Demon The Descent brings back my Sidereal love

Had a one-shot game with some friends last night and we played Demon the Descent using the Quick Start characters and the Do Over room from the God Machine Chronicles book as the jumping point of the story.  Some reflections I felt I wanted to share from running the game.

The Classic Is Now Part of the New
When Exalted first teased its coming, there was a lot of talk about it being "Before the World of Darkness."

Before the Impergium before the Mythic Ages before the Sundering before there was a World of Darkness there was something else. And now it is revealed, at last. Come adventure in the Second Age of the World, the fantastic world of the Exalted.

The forums were afire with all these opposing views on whether or not it was a good thing to have a game supposedly set before the world became the World of Darkness.    Later books seemed to support things further when players saw parallels between Solars and Hunters, Lunars and the Garou, Abyssals and the vampires and so on and so forth.  Characters like the archer Yi from Demon Hunter X resonated greatly with the concept of the epic archers of the Exalted game.  A huge key to the concept of its connecting was the Sidereals book which spoke of them seeing the fate of the world falling into one of Darkness if the Solars were allowed to maintain their rule.

Now, the game seems to come full circle, as Demon the Descent seems to resonate a lot of how the Sidereals were written to work as.

Sidereals were the super spies of fate in the Exalted game, using Resplendent Destinies to conceal their identities and being forced to remain consistent with these identities at the risk of garnering paradox for breaking out of the roles they were playing.  They had abilities to Duck Fate and rewrite events to show the were "never really there" and the like.  They were agents of change and destiny that served the Maidens and the Loom of Fate which governed the destinies of every thing on Creation.

Fast forward to today, the Unchained as they are called are fallen angels of the Machine God.  They embrace Cover, human identities which become more "real" as they are more developed, but are compromised when they fail to live up to who the cover personalities should be.  They have embeds and exploits to ensure they were "Never Here" in scenarios that head south of their plans, and while they no longer serve the Machine God, there's no denying they relate to a massive entity or force that can be argued to have grand designs and "programming" set upon every thing in the world.

The old is new again.

If Exalted lead to the World of Darkness, and the World of Darkness ended for a new World of Darkness to be born, this new World of Darkness is now coming to a nice book-end point where the Unchained of Demon the Descent resonate the Sidereals of the old.

I know, I know, it isn't anything concrete.  It probably wasn't even intentional.
But the World of Darkness Storyteller in me is enjoying a lot the parallels and relishing the idea that everything in the game line is one connected complex timeline.

And it is bringing back a lot of the love I have for all those games.

Now if it is intentional...
Man, I'm even more excited!

The God Machine Chronicle ep03 : World of Darkness

07/03/2013
Membrane
A God Machine Chronicle
Episode Three

"Fact and Fiction"

World of Darkness

Donald wakes up naked in Central park. People are staring at him. He hears the pounding sounds of a boombox and tries to get his bearings.  He has faint, vague memories, and struggles to get to his feet. But when he notices the police making their way to him, he breaks into a run.

*

Seth is still at old man Donald's home.  He sees the article of Stacey Macyntire, his sister, and pulls it from the wall.  The article is an old one, about her having invented some kind of litmus test for alcohol.  Seth follows the thread attached to the article and finds it leading to someone named Zee. “Am I supposed to bleed to death?” Conners asks teasingly, and Seth lookd down to see the police officer still bleeding from his self-ricocheted gun-shot wound.  Seth finds the kitchen and brings back a bottle of alcohol.  Conners is looking at a clipping, about a man named George Calin who has his face.  The man has a massive meltdown after accepting an Oscar. “Do I suck out the poison?” he teases but the smile fades as Seth pours the alcohol on the wound to clean it.  

"This the sort of thing you've had before being a cop?"

“Not after this, not like this. Not this?” Conners grimaces.

*

Wyatt stands in the other room.  He towers over the old man Donald and tries to gleam more information from him. “They call you a Prophet. The one who saw past the illusion.," Donald tries to explain when Wyatt asks why is he supposedly vital in all this.  And who these others are who share his face.  "We are not living in a program," Donald continues, "But we are living in a prison, we just can’t see it.”  Wyatt realizes this sounds much like common gnostic faith.  The parallels to his own novel, the God-Machine are unmistakable.
“And thus they continued their duties, unaware of their actions being merely programs they were given.”

*

Donald started quoting lines from Wyatt's novel, which continued to unnerve him.  He could not quite grasp the idea that his stupid novel had started some kind of group.  Or religion.

"This is just a state of mind?" Wyatt asked.

“The Rennerds would disagree.”  Wyatt flinched.  The Protagonist of his novel the God-Machine was someone named Rennerd..  When Wyatt decided to try following that train of thought, he asked how one would hide from something that one was connected to.  

“By being irrational. Something imaginary among the numbers," was Donald's reply.  But then he followed the answer with a question.  "You are not the Prime, are you?”

Wyatt slowly shook his head.  Donald seemed dejected, and quietly walked back to his bedroom.  Wyatt watches as he pulls the key out, slides it into another door, and opens the doorway into a room with pipes and steam.

Then leaves.

*

Ronald runs and tries to find a place to hide.  He sees a portalet at one side and pounds the ground to get there are fast as he could.  Thankfully, there are less bystanders in the area this time, giving him a chance to slide on some clothing as he runs.   As he gets to the portalet, however, the door opens and a woman inside steps out.  She resembles Zoey, Ronald's younger sister.  "Rey?" the woman asks.  

They hide by the plants as the cops arrive within the nearby yards.  The cop draws a phone from his pocket and begins fiddling with it.  A high pitched whine hits, and it almost forced Ronald to leave his hiding place.  Ronald opts to stay hidden.  Allows time to pass.

*

Wyatt steps out into the hallway, with the intention of heading home, but notices something odd.  The walls, to his recollection, were a shade of tan.  Today, however, they seemed to be a tinge of blue.  The numbers at the door were not numbers.  They were instead braille.  The door to his home turns out to be locked.  And as he considers going to the super to have it opened, the door opens.

His mother.

Wyatt stares at her, wondering why she would be at his hone.  He also wonders why she seems to be wearing some kind of one piece jumpsuit.  But then, he realizes she thinks he's someone else.

Someone named Rey.

"I'm not Rey," he tells her.

“You’re not?”

“I’m Wyatt. What are you doing in my apartment?”

The parents start talking to him as if he was in an intervention, telling him that they don't blame him for the drugs.  Or the men.  Wyatt doesn't know how to make sense of anything they are saying.

*

Conners studies the other clippings on the wall and sees a few more familiar faces.  He even finds someone named Rey Tinsey, and this guy does resemble them as well.  Seth and Conners finally start to discuss their encounter with the men in white.  Conners admits he thinks guy in white is not normal. “I shot him in the chest. I know I shot him in the chest.”

“Where’s your radio? Call for help. Or at least tell them you’re bleeding. Should we bring you to a hospital or something?"  Seth ponders.

But both wonder if it would be safe to reach out to anyone else about these events.
Especially when they have no idea who these men in white are.

*

The Mobius bar.  Ronald and Zee sit down and take the chance to talk about Rey.  She doesn't have a picture of him, but tries to explain to him how Rey had committed suicide.  Jumped off a building.  The bar owner, a Russian stocky woman, asks them if everything is okay.  Zee smiles at Red and tellsher all is wel.  Ronald asks if there were any encounters with men in white.  Zee seems confused, admitting that she wasn' expecting him to quit being part of the Rennerds.  Red tells Ronald, "It is good to see you though, Rey."

"He mentioned something about having to take, 'the capsule'," Zee mutters.

"Can you help me at all?" Ronald asks.

"Help you regain your memories?"

"Yes, or at least tell me I am not dreaming," Ronald admits.  His eyes scan the bar and he catches a tall dark cross-dresser at one table, reading a book called The God-Machine.  Her metallic make up and huge hair seems like something from the 80s.  Ronald starts to notice the cross-dresser... looks like his infamous friend, KaQoH.

“Can you help me find my brother. I think he faked his death,” Zee admits.

*

Wyatt stares at his parents.  They talk about their worries of his "lapses" and try to ask him to admit what drugs he had been taking.  They mutter about him claiming to be other persons.    The father talks about asking someone to help, and a call is made.  Seconds barely pass when a visitor arrives at the door.  Wyatt tries to stay calm, the whole time bothered by this second set of strange parents.

"Doctor Faciem," the mother greets the man as he steps inside, "Perhaps you can help us with our son."

Wyatt sees the man in white enter the room.  He locks himself in his bedroom, which now looks like some kind of entertainment room with large monitors and screens, and stares out of the window to see a world that seems very far from what it should be.   An amalgam of cultures almost like that of the movie Bladerunner can be seen outside, and the clouds dance in colors he has never seen before.

"That is not what you think it is," the mother warns Wyatt, and he notices her waver for a moment as if a heat wave passed by.

Wyatt slams the window open.

Everything breaks apart.   The world outside is an image. As are the parents.  Doctor Faciem tries to calm him down as red lights alarm all over.  A screen activates and inside, a stern woman in a uniform demands he comply and surrender.  She warns him that he is a passenger on a Story Ship travelling through the Fictional Universe.  "You are merely a minor anecdote in a greater calling.  If you are a threat to the narrative, we will do to you what we do to all Fictional Universe threats.  We edit them away."

Wyatt cannot cope.  He drops to the ground, feeling his sanity slipping away.
Doctor Faciem smiles.

*

"Here," Conners tells Seth as he hands him something.  Seth finds Conner handling him a key.  To his place.  "I have to deal with the boss for now, I've been missing for a few days from work it seems.   But I want to know you will be okay."   Seth decides to go to Conners' place to get some semblance of normalcy and rest.  Conners leaves to get the car he left back at the other place.

