In reply to Bernard Hathaway (msg # 50):

As Bernard gets in and admires IVAN inadvertently calling him a her, there seems to be something starting to jab you in the back, but Akari mutters something in Japanese and the strange uncomfortable anomaly is gone.

Akari hands the paperwork to Bernard. "Well...my husband and I started it. The design is mostly his vision." She chuckled slightly. "Too much HALO I guess." She runs a finger over the steering wheel. "But most of the electronics and materials are from me. Some of his systems are....unique."

As people get in, the inside of the windshield becomes a monitor of sorts (think Jarvis's maps in Iron Man) and she plots out the hotel he mentioned. "Well, I'm currently in possession of 2.5 million dollars, but that money isn't ours either. We need to donate it, or I can get a list of those that were scammed and divide it back up among them."

She brings up the Motel Seaside and Sand doing a 360 rotation on the buildings, "Well if we get these last bungalows we'll be away from the bulk of the crowd and can come and go in relative secrecy. IVAN can stay under these trees."

// Under trees?! So birds can utilize my chassis to deficate upon?! //

Akari sighed and muttered. "Ok NOT under the trees then....Out in front, nice and sunny."

// Alpha particles are a detriment to my veneer! //

With another sigh, she looked at a different set of bungalows. "Ok, these ones have a carport for IVAN" The car seemed to purr in response.

She'll wait until everyone is in and situated before driving off.
This message was last edited by the player at 20:50, Tue 22 Sept 2020.

In reply to Bernard Hathaway (msg # 50):

Akari shrugs a bit. "Well you guys did things, how do you say...by the book...did you not?" she glances over at him, pulling her hoodie down finally. "You may find that things are not so much 'by the book' here. Besides," she adds, "Anyway, it sounds like you have to teleport in through Positive Mechanics. What kind of warrant did you need for THAT back in the Los Angeles?"

"If the building is locked then Robert can open it." She says with a smile. "And you do too know a millionaire. Actually multi-millionaire. He is sitting behind you." She thumbs her finger at Kyle.
This message was last edited by the player at 21:00, Tue 22 Sept 2020.

In reply to Akari (msg # 53):

Agreeing with Akari "Locks are just a means of entertainment most poor souls provide me without knowing they're doing so" I reply with a chuckle, I can get us in just about anywhere you like, probably even Fort Knox or the NSA if I have a mind to do so. As far as the rest of the stolen funds are concerned Akari, Iv always loved the concept of Karma, how about we find a nice children's tech/computer camp somewhere and send the money to them and also have it set up that they get a wonderful all expense paid weeks vacation at the same resort that the Madison's are at, I think it would be poetic justice that the money they stole is used to brighten some budding future hackers days" I start to chuckle at the thought of the Madison's face when they realize the money is gone from their accounts and it being used to fund a field trip for children to the same resort.

    I looked up from my older model Iphone. It only has a couple of cracks in the screen "sorry, I was looking up the local history of the area around that place Akari found. [5 successes] Then i saw a link someone sent me from the con I spoke at," I said dispirited. "Never read the comments," I read the comments, there was a massive flame war going on between the trolls and my fan girls and if Fanggurl95 was who i suspected i was in trouble. She was organizing the other girls and leading the charge. "But yeah, i got all that Ghost Bros money, so let me know if we need anything our normal funds don't cover. Maybe some fuzzy dice for IVAN"

The headquarters for Positive Mechanics are located in the historic section of San Francisco, which is in the northeastern part of the city, near the waterfront and the financial district.  It is close to Union Square, the cities main shopping and hotel district.  Kyle is able to find quite a bit of information about the history of San Francisco and these neighborhoods in particular, for instance Union Square got its name from pro-Union rallies held there on the eve of the Civil War and was built and dedicated by San Francisco’s first American mayor, John Geary.  But, none of it seems particularly relevant.

However, when Kyle turns his attention to researching the Positive Mechanics church itself, the information becomes much more interesting.

