REPORT: Siam Sam Part Three
Part 3 - "Pauli Effect"
The Pauli Effect - the supposed tendency of technical equipment to encounter critical failure in the presence of certain people — originally, Austrian physicist Wolfgang Pauli.
Part 1 and Part 2
(sorry for delay, this aar didn't get written right after and got shoved on the backburner).
This After-Action report was written by one of my players, Grandini. Thanks bud.
Monument, Montana
11:11 pm, Tuesday April 19, 1999
Cheyenne Inn Motel
M-Cell stands amid the electronic shambles of Room 11, before them stands a blonde woman, eyes fully dilated, completely unbothered by the steady trickle of blood down her nose, around her mouth, and slowly dripping off her chin. Her arms out-stretched, palms open, both to show peaceful intent and to show the writing in sharpie on arms.
On the left: DO NOT SHOOT. THIS IS AN AGENT OF DELTA GREEN.
On the right: THIS VESSEL POSSESSES DEGAUSSING FACTOR.
The woman, or rather, the thing piloting the woman’s body begins to explain the rough shape of what has/is/will occur at Facility 12. The work is very important and should not be interrupted, the loop must and will be closed, any other outcome would be catastrophic along several planes of existence. The Agents must complete their retrieval mission as outlined, but they must also take heed of the dangers involved.
It calmly explains that Majestic-12's research at Facility 12 involves a form of energy, created by unique electromagnetic interactions, dubbed by human researchers as "T-Radiation". T-Radiation is a form of energy that can change the "resonance" of matter it interacts with. Matter that has had its vibration altered by T-Radiation is capable of interacting like a vacuous and alien parallel reality that exists overtop of - but "out-of-sync" with our own. The woman expains that the inhabitants of this reality are dangerous, and that it is in the agent's best interest to limit their exposure to T-Radiation at all costs, as exposure can have other drastic effects. She explains that electrical current can "correct" the vibration of matter exposed to T-Radiation, referring to the process as "Degaussing".
M-Cell asks why they're being told this. They figure it has knowledge they don't, and they demand specific details on what it knows is coming. It refuses to elaborate, but gives specific figures and instructions on degaussing a T-Radiation charge.
After confirming with the agents that they understand its directives, it utters a word that activates one of the myriad machines scattered about the room and suddenly the woman blurs, as if running about the room at the pace of a speeding train, and in only a second is completely gone, along with her machines. Shaken, the agents retreat to their room and discuss.
After making contact with STINGRAY, M-Cell spends the rest of the day preparing for the hand-off at townhall tonight and preparing their exit strategy and for any contingencies. Overland routes are plotted as are the two teams they’ll split into to try and maximize the chance of at least a partial success. As they’re expecting an odd amount of documents, MONTY decides the ladies ought to take two of them while he and MARCUS transport the third. He figures they’re the luckier of the bunch.
They also take the time to jerry-rig some of their own degaussing elements. It’s easy enough to modify the taser IRENA left them by putting electrical tape over one of the prongs. This is their fastest and most practical option. Believing in the value of redundancy, MONTY uses his electrical skills to disassemble the motel room’s microwave into a relatively safe plug-in degaussing factor. It’s certainly more limited in where it can be used, but it’s better than nothing. The team is certainly not getting their deposit back now, but fuck it, it wasn’t that much.
With plans and degaussing devices made, the cell spends the rest of the day laying low. Night begins to descend on Monument and cell drive the Bronco up to the townhall for bingo night and a little domestic espionage.
Quite a crowd of cars has gathered in front of the townhall. Seems like most of the town is here, and the cell witness STINGRAY get out of black sedan to escort Dr. Posselwaite inside. After waiting a beat to finish a cigarette, M-Cell follows suit.
