Red Hat
Michael
So a little after noon, Sophie lays out what she and Marshall and Charley discovered about Xanten. "He's apparently stumbled across methods of using subliminal sound to affect human behavior and emotion. Whether this is an accidental offshoot discovery having to do with Anunnaki meddling in human neurobiology or he's History B-tainted, I'm not sure but I'm pretty solidly leaning towards the former. These skills do make him dangerous, especially as it seems his theories do work, as we've heard on the release copy of Ikenga. Marshall and Charley and I think he could be a valuable Sandman; he's politically naïve and not particularly strong-willed as far as I could tell during the interrogation, but he would likely need to be … rebuilt at Granite Peak for something like that."
"But my other concern has to do with Keiner. Keiner suborned Xanten into working on the Mansa album with appeals to Xanten's left-wing sensibilities, and human potential, and all that. But it made me … concerned that perhaps Keiner's plan was larger than we ever initially perceived. If we are discovering a key part of the plan to retrocreate the kusarikku now, 24 hours before the show, what other mechanisms might be out there waiting to be tripped? Jocasta, your field work this week has been beyond reproach, and your theory about what needs to happen to arrest and reverse the retrocreation is solid. But what if Keiner has other friendlies out there, ones we don't know about, ready to act tomorrow? And how did Keiner know that this particular confluence of events and people and emotions would retrocreate an Irruptor?" Sophie sighs, and goes to push her glasses up but realizes she's still wearing her more chic European pair of glasses, and switches to her normal chunky pair. "I realize perhaps I'm sounding paranoid, but … " She looks around. "I think one of us should fly to Utah and re-interview Keiner."
"And do it before tomorrow morning, when we all have to be set to roll out for the concert."
Brant
"Well, the interrogation team at Granite Peak is the best in the world — at least this side of the Iron Curtain, in any event. Better than any of us. And they've had Keiner for what, two days? Three days now? Maybe I'm just being naïve but I feel like if he was holding back some deadly Contingency B Plan for tomorrow they would've gotten that out of him by now. And, uh, warned us, updated us, whatever."
"Why can't we just contact Granite Peak, have their team take a crack at finding answers to Sophie's questions, then report back to us?" Marshall folds his legs under him in a sort of half-lotus position. "I'm sympathetic to your instincts and purpose, Sophie — those are questions we want answers to. But I'm not sure it's the best use of our resources for one of us to charter an immediate flight to Utah, drive the 300+ miles from Salt Lake to Granite Peak, spend whatever time we can with him — interrogations on a deadline are always spotty, unreliable, a good interrogation takes time and patience — when we already have a uh hahah crack team on site who could handle that for us."
Leonard
"I'm a bit torn. Sophie, obviously I trust your instincts, but Marshall's not wrong — we have some of the best people for the job at Granite Peak. Even if we know more about the situation than they do, they're still going to do a better job at interrogation," Jocasta says, stretching after a yawn. "If we can spare someone and we have time, maybe someone could be there, or at least call in on the phone or set up a broadcast or something. But time is so tight between now and the show. It'd be much quicker for SANDMAN to send more people to the show than for one of us to get out there. We should at least check in with Granite Peak and see what they've learned before one of us hops on a puddle-jumper."
After a few seconds of thought, she adds, "If the threat is really that much more extreme, even potentially, it seems like the move would be to cancel the show altogether, yeah? Or, you know, cause it to be cancelled." She takes a swig of coffee. "Sophie, if you believe there's some major aspect to this we missed, and that it could result in things getting out of our control, we may not have time to figure it out, and if that's the case, the concert can't happen. It might work against Archie's meme to interfere--shut it down for some code violation or other, torch the stage, whatever--but what if we grab Moore and put out the word that he canceled the show? That he wanted more money, or was disappointed at the turnout, or something like that? Something that pushes the imminent threat back long enough for us to twist Keiner a bit more, while not interfering with the narrative we're trying to create."
