Well Damn, I Got It Done! Horror #27!
Aug. 22nd, 2009 09:53 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
realsorienAagh, my neck is killing me. But I got the silly thing done at last! Here it is, the latest installment of the Buffy Horror Campaign!
When last we left off, Greg and Roy had just been hooked by the elder Poulte for a little talk about Ariel and propriety of behavior concerning her. Both got yelled at pretty thoroughly, though Greg took it with almost-Shinto steadiness, while Roy basically was massively intimidated. However, there is now palpable tension between greg and his father. Thereafter the night concludes, and we return to our heroes with the dawn on the next day.
Breakfast is had, and Bill bides his time, waiting for the elder Poulte to calm down enough to be talked to. When that time finally arrives, he asks if he should go back to work at the shop to get the service work back underway. “D’ya have a key?” He’s asked. The answer to that being no, Bill is given a key and admonished, “Don’t break nothing.” “I won’t, at least nothing that wasn’t already broke.” Obviously this statement was a mistake, as it earns him the evil eye from the elder Poulte. To avoid immediate death, Bill explains in brief terms the things that had transpired at the shop while Professor Dane and Co. were gone.
Greg makes his farewells and heads off to Master Gung Dok’s for more torture; leaving Roy and remaining at the dormhouse. Jackie’s breakfast is interrupted by her realization that she’s got a paper due today! She considers what to do, and decides that she’ll blow that particular class off, and talk to the professor later. She finishes her meal and heads to her other classes.
And then there was Roy. He’s still not real happy with all the gun-toting people around the house, and so decides to try and find a place where they aren’t. To this end he decides to explore the basement. Its not all that interesting or exciting, but he does get startled when the trapdoor, which he knew nothing about, opens in the floor! Once again, its in a new location, not that he knows that it moves. Moments after it opens, Blue pops up. “Hey Roy. You have breakfast yet?” Roy blinks. “No?” “Well, why not? You think I’m gonna keep that stuff warm and ready for you all day?” With Roy’s non-answer to this, Blue heads upstairs for coffee.
He shortly comes back down, returning to the trap door and vanishing beneath it as it shuts. Roy decides to head back upstairs himself, and as he reaches the top of the stairs he hears someone talking in low tones. It sounds like the elder Poulte, and given the lack of audible responses he’s probably talking with Professor Dane.
“I dunno. He probably won’t come.” (pause) “Yeah I know, you’ll need to get him a flight out, though he’ll likely just drive out in that ratty pickup of his...” And then, after a slightly longer pause Roy is grabbed and dragged fully into the room by Mr. Poulte! “Y’know it ain’t polite to listen in on people?” Roy blinks and replies in the affirmative. Mr. Poulte glares at him, and Professor Dane watches him for a time with a somewhat assessing stare. “Don’t you have school?” Asks the elder Poulte. “I don’t know?” Roy replies, which elicits a grunt from his disgruntled questioner. Roy is given the remotes for the TV, Mr. Poulte and Professor Dane leaving the room thereafter.
Roy turns on the TV and starts watching. ‘Wheel of Fish’ is on, but somehow, he’s feeling uneasy. He’s not quite able to put a finger on why though. Time passes, and he realizes that Professor Dane is at the doorway, watching him. The not being a comfortable situation, he decides to get some mountain dew. There being none in the fridge, he makes his way out to the convenience store. Nothing at all unusual happens, and he starts home after getting his green caffeine fix.
Of course, that’s when the unusual DOES happen.
“You know that stuff will kill you...” Comes from behind him. He looks, and its an MIB! “I know, but I figure that cancer is a slow way to go and I don’t figure that I’ll last that long.” The agent doesn’t even crack a smile. “So why haven’t you come in to debrief?” Roy makes excuses, and with the arrival of more agents and a black van, he’s whisked off with his new (or old?) friends.
