‘The New Age’ Playtest Transcript 6

PREVIOUSLY: PART 5

Call of Cthulhu Online Game
Sponsored by Pagan Publishing
Transcript of sixth session — May 1st, 1993

Players:
The Gamer– Clarence Starbird, F.B.I. trainee
Don Rice– Gary Nedler, new age bookstore owner and long-time govt. consultant
Mr Shiny was not present for this game, and so his character (“Agent Fenemore”) is presumed to still be convalescing in the hospital after his brief coma.

Transcript:
5/1/93
11.37.11
Opening “DG Game 6” for recording.

[just before the log began, Starbird asked about Agent Fenemore’s condition, and the shock he suffered.]

Agent Starbird: But what kind of a shock? Nobody’s been very specific so far…

Pagan Pub: Agent Fenemore went into shock followed by a mild coma as a result of low blood pressure, I suppose. His heart slowed, brain activity slowed, respiration slowed, etc.

Pagan Pub: (that is to say, his blood pressure got lower and lower and lower…doesn’t normally have low BP.

Pagan Pub: Now what caused that…well, they’re not sure.

Agent Starbird: In other words, he was dying…

Gary Nedler: Nedler’s signs were similar, but not as bad, right?

Pagan Pub: Correct.

Agent Starbird: As I recall, I’m investigating a growling noise (with no apparent source) in the meditiation room’s storage closet at local Enolsis chapter. I’m also feeling nauseous, for no apparent reason. I have the two guards with me, and Gary is distracting the clerk.

Pagan Pub: Dead on.

Pagan Pub: Nedler, you’re blathering on with the girl at the desk about you coming to the next meeting.

Gary Nedler: ” yoga … [blah blah]”

Agent Starbird: So does the feeling abate as I move away from the room? :: taking two steps back::

Pagan Pub: You pause for a few moments..

Pagan Pub: One of the agents standing with you opens his mouth and starts to speak, but you can’t understand what he’s saying.

Pagan Pub: It sounds garbled.

Pagan Pub: There’s a ringing in your ears.

Agent Starbird: Great. Just great.

Pagan Pub: “Clarence…”

Pagan Pub: You’re lying in a hospital bed.

Pagan Pub: Your eyes are closed, but you can feel the sheets, smell the antiseptic, hear the monitoring devices nearby.

Pagan Pub: “Clarence…”

Agent Starbird: “Yes?”

Pagan Pub: “Experiencing threat…”

Pagan Pub: You can hear someone moving in the room with you.

Agent Starbird: ::try to open my eyes::

Pagan Pub: You do.

Pagan Pub: You’re in the Enolsis room, still.

Agent Starbird: Do I still feel the sheets, smell the antiseptic?

Pagan Pub: Vaguely, like a perfume.

Pagan Pub: “I’m not alone…”

Agent Starbird: :: close my eyes again, try and tune into the voice :: “Is that you, Kyle?”

Pagan Pub: You’re in the hospital bed again.

Pagan Pub: Someone is still moving around the room.

Pagan Pub: You’re feeling nauseous from the drugs the doctor gave you.

Pagan Pub: No, wait.

Pagan Pub: Kyle is feeling nauseous from the drugs the doctor gave him.

Pagan Pub: You can hear a door close softly.

Pagan Pub: You can’t move; in fact, you’re unconscious.

Pagan Pub: No, wait.

Pagan Pub: Kyle can’t move; in fact, he’s unconscious.

Agent Starbird: ::open eyes, try and snap out of trance::

Pagan Pub: You’re in the Enolsis room again. The two agents are looking at you somewhat worriedly.

Pagan Pub: You hear a low growl.

Agent Starbird: Great. Just great.

Agent Starbird: Try to speak aloud: “Fenemore’s in trouble at the hospital. Get help NOW.”

Pagan Pub: One of the agents pulls out a little phone thing and speaks into it.

Agent Starbird: Oh, good. They can understand me.

Agent Starbird: ::Also, look around for the dog::

Pagan Pub: There’s no dog here at Enolsis.

Pagan Pub: No, wait.

Pagan Pub: Kyle hears a low growl.

Pagan Pub: That’s where it was coming from.

