Roger and Mitch Go Bowling
Michael
You all want to do any prep before heading to the Castro Village Bowl that evening? Bowling alley opens at noon, and the flyer says their group meets at 8 pm. I might also wait to kick off this scene until Jo has done her Thursday research on who was handing out the flyers at the farmers' market.
Bill
Roger will have renched Biology (Botany) just for a cover; in case he needs to, he can talk natural/native plants with the hippies. Plus we'll finally actually enact the Monty Python skit when it flashes a picture of a larch.
Michael
Okay, Biology (Botany)-12 for a four-hour Renshing session.
Jeff
Bowling is a DX/A skill (technically a specialization of generic Sports, but who cares) and Mitch doesn't have it, so he's working from whatever the default is, DX-5 unless it's DX-a-smaller-number. Roger's DX is one higher than Mitch's, so, while neither of them are probably very good bowlers, Roger has the edge.
Mitch will dress for the occasion: a bowling shirt the muddy orange of terra cotta, with a wide collar, and chinos that are probably some godawful avocado color that looks appropriate for the scene.
Maybe he'll get a haircut. When's the last time he got a haircut?
Michael
You guys want to consult with Jo before you head out? I'm going to do a brief bit of shoe-leather investigation for Jo on Thursday before you guys head to the bowling alley.
Bill
I think if she’s been out in the markets during the day, we can check in with her before we leave, at least for a debrief on anything she and Charley might have found. And Roger might have her check his cover outfit for hippie-ness, maybe borrow some beads from her. Roger’s gonna have to go with a brown/yellow tie-dye T-shirt and bell bottom jeans. He has vests, but nothing that would work: soft brown leather with fringe isn’t something he’d ever buy, even for a case.
Bowling is a DX/A skill (technically a specialization of generic Sports, but who cares) and Mitch doesn't have it, so he's working from whatever the default is, DX-5 unless it's DX-a-smaller-number. Roger's DX is one higher than Mitch's, so, while neither of them are probably very good bowlers, Roger has the edge.
Bring a surprisingly good bowler is IMO a perfect use for Wild Talent. Bowling is exactly the time you could narratively get away with “I guess he’s just a natural.”
Leonard
As if Jocasta would ever recommend Birks, good Lord you guys
Michael
So are you guys gonna get there a little early, case out the joint, go in separately, all that good tradecraft stuff? And is Jo gonna be there as well?
Because if so I can get some rolls going.
Bill
Roger will suggest to Mitch they go in separate. Roger’s plan is to play “true believer” because likely Mitch is gonna Mitch and ask troubling questions, so he’s got skeptic covered. 😉 Arriving a little early, watching folks arrive from cover, finding the back door, all that good stuff, yes.
Jo is absolutely welcome to come.
Jeff
Sounds good, Roger
Leonard
Jocasta will not go along, but she’ll be burning the midnight oil at Livermore if the boys need any assistance.
Michael
So what I think I'll do is just have the two of you each make a pair of rolls to see how well you suss out the joint: entrances, exits, flow of patrons, hiding places, etc.
Roger: Observation-14, Tactics-13
Mitch: Observation-16, Tactics-8
Jeff
Observation:
>>>> SUCCESS by 8
Tactics:
>>>> SUCCESS by 3
Bill
Observation.
>>>> CRITICAL FAILURE
Tactics.
>>>> SUCCESS by 3
Hopefully Tactics informs Roger to rely on the taisher's observations.
Jeff
A sudden, brief bout of hysterical blindness
Michael
So Roger and Mitch get to the Castro Village Bowl a little after 6:30. Tactically, the entrances, exits, and spaces are pretty clear: there's the front of the alley (bowling shoe rental desk, ball storage, glassed-in repair shop and manager's office), then the lanes (seen in the photos above) and the restaurant/lounge, which faces the lanes. A heavy pall of wood polish and cigarette smoke greets each of you as you enter. Mitch figures the best place to get a, uh, "tactical" view of the whole place is from one of the little tables outside the lounge, near that little brick wall in picture 3 of 3 in the collage above. Mitch grabs a plastic chair and gets to scanning his surroundings (I'm assuming occasional Aura Reading uses on anyone who looks suspicious).
