Episode 12
Episode 12 - The Warmest Place to Hide
The team moves in to question the Cruz family regarding the disappearances at their school. The Agents quickly discover that all of their careful work has indeed led them into the waiting arms of the Unnatural.
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Transcript
Hello?
Speaker A:What time is it?
Speaker B:Who is it?
Speaker A:I don't know.
Speaker C:I.
Speaker A:Situation.
Speaker A:Dream Cruise control.
Speaker A:Sorry, honey, I have to take this.
Speaker A:You're in again, the adjoining kind of communal suite.
Speaker C:Chris, do Lenny and I get back before Roysen and Romeo.
Speaker A:That's a good question, and I'm going to say yes, you do.
Speaker C:Okay.
Speaker C:Ryan is gonna put his badge back and just say to Lenny, hey, let's keep the peace here, if you know what I mean.
Speaker C:Don't mention that.
Speaker D:Sure.
Speaker D:Yeah.
Speaker D:Yeah, I'll leave.
Speaker D:Leave you to explain all the info we got.
Speaker A:Then Romeo and Roizen, at that exact moment, walk through the front door carrying what look like.
Speaker A:Well, they smell wonderful, but.
Speaker A:Bags from the nearby Bennegants.
Speaker A:The spread is laid out on the large ample coffee table for y'all.
Speaker E:So that's a railroading into triple Benny's.
Speaker C:God, so many trains.
Speaker A:I think the team at this point, Irish hospitality, apparently.
Speaker A:You know, let's just call it a nice little brain dump.
Speaker A:Everybody kind of gross, Shares what they found, Found out.
Speaker A:Are there any questions from certain agents to other agents?
Speaker E:Yeah, Romeo's like, how'd you get into the police station?
Speaker C:Are there any questions from certain agents to others?
Speaker C:Ryan had some serious questions for Royston and Romeo.
Speaker C:Just kidding.
Speaker C:I think it's more fun if I just tell the truth.
Speaker D:That's actually it.
Speaker D:Yeah.
Speaker D:Just do it.
Speaker C:Hey, wait, what was the name on his.
Speaker C:On his badge?
Speaker C:Jan or.
Speaker A:No, no, no, I fucked that up.
Speaker A:It was Aaron Jelenic.
Speaker C:Aaron.
Speaker C:I got some help from my.
Speaker C:My friend.
Speaker C:Aaron pointedly stares at Romeo.
Speaker E:The quizzical look drops from Romeo's eyes, and he gives you a long, stone cold, piercing stare.
Speaker C:He was really helpful.
Speaker C:So what did you guys find out?
Speaker B:Well, we found out we can't trust you.
Speaker C:I don't think Roisin knows that.
Speaker A:You don't know who Aaron Jelenic is?
Speaker A:That means nothing to Roizen.
Speaker B:No, but I can clearly see the look on Romeo's face.
Speaker D:Lenny goes, I'm gonna go to the bathroom.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:Hey, Lenny, help me with this thing over here.
Speaker D:Yeah, okay.
Speaker B:Grumbiel pulls out a crossword search book or Croisin.
Speaker B:God, I know who I am.
Speaker B:I swear I know.
Speaker E:Please, remote control my character.
Speaker D:Lenny says, yeah, you know, we went to the park where apparently she was often playing chess, and we learned that she has a boyfriend, we think, named Andy or Andrew, who's also part of the chess team.
Speaker D:Obviously, she disappeared a few weeks ago.
Speaker D:It occurred to us to maybe follow the path from the park back to her house.
Speaker D:You Know, because she was disappeared between there because the person she.
Speaker D:The people playing with her didn't see anything weird and she never made it home.
Speaker D:And so it was the mid late afternoon when she was taken.
Speaker D:But you know, we didn't have her address, but you know, that's what we found.
Speaker C:How about you guys?
Speaker B:So we learned that St.
Speaker B:Bartholomew is a state of the art school that is canon.
Speaker C:It's such a good callback.
Speaker C:Did.
Speaker C:Did they have a.
Speaker C:Was it a sports facility or.
Speaker C:Oh my gosh, don't tell me it was a theater.
Speaker A:Stop it.
Speaker A:Have to cut so much out.
Speaker B:It was indeed the theater.
Speaker C:Wow.
Speaker C:So I.
Speaker C:I mean are we just doing like an info dump?
Speaker C:Basically, yes.
Speaker A:So brain dump.
Speaker A:Everybody knows everything.
Speaker A:If there are additional conversations need to be had between the agents.
Speaker A:That's what I was offering up there when I.
Speaker E:Sure, sure.
Speaker E:Romeo just remains stone cold silent.
Speaker B:One thing that Dean mentioned, and I'm pretty sure the news article contradicts this, is she says that neither of the girls went missing on campus.
Speaker B:But wasn't Lena last seen on campus?
Speaker C:Oh, based on what?
Speaker E:That doesn't mean she went missing on campus though.
Speaker A:That is correct.
Speaker A:If somebody is last seen somebody, that doesn't mean they were abducted from there necessarily.
Speaker A:Just where they were last seen.
Speaker C:I think we should try talking to the guy she Joy Shores hung out with just to see if he walked her home or anything.
Speaker C:Or just kind of typical follow what leads you get sort of situation.
Speaker A:So we've got a name, We've got Andy or Andrew.
Speaker A:Yes, potentially a fellow student.
Speaker A:Definitely was wearing a uniform.
Speaker A:At least according to the old man that was the exact same as Joy Shores.
Speaker A:So very likely a fellow student.
Speaker A:So how are we going to find out where this guy lives?
Speaker A:Like what he does?
Speaker A:How are we going to find this guy?
Speaker C:Did Romeo or Royson get any kind of directory or anything when they were at the school?
Speaker E:Huh?
Speaker B:No, there's no way a school would give us that.
Speaker E:Had we got maybe a little bit handsy with the desk, we might have found something.
Speaker B:But I swear there was an empty compartment in there.
Speaker C:I guess we can always just do a quote unquote official call from the say FBI to the school following up on the.
Speaker C:The missing persons case.
Speaker C:One of our leads led us to a student of yours named Daniel on the chess club.
Speaker C:Can you provide us with more information?
Speaker E:Yeah, sure.
Speaker E:Since you know FBI protocols so well, you'd be a great fit for that.
Speaker C:Ryan looks over to Romeo and winks at him and then says, do you want to make the call.
Speaker C:Or should I?
Speaker E:You go right ahead.
Speaker C:So Ryan does that then.
Speaker D:Yeah, I've definitely wanted to see some opposing roles between player characters.
Speaker D:So finally see some.
Speaker D:This be great.
Speaker A:Oh, you.
Speaker A:You may indeed.
Speaker C:So you go your sexual attention.
Speaker A:Yeah, absolutely obvious to everyone.
Speaker A:So you.
Speaker A:You make a call to St.
Speaker A:Bartholomew's you know, you hear the wonderful pre recording before you're able to be connected to whatever department that you're choosing here.
Speaker A:But my understanding is you're going to be saying that you are part of law enforcement.
Speaker A:You need to speak to somebody about the current missing persons case.
Speaker A:Is that correct?
Speaker C:Yes.
Speaker A:Well, before long, you are connected to a Mr.
Speaker A:Snyder.
Speaker A:Is.
Speaker A:Was what you're told who is head of security on campus.
Speaker A:This is.
Speaker A:This is Deacon Snyder.
Speaker A:How can I help you, sir?
Speaker C:Yes, thank you, Mr.
Speaker C:Snyder.
Speaker C:My name is Aaron.
Speaker C:I'm detective.
Speaker C:Wait.
Speaker C:Or Agent.
Speaker C:Sorry, Agent.
Speaker C:What was it?
Speaker A:All right, you gotta roll persuade right off the bat to get.
Speaker A:To get out of that one.
Speaker A:Go.
Speaker E:What am I?
Speaker E:Oof.
Speaker A:Who am I?
Speaker C:Can I.
Speaker C:Let me.
Speaker A:I am drunk.
Speaker A:Mr.
Speaker A:Snyder, just.
Speaker C:Let me just start the conversation.
Speaker A:Start up.
Speaker A:Start up with persuade for me, please.
Speaker C:I haven't said anything yet.
Speaker A:Up for debate.
Speaker A:Go ahead and roll persuade.
Speaker C:Oh, Christopher.
Speaker C:Christopher Angela Hamjay.
Speaker A:How'd you know my name?
Speaker E:How'd you know?
Speaker C:It's a little.
Speaker C:Oh, fuck, dude, if I fail this, I've got fucking 82.
Speaker C:Thank you.
Speaker C:I must be so bad.
Speaker D:I mean, I would have enjoyed it, but.
Speaker A:Yeah, you sort of stumble over your words, but quickly gloss over it.
Speaker A:And I'm pretty sure the persuade check.
Speaker C:Means I got to restart the conversation.
Speaker C:Given this is a podcast.
Speaker A:Your honeyed words take over.
Speaker C:Okay.
Speaker A:Your silver tongue takes over.
Speaker A:Please continue.
Speaker C:So we're following up on leads about the recent missing person case that I'm sure you are aware of.
Speaker C:One of those leds us to who I believe is a student of yours.
Speaker C:A young gentleman named Daniel.
