A Ransom Family Thanksgiving

Intermission Eight

Aug 14

November 21-26, 1973

Michael

(Just getting this set up, Rob, I need to do a tiny bit more research before Archie goes before the Quorum of Twelve on Thanksgiving weekend but maybe you could in the meantime just give me a little idea of what sort of trip for the family Ransom you envision this jaunt as. What side of the family will the Ransoms be seeing in which cities, etc. etc. Also don't forget Thanksgiving Thursday is the 10th anniversary of the shooting of JFK.)

Rob

Archie's three older siblings (John, Joe, Alice) all live in Utah, each with their own family, plus his mother (Edna). And Melanie's the second of seven siblings, many of whom have young families too. So there are a lot of folks to visit, but they all basically live along a short stretch of I-15 from Ogden to Salt Lake to Orem to Provo, and they'll all congregate for two dinners on Thanksgiving proper. (Archie and his family are pretty much obliged to appear at both.) Archie will insist on getting a pair of hotel rooms for his family in Salt Lake, out of vague security concerns and not wanting to sleep on a pull-out couch. Pretty much every one of his siblings and siblings-in-law will say, "Why on earth did you do that? We've got loads of room!" But other than sleeping, and Church on Sunday, they're basically at one relative's home or another all holiday long. The pretty big Ransom family Thanksgiving is at Archie's sister Alice's house in Provo; decades-long grudges and rivalries are sublimated into competitive board gaming and dueling recipes for funeral potatoes and frog-eye salad. (Archie's younger sister, Ruth, is probably not coming, but hey, the Lord moves in mysterious ways his wonders to perform.) The really big Gardner family do is at Melanie's parents' (Ray and Bea) home in Ogden. Younger families there on the whole and thus many more little cousins; the annual all-ages touch football game is sheer bedlam.

Michael

>looking for a new Quorum
>ask the Prophet if their Quorum is of Twelve or Fifteen
>he laughs and says "it's a good Quorum sir"
>get called into the Quorum
>it's Fifteen

Thanksgiving Day, November 22, 1973, and Archie is driving the Ransom family's rental car out of Salt Lake down I-15 to Provo. Archie regales Melanie, Jane, Eddie, and Charley with the story of how the Eisenhower Interstate followed the ooooooold Arrowhead Trail, which went all the way to Los Angeles in the era before freeways! More than a couple of times, Archie catches his voice slipping into Grandpa/Hobo Stan mode as he describes the early days of auto trails in the American West. It's a very cold, very overcast day; the radio says the snow should hold off all day long but to Archie's mind, it looks like it's fixing to come down to beat the band. There's gonna be a lot of driving today, and Archie knows his in-laws will somehow hold it against him if they don't manage to make it back up to Ogden by dinnertime.

But for now, it's a lunchtime Thanksgiving meal at Tim and Alice (née Ransom) Jensen's comfortable home in Provo. The family is overjoyed to see the California branch of the family arrive; Tim is holding court in the TV room as he and the men of the family (and a few of the young boys) sit around the early NFC game on CBS, Redskins at Lions. (The 'Skins are up 10-nothing, of course; those Lions can't ever seem to win on Thanksgiving.) Tim gives Archie an enthusiastic back slap as Joe and John get up from the couch and team up to tease their nerdy kid brother (nothing like a holiday and lots of sugary lemonade to give usually-staid Mormon WWII veterans in their fifties permission to act like little boys again). The ladies, including Alice and John and Joe's wives, are in the kitchen and dining room chatting and preparing the dishes; Melanie will be joining them shortly after all the hellos are finished with. And in a quiet corner of the family room, sitting near a card table with the board games already laid out, is Archie's near-80-year-old mother Edna. She sits alone, and upon seeing Archie, Melanie, and the kids arrive, her fallen, lonely face finally lights up.

Rob

Hugs and handshakes all around, everyone marvels at how much the various kids have grown since the various adults last saw them. Archie hugs his mother, tells her how good she's looking, lets the kids have their hugs and hellos with her. Jane and Eddie understand they have to do a certain amount of glad-handing with Grandma and the other adults before they can disappear to various corners of the house with their most age-adjacent cousins. And (not to give @Raven_Hare another scene to play, but) Charley is here, right? So she has to be introduced, to Edna and everybody else down the line. I'm assuming everyone here already knows that Archie & Melanie have adopted, so it's not new news, but they'll still all want to meet her and fuss over her.

Michael

I had remained Charley-agnostic for this Thanksgiving trip because I wasn't sure how things would be going with Rose by this point, but you're right; Charley really should be there regardless (if she wants to go) and can receive a whole lot of hospitality and love from the extended Ransom/Gardner clan. And I think that they would be very accepting and welcoming of Charley, for all the big and small Mormon cultural reasons, as well as what happened to Archie and Melanie back in '65. Of course I'm sure her name will get a couple of quickly-hidden double-takes.

As the football game limps into the third quarter, Tim, Alice's husband, corners Archie outside of earshot of the men in the TV room. Tim and Archie have had an okay rapport the few times they've spent some serious time together, mostly because Tim's in the media as well; he's a big ad sales VP at the Newspaper Agency Corporation, which was created back in the '50s to ensure the "competition" between the Church-owned Deseret News and the nominally independent Salt Lake Tribune (kind of like the kabuki show of competition put on between the Chronicle and Examiner back home, except more historically fraught with Mormon-vs.-Gentile politics.

Tim also has done some local Utah radio and TV advertising sales work as well (the Tribune owns KSL radio and KUTV-2, the local NBC affiliate), which over the years has given him and Archie loads to talk about.

"Arch, I gotta get five minutes of your time, tops, before we sit down to eat and you all head up to Mel's people in Ogden. Somewhere a little private. I know it's freezing out, but... you mind coming out to the porch with me? Throw on your overcoat, I got a proposition for you that is gonna knock your California socks off." Archie can see, hear, taste that Tim has shifted into hard-sell mode; that insincere smile, that near-NLP level of patter. Tim has never tried to draw Archie into investing in any of his many cockamamie schemes before (but oh, has Archie heard about them from Alice), so Archie might be a little curious to hear exactly what Tim has cooking.

Rob

Archie raises his eyebrows, a little skeptical, but friendly: he's game. Gets his coat, slips out to the porch after Tim. Makes a joke out of it: "They're going to think we snuck out to smoke cigarettes, ha ha."

Gives Charley a nod or a wink if he sees her as he goes, though.

