Sessions 1 and 2
2001
The Meeting
Setup and Introductions
- SIKESVILLE MD
- thingy on abuse to stay informed
- SEAMUS (Seamus McGillicutty) -- physician
- LOTTIE (Charlotte Watkins) -- DEA, hobbyist graverobber
- feb 3 2001
- HOLIDAY INN EXPRESS Sikesville, 2nd floor
- domestic abuse and response professional development seminar 2b
- slideshow: Red Thoughts: Reasons For Domestic Violence Perpetration
- LOTTIE comes in, "not actually a teacher"
- carrying:
- pink burnt hello kitty folder
- see below
- normal manilla folder
- has our dossiers
- has the tax forms for a nonprofit called Families Without Frontiers, which operates out of CORNUCOPIA HOUSE
- pink burnt hello kitty folder
- carrying:
The Briefing
- lottie tells us THE plan:
- CORNUCOPIA HOUSE is on a farm near ZION MD.
- it's a facility for foster children, more or less.
- about a dozen children
- so... max a dozen staff? 1-1 ratio seems high, even
- we need guns, masks, vehicles
- we will kill every adult in the building
- we will will not let them speak
- we will will dispose of all adults' bodies
- we will will leave no evidence (ed note: no evidence tying us to the scene; evidence of massacre is fine as long as we aren't implicated)
- once the adults are all dead and the evidence is destroyed, we have a burner phone and can call our handler to scoop up the kids
- NOC -- leave no trace; no cover from govt if things go sour
- bad things are happening to children at the place, that's the point of this. (is it weird/suss not to have mentioned this motivating fact until right now? or could LOTTIE just be shocked)
- LOTTIE shows us the burnt hello kitty folder
- upon looking in the folder, I lose 1 san and have intrusive fantasy visions about violent means of killing the people who made the folder. The content is POLAROIDS, but dg takes dramatic irony here: ERASTUS knows what's in the folder but I as the player do not. I only know how I react to it, which is, "must commit fully to THE plan at any cost"
The Prep
Acquiring Weapons
- we seek guns
- we head out from the HOLIDAY INN EXPRESS and approach the truck belonging to ERASTUS (78 chevy).
- There's a raccoon in the passenger seat, which bites the hand of ERASTUS, who neosporins that shit. (ANIMALS, THREES)
- ERASTUS knows that it's time for the ROSARYVILLE ANNUAL GUN SHOW, which is nearby
- we go there; tons of wingnut shit on offer; guns a-plenty
- meet a fellow Korean vet; agrees to sell us guns for cash with forged papers
- we buy:
Gathering Supplies and Equipment
- downtime
- The son of LOTTIE, DANTE, used to steal cars?
- but LOTTIE is an agent with high criminology, so she can steal one just fine
- LOTTIE calls up her husband EDDIE, who is expecting her home to make dinner for DANTE and "some broad." She will not be home.
- from the house of ERASTUS, we grab:
- gasoline
- mask fabric
- flashlights
- walkies
- flares
- knives
- crowbar
- binoculars
- compass
- medical bag
- toolbox (with above)
Acquiring Transportation
- car stealing time
- we enter ZION MD (bumfuck town; not a lot goin on)
- the plan: ERASTUS drops SEAMUS and LOTTIE off by some driveway to steal a minivan; intent is that they then come to meet ERASTUS at the walmart where he will have parked (leaving the truck of ERASTUS next to where we steal a car seems unwise)
- they see a big crow, which is unusual at this hour (ANIMALS, THREES)
- scared by the big crow, the walk up the block to find a different minivan
- no longer in sight of the big crow, they steal that different minivan
- big crow comes down and flaps in their face!! pecks SEAMUS, draws blood (ANIMALS, THREES)
- car starts just as the crow peck happens
- swap off at walmart
- it starts snowing
The Operation
Outside
- we park on country road 224 and plod through the woods towards the house
- we carry all our shit, we're loaded up heavy
- furry thing falls on the head of LOTTIE; is a squirrel, bites her finger; rubbing alcohol (ANIMALS, THREES)
- we reach the clearing
- there are 4 (not 1) buildings
- shed (dark)
- barn (dark)
- house (lights on)
- cottage (lights on)
- beard man emerges from the cottage and walks south towards the shed. he has a big grey sack (child-size). drops the big grey sack near the shed then enters. light comes on. he comes out a couple minutes later with a vacuum-sized contraption and a shovel. drops the shovel, pulls a ripcord on the contraption, which sounds like a bunch of hair dryers. aims it at the ground for 10 minutes (warming it up?) and then starts digging.
