Marshall Pulls Some Strings
Michael
Okay, the first roll is going to be using your Rank and Clearance to access more of Charley’s personnel records than URIEL already possesses (i.e., her basic redacted file detailing her power set and a brief summary of her history). And actually this feels like a Reaction roll, at least at first, because it's like bargaining with someone to see just how much information they're willing to part with.
A few phone calls to members of Granite Peak’s higher-ups, some of whom have connections to the Indigo Children program, in the aftermath of last weekend, won't make anyone bat an eyelash. With Savoir-Faire (SANDMAN) already a skill you have, you'll get bonuses for possessing that skill (+2), Charisma (+1), Rank (+1), and Social Chameleon (+1). So you're going to roll 3d6+5 straight up, higher result is better, and if the Reaction roll doesn't go quite your way, we can talk about other options.
>>> CRITICAL SUCCESS
Marshall goes through a couple of calls, tracking down who he'd actually talk to about personnel and planning vis-à-vis the Indigo Children program. The second person he talks to is Major Stephen Wycliffe, who was Marshall’s liaison back in March during the Keiner interrogation.
To flesh him out a little further, Maj. Wycliffe is in SANDMAN logistics generally. There are so many teams and programs now working in Granite Peak — the global response MilOps personnel, the Mass Media team that Marshall met back in March, the sociometrics and pure esmology folks, the more esoteric researchers into Anunnaki and History B lore, the head-crackers like Dr. Gunn, internal security, and of course bleeding-edge programs like INDIGO, that certain managerial staff are needed to act as go-betweens (and not so incidentally eyes for SANDMAN Control to keep tabs on all this work and to look out for people inside SANDMAN deserving of promotion … or demotion or transfer). Wycliffe is one of this general logistics staff. It makes sense that he'd have been the one to meet Marshall on his arrival back in March; given how URIEL’s overall mission and the Mansa case intersected with so many aspects of Granite Peak work, Marshall’s whirlwind visit and interrogation was just the sort of thing he’d handle.
“Doctor! Always a pleasure to hear from you. What occasions a call from you this fine Saturday?” Obviously Marshall’s recent successes and elevation in rank have changed the game a little bit as far as Granite Peak’s reaction to him is concerned; this is bluff, hail-fellow-well-met Wycliffe who’s a different animal from the diffident bureaucrat Marshall met three and a half months ago.
Brant
“Major — thanks for taking my call. Look, I won’t take up too much of your time. I’m looking to get my hands on the dossier for our new assignee, the Helix girl. The file we got previously, you know, redacted to hell and back.”
Michael
“Oh yes, that is unfortunate,” Wycliffe says, not entirely convincingly. “Well, of course, so much of that redacted information on INDIGO personnel is, you know, ‘need to know’ — the program operates under incredible secrecy, to keep the Children untainted by the outside world until deployment, you understand — and given the … sensitivities around training, er, non-adult human Program assets, we know that some of the information on their backgrounds and specific training could provide openings for enemy agents, you understand.”
“I suppose if was going to take this request to the Control Steering Committee I'd just need to get … well, your and URIEL’s precise 'need to know,' as it were. Just to make the information request official. Is there anything wrong with Agent Helix’s performance so far?”
Brant
“Well, you see Major,” Marshall pinches his noses and closes his eyes, “my role here, that is, the type of work I do, it requires a certain amount of data. Helix, you know, her emotional topology, her intention, it’s just impossible to discern without the background information. Like trying to intuit the motives of a puppet. Or a Super 8 camera. Or something.”
Michael
Wycliffe pauses, but not for too long. “That's absolutely fair. Psychological well-being and unit cohesion is absolutely crucial to your team’s success and to be honest, Doctor, I am guessing that what's left of the INDIGO programming team would appreciate your insight into Agent Helix’s suitability for duty and level of performance. You’ve seen a lot of action lately out there at Livermore.”
Brant
Marshall wants to get a read on Wycliffe’s reaction to all this.
>>> SUCCESS
Michael
So here’s Marshall’s read on Wycliffe: he’s not enjoying talking about the INDIGO Project, he’s showing verbal cues consistent with being afraid of this conversational topic which he is trying (unsuccessfully) to cloak, and most importantly he’s subtly showing signs of wanting Marshall to go further, to give Marshall more than what he’s asking for. He seems eager to have a good reason to give Marshall the Charley file. Marshall isn’t sure whether this is because he has a moral or other objection to INDIGO, or is just well-disposed to Marshall due to how he handled Keiner, or because there is important information he feels like Marshall needs but he needs to play it cool on a secure line.
Also that comment about "what's left of the INDIGO programming team” is suspect as HELL.
Brant
"Yes — yes we have. Real petri dish here, out in sunny California. So what do you think, Major? Do you think you can help me out?"
Michael
“I don't think that should be a problem. Give me 24 hours and I'll see what I can do.” Also unspoken (but undoubtedly present as a subtext) in this conversation was Miss Edelstein’s reporting back to GP for debriefing two days ago.
Brant
“Thank you, Major. Really appreciate it. If you ever find yourself out here, give me a ring, we'll get a drink.”
↺ 24 HOURS LATER ↻
Michael
On Sunday morning, Marshall receives a call from Wycliffe. The quality of the phone call is worse than the connection Marshall enjoyed yesterday; it sounds like maybe he's not calling from a Granite Peak phone.
“I don't have long this morning, Doctor, so I'll try to make this as brief as possible and send along the copies I have via secure courier to Livermore by tomorrow morning. I'd prefer not to use electronic means to transmit this information, I'm sure you understand. A word of warning: there are still redactions and areas of information that have been intentionally scrubbed from the record, but I do think given your concern for Agent Helix’s psychological well-being, a lot of your questions will be answered with these records.”
See also:
The INDIGO Dossier
The HELIX Dossier