“Who is this girl?”
Michael
So Sophie spends a few minutes getting Charley set up and comes in to speak with Jocasta and Archie. "I'm sorry about that, Mr. Ransom. I should have been far more professional than that." Sophie looks at Jocasta, then back out to the office to Charley. "But we — myself included — need to deal with the fact that Miss Helix is a Sandman, just like you and me, putting all culture shock aside." Sophie clears her throat sort of haltingly. "I'm sure they will have sent along her dossier, it's probably in my electronic mail box if it's not been spit out via Telex."
Rob
"There's nothing to apologize for, Sophie." (Do we call her Sophie? I know originally the idea was she never shared her name, but it's a little awkward having nothing to call her. Maybe it's rare to actually use her name but not unheard of.)
"As you say, Charley is part of our team. But she's also a child, and I know we'll all do everything we can to make her feel welcome and comfortable while she's here with us."
Michael
(Yeah, it's just her quirk, really, you need to address her as Sophie, you should do so. )
"The only concern I could see with her staying with you and your family, Mr. Ransom, is a security one. Granite Peak may have wanted her to stay here at Livermore for her own good. And of course any … culture shock that Charley might incur."
Leonard
Jocasta sits quietly, tapping her fingers nervously and gathering her thoughts. "Look," she says after an awkwardly long moment, "I know that I'm new to URIEL, and that I came to SANDMAN from … the outside. And I know the nature of the fight we're in and I've tried to do my duty with a minimum of, of qualms. But Jesus, Archie! How old is that girl? Six? Seven? Where are her parents?"
Michael
Sophie looks a little nervous, and then mutters to herself, "I would imagine she's most likely an orphan."
Leonard
"Most likely," Jocasta repeats, with a hollow laugh. "That's the girl from Altamont, isn't it? What was she doing there? What's she doing here?"
Michael
Sophie says, "Altamont," almost to herself and says, "If you'll excuse me, I'm going to see if I have received her dossier." (Jeff, this would be a good moment if Mitch wanted to take Sophie's place in Archie's office).
Jeff
Sure. Mitch takes the moment to head into Archie's office as soon as soon as the Librarian exits. "Who is this girl?" he demands, without preamble. He's spent the last couple minutes out by the carrels psyching himself up and comes in way more aggro than is typical for Mitch. And he's addressing Archie specifically. "Who is this girl? What's she doing here? Why does she have a goddamn chip in her goddamn head? You know her, so, what, what? What do you know?"
(He's pretty worked up but I'm not saying Mitch's Uncontrollable Pyrokinesis 1 goes off. It almost certainly doesn't, definitely almost certainly. It's pretty rare that Mitch works himself up like this, fwiw.)
Michael
(You want to roll to control that, chief? )
Jeff
>>>> SUCCESS
It's fine. We're fine. How're you?
Michael
(And honestly? Jo should probably make a Flashback roll. 3d6, on a 6 or less she has Severe Flashbacks.)
(No special benefit for a critical success on Uncontrollable, right?)
(And yeah, Mitch should roll for his Voices too. Everyone's all hepped up!)
Oh, it says I roll both of these, okay.
>>>> SUCCESS
>>>> SUCCESS
Rob
Before Archie launches into the legend of the Pharoah Psametik, is the background of the "Indigo Children" in our campaign essentially the same as the "Golden Children" as described in the Madness Dossier book?
Michael
Ah, no. While the eventual Golden Child program itself was based on early experiments with the Indigo Children — and PSAMETIC may have even been in the planning stages in '73, hence the oblique reference in Charley's character page — the Indigo Child program is a whole different animal. It's basically more Professor X's School for Gifted Youngsters than "kidnapping war orphans and training them to not speak Anunnaki-tainted languages from birth." The Project finds psi-capable kids (more and more of whom are being born in the past 10 years, it seems) and trains them in how to control their powers. That much Archie knows for certain, hence his "I understand they treat the children quite well" comment at Altamont.
I think given Archie has the two psi-capable members of URIEL in the room with him, this might strike him as … synchronicity?
Rob
Oh, ok. Too bad: I think Archie could have had a nice riff on the search for the "Adamic" language. In that case, I won't try to write it out in character, but Archie gives a précis of the Indigo Children project as he understands it, skating over the iffier parts as much as he can, putting the best possible light on everything: we're helping these children, we're training them in how to control their abilities, "much like SANDMAN has tried to help each of you."
Jeff
Mitch figures what Archie says is good as far as it goes but it doesn't address any of the specific questions about Charley. Does Charley have parents? Who is her guardian and why aren't they here? Why does she have a chip in her head, since when does SANDMAN put chips in people's heads, that's a bad guy thing, Mitch has seen chips in heads before and it was always in a bad context he's pretty sure (in point of fact his memories in this area are choppy, fragmentary, and/or implanted, but it leaves him with a sense of extreme unease). Mitch, again, kind of flies off the handle.