- screen door on house opens up, blonde man comes out dragging a child by the hair to the barn. knocks the child to the ground. runs into the barn and comes out with a caged ferret. (ANIMALS) sprays a can at the ferret, ferret goes crazy. (ANIMALS)
- we cannot tolerate this; try to sneak behind the barn, SEAMUS makes a sound, blonde man hears us and comes around, SEAMUS goes to knife him, misses. ERASTUS shoots wide. LOTTIE shoots wide.
- ERASTUS shoots blonde man for 2; blonde man drops to the ground, holding his leg
- beard man runs for blonde man
- LOTTIE shoots beard man for 4; slug to the gut
- SEAMUS dives for beard man but he pushes away
- blonde man punches at SEAMUS, misses
- beard guy runs behind shed
- ERASTUS runs the other way around the barn to its door; very dark but it's full of cages
- LOTTIE runs and looks into the big grey sack, sees corpse of young girl, critfails san check for 5
- SEAMUS cuts throat of blonde guy; he bleeds out in the snow dead
- filled with animus at seeing the reaction of LOTTIE to the contents of the big grey sack, ERASTUS shoots beard man in the shoulder for 1
- now that ERASTUS is close to the house, hears big applause and crowd sounds
- LOTTIE point-blank shoots beard man in the head, exploding it; fails san
- while we were doing this, the child took the ferret out of the cage and is tending to it. (ANIMALS) we observe that the can (previously sprayed on the ferret) is roach killer. (ANIMALS)
- LOTTIE hits child with a "hey buddy what's goin on here"; child replies "ungh ungh"
barn and shed
- ERASTUS peeks in barn with flashlight:
- barn: used to be a dairy barn, now it's a scary barn. full of shelves holding a bizarre collection of pets; mammals, reptiles, birds. (ANIMALS) animals are in bad condition; some are dead; cages look unpleasant. (ANIMALS) cages are stacked such that waste rains down onto lower-stacked animals. (ANIMALS) each cage has a paper tag. (ANIMALS) Seems like a safe place to shash child tho.
- I tell the child to get in the barn; he successfully goes there, bringing ferret. (ANIMALS)
- "ok let's clear the shed then the house"
- we check shed:
- LOTTIE looks inside the small black book, list of post-office boxes, quantities, dollar amounts, names; some kind of ledger
- LOTTIE takes some "ready" VHS TAPES and the small black book and sticks em in her bag
house
- we check exterior of house:
- house: big house windows all boarded shut. porch windows all blackout curtained, flashing multicolored light visible through the edges. "shoop shoop shoop" noises; like scraping. Plus the continued applause.
- back door's locked.
- we cut onto the patio. door's unlocked. woman sitting in a filty kitchen, legs up on the counter, small bunny-ear tv with vcr playing what appears to be olympic figure skating at full volume; that's the source of the applause.
- cliffy: we're coordinated guns-blazin, opening the door.
- no wait: (retcon) there are three cars in the driveway, which we disable) (THREES)
- kitchen: disgusting; rotten smell; yellow lino floor; flickering light; flies everywhere; maggots; woman, very pale, thin blonde hair, watching television; grainy figure skating footage; no obvious reason to be watching figure skating (it's not the olympics rn or anything)
- 6 dirty mattresses, each with sleeping(-ish, maybe) chilidren
- LOTTIE: "don't say a word"
- lottie shoots; erastus shoots; woman dead.
