stay there. We still don't know what Savage is up to, and frankly I don't trust it, but I suppose I'll leave that to you, Director. You know best, after all." He smiled sarcastically about it. "And despite what everyone else believes," he pauses for a moment and purses his lips "Gotham remains a sideshow. It can be safely lost without effecting the larger timeline in any discernible way. The eyes of the press are on the situation, the eyes of the nation are there, the attention of Ra's al Ghul, and I'd imagine that . . . other interested parties will remain there. I'd say let them."

That was his assessment of that situation, he shrugged as he said "Progress in other fields is moving according to the timeline, although you'll have to be more specific. We've gotten preliminary tests for Project Ziusudra completed, and thus far we have 94% effectiveness. Within two months we will hopefully have that up to 98%, and we can launch. I hope that we can accelerate that element of the time table, as I personally feel as if that will help take the pressure off should anything else go wrong. If I accomplish nothing else in my life, and I know I will accomplish many things, Project Ziusudra will be the most important. That one must be implemented, and frankly it should have been implemented years ago, although we've barely gotten the technology now to allow it. There will be one preliminary launch, and then five followup, followed by further launches to be determined, based on interference from The Alien. With luck, and with appropriate investment protocols, we might be able to distract the Alien long enough to allow the preliminary launch to go undetected and uninterfered with, although that will be the unpredictable part of the project. Should the Alien interfere, our ability to stop him is limited, as you are well aware, despite promising research into countermeasures, they are  far from completed."

[Deleted]

Waller could not help but sort of smirk at Luthor's comment. "And there is a time and a place to enjoy the small things and I do, but if I were interested in doing such things at the moment, I would be drinking chaplain in a swingers lounge, not drinking a Pepsi in a hunkered down bunker." She gave off a fake smile.

Waller didn't care for Luthor's attitude. if she had her way, he would leave his at the door. They were fighting a war. One that the world had never seen before, and if she had her say, they never would. Still as much as she hated to admit it, she needed Luthor. That was the whole reason why she forced him to buyout Metro Genetics. He was an asset one that was all too important to lose. There was also the fact that these two had similar past. Both of them were left poor and abused. With Luthor it was his parents. With Waller it was the outside world. In a way she could sympathize knowing what it was like to build oneself from the ground up .

However she did wince slightly when he called Gotham a sideshow "Keep in mind Lex. I'm only allowed to do what I do in the name of two words: NATIONAL SECURITY Gotham may not stack up to a hill of beans next to a game of intergalactic risk, but there a bunch of insane maniacs out there that are quickly gaining the eye of those in the Oval office as national terrorist. I'm having to fight a war on two fronts."

While this was true, there was another reason Waller had for a war on Gotham, it was a personal reason relating to s promise she made to herself long ago. Luthor would not understand though. He thought himself above such things. Luthor would never claim that he had a god complex, but she certainly would argue otherwise. in her mind if it looked like a duck and quack like a duck....

"I would not have made you do the things I have if I was not confident that you could do it. if your worried about resources, let me be the one to worry about that. Just do what you have to get things done and under wraps."


In truth she was starting to get tired of the experiments gone wrong. Lord only knew how many she had been involved in. Rumors had occurred of Bane's return and considering whom he had trained with, she had a feeling it would come back to bite her. A over the past few weeks thoughts started to creep into her mind. Gotham Might have been a sideshow but it had an increasing population of one possibly wild factor. These Meta-humans as they were called. Young kids and adults with potentially awesome power. Many of them wanted to be Superheroes like Superman but did not want to be labeled vigilantes.

"You know lex. Earth may not have aliens, but it does have meta humans. Some with powers Rivaling Superman, Has it ever crossed your mind that maybe we could encourage them use their abilities for King and country. Just a thought."


 




 

[Deleted]

"I did offer the use of one of my secured locations for this meeting, Director Waller. I promise, they are well secured and have been cleared by your people. You saw to that." He smiles at the statement, "and I promise, the decor and the quality of refreshments is superior in the private sector when compared to public agencies, even those as well funded and off the books as your own, director."

