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Tavern Watch plays Triangle Agency, episode 1: Fine, other than the "no bones" thing
Mar 23, 2026
Welcome back to beautiful Ternion City, where the agents of the Triangle Agency are looking out not just for your best interests, but all of reality. We love reality! That's where all our stuff is! And our agents definitely have a doozy of a case on their hands this time: some contractors who had been working on an outdated shopping promenade (conveniently located in the basement of one of Triangle's business competitors) disappeared, only to reappear perfectly fine a few days later... well, other than the fact that all their bones are missing. Seems like just the kind of anomalous activity that our team is trained and ready to handle.
Director Phil Ulrich is here to guide our team of corporate ladder-climbers through their case; that team, of course, is:
Liz Harper as Louisa Gibson, a perfectly normal vampire working in a perfectly normal PR gig
Eric O'Dea as Tad Silverfield, always here to lend a friendly ear and find what you need
Chris Chesno as Roger Hensley, for whom the struggle is real but cleaning up messes is just business
Nick Marino as Case, Company R&D man who's always right on time
Joan Albright as "Dotty" Blackthorne, a time-and-space displaced intern in the right place at the right time
And a special guest appearance by Joe Perez as Terrance Howard Mothicus, the mothman barista who knows exactly what you need, even if he's out cleaning up a different team's mess
This is the first in a three-part actual play series of Triangle Agency; check back every Monday for new episodes! However, this is not our first time playing Triangle Agency; in fact, if these characters seem familiar, it's because we're picking up with the same team as last time! If you like what you hear and want to pick up a copy for yourself, you can pick up Triangle Agency from Haunted Table Games or Modiphius.
Music from this episode is "Inspired" by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com), licensed under the Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License.
Subscribe to Tavern Watch in your podcast player of choice to keep up with our latest actual plays:
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Show More Show Less View Video Transcript
0:24
Hello and welcome back to Tavern Watch
0:26
plays. This week we'll be returning to
0:28
the best job of the rest of your life.
0:30
Uh once again we are playing Triangle
0:33
Agency, a uh interesting slash
0:36
mysterious slash uh very unusual uh game
0:40
about uh wonderful corporate agents of
0:43
the Titler Triangle Agency protecting
0:45
reality from the forces that would
0:46
threaten to unravel it. Uh I am your
0:49
manager for the day, Phil. And let's see
0:53
who is clocking in for the day. We'll
0:55
start from the top with Chris.
0:57
>> Hey, so I am Chris. Probably know me
1:00
from other games, but especially this
1:02
one from the first time. I play Roger.
1:06
Uh Roger
1:08
is our wonderful deeply indepth uh or in
1:13
debt, I should say. Um agent who uh
1:18
throws playing cards at people and
1:19
eliminates them from existence.
1:21
>> Roger. Roger cleans up messes. Uh, I
1:25
I'll I'll interject here. I didn't
1:26
mention this. This is a uh follow-up to
1:28
our first Triangle Agency game. You
1:30
should go back and listen to that
1:31
because it was good, but you know, wait
1:32
till you finish this one if you want to.
1:34
Uh, these will have most of the same
1:35
returning characters, which I think is
1:37
pretty cool. We don't get to do that a
1:38
lot here. Uh, next on the line will be
1:40
Eric.
1:41
>> Hi, I'm Eric, uh, writer at Blizzard
1:43
Watch, and I am playing Tad Silverfield
1:46
today. Um, I work at the hotline and I'm
1:49
always willing to listen.
1:51
>> All righty. And next up, we'll jump down
1:54
to Nick.
1:55
>> I'm Nick and I'm playing training agent
1:57
Casease, who has wibbly wobbly, timy,
2:00
wimy powers for the agency and as such
2:03
gets shouldered with ridiculous tasks.
2:07
>> Uh, next up, uh, Joan.
2:10
>> Hi, I'm Joan Albbright, former writer
2:12
for Blizzard Watch. Today, I'll be
2:15
revising my role as Doy. Um, she's a
2:19
manifold who accidentally stepped in
2:22
from another reality and is kind of
2:24
still finding her feet.
2:26
>> All right. And, uh, last but not least
2:28
on the team today, Liz.
2:30
>> Hi, I'm Louisa and I'm in public
2:33
relations. I am so glad we could all be
2:36
here today.
2:38
>> It is excellent to hear from everybody.
2:39
Uh listeners to our previous episode
2:41
will note that Terrence uh played by Joe
2:43
Perez is not here today, but uh Terrence
2:45
will uh Terrence will still have
2:47
something to say later in this episode.
2:49
Uh all right, so let's get a little look
2:53
at what our agents have been up to have
2:56
been spending their time doing lately.
2:58
Uh we'll kind of interrogate them here
2:59
as they enter their morning meeting for
3:01
the day. Uh person I would say most
3:05
likely to be on time. Uh I believe it is
3:06
noted in his employee record that he is
3:08
most likely to be on time is of course
3:11
case. Uh so case uh give us a little uh
3:15
little u little summary of what you've
3:17
been doing with your time uh between
3:19
missions as you uh file into your
3:21
morning meeting this morning.
3:22
>> Well, because of our last mission
3:25
together, Case ended up on probation.
3:28
And as such, Case has been working to
3:30
get off probation. But because the
3:33
agency loves to take advantage of the
3:36
time piece powers by blurring the lines
3:39
of tasks, objectives, and deadlines, it
3:43
actually remains to be seen if Case is
3:46
currently in a time period where he is
3:47
or is not on probation. The agency loves
3:50
to keep things muddied just to keep him
3:52
on his toes. So, since then, he's been
3:55
doing various tasks. He's met with his
3:57
mentor, Hail, on how to get out of uh
4:01
probation and is now begrudgingly
4:05
reporting to his morning meeting on
4:06
time.
4:07
>> Yeah, I think this morning as you uh
4:09
walk in, you've got kind of a uh unusual
4:12
uh you're kind of thinking about
4:14
something that uh Hail was talking to
4:16
you about over maybe you guys had dinner
4:17
the other night. Um what did where did
4:20
where did you guys go for dinner? Did
4:21
you actually leave the building or were
4:22
you down in the company uh cafeteria
4:24
eating in the building which is uh sad
4:28
but encouraged by the agency?
4:29
>> Both. Uh we spent time eating at the
4:34
company cafeteria and then rewound time
4:36
because hail is also a time piece to
4:40
where uh our second set went out to
4:44
dinner um off grounds because we
4:46
fulfilled the agency's respectful
4:49
suggestion of staying on grounds. So
4:51
they couldn't really say no.
4:53
>> Got how are you not so full? Uh but he
4:56
me yeah he mentioned a uh while you guys
4:58
were eating let's say kind of at a
5:00
decent uh little uh bar and grill uh
5:02
there was a news story on that he kind
5:04
of uh brought to your attention you
5:06
probably would have ignored in the
5:07
background of a uh uh one of the
5:09
triangle agencies let's say corporate
5:11
competitors uh the Wuhan Baxter uh
5:13
corporation uh one of their subsidiaries
5:17
um uh they have a hail has a contact
5:20
with them and so through the grapevine
5:21
he's telling you about this interesting
5:22
thing he heard about um some uh some
5:24
workers that had gone missing um after 6
5:27
days uh while they were renovating a uh
5:30
renovating one of the Wuhan Baxter
5:32
buildings in uh Turninian City.
5:35
Um and he says, "I haven't heard a lot
5:37
about them, but they were they I don't
5:40
know. It's weird. They haven't they
5:42
haven't actually uh ever explained where
5:44
they were." So, he said, "I don't know.
5:47
This seems like something we might be
5:48
looking into in a few days." So, just uh
5:49
keep your head on a swivel, kid. And one
5:52
of the things that at least for Case
5:55
whenever his mentor does mention
5:57
something it's more than likely going to
5:59
appear to him sooner than later and all
6:03
he could do was just sigh and put his
6:04
hands in his head because he is just oh
6:06
so tired.
6:09
>> Uh aren't we all right? Uh who arrives
6:13
next to the morning meeting?
6:15
>> I think Louisa shows up pretty early.
6:17
you know, uh, not you don't want to be
6:20
super early, but you want to be you want
6:23
to be there before most of the other
6:24
people are there. You don't want to make
6:26
it look like, oh, I had nothing else to
6:28
do this morning, so I'm the first one
6:30
here. But you do want to be punctual.
6:33
So, uh, she would show up, you know,
6:35
she's got a sheath of papers in one arm
6:37
and she's carrying a smoothie in her
6:39
other hand, which she's sh sipping.
6:40
>> Yeah, I think some I think part of the
6:42
reason is because you actually did have
6:43
something going on right before this. uh
6:45
it was
6:46
>> uh as uh part of the public relations
6:49
team for Triang for the triangle
6:50
corporation. You of course were included
6:52
in the Monday morning mandatory reality
6:54
television briefing uh in which case uh
6:57
in which we uh cover news stories over
6:59
the weekend and uh or news stories and
7:02
reality TV that appeared over the
7:03
weekend and note which ones are real uh
7:05
and which ones might uh affect reality
7:07
in strange ways. Uh most of them were
7:10
just you know the usual uh there was
7:12
some discussion of who got voted off on
7:14
Survivor and whether it had been
7:15
affected by uh you know time any time
7:17
anomalies whether any kind of it got
7:19
voted off twice whether anybody was a
7:20
doppelganger. Um, and then there was one
7:23
that was just a uh it was weird because
7:24
it was a documentary over something that
7:26
happened back in uh 97 where a uh um you
7:30
vaguely remember this may have been
7:33
investigated by the agency one point
7:34
where a uh a pizza restaurant uh
7:36
exploded back in 97 uh in Tian City. Uh
7:40
no sign of uh anomalous activity as far
7:43
as the agency knew, but also no real
7:45
explanation other than a gas leak. uh
7:47
featured as part of the cable access
7:49
show All American Mall Disasters.
7:53
>> That's an odd one to just randomly come
7:55
up, but television does always need to
7:58
fill space. So maybe they just ran out
8:01
of better store. Maybe
8:04
>> you know better and you know better than
8:05
anybody that that any that that America
8:08
loves weird stuff, especially when that
8:10
weird stuff explodes or is cute.
8:12
>> It's true.
8:13
>> In this case, it was an explosion. Uh,
8:15
who would be next to the meeting after
8:17
Louisa?
