Written by Rick Ernst
From Bodyguard of Lies (Newsletter Edition) - Issue 0
Introduction
The following plotline may used as a quick one-night adventure
or may be inserted into a larger campaign as a sidelight or subplot.
It is more a vignette than a full scale adventure.
Enjoy.
Plot Synopsis
At some point while undertaking operations in a major metropolitan city,
the Aegis Cell discovers that they are being watched
and photographed by a nondescript cabby.
Attempts to capture or apprehend the watcher are quickly curtailed
by the arrival of the local authorities.
Further investigation reveals a sinister connection to Aegis' nemesis,
The Black Book.
Sandman Teams
The Black Book Sandman teams are specialized units
comprised of three agents specifically chosen and trained
to handle Sleeper operatives.
Sleepers are the product of The Black Book's employment
of several MKULTRA mind control techniques.
Sleeper agents are unaware that they are controlled
by The Black Book or even that such an organization exists.
They are chosen for their anonymity and for the aid
they may be able to lend to Black Book operations through their jobs.
Sleeper agents are never powerful people themselves.
They are often clerks in high security departments,
secretaries to powerful individuals,
or other such personnel privy to sensitive information and important people.
Just as often,
a Sleeper agent is average Joe Lunchbox,
an anonymous blue collar worker that would not attract a mote
of attention until he stepped out of a crowd and gunned down
a passing dignitary.
Black Book Sleeper agents are disposable operatives
used for discreet intelligence gathering work,
or for quick and dirty trigger jobs that require deniability
rather than subtlety.
Modus Operandi
One Sandman team generally handles from six to ten
Sleeper agents in the same geographic location.
Teams situated in rural areas may cover several counties.
In more populous areas,
the covered territory may consist of a single city.
Very large metropolitan cities such as New York or Los Angeles
are home to several teams.
Aegis Prime has confirmed,
through HERMES,
that at least six Sandman teams are currently operating
in Washington, D.C.
When the need arises for a Sleeper,
the Sandman team hunts for suitable candidates among individuals
who hold the desired position or who otherwise fit the task specification.
An ideal Sleeper agent is a loner,
with few friends or family.
Preferably,
he or she possesses a relatively weak will
so as to be more susceptible to the reprogramming process.
Once the team has chosen the Sleeper to be,
he or she is abducted and implanted with a device
that allows the team to track and control the Sleeper remotely.
The Sleeper is then hypnotically programmed to obey the team's
commands and given a code phrase or sound that triggers a trance state.
During this state,
the Sleeper will carry out The Black Book instructions
yet retain no memory of the activity.
The entire implant procedure takes only a few hours,
and the Sleeper is returned to his or her former life,
none the wiser.
Only a brief period of missing time indicates anything out of the ordinary,
and even that is quickly forgotten.
Sometimes Sandman teams in remote or rural areas are aided
during abductions by Greys and their craft.
In several instances,
for reasons that are not entirely clear,
The Black Book has chosen as Sleepers individuals with long
histories of alleged abductions.
In urban areas,
Sandman teams often conduct the reprogramming and implantation
procedure under the guise of a routine dentist appointment
or minor surgery.
This reduces the risk inherent in a more direct abduction
and provides a cover to explain the missing time.
Once the Sleeper agent is in place,
his or her home and sometimes workplace are bugged.
Further,
phone lines are tapped.
These measures ensure that the Sleeper may be monitored
until he or she is activated.
The Sleeper is then left alone to carry on with life,
oblivious to The Black Book operations.
Aside from the initial reprogramming session,
the Sandman team will have no direct contact
with the Sleeper agents they create.
All communication is handled by phone,
radio,
or other anonymous source.
Even after activation,
the Sandman team will not intervene directly in the Sleeper's fate.
If the Sleeper is exposed,
captured or arrested,
he or she is simply abandoned.
Sleeper agents are disposable and under no circumstances
will The Black Book risk compromising its security to aid a Sleeper.
If there is a risk that the Sleeper will be captured
or deprogrammed by Aegis,
the Sleeper agent will be assassinated by The Black Book,
either via Bio-PK through the Sleeper's implant or more direct means.
If less subtle action is appropriate,
it will often be through another Sleeper.