The church appears to have experienced a schism about two years ago.  Prior to the schism, the leader of the church was Master Lucius Selig.  According to the church’s primary webpage, the current leader is Master Christian Garcia.  The membership of the church seems to have decreased significantly since the schism and it only offers a small assortment of meetings and activities.   There are seminars about the Power of Positive Mechanics every Sunday night at 7:00.  There is a fundraiser/bake sale scheduled for Saturday, April 11th.  And there is a picnic in the park followed by reflecting on the wonders of the universe while gazing at the night sky scheduled for April 25th.  There is no mention of Portals Bermuda or of any type of spa currently associated with the church.  While the church is still in possession of the original headquarters building, you find a few records that make you think they may be having trouble affording the payments.  It appears as though they may be looking for someplace less expensive, which is a shame, the current building is quite lovely.

There is no information on the church’s primary home page indicating how or why the leadership changed.  You are able to find a small article from the associated press around that time claiming that due to a scandal involving drugs and hypnosis, Master Lucius Selig was forced to step down from his position of leadership in the Power of Positive Mechanics church.

However, while it appears that he no longer has official ties to the church, Master Lucius Selig seems to still be claiming leadership of the faith.  He is in possession of the Power of Positive Mechanics Facebook page:  https://www.facebook.com/pages...ics-986662621384539/ and has been posting videos to http://archives.powerofpositivemechanics.com/

You are also able to find links to several of the family members Facebook pages.  But there isn’t much information there.  None of them seem to update their pages regularly.

Lucius Seligs personal Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/peopl...elig/100009548686936
Nicoale Pastore:  https://www.facebook.com/profi...p?id=100009482654486
Piper Pastore:   https://www.facebook.com/profi...p?id=100009486254549
Emerson Selig:  https://www.facebook.com/profi...p?id=100009537738381


OCC:  Ignore the video titled Yonder on  http://archives.powerofpositivemechanics.com/.  It is not relevant for this game.  The other videos are.  For the video titled “Words of Wisdom with Master Lucius - An Open Challenge to The Charter” please replace the words The Charter with The Order.  The video “Words of Wisdom with Master Lucius - I'm Back!” was uploaded just a few weeks ago.
This message was last edited by the GM at 09:33, Wed 23 Sept 2020.

Looking a bit confused, Ashely asks "So, where are we going first, Mendocino or to San Francisco?"
This message was last edited by the player at 01:25, Wed 23 Sept 2020.

In reply to Narrator (msg # 56):

Looking at the links shared from Kyle, Bernard shares his thoughts. "I think we'd better head North to Mendocino and take as much stock and info we can gather. Then Saturday or Sunday we'll go south to San Francisco and go to the seminar the church is holding."

Bernard then turns to Akari and showed her the final video Lucius posted. "Akari, do you think you can have a program running to track the traffic and commits of his most recent post? New subscribers, too? I think it would be a good idea to watch out if this guy gains more momentum and followers. Don't want to get caught in the middle of another resurgence or schism."
This message was last edited by the player at 18:30, Wed 23 Sept 2020.

In reply to Bernard Hathaway (msg # 58):

"That shouldn't be a problem. Gimmie a few." She says. As a WAZE map appears on the front windshield and the vehicle starts to move, smoothly merging into the road ahead.

Akari is looking down at the light board, her fingers flashing over the keys as text starts pilling up on the smaller screen in front of her.

"Uh.." She looks up at the road briefly. "Mendocino." She answers Ashley and then focuses back on typing code. "Besides," she adds, "What can we do in San Fran at 2am anyway?"

"I don't know about you, but a shower and a bed await us in Mendocino."

She works for a while on it, humming to herself, then suddenly snarls and deletes the whole thing. "Trash. Gonna start over...." (got 4 successes)

She approaches it a different way and it seems pleasing as she keeps typing away looking down at her screen. "Hey, there are USB ports back there to plug in if anyone needs." (got 5 successes)

The truck moves smoothly along the freeway, passing and merging, even using signals while J-pop plays on the stereo.

Eventually, if no one talks she dozes off.
This message was last edited by the player at 13:00, Thu 24 Sept 2020.

