Nomadic:Sessions:20160409

The group has been invited to Dr Knapp's mansion for some kind of reception. They are greeted by Dr Randall Sullivan (Newberry College president) and his wife, Molly.

Vicente detects that one of the servers is a foe; he tells Jack. Jack "accidentally" spills his drink on himself, and asks that server to show him where he can clean up. Out of sight of the other guests, Jack kicks the server in the back of the knee and brings him down quietly in a sleeper hold. The server, Eric Branch, has no weapons except a utility knife, but he does have a small voice recorder in his pocket. Jack calls Vicente over and gives him the recorder. The head of security stammers, "He passed our security checks!" as he takes Branch's fingerprints.

Jack asks Dr Thorn what the physics department does; he speaks vaguely of papers and publication. Jack explains, "I'm looking for more insight, to make sure my money goes to good use." Eventually, Thorn names a website. "Are you up on your military history? Check that out. Sign in as [he gives a username and password]. You can read papers written by myself and others. They get deep into the physics; might give you insight. We're living in interesting times." Jack gives the signon information, as well as Thorn's email address, to Rick.

Vicente takes the keys to the Land Rover away from Marcus, who has had several drinks. Marcus: "Don't you trust me?" Vicente: "No."

Father Martin sees a couple of government sedans circling around the campus. They corner an expensive, older-model car and seem to be involved in a takedown of some sort.

Back on campus, Marcus tries to sneak up on someone who's watching the physics building, but he steps on a twig. The man spins around, palming an object. He claims he's a humanities student; "I'm waiting for Arlene. I wait for her here every night." Marcus observes that the man wears a device strapped to his arm. Marcus runs through a list of various organizations the group has encountered, such as Omega, but the man shows no reaction. Marcus lets him leave, then shadows him. The man goes to a cemetery and gets into a car with Georgia plates.

Vicente has Rick research previous test dates and failures.

Next morning (Friday), Jack and Rick go to IHoP for breakfast. Jack skims through various physics publications and writes down keywords. Vicente goes to the campus cafeteria, explains to the cashier that he forgot his meal card, and pays cash. Valerie wakes up briefly in the TV room; there's nothing interesting on TV and nothing about any campus incidents, so she returns to her dorm room and goes back to sleep. Marcus gets up around 9:00am and invites Father Martin to go with him to IHoP.

At the physics building, Vicente confirms that the group will meet there at 12:15pm to be given a tour. Returning to the dorm, he knocks on Valerie's door and tells her she has to be awake in two hours.

Marcus relates what happened last night. "Boyer had a ton of security around. There was one guy, though, who looked suspicious. He had a clever little gizmo in his sleeve. I'm pretty sure he was lying to me . He was picked up by a car with Georgia plates, so he might be Omega. I don't believe in coincidences."

Jack: "I was confined for decades. I don't know what they have now. They fed me misinformation. I don't know why I was there. They told me I had to do it to serve my country."

Some religious group is picketing the science building today. Their signs read that science "goes against god."

Boyer is leaning against the building, waiting for them. He leads the group to a sub-basement, pointing out the electronic locks and assuring them that he has a manual override.

Father Martin feels uncomfortable, "out of sync," so he drops back and performs a ritual to bless the area. He feels relieved.

Working in a large room are Franklin Richards, Dan Swift, Edward Stark, Dr Yeoman, Dr Thorn, and several others setting up and configuring equipment. Dr Thorn frequently glances over at the group. Marcus spots all the various cameras and microphones. Vicente mutters that the mana level is low but gate-aspected.

Boyer leads the group around the room, describing each station. Boyer claims that the entire level can be locked down by computer and that he can disable all overrides.

Jack asks Boyer for details about the power supply; "What happens when they cut the power?" A generator will kick in within 20 seconds.

Working at the main server console is a nervous man that Boyer calls Curtis. Curtis is African-American, appears to be in his 30s, and wears glasses. Assisting him is a younger man, Max Butler. Vicente steps into Max's personal space and quizzes him. Max is a senior analyst in the computer department and is helping Curtis set up computer parameters; they should be done by 6:00pm. Jack comes up and Max gets more nervous. Vicente's Aura spell reveals nothing outstanding about Max. Then Vicente asks him, "Is there an Omega Tower in Atlanta?" Max reacts very strongly to the word "Omega." Marcus says to Boyer, "I think Max is coming with us." Jack asks Max, "What leverage does Omega have on you?" Before Max can answer, Dr Thorn steps in and orders another man, Philip, to fill in for Max. Boyer hands Max over to a couple of his security men and offers sodium pentathol for the interrogation.

