Mayday Plays - Doomed to Repeat Ep. 0 - "A Night at the Opera"

Episode Date: October 30, 2020

Welcome to Doomed To Repeat, a Delta Green actual play podcast set in the modern era. In this introductory episode, meet the agents of Operation PERENNIAL. While the world quarantines, the agents are tasked with compiling the sordid history of a century’s old conspiracy known as “The Program.” Can the agents survive each other, much less the unnatural? Cosmic horror and cinematic storytelling await in this twisted Lovecraftian thriller... This episode contains profanity, violence, and references to drug/alcohol use. It also contains the topic of Covid-19. Published by arrangement with the Delta Green Partnership. The intellectual property known as Delta Green is a trademark and copyright owned by the Delta Green Partnership, who has licensed its use here. The contents of this podcast are © Mayday Roleplay, excepting those elements that are components of the Delta Green intellectual property. Transcript: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1_v-ZdJ21hKtBxd-2V2tON0WZ5zGFIsod/view?usp=sharing CAST OF CHARACTERS • Aaron - Agent Samael • Allegra - Agent Tuck • Amanda - Agent Boomer • Caleb - Agent Merit • Eli - Agent Hyde • Zakiya - Agent Warp • Sergio - The Handler MUSIC & SOUND EFFECTS • Post Sound Supervision: Sergio Crego, Eli Hauschel • Mixed: Eli Hauschel • Original Music: Aaron A. Pabst • Soundstripe (soundstripe.com) DELTA GREEN LINKS • Delta Green (http://deltagreen.com/) • Last Things Last (https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/175760/Delta-Green-Need-to-Know?term=last+things+last&cPath=1459_8165) MAYDAY ROLEPLAY LINKS • Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/maydayrp/) • Twitter (https://twitter.com/maydayroleplay7) • Mayday website (https://www.maydayroleplay.com/) • Patreon (https://www.patreon.com/maydayrp/)

Doom to Repeat is a Delta Green actual play podcast with violent themes and adult language. This episode contains the topic of COVID-19. Listener discretion is advised. Welcome to Doomed to Repeat. I'm Sergio, your handler. For those of you who don't know what that is, I'm basically the Dungeon Master, like in D&D. The game is Delta Green, a modern horror tabletop RPG by Arc Dream Publishing.

Who keeps us safe from the things that go bump in the night? In our game, it's a secret U.S. government organization whose aim is to eliminate unnatural incursions into our world. Welcome to The Conspiracy. Now let's begin. It's April 18, 2020. Future cities across America have enacted quarantines to combat the rise of a disease called COVID-19 or coronavirus.

What started as a rumor of a flu from China has exploded into a full-blown global pandemic. It's been about two weeks of real quarantine in America, and the halt of normal life is jarring. Cases from Americans range from paranoia and depression to outright denial. Those of you who work in government continue your jobs, either from home or taking turns coming into the office. Even with the threat of disease and uncertain times, you don your masks, you wash your hands, and you self-isolate.

In times like these, how do we keep from going crazy and feeling helpless? Most people are wrestling with these existential dreads for the first time. But you know these thoughts and feelings all too well, don't you, agents? Caleb, introduce yourself, your agent using their pseudonym, and describe an average day in their life and how quarantine has affected it. I am Agent Merritt. I am from Ithaca, New York, and that's where I'm stationed now. I think quarantine was especially hard for myself because I like to think of myself as

a person who can control situations, and this is a situation out of my control. I think the first thing I did was some damage control. I called the hospital to inform them that they could move my father to home hospice to free hospital beds, and I hired a nurse the following day to make sure that he would be looked after for the entire quarantine. After that, well, I knew I would be restless as all of my free time outside of my cases and working with the Federal Bureau of Investigation, well, none of it would be done anywhere outside of my condo.

So naturally, to prepare for this, I worked out an entire 30-day workout schedule with three workouts a day using my home gym. It took some time and some organization, but once it was done, I felt like I was really accomplishing something. You know that the first step in complacency is realizing you have free time. After that, I did a deep clean and reorganized my apartment, only to realize I liked the first formation better, and the next day, I took it all back to square one. Following that, I thought maybe I was not preparing enough for the life ahead, so I

thought I might redo my theater go-backs. I assembled three go-backs for specific nights at the opera and nights to better execute specific theaters, and then I hid them throughout the house. I think the best that I've found so far is one that is hidden directly underneath my shower after pulling out the tiles from the drain grate. After that, I comprised all of my CID case files, every case that I've ever been a part of as a detective and also as an agent within the CID, and I organized them. I put them into a portfolio.

My mother some time ago would have called this a scrapbook. I'm choosing portfolio. In answer to all of this, I realized that I'm becoming increasingly bored, and so I decided that I would watch the old woman that lives across the street from me and assemble a psych evaluation on whether I thought she was fit for duty and field operation. After realizing that she walks her dog a maximum of four times each day, I've decided that she is unfit for duty and should seek clinical analyzation immediately. Furthermore, since I am unable to visit my brother, I call him weekly to remind him of

the processes and guidelines that the CDC has put out about how to stay safe in crowds, no matter how essential you may be. He doesn't like when I reprimand him like this, but I know it's keeping him safe. I take notes day to day with my Alexa. She's not a very good secretary, and very little does she understand what I'm saying to her, but she seems to understand when I threaten her job. It is nice to have a voice in the apartment outside of my dog Samson's barking, and someday I hope that Alexa may actually engage in conversation back, but I also worry for that day.

Finally, I like to FaceTime Miranda and Gordy just to check in and to make sure that Gordy is entertained. He likes when I read books to him because he says I sound weird. I think he's right. Agent Merritt, you are home in your apartment, in your condo, and it's later in the evening. The sun has set, and you are maybe getting dinner ready or just kind of tidying up. You hear Samson bark once, and then you just hear him kind of whining. What do you do?

I definitely pick myself up from wherever I'm sitting, and I walk over to Samson. I'm trying to ascertain as to why my dog is upset. You find him in the front of the condo, in the front door, and he's kind of sniffing at the door and whimpering. This worries me immediately. I employ the training I've had with Samson, and I inform him that he should vacate the area. More so, I tell him to get out of the way.

He doesn't listen once, but he listens twice. And then I'll open the door. You open the door, and resting against the threshold of the door is a manila envelope that has been folded in half. Do you pick it up? Yes. I have an inkling that I know exactly what this is, and I'm ready for it. I open it.

You open it up and slide me out are two things. There's a flip phone and a slip of paper. You open the paper up, and you notice a familiar green triangle that sits at the top of the page. The rest of the page reads, you are cordially invited to a night at the opera. There's a flight number and a time, and two sets of coordinates. The instructions tell you to visit the first set of coordinates before boarding your flight. You are to arrive at the second set of coordinates by 7 a.m. tomorrow morning.

