That's right Terry, we are hearing now that the suspect of the shooting at 15th and Darvis has been killed in a shootout with the police.
We're going to Wallace live at the scene.
That's right Jim, the flashing lights of SPD cruisers are casting a heavy shadow over downtown Seattle tonight.
All following a localized mass shooting that left the community in a state of absolute shock.
Seattle Police Department has confirmed that the individual responsible for the unprovoked violence was shot and killed by the responding officers just moments after they arrived on
scene, bringing this swift but lethal chaos to an end.
While forensics teams and investigators have established a wide perimeter across several
blocks.
Details remain scarce regarding the suspect's identity, or what could have possibly driven them to carry out such a devastating assault in a high-traffic area.
Witnesses describe the terrifying scene where a perpetrator moved with a chilling, singular focus before being intercepted by law enforcement.
I'll go off.
Let's do the...
Let's do the bodies first.
Again, just have my friends' kit and I would be looking at all the usuals, ah looking at their hands, looking for struggle, things like that.
Even before that, the two of you go into a medical tent.
The bodies have been carried outside and are on portable gurneys.
A woman is setting up a sort of a forensic analysis off to the side.
She's got a portable cart, laptop, all the tools needed.
Before you guys launch in, you gonna say anything to it?
Since I don't have an accent, I will look at her and say, hey, ma'am, we're from the FBI.
I don't know if they called on ahead, but we're here to assist.
I'm a forensic specialist and here as a medical professional.
And we just wanted to see what we could come up with and help with the investigation.
We were in the area.
Yeah, absolutely.
Dr.
Tess Brower, I'm the coroner.
I was just about to get started, actually, if you'd like to give me a hand.
Very, very strange things so far.
If you'll take a look here, you can see that the em decapitation was done very cleanly, as though with uh a very sharp blade.
And what you are looking at is three nude decapitated bodies.
with cloth covering their genitalia.
I think I would like a sand check from both of you for violence.
You would, you monster.
98, that's bad.
Yeah, that's not great.
39 under, so...
That's gonna be a 1 for success and a d6 for failure.
Okay.
I mean still just one.
Have you encountered a violently decapitated body?
Miles has not, no.
Yeah, he would be looking at this, know, tears would probably be coming to his eyes, just like the emotionality or like seeing somebody that looks like cattle, basically, very
dehumanizing, and he would, you know, be trying to fight back a little bit of tears and trying to keep a professional in front of the doctor.
Yeah, have either of you seen a violent death before this, do you think?
Yeah, I think there was somebody who had fallen overboard and had gotten chewed up by a propeller.
so there was a, you know, big, big gash through the midsection that, you know, looks really reminiscent to this, but it's just kind of like just at a different, a different
angle is all.
I think this maybe really brings up that memory for you.
How much sand did you lose?
Nice.
That could have been much worse.
Yeah.
Very cleanly cut.
if you take a look at this one, there's a wound oh on...
This man's back shoulder, and she sort of rolls him forward, and there's this strange circular hole through the dermis epidermis, the subcutaneous fat layer down to the
musculature.
um Thanks.
And it's a very clean, very strange cut.
uh could imagine...
sort of cut occurring in an industrial accident if skin gets caught in a hydraulic piece of machinery.
uh But this is the sort of cut you get with an extreme amount of either force or very careful work with a knife.
Not an extreme amount of force, a lot of crushing pressure.
Well don't worry, I think I've spent a lot of question asking about this in a deja vu.
Golly.
ah You see uh on the cart next to her, she's got some photographs printed out, including a photograph of the wound with an evidence sticker on it.
Yeah, for sure.
You can.
um It should still be in the chat, but I can drop it in again if you like.
so, okay, gotcha, nevermind.
Yep, that's it.
Yeah.
No, I remember, so.
saying again for forgetfulness
Yeah, yeah.
Okay.
It's very strange.
Any...
So obviously the decapitation killed them.
Any...
You know, why would this wound be here, I guess, from your estimation?
Okay.
Yeah, same.
Can she or I determine if that was a post-mortem wound?
Yeah, absolutely give me forensics.
40 I got an 82 and nothing will save that oh actually I'll uh
You're really quiet right now, Jordan, I don't know.
Oh, yes, am I?
I'm sorry about that.
Is this any better?
Okay.
Yeah, luck would change my 82 to a 28, which is under my 40.
So I'll do that.
absolutely pass.
um yeah, no, this does not look like a post-mortem injury.
Um, you can tell from the way the vessels are constricted around the wound that they...
I don't actually know how you tell with forensics, but something about it.
You know, I don't know either, but I would speculate that if they died and then the blood coagulated and you cut the head off, like all the major like vessels of the neck would be
like have jelly blood in them.
Yeah.
As opposed to the blood.
running out.
Yes.
So you can tell that both wounds occurred when the victim was alive.
Okay, so do you mind if I run over these bodies with my Fring6 kit and look for any compounds or anything like that?
Unless you already have.
By all means.
No, I was about to do a talk screen.
um I can do that while you uh run the main checks if you like.
Great.
I have a 60, do want me to roll it or?
No, I think you've taken classes on this.
um Yeah, you're not finding anything special, but I'd like a human from you.
Yeah.
47 over my base of 10.
Oh, unfortunate.
Hey Magpie, you got human?
yeah, I got some of that.
rolling it for me?
I'd love to do Check that box, Miles.
Yeah, 33, critical success under...
success.
Yeah.
So maybe it's because you're not you're you're helping.
You're not doing the forensics examination.
You're you're holding stuff and just but but you can tell that Dr.
Brower is like either she's having an off day or she is very scatterbrained.
uh She is struggling to perform.
uh
What you understand to be is a fairly simple talk screen.
um She keeps on looking for things that she's already set down and like, it sort of reminds you of like um a loss of faculties due to a lack of sleep.
Yeah, just operating in a bit of fog or haze.
Yeah.
just really like, occasionally just long pauses as she like, figures out what the next step is kind of thing.
Yeah.
I think I'll try to find a kind moment to uh step in and offer, like, you know, does she need an extra hand?
You know, if she fumbles with something, I'll just, you know, step in and pick it up off the ground or something like that.
you know, try and ask if there's a reason why she.
She seems really embarrassed but uh thankful for the help.
Yeah, no, yeah, I don't know what's going on.
Maybe I need more coffee, but like, I think this is getting to me.
um I'm just not feeling, I'm not on my A game today.
I'm really sorry you had to see that.
But I'd love an extra set of hands running this screen.
Yay.
I'll absolutely chip in, but I am gonna run down the hall and get her a cup of coffee first because some things can wait.
uh...
that no i can't um
know, gloves.
Scrubbed up and all.
Yeah, but afterwards that would be great.
Thank you so much.
ah Yeah, and you perform.
Are you performing an autopsy, Miles, or are you doing a forensics like sweet?
Forensic sweep just looking for compounds basically.
I will say, em you know, I look at Magpie and like, we didn't ask this before, but where the fuck are the heads?
Do they know?
think that's probably-
Do not.
You're good.
You are a role for seeing the bodies.
But I love uh that question.
Yeah, and I'll turn to the doctor and say like, yeah, and so heads were not found.
You guys didn't come across those yet.
Nope, found him yet.
um We've got teams sweeping nearby beaches.
We've searched the house pretty thoroughly, but uh you know, feel free to take another crack at it.
um
Yeah, okay, now I'll just stick to looking at the body here and then, yeah.
If I'm not finding anything else, I'll just take my time with it.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
nothing unusual coming up.
The talk screen comes back um pretty well clear on all three of them.
uh One of them, the uh middle man who...
Did you catch their names?
Yeah, is this Ethan right here?
I'll point at the middle one.
It is.
Can you give me a power check real quick?
Sure.
uh 29 under 70.
Yeah, for sure.
Yeah, it's Ethan.
Ethan had a little bit of cocaine in his bloodstream.
Just a little bit.
Like, not enough.
Findable.
not either not a lot or not reason.
Okay, all right, I'll radio that in real quick to Mole and Morrison.
saying like, hey, we got one of the people here that have a little bit of cocaine in them, but it's not a lot, so.
and we're...
similar drug panel run on the people that were not quite detained in the house.
No, we haven't asked them.
We have not asked them to take a drug test yet.
uh Tower, excuse me, Sheriff Tower thought that uh it might make them uncooperative to ask.
But we can.
uh We would have to ask for it voluntarily.
Otherwise, we would have to arrest them to uh mandate one.
Okay.
Well, I think now that we're in circulation here, we could broach that subject with them as I'm sure we'll be speaking to them today if needed, but I appreciate your offer.
Okay, thank you very much.
Yeah, thanks for your help.
This went a lot faster than it would have.
um I'm gonna be out here.
I've got to perform the autopsy, so um I'll let you know if I find anything unexpected.
um
Yeah, thank you very much.
Appreciate it.