Boyer prompts Curtis to describe the computer workings. Vicente realizes that the timing of the most recent test coincides with the opening of the Sidhe realm gates. Curtis explains that what they're creating is not a wormhole, but "an alteration of the physics of the area." He uses phrases like "sidestep of light speed" and "reality tunnel," and also uses some of the words Jack highlighted in the published texts. Curtis: "What you'll see is an elongated tube between those two devices." Jack: "Can someone double-check what Max was doing? I'm concerned that he altered the code in a way that no one is looking for."

Vicente notes that Thorn was "grateful and relieved" to walk away from the questioning, and that Boyer is "happy to be getting results." Jack: "When I asked Max about Omega, he calmed down as though I was asking the wrong questions."

Boyer points out a tunnel that leads out of the basement.

Vicente and jack go to a side room to interrogate Max. As usual, Vicente casts Foolishness on Max, only to have Max exclaim, "What are you doing?" Vicente retorts, "You're going to be so stupid you'll forget how to use the bathroom. Tell me everything about Omega." He casts the spell again, and Max cries out, "What did you do?" Jack replies, "It's what he hasn't done yet."

Despite the spells having no effect, Max confesses anyway. "Omega approached me nine days ago. They wanted details about the process, the equipment, and the brains behind the experiment. I initially refused, but they offered me the carrot-and-stick -- either they would harm my family, or they would give me a million dollars and relocate them to a safe place. I gave them complete files on Knapp, Yeoman, Thorn, Curtis, Richards, Stark, Swift, and Metcalf." Max's description of his "contact" matches that of Tennessee. "He was a wild man! He wanted to rip my family to shreds."

Vicente tells Boyer to go pick up Max's family -- his wife, four-year-old, and eight-year-old -- and take them to a safe house in North Carolina.

Jack: "I'm glad it turned out this way instead of the other way. Thanks for your cooperation." Vicente: "I was gonna set you on fire. Did you change anything in the code?" Max: "No, I did not." But both Jack and Vicente realize this is a blatant lie. Jack: "Sorry, this isn't going to end well for you." Vicente creates a Fireball and a Flame Jet and growls, "Which part of 'I'm going to set you on fire' did you not understand?" Max admits, "Security... I put a couple of windows in the security code... I gave them a backdoor, and forwarded it to an IP address they gave me." Vicente: "Why did you lie" Max begins to babble, and Jack tells him, "Shut up." Vicente: "Did they give you something to put into the code?" Max" No, not at all." Jack: "You saved a lot of people today -- including yourself."

Vicente touches Max and teleports him outside the door into Boyer's custody. Jack suggests, "We could have Max give them misinformation."

The group goes to Chili's for lunch. Boyer joins them. The group explains that they have to ambush the Omega strike team. Vicente: "We want them to come into the experiment area. But you have to make sure they can't leave." Boyer is concerned about his people being killed. Jack suggests using the protesters as a distraction, maybe the Russians or Chinese, and planting a saboteur and an explosion.

Regarding Omega -- Vicente: "Monitor them, let them into the choke point." Jack: "They will try to acquire certain people." Vicente: "Figure out how to get all the civilians out of there." Marcus: "Use the tunnel, get them out, blow the charges."

Valerie gets her supply of C4 from the Winnebago and starts making up claymores. Father Martin blesses quantities of bullets and holy water. Jack tells the guards, "Your job is not to get shot. A very skilled team is coming in." Everyone except Vicente spends the night in the underground lab.

[The political rally is deemed a huge success. Sanders, who had been trailing in the polls, has the greatest impact, followed by Kennedy, Obama, and Clinton.]

Vicente wakes up at 8:00am Saturday morning and brings everyone breakfast from IHoP. By 9:15am all the laboratory personnel are there, including Knapp and Thorn.