THAT DECEIT SHOULD STEAL SUCH GENTLE SHAPES

## Agent Briefing

Agents are assigned to investigate an incident currently unfolding in central Pennsylvania. Regional and surrounding news outlets have been reporting on a group of young Cub Scouts trapped in a cave. The story is just beginning to gain national attention. It caught the attention of the program when a local news station aired footage of the trapped boys taken with a night-vision endoscopic camera by emergency responders. First, unusual markings on a background cave wall were identified as “notable pictograms” following digital enhancement. Secondly, instead of the retinal reflection typical in night-vision footage, one boy’s eyes displayed an unusual shifting, shimmering quality. DG had previously conducted operations in this region in the 1980s (details undisclosed to the agents — need to know only). Considering this confluence of factors, the program felt an investigation was warranted.

Agents are to infiltrate the rescue effort, ascertain if there is any potential threat from the unnatural, and neutralize any hostile vectors/threats.

## Prior Events

Two days earlier, a Cub Scout den of Pack #341 of Reedport, PA, went on a day trip to a small cave in Golden Eagle State Forest. Their Den Leader, Bradley Vizeau, was familiar with the location from earlier excursions and felt it was completely safe for his group of eight Scouts.

Twenty-five minutes after arriving, the group had explored the cave’s first, large chamber (~50’ long, filled with limestone formations) and had moved through to a second chamber (similar, ~70’ long), when a small geological tremor shook the area, causing a rockfall in the fissure-like tunnel connecting the first and second chambers. The collapsing rocks killed Vizeau and trapped the boys in the rear chamber. Fortunately, Vizeau had filed their trip plans with state park rangers and, within hours, ranger Kayla Welding had discovered the trapped boys. The next few hours saw a massive influx of rescue personnel and media.

Unbeknownst to everyone, the cave-in also awoke a dormant cyst of velcids (see below) long-buried within a wall of the rear cave.  Late on the first day, scout Ellis Lieras stumbled upon the newly-revived velcid cyst and was quietly infested. The following day, Lieras spread the velcids to fellow scout, Nate Mushinsky, while he was alone and the others were sleeping. Both boys are now patiently growing a new velcid glut.

## The Velcids

Velcids are an intelligent, parasitic, hive organism. Each velcid entity consists of ~100 thin, grey 4-5” long worms covered in tiny cilia (enabling quick locomotion) and sharing a collective, telepathic consciousness. They infest a host by swarming into orifices and permeating the brain, massing centrally in the cerebellum, with a smaller number branching out across the interior of the skull.

Outside of a host, they collect into a “cyst” — a spherical knot about the size of a softball. Once inside a host, they completely control the body and can telepathically access the memories (60% chance) of the host, whose identity/consciousness is effectively dead. They reproduce asexually, once per life cycle, growing a new “glut” (velcid entity) within the host’s stomach and lower esophagus, which is later projectile-vomited onto the face of a potential host (2 rounds for infestation, typically via nose and mouth, unless steps to block entry are made; provided ⅓ of the velcids infest the host body, control occurs in 4 rounds). An offspring glut will be grown and ready to find its own host approximately 24 hours after its infestation.

If a host dies, the velcids will exit the body as they entered, though separation is an awkward process and roughly ⅓ of the worms will not survive decoupling. Thus, a velcid glut will only be able to change host bodies once during its lifespan.

## Current Situation

Currently on site at the cave are:

* 3 park rangers (Kayla Welding, Lamont Trast, and Joshua Faulk)
* 4 local police (Sgt. Carter Monz, Officers Trent Xi, Richie Sabrowski, and Lynne Amberson)
* 3 local firefighters (John Sable, Aiden Cleeton, and Colin Furry)
* 5 EMS team members (Aaron Isaacs, Valerie McArver, Sydney Caton, Joey Schaffino, and Eden Hiteshaw)
* 8 news crews (2 local; 3 regional; 3 national)
* 1 geologist (Dr. Kyle Lough)
* Family members of the trapped Scouts

The fissure to the rear chamber is blocked by two immense rocks and a great deal of smaller debris. The rescue is complicated by the fact that a geologist has determined the roof of the fissure and parts of the second chamber are weakened by the collapse; removing the fallen rocks may initiate a further cave-in. However, within 24 hours of the agents’ arrival, rescuers will devise a means of creating a small, stable passage through the rockfall and will begin extracting the trapped children at a rate of one boy per 30 minutes.

## Handler’s Notes

* Every 24 hours while the group is trapped in the cave, there is a 50% chance that another boy will become infested.
* The velcids wish to spread to more hosts and, ultimately, escape from the cave. They will try to maintain the cover of humanity for as long as possible, until they are rescued and returned home, where they will attempt to infest a family member, provided they have not already spawned a glut.
* Agents will need to identify the threat and eliminate it while simultaneously dealing with rescue personnel. Their vigilant presence and pervasive attention should prove the biggest complication to completing the assignment.
* Potential legends for agents could include: regional search-and-rescue advisory group; independent news agency crew; volunteer emergency responders from nearby town. Because of the speed with which the agents have been mobilized, all legends have been hastily constructed and will not stand up under any scrutiny that is more than cursory.
* The handler should ideally play up the risks and benefits of operating under the conditions present at the cave site: many eyes are watching everything that is occurring at the site, and yet there is also a great deal of chaos, confusion, distraction and emotional tension inherent in the situation, allowing the agents to potentially get away with things they might not under normal circumstances. In this case, the timing of an action — and those that might be watching or looking away from that action — could prove to be everything.
* The range of NPCs present can be a means of adapting to the agents’ choices. The handler can utilize specific NPCs in response to the agents’ chosen cover, mobilizing them as complications in a tense situation. If the agents are acting as a news team, it could spark professional competition from a local television crew or incites a defensive, clannish response from the police. If they masquerade as emergency response volunteers, perhaps a local EMT tries to talk shop and grows suspicious if a Medicine roll is failed.

## STATS

For concision, generic stats are included below for each category of NPC.

### Cub Scouts (human)

*Freddy Damen Carter Kilbarger Joshua Scollard*

*Raymond Orrino Juan Garza Tommy Vosler*

**STR** 7, **CON** 6, **DEX** 8,

**INT** 6, **POW** 6, **CHA** 7

**HP** 7, **WP** 9, **SAN** 65

**Skills:** Alertness (30%), Athletics (30%), Dodge (40%), Stealth (50%), Swim (40%)

**Inventory:** Canteen, Swiss army knife, flashlight.

### Cub Scouts (velcid-infested)

*Ellis Lieras Nathan “Nate” Mushinsky*

**STR** 8, **CON** 14, **DEX** 9,

**INT** 16, **POW** 13, **CHA** 6

**HP** 12, **WP** 13

**Skills:** Alertness (60%), Athletics (30%), Dodge (50%), Stealth (60%), Survival (40%), Swim (40%) Unarmed Combat (50%)

**Inventory:** Canteen, Swiss army knife, flashlight.

### Rescue Personnel

**STR** 10, **CON** 11, **DEX** 13,

**INT** 13, **POW** 11, **CHA** 10

**HP** 10, **WP** 15, **SAN** 50

**Skills:** Varies by profession.

**Inventory:** Varies by profession.

## Credits

THAT DECEIT SHOULD STEAL SUCH GENTLE SHAPES was written by Eric Jeitner for the 2018  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 © Eric Jeitner, excepting those elements that are components of the Delta Green intellectual property.

THAT DECEIT SHOULD STEAL SUCH GENTLE SHAPES is not available here under CC-BY-SA.