It's always nice to work with another professional and I will exit the tent.
Yeah, I think the only other thing that I was trying to glean about the actual bodies themselves is if there was anything unusual or to be noted about the wound itself.
If it was reasonable to determine that this was just a bladed weapon or if there's anything peculiar about it.
Um, I'll let you roll Forensics or Medicine.
roll that.
Medicine seems cool so I'll do that.
30 flat yeah
Yeah, you know, without getting out a microscope and taking tissue samples, uh which you have not done yet, but you could, this looks like a sharp clean cut.
No obvious tearing.
uh The interesting part for you is that the uh vertebrae is...
you look closer and there is a nub of bone down where the bottom part of the...
vertebrae would have been.
And it's sliced.
It's not broken and it is not pulled out, which would be indicative of a tearing or a smashing sort of action.
Whatever this was, uh cut through bone, but didn't break it.
And as far as like actual implements that would be capable of that, is that something that's simply like a, yeah, like a, I don't know, like a CMC machine, water cutter, kind
of a thing, is an, would an actual blade
not.
A water jet cutter would demolish the entire area.
Is there something realistic that would be capable of for sure?
You can cut bone with a sharp heavy implement.
So a sharpen of axe would do this.
It would have to be extremely sharp.
You'd expect a lot more trauma in that area than what you're seeing.
uh But a bladed instrument would be the way to do this.
uh Things like water jet cutters, plasma cutters, wire cutters, those are all intended for extremely hard materials like steel, tungsten, titanium.
On soft materials like human tissue, the tissue explodes.
Today I learned and I can always do it.
Thanks for zooming in for me.
You're welcome.
That's what you get from your medicine check.
But was that useful?
Yeah, I think so.
I just wanted to understand if we really knew what we think was, you know, dealing with...
Something heavy and something sharp.
Exactly.
Not something energized in like a mechanical fashion.
Look for circular cookie cutter,
The heads were not there, that correct?
Yeah, they don't have the heads yet.
we're, you know, she did say we could assist in looking for them.
I don't think we're going to be able to find them at this point.
Unless they're in that safe.
that's my first thought.
Alright, Morrison and Mull, you wanted to start the interviews.
With whom would you like to start?
Well Morrison, what do you think we've you know, we're gonna save a Rob for the rest of us em Hayden's got the easiest in with the meth charge if we want to go hard on the other
hand Frasier seems like she called this in so we could maybe use that as our in there too
I was thinking probably call Frazier.
She seems like the most willing to cooperate and then kind of go up from there
Yeah, okay.
Did we get a sense of where Frazier was?
Was she off by herself or do we know?
She's up by herself.
She's on the first floor.
The tower told you where everyone was.
Yeah, I think you did.
Yeah, think then we make our way towards Frasier.
Okay.
You enter the house and it is a sort of mishmash of decor.
uh There is a lot of like Hindu spiritualism stuff going on, a lot of decorations, uh artifacts, a lot of uh religious iconography and uh statues and paintings, but there's
also uh very modernist furniture.
that sort of sleek chrome style that got popular in the late 80s, early 90s.
there's also like a considerable number of plain old like American antiques, like shaker furniture and woven rugs.
Like there's a nice grandfather clock.
It's all not, it does not cohere.
This is not a well-decorated home.
Hmm.
Okay.
Does it look expensive?
Yeah, And then is there anything up that's got like a rob or any of these other people in the in them like pictures or anything?
oh Yeah
There are a ton, not a ton, there's six or seven photographs on the wall of, you don't know that it's a rav, but there is the same man uh with a beard.
smiling with his arms around uh different groups of people.
So it's a different group of people in every photograph with the same bearded man wearing, you know, like a tunic, white linen tunic with like striped edges down the front.
It's the same tunic in all the photos.
Does he appear to be in like the same place like the house they're in in most of those or they across different?
Yeah, they're all taken in what appears to be a room with glass windows, uh sort of prayer cushions on the floor, and uh a small raised dais up at the top with another prayer
cushion on it.
And they're all standing on the raised dais.
think it's Deus.
okay.
And then we saw Jacqueline and Anthony, so I at least know what their faces are from social media.
Do I recognize any of their faces in the pictures?
We are not in
Got it, okay.
right, think.
Mole clocks that, clocks the expensive stuff.
And is like, huh, expensive taste, huh?
I wonder how he's paying for all this.
And then he ribs Morrison real quick.
Damn, I was thinking the same thing, buddy.
Yeah, we're always on the same page, aren't we, Morrison?
Yeah, and then we have a fight.
This is how Mul acts without megalomania.
Yeah, is.
The therapy did you good, buddy.
You seem different.
Yeah, yeah that therapy man.
It really taught me something about myself.
I took my kids out fishing.
Isn't that crazy?
Yeah.
Hadn't done that in almost a decade.
Well, if you ever want to show them how to shoot, you know someone who can teach them.
Or ski.
I may take you up on that as we're like walking past this bloody crime scene.
Speaking of which, you walk past the photos in...
You walk past the room in the photos.
um It is a bloody crime scene.
looks like a living room converted into a meditation room, prayer room, something.
There are uh kneeling cushions.
There's the dais.
This is the room with the tarp on it outside.
The reason there's a tarp on it outside is because the floor windows
walls and ceilings are all splashed with blood.
Oh, it's just true blood everywhere.
Okay.
Um, do I get a sense of like this is more blood than could come from three bodies?
my medicine is...
zero.
My first date is seventy.
I'll let you roll first aid with a minus 20.
Okay.
Nope, it's 83.
That's a fail.
You know, in those first aid courses they never taught you really how much blood is in a human body and what that looks like on the floor.
I'm pretty sure it's like 52 pints, right?
Does that sound right?
52 pints?
Yeah.
No, it's not.
That's like enough blood for three people or more, I think.
I don't do conversions.
You know I don't do math, Jimmy.
Yeah.
Why would you bring up math in front of everyone?
One weakness.
Is it 52 pints of blood?
I just made that so much blood
Yes, I don't have eight to twelve is apparently normal That's what I'm unit to use Yeah, 52 pints is something like five times the amount of blood a person should be
A week?
sick do you get if you have too much blood?
You usually get blood clots and die.
Yeah, it's pretty bad.
Yeah, you don't want extra blood.
You guys walk past this room.
I don't know if you want to wait to investigate it until you have the rest of your team, but it is uh Morrison and Magpie on their way to go talk to uh Jacqueline Frazier.
Here's my thought.
Do we normally when we do these, since we've done a couple of these, right?
You did, but it's Morrison and Mole.
It's okay.
It's easy to forget me.
ah I think we probably have like a planned out, like I'm not good at that, right?
And I kind of feel like Mole's just gonna walk past it quite honestly.
I don't know if Morrison feels the same way.
uh
What I was thinking, probably because I don't really have like forensics or anything like that, is I just want to make sure stuff's not getting messed with.
ah And I would like a record of that.
So probably as we're walking through, I take the burner that Madison gave me and I'm just like snapping pictures of like everything around real quick.
Yeah, for sure.
Are you texting those to Madison?
yeah, guess I could.
I probably wouldn't like at first because I'm not even necessarily like these aren't like good like intentional frame like crime scene photos I'm trying to surreptitiously as we're
walking through just like snap everything indiscriminately for reference later.
Yeah.
Yeah, I think mole's just- mole's just scanning to see if anybody's fucking with stuff and as long as he sees nobody fucking with stuff he's just gonna- speak.
in there.
In fact, it is police taped off the doorway.
You would have to duck the tape to get in.
Morrison, you realize at this point, uh Madison has not called you or texted you any information on any of the involved parties.
it's been...
How long has it been?
You guys met at eight and it's early afternoon now.
Yeah, so it's probably been like six, seven hours.
Yeah, I probably could just text her like any updates on the, you know, involved parties.
Sure, didn't expect one.
But we'll put that on the burner.
Yeah, are you guys going to talk to Jacqueline?
Yeah, I Jacqueline first.
I think B-line to Jacqueline.
There is a cop there standing outside a first floor bedroom door.
Hey, you the FBI guys?
yeah, Agent Mole.
Agent Morrison.
Hey, yeah, great to meet you.
I'm Officer uh Hickey.
nice oh
that's a good Irish name.
You
Ken Vouch
ah Well officer we were hoping to talk to this Jacqueline lady ah We wanted you know, we're we're not trying to take over but we talked to Sheriff Tower and he said that he
could use some help
absolutely.
Go on in.
em She's uh been cooperative, but she is way out of it, whatever they were doing in there.
really?
Yeah, really, I...
yeah, been there.
Um, do you think- Oh, it's just metaphor.
Do you think- do think have any wounds or anything?
Not that she...
Not that I saw, not that she complained of.
Okay, okay.
Okay, well, if it's okay with you, Agent Morris and I are gonna kinda take a good cop, bad cop approach to this and see if we can get any information from Jacqueline.
