Report #3270, Transcript Section #20
(Operation SANDMAN)
©1998 Shane Ivey

Keeper:
Let's see. . . your character is a forensic examiner; you're starting out in a team of four DG-Friendly examiners who are working the operation.

Borrow:
Right. So would it just be taken for granted I had knowledge of everything in those logs? Through Agent Wang and personal experience?

Keeper:
So far, the examiners (FBI agents led by Donna Wang, senior agent) have conducted extensive chemical and biological tests of the "Dreaming Man drug," with the results described in the online file.

Keeper:
The team has also been brought to New York directly to inspect evidence following two attacks on the DG agents by assailants who appear to be private investigators with a large security company.

Borrow:
Borrow nods.

Keeper:
But before those examinations concluded, the team was called out to the location of a house which had served as a voodoo church, though its practices seemed a little divergent from traditional voudoun.

Keeper:
The house was the scene of a bloody encounter between federal and local law enforcement and the cult involved, per the news report posted at DG.com.

Keeper:
A dozen bodies or so cultists' bodies and survivors were brought out of the initial encounter, and another dozen bodies were found asphyxiated in the basement of the house after a fire gutted it.

Borrow:
Right. And that's where those four logs picked up, afterward the fight and the search.

Keeper:
Exactly. Also, the day after the fire, while examinations of the bodies is still being conducted, the DG agents called agent Wang out to inspect a new site.

Keeper:
You're going out to help her with the scene: it's a cafe close to Federal Plaza in Manhattan. The agent in question requested full inspection of the place for fingerprints or other trace evidence of a recent visitor who escaped detection.

Borrow:
Right. And I hope he didn't fool with the lipstick on his cheek.

Borrow:
That scream evidence to me. ;)

Keeper:
I think he left the lipstick alone.

Borrow:
Great.

Keeper:
OK, we can start with you checking out the deli.

Borrow:
Well, first thing I'm going to do is survey the scene from the curb. Just stop and breathe, check for anything that's obviously odd or out of place.

Keeper:
It's mid-afternoon, around 3:30 p.m., early June. It's hot and sunny and muggy. The deli is on a busy street right across from the massive grey Federal building and the expanse of white marble-columned federal courts.

Borrow:
Any dirt or impressional matter on the ground?

Keeper:
The municipal building is a high, wide, narrow white structure beyond them, and city hall and the police headquarters are beyond it, all to your back as you face the deli.

Keeper:
The ground is a grey concrete sidewalk, cracked and stained, with a couple of cigarette butts in view and a sandwich wrapper in the gutter. It's impossible to tell prints or impressions on it.

Keeper:
Cars drive past on the street behind you. A couple of passers-by look curiously into the closed-off deli; a wiry young man in a suit, another associate of the conspiracy, watches the doorway.

Borrow:
I go greet him, touching nothing.

Keeper:
He nods. "I'm Danforth," he says. He wears Justice Department ID, but he looks too young for it. Then again, he's been in the thick of things. He was on the scene last night--last time you saw him he was looking very rocky after the fire in the house.

Borrow:
"Hello sir. I'm part of Wang's forensic teams. This place needs to be dusted and searched for extra forensic evidence to a specific visitor, correct?"

Borrow:
"Name's Steven Borrow by the way. Let's skip pleasantries and work."

Keeper:
"Right. Speak up if anything's weird, too. This case has been fucked-up. We're looking for signs of a woman. I got her on tape. We got a videotape of her too, but I haven't checked it yet."

Borrow:
"Ok. Let's let the other agents get the table dusted, and the front door. Do you think you saw her when you entered the deli?"

Borrow:
Keeper, who was the lipstick on again?

Keeper:
The lipstick was on Brian Lundquist--he's been sent to a safe house until he can be examined.

Borrow:
Would I know about that, or have I gotten here too late?

Keeper:
You know that.

Keeper:
Danforth says, "I saw her going in yeah. She was--" He frowns. "She was kind of. . . Shit, I can't remember."

Borrow:
Ok. Now think hard. If it helps, start at the doors. Where did she walk to? If she sat down, we need to examine for fibers.

Borrow:
Borrow removes his cell phone, and gets the number from Danforth if needed to call Mr. L and make sure his cheek goes untouched.

