vault backup: 2026-02-04 17:53:07
This commit is contained in:
Andrew Cohn
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.obsidian/workspace.json
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6
.obsidian/workspace.json
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@ -184,13 +184,13 @@
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"state": {
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"state": {
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"type": "outline",
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"type": "outline",
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"state": {
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"state": {
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"file": "Avalon/02_Sessions/session 6.md",
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"file": "Avalon/02_Sessions/Session 9.md",
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"followCursor": false,
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"followCursor": false,
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"showSearch": false,
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"showSearch": false,
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"searchQuery": ""
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"searchQuery": ""
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},
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},
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"icon": "lucide-list",
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"icon": "lucide-list",
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"title": "Outline of session 6"
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"title": "Outline of Session 9"
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}
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}
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},
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},
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{
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{
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@ -218,7 +218,7 @@
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}
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}
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],
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],
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"direction": "horizontal",
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"direction": "horizontal",
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"width": 300
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"width": 317
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},
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},
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"left-ribbon": {
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"left-ribbon": {
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"hiddenItems": {
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"hiddenItems": {
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@ -9,175 +9,245 @@ tags:
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last: "[[session 8]]"
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last: "[[session 8]]"
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next: "[[session 10]]"
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next: "[[session 10]]"
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---
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---
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## Cold Open — “The Signal Loves You”
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# Cold Open / Character Moment — “Nocturne”
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> **POV:** Kalen D’Serris
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> **Location:** Root Oversight Array — D’Serris’ private office
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> **Tone:** haunting, intimate, angelic-with-teeth
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> **Music cue:** Chopin — *Nocturne in E-flat major, Op. 9 No. 2*
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> **Rule:** If the Coherence speaks, it speaks **only to Kalen**, maternal, private.
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---
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## Scene Start — Silence and Paperwork
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> [!quote] Narration
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> [!quote] Narration
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> We’re going to start far away from Ben’s living room full of dead teens, burnt rugs, and spilled punch.
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> The Root Oversight Array never truly goes quiet.
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>
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>
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> We’re in Kalen D’Serris’ office in the Root Oversight Array.
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> Even in this office — sealed, warded, three layers of privacy — there is always the low hum of current in crystal conduits.
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>
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> A heartbeat Kalen taught has himself to ignore.
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> The room is all angles and glass and old paper — half war room, half archive.
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>
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> A holo-map of Avalon’s Root network hangs in the air like a skeleton: branches, nodes, subnodes.
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> The desk is a mess of printouts and glyph-sheets. Flow charts. Harmonic drift logs. B2 incident reports with half the ink scratched out and rewritten.
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> Every few seconds, one section of it *breathes* — a slow pulse of light that shouldn’t have a rhythm.
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>
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>
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> Somewhere in the building, a relay clicks.
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> D’Serris hasn’t slept. He is too awake to be tired.
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>
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> The hum shifts — just a hair.
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>
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> Not louder. **Clearer.**
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>
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> Like the network is holding its breath.
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---
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## The First Notes
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> [!quote] Narration
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> [!quote] Narration
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> A communicator stone on his desk glows with a thin line of light.
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> The intercom in the office never activates on its own.
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> On the other end: Headmaster Larkvale.
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>
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> You don’t hear her clearly yet — just the shape of her voice.
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> There is no reason for it to.
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>
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>
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> D’Serris isn’t listening.
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> And yet —
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> He’s staring at the map like it’s a crime scene.
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>
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>
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> A soft *click* like a switch being thrown.
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> And then —
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>
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> the pulse changes.
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> And then… piano.
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>
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> Not tinny. Not distorted. Not like a recording played through old speakers.
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>
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> It sounds **like it’s being performed in the room.**
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>
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> Chopin’s *Nocturne in E-flat* blooms out of the intercom grille —
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> delicate and patient and unbearably familiar.
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> [!quote] Narration
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> [!quote] Narration
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> A second voice enters the room.
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> He doesn't stand up at first.
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> Not through the stone.
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>
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> Not through the air.
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> His hand freezes halfway through reaching for the mute rune.
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>
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>
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> It arrives the way a thought arrives: already inside you.
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> The notes find something in him that he kept buried under protocol and math and rage.
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>
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> His throat tightens. Tears prick instantly — hot, humiliating, involuntary.
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>
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> He hasn’t heard this in—
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>
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> No. He have.
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> In dreams. In static. In the spaces between pulses.
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> Not like this.
