Transcriber: vesta
[MUSIC - “TANAGER. PERFECT. TOUCHPAPER.” starts]
AUSTIN: Fingers plucked a cigarette from an ashtray in the North Museum’s Special Exhibition Hall. Today, Crysanth Kesh was smoking indoors. It might be said that such an act was a vice, reserved for busy days coloured by the anticipation of loss. But for the Gabardine of the Curtain of Divinity, it was also a tool. Crysanth would sit in a well appointed room, and for the length of that one cigarette, would work to turn problems into solutions, untangling knots until she had the rope necessary to pull herself up to higher ground. Today’s dilemmas were numerous and obvious. Skirmishes with Stel Nideo. A refreshed and angry Apostolos, headed by Motion and her Pact. All to say nothing of the annoyances of Orion and Columnar. A long drag of the cigarette.
AUSTIN: [continued] And then there was Millennium Break. Those so called revolutionaries, who had made the summer more obnoxious than any heat wave could. Cells in every major territory. The kidnapping of that stain of a man Cynosure. And now, they were poised to take Cruciat if they could find the will to do it. She took another drag and came to a realisation. Perhaps the occupation of Cruciat was just what she needed. Right now, Millennium Break was a wildfire, independent, ever growing, impossible to contain without great loss. Crysanth put the cigarette out and thought of greener pastures and what it took to make them. There was a way to stop a fire like Millennium Break. Remove the fuel, box it in, keep it from spreading. Once they had a city of their own, they’d just be like every other Stel. Red tape and supply lines and frustrated constituents.
AUSTIN: [continued] How do you stop Millennium Break? Let it burn itself out, and use its ash for soil.
[music ends]
AUSTIN: SBBR encountered Cas in the first arc, the Obelle arc. I guess in both sides of the Obelle arc is where Cas first showed up. And Cas I think probably, their Princept has- has listened to a- has listened to their request for a new strategy on Partizan. Cas’alear is dissatisfied with the way that the Apostolosian leadership here is handling things? And they are resistant to the critiques that Cas is leveling. The Apostolosian leadership is rushing headlong into war, is discarding- or completely disregarding evidence that things between them and Kesh have been kind of egged on by third parties. They’ve- they are a little too caught up in the parts of Apostolosian culture that Cas’alear is not happy with regarding things like GLORY and Motion? Um, kind of the worst eggs of—I keep going back to eggs today—the worst eggs of Apostolos? And they have come basically saying that they’ve done some maneuvering that will leave both Apostolos, Stel Apostolos here on Partizan and Stel Kesh in a bit of a weakened state. And that there will be a moment of opportunity.
AUSTIN: [continued] Cas is making a request of you, that you support them in a military action. Stel Apostolos is going to send the bulk of their forces in a surprise attack to a place on the map called Westhaven. That is just to the west of Cruciat. Cruciat, the hometown, the capital city of Stel Kesh, here on the moon. This is the sort of a fight that will leave both sides really wounded? Westhaven is the military headquarters of Kesh. And it will be very costly for both of the front lines here? Kesh is overextended, and will not be able to reposition itself quickly enough to defend Westhaven. But what is the opportunity for you, is that the Cruciat guard will have to move to Westhaven to try to defend it. And in that moment, Cas’alear asks you to attack Cruciat. There will be this moment where Cruciat is weakened, and where you might be able to move in. I think, you know, y’all know from just the way things are going, that things in Cruciat are as tense as anywhere else on the moon. It was always already a stratified society? Kesh, Kesh be like that? Kesh is like you know the Keynesian city in this world? It is the one of the haves and have-nots that is most clear on its face because the kind of culture of Kesh is one that- that believes in the righteousness of haves and have-nots and that’s just the way of the world? So there are people there who you know, would be allies for you, if you did move there, potentially. This is kind of it, at least what Cas’alear is giving you.
AUSTIN: [continued] And Cas’alear makes one other promise, which is- which is not a prediction, but it is like. This is their vow to you. If you do this, they will bring the Swordbreakers under the Millennium Break flag. And again there is more there that I think I can get to predicting once it’s time to start doing predictions? But the long and the short, there is like a real alliance with someone who is a heavy hitter here. So that is the opportunity being set before you. Now, I don’t know how we want to build a crossroad around “Cruciat is weak”? The obvious one here is like, “Will the kingdom invade Cruciat”? But I don’t know if there’s other oppor- other ways to frame, like. There’s also “Will the Kingdom betray Cas’alear?” and you know, defeat Apostolos, and support Kesh. You know or something like that? But that is I think the scenario at least. I don’t know if people have strong feelings about this.
JACK: My hesitation with like, “Will we invade Cruciat”, is that like—and I realise that crossroads are supposed to be super broad—are we able to mount that kind of a military invasion of a city?
AUSTIN: This is the moment. This is the mo- This is the thing right, is like. I mean, I guess someone could immediately predict “and you will lose”,
JACK: Sure.
AUSTIN: If you do this, right?
JACK: Massively outnumbered.
AUSTIN: Right. But what is- what is- if- if Cas’alear is not lying to you, then it will be the case that this will be a successful- I mean, that this should be a successful attack based on what the numbers look like, right? I think that they show you those numbers. They show the group of you- I like Cas’alear stuff always being in restaurants, because we’ve now seen Cas’alear scenes twice? So I imagine this is happening in some like, on top of some terrace in you know, some bar or restaurant in Auspice on the island? Rolls out you know, a huge map and pulls up a little mini screen with numbers on it? And then like puts down little tokens representing military numbers, basically?
AUSTIN: [continued] And- I think the gist of the situation is that Kesh thinks that Apostolos is weaker than it is? But Apostolos is very good at retreating. And so whenever- whenever Nideo has taken something from Apostolos, Kesh is being like “ah! And then they lost 10,000 troops here” when in fact they lost 2,000 troops here, and they got their 8,000 to back the fuck off safely. So they have a much bigger force waiting to swing at Kesh than what Kesh is anticipating. And so, and so yeah, I think that is- could you do it, if someone predicted- if someone predicted we do it, then yes. It’s gonna succeed, you know. Or maybe even if no one predict- as long as no one predicts “and will lose if we do it”, I think it’s a success, right?
JACK: Sure.
AUSTIN: I think that’s fair for the play.
JACK: And we can hash out occupation and things in-
AUSTIN: Through predictions I think, right?
JACK: Through predictions and further through the-
AUSTIN: Yeah. Or we could do “Will the Kingdom invade and occupy Cruciat?” “Will the Kingdom invade Cruciat and establish it as our headquarters” or something like that but at that point I feel like we’re linking two things, right? And then-
JACK: Yeah.
AUSTIN: It becomes hard to be like ehhh. I mean if that second thing is the more interesting thing, then it’s fine to do it that way? But- but what I wouldn’t want is like “yes we want to invade it, but no we don’t-” you know what I mean? It should be whatever-
JACK: Right right right.
AUSTIN: Important thing to note. Crysanth Kesh in Cruciat, as far as we know. You know, Cruciat is where the thrones we’re supposedly burning, one of them is. [Ali giggles] Etcetera.
JACK: Just one of the five capitals right?
AUSTIN: One of the five capitals, yeah. [Ali yawns?] Any other strong feelings on what this crossroad could be?
ART: I guess I’m pro-removing occupation from the crossroads? Cause that feels like a big- feels like a big commitment to make right now you know?
AUSTIN: Um, sure.
JACK: Yeah it’s one thing to invade a city, and another to say- [pause] Or cause this wouldn’t be a knockout blow to Kesh is the other thing, right?
AUSTIN [overlapping with Jack]: If someone predicted it-
JACK: If it could be a big blow-
AUSTIN [overlapping with Jack]: If someone predicted it-
JACK: That’s true, yeah.
AUSTIN: You know? It would be a big blow.
JACK: Yeah.
AUSTIN: Again, that basically what it does in my mind, is it opens us up to all sorts of wild predictions on both the yes and no side. Because on the yes side, we would be- on the yes side- I guess the thing for me to think about is, if this is the crossroad, we can start thinking in those terms of that scale? So when you think about like, yes, and being like “it’s going to give us access to information that changes the- the face of the war”. No could be like “well okay, instead we’re going to go off to do something else that’s just as big”. And those predictions would stand in the sense that like, once we’re talking about invading a major city that’s the scale of prediction that we’re talking about if that makes sense right? So in some ways this is like the opportunity cost of- uh- a crossroad? Because what are our priorities? If that makes sense.
JACK: Yeah.
AUSTIN: And that is kind of what I would like to nail with the crossroad. Does anyone have any strong objections to “Will the Kingdom invade Cruciat?” as a crossroad, not as a “we shouldn’t do it”, because that would be a character thing we would come to obviously.
ALI: Yeah, no. Um. I guess the only thing for me is that like do we wanna make it “Do we invade?” versus like “Do we do this other thing?” knowing that we probably wanna invade?
AUSTIN: What do you mean-
ALI: That would be-
AUSTIN: Oh right. Well then to me it’s like “Do you occupy?” or “Do we raid?”
ALI: Right. Yeah, yeah yeah.
AUSTIN: If we think right now everyone says “yeah we should invade”, then you’re right. We should zoom in and be like “oh wait, if that’s the obvious choice, then is there a secondary choice here that’s more interesting?” As long as that secondary choice isn’t just something that would show up as an interesting prediction that complicates things, right?
ALI: Right, yeah.
ART: Yeah there’s a weird way where this is like really about the Perspectives’ interest in the thing? Like a-
AUSTIN: Yeah. And anyone can play Perspective still, is the other thing, right?
ART: I guess, right.
AUSTIN: But you’re right. You’re right. Current Perspectives: Valence, Apparatus, Gur Sevraq, Broun. Right?
ART: Yeah. Wow, we have a lotta-
AUSTIN: Mhm.
ART: When did that happen? I don’t-
JACK: [enthusiastic] This is gonna be a doozy.
AUSTIN: This is gonna be a doozy!
JACK: -of predictions.
ART: I look away for a second and everyone coalesces in the same middle area.
AUSTIN: Yeah.
KEITH: Um, I don’t- I can’t think of anything that would be- I can’t think of anything that would be like a- a deeper dive into this than just saying “should we do it, yes or no”,
AUSTIN: Yeah, yeah.
KEITH: I don’t think- I don’t think it’s super obvious that “yes we should”.
AUSTIN: Okay. Right-
KEITH: I think yes we should, though. That’s the other-
AUSTIN: Yeah right, right, right. [Ali chuckles]
KEITH: I do think yes we should now, but like who knows.
AUSTIN: But who knows. Alright. Alright. Then let me- can I kick things off here with a Gur Sevraq scene?
JACK: Just do it.
ART: Sure.
AUSTIN: Can I do a Gur Sevraq scene with Sovereign Immunity, Clementine Kesh, Apparatus Appertif, and Valence.
ANDREW: Sure.
AUSTIN: Can we do this um, hmm. Hm-hm-hmm. [Ali chuckles] I’m thinking of interesting places on the map that we- oh! Can we do this in the bar in Obelle where Clementine Kesh first met Cas’alear, and- and where the original kind of negotiation around the remains of Past were had? That’s not on our list of locations, but I think that’s a cool place cause we’ve been there before. And it’s kind of like late at night, some more to that initial negotiation, it has that vibe of like conspiracy happening. We know that it’s a safe place that’s outside of- outside of like- it’s not on board so it’s not bugged, we trust the people who run this place. We’ve built a rapport with these people, and we’re able to keep a low profile because it’s kind of a small town. And I think Gur Sevraq opens it- actually can we get- can I have Broun here too?
ALI: Oh sure!
AUSTIN: I want Perspect- I’m trying to get as many Perspectives in this from the fucking jump as possible [Ali chuckles]. And I kind of think that Gur Sevraq has done this as like, alright, here I’m pulling together people from- from each like subsection of the community, right? We have someone who is from engineering, we have someone who is deep in the legislature, we have me representing some of the- we have me who is me, Valence is here as like a spiritual- the spiritual component of this weird revolution, and Clementine Kesh is Clementine Kesh, who Gur Sevraq wants to hear what she says?
AUSTIN: [continued] Because he wants to know if she’s trustworthy. He wants a read on her when this gets laid out because what Gur knows is that if this happens and Clem finds out about it in the middle, they know that Clem could be someone who puts a stop to it or ruins it? And so the sooner that they know how Clem reacts to this idea, the sooner they can start planning around that reaction if that makes sense. And so Gur Sevraq says- and at this point I think everyone’s been briefed on what the thing is. Like, Gur is like “I’m going to break this news”, but I think what Gur says is,
AUSTIN (as Gur): The cost of doing this will be high. I know- I feel it throughout my frame that we wish to run into this headlong. To prove ourselves to the moon, to inspire everyone here that change is not only possible, but inevitable. That they will want to be on the right side of it. But there will be repercussion. Grand repercussion. I suspect that if we take Cruciat, we will all be driven from our citizenship and all of the rights of travel and all of the safety that goes into that. We will be Adrift. We will be not quite enemies of the state, but less than people. And while I think maybe some of us at this table are more than ready for that, I do know that there are those among us who believe in the Principality as it is or as it might be. It will be a heavy cost for them. Are those of us here willing to take that cost?
JACK: I think- I think on some level Clem just doesn’t believe them?
AUSTIN: Mhm.
JACK: I think Clem is someone who has been so confident of their- of the- of what is conveyed by their hereditary standing?
AUSTIN: Mhm.
JACK: That they don’t- that they’re like well, you know, I’ll be- I’ll be fine. The Principality might fall, but I’m still a scion of Kesh, and so in that respect-
AUSTIN [overlapping with Jack]: Do you say this or do you stay quiet?
JACK: Um. I think that she says,
JACK (as Clementine): The Principality may fall, but I will remain a scion of Kesh, and in that sense- if in that sense alone, Kesh will remain. I cannot speak for the others.
ALI: [chuckles] I don’t know that Broun knows how to respond to that? And so, doesn’t?
AUSTIN: Uhhuh.
ALI: Just like squinting and being like, rubbing their temples.
AUSTIN: Mhm.
ALI: And I think kind of hesitantly ends up saying,
ALI (as Broun): You know I think we’re in a situation here where when you stick your foot in the mud you have to push it down to pull it out.
KEITH (as Apparatus): Is that true about mud?
ALI (as Broun): Well that’s how walking works, right? [Austin chuckles]
ANDREW: Fair, fair. [Ali laughs]
KEITH: Can’t argue with that.
JACK That is how walking works, yeah.
ART: We all know how walking works, let’s move on [Ali continues laughing, Austin and others join].
AUSTIN (as Gur): This is not under contestant- contesting? Contestament? I’ve lost my words.
ANDREW (as Valence): This is not contested.
AUSTIN (as Gur): This is not contested, thank you Valence [Ali chuckles]. The drinks are strong here.
ALI (as Broun): I think I’m just saying that [chuckles] you know, we’re already in it. And you know, I don’t think anyone here thought that they were getting out of it, I guess?
AUSTIN (as Valence): Without mud on our boots?
ALI (as Broun): Yes. Thank you!
ANDREW (as Valence): I’m not sure how waiting would eliminate or even minimize any of the risk.
AUSTIN (as Gur): It wouldn’t. Well, every day brings new odds.
ANDREW (as Valence): For better or worse.
AUSTIN (as Gur) [overlapping with Andrew]: Maybe better for us- yeah. Yeah.
ART (as Sovereign): It’s important to recognise that some people peek over the edge of a cliff and jump, and some people peek over the edge of a cliff and walk away. And we have to know that the closer we get to the cliff, we might find out some people are not- some people who thought would be jumpers are walkers. And there’s mud, I don’t want to stray too far from the original-
KEITH: I thought walking was good in this scenario? [Austin laughs, Ali chuckles] I thought we were supposed to push our foot-
AUSTIN: Off.
KEITH: -deeper in.
AUSTIN [overlapping with Keith]: But maybe we’re leaping into the unknown.
ART: You push your foot to jump too.
AUSTIN [overlapping with Art]: Yeah, yeah.
ART: It’s all the same. Newton’s third law all the way around.
KEITH: Jump into the mud.
ART [overlapping with Keith]: At the bottom of the cliff there’s mud.
KEITH: I’m ready to push my foot off to jump into the mud. It was an eventuality, there’s you know.
JACK (as Clementine): Were we to take this action, we would of course have to begin with an understanding of how the city would be divided following its capture. [Sylvia chuckles]
AUSTIN (as Gur): Clem, don’t.
KEITH (as Apparatus): What are you talking about?
AUSTIN (as Gur): Don’t make any plays. You’re lucky you’re at the table.
JACK (as Clementine): Well I. I just thought since-
She might be unlucky she’s at the table.
JACK (as Clementine): I just thought that since my family has spent such a long time in Cruciat itself, we might consider the palace as- as something that should remain with Kesh. And as discussed beforehand, you know, while the destruction of the Principality and all that kind of thing um, surely the palace itself would-
AUSTIN (as Gur): You’re outlining reasons for why the palace should not stay in Kesh’s hands, Clem.
JACK: Just like lips tight.
AUSTIN (as Gur): This is the company you keep.
ART: Who was that to?
AUSTIN: Clem.
JACK: Mm. Great question though!
ART: Yeah.
AUSTIN: Yeah.
AUSTIN (as Gur): Sovereign Immunity. This could be the first step towards you being stripped of the title.
ART (as Sovereign) [overlapping with Austin]: [sighs] I mean, I-
AUSTIN (as Gur): A second Princept captured and a capital invaded.
