Interim Field Report - Convergence on Los Angeles - Wed, Nov 14, 2018

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Report No: GT/IL-181114-055250814

Location: Washington, DC; London, UK; San Francisco Bay Area, CA; Los Angeles, CA

Agents:

Summary: Following the destruction of the Avalon Gardens cultivation site near Greeley, CO, the surviving MASTICATE assets conducted mop-up, destroyed an emergent botanical threat from recovered “seed” material, and executed unsanctioned cash distributions from the site’s vault including creation of an off-book slush fund. Over the ensuing year, McCarter remained confined under supervision; Booth handled next-of-kin disbursements and made contact with Drummond’s spouse. In September 2018, Drummond initiated two separate courier communications: a farewell letter to Booth from Ecuador and a power-of-attorney package directing Philomena Farrington-Cowles (British Museum) to retrieve a Los Angeles bank box. In mid-November 2018, multiple vectors converged on Los Angeles: an anomalous broadcast incident in Booth’s residence; a public self-disassembly fatality in Leimert Park; Booth’s rapid activation via AUSA Pitzarelli; McCarter’s ordered release for travel; Farrington-Cowles’ planned arrival to claim the bank box; and a Bay Area civilian (Justin Smith) compulsion-driven trip to LA guided by non-ordinary cues.

Operation Report:

Analysis and Recommendations:

Session Notes

  • Session opens with rules/mechanics prep and a request for a broader recap; the Handler (Luke) delivers a high-level recap of the prior operation in Colorado:

    • Trigger incident: Radomir Resnick dies in Colorado State Jail; his lungs burst from his chest, attack a dog, and his body is set on fire hours after he had consumed a large quantity of Avalon Gardens vape cartridges.

    • Initial DG detection: The cartridges ping Matthew McCarter’s “weird sense,” prompting MASTICATE to investigate Avalon Gardens.

    • Corporate probing: Team finds oddities around the company; eventually approaches the chief scientist under a DEA cover. Scientist, afraid of Dakota Knight, cooperates:

      • Reports three locked grow rooms only Knight can access.
      • Says Knight secretly processes those plants at night and distributes product to employees and possibly others.

    • Escalation plan: Team informs Assistant U.S. Attorney Antonia Pitzerelli and calls in DEA SRT Epsilon. Plan evolves to ambush Bellamy (kill on sight) and then lure Knight.

    • Warehouse firefight / explosion at “Valley Dirtlands” cultivation site:

      • Team kills Bellamy and texts from his phone.
      • Text implying trouble in the grow houses panics Knight; he mobilizes armed personnel who assault the facility.
      • “Crunchy” (Epsilon demolitions) had placed explosives on butane tanks; he detonates, killing enemy gunmen, some Epsilon personnel, Isha and Cole Parker outright, and leaving Husky critically injured.
      • Epsilon encounters Dakota Knight at the garage; Knight injects Sprinkle with a fast-acting neurotoxin causing near-instant cardiac arrest. The team guns down Knight.
      • Bodies are dragged into the fire as police and fire arrive; team waves them off with the “DEA” cover.

    • Horrors in the growhouse & vault aftermath:

      • In the burst-open growhouse, white, carapaced horrors flit among writhing vines; Crunchy throws more C4.
      • Graham Drummond slips away during the chaos with a brick of cash provided by Frank Booth.
      • By dawn, the vault is blown; a jar of seeds falls and shatters, sprouting rapidly with roots pushing into solid concrete. Matthew improvises a flamethrower (with bear spray) and burns it before it can establish.
      • Police processing later discovers decomposing bodies beneath the plants, identified as missing persons from the prior 6–8 months.
      • Pitzerelli works around-the-clock damage control for several days.

    • Cover on Drummond: Frank and Matthew tell Pitzerelli that Graham died in the blast (burned beyond recognition). She accepts the story.

