Those of you who are just coming into the story of Triangle Ascension may be put off by the large amount of information to be found on these web pages. These files are intended to be a short summary of the action up to this point, and will be updated every week or two.
Alex Bander, Euthanatos
Cab, Dreamspeaker
Glen Johnson, Akashic Brother
Kasee, Orphan
Reuben Cabot, Dreamspeaker
Sara Langley, Orphan
Our intrepid party of idiots decided to do a recon mission on Duke campus at the building where Kasee thought she saw her Aunt and definitely saw odd black flacksuited guards with weird black guns. 9pm on Friday May 29th. The group pulls up in Reuben's and Sara's cars. Sara hands Cab her keys as Reuben and Cab elect to be old farts and man the getaway cars. Kasee, Glen and Alex can't wait to get started. Sara seems excited and Rachel looks like she would rather have some coffee in the livingroom. Those who are going sneaking decide it would be better to go as one group than as several, much to Rob's relief.
The La Roux Medical Building a sign proudly displays on the building Kasee heads to. Some small discussion is held about what exactly Recon would be, inside or out. Definitely inside. Alex wanted to look at dumpster contents, but the large dumpster has one of those large, heavy top doors, and a camera... And now that you mention it there's a camera by the door. Thinking it over, there's probably a camera on the roof; and as paranoid as these Men In Black are they may have a way to detect large magic happenings, like portals.
Kasee shifts her point of view to inside the building. As she remembered there is another security door to a hallway with 2 guards in black flacksuits and holstered black guns. Kasee mumbles her update as she relocates her point of view.
Trying to get a good view of the roof of the La Roux building, the group leaves the secured La Roux building, going to an adjacent building. Alex scrounges around for useful things, finding a bottle opener with a magnet for fridges. Kasee makes a portal for her hand and opens the door from the inside. An attempt is made to sneak down the hall. Rachel, looking to make sure Sara was still OK, trips over her feet, squawks loudly, and stumbles forward. The party troupes up to the roof to look at the La Roux building. Alex picks the lock on the door to the roof. Looking across to the La Roux building a satellite dish farm is seen, and Kasee notes security up there is as good as security below.
Sara comes up with the idea to set off the security system next door, to see what happens, and give up on inside recon. The party returns to the La Roux building.
Sara puts her jacket over the camera watching the door while people examine the locks. The door is locked with a cardswipe lock. Alex and Glenn remove a magnet from a bottle opener meant to be stored on a fridge and wedge it into the cardswipe area. Sara motions people away from the door and removes her jacket as people leave camera range. Shortly a guard comes out. He's a rent-a-cop type, with a ring of keys and his very own keycard. As he tries to remove the stuck magnet with a small screwdriver Kasee, Glenn, and Alex gaze wishfully at his keycard. The guard becomes frustrated and decides to take a snickers break, staring intently at the jammed lock. As mounting temptation becomes too much to resist, Alex sneaks his hand through a portal and steals his keycard.
Going to another door of the building, Sara once more slings her jacket over the camera, and the "borrowed" keycard opens the locked door. The group sneaks down the hall. As the elevator lobby is passed Alex notes that there are numbers for 6 floors.
Since there have been cameras everywhere else, it's likely there's cameras in the elevators. Taking the elevators is a bad idea. Kasee checks out the stairwell by moving her perception again. Yep, there are cameras in the stairwells also. The group heads into the first office they come to. It's a small office. Exploration is just beginning when a door down the hall opens, steps are heard, and an external door opens and closes. Kasee hears a guard approaching, so lights are turned off and the party scatters around the room to hide.
The door opens. A guard steps in with his gun drawn. The guard takes aim at Rachel and begins "Allright Missie..." when from deep cover in the guard's own shadow Glenn knocks out the guard. The guard is carrying no personal items or identification other than his security badge. The badge displays no name, only a code. The guard's gun is unloaded and his keycard acquired. Discussion is waged on whether to stay here (they've already searched here, right?-Kasee), search somewhere else (and then the guard will wake up-Glenn and Alex), or just leave now that someone knows security is compromised (let's just leave now-Sara and Rachel). It is decided the search will continue elsewhere. The next office shows nothing of interest, so the group wanders around the building, remaining on the same floor. The hallway ceiling is acoustical tile... Not all walls are loadbearing walls, some won't go all the way up to the next floor... We can climb up the wall, move the tile, and walk around in the ceiling until we get to a good office!
The group gingerly climbs up onto a desk and up the wall, trying not to damage the tiling. Trying to find the guarded room, the group climbs into an office on the secured hallway. Alex tries to pick the lock on a filing cabinet, but us thwarted by the magnetic locks. However, he has more options and reaches in to the filing cabinet and takes some papers, looks like medical records. Nothing else of interest is found, so the group decides to leave. Crawling back over the wall into an unsecured office, Kasee falls through a tile. Sara helps Kasee untangle herself from ceiling parts while Alex, Glenn, and Rachel wander into the hall.
A voice behind them yells "Freeze!" Alex drops and rolls, drawing his gun into firing position... And gets shot. Rachel spins and shoots a guard. The guard is dressed in the black flack fatigues that Kasee saw earlier. Sara and Kasee stay hidden in the room, waiting for the guard to pass the door so they can knock him out.
The shot didn't do much to the guard, however he darts down the hall around a corner. Glenn follows and stares suspiciously at the corner. Glenn knows the guard is around the corner and wants to grab the guard when he looses patience and peeks. Sara feels an energy field building. Believing it to be a large magical affect she telepathically tells Kasee to pass the news and say the group should leave immediately. Everyone but Glenn go back down the hall to the exit door. It's an emergency exit push bar type, but Kasee and Sara can't open it. Glenn gives up watching the corner sheltering the guard and joins the group at the door. Alex shoots the door closure, trying to avoid hitting party members with a ricochet, which narrowly misses Sara. Rachel says there is an energy field on the door. Glenn tries to kick the door open. Alex shoots the door again, embedding a bullet this time.
Another shot from the hallway downs Alex. Apparently the guard took his time and aimed carefully...
Kasee was in the last explored office, Glenn was in the hallway, Alex was unconscious at the back door, and Sara and Rachel were conscious at the back door. Cab and Reuben are back at the cars.
Cab and Reuben are boredly chatting and watching the world go by, when Reuben's turns sharply. Doing a double take, Reuben says "I'll see you later." Handing the keys to Cab he gets out of his car, walks to another car, talks to a man, gets in the car, and is driven off. Cab blinks and hopes Sara is awake enough to drive her car when the group gets back.
Kasee crawls over the wall to the next office, still not wanting to go into the hall. However, she botches and falls through ceiling tile on the other side. Rachel points down the hall to a side door out of the line of fire. Running to the door, she enchants her expanding baton, and slams it into the door solidly. Glenn grabs Alex and his gun and drags him out of harms way to the side door. Sara stays away from the door, not wanting to be creased by another ricochet when they start shooting doors. Glenn moves to the corner to look for the guard. The guard is sneaking rapidly down the hallway. Glenn pulls his head back around the corner as a blast mark appears where his head used to be, with a faint "Krack." Kasee races across the office to the far wall to climb again, but botches again, landing badly, and decides to hide for a while. Rachel runs up behind Glenn. As Rachel appears behind him, Glenn says, "Cover me." and darts around the corner.
Rob (God) says "Wow. Wow. Wow. My goodness." over a very large handful of dice. The players get very nervous.
Glenn feels the impact of fire crush into his chest, an electrical burn, and then feels very little as he thuds to the floor unconscious. The guard's gun is now described as a very nasty assault rifle, with no recoil, it looks like an oversized pistol. Rachel fires 2 shots around the corner, and the guard goes down. Rachel runs around the corner to the guard, keeping her gun trained on his head. At the guard she steps on the assault rifle and slides it to herself, out of the guard's hand. Suddenly she spins back from a gunshot wound to the arm, luckily light.. Oh, no, her ruffly silk blouse was torn! Rachel drops into a crouch by the downed guard, grabbing the assault rifle in her left hand, and looking for the new gunner. Kasee, still hidden in the office, expands her awareness and sees the new shooter. Rachel sees a hand with a gun around the corner at the end of the hall. Dodging bullets again, she gets hit by one and goes down in shock. Sara peers around the corner in time to see the muzzle flash. Kasee starts to open a small portal beside the new guy and plans to grab his gun. She reaches through the tapestry, it feels very thick, and she doesn't quite get through yet. Glenn recovers enough to feel groggy, but stays still. Sara reaches out with her mind to feel the new guard, wanting to know when he nears the corner. Sara, Kasee, and Glenn hear sirens.
