Uknown Armies 2ed- Metamorphosis

[purepolarpanzer]

Weird Science

That's what the bumper sticker says on the busted up Toyota in the empty parking lot of the University of Toledo. This building looks dumpy and old in comparison to the rest of the campus, and the parking lot is cracked and lonely on this Sunday afternoon. The Toyota's license plate reads DR ODEL, which is the name of the professor who contacted each of you. Each of you receives a letter, formal and academic,
requesting you visit the Dr. to discuss a possible momentous discovery on his part. It was obvious that everyone received the same letter,
dry and a bit pompous, but the difference is each of yours has a personalized message written on it that appeared a few seconds after the letter was opened. This could be chalked up to special inks, but each message also promised something special. While the letter drones about Dr Odel being the foremost expert in Psychology, the letter offered each of you something impossible to ignore-
REAL MAGICK.

Spoiler: Rebecca Allsop

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I know your time spent at the University came to an unexpected end, Ms. Allsop, but I really do feel that your potential warrants further assistance from my department. I've discovered some old formulas from a 12th century Alchemy text that show promising results, but my own chemistry skills are insufficient to utilize them all. The one I've managed to work makes little scientific sense but allows the user to view into an unseen reality surrounding our own. I invite you to sample it, as well as to ply your trade at some of the more advanced recipes. You will be paid, of course.

Spoiler: Dr. Nathan Stone

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I'm not sure if you remember me, Dr. Stone, but we are alumni of the same class at our University. You always struck me as a grounded man, but one with both imagination and poise. I would need all this and more if I am to fully utilize all of my latest findings to their fullest effect. I have discovered an alternate plane of perception, accessible through some as yet unquantifiable chemistry I've discovered. I've been able to use it to do more good for my subjects in the last three months than I've managed in three years of counseling and pharmaceutical treatment. It truly allows one to view, monitor, and even CHANGE things about a patient that psychiatrists spend decades trying to unravel. If you could visit me to help me prepare my findings it would be much appreciated. You will be remunerated for your time, of course.

Spoiler: Professor Arthur Gordons

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Good day, Professor! It has come to my attention that you may be interested in some of the latest findings I've made in the realm of psychology and pharmacology that bring into question such outlandish theories as group consciousness, psychic phenomena, and the existence of another plane of reality. I know all of this seems impossible, or even mad, but I believe if I were to continue without the assistance of such a spirited truth-seeker as yourself, it would be a detriment to my studies as well as their legitimacy. My main reason for inviting you to join me, however, is the unique perspective you may have on my findings greater meaning in respect to the human condition. Your time will be compensated, of course.

Spoiler: Olga Kern

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My dear Ms. Kern, I wish for your assistance in a personal project of mine. I have heard from certain elements that your medical expertise can be acquired for monetary reward, and I am in great need of a person with your skills. I have embarked on a journey involving pharmacology, psychology, and even spiritualism, or a sort. My findings call into question the realities of years of training in both our fields of expertise. What I require at this point is someone with medical training to help me measure the physiological connotations of my experiments who is eager to explore and reserved in their professional demeanor. I promise you that if you assist me in the earliest stages of this endeavor than you will continue to be involved in the examination of the foundations of a new merger of science and soul. As mentioned before, your services will not go unrewarded.

Maybe you're just morbidly curious about the offer. Maybe you've come to give the man an earful after bombarding you with letters. Each one requested an RSVP through an email address, and they arrive every week or so until a response is sent. Maybe his offer is just what you were looking for. No matter what, this overcast day in the middle of a eerie parking lot is the beginning of something big.

Spoiler

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First come, first serve when it comes to arrival in the parking lot. The building is currently locked, so presumably the your contact will be letting you in soon enough. Take this time to meet, greet, and show off your characters to one another.

[Kittendumpling]

The message was simply too tantalising to ignore. Nathan vaguely recalled someone called Odel who was in his year at University, so he felt fairly confident it wasn't a weird phishing scam. A real, highly effective breakthrough in psychiatric treatment? Nathan left for the address detailed as soon as he was able.