  • SAN awards and bond checks (immediately post-Colorado):

    • Frank Booth and Matthew McCarter each gain 1d6 SAN for the operation’s conclusion.
    • Bond test: On SAN check to “catch a bond,” Matthew fails and gains a new bond with Frank (value 7, half his CHA). Frank succeeds, does not gain a new bond.
    • Bond loss: Matthew loses 1d4 points from a non-DG bond (player targets spouse/daughter; precise reduction not numerically finalized in the transcript).
    • Optional bond offered/accepted: Matthew is offered, and accepts, a bond with Jay (his orderly/minder), starting at 7.

  • Frank’s cash distribution plan from the Avalon Gardens vault (clarified for the record):

    • Bricks were $1M in $100 bills.
    • $1M given to each of three Epsilon members present; Husky is hospitalized.
    • $1M to Frank and $1M to McCarter.
    • “Fudd” receives three bricks to distribute to Husky and to Isha’s and Sprinkle’s next of kin.
    • Two bricks earmarked for Cole Parker’s family and Drummond’s family.
    • Seven bricks remain bagged as a slush fund for future operations (not turned over to Pitzerelli).

  • Downtime / Personal Pursuits spanning late 2017–2018 (Handler sets overall time passage; multiple scenes):

    • Matthew McCarter — Therapy and institutionalization:

      • Remains institutionalized in a largely abandoned mountain hospital (one active wing), under Dr. Mendez.
      • Continues full-disclosure sessions (except lying about Graham’s death); Persuade roll succeeds to maintain the deception.
      • Psychotherapy success; Matthew gains 9 SAN over roughly a year of treatment.
      • Routine short hikes with Jay around the facility.

    • Frank Booth — “Personal Motivation” (charity & laundering):

      • Objective: locate Ellie Drummond and Cole Parker’s family to deliver the money; handle laundering and offshore setups as needed.

      • Meeting Ellie Drummond (Washington, D.C., park):

        • Frank introduces himself as CIA, states he worked with Graham on sensitive matters.
        • Confirms the official story is not fully accurate and implies Graham is not dead (“officially dead,” uncertain future); presents a bag with $1M as Graham’s retirement.
        • Ellie inspects the cash discreetly; thanks Frank repeatedly and leaves with the money.

      • Aid to Cole Parker’s family:

        • Establishes an offshore account (framed as a college fund) and arranges transfer(s); expresses condolences (“part of our retirement”).

      • Laundering and logistics: Frank handles slush-fund structuring and hiding money as per his background.

      • Pursuit outcome: Handler awards automatic success; Frank gains 1d4 SAN (rolled 4), with bond loss still applying (Frank notes his protégé bond had already dropped to 0; his CIA admin contact bond further declines).

  • Frank’s career status post-Colorado (late 2017 through mid-2018):

    • No contact from the Program or Pitzerelli for months.
    • Desk duty / “basement office” at CIA; processing appears meaningless; effectively sidelined.

  • Mid-August 2018 — Frank receives a couriered letter from Graham Drummond (read into the record):

    • Content summary (verbatim tone preserved in substance):

      • Graham and Ellie fled to Guayaquil, Ecuador to escape the Program/unseen forces; attempted quiet retirement using the Greeley cash.
      • Ellie disappeared after going out shopping; Graham suspected “secuestro exprés” (express kidnapping).
      • Following a tar-and-meatball-parm stench, Graham tracked a cannibal family cult on the outskirts and massacred them in a blood frenzy.
      • Ellie saw him covered in blood among the dead and perceived him as a monster; he sent her away for safety.
      • Graham concludes he cannot outrun what’s manipulating events (“bigger than Delta Green”), references the silver snuff box and a jungle cannibal freak show; declares this is the final goodbye.
      • Signs off with “Fuck you, Cortez. Fuck you, Pitzerelli.” Offers sympathy to Frank and Matthew.

    • Envelope logistics: Origin indicates Ecuador, likely obfuscated routing; delivery time about six days.

    • Frank’s actions: Caches the letter securely; contemplates checking on Ellie later.

  • September 2018 — Philomena Farrington-Cowles introduced (London):

    • Role: Associate Director, British Museum, Department of Folklore and the Occult.
    • Courier delivery to her office: Letter from Graham Drummond authorizes Philomena via notarized power of attorney to retrieve items from California Bank & Trust (Los Angeles); includes explicit instruction to state, if asked, “I am healthy and spoke to him in person recently.”
    • Instruction: “Take everything in the box.”
    • Bank response: Confirms documents; requires in-person pickup.
    • Philomena’s plan: Schedules a mid-November trip to Los Angeles.

