Transcriber: Jess (JortsMachoooo#6341)
[Music begins: TANAGER. PERFECT. TOUCHPAPER.]
Austin (narrating): The red light. The anomaly. The form in the sea. Those who watched and waited for what was to come used many names for the object approaching Oxbridge from the north. For those in the Organization for the Foundation of the Orion Republic, who had begun a guerilla campaign in the city in the months prior, it was simply called a distraction. O.F.O.R. was nothing if not single-minded. They had no plans for structural or political reform. No interest in long term alliance building. No shift in hierarchies, save one. To bring Orion out from under the feet of the Princepts, and to legally recognize the Nine Coronet—merchant princes, corporate chairs, guild leaders, and union bosses—as de facto heads of state. Weeks of hit-and-run attacks throughout the city towards these ends had just boiled over into pitched battles, and they were winning. Why should they stop now? Just because a red sheet was moving through the ocean? This was at best unrelated to their cause. Perhaps it was even something that would benefit them. And at worst, it would be just another loyalist ploy. Again, a distraction. But the Organization for the Foundation of the Orion Republic carried a familiar tragic flaw. They believed they knew everything large that moved on Partizan. They were wrong. But Sovereign Immunity knew better, which was why—just minutes after a gathering to celebrate a fallen comrade’s bravery—he brought his grieving allies together to implore them to do one thing. Flee.
[Music ends]
Art: I don’t even know how to start with this. Oh, the—is The Figure—is The Figure with me?
Dre: Uh, if you want them to be, yeah.
Art: Um, also, is The Figure right or is Bismuth right? What’s the—
Dre: Uh...I think—
Art: What’s—what’s the shorthand here?
Dre: I have been thinking of them as Figure, but—
Art: Alright.
Dre: I think either one is fine.
Art: Alright.
[Pause]
Art [as Sovereign Immunity]: It’s Clementine. It’s Clementine in a giant glass palace [soft laughter in the background] full of robot dogs and—someone said there was a good sandwich place—[Austin laughs] I can’t believe it. All this gla—all this glass and crystal. It’s just her.
[Pause]
Sylvi [as as Ver'million Blue]: You’re joking, right?
Art [as S.I.]: I—I fucking wish. [Sylvi sighs] She says that she can save Cas’alear like they saved...this—this gentleman.
[Austin and Sylvi laugh, Jack chuckles]
Sylvi [as Millie]: (Sarcastically) Oh she saves people now.
Art [as S.I.] (overlapping): Who I think we can all agree...is not not saved…
[Pause]
Dre [as The Figure in Bismuth]: I was one of the first. It’s a...easier process now.
Art [as S.I.]: And she can protect us from this red dot! [Pause] That she says is gonna kill all of us...in days. In days.
Keith [as Phyrigian]: What’s the dot?
Art: Uh, gestures at the sky?
Austin: Yeah it’s—it’s in the sea. It’s coming towards you in the sea at a great distance.
Art: Oh in the sea.
Austin: Yeah, yeah, yeah it’s standing in the ocean.
Art: I’m sorry.
Austin: It’s fine.
Art: Roll it back.
Austin: Yeah. [Ali snorts] It’s also in the sky. It’s tall. It’s as tall as a skyscraper—is the—is the Empire State Building in the sky?
Keith: Oh, so—oh, so it’s big.
Austin: (Quietly) This is like—
Keith (overlapping): So we can like see that there’s a big thing.
Austin: Yeah, it’s far, so you—scale is hard. But yes.
Keith: We can go see—we can go close, if we wanted to check it out.
Austin: Yeah—
Art: It doesn’t sound like that’s a good idea. But I don’t know. I don’t know what it is.
Keith: Out of character, it doesn’t sound like it’s a good idea based on Clementine Kesh.
[Pause]
Art: Uh-huh, I mean—I think it’s scary on its own, right?
Austin: Yeah it’s a—yes. It is scary on its own. [Pause] You live in a world with Divines. Like, you know, strange-thing-at-a-distance, that scale, very rarely means a good thing for the direct—the place that it’s going to.
Art [as S.I.]: That this’ll be here in a matter of days. That we are incapable of preparing. And that it will kill...everyone. That we can take refuge in her...floating glass Divine palace. [Austin laughs, long pause] Uh...yeah. It’s a big ask.
Ali [as Kal'mera Broun]: Why are you listening to her?
Art [as S.I.]: Oh, because she sent this...have you met The Figure in Bismuth?
Dre: They wave again.
[Ali and Austin laugh]
Ali [as Broun]: That’s—she sent someone? That’s your reason?
Art [as S.I.]: I didn’t know it was her. [Ali inhales deeply] This—The Figure came to me, said they could save Cas’alear, that I could—should go with them for an audience with—how did you put it again? Who was the audience with?
Dre [as Figure]: Uh, The Witch in Glass.
Ali [as Broun]: (Sarcastically) Got it.
Art [as S.I.]: The Witch in Glass! Who thinks that that’s Clementine Kesh? If I said “The Witch in Glass asked for you” and you said “Who’s tha—'' you—you would think that’s Clem?
Dre [as Figure]: I...apologize. I had never...known her by that name.
Art [as S.I.]: You’re doing great. Please.
[Austin chuckles]
Dre [as Figure]: I’ve never seen her get so flustered before.
Art [as S.I.]: Oh and she wants one eye [Austin laughs softly] and—
Ali [as Broun]: What?
Art [as S.I.]: —and the resin heart.
Sylvi [as Millie]: Oh, she wants stuff too.
Art [as S.I.]: Yeah, uh-huh.
Sylvi [as Millie]: (Sarcastically) Ok, cool…great...she’s fucking awesome…
Art [as S.I.]: I assure—I really—I really just need you to know that I’m with you here.
Ali [as Broun]: Then why are you saying it?
Art [as S.I.]: Because there’s a giant thing coming this way, and what if she’s right?
Sylvi [as Millie]: And what if she’s lying?
Art [as S.I.]: Yeah. I agree. That’s a real possibility.
Dre [as Figure] (overlapping): If you...if you doubt her veracity, I can—I can go look at it, closer, and report back.
Art [as S.I.]: Is that safe for you?
Dre [as Figure]: My services have been offered.
Art [as S.I.]: [Sigh] I mean we could do this, but I don’t—you know, I’ve only just met this—this—this gentleman and he—[Austin laughs] he seems very nice, but…
Ali [as Broun]: I don’t—[clears throat] I don’t really think of this as a priority to me, at this moment.
Art [as S.I.]: You don’t think that’s a priority? It’s coming!
Ali [as Broun]: I’m…[laughs] I...just left...a friend’s funeral. And I’m going home. And I don’t give a fuck. Why would you even come here and deliver her message for her? What is WRONG with you?
Art [as S.I.]: I think you’re in DANGER.
Ali [as Broun]: I’m going to bed.
Art [as S.I.]: Great, there’s no danger there.
[Soft laughter]
Ali [as Broun]: See ya. [Laugh]
[Austin and Ali laugh loudly]
Austin: I know they’re not, but in my mind, Broun is like—cause—Broun—you never described Broun as wearing formalwear to this or something, [Ali laughs] but I can’t help but imagine Broun holding their heels over their shoulder [Ali laughs again] while delivering this completely annoyed...just “exhausted at the end of this fucking day” energy, you know? Anyway. Is that the scene? [Ali chuckles] Does everyone go their own separate way now?
Sylvi: That—yeah—
Austin (overlapping): Ok.
Sylvi: —I don’t think I have anything else to say.
Austin: Alright.
Sylvi: I’m—(laughing) I’m going to the shooting range!
[Ali laughs]
Austin: Fair. I think—actually, before we leave this entirely, I think—Broun, as you’re leaving, I don’t know if you’re like walking down through the like (laughing) car park to a lower level to leave or what, but I think Jesset kind of like runs after you and this point—and I don;t know that he caught all of that. Maybe he was still inside the afterparty and like was...you know, like came out to overhear the big conclusion to that fight, or what. Or if he was there just being quiet, cause I’m sure other people were also there just being quiet during all that. But I think he’s like...one, drunk. Uh [laugh].
Ali: Great. [Laugh]
Austin: Two, uh, is like—
[as Jesset City]: [Sigh] Broun, I—I just—I [sigh]. I should have stepped in there. That was—there are—[sigh] I’m glad you and I are on the same page in this. I think this whole Witch in Glass thing, and—you know, like—
Ali [as Broun]: You and I are what?
Austin: And I think—[laugh] he’s taken aback by this, like—
Ali [as Broun]: Don’t speak for me, Jesset.
Austin [as Jesset]: I wasn’t speaking for—
Ali [as Broun] (overlapping): Do you need something?
Austin [as Jesset]: I was just saying that I...I think—I like to think—maybe I’m wrong to think—that you and I are aligned on things as far as Millenium Break and...Valence and...everything the—
Ali [as Broun]: No. No, no, no, no. You don’t get to speak about Valence. And you don’t get to pretend that me and you are ok. You’re not any better than them, Jesset.
Austin [as Jesset]: (Incredulous) I’m not better than Gucci Garantine?
Ali [as Broun]: No. ‘Cause Valence asked you for help, and you said “maybe next time.”
Austin [as Jesset]: I did not say “maybe next time.” I said “I wish I could do more” and I DID. [Ali sighs] You don’t think I’m torn up about this?
Ali [as Broun]: You don’t sound like you’re torn up about this. It sounds like you’re looking for a fight, and you’re trying to get me involved in it.
Austin [as Jesset]: (Harshly) Some of us grieve by punching our friends and some of us grieve by punching our enemies. I’m the latter. You wanna be the former, go ahead.
Ali [as Broun]: I already said, I’m going to bed.
Austin [as Jesset]: [Sigh] Have a good night.
[Ali laughs, Austin chuckles]
Austin: And uh, you know, lets you walk off. [Pause, Ali continues laughing in the background] There are sirens through the night, and the sound of violence, and all of that is normal compared to what you see when the day breaks. You know, [sigh] moving this way very slowly, from miles and miles off shore, but due to arrive by the end of the night, is...a structure, hidden behind a red curtain, and the curtain billows in the wind. It is like a centerpiece, or a...you know, something up for auction. The—the curtain behind—or, that surrounds it—does so in a way that’s almost alluring. And it slides through the ocean, waves crashing against it—this is so much, like, material. [Chuckle] You know? Like, what would it take to put...the Empire State Building behind—behind cloth? You know? Think about like when...David Copperfield made the—the Statue of Liberty disappear, but like the Statue of Liberty is small compared to certain skyscrapers, right? So—
Art: Well that was magic, so—
Austin: Oh, right, also that was magic.
Art (overlapping): —you’re saying this is magic?
Austin: Uh, it’s—it’s—you know. We’re here in the Principality, you know? Anything goes. That’s what they say. [Soft laugh, pause] So. And it’s getting closer, and it’s strange. Like, again, it’s just like—it’s a beautiful red curtain with some embroidery. You know, you can kind of look at it with a telescope at this point and get some—some detail. Some kind of gold embroidery...throughout it. Kind of a beautiful geometric pattern. [Art sighs] And it will be here tonight. You have the day. [Pause] Again, think about where you wanna do your downtime actions. You can do them here. You can do them not here. You don’t have to—uh, Austin wants to be clear—I want to be clear as like the GM, you don’t have to get onto this ship. If you decided “that thing is scary and I want to flee this city,” you could do it.
Austin (con’t): And in fact, that’s what many people have started to do, at the periphery of the city. The roads out are jammed up with traffic. Uh...but also, some people are just digging in tighter? The kind of two militant groups, and some local law enforcement, are all just kind of digging in more? At this point, like the Stel Orion military—which, as we know, is just like a bunch of PMCs like, for instance, the Society of Banners and Bright Returns—have kind of drawn their battle lines, and most of those squads are staying in place. But a lot of civilians are trying to get out or struggling to get out. You know, mass transit is being shut down—is being, you know, overcrowded. There’s only so many ways people can get out ahead of this strange thing arriving. Some people are like “No, this thing seems dope. [Chuckle] Can’t wait to see whatever this fucking thing is.” And...and that is the energy in this place. And again, you’re at this weird remove, because the SBBR base is just off—is just offshore at this lighthouse, so you know, you’re a little more safe from the violence than most. But, you know...
Austin: [Laugh] Yes! Yes. Dre says “Having alien welcome parties from Independence Day.” For sure. You know? [Pause] Any other downtime actions?
Jack: [Sigh] I keep looking at—it’s—overindulging is bad, is the problem.
Austin: Yeah.
Jack: And I have two Stress.
Austin: You would—
Jack (overlapping): But also—
Austin: Uh-huh.
Jack: —Kalar goes through Stress like nobody’s business.
Austin: That’s true.
Jack: I would probably overindulge, right?
Austin: You would have—
Keith (overlapping): Yeah.
Austin: —yes. [Laugh]
Keith (overlapping): A two-thirds chance.
Jack (overlapping): I would be much more likely—
Austin: Yeah.
Jack: Yeah.
Austin: Yeah.
Jack: —to overindulge than not. And when you overindulge, you...roll one more entanglement, or you take minus two trust with your patron. (Placing accent on the second syllable) Pat-ron? With your patreon. [Austin and Sylvi laugh] Or your pilot disappears for a few weeks.
Austin: Uh-huh.
Jack: None of which are great, honestly.
Austin: No.
Jack: Um...but is future me…(laughing) going to regret…
Austin: Not having this two Stress back?
Keith: I don’t think so.
Jack: That’s pushing myself twice.
Austin: No it’s not. It’s pushing yourself once.
Keith (overlapping): Well, is there something you can do...
Austin (overlapping): It’s helping twice.
Jack (overlapping): Oh, yeah.
Austin: Pushing is two.
Keith: ...is there something stressful you can do? That would be helpful to bump up your Stress, and then…
Jack: [Laugh] Oh, this is a dangerous game. Ooooh, this is a dangerous game...
Austin (overlapping): You’re starting to burn a lot of—a lot of resources here. This is a—
Jack (overlapping): ...of points, yeah.
AU(overlapping): As a note, everything you do at this point, Kalar, is going to cost resources just to do it, right? Yeah.
Jack (overlapping): W—yeah. Uh-huh. Um…
Keith: Well, here’s one then. How about—I will do my...last downtime action. I have to...clear some Stress, so I’m going to Cut Loose—
Austin: Who are you Cutting Loose with?
Keith: And I’ll—I’m gon—I would like to Cut Loose with Kalar.
Austin: What do you do? What’s the Cut Loose here?
Keith: I’ve gotta figure out—I’ve gotta figure out what is going on on this ship. Everybody’s acting so weird! [Sylvi laughs] Everyone’s really weird all of a sudden. I’m trying to get my bearings.
Jack: Yeah. I know!
Keith (overlapping): Can we go talk to people, figure out what’s going on?
Jack: Yeah! Absolutely! I—it’s, you know. What are we—what are we supposed to do? I feel like this is an—this is the—this is the old crew. This is something that’s got the old crew bothered. I don’t like the red li—how do you feel about the red light?
Keith: Well it seemed—it seemed obviously...
Austin (overlapping): Is this in character? I just wanna—
Keith: Yes.
Austin: —get us—Ok.
Keith: Yes. Starting now, let’s be in—I’m in character.
[as Phrygian]: It seemed fairly obvious that it at least is something?
Jack [as Kalar Anakalar]: It’s real. Uh-huh. And the...The Figure—that nice gentlemen [Austin laughs]— offered to go and look at it, and I could also go—
Keith [as Phrygian] (overlapping):: Right! And no one even cared!
Jack [as Kalar]: Well, so, I mean, here’s what I’m thinking. I can go and look at it. I can sort of fly. [Austin chuckles quietly] But I don’t want to, cause I am frightened of it. Um...we can—we can—
Keith [as Phrygian] (overlapping):: I can’t—I couldn’t get over there right now if I wanted to, I don’t think.
Jack [as Kalar] (overlapping): No. That’s —that’s fine. That’s probably for the best. Um, but everyone is—everyone is super concerned. You wanna do a quick tour? Of the ship?
