Special Agent

> "We are all interested in the future, for that is where you and I are going to spend the rest of our lives."
>
> -The Amazing Criswell

## Keeper's Information

This encounter can be run for a single investigator between sessions or for a small number of Agents when the full group cannot attend a game. It would most likely work best between scenarios, or at least after a major incident in a longer scenario. The Agent(s) will be contacted by the usual means, likely via a secured coded email. They are assigned to rendezvous with a contact identified as "Agent Nemo" at a secure location that evening, bringing with them any information- papers, recovered items, and etc- pertaining to their most recent assignment. They are to be debriefed. The Agent will identify themselves with a code phrase- "When I was a child, I well remember a somewhat similar circumstance."

## Meeting with ‘Agent Nemo’

The meet occurs at a shuttered storefront in a semi-occupied mini-mall. The Agent(s) are instructed to enter via the service door in the rear, discreetly marked in chalk. Inside a back office, minimally furnished with a few folding chairs, a crate serving as a makeshift table, and illuminated by a hooded electric camp light. Agent Nemo is already waiting, zestfully eating from a container of Sichuan Pork- several other cartons of Chinese food are present and offered to interested investigators. Nemo will finish a few mouthfuls before turning his full attention to the Agent(s), exchanging a few minor pleasantries, then suggesting they begin. He produces a high-capacity audio recorder and places it on the crate and begins the interview.

It is left to the Keeper the specific questions Agent Nemo will ask. Likely he will begin by asking the Agent(s) to summarize their latest assignment, then turning to specific actions of the Agent(s), such as their use of force, why a suspect was able to escape, etc. Select the initial questions to suggest that the Agents actions are suspect and that they have, in some way, failed Delta Green; if their most recent assignment went badly, all the better. Use this interview as an opportunity to force the players to defend their actions and to push an Agent's buttons. If it simplifies play, imply the target of the investigation is another Agent not currently present; frequent leading questions about the interviewee's opinion about another Agent's actions should suffice.

Agent Nemo's questioning is probing, but never hostile. He will respond to confrontation and aggression with a passive weariness, reminding the Agents that this is his job and he is not here to judge them or criticize their choices. He knows full well that, as they say "shit happens" and if it did not, he would not have been assigned to be running a debriefing rather than be out in the field. If the Agent(s) attempts to end the interview, Nemo will suggest that their leaving will only delay the process; "Talk to me now or me later, it's your choice."

Depending on the reaction of the Agent(s), the interview might be extended by asking them about earlier assignments, with questions of a similar nature to those asked earlier. Similarly, if an Agent has had some prior exposure to the Mythos, Nemo might ask some questions regarding their experiences.

Two elements of the interview should be incongruous. First, Nemo will occasionally fixate on seemingly trivial details- a make of fire-arm, the color of a vehicle, the precise time an incident occurred- Nemo's interest should exceed any normal bureaucratic need for detail and approach fixation. If the Agent(s) reacts to this, Nemo explains that he's only asking the questions that A-Cell has asked him to and if they want to know why, for example, he wants to know the precise breed of guard dogs the agents tranquilized, they should ask A-Cell, not him.

The second curious feature of the interview should occur very sparingly, perhaps only once or twice. Nemo will ask about individuals, places, or elements of the next scenario you intend to run. For example, if you intend to run "A Victim of the Art" from Delta Green: Countdown, mistakenly identify the first victim on their current case as Dr. Carl Maretti. If these "errors" are noted, Nemo will apologize profusely, and explains them away, saying that he was looking at notes regarding a different case altogether. To the Agent(s) these slips should appear to be the mistakes of an overworked paper-pusher. Only later, after the next scenario begins, should their more sinister nature become apparent. If desired, whenever one of Nemo's slips comes to pass, the affected Agent might suffer 0/1 points of Sanity loss. Nemo's slips may provide minor leads to the Agent(s) once they become aware of their unusual nature, but be careful not to give away too much. Cruel Keepers might have Nemo ask about future Agent injuries or even deaths; Sanity costs for these higher-stake slips could be as high as 1d3/1d8 points, especially if the Agent themselves is the victim.

Assuming the Agent(s) sit for the full interview, it will conclude after a few hours. Nemo will thank them for their cooperation and wish them the best of luck in the future. He will then depart, making his way to a non-descript sedan parked nearby. Agents who wish to follow him may do so if they succeed in a Sneak roll. The vehicle may be located before the interview by the suspicious if they examine the parking lot and succeed in an Idea roll; it is the only car parked there with out of state license plates. If, for some reason, Nemo is tailed further, he drives about an hour to an isolated motel (for more information see ‘Finding Nemo’ below) and may be followed with two successful Drive Auto rolls.

## Aftermath

Baring Agent paranoia, no inkling of Nemo's deception should arise until the next morning, when one of the Agents will be contacted by telephone by another member of the conspiracy- preferably the Agent who assigned the players to their most recent case. If that was A-Cell, use a credible proxy instead. The caller wanted to follow-up with a few questions about their most recent assignment. Presumably the Agents will realize that something odd is afoot. If the caller learns that the Agent(s) has already been "debriefed" they immediately panic and, after gathering a few details, end the call. Minutes later the Cell receives instructions from A-Cell- They are to locate, identify, and apprehend (if able) "Nemo"; furthermore they are to sever all contact with Delta Green until further notice.

## Finding "Nemo"

Trailing Nemo from the interview site proves relatively easy. Surveillance cameras (or cautious Agents) provide the make, model, and license number of his car. Likewise, Nemo's route and destination from the interview can be uncovered using traffic cameras or by having a "Be on the Lookout For" order issued to state and local police.

At the motel, Nemo's car (free of useful evidence) will be located in the parking lot. In his room (rented three days previously, with another day left to go) are several things of interest. Tucked into bed is Nemo's currently catatonic human shell. His name is Dale Meadows and he has been missing from his Kalamazoo apartment for six weeks. Employed by an Auto Parts retailer, Meadows has no memory from any point after the day preceding his disappearance and will not regain those memories (of being trapped in a Yithian body in the late Cretaceous Period) unless the Keeper wishes. A First Aid or Medicine roll can determine his is in shock and needs to be hospitalized.

Other items of interest:

* An assortment of menus from local delivery restaurants; a Spot Hidden roll notices a few have been annotated in curious curvilinear hieroglyphs.
* A smart phone running a program of unknown nature; the screen displays an evolving colorful fractal geometry; those examining it more than a moment must succeed on a POW x 3 roll or be indefinitely hypnotized. One hour later the phone's electronics are immolated by an inexplicable cascade of overheating circuits; little, if any, data can be recovered the program cannot be identified.
* The digital recorder, now blank.
* A high-end laptop computer, without any memory.

## Conclusion

There are few leads for the Agents. A-Cell may recognize this event for what it was, especially if similar interviews have occurred; alternately Meadows might recall some element of his lost time. The specific information Nemo was seeking and that beings purpose in interviewing the Agent(s) is left to the Keeper's imagination; perhaps it is best left undefined.

After 1d3 months A-Cell will conclude that the interview and its related security breach does not indicate an immediate risk to the conspiracy, though many man hours might be directed towards countering this threat out of time, if Nemo's nature is known. The Agents will be cleared to resume their work for Delta Green, warier, if no wiser.

## Credits

Special Agent was written by Bret Kramer for the 2010 shotgun scenario contest.