"Hey Alec" Kyle waved from the dryer, causing him to slide a bit before catching himself and climbing back up and out. "It looks like these guys were experimenting with Advanced Tech while in a psychologically unbalanced state, causing them to create quite a number of unique, yet small horizon realms. Its kinda cool. But they messed up and weakened the borders. Alien beings from the outer realms are wandering thru. The people living here are lost in these realm. Assuming they didn't explore past the border and get lost for ever or eaten by an alien. Unfortunately we're probably going to have to collapse the thing eventually. oh and "I" saved the day by flirting with a robot chick to get us out of trouble. So what did you do this morning? ooo is that lunch? Im starving, napping in that death chair really took it out of me."

In reply to Kyle Moskowits (msg # 354):

Bernard looked at the man with disbelief, "Whoa, whoa, whoa! You saved us?! You literally told the hostile A.I. that we were the enemy she finished saying was keeping an eye out for!"

He waved his hands and took a deep breath. "Anyway, that's behind us, moving on..." Bernard turned to Xhiva and Ashley, "You guys said that you came from the museum through one of these rooms? Let's head back and go to the Arcade. I don't think there's much left in that Art Gallery for us, is there?"

The former detective blinked before looking back to Alec and finished his introduction, "Sorry about that, Bernard Hathaway, former detective from LA. I've been assigned through NWO."

"Dude, i admit i started the trouble, but i fixed it too. Besides I'm pretty sure she digs me" Kyle says cordially, then holds his hand up to the group for a high five

In reply to Kyle Moskowits (msg # 354):

Akari looks at Kyle, raising an eyebrow. "YOU saved the day huh? Maybe you shouldn't have indicated to ALVAS that we were members of "The Order" clearly enemies to them. Did you see her emotional state spike up?" She pokes Kyle, "And NO, it wasn't your dashing charm or your rapier wit."

She turns back to Alec. "Konichiwa Alec-kun!"

Kyle beams at Akari, bringing his hand down to rub the spot she poked him,"So you think I have dashing charm and rapier wit? Now I'm the one that's being flattered. You know you have a really strong poking finger there. Do you have a license for that deadly weapon?"
This message was last edited by the player at 01:50, Thu 01 Apr 2021.

In reply to Kyle Moskowits (msg # 358):

Akari looks at Kyle a moment then laughs, holding her hand over her mouth politely. "Ancient Japanese secret!"
This message was last edited by the player at 01:52, Thu 01 Apr 2021.

In reply to Akari (msg # 359):

Bernard looked between the two's playful flirting. Back in LAPD, there was always fun banter to be had, but it always seemed to snowball out of control and get the team lazy. He had to snip it in the butt before everyone got too distracted.

"Moving on, Arcade?"

Ashley looked dubious as Kyle once again mentioned the death chair and the fact he had saved the day earlier, but politely refrained from commenting about either of the statements.  Though she did make a mental note that if Kyle had been so strongly affected by the chair, he likely had recently been experiencing significant sleep deprivation.

She frowned slightly as Bernard suggested that they head back into the alternate dimension realm and return to the Arcade.  “Wouldn’t it make more sense to bring Mr. McDowell up to speed and to analyze the information we have already found prior to making a plan of action?  Or will the rest of the team be doing that?”  She added, “It might also make more sense to explore the house first instead of the subdimensions.  It seems likely that we’ll find more information about the family’s motivations and plans in their home than we would in the recently created subdimensions or horizon realms?”

She then turned to Alec with a polite smile as she added, “It’s nice to see you again Mr. McDowell.”  Ashely, Resurgence’s trainee, had been briefly introduced to Alec, earlier in the week.  She was a recent graduate from Stanford with PHDs in biology and organic chemistry who had been recruited into the Progenitors.


OCC:  Due to work/school issues, Resurgence's player has taken an extended break from the game.  He will be following along with the group but won't be saying anything for a few more weeks or until the player is able to return.

In reply to Ashley Collins (msg # 361):

retracting the claws back into the fingers I smooth out my coat, "Agreed Ashley, think i'll wake another look around the rooms upstairs in more depth incase anything was missed, oh and watch out for any of the couch monsters friends Kyle, never know when they'll call for backup" Then fading into the background and head up the stairs to look around more, "Keep an eye out Rose if you'd please."

Bedroom with twin beds

Robert's Investigation (Extended)
19:46, Today: Robert rolled 6 successes using 12d10 with the World of Darkness 2nd ed system with a target of 6 ((6,1,4,2,5,7,9,7,6,5,10,6)).


Rose's Investigation (Extended)
19:48, Today: Robert rolled 7 successes using 12d10 with the World of Darkness 2nd ed system with a target of 6 ((4,8,8,8,2,9,8,8,7,5,9,1)).
This message was last edited by the player at 00:53, Sat 03 Apr 2021.

"Hold on a moment..."

Alec motions to the rest of the party to stop before they depart to other locations in the home.

"Does anyone have a map of the house?"
Alec's pauses for a moment for someone to respond.  If not, Alec will pull out a large sheet of paper and sketch a basic diagram.

"Maybe we should try and search the home in a more organized manner.  Together.  As a team..."
Alec pauses for confirmation from the group.