Isn't that right, Morrison?
And then I rib him.
um
Mm-hmm.
Yeah, go on.
You want me
You want me to stay here or...
uh
If you could give us just like a little bit of privacy, that'd be really helpful for us.
For sure.
Do you need any, I know you probably got your own stuff, but do need like recording equipment?
Are you taking statements?
Yeah, can record on my, I've got my agency phone here, records, I can send it right back to our field office, so we're good.
Awesome
Cool.
And then we step into the room.
Excellent.
Yeah, there is a middle aged woman in here.
Mid fifties, maybe em short black hair going gray.
uh She has spots of dried blood on her neck and upper arm and lower arms, where it seems as though she didn't quite manage to scrub it all away.
um
She is staring.
She's sitting on the edge of a bed staring blankly at the floor.
She looks up.
Are you Miss Frazier?
I am.
ah Can you give us a little information on what happened here?
I'm Agent Morrison.
This is Agent Mole, my partner.
We're just here trying to gather some info and figure out what happened.
Yeah, for sure.
um I can tell you, you're not gonna believe me.
None of the other cops believe me.
Give us a shot.
Hey, we've got a little bit more of an open mind here in the agency.
Okay, well, are you recording this?
would say yeah, but just in my pocket.
I don't necessarily know.
no, no, you don't have to like put a mic in her face
probably what I would do is like video and then stick it in my pocket with the like, okay, so let's like video and audio
That's a good call.
I like that a lot.
um Are you broadcasting this to Miles and Magpie?
Hmm is there a way for me to do it probably not I mean I they could like hear us talking yes yes yeah unlike the comms but I wouldn't be like streaming the phone signal to their
cell phone
mean, are you keeping your...
Oh, yeah, com's
Yeah, I think so, because I
mean, you could just put it on Facebook Live and then we could all tune in.
Yeah.
Just spread whatever contagion that's-
A wild thing to-
It could be pretty fun though.
uh Alright.
So, I am here for the mindfulness meditation retreat that um Pujari Arav offers and it's been really great.
All the classes have been going really well.
Yeah, I'm here for um Pujari Arav's mindfulness and meditation class.
um It's been great so far.
It's been really great.
It's been...
um
I feel a lot calmer than I was going in.
I really feel a lot more centered.
um This COVID-19 thing has been really hard for me and I was feeling um a lot better.
I'm not anymore, but yesterday was supposed to be the last day of the class.
um was the capstone class, actually, where we put together
everything that we learned through all the all the all the two weeks and and put it all together in a sort of a uh culmination of our practices and I was sitting in the
meditation room I was sitting next to the window I was and she's got her eyes closed while she's trying to remember exactly what happened I was going through the the the
The forms that Pujariya Arav teaches, there's a series of shapes em that you imagine changing from one to the next that go along with the mantra that you breathe in and
breathe out.
And we were going through the forms and we were all chanting the mantra and we got to the end.
And I remember there was a, there's this weird
like sucking, slurping noise.
And something wet and hot hit my face and I opened my eyes and they were dead.
And I didn't and I couldn't think I started to scream but I don't really remember a whole lot after that but I called 911 and they asked me to stay here while they talked to
everybody and it's been really
That's where we are.
Okay.
ah Where were you sitting in the room relative to the people who were injured?
Um, Tony was sitting next to me.
um Ethan was sitting next to Tony, uh, and then it was, uh, Anthony and then I, well, I, I think it was, then it was Anthony, uh, and then Eleanor, but they might've been switched.
I don't remember, but, I remember that Ethan liked to sit in the middle.
And dad had you done this chant before was this the with this capstone the first time you were doing it?
We learned it in pieces.
It's kind of long.
So we learned the pieces, we learned the first verse, and then we learned the second verse, and then we the third verse, and then we learned the first form, and then we
learned the second form, and then we learned the third form.
It all comes together and it's very centering.
Yeah.
Okay.
And you said you've been here for like two weeks, something like that?
Yeah, the students stay in the bedrooms on the first floor.
ah
How'd you hear about this course?
um I saw a review of it online.
um It's inexpensive, but it's got really great reviews.
And yesterday was the first day that you'd done all four, you said four forms and four parts of the mantra all together.
Three and three.
Okay.
Did he have those written down for you guys to look at or practice or how did he just teach you them?
He's yeah, he's he's got him written down.
Do you do you need to know him?
you want?
I don't need to hear him right now, that may be something we can discuss here.
We may need your help with that.
em
Can you spell them?
Uhhhh...
again?
No, can I pull out a notebook and say can you write them down in reverse order?
Uhhh, I don't think I can.
Okay, it's alright.
And the forms, you said you imagined changing shape?
Yeah.
I guess maybe I could write it down in reverse order if I start at the end and write it backwards.
Yeah, it's just right the last part.
Specifically, I want to get her to do this in a way that it's jumbled.
So if it's some spell, it's not going to actually work or maybe just have her write like two parts of it.
You're like, do the second first and the third second.
She starts writing some shit and is like, is actually really hard.
I can read it out loud to you if you want and you don't have to say it if you want to write it down.
No, I can't be we can figure that out later.
I appreciate that but
Yeah, yeah.
Alright.
So what was the goal, I guess, of this?
What was gonna happen at the end of this?
Were you gonna be more well?
you know, you're going through this ritual.
What was supposed to happen?
No, it's a mantra.
You chant it and you empty your mind.
It's supposed to let you take yourself away from your current concerns and the current worldly problems that you face.
And when you finish, it's meditation.
Have you ever done, have you never done meditation?
think he just scoffs very quietly.
He's like, no, uh.
There isn't a goal.
You're emptying your mind so that when you come back to yourself, you're more centered, you're more calm, you're more able to deal with everyday life.
Click run with your brain through a washing machine.
Clear out all the stuff.
Yeah, I use booze for that, but I appreciate what you're saying.
So, but this is a top stone, you're saying, to this?
Like, this was gonna be your final go-through with all this, or...?
Mm.
Okay.
And you didn't know anybody who had taken this before, you just purely review's online.
Yeah.
It was so cheap that I felt like if it sucked I could just leave.
That's actually.
Okay.
Did Mr.
Arav indicate if he'd ever done these specific, you know, mantras and shapes before?
Yeah, he was, I mean, he was teaching us out of like an old book that he seemed very familiar with.
Do you know where he kept that old book?
Yeah.
I know I would have thought he kept it in the prayer room, but now that I think about it, there's nowhere to really keep a book.
Maybe in his bedroom, in his office.
Sorry, I don't.
Hey, it's alright.
It's okay.
We have to ask, as a matter of procedure, were there any substances, uh legal or illegal, involved in any of this?
Okay.
Did you witness anyone else using any kind of substances?
No.
Okay.
Did you know he has a safe?
Have you ever seen him access the safe?
No.
No, I mean you're in a nice house.
I'm not surprised.
He's got a say.
Be nice money
You're an accountant, right?
Did it strike you as weird that he charges so little but has such a nice place?
It seems eccentric, but he's really good at what he does and maybe he's doing it as an act of service.
person.
a fucking face Sam is making.
Wow.
I've never seen a more incredulous skeptical look.
Such fucking scorn.
Yeah, pure sport.
that and Morrison are both probably thinking the same thing, but Morrison's like, hmm, and Mull's like, that's bullshit.
Yeah, think Mole is not able to hold in that.
that.
ah okay, well, Jackie, if you don't mind me calling you that, um, we need to talk to some of the other people who are here.
Um, is it okay?
Are you okay staying here right now while we figure out kind of where everybody else is and what's going on?
I don't want anything else to happen.
I know you've seen a lot.
Okay.
Uh, then I think Mole probably just pieces out quite honestly.
walks out.
Thank you, ma'am.
we step out of the room and we're kind of out at earshot of the police officer, I'd say on the comps, magpie, miles, did you catch all that?
Any thoughts, advice for the next round?
I would try to see if he was teaching them this chant.
Like they had to have had something to read off of.
Like there's got to be some sort of paper element to this already that doesn't require somebody to write it down.
I would try to find something like that.
Yeah.
Yeah, she did say that he taught it to them in three parts.
I'm wondering if he taught them each part separately verbally and then if that was the trigger, it was just them saying it all together at the end.
Yeah.
And if they were all saying it together, why are there survivors, right?
Yeah, it's
Yeah, maybe we can see if uh Anthony felt that the other three got any special attention or something different with like how they were treating how, Arav was treating them.
Yeah.
And then we should look for that book if we can.
Yeah, with the bodies, did you notice anything that seemed similar among the three?
Yeah, I mean, they don't have heads.
There's also a circle cut out of the back of them.
Just one.
Just Just one.
The middle one, I believe.
think that one was no...
or Ethan Davis is my guess, had a circle cut out.
So maybe that's something you could bring up in the next interview if they remember anything about the event.
