9/2
Played: February 1, 2024.
Jocasta prepares to find Patty Hearst with her psychic powers. She's leased or sold the house in Albany, so the best place for the experiment is the Kearney Street SANDMAN office (though part of her would like to just lay out in an alley somewhere).
She lights incense because her method will integrate a version of knissomancy into this experience, but instead of looking at the patterns of the smoke per usual, this time Jocasta sinks into just experiencing the scent. She closes her eyes and moves into a meditative state. She picked a heavy, musky, kind of funky incense for this particular trip; it seemed to Jo to be the best way to connect with whatever cramped squat the SLA is hiding out in, someplace that hasn't seen a lot of fresh air in a long time.
That connection to scent is the first synesthetic clue Jocasta gets, as she starts to send her mind out into the city and simultaneously focus inward, reflecting on the ways her life story and Patty Hearst's intersect and share thematic links. Jocasta looks for that twin soul, the missing part in the city.
Once in REM sleep, Jo finds herself in a dreamscape, surrounded by tapestries, Red, scarlet, brown, they wave in an unfelt breeze. The light source is red, and she realizes she's laying on a Victorian-era divan, under an undefinedly-exotic-looking red blanket.
Looking down at her hands, she's sees she is not herself, but rather someone else. All round her the red light suffuses everything, and she can still smell the incense. The dreamscape is out of time, not a current hippie bedsit but something from decades back. Other people are around, but Jo can perceive them only dimly.
At her divan's side is a small table with a red-glassed oil lamp, the source of the red light, and next to the lamp a crystal goblet of red wine. Jocasta-Patty feels a strong urge to drink from the goblet yet hesitates. The dimly-perceived voices in the background shift their tone. She can make out phrases, as they speak with urgency about escaping the SFPD and the FBI. She feels none of their urgency, however.
A sharp bass laugh suddenly cuts through the languor.
"You honky motherfuckers!"
A couple of people run out of the room. Jocasta dimly recognizes them from the SLA dossiers she's examined.
"General, get back inside!" The chop-chop of a helicopter echos. The pair return, leading Field Marshall Cinque back into the house.
He laughs. "They think they're going to find us! They're not going to find us."
"They are going to find us, sir, if you go out there shouting up at the helicopters looking for us."
"We're invisible. They can't see us. Isn't that right, Tania?"
Jocasta starts to reply but then she feels herself bifurcate off of Patty Hearst, and she stands now in a squalid hippie bedsit, looking down at Patty laying on a sofa.
"I am Tania," Patty says solemnly to Jocasta. "I am Fancy. I am Patricia."
Cinque laughs at Hearst. "She's out of it," he says to no one in particular. "Let's go—"
Jocasta shudders awake.
Telesend-16 with 3 points of Corruption, success by 9.
She's successfully established a link to Patty Hearst. It's not clear to Jocasta whether Hearst was drugged by the SLA to keep her compliant, or Hearst has been taking drugs of her own initiative, or if she's hallucinating as a stress response to brainwashing, or what. But now Jo can sense Hearst directly, in the squalid little SLA hideout. And vice-versa.
Find me, Patty. I understand what you're going through better than anyone. Whatever it is you want, I can help you. Find me tomorrow.
Diplomacy-16, success by 5.
"I can't leave the headquarters," Hearst says, or thinks. "They won't let me out of their sight."
"That's all right. You can stay where you are. Tell them about me, tell them to find me."
"Are you a comrade?"
"I'm the best comrade you'll ever have, Tania."
"I'll tell them…where are they going to find you?"
"On the streets of the Haight. The usual places."
"I'll tell them…what is your name?"
"Jocasta." She can feel the connection stretching and fraying. "Why did they choose you?" Jo asks quickly.
"They chose me because of who my family is…but I have a more important mission.
The link breaks, and Jocasta steadies herself.
April 16, 1974 | Tuesday
Marshall gets a call back from Robert Redford's agent's office. Marshall had left a message the day before, and the agent's secretary says that Redford will call at 10, that Redford is very keen to speak to Marshall, please stand by.
10am Tuesday! Bang on time.
"Dr. Redgrave? Bob Redford…"
"Bob, how are you?"
"I'm well, thanks. I heard your name, I was very curious to see what you were wanting to talk about."
"Right down to business, I guess? I have this guy down in LA who has—you know, I'm just gonna throw it out there—I have a guy who has an idea. An idea that I think is gonna knock your socks off. I want to get you in touch with him, because it's a really—it's a really serious and thoughtful piece, it really is going to challenge people in certain ways, and I think that that you know, when I think of who needs to be behind that kind of a project? Like, who is gonna be the person who I need to be behind a project that's really going to test the limits, to make people think differently? I think of you, naturally. I just wanted to get you in touch with him, his name is Andy and he's represented by a friend of mine, you've probably never heard of him but he's pretty big down in LA. Archie Ransom? Have you heard of Archie Ransom?"
"Right… can't say I have, doctor, but…"
"Let me tell you something about Archie Ransom real quick. This is a free piece of 10-cent advice, Bobby. Once you start hearing about Archie Ransom, that means you've made it. It means you're part of the Inner Circle down in Hollywood. Within the Hollywood that you're working in, there is a smaller Hollywood, and there are producers, and there's Talent there, and they are the ones who really call the shots. You wouldn't hear about them, because they just live normal lives…"
Public Speaking-22 (opening the door for Enthrallment perhaps), roll of 8, success by 14
Marshall leaves the substantive material, the more tantalizing bits, to entice Redford for an in-person sit down. "...honestly, I only know so much about it myself…"
"All right, well, in a spirit of openness, I do have a project that's kind of burning a hole in my pocket right now, but I'm interested to hear what you have in mind, you and your couple of colleagues…"
"Where are you now? Are you in the States?"
