Terry, we do have one more check on that...
on that...
the homicide at Capitol Hill where...
uh where...
um No, I'm sorry.
Can we cut?
What?
Oh, viewers, I apologize.
We're going to go to Lora with the weather.
We are getting ready to get started on the third and final scenario in Demnatio Memoriae by Hank Ballinger.
Once again, I'll tell you the name of the scenario at the very end.
The last time we left off, December 30th, 2024, you were in Roger Douglas's home.
The four of you were speaking to Roger Douglas.
He had given you all these dossiers full of information, full of notes, printouts, and Agent Morrison remembered something.
Agent Morrison remembered...
what Roger Douglas was talking about.
Roger Douglas was telling you that Morrison, Magpie, Mull, Miles, the four of you were all together with him, Agent Liam, for Operation Hilo Legacy.
And Morrison remembered that and began to recount that tale to try and remind Miles, Magpie, and Mull about what happened during Hilo Legacy.
And where we're going to cut back in is after that revelation has washed over the four of you, after this memory has snapped back into focus as you, as the four of you remember
death and blood, the unnatural destruction, fire, screaming.
Mul remembers eight months of physical therapy for his knee.
that he'd put out of his mind.
Morrison, you've got what you'd been thinking of as...
He hadn't really been thinking about them, but they look like...
like cigarette butt scars.
Like somebody had been putting out cigarettes all over your arms, but you know that's not what it is.
You had sort of just rationalized that away before.
Okay.
So, that was...
Mull at 11, Magpie at 5, Morrison at 4, and Miles at...
Three.
This is...
Six.
Okay.
Mullet 11.
Six for Magpie.
Four for Morrison.
Three for Miles.
Is that correct?
Alright.
So...
We didn't do this in the moment.
Sort of intentionally on my part.
But you can push Sandloss off on Bonds.
This would have been really complicated to do in the...
Uh...
Past?
But if you would like to...
now would be a great time to push a little bit of that sand loss off.
Is anybody here going to do that instead of going temporarily insane in front of your star witness?
am going to try 40 minus 11, put me to 29 and we hit a breaking point and then I'm going to project.
Yep.
Who else is going to project?
I think I'm just gonna eat it.
No projection here.
Okay, you're gonna go temporarily insane.
Yeah, honestly, that seems right.
Yeah, that's a good...
that's probably pretty fair.
Yeah, Miles will eat a c*** only three, so he won't go temporarily insane.
Yeah, I think I'll just eat it as well, because I shouldn't go temporarily insane from just four, right?
It's five in one go that does that.
That is correct.
Okay.
Okay, then the only one projecting onto a bond is going to be Mo.
Okay, so that's a default write ah and then we'll take that from whatever I roll I take from Willpower and from...
A bond.
before.
Okie doke.
Pretty good.
good.
So you're going to take 10.
You are still going to hit that breaking point.
What that's going to do is it's going to put your next breaking point not at 24.
It's going to put it at...
be 22, right?
Yes, that is correct.
22.
Mo, did you want to take that obsession slash parasitosis, delusional parasitosis as your next Yes, for sure.
Sounds good.
You are also going to go temporarily insane as we snap back into this.
Magpie and Mo, the two of you watch like you're sitting in the audience of a theater, watch these horrible, horrible things play back.
and the realization of what's happened and what's going to happen, it sort of comes back to you.
And as you guys sort of rock back in your heels for this realization, there's a feeling like hands clapping right in front of your fucking face.
And for a moment, you are somewhere else.
An enormous red star dominates the sky.
dim light rendering everything in uniform, weak red dusk.
You see a flash of an endless lake of mud surface baking before rocking back into place, everything as you left it in Roger Douglas's house.
The two of you, what order do you think you would like to fight, flight, or freeze?
What seems most likely to you two?
Mole is definitely fight, then flight, then freeze.
Meaning, fight's the most likely.
Mole is a person of...
Damn.
Yeah, Mole's a...
Well, Mole's a dude of action, I would say.
He's a doer, not a kind of watcher, you know?
Okay.
So I think freeze is like the antithesis to what Mole would do at this point.
Especially knowing we have this like megalomania obsession.
So...
Speaking of which, roll sand for me real quick.
Yeah, Magpie's order of operations is the same.
That was fight, then flight, then freeze?
Yes.
Okay.
Then how's that second San roll?
75, what do you know?
You fail.
That is an acute episode.
What do you think?
An acute episode of delusional parasitosis or an acute episode of megalomania?
So I've decided to combine them.
So what Mole is experiencing right now is that he has something in his brain, those worms.
He is sure of it.
He's also sure that he was put on earth to take in everybody else's sins.
ah And this is what he's doing.
So he believes himself to be like a Christ-like figure, is what I'm gonna say.
Okay, well both of you give me a d6.
Well, Mull is catatonic and Magpie, during the next scene you're going to fight.
What is the threat in Magpie's eyes?
Yeah, I think in the uh kind of snapback to reality there is, you know, just a bunch of images whooshing through and to the point where I've seen all of these faces around me in
conjunction and interspersed with, you know, alien cephalopods or what have you.
And any one of them could be infected with one of these things.
And there is just a flurry.
There's no way to know.
Who is who at this point?
It's the thing up in here.
Yeah, that makes sense to me.
Okay, then let's get this party started.
Can I give you, really quickly, I think that in his catatonic state though, in Mole's head, he is not catatonic.
He is seeing, right, like a bright light come down from inside the room that we're all in and it's shining on him.
