Whedonverse Mafia

[formerlyfreedom]

Here is the Introduction; PMs will be going out and Day One will commence Monday!

 

PROLOGUE: The Gathering

Somewhere in the southern California desert

Sand. Sun. Cacti. These were the only things around...until a dust storm kicked up. But this wasn’t a natural storm, this was caused by the wake of an enormous jet landing. It settled onto the sand, and after a few moments the rear ramp lowered. “I can’t say much for the view,” snarked the tall and dark Grant Ward, looking out the opening hatch. Next to him, his boss Phil Coulson smirked. “Had to hide this where no one could just stumble across it. May and I’ll take Lola into town, the rest of you in the Jeeps.” Despite being shorter than Ward, the head of the team had plenty of weight behind his words.

 

“The boss gets the good ride, huh?” John Garrett chuckled as he and an Asian woman approached the two men. “Thanks again for helping me out of that attack, I don’t know why SHIELD came after me.” “Nor do we,” responded Melinda May, the woman with him. She had a dour look on her face, but then, that was normal for her. “But we still have a job to do. Those reports of increased insanity in the locals are well outside the statistical average, we need to figure out what’s causing it. Maybe it’s related to all this infighting at SHIELD.”

 

Coulson nodded and reminded everyone of their assignments. “May and I are going to the hospital to interview patients. John, you take Ward and Trip to check out the old Initiative site. Maybe there’s something there.” At this, Ward rolled his eyes. “The Initiative? You mean the weirdos who actually believe in the boogeyman and devils with little red horns?”

 

“‘There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy.’ Hamlet,” quoted the impeccably dressed Jemma Simmons as she made her approach, her lab partner Leo Fitz right on her heels. “I think what Simmons means, is that while we are scientists, we also know about aliens. So why not demons as well?” Garrett argued back, “The aliens we know about are mainly humanoid, the Asgardians aren’t that different from us.” “What about the Chitauri?”

 

“What about a giant snake??” interjected a female voice, as a tablet showing a picture of the aforementioned creature was thrust into the midst of the group. “Ahh!” Garrett recoiled slightly while Ward laughed. “Knock it off, Skye. What is that, anyway?” The young girl was excited as she responded “I was researching about this place on the web, including any mention of demons. Apparently the MAYOR was one. And he turned into a giant snake at the high school’s graduation, but he was defeated when they blew it up!”

 

While most everyone was intrigued by that story, one mouth dropped open in shock. Simmons looked utterly horrified at the thought. “But who would blow up a SCHOOL???”

 

Sunnydale General Hospital
Buffy Summers paced back and forth. The waiting room outside the trauma center at Sunnydale Memorial Hospital was standing room only. Dawn, Giles, Xander, Anya, Willow, and Tara sat in a semi-circle nearby, talking softly. An orderly was passing by. Xander called out to him, “Hey, Brad! Er, Bran? Beau?” The young man turned, gave a smile, and said, “Ben. It’s Ben.”

 

“Yeah, well, ‘Ben,’ we’ve been waiting out here for hours. Is there any news on the woman we brought in? The one with the headaches?” Ben replied. “No, sorry, I haven’t heard anything new.”

 

