7/6
Played: December 6, 2022.
The 12-story mini-skyscraper that Dave rented office space in is at 1 Kearny Street. It's part of a complex that includes one of San Francisco's highest surviving pre-Earthquake high-rises, the old Mutual Bank building, with its rococo French Revival style. The more recent addition to the block, where the Milk Solids Council "office" is at, is the modern(ist) building designed by Charles Moore and built 7 or 8 years ago. The building(s) contain a mix of law offices, corporate offices, financial concerns, and most importantly for our op's purposes, a large restaurant on the ground floor.
The Milk Solids Council offices are tucked away in a corner of the ninth floor abutting the old Mutual Savings Bank building. It's pretty much perfect window-dressing for the cover org as described to Dave by Marshall and Jo: pokey but modern, with two private offices and a mid-sized boardroom, as well as fully-equipped cubicles for a staff of a couple dozen. (Again, if we need Special Ones to come in on the day, dress professionally and man the typewriters, that's what they're there for.)
Right across the hallway from the offices is the building complex's noisy service elevator, as well as a door leading to the old building. (This is one of the reasons Dave was able to rent the vacant offices so easily; the elevator is quite loud while it's working, making the properties on this side of the new building undesirable.) The elevator leads down to the first floor and basement level at the back of the restaurant in the old building. It also very conveniently opens up onto a back hallway which leads to the service entrance on Geary Street; this is the method by which offices in both buildings can freight up their office furniture and equipment. This loading zone will accommodate a URIEL white van easily and given the configuration, it's likely no prying eyes on 9 should chance across one or more of the team wheeling, say, a large rolling laundry hamper out of the Milk Solids Council offices, into the freight elevator, and then down onto Geary and into a waiting van.
Dave did well … so well in fact, Jo wonders if URIEL should just keep the lease going for future ops: the building is also very centrally located in the city and the office setup is perfect for future ikoter-snatches. There's also multiple methods of escape if an op goes wrong; given the proximity to the door to the old building, someone could easily exit the complex via either the new building, old building, or service entrance from the offices.
(Fun fact; this building is only three blocks from Union Square and our old friend the St. Francis Hotel.)
Thursday, August 30, 1973. Archie, Marshall, and Jocasta wait in a conference room in an office staffed by Special Ones on the ninth floor of a building where a fake organization maintains its fake regional headquarters. At Archie’s suggestion, the team has decorated the suite to resemble a normal office for a normal NGO, but have deliberately done a few things wrong — a picture hanging upside down, a fake plant slightly out of place, trade magazines for horse breeding in the receptionist area. This calculated ploy is intended to unsettle their anticipated guest, Christopher Butler. Outside, Mitch and Charley wait in an unmarked white van parked across the street. Dave Rocco sits behind the wheel, sunglasses on. They listen in on the audio surveillance system which Charley helped Jocasta secretly install the night before at the main lobby check-in desk. “Future Shock” by Curtis Mayfield plays at a low volume on the radio.
Mitch watches the front door. At about 10:55 am, he sees a young man, conservatively dressed in a gray suit and carrying a briefcase, walk through the main entrance. A moment later, they hear his voice crackle over the speaker system. “Hi, my name is Arnold Riley. I’m here for an 11 o’clock appointment with the American Milk Solids Council on the ninth floor.” Charley’s danger sense tingles. Maman Brigitte whispers in her ear: “Mon enfant, he comes to your office carrying a contagion. A disease, n'est-ce pas? He seeks to infect everyone up there.” Charley blurts out: “He’s got a deadly weapon! It’s a … a contagion!” Mitch flings open the passenger door and leaps out. As he goes, Charley shouts: “Be careful! You could get really sick!” She swivels in her chair, pops on an adult-sized headset, presses a few buttons, and dials the ninth floor. “We have a problem!” she exclaims when Jocasta picks up the phone. Without elaborating, she too jumps out of the car and races for the building.
Mitch hustles through the main doors and does a quick sweep of the lobby. He spots Arnold, who presses the call elevator button. Oddly, nothing happens. Arnold presses it again. Still nothing. He moves toward the other elevator and presses the call button. Mitch uses this serendipitous delay to speed walk up to Arnold, staring intently at the back of his head as he goes. Suddenly, Arnold bursts into a sweat. He wipes his brow and puts down his briefcase. Why is it getting so hot in here all of a sudden? The heat increases. Arnold feels faint. Dizzy. The lobby spins. The last thing he remembers is a … hippie picking up his briefcase and wrapping an arm around his waist as he hears the elevator doors ding. Mitch casually swoops Arnold’s now-unconscious body into the elevator. When he turns around to press the button for the ninth floor, he sees Charley slip through the closing doors.
