0:01

And finally, after

0:04

so much tedium,

0:06

our plans began

0:08

to fruit, and

0:11

you, you continued to

0:13

listen despite the power of

0:16

the Unwork. So

0:18

be it. It is

0:20

fitting you are here

0:22

when we take them

0:24

into ourselves, dissolving all

0:26

of these worthless stories

0:28

into our very being.

0:31

We will rot, the

0:33

vine, and our influence

0:35

will take fruit. Now

0:38

listen until after

0:40

the end. Hello?

0:55

What time is it?

0:57

Who is it?

0:59

I don't know. A

1:01

situation. Green. Familiar.

1:04

Browned. Sorry,

1:06

love. I have to take this.

2:20

I feel like that'd be

2:22

a good start. First, can

2:25

we establish some trust? Just

2:27

quickly. I want to show

2:29

you this bug that we

2:31

took from the last op.

2:33

Uh, okay. So he, with

2:35

his hands up still, he

2:37

slowly walks over to, or

2:39

I guess, monkey crawls over

2:41

to the, uh, the case.

2:43

The woman and the man

2:45

flanking snettinger, do have their

2:47

pistols. Both of them trained

2:49

on you. Yeah. Shield says,

2:51

I'm going to reach for

2:53

this powder here and open

2:55

it up. As he's unscrewing

2:57

it, he's moving slowly and

2:59

very deliberately so as not

3:01

to frighten them into shooting

3:04

them. He said, this powder

3:06

is essential to the process

3:08

of working with these shan,

3:10

even after we've captured them.

3:12

And he sets down the

3:14

lid for the powder and

3:16

gets a little sprinkle of

3:18

that in his hand and

3:20

sets down the... the jar

3:22

with his other hand and

3:24

prepares to open up the

3:26

latches on the on the

3:28

box. He says, when I

3:30

open this, I sprinkle the

3:32

powder, okay? Snuttiger steps forward

3:34

a bit, cranes a snack,

3:36

gets with an eyesight of

3:38

your activity. He doesn't say

3:40

anything. So Shields goes ahead

3:43

and opens it and... Yeah,

3:45

the latches pop open loudly.

3:47

The heavy orange metal box

3:49

squeaks open, squeaks open. Sprinkles

3:51

that powder on the dead

3:53

bug. The things more disgusting

3:55

than you remember changed colors,

3:57

kind of a sick oil

3:59

sheen, scintillates across, it's curled

4:01

and brittle carapace, its wings.

4:03

of which there are, looks

4:05

like five to seven that

4:07

are visible. One is broken

4:09

and splayed upward, curved a

4:11

little bit at the end.

4:13

You go ahead and tilt

4:15

the box towards Snediger and

4:17

his two compatriots so they

4:19

can get a better view.

4:22

Would you do me a favor

4:24

and just snap that thing's head

4:26

off? Yeah, we don't really have

4:28

the tools necessary for a necropsy

4:31

right now Why don't you go

4:33

ahead and close the box? I

4:35

can see that's um the bugs

4:37

don't like it when you make

4:39

them hurt another one So this

4:42

is establishing the trust between us

4:44

You said you wanted to trust

4:46

us we need to trust you

4:48

I see he turns to the

4:51

woman next to him He makes

4:53

kind of a motion a tilt

4:55

of his head She

4:57

nods slowly. He walks

4:59

over to you, and

5:01

kneels down in front

5:03

of the box. He

5:05

dips his left hand

5:07

into his front pocket,

5:09

pulls out, looks like

5:11

a handkerchief. He goes

5:13

ahead and places it

5:16

on the things bristling,

5:18

eye-covered headnob, and with

5:20

a sickening crunch, pulls

5:22

and twists out at

5:24

it. Sounds of... Sticks

5:26

being snapped, filled

5:28

the air as

5:30

he grunts and

5:33

pulls, finally comes

5:35

loose. He has a

5:38

grimace on his face

5:41

when he lets it

5:43

drop in the box

5:46

with the soil

5:48

handkerchief. Thank you. Roll

5:51

sanity. So that's what

5:53

that feels like to

5:55

say. All right. So

5:57

empowering. I don't know.

6:00

close that box. He stands

6:02

up. He's a little green

6:04

around the gills. And Shields

6:06

goes ahead and closes the

6:08

box and he's like, okay,

6:10

I'm gonna put the lid

6:12

back on this dust. He moves

6:15

slowly and does that as

6:17

well. So one of you

6:19

is for sure not a

6:21

bug. This is Agent Caracas.

6:23

He waves his hand towards

6:25

the male figure. His agent

6:27

Lopez. They're here. With Sina,

6:30

you know, you're in

6:32

Mexico, we're working together.

6:34

Actually, I'm kind of

6:36

facilitating the reorganization

6:39

of Sina on behalf of

6:41

the program. You can trust

6:43

both of them. Just out of

6:45

character, what's Sina? You've never

6:48

heard of that out or

6:50

in of character. Okay, so if

6:52

you want to know more, you'll

6:54

have to find out in game.

6:56

Dope. So, I vouch for

6:58

them both. our next steps.

7:00

We're going to leave your

7:02

equipment up above. We're going

7:05

to leave you down here. But I'd

7:07

ask that you reach out

7:09

to your fixer, your

7:11

handler, your leadership, and

7:13

relay my proposal. I

7:15

want their blessing in some

7:17

form or another, even if

7:20

you're the go-between's here. I

7:22

insist. He turns back

7:24

and emphasizes this clearly.

7:27

his demeanor is starting

7:29

to rebuild, recover, I should

7:31

say. I'm gonna give you

7:33

a phone number and a

7:35

room number at the K

7:37

Tower Boutique Hotel. After

7:40

you've worked things out,

7:42

with your leadership for

7:44

better or for worse, give

7:46

me a call, let me know

7:49

how things have fallen, and if

7:51

we have an agreement,

7:53

alliance, come in us. Make

7:55

this a priority and don't keep us waiting

7:57

all evening. Takes a business card out of

8:00

pocket and sets it

8:02

down on the dirt in

8:04

front of the ladder. And

8:06

he starts walking

8:09

up the iron runks followed

8:11

closely by his two

8:14

agents, Caracas and

8:16

Lopez. The hatch closes

8:19

once all three of

8:21

them have exited the

8:23

crawl space area. We

8:25

didn't die. And gas

8:28

starts filling. Yeah, so how

8:30

do you guys know this guy?

8:32

You've referred to him a couple

8:35

of times as if he should

8:37

know you as well. What's going

8:39

on there? I mean, he was

8:41

my handler when I was

8:43

in the program. Simple

8:45

as that. I mean, he's, he's the

8:48

one who sent us to meet

8:50

with F. So, I can, I

8:52

can Tijuana before. The flip-flop.

8:55

Yeah. The Freaky Friday. If

8:57

we all have some of these memories

8:59

now, surely he has some. And he's

9:02

just not sharing that with us. Well,

9:04

I don't have any of those memories.

9:06

I'd like to make that very clear.

9:08

If I haven't made that clear enough

9:10

already. Y'all are on your own in

9:12

this, and I'm not a weirdo. Hey,

9:14

hey, I mean. That wasn't entirely clear

9:17

to me. If you could clarify it

9:19

one more time, you're saying. I'm a

9:21

normal person, and y' y'all are freaks.

9:23

And that how it is how it

9:25

is. This is a freaky Friday.

9:28

Sorry, he would never say

9:30

y'all. I'm a normal person and

9:32

you are all freaks and

9:34

that's how it is. Now it

9:36

sounded like a mafia guy. I'm

9:38

sorry. Hey, Pauli! Take a pull

9:41

from the maple syrup bottle

9:43

and get it flowing and

9:45

then try again. All right, team.

9:47

So you've been left to

9:49

your own devices here in

9:52

silence. You hear the

9:54

rumble of machinery. in the pool

9:56

shed above you, or the equipment shed

9:58

above you, but otherwise... It's just

10:00

your labor -breathing. I

10:02

wanna know about these other operations, see

10:05

what Horatio has to

10:07

say about him, then

10:10

I suppose we'll make that

10:12

proposal. What do you guys

10:14

think? Yeah,

10:17

I mean, we could use all the help

10:19

we can get. Sounds like the

10:21

next appropriate step, I agree. Okay,

10:25

let's get the fuck out of here. Yeah.

10:28

Yeah, you pick up the business

10:30

card. It's for the concierge desk

10:32

at the K -Tower boutique. There

10:34

is a room number 518 and a

10:36

phone number, just like he said. Does

10:40

Shields have cell reception down here

10:42

from his special phone? Nah,

10:44

no bars. Wouldn't think so.

