10.5 Consequences – A Call from Sabrina

This topic has 52 replies, 26 voices, and was last updated 7 years ago by Violet.

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    • #25768
       Bryan Bishop
      Participant

      It’s been quiet all day save for the Facebook post, but at 5:20PM I received a phone call from Sabrina… and of course I was away from my phone and picked it up just as it dropped. She called back a moment later.

      “Hey tough guy,” she said. “That was pretty brave what you did yesterday.”

      I told her it was the only choice I could have made. Then she wanted to know if I’d always known I would have made that decision. I told her the truth: that I wanted to make sure that the community had a chance to argue out their points, but that my first inclination was to vote the way I ended up going.

      “Either way I was impressed. Would you like to learn the consequences of your actions?”

      Obviously, I told her I would. She said we were going to be making a phone call together, but she wasn’t going to say anything. And I would be allowed to say only one thing: “Look at your bank account.” Anything else, and the call would be terminated.

      (As an aside – this Sabrina takes no shit, and does not mince words. It’s hard to not be impressed by how no-nonsense she is.)

      The woman picked up: “Hello.” I told her to look at her bank account. I did not recognize her voice, but she recognized mine: “Bishop?,” she asked. I told her to look at her bank account again.

      That’s when she got scared.

      She asked why I was calling her, clearly upset at the prospect of what was going to happen next. “Do you know where I live? Are you coming for us?”

      It registered in my mind that she wasn’t just scared. She was scared because it was me.

      That’s when Sabrina jumped on the line. “Lisa, calm down,” she said. Lisa didn’t recognize Sabrina’s voice at first, but it clicked when Sabrina told her to calm down again. But that didn’t really work. Lisa asked how she could be calm when the offices were empty, and “now there’s a participant calling me?”

      “Perhaps these things are related,” Sabrina said, and then told Lisa to shut her mouth for two seconds to find out why. (Her words.) She asked me to repeat the question. Lisa did… and started laughing in relief. In the background, she asked somebody to come in the room with her (it seemed like it was a family member).

      There was $1 million in her bank account.

      “I think you’ll find that this is just the beginning of a more than generous severance package,” Sabrina told her. They just asked that she adhere to the NDA’s she had signed, or there would be consequences.

      Sabrina then had one final request for Lisa: “Tell Bryan thank you.”

      “Thank you, Bryan,” she said. The call ended.

      There’s a lot to take in and process about this, but I’m going to be very honest with all of you. In the course of a couple of moments I felt what it was like for somebody to be scared of me, and then overjoyed. I had an opportunity to take matters into my own hands yesterday, and do what I thought was the right thing. I did that, and it helped somebody.

      That feels pretty fucking good.

    • #25769
       Chelsea
      Participant

      Well that’s not the way I saw this going.

    • #25770
       Violet
      Participant

      Holy shit…this is fucking wild!

    • #25771
       Lia
      Participant

      So this pencil pusher knew your voice, eh? Maybe she had one of the more involved jobs?

    • #25772
       Kyle Bown
      Participant

      *searches the sky for the other shoe*

    • #25773
       Brad Ruwe
      Participant

      “That feels pretty fucking good.”

      Something tells me that feeling won’t last very long, knowing how OSDM/ODSM likes to so things.

      But enjoy that feeling.

    • #25774
       Addison
      Participant

      Though there is no doubt a catch, because there’s always a catch.. that’s still really fucking cool. Very happy that you got to share that good news!!

    • #25775
       Mike
      Participant

      I also got a call.

      Phone rang and it was Sabrina. Right away I could tell she was in a different demeanor. Definitely more serious/straight to the point. She told me to get a pen and paper and to write down 4 questions.

      1) Your son ***** is 17 correct?
      2) He wanted to attend (insert college name here), but wasn’t ready was he? Why?
      3) How much was tuition?
      4) Mrs. ****, tell your son he no longer has to worry about his education. All bills will be covered by your husbands previous employer.

      Then Sabrina told me that she would be connecting me with someone and I would be asking these 4 questions to the wife of an employee that Bryan….”saved” (my emphasis, not hers). I edited certain details above for this person and her son’s privacy (especially because he’s a minor).

      We got disconnected and Sabrina called back, obviously miffed about the disconnect. We finally got connected and I asked these questions. The woman seemed very confused and borderline scared. She asked a couple times who I was and how I knew certain things. I ran through the questions and after I said number 4, she said “What??” and the phone went dead.

    • #25776
       Kortney
      Participant

      This is highly suspicious. This is going to come back and bite us in the future.