“Okay, thanks,” Xander said, and then returned to his seat, slumping dejectedly. No one noticed the dark figure slip into the corridor and head down the hallway towards the trauma unit.

~~~
Faith Lehane opened her eyes slowly, pain oozing off her body. She knew immediately she was at the hospital, and just as quickly, she knew she had to get out of there. She vaguely remembered something the color blue, and a voice speaking softly and urgently to her. She sat up, and looked around the empty room. Her phone sat on the bedside table, and she reached for it and turned it on. An image appeared, and suddenly everything was clear.

 

She could hear noises in the hallway, and for the umpteenth time in her short life, she thanked whoever it was out there that had gifted her with Slayer healing abilities. While she certainly wasn’t in top form quite yet, she could definitely move better than the average couch potato, and she needed to get out of the hospital, out of Sunnydale, and get help as fast as she could. She grabbed some clothes out of her roommate’s cubby, threw them on, scooped her phone off the side table, and waited at the door until a lull allowed her to escape.

 

The L.A. Dollhouse, Adelle DeWitt’s office
There was a somber feeling in the air at the meeting. “So we all agree that Rossum needs to be stopped,” stated Adelle DeWitt, sitting behind her desk with folded hands. “They have the technology to be able to imprint remotely, wiping any normal human brain into the doll state.” Topher Brink, their technological expert, nodded his agreement - he had been the one to invent the devices, after all.

 

“Luckily, we just bought some time,” chipped in Ivy, Topher’s assistant. “Or rather, someone bought it for us. A shipment of Wonderflonium that Rossum needs was stolen.” Paul Ballard and Boyd Langdon, both former law enforcement, looked over the file. “The only notes in here are that it was a blond guy in a lab coat. And that Captain Hammer was apparently on the scene, but failed to apprehend him.”

 

Bennett Halverson, another tech expert whom Paul had abducted from the D.C. Dollhouse to help them, looked at his picture. “Not much of a captain then, is he? I wouldn’t want to be part of his crew.” As she spoke, Echo had a curious look on her face. “Captain Hammer? I’ve heard that name before…” She closed her eyes and started sifting through the memories of her various imprints.

 

Off to the side, Victor and Sierra stood close together, subtly holding hands. Eventually Echo opened her eyes again. “I know who the blond guy is. Calls himself Doctor Horrible, he’s a wanna-be villain with a vlog. I can find him.” “I’m going with you,” Paul immediately jumped in to say. “It’s dangerous, we don’t know how far Rossum’s reach extends.”

 

The doors to the room burst open and a gray-haired man tumbled to the floor. “Mr. Dominic!” Adelle exclaimed, Boyd already rushing over to help him stand. “You know you can’t survive long outside The Attic!” “Had to...warn you…” he gasped. “Rossum...knows you’re coming…” He gulped and looked to be struggling with a memory. “From my...NSA days...they will help…”

 

“Yes, who will help?” Adelle pressured him. Dominic still struggled to speak as he responded “Security...Homeland...Intervention-” “For God’s sake man, spit it out!” Dominic suddenly grabbed Boyd’s jacket, looking him right in the eye. “SHIELD. Call SHIELD.” And then he passed out.

 

The Hyperion Hotel, L.A.
The door to the Hyperion Hotel slammed open, and Cordelia Chase started at the front desk; there in the entrance stood Faith, looking a little worse for the wear. “Hey, Cor, what’s up?” Cordelia rose from the chair and started loudly rambling, “Oh, hey, FAITH, how are you? And WHAT CAN I DO FOR YOU, FAITH?”

 

Angel came out of the office, “What’s with all the noise, Cord-….FAITH! Long time, no see, and I was okay with that, and it would be great if it was longer!”

 

Wesley Wyndham-Price and Charles Gunn followed Angel out of his office, deep in conversation. When Wesley saw who was in the lobby, he immediately tensed up, glancing around for a handy weapon. Gunn flashed a smile at Faith, then realized no one else was smiling. Faith grinned, “What’s up, boys?”

 

Angel held his hands up in a conciliatory manner, “Now, Faith, I’m not sure how you got out, or what you want…” Faith shrugged, then grimaced at the pain it caused. “Now, you don’t need to get your panties in a twist there, big guy. I’m on the side of good this time around. And Sunnydale needs you. Buffy needs you.”

 

The four members of Angel Investigations all glanced at each other uncertainly. “Well, Faith, you see,” Wesley said cautiously, “We are just a bit CONCERNED, be– “ “I get it, Princess Margaret. But I’m legit this time around, pinky swear. And like I said, Buffy needs you, and if you need any further proof, here.”

 