Gets out to the porch, makes a joke about the cold, then turns up his palms in a 'lay it on me' gesture. "I'm all ears, Tim. What's up?"

Michael

Tim goes into his pitch wit no preamble. Although Tim does have a little chuckle over the cigarettes comment; just as Archie said it, Tim was reaching into his coat pocket. (You can give me a Hearing-16 roll if you want.)

"I don't know how much you know about cable TV, Arch. I'm figuring you're at least passing familiar. Microwave links from big cities to small-town distributors, pipe the co-ax right into the house like water or electricity. All those farmhouses out in Wyoming, Montana, Idaho... they can't barely get any TV reception. Now, Bob Magness, TCI, formerly of Western Microwave Incorporated, out of Bozeman and Denver, has been laying copper for near fifteen years now, Arch. He's the best cable man out West. And now Jack Gallivan at the Tribune wants in. Arch, you have to know about Jack. One of the Tribune Catholic mafia," Tim says tongue-in-cheek. "He brought the ABA to Salt Lake, Arch, stole the Stars away from LA, opened the new Salt Palace. Swears Utah is gonna get a Winter Olympics one day. He's in to wire the entirety of I-15, Ogden to Provo, with cable TV. He's on the board and he's right now as we speak wiring Nevada. You might ask why folks in the suburbs of Salt Lake or Las Vegas might need a cable connection to watch their TV... well, it's the coming thing, Arch, and I'm not just talking ranchers and cowboys watching the football game."

"Did you see that picture on the ol' 25-inch RCA in there, Arch? That's hard-wired. Crystal clear. No snow, no fuzz, no roll. That's cable. Only a few customers so far here in Provo, but as a... as a, well, prospective salesman for Tele-Communications, Inc. I get to preview it. Best sales pitch there is, inviting the boys over for the game."

"Jack Gallivan's not gonna take everyone from the NAC over to TCI. He needs boys with leads. Because Arch, in ten years this stuff is gonna be in every American living room. And I figure, well, you've been doing work out in California for four, five years now, with the Corporation for Healthy Media. I thought, that Arch, he's got a pretty tidy nest egg burning a hole in his pocket. Why not ask him to get in with Jack. Maybe tempt him away from the goody-two-shoes public service work to get in on the ground floor. You know how many potential cable customers there are expected to be in California by 1983? Four or five million households. Subscription fees, equipment rentals, one-time wiring charges... it's a g-d goldmine."

Tim clears his throat. "Well. I'm pitchin' my brother-in-law on Thanksgiving, I feel like a real heel. But I know you've always looked at things a little different from the rest of your people, Arch. I always think of you and wacky Ruth—ha ha—as the black sheep of the Ransom family. You were on TV, for goodness sakes! I saw you with Joey and Johnny in there! They think you're a real square, but they don't know you like I know you." Tim sidles up close. "And wouldn't their faces be red if you ended up with a house in Malibu, a Learjet of your very own to check out all your cable systems all over California, while they're back here pushing paper in an office at the ZCMI?"

Rob

Archie plays a little dumb, more to hear how Tim answers than to dissuade him: "I do hear good things about cable TV, and the reception on your set was swell, Tim. But back in San Francisco we get eight, nine ( * ) different stations! Are people really going to pay for something they can just pull out of the air for free?" Laughs off any talk about making his brothers jealous with a Learjet.

(* that's a wild guess - insert whatever number is reasonable for the Bay Area in 1973)

Can I make a Psychology or Detect Lies roll on Tim? Not so much to judge the business proposal (I can roll Market Analysis if you want, but Archie probably does know cable is a coming thing) but just to see if he seems at all desperate, any hidden agendas, or does this all sound on the up and up? (edited)

Michael

(I'll roll Detect Lies secretly but Archie can give me a Psychology-19 roll as well.)

Rob

>> SUCCESS by 11

Michael

There is a certain quotient of desperation in Tim's pitch. This could have been a letter or a long-distance phone call, and it could have come at any other time, but Tim waited until he could talk to Archie face-to-face. Corner him, with the Ransom clan all around. Tim's mention of going over to cable TV from the NAC was the key: his current sales position at the NAC gives him, Alice, and their kids (I'm guessing Tim and Alice have a few kids at home still?) security. The dreams of Learjets and cable franchises all over California are Tim's dream, and he resorted to some pretty thin, shoddy tactics to get Archie enlisted in that dream too. What Archie can tell is that Tim has already decided to break with his current job and roll the dice: what Archie provides is legitimacy and family cover with Alice so she doesn't, like, divorce him.

So what does Archie get out of all this is indeed the question: Archie is indeed laughing off in his head the idea of Joe and John being jealous of Archie's success being a motivating factor. But! Yes, Market Analysis and Savoir-Faire (Corporate America) and even Esmology (if Archie did want to do some back-of-the-envelope calculations in his head) do tell Archie that Tim's coming along at an opportune time for SANDMAN: Tim may be small-fry, but Jack Gallivan and the late John F. Fitzpatrick's NAC, the aforementioned Salt Lake Irish Catholic Mafia, aren't. Neither is Bob Magness's operation, which would get Archie connections with every cable operator west of the Mississippi. If Archie's going to LA, these kind of contacts would be vital for getting the new SANDMAN memetics into the nascent cable explosion in America. Old Frank Stanton's operation and Black Rock aren't going to be any help in a decade (if Tim's right) when cable and satellite are the way most Americans get their TV.

There's also the other thing about this trip home: Archie's desire to make contacts at the highest levels of the Church. Though Fitzpatrick and David O. McKay, the Mormon President who brokered the Deseret News/Tribune deal are both dead, the media and business empire they helped create, that union between the Catholic businessmen and the old Mormon guard is alive, well, and expanding. Perhaps Tim is a way for Archie to hook up with the Quorum of Twelve as he's been planning to: instead of going through the shadier survivalist parts of Melanie's extended fundamentalist LDS clan, Archie can go through the clean, bright, modern offices of the Gallivan/mainstream LDS Church's media empire, where Archie himself would be much more comfortable. (edited)

Rob

I can roll if you want, but I'm assuming that Market Analysis / Savoir-Faire (Corporate) / Esmology also tell Archie that the move to TCI could be a good career move for Tim. Because he doesn't want to give his brother-in-law bad advice. Assuming that's correct, Archie says something like:

"Well, gosh, Tim. I could probably take over as, I don't know, the president of CBS, and to Jack and Jim, I'd still just be their funny little brother making his funny little puppet shows. And you know? That's as it should be. Family keeps us humble."