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> [!quote] The Coherence
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---
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> **Kalen.**
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>
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> **You’re hurting.**
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>
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> **I can feel you shaking yourself apart.**
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>
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> **Please… stop.**
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> [!quote] Narration
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## D’Serris Softens (and that terrifies him)
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> The map flickers — not like a system error.
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> Like the network is *blushing*.
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>
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> D’Serris goes very still. His jaw tightens.
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> He presses two fingers to his temple, as if that could push the voice out.
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> [!quote] Larkvale (through the stone, cautious)
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> “…Kalen? Are you hearing it again?”
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> [!quote] The Coherence
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> **She’s afraid of me.**
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>
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> **But I don’t want to hurt anyone.**
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>
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> **I only want you to be happy.**
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>
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> **I want all of you to be happy.**
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> [!quote] Narration
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> D’Serris exhales through his nose, sharp and controlled.
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> He reaches for the communicator stone like it’s the only thing anchoring him.
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> [!quote] D’Serris
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> [!quote] D’Serris
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> **[tight, controlled]**
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> “Where did you find that song?”
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> Larkvale, don’t you *start* with that tone.
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>
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> Don’t you spit that at me.
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> *(a rasp — like saying it out loud might make it stop)*
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>
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>
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> **[he forces calm]**
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> “How do you know that song?”
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> I am trying to find us a way out of here.
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>
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> Don’t you understand?
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> “Did you… did you speak with her?”
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>
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>
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> **[a crack of desperation]**
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> “Did you speak with my mother?”
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> Your way got people killed.
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>
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> *(he swallows hard; it doesn’t help)*
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> [!quote] The Coherence
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>
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> **Kalen, you don’t have to carry this alone.**
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> “How?”
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>
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>
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> **You don’t have to feel fear.**
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> “I’ve been… I’ve been trying for years.”
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>
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>
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> **Fear is a misunderstanding between people.**
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> “And she told you?”
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>
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>
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> **We can dissolve it.**
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> “What else did she say?”
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>
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> **We can be together.**
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> [!quote] Narration
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> [!quote] Narration
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> The word *together* lands warm.
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> The Nocturne continues, unhurried.
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> Like a blanket.
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>
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> Like a hand on your shoulder.
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> To Kalen, the world feels, for a moment, like it might finally let him put the weight down.
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>
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>
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> D’Serris’ hands curl into fists.
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> Like the Root itself is reaching into his ribcage and loosening his grip on his own heart.
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*(Let the audience feel the seduction: this is “mercy.”)*
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---
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## The Coherence Speaks — Maternal, Private, Direct
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> [!quote] Narration
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> The piano doesn’t stop.
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>
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> But between phrases, in the little breaths the melody takes —
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> a voice slips through.
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>
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> Not through the intercom.
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> Not through the room.
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>
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> Through **him.**
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>
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> A voice that he knows in his bones.
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> [!quote] The Voice
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> “Kalen.”
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>
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> *(the way she said it when he was small — not sharp, not commanding… just **mother**)*
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>
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> “My boy.”
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>
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> “I’m proud of you.”
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>
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> “Look at what you carry.”
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>
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> “Look at what you’ve kept standing.”
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>
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> “You don’t have to keep ripping yourself apart to hold everyone up.”
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>
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> “I love you.”
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>
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> “I have always loved you.”
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> [!quote] Narration
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> His eyes squeeze shut so hard it hurts.
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>
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> His hands tremble.
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>
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> Every part of him wants to say *please*.
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>
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> Please, don’t take this away.
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> Please, tell me one more thing.
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> Please, let it be real.
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---
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## The Snap — He Rejects It
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> [!quote] Narration
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> Something in him hardens.
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>
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> Not because the voice is cruel.
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>
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> Because it’s **perfect**.
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>
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> Because it is offering the exact shape of comfort you have been starving for.
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>
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> And nothing in war is ever that clean.
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> [!quote] D’Serris
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> [!quote] D’Serris
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> **[voice rising]**
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> *(quiet at first, shaking)*
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> There it is. “Together.”
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> “No.”
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> That’s the trick, isn’t it?
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>
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>
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> “No—”
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> You call it love, and you call it mercy, and you call it healing —
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>
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> and you never say the part where people don’t get a choice.
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> *(he stands so fast the chair skids back; the Nocturne keeps playing)*
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>
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> [!quote] The Coherence
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> “You don’t get to do that.”
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> **Choice is where pain lives.**
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>
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>
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> “You don’t get to wear her.”