Tools of the Trade
Master Lens: The Master Lens is a Black Book device that integrates a psychotron with a pair of specialized Grey Lenses. This device is the primary means through which Sleeper agents are controlled, though Sleepers will obey normal voice commands from the Sandmen as well. The link to the Sleeper agent is made through a tiny implant that is inserted into the Sleeper's body during the initial abduction. The Master Lens incorporates a fully functional psychotron with a Grey Amnesia Lens and a Remote Viewing Lens. The Remote Viewing Lens allows the user to spend one Psi or Strong ESP point to use Greater Clairvoyance to view the Sleeper or his surroundings. Black Book psychics use the Master Lens to monitor the Sleeper and give telepathic commands.
Implant: The Implants that Sandman teams use to monitor and control the Sleepers are made by the Greys through an complex psychic procedure that is not yet fully understood by The Black Book. The implants are inserted under the Sleeper's skin, most often in the nasal cavity or ear. The Implant, if removed and analyzed, may be found to be largely composed of silicon with some impurities that resemble the materials used in terrestrial electronic circuits. The Implant only acts as a link to a Master Lens and is useless without it.
Stanley's Story
Stanley is an independent cabby who was chosen by The Black Book Sandman team to become a Sleeper because of the mobility and anonymity afforded him by his job. The Black Book needed someone to perform basic surveillance duties throughout the city and felt a cab driver would be the perfect Sleeper for the job.
At the time Stanley was selected, he was working for a large cab company. He is a quiet man with no relatives in the area and few friends outside of the local pub. He was implanted and programmed during a routine visit to the dentist and thus experienced no unexplainable time loss. Soon after he became a Sleeper, The Black Book arranged for him to win a small lottery prize, providing him with sufficient financial freedom to become an independent driver.
Three months after going independent, the Sandman team subconsciously prompted Stanley to enroll in night school classes for photography. After nearly a year of classes, Stanley had become relatively proficient and the Sandmen began to direct his artistic urges to subjects that they wanted watched. For reasons he did not fully understand, Stanley began to photograph individuals, businesses and buildings apparently at random. Relating these strange urges to a concept he was introduced to by his instructor, he began to refer to the subconscious voice that directed his photography as his "muse". Stanley's "muse" tells him to photograph police operations, news teams, crime scenes and prominent politicians. Sometimes the "muse" encourages him to follow a particular individual for days. Anytime his "muse" directs him, Stanley sends the resulting photos to a post office box address that he believes to be that of the art director of a national photography magazine (actually it's a blind drop for the Sandman team) and destroys the negatives (his "muse" says this is for the best). Although he has yet to see any of his pictures in print, he remains hopeful.
Recently, Stanley has become even more skilled, and his "muse" has directed him to purchase expensive nightvision accessories and infrared film. Stanley does not know quite what to make of this, but he simply tells himself that this is his own special form of artistic expression.
Stanley's cab is a standard yellow sedan with a bulletproof (AR4) glass shield between the backseat and the driver. Even so, for safety reasons, Stanley carries a revolver and a shortened baseball bat in the cab at all times. The cab is also fitted with a car phone, through which he gets his pick-up calls, and a drop safe below his seat for money and, if necessary, his film.
The Black Book Sandman team uses Stanley for low level surveillance of anyone they need to keep tabs on. It is in this capacity that the player characters are most likely to encounter him. The Black Book will use Stanley to watch them and will do what they can (short of personal intervention) to aid Stanley (and preserve their asset) if the player characters catch on. If Stanley is discovered for what he is, the Sandmen will abandon him immediately, wait until there is little risk of discovery and "recruit" a new Sleeper.
The Sandmen
The Sandman team controlling Stanley will do everything they can to thwart the Aegis operatives and help Stanley, short of actually compromising their operation. At that point, the team will simply cut its losses and move on. Until then the team will use highly placed connections within City Hall and the Police department to harass the player characters and interfere with their operations. The Black Book agents will inform the police of any covert operations they uncover and make sure that any cover stories the player characters concoct are thoroughly investigated. In the unlikely event that the Aegis team succeeds in forcing the hand of the Sandman team or manage to trace the source of Stanley's "muse", the stats for each of the three members are detailed in the sidebars. The Game Master may wish to use the team as recurring villains by fleshing out the other Sleepers that they control. In this way, the vignette presented here could be expanded and perhaps form the basis for a whole adventure. The storyline could build up to a face to face confrontation with the Sandman team.
The names given are those appearing on the team's fake FBI identification cards. The names are not their given names, but are the only ones they know. None of the team members know anything of their comrades' past.
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