The lanes are, in fact, packed with league bowling tonight: upwards of a hundred suburbanites in teams of four facing each other with their matching bowling shirts. Looks like the scoreboard shows it's one men's and one women's league facing off tonight. If Roger did want to get a lane for himself, there will likely be a little bit of a wait; they've got a half-dozen lanes, numbers 1 through 6, set aside for walk-ins. But Roger definitely gets a vibe that distracts him from the job at hand: this place is, for lack of a better word or words, incredibly white.
And the vibes he's getting from both the folks on the lanes and the ones in the lounge is ever-so-slightly hostile. Wherever he decides to settle in for surveillance—on the lanes or in the lounge—Roger can feel eyes boring in on him. Now, on some of these league teams, like on the machinist's union squad that's going up against Al's Bar and Grill? There's a brother or two. And working the lanes there's a guy or two who looks Chicano. But it's a white suburban vibe that distracts Roger from giving his best effort to keeping an eye on the crowd too overtly [crit fail Observation] and makes him wonder if being a solo Black man in the lounge might end up being, well, a bad idea.
(I'll just leave a little space for Roger to decide his tactically- and socially-optimal spot to surveil. Keeping an eye on Mitch from his central location will be easy from practically anywhere.)
Bill
OK, Roger's plan will be to grab a beer, and just circulate: just be a fan, smiling, turning on the charm (as much as there's any sign of openness.). Nod appreciating at a strike. Do someone a little solid: spare a lighter, etc. Except to the women's league: no charm towards them-- that's way too easy to turn ugly. Take a turn at the bar if he can get a seat. He'll make nods to the brothers, but he doesn't want to bring his shit down on them. So some basic Carousing. If it gets too ugly, he'll take long periods out in the car. Or go "befriend" Mitch so he isn't seen as a total loner.
Michael
That feels like a Carousing roll, but I'll use IQ instead of HT: this is obviously more calculated than drinking and back-slapping everyone under the table. So Carousing-13.
Jeff
Hmm. Is Mitch lurking alone and quietly, staring at league bowlers and nursing beers, or is he inserting himself into whatever conversations are going on around him, complaining about Nixon being so crooked and there being too many reruns on the teevee? Does he have the affect of somebody who's waiting patiently for the real business to start at eight, or is he just screwing around on a weeknight in Castro Valley?
Does Mitch have one or both uses of Serendipity to burn tonight? I feel like he does but I haven't kept good track.
Michael
We've been in Intersession One for a while and I am pretty damn sure you saved both Serendipities for just this sort of occasion.
Jeff
Brant
did mitch get a haircut?
Jeff
He thought about getting a haircut, which is an important first step.
He'll have a drink and try to feel for the right time to activate Serendipity to strike up a conversation with the most mission-relevant NPC in the tableau, or maybe a telegenic brunette. Might not happen, or it might be pre-empted by said NPC calling their anti-Vitameatavegimin meeting to order.
That may or may not be a (separate) Carousing roll, I dunno. I don't think Mitch and Roger are particularly coordinating their handling of the bowling alley crowd, but conversely, they've worked together a while now.
Michael
Around 7:30 Mitch moseys over to the bar in the lounge for a refill of whatever he's been drinking. The bartender's refilled Mitch a time or two by this point, and after seeing Mitch drink and smoke his way through a few over the past hour at his little table near the lanes, he leans in to be heard over the din of the lounge patrons and the jukebox, saying to Mitch, "I guess you prefer the clatter of the pins to all this racket, eh? Can't say as I blame you."
Jeff
Mitch is having whatever's on tap, I'm sure.
"It all blends together. And there's too many reruns on the TV this time of year."
Michael
(Coors seems like a safe bet.)