Keith [as Phrygian] (overlapping): Everyone but the people that we’ve been hanging out with, apparently.
Jack [as Kalar]: Uh-huh. Uh-huh. Yeah. Sovereign Immunity...and he was fine at the—at the wake—
Keith [as Phrygian]: Yeah.
Jack [as Kalar]: —I mean, he was bummed.
Keith [as Phrygian]: Right.
Jack [as Kalar]: But—
Austin: Are you now just doing a tour of this facility and seeing people and talking about them at a distance? Like “Ah yeah, there’s Sovereign Immunity. He was—he was—”
Keith (overlapping): Yeah.
Austin: “—bummed at the wake. [Ali chuckles] He got loud.”
Keith: Let’s see if he’s doing anything weird. Is he acting strange still? Sovereign Immunity, what are you doing?
Art: [Laugh] I put this—feel really put on the—what time is it?
[Austin laughs]
Keith [as Phrygian]: Um, it’s like nine.
Jack (overlapping): [Laugh] Kalar looks at his watch, yeah.
Austin (overlapping): (Laughing) I don’t—this has the most…”Who’s the best horse on this ship” energy—
Art (overlapping): He’s like, drinking coffee.
Austin (overlapping): —to me.
[Keith and Art laugh]
Keith [as Phrygian]: Drinking coffee. That seems normal.
Jack [as Kalar]: Uh-huh.
Keith [as Phrygian]: So he’s ok.
[Pause]
Jack [as Kalar]: ...yeah.
Art: (Laughing) This is really great vetting.
[Austin laughs]
Keith [as Phrygian]: Nothing immediately throwing me about that.
Jack [as Kalar]: I think it’s the—I think it’s this Clementine shit.
Keith [as Phrygian]: (quietly) I don’t know who that is—I know—I mean, I know the name.
Jack [as Kalar]: She was like—ok, she’s like a...princess who fucked them over. But like—
Keith [as Phrygian]: Ok.
Jack [as Kalar]: —but like—like, inefficiently. And then they pushed her off a—off the top of Icebreaker. Gur pushed her off the top of Icebreaker. And I guess we all thought she was dead, but now she’s got...
Keith [as Phrygian]: A castle. A glastle.
Jack [as Kalar] (overlapping):: A castle. [Pause] Yeah. But like, she’s a real bee in their bonnet, I think, still. Wanna go ask Broun?
Keith [as Phrygian]: Yeah.
Austin: Broun, what do they find you doing?
Ali: [Laugh] Oh a fun Cut Loose. Yeah. Um...I don’t know. Probably in a workshop somewhere.
Austin: Yeah.
Keith [as Phrygian]: That seems normal…
Ali: Yeah, just…
Austin: Just welding something?
Keith: Yeah.
Ali (overlapping): Yeah…[laugh]
Keith [as Phrygian]: So I guess they’re ok. (Laughing, calling to Broun) Excuse me!
Ali [as Broun]: Uh, what’s up? [Clears throat]
Keith [as Phrygian]: Um...hmm. We were walking around—
Art (overlapping): (Quietly) You two want any weed?
[Austin and Ali chuckle]
Keith [as Phrygian]: We were just talking. About the stuff from last night, and—
Ali [as Broun]: Hm.
Keith [as Phrygian]: —we just sort of figure that you seem like you know what was going on, and also, seemed like maybe...the red bit wasn’t such a...big deal? And so…[Ali sighs] we’re just wanting to know what was going on.
Ali [as Broun]: Um, you came here cause I...wasn’t making a big enough deal out of the red thing last night?
Keith [as Phrygian]: Well it seemed like maybe you knew something.
Ali [as Broun]: [Laughs] At the moment I would say no. It seems fucked up. Watch out for it, I bet.
Keith [as Phrygian]: Ok.
Ali [as Broun]: Um. Yeah…[laughs] Sorry.
[Pause]
Keith [as Phrygian]: No that’s ok! [Ali, Art, and Austin laugh] ...who else should we ask?
Ali [as Broun]: [snorts] About the red thing?
Jack [as Kalar] (overlapping):: I don’t think we’re—
Keith [as Phrygian]: Yeah.
Ali: Just—(laughing) Broun hearing them from the hallway. [Jack chuckles] Um...I don’t think Broun has an answer. I don’t really—[laugh] Broun’s just like—
[as Broun]: Good luck.
Keith [as Phrygian]: Ok.
Jack [as Kalar]: Phrygian, I don’t think—
Keith [as Phrygian] (overlapping):: What’s the deal with the Clem—what’s the Clem thing? What’s the deal with that?
Austin: Oh my god…[laugh]
Ali [as Broun]: [Deep sigh] Um, she was just an asshole. I don’t really know what the deal was. She sucked.
Keith [as Phrygian]: Ok.
Ali [as Broun]: And um, you know, she’s gonna continue sucking and…Valence thought that she sucked? So...and Millie [Austin laughs] like, hates her, or whatever, so...that—yeah. Fuck...Clem...entine Kesh. Fuck her.
Keith [as Phrygian]: Ok.
Ali [as Broun]: Um. Yeah. You good?
Keith [as Phrygian]: Yeah. Thank you!
Ali [as Broun]: Mm-hmm. Yeah. See ya.
[Austin snorts]
Austin: Who do we got left? We got Millie—[Ali and Sylvi laugh] we got...A.O. Rooke. We got...is that it? Thisbe. We got Thisbe.
Keith: A.O. Rooke wasn’t there.
Austin: He would’ve been. I just didn’t voice him.
Keith: Ok, ok—well—
Austin (overlapping): He—maybe—
Keith (overlapping): —not having been there seemed almost like a benefit.
Austin: ...right.
Keith: “Look, you weren’t—you weren’t part of this thing.”
Austin (overlapping): But Sovereign Immunity would’ve told A.O. Rooke, for sure.
Keith: Right.
Austin: Right?
Keith: Yeah. Ye-ye-yeah.
Austin (overlapping): I’m guessing?
Keith: Like A.O. Rooke would know what’s going on, but also—
Art (overlapping): Yeah! I love A.O. Rooke.
Keith (overlapping): —wasn’t a part of this conversation.
Austin: Totally.
Keith: I don’t know. Kalar, what do you think?
Jack [as Kalar]: [Sigh] I don’t know how helpful this has b—what are we—what exactly are we hoping to get out of this, Phrygian? Cause [Austin laughs] everyone just thinks it’s weird and bad and agrees that Clementine sucks. I guess I...have...I have learned not to look a warning like that in the mouth? Like the phrase “Don’t look a gift warning in the mouth?” You know? I’ve seen—
Keith [as Phrygian]: You’re saying that it’s a real warning.
Jack [as Kalar]: I don’t—yeah. Unless she’s set it up. Unless it’s like a—sort of a...
Keith [as Phrygian]: Right.
Jack [as Kalar]: But I...you know. Either we get deceived, on one hand. It’s a lie, and there’s some kind of trap, which—
Keith [as Phrygian]: Right.
Jack [as Kalar]: We have—we have both been trapped and escaped traps NUMEROUS times. [Sighs] Or, on the other hand, something’s coming that’s gonna destroy everything. Um, either—you know, laid out that way, I would pick option A, but I don’t—I don’t have the history of…
Keith [as Phrygian]: You’re saying “Don’t get caught...don’t get caught!”
Jack [as Kalar]: Well, I’m saying “Don’t get caught by the red thing.” You know—
Keith [as Phrygian]: Right.
Jack [as Kalar]: —cause we can—we can probably kill Clementine...again. But I don’t know if we can kill that. And I specialize in killing really big things, so…
Keith [as Phrygian]: Mmm.
Jack [as Kalar]: I s—yeah. I’d need to get a better sense of what it was, but I...I don’t feel good about staying, Phrygian. I don’t know if you’re looking to me for advice, but...that’s what I’m able to give.
Keith [as Phrygian]: No that’s—I mean—I’m just looking...to get...there was a lot going on...all of a sudden everyone was...acting very different.
Jack [as Kalar]: Yes. It is overwhelming.
Keith [as Phrygian]: And...not a lot is being done about the red thing, which seems like a problem.
Jack [as Kalar]: And we can’t do anything about it cause we’re fuckin’ new!
Keith [as Phrygian]: We’re new! But—so—but that’s—
Jack [as Kalar] (overlapping):: And no one’s asking us!
Keith [as Phrygian] (overlapping): —sort of the thing, is...that the people that have been here the longest aren’t doing anything about the red dot, and so—that means that they must know why they’re not doing anything about it.
[Austin chuckles in the background]
Jack [as Kalar]: Yeah, you would—I would hope—I would hope. I would hope that’s the case, Phrygian.
Austin: (Laughing) And scene!
Keith [as Phrygian]: I mean we’ve sprung into action over less.
Art: That’s such a pure—
Austin: I know…
Art: —and—
Jack (overlapping): It’s so good.
Art (overlapping): —generous reading of people doing a bad job.
Jack (overlapping): Not doing anything? [Laugh]
Austin: Yeah…
[Quiet laughter in the background]
Jack: Yeah, we don’t know anything…
Austin (overlapping): (Laughing) Certainly they must…yeah…
Jack: They’re not doing anything, but they know something, so they must be…[laugh]
Keith: Right.
Austin: (Laughing) Precious…[Keith chuckles quietly] Is that—is that it? Do you stop interviewing people, or (laughing) asking people what’s up? You wanna roll your cut loose?
Keith: Uh, I think we should ask one more person. Let’s ask uh, Thisbe.
[Ali snorts, Jack chuckles]
Janine: Can I just clarify that you weren’t near Thisbe during the whole “I kill big things” (laughing) conversation?
[Jack and Austin chuckle]
Janine: Or were you like outside the door?
Jack (overlapping): (Laughing) I don’t think so. [Pause] I don’t know. What do you think, Phrygian?
Keith: Well, I feel like the big things that Kalar kills are MUCH bigger than Thisbe.
Janine: I’m just saying based on the—based on the words that were said during that conversation [Austin laughs in the background], was that said near Thisbe or not? [Pause] That’s all I wanna know.
K (overlapping): My guess is no. I think it happened right outside the—Broun’s workshop or whatever.
Janine: Ok.
Keith: That was my impression—that we said “Bye!” and then I turned to Kalar and was like “So…” [Ali laughs] “What is this?”
Jack: (Laughing) “How’s this going?”
Austin: “How’s this? How is this?”
Keith: “How is this?”
Austin: So, okay, then—then Thisbe, where do they find you?
Janine: I think they find Thisbe in like the—we don’t have like a hangar—yeah, we have a hangar—
Austin: Yeah.
Janine: —we have mechs. We have—yeah.
Austin: Totally.
Janine: I think Thisbe’s in the hangar with Mow and one of the—what are the little lunchbox robots called?
Austin: The Bing-32’s?
Janine: Yeah, I think she’s in there with Mow and a Bing and they have—they’re all like—they have like a...um…(laughing) like a Game Boy connect cable between all of them.
Austin: Hell yeah. Now we’re fucking talking.
Keith: Like playing Game Boy?
Janine: No, no, it’s like between them.
[Austin snorts in the background]
Keith: Oh.
Janine: Between all of them.
Austin: They’re like doing a LAN party.
Janine: Yeah, like, Mow’s—Mow’s probably like in...I mean, Mow probably just stands. I think Thisbe’s probably like...crouching? On the ground—like you know the way people crouch when they’re like, playing jacks or like—
Jack: Mmm.
Janine: —looking at shit on the ground…
Keith (overlapping): Yeah, like an old-timer playing dice on the sidewalk?
Janine: Yeah, where you kinda like, rest your arms and stuff, um…
Austin: Yeah, mixtape cover. Yeah.
Janine: Yeah, yeah yeah. I think—
Keith (overlapping): Yes. Yeah.
[Quiet laughter in the background]
Janine: —I think Thisbe’s like that, and she has the little—the Bing in front of her.
Keith [as Phrygian]: Um...excuse me? Thisbe?
Janine [as Thisbe]: ...yes?
Keith [as Phrygian]: We’ve just sorta been making the rounds...sort of a follow up about the...stuff from yesterday with the...red...thing?
[Pause]
Janine [as Thisbe]: (Not understanding)...yes?
[Pause, Austin laughs softly]
Keith [as Phrygian]: And...um...I guess we were just sort of asking about like...everyone seems mad about the Clem thing...and—but no one seemed concerned about the red thing...and I guess maybe if we could just get a temperature check on that from you.
[Pause, Ali laughs quietly in the background]
Art: (Whispering) Oh my god.
[Ali continues laughing]
Janine: Wait what? Why “oh my god”? [Laugh] Just in general?
Art (overlapping): [Laughing] I just thought you were set up for the perfect (laughing) joke and I was really anxious for it.
[Ali chuckles softly]
Janine: (Confused) Wh-?
Art: (Whispering) Tell them your internal temperature.
[Ali laughs louder]
Austin: (Monotone) Oh my god…
[Keith laughs loudly, Janine joins in]
Janine: No….
[Austin and Ali continue laughing]
Art: FINE! [Assorted quiet laughter] I’M GONNA GO DO MY OWN PARTIZAN! [Everybody laughs loudly] AND I’M GONNA PLAY THISBE! AND I’M GONNA DO IT HOWEVER I WANT!
[Laughter continues in the background]
Keith: Yeah! Play my own very literal robot!
[Laughter continues]
Janine: I mean I think she understands—I think there was enough context there that it—that it’s—that it’s...you know.
Keith: If I come up and said like “About the stuff last night, could I get a temperature check?” It would’ve been—
Janine (overlapping): She’s not gonna be like “It was thirty-two degrees.”
[TIMESTAMP 00:30:00]
Keith: Yeah. [Chuckle]
Janine: (Jokingly) That’s some CELSIUS humor ONLY! [Sylvi, Art and Ali laugh] I think…
Art: We’re the same, you and I.
Janine: [Laugh] I think Thisbe...just looks at both of them and says…
Janine [as Thisbe]: [Sigh] It is difficult for some to process multiple complicated...situations at one time—
Janine: I think she’s—and she’s like really clearly speaking about Broun. This is—this is a hundred percent [Ali snorts] Thisbe—Thisbe just like...Broun is the person that Thisbe like understands as much as she can understand anyone, I think.
Austin: Aw.
Janine: At least at the moment. Like, in terms of people who are relevant in this context—
Austin (overlapping): Yeah! Yeah.
Janine: —I think it’s very much just like...yeah, it’s…
[as Thisbe]: There were a lot of very upsetting things happening at once, and...many people are not good at breaking those problems apart…
Keith [as Phrygian]: Mmm.
Janine [as Thisbe]: ...and dealing with them. The red thing is—
Janine: She wouldn’t say “the red thing.”
Austin: [Laughs loudly] Are you sure?
Janine: [Sigh] I guess it does just look like a red dot, though.
Austin: At this point—again, no. At this point you can see that it like—
Janine (overlapping): Oh, right, right, right.
Austin: —yeah. Big red curtains…
Janine: The red...obelisk?
Austin: Sure.
Keith (overlapping): Approaching curtains? Approaching…
Austin (overlapping): Anomaly….
Austin: Yeah, object…
Janine: Anomaly! I would—yeah.
Austin: Mhm.
Janine [as Thisbe]: The Anomaly is very concerning. The news about Clementine Kesh is also very concerning. Clementine Kesh is not a responsible or competent steward. It is concerning if she has power. It is perhaps good that she is alive, but it is concerning that she has...power. And yesterday was difficult. It was not a good time for those...factors to...come into confluence.
[Pause]
Jack [as Kalar]: That’s uh...that’s very thorough, actually.
Keith [as Phrygian]: Yeah, that’s a lot more information than we got from anyone else.
[Austin chuckles]
Janine [as Thisbe]: I imagine they are all variously upset...still.
Keith [as Phrygian]: If I can—If I could summarize this, you’re saying...the Anomaly...significantly underrated. The Clem situation...slightly overrated?
Janine [as Thisbe]: No.
Keith [as Phrygian]: Mmm.
