6/4

Played: May 26, 2022.

Having reunited at Panther Meadow, URIEL continues to share the intel they developed during their excursions. Roger reemphasizes to Marshall how clutch his dreamwork was: “you pulled our asses out of the fire. I mean, we didn’t even go into the fire, right? But that … that elevated us. We became different people because we were able to move and intervene. I mean, you know we were literally trapped in a maze, right? It was a goddamn scientist rat maze! And you just took us out of it and once you showed me how to get out, I got the next one, Charley, and Charley could get out Jo, and then we came out with good intel. And that was all your prompting. So, you know, I don’t — I make fun of you for being a guru all the time like you’re some kind of wacko, but you brought it. So: solid, Marshall.” Marshall thanks him with a namaste.

As everyone discusses what happened and what it all means, Marshall, Roger, and Charley realize that they now have legitimate memories of the events that occurred while they dreamt inside Mount Shasta. Roger and Marshall can now recall their strange conversation aboard the helicopter to Indrapura, as well as their revelatory talk on the boat as it drifted down the river out of Cambodia. Charley, too, remembers meeting Roger at Granite Peak two years prior; a memory shared by Roger. Given his extensive experience as a cheval for the loa, Roger finds this slightly less disorienting than Marshall and Charley. Marshall wonders aloud about the implications of “all this,” that their dreams, coupled with their proximity to Mount Shasta and the apparent alignment of certain celestial factors, can alter the past. Time travel! Charley stays mum.

Over the next hour or so, eating donuts and with Jocasta crashed out, snoring lightly, the team exchanges what they know, what they can surmise, and contemplates next steps. It’s a lot to process; everyone seems tired, except for Marshall, who is wired and asking a lot of questions.

• Marshall inquires about people’s assessment of the Comte de St. Germain. Roger confirms that he’s “definitely an asshole.” The group’s consensus is that the Comte definitely works for the Red Kings.

• The team confirms that Lt. Col. Anthony Barnes Reinhardt is their recently-rediscovered “Sixth Man,” the mysterious former agent assigned to Livermore about whom none of the extant URIEL members from that time have any memory.

• Roger wonders if he, Jocasta, and Charley made the right call not to take the Comte up on his offer to access the “Control Room” and make some change, but Marshall assures him they did not. “It was sort of a patsy offer,” Marshall quips, “he had to know you wouldn’t take it. So why offer it?”

Marshall then asks Mitch if they need do something vis-à-vis his doppelgänger in Los Angeles. Alerting the LA SANDMAN team, for example. Mitch explains that his “current working theory is that everybody in SANDMAN who is not currently hearing [my] voice is probably untrustworthy for one of a couple of different reasons, and there’s not really an upside to telling those people anything.” Marshall asks if they need to go to Los Angeles, but Mitch says that doesn’t seem necessary at this point. “The Comte keeps saying that, you know, my meeting with the guy is foreordained and unavoidable. So we don’t actually have to do anything to set it up, if that’s the case. But assuming he’s full of shit, he knows where I am as much as I know where he is. And I don’t want to dance to his tune.”

Archie asks whose side Mitch believes his double to be on, given that the Comte — and presumably the Red Kings, by extension — want him dead. “He was an agent of the Red Kings,” Mitch explains with a heavy sigh, “who has gone rogue. This is what the Comte claims.” Archie says that is good to know, and possibly useful: an agent of the Red Kings who has gone rogue is actually someone URIEL would love to take alive, and possibly leverage. “But we should avoid putting you next to him,” Archie says, “if we want to take him alive. So we should either send the LA Sandmen to get him or — if we don’t trust the LA branch — I think we send Roger and Jocasta to try and bring in him.”

Roger: Can he explode people with his brain, though? Just … I need a warning first before we go black bag anybody.

Mitch: I honestly don’t know. The Comte indicated at one point that my various psychic abilities were hand selected by the Enemy to optimize me as a “Mitch’s evil twin killing machine,” which would suggest that my evil twin does not have exactly the same powers. But, I mean, the Comte spouts a lot of bullshit and it’s even possible that there’s some kind of wiggly causality thing where, uh, the Comte is speaking the literal truth and yet it’s also the case that Evil Mitch has exactly the same powers as me. Like, I could see that being plausible enough that I wouldn’t object to it.

Archie says that normal operating procedure would be to send the LA SANDMAN team to apprehend Evil Mitch, but that, given what URIEL has learned about the existence of OZYMANDIAS, it makes sense to table this decision until later. Mitch agrees, noting that his chief concern is that, if they alert the LA SANDMAN office to his Evil Twin’s presence, they — URIEL — will never see him again. Marshall isn’t ready to move along quite so quickly. He asks Mitch what he meant by his meeting with Evil Mitch being “foreordained and unavoidable.” Mitch responds that those were the Comte’s words, not his.