They ride upstairs: the weird psychic hippie and the weird psychic girl who talks to ghosts, and also the prone body of this businessman, drenched in sweat. When they reach the ninth floor, Mitch lays Arnold down on the floor and drags him by his feet to the URIEL suite. As he enters the reception area, one of the Special Ones — acting as a receptionist — chirpily says, “Hello, welcome to the American Milk Solids Council, do you have an appointment?” Mitch says, “Conference room?” The Special Ones smiles and points him down a hallway. Mitch says thanks and drags Arnold’s body down the hall and into the conference room where Archie, Marshall, and Jocasta wait expectantly.
Marshall: Who the fuck is this?
Mitch: Uh, this is Riley. He showed up for Butler’s 11 o’clock appointment. He said he had an appointment with the American Milk Solids Council and that just didn’t seem right.
Charley: He’s got some sort of disease with him! (she points at the briefcase)
Mitch: We haven’t really checked that out. There wasn’t, uh, time? I just — we grabbed him and brought him up here. So here he is.
Marshall: So there’s a disease — like what kind of — is it like an actual biological weapon? In the briefcase? Or is it …
Charley: I believe that —
Mitch: — I don’t know about that. Let’s, um, let’s think about it.
Marshall: Well —
Archie: — can we move him to a different office?
Jocasta lunges for the body and the briefcase. “We need to get him into the safe room right now,” she barks. She grabs Arnold under the armpits and Mitch grabs his ankles. They haul his prone body back into the hallway and to a medium-sized supply closet that she had outfitted the day before with tarps and restraints. They toss him inside and Jocasta slams the door shut. Everyone assembles in the hallway.
Jocasta: OK, we have him locked in the secure closet. If you — if you, Archie, if you can handle Butler, if he shows up, I can take care of this guy.
Archie: OK. Yeah. Should we open this briefcase?
Marshall: No! We should not open the briefcase.
Jocasta: Yeah, let’s play it safe. But I’ll find out what’s in the briefcase.
Marshall: You’ll find out what’s in the briefcase? Right. OK. Do you need a hazmat suit?
Jocasta: It’s all up here, baby. (she taps her temple)
Archie: So, Mitch — did you, did you get a sense of History B off this fellow? Is that why he’s on the floor here? Why did you knock him out?
Mitch: Charley said to.
Charley: (enthuastically) My spirit guide told me that he’s dangerous! And that he’s, uh, carrying a contagion — which is a deadly disease — and so we had to take him.
Marshall: Mitch can you please just tell us, do you detect History B on his guy? Or his briefcase?
Archie: Good job, Charley.
Charley: Oh! Thank you. Thank you.
Marshall: Oh, yeah, good job — everything is going fine so far. We just need to establish some basic things.
Archie: You both did the right thing.
Marshall: Yes, you both did the right thing. We’re just trying to figure out some things.
Mitch looks around and shrugs. After he beat, he declares both Arnold and the vicinity clear of History B.
Marshall: OK, so, just thinking out loud. Assuming your spirit guide, Charley, was not playing a trick on you or otherwise mistaken —
Charley: Right.
Marshall: — then this individual has come here with a weapon? A contagion? Or something along those lines. And he knew about the appointment with this NGO that doesn't exist. The only way he could know about this NGO that doesn't exist is — I would imagine — through Butler, since he's the only person we've even told about it. Except for maybe like the building manager when we signed the lease with. So maybe this is a … threat? Or an attack from Butler? Maybe it's a feint?
Archie: Or maybe he’s trying to soften us up?
Marshall: It just … it just seems like he has to be related to Butler. I don't see what else it could be.
Archie: Well, yes, let’s see what he’s got. Let’s see what he says, what’s in his briefcase. Jocasta?
