Into The Strange: The Eschatology Code

[z-Ian]

Ian couldn’t breathe. The thick slime in the alien pod pressed down on him, pinning him while filling his nose and mouth. His hands were bound but his right scared him; it was numb. It felt like it was missing but he couldn’t see.

 

Metallic clicks caught his attention. Blinking through the ooze, he saw a dark monstrous form bending over him. He knew even though he couldn’t see that it was Lotan’s servant, come to kill him. “Subject EN447 is progressing nicely,” a voice said but Ian knew it. A fresh ripple of terror rolled through him as he recognized the voice of his alien tormentor. “We are ready for integration now.”

 

In his nightmare, Ian screamed in denial, even as more gel bubbled down his throat. In his car in Sioux Falls, he merely whimpered in his sleep.

 

Meanwhile, Curtis was finding some bizarre stuff in his blatant invasion of Ian’s privacy. The owner of the computer – designated only by the initials E.N. – had a wide variety of interests. The general focus of his research was aliens but from what Curtis could see, E.N. had collected information on everything from Hollow Earth Theory to the Secret Government. Most of it was harmless if amusing, but Curtis was dismayed to find out that E.N. had gotten a number of things right. It looked like this guy had been chasing down mysteries for several years. Curtis recognized a case or two that the Estate had been involved in, though this guy had shown up after case resolution.

 

In fact, he’d been sniffing along the trail of the Estate and had, by some miracle, failed to realize the existence as the Estate. Oh, his research had plenty of rambling about secret societies that covered up The Truth but he’d failed to find the real deal – so far. The guy would probably be a pain in the ass eventually, if not an actual problem if given long enough to hunt. Another issue to discuss with Manners.

 

His website was stored on the machine and Curtis browsed through that for several minutes. Most of it was a public site to distill information on the weird to anyone who cared to look but it was the private section that Curtis found most interesting. It housed a small private forum for dedicated researchers such as E.N. On it, he found pictures, posted this morning, of metal monsters in this room with E.N. asking for information.

 

Unfortunately, there was no personal information on the computer. E.N. had taken care to keep the machine clean of identifying marks. There was no social media of any kind, beyond the website. Just as he was starting to dig a little deeper, Curtis’s alarms started to sound.

[SalmonMax]

Ignorant to the threat to the computer, Juno did what came naturally. She snarled, "What the fuck?!" She pulled her gun, but had the presence of mind not to point it at Lexi's hands, even though she was holding The Fucking Frodo Eye Thing in them.

 

"Lexi," she barked...normal voice tones were impossible right now for her... "You're going to want to put that thing down and step away."

 

The tension in her voice suggested Lexi did not have much time to convince her otherwise.

[z011]

Lexi sighed as the last of the organic material sloughed off the device. "No matter, Juno," she said softly. "It is dead."

 

She plucked the metallic remains from the towel and sat on the bed next to Curtis. "Here, this looks....accessible. Do you think you could interface it with your laptop?"

[Ravenhurst ST]

As they watched the eye disolve in front of them an alarm beeps from Curtis' laptop. Curtis turns to glance at the screen and Curtis' expression was laptop distant, and streaked with horror as the screen began to flicker with changes.

"No! No! NO!" Desperately he scrambled to throw everything back, filters, anti-viruses, security sweeps. Anything and everything to protect his valuable equipment.

 

His fingers flying pulling out every trick and twist he could to beat the alien code at its nasty little game but the code was too sophisticated it seemed to rewrite itself even before he made his keystrokes it was amazing and entrancing and as he fought it he started to see it, truly see it. The code seemed alive and more, not only did it rewrite itself as he tried to stop it but it was rewriting itself on multiple levels at the same time and it wasn't damaging the computer, nor was it stealing data, indeed he the alien software seemed to be improving the computer on multiple levels. All ready the speed of the laptop was multiplied by at least a factor of ten. It's storage capacity previously a few GB was now registering as terabytes. The changes were incredible and then it stopped and Curtis saw one the screen a text file labeled READ ME FIRST the icon of the file was that of the Estate but strangely stylized.

 

 

Meanwhile Lexi was busy studying the machine eye that was all that was left of the thing she had pried from the wall. She could see how to open it up and as she started twisting the...

 

 

 

 

 

GM INFO

Curtis's laptap has been vastly upgraded by the unknown software. Mechanics wise using the computer gives an automatic step reduction of one to any computer use. It also allows you to spend effort one step higher than you would normally be allowed. This Laptop is now level 8

The mechanical eye that Lexi has discovered is a Level 6 artifact. Use: plug any type of device into the jack and a connection will be made between the eye and the device the actual connector (will become insubstantial). Leave the eye somewhere and the device can be used to observe and hear anything within 10 yards of the eye break the connection at the device used to access the eye and the eye will reappear at the location of the device. The eye may be used 1d6+2 times before it dies. It may be studied and recreated.

[z-Ian]

The metallic monster changed to one of glass, its clicks as it walked back and forth over his pod changing in tone and sound. They got louder and more insistant, and that was when the creature started to call him “Sir.”

 

Ian jerked awake, blinking up at the cop tapping on the window of his car. He was stiff and cold; he’d been turning on the car every hour for ten minutes or so but a glance at his clock told him that he’d missed the last warm-up by two hours. Groaning, he glanced at his laptop. His room was fine but that, and the binoculars, were as incriminating as fuck. “Shit,” he growled, turning on the car. Cold air poured out of his vents as he turned and cracked the window. “Sorry, officer, I guess I fell asleep.” As he apologized, he scanned the man’s uniform. His name tag said ‘Howes’ but Ian was more interested in the hand resting lightly on his mace. It looked harmless enough but Ian knew the guy was ready to ruin Ian’s day.