Mitch: But the thing is, though the Comte as an information source is not totally reliable, it’s one of those things where, oh no, this particular thing that you were counting on being a lie is actually literally true that, you know … that messes you up. I’m willing to believe that events will conspire to make that happen because, you know, the universe is essentially animistic. It’s like, they’re all just watching us right now and laughing. But … OK, that got really dark. Sorry. It’s been a weekend, man. I just … I just wanted to go camping. I just wanted to go camping.

Marshall: I mean, you knew that couldn’t have possibly happened, right?

Mitch: I thought it might! Like, we might have a nice quiet weekend. There’d be, you know, just a little bit of fun games and then we’d go investigate Vitamin K or whatever.

Marshall directs the conversation around to Mitch and Charley’s shared dream from the early hours of Sunday morning. He asks the group what they make of the dream, in particular the “Janitor” they met, who — to Marshall — sounds a lot like God. Roger shrugs and says that there are lots of gods; who’s to say this one is the God? Charley also disagrees.

Charley: In terms of him being God, I always assumed God would be more of a designer. This guy is not. He’s just an operator. So that’s — so I wouldn’t imagine he would be … God.

Archie: I don’t know about all this God talk. There's been a lot of talk about changing history and vast powers and magical history shifts and and offers of Faustian bargains but here we are, sitting here — I don't think the world is any different than it was when we climbed up the mountain yesterday. I think a lot of smoke and mirrors —

Roger: 1971 has changed.

Marshall: Of course nothing seems like it has changed because time has changed! So that’s — so that’s — anyway, I’m getting off topic. Jocasta, it seems that Reinhardt starts a homicidal satanic youth cult in the future? Is that the conclusion we’re drawing from, uh, what you saw?

The camera swoops over to Jocasta, who is passed out in a camping chair, cigarette dangling from her lips. Marshall kicks one of the legs of Jocasta’s chair and Jocasta comes around with a start, groggy and haggard. Marshall repeats his question and Jocasta explains that such an outcome would not be surprising given what she knows about Reinhardt. He was a very ends-justify-the-means type back when he was Jocasta’s commander in the Natural Guard; he would draw from whatever mystical or esoteric traditions he thought might be useful in achieving his goals. Left-hand magic, right-hand magic, it was all the same to him. “You play with matches,” she concludes, “you wind up burning things down.”

Marshall: OK. So, he — Reinhardt — he seems to be fairly highly placed within SANDMAN and potentially OZYMANDIAS, unless I'm misreading the cues. Like, does everyone sort of share the impression that he is somewhat high ranking?

Mitch: (nods)

Jocasta: He got me transferred — yeah, he got me transferred to SANDMAN. He couldn’t have done that without at least some pull.

Roger: He also had access to an amazing artifact.

Marshall: Right. So, he also was the Sixth Man. And it seems a lot of us have found ourselves here through him. Like, Charley — if he is affiliated with the INDIGO Program or is running the INDIGO Program — then he presumably sent Charley. He would have had to authorize Charley being sent to us, at least, if not directed it outright. Jocasta, you were one of his recruits into the organization. And he was in Vietnam with Roger and me. He was one of the staff commanders. So, it makes me think that, you know … I had this impression of URIEL as being sort of this — well, just this experimental wing where SANDMAN just kind of tossed its broken toys and, you know, hope for the best. But now I think we have been — we ourselves, we are an experiment and an important one to Reinhardt. We’re important to him in a real way. Why else would he be the Sixth Man? Why would he wipe our memories of him being here? And, um … I guess I just wanted to say that out loud, to see if it resonated with anyone.

Roger: So we can start a “who’s the bigger asshole” competition? Monsieur le Comte, right? Or Reinhardt?

Genevieve: But, again, this spiritual experience that Charley, Jo, and Roger had inside the Mountain, all three of those threads led to him. The question now becomes, who designed that experience? Like, who said that when you guys get hit with the madness rune, that you're going to go back to these particular times? Again, not to like, reinforce a cycle of paranoia here but it sort of behooves us to ask why we were sent to those — why the three of you were sent to those specific times.

Roger: The basic assumption was that we made was that Monsieur le Comte was attempting to point us and say, “even though your memories have been erased or you don't remember, here's your enemy.” To re-stab his point about how we should unmake OZYMANDIAS, right? Because he was trying to convince us against every bit of our wills to throw the Old Man into the Control Room and erase him. I think he was trying to make the point of … there's this sinister figure, he's been manipulating you, you should get rid of him. Of course, then Monsieur le Comte is the other mysterious figure trying to manipulate us on the other side and fuck him too.

Marshall: So then my question becomes, if URIEL is significant to Reinhardt — if we’re not just a dumping ground for SANDMAN’s broken toys — why do we think that is? Because clearly Reinhardt has not sent us here just to act as local ontological policemen. Why the — (he glances at Viv) — why the six of us? And to what end? I know that we might not have the answers to this question now, but I want us to all be thinking of that going forward.