  • Justin Smith introduced (San Francisco Bay Area; early-20s tech worker):

    • In his apartment, lays out bottles of antipsychotics, anti-seizure meds, and immunomodulators; swallows a pharmacological cocktail to induce a desired mental state.
    • Internal monologue dissolves; perception reduces to emotion; experiences a sensation like “something sliding its hand” into his skull and taking over.
    • When the drugs wear off, wakes on a Greyhound bus heading to Los Angeles.
    • Possessions: map of Southern California with a milkshake-like spill forming an arrow to a location; backpack with laptop and pills; one day of clothes.
    • ETA: Will arrive in Los Angeles on Tuesday, November 17.

  • Early August (outside therapy scene) — Mountain lion “offer” (Matthew):

    • During a short hike with Jay, Matthew looks up to see a mountain lion perched 15–20 feet above Jay in a fir tree.
    • The lion stares at Matthew, then at Jay, then back at Matthew; Matthew intuits it as an offer of freedom.
    • Matthew declines (“Not like this”). Jay backs them away slowly, waving and yelling to appear large; the lion does not pursue.
    • After this, walks become shorter/closer to the facility.

  • Mid-November 2018 — Frank’s “TV call” and LA incident video:

    • Night of Saturday, November 14 (late): Frank awakens to someone shout “Frank” from downstairs; TV is on, playing The Naked Gun.

      • Audio is mostly static, except characters saying “Frank,” which comes through crystal clear.
      • When Frank reaches for the remote, the TV spams a flicker montage of ringing phones (rotary, payphones, cell, satellite), then his cellphone chimes with a text; TV shuts off when powered down.

    • Text received: “Frank oh my god were you working down there” plus a YouTube link from an unknown LA-area number.

    • Video content: (Frank opens link; later clarified as close phone footage)

      • Night scene on/near North Sutro Avenue in Leimert Park (Los Angeles).
      • A large Black man in the street is in a fit/seizure, slamming into a parked car (lights flash from its alarm).
      • Two bystanders approach; he shoves them away with abnormal strength.
      • He claws his face and arms, peeling skin; onlookers vomit or flee; some record and others call.
      • He inserts his hand under his nose (up to the third knuckle) and pries apart his skull; he collapses and stops moving.
      • A Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department cruiser arrives with lights flashing; a deputy begins to exit; video ends.
      • Title shown: “Shook on Dat Sauce, Cr4zy OD.”

    • Text back-and-forth / identity of sender:

      • Sender identifies as Ethan; asks if Frank was “running a route on Sutro” when it happened.
      • Frank looks up the number: Ethan Spicer, LA Bureau of Street Services (street sweeper).
      • In the same directory, another sweeper is listed as Frank Boothe (with an “e”), explaining the confusion.
      • Frank replies he was not there.

    • Frank forwards the video to Pitzerelli via his secret phone:

      • Immediate response; after viewing, Pitzerelli sets a meeting for the next morning and notes “this has caught some attention.”

      • Later that night, Frank receives an unsolicited food delivery (a green agave grilled chicken wrap from a ghost kitchen).

        • The receipt lists the federal building address in Los Angeles and includes encoded ticket claim info and a date for travel the next morning.

      • Conclusion: Frank is being sent to Los Angeles.

  • Mid-November 2018 — Matthew is mobilized:

    • Jay opens Matthew’s door and informs him they are to “meet your friends again.”
    • Instruction: Pack for a trip (timed with the LA activation).

  • Session close:

    • Threads are converging on Los Angeles:

      • Frank is ticketed to LA by Program channels.
      • Matthew is released for travel under supervision.
      • Philomena is scheduled to arrive mid-November to claim Drummond’s deposit.
      • Justin is en route by bus with a mysterious compulsion.

    • Handler underscores that the “universe is assembling a team,” setting up the next operation in LA.

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