8:18
>> It's probably Roger.
8:19
>> Uh, Roger, did you go home last night or
8:21
are you sleeping in the building again?
8:23
>> Oh, still sleeping in the building.
8:26
He can't safely go home for the fear
8:28
that he might be murdered at home.
8:32
>> Oh, no. Uh, yeah. When when Roger says
8:35
that he's in debt, folks, he's not
8:36
kidding. Roger has a lone shark that has
8:38
his phone number. Uh, luckily for him,
8:40
the headquarters of the Triangle Agency
8:42
does not technically exist as far as
8:44
anyone knows. So, it makes it a little
8:46
easier to hide your debtors, but we
8:48
don't technically have anywhere on the
8:50
grounds for people to stay. Uh, so you
8:53
haul yourself out of your broom closet.
8:57
>> If he's not sleeping in the broom
8:59
closet, he is sleeping um down where
9:03
where you bury problem.
9:05
>> Yeah, we've uh there's probably some
9:06
room down in the vault. I'd say after
9:08
your uh after the last after the last
9:09
successful mission, in which case your
9:11
team did successfully bring an anomaly
9:12
back contained in the vault, uh I'd say
9:15
maybe they're a little friendly towards
9:16
you because you're you like uh Roger
9:18
like Case was on probation after the
9:20
last mission, but uh you know, a success
9:23
is a success, right? So
9:25
>> was on probation for something that he
9:27
shouldn't have been on probation for. I
9:29
would like to add
9:30
>> Uhhuh. Uh well, you can file a grievance
9:33
with the uh OMBbudsman uh by just
9:35
dialing this number. But uh Roger comes
9:38
in with like the world's largest can of
9:40
knockoff monster
9:42
and like he comes over and he sets it
9:46
down on the table with a thud and then
9:48
as he walks past it, he goes and gets a
9:51
giant cup of free coffee and brings it
9:54
back. And he's like shooting one after
9:57
the next. I don't I don't think anybody
9:59
even knew that creature energy drink
10:01
came in 44 oz cans, but here you are. It
10:04
looks like a bucket. It's an aluminum
10:06
bucket basically.
10:07
>> I want you to know that Terrence would
10:08
be disgusted.
10:11
>> Terrence would be disgusted, but
10:12
Terrence would also have it ready on
10:14
demand.
10:15
>> That's true. He would make a better cup
10:17
of coffee.
10:18
>> That's also true. Uh all right. Uh so
10:21
we're running out of people to file in
10:22
here. Uh Doy or Tad, who's next?
10:24
>> I think Daddy would probably be L. All
10:26
right. And in that case, uh Tad will
10:28
stumble in looking pretty harried. Uh
10:31
not on time, maybe just maybe just a
10:32
minute late or two. Um Tad has been
10:35
working hard at the hotline, uh
10:38
answering the calls, dealing with
10:40
customer service, um and trying to
10:42
trying to keep a happy face on all of
10:44
the wacky hijinks that happened around
10:46
the agency. Um, he has also kept somehow
10:51
been able to allowed the agency the
10:53
agency has allowed him to keep his
10:54
casual part-time gig at the turn city
10:57
zoo where he is an assistant junior
10:59
zookeeper. Um, and one of his duties is
11:02
to care for the sick or injured animals
11:05
and often has to take them home. Um, and
11:07
so once again I am accompanied by
11:10
Grumbles who is a rock hierrax. Uh, and
11:13
that is a small uh mammal. Think of a
11:19
groundhog with some elephant qualities.
11:21
It's got tusks. It's got big round feet.
11:23
Um, I do have it under one arm. I've got
11:26
a carrier in the other hand. And, uh,
11:28
what we're working on with Grumbles this
11:30
week is, uh, he's been taking to
11:33
stealing the other animals food in the
11:34
enclosure. Um, and he's starting to have
11:36
a weight problem. So, we've got him on a
11:38
diet. Um, but I am I've been late and
11:40
I'm unorganized. I've dropping some
11:42
papers and Grumbles has somehow acquired
11:44
a Pop-Tart and he is eating that. So,
11:46
I'm trying to deal with wrestling that
11:47
from him.
11:49
>> Oh, no. I love Grumbles. Uh, okay. Uh,
11:53
last but not least, Doy.
11:55
>> So, Doy was actually early clocking in
11:57
today, but on her way up, somebody asked
11:59
her to help carry something back to
12:02
their car. And because she's an intern,
12:05
she gets a demerit if she denies a
12:07
request. So, she wanders in panting a
12:10
little from hiking back up the
12:12
>> Well, uh Doy is uh always a hard worker
12:15
and we really appreciate that. Uh and I
12:18
think while we were I think while you
12:19
were on the way back, you actually uh
12:21
passed one of the TVs in the lobby,
12:23
maybe stopped for a second to catch your
12:24
breath. Um they were reporting on some
12:27
local interest and there was a a news
12:29
story about the Turnian City Pizza Wars,
12:32
an informal competition coming up soon.
12:34
Uh unlike some cities, you know, like
12:36
Chicago is famous for their deep dish
12:38
and New York obviously has the New York
12:40
slice, uh Turn City doesn't have an
12:43
official pizza style, and so there's no
12:45
formal competition coming up in a few
12:47
weeks between the restaurants in the
12:48
city to determine the city's signature
12:50
pizza style. Has Die ever does DY know
12:53
what pizza is?
12:55
>> Do has in fact discovered
12:57
>> Oh wow. What are thoughts on pizza?
13:00
>> Uh pineapple's a a no-go. um doesn't
13:04
like peppers either on it. She got the
13:07
meat lovers with some olives, mushrooms.
13:09
>> Nice. All right. Kind of basic, but
13:11
that's good. It's a good pizza. Good
13:12
solid pizza. All right. Uh All right.
13:15
So, Doy makes her way into the meeting.
13:17
Uh and for everybody, your uh your
13:20
branch manager, Gail, is already waiting
13:22
there. She has uh some folders drawn up
13:24
uh with uh you you know, whenever Gail
13:26
shows up with a set of folders, it means
13:28
there's already a mission ready. This is
13:29
definitely
13:31
uh an indication that you're about to be
13:33
sent out into the field. Uh Eric on
13:36
Tad's way past the uh the uh Triangle
13:40
Coffee Shop this morning. You may have
13:41
stopped in for his usual uh for his
13:43
usual brew. Uh Terrence wasn't in this
13:45
morning, but as you got your order,
13:47
somebody pressed an envelope into your
13:48
hand containing a message from Terrence
13:51
uh with a note that it be read to the
13:53
entire team at the meeting. Uh would you
13:55
like to go ahead and do that?
13:57
>> Yeah. Uh, so here is what the note says.
14:00
>> Hello friends. I unfortunately will not
14:02
be able to join you.
14:03
>> Unfortunately will not be able to join
14:04
you on our next mission. I am needed
14:07
elsewhere to help less fortunate souls
14:10
within our company whose spirits sadly
14:12
need to be raised quite a bit. Know,
14:15
however, that I keep a little piece of
14:17
you with me while I am gone. I mean that
14:20
literally. I have taken a lock of hair
14:22
of each of you while you were asleep at
14:24
your desk in the office. I assure you
14:27
that this is perfectly normal and
14:29
nothing to worry about. For our friendly
14:32
PR rep, I have left you a caramel
14:34
macchiato with a triple shot of espresso
14:36
and a bottle of aspirin. I feel you will
14:39
need both before the end of the day. For
14:42
my wonderful clock watching friend, I
14:46
have left you a concoction I call a
14:48
simmering fog. It's a lovely chamomile
14:51
tea infused in steamed oat milk. This
14:55
should help keep you calm in the most
14:57
trying of times. For my quick draw
15:00
friend, I have made you something I call
15:02
financial balance. And I think you and I
15:05
both know how badly you need that. It's
15:08
a wonderful honey matcha latte with
15:11
notes of pistachio. Also, I think you
15:14
need to switch conditioners or use one
15:16
at all. for my little busy associate. I
15:19
am determined to get you to like that
15:21
wonderful bean elixir that is coffee at
15:23
some point. But for now, please enjoy
15:26
this wonderful Italian soda infused with
15:30
hibiscus and blood orange. It should
15:32
perk you right up and fight that
15:34
burnout. Know that I will dearly miss
15:37
you and will bring each of you a
15:39
souvenir tailored to your specific
15:41
tastes. Please remember me fondly while
15:44
I'm away. They say absence makes the
15:47
heart grow fonder. However, I think it
15:49
just makes the caffeine taste all the
15:51
sweeter. Yours forever and ever.
15:55
Terrence Howard Mothus postcript and
15:58
ever. Uh, and true to form once uh Tad
16:02
calls it to notice with the message. Uh,
16:04
you notice that sitting on a side table
16:05
across the room from the free coffee is
16:07
in fact everyone's tailor-made beverages
16:09
created by Terrence H. Mothus uh,
16:12
barista extraordinaire. Oh, that is so
16:16
thoughtful of Terrence. Ah,
16:18
>> how does he do this?
16:19
>> Well, that is that is why Terrence was
16:22
MVP last.
16:24
>> Uh, just know that wherever he is, he's
16:26
wearing his socks of success. Uh, so
16:29
everybody has time to collect their
16:31
drinks. And then if there aren't any
16:33
other matters, uh, Gail's going to get
16:35
right into it. All righty.
16:37
>> Grumbles don't spill my coffee before I
16:39
get to drink it. But as as usual,
16:41
Terrence has made me a backup and so I
16:43
grab that.
16:45
>> That that also explains why your drink
16:46
came with a large pile of napkins.
16:49
>> Uh I think he also has
16:51
>> while you drink the second one and pet
16:53
him.
16:53
>> A I think there's a uh I think there's
16:55
the equivalent of a pup cup for uh for
16:58
Grumbles, but uh it's it's sugar-free
17:00
whipped cream cuz
17:03
he knows somehow
17:05
>> parents are spoiling Grumbles.
17:08
It's part of the problem. All right, so
17:10
Gail passes up the folders to the five
17:12
of you and starts saying, "First, we
17:14
want to recognize some promotions." Uh,
17:16
Terrence, who couldn't be with us today,
17:18
but also Tad, Doy, and Louisa have all
17:21
been promoted to full associate. Round
17:23
of applause, everybody.
