Nomadic:Sessions:20180324

At 1:15pm the group is driving from Bridgeport to Mammoth Lake. Vincente has Marcus pull into the tourist center, where Vincente asks a bubbly young woman, "Anything strange happening around here?" "Well... it's rumored that Collin Media is bringing ghosts here from Bodie." She presses a sheaf of travel brochures into Vincente's hands before he leaves.

Marcus points out, "That Chevy Impala has passed us three times." He performs some driving maneuvers that verify the Chevy is following us. At Vincente's prompting, Rick vocalizes about energy readings, particularly "at a few isolated spots at hotels." Valerie suggests sending up a camera drone to search for Collin Media vans; her search for production studios for rent indicates several along Commercial Drive.

Vincente and Marcus check out a motel where Rick indicates a signal from the second floor. Carmella reports to Valerie that the room in question is not occupied. Marcus easily picks the lock. Vincente opens a suitcase which contains male clothing. Marcus opens the combination lock on a briefcase belonging to Scott Velasquez, a reality show producer for Collin Media. Inside is a "rack" holding two "filaments" with slots for three more; Vincente apports the rack out. Beneath is a manila file folder containing diagrams and specifications for the tiki torches; the "filaments" are elements of the torches. Rick says the rack is the source of the signal he's getting.

At another hotel, Rick says there's a very faint signal from the rear quarter of the third floor. Vincente tells Carmella to take a look. Carmella in turn asks Valerie, who exclaims, "Carmella, I don't think for you!" Nothing noteworthy is found in any of the five rooms.

At a fourth hotel, Rick says there's a weak signal from Room 136. Vincente casts Glass Wall and sees the room is unoccupied, but there are men's clothes strewn over the twin beds.

Valerie reports that a Collin Media van is parked alongside two sedans in front of a studio with a Commercial Drive address. Vincente notices the Impala pulling out from a gas station a quarter-mile behind the Navigator.

At the studio, Valerie positions herself on the hypercycle so she can see the front of the building, and Marcus sets up where he can look through the windows from a distance. Vincente casts Illusion Disguise to make himself look like Wade Miller, then crits on Missile Shield. Through a window he can see a man working at a laptop computer. Vincente walks in the front door. Glen Aguirre, the young man at the receptionist's desk, obviously recognizes "Wade" but does not greet him. Vincente: "Is Scott here?" "No, he's offsite at a meeting. However, Mr McCray is here filling in for him. What does this pertain to?" "Tiki torches."

Aguirre leads "Wade" back to the office. "Who shall I say is calling?" Vincente: "You know who I am." Aguirre taps at the door and says, "Mr Miller's here to see you."

McCray: "Have a seat." Vincente: "I've been sitting too long; I'll stand. Have you spoken to Diane lately?" McCray: "No, she was taken away by another task." Vincente: "I know you've been using tiki torches to summon ghosts. Why?" McCray: "It will be a ratings bonanza in a ghost town if we play it right." Vincente: "What were you doing with the capstone?" MacCray: "What are you talking about?" Vincente: "I took it. I have it. Do you want it back?" MacCray: "I'm busy. I don't have time. You're more dangerous than you look." Vincente: "We all are. Like the guy you put in the ground, with the bullets and runes." MacCray: "So you do work for Threepoint. Threepoint knows what those are. You're too much of a straight arrow to be part of the Collective. Why are you looking at bullets?" Vincente: "My one point is that I'm pointing this at you," meaning Diane's gun equipped with a silencer.

McCray makes aimless gestures with his right hand to try to cover for his left hand reaching beneath his desk. Marcus takes careful aim. Vincente: "These bullets have runes on them, too." MacCray: "I thought that was Diane's gun." Vincente: "I don't know what these bullets will do, but I'll bet you do." MacCray brings both hands up and out; something thumps onto the carpet. Vincente has him look out the window; McCray recognizes Marcus, who winks at him. Vincente: "Open the window." MacCray taps at a particular point on the windowframe, explaining that he is disabling an alarm. Vincente: "Now, go out the window." Vincente subvocalizes, "Valerie, we'll have a pickup shortly."

Once outside, Vincente tries to cast Sleep on MacCray but the spell does not work. Marcus zipties MacCray's hands, pats him down (removing a wallet, keycase, and zip drive), then knocks him unconscious and blindfolds him with his own necktie. Valerie comes and picks up MacCray and takes him to the Navigator; she and Rick load MacCray into the back. From the desk Vincente collects the laptop and a cell phone, learning incidentally that the desk is Lori Griffith's. He picks up the .22 automatic which had fallen on the carpet; its grip has a rune engraved on it.