And we're almost done here, so we're going to head up soon.
anything I should look for on the way in.
Yeah, we walked past what they called the prayer room.
It was a bit, I want to say to the right, after we walked in the back door.
Yeah, check that out.
That's where everything went down.
There's a lot of blood in there.
Okay.
We might want to all meet up and look at it together at some point, but it's definitely big.
All right.
And keep an eye out for that book.
If we can find that anywhere, that could be helpful too.
Liam, you there?
How you doing?
Okay.
Do you have any input, feedback, comments?
concerns.
How are we doing?
We're all looking for a promotion himself.
this all seems fine.
I think that you are probably safe from whatever this is.
If you ask, what's her name?
Either Jacqueline or Hayden to tell you the words or tell you those, uh, the shapes they have to imagine, but not both.
Yeah, I wondered about that.
Yeah, I kinda wondered if it's like a, gotta put it all together kinda thing.
I-I'm-I-that's what I would assume.
I would not.
You could ask Jacqueline for the words and ask Hayden for the shapes.
Yeah, I thinking about that.
I wouldn't ask one of them for both if I were you.
Alright.
Is it a trap?
I know.
Yeah, I- no.
What was I gonna say?
I just bust open the door and say, Jacqueline, what are the shapes?
I don't do that.
Tell me the shapes now.
All right.
Do we want to circle back and ask her that now?
Let's go ahead.
would seriously want to yeah we're down here we may as well so do we
just like Kramer back in the door and say, Jackie.
Yeah, do a Columbo.
One more.
One more question.
uh Yeah, I guess we do probably um open up the door again after that discussion and just be like ah Jackie could you just show us those shapes that you were talking about would
that be something you could do?
yeah, sure.
Um, do you have a piece of paper I could borrow?
yeah.
Neat.
Ribs Morrison.
And she gets out a piece of paper and starts drawing on it.
And while she's drawing, she's talking.
these first couple of shapes, they're in the first third.
em You have to imagine them transitioning from one to the other.
It lines up with...
em
I cover, uh, I cover mole's eyes.
I don't want them to see the shapes.
Like, hey bud, look elsewhere, just to be safe.
Instead of looking super weird about this, Mul just look away?
Yeah, think we, yeah, I think actually instead of you covering my eyes, uh you like elbow me back and I just kind of start staring up at the ceiling so that in case one of us
starts doing something weird.
Yeah, so she's drawing shapes, uh basic uh platonic ideals, ah then dividing them with vertical and horizontal lines.
uh It looks a lot like sacred geometry sort of stuff.
Circles, triangles, triangles become stars, stars become hexagons, octagons, decagons.
And it's a progressional sort of thing.
She's talking through the whole thing about this.
This transition happens on, uh, alpha.
This transition happens on grows, but that sort of thing.
this happens in the second verse.
Um, this happens in the third.
I did this wrong.
It's okay, tell us exactly how you did it.
Yeah, we want to know the right way in the wrong way as he's staring up at the ceiling.
Yeah, I know what and she stops and she goes rigid and Her eyes sort of rolled back.
Do either of you have medicine?
You've got first aid, right?
This looks like she's about to go into a seizure um and right before she uh begins to topple forward her head uh begins caving in Like there's a black hole at the center of her
brain
What?
Soon her entire skull collapses in on itself in a matter of half a second like a dying star spraying the entire room with blood.
I'd like a sand check for both of you.
Hey, I'm looking up at the ceiling.
Oh, that is...
68 under 71.
Jesus Christ, okay.
That's a 54 and a 40.
Okay, I'd like one from a success, I'd like a D6 for a failure.
Five.
Where the center of presumably five?
Yep.
That's no good.
It's not good.
It's not good at all, actually.
How do you feel about fighting, flighting, and freezing?
Well, you know what?
We're gonna put a pause on that.
Okay.
You're gonna fight, flight, or freeze in just a second.
Sounds good.
Because where the center, probably the center of mass of her brain was, there is a small pinprick of a hole in the air, in space.
And through that pinprick of a hole,
become a flurry of thin, wriggling tentacles thrashing outwards into the space, blindly like horsehair worms in water.
And they whip and grab and wrap around the two of you, and we are in dexterity order.
Oh, god.
So would you like to fight, flight, or freeze?
I think mole is probably fight, then flight, then freeze.
think freeze is the antithesis of mole.
Sounds good.
1, 2, and 3 is fight.
4 and 5 is flight.
And 6 is freeze.
Probably don't want to roll a freeze right this second.
well, I rolled the freeze.
Alright, give me a D4 will ya?
Yeah.
Okay.
Two.
Jimmy, we fucked this up.
Yep, that's alright.
Uh, can...
let me see.
Jimmy, you've got...
or Morrison has a 15, Magpie has a 17, Mull has a 12, and Miles has a 7.
It's going...
the order is going to be Magpie, Jimmy, the tentacles, Mull, and Miles.
Magpie, over the comms, you hear a sickening, crunching, sort of slurping noise.
Like somebody drinking the last bits of a milkshake.
while chewing on a carrot.
What's up?
ah
Where are we in relation to this actual happening?
you are in a medical tent outside wrapping up a not an autopsy but a forensic investigation.
Okay.
And about your...
And about how much frantic running would it take to get us in the fray, or are we just on comms for this, do we think?
Well, you could get inside the house no problem.
You could get up to the second floor.
You could start kicking in doors.
You got six seconds to get somewhere.
But do you know where?
Yeah, I mean, I think I am running inside the house and then I am listening for that sound in real life compared to my ear.
Totally.
Okay.
I love it.
Give me alertness.
Sure, I do like that.
yeah, 25.
25?
Yeah, you hear that noise and a sort of whistling of moving air.
um It's down this hallway.
You think it's one of these doors.
I assume, Morrison and Mull, you shut the door.
Mm-hmm.
Yeah.
But it's on this floor, it's nearby.
Morrison, what up?
gosh, how do I fight off tentacle worms from like a pinpoint black hole that are grabbing myself?
I ask myself that every day.
Is there any kind of cutting implement nearby?
Probably not.
Okay.
I mean, you have a knife.
Sure.
If you want, like, flip, a fold out.
or like in your first aid kit.
I mean I thought about that, but I specifically mention it so yeah, I mean
an outdoorsy guy, you have a knife.
Okay, fair enough.
Yeah, I probably like grab that and just start like hacking to try and like separate these things from my
Give me a melee weapons.
That is the...
on a 50.
That's pretty good.
Yeah.
Yeah, they are going to fight back.
No, they're not actually.
Never mind.
okay.
I should do that.
Roll damage.
It's a D4 plus.
What's your strength?
Uhhhhmmm...
70 or 14.
I don't know what the bonus is.
gonna say it's a default plus one.
There are damage bonuses.
I don't remember how to do them ever.
It's only on melee weapons and it's only for strength and I never and it's in one like shitty...
table yeah yeah
Three?
Okay.
actually, and I'm sorry to do this, could I have Jimmy and Malco another sand check for the tentacles?
Jimmy, mean Morrison.
uh
problem.
under now uh 70.
Hell yeah, seven on a 34.
That is a one sand loss for each of you.
Big success, Mo.
Yeah.
Yes.
Okay.
ah It is the feelers, the tentacles turn.
They are...
Two things are gonna happen.
First is the hole begins to widen as thicker and thicker tendrils begin to push through.
And there's something odd about the thicker tendrils.
They are...
filamentitious, or almost...
They remind you of those lattice funguses.
They appear to be full of openings and holes that lead not quite through, but the holes sort of shift and open and close and shut and reform and disappear across the entirety of
these larger tentacles.
And they're going to attack both of you at the same time.
I'm going to roll twice.
Morrison, this is going to be a 42, which is going to be a hit.
Would you like to fight back or dodge?
You will lose your next attack turn.
And then for Moe, I've got a 67, which is a miss, so you do not have to...
you don't get to fight back, you're frozen.
Well, one of the larger tentacles sort of wraps around your left leg and begins winding itself up towards your torso, towards your waist, sliding upwards.
Mall's just catatonic, I think.
He's just like muttering to himself.
I think he's muttering to He's like, Paulson 494, Paulson 494, Coca-Cola, Coca-Cola.
Just thinking about all those items he bought, he stole from people.
That's his mantra.
It is Mul's turn.
Mul chance.
uh It is Miles's turn.
Yeah, Miles is listening on the radio and he is like, guys, guys realizes that they're broadcasting and they can't hear him.
Looks up and see Magpie's already gone and is just chasing after Magpie as fast as he can.
Just trying to catch up and be right on his heels, basically.
Yeah, okay.
You can do that, no problem.
um If you give me an alertness, knowing that Magpie has honed in on the first floor, maybe you can figure out what door this noise is coming from.
Yeah.
Yeah, 37 over a 23.
Yeah, that's going to be the second door on the left, you're pretty sure.