In the basement a festive atmosphere reigns as the crowd awaits the beginning of bingo. There’s some food and drink and music, and the cell settles in their highway scum guise. Lynyrd Skynyrd’s Simple Man plays over the jukebox, and MONTY really listens to it for what feels like the first time as he looks out on the crowd. Family men, blue collar, living simple, honest lives in the hinterland of America. Smiling at their wives and children. MONTY sees, in the instant, someone he could have been. Something simple and nice he could have had. But those possibilities are closed to him. Have been closed to him ever since those fucks pumped all that experimental poison in his veins back in the Gulf War. When MJ-12 used him and his friends as guinea pigs and sent them into the gauntlet, bodies ruined, minds ruined. They took so much of who he was, who he could have been, and now this life, this secret war he lives every fucking day is all that’s left to him.
After confirming with the agents that they understand its directives, it utters a word that activates one of the myriad machines scattered about the room and suddenly the woman blurs, as if running about the room at the pace of a speeding train, and in only a second is completely gone, along with her machines. Shaken, the agents retreat to their room and discuss.
After making contact with STINGRAY, M-Cell spends the rest of the day preparing for the hand-off at townhall tonight and preparing their exit strategy and for any contingencies. Overland routes are plotted as are the two teams they’ll split into to try and maximize the chance of at least a partial success. As they’re expecting an odd amount of documents, MONTY decides the ladies ought to take two of them while he and MARCUS transport the third. He figures they’re the luckier of the bunch.
They also take the time to jerry-rig some of their own degaussing elements. It’s easy enough to modify the taser IRENA left them by putting electrical tape over one of the prongs. This is their fastest and most practical option. Believing in the value of redundancy, MONTY uses his electrical skills to disassemble the motel room’s microwave into a relatively safe plug-in degaussing factor. It’s certainly more limited in where it can be used, but it’s better than nothing. The team is certainly not getting their deposit back now, but fuck it, it wasn’t that much.
With plans and degaussing devices made, the cell spends the rest of the day laying low. Night begins to descend on Monument and cell drive the Bronco up to the townhall for bingo night and a little domestic espionage.
Quite a crowd of cars has gathered in front of the townhall. Seems like most of the town is here, and the cell witness STINGRAY get out of black sedan to escort Dr. Posselwaite inside. After waiting a beat to finish a cigarette, M-Cell follows suit.
In the basement a festive atmosphere reigns as the crowd awaits the beginning of bingo. There’s some food and drink and music, and the cell settles in their highway scum guise. Lynyrd Skynyrd’s Simple Man plays over the jukebox, and MONTY really listens to it for what feels like the first time as he looks out on the crowd. Family men, blue collar, living simple, honest lives in the hinterland of America. Smiling at their wives and children. MONTY sees, in the instant, someone he could have been. Something simple and nice he could have had. But those possibilities are closed to him. Have been closed to him ever since those fucks pumped all that experimental poison in his veins back in the Gulf War. When MJ-12 used him and his friends as guinea pigs and sent them into the gauntlet, bodies ruined, minds ruined. They took so much of who he was, who he could have been, and now this life, this secret war he lives every fucking day is all that’s left to him.
MIRIAM notices MONTY genuinely on the verge of tears, and while she doesn’t understand why, she knows he needs a friendly voice to snap him out of it and to remind him of the mission. Gotta make the bastards pay. MONTY appreciates the timely intervention and shoves all those impractical emotions deep down into his gullet. We’ve got bingo to play.
As everyone settles in for the first couple rounds of bingo, the cell notices IRENA sitting in the front and it makes them real nervous. She wins the first round (can’t help but think she cheated somehow) and doesn’t do much to blend in. Granted, this also means she draws attention away from M-Cell.
In the second round, MIRIAM wins a cool two grand, and doesn’t have to act excited when she receives her winnings. Using this great success as an excuse to slip away for a “celebratory smoke” the cell makes their way upstairs and into the file room where the dead drop is waiting for them.
