Monster in the Mist.v2

Friday, 24 Oct, 1987- It was an unusually cold winter setting in for Boulder City. 20s in the daytime! Would it warm up in time for Halloween next weekend? Or would the kids have to wear heavy coats over their costumes? TV commercials and radio broadcasts are fueling the kids’ hype about the coming Halloween. Playful costumes (Freddy Krueger, Alf, Beetlejuice, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Gumby, and even California Raisins) line the store shelves along with bags of candy (Nerds, Skittles, and Sour-Patch-Kids came out years before). But there are also reports of mummy sightings around town. OK, what new movie is coming out now?

Ace (Whitney): 16yo with a student driver’s license. Thanks to Miss Patsy (house maid), Ace was passing his Driver’s Ed classes with flying colors. He thumbed through the car magazines to pick out his first car, “I wonder what Gene Simmons first drove?”

Eric (Mike): 13yo who dug through his old costumes for a mix-match combination that would do justice to his effort to re-recreate Obed Marsh of last year’s Haunted House adventure.

Ein (Joey): 14yo refused to spend his hard-earned money on a store-bought costume; so, he tried to create his own version of Mario from the arcade game. Per the other kids, “I give up, are you supposed to be a clown?”

Evan (Jordan): 15yo who didn’t care most kids wouldn’t understand his costume based on last December’s adventure, “Why would you want to dress up like a geriatric old man? Who is Professor Diggleby?”

Lukas (Aaron): 14yo who decided to make his own version of wolfman. He couldn’t decide whether to lean toward Michael Fox’s version or Jason Bateman. Turned out his was more like a molting dog.

Principal Hutsenpilar called all students to the auditorium for a special announcement from the police. Officers Larsen and Benderman took center-stage, “Even though we are experiencing cold/freezing temperatures, Boulder Beach is off limits due to unstable ice. We don’t want you kids trying to ice skate or play ice-hockey even on the shoreline. Too dangerous, especially with the lake fog blowing in.” One of their classmates (Louie) whispered confirmation, “I heard yesterday there was so much ice on Lake Meade, a military icebreaker had to come and open a lane. Now there is so much lake fog that the military put out light buoys.”

Besides the moans and groans, there were plenty of rumors running rampant in the auditorium. If it wasn’t dangerous ice and fog, it was mummies. Ace overheard Jenny, “We were camping near the beach last weekend when the police suddenly ran us out, closing the camp. I actually saw the mummy inside the campsite area just before the police arrived.” Lukas cringed when he heard Erica Sanders brag, “Mummies are not real! My brother Ben saw it around the park and said it was just a burn victim loose from the hospital.” Eric perked up when he heard about a fellow lacrosse teammate, “Jerry Anderson broke his leg, claiming he fell when chased by the mummy at Hemingway Park.”

But Evan tended to believe the new kid in school, Anna Acker, “I heard it’s a promo for the Bangles band. They have someone dressed as a mummy dancing to their song Walk like an Egyptian.” [Sept 86] And that’s when the auditorium broke into a dance studio with kids in the isles doing the Egyptian walk, with Evan leading. Which promoted Erica and Ben Sanders to act in control, “Don’t worry officers. We’ll keep everyone in control and report anyone who violates your orders.” As the kids were released to their homerooms, Evan gathered his friends, “You heard the police officers: right after school we need to check out the beach.” Eric smiled, “Yeah, like when did they start telling the truth about anything. But first, I’d like to check in on my friend Jerry in the hospital.”

3:30pm: It was a long bike ride from Mitchell Elementary School north to the restricted Boulder Beach. Eric coordinated, “I’ll call over the radio whatever I learn, then catch up with you.” Thus, with other lacrosse teammates in tow, Eric was the first to arrive on-scene at Jerry Anderson’s home where his mother confirmed, “So nice of you kids to check up on him. Didn’t you hear? Jerry broke his legs yesterday and is in the hospital, room 117.” At the hospital, the desk nurse allowed them entry, “Usually only two visitors at a time but I’ll make an exception this time. Just don’t disturb the other patients.” Eric wished too late he didn’t peek in on the other rooms: he witnessed one of the bullies (Darrell) with his pants dropped getting a shot in his buttocks. The needle looked as big as a basting needle! THAT was scarier than anything he’d ever seen!