Back at the dropoff point, still in Sara's car, Cab sees 2 police cars race past with sirens blaring. She's not particularly worried since it is Friday night on a college campus, but it's been awhile since the group left. Unfortunately, Kasee hadn't said which building they were headed for.
Glenn meditates to heal himself, still looking unconscious. The new guard is also in a black flack suit. The first guard looked really big and burly, the new guard just looks big. The new guard pulls the downed guard backwards around the corner. Sara feels that he is upset, and as soon as he is around the corner she comes running up to Rachel. Kasee realizes the guard has moved, and hearing sirens decides to stop the portal effect and teleport to someplace safe, like Pullen Park in Raleigh. Sara grabs the assault rifle and darts back down to the doors. Glenn is now partly healed, so he gets up and drags Rachel down to the doors. Kasee gives up on the teleport, climbs into the next office, and hides again. As Sara reaches the back door a bullhorn blares from the front of the building "This is Duke Campus Police. We have you surrounded. Please come out with your hands up. Noone needs to get hurt." Sara tries to push open the back door, but it doesn't budge.
Amused players note that the one standing with a big gun in a hall of fallen bodies with a guilty expression is the one who can't talk.
Sara points the assault rifle at the door and pulls the trigger. Nothing happens. Glenn gets to the side door, dumps Rachel by Alex, and kicks the door. The police bullhorn blares out again, "We have you surrounded. Come out with your hands up, or we'll have to come in. And none of us wants that." Sara moves to the side door. Kasee climbs over another wall into the last office. Glenn kicks the door again, snapping the breaker bar.
Cab sees a large, plain van go by, emblazoned with "SWAT". With a sinking feeling Cab drives closer, parks, and gets out to follow the van. The time is now 10:40 pm. The SWAT van pulls up in front of a brightly spot lit building. Police are just beginning to pull a police line around the La Roux building.
Cab sees a couple of cops run to the door and throw a smoking grenade in. She heads toward the side, circling back.
Sara hears an outside door open, followed by 'tink, tink, tink' noises moving closer. Sara telepathically sends to Glenn "I heard a door open." Glenn "Did anyone come in?" Sara "I dunno. I heard a plopping noise with something going tink tink tink."
Pssssss.... (hissing gas noises from Rob)
Sara takes Rachel's gun and fires at the door. The bullet ricochets wild and embeds itself in the concrete wall. Sara gets closer to the door and fires again, hitting squarely. Glenn picks up Alex's gun and aims at the door. The gas has billowed down the hall and everyone feels its choking stink. Kasee takes crippling gas damage. Glenn fires at the door.
Outside Cab hears gunfire as she rounds to the back, and waits behind 2 SWAT team members with automatics and a police line.
Kasee can't move much now, so she tries to step sideways, and botches. Glenn fires at the door while Sara wipes her fingerprints off the guard's assault rifle with her shirt. Then Sara fires. Kasee tries to climb over the last wall to join the party by the door, but gas renders her unconscious and she falls from the wall, landing on the cabinet she was trying to climb up on. She might be allergic to the tear gas. The door flies open from the last shots. Rachel's clip is now empty, and Alex's gun has fired 7 rounds, so 10 bullets remain. The gas begins to dissipate slowly.
Cab sees the building's back door fly open, tear gas spewing out toward the dumpster. Cab sends a mental impulse of "Fear" at the SWAT guy who has begun to speak into his radio. A crowd gathers, pushing against the police line.
In the building Glenn and Sara hear footsteps approaching. The police bullhorn blares out "Give yourselves up. We have you surrounded." Sara projects "Fear" and the memory of her throat being cut at the leftmost SWAT guy. This happens to be the one with the radio. She thinks she has an effect. Glenn puts Alex's gun down, and Sara reholsters Rachel's gun.
Cab draws her baton under her jacket and waits for a guard to get distracted or leave, sending "Fear" to the radio cop again. The building is lit here by one battery powered spotlight. Cab saunters toward the light, bending under the police line. Reaching the light, she flips the light off, and sprints back toward the crowd. Suddenly something cold, hard, and metal slams into the back of Cab's head. "Freeze!" yells the voice of the radio cop.
Sara projects a "You don't see me" at the remaining cop, and runs out to hide behind the dumpster. The guard glances up at Cab and the other cop, missing Sara. Glenn hears "Go! Go! Go!" as 3 SWAT cops with automatics turn the corner. "Freeze!" Glenn freezes. Sara tries to climb the dumpster to hide on top, but metal squeaks and gives, so she climbs down again.
Cab yells "OW!" as she drops to one knee, and raises her left hand to the new bump on her head. The cop jabs Cab in the ribs with the muzzle of his gun and yells "I said Freeze! Get down on the ground and spread 'em!" Cab yells "Ow! What the hell are you doing? Ow!" as she drops to both knees and turns slightly.
Glenn looks over his shoulder at the SWAT team and lays flat. This leaves a clear view of Sara for the cops inside. Sara runs toward the police line and crowd. One SWAT cop from inside darts to the door and yells "Freeze!" The crowd hits the dirt, and Sara trips over an anonymous bystander. Cab whips her head toward the noise and freezes, acting terrified. Cab projects "Embarrassment" at the cop holding her at bay. Sara jumps back up and runs to the street.
Inside one cop strips off his mask and investigates Alex and Rachel, checking to see they're OK. The third cop cuffs and unresisting Glenn.
"I said on the ground." Cab stays apparently frozen in terror and projects "Embarrassment" again. The cop backs away and repeats "On the ground. On the ground."
Inside the building everyone still in the tear gas takes more gas damage. SWAT members start calling in number codes on the radio, and call for ambulances.
Sara runs. Someone slams into her from behind, crashing her into a car. It's a swat cop body checking her into a car. Sara puts her hands on the car and kicks back. The cop is hit solidly, but doesn't even budge. He grapples her at the shoulders. Feeling that he has both hands with no gun Sara tries to turn and kick him in the gonads. He slams her knee. Sara ducks under his arm and starts running again. Ka CHUNK ( the distinctive sound of an assault rifle chambering a round) "FREEZE!" Sara keeps running. A low shot misses her, she scrambles under some cars and is hidden.
Cab blinks and turns to the cop guarding her. "You had a gun! You hit me with your GUN!" Cab projects more embarrassment. A guy in the crowd yells "She's right! He hit her with a gun!" They surge forward, drunken and protective. A big frat drunk confidently eyes the cop. The cop wouldn't shoot him, at best would only run him in overnight, and this chick would have to be _really_ , _really_ grateful. Cab fades to the back, latches onto some big frat's arm, and starts shivering. It's too far to run it and too crowded to step sideways.
Sara sneaks down a couple of cars, stops, and casts a mind effect. She projects footsteps that keep going. She hears the cop moving slowly. Sara stays still, breathing deeply. Sara casts again, with more effort (down to 1 willpower). The cop leaps over the car and bolts through the trees, yelling "Freeze!" Sara slides out from under the car and keeps creeping. She comes to a Campus Security car blocking the road, with a guy in the car. Sara slips off to the side to hide in the bushes. She's a block from the La Roux building and still inside the police zone.
The SWAT team comes out of the building and herds the frat boys on, peeling Cab off and cuffing her.
Alex and Rachel are under guard in ambulances.
Cab and Glenn are cuffed and headed downtown.
Sara is hidden just off the road.
Kasee is passed out in the corner office in residual gas. She'll stay unconscious and without help will slip into a coma, and then things will get really unpleasant.
Reuben is off in parts not yet known.
End of the evening. 10:55 pm Friday 5/29/98. Fun 25 minutes, wasn't it? And, of course, Rob has plans...
Glenn looks over at Cab inquisitively. Cab shrugs and lightly jingles the handcuffs. Glenn says softly, "Are they a problem for you?" Cab dips her chin and rattles again, "But they don't know anything." Glenn replies "That was in the building."