"I'm in LA—I was abroad for a couple of weeks, but I'm back."
"Are you going to be in LA for a while? I've got a place down there, you know, I could arrange a meeting there—it's really sweet, it overlooks the Valley, I got it from Debbie Reynolds, it's really great, we could have a little thing, Diane Keaton is down there and she'll come by any time…"
"I was going to suggest a business lunch, but…"
Marshall scoffs.
"If you're going to open your home, that would be totally fine with me."
"Bring the kids!" Marshall cries. "Archie is married to a lovely woman, bring the wife, you can bring the kids!" Marshall is thinking quickly, perhaps due to cocaine: a narratively convenient party at his place, perfect, Archie gets his family down from San Francisco, Jocasta works security, everything moving into place.
Up at Mount Shasta, Archie Ransom surveys the St-Germain school campus for the first time. He's heard reports but not been up here himself. He wasn't sure what he expected, but what he finds is a skinny long-hair playing guitar and singing with a knot of kids. It's idyllic, with the atmosphere of a laid-back summer camp more than a private school.
Archie goes to the main building and finds Mary-Lynn, who greets him with a hug.
"Well, they said you'd be up, but I didn't expect you so quickly!"
"Things move fast when they start to happen. It's nice to have the toys to move us around." Archie tells her it's great to see her, he politely oohs and aahs at everything they've done with the place. Whether that's sincere or not is unclear, but Archie is genuinely charmed by and likes the summer-camp vibe. He's happy to be shown around a little. He wants to know what's going on: how she's doing, definitely how the kids are doing. He doesn't know the kids; he hasn't interacted with them, but he's curious just to see them in their habitat.
Mary-Lynn gives the quick dollar tour, but in the midst of all that what she tries to convey is that
at least before yesterday things had been pretty smooth. Starting a school from scratch, even with all the help Mitch has gotten, hasn't been exactly easy. We have the curriculum we're required to teach the kids, but… "The ones that came here in that first batch, Archie? I mean, they were so closed off when they first got here. Just in seven or eight weeks it's been such a difference, you know? They've come out of their shells. In fact Hilton is in with our guest…" Mary-Lynn is clearly struggling to take in stride the weirdness of Hilton and Mitch having grabbed an old guy off the mountain. "He's been in there all morning with him, him and Peter."
Archie's been briefed on Peter Mount Shasta: an Illuminated, taken away from his former infatuation with the Comte and mimetically deprogrammed by Mitch. One of Mitch's 'lodge brotherhood,' basically.
"He's in there with 'Dodd' and Hilton right now?"
"I just assumed it was okay for for Hilton to be hanging out with them. Peter's not an instructor here, but he does come by quite frequently and he's, um, he's great with the kids…"
Archie is unsure whether he should be worried about memetic contamination, but he's certainly surprised to learn Mary-Lynn et al are willing to permit the kids to just chat with 'Dodd,' and says so.
Mary-Lynn is abashed. "Just Hilton! Just Hilton, because he was there when they found him."
"Have you talked to him?" Archie asks Mary-Lynn. "To 'Dodd,' I mean?"
"Only only enough to say hello, bring him a meal. I haven't sat down and had a real long conversation with him. He's in rough shape, Archie. I mean he does not look well. I know Mitch said that he wasn't in any shape to come down off the mountain…"
"Do we need to get a doctor up here?"
"He's been stable, Mitch did what he could, but still, it might not be a bad idea. I know Mitch had to leave in a hurry. So anything you can give us would be real welcome."
"Well, yeah. Mostly I just came to talk to him."
Mary-Lynn nods and escorts Archie to the guest bungalow where 'Dodd' has been laying. As she does, Archie notices a car arrive, a blue Chevy Vega with California license plates driven by a young man in his early twenties. Dave parks in the school cul-de-sac and heads over to the Admin building.
Michael
Mary-Lynn lets you into the bungalow, and Peter Mount Shasta is there. I've described another guy as a skinny hippie, but he's a skinny hippie with long hair and a beard. Hilton is
about 11 years old, Black, he's got kind of a medium-sized afro. The three of them…the old man, Dodd, is lying down and by the looks of him, it's Ambrose Bierce. Archie knows his last known photo, he probably did a little little refresher research before coming up. It's him and he is, again, covered in burns. His skin is blotchy red, looks very ill, very drawn, very gaunt. He is lying down while Hilton and Peter Mount Shasta cluster around him.
Peter and Hilton turn their heads when Archie comes in. I don't think Archie's met Hilton. The rescue that happened off screen from Puharich brought them directly here. But he is one of Puarich's former students, and he's one of Charlie's former fellow INDIGO children.
Rob
Archie introduces himself to them first. "Peter and you must be Hilton. My name's Archie. I'm a friend of Mitch's." He looks to Dodd/Bierce.
Michael
He's kind of half conscious, but he sensed that someone has walked in. He looks up.
Rob
Still talking to Peter and Hilton, "How is he doing?"
Michael
Peter can speak for that, because Mitch left him here to kind of keep an eye on him. "I was given the responsibility to look after our Elder here," he says in a very kind of hippie kind of way. "He had a rough night, but we're trying to keep him comfortable. His appetite is starting to come back, and he's had some water, definitely had some bad dreams last night…" Peter has moved out of earshot of Ambrose.
Ambrose snaps at them. "Why don't you stop gossiping over there like a couple of fish wives? I take it there's someone important here to see me?" he says with a rasp in his voice.
Rob
"Well, I don't know about 'important,' but I definitely did want to meet you, sir." Archie offers his hand to shake, if Bierce's able to take it. "My name's Archie Ransom."
Michael
Ambrose Bierce extends his hand. Again, it's in rough shape, so he just gently sort of touches palms with Archie.
Rob
"How are you doing, sir? Are they taking good care of you? Is there anything you need?"