The barman nods in recognition; summer television is, indeed, a drag. He looks to be about 50, balding and grey, on the short-ish side and fit for his age. Navy tattoo on forearm, World War II or Korea vintage. "It pains me to admit that this is probably the most happening joint in Castro Valley on a Thursday night," he says with a smile, but also a tacit, bartender's small talk acknowledgement that he's not seen Mitch in here before. "Anyway, a few beers, a few pretzels, a few laughs, watch some of these guys and gals throwing strikes... I guess things could be worse, huh?" He's finishing drawing a Coors into Mitch's 16-ounce disposable plastic cup (you know, the kind you'd get beer in at the ballpark; no glass allowed outside the lounge).
Jeff
"Beats church."
Michael
The barman laughs out loud. "You got that right my friend. Uh oh, here comes trouble," he mutters. Mitch raises an eyebrow at the bartender's reaction at something happening behind him, as Mitch cocks a quick unobtrusive look in the direction the bartender is looking. A young long-haired man walks into the lounge and finds a table as far away from the jukebox, television, and puck bowling machine as possible. He carries in his hand a single sheet of light green paper that bears a very familiar graphic of a cubic office building; he places this on the table in front of him and confers with the waitress who comes to take his order. "This nutball again. Every Thursday with him." The bartender tsks to himself.
Jeff
"What's his problem?" Mitch asks, with the subtext of he looks like he's going to pick a fight or raise a ruckus, why did he pick here to get all serious-hippie at people?
Michael
"Eh, weird kid. He's got some gripe against some company or farmer's association or something like that. First time he came in here he asked if a 'concerned citizens group' could have a weekly meeting in the lounge. I said buddy, this is hardly the place for something like that and he just looked at me.... sad, like. He just said, "It's gotta be here. It's gonna happen here." A little spooky. But hey, it's a free country, if he wants to invite people here to meet him and talk politics, hell, godspeed." "Every Thursday for a month and a half he comes in here at 8, every Thursday he leaves at 10. No one joins him, and apart from one time a couple of the local boys with a load on go over to hassle him a little bit, doesn't talk to anyone. Orders a tonic water or two. Treats the waitresses respectfully, tips well for not ordering booze, doesn't make a ruckus. Seems like he'd have more success in Berkeley or something," the bartender says, echoing Mitch's own estimation of the situation.
Jeff
"Huh." Mitch nods thoughtfully, then scans everything everywhere for History-B, Illuminated, or metafictional traces, hoping to suss out what it is that's "gonna happen here."
Michael
(by the way, Friendly Infodump Barman is only, so far, a one-dose use of Serendipity by my estimation and I probably owe you a little more benefit from his sage counsel to be honest)
Jeff
I guess this is Detect?
>>>> ACTIVATE … SUCCESS by 3
>>>> DETECT … SUCCESS by 6
>>>> ANALYZE … SUCCESS by 4
Success, not dramatic
Michael
The entirety of Castro Village Bowl is free of History B taint, including our friend who just walked in.
Jeff
How's his aura?
>>>> ACTIVATE … SUCCESS by 2
>>>> DETECT … SUCCESS by 3
>>>> ANALYZE … SUCCESS by 0
Michael
Our young man's aura is frazzled. Lacking in mental concentration. An underlying yet omnipresent bouquet of fear and anxiety. A deeper, darker streak of trauma: a sharp shock he's experienced that has scarred him emotionally. He's wrapped up in himself, closed off and yet somewhere swirling about in all these grey and dark blue colors... there is a tiny pinpoint of rose-colored hope. Health-wise, about the only thing Mitch can see is profound exhaustion. This is a man who has not slept much in the last few weeks. He is young, though—20 or 21 years old—with no physical traumas, underlying illnesses, or other hidden ailments. He is relatively physically fit; Mitch would guess he has a job that keeps him on his feet all day.
(Friendly Infodump Barman just seems to inexplicably and serendipitously like the cut of Mitch's jib, so take that for what you will.)
Jeff
Mitch's next move, if Roger has somehow missed this Troubled Young Man, will be to shoot Roger the high sign, pull back to the parking lot or someplace else semi-private, fill him in on this being some kind of cosmic honey pot with the guy sitting there waiting for us, us specifically, even if he doesn't know that's what he's doing.
