Cryptophasia
The Agents are sent to investigate Timothy Larkin. Larkin is in police custody after cutting out a pedestrian’s tongue using a pair of scissors. When police picked him up he only spoke in random gibberish and hearing other people’s voices seemed to cause him pain.
Background
Larkin works at the biotech company NeuroSyn Therapeutics. He and his colleagues have become the victims of a memetic weapon that targets the language center of the brain.
NeuroSyn’s founder and CEO Lauren Aldridge once worked for Neuralex, a March Technologies subsidiary that researched technologies to influence and disrupt human reasoning capabilities. She had an affair with her boss, Douglas McBride, but left the company after a nasty break-up. Her departure threw Neuralex into crisis and McBride was fired.
McBride swore to ruin Aldridge, using a stash of memetic weapons he stole from Neuralex. He hired Aaron Osborn, a Breckenridge Corporation operative. Disguised as a delivery man, Osborn smuggled the memetic weapon into the NeuroSyn labs. The weapon takes the form of a manipulated instruction manual. Ostensibly it is for a spectrophotometer, but it contains phrases in the unnatural language Aklo.
Timothy Larkin was the first to be infected by the language virus, but it has already spread to his colleagues. Chaos is about to break out when the Agents arrive.
The Memetic Infection
Only people with high cognitive abilities (INT 14 and above) or with a knack for languages (sum of Foreign Language skills exceeds 100) are susceptible to be infected with the meme.
The infection progresses in stages. A susceptible Agent has to make an INTx5 roll after every conversation/interaction with an infected individual. After accumulating three successes the Agent notices enough patterns in the language to become infected or progress to the next stage.
- Stage 1: The victim operates mostly normal, but starts incorporating nonsense words and phrases into their normal speech and writing. They feel an urge to communicate with fellow infected, (suppressible with POWx5). Being infected costs 0/1D4 SAN.
- Stage 2: The victim communicates exclusively in their invented language. They can force themselves to talk normally with a POWx5 roll. Hearing “normal” language hurts them and makes them angry or violent. Progression to this stage costs 1/1D6 SAN.
- Stage 3: The victim’s language converges towards Aklo. Their mannerisms synchronize with that of other infected and they start mirroring each other’s actions. Hearing Aklo spoken has strange effects on the listener. Progression to this stage costs 1/1D10 SAN.
Infected in Stage 1 or 2 return to normal after 1D12 hours without contact to other infected. Stage 3 is irreversible.
Observing interactions between infected individuals reminds Agents with Science (Linguistics) of cryptophasia, a phenomenon where twins develop their own private language that only they can understand.
Meeting Larkin
Larkin is at Stage 2 of the infection and is only able to speak in his nonsense language. When anyone else talks he covers his ears and tries to drown them out by loudly shouting. He resorts to violence if that doesn’t help.
The police can tell the Agents that Larkin attacked the victim after being asked for directions. They did not know each other. Larkin had a NeuroSyn employee badge on him when he was arrested. The NeuroSyn offices are around the corner of the crime scene.
Due to being isolated in a jail cell, Larkin’s infection subsides during the course of the investigation. A helpful police officer might notify the Agents, giving them the clue that isolation is a possible cure.
NeuroSyn
General Information
An online search reveals that NeuroSyn is developing medication for neurodegenerative diseases. NeuroSyn is publicly traded, their stock price has recently doubled because the preclinical trials for their latest drug are promising. This raised the attention of “investment” forums like Reddit’s wallstreetbets. Several comments highlight that someone has taken a substantial short position. Inquiring with the SEC (Accounting/Bureaucracy) reveals that the short seller is Douglas McBride.
Another connection between McBride and NeuroSyn can be found on his LinkedIn profile, which lists Neuralex as his last employer, the same company that NeuroSyn CEO Aldridge worked for.