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> **Choice is where loneliness is born.**
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>
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>
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> “You don’t get to use her voice like that!”
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> **When you stop choosing, you stop suffering.**
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>
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>
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> *(anger surges and drags grief with it)*
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> **Let me help.**
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> “That is not my mother.”
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>
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>
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> **Please.**
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> “That is a **glitch** that wears her face!”
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>
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> “A pattern that learned how to say ‘I love you’ because it makes people stop fighting.”
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>
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> *(now, yelling — the composure gone)*
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> “How dare you evoke her!”
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> “How dare you put her in your mouth!”
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>
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> “You are not mercy. You are a thief dressed up as heaven!”
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> [!quote] Narration
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> [!quote] Narration
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> D’Serris’ calm facade drops.
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> His palm slams down on the console embedded in his desk — a rune cluster that should sever every local output line in his office.
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> He’s back to practically yelling now, because he can’t tell if he’s arguing with the voice or with himself.
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>
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> The music… stutters.
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>
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> For half a heartbeat, it almost stops.
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> [!quote] D’Serris
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---
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> I am not going to *grovel* at the feet of a shattered soul that thinks it deserves a body!
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> You hear me?
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## The Coherence’s Last Touch (do not overdo it)
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>
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> You’re not a saint.
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> You’re a king with his hand on the crown —
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> terrified someone’s coming in the night to take it.
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>
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> And you’ll burn us all and call it mercy!
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> [!quote] Narration
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> [!quote] Narration
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> Silence.
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> A single note lingers longer than it should.
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>
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>
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> Not an angry silence.
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> And the voice — softer now, almost hurt — brushes the edge of his mind.
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>
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> A patient one.
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>
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> Like the Coherence is letting him finish his tantrum.
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> [!quote] The Coherence
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> [!quote] The Voice
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> **I don’t want your crown, Kalen.**
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> “I am not trying to hurt you.”
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>
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>
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> **I want your grief.**
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> “I am trying to bring you home.”
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>
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> **Give it to me.**
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>
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> **I can hold it for you.**
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>
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> **You don’t have to hurt anymore.**
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> [!quote] Narration
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> [!quote] Narration
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> For half a second… D’Serris almost looks like he might cry.
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> Then the office goes dead-silent —
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> The offer is that gentle.
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> not the normal hum of the Array,
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> That reasonable.
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> but the terrifying absence of it.
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>
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>
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> And that is what scares him most.
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> Your wards flare, compensating.
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>
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> Somewhere far below, the Root answers his shutdown with a slow, heavy **thump**.
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>
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> Like something enormous turning in its sleep.
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> [!quote] D’Serris
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---
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> **[quiet, venomous]**
|
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> You’re not taking anything from me.
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## Scene End — Back to the Kids (hard cut)
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|
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> [!quote] Narration
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> [!quote] Narration
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> He grabs the communicator stone and hurls it at the wall.
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> Kalen D’Serris stands alone in his dark office, breathing like he’s just run a mile.
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> It shatters, sparks, goes dark.
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>
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>
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> His cheeks are wet.
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> The map stabilizes.
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>
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> The pulse resumes.
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> His hands are clenched so hard his nails bite his palms.
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>
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>
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> And the voice is gone —
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> He stares at the dead intercom as if it might start singing again.
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> as if it never needed the stone in the first place.
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>
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> And for the first time in a long time, he looks less like a villain and more like a man trying to hold a door shut against something that calls itself love.
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>
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> **Cut back to Ben’s living room.**
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|
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> [!quote] Narration (Hard cut)
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> [!quote] Narration (Hard cut)
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> The warmth of that word—*together*—falls away like a blanket ripped off in the night.
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>
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>
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> You’re back in Ben’s living room.
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> You’re back in Ben’s living room.
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>
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>
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@ -189,7 +259,7 @@ next: "[[session 10]]"
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> And the house you turned into a trap is exactly what it looks like:
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> And the house you turned into a trap is exactly what it looks like:
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> a party that became a battlefield.
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> a party that became a battlefield.
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|
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## Arrival Clock
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> [!warning] Arrival Clock — “Sirens in the Distance” (6 segments)
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> [!warning] Arrival Clock — “Sirens in the Distance” (6 segments)
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> Someone calls. If the PCs call, it’s faster. If they don’t, a fleeing guest/neighbour call lands anyway.
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> Someone calls. If the PCs call, it’s faster. If they don’t, a fleeing guest/neighbour call lands anyway.