Michael
"If you could manufacture me a new body at about 25 years of age that would be nice. Take the red bullet out of my head…" He drifts off, his voice curdling with a 'how do you think I'm doing' kind of subtext. "But I have been made comfortable and welcome, and if I have you to thank for that, thank you."
Archie can tell that Bierce is no dummy. He knows his savior and brother has gone away and someone's come here to talk to him. Probably wouldn't be a bad idea to kind of do a psychology roll, see if there's anything else you can pick up from his manner and his body language.
Rob
Psychology-18, roll of 11 (success by 7)
Michael
His defenses are up, he's cautious and curious about Archie. He doesn't have the kind of quick wit that he wants to have, but he's trying to show it off for you. This is a man who's got a lot of physical problems, that's affecting the way he's able to parry conversationally, but he's trying.
Rob
When he mentions you know he mentions the red bullet, Archie is a little starstruck, goggling at the idea of talking to this guy. "Yeah, so, that's right. You were at the Battle of Shiloh. But it was… uh, Kennesaw Mountain where you got hit…"
Michael
"Am I to be a subject of study in the dark-drawn future of this country? I can only offer the knowledge that my time at War made me famous, but it also brought me to where I am today. so you tell me if it was all worth it." He's not even like mentioning the fact that… there's Hilton, and he fought the Civil War. That's not for him, it's all about ego and about how his stories about war made him famous and everything.
Rob
Right, yeah. We'll go with that, then. "Well, I'm a history buff, and I'm a reader. I had…what was it called… a copy of Tales of Soldiers and Civilians with me when I went off to war."
Michael
"So, you have been to war, then," he says in an ominous yet knowing way. "Tell me, sir, did you also come close to death in war?" I'm gonna have you roll a flashback roll. It's been a while since we've had to do that, about war.
Rob
It's been a while yeah. What do I roll?
Flashbacks (mild) 6-, roll 11.
Michael
You're fine. "Did you come close to death, in your war?"
Rob
"Sure…sure. Some close calls. I spent some time, uh as a prisoner of war…" But he sort of shakes it off. "I spent some time as a prisoner…I think we have that in common, too."
Diplomacy-19, roll 16 (technically a success)
Michael
"So this is the moment where the agent comes across from his infiltration, and he is brought amongst friends to find out what he's found out while in the lands of the Enemy." Now, at that moment, Mary-Lynn knocks on the door of the bungalow, and she peeks in, and says "Archie, do you have a minute?"
Rob
"Sorry, excuse me." He'll go to the door at least.
Michael
"So there's this young man who came to the office, and he says that he was called here? And when I tried to get more—this is Mount Shasta, we get a lot of kooks—but he said he was called here, and that he needs to be here right now, and I would usually bring this to my darling Mitch, but, can you help me with this? Please?" Anxiously cracking up.
Rob
"All right," sort of flustered and annoyed at this. "Did this man have a name? What does he want?"
Michael
"He said his name is Dan Miller." Archie knows that name: he was the kid at the bowling alley.
Rob
Yeah, at Agrigenics. The Agrigenics catspaw.
Brant
Okay, wow. Jo and I cleaned him up right and proper. Something's…?
Michael
I'm gonna go to Mitch now. Mitch on the campus of University of San Francisco, probably going to himself 'what the hell are they doing up there, I just—what is going on up there?' Mitch, can you start off by giving me an Observation roll, to give me your observations for your morning of skulking around the Catholic campus of USF.
Jeff
Observation-14, roll of 18 (critical failure!)
Wow. Do I hallucinate something, or am I spending the day convinced that there's something to be found in the microfiche of the library?
Michael
I just think that it's super distracting that, at around 10:00 a.m., as Mitch is looking for you know SLA backers, kids who might be likely avenues for his Serendipity… he just isn't sensing anything so at around 10, he walks by the USF baseball field. The team is out there, practicing. It's April, baseball season is starting, it's great. Mitch decides to take a break, watch the baseball practice for a little while, because nothing's clicking with him. Nothing's working, nothing's really making his senses click one way or the other. He grabs a bleacher to see the USF Dons practice.
Jeff
I am big into it. Maybe there's some significance in the way that they're scrimmaging.
Michael
Yeah, it's just standard baseball drills Some guys are doing bunts, fungoes…
Jeff
Shooting hoops…
Michael
Mitch, maybe not the biggest sports fan in the world, I don't know. It's just a nice morning, and he's just sitting down in the bleachers, and as he is sitting down in the bleachers… an older gentleman, bespectacled, probably in his 60s, wearing a full suit, not dressed casually at all…walks his way up the bleachers to sit. Not right next to Mitch but 10 or 15 feet away watching the game. Mitch looks over at him, he's got no aura.
"Nice day for it," he says, kind of amiably, over at Mitch.
Jeff
"Is that what you think?"
Michael
"We're sitting here watching some young men in the flower their youth playing America's pastime. I can't think of a better way to spend an April morning."
Jeff
Mitch adopts the affect of a psychopathic killer. He leans towards the guy and says, "really? You can't think of a better way?"
Michael
Why don't we just do an intimidation roll?
Jeff
Intimidation-16, roll of 9
That one I succeeded at.
Michael
Oh, wow, yeah, you've got it ready and everything. Let me make a Will Roll… let me also check to see see exactly what Intimidation can do in this situation if I fail the Will Roll, because I think it's a quick contest…
Jeff
I just want to get rid of the guy because he's distracting me from my laser sharp focus on the baseball practice, right? So that's my motivation here. I just want him gone, out of here, I'm sure there's nothing interesting about him, and I am focused on other things.
Michael
"All right, son, suit yourself. I was hoping we'd have a chat, but I can see you've got other things going on. Before I go I'm just gonna say what I came here to say: you and your people stay away from the Club." And he gets up and he walks down the bleachers and exits Max Ulrich Field.
