Abandoned House - Wed, Sep 21, 2016

The session begins with Luke (the Handler) recapping the previous session.

• The team, Working Group Masticate, went to Miami, specifically to St. Lawrence Church, a Catholic church in downtown Miami in the Flagami District that offers a homeless shelter.
• They encountered a greyhound dog named “Thanks, Obama” that died from a venomous snake bite while staring at them in their car.
• Inside the church, they met Father Robledo.
  • They asked him about the people they were trying to find, showing him photos of Elle Gable and Thomas Cunningham.
  • Father Robledo told them about four kids who showed up at St. Lawrence in 2011, around 15 years old at the time.
    • The youngest was named Phil, who occasionally spoke.
    • He never learned the names of the other children.
    • One of the girls, who matched the photo of Elle Gable, attacked and stabbed a younger child, leading him to ban them from the shelter.
  • He mentioned that a mythology had developed around them: the Quiet Children, the Hungry Mother, and the Red-Minded Men.
  • Father Robledo also recognized Thomas Perez Cunningham but said he had only shown up in the last couple of weeks and hadn’t seen him recently.
• After their conversations with the priest, the agents went to a nearby Waffle House to discuss and make sense of what they had learned.
• They ended their breakfast debating whether to go to the abandoned house that Robledo told them about, where he knew the kids had been staying.

The session picks up with the agents in the parking lot of the Waffle House, climbing back into their Tahoe.

• They discuss whether to go to the abandoned building or to talk to other residents at the homeless shelter for more information.
  • Chris suggests going directly to the abandoned building.
  • They consider getting tasers to have less-lethal options when confronting the Quiet Children.
• The agents decide to purchase tasers and bear spray from a local gun shop.
  • They go to a gun shop and buy tasers and bear spray, equipping themselves with non-lethal options.
  • Luke provides them with the stats for the stun gun.
• After acquiring the tasers, they debate whether to case the house first or proceed directly.
  • Brian mentions being shaken by the idea that there are more Quiet Children.
  • They decide to case the joint.
• The agents drive to the abandoned house following Father Robledo’s directions.
  • They note that the house is abandoned, with windows boarded over and debris on the front step.
  • There’s graffiti around, but nothing significant.
• They consider talking to the neighbors to gather more information.
  • They drive to the house behind the abandoned one.
  • They approach a neighboring house that looks inhabited.
  • A man in his late 60s or early 70s answers the door.
    • He has gray hair, a well-trimmed mustache, and is wearing a Miami Dolphins t-shirt.
  • The agents introduce themselves as agents from the Department of Justice and show their badges.
  • The man is eager to talk, expressing frustration about the abandoned house and the people who come and go from it.
  • He complains about the kids and street people who frequent the abandoned house, calling them criminals and drug dealers.
  • He mentions that a real estate company owns the house but doesn’t maintain it.
  • The agents ask for more details about the people he has seen.
    • He describes seeing at least ten different people coming and going, mostly at night.
    • He recognizes the photos of Thomas Perez Cunningham, Elle Gable, and Samuel Ball, confirming that they have been there.
    • He recalls an incident where a skinny white kid stabbed a driver; the agents believe this matches the description of someone they dealt with in North Carolina.
  • He mentions that the people at the house are quiet but involved in illegal activities like drug dealing and graffiti.
  • The agents thank him for his information and leave.
• The agents decide to proceed to the abandoned house.
  • They discuss how to approach the house without drawing attention.
  • They consider the neighbors might find it concerning if they see them carrying shotguns.
  • They attempt to approach stealthily, making stealth checks.
    • Some agents fail their stealth checks despite a +20 bonus.
  • They park the Tahoe to block the view and approach the house quickly.

Inside the abandoned house:

• The house is in a state of disrepair, with water damage, mold, and garbage strewn about.
• The carpets are covered in mold, and there is graffiti all over the walls.
• The agents’ eyes adjust to the darkness; there is little sunlight coming through the boarded windows.
• They notice spray-painted symbols on the walls, repeated in the same order.
  • The symbols include:
    • Two alligators on their hind legs, baring jaws at each other in an arch in the shape of a car.
    • A pole with a pair of bullhorns atop it, with the sun setting or rising behind it.
    • The moon over a nondescript horizon with stars in a uniform, repeated pattern.
    • A campfire seen through a thicket of skinny trees, with a ring of stick figures holding hands around it.
  • Another piece of graffiti shows a small childlike figure with red hands standing over four larger adult victims lying in blood; the adults have red splotches on their heads representing brains.
• The agents recognize that these symbols match those seen in the drawings included with Chilikov’s thesis.
• They hear a raspy, harsh voice speaking from the walls.
  • The voice says cryptic things about “Hungry Mama,” “God,” and refers to “you stink of outside.”
  • The voice continues with cryptic messages, mentioning names like Sammy, Tommy, Elle, and Phil.
• The agents try to determine where the voice is coming from.
  • They realize the voice is coming through the ductwork, specifically from a vent in the wall near a collapsed stairwell leading to the basement.
  • The stairwell is filled with debris, but they find that it’s possible to clear a path down.
• The voice continues to taunt them, mentioning Phil and referencing events from their past.
  • The voice asks if they want to see the “milk trick” and says that Phil taught them.
• The agents debate whether to go down into the basement.
  • Drummond (Chris) decides to leave the house and waits outside by the truck.
  • McCarter wants to go down to see what’s there.
  • Cortez argues that they need to solve the problem and that they have a job to do.
• The agents consider burning the house down.
  • Monroe sets about trying to start a fire using camping supplies found in the house.
  • He successfully sets up a stove to ignite the wall near the staircase.
  • As the fire starts to spread, the voice says, “That’s it. That’s what you’re going to do. It works. Smart.”
  • They hear a scream and a gurgling screech from “Phil.”
  • They hear words emanate from the vent, and the agents need to make POW checks.
    • They all succeed in their POW checks.
• A woman comes charging up the stairs from the basement.
  • She is described as a young woman with tattoos, including a stitched mouth tattoo and a cartoon alligator on her arm.
  • She resembles Jenny, and appears unhealthy and jaundiced.
  • She is wielding a box cutter and begins running up the stairs towards them.
  • The agents open fire on her.
  • Initially, bullets seem to flatten against her and fall to the ground, but eventually, the bullets start to penetrate.
  • She collapses after being riddled with bullets.
• The agents roll SAN checks due to the unnatural events.
  • Steel Monroe succeeds his SAN check.
  • Cortez (Brian) and McCarter (Robert) fail their SAN checks and lose SAN points.
    • Cortez loses three SAN.
    • McCarter loses two SAN.
    • Both consider projecting their losses onto their bonds.
• The agents feel a sense of satisfaction, like a pack taking down prey, and gain one SAN point.
  • Drummond does not gain the SAN point as he was not present.
• With the fire spreading, the agents discuss whether to go down into the basement.
  • McCarter insists on going down to see what’s there.
  • Cortez warns that the walls are on fire.
  • McCarter goes down into the basement quickly.
• In the basement:
  • McCarter finds the body of a withered and bloody white man with his eyes cut out and throat slit—this is Phil.
  • The body is lying atop a pile of small bones.
  • McCarter makes a SAN check upon seeing the gruesome scene and succeeds.
  • There is an earthy smell of incense burning or that was burning.
  • McCarter finds a syringe with black oily residue in it.
    • He carefully removes the needle and takes the syringe.
  • Cortez urges him to hurry as the fire is spreading.
• They exit the house as the fire spreads.
  • Drummond hears the shots and the commotion from outside.
  • He sees his companions emerge from the burning house.
  • They call 911 to report the fire and the shooting.
  • The police arrive and initially treat them with hostility, but relax when they see their badges.
  • They spend several hours with the police, giving statements.
  • They explain that they were attacked by a woman and defended themselves.
  • They mention that the woman had murdered a man (Phil) in the basement.
  • The police take over the scene, and the agents’ names are attached to the investigation.
• The agents contact Pizzarelli to update her on the situation.
  • They inform her about the events and the discovery of Phil’s body.
  • They request that the bodies be turned over to the Department of Justice.
  • They discuss the possibility of the house being condemned and demolished.

Later that evening:

• The agents decide to go to the medical examiner’s office to examine Phil’s body.
  • They want to see if there is any evidence of the unnatural.
  • At the medical examiner’s office, they flash their badges and request to see the bodies.
  • Dr. Eve Hauser assists them, showing them the bodies of Phil and Jenny (the woman they shot).
  • They examine the bodies.
    • Both bodies are naked, and their clothes have been removed.
    • Phil shows multiple syringe tracks, indicating long-term IV drug use.
    • Jenny has one recent injection site.
    • Monroe performs a forensic examination.
  • They take blood samples from Phil.
    • The blood is red but has black oily bubbles floating in it.
    • Monroe makes a SAN check upon seeing this and succeeds.
  • They check Jenny’s blood, which appears normal.
  • They deduce that Phil was being used to produce the black goo, referred to as the “milk of the mother.”
    • They recall that the black goo is associated with Yelena Kalamatiano’s rituals.
  • McCarter remembers that Phil was the first to drink tea from Kalamatiano and was changed by it.
    • The agents discuss how Phil was producing the black goo and that the Quiet Children were extracting it from him.
    • They surmise that Jenny injected herself with the black goo, which allowed her to resist bullets.
  • They consider the implications of the black goo being used.
  • They arrange for the bodies to be collected by the Department of Justice for incineration.
    • Pizzarelli agrees to have the bodies incinerated.

The agents reflect on their findings.

• They discuss the meaning of the graffiti symbols as a potential map left by Tommy.
• They are unsure what to make of the symbols and consider reviewing them later.
• They decide to get some rest, staying at a hotel in Miami.
  • McCarter has a sleep disorder and needs to make a SAN check.
    • He fails the SAN check but takes sleeping pills to help him sleep.
  • The agents replenish their willpower and regain one hit point if injured.

The session ends with the agents resting after a long and intense day.