Fallout
Michael
All right, I know we left last night in a bit of a hustle. But Mitch, groggily waking up from having been blasted by an ersatz-ikoter, has Carl lying heatstricken at his feet. Roger has a catatonic-but-somehow-still-ambulatory Rich by the arm; Rich is walking slowly, zombie-like, through the lobby, guided by subtle pushes from Roger. And Genevieve, who along with about a dozen very lucky fans was not affected by the ersatz-ikoter, has been conscious all along, watching the aftermath of this incredibly strange series of events. The interior of the hotel is now somehow darker; the lights in the ballroom seem suffused in a sepia-gray umbra. As I said, the ambient temperature seems about 15 to 20 degrees Fahrenheit warmer than it was previously, the air somehow simultaneously more humid and … dustier, almost. (Mitch's Detect (History B) and previous experience with subduction zones tipping over into full-on reality temblors tell him that the latter has happened here.)
The con committee on the dais along with Fan GoH George Barr are also slowly coming-to.
Bill
Roger takes a second to look around, muttering a bit of a prayer under his breath. He sees a groggy Mitch. He counts the number of people, the number of agents on site. There's no way they can contain this alone. He sees Genevieve, whose speech he just heard. And he realizes there's one person who could be the calming authority this group is going to need. He walks over to Viv.
"Ms. Abeille." He flashes his FBI badge. "Special Agent Roger Martin. We need your help."
Roger mentally runs through the standard issue list of explanations trained into him. "These people have been exposed to an unknown substance, possibly hallucinogenic. We need your help keeping everyone orderly as we assess the situation and get help quickly to those who need it the most. Can you organize the convention leadership and maybe make an announcement? Most importantly, we need people to stay calm, and stay where they are for right now."
Jeff
(Are the lights on? Have we lost power, water?)
Michael
The lights are still on, power seems to be intact. To check on running water Mitch would need to run to a restroom. Where did Roger leave Rich, btw?
Bill
Standing a few feet away, in sight, as he talked to Viv quickly.
Michael
Cool. He stares into the middle distance standing stock still, his black G-man tie askew and MARPA lapel pin off-center.
Jeff
Mitch's first thought is to get Carl up off the ground. If he spots Roger he'll hustle over to him, if not he'll try to haul Carl out by his ankles. towards the elevators I guess
Michael
Yeah, Roger's in the ballroom now, he's truly reachable, and he's got Rich sort of tagging along with him in what looks like a mentally-stunned state.
Jeff
I should check Carl and Richie's auras while I'm here
Michael
Sounds good, go for it.
Jeff
Carl first.
>>>> ACTIVATE … SUCCESS
>>>> DETECT … SUCCESS
>>>> ANALYZE … SUCCESS
That's success with MoS of 5 on the analysis.
Now Richie.
>>>> ACTIVATE … SUCCESS
>>>> DETECT … SUCCESS
>>>> ANALYZE … FAILURE
Ugh, failure on the analysis.
Michael
That's okay; there's no aura to analyze.
Jeff
Like nothing?
Michael
Like NOTHING.
No soul.
Jeff
Just a zilch.
Michael
That's right.
Jeff
An empty vessel.
Michael
That is correct.
Jeff
Lights on, nobody home.
Dang.
Michael
Carl is suffering from acute heatstroke so his aura is sickly and without emotional content but he's got no riders, no parasites, nothing like that.
Bill
"Mitch, you alright? Is this guy (he means Carl) going to be alright?"
Jeff
"Uh, yeah. Yeah, I mean, he needs rest and some water, get some fluids in him, but … yeah."
Mitch points at Richie. "That guy's dead."
He glances at Viv. "Hi."
Bill
"He's gone, yes. All the more reason we need to get this guy talking."
Jeff
"I didn't do that. He wasn't dead before."
Mitch has a little bit of experience taking care of folks too out of their gourds to remember to drink water or come in out of the sun, though admittedly he doesn't have First Aid.
Bill
"I've opened my cover to Ms. Abeille here. Hoping she can help the FBI out with a little crowd calming."