 

The young man didn’t smile as he jerked his chin toward Ian’s equipment. “So what’s with the binoculars and the surveillance. You a junior detective?”

 

Awesome, I get a fucking comedian. “Birdwatching. And that’s my motel room.” Ian couldn’t quite keep the bullshit out of his tone as he said, “I like to keep an eye on my stuff.”

 

“What paper are you with?” The cop looked both bored and annoyed. “Or are you one of them internet bloggers?”

 

“Am I-” Ian cut off his instinctive smart-assed reply but what replaced it wasn’t that much better. “Do I look like a blogger?”

 

Howes scowled at him. “You look like a guy who’s bothering nice church-going folk and trying to freeze himself to death. Look, if you got a room, do your sleeping there. Get out of here.”

 

Ian nodded agreeably. “Sure, sure. Thanks, Officer Howes.” The man probably had saved him from freezing to death. His vents were still pumping out ice-cold air but he rolled up the window and put the car in gear. The cop watched him until he was sure Ian was going to really leave; just before the investigator turned the corner, he saw Howes getting back in his own car.

 

The drive back to the motel gave him time to think. Ian wanted to get in a shower and shave. It’d also be nice to get out of the clothes he’d been wearing yesterday. He had the room for one more night and he wanted to use it but he didn’t want to get ambushed by those things again. He wondered if they’d let him move rooms and keep the same price. He didn’t want to pay for another place – he honestly couldn’t afford it. He’d need to pick up some computer work soon or else he was going to be hitting the soup kitchens.

 

He was still musing over his options when he opened the door to his room and saw the three intruders. He didn’t really see much about them before he reacted with all the anger of a man protecting what little he owned. “Motherfuckers!” he snarled, his hand going to the baton he carried in his pocket. “You have ten seconds to get the fuck out of my room.”

 

It was only after he'd spoken that he realized that all of these people were familiar to him. The guy less so than the women, but there was still something about him. The older woman was so clearly a cop that she should have just been wearing the uniform but it was the younger woman that made his head spin. He felt something like an electric current in his body and it took all his willpower to not grab at the doorjamb like a fainting tool.

 

Then his fucking nose started to bleed, and Ian knew he was the fucked one.

[Curtis Shane]

Lexi started at the intrusion, coming to her feet in an instinctive 'ready' stance. Her hand had gone to her gun at his words, but her brow creased as she took in the features of the man. When his nose began to bleed, she quickly stepped around the bed and grabbed the towel to press to his face. "Salvatore, you're bleeding!"

"How did you get here?" she asked, her brow furrowed. Her other hand tapped lightly on his necklace, "Why didn't you call for me?"
 

Curtis, on the other hand, had to quickly hide his nonplussed flash at Lexi's behavior - with a deadpan professional look. Quietly he closed up his laptop and spoke. "I see you've met E.N... Perhaps you could please help him sit down, close the door and relax. We have quite a bit to discuss."

 

And mark another item for the debriefing. This man was... a bit of a risk - but maybe they could co-opt him for the investigation. And the Estate. Curtis supposed that it could have been said that once upon a time he'd been looking into this sort of thing as well. But he'd never been that crazy, right?

 

And better to keep E.N. from being a wild card.

[SalmonMax]

Juno whirled around when the man came in, already kicking herself for not keeping watch. Then he reached for something and everything else disappeared. By the time she started crossing the room, Lexi had a towel and looked like she was going to give him first aid or something? Juno didn't have the luxury of trying to puzzle that out. She flung herself at the man in the coat, knocking Lexi's arm out of her way and interposing her body between her teammate and the potentially dangerous guy who's hand was digging into his coat.

 

"Lexi, check his pockets," she said, glaring daggers at the man's face, only an arm's width away from her own. "He was going for something."

 

She risked a glance down, and her eyes widened. No fucking way.

 

Juno didn't have a superior recall of names and faces, but there were a few things in her life she'd never forget...and one of them was a coat. A coat worn by some creep in a bar. And now that she looked...really LOOKED...at this guy's face. Adjust for a few years time difference, and a fair amount more scruffiness...

 

"Jesus Christ," she said. What had his name been? The incident started playing back in her head. The Coat Man. "Ian," Juno said, then laughed a quick, sharp laugh. "E N. Ian. You've gotta be fucking kidding me."

 

As for Ian, it might have been hard for him to count the girls in bars he'd hit on over the years, but this wasn't the first time this particular one had tried to manhandle his protective coat. Put her in a black tank top that showed off her guns, make her hair a bit longer and tied back behind her head, and there she was...the one who'd almost handed him to the Men in Black.

[z-Ian]

“Fuck me, why do I have a parade of Crazies R Us in my room? Officer June,” Ian said irritably, taking the towel the younger woman was offering him. “Couldn’t get enough of me in your jurisdiction?” He gave her a leer before putting the towel back where Jailbait had been trying to press it. It took a bit of work to maneuver it in place around her arm but he persisted. It helped his aura of innocence and washing blood out of this coat was a bitch. Plus you never knew how the shit in the liner was going to react to something as volatile as human blood. “You gonna cuff and strip me again?”

 

That got the cop a sharp look from the girl, who clearly didn’t like the idea of her friends getting arrested. Ian could get behind that concept – he didn’t like being arrested either. Of course, it would help if he was actually her friend. With a body like that, he wished he was Salvatore, because she had sounded really worried about that guy. It didn’t help that he felt like that guy, in a weird way that was definitely going to cause a panic attack soon. And her name, he knew her damned name but it wouldn’t surface in the patchwork fog of his memory. Samantha? Samara? No, that’s that fucking evil little kid from that movie.