"One last thing: can we reach out to any of the other intel agencies and see if we're picking up any chatter? Any clue that Stasi or anyone else Keiner might be in with are showing unusual amounts of movement on the coast right around now?"
(Fuck, Michael, while I'm at it, Jocasta is willing to do psychometry reads on anything we pulled out of Keiner's place, if that would help.)
(Probably just spitballing here because I don't want us all to be massacred by a giant bull man)
Michael
Sophie nods. "You're both right, of course. Let's see what intel they've dragged from Keiner over the last 48-plus hours. I'll put in a priority request to Granite Peak for a full report. It's just, you know, intelligence analysis begs for no stones to be left unturned and no gaps left in the record."
"Regarding the concert, I would hate to put any obstacle in the way of the two memes we've just released and their unfolding as planned. As long as we have some sort of substantial presence in West Oakland tomorrow afternoon, I'll feel secure about our ability to cope with anything unexpected. I don't feel the danger has increased since finding out about Xanten; quite the contrary. But I just want to make sure we're not walking into a situation where multiple History B cultists await in the crowd to put into place a Plan B."
(Leonard, I'm definitely open to having Jocasta try psychometry on any of the materials from Keiner's apartment we still have on-hand. I'm guessing that's mostly his books and personal effects. I know Sophie would have kept as many original items — especially any papers — as possible and sent photocopies wherever possible.)
Furthermore, Sophie is convinced by her and Archie's esmology that snatching Moore or canceling the show will engender dangerous rage in the community; she's still against it. Better to see if Mansa can be co-opted and made less dangerous with the memetics.
Leonard
Fair enough.
Jocasta is willing to do the psychometry reads on anything that seems likely to produce insight, especially books and papers and — did he have a shortwave radio? She'd want to do that ASAP, though, since it might take a lot out of her and she'd want to have time to recover by the time of the show.
Michael
We sent the original one-time pads to Granite Peak/NSA for analysis, but we can say his shortwave didn't look too interesting; it was just a standard West German portable consumer model, receive-only, no weird add-ons or anything. But it would definitely be a good suspect for having some emotional residue attached to it. One sec.
Okay, so to pick up some residue off this, I'm going to rule it's going to require a roll vs. your IQ minus 2. As Jocasta gives it a turning over in her hands, she's not sensing much when it comes to emotional residue in the near past.
Leonard
>>>> FAILURE
(fuck, missed it by 1 … a long shot, I know)
Michael
Yeah, can't try again for 24 hours, sadly.
With a failure of 1, it does feel vaguely to Jocasta like there's something there, but it dates back to before Keiner left Germany.
>>>> 3d6 … 8
Pretty damn quick, okay. We'll say Sophie gets a complete Keiner write-up at around 2 Friday afternoon. Roger should be back in the office by then.
The Telex machine chatters to life at a little after 2:30; after a cover page noting this document is to be read and then destroyed, the Telex spits out three contiguous sheets of printer paper. Sophie tears them off, apart, and immediately puts them under a cover. She then reads all three. When she finishes, she shudders visibly and puts the portfolio down on the library conference table. "I'd advise using … discretion in deciding whether or not you want to read that. It's informative but disturbing. I can of course summarize but if you want the details, it would be best to read it, disturbing or no. It's three excerpts from three different Granite Peak technical interviews with Keiner. And I need to destroy it after everyone on URIEL who wants to read it has read it." (If you want to read it verbatim, I'll send you a link to download it, but the price you pay is a Fright Check, but with a +2 bonus to your rating.)
Remember, though, Fright Checks fall under the Rule of 14, which means that 14 or more on a Fright Check is a failure, regardless of how high your effective Will is.) Green check if you want to read it, red X if you decline.
Michael
Mitch takes a look at it first.
And he doesn't flinch.
Next, Marshall.