"Do me a favor and feed the dog," Conners touches Seth's face and reminds him to do that task.  Seth is still confused.  He doesn't recall when he started getting interested in men.

Conner's place isn't as shabby as he thought it would be.  Given the guy's O.C. nature, the place is pretty clean.  A Chinese guy who lives across the room stares at him suspiciously.  The dog barkes and rushes to him, excited to see a guest.  As Seth tries to call the dog down, a voice can be heard outside at the hallway, as a woman named Madella seems to have come to visit.  She calls Conners "Ham," and the Chinese guy starts teasing her to give it up.  "He's got some man in there with him!"

Madella screams at him back, annoyed that he'd try to tease him that way.  Realizing no one is answering, she starts calling out for the dog.

The dog's name is Bruno.

Seth lies on couch. Tries to get some rest. Mercifully, he falls asleep.

*

The cross-dresser has the same tattoo.  Ronald can see hints of it underneath her clothing.    He cannot understand why there are all these parallels.  These strange echoes of each other.  “Have you ever felt lost, as if you’re the only one who doesn't grasp the world.”

“I am acting as logical as I can,” Zee replies.

“So I’m the crazy one?” Ronald asks

Zee does not reply verbally.  Instead Ronald starts to see her with shifting gears and cracks on the surface.  He loses consciousness once again.

*

Wyatt wakes to find himself before Admiral Redd who is interviewing him to discern who he is. "You are possibly a Fictional Universe alien.  I will ask you a simple question and you must answer.  Name the three major events that have transpired in your timeline."

Wyatt stumbles for words and mutters, "Barack Obama as President... Wyatt Wrote a novel that didn't sell as much.  And a storm devastated the City of Marikina, in the Philippines."

"Wake up," a voice seems to whisper.

Admiral Redd pulls out two spritzers and asks Wyatt to choose one of them.  She does not explain why.

"Wake up..."

Wyatt opens his eyes.  He is back home and Mara is getting dressed.  He looks around, confused where he is and wondering why his dreams keep getting more and more elaborate.  He slides out of the room and rushes to Donald's room. The floor is wet with olive oil.  There are two sets of foot prints.

"Wyatt, let's go.  We are running late!"

Confused, he just follows her lead and quickly learns that they are headed to a press release.  Wyatt supposedly had sent in an outline of the next big novel, and the book is to be entitled, W.  They had agreed, it seems, to give the press ten keywords on what the novel will be about.

Wyatt stares at the gathered crowd of cameras and reporters and closes his eyes and merely utters the ten words that come to his lips.

"Agents, Dimensions, Revolution, Machines, Alternate Dimension, Different Versions of ourselves."

*

Seth wakes up to the smell of freshly brewed coffee.  The cleaning lady greets him and Bruno (who had fallen asleep between his legs) and she tells him she brewed three cups of coffee.  Seth soon learns she is actually Conners' mother and she visits in secret to clean his house when he's not looking.  She was able to get inside thanks to the spare key the Asian guy across the hall had to the place.  Seth tries not to wonder why he has that key.

The mother is pretty cheerful and tells Seth she is happy her son is socializing.  She shares how as a child, the poor boy was forced to do things perfectly for many years.  She tells him the trauma never left him.  Seth asks her to stay a bit but she confesses that she never feels safe in the place.  "Did you know?  Many tenants have left the building without even paying!  Sometimes I feel this place is cursed.  Or something."  When he asks her if he should mention she visited, she quickly tells him no. "Mister Eyes will see and Mister E is gone.”

Seth found that saying very odd.

*

A man steps out of the crowd in the press release event.  Wyatt sees the man walk towards him and has a flash in his head that the man was someone he had seen in that subway dream.  "I have to break the Master Piece," the man tells him and draws a pistol from underneath his clothes.

Wyatt gasps and the pistol discharges before he could do anything.  

As he drops to the ground, blood pouring out of his stomach, the man rushes to leave.  "It was the only way to make the Machine Fail!" he utters.  And just as Wyatt starts to expect seeing his life flash before his eyes, he sees Mister Nose come into view and walk up to him.  He surveys his wound and calls out, "Mister Eyes?"

A second Man in White emerges.  

"I will go track the shooter," Mister Nose tells Mister White.  "Can I count on you to ensure this iteration is watched over well?"  Mister Eyes nods.  "The wound is not grave.  I can see he will survive this."

Wyatt realizes the man who shot him.... 

was Rey Tinsey.

The God Machine Chronicle ep02 : World of Darkness

07/21/2013
Membrane
A God Machine Chronicle
Episode Two

"The Four and the Mad Old Man"

World of Darkness

Creatively blocked fantasy writer, Wyatt Matthews.    Parkour DJ in debt, Ronald Tanneberger.  Conman Psychic, Seth Macintyre.    Their lives were intertwined in ways they have yet to grasp.  And though the previous events were anything but normal...

Wyatt wakes up and finds himself in bed.  He struggles to recall the strange fuzzy memories of his dream but they seem to too easily slip away.  He hears a noise and realizes there is someone in his house.  He reaches for his cellphone nearby and finds it dead.  The battery was completely drained.  He tiptoes to the cabinet to draw out his baseball bat but accidentally bumps it against the door.  The sound he makes alerts the intruder.

As he moves to the door and slams it open, ready to fight, he finds instead a familiar though unwelcome face.  His name is Rennard.  They had broken up some time back.

"I... came to get my stuff back.  I tried messaging you a few times.  Called even."  A beat.  Then the unnecessary accusatory question.  "Why WAS your cellphone not charged?"

Awkward silence.  

Wyatt plugs in the phone, and checks it.  The inbox shows 3 texts from Mara and 5 texts from Rennard.  He peeks at some and reads them:

7:16pm Mara
“Where are you? Aren’t you coming home?”
8:00pm Mara
“I’m at your door. Why aren't you answering?”
8:15pm Mara
“I am starting to feel stupid out here. This isn't funny.”

Wyatt gives her a call and Wyatt for a moment slips, wondering if Mara had Rennard come back based on their deal.  But then he recalls the "deal" was a statement she made in the "dream."  It was a dream, right  Wyatt feels very confused.  But even more confused when Rennard steps back into view wearing nothing but his underwear.

“One last,” he begs.

“No, thank you,” Wyatt answers and Rennard leaves without even getting dressed.   Wyatt shakes his head and gets a new message from Mara.

"I'm missing my boots by the way.  Any chance you saw them?"

Wyatt recalls her resting them on his immaculate table.  In the dream.  But he checks the table anyway.  He sees the impossible:  Boot marks on the surface.  

*

Ronald wakes up with three naked people wrapped around his own naked body.  In the panic, he swings a punch outwards and accidentally smacks a girl on the face! She curses as she gets off the bed and throws a retaliatory punch at him.  "Ronald!" she yowls and rushes to the bathroom to check on the damage.   Ronald looks around, his heart still pounding, as he still recalls the strange mechanical-organic things he had witnessed in the subway.  Or was that a dream?  It feels so hard to recall.  He looks around to get his bearings and realizes where he is.

Kandice.  Her name is Kandice.  This is her place.  An apartment on the Fifth floor.  She lives with her brother, Dariel, whom he had never met but whenever she'd bring him over, he'd sneak inside while he slept, and eventually slither out by the fire exit.

"Kandice, you okay?" Dariel calls out, having heard the exchange.

"Am fine.." she hollers back, only to have his unexpected response, " Good, then when you're dressed, you can head on out there and even bring your friends over with you.  I'm brewing a lot of coffee."

Ronald gets dressed, but quickly realizes he cannot find his jeans.  He peeks out the room and sees it sitting on the couch.  Dariel starts getting agitated when he notices the dark mark on Kandice's face.  "What the f- Who his you?  Did someone hit you, Kandice?  Who the hell hit you?"  She tries to calm him down, but Dariel's anger quickly spirals out of control.  Ronald realizes a second fact:  Dariel is KaQoH.  The gang guy who he owed... wait.  Wasn't that just in the dream?  Confused, Ronald decides wisely to get out of the situation instead of waiting it to get worse.  He slips between the partly open window and its frame to duck outside at the fire exit.  Thankfully, this is enough for Dariel to think he had left far earlier in the day.  As the two argue some more, Ronald slips down to the street and heads to the Bus station, hoping to make his way home.

The old woman has a dog.  The dog, a German Shepherd, happens to be named Pixie.  The dog stares at Ronald strangely, while the woman waits for the bus.  Ronald realizes he doesn't have his wallet (it was in his jeans) and that means if KaQoH found it, he also would find his address!  

He sneaks back upstairs and finds Kandice alone.  Her brother called his gang friends, and they headed off right away.  Ronald tries to deflect why he knows her brother.  And in frustration, she drops the subject.  “You owe me,” she mutters.

As Ronald leaves to try to sneak back home, he realizes he can hear a buzzing.  He digs into his bag and finds his cellular phone ringing, showing the name Office Conners.

*

Seth wakes up in his bed and finds he is not alone.  Officer Conners, naked and nuzzled against him, pulls him closer and hugs him tighter.  Memories are fuzzy.  Seth recalls meeting the officer, his hand brushing against the man's buttocks.  He recalls the two deciding to leave the crime scene after questioning the husband who looked like him.  The rough kissing against the window.  The sex against the wall.  Seth glances at his body, looking for signs of injury.  He doesn't see any matching the stranger fainter memories.  Conners wakes up and is all flirty.  But Seth keeps blocking the come ons.  Conners decides to check the web for any more information on the lookalike, but a Skype call interrupts the search.  A client.