(Part of this is that Mitch is really not enthused about taking down Mansa; he's been acting a little squirrely and detached since the briefing came down.)
Michael
I'll give Jo a chance for some back and forth with Mitch; assuming that when it's time for Archie to maybe speak up again, that will be when Sophie bursts back in with a scroll of Telex paper with Charley's stats on it.
Leonard
Jo listens intently to both Mitch and Archie, then lights a cigarette. "Archie … you know I respect you, and the work, and what URIEL does for the world and for us. But … this is bad. This is — we have a child soldier out there. I'm sure she has some amazing abilities and I'm just as sure she could use SANDMAN's help in learning to deal with them, but … she's a child, and we're fighting a war. I don't think it's wrong to assume that everyone else in this office has taken a human life, probably more than once. Are we pointing her in that direction?" She takes a long, cold draw on the smoke.
"That, I don't know about. We're all adults and we've willingly done what's been asked of us to fight a war we can at least comprehend on some level. But that's a little girl who can't possibly understand the task she's been put to. I'm not as trained in psychology as you and Marshall are, but surely you understand what this is going to do to her."
Michael
There's a timid knock on the door. It's the Librarian.
Sophie walks in and closes the door behind her. "I … I have the dossier from Granite Peak. It's something."
(First of all, it's very clear that Sophie has some ability to speed-read; this telex is maybe 20-25 normal pages of dense technical text and she's processed it all in less than a minute.)
"All right, Charley Helix, last name is a code name, born 1966 to a SANDMAN agent, real name redacted, code name RAVEN, abilities discovered by mother when Charley was just under 3 years of age, manifested first as glossolalia in what was determined later to be several dead ancient and medieval languages. For obvious reasons, this set off all kinds of alarm bells with Charley's mother and Charley's mother's handler. Mother and daughter were brought to Granite Peak for evaluation. SANDMAN brought in Dr. Ian Stevenson from the University of Virginia's Division of Perceptual Studies to test Charley for … past life awareness?" Sophie lets out an impressed exhale, sits with that for a moment or two.
"Anyway, the child was kept at Granite Peak for further testing. Super-genius level IQ and eidetic memory confirmed on both Stanford-Binet and Wechsler tests. She was computer tested for intelligence, reaction time, and so forth and scored a perfect score on every test. It was later discovered through this and other interactions at Granite Peak that Charley was, and I quote, a 'level 4 techno-empath.' She has the ability to preternaturally comprehend and psychokinetically remotely control machines as well as tap into and decrypt electronic telecommunications with her mind." Sophie takes a moment to clean her glasses, sighs again. "In 1971 she underwent Sandman Regimen and Renshaw Method training. Her last tested intelligence level as of two months ago is adult-level; she has received basic and advanced training in her psi abilities and in electronics skills as well as the standard suite of SANDMAN training on archeology, History B, psychology and hypnotism." Sophie looks at Mitch, Jo, and Archie.
"She's a trained Sandman. It may appear to be … fucking insane but this is the situation."
(None of you have ever heard Sophie swear before.)
Jeff
"Did you say '66?"
Michael
Sophie nods.
Jeff
"Jesus fucking Mary and Joseph."
Michael
"Can you imagine if the Red Kings got ahold of someone like this? Global disaster." Sophie gulps audibly.
Leonard
"So, she's not a child soldier. She's a child weapon," Jo says, swallowing hard.
"I don't know. I just don't know how to react to this. Believe it or not, I'm used to finding out everything I thought of as normal is a lie; I've had it happen a handful of times. So I'm willing to believe that I'm the one who's full of shit here. But, God! Leaving aside that some of the things I learned from the Regimen, some of what I know from my History B training, I wouldn't wish on my worst enemy — which I rather thought was the point of all this … leaving that aside, a trained agent who's seven years old is still seven years old."
She stuffs her smokes in her bag and puts her shades back on just as her eyes are starting to redden and flutter. "I need some time to think on this. Don't worry, Sophie," she says, casting a sidelong glance at the Librarian, "My lips are sealed. But I have to get right with this. I'm going to take a little time. Call me when we're ready to move on Mansa. And Archie … "
Jocasta has a bit of a hitch, almost a gasp, in her voice.
"Bringing that girl into your home is a lovely gesture. It really is, and I know you mean nothing but kindness by it. But … give it some thought."
With that, Jocasta leaves Livermore for the day. She's going to do a quick wander in the the City, doing her on-occasion free roaming in search of occult symbols and patterns and then go home and get absolutely obliterated on acid. She'll come back when her brain or the office tells her she should.
Mel
Knock, knock. Agent Helix opens the door.
“Hello, Agent Ransom. I would like to call a meeting as soon as all of the members of URIEL are able to arrive. I think a more formal meeting is needed. Ms. Librarian, is that something you could arrange? In the mean time, if I am not needed. I will be finishing my Lucky Charms in front of the T.V.”
And with that Charley leaves and closes the door behind her.
