|
As you work, a patient, unrelated to the shooting, suddenly wakes and grabs your arm. Her eyes grow wide and she whispers, "Change is coming," before falling unconscious once more. No one nearby seems to have noticed.
The man turns to look you squarely in the eye. "This is no concern of yours, cripple. Mind your own business."
While working on paperwork in your office, you get the eerie feeling that you are being watched. You glance up to see a translucent figure standing before you. It is that of a young man, perhaps 18 to 20 years of age. He is staring at you with a curious expression, but the instant you look up, he is gone; fading from existence.
"Senor Corkin, due to current circumstances, we will need to see you in person to facilitate your request. As I'm sure that you are aware, we're in a bit of a... situation at the moment. Perhaps if you were to stop by..."
According to the computer, this would be the Geminids meteor shower, though everything seems to indicate that it should not be this vivid, particularly this early in the evening. As you watch, one of the meteors seems to be particularly bright. It streaks overhead, seemingly only feet above the ground, to crash-land somewhere in the nearby swamp.
Warren looks around his office, and takes particular note of how the light is coming through the blinds. Perhaps some weird reflection...
|
"Senor Corkin, due to current circumstances, we will need to see you in person to facilitate your request. As I'm sure that you are aware, we're in a bit of a... situation at the moment. Perhaps if you were to stop by..."
"Yes, I'm on my way. I should probably warn you that it's in relation to your, ah, situation. Dr. Hall has asked me, since I'm in country, speak the language, and have the field skills, to collect and return to him some samples. I was hoping your head of surgery might be familiar with Dr. Hall's work, and some of the unique insights he might lend in this unusual circumstances. I called ahead to see if there was some way to keep this at an academic, professional level, and avoid la paperazia."
"I think you'll find that making a drunken threat in a bar full of people makes it our business. Now unless you want Colette to call the cops on your ass I suggest you shut the hell up and go home before you get into some real trouble." he gestures to the barmaid as he mentions her name, sure that she'll pick up on the hint to keep the phone handy. He hoped it wouldn't be necessary, and while he knew he could take care of himself, it wouldn't hurt to know the cops would be there.
Well, I'm not going into the swamp at night, but perhaps we can see the landing site from the road?
Come on James, lets go check it out!
Great...'Change is coming'...what a great bit of information.
|
|
Warren
You are quick to realize that there is no light coming through the blinds. It is dark outside.
Ace
"Please come over and we will be glad to discuss the matter with you at length."
A short time later, you are pulling up at the hospital. It is surrounded by people, from paparazzi to curiosity seekers to people seeking cures, the crowd is immense and it is all the police can do to keep order. You approach the main entrance, but are met by a large officer who bars your way.
"Lo siento, señor. Nadie va dentro, excepto el personal."
Reve
"This is gonna get ugly, ^&%*#! I told you to mind your own business." The man pushes his chair aside.
Frank
The meteorite has landed not far off into the swamp and after a short drive, you arrive at the landing site. It has fallen about 5 yards off the road, in hip-deep mud and water.
Jackson
"Doc? Hey, Doc!" An orderly shakes your shoulder. "Hey, you okay? You're making the patients nervous." You realize that you are standing and staring at nothing. The patient who spoke to you has disappeared.
Surely I'm not the only person who saw this fall?
After making sure that they're no lurking 'gators, Frank will cautiously wade out to the 'meteorite', while James watches from the shore. If possible he will try to fasten a tow-rope to it to drag it out of the water.
With Vehicles 8 Frank should have a pretty good tool box/roadside emergency kit in his car.
"Hmm, odd. No lights reflecting from outside, and I don't really feel that tired..." he mumbles to himself.
Warren
You are quick to realize that there is no light coming through the blinds. It is dark outside.Ace
"Please come over and we will be glad to discuss the matter with you at length."A short time later, you are pulling up at the hospital. It is surrounded by people, from paparazzi to curiosity seekers to people seeking cures, the crowd is immense and it is all the police can do to keep order. You approach the main entrance, but are met by a large officer who bars your way.