Jocasta nods and enters the secure closet, where Arnold lies prone on the ground. She kneels down, steadies her breathing, and places her hands on his temples. She delves into his unconscious mind and suddenly knows that his briefcase is filled with standard Agrigenics marketing materials, a notepad, and a day planner. Nothing unusual. Jocasta removes her hands and pats him down. She finds a card case and snaps it open. Inside his an Agrigenics business card bearing Arnold Riley’s name and title. (He’s a junior marketing VP). His wallet also contains nothing suspicious: driver’s license, about $40 in cash, a Diner’s Club card. Jocasta snaps a handcuff on Arnold’s wrist and secures him to a pipe in the corner. With that done, she douses a cloth with chloroform and stuffs it in his mouth. Then she steps back into the hallway and reports her findings to the team.
Archie: The contagion … maybe it’s memetic? Maybe it’s in his head, something he was going to say. That Butler programmed him to say. That’s within his wheelhouse, right? He could take one of his flunkies and mess with his head.
Marshall: Right. Right.
Marshall looks at his Rolex.
Marshall: So, Butler’s still not here. So he’s not showing. So he sent — he sent this guy … he just attacked us, right?
Archie: Well, yes. Maybe.
Marshall: Regardless of whatever he thinks we are, he attacked us.
Archie: Or he did something. He sent something. Whether it’s a poison pill or whatever —
Marshall: But the thing is, to find out from this guy we’re gonna have to like, it’s gonna take so long! We’re gonna have to implement all these safeguards. We’re going to have to delve into his subconscious without him speaking for fear of him exposing us to whatever this contagion is —
Jocasta: — I think we should put a bullet in him.
Archie: Well, we’re set up for that. The interrogation. We have the interrogation stuff ready to go. That’s what we were going to do.
Jocasta: That’s not for a flunky, though. That’s for our target.
Archie: Right. I know. And we’ve already mind-hacked a few of his flunkies.
Jocasta: And when you got a pawn, you take him off the board.
Marshall: Right.
Jocasta: And this guy needs to get the message that we are not fucking around.
Archie tells Jocasta to go get him the briefcase. He wants to see what’s inside. Jocasta protests, saying they should just have Mitch incinerate it, but Archie overrules her. Jocasta fetches the briefcase and returns; everyone walks back into the conference room, and Jocasta places the case on the table. After examining it for obvious traps or irregularities, Archie pops it open. Nothing explodes. No one dies. As Jocasta saw when she probed Arnold’s mind, the interior of the suitcase is completely banal, filled with mundane business papers and marketing materials. Archie flips through the contents and shrugs. At a quick review, he sees no memes or glyphs. Nothing to suggest hostility.
Archie: Is it possible that we were too subtle? And Butler thinks this is just on the up-and-up? Does he — these are just actual proposals that Agrigenics appeared to have for us? I just … wouldn’t it funny (he chuckles) — wouldn’t it be funny if we were all like, oh gosh, he attacked us, and actually he thought that this was completely just what it looked like on the surface. I’m not saying that’s what happened, but …
Marshall: Yeah, that would be good. But just from reading the transcript of Jocasta’s call with him, he was so enthusiastic to meet with us that if he thought was legitimate he would have come himself.
The team debates what to do. Marshall proposes going on the offensive, invading Butler’s home and waiting for him there. Jocasta says that’s tactically unsound: clearly Butler has caught wise to something, and his house may be boobytrapped or otherwise dangerous for them. There’s also the issue of Agrigenics itself. Archie has developed a memetics campaign to destroy the company, and the implementation of that plan has partly begun, but he needs Butler to fully deploy. And, of course, there is still the Agrigenics basement and all the horrors that may dwell down there. Jocasta suggests, again, that they incinerate the briefcase. She also recommends sending Butler a tersely worded memo saying something along the lines of, “We thought you were serious about this, but obviously that is not the case,” and put the ball back in his court. After considerable back and forth between Archie, Marshall, and Jocasta, Mitch clears his throat and speaks up.
Mitch: If it was me, I would play dumb. I would wait, you know, 10 minutes and then call his office and be like, is he coming over or is he not coming over? Nobody’s here. And see what they say. And our position is, this guy Riley you're talking about, we never saw him. I don't know.
Marshall says that’s a great idea. Archie and Jocasta agree. Marshall volunteers to make the call. Everyone grabs a seat while Marshall picks up the phone on the side table. He dials Butler’s line at Agrigenics. A woman answers and says hello, but before she can say anything else, Marshall uses the Voice to command her to put him through to Butler. There is silence for a moment. Then, the woman haltingly informs Marshall that she is terribly sorry, but Mr. Butler has been transferred to Agrigenics’ new office in New Delhi. Marshall’s psychiatric and memetics training tells him something is off. He does some mental calculations and quickly concludes that this message is memetic in nature. He hangs up and tells the team what he’s learned.