You call it out?
uh
no, he's scared, so he's just running, so.
Okay.
I mentioned to Magpie who goes next.
Okay, get fucked.
You're up Magpie.
Oh, that is a good question.
I'm so sorry.
I forgot.
He has a dex of 10, so he acts before Miles.
He dashes out into the hallway and is following Magpie's lead.
Yeah, yeah, just figured he's probably just dashing too.
Um, he has a gun out.
He has drawn his weapon.
Yeah, I think I'm gonna do the same, just given what I'm hearing.
It doesn't sound altogether good.
em Is there a thrashing and a crashing that is more prominent now than before?
I think everyone in the bedroom is staying awful quiet and is just doing this in, it sounds like, dead silence.
Am I correct?
I mean there's probably some like grunts and stuff but when it was just a little tentacles I was like okay if I can just cut these off we're good but and that's why I cut the first
time but now that there's big tentacles coming out I'm probably gonna start blasting.
And I'm mumbling to myself about all the deals I've gotten, so.
Tell you what, Magpie, if you pass another alertness check, you'll know where it is and have enough time to get in there.
I want that.
Yeah, 44, critical success.
critical success as you hone in on that rushing, whistling noise.
Which sounds a lot like air moving through a tight passage.
What do do?
Air moving through a tight passage?
okay, sorry, what's the arrangement of doors on the first floor here?
What am I looking-
There's a...
you're running past this meditation room and then there's a row of what appear to be bedroom doors.
You hear the noise coming from the second one.
Okay, it is coming from the second one.
Yeah, well then I'm throwing open the door.
No questions asked.
Alright, give me luck.
No, 81.
You run past a cop on the way in.
It's the cop who was guarding the door.
Although you can't really know that.
You rush in.
Do you kick in the door or do you open it like
I think I'm still running.
Yeah, shoulder open with a hand.
Okay.
Yeah, you bust through the door and there is just truly madness in this room.
There's a headless corpse on the floor, the walls are painted in blood, there's thin, whipping, wriggling tentacles wrapped around Morrison and Mull, and more reaching out for
the walls, the ceiling, the floor, all from this one little point in the air where it seems like the air in the room is rushing out through that...
pinprick making that sort of whistling howling noise and as you're watching you see more thin and more thick and more medium of these tendrils push their way out sort of widening
this black speck tearing it as they push through
Holy.
Um, okay.
That looks like a lot.
don't have.
Yeah.
Okay.
Footnote on that one.
You're sneaking in.
Yeah.
94.
Nothing doing.
I'd like a d6, Alfie.
we're so fuc-
would oh
far away is
Nope.
Yeah, um, yeah, I mean I'm at 64 now and breaking point is 56.
I got some room.
Great, sounds like a plan.
Yeah, okay.
I don't have an automatic weapon to do anything with this big mess of tentacles.
uh priority number one for me is Mr.
Mole.
And so I'm going over to him.
I've got an arm uh around his backside, kind of just under both of his arms, ready to drag him backwards.
And I'm going to take my heavy pistol and tung tung tung into the tentacle that's creeping up his leg.
Yeah, okay, sure.
absolutely.
Roll firearms for me.
Yes sir.
Eh...
try not to critically fail.
Yeah, it's a 99.
Are you f***ing me?
I'm not joking.
all.
Sorry, Mo.
Yeah, yeah, did I mention it's the heavy pistol?
Oh my god mole has nine hit points oh
Yeah, yeah, we're okay.
It's only three.
The...
the tendril shifts right at the last second and you put a bullet directly behind Mul's kneecap.
You shoulder in the door, run up to Maul, grab him, blow out his kneecap, and start dragging him while that same knee is held firmly in place by this large tendril.
Well, I mean you are getting it out of order just a little.
I started Dragon before I started Blast and I just missed a little bit.
you
Pull up his, stupor.
Yeah, can I be awake now or what?
Yeah, are you better now, mole?
Did that-
shock therapy motherfuckers
Cool that's hilarious clear.
Thanks for that em
Here, shots fired.
And so does every other cop in the building.
Yeah, I'm probably doing essentially the same thing that Magpie and Muller are to do, which is back away and trying to like blast these tentacles.
Are you trying to break free or do you want to shoot?
I would also accept straight strength.
Strength is 70.
Yeah, 23.
That passes on any of those.
Great.
You fully untangle your- you're not gonna deal damage.
Um, but you- you rip them.
They- they're- they're sticking to you.
And ripping them off hurts.
You see where those little opening and closing holes have been?
They're- they're- they're catching your skin as they do so.
No, I wouldn't say suckers.
They just tear my skin.
Magically.
Well, no, it's- it's- if you put something like a- Mm-hmm.
You pressed it on your skin and then-
they're pinching.
Okay, I see.
Yeah, I got it.
They're pressing over you as openings and then closing to nothing.
Hmm, that sounds like I'm gonna get little bit of scars there.
Um, who's up?
It is...
Agent Ian.
Agent Ian makes it onto the scene and rolls San.
I do, yes.
alright, cool.
Agent Liam got a 13, a 60, so that's alright.
He just takes one and he starts blasting.
He got a 94 on a 50, but at least it wasn't a crit.
Thank you.
He doesn't shoot mole in the other knee.
Okay, okay.
walk in and execute mode.
No.
So good.
It's so good.
You're like, I'll help you.
no, fuck, sorry.
This is what I was hired for, remember that.
Yeah
You are not guarding my body at all.
You're guarding his mind.
You got him out of the freeze.
For his benefit.
Uh, the next up is the cop down the hallway who is going to run up next to Agent Liam.
Look inside, roll a San, roll a 70, take three San damage and drop his gun onto the ground.
He begins to back up.
uh Next is Miles.
I think mole's next if he's awake now.
yeah, guess I am.
Yeah, it's okay.
That's alright.
Question for you, is the...
there's air moving currently, is it pushing out from the hole or sucking into the hole?
How close are you looking?
I mean, as close as I could see, think with Mole, well first off, Mole wakes up and from this thing and he's like, Paulson494Paul, and then he's like, what the fuck?
And looks down at his leg that's been blown to pieces and kind of stares at like you guys and then at the hole and is like, fuck.
I think what he wants to know is if he could throw something into the hole, would it like get sucked into the hole itself or would it get like pushed out?
Do what I mean?
Yeah, give me alertness.
Don't fuck it up.
I fucked it up, 61 on 25.
One, you are sure, you're sure that the air is rushing from the room into the hole.
You can feel it moving on your skin.
The fuck up here is, I think, looking a little too close and looking through the gaps.
Because the hole isn't actually black anymore.
You can see a little ways through it.
And there is something on the other side.
a deep, dim redness further through.
Can he shout out, throw something at the hole?
think that...
I don't know.
Truly he's just like panicked.
Like throw something at the hole, cover it up.
Yeah, he can totally shat that, for sure.
And he does so.
Did anyone bring grenades?
No.
Throw it at the hole.
I could just chuck the laptop into the hole and see if it closes up.
How big is the hole right now?
Right now, ah it's probably about 10 inches in diameter.
Okay.
Is it getting bigger?
Yes.
It gets bigger every time a new tendril pushes through.
It sort of shoves the edge to the- It's prying.
There's a prying action being taken.
Yeah, are you gonna throw your laptop?
Can I throw my laptop?
I would love to throw my laptop at that thing.
yeah, okay.
Can you puncture the battery first?
Fucking 87 on a 60.
I just, I think I tried to throw it but then I like go on my bad knee and I'm like, oh fuck, and it drops down to the ground.
Yeah, sorry.
What up, Miles?
You're on the scene.
Miles is stopping as he's seen this cop go in there.
It looks like a full room and he's
The cop doesn't go in.
The cop is outside the room looking in, backing up in...
Yeah, horror.
Yeah, and Miles will think like something's going down and there's gunshots.
I need to go find this motherfucker.
I need to go find Arav.
And I remember what room he was in, so I'm just going to take off toward the room he's in as fast as possible.
Awesome.
Yeah, you're gonna skip this whole thing.
This is looking in at all.
No, absolutely not.
Hell yeah, hell yeah.
When everyone else is reminiscing about this or talking about it at all, you'd be like, I don't fucking know what to
know what you're talking about.
Yeah.
I don't know if I can get to where he's at in this six seconds.
Yeah, sure.
Okay, you can get upstairs and you've, what's your navigate?
Yeah
I'll let you roll navigate to find the room he was in, having only seen it from the outside.
What's base 10, 20?
10 and I rolled a 78.
I'm just gonna go up and I'm gonna do it.
Yeah, but I'm gonna shout um if there are other cops up there like where is a Rav?
Grab him.
uh The cops are in the process of like running downstairs um One of them pauses like as you're going past him is like he's fourth door.
It's his office.
He's in there
Yeah, I'm just gonna get as close to that as I can.