17:26
>> For everybody. Woohoo.
17:29
>> Case, Roger. Uh, I'm I'm sure you all
17:31
have learned a lot from your time on
17:33
probation, and I'm looking forward to
17:34
seeing what you do on this next mission.
17:36
So
17:37
>> that's it.
17:38
>> I'm still on probation again, Gail.
17:41
>> Uh for the duration of this mission, if
17:43
you perform well, you'll be taken back
17:44
off and you could even go straight from
17:46
probation to MVP across the course of
17:48
this mission. It's not unheard of.
17:50
>> Uhhuh.
17:52
So, uh Gail ignores your attitude and
17:55
and starts a uh slideshow uh on the
17:58
projector. Uh and the same the same
18:00
things are contained in your uh in your
18:02
briefing in your briefing folders. Uh,
18:05
but the gist of it is the following. Um,
18:09
and it's not exactly enthralling because
18:11
Gail has a bad habit of reading directly
18:12
off the PowerPoint. Uh, 6 days ago, two
18:16
contractors and a building inspector
18:18
went missing in the subb of the Wuhan
18:20
Baxter corporate headquarters while they
18:22
were working on a renovation of the
18:24
building's public prominade. Then two
18:26
days ago, they reappeared. In the media,
18:29
they were described as quote, "pale and
18:32
calm," unquote, but otherwise
18:34
unresponsive. Though no overt injuries
18:36
were observed, the returned were taken
18:38
to St. Mary's Hospital downtown for
18:40
observation after paramedics determined
18:42
that despite their normal shape, the
18:45
missing people were now missing all of
18:47
their bones. The agency suspects that
18:49
this is due to an anomaly. Gail has a
18:52
couple of supplementary documents in
18:53
there related to the history of the
18:55
area. One is the 1997 Zabarro incident.
18:59
Uh, an accident at the Prominade in 1997
19:02
may be connected to the current
19:04
situation. The official WB incident
19:06
report lists a gas leak and subsequent
19:09
explosion as the cause of the incident.
19:11
A pizza restaurant was apparently
19:13
destroyed. Police and fire investigation
19:16
reports dated weeks after Wuhan Baxter's
19:18
own report concur with this evaluation.
19:21
14 casualties were reported, but only 13
19:23
were identified. Triangle agency
19:26
investigated at the time but found no
19:27
anomaly, but it's possible that they
19:29
missed something. Uh there's a
19:31
disparaging note at the end that says
19:33
that this lack of details available in
19:35
this incident is not surprising for the
19:36
private sector, but does speak to some
19:38
degree of corporate malfeasants. Uh the
19:41
last part is an explainer of the
19:42
prominade. Uh the prominade was opened
19:46
as a uh beneath uh Wuhan Baxter's
19:49
corporate headquarters, formerly a mall
19:51
and food court. Uh it was quite the
19:53
Grand Gala opening until folks realized
19:55
that it was literally just another
19:57
shopping mall and Turnian City already
20:00
had three of those.
20:02
Uh the traffic tailored off and the WB
20:06
Prominade was not uh in great shape for
20:08
many years. Businesses slowly dwindling
20:10
out. The Prominade was formerly a mall
20:12
and food court under complete renovation
20:14
currently to convert the space into a
20:16
co-working center and lunch hall. The
20:18
records office attorney in city hall
20:21
would probably hold records of the
20:22
building's construction and renovations.
20:24
It's possible that if an anomaly has
20:26
somehow hidden itself there since 1997,
20:29
something about the building itself
20:30
might explain. Uh any questions before
20:32
we set you loose into the field, agents?
20:35
>> So the zabaro was in the prominade.
20:39
>> That is correct. It was one of a few
20:41
food stalls in the uh uh it was there.
20:46
It was there when the prominade opened
20:47
in ' 85 and it was one of the last ones
20:51
there until their unfortunate accident.
20:53
>> So there's there was 14 casualties but
20:57
only 13 were identified. So there was
21:00
one casualty unidentified.
21:02
>> That is correct. Glad to see that
21:04
sleeping in the building has not dulled
21:05
your math skills, sir.
21:07
>> That does seem a little unusual. You
21:10
would someone would notice a person who
21:13
had gone missing. someone would report
21:15
it. Uh h
21:18
>> it uh there was a little hubbub at the
21:20
time that it seemed unusual that no one,
21:22
you know, came forward to identify any
21:24
missing persons still in the building,
21:25
but you know, uh Wuhan Baxter uh
21:29
occasionally makes news stories go away.
21:32
>> Maybe they were just from really far
21:34
away.
21:34
>> Also possible. Not unknown, is it, Miss
21:37
Daddy?
21:38
>> Not at all.
21:38
>> All righty. So Gail shuts off her
21:41
PowerPoint. The lights come back up and
21:43
she says, "All right." Uh it sounds like
21:45
you all have a handle on the situation.
21:47
Uh at this point with uh the majority of
21:50
your team being associates, I trust that
21:52
you all will uh be able to handle
21:53
yourselves well in the field. Uh the
21:55
agency has also asked that I alert you
21:58
to a number of additional objectives.
21:59
And she focuses on Roger and Case and
22:01
she says, "Think of this as a chance to
22:03
get a little extra credit, gentlemen,
22:04
and show the company that you're really
22:06
committed to the cause of maintaining
22:08
reality." Uh, the last sheet of your
22:11
briefing includes optional objectives.
22:13
Uh, for the people at home, it says,
22:16
"Plus three commenations for the first
22:18
time each agent sits in a chair
22:19
backwards. Plus one commenation for each
22:22
historical artifact inspected
22:24
parenthesis floor pans floor plans,
22:27
photographs, pamphlets, etc. Uh, plus
22:31
one commenation for the first three
22:33
pizza based puns an agent makes. mind
22:36
plus three demerits for each pizza based
22:38
pun after the third. All right. Uh you
22:42
have your mission, you have your
22:43
objectives, you have your optional
22:44
objectives, uh hopefully and you will be
22:47
provided, of course, with the standard
22:48
issue uh ripple gun if you need to
22:50
eliminate the anomaly and the standard
22:52
briefcase for capturing the anomaly. Uh
22:55
with that, would you all like to get
22:58
started? Well, I guess we should
22:59
probably get transportation, huh?
23:01
>> I think we start at
23:03
>> I think we might be able to reposition
23:05
one. Yeah, transportation to city hall.
23:06
Let's try to keep the transportation
23:08
intact this time.
23:10
>> Oh, thank you.
23:11
>> That's a solvable problem. Everything's
23:13
a solvable problem, but preferably
23:15
>> I got my bike.
23:16
>> We probably wouldn't all fit on the
23:18
bike.
23:20
>> No,
23:21
>> I believe that attitude.
23:23
>> Believe I believe in your previous
23:24
mission there was a perfectly intact van
23:26
that then became a perfectly intact
23:27
piece of art that just no longer
23:29
happened to be drivable. That's just a
23:31
coincidence. Yeah, that was the zoo's
23:33
only Honda Odyssey and we still haven't
23:34
replaced it. So, I don't have anything.
23:38
>> The Zoo.
23:40
>> No, I was pretty sure we got that fixed.
23:42
>> I I think we did. I think I I think I
23:44
made a very wordy request to the agency
23:47
that uh
23:48
>> that they replaced the van.
23:49
>> Oh, no. They took it down to some shop
23:51
and got it fixed. H well the good news
23:54
is uh if you don't want to rely on
23:55
public transportation you can uh as
23:58
agents actually requisition a car from
24:01
uh triangle agency uh for a for all of
24:04
one for the cost of one commenation you
24:07
can use our three wheeling car service
24:09
you'll be assigned a personal vehicle of
24:11
your choice any commercially available
24:14
roadleal mobile object large enough and
24:17
with any necessary accommodations for
24:18
your entire field team but be aware that
24:21
returning a damaged car will result in
24:23
demerits.
24:24
>> Oh dear.
24:25
>> Does someone want to requisition a car?
24:27
>> I will requisition a car.
24:30
>> Okay.
24:30
>> And hope for the best.
24:31
>> What kind of vehicle is Louisa
24:33
requisitioning for the five of you and
24:35
also a hungry chubby rock hyrax?
24:38
>> Oh, wow. Wow. H I don't the Honda
24:41
Odyssey thing worked out so well last
24:43
time. I mean, maybe that's just the way
24:44
to go.
24:45
>> Uh Triangle Agency, I would like to
24:47
know. Tavern Watchwatch Place is not
24:48
sponsored by Honda, but if they want to,
24:52
we're right here. We're listening.
24:57
>> It's roomy enough for five and a rock
24:59
high.
25:02
>> Not every car can do that. All right,
25:06
with that ad out of the way, um, yeah,
25:10
so I think it's just a quick call to the
25:11
uh to the uh company requisitions and
25:14
you will find in the parking lot out
25:17
front your uh let's say bright cerulean
25:21
blue Honda Odyssey awaiting you uh ready
25:25
>> uh to carry the whole team to wherever
25:27
they want to go in uh said uh so the
25:30
Wuhan Baxter headquarters and city hall
25:32
and the hospital that were mentioned um
25:35
everywhere is uh within the bounds of
25:37
Turnian City. Wuhan Baxter uh unlike the
25:40
Triangle Agency headquarters is a uh
25:43
44story skyscraper that uh does in fact
25:46
steadfastly exist. Um it is a uh
25:49
important part of the city's downtown
25:51
skyline. Uh city hall is in kind of an
25:54
older part of town, but it is uh it's
25:56
you know obviously one of the first
25:57
buildings in the city. Uh and I believe
26:01
St. Mary's Hospital was also mentioned
26:03
at one point. So those sound like you
26:05
all wanted to head to the city hall and
26:07
check out the hall of records.
26:09
>> Correct.
26:10
>> Probably not a bad place to start.
26:12
>> Seems like it. So like most places uh in
26:16
the uh in the country where attorney and
26:18
city is located, uh city hall is uh and
26:21
the department of records are public
26:22
information. Uh, it's not. So, you kind
26:26
of enter the spacious city hall and it's
26:29
there there's a little, you know, follow
26:30
the signs and you go downstairs and
26:33
you're in kind of there's fewer people
26:35
around as you get down here because
26:37
there not a lot of people coming to
26:38
visit public records unless they're, you
26:39
know, coming for like related to
26:41
building leases or building, you know,
26:43
getting ready to put up a new building,
26:45
need to inspect some blueprints, etc.
