On Wednesday, Mitch (under his MJ Hearst identity, I'm assuming? Or will that cause problems with Mary-Lynn if he gets into the program, I wonder, we can puzzle this out later ... ) gets a call back from the psychic research offices at SRI, from the program's secretary, Mitch assumes. She tells Mitch that they've got a sudden opening in the program pre-testing regimen if he wants to report to Palo Alto Medical Clinic tomorrow for the first set of physicals (blood draw, etc. etc.). One of the days of the pre-testing (most likely early next week) will be an overnight at the Clinic, as they want to gather both waking and sleeping brain waves on the EEG.
Yeah, I figure Mitch shows up on time and uses his MJ Hearst legal cover identity. "Mitch" is a nickname for Matthew in Alabama, is what he'll say if anybody asks (no one ever does).
So on Thursday morning bright and early Mitch makes his way over to the Palo Alto Medical Clinic where the first task is filling out a lot of basic paperwork: identity, medical history, etc. (We can say we have SANDMAN resources to flesh out any gaps in the record for any of this type of stuff.) Mitch is the only one being processed at the moment; makes sense given how work-intensive the testing regimen is, it seems like they're doing some measure of pre-screening of the volunteers.
But the important thing about the intake process is that a half-hour or so into the paperwork portion of the intake, Mitch gets to meet one of the program heads. Russell Targ knocks on the door to the room where Mitch has been ushered to fill out forms, and comes in and shakes Mitch's hand. Targ is tall. About 6'5". His frizzy red-brown hair puts another couple of inches on that height; he peers down at Mitch over coke-bottle-bottom thick lenses. "Mr. Hearst, hello, I'm Russell Targ. Glad you could make it in today on such short notice," he says in a deep near-monotone.
May as well take advantage of the handshake to check his aura, or try to.
Looks like Targ's an open book, eh?
Is he possessed by a memetic demon?
Hah, no. But I have a lot of aura and physical info to dump, so bear with me.
If he's possessed by a memetic demon he is legally required to tell me
All right, so I'll do the physical stuff first. Targ is in decent health for a near-40-year-old with one glaring exception: Mitch can tell that Targ is legally blind. Those lenses do a lot of compensating but Mitch has to imagine even with them on the world is mostly a blur for Targ. Currently at full HP but a little fatigued? The sort of "lacking adequate sleep for a week or so" level of FP loss.
On the aura side Targ's aura is a slate grey with some definite twinkles of incipient or latent psychic ability. He's not an active psychic, not someone with a lot of power ... but he's definitely got potential: perhaps receptive to psi, perhaps sensitive to it. Targ's immediate emotional state is a little disdainful, bored, irritable — Mitch has seen this color aura on people who work in offices before—but with an underlying sense of wonder that Mitch feels likely yearns to break free. In other words, he's held a sense of wonder recently and/or often in his life—the grooves of those emotions are worn in his aura, shall we say — but that sense of wonder hasn't been fully inhabited in a little while. Mitch's overall first impression is that of a seeker who maybe got that way because he's had a very vague sixth sense his whole life that's tantalized him with the possibility of the paranormal.
"Call me MJ. Or Mitch. Or I dunno, 'hey you'? I got no reason to be fancy. You play an instrument, Mr. Targ?"
Targ takes a little double-take at Mitch asking that question. "Can't say I've practiced much since the violin and piano when I was a boy, Mitch, but it's funny you bring that up, as I've compared the development of psychic ability to the development of musical talent as a matter of practice pretty frequently. Please, sit down, I just wanted to welcome you and just introduce myself and tell you a little about the program and then I'll get you back, uh, to the forms."
Targ then goes on to outline the tests that Mitch will undergo the next week and a half. Targ explains needing this data so that if and when you're accepted into the program, we have psychological and physiological benchmarks to measure from. None of the tests are qualifying/disqualifying.
[I did a Detect Lies with aura bonus and Mitch feels like Targ is being a tiny bit disingenuous here; not outright lying but bending the truth a little bit. Seems likely some measurements on the exams might lead to disqualification.]
"This program has gotten new government funding from a number of different areas, including Defense, NASA, and several private donors and foundations, Mitch. That's why we're flush with ability to recruit. We firmly believe that human psychic potential can be unleashed if given the opportunity, and in bringing together a team of talented psychics, we hope you can learn and develop with each other's help. An invisible college, if you will, and hopefully the first of many classes to come." No mentions of the CIA or remote viewing at all.
"What kind of psychic phenomena are you looking for? Starting fires with your mind, hearing thoughts, talking to ghosts, teleportaling ... ?" Mitch is actively playing a little dumb here.
"Dowsing is a thing, right?"
"Well, we're open to everything. People have come into this program with all sorts of manifestations of psychic power but we are mostly looking at finding and developing people who can affect matter or thought at a distance, whether that's what's classically called clairvoyance, ESP, or, as you say, moving things or vibrating molecules with one's mind. But again, once inside the program there will be lots of different use-cases and opportunities to practice and explore psychic power. And yes, dowsing is most definitely a thing. Just informally, I'm wondering what sorts of psychic experiences have you had up to now?"
(Probably should have predicted this question and had an answer ready, I'm not a smart man.)
(I think my best bet is to admit to seeing auras, but this is a topic that perhaps one of the smart PCs might have opinions on that they might have shared back at Livermore ... ?)
(I remember Archie saying "the trick will be to be interesting but not too interesting" but what that means in practice is up to you.)
(Marshall's advice would've been: be yourself.)
(Just picturing Archie and Marshall's heads floating transparently near Mitch's head giving advice as he thinks)
Mitch looks sheepish, which isn't hard for him. "People don't usually believe me when I say it flat out. I can see auras sometimes. Like, how somebody is feeling, if they have a glass eye, if they're mad because they think you're bullshitting them ..."
Targ nods, takes out a little notebook and makes a few quick notes: "So this aura sight gives you both emotional information and information about their physical condition. Do you ever see these auras around other living things—animals, plants, etc.—or just human beings?"
"Huh. I've never tried to look at a plant."
Does there happen to be a potted plant in this form-filling-out chamber?
"Animals, sure. I mean, there's less there. Usually I do people."
"Like, you look tired and your glasses aren't just for show, but you don't have any cancers or tissue inflammation anywhere."
There is not a potted plant in the room, unfortunately, but plenty out in the lobby if Mitch wanted to give the aura sight on plants a try later.
"Well I must say that's a relief!" Targ says. "Anyway, Mitch, I'll let you get on with all this and I'll be checking in after the psych tests next week to let you know what the decision is. Your per diem payment can be collected at the front desk at the end of each day's testing, either here or at Stanford Hospital. In cash. And thanks again for participating; I'll be in touch." Targ shakes hands again.
The per diem bit, and Targ's careful phrasing, have Mitch a little worried that his seeming interesting-but-not-too will be evaluated on a day to day basis, which means he'll have less time to recover if he screws up.