Faith reached into her bag, and pulled out her phone. She pulled something up on it, and handed it over to Wesley, who delicately took it and carried it to the lobby desk. His forehead pinched as he examined the photograph of the remote memory wipers.

 

“Angel, as much as I hate to say this, Faith is right. Suffice it to say, it’s not just Sunnydale and Buffy who needs help. It’s the world.”

 

Somewhere in Sunnydale, later that day
A blonde woman had her hands in the skull of a man who was screaming in pain. He collapsed as Glory got a thoughtful look on her face. “Now that’s interesting. Memories placed in your head. An ordinary person with their brain rewired by this...Rossum Corporation.” She smiled to herself. “Well now I know how to find my Key! Thanks guy!” she said chipperly to the passed-out man. Glory stalked off to get started.

[BizBuzz]

Good lord, it's going to be one of THOSE games.

[TJtrack99]

I take full responsibility for this being so long - those of you who have played the old Heroes rounds know I like long introductions. :P

 

That being said, we may not have included all of the characters in this story. Hopefully they'll all get in Day 1. No promises.

 

As your mods, you are free to PM stacey and I at any time. Most of you have no one else you can PM with about the game, so let's keep it that way. And also as your mods, we have several curve balls up our sleeves, so be on the lookout for those...

 

And last but not least, one of my favorite things is the descriptions you guys do for the people who haven't watched the shows. I expect to see some hilarious character sheets by Monday. :D

 

(And one bonus point for whoever finds the Firefly reference in the Prologue!)

[BizBuzz]

WOOT WOOT ... Got my PM ... Let the games begin!

[The Crazed Spruce]

Got mine, too.  Not the character I'd have picked, but still a pretty good one. :)

[Athena]

PM received too! :)

[formerlyfreedom]

Okay, all PMs have been sent. Also - the posted Introduction is just that - an introduction! No clues are contained within, and so no voting, and no game discussion! Of course, you should still feel free to post that you received your PM. Also, have a drink. I know I will be!

 

Enjoy your weekend, and we'll see you back here on Monday for the official start!

[MarkHB]

I got my PM!

[egavasc]

Got mine! 

[Machiabelly]

I got mine. I am looking forward to this.

Jaykay...your question about Town of Salem...it is a fluke.

[caprice]

Okay, I'm ready!

[Jesse]

I got my PM! And am already confirming that joining in on a game where I know the characters was the right call. 

[photo fox]

Got my PM! And excited to be playing a round where I've actually seen at least one of the shows. :)

[Meredith Quill]

Got my PM WOOT!! :D

[JayKay]

Got mine!

[writingdreamer]

Guess I should've added my name to the official list.  :(  Oh well, I'll have fun watching the round and maybe I'll get in next time.

[TMunz]

I got mine. This is going to be awesome!

[Guest]

Got MIne.

[Drogo]

Remember during the last game when I answered everyone's GoT story questions? Yeah, that ship has sailed.

Hopefully I can get some help re: Whedonverse from the superfans here. ;)

p.s. Got mine too!

Edited April 18, 2015 by Drogo

[SVNBob]

PM get!

Good lord, it's going to be one of THOSE games.

Agreed.
 
A starter summary.  There's Buffy and Angel, Dollhouse, SHIELD, and Doctor Horrible of all things.  And the main plot seems to be "borrowed" from Dollhouse, which makes sense.

And I'm pretty sure this is the Firefly reference: 

Bennett Halverson, another tech expert whom Paul had abducted from the D.C. Dollhouse to help them, looked at his picture. “Not much of a captain then, is he? I wouldn’t want to be part of his crew.”

JayKay, I just played 2 games of Town of Salem back to back where I was the Jester.  Lost the first (by living to the end), but won the 2nd.

Edited April 18, 2015 by SVNBob

[TJtrack99]

And I'm pretty sure this is the Firefly reference: 

Bob wins the bonus point! Bennett is portrayed by Summer Glau, known to the browncoats as River Tam. They would also know Captain Hammer as Serenity's captain Malcolm Reynolds.

 

Whedon likes to reuse his actors, so I might expect a lot of "Hey, don't I know you?" or perhaps even people portrayed by the same actor...

[Lisin]

Got my PM! I've watched everything Whedon more than once so hopefully I can hep be the "Drogo" of this round (the first round where I'm fully up to date on all the shows we're using!).

 

Can we start making lists of characters, descriptions and the shows they relate to yet or does that need to wait until Official Day?

[SVNBob]

Bob wins the bonus point! Bennett is portrayed by Summer Glau, known to the browncoats as River Tam. They would also know Captain Hammer as Serenity's captain Malcolm Reynolds.