Jeff
(Discovering that Richie is dead seems like a potential Fright Check situation.)
>>>> SUCCESS
"Oh, are the FBI … right, right, right."
Bill
"Whatever these two released, this one got it full brunt. Trying to go outside pushed him over the edge; I don't think we can let anyone leave, for fear of the effect."
"So we gotta make sure folks are alright, keep them from leaving for a bit, and figure out what the hell these two did. So we need him vocal. Mitch, does any of this ring with any of your prior experience?"
Roger is all Green Beret right now. Of course, with Mitch's aura sight, he can likely see how Roger's tamping down his fear.
Michael
That sounds reasonable to me, sure.
Bill
(Roger is quickly regrading Mitch from Fellow Special Agent to Associated Specialist Helping Us With Our Investigations in the cover story in his head. Which will likely mean very little soon, but he can't help it.)
Mandy
Viv observes this exchange, the drastic change in environment, the men dressed like agents from Andy's book one looking rather ill, one dazed and this guy calling him "dead," the weapon. She has some experience with psychedelics and this doesn't feel like that but she also writes about experimental drug forms so she's open. Viv looks at Roger. "I can help, yes." She looks as if she's about to move right away as more people are stirring but she stops. "Does this have anything to do with why Mr. Krane is missing? Is he okay?"
Bill
“Mr. Krane was taken into protective custody. He’s not in the hotel. Sadly, removing him didn’t stop these idiots.”
“He was quite concerned about you, but I couldn’t find you in time. I’m sorry.”
Jeff
"The lights are still on," Mitch observes, not addressing anyone in particular. "That's probably a good thing … We need to get Carl here out of harm's way, too."
Bill
Roger will try to sit the zombi Richie in a chair. If it takes direction, and just stays there, that's gonna have to be good enough for now. "Mitch: we gotta know the boundaries of this thing. This … if this can happen to people who try to pass them, then we gotta know where the edges are. You have the best chance to figure it out. Can we go upstairs? Into the newer building? I'll try to use a phone and call it in, call in backup … if that even works. And then I'll come back and try to figure out what Carl here knows. Hopefully Ms. Abeille can keep the con from breaking into chaos until we're back."
"Do we have any other folks we can deputize on site?"
Mandy
How many people are there?
Michael
Rich sits down with yet another subtle nudge to the shoulder, pressing down while he's standing near a chair in the back of the ballroom, from Roger. To give you guys a little bit more color here, most of the ballroom crowd is coming 'round. The URIEL duo see that recovery from this weapon for ordinary non-Sandmen is pretty similar to an ikoter; a couple of minutes' worth of quasi-hypnotic amnesia after being blasted.
About 400 in the ballroom.
Four folks from the con committee on the dais.
Mandy
And you said a dozen of us withstood the attack, right? I want to get a sense of the state of the members of the crowd while gathering those who are up to me- is anyone on the dais still up?
Michael
They all got hit by the Event. And they're all getting back up off the floor, taking their heads off the dais table, etc. etc.
First Aid check to sort of diagnose the crowd en masse.
>>>> SUCCESS
Nice! No physical injuries to be seen even though some people did end up ass-over-teakettle on the floor from the Event. There's obviously far too many people to properly triage on your own, but as the con committee gets up they look to Genevieve. Chelsea Quinn Yarbro calls out to Viv, "Are you all right? What happened? It was like... it was like a really ear-splitting sound. That's all I remember."
Nods of assent from the rest of the con committee and a good number of the audience. Nobody seems panicked, mostly because everyone still seems a little dazed.
Viv can also give me a Body Language roll. I'm assuming Mitch and Roger are speaking near the back of the ballroom, so as Viv takes a look around she can read people's postures and facial expressions etc.
>>>> SUCCESS
Very good. So here's one thing that's obvious to Viv with her ballroom-wide perspective but not yet to Mitch or Roger: there are a few members of the crowd sitting near the back of the ballroom and getting themselves off the floor in the hallway outside, a dozen or more con-goers, making overt signs of genuflection and obeisance to Roger's nameless associate. The guy who said, "This guy's dead." They avoid making eye contact and some even get down and kneel while facing him with their eyes down.
