Midnight Syndicate

Life, Crime

Dr. Tafey Anne Sinjin calls in members of Wyldfire to investigate a break-in at her biotechnology laboratory. Who stole lab notes and samples on a virus from her lab? The Midnight Syndicate, that's who! And investigation into their underground base -- hidden under the Warehouse District on the northern coast of the Lackawanna River in Metropolis proper, connected to the Metropolis Underground -- finds a further reference to the Metahuman Research and Defense Agency, whatever that may be.

Tafey Sinjin is contacted by someone from the CDC in Atlanta. They want her to develop an antitoxin from samples of an odd poison that has been discovered in the Midwest in a small town. Tafey specializes in biophysics which would normally be more big-picture oriented, but she co-wrote some work on a very similar-seeming material a few years ago; the CDC hopes she can isolate the differences between her team's work and this new substance quickly enough to save lives.

Tafey discovers that the poison is some kind of artificial construct, quite possibly a targeted "biological" weapon. It does not in any way affect metahumans who have non-human mammalian genetic alterations like Feral (who is a mutate) or like MIrabelle Sinjin (who is a mutant). Tafey makes notes on a few promising leads for how to disable this artificial "virus", shuts down her lab for the night, and goes to get enough sleep to work quickly the next day.

That night, one of the Phoenix Technologies lab technicians working at this facility, a Dr. Cheneworth, disables the security on Tafey's lab. Intruders steal the notes and samples, although they are not able to access Tafey's backups.