Viv Meets the Special Ones
Michael
So as Genevieve closes out the consuite party (Andy begged off about an hour into the con committee party, longer than he said he'd manage! He mentioned to Viv how much that conversation with the ad guy with all the Star Trek memorabilia lingered with him; really forceful personality, that guy) and then follows a bunch of the con organizers and a few of the early-arriving guests who are pals with the con committee to a couple of 11th floor parties; pretty sedate affairs with wine and political and literary discussion, a fair bit less "nerdy" than one might expect. Then, Genevieve manages to hear down the hallway the sound of music coming from one of the party floor suites. It's a pair of acoustic guitars being played really exceptionally well, and a basic drumbeat being tapped out on what sounds like an improvised drum. (I figure live music and drumming will draw her like, well, a bee to nectar.)
When Genevieve gets to the suite, she sees a little over a dozen kids, in their late teens and early 20s, it looks like: no "long-in-the-tooth" Summer of Love survivors, these: they were probably in junior high in '67. The long-haired kid drumming is using the room's ice bucket; the two kids playing guitar harmonies are doing so on very old, beat-up guitars. And the song that the kids were singing, Genevieve listens, sounds a little something like this … (Viv can give me a Current Affairs [Popular Culture] roll to identify this song, btw).
Mandy
>> SUCCESS by 5
Michael
All right, so Genevieve recognizes this after a verse and a chorus as a Larry Norman song — he's one of the big inspirational "Jesus Freak" musicians who hit it big a couple of years ago among the Jesus People subculture, sort of the Aquarian questing spirit matched with Evangelical Christianity. But when Genevieve gets to the open door of the suite and sees the circle of kids in the center of the room singing in a circle, Viv sees they're definitely less-than-clean-cut and one of them, a tall striking brunette, is even smoking a little joint near the open window of the suite, a real no-no for Jesus people. In any event, after the kids at the center of the room finish the song, there's laughter (slightly mocking?) and some applause and some groans as they see Viv peeking in.
"Welcome," one of the male guitarists says to Genevieve, "hope we didn't bother you! Just singing some ooooold songs," he says with a chuckle.
Mandy
"Oh, no bother! I've been carousing, the music was enticing, and a refreshing change of pace." Viv looks over the room of youths the ages of her children and gives them a smile "I'll let you get back to it; this ooooooold lady isn't looking to invade your space"
Michael
"Oh no, no," the lean young man with the guitar says, "You're not bothering us at all, this is a party for everyone. Come on in if you like? I'm glad you liked the music! I'm Ethan, this is my old lady Jane," he says, pointing to a nearby long-haired healthy-smiled late teenage girl. "My brother Stanley, his girlfriend Ada," and so on, individually introducing every single one of the bright-eyed, cheery kids in the room. "Anything you'd like to sing? I take requests!" Ethan says brightly.
As Viv looks around the room, she sees the color TV on in the corner with the volume down low, and attached to it is a MASSIVE contraption; if Viv wasn't mistaken, it's some kind of video equipment! And it's playing what looks like a slickly-edited informational film. And on the screen, in the middle of a sun-dappled wine country glade, teaching and preaching with a group of middle-aged folks underneath some kind of quiet narration … is Dr. Marshall Redgrave.
Mandy
Viv smiles warmly and introduces herself, makes niceties asking if they're here for the con all while maneuvering herself across the room toward the television. "I'd love to hear San Francisco." She's in front of the TV and video contraption now, "Wow! this thing must be expensive. It's not like a projection player at all." She crouches to look at the television, fingers on her lips thoughtfully. "The strangest synchronicity … I saw Dr. Redgrave earlier this week." She has no reason to be guarded. She stands and turns back back to the center of the room. "That flowers in your hair song, do you know it? It's a nice one to sing together."
Michael
"Yeah. Yeah, I think I know that number," Ethan says with a smile. "Our Doctor Red, eh? He gets around." Ethan gives a beatific smile to Jane, who returns it warmly. The lanky brunette with the strong jaw sidles up to Genevieve with the joint and passes it to her.
Mandy
"Oh, thank you, that's lovely" viv hits it like a pro and holds it for a few before exhaling out the window and handing it back. "Mary Jane has a gift for bridging liminal spaces. Thinking and feeling. Spirit and matter. The seeming divide between generations." She shrugs and smiles.