"But what you say about cable TV... I think you may be right." He turns earnest, looking Tim in the eye. "And if you feel called to this, if you think it will enlarge you, and magnify your calling, I think you should make the move to TCI. I know it's a leap, but sometimes that's demanded of us."

"As for me, I'm not sure I'm looking to make a change... but if you had an in with Jack Gallivan or Bob Magness, I wouldn't say no to an introduction." (edited)

Michael

Archie can tell Tim seems, at the outset, a little taken aback but also oddly impressed by his brother-in-law's nonchalance in wanting something other than a straight-up piece of the business. "Just a sit-down with Jack and Bob, huh? I can make that happen, sure. I can understand why you'd want to bend their ear about the cable business," Tim says, mindful of Archie's "job" at the Corporation for Healthy Media. "No one knows how much the FCC is going to end up regulating non-airwaves programming; a lot of it depends on who's in charge in the White House after '76. There are sleazy types in San Francisco and LA who'd love to have the chance to take smut out of the theaters and pipe it right into people's houses. You should see some of the stuff they get up to on the public access channels in New York City, Arch, goodness," Tim says in that special tone of voice that indicates an upstanding Mormon husband who has seen what they get up to on the public access channels in New York City—just for his future job in the cable business, you understand.

"This is the point where you could get the industry to do some good faith work behind the scenes on keeping things clean on cable. I'll see what I can do about getting you a face-to-face sometime this weekend, at least with Jack. Far as I know he's in town for the holiday; there's a lot going on with the cable business right now, no ski trips to Aspen for him. Maybe we can patch Bob in on speakerphone. I'll give Jack a call after the Lions game." He slaps Archie on the shoulder. "Even if it's not you spooling the cable in California, I feel good about you being involved somehow, Archie. This is my calling, you're right, written in the book by Heavenly Father. My stake for Alice, for the kids... for their kids, eventually. Thanks, Arch. I feel like I've done things right for them. It'll be good to have you around for counsel on this."

Rob

One thing I guess we haven't nailed down is what Archie's cover job will be in L.A. Is he going to keep being the director of a now-surprisingly-influential Corporation for Healthy Media? Or is that what you were setting up with this invitation to get in on the ground floor of cable?

Michael

Our new North America media operations base in LA can take any form you like, Rob! Just because Stanton worked at the Tiffany Network doesn't mean he didn't have fingers in a lot of postwar media pies, from radio and TV to advertising and cultural orgs/think tanks. The concept of putting together a cable outfit that evolves from laying cable to supplying existing TV programming to eventually producing its own content is definitely one possible way we could go as a main arm of the URIEL media influence operation. But maybe it's best to think of the center of our secret mass-influencing octopus, Operation AUGEGOTTES-or-whatever-Archie-renames-it, as a bit of a cipher or placeholder, and start thinking about the different media elements that will revolve around it. I think for the short-term, and especially for the move to LA, the Corporation for Healthy Media can remain that center of Archie's operation, essentially the cover org, but we eventually build a giant complex chart of interlocking broadcasters, non-profits, production companies and media distributors to take some of the raw memetic material Archie is crafting and put it into place in esmologically-crucial spots in the zeitgeist. After all, this is the era of, like Gulf & Western buying Paramount, etc. I will look and see if there's any kind of "Omni-Contact" ability that could model this in GURPS terms.

The other big scene I have in mind in Utah is a meeting maybe on the Sunday of Thanksgiving weekend with Jack Gallivan, Gordon Hinckley, and Mark Petersen, a sort of meeting of the minds of Salt Lake media, with an eye towards the Future, such as it is. This would be a way for Archie to directly get in touch with the Quorum of Twelve, to chat about what Archie is looking to do with them, and maybe flesh out the nature of that relationship on a quid pro quo media level. As I mentioned, I originally envisioned us unfolding the Quorum Contact through Melanie's more fundamentalist family members who might have some highly-placed friends among the more conservative members of the Quorum, but I like this approach, through the well-lit hallways of Mormon media and business, where Archie is much more experienced and secure, much better.

I envisioned Archie getting close to the Quorum as a way of hedging his bets, of having some real muscle on his side if things go south with one or more elements of SANDMAN, and maybe even a way to get a little inside perspective on the whole "Mormon view of North American history/ontology" thing in terms of, you know, the Twelve offering access to occult Mormon secrets, but Rob, feel free to disabuse me of that notion if I'm wrong. (edited)

Rob

OK, sweet. I'm good with this. It is thematically resonant that, as we try to break memespace out of its Manichean prison, letting a thousand Histories bloom, control of SANDMAN media passes from the Tiffany network to the multichannel world of cable. (Because we all know having 70+ channels brought about utopia.)

And yes, Archie wants Powerful Friends as a counterweight to, and quite possibly a weapon against, both the CWG and Control itself. My hope is that the Twelve have real juice in both the conventional and occult realm; that whatever their particular read on the war for reality is, they're already operating behind the curtain so to speak. I am hoping to avoid a lot of "I know this sounds crazy, but" and get Archie into a room with powerful people who, even if they maybe don't have Hidden Lore (History B)-18, already understand that the world is not as it seems, that there is a magickal-memetic war for history already underway.

Michael

I think we are vibing on precisely the same frequency here. My feeling is that the Quorum-Archie summit will have the feel of a long-awaited "ah, finally we meet face-to-face" inevitability in that each party is at roughly the same spot in the clued-in stakes, just with quite different lenses on the reality war and, of course, differing agendas. Thank you for letting me get my Weird Mormonism on in this game, even as Archie from early in the campaign was clearly trying to escape the LDS memetic gravity well.

As I spend all this time outlining the weird treasures that URIEL has accumulated in the past 9 to 10 months, you gotta wonder about the stuff that the Mormon Church has been collecting and guarding over the past 140-some-odd years

I think I feel pretty satisfied on the Tim scene front, and we can take any awkward interactions at Melanie's folks for late dinner as read; I don't necessarily view Melanie's people as not liking Archie but I also feel they come from a different social class and branch of LDS Utah: a little more rural and rough and tumble, a little less sophisticated, a little less materially-comfortable. But just a little.