OOC: Can we get a diagram (top down) view of the 1st and 2nd floor if possible.  If not, perhaps just a list of rooms with what floor each resides on.
==> I propose to make this easier on Michelle.  Let's pull a map out and search room by room. 1st floor, then 2nd.  Start at the entrance of the home and work are way around the house.  It makes more sense for us to move as a group to streamline posting, but also to more effectively deploy resources.
What are everyone's thoughts on this?

Munching on a sandwich Kyle responds, "that's a good idea Alec. It'll help a lot. this place is huge and I'm getting confused. I also like Ashley's idea about finishing off the house area first. We might find more portals too. Ooo i bet Akari can make a nifty 3d map with her computer, I'll help"



20:48, Today: Kyle Moskowits rolled 3 successes using 4d10 with the World of Darkness 2nd ed system with a target of 6 with rolls of 7,8,8,5.  dementional mapping of known areas spirt/correspondance. [not sure what i need but i got spirt 4 correspondence 3}
This message was last edited by the player at 01:50, Sat 03 Apr 2021.

OCC:  I don't have a diagram of the house.  But if someone wants to draw one from my description, they can earn a few exp points.

Basic Layout of the House:

The house is basically a rectangle with a curved tower on the side near the door. There are sets of rooms facing both the front and back yards that are separated by a hallway.  The front door opens onto a small entry way and faces the side of the stairwell.


First Floor:

There are two rooms on the first floor facing the front yard:  the living room and the dining room.  The living room has three doorways (one from the entry way, one from the hallway and across from the half bathroom, and one from the dining room).  The living room has not yet been explored and Akari did not pick up a strong resonance from it.   There is a dimensional portal in the fireplace.

The dining room has two doorways (one from the living room, and one from the hallway across from the kitchen).  It has been partially explored, has a very strong dynamic: seeking resonance, was where the ritual was performed, and contains a small dimensional portal in the ceiling.

To the left of the stairs, in what is the curved tower area is an artistic studio.  It just has one entrance from the hallway. It has been explored by Resurgence and Ashley.  It has a dynamic: creative resonance.  It contains a dimensional portal leading to the Art Gallery.  The portal is located on the wall closest to the stairway.

Akari noticed earlier that there is an unobvious doorway to a room under the stairs.  It has not yet been explored.  The room has a dynamic: nurturing resonance and contains a portal on the far wall.

On the other side of the stairs, is a half bathroom.  It has once entrance, from the hallway, across from the living room.  It has not been explored, does not have a strong resonance.  It contains a dimensional portal in the medicine cabinet.

The next room is the kitchen.  It has three entrances (one from the hallway, across from the dining room; one from the laundry room; and a door leading to the backyard).  It has been partially explored.  It does not have a strong resonance.  It contains dimensional portals in the refrigerator and one of the cabinets.  The portal in the refrigerator leads to Portals Bermuda.  The portal in one of the cabinets seems to lead to a world made out of candy.  That portal is to small for anyone in the party (other than Ruby and Nimsesku) to enter without significant effort or magic.

At the end of the hallway is the laundry room.  It has one entrance (from the kitchen).  It has been explored.  It does not have a strong resonance.  It contains a dimensional portal in the drier which leads to the black and white cartoon kitchen.


Second Floor

The hallway at the top of the staircase leads to a study, which is directly in front of the landing of the staircase.  It is above the studio on the first floor.  It has a single entrance (from the hallway).  It has been explored by Robert and Bernard.  It has a dynamic: anxious resonance.  There appears to be a portal in the area outside the windows.

On the side of the house facing the front yard, there is a bedroom containing twin beds.  It has a single entrance, from the hallway.  It is located over the family room.  It has a Static: Scientific resonance.  It has not yet been explored.  It contains two portals.  One can be accessed via the window next to one of the desks.  The other can be accessed via the closet.

Next to that room is the full bathroom.  It is located above the dining room.  It has a single entrance from the hallway.  It does not have a strong resonance.  It contains two portals.  One in the medicine cabinet and one in the toilet.

At the end of the hallway, over part of the dining room, part of the kitchen, and the laundry room, is a Emerson’s bedroom.  It has a single entrance, from the hallway.  It has not yet been explored.  It has faded and wasn't picked up by Akari on her scan from downstairs, but there are two lingering resonances: dynamic: encouraging, and pattern: woven.  It contains a dimensional portal in the closet.

On the side of the house facing the backyard is the master bedroom (Piper and Nicolae’s room).  It has one entrance, from the hallway, and is located over the half bathroom and part of the kitchen.  It is across from the twins room and the bathroom.  It has not been investigated.  It has a dynamic: musical resonance.  It has a dimensional portal in the closet.


OCC:

Rooms with their names listed in green have been explored or partially explored by one or more members of the group.  Rooms with their names listed in red have not yet been explored.

Any questions?
This message was last edited by the GM at 20:21, Sat 03 Apr 2021.

Robert headed upstairs, deciding to focus first on the twin’s bedroom.  An initial glance quickly made it clear that this was a place where both of the twins could sleep, study, and play.

https://i.imgur.com/6TmLbmu.jpg" data-lightbox="images-msg-366">https://i.imgur.com/6TmLbmu.jpg" alt=''>

A set of bunk beds took up most of the far wall.  Based on the colors of the linens and the way they were decorated, it appeared as though Lex slept in the bottom bunk, the one with the orange sheets, and Morgan slept in the one on top that was decorated with a string of wooden bead and that had pink sheets.  A glance under the bed, revealed nothing but two pairs of shoes.  A wooden chair was located to the right of the bunk beds and the wall behind them was decorated with pictures and multicolored Christmas lights.

