What day is it? Monday.
It is early evening, and Serena is heading back to her apartment after having finished work for the day.
Is she tired? Yes and.
She is exhausted. She had to be completely on the ball, right from the beginning to the end. Her half hour lunch break was something she usually took at her desk, but her lunch remained uneaten. She hadn’t been able to steal even a moment to take a bite.
She knows that food would help - a bit - but she doesn’t know that she has even enough energy to do anything about it.
Is she going to make it back to her apartment unmolested? Yes and.
She has three blocks to walk from the bus stop to her apartment block.
Does she notice the hawker? Less than 12 to succeed. 19. Fail.
She blinks in surprise when the hawker with the tray of samples gets in her way. She can’t quite tell what the samples are, but that doesn’t matter. The sympathetic hawker gives her a couple, and she eats them mechanically.
The food perks her up a bit, making her realise that her blood sugar levels were probably way too low. As soon as she walks into her apartment, she makes a beeline for her kitchen, and grabs a small packet of crisps. More calories makes her feel even better.
Does anything interfere with her getting changed out of work clothes? Yes blank. Oracle: Take, expectations.
Are her politics to the left? Yes blank.
Automatically, she turns the radio on as she eats, and a news bulletin comes on.
“The political situation in the middle east has taken a turn for the worse,” the news anchor announces. “Peace talks between Syria, Saudi Arabia, and Iraq have failed, and extensive guerilla activity is taking place in the region. The government has issued a travel alert for the region and strongly advises against travelling to the region for any purpose.”
There is no further information available, so she switches the radio off again. Her political group, the Socialist Alliance, is going to be up in arms about this.
Brawn roll: less than 14 to succeed. 13. Success. She now has enough energy to go out.
Grimly, she finishes eating and picks up her phone. She calls one of her Socialist Alliance friends, and arranges to meet them in the usual place.
As she collects her drink and settles down at an empty table, she wonders about the wisdom of coming out - she doesn’t like crowds, or loud noises, and the bar is not quiet. Or empty. Still, she’s here now. And a good selection of the Alliance is heading towards her.
“I had an email from Mother,” Leroy told them without preamble. “We’re to be ready to help our comrades if they come as refugees.”
Does Serena have a spare room? Yes but. She’s never admitted to anybody that it’s there. And it’s filled with books.
Charlotte admitted to having a spare room that she could put somebody in if necessary.
Could Serena help a refugee with bureaucracy? Yes. She works for the Department of Immigration. Does she say so and open herself up to corruption? Intelligence roll: 13. Success. She keeps her mouth shut.
Serena doesn’t say much, and there isn’t much more to be said generally anyway. She soon pleads exhaustion, and goes home, leaving the more extroverted members behind her.
At home, she quickly heats up a meal, and collapses in front of the television.
Does she take in any information? No but.
There’s nothing worth watching on at all. She finds a DVD to watch for a while, but she’s seen it all before. When she’s finished eating, she switches it off and goes to bed.
Does she have sex? No but.
She has enough energy left to pull her vibrator out when she gets into bed, but she hasn’t even managed to switch it on once she’s put it against her cunt before she falls asleep.
Tuesday:
Does she have a hard day at work? No but.
Her boss, Nadia, calls Serena into her office. There is a stranger there, a man she introduces as Joe Pavlou. Then, Nadia, looking unhappy, leaves them alone.
“I work for ASIO,” Joe tells Serena. “We’ve noticed that you’re a member of the Socialist Alliance, and we’re hoping you’ll tell us about what they’re up to.”
Does she tell him the truth? Charm roll. If she fails, she talks. 17. Fail. Joe is a charming man.
She tells him about the communique from Mother, and that Charlotte had offered her spare room.
“You didn’t offer any support of any kind?”
Serena shakes her head. “No. I like my job, and if I told them about it Mother might start making me use my position to help people to get in. I might be a communist, but that doesn’t mean I want people from outside taking control of things here.”
Joe nods reassuringly. “There is nothing wrong with being a communist these days,” he says, “when you’re loyal. Do you know anything about Mother?”
“No. Leroy is the only one who communicates with Mother, and he doesn’t know anything either. Or so he says. For all we know he could be making her up.”
