Nomadic:Sessions:20180519
Marcus suggests phoning Adam Nicholson, the agent whose failure to report in had brought the group here. Vincente gets a recording and leaves a message, "This is regarding Enigma. Call me back." We decide to evaluate the new situation.
Valerie walks toward her hypercycle and gets a flashback to when she touched the capstone on Malachi Johnson's grave marker. Time swirls around her, seconds tick by, and she gains Absolute Timing. She senses the power of the ghosts still. There's a capstone in the Navigator.
Vincente finds that we had checked in to a hotel on Sunday afternoon for five days. He finds that Adam had stayed there but had checked out. Rick says there is "massive spiritual energy" in Bodie that he didn't pick up yesterday. Lynwood White, listed as a consultant/troubleshooter for Veritas' CEO, is presently in Bodie. The CEO is named Jamison Rudolph Dean, who in the "other" timeline had been head of operations.
We drive to the riverbank where we had discovered Adam's corpse. The area is now a public park, with Adam's burial spot under a monument at the very center. Vincente casts Sense Spirit and gets massive feedback, with thousands of spirits, including Adam's, streaming toward Bodie. Marcus suggests asking the ghosts about Bodie. Vincente approaches a young couple, Elton and Betsy Brice, who tell him they died in a traffic accident. "Why aren't you in Bodie?" Some force is pulling them towards Bodie, but "we can't leave until we know our child is okay." This park is a "transit point" on the way to Bodie. "Should we resist? Will something bad happen?" Betsy's mother, Tamith Hairson, who lives in Albany NY, is having trouble coming up with the money to fly to California. Vincente phones her and transfers her ample funds to come pick up the Brices' child from CPS.
Vincente notes that the statue of Nathaniel Barber (a politician who died fifty years ago) is "wavering" with movement-aspected magic, as is the spot where he had found the tiki torches.
In Bodie, Carmella squirms uncomfortably, saying "Ghosts are stacked up to the sky... tens of thousands in stasis." Vicente casts Medium on Marcus and Valerie. Valerie is stunned and Vincente has to shake her out of it. She is now connected to both capstones.
Around 2pm Vincente gets a call from Wade Miller; he has just landed in Bridgeport. He claims others are coming from the Western Region.
Vincente tries to make eye contact with a spirit, and cannot. They all seem dazed. Carmella tries contacting several spirits, then walks into one; Valerie feels her falter so sends her 'oomph'. Carmella merges with the ghost and walks toward Valerie; Vincente casts Awaken and the other ghost wakes up as Carmella steps back out. The spirit's name is Daisy Boyle; she remembers dying January 18, 2008 in a hospital, from heart failure and pneumonia. She was age 30. She doesn't know why she is in Bodie, since she died in Denver. She doesn't know what's going on. Vincente: "What do you feel like doing now?" DB: "I want to stay with y'all. This vehicle feels comfortable."
Vincente, Marcus, and Valerie join a tour group. The guide speaks proudly of "the new streamlined ore process" versus the original method of refining. Strangely, the ore doesn't have a name. It "enhances" other metals. Vincente sees that the original presses are magic. Two security guards in the tour group are watching Valerie's shoulders (where Carmella and Daisy are hovering). Vincente can tell from their auras that guard1 is a medium; guard2 can sense spirits and magic, is a strong empath but (confoundingly) psychopathic, has very strong will, and is tainted.
Vincente drops back and says to guard2, "Can you see them?" Guard2: "The question is, can you?" "Who are you, and why aren't you in jail?" "They appreciate my skills." "You're a psychopath." "We are completely aboveboard. I have been instructed to help you. My employer has a good pension plan." "Don't the stacks of ghosts freak you out?" "They serve their purpose. People who can see them, freak out.... We were briefed about two 'Mr Johnsons'. You are messing up our cameras." "Is it switching in and out of focus? That's a bug introduced by your employers.... I want to interview with Lori. We go way back." "Next you'll be claiming you know Scott Velasquez." "I met Milo briefly. He's not bulletproof." "Milo was Chief of Security here. Someone once missed him from point-blank range." "Is there a branch of the Collective around here?" "They don't exist anymore." "I talked to one today. What about Threepoint? They seem nice, but wimpy." "They're hard to eradicate, like cockroaches." "They said you were mean SOBs. Where's the time machine?" "I honestly don't know of one." "It's here, isn't it?" "I've never been assigned to guard it." "Why are you here at an ore mine? It doesn't match your hunter-killer skillset." "I exercise it."
Marcus notices a man dressed business casual moving toward the Navigator. He slips up behind him and puts a silenced pistol in his back. "Nice day," Marcus greets him; "You're not that good, but you're not bad." The man says that Ronnie Randolph, head of security, wants to know about their group. They're able to see ghosts if they use sensor equipment. He claims not to know what the ghosts are for. "Randolph is inside talking to the Brit. Something is jamming their equipment." Marcus tells the man to drop his bugs (he had been about to place them on the Navigator and the cycle), plants a bug on him, and lets him go.
Vincente calls Lori Griffith. "Do you have a headache?" "I've had a mild one all day." "Which way does your office window face?" "West, toward the ocean." "If you close your eyes, which direction do you feel a pull from?" "The headache intensifies if I face north-northeast. ... We encourage (the public) to visit Bodie, but it's not required." "Your life is my concern."