His sleek hunter green Lexus pulled into a parking space near the doors to the building, and Nathan got out, eyes already searching for Dr Odel. He noticed the bumper sticker of the nearby car as he locked his own vehicle. 'WEIRD SCIENCE' huh? It reminded him of that 80s film, though all he could recall was the title.

He leaned on the bonnet of his car and lit a cigarette, idly blowing the pale smoke upwards as he watched the few stars he could pick out among the light pollution.

[Longes]

Dressed and with a messenger bag in hand, Olga went around the house making last checks. Neither light, nor gas nor irons were on. All windows were locked. Note on the fridge reminded about a planned Saturday with her daughter, first time she'll get to see her this month. Next to it was a letter from mom talking about the 'exciting' life in the retirement house. As usual, the tone was subtly judgmental, she never really forgave selling the farm. All animals were fed and in their cages, test subjects and those planned for adoption alike. Everything seemed normal. Content, Olga went outside. Maybe this time it won't be a malicious prank or a crazy person.

Spoiler: Bike

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Disclaimer: I know next to nothing about bikes
Olga pretty much looks and dresses like this, and is 176cm tall:

Driving into the parking lot, Olga picked a spot at the edge and got off the bike. Checking the front door proved to be futile. Turning to the guy smoking in the parking lot Olga waved and asked:
"Yo, when are they opening?"

[Priest_Of_Banjo]

Well, this isn't too far from what I was expecting.

As he pulled up in his modest sedan, Arthur considered his options.

I could just go home. Ignore this whole thing for a probable farce and get back to those rumours about a "skin warper" ripping people's eyes out.

I could stay in the car until this gets underway. Just wait it out and ignore the others.

Or... I could be friendly.

Reaching over in the seat next to him for his messenger bag and cane, Arthur stepped out of the sedan and walked over to the group. His tweed jacket provided little comfort as he waved with his free hand.

"Good day!" He cried, his British accent like a fog horn through the overcast clouds. "I don't suppose either of you would happen to be this Doctor Odel, would you?"

[Kittendumpling]

Nathan gave the redheaded biker a slightly awkward little wave as they approached.

"Not sure. Soon, I think," he responded to the question.

He was about to ask if they were both there for the same reason, when the rumbling of another car came close and Nathan looked at the sedan pulling up, eyeing the emerging driver curiously.

"I'm not Dr Odel, but I'm waiting for him. Are you two also here for him?"

Nathan raised an eyebrow.

"Did you get strange messages too?"

[Longes]

"So, not a prank then", Olga mumbled to herself. "Name's Olga. Who are you lot?"

[Priest_Of_Banjo]

"Professor Arthur Gordons." He held out his hand for a handshake, smiling slightly awkwardly. "As for the messages, well... Let's just say that this Dr Odel makes a rather compelling sales pitch.

"Do you know if it's just us? Or is this part of some larger event this evening?" He tapped his cane gently on the ground impatiently.

[Longes]

Olga reciprocates the handshake.
"Professor of...?"

After getting the answer, Olga responds to the other question. "As far as I knew, it was just me. The door's closed, the parking lot is empty, there are no notices anywhere and only three people arrived so far. So unless there's a big surprise crowd waiting inside, I think it's two-three more people tops."

[Kittendumpling]

"Doctor Stone," Nathan answered, then remembered he wasn't in a professional setting. "Nathan," he added. "And I've honestly no idea how many people were contacted. Like yourselves, I thought it was just me until right now."

[Kythia]

Becky had almost been there for hours.

She'd set off in time to be the earliest there by a substantial margin,and had barely lost half an hour of it by getting distracted walking through the park.

Even with the delays there, she was well on track to be three ish hours early. She'd then got hungry and had had to go to a nearby Taco Bell where one of the servers owed her some money which she cheerfully wrote off in exchange for some suspicious looking food.

All told, that had probably cost her another hour, but she was still going to be about two hours early. She'd had to take a bit of a long way round from the Taco Bell because she'd seen someone down the road who could conceivably have been her mom's friend Nancy. So there was maybe half an hour lost there.

But she'd still be about an hour and a half early. Plenty of time to swing her Dora the Explorer rucksack round, rummage through it, and find something to calm her down. Ingesting them and then dealing with the after effects of being perhaps a little too calm and having a nap in an alleyway cost rather more time than she had expected, but she was still going to be on time, maybe even five or ten minutes early.