Keeper:
"I didn't see her after she got inside. I was in the car out here. She came up, and she walked inside. We got her on tape."

Borrow:
"Video, or just audio?"

Keeper:
He gives you the number. Lundquist agrees to leave the lipstick alone--but it was on his mouth, not his cheek.

Keeper:
"Both. We had her on audio inside, and I got her on video when she came out."

Borrow:
"Ok, let's run the tape and see what she's wearing and looks like."

Keeper:
"Sure." He still looks consternated. The tape and recorder are in the car. He rewinds the tape and looks into the viewer to check it.

Keeper:
"There," he says. "She's. . ." He frowns and looks away from the camera. "Here." He hands it to you.

Borrow:
Borrow takes a look.

Keeper:
The tape shows someone walking out of the deli and away down the sidewalk.

Borrow:
Borrow can't distinguish?

Keeper:
Well. . . you can see the figure clearly. But when you try to describe her, or conceptualize her, you can't.

Keeper:
When you look away from the viewer, the memory is gone. You saw someone, but you have no idea who, or what she looked like.

Borrow:
"Hmm. Ok, I understand what you're talking about. That is very strange. Let's take this down to the lab and see if we can get stills off it. Also take an air sample, possibility that something in the area is the problem. Perhaps converting the film to a new format might help. Umm, let's go inside and check register for any checks and credit cards used in the last 30 min, and take a look in wastebaskets. I've found in this line of work ladie

Keeper:
He nods, still frowning. "I'll work with the film. There's a lab I can use in the city."

Borrow:
"Great." He heads inside with Danforth, and has him check register while he goes for trash and ladies bathroom.

Keeper:
You have gear available to test the air for gases. While you work on that, Danforth inspects the place and talks to the employees. They look increasingly nervous as you bring in the air-sniffers.

Keeper:
Danforth returns after a few minutes. "Nothing in the trash or the registers. The waiter and cashier say they never saw her in here."

Keeper:
The air tests turn up negative. There are no traces of known drugs, including the "Dreaming Man" chemical.

Borrow:
Borrow nods, and pulls Danforth aside to speak with him alone. "Ok. Let's run that tape back and check how long she went in and out. It's possible she only touched the door, then Mr. L, then walked out. In that case, we might not need to go over this place with a comb and just concentrate on some areas. Give me the tape, audio that is, and let's check for anything from the begining on it. Perhaps she left something vocal we can use.

Keeper:
"She didn't just go in and out. She chatted it up with Lundquist and Daniels in there, for a minute anyway. They didn't notice any of it."

Keeper:
"Like I said, I have her voice on tape from the bug that Lundquist wore."

Borrow:
Borrow hmms and nods. "Well, let's just go over the tape then. Perhaps we can get that checked over at a lab for background noise. Like her entering, speaking to anyone else possibly, etc?"

Keeper:
"Yeah. " He leads you to the car again and runs the tape back. The first voice after he presses PLAY is a man's voice. "Daniels," Danforth says, "NYPD."

Keeper:
Daniels: "I don't know. I mean, nothing's spread like a virus--otherwise something bad would be all over New York. This place is a--"

Keeper:
Woman's voice: "Roger! I'm glad you came. You must be Brian Lundquist. No, don't get up. Don't say a thing."

Keeper:
Her voice sounds young, maybe mid-thirties at the latest, confident and humorous.

Keeper:
Woman: "Oh, excuse me."

Keeper:
Waiter: "Turkey club. You want anything else?" Pause. "Hey."

Keeper:
Woman: "Don't mind them. Staring contest."

Keeper:
Waiter: "Whatever."

Keeper:
Another pause.

Keeper:
Woman: "Not much to say? That's all right." There's another pause, then a strange sound, very quiet, vaguely wet.

Keeper:
Woman: "Well. You two take care. And just forget the last five minutes, if you don't mind."

Keeper:
Another pause.

Keeper:
Lundquist: "Hey, I feel sort of woozy... Do you feel that, Daniels?"

Keeper:
Danforth presses STOP. "That's it. Then she came out and walked off."

Borrow:
"Ok. We can assume that that wet sound is the kiss. This 'Dreaming Man' drug bothers me how it affects others, so let's make sure to get Mr. L. checked out physically. Blood sample would be nice just to check. Perhaps she had something on her lips. She also seemed like she expected some sort of reaction from him. She obviously knows him too."