He tries to make conversation during the ride, but gets told that he’s not supposed to talk until after he’s been debriefed. There are six agents in the back with him, and none of them make a sound; whats worse is that they all seem to be staring at him. He’s not sure of that though- the dark glasses prevent him from being sure. Eventually, he can hear the sounds of a warehouse-style rolldoor opening, then shutting after the van is within. The van is opened, and the entourage steps out, two more agents joining the procession.
Once again he’s asked why he didn’t come in and debrief, but Roy begs off saying that he was told not to talk until after the debriefing! “We’re all agents here, Roy...” But the man doesn’t press the issue. The group enter a reception area, and an elevator is called. It takes five minutes for the car to arrive, and the entire group get in when it finally does.
There are a LOT of buttons. An agent hits what looks to be the bottom-most button, and the car drops FAST! Roy gets nauseous, and drops to the floor trying to find where his stomach got to. “It doesn’t get better at the bottom, you know.” Roy doesn’t even look. “I think I’ll just stay here...”
And finally they’re at the bottom. “Get up Roy. You’re embarrassing yourself.” As if at this point Roy was concerned about that. The elevator doors open, and before them is what seems to be a huge room, unlit but for evenly-spaced circles of light throughout the space. The agents walk him in, and he manages to notice that the lights are spaced about 20 feet apart. Roy manages to not totally freak out, despite the darkness stirring memories of his time in the Abyss. The group stops, and there is a sudden whooshing sound- the lights come up, and there is a mob of cheering people around them! Banners hanging from the ceiling proclaim “Welcome back, Roy!”, and he realizes its a party... For him?
Suddenly he’s being congratulated, and bombarded with questions and well-wishes. For the most part nobody presses him for answers- it IS a welcome-back party after all. Bur Roy does shortly realize that about half of the people here... Aren’t human. Then, and older man shows up. he greets Roy and tells him that his debriefing is set for 0500 the next day. Roy nods and agrees, and is then offered some strange delicacies that are apparently his favorites- they look like live, still moving, VERY active purple squids! Roy blinks, but does try one- while they seem to help themselves down his throat, they’re good!
The party goes on, but inevitably, Roy slips. “So I get to wear the suit?” And with that one line, the party... Stops. People are staring, and the older man walks back up to Roy. “Maybe... We should do your debriefing NOW.”
Roy is taken back up the elevator to a large, very white room. There is a chair in the center of the room, with a control panel off to the side. The chair looks like something the Marquis De Sade would have come up with if he had a chrome fixation. “Have a seat,” Roy is told. He looks at the chair, and says, “I’m probably gonna freak out.” The older man, Z is what he’s called, says, “Naah. You’ll be fine.” So Roy sits down, gets comfortable, and of course is rapidly clamped into place. And then a dome drops down over his head and...
...We switch back to Bill. He’s at the shop, and has managed to make good progress on the backlog of work. He’s just starting on the next bike when there’s a knock at the shop door. When he looks, there’s a sandy-haired man there, heavily dressed and looking rather dazed. “Can I help you?” He asks through the door. “I... I’m looking for Mr. Poulte...” Is the dazed-seeming response. “I’m sorry, he’s not here right now.” The man seems even more confused after this response, and Bill, realizing something is NOT right, asks the man to wait and calls the house.
The first time, Blue answers after about 8 rings.
“Hello?”
“Blue, this is Bill.”
“Hi Bill. Whatcha need?”
“Can you get Mr. Poulte?” “Sure!” [click. rrrrrrrr....]
He hung up? Bill calls back, and twice more gets the same result! Finally, Mr. Poulte answers, and Bill explains the situation. “We’ll be right there.” Is the response, and in very little time the van pulls up with Mr. Poulte and two of the men.
While the elder Poulte stays in the van, one of the men strips out of his gear and comes out in biker gear, talks to the man and shortly the confused gentleman leaves. All three then come into the shop. “If something like this ever happens again, call the house right away.” Bill nods. “Hell yeah. Oh... Don’t let Blue answer the phone?” The elder Poulte just grimaces, and nods. He heads into the office, and one of the men, Wrench, starts helping Bill with the bikes, though bill fills out the invoices on the work already done.
