- Location
- National Capital Region, USA
Snipin's a good job, mate! 'S challenging work, out o' doors...
Panopticon: A Game of Posthumans, Perniciousness, Paranoia, Politics, and Plasmaguns
I mean, yes. She doesn't think the chance of that is too high though.
Soldier would have been more of a 'I will probably need to defend myself or others' setup while the Tourist would have been a "either nothing will go wrong or things will go wrong so badly that nothing I bring with me will help much and I'm going to have to improvise madly" setup.
- Location
- NY
Implying this isn't the natural state of any operation with the NWO's mitts in it.
- Location
- Jersey
I just found this Quest a few weeks ago and powered through the whole thing. Loved it. I'm so glad that I was able to catch up and be able to contribute before the end.
If only the kit vote is tabulated, then I would like to vote on the memento.
[x ] A paper menu from Cafe Dar, which has inexplicably stayed open for the intervening decades after Illiyeen left its employ.
I like this for going to meet Alice. It's a connection to the human person at the core of the cold blooded killing Operative Belltower the Union turned her into.
[ ] A set of recorded lectures by Blanc, in her early days, about psychological warfare.
This is terrible. Having anything to do with Blanc while meeting Alice is asking for trouble. It also reinforces lessons taught by Control, not learned by human experience.
[ ] Winston's HELMETSHRIKE Squadron Seven patch, a stylized predatory bird with a menacing crest.
HELMETSHRIKE is done and gone. Jamelia should be moving past it to a better future. One with few to no unaccountable death squads and false flag attacks.
[ ] The last picture of Amalgam-451, taken after Izanagi and before the start of its dissolution. Everyone in the picture is smiling, even her.
This is good too. It's a sign that Jamelia can take warped things growing in the poisoned soil of the TU and help guide them onto healthy paths for the good of everybody.
[ ] Something Illiyeen grabbed from Hollywood.
This is decent. It could read as a sign of Jamelia's broadened paradigm and an attempt to reach out to Alice as an inhabitant of the wider world beyond the Union.
If only the kit vote is tabulated, then I would like to vote on the memento.
[x ] A paper menu from Cafe Dar, which has inexplicably stayed open for the intervening decades after Illiyeen left its employ.
I like this for going to meet Alice. It's a connection to the human person at the core of the cold blooded killing Operative Belltower the Union turned her into.
[ ] A set of recorded lectures by Blanc, in her early days, about psychological warfare.
This is terrible. Having anything to do with Blanc while meeting Alice is asking for trouble. It also reinforces lessons taught by Control, not learned by human experience.
[ ] Winston's HELMETSHRIKE Squadron Seven patch, a stylized predatory bird with a menacing crest.
HELMETSHRIKE is done and gone. Jamelia should be moving past it to a better future. One with few to no unaccountable death squads and false flag attacks.
[ ] The last picture of Amalgam-451, taken after Izanagi and before the start of its dissolution. Everyone in the picture is smiling, even her.
This is good too. It's a sign that Jamelia can take warped things growing in the poisoned soil of the TU and help guide them onto healthy paths for the good of everybody.
[ ] Something Illiyeen grabbed from Hollywood.
This is decent. It could read as a sign of Jamelia's broadened paradigm and an attempt to reach out to Alice as an inhabitant of the wider world beyond the Union.
Very, very belated, but -- it occurs to me that this is suspiciously specific. And that also that Catherine was, yes, in the Chrononauts.
/thingsIdidn'tcatchthefirssttime
Sirrocco
Pedantic
- Pronouns
- He/Him
errr... which?
I still haven't caught that thing. The only Chrononauts I know is the card game.
"The me of 1943 could outshoot me and also pin me down and dislocate both my arms." From someone in the Chrononauts, this may well be experience talking. I'm fairly certain that's all that's meant by pointing out that she was in the Chrononauts, an emphasis on her suspiciously specific point.
Update CCXXXI: The View From The Top
JB CCXXXI: The View From The Top
It is a good thing, Jamelia Belltower thinks to herself as she stretches out in her seat, that she's short. It means her legroom is positively extravagant. It doesn't matter so much on this plane, but she's been on ones where every last centimeter counts.