Jeff
(pantomimes exasperation)
Michael
You're muted.
Jeff
No, I'm not muted, I'm just pantomiming because Mitch is pissed by. He's not going to be able to enjoy the baseball game with this hanging over his head. He's gonna have to go fucking call this in. Christ.
Michael
He is gonna probably have to go call this in, yeah.
Let's zip back to Jocasta, because she's next in the rotation. This would be around the same time that Mitch is having his encounter at Max Ulrich Field. Jocasta, give me an Observation roll for Ingleside, please.
Leonard
Observation-19, roll of 9
Michael
Jocasta maybe hasn't been to Ingleside personally, maybe ever. You know it is like… the city's really tense right now right and in these like working- to middle-class white neighborhoods they're especially tense, because not only do you have the SLA on the loose, could be anywhere in the city, could knock over any bank at any time… could make themselves known… The "Zebra" killings are still going on. The kinds of people who live in these kinds of neighborhoods are not going to look too kindly on a hippie-looking young woman wandering around the place. Jocasta can definitely tell that the vibes here (and again she's no esmologist) but the Vibes here are very tense and suspicious of outsiders. But she manages to…it's not like they haven't seen any hippies down here, it's it's San Francisco in 1974… So as Jocasta makes her way north towards the Haight, obviously she starts to blend in more. I don't know if Jo has seen what the Haight is starting to become, but I gave you that big text dump… There's still a lot of young people here, but the businesses are starting to come back, and they're marketing towards the now maybe a little more settled-down young people… and in the moment Jocasta kind of goes 'I just don't think the SLA and Patty are here.' It doesn't feel like the right kind of spot for her to be. There are tons of flops and hippie commune apartments in this neighborhood in the Haight, no question, but there's just something about the vibes here that don't match the languid decadent world that Tania-Patty-Fancy was in last night.
So Jocasta says, well maybe if I'm not feeling it here, maybe I can go to the Panhandle and see what's happening there. With that, at the park…can you give me a Tracking roll, please?
Tracking-18, roll of 15
There's definitely been recent camping in the Panhandle in the past few days. The weather is right, where people who don't have somewhere to sleep, mostly young people… Jocasta would bet that if she wandered around here for a while she'd find some younger kids who do live in the park. It would be very easy for her to ferret those out, but it might take a little time. The Panhandle isn't a huge Park, it's very skinny, it's only a couple blocks wide.
The kids are probably out panhandling right now right…and that reminds me: yes, Marshall, the Special Ones are out in the field right now, gathering intelligence, so I will get that back to you once they've had some time to do that… So Jocasta thinks if she's gonna find a way to make a connection to someone who knows the SLA, it's gonna be here. This of course is where Jocasta told Patty to let her comrades know that they should meet here. This is a crossing grounds for all of the young people in the area. And so Jocasta walks around looking for where these kids might get together. At around 11 she sees a a group of like six young people, probably in their early 20s, carrying a couple of kids as well… they make their way into the park. They've got meals from a deli, maybe they dumpster-dove. They come over to where Jocasta is sitting. One of the young men in the group, looks like the father of one of the kids, says, "hey there! Haven't seen you before. You all right?
Leonard
"Yeah. I just came up from LA."
Michael
"Oh well, welcome. We can share what we've got with you." They're embodying the the hippie ethos here, sharing what they have. They bring Jocasta into their social matrix, and the women in the group introduce themselves. There's Darlene, this guy's name is Ethan… they're very much of the same milieu as Marshall's Special Ones. With kids. "So what's LA like?"
Leonard
"It's hot, all the time. I got sick there."
Michael
"We know a few doctors in the Haight, if you need some help, and…" he lowers his voice, "like, if you need methadone, or you need to get off something, like, there's clinics and they're free…"
Leonard
"Yeah, maybe. I;'ve been looking for a place to cut, but I'm sick."
Michael
One of the women starts to recite a Buddhist mantra and prayer, as she looks at Jocasta. "Then maybe we should get her to the clinic now?" They're evincing a lot of concern for you.
As Jocasta sits here, being taken care of by these people she's never met before, she sees Nancy Ling Perry and Kahjoh, Willie Wolf, walking through the park, very intently looking for someone or something. They ignore Jocasta because she has the protective coloration of these hippies, she's just one of many even though she is older.
So Jo, what are you gonna do? Are you going to stay loose stay cool, and let these kids try to take care of you? Are you going to go to the doctor with them? Let me know what you want to do.
Leonard
She's going to put out to them the idea that she's amenable to going to a clinic, but she wants to eat something first and cool down. Then she will say, not shouting but saying out loud so that someone listening might hear, in Chinese "I need to find my comrades."
Michael
That's good. That's really good. Give me a Psychology roll.
Leonard
Psychology-15, roll of 17
Michael
Bad rolls, tonight, guys, bad rolls… Jo just sounds like a crazy woman in the park.
Leonard
Oh, that's okay.
Michael
Crazy Caucasian woman shouting in Chinese. It didn't hit quite right, but they noticed you, for sure… back to Shasta. Dan Miller.
Rob
Yeah, okay. Archie mostly wants to get back to Bierce but the name means that he'll at least need to see… He grabs Peter to come with him, with the thought that he might foist Miller off on Peter, but he wants to first at least see what this is about, what he has to say.
Michael
Archie goes to get Peter and bring him over to the reception office, the admin office, and Peter says, "Hey, brother, what are you looking for? You?"
Rob
He says that to Peter?
Michael
Yeah, Peter.
Rob
Archie's still there and watching what's happening.
Michael
"Me, brother? What?" Then there's this look of realization over Peter's features…
Body Language-14 (default from Psychology-18), critical success.