Glenn flexes and twists his hands in ways they were not meant to go and slips out of his handcuffs. Cab starts tapping her feet in a very old rhythm she was taught. At a convenient red light around midnight Glenn stares intently at the door and lets fly a kick which blows the door open. He darts out of the car, weaving toward a side street. The policeman in the passenger seat erupts from his side, aims over the car, runs a short distance after Glenn, and returns to the cruiser.
Cab thins the gauntlet from a thick downtown layer, to one lighter. As the police call in support to recapture Glenn, Cab concentrates, and in a burst of quintessence steps sideways. As an act of will she leaves the handcuffs behind. Fearing what may have happened to the others she heads back to her apartment and answering machine.
Glenn slips away from the police search. He is sighted and chased several times, but keeps slipping away into dark, sleepy Durham. He finds somewhere to hole up, and sleeps.
Alex sleeps through the night. Kasee sleeps through more than the night, and has lapsed into coma. Glenn slips into a Quickie Mart for a map, and starts walking to Sara's place. He eats breakfast and hitches his way to Sara's house. Cab walks to the apartment she shares with Rachel, checks the answering machine, sets a tape for the news, and crashes.
Kasee could have been found by 2 groups. It wasn't the police who found her.
Rachel wakes briefly. "Hello." The female patrolman looks over at Rachel, but continues eating her Cadbury egg, and says nothing. Rachel rings a nurse, and is helped with water and a bathroom break. "Do you know a Detective Mike Chambers?" "No, sorry." "Do you know when they'll be in to question me?" "Around 9." "Thank you." Rachel's eyes flare with Paradox discharge as she settles back to sleep.
Sara wakes with the morning, having slipped asleep in the bushes. She carefully crawls out of the bushes and walks to her car. Using the hidden spare key, Sara drives home, and falls asleep again.
Rachel wakes again in the morning. Two police officers arrive. Rachel asks for the presence of Detective Mike Chambers, but does not request a lawyer. When Mike arrives, Rachel gives her statement. "I found a street girl who was very distressed. She saw her Aunt and wanted to find her again. I agree to go along with her, provided nothing untoward is planned. She lead me to a building on Duke campus. Once at the building, some of the girls friends wanted to go in." Mike interrupts briefly, "Are you sure you don't want a lawyer?" Rachel, feeling the truth will come out soon enough anyway, continues. "I foolishly agree to go with her. While looking for the girl's Aunt, a guard came around a corner with his gun drawn. He doesn't listen, and shoots one of the girls friends. The guard had a very weird gun, one I've never seen before. I returned fire, getting shot in the process."
Alex wakes later in the morning. Two police officers visit him for a statement also, but Alex acts forgetful. "Where am I? Why does my back hurt?" With questioning only a few more details emerge. "I remember walking around Duke, a bright flash, and everything went black." A nurse comes in, gives him water, and helps him to the bathroom. The detective is savvy, and knows Alex is hiding something. The police grill him for over an hour. When Alex asks how he got his injury the cops also want to know that, they think he must have hit a high voltage line while doing something he shouldn't have. A big black nurse comes in and cusses out the police, making them leave her patient alone. Alex falls into an exhausted sleep immediately, drifting in and out of sleep throughout the day.
Glenn arrives intact at Sara's around 8 or 9pm. Sara lets him in, and they both go to sleep.
Saturday ends, Sunday begins.
Kasee remains comatose at her same injury level. Sarcastic players ask if anyone has noticed. Yes, it's quiet.
Cab wakes up and checks for phone messages again, still none. After a shower she eats breakfast while watching the news tape. No names were released. A good drawing of Cab, a security camera picture of Sara holding up her jacket, and a hazy description of what must be Glenn are displayed. All are wanted for questioning in relation to a disturbance on Duke campus, breaking and entering, gunfire, and a guard shot. WRAL news "A running gun battle on Duke's West Campus leads our story tonight. Are our campuses safe? Watch, and find out." Hoping somebody made out safe, Cab bikes out to Sara's. En route voices fill her head and distract her, burning off Paradox but making bicycling much more hazardous. Eventually she arrives at Sara's, and knocks.
Unfortunately, Sara was carrying a lot of Paradox from the break-in and flight from arrest. And she released some of it. Her mind explodes. Sara relives her life, in bits and pieces, in no particular order, very loudly. Sara thrashes in the throes of a full seizure as her mind swamps the house with its images. Glenn calms his mind to a meditative state and resists the pushing thoughts. Cab, however, did not throw up a mental block fast enough. The images pulse through her mind also, leaving her catatonic. Glenn moves Cab outside, but apparently the effect is not limited by distance. Glenn spends most of his time trying to restrain Sara, and cleaning up after the invalids.
Mike visits Rachel, and asks who Alex is. "His name's Alex. He's a friend of the girl I was telling you about. I met all of them just that night. He seemed really gung-ho. Once we got inside he was weird. They were all weird. I think it's just a case of getting in with the wrong crowd." "Who's the wrong crowd? Who started all this?" asks Mike. "It started with the girl, Kay or something, she wanted to find her Aunt. There was this big guy, Jeff or something. He really wanted to go inside. He got shot just before I did. I didn't get the chance to check on him. The whole thing was really stupid."
"Look, I just got the news. The Director of Duke's La Roux Building is pressing charges, along with the cop you shot. Your arraignment is next week."
"What are the official charges?"
"You're charged with tresspass, breaking and entering, destruction of private property, assault with a deadly weapon, reckless discharge of a gun in city limits, accessory... " Mike's list goes on.
Mike visits Alex next. Alex is being charged with accessory to a felony, reckless discharge of a gun, breaking and entering, tresspass. None of his charges are felonies, all are misdemeanors.
Sunday ends, Monday begins.
Kasee recovers in health due to care, but botches her attempt to rouse from a coma. This leaves her worse for wear, but only unconscious. She sleeps through the day.
Alex and Rachel are arraigned separately. They arrive in wheelchairs at court around 8am and are have their moment around noon. The arraignments are very fast. Both are wheeled back to their guarded hospital rooms. Both have acquired public defenders. They seem to care, but have many more cases to worry about, and no new information, both Alex and Rachel stick to their stories. Rachel's attorney wants a plea bargain - drop the assault charge to self defense, keep the reckless discharge of a firearm, and she probably won't do much time. Rachel agrees that it seems her best option. Alex will probably get parole and community service.
At Sara's both Sara and Cab remain locked in memories. Glenn must remain in a meditative state to fight off the memories, but finds some time to tour the library.
Monday ends, Tuesday begins.
Kasee gains in health due to her caretakers, and awakens. She is alone in a hospital room with no windows, and a door with a cardswipe lock. She has a needle in her arm, and a thing with blinky lights strapped to her chest. It feels like there is something in her heart.
Kasee looks down at the thing on her chest. There are blinky lights, but she can't crane her neck enough to see if there are any labels. Her left hand is tied to the bed, and she can't feel her right arm. Her entire body is pale, except for her right arm below the elbow. Looking with Life, her hand was amputated at the elbow, and something metal is definitely in her heart, probably a needle. Kasee hates this. This is NOT fun. She can't even move her fake hand.
Kasee checks the tapestry with Correspondence. It has been seriously thickened. ( A line of sight teleport would require 5 successes, not just 1.) She yells, "Hello! Is anybody out there?" to no response. Trying to free her left hand from the bonds is hard, she can't wiggle out. It would take lots of success and a portal to free her hand. Setting her mind and magic to freeing herself, Kasee shrinks her hand with correspondence, pushes, pulls, and breaks her thumb. But she has freed her hand, and didn't scream.
With Life she again studies the thing in her heart. She doesn't know if it will kill her or not to pull out the needle. She checks her current Paradox, to see if she'd acquired more. (Rob says "Cool!" and checks in a book he won't let the players read.) Four permanent points of Paradox are at the bottom of her pool. She will never be able to burn them off, and they count toward her total for backlash rolls. It's from having her new hand. Kasee wants to figure out the hand, since it's giving her "icky stuff". Checking with Prime, the arm has a 25 point storage pool for Quintessence, currently empty. Checking around, she finds that she is at a node, but it is completely tapped out.
