Dallas 2.0:Sessions:20191116

Nearly three years have passed.

Nathan Rahl has 10 full-time agents in his Dallas office and 4 in Arlington. He is "on retainer" for three new clients (within the past six months): Wellington, an investment banker in New York (6' tall, in his 30s, very fit); Sobert, a producer in Los Angeles (has had Nathan run background checks on various actors); Taylor, an ex-sheriff in southern Florida (in his late 50s; inherited a couple million from a great-aunt; has had Nathan run checks on various individuals as well as a group out of Texarkana, a startup seeking investors for some gadget).

Orley Anders has been promoted to general manager of Rahl Investigation & Security's Arlington office.

Clyde Wheeler occasionally works for Nathan; currently he is a pitching coach for a AAA team (not in the DFW area).

Benjamin Grimes got very sick in 2017 and tried a "miracle drug" from Joe Powell's Softlight portfolio; his health has vastly improved.

Nathan remains in contact with homicide detective Mike Dallas.

Kef arrives at the Scarborough Faire grounds in Waxahachie on April 3, 2019. The opening weekend theme is "time travel" but there is also a push for the Renaissance Faire to be "more authentic." One of the featured musicians is named Randal Piper.

Kef has been feeling uneasy. The cards read "death and destruction" which involves several people who share the Faire campsite.

Kef has a precognitive dream: a fellow Faire worker named Alyssa Joshua (5'6", almost 24 years old, light chocolate skin, brown eyes, beautiful) is sitting across from her, saying "My mother was lucky, she got out... Entire block went up in flames, others were killed by the blast... I don't understand why I gotta do this... Mother is okay... I'm sure they'll say it was a gas main... I've had visions for awhile..." Kef goes to Alyssa's tent. Randal Cortez, Alyssa's boyfriend, is asleep facing away from her. Alyssa awakens easily and is very chatty. Her mother and father live in the Hamilton Park area of Dallas. Her brother Andy is away at college. She spoke with her mother recently. Her father will be going out of town today. Her moother has a new friend that Alyssa considers an "undue influence."

Shortly after midnight (Thursday, April 4) Kef borrows Alyssa's phone and calls Orley (who she's known since his days as a Dallas police officer). He's on a stakeout to get evidence of some man cheating on his wife. Orley in turn calls Nathan (at 12:30am) and relays Kef's warning that an entire block of homes in Hamilton Park will be wiped out by explosion and fire. Nathan instructs Orley to call in another agent (Karen Lomas) to relieve him so he can go home and sleep. In the morning Nathan and Orley will go to the Joshuas' neighborhood. Also, Nathan wants to send a burner cellphone to Kef.

Nathan calls Sara Summers (admin of his Dallas office) and outlines the scenario. He wants her to check police and news reports of any activity, criminal or benign, in Hamilton Park and Lake Highlands. "Especially anything to do with fire." He wants the identities of all homeowners within a one-square block area of the Joshuas.

Nathan arrives in his office at 9:00am. One of the two folders on his desk lists a number of recent home invasions in Lake Highlands, one of which was investigated by Glen McFadden (DPD robbery division; along with Bert Santana, he had arrested Clyde Wheeler after an incident on I-635). Several "collectibles" had been stolen, but nothing else.

Orley drives Nathan to Hamilton Park. Nathan rolls down the window and sniffs, but he doesn't smell anything unusual (e.g. natural gas from a leak). With his "hyperspectral vision" he sees an area of "more heat" and "infrared and high ultraviolet" around four houses in a row, the owners of which he identifies (from the list supplied by Sara) as the Joshuas, Joneses, Coreys, and Talberts. He figures it's centered on either the Jones or Joshua house, which are side-by-side. Mrs Joshua is an architect and Mr Joshua is a dealer in antiques.

With the robbery report in hand, Nathan knocks at the Joshua house and tells Mrs Joshua he's investigating home invasions and wants Mr Joshua to check his list of stolen collectibles. When he steps inside the house, Nathan can tell this is the source of the radiation/"energy" (and the Jones house has something inside it that reflects the energy). Mrs Joshua is fair-skinned, with red hair and blue eyes; her husband is African-American. Nathan realizes that Mrs Joshua is a "sensitive." As Mr Joshua studies the list, Nathan remarks, "Feels strange in here. Do you feel it?" Mr Joshua circles a couple of the items; he had acquired them from Washington DC a few months back, and still has several other objects from the same lot. Nathan asks to see them, saying "I might want to buy them." Mr Joshua seems doubtful until his wife says "I get good vibes off of him." He replies that he must leave to catch his flight and that she can take care of any transactions. (Nathan senses no hostility from them, but they are both "on edge" and "out of sync" and there is something "wearing" on them both.)