Peter recognizes Dan is Illuminated. Dan came here because he's Illuminated. That's clear to Archie, clear as day to him. They're both… it was made clear in our meeting that Ambrose also is Illuminated, Hilton is being trained to be Illuminated…
Peter says, "I'm glad you've come, brother, it seems to be a very portentous and momentous time for us all. Let me get you something to eat." Peter leads Dan away to where the kids eat, says "I'll be right back."
After that Peter comes back to Archie and says, "there is something very special about this man."
Rob
Archie says…
Michael
"Much like Mitch, much like brother Dodd."
Rob
"People finding their way to you, or their way to the mountain."
Michael
Peter says, "the only thing that's changed on the mountain is Brother Dodd in there."
Rob
Dan doesn't look agitated? or well, guess he's a little agitated…
Michael
Given given your body-language roll, mixed in with the the mutual recognition of them both being Illuminated: he does look agitated. He looks like he's been driving all night. He looks like the kind of person who has been called spiritually to something, it's evident in his demeanor, he's convinced he needs to be here. He's very sincere about that.
Rob
"I'm sorry if this question makes me seem awfully 'square,'" making air quotes, "but what kind of security do you have here? Do you worry about who might show up? Does Mitchell worry about it?"
Michael
"It's a school, sir, who would do anything to a school?"
Rob
"Security at school, it's crazy."
Michael
"Exactly. But I'm not on staff here, I only occasionally visit to to hang out with Mitch and rap. I will say that this feels right now he's trying to… I know you just said you're square, sir, but I know you'll understand what I mean when I say this. When I first came to this mountain something spoke to me. It made me feel like I was where I belonged for the first time, and that's the kind of vibe I got off of that young man in there. He's where he needs to be. I got led astray—I mean, I got pulled into a bad, bad crowd. There's nowhere better that guy can be right now than right here."
Rob
"Okay. He's been through he's been through some stuff too, and been mixed up with a bad crowd also. I just worry that a place like this can attract all kinds…anyway, that's a conversation for me to have with Mitchell. If you don't mind looking after him?"
Michael
"I will. You need to go talk to…?"
Rob
"I want to talk to our mutual friend."
Michael
Archie walks back in. Dodd has drifted off again, and Hilton is in there still, obviously. "He got sleepy. He couldn't stay awake."
Rob
"That's fine, that's fine."
Michael
"Were you in World War II?"
Rob
"Um, no. No, not quite that old. I was in Korea."
Michael
"Oh."
Rob
"You were with Mitchell—you and Mitchell found this fellow on the mountain?"
Michael
"We we both found him, but I…" He doesn't want to brag.
Rob
"But it was you." Archie knows the story . "But it was you that found him, isn't that right?"
Michael
He's trying to be modest, but he says, "I think you know I can… yeah, I can see things that aren't necessarily right within where my eyes can see. And sometimes it comes in a dream."
Rob
"I do know something about that. That's really good that you did this. You probably saved his life."
Michael
"Is he gonna be okay though? Because Mr. Hort really tried, I mean he wanted to make him better, and he couldn't."
Rob
"Well, he's very old, and he's been through a whole lot, and it might just be that his time has come. We'll do everything we can for him, we'll take care of him the best we can, we'll keep him comfortable, and I think even if he's only with us for a short time I think it's good that he found his way here. You helped him. That matters, whatever turns out."
Leadership-18, roll of 11
Michael
Archie has filled Hilton with a sense of pride and responsibility. Hilton lowers his voice even more, walks a little bit away from Dodd, and says, "I don't think he really wanted to talk to you. I think he wanted to…he's been like that, you know? He hasn't really been straight with anyone. I don't think it's just because he's old and sick, I think he's…" Hilton rolls his eyes.
"I don't feel like this is a good thing to do, but what you wanted to find out…what you wanted to get out of him…sometimes I can see inside people, too. What they're feeling, what they're thinking. It feels kind of awful to do it to someone, but you know, back when I was in the lab those are the kind of things they said I was going to have to do when I grew up."
Rob
"I appreciate the offer to help…I know a little something about this stuff, I have a little girl actually who can do some of the sorts of things you can do…let me try to talk to him first. We'll just see."
Michael
As Archie walks over to Dodd, clearing throat to get him out of his reverie… "You're like a vulture. You're just hanging over my head, waiting to pick me clean."
Rob
Is this a good point to mention that Archie has brought the puppets, if needed?
Michael
I guess, kind of, considering.
Rpb
Archie says "Mr Bierce," he uses his name, "you are among friends here, at least I hope so, but you're not wrong. You've been somewhere. We're very curious about it, and we're very curious about how you came to be here. So any help we can give you…"
Michael
He does raise his scorched eyebrows at that, and says, "Yes. You think I'm one of Them."
Rob
"No… when I came back from Korea—"
Michael
"Korea?! The United States had a war with Korea?" He's actually really angry about this. "What in the world? I'm sorry, go on—war? Really?"
Rob
"Really with the Chinese but that's beside the point…"
Michael
"Wasn't bad enough you put them to death time and time again in the West, I just…war is war. Go on."
Rob
Concerned grunt. "What can you tell me… what the place you were in? You went down to Mexico, or at least that was the story. Some folks said you'd just gone to the Grand Canyon to end your life…"
Michael
"They're both wrong. I went to New Mexico, to a place very near the border. A desert of white sand. There was something that drew me there, a nagging sense since the earthquake that nothing was right. I was getting old and I was being left behind, and all my friends were drunks or morphine addicts or had killed themselves. I wanted to find out why."
Rob
George Sterling, would he have killed himself while Bierce was still alive?
Michael
That was after he died, but there were suicides before that, including Nora May French. Jack London was very deep into his own health and chemical problems by the time Bierce left for Pancho Villa.
