2015 has been a rather explosive year in terms of the Niantic Investigation, as Agents worldwide discovered and fought in a conflict that has been centuries in the making. “What is the Niantic Project?”-the question that has launched this Investigation is slowly being answered, but what that answer exactly is has brought forth to light mysteries that have been hidden for quite a long time.
With no new Anomalies until October, I believe now is a good time to recap what has occurred in 2015 so far.
On January 1st, Hank Johnson, having been healing after a firefight in India, was with Jahan, a mysterious biotech researcher who had taken Hank in and helped him heal. The two of them were researching a mysterious force that drove Hank to India for research and knowledge, known as The N’zeer. This force, it seems, was the enemy of the Shapers and had been erased from human history and knowledge by the 13MAGNUS secret society. It has been believed that the N’zeer’s return to Earth would signal the end times.
The two of them were within a temple located near Jahan’s home. A video feed obtained by the Niantic Project G+ uncovers what unfolds: Jahan reveals herself to be the leader of the Anti-MAGNUS society, the antipode to the 13MAGNUS whose purpose is to summon and bring the N’zeer to our world. Furthermore, thanks to Hank, she obtained a powerful object needed in the ritual to summon the N’zeer: The Shonin Stone. Using Azmati, Hank’s friend, as collateral, she ordered him to go to the Nest in Afghanistan in order to summon the N’zeer.
Meanwhile, in Australia, Devra Bogdanovich had been captured by the Hulong Transglobal subsidiary Strategic Explorations, led by the cruel-hearted Antoine Smith. She was transported to a Dark XM mine in the area and it was believed that she would be sacrificed to study the effects of her controversial inoculation-which has an 80% fatality rate and that she injected into herself-upon the Dark XM in the area. Hubert Farlowe was deployed by Hulong to stop Devra from dying. Farlowe makes his way to Australia and squares off with Hulong operatives before being captured by Smith. The two of them are about to meet their end but are saved in the nick of time by 855 (the other NIA assassin who had been attempting to destroy ADA after a botched attempt on the lives of Klue and P.A Chapeau had him in the hospital, where ADA had ingressed him and messed up his mind) and Henry Bowles, the main programmer of ADA. The two of them were attempting to recruit Devra and Farlowe into their mission to take down ADA for good.
Devra and Farlowe race towards Afghanistan, in pursuit of Hank, Azmati and Jahan. who were at the Nest there-the place where Hank Johnson died in 2010 and was reborn as a ‘simulacrum’, an immortal XM clone of his former self-to summon the N’zeer. At that time, a brand new Anomaly series had launched: Shonin, Japanese for witness, owed to the belief that humanity would witness the ‘Age of the N’zeer.”
The Enlightened managed to control the first wave of Anomalies, including the key city of Austin, Texas. It is believed that control of Austin in particular would alter the outcome of whether Jahan’s summoning would either succeed or fail.
In the wake of the Anomalies, a powerful XM blast occurred, probably caused by the Enlightened control of Austin. A surveillance video in the field captured what occurred, narrated by the new leader of the Enlightened movement: A woman simply known as the Acolyte.
If you look closely at the video, you can see that Dr. Oliver Lynton-Wolfe and Devra Bogdanovich are both present in the overview and that after the blast occurs, they both disappear. It has been believed by many that when the blast happened, every central figure involved with the Niantic Project, excluding Hank Johnson and a small few, vanished into thin air.
As the Shonin Anomalies continued, we learned that ADA was attempting to learn sensitive knowledge about herself, knowledge that had been kept secret, and that she enlisted Susanna Moyer to help. In exchange, she’d offer the release of Klue, who she had been using as a biological vessel.
On March 5th, 2015, At 18:00 UTC, 31 XM Shards entered the Portal Network. These Shards were believed to contain the consciousness of Devra. It has since been theorized that all the researchers who vanished after the Afghan blast are potentially going to reappear as Shards, giving Agents a second chance to fight for their alignment.
Meanwhile, Hank re-emerges from the Nest, apparently claiming that he is now ‘fully human’ and no longer an simulacrum. H. Richard Loeb(P.A Chapeau) confirms that he created a vital piece of ADA, an A.I codenamed Truthseeker and more information obtained from Susanna claims that he built the entire program in a single night at the NSA in 1997. Further elucidation by Dr. Edgar Allan Wright, the leader of Operation Essex, and H. Richard Loeb confirmed that Truthseeker was Verity Seke, the mysterious entity who has been operating the Niantic Project G+ page after Loeb left the Investigation in October 2013.
Finally, the Shonin finale arrived. At stake was the fate of the Devra who would be re-built by the faction who controlled her Shards. After a long showdown, the Resistance emerged the victors of the Shonin series, controlling the anomalies and Devra’s shards. Shortly after the Anomaly, reports began pouring in of a message recovered in Pasadena, one of the primaries. The message seemed to be from Devra, showcasing that she was now aligned with the Resistance and that she had emerged within the Portal Network as an XM entity, no longer human.
With Shonin over, Hank Johnson-who was present in Hanover-planned his next move: to travel to the historic city of Persepolis to confront Jahan and the Ant-MAGNUS….
Keep it tuned to Fev Games next week to learn what else has transpired throughout the Niantic Investigation in 2015. Until next time!