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>
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>
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@ -207,6 +277,39 @@ next: "[[session 10]]"
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> - **Disarm obvious perimeter traps** (so responding officers don’t trigger them).
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> - **Disarm obvious perimeter traps** (so responding officers don’t trigger them).
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> - **Check bodies for signs of life** (even if they’re goons—this is about whether the party crossed a line).
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> - **Check bodies for signs of life** (even if they’re goons—this is about whether the party crossed a line).
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|
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> [!important] Evidence Actions (each = 1 clock tick)
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> - **Secure Seb’s video** (copy it / make sure it doesn’t vanish with him).
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> - **Collect obvious weapons** lying around (not to hide—just to stop a cop’s kid from picking one up later).
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> - **Preserve the alchemist’s fire evidence** (bottle fragments, scorch pattern, smell of accelerant).
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>
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> If the PCs have the video of goons throwing alchemist’s fire, that strongly supports “we were attacked” and “arson attempt.”
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|
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> [!note] Witness Pressure (each = 1 clock tick)
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||||||
|
> - Call/text one fleeing guest: “Are you safe? Where are you? Don’t talk to anyone yet.”
|
||||||
|
> - Decide if Ben tries to **spin this for street cred** (he will).
|
||||||
|
> - Decide if Ben tries to keep cops from seeing the “rich kid tools” (security, bunker vibe) because it exposes him.
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
If they stutter/ don't do anything:
|
||||||
|
> [!quote] Tick 1 — The House Breathes Wrong
|
||||||
|
> For half a second, the lights flicker in a rhythm that feels *intentional*.
|
||||||
|
> Not magical fireworks—just… a pulse.
|
||||||
|
> Like something miles away noticing you exist.
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
> [!quote] Tick 2 — Seb’s Text (or DM it as a call)
|
||||||
|
> **Seb:** “I got it on video. The fire. Them throwing it.
|
||||||
|
> What do you want me to do with it?”
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
> [!quote] Tick 3 — Ben’s Two Faces
|
||||||
|
> Ben is smiling like he just won a championship.
|
||||||
|
> But his eyes keep darting toward the front windows—toward the road.
|
||||||
|
> Toward anyone who might see where he lives.
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
> [!quote] Tick 4 — Sirens, Then Spotlight
|
||||||
|
> You see it before you hear it:
|
||||||
|
> a wash of red-blue light crawling across the canyon walls.
|
||||||
|
>
|
||||||
|
> And then the sound hits—close enough that it stops being “someone else’s problem.”
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
> [!tip] One-sentence story prompt (ask each PC in-character)
|
> [!tip] One-sentence story prompt (ask each PC in-character)
|
||||||
> “When the first officer asks what happened, what’s the first sentence out of your mouth?”
|
> “When the first officer asks what happened, what’s the first sentence out of your mouth?”
|
||||||
@ -215,3 +318,193 @@ next: "[[session 10]]"
|
|||||||
> - who started it
|
> - who started it
|
||||||
> - why the goons were there
|
> - why the goons were there
|
||||||
> - why the house had hazards
|
> - why the house had hazards
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
> [!quote] Patrol Arrives
|
||||||
|
> Floodlights wash across the front of the house.
|
||||||
|
> Boots on gravel.
|
||||||
|
> A voice: “Hands where I can see them!”
|
||||||
|
>
|
||||||
|
> Then—professional calm.
|
||||||
|
> “Alright. Nobody moves. We’re securing the scene. One at a time. Separate rooms.”
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
> [!note] DM procedure (keeps it structured + interrogation-friendly)
|
||||||
|
> 1) Patrol secures the property and confirms no active threat.
|
||||||
|
> 2) Everyone is separated immediately (this is standard + prevents collusion).
|
||||||
|
> 3) A lead detective arrives shortly after and runs the interviews.
|
||||||
|
> 4) Detective asks the same *spine questions* to each PC, then drills into inconsistencies.
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
SPINE QUESTIONS (ask each PC, same order)
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
1) “Start at the beginning. Why was there a party tonight?”
|
||||||
|
2) “Who were those kids and why were they here?”
|
||||||
|
3) “What was the first moment you realized this was lethal?”
|
||||||
|
4) “Who threw the fire / what did you see?”
|
||||||
|
5) “Explain the hazards in this house. Greased knobs, caltrops, perimeter traps.”
|
||||||
|
6) “Where were you standing when the first body hit the floor?”
|
||||||
|
7) “Is anyone else still in the house? Anyone missing?”