ART (as Sovereign): I have- I spent a long time not really having the benefit anyway? I mean it was nice of them what they did back then? But it’s fine if it goes the other way this time. Huh. I need a real name.
AUSTIN (as Gur): You would.
AUSTIN: Alright. I don’t think I have more here, I’m curious if there are other predictions about what’s happening here as we go over the details late into the night.
ANDREW: I will make a prediction.
AUSTIN: Mhm.
ANDREW: If no, Millennium Break will not be able to have a static base of operations.
AUSTIN: Ooh. Interesting. Okay.
ANDREW: I think they will be known enough that they will not be able to avoid heat but then also won’t have enough either prestige or like, you know aura around them for people to not just be like, coming at them.
AUSTIN: So like a movement on the run more than-
ANDREW: Mhm.
AUSTIN: A sovereign like state of its own. Yeah.
ANDREW: Yeah.
AUSTIN: Alright. Broun, Apparatus?
ALI: Am I- I’m not able to make a prediction about morale right? That’s a Touchstone thing?
AUSTIN: Yeah. What you could do was make a prediction about something that you think would affect morale.
ALI: Okay.
AUSTIN: Right? Which is like-
ALI: But it wouldn’t be-
AUSTIN: If yes, dadadadadadada, which you in your mind would be like “I bet that would lower morale”.
ALI: I think it’s gonna be if yes, members of Millennium Break outside of Fort Icebreaker will be like targeted?
AUSTIN: Oooh.
ALI: That’s so vague.
AUSTIN: Right.
ALI: But I’m just gonna write it now and then-
AUSTIN: That makes sense though, I get what you mean.
ALI: Yeah, well we wrap back around-
AUSTIN [overlapping with Ali]: Millennium Break cells come under attack or something like that?
ALI: Yeah yeah yeah.
AUSTIN: That makes perfect sense, sure. Alright. That’s my scene. Who’s up? Who has a reaction or a different scene?
JACK: I think I would like to- I want to make a bridge to the moderates.
AUSTIN: Okay. [Ali chuckles] Clementine Kesh wants- okay. I mean, listen. If anybody was going to I guess.
KEITH: From Clementine Kesh that’s an extremely short bridge that goes the wrong way. [Austin chuckles]
JACK: It’s a step! I think- I think I would like to- I think I would like to hold a Asterist service or organise one, I don’t think Clem is religious outside of her upbringing? Or is a good preacher or speaker. But I think it’s a sort of a- an event that Clem would like to spearhead with the Princept and to sort of be like, to bring the members of Millennium Break who are kind of like, who are closer to the Clem side of the spectrum who are like “yes, of course it is very important that we do all this stuff but maybe we shouldn’t go into Cruciat with tanks”. To sort of speak to the value of- essentially to kind of launder this through Asterism, through Received Asterism if that makes sense?
AUSTIN: Is it just Received Asterism or is it both Received and Progressive?
JACK: Uh which do you think we have the kind of strongest bastion of-?
AUSTIN: It’s both, because the biggest centrists on board- really the biggest conservative group on board and the most like, the people who like are kind of quiet reactionaries are a mix of both cause they’re from Orion right? And Orion is like very much that sort of like you know, working-class middle-class vibe where you could wind up on either side of this? You could’ve been from a family that was raised on some distant colony where the predominant church there was a specific Progressive Asterist like, the cult to the Divine Strength, or whatever right?
JACK: Right.
AUSTIN: Or, you could be from a huge- a huge city where there’s like, where the Received Asterism, the more traditional Asterism is deeply entrenched, and where you don’t even know your you know, your preacher’s name, you barely know what the you know, what the relation- you know what I mean? It could be one of those things. So I think it’s a mix of those. And I- I don’t think that we- we haven’t really talked about what the worship looks like for these two groups. But I think that there is enough of like a- there's enough of an overlap that you can have, a kind of mixed Asterist-
JACK: Yeah yeah yeah.
AUSTIN: Sermon, or mixed services you know. You can have a mixed service for sure.
JACK: And you know, the- it’s a turbulent time, and I’m sure a lot of people are anxious and the- the strength of Divinity has always been with us and will continue to be with us.
AUSTIN: Mhm. This is interesting because it speaks to something Gur Sevraq and Valence talked about a few episodes ago? Which was that if you could- if you could disconnect the people’s faith from the state and figure out how they could worship the Divines that they worship-
JACK: Yes.
AUSTIN: Without it being just a representative for the state that already exists, that would be very powerful for them opening their eyes to other possible conditions of being, basically? Did not expect Clementine Kesh to arrive at ta similar end, I will say.
JACK: Oh, through a very- through a very different path!
AUSTIN: Yes, yes.
JACK: But yes, this is kind of- this is kind of where she’s going. And I don’t know if this needs to be a full scene. I think this is probably a reaction.
AUSTIN: Okay. Interesting. Are Valence-
JACK: Oh! Also- oh sorry.
AUSTIN: Go ahead- I was going to ask if Valence and Apparatus and Gur or any other religion folks on board are at this thing, or is it- is it like, Agon and Clem and that- Gucci, like is it just those folks?
KEITH: Apparatus would be watching, right?
ANDREW: Valence would definitely want to be there too.
AUSTIN: Same.
ANDREW: I don’t think they have observed that kind of- I don’t think they’ve been to a ceremony. Like a-
AUSTIN: Like a traditional Asterist service?
ANDREW: Yeah. Yeah.
JACK: And I think that the kind of knock-on effect that Clem’s hoping for, and whether or not that is played out in predictions you know, remains to be seen, but it’s like. It’s the way you were talking about these people coming from specific communities, and so I wonder if- I guess Clem wonders whether or not we could build some slightly broader measure of support among the moderates back in Cruciat as well. Cause we know that- we know that we are beginning to win over the people in that city who are like, alright, fuck this.
AUSTIN: Mhm.
JACK: But is there any way we could sort of push out from Millennium Break a- a [chuckles] more conservative line of support for what it is that we’re trying to do?
AUSTIN: Even the French Revolution had the monarchists I guess, right? Until they didn’t-
ALI: Mhm.
KEITH: For a little while.
AUSTIN: Yeah I was gonna say- until they didn’t anymore.
KEITH: Yeah.
JACK: [cheekily] What happened to those guys?
AUSTIN: Well.
JACK: The monarchists.
SYLVIA: We have a farm.
JACK: Disappeared really quickly! [Austin chuckles]
JANINE: They became side characters in a lot of English novels.
JACK: Mmm.
AUSTIN: Yeah! They went around the world- they were wealthy and left, is the actual- is literally the actual answer!
JACK: Yeah, yeah.
AUSTIN: They- yeah, uhhuh. They let people-
KEITH: Or they were very early and convincingly not monarchists anymore.
AUSTIN: Right, correct, yeah.
JACK: Who, me? A monarchist?
AUSTIN: Never!
JACK: Never.
KEITH: Never in my life-
AUSTIN: No.
KEITH: -did I say we shouldn’t kill-
JACK: I’ve never seen a crown.
ART: I think that was Jean-Phillipe and you should go- [Austin and Jack chuckle] he’s over there.
AUSTIN: When I said the king should have unlimited veto power, what I meant was just about like dinner. Like if he doesn’t want to eat a steak, he shouldn’t have to eat a steak, it’s fine.
JANINE: And also, if he goes to Italy, he’s very strong.
AUSTIN: [chuckles] Yes. God.
SYLVIA: His [Vito] veto power is off the charts! [laughs]
AUSTIN [overlapping with Sylvia]: His veto power, it’s huge! [chuckles] Love to- love to pun.
SYLVIA: I think I have a quick little reaction for Millie.
AUSTIN: Sure.
SYLVIA: Which is like, can I put a little like angry token down on the No.
AUSTIN: Please, yes.
SYLVIA: Because to her, it’s like we have the chance to invade the like capital of Kesh, one of the worst offenders of like doing awful things to people. And we’re not jumping on it?
AUSTIN: Right.
SYLVIA: It doesn’t make sense to her.
AUSTIN: Mhm.
SYLVIA: Yeah.
AUSTIN: Before we move on too far, Apparatus or Valence do you have predictions from seeing this service.
KEITH: Yeah. I do. Could I get a- Jack could you say one more time what Clem’s goal was here with this- [clears throat] with this sermon thing?
JACK: Yeah, I suppose it was- it was first to build support for an invasion of Cruciat among the more moderate members of Millennium Break who might have been firmly on board with revolution but just not kind of- not kind of like that, you know? And then with the secondary knock on effect of maybe via them building broader support for it out on the moon itself.
KEITH: Hm. I had a prediction but now I don’t know if it goes against the-
AUSTIN: What was- what was your- what was your prediction basically?
KEITH: Um, it was that- I was halfway there for the last scene, the Gur Sevraq scene, but I was thinking of something like “if yes, then the moderates on board will warn Kesh that it’s happening”. [reaction noises from table]
JACK: Ooooh!
AUSTIN: That’s very good. [Ali chuckles] But you’re now saying wait a second does this prevent that from happening actually.
KEITH: Yeah I don’t know- I don’t know this now if like the- yeah, the actual- if Clem has preemptively stopped this.
AUSTIN: Done the challenge right-
JANINE: Can I-
AUSTIN: Like you could’ve made that prediction and Clem could have challenged with this thing.
KEITH [overlapping with Austin]: With the- yeah, exactly.
AUSTIN: Sorry-
JANINE: Could I suggest a twist on that?
KEITH: Yeah.
JANINE: Where if no, they leak it? Like if it doesn’t actually happen, if they’ve received this sermon and they’re kinda on board on it, and then they notice that leadership has backed down, then they also maybe like reconsider or something and then they- that’s when a leak happens or something like that?
AUSTIN: Like discontent now with the- the leadership that-
KEITH: Yeah.
AUSTIN: -made them buy into it?
KEITH: I was all fair with the Stels, and I didn’t want to attack them, and then you got me all riled up, and now we’re not even gonna do it? [Ali chuckles]
AUSTIN: Right.
JANINE: Yeah! Like, what makes you think- you’re clearly- if you think you’re wrong, then clearly you’re wrong!
AUSTIN: You’re wrong. Right, exactly. God.
0:35:00
JANINE: That was just a suggestion.
AUSTIN: That’s interesting.
KEITH: Or we could do the exact opposite thing, which is that if- if yes then the um, hmm, if yes then- do you know where the- the prediction that I made about um, other Millennium Break cells-
AUSTIN: Yes.
KEITH: Being- what was it? They ended up being sort of-
AUSTIN: -attachés of the Pact.
KEITH: -by the Pact? Yeah.
AUSTIN [overlapping with Keith]: Mhm. I think that could happen.
KEITH: I think that could gain strength, or could be-
AUSTIN: Oh, that’s interesting.
KEITH: -some leakage there or whatever.
AUSTIN: Yeah.
KEITH: Because then we have become more in line with- with the Pact basically.
AUSTIN: The more Reformist branch of Millennium Break.
KEITH: Right.
AUSTIN: Though I can’t find- yeah there it is, wait. Where did it go? Millennium Break cells associated with the Pact emerge across Partizan, though these are not on the real mother- I almost said mother base again, Millennium Break internal Strand network. Would it be that they defect to those cells, basically?
KEITH: I was thinking of those- those people come to us. That they’re now welcome on Millennium Break Prime.
AUSTIN [overlapping with Keith]: Oh, interesting. And that’s a no. That’s if we don’t invade, because-
KEITH: If we do. If we do invade.
AUSTIN: Hm. But wouldn’t those-
KEITH: If we do invade we become a more welcome place for-
AUSTIN: But aren’t those the people who would be more opposed to the revolutionary action of taking to the streets of Kesh? Versus- do you know what I mean? Those are the reformists-
KEITH: Not if it was Clementine Kesh’s version of revolution where she gets the- she gets her throne room still.
AUSTIN: Right, but that’s not- then the prediction should be Clementine Kesh gets the throne room, right? Because that’s not-
KEITH: Yeah.
AUSTIN: That’s not on the board. Right now I don’t see shit that says Clementine Kesh gets shit from this [Ali and Keith laugh].
JACK: Yeah, Clementine: can I have my castle? Gur Sevraq: what castle?
AUSTIN: Yeah. Our castle? No. The people’s castle? No.
KEITH: Sorry, it’s against our laws to give you that throne [Ali chuckles].
ANDREW: Mmhm. Mhm.
AUSTIN: Yeah. What throne?
KEITH: Yeah. It’s a table.
AUSTIN: It’s a table!
KEITH: We have a-
AUSTIN: We burnt it! We burnt-
KEITH: Do you want a chair to sit at the table? Which is honestly-
AUSTIN: Which honestly-
KEITH: -already too much?
AUSTIN: Which is already a gift to you? [Andrew chuckles]
KEITH: I like- I like Janine’s thing. Let’s go with Janine’s thing. If no, then-
AUSTIN: Okay.
KEITH: If no, then those moderates then become angry and disillusioned. Janine were you thinking that they were going to leak that we were going to do an attack and didn’t? Or that they were going to leak that they were going to do an attack and that ended up not even being true?
JANINE: Um, I think- I mean I think the valuable- the valuable part of the information there to Kesh is probably that we are that indecisive that we can’t even make up our mind about a pretty straightforward strategic kind of thing from maybe their perspective of like, “why wouldn’t you invade us you dumbasses”. [Ali chuckles].
KEITH: Yeah.
AUSTIN: Right, right right.
JANINE: So it’s like okay, they’re weak, also they have people on board who are maybe on our team, like. What do we do about this, etc.
KEITH: Yeah I like that.
AUSTIN: I um, am going to also make a prediction here. I think as people are leaving, and Gur Sevraq sees kind of how jacked up they are about it, and excited. It strikes them that they will fight to the end. And so. I’m trying to decide here whether it’s Icebreaker Prime will be destroyed, or Icebreaker Prime will be rendered immovable? But like, that’s- or like not immovable, but like um, immobile? Like, this is it for Icebreaker Prime. This is the final attack for Icebreaker Prime. So maybe it is destroyed right? Like it’s enough to get us there, or like- ruined?
JANINE: What’s the word- what’s- is it like, scuttled or scuppered or something?
AUSTIN: Those are two-
ART: I think scuppered-
KEITH: Scuttled.
AUSTIN: Those are both things.
ANDREW: Scuttled is a boat- I don’t know what scuppered is.
AUSTIN: Also a boat. They’re both ship things.
KEITH: I don’t know what scuppered is, but I know that scuttle is when you blow up your boat.
AUSTIN: These are the same thing.
ANDREW: Okay yeah.
AUSTIN: So scuttle is to sink one’s own ship deliberately by holing it or opening its seacocks to let water in.
JANINE [overlapping with Austin]: That’s not what I mean then.
AUSTIN: Scuppering is to sink a ship deliberately.
JANINE: I’m trying to think- there’s like a word for when you have to like, dry dock it basically. Like when you-
ANDREW: Decommission?
JANINE: No.
AUSTIN: Hm.
KEITH: Dry dock, what is that?
AUSTIN: That’s like when you put it into a dock that then the water gets pulled out of it, so you can work on it. It’s like a-
ART: Yeah, it’s when it’s like all the way up.
KEITH: Yeah okay.
ALI: I think immobilised works, right?
AUSTIN: Yeah. Permanently immobilised is what I’m gonna say.
ALI: Yeah.
AUSTIN: So they’re still in the water. I like the image of it in the bay so much.
ALI: Right, yeah.
KEITH: Well if you scuttle it, it probably won’t even sink all the way.
AUSTIN: Right. Cause it’s- [Ali chuckles] yes, you’re not wrong. It’s big!
KEITH: You can probably still get two or three floors out of that!
AUSTIN: Yeah. Uh huh. Definitely.
ANDREW: I’m also going to make a prediction based off this scene.
AUSTIN: Mhm.
ANDREW: And I have two ideas and I’m trying to figure out if I wanna do my if-yes or if-no. I’ll do my if-no.
AUSTIN: Okay.
ANDREW: If no, the kidnapped Princept will begin to gain followers in Millennium Break.
AUSTIN: Fuck. [Ali laughs] Well. Cool.
ANDREW: I mean.
AUSTIN: No, I get you.
ANDREW: They’re out there. People seem to be happy with the Princept at that service.
AUSTIN: Yeah, you brought the Princept to that service, that’s true. What was his vibe at that service? Jack it’s your scene so you tell me.
JACK: Awkward.
AUSTIN: Yeah?
JACK: Very awkward. I think- I think like. God, I mean I. It’s so hard for me not to think of this through like British politics now? [Art chuckles] But I’m picturing like, whenever you see politicians at memorial, Remembrance Day services, or having to lay wreaths around a thing, and they’ve got this kind of like weird awkward solemnity about them?
AUSTIN: Mhm.
JACK: Where they understand that just as important as the solemnity of the event is properly displaying on their face the right amount of respect that needs to be afforded? So I think it’s that combined with the fact that he’s just been kidnapped? And you know, is- is at a church service at a massive walking fortress stolen from one of his enemies by his enemies.
AUSTIN: God. Fucking nightmare. Do we- so, Cynosure Kesh is like your second cousin basically. Cynosure Kesh- I mean Cynosure Whitestar Kesh is the- is like the first cousin of Crysanth, your mother. So you’ve probably met this motherfucker before.
JACK: Mmm.
AUSTIN: And I’m curious- I’m curious what the Clem-Cynosure relationship is like? Like to what degree is he surprised to see you on board, and what is that- we don’t have to zoom in all the way, I just want some colour.