Marshall: OK, so he’s on the run, right? Am I reading the tea leaves correctly?
Archie: Or someone else took him out.
Mitch: That’s my thought.
Marshall and Archie confer in semi-private, Archie sketching out formulas on a notepad while he and Marshall talk about what the secretary said, how she said it, and what they’ve intuited from Arnold. It is a very good supposition, they conclude, that Arnold was carrying this meme to them so that they would not chase Butler. It was likely released as an office rumor that eventually became fact. It all seems very hasty, too — there is no letter in Arnold’s briefcase from Butler explaining why he sent Arnold, or designating him as his proxy for this meeting. There certainly is no New Delhi office. Fortunately, the meme itself does not seem to contain any Anunnaki influence. Unfortunately, from what Archie is able to discern, he’d guess that Butler is on the precipice of tapping into the source code. The absence of any Red King influence in the meme itself suggests that Butler is not an agent of History B, Archie surmises, though it does not foreclose the idea that Butler was working for someone who has decided to pull him off the board before he was captured. Marshall agrees.
The team discusses their next steps. Jocasta posits that Beale Farms — the property itself — feels like it is still part of the equation. Perhaps Butler is going there, or needs to go there before he can flee the state entirely? But maybe he’s just bailing on that operation altogether. Who knows? Mitch raises a hand. “Theory,” he says, “he’s an Ozzie pawn, has been for a while, they rolled him up when we got a whiff.” Marshall and Archie exchange looks and then nod. Yes, that does seem plausible. But to discuss the prospect further they will need to relocate to the Rooster House, to avoid outside scrutiny. They resolve to depart. But what about Arnold?
Marshall: Should we even bother taking this dude back to Livermore? Or should we just like — oh, we’re going to have to wipe his memory. Like, if we’re going to keep him alive, we’re going to have to wipe his memory so he doesn’t think he missed — he got drunk and missed the meeting or whatever. I don’t know. We’ve got to clean him up. So I guess we need to haul him back to Livermore with us.
Archie: What if we just let him have a meeting about milk solids with the Special Ones? And go back to work?
Marshall: Oh that’s a great idea! That’s a great idea.
Marshall directs Jocasta to retrieve Arnold, plop him in a chair in the conference room, and remove the chloroform cloth from his mouth. Then Marshall assembles the Special Ones in the conference room and distributes tabs of acid. He tells them to have an unstructured dialogue with this person — the unconscious Arnold — once he wakes up about power dynamics in the workplace and what they have learned from this little experimental live-action roleplaying experience. He pops a tab of acid under Arnold’s mouth and says to the rest of the kids: “If he acts confused, just go with it. Embrace the uncertainty.” URIEL then gathers their belongings and departs in the van.
As Dave pulls away from the curb, Mitch feels a pang. An impulse. He feels — inexplicably — that Butler is beyond them now. The eddies of fate have drifted him out to sea and out of reach. And yet he still feels a tug in the direction of the Agrigenics HQ. If URIEL is looking for answers, that’s the place to go. “OK,” he suddenly says aloud to everyone, unprompted. “Let’s go to the evil cube. I can burn it down given enough time.”
Marshall: So you feel like, maybe, you feel like he might be there?
Mitch: Maybe.
Archie: Not so much that he’s there, but now’s the time, if Butler’s in the wind —
Mitch: I said “maybe,” Arch. That’s all I got.
The team drives to Vacaville after a quick stop at Livermore to pick up a few items: the Norton Coin and the UKU+ glyph, along with a SANGUSH (“I belong here”) and GU.SHUB (“Neglect”) glyphs. After some discussion, the group decides to split into two teams. Archie and Mitch will take the Norton Coin and the GU.SHUB glyph, respectively, and attempt to gain access to the basement levels. Marshall and Jocasta will enter through the lobby, with Jocasta using the SANGUSH glyph and Marshall using his NLP abilities to “force” his way upstairs. Charley will remain in the van with Dave to act as a central communication outpost. First, however, she will delve into the astral plane to see if she can detect anything before the adults head inside.
Marshall: Now, we need someone on the outside, Charley.
Charley: Yeah.
Marshall: And we need you to not wander away. Like, don’t get distracted by a rare species of bird or something. We need you to stay in the van operating comms because all other assets will be deployed, OK?