 

“It’s Juno.” Bitch Cop - her real name as far as he was concerned - didn’t look happy to see him and Ian noticed she didn’t add anything about his status.

 

“Well, either show me the fucking warrant that allowed you to break into my fucking room or quit manhandling me and get the fuck out of here.” His brown eyes flicked to the younger girl. “You can stay though. I like you.”

 

S-something-he-couldn’t-remember gave him a heart stopping grin. It wasn’t that it was the prettiest smile he’d ever seen but it brought his brain to a dead halt. He felt himself grinning at her in return, a gesture ruined by the towel pressed to his face. “These are my allies, Salvatore,” she told him, reaching around the bitch cop to put her hand on his arm. It was another gesture that was alien and yet too familiar, and it was the last straw.

 

“There it goes. Fuck you, life,” he mumbled, which were horrible last words before he lost himself to the panic. His breath wheezed in and out of his lungs as he lost the ability to have much control over himself. For no reason whatever, he hoped that the girl thought he was having an asthma attack. Wimp seemed preferable to crazy.

 

Having a cop pin him to a door made them worse. He pushed against Bitch Cop with a shaking hand. “Leggo!”

[SalmonMax]

"Shut the fuck up," Juno demanded. She didn't let up on the hold as she looked at Lexi. "You know this guy? Last time I saw him, he was freaking out over his coat, and some very big, very tough guys showed up not long after he did. Never did get a chance to ask you about that, Ian. What were you going for, huh? Got something in your pocket there?"

 

"He's mixed up in this. Those guys that came after him...I didn't know it then, but looking back I don't see how they could have been human. Or maybe humans using things like those glasses."

[z-Ian]

Curtis let out a tiny bit of a hiss as he clamped two fingers on the bridge of his nose.  This was not going smoothly at all. Even less that it had seemed to be starting at first. Unfortunately, finding the right words to resolve the situation were not coming easily to him.

 

“He is my Knight,” Lexi said softly, her smile tender and nostalgic. Her brow furrowed in concern as she watched Ian tremble under Juno's hold and she shook off the memories encroaching on her. “In Ardeyn, he was my knight and companion. My friend.”

 

She tugged on Juno's arm, her expression serious and insistent. “Please, let him go.”

 

Knight. The word rattled around in Ian’s consciousness, filtering through the panic and increasing it. Jailbait wasn’t wrong but Ian knew she couldn’t be right. She couldn’t be but he wanted her to be because that was right and he was her Knight. He wanted to kneel next to her as he had before but had never really done and repeat a vow that had never crossed his lips.

 

“I swear I’ll keep you safe--”

 

Afraid and panicked, Ian’s need to escape became overwhelming. With a moan, he planted a hand on the cop and shoved--

 

He fell away from her, her fingers passing through his body as if he wasn’t there. Indeed, he wasn’t quite anymore, moving through the door and the wall behind that into the hall where he was blessedly alone for a second. They poured out after them and he glared at them. “I’m no knight, and I’m fucking sick of you assholes fucking with me! Get the fuck out of my room and my life, or I’m going to start returning the favor!”

 

Mala and Curtis helped! With the post, I mean. The other stuff is all me, as if the level of crazy and cursing didn’t make that clear.

 

Ian is currently visible but completely insubstantial. He cannot attack or be attacked.

[Curtis Shane]

Curtis rose up and finally came out after Ian. He wasn't sure what the cornucopia of issues clearly percolated between Ian, Juno, Alexandra or just Ian's past, but enough was enough. "Ian," he told the intangible paranoiac sternly, "it's a benefit for your life that we're here. Because those who blithely look into the names 'Jason Cole' and Lotan' risk their lives being cut short."

 

A brief pause to let Ian digest his warning. "Now, will you come back in?"

 

"I don't blithely do shit, man." Ian glared at them all. "I want to see that warrant, now."

 

"I don't recall the things that came into your room previously caring about one." Curtis noted dispassionately. "Nor will Foss' cult, if they decide you're too problematic to be running around. So you have three options here. Work with us, forget about Foss and go far away, or get killed. It's all your choice. But I suspect you're not for the latter two."
 

"'You suspect I'm not for the latter two'? Dude, first off, fuck you. Second off, I don't work with people." The researcher stared hard at him. "Third off, if you wanted to work with me, then you should have asked before I caught you in my room, going through my stuff." Ian snapped at the infuriating asshole.

 

Curtis inclined his head, unfazed by the tirade. "We would have - if time wasn't limited enough as is."

 

"Then you're wasting it by talking to me." Ian tugged on his jacket, pulling on the lapels. "So here's what I'm going to do. I'm gonna go back in the room, shower, and shave, and when I get back out, you guys can be gone. Except Jailbait. She can stay."

 

Curtis shrugged as Ian began to walk through him and into the room. "I see. There's better things for us to do than tell you who Jason Cole is. Or Lotan. Or all the things you've gotten close to but never actually spotted. Juno, Alexandra, let's go."

[z011]

"Jail...bait?" Lexi arched a brow at Ian, then shook head in slightly pained bemusement. To Curtis she said, "If he doesn't know...then he doesn't remember. Like I didn't until the plane ride." She eyed Curtis, then pursed her lips and crossed her arms. "I'm not leaving without him. Go on, if that's what you need to do right now, but I'm staying." She gave Ian a small, tight smile. "He deserves to know who he is."