[Austin laughs, Ali snorts]
Janine [as Thisbe]: Anomaly, underrated, because it is not understood and it is new. Clementine, understood. Old. But unfamiliar to you. [Pause] To you, the Clementine situation is...nothing. It is...some person. And the Red Anomaly is a Red Anomaly. To people who...to people who do not view those two things both as new unknowns, the weighting is different. It’s not correct, necessarily, but it is different.
Keith [as Phrygian]: Ok Thisbe, thank you!
[Austin chuckles]
Janine [as Thisbe]: Have a good day, Operant Phrygian.
Keith: Ok that’s—I think that’s scene.
Austin: Yeah. Gimme a—gimme your Cut Loose roll. Which is a one D6 because you’re hanging out with Kalar technically and...you only have a one with Kalar. This will give you a second—hey, four! That’s not too bad.
Jack: (Excitedly) Hey!
Keith (overlapping): No. I think that brings me down to two.
Austin (overlapping): Now you both have two Stress, yeah.
Keith: Yeah.
Austin: And I’ll note that you now need a second belief with Kalar.
Keith: Yeah. This is my first Cut Loose, so I would’ve have a one with anybody—
Austin (overlapping): That is correct, yeah.
Keith: —but it seemed like…
Austin: That seemed right.
Keith: ...the newbies…
Austin: I love it.
Jack: Do I get a belief too, or is it..unilateral?
Austin: No, it’s only one—it’s both ways. You have to uh…
Keith: Well the other thing was—
Austin (overlapping): ...or it’s not both ways.
Keith: —I know you were debating on whether or not you wanted to make this roll. So, if this was—if this—
Austin: Yeah, if you wanna now spend a Personnel and roll to do a downtime—to do a Cut Loose, you can...
Keith (overlapping): An extremely risky downtime.
Jack: I’ll hold off.
Austin (overlapping): Extremely risky—ok.
Jack: I’ll hold off.
Austin: Mhm. Fair enough. [Pause] Who else has stuff to do? I—this is—I’ve turned—I—
Janine (overlapping): I—
Austin: —imagine that I’m not here.
Janine: I have a cut loose I wanna do that might be well timed now, given that scene.
Austin: Sure.
Janine: Um...Already forgot what (laughing) the little robots are called.
Austin: Bing.
Ali (overlapping): Bing.
Keith (overlapping): Bing-32.
Ali (overlapping): Mhm.
Janine: Sorry. Ok.
Austin: I think that number is right. Am I wrong about that, Ali?
Keith: No, you were right.
Austin (overlapping): Was it Bing-16?
Ali: It’s always been Bing-32, um...
Austin: Ok.
Keith: We made a lot of number jokes, if I remember correctly about…
Ali: We do—we were like different size—
Austin (overlapping): Right, right.
Ali (overlapping): —well, there was like that fleet of them after the Kingdom game—
Austin (overlapping): Riiiiight…
Janine (overlapping): Mhm.
Austin (overlapping): That’s the thing that I’m remembering.
Ali (overlapping): —and they became 32A...
Austin: Right.
Ali: through...yeah.
Austin: Yeah. Ok. [Pause] So what is your Cut Loose?
Janine: I’ve taken a bit of a Leap assuming Thisbe could just get one of those, but it’s important to me, so…
[Austin laughs, Janine chuckles]
Austin: Alright, damn.
Janine: [Laugh] And the other thing is I don’t roll for my downtime, so there’s no real pass or fail situation here.
Austin (overlapping): Right.
Janine: I think that…[sigh] like a little bit after that, Thisbe shows up in Broun’s workshop. And with Thisbe is this little Bing-32, and it has like...oh I should have thought of like a really—like a cute plant. Um...it’s probably something really simple and basic that you’d see anywhere, like a spider plant or something, that’s like pretty...pretty hardy, but like, kind of fun...
Austin: (Encouraging) Yeah!
Janine: ...or like one of those succulents, the—what are they called? Like, string of whatever—pearls?
Ali: Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Janine: It’s something like that—probably like overhangs a little bit, so it kinda makes the Bing look like it has a weird green wig on…
[Art laughs]
Ali: Mmm…
Janine: …but it’s like a house plant...coming out of its head, basically—
Austin: Mhm.
Janine: —or like the top—it’s been sort of slightly modified to be like a floating planter. Um...and I think—so Thisbe walks up to Broun with this Bing and like...the Bing is floating, so she doesn’t like pick it up and hand it over? But I think she like, lifts a hand? And the Bind floats over as if it is being offered?
Ali: [Chuckles]
[as Broun]: [Sigh] Hey Thisbe.
[Pause]
Janine [as Thisbe]: Operant Broun?
Janine: Wait—do I actually say—it’s been a while since I used my “operant” language—
Austin: Yeah.
Janine: —it is Operant Broun, ok. [Chuckle]
Austin (overlapping): Yeah. Mhm.
Ali: Oh my god, is it not gonna be an “operant” anymore?
Janine: No, no, I was just making sure that I—[Ali chuckles] I forgot like last names and stuff, so it’s—it’s fine.
Ali: Oh, no, no, no. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Um…
[as Broun]: You need somethin’?
Janine [as Thisbe]: This is for you.
Ali [as Broun]: Oh! Uh...uh, yeah. (Underwhelmed) Well look at that.
[Austin snorts. Keith and Ali laugh]
Ali: (Laughing) I think Broun like, lifts up one of the strings and like, looks at it. Drops it.
[as Broun]: [Clicks tongue] Uh...cool.
Janine [as Thisbe]: It will take care of itself.
Ali [as Broun]: Mm. Mhm.
Janine [as Thisbe]: It won’t burden you.
Ali [as Broun]: Oh. Uh, great.
[Pause, soft laughter in the background]
Keith: Wait, is it the—(laughing) the Bing or the plant that will take care of itself? [Laughing harder]
[Janine laughs]
Janine: That’s actually a good point.
Ali (overlapping): The BIng is—part of the plant...it’s fine.
Janine: The Bing will take care of the plant, but Broun will have to take care of the Bing.
Austin: Oh, ok.
Ali: (Quietly) Oh, sure...well…
Austin: I felt like “Oh, did Thisbe...upgrade this Bing so that it was like self-repairing and also...kind of a gardener?”
Janine: No, no.
Austin: No.
Janine: It just—
Keith (overlapping): Or did you upgrade the plant so that it was Bing-repairing?
Austin: Right, I thought like “Oh, is there a photosynthesis thing that —that Thisbe invented offspring that I didn’t know about?” [Laugh]
[Ali chuckles]
Janine: No, no, no, no, no. No.
Austin: Ok.
Ali: This is actually just like Thisbe giving this back to Broun, but with a plant in it. [Laugh]
Janine: K—kind of. Yeah…
Ali: [Chuckles] It’s fine. It was a nice gesture.
Keith: It’s a very—this is—this is one of Thisbe’s first crafts.
Austin: Thisbe helped a lot on the garden and stuff, I feel like Thisbe is…
Keith (overlapping): That’s fair. But then gar—
Austin (overlapping): Craft is different. Yeah.
Keith: —craft is different. I could be wrong. Maybe Thisbe’s always doing little crafts, but…
Austin: ...Thisbe?
Janine: I think she—she’s like helped with repairs—
Austin: Right.
Janine: —including her own repairs.
Austin: Right.
Janine: It’s like it’s...she has like a sort of basic—not a good-you know, she doesn’t have a point—well I guess she has—I have one point in Engineer.
Austin: Right.
Janine: I’m struggling to figure out like if Thisbe just says it, but like...for Thisbe...cultivating is—I don’t think Thisbe like, relaxes. Or needs to relax in that way. But I think Thisbe like...cultivating is an important thing for her. And I think this is like—you know, she’s not going to sit down with Broun and be like “Hey, let’s have a talk.” And she’s not—she’s also not gonna be like “Hey Broun, let’s go see a movie and get drinks.” Um...so like, to her, this is the thing that makes sense, of like...of like: Broun is having trouble, and cultivating things is good. Growing things. Tending to things. Having things nearby that grow. And...change, and are alive, is good. Like, objectively, to her. So i think this is—it’s very much—it’s very much just like...that. I don’t know if there’s anything more to it than that unless Broun…does anything about it.
Ali: Yeah, I um...playing Broun is very deflecitng, so [laugh] it’s tough. And you have to be Thisbe on the other end of it. But like, I don’t know. I guess there’s been like...I don’t know if This be has the like...the like…“Is Broun mad at me?” situation. Cause like—
Janine: Oh! That’s a good point!
[Ali laughs]
Austin: Uh-huh.
Janine: I bet she totally does! Because Broun’s reaction on this is so cold...that I—I bet Thisbe actually thinks that Broun is mad at her for repurposing one of the Bings.
Ali: (Laughing) Aw…[Laugh]
Austin: I thought you meant mad cause of Valence, but sure.
Janine: Oh.
[Ali laughs]
Austin: Also the Bing thing.
Janine: I mean—well—
Ali: (laughing) It was weeks ago, who cares?
Austin: Uh...
Janine: I don’t—actually, I don’t think—I don’t think Thisbe would think that Broun is mad at her about that, because…
Austin: Ok.
Janine: ...that was an order.
Austin: Sure.
Janine: And, granted, Thisbe would’ve just—would’ve—the thing is like, if Valence had just been like “Hey, Thisbe, leave,” and not like “This is an order,” Thisbe would’ve still left. [Ali and Austin snort, Art and Keith laugh] But it was specifically an order.
Austin: Tell it to the JUDGE!
[Janine chuckles, Ali continues laughing]
Janine: I almost said that at the time, but I was like “No, we don’t need to—”
Austin: [Laugh] We don’t know.
[Ali laughs]
Janine: It’s fine…
Austin: Whew!
Janine: Like Thisbe doesn’t need to be ordered things to do things, or see the reasoning...so yeah. I think—I think if Thisbe thinks—I don’t think that Broun being mad at her—it’s that she repurposed this Bing. [Pause]
[as Thisbe]: If you would rather have the Bing as it was, I can remove the plant.
Ali [as Broun]: Wha—oh. Um...no. I mean it’s fine...Um...yeah. It’s—it’s gonna float around. That’s nice. Yeah.
[Austin snorts]
[Pause]
Janine [as Thisbe]: You’re not responding as you do when you think something is nice.
Ali: Oh...
Janine: Thisbe can see lies now, remember? (Laughing) Also.
[Ali laughs]
Austin: Damn, true.
Janine: Just as a reminder. You can’t just be like polite. [Laugh]
[Austin laughs]
Ali [as Broun]: [Sigh] How do I sound when I’m nice, Thisbe?
Janine [as Thisbe]: [Sigh] Eight percent more exuberant. Nine percent…
Ali [as Broun] (overlapping): Eight percent?
Janine [as Thisbe]: ...louder? [Ali inhales deeply] There are more triangles in your face...mapping?
Ali [as Broun]: Is this more exuberant for you, Thisbe?
Janine: Is what? [Laugh] [Ali laughs loudly] (Laughing) Was there a difference?
[Keith, Art join in laughing]
Ali [as Broun]: [Sigh] Don’t worry about it. (In a forced, upbeat tone) No! Thisbe! Oh my god. Thisbe! This plant. It’s amazing. [Keith laughs] Thank you.
Janine: (Laughing) You have to tell me if you’re lying.
Ali: [Laughs] Definitely!
Janine (overlapping): As a player. Ok.
Ali: One-HUNDRED percent. Broun is such a mean person.
Janine (overlapping): I just need to co—I just need to confirm. I’m not gonna assume. [Laughter in the background]
Ali: No, this is—this is...a jerk. You’re interacting with a jerk right now. I’m sorry. [Janine and Austin laugh in the background] I’m lying the whole time.
Janine: They’re very stressed. [Ali chuckles]
[as Thisbe]: Operant Broun, I know...this is very difficult. I would...much prefer—
[TIMESTAMP 00:45:08]
Ali [as Broun]: (In a mean, defensive tone) What do you know about this being difficult?
[Pause]
[Ali and Janine chuckle]
Janine: That’s a hard one to answer. [Ali continues laughing]
[as Thisbe]: I know that we have lost...a valuable team member. And…
Ali [as Broun]: (Curt) Right.
Janine [as Thisbe]: And…replacing them will be impossible.
Ali [as Broun]: Sure…
Janine [as Thisbe]: I know that...in addition to that, there is no time for respite.
Ali [as Broun]: (Sarcastically) Mmm. Mhm. Mhm.
Janine [as Thisbe]: And there are a lot of changes. And...things that are happening...that are uncomfortable.
[Pause]
Ali [as Broun]: Sure. Well...yeah. Well thanks for the plant...I think that it’ll help me...be less “respite.” [Several people crack up] Did a great job, Thisbe.
Austin: Oh my god, I’m...in love with this whole scene. [Ali snorts, quiet laughter continues] Uh, you lose stress from that somehow, Thisbe.
[Ali laughs loudly]
Janine: It doesn’t seem like I should, but again, I don’t roll. I—it just feels like there’s something missing there.
[Ali continues laughing in the background.]
Austin: Uh, yeah?
Art: Oh, word?
Austin: Oh, word? [Ali continues laughing] Do you go for a nice run afterwards [starts laughing] to work out what the fuck just happened?
Keith: Or do you just feel very confident in the gift you gave, and you don’t mind that uh...that Broun was not very receptive?
Austin (overlapping): Yeah. Right.
Art: Yeah, long term, that’s gonna—that’s gonna work.
Janine: (Unsure) uh…
Austin: That plant’s gonna be—one—[cuts himself off laughing] can you tell that we’re lying?
Janine: Uh-huh…
[Ali is still laughing]
Keith: I wasn’t lying. I think it’s possible that Thisbe is very confident in that gift, regardless of Broun’s reaction.
Art: It’s a great gift, objectively. I mean…
Keith: Yeah, a robot with a plant in it? That’s sick.
Art: Yeah.
Keith: I don’t have that. I don’t even have access to that.
[Ali continues to laugh quietly]
Art (overlapping): Broun’s the jerk here.
Janine: I’m trying to think of like, what the...I’m trying to think if what the play here is it doesn’t just feel like a disingenuous excuse for her to lose Stress, because mechanically, she loses Stress. [Pause] Because the disingenuous excuse is Thisbe being like, “The air quality is better [Austin chuckles quietly] in Broun’s workshop now.”
[Ali laughs]
Austin: Yeah, no, I’m at the point where I’m like, did—what you do—was that a Resolve Train instead of Cut Loose, (laugh) because that didn’t feel like a Cut Loose to me...for you. Based on the way Broun—like...it takes two to tango, you know?
Janine: Yeah…
Ali: Yeah, I mean…
Austin: Which—I’m not—
Ali (overlapping): ...I don’t know.
Austin (overlapping): —putting that on—I mean, you know—[Ali chuckles] Ali, that’s your choice— I think that your characterization of Broun is impeccable there—
[Ali and Janine chuckle]
Ali: Fair.
Austin (overlapping): —I just also don’t know that it’s.—that its—[Art chuckles] I’m with Janine that I don’t think that it’s…
Janine: It feels like there’s something missing. Like it feels like there is...there is an unresolved—like it...there’s…(sigh)
Austin: I have a hard time imagining Broun resolving that, for you...[Pause] at this moment.
Ali (overlapping): But I don’t, like—I mean—that—
Janine (overlapping): No, I know, I know, I...the thing I’m wondering is like, what happens after that?
Austin: Right.
Ali: Yeah…
Austin: Like, is Thisbe gonna push here, and have a deeper talk? Or is that…(sigh) not what you’re looking for?
[Pause]
Janine: I also think it’s disingenuous for Thisbe to be like…”Hey, it wasn’t my fault,” and stuff like that…
[Ali laughs]
Austin: Yeah.
Janine: You know, there’s like—there’s like a—there’s like a needle to thread here, which is the needle we’re threading all season with Thisbe, which is like...she...her understanding is evolving, but like her expression—like, she is still the same…
Austin: Mhm.
Janine: ...like her thought process might get more complicated as she, like, has experiences, but she’s still fundamentally not gonna, like...she’s not gonna, like—she’s not gonna, like, have an emotional...you know...revelation.