I really need to catch up on Dollhouse. I forgot Summer was even in that.

 

Whedon likes to reuse his actors, so I might expect a lot of "Hey, don't I know you?" or perhaps even people portrayed by the same actor...

I'm fully expecting some of the latter. I've already seen 2 characters played by the same person, so I'm anticipating hijinks when their teams cross paths. And I won't be surprised if/when it happens again.

  

Can we start making lists of characters, descriptions and the shows they relate to yet or does that need to wait until Official Day?

TJ said wants to see some this weekend, so have at it. The wikis I linked to should help also.

[Lady Calypso]

Ah, I got my PM too and so looking forward to starting.

 

Oh my god, the Ben is Glory references are going to be AH-MAZING. And now I really want to watch that one particular scene. You guys know exactly what scene I'm talking about..unless you don't. Then you must.

[TJtrack99]

Oh my god, the Ben is Glory references are going to be AH-MAZING. And now I really want to watch that one particular scene. You guys know exactly what scene I'm talking about..unless you don't. Then you must.

"Wait! Are we thinking there's some connection between Glory and Ben?"

[Oinky Boinky]

Got my PM.

 

Watched a few episodes of Firefly this week. I know at some point I am going to say Blackfly - love that show. 

Watched a couple of seasons of Buffy when it originally aired.  I  never got over the fact that it wasn't the original movie. 

[Lady Calypso]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qPtgXEuZqjg

 

You're welcome.

[Drogo]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qPtgXEuZqjg

You're welcome.

All I can think of right now:

[Lisin]

So, obviously this is more characters than we have players, and also there could be characters we haven't met yet as mentioned. This is a quick and dirty reference to who each person is. Feel free to add thoughts/ask questions etc. 

 

1. Grant Ward - SHIELD Field Agent, recruited as a young adult by John Garrett
2. Phil Coulson - Team Leader (of this SHIELD team)
3. Melinda May - The Cavalry, Coulson's second in command
4. John Garrett - Higher up Shield Agent
5. Jemma Simmons - SHIELD research scientist (Half of Fitz-Simmons)
6. Leo Fitz - SHIELD research scientist (Half of Fitz-Simmons)
7. Skye - New(ish) SHIELD recruit 
8. Trip - SHIELD Agent
9. Buffy Summers - The Slayer 
10. Dawn - Buffy's little sister (also The Key... not a real girl, made into a girl by monks to hide the location of The Key)
11. Giles - Buffy's Watcher (Member of the Council of Watchers in charge of watching/training Slayers)
12. Xander - One of Buffy's BFFs
13. Anya - Ex Vengeance Demon/Xander's Girlfriend
14. Willow - One of Buffy's BFFs, and also a practicing witch
15. Tara - Willow's girlfriend, also a practicing witch
16. Ben - Hospital Intern/Glory
17. Faith Lehane - Another Slayer (After Buffy died a new slayer was called, she died and then Faith was called)
18. Adelle DeWitt - Boss of the Dollhouse Actives (this is complicated)
19. Topher Brink - Dollhouse Programmer 
20. Ivy - Topher's assistant
21. Paul Ballard - "FBI Agent" looking for info on Dollhouse
22. Boyd Langdon - Echo's Handler/All around badass 
23. Bennett Halverson - Dollhouse Programmer
24. Echo - Dollhouse Active
25. Victor - Dollhouse Active
26. Sierra - Dollhouse Active
27. Captain Hammer - Superhero
28. Doctor Horrible - Not so Super Villain 
29. Mr. Dominic - Dollhouse head of security
30. Cordelia Chase - Xander's ex, Angel's Executive Assistant
31. Angel - Vampire with a soul/Supernatural Private Investigator, head of Angel Investigations
32. Wesley Wyndham-Price - Faith's ex Watcher/Assistant Investigator/research dude at Angel Investigations
33. Charles Gunn - Ex street thug, Investigator/muscle/badass at Angel Investigations
34. Glory - A god/Ben

 

 

The Initiative, a shadow government agency tasked with researching on and tagging supernatural things

SHIELD, a shadow government agency tasked with dealing with aliens/superheroes/people who have "abilities" 

The Dollhouse, a private company that has "Actives" who can be imprinted with any set of personalities/skill sets for a variety of purposes. 

[MarkHB]

I'm guessing it's possible that Ward and Garrett are villains, and the S1 Shield cast also makes me believe that Skye hasn't activated yet. But I am relying on the rest of you for help with the core Whedon stuff.

[JayKay]

Thank you so much, Lisin. I started one but... but when I reached the Dollhouse section my brain burst into flames.

 

And we need to watch out for the "dark figure" who headed to the trauma unit and whoever had the soft voice and blue object who woke Faith up (?!?!). It may be the same person.

[caprice]