The final line reads, memorize this memo, then destroy it. Agent Merritt, you know what this means. You're being asked to go out onto the field for that program. How do you prepare? Well first, I turn and I say to Alexa, Alexa, please cancel all my future plans for the month. I'm going on vacation, and then I move immediately into my bathroom and remove the tiles that I've placed over my go-back location and retrieve everything I have inside of it.

It has all of my falsified documents, my alternate identities, and it has the majority of the things I take into the field, and then some additional foreign cash and whatever I may need in the field itself. And then I prepare three changes of clothes for each day, I think I will be away. Okay, Allegra, introduce yourself, your agent using your pseudonym, and again, describe their life and how quarantine has affected it. I am playing Agent Tuck. Agent Tuck is currently in quarantine with her wife.

Her wife is a meteorologist, and Agent Tuck is an FBI agent, so they've been pretty fortunate in the fact that on the off days that they aren't asked to come into the office, they can work from home together, not necessarily together, given the sensitive nature of some of Agent Tuck's work, but they are in the same house together. They're actually recently back together after a few years separation, it's a little bit of a trial run. They spend most of their time, you know, working as I said, but Agent Tuck has definitely been doing her best to not take work home with her in that she'll get done with the

work day, and that is it, she does not study case files, she doesn't do extra research outside of it once the day is done, it's done, and that is time with her wife and with their cat Jane. They catch up on mist time, they read books together, they watch movies, married life things, trying to find a new normal within the quarantine of going from seeing each other maybe once or twice a month to seeing each other every day again. Recently they've taken up jujitsu, or Agent Tuck had been doing jujitsu before, and so she decided that during quarantine would be a great time to teach her wife, and they do

it. They don't necessarily last too long at the jujitsu part of it. Yeah, she's been trying really hard to separate her work life from her home life, which obviously is very difficult when you're working from home, but that's been her main focus. So Agent Tuck, you are home, waiting for Rue to come home, she's gone, made a run to the groceries, the son has gone down, and she comes in, she's on the phone with her mother, and she's got two bags of groceries in her hands, and she's kind of half talking to you, half talking to her mother, she says, can you believe that they're out of toilet

paper? I think these people are ridiculous, people were taking like four and five rings, what are they going to do with all this paper? Oh, by the way, this was found, I found this outside, she dropped some vanilla envelope in your lap. I'm going to set the envelope to the side, and I'm going to take the bags from her, put everything away, and then while she's on the phone with her mother, I'll go in the room that I've kind of claimed as the jujitsu slash my office room, and I'll open the envelope

in my stomach. You step into your private jujitsu room, and you open the envelope, and you find the exact same things as Agent Merritt, an old flip phone that is fully charged in a slip of paper that has that familiar green triangle, two coordinates, and all the instructions that were mentioned. How do you prepare? I'll memorize the paper, as it said to, burn it, and then very slowly and with a lot of hesitation, start pulling out the clothes that I have separated from my normal clothes

and putting them in the go bag that I already have packed. As you begin packing your bag, Rue steps in, she gets off the phone with her mother, she's kind of in a jovial mood, she was kind of laughing with her mother about the ridiculous scene she saw, and she said, she sees you packing your bag, she's, where are you going? National security doesn't really take time off for a pandemic. Really? I thought, I... I know, I know.

They... Do you know how long you'll be? It didn't say I did it. The silver, no. It didn't say probably a week, maybe two. I'll let you know as soon as I know what's going on, there wasn't. There was just enough information to tell me that I needed to go. She doesn't quite understand what you mean by that, but she comes over and she sits down

by the bed, and she says, I mean, I guess if they're calling you out during quarantine, it must be pretty important, huh? It has to be, like, there's no other reason that they call us in like this. She lets out a big sigh, she puts her hand on your hand as you're kind of putting some clothes in, and she just says, well, just call me, okay? I will, every second I have, I'll call you when I land, I'll call you. When I get to the location, I'll call you every night, I'll call you whenever you want me to, you just, you can call me too, I'll, I really don't want to go.

She laughs along with you and helps you start packing. Amanda. Hi. Can you introduce yourself, introduce your agent pseudonym, and describe the average day in their life and how quarantine has affected it? Yes. Hi, I'm Amanda. I play Agent Boomer, and as of right now, Agent Boomer's life is very much on a schedule.

Gets up six days a week at 4.30 a.m., knocks out her workout, showers, gets cleaned up in her, usually, in a nice power suit, different colors every day to add a little flair, got it, and then promptly, she always goes to the kitchen, no later than 8.30 to 9, and makes about a small stack of pancakes, different flavors either every day. Today it is red velvet, so she packs them up in a very nice container because before she goes to her work, she will be dropping them off at her fiance, who is working at a hospital. So unfortunately, they have actually spent some time apart.

She's staying at her old place, and I'm staying at mine, to keep our interactions to a minimum. So as a way for us to continue, I always drop off breakfast, and since pancakes are being a very proud of, and I know she likes it, I'll do it every day that I know she's working, drop off pancakes right in the front. So as I drop them off, then I go ahead and take my car down to my office, which is now pretty much empty, except for security. The only other person who comes in is my business partner, usually at office and sides. She's working remotely, and I work nonstop in my office because I try to keep on a schedule,

so I don't think about other things. I do have a go bag, and that is mostly at my office to minimize other people from accidentally finding it, which includes passports, and a lot of cash that I pull, and a gun that it is marked, hidden, because my fiance and sister hate guns in the house, so that's where that is locked in a safe behind a picture frame on my wall. So when I get to the office, I just go ahead and go about my everyday, trying to get my company up and running, and then at 12, I'll pick up lunch for fiance and sister, and then I'll work remotely depending on the schedule.

That is how Agent Boomer handles her day to day, pretty much six days a week. So Agent Boomer, it's in the evening one day, you're kind of wrapping up at the office and you're walking back to your car, and you notice that there is something... What kind of car is it? It is... That's good. With a Tesla. Oh yeah, of course.

So you see that there is like a manila envelope stuck on the windshield of your car. What do you do? I'm going to take a very deep breath and kind of clench my bag a little bit, because I have a gut feeling I know what it is, and I will go to mental envelope and I'll just rip it open. Okay, you do so and you find the same things that the last two agents found. How do you prepare? I'm going to...

First thing at first, I'm going to literally kick the tire of my car and go, like, just pissed. I'm going to take a couple of breaths, pinch the bridge a minute, and then I'm going to haul back into the office, because I'm going to go back, go through security, get the door, go to my safe, I'm going to pull out my go bag. And as I'm going back down to my car, I'm going to go ahead and memorize the note as best as I can, then go back in the back seat and then start to take off. Okay.