"Lo siento, señor. Nadie va dentro, excepto el personal."
** spoiler omitted **
Reve
"This is gonna get ugly, ^&%*#! I told you to mind your own business." The man pushes his chair aside.[dice=Man initiative]1d20+1
[dice=Reve initiative]1d20+0Frank
The meteorite has landed not far off into the swamp and after a short drive, you arrive at the landing site. It has fallen about 5 yards off the road, in hip-deep mud and water.Jackson
"Doc? Hey, Doc!" An orderly shakes your shoulder. "Hey, you okay? You're making the patients nervous." You realize that you are standing and staring at nothing. The patient who spoke to you has disappeared.
"Fine, I think...thanks for asking...I'm going to go take a map in my office before the next samples are due to be taken."
|
|
Was waiting on Ace and Reve, but...
Warren
Returning to work, you can't shake the nagging feeling that you are being watched. Then, quite to your surprise, a pencil picks itself up on your desk and begins moving across a piece of paper. The lettering is very rough, as if written by a right-handed individual, using their left hand, but it reads, "Help me."
Jackson
Your sleep is very restless, filled with dreams of a world in utter chaos. You stand alone in the middle of it all, immune to the destruction around you, but unable to do anything about it. You keep hearing the voice of the patient echoing in your mind, "Change is coming."
Frank
Frank attaches the tow chain, being careful to avoid touching the meteorite. He returns to the truck and revs the engine before slipping it into gear and slowly pulling the rock free of the muck and onto the roadway.
Startled at first when the pencil moved, Warren could do nothing but watch the spectacle. Mind racing, he knew that even the most dedicated hospital pranksters could not put on a production such as this.
Moments later, he wrote on the paper "How?"
So this meteorite, how large is it? Is there anything unusual about it?
Jackson awakes from a fretful rest full of nightmares. As he gets cleaned up and prepared to face the day he is muttering to himself, "Change is coming...
Reve simply lets out a sigh as the moron climbs to his feet. Taking advantage of the drunk's momentarily unsteadiness he seizes the initiative and charges straight at the fellow, spinning his chair at the last moment so his useless feet arc around to try and knock the drunk down to even the scores a little.
Did the meteorite fall on public or private land?
"Come on son, take a picture of this catch!"
|
|
Warren
There is no response but the quiet stillness of the office. Then, the pencil once again picks itself up and scribbles on the paper. "Dead. How move on?" it writes.
Frank
The meter is roughly ovoid, about two feet long by a foot wide. It fell on public land. There doesn't pear to be anything too unusual about it. It is not even warm and does not glow. It appears for all the world to be a rock that could have been found almost anywhere on earth.
Reve
Your attempted maneuver fails painfully, with the man easily dodging your attack, even in his drunken state. He returns the favor with an ill-timed swing at your jaw, but misses by several feet.
Jackson
Ah, just like a movie. I can't believe this is happening.
Dr. Mulheer writes on the paper: I'm no expert but the stories say you must confront the circumstance of your death... or something that troubled you in life.
When he "hands" the pencil back, he watches for it to move and tries to visualize the movement of any apparition.
Reve leans back away from the clumsy swing before grabbing at the man's arm, trying to pull him down and lock an arm around his neck.
What is the diameter of this meteorite?
|
|
Warren
After what seems an hour, the pencil moves again, writing out the words, "You first spoken since died."
Reve
You place the man into a lock, easily pinning him.
Frank
The diameter is roughly 3 feet.
ALL (including Jackson)
There is a sound of thunder, as loud as though it were adjacent to you. It is strong enough to wake you or otherwise get your attention, regardless of what you are currently involved in. The skies are a mass of clouds that form an unusual pattern. The time is 10 PM CST.
Outside, people are panicking. A voice fills your minds:
You are the chosen. A time of change is at hand. How will you stand?
It is apparent that not everyone "hears" the voice. Most people show no evidence of having "heard" it, nor are they reacting to it.