Agent Starbird: “Full weapon alert. The thing at the hotel is at the hospital.”

Gary Nedler: [hosed us again, Pagan … ]

Pagan Pub: The agent is barking into the phone.

Pagan Pub: [not literally]

Gary Nedler: [LoL]

Agent Starbird: [Beginning to look forward to my next meeting with my old friend Rex…]

Agent Starbird: Tee Hee

Pagan Pub: Starbird, you’re feeling a bit better now.

Pagan Pub: The agents head for the door, followed by…

Agent Starbird: I’ll follow if I’m able…

Agent Starbird: (Great scene. Nice misdirection [again]…)

Gary Nedler: Gary follows. The only question is did he get her phone number?

Gary Nedler: … purely for investigative purposes, of course. πŸ˜‰

Pagan Pub: Gary: give me a percentile roll.

Pagan Pub: No problem, you guys head out the door, leaving the addled clerk behind.
OnlineHost: Mr. Nedler rolled 1 100-sided die: 88

Pagan Pub: Ooh, but you didn’t get that phone number down.

Gary Nedler: Ah well. We know we can hack into their computer by modem, though.

Pagan Pub: Into the sedan, and vroom…

Pagan Pub: One agent is driving, one is talking on the phone. Anything to say to Gary?

Agent Starbird: “Very odd experience, Gary. It was like I was *in* Fenemore’s body in the hospital room…”

Agent Starbird: “I heard someone come in, I heard the dog growl, I felt the drugs hit my body. But it wasn’t *my* body.

Agent Starbird: “And why me? *You’re* the sensitive psychic of the bunch…”

Pagan Pub: Perhaps Gary was too distracted? [“did I get her phone number?”]

Gary Nedler: You never know when an enemy’s employee’s address might be important … πŸ˜‰

Gary Nedler: “Hmmm, have you ever had psychic experiences before? Past life flashes, anything?”

Agent Starbird: “I don’t think so… I’ve dealt with a lot of weird stuff before, but never on this *personal* a level.

Pagan Pub: The agent talking on the phone says the guys at the hospital are checking things out now.

Pagan Pub: You race on.

Agent Starbird: “Fenemore might have been drugged or poisoned through his IV. Have them check that first.”

Agent Starbird: [Do the agents have any reaction to the story I’m telling Gary?]

Pagan Pub: Well, they’re not hearing much of it, actually.

Pagan Pub: One’s busy breaking land speed records for a gas-guzzling sedan, and one is yakking on the phone.

Pagan Pub: You arrive at the hospital.

Agent Starbird: [Can I get the gist of what’s going on from listening to the agent yakking?]

Pagan Pub: [he’s calling several different people to report the problem]

Pagan Pub: Brakes squeal.

Pagan Pub: You’re at the entrance to the wing where Kyle is.

Agent Starbird: As we head for Kyle’s room, I keep my eyes peeled for Rex…

Pagan Pub: Okay, you get to the area where his room is.

Pagan Pub: Guys in FBI jackets in the hall.

Pagan Pub: Guns everywhere.

Pagan Pub: Gaston waves you forward, into Kyle’s room.

Agent Starbird: :: going in ::

Gary Nedler: :: following ::

Pagan Pub: You enter, the room is half-full of agents and doctors. Kyle is on the bed, awake but not alert.

Pagan Pub: Gamer: percentile roll.
OnlineHost: Agent Starbird rolled 1 100-sided die: 68

Pagan Pub: The docs are checking out Kyle.

Pagan Pub: Kyle’s saying something about a dog licking his face.

Pagan Pub: He spots you and says hello.

Pagan Pub: Okay, this is going to sound strange.

Agent Starbird: [Don’t you mean *stranger*?]

Pagan Pub: But I need both of you to type in your recollections of the dreams that Kyle told you about when he was in his coma.

Pagan Pub: Recall everything you can, in as much detail as possible.

Pagan Pub: You can compare notes, etc.

Gary Nedler: He dreamed he was floating

Gary Nedler: He saw a large spherical object (I think he thought it was a planet)

Gary Nedler: Surrounded by flying things.

Gary Nedler: That’s about all I remember.

Agent Starbird: It was red (the planet), wasn’t it?