She arches an eyebrow as her neighbor in First Class from Los Angeles to Paris sits down, grumbling about his age and how inconvenient the carry-on bins are. "I didn't expect you to show up," she says honestly. "After all-"
"She's your daughter, not mine." Harlan finishes. His pouchy face is set in a scowl. "And she sent you the message. Not me. But I owe her at least this much. And she owes me answers."
Jamelia nods curtly. Years in the field have taught her the value of having someone watching her back that she can somewhat trust. She looks around, watching for eavesdroppers. Presses lightly on her watch to deploy the privacy field. "So you do care."
"I raised her," Harlan whispers. "A favor to a friend." The tone of his voice makes it clear that he's speaking in the past tense. "And now I'm here, as a quid pro quo to a colleague."
"Will they be able to function without you?"
"There's enough relics like us that they shouldn't have a problem training the new psis. And I'm technically just an advisor, not a trainer. My job is done there," Harlan says, nose wrinkling. "Especially because the new generation of psions aren't like me. There's all of three people who unlocked their potential the hard way," he grouses, "because now it's all EDE splices or neuromods. I can teach them to use their PK or TK, but so can a lot of people, and they understand the subtleties of alien brain structure better than I do. They don't need me there."
"But you seemed to like it there."
"I liked having something to do, Hyena." Harlan counters. "This isn't twiddling my thumbs and pickling my liver. And besides, I figured if you were asking me, you probably needed the help. What happened to the rest of your team?"
It feels almost like old times. But Jamelia reminds herself that these aren't the days of HELMETSHRIKE anymore. Most of the team is dead. And even if she doesn't doubt where Harlan's loyalties lie, trust isn't just a question of loyalty. It's a question of capability. "When you get involved in killing a Prime Threat or two, a lot of people start thinking that your demonstrated talents are wasted on a mere NWO Operative who runs a small Construct," Jamelia says drily.
Harlan shrugs. "Would have been nice if we had ever been treated that way. But I know you're using this as an excuse to lead into another question. You're still wondering if I can keep up, right?"
"Yes. You've been keeping up since Yellowfields," Jamelia acknowledges, watching how Harlan moves. He's still kept his wits and his skills. He's still the second deadliest person on this flight even before factoring in his psychic ability, even though there's an armed air marshal and at least one competent martial artist in the first class cabin. But even though she can see the efficient, spare movements as he scans the cabin, the surprising strength still in his aged body, she can't help but notice the ravages of age and alcohol. The old Harlan could have acted as any tactical role in a special forces team. They all had to be able to do that in HELMETSHRIKE. Now, she has to consider his endurance and strength and the twitch in his fingers and arms.
"I'm a professional, I meet standards. I've been getting back into shape," Harlan growls bitterly.
He's always met standards, Jamelia thinks. Always been adequate for his role, not driven to excel physically like the rest of them. His obsessions and focus had been channeled into his other talents. But she's not sure it's enough. She doesn't know what she'll face, which is why her suitcase holds enough high explosive to bring down a building and a combination sniper rifle/shotgun that can take down crowds and light armored vehicles alike. And she's not sure anything she could have brought on the flight is enough to deal with the thing Rose fought underneath Japan or the things which Donald saw in his escape from Los Angeles.
"You still don't trust me, do you?" Harlan growls softly. The flight attendants are going through their talk about safety procedures, which both of them ignore. The sorts of aviation safety incidents ex-HELMETSHRIKE members need to worry about are the kind where no seat belt or oxygen mask is going to matter.
"I have my concerns," Jamelia says. She doesn't bother lying. She might be able to fool him, but it's not worth the effort to try to do so now. And he deserves at least this much respect from her. "Are you ready?"
"I saw that behemoth that attacked Planet Hollywood. I felt how it intruded into noetic space. And you'd have to be in a coma to miss how your second-in-command is now basically in bed with the highest levels of Progenitor leadership after her work in Japan - literally or figuratively I don't know - and the rumors about what went on down there. Dragons and radical posthumans and something that could beat a Ragnarok-killer down. And I know you well enough that I suspect that this isn't just coincidence. So no, I'm not ready, because that would imply that I'm up to facing something like that," Harlan lectures. "But my brain is still as deadly as it was, and I'm not going to get back in shape any faster."
Satisfied with that answer - as much as she can be - Jamelia starts to read the news. She's had little time to do that recently, having been isolated from the masses working with the Void Engineers and Professor Bastion. Having been away from the frontlines of the Ascension War.