In the meantime, Jackie isn’t feeling well at school. She’s managed with the mention of Professor Dane, to get a two day extension on her report. Despite the nausea that’s building she gets to her next class, but has to rush out to throw up! She makes it to a trash can and loses everything. She starts to clean up at the fountain, and notices that the hall behind her, which had been bustling, is dead silent.
She knows that EVERYONE is staring at her. Seconds pass, then a familiar squeaking sound comes from down the hall- Carl the janitor! He shoos the other students off, changes the garbage can and gives Jackie some tic-tacs. She thanks him, apologizes for the mess (“Its okay- you made it to the trash can!”) and then goes back into class. She explains that she’s ill, gathers her things and heads home.
Just as she approaches the dormhouse, she sees a housewife-ish woman watching the place. The woman is in jeans and a tee, and wearing a jacket that seems a bit too heavy for the weather. “Can I help you?” Jackie asks, noting that the woman’s eyes seem real glassy. “Why are you watching the house?” “...No reason...” And the woman starts to wander off. Jackie decides to read the woman’s mind- She gets a sense of the same presence that was in Greg’s psyche! She sprints to the house and finds Professor Dane, her illness forgotten for the moment. She tells him what happened, including what she detected.
The professor allows Jackie to make mental contact with him, and they discuss the matter including what she detected. He also goes into why he picked her and Michael- There were discrepancies in her heritage that drew his interest; Michael also had an interesting background, part of which was that many of his ancestors were Jesuits. Greg “Was obvious”, and Bill? Also obvious. They’re able to see the reality of what the world is REALLY like.
There is a long talk abut what’s gone on. Bill, due to the devil’s deal he made, could actually alter the balance of the harmony of the celestial chorus. Roy is an interesting situation- if he is indeed MIB, he could be a valuable asset- he could have access to information and gear that could be very useful. Of course, he could ALSO get all of their memories erased again. Greg, is a Poulte. Enough said. “One last thing.” Says Professor Dane in the link. “You’re in possession of VERY potent and dangerous abilities. You have to learn to control them, or they will be as much of a threat to you and your friends as they are to your foes.”
Jackie promises to properly train from now on with Joe, and keep with a regular schedule. The professor then says, “On another topic, there may be more help coming. With my associate’s help I’ve contacted an old... Associate. Given our last parting, he may or may not show up. But if he does, he’ll help.” With that, the Professor calls up an image of the man. “This is what he looks like. His name is Thomas Black Cloud. He’s a shaman, easily offended and... he hates white people.”
The conversation ended, the professor leaves her to call the hospital for the results of the tests performed the other day. She’s told that she has elevated hormonal levels, and the last test isn’t in. She’s told to call back in an hour. She brushes her teeth and heads to KNOW and Joe.
Roy has been reduced ot a shivering mess due to the recollections of recent events dredged up by the bizarre mind-reading chair he’s bound into. Z calls for a break, and the helmet comes off, and he’s helped out of the chair. “Not exactly what we were expecting,” says Z. “Want something to eat?” Roy nods, and he’s led to a commissary. For good or ill, Roy is remembering!
Six o’clock comes around, and Bill and Wrench have finished up on the bikes and are packing it in for the day. Just as they start cleanup, the elder Poulte blasts out of the office, swearing a blue streak about lawyers! Wrench waits until the storm of cursing tones down, winks to Bill then says, “Something wrong Boss?” Which lights his employer off once again!
Mr. Poulte goes outside, still swearing. “I love doing that,” says Wrench. “Well, you’ve at least earned the right to get away with it.” Replies Bill. “Yeah, I guess I have. You hungry?” Bill grins. “Hell yeah.” With that, the pair head to a little steak house Wrench knows, and meat-and-beer is ordered. “Hey!” Says the barkeep. “That kid old enough to drink?” “What the hell do YOU care?” Wrench hollers back. “Yer right!” And the matter is dropped.
Roy, after his meal, has chosen to get the entire debriefing over with right off, and returns to the chair. More time passes for him, much of it sweating and perhaps screaming. He does get a lot of information, and actually knows who he is and how he came to be in the Abyss, though it isn’t quite clear why. One thing that is certain is that he didn’t get there from Earth- it was another world he was on.