He's now like dressed in kind of robes.
Yeah, he's ascending and he's like giving a sermon to everybody in the room.
What you guys see is him just like catatonic staring up.
Yeah, for sure, for sure, for sure.
Oh, hey, the two of you, give me another D6.
Why do we get to all the fun?
Et tu?
ah Add that much to your unnatural skill for the insane insight brought to you during this time of hardship.
Gotta remember, I have an 11 in Unnatural.
I could actually try to some stuff here.
Yeah?
If I ever go-
All of you sort of remember everything that Roger was telling you.
And there's the space of about a breath, I think, before Magpie springs into action.
What are you- what are you- how's this- how does this play out?
Yeah.
You can see there's a bit of realization dawning on everybody's faces.
It looks like they're coming to terms with something similar to what I just realized as well.
But they all look pretty calm with it.
At peace, even.
And that doesn't rightly square with what I know.
On a counter, I just saw something worm in its way into each one of our brains, potentially.
And I seem to be the only one...
I'm worried about it properly in this moment you see my hand reaching down into my long jacket.
and I think probably we're in initiative for.
Okay, he's first then.
Yep.
Alright Magpie, with your seventeen.
Yeah.
You see me take a squirrely step back and uh a long, you know, two foot swatch of a long cope comes up and just starts to erupt in star fire from the end as there's a spray from
left to right on for-
So, is this your submachine gun?
Okay, very good.
wow.
Yeah, roll to hit.
You will make a single die roll.
It's at a minus 20, since you are doing sort of covering fire, trying to lay down an area.
Hey, that's good for you.
59 fails with a minus.
Thank God.
That thing deals lethality.
Yeah.
Alright.
Okay.
Yeah.
there is noise and light.
Morrison, you are up.
Magpie has just taken a breath, stepped back, reached into his coat, lifted up, and has just opened fire on everyone.
It looks like he's maybe shaken.
He's not- he's not really aiming.
Yeah, I imagine because we were in his house right and there's like papers and crap all over so there's this
He's now just loading into like-
wood splintering and like shards of paper just lots of like half empty glasses because he never does dishes just like splash I guess I imagine that as he like sweeps across the
room we kind of see that and he somehow misses everyone and I think I just dive at him and try to like take him down like not hurt him but just like incapacitate
Yeah, sure, sure, sure, sure, sure.
um Go on ahead and give me an unarmed magpie.
You don't have to roll anything until we find out.
f***?
Okay, magpie, would you like to fight back or dodge?
If you do neither of those things, this tackle is going to succeed.
em It does it it hampers my next turn if I were to do something about it
Uh, correct.
If you fight back or dodge, that takes up your action for the next turn.
Does that feel like it's...
Does Dodge then feel like it's competing with the desire to fight?
Um, I think if you get grabbed you're not going to be able to fight.
but then I guess I'm budging.
Yeah, 39 is less than a 50.
Okay, yeah, you succeed, you nimbly, uh, get out of the way of this Agent Morrison bull rushing you.
You think you'll probably have a pretty good line of sight on him the next time you take a shot.
Because he's right up in your face now.
I whip my coat past and I just say, Toro, Toro, and I bring the barrel around to the left.
Moll, what does everybody see?
um You guys see Mole basically staring off into the distance in a corner and he's whispering to himself a little bit.
Nothing, what you can hear is uh what sound like mangled, maybe just like Catholic religious uh stuff.
uh Specifically, I think he's muttering, forgive them dad, they don't know what they did over and over and over and over under his breath.
Terrific.
uh That brings us to Agent Ian.
Agent Liam, who is going to also attempt to tackle Magpie.
uh Magpie, you rolled a 39, you said?
That opposes all hand-to-hand combat checks for this round.
uh He also got an aught six, which is not going to do it.
He is...
He's gonna- he- he wants to be in your face at the very least, sort of screening the others, if he can.
It's a wild choice to try and screen a man who's putting down suppressive fire, but okay.
Uh-huh.
Well, he already made his choice not to dive for cover.
So, Miles, what do?
Can Miles quickly recall the hand symbols that he read in Chinese?
It only takes seven seconds to do this.
What?
Oh, the full set.
Okay.
Wow.
Huh.
Yeah.
Let's turn it up to 11 right from the start.
Back to reality.
Yeah All right, I'm want a few things from you Nick step one miles roll a d4 You lose for sanity right off the bat.
Okay step two lose three willpower and another sanity So you are going to after this turn go temporarily insane?
Unless I project butch.
Unless you project, I would consider doing that if I were you.
Next, I need a sanity check- Well, okay, I need you to decide right now, are you projecting?
With this one?
if you do not- So, a little behind the curtain here, you're about to make a sanity check at your new sanity value.
If you succeed, you're going to fail to do the signs properly.
If you fail-
you will succeed at doing the signs properly.
Does that make sense?
Yep, so I will not project then.
My loss.
Yep.
Then who are you addressing?
I yell magpie.
And what memory are you calling for?
Him seeing any of the paperwork that was revealed to him by Rogers.
So I'm trying to erase his entire flashback.
Okay, I'm...
boy.
That's gonna fuck shit right up.
Alright.
That has been 100 % of this episode.
People taking decisions to fuck shit up.
I would like opposed power checks from both of you.
27 under 70.
57 under 70.
Miles, would you like to spend three willpower in order to take a second crack?
do this again but yeah sure sure 31 under
Okay, let me see if...
Yeah, another opposed check from Magpie.
doesn't keep the last roll.