Something is wrong. The door proves difficult to open, and once opened the room’s floor is ankle deep in loose papers. But in the center of it all, is a leather valise, the object of this entire mission. Quickly inspecting its contents, they find three dossiers;
Project PLUTO
Subproject MOON RING
Courtis Mathematics // Consciousness Dynamics // Remote Viewing Research
Project PLUTO
Subproject TELL
T-Radiation // N-Space // Temporal and Spatial Wormholes
Project GARNET; Project LOOKING GLASS
SUBJECT: ENEMY ORGANIZATIONS CATALOGUE, Update.
MONY elects to take the MOONRING document (for no particular reason of course) and hands the other two to MORGAN and MIRIAM, who've proven his thesis of at least one of them being lucky correct. But MORGAN notices something. There are outlines on the walls where several metal filing cabinets should be, but are not. They’ve simply vanished and their contents are spread out across the room. Remembering that the thing piloting IRENA told them that T-Radiation was particularly attracted to metal objects, MONTY declares the room contaminated. Quickly plugging in his jerry-rigged degausser, the cell holds hands and hopes to God the thing works before very quickly making their way outside.
Rushing out they see STINGRAY having a cigarette. MONTY makes a point to walk past her to say “it’s fucked” under his breath. STINGRAY is visibly confused and alarmed, so MONTY says over his shoulder as he makes his way to the Bronco “turn on your goddamn Canary.” It immediately goes off and clears her charge. She quickly radios in to Facility 12 and tells them to check the “scrubbers” around town hall.
M-Cell is already jumping into the Bronco by the time screams and gunshots are heard from inside the townhall. MONTY floors it and cuts across the field towards the old man’s garage on Tumbleweed Road. His radio flicks to life and intercepts the following transmission for all to hear:
They’re already tightening the noose. Speed is of the essence. MORGAN and MIRIAM are looking through the back window of the bronco at town hall to see the mass panic and people begin running in all directions, many of them across the same field MONTY is speeding across. At one point, in the half-light of the setting sun the two of them see and man stop in his tracks as if he sees something in front of him before being bisected by something that just isn’t there. Just a simple man dying in fear and pain as events and phenomena he had no knowledge or understanding came barreling into his life. He’s killed by something he never even has the opportunity to attempt to comprehend. He is not the only one
The bronco pulls in front of the old man’s garage like a bat out of hell. The plan is clear, they split into two teams, dividing the documents between them. The ladies have the key to the dirtbike, the gents have the sparkplug for the ATV. But then, MONTY realizes just how much material he brought with him, nearly the entire cell’s arsenal is in the back of this thing. They can’t just leave it.
“FUCK, change of plans.” MONTY tells them he can’t abandon the Bronco, he’ll have to take his chances on the highway and brings the MOONRING dossier with him. The cell splits into three and each part takes their designated route, hoping against hope they’re fast enough to outrun hell and MAJESTIC.
MONTY speeds off in the Bronco with the headlights off. He’s fast, but not fast enough. Maybe a little more than a mile west of Monument, a search light from a nearly silent black hawk helicopter illuminates MONTY’s vehicle. MONTY’s stomach tightens with fear, his mind races with options and possibilities. No way in hell is he gonna outrun that thing, there isn’t enough tree coverage now to make over-roading anything except an admission of guilt. Fuck it, he either plays dumb and talks his way out of this, or he’s cooked. No way around it. MONTY pulls off part of the vinyl padding on the interior of the driver’s door and stuffs the MOONRING documents into the hidden compartment there before snapping it back into place. He pulls over and tries to take control of his breathing, tries to remind himself that he’s “Lee”, a two bit criminal moving guns across state. He was just passing through. He’s not a member of a conspiracy. He’s not a threat.
The helicopter lands in the center of the highway, blocking any possible traffic, and MONTY slowly gets out of the truck with his hands raised before laying face down on the asphalt as several BLUEFLY operatives in full battle gear pile out of the helicopter.
“Hey man, it’s not, like, illegal y’know. I have the right to be transporting these.”