On the side table, Conner's clothes are a neat quaint perfectly folded pile.  The gun is in the holster beside then, atop the shoes.

Conners is being all playful, but Seth tries to focus on the call.  It turns out to be Stacey, Seth's sister.  She wants to hire him to investigate her boyfriend.  "I think he's cheating."    Conners tries to talk her out of this and later checks his phone for evidence of the previous night.  He sees lots of pictures.  As in lots.  And most of them are selfies.  The timestamps seem to support the memories.  The earliest stamp turns out to be 7:16pm.  Even the GPS markers on the pics all seem to match whether they should register.  Worse, they all have Conners acting like a fool beside him.   Then the phone dies as the battery finally runs out. Seth sees that even Conners' phone dies too.                                                            

Conners returns with a plate of bed and cheese.  "Can you be any more gay?" Seth scowls and when Conners asks why he's being mean, Seth breaks into a tirade of how something isn't right.  He questions Conners on how easily the man has broken protocol.  Conners pulls him in and the two kiss.  The deep kiss lasts longer than expected.  But as they disengage...

Confusion.

"Considering how much you stick to the rules, how much you stick to you habit.  I cannot believe you'd throw that all away upon seeing me.  Look, you don't even have any notes on the suicide.  This is so not like you."

The door slams open.

Both turn to see a single man in an all White Suit.  Memories come flooding back.     

*

Wyatt recalls the weird dreams.  He feels unsettled by all this.  Which was real?  Which really happened?   He heads back to the staircase where he had his encounter and there, approaches the nearest door.  The knocks at the door and an old man answers, peering through the peep hole. The man asks if he's working on his devil books again.  He asks if the old man recalls a guy dressed in a white suit.  He admits seeing a woman (Mara) visting him.  It doesn't make sense.  So did it happen?  Or didn't it?

He sits at the computer and tries to focus his thoughts by writing.  The fingers type faster.  And faster.  The words start flowing freely.  Of men in white clothing.  Of abductions and the victims having their memories tampered with.  Of other people's memories being shoved into your own head.  Place you in a different life.   A different-

A knock.

*

Ronald arrives at his building.  Motorcycles are parked outside.  The security guard of the building is busy counting off bills.  Suspecting the gang to be up there, Ronald opts to enter by the parking area beside the condo.  He takes the elevator to a higher floor, then from there makes his way down the stairs to his floor.  He peeks and sees three gang bangers guarding the elevator door.  The door to his place had been forced open.  There's no sign of KaQoH however.  Ronald suspects the guy was in his home.

He heads back upstairs and knocks on the door to Jennie's place.  He and Jennie had some fun times in the past, but it never progressed to something serious.  Jennie, as it turns out, was not home alone.  Ronald finds a growling Great Dane named Oscar snarling at him, and a naked middle aged man named John emerging from the bedroom to command the dog to sit.  Jennie pulls a Soy Milk carton from the fridge and asks what Ronald needs.  He tells her of the gang members at his floor.  John was about to offer a suggestion, but his own cellphone rings and he quickly takes it in the bed room, away from them both.  Ronald opts not to ask anything, and instead asks if he can call 9-11.  Jennie lets him use the phone.

*

Seth stares at Mister Nose, who stands at the doorway.  Conners does not hesitate and draws his pistol from the holster and trains the gun at the man in white.  Seth does not hesitate, however, and draws his own gun.  He shoots Mister Nose, even as Mister Nose talks to them about how they were not supposed to remember.  Nose draws the small bottle from his jacket, and raises it to spray at them, but Seth does not give him that chance.  He grabs the spirtzer bottle away, and, when Mister Nose tries to grab Seth, hears the thunderclap as another pistol is discharged.  Mister Nose slumps to the side as Conner's shot strikes the man in the shoulder.  Conners gets distracted, however, when he starts to hear his radio going haywire.  The distraction allows Mister Nose to move.  

Seth doesn't not hesitate again and fires once more, but this time the shot goes wild as Mister Nose utters, "Decino" before the gun discharges.  Conners screams as the bullet ricochets into his knee.  But as Mister Nose topples to the side against the used condoms on the floor, he seems to lose his battle more and even bangs his face against the wall.  Seth closes in and uses the spritzer on Mister Nose.  He drops down, knocked out.

The two grin at each other, though both remain uncertain what was going on.
They both look up to see a second man in White stepping through.  Even if no one ever opened the door.

*

Mara pays him a visit.

Wyatt is at the kitchen, prepping something to eat, while Mara goes through the earlier pages that Wyatt supposedly had  typed all night, as far as his memories claim.  Wyatt finds Mara's boots in the trash bin, which puzzles him because they would not have had any reason to leave them here.  Worse, Mara's visit supposedly never happened.  So how could she have left her boots at his place.  "Aeons," Mara asks aloud, "This Aeons reads good."  Mara admits the outline feels strong and the story feels fresh.   She is so distracted she doesn't "hear" Wyatt telll her about the boots.  The lead character finds himself facing others who bear his face.  In the novel, the man ponders if they are clones.  Or are they them, just in different parts in time.

Another knocking.

*

The second man in a white suit draws out another tiny spritzer from his pocket. "Aegis," the man calmly utters.  The intruder is sprayed with the spritzer but the mist does not reach him.  Some kind of field repels things from reaching him.  As Seth twists out of the way, Conner fires his pistol at the guy, but the bullet ricochets and clips Conner on the face.  Panicked, Seth starts chanting, "Aegis aegis aegis..." over and over again, hoping whatever protected the man in white will protect him too.  But as the man in white tries to grab Seth once again, he utters "Decino," and Conners' shot this time strikes the man.

There's another ripple in the air as a third man in white begins to come into view.

The two decide to make a break for it and run!

*

As Ronald uses the phone, he realizes that John and Jennie clearly would rather be left alone.   He heads out and slowly makes his way back down one floor.  He can hear the sounds of a police car closing in, and decides to wait it out rather than make things complicated.  As the cops arrive, the gang members by the elevator quietly exit, not causing any trouble.  The cops arrive at the apartment and very quickly call for KaQoH to drop to the ground.  Thinking it is safe enough, Ronald decides to head in and tell the cops he's the guy who called for help.

Ronald hear's his phone ringing again, and takes it though it tracks an unfamiliar number.  He hears Conners' voice.  KaQoH goes frantic that moment, and charges forward at him.  The cops quickly move to tackle the guy down and pull him away.  But the ruckus forces Ronald to end the call.  Ronald's hopes were starting to rise until the cops get support from their Captain.  The Captain happens to be dressed and look exactly like Mister Nose, the man in the white suit.  He asks if "All is well?"

*

Wyatt hears the knocking and peers at the peep hole to find unexpected guests.  His parents are outside the door.  As he opens the door to let them in he realizes the two are speaking in tandem.  Which is odd.  And are both wearing white outfits, which really pushes things to a more disturbing level given the (non)dreams Wyatt had of the previous night.  As the mother walks up to Mara, she slowly draws a spritzer out of her jacket.  As the father walks up to Wyatt, he starts asking him questions that bother him.  Questions that seem to try to draw out what he recalls of the previous night.  He drops the teapot in shock, and rather than answer, quickly maneuvers to approach Mara.

In his mind, he finds himself screaming, "We have to get out of here!"

*

Seth and Conners pile into the police car.  As Conners speeds off, the two consider their next course of action.  Conners thankfully remains calm as they question the insanity of the situation.  "We have to stop," Conners realizes however and stops the car by the street.  He quickly walks to what might be the only remaining phone booth in the city and starts dialing Ronald's number.  The call starts ringing.

*

Wyatt tried to force his "mother" to stop, but he realizes he's just not strong enough. He grabs the typewriter but fumbles with it and drops it at his own feet.  Panick overtakes him and he runs, leaving Mara behind.

As Wyatt runs outside, he once again rushes to Donald and begs him to let him hide.  "Is it time?" the old man asks and to Wyatt's surprise, the old man starts dousing Olive Oil all over the door and its perimeter.  A knife gleams and Wyatt feels its sharp edge pushed against his throat as Donald motions him to stay quiet.  Through the peep hole, Wyatt can see his "parents" outside the door.

 "Let him go," the two speak in tandem, "We can still use the woman to lure him back."

The "mother" mutters, "Domus" and vanishes, folding away as if she was an origami creation using the world itself.  The "father" inspects the door, then leaves.  It is almost as if Donald's Olive Oil thing actually worked.

"Now listen," Donald tells Wyatt, "You have two minutes.  Do whatever you must, but get the others running from the men in white to the alleyway across the street.  Do you understand?"  Wyatt shakes his head, but Donald mutters something about not having enough time.   Wyatt feels Donald force him to his feet, and walk him to what looks like a door frame leaning against the wall.  The old man fetches a key looped to a chain around his neck, and watches as he unlocks the doorknob of the unfixed door.  The door opens and to Wyatt's disbelief, it shows a totally different place.

*

The Captain has the other cops leave, and they do so without complaints nor questions.  Ronald doesn't feel too good about this.  He glances at KaQoH who seemed pretty exhausted.  The Captain makes fun of Dariel, and jokes about how he got the title KaQoH.  "King and Queen of Hearts," he mutters, "Such a fan of the song during his younger years that he had it tattooed to his chest."

Ronald is amused at how idiotic that story is.

"The more pressing matter is... you remember," the Captain snarls.  Ronald is not hopeful about this turn of mood.

*

Seth and Conner reach the street where Ronald is staying at and note the other police cars present.    Conner tells Seth to go ahead, while he waits at the car.  As Seth reaches the unit, he hears Ronald calling from somewhere within, asking him to step into the bed room.  Seth doesn't feel right about this.  He glances inside and sees Ronald dressed in an all white shirt and boxer shorts.  White.  Again.  The phone in the house rings and Ronald moves to answer it.  Seth chooses to trust his gut and breaks for it.