Borrow:
"Beyond prints, I don't see much more we can do here."

Borrow:
"The most we have going for us evidence wise are these tapes. Good thing you got them too."

Keeper:
"Yeah. Weird. No problem with her voice, but I can't tell you what she looked like in that camcorder tape."

Keeper:
"But if she knows him, I dunno. He didn't recognize the voice."

Borrow:
"Yep. So let's run this down. We need to check audio for background noise, anything we might have missed, at a lab, along with video. Does Mr. L live in NY?"

Borrow:
"Doesn't sound like he recognised anything during that 'blackout' period."

Borrow:
"To me, it also seems like this 'blackout' has a range to it. It affected the video and you in the car."

Keeper:
"I don't think Lundquist lives here, but I'm not sure. I think he usually works in Washington."

Keeper:
"Yeah, I'll run checks on both tapes."

Borrow:
"Possibly just line of sight. Seems like hypnosis, but usually you have to be relaxed and willing for that. This forgetfull bit also is difficult to get a grasp on."

Keeper:
"You got that right. I don't know much about hypnosis, but I never heard of it doing things like this."

Borrow:
"I can't help but say this would be the perfect way to have moved those bodies out of the fire too. Just made everyone on the locale forget the move ever took place."

Borrow:
"I think we all should start paying attention for lost time from now on."

Borrow:
"Any previous accounts of this during the investigation?"

Keeper:
He snorts. "Yeah. If you learn the trick, let me know. But yeah, if we hadn't bugged him, we never would have known about this."

Keeper:
"Lost time? No, not that I've heard about."

Borrow:
"Hmm. Ok, are they done checking for prints?"

Lundquist has joined the conversation.

Keeper:
The examiners have checked the door and the table and nearby chairs. They found nothing.

Keeper:
Lundquist, meet Steven Borrow, a Friendly from the FBI forensic team.

Lundquist:
Good to meet you, Mr Borrow.

Borrow:
Thanks. Good to see you too Mr. Lundquist.

Keeper:
Lundquist, Borrow has been checking things out with Danforth and the other examiners at the scene of your recent "encounter."

Keeper:
You went ahead to the Safe House, I believe.

Lundquist:
Yeah, I did.

Borrow:
Borrow could call and check up on Mr. L, updating him on the events.

Keeper:
Sure, go ahead.

Keeper:
Lundquist, your phone buzzes. (Conversation ensues...)

Borrow:
"Mr. L. This is Borrow from Wang's team. I had them search for prints, but nothing much has turned up. Noone remembers. Video and audio tapes seem the only evidence, besides the lipstick. Don't smudge it."

Lundquist:
"Yeah, okay. I'll try not to wipe my mouth."

Lundquist:
"So you didn't find any prints anywhere, on the door or anything?"

Borrow:
"If you don't mind, I want to have you checked out. Blood sample for example, just to make sure nothing besides lipstick is on or in you. Nothing at the moment makes me think otherwise, it would just be a safe precaution."

Borrow:
Keeper, are they done with the door?

Keeper:
Yes. They found no prints.

Borrow:
"No go. The tapes are odd, is this line secure?"

Lundquist whispers:

Keeper, is anybody at the safehouse? Obsorne said something about me meeting someone there for some onimous-sounding tests?

Lundquist:
(I assume it is, Keeper?)

Host DGKeeper whispers to Lundquist:
Nobody has yet arrived. Presumably they are on the way.

Keeper:
The line is secure as far as you know.

Keeper:
Of course, that wouldn't block parabolic microphones, or laser mikes if you're behind a door, or . . . ;-)

Borrow:
"Maybe I should just let you see the tapes. It might be good for you to experience them first hand."

Borrow:
"Mind if I come down now?"

Lundquist:
"Yeah, why don't you hold off on that for now. Let Danforth keep a copy of them."

Lundquist:
"I'll see them later today."

Borrow:
"Ok. He's gonna take them to a lab to run over both audio and video for anything human error might have missed.

Keeper:
Borrow, the deli owner comes out to ask Danforth if the crew is done with his place yet. They talk a few yards away.