Speaker C:I believe he is part of the chess team.
Speaker C:Do you have any further information there?
Speaker A:Also a quick interjection.
Speaker C:Andrew, Andrew, Andrew.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:Remember, we're not doing D games ever again.
Speaker A:No more DA's.
Speaker C:All right?
Speaker A:We're done with D names for the entire podcast this thing.
Speaker C:Let me for the sake of your.
Speaker A:20 years and it will never be.
Speaker C:Another, redo that whole sentence first the pod.
Speaker A:No, we're keeping that whole in.
Speaker C:All right.
Speaker A:If we're keeping state of the art theater and we're keeping that in.
Speaker C:I actually love that you kind of have to give how many times.
Speaker A:Yeah, I Noticed you were making sure.
Speaker A:You and Amber were making sure it was going to happen.
Speaker C:High five.
Speaker C:From afar.
Speaker C:Yes, we're following up on the missing persons case calling because one of our leads led us to who I believe is a student of yours, a young gentleman named Andrew who is on the chess team.
Speaker C:Is there any more information you can provide to me?
Speaker A:Hold on.
Speaker A:So.
Speaker A:So.
Speaker A:So the la.
Speaker A:The last law enforcement that we were liaising with was local pd.
Speaker A:You're telling me this is.
Speaker A:This has gone to the FBI?
Speaker C:Unfortunately, sir, I'm not able to give you any detail beyond that, but I can confirm that, yes, I am with the FBI.
Speaker A:I'm sure you understand, sir, I'm quite limited on what details I can provide you.
Speaker A:I can tell you we do have someone on roster here that.
Speaker A:That fits what you're describing.
Speaker A:There's not much I'll be able to give you over the phone.
Speaker A:What exactly are you looking for?
Speaker A:We are bound fairly strictly, as I'm sure.
Speaker A:Again, you know and understand.
Speaker C:I absolutely understand and I do appreciate your cooperation here.
Speaker C:If there's any verification that I can provide, I happily will.
Speaker C:But what we're really looking for is a last name and an address.
Speaker C:We need to get in touch with Andrew because he may have been last.
Speaker C:The last person to see Ms.
Speaker C:Shores.
Speaker A:Well, the police did interview him.
Speaker A:They should have all his information on file.
Speaker A:Did you check.
Speaker A:Did you check with them?
Speaker C:We did get a glimpse at the file, but did not note anything there specifically.
Speaker C:If you provided it to the police, can you provide it to me as well?
Speaker C:I could ask them, but as you can understand, things like these can be time sensitive.
Speaker C:And sir, we're really looking out for the good of the family here.
Speaker A:I can't give you his address over the phone.
Speaker A:You have to understand, I'm in a tough spot here.
Speaker A:I want to help out.
Speaker A:I don't want to in any way get in your way here.
Speaker A:It's.
Speaker A:This is killing us here.
Speaker A:The staff, the faculty, especially the Joy.
Speaker A:The Shores crew.
Speaker A:I mean, we.
Speaker A:Last name is.
Speaker A:Last name is Cruz.
Speaker A:Cruz.
Speaker C:I understand, sir.
Speaker C:No problem.
Speaker C:That.
Speaker C:That will be helpful enough in us communicating with local law enforcement and in focusing in on that particular interview.
Speaker C:So thank you very much.
Speaker C:I really appreciate your help and thank you for understanding.
Speaker A:If you come into my office, I'm sure.
Speaker A:I'm sure I could provide more information.
Speaker C:Appreciate it.
Speaker C:Thank you.
Speaker C:Have a great rest of your evening.
Speaker A:Okay, you've got a last name.
Speaker C:Can we call the precinct and get the address?
Speaker A:Calling the precinct saying, I'm from the FBI.
Speaker A:That might work for you.
Speaker C:I stopped by earlier.
Speaker A:I'm going to be a friendly, friendly GM for you here because of the risk.
Speaker A:There.
Speaker A:There is a.
Speaker A:There is a risk.
Speaker A:Just calling and saying, hey, it's me again.
Speaker A:Remind me of this if you show up in person.
Speaker A:Different story, but just calling might might be an issue.
Speaker A:You could, now that you have a last name, see if there's any OSINT out there.
Speaker A:I mean, we're talking about a chess championship, right?
Speaker C:I thought he sucked.
Speaker A:But the whole team brings the gold home, man.
Speaker A:It's a team effort.
Speaker C:I think that's fair enough.
Speaker A:It's hilarious.
Speaker B:Did you happen to write this down when you were on the phone?
Speaker C:The last name?
Speaker B:Yes.
Speaker C:Let's say I took that phone call on speakerphone.
Speaker A:Awesome.
Speaker B:Even better.
Speaker B:Poison's gonna pull out the computer and do a yellow pages search to see how many cruise families there are in the area.
Speaker A:Oh, good amount.
Speaker A:Good amount.
Speaker A:That's for sure.
Speaker A:That's not going to help.
Speaker C:Can we google the chess championship?
Speaker C:You know, keywords of chess championship.
Speaker A:Yeah, there's actually quite a.
Speaker A:Quite a bit of local coverage of this.
Speaker A:It was a big deal bringing this, the state championship home.
Speaker A:And there's actually pictures of the chess team.
Speaker C:Bunch of nerds.
Speaker A:Very true.
Speaker B:I mean you're one to talk.
Speaker C:Totally.
Speaker C:I'm playing Delta Green.
Speaker A:But you.
Speaker A:You have a few pictures of Andrew or Andy Cruz as he's listed in some of these.
Speaker A:These local spots.
Speaker A:Looks like it's mentioned that his brother Roy is younger but also at the school in several of these.
Speaker A:These pieces of coverage from last year.
Speaker E:Yep.
Speaker E:Looks like a teenager.
Speaker A:One little additional bit of ausent.
Speaker A:One moment please.
Speaker C:Sorry guys.
Speaker C:Noob here.
Speaker C:What is ascent?
Speaker C:I understand the intelligent part, but I don't know.
Speaker A:Open source.
Speaker A:Open source.
Speaker C:Sorry, is that on the skills list?
Speaker A:No, it's just a term for.
Speaker C:Oh, got it.
Speaker A:Which like hum.
Speaker A:It is gathering human intelligence, watching behavior habits to.
Speaker A:To glean information about.
Speaker A:About someone.
Speaker A:Austin is just open source intelligence.
Speaker A:Arch ant is archaeological intelligence.
Speaker A:Ock ant is a cult occultic intelligence which.
Speaker A:Which is fun.
Speaker A:There's just.
Speaker A:Yeah, lots of fun acronyms in the government.
Speaker C:So much fun.
Speaker A:You actually find that Andy and Roy's father is mentioned in one of these.
Speaker A:His name's Marcus.
Speaker A:Looks like he's some sort of foreman or worker at a.
Speaker A:A break factory in Detroit.
Speaker A:There's little biographies written for each one of these students and that's mentioned in one of them.
Speaker E:Pretty cool.
Speaker C:So as a.
Speaker C:As Agent Ryan, I guess thinking aloud Here to the group, to recap, we've got two missing girls from the same school, one of which was last seen at like a swim practice and the other playing chess in the park.
Speaker C:Ms.
Speaker C:Shores was friends with this Andy Cruz, who all we know right now is that he was on the chess team and that his dad works at a break factory.
Speaker C:Where do we go from here?
Speaker C:Yep.
Speaker B:Well, now that we have a father's name, does that make the yellow page search any easier?
Speaker A:It does, yes.
Speaker A:You do have an address for a Marcus Cruz here in Detroit.
Speaker C:That was an assert an absurd amount of effort, Chris.
Speaker E:No, that's about the amount of effort.
Speaker A:You should expect from exactly the.
Speaker C:Gosh, that's incredible.
Speaker C:I'm sorry I'm so new to this.
Speaker C:That's so much work.
Speaker C:Holy.
Speaker B:No, it's, it's gotta back.
Speaker C:But I guess the rest of the cast probably doesn't realize is like the next day at work.
Speaker C:For most of these I'm talking to Chris about like, holy.
Speaker C:What the is this game?
Speaker A:I will meta here for a second.
Speaker A:This is not normally how I write this.
Speaker A:Information is disseminated.
Speaker A:Totally cool.
Speaker A:But it is a way to find the information.
Speaker C:Yeah, it works.
Speaker A:If you let your fingers do the talking on your laptop, this is the way to do it.
Speaker C:No, I mean otherwise we would have just gone back and talked to the police.
Speaker C:But for the sake of time, how.
Speaker E:Conspicuous do you want to be in getting your information?
Speaker C:Yeah, exactly.
Speaker A:There you go.
Speaker A:You have this address now you have three new names.
Speaker A:You've got a last, a surname as well of somebody who was typically seen with one of the missing girls.
Speaker B:So I think we have a father to go talk to.
Speaker E:A needle pulling thread.
Speaker E:Yes, we do.
Speaker A:Does that mean all four of us are going to head towards this, this address?
Speaker A:It's 2:30 in the morning.
Speaker A:I'm just kidding.
Speaker A:It's not, it's, It's.
Speaker A:It's around 5:30pm that's probably depending on what shifty works.
Speaker E:Yeah, we should probably figure that out.