JACK: I think Clem is very frosty, and I think Cynosure is initially- comes to Clem with a little more warmth, to just sort of be like, “oh well, clearly they’ve got their head screwed on straight, Clem”. But I think that Clem doesn’t- Clem doesn’t give him an inch in that regard. Not because she is aligned with the revolutionaries, but because she believes in this kind of position she should be the one who’s like, um, you know, together and composed.
AUSTIN: Mhm. Alright. Next scene or reaction- also Millie, do you want me to- did that count as your scene or did you have another scene?
SYLVIA: I’m fine with having that count as my scene if I’m being honest? Like if I think of something else-
AUSTIN: Yeah we can wrap back around. Sounds good.
SYLVIA: Yeah.
AUSTIN: So next scene or reaction here. We need Valence, Apparatus, Sovereign Immunity, Gucci, and Broun.
JANINE: Um.
ALI [overlapping with Janine]: Yeah! Oh-
JANINE: Go ahead.
ALI: Okay. Yeah, I wanna do a scene with Eiden Teak and Sovereign Immunity?
AUSTIN: Ooh, that’s interesting.
ART: Yeah.
ALI: Yeah, I- yeah. I came to this idea from like, just thinking about what else I wanted in this Kingdom game. And like the more time I spend with people outside of my age group I notice how- how there’s the value there, like just being able to kick back with someone who like has heard of the same movies and music that you do?
AUSTIN: Mmm.
ALI: So like I imagine them interacting?
AUSTIN: Mhm.
ALI: And then the flipside of that is Eiden was formally Apostolosian army, and then left to be this revolutionary. And when I think about the like, timeline of his life, I think that SI kidnapping the first Princept was sort of a catalyst for that?
AUSTIN: Interesting, yeah.
ALI: And then I think it’s also just like the thing of like, the people on- within this age group on the ship being able to look at people who were the- the age that they were at the time when the first Princept was kidnapped and then being like, these kids might really do it.
AUSTIN: Right! Right, right.
ALI: [laughs]
AUSTIN: So where is this? What’s- how are they kicking back?
ALI: I think it’s in the hanger-
AUSTIN: Okay.
ALI: I think some of the framing on this scene is just like, Eiden sort of going around from like mech to mech to be like, you know, I’m taking notes, do you need anything for the big invasion that we’re planning? And then coming to SI and being like, what’s good? [laughs]
AUSTIN: Mm-hm-hm. [chuckles, Ali continues laughing]
ART: I have like a new look pull for third act Sovereign Immunity here.
ALI: Mmm!
ART: This is just since the shift in thing, but it’s like, hit me like a bolt the other day? Which is that Sovereign Immunity should look like Obi-Wan did at the end of Revenge of the Sith?
AUSTIN: Which is to say?
ART: Um. There’s this great- there’s this great shot at the end of Revenge of the Sith. I guess, spoilers, for a- a LOT of Star Wars. [Austin chuckles, then Ali] I’m giving a lot of Star Wars spoilers coming out in like- in the next little bit here. But we’re getting to something I promise. Um, you know Anakin’s on- it’s Mustafar, right?
AUSTIN: Of course, Mustafar, right.
ART: And he’s fucked up. Anakin’s killed a lot of people.
AUSTIN: Yeah, it’s bad.
ANDREW: Mhm.
ART: Yeah.
KEITH: Yeah, lot of people.
ART: Shit’s bad for Anakin.
KEITH: Of all ages.
AUSTIN: Of all ages!
KEITH: All ages.
ART: Uh huh. And Obi-Wan goes to get him. And Anakin’s looking up this ramp, and Obi-Wan looks HUGE I don’t understand it. [Sylvia laughs] Because you’ve been looking at Obi-Wan for three movies now and he’s a skinny nothing. And on this- on this shot, Obi-Wan looks as wide as he looks tall, and I think it’s just he’s wearing a lot of shit, right?
AUSTIN: Uh huh.
ART: It’s just like-
KEITH: The robe and stuff-
ART: He’s wearing a robe and a cloak, and I’m sure there’s like under-robes, and I’m sure there’s camera tricks involved, like. I’m sure they were not like, Hey Ewan, go put on like 40 pounds of muscle for one shot, we don’t need it for the rest of the movie. [Austin laughs]
AUSTIN: We really just need to emphasize that you’re fucking- you’re able to be imposing, right now.
ART: Right. And it’s like, I think the shot is really we’re seeing like the weight of Obi-Wan on Anakin’s psyche, but I really dont’ wanna turn this into like a “what was George Lucas thinking for every shot of the prequels” kind of conversation?
AUSTIN: God, you’re not kidding! I- I found the shot, I’m gonna link it for us internally, cause it’s-
KEITH: Wait are you all not always ready for what was George Lucas thinking for every shot of the prequels conversation?
SYLVIA: I’m not.
AUSTIN: Jeez, it’s so wide! He’s so wide!
ART: He’s so wide!
AUSTIN: It’s great! Great shot. I’m gonna screengrab it.
ART [overlapping with Austin]: And I think whatever that is, Sovereign Immunity starts doing that. So just like. A lot of layers, a lot of width. [Keith laughs]
ALI: Putting his hands on his hips a lot-
SYLVIA: Oh my god!
AUSTIN: Right?
SYLVIA: He’s built like a JoJo character!
AUSTIN: It’s sick! [Andrew chuckles] Honestly a slightly older Ewan McGregor would’ve been a good pull for- not slightly older, an older, but still like this Ewan McGregor, could have been a Sovereign Immunity. I don’t know why we didn’t even think of it, god.
ART: I think because Liam Neeson who has a connection to the same like touchstone here?
AUSTIN: Yeah.
ART: He’s already older, and that’s not right. Liam Neeson is wrong.
AUSTIN: Liam Neeson is wrong. Liam Neeson is wrong.
KEITH: But how wrong? [Austin chuckles]
ART: 35% wrong.
KEITH: Okay.
AUSTIN: Okay, sure. Sure. Anyway. So yeah, Sovereign Immunity’s big. That’s what we got to.
ART: Yup. [table friends laugh] Bigger Sovereign Immunity.
KEITH: Sovereign Immunity’s big and even bigger than usual.
AUSTIN: Yeah, Sovereign Immunity but with an extra ‘u’ in Immunity.
ALI: God.
ART: Yeah, uh huh.
AUSTIN: I know that Luuke is not the Bigger Luke but you know, give me- cut some fucking slack. [Ali and others chuckle]
JACK: Bigger than before.
AUSTIN: Bigger than be- Sovereign Immunity! Bigger than before. [more chuckles]
KEITH: Sorry, it’s gonna take me a second to do this joke, but just hang in there. Don’t- keep going, don’t stop.
AUSTIN: Okay. [Sylvia chuckles] Thank you.
ART: Are we going to stop for the joke?
AUSTIN: No, we’re gonna keep going.
KEITH: No, you’re just gonna see it, and it’ll be fine.
ALI: Sure.
ART: Alright.
AUSTIN: So what’s this conversation?
ALI: Yeah, I think Eiden approaches with his space clipboard or whatever he’s using.
ART: Uh huh. Space clipboard.
ALI: Mhm [chuckles]. He’s just like,
ALI (as Eiden): Well I expect you have another trick up your sleeve if we’re going after Kesh, like, is in the air I guess.
ART (as Sovereign): I think my only trick at this point is that people think I have tricks.
ALI (as Eiden): Oh. Yeah, sure.
ALI: [chuckles] Visible disappointment [still chuckling].
ART (as Sovereign): No but that’s- that’s worth a lot! You know I went to uh,
ART: When was it, where did I go?
AUSTIN: Where did you go?
ART: Where was the- the siege with the-
ALI: Columnar?
AUSTIN: Uh- uh Vigil City?
ART: Vigil City.
AUSTIN: Yeah the Equiaxed stuff. Yeah Vigil City.
ART: Yeah yeah.
ART (as Sovereign): I went to Vigil City and it was just- they were, they were so happy to see that we were taking them seriously they had to send me that it worked, you know? They could’ve had anyone down there. But it was worth something because- because of that, and I mean that’s- that’s what- I’m a lot of that now.
ALI (as Eiden): Right, right. Yeah. Yeah, I have to admit I never expected to find a traitor of my organisation alongside the Sovereign Immunity, much less kidnap a second Princept.
ART (as Sovereign): Yeah, I can’t believe- people are gonna. People are gonna talk. This- that’s gonna end up being so much more on me, that it was. [Austin chuckles] Whoever- I mean honestly, someone should just like, be shouting about how that was their idea [Ali guffaws]. Like. Cause it’s- I mean, how could you not, right! Someone’s gonna be like “oh yes, Sovereign Immunity kidnapped another Princept” and I didn’t! I wasn’t- I really wanted to win! [Austin laughs, Ali gasps, Keith chuckles] But if you let em’, people will tell you that was me.
ALI (as Eiden): I, um, can’t squash rumours for you but-
ART (as Sovereign): I mean, don’t bother, it’s fun! [Ali laughing]
ALI (as Eiden): Should I write down that you need a new paint job or something?
ART (as Sovereign): Oh no it’s fine. That- that look, that’s a great look, I love it.
ALI (as Eiden): Sure.
ART (as Sovereign): The scorches, I mean it’s uh,
ALI (as Eiden): It’s sick.
ART (as Sovereign): It’s sick! [Ali squealing] And I mean we- we always cared about looking sick, right?
ALI (as Eiden): Mm. Well. It’s important.
ART (as Sovereign): You’re not trying to come here to tell me you don’t wanna look sick as shit?
ALI (as Eiden): No! [Sylvia laughs] I mean that’s basically a slogan of our organisation now. Well I have a lot of people to go through, but I am… wanted to reach out, and wanted to say that I look forward to fighting alongside you, again.
ART (as Sovereign): Yeah, we should do it right! We should ride together.
ALI (as Eiden): Yeah! Wait. Like, [laughs] in a squad, or just in general?
ART (as Sovereign): I mean like in a squad, but I mean like, if you’re- I mean I’m- [Ali squeals, table laughs] I think I’m gonna need a new squad real soon. [Austin, Sylvia, and Ali heaving with laughter] I definitely meant it the one way, but like.
ALI (as Eiden): Sure. Yeah. No. I um. Yes.
ART (as Sovereign): I mean don’t be a stranger.
ALI (as Eiden): I am picking up what you’re putting down.
[Austin and Ali and table just losing it with laughter]
ART: This is what you’re looking for right? This is the scene you wanted?
AUSTIN: Yeah, this is it! Ali. Ali you did it again!
ANDREW: Mhm.
[Straight up laughter all about]
AUSTIN: God bless.
ANDREW: Okay now I just need a Valence and Sovereign Immunity scene and the fandom will be complete.
AUSTIN: Oh. Mua!
ALI: No. Oh, god. Yeah. I think that could be scene. I was gonna have that scene of being like “do you think these kids can really do-” but I think that’s fine.
AUSTIN: Yeah, we’re good.
ALI: The curtains close.
AUSTIN: Uh huh.
ALI: Good for them.
AUSTIN: Alright. Good scene. Mark it. [Ali heaving] Sorry, do you have another- do you have another Broun scene you wanted to do also, or should I mark that as your scene for this rotation?
ALI: Um. Mark it, I’ll end up doing a reaction or something-
AUSTIN: Okay. If you need it.
ALI: Yeah.
AUSTIN: If you need it. Yeah. Alright. Then. Valence, Apparatus, Sovereign Immunity, Gucci.
JANINE: I have a scene.
AUSTIN: Okay. What’s up?
JANINE: Um, I think this is probably- this is a thing that [mumbles] I think this is a thing that Gucci is probably doing with Jesset City?
AUSTIN: Ooh, interesting, okay.
JANINE: I think Gucci is buying boats.
AUSTIN: [chuckles] Like as an investment? [Art chuckles]
JANINE: No! As- well I mean as a thing of like, if we are going to hold an island,
AUSTIN: Right.
JANINE: Maybe we should have a lot of boats in the water.
AUSTIN: I think we should have a lot of fucking boats in the water.
JANINE: We have- we have like a flying ship and robots and whatever, but also
AUSTIN: Boats.
JANINE: We have people on board who are familiar with holding a sovereign island.
AUSTIN: Uh huh.
JANINE: They’re probably good with boats. They probably know people who are good with boats. We should get a shit ton of boats and also people who can control boats that we might have access to suddenly if we actually pull this off.
AUSTIN: Mhm. Where are you getting these boats from?
JANINE: I… imagine this is like a- this is like an Oxblood connection thing?
AUSTIN: Yeah, sure.
JANINE: Where it’s just kind of like, you know, sometimes you just know people who have boats.
AUSTIN: Right.
JANINE: And those boats are maybe meant to move stuff around? But, a boat’s a boat to an extent, like, if you need to keep waters, you know, full off people who are making sure know shit’s going down,
AUSTIN: Right.
JANINE: A boat- you just get a boat. You just get some boats. [Austin, Art and Janine chuckle] So I think it’s like a pretty diverse array of boats too? Like you’ve got your kinda- your faster kind of- not sportier boats, it’s not a speed boat.
AUSTIN: No speed boats, gotcha.
JANINE: [half-laughing] But like you’ve got-
ART: There’s a lot of boat sports.
JANINE: There are a lot of kinds- there are a lot of boats! But I’m mostly like-
KEITH: There are tons of kinds of boats.
JANINE: I think there are- there are the kind of more useful boats in terms of what are actually needed, but there are also skiffs, and junks,
AUSTIN: Mhm.
JANINE: And barges. This is me using a Power move where the Power is, Gucci is-
AUSTIN: Getting some boats.
JANINE: Getting a lot of boats in.
AUSTIN: Mmm. Mhm. Mhm.
JANINE: Which is gonna look really foolish if we don’t invade Cruciat. [Austin chuckles] But you know-
AUSTIN: Well we’ll need boats.
JANINE: You gotta be prepared for the thing!
AUSTIN: Boats is boats! That was what I was saying. Mhm.
JANINE: Boats is boats.
AUSTIN: Boats is boats. Cool.
JANINE: Great.
AUSTIN: Any other- what’s up? What’s up, who’s next? Who’s got something?
ALI: Actually can I um, I guess I wasn’t in that scene but can I have like a prediction/reaction? Or just-
AUSTIN: Tell me what the reaction is. Tell me what the- like show me, show me how Broun- is this just like Broun working on these boats? What’s going on?
ALI: Yeah, yeah! I was thinking like of um, the- I’ll start with the scene, because I imagine these boats pulling up outside of Icebreaker, Broun like standing on the deck, and looking down on being like,
ALI (as Broun): What the fuck?
ALI: [giggles] Cause like, it’s such a variety of boats you know?
AUSTIN: Mhm.
ALI: It’s not a standardised boat situation. I think it’s a great idea, but you know, we should outfit these boats. The prediction I wanted to make is that, if yes, Millennium Break will make the attack on Cruciat from two different points?
AUSTIN: Oh, interesting.
ALI: Because they now have this boat fleet plus Fort Icebreaker.
AUSTIN: Mm. Love it. Do you wanna add it? You got that.
ALI: Yes.
AUSTIN: Alright. Cool. Who’s left? Sovereign Immunity, Valence, Apparatus. Uh huh. [Ali chuckles] What’s up?
ART: I’m not like ready for the scene I have to have.
AUSTIN: What’s the scene you have to have?
KEITH [overlapping]: What is it?
ALI [overlapping]: Aww.
ART: I think I have to have a scene with Clem.
AUSTIN: Mm. You do.
ART: And I’m- I’m not-
AUSTIN: Do you wanna save it before the vote? That feels like a good- before the invasion type scene? Before like, final decisions are made type scene?
ART: Alright.
AUSTIN: But if you wanna do it, we can rip the bandaid off.
ART: No... But I don’t wanna do it. [Ali laughs] Like, I also don’t want it to be in the future?
AUSTIN: I see now.
ART: I want to have done it. I want-
AUSTIN [overlapping with Art]: Unfort- [table breaks out in laughter] yeah! No, I understand! I know what it’s like to be alive. [more table laughter]
ANDREW: [sighs]
AUSTIN: Well Valence or Apparatus, do either of you have a scene idea, or reaction?
KEITH: No.
ANDREW: Yeah, um. Like every idea I come up with here is hard- is hard for me to then think of how that goes into a bigger Kingdom something-
AUSTIN: Right. That’s okay-
ANDREW: And isn’t just like, a scene between two characters that I’d like to see.
AUSTIN: We could just focus on that latter bit. We’ve done a lot of good work on the Kingdom stuff. Focus on what your character- character scenes you want to see right now.
ANDREW: Uhh. I think Valence would like to have a scene um, with Millie? And I don’t know if anyone else would feel like they would be a good choice for this, but basically Valence wants someone to shoot them- to teach them how to shoot a gun.
SYLVIA: Okay!
ANDREW: Valence does not want someone to shoot them.
AUSTIN: That’s so good.
SYLVIA: That almost went in a really different direction!
ANDREW: Valence wants someone to teach them how to shoot a gun.
AUSTIN: God.
ANDREW: Okay.
AUSTIN: I love this.
SYLVIA: So do you have anything in mind that you wanna like learn how to use? Or you just said, “teach me how to shoot a gun?” There’s a lot of- we have- you may have noticed, we have a lot of guns here, so.
SYLVIA (as Millie): What are you comfortable with?
ANDREW (as Valence): None. That’s kind of- that’s kind of why I wanna do this.
SYLVIA (as Millie): Okay! So, we’ll start with this then.
SYLVIA: And then she just gives ‘em like a hand gun.
ANDREW: Mhm.
SYLVIA (as Millie): Have you like- you pilot a mech right? You’ve had to aim at something before.