Rob
"You were part of a whole circle of San Francisco writers and bohemians…" he just drops that word in, not with a capital B…
Michael
"Mr. Ransom, have you ever had the feeling that you are living in the wrong world? That something happened: you missed a train, an important meeting with someone, an event that threw off your entire life-path-journey?"
Rob
"Yes, Mr. Bierce, I'm quite familiar with that feeling."
Michael
"The last few years of my life here were consumed with this thought. I don't know what more I should say. For all I know you're one of them."
Rob
"Who's 'them' to you?"
Michael
"I fear even thinking of them, for thinking of them makes them realer…"
Rob
"Yes, that's who we are at war with."
Michael
"You are the only person I have met since I have been here… other than that young lady and some of those children… you are the only person who I cannot… they collected us. Don't you understand that they collected us? When they found me, they put me to work. It was my job and I was in Carcosa…"
Rob
"What did they make you do? What work were you doing?"
Michael
"It cannot be explained—they had us at each other's throats. They love to see us fighting amongst each other. They wanted the strongest believers. Apparently I came with a pedigree; they had heard of me—" he says, almost breaking down, and give me one more Psychology roll.
Rob
Psychology-18, roll of 8.
Rob
Okay. This line of questioning is definitely pushing him to a point where he might be dealing with some severe flashbacks and issues of sanity. Remembering this stuff on a conscious level is not good for him, especially asking him what he had to do for them. It's something he seems to be blocking out…
Michael
I'm gonna go to San Francisco now, because Mitch just found a pay phone to call Marshall.
Brant
"Hello?"
Jeff
"Hey, Marshall."
Brant
"Mitch. How are you, buddy?"
Jeff
"I'm not having a very good day. I'm somewhere by USF where there's a pay phone. I was trying to watch a baseball game and a guy came up to me… he said that he was trying to, shit, what did he say? He said, like, 'tell your friends they can't be in the Club, stop messing with the Club.' I'm sorry. I'm not having a very good day, Marshall, to tell you the truth."
Brant
Marshall keeps fire extinguishers around the office, a lot of them. He rolls his chair towards one of the fire extinguishers. "I'm really sorry to hear that, Mitch."
Jeff
"It's okay, I can't see you right now."
Brant
"They must be talking…I went to their Club yesterday, just to do a little recon."
Jeff
"They didn't like that, and they they told me that they didn't like that."
Brant
"That's odd. I mean, I used a glyph and by all appearances, it didn't seem like anyone registered me unusually… unless there was something that I just overlooked, but… Well, I don't have anyone going there. The next people who were going to go back there were going to be armed to the teeth and ready to kill people…"
Jeff
"It's a situation where we could, like, just wait until they're all together having their party, and then I can just get in a helicopter with binoculars, and it may take a while for me to…you know… to roll the metaphorical dice and get a low enough number, but…"
Rob
Metaphorically.
Jeff
"Metaphorically speaking there could just be a blot in the Earth where there used to be a group of people in an organization, right? Right this second I don't see a good reason not to do that."
Brant
"Hey, man, I'm not going to try to stop you. The only thing I'm just confused about is, why does this Club—this is just such a weird confluence, I don't…? There's some relationship between the Club and Patty Hearst, but that's conjecture at this point… Even though that is conjecture, it did lead us to a weird cursed building and a group of pedophiles who won't let Hearst join because they're too conservative…? It's a fucked up environment. We have stumbled upon a real thing, I just don't know what to make of it, yet."
Jeff
"There's a confluence of factors and we're not 100% clear on how everything fits together. Right now, unless he's died in the meantime, Ambrose Bierce is hanging out in my kitchen back on Shasta."
Brant
"Yeah, and… Ambrose Bierce, that's not a metaphor?"
Jeff
"Ambrose Bierce. The writer."
Brant
"Well, you were talking about dice earlier, so I thought maybe Ambrose was a metaphor for something. Maybe you call—"
Jeff
"No, it's not a metaphor. Mount Shasta tossed him out at me…"
Brant
"Oh."
Jeff
"...and I had to take him, I had a kid with me, it was a whole thing. I don't want to recap this. This is not worth recapping."
Brant
"Yeah! Yeah, okay. We have on the same day, Shasta shitting out Ambrose Bierce, we have what seems in the estimation of David to have been a sort of feint heist featuring Patty Hearst that did actually result in fatalities… and if that was a feint for something else happening…? Sophie's esmology is indicating that it may have something to do with this Club. The club itself had a fire that day in a guest bedroom. But Jocasta's telemetry… Telemetry? No, psychometry. Psychometric analysis of the pen that I nabbed, that just gave us the emotion of what was going on but not more detail, so…"
Jeff
"They found me, at a place where I didn't know I was going to be, to tell me to tell you to knock it off. I don't like that."
Brant
"Right. Maybe because they know I'm afraid of you. But how would they know that?"
Jeff
"It's not like you tried to hide it."
Brant
"Yeah and you're… I've always assumed… yeah, okay, well how about this: if they bother you again, just light them all on fire. Is that cool?"
Jeff
"Yeah, I guess. Okay."
Brant
"We'll just deal with one thing at a time."
Jeff
"I'll probably feel better in the morning."
Brant
"It's, oh, it's almost noon. Hey I've got a dime bag, you want to come to the office? We could party."
Jeff
"Sure, why not."
Michael
It's just so funny that that's how that scene kind of peters out, because now we have to go to Jocasta, who's doing undercover work and didn't make quite make the connection she wanted to, with the SLA members who were dubiously walking through the Panhandle looking for someone. Now the hippies that have adopted Jocasta say, "Is that Chinese? Are you okay?" They're really weirded out.
Leonard
"No, you're right, I'm losing it, I should probably just go to the clinic."
Michael
"All right, well, yeah, come with us. We'll take you there."