Aaron, could you introduce yourself, your agent, and what a day in the life is like during quarantine? I'm Aaron Papst, and I am Agent Sam Al. I spend my days wandering the empty halls of the parish. The pews are empty, the confession booths are vacant, the coffers are draining, my extracurricular activities, the things that keep me sane and satiated have all been shut down. I'm left with nothing but to sit in my office all day, sipping scotch, and reading book after book after book, preparing for the things that I know to come.

At night they bring me their twisted and their broken, their screaming children, their thrashing family members, those that they're sick, with the things that no doctor can cure, the things that are worse than any virus this world will ever experience, sometimes I can help them, usually I can. At night I cry out to the Mother Mary, the Holy Virgin of Guadalupe, for lack of understanding of why any of this is happening. I call my daughter Ruth at their foster house, her parents turn me away, they don't think it's appropriate having me call so much, I'm lonely, I'm scared.

Agent Samael, it's the evening one day at the parish, you are at the congregation at the church and there are homeless being fed, and as you're passing through them, one of the homeless men kind of checks you a little harder than you were anticipating, and as you back up you see that he drops a folded manila envelope, and he kind of half looks at you and says, I think you dropped something father, and he just kind of bolts out of the room, what do you do? I pick up the envelope and I assume I know what's inside likely before I even scoop it up, and without opening the envelope I return to my office and I pack a small suitcase

that I have ready and make sure that it's stocked with all the books I feel that I'm going to need, my favorite Bible, a cross, a vial of holy water, and a few sets of spare clothes, and then I leave, saying goodbye to no one. Eli, could you introduce yourself, introduce your agent, and what's their life like during quarantine? I'm Eli and Agent Hyde is most likely wishing every day that she could be hitting Don Patrol in the morning with Pops, which is usually her morning routine, but since COVID has happened and the beaches are cleared, we cannot go out, she ends up moving in with

Pops during this time because he's a little bit older, needs a little help around the house, so most of her day is kind of spent helping out clean the yard, fix the chicken coop out back that has been needing repair. Pops and her finally got around to starting a backup on the project of building a small outrigger canoe out of wood, and other days they spend their time fighting with each other about the current topic of politics or what's going on in the world. At night she might be texting Micah and just checking in on him, sometimes they'll spend well into the evening just chatting over FaceTime.

Agent Hyde, you are coming home from dinner with Pops, kind of walking up the street back to your home, the front door. So as you're walking up, you can see that the screen door, the front of your front door, has a manila envelope folded and kind of taped in between the screen door and the main door, and Pops notices it and says, were you expecting a package? She kind of like tenses up her face, but she pulls the envelope off the door, and she says, no, it wasn't. It won't meet open or do you?

I'll open it, it's probably for me, I'll be right back. Alright, I'm going to get us some drinks, okay, I'm going to go inside and make us something. Sure, yeah, that sounds good, yeah. She's going to go up to the room that she has in the back, she first like just tosses the envelope on the bed, not even opening it, she kind of already knows what it's going to be. She goes into her closet, she already has it to go bag ready to go of all the things she needs, so she kind of also tosses that on the bed.

She sits there for a moment and just looks at the envelope, takes like a deep sigh, opens it and starts reading the content. You see that it has two coordinates, and it's inviting you to a night at the opera. As you kind of read the final line about memorizing it and destroying it, Pops comes in, he's got two drinks in his hand, your favorite, and he says, anything important? As he comes in, I crumpled the note in my hand and kind of like put it behind my back and I was like, yeah, yeah, it will be, but it looks like I'm getting called in for a job, so I have to leave as soon as I can.

Oh shit, well, I mean, I guess if you got it, you know how long you'll be gone? I, who knows, I'm not sure. I'll have to find out once I get it, but I'll let you know as soon as I can. He comes over and he kind of hands you the drink and he just says, are you okay? I will be once I figure out what it is. Are you going to be okay while I'm gone? Yeah, I'll be fine without my little secret agent, and he kind of rolls his eyes mockingly, but he walks out, gives you your space, and sits in front of the television.

Right before that, I quickly go and text Micah and ask him to look over Pops while I'm gone, and I just leave it at that, and then I head out. Okay. Zacchia, could you introduce yourself, introduce your agent using their pseudonym, and what's life like during quarantine for them? All right. I am Zacchia. I'm playing Agent War.

They're already kind of a work-from-home kind of person, so their routine hasn't changed that much, I think because they don't have the choice to go outside and wander, the stress has kind of increased, so they've taken time to catch up on things that they haven't had time to do before. They're trying to catch up on popular culture they've missed, lately watching a movie from every year that is the most popular per genre, so today is The Secret Life of Pets 2, and they recently stumbled across a wallpaper catalog from 1947. They're trying to by hand recreate that wallpaper on their kitchen wall to fill up their days,

Secret Life of Pets, in the background. That's pretty much the bulk of it. You can only reorganize things so many times. Everything is already color-coded. It's just this. Agent Warp, one day you step out, it's evening time, and you forgot to check the mail, so you go to your mailbox, and when you open it, you see a manila envelope that is folded in half.

What do you do? I'm going to dispose of the envelope that came in outside. Take the envelope to my cutting table, take a straight edge, and cut it by an eighth of an inch, and slide out the contents, and read them. Same exact thing, and there's also a flip phone. Oh, yes, okay, yep, it's normal for people to have phones, I should have a phone. This makes sense. I take it, and I start, that's my night, is figuring out how this thing works.

I'm just going to burn the actual note. Okay. Then I'm going to call Gratitude, and tell them I probably won't be able to visit them. I know you don't want me to visit you, but it'll be a while before you see me again. I will try to call you, do not ignore me, and I will call Dr. Byrne, and say, we will probably have to move towards something that everyone is calling Zoom. I hope that on this new phone I have, I will let you know soon. I will refill my prescription, and start packing everything in order of color, weather, and

functionality, and pack a swimsuit, because I read that you should always pack a swimsuit. So Agent Warp, this actually goes for all the Asians. As you guys are packing, some of you get the idea, some of you don't, but if you were to check the flight number, you'd see that the time is basically a red eye in your part of the world, late at night, or some awkward time. If you were to check the coordinates, you would see that the first one seems to be somewhat somewhere close to the airport that you will be leaving from, and the second coordinate seems to be some piece of property in Lansing, Michigan.

You get ready, you go out, and the first thing you do is you arrive at that first set of coordinates, and you find yourselves in your own parts of the world at a medical park, and though it's the middle of the night, one of the doors is open and the lights are on. You walk in, and you are greeted by two individuals wearing blue suits. These are pressurized, heavy-duty, biohazard environment suits. It feels a little extra, but you go along with it. They confirm your ID, they sit you down, and they explain they are going to test you for coronavirus.