ANDREW (as Valence): I actually don’t- I don’t have weapons on my-? On my vehicle?
SYLVIA: She gives ‘em a look.
SYLVIA (as Millie): Okay. Okay, super makes sense for war. So-
ANDREW (as Valence): I mean know- I know it doesn’t, that’s why I feel like I have to do this.
SYLVIA (as Millie): Okay. I get it. Sorry, I tend to do that a lot. The whole cool bitchy girl thing, it’s fine. [table laughs] So! I’m gonna need you to- do you know how to- okay, here.
SYLVIA: And I think like, there’s the bit of that like Millie just like, trying to like show Valence how to stand properly?
ANDREW: Mhm.
SYLVIA: Just like, they get into their like, like an aiming posture, and is like, “no no no, move your arms higher up like here, like brace yourself like this”. Um. And then she’s like,
SYLVIA (as Millie): Okay, you just got to pull the trigger.
ANDREW (as Valence): What was it like when you did this for the first time?
SYLVIA (as Millie): Like a shooting range? Or… cause like that was fun, I was like eight, um. You know. Fun. If you mean like live combat? I don’t really remember.
ANDREW (as Valence): Did you choose to do that at eight?
SYLVIA (as Millie): [chuckles] No, come on! I was eight! [Ali laughs]
ANDREW (as Valence): I assumed, but I- I wanted to be sure.
SYLVIA (as Millie): Naw, yeah, I’ve been doing this pretty much my entire life, so. You picked the right person to ask! But, it’s a little hard to do the whole start from the beginning thing when the beginning was day one.
ANDREW (as Valence): So when you were eight, huh.
SYLVIA (as Millie): I mean that’s when I used the first like live ammunition, yeah. [high-pitched, anxious] Do you know much about GLORY?
ANDREW [overlapping with Sylvia): I think Valence straightens up and- huh?
SYLVIA (as Millie): Do you know much about GLORY?
ANDREW (as Valence): No.
SYLVIA (as Millie): Yeah. I find most people don’t. They’re just like, “oh it’s this cool soldiers, the cool like-” they’re like action figures on Apostolos for some people, and I’m like. You know how that happened, right? You know how they became that? And none- no one ever does. They want like- they build us for it. And no offence, but I don’t know if you- if you’re built for this. If you can’t shoot at some paper.
SYLVIA: Then she sort of gestures her head at the- at the like target again.
ANDREW: I think Valence pulls the trigger until it’s empty.
SYLVIA: Yeah?
SYLVIA (as Millie): It’ll get easier next time.
ANDREW (as Valence): I already got rebuilt once, so.
SYLVIA: [breathes] I don’t really have anything to add there so we can call scene if you want-
ANDREW: Yeah I think that’s a good place to stop.
AUSTIN [overlapping with Andrew]: Can I, can I make the suggestion that Valence uses a big fuck-off revolver? [Ali giggles]
ANDREW: Sure, sure.
AUSTIN: Because revolvers are safer in a lot of ways than automatic pistols?
SYLVIA: That’s- yeah.
AUSTIN: Are better for like amateurs? But also because Valence should have a big fuck-off revolver? Yeah.
SYLVIA: Yeah.
ANDREW: I mean I already got the big fucking coat now.
AUSTIN: Exactly, yeah. Absolutely.
SYLVIA: I think of Millie being just like, okay, if people get close enough to you with this thing you’re not gonna miss?
AUSTIN: Yeah, uh huh. Yep. God but also-
SYLVIA: It’s probably not gonna jam on you, so-
AUSTIN: Exactly. It won’t jam,
SYLVIA: Yeah.
AUSTIN: You know you can empty all the bul- like yes. A hundred per- you don’t have to worry about one being in the side, all that shit. Love it. God. Good- good pairing. I’m so glad that we had Millie and Valence. We missed this, it’s good. This is perfect.
SYLVA: Mhm.
AUSTIN: Thank god. Alright, I’m gonna mark that one. Valence, you gonna make any predictions?
ANDREW: No I don’t think so.
AUSTIN: Okay. Apparatus, Sovereign Immunity.
KEITH: I might have a Leap scene.
AUSTIN: Ah, okay! Yeah!
KEITH: I think Leap wants to do- what is LARPing but it’s real? What’s when you LARP but for real?
AUSTIN: What?
ART: Life. [Sylvia laughs]
AUSTIN: Yeah!
KEITH: Okay.
ANDREW: Fencing lessons? I don’t-
JANINE: Is Leap gonna become a vampire?
KEITH: No.
AUSTIN: Aw, sick.
KEITH: We want- [breaks out into chuckles]
ANDREW: Offers.
KEITH: Leap wants to play- play at doing-
AUSTIN: -lazer tag.
KEITH: Like a pirate from a movie.
AUSTIN: What?
KEITH: With the boats.
AUSTIN: Oh! Like, oh- so you’re talking about like, war games. You’re talking about like manoeuvres, like practice manoeuvres, but like, for real?
KEITH: I want to captain a boat.
AUSTIN: With a cool hat-
KEITH: For fun.
AUSTIN: For funsies.
KEITH: For this battle.
AUSTIN: Okay. I think that’s LARPing- I see what you’re saying.
KEITH: Right, I just want to be a different kind of pirate?
AUSTIN: Right.
ALI: Mmm.
KEITH: Because- because of the movies.
AUSTIN: Are you going as like one of- are you in- okay. Cause here’s what I’m thinking. Can we get the micro-scene of Zo’la and Alise Breka trying on outfits with Leap to see like what would make him the most dashing pirate commander?
KEITH: Okay.
AUSTIN: Do you know what I mean? Like that vibe of like, “nonononono, we’re gonna need- people will know what a pirate looks like, they’ve read my books-”
KEITH: Right.
AUSTIN: And then Zo’la being like “no, we’re going for something grittier, like that vibe”, you know what I mean? I need to know- what does, what does Leap’s dramatic captain, pirate captain outfit look like?
ALI: I also have a small interjection which is like how big is your hat?
AUSTIN: Yes, totally- is it a hat, is it a bandana?
ALI: Ooh, yeah.
AUSTIN: Is it a-
KEITH: It’s a hat, and I think it gets bigger on the day.
ALI: Fuck-
KEITH: I think I have a practice hat that’s smaller.
AUSTIN: Question.
ALI: Sure.
AUSTIN: Two important questions. Okay, I was just gonna ask if you meant if it grew-
JANINE [overlapping with Austin and others]: A practice hat- so there’s not like a switch on the side? Just folds it out like on the table.
KEITH [overlapping with others] I guess Leap wants- Leap is-
ART: Mood hat that gets bigger.
AUSTIN: That’s what I was gonna ask, [Keith chuckles] is it also a mood hat-
KEITH: It’s a mood hat that- yeah the happier I am the bigger the hat gets! [Austin chuckles] With no limits.
JANINE: You know those tables with leaves that- you can clip the leaves up when you have company over for tea?
AUSTIN: God.
KEITH: Yeah, or when you have to go through a doorway cause otherwise it’s too big.
AUSTIN: Incredible.
ART: You just get sad about not being able to get through the door till the hat shrinks down to the size you need.
KEITH: Extremely wide brimmed hat.
AUSTIN: Ohh.
KEITH: No there’s not any good picture that understands what I’m trying to say.
ART: What about extremely big hat?
AUSTIN: Extremely big hat. I do also have the idea of Leap finding a picture of the Briar Brightline-
ALI: [softly wheezing] Oh my god.
AUSTIN: -like mood outfit from ancient Horizon history and being like, this is what a cool pirate looks like!
KEITH: Ye- so, for me I’m like, I’m trying to think of the coolest kind of pirate, but unfortunately all I can think of is-
AUSTIN: I’ll just do a Google search for it real quick.
KEITH: Tim Curry from Muppet Treasure Island [Austin chuckles] which is definitely a cool kind of pirate.
AUSTIN: That is! That’s a cool pirate.
KEITH: Yeah it’s gotta be- it has to be that through the Zo’la and Breka lens.
AUSTIN: Right. Right.
KEITH: Of like, well we have to update it for-
AUSTIN: So mood- what if like the trim on this instead of being gold, is like the mood shit? So it changes based on how excited Leap is? What else? God. I love it- I’m in love with pirate Leap.
KEITH: I could get a um-
AUSTIN [overlapping with Keith]: Well it’s a bandana under a hat.
1:08:10
KEITH: I could get a Bing 32 parrot.
AUSTIN: Oh! Get a Bing 32 parrot!
ALI [overlapping with Austin]: [wheezing softly] Oh my god.
AUSTIN: I love it!
ALI: Oh my god they already have those like, retractable arms?
AUSTIN: Uh huh?
ALI: And if you made a bing that was like- a third of the size-
AUSTIN: Mini Bing.
ALI: Yeah, and then you have the arms come out, but then you like attach the metal like feathers to fan out like a fucking-
AUSTIN: Is this a Bing mini or a Bing micro, I was getting bit confused about-
KEITH: It’s a Bing 16.
AUSTIN: Okay, a Bing 16, right.
ALI: Yeah.
AUSTIN: Right, right, yeah. God.
ALI: Well do you want a Bing 16 or a Bing 8? Cause it has to sit on you shoulder.
AUSTIN: Right. But if it sits on your shoulder and is gigantic-
1:09:01
KEITH: Well, I make myself really wide like Sovereign Immunity- [Austin, Ali, Sylvia, table just explodes into laughter]
AUSTIN: I love it.
ART: Exchanging widening clothing tips.
AUSTIN: Yeah.
KEITH: Yeah, yeah- I saw Sovereign Immunity do this thing where he was very wide and I was like, “that, I can fit that into my pirate shtick”.
ART (as Sovereign): Yeah Leap, if you get an extra robe, and just kind of like tie it around your ribcage?
AUSTIN: God.
ART (as Sovereign): It gets a lot. It really pays off.
AUSTIN: Incredible.
KEITH: Okay, great.
AUSTIN: I love it. I love it. And yeah, I think that- yeah, you know, I’m happy to say, I’m not the GM here but- I’m not the GM or Touchstone but I do love the idea of people being like, damn! Leap looks dope! We gotta- I’m- actually here’s- can Gur Sevraq see this happen so I can make a prediction?
KEITH: Yeah that’s fine- I mean I’m commanding a pirate crew and anybody is allowed to see that.
AUSTIN: Right. Well I think that it’s like, if we attack, you know, the- you know, I don’t even know how to phrase this but like, people- the people of Cruciat, the oppressed of Cruciat will be- actually that doubles out, will be inspired by the heroic legends Exeter Leap, and Sovereign Immunity, and take up arms on our side. And it’s- that’s like a common reaction to both this scene and to the Sovereign Immunity/Eiden Teak stuff of like,
KEITH: Yeah.
AUSTIN: Hey, people believe in us as symbols in weird ways even if it’s not necessarily-
KEITH: Right- which makes sense because what I’m doing- what I’m doing is- is performing-
AUSTIN: Right! Totally.
KEITH: -a pirate?
AUSTIN: Totally!
KEITH: Which I already was, but now when you look at it you can go “oh that’s something that I’ve seen”
AUSTIN: Right.
KEITH: “That’s different than-”, it’s different symbolically than just an invading army-
AUSTIN: Yes.
KEITH: Because I’m performing the pirate show?
AUSTIN: Yes, exactly. A hundred percent [Ali chuckles]. The pirate show. Yeah, absolutely. God. Perfect. I love it. Cool, alright. Well. Boom. Sovereign Immunity.
ART: Alright, um. So I should just do it, right? Just pull this.
AUSTIN: Yeah.
ART: Pull this band aid off. Alright. Where er- what’s a good place for this? Where are we putting Silence of the Lambs Hannibal Lecter Clementine Kesh? Or did we only do that for the one scene then stopped? Cause we didn’t- we haven’t mentioned it since-
JACK: What do you think, Gucci?
JANINE: Hm? Sorry, what?
JACK: Where is Clem right now, in terms of her- her living situation?
JANINE: I don’t- you know, obviously- obviously we don’t know that Mourningbride and Clem have been talking? But I think it’s fair for Gucci to be like, maybe it’s not a good idea-
JACK: Mm.
JANINE: -to have a princess whose alliances are very shifty-
AUSTIN: Mhm.
JANINE: -in the same room as someone who is like you know, on the wrong side and the side that Clem is probably kinda tempted by because it assures her a degree of power that we do not assure her whatsoever-
AUSTIN: Mhm.
JANINE: -to the point of putting her in jail twice. So part of me wants to be like well she’s in her room, but- but maybe there’s not as much stuff in her room? I don’t know.
AUSTIN: Not allowed to crowd the hallway with her shit anymore.
JANINE: Oh definitely not. Yeah. That’s probably the thing is like, if it can’t fit in your room you don’t need it.
AUSTIN: Yeah. The room is packed. Yeah! [laughs, so does Ali]
ALI: Yeah I- sorry to interject but, the thing I wonder is like, if there’s like, like a hallway where we put people whose involvement is sort of um, compromised in that way? Like, the Princept already is-
AUSTIN: Right.
ALI: -there, right?
AUSTIN: Right.
JANINE: It’s just a library for dubious people to hang out? [Ali chuckles]
AUSTIN: Filled with revolutionary literature. Keep reading. [Ali laughs]
ART: I like the idea of a big- the giant well appointed library on the military base.
AUSTIN: Yeah.
ART: That we’ve just like cramped some bunk beds into.
AUSTIN: Mhm. Love it. So is that where you’re meeting with Clem, Sovereign Immunity?
ART: Yeah I think so. I think it’s like, walking in and sitting on the bed across. Which is empty, there’s probably not that many people here right? Who’s- who are we putting in here? Clem and the Princept?
AUSTIN: Clem and the Princept and then- presumably a handful other reactionaries who’ve like, worked against us in some way or have- we’ve captured prisoners of war, you know?
ART: Sure. But it’s probably not crowded, right?
AUSTIN: No.
ART (as Sovereign): Hello, Clementine.
JACK (as Clementine): Sovereign Immunity.
ART (as Sovereign): How are you?
JACK (as Clementine): Well I’ve been better, but I’ve certainly been worse. I don’t quite know what they were thinking these last couple of weeks. But at least I’m in a slightly more stable imprisonment than I was earlier.
ART (as Sovereign): Yeah. I hear that. [short pause] What do you- what do you want when this is over?
JACK (as Clementine): When is it over?
ART (as Sovereign): That’s good. I mean it’s- I meant after the invasion of Cruciat? But we can- we can have a wider range in conversation if you’re interested.
JACK (as Clementine): Well I raised what I felt to be the fair proposal for- as the only member of House Kesh that has allied itself with this organisation, I should be allowed some autonomy over the palace. So I think perhaps we could start there.
ART (as Sovereign): I hear you. I see the internal logic in what you’re saying. I really do. But I don’t think it’s going to happen. And I think you need to start preparing yourself emotionally for having a second choice.
JACK (as Clementine): What kind of a second choice would that be?
ART (as Sovereign): You know, you could- you could want to continue to be a revolutionary. You could want to follow this out wherever it goes. You could want to just leave, you know? You could- you could choose exile from Partizan, I’m not say- I have no authority to offer you this. But I’m saying this is a thing that you could want.
JACK (as Clementine): I see. I see where you’re coming from. Thank you for giving me your opinion here. I don’t care about any of these people. And I don’t care about what they’re trying to do other than that it might carry me closer to what it is that I want. Now, I’m sure we all want to be fed better. I’m sure we all want to make a little more money. I know, I’ve been told that there are organisations that you know, treat people who have those jobs badly and I’m sure that we all want those jobs to be made better. But when it comes down to it, I simply don’t understand what these people seek to gain other than those- those increases.
ART (as Sovereign): They’re going to throw House Kesh out of Cruciat and potentially burn it to the ground.
JACK (as Clementine): No they wouldn’t do that.
ART (as Sovereign): They would! [Keith laughs]
JACK (as Clementine): No it’s a beautiful city.
ART (as Sovereign): They would! Do you want me to go get a petition real quick? [Austin chuckles] I mean I can’t stress to you how little anyone cares about the beau- I mean, people care about the beauty of the city, I don’t wanna like, put too fine a point- I don’t want to get to a point where we’re debating that. But no one cares about the city more than they care about their belief, their cause! And I’m so, so sorry that I failed to communicate that to you in the time that we’ve worked together!
JACK (as Clementine): Why would they throw it away?
ART (as Sovereign): Because to them it’s garbage.
JACK (as Clementine): Well, they’re wrong, and they’ll come to see that.
ART (as Sovereign): Oh my god.
JACK (as Clementine): I’m sure they’ll come to see that. Tanks at the gates, I’m sure. I would say that the East Wing of the palace? I could see that go, I would probably want to make some renovations there. [someone chuckles] I’m not stupid, Sovereign. I know that blood is going to be spilled and buildings are going to be destroyed but, these people are not going to cast away the history of Kesh so easily.
ART (as Sovereign): That history is their history. They’re just reclaiming what is already theirs. And no one has ever re-thought their position when they were in the tank at the gates! [someone chuckles] It’s never happened! I mean maybe someone’s like, gotten into their tank in the morning and are like “no I can’t do it” and then got out? But once you’ve driven a tank somewhere, you’re gonna pull the trigger. And I’m not saying you shouldn't have hope, because it’s- it’s- it’s- you’re such a beautiful moron. [Keith and Sylvia laughing] But you should have an idea of what you’re gonna do when it goes the other way. Because otherwise you’re gonna fall through the cracks, and you can’t climb back up.
JACK: I think this is very frightening for Clem?