Charley: Right. Unless I see Butler.
Marshall: No! No. If you see Butler, you get on the comms and you say, “I see Butler.” You do not chase after him. Do you understand?
Charley: (sulkily) Yeah, OK.
Once parked outside the evil cube, Charley puts on her headphones and zones out to the binaural synthesized sounds that enable her brain to sync up with the frequencies of the spirit world. When she comes to she is floating, again, in the penumbra outside the Agrigenics HQ. The first thing she notices is that much of the dark energy that swirled around the building during her prior visit has dissipated. Where once the building resembled an ancient, forbidden fortress, now it looks like the ruins Charley encountered in the UK. It is a monument to some power, but that power has fled, leaving behind only a mundane husk of broken windows, aging walls, and overgrowth. Exploring further, Charley discerns that the abyssal maw that once occupied the lowest levels of the building is now gone. At this point, there seem to be about half-a-dozen souls stuck down there, but the rest of the negative energy and even the “spirit trap” itself — the meditation pod that stymied Mitch in his attempt to remote view into the building — are gone.
Charley does a sweep through the building in her spirit form, seeking out Butler. She cannot find him. When she wakes up in the material plane, she reports to the rest of the group that she thinks he is gone. This changes the calculus somewhat, and the group discusses, briefly, whether they should scrap the idea of “invading” the building or instead splitting up, perhaps sending some of them to the airport to see if there is still time to intercept him, while the rest go to Butler’s home to search there for any hints as to whereabouts. But, Archie notes, Mitch’s instincts did lead them here — given a choice between Agrigenics, the airport, or Butler’s house, Mitch’s intuition tells him that they are in the better place.
They implement the plan. Marshall and Jocasta walk into the main lobby and Marshall uses the Voice on the receptionist just as she finishes her standard greeting. “We are going to the PR suite,” he says, lacing his words with source code and fazing the woman at the front desk. She goes bleary and mutters, “Of course, I’ll — I’ll let them know you’re coming up.” She then gestures for the elevator bay. Marshall and Jocasta take an elevator up to the PR floor. They walk the hallways for a few minutes, drawing the occasional odd glance or raised eyebrow, before Jocasta spots a nameplate on a door next to a secretary’s desk with a middle-aged woman sitting at it. The nameplate says Arnold Riley. The woman — Sandy — looks up and, spotting Jocasta, nervously says, “Oh! Oh Ms. Smith. Um, did you get a chance to speak with Mr. Riley? I believe he was sent in Mr. Butler’s stead —” Before she can finish the thought, Marshall snaps his fingers in front of her face and unleashes another Anunnaki ariktu. She stumbles back into her chair. Marshall leans in: “Where is Butler’s office?” She points at a nearby door. “Unlock the door, then leave us alone,” he commands. The effect of the Voice is so strong by now that an aura forms around him, a sort of psychic shield that subtly pushes people away. After Sandy unlocks Butler’s door, they go inside.
Back downstairs, Archie and Mitch enter the main lobby after Marshall and Jocasta have made their way upstairs. Unseen and unmolested, they first try to take the elevator down to the secure basement levels, but find they cannot without an access card. Archie thumbs the Norton Coin in his pocket and approaches the receptionist desk. There, he strikes up an affable conversation with the receptionist and the security guards, from whom he gets the distinct impression that Butler’s “transferred to New Delhi” meme has already fully diffused itself throughout the company. Even these bottom-tier employees know about it. If he’s gone onto bigger and better things, well, God bless him, seems to be the overall sentiment. Archie returns to Mitch and the two weigh their options. Archie’s business acumen tells him that getting an access card will be tricky: likely any request to obtain one will require approval from upper management, perhaps even the board, and will take time. Mitch notes that Dan Miller was able to access the basement levels through the loading dock, however. Perhaps they can do the same?
They exit the lobby and walk around to the loading dock, where about half-a-dozen dock workers are standing around. None of them detect Mitch, of course, concealed as he is by the GU.SHUB glyph. Archie, meanwhile, is able to talk his way past them, the effects of the Norton Coin combining with his Hobo Stan puppet persona to make him seem like just another working class guy. He garrulously inquires about basement access, and one of the dock workers points him to a door that leads to a stairwell. With an affable thanks and a slap on the shoulder, Archie, with Mitch close behind, heads through the door and down a set of emergency stairs.