He was a junior agent of the MIB, and he’d been recruited right out of high school due to his prodigious computer and technical abilities. he was well-liked by the other agents, partly because he could tell them more about their weapons and how they worked! With the end of the debriefing, Z tells him to take a few days off. He gets cleaned up, then is given a lift to the diner where there is pie.
Going back a bit, Jackie reaches KNOW. The Intern lets her in, his usual warble familiar to her ears. As usual she’s led to the break room, where Joe is waiting and downing twinkies and pop. He offers her some, but only a mountain dew is accepted.
“So...” Joe begins, and Jackie knows what he wants to hear. She fills him in on the recent events, whereupon he asks, “And when will you be coming back to practice?” She looks down a bit, and says, “Tomorrow. And every day after.” “Really? If I’d known that all it would take to get you training daily was Cameron Dane, I’d have sent word sooner!”
While Jackie wants to start training as soon as possible, Joe can’t help her tonight- he’s got a radio show to do. However, he tells her to be at the station at 5 AM the next day, and that the coffeemaker needs 3 1/2 scoops for the pot. The Intern just got freed of that duty.
On her way home she stops to see the doctor, the call from the station having not told her anything because the physician had been unable to come to the phone at the time. Once again though, she’s out of luck. The doctor has been called away and won’t be back in town until Friday. She sighs, and makes the appointment for as early as possible on that day.
Having finished their meal, Wrench and Bill head back to the shop to collect the elder Poulte. Thereafter, they head back to the dormhouse. Jackie and Roy both beat them there, Jackie arriving first. She sees Roy as he comes up, and immediately notices a difference- he’s clean, shaved and dressed in new clothes! “You found the warehouse!” Jackie exclaims. Roy gets evasive. “Um. I had an excellent shopping experience.” She just looks at him. “You should tell Professor Dane.” Roy shrugs and continues his evasiveness, thinking to protect his friends and the Professor from being mind-erased by his ‘employers’.
Bill, Wrench and Mr. Poulte pull up at the tail end of the conversation. Everyone goes inside, Bill heading upstairs to clean up after the day at the shop. When he gets back down dinner is had, after which Jackie has another talk with Professor Dane, confirming to him Roy’s connection to the MIB.
As Bill, Roy and the aching, just-returned Greg are in the kitchen, the doorbell rings. Bill rolls his eyes. “And there’s another one...” He says, and heads to open the door. One of the commandos gets there first, and when the door is opened a housewife-ish woman is revealed- though Bill and the rest don’t know it, its the same woman Jackie saw earlier. The professor looks into the kitchen as Bill gets a glimpse of her, and as soon as Professor Dane is spotted by the woman there is a tremendous explosion!
The woman and the commando... Are just gone. Greg is down, and both Bill and Roy are hurt- mostly from flying debris. Bill immediately moves to help Greg, as Jackie arrives from upstairs- she’s been working on her paper. Almost as suddenly the commandos and the elder Poulte arrive, and more medical care begins on the wounded. Those conscious in the kitchen soon realize that Professor Dane is also down and badly hurt. Jackie moves to help him, but a medic is already working on him. Instead, she helps Roy, then Bill.
As the smoke starts to settle, someone else comes in through the door- he’s big, Amerind, and less than happy-looking. Bill sees him and says, “We got another!” But Jackie, recognizing the image that Cameron showed her, says “He’s a friend. Be polite, Bill! He’s easily offended!” Right in front of the man. Bill blinks and says, “Why the hell are you telling me this? I just got blown up!” The man just snorts and lights up a cigar.
Eventually, the police arrive followed by an ambulance. The professor is hauled off to the hospital, and plans are made to relocate everyone to the Mansion. Coffee in great volume is provided to the cops, and things wind down as much as possible. Papa Poulte and the new arrival are talking quietly together, but what is said can’t be heard. The newcomer is finally introduced: Thomas Black Cloud, an old friend of Professor Dane’s.