Speaker C:Two of us want to go to the house.
Speaker C:Two of us want to go to the shop.
Speaker E:No, no, no, no, no.
Speaker E:We should just call the shop and find out if he's on today and what time.
Speaker B:Uh, they can't give that information over the phone.
Speaker B:We'd have to go.
Speaker E:Really?
Speaker B:It's a security thing.
Speaker E:Break shops really have changed.
Speaker B:Too many crazy stalker girlfriends.
Speaker C:Might be worth a try.
Speaker C:Maybe this one's lax.
Speaker B:I mean, if you want to call and give it a try, go for it.
Speaker C:Ryan's Gonna hand his phone to Romeo.
Speaker E:And Romeo's gonna throw that phone out the window.
Speaker A:Oh, shit, it's gone.
Speaker C:Hello?
Speaker E:You okay, John?
Speaker C:No, that was me pretending I was doing.
Speaker C:Never mind.
Speaker C:Oh, sorry.
Speaker A:It was the bit.
Speaker A:It was the bit.
Speaker C:It was the bit.
Speaker A:Ramir, are you calling this break factor that was mentioned in this release around this chess club championship?
Speaker E:Yep, yep.
Speaker E:That sounds great.
Speaker A:Okay.
Speaker A:You do.
Speaker A:So you particularly ask, hey, when is is Marcus Cruz available?
Speaker A:You just ask.
Speaker A:And the person who answers the phone seems a bit gruff, but he says, marcus hasn't been in for weeks.
Speaker E:Apologies.
Speaker E:Thank you for your time.
Speaker A:He hangs up.
Speaker E:Marcus hasn't been in for weeks.
Speaker E:Romeo repeats.
Speaker B:Well, I say we just go to the house.
Speaker C:Yeah, I agree.
Speaker B:Yeah, bring your earplugs, your guns, and your vests because I have a feeling it's about to get difficult.
Speaker E:You got a wiggly feeling.
Speaker D:Like what?
Speaker B:Spidey sense?
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:Kid, you stay behind them and in front of me or in front of.
Speaker E:Them, or if you want, in front of all of us.
Speaker E:And we'll be behind you 100%.
Speaker D:You know what?
Speaker D:I trust Romeo.
Speaker D:Let's do that.
Speaker E:He's just got one of those faces.
Speaker D:Got one of those faces.
Speaker B:All right, so the kid's doing the knock.
Speaker A:Oh, okay.
Speaker D:I've got a pepper spray on my keychain, so I'm ready to go.
Speaker E:Romeo's taking his bag and everything with him.
Speaker E:Within reach.
Speaker A:It doesn't take long.
Speaker A:You guys drive to another suburb of Detroit.
Speaker A:Now, this is not the northside suburb that you were just in and about, but it's an adjacent one.
Speaker A:Now, you're looking at a modest two bedroom house.
Speaker A:Looks like it's maybe built back in the 80s.
Speaker A:You see the lawns, slightly overgrown, but it's free of garbage.
Speaker A:Some of the other homes, unfortunately, are scattered a bit with.
Speaker A:With such detritus.
Speaker A:You see that a single light is switched on in the house.
Speaker A:And as you exit your vehicle, start walking up the path to the front door.
Speaker A:The sounds of a television can be heard from inside.
Speaker A:You notice from your vantage point that there's a latched chain link gate on the left side of the house.
Speaker A:Looks like it leads towards a backyard.
Speaker A:Agents, talk to me.
Speaker E:Any cameras?
Speaker A:You do not see any cameras from your vantage point.
Speaker B:Well, we're not doing it right, so we probably don't need anyone to go in the back.
Speaker E:Maybe position a look at around the side of the house just in case.
Speaker D:Hey, just to be clear, I am not taking my pants off no matter what this guy says.
Speaker E:Just to be clear, if he says, take your pants off, you take your pants off.
Speaker E:Understood?
Speaker D:Not doing it.
Speaker A:Not a take player.
Speaker E:Well, that our lives are in your hands.
Speaker E:If your pants don't come off, just.
Speaker B:Know that if everything goes wrong, it's your fault.
Speaker C:Ryan turns to him and just says, huh.
Speaker C:Disappointing.
Speaker D:Yeah, I'll shoulder that.
Speaker D:I'll shoulder that weight.
Speaker E:80 year old Lenny is like, I.
Speaker C:Should have taken my pants off.
Speaker B:So who's lookout?
Speaker D:I can look out.
Speaker E:Lenny, you want to watch the side of the house in case there's a runner?
Speaker D:Yeah, I'll.
Speaker D:I'll keep a lookout.
Speaker E:All right.
Speaker E:Romeo walks up to the door and knocks.
Speaker A:Yeah, you knock on the door.
Speaker A:After a while, no change to the volume of the television set inside.
Speaker A:But after a while, the door opens and there's that there's the kid.
Speaker A:He's pretty tall.
Speaker A:Lanky.
Speaker A:He looks actually pretty thin.
Speaker A:Almost.
Speaker A:Almost emaciated.
Speaker A:Definitely thinner than he looked in his photos, but he's.
Speaker A:He's got a few inches on you.
Speaker A:He's wearing his school uniform still.
Speaker A:And he looks at you with sullen eyes.
Speaker A:Looks tired.
Speaker A:Hello.
Speaker A:Can I.
Speaker A:Can I help you?
Speaker E:Andy Cruz.
Speaker A:He nods, looks at you, and then at the two agents beside you.
Speaker A:Back to you.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker E:Do you have a moment to chat?
Speaker A:Uh, now.
Speaker A:It's not a good time.
Speaker B:Well, is your dad home?
Speaker A:No, he's not here right now.
Speaker B:Do you know when.
Speaker E:When would be a better time?
Speaker A:I don't know.
Speaker A:Maybe.
Speaker A:Maybe a weekend.
Speaker E:Well, unfortunately, we don't have that kind of time schedule.
Speaker E:If you just have maybe 10 minutes, we've got a few questions for you.
Speaker A:Uh, I don't think that's a good idea.
Speaker A:He looks kind of behind you.
Speaker A:The street.
Speaker A:No, I.
Speaker A:I don't think so.
Speaker A:He starts to back up.
Speaker A:Looks like he's gonna close the door.
Speaker E:Romeo stops the door with his foot.
Speaker A:Yep, you got your foot there.
Speaker A:He looks down, looks back up at you.
Speaker A:He.
Speaker A:He doesn't seem angry or.
Speaker A:Or incensed, but he seems to be waiting for you to do or say something.
Speaker B:Boys, why don't you let me talk to him for a minute?
Speaker B:He's a kid, remember?
Speaker B:We don't have parental approval.
Speaker B:All that nasty paperwork.
Speaker B:Andy, I just want to make sure that everything's okay.
Speaker B:We've heard some rumors.
Speaker B:We're with the government.
Speaker B:It's our job just to make sure that you are okay, that your brother's okay.
Speaker B:So all we want to do is check on you.
Speaker B:Now, I can leave the gentleman outside if that makes you feel Better just me.
Speaker B:Just one tiny little woman.
Speaker B:Is that okay?
Speaker A:He's staring at you.
Speaker A:His demeanor hasn't changed.
Speaker A:You're from like CPS or something.
Speaker B:Well, FBI.
Speaker A:Oh.
Speaker A:He seems to be thinking.
Speaker A:His eyes meet yours.
Speaker A:Ok, ok, ok.
Speaker A:He opens the door, sweetie.
Speaker B:So I'll step in.
Speaker B:I'll motion for the boys to stay outside, but I won't move far away from the door, so if anything does happen, they can get in and get me quickly.
Speaker A:Okay, so you're just standing in the entryway?
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:Andy turns from you and begins walking through what looks like a entryway and living room to the right, into what appears from your vantage point to be an adjoining kitchen.
Speaker A:And he disappears from your view.
Speaker B:I'll look behind me, make sure that the door is open at least a little bit.
Speaker B:If I scream or anything, they can hear.
Speaker B:And then I'll.
Speaker A:They'll hear the television as well.
Speaker A:So there is a.
Speaker A:It is pretty loud, actually.
Speaker A:Looks like an episode of Dragon Ball Z is currently playing at near max volume.
Speaker A:So I'm not saying that they won't hear your scream.
Speaker A:I'm just letting you know that this is extremely loud enough that the door is open and you're here in the living room.
Speaker B:Yeah, I will take a second to pop those earplugs in before I step in.
Speaker B:So the volume's not quite so loud, but I'll follow him through.
Speaker B:Through to the kitchen.
Speaker A:Okay.
Speaker A:The other agents stay outside and the doors cracked open, is that correct?
Speaker A:Yes, Agent Ryan.
Speaker A:Agent Romeo.
Speaker A:Is that how you're going to conduct this?
Speaker E:It depends.
Speaker E:Like, it really depends on if.
Speaker E:How.
Speaker E:How cracked is the door here?
Speaker A:You tell me.
Speaker E:See what's going on?
Speaker E:What's that?
Speaker A:You tell me.
Speaker A:I don't know.
Speaker A:You have full ability to move the door.
Speaker A:There's nothing stopping you.
Speaker A:So you tell me what you're doing.
Speaker E:Right, right.
Speaker E:Yeah, so.
Speaker E:But what Royson did was crack the door.