Okay you three. I've decided who will roll which roll to determine the depth of the reality temblor.
Mandy: roll 2d6 ("roll A")
>>>> 2d6 … 4
Jeff: roll 2d6 ("roll B")
>>>> 2d6 … 7
Bill: roll 1d6-2 ("roll C")
>>>> 1d6-2 … 3
Jeff
"Last time this happened … I mean, I don't know that it was the same thing, but … Last time this happened the lights went out and there were, like, gaslights in sconces. I think they were gaslights." Mitch continues to scan the architecture for physical changes.
Michael
Mitch can give me two rolls: Observation and Hidden Lore (History B) please.
>>>> SUCCESS
>>>> SUCCESS
Michael
Okay. Mitch has experience with something similar to this happening at the Stanley Hotel, as he's been mentioning. The changes there were really quite drastic: spatially, architecturally, even the inhabitants of the hotel were suddenly different. But this time, other than the overall oppressive atmosphere (lighting, air temperature) and widespread mass confusion, the hotel seems pretty much the same as it was before the shift. Mitch peeks around the corner from the ballroom and can see the windows facing Powell Street: San Francisco late morning traffic flows freely on a smoggy day. So something is different this time. But mostly Mitch is aware by instinct, using a combination of his innate Detect (History B) and his Hidden Lore, that things are not yet done shifting yet. This, if it is a temblor, will just keep getting worse and worse, with more parts of the hotel shifting deeper into... somewhere else. It's gonna be a gradual, slow slide into Hell. And oh yeah, there's about a dozen con-goers bowing down before Mitch right now.
(That last bit was the Observation roll.)
Mandy
To Chelsea, distracted by what she noticed. "I'm fine. I was told this was some sort of chemical attack. the FBI is here they want me to make an announcement to keep the crowd calm and organized, so they can get help to the people who need it most. Aaactually, can you do that for us? I want to get a little more info. Thanks so much." And without waiting for the answer Viv heads back towards where Mitch and Roger are, a hustle in her step. "Hey, so, I've asked Ms. Yarborough to make the announcement." She points over toward the genuflecting con-goers. "I think my clinical expertise may be more helpful on the floor, since people appear to be having hallucinations."
Jeff
Mitch looks miffed when he notices the kneeling cultists.
Michael
"Ladies and gentlemen," Chelsea says from the mic, which soon recurses into an endless series of echoes and reverb. Chelsea covers her ears from the horrible squealing feedback and shuts off the mic. "Ladies and gentlemen!" she shouts instead. "Everyone, please remain calm. We are trying to figure out what just happened. If anyone needs help, please come to the front; I'm going up to the first aid station to get our on-site first-aid staff."
The people outside of the ballroom, are, of course, not dealing with having being attacked by the ersatz-ikoter, but they still look confused at why the hotel seems to have such... weird vibes now. People are still arriving at the ballroom to catch the opening ceremonies, including, as Mitch can see as he gives these weird worshipping con-goers the stink-eye … Anna Turner and her boyfriend Don Hallock.
"Matthew!" Anna says seeing Mitch, waving to him.
Jeff
"Anna, hi. Don, right?" Mitch gestures towards Hallock. "You guys okay? What happened? Can you help me get my friend here," he indicates Carl, over whom he's been hovering, "up to the suite? He keeled over, it was too much for him I guess."
(I'm envisioning Mitch attempting a Fast-Talk check and probably failing hilariously because it's that kind of day. Beyond giving them the stink-eye Mitch is not acknowledging the kneeling cultists.)
Michael
No Fast-Talk necessary at this point. Anna's got, like, a Very Good reaction to you, and she's by nature very helpful. "Yeah, sure Matthew. What the heck is going on here? The lights in the hallway just got all weird on our way over here, is it a brownout? And why is everyone... sort of staggering around? What happened to the keynotes?" Don looks askance at one of Mitch's petitioners trying to reach out to touch the hem of his garment.