Austin (overlapping): A huge breakthrough that changes the way that she interacts with the world, and experience—like, she isn’t—
Janine (overlapping): Yeah, that’s...yeah.
Austin: —right. She isn’t going to become less of a robot—you’re not—this is not a Pinocchio story—
Janine (overlapping): Exactly. Exactly.
Austin (overlapping): Right? We’ve, like, explicitly done our best to avoid that with her.
Janine: Yeah…
Ali: Um…[clicks tongue] I feel like if we needed, like, a third level to this scene to be like, “Oh...despite this weirdness, Thisbe does feel some relief,” or like...we feel like this relationship is…(snorts) gone a step farther or whatever…um, I—like, there’s maybe a version of this where like, Broun…you know, sti—[sigh] still like, asks something of Thisbe in a way that Thisbe knows, like, “Okay, we’re cool.”
Austin: That’s exactly it, I think—I love—I like that a lot. That is—that is where my head got to, also. It’s like a—like, “Hey, could you do this for me?” [Ali laughs] As a sort of, like...as a sort of like, status quo...
Ali (overlapping): And that’s such a shortcut for them...[continues laughing] um, but like—I don’t know. That’s what they do. It’s fine. [Snorts]
Austin: What do you think of that, Janine?
[Pause]
Janine: Um...
Austin: Or do you think that’s still not enough—do you think that sort of, like, recommitment to the status quo between you two is not...enough of a Stress relief?
Janine: I’m looking at my beliefs with Broun now...
Austin: Which are?
Janine: (Reading) “Operant Broun will sell or trade me in the moment my usefulness is expended...”
[Ali chuckles]
Art: Oof.
Janine: ...and “Operant Broun will protect me.”
Austin: (Pained) Oof.
[Ali continues chuckling]
Ali: Both true.
[Janine laughs, Ali begins laughing louder]
Janine: They can’t both be true.
Austin: That’s not true. You protect the things you own. All the time.
[Ali laughs]
Janine: (Pained) Mmm...okay, yeah. Yeah, true...
Keith: Although, I will say, we don’t technically know that it’s true until...that’s full.
Austin (overlapping): Right, it—(laughing) ‘til we test it, yeah.
Janine (overlapping): Well...yeah...
Ali (overlapping): Yeah, yeah, yeah...
Janine: That’s—that’s true.
Austin: Yeah...
[Janine sighs, long pause]
Keith: Well. I know which one of those I would test [Ali snorts] if I were Thisbe.
Janine: Yeah...I can’t test either of them right now but I’m—it’s—it’s really hard to like...conceptualize how she would understand this situation. Um...cause I don’t—I don’t know that just asking her to do a thing...is...is the thing—like, the thing I was thinking was, like, does she leave the room and, like, run into someone else?
[Ali chuckles]
Austin: Oh, well—that’s what I’m saying. At that point it’s a different Cut Loose action, right?
Janine: Yeah...
Austin: That’s just a scene that we had with Broun, and then we should [Ali laughs] think of a different Cut Loose.
Keith: I had this idea that I thought was kind of...too easy but...I think—I might as well just say it anyway, just in case...but the part that could’ve been relieving stress is...the...you know, actual conceptualizing—
Austin: Right.
Keith: —and execution of the gift...and that...
Austin (overlapping): Right. You built this thing.
Janine (overlapping): Yeah...
Austin: ..yeah. I kind of like that.
Janine: Yeah, that makes sense...
Keith: And that’s still with—with Broun, even though they—
Austin (overlapping): And you get to write a new belief, certainly, about this interaction with Broun...
Janine: [Laughs] Yeah...
Keith: (Quietly) Yeah.
Austin: But like, being content in having made this thing...
Janine (overlapping): I think that’s fair...
Austin: ...is nice—
Janine: Mhm.
Austin: —you know?
Janine: And the thing works, like whether or not Broun likes it [Austin laughs], it’ll take care of itself.
[Ali laughs]
Austin: And you’ll see it flying around and be like “Oh, yeah, I buil—I did that.”
Janine: Yeah!
Austin: “I put that plant inside of that (laughing) robot.” [Keith chuckles] Alright. Reduce your Stress by four...because it's five minus the number of Scars you have. And you have one.
Janine (overlapping): Mhm. Yeah...
Austin: Who has another action? I guess that was...Thisbe’s last...last one. And then we have—uh, who’s left? [Pause] Phrygian still has one. (Laughing) Right? No, Phrygian, you did yours.
Keith: No, I used both of mine—I...
Austin (overlapping): You used yours—Thisbe...Broun? Broun?
Keith (overlapping): ...did a long...
Austin (overlapping): Broun has one.
Keith: (Quietly) Yeah.
Ali: I have one, yeah. Um...
Austin: Coming off of this (sarcastically) great Cut Loose with Thisbe.
Ali: [Laughs] I’m like—it’s weird. I, um...I—it’s....um...my first idea was like “I’m gonna go out with Phrygian and like, look at this like—[chuckle] try to get some scrap metal,” which is a great idea but like...the war drums are beating...is there like a Downtime Action that’s like “Go look at a thing?” (Laughing) that would help?
Austin: What are you—what are you trying to do?
Ali: I don’t know how to like, concept—well, cause...I don’t know, it seems like a priority...
Austin (overlapping): You wanna like...look at this thing?
Ali: At some point, yeah, I think maybe somebody—
Austin (overlapping): That’s just a Gather Information—yeah, that’s just a Gather Information roll. That wouldn’t—that would not bite into your Downtime Actions.
Ali: Oh! Ok.
Austin: Yeah.
Ali: OH! Ok...Then—
Dre: (Quietly) Uh, if you wanted to...sorry—
Austin (overlapping): That’s why I’m just trying to say, like, do we wanna wrap those downtime Actions so we could move into that next thing, but—also, wait, Dre, what were you saying?
Dre: I was gonna say if you wanted to do a Cut Loose for Broun, we had talked about the idea of Valence leaving some kind of, like, message or something for them in this spaceship.
[Ali laughs]
Austin: God.
Ali: That doesn’t sound very relaxing. Um...[laughs]
[Sylvi laughs loudly]
Keith: ...you don’t wanna do an Easter egg hunt for your dead friend?
Ali: That’s a great idea. We should [Dre laughs] keep it on the table—
Austin (overlapping): That’s fantastic. Yeah.
Ali: —but, my god. Yeah. Um...I—well actually, I think I can roll this together cause my first—my first, like, Cut Loose thing was gonna be, like, “Oh, I’m gonna go on a drive with Phrygian.” And I—I think that we can synchronize this if it’s like, the Cut Loose happens, and then we also do like a freebie...
Austin: The Gather Information...
Ali: Yeah...
Keith (overlapping): Like a nested—a nested event?
Austin: Sure...
Ali: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Austin (overlapping): So, wait, by a “drive” then, do you mean that you’re going to go out into the sea to look at this thing, or are you driving through the city? What are you—where are you going?
Ali: Well, where—can we just—can we just conceptualize this on the map for a little bit? So...
Austin: Yeah.
Ali: Mark where we are. Do the—like—
Austin (overlapping): You’re here. You’re in Oxbridge, right? You’re like in the northern...
Ali (overlapping): Ok, and then where would you say...
Austin: ...you’re in the northern, like, bay of Oxbridge, right?
Ali: Ok.
Austin: It is like here, getting closer. Right?
Ali: It’s right there. Like, it’s there.
Austin (overlapping): It’s going to be there today. Today is the day.
Ali (overlapping): Yeeeeeeee-ow. Yeowtchy. Ok. Uh, (sing-song) that’s too bad.
Austin: Mhm.
Ali: [Laughs] (Sing-song) I don’t like to hear of it. [Laugh, Austin joins in] Ok!
Keith: You know—counterpoint: surely there’s not another whole thing already. [Austin snorts] It’s probably nothing.
[Ali laughs]
Austin: (Jokingly) Welcome to 2020! [Laugh] A year where there couldn’t possibly be another thing already.
Ali: Sure...Oh boy. That’s right there.
Art: Already?—it’s September.
Austin: Uh. I’m just saying—it’s been one after another all year.
[Ali chuckles]
Ali: Cause I was thinking that Phrygian and Broun could like, go on like, a drive and like, end up here, or whatever. Like pick up some scrap metal that’s like, being all...fucked up? And then maybe on the way back, they take like a...
Austin: My guess is that you could actually do that in the city—
Ali: Ok, sure.
Austin: —because of the fighting. Do you know what I mean?
Ali: Ok, sure. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Ok. Fair.
Keith: The like—more like this...
[Pause as Keith does something on Roll20]
Austin: Uh—[Ali laughs] I don’t think that this map is big enough for whatever it is you’re doing.
[Art laughs in the background]
Keith: (Quietly) Yeah, that.
Austin (overlapping): Nothing you did just showed up on screen for me.
Keith: It’s mmmmm—that. Oh, no that’s too big. [Laughs]
Austin: That’s too big! [Laughs]
[Ali laughs]
Austin: That’s too big.
Keith: Yeah, the smallest segment is about...three times bigger than I need. [Austin laughs]
Ali: (Quietly) How do you do the...the distance thing? I don’t care—anyway—
Austin: I—yeah, yeah, yeah. It’s fine.
Ali: Does Phrygian have, like, an office or something?
Keith: No, I was the deck!
Austin: [Chuckles] Yeah, but you’re not at Icebreaker anymore.
Ali: Yeah, but since then, you have like a bed...and like you know...
Austin: Oh...that’s true.
Ali: ...an ID card, and like, you can get...food from the mess hall, and like, you might have, like, an office that somebody gave you. Where do you hang out?
Keith: Um...[Austin exhales a laugh] Well, I’ve been concentrating really hard on building this new body—on being this new body, and...I was sort of imagining that happening in a completely empty room.
Ali: Ok. So, Broun...
Keith (overlapping): So that’s where I’m hanging out.
Ali: [Laughs] Broun pokes their head in...and says—
[as Broun]: Um...you said you were like a scientist, right?
[Pause]
Keith [as Phrygian]: Ye...I’m like a...[pause] I’m like a...
[Someone cracks up in the background]
Ali [as Broun]: Do you have two hours to kill?
Keith [as Phrygian]: Yes.
[Several people laugh]
Ali [as Broun]: [Snorts] Alright, I have a van outside.
[Pause, then Art laughs]
Art: “Get in, loser!”
Keith [as Phrygian]: I’m like a researcher...
Ali [as Broun]: Oh, great.
Keith: As I’m getting in the van—
Ali (overlapping): [Laughs] Perfect.
Keith: —it’s been like two minutes.
Austin: (Laughing) Yeah.
Ali: (Laughing) It’s perfect. Ok. Um...Yeah. I think it’s—um...[laugh] I think it, you know, is a little bit of a drive cause it’s dangerous, and it takes them a little bit of time. But I think, like—I guess I didn’t set up scene, which is that Broun is a fucking nightmare right now. [Laugh] As a person...
Austin: Oh, no, you’ve set that up.
Keith: You’ve been setting that up, yeah.
Ali: (Laughing) Yeah, I’m setting that—[laugh]
Art: I think it’s very clear. [Laugh]
Keith: The ball’s on the tee...
Ali: I think Broun is currently going through the emotional equivalent of swallowing glass. Seeing war [laugh] tear apart Oxbridge...I think—
Austin (overlapping): Yeah. Also, you have to, like, duck people who are like the police, who are trying to, like—you know. There are times when you’ve had to, like, put your head down to make sure you don’t get carded, because like—remember, y’all had, like, your citizenship stripped away. And so, at the point at which there’s a nationalist versus secessionist fight happening in your city, let’s say the nationalists—the ones who wanna—[laugh] who wanna stay loyal to the Principality, are really looking for any excuse to crack fucking heads right now. So...just adding to the—this is the milieu with which you go to look at broken robot arms.
Ali: Oh yeah, yeah, yeah. I also, like—the context that I did want to add is that, like, especially...I think for Broun, knowing that Agon and Gucci were like...how they made the majority of their income pre-SBBR...
Austin: Mmm...
Ali: ...drives them fucking crazy. [Laugh]
Austin: In the sense that—wait, wait, wait. In which way? In which way?
Ali: In—just being, like, in going through—living through the, like, Kingdom game—
Austin: Mhm.
Ali: —and then having Valence die, and then being, like, “Oh, you know, the things that you thought you could fall back on, or the things that you have previously been aligning yourself to—”
[TIMESTAMP 01:00:00]
Austin: Right.
Ali: “—have taken the mask off.”
Austin: Right. [Ali laughs] And you didn’t end up siding with them. There’s another world—
Ali (overlapping): Right.
Austin: —in which you're still just an engineer who fucks around and, on the side, makes money by charging Gucci too much, and who has—
Ali (overlapping): That world could be twenty minutes from now. Right? Like—[Laugh]
Austin: You could go back to that right now. Yeah. You want to hand me your character sheet and roll me a new character, we’ve been doing that. [Ali laughs loudly] If you want an out for Broun, we can go.
Ali: Um, anyway, I think it’s particular tension that makes Broun go find the person that they can’t—have to—[laugh] they don’t need to make eye contact with cause they don’t have to completely perceive them with a face. Very relaxing. [Pause] Anyway, so I think—[laugh] I think they like, come across,you know...a little bit out of town there’s like...you know, a mech arm...maybe some shells that are left over...[laughs softly]
Austin: Yeah...
Ali: ...some pieces of stuff...and um, Broun parks the van. Gets out. [Laugh] And like walks over to this thing that, like—I think it’s like—like if you look at, like, how it’s assembled, it looks like a mech arm that you could, like, lift us this armour plating and like get inside of it—
Austin (overlapping): Right, right.
Ali: —but because of the way that it’s been destroyed, it’s like...the garage door won’t open, essentially.
Austin: Mhm.
Ali: [Laugh] Um, Broun kind of, like, taps it, and looks back at Phrygian and is like—
[as Broun]: So that stuff with the walls...you were able to just, like...
[Pause]
Ali: And Broun’s like...[laugh] pressing the tips of their fingers against the metal, and like, gently applying pressure to sort of...[laugh]
Keith [as Phrygian]: Like, you want me to—you want me to, like, hear? The wall? Like—
Ali [as Broun]: Wh—so, if I’m correct—and I can’t see the model number—it’s like cut off a little bit? Um, if—I think this was made, like, maybe four years ago? And back then, Apostolos was making connectors of full..[clicks tongue] they weren’t using like a composite for...their...um, just wire connectors. And, um...that means that if I can get what’s in there, and...like, blend it down, it’ll last for, like, months. And I just kinda—like, it's gonna take hours to cut into it, so I just thought if you could, like, check. So it wouldn’t be, like, a waste of time?
Keith [as Phrygian]: Ok, so there’s something in there, and I just—you just want me to det—detect it.
Ali [as Broun]: Yeah! Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Keith [as Phrygian]: Ok. Yup! Yup!
Ali [as Broun]: Great!
Austin: I love—[Ali laughs] I love that you’re back to stealing copper. [Ali continues laughing] (Phrased like a rhetorical question) How do you burn Stress? Go steal copper and con someone into helping you. [Ali’s laughter continues] Yeah, there’s copper in there. There’s the non-composite material. The good, raw, stuff is in there. Hasn’t been stepped on yet.
Keith: I relay that.
[as Phrygian] Yeah, it’s in there.
Ali [as Broun]: (Stilted) Oh! Really? Great!
Ali: Um, I think Broun has like a um...
Keith [as Phrygian]: Did you say it was gonna be four hours to get it out?
Ali [as Broun]: [Sigh] Well—[laughs]
Keith [as Phrygian]: I swear you said it was gonna be four hours to get it out.
Ali: Um, I think Broun has in their hand, like a...like a—like a flamethrower? But like it’s—it like [Austin laughs] you hold it in your hand, and you press the...
Keith: Like, for like a welder?
Ali: Yeah! It’s like—it’s like two sticks that are apart. It’s like a—like a—like a...safety pin.
Keith: An arc welder.
Ali (overlapping): And then you push one side of the safety pin in? You know?
Austin: Yeah.
