Meeting in Archie’s Office
Rob
Archie has not been thinking about SRI this morning. Instead, I was hoping I could make an Administration or Intelligence Analysis roll or similar to analyze the SANDMAN/Sophie/mole situation: what our exposure might be if there is a mole, what Stanton said about paying more attention to URIEL, Marshall's insistence that this means Granite Peak will be coming down on us, what leverage if any URIEL might have if they do. I realize that's vague. Archie was on the back foot in all the conversations this morning; but his instinct is that the truth lies somewhere between his optimistic reassurances to Charley and Marshall's worst-case scenarios.
By lunch, I think he'd have had time to strategize a little more and come to some of his own conclusions about things. For instance: Are there things Archie can think of that would increase our leverage with Granite Peak, or to protect against Marshall's worst case scenarios? Are there steps we could take to track a mole — like a canary trap or barium meal test? (This line of thought may well lead to another conversation with Stoney but I don't necessarily want to go immediately back to that narrative well. Also Stoney's still back at the house.)
Michael
Oooh, this is all good stuff. This feels like Intelligence Analysis to me! It's not quite Strategy because we're talking about, er, human terrain, and it's not quite Esmology or Memetics either. This is sort of classic counterintelligence, isn't it, and I think Intel Analysis lends itself very well to that. (Also, the fact that Intel Analysis is one of Stoney's skills and Archie is separated from his new buddy the morning after his "summoning" is pretty good thematically. )
And yes, love the idea of a canary trap.
Rob
Archie does have Intelligence Analysis on his own, but Stoney gives him a bonus and someone to strategize with.
Michael
Oh yeah, I only meant if the roll went badly that he might be like, "Darn, I wish I had someone to hash this out with, with Sophie gone." Archie looks sadly to his own un-puppeted hand.
Rob
(so should I roll Intelligence Analysis?)
Michael
Yeah! Go for it.
Rob
>>>> SUCCESS by 4
Michael
Okay. Archie's supposition is that not much is going to happen to URIEL until Granite Peak has done what it needs to with Sophie. And Archie would guess that would happen pretty quickly: within 48 to 72 hours of her arrival at GP this morning. If they are satisfied with what they find and don't feel the need to bring anybody new onboard at Livermore, Archie's guess is that Stanton will phone next Monday or Tuesday with a lot of bluff "hail fellow well met" reassurances that URIEL is secure and there won't be any need to bring on an internal affairs/audit team or place overt (or covert) "eyes" on Livermore. After all, one of the great things about URIEL, Archie's been told and hinted at by higher-ups over and over again since he came onboard in '68, is its flexibility and creativity! Strangle that and you might as well break up the Operation entirely. Stanton's been on the level with Archie the past five years: you don't build that kind of rapport and throw it all away because there's been a problem, even one as serious as a leak.
What Archie really has to watch out for is if there's no news from Granite Peak or from Stanton by the middle of next week. If that happens, all bets are off and it means that the Peak is not satisfied with what Sophie had to say; that there's still a leak at Livermore, according to the Peak's assessment.
As far as keeping URIEL safe from interference from Granite Peak, Archie is guessing that even if Stanton and the Peak decide that URIEL needs a tighter leash, they're not going to all of a sudden militarize the URIEL offices and move Archie out of a supervisory role. The protocol will likely be something along the lines of Archie talking to Stanton (maybe even flying out to New York to CBS headquarters) and saying, "Listen, Arch, we've been talking and thinking that maybe we ought to formalize a few things, give you" ("and Dr. Redgrave" — for some subconscious reason, Archie's counterintelligence assessment is that if SANDMAN decides to formalize things with URIEL they'll use the longtime CIA asset) "the tools you need for rapid response to History B incursions." And as previously discussed, those will likely be SANDMAN commandos/paramilitary, stationed somewhere in the Bay Area under US military cover identities. And some of those paramilitary, if we're talking a whole section of a dozen or 20 personnel, will be undercover counterintelligence here to snoop on everyone in URIEL.