Yeah, you can get to the door.
Okay, Magpie, it's your turn.
Mole was insistent on trying to get something into this hole, right?
What's the tentacles, if we're tug of war on Mr.
Mole, who's winning that?
Does it feel like?
I think you lost last time.
Yeah, yeah, no that does make sense.
Yeah, okay Being like I guess what I'm asking is like does it feel as though I am contending with a semi truck or m Do I need to try and find a different way to free him?
You can move mull.
These are made...
They're not made of steel.
They're made of...
upon further inspection, you don't know what they're made of, but it's not hard.
They flex, they bend, they twist.
Yeah.
Okay.
I think I'm going to try and pull him through the door and close the door on the tentacle.
We're going to do opposed strength checks.
I've got a 31, which is a success.
Got a 99.
Bye.
What is we are so at fuck I don't know you have different
My strength is a 6- I was looking for an 80.
I oh had a pretty good chance.
Yeah, you did.
my god.
Yeah, those were, that's bad.
What do you think is a good consequence of fucking this up?
I think it is holding on to the leg that is holding on by fibrous tendons and I'm pulling on that.
like, I think...
is critical clip failure for me is what you're saying.
Yeah, yeah, uh
what the last one was too, my guy.
It's true, whatever.
I'm the tank, it's fine.
You're the tank, yeah I guess now.
I think rather than what do you think damaging mole further?
I Think what might happen is you're pulling you're pulling you're you've got moles arm like you're doing that thing where you've grabbed him by his wrist and he's grabbed you by
your wrist and you're pulling and he's screaming because the thing has him by the leg and You slip
And Mull goes flying back, back into the room, back towards this...
the core...
the core of tentacles uh and these ropey, twisty tendrils just wrap around his arms and around his waist and around his ribs and around his neck and around his mouth and across
his eyes.
What do you think?
Better or worse?
I, Jordan, would just like to say that I'm sorry.
It's totally fine.
Ha ha!
Whoopsie daisies, dude.
whoop, you know, you can't win them all.
Sometimes you just get shot by your partner.
To be fair, I have a good history of like the first time my character needs to do the main thing that it's there for.
Just everything will go wrong.
So.
We run Hot or Cold, I've noticed.
We'll have full episodes where we just are killing it, and then full episodes where it's just critical failure after critical failure.
Yeah, no, that sounds great to me, that he is being pulled into this whole thing.
How far does he get into that with a critical failure?
What's Morrison up to?
Well, I had a plan.
What was it?
Well, what I wanted to do is I'm imagining that since mole fucked up throwing his laptop, it's laying on the floor.
Sure.
I really do want to like pop the like lithium battery out, stab it with my knife and throw that at the hole.
uh
for sure let you do that.
If you succeed, you're gonna kill Mul.
Okay, yeah, that's...
that was my concern.
That's why I say I had a plan.
That's a pretty good concern.
I'll let you do it.
And no hard feelings, if you kill me.
I said no hard feelings, Jimmy, if you kill me.
Just remember, who your game mom is.
You
We do know who really killed you, but...
Yeah, mean there's something to be said for the last shot fired especially when I could just pull him away Yeah, I guess that's probably what I do is I I don't know like try to
peel the tentacles off I you know, he's essentially like completely wrapped at this point.
I imagine it's like when people try to just pull Yeah, cut him out.
Yeah
Gimme a uh melee weapons.
Don't fuck it up.
that is a...
That's a pass.
What is my melee?
It's a seven.
What is my melee weapons?
It's pretty good.
50!
Seven will do it?
Okay.
Yeah, roll damage.
That's a fine knife, it's a 1D4?
Yeah, 1D4.
Uh, 2.
Okay, you are able to pull quite a lot of these off of them all.
You're you've got them most of the way clear.
um You notice two odd things.
This is the second time you've uh sort of attacked these with a knife, right?
You haven't actually cut any of them.
They are responding to the knife's edge and moving back as if in pain, but there are no visible marks.
Hmm.
Okay.
This is an FYI.
Yeah, really wish I had that flamethrower right now.
Should have gotten a legal flamethrower, Should have spent a bond.
Then you could be the one to kill Mul.
Mul, you're-
Okay, here's my question for you.
I have on my sheet that I had a pistol that I hold.
Is that okay for me to have?
I think he's...
Get my gun out.
So yeah, this may be the last time.
So he has, I had targeting, a targeting laser on the pistol.
Okay, because there's just so much shit.
or, okay, I think you can actually.
What's your firearms?
Firearms is 40 %
Okay, roll this with a plus 40.
Okay.
uh
Cool.
That sounds good, because he's just gonna pull it out from his holster and fucking start firing.
Screaming in pain.
Are you fucking kidding me?
A 78 on weight 80.
That's good.
Yeah.
Oh man.
Okay, so he pulls that out.
of course.
It's got the little like the hand size
Yeah
Daringer, it's a Daringer.
Six.
Okay.
All righty.
um Yeah.
Every time you're squeezing shots off, you're blasting away and every time you...
Every time you're pretty sure you marked a tentacle, it like rears back, it flinches, it shakes, it lets go of whatever it was holding.
um
but there's no blood, there's no holes.
Well, there's a lot of holes, but you can't tell if you've made any new ones, um which isn't, you know, ideal.
uh Next is Agent Liam, ah who is going to uh squeeze the trigger.
He's got a 47, uh which is not enough, unfortunately.
We're a bunch of jackasses right now.
Totally fucking everything up.
Uh, that cop that was hanging out in the hallway, turns heel, to run and begins to run.
Miles, what are you up to?
Yeah, Miles slams through the door into the office.
He runs up to Arav, pulls out his pistol and just immediately smacks him on the side of the head with it.
Not like, not like, he's trying to hurt him, but it's like more of an intimidation tactic.
Yeah, sure.
Is this the room the safe is in?
melee weapons.
you hit and deal damage with this, will get a to any persuasion rolls following this up.
You've got a plus 20 to this because he's handcuffed to a chair.
Beautiful.
Okay, so my melee's at 50 and I rolled a 63.
with the, thank God.
Yes.
So you would have been hilarious if you run in there and just like swing wildly.
Miss.
fall.
What's your strength?
Give me a D4 plus one?
Okay, that'll be a three.
Yes, plus one.
Ah, in a second.
13 to 16 plus one 17 to 18 plus two.
I have 16.
So I smack him on the head.
Is the safe in this room?
yeah, there's a wall safe.
You- how much damage did you just deal to this guy?
Three.
Okay.
Pistol weapon.
essentially I say, what the fuck is the combination to that safe?
Roll persuade with a plus 20.
Alright.
95 over 40.
Uh, he is terrified.
Okay.
And just sits there looking at you stunned.
Yeah, you know, that's probably my turn, but to end the turn, I'm going to put the barrel of the pistol up against his temple and I'm going to wrap my arm around his neck and start
choking him.
Hell yeah.
Okay, let's fucking go.
All right.
Magpie, it's your turn.
You got six seconds in here with me, brother!
You
Love that.
Okay.
I haven't been particularly effective uh thus far, but I think that just calls for a different tactic.
um I'm still a pretty big lumbering guy, and so I'm going to kind of like gear up for a bowl rush so that like if Morrison is like
peeling some of these tentacles off to the side, I'm gonna come from like an angle that's behind him and try and pull them, pull Mo like opposite the direction that Morrison is
pulling as I just kind of like tackle him in his midsection and try to just pull him out of the mass of tentacles here.
Yeah, okay.
what do you want to roll for that?
Ah!
I think it'd be strength or athletics, but it's up to you.
Strength is better.
I prefer that one.
I would even accept melee, or not melee.
Well, I would accept melee if you're using a knife to do it, but you could also do unarmed.
Okay, gotcha.
Just whatever's best for I think it's brute force.
Yeah, 77 is a critical success because we're dealing with a here, okay
Hell yeah.
Success
on strength, I'm imagining is like a
check.
I'm coming for you brother!
and just like grabbing him and tackling him out of it.
um You rip him free of the tentacles.
Mul, this is excruciating.
Your clothes are, and your skin is full of holes, but you're not being held anymore.
So that's terrific.
Feels good to be free, free at last.
Feels good.
Morrison, what are you doing?
Um, do I notice any change in the tentacles behavior once Mul and I are both free?
Okay.
they're still sort of questing around the room.
like, yeah, I mentioned like a horsehair worm.
Yeah, so then I would like to do my previous plan of stab the battery and then chuck it into the hole.
Say goodbye to your laptop, mole.
I think I'm just nodding emphatically.
Go for it.
That's what you want.
I do believe throwing a grenade is straight dex.
I believe throwing a laptop grenade is a dex minus 20.
Okay, that's still a pass.
got 39 and minus 20 would be 55.
So 39 on a modified 55.
I love it.