Ali: And I think that when you push it in, it has like a (mimicking a spray sound) TSCHH, and then fire comes out...
Austin: Right. Right.
Ali: And Broun’s just like—[laugh] and Broun’s just like—
[as Broun]: Yeah, I mean I’m not gonna be able to open it...the typical way.
[Pause]
Keith [as Phrygian]: Ok. [Pause] You said this wasn’t gonna be a whole day thing.
Ali [as Broun]: Oh, I mean, you can take the van back. I’ll just have Thisbe pick me up later.
[Sylvia laughs]
[Pause]
Keith [as Phrygian]: ...I can’t drive!
[Several people crack up]
Ali [as Broun]: Really?!
Keith [as Phrygian]: I don’t know how to drive that...
Ali [as Broun]: Oh. [Pause] Oh.
Keith [as Phrygian]: Yeah, you’re my ride.
Ali [as Broun]: Oh. Oh. Oh! Oh. Right. Ok. Right. Ok. Uh. How would you get in there?
Keith: I point to the tool that Broun has.
[as Phrygian]: With that, I guess!
[Ali and Austin laugh]
Ali [as Broun]: Um...[laugh]
[Keith laughs]
Jack: Oh, boy...
Ali [as Broun]: Right.
Jack: ...hoist by your own petard.
[Ali laughs, Austin chuckles]
Ali [as Broun]: Right. Right, right, r-r-right. Mmm. [Pause] Well, are you busy later? [Laugh] Maybe—
Keith [as Phrygian]: Well there was that—
[Several people laugh in the background]
Keith [as Phrygian]: —there was the red thing...
Austin: Yeah. In the distance...billowing across the sea...
Keith [as Phrygian]: There was that—
Keith: I point to it.
[as Phrygian]: We were—I was getting—I was gonna—I was getting ready for that.
Ali: [Laugh] The camera’s—
Keith [as Phrygian] (overlapping): You said “Do you have two hours?” and I said “Yes, I have two hours.”
[Ali continues laughing]
Ali: The camera’s on Broun right now, and it’s Broun just standing there, and the red thing is behind them in the distance. [Laugh] And it’s, like, so much taller than them that—miles away.
Keith [as Phrygian]: Why did you need to know I was a scientist—if I was a scientist for this?
[Austin and Ali laugh]
Ali [as Broun]: Well I figured you would know the difference between the stuff and, you know, I could ask you stuff. Um...I’m like also sort of a scientist.
[Pause]
Keith [as Phrygian]: ...That’s really cool.
[Several people crack up, Art laughs loudly]
Austin: Oh my god. This energy.
[Ali chuckles]
Ali [as Broun]: [Clears throat] Yeah. Um...anyway, we can just start it, or whatever. Or—uh. What do you wanna do? You wanna go look at that thing?
Keith [as Phrygian]: Yeah, I think so!
Ali [as Broun]: [Sigh] Yeah. I mean, yeah. I mean, uh, yeah. I have to drive anyway, so...
Keith [as Phrygian]: Are you just gonna leave this thing here? I guess you could teach me to drive...
[Ali laughs softly]
Ali [as Broun]: Yeah, I mean it’s easy. It’s just...it’s very easy to do.
Keith: What is this thing that we came here in?
Ali: It’s a van?
Keith: Ok, so it’s just like a—it’s just like a regular van? Like an Earth style...Econoline...
[Austin laughs]
Ali (overlapping): It’s like a van. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I don’t know if it’s like a—like an open back sort of thing? Or like a U-Haul situation? Or like a—but it’s, like, a van...[laugh]
Keith: We haven’t talked much about, like—so, like, Partizan just has like, cars.
[Pause]
Austin: Yeah. We’ve seen that style of vehicle, yes.
Keith: Ok.
Austin: We’ve seen...yes.
Keith: That’s fine—I’m not doubting it, I just haven’t thought a lot about, like, people driving on streets...
Austin: It’s not a common, common thing. There were highways in the Kingdom game, now that I think about it. But they were, like, unfinished and overgrown...and then, before that, let’s think—yeah! Yeah. We—we have like trains...
Jack (overlapping): Horses and carriages in Kesh...
Austin (overlapping): Yeah...yeah...they’re not—I suspect they’re actually—in Orion territory, probably pretty common. And then we did talk about, like, long trucks...like during the...the Clem funeral. Uhm...the—the long combination vehicle that—that y’all tried to steal. That’s a car, so there has to be roads for that, right?
Keith: Mhm.
Austin: Um, yeah. Anyway, so you teach—you teach—do you wanna do the roll for—for uh, your Stress, and then you can do a roll for Gather Information on this thing?
Ali: Oh, sure! Just one d6?
Austin: Uh, yeah, cause you only have one with...Phrygian. You’ll have another one now.
Ali: (Sing-song) A one....d...6! [Pause] ONE! Oh, so happy...Good for me.
Austin (overlapping): Perfect...perfect. Yeah. That’s fantastic...
Ali (overlapping): I deserve it.
Austin (overlapping): ...that’s fantastic.
[Art laughs loudly]
Ali: Uh...[Laugh]
Austin: So how much Stress do you still have?
Keith (overlapping): So how much Stress did you have before?
Sylvi (overlapping): Wow...
Ali: I’m now down to five Stress...
Austin: That’s right. That’s correct to me. [Ali laughs] Uh, alright. So. Where do you go to look at this thing? Are you, like, finding like an old....like a—you know, one of those—kind of like beachside telescope things you put a quarter in, you can look out into the sea, you know what I mean? [Soft laugh] Like a whale-watcher thing? What are you doing?
Keith (overlapping): Yeah! There’s this—there’s this little area here that’s, like, jutting out slightly?
Austin: Sure. Where?
Keith (overlapping): Maybe I could—Maybe I could get to there?
Austin: Like here?
Ali (overlapping): Right there?
Austin: Yeah. I see it.
Keith: Yeah.
Austin: Sure!
Keith: Maybe I could get to there. I don’t know how far a drive that is. That’s maybe like another half hour drive?
Austin (overlapping): By the time you get there, it’s probably as close to that point as it will be. [Laugh]
Keith: Ah, then nah—I’ll just stick around close, and I’ll use one of the telescopes.
Austin: Ok. [Laugh] I’m just saying, that’s the—that’s...you will be able to see it from there as—I wasn’t saying you would be in danger, I was saying...that’s probably about how far south it is. By the time you get there, given...that you’ve gone off to do this other stuff.
Keith (overlapping): Yeah—I just don’t wanna run that clock, if I don’t need to.
Austin: Right. When I say, “Does anyone have anything?” and no one says anything, it’s gonna get here. [Laugh] Right?
Keith: Got it. Yeah.
Austin: And, depending on where you are at that moment, [laugh] you know. That’ll be the thing.
Keith: Yeah.
Austin: In any case, what are you doing to investigate this thing?
Keith: Um...[pause] step one—
Austin: Yeah.
Keith: —look at the entire thing as a piece. Which, I don’t know that—have we done that since all we could see was, like, curtains?
Austin: You didn’t—with your naked eyes, you can only see curtains still.
Keith: Ok.
Austin: Even with this telescope, you can see...that they are finely made curtains. Huge—like theatre curtains, you know?
Keith: Yeah. And like, it’s just extremely tall curtains...
Austin: That—yes. Now, if there’s a Gather Information roll here, I can maybe give you more. You can ask me questions, so—yeah.
Keith: Yeah, I would love to Gather Information.
Austin: Alright. Um...Give me...what are you doing it with? What are you—I guess that’s a—that’s a...a Survey or Study? Probably?
Keith: I was thinking Study. I’ve got a one in...Survey and a two in Study.
Austin: Yeah...
Keith: I do think both work...
Austin (overlapping): “Meticulously examine details.” Sure.
Keith: Yeah
Austin: I’m good.
Keith: So I’m—yeah. So that’s—
Austin: Two d6—there’s no—this is not a...a Risky...you can’t—it’s just Gather Information, so...[pause as Keith rolls] Alright, that’s a Mixed, so go ahead and ask me a question, and you’ll be able to fo—you give me a follow-up after that question.
Ali: Oh, should I be doing a—oh, I guess it doesn’t matter. Uhm...
Keith: I think that you’re blowtorching a wall...
[Austin exhales a laugh, Art laughs]
Ali: (Indignant) I think I’m teaching you how to drive to the shore—
Austin: Yeah.
Ali: —so we can both look at this thing!
Keith: Oh, ok.
Ali: Ugh.
[Several people start laughing]
Keith: (Laughing) WHOA—
Austin: The fuckin energy radiating off from this...
Ali (overlapping): Anyway, I didn’t know if I should do an Assist, but it’s happened, so it’s fine.
Austin (overlapping): No, no it’s fine. Yeah. [Ali laughs] Alright so, what do you—what do you wanna know about this thing?
Keith: Um...[pause] Ok! Well, here’s something. Does it look like there’s something behind the curtains?
Austin: Absolutely. You can see the curtain...um...not balling up, but like being pushed, basically, by a—you know, a structure underneath the curtain. Um, you can tell that it’s kind of draped—from this distance, you can tell that it’s draped over a figure.
[Pause]
Keith: [Sigh, followed by long pause] Do I have any other questions?
Austin: Yeah, yeah, yeah. You have a follow-up.
Keith: Ok. Oh, right. Follow-up, yeah. Ok.
Austin: So yeah, so your standard information here is like: yes, there’s a figure underneath that curtain.
[Pause]
Keith: Hm...I have so little information about this thing that it’s hard to think of even a follow-up. Like...
Austin: Yeah, and—I’m being vague because the method of Gathering Information here is that you’re looking at it. Do you know what I mean?
Keith: Yeah.
Austin: Um...it’s not like you’re flying up next to it. It’s not like you’re scanning it with high-tech technology—you know what I mean? You’re like...
Keith: Yeah.
Austin: ...“Alright, what can I make—what can I put together from just visual data.” You know? But if you have follow-up, I’m happy to try and give you more. [Pause] Also just I’ll—
Keith: Ok, so...
Austin: —I’ll underscore—in person, the scale is...phenomenal.
Keith: Right.
Austin: If you weren’t scared of this thing before, it’s probably worth being scared of it now.
Keith: Um...ok. So, I know that there’s something underneath now.
Austin: Yes.
Keith: And now that I know that, the thing that I want to do is pay attention to the scene—the, like, the breaks in the curtain...
Austin: So you can’t see any. Which is strange.
Keith: Right. Cause if these are theatre curtains—like, there’s two.
Austin: There might be more than two. This is the thing you notice—it doesn’t seem consistent. Your eyes will leave one part of the curtain to go look somewhere else, and then when they come back to that first point, they will be like “Oh, it’s split here in a way it wasn’t a moment ago.” So something is—the curtain is part of it. [Pause] So it’s not just that there’s something hidden under there, it’s that the curtain is part of it. Um, and it’s almost like—
Keith (overlapping): Ok.
Austin: —there’s a—you—[sigh] you get a bunch of different senses here. You know what I mean? Like there’s a bunch of different emotional responses to it. To some degree—it almost looks like it’s a long mourning veil, you know what I mean? There’s that sense of just, like, the—the slow—the slow walks forward...the way it, like...the way it’s dragging itself, the way that the—the fabric is—is pushing against the structure inside. It’s like the figure inside of it is moving, and the—it’s not that the curtain doesn’t wanna go with it—”
[TIMESTAMP 01:15:00]
Austin (con’t): —but it has that sort of weight, that weightiness, that gravity of sadness. But there’s also a sort of authority there. There’s also a sort of, like—and you know, maybe for a moment it turns, and you fear that it’s turning towards you. Right? There’s that sense of...[clicks tongue] you know it isn’t, in this moment, giving you attention. And yet, for a moment, you feel as if you were being perceived—and this is true for Broun too, who is here. And you’re not just being perceived, but you’re being...scrutinized. The way a cop scrutinizes you. Do you know what I mean? That sense of like, “Fuck. Alright. I’m gonna be very careful for the next twenty seconds while this fucking cop is looking at me.”
Keith: Mhm.
Austin: Or not even, like, 20 seconds. It’s that jolt of realizing that something with authority has turned its attention in your general direction for a moment. And all of the weight that comes with...worrying you might fuck up. [Dry laugh] You know?
Keith: Mhm.
Austin: Not fuck up, but like be-fucked-up, because you’ve done something that this piece of authority decides is fucking-up.
Keith [as Phrygian]: Broun, do you wanna look at this thing?
[Pause]
Ali: Um...I think Broun is just, like...staring at it from the...whatever shore we ended up on. Right? Um...
Austin: Mhm.
Ali: Yeah, I don’t know. It’s tough...thinking about that answer is tough because I have to think of Broun as like, someone who would be....curious about that type of stuff? Um...but like—but I’ve been trying to conceptualize some of Broun’s fear about this stuff...it’s...bad. [Laugh] It’s a bad one. It’s a deep one. And also, now there’s a weird Divine feeling...
Austin: Yeah.
Ali: So...
Austin: So the answer’s no, you don’t wanna go look at this thing.
Ali: I think so, yeah.
Austin: Ok.
Ali: Um...I think Broun just says—
[as Broun]: I’m good.
Austin: Now let me tell you about the clutch.
[Ali chuckles]
Ali: Unless I should be rolling another one of these rolls, but that’s fine. No, I think Broun refuses.
Austin: Alright. So. Everyone’s used their default actions at this point. Y’all have—except for the Figure...in Bismuth, who has three that they can offer you—assuming, Dre, that you’re content with that, as you agreed to before. [Laugh]
Dre: Yeah.
Austin: Um...but, beyond that, you know. There you—you’d have to spend stuff to do stuff. But, [sigh] again, the ball’s all in your courts. If there needs to be a conversation on what you’re doing, this is a good time for it. You know? [Pause] Or if people wanna do stuff while Phrygian and Broun have been off...investigating stuff and Cutting Loose.
Art: I mean, does anyone wanna have a conversation on what the hell we’re gonna do? It’s not like a Down Time action, but like...
Austin (overlapping): No, but you have it—if you think you would be having it, you should be having it. You know?
[Pause]
Jack: I would—I would...I would attend one of those conversations. I don’t know if I have the authority to...make that kind of a call? [Pause] Ah, no. Screw it!
Austin (overlapping): There is like such an interesting power vacuum at SBBR right now—
Jack: Yeah!
Austin: —with Valence gone, because these are the things that Valence handled. You know? Of like, “No, yeah, we should all sit down and hash it out.” [Chuckles] And...[Ali laughs softly] that person doesn’t exist here right now. So yeah, Kalar, what were you saying?
Jack: I would—I think I’d like to go and see Sovereign Immunity. [Pause] Um...
Art: Still just sitting at a table with, now, a lukewarm cup of coffee.
[Austin laughs]
Keith: It’s been four hours.
Jack [as Kalar]: How’re you doing?
Art [as S.I.]: I’ve been better.
Jack [as Kalar]: Yeah. Um...[sigh] everyone—everyone is just...Phrygian and Broun went off to, I guess go and look at something...What’s your read on this? You think, uh....[sigh] I feel like you were trying to get us to do something and we didn’t do it.
Art [as S.I.]: [Deep sigh] It’s—I don’t know. I don’t know what we should do. It seems very scary out there. Um...and I don’t think we necessarily have the...[clicks tongue] the wherewithal to fight it...but, you know, the alternative might be more dangerous.
Jack [as Kalar]: By turning to Clementine?
Art [as S.I.]: Yeah...
Jack [as Kalar]: Ah, we can...we can fucking kill her, worst comes to worst. Like...I don’t know. I don’t wanna speak out of turn, because I feel like you and your crew have been—[sigh] have been dealing with this stuff for way longer than me, but...in my...area of expertise, there comes a point where I have to recognize that something is too big for me to fight. Um...I’m really good at fighting massive things—things that people look at and say, you know, “There’s no way that we can beat that. We have to flee.” That’s—that’s less of a...
Art [as S.I.] (overlapping): Coincidentally...
Jack [as Kalar]: Uh-huh?
Art [as S.I.]: You looked outside?