26:48
So, it's not terribly busy when the five
26:51
of you walk into uh city hall. Um, as
26:56
you do, there is a uh uh there's a woman
26:59
in her probably in her 30s uh bespectled
27:02
working behind a desk uh at the entrance
27:04
and she looks up and she immediately
27:06
spots grumbles. She goes, "Sir, I don't
27:08
think you can bring your badger in here
27:11
with you." Oh, I is it a is it is it a
27:15
ferret? Is it just a very big fret? I'm
27:18
afraid you're going to have to wait.
27:19
>> Support hierax.
27:20
>> An emotional support hierrax. Okay.
27:23
>> Yeah, I do have the paperwork if you
27:25
need to. Oh,
27:26
>> uh yeah, I yeah, if you just let me see
27:28
some papers. I'm sorry. I to I'm just
27:31
used to people with, you know, dogs. Um,
27:34
sure. Does Tad actually have emotional
27:37
support animal like legal paperwork?
27:40
>> I do have a I I do have a small
27:41
laminated card that just says emotional
27:44
support. Hyrax,
27:47
>> this feels like that. This just says I
27:49
can do whatever I want.
27:52
Uh, from Parks and Rack. All right. So,
27:54
she looks at it and she says she flips
27:55
it over. She's looking for any kind of
27:57
identifying. Does it have any kind of
27:58
identifying mark on it?
28:01
>> There's one of those little silhouettes
28:02
in the top corner of like a person
28:04
patting a dog that makes it look
28:05
official, but it does not have any other
28:08
official looking qualities.
28:10
>> Okay. So, I think she looks at it and
28:13
then she just kind of passes it back
28:15
across the desk to you and she says,
28:17
"Okay. Um, does it does it need water or
28:20
something?"
28:20
>> No, no, it's it's a he's on a strict no
28:23
water diet. Um, he's got some Hyrax
28:25
punch, but he I didn't bring any food or
28:26
drink with him. I know this is a public
28:28
building. He's very well behaved. Um, it
28:30
just just really um, you know, I just I
28:33
just really need this this Hyrax near
28:35
me. Um, when I'm out in public, it's I I
28:39
won't bore you with the story. kind of
28:40
smiles and she says, "Okay." Uh, anyway,
28:44
how can I help you folks today?
28:46
>> Uh, so is she have like a computer
28:49
terminal in front of her?
28:51
>> Uh, yes, I think she does.
28:53
>> Is it accessible to like touch?
28:55
>> Um,
28:56
>> for the public at least. Or is there
28:57
like a window barrier?
28:59
>> No, there's no window barrier. You don't
29:01
really have to worry about that with
29:02
public records. Um, in fact, this whole
29:04
area seems kind of small from what
29:06
you're expecting. You think maybe this
29:07
is just the front office to the rest of
29:09
uh public records. I think you would be
29:11
able to uh I think you probably touch
29:14
the monitor. Uh I think it's like an old
29:16
CRT monitor. Um the computer itself is
29:19
probably underneath her desk based on
29:21
the fan noise you can hear.
29:23
>> Got it. Uh I want to go up to her and
29:27
say, "Uh, good morning. I my associates
29:32
and I are here to request some public
29:34
records. uh building permits, plans,
29:38
floor layouts of the what is it the
29:41
prominade? Correct.
29:43
>> Uh the prominade at the Wuhan Baxter uh
29:45
headquarters.
29:47
>> Yeah. Uh just give the address instead
29:49
of actually saying Wuhan Baxter.
29:53
>> Okay. All right. Uh yeah, you give her
29:55
the address and she it doesn't it it
29:58
actually does register right away, which
30:00
is a little shocking. Like the address
30:02
like she gets it immediately goes, "Oh,
30:03
the Wuhan Boxster building." Um, she
30:06
says, "Did you all hear about the
30:07
disappearances there a few days ago?"
30:10
It's weird business. She says, "Oh, I'm
30:12
sure there's I'm sure there's some
30:14
perfectly ordinary explanation. There
30:16
always is."
30:18
>> She laughs. She says, "Yeah, they've uh
30:20
they they they always tell us
30:21
something." Um, and she starts typing,
30:24
but she's kind of keeping a cross. She's
30:26
kind of looking over her glasses of case
30:28
while she's pulling up the appropriate
30:29
records, and she says, "So, what uh
30:31
what's your folks interested in the WB
30:34
HQ?" Huh? Are you uh looking to get a
30:36
building? Are you looking to rent a spot
30:37
there? Are you contractors? You don't
30:39
look like contractors.
30:43
>> Well, technically we're subcontractors
30:44
to the contractors. Um while the
30:47
contractors continue their work, the
30:49
subcontractors do all the other work
30:50
that the contractors may not have the
30:52
manpower to do or uh don't want the
30:56
manpower to do.
30:58
>> She says, "Okay, interesting. Uh that
31:01
doesn't make is of course a couple of
31:02
people went missing work contractors so
31:04
you know uh be careful just in case
31:06
there is something strange going on over
31:08
there but I heard they're a little
31:09
short-handed.
31:10
She says okay. Um she says okay we've
31:14
got several different re uh revisions of
31:18
the floor plan of file. What uh what how
31:21
what one do you folks need? Um we've got
31:25
>> I think we need all of them.
31:26
>> All of them. Wow. So wow. Uh so for some
31:30
of that we're going to have to go back
31:31
to the actual paper files. Uh the Wuhan
31:33
Baxter building dates back to 22 when it
31:36
was just the Baxter company. Um and then
31:39
we've got a revision stayed largely the
31:43
same for several years. Uh we had a
31:44
revision in ' 84 uh when they were doing
31:47
initial permitting for the prominade.
31:49
Um, and then yeah, we've uh, so we don't
31:52
really have Yeah, she says, "Yeah, we
31:55
started digitizing in 2001, but there
31:57
was kind of a focus on up-to-date floor
31:59
plans, so we uh, yeah, I thought maybe
32:01
we'd have a newer one on record, but I
32:03
think we're going to have to go back to
32:04
the paper files. Um,
32:06
nobody's allergic to uh, old dusty
32:09
papers. I hope." She kind of laughs,
32:11
comes out from behind the desk
32:14
and is turned away from you all towards
32:17
a door that was off to the left and
32:19
she's got a big ring of keys and uh is
32:22
looking for the one that will unlock
32:23
that door. Um case it sounded like you
32:25
maybe wanted to mess with the computer.
32:27
If you wanted to do anything with that,
32:28
now is the time.
32:30
>> Oh, uh it was more like if I needed to
32:33
mess with time to say we put in a
32:35
request a while ago, but
32:36
>> sounds like sounds like we're all good
32:38
right now. Yeah. Uh, it's not The Hall
32:41
of Records is surprisingly not super
32:43
busy. Um, you all are fine despite not
32:46
having an appointment, I think. So,
32:48
she'll let you into the back. And the
32:50
front, I said the front part, the front
32:52
area where you were is just kind of like
32:54
uh her desk and her computer and like a
32:57
big printer in the back that can print
32:58
off uh actually is wide enough to print
33:00
off floor plans. Um, but this room is
33:04
row after row after row after row of
33:06
filing cabinets. and she lets you and
33:08
she says, "So, anything from 1990 or
33:11
earlier, uh, you're going to find back
33:14
here." And she leads you, and they're
33:16
organized by decade or they're organized
33:19
by decade and then by address within
33:22
that decade, within the city per decade.
33:24
So, she leads you into uh the 80s uh and
33:30
finds she I think the last one was in
33:34
here it is. Now, she pulls open a drawer
33:36
uh with the address of the Wuhan Baxter
33:38
building. Uh the drawer is labeled 1984.
33:41
And she pulls out this kind of a thick
33:44
folder. And there's a table back there
33:46
for looking through records while you're
33:48
there. And she lays these things out for
33:49
you.
33:50
>> Oh, this is perfect.
33:53
>> Oh. Oh, perfect. Um, I'm a little
33:55
surprised that contracting would require
33:57
you to have info this old, but uh, you
33:59
know, maybe they're She's I I admit I
34:02
did enjoy going over to the food court
34:03
there when it was, you know, fully open.
34:05
It's I really am looking forward to
34:08
maybe she I heard they're thinking of
34:09
adding you maybe reopening some of the
34:11
stalls in there. That would be
34:12
fantastic. Uh, and so she shows you the
34:15
floor plan from 1984 when they submitted
34:18
it for permits uh for the uh to to add
34:21
the prominade to the bottom of the
34:22
building.
34:24
Um, and it clearly shows uh room for
34:28
several uh retail businesses uh and four
34:32
food stalls
34:34
uh for excuse me, five food stalls. Uh
34:38
one of them is a uh one of those
34:41
McDonald's because what food court
34:42
doesn't have a McDonald's? Uh, and then
34:45
the accompanying photographs also show
34:48
uh, uh, facades being set up for uh,
34:52
Sandwich Witch, uh, Smokeoky's Canadian
34:55
Barbecue,
34:57
uh, the Zarro, which was the source of
34:59
the gas leak incident, and a place just
35:02
called Milk Corner.
35:06
>> Dominato are still there now, is it?
35:09
>> Says, "Oh, I haven't I haven't been over
35:11
to check in a while." Um, I think
35:13
actually none of them uh last I checked
35:17
there was uh there was a new place
35:18
opening up in there which surprised me
35:21
uh cuz you know the place kind of went
35:22
downhill after all the most of the
35:24
stores left. Uh but there was a uh
35:26
there's a chicken and fish place opening
35:28
up in there.
35:29
>> Make a copy of this floor plan.
35:31
>> Uh sure. Um do you do you know any work
35:35
a copy or do you want me to go make that
35:36
for you?
35:38
Um, I can go do that if as case turns to
35:41
the other team. If someone wants to go
35:43
grab the original before the revisions
35:45
while I do that,
35:46
>> I'll do it.