Being unable to look at the complete widget, she uses correspondence to see it fully. There is a Power switch, a light bar gauge 'TLE' currently at 14 with a max of 20, a light bar gauge 'D TLE' reading 0, a small lockable rotary dial at 0 'LEI', and a small light bar gauge 'LEQ ' that is 3/4 the way full with a min of 0.
The widget is currently not doing anything to her heart, just sitting there. Kasee heals her broken thumb, incurring no Paradox. A red light flashes on the widget, the TLE gauge shoots up, LEQ goes down, and five points of Quintessence are pumped through her heart, feeling hot and uncomfortable. The red light stops blinking.
Kasee examines the arm again. It just hangs there. There's a panel, so she opens it. There is a jack, a female outlet for a 2 prong plug. Looking around the room, a cord is under some stuff by her bed, with a like male connector on both ends. And the widget in her heart has a like female jack... Kasee plugs the cord into her arm, then into her chest widget. Nothing happens. Kasee turns the lockable dial from 0 to what might be 1. The arm charges. Quintessence flows from the widget into her arm. A gauge in the arm lights up. LEQ goes to 0. At 15 Quintessence the charging stops and a blinky light goes on. (Rob has Kasee roll arete. 2 successes.) Two Quintessence flow from Kasee to her arm, bringing its pool to 17. The arm now feels like a normal hand.
Kasee looks for somewhere to hide, but there is little in this room, and nowhere to hide. Kasee tries to open the door, but it is locked, and the knob doesn't turn. She grabs the door knob with her right hand to force it to open. She pushes the arm hard. Her mind goes into it, she feels it come alive. She feels it come back, make a fist, and punch through the door. Kasee feels around the outside of the door. There is a plate, and the door is still locked. The arm is down a Quintessence. She tries to pull the outside plate off. The arm draws back again and puts another hole in the door. Apparently, the arm works like a normal hand until she tries to force something, and then it punches. Kasee tries to put a hole in the lock area, but misses slightly. The arm doesn't mind, hitting things is its Specialty. Trying again, the door lock is shattered, as is the door behind it. The door opens. The arm is now at 13 Quintessence. All this pounding has created a hideous noise.
Nobody is in the hallway. The tapestry appears more normal in the hall, it was a problem only in the room. The sound of running feet approaches. Kasee, reassured that she's wearing relatively normal clothing (grey sweatsuit), teleports to her hideout in Pullen Park. Success! It is day out now, probably afternoon, but Kasee has no idea what day it is. Rooting through her things she finds nothing to cover the blinking widget. She sleeps until nightfall, not wanting to remove the needle without Reuben.
Rob hands Julie the Iteration X book to read up on her new Pneumatic Arm. It uses a Quintessence with each use. As long is the arm retains at least 1 Quintessence it is active, and can draw Quintessence from her. She no longer needs the widget, and cannot use the energy in the arm's pool.
Tuesday night Kasee calls collect to Cab's apartment. Cab's not home. Kasee teleports to the burned practice matt in the basement of Sara's house. Boom. She is immediately enveloped by Sara's memories, and is catatonic on the matt. Having made no sound, Glenn remains unaware of her presence.
Rob notes: At the beginning of the game there were 2 conscious in police custody, 3 unconscious, and 1 free at large. Now there are 4 dealing with the mind effect and 2 in the hospital. Fewer groups, but the players don't think this is an improvement...
Tuesday ends. Wednesday passes. Thursday begins.
Sara finally awakens from her nightmare. She has acquired more damage during her flailing, including a broken arm. Cab and Kasee come out of it and go "Oh. My. God." and collapse into sleep. Glenn cleans up after Cab and Sara again, and then sleeps.
Thursday ends. Friday begins.
Rachel is now much improved with hospital care. She can try to post bail. With a bondsman to cover the rest of the $50,000 all she'd need to do is put down $5,000. However, she lacks the resources. Perhaps Mike Chambers or her Church congregation will surprise her with bail...
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Not So Hidden Mage Chantry :
Alex
Cab
Glenn
Kasee
Rachel
Sara
We last left our party on Friday morning, June 4th. Rachel was well
enough to be transferred from the hospital, Alex is still very dinged
up, Reuben is in parts unknown, and everybody else is at Sara's house.
Rachel is transferred from the hospital to the police station. Happily, her church congregation posts bail and sends another Deacon to pick her up. Rachel is released, remanded into the custody of the Church. People are very concerned for her, and very curious as to what had happened. Surely whatever it was must be a mistake. Rachel tells the same story she told the police. The Pastor is very upset that she followed someone of questionable and lesser morality, and that she actually shot a man. People are very skeptical that a security guard would come out shooting. Rachel receives communion and spends time praying. The Pastor decided that she will not be fulfilling any Deacon functions until this whole mess has been straightened out. After prayers Rachel leaves Church to return to her apartment.
Kasee wakes up downstairs at Sara's house. Wanting to remove the widget on her chest, she says "What the hell..." and toggles its power switch. The blinky lights go off and on with the power, but nothing else happens. She decides to try removing the needle from her heart, and pulls. It HURTS to pull. The unit doesn't come off. It has hinged teeth to hold it in place. Kasee decides to fiddle with it. It looks like there are hinged teeth, hooked at the ends, holding the unit firmly attached to her, with a small button. She pushes the small button, and the claw withdraws from her and retracts. The resulting hole coagulates and begins to scar. She goes through this routine with the remaining 7 legs. The sweatshirt is now fairly indecent from claw holes and tears from trying to pull the unit off. Kasee decides to go for broke, and pulls the needle from her heart. It is a very uncomfortable feeling. With the unit out of the way, she can now see the hole drilled through her sternum. Like the claw holes, the needle hole coagulates and begins to close, but bone can still be seen. A red light appears on the unit. Kasee turns off the power again. The light goes off, and the needle retracts into the unit. She removes the ruin of her sweatshirt, and goes for a shower. Kasee emerges from the shower newly cleaned, wrapped only in a bath towel, and clutching the tick-like unit that was on her chest. Apparently the Technocracy did get around to waterproofing the arm in time.
Sara wakes, showers, and cooks LOTS of breakfast. "Hey, Sara, you got any extra clothes I can borrow?" Sara turns to find a towel clad Kasee in her kitchen. Sara beckons Kasee into her room and roots around in the closet, coming out with a T-shirt, sweatpants, and sweatshirt. "Thank you. Look what I got!" Sara holds the proffered wrist, trying to see why Kasee needs to show her arm. Kasee pops a panel on the arm, revealing gauges and blinky lights. "I don't know what happened. I was sleeping, and someone chopped off my arm, and gave me a bionic one." Sara drags Kasee back into the kitchen, taps a newly awoken Glenn on the shoulder, and points to Kasee. "Look what I got Glenn! Someone, I dunno who, chopped off my arm and gave me a new one..." Kasee continues her high speed explanation. Sara raises her hands and eyes in question to the heavens. As soon as her explanation ends, Kasee continues, "So, where is everyone?" "Arrested."
A wide eyed Cab walks into the kitchen, "Chopped off WHAT?!?" At Cab's urging, Kasee checks for any monitoring on the arm, finding none. Sara wonders if there were, could it be blocked? Only by thickening the tapestry, which would result in higher difficulties for us as well as onlookers. The gang wonders why this was done to Kasee, and why Kasee. We don't know, Kasee didn't stick around long enough to see where she was, or who was also there. Kasee is asked if she wants to keep the arm, we can fix that problem for her... Yeah, it's cool... Breakfast is served. A round robin explanation of the past week gets everyone caught up. Cab sets and splints Sara's arm. The rest of the day passes with everyone getting caught up on food and sleep and exploring Sara's house.