- child takes 2 keyrings from pockets of corpse, 20 small keys
- SEAMUS: "we're here to help you laddie"
- ERASTUS: "let's bring these kids out to the barn"
- LOTTIE tries to grab the keys from the kid
- SEAMUS takes the other keyring
- child pulls shotgun out from the kitchen counter, ERASTUS takes it
- child gets 10 other kids from main room
- group escorts kids to barn, first child's still there
- Children begin freeing animals; there are 17 animals, one for each kid (ANIMALS)
- group returns to house
- LOTTIE turns tv off
- LOTTIE checks fridge, finds cold cuts, eggs, deli containers full of purple liquid with something floating inside, "there's some nasty shit in the fridge!"
- family room: single beatup armchair, wood panel walls, 10 mattresses, tv, (off)
- SEAMUS listens at door to other room, tv flicks on, "Oh my god it's fucking got me!" show is "when animals attack", man in sahara is being eaten by lion (ANIMALS)
- LOTTIE clicks tv back off, kicks door in, reveals bedroom
- bedroom: sheetless stained mattress, rusted metal bedframe, tape recorder on tripod, dirty clothes all over the floor, mostly undergarments, porno mags and condoms, stuffed animals and dolls, dresser with crackpipe, needles on the floor too
- LOTTIE rifles through drawers, they're full of drugs
- ERASTUS and LOTTIE return to kitchen, check final door, revealing bathroom
- bathroom is spotless
- ERASTUS and LOTTIE rejoin SEAMUS
- open the door to big hallway, door on either side, this part of the house is newer, very dark, kind of musty, flashlight beam reveals door, boarded shut at the end of the hallway -- LOTTIE, followed by group, walks to center of hallway to doors, opens on, 8 bunkbeds, 16 bunks, beds are made, pink sheets, very dusty, nobody's been here for years
- LOTTIE clears opposite room, same but blue, posters of Hulk Hogan, Bo Jackson, Ken Griffey Jr, one poster peeling off the wall, revealing discoloration behind it, LOTTIE pulls the poster off, revealing crayon drawing which SEAMUS recognizes as exactly the shape of a birthmark on his leg, in the specific shape of a dancing boy, SEAMUS passes san roll
- we check on the children, they're huddled together by the radiator with their lost pets (ANIMALS)
- next up: cottage
cottage
- on the way, there's a big spooky tree, not that spooky tho
- big spooky tree has a carving of a creepy symbol with three figures, each figure has a deeper cut: one on the hand, one on the head, one on wherever SEAMUS got bit by the crow; these drawings correspond to us and the deep cuts correspond to our animal bites (THREES, ANIMALS)
- LOTTIE sniffs at tree, it smells like tree
- cottage has a front porch with an armchair; smoke coming out of chimney; looks like a fairy-tale cottage, very nice, knitting needles and half-finished blue scarf on rocking chair. cottage is blue and pink; windows are frosted
- LOTTIE kicks in the door, guns blazin'
- furniture is warm and inviting, immaculately tended-to, cozy rug, hardwood floors, kettle on stove, smells like gingerbread, russian crosses and icons on the walls, old woman on the couch wears a shawl, table in front of her has a lit candle, kettle sounds as we walk in, woman is just standing up as if to get it
- we find that our guns are back in their holsters
"I am sorry, I didn't expect company; please come in"
"I was just about to make tea, can I have some" - we're trying to grab our guns, but that just isn't what's happening; we can't back out the door;
"what the hell? I can't move normal"
"it's probably just the cold, please come in" - we keep standing there
- we take a step into the room; the candle on the table makes me feel sick when I look at it,
- LOTTIE walks down hallway, followed by ERASTUS; she cannot move her hand to either doorknob
- old woman closes front door; keeps speaking, and we can't act
"We just saw a bunch of kids living in weird mattresses! a dead girl in a bag!"