She skims an article in the New York Times about the nearly-expired deadline for North Korea to submit to inspection and denuclearization set by unanimous UN Security Council decree. Her lip curls into a moue of distaste at it. The article implies that there will be war within a month. She doesn't think that's going to happen. She thinks there's going to be a preemptive strike, a bloody one. Neither side can afford to go second.
Thumbing through other papers, she finds an article about the 2016 presidential race, and raises an eyebrow slightly at the mention of "Roth's new senior campaign advisor, Donald Sykes." Donald had mentioned that someone would need to keep him in check but she's still surprised at the decision. She smiles at the article mentioning Donald's "reputation as a hard partier" but little else. Then again, none of his major accomplishments were done in public. She hopes they've planned their security well. They'll be targets when the war comes. And the combination of high public profile and their Union affiliation makes them higher priority than your average politician.
There's a mention of a gunfight between 'terrorists' and the Brazilian Army, and some more on the complaints resulting from the 'military exercises' in Japan. At least that means the Watchers and Syndicate are managing to keep control, despite everything. She sighs, shaking her head. Reading the chaos in the newspapers makes it feel like 1999 again.
Well, apart from the way that the air marshal still looks at her suspiciously for being an Arab woman wearing a headscarf. She can see his thoughts as he dismisses her as being too small and well-dressed to be a threat, but it's still attention she'd prefer to avoid.
Even the lighter news reminds her of the crisis they face. Jamelia reads about Hollywood's continuing malaise, the shock of Captain America: Civil War being the next high-profile bomb after The Force Awakens. There's a few sentences about the surprising success of Bollywood and Chinese cinema in American theaters. One of the free magazines has an article about the recent resurgence in the popularity of science-fiction, particularly robot invasions. About nostalgia for old 80s action franchises given a modern-day twist.
As she skims through entertainment and lifestyle magazines, Jamelia thinks about what they'll do when they're in France. Harlan hasn't run tactical for decades anymore. He'll let her take the lead, because he's arrogant, not unprofessional. That means she needs to decide how they're going to find Elissa.
Reunion Planning
Jamelia is now in the city. She is going to be looking for Elissa, with Harlan's help. She will trust in:
[ ] The Direct Approach: Elissa's contact came with a message and a return address. Jamelia will send something that way to set up the meet. It's risky, but it's fast - and given how chaotic things might be in the near future, moving quickly might be desirable. Jamelia doesn't know how quickly her enemies might be able to move assets in - but any serious force will take time, and with Panopticon dissolved and Oversight scattered, it won't be as easy as before.
[ ] The Careful Approach: Jamelia thinks she can keep a low profile, sending signs and countersigns to probe what Elissa knows. This will give her enough time to obfuscate her position, build up equipment caches, and set up safehouses in case she needs them.
[ ] The Psychic Approach: Harlan's here, and psi-agents in the Union are pretty rare. Given the chaos of everything happening, he can probably start probing for Elissa, given how familiar he is with her.
It is a good thing, Jamelia Belltower thinks to herself as she stretches out in her seat, that she's short. It means her legroom is positively extravagant. It doesn't matter so much on this plane, but she's been on ones where every last centimeter counts.
She arches an eyebrow as her neighbor in First Class from Los Angeles to Paris sits down, grumbling about his age and how inconvenient the carry-on bins are. "I didn't expect you to show up," she says honestly. "After all-"
"She's your daughter, not mine." Harlan finishes. His pouchy face is set in a scowl. "And she sent you the message. Not me. But I owe her at least this much. And she owes me answers."
Jamelia nods curtly. Years in the field have taught her the value of having someone watching her back that she can somewhat trust. She looks around, watching for eavesdroppers. Presses lightly on her watch to deploy the privacy field. "So you do care."
"I raised her," Harlan whispers. "A favor to a friend." The tone of his voice makes it clear that he's speaking in the past tense. "And now I'm here, as a quid pro quo to a colleague."
"Will they be able to function without you?"