Leonard
As they're leading her off she'll talk to one of them, and point at the [SLA] group, and say, "tell my friends where I went."
Michael
As you guys walk south out of the Panhandle towards the Haight, Darlene runs after presumably Kohjah and Nancy Ling Perry, and starts talking to them, gesturing towards you guys walking out of the park. Jocasta gets to the waiting room, it's a free clinic you're gonna be waiting, and the parents of the kids, they're taking their kids back to their squat.
Darlene stays with you. As Darlene sits there helping you fill out the paperwork for the free clinic, just Nancy walks in. Pokes her head in the front and says, "Sister? Comrade? Would you like to come with us?"
Leonard
She'll turn to Darlene, turning on as much empathy as she can, she says, "don't worry. I'll be safe. I'm going to go with my friend."
Michael
"Okay… you come see us over on…" And she gives you an address on Ashbury, "if you need anything at all, okay? I'm glad you found your friend."
Leonard
"Thank you, comrade."
Michael
As Nancy walks with Jocasta down the street: "you're a friend of Tania's from the prison visitation program?"
Leonard
(grunts)
Michael
"She told us you were trying to reach out to us. I'm gonna take you back into the park, we're gonna find a bush, and I'm going to strip search you, because if you're a cop I will stab you in your heart." She's steelily watching Jocasta, to see how she reacts to this. Basically she tried an Intimidation roll. If you want to roll Will, go ahead. I don't think this is going to make Jocasta quail at all.
Leonard
She's going to act intimidated. "Okay…" She'll say, "I'm not a cop," but she's projecting 'do what you got to do, okay.'
Michael
I'm making an Acting roll for you… "Okay. You must know that things are very very hot for us right now. I don't know how Tania knew that you were gonna be here. Ever since she came over she's been able to advise us in ways that I never thought a daughter of the ruling class would be able to. She's been an incredible tactician. Can you get us out of San Francisco?"
Leonard
"I'll need some time, but I can get you."
Michael
"Our field marshal says we need somewhere with some more space. We are just way way too hemmed-in right now. If you can get us to Los Angeles we can cut you in on what we got yesterday."
Leonard
"LA will take more time, but I can get you there. In the meantime I know a place out in the sticks. It'll be safe there, nobody will find you."
Michael
"We've been through that before. We were up in Concord, it did not work out for us. They nailed us. We need the protective camouflage of San Francisco. We're not leaving the city to go somewhere out in the sticks: we either stay here, or we go to another major city on the West Coast."
Leonard
"You're the boss."
Michael
She gives you instructions for a dead drop up near the USF campus to make contact. "Check it every day at 9. If they need to reach out to you that's where they'll reach you."
Leonard
"All right, comrade, I'll see you soon."
Michael
Okay, very nice. Now with that Jocasta has made contact. Psychically, through Tania, managed tp get at least somewhat trusted by the SLA. Nancy is not going to take you anywhere near their safe house, she doesn't trust you enough for that, but what this does tell you is that they're probably within walking distance of the USF campus.
Leonard
She's not gonna follow, in fact she's gonna sleep in the park overnight, because she's assuming they're watching her. Sometime tomorrow she's gonna go into the city and making a reasonable guess at when she's not being watched, she'll call the mission and she's not even gonna talk to Marshall. Just gonna say, send a car to a certain location.
Michael
The good thing is, if they are watching you, they know you're trying to help them get out of town. So they're probably just assuming you're calling something to help with that.
Leonard
She's gonna be in maximum paranoia mode. She's not gonna take any chances, she's just gonna get herself brought to the mission and she'll brief Marshall in person.
Michael
Okay, all right, so that that will take care of you for the rest of Tuesday. Let's go back up to Shasta…
"How do I know you're not one of them?" That was where we left off. He's very reluctant to go deeper into his memories of where he has been.
Rob
Okay, Archie takes a different tack. "The bullet that pierced Goebel's breast cannot be found in all the West.' You write that?"
Michael
"You're not the first man to ask me if I wrote that. You may be the last." Archie can see pride welling up. "It is a shame that dullard Mr. McKinley had to perish. It is a shame any time a man dies. It's a tragedy to someone, maybe a comedy to a few. But you see, I had to know if it was possible," he says with a smile on his face. "I had to know if it was possible to write the poem."
Rob
"So that you could put ideas in people's heads?"
Michael
"I had to know if it was possible for us to change history, and it was." He seems (taking the Psychology roll from earlier) very touched right now, touched in the head. He's expressing pride at having engineered the assassination of an American president, because it let him know that it was possible to do it. He's not showing any shame at all about this—you know, 'oh it's a shame William McKinley died, you know.'
Rob
Archie wants to ask him how he knew how to do it, and he can refer specifically to the memetics of it. He's happy to flatter him. Obviously he's got an ego about this. "Not everyone knows how to do that."
Michael
"Just four silly lines."
Rob
"But carefully crafted."
Michael
"I was taught… in the newsrooms of Mr. Hearst, by men from the government who wanted Cuba to be invaded. Me, a few others. Gellet, you've probably heard of 'the Purple Cow?' One of his little test poems to see how it would work out. Sterling never could really get the hang of it. Jack, he wanted to convince people of his socialist bonafides, but in the end he couldn't use it. He was exceptionally talented at seeing into the future, but never could quite master the art of persuasion."
Ambrose drifts off for a second. "But all our dreams of changing the world were put paid to, by the earthquake." At that his face gets crestfallen, sad, concerned, and like he's trying to remember something that he can't quite remember. "And it all went to hell after that." Archie can tell he's hiding something, for sure.
Rob
"I'm not one of Them, Mr. Bierce, if by Them you mean the Enemy. The people who took you and held you. But I'm in the same line of work as you are, trying to change the world, trying to persuade people. The art of persuasion, just like you said."