People load into the van, and there we leave off. Two more runs til we switch again to Traveller!
When last we left off, Greg and Roy had just been hooked by the elder Poulte for a little talk about Ariel and propriety of behavior concerning her. Both got yelled at pretty thoroughly, though Greg took it with almost-Shinto steadiness, while Roy basically was massively intimidated. However, there is now palpable tension between greg and his father. Thereafter the night concludes, and we return to our heroes with the dawn on the next day.
Breakfast is had, and Bill bides his time, waiting for the elder Poulte to calm down enough to be talked to. When that time finally arrives, he asks if he should go back to work at the shop to get the service work back underway. “D’ya have a key?” He’s asked. The answer to that being no, Bill is given a key and admonished, “Don’t break nothing.” “I won’t, at least nothing that wasn’t already broke.” Obviously this statement was a mistake, as it earns him the evil eye from the elder Poulte. To avoid immediate death, Bill explains in brief terms the things that had transpired at the shop while Professor Dane and Co. were gone.
Greg makes his farewells and heads off to Master Gung Dok’s for more torture; leaving Roy and remaining at the dormhouse. Jackie’s breakfast is interrupted by her realization that she’s got a paper due today! She considers what to do, and decides that she’ll blow that particular class off, and talk to the professor later. She finishes her meal and heads to her other classes.
And then there was Roy. He’s still not real happy with all the gun-toting people around the house, and so decides to try and find a place where they aren’t. To this end he decides to explore the basement. Its not all that interesting or exciting, but he does get startled when the trapdoor, which he knew nothing about, opens in the floor! Once again, its in a new location, not that he knows that it moves. Moments after it opens, Blue pops up. “Hey Roy. You have breakfast yet?” Roy blinks. “No?” “Well, why not? You think I’m gonna keep that stuff warm and ready for you all day?” With Roy’s non-answer to this, Blue heads upstairs for coffee.
He shortly comes back down, returning to the trap door and vanishing beneath it as it shuts. Roy decides to head back upstairs himself, and as he reaches the top of the stairs he hears someone talking in low tones. It sounds like the elder Poulte, and given the lack of audible responses he’s probably talking with Professor Dane.
“I dunno. He probably won’t come.” (pause) “Yeah I know, you’ll need to get him a flight out, though he’ll likely just drive out in that ratty pickup of his...” And then, after a slightly longer pause Roy is grabbed and dragged fully into the room by Mr. Poulte! “Y’know it ain’t polite to listen in on people?” Roy blinks and replies in the affirmative. Mr. Poulte glares at him, and Professor Dane watches him for a time with a somewhat assessing stare. “Don’t you have school?” Asks the elder Poulte. “I don’t know?” Roy replies, which elicits a grunt from his disgruntled questioner. Roy is given the remotes for the TV, Mr. Poulte and Professor Dane leaving the room thereafter.
Roy turns on the TV and starts watching. ‘Wheel of Fish’ is on, but somehow, he’s feeling uneasy. He’s not quite able to put a finger on why though. Time passes, and he realizes that Professor Dane is at the doorway, watching him. The not being a comfortable situation, he decides to get some mountain dew. There being none in the fridge, he makes his way out to the convenience store. Nothing at all unusual happens, and he starts home after getting his green caffeine fix.
Of course, that’s when the unusual DOES happen.
“You know that stuff will kill you...” Comes from behind him. He looks, and its an MIB! “I know, but I figure that cancer is a slow way to go and I don’t figure that I’ll last that long.” The agent doesn’t even crack a smile. “So why haven’t you come in to debrief?” Roy makes excuses, and with the arrival of more agents and a black van, he’s whisked off with his new (or old?) friends.
He tries to make conversation during the ride, but gets told that he’s not supposed to talk until after he’s been debriefed. There are six agents in the back with him, and none of them make a sound; whats worse is that they all seem to be staring at him. He’s not sure of that though- the dark glasses prevent him from being sure. Eventually, he can hear the sounds of a warehouse-style rolldoor opening, then shutting after the van is within. The van is opened, and the entourage steps out, two more agents joining the procession.