But then there was the interesting looking cloud incident and she'd followed that for a while and now she was going to be late. This is precisely why she usually set off three to four hours early.

She was going to be late and was still a little too calmed down to hurry or jog in any way. It was more of a saunter, swinging her rucksack in one hand, when she arrived in the car park and smiled aimlessly at those present.

"I saw an interesting looking cloud" she explained.

[Longes]

Olga waved.
"Long time no see! Didn't expect you to be here."

[Kythia]

Olga was probably used to the slightly vacant gaze - focused somewhat disconcertingly either an inch in front of the face or two inches behind - that was Becky's standard way of working out she knew someone through the fog. She'd probably also experienced the other side of the pendulum, the relentless ohmygodyou'rehereIhaven'tseenyouinagesI'msogladyou 'reherelookwhatIfoundearliercomewithmeI'llshowyoun ow, accompanied by jiggling legs and constant twitching when the fog was replaced with energy. It had been a couple of hours, though, and Becky was fast approaching her own personal normal, so the blank stare didn't last as long as it normally did.

"You're Olga" she eventually announced. "I don't think...I expected you to be here? I got an email." She held her empty hand out, as if offering a piece of paper, then stared at it in mild confusion for a moment. "It's not in my hand right now." She grinned but cast a suspicious look back at her hand when she thought no one was watching.

"Olga sounds like Oled. And Oled sounds like Toledo. So I guess it makes sense that Olga is with me in Toledo to meet Oled. Is your name" this was addressed to somewhere in the rough vicinity of Nathan "errrr Leto? Or something like that? And you" the spot behind Arthur "I think you might be...let me see...Eric? No...Olr..Tolri...Ulrik! Is your name Ulrik? I'm Becky. My name doesn't fit. Maybe I should be Tula. Like from the gangster film with the children." She nodded in satisfaction.

[Kittendumpling]

"Bugsy Malone?" Nathan piped up, thinking that might be the movie she meant. "The movie, I mean. I'm Nathan. How do you two know eachother? he asked, gesturing between Olga and Becky with the fingers that held his rapidly shortening cigarette. He had a feeling he'd be powering through his current pack pretty fast at this rate. He always smoked more when he was anxious. Meeting one new person at a time in the safety of his office was one thing. A bunch of strangers in a parking lot at night was entirely another.

[purepolarpanzer]

There is a loud slam from a side door when a tornado or papers and file folders almost seems to carry a man out onto a pathway, where he face plants into the settling rain of documents. There is a muttered "oooooowwwwww." before the figure slowly stands, shakily wiping some fresh grass clippings from his old, moth eaten suit, then waving frantically. "HELLO! ALL OF YOU! PROFESSOR ODEL AT YOUR SERVICE!" His name is distinctly not Celtic, sounding more like "yodel" without the "y". This diminutive, thirty-ish, man wears thick glasses that seem to magnify his brown eyes to frog-like proportions, a suit that looks like it was made from refurbished, sad couch cushions from a time before unleaded gas. He seems to become aware of just how loud he yelled, striking a stealthier pose as he quickly piles all the papers and files together and makes his way over to you all.
"Dr. Professor. Ms. Kern. Ms. Allsop. Thank you for joining me today. It is just us, for now. A quiet litmus test before chosen professional colleagues to begin the slow process of substantiating my findings. My main hope today is that you all can help add some professional polish and data to my more... eccentric... findings. Come, come! The demonstration is about to start as soon as you all are ready!" He speaks quietly, furtively almost, as though there could be spies hiding anywhere. Running a hand through his stringy, thinning hair, he turns around with a small hop and quickly dashes his way forward to the door. Swiping a badge through a small slot, the door pops open. "Hurry, hurry! This could be the greatest discovery in all our fields. Possibly of all time!" Obviously excited and nervous, Professor Odel seems to barely be able to contain himself. "My lab is the third door on the left! Right across from the facilities, if any of you must stop for a moment to refresh yourselves! But please, do hurry! And save any questions for once we are behind closed doors!" He peers around the parking lot, then holds the door open for each of you, giving another "Thank you!" each time someone passes him.

