Operation Fatal Diversion - Chapter Eight
Navigating Numbness in the Delta Green RPG using Mythic 2e
Published by arrangement with the Delta Green Partnership. The intellectual property known as Delta Green is a trademark and copyright owned by the Delta Green Partnership, who has licensed its use here. The contents of this document are ©SolumProtocol, excepting those elements that are components of the Delta Green intellectual property.
Photo by David Kanigan: https://www.pexels.com/photo/charming-waterfront-home-at-twilight-in-winter-35344775/
Fast food Restaurant, Day 4, Hour 6
I stood frozen for a while, unable to move. Markus had run, which was very, very bad. It was still night for at least an hour.
“Katherine. Katherine! Listen to me. You must deal with the other Townie.” The radio said. Her voice was clipped, and there was a hint of an accent. Spanish maybe. I pulled the radio from my belt and peered at it. I had eaten the rest of the heart at some point, but I didn’t remember when.1 I didn’t feel the usual rush of adrenaline and strength, which was disappointing, but I wasn’t feeling a lot of anything right now.
“You’re Agent Willow.” I said, looking at the Radio.
“Yes.” The voice said.
“Are you a ghost?” I asked thickly, feeling too numb to realize what a ridiculous question that was. The radio buzzed and crackled, making a noise that sounded suspiciously like someone snapping their fingers.
“You need to pull yourself together Katherine!” The voice said, the accent shining though as her irritation became more evident.2 Agent Worley had a lot of affection for Agent Willow, and some of his ramblings had been about her personality quirks. Mostly about how her accent came out when she was annoyed, and how attractive he found her when she was angry.
‘You need to tell me everything you know. Now.” I said, placing her on the table and plunging the knife in next to it. The network of green sigils underneath the blood glowed with more intensity now, for some reason, and it was almost hypnotic. I moved over to the monster and looked it over. It still looked human, it’s heart beating slightly weaker at its panicked eyes took me in. I hadn’t bothered to wipe the blood off my face and I smiled at it.
“What do you need to know?” The radio asked. So annoying.
“Why can’t you just tell me what I need to know? I’m not playing 20 questions with a disembodied voice.”
“You need to kill the Townies.” Willow said, the radio crackling. “Kill them all, rend their flesh, tear the meat form their bones-”
“Enough.” I said, glaring at the radio. It buzzed irritably. “How do I leave here?”
“Kill the monsters.”
“And then?3
“The machine.” She said softly. “Find the machine. It’s what keeps this place going. It keeps us all here, it draws new people in, it’s the way to communicate with the outside world.”4
“This is the machine that makes the horrible noise at night time, yeah?” I said. I placed both hands underneath the frozen monster and lifted him up into a sitting position as his panicked eyes flickered between me and the radio.
“Correct. It communes with something deep within the earth.” The radio said in a gentle hum. When it continued, the voice was a soft, almost sensual whisper that set my teeth on edge. “It is not a willing participant. The machine binds it, as the machine binds everything here. Even these cretins, for all their joy in the situation, are bound by the machine.”5
“Are you stuck here, buddy?” I asked the frozen Townie, crouching down beside his slumped form.
“Blink once for yes and twice for no.”6 The monster blinked once and I smiled and patted him on the shoulder.
“There There.” I said soothingly. “Tell me something else. Do you feel pain?”7
It died before I had a chance to find out. Supposedly the knife’s ‘hypergeometric application’ was what caused the damage, not the knife itself, so when I started stripping away the skin around the creatures chest, it spasmed a few times and it’s eyes turned black and goat like before it flopped bonelessly to the ground, dead. I didn’t bother to hide my disappointment.8 I pulled out my second knife and carved angrily at the flesh and bone. I didn’t feel the same burning need as I have previously, but I felt angry as I hacked away at the muscle, and I didn’t trust the thing to stay dead. I ripped the shriveled heart from the chest cavity and bit into it, tearing away at the flesh and sitting on my haunches, chewing with my eyes narrowed.
“That is very disconcerting.” The radio said ponderously.
“I’m not taking criticism from a disembodied voices.” I snapped.
“It wasn’t a criticism. I just feel as though it was worthy of comment.” I sat there chewing while the Radio sat in silence. Willow, or her ghost or whatever the hell she was, was still there, both dials turning slow circles.
“How are you talking to me?” I asked, taking another bite. It tasted like burnt rubber. “I found the radio on a corpse in Minnesota.”9
“Whoever used this radio before you used it to commune through pathways that I also have access to.” Willow said with a buzz of radio static. “I felt it as soon as you arrived. It was quite a relief. I haven’t spoken to anybody since 1995. What year is it, by the way?”
