Operation SNOW GLOBE

## The Briefing

A sample being tested at an FDA laboratory has generated a number of keyword results that red-flagged it with the Program. The sample appears to be of an unknown type of mold that shows indicators of being of non-terrestrial origin and is similar to a sample recovered from a compromised PISCES black site. The source of the sample was a Dr. Carrie Sosa, a microbiologist working for Sociedad Bioenergy, a biofuel plant located outside the small Midwest town of Irving. Dr. Sosa had reached out to a college friend working for the FDA with concerns over research her company was conducting and forwarded the sample to them for analysis. Eight days ago Dr. Sosa was reported as a missing person.

## Objectives

The Agents are to investigate the disappearance of Dr. Sosa, establish what research Sociedad Bioenergy are involved with and secure or destroy any other samples of this 'mold'.

## The Truth

Dr. Paula Rowden, head of Sociedad Bioenergy's R&D Department, is a former PISCES researcher who didn't leave her former employment empty-handed. She doesn't know the origin of the 'mold' and is fully aware of the danger it poses, but is also convinced that it could be used to revolutionise the biofuel industry, propelling her to fame and fortune in the process. Sociedad Bioenergy is unaware of the exact nature of her research, only the results she is producing, while those same results were what made Dr. Sosa suspicious that her superior was either falsifying data or concealing something more sinister.

Unfortunately when Dr. Sosa obtained her sample of the 'mold, she was also accidentally exposed to it and has now become its first victim. She is now in the second stage of infection and has created a nest for the 'mold' to gestate in.

## The Mold

The 'mold' is the failed product of a defunct PISCES program to develop a bioweapon for use against the Mi-Go. It is a parasitical fungoid life-form with three stages of growth. The first stage is what Dr. Sosa was exposed to; a mold-like organism that reproduces through airborne spores. If those spores are inhaled by a suitable host, however, it enters its second stage. The 'mold' spreads through the host's body and begins to chemically induce feelings of paranoia and an urge to hibernate. Once the host has secluded themselves the 'mold' begin to enter its third stage: consuming its host's body as it develops into it's adult form, a nightmarish fungoid predator. At all stages of its life-cycle the 'mold' continues to produce spores, with each stage increasing the risk of new hosts being infected. The only viable treatment for a person who has inhaled the spores is an intensive course of targeted radiation therapy and only if the infection is caught early. Samples of the 'mold' can be safely destroyed through incineration, but its spores can survive for prolonged periods in the environment, meaning that sites where they have been released should be decontaminated to prevent future infections.

## Dr. Carrie Sosa

A background check on Dr. Sosa produces an address in Irving, that she is divorced and that she has sole custody of two children from that marriage; Dean, aged 13, & Frank Jn, aged 11. Her ex-husband, Frank Sosa, has a last known address in Port Arthur, Texas, and is an offshore oil rig worker. She has no other immediate family.

Obtaining the police missing person report provides the fact that she was reported missing by her neighbour, Mrs. Grubbs, a retired schoolteacher who babysat for her. In her statement Mrs. Grubbs mentions that she had been worried about Dr. Sosa in the days leading up to her disappearance, as she had become somewhat paranoid and reclusive.

The local police found no indications of a struggle in her home and a canvass of her friends & co-workers has produced no leads, but they did note that none of her personal belongings were missing and that her car was still parked in the driveway. The focus of their investigation is currently on whether she was in a new relationship and the location of her ex-husband, who has not been contactable. Her children are currently staying with a foster family in the town.

If the Agents search Dr. Sosa's home they can find a can of men's deodorant in her medicine cabinet that is in fact a diversion safe with a false bottom. Inside they find another sample of the 'mold' sealed inside a small Petri dish. They can also notice that the kitchen has nearly been emptied of food and that the window into her son's bedroom is unlocked and shows signs of comings & goings.

## The Garage

Dr. Sosa's hiding place is the garage of a foreclosed home in a rundown neighbourhood on the edge of town. For the Agents the key to finding Dr. Sosa is realising that her sons are still in contact with her. She swore them to silence and used them to keep her supplied with food, although enough of her mind remained that she instinctively didn't want to expose them to the 'mold'. As a result the interior of the garage has been converted into a crude isolation suite, using plastic sheeting and duct tape to create an inner & outer room, although the air inside the outer room is still contaminated with spores. The gloves, goggles and painters dust masks her sons wear can be found inside the garage's side door and an Agent who finds them has no doubt her sons have been exposed to the spores as well, raising the question of what to do with them as well.