ART: That’s great, that’s exactly- this is- frightening is a great word for it. [Ali chuckles]
JACK: I think this is very frightening in the sense that she is definitely- she has definitely realised that the winds are not blowing in her favour aboard Icebreaker Prime, and within Millennium Break? And I think she is sort of beginning to- she is beginning to externalise that to like major cities on the moon? And like this idea that like the arc of history has been bending further than she is comfortable with? I think she just sort of looks down at her shoes and says,
JACK (as Clementine): So, where do I go?
ART (as Sovereign): If I knew I would tell you.
JACK: Hmmm. It’s rough right? Because like, what does someone who has always been told that they’re going to get their way eventually- how do you respond to this?
AUSTIN: I mean I don’t know we need an answer in this moment, right? I think it’s fine-
JACK: Right, I mean. I wonder if Clem just sort of just stands up from the bed.
ART: And storm out of your own room.
JACK: Yeah! [chuckles] Gonna storm out of my own room.
AUSTIN: And that’s scene?
ART: I think so, yeah.
AUSTIN: Alright.
JACK: Yeah.
AUSTIN: Well. With that scene we’ve come to the end of the required turns. Does anyone have any further reactions or scenes they wanna do before we go over the Crossroad and take a vote?
JACK: Uh, is Sovereign Immunity a Perspective?
AUSTIN: No.
ART: No.
JACK: No, a Touchstone. Okay.
AUSTIN: A Touchstone. No prediction here.
ART: Let me tell you the community believes that if you fall through the cracks you can’t climb back up. That’s- [Austin grunts in agreement] we talked about it.
JACK: Mhm. Um. Yeah I suppose the other question is like, do more- do we want to make more predictions?
AUSTIN: I am in a blessed position, which is if I don’t make more predictions, as GM once this thing is over I get to just say it happens [Ali laughs]. So I have other stuff that I can be like “oh I wanted to mention this but it’s okay if I don’t”, do you know what I mean?
JACK: You basically get to make predictions all the time.
AUSTIN: All the time! All the- yeah, once we go back the other way? Hoo!
ALI: Yeah, I think I’m in that same place where I’m like, what do I want Broun to do before this game is over.
AUSTIN: Yeah, that’s the more important thing maybe even, right?
ALI: But um. Yeah, I don’t know we still have the rest of this season left.
AUSTIN: Mhm.
ALI: So presumably similar setting, [laughs] so, I have opportunities.
1:23:07
AUSTIN: I would love a scene with Valence and Apparatus, maybe. Which has less to do with predictions and more to do with there’s a plot thread that we haven’t fully hit here, and I think it’s interesting that we haven’t and we’ve kind of orbit around it a few times. And I think that it’s- there was a smaller library that we saw Gur Sevraq in once, many episodes now on board Fort Icebreaker where they were communicating telepathically with Valence and there’s a big overhead slide thing in there. And I think it’s there and Gur is projecting a map of Partizan with a few places circled. Vigil City. The- some canyons in the Barranca, the Apostolosian territory, the kind of canyons there. Kind of the northern- the Chasmata quarry is actually one of them. And- there’s probably a couple of other places- oh the mountains in the Pique Ridge. And Gur is like,
AUSTIN (as Gur): We are letting the Exemplar slip through our fingers. And I don’t know that that’s a bad thing.
AUSTIN: For Keith who playing Apparatus here and maybe does not know all of the details of what this side plot has been it’s that, the True Divine-
KEITH: This is the big thing that-
AUSTIN: The True Divine is like hey, go rebuild my- my avatar here on this planet so that- so that I can enact justice. And Gur Sevraq and Valence were like, absolutely. And now it has been months, and they have not. Which is interesting, certainly. Partially because we’re all caught up with this, and partially because it just wasn’t- yeah we were all caught up with this, this is what these characters decided to spend on instead, which is fascinating, right? And I think Gur Sevraq is like,
AUSTIN (as Gur): We know the eyes of the True Divine are taken by the Columnar. I suspect that we’ve already lost the other elements of the Exemplar too, at least some of them. And I don’t know when we will have time to retrieve them or if it’s even possible. Before we had the element of surprise but now we are Millennium Break. Now we are trackable. They send envoys to us now.
KEITH: What’s- what is Apparatus’ relationship to the True Divine? Is this something that the Cult of Perennial gives a shit about?
AUSTIN: Um, it’s interesting right? Well the True Divine is another god in the kind of like broad scheme of Divine beings that- that I think the Cult of Perennial understands as not being the same thing as being a Divine, and being something more akin to Perennial in terms of their overall power and effect? I think that there’s like a little bit of an overlap, but there’s also a sort of- there’s also a sort of antagonism between Perennial and the True Divine? Because the True Divine is… there are ways in which they circle each other and ways in which they can complete the other in different ways? Perennial has been a very destructive force in the galaxy? And that’s not to say that the True Divine has not been also, but when it comes to like the way we talk about those things, they are often in opposition in ways? But it’s not as simple as- it’s almost as if they’re rival gods and less than they are gods- they are her- one of them thinks the other one is heretical or something like that. Do you know what I mean? It’s like on a long enough timeline-
KEITH: Competing for the same followers?
AUSTIN: Sort of? Or they’re in the same like, what do you call it, what’s the word- pantheon, almost, right?
KEITH: Equally heretical.
AUSTIN: Definitely both equally heretical to Asterism, right?
KEITH: Right. Received Asterism at least.
AUSTIN: Yeah- yeah, definitely. And so I think there is a degree of like- but what I do think is there from the Cult of Perennial side, Metronomica understands that the power that the True Divine, that Autonomy Itself has, is the sort of thing that can change history and can move things in different directions. Which is why when Gur Sevraq said—and I’ve said this a few times now but just to really underscore it—Gur Sevraq was given a vision by Perennial that showed him in service to the True Divine. And that was this moment of like great rejection, but also a moment of like, being given a vocation? And so- because like, they felt like, wait, but I was supposed to work for you. And the vision you know, the kind of sight that came to him you know, showed them at the True- you know, leading a flock of the True Divine or whatever, not working with Perennial more. And so- but I think that like, Metronomica is like yeah, of course! Listen, Perennial be showing us things sometimes, we don’t have to like them. And sometimes it’s go work for this other god. So I think it’s open ended, you know? Or open minded, I guess, is the short answer.
AUSTIN (as Gur): Valence, when this is done, do you think we should recommit ourselves?
ANDREW (as Valence): Oh. That’s really complicated.
AUSTIN (as Gur): You’ve both changed a great deal in the past few months. Apparatus, for years you stayed on the Isles of Logos and now you create committees on a revolutionary fort. I’m not saying your character has changed necessarily, but the Apparatus of old was content with waiting for the moment and now we’re in the moment. I suppose what I’m really doing is asking if you will support me when this is over in my search. I can’t give up quite yet.
KEITH (as Apparatus): I don’t know, that whole- the True Divine thing kind of skeeves me out.
ANDREW (as Valence): It skeeves me out too but I think for different reasons.
KEITH: Out of character,
AUSTIN: Mhm.
KEITH: I’ve known Divines for a while.
AUSTIN: Yeah.
KEITH: Something that calls itself the True Divine sounds like, not trustworthy.
AUSTIN [overlapping with Keith]: That’s what we call it- I guess, no, it called itself that, they call themselves that, for sure.
KEITH: Yeah.
AUSTIN: In relation to the Divines of this, right? It all- you know, they also call themselves Autonomy- Autonomy Itself.
KEITH: Right.
AUSTIN: It is- you know, they are a god of change, a god of-
KEITH: My idea of- if you ask me to pick one of the Divines to call the True Divine, it’s Rigour. [Austin laughs] So.
AUSTIN: Right. Right right right. Yeah, fair. No it’s a very powerful, scary being, for sure.
KEITH: Right.
AUSTIN: They are a very powerful being.
KEITH: And back in character I guess-
KEITH (as Apparatus): I’m not confident- I’m not even sure what it claim- I’m not sure what the True Divine claims to mean by justice. You said justice right? That was your-
AUSTIN (Gur): Yes, I- to be clear, to be clear Apparatus, I don’t know that reclaiming the Exemplar and giving it to- giving it to the True Divine is where my heart stands now either. But knowing that- knowing that the parts of it are in the hands of the Stels frightens me. If they could compose it into a weapon that could destroy the True Divine? Wound it?
KEITH (as Apparatus) Columnar has the eyes right? So, yeah. They will.
AUSTIN (as Gur): Yeah. They will. And then it is not us that needs to be afraid. It’s the Nobel, it’s the other-
ANDREW (as Valence): No it’s us too, probably.
AUSTIN (as Gur): It’s us too.
KEITH (as Apparatus): Unfortunately, Valence, you’re both us and the Nobel, so.
ANDREW (as Valence): [chuckles] That is very true. I definitely would feel and sleep a lot better at night knowing they were destroyed, these parts, then they are in the hands of the Stels.
KEITH (as Apparatus): Use it, destroy it, it sounds like either way we’ve got to get them.
AUSTIN (as Gur): Once this is over then, I’ll start drawing up a plan. We’ll have to move quick. We’ve lost so much time. Lost is wrong. I don’t want to undersell what we’ve gained. I did not think this is how our year would go.
AUSTIN: Alright. Just wanted to make sure that that is still front of mind. I think I have a prediction here, because again it’s stuff that would play out long term after the fact, right? So, any other final scenes before we- we address the crossroad?
KEITH: Um. Who- where, where are the known pieces? Who controls pieces that we know of?
AUSTIN: Everybody. Everybody. Well we don’t know who controls-
KEITH: Okay.
AUSTIN: We should get into it. We’ll get into it next thing, but-
KEITH: I- I have a prediction unless this goes against what you were going to say, which is if yes, then Kesh will use against Millennium Break a weapon built from parts of the thing.
AUSTIN: That’s very good, because I know what it is. [Andrew chuckles] I know what it is. We don’t- actually I know what it is, Gur Sevraq doesn’t even know what that last part is. I think- I think I’ve been pretty mysterious about what the final- what the Kesh side of it is, just that they were digging in the ice.
KEITH: What was it called? The Ex- something?
AUSTIN: The Exemplar, yeah.
KEITH: The Exemplar, right.
AUSTIN: Yes.
KEITH: Very counterproductive to do a bunch of favours for a thing called Autonomy Itself.
AUSTIN: Yeah, well. This is part of the weirdness, right? Is like, if you’re so fucking autonomous why do you need us to do something for you here-
KEITH: Yeah.
AUSTIN: And that is part of the question, for sure.
KEITH: Or if you’re- you know, if you’re representing a virtue of autonomy then-
AUSTIN: Sure.
KEITH: -why would I agree to do-
AUSTIN: Yeah.
KEITH: Yeah.
AUSTIN: You wanna make that prediction, then? If yes, Kesh will use what it has-
KEITH: Yes.
AUSTIN: -against Millennium Break? Okay.
KEITH: Yeah.
ALI: Um, I have a tiny scene.
AUSTIN: Sure.
ALI: Just because I- [chuckling] I realised a way that Broun would take advantage of the situation, and sort of continue their own research? Also it’s really fitting to me and I’m happy to do this. But I said last time that Broun was sort of researching- can you just tell me the Divine’s name again, because I don’t want to forget- the Columnar one-
AUSTIN [overlapping with Ali]: Asepsis. Asepsis.
ALI: Asepsis. Um, in like a very basic sort of way, and I think for this specific like push on Kesh? They haven’t gotten far enough along in that research to like really do anything?
AUSTIN: Yeah.
ALI: But I would really love for them to like, be able to take- to be able to like assemble pieces of it with like different drone parts?
AUSTIN: Oh, interesting.
ALI: To signal to like- to fake signal to Kesh that they are fighting with this Divine even though they super aren’t?
AUSTIN: That’s very good.
ALI: [giggles] Just as a way to like! Broun loves causing fear to make people-
AUSTIN: Mhm.
ALI: -fight worse? Um [chuckles] or else it’s just a way to bolster Millennium Break’s like reputation?
AUSTIN: Yeah.
ALI: And I- anybody can be in the scene. Valence can be in the scene, but only if they find out from someone else in this organisation- is happening, and not realising that they were purposely not invited. [laughs] I almost imagined it like, a night of like building Gunpla or something?
AUSTIN: Right.
ALI: Where it’s like, Broun invited this like, group of six or seven people to their warehouse, and there’s like a big whiteboard in the back that’s like [Austin sighs] Step 1, put those things. Step 2, screw this. Step 3, do this. And then across the table it’s just like these little pods of the like Divine shit, and a bunch of little legs, and little piles of screws. And then it’s just like vibing.
AUSTIN: Uh huh!
ALI: Assembling things?
AUSTIN: Can I propose a thing- can this be a scene where A.O. Rooke is there, and it strikes you that his mannerisms are familiar?
ALI: Oh yeah, for sure! Yeah.
AUSTIN: Cause we just haven’t had that come up yet, which is wild. [Ali chuckles] But like maybe you just haven’t spent a lot of time together, you know?
ALI: Yeah, yeah! I think we were briefly like chill in the pirate thing?
AUSTIN: Yeah.
ALI: And I don’t think that I said this into a microphone but I’ve certainly played it- but I think that after Broun arrested, they had to step back from the pirate thing.
AUSTIN: Right.
ALI: Like that was sort of the solution to that which was, you killed people, you can’t do this anymore which is why they’re doing all this other shit?
AUSTIN: Mhm.
ALI: And yeah. I- I- yeah. A.O. should be there. I guess in that case- well, who’s there? Who else wants to be there [chuckles]. Even though I guess this- this scene will just end up being that pull-aside right?
AUSTIN: Probably yeah, I think it’s probably better.
SYLVIA: I’ll be there.
ALI: Perfect. [giggles, Austin chuckles] I’m glad. But yeah, I do- it’s that, you know? There’s popcorn.
AUSTIN: There’s music playing.
ALI [overlapping with Austin]: People stay there too late,
AUSTIN: Right.
ALI: There’s like some beer, people are just chilling. But I think like sort of at the end of the night, Broun sort of pulls A.O. aside, and is like, um.
ALI (as Broun): Okay I’m gonna ask you something, and you are not allowed to ask you why I haven’t asked you this before.
ART (as A.O.): Okay, no problem.
ALI (as Broun): And I know that this is weird and if the answer’s no, then just say no. Um. Mm! Okay. Um. Do you-
ART (as A.O.): You alright?
ALI (as Broun): [breaks into laughter] I um! I’m the um, I just- a lot of things are hitting me at once, and I’m asking you right now, um, do you um, want your mom’s number?
ART (as A.O.): Um.
ALI (as Broun): I’m so sor- I- I worked for her. And I didn’t want to fuck up her Nideo contracts so she isn’t here. And I think that that sucks um, but.
ART (as A.O.): Yeah. [Ali nervous chuckles] Um. Okay? Sure. [Ali and Austin laugh]
KEITH: We find out that he hates his mom.
AUSTIN: No!!!
SYLVIA: Aww.
KEITH: She’s actually really mean.
ALI: [wheezing and giggling] I think that’s why Broun like put it like that? Because I think Broun has a positive opinion of K.O. but to put like, “hey you haven’t spoken to your mom in a few years, I assume that’s not your choice,” would be a weird thing especially from Broun’s perspective?
ALI (as Broun): I’m sorry. Um-
ART (as A.O.): Yeah, me too.
ALI (as Broun): [pause] Um. Yeah let me- I- I’m sorry, I have my thing right here. I’ll just write it down for you. Um, she’s good. Last I saw her-
ART (as A.O.) [overlapping with Ali]: Oh. Good.
ALI (as Broun): Yeah.
ART (as A.O.): I’m glad she’s good. [table wheezing in laughing] I’ve been in jail.
ALI (as Broun): Right, right, right.
ART (as A.O.): Uh huh.
ALI (as Broun): No I knew that from her, and just didn’t. I- I don’t know, it was a common last name or something,
ART (as A.O.): Mmm. Nope. She always said. You meet a Rooke. They’re family.
ALI (as Broun): Right?
ART (as A.O.): She didn’t say it wasn’t worth a damn thing. [Austin chuckling, Ali still holding back her wheezing].
ART: [whispering] Someone tell me if this isn’t right, I think this is right.
AUSTIN: Good. You’re good.
ART: Great. [Ali chuckle-wheezing]
ALI (as Broun): Um, yeah. Well sure, well here it is, and tell her I said hi I guess? Or don’t- I- I don’t have to come up. Um. [Sylvia and Keith laugh]
ART (as A.O.): I think it’s probably better if you don’t, I appreciate it though.
ALI (as Broun): Sure. Sure. Yup. [Sylvia still laughing]
ART (as A.O.): Thank you for this, I appreciate it.
ALI (as Broun): Yeah! Uh, you’re welcome.
ART (as A.O.): You got it.
AUSTIN: Amazing. God. [Ali wheezing] Perfect. Alright. Any- [Ali bursts out laughing again] final scenes?
AUSTIN: [continued] So. It is time to resolve the final crossroad. To begin, we have to review the crossroad. Decide together if this is going to be the end of the game so you know whether you are building up to a big finish. Decide to stop play but you fill in the crisis boxes, also resolve the crisis before you end your game. This is going to be the end of our game. Um, let’s review the- the predictions, so that we’re all on the same page. If- “Will the Kingdom invade Cruciat?” is the active crossroad. If yes, members of Millennium Break will be stripped of their citizenship, says Gur Sevraq. Broun.
ALI: Um, yes. Yeah.
AUSTIN: What is your- what is your prediction? Yes.