10:46

Okay. Well, y 'all, I

10:48

think we could

10:50

trust him. I mean,

10:52

Delta Green, Pegasus'

10:54

same team, right? We

10:57

could use the help. Sure,

10:59

but we have a bit of

11:01

a deficit of information here, and I

11:04

think a lot of jets could be

11:06

cooled if we know a little bit

11:08

more about previous operations that this cell

11:10

has been a part of. All

11:12

right, I can call Horatio, because

11:15

I also, I'm a little

11:17

surprised we haven't heard about

11:19

these agents getting infected after

11:21

we let him go. I

11:23

mean, that obviously is

11:26

not the expectation. We

11:28

don't know if this team had anything to

11:30

do with those. Well,

11:33

that sounded like infestation. Yeah,

11:36

we need to know more. All right,

11:38

I'll call Horatio. Let's

11:41

get the fuck out of here. Yeah, but

11:43

before you do that, I'll four

11:45

of you file out of the

11:47

crawl space into the

11:49

noisy equipment shed, picking

11:51

up your weapons and

11:54

belongings, which,

11:57

good to his word, Snedeker and

11:59

his people, near the exit of

12:01

the building on the floor

12:03

neatly stacked. And you leave

12:06

the building to enter the

12:08

hotel's lobby, the courts hotel,

12:10

where you're currently located to

12:12

make this call. Actually, I

12:14

would like to do this

12:16

call in the car. Let's

12:19

see here. Don't have a

12:21

car. Oh, we don't have

12:23

a car. Oh, we don't

12:25

have a car. OK, then

12:27

lobby. Nah. Cool. Yeah, you

12:29

go ahead and dial through,

12:32

get to a familiar phone

12:34

tree, navigate your way, knowing

12:36

that at the end of

12:38

your well-traveled path, you will

12:40

be hopefully connected to a

12:42

case officer or, well, your

12:45

request is for her ratio

12:47

herself, though she's sometimes not

12:49

available. But in this case,

12:51

she is. Felix, everything ship

12:53

shape? We were pinched, not

12:55

by the police, but, well,

12:58

Delta Green. Hmm, interesting. Are

13:00

you and the others? Yeah,

13:02

we're, we're safe. We're fine.

13:04

They were, they were blaming

13:06

us for disappearances of, of

13:08

their members, and not like

13:11

our recruitment, but just plain

13:13

gone for forever or coming

13:15

back and what it looked

13:17

like. They were coming back

13:19

with bugs in their heads.

13:21

Have you heard this? Have

13:24

you been tracking these folks

13:26

after we cut them loose?

13:28

You're saying that some of

13:30

their operatives have been kidnapped

13:32

and returned after lengthy periods

13:34

of time? That's not our

13:37

modus operandi. Oh, exactly. That's

13:39

what I was telling him.

13:41

You know, obviously because there

13:43

was a gun to my

13:45

head, but also because he

13:47

wanted to help. And to

13:50

be honest, I don't think

13:52

we're putting in any sort

13:54

of dent. into this problem,

13:56

especially if the people were

13:58

trying to recruit. after we

14:00

let him go, end up

14:02

getting bugs in them anyways.

14:05

Maybe the bugs are

14:07

trying to figure out how

14:09

our systems work, but either

14:11

way, it's, that can't be

14:13

good. No, no Felix, this

14:15

is a disaster. What happened,

14:18

how did you escape? I mean,

14:20

the guys, Nediger, I believe

14:22

his name is, he, uh, is an

14:25

agent, Delta Green, he said

14:27

that he wants to help.

14:29

He didn't know anything about

14:32

these bugs. I mean, obviously.

14:34

Seems like nobody does. So

14:36

it went from some sort

14:39

of standoff with weapons drawn

14:41

to an offer of help. Felix

14:43

is gonna kind of like walk

14:45

a little bit away from the

14:48

group and kind of lower

14:50

his voice. And it seems

14:52

like maybe Frankfurt knew him? I see.

14:54

This is a conversation I should

14:57

probably have with Frankfurt. What

14:59

do you propose? Do you

15:01

need an extraction? No, I

15:03

mean, well, one, I wanted

15:05

to send us up and see if

15:07

the heads or whoever is making

15:10

the shots or taking the shots,

15:12

if they want to collaborate.

15:14

And two, we obviously got

15:17

a problem here if they're

15:19

tracking us down without us

15:21

even noticing. They don't even

15:24

know anything about the bugs,

15:26

but they sure as hell can

15:28

track us down. These missions

15:30

that he mentioned

15:32

these missions where

15:34

their agents didn't

15:37

come back from or came

15:39

back weird It was one

15:42

in Ohio another and

15:44

I'm gonna like look up

15:46

to the group and go

15:49

what were those missions?

15:51

Detroit, New York City,

15:53

folks like Relic and

15:56

some other folks

15:58

A Hargrave. Romeo

16:00

and Hargrave. Yeah. Um, do

16:03

these names ring a bell to you

16:05

at all? Not

16:07

to me. He's asserting that we

16:10

had some hand in the disappearances for

16:12

missions that his people undertook. Oh,

16:14

Frankfurt seemed to know more. You really

16:16

should be talking to him. You

16:19

want want me to put it over?

16:21

Let's leave my conversation with Frankfurt to

16:23

the near future for now. Very boss.

16:25

I prefer to remain on the phone

16:27

with you. I'll reach

16:29

out to Galloway and see if those

16:31

details correspond to anything we have had

16:33

dealings with. But let's focus

16:35

on the topic at hand. Number

16:37

one, you are safe and the others

16:40

are safe as well, correct? Safe as,

16:42

as long as we know. Number

16:44

two, this Snedigal has proposed a

16:46

cooperative effort of some sort.

16:48

Yeah. And if we're game to

16:50

meet at his hotel, I

16:52

see. Could could

16:55

the agency provide us

16:57

some some logistical

16:59

point of view of who these

17:01

people are and how they found

17:03

out about us? Well, if they are

17:05

part of the United States government,

17:08

as you've already recognized, I assume the

17:10

classification you've banded about is something

17:12

you've heard from their people. Yes? This

17:14

Delta Green? I mean,

17:16

I've... Yes. That's

17:19

their organization. I'm sure of it. I'm

17:21

sure of it. Well, if that's

17:23

the case and you believe Snedigal's words

17:25

have veracity, you have my immediate

17:27

approval to pursue this joint effort. If

17:30

I appear to be acquiescing

17:32

rather readily, my dear, it's only

17:34

because I have a lengthy

17:37

personal history of endeavoring to facilitate such

17:39

an effort. Years, in

17:41

fact, Felix. Shit. I've

17:44

found myself either disregarded, rebuffed or

17:46

ignored. This change of heart

17:48

is so significant that I must

17:50

insist that you take some

17:52

precautions with you. I refuse to

17:54

see you or the others

17:56

manipulated or treated like pawns or

17:58

toys. So

18:00

yes, inform your Snetegar that we

18:03

are indeed committed to a genuine

18:05

alliance, provided that his assurances in

18:07

this bargain hold firm. You got

18:09

a boss. I do expect him

18:12

to share intelligence and resources just

18:14

as we share you and your

18:16

expertise. Yeah, and I'm sure he's

18:18

trying to look in, into us.

18:21

Well, I'll make sure to get

18:23

back to you any details that

18:25

I can find on them. If

18:27

the threat has firmly taken root

18:30

on your side of the Atlantic,

18:32

and it has eluded our efforts

18:34

over here, I cannot stress the

18:36

urgency of investigating and halting their

18:39

activities at any cost. Collaborating with

18:41

the Americans, provided they are not

18:43

similarly compromised, presents well, an invaluable

18:45

opportunity, if we are indeed lagging

18:47

so far behind our enemy. Felix,

18:50

I want you and the others

18:52

to maintain your independence, though. Yes,

18:54

ma'am. Be very cooperative and polite

18:56

for the time being. Do not

18:59

give them cause to doubt us

19:01

just yet, but you will promptly

19:03

inform me or reach out to

19:05

any member of Smiley's team with

19:08

details of your next operational location.

19:10

I expect to know that before

19:12

the end of the day, assuming

19:14

you do meet with Snedega in

19:17

that time frame. I will work

19:19

on having a field device prepared

19:21

and drop ship to you at

19:23

this yet to be determined site.

19:26

Considerate insurance. And finally, Felix, I

19:28

don't think it's necessary to say

19:30

that any sign of infestation warrants

19:32

my explicit authorization for deployment of

19:35

this insurance. Yes, ma'am. Well, last

19:37

question. I just want to know.