Jack [as Kalar]: Oh, this is what I’m saying. I can’t fucking kill that. Too big. [Art laughs] No way. Well, I could—I could spend a day, you know, preparing for it, but that time is already gone, and I think the time that I would be spending would be wasted anyway because, that thing arrives—alright. Ok. [Sigh] I—it looks like a Divine, to me. And I haven’t been close enough to kind of get, like, a vibe from it like you can get with the other Divines sometimes. But I’m spooked by the curtain.
Jack: This is Kalar, like, sizing it up. Like—[chuckle] like a builder arriving at a project [Austin laughs softly in the background] and like, “Whew, it’s gonna—I’m gonna need a...”
[as Kalar]: Yeah, I’m spooked by the curtain, and uh...I don’t like the fact that it hasn’t shown it’s hand. I—I’m most frightened by the fact that Clementine seemed to...know more about it than we did? All of this is me kind of saying that I’m afraid of it? I think it is gonna destroy us. And I think we should take our chances with Clemetine. Not to, like, throw ourselves over to someone who sounds like a complete asshole, but more in the knowledge that we—we can double cross her more easily than getting flattened by whatever that is.
Art [as S.I.]: I hear you, and that makes a lot of sense to me, but uh...[clicks tongue] you know what they say: people in glass castles, [Austin laughs in the background] sometimes they fuck around and kill you.
Jack [as Kalar]: Yeah! Uh-huh. You’re worried that she’s just gonna...what? Just like a summary execution-style thing?
Art [as S.I.]: No I’m worried that she’s just literally something I don’t understand anymore and will, I don’t know, kill us with her mind.
[Pause]
Jack [as Kalar]: I think that thing is gonna kill us with its feet and fists. [Austin exhales a laugh] Uh, and—like, right now, I’m more concerned about—I’m more concerned about that.
Art [as S.I.]: [Sigh] I hear you. And I think you might be right. But, you know...think of all the people that we could inspire by martyring ourselves against this giant robot.
Jack [as Kalar] (overlapping): (Laughing sarcastically) Oh-ho. I’m not interested in martyring myself against that giant robot. That’s a young man’s game. Um...I think uh...
Art [as S.I.]: See, I don’t know...see...hm...[Several people crack up in the background] Yeah, we can tell ya—this is a—we can—we can talk about this later.
Jack [as Kalar]: Um, where’s the sticking point? Do we just make a call? Do we just say “This is what we’re doing?” Cause it seems like there’s gonna be a sticking point.
Art [as S.I.] (overlapping): No, I can’t do that. No.
Jack [as Kalar]: Why not?
Art [as S.I.]: If you wanna—if you wanna do that, you might be able to do—I can’t do that.
Jack [as Kalar] (overlapping): Oh, they won’t fucking listen to me. I’m just a bird from uh, [Keith cracks up] like, the other side of the moon.
Art [as S.I.]: I mean I don’t think the bird thing’s the problem.
Jack [as Kalar]: You see any other birds around here?
Art: There—are—are there no other birds around here?
Jack: Very few, right? I don’t think there are many Talonites on board...like in—in...Millenium Break prime.
Art [as S.I.]: I don’t know, they would listen to Valence. They might listen to Broun. They’re not gonna take me on this because it’s Clem. Um...which I think is ridiculous, but it is how it is.
Jack [as Kalar]: Would they listen to Millie? Millie seems like she’s got a real bone to pick with Clem. And, like, fairly. But I wonder if hearing it coming from her would be...compelling?
Art [as S.I.]: Yeah, you should go talk to her!
[Austin chuckles]
Jack [as Kalar]: (Taken aback) Uh-huh. Yeah. [Sylvi chuckles softly]
Austin: Mmm.
Jack [as Kalar]: Uh, you don’t wanna come with?
Art [as S.I.]: [Clicks tongue] Do you think that’s gonna be helpful?
Jack [as Kalar]: Not really, no. Um...[Ali snorts] Alright, well! Sovereign Immunity, it was nice to talk to you. I hope we see tomorrow aboard the—the floating planet of a fucking despot. Worst things have happened.
Art [as S.I.]: Yeah...
[Jack takes a deep breath]
Austin: Kalar quickly learning that the people that he read about in the comics are not like that.
[Jack laughs]
Jack: Should we get straight into seeing Millie, or...did folks want to do something else?
Sylvi: I’m around. [Laugh]
Art: Oh, and if you want me to come, I’ll come. I was just...
Jack: I think you might make things worse. Not—
Art: Yeah.
Jack: —not, like...you. The fact that you’re Sovereign Immunity.
Art: I—I’m—yeah, I know...I know what you mean.
[Austin chuckles]
Jack: Um, where do I find...where do I find you?
Sylvi: Um I think Millie is....like [sigh] I think she’s, like, loading shit up onto her mech, and [laugh] is not exactly subtle about like, “Oh, I’m leaving.” Um...
Austin: I think—just—just some—
Sylvi (overlapping): Or getting ready to leave...
Austin: —yeah, so, this hasn’t—I haven’t said this because the camera hasn’t really been there, but A.O.’s doing the same thing.
Jack: (Quietly) Hmm...
Austin: A.O.—the specific detail I had was A.O.—it is kind of warm out today, and A.O. Rooke is wearing a jacket because it won’t fit in his luggage.
Jack: God...
Austin: That is the specific image I have. Also, he’s wearing sunglasses, which he doesn’t do normally...
Art (overlapping): Who hasn’t been there?
Austin: Right. Um, and so that’s—that’s what’s happening right now. Also, right jeans. He’s got tight jeans on. Tight black jeans, and just like, M65 coat and....sunglasses, and....
Art (overlapping): (Jokingly) Keep going. Another one.
Austin: I think just like a tank top—it’s a tank top and an over—and this M65 (laughing) military jacket, which is a great mix. [Jack chuckles] Um, yeah. Anyway.
[Pause]
Jack [as Kalar]: Hey! Have you got a moment? Or, I can help you while we do this. I don’t know. I just—we need to talk.
Sylvi [as Millie]: I got it. I don’t really have that much shit, so—don’t worry about it. What’s up?
Sylvi: [Laugh] Millie’s already mostly packed, by the way, and it is like, fifty percent guns...[Austin, Jack, and Dre laugh] Like, that’s ALL SHE HAD when she moved here! From prison....
Austin (overlapping): (Laughing) Mhm...fair. Fair.
Art: Now, is that a suitcase, or like a crate?
Sylvi: Uh, well, so she has this coffin-shaped mech—
Austin: Right.
[Ali laughs in the background]
Sylvi: —this coffin-shaped robot that can hold things...so it’s—
Austin: Mhm.
Art: Mmm.
Sylvi: —I mean, if you wanna call that a suitcase, you could, maybe—it’s luggage of some kind...
Jack (overlapping): A suitcase is a coffin! I mean, a coffin is a suitcase. [Laugh]
Sylvi: I mean, you usually—
Austin (overlapping): Damn.
Sylvi: —are wearing a suit when you go in one.
Jack: True—yeah that’s what—yeah!
Austin: Wow...
Sylvi: Yeah...
Jack: Yeah, we’re figuring it out here.
Austin: Yeah...
[Sylvi and Austin laugh]
Art: Always a good time on Friends at the Table!
[Jack joins in laughing]
[Pause]
Jack [as Kalar]: I have a really big ask, and I don’t think...I don’t expect you to like it, and I’m not asking you to agree with it. And I’m...[Art cracks up]so I’m just gonna...I’m just gonna kick off.
Sylvi [as Millie]: Mhm?
Jack [as Kalar]: I think we gotta take Clementine’s offer. [Sylvi sighs] And I know how...weighty a decision that is for you. But I think you are the person who...who can make the rest of us take it. I don’t have the history with Clementine that you do, so I can’t...[Pause, Sylvi sighs] I told you that I wasn’t very good at saying stuff like this. I think if that thing arrives...anybody who doesn’t leave is going to die. And I don’t think we’re going to be able to leave, and come back to the place and the people that we are now.
Sylvi [as Millie]: Oh, I’m with you there. I just—it’s the Clem part that...you know. [Sigh] S.I. didn’t put you up to this, right?
Jack [as Kalar]: No! I mean, what happened was I went and spoke to S.I., and I said “How do you think we can get people on board?” And S.I. didn’t really say anything at all, and I said—
Sylvi [as Millie] (overlapping): Sounds like him.
Jack [as Kalar]: —”I think I’m gonna go talk to Millie.”
Sylvi [as Millie]: Yeah, that sounds like—sounds like most conversations people have with him. Um, so...I...don’t...know...if I can...live with myself? If I go back to working with, or for her.
Jack [as Kalar]: Hm.
Sylvi [as Millie]: And like, I definitely am, like—I see the logic behind everyone getting on board her fucking spaceship whatever the fuck she’s got now, but like...I don’t know.
Jack [as Kalar] (overlapping): It’s the—
Sylvi [as Millie]: Part of me is wondering if I just take my odds with the big red thing...and at least go out in a way that doesn’t have me trying to further some fucking princess’s ambitions...
Jack [as Kalar]: Yeah. That’s a—it’s a good argument. Um...
Sylvi [as Millie]: I was just gonna try to get out of here as quick as I could, see if Leap needed anybody around...
Jack [as Kalar]: [Sigh] Yeah. I—I think—I think...[Sigh] I mean—
Sylvi: I think while this is happening, Millie keeps, like, looking at the other people who are running around the hangar and—
[TIMESTAMP 01:30:00]
Austin: Yeah.
Sylvi: —is, like, getting more and more, like, “Ugh, fuck, I can’t just do this.”
Austin: No, I—so the thing here is, I think A.O. at some point comes over and is like—
[as A.O. Rooke]: [Flaps lips] Millie, you’re right. Uh, I can’t do it either. I thought about it, and I thought, if S.I. did it, and you did it...and Broun and them...but they don’t know Clem like us. And...I don’t think I can do it either. Ima go get my momma, and then...we’ll go...mmm...Leap and—Leap and me weren’t ever that tight, but...it’s Leap or Cruciat. And I think Leap is probably better. [Sigh]
Keith: (Loudly, away from microphone) PROBABLY?
[Sylvi and Jack laugh]
Austin [as A.O. Rooke]: [Sigh] Gucci is in Cruciat and...whew...(laughing) I’m like this close to throwing hands with her, so...
Sylvi[: I mean, it’s like if we go—it’s—going back to Cruciat and going to see Clem is basically just like—[laugh] do you want vanilla or do you want French vanilla? [Austin cracks up] You know what I mean?
[Jack laughs]
Jack [as Kalar]: Ok. Ok.
Art: Wait, which one’s which?
[Austin laughs]
Jack: Mhm.
Sylvi: I think—I think the Crystal Palace is French vanilla cause it’s—
Austin: Mmm.
Sylvi: —a little fancier.
Austin: Yeah. Sure.
Jack: Mmm.
Art: Very French.
Austin: (Laughing) Yeah.
Keith: And Leap is vanilla bean because it’s the—it’s GOOD and not...
[Jack laughs]
Sylvi: Uh-huh.
[Austin laughs]
Jack [as Kalar]: You’re right, I’m...[sigh] I’m sorry I asked this of you. I...
Austin [as A.O. Rooke]: No, listen. [Pause] I’ll put it this way. It could be the right decision...[Jack laughs forcefully] but it ain’t...it ain’t the correct one.
Jack [as Kalar]: Yeah.
Austin [as A.O. Rooke]: Not for us.
Jack [as Kalar]: Yeah.
Austin [as A.O. Rooke]: I...
Jack [as Kalar]: Does it help if I tell you that, you know, uh...I’m—I’m planning on double crossing her? As fast as I can? I’m not saying that to make you come, I’m saying that you can think of me up there trying to, uh...
Austin [as A.O. Rooke]: [Dry laugh]
Sylvi [as Millie]: That does help! That does help, actually! Quite a bit. Definitely with some piece of mind. [Sigh] I—
Austin [as A.O. Rooke] (overlapping): You should make sure that she gets more people out. I’m not gonna do it, but...what was her offer? Us? That’s a BIG ship, bruh.
Jack [as Kalar]: Yeah, she—[sigh] we could load it up. We could—would you stick around to help folks get onto the ship?
Austin [as A.O. Rooke]: [Sigh]
Sylvi: I mean—um, sorry, I actually really quick got a question—character of a question.
Austin: Yeah?
Sylvi: Oxbridge is like a big city too, right?
Austin: Yeah. It’s one of the five biggest cities on the planet—
Sylvi: Yeah.
Austin: Yeah. It’s huge.
Sylvi: Yeah. So—I mean...
Austin: There are lots of people that she could save.
Sylvi: Millie’s answer to that question is, like—
[as Millie]: Yeah. I think I could help people! You know, I—actually, A.O., I’m pretty into your idea of making sure she helps more people than she bargained for...[Austin chuckles] Why? I mean, if we’re gonna work together, we should make sure that, like, she knows that we’re serious about being, like, equal partners, right? So, I’m pretty sure she could fit...what? Like most of Oxbridge on that thing, if not all of it.
[Jack laughs]
Austin: Probably not most, but...
Sylvi (overlapping): And Millie’s, like, grinning the entire time she’s talking about this. [Laugh]
Austin (overlapping): Yeah, yeah, yeah...[laugh]
Jack [as Kalar]: How many people do you think we could get out?
Austin [as A.O. Rooke]: A lot are already leaving...there are people who don’t wanna leave, but...you know, you slice the pie enough, you get a dinner.
Jack: Wait a second. The people—
Art: (Laughing) What?
Jack: —the people who are already...
Austin: [Laugh] What?
Jack: Ok, I don’t think that’s a saying, but also—[Sylvi and Austin laugh] the people who are already leaving, aren’t they fine? We’re sort of ok with that? They can, like—
Austin: Yeah.
Jack: There are other safe cities. I don’t want to burden them with having to deal with Clementine Kesh, right? Like, people who are already going—
Austin (overlapping): Oh...yeah. [Pause] It’s the people who are stuck—
Jack (overlapping): I guess—
Austin: —the people who are going to—
Jack: It’s the people who are stuck.
Austin: Yeah.
Jack [as Kalar]: Yeah. The people who...you know, don’t have the resources to get onto the evac ships—we can help with those. And, you know, you can go your separate ways, um, as soon as we’re done. I would appreciate it if you helped with that. Um...
Austin [as A.O. Rooke]: I could do that.
Jack [as Kalar]: And then we just...we just, uh...and maybe, you know, it was like you were saying—maybe going and seeing Clem is the right call but not the correct one. Maybe for the people who need to hear the right call, um...this additional bit of the scheme will help sway them over. I’m not asking you to come with us to the fucking city...
[Pause]
Sylvi [as Millie]: Yeah...
Jack [as Kalar]: Just help.
Austin [as A.O. Rooke]: (Quietly) Alright.
Sylvi [as Millie]: (overlapping) I'm definitely down to help. At this point...I'm—you know? [Austin chuckles] I think I'm ready to make the right choice, just to see the look on her face when we show up.
Jack [as Kalar]: (Surprised) Oh! Okay. A.O.? You gonna head off once you're done?
Austin [as A.O. Rooke]: I'll play it by ear.
Jack [as Kalar]: Oh! Okay. Honestly, this went a lot better than I thought it was going to, and all it took was trying to evacuate four hundred thousand people to Clementine Kesh's spaceship [Austin chuckles in the background] when she expected sixteen. Um...
Sylvi [as Millie]: Yeah, well, a pretty good way to make me do something is to make me realize I'm being a selfish dickhead, so... [Austin laughs] great job!
Jack [as Kalar]: (Laughing) No, you're fine. It's okay. Um, alright. Okay. I'm gonna go try and pull some strings in the...dispatch...area?
Austin: (Laughing) Love it!
Jack: I just ran out of what that—[Sylvi laughs] what that area is called.
Austin: Yeah. I got you.
Sylvi: I’m gonna start rounding up people in the—seeing who needs help in the city. Don’t say “rounding up.” “Rounding up” has a bad connotation.
Jack (overlapping): “Seeing who needs help” is way better than “rounding up.”
Austin (overlapping): “Rounding up” is worse...no. Bad.