MONTY channels his very real fear into this act, it seems to pay off. As the BLUEFLY troopers approach him calmly, one tells him it’s alright, he can get up, they’re not cops. As he gets up he can see another operative with some sort of geiger counter taking a reading on the car before pressing a small cord to it and walking away to help the others set up a roadblock
The captain asks MONTY his name, what he was doing in Monument, and if he was at the town hall. “Lee” shakily answers he was just passing through on his way to Helena from Fort Peck. Just took some time to cool his heels, play slots at the motel. Saw there was a bingo night at town hall, planned on going but as he pulled up to the town hall he heard gunshots and he had enough sense to know that meant it was a good time to get out of town.
The captain is content with this answer and offers “Lee” a cigarette while he explains that there’s been a radiation leak at a government facility north of town, which has required them to enact a temporary quarantine and decontamination operation. “Lee” acts shocked and scared, asking “fuck, am I gonna get cancer!?!” playing up the dumb high plains scumbag angle the best he can, but the captain reassures him he’s gonna be fine and just has to sit tight while they set up the decontamination area and run a couple tests. At this point more cars begin trickling in from Monument and each car is examined and drivers questioned, some of them covered in blood and practically in hysterics. Triage begins and MONTY is at the front of the line.
Meanwhile, MORGAN and MIRIAM travel overland through the forests south of Monument on their stolen dirt bike and their “MJ-3, MJ-11 Enemy Organization Catalogue” dossier stuffed in the bottom of her backpack. They seem to make a clean getaway, but traversing the forest with an unfamiliar dirt bike and no lights proves challenging and takes a good deal longer than planned. By the time they make it to the plains, reinforcements from Malmstrom AFB have already arrived in humvees to set up an outer perimeter. These aren’t MAJESTIC personnel, and they think they’re enforcing a quarantine for the “radiation leak.” They ask the two Agents, who introduce themselves as “Krystal” and “Jenna” respectively, if they've been to Monument or heard what’s going on. Both "Krystal" and “Jenna” explain they’ve just spent a couple days camping in the forest and rode up from Billings. While they may be light on campaign equipment, they’re feigned shock to hear about the “radiation leak” in Monument convinces the troopers that they’re just two hapless country rubes. Regardless, they’re going to have to wait here with them until they can get someone with the proper equipment to test them. Like MONTY, MORGAN and MIRIAM are in for a tense few hours of waiting in the camp of thine enemy.
MARCUS, on the other hand, is much more successful in his egress. The stolen ATV proves much more reliable and his chosen route smoother. He slips the noose before it can close around the area and rides off into the night with the documents of Project PLUTO: Subproject TELL secure in his keeping.
Back at the roadblock, more military personnel arrive as do more terrified residents of Monument. MONTY, acting as “Lee” begins to chat with some of the other people. Deciding to do a little disinformation of his own to help solidify his bona fides as a rube, he begins speculating that the radiation leak must be the result of some kind of attack by the Iraqis. “Nah, it’s probably the Iranians, they’re the ones we really got to worry about.” This intentionally misleading flurry of speculation is interrupted when an 18-wheeler, its hood covered in blood, refuses to stop and attempts to run the road block. BLUEFLY teams open fire on the truck forcing it off the road, a lacerated and bloody man bursts out of the cab screaming blue murder with primal terror in his eyes and a pistol in his hand. He is gunned down by the American military’s finest with a cool efficiency.
“See! It’s gotta be some kind of attack! The A-rabs must be trying to steal our nukes!”
Callous to the suffering of his fellow man, MONTY inwardly smiles to himself “Fuck, I’m practically doing NRO-Delta’s disinfo for them. I’m gonna slip past this smooth as silk.”
The death rattle of a father of three cannot be heard above the din of the crowd.