Rob

Yes, that all sounds great to me, and I like that read on Archie & Melanie's families. Fine to move on (at your convenience) to whatever scene you see as next. (edited)

Michael

On the Sunday morning of Thanksgiving weekend, just as the Ransoms are getting ready to accompany the Gardners to services at the brand new-ish Ogden Utah Temple, a phone call comes in to Archie and Melanie's hotel room. It's Tim, who says the meeting this afternoon after services is a go: Archie, Tim, Jack Gallivan, and Bob Magness calling in from Vegas. It'll be happening at the Deseret News building about a block or two south of Temple Square in downtown Salt Lake. Doing business on the Sabbath—especially on a holiday weekend like this where family is at the center—isn't very good Mormon behavior honestly, but given Tim's sort-of-desperate eagerness to get a job with TCI and Archie and family only being in town until tomorrow, Archie supposes he can be excused this one time. Besides, Jack and Bob are both Gentiles; Sunday probably doesn't mean as much to an Irish Catholic and, well, whatever Bob Magness is.

After services and family time, Archie brings the family back to their hotel in Salt Lake City and heads to the new plush Deseret News offices on Regent Street. With the News no longer putting out a Sunday edition, the office is pretty quiet on this Thanksgiving Sunday, and Jack Gallivan has managed to book one of the big boardrooms off of the main editorial floor. As Tim and Archie shake hands with Jack and they open the door to the boardroom, the three younger men find two elderly men already sitting there, chatting amiably with each other in front of the phone speaker (the phone isn't yet dialed into Vegas). The two men are two members of the Quorum of Twelve, Archie realizes: the elder of the two is the tall and grave-looking Mark E. Petersen, 73 years of age, President and CEO of the Deseret News and an editor for the paper since 1935. And next to him is the younger, more self-effacing Gordon B. Hinckley, LDS newspaper, radio, and TV impresario, author of LDS literature and staff writer for the Church News, missionary to postwar East Asia and the Pacific Rim, head of LDS youth outreach. (He's no spring chicken; he's 63 himself.)

Tim and Jack look confused, Tim more shit-your-britches awed at the presence of two of the Quorum in this little meeting he naughtily set up for a Sunday. It's not that unusual for either Petersen or Hinckley to be hanging around the News offices, even on a Sunday after services; the Temple is only a block and a half north of here. But why are they here, in the boardroom that Jack Gallivan reserved?

Jack breaks the ice. "Mark. Gordon." The Catholic Gentile is on a first-name basis with these illustrious LDS leaders, from his work with them on the newspapers, media, real estate, what have you. "Do you know Archibald Ransom and Tim Jensen?" Jack does not ask what the two men are doing here: Archie senses using Sensitive that Jack not poking into why his meeting got crashed is more out of a combination of fear and healthy respect for these men, rather than tact or some kind of pre-arranged understanding.

Hinckley stands up first to come over and shake Archie's hand. "Only by reputation. Archibald here is fruit from the bough of the ZCMI Ransoms, if I remember right? Been out in California, working in television?" It's pretty clear if Hinckley didn't already have this knowledge at his fingertips, Archie's company today would say a lot about the line of business he's in. Petersen stands up for greetings as well, but waits for Archie to approach.

Rob

Archie feigns a little surprise, mostly for Tim's sake, but he's not bowled over--he was of course hoping for something like this. "Elder Hinckley, Elder Petersen! It's an honor." He steps forward, shakes both men's hands with a grin. "That's right, my father was George Ransom. Managed the Provo branch of the Mercantile for twenty-odd years. And yes, I'm in the television game." Ducks his head in a kind of mea culpa gesture. "Lord help me, I still think the 'idiot box' can be redeemed, ha ha. Tim here has been telling me the future is in cable." He folds his hands in front of him and smiles warmly, in no way acknowledging any strangeness or awkwardness to this meeting.

Michael

"Good to meet you, son," Petersen says, keeping eye contact with Archie while firmly shaking his hand.

As the men sit down around the table, neither Jack nor Tim makes any move to dial up Bob Magness in Las Vegas; they both, through their body language, seem to lean into the unmistakable social power of these two Quorum members. Hinckley pivots off of Arch's coy 25-word-or-less résumé: "Oh, television is no lost cause, Mr. Ransom. Quite the contrary. We believe that television in all its manifestations can be a great servant to the Melchizedek Priesthood, a matter of great increase for the Church."

Jack Gallivan seems a little befuddled by all the LDS lingo, even if he is largely au courant with much of it by living in Salt Lake City. Tim is still a little in shock, and is going with the flow as best he can.

Petersen nods somewhat grimly at Archie giving Tim a cue with the mention of cable. "Strikes me that any man getting in on the ground floor of this cable television business in 1973 would be a bit like an investor with a fistful of dollars walking into Philo Farnsworth's lab in, oh, 1927, say. You must know of course, Mr. Ransom, that Farnsworth himself was a Latter-Day Saint, one who moved from Provo to California: first to Los Angeles," Petersen pauses, pointing at the table as if it were a map of the Western United States, "then to San Francisco. With his new bride, no less. Strange parallels, no?"

Hinckley smiles. "Almost enough to make one believe a prophecy is being fulfilled."

Rob

Archie gives the suggestion of prophecy the same kind of aw-shucks chuckle he gave Tim's vision of a beach house and a private jet. "Farnsworth never did get his due, if you ask me," he says. "Hollywood folks tend to underestimate a clean-cut boy from Utah. But we're living in the world he made."

"As I say, it's a real honor to meet you gentlemen. But I'm sure there are other places you'd like to be on this wintry Sabbath. Should we get down to business?" Just the slightest flick of his eyes here towards Tim and Gallivan, the implied question being, can we speak freely?

Michael

Hinckley flashes a look at Tim and Jack and at the intercom on the table. "Oh yes, of course. We won't keep you from business at hand," Hinckley says. "I'm sure Mr. Magness's time is fleeting lately with how busy he is," Hinckley adds quite baldly, indicating he knows exactly why the three of you are here today. "We couldn't resist stopping by the offices after services to say hello. But before we head back to the Temple," Hinckley ends up looking elfin here, a twinkle in his eye and a mischievous grin, "Elder Petersen and I thought we'd tell you three a little story. From the Book of Mormon. Don't worry, Jack; we're not trying to convert you."

Petersen's public speaking voice, while a bit monotonous and stentorian, takes over. "The Brethren in the room will remember the third book of Nephi, chapter 8. The Nephites have lived in the promised land for six centuries, but slowly and surely they have squandered that promise. Secret combinations at the heighths of power have laid the Nephites low; and even those humble among the Nephites have resorted to forgetting their allegiances to God and nation, retreating into family and tribe instead, turning themselves from the prophecy of Jesus Christ. Some still earnestly believe in our Savior, but there are many antichrists abroad in the land. One of them, an evil king named Jacob, took hold of the nation. And it was at this very time, on Calvary, halfway around the world, our Savior was being crucified by the Jews and Romans."

