Puppet Shows and Shadow Plays

[Dave Syrinx]

Stanyard hears the screaming and starts bolting down the cabin to haul Nik out through the entrance to the sheriff and the deputy. "What happened..?" He asks as he has his arms around the upper body of Nik.

[Silver Priest]

OOC:   Stanyard does not need a san roll yet since the creature is hiding. Also, I'm going to say you can reach Nik this turn but can't do anything else. If you want to move him, you'll need to wait until your next one. Just waiting to see what Vanassa does before we start the next round.

With Stanyard no longer blocking the way, Colorados and the deputy return.

"What the hell happened to him!" demands the sheriff, seeing Nik. He pulls out his gun and looks wary.

[Mr. Handy]

"Get him out, Shariff!" says Vanessa. "The parasite paralyzed him! It's hiding in the corpse! We have to kill it!" She levels her shotgun at Santana's rib cage where she saw the creature vanish and squeezes the trigger.

OOC,Sanity roll (current level 72) for seeing the parasite: [dice]0[/dice] Firearms roll (70 x 2[point blank] = 140% skill) shooting at the parasite: [dice]1[/dice] Damage to parasite (minus armor from ribcage) from 12-gauge shotgun shell: [dice]2[/dice]

[Silver Priest]

"You're not making any sense!" says Colorados. He begins to protest further, but Vanessa ignores him and pointing the gun, blows Santana's chest apart. Meat and blood go flying, staining the investigators. But something else does as well. The parasite seems to have gotten the worst of the blow, its makeshift literal body armor offering no protection. The creature explodes, fragments of its now eviscerated body covering the floor. A strange green ooze leaks out of it.It smells foul in a way that none of the agents can even begin to identify. The most recognizable part of the parasite is the tiny needle like "tip" which had previously attacked Nik. It remains largely intact, though separated and unmoving.

"What in the hell?" Offers the Sheriff, his eyes now wide. The deputy looks as though he's about to lose his lunch.

It is at that moment that everyone hears a coyote's howl. Strangely it sounds to each investigator as though it is right next to them, but there is nothing to be found, and the sound soon fades away.

OOC:   Combat can be considered over. Again. Nik's still down for now though.

[Dave Syrinx]

Stanyard starts to tug at Nik's body to clear him from the gore and the remains of Santana and the needle.

[Cearlan]

Edmund, seeing Stanyard's efforts, quickly jumps in to lend a hand to clear his fellow agent from the area of the devastation of Santana's body and the remains of the strange creature.

[Mr. Handy]

"There's the killer," says Vanessa, lowering her shotgun and pointing at the dead parasite. "We'll take the remains back to the lab to find out just what the hell it is. It's over now, and I think the coyote is pleased." She heads over to Nik to see if there's anything she can do to help him.

[Silver Priest]

The agents quickly clean themselves up. The green "gore" of the creature does not appear toxic, coming off as easily as anything else.

The deputy excuses himself, citing the excuse of calling for backup. Colorados still seems stunned but numbly waves him off. Mutely he assists in the clean up.

There's nothing Vanessa can do, but after around five minutes Nik finds feeling returning to his limbs. With some support he can stand, and soon after he finds his strength returning.

"I still don't know what exactly went on here," says Colorados. "I'm amazed a little worm like that could have caused all this trouble. Maybe it ate away at the brain or caused anger in its host. Emmanuel was such a gentle man. But yes, I think returning to the lab would be wise. With the remains of the body. Or bodies, I suppose... Dr. Gutierrez will be very interested in studying them."

It's at this moment when the cabin door is kicked in. Four men enter. One of the men is recognizable as Agent Palmer with the NSA. All of themare wearing body armor and wielding assault rifles. At the moment, these rifles are pointed at the agents.

"Step away from the body!"

"What the hell are you doing?"

"Step! Away!" The men seem stressed, and it seems liable to escalate if their demands are not met.

[HoneyDog]

Nik

Nik is thankful that his ordeal is over, he never wants to experience something like that again. He still feels a little woozy and leans against the wall to recover.

He is distinctly unimpressed by the arrival of the NSA agents.

“Where were you assholes while all this was going on? I bet you knew about this thing the whole time, you bastards.”

Better not argue about it with them though. “We’d better do as they say everyone”.

[Dave Syrinx]

Facing the assault rifles, there's not much to argue with. Stanyard complies and waits.

[Cearlan]

Edmund, still supporting Nik, has already stepped away from the destroyed body of Santana.

[Mr. Handy]

Vanessa also backs away, knowing better than to mess with these guys.

[Silver Priest]

"We would have been here sooner," Palmer answers, "But none of you contacted us. If we hadn't heard the radio reports we'd not have come at all, and you'd all be facing jail time for obstructing a Federal Investigation."

Seeing the agents fall back, the men advance and examine the scene. Two of them keep their guns trained on the investigators, while a third leans down and examines the corpse.

"Shit. We're too late. Target package is deceased."

"Unfortunate."

"Yes. But we've never seen anything like this before. MJ-2 should be able to learn something from a dead specimen." The man pulls out a tube and begins carefully, almost reverently scooping up the parts of the parasite.