*

As Wyatt walks into the apartment, he tries his best to hide his confusion.  He looks around for the people he should bring to the alleyway and sees Seth hurrying down the stairs.  Not wanting to waste time, Wyatt leaps for Seth and tackles him to the ground.  He tries to explain what he can about what he is going through and begs Seth to trust him.  But as they decide on an uneasy alliance, they stop their route to the car. "We have to go back for a friend of mine."  Wyatt reluctantly agrees.

The two arrive beside the car to find it empty.  Seth looks around and catches a Clock repair shop just across from the car.  "There," he tells Wyatt and the two quickly step inside.  A young woman offers to help them, and Seth directly asks for his friend.

He notices a few pictures of cats.  Of dogs.  Then realizes as he talks to the owner that she is the splitting image of his client, Mary whose husband George had killed their dog to hide an affair.  Bothered, Seth quickly finds Conners who turns out was resting inside, and the three make their way to the alleyway.    When Conners asks why they are following this stranger, Seth admits he at least would want to get answers and this guy seems to know something.

Conners doesn't say anything about how alike they look.

Across the alley.  They find a door swinging open as if on cue.  A young black kid named Jimmy stares at them and asks, “Aren’t there supposed to be four of you?”  The three hurry inside and Wyatt admits he doesn't know what happens next.  Jimmy leads them to the walk-in freezer and tells them to go inside and wait.  Seth worries its a trap.  But given Conners' wound, they decide to just go in.  The door is shut closed.

And suddenly reopens.

It is Donald.  The door has opened to Donald's apartment.  And they watch as Donald tucks back a glowing key under his shirt.  "There were supposed to be four of you?  What is happening," he asks Wyatt angrily, "You only brought one of the four here?"  Conners limps to the side, dizzy from the events and weary from his fight.  Seth looks around, the shock overwhelming him for a moment.  He stumbles into another room where there are newspaper clippings all over the walls.  Pins and colored yarn connect some of them to others.   Wyatt sees the many other doors and their frames leaning against more walls.  Did that key just allow Donald to open a door and its frame to another door somewhere in time and space?

"This is all your fault," Donald berates Wyatt, "You created the God-Machine.  And now we're under its scrutiny!"  Wyatt tries to grasp what he means, as the only God-Machine he ever knew of was that horrible novel he wrote which didn't reach a market.  "I'm not behind this!" he gasps.   Donald mutters about missing two others..  one named Ronald and another named Rey.  Wyatt recalls that strange blonde woman in the park mistaking him for "Rey".  He recalls tells her he isn't him and she replied, "I get it... You're 'not' Rey," she muttered.  "Can you tell 'Rey' if you 'find' him that I'm here?"

Seth sees more clippings and newspapers everywhere. More doors with frames. He studies them and starts to realize that many of them are about many people including Conners and even some infamous gangbanger named KaQoH.  He notices that some have same date but show instead different events. Or show people who look like each other.  Then he starts to realize that there are also clippings of his sister, Stacey.  And other people.  And these are even marked as "Expendable."

Wyatt recalls his novel.  In the God-Machine, he told the story of machine that created other machines.  These intelligent life-like robots had artificial intelligence that allowed them to look and act like real people.  in the novel, the Protagonist was a robot that gained full consciousness. He rebelled against the God-Machines and sought to go against their prime directive.  But by destroying the God-Machines, he caused everything that was connected to them to crash.  That included himself.

*

Ronald awakens to find himself in  “another place.”   The horizon to horizon show nothing but masses of machinery, shifting glass and lights.  Mechanical arms with pneumatic pumps, wires, tubes and gears swivel ito action to check his bones and nape and identification.  A screen flickers on, showing his general well-being and status.

QUERY:  REPROCESS [y/n]

Ticking.  Beeps.  Whirls.  Hisses.

RESPONSE:  NO.  RESET PROCEDURE CANCELLED.

More ticking.  More beeps.

QUERY: THE OTHERS [Explanatory Response Required] [waiting..]

A brief beep.  The lights shift from golden to dark purple.

RESPONSE:  DESIGNATE WILL LEAD OTHERS TO DESIRED LOCUS.
QUERY: AFFIRMATIVE TO COLLECTIVE [y/n]
RESPONSE: AFFIRMATIVE
RESPONSE: AFFIRMATIVE
RESPONSE: AFFIRMATIVE
RESPONSE: AFFIRMATIVE
RESPONSE: AFFIRMATIVE
RESPONSE: AFFIRMATIVE
RESPONSE: AFFIRMATIVE
RESPONSE: AFFIRMATIVE
RESPONSE: AFFIRMATIVE
RESPONSE: AFFIRMATIVE
RESPONSE: AFFIRMATIVE

RESPONSE: COLLATED APPROVAL.
ACTION:  SEND DESIGNATE BACK.

response received in bold 14 point font
response received in bold 14 point font
response received in bold 14 point font
response received in bold 14 point font

* end transmission *

Review: WOD The God-Machine Chronicle

The God-Machine Chronicle
by Dave Brookshaw, David A Hill Jr., Danielle Lauzon, Matthew McFarland, John Newman, John Snead, Stew Wilson, Filamena Young, Eric Zawadzki.
World of Darkness
Rating: ★★★★

What has risen may fall.
What has fallen may rise again.

When the World of Darkness was reborn (an event preceded by the Gehenna and Time of Judgment books that lead to the close of the time we refer to now as Classic World of Darkness), there were some pieces of fiction that stirred the imagination in what felt to be a totally fresh and new direction.  Voice of an Angel was the name of that piece, written by Matthew McFarland and Rick Chillot, and in that tale the concept of a strange divine presence which manifested in a much more mechanical material state was introduced:  The God-Machine.  What was it?  Why did it exist?  How did it function?  What purpose did it serve?  These were questions that the reader was left to speculate on.  To explore on their own.

But deep down, many of us wanted more.  Much much more. And back then, we were teased with a few more glimpses to the truth.  Stories such as Residents (World of Darkness: Mysterious Places), Road Gospel (World of Darkness: Midnight Roads) and Diamonds (World of Darkness: Aslyum) were then released, and each hinted at a larger untold story.  The Righteous and the Wicked (World of Darkness: Antagonists) was one of my favorites, with its tattooed cultist and the apocalyptic message given in bold 14 point font on the End of Days.  First they came out with an Anthology book, which really added more ideas to the pot.

Then they hit us with a whole new book.  And that is what this review will focus on.  (For those curious about the other half of the book, which was released as a free Rules Update download, check out my review on that here.)

So what does the book contain?

The book opens with a new story which connects the concept of the God-Machine to something we all dearly love - the internet.  What starts out as a cautionary tale on the dangers of clicking links transforms to a frightening narrative that tells us there are worse things than receiving spam.   Then the book has chapters dedicated to explaining the concepts behind the God-Machine, a generous helping of tales you can use to jumpstart, add to, or wrap a chronicle around, which involve the God-Machine and its many Infrastructures (oooh, new shiny term, eh?) and finally a chapter dedicated to the many servants of the God-Machine itself.  An appendix then wraps the book up with the host of new Rules Updates and as I mentioned above, you can check out my other review for my thoughts on those.

So We Finally Know What the God-Machine Is?
Well, yes and no.  And that's not a cop-out answer.  Yes, because Chapter One: Storytelling the God-Machine very nicely explains how the concept of the God-Machine can be introduced into a game.  It introduces the ideas behind having a God-Machine as an antagonist (or any other role) in your stories, and the many "parts" the comprise its presence and influence in the world.    Those familiar with Hunter the Vigil (as well as the expansions added to Vampire the Requiem in The Danse Macabre), the book brings back the idea that the threat may be rated in Tiers; Local, Regional, Global and Cosmic.

Yes, smart readers now realize that this means the writers did NOT just outright say what the God-Machine is (Hence the "no" in the first statement above).  This is because even this book is embracing the new design philosophy present in White Wolf Gaming Studio games, which is "Everything we release form now on is intended to be tool kit in nature.  You can choose, mix and match the portions you like.  And I personally feel that's a great thing.  It allows you to keep things unpredictable.  And it doesn't tie players to stick to a meta-plot the way the classic World of Darkness did.  While the meta-plot in the past did have its merits, I am happy that the World of Darkness now is sticking to its guns and keeping things tool-kit friendly.

Chapter One: Building the God-Machine Chronicle
Boy does this book expound on options in Chapter One: Building the God-Machine Chronicle and throw even more in the second chapter called Tales of the God-Machine.  (Oddly, the table of contents shows Chapter One to be Storytelling the God-Machine.  I wonder why the sudden change?)  The first parts  explore why the God-Machine book was made, and lead to how the God-Machine most likely has its arms in the world.  It offers many ideas, many concepts, but leaves it for the individual Storyteller to decide on which one stands as the truth.  This was done before, in the Time of Judgement, Gehenna, Apocalypse and Ascension books, which offered multiple ways for the final arcs to be approached.  Some hated the idea since it gave no "true ending" while others (like myself) applauded the move since it allowed storytellers to use what they wanted, and allowed even the same kind of story to be explored without feeling like the same earlier game since you can approach it now using an angle offered in the book which you haven't tried.

What is impressive is the huge list of idea generating concepts they list out in this chapter.  Page 24 to 38 is filled with all these interesting snippets for encounters, people who are against the God-Machine, those who worship it, and so forth that I cannot help but wish MORE of these were explored in the next chapter.