Hospital: Jerry perked up at their arrival as Eric teased, “Does this mean you’ll miss tomorrow’s game? Maybe you can use two lacrosse sticks as crutches. What happened?” Jerry explained, “It was my normal sundown run thru Hemenway Park. He just stepped out of the brush all wrapped in linen shouting strange words. I took off in the opposed direction and the mummy gave chase. That’s when I tripped on a bench I tried to hurdle and broke both legs. It had me dead to rights… I was a goner for sure, but it took off in the other direction.”

Research: Ein went his separate way, “I’ll stop at my house to search the bulletin-boards for mummy sightings and news about Boulder Beach.” He learned about the Egyptian mummification process with internal organs removed and placed in Canopic jars that were stored next to the sarcophagus along with the pharaoh’s treasure for his afterlife. He read chatter comparison about the latest mummy movies (1981s Dawn of the Mummy, the original 1930s The Mummy, 1940 The Mummy’s Hand, 1944s The Mummy’s Curse. Nothing about a touring Egyptian display at the Boulder Museum. As for Boulder Beach: even the local newspaper reporters had nothing. “It must be a total government coverup.”

Boulder Beach: Ace, Lukas, and Evan parked their bikes on the sidewalk and walked across the sand toward the fogbank that stretched endlessly left and right. In the distance, Lukas heard foghorns that added to the tension. That eerie low-tone warble heard in movies. Didn’t a classmate mention icebreakers? Or maybe it was the lighthouses out on Big Boulder Island or Sentinel Island? And that’s when they spotted a 4-foot-tall metal fence just inside the fogbank. Something the police quickly set up for crowd control. But Evan was more interested in the dirty white strip of narrow cloth dangling on the fence. Evan handed it to Ace as he pondered, “Aren’t mummies supposed to be thousands of years old?! But this looks newer.” Ace added, “And smells medicated as if antiseptic.”

And that’s when Lukas saw the outline of a large tent beyond the fence. And saw the silhouette of multiple mummies walking towards them! As the 4 men and a woman came into view, Evan realized too late they had been talking too loud as one of the men questioned them, “What are you kids doing here? The police told us they announced to all schools about the dangerous ice out here.” Evan replied, “We just wanted to see the reported icebreakers out here. Don’t worry, we can’t cross the extra-tall fence you’ve erected.” The woman recognized the mischievous look in Evan’s eyes and understood the mocking comment about the fence as she instructed to her men, “Put out extra patrols. We don’t need a kid crushed on the beach when the icebreaker accidently shoves a large slab of ice onto shore.”

As the kids retreated to their bikes, Lukas pointed out, “Did you recognize the DARPA logo on their shirts? Same as those lab workers in the Haunted Mansion last year.” Evan keyed his walkie-talkie mic, “Calling all SNOOPS. Meet us at the arcade. We have a strip of the mummy’s bandage to show off.” Lukas (callsign Squints) added, “We need to gather gear to return to the beach to explore.” Evan quickly tried to intervene, “Squints! This is an open channel. Adults can listen it!” Lukas corrected his comment over the radio, “Ix na on the each bay. We need to go to the store to get peaches.” Eric voiced his own idea, “We’ll meet half-way… northeast corner of Hemingway Park.” Before leaving the hospital, Eric gathered gauze bandages from Jerry’s room and stuck them in his backpack.

5pm, Hemingway Park: Eric led them to where Jerry said he had encountered the mummy. It didn’t take long before Ein found a length of gauze bandage hanging on a bush. Eric thought to check behind the bush when a bird suddenly flushed out at the same time a girl squealed. When Anna Acker stepped out, Eric held his heart, “Dudette, you almost gave me a heart attack.” She was about to explain what she was doing, when Evan interrupted, “Go home Anna. We don’t need you.” They could still hear her crying on the other side of the park. Eric pointed out, “You’ll never get a girlfriend like that.” To which Ace reasoned, Who needs girls. Cooties.”