Saturday, Rachel is still at the apartment. She goes to talk to her ex-partner Mike Chambers. 'Something funny's going on, I thought you should know. They were using electric guns, big handguns, like nothing I've ever seen. There's also something I didn't say, the girl said they were doing weird medical experiments, and that's why she was so worried about her Aunt. If there's an investigation, it should be looked into.' Mike listens, but volunteers little. Remembering where Sara lives, Rachel hops on her Honda CB400 motorcycle to head over. Feeling paranoid, she takes a meandering route, checking for followers. She sees none. She arrives at Sara's house Saturday afternoon. There's some catching up done. Sara asks if she was followed, nobody was seen. Kasee pops out "Hey! Look what I got!" Rachel grabs the arm, and examines it closely. The arm currently has a 14 Quintessence pool, and a complicated interaction of Prime and other Spheres spells. It's a talisman. Kasee releases some of her Paradox load. Her hearing is in Pullen Park. She acts like this is a joke, a not so funny joke, and starts yelling and acting confused. Eventually, she figures it out. Her hearing's in a stationary point, by the tree. "Hey, cool. My hearing's in Pullen Park. Now I can talk all I want and you can't tell me to shut up!" Several glares convince her that maybe they can, and she subsides. Rachel decides to go home, it would be better not to lead police here. Cab wants to catch a ride home with Rachel on her motorcycle, but Rachel is worried about Cab being at the apartment with a good police description in circulation. Rachel is also still worried that someone may have followed her. Cab asks Glenn to look for anyone staking out Sara's house. Kasee goes along. Cab asks Sara if she could stay for a while, she's not sure how long, and she's not sure how she'll pay Sara back. Sara cheerfully agrees, not to worry. Cab and Rachel discuss Rachel's situation; if worry remains about leading people to Sara's then Rachel either needs to stay away (and away from help if the Technocracy comes knocking) or stay here. Cab suggests traveling via the Umbra, very few could track them there. Rachel hasn't been into the Umbra before, and declines. However, she has now reconsidered staying at the apartment, and also asks Sara if she can stay awhile. Sara cheerfully agrees again, plenty of rooms available. Rachel gives Cab a ride back to the apartment. Both of them relax a minute, then start packing. In the evening Rachel gives Cab a ride to Duke campus to retrieve Reuben's car from the public parking. After a last night of sleep in their own beds, they load bags into Reuben's car and caravan back to Sara's house. Rachel checks for people following them again, and sees noone. Meanwhile, Sara searches her library for references to an arm like Kasee's new one. She finds a book on Technocratic talismans. The book is fairly general, and does not designate which branches of the Technocracy do which talismans. The group seems to adapt well to life at Sara's, they all spend time in the library studying. Kasee studies Forces, Glenn studies Prime, Sara studies Life, Cab studies Correspondence and talks to Kasee about it. Rachel putters around. A week of study with a good library can do wonders, Kasee gains Forces 2 and Sara gains Life 2. With her new understanding, Sara heals her broken arm somewhat. Her arm is still strained, and should be kept in a sling for a while longer. Cab is beginning to get the hang of Correspondence, and begins to make her room more comfortable, a work Sanctum. Rachel and Kasee meditate at the node for Quintessence.
Tuesday, June 15th, Alex is healed enough to leave the hospital. After being transferred to jail, he posts bond. His gun, lockpicks, and the acquired medical files from the La Roux building are not returned to him. He promptly goes shopping for silk handkerchiefs and scarves, the better to hide things in.
Tuesday afternoon, a disheveled Alex shows up at Sara's door. The now complete group discusses the fact that nothing has been done about the La Roux Building problem since the last disastrous break-in. At least some of its inhabitants are definitely Technocracy. "Oh, yeah. Hey, Alex! Look what I got!" The group is suddenly reminded that they hadn't asked Kasee to check the chest unit for tracking devices. Kasee looks at the unit intently, and declares it clean. She mutters, and leaves.
Kasee muttered "Oh, shit." The chest unit is indeed tracking device free, but the arm isn't. There is a mechanical homing beacon in the central bone. Kasee wanders into the trees behind Sara's house, and tries to think about disconnecting the beacon. The beacon is not very accessible, and is beyond Kasee's mechanical ability. However, it emits a signal which can be blocked. Using Forces, Kasee erects a force field tightly around the arm to hold the emissions. The hairs on her arm stand up. She thinks a bit longer on how well it is shielded, and how long the shield will last. The duration would probably be about a day, and the shield would need to be recast, not merely strengthened. Kasee wanders back to the house.
Sirens are heard approaching. The group looks confused, and realizes the police are headed to the house. Sara herds people to the basement while Cab asks if anyone wants to flee into the Umbra. Nobody speaks up, so Cab slips sideways. Kasee also slips sideways, still holding the chest unit she was showing off. Alex is shown to a tunnel behind a concealing wall panel, and hides in the tunnel. Sara, Rachel and Glenn return to the upstairs section.
A bullhorn announces "We have you surrounded! This is the ATF!" Sara opens the door. Rachel steps out, "Can we help you?" Glenn joins them on the front porch. Uniformed men surround the house, coming from the woods as well as the cars. Alex leaves the tunnel and hides in the storage area in the basement by the stairs.
Cab and Kasee look at each other in the Umbra, and quickly pair up again. Kasee peaks back into the normal world, and Cab stands guard.
The ATF agent with the bullhorn finds out Sara is the owner of the house, and hands her a search warrant. Rachel looks it over. It is a legitimate search warrant, to look for "weapons of mass destruction or parts to build same", basically to look for bombs and bomb parts. Sara retrieves her message board *Why are you searching here?*, but the agent will not divulge the reason. Sara waves the agents to the house. The house is searched thoroughly, not as carefully as they could, but not too destructive.
Kasee tells about the police who search the house, including one with a
large black rectangular device that he uses like a scanner or detector.
"Cab, I think this may be my fault."
"Why?"
"They may be tracking my arm. There's a homing beacon."
"What EXACTLY do you mean by 'homing beacon'? I though you said there was
nothing?"
"Well, there wasn't until I looked."
"Kasee...."
"It's OK now. So, we don't really need to tell the others, right?"
"You've gotten rid of it, right?"
"Uh, no... I've shielded it."
This goes back and forth for a little while. The arm is securely shielded
now, they must have found her when she left the shields of the house. But,
Cab notes, she hadn't been in the house the whole time, it was probably
that they could find her and then when they no longer could, decided to
catch her before she got away. So, it is decided that Kasee shouldn't go
anywhere near the ATF agent with the black box in case of detection, and
should at least tell Sara, whose house it is, in case the agents leave bugs
behind.
ATF agents work their way through the house. The bullhorn agent asks
"Is everybody accounted for?" "Yes." The agents find Alex, and bring
him to the porch. "I thought you had left? Guess not." from Rachel.
The bullhorn agent asks "Why were you in the basement?" "Getting some
stuff." The bullhorn agent gets IDs from all assembled, and begins
filling in a report. Sara receives some papers to fill out. The agents
eventually leave the house. They have found nothing, and are obviously
confused that they haven't. After a while all the paperwork is done,
and the agents all leave.
Cab and Kasee reappear and join the group on the porch. "What did you do?" demands Rachel. Kasee reluctantly relates the homing beacon story, and goes to search for bugs. The telephone was bugged, the main room lamp was bugged, and Sara's headboard was bugged. (Amused players note that it was the mute person's room that was bugged. If they were lucky they might hear some thumping...) Kasee holds the bugs up for viewing. Sara's whiteboard is used for a conversation on how to deal with the bugs in the library. The idea of teleporting them someplace noxious is very popular. The idea is brought up to leave one of the bugs to provide wrong information, but nobody's sure all the bugs were found. Kasee looks for more bugs. A large Prime disturbance is on the front porch. Looking at the source, it is difficult to tell what combination of effects are in play. Kasee goes back inside and writes about it on the whiteboard. Rachel goes to check. The item is in the porch overhang. It looks like it was shot into the wood, and seems to blend in. The rest of the group wanders out. The bug in the overhang has at least 2 or 3 different Force and Prime spells going, and is probably at least a listening device. Kasee decides to teleport the bugs found earlier to the ladies lingerie changing room in Hechts at Crabtree mall. Sara reaches up to the overhand and runs a finger over the bug; it sticks out slightly and tingles the hand. Sara runs to get the toolbox from the basement. Rachel takes some pliers and pulls the bug out of the overhang. It comes out fast, discharging Quintessence. Rachel channels some Quintessence, and takes some burn damage from the rest. The bug flashes and disintegrates. Kasee opens a small portal to teleport the remaining found bugs to the mall. Alex burns off his last Paradox, having lost some at the hospital already. Kasee makes another sweep for bugs, but finds none.