Borrow:
Borrow watches how it goes, but doesn't intervene.

Borrow:
Unless the owner starts getting pissed of course. ;P

Keeper:
The owner looks impatient, but he goes back inside after talking to Danforth for a minute.

Borrow:
"Ok Mr. L, how do you want to get those samples off your mouth, I come to you?"

Borrow:
Borrow wanders back to Danforth to see how it went.

Keeper:
Danforth shrugs. "No big deal. Let me know when we're done."

Borrow:
Borrows speaks into the phone, "And if you have anything more on the site to request, let me know so we can shut down here."

Lundquist:
"I'm going to be busy for a little bit. I have some evidence-collection training; maybe I could take care of saving the lipstick for you. You can just tell me what you want me to do with it."

Lundquist:
"I think we're all set there at the deli; we're not going to learn anything new there now."

Lundquist:
"Let me speak to Danforth though."

Borrow:
Borrow nods to Danforth. "For you." He goes about shutting down the work.

Borrow:
Borrow passes the phone to Dan.

Keeper:
Danforth takes the phone. "Danforth." The other examiners clean up the fingerprint powder and other residue.

Lundquist:
"Danforth, maybe you can quietly plant a few bugs around the place before you close up entirely there?"

Keeper:
"Yeah. Want me to get your spook to double-check them?"

Lundquist:
"Which spook is that?"

Keeper:
"Kelley."

Lundquist:
"Yeah, if he's there."

Lundquist:
"Good thinking.:

Keeper:
"That's what you pay me for, right? Anything else?"

Lundquist:
"Not for now. I'll be in touch, thanks."

Keeper:
"Okay." He hands the phone back to Borrow.

Lundquist:
"Need anything else, Borrow?"

Borrow:
"Ok, I've shut down the forensics examination. Nothing I can think of unless you need something checked. If you want to do the sample, that's fine, just get it out to our forensic team by secure means.

Lundquist:
"I can't think of anything else right now. Thanks for the help, Borrow."

Borrow:
"No problem." He hangs up.

Keeper:
OK. They finish removing the gear from the deli. The owner says good-naturedly, "Tell your friend to remember our deal!"

Keeper:
Danforth leaves with the tapes to run his tests at a lab.

Lundquist whispers:
Okay, I'm just going to take it easy at the safe house then until Andrea gets here. :-)

Borrow:
Borrow will accomapany him if he has no protests.

Keeper:
No problem. Danforth goes to an unlisted, probably illegal NSA facility in uptown Manhattan, by Central Park. Borrow, another two of the agents find you: John Rogers, a huge man with a Welsh accent, and David Kelley, an unprepossessing, lean man with dark hair.

Lundquist whispers:
While I'm waiting I'll go ahead and swap barrels on my USP... So as to better throw off ballistics checks and all. (it just screws out, takes about 10 minutes)

Borrow:
Borrow shakes offered hands and identifies himself.

Keeper:
They consult with Danforth for a few minutes, then they call Lundquist: they inspected the address listed for "Theodore Miller," and it's empty. No one has rented the place in months.

Keeper:
After that, Kelley leaves again to check the bugs at the deli, while Danforth keeps working on the tapes.

Keeper:
Danforth works with the tapes for two hours. He produces half a dozen copies of the video tape, played with varying effects, some of which barely look like the scene portrayed. The effect is the same in each.

Keeper:
On the audio tapes, he eventually picks up something strange, what sounds like high-frequency feedback, well above the range of normal hearing. Its source cannot be identified.

Borrow:
Any animals nearby start barking? :)

Keeper:
Nope.

Borrow:
"Try to get a isolated recording of that feedback."

Keeper:
He does so.

Keeper:
Lundquist, about that time, about 6:30 p.m., the sensors announce a car driving up to the safe house.

Borrow:
"Might come in use later if we need to compare it."

Keeper:
A man and a woman step out of it, both of them carrying large squarish metallic cases, both of them wearing severe suits and sunglasses.

Lundquist:
I'm sitting there with my pistol disassembled on the table, cleaning it. "Hi there."

Keeper:
They step inside and look around. The woman asks, "Are you Mark?"

Lundquist:
(or do they need me to let them in?)

Lundquist:
"Yes. And you are...?"

