Juan Estevez - DEA Agent and former Undercover Cop
Victor Blue - FBI Intelligence Analyst and Hacker
16/08/19 Spectres and Sensitives
Victor called Monique to check in (she was fine), and let her know they were coming by her apartment to run some tests. Once there, Victor ran the two-hour psychic test, but failed the roll by one, and it came up negative. He wanted to run it again, to be sure, but Monique was hesitant, though she caved when David asked her to (Very Handsome saves the day!). The test came up negative again, so the party decided to move on to their next plan: the masking ritual that would hide a psychic from Tintiasay, in case the test had just been wrong.
Victor checked the photos he'd taken from the Monterrero's library, but found that the text in the pictures was now in some weird incomprehensible language! Luckily, his Eidetic Memory let him recall the ritual; most of the ingredients for the totem were common enough, but they'd need palo santo incense, which might be tricky to find. Despite the party's best efforts, they couldn't track down any local suppliers, so Victor ordered some online, but it would take 5 days to get delivered. David decided to double-check Monique's vital signs, which she was more than okay with, and she was perfectly healthy, meaning "Tintin" probably wasn't eating her life force.
The agents decided not to just wait for 5 days, and instead headed to the Providence Children's Hospital morgue to look for a dead child who matched their ghost. Juan talked their way past the only employee on duty with a flash of his badge, but Victor was unable to find a match in the database. He edited the photo to look less like a ghost, and then showed the morgue employee, asking if he remembered seeing her. He remembered that he had seen her around the hospital, but not specifically where.
Juan and David asked around the rest of the hospital with the edited photo of the ghost, and many other people corroborated that they had seen the girl at all times of day, but again, couldn't recall where specifically. They deliberated on what to do next (Juan: "We're not going to bust the ghost tonight." David: "But bustin' makes me feel good!"), and decided to head home for the day. Cue another discussion about where to eat dinner (fish tacos at Buffalo Wild Wings because David was confident it wasn't his last meal, and could eat garbage again).
17/08/19 Chasing Leads
A check with Monique confirmed she hadn't been haunted again, and the agents decided to do some more Research into the ghost before heading out. Victor found that ghosts were attracted to strong emotions, while David and Juan failed to find any major tragedies at/near the hospital that might have resulted in a ghost. The party then drove back to the hospital to see if "Tintin" was now focused on Angel, as it seemed to be leaving Monique alone.
The FBI agent guarding his room had been replaced by a pair of local cops, but they had been told to allow David entry, so he and Juan made it in without issue. Angel was annoyed that they were back, and didn't recognize the ghost girl when shown the photo. His chart showed that his deterioration had not accelerated, meaning "Tintin" was still splitting its attention, just not on Monique. While Juan questioned Angel, David spotted another totem, hidden behind the hospital bed. Victor looked through the hospital security footage and saw a man dressed as a doctor planting the totem, but he had kept his face away from the camera, so they wouldn't be able to identify him.
Ghostbustin'
While Victor Researched into maker's mark on the bottom of the totems, Juan and David tried to track down the ghost and wandered around the hospital. Over the next hour, they spotted the ghost girl several times running through the halls, and managed to pinpoint that she seemed to be returning to a patient's room in the children's wing of the hospital. Victor chimed in that the maker's mark was from around the El Paso area, but couldn't find any more specific details.
Juan and David headed into the "ghost's room", where they saw an older woman sleeping in a chair, and a little girl asleep in a hospital bed... who looked just like the ghost! The air smelled of incense, and a painting of a strange sci-fi city cityscape in front of a moon leaned on one wall. David tried to sneak in to take a look at the girl's chart, but stumbled and woke the mother up. Juan covered with a lie that the girl was a possible witness in a case, which she seemed to buy.
Meanwhile, Victor found the incense holder, which looked hand-carved, very similar to the totems. Juan got more information from the mother: her name was Arianna Yepez, and her daughter, Lucia, had passed out suddenly at night five days ago (which lined up with the timeline of when Tintiasay started going after Angel), and hadn't woken since. She didn't know who had brought the incense holder, but figured it was the hospital staff. Victor asked about the odd painting, and found that Lucia had apparently painted it.
Victor realized that Lucia was not a ghost, but rather, was a powerful psychic who was astrally projecting. David chimed in that Lucia was stable, which meant the incense must have been holding Tintin at bay. Juan excused the party; clearly Lucia wouldn't be able to offer any testimony while unconscious, and he wished Arianna well before they left the room.
Don't Worry, I'm A Doctor
Outside, the agents got talking about how to stop Lucia's astrally projecting, and decided on having David administer a dose of adrenaline. Victor went back to the SUV and monitored the door to her room on the security cameras, while Juan and David waited nearby until Arianna left. Several hours later, Victor gave the word, and David moved in. The adrenaline was administered without issue, and Lucia opened her eyes.
Immediately, a cloud of black smoke started to filter down from the ceiling, while Lucia grabbed David's arm and yelled "He's coming! Why can't I sleep, why can't I sleep!". David injected her with a syringe of morphine, and as Lucia drifted back to sleep, the smoke retreated and disappeared (David: "Hmm, interesting. Alright, aaaand back to adrenaline" Everybody: "Nooo!"). David left, and the party discussed what to do next.
The party discussed kidnapping Lucia, in case distance would break the link with Tintiasay, but nobody was sure, so David called his old partner, and fellow agent of the program, Fox Young. He replied that he'd look into it, and would get back to them the next day. With nothing else to do, the party headed back to the Desert Rose Hotel to wait for Agent Young's call.
18/08/19
Agent Young called back in the next morning, interrupting the agents during their breakfast at IHOP. Unfortunately, psychic stuff was weird, and it looked like distance wouldn't keep Tintiasay from finding Lucia. Additionally, there was no other better way of "hiding" her psychic presence from Tintin, unless they could make a better totem, which they probably couldn't. After turning down some alternatives (like sacrificing an already-terminal person to complete the ritual they'd found in the Monterrero library, or summoning an even worse demon in a sort of Mechagodzilla situation), David volunteered to give Angel a fatal dose of sedative.
Juan and Victor made their way into the area with the security tapes, posing as tech support, so that Victor could alter the camera footage from Angel's room while David did his work. David, disguised as a doctor, went back into Angel's room, and rigged up a fatal dose of sedatives to his IV, ensuring he would die within the day. The agents left the hospital, put on their sunglasses, and headed to a steakhouse for a celebratory dinner. As usual, Juan stuck to beef jerky and prepared food.
19/08/19 Mission Complete
Before they headed out El Paso, Victor called Monique to let her know that everything was done. As Juan drove the others back to the airport, David's phone rang, and the caller ID showed "Arianna Yepez". This was strange, as nobody had given her their contact info. He answered the phone, and she explained that Lucia had told her to call him and let him know that she appreciated their help. Lucia apparently had lots of "weird friends", so Arianna was used to this, and told him to call if they ever needed help with anything.
Within a day, the agents each received an e-mail, which Victor determined had been bounced around the world so as to be untraceable. It simply read "You have done us a great service. Call when you require one in exchange -VC".
None of these events ever made the news.
Notes:
The "psychic test" we used was apparently an app on a phone, so psychic powers in this setting work fine with electronics. Not relevant to the mission at hand, but potentially interesting setting info.
Victor's mom would totally have been able to get the weird incense, but he didn't take her as a contact at the GM's suggestion.
It turns out that, completely independently, everybody took Curious.
The party gained several new favours from Lucia Yepez (Psychic Little Girl), Victoria Conway (Suspicious Occult Organization), and Monique (Medical Doctor).
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