Yes, apparently we are Muppets now. XD But let's say Sunday is a strong maybe. And of course it'd help to know how many characters to make, so y'all can start signups whenever. I hope we can all agree that it'd be fine to have a little downtime between rounds (especially after such a wild round as that one!).

Because I can't resist (hey, a bunch of y'all are posting vids anyway!) and because, why not....

 

[Lisin]

Thank you so much, Lisin. I started one but... but when I reached the Dollhouse section my brain burst into flames.

 

And we need to watch out for the "dark figure" who headed to the trauma unit and whoever had the soft voice and blue object who woke Faith up (?!?!). It may be the same person.

 

Anytime :) To be honest, I had to google some of the Dollhouse stuff because I couldn't remember everyone's names. 

 

I agree about the "dark figure" at first read I thought it might have been Faith, but you're right. It's someone else I think.

[SVNBob]

Some minor corrections in the Dollhouse section.  It appears that we're past season 1 of Dollhouse, so a few positions are different.

 

Paul Ballard - Echo's Handler/former FBI agent/badass
Boyd Langdon - Head of LA Dollhouse security/Echo's former Handler/All around badass

Mr. Dominic - Former Head of LA Dollhouse Security, current resident of the Dollhouse "Attic".

Edited April 19, 2015 by SVNBob

[BizBuzz]

Ok ... so yeah ... this game is much more fun when you know who is who.  ::giggle::

 

Thanks Lisin for the list of characters, and for the various updates from others ... although at the moment, they mean mostly nothing.  Should prove to be very interesting.

[Machiabelly]

For the Dollhouse characters can someone clarify if they are villains or heroes, at least in your opinion. That may be helpful for others in other shows as well. But I know those shows. LOL

I am just heading out, I can try the shield ones if no one else has when I get home

[SVNBob]

To be honest, I think all the named characters thus far, except for Ben and Glory (and there may be some connection there...not sure), are all heroic. Yes, even Doctor Horrible the "super""villain".

Aside from Glory (and maybe Ben) the only villainous entity named thus far is the Rossum Corporation.

[JayKay]

Ward, Garrett and Boyd are also on my Villain shortlist. But I'm afraid to speculate until Monday when we'll know more.

[Machiabelly]

I would tag Ward as Villain. Faith could easily be a villain if it is a certain era Faith

[Meredith Quill]

I only know Buffy & Angel so can't comment on the other characters; Spike & Angel have been both heroes & villains, depending where we are in their storylines. Or maybe they are recruitable from hero to villain or vice versa even? Same goes for Connor (Angel's son) and Cordelia for that matter; lots of possibilities.

[Drogo]

Ok ... so yeah ... this game is much more fun when you know who is who.  ::giggle::

 

Thanks Lisin for the list of characters, and for the various updates from others ... although at the moment, they mean mostly nothing.  Should prove to be very interesting.

 

Biz, I'm with you.  That list sent me into sensory overdrive.  

 

And I must be Jon Snow, because I know nothing.  

[Jesse]

Any of the Dollhouse characters could be villains, depending on timing, if I remember twists and turns of the show right.  And did anyone explain the premise of Dollhouse? The actives get imprinted with different personalities/lives/memories and get sent out on jobs. I don't think any of the three of them are villains, but theoretically could be turned into one? 

[TJtrack99]

Happy Monday! Behold:

 

Day 1: Reconnaissance, Part 1
Crossing the Sunnydale City Limit
The Plymouth GTO crossed the city limits into Sunnydale. Gunn looked out the window at the dark and quiet town. “So THIS is Sunnydale? And it’s a Hellmouth? Are you guys sure?”

 

The car eventually came to a stop in front of a house with all of the windows lit. Angel turned in the seat and looked at the occupants of the rear seat. “Okay, guys, we’ve been over this. BEST. BEHAVIOR. Got it?” Faith was already out of the car, heading up the sidewalk, and Angel hurried to catch up. “Faith, are you sure this is the best idea? I know Joyce hasn’t been well lately.”

“Look, Angel. We’re all going to have to work together on this, and if English back there,” she jerked her head in Wesley’s direction, “is RIGHT, we need a coordinated effort from a lot of folks. The Scoobies included.”

The group gathered on the front porch, as Faith went to ring the doorbell. “Oh, by the way – Willow has a girlfriend now. And Xander is dating a former demon,” she tossed off, flashing a grin at the group as the door opened.
~~~
They were all sitting in the living room, each side eying the other a bit warily.  Buffy came into the room, and said, “Okay, Mom’s laying down, and Dawn’s watching her. Spill.”