With all the kids milling around the area, it was a surprise Ein found prints in the sprinkler-soaked mud under the trees, “Over here, adult size.” Eric questioned, “When did 2,000-year-old Egyptian mummies start wearing heeled shoes? Do you have anything we can use to make a plaster cast of the shoe?” Lukas offered up a piece of paper to press over the print to get its outline and thus size. If only they had time to follow the tracks, “Let’s meet up after supper. Sleepover at Ace’s? Bring your flashlights and gear so we can return to the beach.”

6pm, Suppertime: No reason for the parents to be surprised at the kids scarfing down their food. Probably in a hurry to watch Friday shows of The Wonder Years or Family Ties with Michael Fox. But Eric had his own reason as he called his contact established last year, “Dr. Johan Kraft [The Haunted Mansion adventure]. Remember me? What can you tell me about DARPA out at Boulder Beach? My friends were run off by some of your co-workers. Dr. Mary Bloomington leads the team? Something about a 9^th dimension?! Would it have anything to do with a mummy?”

8pm, Tracks from the Park: At least the park was well lit at night. They followed the muddy tracks that led out of the park and along the sidewalk and up the steps to an apartment complex. Eric scanned the mailbox cluster for an Egyptian sounding name. Ace noticed the wet fingerprint on the one labeled Walter Bohm, “Smells antiseptic. I think we found our mummy in apartment #5, second floor.” Reasoning he might try to escape, Eric offered to cover the back while Ein and Lukas covered the front of the apartment complex.

Ace and Evan entered and climbed the stairs to then stand before the door. “Knock, knock.” Nothing. “KNOCK, KNOCK.” Still nothing. Ace put his ear to the door and could barely hear something inside. “Mr. Bohm, Boy-scout cookies. I have thin-mints.” Ace tried picking the lock… James Garner in the Private Investigator 1974 Rockford Files made it look so easy. At least Evan found a key under the welcome mat. Ace keyed his walkie-talkie “Beep, beep” as signal they were about to enter…

Eric found the fire-escape ladder at the back of the apartment building. He was just able to reach it with his lacrosse stick and pull it down. He climbed to the 2^nd floor patio with a folding chair and overflowing cigarette ashtray. At least the patio door was unlocked. He pulled the door open and stepped through the vertical blinds…

Ace lightly strummed “Walk Like an Egyptian” on his guitar as they stepped into the apartment, spotting someone sitting in a recliner with his back to them and reaching for a bottle on the end-table as he mumbled with a German accent, “Calling me, voices in my head, whose there? Ace and Evan could only see a partial view of the man completely wrapped in bandages. Well, almost completely… part of his arm and left cheek were exposed… and that part was invisible!

Eric had full view of the man in the recliner facing him! Not a man…. What did his grandfather call such beings? Skinwalkers! Eric turned in fright and hurried out the patio door and down the escape.

Meet Walter: Ein and Lukas had arrived at apartment #5’s front door in time to see the frightened look on Eric’s face before he bolted in retreat. They would have run too if Evan didn’t approach the man, “Here, let me get that drink for you.” Instead of the whiskey bottle, he offered a glass of water from the sink faucet. Ace kept Walter busy as the others searched the room. Evan went for the desk and the scattered papers across its top. Lukas scanned through the stack of mail on the end-table. Ein was drawn to the strange device (toaster-oven size) on the kitchen table. The closer he got; the more static electricity built up on his arms such that his hair began to stand on end. Deter him? Caution to the wind… Ein, began to press buttons. Visible electric arcs flowed up his finger and reached his wrist, before, “ZAP!”

Walter bolted upright in his chair, “NO! Don’t touch that!” Too late. Bandages fell from the man to reveal… not that they could see: an invisible man. Walter slurred the device description, “A DARPA program trying to control magnetron pulses to affect dimensions. We found a Loop hard-drive kids claimed transported them to another dimension [A Snowball’s Chance scenario]. I activated it in the lab and look at what happened to me! As if I’m between dimensions. But we also opened a portal to another dimension which sucked in an alien creature. It calls me. It offers me a cure. Yes, that’s why it called me to the beach. But I’m scared.”

Ein stared at his own right index finger… well, where it SHOULD be! It was invisible. He could feel it. Ein asked, “Walter, how long before I become completely invisible?”