Brant
>>>> SUCCESS
(Rolled a 13, so just barely made it)
Marshall flips through the pages, sort of like he is skimming, or reading very quickly. When he's done he hands it back to Sophie then pats around his pants for a cigarette. "Rough business. Seems like there's a there … there, but I'm not seeing a connection to the festival, unless the mysterious Woman is planning on showing up."
Michael
Sophie says, "No. But the presence of a kulullû-ridden Stasi agent in Keiner's background lets us know that the Eastern bloc is all-in on helping the Anunnaki complete this retrocreation. One would wonder if they are monitoring the situation now that zero hour is getting close."
Jeff
Mitch hasn’t said anything for quite a while. “Retrocreation gives me a headache,” he says. “If the thing goes off, it’s the culmination of a fifty-year plan, right? The Oldtimer making ready the way, maybe other things. But if it doesn’t happen then did the preparation happen? Like, ‘first’ there isn’t an urban legend about a Minotaur in Oakland, or whatever, and then suddenly there’s always been that urban legend. Which is a crazy enough idea. But then does the urban legend go away and was never there, if the retrocreation event is disrupted?”
“Like, with the Throckmorton Device it’s completely one hundred percent the case that the Device gets built and turned on, no way to escape that. But that’s a... a story? And this is real life.”
“I guess. ‘Real.’”
Brant
"Yeah, the whole, I don't know what to call it, determinism of the thing is baffling. I feel like we're on the verge of that paradox they talked about in training, the uhh … bootstrap paradox? Like, the fact that we're still trying to stop this thing from happening, doesn't that mean that is has happened already because we're dealing with the retrocreated events that will cause it to happen?"
Jeff
“But history was changed. And the Oldtimer wasn’t real until he became a real boy.”
“Somehow.”
Michael
Sophie stares quite blankly through the glass of the library. "Memories can change. Perceptions as well. When a reality temblor occurs, it reverberates. Even if it's the two subducting histories settling into an amenable homeostasis … there are always odd, out-of-place artifacts left behind. Most often mental but sometimes physical. If the retrocreation never happens, I don't know what precisely will be left behind."
Jeff
“Cross that bridge if we come to it.” Mitch shakes his head. “Anyway you’re right, Keiner’s handlers put him in touch with Mansa, and he apparently didn’t quite get to the point of saying whatever he knows about the Stasi-Mansa connection. If there’s an additional Red King agent or team lurking around, keeping an eye, then they’ve already seen the art project stolen and Keiner captured and Dominoe raided, so, either they’re extremely asleep at the wheel or else they’ve already started moving on whatever their backup is.”
(Can Mitch divine any kind of hint re this possible third-party disruptive presence? He hasn’t done a Friday Tarot spread, I don’t think.)
Michael
I think an Oracle right now would be a pretty good idea, I just have to think about what the "cold reading" skill would be for it. Maybe sitting down with Sophie and doing an Intelligence Analysis roll with her or something. Because what we're talking about here is trying to get some insight on if and how a Warsaw Pact strike team might be waiting in the wings.
Here's what I'm going to do. Sophie will roll Intelligence Analysis to aid an IQ roll for Mitch (I'll roll both). That IQ will be the Sense roll. And then I'll roll for you to interpret it with a second IQ roll. But I do need to roll all of these, as per the Advantage description, so you're not sure how accurate the Tarot reading is.
Sophie and Mitch sit around the conference table and Mitch pulls some cards as Sophie describes what she knows and what SANDMAN knows about Anunnaki working in concert with the intelligence forces of the Eastern bloc.
(three rolls later...)
So Mitch asks the cards, hey, are the KGB and Stasi actually closing in on West Oakland and are they going to be grooving to a bunch of local funk and soul bands tomorrow afternoon.
(Curiosity gets the better of Jocasta, and she reads the TESSERACT Telex)
Leonard
>>>> SUCCESS
(made my Fright check by 5.)