35:47
>> Okay. All right. So then, Case, you can
35:51
take the She puts everything back in the
35:53
folder for carrying convenience, and you
35:54
can uh So, you had the floor plan, you
35:56
had the photos of the restaurants and uh
35:58
the retail stores. Um, and the rest of
36:02
you, she says, "All right. Uh so the
36:04
previous uh previous one would have been
36:06
back in the 20s. Um and she starts
36:09
leading you back towards the oldest part
36:12
of the filing cabinets. And partway
36:14
there she stops and she kind of goes,
36:16
"Oh, dang it. I forgot." She turns out
36:19
she says, "Um the we don't have the
36:22
original any um sorry. Um the so the
36:26
records department was previously
36:28
located further down in the basement of
36:29
city hall. And were any of you you kids
36:33
look you all look pretty young. Uh so
36:35
none of you were probably around for the
36:36
flood of 71, right? Um a lot of our
36:40
original records got destroyed in that.
36:42
Uh unfortunately that includes the
36:44
original 1922 plan for the Baxter
36:46
building.
36:47
>> Well, that's Yeah. She says, "I'm I'm
36:50
sorry."
36:51
>> Oh, well that's fine. We just find it's
36:52
so useful to go back and to at least
36:55
have a glance at the original plans
36:56
because you never know what's gotten
36:59
lost over the years or something things
37:01
that have been forgotten to put down. Uh
37:04
so uh but what we have is what we have.
37:07
So yes, thank you so much for your help.
37:09
>> I Yep. So she'll she'll kind of meet up
37:12
with you all again when uh she kind of
37:14
hangs around the table and the the the
37:15
table where you were out and kind of
37:16
makes small talk. Uh case uh you're off.
37:20
Were you the one making the copy?
37:21
>> Yeah, just making the copy and then just
37:25
expect I want to inspect it further um
37:29
as I do it.
37:30
>> Okay. Uh what are you looking for
37:33
exactly? Or are you using an anomalous
37:35
power of some kind?
37:37
>> No anomalous power just yet. Just um
37:40
just looking at it. That's uh TB TBD if
37:44
I'm going to bring something up to the
37:45
team just yet, but more focused on
37:48
making the copy just
37:50
>> Yeah.
37:50
>> Yep. So, as mentioned, you see the uh
37:53
the uh so the permitting shows that they
37:56
were adding four the five food stalls
37:58
that was mentioned. Uh again, that was
38:00
McDonald's, Zabaro, Sandwich Witch,
38:03
Smoky's Canadian Barbecue, and Milk
38:05
Corner. uh and a number of retail brands
38:08
uh that definitely all existed in the
38:11
80s, many of which don't exist uh
38:13
anymore. Uh probably the only thing of
38:15
note is that uh you know that the
38:17
Triangle Corporation, the uh corporate
38:20
wing of the triangle agency uh has been
38:23
in various retail uh uh chains for
38:27
years, you know, putting uh putting safe
38:29
to safe to use anomalous material to
38:32
work for the public good. But you
38:34
actually don't see a single triangle uh
38:37
related store in the list uh for the
38:40
prominance permits. Doesn't strike you
38:43
as unusual. Wuhan Baxter and the
38:45
triangle agency have never really gotten
38:47
along. Uh rumor has it that they
38:50
actually at some point got their hands
38:51
on anomalous material uh which the
38:54
agency tries to lock down at all costs.
38:56
So uh it's not surprising for you that
38:58
Triangle was not opening a store right
39:00
under their nose. Actually, I do have a
39:03
question about the plans.
39:05
>> I wanted to look and see if what the
39:08
overlay is from where the 97 Sabaros was
39:12
versus the subbractors
39:15
quote disappeared and then reappeared
39:17
in.
39:17
>> Mhm.
39:19
>> Okay. Uh the subb uh yeah the subb is
39:24
shown on the records and appears to run
39:28
underneath the entirety of the
39:30
prominade. Um where a uh a normal mall
39:35
would have like a back room that kind of
39:37
goes around and behind all the stores.
39:39
Uh since they couldn't really get in,
39:40
you know, they because of where they
39:42
were building this prominade which was
39:44
technically underneath their corporate
39:45
headquarters. Um the they were limited
39:49
with the amount they could expand
39:50
horizontally, but they could expand
39:52
vertically. And so they uh a a subb of
39:56
many corridors runs underneath the
39:58
entirety of the prominade.
40:01
>> Okay. So we're looking at like a large
40:03
subb, not like a small sectioned off
40:05
like seller type thing under
40:07
>> Yeah. It's not it's not like it's just
40:08
underneath the pizza restaurant. It's uh
40:10
Yeah, it it connects everything. Um it
40:13
looks like the entrance is somewhere on
40:14
the proomenade. Uh it's a little hard to
40:17
tell just because of the layout, but it
40:18
looks like there's uh and of course a
40:20
few entrances maybe from the uh from the
40:23
restaurants or not from the restaurants,
40:25
pardon me, from any of the businesses,
40:27
but also from the uh from somewhere in
40:30
the prominade.
40:31
>> I'll offer the floor plans to look at
40:32
for anybody else to look at. Um
40:34
>> I'll take a look.
40:35
>> All righty. Uh tell me what kind of
40:37
things you all are looking for. I'm sure
40:39
Case has shared his uh discoveries about
40:43
businesses and uh the subbs uh sprawl.
40:47
>> So the the one restaurant exploded.
40:51
>> Um what sort of changes were made to the
40:55
the the layout um after that? Did they
40:57
put the walls back in the same places or
41:00
are they different? Uh so the uh so I
41:06
think when you ask about that what she
41:07
shows you is there was an update uh in
41:10
98 uh for a repermitting. It was a it
41:13
was a building inspector's logs. Um is
41:16
that there was a significant reduction
41:18
in the reported square foot of the
41:20
prominade but no change to its actual
41:22
shape. Um,
41:24
>> what
41:28
>> this this is this is the sort of thing
41:30
you want to look at those historical
41:31
plans for because things change over the
41:33
years. Things might get uh modified,
41:38
lost that can be very important for new
41:40
work.
41:40
>> Well, the good news is if you're if
41:42
you're working to renovate that
41:43
prominade, the good news is she kind of
41:46
taps the ones you guys are. She says
41:47
pretty much everything you need is here.
41:49
Uh, anything on the plans from 22 is
41:50
going to be about the corporate office
41:52
itself upstairs and they
41:54
>> they keep that pretty locked down.
41:56
>> So Tad has been struggling to keep a
41:59
tiny N95 mask on Grumbles. He's very
42:02
sensitive to dust.
42:03
>> Uh, but he's struggling to fight it off.
42:06
But Tad's going to ask, uh, you said
42:08
you've been over to the Prominade, uh,
42:10
you know, at least he used to. Are there
42:12
any other stories besides the explosion?
42:15
We're trying to get ahead of some of the
42:17
uh you know other reputation this area
42:20
might have. So is there anything else
42:23
strange or unusual that has been has
42:25
happened on this property ever?
42:26
>> And she kind of says well you know
42:28
there's um she kind of thinks she well
42:30
nothing specifically with that building.
42:32
I mean you know they did have that uh
42:35
they had that you know they were they
42:36
had that headline where they were in
42:37
court a few weeks ago where they had
42:38
that where they had that upcoming
42:40
combination uh daycare and event center
42:43
downtown. not at headquarters though uh
42:45
that they were forced to rename uh from
42:48
WB Kids to the God what do they call it
42:50
the downtown turning center combination
42:52
childcare and event center presented by
42:54
Wuhan Baxter Corporation what a mouthful
42:58
uh she says that's you know but like
43:00
that wasn't even really like you know
43:02
that wasn't really like a big deal it
43:04
was just you know the it's a really bad
43:06
name
43:08
uh she says no the HQ's been pretty
43:11
quiet like you know there was the that
43:13
it's just the 97 thing with the Zabaro.
43:16
Um, and you know, somebody probably
43:19
could have told him that building
43:20
another mall uh underneath the, you
43:23
know, the shopping center wasn't really
43:25
a great idea. We had a lot of malls back
43:27
in the 80s, huh?
43:29
>> What city needs four malls? It's just
43:32
silly.
43:33
>> See, that's what I was saying.
43:35
>> Three is not for anyone.
43:37
>> Three is plenty. I love the East Side
43:39
Mall personally. says, "Uh, well, if you
43:42
folks don't need any, uh, other records
43:44
or anything, uh, I, you know, I've got
43:47
to I've got to get back to my I got to
43:49
get back to work."
43:50
>> Oh.
43:50
>> Um,
43:51
>> thank you so much for your time. We
43:53
really appreciate it. This is helping us
43:55
out so much.
43:56
>> Well, uh, well, thank you. Uh, and yes,
44:00
she'll the lady will then she'll lead
44:02
you back out. Uh, if anybody if anybody
44:05
needs to do anything sneaky in the Hall
44:07
of Records, now is the time. Otherwise,
44:08
you will be led out of the uh filing
44:11
cabinet room and back out to the the
44:13
lobby around her desk. Nothing left to
44:15
your own devices.
44:18
>> I've got nothing.
44:22
>> Any specific goals?
44:24
>> Okay, so Roger's not killing anybody
44:26
arbitrarily. Thank you.
44:29
>> Doy's good. Uh sounds like the rest of
44:32
you are doing rest you are fine. So,
44:34
with that, you've got a uh you now have
44:35
a copy of the uh we'll say the 84 and
44:40
probably the 98 floor plans. Um like I
44:43
said, the the only difference in the 98
44:45
floor plan, you don't actually see a
44:47
change in the shape of the prominade,
44:48
just a reduction in the reported square
44:50
footage.
44:51
>> Mhm.
44:52
>> Uh which is probably suspicious in and
44:54
of itself. Okay. What are you all going
44:56
to do next? Do we dare try to go up to
45:00
corporate or should we just head to
45:02
straight to the prominade itself?
45:04
>> Well, we should probably go take a look
45:06
and see what things are looking like
45:08
right now.
45:09
>> Yeah, we could go back to corporate if
45:11
we feel the need.
45:12
>> Uh there's also the hospital if we want
45:15
to look into more of what happened to
45:18
the two individuals who disappeared.
45:21
Um
45:22
>> that's right.
45:24
>> General manager. general manager. You
45:27
mentioned that uh they they appeared and
45:32
are they alive? You did not say they
45:36
were deceased, but the lack of bones is
45:39
a little
45:40
>> That is correct. They the the the the
45:43
building inspector and the two
45:44
contractors who disappeared uh
45:46
reappeared and were pale and calm but
45:50
otherwise unresponsive
45:52
and seemed perfectly normal other than
45:54
being pale, calm, uh unresponsive and oh
45:57
yeah, their bones are gone.