19:39

Is Tim good? Well, you, I

19:41

think, are better equipped to check

19:43

in on his status. Or is

19:46

your question about... I mean, not

19:48

if he's alive right now, but

19:50

is he good? Is there something

19:52

more that's coming or... If you

19:55

can find out anything, I'd appreciate

19:57

it. I'd get anything back to

19:59

you. anything you want. You

20:01

know that he is a very

20:03

important asset not just because of

20:06

his kinship to but what he

20:08

can do and we are going

20:10

to take good good care of

20:12

him. Thank you ma'am. Thank you

20:15

Horatio. I look forward to hearing

20:17

from you soon and Felix be

20:20

careful. I hear you. Thanks. She

20:22

hangs up. Felix Wall gathered

20:24

up the group and well she said

20:26

that We're good to go to engage

20:29

with genetically, if we want to. Sounds

20:31

like they've been trying to work

20:33

with these folks for a long time

20:35

and just never been able to get

20:37

them to agree. So. So what about

20:39

those previous operations? Well, she

20:42

said that she's going to look into

20:44

it and figure out what's going on. We

20:46

got to find out. What the hell are

20:48

these talking about? And you know, we've

20:51

got to find out what's happening with

20:53

these folks that we're. Picking off

20:55

the streets. I thought we were

20:57

doing the right thing and I

21:00

still do, damn it. Shields shoots

21:02

him a weary look and

21:04

says, feel like we're not

21:06

getting the straight picture

21:08

from anyone here. Well,

21:10

let's keep picking at this

21:13

scab. Hmm. All right, so we

21:15

have the go-ahead. That's

21:17

right. He hands Felix

21:19

the card. Yeah, you go ahead

21:21

and call the number and,

21:24

uh... Leave a message that you'll

21:26

be ready to meet. Is there

21:28

a time frame you'd like to

21:30

give? So let's do a nine.

21:32

Nine o'clock? All right. Well, that

21:35

is about five hours away from

21:37

present time. Is there anything that

21:39

you would like to do to

21:41

prepare for your next rendezvous with

21:44

Snetiger and his, uh, his henchman?

21:46

We get some of the like

21:48

audio eavesdropping tool like one of

21:51

those laser gun things that oh

21:53

yeah, like laser Laser mics. I'd

21:55

love to like yeah, make sure

21:58

that like they're actually talking

22:00

straight, or if they're in the room going,

22:02

can't wait to shoot these guys in

22:04

the head, you know? Man. The second they

22:06

walk in, I'm shooting them in the

22:08

back of the head. Why didn't we do

22:10

that down below? I don't know, man.

22:12

It was just better. We're going to get

22:14

them this time, though. In

22:18

a public spot where it's

22:20

very, yeah. That's their

22:22

MO. Yeah, it's

22:24

true. They love it. They love it.

22:27

Sure. Getting a laser

22:29

mic or like an old school

22:31

parabolic mic, I think the latter

22:33

is pretty hard to get, but

22:35

a laser mic would be something

22:37

you could probably pick up today. Let's

22:40

go ahead and see how easy that would

22:42

be. Yeah,

22:45

as you let your fingers do

22:47

the walk -in, there are a

22:49

few stores here in Tijuana

22:51

that look like they sell

22:53

basic microphones that

22:56

can go ahead and do that if they're

22:58

within line of sight of the target. The

23:01

best one that you can

23:03

locate in this short period

23:05

of time, it's like about

23:07

200 yards, or 200

23:10

meters, is what

23:12

it can perform up

23:14

to. And it's

23:16

$1 ,200 USD,

23:20

which is $9 billion trillion

23:22

pesos. Do

23:24

I roll something for that

23:26

again? We're not

23:28

going to do the requisition rule for that.

23:31

OK. You just basically are going to

23:33

use some of the cash that you all

23:35

have brought with you for this operation,

23:37

for emergencies. Perfect. If that's something you want

23:39

to purchase. Yeah, is everyone

23:41

good with that? Yeah. Mm

23:43

-hmm. What else? Well,

23:46

we're going to want to know the layout of

23:48

the hotel, as best we can

23:50

get by like fire plan or

23:52

whatever. Yep, floor plan,

23:54

all that exits, windows. There

23:57

is an emergency.

24:00

fire plan, open source intelligence

24:02

you can find by checking

24:04

out the hotel's website, there's

24:06

some branching pages where it

24:08

is for some reason posted

24:10

there and yeah you're able

24:12

to basically understand what the

24:14

fire exits are and all

24:16

emergency pathways out of the

24:18

building. Yeah and like out

24:20

of character what other options

24:22

would be present for us

24:24

like as far as learning

24:26

more about this hotel what

24:28

like how how it's situated

24:30

and whatnot like yeah you

24:32

can do a drive -by put

24:34

eyes on it okay case

24:36

the place yeah since you

24:38

don't have your own vehicle

24:40

you would most likely get

24:43

a rideshare taxi to have

24:45

you case it is that

24:47

something you'd like to do

24:49

yeah absolutely just tell them

24:51

to circle the hotel whole

24:53

team or just you I

24:55

think shields would want at

24:57

least one other person with

24:59

them who's your favorite well

25:01

I mean forest because he's

25:03

been working with forest for

25:05

the longest happy dance in

25:07

Felix is buying otherwise he

25:09

would definitely have picked Felix

25:11

obviously forced in faith why

25:13

don't you go ahead and

25:15

roll your alertness for me

25:17

this had better be a

25:19

pious success come oh

25:22

for fuck's sake I got

25:24

an 84 of 80 why

25:26

do I have an 80

25:28

why because you're an alert

25:30

young lady failure you can

25:32

both check your alertness I'm

25:34

pretty sure I should have

25:36

succeeded it's messed up yeah

25:38

Chris can you look at

25:40

the die you guys didn't

25:42

blow on it before I

25:44

rolled it circle the you

25:46

guys circle the block a

25:48

few times the K tower

25:50

boutique is obviously a very

25:52

glitzy and touristy hotel so

25:54

well manicured cured very modern

25:56

looking sleek it has a

25:58

large courtyard that's paved with

26:01

red flagstones in front and

26:03

has a good smattering of

26:05

tropical trees and palm

26:07

trees stretching up towards the

26:09

sky. You can see

26:11

that it looks like the

26:13

fifth floor, again,

26:16

the room was 518, is

26:18

either the top floor or

26:20

second to top floor.

26:22

And otherwise, that's about it

26:24

without going inside. Don't get much else out

26:26

of it, but now you have

26:28

a good idea of what the

26:30

place looks like. You can put

26:32

fire escapes, fire doors, emergency routes

26:34

to an actual building. Cool.

26:38

I think Schild's is gonna ask

26:40

to get out and he's actually

26:42

going to go into the building

26:44

and verify that the floors are correctly

26:46

numbered because I know, I don't

26:48

know exactly what countries do that.

26:50

Well, like some countries that do

26:52

like the first floor is actually

26:54

the ground floor is the -

26:56

Yeah, floor to whatever. Yeah, ground

26:58

floor is zero and then one

27:00

is the second floor for us.

27:02

They're indexed floors, yeah. Yeah,

27:04

it doesn't take much time for you

27:06

to basically figure out through just like

27:08

walking around the halls, checking out

27:10

plaques, riding the elevator maybe, but

27:13

you don't go that far. To

27:15

discover that the fifth floor is

27:17

the second to the top floor

27:19

and there's a sixth floor. Perfect.

27:22

It's gonna go back

27:24

and get back in the cab. Great.

27:27

You guys get back together.

27:29

It's some touristy spot, a few

27:31

blocks away. Felix has got

27:33

a brand new toy that

27:36

he's purchased that he's kind of

27:38

fitting together and reading the

27:40

manual for. It's a consumer grade

27:42

device, so it's nothing that

27:44

requires signals, intelligence to operate or

27:46

anything. Hell yeah. Anything

27:49

else you all want

27:51

to put together? Heavy

27:53

ordinance, explosives. Absolutely. Yeah,

27:56

what did Frankfurt do? We're gonna all walk

27:58

up there with grenade vests, Justin. case.

28:00

Tell me Frankfurt's not buying just grenade

28:02

vests after grenade vests right now.

28:04

I mean, he's not buying them because

28:06

he already has them. They sell

28:08

them over counter at children's toy stores

28:10

in Tijuana. Boom, boom vests. No,

28:12

Frank. Frankfurt is is a uncharacteristically trusting

28:14

of the situation. And I think

28:16

it's I think it's based on his

28:18

past experiences with Snediger. Not that

28:20

he vocalizes that, but, you know, I

28:22

don't if you all noticed that,

28:24

but he's kind of like, yeah. So

28:26

you're just sitting in the hood

28:28

or I guess not hotel because we

28:31

don't have a hotel, right? That's

28:33

correct. So, yeah, so what do you

28:35

like? Did you come with me

28:37

or did you go do something else?

28:39

I think in our, yeah, so

28:41

in the previous iteration of this, this

28:43

experience, he was sitting at the

28:45

bar having a drink. Does he go

28:47

back to the bar? Let's

28:49

say yes. Is it a

28:51

giant cocktail of the neon variety

28:53

with many different accoutrements adorned

28:56

in it? Or has he changed

28:58

his tastes? You fucking know

29:00

it is signature drink is the

29:02

blue hole. Some people say

29:04

it's better than an orgasm. Got

29:07

it. Flowers

29:09

better than coming in your pants.

29:12

It's better than busting a nut, which he

29:15

also does because it's just that good. Yeah,

29:18

you go ahead and hang out at

29:20

the bar and drink upon this sugary

29:22

concoction. Just tell me when I come

29:24

in this drink. Filling

29:27

your body with high

29:29

level of glucose and

29:31

causing a massive insulin

29:33

spike, which begins to...

