Mayday Plays - Doomed to Repeat Ep. 15 - "Long Island Special"

Episode Date: December 17, 2021

The agents of Operation PERENNIAL finally reunite at a White Castle on Long Island. Each side catches up with the other but the avalanche of new clues begs even more questions. They agree to meet Dr. Thornbill in search of answers. Agent Samael participates in an experiment that could threaten the tense peace between the agents and his life. And the team comes to understand there are forces at play they don’t fully understand. This episode features elements from the scenario “A Victim of the Art” by Dennis Detwiller. Episode 15 TRIGGER AND CONTENT WARNINGS: Mental illness, dissociation, the topic of Covid-19, injuries, mentions of addiction, Drug and Alcohol use, Catholic confession, manipulation, mentions of suicide, gaslighting, mentions of stalking, infighting and arguments, mentions of violence, blood, and gore, cults and religious trauma, mentions of sex work, body horror Published by arrangement with the Delta Green Partnership. The intellectual property known as Delta Green is a trademark and copyright owned by the Delta Green Partnership, who has licensed its use here. The contents of this podcast are © Mayday Roleplay, excepting those elements that are components of the Delta Green intellectual property. CAST OF CHARACTERS • Aaron - Agent Samael • Allegra - Agent Tuck • Amanda - Agent Boomer • Caleb - Agent Merit • Eli - Agent Hyde • Zakiya - Agent Warp • Sergio - The Handler MUSIC & SOUND EFFECTS • Post Sound Supervision: Sergio Crego, Eli Hauschel • Mixed: Eli Hauschel • Original Music: Aaron A. Pabst • Soundstripe (soundstripe.com) • Glitch Machines (glitchmachines.com/) • Soundly (getsoundly.com/) DELTA GREEN LINKS • Delta Green (http://deltagreen.com/) • A Victim of the Art (drivethrurpg.com/product/278578/Delta-Green-A-Victim-of-the-Art) MAY DAY ROLEPLAY LINKS • Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/maydayrp/) • Twitter (https://twitter.com/maydayroleplay7) • Mayday website (https://www.maydayroleplay.com/) • Twitch (twitch.tv/maydayroleplay)

Doom to Repeat is a Delta Green actual play podcast with violent themes in adult language. For a full list of trigger and content warnings, please check our show notes before each episode. Listener discretion is advised. Hello, and welcome to episode 15 of Doomed to Repeat. I'm Sergio, your handler. I'm Erin A. Papst, and I'm Agent Samuel. I'm Allegra, I'm Agent Tuck. I'm Amanda Dominic, and I'm Agent Boomer.

I'm Caleb, and I'll be playing Agent Merritt. I'm Eli, and I'll be playing Agent Hyde. I'm Zakiya, and I'll be playing Agent Warp. Tonight's episode contains elements of the scenario A Victim of the Art by Dennis Detwiller. Let's begin. I can't get that kid out of my head. In the past, I'd chalk that kind of thing up to mental illness, schizophrenia, post-traumatic stress disorder, or even just the wild imaginings of a young man on the edge.

And usually, that is the case. Most people just need therapy, maybe some antipsychotics. Sometimes a little mock exorcism for a placebo, if they're so inclined. But now, I'm not so sure. Kid says he dreamt people's grisly deaths, only to wake up the next day and discover that they really happened. Sounds like someone straight out of the green box than me. I can't help but wonder if it's related somehow to these reports on the news, this strain of ritual murders tearing through Lon Island. I hope I can convince the others to come along to check it out.

It's too bad I can't tell them anything about the kid. I wish he had given me his name, but I guess it's probably nothing. But there are a lot of things pushing us towards Lon Island. The murders, the party, Lord, I hope I make it. And now hides sudden desire to visit her old friend at the National Guard Base. We like to say that God's voice is subtle, but he seems to be screaming at me right now. Go to Lon Island. I can almost hear it.

So, here we are, sitting in this white castle parking lot in the middle of Lon Island, waiting for Tuck, Warp, and Merit. I trust their trip was uneventful. At least they were far away from Pryne's. I wonder if that guy's still following me. Shit. I guess he knows where Ruth lives, huh? Well, now he'd better be a programmed babysitter for sure. Otherwise, everyone I know is in danger.

And it'll be all my fault. So, it's April 24th, a little after 12.25 p.m. Agents Hy, Boomer, and Samuel, you are in the middle of or finishing your lunch. As a black Corolla pulls up outside, and through the windows, you can see agents Tuck, Warp, and they assist agent Merit, stepping out of the car, who is now in a full leg cast. What do you do? Oh, yeah, I'm gonna rush back, rush towards them. What happened?

I had a situation of operational security outbreak at a undisclosed location I think we'll have to discuss later. I'm gonna go to Tuck and be like, what the fuck is he saying? Shit went down. It's probably not great to talk about in public. Sergio, can I say that at some point, like at a stoplight before we got back, I took off my wedding ring, I put it back on the chain around my necklace, tucked it back away. Absolutely. Okay. All right, so what are we doing on Long Island now? Well, that is a bit of a story.

I think we should all squeeze into the same car. Yeah. So it's tight, but you are all able to get around and in a car. I'll assume Semail's car is probably a little bit bigger. Let's hope so. We'll make that a sum. Who's sitting on whose lap? Maybe even better, the two cars kind of pull up next to each other.

Yeah, we like pull up backward, like opposite each other so that we can get the windows lined up and get close without the mirrors hitting each other. So who do you think should trade stories first? I'm very interested in your broken leg, Merit. I think we have the longer tail. We drove out to DC. They met us at the coordinates that were given over the cell phone call, the correspondence. We were led to this location in an operating base they called Cicada.

Inside they were investigating the woman from the 1984 case, Deborah Constance. Do you remember her? She was the FBI informant, or at least the consultant they used for Devil's Night. Yeah. They were investigating her because recently she has been designated, well, we can mention that word later. She's still kicking? Yes. She is very much still alive and with the program, whether that is against her will or not, we'll discuss later.

We met with Mallory, gave her the VHS tape, and delineated that evidence. And then there was an occurrence, an obstacle. Myself and Tuck were left to handle that obstacle and in handling, we were, well, I was injured. They were trying to reclaim Deborah Constance. Yeah, there's another dude from the 84 case. Wu? That seems way too wild to be a coincidence. Absolutely.

Okay, but what are you guys not saying? Because that's why we're here to say stuff like what's going on. What are you not saying? We're not saying what should not be said in a White Castle parking lot. Hey, hey, boomer, boomer, chill for a second. Do you remember Jumber Tanika from the 84 case? Yes. Deborah Constance is equal to?

Is very similar. Got it. Oh, yeah. Well, I mean, God, it was what, how did anybody know where to find that place? Who on this world is capable of A, locating such a place? B, breaking their way. It's a very good question and the answer lies in these two cars as well, former ages. They didn't come in from the cold and they thought that Constance was someone who needed to be free.

Even though they previously worked for the same people holding her. So did Mallory. Mallory recognized one of them. She called her Tanya. Do we know that name? Not that we found yet, but I'm sure she's somewhere. And you guys stopped it. You stopped this second group.

Oh, yeah. I don't think we'd be alive if we hadn't. Did they, did they make you two? Like, did they, did they have other people that they reached out to saying you two? They had two security guards. One was locked behind a secure location, a door we couldn't get through. And the other was less than an operative, we'll say. But myself and Tuck were able to handle it with partial assistance from Mallory.

I am wholly surprised that she has ever been in the field itself. But it happened. We took care of it. So there's technically a second rogue program. Maybe. An offshoot, a splinter group. Oh, okay. What did you learn?

A hide. Nothing really. What? Nothing really. What? You guys were doing research when we left. You guys read a whole fucking case file. Yeah.

I was perusing a case file. You read a case file? You were both bent over the computer the entire time. No, we read this file. What case file is this? I don't believe we discussed going full into a case file. I was just following up with something that I needed to follow up with. That was it.

And then we finished the rest of the archive work and that was it. Okay. I'm kind of going to look back between hide and the other group. I'm like, oh, okay. We're not going to discuss what we read about the Navy. It's not relevant to the tasks that were set forth in the program. We all need to know the information that you know. We've just given you an incredible amount of information.

If we're going to be a team, we need to be all on the same page. We are on the same page. What I was doing was not relevant to the program. It's clearly relevant information if you're keeping it hidden. Boomer, is this case file held on the database currently? Yeah, but I'll go ahead. Can I just go ahead and like, I'll just give them like the summary of what I read. Sure.

Sure. Yeah. You give them the summary of what you read in terms of the till and gas resonator, the occurrences on the USS Eldridge, the testing in 1943, and the subsequent mission in 2012 that sent four SEALs back in time to stop the anomaly and save the world. Did you say March Industries was involved in that program? Yeah. Also, get this.

You remember that, you know, that corkboard we have back on the plane? Remember Ansel Incorporated pinned up on the board? Yeah. It's a subsidiary of March Industries. We just recently learned of their involvement with the program itself as a sort of shell connection. They were using it to fund the projects within program. We also realized that Agent Nancy from the same corkboard you're mentioning, Deborah

Constance. Same person. Same person. One and the same. So this had everything to do with March Industries and you didn't want to share this with us? Is that right? Well, as far as Mallory told us, anything on the corkboard is irrelevant to what we have to do in the program, so it's not relevant.

Right. I'm not sure I agree with that. It seems as though the Eldridge did, in fact, have case relevance. Even if it crosses over with our corkboard, it absolutely had something to say about the programs involved. Well, think of it this way. What if you and I get gut-tied, then we'd be the only ones who know anything? That's the reason why I want you all to know, because guess what, then we're all equally

accountable. Okay. Another corkboard-related finding, I guess, we did meet, sorry, we did meet, had a security D1. Yes. Yes, we did. Catherine Oaks. She's 1.8 meters tall.

Yep. That's the one. Short gray blonde hair, blue eyes. She matched the appearance directly. Huh. She's something. She is extremely upset with us as a program, not only at our inception, but our performance so far.

I spoke with her personally and received reprimand, we'll call it. What should I recommend you about? We left loose ends as a security protocol and as a project and moving forward, we cannot provide any further. There was a lot of discussion over the handling of the Bowman case. I just want all of you to know that going forward, we're going to work together and ensure that that woman never comes face to face with us without a commendation. Why was Bowman so interested in her is my question.

I think he was tracking down the head of operations for each cell, correct? It seems like she's the program's attack dog, if I had to guess. And she's not happy with us, I'm guessing. Not at all. But Mallory corroborated that she is very serious within the program. Does she report to Mallory? I think that Mallory would report to her. Not directly, but in terms of hierarchy.

Interesting. I worry that someone of that caliber would report to someone like the theoretical director Pleasant. We'll stay out of her crosshairs if we can. Okay. If we can. Hi, do you want to tell them why we're in Long Island? Yeah.

Yes, please. Well, the one thing that the main reason why I wanted to come to Long Island was there has been some things on the news that have been pretty on par with what we should be knocking up the chain. Well, we'll get to that, but tell them about your thing. My thing? Your thing. Oh, that was the thing.

That's the reason why I wanted to come to Long Island was that that stuff that we saw on the television. I don't think so. That's not what you told us. I don't know what you're talking about. All I know is that you got real excited about coming to Long Island after you finished that case file. Because you wanted to do something in Long Island, and I saw that thing on the news,

and that's definitely up our alley. We have nothing really to investigate at the church, so I figured we at least tag this for a second. Did the case have something to do with Long Island? No. Before? No. I'm confused.

Is this regarding a current case within perennial, or is this something actively happening in the news that we're chasing? Something that's actively happening in the news? Did you guys check those news links I sent you? I was driving. Did you guys check them? I perused, but it didn't seem as though it was, honestly, I thought you were giving it to us as an opportunity to give the Mallory to someone above our pay grade.