Yeah, you whip this battery such that it lodges at the sort of hole in space and at the sort of root of a uh branching, splitting area of the tentacles and nothing happens for
like three seconds.
before the lithium ion battery erupts into gouts of blue and red fire.
Could you please give me a D12?
Oh my god
ah Seven.
Alright, you deal seven damage.
Okay.
It is the tentacles turn.
And as quickly as they came, the tentacles whip back out of the room, leaving nothing except for a smoldering, smoking, burning laptop, a headless woman, and two men
impersonating federal agents next to a corpse.
Are we still in turn-based mode?
you might want to be, it depends on what you want to do about all these cops.
yeah, Morrison wants to yell, go get that guy, the cop that ran.
Agent Hickey.
Or not agent, Officer Hickey.
Or can I go get him?
I don't know, I assumed I wasn't really in a state to run after him, but...
Yeah, I'm to figure out what more state is right now.
Not great, you got kneecapped.
Yeah, I did get kneecapped.
ah I guess first thought...
go ahead.
Yeah.
will let you chase down Officer Hickey if you give me a con check.
Me or Mole?
Or both?
Well, you have taken your turn.
Yeah.
Tentacles act after you.
Mull is up.
It is Mull's turn to do stuff.
If you pass a contract, I'll let you run on that leg.
Okay.
Yeah, I think we probably need to get the one person who's seeing what's going on because he's the only cop so far that actually saw all that shit, right?
everyone else is coming downstairs though.
Well, I guess you don't know.
Yeah, let me, uh, yeah, okay.
Holy fucking shit, a 71 on a 50%, so no.
you start to jog and collapse.
Yeah, I'm just like, oh fuck my knee.
Alright, uh it is...
yeah, okay.
It's Agent Liam's turn.
And, he...
Oops.
Sorry, one sec.
Got my die.
You cannot believe how many failures we had.
That's fucking hilarious.
It's my favorite thing.
It is excellent.
I love it.
Alright, Agent Liam gets a 39 and yeah, uh, rolls a...
rolls a 12 and executes that running cop from 60 feet.
Just shoots him right in the back of the head as he is exiting the building.
I had no idea that's where you guys were going with this.
Yeah.
Hell No, that's not what I meant at all.
I thought we were gonna pull him back and say like, ah tell your buddies this is real.
Oh, fuck.
Oops.
Is that what you wanted?
I'm fucking fine with him killing him.
if you guys don't want to
You said get.
Agent Liam turns to you and says, said get.
What does get mean kill like execute?
uh
Oh...
Okay.
Hold on, hold on.
can retcon that if that's not what you wanted.
I legitimately thought you were trying to kill this dude.
No, no, no, I meant what Nick meant.
funny to-
that's you want to do that's hilarious and it seems uh because
I thought that was the plan and so did Agent Leo.
If we are aghast, just the miscommunication alone and the shock of working with a new person who's just-
I thought I knew.
Kill him!
Who was totally down to like, yeah, that cop's how it was up.
He's got to
He's treating it like burger with cheese.
I thought you said no cheese, right?
It's just like
That's excellent.
I think mole sees the fire the shot fire off and he in here is the explainer the guy's head exploding He's like I knew I liked that guy for some reason Just pass the floor.
He's laying on
My
No, I feel like the real world miscommunication manifesting is an in-game miscommunication is excellent
good.
So good.
I think with all of that happening very quickly, well, are we still in turn-based?
Because I kind of have a plan I want to put out there for you guys.
Miles is about to kill a man.
Yeah.
uh, Arav, I will put a bullet in your head if you do not give me that combination to your safe.
rolled out persuade get plus twenty
Gave him with the gun to his head and beaten him a little bit.
40.
Yeah, whatever.
You
You didn't need it.
See?
Alright.
Yeah, okay.
I'm- I'm- I'm- Yeah.
Anything you want, Seven seven six eight.
Okay, thank you.
And then I'll run over to the safe, tap it in, and open it.
Okay, yeah.
Uh, there's some stuff inside.
Um, yeah, you find $350 in cash.
You find a handwritten journal.
You find a bunch of like receipts, not really receipts, like pawn tags.
And you find a pamphlet, a trifold, but actually a stack of trifold pamphlets.
label titled On the Ascension of the Soul.
What you don't find is an old book.
Okay.
Yeah, I'll grab the journal and one of the pamphlets quickly and I'll say like where the fuck is the book that the people were talking about and I'll fire a shot over his head
Yeah, okay.
um yeah, I'd say you've you've you've got him freaked the fuck out enough um It's on it's it.
There's a it's it's in the floor under my bed.
I'm sorry great wait Look, can you can you I've can you let me go?
Okay
and I'm gonna...
Where the fuck is your bedroom?
I'm gonna kill you if you don't tell me where your fucking bedroom is.
I think this exchange is longer than six seconds.
uh
Don't, Mole's first thought, so let me just, is it okay if I just put this out there?
Mole's first thought is that we frame Hickey and say something happened.
That's a great.
And he killed her, shot her in the head.
I don't understand why, we were just trying to interview her.
So why don't, I was thinking we try to frame Hickey to kind of deescalate the situation, at least get ourselves extricated from this.
Yeah, okay.
Then why don't we move out of dexterity order as Magpie, Mull, and Morrison are surrounded by cops.
um I'd like a persuade check at a minus 20 to convince these cops that their dead friend was actually involved in something nefarious that they didn't know about.
I mean, I don't know if the plan is to frame Hickey.
I don't know if you'd allow me to do this, but can I tackle him?
Or no, not Hickey, uh Liam.
wait, we're framing Hickey.
Sorry, we're framing the wrong people.
I thought we were framing Liam.
Oh
don't think Liam would put up with that.
Yeah, I don't- Let's frame the dead man who can't talk back.
Our meeting with him in the future might look very different if we framed him here.
my god, okay.
Do I have luck?
Yes.
You your luck back at the start of the scenario.
a 80 minus 2060, so switch it to a 26.
All right.
Okay, you've spent that luck.
Yep.
And that is a success.
The cops, they aren't like on board.
Sure.
But they're not beating the shit out of you for being a cop killer.
Right.
And throwing you in the wagon.
They're like, my God, what the fuck?
What happened?
What's going on?
Well, ah we were just, we were interviewing, he opened the door and he said something to her, I don't know if he knew her or not, and then he just unloaded.
He shot a shot, her head exploded.
I don't know what the fuck is going on here.
I'm probably gonna need to talk to Sheriff Tower about all this, because this is highly unprofessional at this point.
Yeah, I'll say.
There's a dead officer.
Yeah, there is.
He killed that woman and then Liam luckily, you know.
my god
Yeah, he took off and...
eh Well, I mean, you could just say he killed a woman so we killed him.
That's pretty straightforward in my book.
Anyways, I need to talk to Sheriff Tower if that's possible.
We need to get this sorted out because I can't.
I think Mole's goal at this point is to go on the offense immediately with everybody, you know, and then try to draw away um the police from the rest of you guys.
So he wants to go talk to the sheriff.
He maybe will bring Liam with him if you guys want to continue doing something, you know what mean?
uh But I think that's, and then I think on the way there, he's just like trying at the best to just get a story.
I think what he's doing actually is with the cop that's taking him, he's saying the story out loud so that Liam hears it so that everybody knows exactly, you know I mean?
Like he's like saying it, repeating it.
And Liam is, uh, like, fully backing you up on this.
Yeah, right.
Yeah, no, he- he walked in, he executed her point blank with his service pistol.
I don't know what the fuck he was thinking, but I knew what I had to do.
I'm so sorry that one of yours went down like this, but can't have it.
Uh, we smash cut back to Miles.
Upstairs, pistol whipping a rob.
He told me where everything's at, the bedroom.
Or I say, you better tell me where the bedroom is or I'll blow your head off.
Where is it?
I will let you out when I have this book.
Rav is gonna roll human.
Rav will succeed.
Does your body language indicate that you're gonna kill him no matter what?
Miles would never shoot an innocent person.
So he's just trying to scare him.
So it would indicate that.
Okay, it's down the hall on the right.
Please, please, please don't kill me.
I'm going to run straight to the bedroom, start kicking the ground, finding this floorboard.
there's the least floor work.
He's an innocent person at this point.
Miles doesn't know anything.
I'm just wondering.
I'm just curious what his disposition towards him is.
Miles wouldn't shoot anybody, right?
Unless they were actively trying to kill him, he would definitely not take a shot.
yeah.
Yeah, sure.
I love it.
Yeah, you can find it and you can stomp through the loose floorboard.
Yeah, I do a big stomp, pops up, maybe it flies up in the air and I catch it cool like, then, hell yeah, reach in, grab a little book.
uh It's leather bound, it's got gold leafed edges.
um It does not have a title on the spine or the cover.
I'm just gonna open it and just take a quick scan.
Cause I still think things are happening downstairs.
I know it's quieter, but I'm to be like, can I stop this in some way?
