Mid-West Campaign
Session Eighty-Three

Wednesday, 20 June 2001

While examining the missing pets section of the notice board in the Estelle gospel church, Jane Munroe receives a telephone call.

[Editorial note: At this moment the day diverges. Everything that follows in blue type happened in the first version of the day. This is not to say the events in blue type didn't happen, just that very few remember them after the day was reset. Confused? Read on.]

Jane does not recognise the voice. The voice tells her that Danni is in danger, and that if Jane wants to see her again she must return to Wichita immediately and not tell anyone (especially her fellow agents) what is going on.

Being an inherently contrary individual, Jane immediately tells everyone she can possibly think of. She informs Benedict, Stone and McPike why she has to leave. Racing from the church she tries both Danni and Todd's mobile phones but gets no reply. She then telephones the mid-west HQ. Dominic, Ecks and Campbell-Robson are out on a case, but Nathan Harlow and Jack Burchill are present.

She quickly informs the pair what is happening and asks them to get to her house as soon as possible. She says that she is heading to the airport and will be in Wichita in one hour.

As quick as humanly possible is very quick when Jack Burchill is driving. The agents see a plume of smoke rising from Jane's house: the place is an inferno. Harlow calls the fire brigade, but before any appliances can arrive the pair rush toward the burning building. As Harlow skirts around the outside of the building, Burchill looks for tracks.

Jack Burchill is the team's most skilled tracker, and soon finds something. An SUV pulled up into the drive and four people got out: one man, one woman and two others wearing heavy boots. They kicked open the door to the house, breaking the lock. When they left, the two booted men were walking slowly, facing each other as if they were carrying a heavy weight (say, a pregnant woman). The other two were dragging something that was leaking a very great deal of blood. Burchill follows their tracks back to the SUV tracks, but at that moment a fire engine arrives and parks on top of his evidence.

In the air, Jane is becoming increasingly frantic. She calls Harlow to get an update: the news makes her sick. Jane's rampant paranoia is firing on all cylinders and she immediately suspects Vitrano and Lavin. Could the voice on the other end of the phone have been Simon Magus? She knows that she needs help, and calls Michael Levin. Michael agrees to drop everything he is doing and come to Wichita at once. She then calls Artemis Black. She begs Artemis to use whatever shadowy contacts or underhand means to find her sister. MK Ultra, NTOP, Majestic - she doesn't case, she just wants results!

Jane realises that Todd is still shot through of Schult's nanites. Schult is off-line so she telephones Marc Georgeson. Georgeson is extremely curt and abrupt. He doesn't have the time or the inclination to talk to her. Jane begs him, explaining that Todd has Schult's nanites in him. "No he doesn't," says Georgeson. "Todd O'Connell is dead."

Jane calls Harlow back and tells him the news. She is distraught. Harlow wonders if Danni was taken because of her baby. After all, it is a child of Winterset and the mystic faction of the bugs needed children once before (WNT075). Jane asks if Harlow can trace the original caller. Nathan says that he will try.

As Burchill grovels in the mud underneath the fire engine looking for the SUV tracks, Nathan thinks the quickest way to track the call is to splice his laptop directly into the line on a near-by telegraph pole. Taking command of the ladder on the fire engine, Harlow ascends the pole and gets to work. He gets no signal and sets the pole on fire, so he decides to return to headquarters.

Back at the mid-west HQ, Harlowe and a filthy Burchill receive a call from Lt Crispin of the Wichita PD. He is calling them with bad news: there is someone at the morgue that he wants the team to identify. This is about the time that Jane is touching down. She and Burchill meet at the morgue, while Harlow continues trying to trace the original caller.

Lt Crispin speaks to Burchill and the rather shaky Jane. He says that he is sorry for their loss, and leads them into the mortuary where a thoroughly deceased Todd O'Connell rests on a slab. A cursory glance over the body tells Jane that Todd was shot in the left lung, and that the bullet probably nicked an artery. A DNA test will confirm if this is really Todd. For that reason, and because she doesn't want to leave him, Jane asks for the body. The considerate Crispin is happy to oblige. Todd's remains are sent to the mid-west HQ.

