Bad Time at the El Royale

*Time can’t run out, but it can go bad.*

## Background

To travel across the stars, from planet to planet, is the dream of many students, scientists and science fiction writers - but to be feasible, a means to travel at faster-than-light speeds is required.

When college student Leotta Clarke unwittingly used hypergeometry to build a faster-than-light device for a college thesis, it didn't work as expected, causing time to slow in the immediate area to all but a standstill…

And the effect seems to be spreading…

## Overview

Police in Lumbering, WA, were called to perform a wellness check on an Elliot Royale College student after they missed a scheduled call with their parents. A Friendly officer reached out to Delta Green, but was unable to prevent the police from attending.

The Agents will be posing as members of an FBI and CDC task force, responding to a possible chemical attack. They will investigate the students at the college, examining records and poking through dorms, until they discover the hypergeometric device, and the cosmic force it has disrupted.

## The College

First step is to debrief with the local PD on-site. Onsite PD are already at Stage 1, mentioning that all those on site have been feeling sluggish and out of it all day.

Based on the area that appears to be affected, it’s a safe assumption that whatever happened occurred on-site at the college.

## The Dorms

If the Agents search the dorms, they’ll eventually discover Leotta Clarke’s room, where they will find evidence (books, internet search history, etc) indicating Clarke was working on a Faster-Than-Light device, and that she had inadvertently used hypergeometry to get it working. They’ll also find indications (notes, a student pass, an email invite, etc) leading them to the lab where the device was constructed.

Clocks within the college indicate time was broken at 4.17am. Everything remains as it was - hot food and drink is hot, birds are effectively mid flight, food does not go stale or rot, etc. Doors are difficult to open, like when an automatic door resists manual force.

## The Lab

When the Agents first see the device, they must immediately make a POWx5 test or progress to the next stage of the device’s effects.

Leotta Clarke sits in front of her device, the steam from her coffee, still hot, frozen in time.

The device can be deactivated successfully with a relevant test - if Delta Green is aware of the device, they would wish to recover and study it. Otherwise, it can be destroyed with little difficulty. As soon as it is no longer functioning, all current effects end - but new effects kick in. See **the Device** for details.

## The Device

The hypergeometric faster-than-light device has caused a strange reaction at the college, causing the effects of time dilation similar to those affecting something traveling at near the speed of light - but without the travel. Anyone who comes in range of the device will suffer from the effects of the device, even if they then leave the area, after which they have a chance to spread it further. Once the device is turned off, however, this “infection” will cease immediately - there are, however, additional side effects.

Time overcorrects itself, and for each hour someone was affected by Stage 2 or greater, they physically age a year. This means that the students and staff on site when the device was activated immediately age up to 36 years, while the police on site will age 6-12 years, while the agents themselves, it depends on how long they were there.

The effects of the device have multiple stages, as below. Each hour while on college property, or once per day after initial contact, agents must make a POWx5 test. On failure, progress the effects and lose sanity. Stages do not regress if the agents leave the site, only if the device is deactivated.

* Stage 1: The “infected” is hit by waves of sluggishness, feeling similar to dizziness caused by dehydration or similar..
* Stage 2: There are moments, once or twice an hour, almost like blackouts, where the affected becomes incredibly slow, and perceive the world around them as moving at incredible speeds. 1/1d4 sanity loss.
* Stage 3: Become trapped in the time dilation effects, effectively unable to move but still perceiving the world racing around them. 1d4/1d10 sanity loss.
* Stage 4: The Hounds of Tindalos discover you, and will come hunting in the coming days.

Leotta activated the device 2 days ago, with the initial pulse being much more effective than the ongoing effects, immediately affecting the local area with Stage 4.

Once per day, roll Luck. On a fail, the area of effect has noticeably expanded.

## Credits

Bad Time at the El Royale was written by Sam Commadeur for the 2022  Shotgun Scenario contest. Source: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1pizme6AMHowKEOs6FssAvt6unrLeelPWwn1eNn9DJus/edit.

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 © Sam Commadeur, excepting those elements that are components of the Delta Green intellectual property.

Bad Time at the El Royale is not available here under CC-BY-SA.

For preservation purposes, an exported PDF of the original submission can be found here.