Michael
(Because I do have a few cards in mind but I want to have an idea of Mitch's spread before I place them.)
(When Jo is done with the Telex, Charley snags it. She's fine too. )
Mel
>>>> SUCCESS
(I made my fright check by 6)
Leonard
Jocasta is unafraid, but regrets not hitting Keiner a lot harder.
Jeff
(Certainly something more elaborate than the four-card spread he used on Charley, since that one’s intended to create a simple and easily-interpretable narrative for the mark, rather than to reveal actual hidden truth. Beyond that, I defer to those with more knowledge.)
Michael
Let me have a think about what would make the most sense. Maybe one with a card for each supposed principal involved on Saturday, and then Sophie can look at it and she and Mitch can kind of free associate.
Principals include:
URIEL
Moore
the Stasi/KGB
the kusarikku
the people of Oakland
Leonard
"If we think the Stasi has a backup, what does that mean, exactly? Another version of the tapestry? Possibly, but I can't imagine it being more effective than the one we snagged; ditto if they have another version of the album. Those things have been constructed, right here, over time, for a reason; it links them to the retro-history of the place, to the thread that holds everything together," Jocasta ponders. "So are they just going to try for a second-rate manifestation? Or might their Plan B be something else, like silencing Moore, or in some other way protecting their assets? Seems like less risk than an imperfect summoning. Or, hell, maybe this thing has gotten out of their hands entirely."
(Would an Intel Analysis or Strategy roll be valuable?)
Michael
(Hell, we could even plunk the cards down physically on that map of 8th and Henry where they're likely to be on the map.)
(Would an Intel Analysis or Strategy roll be valuable?)
Yeah! But let me think about which and to what purpose. As Mitch has already decided to get his psi powers going, Jocasta might want to use an Intel Analysis roll to react to the Tarot reading once the discussion really gets going.
Jeff, I'm going to go with this five-card spread. We'll see what happens.
Brant
"It may be more overt than that." Marshall finds and lights his cigarette. "The Stasi, or whomever, I mean. They may have watched as we dismantled their operation not knowing who, exactly, was doing it, but knowing it was SANDMAN — or someone. But we may have unwittingly betrayed our identities — or a few of our identities — to them, such that they will be out for us after this. What I'm saying is we may have, perhaps, completely fucked their operation, but in doing so, are now caught in their crosshairs."
"All that is to say, I'd be worried, at the festival, about odds glints in third floor apartment windows."
Michael
(On that note, Mitch completes his Tarot reading … does anyone have any other parties involved tomorrow they'd like Mitch to lay a card down for?)
Brant
(nope)
Mel
(No)
Michael
(I will lay out the cards now and give the Oracular explanation but I also want this to be an open discussion about strategy tomorrow. I'll let people make appropriate rolls, of course.)
All right. So on the street map of the Eighth and Henry cul-de-sac where the concert will be, Mitch has placed five cards. First, one where the URIEL van will be parked, doing surveillance and perhaps deploying infrasonics:
Second, on stage, it's Moore. This card can also be used to represent Mansa; it represents the energy of all the performers who will be at the show and thus the center of attention:
Third, to the side of the stage, it's the kusarikku and the entire Anunnaki influence/"retrocreation" garbage; in many ways, this middle card is the center of the spread:
Fourth, the crowd: whether it's all folks from the neighborhood or Archie's meme works and a bunch of college kids come down from Berkeley for the day:
Finally, the new x-factor, the possibility of Soviet/Eastern bloc intelligence presence at the concert:
On an obvious level, Mitch intuits that the cards surrounding the actions the Hierophant have taken are all reversed, topsy-turvy: Moore's the opposite of celebrated … the kusarikku is no longer satisfied and accomplished, and is somewhat subdued … and the people of Oakland? Their once-determined fury, riding into battle, is diluted somewhat. All great. But the Hierophant notices one other card that's upright, and that's the sneaky Seven of Swords. Making his way out of the gaily-bedecked camp with his spoils, and leaving some behind … as a stake in the ground that he might return? A trap? Whatever the case, it's the only other presence on the board that shows confidence and initiative.
