Ended a case yesterday, so I can finally reveal that this whole case was inspired by this song. Here's last time.
So! We're in the ER with Mercy Williams as she talks to a young man named Jonah Waters who just crashed his car. The envoys have some theories that water might play into this case, so she asks what he took the pill with (he admitted to taking a klonopin right before the wave of panic hit and he drove off). He says just a sip of water, so maybe that theory will pan out.
The other three envoys meet up at the Crab Pot to go over what they've found so far (Mercy joins via phone, since she's at work). Amelia Rostov brings salmon burgers since she doesn't have a lot of info to share. Ultimately they decide that since it's not terribly late, they'll road trip to Anchorage and try and find Charlotte's younger sister Tammy; maybe she'll be more helpful than her mother was. Amelia (grumbling, because she hates going to Anchorage), Britt Lepus, and Nicholas Failor hop in a car and head north.
As they get closer, Britt slides into Tammy's DMs (I mean, not like that) and tells her that she's from a community organization in Seward and they'd like to talk about Charlotte. Tammy responds; she's at a ball game for her high school (I don't know if that timing works and I don't care). The envoys show up and Tammy talks to them in public; a dude in a letter jacket lurks nearby, watching them. Tammy ain't dumb.
Amelia talks to her and learns that Tammy hadn't seen Charlotte since Christmas, and hadn't even talked to her in a month before she died. She says that Charlotte went out to a lot of parties and did a lot of drugs, but that she didn't have any close friends - other than Bernard. Who's Bernard? Bernard Ferrand, a guy she went to high school with, who also lives in Seward. Tammy refers to him as "Bern" and it clicks - Charlotte wasn't saying "burn", she was saying "Bern."
Amelia leaves Tammy her card and the envoys head back to Seward. Mercy does a little online digging and finds Bern's website - he's an aspiring comic artist and he has online portfolios, but not a lot of social media presence. Mercy sends him a message and finds his address, but the envoys decide against knocking this late. Nicholas offers to watch his place, but they decide that's a little more stalker-y than they're comfortable with right now.
In the morning, they get back together and head over to his apartment. Nicholas and Mercy wait in the car while Britt and Amelia go and knock. After some quick explanation at the door, Bern lets them into his studio apartment (he wins immediate points with Britt because he has a cat).
Bern tells them that Charlotte texted him the night she died; he shows them the text. It just says "come get me." He tearfully tells them that the text didn't come through until 2AM and he was already asleep, and he quite clearly blames himself. The envoys tell him this isn't on him - Charlotte was on a self-destructive path regardless of what he did, and even if he'd gotten the text he might not have been able to save her.
He shows them some of his art - he's been drawing a comic called Burn & Char since high school, about two demons who escape from Hell and go to Alaska. He says that he and Char dated for a brief period in high school, but that's not where their chemistry was. He also says that he tried for years to get her to get help and admit she was depressed, but she never did. She basically didn't know what to do with herself after high school, and just kind of spiraled, but she could always find a party and someone to get her high.
Britt asks if he's seen anything weird lately, and Bern pretty much figures out what she's asking - he says he's never seen a ghost, but he's open to the idea (he jokes that his agreement with his cat, Merthus, is that the cat will tell him if there are ghosts and in return he gets to be a lazy asshole all the time). They leave him a card and go and meet up.
Tonight is the party on the yacht, and they don't know what's going to happen, but between the party and the fact that DJ Killer Bigfoot is playing, they're pretty sure Charlotte will put in an appearance. Nicholas gets himself on the team that's loading stuff onto the boat, Mercy has finagled being on the medical staff, and Britt and Amelia just buy tickets. Nicholas notes that the captain and much of the crew is Russian (but doesn't notice anything shady; it's not a mafia boat or something), and the water company rep running the party is a woman referred to as "Freddie."
The boat launches and heads out into Resurrection Bay! Amelia posts up at the stern of the boat (note: I know that there is lots of correct terminology about boats and ships and the difference thereof, but I am not hip to it). Mercy is in the cabin at the medical station, Nicholas is floating throughout carrying shit around, and Britt is closer to the cabin near the DJ booth. And then Britt spots Charlotte moving through the crowd.