Gary Nedler: I don’t remember if he said so.

Gary Nedler: I *do* remember his dream was two episodes, and the planet was second but I don’t remember what the first one was.

Agent Starbird: You’re remembering more than me … but just because *we’re* idiots shouldn’t mean that our characters are… didn’t one of us take notes or something? It sounds like the sort of thing Clarence would have done…

Pagan Pub: Um, you probably would have taken notes at some point (perhaps late in the day when you’re recording events, making lists, etc.), but as I recall you guys were in something of a hurry at the time.

Agent Starbird: {true … but it was worth a shot, eh? πŸ˜‰ ]

Gary Nedler: Gary’s used to listening to details of dreams, though, I would think.

Pagan Pub: I will help out to some extent, since it was earlier today for the characters but two weeks ago for you guys.

Pagan Pub: In the first dream, he was at the party where the disaster occurred.

Pagan Pub: (help any?)

Gary Nedler: Yeah, I think he was performing sexual acts with one of the prostitutes …

Agent Starbird: Oh, yeah, wasn’t he in the major’s body, receiving the oral ministrations of one of the party girls?

Gary Nedler: … that sounds right.

Pagan Pub: Keep talking and remembering as best you can. The upshot is, Kyle remembers nothing since he first went into the coma in the hotel room. He doesn’t recall the dreams, doesn’t recall your conversation with him when he awoke, etc.

Agent Starbird: Great. Just great.

Pagan Pub: Whatever you can recall here, plus whatever Kyle can add next week, will be all you know about his dreams.

Gary Nedler: “Total short term memory disorientation. Common in cases of psychic trauma, man.”

Agent Starbird: I don’t remember how the first dream ends, though … does the fatal explosion occur? Or is he just suddenly in the second dream?

Gary Nedler: I thought he floated along, but … ?

Pagan Pub: [Starbird, another roll please]
OnlineHost: Agent Starbird rolled 1 100-sided die: 50

Pagan Pub: There was something about a name in the first dream.

Agent Starbird: Yeah, the name was “Valiant.” Kyle said that’s who Daniels (the major) got the crystal from.

Pagan Pub: Kyle says he woke up because he felt a dog licking his face. When he finally opened his eyes, there wasn’t any sign of the dog. But he’s pretty bleary about the whole thing.

Pagan Pub: And can’t recall anything before that from the time of the hotel room/crystal stuff.

Pagan Pub: Needless to say, he doesn’t know about his hair again.

Agent Starbird: He doesn’t remember trying to contact me?

Pagan Pub: Nope.

Agent Starbird: What about the doctors? Have they found any indication of drugs or poison?

Pagan Pub: Dunno yet. They’re taking tests now.

Pagan Pub: Agents are checking the area for someone fitting the bellhop description.

Gary Nedler: What about testing Kyle’s face for canine saliva

Pagan Pub: One of the doctors looks at you funny, but takes some scrapings from both cheeks.

Gary Nedler: “It could be important, man.”

Agent Starbird: I know it’s too soon for lab work… I meant what could they tell from Kyle’s coma and other symptoms.

Pagan Pub: Oh, they think he hallucinated the dog and is just experiencing normal amnesiac effects from the shock/coma.

Pagan Pub: Gaston wants some explanations for what’s up.

Agent Starbird: “You wanna take a crack at explaining this, Gary?”

Pagan Pub: (LOL)

Gary Nedler: “Man, Starbird had a psychic flash that he was Kyle, man.”

Pagan Pub: (!!!)

Agent Starbird: Thanks, Gary. Very helpful.

Gary Nedler: “Total out of body experience. Kyle was drugged, but heard a dog growling.”

Pagan Pub: Gaston turns and looks at you, Clarence. He raises his eyebrows.

Gary Nedler: “So we tore right over across town, man. And … Kyle did feel a dog lick him.”

Agent Starbird: “I can’t explain it, sir. But I know what I experienced.”

Agent Starbird: “We were investigating Enolsis. And suddenly I was contacted — somehow — by Fenemore.”

Gary Nedler: “So get the lab guys in here, man. Look for paw prints, check the corners for urine, man.”