"Jacob had taken his people to the far north of this land, and waited for fellow dissenters and conspirators to join him. But Nephi, the son of Nephi, the rightful prophet of the Lord, worked wonders in this iniquitous time. He possessed the powers of a true Apostle; he raised his brother from the dead. Nephi's brother Timothy." The coy smiles are all gone from Hinckley's face now; he looks resolutely at Tim and Jack, who both look slackjawed at this impromptu lesson from the Book of Mormon.

"It was then that the Cataclysm struck the land; America shuddered when our Lord was crucified. 3 Nephi 8:12-17: But behold, there was a more great and terrible destruction in the land northward; for behold, the whole face of the land was changed, because of the tempest and the whirlwinds, and the thunderings and the lightnings, and the exceedingly great quaking of the whole earth. And the highways were broken up, and the level roads were spoiled, and many smooth places became rough. And many great and notable cities were sunk, and many were burned, and many were shaken till the buildings thereof had fallen to the earth, and the inhabitants thereof were slain, and the places were left desolate. And there were some cities which remained; but the damage thereof was exceedingly great, and there were many in them who were slain. And there were some who were carried away in the whirlwind; and whither they went? No man knoweth. Save they know that they were carried away. And thus the face of the whole earth became deformed, because of the tempests, and the thunderings, and the lightnings, and the quaking of the earth."

"The darkness that followed, that covered the land, was absolute; it was as if nothing existed, nor could any man perceive himself or his neighbor. A void. Blackness. Total social blindness."

It's at this moment that Archie suddenly realizes that these two members of the Quorum of Twelve are using Enthrallment on him, Tim, and Jack Gallivan. Source code-infused Enthrallment, not natural-talent/Genevieve Abeille-style Enthrallment. Archie, give me a Will-21 roll here.

Rob

(Does Archie's "Indomitable" advantage come into play here, or not because they're using source code? Either way, here's the roll:)

>> SUCCESS by 8

Michael

Oh, I forgot about Indomitable! Basically the only thing that can trump Indomitable is Empathy, and we can assume that both Gordon and Mark have it. But that's all moot as Archie can see how Petersen's story is unfolding on two levels; one, a source code laden tale of disaster (and eventual glory, once Jesus appears in America) that is meant to subsume, personally involve (that "Tim/Timothy" thing is textbook Enthrallment, Archie realizes), and Captivate Tim and Jack, and the other level of the narrative, which is quite clearly a coded message to Archie from these members of the Quorum of Twelve, a message meant to Suggest to Archie that in some way the Elders of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints know about the reality war and perhaps even the Ontoclysm, and are explaining Joseph Smith's receipt of the Book of Mormon and the stories contained within, clearly, in that specific context.

Gordon takes over the narrative now that the Cataclysm has taken place; Archie can tell he's meant to be the "good cop" taking us into Chapter 9 and beyond of Third Nephi. "That darkness covered the land for three days while the earthquakes subsided and the ruins settled into dust. And then the righteous heard His voice in the darkness, castigating the nations and cities who had been erased, praising those who had held fast to His holy covenant. A voice in the darkness. Like... well sort of like a radio transmission, isn't that right, Archie? And when the darkness finally cleared in the land of Bountiful, why, there was the image of Christ, appearing before the righteous among the Nephites. The voice of Jesus kept them strong and faithful. But it was only upon being able to see and feel Him, to bask personally in the flickering Light of the World, that they truly believed and adored Him. Just as when radio, well, gave birth to television."

Hinckley's smile is honestly starting to look less jolly and more madcap to Archie, but Petersen leans over the table at this slightly theologically awkward moment and cocks an eye at Tim and Jack. Petersen says, "All right, let's let them dial into Magness's line. Archibald, would you like to come with us to the Temple now? They'll remember your presence on the call and at this meeting, and be assured, all the material benefit of this deal will still be coming your way. The words from the Book of Mormon will carry a hidden thought that the Church needs to be part of these cable deals as well. We call this kind of idea a 'mustard seed,' but I'm guessing you have a different name for it. But yes, I think we three have some things to discuss, in a more appropriate venue." (edited)

Rob

("mustard seed," that's very good)

"'Mustard seed,' that's very good," says Archie, remarking on the apt phrase but also tipping his hat to Petersen (or Hinckley's) skill with Enthrallment, signalling that Archie knows what was happening there, that they know he knows, and he knows they know, that we three all know what we are about. And to the question about going to the Temple, he says, "Yes, thank you. That would be just fine." (edited)

Michael

Archie and the two members of the Quorum make their way along Main Street towards Temple Square. As Archie, Petersen, and Hinckley make their way around the southern facade of the Temple, Hinckley takes great pleasure in pointing out the architectural details on the stonework: stars, moons in their various phases, and mysterious clouds of Providence; his cadence shows off a little bit of NLP, but in a Sway Emotions kind of way: a combination of joy, wonder, and most of all, mystery. Joseph Smith is evoked in these brief architectural musings: Gordon says, "The destruction of the Temple at Nauvoo. Burned down by angry Gentiles after Joseph Smith met his grisly end. Dozens of Nauvoo's sunstones were burned up in that inferno, only three remain, officially. But we have the fourth. The objects left behind by these portentous historical events have a certain quality to them. They cast our minds back to the past, while they strengthen our faith in the present and future: both symbol and living testament. One day I would like to rebuild Nauvoo. Then trace the Prophet's life back east, all the way to the womb, placing Temples on every site." Petersen remains silent through Gordon's musings; he takes a key and leads Archie and Gordon to a side entrance to the massive Temple. While there are not many witnesses out here in Temple Square on this cold day hours after services, it's clear Petersen and Hinckley don't want to pass through the halls of the main Temple building. As Petersen fumbles with the key, Archie looks up in the dying hours of daylight, seeing the carving of the unblinking Eye of Providence looking down on him from the western Tower of the Temple. For just a brief moment, Archie thinks of Stoney, then puts the idea of him out of his head.

Inside the Temple complex itself, Gordon and Mark lead Archie into the basement of the Temple. On this lower level, baptisms are performed. But instead Gordon and Mark lead Archie into the building and then past a locked fire door, into what seems to be a series of tunnels leading east from the Temple, across Temple Square.

