Agendas Part II

## Official Summary

The opportunity arises for Pierce to undermine the magickal working that Koji uses to restrain and erode Darren Feldman's power as the two of them prepare for their delicate -- and mystically complex -- infiltration of the Chester Mental Health Center. While they hope to glean some of Doctor Howarth's secrets and learn more of his organization, with Pierce ironically unaware that he's voluntarily forgotten much of what they might discover.

Meanwhile, Mitch and Kiera make contact with Doctor Howarth, attempting to establish common ground and earn his trust, learning of a specialized task that, should they risk it, would go a long way to proving their worth.

## Detailed Recap

Koji takes Pierce into the impossible folded space once more, and they discuss its nature as an extradimensional space. Koji debriefs Pierce, asking him what he saw in the lake, and revealing in-depth knowledge of the lake's workings. Pierce says he doesn't feel guilty about murdering his father because he was a monster who abused Pierce, but he does feel remorse for the impact it had on his sister, although he killed his father to protect Tabitha from abuse, which she doesn't understand, and now she hates PIerce.

Koji asks Pierce how he's doing with respect to finding a new "trailhead," and Pierce candidly says nothing much has changed on that front. Koji offers Pierce a hit off his pipe, and Pierce takes the opportunity to touch Koji's hand, although he isn't sure why he needed to do that. Koji says Pierce is reinstated, no longer on probation.

Meanwhile, Mitch is taken aback to see Kiera has the brooch. She explains that she has agreed to join Hailee because she believes it will help keep Ellie safe. Mitch explains that the bat is similar to the relic ORPHEUS had given him to wield before his murder.

Pierce and Koji reappear. Kiera asks Pierce if he feels better, and he says he's simply motion-sick from the wonky physics. They all discuss their next steps, each side telling the other little about their plans to avoid compromising the mission.

Mitch calls Dr. Howarth, and says he'd like to work with him. Mitch confirms that Hailee did tell him not to pursue Walter, and believes Howarth may be right about other things as well. He explains that Kiera also wants to work with Howarth. To earn trust, his asks them to do an errand for him. He says they monitor the Braddock House because it's important to the Prophetess, but there's a vortex of negative energy nearby at the Pleasant Hill Cemetery that makes that difficult. He wants them to address this issue, and says they need to retrieve items from the nearby ORPHEUS safehouse: Hailee's ouija board and spellbook. These items are tied to the power of the Braddock House, according to Howarth, and will enable the cleansing of the cemetery because Hailee is connected to the supernatural geography of Chester. Howarth explains that the cemetery is a site of suicides, and Mitch agrees to cleanse it to help the town. Kiera wonders why ORPHEUS would have Hailee's things, and Mitch posits that they may have used the items as leverage against Hailee, or as fetishes to contact her.

They search the safehouse, and find the items in a hollowed out space in a door jamb. Kiera glances through the book of shadows, and sees "witchy" things about star positions and poetry. She feels the power of the ouija board, despite its superficially shoddy appearance. They also find the planchette tucked further in the wall. Mitch goes to sleep, and Kiera heads out alone for the evening.

Outside the Chester Mental Health Center, Koji and Pierce case the joint. The facility is surrounded by an electrified fence, and consists of a huge number of buildings around an expansive yard. Pierce tries to assess guard routes and security cameras while Koji pokes aimlessly at trees and mumbles at them. He instructs Pierce to see if there are trees in the courtyard, and seeks out its parent tree, planning to follow the causality of the seed back through time. Koji offers Pierce a special drug to help moderate the upcoming disorientation. He snorts it, and loses consciousness. When he comes to, Koji is poking him in the face with a stick. Koji ties his cloak around Pierce's wrist and makes strange arcane motions with his hands, and then slip into a strange exception to the timeline. Pierce finds himself in the branches of a tree in the courtyard of the hospital -- ten minutes earlier than when they started,

## Quotes

PIERCE: She looked at me like I wasn't her brother at all. Like I was a monster who killed someone she loved and cared about, and I did it for no reason she could possibly understand.

KOJI: *That* is ORPHEUS. *That* is the work that we have to do. We have to do what's necessary even when it makes us monsters to those who don't know what's at stake.

KOJI: If you think the veritigo you experienced coming out of my construct was bad, this is on an additional dimension, and charitably, it's going to fuck you right up.

## Music Credits

* Three Chain Links - Magic Hour
* Three Chain Links - Gaining Traction
* ROZKOL - Ambient I-IV
* Sergey Cheremisinov - She Wolf in my Heart (bonus)
* Free Dramatic Scores - Tales from Asylum
* Kevin MacLeod - Deep Haze
* Myuu - Reflection
* Mykee Morettini - EVIL EVERYWHERE - Punchy Mix
* Opening and Closing Themes by Nathan Kross and Rob Stith