(how is the weed?)
Michael
Jane says, "Far out."
(Sadly, High Times didn't start until 1974 so I can't find out which horrible ditchweed strain was best weed of '73.)
But the joint is potent, it's surprising Genevieve with how good the quality is, much better than you'd expect from these kids … but then again if they are from up in wine country where Dr. Redgrave's retreat is, who knows what kind bud is being grown up in those hills alongside Dionysus's bounty. (Area knowledge roll was a success.) There's rumors there's a backbone, a "weed belt," stretching from Sonoma Wine Country all the way past Mt. Shasta up into Oregon, Washington State, and British Columbia, a secret empire of growers living off the land, commune after outpost after farm full of the best high-altitude maryjane in North America.
As the song finishes up, Genevieve can hear the narration from the promotional video on the TV. Marshall's face wavers in Genevieve's vision in the aftermath of a couple of hits off of this high-potency weed. Marshall speaks right to the camera, and, by extension, right to Genevieve:
… You see, friend, it is a very unique person indeed who finds themselves watching this video. It is a rare soul who pulls the tab from the flier, a rarer soul who calls the number, a rarer soul still who reports to the Mission, and the rarest soul of all who sits before me, prepared to answer my future call. Know it or not my friend, you contain something. Perhaps something hibernating. Perhaps something not yet born. But something unique, vital, essential. We all share common wish. A secret. One rarely uttered but more … universal than one ever hoped … that one day it will be revealed that there's been a mistake. That you are meant for more. That someone will arrive from the mundane nothing and say to you the words, “No, my friend, not you, you don't belong here. You belong with the Special Ones.” Well, my friend, I am here. And that day is upon you. No, my friend, not you. YOU don't belong here. Come with me. You belong with the Special Ones.
Mandy
"Thank you for the song everyone, that was very sweet. One of my favorites. And this dope is … Wow." Viv takes a big breath in through the nose and sighs out through her mouth. "Have you ever thought about how awareness is like these little seeds of our being that we send out from our bodies when we give attention and energy to something?" Viv takes another grounding breath. "I make a constant practice of calling mine back to me so my focus is always exactly where I want it."
… I would like to use Enthrallment to suggest that they should all make a habit of doing the same
Michael
Aha! Very nice. So we'll start with a Public Speaking-20 roll.
You know what, call it Public Speaking-21 with the weed.
Mandy
Crit.
Michael
Yeah, that's a crit. So now you roll Persuade at a 12 (+2 for crit, -5 because you're not using Corrupting Anunnaki source code). And that's against the Will of the Special Ones, which I will roll.
Mandy
I thought this was more of a suggestion than a persuasion but I do not have any idea if there is a functional difference.
Michael
It's the same die roll, actually!
But maybe you're right, you are trying to get them to do something.
>> SUCCESS by 5
So after about 10, 15 minutes of breathing with them, guiding the Special Ones through this idea of calling back focus and returning that which they've sent out, all dozen or so kids in this party room are taking their breath and energy and focus back to their centers. After 20 minutes, every single one of these kids is breathing synchronously with Genevieve, their heart rates low and steady, their beings tranquil and placid.
Mandy
Oh, rad, that's better than anticipated, I wasn't even trying to get them to do it with me, so much as think to do it.
Michael
Well, the Suggestion takes a while, and I figured the best way for Genevieve's Suggest to work in this case would be a guided meditation using Public Speaking given the nature of the suggestion. And now it's a practice they've got access to.
Mandy
Genevieve closes the practice. "It used to be that when people gave their consciousness seeds away they did it knowing full well they were contributing to the energy body of a god or supporting the reign of the king and contributing to the spiritual forces binding the pact between his body and the land, but the modern era is designed to siphon it from you everywhere, fueling petty egregores that steal your essence. But." She punctuates her speech with her movement. "Only if you let them."
Michael
The Special Ones almost seem to blink in unison at that statement, and then they sort of get out of that Zone and re-enter a less liminal mental, emotional, and spiritual space. "Wow," Jane says, fairly awed (as Genevieve sees at the same time the lanky brunette wipe a tear away from her eye). "That's so true. We've been there," Jane says, gesturing at Ethan, and Stanley, and the rest of the Calvary Kids. "And we're never going back to a life like that. That energy, our energy deserves to flow, not be hoarded." She smiles. "It's all part of becoming a Special One."