Back at the southern perimeter, “Krystal” and “Jenna” wait. A humvee makes its way overland to where the duo are being held, and out gets an NRO-Delta agent, who immediately begins to look through the two women’s rucksacks. The agent sees, buried beneath an assortment of a dirty clothing, as dossier marked
She pulls out a small glass pipe, and asks “ladies, what exactly is this?” The two women stumble for an explanation while the Malmstrom AFB security personnel are cracking up. STINGRAY puts the pipe back into the bag with the MAJESTIC document. “Ladies, this is honestly beneath my paygrade. You two go on ahead and get out of here and stay out of trouble.” MORGAN and MIRIAM make their way to Billings.
Back on the highway, a small complex of white tents has been set up, and the decontamination process begins while each resident is also questioned by NRO-Delta personnel. MONTY is at the front of the line, now truly confident he’s getting out of here scott free, fully embracing his assumed identity of Great Plains scumbag “Lee Strohman.” He answers the questions much the same way he answered those asked by the BLUE FLY team, though there are a few new questions. Specifically, they ask if during his time in Monument, if he saw anyone or anything bearing the following symbols shown on a bit of laminated paper;
“Lee” of course exclaims “I knew it was the A-rabs!” Fully convinced he’s just some stooge who was in the wrong place at the wrong time, they wave off this “insight” and ask him again if he actually saw any of the following symbols. “Lee” of course says no, he wasn’t in town very long and didn’t really talk to many people. He’s made to sign an NDA and is in the process of being released when, being escorted in handcuffs down the clean tent hallway, the thing piloting IRENA looks directly at him. Before he can curse his misfortune, a flash of light and a horrible sound that disables everyone within range, including MONTY, emanates from her body. As she raised both her hands upwards, no longer handcuffed, it speaks;
“The Second Adjustment has occurred”
As the lights fail, IRENA’s body seems to lift into the air and disappear as the tent collapses. In a great deal of pain, all of his autoimmune dysfunctions activating at once, MONTY crawls out of the collapsed tent, cursing through clenched, bloody teeth about that “fucking stupid bitch” before running to his, now spotlessly cleaned Bronco. In the great confusion, he slips away with ease (if also a great deal of pain) and makes his way to the rendezvous in Billings.
Slowly, M-Cell regroups, then connects with their contact in Billings before heading their separate ways for home.
Rushing out they see STINGRAY having a cigarette. MONTY makes a point to walk past her to say “it’s fucked” under his breath. STINGRAY is visibly confused and alarmed, so MONTY says over his shoulder as he makes his way to the Bronco “turn on your goddamn Canary.” It immediately goes off and clears her charge. She quickly radios in to Facility 12 and tells them to check the “scrubbers” around town hall.
M-Cell is already jumping into the Bronco by the time screams and gunshots are heard from inside the townhall. MONTY floors it and cuts across the field towards the old man’s garage on Tumbleweed Road. His radio flicks to life and intercepts the following transmission for all to hear:
SANDUSKY to TELL ACTUAL
CANARIES SINGING, TOWN HALL
MULTIPLE CASUALTIES.
MOVE TO ASSESS AND CONTAIN.
BLUE FLY DUSTING OFF IN 5
MUSTER PERIMETER TEAMS.
They’re already tightening the noose. Speed is of the essence. MORGAN and MIRIAM are looking through the back window of the bronco at town hall to see the mass panic and people begin running in all directions, many of them across the same field MONTY is speeding across. At one point, in the half-light of the setting sun the two of them see and man stop in his tracks as if he sees something in front of him before being bisected by something that just isn’t there. Just a simple man dying in fear and pain as events and phenomena he had no knowledge or understanding came barreling into his life. He’s killed by something he never even has the opportunity to attempt to comprehend. He is not the only one
The bronco pulls in front of the old man’s garage like a bat out of hell. The plan is clear, they split into two teams, dividing the documents between them. The ladies have the key to the dirtbike, the gents have the sparkplug for the ATV. But then, MONTY realizes just how much material he brought with him, nearly the entire cell’s arsenal is in the back of this thing. They can’t just leave it.