Relaxing in IVAN and reading through the files "A shower and sleep sounds wonderful at the moment, been going non stop for almost a full day now. This Lucius Selig guy seems like a right piece of work, reading here through the files it seems that little Morgan seems to be an empath and keeps her distance from her uncle, has me wondering what nasty skeletons he has in his closets to get that reaction from her." Typing a quick message on his phone back to headquarters, "Files mention that his threat level is none, situation has been dealt with, wonder what that's all about and what was done. Perhaps after the church seminar I could visit their office later that evening and take a peek around and see what can be found." Looking up and seeing Akari dozing off here and there "Ummmm silly question but does IVAN have an autodrive function perhaps?"
This message was last edited by the player at 21:42, Thu 24 Sept 2020.

In reply to Robert (msg # 60):

"No, according to the reports, Morgan empathy is what drives her away. She won't need a logically reason if her instincts leaves her uncomfortable or even terrified of the man." Bernard thinks on it for a moment, "Though that said, we shouldn't rule out that she's witness to something. That said, if we try and approach her ourselves, she instantly become suspicious and warn the family. We'll have to be careful with her, maybe place remote cameras to watch them all?"

Watching Akari's dropping eyes, Bernard starts tapping her on the lap to get her attention, making her jolt a little in her seat. "Hey Akari, I'm used to all nighters, I can take the wheel and drive us up there if you need some Zzz."

He turns back to Robert, "Also, I will NOT trust those self driving cars with my life. I've read up too many times with those accidents! Between 2014-2018, there have been 38 accidents alone with them in 'motion,' and just think about how many self driving cars are actually employed? That's a much larger ratio and percentage of accidents!"

In reply to Bernard Hathaway (msg # 61):

The car continues until it hits the rumble strips and Akari jolts awake, in part due to Bernard's tapping. "Ahh!" She exclaims and the truck swerves hard back into the road. Those of you nearby would notice that Akari's hands have still not touched the wheel. "IVAN!" she yells, "NANTEKOTTA!" She then begins a tirade, in Japanese, aimed directly at the center dashboard, where a screen is currently dark.

Everyone in the car feels an odd vibration, subtle but noticeable, and you get the distinct sense the vehicle is .... laughing.


*nantekotta - what the f**k
This message was last edited by the player at 02:16, Fri 25 Sept 2020.

In reply to Akari (msg # 62):

Bernard now slightly worried about his and everyone else's safety, asked "So, umm, are you okay to drive? Plenty of space to pull over."

In reply to Bernard Hathaway (msg # 63):

Akari glances over at Bernard. "I'm not driving right now. IVAN is, and I think he's paying me back for driving him in the rain." She points a glare at the dashboard again then looks back over at Bernard.

"You wanna drive?"

In reply to Akari (msg # 64):

Bernard got a little excited at the thought of driving this baby, but remained mostly objective. "Sure, pull over where ever." Her words about IVAN driving went over his head, there was no way IVAN could drive itself and 'Pay her back.'
This message was last edited by the player at 02:42, Fri 25 Sept 2020.

In reply to Bernard Hathaway (msg # 65):

Akari pulls over to the side and then after Bernard gets out she hops over to the passenger seat. "IVAN be nice ok?" she says before Bernard can come back around.  As Bernard goes to the door, the car rolls forward. Akari is clearly in the passenger seat now getting some coffee. It continues to roll forward just out of reach.

Running after the car, he yells "You didn't put the brakes on!"

The car reverses suddenly and Bernard narrowly misses the open door. It then starts creeping forward and back, toying with the former detective.

"Not this time!" Bernard hops in and slams the door shut before slamming the brakes. Akari looks up startled from the sudden maneuver. "Bad car!" he looked to Akari, "How did you forget to put it in park?!" he exclaims while wiping his forehead and shaking the rain out of his hair.

"He's messing with you." She said simply.

"What?! He?!"

"IVAN is."

Bernard looks flabbergasted, "The car, IVAN?!"

"Hai." She looks at the dash again. "He thinks he's funny..." She looks mad but there is a glimmer of mirth there.