Speaker E:So I want to know how cracked it is.
Speaker E:Like, can I see where she is?
Speaker B:I mean, once we're out of sight, for all I care, you can push it all the way open.
Speaker E:Well, that's what he would do then.
Speaker A:So basically, you watch Roisin walk in, following this kid into a room, out of your sight.
Speaker A:That's what happens.
Speaker A:What do you do?
Speaker E:So as Royston begins to close the door gently behind her, Romeo kind of gently stops it with his hand and steps in.
Speaker A:Okay, so you're in the entryway as well, Ryan.
Speaker A:What do you do?
Speaker C:Turn around, face the street.
Speaker C:It wasn't lost on Ryan.
Speaker C:That Andy kind of looked past us, so trusts Romeo to go inside and Royson to talk to the kid.
Speaker C:And back basically up against the frame, you know, the door frame right there, but facing the street to see if anything of interest meets his tiny peepers.
Speaker A:Okay.
Speaker A:Okay.
Speaker A:Does he have, like, strangely small eyes?
Speaker A:Is that something we decided about, Agent Ryan?
Speaker C:No.
Speaker A:Okay, but just in like, relative to like, like a.
Speaker A:I like tiny peepers, Chris.
Speaker A:You like tiny peepers.
Speaker A:Okay, we'll keep that one.
Speaker A:All right.
Speaker A:Lenny.
Speaker A:Lenny, what are you doing?
Speaker C:Taking his pants off, I think.
Speaker E:I'm just, you know, now's the time.
Speaker A:I'll do it now.
Speaker A:I do it on my terms.
Speaker A:God damn it.
Speaker B:Now it's a good time to strip and run down the street.
Speaker B:So there you go.
Speaker D:Lenny takes his pants off when no one can see and then puts him back on.
Speaker D:Laughs to himself.
Speaker A:What are you doing, Lenny?
Speaker D:I just look out.
Speaker D:So just keep an eye on things.
Speaker A:So you're kind of on the side of the house though, right?
Speaker D:I thought it was just kind of by the car, but okay.
Speaker A:If you're by the car, that's totally fine.
Speaker A:I'm just trying to make sure.
Speaker A:I understand.
Speaker A:So that's what we're doing now.
Speaker D:I'll be by the car.
Speaker D:Well, assuming that we're parked on the street, I'm imagining that I'm leaning against the car, but I can see down the length of the house on the side.
Speaker A:Got it.
Speaker D:Got make sense.
Speaker D:Okay.
Speaker A:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker A:In the distance, you see someone mowing their lawn.
Speaker A:Looks like they.
Speaker A:They're about maybe six blocks down and they've got skinwalker.
Speaker D:That's you?
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:Oh, you think it's a skinwalker?
Speaker D:What are you gonna absolutely mow in his lawn?
Speaker D:Wolf looking weird?
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker E:I'm gonna magic trick at him, throw.
Speaker D:A card at the guy.
Speaker A:It doesn't make it all the way down there, but goody, goody.
Speaker A:S.A.
Speaker A:royson, you.
Speaker A:You walk into this kitchen and it's a bit crowded and dirty in here on Honestly, open cans stacked up on the counter.
Speaker A:You also see a younger Hispanic youth sitting at what looks like a wooden dining table.
Speaker A:He's got a bowl of some sort of chili like substance that he's eating.
Speaker A:He looks up as you enter.
Speaker A:He looks quizzical.
Speaker A:So you hear the child ask Andy, who.
Speaker A:Who is this?
Speaker A:When you walk in, it's a bit muffled.
Speaker A:What you hear in the background, of course, is this.
Speaker A:This very loud television.
Speaker A:You watch Andy walk over and sit next to who you assume is his brother.
Speaker A:He folds his Hands in front of him and he looks up at you.
Speaker B:I'll.
Speaker B:I'll pull out another chair.
Speaker A:You can sit, I guess.
Speaker B:So you're Roy Ryan?
Speaker A:The boy nods.
Speaker A:He doesn't say anything.
Speaker A:He's holding a spoon in his right hand.
Speaker C:Does he have a lighter?
Speaker C:Sorry, I'm not in that.
Speaker B:He's too young for that.
Speaker B:Don't try to teach them young.
Speaker A:He doesn't, though.
Speaker B:I.
Speaker B:I already told your brother this.
Speaker B:We're with the FBI.
Speaker B:Some of my friends are standing outside, but I wanted to come in and talk to the two of you.
Speaker B:We've heard a few rumors and it's very important to us to make sure you two are okay.
Speaker B:I know your dad hasn't been.
Speaker B:Been to work in a few weeks.
Speaker B:Can you tell us what's going on?
Speaker A:Andy's looking at you.
Speaker A:His demeanor again, doesn't really change.
Speaker A:We don't know where dad is.
Speaker A:Roy looks sad.
Speaker A:His.
Speaker A:His eyes actually seem to, well, a bit.
Speaker A:Become a bit watery.
Speaker A:He wipes them with the back of his hand.
Speaker A:He looks scared.
Speaker B:That's okay.
Speaker B:I don't need to know where they are.
Speaker B:Who's been taking care of you guys?
Speaker A:I'm taking care of us, says Andy.
Speaker A:He seems firm when he says this.
Speaker A:You notice, Agent Roizen, that it's quite hot, quite humid in the house.
Speaker A:A little strange for the Detroit summer.
Speaker A:Romeo.
Speaker A:You notice this as well, standing in the entryway?
Speaker B:Well, it certainly looks to me like you're doing a good job.
Speaker B:When was the last time you guys saw your dad?
Speaker A:He shakes his head.
Speaker A:Weeks ago, I guess, Roy.
Speaker A:His bottom lip starts quivering.
Speaker A:You see Andy stand up and walk behind his brother, and he puts his hands on his shoulders as if to comfort him.
Speaker A:They seem waiting for your questions.
Speaker B:Now, I don't want to upset either of you.
Speaker B:I hope you understand.
Speaker B:I have to ask questions.
Speaker B:It's my job.
Speaker B:I know you have no idea where your dad is.
Speaker B:That's perfectly understandable.
Speaker B:Can you tell me anything about the last time you saw him, though?
Speaker B:Where he might have been going?
Speaker B:Who he might have been with?
Speaker A:No, He.
Speaker A:He just.
Speaker A:He was gone one day, Andy says.
Speaker B:Was it when you woke up?
Speaker B:When you got home from school?
Speaker A:When we got home from school, Andy says.
Speaker B:So he didn't come home from work at his usual time?
Speaker A:Andy nods slowly.
Speaker B:Do you have any family in the area?
Speaker B:Any family?
Speaker B:No.
Speaker A:We moved here.
Speaker A:We moved here recently.
Speaker B:Where did you move here from?
Speaker A:From our other home in Nevada.
Speaker A:Reno.
Speaker B:Very warm place.
Speaker A:He nods slowly.
Speaker B:Do you mind if I take a Quick peek around.
Speaker B:Not to get you in trouble.
Speaker B:I just have to check all the boxes.
Speaker A:I don't think that's a good idea, Andy says.
Speaker B:And why not?
Speaker A:We are not supposed to let people in the house or look around the house.
Speaker A:It's not a good idea, Andy.
Speaker B:You're either gonna let me look around the house, or I'm gonna have to call CPS and have you both removed from the house.
Speaker A:No, don't.
Speaker A:Don't do that.
Speaker A:What do you need to see?
Speaker B:All I need to do is take a quick peek in each room.
Speaker B:That's it.
Speaker B:I don't need to dig around.
Speaker B:I don't need to stay long.
Speaker B:There's rules.
Speaker B:There's paperwork I have to fill out.
Speaker A:Very well.
Speaker A:He stands firmly behind Roy.
Speaker A:Roy just stares at you with watery eyes.
Speaker B:Roy, sweetheart, is there anything else that you want to add?
Speaker B:Anything you might have seen or heard?
Speaker A:He looks back at his brother.
Speaker A:He looks at you, and he shakes his head slowly.
Speaker B:So I'm actually gonna pull out my phone at this point, make it look as if I'm just taking a couple of notes.
Speaker B:But I'm gonna shoot a quick text message over to Romeo of.
Speaker A:Okay.
Speaker B:You know, once I get Andy away from Roy, somebody needs to talk to him.
Speaker B:Cause there's something going on here.
Speaker A:Romeo, you get a text from the kitchen.
Speaker E:It says the kitchen.
Speaker A:Yeah, yeah, absolutely.
Speaker A:That's how someone.
Speaker B:Yeah, frozen's and your phone as the kitchen for some reason.
Speaker E:Anywho.
Speaker E:Okay.
Speaker E:Romeo's just gonna stand in the entryway.
Speaker E:He's gonna read that and he's just gonna stand in the entryway.
Speaker A:Cool.
Speaker A:All right, sounds good.
Speaker A:Roy's in.
Speaker B:So I'm gonna motion for Andy to lead the way.
Speaker B:And I'll smile at Roy and turn to follow Andy.
Speaker A:Andy doesn't budge.
Speaker A:No, go on ahead.
Speaker A:Look around.
Speaker B:Are you sure you don't want to come with me and make sure that I'm not poking around or looking at anything?