“FUCK, change of plans.” MONTY tells them he can’t abandon the Bronco, he’ll have to take his chances on the highway and brings the MOONRING dossier with him. The cell splits into three and each part takes their designated route, hoping against hope they’re fast enough to outrun hell and MAJESTIC.
MONTY speeds off in the Bronco with the headlights off. He’s fast, but not fast enough. Maybe a little more than a mile west of Monument, a search light from a nearly silent black hawk helicopter illuminates MONTY’s vehicle. MONTY’s stomach tightens with fear, his mind races with options and possibilities. No way in hell is he gonna outrun that thing, there isn’t enough tree coverage now to make over-roading anything except an admission of guilt. Fuck it, he either plays dumb and talks his way out of this, or he’s cooked. No way around it. MONTY pulls off part of the vinyl padding on the interior of the driver’s door and stuffs the MOONRING documents into the hidden compartment there before snapping it back into place. He pulls over and tries to take control of his breathing, tries to remind himself that he’s “Lee”, a two bit criminal moving guns across state. He was just passing through. He’s not a member of a conspiracy. He’s not a threat.
The helicopter lands in the center of the highway, blocking any possible traffic, and MONTY slowly gets out of the truck with his hands raised before laying face down on the asphalt as several BLUEFLY operatives in full battle gear pile out of the helicopter.
“Hey man, it’s not, like, illegal y’know. I have the right to be transporting these.”
MONTY channels his very real fear into this act, it seems to pay off. As the BLUEFLY troopers approach him calmly, one tells him it’s alright, he can get up, they’re not cops. As he gets up he can see another operative with some sort of geiger counter taking a reading on the car before pressing a small cord to it and walking away to help the others set up a roadblock
The captain asks MONTY his name, what he was doing in Monument, and if he was at the town hall. “Lee” shakily answers he was just passing through on his way to Helena from Fort Peck. Just took some time to cool his heels, play slots at the motel. Saw there was a bingo night at town hall, planned on going but as he pulled up to the town hall he heard gunshots and he had enough sense to know that meant it was a good time to get out of town.
The captain is content with this answer and offers “Lee” a cigarette while he explains that there’s been a radiation leak at a government facility north of town, which has required them to enact a temporary quarantine and decontamination operation. “Lee” acts shocked and scared, asking “fuck, am I gonna get cancer!?!” playing up the dumb high plains scumbag angle the best he can, but the captain reassures him he’s gonna be fine and just has to sit tight while they set up the decontamination area and run a couple tests. At this point more cars begin trickling in from Monument and each car is examined and drivers questioned, some of them covered in blood and practically in hysterics. Triage begins and MONTY is at the front of the line.
Meanwhile, MORGAN and MIRIAM travel overland through the forests south of Monument on their stolen dirt bike and their “MJ-3, MJ-11 Enemy Organization Catalogue” dossier stuffed in the bottom of her backpack. They seem to make a clean getaway, but traversing the forest with an unfamiliar dirt bike and no lights proves challenging and takes a good deal longer than planned. By the time they make it to the plains, reinforcements from Malmstrom AFB have already arrived in humvees to set up an outer perimeter. These aren’t MAJESTIC personnel, and they think they’re enforcing a quarantine for the “radiation leak.” They ask the two Agents, who introduce themselves as “Krystal” and “Jenna” respectively, if they've been to Monument or heard what’s going on. Both "Krystal" and “Jenna” explain they’ve just spent a couple days camping in the forest and rode up from Billings. While they may be light on campaign equipment, they’re feigned shock to hear about the “radiation leak” in Monument convinces the troopers that they’re just two hapless country rubes. Regardless, they’re going to have to wait here with them until they can get someone with the proper equipment to test them. Like MONTY, MORGAN and MIRIAM are in for a tense few hours of waiting in the camp of thine enemy.