At this point, Archie jumps in, checking off with his fingers a few “mundane items” that should be sorted out before URIEL makes dust back to San Francisco.

• “The dynamite worked. The cave is sealed, right?” he asks. Roger and Jocasta assure him that yes, it did, and yes, it is. Roger asks if the team’s memeticists think some “spin” in necessary to avoid, say, the Park Service going to investigate the sound of the explosion. After some debate, though, Archie and Marshall agree that memetics aren’t really the way to go. Archie’s analysis of the Mt. Shasta memeplex is that the area is already a morass of strange ideas, hidden lore, and whacky stories. Another meme explaining the explosion would likely only get lost in the current. Plus, if the Comte is to be believed, the “tunnel” leading to the golden chamber and the Control Room is gone — and will remain “gone” for at least two more years. The team decides they’ll just keep an eye on the area using Mitch’s contacts.

• “Prophet and her people? They left, but we think she is a little bit neutralized. But we shouldn’t lose track of her now, right?” Roger’s pretty confident he’s gotten Elizabeth Clare Prophet to chase her own tail for the foreseeable future. He’s willing to drive down to Malibu to check on her periodically, though.

• And what of Agent RAVEN, Charley’s mother? Archie thought it was very clever for Mitch to ask RAVEN for her address, but Mitch is less enthusiastic. Genevieve pipes up: “Well, the license plates did have cowboys on them, and there’s only one state in the Union that has license plates with cowboys on them and that’s Wyoming.” Is she in Wyoming, then? Both Archie and Marshall think that’s plausible: they know that SANDMAN maintains several facilities in Wyoming where it trains its commandos.

• With Jocasta awake, “does she want to talk about the future? It’s hard to see what’s actionable about that vision.” Jocasta clears her throat and blearily recounts what she saw and what happened to her, noting as she does how similar it was to the future-history predicted by GRAIL TABLE and how it is further evidence that Reinhardt is close to the center of things. Other than that, she feels there’s not much that can be done right now. She jokes that she has no intention of engaging in any drug-induced time travel based on her visions of 2016, looking askance at Marshall as she does. After wrapping up her report, she lights another cigarette and thinks about how she is going to do an absolute metric ton of drugs when she gets home.

Here, Viv pipes up to remind everyone, with all this talk of dreams, that the dream journal is available in the drawer of her desk at Livermore. She encourages everyone to make use of it, and reminds the group that she’ll be traveling on her book tour next week, so she will not be available. “But if consultation is needed,” she concludes cheerily, “I’m just a phone call away.”

With the debriefings thus basically complete, Marshall prepares to leave with David. Before he does, though, he discreetly pulls Charley aside.

Marshall: I couldn’t help but notice what just happened with Viv and you not taking her hand. Is there something there that I should be aware of?

Charley: No. I just don’t — I just didn’t want to take her hand. I guess I just wanted to hold dad’s hand. I just … I don’t know. I don’t know. I don’t know.

Marshall: Are you … suspicious of her?

Charley: She makes me uncomfortable … sometimes. I don’t know. I don’t know. Do you like her? I mean, she seems a little weird at times. I don’t know. I’m … I’m tired. I just …

Marshall: That’s fine. We don’t have to talk about it right now.

Charley: I didn’t really think about it. I just didn’t feel like taking her hand.

Marshall: Ah, but it’s the fact that you didn’t think about it that prompted me to ask the question. (leaning in, whispering) You always have to be thinking about how others perceive you with the actions that you take, because the actions you take betray your true intentions. Don’t forget that.

Marshall ruffles Charley’s hair then heads to the Cadillac. David closes the door behind them and they drive off. The rest of the team packs up their vehicles and, about an hour later, drive off, with Mitch and Mary-Lynn taking an alternate route so that Mitch can visit Master Jiyu at Shasta Abbey before hitting the road back to the Bay Area. Before they arrive, Mitch spots a payphone near the Park Ranger station and pulls over. He dials the Abbey. One of Master Jiyu’s attendants answers — the same attendant who answered his call on Friday. He explains that he told Jiyu about Mitch’s call, and that she has agreed to see him, provided he understands that she is quite ill and likely facing her last days. Mitch says he understands and hops back in his VW Beetle.

At Shasta Abbey, Mitch and Mary-Lynn are escorted to Jiyu’s personal cell. As Jiyu’s attendant described, the Zen master is in dire health. A pall hangs over the room; an aura of death hangs heavy in the air. Mitch reads Jiyu’s aura and finds that she is dying due to a combination of chronic heart disease and advanced, untreated diabetes. She is also retaining a great deal of fluid. She does not have long, Mitch estimates. Worse still, she is mentally and spiritually weakened to the point that she is only periodically lucid. The attendant whispers that she has been in a delusional state the past few days.