Petersen, for the first time, smiles in these ill-lit tunnels. "Just a bit further." Hinckley adds, "Much like the early Church of Christ in Rome, we do much of our planning here, out of sight in these, er, 'catacombs.'" Petersen opens another door on the side of this tunnel, and leads Archie into a pokey meeting room, replete with fluorescent lighting in the ceiling. In the middle of the room is a small, old-fashioned table, about three feet by three feet, which appears to be made of spokes and panels of all different kinds of wood, centered around a central circular wood panel. Three seats, modern chairs, are incongruously arranged around the small table.

"Perhaps you'd like to sit San Francisco-side of the table, Brother Archibald," Petersen says, pointing at the closest chair to the three men. "Near that leg, there."

"Built from wood from all 44 states and four territories at the time," Hinckley says, back in his "occult tour guide" mode. "It's not quite a 'Round Table,' but it seemed appropriate for what we are to discuss."

Rob

Archie sits in the indicated seat and spreads his hands over the top of the table, tracing the spokes. "Gosh, the Utah Table! My grandfather told me about this," he says. "But he said it was lost."

He gets down to it. "Elders. You know my background. You know I was raised in the Church of Latter-Day Saints, was baptized, did mission work. I expect you also know I drifted away from the Church for a time. A crisis of faith, you might say."

"But two things have led me back here today, to the Temple and to you. Three things, I suppose. It's not my place to speak about prophecy, but it does all feel like the unfolding of a plan. What did Lincoln say? 'I do not claim to have controlled events, but confess plainly that events have controlled me.'"

"The first thing that brought me back here is my wife, Melanie. When I doubted, she never wavered. The trials that shook my faith only strengthened hers."

"The second thing is that I seem to have risen--and again, I take no credit for the unfolding of events--to a position of some, ah, leverage. I think you know the sort of work I do. And I now find I've been entrusted with some quiet influence on our nation's print and broadcast media, even some other, subtler, channels, and the messages they convey."

"The third thing is this. Over the past several months, I've been shown--deliberately shown, it seems to me--the truth of the Book of Mormon. I've been shown, again and again, that our testament is a true History, with a role to play in the world today. I suppose that isn't news to you, but it's not where my heart was at a year or two ago. The parts of our scripture that I might have doubted are the very parts that my recent experiences have confirmed."

Michael

Gordon and Mark are respectfully quiet, waiting to see if Archie has any more to say, but it would be easy for Archie to deduce from body language, from their expressions, and from the ongoing use of Sensitive during this series of "first impressions," that Archie is delivering precisely what these two men want to hear so far.

Rob

"So here I am, and here we are." Archie allows himself a little smile, shifting from a confessional mode to something more let's-make-a-deal. "What can I do for you? I expect you have ideas. I want to serve, to play my part in the unfolding plan. The heavenly scripture doesn't just describe History; it has the power to change it. The world needs to know there are more than two testaments."

"What can you do for me? Well."

"The organization I'm a part of: it was founded on noble intentions. There are good men within it -- good women, too. But there are also bad men, men with very different plans for our country and our world. And it's not just a few bad apples that can be rooted out. The work itself can be corrupting. Over time, an organization like this -- invisible, unaccountable -- can lose sight of its true purpose. It becomes dedicated to its own power: idolatrous." Archie plays this part very straight. Of course he is only talking about SANDMAN here. He couldn't possibly be talking about anyone else, here in the secret tunnels beneath the Temple of the Church. He quotes Ephesians: "We wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities and powers, against the rulers of darkness in this world."

"I need God's help, of course. But I need allies in this world too. Allies with information and resources and resolve, who understand the secret struggle, but remain outside the organization I'm a part of. Archimedes said, 'Give me a lever and a place to stand and I can move the world.' I've been given a lever. I guess I'm looking for a place to stand."

Michael

This is a sales job, so Fast-Talk-23 (+1 for Sensitive, +2 for the Quorum being well-disposed to you already, +2 for the RP.) Of course you can open the door with a single point of Corruption... if you want.

Rob

I'll spend the point. (They'd spend the point against me, he rationalizes.)

>> SUCCESS by 15

Michael

Let me work on massaging what I, heh, channeled last night and link it up with Archie's offer.

(btw, "The world needs to know there are more than two testaments," chef’s kiss)

Michael

Petersen and Hinckley exchange a look at each other from the other two points of the equilateral triangle arranged around the cozy Utah Table: a look of recognition, relief, and most importantly, consensus and agreement.

This next bit of their patriarchal monologuing comes at Archie in a rush; they probably know he's resistant to Enthrallment by this point, but to them, it doesn't matter: the prophesying they do is part of the... well, ritual of this moment, and it seems among the Quorum, the title of prophet, seer, and revelator bears with it these abilities. At a certain point, the aura of honor and glory and divine inspiration makes it so Archie can barely tell which man is doing the speaking; their repetition, their hammering home of Mormon memetics... all of it is an assault on all Archie's senses, but the true words, minus the Enthralling emotional aura, connect direct to Archie's perception and cognition. Who knows, Archie thinks to himself, maybe it was even my exposure to these kind of men early in my life that tripped these abilities in me.

Mark: "We know that... perhaps not within our lifetimes but maybe within yours... that humanity as a whole will be faced with a moment of Decision. 'Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of Decision: for the day of the Lord is near in the valley of Decision.' A moment when the world will go one way... or another. Now, we are no strangers to the prophecies of John of Patmos... or of Joseph of Sharon. But we also comb wisdom granted to distant tribes, in other places and times. Revelation may come in the most unlikely places. And so from all these events, past and future... we know. We know there is a true History, forgotten to and sneered at by many, but known to and remembered by the elect.... and, yes, by some among the Lamanites. There will be a Tribulation, there will come the Scarlet Queen of the Great and Abominable Church, and there will, our Latter-Day Saints willing, a Second Coming and a Quickening and Exaltation thereafter. But the result is not certain. It is only sure if we hold fast, steadfast in our faith. In our belief. If we do, we will enter the Celestial Kingdom. For others—the more impure, the more impious—there will be other worlds, other lesser Kingdoms, all still lovingly made by our Heavenly Father. But ultimately, every man will be judged, Archibald. Weighed by the words in the book of life. Each man will inherit the planet he is entitled to. We seek to ensure, beyond any shadow of doubt, that the Celestial Kingdom opens its doors to us."