    • #25777
       KINGKILL33
      Participant

      That is definitely a surprise turn of events from what the majority thinking was. It’s great to hear that things turned out for Lisa on a positive note, but somewhere in my gut, I have this feeling like it’s all gonna go bad for her soon. Waiting for that rug to get pulled out from underneath us when we’re least expecting it. Hopefully Lisa rides off into the sunset, $1 million richer and safe, I just have my suspicions this might not be the case.

    • #25778
       Mike
      Participant

      Reading through Bryan’s post, this will no doubt come back to bite us in the ass. It feels pretty good? You did this all on your own got all these people money. It does feel good right?

      Bullshit. The money came from somewhere. It’s blood money. @bcbishop You’re going to have a target on your back because of this from someone. There’s no way OSDM is a charity organization. Something bigger is looming.

    • #25779
       KINGKILL33
      Participant

      Damn @mike, that’s one hell of a call as well!

    • #25780
       Jackie
      Participant

      Just catching up to everything.

      Holy shit-balls, but it seems like such a wholesome ‘ending?’, ‘Intermission?’,’Distraction?’ I love it. Money solves everything, huh?

    • #25781
       Brad Ruwe
      Participant

      Something something too good to be true something.

    • #25782
       Melissa
      Participant

      “severance package”

      I’m putting down $5 that as soon as @bcbishop hung up with Lisa the millionaire lost her head.

      I kid.

      I wonder if this Lisa Stanley, the OOA Receptionist? That way she may recognize Bryan’s voice…

    • #25783
       Vox Chaotica
      Participant

      I, for one, am more than willing to look the other way when it comes to gift horses such as these. What could possibly go wrong?

    • #25784
       Meghan Mayhem
      Participant

      Sounds to me like this Lisa person knew that Bryan had her fate in his hands, which is why she was nervous when she realized it was him.

    • #25785
       Bryan Bishop
      Participant

      Be angry all you like, @mike. All money is blood money at the end of the day.

      I’m curious if we spoke to the same woman though. When did your call from Sabrina come in?


      @mkarrett
      Definitely wasn’t Lisa Stanley. I’ll never forget the sound of her voice in the OOA bathroom…

    • #25786
       Kevin
      Participant

      The call @mike received makes it seem like the money was a pay out for her husband’s death. “Husband’s former employer” is the tip off and doesn’t sound like a relocation.

    • #25788
       Megan
      Participant

      Was she calling @mike because of his opposition to @bcbishop’s decision yesterday?

      Bryan, you told me to be careful, now it’s my turn. Be careful.

    • #25789
       Violet
      Participant

      Yeah, I totally feel like this is gonna end well for everyone…

    • #25790
       Chelsea
      Participant

      Got a call as well. The person we tried calling didn’t pick up, so we are trying again in a half hour.

    • #25791
       Lauren Bello
      Moderator

      I too am confused by the notion of layoffs rather than relocation. Also:

      So this pencil pusher knew your voice, eh? Maybe she had one of the more involved jobs?

      That made me laugh. Yes, @lilmsfancpants. Sounds like Lisa wasn’t entirely in the dark.

    • #25792
       Cristen
      Participant

      This is heartening news for now. Just hoping that these actions don’t have equal and opposite reactions, for once.

    • #25793
       Russell
      Participant

      I would love to know the specifics of these NDA’s Bet they are pretty strict.

      Also, a severance package is often tied to longevity with a company and sometimes even performance.

      I bet everyone involved in this will not be happy with their “package.”

    • #25794
       Jackie
      Participant

      So what does this mean for the game, what are we participants of, if everyone is gone?

    • #25795
       Meghan Mayhem
      Participant

      Trusting Sabrina seems…dangerous. She tricked and used us in the past, there is zero reason for her to encourage our BOS-driven mission of taking down the OSDM right now, and she only 2 days ago told Hannah she had no free will. She’s proving something to us with this, and we don’t fully understand what it is yet. The other shoe is dangling mid air and when it hits the ground, it’s gonna be a doozy.

    • #25796
       Mike
      Participant

      @bcbishop My anger is for another thread at another time, right now, let’s just focus on these calls and figure out what’s going on.

      My call came in at around 5:30


      @kevin
      – I was thinking something like that. Perhaps this was the company’s insurance money for “accidental employee death” or something like that? If they’re paying for college tuition, how much more are they possibly keeping?

      HOLY FUCKING SHIT. I JUST THOUGHT OF SOMETHING

      The fucking detective from last year that Four offed was looking into Insurance claims!

      HOLY FUCK!!