That's not what we're hired here to do. Well, yeah, that's the discussion. That's why we're all here together to talk about it. We could have had this conversation back in the city. There was no reason for us to come all the way to fucking Long Island for this conversation. Well, you see, I was under the impression we were dropping hideoff at the National Guard Base. At a National Guard Base?

Why? Oh. That. Yeah, I do have to go see somebody really quick at the National Guard Base, but that's not the main reason why we're here. All right. If you don't want to talk about it, you don't got to talk about it. I'm sorry, but who are you seeing at the National Guard Base?

I'm seeing a contact that I have to follow up with. That is a part of our project? Yes, and something I need to follow up with. Great. Let's all go then. I don't know if I can get you clearance on an air force base. I'm sure you can pull some strings. A name, maybe?

A name? Yeah. I have to go see my superior. She goes by duck. If this is who we met on the tarmac, then I have to put in my opposition. Why? She is directly related with a possible outlier within the situation, being her associate that she brought to the tarmac.

Now, this is not me taking sides in whatever happened on that day, but this is me absolutely affirming that that woman, we cannot be concerned with her actions. If we are investigating March Industries technologies, if we are looking into that prerogative, I've already secured a contact with our case handler, Mallory, that can serve as an alternative, but I do not want to work with the doctor directly. Okay. Is there a risk in doing so, or you just don't want it? I do not want to speak on it unless Tuck would like to take the floor.

Yeah. I'd love to go to the Air Force Base, actually, because Mallory told me that the person I'm looking for works with your doctor, Hyde, and that she should be there, and if I want to talk to her, that's exactly where I need to be, too. Well, I can guarantee she's going to be there. All I know is that the duck is there, and I'm going to go see the duck. And frankly, I know that you might have poses of whatever Mallory said, but I've worked with the duck long enough to give her a little bit more extension of leeway than just hearsay.

So you would be surprised to learn that she was working with someone she didn't trust? Yeah, wouldn't you? I don't know her. That's the point. You don't know her. I do. Changing. Okay.

I think we're all going to go to the Air Base. I think that's just what's going to happen. Awesome. After that, do we want to go? I mean, I'm not saying we got to investigate anything, cursory glance. I have a suggestion. Go ahead. It seems like to get more, I feel like we personally should start going back to the beginning.

And I did a little search on Daniel Friest and brought up and got up some interesting things on Camp Pendleton in Southern California. What I have is that apparently there was a Daniel Friest in connection with Black Chamber regarding decoding and from the photos and all that I got. Sorry, I got scribbles now all of a sudden in Sergio. I just shows Camp Pendleton in Oceanside, California. Well, the important connection is that this is where he died. This was where he was and where he died.

So I think, if anything, even if at least we can, that's tied into our main objective. Plus, it's California. You know, they have better lockdown procedures. So well, I mean, that's that's down the road. That's tomorrow or the next day. But today, I'm not saying that there's anything we should get involved with with these murders, but I got a reason to think it's relevant. If you and Hyde both think it's relevant, I'll call it into Mallory, but we can't we

can't take an active case on right now with a security agent down. That's just asking for trouble. They make a great point. I'm going to point to Merritt and be like, yep, that actually is a good point. While this news story, I absolutely recognize that some of us feel strongly about the San Mile and want to support that. I also want to accomplish whatever we came here to do. Was there another reason we're meeting in Long Island?

Am I confused? It's Hyde's contact, right? Or is there something else? I got a personal thing, but you all don't have to be involved in that. Is it like Hyde's personal thing where it's not at all personal and very relevant to this project? Thank you, Warp. I mean, I'm not going to tell you you can't come.

What's the play? What is it? What is it? I mean, I think we could all use. I think we could all afford to blow off some steam, right? What does that mean? I would like more information rather than just trust me. I don't mean to speak to your character, but we've trusted you in the past without clear

information. It usually ends up in us in a plane flying far, far away from where we were. It's a party. Don't you want to go to a party? No. Why not? I'm sorry, it's the middle of a pandemic. New York City is literally in hell.

And you want to go to a fucking party? Are you crazy? I mean, yes, on both accounts. Oh, my God, oh, my God, why is this party important to you? I just want to go. The caucasity you are superating right now. I have to say we've made a lot of strong arguments as to why we are in this white castle parking lot currently, one of which is I would like to go.

The other is I would like to go and tell no one. And the third is I'd like to go to California. Hey, no, no, no, mine is on theme of what we're doing. I'm sorry, Boomer. I needed a third option to drive home my point in that why are we here, folks? Because I wanted a damn white castle burger and I was stressed and I stress it. That's on me. Finally, we come to the truth.

So, Samuel, what a party is, what, loud music, maybe sodas? We can do that anywhere. Sure. That's exactly what it is. We can have a party in this white castle parking lot, Samuel. This doesn't have anything to do with with Club Apocalypse, does it? It might, but not directly. I might know a guy that I might know a guy that knows a guy.

That sounds, again, like it has nothing to do with Club Apocalypse. I'm retreating from this conversation. I think we've accomplished everything we have. Oh, listen, it's probably not a big deal. I think that means it is a big deal. When you say stuff like that, that makes me think it is a big deal. What are you saying, Sam? I might be being followed.

What? Right now? It talks like looking around. Well, maybe. Maybe right now. Yeah, yesterday, the fucking asshole was in the middle of fucking Manhattan, and the guy was literally hiding behind a newspaper, you know, checking me out. I say, hey, buddy, what's up?

He ignores me. I get in my car, drive off. He gets in his car, follows me around Manhattan for like an hour. He trailed you? Yeah, for an hour. Well, I mean, did you tell, did he tell you two? And she'll turn to Boomer and hide? Yeah, he told me.

But there was, it was well after the fact there was nothing more I could do about it. Wait, I thought he, I thought, I thought you guys knew, like didn't like, didn't you text them? Well, I mean, he texted us to look out for us being followed. We didn't assume that there was any, any face to face interaction. I just assumed it was a program babysitter or something. I think it might be with the conversation I had with Oaks, we mean to believe that there's a possibility all of us are being traced in some form or fashion.

We don't even know if it's actually the program now, now that there's a possibly rogue program or another rogue. I, oh, fuck. I think we just need to operate under a healthy amount of suspicion. Listen, if you can trust your security team, we are going to look into the possible lead. There are people trailing us that are outside of Perennial. I understand that we've had our differences in the past, but you have to believe that we don't want anything to happen to you, Boomer.

I certainly don't. Same. So if we can be vigilant and above all honest, then I assure you I will do everything I can, including breaking the other leg to keep you safe. Can I talk to you for a second? Yeah, yeah, come on, we'll take a walk. It's just a two second walk and flop, but I just have to let some feelings out. You never actually got your burger, so.

Oh, I'm not really hungry, it's, I'm fine, I don't need it. No offense, they're disgusting, you're not missing. Oh, so now we really had no reason to come to Long Island. This is exceptional, it starts taking notes. That was a lie, yeah, it was. All right, I'll pull Boomer off to the side, what's up? Um, if anything goes south and I go missing, I left, I left a little care package for protection for you in a location.

In a location, what, should I know what this location is? Go to the rafters, there's a backup package in case I go missing, that is for you, that has everything, including stuff that's not edited or altered in any other side stuff I added. Oh, okay, um, shit. I have, yeah, no, I just have a feeling that things are not going to go well for me, so that's why. I won't let anything happen to you if I can help it, I believe that, but now that we have

extra backup and all that stuff, I'll be honest, we keep separating and shit happens, so I know how things are going and I would be very pleasantly surprised if I make it another year, so. I feel that, actually, um, on a similar note, okay, at some point, I have a case file I want you to look at before we show the others. Oh, yeah, sure. Um, just because I need, just because I need confirmation that I'm actually making connections and not just seeing what I want to see.

Whenever we actually, whenever we actually separate for the night and all that and you want to give it to me just greatly, that's one. Yeah, yeah. Thank you. Cool. Also, what the fuck is up with Hyde, she's being real weird. I, they haven't been the same after the case file, did it just like, no, it was some intense shit.

I like, it's in there, like I said, I told you everything I wanted, but there was weird shit, like there was a little bit of weird shit you told me, but I didn't think it was going to affect her that much, Jesus. Like, they know something, I don't know more than that, I just know that they reacted stronger to this case than the previous ones we've read. Sure. Frankly, that's who I'm worried about the most with me, with my safety. Well, we'll just keep bouncing the worry around to who's the most dangerous at the

top of the day, every day. Sergio, while they're, while they were doing that, can I just give the news reports, maybe I already have the information in my head, but can I just give those news reports another once over and see if they like, look at like the specific locations in Long Island where those murders happen? Sure, sure. So there have been two murders so far. The first was Carl Moretti.

So in February, he died, February 15th, that was a while ago, yeah, about two months ago, and he died in a place called Piconic Park, and then more recently, as in just yesterday, Vanessa Hatvan was found dead, and she was found outside of Glenridge High School, and she has been identified as the librarian of Glenridge High School. Damn, right outside her own school. Well, does she need a tree or something, Sergio? Yeah, her body was found dangling from a tree, at least parts of her body. Goddamn, those poor kids.

Samayel, forgive me for asking while you're researching, but what is it you think is drawing you to this case as a potential happening of the unnatural? I mean, we've had killers in Long Island before. We just had the Craigslist Ripper in 13. I might have gotten a tip from somebody. Oh, oh, from an agent? No, I'm not, Liz, I'm not saying it's reliable information, but I think there's, I have a reason to suspect that there's something more to it.

Okay, okay. Well, I trust that you wouldn't bring it to us unless you thought so. Thanks, honestly surprised to hear you say that. Can I text Doc on my phone and tell him that Perennial's coming with me and it won't be coming alone? Sure, you text her and she says, just give my name at the, at the gate and they'll let the two, however many cars in, yeah, I think we're, I think we're out of the world. You guys jump into your cars, just, you know, there's, there's six of you total, who's going

in what cars? I'll drive one of them. I'll get into the, whichever car does not have tucks, so we have some representation. I will actually hop in the car with tuck. Okay. So boomer, tuck and who will work? Yeah. Okay.

So the three of you jump in, the other three jump in the other car. So you guys head into Long Island and after about 30 minutes, you do eventually reach the Francis S. Gubreski Air National Guard base. Of importance that needs to be said in the cars. What's the temperature in these cars? I think it's real tense. Absolutely dense. Quiet as fuck.

It seems that the, the, the little bit of distance between each group has not lessened the, the awkwardness. It's mostly chill. I think warp is side-eyeing boomer a little bit for reading without her. Not saying anything, but it's just like the shade. Damn. Sam, did you bring your laptop? Uh, yeah.

Can I go on your laptop for a little bit? I want to, I want to review the, the Eldridge case file before I go to the Naval base. Can we, can, can we use each other's laptops? I don't care. I just thought, I just wondered if boomer my care. Go for it. I don't know about the internet connection, so I'm just going to try to get on the laptop. I'm a, I assume that we have like a cellular hotspot or something.

Make a, make a luck roll. 21. Okay. I guess one of you has a cellular hotspot. Yeah. I'll help out. You open it up and you turn it on and you remember that the laptop is supposed to come with a fob.

You don't see that fob. Bob, Bob, Bob, Bob, Bob. Hold on. I, I dig around in my, my pocket. Yes. You don't have a fob. Um. Uh-oh.

Did you leave it back at the church? We, I don't think so. I would have had it on me. In your apartment, maybe? Well, it better be at the church or at the apartment. I'll tell you that. Do we, do we need to stop Samuel? Someone better call boomer.

Well, I will call boomer. Let me call boomer real quick. Hello. You're on speaker. What's up? It's so great that you're on speaker. Uh, quick question. Um, since you found Samuel's laptop, um, did you by chance have a swab?

No. No? You didn't find it wherever corner of the, uh, the part of the church you found it. No, I did not find it under the couch or in his office. What is the risk of not having the fob now? Do we need to stop and handle it or can we press on? No, you can press on the thing is those fobs. They're like, you got to understand there's multiple firewalls on that thing.