And that’s when Eric entered the apartment, “Sorry guys, I got a little scared. I’m OK now.” He stepped to Walter’s phone and dialed, “Dr. Kraft, what do you know about a device Dr. Bohm was working on? Yes, we’ve found him and the device. Dr. Bloomington is looking for it too?” Eric hung up and relayed the news. None of the others trusted Kraft retrieving the device till Eric reminded, “He did help us earlier. Gave a lot of info. He might be able to find a setting to reverse the effect to help Ein. And you too Dr. Bohm.” But Walter had other plans, “No, I need to go to the beach. The alien is calling and offering me a cure.” Ace gathered a shirt and pants and hat to at least disguise him. And drew a face on the bandages wrapping his head.

9pm, Boulder Beach: Along the way, they discussed their plan. “We know Mary increased patrols and security. We’ll need a distraction. Walter, that’s where you come in: once there, remove your clothes and start knocking things over so we can sneak in too.” Evan offered, “I’ll rig my bullhorn with a timer to delay its squaw/squeal far from where we’ll cross the fence. Sounds like we need to get out to where the alien is. Maybe we can find info inside the command tent Lukas saw earlier.”

CLIMAX

[Evan made a Lead roll to build a Die Pool (4). They used one to heal Eric’s Frightened Condition.]

With all the kids huddled on the sidewalk, where they too heard the foghorn, they heard Walter’s description of the sound, “Hear the warbling pitch? That’s not foghorns but the alien calling. Ein, can’t you hear it too in your head?” But that is when the timer went off and they heard the bullhorn. “Time to go!” But Eric delayed them, “With the lake frozen, how are we going to cross the ice? I didn’t bring any ice-skates or crampons. Walter, how did you plan…” Only then did they realize Walter was a pile of clothing… the invisible man was off and running.

The kids rushed toward the fogbank and the fence and snuck across. It was chaos on the other side as they heard commands ordered and saw the silhouettes of people running. They crouched as they watched 3 men exit the tent and head towards the bullhorn, followed by Mary giving orders as she joined them, “It’s a different tone but it could be the alien come ashore. Be ready to corral it!”

They entered the tent where indeed they found a command setup: sleeping cots, a table with a radio and microphone, paperwork setup on another table. The radio crackled with someone continuing a conversation, “…traces. We must contain, they cannot break free. Keep broadcasting. They are playing a game... I’ll keep reporting from Alpha Gate.”

Ein and Evan scanned the paperwork, “Here’s a drawing of an egg-shaped being with multiple dangling appendages. It’s labeled DIM-9, as they describe it from the 9^th dimension. It’s been out there for a week, but the DARPA folks can’t communicate with it. So, they are just trying to keep it contained.”

SHOWDOWN

And that’s when Eric heard someone coming, walking along planks laid out on the sand. Evan and Ein hid behind boxes filled with rations. The others slipped out, under the tent, leaving the E’s to listen to Mary bark out more commands and continue with the radio conversation, “False alarm. It wasn’t the aliens coming ashore. Just kids playing pranks.”

Eric/Lukas/Ace rushed toward the shore without a real plan of action. Till they realized the fog wasn’t as thick as expected. Once at the shoreline, they could see out across Lake Meade. Only then did they realize man-made fog machines were cranking out the fake fog stretched across the beach only! At least they saw the hovercraft idling along the shore. You’d think Ace would drive since he had a license. Nope, Lukas stood at the controls as Ace directed, “Follow that sound!”

They raced north with Ace shouting over the drone of the hovercraft motor, “Didn’t Ein read something aloud about Gate Alpha. Isn’t that out near Black Island far to the north?” And that’s when they spotted another hovercraft racing north. Unmanned! But they realized, “Walter’s on that craft! Speed up!”

It looked like a 30ft tall egg hovering 20ft over the lake. And Walter slowed his craft underneath the alien. As they drew closer, that watched the dangling appendages stretch toward the craft with arcs of electricity extending toward the invisible driver. Walter was outlined by the electricity that levitated him upwards. They slowed to a stop within 15ft of the other craft, as they watched the electrical arcs take on a silvery sheen as if leeching something from Walter, because they could now see his bare skin.

And that’s when a 50ft tear in the fabric of space emerged over the alien. And the alien egg rose into the tear as if it a blackhole drawing the alien into another dimension. And that’s when the electrical arcs still touching Walter suddenly pulsed. And Walter was pulled to pieces! The last of a slivery sheen glob sucked into the tear which just as suddenly closed.