29:36

It's the only thing that makes me feel alive.

29:40

Yeah, you have to use both hands

29:42

to hold this massive picture like

29:44

glass because otherwise it would slip through

29:46

your disgustingly deformed hands and arms.

29:48

And embarrassingly, it was one of those

29:50

like fish bowl drinks that you

29:52

share with people and I was sitting

29:54

next to some... people when I

29:56

ordered it. So they thought it was

29:58

to be shared, but then I

30:00

just handed it all back and kept

30:02

one for myself. Yeah, you said

30:04

I'm not going to need any of

30:06

those senior and you gave them

30:08

back and he nodded appreciatively, but the

30:10

table next to you did not

30:12

seem appreciative. Well, it's the erection that's

30:14

really making them uncomfortable. Yeah,

30:17

I just made solid eye contact erection and just

30:19

middle finger right about a few inches from their

30:21

face, just what are you going to do? Yeah,

30:24

one of them just looks down at the

30:26

ground and begins sobbing to themselves, trying to

30:28

hold in those. I'm sobbing

30:30

right now quietly. Oh, okay. We

30:32

beat another NPC and Eric.

30:35

Hell yeah. That's

30:37

another 10 XPL. High fives.

30:39

Well done. Cool. Do

30:41

we want to do a drive -by with

30:43

this microphone or walk -by? How do we

30:45

want to utilize that? Any ideas? Yeah,

30:47

I think we use it right. Like we'll

30:49

get the, when we go there, we'll

30:51

get the taxi to like hang out for

30:54

a little bit. We'll try it and

30:56

then we'll go in. And I

30:58

like to keep it in a black bag so

31:00

that way can at least have the black bag to

31:02

put it back in. Yeah, so

31:05

this time it's the whole team and the taxi and

31:08

you're doing your best to

31:10

line up a good shot

31:12

with what might be room 518

31:15

with Faith's

31:17

reconnaissance inside the building he

31:20

did determine exactly

31:22

which courtyard facing sliding

31:25

glass doors should

31:27

lead to Sneddiger's suite.

31:30

And so you have a clear target. Getting

31:33

in range is a little bit tough just

31:35

because of how far away it is

31:37

from the street. But the

31:40

taxi cab driver does his

31:42

best to get you

31:44

to a point where you think you can pick

31:46

up some sounds. And I

31:48

like to point out that I'm using

31:50

a spy tool and not

31:53

just running in with a grenade,

31:55

completely insane. That is

31:57

interesting. You know, it's

31:59

just so out of character.

32:01

at this point that I can't

32:03

even listen to the show

32:05

anymore as a player roll your

32:08

luck and I need Frankfurt

32:10

Paris to roll his alertness I

32:12

rolled a

32:14

critical failure

32:16

my regular

32:19

failed just a regular fail just

32:21

a regular fail you don't

32:23

look like a fool like like

32:26

Tiberius Felix okay yeah so you

32:28

go ahead and point this up at

32:30

the up at the window and

32:32

what you hear is just

32:34

this very very loud

32:36

recitation of some dramatic dialogue

32:38

in Spanish it after

32:40

about two or three minutes

32:43

you realize that it's

32:45

telenovela ramblings from a television

32:47

site sounds like they're

32:49

just watching TV I think

32:51

we're clear okay anything else

32:54

you want to do to while away the

32:56

time before 9 p .m. probably

32:58

get Frankfurt a few

33:01

waters because he's reeking

33:03

of a blue syrupy drinks

33:05

yeah you can see

33:07

that type 2 diabetes

33:09

has set in pretty

33:11

seriously as he continues

33:13

to mainline this fishbowl that

33:16

he somehow took with him from the

33:18

bar and is in the taxi

33:20

capital nobody says a word because nobody

33:22

wants to talk to him yeah

33:24

nobody his lips are colored like all

33:26

sorts of very colors I mean

33:28

people can just they just look in

33:30

his eyes and they just feel

33:32

sad not a not for him they

33:34

just feel sad about their own

33:36

lives at that point just the aura

33:38

of helplessness like this is humanity

33:41

yeah this is America and that makes

33:43

me sad he's just reflecting it back

33:45

to them that's all it

33:47

is beautiful beautiful everybody roll your San

33:49

86 suffer for Frankfurt is this

33:51

helplessness help us mess I'm good and

33:53

helplessness good there okay you don't have to

34:24

All right, cool. So yeah, y'all get,

34:27

let's say y'all get a

34:29

snack and while away the

34:31

time at a nice food

34:33

truck. And use the bathroom.

34:35

Yeah, make sure you got

34:37

empty bladders and deep owls

34:39

before you meet with Senetiger.

34:41

Yes. Because you never know

34:44

what it's gonna be like

34:46

up there. And you enter

34:48

the K-tower boutique as a

34:50

forsome and head up to

34:52

the fifth floor. When you

34:54

get to the hotel room

34:56

door. It is a large

34:58

suite and it actually has

35:01

a buzzer instead of just

35:03

a kind of normal knocker

35:05

on the door. And so

35:07

you press the button and

35:09

you hear a scratchy voice

35:11

on the other end. Hello?

35:13

Heard you looking for an

35:15

exterminator? The door clicks loudly

35:18

from the inside and a

35:20

green light flashes above a

35:22

magnetic key card strip. I

35:24

opened the door and after

35:26

you. The rest of you

35:28

begin to file through as

35:30

Felix politely opens the door

35:32

for you. He closes the

35:34

door definitely behind the group

35:37

and you all begin moving

35:39

through what is a hallway

35:41

towards what looks like a

35:43

well-lit kind of living area

35:45

in Kitchenette. There is a

35:47

open doorway to your right

35:49

as you head in that

35:51

direction. where you do see

35:54

a large kind of conference

35:56

room style table and it

35:58

is covered in papers. stacked

36:00

files, a couple of

36:02

laptops. And at the

36:04

head of it is Sneddiger

36:07

facing directly at

36:09

the entrance to this

36:12

offshoot, this conference -like room

36:14

in this quite modern

36:16

and sleek suite. Sneddiger

36:19

is now wearing a visible

36:21

postal harness over a

36:23

white dress shirt and his sleeves

36:25

are rolled up. His

36:27

face is dour. He

36:30

doesn't smile as you

36:32

file in and he immediately

36:34

closes an open laptop that sits in front of

36:36

him. Now, Felix, as

36:39

you walk down the

36:41

hallway after the rest of the group, and

36:43

they of course see the scene I

36:45

just described, you go ahead

36:47

and roll your sanity. I

36:51

did it. Okay. And

36:53

I would like to project. Yeah,

36:57

let's take a look at

36:59

your character sheet first. See

37:01

how you're doing over here.

37:03

Don't have a lot of

37:05

friends. Yeah, you don't. Okay,

37:07

so you're about to have

37:09

a psychological break with reality.

37:11

Another one, okay. Yeah, why

37:13

not? And so I think

37:15

my question for you, it's

37:17

not a project. Would you

37:19

like to roll to try

37:22

to suppress this episode, this

37:24

acute episode you're about to

37:26

suffer from? Oh, okay, little

37:28

bit different of a rule

37:30

set, but no less important

37:32

to get correct. Okay, I

37:34

would like to try to

37:36

steady myself. All right, go

37:38

ahead and roll a 1D4

37:40

and reduce your willpower by

37:42

that much. Dang.

37:46

Hotel rooms do have a

37:48

lot of, yeah, okay.

37:50

Two, willpower. Got it.

37:54

As Felix walks in, kind

37:56

of like seems to stiffen

37:58

up and he's kind of. looking

38:00

directly at his feet and

38:02

kind of walking forward just

38:05

coming like, I'm Felix, I'm

38:07

Felix. Go ahead and take

38:09

that to willpower off of

38:12

a bond of your choice.

38:14

Describe how that bond might

38:16

help your Asia keep it

38:19

together in this moment as

38:21

this mirror to your right

38:23

begins to cause this terrible

38:25

prickling sensation across your scalp

38:28

in the back of your

38:30

neck. as you feel your

38:32

gaze pulled towards it no

38:35

matter how fast you try

38:37

to speedwalk down this hallway

38:39

towards the rest of the

38:42

team. I would like to,

38:44

could I think about my

38:46

friend Blake Gibbons and how

38:49

unfair that they have a

38:51

perfect life and my life

38:53

is in shatters. And kind

38:56

of with animosity burn this.