So if anyone were to even plug it in, it's designed to look like a junk bullshit file or it's not going to work. No. So it has a bunch of security passcode. So we're fine. Yes. Okay. That's all you had to say.

Thank you. Thanks up. I've got to ask, I know that you can be a private person, but this case, it must have had something exceptionally to do with the cork board. If you're this averse to sharing it with the rest of us, but still want to investigate on the way. Uh, I just want to follow up to make sure I have the questions I need to ask doc answered. That's it.

I'm just following up. I'm just following up with what I was asked to follow up with. And you would tell us if something you saw in that case had something to do with perennial. I would have told you, or if I felt that it was necessary or relevant, I would have said something. I just wanted to touch base and know that you, you're the same hide. I left. Yeah.

I'd never left. Oh, you know what? Yesterday I found my laptop under my couch cushion in my office. I'll put you anything. The fobs there too. I probably plugged it into the laptop somehow got under the couch cushion and the fob fell out under there. I'm sure that's where it is.

I'm sure that's exactly how it went down. You found your laptop underneath the couch. I've found things in stranger places before. Semi-L, I know that I may harp on you from time to time and I understand that sometimes a relationship can fray at moments like this where our personalities differ. In the future, if you could keep a closer eye on your belongings just so that we don't have to worry over this. I mean, well, we found it, didn't we?

That is not the point. Point is, if something were to happen to either of those items, our relationship would become much more strenuous than it already is and I am attempting to repair that connection. Are we understood? I mean, if I lose something, I'll lose something, but I'll try my best. Thank you for at least reaching out to me with that all at range. I call Mallory also. I call Mallory on the way.

Agent Tuck, you call Mallory and go ahead. What was your question to her? Oh, no. I was just going to call and tell her about the potential case that's happening right now and how we aren't equipped to handle it right now with a security agent down. You describe it. You describe what's happening and she says, let me check in with some other sources to see if there is a connection.

I'll get back to you. I did want you to know, Agent Tuck, that on the server are the files that you and Merit were requested. They were under a folder called underscore perennial. Thank you very much, Agent Mallory. How are you holding up? We're continuing. Their mission's still continuing.

Agent TMI also said he had a source that may have alluded to these murders being program related, which is why I'm calling you in, to maybe send another team. Well, I do want to say though, Tuck, unless you weren't aware of it, the deal is very impressed with how we were able to handle Cicada. So thank you for your assistance. Well, we only almost lost Merit over it, so glad he's happy. She doesn't say anything and says, all right, I'll speak to you soon. Thank you again for the files.

You hang up and you guys continue on your way. You finally reach this Air National Guard base. It looks like an airport, but just kind of like the previous airport in Michigan. There is a military presence there. You pull up, hide, you mention Dr. Carruth Thornbill and they say that they've got you and two cars on the list and they roll you through. They point in the direction of a hanger that is kind of separated from the rest of the

area. Kind of solo private hanger and they instruct you to park there. As you pull in, you can just kind of get a sense of the base and you all can see on one of the hangers, there is the logo of the 106th Rescue Wing, which is a para rescue unit that is based out of Long Island and hide. It's obvious to you that of course, Coral Nomad could land here as there is already a para rescue unit here. They would blend right in.

You eventually come to this hangar bay and you step out and the only other thing that is of note is that right beside this empty hangar or this secluded hangar bay is a series of kind of circular white buildings. They almost seem fabricated like plastic or something and they have the March Technologies logo printed on them right on the front. This kind of ugly, very plain, you know, it's an image of an earth and then March Technologies. We'll come along. And where are you going, Hyde?

I'm looking for Doc's office or if she's in the main hangar or something like that where I typically would find her. Okay. Do you want to go to the hangar first or do you want to go into the white buildings? Well, let's go in the hangar first. Okay. You step into the hangar and there is the helicopter that you guys had seen on the tarmac that I believe was a Sikorsky.

There does appear to be bathrooms and other rooms and stuff, but the main thing you notice is that there are plastic tables kind of set up. And sitting around these plastic tables, Hyde, you immediately recognize the members of Coral Nomad. Some of them are playing cards. Some of them are having lunch. But if you go deep enough in and you make yourself known, they will notice you. And they kind of say, hey, is Hyde your call sign?

Would they know you as Hyde? Yeah, they would know me as Hyde. Yeah, they'd call out to you in excitement. Some of them would stand and come over and the rest of perennial kind of just immediately notices that these helicopter and para rescue guys seem to know Hyde quite well. Are we allowed to reuse nicknames? What do you mean? Are we allowed to use nicknames?

That's Hyde's name. Relax. I like high five them. I'm trying to be kind of cordial, but short at the same time. A little nervous. Hey, you came just in time. We're starting another game. Come on, sit down.

We could use a couple extra guys and gals. I mean, you can ask them if they want to deal in. I'll join you maybe in a bit, but I got to talk to the dock first. We're going to find her. Oh, docks in the buildings. Just go the other side. Any gestures to where those white buildings are? I'll like turn around.

These are the guys. If any of you are interested in playing cards, feel free to stick around. And I'm just going to keep moving. I'm not even going to ask them to follow. 7L walks right up to the table, sits down and says, what are you playing for? God. Let's go. I'll watch him and then I'll go win him at the table.

I'll be like. Okay. So Boomer and Samuel walk up to one of the tables. They are certainly excited to have some folks. They want to make sure you have some cash on you. They want to know that you're not just bluffing. Samuel immediately puts down 200. And they will absolutely deal you in.

I will also take out my private personal wallet and I will take out a stack. And I'll literally put in 200 as well. Wow. Let's go. The other four of you, I assume are heading with high to the March facility. Yes. Yeah. Okay.

Never a question. You. We'll get back to Samuel and Boomer in a moment. I feel real bad leaving two nerds alone. They're watching him. They're with the lads. It's fine. That would be helpful.

Actually, that'd be worse. It's fine. It'll be fine. So you walk over and like I said, these buildings seem pop ups. They seem like they were put up. They could be broken down just as quickly and move somewhere else. You walk in and there is a kind of waiting room where someone asks you why you're here. You mentioned Dr. Thornbill.

They said they'll go get her. And they eventually say, actually, you know what? If you want to go right down first door on the left, you begin walking in. You enter the first door on the left. Before we walk in, I'm going to turn to all three of them. And I'm just going to look with a small smile on my face to try to be polite as possible. And I'm just going to say, please keep your emotions in check. Thank you.

And then I'm going to open the door. So before Tuck can give you any attitude, you open the door. No, Tuck is biting her lip bloody trying not to just yell. You walk into a kind of foyer, a larger area. There are some couches and chairs and stuff. This feels exactly like a triage kind of research facility, something that could be, you know, you see it in movies where there's like plastic sheets hanging, separating rooms and such. There's really not a lot of building.

It's all just very kind of plasticky and fabricated and easy to kind of go around in. But you immediately see in this room, Dr. Thornbill, who's back at the moment is to you. And there is a LCD television and she's on the phone on her cell phone. And she's watching the news and the case that has been going on in Long Island regarding these murders. And she says, yeah, yeah, I'm watching now. Okay, I will try to organize a team. All right, I'll let you know. And she hangs up. Was that Mallory?

Notice is you. I don't know who. Oh, your case handler, you mean? Yeah. Yeah, no, that was my higher up. Are you aware of the situation that's unfolding? We've called it in to be checked through. I've been speaking to some folks too.

We have some we have some folks on the inside of the Long Island Police Department and they're giving us some information that leads us to believe this could be a potential investigation. So hi. She would call you by your CDC badge, which I believe was Jamie Wilson. Yeah, she says, Jamie, could I talk to you in private for a second? Yeah, that would be great. Do you guys mind if I talk privately with the doc? I like turned around. Absolutely.

Hide whatever you need. You can just stay right here. You can just stay right here. I'll I'm just going to step out with hide. I'll follow. There's there's no one else in this room with us. There is no one else in this room, but you can see past this room into other rooms and there appear to be other people. Most of them in white coats, white lab coats and such walking around.

So, you know, you would be in a in a room by yourself, but you can still see other people kind of walking around and such. OK, mostly asking because I want to your hustle without being seen. Search as hide is leaving with the doc. If that's what's happening. Is there any way I could do a human intelligence check on both of them? Sure. Yeah, just make a human intelligence role. Are you what are you in particular kind of looking for?

I'm looking for irrational or strange behavior and hide. I've been noticing that she's making this weird irrational decisions to hide information from us. This whole this whole encounter has felt that way. And now she's asking to be alone without us knowing that this has to do with the project. I want to know if it's because she trusts the doc and she needs that information in private. It really is just cordiality or if she is hiding something from us. Yeah, go ahead and make that human intelligence role. I succeed with an eight against 80.

Oh, fuck. Oh, my boy. Wow. You know, you only have so much information to work off of, but hide is noticeably acting different and certainly wanting to speak privately with Thornbill is out of the ordinary in the sense of the decision to kind of share amongst each other as much as possible as a unit. Thornbill does seem nervous, but she's playing it off and kind of putting her energy on hide like wanting to get her out of the room. I will say this, that Thornbill will take hide just kind of to a space where you can still see them. You can still see them speaking. You just can't really hear them.

This facility, again, is like mostly plastic sheets and dividers, so there's a lot of visibility. But nonetheless, Thornbill takes you, Agent Hyde, to a, you know, everything is visible in this facility, but nonetheless, it is secluded. There's nobody coming around you. And she says, so I assume you read the book, right? Yes, I read the book. But you said something about a file. The program had a case file on the Eldridge. Oh my God, so they do have a file on it.

Okay, okay, this, all right. Okay. Is that why you asked me about this? So that I would look. I didn't ask you to find out about the server. I didn't even know it existed. But what is the story of the Eldridge have to do with why you put me on this team? Okay, all right, so look.

You said this was the answer. I was hoping to tell you the story after you read the book, but apparently you read a lot more than that. Look, let me explain. About a month ago, my head of research, you probably know him as Dr. Taffum asked me. He said that they were putting together a unit that his, you know, he deals with the program. And he said that they were putting together a team and that they needed a pilot. And I thought of you because I thought it would be nice to have somebody on the inside of something that I'm not normally a part of. You wanted me to keep tabs for you.

Well, for both of us. Or for Marsh industries. I have seen a lot of things here. Okay. And that project that you read project tell, that was my baby. I was part of that. And when I started asking too many questions, they pulled me off of it. And eventually they put me on Coral Nomad.

I just want to understand the other half of this. Okay. Since 2002, I've realized that there's another half to this. And I just like to know more. I'd like to know who's in charge. What's going on? Because look, Dr. Taffum is not going to be in charge forever. And I'm the most logical next person.

So I want to, I just want to have the upper hand in knowing what I need to do to put myself in the right position. And I thought maybe if I could do that, then I could put you in a good position. Like imagine if you were the director of security. You wouldn't want to keep oaks around. I dealt with her in the past. She was actually with Marsh for a long time. Anything I should be concerned about? Oh, you should definitely be concerned about her.

Yes, she's a very dangerous woman. So look, I don't know everything. But before March, there was something called the Majestic 12 Steering Committee. Okay. These were, it all starts with Roswell. Okay. They found something there. And they just started this organization within the government, a conspiracy to study and research this alien technology.

And it's just kind of been going on since. And then eventually in 2002, there was this coup, I guess, by the people you apparently work for. And I think they won. But we're now working together. I'm not exactly sure. Again, this is why I wanted you on the inside. I figured, I mean, hell, if you have access to a super secret server, there's probably lots of useful stuff on there. Yes, the server is, yeah, the server.