Keeper:
"You're not cleared for that. Osborne requested us. Stay seated while we inspect the place. Are you alone?"

Lundquist:
"Yes." (Watching them verrrrry carefully, ready to go for my holdout)

Lundquist whispers:
(I really don't trust these guys... I'm watching every move they make, looking for concealed weapons, etc)

Keeper:
They close the door and set their cases down. "We're here for physical examination and preliminary containment procedures," says the woman. "I will be conducting the examination. My partner will provide security. Please place any weapons on the table and leave them there."

Lundquist:
"All right." I do as she asks.

Keeper:
"Please stand and raise your arms to shoulder level."

Lundquist:
I act very cooperative.

Lundquist:
I stand and raise my arms to shoulder level.

Keeper:
The man opens a case and takes equipment out. The first piece he assembles appears to be a small flamethrower.

Keeper:
She steps close and pats you down for weapons.

Keeper:
(Does she find any?)

Lundquist:
No, I put my backup piece on the table as requested.

Keeper:
She steps back and lets out a breath. "All right. Let's move into the examination room." She points down the hall, toward the soundproofed room where you interrogated Bertrand Leguerre.

Keeper:
(If he has connection problems: Borrow, what are you up to after Danforth examines the tapes?)

Borrow:
I'll check if it's identifiable sound (as in made by something specific), and if anything common to resterants could possibly make it.

Keeper:
They have plenty of prior samples to compare in the lab, but nothing matches the isolated sound. It is a continual sound of the same pitch: it fades in shortly before the woman's voice first speaks, and it fades out again as she walks away. Danforth says it sounds like feedback, but not the same.

Borrow:
Borrow nods. "Could she have actually used a voice scrambler or something? We can't look at her and identify her as female on the video, and a scrambler might make her appear to be female on audio.

Keeper:
Danforth says, "I don't hear anything mechanical about her voice. It doesn't sound like it was scrambled. And this noise doesn't change with her speech patterns."

Keeper:
Lundquist, the woman steps back and lets out a breath. "All right. Let's move into the examination room." She points down the hall, toward the soundproofed room where you interrogated Bertrand Leguerre.

Borrow:
Borrow nods. (Please go back to Lund. I'll sit quiet. ;)

Lundquist:
I do as she asks. I act friendly and cooperative, but I'm watching these two like a hawk for any unexpected moves, and I won't turn my back on them.

Keeper:
She escorts you to the room, but she does not go in immediately. "Have a seat, she says."

Lundquist:
"Okay."

Keeper:
She steps out to the main room again. After a long couple of minutes, the man steps into the room with you. He is clad in a full orange biohazard suit and carries the flamethrower.

Lundquist:
"Hi."

Keeper:
He says nothing. He steps to the side of the door and waits impassively.

Lundquist:
"Nice weather.

Keeper:
He cracks a tight smile. "Sure. Feels like New York in the summer."

Keeper:
The woman enters, now also wearing a protective suit. She brings a case into the room and closes the door behind her.

Keeper:
"Mark," she says, "I'm going to conduct a medical examination first. Will you please describe your. . . encounter in as much detail as possible?"

Lundquist:
"Sure." I do so, telling her first what I encountered, and then what I heard on the tapes afterward. I also mention the reactions of the deli employees, that they didn't seem to remember the woman, even though the waiter spoke to her.

Keeper:
"All right. You say she kissed you, or it sounded like it?"

Lundquist:
"It sounded like a lot of things, but my colleague this lipstick on my mouth. I saved it, it's in the other room."

Keeper:
"Very well. Remove your clothes, please."

Lundquist:
I do so.

Keeper:
She starts a serious exam, from mouth-swabs to blood samples to orifice explorations. It lasts quite a while. She seals samples in individual vials, numbered in a plastic rack.

Keeper:
Finally, she tells you to dress again. "It will take a while for me to check these samples. Wait here."

Lundquist:
"All right."

Keeper:
Time creeps by. Slowly. Very slowly.

Keeper:
Then the door opens again.

Keeper:
The woman steps inside, still wearing the bio-suit.

Keeper:
"Mark," she says, "I've examined your samples and the lipstick sample. As far as I can tell, you're clean."

Lundquist:
"Okay."