But I'm willing to guess Roger has something
Michael
Yeah, let's see how his Carousing goes but he will have likely seen all this.
Bill
>>>> SUCCESS by 7
Yeah, I think Roger noticed. He could still approach based on the fellow concerned hippie plan. Or just take him outside.
Michael
Damn, no worries at all about Roger winning the Castro Village Bowl over I guess.
Bill
Well, he does have to make up for the disadvantage somehow.
Michael
Yeah, Roger saw Mitch chatting with the lounge bartender and the subtle body language that indicated they were talking about Our Guy With the Flyer. If you guys want to have an in-character confab about next steps, groovy.
Jeff
Has Roger picked up on anything Mitch didn't, other than the ever present background noise of societal and institutional racism?
Michael
Just looking at Roger's sheet and Advantages and Skills and not seeing anything that might give any extra information than what Mitch has gotten just from observation and from Aura/Detect. I suppose if there was some kind of "spirit" attached to him Roger might sense/empathize with it but Roger's not sensing anything like that.
Jeff
Okay, I think we're going to want to confer. There's a few ways we could approach this. One, we don't make contact, instead we wait until he gives up and leaves, we shadow him home, bug his car, call up his FBI file, et cetera.
Two, Mitch wanders up with Roger hanging back at least at first and Mitch is blunt about asking why the guy is so eager to meet them here in particular
Three, Roger moseys up while Mitch hangs back and Roger channels 00 to have one of those cool low-key yet threatening James Bond interviews
Four, something better that @Bill B suggests
We could both go at once, less good-cop/bad-cop than suave-cop/mystic-cop
Michael
Love it.
Bill
I like plan 3, with Agent 00 “going in under cover” that he’s here to join in, a fellow spirit, and suavely prompt the looney into his rant. Mitch can take over if the dude starts on about destiny.
Looks like Roger needs the barkeep to make him a martini.
Michael
(James Bond in a bowling alley. Will wonders never cease.)
Bill
(Moore’s Bond did like a situation in which the whole thing was oddly provincial, just to make him come off more patrician in sardonic majesty.)
Michael
I suppose that's an Autohypnosis-16 roll when you're ready.
Bill
>>>> SUCCESS by 1
(Well, it is not his best environment, but I guess he’s willing to show. )
Michael
All right, that's a cost of 1 FP and for the next three minutes, the Agent is IN
And as Roger re-enters the bowling alley as Agent 00, his pre-existing Carousing success gets boosted considerably. He turns heads as he walks into the lounge, his "hip" wear now even more of a conscious disguise to hide his jaded urbanity.
(Feel free to describe your approach whenever you like and I may or may not roll a Reaction roll depending. Will Mitch stay at the bar to have a closer eye on the situation, or go back to his seat near the lanes? Either way, when Mitch gets back from the bathroom, a fresh cold frosty Coors is waiting for him.)
Bill
One quick ret-con. Roger, as he hypnotized himself, was muttering, "Your mission, should you choose to accept it: convince the young man you're an ally, turn the young man into our asset, find the connections. As always, if you or any of your team are caught, the Secretary will disavow all knowledge of your actions."
Agent 00 will square himself off, consider what's on hand. Most importantly, there's the copy of the flyer Roger brought with him. He puts on a smile, scans the room obviously, looking for someone. He has the flyer out in his hand. He'll work his way over to the target, looking at each person, until the target hopefully notices him, or he makes it to him.
Michael
I'd say a few feet from the target's table, he catches a glimpse of the goldenrod flyer Archie got at the farmer's market in Agent 00's hand. The target's eyes light up (if Mitch is watching with Aura Reading, he'll see that kernel of hope start to trickle its pale rose color into the rest of his fearful, jittery aura) and the target half-stands up and gestures to the seat across from him. "Uh, hi! Welcome," he says in a croaky, choked voice: nerves, obviously. "I'm Dan, it's nice to meet you. Thanks for coming."