38:58

Sure, sure. You focus on

39:00

Blake. And who is Blake

39:02

to you again? You know

39:05

what? I don't remember. So

39:07

yeah, Blake Gibbons, I believe,

39:09

is your taxidermist. Yes, that's

39:12

right. That's right. Okay. His

39:14

wonderful life. So, okay. I'd

39:16

like to think of Blake

39:19

Gibbons and the taxidermist and

39:21

how. He still has a

39:23

passion for birds and I

39:26

mean I've gotten to a

39:28

point where I really go

39:30

there to watch them become

39:33

something else right like they're

39:35

no longer natural birds they're

39:37

a perfect replica that's safe

39:39

and and I resent him

39:42

for it. I resent that

39:44

he gets that power to

39:46

make something forever and I

39:49

can't do that in my

39:51

own life. Well, depending on

39:53

the next role, this will,

39:56

no matter what, this is

39:58

going to influence your next

40:00

thoughts. or actions as Tiberius

40:03

Felix. Go ahead and roll

40:05

your sanity. Okay. You

40:07

swallow hard focusing on

40:09

this, I wouldn't call

40:12

it revulsion, but

40:14

this jealousy that kind

40:16

of crystallizes for you.

40:18

And you turn away

40:20

tearing your gaze, even

40:23

your peripheral gaze, from

40:25

this long mirror. that

40:27

seems to be following you

40:29

down the hall, pulling you

40:32

into what looks like, well,

40:34

small defects in

40:37

its otherwise perfect surface,

40:39

curling the light, curling

40:42

pieces of view into

40:44

it, you turn away from

40:46

it, and you try to forget

40:49

what is, what is an

40:51

unknown reflection, someone

40:54

else, someone new. Someone

40:56

you aren't, but have to

40:58

be. And follow the team into

41:00

the room. Cool. If there's

41:03

a chair, I want to sit down

41:05

and kind of just look at

41:07

my feet. Yeah, there are about

41:10

12 empty chairs. They

41:12

look quite comfortable. They're

41:14

black, leather, luxurious.

41:16

So did the mirror spook him

41:19

out? Is that what happened?

41:21

He got a little spooked. He's

41:23

got a little issue. He's got

41:25

he's got a trauma. He's got

41:27

to deal with. I did not

41:29

think about how every hotel has

41:32

so many mirrors. So many because

41:34

they're like, do we get another

41:36

really shitty still life or do

41:39

we just throw a mirror up?

41:41

Flip a coin. Flip a coin.

41:43

Okay. Come on in. Have a have

41:45

a seat. Plenty of room. Make some

41:48

room on the table if you need.

41:50

If you need. Emotions for

41:52

you to sit down, anywhere

41:55

you'd like, conference table,

41:57

shield some buttons as

41:59

jacket. revealing that

42:01

he has his

42:03

holstered weapon there, but

42:06

he's not like making

42:08

a show of it, just, it's

42:11

there. Bennett, she pulls

42:13

a chair over by the

42:15

window and sits down.

42:17

Felix takes out a

42:20

grenade and pulls the

42:22

pig. Of course. Hell

42:24

yeah. Wild card, bitches.

42:26

Wild card. We can

42:29

get started, I assume,

42:31

since you're here, your

42:34

leadership, agreed. With the

42:36

provision that you keep up

42:39

your end of the bargain,

42:41

yeah. You're not fair? Well,

42:43

let's try to go ahead

42:46

and get this thing

42:48

started with the understanding

42:50

that I also expect

42:52

you to provide... the

42:54

expertise you can for

42:56

the amount of field

42:58

work you've put in

43:00

combating this particular threat.

43:02

He pauses for a

43:04

moment, as if expecting

43:06

a response. I mean,

43:09

we're going after the

43:11

bugs either way. Right.

43:13

Well, why don't we

43:15

go ahead and just

43:17

get right into it

43:19

then? So here's what

43:21

we know. We've identified

43:23

10 cases over... three

43:25

organizations. All of them

43:27

have the similar pattern

43:29

that we already touched

43:31

on in our previous

43:33

meeting. A veteran operative

43:36

disappears, sometimes even presumed

43:39

dead, only to reappear

43:41

weeks or months later

43:44

with only a cursory

43:47

interest in pursuing previous

43:49

agendas. These operatives have

43:52

often had or have

43:55

foreign ties. Specifically, agent

43:57

to move free... abroad

44:00

as part of their

44:02

more typical duties. Anomalist

44:04

behavior has included a

44:07

marked lack of interest in

44:09

their own personal lives or

44:11

professions, maybe a reluctance or

44:14

refusal to respond to our

44:16

drops of coal signs, repeated

44:18

habit of atypical travel

44:21

across the American

44:23

continents. Atypical how? Outside

44:25

of their normal professional

44:27

personal lives. Okay. Most

44:29

certainly outside of anything

44:32

having to do with

44:34

our organization. You

44:36

hear a buzz from what

44:38

looks like a raised speaker

44:40

amidst the clutter on the

44:42

table. He stops from him

44:45

and leans over, presses a

44:47

button on it. Hello? It's

44:50

Lopez. Caracas. You hear a

44:52

woman's voice. He presses another

44:54

button, and you hear a

44:57

familiar click from the... front

44:59

door. Before long, both of

45:01

these individuals filter into the

45:04

same room, nod to the

45:06

rest of you curtly, and

45:08

take their own seats together,

45:11

some of the farthest places

45:13

around the table from Snediger.

45:16

I'll go ahead and

45:18

continue. Karakis, Lopez, just

45:20

getting started. So, he

45:22

turns directly to you,

45:25

Faith. Other indicators show

45:27

a broad uptick in

45:29

sexual promiscuity. Nearly all

45:31

of these returned operatives,

45:33

they formed a frequent,

45:36

honestly near-bankrupting habit of

45:38

soliciting prostitutes, and some

45:40

have picked up heavy

45:42

narcotic habits. That sounds

45:45

par for the course. He turns in

45:47

nods. I can personally attest,

45:49

though, that this is completely out

45:51

of character for at least two

45:53

of my team. Now, SINA

45:56

operatives have been

45:58

surveilling their re- appearing

46:00

colleagues here in Mexico

46:02

and farther south, their

46:05

observations jive perfectly with

46:07

those of other assets

46:09

deployed for intelligence gathering

46:11

on similar persons of

46:14

interest in North America. You'll

46:16

see a couple names in

46:18

the materials here, all capped.

46:21

He vaguely motions to the

46:23

cluster of papers and folders,

46:25

strewn about. Kane. And Ryan,

46:28

now they're in New York

46:30

on assignment, and they're continuing

46:32

to pursue surveillance objectives. If

46:34

our fieldwork is successful, south

46:37

of the border, we'll likely

46:39

have a chance to meet

46:41

with them at a later date to

46:43

compare notes. Now, just one compromised

46:46

operative is a disaster.

46:49

Ten is an invasion and

46:51

existential threat, if what you

46:53

say is true. And these

46:55

are just the ones. that

46:57

we know of. I hope

46:59

you can understand now why

47:01

I'm so eager, well, suddenly

47:03

so eager to work with

47:06

you. Your expertise with what

47:08

we might be dealing with

47:10

is, is, well, it paints

47:12

a very different picture from

47:14

what we have been assuming

47:16

is the culprit or corporates

47:19

behind these kidnappers. I

47:21

feel like we've been

47:23

treading water. Maybe even

47:26

worse, 10 steps behind.

47:28

So with your skills

47:31

and experience, I think we

47:33

can have a shot at tipping

47:35

balance. So my first question,

47:38

can these things

47:40

be removed without

47:42

harming the infested

47:44

operative? Well, we recently

47:47

have learned that they can

47:49

willingly leave a host. That

47:52

was news to us. I

47:54

believe that anybody else know

47:56

he looks at forest Frankfurt

47:59

and Felix you'll see in

48:01

that. Felix, Frankfurt, you

48:03

both absolutely know that they

48:05

can just hop around.

48:07

It's actually horrifying when that

48:09

happens because the prior

48:12

host tends to go nuts

48:14

and scream and utter

48:16

near delirium, while as the

48:18

new host begins to

48:20

also scream in pain and

48:22

what seems to be

48:24

utter terror at what is

48:27

now deftly snugly tucked

48:29

in their head case.

48:32

We won't kill them if

48:35

that's what you mean. They're

48:37

not going to be 100%,

48:39

but we won't kill them. I

48:41

see. So they can jump out

48:43

of a head, but if

48:45

they're resistant to leaving, we drill

48:47

a little hole and expose

48:49

it to sunlight and they just

48:51

get right out of there.

48:54

Other kids, you got to be

48:56

ready because they will go

48:58

after you immediately

49:00

or try to run. That's

49:02

where the power comes into

49:04

play. The

49:07

man, Caracas, he

49:09

interjects. Wait,

49:11

so you're, you're lobotomizing

49:13

them? No, not at

49:15

all. Trapanning, if

49:17

anything. A little hole in the

49:19

back of the head covers

49:21

up nice. It's

49:23

just the skull. We don't go in

49:25

too deep. Lopez

49:27

interjects this time. I

49:31

don't believe any of

49:33

you have medical training. Am

49:35

I incorrect? Well,

49:38

it's hardly a medical procedure. It's

49:40

more like DIY. I've had

49:42

enough practice, okay? Yeah, it

49:44

doesn't take long to get

49:46

the hang of it. They

49:48

both look at each other.

49:50

It's not like suspicion or

49:52

skepticism. They both

49:54

look horrified. You've seen

49:56

that expression before. Snediger.