Pagan Pub: He sort of sucks in his cheeks for a moment and looks thoughtful. “Let’s clear out of the room, folks, and let the docs get their tests done. Davies, I want a forensics team in here, same routine as at the hotel room.”

Pagan Pub: “Starbird, Nedler, come with me.”

Agent Starbird: :: following ::

Gary Nedler: “Kyle, man, get some hair dye.” :: follows ::

Pagan Pub: “Hair dye?” you hear him ask as the door closes.

Pagan Pub: Outside, a bunch of vaguely disappointed-looking agents put the safeties on their weapons and shuffle away.

Pagan Pub: The three of you head to a little conference room nearby where the guards on duty are working from.

Pagan Pub: “Agent Starbird, have you experienced anything like this before?

Agent Starbird: “No sir, never. But it happened. I heard him call my name, I heard the intruder in the room, I felt the bed, I felt the nausea as the drugs or whatever hit, I *heard* the dog…”

Pagan Pub: Gaston looks thoughtful.

Gary Nedler: “It’s completely normal, man, to evince latent psychic abilities midway through life.”

Pagan Pub: “What do you think our boy was after? Why didn’t he attack Agent Fenemore?”

Agent Starbird: “Perhaps his ability to summon the beast is limited.”

Agent Starbird: “Or perhaps wiping Fenemore’s memory was his objective this time.”

Pagan Pub: “Wiping his…you mean you don’t think it was just part of the coma?”

Agent Starbird: “No, I don’t. One of his messages to me was about feeling threatened.”

Gary Nedler: “So how did he settle on us, of all the agents in town? That bothers me, man.”

Pagan Pub: “Did anything important happen in the period covered by Fenemore’s memory loss?”

Gary Nedler: “He described his trance dream to us, man, but we were in a hurry and didn’t record it.”

Agent Starbird: “I think it’s the dream, too. Very weird stuff, but somehow very important to the case.”

Pagan Pub: “So we’ve got trance dreams, an out of body experience, and a dog that wipes your memory by licking your face.”

Pagan Pub: “Hmm..”

Gary Nedler: “This is weird even for my experience, man.”

Pagan Pub: That doesn’t seem to encourage Gaston.

Agent Starbird: “I think when the lab reports come back, we’ll find that Kyle was drugged. I think

Agent Starbird: *that’s* what caused the memory loss.”

Agent Starbird: “I think our bellhop friend was in here, probably dressed as a doctor or orderly.”

Pagan Pub: “What about the dog thing? Could he just have thought that because of the experience at the hotel?”

Gary Nedler: “He never saw the dog at the hotel.”

Pagan Pub: “Right, right. And he hasn’t heard that much about it either. Hmm.”

Pagan Pub: “And of course he’s apparently forgotten whatever he did hear.”

Pagan Pub: “Well, I don’t have to tell you that this stuff is way out of my league. I have to put a great deal of responsibility on you, because I’m afraid you represent our best chance at getting to the bottom of this.”

Gary Nedler: “Wait, what about FenemoreΓ•s dictaphone? Doesn’t he keep tapes for his secretary all the time?”

Gary Nedler: And if they’re voice-activated, we might even get what happened in the room.

Pagan Pub: Gaston snaps his fingers. “They’re by his bed.” He runs off to grab them.

Pagan Pub: [he shoots, he scores!]

Gary Nedler: “So, Clarence, what *will* you do when you meet Moondog Rex?”

Agent Starbird: “I’m going to look him in the eye and say, “Hello. My name is Clarence Starbird.

Agent Starbird: You killed my friends. Now you will die.”

Agent Starbird: πŸ˜‰

Agent Starbird: “Seriously, I hope we can get some information from him. But I doubt he’ll give up very easily.”

Gary Nedler: “Yes, man, but what are you going to kill him with?”

Agent Starbird: “That is the million-dollar question, Gary.”

Pagan Pub: [swat him with a newspaper]

Gary Nedler: “Remember, man, he’s already carrying 8 9mm slugs.”

Agent Starbird: “That’s in dog form. As a man, he may be vulnerable.”

Gary Nedler: “Hope so, man.”

Pagan Pub: Okay, Gaston returns with Kyle’s little tape recorder. “It’s still on. Voice activated.”