Bill
Agent 00 puts out his hand to shake. "You're the man, then? The one running the campaign looking into..." and he whispers here, "Agrigenics?" He'll take Dan's hand however hesitant, shake it, and then sit down. "I'm 'John.'" He tilts his head to make the quotes clear. "Are we good to talk here?"
Michael
"One of the reasons why I wanted to meet here," Dan says with increasing confidence. "Public place, well-trafficked. I need to ask you straight off the top..." and here Dan's gaze and manner becomes more furtive, more paranoid, before returning "John"'s gaze, "what made you decide to come here tonight? You said Their name right off," and Agent 00 can practically hear that capital T in Dan's shaky voice, "do you have some measure of familiarity with Them?"
Bill
Agent 00 will do a little acting here. Acting similarly scared, mirroring back. "I had to use... that name. To be sure you knew. I don't know if I should even be talking to you. But I have to talk to someone about Them. I can't let Them just keep going on, keep messing with the plants, without trying to get help."
Michael
(Yeah, Acting-15 here. This is not a Reaction or Influence roll yet, just a baseline to see how believable that emotional mirroring is.)
Bill
>>>> SUCCESS by 8
Michael
"Are you a representative of any government agency, law enforcement agency, or independent consumer protection group?" Dan says this rote, like he's been practicing it.
Bill
Oh, so now the lying. "NO. Are you a cop? Or some kind of an agent? You have to tell me if you are."
Michael
Dan actually chuckles at this. He's still nervous, but he might be beginning to wonder if he's about to blow his chance with the first person to show up for one of these in six weeks. "I think we probably need to build some trust at this point. How about I tell you something about what I know, and you return the favor. Stop anytime. Call it a potlatch."
Bill
Agent 00 will nod. "Yes, that's fair."
Michael
"Okay," Dan says, finishing off his club soda. "To start: I have been inside the Agrigenics headquarters building in Vacaville. I hope this will give me a little bit of credence in your eyes. I can describe specific programs, projects, practices, and... well, let me just stop there for the moment."
Bill
Agent 00 attempts to act shocked and impressed. "You've been in? I... I won't say yet where I work. But I've never been in, only seen what they've done to the foods. I work with grains, cereals, you know? I've only picked up on what they're doing in my studies on the..." and he drops into a whisper again, "adulterations."
Michael
Dan nods, as if this confirms something he'd been pondering and concerned about. "I'm not an expert in any particular scientific or technical field, that's not my strength, so it's reassuring to hear you know what you're talking about on that front. I believe these things you're talking about, the things you've discovered... they're not just cost-cutting measures, they're not just valorous attempts to feed the world. I believe there's a... hidden agenda." He points at the flyer. "My language on here... got a little overheated. But I firmly believe there's more than I can see the contours and boundaries of from where I'm standing. I need help. The kind of help you can provide." Agent 00 feels like his cover story hit the jackpot. Thank goodness for Q's Botany speedlearn technique, what?
Bill
With the opening the admisssion of ignorance gives, Agent 00 will take advantage. He'll now concoct some appropriate sounding technical banter to partially describe his "studies" and settle bona fides that when it comes to the sciences and evidence, "John" is a useful man to know. "Kernel-blanching followed by ion-spectagraphy in (Charley's) my lab has shown artificial collagen uptake..." blah blah blah. "I haven't figured out what they could do with it, but I can't believe it's good. What do you think They're up to? What did you see of Their plans?"
Michael
"It..." Dan stops. "Excuse me for a moment." He signals the waitress over and asks for a vodka rocks. As she heads to the bar to fetch it, his lips purse and disappear and he scratches at the back of his neck nervously. "Sorry. I just... I just need a quick belt." His manner is changing, growing overtly nervous again. After pondering "John"'s technobabble, as if it confirmed some deep fear in him, he's growing reticent again. Before the waitress returns, he simply says, "They're not stopping at plant life." Vodka rocks is delivered, and he gives it a swirl and takes a good solid swallow. "Have you done any research into the company itself? Who owns them, where they came from, what they did before entering the U.S. consumer market?" He's diverted from his tantalizing "potlatch" offering just now, and is looking for more information. But interestingly he's gone from "they're not stopping at plant life" to "I need to know who really controls them." Dan is convinced there is a huge conspiracy here. And with the dribs and drabs of HUMINT he's gotten so far, Agent 00 can't see for the life of him where the connection is. (We're probably coming close to the end of the three-minute initial possession period, actually. Another six minutes for another FP? And I see Jeff is typing so I'll let him get a move in here as well.)