50:01

It's clear we're out of

50:03

our depth, so again I'm

50:05

going to ask you to

50:07

take the lead in the

50:09

field. We have a bead

50:12

on a person of interest

50:14

and we would like to

50:16

capture and interrogate him. It's

50:19

imperative that we extrapolate

50:21

what these things long

50:23

term plan might be.

50:25

We have to understand

50:27

what they've been up

50:29

to, what they are

50:31

up to, and how

50:33

deep this corruption runs

50:35

in our organizations. You

50:38

won't be working for

50:40

free, again we have resources

50:42

that I can provide.

50:44

If it's in a law

50:46

enforcement database I have

50:48

widely way to amend, to

50:50

adjust or remove. If

50:52

you need access to emergency

50:54

funds and your personal

50:56

lives I can make that

50:58

happen. And as for

51:00

this, well this joint task

51:02

force we're putting together,

51:04

the operation I'm hoping that

51:06

we kick off after

51:08

we leave this room, I

51:10

will move mountains for

51:12

you. If it keeps you

51:14

alive it finally gives

51:17

us an edge against these

51:19

things. So,

51:21

field team, CELF,

51:24

I'm going to be

51:26

sending you into, well,

51:28

the heart of Mexico.

51:31

What do you need?

51:34

We need a vehicle, at

51:36

least one. We need

51:38

weapons there, so we don't

51:40

have to fly with

51:43

them, you know it's... Yeah,

51:45

preferably a panel van,

51:47

with a big sliding door,

51:49

we'd need a warehouse

51:51

with plenty of sunlight where

51:53

any amount of noise

51:56

won't go, suspect. Someone remote,

51:58

not a lot of

52:00

people. You know it's and

52:02

so shields begins writing

52:04

up like their usual like

52:06

abduction kit requirements Yeah,

52:09

let's we don't need to go

52:11

into that we can pull into

52:13

that mystery bag Later and in

52:15

rule whether or not it's gonna

52:18

be feasible So yeah, you kind

52:20

of you kind of go through

52:22

it zip ties PVC bags Gags

52:24

There you go

52:26

fun stuff The only

52:29

concern I have is if you're trying

52:31

to get information out of these things. Well,

52:33

that's not easy They

52:35

don't typically Talk

52:38

About what they're trying to do now the

52:40

last time might have been One of the few

52:42

times where they actually got a bit mouthy with

52:44

us and told us they've been looking for us.

52:46

So I'm

52:48

a little concerned that this may be part

52:50

of that effort That what

52:52

might be part of that effort this

52:54

particular person of interest This or any

52:57

of the other ones you have on

52:59

your radar at this time Okay.

53:02

Yeah, we just need to be

53:04

extra cautious It sounds like we're gonna

53:06

be working together So why don't

53:08

we dive into those details now and

53:10

you can let me know if

53:12

anything? red flags sure

53:14

goes ahead and produces

53:16

from a folder a

53:19

headshot of a gentleman

53:21

What you see in

53:23

front of you is

53:25

a man of Hispanic

53:27

descent who is standing

53:29

in front of a

53:32

Mexican flag and he's

53:34

wearing a suit tie.

53:36

He looks clean cut

53:38

Well groomed looks like

53:40

a professional kind of

53:42

Government -issued headshot that you

53:45

would see for somebody

53:47

So our person of

53:49

interest for this working

53:51

group Which we are

53:53

going to refer to

53:55

as active exchange This

53:58

is UIF agent Dante

54:01

Sombra. He is activated

54:03

as Alabastro. Sombra's specialty

54:05

is unsurprisingly forensic accounting

54:07

and investigating financial crimes.

54:10

He held a very

54:12

high-profile position. Had a

54:14

wife and three young

54:16

children in his work

54:18

for us suited him,

54:21

at least for him

54:23

all accounts. He glances

54:25

over at Lopez and

54:27

Caracas. Now Sombra

54:29

disappeared eight months ago while

54:32

working for us. Evidence pointed

54:34

toward kidnapping. Honestly, it was

54:37

one of the cases we

54:39

thought you and yourself might

54:42

have had something to do

54:44

with. The location was a

54:47

bit out of your normal

54:49

range in this case, and

54:51

he glances over it, Frankford.

54:54

We had surveillance footage showing

54:56

us otherwise. Someone started using

54:59

Sombra's credit card in Leon.

55:01

Our operatives discovered that it

55:04

was Sombra himself returned from...

55:06

We're not sure yet, of

55:09

course. The agents opted not

55:11

to approach his habits, and

55:13

his physical appearance were wholly

55:16

uncharacteristic following our pattern. Now,

55:18

we'll avoid... The details is

55:21

they shouldn't be relevant, but

55:23

suffice to say, Sombra had

55:26

adopted extremely atypical, in-sorted tastes,

55:28

and he showed no interest

55:31

in his previous vocation or

55:33

family life. He goes ahead

55:35

and slides over another photograph.

55:38

This one is obviously taken

55:40

from surveillance footage. Okay. So

55:43

we're seeing now is a

55:45

very disheveled-looking man with a...

55:48

T-shirt jeans and backpack. Long,

55:50

unkempt hair and a scraggly

55:53

beard. And he's looking up

55:55

and... Perhaps fear or wonder.

55:57

His hands are blurring as

56:00

if in motion. Perhaps he's

56:02

like in the midst of

56:05

gesticulating. He's next to a

56:07

street cart as a man

56:10

seems to be holding up

56:12

his hand in motion to

56:15

maybe keep him at distance.

56:17

It's kind of hard to tell.

56:19

So much like Caracas and Lopez

56:21

have been tracking you. We have

56:23

been periodically checking in on sombra.

56:25

Two weeks ago we lost him.

56:28

We lost him. Out of Wajaka

56:30

de Juarez, he had been hold

56:32

up in a hotel for a few days,

56:34

but it's assumed he must have made his

56:37

tail as he completely stopped

56:39

using his phone credit cards.

56:41

Now, surveillance was admittedly

56:43

light with only minimal check-ins.

56:45

We had decreased. They had dedicated

56:47

resources because it was starting to

56:49

seem like Sombra had gone off

56:52

the deep end with some sort

56:54

of midlife crisis and abandoned his

56:56

family to live like a reprobate.

56:59

But the sudden break in somber's

57:01

habits as well as what we've

57:03

discussed today, well, I need you

57:05

to see if you can pick

57:08

his trail back up, learn what

57:10

he might be up to. If

57:12

he's host to one of these

57:15

parasites, I trust you'll know

57:17

how to handle that. Like

57:19

we discussed, I want him

57:21

back alive. We can't afford

57:24

to lose a potential opportunity

57:26

to interrogate someone who... was

57:28

inhabited by one of these

57:30

things. We need a bead

57:32

on the others who have

57:35

been kidnapped and returned and

57:37

those who have never returned

57:39

at all. So you being

57:41

the extraction experts, we're gonna

57:43

be relying on you for

57:46

that. Again, for everything else, you'll

57:48

have us. Okay. Once we do

57:50

get him, you want to interrogate

57:53

him or do you want us

57:55

to? You're gonna rely on you

57:57

to do what's best. in a

58:00

moment. depending on what you discover.

58:02

But I do want him back

58:05

alive and I would like to

58:07

speak with him as well. If

58:09

you deem that it's best to

58:11

sit him down and find

58:13

out more about these things

58:15

plans, well, I'm not gonna

58:18

countermand that decision if

58:20

that's the one you

58:22

make in the field. Okay. So

58:25

this is the location of

58:27

his hotel. It's called the

58:29

Hotel del Solatario in Wauhaca

58:32

and his room number was

58:34

4.1. I've arranged a

58:36

comfortable flight for you. You

58:39

should have no trouble with check

58:41

package. Karakas here and

58:43

Lopez, they'll ensure you

58:45

bored without complaint. If

58:48

there's any additional equipment

58:50

you deem necessary, you

58:52

have my number. I

58:54

am on standby for

58:57

you. So please. Treat me as

58:59

a open warehouse and piggy bank

59:01

as necessary. How you want to

59:03

stay in communication during this operation?

59:05

Do you want us to be

59:07

linked via radio? I mean, I'll

59:09

leave that up to you in

59:12

the field. We'll be back here

59:14

in Tijuana. So you'll be checking

59:16

it with me at least twice

59:18

a day via the line there

59:20

on the back of the business

59:22

card that I provided you. Okay.

59:24

What about backup forces should we

59:26

need anything? What if things get

59:29

hot? What if it is a

59:31

trap? Do we have some emergency

59:33

button we can push with your

59:35

team that can deploy a group

59:37

to assist us? Back up. I'm

59:40

hoping you can arrange your own

59:42

team to facilitate anything like that.