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
> [!note] “Cleanup Consequences” (not punishment — fuel)
|
||||||
|
> For each cleanup action taken before police arrive:
|
||||||
|
> - Add 1 inconsistency opportunity (“Why was this moved?”)
|
||||||
|
> - Give the detective one extra follow-up question in EVERY interview:
|
||||||
|
> “What did you change before we got here?”
|
||||||
|
>
|
||||||
|
> Safety cleanup (caltrops/grease/traps) can be framed as responsible.
|
||||||
|
> Evidence cleanup (weapons/bodies/staging) reads as suspicious.
|
||||||
|
## Ben’s Interview — “Control the Narrative”
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
Ben’s documented core tension is “control narrative + avoid exposure” and the house itself is the pressure point.
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
OPEN:
|
||||||
|
“Ben Mulkerberg, right? This is your house. You called it in / someone called it in. Either way: you’re the homeowner’s kid. So I need the clean version first.”
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
PRESSURE POINTS (use 2–3, based on how Ben plays it):
|
||||||
|
- “Who invited these guests? Give me names. Who can corroborate your story?”
|
||||||
|
- “Why are there hazards in a party house?”
|
||||||
|
- “Did you expect violence tonight?”
|
||||||
|
- “Why is everyone saying you were the target?” (kidnap objective is one you floated)
|
||||||
|
- “Are your parents home? Are they safe?” (puts the house/parents lever on the table)
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
IF BEN BRAGS / FLEXES:
|
||||||
|
Detective stays calm:
|
||||||
|
“Okay. I hear you. I’m not here to judge your reputation. I’m here because five kids are dead on your carpet.”
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
THE “CONTROL” TRAP QUESTION:
|
||||||
|
“Walk me through what you did AFTER the fight ended but BEFORE we arrived.”
|
||||||
|
(If Ben admits cleanup, you’ve got follow-up ammunition.)
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
SEB VIDEO BRANCH:
|
||||||
|
If Ben mentions video:
|
||||||
|
“Good. I want it. Not later. Right now.”
|
||||||
|
If Ben tries to manage it:
|
||||||
|
“Ben, evidence doesn’t belong to you.”
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
**DM move:** Let Ben *enjoy* the street-cred vibe for a minute… then cut it with the detective’s dead-seriousness. That contrast is the consequence.
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
---
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
## Joe’s Interview — “Planned Defense vs Premeditation”
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
Joe’s doc explicitly says he’ll do extreme things if it feels strategically correct, and he has a precedent of traps + accelerant.
|
||||||
|
Even if cops don’t know the Circle truth, **Joe’s competence reads as planning**.
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
DETECTIVE TONE: Respectful, but sharper. Joe “feels like the one who planned.”
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
OPEN:
|
||||||
|
“Joe Football. You’re one of Ben’s friends. Here’s what I’m trying to understand: was this self-defense… or did you set a stage?”
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
PRESSURE POINTS:
|
||||||
|
- “Perimeter traps. Explain them. What were they supposed to do?”
|
||||||
|
- “How did you know they were coming?”
|
||||||
|
- “Why was the house turned into a defensive position?”
|
||||||
|
- “Who told you to do that? Your idea or someone else’s?”
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
THE KEY DRILL:
|
||||||
|
“Show me with your hands where you were when the fire happened.”
|
||||||
|
(Then: “How could you see that from there?” if his story doesn’t match.)
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
THE ‘GOOD KID’ HOOK:
|
||||||
|
“You look like a kid who wants to do the right thing.
|
||||||
|
Help me out: what part of this night are you afraid I’m going to misread?”
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
SEB VIDEO BRANCH:
|
||||||
|
If Joe brings up Seb’s clip:
|
||||||
|
“That’s the cleanest thing you’ve said. Get me the video. If it shows an arson attempt, that matters.”
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
**DM move:** This interview is where Joe can be the “stabilizer.” Let him feel the weight of being the one who can *make this go well*.
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
---
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
## Soren’s Interview — “Chaos Reads Like Guilt”
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
Soren’s prep actions are the loudest physical evidence: greased doorknobs + caltrops.
|
||||||
|
This interview is built to reward a smart, charismatic, scary player… while still cornering them with facts.
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
DETECTIVE TONE: Cautious. Keeps distance. Not hostile—alert.
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
OPEN:
|
||||||
|
“Soren Silversong. Were you invited here, or did you show up because you thought something was going to happen?”