Okay, Miles, no dice.
Right.
I tried, guys.
You see me flip through some hand symbols and just shout Magpie and just some mental exhaustion hit me.
What are the words you use to call up the memory?
Magpie.
The papers?
Magpie.
Yeah, would yell, Magpie, forget Rogers.
I like that a lot, unfortunate.
Um, there is a quiet wave of just...
just rises in a ring around miles for a moment.
This is visibly something changes and something happens.
ah But it is unclear what magpie you are up
Yeah, well, ah it was just uh Morrison and Agent Liam that come at me.
But I did spend my turn dodging, so is that-
Yes, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Yeah, see, I mean, it's curious on account.
I don't I don't know that there's a way to get back into like get back to the tempo once you've Forgot it.
So maybe I'm just getting dog piled here
Well, ah it would be if they succeed either, they might both fail hand-to-hand combat against you next round, in which case that opens you up to taking shots, or they attack
you hand-to-hand and you choose fight back, which lets you start taking unarmed shots at them.
Understood.
Well, you can still like move and stuff.
Do you want to find more advantageous position?
It's not actually that much more advantageous, it's back in the corner.
It's really just a better angle for the next seconds.
And when I get there.
Yeah, okay.
Morrison, what are you doing?
Hmm really decide I mean I could shoot him but unless I shoot the gun out of his hand he's just gonna shoot me back ah I think I have to try and tackle him again, and I'm like okay.
I'm not falling for your bullfighter shit this time magpie That's a 72 do we restart with luck this time?
Okay, all right, so yeah, I'll use a luck point to switch that to a 27 which is a pass
rise.
Magpie, you like to fight back or dodge?
No, I don't think it's right to interfere with the cosmos like that.
Alright, then you are going to be tackled to the ground.
Agent Liam is going to try to kneel on your right arm so that he can start prying your gun out of your hands.
He's going to roll unarmed with a plus 20.
And then you can, we'll see what happens and see what you have to do.
He's going to get a 67 on a...
He's going to get a 67 on a 40.
Okay, fine.
He kneels on your arm.
He's got 20 points in unarmed combat.
Thanks, Lee.
He talks a big game, now look at him.
God damnit Liam.
He's emaciated and...
Like, he...
Anyways, he is trying to kneel on your arm, but instead, you just sort of bend your elbow and wind up basically pressing the barrel to his gut.
Mul.
Chill the fuck out and know my dad is here.
He whispers underneath his breath.
Very good.
Uh, that ends Mul's compulsion.
Miles, what are you up to?
Miles is going to charge forward.
Or did I go temporarily insane or since it didn't act?
Yes, that's right.
You certainly do.
Hey, how much willpower do you have left?
I have a very good.
Thanks Would you be most likely to fight flight or freeze?
There's already been one burst of automatic gunfire, but you are the thing that made you crack
Yeah, I think he would absolutely freeze.
Okay.
Yeah.
Uh, and then what?
Yeah, he tries to do this thing.
He's a scientist and he just dipped his toes into the unnatural as like a he's been having these symbols in his head with these hand gestures and it backfires.
It feels like to him and he's frozen in place, rethinking everything he understands about reality.
And he gets frozen by the fact that this could even be something that
is pretend forgotten, he has no idea like if this is real, and just kind of sits down in place where he's at, or kneels I would say, not sits down.
Yeah, falls to his knees and probably starts weeping a little bit and trying to hide it with his arms.
Sure, Yeah, I meant uh ranked uh order of fight, flight or freeze and then roll it, except I like that a lot.
So that's what happens.
Speaking of uh sanity, can I get a sand check from Morrison and Miles?
Terrific.
Love it.
Yeah, the automatic gunfire.
You know what?
Doesn't actually shake you that bad.
You do not take any sin loss for violence.
Yeah, I'm adapted to violence now, but, yeah.
Oh, that's right.
my god, Miles freezes.
Morrison, you're up.
You're kneeling on mag-
Is magpie not up?
Magpie, you're up.
You've- uh...
Being kneeled down by Morrison, your...
gun hand is free.
Yeah, I mean, has my uh compulsion abated or am I just ready to punish Agent Liam for his moment of weakness?
think you are ready to punish Agent Liam for his moment of weakness.
Yeah, he has altogether too many knees.
For now.
Yeah, okay.
Bye.
Roll firearms with a plus 20.
41 is plankton.
It's a success.
think uh Miles uh would like to...
Well, you can't really...
Yeah, Miles is gonna...
Miles.
uh Liam is going to...
You're not really supposed to be able to fight back against firearms.
kinda like a glorified melee weapon at this point.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, you're in May- he's gonna try that.
he's gonna fail.
Can you roll a D100 for me?
Okay, let me see how much health Agent Liam has.
Is it nine?
I hope not.
Uh, it's not.
It's not.
It's si- oh
Well, just to be clear, I don't think this was a full auto spray.
On account it was just one.
So if Lethali wasn't necessarily meant to be in the-
good.
Okay.
Very good.
Would you like to roll straight damage then?
Oh yeah!
yeah, yeah.
Well, I mean, just, means there's a 30 % chance that we're in the same place.
But...
I like those odds.
yeah, just two.
Just, it's no big deal.
Just two, just two.
Are you sure you don't want to just blow Liam away here?
Well, look, um, I wouldn't be standing on the business end of a gun if I didn't want it, so it occurs to me.
Fair enough.
you did actually not mean that to be full-auto, right?
I was just, I think that's part of the scrapping on the ground, right?