ALI: Oh, sorry! [laughs]
AUSTIN: Yes. [table breaks into laughter] Prediction. Uh huh. Uh huh.
KEITH: Ya, I agree. Ya. We will.
AUSTIN: Yeah I agree- yeah that’s true.
ANDREW [overlapping with others]: That’s sick as shit.
ALI: I thought you were asking me if I were challenging it and I was like no I’m good! Anyway. [clears throat] Member- members of Millennium Break outside of Fort Icebreaker will be targeted.
AUSTIN: Icebreaker Prime will be permanently immobilised.
ALI: Fort Icebreaker will attack Cruciat from two different points.
AUSTIN: The oppressed of Cruciat will be inspired by the heroic legends of Exeter Leap and Sovereign Immunity and take up arms on our side. Apparatus.
KEITH: Kesh will use the part of the Exemplar against Millennium Break.
AUSTIN: Their part of the Exemplar is what I should’ve written-
KEITH: Their part.
AUSTIN: That’s my fault. And if no.
ANDREW: Okay. If no, Millennium Break will not be able to have a static base of operations.
AUSTIN: Millie?
SYLVIA: Err… oh! Millie angry token.
AUSTIN: [chuckles] Apparatus?
SYLVIA: Grrrr.
AUSTIN: Uh huh. Apparatus?
KEITH: The moderates will leak that we were going to attack Cruciat.
AUSTIN: And Valence.
ANDREW: The kidnapped Princept will begin to gain followers within Millennium Break.
AUSTIN: Alright, that is- those are the conditions. Those are the stakes. Power, make a decision, which path of the crossroad do you make the Kingdom follow? Describe how your character makes the kingdom do it.
JANINE: I think that Gucci is voting to invade Cruciat. And I think she’s doing that by like, almost behaving as if it is a foregone conclusion, you know?
AUSTIN: Mhm.
JANINE: She has arranged for those boats, she has, you know, there are people assigned to man those boats. There are people who are training with those people in order to- to commandeer you know, boats that might get abandoned by Kesh military whatever etc. Like, it is all just like, no, she’s already making these preparations.
AUSTIN: Yeah. Clementine. Power. With- with the Sovereign Immunity scene in your mind that has made it clear that this will not be good for you.
JACK: I think she’s going to have to vote no.
AUSTIN: What’s that look like?
JACK: Uh, first things first, I think I’m going to go and talk to Cynosure.
AUSTIN: Alright. So, um, when you go to see Cynosure Kesh- Cynosure Whitestar Kesh, the- the Pri- the Peaceful Princept of Kesh and those loyal to him, you find him in a state similar to your room when you first moved on to Fort Icebreaker. Which is to say bare, and small, and constrained. Without all of the added benefits that you had, all of the kind of nice plush stuff. And attended at all times by a guard outside his door. In fact, I would bet maybe a guard you know, in his room, most of the day? He can request privacy? But I think most of the time he probably has a guard who has probably been assigned to him as some sort of aide? There are many people, there are people on this ship you know remember, who are still loyal to the Principality, who want to see it reform and who maybe even think this is their Princept. And so to some degree this is like another honour hostage situation you know?
JACK: Right.
AUSTIN: And so I think when he sees you come in, he says,
AUSTIN (as Cynosure): Oh, Clementine!
JACK (as Clementine): Princept.
AUSTIN (as Cynosure): I had- are they holding you too?
JACK (as Clementine): Well! The relationship between us is- is tense. But I’m allowed a little more freedom around the ship than you are.
JACK: And I think I look at the guard and I say,
JACK (as Clementine): You can stay. This is your Princept.
AUSTIN (as guard): Of course, of course ma’am.
AUSTIN: Like salutes you, and then salutes him- he’s very- overwhelmed, you know?
JACK: Yeah.
AUSTIN (as Cynosure): Have a seat.
JACK (as Clementine): Thank you, thank you.
JACK: Yeah there’s this weird deference right? Cynosure is higher rank than Clem, but-
AUSTIN: The highest rank that there is.
JACK: But like-
AUSTIN [overlapping with Jack]: But yes.
JACK: Would Clem have been brought up to know that the Princept is kind of useless as Crysanth’s daughter?
AUSTIN: I’m- hmmm. It’s hard to say, I think. Because there’s useless and then there’s like. Sometimes you- I mean first of all, this guy only bec- this guy became Princept in your lifetime.
JACK: Oh yeah, absolutely.
AUSTIN: Right? This is not a Princept from birth situation. This is a Princept of five years ago. He kind of stumbled into it. So I actually think instead what you actually have is like, oh yeah, he’s my weird uncle or cousin or whatever.
JACK: Sure. Yeah yeah yeah, definitely. And he’s from- yeah.
AUSTIN: This is Uncle Cy, you know what I mean?
JACK: Yeah yeah yeah!
AUSTIN: And so I think there’s probably actually that degree- and so you know about him, what I think I’ve said before, certainly it’s been in the dossier before. Which is he is a bureaucrat. His claim to fame was negotiating a kind of miserable trade deal with [Jack chuckles] Stel Orion that came up in one of the intros to the Road to Partizan? He actually negotiated it with the Elect of Space, Rye, who is a member of the Pact of Necessary Venture. Rye definitely got the better end of that deal than Kesh.
JACK: Did the Princept think he got the better end of the deal?
AUSTIN: Um, no. I think that the way that I’ve always thought about it is, he has always been a like, he’s always known he’s a mid-level bureaucrat, if that makes sense.
JACK: Mmm. Mhm.
AUSTIN: And, you now, has been like an okay envoy or negotiator. He’s a miserable poet, he- he comes up in his- it comes up in the intro- I think it’s the final intro of the Road to Season 6, the Road to Partizan stuff, that it mentions that he has a- that he’s a poem- he has a book of poems that is- is not particularly well regarded. But I think he’s very much someone who knew who he was, if that makes sense.
JACK: Right.
AUSTIN: And part of what has thrown him- part of what makes him a bad Princept is that he knows he didn’t earn it necessarily.
JACK: Yes.
AUSTIN: In any case, he is happy to see you and it shows on his face, there’s a degree of like familiarity. He- there’s a degree to which he wants to be in this mode, where he’s receiving one of his loyal subjects. Even if he doesn’t necessarily think that that’s like a thing he deserved to do,
JACK: Yes.
AUSTIN: It’s still more familiar than being locked in a small room.
JACK: There’s something calming-
AUSTIN: Yes.
JACK: -for it, for him about it, right? About like, I can fold more naturally into this, this thing than I can being a hostage.
JACK: Right. Right. So,
JACK (as Clementine): Princept Kesh, it is- it is so good to see you, and I am so sorry that we have to meet under such difficult circumstances. If it were up to me, you would be in much better quarters. I hope- I hope that you understand this.
AUSTIN (as Cynosure): Of course, I- I imagine you are in no position to make any changes here, any more or less than I am. These people have such ridiculous ideas, but it seems that they have the necessary force to ensure that those ideas are pursued, at least for now. But any old negotiator can tell you that what happens at the beginning of a negotiation—and don’t- don’t let yourself think this is anything but a negotiation—is not always what the conditions are at the end, you see? Sometimes you have a strong, passionate opening, and once you get into the muck, once particularities come into question, that, all that passion has drained away, bored by the paperwork, bored by the- the specificities. And that is where I shine. And it is- I would say, it is characteristic of my reign that I have an especially good handle on the little things. And so I promise that by the time this is all wrapped up, you and I both will be in a much firmer position and this rabble will be dealt with.
JACK (as Clementine): It was that position actually, and it was those particularities that I came to talk to you about today. Um, this lot, I’ve gotten to know them pretty well. And I think they’ve gotten to know me pretty well. I do what I can. I have some ears I can whisper in. And I’m beginning to get the impression that what they are planning is um, is on something of a larger scale than you might have anticipated.
AUSTIN (as Cynosure): I mean, they disrupted the games.
JACK (as Clementine): They did.
AUSTIN (as Cynosure): Which I think is a very large- and I will say I was taken by surprise and I cannot imagine what they will- I heard there was an attack on Vigil City, which seemed dramatic and unnecessary.
JACK (as Clementine): I believe they mean to- to move on the capital.
AUSTIN (as Cynosure): Another strike.
JACK (as Clementine): I believe that they would consider it that they—laughable as it is—I believe that they would consider it an invasion.
AUSTIN (as Cynosure): An invasion, they’ll be crushed. Let them, is what I would say. Our forces will knock them out so quickly. Lucia has a firm hand on the bay.
JACK (as Clementine): [scoffs] Sorry. I- sorry. How- my relationship with Lucia is slightly different to yours.
AUSTIN (as Cynosure): I- what is your? What do you mean by that?
JACK (as Clementine): Well, the only firm hand that Lucia has had is on the oars of her yacht.
JACK: Wait, a yacht doesn’t have oars?
AUSTIN: No, but Clem would absolutely say that.
JACK: Clem would- yeah! Absolutely, yeah.
AUSTIN: Jack I need to do something very important here really quick, which is I need to look up what Cynosure’s relationship is to Lucia…-
JACK: -to Lucia, yes, I was gonna say your sister, but that was a guess, and I think Clem would know the relationship.
AUSTIN: -I’m looking at this map here. I think who you’re describing is,
JACK: Her son?
AUSTIN: Daughter? Or his granddaughter.
JACK: Both of these are really funny. Cause-
AUSTIN: I think you’re describing his daughter, if I’m looking at this map right. [chuckles]
JACK: Yes, no, perfect! Let’s keep going. Clem can’t help herself.
AUSTIN: Yeah of course. And he kind of scrunches his- his brow and says,
AUSTIN (as Cynosure): Lucia’s yacht is not under question here! She’s a fine military commander, and has done great things here on Kesh. She is why I was assured that when I arrived I would be safe. And I was, I was safe until these rebels took the island.
JACK (as Clementine): And your safety-
AUSTIN (as Cynosure): In what I admit is a fairly devious ploy, something out of Apostolosian textbooks, certainly. I’m still not sure that they’re not behind this Millennium Break.
JACK (as Clementine): Apostolos?
AUSTIN (as Cynosure): Why wouldn’t they be?
JACK (as Clementine) [overlapping with Austin]: Absolutely not.
AUSTIN (as Cynosure): They certainly could be.
JACK (as Clementine): No I assure you, Apostolos? They kind of strategy? The kind of employments? Far above anything Apostolos could muster.
AUSTIN (as Cynosure): No! This is- this is- we’re on an Apostolosian vessel, aren’t we? How else would this group have gotten such a powerful fortress? This was a gift from Apostolos to this band of miscreants. I’m sure of it. In fact, guard, take this down please. A message from the Peaceful Princept to his people. I have been held captive by a- a group masquerading as freedom fighters-
AUSTIN: He wouldn’t say that —
JACK (as Clementine): That’s enough of that.
AUSTIN (as Cynosure): Strike that. Excuse me-
JACK (as Clementine): Strike it. Listen to me Cynosure. I am prepared to offer you something far greater than anything they could offer you back in the capital. These people are prepared to make a move, and any influence that I have is currently being worked to ensure that the move that they make is on the negotiating table rather than with the artillery weapons. Do you understand what I am saying?
AUSTIN (as Cynosure): I understand that you are speaking nonsense. You are not a negotiator on behalf of Stel Kesh.
JACK (as Clementine): No. I’m not a negotiator on behalf of Stel Kesh.
AUSTIN (as Cynosure): You are not a negotiator on behalf of the rightful Princept of the people of the Principality.
JACK (as Clementine): Do you really think that anybody up there is going to listen to a word you say?
AUSTIN (as Cynosure): Yes! I am the Princept! Of course they will!
JACK (as Clementine): Okay. So, so, I just- I just, can you take this down,
JACK: Clem looks at the person.
AUSTIN: Turns the page over, gets another pen.
AUSTIN (as guard): Yes?
JACK (as Clementine): Make sure that it is clear that I offered-
AUSTIN (as guard): [muttering] Sure that is is clear-
JACK (as Clementine): Cynosure Kesh, under the auspices of-
AUSTIN (as guard): Clementine. Clementine Kesh? You’re-
JACK (as Clementine): Yes.
AUSTIN (as guard): [mutters] Clementine Kesh.
JACK (as Clementine): Of course I’m Clementine Kesh!
AUSTIN (as guard): I just had to make-!
JACK (as Clementine): Who do you think I am?
AUSTIN (as guard): I’m sorry. I’m sorry.
JACK (as Clementine): I have offered Cynosure Kesh-
AUSTIN (as guard): [muttering] Cynosure Kesh…
JACK (as Clementine): -far greater than his miserable station can begin to imagine.
AUSTIN (as guard): I can’t, I can’t write-
JACK (as Clementine): Write it down. Far greater than his miserable station.
AUSTIN (as Cynosure): Get out. You’re no niece of mine. You’re probably another one of the spies.
JACK: Clem turns round and there is a desperation now.
AUSTIN: Mmm.
JACK (as Clementine): If we do not take it, if we do not take these reins, they will. The city will be destroyed. Anything that we might- anything that we might think to pick up from the floor will be destroyed. You come with me, things go bad, five years. Five years tops. It’s like you said, it will all come out in the wash. We come out on top, and we come out much further on top than any of those people back in the city who are looking down their noses at us. Because they are-
AUSTIN (as Cynosure) [overlapping with Jack]: Why are you so desperate to save a city?
JACK (as Clementine): Because that city contains my throne.
AUSTIN (as Cynosure): [starts wheezing, ugly laughter] A-ha ha ha ha! Your throne! Clementine Kesh! Take this down! Clementine Kesh thinks she has a throne! Get out of my room! Now.
JACK: And- and there’s just a complete break in authority. I think Clementine just stares at him and just leaves the room? It’s not clear whether or not she’s left because- she’s clearly angry, it’s not clear whether or not she’s left to go chastised, or to go with like fuck this guy, I’ve had enough of this.
AUSTIN: Yeah. And I, Austin, want to be clear, he has no idea what he’s talking about.
JACK: No.
AUSTIN: I mean he’s right in the sense of like, who cares about Cruciat? His vision is so much- his perspective on the galaxy is such that caring about a throne in a city on one planet is like, caring about a closet in a room in one house. You know? It’s a nice closet, maybe. It’s where my favourite shoes are, you know?
JACK: Sure.
AUSTIN: Or my jacket’s in there.
JACK: Uh huh.
AUSTIN: But he doesn’t care about a jacket. And so- and so but, but also, he’s- there’s a degree to which it should be clear he’s living in a little bit of a fantasy world.
JACK: He thought that our attack on the Olympics was the most we can muster.
AUSTIN: Right, which again, was barely even- I think he may not- he may not fully understand what the attack has been, yet?
JACK: No!
AUSTIN: Even, or- yeah, his perspective on that whole thing was also deeply clouded, so. There goes our Princept, watch him as he goes. [Jack chuckles]
JACK: I think I’m gonna go talk to Gur Sevraq.
AUSTIN: Interesting. Okay. I think you find Gur Sevraq- um god, I think, I kind of like the idea of this conversation happening wherever your chess game has moved to, you know? Maybe it’s in like the cafeteria, or something like that. Or- or a room in the rectory, you know, or the chapel rather? There’s like a- maybe a little side, like a- not a lounge, but like you know a room to sit one on one, like a counseling room basically? With a table set up, like a little cart-table, and I think as you come in, they look over to you and say,
AUSTIN (as Gur): Clem, I didn’t expect you until after the invasion was over.
JACK (as Clementine): It’s an important time, Gur.
AUSTIN (as Gur): I’ll get the table ready.
AUSTIN: Kind of sits down, and puts back the pieces where they were before, and you know, sets out some water. There’s a mode that he has slipped into here.
AUSTIN (as Gur): It is an important time, which is why I’m surprised to see you.
JACK (as Clementine): I just- this is a counseling room, right? I thought I would come and speak to you, to make sure that- that I’m not making a mistake, that you’re not making a mistake, you know. We’re at a crossroads, and I just wanna make sure that mistakes aren’t being made.
AUSTIN (as Gur): I’m always happy to offer my perspective, Clem. We are not making a mistake, we are taking necessary action. That is my perspective.
JACK (as Clementine): Right, right, right. And necessary action- necessary action does have to be taken. And it will be taken. And- and I’m committed to that. I’m committed to that path. I just think [Austin sighs] that maybe. Maybe Cruciat is going too hard too fast. Maybe there might be a mistake in the deployment. Maybe Crysanth will- I- not Cruciat. You know, we could target the Estatelands, we could- because we’ve got to make progress, right? Progress-
AUSTIN (as Gur): Clementine, this conversation is months too late.
JACK (as Clementine): No, it’s never too late.
AUSTIN (as Gur): Is it never too late?
JACK (as Clementine): I’m going to vote no. And I think you should vote no too. I’m sure Gucci will vote no-
AUSTIN (as Gur) [overlapping with Jack]: I don’t- no one’s voting.
JACK: Wait-
AUSTIN (as Gur): This is happening, Clem.
JACK: Wait, hang on. Speaking out of character. There is an actual vote that’s going to happen right? Clementine- or is just Clementine making up-
AUSTIN: Uh, no. This stuff is- this sort of- no! I mean, yes, and it’s already going- I mean, I mean what’s going to happen is that I’m going to challenge you and probably try to overthrow you if you don’t accept the challenge. Like out of character, that’s what’s about to happen probably, is my guess basically where this conversation-
JACK: We’re seated at a chess table, so-
AUSTIN: Gur Sevraq is not going to- yes. Gur Sevraq is not going to go like, “and I vote invade!” It’s-
JACK [overlapping with Austin]: Okay, no. Yes, great.