 

"Lady, I--" Words failed and Ian rubbed his face, the stubble creating a loud rasping noise. "Yes, you can stay. I'm going to take a shower, and when I'm done, I'm calling the cops if the other two aren't outside the door like civilized people." He paused and added, "You can take off as much clothing as you need to feel comfortable, too. I don't judge."

 

Lexi flushed bright red and exclaimed, "Salvatore!"

 

Ian raised his hands defensively. "Not judging!"

 

Curtis shook his head. "In that case, we're staying. Because I have a right to know about your history as the Seeker."

 

"I'm showering, you two work that out. Whatever that is." Ian disappeared into bathroom and the door shut firmly behind him.

 

Lexi gave Curtis an impassive look, crossing her arms in annoyance. "You do not have a right to know, Curtis," she said coolly, "but you can ask politely and I might tell you."

 

Curtis clasped his hands behind his back, trying to suppress his ever-pressured temper. "I disagree. But very well. Would you please tell me about your life as the Seeker?"

 

She motioned for Curtis and Juno to sit on the bed again, then shrugged and tried to make a quick summary of so much. "My mother is the Incarnation of Lore in Ardeyn. I was pulled over shortly after she and Carter and the others went missing. I became the Seeker. The Innocent, the Immortal Child....I have many titles there. I was unique: not an Incarnation but more than a mortal and different from the quephilim anyways. I sought out lost or forbidden or hidden knowledge. I'd learn it, see what use it could be put to, then release that back into the world. Early on, when I was still learning, I was captured by cultists of Lotan. Salvatore," she motioned to bathroom where the sound of running water could now be heard, "appeared and rescued me. He swore fealty to me, became my Knight and my companion. We were together until War betrayed the Maker and I was transported back to Earth. He must have been as well, and lost his memories of Ardeyn even as I had."

 

She paced across the room, restless now and nervous. "There is more, much more, but too much. More than I could tell you in a few minutes in a hotel room and much of it simply personal. The voice on the plane, from the vortex, that was the Betrayer. The Incarnation of War. He is behind this and he must be stopped." She put her hands on her hips, her expression settling into determination. "And perhaps we can discover where my mother is, what happened to her."

[SalmonMax]

The situation had spiraled entirely out of control, Juno reflected as she sat on the bed, while the guy who was at LEAST a person of interest, and possibly a suspect, took a shower in the motel room bathroom. Meanwhile Lexi spun a story that belonged on a Peter Jackson movie. And yes, she'd been briefed on Ardeyn, but it was one thing to be told that there was some alternate dimension where magic worked and people who wanted you to do things had glowing exclamation marks over their head (...actually, she might have that last bit wrong)...it was another thing to have someone who you were expected to work with, and might have your life in their hands, tell you with a straight face that she was an immortal child and her mom was a goddess or something.

 

She rubbed her temples. Okay. This was no different than shit on the force. Sometimes you just had to push all the bullshit over into the corner and focus on the facts on the ground.

 

"So nothing's really changed," Juno said slowly. "We're still doing exactly what we came here to do, except you want us to bring Ian with us." She shook her head. "Look, I don't follow half of what you're saying, but I know one thing. That guy in the bathroom? He has never been anyone's knight. If he was really lucky, he might have managed to be someone's one night stand, but that's as close as he's EVER gotten. Maybe in Fantasia Disneyland, he dresses up in white shiny armor and duels dragons, but here?"

 

Again, her head shook. "Here he's an unreliable source of information at best. A co-conspirator at worst. He seems to trust you, so I'll follow your lead on how you want to play him, but don't make the mistake of trusting him back."

[z-Ian]

"Any knight worth the title hardly has shiny armor," Lexi not-quite-snapped. Intellectually she understood that her coworkers hadn't had the experiences with Salvatore that she had, but her instinctive protectiveness of him was getting the better of her. "I am not going to play him and I do trust him. He may not remember himself just yet, but I will remind him even if I must take him to Ardeyn to do so."

 

The three lapsed into awkward silence, broken only by the sound of the shower turning off. Ian had rushed through the cleaning, half-sure that he was being robbed blind. He would be a clean and shaved victim, as he took advantage of the privacy to do both. It also gave him time to think. His Fairy Gothmother had told him that people who could help would be here; clearly, these fuckwits were the ones she’d meant. Damnit, that means I really should work with them. Fuck.

 

He turned to put clean clothing on – and realized that he’d left those in the other room. “Fuck me,” he whispered, thumping his head against the door jamb very softly. “God damnit,” he snarled as he tucked a thin hotel towel around his waist and exited the safety of the room.

 

Three sets of eyes turned to him. Bitch Cop looked unamused, Science Ass looked bemused but also like he was doing long division in his head, and Jailbait just looked happy to see him. Ian caught himself smiling at her again, the kind of goofy grin he used to mock romcoms for displaying. What the fuck is she doing to me!

 

“So you guys get your head out of your asses?” Ian wasn’t sure that his tone was completely conversational as he went to his duffel bag and dug around for clothing. He usually tried to keep up on his laundry so he was able to lay hands on clean things. Today, that meant he wouldn’t have to wear dirty clothing in front of Jailbait.

 

“We weren’t the ones suffering from that,” Science Ass told him.

 

“I see you also can’t follow directions either.” Ian pulled on his boxers under his towel before tossing it back in the bathroom. “I told you two to wait in the hall. However, if you tell me what you know about Foss, I’ll overlook it and play nice.” He yanked on his jeans, snapping them shut decisively before adding, “For now. So. What should I call you all?”

