He was home, back at the farm house again. He wasn't sure how he got here. Screams echoed in his ears. Only some of them were his own. Tears streamed down his cheeks, as they always had. Then he heard the sounds - sounds he did not recall hearing before. There was a loud pop, and the screaming diminished. There was another pop, and then the screams were all his own.
He ran into the house and saw it. He fell to his knees. He screamed louder... and the house began to burn. Smoke filled his nostrils. Flames consumed the walls, the roof, and the furniture, but he remained unharmed.
And then, he saw the face. The dark hair, the pale skin. The sharp features. The disdainful expression. The vacant stare. The white lab coat. He looked like a... Doctor. The figure reached out to him, and then he felt the burning. The screaming stopped, and the room went dark. There was nothing left but ashes, ashes, ashes...
The Journals of Ashton Frost - Part Nine
[Session Move: (01) Flashback reveals an aspect of your background or nature.]
The tears were real, and the echoes of my screams still rang in my ears. The room was pitch black. My skin felt hot, but my cheeks felt cool, and I could still hear the words.
"Ashton, Ashton, Ashton..." The darkness faded, and the room became a little brighter. The coolness on my cheeks dried my tears. I could see one shadow among the rest, sitting next to me. Juliana. "Ashton. You're safe. It was just a dream, just a dream."
I looked at her. "I haven't had that dream in months. It was the same dream I had every night, for I don't know how long." But was not the same dream.
Blake hurried into the room, and turned up the lights. "Ash, are you OK? I heard screaming out here. Are you having that dream again?"
I could see the concern on their faces. "No, it wasn't the same. This was not the dream... This was a memory."
[Mark Progress on Vow: "Uncover the Crimes of the Institute and Bring It Down", +1 tick (6)]
* * *
"This wasn't like every other time," I told them. "I heard the screaming first. Then I heard two shots from the house. I ran inside, and I saw my parents. The house began to burn. And then I saw... him. The Doctor. From the Institute. I think he... drugged me.
"All these years, I thought I started that fire. They made me believe that I had. That they found me, rescued me, took me in. But I remember now. Those bastards came to take me, they killed my parents and burned my house. My life." Juliana wrapped an arm around my shoulders.
"Now I understand," said Blake. "I understand... Arrakoth. You're not a monster. After what the Institute did to you? Now I'm starting to wonder if you were too kind to those bastards.""
"Blake... there are some things I think you need to know," Juliana said. She painfully revisited the tale of her escape from Nyx and the threat of the Institute. She told him of their difficult journey here. She told him about the case of Trip, and how I thought we might be able to draw out the Institute.
* * *
"How did Juliana even get in here last night?" I asked Blake when he woke up.
"You should try asking her some time," he said. "Are you really asking how a woman who can change your entire identity could find our apartment and bypass a lock?"
"We've got to help her," I said to Blake. "She feels like the only way she can atone for the whole Trip thing is to find the people she gave over to the Institute. And I can understand that. I do, too. We need to help these people."
"I agree, Ash. Redhaven's got a transient population too," Blake reminded me. "Legitimate companies want to sweep it under the rug and everyone on the take thinks it's bad for business. Let me ask around and see what I can find. I know just the guy."
* * *
By that afternoon, Juliana had set up all of her gear in the spare room... I guess it was her room now. It was a foregone conclusion she would be staying with us. She was tapping away furiously, biting her lower lip and frowning at the data that was being displayed.
[Gather Information: +Wits, +1 for connection. 4+2+1 vs 2/7. Weak Hit.]
"What's going on?" I asked. She was startled for a moment. She hadn't heard me come in. I realized she was probably wound pretty tight, after the events of the last few weeks. "Sorry, I should have knocked."
"It's your place," she said, shrugging. "Well, now it's your place too, Juliana," I reassured her.
She kept working. "I'm not finding any names, I'm not even finding reports. I don't dare try to hack the Keepers databases, it would put you at too much risk. We need to find my people, but to do that, we need to find out how they are choosing their victims. There's got to be a pattern or some criteria. Criminal psychology at a corporate level."
