Division



Division is the code-name of a secret department of the NSA, first formed in 1970 at the height of the Cold War, to primarily create, operate, and service cryptographic technology. In 1987, then-Major Nicholas Kudrow took command of Division, to begin the initial process of what would one day become the first MERCURY code. Development was initiated in mid-1988, and by March 1989 was proceeding in full swing, with Kudrow's top cryptographers, Leo Pedranski and Dean Crandell, at the forefront of the new code's development team. With Charles Byrnes' rampage against four year-old Peter Lynch and his family that month, he and his team of cryptographers were 'disqualified' from the code selection process, of which he, Kudrow, and then-Lt. Colonel Robert Donaldson were part, each with their own separate development team and personnel. Kudrow and MERCURY won out in 1994 after cutthroat competition in which Donaldson was eliminated and Kudrow received a promotion to Lt. Colonel, while Pedranski and Crandell were ordered to begin full completion, validation, and installation of MERCURY in American communications systems. A long and arduous process, it was within months of completion when Kudrow was killed by Art Jeffries at the IBM Building's GEX Skydeck in Chicago on June 12, 1998. This was only after nearly a week of Jeffries battling against Kudrow and Division, a battle that was initiated on June 5 by nine year-old autistic savant Simon Lynch when he mentally deciphered the code, a process thought to be completely impossible. Many individuals were caught in the crossfire, including Lynch's parents, Martin and Jenny, as well as Pedranski and Crandell, of whom the latter two tried to reveal the truth of the cover-up to Jeffries. Kudrow's second-in-command, Peter Burrell, was also killed at the Skydeck when its bullet-riddled windows imploded in his face after a firefight between him and an FBI SWAT team led by Tommy Jordan, the A-SAC of the Chicago field office and friend of Jeffries. By that December, Division had been reformed and reorganized, with Kudrow sympathizers being 'weeded out' of the department. Now, Division's primary goal is what it was intended for - to help create, maintain, and service cryptographic technology. At the forefront of this effort is Emily Lang, current head of the department's cryptography section, a position formerly held by her boyfriend, the deceased Leo Pedranski.