Jack (overlapping): No. Do not say that.
Austin (overlapping): Bad.
Sylvi: Yeah...
Jack [as Kalar]: Okay Should we meet back here in...uh...
Austin: And everyone looks...
Jack (overlapping): And then Kalar, like, looks at...
Austin (overlapping): ...looks—looks at the red—at the red—(laughing) at the red figure getting closer...
Jack: Yeah...
Austin: (Laughing) Like a living clock.
Jack [as Kalar]: Uh, keep in touch. Let’s see you back here in—
Jack: Have we got three hours, Austin?
Austin: Yeah.
Jack [as Kalar]: Alright! Three hours and we can regroup. See how we’re doing.
Sylvi [as Millie]: Yeah! Sounds like a plan.
Jack [as Kalar]: Alright! Let’s go!
Sylvi [as Millie]: Yeah.
Austin: Art in the chat says “Wait. I have a pitch for A.O. Don’t let A.O. leave.”
Jack: Oooh.
Austin: What is S.I.’s pitch?
Art: Well, he’s not leaving—
Austin (overlapping): Oh, ok.
Art (overlapping): —so I don’t need to.
Austin: Alright, you sit on that just in case he wants to leave later. (Laughing) Ok.
Art: Yeah! I’m—you don’t—you don’t...
Austin: (Laughing) I got you.
Art: I’ve already solved the problem: how to get all these people on board.
Austin: Oh! Have you?
Art: Yeah!
Austin: So is that what—when Phrygian and Broun come back, do they just see everyone, like, actively working on the thing you’re about to say? [Laugh]
Art: Yeah! Everyone just say you’re a member of The Church of the Resin Heart—[Austin, Jack, and Dre laugh] and that this is part of it. This is part of the deal.
Austin: Mmm.
Jack: (Laughing) Oh my god...
Art: They don’t have some, like—they don’t have...
Austin: Yeah...
Art: You don’t need to, like, cut your ear off or anything, right?
Austin: No.
Art: There you go.
Jack: Excellent!
Austin (overlapping): (Laughing) She did say she would take the Church on board...
Art: She did! And...
Austin (overlapping): Gur Sevraq did suggest that—
Sylvi (overlapping): Oh my god...
Austin: —it’s true.
Art: ...and a lot of—it turns out the Church got real popular since Clem left! I don’t know what it is.
Austin (overlapping): And—well—well, no, but that’s true among Millenium—uh, Millennium Break devotees—as like, Gur Sevraq sermons are passed around like concert tapes—like concert bootlegs. You know?
Art: Yeah, I mean, they probably didn’t mean this, but—
Austin: No...
Art: But, I mean, a trick’s a trick.
[Austin chuckles softly]
Ali: Yeah, I—that was the thing that I was thinking of—is that, like, are there people who feel...strongly enough about their actual beliefs [laugh] that they would perhaps—would NOT do this.
Austin: Yeah, plenty of people don’t want to...if you explain that they have to get onto a thing with Clementine Kesh, then plenty of people would say “Absolutely not.”
Ali: Yeah.
Austin: The question for me there is, like, are you telling people that? Or is this a lie?
Art: I mean that’s a real ethical dilemma that we should confront as a group. Is it okay to lie to people to save their lives?
Austin: (Jokingly) So, light work. Figure that out in ten minutes.
Janine (overlapping): (With false sincerity) Well, I’ve been watching The Good Place, and...
Austin: (Laughing) Okay...
[Sylvi and Art laugh]
Jack: I think Kalar also has a vested interest in trying to get people to a place of safety that comes at a cost. Um...given that they evacuated their family off Partizan—
Austin: Yeah.
Jack: —in the early days of the war. Um...
Austin: Doing this without telling that Clem is involved, and then them finding out that Clem is involved—
Jack (overlapping): No, we have to tell people that Clem is involved.
Austin: —would be a—would be a dramatic betrayal. It would be received as such.
Jack: No, the point of this is to keep...you know, I wonder if this is just in character to Sovereign Immunity, (laughing) carrying boxes or something, like—
Austin: Yeah, yeah.
Jack [as Kalar]: —like, we are doing this to keep the bit of Millenium Break that we are clinging onto together. That’s why we’re doing this. Otherwise we all just leave. We just go to different areas of the moon. Let whatever the red thing is do whatever it does here. The reason we are going to Clementine is so that we can keep doing what we’re doing now, as far as I’m concerned. And I think that if we—if we...don;t tell people that she is on board...the rift that that would cause...
Art [as S.I.]: I agree that that’s the correct thing to do, and I hope that I don’t have to see the faces of all the people who say no in my nightmares for the rest of my life.
Sylvi [as Millie]: (Quietly) Yeah.
Jack [as Kalar]: I can’t argue with that.
Art [as S.I.]: I don’t think it’s an arguable point!
Jack [as Kalar]: No. That sounds awful—[Austin laughs] but we’re not—we’re not in this to make the easy calls.
Art [as S.I.]: Yeah, I’m...I think we’re—we’ve reached hostile agreement.
Jack [as Kalar]: Okay. Yeah. That’s one of my favorite kinds of agreement.
[Sylvi and Austin laugh]
[Pause]
Austin: And so you get to work, doing this, this day. Like running basically, like, vans back and forth from the docks, and the streets—
Art (overlapping): I hate the word “cars” now. Doesn’t feel (laughing) very futuristic.
Austin: Eh, we don’t have flying ships for the most part, do you know what I mean? I guess you might have, like—
Art (overlapping): Well, what about, like...
Austin (overlapping): —you’d call...
Art: ...hover-cubes?
Austin: Definitely no hover-cubes. You could have, like—
Art (overlapping): (Indignant) What!
Austin: —VTOL stuff that is like...uh... you know, like a helicopter or a Harrier Jet-type thing, but like that stuff is expensive. You know, remember, half of this season was Broun trying to save up to get a spaceship, and that spaceship isn’t even like—isn’t the Millenium Falcon, (laughing) you know?
Art: I just want, like, a more futuristic bus.
Austin: I think—
Art: Or like a...
Austin (overlapping): You’ve got a—
Art: Like a...a what is—
Austin (overlapping): You know how there were buses in, like, the 1940s and there were buses in the 1970s? The 1970s buses are like ‘futuristic’ in the sense that they were from after the 1940s? It’s like...
Art (overlapping): The sense that they’re from the future?
Austin (overlapping): Yeah. It’s like that. Yeah.
Art: Or like a—or like a....what’s the matter with me—the cargo containers on ships.
Austin: Yeah.
Art: You know, like the big—you know the big things? Those! But in the future.
Austin: Yeah, so the thing here is you don’t have those. SBBR doesn’t have those. You wanna ask, you know, the Oxblood Clan for, you know, some sort of transport—military style transporter or shipping transports that can—that can fly, then like, you can make that call. And in fact, I would suspect that Jesset would want to know about this. And I think probably you get a call that is like—
[as Jesset City]: I hear you’re bringing people to the beach to wait to be picked up by the Witch in Glass?
Art [as S.I.]: Mhm. Yup.
Austin [as Jesset City]: What is going on?
Austin: Actually, I—let’s just put Jesset here. In fact, Broun, can you come back now? Is this—[Ali chuckles in the background] can you come back while Jesset has just gotten here and is mad about—like, off on the shore, hundreds and hun—thousands of people gathering, waiting to be picked up?
[Pause]
Ali: ...sure.
Austin [as Jesset]: Sovereign Immunity, what is this? What are you doing?
Art [as S.I.]: We’re evacuating.
Austin [as Jesset]: With WHAT?
Art [as S.I.]: Um...the buses and vans?
Austin [as Jesset]: To the beach?
Art [as S.I.]: No. We’re gonna—we’re gonna...[Austin sighs] we’re gonna go to The Witch in Glass?
Ali [as Broun]: What?
Austin [as Jesset]: (Exasperated) What?
Art [as S.I.]: Yeah, I hear you! I’m on your side.
[Keith laughs loudly]
Ali [as Broun]: Since when?
Art [as S.I.]: [Sigh] I’ve always been on your side! [Ali snorts] We’ve fought together so many times!
[Pause]
Austin [as Jesset]: [Sigh] We need to hunker down and save as many people as we can. We don’t know what that thing is.
Art [as S.I.]: Uh, yeah...we need to get out of here. There’s no—there’s no hunkering down for this. [Austin sighs] Doing this saves lives.
Austin [as Jesset]: I’ve heard—and tell me if I’m wrong—that Clementine (with disdain) Kesh is on that ship.
Art [as S.I.]: Uh-huh. Yeah.
Austin [as Jesset]: [Sigh] And we’re going to her?
Art [as S.I.]: Yeah.
Austin [as Jesset]: We did all of that—
Ali [as Broun]: (overlapping) When did you—
Ali: (Whispering) Uh, sorry—
Austin [as Jesset]: —to go back to her?
Art [as S.I.]: One at a—one at a time.
Austin [as Jesset]: Uh—Broun, you go ahead.
Art [as S.I.]: Great.
Ali [as Broun]: When did you decide this?
Art [as S.I.]: Oh, it was kind of a group call, honestly. Um, I sort of didn’t think it would come together...and then...
Austin [as Jesset]: (overlapping) Which group?! Which group, exactly? Because (laughing sarcastically) I was not called. Uhm...I—Broun seems to not know...as far as I know, Broun is the commanding officer of your unit. [Ali chuckles] I know that because—
Art [as S.I.]: (overlapping) Yeah...
Austin [as Jesset]: (overlapping) —I spent the better part of the last week defending you to Gucci!
Art [as S.I.]: Oh, well, Gucci can fuck off—[Sylvi laughs in surprise] and...Broun wasn’t here!
Ali: (Quietly) Oh my god...
Art [as S.I.]: And if the two of you wanna go out there and tell people “No, you know what, we’re gonna hunker down, let the Divine kill all of us”—as many people as y’all want to do that, you can do. [Pause] I can handle this. [Ali snorts. Austin chuckles as Jesset] I don’t care if she’s in a glass...palace, I don’t care if she calls herself a witch...she’s a little girl, and if she steps to us, she’ll be—she’ll be done.
[TIMESTAMP 01:45:00]
Austin [as Jesset]: My understanding is—[chuckle]
Ali [as Broun]: (overlapping) You’re eating out of her hand!
Art [as S.I.]: (Defensive) I’m...what?! We’re putting four hundred thousand people in her castle.
Austin [as Jesset]: You’re giving her four hundred thousand people.
Art [as S.I.]: She’s an idiot!
[Ali laughs in the background]
Austin [as Jesset]: She’s going to have all of the control! She’s going to be able to feed them, and house them. They’re going to turn to her to solve their problems.
Art [as S.I.]: (overlapping) Oh, then that’s for free. She has unlimited food and housing.
Ali [as Broun]: If—if she’s an idiot, what are you?
Art [as S.I.]: Smarter than her!
[Laughter in the background]
Austin [as Jesset]: She kept you imprisoned for a year.
Art [as S.I.]: She did not! Her mother kept me in prison for two decades!
Austin [as Jesset]: I see. [Rueful laugh] We had it wrong, I suppose.
Art [as S.I.]: Do you not think Crysanth is smarter than—was—was smarter than Clementine?
Austin [as Jesset]: Well she’s dead, and her daughter seems to have a sky palace, so...
Art [as S.I.]: I mean, that’s a really small dataset...[Keith bursts out laughing. Pause. Ali chuckles] You hunker down! Hunker down! Hunker down! Good luck!
Austin [as Jesset]: So is this you leaving Millenium Break?
Art [as S.I.]: No! This is me taking Millenium Break the fuck with me! [Ali chuckles] This is you leaving Millenium Break.
Austin [as Jesset]: I feel like you blinked and missed it.
[Pause]
Art: Uh, I need you to say that in a different way.
Austin [as Jesset]: One day...months ago, you had the opportunity to be Millenium Break. And...
Jack (overlapping): This fucking guy...
Austin [as Jesset]: ...no one listened to you. Instead, they listened...they listened to Valence, who...did their best, and who believed in this before anyone else. Before Gur Sevraq...before Clementine knew what it was, before anyone else was bought in. Valence looked at me and said, “Yes. That’s a thing we can do.” And overnight, Valence lost power. And it became nebulous, and when things get nebulous—if you’ve worked in a place with informal structure, you know this—when things get nebulous, the powerful take control quietly. And as we speak, that’s what’s happening to Millenium Break. (Emphatically) Agon and Gucci are taking over Millenium Break. And now you want to give many of the people who would oppose their takeover to Clementine KESH?!
Art [as S.I.]: I’m not giving anyone to anything!
Austin [as Jesset]: The SECOND they’re on her ship, they’re her hostages. Do you not understand? She came back from the dead once. Why wouldn’t she believe she could do it again? She’ll crash them into the sea to spite you!
Art [as S.I.]: We’ll see how many times she can come back to the dead.
[Pause. Ali chuckles]
Ali [as Broun]: Are you listening to yourself?
Austin [as Jesset]: He’s gone.
Ali [as Broun]: You just think that you’re right about this.
Art [as S.I.]: I think I’m right that all these people shouldn’t die for your—for your ego.
[Ali chuckles drily.]
Ali [as Broun]: I’m not talking about ego with somebody who fucking wants to kill all nine versions of Clementine Kesh. Are you fucking—she—
Art [as S.I.]: (overlapping) I don’t think she’s got nine...
Ali [as Broun]: —a stranger showed up at a funeral and asked you a question, and you said yes and four hundred other people. [Pause] Are you—what’s wrong with you?!
Austin [as Jesset]: (overlapping) Four hundred thousand—four hundred thousand!
[Ali laughs]
Art [as S.I.]: Yeah, which is an interesting thing, in an argument about who has power, and who just got four hundred thousand people to do something.
Ali [as Broun]: Sure. Yeah. That’s worth mentioning. Yeah.
Austin [as Jesset]: Those people are afraid, and you seem powerful now. When they go up there, she will seem powerful.
Art [as S.I.]: I don’t know. You should go—it’s not that impressive...
Ali [as Broun]: (muttering) Oh my fucking god...[indiscernible whisper]
Austin [as Jesset]: Consider your perspective may be different than people who only know her as the Witch in Glass. For many people who heard just a week or two ago that she was dead, and now she is risen and has a sky palace.
Art [as S.I.]: But it’s fucking bullshit! The same way the Rapid Evening was fucking bullshit. She just lies really loudly.
Austin [as Jesset]: (Condescending) Sovereign Immunity, [dry laugh] we live in the Divine Principality. It’s all bullshit. People love it. The people alongside still want to save it, most of them...She’s going to look like a savior to them.
Art [as S.I.]: [Sigh] It’s better than them all being dead. [Austin sighs as Jesset] How many people are you willing to sacrifice to keep her from getting this so-called win?
Austin [as Jesset]: I’m saying that giving them to her is sacrificing them too. How many are you willing to sacrifice to saint your feeling of guilt?
Art [as S.I.]: (overlapping) That’s stupid! Dead people are sacrificed. Living people aren’t sacrificed.
[Ali laughs]
Austin [as Jesset]: (Emphatic) The point of the revolution is that we are sacrificing ourselves for this thing every single day! A slow death is still death. Would I rather die today or twenty years for now after I put food in some rich guy’s mouth?
Ali [as Broun]: He’s not gonna get it.
Austin [as Jesset]: No.
Art [as S.I.]: You—mmh (cutting himself off).
Austin [as Jesset]: (Terse) It’s fine.
Art [as S.I.]: Sacrificing yourself is for idiots.
[Austin and Ali snort]
Ali [as Broun]: Shut the fuck up!
Art [as S.I.]: Living people can keep doing stuff.
Austin [as Jesset]: You’re only alive because—
Ali [as Broun]: What the—
Austin [as Jesset]: (Getting riled up) Whew—
[Quiet chuckles in the background]
Ali [as Broun]: What is wrong with you? [Pause] What is wrong with you? Why would you say that? How could you say that? Have you been living through the last week of your own fucking life? Do you hear the words that are coming out of your own fucking mouth? How is this happening?