Bernard looks at her as though she's a little crazy, "Heh, yeah, the car thinks it's funny!" IVAN honks the horn indignantly, "Fine, IVAN thinks he's funny!...Wait, what?!"

"You could tell him he's a handsome vehicle. He likes flattery." She says.

Bernard slowly looks down at the steering wheel, rubbing his thumb against the high end leather. "Whaaaaaaaaat?" he said in a low, gasping breathe.

The vehicle is still creeping backwards.

"No, no, no no no!" He tries holding down the brakes, but they refused to cooperate. Fortunately there are no other cars on the road at this crazy hour and weather.

"Bad car! That's a baaaad car! ...Wait, no! Who's a pretty car?! You are, you are! You are one of the raddest, most badass looking cars around! A Lambo would look at you and wish it was more like you! Please, please work with me!"

The car finally stops and waits.

Bernard lets out a shuttered breathe before leaning his head against the steering wheel. "The car IS alive. IVAN is alive. Someone could have WARNED ME!" He then glares hard at the dashboard, "Just so you know, I was already all sweet on you before your little stunt."

Akari looks at Bernard "I did warn you." She looks back at the console, which lights up in a subdued, shifting  fractal pattern because its dark.

"You could have acted a little more serious about telling me the car is sentient, instead of being so casual about it." Bernard's right eye twitched for a moment. His right eye twitched again before rounding back on the rest of the passengers. "You all knew, did you?! ...Ashley, you okay there? You're actually looking a little shell shocked over there." Bernard asked genuinely worried. Ashley was still seated in the middle with her eyes cracked open to their fullest, and her hand leaving a noticeable dent in her cup.

Akari spoke to the vehicle, "IVAN its okay to talk now."

The fractal pattern undulates as IVAN speaks. "First you want me to be placid, then you mute me out, then you want me to be silent once more. You must make up that vivified cortex of yours. And Bernard Hathaway, I assure you, I am QUITE sentient. "

"And you talk too?!"

Akari, with a look of slight annoyance, begins "You're also quite a--" as the horn begins to honk and drowns her words out.

"...well, she's technically not wrong either" Bernard comments.

"Yes, I am articulate" IVAN stated smugly.

"Seriously better than some people I know. Just another one of the many failures this county lets continue on...wait, why am I talking about ethics and American education with a car?!"

"Are you done with the tantrum IVAN?" Akari asked.

"Quite.  And I enjoy ethical discourse. I find it enlightening."

"As do I...I'm still doing it!"

Akari giggled at him.

Bernard held his head up before resigning himself to facts. "You know what. I'm in Knight Rider. I shouldn't be freaking out. This should practically be the best day of my life...Nope, still freaking out."

"At least he didn't burn your butt off like Kyle. Or light someones trash on fire with his spotlights like with Robert" Akari admitted IVAN's prior stunts.

Bernard looks down at the dashboard before raising an eyebrow, "...God damn IVAN, you're kind of an awesome badass, aren't you?"

"Kind of." IVAN held back no modest, and anyone could get the feeling he's pleased.

It takes time for the various members of the team to review the information found by Akari and Kyle and many of them were quiet while they did so.

Ashley, who had been busy listening to all of the videos on the Power of Positive Mechanics website after reading the various printed documents that had eventually been handed back to her, initially didn’t notice that Akari had drifted off to sleep.

She did glance up from her iPad as Robert and Bernard started talking.  “Talking to Morgan or at least observing the family seems like a good idea.  I’m concerned Lucius might have done something to her twin brother Lex.  One of the people they interviewed for the “Lights in the Sky” article mentioned she’d been seeing hallucinations of the boy who used to live there when she was being interviewed about seeing strange lights and hearing strange noises coming from a house in her neighborhood.  Apparently,” she pulls up a document on her iPad “he was like a ghost.  Glowing.  He ran right past me and disappeared.  He melted into a wall and was gone.”

Anything else she might have said is instead turned into a small shriek as the car hits the rumble strips and then jerks back onto the road.  From the back of the car, she can’t really tell that Akari’s hands aren’t on the wheel, but she can’t help but think that Bernard might have a point about switching off drivers.