He knew their opinions about his attitude and position. Luthor often acted like he was the smartest man in the room, a necessary evil whose quirks needed to be tolerated, although compared to some assets that Waller's organization had attempted to work with Luthor's quirks were minimal. He kept his megalomania to saner levels and his motivations and goals were often aligned with the work of this task force. The most galling thing about Luthor's beliefs of his own central importance, however, was the fact he was absolutely accurate. Kord Industries and Wayne Enterprises certainly couldn't be called on to do this, and the military simply lacked the in house knowledge and infrastructure to move as quickly as LexCorp did. The fact that Lex Luthor lacked some of the moral scruples of his competitors, and the fact that he himself had sought out the military first, back when he was only 13, had made him uniquely suited to his position. His nasty habit of collecting metaintellectual resources like an old lady collected cats only added to his leverage in the situation, leverage he utilized with the soft touch of a man who held all the cards and didn't feel like rubbing that fact into anyone's face. The government didn't push the matter and Luthor didn't push the matter and everyone remained on the same page working towards ostensibly the same goals without any actual loss of progress. Luthor was open to pressure and didn't push back too hard, the government gave Luthor his contracts and got his people to do what they wanted him to do, a lovely budding partnership, the joys of the modern Military Industrial Intelligence apparatus that made the Land of the Free continue to work so effectively. One big happy and dysfunctional family focused on preserving Freedom for Everyone, even if that meant rescinding civil rights and nudging up to the line on occasion. 

"There are insane maniacs and terrorists everywhere, Director Waller. Even in Metropolis, although we're lucky not to have it be quite as significant a problem as seems to have developed in Gotham. Still, there's the mad men in Central City, Coast City has its share of horrors, and let's not discuss the terrors of Bludhaven and that . . . what was it, a Cannibal convention in the midwest? Or was it serial killers?" He smiles as he says "Gotham's greatest terror is a clown. I think that says everything that needs to be said, it's flash, it's dazzle, it's sizzle, it grabs headlines and attention, and I understand that the President is concerned, because everyone is concerned, because it's flash and it's sizzle and it draws headlines and attention. My assessment is that it's a sideshow, you'll do what you need to do about it, and as you well know I've got my resources and people in place to allow your people to do what they need to do to maintain order and to restore the situation to necessary order." He leans forward as he says "But this is a war on many fronts, much more than two, and the only reason Gotham is important at all is because a lot of very powerful people have decided that it's a symbol for something more than it is. Gotham, at its core, apart from the symbolism, is an American city, it is a post-industrial economy with a crime problem exacerbated by ongoing underlying problems and made worse by the fact that most of the normal, natural pressure valves for the economic stressors have been undermined by a man in a Bat Suit punching out anyone who steps up to try to redress the balances from the bottom up. Actions have consequences, and frankly while one may speak of the significance of the level of crime and metahuman madness in Gotham City, Crime is a symptom, not an underlying problem, and the criminals that are grabbing so much attention and driving everyone to madness have only been able to come to prominence because they're the only ones that can survive in such an environment. The crime of Gotham was once organized, madmen had arrived before and were placed into that heirarchical structure, or destroyed by that structure, and with a stronger economy there was less desperation leading to the pervasiveness of the crime problem. As it is, only the metacrime is able to survive in a situation where enforcement is so extreme and uneven. The situation and corruption in Gotham has gotten bad enough that it has drawn the attention of a madman who believes himself to be the immune system of the planet Earth, but again, this is all symbolic, a problem that is, at its core, economic and health oriented, with specific outbreaks of individuals with insane methodologies and extreme resources. In Metropolis, we've our madmen too. They're struck down, even without assistance from the Alien, despite the fact that the Alien does seem to be unbalancing the criminal problem in Metropolis as well, something that has had to be balanced by increased centralized investment by local businesses, most notably my own, to keep the criminals isolated and addressed. The difference in crime statistics illustrates that clearly, if the Wayne Foundation invested in infrastructure and development of local organizational assets, instead of having the city's crime problem faced by a vigilante with a vendetta and an unnatural obsession with rodents punching it, then things would start to improve, even despite the ongoing and growing mental health problem in Gotham City." 

He exhales and looks at her and then raises his hands in the air as if letting it go. "In the grand scheme of things, you're stuck, and I recognize that, but you must understand that Gotham's primary importance is as an object lesson in what not to do to get to this point. Put on the band-aid, fight your war, even be self righteous about it if it'll help, and give something to the President so he can feel as if he's doing something about the problem, he's a slave to his own interests and poll numbers. The people want to see something done in Gotham. God knows I'll probably drop on by to see what I can do about it."