Keeper:
"However. That does not mean that you are not a security risk. I expect you understand that. I'm going to convey my report to your case officer. It will be his decision from there."

Keeper:
"Do you have any questions?"

Lundquist:
"Sure."

Keeper:
She listens.

Lundquist:
"No, not that you'd be likely to answer."

Keeper:
"Very well. As for the lipstick sample, we will keep it on file as a DNA sample of the subject. It does not match anything in our files or any accessible databases, but we can compare it with another as needed."

Lundquist:
"Okay, good. Somebody will be in touch when we find the suspect."

Keeper:
"Right. Stay here for a few more minutes while we pack up. Good luck with the op."

Lundquist:
"Yeah, thanks."

Keeper:
They gather their gear over the next two minutes or so. Shortly after that they drive away, and you're alone in the house once more.

Lundquist:
I'll call Rogers and fill him in.

Keeper:
Done. He tells you about the tapes. "We can't get much useful out of them, I'm afraid."

Lundquist:
"Yeah, I expected as much. Should we rendezvous here and plan the next move?"

Keeper:
"Yes. We'll be there shortly."

Keeper:
Borrow, the others pack up the tapes and head back to the cars. "Time to check in at the house. You coming?"

Borrow:
Borrow nods and takes any forensic kits he might have to drop in the trunk of his car. "Sure. Lead the way, I'll follow."

Keeper:
They drive you downtown and over the Brooklyn Bridge, then south along the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway in heavy traffic. You take an offramp into Brooklyn a litte after night fall and drive to a wide suburban area.

Borrow:
Borrow keeps an eye out for tails.

Keeper:
Lundquist, Osborne calls after about ten minutes. "Mark. They said you checked out. I'm keeping you on the case--we don't have the manpower to expand this any further--but be alert for anything unusual."

Lundquist:
"Yeah, okay. You'll be the first to know."

Keeper:
Borrow, you don't spot any tails. After a while the cars pull into the driveway of a bland one-story house in a fairly large yard. A couple of dim lights are on inside, seen through closed curtains.

Borrow:
Borrow gets out of the car, streches, and follows the others.

Keeper:
The group heads inside.

Keeper:
Danforth hands the video over, Lundquist. "I checked it out. It's--well, you better see for yourself. I couldn't get anything out of it."

Lundquist:
"Hi guys."

Lundquist:
"Okay." I watch the tape.

Borrow:
Borrow nods and takes a seat in the back.

Keeper:
The others greet Lundquist pretty much normally, though things seem a little stiff.

Lundquist:
"Glad to have you here, Agent Borrow."

Borrow:
"Thanks. Glad to be of service."

Keeper:
The tape shows the outside of the deli in broad daylight. After a moment a figure comes out of the deli. The figure turns and walks away, down the street, and finally around the corner out of sight. The figure is... but that's the strange part. You can't describe her. Assuming it's a "her."

Keeper:
You can see the figure, clear as day: but when you try to conceptualize it or describe it, you just can't.

Lundquist:
???

Keeper:
When you look away, you have no idea what the figure looked like.

Lundquist:
Greeeaaat. "Hey Danforth?"

Keeper:
When you look at the image again, you can see it... but you can't describe it.

Keeper:
"Yeah." He sounds sullen.

Lundquist:
"Didn't you see this woman for real, when she went in and out of the deli?"

Keeper:
"Yeah, I saw her. I think." He sighs. "Fuck if I know. I thought I saw her, but I can't remember if it was her or--or who it was."

Lundquist:
"But it didn't look like this, did it?"

Keeper:
He looks at the tape in irritation. "I can't tell."

Borrow:
"Can I present a theory?"

Lundquist:
"Yeah, go for it."

Keeper:
"I mean, yeah. I didn't think about it at the time--I was heading in to check you out. When we got out, I started thinking about it, and it's a blank."

Borrow:
"When you listen to the audio, everything that she wanted happened after she said it. You forgot things after she told you to for example. Perhaps this is some form of hypnosis as long as it is in line of sight."

Lundquist:
"But how could hypnosis affect what's on a videotape? You and Danforth weren't hypnotized, and you're seeing the same things I am, right?"