AUSTIN: It’s more abstract than that, you know what I mean?
JACK: Well I think that this is a- this is Clem’s- Clem clinging onto electoralism, I’m actually gonna double down. I think Clem says,
JACK (as Clementine): When it comes to the vote, I’m going to vote no. I know Gucci is going to vote no. And I think you should vote no too. Now’s not the time-
AUSTIN (as Gur) [overlapping with Jack]: There’s so much. I’m- I’m enamoured with your perspective on this, Clementine. Because even if the three of us stood atop this vessel and we all said: people of Millennium Break, now is not the time. Ours would be three drops of water in the ocean. The waves are going to crash against Cruciat.
JACK (as Clementine): But not tonight! The waves are going to crash against Cruciat, revolution is coming. We have the spear, we have the M, we have the flag. We can stand up there and we can say, citizens! Citizens, now is not the time for your anger.
AUSTIN (as Gur): Why is now not the time for their anger, Clementine?
JACK (as Clementine): Because-!
AUSTIN (as Gur): What is it about tomorrow that is more appropriate than today or yesterday? Perhaps you haven’t locked enough of them up yet. Hmm?
JACK (as Clementine): You know what I mean.
AUSTIN (as Gur): I don’t. Make your move.
JACK: Like, leans down, slightly better chess player than last time.
AUSTIN: Uh huh.
JACK: But I think that’s more out of luck than judgment.
AUSTIN: And he immediately makes another move, and he says,
AUSTIN (as Gur): You’re going to guarantee that you lose this game on your next move. Or, let me rephrase. You guarantee that you will not win it. Who wins in the end is a question larger than we can work out over this table. But I promise you if you make the move you’re signalling, it will be over for you.
JACK (as Clementine): Maybe they won’t be angrier tomorrow.
AUSTIN (as Gur): Why wouldn’t they be angrier tomorrow.
JACK (as Clementine): They’ll have slept on it. They’ll have time to think about what they’re going to do.
AUSTIN (as Gur): They’re sleeping on beds they are not assured will be there tomorrow. You think that city is yours. It is theirs, and people like you have stolen it from them. You think you’re the player of the game. You’re the queen on the table. You’re being played. I had such high hopes for you. But I also told you, and I was honest in this, that there would be a day when our paths diverged. Make your move, Clementine Kesh.
JACK: Concern now, I think, in Clementine. I think rising panic. A sloppy move.
AUSTIN (as Gur): By the rules of chess, if at any point the state of the board rests in an identical position three times, the game may come to an immediate draw. Three-fold repetition. Perennial’s rule. The game once stuck in a cycle, must come to an end. Millennium Break. I’m offering you a draw, Clementine.
AUSTIN: And this is the challenge to your vote of no. Vote yes, and we will assure- I will assure you that I- that your, you know, presence here, is safe and secure. Or something like that, right? But you have to vote yes for that. That’s my challenge.
JACK: [chuckles] Oh!
AUSTIN: In the sense what I’m offering you is the draw. I’m saying-
JACK: Yeah.
AUSTIN: Yes, Clementine. Who knows what tomorrow will- in fact maybe he says this as such.
AUSTIN (as Gur): The game can come to a draw now. Cruciat will come into the hands of the people. Millennium Break will outgrow you. But you will live. You worry if the people may be angrier in the days to come. I promise you they will be. And when they are, they will turn their sights back on you. Why wouldn’t they?
JACK (as Clementine): Because they are my people, and it is my city. I decline your offer, Gur Sevraq.
AUSTIN (as Gur): The only people that were ever yours,
AUSTIN: And Gur Sevraq moves another piece, and puts you in check.
AUSTIN (as Gur): Were those you locked away. You have never known how to have people. You’ve only known how to own them.
JACK: Yeah! Perfect. Is that an overthrow?
AUSTIN: That is an overthrow.
JACK [overlapping with Austin]: That is a hard overthrow.
AUSTIN: A hundred percent, yes. A hard overthrow. And, you know. Does not claim the draw, the game continues I guess, effectively? But, yeah. Clementine Kesh- how does she take the news? Not the news, but like. As it- does it hit her, that she does not have people, that she does not have control of this place anymore?
JACK: Yes. I think- I think absolutely. I think it’s- I think it’s like a blow. I think that stuff begins to- stuff that has been brewing and has always been moving begins to move in a way that is visible to Clementine?
AUSTIN: Mmm. Mhm.
JACK: And it is, it is to Clementine, gut wrenching, and to the camera, deeply satisfying. [Austin chuckles]
AUSTIN: God. Yeah, I think that this is- this is like, the camera loves this. The camera eats this up in some ways, right?
JACK: Yeah. Uh huh. We- we know who we are excited to see move here, and it’s the people climbing into Hallows.
AUSTIN: Right.
JACK: Or Hollows.
AUSTIN: Right. Both, some of them are blessed by Future. Love it. Yeah. After we’ve seen the outcome, we decide whether the conflict harmed the Kingdom. Ask everyone as a player, how much do you think what has happened means trouble in the Kingdom. We all reveal at the same time. Point one to five fingers to increase crisis by that much, or hold a fist for zero. We should vote again.
KEITH: So zero to five crisis-
AUSTIN [overlapping with Keith]: Zero to five crisis-
KEITH: That we would increase.
AUSTIN: Yes, yeah. Take the second lowest number.
JANINE: Wait, sorry. To increase?
AUSTIN: Yes. To increase from an overthrow.
JANINE: Okay.
KEITH: Alright.
AUSTIN: Three-
KEITH: I’m ready-
AUSTIN: Two-
JANINE: Wait wait wait wait wait wait wait wait wait wait wait-
AUSTIN: Okay, people aren’t ready.
JANINE: I can’t find the thing I need.
AUSTIN: Okay [chuckles].
KEITH: Changing my mind.
ART: Is it numbers? [Austin and Jack laugh]
AUSTIN: It’s an emoji.
JANINE: It’s an emoji!
ANDREW [overlapping]: And this is all of us, right?
AUSTIN: Yeah it’s emoji- yeah it’s all of us.
ALI: Yeah, finger emojis.
AUSTIN: Mhm. Um. Ready?
KEITH: Yeah.
SYLVIA: Mhm.
AUSTIN: Three,
ALI: Ready.
AUSTIN: Two, one, go. [Ali chuckles] Is that a zero, Janine?
JANINE: Yeah.
AUSTIN: Okay. So second lowest is one. We got three ones—Keith, Art and me—two from Dre- oh, four ones, Sylvia also a one. Oh wait-
ART [overlapping with Austin]: Ali, Jack,
AUSTIN: And Ali and one, and Jack a one. I hadn’t scrolled, okay. So one, is the lowest, or the second lowest.
KEITH: Overwhelmingly ones here.
AUSTIN: Overwhelmingly ones. Alright. So what are you becoming?
KEITH: I almost did zero, and then I changed my mind.
AUSTIN: Fair. Clem? What are you becoming.
JACK: God, I- Clem is in an absolute moment of failure right now?
AUSTIN: Mhm.
JACK: And I’m worried that I would cheapen that by picturing a Touch- by choosing Touchstone, which like by default carries with it some kind of community weight? Which I don’t think she has-
AUSTIN [overlapping with Jack]: You don’t think she has, right. So it’s Perspective, ironically.
JACK: I think it’s Perspective by default.
AUSTIN: Yeah.
JACK: Perspectives can be- like you can have the wrong perspective about things.
AUSTIN: You can. You sure can. [Ali chuckles] Well, it’s a yes now, so it’s happening, so I’m crossing out all the no predictions.
JACK: Real quick,
AUSTIN: Yes.
JACK: This is a hard overthrow in the sense of we are taking you to the brig? Or-
AUSTIN: No. No no no no no, when I think of hard overthrow-
JACK [overlapping with Austin]: I want to like picture-
AUSTIN: I think it’s nothing. That’s the thing, right?
JACK: Oh it’s just like an impotent, just- imagining Clem like a useless, flailing-
AUSTIN [overlapping with Jack]: You- yeah, right? What an incredible- this is what Gur Sevraq means, right? We go back four months or whatever, and you took this. Like, let’s- it was, you did it with slave labour, you did it with people who were much more talented than you, you could not handle it alone-
JACK [overlapping with Austin]: Such is the reward, Clementine.
AUSTIN: Right. Yeah, uh huh. And in that moment, we said, could we do something together, and you said no, you’ll do it for me. [Jack chuckles] And if you had gone the other way, this goes a different way. Your throne is right there, it’s across the bay. We can see it from here.
JACK [overlapping with Austin]: And we’re about to go and take it.
AUSTIN: We’re gonna take it, and then we’re gonna burn it, and then we’re gonna build a table out of it god damnit! [Jack and Ali chuckle] Right? You blew it, Clem.
ALI: Aww.
AUSTIN: Badly done, Clem.
JACK: Badly done, Clem.
2:11:30
AUSTIN: Ohh!
KEITH: We’re very disappointed in you. Those of us that had faith in you-
AUSTIN: Yeah those of us who-
KEITH: -are very disappointed.
AUSTIN: Who- who- who, yeah. Very useful. Anyway, now it’s time for the Perspectives to resolve stuff, which is interesting because a lot of my shit is now abandoned. Someone has to pick it up.
ALI: I would-
KEITH [overlapping with Ali]: You had a few things in there too.
AUSTIN: Mhm.
ALI: Oh boy howdy! Okay perfect, okay. Okay cool.
AUSTIN: Which is interesting for a couple of reasons mechanically? Which is like, let’s talk about what- let’s talk- let’s go down the list because the first one is now abandoned. The first one was: the members of Millennium Break will be stripped of their citizenship. And that is from Gur Sevraq, which is me. It is abandoned however, and so, let me go to the- the text on this. If there are any abandoned perspec- or predictions, any Perspective can adopt predictions created by characters that no longer have perspective and decide whether they come true. If no one adopts them they do not come true, cross them out.
JACK: Yeah I’ll adopt that!
AUSTIN: [chuckles] Okay.
JACK: I mean. This is c- this is like. This is comfort to Clementine, crying on top of Fort Icebreaker-
AUSTIN: Even as she loses it? You’re a part of Millennium Break.
JACK: She thinks she can get it back.
AUSTIN: Okay.
JACK: Like. Citizenship has always been something that other people have, as far as Clem is concerned?
AUSTIN: Mhm.
JACK: Citizenship just comes with the name for her, like-
KEITH: It’s something that you get to grant-
JACK: I get to-
AUSTIN: Wait a second, nononono- you don’t get the name Kesh anymore. You’re not a citizen. You can be Clementine. Not Clementine Kesh.
JACK: Ehhh I can be Clementine Kesh if I say I am.
AUSTIN: No. Not anywhere in the Principality?
JACK [overlapping with Austin]: Is this because Gur Sevraq is just- Oooh!
AUSTIN: No I’m saying this is how citizenship works in the Principality. You don’t get a last name.
JACK: Oh, damn!
AUSTIN: You’re adrift. You're not a citizen.
JACK: Yeah. Excellent. This is- so this is Clementine’s mistake, right?
AUSTIN: : Mmm.
JACK: Is- she doesn’t know this.
AUSTIN: [chuckles] Right!
JACK: Clementine- Clementine has never ever had to consider what it means to be- god, how do I even want to phrase it, it’s like-
KEITH: Stateless?
JACK: Yeah! It’s like- I think for a lot of people they don’t consider themselves as having a nationality? Because their- their nationhood is never threatened?
AUSTIN: Mhm.
JACK: In the same way I think white people don’t think of themselves as having a race?
AUSTIN: Mhm.
ANDREW: Mhm.
JACK: And so I think that like, to a certain extent, Clementine is like, of course I’m going to be Kesh.
AUSTIN: Right.
JACK: But she’s wrong. And she’s gonna lose it.
AUSTIN: Love it. I’m gonna do something real quick, which is I’m gonna go into your character sheet and delete the word Kesh from it.
JACK: Yes! [Ali giggles and cheers] Oh my god, incredible!
AUSTIN: And- this was good luck that it worked out this way, but like Valence is not a citizen. Valence’s name is Valence. We didn’t like talk through that? But Valence- that’s- Valence doesn’t have a last name, couldn’t have a last name. If they you know, if they went and tried to register themselves as you know one- a membership thing, or they had shown one, they’re like no. You don’t have that. You’re just Valence. Broun? Your prediction, members of Millennium Break outside of Fort-
ALI: Yeah. Members of Millennium Break outside of Fort Icebreaker will be targeted. Which I think I’ll be holding on to.
AUSTIN: What’s that look like?
ALI [overlapping with Austin]: You know-
AUSTIN: This could be in the coming days and weeks- you know what I mean? You could see this from any perspective not just this moment you know?
ALI: Right- yeah yeah for sure. Yeah, there was this moment that I- when I was saying it before what I just realised that like, of course after such a big military action from Fort Icebreaker the other cells would see those bases as weaker links?
AUSTIN: Right.
ALI: And then it’s also just like a- like a “who are these people? Who’s actually involved with them” like- the point at which you’re like, oh we have to strip all of the members of their citizenship, you have to like really spend time-
AUSTIN: Right!
ALI: -figuring out who the members are.
AUSTIN: Identifying that- yeah, totally.
ALI: Yeah.
AUSTIN: It helps that we’re bugged. Still. [Ali laughs] But,
ALI: Uh huh.
AUSTIN: But yeah.
ALI: Yeah.
AUSTIN: Ironically does this hurt the Pact groups also?
KEITH: Yes? Right?
AUSTIN: I would think so, right?
ALI: Yeah.
AUSTIN: That those are members of Millennium Break outside of Fort Icebreaker. So. That’s funny.
ALI: Yes. Certainly all those- those people have- are taking this risk that they did not realise that they would- what they were like.
AUSTIN: Right.
ALI: Olympics are cool. [chuckles]
KEITH: I should add—and I don’t know if this makes them bigger or smaller targets—but as per Ali’s rule- oops! Or challenge terms, they don’t have access to-
AUSTIN: Right!
KEITH: -the same communication array-
AUSTIN: That’s true.
KEITH: Our like-
AUSTIN: We can’t even warn them! [Ali chuckles] And, and, and, to underscore it more, this is definitely a Crysanth Kesh call, right? This is Crysanth being like, they don’t get to be people anymore. And if that catches some Pact folks up in it? All the better. All the better that it also hurts my other shadow war enemy. Great. Next one here, Icebreaker Prime will be permanently immobilised, Gur Sevraq. Is anybody adopting this one?
ALI: Um, yeah.
AUSTIN: Okay.
ALI: I- I was actually itching to challenge this one to add that it will be immobilised,
AUSTIN: Mhm.
ALI: Can I challenge it even though I’m adopting it and editing it that way?
AUSTIN: I think so?
ALI: Okay.
AUSTIN: It doesn’t explicitly say that- I’m fine with it if other people are.
ALI: [giggles] Sure! Yeah.
ART: So opening we’re just it up- right?
KEITH [overlapping with others]: We can pretend that someone else adopted it right?
AUSTIN: Right. We can play through it that way, when we go through the steps but,
ALI: Sure. The amendment I wanted to make to it is that Fort Icebreaker becomes a coastal military base for Millennium Break.
AUSTIN: Love it. Okay.
ALI: Within Kesh.
AUSTIN: Becoming a coastal military base. Got it. Boom. Okay. Fort Icebreaker will attack Cruciat from two different points. Broun.
ALI: Sure.
AUSTIN [overlapping with Ali]: I guess this is like the attack one, right? So I guess, how does the attack go?
ALI: Good. [chuckles]
AUSTIN: Good. Okay. [Sylvia bursts with laughter, Ali laughs] Is- zoom in like, I mean like- this is the thing that was wild about it right? Is like, based on what we’ve set up, they- the military is not here the way it needs to be. They don’t have their- I don’t know if it’s a big battle, right? Like, because they’re having a big battle over there. You know like, a hundred miles away or whatever. In the middle of all this. So, I don’t know if we even need to zoom in that way. Or maybe the thing we zoom into is-
KEITH: Pirates. The pirates.
AUSTIN: It’s the pirates- it’s the pirates stopping reinforcements maybe? Right. It’s like-
ALI: Oooh.
AUSTIN: The end of Westhaven- you know, Apostolos hits Westhaven really hard. And they’re like, “oh shit, we gotta get people back to Cruciat, there’s a second attack!” Then it’s the pirates just owning shop, right?
KEITH: Yep. Circling vessels and-
AUSTIN: Yeah. God, the idea of the bay being filled with sunken Kesh ships is great. [Ali chuckles] Ali, did you have something else?
ALI: Um, no- yeah, I was just gonna say like, cause when I said good before, I didn’t wanna say it like great.
AUSTIN: Mmm.
ALI: But I do think that being able to mobilise in this way and also flank in this way end up being a big um, benefit it to us.
AUSTIN: Totally. If I do even more colour, the thing that would’ve come from the east would’ve been the nobles from the Estatelands, the kind of like noble territory in Kesh, where it’s just like, estate after estate after estate? Just acre after acre of rich folk doing whatever hunting in the woods. Sending their super sick noble mechs at us? But like, they have to cross the bay from that other angle where we had defences set up because of this, and they get- they get wrecked too. Nice work. Um. My next abandoned one. The oppressed of Cruciat will be inspired by the heroic legends of Exeter Leap and Sovereign Immunity and take up arms on our side.
KEITH: Yeah I’ll take that one.
AUSTIN: Yeah? [chuckles]
KEITH: Yeah.
ANDREW: I was also gonna take that one.