Jeff
Mitch jerks away. "No touching!"
He turns his attention back to Turner and Hallock. "I'm not sure. Carl is, like, out out though." Mitch glances towards the hotel entrance. "Can one of you go grab one of those luggage carts?"
Michael
Don runs over to get an empty luggage cart.
Jeff
Okay, Mitch's plan is 1) get Carl onto the cart, 2) get the cart to the elevator, 3) take the elevator up to the suite, 4) get Carl into the suite, 5) try to secure Carl and ensure that he'll be okay at least w/r/t the heatstroke, 6) call Livermore on the suite phone
He assumes Roger has his own stuff going on and will attempt to convey his plan to Roger through a quick head jerk and a brief, intense stare.
Michael
That sounds like a plan.
Jeff
Mitch would like to get away from the crowd and Roger has already established his cover, it seems like a reasonable division of labor to Mitch.
Michael
Mitch gets to the elevator. It dings open and a group of ten con-goers all sort of stumble out wall-eyed, a couple of them lose their cookies off to the side once they stagger a few steps off the elevator. One of them says to Mitch, looking down at unconscious Carl, "You might want to reconsider taking this elevator, it was all over the place on the way down here. Scary stuff."
Jeff
Mitch hums. "I'll risk it." He pulls Carl-on-the-cart into the elevator with him. "We're headed up to..." 12? Mitch knows the suite number, I'm sure. Anyway, he thanks Anna and Don and tells them the suite number, if they want to come up either in the elevator or stairs, now or later.
Michael
Anna and Don look reluctant to take the elevator with Mitch, and just say, "We'll see you around" as the doors close on Mitch and Carl.
Jeff
OK so Mitch survives the elevator ride then?
Michael
He does. He encounters nothing but a smooth, unbroken ride up to 12.
If Genevieve is interested in chatting to these people once Mitch wheels Carl away and they no longer have a messiah to touch, we can start with a Psychology roll (18).
Mandy
Yes, perfect, thank you.
>>>> CRITICAL SUCCESS
Fuck. Yes.
Michael
Sweet merciful crap.
Okay. Obviously it's not realistic to do a full psychological canvass of every person in this ballroom in just 10-15 minutes. But Genevieve's no dummy; she knows how to find representative populations, people who were near ground zero of the event vs. people at the periphery, people worshipping a random dude wheeling an unconscious body on a luggage cart vs. people who aren't, etc. And what she finds is more than a little disturbing.
The people nearest the entrance to the ballroom seem to be the worst affected; they are having trouble telling fantasy from reality. Some of them are saying how much they're looking forward to returning to Deneb V, others are ready to ride into battle with Aragorn and the Rangers. Still others, the ones who were genuflecting before that young man, state with unanimity that he is one of the Secret Masters of the World and should be revered and venerated. The strength of their belief, all of these people, is strong, although it comes and goes; more than one of these people eventually give you their own names and occupations, but then pretty soon it's back to Fantasyland. The people further from what Viv is envisioning as "ground zero" are much less fantasy-prone, but not that much less confused. They don't remember what happened, they do mention feeling a little bit woozy perception-wise ("why are the lights so weird? what is that metallic tang in the air"), and they also seem to fade back and forth from serious sincere concern about Something Strange happening and blithe statements like, ("Are the panels still happening at x/y/z time?")
Mandy
Viv … Doesn't know what to do. She's taking a minute. Collecting her thoughts. She's going to prioritize monitoring the group, she wants to observe these people collectively and look for a lessening in symptoms, or intensifying, any collective physical symptoms. She doesn't have the knowledge that going outside will kill you so while she's certainly concerned about the entire situation she doesn't feel the pressure
So, unless they start becoming unruly in their delusions or vomiting or something, I think she's sitting right. We could count the time to investigate and a few minutes chewing her lip and wondering what kind of chemical agent she would have been hit with that leaves her feeling so hot and dry and other people in fairly florid delusions before Roger comes back. I know she has the skills to ponder that but no roll needed, obviously, since that's not what happened.