Art [as S.I.]: [Sigh] I mean—I think you’re—I think we’re seeing it right now. If Valence were here, things would be better, and instead [Ali sighs as Broun] Valence isn’t, and Crysanth is dead, and what does it matter?
Ali [as Broun]: You fucking tell me—you know the both of them so well...
Austin [as Jesset]: You’re right. It would be better if, instead of Valence dying to kill Crysanth, you had. [Someone gasps in the background] But you were too cowardly, weren’t you? You always have been. You loved to eat out of the hands of Kesh, and then turn to us and say that you’re doing it for good reason. You’re doing it for the long game. Leap was exactly right about you.
Art [as S.I.]: Fine. You’re not gonna get a fucking rise outta me.
[Ali and Austin chuckle]
[Pause]
Austin: And then I think that that’s it from Jesset. Jesset’s gonna—I think Jesset says to Broun—
[as Jesset]: I’m going back to the orphanage. I’ll attend to those who stay. You can make whatever decision you want. I understand if you wanna stay with...(sigh) the people who (sigh)...just—I’ll understand.
[Pause]
Ali: Um, yeah! Um...I think—[laugh] um...I think that Broun looks at S.I. and says—
[as Broun]: The fact that Valence ever trusted you makes me sick to my fucking stomach.
Ali: And then just (laughing) walks away.
[Pause]
Austin: (Wryly) I love a big S.B.B.R. [Ali bursts out laughing] Alright. Anything else before...the red light passes over Oxbridge?
Art: I mean, am I wrong?
[Ali giggles]
Austin: No, no, no, I think you’ve made the case, but you’ve made it to literally the two people who don’t wanna hear that case. I mean—
Art: But if you don’t think I should be pushing this way, I—
Austin: I think that—
Dre (overlapping): No, I think that if Valence was alive, they would agree with you.
Austin: Right.
[Ali laughs in the background]
Dre: They’d be doing what Sovereign Immunity is doing.
[Austin laughs softly]
Austin: (Emphatically) Uh-huh!
Ali: Um...
Austin: They would just be able to convince Broun and maybe Jesset. But with Valence gone, specifically, you know the—
Ali (overlapping): Right...
Austin: —an absence gets to be filled in any way we want it to be in our own heads, you know?
Ali: [Chuckles]. I’m not above saying S.I. made a bad argument. [Laughs] So...um, I mean I think it’s the right thing to do for the character and probably for the show—
Austin (overlapping): Definitely.
Ali: —but like, that was not...gonna get through to Broun (laughing) or Jesset...
Austin: That was the equivalent of when Valence was like “You need to understand, my god is kind of a big deal” [laugh].
Ali: Right, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Austin: That’s just not the way Broun works.
Ali: Right...
Art: [Sigh] Yeah it’s a—it’s a—it’s a—it’s a focus problem, right?
Austin (overlapping): Mhm...
Art: It’s the...the “I don’t feel like I care about either of these two characters and their opinions of me”—
Austin (overlapping): Right.
Art: —but it’s only because those scenes exist in the background. That, like...I probably do, they just didn’t—none of those scenes made it into the kingdom game or...
Austin (overlapping): We just haven’t seen it...right. Right.
Ali: I’m your boss, I think. (Laughing) I’m your boss, for real. So that’s funny to me. But, yeah, uhm...yeah, I don't know. It’s—it’s fu—I mean the two...like if—[laugh] eh...if this is like a—like a “Broun dating game” (laughing) and you have to convince them to go with you, the moment you’re like “Well, you know, the rich...when poor people are working for rich people, it doesn’t really matter, that’s fine.” And when you were like “Well sacrificing yourself is very stupid,” that was—
Austin (overlapping): But I think—
Ali (overlapping): —game over...[Laugh]
Austin (overlapping): —yeah, that’s game over, but it’s also an important perspective to have on the Valence death, right? Like on screen?
Janine: I was really tempted to have Thisbe enter at that moment and take Sovereign Immunity aside...
Austin: (Laughing) Sure...which...[Ali chuckles] we don’t—we don’t need a feast of...[Laugh] uh....Patina...
Jack (overlapping): Of Patina? [Laugh]
Austin: Yeah...[Ali giggles] uh...I think that’s good—
Janine (overlapping): I mean, not just for conflict. I think—I think straight, like, agreeing.
Austin: Right, no, I understand what you’re saying. I do, I do. Um, no I think that’s a—I think that is an important perspective to have on the Valence death. I think that that is, like, a very key [chuckle] way of thinking about this. But I also...but, yeah, I think that the—the way that the party—here’s what I think. I don’t think that there is, necessarily, an argument that resolves this through the entire party, you know? I think the party being split on what to do here is pretty accurate to where I think people are. Uhm, but we’ll see.
Jack: Man...
[Chuckling in the background]
Austin: So...[sigh] I guess you’re not getting, uh, any sort of extra transport from the Oxblood Clan here, S.I. But I do—I guess—I think, coming off of that conversation, it’s probably worth saying that Jesset isn’t the only one who found out about this. I don’t think you can try to move this many people [chuckle] without word getting out that you’re moving this many people. So I think, at a certain point, you get—you get contact, Sovereign Immunity. You get—a runner comes with a message from the Company of the Spade, who you might recall, you are sort of beefing with right now...
Art: Mmh. Yeah.
Austin: ...and Agon wants a meet...
Art: I mean, they gotta be willing to meet when I’m loading [laugh].
Austin: Yeah, that’s-okay, that makes sense. So it’s like “Show up at this place where...”—this is not like a “meet at a diner,” this is a “meet at...like, a pick-up.”
Art (overlapping): This is a “meet at the bus station.”
Austin: Yeah...or on—
Art (overlapping): The future bus station.
Austin: —on the bus, even maybe, right? Like—
Art: Yeah.
Austin: —”Alright, we’re gonna pick up a load of people, stand with me at the front and talk like we’re teachers on a school bus.” [Laugh] [Art chuckles] Uhm...you know, I think she shows up—as a reminder, Agon travels with these little robots which are like, um—Agon has chronic fatigue syndrome, and they are kind of helper robots to help alleviate some of the kind of minor tasks that would build up fatigue over the course of a day or a week. And so—I don’t think that she brings a bunch of them onboard. I think she probably has like a home setup and then, like, an away-game setup that’s kind of like a handful of them to bring, depending on what the tasks are. And, so, I think she has, like, one on one of her shoulder and another following her, almost like a...almost like a—
Art: Oh, a service animal.
Austin: —a service animal, thank you. I’m very tired [laugh]
Art: I was just stuck on the shoulder. I was like “One on the shoulder—is this like a parrot? Do people have two parrots?—”
Austin: No—[laugh] it’s not—
Art (overlapping): (Laughing) A lead parrot and a follow parrot?
Austin: Uh, no—I got you, no, yeah—service animal.
Art: Yeah.
Austin: Because that’s kind of what they are—they’re like service droids, almost.
Art: Sure, yeah.
Austin: Uh, and I think, you know, she’s big. She’s big like you’re big, you know what I mean—
Art (overlapping): Ok, yeah.
Austin (overlapping): —or I guess there are different types of big, but—the two of you at the front of this bus that’s filling up with people who are like getting ready to get out of this fucking town is—is a fun visual for me as you just dominate the front of this frame.
Art: Sure, yeah.
Austin: And I think, you know, she kind of—
Art: Like, two and three in a seat, and then it’s us in, like, one seat?
Austin: (Laughing) Yeah, exactly. And I think it’s like her peeking over her shoulder, looking at the back of the bus and being like—
[as Agon Ortlights]: Lot of people...
Art [as S.I.]: Yeah, I don’t know what we’re gonna do. It’s so many people and, I mean—we’ve only got like four of these things.
Austin [as Agon]: Four of these...buses?
Art [as S.I.]: (overlapping) Four buses, yeah.
Austin [as Agon]: (overlapping) You have four buses? (Disapprovingly) Hmm...
Art [as S.I.]: Yeah, I mean, well, I mean, we got three good buses, and then we got the bad bus...
Austin [as Agon]: You know, this is the sort of thing my people do every day, but apparently you don’t wanna break bread with us anymore, so...
Art [as S.I.]: Uh, it’s complicated.
Austin [as Agon]: It’s not complicated. The future of Millenium Break is at stake, and you guys have your vision which is, frankly, uh...let’s just say not pragmatic. I didn’t come to the bus to fight with you. I came to find out what the hell is going on, Sovereign Immunity.
Art [as S.I.]: People are in danger and we have to get them out. I...that’s really all—
Austin [as Agon]: (overlapping) w-w-wh—people are in—there’s civil war in the streets, this I understand. The people are here, they know about that. Many of them are bought in on that stuff. You see uh, a color at the end of the horizon, you decide you wanna get everybody out of here—and, and, and—
[TIMESTAMP 02:00:00]
Art [as S.I.]: (overlapping) That’s not—
Austin [as Agon]: (overlapping) —you’re sowing—you’re sowing uh, disorder, you’re sowing terror. How am I supposed to know, frankly, that this isn’t gonna blow up in our faces, because it turns out all of the Millenium Break loyal people are the ones who end up leaving, and then we get stomped. We don’t have many places left on this planet.
Art [as S.I.]: Don’t stay! It’s—it’s not a color, it’s—it’s DOOM. Doom is coming here.
Austin [as Agon]: What do you mean doom is coming here?
Art [as S.I.]: It’s...I don’t know exactly what it is. But I know that it’s gonna lay waste to this place. I know that we have to get out of here. [Austin sighs] And I’m not sowing...discord. I’m reaping the people...
Austin [as Agon]: (Confused) Wait—[laughs quietly]
Art [as S.I.]: ...putting them into little bales and getting them out of here, where they’ll be safe!
Austin [as Agon]: (With humor) Took me a second to follow what you were—(laughing) what you were saying. Uhm...
Art [as S.I.]: I guess—reaping is often used...when you reap people it’s—yeah it’s a bad...
Austin [as Agon]: (overlapping) Yeah it’s a negative thing, S.I. Um...
Art [as S.I.]: Uh, but I—we use the analogies we have. Much like I use the buses that we have. Even that last bus.
Austin [as Agon]: Even that last one—the bad one.
Art [as S.I.]: ...bad bus...
Austin [as Agon]: What are you...
Austin: Mm, I’m trying to think if she would know where you’re taking people. Ah, she says—
[as Agon]: So, is this like a...do you have ships coming? Do you have—
Art [as S.I.]: No.
Austin [as Agon]: ...No. So we’re just—
Art [as S.I.]: (overlapping) No, we’re...
Austin [as Agon]: —lining people up on the beach...’cause it’s safer than the city? What’s—
Art [as S.I.]: No, we’re taking them to...a...questionably safe...[Austin exhales a laugh] new...person’s house...ship!
[Austin breaks into laughter]
Austin [as Agon]: What the fuck are you talking about, S.I.?
Art: These are terminology problems that a person in the future wouldn’t have. I bet house-ship is a word.
Austin (overlapping): (Laughing) I bet house-ship—yeah, uh huh.
Art: Uh...
Austin: You just gotta say it with your chest and then everyone will believe it.
Art (overlapping): Yeah...uhm—
[as S.I.]: We got a visitor...the...the Figure in Bismuth. Who brought me to an audience—
Austin [as Agon]: (overlapping) Ah...
Art [as S.I.]: —with...
Austin [as Agon]: The Witch in Glass...
Art [as S.I.]: ...Yeah.
Austin [as Agon]: They rhyme, almost, don’t they? I’d heard about Bismuth from some people who went to pay regards...
Art [as S.I.]: Yeah.
Austin [as Agon]: Valence and all that. Which, by the way, I’m sorry I didn’t get to go to that. I didn’t know that it was really my place, but...
Art [as S.I.]: Yeah, I mean...don’t—you got nothing to worry about.
Austin [as Agon]: (overlapping) I have issues...with Jesset and S.B.B.R. and...a lot of y’all—
Art [as S.I.]: (overlapping) Who—who doesn’t!
Austin [as Agon]: [Chuckle] Valence...
Art [as S.I.]: (overlapping) Me and Jesset are fighting. [Pause, Austin chuckles quietly] Jesset wants to stay too. That’s what you and Jesset—you and Jesset wanna patch things up, patch it up over wanting to feed people to this fucking monster out there.
Austin [as Agon]: No, no, no, this is what I’m saying is, I think I’d rather do business with you because I think you and I both understand that the only way to keep doing business is to keep doing business. Uhm...We gotta get people out of here, you’re not wrong about that. I don’t think...[dry laugh] I don’t think everyone here is gonna wanna go with you to the house-ship of the Witch In Glass. So, let me say that I’ll help the people who don’t want to—who wanna leave, but don’t wanna go with you. And—
Art [as S.I.]: That’s great.
Austin [as Agon]: [Sigh] We got a couple dozen we can give you. For now.
Art [as S.I.]: Okay. That’s great. I mean, I don’t—I don’t think that we’re going to a...safe place. I don’t think that the Witch in Glass is a true ally, but...
Austin [as Agon]: I would hope not...that you don’t think I would hope that she was, (laughing) but I don’t—but I don’t hope that, because that’s unrealistic, and I’m nothing but.
Art [as S.I.]: And, I mean, I’m about to—I’m about to bring way more people...than (laughing) she’s expecting, so...
Austin [as Agon]: Good. Serves her right. [Sigh] I don’t know, I shouldn’t shit talk, but...
Art [as S.I.]: (overlapping) Yeah, I mean, that’s...
Austin [as Agon]: (overlapping) ...I don’t think anyone...
Art [as S.I.]: (overlapping) I mean, maybe you should.
Austin [as Agon]: [Chuckle] What does that mean?
Art [as S.I.]: I’m—I’m...you know? You don’t get up with a name like the Witch in Glass if everyone likes you.
Austin [as Agon]: You met her?
Art [as S.I.]: Yeah. (Nonchalant) She’s fine....I mean—
Austin [as Agon]: She’s fine?
Art [as S.I.]: She’s not fine, but it’s gonna be fine.
Austin: Head tilt. [Laugh]
Austin [as Agon]: Alright—
Art [as S.I.]: It’s nothing that we can’t handle.
Austin [as Agon]: Yeah. I’ll get you the buses. And uh...I think we can spare some troops as an escort. And...
Art [as S.I.]: That’s great news.
Austin [as Agon]: But I need you for something.
Art [as S.I.]: What do you need?
Austin [as Agon]: We’ll talk after. But I need you for it.
Art [as S.I.]: Ah.
Austin [as Agon]: I got a project I’m—they put me on a committee to—[Sigh, with a bit of contempt] it’s a whole thing. But, I would appreciate the authority and intellect you bring to all matters...et cetera et cetera. I’m not a diplomat. I get jobs done—
Art [as S.I.]: Yeah, yeah.
Austin [as Agon]: —so.
Art [as S.I.]: Yeah. I’m glad we did this. This was good. I’m not sure we both needed to be on this bus but—we gotta keep going, you know?
Austin [as Agon]: Yeah, I get you. I’ll put in a call for the buses, and, uh, I’ll see you when all this shit is over.
Art [as S.I.]: Absolutely.
Austin: And then it’s like, we’re on a bus still. (Laughing) We can’t—I can’t just get off the—actually, does she go like—
[as Agon]: Next stop, I’m gonna hop—I’m gonna hop off.
[Music begins: TANAGER. PERFECT. TOUCHPAPER.]
Austin: And the driver’s like “Oh, okay.” Uh, [laugh] and she gets off as a few more people get in to take some of the extra seats.
Art: Oh, it’s a route. Okay.
Austin: I—yeah, you gotta pick up people on the way out, right? I guess—
Art (overlapping): I don’t know.
Austin: I don’t know!
Art: I didn’t really give a lot of thought to this.
Austin: No, I don’t know if there’s like one pick-up place and then a drop off—we didn’t really...
Art: Yeah.
Austin: This is the thing the Company of the (laughing) Spade is great at. [Art laughs] As she, like, looks at—she goes like—
[as Agon]: I’m gonna fix this whole...this is...you don’t worry about logistics. We can handle this.
[Music ends]
END
[TIMESTAMP 02:08:16]