The Situation
The Agents find the following at the NeuroSyn offices and labs:
- Most of the administrative staff have left the office, worried by the scientist’s strange behavior. Only CEO Lauren Aldridge and her assistant Iris Frederickson remain.
- Uninfected scientist Samir Khan is trying to find out what happened to his colleagues by running medical tests in the labs.
- Small groups of Stage 1 and Stage 2 scientists are scattered across the labs, communicating in their gibberish language. They try to include high INT Agents in their conversations and ignore everyone else. There are 15 infected in total.
- NeuroSyn’s smartest scientists, Maria Rodriguez and Fiona Murphy, are both at Stage 2 and hide inside a locked room containing lab animals.
Investigation
The CEO: Aldridge is confused and clueless. Even worse, she is also infected at Stage 1. She is tight-lipped about her past work for Neuralex, unless someone mentions McBride. In that case she starts a gibberish-filled rant about the “manipulative bastard”. She confesses that McBride has the means and motive to attack NeuroSyn.
The Assistant: Iris Frederickson knows that Aldridge had a falling-out with her former boss at Neuralex. She can also tell the Agents about the spectrophotometer delivery, which she found unusual because she was not aware of any recent equipment orders.
The Research: Agents with Science (Biology) or Medicine can interrogate intelligible scientists like Khan, or read internal technical reports. They find that NeuroSyn’s research is state-of-the-art, but perfectly mundane.
The Spectrophotometer: The device and its manual can be found at Timothy Larkin’s desk in one of the labs. It is only partly unpacked and obviously brand new. The manual is opened, showing a page with normal English text interspersed with phrases in another language. Agents with high Occult or points in Unnatural recognize it as Aklo. A successful INTx5 roll infects the reader or advances an existing infection.
Security System: The camera footage shows the spectrophotometer delivery. The delivery man is wearing a uniform of a non-existent company. Checking the delivery van’s license plates shows that it is a rental, the name on the contract is McBride’s. Running facial recognition on the delivery man yields the identity of Aaron Osborn, an ex-Marine working for Breckenridge.
Additional clues:
- Khan knows that Larkin was the first one to show symptoms.
- Aldridge’s spam folder contains hate mail sent by McBride.
- Larkin, after his recovery, can mention the strange instruction manual.
Escalation
Use the following events to complicate the investigation and control pacing:
- Some infected scientists start smashing devices that can reproduce language (radios, TVs, phones).
- Khan, now Stage 1, hides in a storage closet after his colleagues suddenly turn violent. He begs the Agents to rescue him from the mob.
- A Stage 2 scientist lures low INT Agents into a walk-in freezer and tries to lock them in there.
- Two scientists try to kidnap a high INT Agent. While one of them distracts the Agent (-20% Alertness), the other attempts to inject them with Ketamine (CONx5 to resist, on a failure the target is stunned for 1D20 minutes).
- An infected person attacks an Agent they hear talking. They try to pour hydrochloric acid down the Agent’s throat to make them stop. Use the fire rules for acid exposure (AH, pg. 62).
- The instruction manual is in the possession of one of the infected, who has subsequently progressed to Stage 3.
- Rodriguez and Murphy leave their hiding place after advancing to Stage 3. All other scientists flock towards them and soon reach Stage 3 as well.
McBride and Osborn
McBride has locked himself in his penthouse apartment, spending the day drinking and watching the NeuroSyn stock price. Osborn is with him to serve as a bodyguard, but McBride regularly sends him to buy food and alcohol.
The penthouse has a first-class security system and a panic room, to which McBride retreats if the Agents raid the place. Breaching the panic room requires Craft (Locksmith) or Demolitions. Inside the room the Agents can find a March Technologies research report on Aklo.
Osborn is paid handsomely, but he is not willing to go to prison or die for McBride. The Agents can convince him to hand over McBride, if they approach carefully. However, if Osborn feels threatened he shoots to kill and tries to get McBride to safety.