Reve is left breathing a little heavy with his too-long hair dangling in his eyes as he holds onto the drunken idiot tight enough to choke him a little but probably not knock him out. He looks up with a start at the thunderous rumble, half expecting to see the ground shaking from a matching impact.
His eyes narrow and he blinks rapidly as he hears the voice, looking carefully, before turning back to the drunk. He shifts his grip so he can keep his lock one-handed and slowly wheels his way towards the door, forcing his captive to strumble awkwardly, half bent over amidst the upset patrons. "I don't wanna hear about any more b%~%+#~@ like that from you again." he growls in the man's ear, before letting him go and shoving him out the door ahead of him, following shortly thereafter to stare up at the sky. What the hell was going on...
Jackson is completely caught off guard by the voice in his head and without giving it any thought he answers "For science and truth"
Warren writes back: How did you die?
When the storm comes about, he jumps at the sound, abnormally loud as it is. He steps to his window, momentarily distracted from his conversation of sorts with the apparition. Could the two be connected? he thinks.
In response to the voice in his head, he looks about the room. He can't tell if anyone else heard it, but it definitely didnt sound like the PA system and no one else was liable to be around in the admin offices of the hospital at this hour, save skeleton crew wandering about.
How will I stand? I don't know, I hadn't really thought about it.
James, get back in the truck!
Nervously Frank scans the roiling sky.
|
|
The sky roils as if in anger, the clouds building. The thunder rolls again, and lightning flashes in the clouds. The clouds seem to take on the form of a giant profile in silhouette. There is a another crack of thunder, louder than before, and the general populace huddles in panic. People are crying, whimpering, and muttering about Judgement Day and the end of the world. Images race through your minds... friends, family, strangers. Then, as suddenly as it appeared, the skies clear and the wind dies down.
Reve puts a hand to his head to steady himself as memories flash through his head. The happy ones only bring back to him how far from that he is now. When his mind clears he looks up to see the moonlight shining down once again. What had that been, was he going nuts at last? It would certainly fit with how his life had been going the last few years.
He turns back to the bar, looking to see whether the woman who'd been threatened was still in there and if she was okay.
James, you all right!
Shaken, Frank stands outside the truck, confused and uncertain.
Warren stands, looking out his office's floor-to-ceiling window, enraptured by the sight.
Unbelievable.
|
|
Reve
The woman is fine; a bit scared, but otherwise unhurt. She thanks you shyly, but then shrieks loudly, pointing to the door. The drunk has returned, brandishing an automatic pistol! "I'll teach you to mind your own business," he says, leveling the weapon towards you.
Frank
"I'm fine, Dad," comes the reply. From somewhere not far away comes an odd sound (turn up sound).
Warren
Looking out the window, you witness an altercation at a bar just down the street between a man in a wheelchair and another man. The wheelchair-bound man easily puts the other in a lock and the ambulatory man retreats. The wheelchair man turns back to the bar and heads inside, but the other man doesn't seem to be giving up. He goes to a nearby vehicle to retrieve something (you can't be sure what), then heads back to the bar. From his stance, your surmise that he is carrying a gun.
"oh no," he groans, grabbing his jacket as he rushes out the door. looks like I'll have to play first responder until EMS arrives.
Jackson disturbed by the odd occurrences of the night before and that morning, hurries back to his lab at the research building.
Reve whips around at the lady's scream, staring in amazement at the moron waving the gun none too steadily. His first thought is to throw something and rush the fellow, but even with those who'd panicked and left when the sky changed the bar was still way too full, if the idiot started firing he might not be the only one to get hurt.
"What is wrong with you?" he asks, not quite able to hold onto his temper at the man's stupidity even if showing anger was likely counter productive. "Your going to shoot up a bar full of people--of witnesses I might add--because you got drunk and someone embarrassed you? Smarten the f%&@ up." his knuckles turn white on the arms of his wheelchair as he tries to think of what to do.
Frank looks care fully around , before again turning his attention to the 'meteorite'.