Instrument of Precision

Instrument of Precision
a TRAUMA sub-plot
©1991 John Tynes

Gamemaster's Introduction
This "scenario" is not really a scenario per se. It is a series of episodes, each designed to be sublimated within an ongoing campaign or series of adventures. At first, the players are likely to assume that the events of this sub-plot have connections to the other scenarios, but this is not the case (unless you choose to work it otherwise). "Instrument of Precision" is an entity unto itself. If you wish, you could run it as a single scenario by compressing the events to occur in a short span of time--say a week or so. But they should prove to be more effective as interludes (albeit sometimes violent and threatening ones) within your ongoing game.
Role-playing games tend to compress time. Mundane activities such as dressing, eating breakfast, driving somewhere, etc. are often skipped over completely. When a gamemaster wants something to occur during one of those off-periods, he or she is forced to jump out of the usual compressed-time and start playing these mundane activities out. This, of course, always alerts the players that something is about to happen and they get paranoid, act inappropriately, etc. Some of the episodes in this sub-plot begin among mundane events; to get around the problem of tipping off the players, suggestions are provided to allow you to jump out of compressed-time, usually by providing a link to your ongoing game. If all goes well, the integration of this subplot will be seamless and the players will not be alerted to a particular episode's emergence until it is already underway.
In keeping with TRAUMA's design intentions, I refuse to shoulder the responsibility of explanation for the events of this sub-plot. The players are likely to read any number of things into it, and you should be ready to throw red herrings or answer oddball questions as needed. Pay attention to what the players are saying and try to second-guess their lines of thinking. Making up encounters or research on the spot will be much less apparent to the players if you can keep a step ahead of them.

Background
This sub-plot only directly involves a single player, unless two or more players are living together (married, roommates, etc.) Choose your subject with care. They should live in a house (though they need not have been there for any length of time) rather than an apartment. You should know some things about the player: their hometown, where they grew up, and especially the first names of any former girlfriends. As a side note, for brevity's sake this scenario assumes that the subject player is male; gender roles can easily be swapped.
The above information will come into play throughout the episodes. Ultimately, you should be able to unnerve and even disturb the player, by linking things in the episodes to his own life. If your group is mature enough, the real-life death of a loved one some time in the past would be an especially effective link. Many groups (and many players) may not be comfortable with this, however, and so you should exercise caution in exploring the player's real life.

Episode One--Appearance
At some point in the current scenario, preferably just after a difficult period, the player returns home exhausted or scared or whatever. Shortly he will find a woman asleep in his bed. She appears to be caucasian, in her early twenties, with long black hair and brown eyes. The woman is naked, but nothing is in the player's bedroom that might belong to her--no clothes, shoes, etc. She can be woken up easily, but will awake on her own at any time the gamemaster feels it would be effective.
Almost immediately after she awakes it will become clear that she cannot speak. A player who makes a perception roll will notice that she has no tongue. In addition, she seems to have no real communication skills--she doesn't know sign language, can't read or write, and can understand in no form any language the player might attempt.
The woman has a number of scars on her back, evidently from a whip or lash. In addition, numerous burn marks dot her legs from the application of a hot poker, cigarette, etc. If given clothes of some sort she will readily and gratefully put them on. She is not very modest, however.
If she is given paper and something to write with, she will brighten up and begin making hand motions. A perceptive player will understand that she is requesting a ruler. If the player fails to understand, she will try to draw something ruler-like on the paper until it is clear what she needs. Once provided with a ruler, she takes the items and goes to work. After about five or six minutes of careful measurement and drawing, she produces something rather odd: on the piece of paper, she has made numerous dots, all carefully measured and spaced apart with the ruler, but forming no regular or recognizable pattern. The dots are clearly not random; she makes the marks quite deliberately, measuring and re-measuring until certain they are accurate. (this paper would be a handout for the players, with the dots marked, etc.) Players might suggest that they are a star chart, and indeed it certainly could be.
The woman seems to know next to nothing about everyday items, such as cars, televisions, blenders, etc. Anything that makes a noise or moves may frighten her; she is quite skittish. If a television is turned on she will at first be frightened but eventually come to watch it with fascination. At some point, if she sees an image of a planet (on TV or from a poster or book in the player's home) she will grow quiet and look at the image. If the player tries to communicate with her about her interest in the image, she will grow disinterested with it and disregard it from then on.
The player or players are likely to attempt a number of things in the days immediately following the woman's appearance in the player's home.
Identification of the woman will prove futile. Fingerprints, DNA sampling, or just showing her picture around will produce nothing. A medical examination will show that the woman is indeed human, about 24 years of age, and in good health, although she does have a persistent heart murmur. The doctor can determine that the woman's tongue was cleanly removed years ago, probably when the woman was a child or even an infant. The scars and burn marks are all from the last few months. Law enforcement agencies will have nothing relating to the woman, at least as far as the players can find out.
The woman has no desire to leave and wants to stay in the player's home. If the players have her removed--turning her over to the police or the state, etc.--she is gone for good and will never be seen again. Questioning the authorities she was turned over to will produce confusion; they have no record of her, and have no idea what the players are talking about, even if the person they speak with is the very one they talked to. This would end the subplot.
If the player lets her stay, she is friendly and helpful as she can be, though she is mostly at a loss at how to do everyday things. She is quick to learn and will do what she can to get along. If the player wants, he can try to teach her to read, or have someone to it. She will begin making progress.
The dot-map she drew is a puzzle of sorts. The players may try all sorts of oddball things to make sense of it, none of which will pan out. Having an astronomer study it will quickly result in his determination that it represents no group of stars that he recognizes. If the players press, they can find a graduate student willing to analyze the dot positions and try to match them up with a star configuration, for $12 an hour. After 6 hours of programming and analysis, the student can ascertain that the configuration is not particularly close to any star configuration visible from Earth. What about elsewhere? Well, for $20 an hour the student will do some heavy programming and try to figure out where such a configuration might be visible from. 12 hours of work later, the surprised student will report that the configuration is 65% accurate of a view of a portion of the heavens from an area of the surface of Neptune. Significantly, the configuration includes stars that are known to be present, yet can not be seen with the naked eye.
Of course, this could just be a coincidence.