[Curtis Shane]

Finally..... progress. What a relief for Curtis - one thing in the whole entire operation that hadn't gone pots up yet. Yet, being the operative word. But Curtis could at least enjoy the moment. "Curtis." He indicated himself. "Juno," for the still testy ex-cop, "Alexandra." That Ian was giving her those looks made him feel the urge to punch out the scuzzball - but Alexandra should be able to take care of herself.

 

Now came the next step - deciding how much to give Ian right off the bat. Aside from the potential trouble if Ian couldn't be contained, channeled or.... goodness forbid, actually recruited to the Estate afterward, there was the obvious need to keep more breadcrumbs in store to dangle in front of him to keep him cooperative.

 

"Here's the basics. Throw away all your crackpot theories, Ian. There are no aliens...... in the classical sense anyway. Instead, think quantum theory: Many Worlds. At minimum, Father Foss is a religious nut under the influence of a dangerous entity from a recursion called Ardeyn. Recursion is the term we use instead of dimension - for reasons... Anyway, this being is known as the Betrayer, or in his identity on Earth, Jason Cole. Foss has been brainwashing and equipping his cult with this."

 

Curtis drew out the war glasses and handed them to let Ian inspect. "These are called war glasses. Nasty devices, which can turn an ordinary person into a very dangerous soldier. The real problem is that used en mass, they'll attract a Lovecraft type monster that will destroy the planet. And Foss is prepping to set up a new Waco. You can probably guess what our ultimate objective is."

[SalmonMax]

"If only we could guess about HIS ultimate objective," Juno grumped. Jesus, was no one but her concerned about security on this? What was next, giving him everyone's social security numbers? "That's plenty of exposition. Now lets have a little back."

 

She nodded at Ian.

 

"What do you know about Foss and his activities?"

[z-Ian]

“I know that Foss is backed by a man named Jason Cole. I know that Cole is supplying him with the ‘war glasses’.” He made quotation marks around the word before plunging his hands in his bag again and coming out with a t-shirt. Pulling on the faded Conspiracy Con 2011 garment, he sat down on the bed closest to Lexi.

 

“I know that Cole is somehow tied to a guy named Lotan, and that I’m not supposed to face them without some help or I’m gonna die.” The words were delivered with a casual finality. “Not keen on the dying so I’m willing to work with you guys. Even though you broke into my hotel room.”

 

“So Cole doesn’t exist except for where he intercepts Foss. That’s odd enough but you add in that Foss wasn’t anything special until he met Cole on a plane.” Ian pulled a bag of chips out of the grocery bag on the floor and ripped them open. Without thinking, he offered Lexi some of the generic brand sour cream and chives flavored food. A second after he’d done so, Ian wondered why in the world he was sharing his food. Then she smiled in thanks as she took a handful and he forgot to be upset about it.

 

“So you’ve linked Cole and Foss? What else?” The look on Curtis’s face suggested that Ian’s contribution hadn’t yet measured up to their offering.

 

That jarred him out of his thoughts on the girl. I need to nail her and get her out of my system, or get far, far, away from her, fast. “There’s the Lotan angle which I am still figuring out.” Ian chomped down a couple of chips and shrugged. “Hey, I’m a guy with a computer and a Fairy Gothmother, not the secret government police with the insider’s scoop.”

[Ravenhurst ST]

Game Info

Ian is the only person who sees or hears andthing that i write in Italics. If anyone whos is quickened wishes to attempt a Level 8 Intellect roll tehy may be able to detect something If you make this roll let me know in PM or PM/chat if im on as each of you may pick up somethign different...and yes I know that Level 8 is nigh on impossible, any ability you have that can aid you in detecting effects/persons of Strange origin can be used to lower the DC, also any thing that offers protection from non physical attacs will lower the dc by one. if you have a question about a specific item or ability pm or chat me up.

 

Ian Looked away from the beautiful face which is really all he wanted to look at, to Juno, and took a double take. She was there, the goth guardian angel fuck with his mind bitch he really didn't want to see, Not here not now not ever... no not the last one.

 

She was looking at Juno a funny predatory look on her face when her eyes raised toward Lexi, she stepped around/through Juno and came to where he was and turned the look on Lexi. "they don't trust you, and you don't trust...well anyone." She was shorter and thinner than last time he had seen her, pale her hair jet black short and spiky. wearing a dirty white wife beater and incredibly tight frayed low cut jeans. her arms and the exposed parts of her chest are covered in gothic and demonic tattoos and she is heavily pierced.

 

"Complications are occurring, Unforeseen, You are not personally in imminent danger, none of you are not at the moment." She circles around Lexi creepily she leans in and smells her hair. "Who is She? How do you know her?"

 

Before Ian can respond she glides to Curtis.

 

"Curtis, this one the science guy," she says ina pretty good imitation of your voice, "Remind him of his computer."

 

Then she sits on teh bed and watches Lexi.

 

 

[z-Ian]

One moment, Ian was slouched on the bed, occupied with eating chips and trying not to be occupied with Lexi; the next he was staring intently past Juno, his body taut with tension. “So, Curtis, buddy.” The researcher’s smile wasn’t friendly as he asked, “Whatcha got on your computer, huh?”

 

He glanced to the side, scowling when he saw the look on his Gothmother's face. Stop it. Leave her alone.

[SalmonMax]

"Fairy godmother?" Juno asked, with either uncanny intuition or stupid cop's dumb luck. She looked over her shoulder at the spot he'd been staring at, then back at Ian.

 

"What's that supposed to mean?"