To the left of the bunk beds, on the left wall, was a closet.  The closet door was closed.  The primary piece of furniture on the left wall was a chest of drawers.  A quick glance through the drawers just revealed various articles of children’s clothing: socks, underwear, t-shirts, etc.  On top of the dresser was an empty hamster cage and a model of a mastodon skeleton.  There was a hand made “Lost Pet” sign above the hamster cage.  It said: “Lost Hamster, Nimsesku.  If found, please return to Lex and Morgan Pastore.  The middle of the sign showed a reasonably good drawing of a hamster.

https://i.imgur.com/RF9FhGw.jpg" data-lightbox="images-msg-366">https://i.imgur.com/RF9FhGw.jpg" alt=''>

The right-hand wall contained two windows, each with built in furniture under them.  The window closest to the bunk beds, had three shelves under it holding various games, model kits, lego sets, and decorative objects including a geode with purple crystals and a rock containing a fossil.  A plant hung from the ceiling in front of the window.

The section of the wall between the two windows contained a picture of the twins and their parents, a picture of the twins, and a drawing of a plant.  Below the pictures was a plastic storage case holding an assortment of toys, models, etc.

The other window, had a desk under it and a chair in front of it.  The desk was quite tidy: a small lamp, a pencil holder with an assortment of pencils and pens, a pad of paper, and something that appeared to be a small diary or journal.  A quick glance showed that it contained fairly well drawn pictures of various types of plants and flowers (some rather unusual) along with various entries about them.  Robert might have set it aside unread, but he noticed Morgan mentioned something about one of the plants talking to her and noticed a reference to something called the anomaly.  Remembering that the family referred to themselves as Children of the Anomaly, he realized that it might be helpful to read through the entire thing.  It shouldn’t take too long to do so.  It was less than 20 pages long after all, and most of the pages had pictures on them.

Robert also noticed something unusual about the window in front of the desk.   It looked as though if he opened the window and crawled over the desk, he’d be able to climb outside onto a bridge made out of vines that lead to a huge tree decorated with glowing mushrooms.

The final wall, the one containing the doorway Robert had used to enter the room, held a bookshelf, a small wooden table, and a chair. Two abstract pictures and a detailed engineering schematic decorated the wall.  The bookshelf was full of a wide assortment of children’s books.  While some of them were classics and popular fiction, most of them were non-fiction or academic in nature, with the largest percentage being children’s science and engineering books of various types.  The table was messier than the desk, with several homework assignments scattered on it, along with a globe and a model dinosaur skeleton.  Most of the assignments didn’t seem particularly important, but one notebook caught Robert’s eye.  It contained detailed information about set of experiments that Lex had been performing on Nimsesku in an attempt learn how to prevent death.

The floor was wooden and a large brown circular rug with an abstract design covered much of it.  In addition to an ordinary light fixture in the ceiling, all of the walls had also been decorated with/were lit by multi-colored Christmas lights.

OCC:  Please let me know if you would like to investigate anything more closely including looking in the closet, trying to go out the window, or reading either of the two documents I mentioned.
This message was last edited by the GM at 07:23, Tue 06 Apr 2021.

In reply to Ashley Collins (msg # 361):

Bernard frowned back at Ms. Collins in return. It was both her and Akari that had been jumping into portals and alternate dimensions without ever completing any sweeps despite his actions. Now she was lecturing him to complete the sweep?! He wanted to groan to himself, but bit his tongue.

'Why in the world does Kiki want me to be a part of these wackos?! Did I do something to piss her off?! Was it me kicking her out of my place repeatedly the problem? Is this pay back?! ...Maybe it would be a good idea to give her the keys to my place, as a sign of goodwill. Not that she needs it anyway with her constant breaking ins, but maybe it'll be enough to get her to give him better jobs?'

"I guess I'll take another, more thorough look through the study, see if there is anything we might have missed if anyone wants to join me. With hidden portals everywhere, can't be hard to imagine that there are some really good hiding places around."

OOC: Bernard will be going to the study if anyone wants to join him. Let me know when you're ready for me to make my rolls. He will be doing a more intensive search, looking for fake walls and doors and such on the desk and anywhere else Bernard can reach.

Bernard and Resurgence headed back upstairs and into the study, which was located in a small, semi-circular room easily visible from the top of the stairway.

The study had a wooden floor covered by a large circular rug.  A simple wooden desk holding a computer, piles of paper, a desk lamp, and a small photograph of Emerson and Jean was located directly in front of the windows.  The computer was at least 5 years old and was not locked or password protected.  An old wooden chair with pealing red paint was sitting in front of the desk.

To the left of the desk was a wooden filling cabinet, a bookshelf, and a corkboard filled with papers and notes.  To the right of the desk was a cabinet with a ham radio sitting on top of it, a second taller bookshelf, and a now unlocked and empty safe.  There was a clock on the wall which had stopped at 07:06.

Bernard remembers that Robert removed some birth certificates, a death certificate, social security cards, some titles and deeds, and Emerson’s journal from the safe prior to their journey into the refrigerator.  Robert had placed the journal and the additional paperwork inside his coat pockets.