Glenn tries more bug hunting at Sara's house, alongside a discussion of what to do with the arm homing beacon. Amputation is a very popular option.
Not thrilled with that option, Kasee grabs a 6-pack of beer from Sara (jokes about 3 year old Kirin beer) and goes to find Raoul. (WAP's contact...) Raoul knows everybody, and must know somebody who can remove the beacon. She teleports to Pullen Park and asks around the homeless. People don't know Raoul, but they know Howard. He works at Stay Online in Durham and lives out of his van, spending all his money on gadgets. Kasee teleports from the park to Duke campus and walks to the store, arriving late. She doesn't see the van, so curls up to wait for store opening the next morning. Meanwhile, Sara develops pictures taken at the break in of the La Roux Building. Rachel checks the apartment answering machine. Glenn suggests staking out the La Roux Building. He also suggests staking out Kasee, and ambushing the Technocracy when they come to collect her. Since that isn't a very popular option, they have bigger guns, the group decides to go stake out the La Roux Building. A note is left for Sara, as she had turned on the "Do not open the door" sign to her photo lab. Glenn, Alex, Rachel, and Cab return to the La Roux Building. Not much happens. Shortly after 5pm many people leave. Four men enter around 6pm. Nobody goes in or out in black suits, flack suits, or carrying a large Quintessence load. Most of the office lights remain off. Midnight arrives, and the group drives back to Sara's house.
Outside Stay Online at 7:30 am a Van and an Olds drive up, the store opens at 8. Kasee reads the auras of the drivers as they go in. Both are mainly blue, but the short, dumpy van driver has odd reddish purple streaking, which she'd never seen before. Neither show signs of the sparkly bits that seem to indicate active magic or large Quintessence loads. Kasee goes in and asks for Howard. The Olds driver is manning the front and says Howard doesn't talk much and doesn't see people, but as Kasee insists friends said he would help with her problem, she is told that Howard is in the back. She goes back, Howard is rebuilding a circuitboard and mostly ignores her until she asks what he knows about Bionic Arms, like this one... Now she gets his attention. He offers to buy the arm. When Kasee mentions she's kind of attached to it, Howard gets a power saw. She declines the removal offer.
"Excuse me, are you Howard? Hi, over here. Hi. You look startled. My
friends say you know a lot about electronics and I have a problem."
Howard ignores Kasee and plugs the circuit board he had been soldering
into a computer.
"A computer, cool. I used to have one until the house blew up."
Howard gives Kasee a dirty look.
"What do you know about bionic arms?" as Kasee flips open the arm
panel.
'Where'd you get it?' as Howard leans over the arm with a probe.
"Dunno, I just kinda woke up, some people chopped off my arm and gave
me this one."
'What do you want for it?'
"I'm kind of attached to it."
Howard comes back with a power saw.
"No! What I meant was it has a homing device in it!"
Howard replaces the saw and returns with a soldering iron.
"It's by the bone."
'How do you know?'
"Magic."
'Cool. You're shitting me, right? Don't shit me.'
"That would be gross."
He wheels over a cart of widgets, plugs a lead into her arm and puts one on her head, and gets a wireframe schematic of the arm on a display. He tells her 'Come back tomorrow.' She leaves, checking his aura again as she leaves . His streaking is now a gold color, especially around the eyes, like a mask. There are sparklies as he types rapidly on a keyboard, leaning over the arm schematic. He ignores her again and types frantically. On her way out Kasee tells the Olds driver she will be back the next morning, thank you very much.
Kasee uses the spare key she still has and lets herself into Cab/Rachel's apartment and leaves a memo on the answering machine "Hi Cab and Rachel. Call me at your place."
Meanwhile Alex tries to get the Bureaucracy to lose his paperwork, Cab meditates for Quintessence, Sara and Glenn workout in the basement. Rachel checks phone messages in case the police want her. Receiving the memo from Kasee, Rachel calls back and speaks with her. Rachel goes out on her motorcycle and retrieves Kasee from the apartment. Wednesday ends.
Rachel drops Kasee off at the store and returns to the apartment to wait for the call to pick Kasee up again. She chats with her Avatar, who chews her out for hanging out with hoodlums, and doing so little if the whole reason was to help them. "Fine... Fine... Call me when there's a plan!" Rachel's angelic Avatar stalks off. At 11am Rachel calls Sara's house and tells the group that she has had no word from Kasee, if she doesn't call back in a few more hours send out the cavalry. Rachel goes to Stay Online. The guy in front says Kasee left a few hours ago, she said she was going home. He acts distracted. Rachel leaves and calls the cavalry from a nearby payphone. Sara brings her camera, and Cab her kit bag. The group troupes over and breaks into the back of the store. Alex pulls out a silk handkerchief, places it over the doorknob, reaches through a small portal to remove the lock mechanism. "Ta-Daa!" Alex pockets the lock for later practice. The group enters the back room of the store. It is uninhabited. Cab spots scorch marks from two tazer misses by the door to the front of the store, and notices that a path was cleared to drag something to the door, meaning Kasee was probably swiped again. Nuts. Alex fills his pockets with small items as he searches for clues of Kasee. The group leaves the back room, propping the door shut. As the group waits in the back parking, Glenn and Sara go in to talk to the store guy again. Sara locks onto his mind and reads his thoughts while Glenn babbles on about "his sister" and Howard. Good stuff in those surface thoughts. They come out and fill in the group. Some blond crew-cut goons came and said he saw nothing. They were very large, and one patted a gun shaped bulge under the front of his black T shirt. The guy is so terrified he saw nothing. The nothing he didn't see was noise in the back, a loud crack of a discharge, and a truck pulling in and leaving. The group returns to the back of the store. Alex pulls items out of his pockets, trying to figure out what they are. Cab and Rachel don't approve, but Sara asks them to let him be. Cab does a past viewing, using Time. At 8am an empty van was parked behind the store. At 8:10am Kasee was carried into the black panel van by 4 thugs in blue jeans and black T-shirts, and a dumpy guy (Howard). The van drives off. Cab blurts out the license plate number (AVE-5836), and goon descriptions.
The group returns to Cab/Rachel's apartment, Glenn and Rachel check for bugs. Rachel calls in to have Mike (ex-partner as a cop) run the plates. They were stolen off a Ford Taurus. Mike wants her to file a report, and asks what she has gotten into, but Rachel is reluctant, and says she'll fill him in over dinner. After a bit of thought Rachel calls back in to report (anonymously) Kasee's kidnapping. Rachel runs a hunch and the group checks all parking by the La Roux building. Ta daa, the van is in the parking deck. Rachel calls Mike, who comes over with current partner. The remainder of the group leaves before the police arrive, and stake out the La Roux Building to watch for guys leaving the Building. Mike wants to know what she's gotten into. Rachel pulls him aside, and says she'll tell him tonight. The police examine the van, and leave.
Rachel and Mike do dinner at Tony Z's. Rachel tells him little more, saying that after the ATF came and bugged the place she was staying she'd rather discuss it more privately. Cab and Sara wait at the apartment, while everybody else goes to Sara's house. Rachel and Mike arrive at the apartment after dinner. Rachel gives Mike the big story of her induction at seminary while Sara is in the kitchen and Cab in her room. As Rachel finishes her spiel, and Mike looks predictable like she's crazy. Sara wanders out of the kitchen. If he'll just keep an open mind, Rachel says Sara will provide a demonstration. (players all crack up for a while) Cab hangs out in her room during this in case she's needed. Sara establishes a firm link with Mike and starts talking. He thinks the apartment was rigged, so they go for a walk. Sara talks at Mike some more. Mike has Sara wait, while he and Rachel continue. Sara continues speaking to him. Mike has Rachel wait, and returns to where he left Sara. She begins to tell him about the kidnapping again, and gives him a picture of the thugs who threatened the Olds driver at Stay Online, Kasee showing off her arm, and the security guard in the black flack suit shooting Alex in the back during the original La Roux break-in. She gives him narrative about the images as she feeds them to him. Mike takes notes, hands Sara a card 'in case she has another statement to make' and leaves without another word to Rachel. Rachel feels this has gone fairly well, all things considering. Possible further demonstrations include self healing of injuries, and a walk in the Umbra. Unfortunately, only Kasee has enough Forces for a flashy demonstration. Cab is not reassured by the fact that Mike never said goodbye to Rachel.