The old cemetery is now surrounded with walls seven feet high. Surveillance cameras and sensors are everywhere. Vincente enters through an ornate wrought-iron gate. Immediately a caretaker comes up and tells him "it's not a tour day" (tours are given Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and Sunday). Vincente: "I'm going to see Malachi anyway." CT1: "Well, that is the centerpiece --" Vincente strolls past him.
Marcus and Valerie approach a man Marcus recognizes (Silas Marshall, who we had killed as part of the road caravan). Marcus: "Haven't seen you in forever, Silas!" SM (stammering): "Are you the bodyguard for Miss Berry?" Marcus: "What do you do around here?" SM: "It's an easy security gig... Uh, you look like somebody I was supposed to be on the lookout for." Marcus can tell that SM is barely keeping his composure. Marcus: "Your communications are buggy." SM: "Things go on in the cemetery that security has to cover. I don't ask why. ... Diane Addison is in charge here."
Vincente reaches Malachi's grave. The headstone is more elaborate and is topped with a capstone that is a strong focus and resonates with the capstones in the Navigator. CT2, Griswold, sidles up to him. "I can tell you're magic because you make my stomach turn." According to his aura Griswold is not evil but he is weak-willed. Vincente points to the capstone and asks, "What is this?" "It's just part of the gravestone. Makes me queasy sometimes. ... I was born in Bodie. The ancestors protect us... The ghosts are collected for the betterment of the world... Whenever there is some big magic event, they focus it through the cemetery, to infuse it...."
In a low voice Marcus asks Valerie to distract any bystanders, then aloud he says to SM, "Who do you think is faster?" Marcus fast-draws and pulls the trigger... but his pistol misfires(??). Marcus deflects SM's gun and the shots miss. Marcus plugs SM three times. SM struggles to shoot but Marcus pushes his arm down and somewhere off to the side there's the sound of glass shattering. Marcus closes with SM and gets an arm around him; SM drops his gun to the pavement and Marcus kicks it away. He maneuvers SM out of sight, then returns to Valerie, expressing disgust that his gun had jammed.
Vincente extends his hand and touches the capstone. Griswold faints. Vincente feels as though ghosts are stomping on his spine; fireworks dazzle his vision and he reels dizzily. He also gets a glimpse of Malachi. The capstone is charged and linked to something beyond the gates. CT3, seeing Griswold collapse, rushes toward him.
Vincente touches the capstone again. Suddenly Valerie suffers intense vertigo and leans against Marcus for support. Vincente senses the capstone linking with the two in the Navigator. Energy increases, intense and painful. With difficulty, he pulls his hand away.
Marcus breaks down his rifle, then climbs a stairwell to a sniper post on the roof. From up here there's a great view of the cemetery, but he can also be seen from other sniper posts (all are unmanned). Anti-magic "mines" are planted all around. He counts about 20 armed security, and notices the CTs huddled by Malachi's grave.
Carmella and Daisy drag SM's ghost back to Vincente. SM says he was told that when he died he would "get his reward" and "become part of the machine." Vincente casts Affect Spirit on a tracker and slips it into SM's pocket. Released, SM moves toward the old stamp mill.
As he descends from the sniper post Marcus warns the others, "I might have to kill a lot of people." A man who had come rushing toward the stairwell sees Marcus and turns to run. Marcus fast-draws two pistols, peppers the man with six shots, and escapes.
Rick reports that this timeline diverged in September 1880 when the Bodie mines were bought up by Daniel Medina and Alice Chandler.
Wade Miller calls Vincente and says that he, Maya Cobb, and her husband have arrived in Bridgeport, and that a mage and a psi are on their way.
The group gets into the Navigator and heads to the stamp mill. Two sets of cars follow us. SM's spirit is floating upward and stops at the top of the stacks of ghosts. Vincente mentions that 10% of the lowest tier is "different" than before.
We go to Chili's. The waitress is Vera McCade, who in the other timeline had been bribed to spy on us. Vincente asks her, "How are your kids?" She proudly tells us her husband is a sergeant in the Bodie Police Department.
Vincente's phone rings. LG says her pain meds have finally kicked in. Her people have spotted the four of us and she wants to know how much longer we will be here. Vincente invites her to "send the Brit over" and asks whether Milo has a headache. LG: "Mr Johnson, you spilled something. It's been cleaned up." Marcus: "Try not to trip and fall in my mess."
Lynwood Wilkes White walks in. Vincente asks him, "Does your eye itch?" LW: "It's a little red." He had also had a headache at dawn. He claims to remember both timelines, but not why one of them ended. He casts Aura on Vincente as Vincente reads his (Magery 4, Psi Sense, high will, darkness, necromancy, no empathy but not sadistic). Vincente: "Is there any way we can go into that plant and find the time machine?" LW: "Absolutely not."
WM informs us that Alice Chandler, age 39, is a finance officer, and Daniel Medina, age 31, is an economic forecaster, both in Veritas' New York office. In 1885 events transpired such that several leaders of Threepoint were killed, allowing Veritas to "pull ahead."
Vincente casts Seek Gate and learns that the capstones comprise a closed temporal gate, a gate that has no "other side." The gate is linked to the full moon, and must be "programmed" in order to work.
The group parks the Navigator over a high-mana spot on the riverbank and waits for moonrise. A bicycle cop starts to shoo us off the grass, but leaves us alone when Marcus flashes his folder and says "National security."
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