Nomadic:Sessions:20180421

Marcus offers each of the five lingering patrons at Mountain Peak $100 cash to vacate the premises. Three of them gladly take the money. A fourth demands $150, but withers beneath Marcus' steely gaze and slinks away. The remaining man hands Marcus his business card and offers to "spread the story" over media outlets and the internet. Marcus assures him we're not looking for publicity, and the man finally leaves.

Valerie has set up her sniper post in a tree outside. She sends Carmella to Vincente, suggesting she make herself useful. Vincente has Carmella form a chain with all the 42 ghosts in and around the bar, then casts Soul Rider and looks through each one's eyes.

A sedan pulls into the parking lot, and a man and woman get out and enter the bar. The man is someone the group had seen among Veritas people earlier; the woman is disguised. Both are armed. Marcus: "Are you two with Veritas?" The man chatters, "No, what is that? Doesn't that mean 'truth'? I have a BS in liberal arts..." Marcus remarks as he fast-draws his pistol and briefly places it on the table with his hand over it, "Liberal arts, huh? Nice weapons. Here's mine." He then lists the locations of their weapons. He gets the two to give their names, Isabella Davis and Lynn York, then asks, "What are you doing with the ghosts?" Isabella gives a vague answer about "learning things" and "connecting to the living."

Pierre Barlow and Elma Allan make an entrance. Rick reports that two other people in the car that had pulled in right behind them have not gotten out. Valerie notes that a car parked on Immigrant Street; two men were sneaking toward the back of the building, and a third, decked out in combat gear, had gone off in another direction.

Vincente murmurs, "They're going to use anti-magic. They don't know I'm just going to shoot." Aloud to Elma and Pierre: "I suggest your guys don't get too close. We can't tell the difference between them and Veritas." Elma: "This city's spiritual energy is off the charts." Vincente: "If I stop Veritas' evil plan and you take up the baton, then what will I have accomplished? No matter how many I kill, they send more." Barlow: "They don't like healthy competition."

Marcus brings over and introduces "Elma from the Collective" to York and Davis. York: "I don't know who you've mistaken us for." Marcus: "Try not to kill each other."

Vincente introduces Barlow to Wade Miller. Vincente warns Miller to back off his people; Miller claims "They haven't arrived from Sacramento yet." Vincente: "I think your input into this will be invaluable... I'm not here to guarantee anyone's safety. There are no non-combatants here. We're all 'alphas'... Do you feel the ghosts in here?" Miller: "I got goosebumps."

In an aside, Vincente has Carmella touch Miller. She says, "He's intense." Vincente: "Do you think you could take him over?" Carmella: "Yes." Vincente (testing whether Miller could hear her): "She said 'no'."

Rick reports another car has pulled up and four people are getting out: Lori Griffith, Glen Aguirre, and the pretend detectives 'Asimov' and 'Campbell'. Marcus: "Isabella, Lynn, your bosses are here."

When she spots Barlow, Griffith does a double-take, then frowns. She glances over at Davis and York and says, "Drop the act;" they pointedly move away from Elma Allan.

Vincente greets Lori. "Have a seat. You know Pierre Barlow?" LG: "I like to be punctual. He was quicker than I was."

Vincente gathers Marcus, WM, LG, and PB all at one table. "Let's all hold hands for a minute." He casts Medium so they can see all the ghosts in the room. LG: "Are you a 'ghost whisperer' or something?" Vincente: "Want to look through their eyes?" LG: "No, but I get that you can." Vincente: "These are only the ones inside this room..."

Vincente: "Tell me what you hope to gain... Somehow you're getting time from the ghosts." LG: "You've been persistent. I will be candid. Working with spirits is hard. Our process only works in certain places, such as Stonehenge. Bodie and the rest of Mono County is very spiritual. The tiki torches let us gather 'stuff'. AS for why, what does everyone want? Immortality! It would make billions. The dead don't need time." Vincente: It's not the money. You're making a weapon." PB: "There's a lot I could do with time on a person... age, de-age, then retrain... Tonight we could take over the world."

Vincente: "My objection is that you're stealing time." LG: "Once you take the time, they go back to where they were." Vincente: "No, they don't. They're still here." LG: "We haven't really started harvesting yet." Vincente: "If you pulled up Gandhi's ghost, would that mean he never existed?" LG: "No, he doesn't exist." Vincente: "Why are you hiding? Why not just do it?" LG (pointing at PB): "Without him around, we would have a monopoly." Vincente: "If you're doing it covertly, why are you killing people?" LG: "To avoid exposure."

Vincente: "There's a piece you're not telling me... Either Pierre gets it your you don't get it, and he's happy either way." LG: "We don't share with Collective." PB looks thoughtful. Vincente: "Is a sacrifice needed?" LG: "No." PB: "But it always helps."

Vincente: "How are you holding the energy?" LG: "We have devices that will deploy at the right time." Vincente; "Oh, at the full moon, which is tomorrow." LG: "That is the best time. The equipment is being transshipped in."

LG: "You have cost me too much in assets. What do I have to do..." Vincente: "What is my group flew off and left you alone?" LG: "I would bring in my time on the full moon, make the collection, and make Veritas Inception more influential. We'd buy land in the county and be on site regularly at the full moon." Vincente: "Do you know what the torches are doing?" LG: "Concentrating a crowd of ghosts."

Vincente: "Carmella, how are you feeling?" CJ: "She is talking about killing ghosts. I'm not happy." Vincente: "Go ahead and touch Lori." LG: "You might not want her touching me. It might be bad for her health." CJ: "She has something on her like a tiki torch times 100." Vincente casts Aura (crit) and perceives that LG is "encased in a sphere of death." She has strong will, awareness of psi and magery, is organized and methodical, and does not value other people. LG: "Our mages are merging mystic energy with technology. Most of the ore they need has been destroyed. What I'm wearing is experimental and dangerous. But perhaps I'm the guinea pig." Vincente: "How are you feeling?" LG: "I admit I have a persistent headache."

LG: "You are shutting down this operation. We have lost torches, vehicles, people..." Vincente: "Your two mages were a loss." LG: "We don't know how many of you there are." Vincente: "We are legion! No, I was kidding. But you, you are a suicide bomber. You're here to blow me up." LG: "I am willing to walk away. I value my life." Marcus: "Just bite down on your tooth!" Vincente: "I contemplated teleporting you to our vehicle." LG: "If you could teach our mages teleportation, I might voluntarily shut down this operation." Marcus: "How about Elma and Lori arm-wrestle, loser goes away?"