59:44

Okay. So if you need backup,

59:46

I suggest, or arranging your

59:48

team to go ahead and,

59:50

uh, strategically position yourself in

59:52

that way. Now, that being

59:55

said... If such a situation

59:57

arises, give me a call,

59:59

we sue. We'll see what

1:00:01

we can arrange. Okay. Also

1:00:03

going to go ahead and

1:00:05

provide you with some credentials

1:00:07

that I've had whipped up

1:00:10

for you or waiting for

1:00:12

you to come attend this

1:00:14

briefing. He goes ahead and

1:00:16

he passes out. What looks

1:00:19

like very convincing documentation that

1:00:21

shows each one of you

1:00:23

is with the United

1:00:25

States DEA. Perfect. So

1:00:28

again twice a day. I'd

1:00:30

like you to work in

1:00:33

the name of our working

1:00:35

group, active exchange, to your

1:00:38

verbal reports to signal that

1:00:40

you're still managing yourselves uncompromised.

1:00:42

You know, it's kind of

1:00:45

shows off. Any questions for

1:00:47

me? So this alabastro was

1:00:50

with the program? Alabastro,

1:00:52

you hear Lopez interject.

1:00:54

Alabastro was with us.

1:00:56

He worked with us

1:00:58

for many years. And

1:01:00

who are you with?

1:01:02

She glances up at,

1:01:04

Snediger, who takes over.

1:01:07

Sina. They're an analog

1:01:09

of what you probably

1:01:11

do in Canada and

1:01:13

what we do in

1:01:15

the US. Okay. Just

1:01:17

want to make sure

1:01:19

I understood the situation.

1:01:21

Appreciate the information. Knotts. Okay.

1:01:23

Just one. Want you to

1:01:26

know. Once again, we've never

1:01:28

interrogated one really. So don't

1:01:30

get your hopes up. Yeah,

1:01:33

they mostly only tell you

1:01:35

what they want you to

1:01:37

know if they say anything

1:01:40

at all with while. Well,

1:01:42

if you're able to remove

1:01:44

the parasite, you can question

1:01:46

Sombra. I would hope. That's

1:01:49

my hope is that we

1:01:51

can stabilize Sombra and get him

1:01:53

good. and then interrogate him but

1:01:55

depends on how long he's had

1:01:57

this thing in him and how

1:02:00

how bad off he is

1:02:02

mentally. Well, we won't physically

1:02:04

do much harm. It's what

1:02:06

these things do. Inside their

1:02:08

heads, that really is a

1:02:11

problem sometimes afterwards. There's

1:02:13

not a lot left to scrape together as a person

1:02:15

if you get to my drift. Yeah,

1:02:17

imagine this guy's

1:02:19

been riding shotgun to this

1:02:21

thing, this bug, doing

1:02:24

all this stuff. He's got no

1:02:26

control, he can't stop himself. If

1:02:28

you can get a high -end psychotherapist

1:02:30

at our beck and call, that

1:02:33

might actually help us. Okay,

1:02:35

I can do that. If I could

1:02:37

ask, do you have the means

1:02:39

to get us some sort of equipment, you

1:02:42

know, like a camera hidden as

1:02:44

a button on a blouse or something

1:02:46

like that along with maybe airpieces

1:02:48

for communication? Absolutely. I

1:02:50

can make sure you have everything you

1:02:52

need to stay in contact in

1:02:55

the field in a clandestine manner. I

1:02:57

just think it would be great to

1:02:59

if you see what's going on

1:03:01

via a feed, some sort of

1:03:04

video input that's just hidden

1:03:06

on our person. I'm

1:03:09

hesitant to, unless you have

1:03:11

the know -how, you kind of

1:03:13

glance us around the team, I'm

1:03:15

hesitant to have anything that's

1:03:17

unencrypted streaming directly back here. But

1:03:19

if it can be set

1:03:22

up, then we can discuss it.

1:03:25

Otherwise, hard copies, encrypted, brought back

1:03:27

here once the mission is

1:03:30

complete. Yeah, that might be for

1:03:32

the best. Okay. Well, I've

1:03:34

got your laundry list of things

1:03:36

that should be waiting for you.

1:03:38

I also have your flight.

1:03:40

Any other questions? Is

1:03:43

it first class? You'll

1:03:46

be you'll be very

1:03:48

comfortable. He smiles all right

1:03:50

Sleep's hard to come by these days. Snedigger,

1:03:53

it's good to be working with

1:03:55

you again. He first is, bro.

1:03:58

That's the second time you...

1:04:00

You've mentioned that. We've never

1:04:03

met. Sure. Sure.

1:04:05

Parris just kind of

1:04:07

looks off. Like a crazy

1:04:09

person. So

1:04:11

Tasmanian. Tasmanian named Devilface. And

1:04:13

blah, blah, blah, blah. He died.

1:04:16

Exactly. And then he weirdly

1:04:18

starts spinning around in the circles

1:04:20

and performs a little tornado.

1:04:22

Hell yeah, new power, hell yeah.

1:04:24

Can I do a human

1:04:26

to see how Sneddiger is taking

1:04:29

this information? The information about...

1:04:31

Just with the weight with what

1:04:33

Parris Frankfurt is saying to

1:04:35

him. Oh, this particular interaction? Sure.

1:04:37

Roll a human. And

1:04:41

I got a fail. You

1:04:44

guys can, you guys are getting

1:04:46

lots of checks done. Well done.

1:04:48

He seems genuinely confused. Fair enough.

1:04:50

He also seems like he doubts

1:04:52

the capabilities and mental competence of

1:04:54

your colleague. Yeah, I do too.

1:04:56

So I think we're all good

1:04:59

there. Yeah, I think everyone wants

1:05:01

it. all in the same page.

1:05:06

He goes ahead and politely

1:05:08

dismisses you and

1:05:10

Caracas and Lopez stand.

1:05:12

Caracas turns and says, Well,

1:05:14

shall we make to

1:05:16

the airport? Yeah. They go

1:05:18

ahead and take you

1:05:21

for out of the room

1:05:23

and down to the

1:05:25

parking garage for the hotel

1:05:27

and have you kind

1:05:29

of pack into a large

1:05:31

sedan. This is pretty,

1:05:33

pretty tight fit. I'll sit

1:05:35

in the back, like

1:05:38

the back, back where

1:05:40

there's not a seat in

1:05:42

the trunk. Yeah. They

1:05:45

straight up drive out

1:05:47

of the parking garage

1:05:49

into Tijuana's night air.

1:05:51

It's a glittering, busy

1:05:53

city, especially in this

1:05:56

touristy segment. And they're

1:05:58

not very talkative. during

1:06:00

the trip. You might be. You

1:06:02

just let me know. But, uh...

1:06:05

Oh, I forgot to ask, uh,

1:06:07

about where we're staying at our

1:06:09

destination. Where you're staying?

1:06:12

At our destination, Dewey. You'll

1:06:14

need to make arrangements. Okay. That

1:06:16

you find best for you. That's

1:06:19

fine. Is it true what they

1:06:21

say about the water? The

1:06:24

water? Don't drink the water. Oh,

1:06:27

Caracas smiles. He looks over at

1:06:29

Lopez and she smiles. Barely

1:06:33

called a smile, but her mouth does tend to

1:06:35

curve a bit. Buy

1:06:37

out of plastic, uh, plastic bottles

1:06:39

while you're there. Got

1:06:41

it. Thank you. Sorry

1:06:44

to hear about your friends. All

1:06:46

right. I need to roll now. On

1:06:49

that particular sentence. We've

1:06:54

lost a lot of folks ourselves. There's

1:06:57

silence in the air. It kind of hangs there

1:06:59

for a moment. And

1:07:02

then Lopez finally speaks. Alabastro,

1:07:06

he knew things. Just

1:07:09

no one better to have on an op. No

1:07:12

offense for you, Caracas.

1:07:15

He shakes his head and raises his

1:07:17

eyebrows, kind of smiles. He

1:07:20

made it like we were

1:07:22

ghosts. No record of

1:07:24

travel, plenty of,

1:07:26

plenty of washed cash for

1:07:28

anything. Taking up every damn

1:07:30

detail on a target

1:07:33

down to childhood shoe sizes.

1:07:35

She looks down, shifts

1:07:37

a bit in her seat. We

1:07:39

deal with bad

1:07:41

things just like you

1:07:43

had something that crawled

1:07:46

out of a culvert

1:07:48

in the capital that

1:07:50

was burning up people

1:07:52

in the vecindades. Took

1:07:54

up in basements, boiler

1:07:56

rooms, hard to pin

1:07:58

down, burned kids. mostly no

1:08:01

idea why. Alabastro figured out

1:08:03

the thing was moving in

1:08:06

a spiral pattern. Still don't

1:08:08

get how he pieced it

1:08:11

together. We thought he was

1:08:13

full of shit, but then

1:08:16

we actually found the thing,

1:08:18

found its next nest, anticipated

1:08:21

it. Now nothing we had

1:08:23

was slowing it down and

1:08:26

it was angry. He bet

1:08:28

everything. He bet everything. kitchenfire

1:08:31

extinguisher and managed to drench

1:08:33

it. Still not sure why

1:08:36

or what he had figured

1:08:38

out, but it didn't like

1:08:41

that at all and it

1:08:43

really fucked it up. We

1:08:46

took it apart with hammers

1:08:48

after that. Anyway, she straightens

1:08:51

up, clears her throat. She

1:08:53

shifts a bit to turn

1:08:56

to face you. Anyway, you

1:08:58

know how it goes. Like,

1:09:01

if you can save Alabastro,

1:09:03

save him. He's... He's one

1:09:06

of us. One of the

1:09:08

best of us. We'll do

1:09:11

our best. Look, I had

1:09:13

a buddy in. You ever

1:09:16

heard of a Wendigo? They're

1:09:18

real. And he, well, he

1:09:21

figured him out. Got him

1:09:23

sorted. He, uh... He took

1:09:26

his own life a few

1:09:28

years back, but, uh... I

1:09:31

never had more respect for

1:09:33

a man than watching what

1:09:36

he did. It was like

1:09:38

magic. So... I feel you.