      This is email he originally sent me

      Mike,

      This is going to sound crazy but a google alert led me to your facebook profile and… it’s hard to know where to begin but I’ll try and be as concise as possible but it’s been a long road…

      First off I am an investigator, nothing sexy like tv or anything, just mainly tailing low level insurance claims but about 15 years ago I was put on a path I still can’t shake and this is where I’d like some help from you possibly…

      I’ll start from he beginning. One of my insurance companies put me on the tail of a handful workman’s fraud cases coming out of a local pipe fitting plant… Normally I’d follow this trail and find a couple of guys pretending to have hurt backs and then drinking at the VFW but this one got real weird real quick.

      First off, there were five old timers, you’d think that five claims at the same time at the same factory would trigger something and it did, but that wasn’t the most unusual part. Their families all said they had been distant and acting a bit off and after tailing one I was led to the other four… They’d all been commuting during the day to a strange strip mall “church” two towns away…… a full three damn hours away from their jobs. Well I am pretty decent at my job and it’s usually not hard so they were all busted and lost the claims.

      Now normally that would be the end of the story EXCEPT ten years ago I got a call for a questionable life insurance claim…. Four guys, all died in a house fire… the beneficiary and the policies where both a church… this “Church of Anoch”…. I knew that sounded familiar then I realized. It’s the same church from the strip mall the pipe fitters where going to and … sure as shit, the dead guys where four of the five old timers. Well I naturally flip out as this clearly smells criminal and start asking my local PD buddies to look into it but there is one problem… by the time we do the “Church” is gone. No sign of anything, no leads, no trails anywhere… My friends at the company said they never pursued the claim again.

      It has literally been on my back since that day just EATING at me… how the hell does an entire church disappear? I couldn’t let that go. Every once in a while I would get a trickle or two from people in town who had a story about the weird people that would go in and out of the place but the whole thing started to feel like a weird dream that never actually happened but still, I couldn’t shake that these guys deaths weren’t an accident and so… I search about twice a month or so and that’s when I got a hit on “Anoch” being mentioned in this …Tension Experience Alternate Gaming Reality thing ( I had to do some research to figure out what the hell that was and it still sounds like a funny concept to a guy like me) but I have to follow this lead. Now, honestly, my guess is whoever is behind this probably heard tales of our town’s weird little church and decided to fold it into the narrative of their crazy game but if they haven’t I’m afraid they might be the same people and they maybe recruiting a certain “type”. Sorry, I don’t want to offend you with that BUT there was talk that the Church of Anoch was using puzzles and tricks in the local paper’s classified and help wanted section so this G.A.R. as crazy as it sounds, would be right up their alley for recruitment. One of my PD psych buddies thinks it might make sense they’d prey on vulnerable people looking for mysteries in the everyday world or something like that.

      I know it’s crazy to fly out just to hunt down 15 year old not-quite-a-case, but I got a brother out here and I’d love fifteen minutes of your time if you have it.

      Desperate to put his behind me,
      Robert “Bob” Jones

    • #25797
       Kristin
      Participant

      All of this is just SUS. No fucking way are things going to end on a good note.

    • #25798
       Megan
      Participant

      @mike – holy shit, totally forgot about that!!

    • #25799
       Hannah Schenck
      Participant

      Welp. That was a whopping 5 min of feel goods before the harsh truth revealed itself. RIP Lisa’s husband.

    • #25800
       Mike
      Participant

      @coryphella – right? It’s just theorizing based on where money could possibly come from, but if it is from insurance, I think we might be onto something

    • #25801
       Megan
      Participant

      @mike – so you’re saying that possibly that was another “reduction?” But I’m not sure that makes sense, because the 5th guy survived, right?

    • #25802
       Mike
      Participant

      @coryphella – Not necessarily the same situation as this. You never pull the same trick/heist/job twice because you start forming a pattern and are caught more easily. Even though the insurance fraud would be the same thing, the way to get to that point could be changed. I don’t think they’d have more fires with Anoch churches being the beneficiaries.

      So what is OSDM set something else up. A data center with 91 employees where the beneficiary was an actual person, not a church? That way, they can dole out money to relatives, but still keep the lion’s share.

      If the end goal is money, insurance fraud is easy due to how many different names/companies there are. We now know OSDM was behind it all from the very beginning and they seem to be smart enough to start something else with the same end goal without getting caught…and if someone is onto them, like Bob Jones, then they take care of him.

      Oh shit…realizations sucks sometimes

    • #25803
       Nicole Mae
      Participant

      All I’m hung up on is Mike writing 4, 4 times… You trying to tell us something bud?