I could tell this wasn't just about the people she had unknowingly given over to the Institute. She had a single-minded drive to find these answers. "There's something more, isn't there?" I asked her. "You can talk to me. You can trust in me. I want to help."
[Compel: +Heart, 6+3 vs 1/1. Strong Hit with a Match.]
Juliana hung her head and her shoulders sagged. When she looked up at me, I could see the sorrow. "Ria. They took Ria. I need to find him. I will do anything, risk anything, to find him."
Whoever Ria was, he was very special to her. A lover? A bond-mate? "He is my brother. My younger brother," she said. "I can't do this alone. I need you."
I gripped my amulet in my hand and looked at her. "Juliana, I swear on Iron that I will help you find your brother." She stood up, threw her arms around me and just held me.
[Swear an Iron Vow, "Help Cypher Find Ria" (Dangerous): 2+3 vs 5/9. Burn 10 Momentum (reset to +2). Strong Hit. +2 Momentum (+4)]
* * *
I was helping Cassidy unload cargo from the Phantom in Bay Eight when Breaker and Spanner came into the loading bay. I couldn't hear their conversation, but Spanner nodded to Breaker and left.
Breaker came over to the cargo ramp. I wasn't really helping much (Cassidy is as strong as you'd expect) and she nodded in Breaker's direction. I walked over to see him. "What's up, Blake?"
"So I talked to a source, and he confirmed that some people have gone missing around Redhaven, as well. Normally it's the usual - drifters, people who've been fired from crews, parolees... some of them find work, whether legitimate or off the books..." He was getting upset. "But some of the missing people... are kids. Teenagers. Runaways, displaced foster kids, orphans -"
"People no one would miss." We both said at the same time. "Or people whose disappearance would be construed as deliberate," I continued. "We have to tell Cypher!"
* * *
Back at the apartment, Juliana was in her room, still tapping away at her keyboard and frowning at the screen. "What did he tell you?" she asked, still looking at the screen. I wasn't sure who "he" was, but Blake told her what he had found out. Her shoulders slumped. She walked out to the living room, and sat next to me.
"So, where would they be going?" she asked. "Not to Vesper. Ashton burned down the facility at Redemption." I hadn't realized that their lab was a total loss, but now I realized how much damage I could do. Leaving the landing bay at full thrust probably didn't help, either.
She continued, "I don't think they're taking them south of the Pass - that passage runs right past Keeper headquarters. Too risky, and going through uncharted space is possibly even worse." She glanced at me and I nodded. I remembered the hazards I had endured on my journey to Nyx.
"There's only one other charted route out of the sector," Blake said, "But there's only a couple of known settlements up in the Delphi Abyss, and they're not the sort of places anyone would run away to."
"If they went to Vesper willingly, someone would notice," I said to them. "Folks are friendly enough there, but they also know if you're 'not from round these parts' and they're an inquisitive bunch." Farmer Grey was your typical Hesperian. "Some of them might be willing to talk to me-"
[Ask the Oracle: Do they want to inquire around Vesper first? Unlikely. (90) No.]
"But anyone who'd recognize you either thinks you're dead, or wanted," Juliana interrupted. "Too risky. I think we should check the Abyss first. If there's only a couple worlds up there, it shouldn't take much more time."
"I would hesitate to even call them worlds," Blake interjected. "Just deep space settlements - neither one has a habitable planet. Hell, one doesn't even have a planet at all. Just one of those huge stars Ash ran across. But I know the route."
"The Phantom is going to be out of service for a couple days while they overhaul the life support systems," she said. "I can't wait, and I need to do this now."
"You wouldn't dream of taking the Acheron out without me," Blake interjected, "would you, partner? I'm going with you!"
"Thank you," Juliana said, "Thank you both. You don't know what this means to me." She started packing some of her gear into a duffel bag. "What are we waiting for? Pack up whatever gear you need. We have to get going."
[Ending Stats: Momentum +4 Health +5 Spirit +5 Supply +5 Fire 3 Fugitive 1]