Once again he’s asked why he didn’t come in and debrief, but Roy begs off saying that he was told not to talk until after the debriefing! “We’re all agents here, Roy...” But the man doesn’t press the issue. The group enter a reception area, and an elevator is called. It takes five minutes for the car to arrive, and the entire group get in when it finally does.
There are a LOT of buttons. An agent hits what looks to be the bottom-most button, and the car drops FAST! Roy gets nauseous, and drops to the floor trying to find where his stomach got to. “It doesn’t get better at the bottom, you know.” Roy doesn’t even look. “I think I’ll just stay here...”
And finally they’re at the bottom. “Get up Roy. You’re embarrassing yourself.” As if at this point Roy was concerned about that. The elevator doors open, and before them is what seems to be a huge room, unlit but for evenly-spaced circles of light throughout the space. The agents walk him in, and he manages to notice that the lights are spaced about 20 feet apart. Roy manages to not totally freak out, despite the darkness stirring memories of his time in the Abyss. The group stops, and there is a sudden whooshing sound- the lights come up, and there is a mob of cheering people around them! Banners hanging from the ceiling proclaim “Welcome back, Roy!”, and he realizes its a party... For him?
Suddenly he’s being congratulated, and bombarded with questions and well-wishes. For the most part nobody presses him for answers- it IS a welcome-back party after all. Bur Roy does shortly realize that about half of the people here... Aren’t human. Then, and older man shows up. he greets Roy and tells him that his debriefing is set for 0500 the next day. Roy nods and agrees, and is then offered some strange delicacies that are apparently his favorites- they look like live, still moving, VERY active purple squids! Roy blinks, but does try one- while they seem to help themselves down his throat, they’re good!
The party goes on, but inevitably, Roy slips. “So I get to wear the suit?” And with that one line, the party... Stops. People are staring, and the older man walks back up to Roy. “Maybe... We should do your debriefing NOW.”
Roy is taken back up the elevator to a large, very white room. There is a chair in the center of the room, with a control panel off to the side. The chair looks like something the Marquis De Sade would have come up with if he had a chrome fixation. “Have a seat,” Roy is told. He looks at the chair, and says, “I’m probably gonna freak out.” The older man, Z is what he’s called, says, “Naah. You’ll be fine.” So Roy sits down, gets comfortable, and of course is rapidly clamped into place. And then a dome drops down over his head and...
...We switch back to Bill. He’s at the shop, and has managed to make good progress on the backlog of work. He’s just starting on the next bike when there’s a knock at the shop door. When he looks, there’s a sandy-haired man there, heavily dressed and looking rather dazed. “Can I help you?” He asks through the door. “I... I’m looking for Mr. Poulte...” Is the dazed-seeming response. “I’m sorry, he’s not here right now.” The man seems even more confused after this response, and Bill, realizing something is NOT right, asks the man to wait and calls the house.
The first time, Blue answers after about 8 rings.
“Hello?”
“Blue, this is Bill.”
“Hi Bill. Whatcha need?”
“Can you get Mr. Poulte?” “Sure!” [click. rrrrrrrr....]
He hung up? Bill calls back, and twice more gets the same result! Finally, Mr. Poulte answers, and Bill explains the situation. “We’ll be right there.” Is the response, and in very little time the van pulls up with Mr. Poulte and two of the men.
While the elder Poulte stays in the van, one of the men strips out of his gear and comes out in biker gear, talks to the man and shortly the confused gentleman leaves. All three then come into the shop. “If something like this ever happens again, call the house right away.” Bill nods. “Hell yeah. Oh... Don’t let Blue answer the phone?” The elder Poulte just grimaces, and nods. He heads into the office, and one of the men, Wrench, starts helping Bill with the bikes, though bill fills out the invoices on the work already done.