Sophie says, more in response to Jocasta's earlier comment but also to Marshall: "A second-rate manifestation won't be enough to break through. Without all the planning, the only thing at this point that could even think of beckoning the kusarikku is an outright massacre — a bombing, say — and even then it's only one leg of the stool. Even that may not be enough to begin/complete the retrocreation."
"But Marshall is also right, because the Red King's servants among the Eastern bloc may just end up using the event as an opportunity to strike back at us, or perhaps just to surveil the site and see if they can identify us. Or to strike back or silence Moore and Mansa, but I feel like that's less likely."
Leonard
(Jocasta has a few thoughts but she'll wait until the right time to do an Intel Analysis roll)
Brant
Marshall observes Mitch do his Tarot reading. When he thinks he's done or interruptible, he'll ask, "Mitch — what do your cards have to say?"
Jeff
Mitch shrugs, because to his eye the information is pretty much self-evident. “Mostly good. More good than bad. Here’s us.” He taps the Hierophant. “We’re large and in charge, we’ve got a chair and everything. The other side, not so much. Can’t even keep their cards right-side-up.”
“But then there’s this fucker, in the red hat.” He indicates the seven of swords. “Thinks he’s so great, coming in and walking off with somebody else’s knives. And the fancy hat.”
“If there wasn’t some kind of, like, Red Army sniper or whatever? Then this card would be something else. It’s not a sniper, though, I don’t think. It’s something sneaky. The fox sneaking into the henhouse while the guard dogs are distracted preventing a Minotaur from eating Oakland.”
“What I’m getting is that the concern is a legit concern. Red Hat exists, Red Hat thinks he can pull something off. I dunno what that looks like. It doesn’t look like bringing out the bull, though. Red Hat is going for something else, a target of opportunity.”
“Something we left cooling on the windowsill for him.”
Michael
Sophie: "Do you think your … old-timer plays a role here for them?"
"As, say, a target of opportunity for extraction, or some kind of opportunistic locus of power or belief that the Red King agents could use."
Jeff
"Maybe. I don't remember him saying anything that suggested he was in contact with … well, anybody. But it was, you know, a surreal conversation."
"My instinct is that he's a sick old man who doesn't know anything actionable. Maybe he could be some kind of ritual focus, like, there's some serious occult momentum behind 'man who doesn't/shouldn't exist.' But … " He trails off, eventually shrugging.
Michael
"He should definitely be a surveillance target, should he choose to attend the show. And you'd assume he would be there?"
Brant
"Maybe, uh, maybe I should go to Granite Peak and talk to Keiner. See if he knows something we can use about Red Hat."
Marshall glances at Sophie as he says this; he will conceal it because he is a master manipulator but anyone with the right stats can tell from the tone of his voice and the look he gives that he now supremely suspicious of Sophie — that she would suggest going to Granite Peak to talk to Keiner is too much a coincidence now. How would she know to suggest that, unless she knew something. Had some forewarning? Fox in the henhouse. Plus she's German ...
Michael
(Marshall should probably give me a Public Speaking minus 2 roll … everyone else either Detect Lies or Body Language.)
Mel
(Charley succeeded detect lies by 4)
Michael
(Yeah, no good, sorry Mel)
(scary good roll though!)
Mel
(Yeah shockingly good!)
Brant
From his read of her report, there is no way she could have discerned the need to talk to Keiner immediately based on a previously unknown X Factor — Marshall did not get that impression at all. So what tipped her off to a lead that is proving viable? Is she in cahoots with Red Hat? Possibly, possibly. Marshall drifts further into his own thoughts.
Michael
"Maybe, uh, maybe I should go to Granite Peak and talk to Keiner. See if he knows something we can use about Red Hat."