There were a variety of books on the bookshelves, including a full set of encyclopedias, but the most common subjects were science and secret societies (such as the Illuminati).  There was also a small subsection on American military history.  Almost all of the books were hardbacks and many were leather bound.

Prior to his trip into the refrigerator, Bernard had begun glancing through the piles of paper in Emerson’s office.  While he hadn’t had time to read all of them, he had started to notice a pattern.  A short time ago, he would have simply assumed that Emerson was a conspiracy theorist or perhaps a bit paranoid.  But, is it really paranoia or a conspiracy theory if a shadowy group actually is observing you and your family (admittedly far less frequently than Emerson seemed to assume)?  Clearly Emerson had been trying his best to research the Technocracy, though with limited success.  For instance, he seemed to think it was called the Order.

Bernard had also noticed a note written on stationary paper decorated with bunnies.  It said, “Grandpa, I overheard a conversation between Uncle Lucius and Lex.  I think Uncle Lucius is trying to figure out how to break into your safe and use the Transducer in a science project with Lex.  I’m scared that might be dangerous and that Lex might get hurt.  Love, Morgan

A glance at the windows still shows something unusual and unsettling outside.  Despite the fact that it is early afternoon, the view outside the windows is as black as a moonless night.  And, there are eyes...lots of eyes...watching.

https://i.imgur.com/0JhZt8l.jpg" data-lightbox="images-msg-368">https://i.imgur.com/0JhZt8l.jpg" alt=''>

OCC:  The transducer showing in the picture is currently in Akari's backpack (with the help of correspondence magic to make it fit).  So, the top of the filing cabinet is empty



Most of the room’s walls were exterior ones, making it fairly easy to determine that there weren’t likely to be any non-magical fake walls or doors.  In an attempt to search for magical passageways, Bernard and Resurgence tried running their hands over various surfaces to see if they were solid.  They were.

It seemed highly likely that the windows looking out into darkness and watching eyes led to an alternate dimension.  But, they were located behind various pieces of furniture: the desk, the filing cabinet, the small chest of drawers. Bernard and Resurgence weres fairly certain they could open the windows if they wanted to, but, that it would involve moving furniture out of the way.

OCC:  Bernard and Resurgence have several available options.

They could try searching the computer for information.  If you would like to do that, either give me an intelligence + computer roll at difficulty 6 or an intelligence + investigation roll at difficulty 6.

They could read through more of the papers on the desk and in the file cabinets.  That will take time but not require a roll.

They could move furniture out of the way and try to open or go out the window.  If you decide to do that let me know BEFORE you say one of them is going out the window.  You will want the additional information I will provide PRIOR to making that decision.

They could do something that I’m not thinking of at the moment
This message was last edited by the GM at 02:44, Tue 13 Apr 2021.

Exhausted from climbing up the blue crystal tunnel and out of the laundry machine. Surge was hunched over trying to catch his breath for a few minutes. Labored of breath and bent at the waist clutching his knees Surge briefly raises his right arm up to wave, and lifts his head up to look in the direction Alec and the team.

"Hey Alec... nice to see you."

Surge slowly gathers himself up enough to stand near the team.


In reply to Ashley Collins (msg # 361):


Yes, I agree with you too Ashley. Prior events lead us astray from doing a proper rundown of the residence.

Resurgence barley catches Robert moving out of the area and, hears him go up the stair. Resurgence could sense his intention to go to the bedroom with the twin beds.

In reply to Alec McDowell (msg # 363):

We have yet to make a map of the area. It would seem this house if full of portals to the pocket dimension created by Lucius Sileg leader of "The Power of Positive Mechanics" cult. We have yet to find any evidence of where any member of the family may be at this time.

Resurgence pauses when he glances lunch. His eyes widen.

"I could really use some nourishment right now."

Resurgence snarfs his lunch. Loud gnawing sound could be heard until he felt full and satisfied.

"That was delicious. Thanks Alec."

In a split second Resurgence briefly envisions a fuse burning his eye's drawn toward Bernard. As Bernard explains his intent to go to the study Surge staring at him calmly.

"Yeah Bernard we need to start somewhere together. Robert went to upstairs so lets head up together. I'm all for making a map of this place with marks for any other portals we may find. I can follow you Bernard.


In reply to Alec McDowell (msg # 363):


OOC: I'm down with this.

OCC:  I will edit my prior post to include the fact that Resurgence is with Bernard.

The detailed list of rooms can be found in post #365.  Akari was in the process of creating a map and may post it here once she completes it.
This message was last edited by the GM at 02:30, Tue 13 Apr 2021.

OOC: Bernard Hathaway rolled 6 successes using 7d10 with the World of Darkness 2nd ed, Specialised system with a target of 6, rerolling 10s with rolls of 10(+9),2,6,6,6,9,5.  Going through PC (correct dice).

Sitting himself at the computer, Bernard booted up the machine and got to work at accessing the files. Not feeling as rushed as during the first sweep of the house, the former detective felt he could get more accomplished during this round of investigations.

Bernard looked over at Xhiva and spoke to him, "Assuming you realize that I'm here, try to see if you can start going through these piles of paperwork. For now, Surge, just start sorting for anything important, we can go through it together when you grab as much as you can." Bernard looked back at the monitor, "Computers are Akari's...domain," he couldn't help but smirk at his own pun, "so I might be there with you in a minute when I probably have to call her over."