Speaker B:I want to make sure that you know everything I'm doing.
Speaker B:It's really important.
Speaker A:He shakes his head.
Speaker B:Well, drat.
Speaker E:Dog ain't gonna leave its meal, right?
Speaker B:And if the kid is the meal?
Speaker B:Roisin's.
Speaker B:Roisin's more than a little suspicious at this point.
Speaker B:Are there any other doors in the kitchen?
Speaker A:Yeah, there's another door.
Speaker A:Looks like it leads out to the back.
Speaker A:There's a little mud room back there.
Speaker A:And then out into what looks like an overgrown backyard.
Speaker A:You can see it through this window that's in the door.
Speaker B:All right, I'll Take a quick peek outside, but I don't think I need to go out there.
Speaker A:Sure.
Speaker A:You walk over to that door and you look through it.
Speaker A:My room is, unsurprisingly dirty.
Speaker A:There's pairs of what looks like large work boots and smaller shoes, obviously for the kids.
Speaker A:There's also what looks like a punching bag seen better days.
Speaker A:It's hanging up in this.
Speaker A:In this room.
Speaker B:Well, that's interesting.
Speaker B:But now if with that, she's gonna turn and take a quick glance through the rest of the house, keeping a close eye out for a basement of any sort.
Speaker A:Gotcha.
Speaker A:So you don't see anything that looks like a door leading to a sub level, but there's definitely a second story and an attic.
Speaker A:You look around the second story and peek into these bedrooms.
Speaker A:They're a bit dirty, Clothes on the floor, that sort of thing.
Speaker A:But you don't see anything or spot anything out of the ordinary.
Speaker B:All right.
Speaker A:The second story is appreciably hotter, as expected, but the whole house itself is kind of a bake.
Speaker B:That is definitely unusual.
Speaker B:Where is the thermostat located in this house?
Speaker A:As you make your way back down the stairs, you see it's right there in the hallway entryway.
Speaker A:As you're making your way down, you meet eyes with Romeo thermostats right to your.
Speaker A:To your left.
Speaker B:What's it set to?
Speaker A:Looks like it's off.
Speaker B:Oh, that's not good.
Speaker B:I'm.
Speaker B:I'm gonna step up to Romeo motion for us to step out the front, but still keep the door open and wave Lenny over while we're at it.
Speaker B:Both kids are here.
Speaker B:According to them, dad hasn't been home in weeks.
Speaker B:He was gone when they got home from school.
Speaker B:Did not come home from work at his usual time.
Speaker B:Not entirely certain.
Speaker B:I believe that the younger brother looked like he wanted to say something or there was something on his mind.
Speaker B:But the older brother was standing there with his hands on his shoulders and very much didn't want him to say anything.
Speaker B:The house is a little dirty.
Speaker B:You know, two teenage boys living on their own.
Speaker B:And while I don't like it, it's not our place to change that.
Speaker B:Really interesting thing, though.
Speaker B:Was I the only one who noticed how hot it is in there?
Speaker E:No, it's real hot.
Speaker B:Yeah, the thermostat's off.
Speaker E:I mean, two kids living on their own, no source of income.
Speaker E:Maybe they're just conserving.
Speaker B:What's the temperature outside, Chris?
Speaker A:It's a Detroit summer, so it's.
Speaker A:It's fairly warm, mid-80s warm enough to.
Speaker B:Justify how hot it is in the house.
Speaker A:Oh, you have to.
Speaker A:If the house is sitting there baking all day with.
Speaker A:With no air conditioning on, it's going to be hotter potentially than outside.
Speaker C:So.
Speaker C:Sorry.
Speaker C:You guys are all talking.
Speaker C:Where?
Speaker C:In the back of the house?
Speaker B:No, in the front entryway.
Speaker C:Okay, so Ryan's a part of this.
Speaker E:What's your gut say?
Speaker B:Guts says the kids involved the older one.
Speaker C:Did we ask him about we do Joy at all?
Speaker E:We split the kids up.
Speaker E:We say we gotta ask the little kid a couple questions.
Speaker E:Again with the cps.
Speaker E:If that worked the first time, why.
Speaker C:Were you being so nice here?
Speaker B:More flies with honey than vinegar.
Speaker C:I like vinegar.
Speaker E:Easy, Vic.
Speaker E:That vinegar's boiling over.
Speaker B:You know, the sweet, logical approach has worked for me so far.
Speaker B:And need I remind you, has bailed you guys out of trouble.
Speaker C:Did we ask him about the last time he saw Joy?
Speaker B:I did not.
Speaker C:What?
Speaker C:The gentleman at the park indicated that they might have been a little smitten.
Speaker C:The kid, from what you're telling me, sounds like he was a little out of it.
Speaker C:Maybe that'll stir him up.
Speaker C:Yeah, get him a little bit more.
Speaker E:Joy out of the earshot of the younger kid.
Speaker E:Because the topic sensitive matter about what you may be talking about, that'll give us a chance to question the younger child.
Speaker B:I think we need to ask him about Lena too.
Speaker B:Right now there's two missing people sure.
Speaker E:Connected with him, but you wanted to separate them, so that's our in.
Speaker B:All right, so one of you want to play bad cop?
Speaker E:Oh, I love.
Speaker C:I'd love to.
Speaker E:Okay.
Speaker C:All right, go ahead.
Speaker A:Got a thumb wrestle for it?
Speaker A:It's a buddy.
Speaker A:Bad cop.
Speaker E:Yeah, Bad.
Speaker E:Bad cop.
Speaker E:Bad cop.
Speaker E:The best game ever.
Speaker A:Got it.
Speaker C:I'm down for it.
Speaker B:I mean, if you guys want to do that.
Speaker B:I'll just pretend I'm doing paperwork.
Speaker C:Let's do it.
Speaker E:All right, here goes.
Speaker A:Both walk into the kitchen and you see for the first time, Roy seated at this kitchen table.
Speaker A:Andy is behind him, both hands on his shoulders.
Speaker A:They both look up at you as you enter.
Speaker A:Andy's eyes sullen.
Speaker A:Roy's watery, scared.
Speaker A:Neither says anything.
Speaker A:They just stare at you.
Speaker E:Andy, we need to talk to you for a minute.
Speaker E:Subject matters.
Speaker E:Not for little kids.
Speaker A:I don't want to leave my brother.
Speaker C:There wasn't a question there, Son turns to.
Speaker C:To Roy.
Speaker C:Can you please step into the other room?
Speaker A:He shakes his head.
Speaker A:I'm not gonna leave my brother.
Speaker A:Seems firm.
Speaker E:Andy, your brother's gonna be fine.
Speaker C:He's not gonna Be fine if you don't leave the room.
Speaker A:I didn't say you could come in my house.
Speaker E:We didn't ask.
Speaker E:We're past that point.
Speaker E:We've got questions and we're gonna get answers.
Speaker A:Leave the house.
Speaker E:He says leave the house.
Speaker A:Leave.
Speaker C:Can we.
Speaker C:Chris, can we do some kind of.
Speaker C:Is there any kind of role that we can do to understand if this is a stubborn kid or a shockingly unnatural neutral intelligence?
Speaker E:Intelligence for humans?
Speaker A:Look, guys, I don't know if it's like I can't.
Speaker A:I definitely will tell you.
Speaker A:It's not an unnatural response.
Speaker A:It is.
Speaker A:He's definitely firm.
Speaker A:Role of human intelligence.
Speaker A:And let's see if you clean anything else, okay?
Speaker C:Because I feel like we're adults.
Speaker C:God damn it.
Speaker C:Dude, you're human.
Speaker C:So high.
Speaker C:Fuck.
Speaker E:Wow.
Speaker E:We both got a 90.
Speaker E:And.
Speaker E:Oh, God, that's so.
Speaker A:That's both failures.
Speaker A:So.
Speaker A:Yeah, I mean, his.
Speaker A:His demeanor is very flaccid, unemotional.
Speaker A:He is rebellious to hell.
Speaker A:He just does not care about authority.
Speaker A:He wants you out of the house.
Speaker A:Now he's got his hands on his.
Speaker A:On his brother's shoulders.
Speaker A:It looks like he's in a protective stance.
Speaker A:He's trying to protect him.
Speaker A:And.
Speaker A:And at this point, yeah, he's.
Speaker A:He's just not having anything.
Speaker E:You're saying Romeo says or what?
Speaker E:We're the federal government, okay?
Speaker E:We have every right to be here.
Speaker E:And we have questions and we need answers.
Speaker A:Shouldn't even be in.
Speaker A:You shouldn't even be in the house.
Speaker A:I said she could come in, not you.
Speaker E:No, we heard that, but we have deeper questions that she didn't think to ask and we need them answered.
Speaker A:So let's not leave.
Speaker A:You, my brother.
Speaker A:Ask your questions here or leave for five minutes.
Speaker E:We need you to step away from your brother.
Speaker E:He's gonna be fine in your house.
Speaker C:Fuck it.
Speaker C:Fuck it.
Speaker C:When did you last see Joy Shores?
Speaker A:He cocks his head and he looks at you for the first time.
Speaker A:His.
Speaker A:His brow furrows.
Speaker A:It almost looks alien on his face.
Speaker A:Cuz he's just been so dispassionate this whole time.