Jane asks where Todd's body was found. Crispin says that the body was found directly outside the third precinct. A man carried Todd's body to the front door, dumped it, and then collapsed into a coma. They have the whole thing on CCTV. Jane asks for a copy of the tapes, then she and Burchill head to the hospital to see the comatose man.

Neither Jane nor Burchill recognise the man lying in the hospital bed. He has seen some action, and there is a fair amount of scar tissue on his body. There is a metal pin in his right leg - probably from a motorcycle accident. The pin prevents an MRI scan being conducted, so there is no way to know if the man was infected with a brain bug. Jane takes his finger prints. If they haven't identified him by tomorrow, they can remove the metal pin and check the serial number. However, by then it might be too late for Danni.

It has now been two hours since Jane received the call in Estelle, and she is becoming increasingly desperate. Harlow telephones to inform her that he was unable to trace the call because it originated from a secure satellite phone. Another dead end. However, at this point Michael Levin arrives which advances matters considerably: he recognises the man in the bed.

Levin looks extremely pale. Without saying anything he takes out his phone and calls Monty. He reports a "broken arrow". He draws his gun and looks around agitatedly. The man in the bed is Jenson Kant. He is an agent from the department of agriculture who is working on Project Yuri. Levin says that they have to leave immediately.

On the way down to the car, Jane receives another call from Harlow. Todd's body and personal effects have arrived. Nathan has found a blood-soaked letter in Todd's clothing that is addressed to Jane. Jane asks him to read it. The letter says: "Jane Munroe, you were wanted not to contact anyone." Jane presses through the guilt.

Levin orders Burchill to drive back to the mid-west HQ as fast as possible. He doesn't quite realise what that means to a highly trained pursuit driver. In the car Levin relaxes slightly. He says that his men had been compromised and apologises to Jane: "I'm sorry," he says, "all this may not even be about you." The inference from this is that murder of Todd and kidnapping of Danni was a means to strike at Michael through Jane, and has nothing to do with any of the evidence response cases. Jane is too distracted to realise this.

At headquarters, Jane runs a DNA test on Todd and confirms that he is from Winterset. She baulks at the idea of performing an autopsy on Todd - she can't bring herself to cut him up. She searches through the remainder of Todd's things. His gun is half-empty. At least he put up a fight.

But none of this is getting them any closer to finding Danni. Jane is now more than desperate. She uses a secure line to contact Clint Stone back in Estelle. She says that she needs his help: she needs him to remember the symbols he traced from Hamblin's book. She wants him to tell him how he made the symbols transport him to Raphael. She needs to find Raphael.

Clint is surprised, given how vehement Jane was that she shouldn't dabble in such things. He says that he can't tell her over the phone because he would have to see the book. Jane asks him to fly back from Louisiana. Clint sighs and says he'll be back in Wichita in just over an hour.

Now, Michael Levin reveals more about Kant. He says that Kant's compromised team was made up of some of the DoA's most experienced operatives. They were operating on the east coast, attempting to exterminate a brain bug cell. The most worrying thing is that they returned to HQ and went through DECON without a problem. All DoA operatives receive routine MRI scans. Kant didn't get one because of his pin, but he still received a full psychological examination.

They analyse the CCTV that shows Kant dropping off Todd's body. Nathan notices that just before Kant collapsed, something was seen exiting his body through the bottom of the torso, that disappears down into the ground. It is only a blur, but Harlow recognises it as a brain bug. The agents make a note of the car Kant got out of it. However, it is just a rental.

Michael emphasises how serious this situation is. Any number of his agents could be compromised. He is only sure of himself and Monty. He has agents at the highest levels. The entire American executive could be affected, or if it isn't it soon will be. Michael needs help clearing up this mess. Jane suggests NTOPFOR. Michael doesn't like the idea, as he is sure Huntingdon-Price will be insufferably smug. However, there is no choice.