So this is all just the getting higher up on the ladder situation. And I mean, I've been working for you for like, what, four years now, Doc? And at no point were any of, do any of the other nomads know that you, that we're not, we're not running, running missions necessarily for the program or bringing stuff to you guys. And we're participating in other projects like Project Tell, like you experimented on people. And that's, that's the thing that's really bothering me out of investigating all of this, man. Like, where do we fit in all of this? Like, why, why us? Why the nomads?

Why me? I just, it's just really irritating, Doc. I'm getting really irritated over it. All of this like, lying and like, hiding stuff and it's just stupid. You understand? I mean, I'm, I'm not hiding anything from you. I'm trying to be open about this. I just, I'm sorry.

Okay. Maybe my tactic of having you read this book was, was probably a little off, right? I just wanted to be a little mysterious and interesting. I wanted to excite you, but I realized that was probably the bad tactic. But look, you don't think, I don't think about those seals once in a while. I mean, yeah, I was, I was part of a, a program that, that sent them to die, but it also saved the world. But those seals, they, they asked me who was in charge and I, I couldn't really answer it. I genuinely didn't know.

Look, Hyde, there is no surviving this. There is only moving up within the program to be safe. Within March, I've been trying to become the director of research for a long time, but Taffum just won't go away. He's just insists on creating another miracle or something like that. I don't know. He's, he's been kind of distant lately, but the point is, is that this is insurance. This is insurance for my life and this can be insurance for your life. Imagine being in a position where you're not on the field anymore, where you're, where you're calling the shots instead.

I know that that's not your initial interest, but that's what makes you perfect for the job is that you're not in it for the power. You're in it to just do the job and get out and, and, and that's what I want too. And if you were the director of research, getting out may be a survivable possibility for me. Yeah, because once I'm the director of research, I'm part of the DO and I could make a request that you become the director of security and we have each other's back. Okay. Okay. Well, what else do I have to do now? If that's the situation, the play, what more do you need from me?

I mean, getting access to that server would be nice, but you don't have to do that. You don't have to do that. I just, how about we just keep each other abreast of what's going on. It'd be lovely to, you know, kind of pick your brain about what you currently know about the program. But we don't have to talk about it now. Now would not be a good time. I'll play along for right now, doc, because I'm just a little interested in how deep this rabbit hole is going to go. But the bigger problem right now I have is that I got three people sitting in your office who want a bone and I have to give them a bone so that they can get off my back because all of this is really getting suspicious.

So I will play along if you can give me access to Halo or hooks, whatever her name was for a five minute conversation. Is that what that whole thing on the runway was on the tarmac? Apparently so. I don't know what exactly it is, but it's pissed off one of my agents and I need to give a bone. So if you want me to keep doing this for you, that's the bone. Okay, let's go talk to them. I think I can make it happen, but I think I've got another bone as well. And before she goes to explain what that is, we're going to cut back to Tuck and Merit and Warp.

The three of you are standing in this room by yourself. You can see Hyde and Dr. Thornbill kind of discussing something. They're about a dozen feet away. You cannot hear them. Does it look heated? Is it tension? It looks like they're having a serious conversation. Not a lot of smiling.

Agent Tuck, with an alertness at 60, you are just kind of scanning this facility. And Tuck, it hits you. You know, you had an argument with Mallory about visibility, about why can't we be more public? And here you are in a Marsh facility. An organization that you have recently come to learn is very much tied to the program. And it's pretty visible. I mean, being on a Air Force base is pretty damn visible, and they don't seem to be having any problems. But that's when you notice that in another room, another kind of plastic sheeted cordoned off room,

you see Dr. Hooks. They have stepped out of a room and are now kind of watching a monitor. They seem to be watching something that is going on in the room beyond them. And it looks like there's two people sitting at a table in a room on this monitor. Is it like an adjacent room? It's within walking distance. You can get there easily. Shit, all right.

I'm going to tap Mary and say, hey, I see Halo, so I'm going to go talk to her. You are? Yeah. Okay. I'm not going to wait to be told no. I know. So I won't try. Go talk with her, but be safe and know that call for us if you need help.

I got it. I'm going. And what are you doing in this time? I don't know if there's anything worth looking at. I think she's going to try to learn as much as she can without breaking the rules. So if there's stuff just out to look at, she's going to look at it. If not, then maybe she'll probably just look around, wander around, see if there's anything else. There is a computer.

I would say that there's probably like a, you know, just a desktop computer. Okay. Then, yeah, I'll see what's on there. Okay. You sit down and it's, it obviously has a password. Seeing this, can I stand by her to look as official as possible? Sure. Thank you.

What are the chances that I can guess the password? Is it, is it March? Watch one, two, three, four. Do you, do you try that password? Only if I'm sure. I do try it once. You have 40% in computer science. I'll allow you to make a computer science role.

Small sciences computer. Oh, it's a 24. Oh my God. I'm in. It was March. One, two, three. So agent merit, you see agent warp, like alt tab and control R command prompt, like opening up things and clearly trying to bypass this security password.

She just, she's not going to know what it is, but she is making progress in, in getting through, but you also can see that a conversation with hide and thorn bill is looks like it might be wrapping up. Warp, whatever you're doing, they're coming back quickly. And I hope that that can't be traced. It probably not. Warp, you eventually manage to pop it to the desktop and we'll come back to you. Great.

Agent Tuck, I assume you walk over to the room. Yeah, I'm not going to be selfie about it. I'm just going to, I'm not going to like announce myself, but I'll come in. There is a drape that kind of separates you. You step into the room and Dr. Hooks does not acknowledge you. Her eyes are fixed on a couple of monitors in front of her at a desk. And as you're kind of assessing the situation, you're taking in what's happening on these monitors and what you see is two individuals sitting at a long table and there is this

kind of separation between them where they cannot see their hands. One person is holding a deck of cards and they're going through these cards and you can hear over the loudspeaker. They're not saying anything. They're looking at the card and they don't move until the person on the other side of the table says square, triangle, circle, square. And you can clearly see the cards and about nine times out of 10, about average, not necessarily nine times out of 10, but about on average, the person is right and wrong.

With your human intelligence, you can quickly tell there's some kind of experiment being conducted regarding maybe precognition or telepathy, but this experiment is happening. Do you do anything? About a minute passes and she is not acknowledging you. She's just very, very intently looking at the monitors. Is this where you go after you sign the book? She puts her finger up and shushes you. I'm going to walk closer and across my arms and watch with her.

Okay. She does kind of side eye you and as she kind of side eyes you, she leans over the desk and she pushes a button. She says introduce the asset, please. And an assistant walks through a door that leads into this room with the two individuals and they are carrying a small box and they come over to the person who has been guessing. They open the box and you can tell that the crystal is inside. They are instructed to pick up the crystal, which they do.

And the assistant walks out and the experiment is conducted again. This time, the person holding the crystal is told to close their eyes and concentrate. And as the person holding the cards begins to reveal them to themselves and they are looking at them, the person on the other side holding the crystal gets it right. And then they get it right again and again and again and again. And as they continue to get it right, Dr. Hooks says, Excellent. She starts writing something down on a piece of paper.

Is this what we brought this to you for? She finally kind of stops and looks at you and recognizes you as the woman on the tarmac and kind of takes a step backwards and say, how did you get in here? Rock 8. I'm not trying to hurt you. You know me. We worked together. Hey, look, what the fuck are you doing?

Could you tell me who you are? Agent Tuck, we worked together in Meadowbrook. You signed the book and you disappeared. I'm sorry, but I don't know what you're talking about. And she's now looking around trying to find someone. No, no, hold on. Can I roll like a human intelligence and see if she's like fucking with me? Sure, sure.

And she's like gaslighting me or something? Sure. How have I failed? It's an 87, I failed. She looks pretty disturbed that you're here. From her response, you think it might be because you were very aggressively approaching her and Dr. Thornbill on the tarmac. You looked like someone I worked with.

You just looked like someone I worked with. I can tell I was wrong. Oh. You've never been to Meadowbrook, New Jersey. I'm sorry, no. Did you know what caught a police chief named Michael Buffington? Maybe we should ask my... Is an address on Spooner Avenue mean anything to you?

I think we need to get my supervisor. Dr. Thornbill, she starts walking out of the room. Oh fuck, I follow her. Hyde and Dr. Thornbill are making their way and she is already kind of walking out of the room. Merit, you can see that for now, outside of the room that you are in, all four of these folks are meeting. And you seem to have a little bit of time, so you have a desktop in front of you. Seems like there is a hard drive and whatnot. What are you looking for?

Okay. I'm looking for anything that's clearly like a PDF, a research file, anything that looks like it's hosting a lot of information. I feel like I would have like a USB or something on me. Well, you do have your fob from your laptop. Okay, can I store things on that? Yeah, I would say you could probably store some stuff on there. Okay, then I'm going to take what I can and store it on there. Just off the desktop, I'm not going to go looking into stuff.

Wow. There is nothing on the desktop. You would have to go into the hard drive. Well then, into the thicket. Into the thicket. Okay, you open it up, you start looking. There is definitely files. I think you can make a signal intelligence role to see if you can make heads or tails of any of this.

Okay, intelligence. Let's go intelligence. Oh yeah, as a pass 42. I mean, there's a lot of stuff, a lot of stuff is password protected. A lot of files. But you do see some files that exist in regards to two items of interest to you. One of them is the crystal. The other thing of interest is mention of the reverb.

The drug has been broken down and analyzed and its chemical components have been listed. Okay, I'll take both of those. And you said those are the only ones that I have easy access to. Yeah, otherwise everything else seems to be very heavily fortified with passwords. You know, you can't even open programs without having passwords and stuff. Okay, I think that's enough. Meanwhile, outside, Dr. Hooks has approached Dr. Thornbill and said, Do you recognize this woman?

She was on the tarmac and she's saying that she knows me, but I don't know her and I feel threatened right now. She's gesturing to you, Tuck. Dr. Thornbill says, Thornbill turns to you hide and says, nice. Thank you. Okay, Agent Tuck, is it? Yes. Okay, can we kind of leave Dr. Hooks to go back to her work? It's very important and you can discuss any issues with me?

Sure, I'll turn to Dr. Hooks and I'll say, I'm really sorry for making you uncomfortable. You looked like someone I knew and I wanted answers and I'm very sorry. She just, you know, kind of awkwardly looks at Thornbill and nods and returns to her room. The three of you are led back by Thornbill into that room where Merritt and Warp are in. Warp, you have an open desktop. Are you just going to sit there? What are you doing? No, quickly, just shutting the whole thing down and like scooting the chair, making it look like,

Actually, she's gonna shut everything down, stand behind the chair and like scoot the chair towards Merritt. So it looks like she was offering him the chair. I'll sit down right as they're coming through and like prop up the crutch right in front of the desktop. Oh, I see. So, so real quick, I need you to make a computer science role to like definitively get back to where you were. Oh, boy. God bless. Okay.

37 out of 40. Damn. Yeah. You alt tab, command tab your way back to where you found it. And sure enough, you offer Merritt the seat and he sits just as the three are walking in. Okay, well, I'd love to formally meet everyone. Hi, my name is Dr. Thornbill. Hi, I'm Agent Tuck.

Merritt, Warp. Hi. And okay, Merritt, yeah, nice to meet you. So, Tuck, could you be a little bit more specific about what is going on right now with with Dr. Hooks? I worked a case with Agent Hooks in 2017 in Meadowbrook, New Jersey. And at the conclusion of that case, Agent Halo signed a book and disappeared in front of my eyes. And now she's here working for you. That's not coincidence.

That's not nothing. I certainly doesn't sound like coincidence. She doesn't seem to have any memory of you, though. No, not me, not Meadowbrook, not the name Halo. Nothing. I know that March had been trying to scout her even before that date that you just gave me. You know, we interviewed her, nothing really happened. And then she contacted us back, said that she was interested a little bit after about a month after that date you've just given me.