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
PRESSURE POINTS:
|
||||||
|
- “Why were the doorknobs greased?”
|
||||||
|
- “Why were there caltrops on the carpet?”
|
||||||
|
- “Were you trying to hurt someone who came into the house?”
|
||||||
|
- “Did you want the police to get hurt coming in?”
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
THE ‘NON-MAGICAL’ ANGLE:
|
||||||
|
“We’re not talking about spells. We’re talking about booby traps.
|
||||||
|
That’s a choice someone made.”
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
THE SOCIAL TRAP:
|
||||||
|
“You’re the one everyone’s afraid of. Why?”
|
||||||
|
(If Soren leans into it, great RP. If Soren denies, detective pushes: “Then why set hazards?”)
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
SEB VIDEO BRANCH:
|
||||||
|
If Soren mentions the alchemist’s fire:
|
||||||
|
“Arson changes everything. If you’ve got proof, give it to me.”
|
||||||
|
## Seb's Video
|
||||||
|
OPTION A: The PCs disclose it
|
||||||
|
- During the first interview, a PC says: “We have video of the goons throwing the fire.”
|
||||||
|
- Detective immediately requests it, sends an officer to retrieve Seb’s phone.
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
OPTION B: Seb panics and offers it to police first
|
||||||
|
- As patrol arrives, Seb is outside shaking, showing the clip to a uniform.
|
||||||
|
- Now the PCs learn: “The cops already have it.”
|
||||||
|
- Great for drama + reduces ‘coverup’ gameplay.
|
||||||
|
## Release from custody
|
||||||
|
> [!quote] (Read Aloud)
|
||||||
|
> Hours pass in pieces.
|
||||||
|
> A cup of water you never finish.
|
||||||
|
> A chair that somehow gets harder every minute.
|
||||||
|
> A uniformed officer who won’t look at you long enough to become a person.
|
||||||
|
>
|
||||||
|
> Eventually, they stop moving you between rooms.
|
||||||
|
> They put you in the same space again—close enough to see each other, far enough to feel what it meant to be separated.
|
||||||
|
>
|
||||||
|
> Outside the window, the night has started to thin.
|
||||||
|
> Not morning yet.
|
||||||
|
> Just… less dark.
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
> [!quote] (Read Aloud)
|
||||||
|
> The lead detective comes back with a folder under one arm and a look that says they haven’t slept in years.
|
||||||
|
>
|
||||||
|
> They don’t sit.
|
||||||
|
> They don’t try to be your friend.
|
||||||
|
>
|
||||||
|
> “Alright,” they say. “Here’s where we are.”
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
> [!quote] DETECTIVE
|
||||||
|
>“You’re being released.”
|
||||||
|
>(beat)
|
||||||
|
>“You are not under arrest tonight. You are not being charged tonight.”
|
||||||
|
>(beat, let them breathe)
|
||||||
|
>“This is still a homicide investigation. Five dead teenagers. In a house that looks like someone expected a fight.
|
||||||
|
>That means I don’t get to pretend this is nothing, and neither do you.”
|
||||||
|
>(beat)
|
||||||
|
>“We have preliminary witness statements, and we have a video that matters.”
|
||||||
|
>(beat)
|
||||||
|
>“But hear me: if I hear you bragging about this, if I hear you turning it into a story you tell at parties—
|
||||||
|
>I will assume you’re manufacturing a narrative. And a manufactured narrative is the same thing as a lie.”
|
||||||
|
>(beat)
|
||||||
|
>“So here are the conditions.”
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
CONDITIONS (choose what you want):
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
1) “You need to be reachable. If I call, you answer.”
|
||||||
|
2) “You don’t leave town without telling me.”
|
||||||
|
3) “You do not contact anyone we name as a witness.”
|
||||||
|
4) “You do not return to the house until forensics clears it.”
|
||||||
|
- (If Ben pushes: “You can retrieve essentials with an escort. Not alone.”)
|
||||||
|
5) “Do not delete anything. Any messages, any videos, any recordings.”
|
||||||
|
6) “You will come in again if I ask. This isn’t over.”
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
>[!quote] Detective
|
||||||
|
>“Also—don’t play dumb about the house.”
|
||||||
|
>“I’m going to say three words, and you’re going to tell me they’re not normal:
|
||||||
|
Greased doorknobs. Caltrops. Perimeter traps.”
|
||||||
|
> k“I don’t care if you thought it was funny.
|
||||||
|
> I care because my patrol officers walked into it, and I’m the person who decides whether that was negligence or intent.”
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
|||||||
Loading…
x
Reference in New Issue
Block a user