Mandy
(Viv proceeds to stay up until 6am cult deprogramming these children)
Michael
(hahahahahahahahaha)
Okay, let me put together a roll or two here.
Mandy
Let's do assessment first.
Michael
Simple Psychology roll.
Psychology-21 when you are conversing with someone.
>> SUCCESS by 14
Michael
Genevieve is able to assess pretty quickly that all these kids are runaways of one kind or another. The older ones have dropped out of college, and some of the younger core six kids, she soon finds out, fled from a particularly egregious Jesus Ministry down in Southern California.
Mandy
I'm going to leave a lot of space for them to tell me what being a Special One is and what it means to them as well.
Michael
Basically I think you'd get everything leading up to them finding Marshall. But yeah, if Viv does invite them to expound upon being a Special One, it'll be everything you heard in the video (sometimes verbatim), and the additional fact that they trust Marshall implicitly because he's never asked anything untoward of them, never abused their trust, gives them solid dependable dignity-filled work to do, just asks that they spread the word wherever possible. They really believe in the Mission's, er, mission. And they get to meet famous people! Why just the other weekend both Jonathan Winters and Donald Sutherland were up at the Mission for a weekend-long meditation retreat!
Ethan looks very seriously at Genevieve. "When I heard him speak when I was in college, ma'am. I just knew. I knew he'd help us and get us on our feet again and take care of us … but only if we took care of ourselves. He's taught us responsibility to ourselves and recognizing that we're all Special. Rev. Smith was just the opposite: we were meant to subsume our will and individuality and become Soldiers … and Brides," he looks at Jane portentously, "for Christ. But now, my brother, my best girl, all my friends … we're somebody! We're Special. We're free."
Mandy
"That's a very vulnerable thing for you to share with me. Thank you Ethan, thank you everyone." Viv's bleeding heart swells for these kids. She doesn't really trust whatever Redgrave is up to but she sees it's a far cry from what they lived in before and understands what a sweet fate "luxury cult" is for a street kid these days, and she's not even opposed to the human potential movement, this just feels vapid.
"It sounds like this change has been profound for you." She pauses "Would you want … maybe … and pardon me if this is invasive, but I know a few techniques for surfacing and releasing stuck energy from old trauma, by exploring the way ideas feel in the body. And I just wonder if you all might be up for trying it with me"
She wants to do family sculpting and psychodrama with them, a few patterns to release and reorganize the trauma and one to get a feel for what the power distribution is like with Redgrave
Michael
Ah, interesting. So are we talking a Captivate session here? Where they take on and act out roles in a narrative, right?
I think first you'll need to convince them. And that's a Diplomacy-19 roll.
Mandy
What does Captivate do?
I was thinking doing the therapy and getting the info from that, no tricks.
Michael
This is the Enthrallment ability that lets you tell a tale or a myth where they think of themselves as the roles you cast them in. We talked about using it to do psychodrama. And basically the result is it’s a bonding experience for the portrayers and the person running the storytelling. META ALERT.
But yes, we can just do the therapy.
Still need to do the Diplomacy roll to see if you can convince them to participate.
Mandy
Any bonuses for having the critting-est evening with these kids so far?
Michael
Yeah, you know what, since this is acting as a Reaction roll, you can use +2 from Charisma. So Diplomacy at 21.
>> 3d6 … 13
Okay, they will engage with Genevieve on this therapeutic approach! And I think the clearest way for you to get what you're looking for here is another Psychology roll, this time at a 22. (18 + 3 for Empathy + 1 for the Diplomacy roll).
>> SUCCESS by 8
Mandy
As a character, Viv really does want to take them through the release of their trauma. As a player I only care about where they place Marshall in the final psychometry exercise.
Michael
Okay, so the kids are obviously receptive to what Genevieve has brought to them, since they've been convinced to try summoning their attention and focus seeds back into themselves. And as Genevieve works with them—the core six Calvary kids, not the older ones who came into Marshall's orbit later; Genevieve can sense that the kids who were under Rev. Smith in Orange County are the ones who need the most immediate time and help—yes, of course, the Calvary Kids have replaced one patriarch with another by moving up to Sonoma to live at the Mission. But the trauma they bear around the lies of their former lives of Jesus Movement "freedom" and "peace" under Jesus Christ and the Calvary Chapel is still profound and Marshall hasn't resolved the base trauma. They still hurt from it.