[Priest_Of_Banjo]

Blink. Blink

Well. I'm not sure what I was expecting, but I don't think it was... that.

Shaking off the rather exuberant display from the Professor, Arthur walked towards the now open door and followed the directions. Dimly, at the back of his mind, idle thoughts began creeping in.

I probably should have said something to the others. I should have said something or been less... distant.

I'll talk to them after the demonstration. I'll probably have something in common with them all then.

[Longes]

Welp, Becky's 'excentric' as usual.

Before conversation could continue, their missing host has finally arrived. At least he was cheerful. But as he rattled out greetings, Olga's eyes narrowed.
"That's Doctor Kern, Odel." The tone was vaguely menacing and the lack of Odel's own title was deliberate. She wasn't particularly attached to the "Doctor" title, not after years of being rogue, and in a casual conversation would have paid no mind. But Odel called on her for her expertise, and clearly knew who she was, which meant he was being rude. And she to not tolerate such disrespect, regardless of how harsh that would make her look to the others.

With the matter of respect squared, Olga followed into the building.

[purepolarpanzer]

Welp, Becky's 'excentric' as usual.

Before conversation could continue, their missing host has finally arrived. At least he was cheerful. But as he rattled out greetings, Olga's eyes narrowed.
"That's Doctor Kern, Odel." The tone was vaguely menacing and the lack of Odel's own title was deliberate. She wasn't particularly attached to the "Doctor" title, not after years of being rogue, and in a casual conversation would have paid no mind. But Odel called on her for her expertise, and clearly knew who she was, which meant he was being rude. And she to not tolerate such disrespect, regardless of how harsh that would make her look to the others.

With the matter of respect squared, Olga followed into the building.

"I'm... I'm... sorry DOCTOR Kern. I apologize. I wasn't... uh... I didn't know the status of your... er... My apologies Doctor, please just this way."

Dr Odel does everything but bow his head to you to submit. He swallows loudly and brushes his hair out of the way of his face when Olga passes, making sure to speak to everyone with fawning respect and professionalism.

[Kittendumpling]

Nothing more than a raised eyebrow of curiosity emanates from Nathan, who drops the butt of his cigarette on the tarmac and grinds it out with his shoe, sidling into the building at the rear of the group.

[Kythia]

Becky, pausing to pick up a piece of paper from the floor and humming "We Could Have Been Anything" under her breath, enters through with a smile and a helpful "I'm not a doctor" at Dr Odel.

"I nearly was though" she continues to whoever happens to be near by. "I'm already a master. And, somehow, a bachelor. 'Rebecca Allsop: Science Master', that's what my business cards would say."

"bom bom bom bom but I'm not saying we should" she continues to herself as she reads through the piece of paper and makes her way to the third door on the left.

"It's been decided, we're weak and divided"

[Priest_Of_Banjo]

"I was always more of a "Fat Sam's Grand Slam" man, myself." Arthur said to Becky. "Always able to find you a table, there's room for juuuust one more..."

He smirked, twiddling the cane in his hands. "I don't think I caught you outside. I'm Professor Gordons, DOCTOR Kern." Standing outside the door, he taps it open with the cane, looking inside. "We do seem to be quite the intelligentsia gathered here this evening, wouldn't you say?"

[Longes]

Olga smiled.
"Pleasure to meet you, Gordons. You can skip the 'doctor', now that we've all been introduced and know where everyone stands." Olga shot a sharp look at Odel. "The composition makes sense though, doesn't it? If Odel wants to show us some sort of experiment, then I'd expect either assisting experts or investors. Too early for investors, it seems."

