Timewatch: Session Five

Leaving last session's dinner party, the group heads back to the Citadel for a quick regroup and identity change before leaping forward in time. They return to London in May 1930 at a swanky party that HRH Prince Edward is attending, where in theory he meets Wallis and her then-husband, Ernest Simpson. 

Caroline and Jason keep the same personas, and thus are recognized by the people they met at the weekend in the country. Freda in particular seems very interested in Caroline and invites her to stay at her house, determined to find her a suitable husband and keep her around. Caroline, who is likewise interested in Freda, maintains her cool, keeping the conversation open. 

Solomon acts as a photographer at the party, documenting and seeing how the crowd interacts. He's the observer, looking for things that might be out of place. 

Micah's persona is very much himself, but as a captain after the WWI who stayed in England. He's a fish out of water a bit, but can play up the whole American thing and get more information than he otherwise might have access to. 

Kurosawa takes on the role of an ambassador from the Empire of Japan, who speaks well of 1930s Germany and hints at strong relationships to be. Fruity Metcalfe is there talking with Sir Oswald Mosley (founder of the British Union of Fascists), and the two of them are holding court with a whole host of politicians. It seems fascism is rising ahead of schedule in Britain, at least in the Prince of Wales' circles. 

Micah sets himself to find out about Thelma Furness, who is throwing this party for the Prince. She's in the receiving line, but her husband (1st Viscount Furness) is nowhere to be seen. He discovers that she and her husband are estranged and he has nothing to do with her social life. It's suspected they may separate soon, particularly if her relationship with Prince Edward continues to flourish. 

Jason is able to approach the prince after his arrival, whereupon it's clear that HRH's relationship with Ward is fading and Thelma is moving into his sights. The prince is sulky and annoyed, and only seems to brighten up when the talk of politics moves to his right to rule and how he might help the people if only he was unrestrained by Parliament. 

Solomon is photographing the group of politicians around Sir Oswald, who is speaking and attracting quite a crowd. Above them in the image he sees a shimmer, much like the one they saw in 1980s Edinburgh over the street. Using a filter to isolate psychic energy, he sees a field that looks like tendrils most strongly from the shimmer to Oswald, but then to a lesser extent to all the politicians in the crowd. 

Caroline continues talking with Freda and asks about an American friend of Thelma's named Wallis. Freda thinks for a moment, and then confirms that she's heard of her and might have met her in Paris once, but she died years ago in DC, when she was having an affair with an Argentinian diplomat. Things went wrong and she got in the family way, and then something went wrong when she was "taking care of it." AKA, she died while getting an abortion. She never met Simpson or the Prince of Wales. It was quite the scandal at the time. 

At the same time, Fruity Metcalfe came over to Kurosawa and asked him to step into a private room, as he would very much like to discuss diplomatic matters with a man of his "vision." They go inside and Kurosawa notices that Metcalfe is moving somewhat stiffly all of a sudden. Once the door is closed, Kurosawa starts into conversation when Metcalfe attacks him. They trade blows, but Kurosawa uses his PaciFist to subdue Metcalfe, rendering him unconscious. Jason and Micah arrive as Kurosawa is finishing the job. Micah tags Metcalfe and takes him back to the Citadel to observe him and figure out why he attacked, while the rest investigate what just happened. 

Solomon weighs in and notes that there was a flare of psychic energy before Metcalfe left the group of politicians. Micah's analysis, as he notes when he returns a millisecond later, is that Metcalfe was under psychic control and will not remember anything of his actions. When Caroline weighs in as well, it becomes clear there's some form of intrusion going on, and that they need to prevent Wallis Spencer's untimely death in 1924 in Washington DC. Who's trying to stop them, though, and what does it all mean? And what's with the shimmering spots in the air? More to come!