“2008” I said, finishing the heart and dragging myself to my feet.
“Hmmmmm.” The radio said with a click. “That explains a lot.” Now that I had fed, the numbness at the base of my spine had started to dissipate, and I felt within my body again, which was relief. Sometimes these episodes of numbness could last for days, leaving me walking around in a daze. Unfortunately, with the refreshed clarity came a storm of emotions. Anger, guilt and shame led the charge as I started swearing.
“Markus. Fuck. Fuck!” I checked the pocket watch. There was still an hour or so of darkness, assuming the day/night cycle was still symmetrical. I yanked the knife from the table and pushed it through my belt alongside the radio.
“Where are you going?” The radio said absently.
“Markus is out there. I need to find him.”
“We only have one knife. You might not get so lucky again.” The radio warned as I ran into the night.10
The Town. Day 4. Hour 7
I ran through the town with the radio making a strange, scratching noise as it bounced at my waist. The dials had stopped moving, and I wasn’t sure what that meant, as it wasn’t making the radio static sound.11 I tried to tune it out and listen for any sounds and I nearly jumped out of my skin when I heard the crack of a gunshot. I could already smell the gun smoke, and my eyes looked up the hill, towards the large, colonial style houses that were scattered around the place. Another gunshot split the silence and I heard a scream. Markus. I ran, feeling the wind cut through my hair as I sprinted down the winding path. I felt the blood dripping down my chin and on my hands, but I ignored the sensation as I rounded the last corner and saw the lights of the town center. Most of the houses around me were lit by candlelight, but the large houses further up the hill were backlit with flood lights. Markus was dragging Not-Kyle along the ground, towards one of the houses and pounding on the door, begging for help. He didn’t seem to have noticed nothat the Stranger wasn’t moving, the gunshot in his chest fatal, but I could tell. The lights were fucking with my night vision, but I couldn’t hear or see the unnatural creatures pulse, and it’s unnatural, grey/black eyes were glassy, even at this distance.
“Please, open up. I can see them coming. Please!” Markus yelled desperately. I ran and walked along the shadows, watching for movement and the source of the gunshot earlier.12 I could see the gunman, just one, in the upper window of one of the tallest buildings. The barrel of the gun tracked Markus and I felt my jaw twitch. Fuck this. I was so close. I had the knife. I just needed to lock Danny and Markus in the diner for a few days and hunt the last of the Townie’s down.
None of these people mattered.
I dropped silently to one knee and drew my rifle.13 Markus still hadn’t noticed his charge was dead and kept pounding on the door, begging to be let in. I sighted down my rifle and waited for the right moment.14 He raised his head from the rifle to talk to someone I couldn’t see and I fired, the bullet smashing through the glass of the upper window and taking him in the throat. I smiled, sure of the kill shot, and broke into a run.
“Markus! We need to leave, come on!”15 I grabbed his arm, and he scrambled back with a yell, dropping the dead Stranger and hitting me in the face.
“Stay back!” He yelled, his eyes wild “Stay the fuck way away from me!” I raised a hand to my cheek. The hit hadn’t hurt, it had been a desperate move to get away from me rather than an attempt to wound me, but I still stood there in shock. Markus crouched down and grabbed Kyle’s wrist, starting to drag him away from me.
“Markus.” I said, trying to ignore the tremble in my voice. “Markus, come here. I’ll protect you. I know your scared, but you can trust me.” I took a step forward, and he took three back, the body leaving a trail of ink black blood as he dragged him away. He was ignoring me now, calling for help from the other houses.
“Markus, Kyle is fucking dead.” I snapped, feeling my exhaustion settle on me, all edges. We didn’t have time for this. “Markus!”16 The window remained clear of gunmen, either the man I had killed was the only decent shot, or they were smarter than I had given them credit for.17 But Markus was still ignoring me, going door to door and pounding on each one, screaming about monsters. It took me longer than it should have to actually listen to what he was saying. Not Monsters. Monster. Help, please, there’s a monster out here. None of the doors opened.
“Markus! These people aren’t going to help you. We are running out of time. Come with me. Please.” I said, my firm, FBI voice rapidly deteriorating to pathetic whine. “I love you, Markus.” I said quietly. He looked at me then.18 His eyes burned into me and he opened his mouth, but I never heard what he had to say. The door next to him was open a crack, and I realized in a crystalized moment of abject fear that it was the only house on the block without a flicker of light. No candles. No Mark. The talon took Markus in the chest, tearing clothes and blood in a spray.
