magnetic ◊ criminal minds

xxii.

xxii. amplification
( season four, episode twenty-four )

LYRA arrived to work and was bombarded with confusion. At first, like the others, she was certain this was a local case. After all, JJ said not to bring a go-bag. However, the reality was a lot worse.  When she arrived, she was confused to see the army there. She hoped it would not affect her. She and the military did not exactly get along, not after what they had done to her mother, what they do to mutants around the world, what they did to her. She went straight to the briefing room, followed by Morgan, Prentiss and Reid who had also just arrived.

"Guys, this is Doctor Linda Kimura, Chief of Special Pathogens at the CDC," JJ introduced, gesturing at the woman beside her.

"Hello. I am sorry to meet under these circumstances," Kimura said.

"What circumstances?" Reid asked.

"We need to get started," Hotch said, him and Rossi having just entered the room.

Lyra frowned. "Get what started?" she signed.

"Last night, twenty-five people checked into emergency rooms in and around Annapolis," JJ stated. "They were all at the same park after 2:00 PM yesterday. Within ten hours, the first victim died. It's now just past 7:00 AM the next day. We have twelve dead."

"Lung failure and black lesions," Morgan read off the file. "Anthrax?"

"Anthrax doesn't kill this fast," Reid said.

"This strain does," Kimura said.

"What are we doing about potential mass targets?" Prentiss asked. "Airports, malls, trains?"

"There's a media blackout," Hotch said.

"We're not telling the public?"

"We'd have a mass exodus," Morgan said.

"The psychology of group panic would cause more deaths than this last attack," Rossi said.

"Yeah, and if it does get out, whoever did this might go underground or destroy their samples," Reid said.

"Or if they wanted attention and didn't get it, they might attack again," Prentiss countered. "Doesn't the public have the right to know that?"

"Chances are that'll happen either way," Lyra signed.

"If there is another attack, there's no way we'll be able to keep it quiet. Our best chance at protecting the public is by building a profile as quickly as we can," Hotch said.

"What do we know about this strain?" Reid asked.

"The spores are weaponized, reduced to a respiral ideal that attacks deep in the lungs. Odorless and invisible," Kimura stated.

"A sophisticated strain. Only a scientist would know how to do that," Rossi said.

"These lesions are doubling in size in a matter of hours," Morgan said.

"It's not the lesions I'm worried about, it's the lungs," Kimura said. "We don't know how to combat the toxins once we're inside. And the reality is, we may lose them all."

"The remaining survivors have been moved to a special wing at Walter Reed Hospital," JJ stated.

Lyra frowned. "Are we worried this'll become national?" she signed. Reid translated for those who did not know sign language.

"Not at the moment, no," Hotch responded.

"Our offices will become a small command centre," JJ continued.