And the kids stood petrified. Was it because of what they just witnessed? Or the realization of what might have happened to Ein if he too had come along for the ride?!

EPILOGUE

Under construction as this is the last of the kids’ adventures in this thread of scenarios. 

Ace (Whitney): After watching a man get ripped to shreds, being 16 years old feels much different than 15. Ace must fix Ein's disappearing body & after seeing Trolls, Mummies & Monsters anything is possible. He now sits in his Oldsmobile Cutlass his parents gave him. Not the Rolls-Royce Gene Simmons drove for his first car, but it'll work. He flips through his driver's test manual & recalls saving his hypnotized parents. It made him realize how lucky he is to have a family that loves him. Although he gives them a hard time, he's making an effort to spend more time with them... In between band practice that is. His Kiss cover band performs for Patsy's canasta club in 2 weeks & he's got to be ready. He catches a glimpse of his walkie talkie, eagerly looking forward to the next time he'll hear those 3 sweet words... “Calling All Snoops”.

Eric (Mike): Over the past 2yrs, the Snoops have broken Eric out of his shell of shyness and lack of confidence. Eric was able to help his mom get a better job at the LOOP through his contact. She works better hours, and she seems to be happier. Eric tried writing comic books about their adventures but needs Ein to help him with the illustrations. Kinda weird watching Ein draw when I can only see a pencil moving and scribbling... But it gives Ein something to do. Checked in with my contact at the Loop to see if they can help Ein... No progress that I know of.

Ein (Joey): After Walter was torn to shreds, Ein headed to the hideout to think about what he should do. Soon he got an idea. The idea was telling his mom and getting a realistic skin suit to cover his invisible body. Even though his mom fainted while NOT seeing his body, she soon bought the skin suit. As the days went on, being in a skin suit let him be seen and thus he was able to keep his perfect attendance record. For the next 2 years, somehow, no one noticed it was a skin suit.

Evan (Jordan):After witnessing Walter’s horrific death, Evan's confidence falters. This could have all been avoided had he not encouraged his friends to push boundaries and poke their noses into all these strange happenings. Evan returns home, and begins devoting more time to school and studying and spending less time with his friends. His parents are glad to see him finally conforming, even suggesting he might work for Loop one day. His little sister, however, misses her fun-loving weirdo brother. She apologizes for how horrible she'd been, and wishes he'd go back to his old self. Evan gives her a reassuring hug and replies, "I love you too sis. The old Evan is gone, but his spirit lives on. I'm going to work hard, get a job and infiltrate The Loop. And one day, I'm gonna blow the lid wide open on their whole operation."

Lukas (Aaron):Lukas also turned their adventures into a comic book using fictitious names so as not to cause a ruckus with his classmates and friends. Years later down the road this whole experience gets Lukas to create a "choose your own fate" book with similar situations that the group faced but with different outcomes available per fate selected. As for his parents, he pretty much stayed silent about everything and didn't bother telling them because he didn't want his parents to worry about his mental health.

BACKGROUND- The basics although I modified a few details:

Walter Bohm is a West German guest researcher at DARPA. He brought a few “borrowed” appliances from work, appliances he rigged up in the apartment and used for experiments on the effect of magnetron phenomena on light. At the end of September, a malfunction badly burned his face, hands, arms and upper body. The burns healed faster than they should have, but the affected parts have now become almost transparent. The condition worsened such that Bohm’s entire body became invisible within a month. As he tinkered on the device trying to correct the effect, he became disillusioned and began walking the beach, wrapped in gauze. It is Bohm’s nightly walks that have given rise to rumors that there is a mummy on the loose!

DIM-9S: DARPA opened a dimensional gate (near Alpha Gate) through which the DIMs were sucked into our world. Now Lake Meade is wrapped in fog and covered with thin ice per their presence to accommodate their climatic needs. DARPA agents have formed a barrier around the gate to contain them as they try to study them. The foreign beings are called “DIM-9”, simply because they are believed to come from the ninth dimension. The current problem is that the DIM-9s are stuck in our dimension and starting to feel restless and hungry about something that is unclear. There is also something at Boulder Beach that attracts them. Something they think can help them get home.