Snake Oil

## The Briefing

One week ago a farmer outside the small city of Saskatoon, Saskatchewan discovered ten bodies buried in a patch of woods on his land. All were in various stages of decomposition, but they had two things in common: all of their internal organs were gone, and all had lived in and around a local homeless shelter.

Most of the bodies were too decomposed to offer much information, but the most recent one was found to have traces of an unknown organic substance within its abdominal cavity. A friendly at the forensics lab alerted Delta Green, who have sent the team to investigate. If the party inquires about the substance, the Handler knows only that it is not something that Delta Green has seen before and matches nothing known on Earth.

The agents are to discover what this substance is, deal with any threat that emerges, and ensure that local law enforcement and media do not suspect anything unusual.

## What’s Going On

Two years ago March Technologies, a private research corporation with reluctant ties to the Program, came into possession of several creatures they call Worms, recovered from a downed Migo vessel. The creatures, which resemble foot-long centipedes, burrow into the abdomen of a host body and lay a clutch of eggs anchored onto the internal organs. The adult Worm then dissolves. The eggs gestate for a month before hatching, with the freshly hatched larvae spending their first three days consuming their nutrient-rich eggs and growing to adult size as the host experiences increasing bloating and intense pain. Once the Worms reach adult size they consume the host’s internal organs before burrowing out of its abdomen to find new hosts.

March took an interest in the Worms because as they burrow into a new host they secrete a fluid that numbs pain and completely heals the wound within seconds. March is attempting to synthesize this fluid in order to sell it, and has placed Dr Wendy Frumpkin in charge of the operation. She began by using animals as hosts in order to obtain more of the substance, but after one of her research assistants was accidentally infested she realized that the Worms who infested animals laid fewer eggs and were in general less healthy than Worms who had fed on human hosts.

After further disappointment with animal hosts Dr Frumpkin and her remaining assistant Michael Straight, believing that the greater good outweighed the costs, began to recruit from the homeless and transient population of Saskatoon to participate in vague “research projects,” kidnapping them when unable to find suitable volunteers. Because she had not received permission from her superiors to experiment on humans, Dr Frumpkin was forced to dispose of the bodies herself, leading to their discovery.

## Possible Leads

### The Homeless Shelter

Depending on the agents’ cover story, the residents of the shelter may not be very cooperative, as they are generally distrustful of law enforcement. If the agents win their trust, they hear rumours of several men and women being recruited to take part in a drug trial at the university, and being paid well for it. One person recalls the recruiter introducing himself as “Michael,” and gives a description that matches Michael Straight. Another recalls hearing him mention the name “Wendy.” If the agents nail down an exact time, they may be able to check the security cameras of local businesses to see “Michael” pull up in a dark green minivan. Other locals might tell the agents rumours of a dark van coming in the night and kidnapping people sleeping in alleys, most recently three days ago. Their reports have previously been brushed away by law enforcement as alcohol or drug induced hallucinations. The descriptions of the driver of this van also match Michael Straight.

### Past Victims

If the agents investigate whether similar bodies have been found in the past, they find a record of Elizabeth Story, a grad student at the University of Saskatchewan whose body was found in the woods a little over a year ago. A tox screen showed a lethal level of heroin in her blood and her internal organs were missing. The coroner concluded that scavenging animals were responsible for that damage. She had been reported missing by her roommate after she didn’t return home from work. Her supervisor, Dr Wendy Frumpkin, told police that Elizabeth had been less and less reliable lately, and that she had been considering firing her. In reality, after Elizabeth was infested Dr Straight injected her with heroin and disposed of the body.

### The Burial Site

The woods where the bodies were found are on the land of a local farmer named Christopher Friesen about ten kilometers east of Saskatoon. He had noticed tracks on his land a few times in the past months, and once saw a dark green minivan drive onto his property but hadn’t thought much of it. One week ago when he went hunting in his woods he discovered one of the bodies in a shallow grave and alerted police.

### The Coroner

The coroner, Dr Sheila Hampton, can tell the agents little about the organic substance other than that it resembles the slime from a slug. She sent it to a better equipped lab for analysis. She has a sample in her lab that she is willing to show them, and it is a cloudy, viscous liquid. Besides that, she tells the agents that while the bodies have all been scavenged by wildlife, that activity seems to have been centered on the abdominal cavity, as all of the internal organs have completely disappeared. In addition, what skin remains on the stomachs has been shredded.