[purepolarpanzer]

Following the Professor's directions, you find yourself in the type of lab that can be found in underfunded high schools all over America- old, scuffed lab tables, rusted Bunsen burners in a cracked glass case, and microscopes that look like they could be in an 80's movie. However, one corner of the lab looks much more funded (though still full of antiques). Becky would spot a cobbled together chemistry lab that is rapidly bubbling, dripping, and hissing through some process it seems explicitly designed to do. Next to this lab is a ancient looking book, more dust than pages, with a curled and patchy leather cover. Olga would be reminded of instruments from old text books- a heart and pulse monitoring machine, an IV drip, and something between a dentist's chair and an asylum restraining device set up between them. The machine gives a simple and repetitive beep beep beep keeping track of the vitals of a young woman in the chair. Becky would (possibly) remember this girl- Mary Kay Juneau, a fellow drop out who had a bit too much of an attention problem for her RX of adderall to keep in check. She was still a regular to many of the more shady college parties in the area- the kind where alcohol is an afterthought to more illicit drugs, some of them distinctly against Becky's own personal code of drug use. Everyone else sees a hollow eyed girl with light blond, nearly white hair, sitting with an idle smile on her face. She gives a plaintive "Hey." and lifts her restrained hand just enough to waive. In another life this girl could have been a model- waifishly thin good looks that make the local band T-shirt she wears look glamorous, and jeans that look to have been cut open in places by a razor blade. Her feet are bare, also bound at the ankle with leather straps. "You must be the professionals. Odel said you'd be here soon. Are we doing science now?"

Odel bounds into the room (this man seems to leap where he goes, further giving the impression of a frog). "This is my volunteer, Ms. Mary Kay Juneau. She's been briefed of all the qualities of the drug were working with, including the dangers, and she is eager to go on with the experiment. To say it all in layman's terms, I have discovered a substance that allows for an out of body experience and the viewing of another plane of existence. A plan where the mysteries of the mind... and possibly more... and laid plain enough for even an inexperienced girl to unravel. Today we will be administering a dose of this drug to our volunteer and studying the results. Dr. Kern, I'd like you to monitor the patient. Ms. Allsop, I'd like you to check over my formulas- see if they can be streamlined or improved, and give your own personal opinion on how they work, as well as look at some of the other formula and see if you can make heads or tails of them. Gentlemen, you I'd like to observe the effects of the drug and determine the psychological and philosophical connotations of the work. Let's get any and all questions out of the way before beginning!" He waits, obviously eager to begin and show off his findings. It is also obvious he is completely convinced this is the biggest discovery any of you will ever be involved with.

[Longes]

Olga's mouth curled into a predatory grin as she maneuvered to the monitoring equipment, fingers tingling with excitement. Volunteers were hard to find, especially when you can't bribe them with extra credit.
"On the scale from christian prayer to Golden Dawn, what kind of out-of-body experience are we talking about? Is she going to meet God, invisibly hover above us or go on a dream-quest of Unknown Kadath?"

[Kittendumpling]

The thick, old tome caught Nathan's eye, and he ran his fingers over the withered cover. He couldn't resist an old book. Even boring ones. Something about how old paper smelled soothed him, without fail. He dearly wanted to open it and learn what it contained, but it did look awfully fragile. He immediately felt guilty for touching it with his bare hand. And he of all people knew it was improper to dig around in someone's else's thing without permission. Consent. Control. So fundamental to everything he did. Without those, there would be chaos and degeneration.

You can ask about this later. Pay attention to the experiment. The girl seems relaxed. Genuine comfort, or is she just a bit too breezy? Drugs? Coercion?

Nathan's mental flowchart started populating and branching like a freshly made inkblot.

"Has the participant been briefed and signed a consent agreement?"

[Kythia]

"Has the participant been briefed and signed a consent agreement?"

Becky nods as she hauls herself up to sit on a bench. "He's right. We're not doing science no..." she trails in to a brief stare and frown at Mary Kay "...Marika? You were with that guy with the dreadlocks for a bit weren't you? Are you guys still together? Anyway. If we were doing science there'd be controls and lab rats we'd tried this on and like stuff like that. What are the guys called, the boards, that do the ethics?" She stares at Nathan for a moment then grins "Ethics Boards. Those guys."

She shrugs. "But that's all fine. Dude thinks its safe or he wouldn't have invited four strangers to watch it. You think it's safe or you wouldn't have been so chilled when we came in. I think it's safe because, well, obviously its safe for me. Everyone's happy. Let's get this show on the road." She shrugs again and looks down to pick some dead skin from the side of her thumbnail for a moment before getting distracted by the bubbling chemistry set.