"There's enough relics like us that they shouldn't have a problem training the new psis. And I'm technically just an advisor, not a trainer. My job is done there," Harlan says, nose wrinkling. "Especially because the new generation of psions aren't like me. There's all of three people who unlocked their potential the hard way," he grouses, "because now it's all EDE splices or neuromods. I can teach them to use their PK or TK, but so can a lot of people, and they understand the subtleties of alien brain structure better than I do. They don't need me there."
"But you seemed to like it there."
"I liked having something to do, Hyena." Harlan counters. "This isn't twiddling my thumbs and pickling my liver. And besides, I figured if you were asking me, you probably needed the help. What happened to the rest of your team?"
It feels almost like old times. But Jamelia reminds herself that these aren't the days of HELMETSHRIKE anymore. Most of the team is dead. And even if she doesn't doubt where Harlan's loyalties lie, trust isn't just a question of loyalty. It's a question of capability. "When you get involved in killing a Prime Threat or two, a lot of people start thinking that your demonstrated talents are wasted on a mere NWO Operative who runs a small Construct," Jamelia says drily.
Harlan shrugs. "Would have been nice if we had ever been treated that way. But I know you're using this as an excuse to lead into another question. You're still wondering if I can keep up, right?"
"Yes. You've been keeping up since Yellowfields," Jamelia acknowledges, watching how Harlan moves. He's still kept his wits and his skills. He's still the second deadliest person on this flight even before factoring in his psychic ability, even though there's an armed air marshal and at least one competent martial artist in the first class cabin. But even though she can see the efficient, spare movements as he scans the cabin, the surprising strength still in his aged body, she can't help but notice the ravages of age and alcohol. The old Harlan could have acted as any tactical role in a special forces team. They all had to be able to do that in HELMETSHRIKE. Now, she has to consider his endurance and strength and the twitch in his fingers and arms.
"I'm a professional, I meet standards. I've been getting back into shape," Harlan growls bitterly.
He's always met standards, Jamelia thinks. Always been adequate for his role, not driven to excel physically like the rest of them. His obsessions and focus had been channeled into his other talents. But she's not sure it's enough. She doesn't know what she'll face, which is why her suitcase holds enough high explosive to bring down a building and a combination sniper rifle/shotgun that can take down crowds and light armored vehicles alike. And she's not sure anything she could have brought on the flight is enough to deal with the thing Rose fought underneath Japan or the things which Donald saw in his escape from Los Angeles.
"You still don't trust me, do you?" Harlan growls softly. The flight attendants are going through their talk about safety procedures, which both of them ignore. The sorts of aviation safety incidents ex-HELMETSHRIKE members need to worry about are the kind where no seat belt or oxygen mask is going to matter.
"I have my concerns," Jamelia says. She doesn't bother lying. She might be able to fool him, but it's not worth the effort to try to do so now. And he deserves at least this much respect from her. "Are you ready?"
"I saw that behemoth that attacked Planet Hollywood. I felt how it intruded into noetic space. And you'd have to be in a coma to miss how your second-in-command is now basically in bed with the highest levels of Progenitor leadership after her work in Japan - literally or figuratively I don't know - and the rumors about what went on down there. Dragons and radical posthumans and something that could beat a Ragnarok-killer down. And I know you well enough that I suspect that this isn't just coincidence. So no, I'm not ready, because that would imply that I'm up to facing something like that," Harlan lectures. "But my brain is still as deadly as it was, and I'm not going to get back in shape any faster."
Satisfied with that answer - as much as she can be - Jamelia starts to read the news. She's had little time to do that recently, having been isolated from the masses working with the Void Engineers and Professor Bastion. Having been away from the frontlines of the Ascension War.
She skims an article in the New York Times about the nearly-expired deadline for North Korea to submit to inspection and denuclearization set by unanimous UN Security Council decree. Her lip curls into a moue of distaste at it. The article implies that there will be war within a month. She doesn't think that's going to happen. She thinks there's going to be a preemptive strike, a bloody one. Neither side can afford to go second.
Thumbing through other papers, she finds an article about the 2016 presidential race, and raises an eyebrow slightly at the mention of "Roth's new senior campaign advisor, Donald Sykes." Donald had mentioned that someone would need to keep him in check but she's still surprised at the decision. She smiles at the article mentioning Donald's "reputation as a hard partier" but little else. Then again, none of his major accomplishments were done in public. She hopes they've planned their security well. They'll be targets when the war comes. And the combination of high public profile and their Union affiliation makes them higher priority than your average politician.
