The mountainside interface with Marathe — the Office runs the A.F.R. from inside

pivotal · 30 April - 1 May YDAU

• When: the night of 30 April into dawn 1 May YDAU, on an outcropping NW of Tucson AZ; their sixth or seventh such meeting
• What: U.S.O.U.S.'s deepest asset against the A.F.R. is Rémy Marathe, and Steeply is his handler-interface. The A.F.R. believes Marathe is a triple agent feeding B.S.S. controlled information under Fortier's direction (for U.S. cardiac care for his dying wife); in fact "he really is betraying them... and is thus only pretending only to pretend" (n042), and "Steeply is fully aware" while Fortier does not know they know (n040). The Office holds this over him: "Marathe was without all power, served now at the pleasures of the power of Steeply and the B.S.S." Because of Marathe, the A.F.R.'s pure-malice agenda is already "known to the Office of Unspecified Services" (n302) — though Fortier may have "deliberately allowed" the datum through. Steeply keeps back from his own superiors that Fortier knows he's here (scene 103) — the Office's game played even against itself. Marathe's true final loyalty is the thread's open crux, recorded open. See the AFR thread (event 6)/event 7; the Marathe timeline (the defector's biography and Fortier's counter-plan, which stay at A.F.R. altitude).