Jocasta Goes for a Jog
Leonard
Jocasta isn't gonna do anything special before the opening. Clean her guns, work out (maybe go for a quick jog, I don't think hotels had fitness centers back then), eat breakfast, then just back to monitoring the bugs and seeing if any word comes back from Livermore.
Michael
At your leisure for Miss Menos's jog, Leonard, give me Observation and Occultism rolls, please. It's a weirdly unseasonably muggy morning in San Francisco, Jocasta. The smog and air pollution is pretty thick, tbh.
>>>> SUCCESS
>>>> SUCCESS
I figure Jocasta won't be doing a very long run, maybe a mile or two just to get the blood flowing. But as she comes around the northeast corner of the St. Francis on her return back to the hotel, she sees a glimmering gold-ish plaque embedded in the stone of the old St. Francis tower. As she rests for a moment taking her pulse, she peers down to read it.
ON THIS SITE DECEMBER 1969
THE REPUBLIC OF ATLANTIS ESTABLISHED
UNDER THE AUSPICES OF THE FREE CITY OF YERBA BUENA
(FORMERLY SAN FRANCISCO)
ITS FIRST CULTURAL MISSION TO THE UNITED STATES
IN HONOR OF ALL WHO FELL IN THE BATTLE OF BERKELEY
TO A NEW UNDERSTANDING BETWEEN ATLANTIS AND THE YOUTH OF AMERICA
¡VENCEREMOS!
And then a similar number of characters in a script that Jocasta can't really place but looks vaguely Greek. Fright check (pass on 13 or less).
>>>> SUCCESS
Leonard
Early in the AM, just before breakfast, Marshall gets a call on his private line from Jocasta's hotel room. "Got a minute? I was just out for a run and I saw something that makes me think we're on a tighter timeline than we might have thought."
Brant
“OK. Hit me.”
Marshall looks at a nearby clock and wonders if it’s too early to smoke a bowl.
Leonard
"I was coming back from my run and as I rounded the corner at the old St. Francis Tower, I saw a gold plaque in the foundation stone, like a dedication. It said: ‘On this site, December 1969, the Republic of Atlantis established under the auspices of the Free City of Yerba Buena (formerly San Francisco) — its first cultural mission to the United States — in honor of all who fell in the Battle of Berkeley. To a new understanding between Atlantis and the youth of America. Venceremos!’ This was in English, but there was text below it, looking like it said the same or similar; it might have been Greek, but I don't think it was. My family is Greek and it looked different enough that it might have been something else. Atlantean, I guess."
"Pretty clear retrocreation, plain as day. I wasn't even looking for it. Tells me we're closer to the crisis point than I thought."
Brant
Marshall sighs heavily.
“What the fuck is going on, Menos?” Marshall has never referred to her by her surname before. “None of this makes sense even by the standards of the work.” He pauses. “Can you go back and, I don’t know — you’re going to hate me for even asking — take the plaque off the foundation? The van should have all the tools you or … Roger, I guess, would need.”
“I know what you’re going to say but we can’t just leave it there all day or weekend.”
(OOC, who on the team has read Krane’s books? Archie and Sophie?)
Michael
Archie and Sophie for sure, and last Marshall checked Mitch was making his way through vol. 1.
Leonard
"No, no, I get it. Even if we stop whatever's going on and it … uncreates itself … we should limit the number of eyeballs it gets, we don't want that idea in any more heads." She pauses for a beat. "Honestly, I don't know what's going on either. If you read my report, you know the danger that Roger and Mitch and I got off that clock. The stakes of this seem weirdly high considering, well, where we are and what we're doing. Anyway, I'll see what I can do — I wanna get it taken care of quickly, though, so I can be back for when the shit I'm sure is gonna go down goes down."
"But listen — I haven't read those books, and I don't want to, you know? Watch yourself. Don't let it get too into your head."
Brant
“Yes, right. Use your best judgment. If you can’t uhhh obtain the plaque then try covering it up or just destroying it, or something. We can’t just leave it dangling out there like a loose thread.”
“I will update Archie. Thanks for the call.”
Then when Archie or Sophie come into the office, whoever is first, he will ask if the event described on the plaque is something that actually happened in one of Krane’s books.
Leonard
Jocasta will see if we've got some basic tools in the van she can use to pry off the plaque, if it turns out to still be physically 'there' — chisel, screwdriver, hell, even some black spray paint. If she can take it out, she will, and if she gets any hassle from the cops or anyone she'll flash a LEO ID and point out what it says, telling them it's obviously the work of some smartass kids.
Michael
I figured Sophie would come in at her usual time (7:30-ish) and act as if nothing untoward had happened last night, Brant. Which means she'd probably open the door to the URIEL offices right about when Marshall gets off the phone.