They take your temperature, they swab the inside of your mouth, and they study the sample under a microscope. Can everyone please make a luck roll? It's a luck roll, so it's either 50% or less. You want to roll under 50. Everybody has grown of IS. Who failed and who succeeded? I succeeded.

I did. Let me just hear whether you succeeded or failed. So Caleb, you succeeded. Yes. Allegra? I failed with a 55. Oh. Yep.

All right. Amanda? Oh, I failed with a 92, y'all. Okay. Erin. I succeeded with a 24. Eli. I succeeded with a 45.

Okay, Zakiya. I succeeded with a 22. All right. Allegra, Amanda, thanks for playing. Hi. So those of you that failed make a note of it, but even so, after a few very tense minutes, they turn to you and they congratulate you. You have all tested negative for the virus.

You are shuttled to the airport, and sure enough, your tickets are waiting for you at the front desk. The airport is empty, devoid even of employees, just a central crew. You're the only person on your flight, and when you land in CRI Airport in Lansing, Michigan, you're the only person in the terminal. You collect your bags, jump into a cab, and head to the rendezvous point. Could I ask everyone to again make another luck roll? Yay.

New dice this time. Yeah. I've got to build the plan, y'all. Don't be assholes. All right. I don't know what this means. So, who crit succeeded? Anyone?

Who succeeded? No one succeeded? I did, sir. Oh, no, I succeeded. Everyone say those numbers. Sounds like Eli succeeded. Who else? Allegra did.

Allegra? Yes, go ahead. What is it if you get a 50? A 50 is a success. Okay. Uh, who's late? Sounds like Merritt. Yeah, I failed.

Uh, Samuel? Samuel fails. And Zacchia as well? Also failed, yes. Okay. No one's crit failed, right? No. Okay, good.

Those of you who arrive on time, it's 7 a.m., a crisp 55 degrees outside, and you're standing in the parking lot of a hot tub store called Lifestyles Hot Tubs. Those of you who arrived on time, could you describe what you look like to the other three agents? Uh, let's start with, uh, Eli. I am, I have long, uh, black hair. I'm not, it's not, uh, done up like I would if I was like on base. Uh, I'm actually not, I'm wearing actual casual clothes.

So I'm just wearing like black jeans and just a shirt. Uh, I'm not wearing the jacket. I have it kind of slung over my shoulders. You can see that I have a full sleeve on my right side is a full Polynesian sleeve. And on the left side on my forearm, I have this like rabbit that's like kind of running outstretched. And on top of it, it says rabbit is good, rabbit is wise on the bottom. She's kind of got her arms kind of crossed, kind of just leaning back against the door

of this hot tub place, just kind of watching everybody who's slowly trickling in. Allegra. Uh, Agent Tuck is probably about five, seven. She's got, uh, brown hair that's up in a, up in a pretty high ponytail, hazel eyes. She's, uh, she's also wearing dark jeans and a light blue button down shirt with the sleeves rolled up over the elbows. And what are they called? A peacote that's kind of like half on half off as she's trying to text with one hand

and keep her bag on the other shoulder and like just trying to juggle like three things like a dork. She knows if she calls her wife right now, her wife will still be asleep and her wife will be mad. So she's just trying to tell her she's safe and then sticks her phone in her back pocket and finally kind of gets everything else wrangled with her, her coats off, her back, back, back on again. And she kind of nods to hide as she walks up.

Amanda. Uh, Agent Tuck coming out. Uh, she is wearing a little bit of a rumpled, uh, very nice, uh, white Chris shirt. She does have her black jacket, very nice, uh, black pants, leather shoes. Uh, her watch is showing she is carrying, uh, basically, uh, very nice high fashionable like laptop bag and her other work bag. She has a blue tooth and she's kind of sticking her finger up at the other agents like one moment as she's wrapping up a phone call, uh, just basically wrapping up a business call

and then, uh, hangs up, recognizes somebody, looks at Tuck, kind of hesitates, but, um, kind of does like a friendly nod gesture. Tuck's going to go hug her. And, uh, Boomer's going to kind of stiffen for a second, but she, she's going to go ahead and relax and like reciprocate the hug, but it does, it does take her a second to be like, oh, that's cute. Sorry, do you want to hug too? I'd rather you not touch me.

That's fair. You look around this building and you notice that the front entrance is a pair of double doors that are tinted glass and there's a buzzer with a white piece of paper taped over it and it reads box office. What do you do? I'm going to look at Tuck and I'm just going to be same shit, not towards the door and then I'm just going to go towards it. Just going to be, go ahead, try to open it, knock on it, ring it, whatever.

Okay, so Boomer, you're, you're, you're pressing the buzzer? Yes. As soon as you press it, just a moment later you hear a woman's voice on the other end say, sorry, we're closed. I'm just going to dive into it. I'll go push the buzzer too and say, we were told to meet here to head for the opera. You finish the sentence and a beat later, the buzzer goes off, let you into the door.

You walk inside and you see a very large showroom of many hot tubs and jacuzzi's but to the left of you is a 20-something blonde girl wearing a pink mask and she's sitting at a receptionist table. She notices the three of you and she says, hello, please head back to the warehouse. There's coffee and breakfast. You'll get started once everyone has arrived. I'll head back. Yeah, I'll head back there.

Okay, you begin moving, you walk through the showroom floor, weaving your way past jacuzzi's and hot tubs and you find the back. There's a large warehouse room that is cluttered with mechanical pumps and hot tub frames and general storage shelving. In the center of the space are six folding chairs, spaced equally apart by six feet. A small desk with the chairs positioned in front of the chairs. There's a folding table to the side with a cardboard coffee traveler and a pile of donuts and muffins.

What do you do? I go check out the muffins. I'm also going to check out the coffee for sure. Yeah, I'll set my bag down and then I'll awkwardly turn to Boomer and be like, hey, sorry about that. I realized for the time that we're in, that was probably not the best choice to hug you, but I also got really overwhelmed, so sorry. It's all good.

It's all good. Don't worry about it. I'm going to go ahead and actually kind of pour two cups of coffee and I'm going to extend one out as like a gesture of like, it's all good. I'll take it. Is there only coffee? You only see coffee, yeah. Fuck.

I don't drink coffee. I just go grab like a random muffin off the ground, off the table and take a seat, take a seat somewhere and like just take the top off of it and just start eating it. Around 7.05, three other Ubers pull up and agent Merit, agent Somayel, agent Warp step out. Could I have each of you describe what you look like to the three that are kind of getting out at the same time? Let's start with Caleb.

Okay, so let me just say that right now Merit is very upset. The estimated time on the Uber said that I would be here at 6.59 and it is 7.05. He would not let me choose my own music. There was no gum and the AC was not on whatsoever. Okay, let that just be said. I'm a six foot one male with dark brown wavy hair kept short and tight to the head, strong but narrow features with a powerful jawline, deep green eyes. He's toned but not overly muscly with broad shoulders.