[z-Ian]

Ian was looking at Curtis when Juno butted in with her question, and he kept his eyes on the other man. When he realized that the ubernerd wasn’t going to answer until Ian had answered Juno, he stuffed another handful of chips into his mouth. “It means that I have a benefactor who likes to dress like Goth Slut Barbie.”

 

He glanced to the side to see his “benefactor” staring at Lexi still. “She can sometimes butt in where she’s not wanted and be a little inappropriate, but she’s handy. Creepy but handy.”

 

Ian returned his gaze to Juno. “That a good enough answer for you, Officer?”

[z011]

Lexi frowned and scratched at an odd feeling on her chest. Her hand brushed her necklace with the pocket watch on it her mother had given her; she could feel it buzzing under her fingertips. She tugged it out from underneath her coat and pushed the button to open it. Her eyes narrowed as she saw the hands wildly spinning clockwise. She watched as it slowed down, then swung back counterclockwise and continued to spin until it was showing the correct time again. She glanced around the room, biting her lower lip as she thought. 

 

"Is she here now? Is she a normal person, or something else?" she asked Ian. 

 

Mechanics

Spent two Int points on Effort.

[z-Ian]

“Well, she’s in the room. I think she’s crushing on you.” Ian grinned charmingly as he nodded to Lexi. “She’s sniffed your hair at least once.”

 

His Fairy Gothmother made a face at him and Ian flashed on a memory of Meghan making that same face. Shaking off the flashback before it caused another nosebleed, he said, “I have no clue what she is, but at this point, her advice has been sound, she’s given me awesome gifts, and saved my life at least once, so I tend to listen to her.

 

“Now, Curtis – the fucking laptop. Why is my Fairy Gothmother telling me about it?” He eyed the sleek machine with copious amounts of envy and desire. “What do I need to know about it?”

[Renata Hodges]

Juno shook her head and went to keep a watch out the window by the door, in case anyone showed up looking for Creepy Coat Guy, or her team, or all of the above. Let Curtis and Lexi deal with him if they thought he was on the up and up. She'd just get ready to deal with things when they went catastrophically wrong.

[Curtis Shane]

Now granted, Ian COULD be hallucinated, but again, given his effects, activities and the world Curtis had learned to live in, this Godmother could be a disembodied or incorporeal being. All the more convincing since he wasn't really sure how else Ian was aware of what had happened to his laptop. Best act as if he knew everything already. Or close enough to it.

 

"I think show, not tell, is the best way here." Curtis told Ian before getting back to his laptop again. First, he checked over the readme file - still blinking in the screen center yet suddenly two times larger - if not more. It appeared to be simply...

 

....instructions for activated a downloaded AI?! It took more focus for Curtis to not break the mask. Well now.

 

Curtis took the plunge and activated it.

 

The laptop rebooted - and as Curtis prepared to turn it to show Ian, a bright blue-white flash bathed all four room occupants like a high strength flash bulb.

 

Once it faded, an obvious holograph of an incredibly skinny dark skinned human - wearing some sort of uniform like a cross between a military and police style stood in view. His hair was styled in a very tall pompadour. And although small his badge was the same stylized Estate emblem seen on the readme file.

[Ravenhurst ST]

The flash of light got everyone's attention and the appearance of a projected hologram from the computer held it. The tiny figure, only about eight inches tall including the ridiculous pompadour the thin man spoted. The hologram looked around the room at the four livving people present then spoke, the voice oddly accented sound  as if from a real person in the room with them and not from the tiny laptop speakers.

 

“Greetings and good evening Dr. Curtis Shane, Officer Juno Reyes, Miss Alexandra Scire, and...” the program gave a slight hesitation, “and mister Ian Goldberg. I am Estate Agent Eidley and I volunteered to become the human interface with this machine. The addition of this interface was necessitated by the primitive nature of your device. Rest assured that the AI installed is secure and in no way will interfere with the function of your machine. Also it is safe for you to access the AI Interface in any location regardless of wireless access and only the four of you,” another hesitation, “will experience the visual and auditory properties of the AI.”

 

It pauses for a brief moment as if waiting for question then proceeds.

 

“The crisis we are currently facing is dire and and has been accelerated by Jason Cole/The Betrayer. Cole in his insane grab for ultimate power has enlisted the aid of several allies from different Recursions he has managed locate and translate too.” As if anticipating a question the AI continues.

 

“ Yes, Cole is quickened but he isn't satisfied with returning to earth and simply being Cole again. Ardeyn has given him the power of a god, and he wants to keep that power.”

Curtis interrupts the little figure. “Who are these allies? Where are they from?”

 

Eidley who had been making frequent eye contact with every member of the team looks squarely at Curtis. “Coles allies are many and varied but none of them are currently a concern. Cole has recreated a version of the computer used in the creation of Ardeyn. This machine is currently operational and located in Foss' church in a basement room.”

 

Plans and schematics are flashing across the computer screen.

 

“The machine on earth is connected too a second machine located on Ardeyn. That machine has opened a permanent if small inapposite tunnel linking the two worlds. The war glasses here on Earth serve a two fold purpose. They allow Cole to directly secure his base here at the Church but more importantly each set of active glasses feed data directly back down the Quantum Tunnel strengthening it. It's a slow process and should take weeks longer to make the tunnel large enough for Cole in his Ardeyn Form to travel down Physically. If Cole comes to Earth as the Betrayer and this tunnel is still in existence He believes that he will be able to conquer earth itself. But he is operating on only partial knowledge. To make the tunnel permanent in short order he needs a vast source of power. His intention is to tap into the unlimited power of sleeping Lotan shunt it thru the tunnel and ride the wave so to speak to earth and his permanent godhood.”