The next few minutes were more than a little frightening, with the car seeming to have a mind of its own, moving backwards and forward as Bernard attempted to enter the driver’s seat.  She glanced around a bit wildly trying to see how the others in the vehicle were reacting to the situation and glancing out the back windows to make sure they weren’t going to hit anything.  Her face was pale.  Her eyes wide.  The cup a bit dented from the grip she had on it.  But, when Bernard asked her if she was alright, she did her best to answer confidently.  “Yes…. yes, I’m fine thank you.”  Though, there was a bit of a tremor in her voice.

She took a few deep breaths and did her best to convince herself that a car being sentient was no different than some of the uplifted animals that she had seen in the labs.  It was just another wonder of technology and science.  She patted the seat gingerly as she agreed.  “Yes, IVAN is very impressive and quite fascinating.  It is a pleasure to meet you IVAN.”

She then took a quick glance at the time on her iPad, feeling a definite sense of relief as she realized that they had to be getting close to Mendocino by now.  While IVAN was impressive, she was fairly certain this would all be easier to process later…when she wasn’t inside of the vehicle.
This message was last edited by the player at 07:11, Fri 25 Sept 2020.

In reply to Bernard Hathaway (msg # 58):

Akari finishes the coding for the tracking app and successfully hacks the site to install it without notice. Tracking the IP addresses of new members, posts, and changes made and by whom. It also goes one step further and gets the personal info of anyone posting or making changes as well as tracking back the IP address to their physical location.  (10 successes)

as Bernard is "driving" he notices in the rear view mirror. Kyle is passed out like a 5 year old in the back of the bus. his gentle snores going off in perfect rhythm. He looks peaceful. A few minutes later Bernard gets a feeling like something is watching him. He takes a quick look in the mirror and sees the car is full to the brim with a host of entities filling up every possible space. some of them beautiful and stunning, some twisted and deformed. As Bernard turns back to look in shock, the entities are all gone. Kyle is snoring peacefully. a few minutes later, with a big smile on his face, he mutters the name "Bianca" in the middle of some unintelligible words.

In reply to Kyle Moskowits (msg # 69):

Seeing Kyle fast asleep snoring away I get a mischievous look on my face, looking at Rose it seems there's a private discussion between the two and after a bit Rose snickers, slowly and gently moves forward and crawls to a spot and lays down on Kyles chest and simply stares at him. Taking out my phone i get ready to snap a picture "Well, this should be interesting" I quietly mention.

At approximately 2 am, the team arrives at Mendocino.  The rain has gotten heavier during the drive, sheets of water frequently covering the windshield and splashing up as you drive through areas where the water has puddled in the road.  Clouds have completely obscured the moon and stars, making it a very dark night.  Fortunately, IVAN is extremely responsive, the streets are nearly empty, and Bernard is a skilled enough driver to successfully handle the weather.

As the team reaches Mendocino they notice something a bit odd about the sky.  It is still dark, of course, but at varying points of their drive to the hotel, it looks dark purple, dark gold, burnt orange, and forest green.  Additionally, Robert can hear a quiet, persistent, low-frequency humming or droning noise.  The hum gets louder when they drive past the neighborhood where the Selig/Pastore house is located, and then quiets as they continue on to the hotel, but it never goes fully away.

Mendocino, is a small town, approximately 2.3 square miles.  As they drive through the downtown area on the way to their hotel, they notice that the windows of many of the stores, galleries, and restaurants have been boarded up, but fortunately, other than some broken tree limbs and a lot of wet trash and water, there doesn’t seem to have been much damage.  The sand bags seem to have prevented any significant flooding.  Other than the streetlights, the town is dark.  Most people are probably sleeping and hoping the storm will have cleared by the morning.