Jeff
Oh! I was gonna say Mitch is hanging too far back to overhear but close enough to visually monitor auras but then I recalled that Mitch has a suite of listening devices in his inventory and 00 loves gadgets, so Mitch is listening in on the convo via a SANDMAN earpiece and a lapel mic on 00's person
Michael
That makes me think he's back at the little table by the lanes with an earpiece like he's listening to the Oakland A's Giants game on a transistor radio. (edited)
But to get an eye on the two of them all he'd need to do is stand up and stretch a little.
Jeff
Mitch will keep in position to observe auras and, if needed, initiate spontaneous human combustion
Bill
Agent 00 doesn't like to lose, and Roger's willing to play this out. So yeah, another FP. "They started overseas, third world, I think? I couldn't find much in the quick library lookups I could do, and I was afraid that my boss would find out. What do you mean, not stopping at plant life? What else did you see them... adulterating?" (edited)
Agent 00 thinks maybe the target needs more lubricating. He'll try getting more drinks into the target by making more mirror behavior, drinking more of his own. (Can Carousing be used to push folks towards more drinking?)
Michael
That's what Carousing is made for!
And Agent 00 is much better than Roger at it, now that we're talking the HT variety. Carousing-18 (a +2 assessed for the roleplaying so far plus the Botany stuff).
Bill
>>>> SUCCESS by 6
"You know what makes the vodka taste better? Vermouth. And less ice; that's what the shaker's for, man."
Michael
Not a crit but very close. So I'm going to roll a Reaction roll now because you've accumulated enough bonuses to get you to a 3d6+10 roll: +2 Charisma +2 Overconfident (Dan counts as both "young" and "naive") +2 for Botany +2 for Carousing +2 for the RP and the approach brb gonna roll this
When the martini comes, Dan blinks; a tear or two drops from his eyes. He again downs over half his drink in one go, clears his throat and uses his cocktail napkin to dab at his eyes matter-of-factly. He sniffs, nods to himself. "You ever see the film 2001: A Space Odyssey?"
Bill
Roger probably saw it at an army base if Uncle Sam thought of it as inspirational to the troops. Or just cheap distraction.
In any case, of course Agent 00 nods.
Michael
"So the Discovery mission to Jupiter put its scientific and security staff into... into a kind of hibernation, radically slowing their vital signs, in these... giant coffins, hibernation chambers. Ostensibly to save on provisions but also... well, you know, the HAL plotline. The paranoid computer was programmed to work with them to keep the secret of the monolith." Dan obviously feels some elements of the plot of 2001 have some bearing on what he's trying to tell you about Agrigenics. Dan's eyes go wide. "I've seen something just like this in the Agrigenics building. Scores and scores of... ultra-cold, liquid nitrogen-chilled chambers, sized for adult humans. And some of them are already occupied." "I..." Dan's weeping more now, but talking through it as his eyes well up. "I don't care if you don't believe me. I know what I saw. And I know that whoever is in those chambers... well, in the basement levels there are also labs. Stainless-steel rooms that look like morgues, or autopsy rooms. They're doing something down there. They've got a test animal budget in the six figures. They're not just playing around with crossbreeding wheat and corn." Dan's voice cracks. He swallows.
(23 on the Reaction roll btw)
(Also, this is the bit in the potlatch where one side destroys their whole village, I guess)
Bill
Agent 00 puts on his best sympathetic face. "I really don't know what to believe anymore. But... I think I believe you. The science... if They're messing with food supplies, of course They wouldn't care about messing with people... directly. It'd give them the data on how it affects people in ways I don't want to think about." He puts on a wide-eyed face. "Do They know you saw it?"