He's conventionally handsome and to a certain degree looks like he was made in a factory like someone knew what a human looked like or at least what everyone assumed one looked like and went off that. He's always dressed formally. Today he is in an all black turtleneck that is close to the body with a long brown coat over that and gray slacks with brown brogues to match the coat, of course. He looks very frustrated right now though. He's moving very fast past the two of you.

He wants no conversation. He needs to get to these coordinates before they accuse him of being late. Everyone, you've met the first mythos monster. Aaron, tell us what Samuel looks like. Agent Samuel is about six feet tall, long wavy black hair tucked behind his ears, short, well-trimmed black beard. He has very gaunt facial features, very high cheekbones, sharp nose, deep set sparkling green eyes, dressed in all black, with a white collar strapped around his neck.

And Zequia. Agent Morphe is also feeling upset, maybe more anxious. She should have been here at least 300 seconds ago. She is a thin, dark-skinned granola bar of a woman. Her clothes look homemade. She's got a purple turtleneck with a dress that starts as overalls and becomes a long-to-the-floor skirt. She has black braids that stop right after her ears. One of them is dip-died blonde, and she's wearing rose-colored flip-up shades that are currently flipped up to show her prescription.

She's carrying an absolutely stuffed backpack, and in her hand she has a drop spindle with a little bit of yarn wrapped around it, and some more wool in the backpack in case she gets bored. And she is full-on Noro Tourette behind Agent Merritt. And I would imagine Agent Samael is not moving that fast at all. No, he sees them both around then, and he's just kind of like, kids? All three of you are standing in front of the store, and you see the same thing as the other agents, a slip of paper that reads box office above a buzzer. Real quick, I look to warp, trying to be polite, but I'm sort of heaving from the super-white fast walk that I did to this door.

I go, if I may, I am going to take precedent, and I press the buzzer. You hear a female voice say, sorry, we're closed, and I make sure to preface, oh, I'm sorry, I was under the impression this is where the opera tickets were sold. You hear the buzzer go off, you are allowed inside. Perfect. The three of you step inside, you see a young blonde girl wearing a pink mask, and she says, hello, please head back to the warehouse, there's coffee and breakfast, you'll get started once everyone has arrived. Perfect, thank you so much.

Like her. She smiles at you, Agent Samael. Smile and nod back and continue on. As you kind of give her a smile and you walk on, you notice that she immediately stands up, grabs her purse, and walks out the front door and locks it. You head back into the warehouse, you see the three agents, Agent Tuck, Agent Hyde, and Agent Boomer. What do you three do once you are inside the warehouse? I think Merritt, as soon as he enters the room, he sets his leather duffel bag down where it's appropriate and then hangs up his coat. If there's a coat rack, it goes on there.

If there's something else that suitably looks like a coat rack, he's very upset. He puts it there and he's almost praying that that jacket doesn't get hurt. But then he turns to address everyone else and he says, let me just be the first one to say that no Uber should be trusted in Lansing, Michigan. I'm appalled. I'm also Agent Merritt. It's wonderful to meet you all. And he goes immediately to the coffee and he pours himself a pure black coffee. I'm just going to look over at Boomer and raise my eyebrows. I'm going to acknowledge that and be like, wow. The man's got initiative. You got to give him credit for that.

You guys are late. Don't blame me. Is this the end now? Yes. Very sorry for being late. Hello. Nice to meet all of you. Yes. Hello. And she goes to hold a, hold a muffin. So there's something to do with their hands.

Did you want to describe what you, what you do in the moment when you first arrived? Oh yeah, I'm definitely, I look at the coffee and I shrug my shoulders and I say, nah, and I pull a little flask out of kind of my front pocket, unscrew it. And I just take a big old fat golf, golf and then, and then I eat a muffin. I see him taking a sip at his flask and I'm going to just kind of motion to Tesla. Hold on one second. I'm going to kind of walk right over him and be like, Hey, do you mind topping me off really quick?

No, I guess I can spare a little. I think that agent Merritt is watching this from the table and taking extensive notes, just writing down these things and just sort of noting as soon as the flask goes into Boomer's drink. And he speaks up and he says, I know this is a bit of a formality, but is there any way I could get all of your handles so that I have it for my notes? It doesn't have to go in any particular order. Actually, if you like, we could have you two over by the drinks. Why don't you fill us in?

What's your two handles? I'm Samuel. Samuel. All right. Pleasure to meet you. I'm Merritt. You can call me Boomer and I take a nice golf on my coffee. Boomer, charming.

I love that. Anyone else? In any particular order. If you like, I can just call on someone. I'm going to wait. I'm just going to wait until he makes me. Okay. Fair enough.

I know that these interactions can be a little bit awkward. Remember that we all are operating as a team and the sooner we get to know each other, the better we'll do, right? How about you, the young woman with the backpack there? You were running with me earlier when we were late because of that despicable Uber. What would you tell me your handle? Agent Warp. Warp.

Perfect. Pleasure to meet you, Warp. And yourself over there, you don't like coffee. You're eating the muffin top. Your handle? I like look over at him and like stare him up and down for a second and I'm just like, I'm Hyde. Hyde.

Understood. Nice to meet you, Hyde. Merritt. And that leaves, well, how about yourself in the Peacote? Agent Tuck. And you're Merritt. Yes. As you said four times.

I am Merritt. Good. Yes. That makes a full team here, don't we think? Agent Hyde. Does your name refer to the noun, like skin, or the verb like conceal? I was wondering the same thing. It's more of the character in that book.

I don't remember what it's called. Dude drinks the potion and shit, you know. Oh, I thought it was a reference to that 70s show. Yeah. Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Oh, I see. I'm like watching him write notes in his notebook. I mean, is it necessary to write notes?

Yes, so that I can look at them later, so I have full information. I was wondering, why did you choose such a name? You don't have to give any personal information. Of course, that doesn't refer to anything in the handbook, but I'm interested. Why Hyde? You don't look the literary type. What's the connotation? That was a little harsh.

I'm sorry. First of all, I read a lot. Thank you. It's just a nickname I got from some friends. Sometimes they prefer me when I drink over when I'm not. So they call me Hyde. I see. Yeah. That makes a lot of sense.

Sure. The awkwardness in the room can't seem to get any worse. Stepping in from an exit door that leads to the backside of the building is a woman wearing a blue face mask. She's just hanging up from a cell phone call and you can sense she's a little frazzled. She's 5'5", white, looks to be in her mid-40s, wears a burgundy pantsuit that seems like it fit better about 5 years ago, and has soft, graying brown hair that halts at her shoulders. A civilian would mistake her for your average soccer mom,

but you can tell that she carries herself with the confidence of a special agent. She stops behind the desk and takes the time to acknowledge each of you with her piercing brown eyes. Hello? You can call me Agent Mallory. I'm your case officer. Can I have everyone sit down please? As you sit, she continues. I appreciate everyone showing up even with all that's happening out there. I guess I should start by reassuring you that none of you would be here if you were sick.