She's not bumping into people or moving through them, just kind of walking around them and they instinctively sort of avoid her. They don't seem to be noticing her, and Britt can see the red haze coming off her as she walks. She also seems to be raising the temp, as people she passes sweat and fan themselves. Britt alerts the others and follows her, trying to get her attention. Charlotte briefly makes eye contact and Britt feels herself back in Vegas for just as second - she tastes sand in the air and remembers what happened.
Amelia walks up to her as well and tries to touch her shoulder. Charlotte glances at her and Amelia looks out at the black infinity of the ocean and panics, but gets herself under control quickly. Then Charlotte vanishes. ("DAMMIT.") None of the envoys can see ghosts easily, but Nicholas is pretty good at sensing the Unknown generally, so he heads over and focuses. He feels her presence near the railing, and she's agitated - not panicked, but getting there. Nicholas realizes that this is the first post-mortem event she's been at where she can't just walk away (or maybe she thinks she can't; who knows how ghosts and the ocean work).
The envoys go over to where Nicholas senses her and try to get her attention, telling her that Bern is on his way to get her. He doesn't get to finish, however, as the speakers kick on and DJ Killer Bigfoot starts the show! Loud music, strobes, and dancing ensue, and Charlotte doesn't respond, at least not directly. The envoys see the whole place, the whole deck of the boat, turn into the warehouse where she died. The railings melt away and become the walls, the stage and the lights change to reflect that night, there's even confetti in the air.
And everyone panics, obviously. Amelia touches Britt and uses Disrupt, and the boat comes back for a second, but Britt is able to use that to fight through the illusion. Mercy feels her way over to the railing and very nearly goes over it, but orients herself and gets people to move away. Amelia goes to the DJ booth and gets Bigfoot's attention, and he hits the panic button, the music stops, the lights kick on.
Freddie, the organizer, comes up, and Mercy tries asking her about the ingredients to the water, where she got the ice, basically laying the groundwork for a "everyone was drugged" kind of explanation. Amelia tries to send out a dedication from Bern to Char, but if it does anything the envoys don't see it. Amelia, however, sees everyone in the crowd start to bleed from the mouth, nose, and eyes, and she recoils. She contacts Lila, the HQ's counselor, tells her Bern's address, and tells her to get him to come to the docks now. Nicholas does sense Charlotte moving through the crowd, and then Mercy spots a crewman running out of the cabin in a panic, yelling in Russian. She tries to tackle him but misses, and he jumps overboard.
She sounds the alarm and the crew leaps into action. Meanwhile Britt and Amelia find Charlotte, once again visible, at the front of the boat. Britt goes up to talk to her and Amelia affixes a chapstick to the bottom of her cane to draw a Line of Defense, but that just has the effect of trapping Britt and Charlotte in the same place. Charlotte still isn't saying much, but Britt feels herself losing cognizance - Britt has indulged in chemical refreshment before and this feels very much like being on ketamine.
Amelia steps over the line to try and talk with Charlotte, and nearly falls asleep; it feels like the drunken exhaustion at the end of the night. She holds on, though, and tells Charlotte that Bern is in the parking lot waiting to take her home. Britt tries to step over the Line but misses and disrupts it, but Charlotte stays at the front of the boat.
The boat eventually arrives in port and the envoys see Lila waiting with Bern. They walk up to them and Bern leads them (and Charlotte) to his car, opens the door, and lets her in. The envoys jump in their car and follow him as he drives her to her house, and then he stops in front of it, gets out, and sinks to the ground crying.
He tells them that as soon as they pulled up, she vanished. There was some confetti on the seat and he picks it up and drops it, but it fades away as it falls. Britt senses the Unknown, but there's nothing. They seem to have put Charlotte to rest.
Bern asks what the hell is really going on, and Amelia says that she's willing to explain it, but once he knows, he knows. She advises him to think about whether that's something he wants in his life, and he says he'll give that some thought.
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