Like by looking at this.
I mean, are we, where are we at with the calm situation?
Like, can we hear all the stuff that, like, okay.
You guys were dead silent except for probably Mull screaming.
Yeah.
So I think probably once, if I can work this in at some point, whenever mole is like walking away with the police officers, I want to try to get away and I'll be like, miles
were clear, get the book.
And then I probably look at magpie.
I'm like, I think we need to secure Fajari or Arav if we can.
Yeah.
And we need to get the fuck out of here.
Yeah.
Not gonna interview the last guy.
Not really.
I think everything came from the book.
I mean, maybe we need to, but I don't know.
Do we just walk in the door, pop him in the head and then leave?
Morrison, he's handcuffed to a chair upstairs in the office.
It's the X door to the left.
I got a journal, it looks like, some pamphlets, and a leather-bound book that's unmarked.
I'll head down.
As you are heading down, the door opposite of Arav's office opens up and a kind of skinny young man, like sort of crouching, he heard all the gunshots, like sticks his head out.
Yeah, I'll just turn around and be like, get back in there, close the door.
This is an active shooting scene.
Miles doesn't know what any of that means, but he's just like...
He crouched down and like shuts the door behind him.
and I'll leave Arav's fate to whoever, you know.
Sure.
Were you going to look at the pamphlet or the book?
I would go downstairs and then yeah, start flipping through it.
Probably the book first.
book first.
The book is entirely unintelligible.
What languages do you have?
I just have Mandarin Chinese, so...
Okay, it is not not this time.
It is not in Mandarin Chinese.
ah
realize that quickly, then move on to the journal.
The journal indicates uh it's a list of uh dates, times, monetary amounts.
uh Looks like uh tracking money and money locations.
Okay, could I quickly use my accounting of 50 to put together a pattern in it or am I just assuming this is where he gets that extra money to afford a place like.
this.
Looks like he's tracking his own money, possibly through sales and pawn shops and that sort of thing.
Yes, okay.
I'll tell you that just with your accounting.
ah
Okay, great.
Okay, weird.
ah Nothing in here about nefarious activities and why he would have this book.
No, it's a ledger.
oh
Okay.
It's that thing you like.
If you have more time, you can really go through it.
Yeah.
And then I would open up the pamphlet just thinking like I'll have time later to do this with the journal.
Yeah.
The uh pamphlet is titled On the Ascendancy of the Soul.
It's basically talking about here's how you do meditation, here's how you uh can do astral projection.
And on the back in very clear print is a mantra that I just sent you.
Great.
Okay.
So I would read this, but I would not read it out loud, but I can read it out loud for the podcast.
But Miles would not be saying this out loud.
Okay.
Aid Akshah Hy-draad.
Oh shit.
Okay.
Zill Houth Ode.
Completely.
If you want to, sure.
Yeah.
ah It says um
Babylon Manin od Ayadna, Ji'a Manin, Si'a Ne, Zir il Noko, Chordiziz nawan il Noko, Quasb il choath de nawan va'oen Qures, Od il razd il Yalpur Aoyde.
And he would take a picture of that and send that to Madison quickly um asking for some sort of translation.
And then he would also open up the title page to whatever the hell the leather bound thing is and snap a few pictures like within reasonable time, like five pages or so of it
saying, can we get this identified?
Yeah, for sure.
Uh, you can do that.
Okay.
Uh, if you have- Did you send this to everybody or just to Madison?
Just to Madison for now.
then...
Yeah, I would probably send it to Morrison too, just because he usually takes leads on these things.
Madison and Morrison together in a group thread.
Yeah, that makes sense.
Like, not keep everybody's eyes on stuff that may be not great.
Yeah.
I will say I think Morrison having seen some of the figures and realizing that there's some connection between figures and words, he's like, I've got some of these figures in my
head.
don't want to pair them up with the word.
And Morrison has in fact seen all the figures.
I didn't realize she finished him.
Okay.
Yeah.
So I am very explicit about like not hearing any words.
And if someone starts to say them, I'm going to smack them in the face.
Okay.
ah That is uh an eight.
Okay, you get a text from Miles, but you don't look at it yet.
Does it?
Yeah, okay.
Yeah, cause he doesn't like put any text in it.
Okay.
Yep.
Okay.
you could ask him over comms what he sent you.
I mean, I think at this point, we really need to get out of here because our cover's not gonna hold.
Where is everyone at right now?
I think Magpie and I are still down on the first floor and Miles, you just came down.
Uh, it looks like Agent Liam is, maybe headed up to the second floor.
I think Liam was coming with me to talk with Sheriff Tower, wherever he is, about the murder, right?
Or about the...
If you
If Liam is getting the vibe that things are rapping, he's gonna peel off and uh tie up loose ends.
Okay.
Yeah, if I see Liam heading upstairs, I'm gonna go with him, because I think we need to tie up Lucent's too.
Okay.
um
Liam, what are you doing?
I'm gonna clean up witnesses.
Like I find a bedroom.
yeah.
I- I mean, Miles told us that, uh, Arav is in room X down from the left.
Yeah, I'm just looking for a pillow.
Oh, yeah.
Yeah.
Okay.
Let's look.
Magpie, you coming?
Magpie, you wanna go get the boat ready?
Yeah, yeah, I'll absolutely do that.
Alright.
We'd probably say over comms, I'm like, Moll, get ready to break.
Yeah, I think Mole at that point is just like, and I'm gonna have to file a fucking report on this and I can't fucking believe that and then it's like I'm gonna have to go back to
the boat to get our paperwork.
He's like trying to piece the fuck out.
Yeah, Morrison and Liam go grab pillows from the bedroom nearby.
Liam asks, hey do you know where that kid is?
Miles, which room was the kid in?
The kid that came out and you told him to go back in?
Shit, okay.
It was across from the bedroom.
Can we see where the bedroom is?
Yeah, I'm sorry guys, I didn't see any kid.
Alright, that's fine.
ah Liam just starts opening doors.
Yeah, I was gonna say, I I just look at it I like point to- I take the opposite side of Liam.
you open the door to the kid.
I do?
He's not a kid.
He is.
Late 20s, maybe early 30s, but he's a kid.
You want the kid or a rough?
I mean, I thought I would go for a five.
Okay.
He tosses you like a uh couch cushion pillow.
All right.
Walks in.
hear him talking to the kid.
And you hear a muppled gunshot.
And I think simultaneously when he breaks, I break.
I don't wait around to listen to what he's doing.
I walk into the room where Arav is, maybe with like my pistol and the pillow behind my back, and then I literally just hold up to his face, doot doot, like two shots in the
face, and then just turn around and walk out like nothing happened.
Miles would pull out his earpiece after the first shot and just let it hang there um and quickly try to find mole outside in magpie.
So two things.
First is I need a sand check from everyone.
That's a crit pass, 44.
Okay.
32 success, okay, eighty five failure
Alright, you pass it, you take one, you fail, you take a d4.
How you doing over there, Where's your next breaking point?
my god, this puts me at 32, so...
breaking point is...
It should be...
32.
That sounds good.
ah
Yeah, you also hear as you exit that door, ah you see Agent Liam backing up, saying shit shit shit shit shit shit shit shit shit shit.
That kid's not dead.
um I couldn't put a scratch in him.
Well, that's a problem.
Yep.
Yeah.
Can you knock him out?
ah
I can I can try more and give me a hand sure
Can't stick around there.
I mean, that's something unnatural, so...
kid is crouched in the corner, crying.
He's clearly alive.
There's a pillow with a bullet hole through it.
Agent Liam is gonna try and choke him out.
Let's see if that works.
Oh, he's got him in a choke hold.
He's got him in a...
What do call that thing where it presses right on the jugular?
Yeah, cut off their carotid artery, blood flow, no blood flow to the brain.
He's got him in there.
No problem.
ah What are you up to, Morrison?
I'm standing there watching.
Uh, the kid just stands there crying.
Nothing is happening.
like, hey, Liam, come here for a second.
He's looking at you with wild fucking eyes.
Bro, I understand.
drops the Yeah, we need to handle this situation.
Hey kid, we can get you out of here.
Do you want to come with us?
He just sorta looks at you.
Sure-
Okay, you ever been Superman before or is this new?
Oh, this is new.
Hmm.
Did you say those chants right the other day?
The mantra and the shapes and all that?
I think it might have done something to you.
We might be able to help, but you've gotta come with us.
Alright.
I dunno.
And I say over comms like, anyone opposed?
This is fucking weird.
I- ask Liam to do the same thing.
No, I think we need to grab him.
Yeah.
Alright, we can get you out of here.
If the cops get you, they'll lock you in lab somewhere for the rest of your life.
You'll never see the light of day.
We can at least get you moved somewhere so you don't rot in a jail cell.
Do I need to convince him of that or...?
Okay.
This kid is...
Shattered.
is freaked out.