He gets quiet for a moment and then smiles more, "Frankly, it's such an extensive and intractable problem that I wouldn't mind trying to solve it. The Metropham project got a good start on it, but it might even be an interesting challenge and a change of pace from the more intrinsic problems. The LexCorp Gotham project that Miranda's gotten me into has honestly, been an enjoyable diversion. There's nothing wrong with sideshows, director. We enjoy flash, dazzle, and some people even enjoy going out of their way to see the clown dance and the freaks play off the fairway. Pay your nickel, see the horrorshow, but I understand that it's entertainment and showmanship, not the intrinsic central front of a war for the fate of humanity. I'm paid for my expertise and for my consultation, so I would be remiss not to give it to you. Note it, ignore it, insult it, belitle it, canonize it, it makes no difference to me whatsoever, I'm paid the same either way, and I'm still Lex Luthor." 

He put his hands together and looked at her for a time, after the next question before continuing, "But yes, I promise you, the rise of Metahumans is foremost in my mind, Director, and your idea of forming a metahuman task force is something I've been thinking about, especially that. . . mind control initiative that you put on me, to try to keep them under control. The subdermal explosive implants have been developed. You should already have your first shipment of them, sloppy as they are, it'll allow you to remotely neutralize any prepared threat, provided you can implant them in the first place. Further development of other lines of research . . . let's say that there are intractable barriers to the easy conclusion of the problem, although we've had some interesting lines of research stemming from Dr. Crane's work, although I still believe Hugo Strange might provide another potential path forward towards that, although at the moment he remains . . . very resistant to the idea of working towards such a goal. If I didn't know better, I'd assume he was compromised by the enemy, but again, I'm hardly the intelligence expert that you are. He's at the center of the whole Arkham Project in Gotham at the moment, although Jeremiah Arkham is ostensibly in charge of the situation, it appears that Dr. Strange is working as a subadministrator, although he was nearly tapped for the top position, and would have been if we hadn't been so persuasive towards the city council." The implication was clearly stated, it's possible Dr. Strange had been compromised by the League of Assassins, although proving that and doing anything about it would be difficult at best. 

"As for the metahuman task force idea." He's quiet for a moment "I don't like trusting the future of my country or my species to luck. Metahuman powers have been distributed largely due to luck, and despite the apparent benevolence of some of these individuals, I think we can safely say that in several well noted and publicized events, it's easy for a metahuman to pretend to be something that one is not. It is easy for a metahuman to abuse its power, and I for one would like to have more opportunities and possibilities towards preservation of the United States of America, and more importantly the human race. You're used to fighting with the army that you have, not the army that you want, so I understand your motivation to utilize and apply resources as you have them now, but I would rather have people in the field who aren't forced to be there through leverage, pressure, threats or blind luck. With time and effort, I feel that will be an inevitability, although you're fighting your war for now with what you have." He shrugs as he says "I'll keep working on improving your options, Director. I always have, and I always do."

[Deleted]

Waller couldin't help but smile a bit something that was odd for someone like her. "Trust me luthor if I had a choice, I would not give two cents about Gotham. It has an underlying problem that simply punching and kicking into submission will  not solve. I believe people can be saved from themselves, but I don't believe that they can be saved in-spite of themselves. Gotham needs a politically and Economic overhaul. Not a giant wall that brings Gotham's problems out of site out of mind. Gotham doesn't need more Batmen, it needs more Bruce Waynes Jim Gordans and Lex Luthors. At least with metropolis, people are willing to give a care."  

Great the implants. another thing that could potentially bite her in the butt if she was not careful aside form the fact the obvious more dilemma about if hacking into one's brain was wrong, there was also the case of things getting ugly if someone like Ra's Al Ghul got a hold of such thing, and with the possibility of Strange being compromised. Still lex's comments about Luck amused her.

"Human history has all been about luck. Experts say more likely than not, if the comet had not struck the earth 65 million years ago we would not even be here. We've learned that there have been deities and forces that existed long before us, and will probably exist long after. but aside from that, Where would we be if the atom bomb failed? What would have happened if the cold war went hot? Sadly many of the things that have occurred have happened because we were simply at the right place at the right time. Besides Mr Luthor you know me. I want to be perpared and open to the possibility for everything. Whether it is fighting against  an unknown threat as an enemy, or prepare to embrace them as a possibly asset. All I know for sure is that we can't stick our head in the sand and pretend as if the world revolves around us anymore."

Waller raised her cup and smilled as Luthor said he'd continue to try to help.on improving her options. "Good and next time we do one of these meetings, I vote we do it at your place.