Episode Two--Contact
At some point, perhaps a week or so later (even while some of the above investigation is still going on) a knock at the door will bring about the introduction of Agent Daleson, of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. (this agency can be changed if you are using a non-USA setting) If she is present at the time, the woman will hide at the sound of the knock, without knowing who is on the other side of the door. She does not do this in other situations.
Agent Daleson will produce his credentials and begin questioning the player. Initially, the questions should be vague enough that the player may assume that this has something to do with whatever scenario is currently underway (and if the FBI is involved in that scenario, this can be reinforce). Questions such as "Have you noticed anything suspicious lately?" and "Has anyone you haven't seen in some time attempted to contact you?" are typically abstract. After a couple minutes of this, Daleson will take a photograph out of his pocket. "Have you seen this woman?" Of course, it is the woman now staying with the player. In the picture she is dressed for cold weather, eyes bright and happy. She stands before the door of a house, smiling at the camera. In the picture, she looks to be a few years younger than at present. Daleson will not give the picture to the player, but if asked will promise to bring by a copy of it. He will never do so.
If the player makes a perception roll, he will realize something disquieting. The house that the woman stands before is a house he lived in as a child, and has probably not been back there in some time. If the player's only childhood home is still occupied by his parents or other relatives, make it a house next door or across the street.
Agent Daleson will be sensitive to attempts to hide reactions. If the player doesn't want to admit seeing the woman or offers only partial explanations, Agent Daleson will not press him but will say something like "I hope you are cooperating with me, because this is a very serious matter." What the player does in response, however, is entirely up to him. Once again, if the woman is handed over to Daleson he will take her and she will not be seen again, nor will any record of her ever be located. Should the players attempt to contact Daleson, they will be out of luck--see below for more about Daleson. If the woman is lost to Daleson, the sub-plot effectively ends.
Assuming the player covers things up, Daleson will plainly be skeptical but will leave without pressing the player. He will hand over a card, showing the address and phone number of the nearest FBI branch, and his own name, Agent Thomas Daleson. Daleson will then depart cordially, get into a dark sedan driven by another (unidentified) man and drive away.
The woman will come out to watch the car leave, something like fear in her eyes. She will not be able to communicate much of anything about the incident, other than her obvious wariness of Daleson.