    • #25804
       Chelsea
      Participant

      Just made a call with Sabrina. I was told to disguise my voice and tell him his Chase mortgage had been completely paid off. If he asked who I was, I was to say that I was with the OSDM.

      Him: Hello?
      Me: Hi, your Chase mortgage has been completely paid off.
      Him: Bullshit. Who the hell is this?
      Me: I’m with the OSDM.
      Him: Wait, this is real? You’re with the OSDM?
      Me: Yes, it’s real.
      Him: I own the house? I’m on my second mortgage to pay my wife’s medical bills. Thank you. Thank you so much.
      Me: You’re welcome.

    • #25805
       Drew Huntley
      Participant

      @bcbishop The higher you fly, the farther you fall…

    • #25806
       Mike
      Participant

      @maenicole – Nothing is random <3

    • #25807
       Julie R Goldstein
      Participant

      Anoch provides for those who are worthy of his light.

    • #25808
       Kevin
      Participant

      @chelsea Did you recognize the man’s voice at all? It sounds like he might have recognized yours, but why not ask Mike or Bryan to disguise their voices too. Especially if the woman seemed aware of who Bryan was and why he might be calling.

    • #25809
       Mike
      Participant

      @kevin – She did ask me to disguise my voice. Sorry for not including that in my post :/

    • #25810
       Chelsea
      Participant

      @kevin I didn’t recognize it, but I am embarrassingly bad at voices and people.

    • #25811
       KINGKILL33
      Participant

      Ok ok, for real though… no one gets a $1 million or their mortgage paid off without a paper trail. Try sending a person $10,000 and see how fast the IRS is in your ass. Something doesn’t add up here. We have no idea who these people are, even much less, have confirmation that this is who we are talking to. Just another ploy by your friendly OSDM. Just waiting for that one, two punch.

    • #25812
       Cristen
      Participant

      The disguising voices thing is a bit odd; these are supposedly pencil pushers and office workers, etc, why would they know our voices that well?

      I’m also cross posting from Slack but this whole thing reminds me of the tasks @thebuz did for Noah. He gave a nice gift to someone, it made him feel great, and then he was asked to take something away from a person who trusted him. Give and take away. I wonder if we’ll see the flip side of all these good deeds at some point.

    • #25813
       Addison
      Participant

      Disguising voices would definitely mean the people on the other end would otherwise recognize them like with @bcbishop.

      And 91 employees is enough to monitor the active LA folks.

      That must be who these people are, right?

    • #25814
       Julie R Goldstein
      Participant

      Sabrina called me from an unblocked number.

      Said she didn’t have much time and to write down:

      – How is your son doing?

      – I know he has AMP (might have gotten the disease wrong)

      – Tell her to go to the door. Someone is waiting for her.

      She connected me to a woman. She didn’t trust me. I didn’t give her my name. I told her I was a participant. I asked about her son and after a bit of persuading got her to go to the door. I couldn’t hear well. It sounded like it was a doctor or someone from a hospital to see her son. I assume to help get him appropriate medical care.

      It disconnected. Sorry for the rush here and periscope. In the middle of an errand for another cult.

    • #25815
       Shaun
      Participant

      Is the BOS still so sure they want to shut OSDM down? OSDM is like Ebenezer Scrooge at the end of A Christmas Carol right now.

    • #25820
       Lawrence Meyers
      Participant

      Tell me, boy, what day is it?

      Today? Why, it’s Christmas.

      Then I haven’t missed it!

    • #25824
       Bryan Bishop
      Participant

      Reading through all of these calls from last night, and I keep coming back to the same thing:

      There is no black-and-white “good” or “evil” in this world. There are only shades of grey.

      Assuming something is evil, without any sense of nuance, and should therefore be destroyed is simply wrong. Reckless. Assuming something else is noble and wholly good is simply wrong, and reckless.

      And even if one insists on adhering to those constructs, sometimes helping the side one thinks is “bad” does something wonderful. And sometimes helping the side one thinks is “good” results in a family dying.

      If there’s a true enemy here, it’s absolutism. That shuts us down, keeps our thoughts constrained, and prevents us from seeing the bigger picture. It makes friends take sides against one another, without really understanding why.

      When you shake those chains off, anything is possible.

      • #25825
         Chelsea
        Participant

        If there’s a true enemy here, it’s absolutism.


        @bcbishop
        This. So much this.

      • #25827
         Russell
        Participant

        Also, @bcbishop, if you lock yourself away from the world because you believe you are “right” – it blinds you to the actions of both friends and enemies. It makes you much more vulnerable.

    • #25833
       Violet
      Participant

      @bcbishop YES. Every single bit of that.

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