MARCUS, on the other hand, is much more successful in his egress. The stolen ATV proves much more reliable and his chosen route smoother. He slips the noose before it can close around the area and rides off into the night with the documents of Project PLUTO: Subproject TELL secure in his keeping.
Back at the roadblock, more military personnel arrive as do more terrified residents of Monument. MONTY, acting as “Lee” begins to chat with some of the other people. Deciding to do a little disinformation of his own to help solidify his bona fides as a rube, he begins speculating that the radiation leak must be the result of some kind of attack by the Iraqis. “Nah, it’s probably the Iranians, they’re the ones we really got to worry about.” This intentionally misleading flurry of speculation is interrupted when an 18-wheeler, its hood covered in blood, refuses to stop and attempts to run the road block. BLUEFLY teams open fire on the truck forcing it off the road, a lacerated and bloody man bursts out of the cab screaming blue murder with primal terror in his eyes and a pistol in his hand. He is gunned down by the American military’s finest with a cool efficiency.
“See! It’s gotta be some kind of attack! The A-rabs must be trying to steal our nukes!”
Callous to the suffering of his fellow man, MONTY inwardly smiles to himself “Fuck, I’m practically doing NRO-Delta’s disinfo for them. I’m gonna slip past this smooth as silk.”
The death rattle of a father of three cannot be heard above the din of the crowd.
Back at the southern perimeter, “Krystal” and “Jenna” wait. A humvee makes its way overland to where the duo are being held, and out gets an NRO-Delta agent, who immediately begins to look through the two women’s rucksacks. The agent sees, buried beneath an assortment of a dirty clothing, as dossier marked
FROM: MJ-3, PROJECT GARNET; MJ-11 PROJECT LOOKING GLASS
SUBJECT: ENEMY ORGANIZATIONS CATALOGUE, Update.
She pulls out a small glass pipe, and asks “ladies, what exactly is this?” The two women stumble for an explanation while the Malmstrom AFB security personnel are cracking up. STINGRAY puts the pipe back into the bag with the MAJESTIC document. “Ladies, this is honestly beneath my paygrade. You two go on ahead and get out of here and stay out of trouble.” MORGAN and MIRIAM make their way to Billings.
Back on the highway, a small complex of white tents has been set up, and the decontamination process begins while each resident is also questioned by NRO-Delta personnel. MONTY is at the front of the line, now truly confident he’s getting out of here scott free, fully embracing his assumed identity of Great Plains scumbag “Lee Strohman.” He answers the questions much the same way he answered those asked by the BLUE FLY team, though there are a few new questions. Specifically, they ask if during his time in Monument, if he saw anyone or anything bearing the following symbols shown on a bit of laminated paper;
- arabic tattoos
- a weird star tattoo
- a green triangle
- chinese characters
- the eye of ra
- banner of saudi arabia
- star of david
“Lee” of course exclaims “I knew it was the A-rabs!” Fully convinced he’s just some stooge who was in the wrong place at the wrong time, they wave off this “insight” and ask him again if he actually saw any of the following symbols. “Lee” of course says no, he wasn’t in town very long and didn’t really talk to many people. He’s made to sign an NDA and is in the process of being released when, being escorted in handcuffs down the clean tent hallway, the thing piloting IRENA looks directly at him. Before he can curse his misfortune, a flash of light and a horrible sound that disables everyone within range, including MONTY, emanates from her body. As she raised both her hands upwards, no longer handcuffed, it speaks;
“The Second Adjustment has occurred”
As the lights fail, IRENA’s body seems to lift into the air and disappear as the tent collapses. In a great deal of pain, all of his autoimmune dysfunctions activating at once, MONTY crawls out of the collapsed tent, cursing through clenched, bloody teeth about that “fucking stupid bitch” before running to his, now spotlessly cleaned Bronco. In the great confusion, he slips away with ease (if also a great deal of pain) and makes his way to the rendezvous in Billings.
Slowly, M-Cell regroups, then connects with their contact in Billings before heading their separate ways for home.
Comments
Post a Comment