It's just kind of like.
not holding that trigger down, it goes off.
Yeah, you get him through the flank, the side, and he screams and puts his hand to it.
With that, you are good.
Actually, think, as soon as he screams out in pain, uh my focus immediately shifts to someone else.
means clearly he is not at Harvard.
and invulnerable worms.
oh Yes, I like that a lot.
Yeah, I like that.
So heads up, Morrison, you're a f- Yeah.
You're next.
Uh, is he like out of it now or is he just realizing that Liam was not?
Well, he just shot Liam, so...
Okay, but he's like his episode resolved with that or or no or he just doesn't think be mine uh Whatever the basis zero.
Okay.
Yeah, I I think probably what I do I guess if I see him like shoot Liam and then kind of like his eyes get large as he realizes like wait This isn't an invulnerable worm thing.
I like reach down to my side
Like maybe I've got my arm on his chest, like forearm across, whatever.
I pull out my pocket knife and I just like cut my own arm.
And I'm like...
Sick.
I love it.
Alright, uh take one point of damage.
don't have to roll damage because this is a controlled thing you're doing to yourself.
It's not me, it's not me, no worms, no worms.
I also take my knife and I throw it at Maul, no I'm kidding.
Stick him right in the shoulder.
Mo, you can act.
You are still experiencing an acute episode of All That Jazz.
Yeah.
let's see.
Since knife comes flying and it nicks you in the side and it just pours out a little bit of water separated from blood.
Wine just starts leaking from me.
Shit.
I would like to say Mola's gonna be helpful, but he's not gonna be helpful, unfortunately.
uh I think, so basically, he snaps out, he was in this reverie that he was like, sermonizing, you know, to everybody.
And now all of a sudden, what he sees, Magpie and Morrison on the floor, Miles on the ground, and Liam.
and then Miles on the ground kind of crying, I guess, is what he's snapped back to.
um Let's see, would Mold know who is doing what?
Probably not, but he would see Magpie with a gun, right?
And Morrison cutting himself.
Honestly, yeah, right?
I think he would maybe, I think he would know enough to know that like, well, you said I'm not outside of my thing, right?
My temporary insanity at this point.
Yes.
You are outside of temporary.
sanity, it's my megalomania.
in the grips of an acute episode of megalomania and obsession.
Yeah, I think he just walks over to Magpie and he's like, ah my son, give me your gun and then reaches for the gun.
um And then he says, not all crosses our wood.
Some are worms wriggling in the back of our skulls as he's reaching for your gun itself.
Alright, I would let you roll Persuade, except you automatically fail at those.
Yep.
Which seems fair for the thing you just fucking said, so...
Correct.
Yeah, somehow, no matter how convincing all your words before were, once worms enter the equation, everything's color different.
Yep.
Think so.
uh Miles, uh you are catatonic.
uh
Yeah, he would be rocking back and forth, just saying, wobuji dao, wobuji dao, wobuji dao, wobuji dao.
Megpie, it's you.
And you are uh outside of your temporary insanity, but Mul did just rock up to you and say those words.
Which is great.
yeah, can I roll a San to see if maybe it extends it by one?
Okay.
Um, yeah, at 26, I think the, the, you know, I come out of it as I'm like, you know, processing that like, like, of course he's, he's the one, right?
He's just walked up and outed himself and the rest of these guys can't see it and I've got to take care of it for them because, you know, um.
And then just, I think, the cacophony of the mayhem kind of settles in.
uh Everybody in here is a, you know, weeping and a mess in a way that I've never seen.
You know, it looks like an insanity or something like that.
And before I add any more chaos to the mixture, I'll take a deep breath and try to list what worse and sadder.
Okay, okay.
I think you are able to do that.
Do you let go of your gun?
Yeah, think Mul thinks he gets credit for it.
eh
Sure, yeah.
Here Mole say under his breath, forgive them dad, they know not what they do.
And then he tries to, I don't even know if he tries to go for the gun, he just sees it drop down and it's like, mm, basking in the glue.
What you think?
Are Magpie's cheeks wet?
Like is he crying?
No, I think he's been horrified.
Yeah, this is terror, not like, yeah, sure, I love it.
I think we are barring anybody else having plans uh outside of dexterity order.
I guess Morrison probably looks at Magpie trying to discern like, he okay?
Is he not?
see the gun drop and I'm like, how you feeling about mole?
Do we need to check him just to make sure?
Cause I'm not entirely sure.
There could be worms in people.
And then I just like reach over with my knife and just like give mole a little nick on the leg, like the ankle, as he's standing next to us.
I'm not sure how to- okay.
Will Mul let someone else cut him?
Yeah, right now, Mole is, the way I'm picturing this megalomania is that Mole is above it all.
And so he's not necessarily worried about a small knife coming to cut him.
I think he even watches you do it.
And he's like, partake of my flesh, please.
And lets the knife stick into his ankle.
We see a little bit of blood come out.
And he has no idea what that means, obviously, to you guys.
But he's like, partake of my flesh, drink of my blood, whatever you need.
Alright, he's good.
ish.
Ah, he doesn't sound very good.
Well, y-you know, he's not a worm person.
Um, what the fuck?
Uuuum, what do we do next?
I think I will kind of like, yeah, what the fuck is right?
And I'll just like scatter the gun to the side and kind of press myself up against the wall.
em as, you know, like as a first responder, try and take stock of anybody in the midst that is in worse repair than me.
Roger Douglas is curled up on his side, bleeding.