Bailey Joshua leads Nathan further into the house, remarking among other things that she has "second sight" and can "read people" well. She mentions disapprovingly that her daughter Alyssa is "part of the 'ambiance' at Scarborough Faire" and implies that she is wasting her time and talent there. She unlocks a storage room. Inside Nathan senses three objects emitting radiation: a 1920s ticker tape machine; a never-opened tin of cigars (of an obscure brand); an old flatiron that might be used as a doorstop. The radiation is intense enough to hurt Nathan's eyes. He says, "I'd like those three items, and a record of their provenance [not providence]. The total price is $978.78, which Nathan pays by credit card.

Nathan comes back outside at 10:45. Orley: "Boss, we're being watched." He indicates a lineman on a cherry-picker, adding "I don't get the right feel." Nathan: "That complicates things." He still sees reflections from the Jones and Corey houses, even though he has taken the radiating items. Nathan has Orley take his camera out of the trunk and "very obviously" take pictures of the lineman and his truck "so that they know that we know." With his phone Nathan takes a zoom photo and forwards it to Mike Dallas, adding, "I think this is a phony utility truck. What do you think?" As Dallas replies "Sending a squad car" the lineman quickly descends. Nathan says to Orley, "The big problem is in the back seat. Let's go."

Nathan calls Kef (the burner phone had been delivered by courier at 9:00am); he is sending a Lyft driver (Ethel) for her.

Nathan feels "edgy/itchy" and anxious, and notices that Orley is "fidgeting" and "driving sloppy." However, he doesn't think they were followed. They carry the antiques into a conference room and shut the door. Nathan remarks, "Those things were affecting that couple. Now they're affecting you and I. No one else should see or touch them until Kef gets here."

The sense of "edginess" gets stronger as Kef arrives at Nathan's office. Nathan describes his visit to the Joshuas, then shows Kef to the conference room. He watches from just outside the door as soon she steps in.

"Things" tug at Kef's brain, the air twists, time contracts and then expands, reality seems "volatile." She pulls three feet of tape with faint printing from the ticker tape machine: numbers that seem to indicate latitude and longitude, and a sequence of letters that might be a cypher. The flatiron is marked "McFadden 1880 Washington DC." The cigar tin depicts men seated around a fireplace and is labeled "The Brand" and on the bottom "Colombia."

Nathan notes that pulling the tape reduced the energy emitted by 2/3. Kef reads off the coordinates to Orley, who responds that it's a spot in Washington DC presently occupied by an FBI auxiliary field office. Nathan sends the cypher to Lucy Buckner for decoding.

Kef touches the ticker tape machine and (using psychometry) gazes back in time some 90 years. Nathan sees the cigar tin flare as if trying to burn the ticker tape, and Kef briefly goes rigid. She has seen a group of people around the machine as it gathers power to infuse them with energy. There is a sense of satisfaction, that the machine is working as intended. Then "someone unleashed something horrendous," an entity which actually links to Kef and tries to kill her, but she wrests control of it and turns off the energy. Kef makes her fright check, and four of the individuals die. The attack was ferocious; it was human (or person) based, not normal, psychic, or supernatural.

Kef and Nathan talk at some length. Then Nathan calls McFadden and learns that five items that Mr Joshua had sold were stolen in a "home invasion." McFadden says the police had the fake lineman and his driver in custody.

Nathan warns Sara, "Some not-so-bright people might visit... Tell me if you start feeling bad."

Nathan's client, Ms Smith, arrives. Nathan tells her "Your husband is scum" and shows her photos of his infidelity.

Two people enter the lobby. Ms Bowers: 5'2", very attractive, light brown hair, blue eyes, no-nonsense, dressed in a "power suit" and carrying an oversized clutch purse. Fred Mays: 6'1", trained, military stance, 25-45 years old, mixed race, no visible weapons. Kef senses that they are keyed up and thrive on challenge; Bowers is very confident and thinks she's in charge.

Bowers: "Mr Joshua is suspected of illegally and knowingly obtaining stolen antiques." Nathan: "Why don't you have the police investigate?" Bowers: "The police don't take us seriously." (Kef picks up that Bowers is lying a lot.) Bowers alleges that Mr Joshua is in some kind of criminal ring. Nathan: "This interview is over. He's not an international thief." Bowers: "Mays' sources say you purchased some items from Mr Joshua." Nathan: "That's not your business. Time for you to go." Bowers: "We currently operate out of Switzerland. We have an office in New York. We provide services of a flexible nature." Nathan: "Was that your lineman?" Bowers: "He doesn't work for Alabon."

Once Bowers and Mays are out of the building, Kef asks Nathan to check for bugs. Bowers left one on a chair and another on the edge of a door; Nathan sends these to be reverse engineered, as they are quite advanced.

Lucy has deciphered the ticker tape. The location was a building that stood from 1910 to 1939 and was demolished. On Black Friday 1929 it was owned by Alabon Investment Group, which ceased to exist in 1959. But two years ago it was incorporated in Switzerland by two owners. They have 50 employees, including Bowers and Mays, and a one-person office in New York. They are a "covert action mercenary group." In 1929 there was a mass murder/suicide "event" where ten people went crazy and ripped other people apart. The "event" couldn't be explained so it was covered up. The building stood vacant (but with its furnishings intact) for ten years; there were no buyers, and the building was demolished in 1939.