There's a mention of a gunfight between 'terrorists' and the Brazilian Army, and some more on the complaints resulting from the 'military exercises' in Japan. At least that means the Watchers and Syndicate are managing to keep control, despite everything. She sighs, shaking her head. Reading the chaos in the newspapers makes it feel like 1999 again.
Well, apart from the way that the air marshal still looks at her suspiciously for being an Arab woman wearing a headscarf. She can see his thoughts as he dismisses her as being too small and well-dressed to be a threat, but it's still attention she'd prefer to avoid.
Even the lighter news reminds her of the crisis they face. Jamelia reads about Hollywood's continuing malaise, the shock of Captain America: Civil War being the next high-profile bomb after The Force Awakens. There's a few sentences about the surprising success of Bollywood and Chinese cinema in American theaters. One of the free magazines has an article about the recent resurgence in the popularity of science-fiction, particularly robot invasions. About nostalgia for old 80s action franchises given a modern-day twist.
As she skims through entertainment and lifestyle magazines, Jamelia thinks about what they'll do when they're in France. Harlan hasn't run tactical for decades anymore. He'll let her take the lead, because he's arrogant, not unprofessional. That means she needs to decide how they're going to find Elissa.
Reunion Planning
Jamelia is now in the city. She is going to be looking for Elissa, with Harlan's help. She will trust in:
[ ] The Direct Approach: Elissa's contact came with a message and a return address. Jamelia will send something that way to set up the meet. It's risky, but it's fast - and given how chaotic things might be in the near future, moving quickly might be desirable. Jamelia doesn't know how quickly her enemies might be able to move assets in - but any serious force will take time, and with Panopticon dissolved and Oversight scattered, it won't be as easy as before.
[ ] The Careful Approach: Jamelia thinks she can keep a low profile, sending signs and countersigns to probe what Elissa knows. This will give her enough time to obfuscate her position, build up equipment caches, and set up safehouses in case she needs them.
[ ] The Psychic Approach: Harlan's here, and psi-agents in the Union are pretty rare. Given the chaos of everything happening, he can probably start probing for Elissa, given how familiar he is with her.
Last edited:
Unfortunately, this is a bit of a short update, but it was a fairly natural breakpoint to introduce the players here. And I've been busy with a bunch of other stuff on my plate, which is why it took a while to figure out how I wanted to move things along.
- Location
- Jersey
[ ] The Direct Approach: Elissa's contact came with a message and a return address. Jamelia will send something that way to set up the meet. It's risky, but it's fast - and given how chaotic things might be in the near future, moving quickly might be desirable. Jamelia doesn't know how quickly her enemies might be able to move assets in - but any serious force will take time, and with Panopticon dissolved and Oversight scattered, it won't be as easy as before.
Nobody even tangentially involved in this situation would ever think of the direct approach. Too much NWOery. Uncharacteristically moving in a straight line for the first time ever seems more likely to spook Alice than outwit Clock et al.
[ ] The Careful Approach: Jamelia thinks she can keep a low profile, sending signs and countersigns to probe what Elissa knows. This will give her enough time to obfuscate her position, build up equipment caches, and set up safehouses in case she needs them.
Classic Jams. Smart, covers their ass, and paranoid fun for the whole family. Not bad.
[X] The Psychic Approach: Harlan's here, and psi-agents in the Union are pretty rare. Given the chaos of everything happening, he can probably start probing for Elissa, given how familiar he is with her.
I like this one. Harlan is probably like the world's greatest psychic at this point and he's probably at least familiar with almost all of the others. He raised the target and he's got her biological mother there as a focus and she's now had the paradigm shift to be able to assist in the ritual. Be cool to show how much Jamelia has grown as a Mage with that E6 and maybe a shared working can help Harlan over that hump.
Nobody even tangentially involved in this situation would ever think of the direct approach. Too much NWOery. Uncharacteristically moving in a straight line for the first time ever seems more likely to spook Alice than outwit Clock et al.
[ ] The Careful Approach: Jamelia thinks she can keep a low profile, sending signs and countersigns to probe what Elissa knows. This will give her enough time to obfuscate her position, build up equipment caches, and set up safehouses in case she needs them.