End of the game session late Thursday, June 17.
Rob assures us that having her wake up last time, they're keeping
Kasee very well sedated this time...
As we last left the group Cab, Rachel, and Sara were at Cab & Rachel's apartment after Rachel spoke to Mike Chambers, her old partner from the police force; Alex and Glenn were at Sara's house, with a brief sojourn out to Chapel Hill; Kasee is heavily drugged by the Technocracy; Reuben is still at large somewhere...
Alex and Glenn have driven around Chapel Hill to familiarize themselves with the area, staying awhile at The Cat's Cradle. They return around 10pm.
Rachel and Sara finish filling Cab in about the conversations with Mike. As they are about to return to Sara's house the telephone rings. Reuben's cheery voice asks for a pickup at RDU airport, Terminal C. Rachel follows Sara's car over to Terminal C. Reuben is waiting curbside, and hops right in. Cab fills Reuben in on all the fun he missed. "Welcome back. You'll notice Kasee isn't with us..." The look on Reuben's face is priceless as Cab recounts the saga of Kasee's arm. "Nobody thought to check her arm? You let Kasee do it?" After a pause, Reuben sighs and begins his tale. "You're probably wondering where I've been. I saw a guy I knew a long time ago, who shouldn't have been there. I got in the car to talk to him, only it wasn't him. He was one of the Oracles of Life. Think of it as possession. We drove for awhile. There actually is something weird going on in Floyd, like we'd all thought. He introduced me to a Son of Ether and left. He didn't say he was a Son of Ether, but it was sort of obvious. We went into a bar, and there was a blimp. He said we were going to the Horizon. We stopped off at Victoria's Station en route, and ended up at a Realm that looked like a planet. Very green, lots of Life. I had a little meeting with Oracles. They told me stuff. That's about all I can say. And then we came back, landing at RDU on runway 32 right. I'm not sure how, but he is a Son of Ether..."
The group converges at Sara's house at 10pm. Alex and Glenn exchange greetings with Reuben, but aren't told Reuben's recent story. The group discusses Kasee's plight some more. Glenn suggests amputation again, Kasee really is more trouble than the arm is worth. Cab reminds people that we still need to retrieve Kasee first, we can't leave anyone in the hands of the Technocracy. Rachel suggests stocking up on some Quintessence before the mission. Sara is reluctant to go anywhere without a better plan than "Let's go get Kasee." Cab and Reuben decide to be the advance scouts in the Umbra, with the remainder along to help rush the building/provide a distraction/or help haul Kasee's body away. Cab asks Sara to be a communication link, and she agrees. Reuben suggests that he and Cab take a little side trip for some Tass, and that everyone else go stake out the La Roux Building until they rejoin the group.
Reuben drives Cab to Forteau's house, warns Cab "Don't leave this car", and returns with 4 full gallon jugs. Reuben and Cab rejoin the group at the La Roux Building. Reuben deposits the gallon jugs with the group while Sara forges a mental link with Cab. Reuben suggests we all meet back 'here' in 90 minutes. The Spirit mages drive to the Duke Gardens, park, and enter the Umbra. In the Umbra the La Roux Building looks like a rocky hill. There are some caves. Cab and Reuben pick a likely cave and enter. Glenn seems to vanish as he slips stealthily into the night. Leaving the group, he wanders a bit, settles himself, and begins to meditate. Once in the proper frame of mind, his awareness blossoms outward, seeking Kasee's life pattern. Some while later he discovers her life pattern, 3 levels underground in the La Roux Building and attached to many tubes. There are no stairs to the sub basements, only an elevator shaft and ventilation systems. Glenn returns to Sara, Rachel, and Alex and describes his findings.
Sara relays that Kasee is 3 levels under with only elevator access to Cab. Reuben spots a shaft going up, but it doesn't go down. A hard crystalline wall blocks entry down. Cab sees that it is a 9/5 Umbral gauntlet, and goes to work thinning it. Reuben and Cab cross the gauntlet, deciding to remain in the Umbra instead of dropping back into normal space. The shaft is easily climbable. Cab relays to Sara when the third level down is reached, and exploration for Kasee begins. The cave passage is dotted by side caves which are mostly empty. A number of sleeping Pattern Spiders and their webs are passed, probably the reason the Umbral gauntlet is so high here.
Reuben peeks past the gauntlet to find Kasee, with Cab guiding him through the tunnels. At last he sees Kasee. She is strapped down in a hospital bed, with lots of tubes going into her. There is a chart on the foot of the bed, which Reuben reads. Tomorrow bright and early Kasee will have her bionic arm amputated. This time there will be no replacement. You'd think they didn't trust her anymore.
Friday 6/18/98
0800 Subject 00042326
+ Reclamation
- Anesthesia
- Amputation
- Cauterization
+ Lobotomy
- Orbital Insertion
- Sample Extraction
- Pre-Frontal Disintegration
- Retraction
- Cerebral Implant
1400 Personality Implantation
+ Stimulation
+ Cerebral Connection
+ Download
+ Personality Reprogramming
Saturday 6/19/98
0800 Psychological Counseling
1400 Sociological Reintegration
Sunday 6/20/98
0800 Physical Therapy (Right Arm)
Reuben can't flush her system very fast here. Cab and Reuben retrace their path out of the building. The crystal wall at the elevator shaft mouth lets them out. They return to the regular world, and drive back to the rest of the group. There is a long discussion of bad options. Reuben chugs some tass when it is decided to send Cab and Reuben back in to grab Kasee. The other 3 jugs are carried back to Duke Gardens.
Since this trip requires both mages to cross unhindered to Kasee, Cab drinks some tass and rips open an Umbral gate. Cab relays to Sara that she will try to hold the portal open long enough for the return trip, could somebody come guard it? Unfortunately she was unable to hold it open long enough for the return trip. However, Rachel, Glenn, and Alex had already left to the portal site, leaving Sara alone at the La Roux Building. The path down to Kasee is retraced again. The gauntlet at the elevator is thinned with difficulty, and the two Spirit mages cross to the subterranean levels, remaining once more in the Umbra. At Kasee's room Cab suggests thinning the gauntlet so Reuben can cast magic through and wake Kasee up. Kasee would then either join them in the Umbra, or teleport to safety. Reuben suggests that it would be faster to open another portal and merely grab Kasee, dashing for the exit afterward and waking her in better conditions. Cab, realizing that at this difficulty she gets one chance to open the gate and that she had difficulty with her last gauntlet manipulation, asks Reuben if he can channel some of his Quintessence to her during the casting. Draining the last tass, and with a mighty effort of will, Cab rips open another Umbral gate.
Immediately alarms and klaxons begin to wail, and the Pattern spiders spring awake, spinning rapidly. Reuben jumps through and begins unstrapping Kasee. Cab stands ready at the gate, they'll need to fight the spiders to leave. Reuben looks up with a horrified expression as the gate slams shut. It wasn't part of that reality. The spiders spin their webs closer and closer to Cab. More spiders approach. Alone, it would be a suicidal fight, and Cab would probably be enwebbed.
And so the game session ends...
Rachel, Alex, and Glenn wait anxiously standing guard where the Umbral portal was opened at Duke Gardens. Sara knows all too well what is happening inside as she waits outside the La Roux Building. Kasee remains drugged unconscious in a Technocracy Lab. Reuben is at Kasee's side. Cab is Umbral outside Kasee's room being surrounded by Pattern Weaver spiders.
As the session played Sunday 3/29/98 broke up a player remained behind to quickly tie up a loose end. Kim Green was hoping she could get the disposition of Cab settled before the next game, so play could continue. At the end of the regular session we left Alex, Rachel, Glenn, and Sara watching the La Roux Building. Sara was telepathically linked to Cab. Reuben had just stepped through a portal into Kasee's subterranean hospital room and watched with horror as Pattern spiders sprang awake, weaving frantically. The Umbral portal snapped shut, cutting Cab off in the Umbra with the spiders, and Reuben/Kasee in the regular world with the Technocracy.