Dr. Sosa's body is in the inner room, cocooned inside a nest of bed sheets and old clothes, the air around her thick with spores and, at the Handler's discretion, either barely recognisable as still human or already in the third stage of the 'mold's life-cycle. If the former, the Agents may still be able to question her; if the latter, then the Agents have only a moment to realise the danger they are in before the creature attacks.

## Sociedad Bioenergy

This state-of-the-art biofuel plant occupies a large site only a few minutes drive from Irving. The complex is split between the main plant which produces ethanol from corn and a small corporate campus that houses the administrative offices and the R&D department. The plant and the campus have separate entrances with manned gatehouses, but the CCTV feeds and alarms for both are monitored from the main security office in the plant. The campus is patrolled by armed security officers and the R&D department is restricted to authorised personnel and requires a key card to enter. The security officers on the site are mostly ex-military and behave professionally; they will draw their sidearms if they find intruders, but won't fire unless provoked.

Agents who gain access to Dr. Rowden's laboratory find a separate clean room where she has been cultivating the 'mold' and an encrypted PC which contains her notes. These notes reveal that she has found a process that uses the 'mold' to efficiently produce ethanol from cellulosic material, which would be a major scientific discovery and one with huge implications for the future of biofuels.

## Joshua Hicks, CEO

Joshua Hicks is the founder & CEO of Sociedad Bioenergy and a local boy. His family have been ranchers in the county since before Irving was founded and while he has an Ivy League education, he went to high school with many of his employees. Although capable of being ruthless in his business dealings, he's remarkably soft-hearted when it comes to his hometown. An entrepreneur, his choice to enter the biofuel market was driven by commercial sensibilities, not any environmental aspirations, and his knowledge of Dr. Rowden's research is based on her reports. He would be horrified to learn what has happened to Dr. Sosa, but is also well aware of the potential value of Dr. Rowden's 'mold'.

## Dr. Paula Rowden

Dr. Rowden is well aware of the danger posed by the 'mold' and already suspects that Dr. Sosa's disappearance is connected to the missing samples from her laboratory. With her experience from her time with PISCES, Dr. Rowden is prepared to flee if necessary and has a go bag prepared with everything she needs to create a new identity along with a sample of the 'mold' to continue her research. She carries a revolver in her purse and is prepared to use it, but is not competent with it. Dr. Rowden's connection to PISCES can also be used as a future hook to involve the Agents with the Program's U.K. counterpart.

## STATS

### The Mold - Third Stage

**STR** 25, **CON** 20, **DEX** 10, **INT** 12, **POW** 10

**HP** 23, **WP** 10

**ARMOR:** 3 points of muscle and thick skin.

**SKILLS:** Alertness 80%, Stealth 80%.

**ATTACKS:** Bite 50%, Lethality 20%, damage 1D10, Armor Piercing 3.

Claws 50%, Lethality 10%, damage 1D10.

**SPORES:** The 'mold' constantly produces spores and anyone in close proximity to it has a 20% chance every round of inhaling them.

**SAN LOSS:** 1/1D10.

### Dr. Paula Rowden

**STR** 8, **CON** 10, **DEX** 10, **INT** 18, **POW** 15, **CHA** 12

**HP** 9, **WP** 15, **SAN** 75, **BREAKING POINT** 60

**Skills:** Accounting 40%, Alertness 40%, Bureaucracy 60%, Chemistry 60%, Computer Science 50%, Law 40%, Medicine 50%, Persuade 40%, Pharmacy 20%, Science (Biology) 80%, Science (Genetics) 80%, Science (Microbiology) 80%, Unnatural 20%.

**ATTACKS:** .38 Special revolver 20%, damage 1D8.

Unarmed 40%, 1D4–1.

### Security Officers

**STR** 13, **CON** 12, **DEX** 10, **INT** 10, **POW** 10, **CHA** 10

**HP** 13, **WP** 10, **SAN** 50, **BREAKING POINT** 40

**ARMOR:** Light kevlar vest (Armor 3).

**SKILLS:** Alertness 50%, Athletics 50%, Firearms 50%, First Aid 25%, Law 25%, Search 40%, Unarmed Combat 50%.

**ATTACKS:** Colt M1911 pistol 50%, damage 1D10.

Unarmed 50%, 1D4–1.

## Credits

Operation SNOW GLOBE was written by Padraic Barrett for the 2019  shotgun scenario contest.

Published by arrangement with the Delta Green Partnership. The intellectual property known as Delta Green is a trademark and copyright owned by the Delta Green Partnership, who has licensed its use here. The contents of this document are © Padraic Barrett, excepting those elements that are components of the Delta Green intellectual property.

Operation SNOW GLOBE is not available here under CC-BY-SA.