Episode Three--Plunge
Within two or three days of the Daleson interview, the player needs to be driving somewhere. This should be worked into the main scenario. In order to slow down the normal compressed-time of role-playing games without clueing the player that something is about to happen, insert a radio broadcast that is of interest. If at all possible, have the broadcast be something relating to the main scenario--coverage of any violent activity that has occurred, updates on a situation, etc.--and you might introduce something important here if you wish. The broadcast is of interest to the player, in any event.
As this is heard, call for appropriate rolls. The situation is as follows; act it out as you wish: driving just ahead of the player is a long bi-level tractor-trailer rig, carrying eight new cars on their way to a showroom or car lot. Agent Daleson is driving the rig, though this is unlikely to be noticed by the player unless exceptional rolls are made. Another man is on the top of the rig, hidden between two cars. The vehicle has moved in front of the player's car. There is nothing unusual about this, of course.
Suddenly, as the player is getting the information from the radio, the man on top of the trailer stands up and begins pulling up levers and fasteners. The player may notice what he's doing, if rolls are made. After a moment the rig speeds up, and the last car on the trailer is released. It slides off the rig immediately and plunges to the road. The player will need to make a number of rolls here to anticipate the attack and avoid it. The sedan crashes to the pavement on its front end and falls forward, crushing anything (such as the player's car) that is in front of it. If the player failed to avoid it, he drives right into the toppling sedan, and is at the least injured as the roof caves in. Maintaining control of his car is next to impossible, with the other car lying on top of it. Without more good rolls, the player will quite possible be severely injured if not killed.
Assuming that the player avoids the dumped sedan, other cars quickly run into it, and in his rear-view mirror the player can see a horrific multi-car pile-up occurring just behind him, as speeding vehicles collide first with the fallen sedan blocking the road and then with each other. The wreckage and carnage is horrible; five people will be killed and over a dozen injured to various degrees.
Injured players will be in the hospital for some while.
If the trap was bypassed, the player can try to catch up to the trailer, which now speeds up and makes for the next exit off of the expressway. It may be at this time that the player could catch a view of Agent Daleson in the driver's side mirror. If the player follows the rig, the man on top will begin to release the next car; following the rig is clearly not a good idea. Persistent players will again have to dodge a car rolling off the trailer into the road, with the resultant accidents that are sure to occur.
In any event, the rig will take the next exit, coming to a halt partway up, where it swerves and skids, coming to a stop just as it completely blocks the exit ramp. The two men get out and run past it, climbing into a dark sedan on the far side waiting on the side of the road, and drive away. It will not be possible to get a car past the huge trailer rig.
Violent players may try to shoot out the rig's heavy tires or otherwise stop the vehicle from escaping. They may certainly attempt this; as cars continue to be dumped from the rig, though, this will be quite difficult. If you allow it, they could succeed. The rig will likely have a wreck; the men will attempt to get out of the stopped vehicle and run for their sedan (not far off) but are probably going to be in trouble. If it is obvious that the players will get them, the men will open up with automatic weapons fire, and a firefight will likely ensue. If at all possible, the two men should get away. If either or both of them are killed, play it by ear; identifying the bodies will be difficult. Information about Daleson and what he is up to can be found below, so use that info to improvise what you need should he be killed. The identity of the other man will never be known, and he carries nothing that would identify him.

Episode Four--Daleson
This is less an episode than a resource. At some point the players will want to look up Daleson and see what's up.
A call to the local FBI bureau will get them confirmation that yes, Thomas Daleson is an employee of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, but no other information will be given out over the phone. If the players wish to meet with Daleson, they may make an appointment two days in advance to do so. His superior, Jonathon Archer, will meet with them within a couple of hours if they claim it is very important. Claims of emergency will, of course, be responded to at once.
An appointment made with Daleson will be canceled in a phone call from a Bureau representative the morning of the appointment, and re-scheduled for three days later. That appointment will also be canceled in the same manner. Players who grow frustrated and speak with Archer may do so.
In between the time they request a meeting with Archer and the time that the meeting takes place, some disturbing news will have come into his office. Agent Daleson has not been seen in several days, and now his body has been discovered. By the time the players arrive for the meeting, Archer will be very anxious to speak with them. He will first want to know how they know Agent Daleson and what their interest in him is. If the interview is described, Archer will find it interesting. If the woman is admitted to be in the player's house, Archer will of course want to see her at once, and she will vanish with the usual sub-plot-ending consequences.
If the players seem trustworthy and are clearly involved in the case, Archer will tell them that Daleson was found dead earlier today, and that he is believed to have been killed at least two weeks ago. He will show them a picture of Agent Daleson, and it is obviously not the man the players have met. Archer will give them his card (it is identical to the one Daleson gave them, save for the name change) and ask them to call him should "Daleson" or anyone claiming to know him contact them.
If "Daleson" has been killed, the players will probably meet Archer in some way as a result of the incident. He will behave in much the same way, telling them of the real Daleson's death, etc.