Michael
(OOC, I wouldn't mind putting together a group meeting. I think it'll need to happen later in the afternoon/early evening on Wednesday because of the fact that Jo, Marshall, and Roger are all off-campus but I think it would be good for us to, at some point, progress to dealing with the elephant in the room. Hell, we can do it live on Friday as our very first scene if that works for everyone!)
Rob
I like the idea of doing the all team meeting with Charley live on Friday night.
For now, after Jocasta leaves, and then Charley says her spiel, I guess that leaves Archie and Mitch sitting in Archie's office, both a little nonplussed. Archie says, mainly trying to convince himself, "I wouldn't use the term soldier, certainly not weapon. She has, ah, unique abilities , that's all." Then, more directly to Mitch, "You should have seen her out at the Speedway, Mitchell. Took one look at that, ah, History B whatsit they dug up, she knew what it was just as quick as a cricket."
Jocasta's admonition to Archie was perfect, but not strong enough to penetrate Archie's pathologies. If nobody stops him, he will, after Mitch goes, phone Melanie and tell her he's bringing a guest home tonight. If you want to do that conversation here,
Michael
Probably makes sense, if that's the direction we're headed, to say that all URIEL personnel get a call to be in at Livermore bright and early on Thursday morning to a) take stock of the Mansa case and b) meet the new team member who's come from Granite Peak to help with the psychotronics.
My feeling on the Archie-Melanie phone call is that I might need a little time to get that kicked off, Rob … maybe later this afternoon or evening. I am finding myself needing a little time to emotionally prep for it!
(I should also note on a meta note that it's not just Marshall's Enemy whose appearance got dictated by the dice this Mission but also Archie's Dependent family at a 6 or less. So this works out perfectly as a way to explore SANDMAN duty intersecting with that.)
Jeff
Mitch just stares at Archie for a second because he needs a moment to process all of this, but he's clearly not done with the conversation.
When he does start talking it is rapidly. "Jesus, Archie. Unique abilities, okay, we've all got unique abilities, I lit up some kind of magic door and last week I met a guy who thought I was Bigfoot, none of that's relevant to the matter at hand, which is this girl — this child, she should be learning multiplication tables and reading chapter books, or, God, if she's beyond normal for her cohort then fine, algebra and Greek, that's not important, the important part is she should be around kids her own age in a stable family environment, I didn't hear one word about any of that in that little briefing, did you? She doesn't have parents, she doesn't even have a caseworker it sounds like, what do you think that does to a person? You think she can just come visit you for a weekend, a couple of weeks, you have a barbecue and she sits in on your kids' Sunday School lessons and then at the end of it you pose for a picture together and you both have happy memories of the experience? You're smarter than that, man, you know what she needs and what's she had and what bringing her into your home is going to do to her, how she's going to react to that and what's going to happen when she figures out it's all just temporary. You need me to paint you a picture? It's candlemaker shit, man, that's cruel on a whole new level!"
Rob
Archie lets out a long slow breath. Then he summons up all the grave sincerity he can muster, which is a lot. "Mitchell. Do you think we're monsters? Charley, and others like her, are well cared for at Granite Peak. I'm sure she has friends there. I'm sure she has people who love her, and who care for her."
"Is her life there 'normal'? No. But she is not a normal child! Would she better off in a real family environment? Ideally, yes. But how many regular families would be equipped to deal with her needs and her abilities?" Archie flips through Charley's file (of course, Archie can't speed-read like Sophie).
"The details appear to be redacted, but I'm assuming her mother is dead. She was a SANDMAN agent, quite possibly killed in the line of duty. That makes Charley our responsibility." (Mitch may notice the wheels turning — because what Mitch may have just done is plant the seed of the idea of Archie's adopting Charley permanently.)
"Do you think Charley would be better off in the foster system? Placed in some unknowing civilian family? What would happen if her abilities manifested in some, ah, spectacular way? Surely you can see the danger there. Or, if she fell into the hands of the opposition." Archie squares the papers in Charley's file in a way that gently suggests, 'well, this was a nice chat, but it's reached its end.' "You're quite right to raise your concerns. I appreciate it. And you're right that I — I mean we — mustn't make Charley any promises we can't keep. But you must see that I, and SANDMAN, have only her best interests at heart. I … I couldn't be part of this organization if that wasn't true."
Jeff
“I dunno, man, I dunno. I’m sure there’s nothing in there,” he indicates the redacted dossier, “about the chip in her head, but that’s bad stuff, man. There’s something bad in the picture, something with thick black marker over it, and I’m sure it’s not hard to guess, if she’s some kind of SANDMAN war orphan. You didn’t see when she got here, the woman who brought her in, the way she … if there was somebody more maternal in Charley’s life than that, that’d be swell. If Charley spends any time socializing with other kids and having opinions about whether Superman could beat up the Hulk, that’s great, too, but man, this whole thing just … it just leaves a bad taste in my mouth, man.”
Shaking his head, Mitch turns to go.