"Mind telling me what just the hell that thing was?' Colorados demands.

"Of course. Santana was on some sort of drug that evidently increased his pain threshold. He took a few more shots than expected to go down, but nothing more outrageous than that. I highly recommend all of you stick to that story."

"And if I don't? You are covering up a threat that hunted my people like dogs! And this has happened elsewhere. That Houston police officer..."

"A person in my position doesn't need to make threats, Sheriff. They should be obvious. Just play ball and accept the adulation that will come your way for stopping this dangerous lunatic. That goes for the rest of you as well. The FBI can have the credit on this one. You stopped a devious serial killer. Sure to do wonders for all of your careers. Don't ruin it by making up crazy stories."

The man finishes his evidence collecting, having scooped up every trace of the creature "I've collected everything that wasn't destroyed." He glares at the investigators, almost seeming to blame them for the confrontation.

"Understood." Palmer says, and the men begin to back up. Their guns are pointed at the investigators until they leave the cabin. The third man follows, carrying his test tube like it is a new born baby. Palmer is last out. He offers the group a chilling smile, and puts a finger to his mouth. And then he too is gone.

The sound of sirens fill the air. It would seem reinforcements are on their way.

OOC:   We're pretty much done here, but if you guys want to ask the Sheriff any final questions now's the time. My next post I'll try to wrap up the investigation and deal with the aftermath.

[Cearlan]

Edmund turns to Nik and whispers to him in such a way that Colorados and the other deuties present cannot hear them;

"Are you alright there buddy? After all you were stung by ... by that thing whatever the hell it was."

[HoneyDog]

Nik

"I'm okay thanks Rue" says Nik. "Thanks for pulling me out of there."

"I was completely paralyzed but conscious the whole time. It's horrible to think about what that thing's victims went through. We did the right thing today, however it turns out "

[Mr. Handy]

"So much for interagency cooperation," says Vanessa after Palmer and his men have gone. She nods at Nik's words. "It must have been awful. At least we stopped that thing and didn't let it continue its rampage. I've never seen or heard of anything like it."

[Silver Priest]

Police soon arrive and whisk Santana's body away. An autopsy released later finds no signs of anything amiss.

***

Their work done, the agents prepare to leave the next morning. Colorados sees them off. "I want to thank you for your assistance. The things we've seen, I don't like it one bit. And I intend to get to the bottom of it. You folks do what you need to do. But I've lost too many good people to back down now. Even if that means jailtime for me, I'm prepared to accept it.

"That said, take care. You've all got a friend here if you ever need it." He shakes all their hands.

***

SAC Hobbson is likewise very impressed with their work.

"Well done, agents. It's regrettable this case went national, but a grizzly murder spree will do that. Still, you all handled the delicate cooperation with the reservation and state police admirably. We couldn't have asked for anything more."

Here he hesitates. "This case. Something about it seems odd. The NSA involvement, for one. I don't know what happened and I don't want to know. But I thank you for not antagonizing the NSA.Their man in charge made it clear in no uncertain terms that if you defied them I would pay the price. Starting with my retirement pension. Heh, thanks to you all I can still go out fishing."

***

January 24th, 1999

The next week brings the team praise, respect, and a bit of envy from their coworkers. Soon enough though the agents are back to their day jobs. But the strange events they witnessed in San Carlos stay with them, preventing them from fully integrating back into mundane life.

The team may meet up to discuss what they saw, or perhaps attempt some research into it. But all of them receive an email on the morning of January 24th. It's from a clearly throwaway address, and entitled Curious?

Well done. You stopped the parasite and saved countless lives. All without losing any of your own. I am impressed. More importantly, the people I work for are.

You doubtless have questions, and I'm willing to give you some answers. Meet me at The Hall of Flame Museum today at Noon. I'll find you.

Be Seeing You,

Ms. Green.


The Agents recognize the museum as one dedicated to the evolution of firefighting. As luck would have it, it's right in downtown Phoenix, just minutes from their offices.

[HoneyDog]

Nik has found it difficult to settle back into normal investigative tasks. He can't get the sight of the parasite and Santana's wrecked corpse out of his mind. He fingers the scar where the parasite bit him, which has luckily healed without problems.

“Well, I’m gonna see what she wants. I want to know why she didn’t do more to help stop it, if she knew so much about it. And who those goddam agents were” he tells the others.

[Cearlan]

Rue re-reads the e-mail for what must be the fourth or fifth time, rubbing his chin as he tries to ponder the identity of the enigmatic Ms Green. Muttering to himself he says;-

"How the hell did any of this get out? Surely those bastards at the NSA would have clamped down on anything like this - in fact this could even be a sting operation. There are just too many variables at play here to make any kind of sense of the situation. Best gather the troops together and talk this over before the meeting."

After reading it again he makes the decision to get in touch with everyone. Picking the phone up he dials and says;

"Hey there, we need to talk about this 'curious' e-mail."

[Mr. Handy]

"You got it too, huh?" says Vanessa. "This Ms. Green must be the same person who left me that box of evidence. I think it would be a good idea to meet her. We may want to get there early so we can scope out the place."