Yeah, my first thought was to first aid Roger.
Yeah, and I'm not entirely sure that I fully process the responsibility in that.
I think it's more like, you just gotta, oh, look, you're bleeding.
You gotta take that off.
Golly.
Mm-hmm.
For sure.
sure.
Magpie, hold on.
He may not want you to first aid him being as you're the one who shot him.
No, you gotta sit still.
Stop squirming, it'll be over.
I'll help, I'll help, I can do it.
One of you roll first aid.
Frankly, I'm gonna say at a minus 20 for being at odds with each other.
That's still 42 on a modified 50, so it's good.
I got a 42-2, we're the fucking wonder twins.
In our fighting somehow our training kicks in and we still know like this is okay hold here press this I'll hold the thing you do the rap
Jimmy, me a D4.
Very good.
Uh, you both patch him up.
He's not at any risk of bleeding to death.
Can I also bandage my arm where I cut myself?
you can.
Yeah, you have to roll first aid for it, but that's- I fail.
it's gonna be.
What?
For real?
Yeah, 85 on a 70.
I used all my bandages on Liam.
Whatever.
It's fine.
I'll live.
I've had work.
You know how like the blood brothers things the bonds they always cut themselves stupidly in the middle of their hand.
Yeah
yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, it's really hard to stitch and or bandage cuz it's on your palm
You're using your bad hand.
You cannot perform first aid on that particular wound anymore.
Thanks, rules.
Terrific.
So, the dust is settling.
You think, probably, somebody somewhere is going to call the cops about this.
Seems like a pretty good bet.
I want a power check from every single one of you.
Miles is back.
Okay, he's still on his knees, but, you know.
Fine with a 9.
Very good.
71 over 70.
Oops.
6 over 40.
Oops.
97 over 75.
Okay uh
probably shoot this on and then we're the ones like
Yeah, we're about to get all fucked for a minute.
all of this violence from the last couple of days is slipping away from you.
Like water through a sieve, sand through your fingers.
It's getting further and further away from you, even though it was seconds ago, even though it was hours ago, even though it's a pivotal moment you're forgetting and you're
forgetting again.
Would you?
And this is a decision that you may make strategically, if you like.
Would you like to either take 1D4 of willpower loss or forget the investigation up to this point?
I have a proposition that may make things a little more complicated.
Do we want to each do this individually so that we don't know what each other chose?
I would love that.
Goodbye, Mul.
Goodbye, Miles.
Take your headphones off.
What a delight.
I think Morrison is definitely gonna take the loss to remember what's happening, because he's...
it's his nature.
This is what he's doing.
This is he's really locked in.
So give me that D4.
Great.
You lose two willpower.
That's it.
Mo, take your headphones off.
Morrison, take your headphones off.
Miles.
Yeah.
You can take a tactical look at this if you want.
This is this doesn't have to just be a in-game decision.
Sure, so you said I can sacrifice just straight power?
You let- okay, let me double check that rule.
So could I do that to cast the ritual?
Yes.
Yes, that is specifically what it's for.
Okay, so I'll just do the willpower roll then, right now.
That is one.
Okay, you lose a point of willpower.
Jesus.
You're at 7.
From...
Jesus.
Alright, let's get Mull in here.
Yeah, Mola's gonna forget.
Okay.
I think if I think I was thinking about this the Megalomania kind of pushed me to maybe doing you know what I mean holding on to stuff But I think that's too much mental faculty.
Yeah, it's not that he's incapacitated It's just that like that's not what he's gonna do.
You know what I mean?
So yeah, I think he's just gonna start forgetting So what does that look like for me like?
Yeah, so I'm just gonna read you this section from the scenario.
uh Memory loss in this scenario.
The agents have gone long enough since the initial violence in Dead Man's Switch, Paren, a car crash, a stabbing, that they must make uh secret, secret, secret, secret stuff to
avoid forgetting every event influenced by...
This thing.
Success costs one willpower.
Failure means an agent chooses whether they forget the entire investigation or lose a D4 willpower.
Agents who forget the investigation can still relearn it from notes or physical evidence, but are encouraged to voice skepticism and come up with mundane explanations for the
unnatural events.
Believing the unnatural truth triggers the checks again.
triggers the checks again, so I'd potentially be losing willpower again.
And then I think I'm going to also be wrapping this in maybe a supernatural element, but it's the supernatural element of mole's delusional parasitosis megalomania thing, if that
makes sense.
Yeah.
So, let's see.
I think that delusional parasitosis is probably going to fade back quite a bit until you remember what's going on, right?
Yeah, that sounds good.
I like the idea that he thinks he's chosen for something, but maybe has like, that's even kind of lost of what that is, because I was thinking again, like I said, this is his like,
cross to bear, and now he's lost the cross, so he's just like, really, really out there.
Yeah, I want you, if you can, yeah, yeah, Mull's a megalomaniac.
Mull is the most important.
Mull cannot be seen to be weak.
I want you to try and hide that you've forgotten everything.
Like, have you ever seen one of those people at work who don't know something and they are cl- like, yeah, they're pretending.
Yep.
Yeah, think I like that idea.
I think that he's not gonna call them out on things like that necessarily, or if he does, he does it in like a weird religious way.
So it's like he's just gonna pretend like he's coasting along.
Yeah, pipe up if uh something like really fucks you up.
What is, what's up?
You okay?
Yeah, just thinking.
I was like, how do I do this?
Okay.
This is hard.
is tricky.