That's what the tests were for. So everyone should feel safe to take off their masks if you want to. I know I do, and she does in fact begin taking off her mask. Does anyone follow her? I don't. I don't. You know, they say you're supposed to leave it on even when you test negative, rather. That's what they say, but I've been wearing this thing since last night,

so pardon me if I need a few minutes. I'll keep my distance, okay? Oh, I also want to say that this briefing isn't related to the disease, so as far as we know, it isn't unnatural. Just a good old-fashioned outbreak that we have to work around. So, about the mission at hand. I think I should start with some background. In 1955, a researcher for the program named Daniel Fries had a psychotic break.

He attacked and killed many members of his own research team. Fries was apprehended, but not before he set fire to and destroyed the majority of agency intel that was acquired since 1920. That's nearly five decades, including World War II, gone in a flash. Since that time, proceeding directors have maintained a strict bang-and-burn policy. Case files were never archived, debriefings rarely recorded. We've been mowing the grass for over 60 years, and we're no closer to stopping our enemy. No closer to being able to anticipate their movements or understand their larger motives. Hell, we each in this room have our own unnatural experiences.

But who among us really understands what we've seen? If you're in the game, you understand that this is not how you win a war. The director's office has decided that if we don't learn from our history, well, you know the rest of the story. Operation Perennial plans to rectify this. While the world quarantines, we will be gathering intel and forming a dossier of historical accounts that put the vectors we commonly face into perspective. You'll have free range to travel where you need, and do the research you think is priority. My number's been programmed into those burners, so keep me in the loop when it's necessary. Now, I have good news about the operation, and I have bad news. Which would you like first?

The bad. I'm glad you're all unanimous on this, at least. The bad news is, this is an ongoing operation, which means as lead surface, you will be expected to return to the field. No questions asked. I don't have the expri- She pauses at Boomer's outburst, and she continues. Look, I don't have an expiration date, so don't ask for one, but until further notice, this will be your only assignment within the program. Seriously?

The good news is, yes. The good news is, Perennial's op-tempo is high priority but low risk. You'll be working without time constraints, and the budget is generous. This isn't our average operation, folks, okay? You're here because the DO personally selected you. If you're looking for a chance at upward mobility, this is it. She reaches into her bag, pulls out a stack of cards, and walks over to Agent Tuck and says, Could you pass these around, please? She hands them to you. Uh, I'll take a look at them. Okay.

Are they all the same? They're all basically the same. She continues, and she says, These are ID badges and debit cards. Everyone gets one of each. You'll be operating a CDC, but don't rely on the cover. It's window dressing. Enough to justify why you're out of quarantine. As Agent Tuck passes these badges and these debit cards around, you can see that these CDC ID badges look pretty authentic. They just happen to have a slightly outdated photo of you, maybe two, three years old. Um, all of the debit cards and all of the ID badges have pseudonyms or secondary names for you.

Uh, could you each tell us the name that is on your ID badges and your debit cards? Let's start with Agent Merritt. I am Alan Marks. Tuck. I'm Kate D. Giovanni. Boomer. I look at a nice, I'm Esther Sanchez. Samuel. Andrew North.

Hyde. Jamie Wilson. War. Stephanie Pierce. Agent Mallory continues. The debit cards each hold $2,500. These are for incidentals, food, lodging, bribes. Do not spend this on personal shit.

I don't want to get a call a few days from now that you blew through $15,000. These should last you. We've taken care of air travel with Agent Hyde, who can fly you where you need to go. Say hi, Agent Hyde. She gestures to you, Agent Hyde, as if she wants you to be acknowledged. Sep. In two weeks, I'll check in on you and we can assess renewing the stipend then. She kind of stretches for a moment. You can tell that she's probably been working on putting this together for a little while.

Still seems to kind of be in the works of putting the last touches on it. She continues and says, look, I understand that this is all very obtuse. How does one pursue intelligence gathering if you don't know where to look? I hope in time you will come to appreciate how much tooth pulling I had to do to get what I have for you today. So in 2002, we finally began enforcing recorded debriefings and the archival of case files. We've compiled these cases onto a experimental server. This server is not technically connected to the Internet and by all accounts, completely untraceable, thanks in part to our new encryption system, designed by our own Agent Boomer.

Say hi, Agent Boomer. Hello. There's 20 years worth of case files on there, so you've got plenty of material to start with. There's also a separate file listing every known green box in the country. It's incomplete, but it's become common practice for agents to leave their research in these green boxes. So we're hoping a lot of the legwork will just be getting to them. Okay, so that's one starting point. Then there's the infamous Daniel Frikes.

Again, I was not provided with records, but the DO suggested looking to the name as it may turn something up. Frikes would have been hospitalized, likely in a naval hospital. Hospitals, especially the mental kind, keep records. No one's ever attempted to go after Frikes' records, but if you spilled the beans, it might be in those files. Finally, there's something that came across my desk yesterday that might be relevant, but it's time-sensitive. A former agent named Clyde Bowman died of a heart attack in his apartment two days ago. Bowman lived here in Lansing, and I was going to put local agents on it, but I figured maybe the new research team would be interested. Here's a write-up about what we know about him, and she takes a single sheet of paper that has a little house key taped to it,

and she hands it to Agent Merritt. Agent Merritt, let me share with you this handout. Give me one moment. Okay. I'm sorry, you said he died two days ago? Agent Merritt, could you do everyone the favor of reading what the report says? I sure can. Summary of a report on Clyde Bowman. Date of birth, 328, 1945.

A family wife, Marlene, 820, 1948 to 11, 2, 2015. A daughter, Sharon, 912, 1967. And son, Michael, 728, 1974. Occupation, Bureau of Internal Revenue, later IRS, 611, 1965 to 911, 1999. Retired as Assistant Deputy Commissioner for Operational Support. Affiliation, active with group from 1967 to 1970, taking part in 11 operations, details unavailable. Numerous consultations with a specialty in taxation and property confiscations. No current association with group.

Once you finish reading that, Agent Mallory continues, she says, Before Bowman's retirement, he pitched a research operation, much like perennial. It was denied by the DO at the time, but Intel has its suspicions that Bowman may have kept up the hobby as an unofficial historian. I'll be frank, Bowman is more of a cleanup job. We need to make sure his apartment is clear of any sensitive materials. I figured two birds, one stone, and maybe Bowman did find something that might be helpful for you. If you choose to go another route, I can just redirect locals and let you know what they find. But that's what I've got. Any questions?