"Do you want some company? I wasn't sure if the team would want me on the field op on Saturday considering my... rear echelon status."
Brant
(Can I make a roll to see if she's Fucking With Me?)
(Because if she leans into this any further she might find herself dead on the side of the road in Utah.)
Michael
(First make your Public Speaking roll, then I'll do a Detect Lies for you in secret.)
Brant
>>>> SUCCESS
(Succeeded by 12)
Michael
So basically if you want to see if Marshall is fucking with Sophie, succeed at Detect Lies or Body Language by 10. Good luck with that.
She suggested Keiner, she suspected him, now she wants to be part of the second interview? Man, you are not sure what is happening here at all. Combine this with what you learned about her personnel history …
One thing for sure; Sophie can't beat you in a match of wits or Psychology. She doesn't have the skills or the nerve.
If you interrogate her? Or try to probe her? She'll break down, you're certain of it.
She's damaged goods, her psych file is a mess. Does it mean she could be turned? Not sure. The trauma that made her a librarian came from a mission that involved History B, if you remember.
Brant
Marshall stares off into the distance for a second, then extinguishes his cigarette. Standing, "Yeah, why don't you come with me, Sophie. Can you go ahead and contact Granite Peak to get our clearance and arrange for them to send a plane to get us? We can't fly into Salt Lake; it's a four hour drive. We need to fly into the base direct."
Michael
"That won't be a problem, we can get a black flight to pick us up at the airfield in Livermore."
Brant
Marshall will grab some medical … uh, stuff, meaning drugs of various types. He is going to carry on his person a syringe with some sort of paralytic in it.
And probably also a few roofie-style pills to put into drinks.
And also his gun.
Michael
(man, this has been a hell of a Tarot reading)
(And actually, I think this qualifies as "banter," so yeah, Jo can give us an Intel Analysis roll )
Brant
(Marshall gives a lot of credence to Mitch — obsessed as he is with "human potential," "building a better you" BS, having a guy who can light shit on fire with his brain is both terrifying and extremely compelling. So he really absorbed — and would absorb in future readings — Mitch's Tarot reading.)
Michael
I think after I get Jo's roll from Leonard I'm going to slow everything down here until Archie, Charley, and Roger can have a say. Shit's getting a little too real, even if none of the characters but Marshall know it at the moment.
If there's a chance, for instance, the team could be without both of them for Zero Hour, we should talk that over as a team.)
Brant
(Yeah I mean at any point someone else can just jump in and be like, "Uh, why don't you guys not do that … " Doing so will just mean Marshall will have to casually offer Sophie a ride home later … )
Leonard
I assume Jocasta was just sitting there making associations in her mind while everything inexplicably got dark and weird in the room.
Anyway, made the Int Analysis roll by 4.
Michael
I'll give Jocasta this and then give the other three PCs a chance to chime in. To Jocasta, using the Tarot and intelligence analysis together is a natural connection: it's nothing but using cryptography to find signal amidst the noise. And Mitch's assessment that even if we have successfully taken care of the retrocreation in all but the shouting, there's still a chance that there might be other interested parties at the block party tomorrow. Jocasta folds this into her existing Strategy and Tactics rolls for Saturday and realizes it'd be a very good idea to have more ways to surveil the crowd. Mitch himself becomes crucial in this schema; he has aura reading and Detect History B so he needs a panopticon-like view of the entire square; or, more likely due to the range on his powers, maybe moving through the crowd.
Mel
(Speaking of cryptography, can Charley get a roll? She would be interested in the cards. Maybe she’ll see something in them that has been missed. Although that’s doubtful.)
Michael
(Probably better skill will be your Renshed Occultism!)