She was an amazing anthropologist and scientist and we thought it would be great to have her on and she's been doing a great job since. If we asked how amicable would March technologies be to relinquishing any information you have on Dr. Hooks and her previous employment with your company? She's an employee of mine. I'm not going to relinquish anything without either proof that there's something wrong or a warrant. There's, I'm not saying there's anything wrong. She just, she was gone, gone, just. I admit that it's a very strange story, but Agent Tuck, what you're suggesting is quite dangerous. This woman, you're suggesting could potentially be some kind of plant or something.

I certainly don't want that, but I can't do anything unless you can prove to me that there's something beyond just an occurrence, a coincidence that she looks like someone you knew. Okay. I understand. My frustration is not with you, Dr. Thornbill. It is with the situation and I apologize for coming across that my frustration is towards you. This is just a lot more unanswered questions. That's all. Well, I will certainly try to monitor this.

To be fair, I don't know what happens to people after they sign the book. So any information I could give you about what to look out for would be entirely useless. I mean, the book was mentioned in that case file as well. Yes. Thank you for bringing me to this attention. I will all do some digging and if I do find something alarming, perhaps I can bring it up to you as a gesture of good faith between us. She's kind of looking at hide, like, this is what I'm talking about. Yeah.

I give, like, I give, like, Doc a side-eye, but I've been, like, staring at Doc this entire time. Do I believe the doctor? You can make a human intelligence role, but specify for me what it is you're trying to believe. Do I believe that she has no knowledge of any of this? Okay. That is a 20. That is a 6th. You do get the sense that she is quite confused, but her language does change to an agreeable one of,

okay, if this is real, I'm willing to look into it more, but you're asking someone to take a lot of faith on very little evidence other than anecdotal. So she does seem amenable and she doesn't seem like she's resisting or really hiding anything from you regarding this. Sure. Is the entire team together? You brought the other ones? Yeah, they're out with the boys. Well, this is the bone I thought maybe we could throw each other. I'm going to level with you all.

The insider inside the Long Island Police Department said that they found a gray polymer, a liquid gray polymer at both murder scenes. I'm already starting to suspect, especially if we're getting calls about this, that this is something we're going to look into. But I don't want whoever I send to end up like those bodies. So I was thinking this morning that crystal, we've experimented with it. It enhances cognition of the user. We have a theory that hyper geometry would be easier used with it. Additionally, we still have doses of the drug. I think you refer to it as reverb.

According to those case files, that drug has the ability to allow the user to see things. I know this is a crazy idea, but that's what we here at March do is bring the crazy to reality. I want to see if you guys would give me permission to dose agent Samuel to let him have the crystal and to see if he can figure out the killer. It would save me men. It would save lives. We could bring this all to a close much quicker, I believe. Absolutely not. Absolutely not.

What do you mean? You can't make that decision for him, Merit. This isn't our mission directive, Hyde. You've been so about mission directive lately. This isn't mission directive. You want to dose the people that we're in charge of with drugs that we have not experimented with fully enough to understand just told to you by the person you swore is your confidant. And you want me to give that to a fellow agent and expect that to go well? A fellow agent who has experience with the drug.

We've read the case file. We have a better understanding. We've done our research regarding how to properly use this drug. He's used that drug once. That's not that much experience. It is ridiculous that you would insinuate this as a proper plan. And who are you not even of our program to say that in front of us? I figure that you would be supportive of it considering that it could save people's lives.

Think of the applications. There's a monster attached to it as well. Did you not read that part of the case file? If we're looking for one monster, we're going to find another one, certainly. She kind of starts to straighten up a little bit, almost like you're testing her patience. And she says, I'd like to speak to Agent Semi-L himself and let him decide. Who do you have doing the casework behind this information? Myself and Dr. Hooks.

Right. I don't think we have to concern Semi-L with this, but he has a right to know and he can tell you know himself. You know he's not going to tell her no. Well, we can have a discussion with it about it as a team. But I agree, Tuck. This can't be done. Yeah. Cutting back to Semi-L and Boomer.

Semi-L, make a... I think maybe an intelligence. Yeah, can I try to count the cards? Interesting. Just make an intelligence times five roll. Let's see how you do. Pass. 44. You are able to count the cards and you are able to get a handle on how everyone's doing, what the hands are.

We'll say you're up $200. Much to the chagrin of the rest of the pilots. It's all fun and games until you start losing. Actually, yeah, I've been playing too. Oh, yeah, okay, so then why don't you just see how you're doing in the cards? May I roll a mathematics check? Are you also trying to read the cards? Yeah, why not?

Count the cards? Wow, so you both at the same time without saying it. You besides the cards. Terrible. Go ahead and make a mathematics roll. It's technically not cheating. It's technically just being smart. What was that?

We're going to call it. That's Samuel's whole philosophy right there. Oh, I passed. No, my mathematics is like an 80s. So yeah, I'll pass. 52. All right, I rolled a critical failure. So the team has not noticed, but they are quite pissed that they are all collectively losing money to these newcomers.

And it's around that time that Tuck, Warp, Hyde, and Dr. Thornbill and Agent Merritt come into the hangar. Question. During this time, even though we've been, is there a way that we could have just been like casually? I really wanted to ask them just like any stories on Hyde in particular. Sure. Oh, hell yeah. Smart, smart, no. Yes, yes, yes.

What are you, what are you asking them? It's not, I'm not going to ask so into it. I'd be like, oh man, we just came out of this crazy situation and like, you know, Hyde, it was so funny. We had it like this tight airway and she fixed it out. Did you guys like, but she like obviously made fun of us and embarrassed us because I got scared of heights. Do you have any like fun, like what else has Hyde done? I want to shoot the shit. You got any embarrassing drunk stories?

What do you got? No worry, I'm not going to. I just want some. No. Make a persuasion roll. Hopefully this is, this is before they start losing. So gnarky. Oh, it's not going to, oh my persuade is like shit.

Oh yeah, no, I don't pass. I have a 79 on persuade. I mean, I failed. They have mostly silly stories about Hyde drinking too much and how they prefer when she's drunk and kind of like on based stories. You get the impression though that these guys don't necessarily deal with the same thing that you do that maybe they pick up things, but they're not the ones handling it. You get the impression that they're a little out of the loop. Hyde is a special case.

Dr. Thornbill, it's a special case in terms of knowing what it is you do. These guys are just para rescue units and helicopter pilots. They seem to be unaware of the bigger picture here. Did I get at least one embarrassing really particular fact during her drunk nights? I'll message you, I'll message you something later in a second. Yeah, let me think about it. Okay, whatever that is, I now know. The problem is, Boomer, that when you see the new group coming back into the room, the tension is immediately obvious.

There's something about them that they all seem very kind of tight-lipped about. But Dr. Thornbill comes by, the man, hey, Doc, how you doing, Doc? And she just kind of turns to Semayel and says, Agent Semayel, could I speak to you? Oh, me. Interesting. Sure, nice playing with you boys. And I'll just kind of rake in my winnings and walk off all of the doctor. Agent Boomer, do you mind coming with us as well?

Yeah, sure. Boys, it has been a lot of fun. I'm going to take my winnings pocket that out. And I'll leave like $20 on there and be like, here, just to start the next pot. They are quite sour-faced. I know, that's kind of why I did it. One of them is even like, I'm done. I'm out of here.

I'm going to go take a shit. You are all led to a kind of private meeting room. There's a long table in the middle and you kind of all get around. And Dr. Thornbill fills you in on the situation. She believes using the assets that you recovered in Michigan, a murderer and a potential series of murders can be thwarted if Semi-L participates in an experiment. That's a bad idea. That's a bad idea, right?

That's a bad idea. Thank you. Why? We have a facility where we can monitor him. Hold up. Hold up. Stop. Boomer, shut up for a second.

You shut up. Oh, motherfucker. No, don't tell me to shut up. I'll do it. Semi-L, can we at least have a discussion as a group as to what our direction should be? What's the other discuss? We're here. They got it all set up.

This is what we do. I'll do it. No, no, darling. We researched. That's what we do. There are some incidentals, Semi-L. I'm just asking for you to at least give us the opportunity to sway you the other way. I will be waiting outside and Dr. Thornbill takes a step outside the room.

You know my day job is to help people, right? I absolutely do. You understand I can't say no, right? Wait, you're Catholic. Isn't that meaning like you can't commit suicide? Because that is exactly what you are doing, by the way. You know, it's funny. I don't see that anywhere in the Bible.

He hope that'll put that what? Semi-L, listen. You told me that you knew someone that had a vested interest in this case, correct? I did. Because I trusted you that we could handle this together. I'm asking you to trust me in this moment in telling you that if you accept this, this is no longer us in control. This is no longer us deciding what lives and what dies, what happens. I'm just asking you, Semi-L, to hear me when I say that we are much more powerful with what we know than what we do not.

I do not want to see you do this. Well, it seems to me that they have everything pretty well under reps. The last time it was not a controlled environment. This is a controlled environment, so you'll forgive me if I don't see the problem. I'm accepting the danger personally. No one else is going to be harmed by it. And potentially, we'll stop a killer. I'll stop a killer.

That sounds like a good deal to me. There's another danger, though. What's that? We've already told Mallory about this case. And if I call her back hours later and say, hey, never mind, just kidding. We're taking care of it after I already told her that it's not safe for us to take this case. People like Catherine Oaks are going to know. Oh, we're not taking the case?

Not directly? We are directly taking the case. I'm just giving an assist. This is why they brought me in. They brought me in to do stuff like this. We would be operating with an organization that is not a part of our program. They work with the program. You say we know for a fact it's a subsidiary of the program.

And Mallory informed us that it has nothing to do with what we are here to do. We don't work for March Technologies. I'm not saying it's a part of the perennial mission. I'm saying while we're here, if I can stop some more people from getting killed, I'm going to do that. OK. And you guys can do what you got to do. You can go about the rest of your day. But if I have the opportunity to stay here for a couple hours and help somebody out, that's what I'm going to do.

You are our responsibility. That's what we are supposed to do as security agents is keep you safe. Well, the actual directive is us to maintain the information. Safety is not a priority. Also, Samuel, this is setting a precedent that they can just ask us to take or mess with whatever weird stuff that we find to solve whatever mysteries they want. Reverb is not as bad as this program can get. But think about the weird things that we have yet to find or the weird things we just don't know about yet. If they find it relevant to any mission by saying yes to this, there is a precedent that they can use it and have their agents use it.

Or even associates, like Merit said, we don't work for them. Just not for us, but for future researchers, you're putting them at risk. It's not fun being bait. But this is the point of March Industries. Mallory had us turn over these items to the dock, which means that Mallory is fully aware that this stuff is being correlated with March Industries. But we are not March Industries. This is not mission directive. You were so on about mission directive earlier.

Yeah. But this is also circumstance. So I don't know. Let me backtrack. So the stuff that happened at Cikadia, you're just going to say that you jumping in was not against, was against mission directive, but you did it anyways. So what the fuck? It was absolutely a part of mission directive. Warp was in danger.

We were held in Cikadia. If we had died in Cikadia, I could not be here to sell Samuel that I need him to say no. I think if anyone is going against mission directive, it is you hide. You who will blatantly allow your prerogative, your subject, the person you are supposed to protect to walk in blindly to something we cannot control. It's in a controlled environment as far as I can, as far as I'm being told. This is a controlled environment. The dock told us all in that room that they do not understand what it does yet. They are going to send somebody anyways.

Let it be someone else. So other people's lives don't matter. Just Sam El's. We don't even understand how it helps yet. There's no evidence that this can actually solve the crime that Samuel can find it this way. What if they shown us that it works? They can't because he's the only one. And that's the point.

I'm the only one that can do this. I made my decision. You guys need to make yours. You either let me do it or you drag me out of here kicking and screaming. What's it going to be? I would just like to state for the record, this has been an ongoing thing where you've put your needs and wants of potential savior hood in front of the actual dangers of this group. If you choose to do this, I am going to go sit my ass in that fucking car away from this because I will not be near that thing again. And you do not come back to this car until that thing is whatever you cannot come back attached, possessed, somewhat possessed.