In the meantime, Jackie isn’t feeling well at school. She’s managed with the mention of Professor Dane, to get a two day extension on her report. Despite the nausea that’s building she gets to her next class, but has to rush out to throw up! She makes it to a trash can and loses everything. She starts to clean up at the fountain, and notices that the hall behind her, which had been bustling, is dead silent.
She knows that EVERYONE is staring at her. Seconds pass, then a familiar squeaking sound comes from down the hall- Carl the janitor! He shoos the other students off, changes the garbage can and gives Jackie some tic-tacs. She thanks him, apologizes for the mess (“Its okay- you made it to the trash can!”) and then goes back into class. She explains that she’s ill, gathers her things and heads home.
Just as she approaches the dormhouse, she sees a housewife-ish woman watching the place. The woman is in jeans and a tee, and wearing a jacket that seems a bit too heavy for the weather. “Can I help you?” Jackie asks, noting that the woman’s eyes seem real glassy. “Why are you watching the house?” “...No reason...” And the woman starts to wander off. Jackie decides to read the woman’s mind- She gets a sense of the same presence that was in Greg’s psyche! She sprints to the house and finds Professor Dane, her illness forgotten for the moment. She tells him what happened, including what she detected.
The professor allows Jackie to make mental contact with him, and they discuss the matter including what she detected. He also goes into why he picked her and Michael- There were discrepancies in her heritage that drew his interest; Michael also had an interesting background, part of which was that many of his ancestors were Jesuits. Greg “Was obvious”, and Bill? Also obvious. They’re able to see the reality of what the world is REALLY like.
There is a long talk abut what’s gone on. Bill, due to the devil’s deal he made, could actually alter the balance of the harmony of the celestial chorus. Roy is an interesting situation- if he is indeed MIB, he could be a valuable asset- he could have access to information and gear that could be very useful. Of course, he could ALSO get all of their memories erased again. Greg, is a Poulte. Enough said. “One last thing.” Says Professor Dane in the link. “You’re in possession of VERY potent and dangerous abilities. You have to learn to control them, or they will be as much of a threat to you and your friends as they are to your foes.”
Jackie promises to properly train from now on with Joe, and keep with a regular schedule. The professor then says, “On another topic, there may be more help coming. With my associate’s help I’ve contacted an old... Associate. Given our last parting, he may or may not show up. But if he does, he’ll help.” With that, the Professor calls up an image of the man. “This is what he looks like. His name is Thomas Black Cloud. He’s a shaman, easily offended and... he hates white people.”
The conversation ended, the professor leaves her to call the hospital for the results of the tests performed the other day. She’s told that she has elevated hormonal levels, and the last test isn’t in. She’s told to call back in an hour. She brushes her teeth and heads to KNOW and Joe.
Roy has been reduced ot a shivering mess due to the recollections of recent events dredged up by the bizarre mind-reading chair he’s bound into. Z calls for a break, and the helmet comes off, and he’s helped out of the chair. “Not exactly what we were expecting,” says Z. “Want something to eat?” Roy nods, and he’s led to a commissary. For good or ill, Roy is remembering!
Six o’clock comes around, and Bill and Wrench have finished up on the bikes and are packing it in for the day. Just as they start cleanup, the elder Poulte blasts out of the office, swearing a blue streak about lawyers! Wrench waits until the storm of cursing tones down, winks to Bill then says, “Something wrong Boss?” Which lights his employer off once again!
Mr. Poulte goes outside, still swearing. “I love doing that,” says Wrench. “Well, you’ve at least earned the right to get away with it.” Replies Bill. “Yeah, I guess I have. You hungry?” Bill grins. “Hell yeah.” With that, the pair head to a little steak house Wrench knows, and meat-and-beer is ordered. “Hey!” Says the barkeep. “That kid old enough to drink?” “What the hell do YOU care?” Wrench hollers back. “Yer right!” And the matter is dropped.
Roy, after his meal, has chosen to get the entire debriefing over with right off, and returns to the chair. More time passes for him, much of it sweating and perhaps screaming. He does get a lot of information, and actually knows who he is and how he came to be in the Abyss, though it isn’t quite clear why. One thing that is certain is that he didn’t get there from Earth- it was another world he was on.