Pagan Pub: Gaston rewinds the tape a bit.

Pagan Pub: I’ll type in what you’ll hear. Don’t type comments until it finishes.

Pagan Pub: “-til they return. This case has really got all the earmarks of a peculiar experience.

Pagan Pub: I’ve rarely encountered such direct evidence of non-worldly incidents and entities. Very odd.

Pagan Pub: Incidentally, Diane, the jell-o here is not half bad.

Pagan Pub: I think I’ll meditate for a bit. If I have any subconscious observations, you’ll hear them.

Pagan Pub:

Pagan Pub:

Pagan Pub: “Clarence…”

Pagan Pub: “Clarence…”

Pagan Pub: “Experiencing threat…”

Pagan Pub: “I’m not alone…”

Pagan Pub:

Pagan Pub:

Pagan Pub:

Pagan Pub: “Fenemore’s in trouble at the hospital. Get help NOW.”

Pagan Pub:

Pagan Pub:

Pagan Pub:

Pagan Pub:

Pagan Pub: “There’s no one here–check the hall!”

Pagan Pub: [rest is just agents filing in and out, etc. that’s it]

Gary Nedler: “Fast action, Clarence. You stopped it before it could finish eating his brain, man.”

Agent Starbird: The calls to me — in Fenemore’s voice? And my response — is it *my* voice?

Pagan Pub: Calls to you are in Fenemore’s voice, as is your response.

Agent Starbird: The response is in Fenemore’s voice?

Pagan Pub: Yep.

Pagan Pub: Gaston plays it back a couple times for you.

Gary Nedler: “This is great, man. Clear evidence of a psychic bond.”

Agent Starbird: Wow. We were really linked up, psychically…

Agent Starbird: And that crackling noise… it must be Moondog’s transformation…

Gary Nedler: The crackling sound. How long does it go on for?

Pagan Pub: Just a moment. A couple seconds, 3-5.

Gary Nedler: “Possible window of vulnerability, man.”

Agent Starbird: That’s too bad. I was hoping when he caught up to Rex, it would take time for him to make the change, longer than 3-5 seconds, at least.

Gary Nedler: It’s sound-activated, so it’s possible he has to do some silent actions first.

Gary Nedler: Don’t count on it, though.

Agent Starbird: “At least we know I’m not crazy, eh, boss?”

Pagan Pub: “I never thought you were crazy, Agent Starbird. The world, now that’s crazy.”

Gary Nedler: “Man, I’ve never seen such concrete evidence of paranormal phenomena.”

Pagan Pub: “Well, it’s a new age gentlemen. I suppose anything can happen.” [the Keeper is being coy here…the name of the campaign is, in fact, “The New Age”]

Agent Starbird: I’ve got a lot of respect for ol’ Rex. He’s a cool customer, and doesn’t fear anything. I wonder if he paid a visit to DiTorrio?

Gary Nedler: “Di Torrio, man. Uh-oh.”

Pagan Pub: “DiTorrio’s fine. I checked on him a few minutes ago after Kyle’s little mishap. He’s with his doctor.”

Agent Starbird: Dr. Chichester’s here? He might be worth talking to.”

Pagan Pub: “I’d like you to write up a brief report covering the period from you hotel room til your experience at the local Enolsis chapter.”

Agent Starbird: “Certainly.”

Gary Nedler: “Good idea, man. These things should be documented for psychic posterity.”

Gary Nedler: [aside to Clarence] “Clarence, man, what about silver plated bullets?”

Agent Starbird: “I imagine they couldn’t hurt, Gary.”

Pagan Pub: “Last I heard, DiTorrio is considerably more lucid now. We’ll be taking his statement in a couple hours, if you’d like to listen in. And you can talk to him yourself later, if you wish.”

Agent Starbird: “This request may sound a bit odd, Agent Gaston, but could you obtain some silver-tipped ordnance for the team? It might come in handy next time we meet Rex.”

Pagan Pub: Gaston shakes his head wearily. “Nothing sounds a bit odd to me right now. I’ll see what I can do.”

Gary Nedler: “And can we get an aerosal filled with powdered wolfsbane, man?”

Pagan Pub: Gaston jots some notes down, shaking his head.