## The University

If the agents search for a Wendy and Michael associated with the University of Saskatchewan they can quickly find Dr Wendy Frumpkin, professor of biology, and her research assistant Michael Straight. Both deny knowing anything about the bodies, and if asked about Elizabeth Story claim that they suspected she had begun taking drugs in the months before her disappearance.

A search of their lab and offices turns up nothing suspicious. If the party follows either of them, they see that Michael drives a dark green minivan and they are eventually led to a warehouse on the north end of town. Similarly, if the agents obtain either suspect’s phone, GPS data shows daily visits to the warehouse.

## The Warehouse

The warehouse is protected by a security system that alerts both suspects to intruders unless it is disarmed. Inside, the agents are confronted by several horrific sights.

On one side of the room are four cages, three of which are occupied. In the first is a young man, scared and begging for help. He has so far been unharmed. In the second is a woman in her 40s who tells agents that she has been here for two weeks. A few days after arriving, Michael placed a huge centipede in her cage, which then burrowed into her stomach. She can feel several lumps in her abdomen. In the third cage is a middle-aged man writhing on the ground screaming, his stomach horribly distended. If anyone touches his stomach 1d6+2 Worms burst from it and attack the nearest people (SAN loss 1/1d6).

In the centre of the room are several counters filled with scientific equipment. Someone with the proper expertise would recognize this as the equipment required for analyzing and fabricating pharmaceuticals. A fridge contains large numbers of vials of a cloudy, viscous liquid (agents who visited the coroner will recognize it as the unknown organic substance). In a freezer are several dissected Worms. There is also a rack of heavy protective clothing nearby.

On the other side of the room are several large glass vats full of a bubbling liquid. Suspended in them are several dozen swimming Worms (SAN loss 0/1). If the vats are broken the Worms attack the nearest people.

If the agents interrupt Frumpkin or Straight in the warehouse, or if they trip the alarm and the scientists arrive, they attempt to release the Worms in the hopes of driving the agents off or forcing them to negotiate. A Worm infestation costs SAN loss 1d4/1d8 for the victim, and 1/1d4 for any witnesses.

The Worms in the vats can be killed by draining the liquid and allowing the Worms to dry out, which takes several hours. The eggs in the captive woman can be removed with a successful Surgery roll. The infested man is beyond saving, as any attempt to remove the Worms in him will release them and kill the host.

Killing all the Worms in the warehouse restores 1d4 sanity.

## Stat Blocks

### **Dr Wendy Frumpkin**

**STR** 7 **CON** 10 **DEX** 12 **INT** 18 **POW** 16 **CHA** 10

**HP** 9 **WP** 16 **SAN** 50 **Breaking Point** 48

**Skills:** Alertness 20%, Dodge 30%, First Aid 70%, Forensics 30%, HUMINT 30%, Medicine 60%, Pharmacy 70%, Science (Biology) 85%, Science (Chemistry) 80%, Surgery 60%

### **Michael Straight**

**STR** 12 **CON** 12 **DEX** 10 **INT** 18 **POW** 10 **CHA** 12

**HP** 12 **WP** 10 **SAN** 32 **Breaking Point** 30

**Skills:** Alertness 40%, Athletics 40%, Dodge 40%, Drive 30%, First Aid 50%, HUMINT 50%, Medicine 50%, Persuade 40%, Pharmacy 60%, Science (Biology) 70%, Science (Chemistry) 65%,

### **Worms**

**STR** 2 **CON** 6 **DEX** 14 **POW** 6

**HP** 4 **WP** 6

**Skills** Alertness 40%, Swim 80%

**Climbing**: The Worm’s hundred legs end in razor-sharp pincers, allowing it to climb clothing or flesh as easily as walking on a horizontal surface.

**Infest**: The Worm enters a host’s abdomen, secreting a fluid that numbs the pain and heals the wound within seconds, dealing the host no damage (SAN loss 1d4/1d8, 1/1d4 to witness). Once inside it quickly excretes 1d6+2 eggs which are secured to vital organs with a sticky mucus. When this is complete the Worm dies and its corpse dissolves.

## Credits

Snake Oil was written by David Guenther for the 2021  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 © David Guenther, excepting those elements that are components of the Delta Green intellectual property.

Snake Oil is not available here under CC-BY-SA.
Source: https://docs.google.com/document/d/15hQoF4Hy5wcx63pBN31kpNWMmbcInIxg27rrEH7vaRY/edit