 

The story tumbled out, starting with Faith, moving on to Wesley, and back to Willow, then Angel. All the while, Gunn kept a nervous eye on Anya. “Seriously, she used to be a demon? Cause she’s kinda hot,” he muttered to Cordelia. “Do not get me started, Charles,” Cordelia hissed. “This day has gone from horrific to worse. My aesthetician cancelled my appointment, and told me she’s moving to New Jersey. Now THIS.”’

 

Giles stood from the chair in the corner where he had listened silently to the situation unfold, removing his glasses, and clearing his throat, “A-hem, if I may?” he asked, glancing first at Buffy, then at Angel, who glanced at each other; then Buffy nodded at Giles. “So you’re saying that this mysterious corporation has a ‘memory wiper’ that can effectively create blank slates of real people? This is not good. I mean, demonic is one thing, but corporate America, well ... makes Dante’s Inferno looks like recess-time to the average human.”

 

“So what do we do, then?” Buffy asked. Giles pondered a moment, and then said, “I may know someone who can help us. I have not seen her in some time, but she has some background in this sort of thing. Willow, your assistance please; I need to find her, and your internet skills are vastly superior to mine.” Willow rolled her eyes. “Like THAT needs to be said,” she said under her breath.

 

Rossum Corporate Headquarters; Tucson, Arizona
Ian Quinn stood in the board room, drinking from a tumbler and looking out the window. He was waiting for the other two to arrive. The door opened and he turned to see a dark-haired woman. “You must be Ms. Morgan,” he smarmed, going over to shake her hand. “The infamous Ian Quinn” was her rejoinder as she returned the handshake. “The partners at Wolfram & Hart send their regards.”