Classic Jams. Smart, covers their ass, and paranoid fun for the whole family. Not bad.
[X] The Psychic Approach: Harlan's here, and psi-agents in the Union are pretty rare. Given the chaos of everything happening, he can probably start probing for Elissa, given how familiar he is with her.
I like this one. Harlan is probably like the world's greatest psychic at this point and he's probably at least familiar with almost all of the others. He raised the target and he's got her biological mother there as a focus and she's now had the paradigm shift to be able to assist in the ritual. Be cool to show how much Jamelia has grown as a Mage with that E6 and maybe a shared working can help Harlan over that hump.
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- Location
- in the trash
[ ] The Psychic Approach: Harlan's here, and psi-agents in the Union are pretty rare. Given the chaos of everything happening, he can probably start probing for Elissa, given how familiar he is with her.
I am tempted by this approach, though it's a question of whether we want to keep Harlan as our hidden trump card, and how Elissa will react to her adoptive father.
I am tempted by this approach, though it's a question of whether we want to keep Harlan as our hidden trump card, and how Elissa will react to her adoptive father.
Divided but narrowly in favor of going with Roth's Great Idea when I checked.
- Location
- my house
[X] The Psychic Approach: Harlan's here, and psi-agents in the Union are pretty rare. Given the chaos of everything happening, he can probably start probing for Elissa, given how familiar he is with her.
So what's the significance of the movie stuff?
Also kind of sad Harlan doesn't consider her his daughter
So what's the significance of the movie stuff?
Also kind of sad Harlan doesn't consider her his daughter
Remember - the space rescue mission caused a lot of damage to the Realm of Hollywood. It looks like in its weakness, the Realm of Bollywood and the Realm of Chinese Cinema are taking over the gaps.
[X] The Direct Approach: Elissa's contact came with a message and a return address. Jamelia will send something that way to set up the meet. It's risky, but it's fast - and given how chaotic things might be in the near future, moving quickly might be desirable. Jamelia doesn't know how quickly her enemies might be able to move assets in - but any serious force will take time, and with Panopticon dissolved and Oversight scattered, it won't be as easy as before.
Anyway.
Strike while the iron is hot. We have the heavy gear, and the longer we're in Paris, the more the clock ticks down. Jamelia needs to make contact quickly, before Oversight can activate assets to deal with her - and this kind of directness isn't her normal way of doing things. I did consider the Psychic option, but that has the... ahem, issue that it means that Harlan is making first contact with her. And... well. He's Harlan.
Anyway.
Strike while the iron is hot. We have the heavy gear, and the longer we're in Paris, the more the clock ticks down. Jamelia needs to make contact quickly, before Oversight can activate assets to deal with her - and this kind of directness isn't her normal way of doing things. I did consider the Psychic option, but that has the... ahem, issue that it means that Harlan is making first contact with her. And... well. He's Harlan.
- Location
- U.S.
[X] The Direct Approach
This is a very good point. Harlan is an asshole. A useful asshole, but an asshole.
Deadly Snark
Tryhard As Fuck
He clearly does. He's just being Harlan. Aka a bitter asshole who responds to his pain by biting back and blames everyone for leaving him in a ditch to die. And well he isnt wrong, but still.
[X] The Direct Approach
But yeah I doubt having the bitter dad be the one to make first contact with the runaway daughter is going to go well.
- Location
- Outside the Box
- Pronouns
- She/Her
The Direct Approach is inherently riskier than the others, practically inviting people to shoot at us. Meanwhile, the Psychic Approach is completely out of left field and very unexpected, especially by Jamelia's enemies. Plus, Jamelia is a bit of a psychic herself. If she has to, she could assist. Though, uh, not sure how to do a write-in on that if it's necessary.
[X] The Psychic Approach: Harlan's here, and psi-agents in the Union are pretty rare. Given the chaos of everything happening, he can probably start probing for Elissa, given how familiar he is with her
- Location
- Library
[X] The Psychic Approach: Harlan's here, and psi-agents in the Union are pretty rare. Given the chaos of everything happening, he can probably start probing for Elissa, given how familiar he is with her.
It's rare and uncommon route to the goal; it has high chance of surprising the opposition. I think it's the best strategic choice.
It's rare and uncommon route to the goal; it has high chance of surprising the opposition. I think it's the best strategic choice.