"Oh yes, the Battle of Berkeley. In the first volume of Atlantis Risen, student agitators trained by secret Atlantean magical agents proceed to kick out the faculty of the university using enchantment magics, then erect barricades and then take on the National Guard with offensive magics. The street battles then pour over into Oakland where Black militants use magic to destroy the Oakland PD, and then the kids go over the Bay Bridge to take over San Francisco and … it just goes on like that for maybe 30 pages. But yes, the Bay Area becomes the nominal ‘Free City of Yerba Buena’ and is the first breakaway republic in the US to ally itself with risen Atlantis. The revolution starts here. Of course there are reversals in US territories allied to Atlantis by the third book; by that point there is widespread information war and backsliding that puts San Francisco back in American hands … the kids retreat to the mountains to wage guerilla war at that point."
Brant
Alright. Marshall will update Sophie on Jocasta’s reports both from last night and in re: the plaque. He too will act like nothing happened but will generally be friendlier and more pleasant around Sophie today.
Michael
Two things re removing the Cultural Mission of Atlantis plaque, Leonard: 1) Are you enlisting Roger and/or Mitch for the plaque removal? and 2) Are you considering using SANGUSH. Again.
Leonard
If Roger is around, I’ll see if he’s available; I know Mitch has his own thing going on. And despite Jocasta’s pristine Corruption rating with the three major Corruption reporting agencies (Hexperian, Equifractal, and TransDimensionalUnion), she will probably use the glyph just to avoid an extremely weird conversation. If he’s not around she can probably pull it off herself.
Bill
Roger’s around. Definitely sounds like something to have a lookout to do. How does Jo want to handle cover story?
If spray paint is involved, he'll definitely want to be in his worker jumpsuit. Nothing getting on these fine threads …
FBI might work. But since it's on the hotel grounds, Roger's already under one cover. I mean, we could try counting on the "all you people look the same to me" effect, but given the rosquillas and flirting, I don't think that would work with the staff. Maybe "pulled in on a side gig for some bucks" as the horologist's apprentice? Or do we tag and flee?
Michael
Yeah, if Jo decides to use SANGUSH again, and Roger's inside its aura, he can avoid all those questions while the two of you tinker with how to get it off the building. (edited)
I mean, on first examination there are no bolts or screws securing it to the building. The plaque is slightly inset into the building and honestly, if both of you are inspecting it, Roger can give me a roll at Mechanic minus 4 (8) and Jo at IQ minus 5 (9).
Bill
Ha! Score one for the car nut: made it by one.
Leonard
Missed it by 1. No engineer is Jocasta.
Michael
Yeah, so first things first, if we're using SANGUSH again, I'll assess you each a point of Corruption and that should keep all the lookie-loos away.
So Roger takes a look at how it's attached to the building; there's no bolts, no screws, no other mechanical forms of attachment. As he tests the seeming seam between the weird metal and the stone/brick, he senses that it is stuck to the building with some sort of adhesion: cement behind the plaque, perhaps? Prying it loose is going to be a ST check with a +3 to the check thanks to tools for both of you... now Jocasta is stronger than Roger, so Roger will be assisting. Roger rolls against ST+3 (13), and then depending on that result we'll have Jocasta make the final pry-loose roll.
Bill
Nope.
Michael
Crit fail, the shim snaps in half. That is some strong Atlantean glue!
(good weed strain name there)
Jocasta can try alone now at a ST+1 (12).
Bill
Damn. Gotta have a tire-iron around here, maybe back in the car …
Well, that point of Corruption was worth it, because Roger's rep is maintained; nobody saw that.
Michael
If only he'd had GU.SHUB on his car on Mission 1 when he stalled out
Bill
Damn, that's attractive. This shit is the Devil!
And if we went by the boss-man, El Jefe Archie, we should just be corrupting it up all the time. I'm sure it's fine.
You know, the phosphoric acid in Coke dissolves cement. If Wonder Woman doesn't come through, we'll see what good ol' American beverages can do against diabolical Commie Atlantean cement!
(Sure, it might take a week of constant application, but it would work! U.S.A.!)
Leonard
Made it by 1.
"You loosened it up for me, pal."
Michael
POP.
Off comes the plaque and indeed, it does seem to have been stuck there with some kind of adhesive bond; lines of the stuff, grey and drizzled all along the reverse side of the plaque, are evident. Not really sure what it is, but Jocasta gets an extra-large plastic evidence bag from the toolbox and pops the roughly 12 inch by 18 inch by half-inch thick metal plaque into it. No writing or other markings on the reverse of the plaque either. The stone recess within which it nestled is roughly cut out of the stone of the hotel's façade, like it was done in a hurry.
Out of sight, out of mind for any witnesses. And a quick reconnoiter of the four sides of both the old and new towers find no other History B/Atlantis Risen artifacts of any kind.
I need to know where Jocasta is going to stow the plaque.
Leonard
Hmmm. If there's any kind of storage locker or lockable container in the van, I suppose she'll leave it there. If not, maybe if there's a safe in the hotel? And if not, she'll just put it in the van and lock it up. She doesn't want to leave it loose or carry it around, is the point.
Michael
Yeah, we should have all kinds of secure containers in the van. No problem.