"where'd you see that?" - we can't remember
"please, sit down and have some tea"
- LOTTIE rustles through cabinets, but can't reach a knife
- SEAMUS tries to knock over the candle, it has a black flame, he rolls con, falls to his knees and starts vomiting
"tea is great for an upset stomach"
- LOTTIE: "why is this candle making me feel so yucky"
- ERASTUS approaches SEAMUS to administer aid
- LOTTIE gets in the old woman's face, "what's going on here who are you"
"I am Yelena"
- LOTTIE attacks the lady, passes a strength check, smells ROTTING FLESH, does 1 damage
- SEAMUS tries to knock over candle table, rolls con, passes, flips table with candle on it, candle goes out
cottage, but spooky
- immediately: we're in a different room, spell having lifted
- all the crosses on the walls are upside-down, filth shit and vomit covers every surfcae, the furnitutre is fucked, it's freezing cold, there is no fire, we smell the meat smell that LOTTIE got a flash of, ROTTING FLESH
- where there was an old woman, there is now a grey mass of flesh covered in abscesses, her face is just a lolling tongue and swollen-shut eyes, she's holding her tumorous udders, which are dripping a white slime, which we'd previously perceived as tea cups
- erastus fails san for 4, SEAMUS and LOTTIE pass for 1
- ERASTUS fails to shoot the lady
- LOTTIE fails to shoot the lady
- SEAMUS hits for 4, yellowish-white ooze comes out
- lady turns towards SEAMUS and starts zombie-walking towards him; big milky tits just leaking slime, abscesses leaking, trail of slime
- "have some tea darling", reaches to grab trevor, succeeds
- ERASTUS moves to club lady, her spongy flesh absorbs the blow
- she's got a jabba the hut thing going on, no legs, big stinky milky slug
- LOTTIE goes to shotgun the lady in the head, misses for 7 damage on SEAMUS
- SEAMUS doesn't feel as if he's been shot
- SEAMUS breaks away from the lady, tumbles onto the ground, blood sprays everywhere, lady is holding her big fat tumor tits
- lady tilts her head back and starts chanting cultish
- ERASTUS crit-fails with handgun, it jams
- LOTTIE shoots the lady, hits for 7; explosion of pus and the wound closes up immediately
- some pus got into the mouth of SEAMUS, and it's better than anything he's ever tasted; he's on the floor with a major gunshot wound
- SEAMUS scrambles out the door
- lady keeps chanting
- ERASTUS shoots for 6, walks onto the porch
- LOTTIE crits the lady with shotgun for 11; gets her in the face, she stops chanting and locks eyes directly on LOTTIE
- SEAMUS dowses house with gasoline
- ladyslug follows us out the door; squishes through it like an octopus, stinks like ROTTING FLESH;
- lady shoots her big black tongue out of her mouth at LOTTIE in a real frog move; LOTTIE dodges, tongue splats on the ground with an incredibly loud thwack like a moose hitting a car
- ERASTUS lights a zippo and tosess it in the house, the slugulady and house go up in flames; slug lady doesn't like this at all; burns crispy
- LOTTIE runs off the porch onto the lawn
- the blaze is ripping, will probably draw the fire department
- LOTTIE calls the beeper number to agent clove
"don't tell the program.
make sure all the evidence and recordings are destroyed. you will never hear from me again. what the children learned here cannot spread into the world. you know what you have to do" - SEAMUS and ERASTUS pull bodies into the blaze
- LOTTIE:
"ok i'm gonna be straight with you: before we met at the holiday inn, I met with this agent clove from a program called Delta Green that I am involved with, and I just gave her a ring, and she just told me to kill all those fucking kids.