Motel Seaside and Sand is located near the coast on Ford Street.  While most of the rooms at the hotel are dark as well, the lobby is open and manned by a tired looking teenager.  The team doesn’t have any issues getting bungalows located near the carports that IVAN preferred.  In fact, as the team drives to that area of the parking lot, they notice that they probably could have gotten almost any room they wanted.  The parking lot is fairly empty.  Though, that probably isn’t surprising considering that March is still a bit early for the tourist season.

OOC:  Please make an Intelligence + Occult roll and give me the results in your next post.  Please also make a Perception + Awareness roll.
This message was last edited by the GM at 02:16, Mon 28 Sept 2020.

Kyle grabs rose like a teddy bear, "bianca, we cant do that in public. you naughty girl." he mutters in his sleep. Snores a little more. Then mutters again, "do you think the hickey will show up on the cameras. Maybe i should wear a turtle neck"

In reply to Kyle Moskowits (msg # 72):

After a bit of a shocked moment Rose turns and looks over at Robert, after a few moments the party hears Robert softly exclaim "Come again? Are you serious?" I look around at the rest of the group then shrug my shoulders and lift my phone back up as if to take a picture "Ok, but get ready for world war 15" I chuckle, he is NOT going to like that picture" Rose turns back to Kyle, still wrapped up in a hug with him, slowly stretches up and plants a small kiss right on Kyles lips and waits for Robert to take a picture of their precious moment, "There, thats comedy gold right there Rose, your brilliant. "I know" she replies then settles in as comfortably as possible and waits for Kyle to wake up. A moment later the rest of the groups phones ping and Robert lays back to enjoy the rest of the ride. (Players phones ping or vibrate or whatever notification your device is set to, Robert test messaged a copy of the photo of Kyle and Rose kissing to everyone)



I dont have Occult so just rolled intelligence and got a 4, 4, and 1
This message was last edited by the player at 14:32, Sun 27 Sept 2020.

In reply to Narrator (msg # 71):

She giggles at the texted picture and looks back herself at Kyle.

Asks Benard "could you please stop near the front door so we don't have to walk so far in the rain, but head into the rain so it doesn't all go into his trunk?"

Once they do stop She'll get out with everyone, grab her couple of bags, and heads to one of the bungalows, her hoodie pulled up, and water beading off of the soft material, keeping her dry.

She is looking around as she opens the front door.



OOC 09:33, Today: Akari rolled 7 successes using 7d10 with the World of Darkness 2nd ed, Specialised system with a target of 6, rerolling 10s with rolls of 6,9,8,7,10(+10,6),4,5.  int+occult.

09:32, Today: Akari rolled 2 successes using 3d10 with the World of Darkness 2nd ed, Specialised system with a target of 5, rerolling 10s.  arete.
This message was last edited by the player at 00:30, Mon 28 Sept 2020.

Bernard looks at the picture and awws for a moment, but feels a little unsettled by Kyle's comment. 'To each their own, I suppose.' Though he did let slip as he said under his breath "Who the heck is Bianca?"

Akari looks at him with a bemused smile before shaking her head and heading inside.

Before Bernard leaves the car, he looks to IVAN's dashboard then the radio. He wasn't too sure where he was supposed to be looking at when addressing the vehicle. "So, um, IVAN...you're good here, right? Did you need anything or...something? Everyone kind of glanced over you, and, um...I really don't know what I'm doing to be honest. You're obviously here and part of the team...soooooo-" he trails of, feeling a bit awkward talking to a car be himself. Sure, a talking car, but still!

(OOC: Rolled 5 successes for Perception, will add results for Intelligent when update is available.)

In reply to Bernard Hathaway (msg # 75):

Akari jumps out as Bernard looks around IVAN wondering exactly what part to address when talking to him, he looks up and sees a young man sitting in the seat where Akari had been. The man smiles at Bernard then as Bernard blinks or looks away briefly once he looks back the man has vanished.

IVAN responds "I am functioning within adequate parameters, Bernard. I shall be ensconced in due time subjacent the sanctuary once all have extracted their appurtenance."

Once everyone has left and gathered their stuff from him, he rolls off silently and backs into the carport as far as he can and powers down somewhat.
This message was last edited by the player at 01:56, Mon 28 Sept 2020.