Reuben desperately continues to unstrap Kasee while klaxons and alarms wail, knowing that Cab is resourceful and that his time is short as agents of the Technocracy are coming after them.
Cab spins to confront the Pattern spiders, expecting a tough fight to retrace her path to the building exit in the Umbra. There are many more spiders, and many more webs than she remembered seeing. They advance swiftly, spinning reality hard and set as they come. Suddenly filled with panic at the thought of facing so many, Cab turns again to where the Umbral portal just closed. She is out of Quintessence and the Umbral gauntlet remains almost impossible to pass through. She's on her own. In desperation Cab remembers the Rite of Heart's Blood. A truly desperate mage can trade themselves to gain a pool of Quintessence, and the price is severe. Cab calls deep within to her Avatar, and begins to burn. Agony racks her at the damage she sustains calling forth power, damage which cannot be healed magically, damage to the soul. Wreathed in mystic flames Cab screams a chant with her remaining breath and will, and flings herself at the Umbral gauntlet. Cab's eyes close as she loses consciousness, but the scream on her face remains.
The effort is not enough. Cab's body does not pass through the Umbral gauntlet. Pattern Weavers enclose her frail form in their webs. Cab is wrapped in crystalline strands of eternity.
"You're dying, Cab."
It is a statement of fact. The voice is Crystal's.
"You're dying. You've already spent your will, your body, and your soul. What do you have left? What is worth your life? How much do you want to live?"
"What do I have left? Hope in the Dream. The Dream of the Future. The Dream of the Present. The Dream of the Past. The hope that all will know the Dream I have seen of the splendor of creation. The hope that all will hear the song of the magic inherent in life. That is what I have fought to live for. I have offered all that I am for that Dream before, it is worth it. The fight for the Dream is hard now, but it isn't over. I burn to continue the Dream."
Crystal is fascinated by the fact that someone might consider this. "You voluntarily give up your Dream?"
Through the agony she is frozen in, Cab remembers that Pattern Weavers freeze what they web into set reality, body and mind alike. She fears that the soul would also be frozen, forever trapped, never to return to the cycle of life. It would never be reborn into someone else if she never died. It would only stay and grow twisted. This cannot be allowed. "Yes."
A keening scream erupts from deep within Cab. A dark form blasts out of her. Crystal reaches into the form for a blue-green crystal. She looks at it, smiles, and pockets it. The form continues outward, dissipating rapidly. The Pattern spiders which wrapped Cab melt. Their webs melt. Reality melts. The Umbral gauntlet is gone. Cab falls to the floor at Reuben's feet, still unconscious. The few remaining Pattern spiders cower in fear.
(Upon due probing later it will be discovered that Cab now has no Avatar, no Arete, no Dream, and no memory of her Dream for which she fought. It should also be noted that Cab lost consciousness before she could sever the mental link to Sara. Due to the Pattern Weaver spiders the link could not be closed externally by Sara. Sara remained a silent witness and participant in Cab's final drama.)
Alex, Glenn, and Rachel are at Duke Gardens. Sara is at the La Roux Building. Cab, Kasee, and Reuben are in the Technocracy lab hospital room. As noted in the What Came After addendum to summary of 3/29/98, Sara is still telepathically linked to Cab. Oh, how much fun we can have!
Reuben, having seen Cab have a bad day, goes back to unstrapping Kasee. Once she is sufficiently unhooked, Reuben casts a mighty spell and flushes Kasee's system. She is now awake. Very awake. Reuben grabs Cab and yells at Kasee "Get us out of here!" Kasee makes a portal to Pullen Park by The Tree in Raleigh. "Reuben, we might want to get out of here. They can probably trace that." "OK."
Sara is alone at the La Roux Building. Due to her linkage throughout Cab's little drama she now has several problems:
Back at the apartment Reuben tucks Cab into bed and examines her with Life. She has massive pattern damage, like someone had taken her pattern and shorted it to ground. Since she is physically stable, albeit in a coma, Reuben leaves her to rest. Sara's link to Cab slips away. Reuben looks at Kasee in Prime. He sees no Quintessence, lots of Paradox, and a signature. Kasee blinks at Reuben, and mentions that her arm probably still has the homing beacon, but isn't transmitting due to lack of power. Kasee releases some Paradox and finds that she has double vision, and the other sight location tends to change drastically. Reuben releases some Paradox and discovers that he now has paws instead of hands. And then Reuben breaks the news to Kasee.
"I've got a bit of bad news for you. Kasee, you are marked."
"What do you mean, like somebody trying to kill me?"
"I'm deadly serious. Yes. It fades with time. If somebody sees you in public, they'll kill you."
"Can't you get rid of it?"
"Yes, but that would leave another mark."
Reuben left this mark on Kasee accidentally, when her performed the mighty task of flushing her system in the Technocracy lab. Although he'd like her to believe it's the Technocracy that would kill her, she finds out that there is another group after her. This would fade away in about a month, all she'd have to do is stay out of sight. Due to the problem of paws and a limp arm, Kasee makes tea for Reuben and they scrounge something to eat with only minor mishaps. Reuben gives Kasee the abbreviated story of her rescue in exchange for finding out about Howard, followed by sleep.
Many hours later it is a beautiful Friday, June 18th, about 3pm. Most people wake up. Cab and Sara do not.
Alex, concerned, asks Glenn about Sara. It's a bit like the last time she had Paradox backlash, but this time she's not screaming. Glenn discovers that her mind is hiding, but he doesn't know how to call it back.
Kasee calls Sara's house to ask for a ride over, Reuben is there but not up to driving, and Cab looks kinda crispy. Alex borrows a car and plays chauffer.
Glenn moves Sara to the basement. Assuming a meditative state, he lets his mind relax and focus, and then goes to find Sara inside her mind. Sara is in her own mindscape, it's nice and roomy, maybe she'll stay. A very noisy mind barges in.
Glenn tries being helpful, gifts of flowers, reminding her she forgot something, and It's A Small World After All.
Sara does not take well to the interruption and throws Glenn out of her mind. Glenn gives up and tucks her back into bed again.
Kasee tells Alex the Howard and the Arm story. Alex asks Reuben if the new arm is chopped off, could he regrow it? Nope. Reuben tells a brief story of Kasee's rescue. 'Cab got us into the envelope. I went to rescue Kasee. Something went out of Cab. Whatever happened to Cab took down the gauntlet, and she fell.' Isn't that strange? 'Very. I woke up Kasee, grabbed Cab, and Kasee teleported us out.'
Alex checks Cab's Destiny. There are many good things ahead for Cab. Alex mentions that he knows someone who can help pull Cab out of her coma.
Kasee goes to the meditation room and successfully meditates for Quintessence.
Amazed at the lack of response at Sara's house, Alex calls his mentor, Sandra. Glenn reminds him that Cab's picture was circulated on TV and she shouldn't be brought to a hospital. Alex relates 'I seem to be in a lot more trouble lately. A person I've run into is in a coma. The people I'm with have stabilized her, but she's wanted by the police. There's a Technocracy stronghold at Duke and when I got into trouble she was there.' Sandra asks if they have a *medkit*. Alex thanks her, and says they can catch up later.
Alex turns to Reuben and asks why he won't help Cab. He has restrictions. Alex continues to question Reuben, who blows up and refuses to justify anything, 'Who the hell are you? If you've got another idea...' Alex "Yes, but I don't think you'll like it. If she's beyond help, we should let her pass on." The discussion continues heatedly, then Alex walks off unsatisfied. Reuben and Rachel make a run to Companion Animal Hospital for supplies to sustain comatose people. Reuben talks Glenn through attaching things to Cab, in the other upstairs bed.
Glenn tells Kasee something needs to be done about her arm, either it doesn't work, or it's a homing beacon. Kasee replies that now that it's powered down she can play with it some more, but not right now, she's watching Titanic. (her Paradox flaw is still in effect)
Time passes. Kasee researches electronics in the library. Sara wakes up on Saturday. Alex continues to meditate and try to convince the system it's lost the paperwork on the La Roux raid. Glenn studies Life. Reuben plays nursemaid.
The game is ended before time slips to the date of the trial (Wednesday 6/23/98)