Speaker A:Soon his demeanor returns.
Speaker A:A friend from school, he says.
Speaker A:I don't remember.
Speaker C:I'll give you a minute to think.
Speaker A:He seems like he legitimately thinks.
Speaker A:And he looks back up at you.
Speaker A:Many days ago.
Speaker C:What were you doing?
Speaker A:School activities.
Speaker C:Anything after school?
Speaker C:I heard that Joy was a part of the swim team.
Speaker C:By the way, guys, I am intentionally getting that wrong to see if he is.
Speaker E:No, we get it.
Speaker C:Well, because I made like A million verbal mistakes.
Speaker C:Accidentally.
Speaker A:Oh, that's fair.
Speaker C:I thought that was an appropriate disclaimer.
Speaker A:Yeah, I call him David or Daniel.
Speaker A:That'll be the cherry on.
Speaker D:Just don't call him Daniel.
Speaker E:Are you having a stroke right now?
Speaker C:You say don't, don't say, I hear she was on the swim team.
Speaker C:Right?
Speaker A:He stares at you.
Speaker A:No.
Speaker A:Chess.
Speaker A:Chess club.
Speaker E:One of those humon activities, Romeo says and stares him in the eyes.
Speaker A:Is that what you say?
Speaker E:Yes.
Speaker A:Both of you roll your sanities, please.
Speaker C:No, that's not what he says.
Speaker C:Or else you're gonna roll the sanity for Ryan, shooting him in the face.
Speaker A:Give me just a moment, please.
Speaker A:I've got a little bit of work to do on my end.
Speaker C:Wait, hold on.
Speaker C:What just happened?
Speaker A:Well, Romeo rolled his sanity.
Speaker A:I need you to also roll your sanity, please.
Speaker A:Wait, why?
Speaker C:I thought we were dicking around.
Speaker E:I literally said that.
Speaker A:I said, do you say that?
Speaker A:And you said yes.
Speaker A:So we're on.
Speaker A:So, yeah, I got one sanity done.
Speaker E:So the mask is dropping off and we get to see what this thing really is.
Speaker C:Then let me fucking shoot it.
Speaker A:Does anybody want to project any potential loss onto any bonds before I continue?
Speaker C:No.
Speaker A:Okay.
Speaker E:Romeo would project his potential loss on his best friend.
Speaker A:All right, roll a 1D4, please.
Speaker A:All right, you rolled a three.
Speaker A:You're gonna lose three willpower.
Speaker C:Weak.
Speaker C:So weak.
Speaker C:Now he has negative one willpower.
Speaker E:Okay, so set that.
Speaker A:And your friend.
Speaker A:If you wouldn't mind adjusting that down by three for me, please.
Speaker C:Chris, what does willpower correlate to?
Speaker C:Like, in game world spells?
Speaker A:If he gets down to two, he's gonna pass out.
Speaker A:He's gonna go unconscious.
Speaker C:Oh, it's like your physical.
Speaker A:But it is.
Speaker A:It is basically him powering through difficult situations.
Speaker A:He.
Speaker A:He may lose willpower in other ways, but this is one way to power through what may be a traumatic situation.
Speaker C:Got it.
Speaker C:But it's not like a physical harm.
Speaker A:Correct.
Speaker E:It's a mental harm.
Speaker A:Yeah, He.
Speaker A:He might become mental.
Speaker A:So exhausted.
Speaker A:Oh, by powering through that, he passes out, you know, and that is mental.
Speaker A:But it.
Speaker A:It's not a physical issue.
Speaker E:Okay, so my best friend's value went from 15 to 12.
Speaker A:Just got it.
Speaker A:Take a note there.
Speaker A:Just so we keep that for a potential home scene.
Speaker A:If you survive this operation.
Speaker E:Yeah.
Speaker A:As you are speaking, you watch Andy's face just very.
Speaker A:And this is quiet.
Speaker A:Completely silent.
Speaker A:All you hear is Japanese yelling from the other room.
Speaker A:Andy's face splits in half and you watch as it spills forth fleshy and sometimes blood red.
Speaker A:Tentacles just burst an issue.
Speaker A:And his hands move from Roy's shoulders to his throat as he crouches down behind him next to his head.
Speaker A:Roy can't turn around.
Speaker A:But you see he looks scared and confused.
Speaker A:He seems unable to turn around and see the alien aggregation behind him.
Speaker A:That strange mass, fleshy tendrils that was once Andy's face.
Speaker A:Roy asks, who?
Speaker A:What?
Speaker A:What's going on?
Speaker E:Don't move.
Speaker C:Does Ryan have time to pull his gun and shoot?
Speaker C:Don't move, Andy.
Speaker A:You can do whatever you want at any time.
Speaker A:This seems like a hostage situation.
Speaker A:I just want to be very clear.
Speaker A:He's bending down behind the small boy.
Speaker A:There is a problem.
Speaker A:Does not seem to be human.
Speaker A:But is this most of the.
Speaker A:Most of Andy's bulk is now behind the smaller scarechild.
Speaker C:Sure.
Speaker C:But was Andy's head not behind him as it started to split Andy?
Speaker A:This all happened in a very split second.
Speaker C:Oh, okay.
Speaker A:Andy's face silently split in half and tentacles spilled out right of what remained.
Speaker A:He bent down and put his hand around his brother's chest.
Speaker A:And you basically see this strange being now, this alien aggregation that is faceless, using Roy as a barrier between you and himself.
Speaker A:Roy seems scared and can't turn around.
Speaker C:Does Ryan have it?
Speaker C:That makes sense.
Speaker C:I was thinking that.
Speaker C:I didn't realize it was all that fast otherwise.
Speaker A:Yes, very, very, very fast.
Speaker A:This all happened very quickly.
Speaker C:Does Ryan have a clean shot to Andy?
Speaker A:No.
Speaker A:There's a child in front.
Speaker C:Does Ryan have a reasonable guess as to where Andy's heart is?
Speaker C:Even though Roy is in front of him?
Speaker E:Why would he know what an alien creature's anatomy is like?
Speaker A:I know what he's asking though.
Speaker A:Right?
Speaker A:So his head is peeking out from behind the head of the child, and his, you know, center mass is behind the center mass of the child.
Speaker E:He's playing like peekaboo behind a kid.
Speaker A:Correct.
Speaker A:He's using the child again as a barrier.
Speaker C:There's no role or anything that'll determine, like, if this is the Big Bad.
Speaker E:Or if it's bad enough.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker E:Romeo says, well, now that we know who you really are, why don't you leave the kid alone?
Speaker E:We can talk this out.
Speaker A:The tendrils slowly wave, quivering ever so slightly.
Speaker A:Are the starts to glisten more than the others?
Speaker C:Are the tendrils around?
Speaker C:Are the tendrils available?
Speaker C:Basically what.
Speaker C:What I'm asking is I'm fine to non lethally shoot Roy if it hits the tendrils in the hopes that it kind of makes the creature jump and then opening A shot to its head or something.
Speaker C:Does that make sense?
Speaker A:You're welcome to take out your gun and try to shoot at this thing to.
Speaker A:To cause an action at any time.
Speaker E:Okay, so you have no control over non lethally shooting Roy, is what Chris just said.
Speaker C:That isn't what he said, though.
Speaker E:That is exactly what's gonna happen.
Speaker B:That's what he meant.
Speaker C:I know, I know, I know, I know.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker C:Is that.
Speaker C:But, like.
Speaker C:Okay, can I ask about that, though?
Speaker C:Because if my fellow's proficient with weapons and we're in very close proximity, I mean, isn't there a reasonable.
Speaker A:If that's what your character believes, of his own skills, that's what he will do in this situation.
Speaker A:So.
Speaker A:So just do it.
Speaker C:Okay, fine.
Speaker C:Then I do that.
Speaker A:You pull your gun immediately and fire.
Speaker A:Roll your firearms, please.
Speaker C:Success.
Speaker A:Nicely done.
Speaker E:Very nice.
Speaker A:Roll your damage, please.
Speaker C:Three.
Speaker D:Fuck.
Speaker A:Got it.
Speaker C:Do we get A plus from proximity?
Speaker A:You fire, and the bullet goes straight through Roy's head.
Speaker A:You see blood trickle down the young boy's forehead, down his face.
Speaker A:It's a vision you're not soon to forget.
Speaker A:Roll your sanity.
Speaker A:You too, Romeo.
Speaker B:See, boys, this is why I don't let you do things on your own.
Speaker C:Wow, you're gonna talk a monster.
Speaker E:I had nothing to do with shooting a child in the head.
Speaker E:Just want to make that very clear.
Speaker C:I.
Speaker C:Look, guys, there's a greater good here.
Speaker E:The greater good.
Speaker E:The greater good.
Speaker A:This is a helplessness for Romeo.
Speaker A:This is a violence for Orion.
Speaker A:Just to make things quite clear, would anybody like to project anything on their bonds?
Speaker E:Yeah, Barry.
Speaker A:No, if you're gonna project, you roll a 1D floor for Romeo.
Speaker A:All right?
Speaker E:Barry's taking the L's, so three.
Speaker E:Take that off, he'll be at a nine.
Speaker A:All right?
Speaker A:Now, to answer your question, Michael, you.