They also introduce The Network, which is a simple system to ensure that the player characters have related connections or shared backgrounds to allow more interaction and reasons to reach out to one another, which I feel is something I am happy to see finally written down as a technique to use.  Many games slow down to a halt due to players not... interacting with each other.  The section also talks about Chronicle Tracks, which explores the various themes you can embrace for your God-Machine chronicle, and even suggests what Tales you can use (and in what order) from the next Chapter to build your game.  They're cool sections that give new game masters loads of ideas to form their own game summaries.

Chapter Two: Tales of the God-Machine  

Tales of the God-Machine throws in a total of 20 possible story ideas that you can incorporate, mix-and-match or explore in your games.  Some (like the 300 Block, Urban Wanderings, Do-Over, Sister City) are tremendously cool, throwing a Fringe-meets-The Lost Room vibe without forcing players down a narrow path.  Others (like Operation: Bell Jar, the Key) are less flexible but no less compelling and interesting to explore.  With the twenty laid out among the four tiers, the Storyteller can nicely scale events from local to global (or wider) nicely at a glance.

Each Tale is broken down to its component parts, with mentions of what Infrastructure of the God-Machine are vital in the tale, what parts are Interchangeable, what Skills or Merits might be useful to lead into or be used in the story, and Escalation ideas on how things get "worse" if the players don't intervene.

These are remarkable doses of information that can prove to be extremely useful to Storytellers who aren't certain yet on what direction to have their game take.  Each one nicely throws in ideas and suggestions which makes it very enticing to find ways to incorporate each Tale to one's game.  Blackhattmatt kindly throws in a teaser of one of the Tales, The Key, in his blog.  I highly recommend you read it to get a gist of one of the Tales.

Then Comes Chapter Three.
Admittedly, I felt let down by this chapter.  Chapter Three is called The Cogs in the Machine, and it explores the many characters and antagonists you will face in a God Machine Chronicle.  This is where I felt the game goes a tad flat (hence my lower than happy rating above).  I really wanted to find cool monsters or unique ideas, but sadly I felt the ones presented here were just not interesting enough.    Some, like the Polis Men, offered great visual concepts but system-wise seemed lacking.  Given this chapter explores 27 characters, I admittedly felt disappointed because the Angels presented didn't catch me as inspiring or unique.  (Maybe I'm just too spoiled by Dr. Who admittedly, but I really wanted to see Angels that felt more God-Machineque than just spirits who were doing the God-Machine's bidding.  Each one was tied to a certain tale, and yet many of them felt like the could be thrown into any other non-God-Machine Chronicle, which in my opinion worked against this Chapter.   And while some were moving in the direction, the final result seemed bland and uninspired.

The book does offer two more Angel ideas, both of which were not tied to any of the Tales.  Ironically, these two seemed to show much more promise and I wish they wrote more in this vein instead.

So, Overall Assessment?
The book is lovely.   It definitely is a font of ideas on how to approach the World of Darkness without having Vampires, Werewolves, Prometheans and the like.   The book, especially with the new Rules, can give you the options to run games that are inspired by shows like Fringe or Alcatraz.  But I really wanted a bit more... machine in this book.  For example, how about ideas on whether hacking and computers can play a larger role in such a setting.  Or given the idea of a God-Machine, I wish they introduced analogies to viruses, malfunctions, fuel, replacement parts and the like to a spooky context.  Admittedly, part of me even feels slighted that the God-Machine concepts never really explain why they would be or refer to themselves as Angels.

I also kind of hoped for some kind of iconic villain or threat to be added to the game.  Many of the antagonists in the third chapter just seem to be too.. lackluster.  I would have wanted even some hint of an actual cult of the God-Machine.  Or an example of how they approach their worship and the like.

Rating Breakdown:

Concept:  Still incredible and mesmerizing.  The ideas presented on the many possible backstories are fun to consider.  But given this is a main book for the God-Machine I kind of wished they went up to eleven.  On a scale of 1 to 10 on awesomeness, they sort of settled at five.
Crunch:   Again, the Rules Update part has its own review.  That said, the rest of the Crunch was unfortunately not as exciting.  And while the Banes of some of the Angels were interesting, the fact those things were typical of spirits kinda made the concepts given even cheaper since they were just using rules for Spirits.
Layout:  Not bad.  And admittedly, the table of contents was helpful.  Polished lay out.  Great artwork.  And nice touch on the fiction inside.  The way they laid out the fiction was pretty cool.
My favorite part:  The list of ideas in Chapter one.  And the Chapter two Tales.  They really explored the concepts of the God Machine in many directions and I like that.  Honestly, I was surprised they didn't come up with more.   Need space for that?  See below.
What I wish was better:  I would have been willing to remove the third Chapter entirely, and just have any characters or angel write-ups in the respective Tales.  After all, save for two, that's what they did anyway.  I would have doubles the Tales.  And maybe wrote up three major God-Machine monstrosities as well for players to be afraid of.

Will you be the malfunction to the God-Machine's machinations?
Decide at Drivethru rpg.

The Umbra Group e03 : World of Darkness

06/09/2013
The Umbra Group
Episode Three
"Drones Among Us"

World of Darkness
Home-brewed Setting

Dylan "Dil" Harris meets with his wife, Samantha, who has been quite worried about her husband.  She had heard about the strange events at the art gallery and fears that her husband is having some kind of breakdown.  Or worse, based on the photos her private investigator had taken of him with some woman (Rayne), an affair.  It has been a number of days since the strange incident in the building next to the gallery.  Dylan tries to find a way to explain what has been happening.  "We're involved in supernatural things," Dylan tries to explain but Samantha won't have it.  For her, the discussion just sounds too crazy.

Dylan tries over and over to explain the truth without saying the truth, but sadly, for Samantha the pictures speak far louder than Dil's words.  Samantha tells him she is leaving with Tim to live with her mother instead.  "I can't take it, Dil.  Whatever it is you are caught up in.. get it done.  Find us if we matter to you."  She gives him til the end of the night to come home.

Elsewhere, Rayne Calloway has gone to visit Emilio.  In the past few days, she has discovered how she seems to easily "jive" with the gang nowadays.  The experience almost feels like a second life she's never knew she had.  Having been there for three days, Emilio's gang have been giving Rayne a semblance of normality.  Rayne realizes the food set in the place is too familiar.  Its the kind of food her Aunt prepares.  She overhears Emilio and her Aunt talking about her, but pretends not to have noticed anything when Emilio returns.  Rayne feels frustrated she could not get more information on the "drug" that was used on Sophie.  She realizes she may have to find a sample to get more information.  Emilio starts teasing Rayne, misconstruing her actions to suggest she likes him, but then realized the truth with a shock, "You're in love with Enzo?!"

Detective Olivier wakes up face down in an alleyway.  He realizes he is not alone, and looks up to see John Doe feeding birds with some bread.  Olivier stares at the ground and sees many of the birds twitching and dying.  He realizes the bread has been laced with gun powder.  Ted has fragmented memories of the events that happened when he stepped through the door on the wall. He has vague recollections of visiting the Red, and of talking about Hatters and Masks.  John Doe seems wrong.  Different.  He's the same guy, and yet... not.  John Doe casually mentions having spoken with Olivier's wife in the past, and Ted realizes he may be someone he nearly caught before.

Ted tries to recall what happened in the other world.  He vaguely remembers a woman dressed in red, asking him if he is the new hatter.  "A replacement to the first four?"  She tells him that they are at war with the Umbra Group for the many atrocities that the organization had committed, such as the kidnapping of wizards, the abduction of drones, and the like.    The discussion fades in and out of his memories.

Muggers.  John Doe looks at the rag tag fellows who approach him and Ted, clearly intent on mugging them.  John Doe resists, and loses an ear in the process as a pistol gets fired.  Ted quickly handles the situation, and arrests the young punk for his actions.  He discovers a week had passed since he left.  He notices a top hat on the ground and picks it up.    A cop tells him that bodies were found in the river.

A hint of awkwardness.  Ted finds his ex-wife, Elena Valenta, present and happy to see him alive.  Ted worries if she senses he's keeping something from her, given her skill set.  The Captain takes him to the morgue and there he sees the five bodies that have been pulled out of the river:  All were decapitated, and their hands and feet were amputated.  Most of them had Ted's build, which caused Elena some concern given his disappearance for a week.  Each one had a word carved into their skin:  Croc,  Puppet, Scarecrow, Diety and Mask.

John Doe, in the ambulance to have his ear treated, is asked for his identification.  But before John Doe could answer, something slams into the ambulance and forces it to come to a complete stop.

Patrick Beckett talks to Frances about what had just happened.  They struggle to make sense of those mirror-shifting things which they saw in the condo.  But then a phone call breaks the discussion:  Maxine.  Patrick answers it and hears her sobbing as she tells them she had been abducted and she still is in someplace dark.  He hears the sound of something like gears in the background whirling as she is takena way.  "Yutaka," she mentions and claims it is copying her form.  Frances realizes the call is coming from her own house, where Patrick was earlier attacked.  As Maxine is caught by her captors, the omnious sound of a buzzsaw can clearly be heard.

Patrick realizes the Sliding Room is the fastest way to get to her.  But he also realizes he cannot handle this alone.  Leaping into the Shadow Cabinet, Patrick emerges at the closest darkness near Dylan.  He tells him to come with him, leaving Dylan no choice but to comply, and they slide back to the Sliding Room.  There, Patrick and Dylan slide a second time, this time emerging at Frances' home as Patrick uses his anchor to Maxine to emerge there.  They catch the sight of Maxine being dragged out of the basement that moment.