I don't know how this works. I've seen some weird shit. I'm serious. Tuck, merit, hide, whatever. He does not come back unless he is actually Sam El. What thing? What do you think is going to happen to me? What do you think?

I'm sorry. You're taking this so cavalier. This is why I don't trust you to make this decision. Oh, give a shit if I die. Oh, I know that because you would rather sack because I know you're suicidal. Everyone figured that out within the first five minutes, buddy. You're suicidal. I get it.

So you're looking for a way to kill yourself by not actually doing it. We're off base. We're dissolving again. We need to find... But merit, he's already made his mind. Look, he... Did you... Are you...

You're going to do it, right? He's already said. Hide, are you going to allow him? I can't stop Sam El even if I wanted to. Well, no, that's not true, but... I mean, I could physically pick you up, Sam, but you have made fit very clear that your choices are your choices. You can't stop when you're hurt and Tuck can only do so much.

Not that I know you can kick ass. I get it, but if hide, you get where I'm going. In other security... You guys wanted to come... Look, look, you guys wanted to come here. I didn't want to bring you here. I just wanted to handle my business and move on with my day, but you decided to come...

Your business affects the rest of us. No, it doesn't. None of this affects you. Oh? What? I'm sorry, do you see the case? But you know what? If I decided to show up by myself and this was offered to me,

maybe we would have been able to handle this outside of the facility, but you have now brought all of yourselves here, and now we have to make a decision right here and right now. You are continuing to put us in position because of your selfish needs. You're talking about my prerogatives. What about your prerogatives? We're here because you brought all of us along because you wanted answers about something that you didn't get,

and you can't even offer and extend a little bit of trust to me so that I can give you what you fucking want. You tried to keep information from us. Why the hell would I trust you after that? Because I don't like to just spout off willy-nilly unless I understand something that is going on. And as far as I know, I don't have... That's why we're a team.

We have information to help each other. But you don't have the information for me, Tuck. I have nowhere to get paid. You don't know that. You, I definitely do, Tuck. Okay. I'd very, very so much... Time out.

Time out. Agent Warp. While we were inside, we went through the desktop searching for information. Are you shitting me? Please tell me that there is something on that drive that might give some credence to what we're doing here so that we can make a decision as a team.

I need one night. There probably is. Huge chance that there is. But I don't know if it'll change the decision. I need to go over it first. This shouldn't even be something we're entertaining. But we're here now. So we give Warp a night.

I can obviously help. Maybe that'll help expedite things faster. I will share my files with you, Boomer. Do you think the doc will take that? Hide. Probably. Great. Then why don't you go talk to her?

You know what? I will. We'll go talk to her. Semi-L, does that work with you? Hide steps out of the room. Hide, you can see that the doctor is on the phone. And as you approach, she finishes the conversation and hangs up.

Says, has the decision been made? They want a day. Do you, can I get one? They don't trust you, doc? I was worried about that. Which is why I made a phone call. Tuck your phone rings. Fuck.

Answer it. Your burner phone rings and you pick it up. Hello? Agent Mallory is on the other line. And you spoke to her just maybe an hour or so ago. And she seemed in okay spirits. You recall the way that you felt after that interrogation. And you get the same feeling from her like she was just grilled.

And she says to you, Agent Tuck, I know I said one thing earlier. But I need you to let Semi-L do the experiment. And just move on afterwards. If you'd like, you can leave him behind. No, we're not leaving him behind. I'm sorry. This is above me.

This is what I assumed your phone call was going to be, honestly. Can I ask who handed this down? Or is that above my grade? Make a persuasion roll. Oh, no, I don't even need to look at my sheet. I failed it. Oh, shit. You can hear the trembling in her voice.

And she's just like, please just let him do it. And then you can go on. I don't want to get yelled at again. Understood. Thank you. Players, I want to remind you that you have total agency as your characters. And you can ignore this directive from Agent Mallory. But nonetheless, you have, it seems that you have been told to follow through.

Who was on the phone? Who do you think? I'm going to come back in the building and in the room. What'd she say? I want to lie to you guys so bad. In the interest of honesty, though, and trust, Agent Mallory has called and told me that we are to go through with Dr. Thornbill's plan

and allow Samayel to... What? It's in order. Well, there you go. Now, then, not tomorrow. Samayel, it's your mind and your body. So I guess it's really down to what you think you can do, I guess. If it's got to be now, it's got to be now.

The longer we wait, the longer someone else can get hurt. Then no. I'm going to take this kind of... Because I do have a couple rings on my finger. I'm going to take a pink ring I have. I'm going to slide it over to Samayel and it would be like... If you get stuck, just think circles. That's what I'm just going to do.

So he can have a tangible circle thing, slide it over to him. Thank you. Tuck. What's up? Just in case something happens. I'm going to reach into my coat, pull out a little fold of paper that I wrote Dr. Bauer's information on. Um...

I don't know anything about this dark man guy you asked me to look into. But I found you the name of a guy that does. If something happens to me, you just go ahead and give them a call. Samayel, I wasn't trying to take away your agency, I just... Water under the bridge. Be careful. You know me. That's why I said it.

Samayel, hide, and I assume Merritt step out to where Thornbill is waiting for you. And she says, well, Agent Samayel, has a decision been reached. I'm going to help you out. Excellent. I assure you, we are ready. We have a room waiting, and this is going to save many lives. Please follow me. Tuck, did you...

Yeah, let me talk to you real quick. Yeah. I'm going to pull her off to the side. And I'm going to get the 97 box out of the Corolla, and I'm going to say, okay, I just need you to read and see if I'm making connections that you see. Copy. Okay. This is mine.

Yours? Yeah. Okay. Definitely. Okay. You'll get it when you read it. But just if I'm making things up, then we can ignore it, and I can just take it home again, and it doesn't matter.

It doesn't matter. Say no more. Because I don't want you to accidentally accept anything that I could in this intrude. So let me just... Yeah, you're right. I won't say anything more. Also, if anything happens to me, you know, my wife just... And I know what to do.

Yeah. Boomer, I will share with you the files that Tuck gives you. Okay. I assume you guys can maybe stay in that room while you start looking these over. Samuel, Hyde, and Merritt. She leads the three of you back to the facility. It's now about 3.30-ish. You go in, and you are led into a kind of larger space that is circular.

It's this kind of round room, and in the middle of this room is a smaller closed-off room, again, circular in nature, that is padded and has a comfortable-looking chair inside of it. Dr. Thornbill goes over once again the plan, which is that they are going to dose you with Reaver, a single pill, and they are going to ask you to hold the crystal. The idea is that as you are beginning to feel the effects of the drug, you are to meditate on cylindrical things or nothing at all. And the hope is that you will be able to break through. Once you have done that, you are to concentrate as best as you can on the murders occurring on Long Island

and to set your intention to try to find the assailant or the next victim or anything that you can interpret from your visions. Understood. Speaking of which, I'll make sure the pole that my cross that I've carved the elder sign into the center of is hanging loose, so that's plainly visible. You do that, and hide merit. You are placed in this main room, and semiles placed into the smaller chamber, and you can see that they have monitorings.

They are placing heart monitors on him. They have EKG meters on his temples. He is fully decked out, and they can see everything going on internally about him. I just wanted to say something to merit as they're like setting Samel up. I'm just kind of still watching Samel, but I am going to tell him the day Samel took that Reaver was the day he no longer had a choice in a matter that there was going to be eventually a time that they were going to ask him. We just brought him straight here for it, and then I'll look over at him and then look back. I think I understand what you mean.

I'm sorry I fought so hard for it, but you understand, right? He's the reason you and I are here. Hide. This is a professional curiosity and a personal concern. If you felt compromised, like someone who had taken Reaver or done something that they can't look at, would you tell me? Fuck. Yeah, I look at him just plain in the eye and said, yeah, I would. And that's all I need.

Human intelligence check. I believe you. Do I believe that? You can make a human intelligence check and hide. Let me ask you to make a persuasion, perhaps. Deception. I think you could invent a deception. Persuade?

I think if either that or a charisma check. My human intelligence was at 29. This is all bad either way, charisma, persuasion. Nope, I failed with a 56 out of 20. Agent Merritt, you can't put your finger on it, but there is something that Hyde is hiding from you. Let's just focus on making sure he comes out of this one. Eventually they bring two small white Dixie Cups. One of them has a familiar off-white pill, and the other one has a little bit of water.

You know, I gotta say, I'm not sad about having to do this again. It was very interesting. The person dosing you smiles at the response. In fact, it's Doctor Hooks, actually, so she finds you amusing. And she kind of looks at you and says, I hope you make it out. Well, practice makes perfect. Just try to concentrate and do what the doctor said, and you should be okay. I have full confidence.

She places her hand on your hand and touches you, and then how are you taking the reaver? Quickly. Are you using the water, or are you just kind of swallowing it? Oh, are you kidding me? Samo doesn't need water to take a pill. You wash it down with a whisk, gotcha. They give it to you, you pop it in your mouth. Another assistant walks in, they have a little brown wooden box, they open it, and the crystal is inside. And they say, please, if you wouldn't mind taking it.

Grab it. As soon as you touch it, that familiar feeling of suddenly feeling a little more awake, a little more cool, a little more enjoying the situation. The two assistants walk out and they close the door into this chamber. There is a monitor that can show Samuel's face, and you are watching him. Samuel, what are you doing in the first few minutes? As amused as I am right now, I'm trying to just take deep breaths. It's a pill, so I'm assuming it's going to take about 20 or 30 minutes to hit proper. So I'm just trying to keep myself as calm as possible and thinking about circles and domes.

Specifically, I think the image that's the most familiar to me is going to be the vaulted ceiling of St. Patrick's Cathedral, in which I've spent quite a bit of time. So I would like to, as much as I can, put myself physically in that space, and I will just calmly wait for the effects to wash over me. As you're holding this crystal, I'd like mechanically for you to understand that your power score is going to increase by five. So I believe your power score is 12, am I correct? Yes, it is. Okay, it is going to become 17.

Oh, shit! Which means you are going to have an 85 in your power score. I have the power! Awesome. But sure enough, after 20 or 30 minutes, the effects begin to kick in just as before. The more immediate thing is that feeling that the MDA gives you, the happy, giggly, good feeling. And the visuals are not really starting. It's more of the body high, but you concentrate and you're concentrating on these circles,

or you're concentrating on this vaulted ceiling. With your power score, I'd like you to make a power times five roll. 84 out of 85. Whoa. Oh, my God! God damn it. Jesus. Aaron!

Jesus, Aaron. I will now roll for the Preda. Oh, whoo-hoo! Why is he here? Yeah, you say it like he's in the room, God damn it. I've had enough of him. Agent Samael, you are concentrating on the circles. There's really no sound.

It's very nicely soundproofed in here, and you can kind of hear your own breathing. And as you get high, it's even more conscientious of it. And it sounds like in the distance, there's this... The sound of a broken window. Circles, circles, circles and domes. And it feels more than it sounds, but it feels like something is just kind of circling out of your periphery. This low rumbling sound. As much as I can, I will try to ignore it and stay focused on my task at hand,

which is to think about circles and domes. The Preda rolled a 75, which is lower than your... What was it, 84? So you are able to concentrate on this ceiling, and what happens is that the sound eventually is almost overtaken by the vision. So you see the cathedral ceiling, and it becomes like this impossibly complex shape, where you can look and there's hundreds and hundreds of fractals, and it's just becoming so powerful. And you realize that this image of a dome is now like a ward over you, protecting you.

And your high power score has protected you from outside forces. And it's at this time that the visions start to kick in. It's difficult, because just as before, things that you're not even thinking of begin racing to the front of your third eye, you know, being able to see visions of the past, of an ancient past. What are you doing as these visions begin to hit you? I'm going to start trying to replay the news reports in my mind. And also, I will try to mentally revisit every detail of the confessional that I received. I can't remember if it was this morning or the previous.

