Our heroes are in Quarantine at the South Health Campus. The students are in Quarantine at Foothills and the police/fire/EMS responders are in Quarantine at Peter Lougheed Centre. It takes a week for the health authorities to be satisfied that they aren’t contagious, and to be released. While in Quarantine, Gallowglas persuades Stick to give her some Martial Arts training. They have nothing else to do, so they have several days of intense work. I awarded 1 combat experience to Gallowglas, to put towards Martial Arts skills/maneuvers or hand-to-hand combat skill levels. I have decided to also award a half-point to Stick to put towards a MA Knowledge Skill or Power Skill that would cover giving such training.

Ghost had been working with a client, deep in arrears to CRA, and once learning that Jazz, Stick and Ben were in Quarantine, came down to visit, was introduced to Polly/Gallowglas and got the whole story. Ghost begins searching for information about the mystery man that asked Polly for directions, and about the ancestry company she used. The company was a numbered shell company, registered using phoney IDs. However Ghost managed to discover 5 other companies also registered using the same phoney IDs, 1 in each of Ontario, Quebec, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta and BC. All had names seemingly intended to be confused with legitimate genealogical and genetics companies. All had P.O. boxes in their province of registration, all of which were shut down 2-3 weeks prior (about the same time as the B.C. Bunker Bust). Searching for the P.O. boxes in mass media uncovered a bunch of ads, for genealogical services, genetic counselling, etc. all offering “limited time free offers” of services on receipt of a DNA swab. Canada Post records show many thousands of envelopes being received during the time the boxes were active.

Ghost also uncovers video footage from a security web cam at a mom-and-pop convenience store across the street from the Edmonton post office where both Polly and Steve Porter had sent their DNA swabs. After a long slog, Ghost’s facial recognition analysis matched the image Ben recovered from Polly’s mind of the “mystery man asking directions”. In a horrendous breach of fieldcraft, he had parked his personal vehicle in view of the web cam, and Ghost got the license number (BDR-529 Alberta). Ben managed to convince Brenda (his CPS contact) to run the plate (with some significant trepidation on her part). It was registered to “Clark W. Griswold”, at the address “6602 Ada Blvd NW Edmonton AB”. Google Maps Street View showed the same car in the driveway (NB: it is not the black BMW used when visiting Polly’s farm).

The group is released from Quarantine (on the Friday), and immediately “conscripted” for a gala fund raising music event for the Humboldt Broncos on the Saturday evening. Co-sponsored by the Ethereum crypto-currency people, they came up with the gimmick of having all donations made in Ethereum, which they will match 1:1. The company will provide a tractor-trailer rig with servers and cyber-security personnel, and set up WiFi, NFC and Bluetooth portals for people to make donations directly from their phones on-site. Headlining the event will be Nickleback.

Ben recognizes that Jack Ryan has sent them a message. He retrieves and decodes it. Jack is informing them that the Canadian Government has developed a new model of their Mutant-hunting Robot, and will likely begin field testing in the next two weeks. CIA would love to get their hands on one, and would pay well. This message seems to be being sent out to all CIA assets in Canada.

The Gala begins about a half-hour late, but gets going strong quickly. Everyone who is anyone in Alberta is there. The premier, the Lieutenant Governor, captains of industry and media celebrities are all there. Band after band takes the stage, and the donations pour in. Ben’s bicycle company has a display set up, with the bikes he’s built for the Lucy Liu movie. Lucy Liu is there, and stops in to say “hi”. Ghost notices some excitement with the cyber-security people, and drops in (invisible and desolid) just in time to watch a party unknown drain the Ethereum wallet (“how could it come in through ALL the wireless portals at the SAME TIME! That would take an army of devices!”).

On stage, the group “Grand Larceny” has started, the last group before Nickleback. They play a couple of verses of “Dirty Deeds”, then settle into a bridge and invite VIPs up on stage with them. The premier, L.G., Lucy Liu and many of the Bronco’s join them. Then the guitar player activates a Barrier (special effect “Wall of Sound”) and the lead singer (a knock-out blonde) announces that they are robbing the gala, and would everyone please place their wallets, watches, phones, jewelry and other valuables in the sacks being passed around. “The Broncos have suffered enough,” she says gesturing at the Broncos on stage with her, “don’t make them suffer any more because you are holding back”. At this, the keyboardist looks shocked, mouths the words “WTF” and “I’m not with them” before trying to flee the stage, to be stopped by the Barrier.

The lead singer says “Oh, and would someone please go get the Ethereum wallet and place it on this Flash drive …”

And that is where we left it. Next gaming session is in two weeks, 13 July.

-DCZ