To be truthful, Agent 00 totally believes there would be a giant secret evil lab in a lair. SPECTRE/THRUSH/the Atlanteans/OZYMANDIUS: they all have a villainous base, of course.
Michael
"I don't want to say anymore about my position there. Suffice to say I got access to an area I'm not supposed to be in, that one time. I haven't tried again since. But I am still in the building and as far as I know, They don't know I saw anything." "I want you to know that if I don't make it back from this meeting, I have a fail-safe set up that will release my account of all this to the newspapers, the FDA, and the EPA. If you're one of Them, I would highly advise you let me go home and about my business after this."
Bill
Agent 00 knows better than to engage with accusations/denials. "Hey, Dan, this is all... so big. I didn't know how big. It's all so much. Look, I just work at a university. What can I do? What can we do? I don't know, maybe I need to get out of here."
Agent 00 goes so far as to start to stand up, but not so fast Dan can't catch him.
Michael
"Evidence. We need incontrovertible evidence and I'm... I'm just one person. I want to blow the whistle, like Ralph Nader says." As "John" gets up to go, Dan tries his best to calm himself to get John to sit back down. "Wait. What university? Do you have any contacts in EPA or FDA or the Department of Agriculture? Or in the media? If... if I were able to assemble enough evidence, do you think you could help present it to some kind of law enforcement or regulatory agency?"
Bill
"I could try. I can certainly try to analyze it, back it with science. And one of my boss's grants is from USDA; maybe there's a connection there. Look, this is a lot. I... I got think about this. But, look, here's a number you can reach me at. Will you be here next week?"
Michael
"God willing, yes. I'll keep my routine as routine as I can." He takes John's number. "Thank you. I don't know if you know how much of a relief it is to be believed."
Bill
"It's so good to know someone else out there has spotted this. Maybe there's more of us..." Agent 00 gets up and heads past Mitch, giving him another high-sign to meet back outside.
He's relishing the moment when he gets to confront the mastermind and blow up this nefarious lair.
Jeff
"Okay, Dan who works at Agrigenics," Mitch says as soon as he and 00 are in semiprivacy. "Two things. One, do we need to get more intel on him, his full name, address, his car? We could try to tail him. Two, did you get the sense he was hiding something when he said that about the bowling alley being public and full of people and shit? I'm sure this isn't the only public place Dan knows of... I didn't sense any trace of the Enemy on him, but I wouldn't bet money he isn't some kind of bait."
Michael
(I went with a retrospective Detect Lies-10 roll for the Agent, Bill. He doesn't have that as a skill so I went with the Psychology default with a +2 for your rapport. It doesn't feel like Dan was holding anything back intentionally.)
Bill
"Okay, Dan who works at Agrigenics," Mitch says as soon as he and 00 are in semiprivacy. "Two things. One, do we need to get more intel on him, his full name, address, his car? We could try to tail him. Two, did you get the sense he was hiding something when he said that about the bowling alley being public and full of people and shit? I'm sure this isn't the only public place Dan knows of... I didn't sense any trace of the Enemy on him, but I wouldn't bet money he isn't some kind of bait."
“Oh yes, we need to tail him, ID him, but carefully. If he spots it and tries to shake it, let him. He’s likely to be back next week anyway, and we don’t want to spook him too much.”
“He seemed legitimate. If he’s a trap, They baited it very naturally. Doesn’t feel off to my gut. We probably want to start with surveillance on the building, see who comes and goes. We can also pick up a tail on Dan there, if he really works there. Break in only once we know more.” (edited)
Roger’s going to let the Agent go at this point. Now, how to tail Dan, that’s tricky. With the chance Roger might get spotted if driving (and his car ain’t no graduate student’s), seems like it’s up to Mitch, or we need a better plan.
Jeff
Mitch does have Shadowing-15
Does that include following someone in a car at night? I don't recall.
Mainly I want Dan's full name, I feel like we can get whatever info we need if we have his name. License plate, maybe? That would be easy to get, just ID his car in the lot.
