The Dig at Altamont

Michael

SANDMAN has decided to hit this subduction zone quick. Knowing thanks to Mitch's abilities that there is some chunk of History B buried underneath the mass grave that Frank dug for the schoolkids allows them to excavate in a manner that will do the least amount to trigger any kind of reality temblors. The idea here is to solidify History A here.

There's a team of grunts from the Project: probably Army personnel from Granite Peak who are doing the physical digging. They're not using earth-moving equipment, just spades and bucket brigades. The SANDMAN members in charge of the expedition are four personnel from Granite Peak. Three men and a woman, all white. The oldest man, balding and stooped, introduces himself as Professor Peters. He is an archeologist. The other two men are both in their late 30s or early 40s, one has a shock of red hair going white at his temples. He is Quarles, a cultural anthropologist. He's doing something odd as Archie and Jo arrive; he has a portable tape player with a hand-held speaker and is walking the perimeter of the bus-sized grave; he seems to be playing some sort of loud rock music backwards. The third man, tall with fair hair, named Merrick, is a little younger than Quarles and he does most of the talking to Archie and Jo: he introduces himself as an esmologist/strategist. The woman hangs back near the large unmarked black van parked about 60 yards away from the dig. She is wearing severe businesswear and has a little black doctor's bag at her feet. Two SANDMAN commandos stand next to her and the van. They're not talking to anyone.

"Mr. Ransom," Merrick says, "So glad URIEL could meet us here. Ms. Menos," he nods at Jo. "You're welcome to observe—this was URIEL's find, after all—but please allow Professor Peters to manage the scene."

After "fumigating" the scene with his tape player, Quarles heads over to the black van and pulls out from the passenger side a mobile phone receiver on a long extendable curly cord. He beckons Archie and Jocasta over.

"Ransom, Menos. So what I'm doing here is trying to counteract some of the poking and prodding that people have done at this subduction zone. What we've got to do is make this place normal again. Now, that is exceptionally unlikely to happen to the extent we'd like, given what happened here at the concert four years ago has become a memetic watchword worldwide for hippie excess and anarchy, but any little gesture helps. We're moving a fairly major speed race here in April in an attempt to help defuse that association. It would be very good if URIEL could help with the stabilization in the coming months. Pop over every night now and again with Hort, maybe send an observer or two to the race next month. Once we've removed the presumed pragmaclast, this stabilization process should get easier."

Leonard

"Of course, Dr. Quarles. Any assistance we can provide, we're happy to offer," Jocasta says, outwardly responsible and helpful, respecting a perceived chain of command. She'll pitch in with any asks, especially anything involving archaeology or sketching. Quietly, though, she's going to keep a close eye on the woman and the commandos, see if anything sticks out to her Occult-wise, and very pointedly not use Psychometry if she can help it, as this place is giving off major bad vibes to her.

Michael

A sketch of the dig would actually be really useful and I would say that Peters might actually notice Jocasta drawing and break off from the dig to ask her, "Young lady, would you mind if we got a copy of those sketches when we're all done here today?" Give me an Artist (Drawing) roll when you get a chance.

Leonard

"Certainly, Doctor. I have a ... history of noticing things, maybe my little drawings will help." (She's playing dumb to try and get any of the brass to open up, to a degree....)

Michael

You know, I almost think a Savoir Faire roll would work well here. I think Peters is in the right zone to fit in High Society.

Leonard

Sure thing, rolled another 8, so that's a success by 8. (She's not trying to con anyone, really, just ... let her get a glimpse behind the door, so to speak.)

Michael

"I had a feeling I'd read something about you before, you're Menos, aren't you?" Peters extends a hand. "Do you want to come down and give us a hand? If and when we excavate any artifact, it would be good to have someone do a detailed sketch of it."

It seems like Peters has given you entre into the inner circle of SANDMAN archeologists here.

Leonard

"Yes, sir, Jocasta Menos. I'd be happy to oblige." Jo will head down and do as asked, downplaying (but not ridiculing) her own archaeological knowledge but pitching in if an opportunity arises. She'll do ask good a sketch as she can but will also be keeping a (third) eye open for anything that tickles her occult sensibilities. (She's also going to look for familiar symbolism, but will keep stumm about them unless they seem relevant.)(edited)

Michael

So I think one Archaeology roll would be great. That will tell you a lot.

Michael

No, that's great. So what you can see as the dig gets bigger is that Peters and his assistants are supplementing standard archeological methods with some SANDMAN-specific mojo to protect everyone. You notice that Peters engages in what looks like ritual behaviors: occasionally muttering what sound like sing-song incantations in Akkadian; here and there he hangs a quartz crystal on a post near the center of the dig. The soldiers digging great gobs of earth get to a certain level and Peters holds up a single hand and says, "That's all, gentlemen. It's down to picks and spades and brushes now. We're close."

As that happens, both Archie topside and Jo in the pit can feel a change in the light in the morning air; the sun passes behind a cloud and the air gets chilly. A wind blows across the makeshift SANDMAN camp. @Leonard and @Rob MacD, can Archie and Jo both give me a Hidden Lore (History B) roll at a -4 to your skill?

Michael

Peters looks up at the sky and checks his quartz crystals. "Better hurry," he mutters to himself again, as he bends his old bones down to the floor of the pit and begins excavating by hand. It takes a couple more minutes for the dull glint of verdigris'd bronze to appear in the dirt. It looks like the edge of a hollow cone? A funnel? Judging by the arc of the circumference you're guessing the funnel is about 5 feet wide. Jocasta gets to sketching.

