A Pleasant Day At The Spa (Night's Black Agents)

I've spoken about Thrilling Interrogations before. 

Under the rules as written:

[Use Thrilling Interrogation] when the Agents have captured a tougher-than-average bad guy who doesn’t give everything up to a simple Interrogation spend, or for scenes where one Agent has been captured by the police or some other mostly legal entity (domestic intelligence, corporate security) and you want to play out the cat-and-mouse game between interrogator and suspect. 

Which is fine so far as it goes but it's always fun to play with the idea.

Last time I went off the beaten path I talked about dangles, those are-they-or-are-they-not people who walk in off the street claiming to have valuable intel.

This time let's consider another possibility. 

Let's say that the agents know that the target has information because they know that the target is a member of, or associated with, the Conspiracy. An employee of a high-level node, let's say. Even a supernatural-level target of some importance, like a dhampir or lamia. Or at least someone who rates supernatural-level bodyguards. A Renfield, for instance, who doubles as the boyfriend/girlfriend. 

Let's further say that the agents need to get this information without the target realizing that information is being extracted. Often this means Digital Intrusion or searching their offices, but not this time. This time the information is in the target's head. The agents need to get the information without the target realizing that the information was the goal.

They need to get the target to say something careless in polite conversation. 

They need to Interrogate the target without the target realizing that they're being interrogated.

A Spa Date

(borrowed from the Guardian)

The Scarlet, Cornwall

An adults-only sanctuary set on the clifftop above Mawgan Porth beach, where the sea is a big part of the treatment package, with every room facing the shimmering Atlantic – including the glass-walled, bromine-filtered indoor pool. The spa focuses on Ayurvedic principles, with tailor-made therapies, all taken along to the natural soundtrack of the waves crashing on the shore below. There are alfresco hot tubs for post-massage soaks and dinners offer locally sourced fish and seafood, along with slow-aged wines. There are also excellent vegan options.

Relatively isolated; the closest town is Magwan Porth which isn't exactly a bustling metropolis. Though there is an iron age village if you want a little archaeology next door.

The agents learn (by whichever means suit) that the target will be at the facility for a long weekend, to relax. Their job is to come up with a suitable Cover, (or Covers), perhaps cultivate a Network contact, get into the spa and somehow get close enough to the target to indulge in small talk.

For the purpose of this example I'm going to borrow from the Dracula Dossier and say that the target is the Hungarian (p34 DD). In this example he's a minion whose money and connections are slowly being siphoned off. The McGuffin this time out is the name of his Conspiracy contact - the Human Trafficker. His paramour, who is on this spa date with him, is infected with an Azdeh who is particularly fond of coconut water cocktails. 

The Azdeh is a new development. The Conspiracy doesn't trust the Hungarian to behave, so it's keeping his beloved on ice. This can't last forever, but the Conspiracy reasons it should last long enough.

For rules purposes the Hungarian is Desperate (+1) but not otherwise conditioned or controlled. He's considered to be on the Faster side (Lead up by 2) and the Interrogation is Open. In fact, the whole point is that this not seem like an Interrogation at all, which means the Director is within rights to call for a check on that Cover identity - at least once. 

Further rules effect - if the Azdeh is in the scene then the Hungarian's Maneuver increases by +1. If the Azdeh is not in the scene for whatever reason - perhaps another agent lured the Azdeh to the day spa - then this modifier does not apply. Getting the Azdeh blitzed on coconut water cocktails also counts.

The agents can't take the easy way out and kill the Azdeh. If they do, then the Hungarian will get very upset and that will end the interrogation. If they go this route, then they must somehow manage it so that the Hungarian never finds out. This probably shortens the time allotted to a day at most, since the Hungarian will notice when their paramour doesn't show up for the restaurant reservation.

Exactly how the agents obtain the intel is up to them. The line of questioning needs to be innocuous but at the same time, fruitful. If they know, for example, that the Human Trafficker likes a particular Berlin sex club, and they get the Hungarian to admit he is also a member, score. If you want to get creative, assign a three point win condition: get the agents to obtain three bits of intel and they can triangulate the result.

Think of it like a detective story. The agents, like murderous Miss Marples, must ask seemingly innocuous questions and, from the answers, unravel the plot. Simples! 

If the agents win then they get the intel. If they don't win then either they don't get it, or they get bad intel.

There is a time limit. If the Hungarian's spa weekend runs out before the agents get their intel then the attempt is a failure. That means they have three ddssdays in a luxury spa in Cornwall to get what they want.

Don't feel that you have to reduce this to one quick scene. This is a three day trip at a spa on the Cornish coast. That gives them all kinds of opportunities - first to insert themselves as bona fide fellow holidaymakers (or whatever the cover story is) then to get a little closer, a little closer, ask some pertinent questions ...

Then get away clean.

Hopefully.

That's it for this week!