 

Quinn laughed as he guided them to go sit. “Most prefer famous, but I didn’t get to where I am now by caring what people think of me.” Lilah nodded her agreement. “We have a real opportunity here,” she stated, “This company’s in prime position to take control of a world that needs it. My firm is very interested in being of assistance in this...acquisition. What is the potential for unneeded attention from the authorities?"

 

At that, Quinn put down as his glass. “My understanding is that the technology is such that we won’t need to worry about that anyway.” Lilah narrowed her eyes, and replied “I always make sure to have my bases covered.” Unexpectedly, Quinn laughed, and then picked his glass back up and toasted her with it. “You’d be a fool not to. But I actually have a source within SHIELD that’ll make sure no heat comes our way.”

 

Lilah poured herself a glass and toasted Quinn back. As they drank, the conference phone in the center of the table started to ring. Quinn hit the speaker button and said “Rossum Headquarters.” The voice that replied was the disguised voice both Morgan and Quinn had dealt with on the phone previously. “It’s me. I won’t be able to join you. There’s been some developments here, I need to stay undercover to make sure it’s taken care of.” “What is it?” Lilah asked, starting to look worried.

 

“They’re onto us, they know our plan. They’re close to discovering me. I’ll delay them as long as I can before returning. I gotta go.” With that the call clicked off.

 

L.A. Dollhouse
Amongst the low buzz of conversation in her office, Adelle sighed. She could already feel the start of a headache, a direct result of back-to-back phone calls with her active and then Dollhouse security. First things first - she opened her office door and walked down the hall to find Boyd. “Mr. Langton, please rejoin us, we have a problem.” “What is it?” he asked, his hands quickly putting something in his pockets. Adelle looked exasperated. “Well Echo got the materials, no problem. Though apparently there was some big to-do about a man somehow making her hair damp without touching her.” “What does that-”

 

“I wish I knew,” Adelle cut him off as she pinched the bridge of her nose. “When she gets back, hopefully we can re-imprint her with her original personality and she can finally tell us who’s behind all this.” She took a breath. “Anyway, NOW apparently there’s some blonde woman causing a ruckus in the main building. She seems to have an idea of what we can do but so far no one has been able to restrain her.” Boyd gave her his assessment: “If you can’t physically stop her then you can’t let her in here, or you might never get her back out. Who knows what she’d do? It could be a whole ‘nother Alpha situation.”

 

Adelle agreed with him. “I think your experience as a handler could prove beneficial here. Get her to trust you and find out what she knows and what she wants.” Boyd nodded. “I’ll talk to her. I have some experience with handling distraught women.” The memory of Boyd’s growing relationship with Whiskey, a doll who had been imprinted with the Dollhouse’s former physician Dr. Saunders, came to both of their minds.

 

“How’s she been doing?” Adelle asked. Boyd smiled as he affectionately said “She does fine.” In another part of the Dollhouse, Whiskey herself stole out of a lab clutching a screwdriver. A now-damaged imprint wedge jutted out from the rack of personality backups. It read in bold letters “CAROLINE FARRELL”.

 

Underneath the campus of UC/Sunnydale, the former site of The Initiative
Garrett waved away the cobwebs hanging in front of him as he entered the cavernous underground chamber. There were no electronics left here, although remnants of their existence remained; abandoned power cords, stainless steel carts, and other debris littered the space. “So, this is where The Initiative was based then?” Ward asked from behind his former mentor, with Trip bringing up the rear. “I’ve heard stories about The Initiative,” Trip added, “Those folks ditched at the first chance. Not much there in the way of integrity or valor."

 

“I’m inclined to agree to an extent,” Garrett said as he approached a door that led to the holding cells for the so-called ‘Hostile Subterrestrials.’ “I think the biggest failing they had was that they thought too small. They focused on so-called demons from Hell Dimensions. Vengeance demons, werewolves, hell hounds, vampires – seriously, VAMPIRES? I think that Professor Walsh must have been a big fan of that Twilight crap. What they really should have focused on more was the 314 Project. That research would be a big help in the fight against Cybertek and Deathlok. If only they gave--”

 

“Now that you mention it, it does sound like what they did with 314 is pretty similar to what Centipede did to Mike Peterson,” Ward interrupted as he moved an abandoned tarp with his foot. “I’m not sure how that sits with anyone else, but it’s not good with me.”