I think it was yesterday morning, and I'll just try to go over every detail. Everything I saw in the news report, every, you know, I'll think about that Glenridge High School. I'll specifically go over the names of the victims. So Carl Moretti, he's a dentist. He was found in Meconic Park, Vanessa Van Hunt, Glenridge High School Library, and I'll also try to feel some empathy with the children that would have found her, presumably. You begin to think of these things, and, you know, your mind is kind of going back and forth between kind of random visions, then you bring yourself back with your concentration

to what you're trying to pay attention to. And you're not seeing the murders, you're seeing the aftermath, you're seeing the police tape, you're seeing the body and how gruesome it has been left of these two victims. And suddenly you flash to a place, it's nighttime, and you see a big building. It's like a mansion that is lit up from outside. And your incorporeal self just kind of floats into this building. And you can see that there is this party going on, men and women, beer, drinking, music. The smell of sex and hormones is in the air.

Scantily clad women, some of them nude, dancing and coaxing these men for money. You float through the home and eventually come out to this backyard with a beautiful lavish pool. And you float past over the pool into the woods that kind of surround this mansion. And there is a single man alone smoking a cigar. He's overlooking the view of the forest. He looks kind of like he might be related to some of the men inside. Dark hair, balding at the top. But you notice a noise, a kind of clicking sound, and your mind's eye looks up into the tree line.

And above the man you can see the waxing crescent moon. And it is silhouetting some kind of thing, massive, bulky. Its extremities seem sharp and serrated like a mantis. It has one wing, and then two wings, and then a third wing, kind of unfolding. And it's making this clicking sound, and just as the man kind of notices and hears and looks up, this thing leaps at him. And crushes him instantly. Just literally like his body just gets crumbled by the weight of this massive creature. It swoops him up and with these three wings flies back up into the tree line.

And at this point your vision is getting clouded and it's difficult to see, but you can hear the crunching of the bones, the splitting of the flesh. And you can see the spine and the skull being peeled out from the back of this man's body like a pistachio with no effort whatsoever. And this long black unnatural tongue comes out of this creature and begins kind of sucking up the spinal and skull fluid that it can find. I'd like you to make a power roll for me. Just straight power, power times five. Power times five with your plus five to it. So you're at 85.

One. Wow. This is all a lot to take in, and I will say that merit and hide and warp, you can see. Samuel seems to be struggling with something. He's tossing his head back and forth. The heart rate seems to be elevated. He is reacting to something. None of the scientists, including Thornbill and Hooks are freaking out, but they are certainly monitoring and paying attention to what's happening. Agent Samuel, you suddenly begin to see flashes of other things, things that are not in this place, but somehow feel connected.

You see a boy tossing and turning in bed. A teenager. Not a particularly attractive boy, but he lacks the acne which plagues most teens. His stature seems small, awkward. He doesn't look like a jock. He sleeps shirtless, and you notice as he tosses and turns, almost in reacting to every time this man's body is torn apart again. He kind of jerks and reacts to it. Bobbing back and forth on his chest is a necklace with some kind of amulet around his neck.

You just feel that there's something important about this, and you zoom in on his chest, and you can see that it is a clay amulet that depicts two intertwined figures, one human and one a beast with wings. You are pulled out of this vision because the body that has been mutilated by this creature is suddenly released and falls to the ground with a sickening splat. And your third eye sort of is looking upside down as if you were in the body, and you see a group of people run up to the body. Most of them, in horror, scream and run back into the house. One of them catches your eye. It's Tony from The Hive.

Yep. And I need you to make a sanity check, please. Well, Tony. Yep. Four. That's a success. Rolling like crazy. You are going to only lose one sanity.

But explain to me what this experience looks like and how you come out of it. I think Samuel thinks that that's the party that he's invited to tonight. And I would imagine you probably awaken knowing that you need to tell someone about this, right? And I, yeah, when I wake up, I'm screaming, I was right. I was right about everything, everything. I was right about everything. They begin speaking to you through a speaker. They do not immediately release you.

And they try to ask you as lucid, you know, as best as you can to describe what you're seeing. And do you describe everything you're seeing to them? Yes. And I tell them specifically that I think I, I think I have the address of where it's going to happen tonight. And that I am personally connected to one of the witnesses. I take as many notes as possible as he's retelling. And I make sure that to specifically describe the boy and the amulet with as much detail as I can. Do you tell them that you may have spoken to this boy via confessional?

I cannot tell them that, so I don't. Eventually, Thornbill comes over to you, hide and merit and warp. And she says, I would consider the success. We're going to give him something to bring to break him out of it. And she names a chemical that is often used to kind of break the effects of LSD or whatever. But we're done with the experiment. As soon as he goes back to normal and we think that he's safe, you're welcome to just go. You're going to send, you're going to deploy another team or do you need us to handle it?

As you stated, you guys have other directives that I don't want to get in the middle of. I just needed him for this. I can put out another team, especially now that we know where we can go. We've got the address. We'll just shut that party down tonight and scope the area out. In fact, we'll probably put an APB on this gentleman in particular. An APB on the boy? No.

Well, that we do need to figure out as Samuel has insinuated. There's some kind of connection between a medallion he has or something. I'm talking about the man that's going to be attacked. We want to know why he's going to be attacked and how we can possibly stop it in the future. I understand. Thank you for complying. Don't thank us. Thank Mallory.

Samuel, they are they eventually come into the chamber and they give you a another pill that when you take it after about 10, 15 minutes, the the effect very quickly begins to fizzle away. And you are no longer seeing things. You are no longer feeling things. And after about 10, 15 minutes, you're kind of back to reality. I'll who's in the room with me is hooks or yeah, I think I think everyone is in here except Boomer and yeah, and talk. I'll I'll either grab Thornbill or hooks by the arm and say, listen, you don't make anyone do that ever. That's not willing to die.

You understand me? Never. You put a soldier in this chair next time. Do you understand me? I understand you. And I appreciate your your commitment to helping. I think you've done a lot of good here. No problem.

Happy to help. Let's get back to Tuck and Boomer. So Boomer, you've had some time to read through everything that Tuck has given you. Does anything stand out? Do you want to say anything to talk? I know it says in the file that you didn't really remember from that night. Is there anything in particular you can tell me? I really don't remember much of anything.

Dude with the weird arm hair and the necklace, right? You said he had that's what it's I didn't I didn't see the necklace someone else did. I don't I don't know what he was wearing. I don't know what he looked like. I just know that he was there and then she was and then she was crying and screaming and were you both like asleep? I don't I don't know. I just we were I I don't remember anything.

We went to bed and and then and then and then we just were awake and he had both of us and she was and then I was somewhere else. I was bleeding and that that that part isn't the most important part. It's the it's the the guy that I know. That's why I'm trying to the reason why is what I'll do in the meantime while uploading. I can go ahead and start examining other files that were uploaded. See if anything's connected on that.

Yeah, I know it's I he he's shown up three times three times. Meadowbrook. 84. Unless unless I'm making connections where there aren't any which I could be. No, that's okay. Yeah. No, you're either that is very fuck. Yeah, I I don't know if it's the same.

I don't know if it's connected, which is why I took it to you before I took it to the rest of them because Lord knows I've been an emotional reactor lately and I'm in Halo. Halo question. She's not she doesn't know anything. Not me, not Meadowbrook, not the book, not Buffington, not any of the things we did. Nothing. Did they say how she ended up here? Or is it just like they were scouting her before we were in Meadowbrook and then and then after she called.

She's she was brilliant. You know that and I know that's why I'm trying to like did they pull her out? Is that how is that why? That's where like they don't know anything. They just said she called. No, they know something. They know something. They're just telling you.

Yeah. That's it really. I just if you think there's a connection there, we'll take it to the group at some point. If you don't, we'll forget. I will forget. We'll forget we had this conversation tonight. No, no, no, no, no. I think you're on the right path.

I keep it. It makes sense. It makes too much and then it scares the shit. I'm really thinking about too many things that are lining up. Okay. If I see anything in the files, I will. I what I can do is I can again make other untraceable copies and try to at least I don't want to. I don't want to keep it from them.

We already have too much distrust going in the group. So yeah, because if they give it this way, if it's connected, then we better know what it is exactly. As soon as as soon as we can talk to them about it, I guess I don't. I don't want to keep it a secret. I don't. I only brought it to you because I wanted to make sure I wasn't. You're not crazy. No, no, no.

Yeah. Okay. Thanks. Do you think they're done in there? So make a quick sanity test for me, please. Another one. Just a little quick one. Just a little one.

We're about to get in the car. So sanity check before we leave. Yes, please. Okay. So I roll a 30 and a zero, which is 30 or 40? Just 30. Okay. That's a success, right, Sam?

Yes. Okay. Sam, at the end of the test, the drug wears off and a assistant comes up to you and says, could I please have the crystal? And you put your hand out. And sure enough, this time you are able to drop it into the box. You guys know that that thing has magnetic properties if you understand what I mean, right? We are very aware of it and your experimentation with it has helped us greatly in understanding it.

Glad to hear it. You're talking to Dr. Hooks at the moment. And she says, well, you can say, well, I hope to see you around. Do you live in the city? I live in Manhattan. Oh, I'm not far from there. Maybe one day we can have some coffee or something together. Anytime.

I'd like that. Good luck. I'll see you around. Why? You all step out. Is there anything left you need to speak to Thornbill about Hyde or any of the others? Yeah. Let me say goodbye to Doc really quick.

Make sure I'm on the same page. Look, I owe you a big time for doing this. I appreciate it. I just want you to know you have someone on this side and hopefully I have someone on that side, right? Yeah. You threw a bone, I'll throw a bone. If you find anything that puts into perspective who's in charge right now, that would be extremely valuable information. OK.

I have one more question for you. Sure. Since the Nomads run for March Industries, I assume you have files on every pilot. What's in my file? We have some reports about your experiences in Afghanistan. Is that what you're referring to? Yeah. Who has access to that outside of you?

I mean, hell, if this secret server is as special as you kind of describe it, it might be on there too. Yeah. That's what I'm starting to think. That's fine. That's all I wanted to know. Thank you, Doc. I'll let you know when we're heading. She smiles and kind of gestures goodbye and you all exit the facility.

It's now about, let's say maybe five o'clock and the perennial team is reconvened in this meeting room where Boomer and Tucker are waiting for you guys. Some ale seems pretty, you know, lucid, if not extremely tired and a little worn out. Do everything go OK, Samuel? Yeah, honestly. No problems. Got a little, I'm not going to lie to you. It was a little hairy. And you're keeping your mind on round objects, on domes, on circles?

Well, yeah, my understanding is that now that there's no danger. We've heard that before. I just, at least for tonight, for my sake. Sure. Well, if we're done here, is everyone OK if we get the, can we just get out of New York and just go back to what we're supposed to be doing? Like California or just, I'd get back on track. I think we got to go to Wyoming. Wyoming?

Wyoming. We can talk about this. Tell you what, let's go back to my place and we'll talk about it there. Sure. You jump in the cars and you make the drive back into Manhattan. You go inside to the familiar apartment of Samuel's, poorly furnished, very messy, and you are free to talk. You know those Sky Devil things? OK.

The book? I saw one. So... I think I saw one. Let's not do that then. Well... Why would we not follow? I mean, come on.

I mean, this thing keeps popping up. I mean... That is not... The issue is, is that Samuel has a point. What he's saying is inherently connected with 1984, which is inherently connected with Nathar Lotep. The Lord of thought and everything we saw in that case, meaning that whatever this is happening in New York also has to do with whatever is happening in Wyoming. And while we cannot investigate this active investigation, we can see to Wyoming. But you're forgetting the key thing that actually connects every little bit to this.