Nathan has Sara pack up the ticker tape machine, cigar tin, and flatiron and send them separately by FedEx to Nathan's house and the Arlington office. "Secure the office. No one works late; I don't want my people hurt."

Nathan, Orley, and Kef go visit Bailey Joshua. She is feeling much better. She and her husband had given some "minor knick-knacks" to the Coreys and the Joneses, a mirror and a desk ornament. Nathan goes to each house and trades for the mirror and ornament.

Around 4:00pm Kef has a vision of Alyssa saying, "My mother thinks you're wonderful. She called me for the first time in ages!"

Nathan instructs Orley, "Go somewhere safe, then call me." They go to Nathan's house, and he calls a Lyft (Ryan) to take Kef back to Waxahachie.

Lucy reports that Alabon has two servers not connected to the internet, but she has placed a backdoor in their system. She has not yet broken the cipher. Nathan: "When you do, don't read it aloud."

A tech calls Nathan. The bugs self-destructed, but the tech got their frequency. "They were very cutting-edge."

Kef dreams that Nathan phoned her. "They cut off power to the office, disabled the generators, and searched the place thoroughly. Power was restored by 4:00am. I have an awful headache..." Nathan had awakened. He wasn't in the same position as when he fell asleep. He concluded that someone circumvented his security, pumped gas into his house to knock him out, got inside, searched the place (moving some things around)... but somehow missed the two knick-knacks he had set on the fireplace. All his clocks were reset except one.

Kef wakes up at 1:00am and phones Nathan, relating her dream. He calls Orley and tells him, "Bring gas masks and night goggles." He wants Karen and her backup Stanley to set up as observers; "Don't engage. Learn how they get in." Nathan's going to try to subdue the invaders and then call the police.

Kef casts her tarot cards. She reads successful completion of perilous task; not all mysteries resolved.

At 4:00am Karen (at the back) and Stan (in front) report "they're in the area, but didn't react to us." At 4:15 Stan reports someone climbing a transformer pole. The power goes out and Nathan's generator kicks in. Someone in camo shuts that down. Someone in front brings out a bazooka, aims at the house (Nathan ducks down), and fires; there's a whine and a hiss, then the person puts away the bazooka and repositions. Two more camouflaged people break in through the back. One of them Nathan recognizes as Mays. Nathan and Orley taze the intruders, then remove their earbuds and throat mikes, then ziptie them and duct tape their eyes and mouths. Over the earbuds a voice inquires "Clear?" After a few minutes Nathan mutters, "Clear."

Nathan calls 911 and reports the breakin. "Three outside, one in camo, one in a car in the front." He tells Orley, "The two in back will probably bolt. Don't engage them." He finds and keeps a small box with a digital display, and takes pictures of their faces and IDs.

The first two police cars come in silent/no lights. By 5:40 the police have three of the externals in custody. A cop comes to the front door and displays his badge and ID. More cops arrive to take away Mays and the other intruder.

The electric company arrives at 6:15am, quickly undoes the sabotage, and restores power.

By 6:30am Nathan has given his statement to the police and assured them he is pressing charges. "This could've been an ugly scene."

Nathan tells Karen and Stan, "Upload all your findings to the server and get some sleep. See you around 12:00."

Nathan calls Kef and thanks her.

Alyssa comes to talk to Kef. "Guess what?" she says happily, "My m--" Kef interrupts, "Your mother called, she's proud of you, she's going to come down and see you perform. She's reaching out to you; you need to reach back, too."

Around 2:30pm Nathan is in the office figuring out how the intruders got in. These had been more sophisticated; they'd gone in with ten people, as though they expected an ambush.

The phone rings and Nathan answers. Ms Bowers says, "You're a right royal one, you know that? You have them, I don't know where. I've lost five people. They'll be traced back to the corporation. So I'm leaving. Mays knows to call our lawyer. There's a window we missed, so we're coming back. Until then, it will give me pleasure for you to be paranoid.... I can't believe you caught them." Nathan: "Tell me what's going on, why you want these items. And no, I won't give them to you. I couldn't have stopped you getting into the office. The gear you use is generations ahead of anything I've seen." Bowers: "The cops don't have the bazooka now. Under the right circumstances, I would kill you. We're done for now and you probably don't believe me. But I will offer you $250,000 for the items." Nathan: "I won't sell them to you. But if you let me know your evil plan I would give them to you. ... Tell me true or false: Last time these items were all together, ten people died." "True." "It was murder/suicide." "Not true." "It was supernatural." "Not exactly." "The equipment can detect things at certain times." "Yes, but there are problems sometimes." "You have two items, you want three more." "True." "Do you want more items than that?" "No..." "You were doing so good until you lied."

Nathan: "Your info is incomplete." Bowers: "Yes, else I would not have failed." "You would have failed anyway. I kept them away from you because you are evil sh*ts. ... If you get the five items, you're going to die."

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