Michael
Yep, it covers tailing. I would nullify that -2 penalty with a successful Driving check, probably. And I'd roll the Shadowing check secretly, of course.
And yeah, the low-effort way to get Dan's info would be the license plate bit.
Jeff
Okay, being ready to ID his car when he leaves, record plate, follow. Mitch and Roger came in separate cars, is Roger leaving Mitch to handle this alone or is he folded up in the passenger seat of Mitch's VW Bug, or a third thing?
Bill
I think if Mitch has the skills, it’s better for Roger to stay out of it. In fact, better if Roger gets out before Dan sees Roger in his car at all. All this could be prevented by temporarily switching cars, if Roger would ever let anyone else touch his car except in extremis.
“You got this, muchacho. See you back at the ranch.”
Jeff
Okay then! Mitch nods and proceeds. Dan doesn't seem like enough of a threat to compel backup
Michael
Mitch should give me a Driving-9 check to see if he can offset the -2 to Shadowing via car. I'll then roll Shadowing-Mitch vs. Vision-Dan.
Jeff
>>> FAILURE by 3
Michael
What's the Handling on a VW Bug, do you reckon?
Probably 0.
Jeff
0, yeah.
SR is 4 for pretty much all TL7 gas burners
Roger's ride is probably sporting a +1 Handling
Michael
At a little after 10 pm, Dan comes out of the bowling alley and gets into a blue Chevy Vega, California plates 756 HQP. Mitch begins tailing him. Dan gets out onto I-580 East, heading coincidentally in the same direction one would go to Livermore. On the highway at nighttime, without a lot of other traffic on the road, Mitch gives Dan a good bit of slack. Dan gets on the interchange north on I-690, headed towards San Ramon, Danville, and Concord. Mitch keeps his distance and rides with him for about a half-hour, until he takes Exit 50 at Concord. By this point it's around 10:35, 10:40; Dan stays on surface streets and heads east into the residential area of Concord, and finally pulls into the driveway/garage of a fairly nice suburban home at around quarter to eleven: 4542 Adams Drive. There's already a car in the garage when Dan opens it; a big four-door sedan, and through the front windows of the house Mitch can see the flickering of a television set in a darkened living room. Mitch cruises by and off Adams Drive; at no point during the tail did Mitch feel like he was made; he was careful, watchful, and used intervening traffic whenever he could; Dan also didn't seem to ever take any obviously evasive action, even though Mitch would testify if asked that Dan's driving was a little bit erratic at times while on the highway, but not in an overly suspicious way if that makes any sense.
Jeff
Before leaving Mitch does a hard scan for History B in and around Dan's residence
>>>> ACTIVATE … SUCCESS by 4
>>>> DETECT … SUCCESS by 5
>>>> ANALYZE … SUCCESS by 7
Michael
All clear, no History B.
Jeff
You know what?
Mitch will try to Shasta-vision the interior of Dan's house
Michael
Yeah, at half-power at sea level you're good to scry within like a mile, right?
Jeff
So from his car, around the corner, should be fine. My understanding is that Mitch's scrying sensor / astral form is invisible to mundane sight, so this'll be a great test of that maybe
Michael
Make your Clairvoyance-12 roll (and spend 6 FP) and I'll narrate tomorrow, Jeff. I'm fading a little.
Jeff
>>>> FAILURE by 1
Michael
Yawn. Mitch concentrates and all he gets out of it is a sense of fatigue like he's a little more than halfway to falling asleep.
Jeff
Dang.
I'll retry. I think I'm in a safe enough situation that if I lose too much FP I can still just drive home, no big deal, and if needed I can sit in my car for a while and listen to the radio and rest.
Michael
That's true.
Jeff
So, thirty minutes of chilling to get from 4 FP to 7 FP, then try it again. If it fails the second time, it wasn't meant to be and Mitch gives up.
Michael
Want to load in some Corruption this time?
Jeff
>>>> FAILURE by 4
Shoot.
Mitch's spirit is insufficiently settled.
So Mitch follows Dan home without getting made he's pretty sure, notes his address, drives around the corner and sits for a half hour, then drives home.