Mitch and Archie find themselves in what was, apparently, a biolab. The walls are lined with cages for experimental animals and large lab tables, but nearly everything else is missing. The animals are gone. All the remains are a few kits of medical tools — really foul-looking things, torture devices, basically — and a lot of scuff marks on the floor. The area reeks of animal stench and fear. It’s a dark, dark vibe. Mitch mutters that he wishes Jocasta was here. “This is her purview,” he grumbles.
Upstairs, Marshall and Jocasta comb through Butler’s office. They find little of consequence: no family photos (he was a bachelor), no personal effects, no obviously important things. He seems to have cleared out in a hurry, though. His papers and files are in disarray. For all that, though, Jocasta picks up the vibe that Butler was proud of this space: the corner office on the upper floor. He liked the power. And the status. While Marshall flips through Butler’s Rolodex, Jocasta sits down, removes her glove, and picks up a fountain pen. Immediately she sinks into the inky memories of Christopher Butler. She can see through his eyes, though not much: he is looking down at his ink blotter. But someone is talking to him (her). Someone with a familiar voice.
Man: (pacing) First all, Chris, a promise: my organization will extract you. Your plans not just on agriculture, not just on life extension, but life preservation are exactly what my organization is looking for. You know as well as I do, you will not be able to affect real change while you’re working for Agrigenics. It’s a dead end. So we’re really very glad that you reached out to us and especially reached out to us in such a canny, intelligent way.
Butler: But what about Bernadette?
Man: Bernadette’s gone. You don’t need to worry about her anymore. Now she’s pretty compromised anyway with all that Beale Downer shit. Agrigenics will deal with the aftermath of that, but that’s not your concern. You’re very, very talented at what you do. And I’ve given you a glimpse of what you’ll be able to do when you join up with us. Now, these people you’re purportedly going to visit on Thursday … they’re going to try to neutralize you and we can’t let that happen. On the flip side, we need to let them think that they have an opportunity to neutralize you. So, call Ms. Smith, let her know you’ll meet her. If she says she wants to schedule it for her offices, absolutely accept. If we feel like things, through your predictions and with our help, are going to be a little too dangerous — too spicy — we can send your little lackey in your place. Now, what you need to do is clean up downstairs. That needs to come with you.
Butler: Yeah, but all the accounts aren’t closed yet and —
Man: I don’t care about the money, Chris. The money’s not a problem anymore. Not for you. Not for anyone. This is not about making money anymore. This is about saving the human race. You understand that, right?
Butler: Yes, I do.
Man: Alright. Well, this is your last day in the office, my friend. You’ve been promoted.
Butler looks up. Before him, across his desk, stands Anthony Barnes Reinhardt. The two shake hands and, as they do, Jocasta snaps back into reality with a start. She says to Marshall in a flat tone: “Mitch was right. Of course.”
In the basement, Mitch and Archie look through what remains of the biolab for clues. They find practically nothing, though Mitch does, surprisingly, stumble upon a banker’s box of documents that someone seems to have left behind. Flipping through those, Archie and Mitch discern that the work they were doing on this floor related to experimentation with bionic implants: replacing limbs in higher primates with high grade titanium substitutes. Foul stuff, but cutting edge. They explore further, heading upstairs briefly, where they find Bernadette’s meditation pod, and then back down, to the bottom-most floor. There they find a huge, open, warehouse-like space. It is nearly empty — like the second floor, it looks like most everything was very recently cleared out. And yet! Toward the back of the room, still illuminated, still humming with power, are six active cryogenic pods.
Suddenly, they hear a phone ring. They both start and look around, only to spot a telephone attached to the wall near the door that they entered through. Mitch picks up. It’s Marshall, who has compelled Sandy to dial down to the basement, calling each floor until they found Mitch and Archie.
Marshall: So, Jocasta has discerned something using her abilities which is, uh, that you were right, Mitch. The boy — the boy was recruited. So I think we should reconvene and, um … extract ourselves?
Mitch: Yeah, they got rid of most of the stuff down here. There’s an attractive nuisance over at the other end of the room. We just haven’t gotten to it yet. So, hold on.
Mitch confers with Archie, and then tells Marshall that he will meet him and Jocasta outside by the van. Once there, Mitch hands his glyph off to Charley and sends her inside to rendezvous with Archie. Of the team, she is, after all, the best with technical things.