Pagan Pub: Okay, let’s wrap it up here and we’ll hopefully get Kyle in for the meeting with DiTorrio next week.

Agent Starbird: Great. I think we need to visit Enolsis in Tulsa, and try to find out who “Eddie” and “Valiant” are.

Agent Starbird: That may be one guy, of course — “Eddie Valiant”. Does that name ring a bell in the crime computers?

Pagan Pub: Ding!

Gary Nedler: We also should attend the local Enolsis meeting.

Gary Nedler: And hack into their computer, if we can.

Agent Starbird: Aw, you just want to bag the receptionist…

Agent Starbird: πŸ˜‰

Gary Nedler: “So, man? It’s a new age.”

Pagan Pub: Eddie Valiant, wanted for a homicide in E. St. Louis, September, 1991.

Pagan Pub: Killed a local drug dealer. Valiant is suspected of drug dealing and had some shady friends.

Pagan Pub: Whereabouts unknown since the time of the murder, two years ago.

Agent Starbird: Cool! It occurs to me we’d make more progress if we asked the right questions more often…

Agent Starbird: Any tie-in with the dead hookers and pimp at the party?

Gary Nedler: Or with Enolsis?

Pagan Pub: Enolsis, no. Valiant is on pimp’s list of KA’s.

Agent Starbird: KA?

Pagan Pub: (Known Associates, sorry)

Pagan Pub: [jeez, didn’t you watch Hill Street Blues? πŸ˜‰ ]

Gary Nedler: How did Valiant kill the drug dealer?

Pagan Pub: Cause of death listed as immolation.

Gary Nedler: He set him on fire? Details, please.

Agent Starbird: Immolation? Like a dried up body drained of fluids?

Agent Starbird: I’ll give you 10-1 if we exhume and autopsy, it’ll turn out to be the same thing that happened to Daniels…

Pagan Pub: A little runaround, you get the report. Neighbor reported a fire in the dealer’s house. On arrival, firemen found the remains of a man tied to a chair. He’d been smeared with homemade napalm and then set aflame.

Pagan Pub: Not like Daniels, I’m afraid.

Pagan Pub: Autopsy showed he’d been given a heavy injection of heroin about half an hour before death.

Agent Starbird: Can we get a mugshot of this guy?

Pagan Pub: No problem.

Pagan Pub: The victim was just a basic dealer. Covered a decent-sized area, but he was no drug lord.

Pagan Pub: Pretty propserous though.

Gary Nedler: How about a list of known associates of Valiant’s?

Pagan Pub: Valiant: discharged from the marines in ’88. Flew planes for some of the contra arms shipments, brought back drugs (suspected) on a regular basis.

Pagan Pub: Something of a scapegoat, but had a lot of questionable friends in and out of the service.

Agent Starbird: Valiant’s been missing for two years. Have the local cops been looking for him with intensity, or is it a case of “he killed a dealer, no big whoop”, casual searching?

Pagan Pub: They think he blew town. They believe he was still running drugs with the help of buddies in the service.

Pagan Pub: Ran afoul of this one dealer, offed him, but couldn’t stand the heat and split.

Agent Starbird: Was Maj. Daniels one of his friends?

Pagan Pub: no record of any association with Daniels, but his file is sketchy about his “friends” with the exception of street-level people.

Agent Starbird: Can we do a cross-reference on Daniels’ and Valiant’s military records and see if they spent any time in the same places?

Pagan Pub: Yes, depending on how much of their records are available.

Gary Nedler: And while we’re at it, check on the dealer. Maybe it was a CIA hit.

Pagan Pub: But that will take some wrangling. Daniels had some decent security clearances, and you may not get all that much about his whereabouts.

Agent Starbird: I was assuming that a Delta Green in the right place could *make* those records available…

Pagan Pub: We’ll find out, now, won’t we? πŸ˜‰

Pagan Pub: [and congratulations, you’ve made your first big break.]

Gary Nedler: [Yes, but in this game is that good or bad?]

Pagan Pub: heh, heh..

Agent Starbird: And we’re *still* not any closer to having this crystal figured out…

NEXT: PART 7

Shane Ivey runs Arc Dream Publishing and is lead editor for Delta Green.
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