Rob
Rather than imagine Archie's been sitting in the room this whole time, just being weirdly silent, let's just say he wasn't here for any of this. After the memes were successfully deployed this morning, Archie left the office and went for a long stroll. This is pretty typical for him after an ad campaign or a meme launches; once the memes are released into the wild, his work is kind of done, at least for the moment, so rather than sitting around feeling antsy, he goes for a long brisk walk in nature. And today he feels especially unsettled — taking 12 Corruption in one morning will do that to you. So he can come in at the tail end of all this. He hasn't read the telex from Granite Peak, unless someone urges him to do so. He's feeling recharged and optimistic, and his starting position in any discussion happening now is that we have a good plan and we just need to stick with it. We have the tapestry and the record, and the memes are going to work. If we want more security or surveillance on Saturday, sure, no harm in being prudent. If there are other Stasi operatives afoot, it's a good opportunity to learn something about our opposition. But Archie's going to be unenthusiastic about any major changes to our strategy, including Marshall & Sophie jetting off to Utah before Saturday.
Michael
Sophie's now a bit torn about Keiner and Granite Peak, if Archie is hesitant to let a couple of the team members go. "Well, what if we had the interrogators at Granite Peak push Keiner to reveal any Russian or East German intel contacts he might have stateside? I would imagine that they would have pulled phone records and any other SIGINT from Keiner's personal effects and if they'd discovered anything for us to follow up on here in the Bay Area, they'd have let us know already. But I can give them a call regardless."
(As long as we're talking about prep for Saturday, if Sophie is asked to supplement the field team, she will, but she won't volunteer because of her Combat Paralysis/overall psychological problems. She will recommend, though, that anyone with Renshaw slots available take 4 hours to learn the principles of Observation if they don't have it already.)
When Mitch gave his interpretation of the tarot, Charley wasn't listening. She was preoccupied with the best method of modification to the infrasonic device. But as he's wrapping up, she tunes back in and realizes she may have missed something important. It then dawns on Charley that there is more to Mitch's tarot skills than she initially thought. After studying the cards herself, she whispers to him, "Excuse me, Mitch, what I notice most is that the only Major Arcana card represents SANDMAN. And it's the Hierophant, a symbol of holy authority and judgment, and from its position, it exhibits complete control right? So, would you take it that we have little to worry about then?"
Leonard
"I think it looks like we have little to worry about in terms of the retrocreation and the kusarikku, Charley," Jo says, laying out some notes she's been making. "The concern seems to be that the reds are going to try to salvage what they can in terms of revenge, intel, or anything else they can get out of all this investment. So if our new priority is to thwart that, I think it's a good idea to have Mitch, Roger, and I on site, since we've got the most directly relevant skills, and if there's a possibility they're just trying to make us and turn us into targets, Marshall and Archie have the highest profiles and can least afford to be exposed."
"And obviously that goes double for you, Charley," she says pointedly.
Jeff
Mitch blinks, slightly nonplussed. “Yeah,” he says after a moment. “I mean, I wouldn’t want to overstate it, but yeah. This spread puts us in the catbird seat, you’re right. Opposition still exists, it’s just in disarray … which is, like, good for us. Go, us. But I think we all figured we’d done some good already, so, that’s not so surprising... I guess I’d be happier if this … ” He taps the seven of Swords. “If this were, I dunno, the two of Coins or something, it’d be a little different. Red Hat’s got a smarmy look on his face, y’know? He’s not a court card but he’s not nothing.”
Mitch has no opinion on what Marshall and Sophie — or Archie for that matter — should be doing, for what it’s worth. He certainly isn’t suspicious of Marshall having some kind of blowout paranoid episode.
“Sorry, Jocasta, you were saying something.”
Leonard
"No, no — this has all been valuable insight. The cards are very clarifying to me but I have no skill with them myself; it's great that you've been able to shine light on what has been very murky to me." Jocasta thinks for another moment and taps her pad. "We should avoid any kind of open violence for fear of innocent people getting hurt, but also for fear that violence might trigger an emergence," she adds. "But if we're onsite, we might be able to spot their agents before they spot us, and we'll have advantage because we're on our home turf. At the very least, we should be strapped and ready with a vehicle to bag and tag them, and we should be disguised, either in a standard way or with a glyph if we have to."