“Markus!” I screamed, reaching for the knife at my belt.19 I moved forward as my cousin dropped to the ground, bleeding but still alive, and I knew I could still save him. There was only one monster, the beat of its heart echoing in my ears.20 The door next to me burst open, and I moved swiftly out of the way and ignored the three burly thugs that burst out. They didn’t matter. If they got in the way, I would kill them, I would-
I blinked, feeling dizzy as a trickle of blood run down my nose.21 I had only lost a second or two, but I was one the ground, my arms pinned behind my back and a pair of dead weights keeping me firmly in place on the wooden patio. The right side of my face burned, but I barely felt it as I struggled and snarled.22 The Townie was one I hadn’t seen before, a burly man dressed in a pinstripe suit with a pencil mustache and slicked back hair. He looked like an ad man from the 50s, and he shot me a wide, almost kind, smile.
“I thank you gentlemen. I knew you all would see sense.” He said in a thick Texan burr. He reached down casually, and pulled Markus to his feet. My cousin wobbled unsteadily, his eyes unfocused as blood dribbled down his chin. In the flickering candle light, I could see the rent in his chest, bad, but not fatal. I stopped struggling immediately and froze.
“Stop.” I said quietly. “Please. Tell me what you want.” The burly Townie smiled sadly, but his eyes were black and and the tips of his canines were flecked with blood.
“This is what I want, little hunter.” He said pleasantly. He nodded to someone I couldn’t see and spoke over my head. “Your people will be safe from mine for the foreseeable future. As long this feisty gal is still kicking, and you don’t interfere with any new meat, our accord will be sealed in blood.”
“In blood.” A voice said behind me, weak and frail and human. The words were echoed by a a few other voices around me.
“No, wait.” I said, trying to shuffle forward. “Please.” I couldn’t move. Markus’ eyes focused and met mine.23 The look in his eyes struck me to my core. He didn’t take in the people around us, or the monster holding him up, or even the town we were trapped in. In the moment, all he saw was me, and he was terrified. His scream died before it began when his throat was torn from his neck. Blood sprayed my face as he toppled forward, and the Townie shoved him to the ground, wiping the his bloody hands on his pine strip suit. I kicked, and screamed and writhed as my Cousin bled to death an inch away from me, his eyes filled with fear and accusation.24
I’m not crying. It’s just the rain in my house.
Oracle: Any benefit to eating heart? 50/50 91 No.
Oracle: Did Agent Worley Like Willow? 50/50 51 Yes
Oracle: Does she know? 50/50 46 Yes. The machine (Protection +2)
Oracle: Tied to an old, eldritch power? 50/50 19 Yes. Is the eldritch monster being forced? Likely - 32 Yes.
Oracle: Does she know who made it? 50/50 83 No.
Oracle: Does he blink? 50/50 71 Yes
Oracle: Does it? 50/50 89 No. Boo. Lucky for it
Sanity(Unnatural) 22/26
Oracle: Is it what I think? Likely - 78 Yes
End scene. Chaos Factor 6. Protection +2 - Machine Lore. Shiver Scene - ‘Destroy Burden’. Oh No. Is Markus dead? 50/50 - No. He is in danger. Is Not-Kyle Dead? 26. Yes.
Oracle: are there Any sounds? 23 Yes. Gunshots? Unlikely - 18 Yes.
Oracle: Can I see a gunman? 50/50 35 Yes. In the big houses? 07 Extreme Yes. Is he targeting Markus? Likely - 57 Yes.
Markus Alertness - 36/20 Nope
Firearms (+20% from aim) - 61/102 12 Damage. Kill? Very Likely - Yes.
Oracle: Is he scared of Kat? 02 Extreme yes :(
Oracle: Do they shoot him? Unlikely (Because they want to trade him to the monsters) 98 Extreme no.
Oracle: Townies appear? Likely - 93 No. Does anyone let him in? 50/50 69 No.
Townies attack? Likely - 08 Extreme Yes.(Taking that to mean they attack literally right now) +20% 79/80 2d6 damage - 6 DMG
Townsfolk help the enemy? Likely - 27 Yes.
Skill: Dodge - 40/43 - Nice!
Thug Unarmed VS my Dodge - 22/30. Their Critical Beats my successful dodge
Oracle: Townie Male? 50/50 08 Extreme Yes.
Oracle: Is he still scared of Kat? 50/50 01 Extreme Yes D:
Sanity (Helplessness) - Auto pass due to adaption. 1d4= 4. Projected 2 onto Campbell. End Scene. Shiver +2. Chaos Factor 7. Test Scene 2 Interrupt scene. New NPC. Wicked Magus. Last member of W-Cell? 75 No.
This turned south real quick. My goodness.
Noooo…. Poor Markus…