Episode Five--Discovery
One day a letter arrives for the player. Several options exist for how to present it. The postmark can either be within a few days prior, or it can be the same date that a close relative or friend of the player's died. The handwriting can resemble that of the dead person. The address is that of the house seen in the photograph, the house the player knows from his childhood. This address has been crossed out, and the player's present address written next to it in a different hand, preceded by a "Forward To" notice. Within the envelope is a photocopy of a page from a book. The running header at the top of the page identifies the book as "Fantomas" by (I'll have to check the author--the book is French in origin, by the way). Nothing else is contained within the envelope, and no return address is present. The stamp commemorates man's exploration of space, and shows a color image of Neptune.
If the woman is shown the paper or is present when it is opened, she will grow very excited upon seeing it. She begins making hand motions, indicating that she wants a pin or needle. Once this is produced, she pokes at the paper in the air, holding both items out to the player.
The player should be able to make the intuitive leap (or figure it out himself) that the supposed "star-map" the woman drew should be overlaid on this page of text, and holes made in the papers with the needle. If this is done, the letters on the page that are marked by the needle will be found to spell out a message.
It reads: "She is not of you. Bring her here."
The woman, while clearly knowing what is to be done with the papers, has no clue about the message and of course cannot read it--though if she is learning English she will do her best.
The "here" of the message is intended to be the house from the photo, the house that the player knows from his childhood. This episode should be presented immediately before a major climax in the main scenario, so that the player will either have to put off investigating the "here" for a day or two (so that he can wonder about it the whole time) or so that he will have to go there at once to resolve the situation before the events of the main scenario intercede once more.

Episode Six--Home
Whenever the trip is made, the woman will somehow be aware of what is going on and will plead to go. The text assumes that she is taken along.
The house in question is empty, marked with a "for sale by owner" sign with no phone number. Neighbors, if questioned, will respond that a young woman was living there a few months ago but moved out. They only knew her by her first name. If desired, her first name can be the same as a past girlfriend of the player. If the woman is with the players when they interview the neighbors, they can assure them that she is not the same woman--though the woman living in the house did look quite like her, only older. Perhaps her mother?
Going into the house will produce a feeling of deja vu for the player, having known the house in his childhood. It is quite empty, with no furniture or items save two things. The first is a phone, hooked into a wall plug. It functions perfectly well. The other is a wooden door in a frame, standing upright in the middle of the attic, supported by boards nailed to the base. The door is attached to the frame by hinges, and looks as if it would open fine. It obviously doesn't lead anywhere; it is simply standing in the attic alone, and can of course be walked around, seen from all sides, etc. Trying the knob will determine that the door is locked, and needs a key. The mechanism is quite old-fashioned.
One of two things will happen at about this time, depending on whether or not the player brought the woman along on this trip. If he did not, a dark sedan will pull up outside containing Agent Daleson. He will stride into the house and call out "Where is she? She's MY mother, you bastard!" Daleson carries a black cloth bag. He stalks around the house looking for the player; whenever they meet up he begins doing the following. If the player continually avoids Daleson he does this anyway, but without the player initially witnessing.
From within the bag Daleson pulls a small automatic pistol and points it to his left hand. "Where is she?" he cries and pulls the trigger, the bullet piercing his hand and leaving a bloody rent behind. "Where is she?" he cries again and shoots himself in the right knee, collapsing to the floor. It is unlikely that the player can change the course of action here; if attacked or grappled, Daleson will try and shoot the player. In any event, he will keep blowing parts of his body off until he dies.
The disposition of Daleson's body is up to you; likely as not the FBI will take it and from then on deny everything--even Archer will deny ever meeting the player before.
If the player and the woman eventually come to house, she will grow excited, and run from room to room, dragging the player along with her. In each room she will look about and try to explain what the room was--she played in here, slept in here, ate in here, etc. She will attempt to communicate in broken english (if she has been learning it, and has something to write on) that she grew up here as a child. The rooms and actions she describes (in whatever method she can) are clearly the rooms and actions the player remembers--she is describing his childhood as if it were her own.
Whenever they get to the attic with the free-standing door in the center, the woman will approach it curiously. At this moment the phone will ring, several rooms away.
If other players are along for the trip, they hear a sudden burst of static in their ears and vanish.
Unaware of his friends' disappearance, the player as he answers the phone will hear a young woman's voice say "Thank you, and goodbye" and hang up. From above them comes the sound of a door opening.
Investigating, the player enters the attic with the odd door just as it closes. The woman is nowhere to be seen. The door now opens freely.
But of course, it leads nowhere.

Aftermath
If the players' friends were along and vanished, they re-appear thirty-six hours later right where they disappeared, feeling as if no time at all has passed. Each finds that any change in their pocket has been altered: the total amount is the same, but which coins are there to make that total are different from before.
As stated earlier, no explanations will be offered for the events of this sub-plot. It should be a very personal thing for the player, and he may come up with whatever explanations suit them best. Agent Daleson may or may not appear again, as you wish; for that matter, the woman can certainly return. Was she from the moon? How did she speak over the phone? What about the letter?
Questions such as these are best answered in our own minds. TRAUMA, indeed.

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