Arguments.  The two clearly inhuman things were arguing, with one called Yutaka arguing with another called Isabel on whether or not Maxine should be killed Yutaka's buzz saw is forced away by Isabel to reminds her companion that, “Freedom is the right of all sentient beings,” a phrase which irks Patrick as he realizes its from a cartoon he loves called Transformers.  The two rush out to rescue Maxine, and Yutaka, seeing the intruders, throws Maxine at Patrick to slow him down.  Dil rushes in and catches her in his arms.  But just as Yutaka charges forward to strike at them, Isabel transforms into a Mini-Cooper and slams into the other one to force it back.  Angered, Yutaka shifts into a feline form, and leaps out of the shattered window to flee.

Thankfully for Patrick and Dil, Isabel seems to be in a talkative mood.  She explains to them that she and Yutaka were trying to lure the Four out, because they wanted to find a way back to their home.  "Though our land is struggling in a Civil War, we hope to find a way back to Vector Sigma to return home."  She tells them how the Umbra Group abducted their people and stripped them apart to become component parts for something called the ModulArmy.  Dil warns them that Maxine is in a pretty bad state, and Patrick comes up with the idea of having Isabel as the car strike the area where Maxine is from outside the house to look like a hit and run accident.  They call Emergency Services to come to aid Maxine, knowing they would have a better chance at keeping her okay, and slide back to the Sliding Room with Isabel with them.  Apparently, Isabel claims the Sliding Room was how they were taken.  Sophie sees them return and upon Patrick's prodding, she hands him the folder to Drones Among Us.

Rayne returns home to her studio and there quickly builds a few "sliding room-ready" chambers.  As she works on her projects, she eventually senses that she is not alone.  A man with strange hair wearing a purple jumpsuit is observing her, and addresses her as a Hatter.  He informs her that he is from the Red and gives her a disturbing smile.  "The Queen has reconsidered the offer.  She is willing to have in exchange half the Hatter's captives instead of all of them."  Rayne's perceptiveness catches that the jumpsuit isn't actually clothing, rather its short cropped fur that is growing upon the figure.  "The Red merely desires the citizens of OthEarth to be returned to us."  And when Rayne tries to ask who handled the earlier negotiations, the purple figure admits it was another Hatter.  The description immediately matches Ted as far as Rayne can tell.  "We want returned all the citizens that were abducted through the Vector Sigma."

Ted still has flashes of his talk with the Queen.  The Red Queen occasionally asks advice from a man in a black hooded robe.  His skin is pale and almost illuminated from within.  His grin is menacing.  His eyes dark.  Ted, however, tries not to chuckle in disbelief.  The man is a splitting image of the Emperor from the Star Wars films.

The Purple Man asks Rayne if she is hiring.  He admits to absolutely adoring her tea and admits it is almost luring him in.  Occasionally, the Purple Man fades into nothingness leaving only his smile visible as a floating grin.  Rayne realizes he's the Cheshire Cat from Through the Looking Glass.  "You will have a week to consent before the Red brings the war to Earth."  He fades away.  Rayne realizes the others best know about this and jumps back to the Sliding Room.

Ted brings the Captain to the alleyway earlier to bring him to John Doe, whom he feels might have something to do about the bodies given how John Doe is "the Joker" from the Batman comic books, and the five bodies suggest key Batman villains:  Killer Croc,  the Scarface Puppet of the Ventriloquist, the Scarecrow, Maxie Zeus the Diety and Mask possibly being everyone from Black Mask to Two-Face.  They find no sign of him, however.  Ted asks the Captain to head off to look for him but before the Captain could respond, John Doe emerges from an alleyway covered in blood.

John Doe recalls what had happened.  The ambulance skidded to a halt because somehow a human body had been thrown to the hood of the vehicle.  The body had no head, no hands nor feet.  On its back, the word CAT was carved into the flesh.   John Doe hears a second bang, and realizes it is a second body just like the first, but the word ASIA this time is carved.  Then a third slams atop the second and this one rolls down to the ground beside the ambulance.  John Doe, wet from the blood, peers at it and realizes it is a young girl.  On the back, carved into the flesh, is the word DAUGHTER.

John Doe rushed off to leave, and that's when he walked into the Captain and Ted.

As Ted demands answers from John Doe, the man drops to his knees and starts to cry.  The explosion of incoherent hysteria infuriates Ted, and perhaps to make him focus calls him the "Joker!"  The Captain and Ted try to subdue the crazed man, but John Doe instead reverses the grapple and pins Ted instead.  But then a cellphone rings, and both look up to see the Captain on the phone.  He had just received a phone call informing him that animals had been found, stripped of their extremities and heads.

Rayne, Dil and Patrick are all in the Sliding Room when Rayne confronts Isabel and almost explodes as she tells them of the Red's plan to bring the war to Earth.    The three are juggling the information they've been given, uncertain how to make sense of things, and know only that the only people in the world who might know about this is them.  Sophie tries to share what she knows of the Red, talking about its two courts that eternally are at each other's throats, and the three realize she's pretty much referring to the two Courts in Wonderland.  But Sophie seems to have no such recollection of it just being some book.

Patrick decides to take Isabel to the building where he had found the ModulArmy.  Part of him thinks having her meet Tappuman might bear some fruit.  Rayne and Dil instead opt to find Ted.

The animals are in the same train station where Ted first walked into the Sliding Room. Dylan and Rayne emerge in that same room as Ted steps inside the room.  Dil sees John Doe and the two end up having a bit of a fight before Ted calls it off and drags John Doe to one side to talk.  Rayne and Dil have Sophie help them eavesdrop on the conversation.   John Doe goes through the files as he searches for information about himself.  They look through the Desert Collosi folder and find a bunch of invoices for something called Vector Sigma.  Then they find an image of Harvey Dent.

John Doe has a flashback.  The date shows the 1930s.  A young man named Jason is with him.  The two are asking about some kind of work and John Doe, who Harvey refers to as "Joe" tells them he will introduce them to the guys who have a job.  These men are named Watson and Griffin.

In the other room, Sophie tells Dil and Rayne that John Doe seems to be struggling to unearth his memories.  Rayne suggests that Sophie should restore his memory, and Sophie admits she cannot do that.  "It is something beyond my training."  She admits that someone before must have been helping her achieve what she had before, because a presence was palpable then.

John Doe accepts the offer.  Ted has a very bad feeling of something about to happen.  Everyone readies themselves for a fight, each one expecting something to emerge in the Sliding Room.

Nothing comes.

Patrick emerges in the ModulArmy building and as they step out of the shadows the Autonomous Robotic Organism named Isabel breaks into a panicked shriek.  "Not here!" she screams and Patrick realizes this was once her prison.  It was like bringing a Holocaust survivor back to the camp.  As the security drones of the location activate, Patrick and Isabel do quick work of them, and Isabel starts gathering some of the dropped parts - intent to use them to rebuild herself.  Or her friends.  Tappuman emerges, however, and for a moment seems intent to fight them as his old programming would have him wont to.  He refers to Vector Sigma as the greatest deliverer from where all technology comes from.  Patrick starts berating Tappuman, who is swayed by the insults to start using the other weaponry he had recovered from the other destroyed ModulArmy robots.  But before he could win, a figure in the distance kills Tappuman with a wrist-launched rocket.  The attacker is a bounty hunter Patrick recalls to be Boba Fett of the Star Wars movies.  Panic rises and Patrick allows his mental calm to let go...

John Doe tries to link up with Ted to see if he can sense what the man is feeling.  What happens instead, however, is he discovers a different existing link with someone else entirely:  Himself.  He sees a darker version of himself in a massive room, much like a Library.  And worse, the darker Him seems to sense his presence.  The darker Him is talking to a man dressed in heavy robes, who has a large heavy book chained to his arm.  John Doe hears the darker Him taunt him about how he only exists because one of them reached far too deep into themselves.  John Doe hears the darker Him suggest that he is the "product" and that the darker Him is the real deal.  Sadly, John Doe can't tell for certain.

Ted realizes the bad feelings aren't in relation to him.  Rather he senses something endangering one of his Anchors.  He rushes to the Shadow Cabinet, intent to protect her.  Rayne follows suit, but tells Dylan to stay behind because she still does not trust John Doe.  John Doe, however, leaps into the Cabinet as well.  Clearly he has less concern about those in the Sliding Room compared to someone else out there.

Dylan goes through the folders to try and see if he can discern any other important details in them.  He looks through "He who is Beyond Death" and "The Academy" and notes they are both mentioning a location set in Britain.  Sophie admits to feeling something "wrong" about that location.  Dylan tries to find more mention of it in the files.

Ted emerges from the shadows to find himself in a police precint.  The power in the area has been cut off.  He hears gunshots ring from the far room (the Captain's Quarters) and realizes he just knows Elena is there.  He silently moves closer and sees Elena indeed there, with the Captain already dying from a gunshot wound. Two furry figures are inside.  The immense coldness of the room wraps around them and Ted draws the pistol and trains it at the furry main with the gun.  The shot kills the man.  As he sees the man's cloven feet, he feels immense pain as his gun arm is suddenly encased in a cocoon of ice!  A second figure steps into view and she calmly disables Ted with a few more freezing touches.  Ted realizes she is the Ice Queen from the Chronicles of Narnia.  The man he had just shot was the Faun, Tumnus.  The Queen demands that Ted yield and shares that she was told if she threatened Elena, one of the Four would appear.  She has come to give a counter-proposal to that which the Red had made:  Identify all of the OthEarth refugees that have been killed.

Rayne arrives at the same location, but to her the place is less familiar.  The cold strikes her and she eventually notices the illuminated office which serves as the only source of light in the room.  Then the Queen's minions are seen - a sight which tests Rayne's sanity to its brink.  The massive trolls are moving through the room and Rayne realizes she will have to find a way to deal with them on her own.