I think she's fucking cuckoo bananas, I don't trust here, this was supposed to be a test for you guys" - SEAMUS burns tape shed
"We've gotta get away before the cops get here"
The Escape
- group runs through the woods to the car, SEAMUS is clutching his hsoulder
- in the car, ERASTUS tries to treat the gun wound on SEAMUS, crit fails, SEAMUS bleeds out
- LOTTIE and ERASTUS pick up the truck, drive into the woods, douse the stolen car in gasoline, light it up
- SEAMUS wakes up, in flames, gets out of the car
- ERASTUS is medically certain that SEAMUS was dead
- SEAMUS can smell ROTTING FLESH
- SEAMUS confirms that he does not crave brains
- Everyone gets in the truck, drive off
- LOTTIE shares her confusion about the surprising phone conversation with CLOVE
- SEAMUS remembers death: standing in a circle of people, not outside not inside, perhaps a cavern, no ceilings no walls. the circle surrounsd a human body being torn apart by vultures. (ANIMALS) the body has brown hair. SEAMUS remembers the feeling of his paws on the dirt in the savannah. (ANIMALS) Remembers how the gazelle felt between his teeth. (ANIMALS)
- Everyone agrees to come back to the place of ERASTUS to patch up SEAMUS; ERASTUS puts SEAMUS to bed in his gross couch
- ERASTUS drives LOTTIE back to the holiday inn to get her car; stops for an egg mcmuffin
Downtime
LOTTIE Returns Home
- LOTTIE enters her home to find EDDIE --
EDDIE: "why are you home so early? were you seein some other kind of fella?"
LOTTIE: "work stuff" EDDIE: "makes no sense" LOTTIE: "I just wanna go to sleep" EDDIE: "Is that egg mcmuffin on your breath? did another man buy that for you?" LOTTIE: "no I bought my own mcmuffin" EDDIE: "is this cuz I can't keep it up? is this cuz I am impotent? you're out getting mcmuffins?" LOTTIE: "I have a difficult job" EDDIE: "how am I supposed to trust you anymore" LOTTIE: "I guess you fuckin can't" EDDIE: "that's it; I am bringing dante and moving in with my family in new jersey" LOTTIE: "what about our grandchild" EDDIE: "I will move em all" LOTTIE: "carmella is the mother of our grandchild, you can't just move her to a new state" LOTTIE: "I am going to bed" door slam
SEAMUS Returns Home
- SEAMUS walks into his house in Quincy ma, sees his smokin'-hot wife GWEN (Gwen McGillicuddy, nee o'Shaughnessey)
GWEN: "oh SEAMUS, what's wrong with your shoulder"
SEAMUS: "this fucking physician fucked up on me" GWEN: "how were you wounded that looks like a gunshot wound" SEAMUS: "you know how there's times in Desert Storm I don't like to talk about?" GWEN: "yes, I know how you restored democracy to iraq, but what hpapened to your shoulder?" SEAMUS: "I was at the domestic abuse conference, there was this woman LOTTIE, I called her teach." GWEN: "was she attractive?" SEAMUS: "nothing like you; how's GRENADINE?" GWEN: "great, we tried to fly a kite but I didn't know how. But I still don't understand why your shoulder got wounded at the conference?" SEAMUS: "You gotta trust me on this one. There were these fuckers hurting these kiddos, and they won't be anymore" GWEN: "SEAMUS this relationship is built on trust, you can't lie to me" SEAMUS: "I haven't lied, but I can't tell you what happened" GWEN: "do you need to go to the hospital?" SEAMUS: "I promise I haven't lied. The same physician that fucked me up patched me up again." GWEN: "ok but nothing like this can ever happen again; this relationship is built on trust and our wonderful sex life." SEAMUS: "that's right, you're a fuckin stallion. I am gonna go tuck GRENADINE into bed" he tucks GRENADINE: "you smell like meat daddy" SEAMUS: "could you be big spoon tonight GWEN? also do I smell like ROTTING FLESH?"