This is a tough part of the scenario.
Alright.
I have not actually ever had anyone select.
Forget the entire investigation.
So that's exciting.
Especially someone who will only pretend that they are still aware of what is going on.
Yeah.
Terrific.
I wonder how different that is from actually just doing the stuff.
Yeah.
Alright.
Great.
Alright, are- how we all- how we all doing?
Broadly.
What- what were the- what's the aftermath of the last, what, 15 seconds on Magpie, Morrison, Mull and Miles?
How are you each holding up?
I think out of everybody, Mul's probably holding up the best because he had a psychotic break and then kind of came to and everything is gone.
Okay
Honestly, kind of invincible.
Yeah, truly feeling invincible.
I think he's just kind of staring around at you guys like with his arms out like he's in this nice suit he is again that I said he looked like Will Arnett and he's just like what
what what are we all what what's going on Mike?
Yeah, I mean, it was kind of like the literal interpretation of spray and pray, right?
um Broken up a little bit, but it's just a bit of madness.
I think I'm heartened by the fact that maybe once I'm done tending to Roger Douglas's wound, that maybe Miles is looking a bit more like himself and that each time I glance
back...
I suppose it seems like maybe everybody is moving a little bit more like themselves.
Yeah, I think I am kind of in my usual, like, obviously, like, this sucks and everything's like gone to shit, so I'm stressed.
But I'm also kind of supposed to be the one in charge and I do, you know, have military experience.
This isn't the first time I've been shot at, although never quite in circumstances like this.
Does Morrison feel in control?
I think Morrison's a guy who knows that people who feel like they're in control are probably lying to themselves.
And so he's just trying to find an action to move towards.
And so as we're like patching up Roger, I think he registers the idea that like lots of shots fired, we're in a neighborhood, police are going to come soon.
Roger, what's the most important thing we need to take with us here?
What can they not find?
We've got maybe like five minutes to like take care of stuff.
What do need?
What do we need to destroy?
We don't have to destroy anything.
If...
Jesus Christ.
If we let it all go, if it escapes into the public consciousness, I think, then if everyone can remember this thing, maybe it'll kill it.
That's why I set up that Deadman switch with my therapist.
If this gets out, I think that'll do it.
So we don't have to destroy anything.
I kinda look around at the group to get a consensus on.
I'm not great at humant, but I don't necessarily trust him.
I'll use his old name since I...
I'll do it.
Liam, what do you mean this?
Like, all of this?
Yeah, the- my research.
Liam, your research is great and everything, but we can't let any of this get out.
That's not the game.
What we can do is try to find a way to destroy it, or whatever you were looking for, with this vampire squid and the phos gene stuff.
uh letting this out is not the place to go with this.
Do you understand the consequences if you just happen to be mistaken on his hunch?
I'm pretty sure that's it, but, here, you know, why don't one of you call 911?
Tell them you heard gunshots four blocks over.
Then we don't have to, don't have to destroy anything.
We can just keep talking, keep calm.
It'll be fine.
I might buy us some time, I don't think that's gonna...
How many shots was that, like 20?
I don't know, it's like just spraying a room with gunfire, they're gonna be like, wrong house.
helmet might have been fireworks.
We think we could buy ourselves a few extra minutes.
eh I think that sounds like reasonable idea, but it doesn't patch up all our holes here.
Think Mole pulls out his cellphone.
Calls 911.
Y'all?
Okay.
Who's?
Fine.
Very good.
Great.
And you hear him say, uh, yeah, it's the son.
um there's been gunfire.
And then he kind of looks around trying to figure out where they were, um, hoping somebody will whisper an address to him, which I assume somebody whispers something, uh, and he
gives it to the cops.
Um, and is like, ah, I'll let you know that we heard gunfire and fireworks, both going off in that house.
And he, you know, gives him the address.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, I was gonna call for a persuasion check from whoever is calling the cops.
That's the SON.
It's me, the sun.
I heard gunfire and fireworks four blocks away.
You could still call for that.
uh And then I would tell you that every use of a stat to make a good impression fails.
Okay, that is different from Persuade, I remembered that differently.
You're making a terrible impression, but you can still be persuasive.
I will let you roll this.
Cool, love that.
I think if I pass, what that is is that they don't focus on the weird thing I started out with.
Does that make sense that they're like, okay, this is like a...
I think they're gonna be looking for you at the scene.
Looking for the sun
Yeah, some weirdo called in his own shooting.
is a need mental health services on scene and also the police.
Yeah
I didn't get a description of him, he just said we shall know him by his works.
I don't know.
Shit.
Okay.
So that's about you a couple of minutes.
What are you asking?
Yeah.
I'm just gonna try to ignore mole.
Liam, what were you on to?
You wrote down somebody's phone number, I think his name is Teddy, and you were looking at Vampire Squid.
Like, how can we stop this?
Uh, and he's, you can see that he is looking at the Post-It notes on the wall.
You can give me a human on this if you want, but.
He forgot.
Here, I can do it.
It's 14, but 36, over.
And everyone can give me a human if they want.
fail 14 over 10
40 on a uh 60.
Pass.
A 54 on a 40 fail.
Okay, Mull is the one that recognizes that Liam is reading his own notes to try and remind himself of what he has discovered.
think Mole walks over, grabs the notes, and is like, Miles, whatever you need, the blind lead the blind, both shall fall in the ditch, and he hands you the notes without really
taking a look at them.
So you think you forgot more?
No, no, no, no, I just needed to, you know, remind myself.