OOC: This is not an attack on David. In case it was missed or forgotten, a couple of times Bernard attempted to communicate with Xhiva, he acted as though Bernard wasn't even there and went ignored. Bernard was given a good reason by Ashley (don't remember exactly what it was), so Bernard can now never know with the man. This is him being IC.

While Emerson was paranoid, he didn’t seem to be particularly computer savvy.  His desktop computer was over five years old and neither the computer itself nor any of the files on it were encrypted or password protected.  Up to date security and antivirus software was installed, but it was basic off the shelf stuff.  Interestingly, while the computer could be connected to the internet, via an actual cable rather than wifi, the cable was not plugged in.

Bernard was easily able to find Emerson’s video logs in a folder labeled video logs:
https://thecharter.org/categor...emerson-video-tapes/

OCC:  If the link takes you to the home page instead of the video logs:
Click on the book on the left hand side of the home page (below the picture of the house)
Click on Emerson Video tapes

He was also able to find folders containing years’ worth of research on various secret organizations, some of which Bernard had heard of (the Freemason, Illuminate, and the Rosicrucians) and others which he may not have (Daedaleans, the Ivory Tower, and the Camarilla). The files on some of the organizations, such as the Freemasons were extensive.  But files on other organizations, such as the Camarilla were almost empty: mere references and rumors with little to no substantial information.

Bernard almost overlooked the folder labeled recipes and containing files with names like blackberry pie and chicken soup.  But they didn’t seem to fit in with the other files on the computer, so he decided to take a closer look and discovered that the deceptive file names were an attempt to protect the information within them.

The oldest document in the folder, titled Chicken Soup, said the following:

“E.  I’m risking a lot by sharing these with you, but I’m always impressed when someone such as yourself realizes capital T-truth.  The more we spread awareness about this threat, the better.  Maybe one day we won’t have to hide.

The files in this folder represent transmissions I decoded over many months.  These were hidden in AM/FM radio signals, if you can believe that.  Hopefully these will satisfy your curiosity and let you know that, yes, you are on the right path.  Please be careful who you show these to.  The agents are closer than you realize.

-- A Friend”

--------------------

The first intercepted message, titled Chili said:
“From:  Operative 35
Subject:  Surveillance Report/Concerns

To the Committee,

The move to our new building is going according to schedule.  “The Pyramid,” as the staff calls it, should be fully operational sooner than we expected.  On a personal note, I’d like to thank the Committee for my office; it’s more than enough to suit my needs and the view from the top of the pyramid is incredible.  You know, if I put a telescope by my window I could see what all of you are up to right now!  Forgive me.  That’s a little surveillance humor for you.  You can trust me.

The data centers in the lower floors are nearly online.  Per the safety manager’s recommendations, I started a buddy system for any staff members who have to venture to the lower levels for any reason.  It’s a labyrinth down there, a mess of computers, servers, wires, and cooling pipes.  Even with the buddy policy in effect, we lost a technician for a couple of days.  Security found him.  He had a small campsite and was sleeping next to a server bank for warmth.  He’s fine, though.  Nothing some IV fluids can’t fix.  We would have found him sooner had the Committee approved my request for a few more cameras.  Honestly given what we’re up to in the Pyramid, it’s a little ridiculous that we’re not watching over our own hallways.

I know the data center sounds intimidating when I describe it that way, but it’s barely enough storage to satisfy our needs here.  We have to both monitor and look out for reality deviants both on Earth and in alternate dimensions.  That requires an amount of storage and bandwidth that is frankly obscene.  It’s quite a task to review what we’ve collected in any satisfying way.  Monitoring internet traffic alone requires us to process some 30 petabytes of data per day.

We’ve flagged certain behaviors and energy readouts that should alert us whenever one of the reality deviants starts acting up, but that’s a crutch.  If one of them start messing with the fundamental structure of the Universe, we are already too late in my opinion.  We need to identify these people before one of them breaks something important.  This thought worries me to the point that I sit in my office watching the raw feed for anything that looks suspicious.  I know this isn’t healthy, but I can’t help myself.

That brings us to our experiments using animals for surveillance.  I’m happy to say that research is moving along quite well.  It’s easy enough to stream images from their eyes and beam it back to the data center.  We can even use sonic frequencies to give them “suggestions” about what they observe.

Funny story about that latter point; we tested the animal surveillance system out on a suspected vampire early in the project.  He was getting off of the subway in Manhattan and we activated the surveillance system to target – what we thought – was a lone rat on the opposite train platform.  Only, there was a glitch we hadn’t identified yet that ended up communicating our signal to every single rat in that particular subway tunnel.  People estimate that there could be 28 million rats underneath New Your City and while I still think that’s an exaggeration it certainly didn’t appear that way when a tidal wave of vermin chased the poor guy back to his apartment.

Research is fun.”

Bernard recognized the symbol at the bottom of the memo.  It was the symbol of the New World Order.

-------------------

The file labeled Szechuan Chicken contained a memo with the heading:  The committee’s decision regarding my robot overseers.  It was a lengthy document from Operative 15 protesting the committee’s rejection of his plan to create thousands humanoid robots that were less intelligent and less powerful than Hit Marks (and thus less expensive) and then send them out in mass to identify and eradicate all reality deviants at once.