Jane telephones Huntingdon-Price directly, choosing not to go through Artemis. Black's meetings between the DoA and NTOP haven't happened yet, so there is no immediate avenue of communication between the two. Michael is right: Huntingdon-Price is extremely smug that the Americans have dropped the ball in such a spectacular fashion. However, he refuses to help in any meaningful capacity. If Jane can tell him exactly where these compromised DoA agents are, then he will go after them. Otherwise it might be easier to let the 'infection' run its course and then nuke capital hill. He suggests that doing so would eliminate more problems than just the brain bugs.

It is at this point that Clint Stone arrives. He looks at the book, but is having trouble remembering exactly what he did before. Jane presses him. "It's hard to remember everything you told me to forget!" Stone counters. Nathan advises Jane not to go down this route. He's had enough dealings with supernatural entities to know that this is a bad idea. Besides: Raphael said that the book could take her anywhere. If she goes through with it she could wind up in Hell, or even in New Jersey.

Harlow says that there are other avenues to follow first. He and Burchill are going to go and retrieve Kant's car. They can search it thoroughly and compare the current mileage with the mileage when it left the rental company. Michael Levin (who seems increasingly out of his depth) suggests something tangible - like autopsying Todd. Jane listens to them all, and then realises that there is one contact she hasn't tried: someone who is in a unique position to help.

She starts phoning around for Alan Hamblin III. He's not at his home, or at the LA public library. He is in the British Library. He is extremely worried when he hears from Jane, as he expects her to ask him to do things he is not prepared to do. And true enough, it isn't long before Jane suggests that he take her back in time so she can stop the kidnapping from taking place. Hamblin says that he can't help. The archangels wouldn't like it. He says that he can't go anywhere except back to the future he comes from (which means his death). This is because all time travel is connected to the door, and the door is currently buried. Hamblin lets it slip that the door has not been destroyed in the attack on the West Coast HQ.

This Hamblin doesn't remember giving the agents the original copy of the text of Horus-Ra. Neither does he know how he is going to die. When Jane suggests that she could tell in exchange for information about Danni, he puts his fingers in his ears and hums loudly.

Hamblin sympathises with Jane, and the agents can hear him squirming on the other end of the phone as Jane tries to make him feel incredibly guilty about not helping. Jane doesn't want to lose Danni. "You may have all ready lost her," says Hamblin.

Jane sits down heavily. It has now been four and a half hours since the call, and all the doors seem to be closing. All that seems to be left now is the book. Nathan tells her not to do it (again) and he and Burchill head off to collect Kant's car. Clint Stone suggests that they conduct a séance for Todd's spirit: maybe he knows where Danni is. Levin is surprised by their detective work, Jane explains that they're just making use of all the resources available. Which brings her back to the book.

Stone says that he can't really remember what he scribbled down. There was a shape that looked like a slice of pizza with a circle in the middle, a crescent moon… As he is mentioning this he traces the images in the air. Suddenly he disappears. Michael draws his gun again. Jane leaps up. It sees that just drawing them symbols in the air with his finger were enough. Seconds later, Stone has returned and he looks a bit shocked.

He didn't go to the same place as last time. He said he was in a tower. Through the left hand window were the fires of Hell, and to the right were the rolling green fields and frolicking lambs of Heaven. In the centre was an armoured man. Jane knows this place. Nathan Harlow (well, technically Michael Hunt) was brought there while conversing with Lillian Winter back in December. The man Stone was speaking to was Satan! Stone goes a little bit pale. "He said that we have something that belongs to him," he reports. Jane immediately knows what it is: Samael's flaming sword. Without thinking she says, "We can make a deal."

Suddenly, flaming runes appear suspended in the air in the room. They hear a voice commanding Jane to come to the runes and to bargain. To everyone's surprise, she agrees and goes to the evidence locker. She retrieves the sword, says goodbye to Michael, walks over to the runes and vanishes.

