I’m going to try the fancy “extended entry” feature for this summary, because it may get long. We’ll see how it works.
Fitz (Brian) is shopping in Macy’s, generally minding his own business. An attractive, well-dressed woman runs up to him, shouting “Help me! Help me!” She runs off before Fitz can come up with an appropriately witty response. Fitz follows her into the back corridors of a store, and loses sight of her as she rounds a corner. Fitz follows, but the woman is nowhere to be seen. Fitz opens a random door and finds a dusty store-room, when he hears movement behind him. He spins, and finds the woman behind him, holding a gun. “Help me!” she says again, and shoots Fitz three times in the chest. Fitz falls…and wakes up in his bed, soaked in sweat, and with an odd ache in his chest, but no visible injuries. He decices to seek Chucky’s advice on this dream.
Tamsin (Wendy) has arrived at work early — Veronica Savage Investigations. She’s the only one in the office, and taking advantage of the quiet to get some research done. Tamsin looks up as a man enters the office. He’s average height, dressed in a trenchcoat, wearing coke-bottle glasses, and sweating profusely. He asks for Ms. Savage in an agitated tone. Tamsin remembers seeing the guy around the office before, so doesn’t immediately throw him out. Unfortunately, Ms. Savage is out of the office indefinitely, and can’t be reached. Tamsin offers to take a message. Sweaty Guy claims that there’s no time, says “He’s coming!” and leaves. Tamsin is dissatisfied with the lack of information with which to mount a research project, and dismisses Sweaty Guy.
Obediah (Paul) is outside the theater, doing…whatever it is Obediah does. A fish-man in a coat rushes by him in the alley. (Don’t ask me for an explanation — this is Obediah’s point-of-view.) Obediah sees him duck down a manhole and pull the cover shut behind him. Obediah courageously covers the manhole with a trash-can lid, and goes looking for someone to regale with the news of his adventure. He finds Gabe (Mike) drinking in front of the theater, and announces that he has repelled an invation of Fish Folk (it’s more PC than “fish men”). Gabe is, understandably, sceptical, and asks for proof. Obediah offers to show Gabe the manhole, in exchange for a drink, and snatches the bottle. A “discussion” ensues.
Fitz turns up at this point and bangs on the theater door, but Chucky isn’t around. Obediah relates the tale of his heroics; Fitz isn’t interested in the ramblings of a madman, or the argument over the bottle. He crosses the street to find Tamsin. Obediah and Gabe continue their discussion, eventually approaching the manhole. Inside the Agency, Fitz asks Tamsin for help in locating Chucky. Tamsin is slightly irritated at having her morning interrupted again, and says that Chucky probably isn’t up yet. Fitz tells her about his dream, and asks her to accompany him to Macy’s. Tamsin agrees, possibly feeling the PC glow telling her to get this campaign moving.
Fitz and Tamsin meet Obediah and Gabe in the street, where Obediah recounts his fish story once again. Tamsin is struck by the resemblance between Sweaty Guy and the Fish Folk invader that Obediah vanquished. Fitz is more concerned about the attractive woman who wants to kill him. Tamsin asks the two vagrants to stay put until she and Fitz return.
Tamsin and Fitz wander around Macy’s until Fitz finds the location in his dream…the women’s clothing department. There, he spots the woman, wearing the exact outfit she had on in his dream…except she’s a mannequin. Fitz admits that she looked a bit more lively in his dream, but he’s still convinced that something supernatural is going on…strange stuff does follow him around, after all. He and Tamsin go looking for the store-room, but they’re blocked by a security guard. Tamsin evaluates their ability to slip past an alert guard in a well-lit, featureless hallway with security cameras, and decides they need a distraction to draw off the guard…perhaps a crazy homeless guy.
Meanwhile, Gabe has decided to investigate the manhole. He climbs to the bottom, and discovers that he can’t see much of anything, but the top of the ladder is farther away than it should be. He climbs back up, noticing that the climb takes an unusually long time, and he has an odd feeling, but nothing else happens. Once he reaches the top, he manages to get his booze back from Obediah.
Tamsin and Fitz arrive at this time, and try to enlist Obediah’s help in causing a disturbance. Obediah requires payment in alcoholic form, and requests Ambrosia. Tamsin procures some…I have no clue what it was, but it involves passion fruit…and offers it to Obediah. Obediah declares that it’s not Ambrosia, but it is close, and that’s not Tamsin’s fault. He agrees to provide a distraction.
At this point, Paul was summoned to do lawyerly things at 10:00 on a Sunday night, so we broke for the evening.
Tales of the Rambling Bumblers 