45:58
>> Well, you do need your mouth bone to
46:00
open the screen.
46:02
>> Yeah, bones seem important sometimes.
46:04
>> Yeah. Yeah, kind of crucial.
46:08
>> All righty. Uh, so are we looking at
46:12
going to Wuhan Baxter or are we going to
46:14
St. Mary's or what's what?
46:16
>> I'm voting for St. Mary's.
46:18
>> Same.
46:18
>> I am along for the ride.
46:21
>> Okay. Literally in the Honda Odyssey.
46:24
The 2026 Honda Odyssey brought to you by
46:26
Triangle Corporation.
46:28
Okay. So, uh, I'll head over to St.
46:32
Mary's Hospital. Um, how do you all tell
46:36
the reception desk that you're there to
46:38
talk to um these employees who I do not
46:42
have names for, but I would assume their
46:44
names are a matter of public record.
46:46
Um, I'm going to see if I can
46:50
I'm uh there's got to be a doctor or
46:53
someone with an official name name badge
46:55
or something that I can um talk to for a
46:59
moment and say that I have met them and
47:02
then I will use my inherited name tag.
47:05
>> Oh, okay. You want to tell us what the
47:07
inherited name tag does?
47:09
Once permission, I can write the name of
47:12
someone I have met today on a name tag
47:14
and wear it. Non-agents will treat me as
47:17
that person as long as I keep the name
47:19
tag on.
47:23
>> Yeah, I think Yeah, I think you could
47:25
just maybe find a doctor uh walking
47:27
through uh the um just like walking
47:31
through the reception area. Are you just
47:33
going to like walk up and shake his hand
47:34
and introduce yourself?
47:36
>> Yeah.
47:36
>> Is that your Okay. Um, okay. So, you
47:39
just across this doctor, uh, and kind of
47:42
a So, he's probably six foot tall, uh,
47:46
middle-aged, uh, balding white guy, uh,
47:49
with a long doctor coat and he scrubs
47:52
and just kind of running through, but
47:54
you quickly accost him and shake his
47:55
hand and, uh, what do what do you say?
47:57
>> Oh, hello, Dr. Jones. I am so impressed
48:01
with the work you do here. I'm Doy. I I
48:04
I would love to, you know, see more of
48:08
the things that you do here.
48:10
>> He kind of stops and looks completely
48:13
flumx and he's just like, I'm how did
48:15
you I'm on my I've got a patient coming
48:18
into the ER. Have we met?
48:19
>> Oh, not yet. Don't worry about it.
48:21
>> Uh, okay. Um, he says, maybe you're a
48:25
friend of my wife said, I don't
48:26
remember. Um, he kind of shakes your
48:29
hand confusedly and he says, "Okay. Um,
48:31
okay. Uh, tell you what, if you're is
48:34
one of your friends here checking in? Is
48:37
that is that what's happening?
48:39
>> Yeah.
48:39
>> Okay. Oh, sir, I don't know if you can
48:41
have a beaver in the hospital. Um, you
48:44
might have toide with that.
48:47
Um, doy, right? You said your name was
48:50
Doy. Okay. Um, yeah, maybe maybe my wife
48:54
knew a Dy. Um, all right. I'll I'll I'll
48:57
come back and say hi if you're still
48:58
here. Um, you I'm sorry. You'll have to
49:00
refresh my memory of how you know me.
49:01
But I I really got to go. There's this
49:03
guy just came in emergency. Uh and I got
49:06
to, you know, so with that, he kind of
49:10
rushes off through a set of double
49:12
doors.
49:13
>> Yeah. He he doesn't really wait for you
49:15
to acknowledge this thing is whole is so
49:16
weird and he's in such a rush that he's
49:18
just like through those doors. Um
49:21
>> and I think we can take off the
49:23
sanctioned behavior of embarrass
49:25
yourself for others benefit.
49:28
>> Yep. That sounds good. Mission
49:31
accomplished there. Uh, I will mark that
49:34
as completing one of your behaviors. For
49:36
folks at home, uh, our agents each have
49:39
three sanctioned behaviors assigned to
49:41
them based on their role in the company.
49:44
And one of as an intern is to embarrass
49:46
yourself for others benefit. Uh, yeah.
49:49
So, I think that counts as enough of a
49:51
meeting for your inherited name tag to
49:52
work. Uh, and so was it for the rest of
49:55
the day? If you're wearing it, people
49:57
will treat you as Dr. Jones.
49:59
>> That's right.
50:00
>> All righty. Uh well, feel free to clip
50:03
on your name tag then. And uh yeah, now
50:06
it's now it's a different story if you
50:08
ask uh if you ask the reception after
50:11
the people after the folks with no bones
50:14
or just the folks from the uh the uh the
50:17
instant over at WB. Um they'll So what
50:21
they'll say is, "Yeah, they're uh
50:23
they're up on the uh they're up on the
50:24
fifth floor. Um, we put them in the ICU
50:27
even though it doesn't really seem like
50:28
that big of an emergency, remember? Um,
50:31
like they seem fine other than the other
50:33
than the no bones thing. And she says,
50:35
"But, uh, you know, the the cops have
50:37
had the had the room pretty locked down,
50:40
so just um try not to make him mad." All
50:42
right, doc.
50:43
>> All right, we'll do.
50:46
>> All righty. Uh, is anybody doing
50:48
anything else at this point before you
50:50
all head up to talk to or head up to the
50:52
fifth floor? I am keeping my hands to
50:55
myself as we move like through the
50:57
crowds of people in the hospital. Um
51:00
you'll you'll notice anybody who's close
51:02
enough to Roger will notice that almost
51:04
like someone who has um like the
51:08
germaphobia. He's very careful about
51:11
what he puts his hands on as he walks.
51:14
Uh yeah boxes too and putting them over
51:17
your hands or
51:18
>> Oh yeah. If you want to if you would if
51:20
Roger wanted to grab some rubber gloves,
51:21
this is the place for him. Yeah,
51:23
probably grabbing uh a couple rubber
51:26
gloves that he's putting on and then
51:28
quickly pocketing some as well.
51:31
>> Yeah, I think that's just like part for
51:32
the course of the hospital. Anybody who
51:34
needs a they I mean they don't have one
51:35
size for a rock hyrax, but anybody who
51:37
needs a uh who needs probably a mask and
51:39
some gloves, this is probably the place
51:40
to get it. Uh okay. So, anybody else got
51:44
any
51:45
>> I've got um I've got Grumbles inside of
51:48
his carrying case and I've put across
51:50
the little uh privacy sash and I've
51:53
taken a big sticker and put it on the
51:55
top of it and it says donor organs.
51:59
>> I love it.
52:01
>> Oh no, Grumbles.
52:04
Oh no, nothing will nothing will happen
52:06
to Grumbles. I promise. Uh, okay. So,
52:09
with that, uh, you all can head
52:11
upstairs. Um, so you take the elevator
52:15
up to the fifth floor. The ICU is kind
52:17
of laid out like a big, uh, kind of a
52:18
big open square. Um, the rooms are all
52:22
along the outside of this area. Uh, the
52:25
nurse's desk is kind of a large round,
52:28
uh, desk in the middle. Um, and you can
52:32
see uh pretty much as soon as you get
52:33
out the elevator that um the room
52:35
diagonally across from you where uh the
52:39
where the the nurse downstairs told you
52:41
that the folks from the WB uh incident
52:45
are located. Um there are two cops
52:48
stationed outside. Uh kind of a tall
52:51
kind of a tall lanky guy uh dark hair uh
52:55
dark eyes looks tired. Um, and then a
52:58
short, stocky woman with uh tan skin,
53:00
uh, dark curly hair, and uh, who also
53:03
looks like she does not want to be here
53:05
right now.
53:06
>> Um, but they haven't taken any notice of
53:08
you cuz the five of you just got off the
53:10
elevator. Maybe they kind of glanced in
53:11
your direction and they see, oh, a
53:13
doctor and four four visitors. Uh, what
53:16
would you all like to do?
53:17
>> I'm going to try to go into the room.
53:20
>> Okay. I think So, are you bringing
53:22
everyone else with you or are you
53:24
separating from the group at this point?
53:26
Um, I'm probably not going to try to
53:28
take more than one other person with me.
53:31
>> Okay. Who is going with uh who is going
53:35
with quote Dr. Jones unquote uh to visit
53:39
the patients?
53:41
>> I would like to because I have a thing I
53:44
could possibly maybe do.
53:48
>> Are you going to use negatives to figure
53:49
out where their bones went?
53:54
>> Okay. You were the first one I had in
53:55
mind. I think
53:56
>> you you you see directly into my head.
54:00
>> It's such a good power. Uh for folks at
54:03
home, Louisa has the ability to touch
54:04
where something used to be and see where
54:07
and and get basically information about
54:10
that thing. Uh but yeah, so we'll say
54:13
Louisa and Dr. Jones head over to
54:17
>> What's that? It is a fun party trick.
54:20
Uh,
54:22
>> as long as it works.
54:24
>> Yes.
54:24
>> So, uh, there is a little rest area here
54:26
at the a little like reception area with
54:29
like some desks and or like a couple
54:30
chairs and some snack machines and a TV.
54:33
Um, the rest so the rest of you don't
54:35
just like have to stand around awkwardly
54:36
near the elevator. Um, looking extremely
54:39
out of place. Uh, Louisa and Doy, you
54:43
head over to the room in the ICU. Uh,
54:46
and the the cops uh kind of like they
54:50
kind of start to as you're walking
54:51
towards them, they're like, "Oh crap,
54:52
somebody's heading our way." And they
54:54
kind of start to like pull ranks and
54:55
close in towards the door and one of
54:56
them sees you're a doctor. Um, I think
54:59
the the shorter one, the woman kind of
55:01
holds her hand up and she says, "Uh,
55:02
hold on, Doc. Um, who who who's this?"
55:06
She points at Louisa.
55:07
>> Uh, relative.
55:10
>> A relative of uh of which one now?
55:12
>> Did we get the names?
55:14
>> Yes. Uh we did get the names. Uh they
55:17
are and I will put them I'll put the the
55:19
news story about it in the chat that
55:21
actually has it. Uh it is a you have the
55:25
building inspector Howal Utrect.