Speaker A:You succeeded.
Speaker A:You did.
Speaker A:You hit your target.
Speaker C:Argue that that wasn't my target, but sure, I understand.
Speaker A:I understand.
Speaker C:Look, Ben, I'm loving this, so.
Speaker A:I'm good, good, good.
Speaker A:So, yeah, you're.
Speaker A:You're, you know, in.
Speaker C:This is how we learn.
Speaker A:Brief moment.
Speaker A:This.
Speaker A:This thing has placed a child between you and itself.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker A:You fired in the seat of the moment, and the bullet hit the child, unfortunately.
Speaker C:Was it a through and through, but.
Speaker A:It also hit the creature.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker A:Okay.
Speaker A:So, yeah, I'll.
Speaker A:I'll.
Speaker A:I'll.
Speaker A:I'll get to.
Speaker A:I'll get to narrating here.
Speaker A:We just got to see how this affects y'all first because that's.
Speaker C:I understand what happens next.
Speaker A:There's also something else going on with you.
Speaker A:So.
Speaker A:Well, we've got just a lot of.
Speaker A:A lot of work to do.
Speaker A:So you pull out your gun and you immediately fire.
Speaker A:And you immediately fire and fire and fire.
Speaker A:And you start screaming and yelling.
Speaker A:Roisin.
Speaker A:You hear this, Lainey, you hear this?
Speaker A:Everybody hears the gunshots just continually begin to ring out.
Speaker A:And the yelling of Japanese cartoons begins to be drowned out by the single long scream issuing from Agent Ryan Romeo.
Speaker A:You watch as this small boy's forehead erupts violent blossoms.
Speaker A:The boy's body falls away soon, and the thing behind him jumps up onto the counter.
Speaker A:You see spatters hit the lanky form of what was once Andy, over and over again.
Speaker A:The force of the bullets cause it to fall, clatter down onto the floor.
Speaker A:Cans of food flying everywhere as it tries to right itself.
Speaker A:But Ryan just keeps firing, firing over and over again.
Speaker A:He only has eyes for this thing.
Speaker A:Doesn't even really notice the castaway body of Roy Cruz that bloodily falls to the ground next to the flailing four of Andy, or what was once Andy Romeo.
Speaker A:He's continually firing and screaming.
Speaker A:You have a moment to do something if you would like to.
Speaker E:Mayo's going to draw his gun and grab the back of Agent Ryan's blazer and pull him through the kitchen into the living room.
Speaker A:Agent Ryan continues to fire over and over again.
Speaker A:You grab onto Ryan's blazer, and with great violence, he pushes you off and continues to unload dope.
Speaker C:I'm starting to question my sanity.
Speaker A:Ryan, I need you to roll about 10 damage rolls, so just click 10 times for me, please.
Speaker A:Jesus Christ.
Speaker E:Wow.
Speaker A:Beautiful.
Speaker A:Thank you so much.
Speaker C:Welcome.
Speaker D:That was pretty good.
Speaker A:It's a lot of tins in there.
Speaker A:A lot of tins.
Speaker C:I think the adjective you're looking for is a delicious amount of tin.
Speaker A:A delicious amount.
Speaker A:It is you.
Speaker A:You rolled well above average for this.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:I mean, improbably high.
Speaker C:Almost as if he has a proficiency in firearms, which, you know, one would wonder if that affects where he hits him.
Speaker C:Never mind.
Speaker C:I jest Chris.
Speaker C:I jest Roysen.
Speaker A:Lenny, you guys run in.
Speaker A:I'm railroading you, Lenny.
Speaker A:I know Royzen would.
Speaker A:Is that something you would do, hearing all of these so many gunshots and screamy?
Speaker D:I've been back and forth on that.
Speaker D:If I jump in the car and, like, start it and.
Speaker D:And like to be ready to go or if I would go in, I think from.
Speaker A:From good.
Speaker D:Real.
Speaker A:Where you are.
Speaker D:Yeah.
Speaker A:Okay.
Speaker A:From where you are, Lenny, you do see the kitchen window lighting up with each gunshot.
Speaker A:If that makes any change to what you would like to do?
Speaker D:I would.
Speaker D:Lenny would.
Speaker D:Perfectly honest.
Speaker D:Lenny would probably like fall over in panic.
Speaker D:It was just like what the is.
Speaker A:You fall backwards sliding off the car you were very coolly leaning against.
Speaker A:You looked pretty badass.
Speaker D:Sunglasses on.
Speaker D:Poison was playing in the background.
Speaker D:Oh, yeah, I was doing it right.
Speaker A:Yes.
Speaker A:You.
Speaker A:You fall backwards and slide across the ground.
Speaker A:Your eyes wide.
Speaker A:You're watching the window with the blinds drawn, light up over and over again with these loud pops that are somewhat muffled by, of course, their proximity, but also the loud television set until they stop.
Speaker A:You watch Roisin run inside.
Speaker A:Roisin.
Speaker A:You enter the kitchen.
Speaker A:There is blood everywhere.
Speaker A:You cannot believe it's the same room you just left.
Speaker A:On the floor behind the kitchen table is the mangled bullet welded form of something that looks like a person has been taken through a thresher.
Speaker A:Next to that, which is still twitching, by the way.
Speaker A:You do see, well, unfortunately, single shot.
Speaker A:Single shot to the forehead.
Speaker A:Body of Roy, who is dead very clearly to you.
Speaker A:And you're not sure what's happening.
Speaker A:But.
Speaker A:But Romeo is trying to grab onto Ryan, who is still letting this long yell elicit from his body.
Speaker A:It has not stopped, but he's pulling the trigger over and over again to clicks.
Speaker A:You see, the slide has.
Speaker A:Has.
Speaker A:Has cocked back on his.
Speaker A:On his pistol, doesn't have any ammunition, but he's continuing to try to pull the trigger, which of course is locked in place at this point.
Speaker B:Well, on the good side, muscle memory didn't kick in because if it had, he would have reloaded.
Speaker B:So I will take a win wherever we can.
Speaker B:I'm assuming I also see the body of what used to be Andy.
Speaker A:No, no, no.
Speaker A:That was the body.
Speaker A:That looks like it's been sent through a thresher.
Speaker A:It looks like.
Speaker A:I mean, it is completely just mutilated.
Speaker A:The body of Roy looks more or less intact, except for the bullet hole in the forehead.
Speaker B:I'm going to regret this.
Speaker B:Do you need a sanity roll from me very soon?
Speaker A:Yes.
Speaker A:I just need to know what your first action is when you enter this.
Speaker B:Abattoir, guns already out, pointed at the ground.
Speaker B:Since I can't figure out what the bigger threat is at the moment, it.
Speaker A:Just looks like dead bodies in here and Ryan's shooting at already dead bodies when you run it.
Speaker A:To be clear, you are not familiar with any of the preceding events.
Speaker A:You weren't in the room.
Speaker B:Yeah, I mean, obviously if Ryan's shooting at something, there was a threat.
Speaker A:Well, he looks quite maddened at this.
Speaker A:Point.
Speaker B:She's just not sure if it is.
Speaker A:Still a threat or.
Speaker A:Ryan went bonkers.
Speaker A:Those are the potential situations that Roizen has run into.
Speaker A:She does not necessarily have any idea of any of the preceding events.
Speaker B:There.
Speaker B:There's no.
Speaker A:She's just here.
Speaker A:She's here now with dead.
Speaker A:Dead body.
Speaker A:Dead children on the ground that are highly mutilated.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:In Ron's.
Speaker A:There's no cascade of bullets.
Speaker A:You've heard of cascade of bullets since you came in here?
Speaker C:These adjectives, Chris, I love them.
Speaker B:So in Ron's mind, she's thinking, okay, there was a threat and Ryan went insane.
Speaker B:Great.
Speaker B:I'm.
Speaker B:I'm going to turn to Romeo.
Speaker B:What the fuck just happened?
Speaker A:Now roll your sanity for helplessness.
Speaker A:Thank you very much.
Speaker A:Would you like to do any projection?
Speaker B:Yeah, we're going to project this off to my old village midwife.
Speaker A:Okay.
Speaker A:Roll a 1.
Speaker A:D4.
Speaker C:What a gal.
Speaker A:What do we got here?
Speaker A:A 1.
Speaker A:Cool.
Speaker A:So if you would do me the favor of removing one from that bond.
Speaker A:And make a note of that.
Speaker A:Of course.
Speaker A:Just like Romeo did for his childhood friend.
Speaker A:We'll need to incorporate that in your home scene.
Speaker A:If you make it there, Roizen.
Speaker A:You yell that at Romeo and you push.
Speaker A:You push him back.
Speaker A:And as he's trying to grasp and stop Ryan from what he's doing, he kind of staggers away from you.
Speaker A:And Ryan, losing his grip.
Speaker A:You shake your head and you yell something loudly in Hebrew.
Speaker A:Neither of them understand what.
Speaker A:And you run out of the room.
Speaker A:And outside.
Speaker A:Lyney, you're starting to get to your feet.
Speaker A:You see Roizen run out.
Speaker A:She doesn't even look up at you.
Speaker A:But she sprints.
Speaker A:You've honestly never seen somebody run so fast.