-----------------

The file labeled Roasted Turkey contained part of a report titled “Deterring Reality Deviance through the use of Sleep Paralysis.”  The portion of the report available indicated that a group of researchers was using a sonic device that emitted an inaudible tone to rouse sleeping reality deviants to consciousness while maintaining the muscle paralysis that a human’s body naturally enters when they are in a dream state.  Being in this state caused the target to enter a hyper-vigilant panic, during which the researchers would menace and threaten him.  While the full study wasn’t available, it appeared that the goal was either to see whether fear could be used to discourage the subjects from using magic entirely or to aid in reprograming them.

-----------------

The next two documents were a bit strange and appeared as though they were unsuccessful propaganda attempts.

Blackberry Pie was actually a short story from a book that was going to be titled: Stories for Obedient Children by Pamela Young.   https://thecharter.org/narrative/intercepted-msg-no-4/

Oatmeal was a poem titled “Ode to an Exit Sign”
https://thecharter.org/narrative/intercepted-msg-no-5/

----------------------------------

The final two documents were extremely relevant however.

Crab With Lemon:

“From: Suppression Squad Leader
Reporting from: Saint Malibados> Portals Bermuda> Lucius Selig Anomaly

I'm going to assign more of our resources to Portals Bermuda. This is such a mess. It's bad enough that Selig is straining space-time by creating new dimensions in the first place, but what happened here is shocking even to me.

Selig needs to be put in his place; his ego is unforgivable. He has the powers of a god and how does he use them? To make a cheap resort accessible to anyone with a platinum credit card and no sense of shame. Selig has no idea what he's messing around with. The very foundations of reality are structurally unsound here. This place is jerry-rigged to the point that the slightest disturbance will cause it to collapse into a universe-shattering paradox.

It's so bad that I'm afraid to sneeze here, let alone activate most of our equipment.

Here's the situation with Portals Bermuda, as we understand it. Selig has travel agents on Earth who book vacation packages with tourists. These tourists are mostly followers of his
"Power of Positive Mechanics" cult. They consider a trip here to be a kind of holy pilgrimage.

The tourists travel to Portals Bermuda through a wormhole located somewhere on Earth. We haven't found this access point yet. Selig is being very cautious, almost paranoid, about his business. This is understandable, given his family's history with us.

Portals Bermuda exists as a hub dimension, like a visitors’ center. There are other dimensions branching off that lead to realities Selig feels are of significant spiritual importance. We've heard the term "Spirit Home" being thrown around a lot here.

One of these dimensions, Saint Malibados, is especially concerning to us. Selig constructed most of the other Portals locations out of "whole cloth," so to speak. They didn't exist, and then Selig willed them into existence. But in the case of Malibados it looks he like he borrowed {read: stole) pieces of our actual reality to build this one. We found this in his PR materials:

Why go to one beach when you can go to ten? We combined the most stunning features of the galaxy's top-voted beaches to create St. Malibados.

Relax on sparkling white beaches, snorkel in Technicolor seas and marvel at the plasma show following the spectacular twin sunset.

Some people call it paradise, but we know it as St. Malibados.

We wondered what he meant by that, so we started comparing features of Saint Malibados to other beaches in our records. None of the beaches here bear any resemblance to the beaches on Earth, meaning Selig was copying other beaches in the universe.

Only he didn't copy them, he took them. He stole ten tropical beaches out of our universe and stitched them together to create Saint Malibados. There are gaping voids in reality where those beaches once were. What he did- it's grotesque, it's extremely dangerous and it's copyright infringement.

In light of this information, the line about the "twin sunsets" sounds even more alarming. Is Lucius Selig brazen enough to snatch two stars out of our universe and use them for his resort? I believe he is.

The hubris is sickening. I walk on these beaches, knowing what I know, and I see armies of tourists from god knows where or when drinking cheap beer and listening to Jimmy Buffet cover bands. I see a child cry as he drops an overpriced ice cream cone into the sand. People are letting their pets defecate on pristine beaches that had never been touched by a living creature before. The seagulls here are monstrous things, bloated and engorged from eating the trash left on a waterfront the size of a small continent. I was trying to take samples of the atmosphere yesterday and some jerk kept kicking sand in my face.

Selig must answer for this. I cannot wait to get my hands on him. I'm going to make him watch while we erase this abomination from existence.

-------------------

And finally:  Turkish delights

Reporting from: The Desert> Portals Bermuda> Lucius Selig Anomaly

It took many months of work, but we've found Selig. As I dictate this memo, I am watching him through the window of the trailer that doubles as his office in Portals Bermuda.

We've heard rumors that Lucius is getting increasingly paranoid, but you have to see it to believe it.  I haven't seen him leave that cramped trailer once since I tracked him here two weeks ago. I can't imagine what it must smell like in there.

Selig knows we're here. He moves every day in an attempt to throw us off his trail. The trailer and this patch of desert will be wiped from this dimension tonight and will appear in a different dimension by morning. It's extremely clever for Selig, but lucky for us we have a man on the inside who gives us the coordinates each day.

Christian Garcia, Lucius' assistant and boyfriend, is helping us. Garcia has seen how unbalanced Selig has become and he fears what will happen if it goes unchecked. Lucius won't see anyone face­to-face. He communicates with Garcia alone and then only in handwritten memos slipped under the door to his trailer. Lucius has tightened security to the point that Portals is turning into a prison camp. People who displease the "Master" are sent to mine for Lucian crystals deep in the caves of Murok-lnoo.