Keeper:
Rogers says, "Right. It's not like any hypnosis I was trained in. Hypnosis depends on placing a subject in a particular cognitive state--it's a very controlled process."

Lundquist:
"Still, Borrow has a point... This could be an affect of something affecting our perception of this thing."

Borrow:
Borrow shrugs and nods. "Hypnosis is just the word I choose to call it since it's the closest I can grasp. Perhaps it has a lasting effect."

Borrow:
"Maybe we need a new medium to see it through."

Keeper:
"Right. There were no traces of the drug around, were there?"

Borrow:
"None in air or lipstick."

Lundquist:
"The only other explanation is that this thing is actually *like* this. Which is not something I care to think about too deeply."

Keeper:
"Right."

Borrow:
Borrow nods.

Borrow:
"Ever heard of Kilarian film?"

Borrow:
Spelling might be wrong. :P

Lundquist:
"No, I don't think so."

Borrow:
"It's used to photograph auras. Popular at carnivals and stuff. Maybe if we get a new medium we can see it better. Like if it was under ultraviolet light or something. Nature makes plenty of things that we can't see, that are in plain sight."

Lundquist:
"Ultraviolet, huh?"

Lundquist:
"This is all a little beyond me, I'm afraid..."

Borrow:
Borrow shrugs. "Just a diffent end of spectrum. Might emit something rather than visual light. We also analyzed the audio, found a high pitched noise in the background."

Borrow:
"That sound might have a tie to why we can't seem to remember what she, or he, looks like."

Lundquist:
"Would we have to find this thing again, or could we just somehow examine the tape we have with this process?"

Borrow:
"We would have to find it to get it on different film. But I don't think that's too much a problem sir. It seems to know exactly who you are."

Borrow:
"From now on, we just keep you on camera as much as we can when you are out. Assuming you want to entertain this idea."

Lundquist:
"Yeah, I don't doubt that this whole thing was a setup. That cop Daniels is hooked in to this somehow, but I'd bet he doesn't have any idea about anything even happening."

Borrow:
Borrow nods. "Just out of curiousity, do you know any females that might know who you are in the city? We shouldn't look too far into the strange before trying to cancel out the normal."

Lundquist:
"Still, we probably ought to investigate him a bit, see if we can turn anything up."

Borrow:
"Sure. Perhaps find where he lives."

Lundquist:
"I don't know anybody up here. I live in DC, and I don't even like New York."

Borrow:
Borrow grins. "Well, at least you have a secret admirer."

Lundquist:
"You know, you can accuse me of carrying a grudge if you like, but I want to find this thing, fast, and probably kill it."

Borrow:
"Understandable.'

Borrow:
"I have another far out theory if you want to hear it."

Lundquist:
"Definitely."

Borrow:
"The five minutes she told you to forget worked. And we can guess her range of this talent is line of sight, correct?"

Lundquist:
"Possibly, go on."

Borrow:
"What if those bodies from the fire got out, but you were made to forget?"

Borrow:
"The woman appeared to have had contact with you before, after all."

Lundquist:
"Hmm. But those events were taped, by the news crews a block away. Nothing wierd showed up there."

Lundquist:
"And the woman said something like, 'you must be Brian Lundquist,' like she'd heard of me, but hadn't met me before."

Borrow:
"Ah. I don't watch the news." He nods. "I thought she might have met you before because she seemed so...friendly?"

Lundquist:
"I think that's just her nature... Annoyingly familar and all."

Borrow:
Borrow shrugs and nods. "Could be. What do you think? About the whole incident?"

Lundquist:
"Good point about the fire, though. Those cops went somewhere. There may be something at work here that's made all of us simply forget what happened."

Lundquist:
"We need to explore the possibility that all the weird stuff we've encountered is simply the result of something altering our perception of what's happened."

Borrow:
"Of course. One thing that really bothers me is how the 'Dreaming Man' affects people nearby."

Lundquist:
"Yeah, that's one of the biggest potential hazards it poses."

Borrow:
"So, where to from here?"

Keeper:
"That's what I was about to ask,"says Kelley.

Lundquist:
"Rogers will tell you."

Lundquist:
(Just kidding)

Keeper:
(You got me digging through his memos frantically here...!)

Lundquist:
"Well, we need to figure out our next move. I can think of about thirty things we ought to do immediately."