Speaker A:She sprints right by you, gun in hand, and down the street, away from both you and the vehicle at full again, full sprint.
Speaker D:Bloody shouts Roizen.
Speaker D:What's.
Speaker D:What's happening?
Speaker E:She's had two mental breaks.
Speaker A:She's out of sight before you know it.
Speaker A:Lenny.
Speaker A:And you turn and you look back up at the house.
Speaker A:All you hear is loud, Japanese angry speech from the television set inside.
Speaker A:Agent Romeo, you.
Speaker A:You just got screamed at by Royzen, pushed backwards.
Speaker A:You look up and you see Ryan is still standing there, holding the gun at the still twitching form of what was once Andy Cruz, trying to pull back the trigger that's locked in place.
Speaker A:He doesn't seem to realize or register what's happening or that you're there pulling at his.
Speaker A:Or were pulling at his suit.
Speaker A:Roizen disappeared as quickly as she Appeared.
Speaker A:What would you like to do?
Speaker E:Romeo's gonna full hand slap him in the face and say snap the fuck out of it, man.
Speaker A:He turns to you, rears back.
Speaker A:He's obviously going in for a straight up like left jab.
Speaker A:You have the opportunity to dodge.
Speaker A:Ryan, would you please roll your unarmed.
Speaker A:We've got an opposed role here, which is.
Speaker C:Oh, sorry, I didn't realize it was.
Speaker C:God damn it.
Speaker A:How'd you do?
Speaker C:Succeeded and I failed.
Speaker A:Got it.
Speaker D:This is not how I meant.
Speaker C:Isn't that consistent?
Speaker A:Go ahead and roll your damage.
Speaker C:Does that zero count?
Speaker A:Oh, do you want to count the prior roll?
Speaker A:It's fine if you do.
Speaker C:It's more fun.
Speaker C:There's one.
Speaker A:He clocks you across the jaw, Romeo.
Speaker A:For a moment your vision just turns off, pops right back on when you realize what just happened.
Speaker A:He just punched you.
Speaker A:You see, he's turned back away from you and he's holding the gun, his hand shaking at again the twitching form of the thing that was Andy Cruz.
Speaker A:You're not sure now that it's entirely deceased because it's still moving, quivering.
Speaker E:Fuck if it's still quivering.
Speaker A:Shit.
Speaker E:Romeo's gonna pull his gun and shoot at the quivering thing.
Speaker A:You turn and you fire.
Speaker A:Go ahead and roll your firearms, please.
Speaker E:Success.
Speaker E:That is a rare thing for me.
Speaker E:And you roll 10 damage, full damage.
Speaker A:Straight up 10 with a well placed 9 millimeter bullet.
Speaker A:You're completely cognizant of your actions right now.
Speaker A:Can you describe to me what your follow up action is?
Speaker A:After pulling the trigger, he fires a.
Speaker E:Shot and then observes whether or not it continues quivering.
Speaker A:It's continues quivering for a brief moment longer and then it just seems like all life leaves.
Speaker A:The strange stretched out tentacle covered body which is in the vague shape of a teenage boy.
Speaker A:Ryan's voice finally gives out.
Speaker A:It's now dwindled down to a low croak as air still pushes out from what must be incredibly deflated lungs at this point.
Speaker A:Lenny, you just watched Roysen sprint full speed with a very determined look on her face.
Speaker A:She didn't even register your presence and disappear over the horizon down the block.
Speaker A:What do you do?
Speaker D:I'm debating, so I've got a bit of a debate going on because on one hand I imagine this guy would just put his hands in his pockets and say nope and just start walking away.
Speaker D:But he was recruited by Delta Green as a friendly, which means he must have some level of like willpower to deal with these kind of situations.
Speaker A:So maybe, I mean, it's up to you.
Speaker A:You're You're.
Speaker A:You are.
Speaker A:You're the best judge of Lenny Hargrave.
Speaker A:If he is like, I should be in the library right now researching occult stuff, not out here in a Detroit suburb listening to gunshots and watching.
Speaker A:Watching special operatives run out of a building.
Speaker A:Then it's totally fine for you to play it that way.
Speaker A:If he's like, I have to do something because this is important, then that's Lenny.
Speaker A:It's just up to you, man.
Speaker D:Okay.
Speaker D:Yeah, let me.
Speaker D:Lenny very cautiously starts walking towards the front door to see what's going on.
Speaker A:You hear one more gunshot as you put your hand near the front door handle, which is still slightly ajar after Royson's very, very brisk exit.
Speaker D:Flinch.
Speaker A:Your whole body tenses up.
Speaker A:Yeah, exactly.
Speaker A:You flinch.
Speaker D:I keep flinch.
Speaker D:Pause for a moment, and then very cautiously enter the house.
Speaker A:When you enter the kitchen, you see Ryan, his voice gasping, rasping.
Speaker A:You see Romeo.
Speaker A:They're both pointing their guns at what is a incredible mess.
Speaker A:First, you see a dead child, obviously shot.
Speaker A:Second, you see what looks like, well, a terrible car accident video that you happen to stumble upon once online.
Speaker A:It looks worse than that.
Speaker A:Something that you were actually a little bit traumatized seeing.
Speaker A:This, of course, is worse.
Speaker A:You roll your sanity from helplessness.
Speaker A:Would you like to project any potential loss.
Speaker D:Yes.
Speaker D:On my older brother.
Speaker A:Go ahead and roll a 1D4 for me.
Speaker A:All right.
Speaker A:If you would do me the favor of removing three from that bond.
Speaker C:You got some gall there, Chris, asking for favors.
Speaker A:After this, Ryan, you drop your pistol.
Speaker A:You clatters to the ground again.
Speaker A:Its slide is cocked back.
Speaker A:It's completely empty.
Speaker A:You look down at the ground and you slowly sink to your knees and then fall back onto your seat.
Speaker A:Romeo, you're staring at this mutilated corpse of this thing, this thing you saw moments ago.
Speaker A:Well, use a child as a shield or a hostage or something.
Speaker A:You're just not sure.
Speaker A:There's questions just rolling through your mind.
Speaker A:And your chin still stings or Ryan really clocked ya.
Speaker A:It takes you a moment, but you realize somebody else is in the kitchen.
Speaker A:And it's Lenny.
Speaker A:His hand is to his mouth.
Speaker A:He looks utterly horrified.
Speaker A:Agents, what would you like to do?
Speaker D:I don't know.
Speaker D:Lenny says we need to leave.
Speaker D:We need to leave right now.
Speaker D:We gotta go.
Speaker D:We gotta go.
Speaker E:This house needs to catch on fire.
Speaker E:We need to pick up brass.
Speaker D:It's the afternoon.
Speaker D:The cops are gonna be here any moment.
Speaker E:Yep.
Speaker E:Gotta pick up brass.
Speaker E:And Romeo proceeds to pick up the brass casings.
Speaker A:Okay, I'm gonna Roll a search for you secretly.
Speaker A:Give me a moment, please.
Speaker A:You start ferreting around, looking for brass casings from both your weapon and, of course, Agent Ryan's.
Speaker A:There's plenty from Agent Ryan's pistol.
Speaker A:Laney, you're watching him bend down and sift through what looks like the gore of children to find brass casings.
Speaker A:What are you doing?
Speaker A:While he's doing this, Lenny looks at romance.
Speaker D:What are you doing?
Speaker D:Do you need help?
Speaker D:What can I do?
Speaker D:Should I start the car?
Speaker E:If you see brass, pick up brass.
Speaker D:Okay.
Speaker D:Lenny starts picking up brass.
Speaker A:As you're doing this, you watch Agent Ryan slowly stand up, picks up his gun, cocks the slide back, places it in his suit blazer jacket.
Speaker A:And he turns, and he looks at a small refrigerator magnet that has a fairly good reflective surface.
Speaker A:And you see him straighten up his tie, slicking back his hair, kind of straightening his collar.
Speaker C:Am I.
Speaker A:You good?
Speaker C:Am I back to being in control.
Speaker A:Of my guy as of this exact moment?
Speaker C:Okay, for consistency's sake, does it seem like he's kind of back in his right mind?
Speaker A:For Agent Ryan, you watched yourself, more or less, from what seemed like a vantage point outside of your body as you fired over and over again at this unspeakable horror.
Speaker A:Honestly, the.
Speaker A:The situation with Roy didn't even register with you because.
Speaker A:Because of what you were disposing of.
Speaker A:Now, on some level, you know, you lost control, but on another, you know, it was.
Speaker A:It was okay how this ended up because that thing isn't moving anymore.
Speaker C:Ryan's going to help Romeo just, I guess, sort of compose himself and go right into action, relatively emotionless, and pick up the.
Speaker C:Pick up the casings, but also go to the kitchen to see if there's, you know, plastic trash bags or anything.
Speaker C:Effectively, you know, where were the cleanup crew?
Speaker C:We're the whole crew, you know, the executors as well as the cleanup crew.
Speaker C:So he's cleaned up.
Speaker E:We paint houses, and we do the curve.
Speaker C:Yeah, exactly.
Speaker C:He's cleaned up before.
Speaker C:And this is another one.
Speaker C:He'll react, I guess, if Lenny gets in his way.
Speaker A:As you're pitching in, you hear in the distance, silen.