What Marshall has done is given them a sense of safety and a strong ego-scaffolding with his "Special Ones" schtick. They haven't progressed as people, but they have stopped the bleeding. It becomes clear from conversations and roleplays of their lives at the Mission that Marshall is a distant "father"; there's a sense they see him but infrequently and every time the kids do see him, Marshall is giving them money to take trips, to proselytize, and to spread the good word about the Mission. Marshall's agenda is clear to Genevieve: he sees the potential in the lost lambs of the last few years to build up his name and his movement. But Genevieve can't quite figure out what Dr. Redgrave's endgame is. It's not just fame and fortune; he's building something to last here by starting with these kids between 16 and 21. To what end? The kids are oblivious, sadly. (I really did like Viv's observation that "luxury cult" is a hell of a lot better than a lot of the options for them, but the weird thing is is that Marshall is opaque even to the Special Ones. There's none of the intimacy of a guru-student relationship here. He's just … Dad With Money.)
Mandy
Everything Viv hears about this is curiouser and curiouser … She can't pinpoint what's happening. If Redgrave isn't playing the guru game with these kids then what is it about? Individualism? Capitalism? They're being built as egos around crumpled interiors, the essence of the American way … but what's the end?
Viv concludes the exercises graciously and opens a circle for reflection on the experience. "I want to thank you all for sharing that with me, and for being so vulnerable and so brave with such difficult experiences." Viv is speaking in a way that is spacious, almost hypnotic (haven't decided if I want to enthrall). "It made me mindful of all the different selves I've been, and what they've all experienced. all the different roles I've needed to play and mantles I've needed to wear … Of moments where the world fractures us and we lose fragments of ourselves. Shamans call it soul loss, Jung calls them inner child wounds. The biggest part of becoming more of yourself is getting access to more of those pieces and integrating them protectively. That's where you really are, in the healing of those fractures, that's where the power is."
Genevieve feels nothing but compassion for these kids and the sincerity of her empathy is apparent. She reaches into her purse and pulls out a business card folio, she digs toward the back since she is loaded up with author cards for the con, she pulls out her MRI card and hands it to Ethan. "If you all want to continue this kind of work, you can give me a call and we can set something up. Maybe I can come up to the mission if Dr. Redgrave wouldn't mind. I'm passionate about what this can do for people, and I would love to help. "
I feel like her Sense of Duty Disadvantage is in play here.
Michael
Think about how the last few months must look from the Calvary Kids' perspective: literally all that's happened since they made the decision to leave the ministry is that people with credentials keep wanting to help them out. The fact that they didn't even seek out Genevieve adds to their feeling of being "Special," and Ethan takes the card with reverence. Seeing Genevieve's name, one of the kids realizes that right here is one of the guests of honor of the convention! Through a bit more small talk with the kids it's clear none of them have read Viv's books, but now they really want to! The discourse around integrating lost fragments seems to perk up the interest of a few of the kids, though, especially in the context of the "feeding egregores" tack, which also seemed to hit home with some of them; even if they didn't understand the specific terminology, these kids deeply understand the identity of The Man.
Ethan says, sincerely, "I'm sure Doc Red wouldn't mind if you visited. And I can't speak for anyone else here, but I'd really love to hang out and rap again sometime." Nods of assent and "yeahs" form in a chorus around Ethan.
Mandy
"Well," Viv smiles, the work mode of things melting away from her, "I better get back to my suite and rest up for tomorrow. Thank you all again, so much … I heard they might have advanced reader copies of my new book here today, I can try to sneak you one?" She's making sure she has her stuff — purse, poncho, etc — "Boy am I hungry, I'm going to have to hit the vending machine, ohhhhhh maybe get a candy bar." A devilish smile with that admission. Turning to the weed smoking brunette, apologetically: "I don't suppose you have enough weed to sell me a dime? I'm not sure I'm going to run into this level of quality again while I'm here."
Michael
(How much weed would you get for $10 in 1973? It is really hard not having High Times with its "prices for literally every illicit drug in every major city in the world" charts as a historical source).
Whatever the case, Marianne has Genevieve covered with a very generous dimebag.