PARALLAX, Session 15: Spiders and Bees

Scene setup

Scene Expectations

We head for the green box storage area. We search the first spellcaster body (in the trunk), looking for clues.

We examine the mechanical toy Phalanx found on the second spellcaster.

Expected scene test

Interruption Event: Move toward a thread.
Thread list roll: Hastur & Associates.
Betray + Mundane
My interpretation: Robertson calls saying that the sniper (mundane) he hit is still alive and may be willing to spill information about hastur (betray).

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Playing the scene

We leave the hospital in a hurry, heading straight for the car. If anyone at the police department decides to verify our fake FBI credentials, we’ll be in deep trouble.

Pariah: “Okay, let’s head to the Green Box. We have to—”

Her phone rings. She takes the call and speaks for a few frantic moments.

Pariah: “Change of plans. That was Robertson. The sniper he shot? Turns out he’s not dead after all. Robertson gave me the address of a motel just outside the city. Let’s go—maybe we can get a solid lead out of him.”

The trip is short, but carrying a corpse in our trunk makes it tense, to say the least.

The motel is an unassuming building near the highway. We park the car in the most secluded spot available, then knock on the door of Room 23. Robertson lets us in.

Robertson: “About bloody time. This guy might die on me at any moment.”

A man is lying on the bed, bleeding profusely from a chest wound. Robertson has tried to stop the bleeding with towels, but with little success.

Pariah: “Shit, we have to stabilize him if we hope to get anything useful. Placebo, give me a hand.”

Pariah First Aid check, assisted by Placebo (+20%)
(D100): (25) < (60 + 20) => Success

Pariah moves with practiced skill; this is obviously not her first time treating a gunshot wound. She manages to stop the bleeding easily, requiring little assistance on my part. The man has lost a lot of blood, but the wound is no longer immediately life-threatening.

Pariah: “Okay, now we wait for him to wake up.”

Phalanx: “Meanwhile, we could take a look at the body in the trunk for leads, and inspect this.” (He pulls out the mechanical spider).

Pariah nods. We head out to the car first. After making certain nobody is around, we open the trunk and search the corpse.

FQ: do we find anything?
A: yes!
Helpful + Warm
Mechanical + Clean
My interpretation: another metallic object, a mechanical toy in the shape of an insect, a bee maybe (helpful). warm to the touch. uncannily clean.

We find no ID and no wallet, but we do discover another strange object: a mechanical, spring-powered toy in the shape of an insect—a bee, perhaps. Strangely, it is uncannily clean and warm to the touch. We take it and return to the room, placing both mechanical devices on the small table near the entrance.

Suddenly, a mechanical click echoes from the bee. Something shifts inside the device, and it begins to grow rapidly hotter. Within seconds, smoke rises from the blackening table, and the curtains behind it catch fire.

Pariah: “Shit! Phalanx, get the extinguisher!”

I grab one of the blood-stained towels, wrap it tightly around the spider-like object, and throw it across the room to the floor, separating it from the bee.

FQ: Does the heat from the bee stop?
A: yes

As soon as the two objects are apart, the bee begins to cool down. Meanwhile, Phalanx grabs the extinguisher and quickly douses the flames on the curtains.

FQ: does something happen to the spider, coming into contact with the blood on the towel?
A: yes
Group + Detect
My interpretation: it start to move and places himself on the wounded man chest. Some kind of tracking device.

Another clicking sound echoes from the towel on the floor. Phalanx points the extinguisher, ready to spray.

Placebo: “Wait!”

The spider emerges from beneath the towel, its mechanical legs supporting it. It moves across the floor in a creepy, skittering crawl, climbs up the side of the bed, and settles directly onto the wounded sniper’s chest. Once there, it retracts its legs and becomes inert again.

Phalanx: “What the hell?”

Placebo: “The blood on the towel!”

Pariah looks at me, confused. I pull a scalpel from my medical bag and use it to prick my finger. I let a drop of my own blood fall onto the spider-thing, then step to the other side of the room. The spider animates instantly, clicking its way across the floor to my feet before stopping.

Pariah: “It’s a tracking device.”

I nod.

Placebo: “That’s probably how they found Kaminski.”

Phalanx: “What about the other object?”

I shrug.

Placebo: “Your guess is as good as mine. Let’s just keep them apart, shall we?”

Pariah places the bee in her backpack, and I store the spider safely inside my medical bag.

A low grunt comes from the bed. The sniper is waking up.

Pariah: “Phalanx, you’re the expert interrogator here. Want to give it a shot?”

He nods and walks over to the bed. The man’s eyes open. He looks around, spots Phalanx, and tries to sit up, but Phalanx firmly pushes him back down.

Phalanx: “We just saved your life, pal. Show some gratitude. Let’s talk.”

The man notices Pariah, realizes running is out of the question, and lets out a heavy sigh.

Phalanx: “What should I call you?”

The man remains silent.

Phalanx: “You look like a Jack to me. Hello, Jack. Looks like you really suck at your job, don’t you? Considering we’re alive and your employers are dead.”

The man’s eyes harden at the insult, but he doesn’t speak.

Phalanx: “I don’t suppose Hastur will be pleased with this failure, am I right? What’s the usual punishment when this happens?”

HUMINT Opposed Roll
Phalanx’s (70 +20 because of advantage position) vs Hastur’s sniper (50)
Phalanx: (D100): (26) => Success
Sniper: (D100): (36) => Success. The Sniper wins with the higher roll

The man sneers with utter disdain, refusing to crack. Phalanx tries a few different angles, following the interrogation manual by the letter, but to no avail.

An idea strikes me. I gesture for the others to follow me out into the hallway.

Placebo: “I don’t think he’s going to talk. He knows what those people are capable of, and he’s clearly more afraid of them than us. But we have another option. We let him go.”

Pariah: “What?”

Placebo: “We have the spider tracking device, and we have plenty of towels soaked in his blood.”

Phalanx nods in understanding. “That might actually work.”

Pariah considers it for a few moments, then nods.

Pariah: “Okay, let’s give it a shot. How do we play this?”

We spend a few minutes hammering out the details. We agree to stage an urgent phone call that forces us to leave the room in a desperate hurry, deliberately doing a sloppy job of binding the man to the bed. He’s a professional; even wounded, he should be able to free himself if the knots are loose.

We play out the scene convincingly in front of him, then retreat to a hidden vantage point outside. We don’t have to wait long. Less than an hour later, the motel door swings open. The man emerges, looks around warily, and begins to limp slowly away.

We decide to give him a two-hour head start before we begin tracking him.

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Scene bookkeeping

Chaos Factor

7 (-1)

Character list

Add Hastur’s sniper

Thread List

Add mechanical bee (we already know what the spider is)