Jane now finds herself in the same tower that Stone recently described. Samael is sitting on his throne looking rather smug. Jane is frightened, but tries to be polite. She supposes that Samael already knows what she wants, but she states it anyway. She wants Danni and Todd (and Danni's child) restored to life, she wants them returned to the mid-west HQ unharmed and with their souls intact. In return she will give Samael the sword he covets. It's a one-shot deal.

Samael says that he is generally not to be trusted. Leith is a complete amateur compared to him. Jane asks him about the Bible and about history. Samael says that he has had a bad press (well, he would say that wouldn't he?). Samael explains that he is trapped at the very gates of heaven. Jane walks to the window with heaven and puts her hand on the glass. Samael explains that she is only seeing what she expects to see, and that Heaven looks different to different people. There is no glass separating the room from Hell, and Jane can hear the screams and smell the napalm rain.

Samael says that Jane is making an uneven bargain. She offers one thing (the sword) but she wants three things in return: the souls of Todd, Danni and the unborn child. For them to make a bargain, Jane must offer two more things. Ideally, she would offer two more souls.

If Jane has learned anything from Nathan's misadventures, she knows that making a bargain with souls is a complete no no. She tells Samael as much. Samael smiles. He is not asking for Jane's soul. He suggests Nathan Harlow. He proffers the question as to why there are three Nathans. Why did Nathan come back at all. His death was part of the Game, and Raphael wouldn't have interfered with that.

Jane realises that Raphael's wish didn't bring the three Harlows back to life at all. It was Leith! She sneaked the Harlows in by the back door. Samael says that this is true. He says that the three Harlows (Classic, Hunt and Fit) each share one third of the same soul. But he says that only one is the real McCoy. One of the Harlows is a formless spawn made into Harlow's image (like 29 of the Stones). One of the Harlows is a demon cloaked in human form. Only one is Jane's old friend. If Jane gives up two of the Harlows the one that is left will get the full soul back.

Although the information is extremely useful, Jane is not about to play Russian roulette with Nathan's soul. They need to find another way to work out which one is which. However, Samael is sticking to his "rule of three", so she must find two other things to offer along with the sword. There is no backing out now.

Jane immediately thinks of offering Vitrano and Lavin's souls, but Samael says that she needs to give something that will be a loss to her. By taking Vitrano and Lavin's souls, Jane would see Samael as doing her a favour and that can hardly be part of the bargain. Jane starts to offer the more tangible assets of evidence response instead. She offers the demon CD, Hamblin's door, Black's ancient incunabula, the other magic swords but Satan doesn't want those. There are two items in the evidence locker that he will accept: Lilith's couch and the strangely interesting brick that is covered with blood.

Jane thinks about it. She goes over the terms of the deal with Samael twice. She affirms that this ends all agreement and obligation between them. Then she accepts the deal and she gives Satan back his sword. As soon as she does so, it erupts into life. Satan plunges the sword through the window separating his prison from Heaven. The blade goes through, and Jane can see Samael cutting his way into Heaven. This is a place even the archangels cannot follow - according to the writings of Horus-Ra, Heaven is adrift from the rest of reality.

[Editorial note: Okay, from this point onwards everyone can remember everything about the day. As you will discover as you read on, Samael is still free and has wiped out the previous version of the day where Todd was killed and Danni was kidnapped. History is subtly rewritten: Jane left Estelle because of a panicked call from Todd telling her Danni was in labour (it was actually Brackston-Hicks). Stone returned, not at the behest of Jane, but because he left the oven on. Note that Jane and Stone can both remember everthing that happened in Samael's prison. It is a moment of clarity in an otherwise foggy memory.]

Then suddenly Jane is back in the mid-west headquarters. To her delight Danni and Todd are also there. Todd has his gun out and is pointing it at Levin. Danni looks confused. Jane quickly helps her to chair. She said that she was just stepping into the shower (she is in a bathrobe) and now she is here. "You blacked out in the bathroom," Jane invents quickly, "Todd caught you and he brought you here. It was the closest medical facility."