(Even if Stoney is not physically here, this kind of cold, calculating, heartless calculus — specifically around his own team — might feel a little new and different to Archie.)
Brant
Marshall will knock on Archie’s office door, presumably with Mitch in tow. As Mitch and Marshall wait for the OK to come in, Marshall says: “So, what’s her name?”
Jeff
"Mary-Lynn," Mitch says after a moment's hesitation. "I think she has a last name, but I didn't catch it."
"I know, a girl flirts with me, your first thought it, which of our many supernatural enemies is she the pawn of? But I don't think she's anybody's pawn except, like, the universe as a whole. The whole general … mish-mash, that's telling me to go to Stanford and do ESP experiments."
Brant
“Mary-Lynn, like the girl from Gilligan’s Island?”
“Wait, no, that wasn’t it. What was it? Mary … ”
Jeff
"Ann." Mitch says with a sigh. "Dawn Wells."
Michael
(this is where being in Vietnam for nine years during the 1960s really does Marshall a disservice)
Jeff
"She doesn't look like Dawn Wells. She looks ... uh, maybe a little like Barbara Feldon? Not really. Seemed nice enough. Real eager to tell me about Stanford."
Brant
“Ah! Yeah. Yeah. Anyway, I wouldn’t worry about it. It’d be too obvious a ploy. I mean,” he winks and opens the door as Archie says come in, “sometimes a cigar is just a cigar.”
Rob
"Howdy fellas, come on in." Archie seems a little distracted but his smile is genuine. "Mitchell, glad you made it in today. I mean, it ought to have been fine to take the day off, but given everything I'm glad you're here. I guess Marshall's told you about Our Absent Librarian?"
Jeff
Mitch blinks. "What?"
Rob
"Our librarian. Sophie. She's been remanded to Granite Peak. All of a sudden, no advance word, no consultation with me, or anything. It's all a little murky." Archie cocks his head. "Is that not why you came in?" (meaning why Mitch came in to Livermore today, not why they knocked on his door).
Brant
Marshall takes a seat on the sofa, stretches his arms across the back, and crosses his legs.
“It wasn’t me, by the way — Sophie, that is.”
Rob
"Of course it wasn't! Why would you even..." Archie's eyes flick to Mitch, like 'are we going to have this conversation with Mitch here?' but he changes tack, says, "She made it sound like it was her choice, like she thought she wasn't up to the pressure, but who can say? Anyway. We'll know more when we hear again from the powers that be."
Brant
Marshall nods and smiles. “Mitch here has cultivated a potential asset at SRI. A bit of a coincidence, given Sophie’s memo and report. We were talking, and we’re thinking — send Mitch in as a 'candidate' for testing. Get a sense of the landscape. Plus, I’m sure he could use the $50 a week.”
Jeff
"Jeez. That's surprising. The thing with the Librarian. " Mitch sits down, since Marshall did. "Nothing we can do about it right now. If I'd known, I ... I dunno. In a sense it doesn't matter. Out of our hands." He shakes his head like he's dismissing a thought. "Anyway, no. The reason I came in was because I've got something for us to investigate. SRI, like Marshall said. I guess Sophie suggested we check it out before she left?"
Rob
"You've got an in at SRI already? That's fast work." Archie picks up some of Sophie's dossier. "But yes, Sophie put all this together for us before she left." He flips through the file, a little dismissively. "All I've read yet is the Time article, but ... do either of you really think there's anything here worth our trouble?
"I don't mean preternatural abilities--yes, we've all seen those first hand. I just mean this program. Doesn't it seem a little... amateur hour? This young Israeli looks like a flimflam artist from a half mile away. And, recruiting psychics with ads in the lonely hearts pages? Is that where we are now? We didn't recruit you with an ad in the paper, Mitch!" (beat) "We didn't, did we?"
Archie looks to Marshall: "It's like I said: 'mad science and skullduggery.' If you ask me, someone at Langley is setting themselves up for embarrassment."