 

looking very serious Eidley wraps things up. “Destroying the machine here on Earth prevents all of this and its up to you four. You can't call in help and you can't tell anyone. There are enemies in your organizations on earth, in many forms and guises. Their goals are much more sinister than one madman's desire to be a god.”

[z011]

"That stupid, egotistical man!" Lexi fumed, her expression twisted into loathing. "He could wake Lotan. He'll destroy both worlds!" She began pacing again, her anger coiled around her muscles like taut springs. "You are not from Earth or Ardeyn." It wasn't a question and while not completely hostile it wasn't entirely friendly. "What other recursions are involved in this madness?"

[Ravenhurst ST]

If Eidley is concerned or surprised by Leix's outburst he doenst show it.

 

The Hologram draws a deep breath. "All of them Lexi, all of them. But that isn't  the concern at the moment. As you have surmised, if Cole wakes Lotan, of which there is at least a 95% certainty that he will, Lotan will indeed Destroy Ardeyn and if the Quantum bridge is intact and stable He will use it to Devour Earth. You see Lotan isn't just the  demon god of Ardeyn's lore, Lotan is a Planetevore."

[SalmonMax]

Juno took it all in, then said, "Two things. First, why wasn't this in the briefing? Why wait until we're out here to update us? Second...why can't we get backup if there's so much at stake?"

[z-Ian]

“It wasn’t in the briefing because you have moles in your organization.” Ian spoke flatly, his jaw clenching tight. He looked like he might have been checking out during the lecture from Eidley but now he was focused in on the conversation. “And you can’t call for backup because someone is working for Cole. Helping him for their own reasons. Betraying you.”

 

Juno shot him an irritated look and Ian shrugged, digging into his bag again. This time, he came up with a pack of cigarettes and started the hunt for a lighter. “Hey, I know no one likes to hear that but I’m a paranoid. I’ve seen this shit before, in other groups. But I have a better question for you, Eidley. Who are you really working for? Who is the Gothmother? And why don’t you tell them what’s really at stake here?”

[Ravenhurst ST]

"You have my Sincerest apologies Officer Reyes and the rest of you, for not being clear and upfront. Miss Scire is correct, I am not from Earth or Ardeyn, nor am I a member of Your Estate which was the first. But rather I am from what will be the 8th and as far as we know the last, iteration of The Estate. The four of you in your quickened state due to contact with The Strange in an unusual and unknown way, have become..." hesitation again, "...have become discontinuous. You're actions are not in synch with the whole of the space/time continuum." The data which i have supplied you thus far is not known to your Estate, indeed much of the information I have given you was taken from Interviews after the fact with Mr. Cole and others."

 

Eidley pauses to let what he has said sink in.

 

"As for answering your question Ian, I don't know who your Goth-Mother is or who she is in league with, Its Data we havnt observed before. But as for whats at stake nothing less than the existence of the Earth and the universe as we know it, and not just in the now, but within the Whole frame work of the existence of the Temporal Continuum. If the Earth is destroyed Ladies and Gentlemen, The Universe goes with it."

[Curtis Shane]

"Yes, I suspected as much," Curtis commented dryly and sarcastically as the information sank in. The stakes seemed to be consistently raising themselves while not making things any better for Curtis to deal with, if not worse. "You shouldn't really be so surprised, Juno. You hypothesized a mole earlier - congratulations.... Eidley has confirmed you to be completely correct."

 

She of course, probably wouldn't be treasuring it, but that was Curtis' little last riposte before he had to see what there was. "Eidley, how long do we have before the tunnel stabilizes fully?"

 

"Unknown factors have changed in this locality. We know what Cole's plan was. But those circumstances have changed." The AI cast a significant look at Ian. " You have a day at best before Cole can implement his actions to tap Lotan."

 

Even more heartening. Curtis closed his eyes briefly and thought. The war glasses were feeding information into the tunnel. They had a captured pair here. "What happens if I feed corrupt data via the war glasses?"

 

Infuriatingly, Eidley seemed to shake his head in a nonchalant fashion - as if everything wasn't on the line. "The quality of the data does not matter. All that matters is that data flows through to increase the tunnel."

 

Right - back to the old hacker days. Worms and subtle tricks wouldn't have the impact required. Anything really powerful would have to be noticeable. So go for broke, because otherwise Ardeyn and Earth if not the entire cosmos would indeed be obliterated.

 

Curtis placed the glasses into a connection with his upgraded laptop. "Bring up the war glasses and Earth machine schematics." The scientist pursued his lips and made seemingly pleased hmms as he leaned it. Everyone had to guess so, because they weren't sure what Curtis was making heads or tails of. "Oh, good good good. Yes, I can modify these glasses to upload a virus that can shut down the tunnel-"

 

A section of the design flashed suddenly and then expanded apparently unbidded, and Curtis' initial smile vanished after a moment of confused peering. "And of course Cole, like any good programmer, set up defenses against this sort of thing."

 

Finally, he regarded the others. "Fine. That's the bad news. Good news is, I can still bypass the firewalls there with some hours of work, and then I should be able to shut down the machine and the tunnel. The other bad news is that we'll still have to get into the church afterward and destroy the machine itself for good measure."

 

"I need to stay here and get to work. We need someone to go recon the church so when we go in, it isn't blind."

[z-Ian]

“I’ll go, since I’m getting blamed for being part of the problem.” Ian found a lighter and quickly lit the cigarette clenched in his lips. With an exhale of smoke, he added, “I should probably go in with one of the ladies, while the other helps Curt here and can be our backup.”