Todd is about to open his mouth and deny everything when Jane shoots a look at him and he shuts up. Of course, being from Winterset Todd remembers everything that happened before and after the intervention of Samael. He puts his gun down slowly. Jane takes Danni down to the medical bay to run some tests (full tests including an MRI scan) on her sister.

Meanwhile, Nathan and Burchill have returned. There was no car. There was no Jenson Cant in the hospital. They both know what has happened. Some drastic change to the timeline. Michael says that Jane did it. She went through a portal and brokered a deal with Satan. Todd fumbles for a chair.

Todd tells the agents the day from his perspective. He was making breakfast for Danni (kippers and ice cream) when he heard a bang at the door. He drew his gun. Four intruders entered the house. Two were wearing suits and two were wearing jump suits. They didn't even talk or wave their hands about, but they quickly entered the house. Todd shot one, and then all four of them shot him with energy weapons. He was knocked backwards and impaled himself on the handle of the pan frying the kippers. He then collapsed. He knows that he died there in the kitchen of the house. He didn't remember any of them taking Danni out, but he thinks he left the kippers on and may have burned the house down.

So Todd was killed right from the get-go. Jane's actions in revealing what was going on to her fellow agents were not responsible for getting Todd killed. The blood-soaked letter was just a way to wind her up.

Nathan points out that any grave change to the timeline usually results in memory loss and it is likely that Todd is the only one who will remember the previous version of the day. He begins to explain what was going on with Jenson Kant and the brain bugs to Todd. Michael is alarmed. He is going to forget all this?

For a moment Nathan, Stone, Burchill and Michael Levin can remember the original version of the day and the new one. Levin didn't come to Wichita because Danni was kidnapped, he came because he has tickets to take Jane to Paris. He abandoned his stake-out for that? Monty is going to kill him! Stone can't quite work out why he is in Wichita and not Estelle. And suddenly their memories have changed.

Back in the sick bay, everything is rather confusing for Jane. She remembers both versions of the day because her memory of the time she spent in Samael's realm is intact. She doesn't remember everything that surrounded it, but she remembers remembering it while she was there. Weird.

Jane gives Danni a clean bill of health and returns to the others. She takes Todd aside and tells him what she did. She said that she wasn't ready to lose him and Danni. Todd is touched, but still profoundly worried. Outside, Danni is asking a series of increasingly embarrassing questions of Michael: how rich is he? what are his intentions toward her sister?

Jane speaks with Michael. She explains about everything that happened in the past version of the day. She says that all Samael did was save Danni and Todd. Jenson Kant's team has still be compromised by the brain bugs, and the danger from then is still just as real as it was earlier. Levin contacts Monty and calls in a "broken arrow". He really has to leave and sort this out. He says that he will contact NTOP if he needs to. This is his mess and he'll clear it up.

There is one more thing. Danni is still in danger. Ultimately, Kant and the others will follow through with their plan. In this new timeline, they simply haven't got around to it yet. Danni needs protection. Michael says that he will guarantee Danni's safety, but she has to come with him. He calls Monty again, and asks him to drive to Wichita with the special RV.

Clint Stone returns to Estelle on the grounds of narrative consistency. Jane says that she will join him there tomorrow.

In the evening, a large and luxurious RV arrives, driven by a rather harried looking Monty. Levin sighs. Him, Danni and Todd in the back of an RV for hours and hours. This is going to be the road trip from hell. Suffice to say that he and Todd are not getting on particularly well. Danni says goodbye to Jane, she is happy to have the opportunity to question Michael at length.

The RV departs, leaving Jane, Nathan and Burchill at the mid-west base. Nathan can't believe that Jane literally made a deal with the Devil. That's worse than anything he's ever done! She really has to stop this dabbling with necromancy. Jane doesn't mention that they can only trust one of the three Harlows. She doesn't know if this Nathan is the trustworthy one, and there is no telling how he will react.

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