Michael
Since we'd planned to have our surveillance van onsite at the show, it will be onsite with proper covert identification to have local law enforcement believe it's an undercover vehicle. No need to use our SANGUSH glyph on it. And Sophie can help with both disguise and with glyph requests. "We could get an overnight airtel of some computer-assisted GU.SHUB glyphs from Granite Peak, that would give us effective invisibility if we wanted it, and of course we still have our SANGUSH glyph as well."
(Sophie's Disguise skill is a 15.)
Mel
Charley nods at Mitch then looks to Jo, "Do I need to be invisible? Because if I have to use the ISD it will work best outside of the van. What about a costume? Something that represents the band or album cover? Oh, I really need to run some tests on the Ikenga LP! I do hope Xanten works out. I want to talk to him about his method!!"
"Oh also, is the objective for the crowd just that it doesn't erupt in anger and bringing forth doom and destruction? If the neighborhood and the college kids all had a good time that works right?"
Rob
(aw, we've been so focused on preventing the retrocreation of the kusarikku, nobody's stopped to ask if the concert should be a good time! )
Leonard
"Charley, I think it's important that you not be spotted," Jocasta offers. "On the one hand, no one on the other side will think to look for someone your age -- or, at least, I hope not. But on the other, we definitely don't want the bad guys knowing what you look like or that you're working with us! I think a costume is a good idea."
(It also will probably help with Archie's 'Mansa is lame' meme to have a seven-year-old white girl show up at the show dressed as one of the band members or something, but Jocasta probably can't articulate that well.)
Michael
Sophie says, "If we do get a younger, hipper, whiter crowd, we could make Charley up to look like one of their kids. A little girl who grew up in the Haight, born in the Summer of Love."
(Pretty much everybody in 1973 has seen itinerant post-hippie families and has an image of what they look like, I'd argue.)
Mel
To Sophie, "Hmm that sounds practical, but I was thinking more like an alien rock star who is sent to Earth to deliver a message of hope before an impending apocalyptic disaster. Like Ziggy Stardust … Which would allow me to really do what I want and have it read as performance art. But, maybe your idea is better?"
Michael
Sophie smiles indulgently, "Well, a hippie costume might be a little bit better at making you less conspicuous, certainly."
But realizing she might have sounded a tad patronizing, Sophie follows up after a pause with, "But maybe we could combine the two disguise concepts."
Mel
Charley wants to puzzle things out and would request a full debriefing of this mission from Sophie. Once up to speed would say, " Beth-El is here? And the Stasi can't track it down to our location? And Ed Douglas? What do we know about him? He's expecting the gold record do we disappoint him or give him what we want? "
Michael
Sophie responds, "Yes, Beth-El is secure here onsite." (OOC, I'm not sure if Marshall had the technicians put it back together again or not, Brant, let me know/remind me?)
"I would not imagine that any enemy agent could track down where it went." "As far as Ed expecting Xanten's special LP, I am assuming that in the aftermath of the Dominoe raid, a lot of the preparation for tomorrow's show will need to be changed. No tapestry, no record." (OOC: By the way, I think "golden record" was just a metaphor or a term that Roger threw out there, the only distinguishing markings that are on the "rage" subliminal LP are a) a plain white label instead of the Warner/Dominoe one and b) a tiny mark, like a caret or a circumflex, in black marker on the LP label's Side A.)
Brant
(He did. It’s all set up in a warehouse space with white floodlights on it and a giant sign on the front that reads DO NOT TOUCH DO NOT ENTER DO NOT TOUCH DO NOT ENTER)
Michael
The good thing about working at an Atomic Energy Commission site in 1973 is that lots of radioactive material and lasers make people very reluctant to enter storage areas marked with lots of scary signs.