Michael
"I'm retired. This isn't my world to change, any more anyway."
Like 'if you think you're going to drag me into this like Wilkie did back at the New York Journal, you've got another thing coming.'
Rob
"Tell me about the earthquake. Was that their doing?"
Michael
"I'm not the one you should be asking about this. I had my own… you have to understand, I was not speaking of metaphors earlier when I said…"
Rob
"To change history."
Michael
He sighs. "I'm not talking about this. I don't care who you represent, I don't care who's in charge of the government… You have to understand that every time I try to think about what happened it makes another part of my mind fall away and I don't know why." And he stays silent.
Rob
This might have to go into chat play but Archie is not trying to keep Ambrose Bierce intact. He's gonna crack open the puppets. He's gonna say, "There someone I want you to talk to."
Michael
I think we should start that now, I think that that's totally reasonable. Depending on how far we get, if there's a call that needs to go down to San Francisco afterwards, we can do that. But who? Which?
Rob
I'm looking at the list here… the Dragon Lady has Interrogation and Hypnotism. Enki has Enthrallment and Hypnotism and History-B Lore… Stoney has Intelligence Analysis, of course…
Michael
The problem is that Enki only speaks Sumerian.
Rob
He might know Sumerian, who knows? It might freak him out even more.
Michael
Hobo Stan?
Rob
Certainly Hobo Stan would be the one most likely to connect with him, but I actually think Dragon Lady has brainwashing and interrogation. I'm not worried about keeping him intact… it's Dragon Lady, but…
Michael
Given his history with the Chinese, this will be interesting. Archie knows that he was an equal opportunity misanthrope. He also hated when like white people would treat like the Chinese like dogs. I's somewhere in in that weird sort of. 'oh yeah I hate them but—' All those things are going to balance out, basically, all the reaction bonuses and penalties are going to balance out yeah. Let me get the puppet sheet out here…
Rob
Archie never does hypnotism, but I think she would start… He asks Bierce if he's familiar with Chinese puppet tree, takes the puppet out.
Michael
"Sort of. In passing. It's a strange hobby for a white man to have."
Rob
I picked this up when I was in the East. He starts doing the puppet. He will begin with the dragon there to speak to him…
Michael
Just saying that, like, 'you spoke up for the Chinese in your life,' that could be an in.
Rob
That's true. Does he speak Chinese?
Michael
It would be cool if we could do this with subtitles but he knows only a few words. Enough to say hello.
Rob
Archie, as the Dragon Lady says something to Bierce in Chinese and Archie tells him to watch the puppet, and then the Dragon Lady sharply barks at him, if he looks away she's like, "No! Watch the puppet!"
He switches over to being her, the Dragon Lady starts doing some sort of…Archie is now singing in a high-pitched, 'Chinese Opera' voice.
I would start by trying to hypnotize him, and then I would want to move into brainwashing or interrogation.
Michael
Do you want to use Corruption on the Hypnotism role?
ROb
I suppose this is the sort of thing that suggests Corruption, the fact that I'm risking this old man's sanity by hypnotizing him with a puppet…
Michael
And Hilton is watching you.
Rob
Oh, shit, I forgot about Hilton… is it okay if I back up and ask for Hilton to leave? Archie doesn't want to freak him out any more than…
Michael
Yeah, you can retcon that…but the Dragon Lady says, "child! Get back in here!" in a very sharp voice. She wants an audience!
Rob
Okay.
Michael
She wants an audience, right? Of kids! She wanted to be the star of the show back on KTLA.
Rob
In for a penny, in for a pound. Archie says, "It's okay, it's not real," to the kid.
Michael
Hypnotism roll, please.
Rob
Hypnosis-17, roll of 7
Michael
That does make it a crit because you spent Corruption to lower the number. He's hypnotized. He's calm now. He's been agitated the entire time you've been talking to him even if he has been egotistical or talking shop… Now he's calm and he awaits the Dragon Lady's next question.
What Archie wants to know, is where they've put the blocks in his head. What they've done to him. I think the Dragon Lady is interested in the way he wanted to change…I think that your needs and hers actually do dovetail, now that I think about it…she wants to see artistically how did they do this brainwashing on him… To unblock all that would be a brainwashing role for you.
Rob
Brainwashing-19, roll of 10
Michael
The Dragon Lady spends about eight to ten minutes working through these blocks methodically like a North Korean or Chinese interrogator. Who did this work, how was it done, and what she realizes is that this the this was not done by a brainwasher. This was not done by somebody who has exposed Ambrose Bierce to days, weeks, months, years of intensive breaking down of his will and and rebuilding it. What the Dragon Lady is able to realize is, this lacuna of memory has been caused by History-B in the sense of an ontoclastic event. Rob I need you to give me a Hidden Lore (History-B) roll, which will be the same for the Dragon Lady and you, because she doesn't have it as a skill.
Rob
Hidden Lore (History-B)-18, roll of 15
Michael
Okay, it's a success. Archie's will is kind of subsumed right now by the Dragon Lady but what she's able to tell is, this was the work of the Enemy but not in the sense that they took him into their workshops and rebuilt his brain. He wants to remember an alternate history that only he remembers, but he can't, because that history is no more. Archie feels like the story that Ambrose has told about going down to White Sands to find a way to get it back seems to intimate that it was a History-C type situation, that happened in 1906 and then got reverted in the earthquake. They wanted to change history and they created some other history.
Archie realizes that and the Dragon Lady realizes it with her usual sort of puffed-up pride, like she's cackling to herself, going 'yes! yes! I know what's happening now!'
Hilton's nose starts bleeding. "Mr. Ransom, I don't feel so good." Archie snaps out of his reverie with the with the puppet and he's starting to feel what he felt at the St. Francis last year when he finally went inside. There's some kind of shift happening here. It's subtle, but all of you can feel it.