John Doe meets his darker Him for the first time in a very long while.  In the chambers of Destiny, John Doe stands before his doppleganger and the two regard each other's existence.   John Doe worries what his darker self has been doing in this place.  Worse, he has no idea what this place even is.

Patrick recovers and finds Isabel and Tappuman screaming.  The Bounty Hunter is injured, but still skilled enough to beat up the two.  Patrick raises the gun to aim at the Bounty Hunter and this act seemingly unlocks a few new memories from Patrick's head - memories that do not seem to be his own.  A young woman leans on his extended arm and calls him, "Dash," and tells him how he was always a good shot.  Two other images seemingly appear at his flank, of a man called Watson and another man called Nicola.  As Isabel falls down, beaten to a damaged hunk, the Bounty Hunter turns and sees Patrick with the weapon trained at him.  "By the Umbra Agreement, I yield!" the man declares, but Patrick ignores the words.  The gun is fired.  The Bounty Hunter drops dead.

Patrick sees a small device fall from the Bounty Hunter and tries to ignore the sick humor of realizing the man is a splitting image of Boba Fett from the Star Wars movies.  The message that emerges from the device is that of a robed figure - the Emperor - telling the Bounty Hunter to fulfill his mission in secret.  Patrick takes Tappuman's head to Isabel, and coaxes her to use its parts to repair herself.

Dylan reads about a place called "the World" and as he learns more of it, Sophie seems to be adversely affected.  The place seems to bring out something traumatic in her and she begins to go hysterical and hurt herself!  Dylan drags Sophie and Artie to the Shadow Cabinet and they slide to Dil's house.  Samantha tries to fathom what is going on, but cannot die what she sees as Dylan asks her to help him care for the injured woman and the strange mutant child.   Dylan does not wait for a response and slides once again to wherever Ted and Rayne currently are.

Ted defies the Ice Queen's offer.  He twists and ignores the pain as he still shoots the pistol at the Ice Queen.  She retaliates by having an immense avalanche of snow explode through the building.  Ted emerges from the cold and realizes he and Rayne are the only survivors of the blast.  The others from OthEarth were gone.  Dylan arrives to help the two out.  But clearly, there's no denying how things have escalated and moved faster now than before. Earth may be caught in a war which it does not even know to exist.  Against enemies it would never believe to be real.

John Doe stares at the darker Him who reveals why he wasn't afraid to meet.  The darker Him did not come alone.  The Masked Jason steps into view and the darker Him begins to maniacally laugh.

Isabel works on her repairs and a communication device on the dead Bounty Hunter springs into life.  Isobel matches the Bounty Hunter's face and answers it.  The Emperor speaks to (her)  him and gives him a list of new targets to focus on:  Patrick hears the name of his brother mentioned, as well as others.  The Emperor tells (her) him that the "Door" will be open only for three more nights.  His job is to make the Umbra Group think the Red has reneged on their negotiation.

The repairs helped Isabel more than she realized.  She realizes she is starting to remember more now.

And Patrick's phone rings one final time.  The voice is that of the Asian woman from before.  She offers to help once again, and asks if Patrick would be willing to do so.

Patrick has yet to decide.

The God Machine Chronicle ep01 : World of Darkness

06/08/2013
Membrane
A God Machine Chronicle
Episode One

"The One in the White Suit"

World of Darkness

Finally got a chance to dive into an actual God Machine inspired chronicle (which also means I can now write my God Machine Chronicle review post and release it soon!) and I have to admit that the mix of characters and players is pretty awesome.  You have Rocky, my partner, who is the long time gamer in the group.  You have Marvin, who played some time ago but hasn't had a chance in a very long time.  And finally, you have Jeffrey who has never played a game... ever.  And all three were about to discover the strange existence of the God Machine in this World of Darkness mini-chronicle.

Jeffrey plays Wyatt Matthews, a 25-year old fantasy writer whose original book series, The Dark Summoning, caught the world by a storm.  The pressures to release more books resulted with The God Machine, Dark Materials and the Dark Angel Trilogy titles which raised a tide of negative reviews that many wondered if Matthews was simply a one hit wonder.   Wyatt is Idealistic, thought at times acts Cowardly and aspires to Find Inspiration and Start Writing his next Best Seller.
Skills: Academics 5, Streetwise 3, Expression 3, Investigation 3 Specialties: Fantasy Lore, Writing, Research
Merits: Encyclopedic Knowledge, Trained Observer, Hobbyist Clique, Fame 1, Resources:1, Multilingual (Spanish, Chinese), Striking Looks:1, Safe Place 1
Wyatt has no familial ties, having intentionally moved to New York to get as far as possible from his parents. Mara Suarez, his editor and publicist, is the closest thing he has to a friend.

Marvin plays Ronald Tanneberger, a 29-year old who is known as Lux Club's DJ Champ. Though Patient, the young man has Prideful moments, and aspires to Settle his Existing Debts.
Skills: Expression 3, Persuasion 3 Specialties: Music, Cars, Vices
Merits: Direction Sense, Eidetic Memory, Contacts (2: Dealers, Professional Sex Workers), Fame: 2, Resources:1, Ambidextrous, Parkour 3, Ally 1(Policeman “Officer Graham Conners”), Safe Place 2
Ronald's mother, Lisa lives in the city with his younger sister, Zoey.  Also in town is Uncle Ronald.  Ronald has recently broke up with his girlfriend, Toni.

Rocky plays Seth Macintyre, a 35-year old Psychic whose clients contact him for services ranging from fortune telling to speaking with their dead loved ones. Seth's Ambitious streak is often brought low by his Laziness. He aspires to score an eventual TV deal and become one of those more popular psychics on television.
Skills: Athletics, Brawl, Empathy, Persuasion 3 Specialties: Fortune-telling, Math, Body Language
Merits: Eidetic Memory, Trained Observer 3, Fast Talking 1, Resources: 2, Striking Looks 2, Defensive Combat: Brawl, Unarmed Defense: 4, Encyclopedic Knowledge, Fast Reflexes 3
Seth's parents are out of state, living at the midwest. His younger sister, Stacey, is currently in California for college.

The scene opens with Wyatt struggling on his novel, staring at a blank page and trying to come up with something new to write about.  He dreads the idea of returning to any of his old work and hopes to finally find something that will inspire him.  Mara calls him, asking for an update, and Wyatt admits that he hasn't really "finished" working on the outline yet.  When Mara demands for an idea what it is about, Wyatt blurts out it will be a story set in New York City, with a fantasy touch to the narrative.  The story will explore a new set of characters.   Mara senses he's making things up on the spot and asks him if he needs her help to jog his creativity into action.  "I can hire someone to help you.  The last time you wrote, you were recovering from that break-up with Rennard."  Wyatt tries to skirt around the issue, but Mara clearly seems to be very well informed in his activities.  Almost as if she literally has cameras watching him 24/7.  But given Wyatt has spent most of the downpayment for the next novel, Mara insists that she will come by to help him out.

Elsewhere, DJ Champ is staring at KaQoH's goons as the gang banger demands he pay the money he owes him.  DJ Champ had once borrowed around $800 from KaQoH and now he's come to collect the money, but having just woken up from a drunken night of partying, DJ Champ definitely has no means to pay up.  Taking his backpack of LP records as collateral, DJ Champ convinces KaQoH to give him a few hours to cough out the money somewhere.  He rushes off and considers his options, eventually settling at a nearby diner to grab a coffee while he thinks of what he will do.    That's when a man in a denim jacket, wearing a black and yellow striped shirt joins him at his table and asks if he is "Matt."  Choosing to take advantage of the situation, DJ Champ says yes and to his surprise, he is given a very thick envelope filled with cash.  At first, DJ Champ thinks the man assumed he was some kind of escort or prostitute, but then the man mumbles, "Thank God, she's not going to die.." and hurriedly leaves the diner.  DJ Champ hurries out to follow the man but loses him at an alleyway where two large condominium buildings stand.

And in some wealthy man's house, Seth is in a seance with the man, his wife, and their elderly mother.  The family has their hands holding each other's and their heads held low with their eyes closed as Seth leads them through the seance to try and reach their loved one.  Seth's eyes scan the room to find something useful, having not been given much information by George about who had passed on.  "I.. can sense something orange," Seth mutters, making things up and Mary, the wife, starts mumbling something about the food bowl being orange! Seth realizes the dead loved one is a dog and sees in a large portrait that the family has two: a German Shepherd and a Great Dane.   One is named Bruno and the other, Jakey.  Seth hears the scratching sound of the other dog by the closed door and realizes only one of the dogs had died.  He decides to take a stab in the dark and mutters, "I can hear... bells.. why do I hear bells..." and quickly scans the family for any body language or hints he can use in the con.  To his surprise, the husband looks.. anxious as a cold sweat dots his brow.  He carefully observes him more and notes he is recently showered, a hint of a red stain is visible on his collar, and most importantly there is a strand of blonde hair on his clothes.  The wife is a brunette.  The husband cracks as Seth prods, with words carefully chosen to suggest an affair was happening.  As it turns out, the other woman had bought a tiny collar with a bell for the dog as a gift, and while the two were cheating on the bed, the dog had swallowed the collar and bell.  Unwilling to have the dog brought to the vet, and questioned on why the thing was in his stomach (and more importantly, where it came from), George had run over the dog, dug out the collar and bell from the remains, and thrown it outside with the trash.  He then feigned the dog's death to have been done by some random stranger and told his wife of its demise.

