003. Paranoia

A new arrival at The Spark prompts Patches to dig into Zistor's files, while Sophia convinces Braum to let her explore his dreams.

## Paranoia

### Play of the Game:

Liz as Sophia, for entering Braums' dreams.

***"Sometimes you have to do things that look foolish, to stretch beyond your comfort zone."***

Two weeks have passed: Patches has been exploring Zistor's workshop, getting to know every machine and trinket; Sophia has been inspiring the parking attendant steeped in Banality, Officer Beaubien; Braum has been visiting family and waiting for Claude to find a "Dreamwalker" for him.

Little One's skin is starting to roughen, and the three freeholders discuss what to do about her: what happens if she continues to grow? Where will she live? Patches thinks the dragon could just be set free somewhere, while Braum is firmly set against it. Sophia tentatively reaches out to a clurichaun from Quebec City knowledgeable in chimera, hoping to learn more. Without any pressing business, the Kithain share a drink in the Exhaust. As Claude and Patches discuss the pros and cons of Ikea furniture, Kyoko turns the "flat-packed" quips around on the two, insinuating a budding romantic interest between them. In that moment, Braum has an indistinct remembrance of voices from his past, and is forced to leave, headed to the garden. While the "Dark Time" has claimed his memory of these incidents, they are not without memory artifacts, it would seem….

Patches idly wonders about whether Kyoko's "friendly insults" belie an actually distaste for her as she tinkers with a gadget of Zistor's. Patches thinks it might be a music box in the shape of a spider, but while poking around inside, she receives a mild electric shock from the device… with no battery. At that moment, the elevator dings, and a woman in a black turtleneck, pixie haircut and steely grey eyes emerges. She is definitely not one of the Kithain, but most certainly "enchanted" in some way. She introduces herself as Kaylie: a year ago, she tells Patches, she left a "Pattern Spider" with Zistor to be fixed and believes it to now be active. Since Zistor isn't around to answer for the stranger, Patches sends her away, hoping to learn more before she returns.

Sophia hears of Braum's troubles and offers to step into his dreams, hoping to unlock his "Dark Time". The troll is nervous about letting a "new" Oneiromancer into his mind, but she persuades him to at least try tonight. Braum makes her swear to "only unearth memories, not plant new ones", which she agrees to do.

Patches leads the way to Talus, hoping to learn more about Kaylie. The satyr is seemingly hard at work, although he manages to pull a prank on Kyoko by unplugging her headphones, blasting music into the freehold. Talus claims to know nothing about Kaylie, but when Braum senses he's lying, he lets them know that Zistor had indeed arranged a meeting with Kaylie privately, and that she is a Prodigal (some other kind of magical creature).

That night, Sophia enters into Braum's dreams: there is the sound of dripping water and the smell of blood as Braum and a childling troll, Rick, play chess. She questions the child: why is he here to play games? They play together every night, Rick tells her: "I make sure he has a lot of fun". Sophia wonders why Braum would always want to be playing complex games in his dreams, and Rick tells her that "He doesn't want to play, but he needs to play." Braum tries to get Rick to show him his memories of the Dark Time, and Rick jumps up from the table, sticking his fingers, now knives, into Braum's face. He tells Sophia to never come back, but that he will show Braum one memory in order to keep him in line. The two hear the sounds of a woman crying, repeating the numbers 7785…08, and a man saying that Braum needs to save her, that he swore to protect her. Sophia, shaken, tumbles out of Braum's dreams. Sharing a mug of tea with Kyoko, the pooka tells her that she grew up hearing stories about the valiant, noble knights of the Red Branch, but that Braum seems different somehow.

Meanwhile, Patches hopes to learn more about "Pattern Spiders", thinking that it may be dangerous to tinker any more with the one in her possession. Kyoko tells her that a friend of her's had mentioned Pattern Spiders once: "They help keep things in line." The pooka uses the opportunity to become Patches' confidant, getting her to open up about her feelings on the others, including not knowing Braum & Sophia well yet. Kyoko provides a key to Zistor's office so the nocker can learn more about Kaylie. Unlocking the door open and trying to avoid traps, Patches is surprised by Incisor, kicking her in the chest! While the redcap fails to convince Patches to leave well enough alone, she threatens to break her bones if she ever catches her in Zistor's office again. Patches calls her out on her loyalty: "Don't you work for this freehold?" "I work for Zistor," the redcap snarls. In the end, Incisor gets Patches a file of Zistor's, with only one note: "2017-09-10 —> 6:00pm —> Kaylie". A meeting has been set up for next week….