Garcia realized what the rest of us knew all along: Lucius is running a cult. But now the guru is burning out. This is the end. He's about to do something crazy and Garcia knows it. He wants to help us put a stop to Lucius before this scenario reaches its inevitable conclusion.

We dare not kick in the door to his trailer and confront him that way. Portals exists on Lucius' whim. He built it. He maintains it. He could whistle and send one half of this place crashing into the other.

We have backup plan, something we cooked up with Garcia in exchange for his protection. Garcia will encourage Lucius to make a personal appearance in front of a crowd of his followers. Two of our agents will be planted in the crowd. Posing as two of his followers, the agents will seek a private audience with him.

Lucius seems to think that we operate like aliens in a bad sci fi movie, like we'll try shooting him with a laser pistol. No, these two agents of ours will be close enough to hit Lucius with a powerful psychic attack. He'll never see that coming. We'll incapacitate him so he has no time to react. Portals will remain safely intact, then we'll install some blocks in Lucius' mind that will prevent him from returning here ever again.

Nasty thing to do to a person, but it's better than the alternative.

Garcia starts his work in the morning.
This message was last edited by the GM at 06:01, Sat 17 Apr 2021.

In reply to Narrator (msg # 372):

Will head back towards the dining room and that weird hole in the ceiling as everyone else is pretty busy. She'll call back to IVAN *Hey, sexy-metal you nearby? We are back in the house. I need you to keep an eye out for anyone that might come by the house or nosy neighbors. Anything been happening since we went to Zuul-land?*

Its nice that she is back in a NORMAL environment. And she heads to the dining room. Beside her, as usual is Ryuichi, who is still using chat bubbles, much to Akari's annoyance. She gets to mapping out the house as well as doing a more thorough investigation of any of the downstairs rooms she hadn't already looked. She'll also check the fridge and see if the original portal is still there.


OOC: Let me know what I need to roll please?

As Kyle, Alec, and Ashely finished their lunch, Akari first took a quick look in the refrigerator, successfully verifying that the original portal was still there, and then headed back to the dining room, entering through the hallway door, checking in with IVAN as she went.

IVAN responded “I am pleased to hear that you returned from the alternative dimension unharmed.  I will continue to monitor the area.  So far, the device that Kyle assembled has been discouraging anyone from approaching the house.  Even the uber driver that Alec hired to bring him here parked at a neighboring house.  There has been little else of note, though I believe I may have detected an unusual type of primate in the backyard.”

The room had a dark brown wooden floor, white wainscoting on the lower half of the walls, and slightly faded wallpaper in shades of cream and brown with a repeating pastoral image.  It was furnished with a wooden dining room table and six wooden chairs with cream colored cushions which were positioned on top of a large area rug with an abstract pattern.  The china hutch next to the wall displayed the Selig’s wedding china.  A large mirror with a gilded frame hung on a different wall.  A chandelier was hanging from the ceiling.  A second doorway lead to the living room (which had not yet been explored).

A closer look revealed quite a few things that seemed to be wrong or out of place.  The wainscoting on the walls was no long even, but instead seemed warped, rippling up and down in a wavelike pattern.  The ceiling was also oddly distorted with rings of concentric circles forming something like a shallow funnel above the dining room table.  And the chandelier looked distorted and partially melted.  The odd mechanical device that had been sitting on the table during the initial search was now in Akari’s backpack, but the rust colored placemats and candlesticks remained.

https://i.imgur.com/vCREL61.jpg" data-lightbox="images-msg-374">https://i.imgur.com/vCREL61.jpg" alt=''>

In the corner of the room bordered by the wall containing the doorway to the hallway and wall holding the mirror was an object that was probably Nicolae Pastore’s laser harp.  It was about six feet tall and four feet wide.  It looked like a square made from four polished and stained 2 by 4s.  36 thin beams of light could be seen extending from the top board to the bottom board, each beam a slightly different color.  There appeared to be some sort of power pack attached to the bottom board as well.

In the opposite corner, positioned so that it had a clear view of the dining room table and the doorway leading to the hallway, was a tripod holding a digital camera.  Akari had already viewed the three files stored on the camera.

Once again, as Akari approached the dining room table, the floor shook under her feet and she heard a rumbling sound.  She had already experienced the sensation of the minor earthquake before and remembered that it would stop after a few minutes.

It took a bit of maneuvering, but Akari was able to position herself so that she could see up into the hole in the ceiling.  When she did so, she saw the image of a young boy falling through space.

::OCC:  The most useful role would be using your Visual Data and Analysis Spectrum (VDAS) to scan the hole with correspondence, spirit, and life. You’d roll the wonder’s arete (which would be equivalent to the number of dots in the wonder.  I’m having a little trouble finding that on your sheet tonight/remembering)

The since it is just a sensing roll it will be coincidental and difficulty 4.::
This message was last edited by the GM at 04:25, Sat 17 Apr 2021.

In reply to Narrator (msg # 374):

Akari is going to sit down at the table, first sensing what she can with her resources, then set down the laser harp and start trying to make sense of it as well. Her goal is to see 1. how it works, and 2. how it works in conjunction with what is going on here. and 3. IF there is a correlation to the odd device in her backpack.

