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."