 

The three did a sweep of the abandoned facility, and regrouped in the large main room. “I’m not seeing much of use here,” Trip said, with Ward nodding agreement. “Why don’t the two of you head out and meet back up with Coulson and May?” Garrett said. “I have to make a stop, no need to slow the two of you down with these old man issues,” he chuckled. Ward and Trip gave quick nods and headed for the surface, leaving Garrett behind. “Finally alone,” Garrett muttered, as he turned to head back down a corridor. “If I can just find that information on Extremis…” He didn’t see the dark hooded figure emerge from the shadows, scan the site with a glowing red eye, and turn to follow Ward and Trip out of the bunker while adjusting the hidden hardware on his arms..

 

Living Players
1. BizBuzz
2. Machiabelly
3. The Crazed Spruce
4. SilverStormm
5. Drogo
6. caprice
7. egavasc
8. Lisin
9. Lady Calypso
10. MarkHB
11. Athena
12. JayKay
13. SVNBob
14. TMunz
15. Oinky Boinky
16. photo fox
17. CuriousParker
18. Dougal
19. Jesse

(That makes 10 needed for a DL)

 

We will say 48 hours for Day, so it will end automatically at ~11:15 AM (Eastern time) on Wednesday. The story contained 1 clue. Good luck and have fun!

[BizBuzz]

I got nothing. 

 

Except I felt that the word aesthetician was a strange choice.  One would use an aesthetician if you were getting ready to take a picture ... it's a long shot, but just thought I would throw that out there.

[Oinky Boinky]

A little spitballin' here...

 

For some reason some words in the story are randomly upper case.  They are:

 

GTO THIS BEST BEHAVIOR  RIGHT THIS THAT SHIELD NOW CAROLINE FARRELL

 

The only other thing that struck me is a OOLF comment about an aesthetician:

My aesthetician cancelled my appointment, and told me she’s moving to New Jersey.

 

Followed later by a OORF comment about getting hair wet:
about a man somehow making her hair damp without touching her.” “What does that-”

 

Who does that? An esthetician does if you take it to mean a stylist with a spray.

[Drogo]

I like the thought process behind this.  One thing though- as a proper noun acronym, I believe SHIELD is always capitalized.  And I know for sure GTO is always capitalized. 

 

The remaining "unusually" capitalized words would be:

THIS BEST BEHAVIOR RIGHT THIS THAT NOW CAROLINE FARRELL

 

Anyone good at word scrambles?

 

ETA: There are a lot of capitalizations in the prologue, and no clues.  Maybe that's just the writing style- for emphasis. 

Edited April 20, 2015 by Drogo

[Machiabelly]

Caroline Farrell...it was stated that it was in bold. Not unusual for something filed. But it could be part of it. Of to study

[Lisin]

Caroline Farrell is the original name of the person who is now the Active named Echo, who is played by Eliza Dushku, who also plays Faith... I'm wondering if we've got some body swapping/person playing more than one character here since we do have that a lot in the actual source material. 

 

I'm still searching for clues, I'm terrible at that part though! I will be back when I'm not at work to post more thoughts.

[JayKay]

The "aesthetician" sentence jumped out at me as well. The more common term (imo) for that profession is cosmetologist. So I Googled "cosmetology schools new jersey" and found this list after hitting a "show more" button.

http://www.beautyschoolsdirectory.com/find/index.php?st=NJ&t=1&search=Y&thisSearchPage=more

Hopefully that displays correctly. There's two repeating names of interest: CAPRI and Robert Fiance. But as there's only one clue, the whole thing could be a wash.

[Meredith Quill]

Blimey, that is A LOT of story for just one measly clue! Talk about needle in a haystack - eh. 

 

*Off to read again*