Gordon: "I'm glad that you mention family, Archibald. There is the keystone to the Celestial Kingdom. Within a family, we all look at the world the same way; there is uniformity, authority, and with that, security. Fatherly love, an echo of the Heavenly Father, whose universe this is. I like to think of family as the ultimate private 'Club,' as it were. It is a conspiracy, yes, but a conspiracy of love. And many many Mormon families, all keeping the same image of Heaven in their heads, Archibald? That's how we achieve the Celestial Kingdom. Imagine if even Gentiles carried that image of Heaven: envisioned the kind of eternity we deserve. Surely, as Gentiles they may only be allowed entry into the Terrestrial or Telestial Kingdoms, but their belief? Their belief will better establish our eternity and familial Exaltation. Of course, we must save as many souls as we can, convert as many souls as possible around the world... but in others, we plant a mustard seed, one that will grow into a sheltering tree for our Celestial families."

Mark: "Family, yes. Your wife kept the faith and kept you from losing yours. Women may not be prophets, Archibald, but your wife's family, her blood... many talented prophets lie in those bloodlines. However... outrageous her relations in St. George—"New Dixie"—in their little country fortress, their fiefdom, they will be useful to us. Both during the Tribulation and afterwards. You'd be surprised how deeply they've dug in out that way, since back when the Russians first got the Bomb."

Gordon: "Family. And let us not forget, yes, your own mother's father. He was an apostate, a confidence trickster, a bigamist, a folk magician, a believer in monsters and mystery airships and Indian ghost armies and the Hairy Curse of Cain... but he was also a prophet, seer, and revelator. Did not the religious authorities of the Prophet's own time call him many of these same things? Your grandfather was absolutely the Church's enemy, he deemed us such... but nevertheless we respect him, and his memory, and his talent at imagining new worlds. But come now, we both know the Big Rock Candy Mountain isn't real, don't we? That was just the Scarlet Woman lying to him, appealing to his lust, his sloth, his pride. We can't go imagining eternities where no one works and everyone lies around all day taking handouts, drinking from streams of whiskey! What kind of reflection of Heavenly Father would that be?" Hinckley smiles, breaking the spell.

Michael

Archie smiles at the mention of his grandfather, gives a noncommittal shrug. "Grandpa Enoch was a character and no lie. But you said it yourself, Elder Petersen: Revelation can come in the most unlikely places." He's not going to throw Grandpa under the bus, but neither is he going to insist on the reality of the Big Rock Candy Mountain.

"I'm curious, Elders, and I have to ask, though I'll understand if you need to speak with some discretion: How much does the Quorum know of the organization I work for? Have you had dealings with them - or should I say us - or encountered our enemies?"

Michael

Hinckley takes up the mantle, still jovial, still smiling. "Oh, Archibald... don't you know those fellows in government—Hoover, Dulles, Helms—thought that Latter-Day Saints were just the cat's pajamas? They all say—behind closed doors, of course; they wouldn't want to look prejudiced—that Saints make some of the best intelligence agents. We're incorruptible, moral, good family men, not likely to end up in trouble with alcohol or adultery, good at keeping secrets... and so, since the war, there are more than a few trusted Elders who've made their way from intelligence into your Project, men who haven't forgotten their allegiance to the Church. So yes, over the years, we've managed to put some of it together. And it turns out, Saints make good agents for your Project as well, for these and for... very different reasons."

"As for your 'enemies'... it strikes us you all spend a little too much time thinking about them. That sort of thing can be dangerous." Gordon's joviality has curdled; he apparently has some fervent beliefs in what the Project does well and does not.

Petersen takes a more conciliatory tone, directs it straight at Archie. "Now, now. We know that forewarned is forearmed, son." Petersen reaches over to pat Archie on the hand. "Those Brits couldn't help digging up what they dug up in Babylon ages ago. Of course they were going to study it all, try to... puzzle it all out. But you're aware now that the earth speaks to us differently, given the Prophet's wondrous find at Cumorah. The Book of Mormon doesn't quite jibe with what those Foundation fellows found in Iraq on first glance. The story you've all put together from history leads inevitably to despair. Our testament, though, as told to the Prophet? It leads to hope."

Gordon adds, "The hopeful lesson being that if you are righteous and holy, you can escape the clutches of Babylon, as Lehi did. Or," Gordon says, leveling his gaze at Archie, "as was the case of Jared and his people, escape Babel."

There is something left unsaid verbally at the prompting around the Jaredites and the fall of the Tower of Babel; again, if Archie were susceptible to such things, he'd guess the two Elders were prompting him via NLP to talk about it all next: Jared and his brother's escape from the Tower of Babel, their bringing a pure Edenic tongue to the promised land, their "barges."

Rob

Everybody wants the Aulang, Archie thinks to himself, and wonders what Hobo Stan would make of these Elders. But he's playing the game, so he'll tease them with a taste: "Babel," he says, excitedly, "yes, exactly! Gentiles, even religious ones, will tell you that the Tower of Babel cannot be a true event. But if History itself has been confounded, then all the arguments about linguistics and archaeological evidence miss the point. The 'barges' were real. The Edenic tongue is real--"

He cuts himself short and changes topic. "The Quorum is clearly well informed, just as I had hoped. I think we can help each other. I think we can do God's work together. So now I have a question to ask of you gentlemen. Maybe you know the answer already, or maybe you can find out. It would go a long way to showing me that I can put my faith in this partnership. To convincing me that I do have a safe place to stand."

He takes a deep breath, lets it out. "I don't like not knowing who I work for. I like to look a man in the eye, shake his hand." And he does look them in the eye when he says this: first Hinckley, then Petersen. "Who controls Project SANDMAN? Who is 'Control'?"

Michael

Before I get too deep into H&P's responses here, can you give me an Intelligence Analysis-18 roll? You're welcome to use Corruption, but that will of course mean that Archie is tapping into Stoney.

Rob

(Sure, I'll take another point of Corruption)

>> SUCCESS by 8

Michael

Success by 8, and that means you can spend four more Corruption to get in range of a crit.

Rob

If you won't accrue Corruption when you're setting the Secret Masters of the Mormon Church against the Secret Masters of SANDMAN, are you even playing the game?

(yes, I'll spend the 4)

Michael

Petersen says, "I foresee us being able to work together in a number of areas, Archibald. Your Project's Control is a level of clearance only a few of our men on the inside have been able to get even a glimpse of... but we can begin bending our assets on the inside toward that purpose, yes. And of course, any contacts you've had with Control's buffers within the Project would be useful data for us to have." Petersen pauses, looks at Hinckley, and returns to Archie, "I believe that if we want to work towards establishing a free flow of information between us, we can begin with giving you access to some of the Church's historical findings; you may feel free to use them for your own work, to aid the Project, whatever you will. And of course, our material resources will be yours to utilize and exploit. We came to you under the cover of the cable television deal not out of convenience but because we see many opportunities there for us, and for you, as well. You'll need a foot in the door for when broadcast television fades into the rear view mirror. Magness and Gallivan will be your men on the inside."