Brant
Marshall leans forward a little and folds his hands in his lap. “Well, I’m not sure how interested we are in the actual, you know … paranormal stuff that may or may not be happening there. It is more the confluence of the thing. Sophie leaving us but not before leaving one final lead to investigate — Abeille thinks her intentions, Sophie’s intentions, were good ones in preparing this dossier, did I mention that? And then Mitch stumbles into a new potential lady friend who just happens to be an SRI test subject. All a little pat. But plainly someone is trying to get our attention and that alone warrants scrutiny.”
Can I get a Psych roll or something to gauge Archie’s mood? He seems a bit more paranoid than usual. Which is to say, he seems a little paranoid.
Michael
Gladly.
>>> SUCCESS by 3
So Marshall wins by 3, a modest measure of success ... what do you think, Rob ... it's gotta be the Sophie stuff that Marshall senses, right? Not so much Sophie herself per se but the reassignment happening without warning or foreknowledge?
Rob
Given the conversation at Archie's house ("They're listening to you right now!") and then the one this morning ("They're coming to take Charley (and the puppets) away!") it's a bit rich for Marshall to wonder if Archie is feeling paranoid. But yeah, he's rattled by how the Sophie thing played out and the conversation with Stanton, for the first time in a long time (ever?) he's letting himself at least entertain the idea of Granite Peak being hostile or the enemy to "his" team. Whether MoS 3 is high enough for Marshall to get any whiff of Stoney's influence, or Archie's anxiety about embarking on a little side plot with him, I dunno.
Michael
I'm gonna say that Marshall can identify something new there lurking in Archie's usual optimistic can-do psyche and he might assume that it's the Sophie Situation ... I would imagine Marshall would need a bit more evidence than a quick meeting to catch a whiff of Stoney.
Rob
"No, that all makes sense. It's right in our backyard, it's the sort of thing we should be keeping an eye on. See what sort of characters it pulls out of the woodwork. Plus it doesn't hurt right now for us to take the initiative, remind Granite Peak that we're the ones who understand this milieu."
Archie beams at Mitch. "A possible lady friend, is that right?"
Jeff
"Uh ..." Mitch looks askance. "She seemed all right. Wouldn't bet money on anything."
Brant
“Well then,” Marshall stands, “do we have your permission to proceed, Arch?”
Rob
"Sure. Yes. Let us know what you need, Mitch, and go to it." He thinks a little more. "The line you'll want to walk with SRI is, ah, being interesting enough to get into this program, but not too interesting, if you catch my meaning."
Jeff
"Yeah. I guess I'm looking for a little guidance on that. I know the 'MJ Hearst' identity has all the right, like, records. Should I just answer the ad, be myself ...?"
Rob
(OOC It seems like the MJ Hearst identity is a good fit for this? Rather than ginning up a whole new identity? I'm not sure how much Archie knows about Mitch's history pre SANDMAN — the likelihood of non-SANDMAN CIA making MJ Hearst as a former SCANATE subject etc. But of course it's fun for story purposes if they do. )
Michael
(Yeah, I'm not sure how much of all that old Enemy Disadvantage stuff I'm going to bring into this mission, given Jeff's decided to dispense with it, but I think we still have the concept of Mitch getting bounced back and forth between several psychic research wings of intelligence, both US and Soviet, during his time in Vietnam, still being Canon. MJ Hearst should be just fine.)
But in character? No one knows about that stuff and it's not in Mitch's file. Just all the mishegoss in Los Angeles that the LA SANDMAN team used to track Mitch down.
Rob
Ok, then it's Jeff's call, but just answering the ad as MJ makes sense to Archie. I also like the idea of putting Roger near by.
Brant
Marshall nods. "Yes, agreed — and Mitch, if you have any specific questions or concerns about your cover, I'd say talk to Jocasta. She can likely assist you in that regard." Marshall opens the door for them to leave, letting Mitch go first.