She will also grab a small piece of fruit or cracker for the Zom-pster in her pocket still.


23:37, Today: Akari rolled 3 successes using 5d10 with the World of Darkness 2nd ed, Specialised system with a target of 4, rerolling 10s with rolls of 5,3,5,8,2. for scanning


23:43, Today: Akari rolled 12 successes using 10d10 with the World of Darkness 2nd ed, Specialised system with a target of 2, rerolling 10s with rolls of 2,7,10(+9),9,4,4,2,3,5,10(+5).  INT + Technology --- odd machine.

23:43, Today: Akari rolled 6 successes using 10d10 with the World of Darkness 2nd ed, Specialised system with a target of 2, rerolling 10s with rolls of 1,6,8,3,7,1,6,8,5,9.  INT + Technology --- laser harp.

Nimsesku contentedly munched away at the slice of apple as Akari performed her research.

Scanning the hole above the dining room table confirmed what Akari had initially suspected; the hole was a small portal to an unknown alternate dimension. The ceiling around the hole was still solid and the portal itself was only large enough for her to stick her hand or arm into or possibly a zom-pster if she wanted to.  The life and spirit portions of the scan indicated that the boy that she saw falling through grey nothingness was not a living being or a spirit.  It appeared to be some type of psychic imprint instead.

After a bit of research, Akari was able to determine that it would be safe to touch the “strings” of the laser harp.  As she did so, she determined that each of them played a slightly different note but that the music the object made, while bell-like and quite lovely, was not magical in and of itself.  It soon became clear that the laser harp was a foci (possibly a unique foci) rather than a device or wonder.  It had no magic of its own, it was simply the tool that Nicolae used to create his effects.

::OCC:  Akari is also able to determine how the device makes music when you touch the “strings” of light.  And I know it’s possible because I got to play the device myself in real life.  But, I don’t understand OCC how it works, so I can’t be more detailed that that.::

The “odd device” or Transducer, on the other hand, was an extremely powerful Talisman or Device (an item with its own arete score and one that can be used by non-awakened individuals).  Akari had learned earlier that it had an arete of 5 and at least four spheres (correspondence, life, mind, and spirit), all of which were at least at level 3 and some of which were as high as level 5.  She had also determined that the device had most likely been created in the 50s by a Son of Ether or someone with a similar type of paradigm.

https://i.imgur.com/MvuOn73.jpg" data-lightbox="images-msg-376">https://i.imgur.com/MvuOn73.jpg" alt=''>

She also remembered that Emerson Selig obtained the device from someone called Seventeen while he was in Vietnam and that he had used the device in an experiment where he brought Nimsesku back to life and awakened Lucius’ powers.

After spending some time investigating the device and after looking at it with her correspondence, life, and spirit scan still active, she came to the following conclusions.

1.  The device could be used to transport multiple people to alternate dimensions and that two of the gears on the front of the device were how you input the coordinates that you wanted to travel to.

2.  The device could be used to heal people.

3.  The device could be used to restore someone to life by tying the individual’s spirit so strongly to the body that it would not pass into the afterlife.  Doing this would cause the body to “heal” itself relatively quickly after death.  But the process was likely to be painful at best.

4.  If the device is not properly configured or something unexpected happens when it is being used, it can cause unexpected effects (for instance causing Lucius’ uncontrolled instances of astral projection when he was a child).

4a.  It is possible that the device was involved with whatever initially happened to Lex.
OCC:  There are clues indicating that this is the case, but other people either haven't read them yet or have read them and not shared the information yet.

5.  The family was performing a ritual which combined the transducer, Nicolae’s abilities, and quite possibly Morgan’s abilities to locate Lex (who they believed was in an alternate dimension) and bring him back.

6.  Akari was fairly certain that she knew how to use the device to heal people and to open a portal to an alternate dimension.  But, that it would be risky to do so.

::OCC:  I think I covered everything.  If you have specific questions, let me know::
This message was last edited by the GM at 06:32, Sat 17 Apr 2021.

In reply to Narrator (msg # 372):

Bernard whistled quietly to himself, this definitely is a development and a nice trove of information. Though he couldn't help but roll his eyes at the complete lack of security on the computer, the machine didn't even need a password when he woke it up from sleep mode!

Taking screenshots with his phone's camera, he then fetched a small flash drive from his pocket before he plugged it in to copy over all the files he could. This info was too good to pass up on, but how relevant was it? There had to be a date or timestamp he must have missed.

Bernard got on his radio, "Team, I got to Emerson's computer, and someone decided to leave out some juicy intel to share with us. Sending screenshots to your phones now, working on getting a timestamp on some of these. I'm copying everything I can to a flash drive as we speak. Akari, I'm pretty sure I got to everything that there was, Emerson had hardly any security on this thing, but if you want to come up when you can and clean house, this girl is all yours."

When Bernard checks the date modified field for each of the documents in the Recipes folder, he notices that they all have the same date, 5/3/2019, and very similar times, the time stamps range from 9:10 am to 9:34 am.  The earliest time stamp is for “Chicken Soup” and the last time stamp is for “Turkish delights”

Based on the information Bernard read in “Chicken Soup”, specifically: “I’m risking a lot by sharing these with you” and “The files in this folder represent transmissions I decoded over many months,” and the time stamps on the file, it seems logical to assume that all of the files were sent to Emerson at the same time.