 

Lexi waved her hand as the nicotine cloud filled the air, and Ian shifted so that he was blowing smoke away from her. “While I’d love to do this with Alex, I’m guessing Juno has some mad skills.” He shot her a crooked grin that managed to be more charming than lecherous, quite a feat for the young man. “Would you like to be my girlfriend, Juno? The lost soul with whom I’m seeking salvation?”

[SalmonMax]

Juno nodded slowly, but looked over at Curtis before answering Ian.

 

"You're the expert here. What are the odds this 'AI' that sounds like it's claiming to be from the future is actually some kind of hoax from whatever computer system the glasses are part of, trying to throw us off the real scent or lure us into a trap?"

[z011]

Lexi frowned and tried to shake off the streak of nasty emotions Ian's words stung through her. She added to Juno's concerns, "Also, if the Betrayer has communication with Foss and his people, they might well have been given my description. And possibly Salvatore's as well. When I came back to Earth, it was to escape Cole."

 

She gave a rolling shrug, "Which is to say that if either of us go, we probably both should. Or all three of us. Curtis, do you need someone to stay here with you while you hack the computer?"

[Curtis Shane]

"Juno, you realize this plan itself is predicated on the schematics Eidley is showing us. In any case, I wouldn't do something like that if I were the designer - KISS principle. Besides, why tell your foes these can be hacked? Especially because it would still mean the glasses are linked to the system and can be hacked anyway."

 

Curtis finished the summation and then answered Lexi's question. "Need? No. I'm a vet - I can take care of myself." Curtis had hacked Ian's cameras already, so he could easily establish a new feed from them for himself anyway.

[z-Ian]

“Okay,” Ian said, his grin widening as he glanced between the two women. “I can handle having two girlfriends.”

 

“No, you can’t,” Alexandria told him firmly. “You tried that once and it didn’t go well.”

 

Ian stared at her, his cigarette hanging in shock. “Okay, of course I can’t handle them if one of them is talking crazy. You have got to lay off the insane announcements, hot stuff.”

 

It was worth the startled blink his words earned him and Ian took advantage of her surprise. “Look, we need a cover story. I don’t look anything like you guys, and you don’t look enough alike to be related. Juno and I are closer in age and I won’t get Chris-Hansen’ed if I’m her boyfriend. Alex, do you want to be her step-sister? Daddy having a mid-life crisis with a hot Latina babe and forcing some familial blending could work. And if Alex wants to know more about the church while Juno and I are there to supervise little stepsister and keep her from drinking the koolaid will allow us to be suspicious and ask a lot of cynical questions.”

 

He took another drag and blew the smoke away from everyone, feeling better as the chemicals did their thing. “Alex, how about we call you Andrea, since that’s close to your name? I can be Sam, good and generic, and Juno, why don’t we call you Sophia?” At her 'what the fuck' look, he said, "What? It was what I named you in the bar."

[SalmonMax]

"If we go by that logic," Juno replied evenly, "We'd have to call you Dickhead."

 

Ian spread his hands defensively and gestured as if handing something to Juno. "Fine. You pick a name."

 

Juno opened her mouth, but paused as her brain didn't kick out an idea right away. The reality was that she wasn't terribly imaginative. She took things in, processed them, and filed them away without much desire to embellish them. When she queried herself for what a good name for her would be, the answer was just Juno. What else should she be called?

 

But if she didn't come up with something, she'd have to default to Sophia, which felt too soft, too...fragile? Jesus, it isn't a real name. Just pick one at random.

 

Fran? Too dumpy. Yves? French, and also sometimes a guy's name. Juanita? Jesus, no. Violet? Too floral. Guppy? ...what the actual fuck?

 

"Cassie," she said. "Cassandra. Or no, Sandra. That'll work. Sandra." She gave Ian a glare, challenging him to say something.

 

Thank god she had no plans for kids. This naming thing was harder than it looked.

 

"I don't like leaving Curtis on his own," Juno concluded. "Especially since it's sounding like he's our only shot at stopping this thing."

[z011]

Lexi's eyes widened when Ian declared his name for Juno and her cheeks flushed slightly. She was caught between the desire to smack him for his uncouth comments and hug him for even half-remembering himself - and her. She stepped into the opportunity Juno provided with her concerns of Curtis. "Then you stay here with him, Juno, and Salvatore and I will go to the compound. They obviously know who we are," she said gesture to the Estate agents in the room, "so the fewer of us that go the better. I'll go buy some make-up and some other clothes and hopefully that'll be enough to get by."

[z-Ian]

Juno didn't look like she was interested in that idea but Ian would rather be alone with Alexandria and not be eyed like he was a child molester for the next few hours. “He’s not the only one who can hack ‘em, he’s just a shit-ton better at it than me.” Ian shrugged casually, leaning across the bed to snag the ashtray and put it next to him. “Look, if he’s like me, he needs space and quiet to do his thing. He’ll have my room, which does, please note, have a lock on the door. If that’s not secure enough, Juno, then feel free to stay with him. But he’s got what he needs right here and he’s outside of the reach of Foss’s people.” He hesitated and then said, “Though we might want to move rooms since the monsters found my room here once.

 

“I’m gonna be honest, I’m offering to go in because I spin bullshit like I breathe.” He ate some more chips before adding, “It’s like reflex for me to give people a story they want to believe. Alexandra should go with me, because there’s safety in numbers. But if you’re worried about him and about having the ability to throw down with them later, then stay and conserve your strength. Alex and I are the most expendable in this scenario.” He glanced at her and winked. “No offense, hot stuff. You’re still my favorite.”