Will we be constantly on this case as it has no end date? Or will it be a rotating, cycling kind of thing? You can consider this an ongoing operation, Agent Tuck, but we are not monsters here at the program. If you need time off, we're willing to give it to you. We understand that these are extreme times. Well, as I said, that material that we have available for you will be on that server. I suppose we should talk a little bit more about it.

I'm going to let Boomer pick up where I fall short, but the gist of the server is that you can only access it using a VPN and using only these laptops, and Agent Mallory grabs a carrier bag and pulls three what looks to be 15-inch black laptops from the bag. They're OS encrypted. We're providing you with three. In my hands are three corresponding USB fobs, and she is in fact holding these kind of silver USB sticks.

The server requires two-factor authentication. That means a password you must change weekly, and this fob inserted into a USB slot on the laptop. That's one laptop and one fob for every researcher on the team. Agent Warp, Samuel, Boomer, why don't you come and collect these now? Alright. Go up, pluck the fob for her, and I'm just going to go ahead and grab the first laptop.

Look at it, be like, it'll do, and I'll go and I'll go back to my seat and I'll just pout like a child with my mask on. You're going to have to show me how this works. Merit takes his pencil and raises it in the air like he has a question for Mallory, and he waits patiently. As the researchers are grabbing their laptops, she says, yes, Agent Merit. Case handler Mallory, I had a question for you.

You refer to these three as researchers. Does that lead us to believe that there are occupational designations for this mission? That is correct, Agent. We've decided to bring on three researchers and three security team. Agent Hyde, Agent Tuck, Agent Merit. The three of you will be watching these folks back while they do their research. Does that understand? Absolutely.

I have one further question if you're comfortable, Mallory. In terms of this, is there any leadership designation? Is there someone we should be answering to amongst the group before we answer to you? She kind of smiles and says, I think the researchers should follow the security team. You folks are trained. You know what you're doing. Researchers, you should not be going on about this research alone. I don't want to hear that you are separating yourselves, isolating,

and working without sharing information between the three of you. Security team, watch out for these folks and make sure they don't overextend themselves. Now listen, one last thing about those laptops. These aren't toys, okay? You should only be using them to access the server. There is no research to be kept on those laptops or on personal computers. All data acquired needs to be uploaded or inputted directly to that server. It has a basic word processor and there's utilities for uploading images.

Did I get it right, Agent Boomer? Yeah, you got the kindergarten basic la-di-da-la-la-la version. But yeah, you got it across. Good job. Agent Boomer, I just want to let you know I'm not your enemy, okay? I'm your friend here. Okay, okay. Yes, Agent Warp.

Why do we all each have a human if this is a low-risk operation? What the fuck? That was peculiar. What? It's dated. It's like this, folks. The ultimate purpose of this operation is to establish a database that field agents, such as yourselves, can pull from the future.

We also recognize that a lot of the intelligence you're going to be gathering is dangerous. This stuff, the truth of it, it's lethal to the human psyche. What's more is we've come across memetic and informational hazards before. So, again, you should not be taking on this research alone. You need to be sharing it with each other. Does that clarify? I got one question. Derek puts his pencil back up.

So that means you got me a plane, right? So I have a plane. You're going to let me use a plane? Yes, in so many words. We have acquired a plane. I came in on it this morning. Nice. It's at Abrams Airfield.

I'll get you the address. That's all I need to know. I just had one question. If it's all right, I just had something to add, maybe to put warps on mind at ease. I just wanted to put this forward as think of the time in elementary school when you went on a class field trip. This is just the buddy system. This is to make sure that you and everyone associated with this team is kept safe. In fact, think of what we were just told about Bryce and his arson and attack on his own people.

Consider the security team an opportunity to prevent such terrible things from happening. We're just here to help. Bullshit, the woman. I mean, where'd I go and pick a baby? That's for me for real. It's okay. The example is lost on me. I did not attend a public elementary school.

So it's fine. Well then. All I'm trying to say is we're here to watch your back and we're going to take care of you. Regardless, whether you need it or not, we're here to assist. Warp, you ever hear the phrase safety in numbers? Yes. There you go. Just leave it at that.

Safety in numbers. Exactly. Safety in numbers. Well, Mallory, you've answered the question for how we deal with digital information, but you need to understand that that's not how I work. I write things down. I read books. I'm old fashioned. What about that? I don't want to be typing everything in your old fashioned agent, Samuel, but this operation cannot risk dangers of information being left in regular old books.

If you find things such as artifacts, such as tomes, such as who knows what, catalog them, photograph them, contact me, and we'll decide what to do. We have an air team that could possibly fly things out if you find them. We have places to put those things. We don't want to destroy things. We're past that phase of our agency's career. If you find something that is important, research it and input as much of it as you can up into the server. Otherwise, it needs to stay where you found it or you need to put it into a green box for one of us to collect it later. Does that help?

Understood. Will we have to depend on Ubers anymore? Thank you, Warp. She smiles and says, you were late too, huh? Look, there's a black Chevy Suburban out back. It should sit you all comfortably. Who wants to drive? And she holds up the key.

I'll throw my hand up. Okay, she tosses it to Agent Tuck. Catch him. Is there anything else? Yes. In terms of requisitions, I know we were given those debit cards. Is that to be used for our physical stay when we arrive there as well, our hotel plans, all of those accommodations? Yes, I said that already, Agent Man.

Yes, I'm just trying to clarify whether I should start the budget now or later when we attribute all funds. So if this is our final amount, I will make sure that that's properly accounted for. It is not. In about two weeks, when I check in with you, we can assess whether you need to increase the stipend. I think we can get by. I'm pretty good with these things. This should service us just well enough if we keep a good eye on our accounting. Ladies and gentlemen, I just want you to understand that I am your friend.

I am here to help you. What we are endeavoring on is important, I think so. So, follow the security team's lead, you'll be fine. Stay safe and good luck. Before you leave today, I'd like to at least hear what your plan is moving forward. She kind of, you know, releases the floor. Thank you, Agent. I'm fascinated to check out this apartment.

Yeah, I'd like to see what Agent Baum's getting up to. I think that's a waste of time. And why is that? Really? Do you have a counterpoint? Well, I think we should go somewhere else. As far as Mallory said, it's a cleanup job more or less. So, we can procure whatever information that's already there by other means.

We can focus on the other research that takes us much farther away. Well, the problem is we don't know where that farther away research necessarily leads. We need a starting point. I'm going to raise my hand and look at Mallory. I'm going to be like, Bowman, real talk, don't bullshit. How do you die? And like heart attack or like decapitated, sucked through a portal through hell type heart attack. What the corner of Lansing, Michigan says is that he died of a heart attack.