It goes back to the source, Allah Daniel Freist. Sure. Hey, listen. Wyoming and California are a short hop apart. We have a plane. We are closer to Wyoming than we are California. And I think that that should be our next destination after Wyoming or possibly a lead we have in Kansas. But California...

And then we're going to get attacked by some Sky Devil thing because, again, we're not going... We're literally, even though it's... Hey, we're not talking about hunting one of the things down. We're talking about looking into green box. That's it, Boom. We're not going to fight anyone. I am going to a thousand percent say that I think this is not the right way. And I'm going to be very adamant about that.

We should literally get back to the source of it. So make your point. Go to California. Go to Penitent. How is Freist a bigger lead than what we have here? Mallory wants us to go to Freist. Well, that is a very big lead. I had no idea.

Yeah. Sorry. I kind of forgot in the midst of all the other stuff we were talking about. Mallory wants us to go. She said that the Dio's very happy with... Or the Dio will be happy with us following up on Freist. So... Hey, one way or the other.

I mean, they're a short hop apart, whichever one you want to do first. They also merit the case files you asked for about Fluke and Nancy and all of that stuff. Those are also now on the server. Perfect. Speaking of which, where the hell is my fob? Right. Can I look for the fob while everybody's talking? Sure.

And anyone that wants to look for the fob, make a search roll. I got an eight. I got a ten. Listen, if we're going to California, I'd like to bring up the idea of possibly taking some time off. I don't mean forever, maybe a week before we go out there or whatever it might be. But we've been in a lot of high stress situations and we're about to hop a coast again. That's a lot of traveling to be doing. Maybe it's best if we take some time to heal.

You specifically need some time to heal. I wouldn't be opposed to a self care day. Hi, Samuel. What are you thinking? I mean, I'm already here. I mean, are you going to really ask me if I want to go home? I'll go home. You've all had our say.

It feels like we just got started, but I mean, hell, yeah. I was going to say it's been a long, what, two weeks? Some of us have to check in with things they left behind. Well, we'd better clear that up top by assuming that that's okay. Sure. But just so I just am aware of the game plan, we take, we'll decide on the amount of days. And then we all go to California where warp and presumably hide will be at with the plane. Yes.

If we are breaking, then I will take the plane with me and I will, if warp wants, I'll drop warp off in California and then go back where I'm going. I'll make the call to Mallory and sort of explain the situation and how things went with March technologies and request that this can even happen. So Merritt, you call Mallory. Yeah. Okay. She picks up and she sounds exhausted. Like she's had a long day as well. Case handler Mallory, this is agent Merritt calling you regarding Operation Perennial.

Yes, Merritt. What's the latest? I just wanted to call and inform you that we finished up our project with March technologies. Am I all right? Yes, he's sitting with us now. He's doing well. He came out of the experiment with flying colors. He was an exceptional agent in the field and accomplished everything we needed him to.

We've been keeping him on bed rest the best we can, which is none concerning Agent Samuel. That's how he is. But he has been keeping circles on the brain and doing well. You should commend him. Good. What else is there? We have experienced some undue stress from the decision with March technologies that I think combined with my personal injury has facilitated a need for a break.

If you're amenable to the idea, then we could take some time off. And then we plan on making for California to pursue Daniel Fries. There's a pause and she says, Take a month. I'll get back to you in a few weeks and check in. In the meantime, take as much time as you need. I can hear it. You guys need a break.

Thank you, Case handler. We won't forget this and we appreciate your can. I mean, if you need anything, I'll be speaking to you. Perfect. We have a month, 30 days. What? That worked. That's four times what we asked.

It's what she offered. We must be doing something right. I'm not going to question it, but Danum. Although she said something about it being in my voice. Do I sound like I need a break? Mary, you got shot two days ago. Yes, you sound like you need a break. She just sounded like she was overly concerned.

You got shot in the femur. Of course, people are concerned. It's okay. A month. We have a month. On the 31st day, we will meet back up with our pairings and then fly to California together. I'm going to look at Tuck. I'm going to be like, are you going to say anything?

Fuck. Look, we can talk about the case that I'm doing, that I need to do in California now, or we can talk about it later, but... If you got something to get off your chest, get it off your chest. Otherwise, no one's forcing you to say anything. I think we all deserve at least a month to prepare ourselves. That's actually very fair. It's, um...

Okay. I'm going to run downstairs and get the box out of the car. And drop the case file. Like, spread out the, like, whatever paper I have. And say, okay. In 1997, two children were taken from a campsite. One of them came back. She remembers a man taking her and her sister.

He had bristly arm hair, and then there were some people who saw, who said it was a man in a dark suit, tall man in a dark suit, tall man in a dark suit. And that's come up a couple times. And the little one didn't come back. But the dark, the dark man's been around a couple times. And I think it warrants a follow-up. You believe this to be N'Yarlitha? N'Yarlithotha.

Kluaminaro, the dark man, the lord of thought. I don't know where the line ends. But I think... I think it's, I think there's a line there. Now, just so that I can make sure that I understand this completely, are you one of the girls in this file? Did you work the case? You have, clearly you have a connection.

Tuck's not gonna say anything. She's just gonna pull the neck of her shirt to the side. And on her right shoulder, there is a thick, very old scar that goes from the back, stretches up forward over the collarbone. And it's like, it's pretty big. I was nine. Got it. You don't gotta say anything else if you don't want it.

It's my sister. And I don't... He keeps showing up. And I just... If he keeps... Say no more. Get it. We get it. We'll look into it.

That's why I asked you about... I'll find out. I promise you I'll find out everything like it. This is good. I think it's best that we investigate that as a group. This month will do us good. And when we come back, we can look at that. And Daniel Fries, we can find some answers for some people who deserve that.

So you are all able to look at these files. I believe I've shared them with you. There is a missing persons article. There is an obituary. There is the missing persons poster. And there is a missing person case file from the FBI that goes into a little bit more detail about what occurred in these events that seem to be involving Agent Tuck. There's one more thing.

In the FBI file, there's a woman named Alice Sawyer. She was at Quantico when I was there. I don't know her. I don't know anything else. But she was the... Sorry? Who? Alice Sawyer. Do you know her name?

She was my instructor at Quantico. So I don't know if she's involved. I should have asked Mallory. You know according to the FBI file that she was basically handed this case to close it, to archive it. She handled it in the sense that she brought it to a close when there was no finding your sister and no leads beyond that. You're sure it was Alice Sawyer?

It's in the file. I think I go immediately to make a note. It's a lot of coincidental shit. I don't think I believe in coincidences anymore. It's fate. It has to be. I don't believe in fate either. Give me a month and I'll prove it to you. But thank you for hearing me out, I guess.

If you think I'm gonna be a liability on it, I understand. I think we've all been a liability. Sometimes you gotta be a liability. Merritt, I think you can make a human intelligence role. I would like to. I have a 4 over 80. Tuck says she doesn't want to be a liability, but the truth is she has a bunch of information on a case that happened a long time ago.

There's no getting around that this is extremely important to Tuck on a personal level. You could even classify this as an obsession. I mean, spending your entire life pursuing this. There's something there. Tuck, I just want to say up front that I understand completely your interest in connecting these cases and to making sure that we investigate this. And I meant every word when I said that you deserve answers. I hope you understand that what I say next comes with a level of compassion

that is relevant to the situation. I do not think that you should have any amount of leading circumstance on a case like this. And when I... There should be barriers set up in places, what I'm saying, and I'm not going to sugarcoat this. I understand exactly why you want to do this, but you cannot be the one that does. We all collectively can be, but this is not the tarmac. And it cannot be. Do you understand where I'm coming from with that?

Yep. Are we all understood on that? Should we go to Kansas or New York or anywhere that we hold dear to ourselves? If it has our name on it, we are no longer the leading force. Yes, understood. Okay. Did I find that fob? I got an eight on the search board.

Looking around, you do not find that fob. Fuck the fob. I'm thinking and I'm just like, I'm boomer a little bit about thinking. Where can you deactivate that? Yeah. Yeah, you can. I mean, we can do something about that. It's off.

Got it. Well, I'll keep looking then. It's eventually time to sleep unless you guys have other plans. Oh, I will make sure to call Tony and tell him his party's canceled and he should probably go stop by the cops office. The cops office. Make a luck roll, Samuel. Tony to the cop office. Tony to the cop office.

Well, it's a fail, but at least I rolled a 69. Nice. Yeah, you call him and he does not pick up. You assume he's probably very busy with his plans. Yeah, he's too busy boning with that 69. I'll just drop a cryptic test text message or voice. Gotcha. Everyone has their plans about what they need to do the next day.

You all begin getting ready to go to sleep. I would like to set up a post in Sam Isle's bedroom by the window chair, some sort of Ottoman, whatever it might be. And set myself with the double bag right next to it and everything. Have a table by it. Wherever the closest window is, I'm going to breach open the curtains and I'm going to post up for the night, knowing full well that he has a tail now, watching out for that situation. Merrick, can you make me an alertness roll? I'm going to say to be fair, it's at a minus 20 because you're not staying up the entire night, huh? No, not at all.

This is like a 10. You're not able to stay up for at least four or five hours. Let's see what you see in the meantime. So alertness minus 20, I need something below a 30. I have a 74 fail. I mean, it's Manhattan. There is not a lot of traffic, but there is traffic. The occasional passerbyers, folks lingering for different reasons.

Nobody really stands out to you. Okay. And not to mention your leg is in really like throbbing pain. Distract him. Yeah, you're very distracted by that. You eventually all find sleep. And the next time we get together, we will play out a month of home scenes with all of you. Exciting.

Good session. Woo. I'm so tired. Hey, Mayday listeners. Caleb here celebrating a year of Mayday role play. It's been an absolute joy bringing you all of the content we've been able to show you this year. But more than anything, it's been such a pleasure to share our table with you. Now I know what you're doing.

You're thinking, wow, it has been so great to listen to Mayday, my favorite podcast and the only podcast I listen to. But how can I help those lovable assholes over there at Mayday role play? Well, you're in luck. You can help us continue to provide the same level of high quality, actual play content by joining our community on Patreon. With each tier of support, you gain access to our Discord where you can get the answers you deserve by speaking to us directly. You will also get exclusive access to behind the scenes content, Patreon one shots, artwork and so much more. We love what we do. We want to continue to share our game with you.

To do that, we need as many people at our table as possible. And we've saved you a seat. Join the Mayday role play Patreon today at patreon.com. It's been only a few minutes since Tuck, Merritt, Warp and Hyde have left to find Dr. Thornbill. But Semi-L and Boomer's card game has grown in size. Now, every present member of Coral Nomad has joined in on the action. During a particularly tense moment, Boomer asks... Question, have you got any embarrassing drunk stories about Hyde?

Me? About Hyde? Yeah, I got some stories. I don't know if they're appropriate for civilian ears, though. Oh, come on. I promise I won't, Art. I just want to know. I mean, what do you think I should tell them, boys? Well, you know why we call her Hyde, right? See, whenever she drinks, she goes from being this quiet wallflower to... Let's just say she's a lot more outgoing. Hell, we started this thing where every time she'd come out with us,

we'd see how drunk we could get her, and then we'd start daring her to do something stupid. And most of the time, she'd fucking do it. This one time, we were fresh out of basic, stationed at Fort Rucker. We got her drunk, and we dared her to steal the SO's prized deer head that he kept mounted above his desk. Sure enough, she stuck back onto the base, broke into his office, and for extra credit, mounted it on top of the tallest building. And so was so pissed he wanted blood. But when they checked the cameras, the hard drive was full

and stopped recording just a few hours before she did it. Some office jockey forgot to wipe the drive, can you believe it? So they never found it was her. Fucking lucky, right? We called her Hyde from that point on. Good times. She stopped drinking with us, though, after Afghanistan. A lot of things changed about Hyde after Afghanistan.

What happened in Afghanistan? Look, lady, I'm no blue falcon, okay? So if you're so damn curious, you can ask her yourself. Now, are you gonna place a bet, or what?