Did Leroy invent Mother? Yes But.
Joe sits back in his chair. “We haven’t been able to locate a chain of command that is upstream of your group. But Mr Watson’s activities are why I am here talking to you. We are concerned about him. Do you know anything about him?”
Does she? No And.
“No. I can’t even tell you what he does for a living, or who he’s close to in the group. I joined because I’m friends with Isla Graham, one of the other members, and I didn’t have anything else going on in my life.”
“You don’t have a lot of friends, then?” Joe asked.
Serena shook her head. “I’m an introvert. I don’t like having lots of friends.”
Joe nodded reassuringly. “Perfectly natural. Miss Ward, is there anything else you can tell me that you think might be relevant?”
Can she? Yes And.
Serena thought back, and then related a conversation she’d overheard Leroy having with somebody on the phone the day Isla had introduced her to the group.
“It’s why I never told them who I worked for. I told them I did Admin for the Government, and made a joke when they asked me what department I work for.”
Joe nodded thoughtfully. “Miss Ward, thank you,” he said, and they concluded the interview.
After Joe had left, Nadia pulled me aside. “Serena, Joe told me that he was investigating a potential security breach.”
Does Nadia know about the Socialist Alliance? Yes blank.
Serena nodded. “One of the members of the Socialist Alliance has caught their attention,” she replied. “He was worried that I might do something stupid. So I told him what I know, and that I never told them which department I work for. He relaxed after that.”
Nadia is a little surprised. “You didn’t tell your friends that you work here?”
“My friends know I work here,” Serena replied. “But my acquaintances don’t. Especially the ones I think might try to make me sneak people through immigration.”
Nadia intelligence roll: does she understand? 3. Success.
“Ahhhh,” she said, understanding what Serena was getting at. “And that’s what Joe was interested in, too.”
Serena nodded. “There was a chance that I was a weak link. I’m not.”
Nadia’s face crinkled into a smile. “Quite right,” she agreed approvingly.
The rest of Serena’s day went quietly.
When she got home, she settled down in a chair with a cocktail and a book. She’d had enough for one day.
Does anybody call? No Blank.
She had a nice, relaxing evening at home alone, and went to bed.
Wednesday:
Does she have a hard day at work? Yes But. It doesn’t impact on her evening. Much.
Does she call Isla? No and. She starts questioning her relationship with Isla and the SA.
Is Isla suspicious of Leroy? Intelligence roll: 15. Fail.
Is Charlotte suspicious of Leroy? Intelligence roll: 8. Pass. Yes, she is.
On her way home from work that evening, Serena gets a message from Charlotte, asking to meet her at the pub for a couple of drinks. Curiously, Serena goes.
Once they’ve settled down with their drinks, Charlotte tells her that Leroy has been probing Isla about her. As far as Charlotte knows, Isla has only told Leroy that Serena is a filing clerk, and cannot influence anybody when it comes to immigration.
Does Serena have reason to lie to Isla? No And.
Charlotte also tells Serena that she’s suspicious of Leroy. She’s got the feeling that he’s up to no good, that he wants to sneak undesirable people into the country. She doesn’t want him to succeed. She joined the Socialist Alliance to help the workers, not to advance the cause of terrorism.
Does Serena tell Charlotte about Joe? Yes but.
Serena tells Charlotte that Joe turned up at work and talked to her about the Socialist Alliance and about Leroy, that ASIO was concerned about his activities.
Charlotte’s eyes widen in surprise. She understands exactly what that means. “And he said he works for ASIO, you said?”
Serena nods.
“I think I’d better call ASIO and have a quiet chat with them,” Charlotte said determinedly. “I don’t trust Leroy, and I might be able to tell them a few useful things. Thank you!”
“You’re welcome,” Serena says with a smile.
Does Charlotte call ASIO? Yes Blank.
Joe intelligence roll. 12. Success. He is able to make good use of Charlotte’s information.
Does Leroy get arrested? No and. Perception roll for Leroy: 16. Fail. He didn’t realise that his contacts were up to no good.
Result:. The enemy agency that were using Leroy have been removed.
Thursday Evening:
Serena meets Isla at the pub.