Mitch and Mary-Lynn take a seat beside Jiyu’s mat. She turns, heavily, to face them. Her face is pale and moist. In a near-whisper, she speaks.

Jiyu: Matthew. I was hoping you’d make it.

Mitch: Hey. Um, yeah … yeah, I made it. I made it. Have you made it?

Jiyu: I … I don’t know. I should have … I should have listened to you. I should have gone to the doctor earlier. They’ve sent one the last two days and they … could admit me but … I—I don’t—I didn’t let them. I knew I needed to be here because I knew I’d see you.

Mitch: OK. Well, that makes the question that I’m about to ask a little … a little easier, I think. Um. Do you mind if I … try something?

Jiyu: (blanching somewhat) What? W-w-what do you mean?

Mitch: I’m not sure.

Jiyu: Do you wish to meditate with me? I—I don’t know if I can get into zazen and—and—and do what I need to. I’ve also been — there have been — there have just been these illusions sort of … assaulting — assaulting my mind and I don’t know what to make of them.

Mitch: Yeah. Yeah. The illusions are hard. There’s … a lot. A lot to deal with.

Jiyu: Whatever—whatever you wish to do, Matthew. I trust you.

Mitch channels his aura sight deeper into Jiyu’s soul while taking her hands in his own. They are cold and shaking. He closes his eyes and concentrates. With Mary-Lynn looking on quizzically, Jiyu closes her eyes and speak. She sounds parched, like her throat is not fully working. She whispers to Mitch:

I … you know I left the Church of England a long, long time ago. But I obviously could never leave behind the stories I was told. The narratives that ran their grooves into my mind and soul at an early age. But I—I chose Zen because … because I felt the call of divesting myself of the Self. And as I have been ill, Matthew, everything has been driving me towards a greater awareness of myself — my meditation has not allowed me to divest myself of experiencing the dukkha. My—my whole life as a monk, as an abbess, feels like a lie. All of this, all of these illusions, all of this [indecipherable], assaulting my senses … I mean, I knew you were coming. Is that a delusion? Did I see beyond what can be experienced with the five senses? Who am I to even say I have these abilities? I—I am not … all of this, all that this illness seems to have taught me, is it mire me deeper in suffering? In samsara? I saw my past lives, Matthew. I saw how they failed to fix their karma. I saw how … I saw you. I saw your colleagues. In a manifold golden lotus! A shard of the Master of the House. In that reflection, I saw you and I saw how our dharmas are intertwined. I’m not … part of your circle but I have been an advisor. I have been a trusted friend. To you. In past lives. And I just here wondering why, why I would be tormented with these visions of ego and Self, when I — when all I have tried my whole life is to divest myself of that.

Suddenly, Mitch collapses, though as he does, he realizes something: “Oh my God,” he thinks, “I’ve become what Ol’ Vera was waiting for.” Mary-Lynn hops up and props Mitch up her lap before helping to move him a cushion. Jiyu sits up, the color returning to her face, the life returning to her eyes. She stands and looks down at Mitch. With reverence in her voice, she says: “They weren’t illusions. They were true visions. You can heal the sick!” Mitch responds, weakly: “I mean, kinda.”

Jiyu: I—I want to tell you everything I saw! I don’t need to be afraid of what I saw. It was — it was all real!

Mitch: Um, I’m not in a, like, good position to really hear it right now. Can you write it down?

Jiyu: Yes! Yes, absolutely.

Mitch: I’d appreciate that. If you could, like, I guess, I write me a letter?

Jiyu: Yes. Yes, of course.

Mitch: Sorry if that seems impersonal.

Jiyu: No! No no no. It would help me get my thoughts together. I think, yes, I think that’s for the best.

Mitch glances at Mary-Lynn, who is looking at him with a combination of awe, confusion, and wonder. Jiyu and Mary-Lynn help Mitch to his feet. Mary-Lynn nods to Jiyu and says: “I think that Matthew — as much as he has help you, I think that you have helped us, but I think I need to get him home now.” Jiyu smiles and bows. With an air of secret knowledge about her, she whispers: “I think the two of you are very lucky to have each other. Matthew, when things are les fraught and less busy for both of us, let us have another conversation. After you’ve received my letter.”

Mitch: That would be great.

Jiyu: If you don’t mind coming back to the Mountain.

Mitch: (sighing) I don’t know … maybe some day I’ll come here and have an unambiguously positive experience at Shasta. If I keep trying, it’s bound to happen eventually. I mean, Pete likes it.

Jiyu: I have … some inkling of what you had to deal with this weekend. We’ll talk soon.

Mitch and Mary-Lynn depart. The camera pans out as a brown VW Beetle makes it way down the winding road from Shasta Abbey, following signs for the highway.