He was a junior agent of the MIB, and he’d been recruited right out of high school due to his prodigious computer and technical abilities. he was well-liked by the other agents, partly because he could tell them more about their weapons and how they worked! With the end of the debriefing, Z tells him to take a few days off. He gets cleaned up, then is given a lift to the diner where there is pie.
Going back a bit, Jackie reaches KNOW. The Intern lets her in, his usual warble familiar to her ears. As usual she’s led to the break room, where Joe is waiting and downing twinkies and pop. He offers her some, but only a mountain dew is accepted.
“So...” Joe begins, and Jackie knows what he wants to hear. She fills him in on the recent events, whereupon he asks, “And when will you be coming back to practice?” She looks down a bit, and says, “Tomorrow. And every day after.” “Really? If I’d known that all it would take to get you training daily was Cameron Dane, I’d have sent word sooner!”
While Jackie wants to start training as soon as possible, Joe can’t help her tonight- he’s got a radio show to do. However, he tells her to be at the station at 5 AM the next day, and that the coffeemaker needs 3 1/2 scoops for the pot. The Intern just got freed of that duty.
On her way home she stops to see the doctor, the call from the station having not told her anything because the physician had been unable to come to the phone at the time. Once again though, she’s out of luck. The doctor has been called away and won’t be back in town until Friday. She sighs, and makes the appointment for as early as possible on that day.
Having finished their meal, Wrench and Bill head back to the shop to collect the elder Poulte. Thereafter, they head back to the dormhouse. Jackie and Roy both beat them there, Jackie arriving first. She sees Roy as he comes up, and immediately notices a difference- he’s clean, shaved and dressed in new clothes! “You found the warehouse!” Jackie exclaims. Roy gets evasive. “Um. I had an excellent shopping experience.” She just looks at him. “You should tell Professor Dane.” Roy shrugs and continues his evasiveness, thinking to protect his friends and the Professor from being mind-erased by his ‘employers’.
Bill, Wrench and Mr. Poulte pull up at the tail end of the conversation. Everyone goes inside, Bill heading upstairs to clean up after the day at the shop. When he gets back down dinner is had, after which Jackie has another talk with Professor Dane, confirming to him Roy’s connection to the MIB.
As Bill, Roy and the aching, just-returned Greg are in the kitchen, the doorbell rings. Bill rolls his eyes. “And there’s another one...” He says, and heads to open the door. One of the commandos gets there first, and when the door is opened a housewife-ish woman is revealed- though Bill and the rest don’t know it, its the same woman Jackie saw earlier. The professor looks into the kitchen as Bill gets a glimpse of her, and as soon as Professor Dane is spotted by the woman there is a tremendous explosion!
The woman and the commando... Are just gone. Greg is down, and both Bill and Roy are hurt- mostly from flying debris. Bill immediately moves to help Greg, as Jackie arrives from upstairs- she’s been working on her paper. Almost as suddenly the commandos and the elder Poulte arrive, and more medical care begins on the wounded. Those conscious in the kitchen soon realize that Professor Dane is also down and badly hurt. Jackie moves to help him, but a medic is already working on him. Instead, she helps Roy, then Bill.
As the smoke starts to settle, someone else comes in through the door- he’s big, Amerind, and less than happy-looking. Bill sees him and says, “We got another!” But Jackie, recognizing the image that Cameron showed her, says “He’s a friend. Be polite, Bill! He’s easily offended!” Right in front of the man. Bill blinks and says, “Why the hell are you telling me this? I just got blown up!” The man just snorts and lights up a cigar.
Eventually, the police arrive followed by an ambulance. The professor is hauled off to the hospital, and plans are made to relocate everyone to the Mansion. Coffee in great volume is provided to the cops, and things wind down as much as possible. Papa Poulte and the new arrival are talking quietly together, but what is said can’t be heard. The newcomer is finally introduced: Thomas Black Cloud, an old friend of Professor Dane’s.
People load into the van, and there we leave off. Two more runs til we switch again to Traveller!