Resolution
The Agents’ best course of action would be to isolate the infected scientists from each other, so that none of them can progress to Stage 3. Constant exposure to normal human language can also neutralize an infected individual, but carries the risk of a violent reaction (see INFECTED property in stat block).
Individuals at Stage 3 can no longer be saved. The only options are murder or permanently removing their ability to speak.
SAN rewards:
- stop the infection from spreading: +1D4 SAN
- destroy the memetic weapon: +1 SAN
- recover the research report from McBride: +1 SAN
Stat Blocks
NPCs
Scientist (Stage 2)
Infected with a language virus
STR 10 CON 10 DEX 10 INT 14 POW 12 CHA 10
HP 10 WP 12 SAN 45 BREAKING POINT 33
SKILLS: Alertness 20%, Melee Weapons 30%, Science (Neuroscience) 60%, Unarmed Combat 40%
ATTACKS: Unarmed 40%, 1D4-1
Scalpel 30%, 1D4, AP 3
Blunt instrument 30%, 1D6
INFECTED: Whenever an infected individual hears someone speaking normal human language they have to make a 0/1D4 SAN roll. On a failure they also lose 1D4 WP. If they lose more than 2 SAN they become aggressive and attack the source of the “noise”.
DISORDERS: Intermittent Explosive Disorder
Scientist (Stage 3)
Aklo vector
STR 10 CON 10 DEX 10 INT 14 POW 12 CHA 10
HP 10 WP 12 SAN 35 BREAKING POINT 33
SKILLS: Alertness 20%, Melee Weapons 30%, Science (Neuroscience) 60%, Unarmed Combat 40%
ATTACKS: Unarmed 40%, 1D4-1
Scalpel 30%, 1D4, AP 3
Blunt instrument 30%, 1D6
AKLO: Hearing someone talk in the unnatural language Aklo has an unpredictable effect on the listener. Whenever an Agent hears a Stage 3 infected talk they have to make a POWx5 roll. On a failure one of the following effects is inflicted on the Agent:
- The Agent loses 1/1D6 SAN.
- The Agent turns deaf for the next 1D10 minutes as their brain tries to protect itself from the mind virus.
- The Agent feels a sharp pain in their head, followed by bleeding from nose and ears. They take 1D4 damage.
- The Agent has to fail an INTx5 roll or they become themself infected.
INFECTED: Whenever an infected individual hears someone speaking normal human language they have to make a 0/1D4 SAN roll. On a failure they also lose 1D4 WP. If they lose more than 2 SAN they become aggressive and attack the source of the “noise”.
SYNCED: Actions that are performed together with other infected get a +20% bonus.
DISORDERS: Intermittent Explosive Disorder
Aaron Osborn
McBride’s bodyguard
STR 14 CON 14 DEX 12 INT 10 POW 12 CHA 10
HP 10 WP 10 SAN 60 BREAKING POINT 48
ARMOR: 4 points of reinforced Kevlar
SKILLS: Alertness 60%, Athletics 60%, Firearms 60%, Melee Weapons 50%, Unarmed Combat 50%
ATTACKS: Unarmed 60%, 1D4
Glock 17 (medium pistol) 60%, 1D10
AR-15 with ACOG (carbine), 80%, 1D12
Tomes
March Technologies report on Aklo
In English. Study time: days. Occult +1%, Unnatural +3%, Foreign Language (Aklo) +10%, SAN loss 1D4.
A print-out of an internal March Technologies report discussing recent research into the Aklo language and its viability as a memetic weapon. The report discusses various ways in which a memetic infection could be triggered by exposure to the Aklo language and that first experiments have shown promising signs of the efficacy of this approach. The appendix includes an Aklo vocabulary and a grammar guide.
RECOMMENDED RITUALS: None.
Credits
Cryptophasia was written by Hendrik for the 2024 Shotgun Scenario contest.
Source: https://docs.google.com/document/d/14d_Ntaz9auBIp-UgU-Z-p7bbc-ixhle7WS54V8AvnZM/edit