Keeper:
Kelley nods. "There's a lot of leads. This. . . development seems pretty dry, unless we can draw the subject out again. Then there's some survivors from that voodoo cult. A couple of them got shot but didn't die. And there's Breckenridge."

Keeper:
"And there's dead Joseph Pace in Riker's Island. And we still haven't looked hard at his gang."

Lundquist:
"And we can pursue this development through Lt Daniels. It might not go far, but we can run it down anyway."

Keeper:
"Yeah, true. If Daniels was set up to set YOU up, he might meet this lady before we do."

Borrow:
"What was the word on that device you found?"

Lundquist:
"This thing reeks of a setup to me, but I suspect Daniels doesn't even know that's what he was doing, just as I don't remember this mystery woman."

Keeper:
Danforth says, "We're sending the device to be checked out in a decent lab, right?"

Lundquist:
"Yeah, to see if they could puzzle out what it does."

Lundquist:
(Though it has to be a lab friendly to our organization)

Keeper:
(It will most likely go to Friendlies or agents at Quantico or Langley.)

Borrow:
"If all else fails, we can set up a set up ourselves. Invite Daniels to lunch. Would have the advantage too."

Lundquist:
"I don't think that's likely to work. Like I said, he probably has no idea this woman even exists, or that he was working for her to set me up."

Lundquist:
"We might be better off doing some clandestine monitoring of him."

Keeper:
"We can get Maddux to watch Daniels, maybe. He knows how to work a camera, and he knows how to keep out of sight."

Lundquist:
"Yeah, that's a good idea. And maybe Danforth can figure out a way to listen in on, say, what he says on the phone?"

Keeper:
Danforth says, "Sure. Get me access to the phone and I'll rig it up."

Lundquist:
"Mr Kelly? Would you like to arrange things?"

Keeper:
Kelley says, "I ran black taps for the NSA for a few years. Daniels' office in police headquarters will be a problem, but his cell phone and his phone at home should be a piece of cake."

Lundquist:
"Well, let's just do those for starters then. See if they turn anything up. We won't have the manpower to monitor them full-time, but we can always review them if something happens and look for anything unusual."

Keeper:
"Yeah. Come to think of it, I might can get at the phone in his office, if we can get a solid cover as janitors or electricians or something."

Keeper:
"Give it a day or two, I should be able to arrange a couple of covers from ConEd."

Borrow:
Borrow shrugs alittle. "For any forensics, I'm your man."

Keeper:
"In the meantime, we can wire Daniels' own phones tonight. I'll have to get at his cell phone directly. Maybe he's a heavy sleeper."

Lundquist:
"Yeah, we can hope so anyway."

Keeper:
"Call him and see if he's still at work, then. Keep him out of his house for a while so I can get in."

Lundquist:
"Okay." I call Daniels.

Keeper:
He picks up after a moment. His voice sounds tired. "Daniels."

Lundquist:
"Hello, it's Brian Lundquist calling. How are you doing?"

Keeper:
"Lundquist, hey. I'm all right. Trying to get through these reports from last night. We got a cop shot dead by other cops and your boys--the commissioner wants the paperwork tight."

Lundquist:
"Yes, I can understand that. Listen, are you going to be there for a while?"

Keeper:
"The way these folders look, I'll be here til morning."

Lundquist:
"Okay. I'm going to be down there, and I might drop by. There's something else I wanted to ask you about."

Keeper:
"Sure. I'll be here."

Lundquist:
"Did you hear about what happened at the Deli after our meeting earlier?"

Keeper:
"No. What happened?"

Lundquist:
"Nothing big... More funny than anything else. I'll fill you in when I see you. About an hour or so."

Keeper:
"Okay, see you then."

Lundquist:
(Hang up). "He say's he'll be there most of the night, Kelly."

Keeper:
"Good. I'll go case his address and get to work, then. I'll need to hang around until he comes home with his cellular phone, if you want it bugged as well. Unless you want to have Maddux keep track of a mobile tap on its frequency."

Lundquist:
"Hold off on the cellular for now. It's no telling how long before he'll get home with it, and Maddux ought to do okay with a mobile tap."

Keeper:
"Sounds good. What's next after I tap his house, then?"

Lundquist:
"Good question."