Spoiler: Question to GM

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What can I tell about the chemistry set? Specifically:

• Is the bubbling and hissing just for show - a kid's idea of what chemistry does - or is it functional
• Is it currently releasing any gases in to the room and, if so, how much of a problem is that likely to be?
• Is it likely to blow up any time soon
  and
• If possible, what is being made/done here?

[purepolarpanzer]

Professor Odel is eager to answer each of your questions in order. He seems to have prepared himself for most of these questions already.
"The subject does seem to uh, stay local, Dr Kern, but they have... amazing... amounts of insight into the world around them. Sometimes troubling amounts, actually. Each of you should be prepared... for her to know things she can't possibly know. And for her to babble. Nothing biblical, mind you, but the uh... primary base of the treatment does have some strong... psychotropic effects."

Becky is just learning this for herself as she looks over the chemistry set herself. The chemistry set is antiquated, but seemingly on purpose. Certain aspects of it- brass fittings, viewing lenses on clockwork arms, and even the shapes and sizes of the beakers- seem like they are chosen for aesthetic purposes, but she finds a significance to all of them as she reads on.

To Nathan, he opens one of his files and reveals a fairly detailed and extensive waiver. Multiple pages of legalese are used, but it's all fairly standard for an experiment of this type. It does mention some peculiar events that the signer has to be ok with... including but not limited to metaphysical awakenings, discovery of new senses, and... the ****ing rapture?

The text Becky reads directly references ALCHEMY. The recipe (because calling it a formula would be several hundred years too advanced) is being made as exact to the recipe as possible. Basic ingredients are being burned, boiled, and drowned in acids only to be combined, refined, and isolated. It really breaks down to two resultant substances that are later combined for two desired effects. One is bull****- salts from the Dead Sea, the eye jelly of a few animals, and most questionably the blood of a blind person who has never seen. It is described in the recipe as becoming some sort of "solvent", but none of it makes any logical sense. The second is much more practical and scientifically sound- it makes a terribly inefficient psychedelic, using a distillation of ergot and certain mushrooms that are definitely hard to come by without a lot of professional clout. It seems it's purpose IS only to be a powerful mind altering drug. The recipe mentions something archaic about "easing the bonds of the soul and the body", but the explicit function seems to be to trip balls. In fact it seems like there are perhaps better methods to get the same effect. And no, everything seems perfectly safe for now. No explosion, no gas.

Professor Odel picks up a small vial with a dropper , administering two precisely measured drops onto the tongue of Marykay, who eagerly wiggles her toes and puts out her tongue like she's anticipating fun. She smacks her lips and smiles. "Thanks, Dr. I can't believe I can trip for cash." The professor gives an awkward laugh. "I've prepared some standardized questions for the patient for our esteemed psychological and philosophical experts to ask, though I encourage you to find some of your own too. The nice things about something as informal as this is it allows a small measure of improvisation. Dr, if you wouldn't mind monitoring the subjects vitals. This has been done before, so I don't expect anything drastic in your department, but for safeties sake I always have a medical professional present whenever attempting something like that. Again, any questions, just ask."

[Longes]

"Alrighty."
Olga began jotting down the monitor data showing Mary's normal state while peppering Mary with psychic test questions. How many fingers is she showing? (It's three) What number is she thinking of? (It's O in base-25 meaning 24) What is her mother's maiden name? (It's Kern) Does Mary have allergies? Addiction? A boyfriend?

"Becky, what's your prediction? What will this stuff do to the subject?"
Nathan didn't escape the questioning either
"Stone, at what point are we legally required to stop, if any?"

[Kittendumpling]

Nathan nods at the waiver, satisfied with it.

"I will see what questions come to mind as we observe."

He pulls a small notebook and a stubby pen out of the back pocket of his jeans that look far less expensive than they are. Opening to a fresh page, he readies to take notes.

"Stone, at what point are we legally required to stop, if any?"

"If the participant withdraws consent, usually, so, basically if she asks for it to stop."

[Longes]

"Noted."
Olga turned to Mary and gave a conspiratorial wink
"The safe word is 'Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious'".

[Priest_Of_Banjo]

Arthur simply sat to one side, withdrew a simple note pad and pencil and stared distantly at the the girl in bondage now infront of him.

Well then, let the bizarreness increase in multitudes.