I needed to refresh my memory.
It's fine, it's fine, it's fine, it's fine.
Liam, what did you refresh yourself on?
Please enlighten us, we don't have a lot of time.
I believe those.
Do you remember the thing that came through the hole in the air?
Yes.
You don't, Miles.
Miles is, do you remember this?
Nick, you are the only one who did not see this.
You never, you weren't there?
didn't look at it?
You didn't watch the video?
Yep.
Okay.
No, I, I don't know what you're talking about.
I just remember burning a kid that wouldn't burn.
That's all I got.
The first, like, hair-thin filaments we saw, those are like the retractile velar filaments.
They're sense organs, I think, similar to those long as two yes, vampire squids and other deep sea creatures in the hadal zone.
And I don't know about you, but those long arms, those reminded me of something.
Let me...
Let me show you something.
And he goes and grabs that laptop.
He flips the ah switch on the side to off, powers it up, and navigates to a file.
looks like.
I guess I would describe this as probably some form of deep sea footage or something.
There is...
It's green with like a light in the back and we can kind of see floating particles through what I'm presuming is water or something.
And then in the middle is a flowing squid-like thing.
It has a head almost like the predator's head, that like big wide um brim and it's floating around in the, you can kind of see it floating through the atmosphere that it's
in.
Then a little body and then long, like almost appendages that drop downward.
And it's just like sitting there kind of floating.
There's honestly little reason to even believe it is a real living creature.
That's Magnapena Pacifica.
That's uh the big fin squid.
And these two creatures, they're, they're, they're ammoniated.
That's how they tolerate the low oxygen environments, the heavy pressures.
And I think that um phosgene gas will bind to the ammonia and disrupt the, the, the, the, the ability to process from there.
Can I rule my biochemistry?
Just to check that.
45 under 50.
Yeah, um, phosgene is a deadly, deadly gas.
uh It's harmful to most things, but it does interact with ammonia, in that way it binds to it in a way that will make it difficult to flush from the system, for sure.
So, what do we do with this, Liam?
You have a note here with a phone number on it.
Does this guy have a squid?
Like, what is this?
that's that's Teddy.
Great.
He, Teddy is a he's a what do an asset.
Teddy's an asset.
he's one of the, one of those um, you know, three percenter militia guys.
He you know, like uh, he's a, he's a nut job.
But um, he used to be a chemical engineer.
he thinks that our, our group has contacted him as a, another like-minded
um militia movement, so he's on standby to manufacture uh chemical weapons for the group.
ah might have some.
I look over at Magpie, the whitest guy in the room, and say, okay, Liam, can you help Magpie get in touch with him so we can get some of this?
I'm assuming that's what you're saying, is he has some of the gas.
Okay, okay, Magpie, I'm assuming this guy has got some white national, has bent to him, so I'm not gonna talk to him, but.
Sure.
Yeah.
So, are you guys, you're looking at, it sounds like, the post-it notes to gather avenues to discuss here in the time you have.
Do you want to tell me what you've decoded from those post-its?
So my, what I'm thinking from the post-its is something to do with this gas.
And Miles is also wondering about like, okay, so let's operationalize this gas in some way with this guy.
And then how do we get another wormhole?
And then if we can get another wormhole, how do we put the gas in it?
That's what Miles is thinking.
And in his head, he's seeing the San Juan note that especially like, don't forget San Juan.
Like, is that the center of everything?
Right?
um Is that where we need to be?
But also in the back of his head, he's like, we just had somebody knife somebody at a gas station and an old person get hit by a truck.
What other violence is happening around that we don't know about?
Like how, like how does the violence happening outside of
the violence we're creating intersect with any of this because I have no clue.
And I will just say that out loud.
I'm talking to myself.
I'm kind of, and again, flat affect, sorry.
uh And I am just saying, guys, and I'm going through all the notes and I just say all like that verbally to you.
One, one thing that happens is he presses into your hands that sheaf of uh news articles again.
It's like, look, this is, this is the violence.
This is what's been happening ever since, alright?
Here it is.
If you want it, here it is.
This is it.
If, this is the, this, this is, this is where she's been.
I'll start flipping through them.
It says, man, two women shot dead outside a waterfront nightclub in 2021.
It has an address.
Suspect killed in fatal interbay shooting, killed.
These are headlines.
oh this is what you get.
ah Man charged in Queen Anne shooting, suspected accomplice still at large.
Two killed, three injured in South Lake Union shooting.
Suspect killed.
Seattle police give update on triple homicide outside Capitol Hill.
Man drives car into crosswalk at Central District.
Two killed in shooting outside of Mount Baker convenience store.
SPD looking for police cruiser in Beacon Hill shooting.
Jesus.
um
Yereli Ashton and six others killed in suspected terrorist attack during concert.
We would have heard about these guys.
Okay.
Now that you've read that, that...
yeah.
You remember Yarlai, this was a big thing when it happened, but like it got sort of like thoughts and prayers, you know?
Like...
Yeah.
She got killed on stage.
You remember that.
Yeah, I'll even say that.
be like, do you remember this singer?
Who was killed on stage in a terrorist attack?
Hmm, not really my style of music, but yeah, I mean I remember seeing that in the papers.
Yeah, yeah, that's...
yeah.
Okay, three presumed dead, one rescued as boat sinks in Elliott Bay.
This gun violence is rampant, four dead, two critically injured in Magnolia shooting.
That's all of them.
Uh, guys.
Sure, I remember them as I'm reading these, and I can kind of recall some of this, but there's no way.