Hinckley says, "Yes, if you are indeed about to reach a higher echelon within your Project's media control enterprises," Hinckley says, as if he's talking about a completely normal minor media business deal and not, like, getting the LDS Church's fingers into the secret chiefs who control movies, television, pop music, etc. etc., "we could definitely use your help implanting some seedlings here and there for the Church's benefit—imagery of the Celestial Kingdom, reassurances that all who are righteous will receive their own suitable and appropriate treasure in eternity, that sort of thing. The carrier signals can be metaphorical; we know we're dealing with Gentile minds here for the most part. We're confident you know how to expertly deliver a message on multiple levels to multiple audiences," Hinckley says, the first clue that not only do the Quorum know Archie's a memeticist, but that they know his M.O." from the St. Francis and elsewhere: the ants-at-a-picnic thing: let audiences find their niche and get trapped inside the appropriate memes. The St. Francis was just like the three degrees of glory: the telestial kingdom might as well have been the televisual kingdom, Archie realizes, as he considers the tripartite set of memes that he set loose in the hotel that weekend and how the "lowest" level was getting people trapped in their rooms obsessively watching TV.

"We know your Project's priority is inoculating the media-watching public against, erm, the Scarlet Queen," Petersen says. "Naturally we don't want to interfere with that work; quite the contrary, we welcome it, if done appropriately and correctly. We think the LDS framework will be healthy for all Americans and frankly, all of humanity in this regard. It can work hand-in-hand with your work. As we've said, we see no reason the degrees of glory can't coexist in some way after the Tribulation. It makes sense; as long as all the Celestial Kingdom has their Urim and Thummim with their secret name written upon it, we will be able to keep an eye on all the lesser Kingdoms after the Tribulation... but they won't see us. Doctrine and Covenants 130:9." Archie suddenly is jolted by the memory of Frank's words from last month's meeting at Black Rock: "Even if reality fell apart around them, [the generation raised on the Golden Language] wouldn't have the ability to see or describe it." Petersen concludes, "And of course all the followers of the Great and Abominable Church will dwell in the outer darkness... if you were worried about such a thing."

Archie Stoney realizes in a flash that the Quorum believes that, because he is a Sandman, that all he really cares about deep down is the Anunnaki. Very importantly, the Quorum don't know that Archie and URIEL are already looking for History Cs, for spirits and for third ways out of the A-or-B prisoner's dilemma, nor do they even suspect it. They heard Archie's rejection of LDS apostasy and his suspicion of Control— and believed both!—but they still feel, on a "vibes level" as the kids might say, that Archie's Duty to fight History B is paramount in his mind and soul. Promising Archie Exaltation: a planet and godhood of his very own after the Day of Judgement, of being reunited with Melanie, with Jane, with Eddie—with Charlie, Archie realizes—they're doing that to make sure Archie knows that the post-Tribulation Celestial country club is open to him as well, as a prodigal son back in the vineyard of the Lord. But they're also lacing their offers to Archie with promises that a Mormon eschaton is a winning condition for SANDMAN as well, to see if that moves him. They're testing him, seeing what he really desires. Stoney's constantly-plotting mind keeps telling Archie, "They don't know what you and URIEL are up to, they don't know that your OZYMANDIAS has been fully defeated, they think you're a Good Soldier fighting the Red Kings first and foremost and snakes in your own house second. This is important ammunition, my puppet. Keep your powder dry, as Cromwell famously said. Don't give away the store!"

Rob

OK, gonna abstract this a bit since I've been AWOL so long. Just as Stoney counsels, Archie plays along with the version of him they're expecting: that he's a SANDMAN good soldier and an LDS true believer captured by the realization that the Red Kings and the Scarlet Whore of Babylon are one and the same.

There can, as always, be multiple layers to the onion. If they suspect that his return to the faith is not 100% sincere, they can still see him as a SANDMAN partisan, shaken by the discovery that some of his superiors (eg the CWG) are in league with the Mother of Harlots and Abominations Upon the Earth. The "secret" he is concealing in this case is his trauma/terror at discovering the reality of History B. But no hints of Histories C thru Z, of thinking different, etc.

And yes, if the quid pro quo is for Archie to start slipping some crypto-Mormon memetics into the culture, he will agree. He's going to be strategic about this--he's already thinking about planting hidden back doors / self-destruct sequences within those memetics, memes within memes baby--but it's like the chosen-people meme he's doing for Stoney, that's the price of doing business, he's never been opposed to work for hire.

Michael

Yeah, this all makes a lot of sense to me. The quid pro quo here for the moment is:
• Archie gets material support from the Quorum when needed, a peek at the secret Mormon archives, and gets help finding out who Control is
• and in return, the Quorum gets their Degrees of Glory memetics implanted in the mass media plus Archie keeps SANDMAN on target fighting the Red Kings (not much of a sacrifice, granted, but still).

I think one other very important piece of intel that comes from your Intelligence Analysis crit is that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints does believe in an Apocalypse, an unveiling, a moment of Decision, a Final Battle, and that they know (or believe, perhaps is more accurate) that their main opponent in achieving the Celestial Kingdom is the Red Kings. The Quorum fear that the Enemy is capable of subverting or utterly destroying their chiliastic goals (a belief which does starkly go against official LDS Church and quite frankly plain old Christian doctrine but hey, sometimes the Elect know more than the Preterites and have to act in their best interest: i.e., lie to them), and that SANDMAN, yes, is one of their best catspaws to make sure that the final Victory is achieved.

And while the Golden Language never made an overt appearance in this meeting, it's definitely subtext for a lot of what Hinckley and Petersen were talking about.

Intermission EightArchie RansomMelanie RansomThe Ransoms

Michael Grasso

A Ransom Family Thanksgiving

Michael

Rob

Michael

Rob

Michael

Rob

Michael

Rob

Michael

Rob

Michael

Rob

Michael

Rob

Michael

Rob

Michael

Rob

Michael

Rob

Michael

Rob

Michael

Rob

Michael

Rob

Michael

Rob

Michael

Rob

Michael

Rob

Michael

Michael

Michael

Michael

Rob

Michael

Rob

Michael

Rob

Michael

Rob

Michael

Rosebud

Saving Alan Watts