55:28
Uh the uh and then two employees of the
55:33
of the Oor contractors uh Overork
55:36
Construction of Newark, New Jersey. Uh
55:39
Jacob Gran and Tilda Linez. I'll let
55:42
Louisa decide who she's a relative of.
55:44
You get me in trouble, guys.
55:48
>> Oh, I was reading about this in the news
55:50
and poor.
55:52
>> I've I've pulled a handkerchief out of
55:55
out of my of a pocket and I'm dabbing at
55:58
my eyes even though I'm not crying, but
56:00
I'm doing the voice.
56:02
>> Uh, for the people playing along at
56:04
home, Louisa is not allowed to lie. I I
56:07
can I I can lie, but I get a demerit if
56:12
I lie. And I don't I don't want
56:14
demerits.
56:16
>> And she's she's a company lady. She does
56:18
not want those demerits. Uh this does
56:20
not count as a lie. This counts as
56:22
dodging the question entirely. Uh, and
56:24
they kind of look, she the shorter woman
56:27
kind of looks up at her partner and she
56:28
says, "Well, um, well, I mean, I I can I
56:31
can let the doctor in obviously, but um,
56:35
no relatives or anything right now. They
56:37
don't know." Well, they they don't know
56:38
very much, I guess. Um, she says, "We
56:41
don't want just in case this is
56:43
contagious or something." Um, I'm it.
56:47
So, I have to I'd have to clear this my
56:48
superiors. And she's starting to reach
56:50
for the radio on her chest if you look
56:51
like you're going to continue to walk
56:52
into the room with Die.
56:54
>> I told you they probably wouldn't let
56:55
you in.
56:56
>> I was just hoping to see her for just a
56:58
moment. It's
56:59
>> all right. I'll I'll tell her you
57:00
stopped by.
57:01
>> And she says, "Well, you can I mean you
57:03
can you can look through the door and
57:04
you can see her there, but uh yeah, I'm
57:06
afraid we'll
57:07
>> Sorry. Sorry, ma'am. It's you know how
57:09
it is."
57:10
>> Yes, of course. Of course.
57:13
>> And Oh,
57:15
>> yeah.
57:17
Go ahead. It's so hard with some gloves
57:20
and
57:24
>> it's all right. It's all right. I've got
57:25
this covered.
57:26
>> And the
57:28
>> So while while Dr. Jones is heading into
57:30
the room, the cop's like, "Pat your
57:31
hand." She says, "I get it, honey. My my
57:33
cousin got shot last year. Nicked his
57:35
lung. We were worried for so long." And
57:37
she's just she's very just making small
57:40
talk. She's already forgotten the
57:41
doctor. She is making small talk with
57:43
you. Um,
57:44
>> and Eloise are a good small, so she will
57:48
continue
57:50
busy from anything.
57:53
>> Yep. There you go. Uh, so would you say
57:56
that is creating a distraction? Because
57:58
I would say that is creating
57:59
>> I would I would like to create a
58:01
distraction. Yes,
58:02
>> I think you're making a distraction
58:03
here. Uh, but in the mean we'll just
58:06
assume that that's happening in the
58:07
background. So, so people in the waiting
58:10
room can see this happening. And then
58:11
Doy, you slip into the room under the
58:13
guise of your uh of the doctor. Uh
58:16
inside this room there are three beds.
58:19
Uh inside those beds are three people.
58:22
Uh they are as mentioned uh Hal, Jacob,
58:26
and Tilda the people who had gone
58:27
missing. Uh each of them is in a
58:29
hospital each in a hospital bed. Uh eyes
58:32
open staring at the ceiling. uh they are
58:36
hooked up to medical equipment. Um the
58:39
first thing you notice is that the
58:41
things that would normally measure their
58:43
heart rate are turned off. Uh what would
58:46
you like to do while you're in here?
58:47
>> Um not sure that Dy would even knows
58:51
what any of this equipment does.
58:53
>> That's also true.
58:54
>> I need to I need to get a layout of the
58:58
room if I'm going to find a shortcut.
59:02
>> Okay. Um, yeah, I think it's So, I think
59:06
it's kind of just like a fairly So,
59:09
okay, so this is a square room. You're
59:10
entering from the door. I think there's
59:12
a bathroom to your left, uh, with its
59:14
own door for privacy. U, the three beds
59:17
are laid out side by side with a curtain
59:19
between each one and then there is a
59:22
large window on the far end of the room.
59:24
>> Okay. So, if I don't see anything else
59:27
that's um that strikes me as useful,
59:30
then I will just spend a few minutes to
59:33
pretend I was doing something important
59:36
and then head back out again.
59:38
>> Okay. Are you inspecting the victims in
59:40
any way or were you attempting to?
59:42
>> Yeah, I'm going to I'm definitely going
59:44
to look at them.
59:45
>> Okay.
59:46
>> I'm just not confident that I will know
59:48
what I'm looking at.
59:49
>> Yeah, that's very possible. Yeah, you're
59:51
not a trained doctor despite what your
59:53
name tag seems to think.
59:55
um you are like no matter how you circle
59:58
them, if you get close to them, if you
1:00:00
try to talk to them, um none of them
1:00:02
respond in any way. They don't they
1:00:05
don't blink. They don't uh well, they
1:00:08
seem to be breathing. Um but none of
1:00:11
them move. Um they are they seem to be
1:00:15
completely non-responsive.
1:00:16
>> Okay. All right. I'm going to head out
1:00:19
and then see if I can make a shortcut
1:00:22
for one or more of the others to flip
1:00:26
into this room.
1:00:28
>> Spicy. Okay. So, that is one of your
1:00:30
manifold powers. Correct.
1:00:32
>> Yes.
1:00:32
>> Uh would you like to read how that works
1:00:35
for the people at home?
1:00:36
>> When you want to get somewhere in a
1:00:38
hurry, say the phrase, I know a shortcut
1:00:40
and then describe a short path to the
1:00:42
discussion lo discuss location.
1:00:44
>> Okay. Yeah, I think you would be able to
1:00:48
use uh like you can probably use another
1:00:50
door to uh use the bathroom as the other
1:00:53
end of the shortcut I would guess.
1:00:54
>> Yeah.
1:00:55
>> Uh okay. So this requires a die roll. Uh
1:01:00
so we are going to have our first die
1:01:02
roll of the session which will be uh
1:01:03
since this is uh triangle agency all
1:01:06
rolls are 6D 6D4
1:01:10
and the magic numbers you're looking for
1:01:12
is three. Ideally, you would get three
1:01:14
threes, but you know, reality doesn't
1:01:17
always go that way. Uh, and the stat
1:01:19
associated with this, the QA associated
1:01:21
with this is initiative. What is does
1:01:23
Dotty have anything in initiative?
1:01:25
>> Doie has put two dots in initiative
1:01:28
since last game.
1:01:29
>> Okay, so you won't end up parking a
1:01:31
vehicle on a statue this time,
1:01:34
>> hopefully. So, no burnout with this.
1:01:36
Burnout would automatically remove
1:01:38
threes from your role, but do remember
1:01:40
that you can use your QA to adjust
1:01:41
threes. So go ahead and roll 6d4 and
1:01:45
tell me how many threes and non-threes
1:01:47
you get.
1:01:48
>> All righty. I have one three.
1:01:52
>> Okay. So you have one three which is a
1:01:55
success. And I get five chaos. Don't
1:01:58
worry about that at all. Uh would you
1:02:00
like to use any QA to adjust any threes?
1:02:03
>> Uh yes because I need to bring at least
1:02:06
one person with me.
1:02:08
>> That sounds good. Uh would you like to
1:02:09
use one or two? Uh, does anyone besides
1:02:13
Louisa need to go in? What do you guys
1:02:15
think?
1:02:15
>> Ace would like to go in.
1:02:17
>> Uh, Roger's watching the the cops at the
1:02:20
door.
1:02:20
>> I I feel like at this point maybe Louisa
1:02:23
needs to continue making a distraction
1:02:26
just to make sure the cops are occupied.
1:02:28
And
1:02:29
>> um, yeah. Case, do you think that you
1:02:33
can figure out what happened by yourself
1:02:35
or do we need Louisa in here too? I
1:02:38
mean, there's not a guarantee I could
1:02:40
figure it out either.
1:02:42
>> Uh, I'm not sure I can figure it out,
1:02:44
but I have something I want to look for.
1:02:46
I think I'd like
1:02:47
>> Louisa to continue making a distraction
1:02:50
because I mean, someone's sobbing in the
1:02:52
middle of the hallway.
1:02:54
>> It is a very good distraction. Yes.
1:02:56
>> Okay. So, so far we need one additional
1:02:58
success.
1:02:59
>> I have to say, does Tad want to go?
1:03:02
>> Uh, human medicine isn't really my
1:03:04
thing. I'm more of an expert with
1:03:06
animals. And behind me on the counter,
1:03:08
Grumbles has gotten into the courtesy
1:03:09
snacks and he's eating saltines.
1:03:12
>> All right. So, uh, yeah. Um, Joan, you
1:03:15
would need to spend one of your
1:03:17
initiative. Uh, it's it's a pool of
1:03:19
points. You need to spend one of your
1:03:20
initiative to add a second success.
1:03:23
>> Okay. So, in that case, I only get four
1:03:24
chaos. Don't worry about that. Um,
1:03:27
describe the shortcut that leads you and
1:03:29
case back in and back into the uh back
1:03:34
into the the ICU room.
1:03:36
>> Yeah. So, I noticed that all of these
1:03:38
rooms have a little bathroom to them.
1:03:40
And obviously, someone has to get in for
1:03:41
cleaning. So, what we're going to do is
1:03:43
we're going to go to the cleaning room
1:03:46
and um open the secret passageway that
1:03:50
leads to all the the bathrooms and we'll
1:03:52
go down the hall until we find the one
1:03:54
we need. Uh, sure enough, as improbable
1:03:56
as it was, the supply closet, uh, not
1:03:59
far from the elevator does in fact have
1:04:00
a back door that does in fact lead to
1:04:03
all of the bathrooms in all of the ICU
1:04:05
rooms. Very weird, uh, layout, but, uh,
1:04:09
it's true. It exists. Uh, and so, case,
1:04:14
you are now in the ICU room with Doy.