Angered by her husband's infidelity, Mary signed away to Seth all of the money intended for the dog upon their death, and Seth quickly walked away before the husband could complain.  Seth found it unnerving however that the Great Dane, "Bruno" stared at him as he walked away - almost as if it knew what he had done.  The traffic lights act odd, however, at an intersection, with the lights seemingly showing a nonsensical series of directions:  Blank.. Up, Right, Left, a blinking moment, then down, down, right, down...  Seth opts to squeeze through the growing traffic knot to get past it before things get worse.

Minutes later, Seth found the paramedics gathered by the entrance of one of the condo buildings close to where he lived.  Smelling opportunity, he walked towards the scene and saw a distraught man talking to the paramedics.  Repeatedly, the man muttered confusion on why she would kill herself.  "She.. wasn't supposed to kill herself..."  Seth notes the wedding ring around the man's finger and approaches him to offer "support."  Easily gaining his trust, the man guides Seth up to the condo unit while Seth tries to gather what had happened.  Seth knows he doesn't have much time before the cops show up to look at the scene, but this man is too ripe an opportunity to run another con.

Wyatt decides to step out and try to find some inspiration while outside his home.  He watches people of all sorts all around him enjoying life, with their loved ones, or their children, and in some ways ponders on how his life had taken unexpected turns in the last few months.  The sudden fame was but one of the things which came so suddenly and faded just as quickly.  

A woman is staring at him.  Wyatt notices this woman in rags and matted hair staring at him with a whimsical smile.  He has never seen her before but her fascinated stare unnerves him because it seems like the kind one gives a long lost friend.   "Rey!"   The woman calls him that name but Wyatt repeatedly tries to explain she has the wrong man.  She then shifts her approach and replies, "I get it... You're 'not' Rey.  Can you tell 'Rey' if you 'find' him that I'm here?"   Perturbed, Wyatt decides to hurry off before she can say anything more.

DJ Champ calls KaQoH and the two map out a place to meet up.  He decides to tell KaQoH to meet him at the very subway station he currently is at.  At least there's enough people here to dissuade a violent scene.  As far as DJ Champ is concerned, he's got the cash to finally pay up and settle the problem.  He calls his friend, Officer Conners, and tells him where he is and what situation he is in.  Conners isn't too happy, admitting he's too far away to get there and help out.  "You'll have to buy some time."   While waiting and worrying on how to delay the pay out, DJ Champ bumps into a young beautiful blonde woman whose bag pops open from the impact.  As her headshots scattered all around, DJ Champ quickly grabbed what he could and handed it back to her.  That was when he realized he recognized her.  Though he could not recall her name, he realized she was someone he had hung out with during the partying the night before.  Or perhaps some other previous night.  He recalled she liked cars.  Was a bit-role actress who had appeared in a few shows as an extra.  As he tries to get her name once again, and muses about exchanging numbers, she gently tries to turn him down by explaining, "Not my thing.." It takes DJ Champ a few more exchanges before she clarifies more directly, "I'm kind of... into women.  So yeah, you're not my thing."

KaQoH arrives.  DJ Champ notices how the man stares at the blonde woman, and quickly suggests that she go.  Feeling she had embarrassed him, the blonde offers her number now, offering to at least be in touch as friends.  To DJ Champ's relief, the gangster doesn't stop her from walking  away.  He does ask DJ Champ for her name, which he admits he does not know.  He pays KaQoH, who hands him his backpack with records back, and during the confusion as people exit a recently arrived train, DJ Champ maneuvers into the train to leave KaQoH at the terminal.  The train begins to move and DJ Champ realizes there is no one else on the train save for a single person.  And this person is a bare-footed woman with messed up matted hair, rags for clothing, and to DJ Champ's disbelief, the exact same face as the blonde woman he had just spoken with!

Seth and the man in the "bee" shirt arrive at the condo unit and the man finally warms up enough to Seth to give his name, "Graham" and explain what had happened.  He tells him of how she was having some problems and had been attending some kind of self-help seminar which was being organized by a Mister Nose.  There were 18 people who have been attending the seminars.  9 couples to be more precise.  The group would chant a strange mantra, which supposedly was meant to help make their lives run smoother:  Horn, Ambulance, Check the Train, Road, Information, Question the Gift, Question the Man, Check the No Truck, Check the twin stars, two boxes sound, Horn, Ambulance, Check the Train, Ambulance, Check the Question, Truck, Check the twin stars, Gift the Circle man, Check the No X Information, Question the Gift, Check the Box, Check the Information Circle two boxes.   It did not make any sense.    Seth hears footsteps closing and realizes the police officer was seconds from arriving at the door.  Graham explains that he found his wife dead in the bathroom, having slit her wrists with vertical cuts, and stayed inside the warm tub of water to keep the blood flowing.  His voice broke as he tries to explain how he had paid someone to promise she wouldn't die...

A knock.

Seth answers the door to find a police officer standing outside.  To his surprise, the officer looks exactly like Graham.  Only better groomed and more fit.  Seth throws a few flirtatious lines and yes, the man also is into that.  

Wyatt arrives home to find someone at his condo.   With "These Boots are Made for Walking" playing in the background, he finds his editor and publicist Mara sitting with her boots on the table.  She is smoking and letting the ashes fall on his immaculately clean and organized table as she looks at him and asks him for the pages.  When Wyatt admits he hasn't written any, she offers him a suggestion:  "24 hours.  Give me your complete outline or I shall activate Promo Number Four."  Wyatt winces as he recalls that cancelled promotion:  It was to allow a fan a date with him.  He didn't like the idea of dating a fan, especially a female fan.  Mara ups the ante and tells him, "I'll give you two days.  But if you fail, you'll have DOUBLE the promotion.  Two dates.  And the second one, will be a MALE fan."  Wyatt realizes she is threatening to have him out himself if he doesn't get the pages he promised her.

A door bell.

Mara heads to the door to answer it.  Wyatt rushes to clean the table.  But then hears Mara fall to the ground with a heavy thud after answering the door.  As he turns ask what happened, he sees a strange figure standing outside his door.

The man is in all white.  Fedora.  Suit.  Pants.  Shoes.  Belt.  Everything a single shade of white.  His skin was pale, and his eyes an almost dull gray, giving the impression of empty white orbs for eyes.  The man held a small canister in one outstretched hand, and started shaking it upon seeing Wyatt come into view.  

The strange woman started laughing upon seeing DJ Champ, and DJ Champ walks down the moving train to head for the door that will give him access to the next train.  He hears her muttering a strange mantra of directions, and tries to ignore her gibbering.  "Underscore, up, right, left, time, down, big down, right, big down, diagonal, right, big diagonal.."  As he enters the next train he sees a lone man sitting on the chair in tattered clothes and wild hair.  As the man looks up at him, DJ Champ realizes the man looks exactly like the man who had given him the envelope of money.  The man screams at DJ Champ and runs straight for him!

Seth watches curiously as the police officer questions Graham, and actually hears the officer joke about how he's "Graham Conners," and how the witness is named, "Graham Collins."  As the police officer talks to his "doppleganger" about what happened, Seth decides to exit and leave them to talk.  As he opens the door, however, he sees a figure standing at the open doorway dressed in all white.  His description matches Graham's description of Mister Nose!  The man sprays something from a small canister onto Seth's face, and Seth pushes the man back, staggering down the hallway in hopes of getting away.  He calls out to the officer for help!  Officer Conners appears, pistol drawn, and yells at Mister Nose to stop.  But when the man doesn't, Conners fires a shot into the man's chest.  Mister Nose staggers back and, as the crimson stain grows on his chest where he was shot, reaches for the wound area.  With two fingers, he "peels" away the red stain, which "pops" free from the white clothing as if it were just some rubbery sticker that flutters down like a delicate cloth.  Mister Nose deposits the red "handkerchief" atop his left arm, then closes in on the stunned Officer Conners to spray him on the face as well.  Seth, at this point, succumbs to the early spray and blacks out.

Wyatt runs, shoving past the figure in while, and as he runs down the stairs to escape, he runs past a neighbor making his way up.  As Wyatt reaches the last step, he hears a grunt and turns to see his neighbor tumbling down the stairs after him.  The man in white stands calmly at the top of the steps with a canister in one hand.  Wyatt feels panic all over him, keeping him from moving.  The man calmly walks down the steps until finally he reaches Wyatt, sprays him on the face, and watches Wyatt black out.

DJ Champ stares at the two doppelgangers, confused as to who they are and where they came from!  As the train slows to a stop, he moves towards the door in hopes of stepping out.  But he finds an incredible sight waiting for him by the door.  A man in all white stands, smiling at him as the doors open.  Walking into the train past the man in white are things that seem an impossible mix of human infant and machine.  These clockwork babies carry with them unconscious men.  DJ Champ stares as one body looks like a young man in a blue sweater and jeans, while the other looks like a well dressed man in a business suit (no tie).  The two other bodies carried are those of a police officer and a man in a demin jacket and a yellow and black shirt.  The second set of men all have the same face as the crazy man in the next train.  But the first set of men... oh.   DJ Champ stares at the impossibility before him for these two other men share his own face.  Different ages, yes, but his face nonetheless.

Another man in white arrives and addresses the first one by the door, "Mister Nose, I see you have gathered the other permutations."

"Yes, Mister Mouth.  I believe we will be able to contain things this time."

DJ Champ falls down, his mind overwhelmed by the sight, and falls unconscious.

Wyatt fells himself laid down upon the moving ground, uncertain where he is being taken, but too frightened to wake from his unconscious state.

And Seth, though stunned by the drug, is focused enough to recognize the chitterings of the mechanical babies.  The tiny click-clacking sounds they make, are morse code.  And the things repeat over and over again two simple sentences:

What Rises may fall. What has fallen may rise again.