“Serena!” Isla gasped as they sat down. “I’ve had the most awful day!”
Serena raised her eyebrows in surprise. “What happened?”
“I got arrested! They were plain-clothes detectives or something from ASIO, and they took me in for questioning! They took Leroy, too!”
“Are you alright?”
Isla nodded. “They asked me about what I’d told him about you!”
Serena nodded. “Charlotte overheard you and Leroy talking,” she said. “She came and talked to me.” Briefly, Serena told Isla about Joe.
When she’d finished, Isla downed half her drink and leaned back in her chair. “I’m so glad I lied to Leroy about you,” she said with a sigh. “He was so keen to find out all about what you do all day, but I know you don’t like people to know where you work.”
Impulsively, Serena leant forward and took Isla’s hand. “Thank you! That means so much to me!”
Both women took a few moments to pull themselves together.
Did Joe question Isla and/or Leroy? Yes but.
Do ASIO employ Joe? No but. He is an associate of one of their detectives, Ray.
Perception roll, Isla. Fail. She didn’t notice anything useful.
“Did you meet Joe?” Serena asked.
Isla nodded. “Yeah. He had another guy with him. The other guy showed me an ID card. He worked for ASIO! I told him the truth about you - I had to!”
“It’s okay, Isla. Joe knew about me, and his friend would have, too.”
Serena didn’t manage to get any useful information out of Isla after that, and they eventually parted company having cried all over each other again. Serena went home wondering (not for the first time) how on earth she had managed to make friends with somebody so silly. Not that she’d call Isla a fool to her face - not when she was prepared to lie for her.
As she lay in bed that night, she wondered - and not for the first time - about Leroy. The government men had released Isla after she’d told them everything, but they’d kept Leroy.
Friday Evening:
Serena and Isla met Charlotte and Leroy at the pub after work. All three ladies were surprised to see him. They were also surprised to see how shaken he looked.
Does Leroy spill the beans about having created Mother? No but. There will be no more Mother.
Did Leroy get beaten up? Yes.
Does Leroy admit to the beating? Yes And.
Perception rolls for all three ladies: Charlotte, fail. Isla, Pass. Serena, Pass.
“Oh, my gosh!” Isla exclaimed as Leroy collected his beer and joined them at the table. “Leroy, are you alright?”
Leroy shook his head, and sat down. “That spy fella, Agent Robinson? He decided to soften me up or something.”
Charlotte and Serena exchanged glances.
Does Charlotte admit to having called ASIO? No.
Serena saw a flash of guilt in Charlotte’s eyes, and squeezed her hand.
“Do you need medical treatment?” Serena asked, concerned.
Leroy shook his head. “I’ll be alright. He didn’t break anything - there’s just bruises. I’ve got some ice packs at home. And I’m going to be a lot more careful now, too.”
“What did he want you to tell him?” Charlotte asked.
“He wanted to know where I got my orders from. Who was telling me to be ready for refugees to come in.”
“Did you tell him anything?”
Leroy shrugged helplessly. “I don’t know anything. All I have is an email address. They know a lot more about me than I know about them!”
Later, Charlotte got Serena alone. “I wish I hadn’t called them, now,” she said unhappily, and Serena nodded.
“You couldn’t have known that they’d beat him up.”
Charlotte shook her head. “I didn’t think they’d arrest either Isla or Leroy. I thought they’d just follow them, or something.”
Serena nodded again. “Well, with any luck there’ll be no more adventures,” she said. “If there’s no reason for ASIO to get involved with our lives, then this won’t happen again.”
Charlotte nodded as well. “Besides, Leroy and I both graduate at the end of the year, and then we’ll both go home. We probably won’t see each other again regularly.”
On that note, they parted company and went home.
Serena woke up at oh-god o’clock the following morning. Leroy might have been a fool, carrying on the way they had, but he was their fool, dammit. Besides, they were Socialist Alliance! Governments carrying on like that, beating up people just because they were Leroy, was exactly the kind of thing that the Socialist Alliance was against. She resolved to get online in the morning and try and find out what she could do about it.
Is there anybody Ray can be reported to? Yes.
Intelligence Roll, Serena: Pass. She finds useful information.
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