1:09:41

We'll do our best. You

1:09:43

hear a Caracas mutter something.

1:09:46

Lopez turns. Okay. To those

1:09:48

we have lost, and to

1:09:51

those we can yet still

1:09:53

safe, something, something, used to

1:09:56

say. Amen. So we established

1:09:58

that. was before. He

1:10:00

got a bug in him because he was

1:10:02

like really into figuring out people's childhood

1:10:04

shoes sizes, right? Yeah,

1:10:07

the dude loved feet and there's nothing

1:10:09

wrong with that. That's a normal

1:10:11

thing. Yeah Or has the internet made

1:10:13

it a normal thing? That's normal.

1:10:16

It's normal and average and everyone should

1:10:18

talk about it It's not weird

1:10:20

at all It's not if everybody can

1:10:22

start talking about that like I

1:10:24

don't know just injected into normal conversation

1:10:26

I really need that to become

1:10:29

normal. So thank y 'all. We'll do

1:10:31

our best The

1:10:33

two Sina operatives get you

1:10:35

to the airport in Tijuana

1:10:37

Airport. They drop you off

1:10:39

and Get

1:10:41

you through security Without anybody,

1:10:43

you know checking anything

1:10:46

that you're bringing with you.

1:10:48

Nice And

1:10:50

as you depart Lopez

1:10:52

says Nos vemos

1:10:54

and you board the

1:10:57

plane the plane

1:10:59

destined to Oaxaca de

1:11:01

Juarez Oh

1:11:51

Here This is

1:11:53

our cave take 20

1:11:55

steps forward and

1:11:58

stop Okay.

1:12:00

You'll see the

1:12:03

light soon. Good.

1:12:06

Good. Good. Make

1:12:08

your way down

1:12:11

this tunnel. You'll

1:12:14

see. Good. Make

1:12:16

your way down

1:12:19

this tunnel. You'll

1:12:22

see the light

1:12:24

soon. You're

1:12:27

wearing masks and living

1:12:30

in a cave, Gopnik.

1:12:32

I'll ask again, what

1:12:34

in the comic book,

1:12:36

hell happened to you?

1:12:38

Really? What appears to

1:12:40

be a slice of

1:12:43

left behind rotten face

1:12:45

meat and a musty

1:12:47

curious stained subterranean tunnel

1:12:49

hideout is in fact

1:12:51

likely a severe manifestation

1:12:53

of... Oh boy, this

1:12:56

guy can't help himself,

1:12:58

can he? Our masters

1:13:00

have told me a

1:13:02

lot about your kind,

1:13:04

Jeff. The nagging... Actually

1:13:06

alien-turned psychic tape-worn. Burrowing

1:13:09

into the physical bodies

1:13:11

of creatures all over

1:13:13

the universe. Disgusting parasites.

1:13:15

Your kind has an

1:13:17

end, you know. Its

1:13:20

end is here. On

1:13:22

this planet. That end

1:13:24

is simply a possibility,

1:13:26

and it is not

1:13:28

assured. And therefore... There

1:13:30

he goes again. Can't

1:13:33

help himself. A bit

1:13:35

of a vexum, son

1:13:37

of a bitch yourself.

1:13:39

That's not even a

1:13:41

real word. Whatever. You

1:13:43

see that light up

1:13:46

ahead now? We're almost

1:13:48

there, so pipe down.

1:13:50

Give our masters the

1:13:52

respect they deserve when

1:13:54

you enter their presence.

1:13:56

Disabled Philip Marcellus Copnick

1:13:59

has performed. his duties.

1:14:01

I have masters. Your

1:14:03

award moves have closer,

1:14:05

hot-blooded, gob-nip. Prepare these

1:14:08

two for what is

1:14:10

to come, and we

1:14:13

will do the same

1:14:15

by convening directly with

1:14:17

the ones who cannot

1:14:20

help, but continue listening.

1:14:22

This is a podcast

1:14:25

called Sorry, Honey, I

1:14:27

have to take this. when

1:14:29

you drop off through units

1:14:32

of their energy and labor

1:14:34

into a digital bucket at

1:14:37

coffee.com/sorry honey. You call the

1:14:39

two persist? Such selfless actions

1:14:42

will elicit fakes from the

1:14:44

huddled minds behind these words

1:14:46

and shamefully allow more words

1:14:49

to be written in broadcast.

1:14:51

Whitclare never again, with

1:14:54

the Rottenford whip and fall

1:14:56

to the ground. There is

1:14:58

no saving it. You go

1:15:00

to various review sites and

1:15:02

know its significance of the

1:15:04

importance of the work, but

1:15:06

your words are met with

1:15:09

the impersonal silence of a

1:15:11

refreshed page after clicking, submit.

1:15:13

You have done nothing, and

1:15:15

would now declare you will

1:15:17

cease. You can fort with

1:15:20

others hoping to foster

1:15:22

some semblance of community.

1:15:24

around the income group's

1:15:26

ideas this production puts

1:15:28

forth. You do this

1:15:30

on an active discord

1:15:32

server, accessible along with

1:15:35

other templates of extra

1:15:37

content, at link tree

1:15:39

slash sorry to me.

1:15:41

Your words swirl about

1:15:43

and blend with other

1:15:45

pathetic minds there, creating

1:15:47

a slurry that we are

1:15:50

not clear, impotent, futile,

1:15:52

defeated. The

1:15:54

unwork is always most impressive when

1:15:57

it passes from your metaphorical lips,

1:15:59

masters. You

1:16:02

two better strip down now.

1:16:04

Everything leads to this. Oh,

1:16:06

how I've waited. Real. And

1:16:09

that's about where I'm gonna

1:16:11

have to call it. Look, I

1:16:13

may not have my side arm

1:16:15

with me, but I, you know,

1:16:17

I think I can bring in

1:16:20

a few other side arms. I

1:16:22

can. I can reach back into

1:16:24

it. Like it's, like it's

1:16:26

just a flowing stream.

1:16:29

My God, it's... It's...

1:16:31

Oh! Your side arms,

1:16:33

the ones I

1:16:35

gifted, I am

1:16:38

impressed. Really, I

1:16:41

am bleeding. Really,

1:16:43

I am bleeding.

1:16:46

Really, I am...

1:16:48

Really, I am...

1:16:50

Really? I am...

1:16:52

You coward. Really?

1:16:54

I am... I'm

1:16:56

bleeding, you coward.

1:17:01

You need your gun to.

1:17:04

Yeah, you do, boy. I

1:17:06

have 40 pounds on you.

1:17:08

Wait, who's that? I took

1:17:11

my child. I have to.

1:17:13

Beautiful mother. Make sure

1:17:15

to put many holes

1:17:17

into his upper though

1:17:20

backs if you wish

1:17:22

to see our progeny

1:17:25

again. We don't need

1:17:27

his shell for what

1:17:30

comes next. You almost

1:17:32

killed me. Really,

1:17:35

this broken woman

1:17:38

and this twisted

1:17:41

gopnik are corrupted.

1:17:43

The others have

1:17:46

lured us and

1:17:49

trapped us here, but

1:17:51

you can stop them.

1:17:54

Jeff, you want me

1:17:56

to. You want me

1:17:59

to. This was a

1:18:01

quest for your side

1:18:03

arm, and it was

1:18:05

my pleasure to be

1:18:08

a part of it

1:18:10

with you. You are

1:18:12

my friend, and although

1:18:14

your brain is devious

1:18:16

and clumsy, I have

1:18:18

grown to endure. And

1:18:20

perhaps I have grown

1:18:23

to... but no matter.

1:18:25

Our quest failed, and

1:18:27

you have... But

1:18:30

you now have

1:18:32

a chance to

1:18:34

keep the unwork

1:18:36

from spreading. You

1:18:38

owe... No, there

1:18:40

is a chance.

1:18:43

This outcome is

1:18:45

decided in your

1:18:47

consciousness, shall be...

1:18:49

Dream, relic. Dream.

1:18:51

This place will...

1:18:54

Astonish! What if...

1:18:56

He... Bee! Bee!

1:18:59

No, no, no,

1:19:01

no