Like, there's...
Like, the...
Especially the stage, when she was killed on stage.
Like, how is that not just ever-present?
That was...
This year.
I mean, if whatever this memory thing is can do what it- I mean, we forgot like an entire day, like, people's heads getting imploded, killing people, boat burning up with Wiggly
Worm Kid inside, like, if this can make us forget that, I I guess this would suggest that at the very least with the concert thing, the area of effect is not small.
Okay.
ah I'd like a sand check from Moe.
Hell yeah, 23 on a 30, no problem.
Stand him strong.
Yeah, love that.
Thanks.
So, I- Go ahead.
Sorry.
Is there any geographic pattern to these or is it just all...
All in Seattle around Interbay and just the Seattle area.
So it's not in San Juan.
If you want, you can
feel free to put these into Google Maps.
Yeah, IRL.
I mean, I-
I know where most of these places are, so I'm good, but yeah.
Feel free to put these into Google Maps.
Do they form any sort of pattern, I guess?
think Moll is probably checking his watch at first, looks down, and then kind of looks back up, sees a bunch of addresses, says, ah could it, uh maybe you look at a map, is
there a pattern here to any of this?
There's always patterns to these things, you know what I mean?
Are you guys spending the ten minutes that it's gonna take to punch these in on a map?
Or are you gonna table that?
We not.
Yeah.
Best lead, God.
Probably not.
mean- Tabling it.
I would probably like, cause we got like maybe 10 minutes to get out of here, like we don't have to do this right here, do we?
We can take this with us and do it like, you know, down the street.
That's true.
Roger is openly reading his Post-It notes on the wall.
He's checking them while you guys are discussing this.
And he gets to uh CHCKTHCLNDR.
And you can see him trying to decode it in his head.
uh Check the calendar.
Yeah.
Calendar or cylinder?
No, the calendar.
I- I gotta- And he dashes to the kitchen.
Um, where he, uh, is looking at a wall calendar.
What day is it?
30th of December.
Jesus Christ, okay.
Alright, okay.
Hey, hey, hey.
Oh, hey!
I- I have something that'll help you.
I have a way to not forget.
That's why I remember everything and nobody else does.
I have a- and he- he comes back in and he lifts his shirt up and he has scars covering his body.
Um, do we remember or should I post it again?
That image?
I'll post it again.
Of a, um, rather complex pattern.
Uh, lemme, lemme drop those.
Found here, and here.
So this is palm-sized, a rectangle of raised scars with a large number of arcane symbols, weird, like, phonetic writing, ablanathanalba.
Uh.
has been carved into his belly, into his chest, on his pecs, on his arms.
He's carved this multiple times, all over his body, where he can find space and reach.
That's great Liam.
We don't have time.
Go ahead go ahead Liam.
I-I-I need- it only works for a month.
So I need to refresh this tonight, or I'm gonna forget.
But while- while- while I'm doing this, I could- I could do this for you, too, and you could remember.
You could.
We'll keep it under consideration.
Is there anything else we need to take with us from here before the police show up and nab us?
I was gonna, I- I- I- We lost that kid, Mm-hmm.
But we think maybe fire hurt him, right?
He didn't seem to like it.
I was gonna take this, this, this, this, this sign, this sigil, and, cast it in iron, uh, to make a brand.
And I think, I think, I think we could, we could, we could, could, we could brand, we could brand him with the memory, and then he would forget himself, and maybe Hydra would
go with him?
Navy.
Yeah, it's worth a shot, Liam, it's worth a shot.
uh Yeah, and if it comes to that, we can just use that brand on ourselves.
I don't...
Maybe?
Yeah, that might work.
We need to know where to go next, Liam.
I want you to focus.
Okay, we need to get this uh phosgene from Teddy, okay?
And then we need to figure out how do we find that kid or how do we get this thing back in our world to try to use the phosgene.
I mean, we have to...
It's not ready.
Okay, so let's get it ready.
I'll stay here and I'll work on a cast.
I also need to do...
I need to put the sign on myself.
Liam, you're gonna come with us, okay?
And we can find somebody to do the cast, right?
Are you a metallurgist?
Like, what are you expecting to do here?
was gonna...
I was gonna...
I've got in the back, I've got a foundry, a small crucible.
um
How long is this gonna take, Liam?
I shouldn't take too long, day or two?
You understand the police are coming, right?
We don't know how much time that bought us, Liam.
I'm gonna look over at Morrison and just shake my, like give him a slight, like, we might have to let him go.
Yeah, um
think hearing that ah Mole, I'm weighing out if I want to do this or not.
I think hearing that Mole's like, ah it is perhaps my duty to all of you.
I, and he picks, he pulls out like the pistol he has, I'm happy to sacrifice myself and go outside and talk with the police if it gets them off the case.
don't know if that's how crime scene investigations work.
ah They'll arrest you and then they'll come back and quarantine this whole area.
I don't think they're gonna let us do a metallurgy project in the backyard while they're investigating whatever the hell just happened here.
Alright my son, that's what you think we should do, then that's fine.
Mole won't do that then.
Morrison, you stopped the burner.
Can you call Madison?
And if she remembers any of this bullshit, can she intercept local PD in some way?
Yeah.
Yeah, that was on my mind anyway.
I did send her those pictures, so maybe she had a flashback the same as we did.
And I call.
Yeah, can you roll San for Madison for me?
Sure.
Check.
Um, yeah, can you give me a D6?
One.
Lovely.