1:04:17
Uh, sound like you had something you
1:04:18
wanted to look for while you were in
1:04:19
here. Yeah, I want to at least I know a
1:04:22
good majority of hospitals have they
1:04:25
don't have the clipboard of notes
1:04:26
anymore, but they have computers there.
1:04:29
So
1:04:30
>> they do uh a lot of So I'm I'm drawing
1:04:33
on my local hospital for this. I'll also
1:04:34
note that for the most pertinent notes,
1:04:36
there's also a whiteboard on the wall.
1:04:39
>> Yeah,
1:04:40
>> usually that has uh relevant notes.
1:04:42
>> Okay. Uh I'll look at that first. I just
1:04:44
want to see if there's been any sort of
1:04:46
any any useful information that I would
1:04:48
glean from there. Otherwise, I'd mess
1:04:51
with the computer.
1:04:52
>> Uh yeah, I think the thing you notice uh
1:04:55
which uh Doie would not have picked up
1:04:57
on because she didn't know what the
1:04:59
equipment was that was hooked up to them
1:05:01
um is that the folks are in the beds um
1:05:07
besides missing all their bones which
1:05:09
was reported on the scene um they have
1:05:11
no pulse. And there is also a note uh
1:05:15
just um it's it's just a simple note.
1:05:17
It's kind of It kind of doesn't make any
1:05:19
sense, but it's underlined, so you're
1:05:20
guessing it's important. Uh, do not move
1:05:23
patients suddenly.
1:05:24
>> Is there another doctor's signature or
1:05:26
sign off on the board like they're
1:05:28
attending?
1:05:29
>> Uh, yes. I don't know if you could read
1:05:32
it, but there is a signature from their
1:05:33
attending there.
1:05:36
>> Very good. Touche. Um,
1:05:38
>> those those might be letters.
1:05:41
>> They're letter shaped, but that doesn't
1:05:43
that doesn't guarantee that they're real
1:05:45
letters. Uh
1:05:48
but uh there is a computer there in the
1:05:50
room if you needed to pull up the uh
1:05:52
notes or anything. Unlike the heart
1:05:53
monitors which if they had them plugged
1:05:55
in would just be whining zero BPM the
1:05:58
whole time and alerting the nurses.
1:06:00
>> Uh the computer is on and fully powered
1:06:02
and all that.
1:06:03
>> Uh I'm assuming it's locked. So, I'd
1:06:06
just like to touch it and make it go to
1:06:08
a previously unlocked state so I could
1:06:11
read the most recent notes because the
1:06:14
lack of documentation on all these
1:06:16
people is incredibly disturbing for how
1:06:18
jacked up they are. Everyone is
1:06:20
incredibly nonchalant and it's freaking
1:06:22
me out. Like as case it's why why do
1:06:27
nobody seem why does nobody seem to be
1:06:29
concerned that these people don't have
1:06:30
bones but they also have no pulse. So,
1:06:33
there's something going on here. And I I
1:06:35
want to try to glean any sort of like
1:06:38
anomalous impact from
1:06:41
whatever notes I can find or potential
1:06:44
corporate interference from WB.
1:06:46
>> Is this is this one of your
1:06:48
>> I was going to say is this one of your
1:06:49
anomalous powers or
1:06:51
>> uh not an explicit anomalous power that
1:06:54
makes me go or turn it back into an
1:06:57
unlocked state.
1:06:58
>> Okay. So I think in this case what you
1:07:01
would need is you would need to contact
1:07:03
the agency to basically have them alter
1:07:05
reality in a way that this computer is
1:07:07
unlocked. Uh so we can do that. That's
1:07:11
easy to do. Uh first we describe an
1:07:15
improbable but still possible event that
1:07:18
would cause this computer to be unlocked
1:07:19
right now instead of locked. And
1:07:21
everyone can pitch in if anyone has
1:07:22
ideas. This isn't all on your head.
1:07:24
>> Yeah. So I have a mouse that's very
1:07:26
twitchy.
1:07:28
Even if um even if I'm not at the
1:07:31
computer, when I was using this mouse,
1:07:34
it would just slightly vibrate with like
1:07:37
the fans of the computer and so it
1:07:39
wouldn't go to sleep.
1:07:40
>> Man, I think I need one of those to hook
1:07:42
up to my work laptop. I mean, nobody
1:07:44
heard that. Uh
1:07:46
that sounds perfectly reasonable to me
1:07:49
if that uh
1:07:50
>> I'm good with that.
1:07:51
>> Yeah, I don't even think you need to
1:07:52
really uh roll back on that. Uh all
1:07:55
right, so let's see. So now we need to
1:07:57
pick one of your key one of your quality
1:07:59
asurances, the one of your stats to roll
1:08:02
for this. Um I'm just looking here. So
1:08:06
you're like you're trying to get in
1:08:08
somewhere that you don't technically
1:08:09
belong. So technically like Yeah, I was
1:08:13
I was between duplicity and subtlety,
1:08:15
but you're not actually lying. You're
1:08:17
just uh you're trying to do this very
1:08:19
quickly, very carefully before anyone
1:08:21
notices, before Louis's distraction
1:08:23
wears off, one of the cops like glances
1:08:25
over and sees you're in here. I think
1:08:26
subtlety is the one. So, uh, if you need
1:08:29
to spend any QAs on this roll, subtlety
1:08:31
will be the one that you will spend it
1:08:32
with. Uh, does case have any points in
1:08:35
subtlety?
1:08:36
>> Three.
1:08:37
>> Okay. Well, the good news is you will
1:08:39
not be rolling with any burnout right
1:08:41
now. Uh, so go ahead and roll 64.
1:08:45
>> And remind me, it's anything above a
1:08:48
three is a success, correct?
1:08:49
>> Nope. It's only threes.
1:08:51
>> Oh, only threes. Okay. I've got two
1:08:54
threes.
1:08:55
Okay.
1:08:57
Uh would you like to spend any of your
1:09:02
uh three subtlety points to make that to
1:09:04
three threes? You cannot force a
1:09:06
transcendence, but it will make a very
1:09:08
uh it will make a result that causes me
1:09:10
to not get any chaos from this roll.
1:09:12
>> Yes, I will spend one subtlety.
1:09:14
>> Okay, so that goes to three threes,
1:09:16
which as we all know, the triangle is
1:09:18
the most stable form of reality and
1:09:20
therefore three threes is stable. uh
1:09:23
three threes is a success and causes
1:09:25
zero chaos, which chaos is my uh my
1:09:28
currency as the general manager to have
1:09:31
the anomaly do things. But in this case,
1:09:34
uh what happens is that you So, how does
1:09:36
Case contact the agency? I'm just very
1:09:38
curious about this. Do you call? Do you
1:09:39
text? Do you have an app? I don't know
1:09:41
how this works.
1:09:42
>> I have a Nokia that I'll just call.
1:09:44
>> Oh,
1:09:46
>> because Nokia persists through time.
1:09:49
It's indestructible.
1:09:50
>> Yeah, they are. Uh it it's not even an
1:09:52
anomalous uh thing. Nokia was
1:09:54
investigated back in the '90s to see if
1:09:56
they were embedding anomalous material
1:09:57
to make their phones so indestructible.
1:09:59
And no, it's just uh you know, a once in
1:10:01
a-lifetime uh surprise. Uh all right, so
1:10:04
time resumes and the agency uh has
1:10:07
altered reality. Uh the mouse uh on the
1:10:11
table, you do see that when the fans are
1:10:12
blowing on the computer, the mouse just
1:10:14
jiggles just a little bit. And it's
1:10:16
immediately obvious because it wakes up
1:10:18
uh it wakes up the screen. It never
1:10:20
locked itself from when the last doctor
1:10:22
was in here. So tell me what you would
1:10:24
like to look for on in the in the more
1:10:26
complete case notes here.
1:10:28
>> Uh the most recent entry that they have
1:10:30
like when the last check-in was. What
1:10:31
what narrative are they writing like
1:10:33
hand notes that they're
1:10:35
>> okay. Uh okay. So what you find is you
1:10:40
find a series of notes um from a couple
1:10:43
different doctors who have been to see
1:10:44
them and every doctor who's been
1:10:45
assigned to this case is extremely
1:10:48
confused. Um, so you did you find the
1:10:51
the same thing that the same anomalous
1:10:53
info that you already knew that they
1:10:54
were missing all their bones and that
1:10:56
they have no pulse. Uh, that has been
1:10:58
the pulse thing has been written up as a
1:11:00
mechanical failure. Although one of the
1:11:02
doctor's notes they tried it the
1:11:03
oldfashioned way and they couldn't feel
1:11:04
anything on their wrist either uh or
1:11:07
their neck or even you know over their
1:11:09
chest and so they thought that was
1:11:11
something is up there. Maybe it's just
1:11:12
weakened their heartbeat below what
1:11:14
could be detected. Not sure. Um, you do
1:11:18
find the explanation for the thing about
1:11:20
not suddenly jostling the patients. Uh,
1:11:23
it's noted that somebody I I think when
1:11:26
they were getting Howal's uh stretcher
1:11:29
out of the ambulance here, um, someone,
1:11:32
you know, jostled his uh, thing and it
1:11:34
caused him to kind of move in a way uh,
1:11:37
sudden movement and a thick red liquid
1:11:40
uh, began leaking from the corner of his
1:11:42
eyes and mouth. Um, and then there is
1:11:45
attached a lab report with analysis of
1:11:48
this because it wasn't blood. They
1:11:50
thought at first, you know, oh, this
1:11:52
guy's bleeding from the eyes and mouth.
1:11:53
That's probably bad. Um, a lab analysis
1:11:58
uh revealed the unknown substance uh to
1:12:01
be common mass-produced uh pizza sauce.
1:12:05
>> Oh.
1:12:07
>> Oh,
1:12:08
>> I just want to make sure that I heard
1:12:10
you correctly. Did you say their blood
1:12:11
was replaced with pizza sauce? Huh. Uh,
1:12:15
they didn't cut them open and check, but
1:12:17
yes, jostling uh how suddenly caused the
1:12:20
corner of his eyes and mouth to leak uh
1:12:23
what for all intents and purposes
1:12:25
appeared to be pizza sauce. And with
1:12:28
that revelation, I think we're going to
1:12:30
stop episode one and our readers can
1:12:32
just kind of chew on that for a while.
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