Rob

The one thing Archie will ask about is this request for Mitch to come back every day or so. Is that going to be safe for Mitch? He has reacted unpredictably to exposure to subduction zones in the past. (Archie's not refusing an order, just being responsible, looking out for the safety of his team.)

Michael

After a couple of hours of careful excavation, the Object is fully revealed, more or less. It's definitely an intact ... machine. Jocasta has heard Peters exclaim under his breath, "Extraordinary" more than a few times while gradually revealing more of it. It's clear he's never made a find like this before. The object is about eight feet tall when fully exposed. The presumed top of it is dominated by a wide, flat funnel, five feet wide at the top, narrowing to a six-inch wide recess that leads into the machine. The entire body of the machine is made of cunningly-wrought bronze. Pipes and (intact!) glass containers dominate the middle part of the machine, along with four very prominent smoky crystals, mounted on four sides of the machine. At the bottom is a small chute, very much reminding you of a dispenser of some kind. Peters is stunned once it's revealed. He stands back and wipes his brow with a handkerchief. Peters shouts up to Quarles and Merrick.

"We're going to bring it up. Carefully. But before we take it back to Granite Peak, I want the Indigo to read it in situ. Can you please let Dr. Haynes know we will need her services?"

Rob

When Jocasta first jumps down into the pit, and Archie "felt" the subduction zone, he called down to her, kind of pointlessly/ineffectually to "be, um, careful!" During the several hours of digging, Archie strolls around Altamont trying to get a better sense of just how big the zone is. Later, when we're actually looking at the Object, can Hidden Lore (History B) or Archaeology tell me anything about it? And there's no need to be shy: Archie will at the very least ask one of the experts (Peters if possible, otherwise Merrick or Quarles): "What is it?"

Michael

Awesome. [Archie's] previous Hidden Lore (History B) roll will give you a sense of the subduction zone's size: basically it encompasses the entire area around the raceway, extending far far out into the bare hillsides surrounding it. Archie probably doesn't do a complete perimeter walk of the property but for as far as he can sense, there is a sense of History B rubbing up against our world. Again, the boundaries between worlds here feel quite solid all things considered; there is a sense among the team and among the Project (especially from Merrick, as he exchanges occasional words with Archie over the morning), that the Free Concert back in '69 and specifically the death of Meredith Hunter caused a minor temblor which has settled down in the 3+ years since. Looking at the object, Archie can definitely give me another Hidden Lore (History B) roll. As he peers at the Object, Quarles sidles over, hearing the instruction to the woman, Dr. Haynes, to bring out the "Indigo." "I'm hoping that an asset of ours in the van will be able to tell us exactly what it's used for. But we usually don't find pragmaclasts this big or as intact as this. And usually they take a form more amenable to the conceptual precepts of History A. But when you get into less-populated areas, ones without influence from the History A human noosphere, sometimes you find that History A hasn't been able to "cover" for the pragmaclast as perfectly, and you get objects that look like they came straight from the Red Kings' history. So, this is rare on two levels."

Michael

"In other words," Quarles continues, "if we'd found this in Iraq it might look like a stone jug with a bunghole at the bottom. In Europe, maybe a mysteriously preserved Roman wooden barrel. But this area ... even when the Indians were abroad in northern California, this area's population density was extremely low. So you end up with features of Irruptor craft and technology predominating."

Rob

Nice.

Michael

Well, SANDMAN training certainly covers the topic of reality shards, but with an eye towards their being useful for SANDMAN technological/warfare research. So you end up with lots of files and dossiers on artifacts that can harm people or mind-control them or any of that sort of purpose that SANDMAN classifies under "Irruptor powers." But Archie can tell this thing isn't a weapon, it isn't any kind of technology meant to help Irruptors control minds or bodies or souls. It looks like a very functional machine, one with a purpose tied to the nature of History B on the other side of the subduction zone. You put something in the funnel at the top, and something presumably comes out the chute at the bottom. It almost feels quotidian: a piece of processing equipment of some kind. Of course what kind of exotic History B substances might be processed within this machine is far beyond Archie to speculate.

A young girl of slight build stumbles from the van. Her hair is roughly cut, short and blonde. Her eyes are large and blue. They dart about quickly absorbing her surroundings. Probably the first thing you would notice is the Panasonic RD-60 Headphone Radio she is sporting. The headphones look too large and heavy for her small head and the antennas are just begging to take out someone’s eye. The flash ends there. Her outfit is simple and drab. She wears a dark short sleeved top, grey slacks, and navy slip-on shoes. She is led over to the object where she stares at it for what seems like hours... but only minutes have gone by. She whispers, but audibly enough to be heard by both Jocasta and Archie, "It's for making food. Space-age food. The crops go in the top, and then a little pill comes out the bottom." Dr. Haynes looks down at the girl with wide, watery eyes—pupils dilated from sadness ... or from fear?— and says, "Thank you, Charley. We can go back home now." Dr. Haynes pats her on the head and the two commandos lead the little girl back to the van. Before she is taken back to the black van, she looks over at Archie for just the briefest of moments, and smiles.

Rob

aaagh Indigo child with same name as Archie's dead son