That could be any death. You can fill the details in for yourself on that one, I think. Well, I'm of the belief that we should go wherever we can affect the most changed the soonest. And the sooner the better. If we are in a place that is locally in need of our help, we should do that before moving anywhere else. It's just the most logical thing. They're going to probably send us there eventually. If we just get it in, get it out just quickly, we can just keep it moving.

Because eventually they're just going to send us there. It should be a quick job anyway. Absolutely. Quick stop on the way to the airport. How about that? If it's a cleanup job, it won't take us long anyway. Depends on how much we have to clean up. I guess if that's the... You're fast behind the wheel, right?

I can get us places. Yeah, get us in, get us out, let's go. Hide can get us in the air quicker. You would know that Bowman's apartment is in Lansing, so it's just a drive away. Quick stop on the way. Fine, fine, fine. Sure, sure, we'll go do that then. We'll actually pick up real donuts instead of this fake box thing they pulled on us.

I'll find you a drink that's not coffee. Thank you. At least some tea would be nice. I'll remember it for next time. We're in Michigan. What's Lansing Michigan's marijuana policy again? Somebody remind me. Is it pro or...

I mean, it's Michigan, so I doubt that. I'll remind you, Sam, that it is still federally illegal. Right. Yeah, his federal laws are always real logical. They're not at all, but as long as it's a law, we have to uphold it. So I'd like that while you're in the presence of myself, at least keep it to a minimum or at least out of my eyesight. Agent Merritt. My means follow and do whatever it is you like, but I can't see it.

This place is medical marijuana. Agent Merritt, how many operas have you been to? I'm sorry, what was that, Tucker? Tuck, tuck, whichever it is. Tuck. I apologize, I will write that down. Tuck. Agent Merritt, exactly how many operas have you been to?

Exactly one. This will be my... Well, I don't know. Can you call your inciting incident your first? If you can, then one. If you can't, then zero. No, it doesn't count. The law is your...

Case handler Mallory, I believe we're ready. I think we are going to take you up on your offer of cleaning up the Bowman case. Taking great care to see him through. Afterwards, our plan is to find some of the furthest research to appease our new friend Hyde, just to investigate. But first, we'll be looking into the Bowman case. If we could just get the exact information on where it is we go next and all the procedural information.

Of course, Agent Merritt. She gives you the address to his home. It is an apartment building in downtown Lansing. And it's apartment 2B. So you can assume it's on the second floor. And as the instructions were, you are to go to his apartment. Make sure that it is clear of any kind of program related materials. And ensure that you have gotten everything of his that might be related to the program.

Any questions from the group? Do we have anything to ask of our handler before we move out of here? I'm satisfied. Alright folks, good luck. And she gestures for you to exit through the entrance that she came in. As you begin making your way, she speaks up and says, Agent Tuck, Merritt Hyde, can you stay back for one moment? Yes, of course.

I'll pass the keys off to Boomer so she can sure open it up and get everyone in. The three researchers step out and she continues and says, Look, I know that this might feel like babysitting, but I consider you to have the most important job of all. I wasn't kidding when I said that these researchers are on the front lines. Look after them, but more importantly, look after the research. The program is taking a huge risk with this operation. If the choices between their lives or the exposure of this research to the public, you know what to choose. And she kind of dismisses you.

If you'd like to say something, go ahead. Could I wait until everybody else leaves before I ask something of Mallory? Merritt or Tuck have nothing to say. They step out and hide you remain. Yeah, I just thank Mallory and then I walk out to the car. Yes, Agent Hyde. As they like leave, I look at Mallory and I'm like, I didn't sign up to take out civilians. That's not what I was hired to do when I joined the program.

I understand, but we all have to do things sometimes that are outside of what we expect to do. I'm hoping that it doesn't come to that. If you're as good of a squad leader as Thornebill tells me, then it shouldn't come to that. But OPSEC is not an option. It's an order. Is that understood, soldier? Keep me updated and I'm happy to help when I can, okay? Copy that and I'll head out.

The researchers, you step out for a moment without the security team. You have about a minute or two by yourselves. You see that there is in fact a black Chevy Suburban. What do you do in that minute or two while you're waiting around for security team? I'm going to show my iPhone to Sam L and be like, just so you know, Michigan has medical marijuana. That's stupid easy to get done, so you're good to go. Good to know. Thank you. I take another big swig from my flask.

Eventually agent Tuck, Merritt, and then a moment later Hyde come out through the door. Tuck, you hit the button, sure enough, the Suburban unlocks. Island kids. I don't suppose that all of you would be okay with me taking the passenger side. Sometimes my knees knock in the back of the seat. It's just not comfortable for me. I don't know how you all feel about that. This guy's security?

Perfect. Thank you very much. I appreciate that. Boomer's just going to go and just sit in the car and just like shake her head. Boomer, you get in, everyone else piles in, and you suddenly realize as big as this Suburban is, it's kind of small inside when there's six people, and it's not fun. Do you get the center seat or do you try to make some space? I'll sit center. It's fine. I don't care. Yeah, because of her slight belt and shortness, she would suck it up and go in the middle seat. Okay. You guys pile in, start the Suburban, and head on your way.

Once you plug in the address to the GPS, you're honestly maybe 20 minutes to downtown Lansing. In fact, I'll even say it takes about 15 minutes because the city is basically completely empty. Very few cars, very few pedestrians. The city of Lansing is far from a metropolis. It feels like if Main Street USA just decided to keep growing a couple dozen blocks. There's a few high-rises, but most of the buildings are squat and brick. Perhaps a few weeks ago, the place felt more like metropolitan, but now with nobody around, it's a ghost town. By the time you arrive to the address of Bauman's apartment, the sun has disappeared behind some clouds, leaving a dull gray light.

You know his apartment is on the second floor, and you have parked on the street. What do you do? There was a key on the note, correct? And Merritt still has the note? Yes. I think you're in control here, Merritt. Well, I appreciate that, but let's remember that this is a group effort. I don't want anyone to feel excluded just because I'm holding the key. There's one thing that I would like to establish before we go inside, and that's one we should have an entrance and an exit, and neither should be the same. So that's one thing to consider. If you'd like, Tuck, I can give you the house key, but we should do a perimeter, see what we're up against, and ensure that there's no one around, even with the quarantine in effect. And then we can go forward.

While he's talking, I get out of the car and I just keep walking inside. I follow him. I'm going to go towards like the back. I am making a note of that, not plan makers of these, huh? I was listening. Thank you, Warp. I appreciate that. That is showing a willingness to work together. Three of the Asians jump out. The other three kind of put together what's happening, and I think we'll find out what happens next time in our next episode. I think this is a good place to stop. Agent Mallory steps out from the back exit door, just as the black suburban carrying the Asians drives off.

She lights a cigarette, and she makes a call. It's happening. Yeah, I know. I have a good feeling about it at this time. Even if they do fuck it up, I've got someone on the inside now. They'll make sure it goes to plan.