Episode 2 - Investigators have kidnapped "Clarissa"

[Cthulhus_Voicemail]

My group just started Episode 2 yesterday and things are moving rather fast. To introduce a new female PC, I declared her to be Clarissa Thurber's roommate, and recognizing that she was behaving oddly.

This PC (and she cleared all this with me ahead of time) is a relative of Nathaniel Wingate Peaslee, researching his unusual fugue state (the Australian expedition still being five years in the future, she won't find much).

convinced of the similarity between Clarissa's unusual behavior and the stories she heard about Nathaniel, after discussing this with the other Investigators decided to drug Clarissa with ether, kidnap her, interrogate her, and now that "Clarissa" is good and surly, she has threatened to torture "Clarissa" for information. We ended the session on a cliffhanger with her heating a fireplace poker (I made her have to fail a SAN roll to consider going through with this plan).

This is, unsurprisingly, moving much faster than I had anticipated, though the players are enjoying themselves with this. I have two weeks to figure out what comes next.

two possibilities come to mind:

1) "Clarissa" spills the beans and the PCs have a much easier time disrupting the Mi-Go operatives' efforts.

2) Laslow/Jarvis intervenes - the PCs have discussed their concerns regarding the altered students with "Professor Harrold," who may have assigned the psychic assassin to watch them - under cover of his ability to cloud minds, he could have witnessed the abduction.

what would you do, fellow Keepers?

[Mike M]

option 2

[morganhua]

Option 2, but I would make it seem like Clarissa is doing the "alter reality."  Have Jarvis time it so it appears that Clarissa is affecting the PC just as she is about to use the poker. Maybe make the nearest PC look like a creature ready to attack the PC with the poker, so the PC with the poker attacks the other PC, and use the distraction to free Clarissa.