AUSTIN: Alright.
KEITH: I appreciate the support. [Ali chuckles]
AUSTIN: What’s this look like?
KEITH: I think it’s Leap’s turn to look sick as shit.
AUSTIN: Okay.
KEITH: Um. A-actually I wanted- because we talked about Sovereign Immunity- we’re talking about Sovereign Immunity like um, was it part of-? I can’t remember- maybe it was two different parts, but I’m thinking of the scene with- was it the scene with Broun where, Art you were like, that Sovereign Immunity’s like, big trick is that people think that he thinks he has tricks, and that is pra- is like, it’s just like knowing that he’s there that is the-
AUSTIN [overlapping with Keith]: It’s the Eiden one-
ALI: Yeah-
AUSTIN: Yeah, Eiden Teak.
ART: That’s- that’s the modern- he used to have tricks.
AUSTIN: Right.
KEITH: Right.
ART: Yeah.
KEITH: You’re not- are you on the boats? You’re not on the boats. You’re just in there because of that.
ART: Yeah. I don’t think I’m on a boat-
AUSTIN: Are you in the streets? Or are you- like what are you doing?
ART: Yeah!
AUSTIN: Okay.
ART: I think it’s the streets. Streets is watching.
AUSTIN: Streets is watching. [Art chuckles] And they’re watching Sovereign Immunity.
ART: Yeah.
KEITH: Um, I think we see the ocean- the ocean offensive, the cutting off of the reinforcements. And you know, it’s a bay, you can see- you can see it from the shore. And I think Leap pulls up- pulls the fleet up to the- the shoreline, and does a sort of salutary cannon fire. And that’s the-
AUSTIN: Mmm. I love it. Yeah.
ART: Dope.
AUSTIN: Dope. Sovereign Immunity, do you wanna colour any of the street stuff?
ART: Uh, I don’t- I think that the cannon is better than what I would have.
AUSTIN: Okay. Fair. That’s fair.
ART: But I mean- I could, I could tie something into something, it’s like- walking down the street with the giant scythe though?
AUSTIN: Yeah. Yeah.
ART: Like leading a small contingent of troops to having people-
AUSTIN: With the Obi-Wan pose?
ART: When are we- we’ve already done that one. [Ali giggles] We’ve put it on that one prediction yet?
AUSTIN: Oh- different pose?
ART: Oh this is the prediction, yeah. And people just coming out of their houses-
AUSTIN: Yeah.
ART: -and joining the group.
AUSTIN: Right.
ART [overlapping with Austin]: Right? The like-
AUSTIN: That’s the Farmer!
ART: Yeah. Putting on their fucking face masks- skiing masks to- face mask. They don’t- they’re not dealing with a pandemic.
AUSTIN [overlapping with Art]: Different kind.
2:22:25
ART: Or if they are it doesn’t come up in this weird [unintelligible] dimension.
AUSTIN [overlapping with Art]: Yeah, just the plague. Just the food- the famine, more than the- yeah.
ART: Yeah. And joining the army that way.
AUSTIN: Yeah. Um. God. Alright. Apparatus. Kesh will use- okay, this well one. I’m gonna ask you to hold on to.
ALI: W-w-wait.
AUSTIN: What’s up?
ALI: [chuckles] Sorry. I think we wanted to add something to the last-
SYLVIA: Yeah.
ALI: Yeah. Just so- yeah.
AUSTIN: Wait, what’s up?
SYLVIA: We had a couple things we just wanted to do while we were talking about like,
AUSTIN: Okay.
SYLVIA: The oppressed of Cruciat part?
AUSTIN: Sure.
SYLVIA: Dre and I in the chat-
AUSTIN: Oh I didn’t see this. Okay.
SYLVIA: -talked about Valence and Millie wanting to go to the prison?
AUSTIN: Hell yeah.
SYLVIA: And sort of like topple that over? I feel like that’s like a top priority for Millie. She knows people there.
AUSTIN: Right.
SYLVIA: She like made friends and stuff there.
AUSTIN: Yeah.
SYLVIA: And I, like, Dre you had something in mind for that too I wasn’t sure…
ANDREW: Well, and I think like, for me as far as the Valence part of this scene? I think there is probably a part where Valence is hesitating to use a gun because they still don’t know what they’re doing?
AUSTIN: Mhm.
ANDREW: And it still scares the shit out of them?
AUSTIN: Mhm.
ANDREW: And they are probably helped by a Kesh citizen that is- not eight years old, but is much closer to eight years old than Valence wished?
AUSTIN: Right.
ANDREW: And I don’t- this isn’t me saying like “ah, both sides,” it’s like. It’s the further kind of deterioration of Valence’s idealism.
AUSTIN: Okay. Right.
ANDREW: Like that there is a perfect right way to this and that’s how we should do this.
AUSTIN: And that is not the truth.
SYLVIA: Yeah.
AUSTIN: The truth does not- there is no perfect way to change the world.
SYLVIA: Yeah.
AUSTIN: Yeah.
ANDREW: Yeah. I don't think that Valence’s truth is also child soldiers for both sides, to be very clear.
AUSTIN: [Ali chuckles] Yes, I got you.
ANDREW: But-
AUSTIN [overlapping]: But-!
SYLVIA [overlapping with others]: Not- not a Big Boss type?
AUSTIN: No! Right. But this kid helped you.
ANDREW: Yeah.
AUSTIN: Right. Alright. Any other final shots of the invasion?
JACK: Yeah. I think uhh, I think Clementine is in- I think it’s just like, it’s a montage of Clem walking from the roof of- the roof- the bridge of-
AUSTIN: Icebreaker.
JACK: Icebreaker. Like lit by artillery fire?
AUSTIN: Mhm.
JACK: And there’s just like, distant sound of Cruciat getting- getting absolutely mashed by the invasion?
AUSTIN: Right.
JACK: And then just like, going into her room and just like lying face down on her bed?
AUSTIN: Uh huh [chuckles, Ali chuckles]. Like an Eva character, just like-! God, love it. Incredible.
JACK: Yeah yeah yeah. Just miserable. Absolutely miserable. And with the kind of camera- the camera enjoys this misery. This is not, “ohhh, Clem!”
AUSTIN: Can we cut from that to an artillery shell landing in Clementine Kesh’s room in the Winter Palace?
JACK: Yeah! Oh, yeah! [Ali chuckles]
AUSTIN: Just like-
JACK: Slow motion jewellry boxes falling-
AUSTIN: Rings, everywhere!
JACK: Rings-!
SYLVIA: Ohh!
ALI: Oh, um- yeah.
JANINE: Sonic the Hedgehog was in there and he took a hit.
SYLVIA: I was about to say-! [Ali squeals in delight, Sylvia laughs]
AUSTIN: God! He can put some rings on it, please!
ALI: I um, actually love this artillery shot thing, because I think we see this big like, like it looks like a tin can almost but like, one of those big ones that you know. You get from Costco.
AUSTIN: Mhm.
ALI: And then it just bursts, and all of those little asbestos- naw, fuck! [chuckles, Jack chuckles]
JACK: One day!
SYLVIA: Ab-sepsis?
AUSTIN: Asepsis. Asepsis.
ALI: Asep- Asepsis things burst out-
JANINE: Formaldehyde?
ALI: -and yeah. [chuckles] And sort of like skitter along the floor like spiders? Um.
AUSTIN: Ooooh.
ALI: And then it cuts back to Broun- I’ve been weirdly like imagining Broun out of their mech for the last two assaults.
AUSTIN: Yeah!
ALI: Because they’re back in the hangar like dealing with teams coming back, teams having to rush,
AUSTIN: Right.
ALI: Like that. But now that they essentially- now that they have this stupid Divine trick, they have like, what’s essentially like a T-shirt cannon? [giggles]
AUSTIN: Amazing.
SYLVIA: [laughs]
ANDREW: God.
ALI: Launching it from the edge of one of Leap’s ships, probably?
AUSTIN: Amazing.
KEITH: Yeah.
AUSTIN: Launching these drones- launching these fake Asepsis drones.
ALI: Ye- yeah yeah yeah. Just these big cans of them that then burst-
AUSTIN: Right.
ALI: -and spread across the city.
AUSTIN: Incredible. You should take this as an upgrade, as one of your developed [Ali giggles] things-
ALI: Okay!
AUSTIN: -when we go back to Beam Saber.
ALI: Yeah. Will do.
JACK: A.O. flying the Panther-
AUSTIN: Yes! Just in- oh! And has reconfigured the um, the light system? The- the- you bring apart the Panther and what- what Clem was doing was “here is the flag of Kesh”, and now it’s just big M with the cross- with the line cross through it? The Millennium Break symbol? High above you know, Cruciat? People can just see it? Which is sick.
KEITH: Oh, all the ships are flying it too.
AUSTIN: Of course, yeah! Absolutely. It’s real, right?
ART: Why even have ships?
KEITH: If you’re not gonna fly a flag-
AUSTIN: [laughs] Exactly! The scene I kind of- we have to go to the throne room, right? We have to have- is this Sovereign Immunity and someone in the throne room? Is this- is there a Sovereign Immunity/Crysanth scene, is really the question?
ART: We sure could. Um. I mean it’s- do we want- it’s really a question of is it here, or is it down the road? Is it going into the throne room, and it’s empty?
AUSTIN: Right. Right.
JANINE: That’s kind of what I’ve been thinking of like, I almost said this when we were in the debating the crossroad section earlier of just like, to me as someone who is involved in telling this story, this doesn't feel like the Crysanth moment.
AUSTIN: No, no. Is there a message? Is there a- is there a… a letter, or a symbol, or a-
ART: Just scrawled on the wall “I had your stupid fort bugged the whole time, why would I be here?”
AUSTIN: [chuckles, so does Janine] Right! Right. Can we get- can we get Gucci and Sovereign Immunity in that throne room maybe? Because I’m curious what’s up with Gucci also, obviously.
JANINE: Mhm.
AUSTIN: But like, this is- is this the push come to shove moment for Gucci, in some way? That like, here’s the fucking throne, if ever there was a moment for you to be tempted back on your- your- to the kind of lesser angels of your revolutionary spirit, you know?
JANINE: Do you remember that scene where Clem went in- went into the throne room and she sat down for like a second?
AUSTIN [overlapping with Janine]: Yes. Every day I think about that scene. Yeah.
JANINE: And then stood up again? [Ali chuckles] I think to me this has to look like- this has to look like almost a mirror of that scene, where Gucci like walks up to that throne with purpose.
AUSTIN: Mhm.
JANINE: As if she’s going to sit on it. But instead, she sort of circles behind it, and puts her hands on the back?
AUSTIN: Mhm.
JANINE: Um. And I think maybe like, traces her thumbs- what did- do we know what the throne looks like? Because I’m picturing it as kind of, you know- I’m picturing it in the kind of traditional throney way.
AUSTIN: That seems like-
JANINE: Considering the Kesh aesthetic.
AUSTIN: I think that that’s a Jack question, but,
JACK: I don’t know! Um, yeah, I feel like it’s- I feel like it’s probably that but like slightly toned down? For some reason I’ve been picturing it as like a black throne, not like an iron throne? But like a wooden, very dark wood-
AUSTIN: Mmm.
JANINE: Mmm. Okay. I’m- so I’m kind of picturing her running her thumbs along like whatever moulding or carving is along the- the top. And it’s a moment of like, [breathes] weirdly I kind of pictured this as- there’s a way to like interpret what she’s doing as like reverence for the concept of the throne?
AUSTIN: Mhm.
JANINE: But it is more of reverence for like, this is a really nicely built chair. [Austin laughs] Like this is- there’s a degree of j- there’s just a degree of like, practicality, right? Like I think it’s- I think for her it’s also you know, Gucci is not the person who’s going to be bombing the museums. She’s not going to be crashing her mech through like the landmarks and stuff. Like, to her, it’s like people built these things, and we look at them and we have feelings and maybe that stuff is wrong and we need to tackle that? But it, you know. She’s not going to take a sledgehammer out on this chair right now, that’s not really her thing, even if she can agree idealistically that-
AUSTIN: Yeah.
JANINE: You know? Like it’s a-
AUSTIN: This is- this is- that is where the line is for her, in a way.
JANINE: Yeah. It’s- it’s- it’s just a chair. It’s a very nice chair.
AUSTIN: Mhm.
JANINE: But it is- it is fundamentally just a chair. Like there’s no one sitting in it, it doesn’t mean anything on its own.
AUSTIN: Mhm. I have a question, is it this chair that Keith linked, the first one here Keith, do you know what that’s from?
KEITH: No I don’t.
AUSTIN: That is one of the- the Twilight thrones. [Sylvia bursts into laughter, Ali gasps] That is one of the Twilight thrones, it’s not-
KEITH: Oh is it really?
AUSTIN: Uh huh.
JANINE: Yeah.
KEITH: That’s really funny. It was just under like, two pages down under ‘throne’, like I just googled throne.
AUSTIN: There are different thrones also, but this is yeah- this is our-
KEITH: Damn, you recognised that right away?
AUSTIN: No.
KEITH: Or does it say Twilight in the thing-
AUSTIN: It does say Twilight- like I was like wait, is that, what?
SYLVIA: Yeah.
AUSTIN: What is that? That-
SYLVIA: Nobody recognised it. [Austin chuckles]
JANINE: Can I propose it’s the- it’s the throne, it’s the fancy chair that I saw when-
AUSTIN: Yes.
JANINE: -when I was in Denmark? It was like the king’s- no you don’t wanna say yes to this. The king had a prank chair-
AUSTIN: I remember the prank chair. [Keith and others laugh] I know exactly what you’re talking about.
JANINE: Okay! And whenever someone sat on the prank chair, a little like water bit would go off and make it look like they wet themselves! [starts laughing]
AUSTIN: Uh huh!
JANINE: This is- [Sylvia laughs] this is like a Renaissance prank chair.
KEITH [overlapping with Janine]: [deadpan] That’s really funny, what a hilarious king.
AUSTIN: [laughs] Kings fucking suck!
JANINE: Ohhh!
AUSTIN: Alright.
JACK: Ohh…
ART: We stan a hilarious king.
AUSTIN: [chuckles, Keith and Ali too] God.
ART: And I think what I- I just wanna- I just want to like, the camera to show Sovereign Immunity like tense up as Gucci approaches the throne and like-
AUSTIN: Yeah!
ART: -relax as she doesn’t?
AUSTIN: Mhm.
ART: I think that’s an important-
AUSTIN: Yeah. Agree.
JANINE: No kings, only Guccis.
AUSTIN: [chuckling] God.
KEITH [overlapping with Austin]: That Twilight throne is good.
AUSTIN: It’s a good throne!
KEITH: I mean not- obviously not everyone-
SYLVIA: -black!
KEITH: Not everyone has something negative to say about Twilight but the people that do-
SYLVIA: I agree!
KEITH: -never said anything about set design.
AUSTIN: They never- you’re right. [Ali laughs] Absolutely. Absolutely. 1500 to 2000 dollars for the prop chair, for the prop throne. Anyway.
JANINE: That’s not that bad!
AUSTIN: That’s not that bad for a throne.
KEITH: I think could get you that for half.
AUSTIN: We could build one of these.
ART: The last Twilight movie is a heinous crime.
AUSTIN: Okay.
KEITH: I actually- that’s the only one I’ve seen, it was not good.
SYLVIA [overlapping]: So good!
AUSTIN: We can’t do this. We can’t do this. Alright.
KEITH: That baby-
AUSTIN: WE CAN’T DO THIS! We cannot. It’s- we need a different- we need a different-
KEITH: It’s beyond the scope-
AUSTIN: It’s beyond the scope. [Ali laughs] Alright. Any final like- like yeah, I think you do see, I think there has to be a letter somewhere for, for Sovereign Immunity, for Clem. No, not for Clem, she wouldn’t leave one for Clem.
KEITH: No.
AUSTIN: For Sovereign Immunity- we’ll figure out what that says, later, Art? We don’t need to know that right-
KEITH: I don’t know if it’s a short, medium, or long letter.
AUSTIN: Short, right?
KEITH: Sure.
AUSTIN: Right?
ART: I mean, sure-
KEITH [overlapping with Art]: That was my initial- that was my initial guess.
AUSTIN: It has to be that. It has to be like,
KEITH: Like three sen- two, three sentences?
AUSTIN: I think it probably- it amounts to like, well played, right? Like, well played, but this is a set, right? This is- there are, there’s more than one game in a match, right? Something like that.
KEITH: Or like Gucci said, it’s a just chair.
AUSTIN: It’s just a chair. Actually if it’s just a note on the chair and it- you open it up and it says, it’s just a chair. Right? It’s just Cruciat. It doesn’t mean anything to me. Right? I have space, I rule space, you know? Um.
ART: She’s not wrong.
AUSTIN: Right!
JACK: Is The Curtain-
AUSTIN: The Curtain doesn’t rule space, but
JACK [overlapping with Austin]: Is The Curtain even… no, but like is The Curtain even- The Curtain is ostensibly Kesh right?
AUSTIN [overlapping with Jack]: It’s so much broader.
JACK: But is there an extent to which Crysanth is just like,
AUSTIN: Yeah.
JACK: I don’t even care about what you’ve captured, the capital of a country I vaguely care about on a stupid moon.
AUSTIN: Right. Exactly. It’s an important moon of all the moons I guess? But like, there are tens of thousands of other worlds? Right?
JACK [overlapping with Austin]: There’s got to be like-
AUSTIN: And I think that’s as far as she can see it right now, yeah.
JACK: There must have been like shots of like, transports- fancy transports and ships lifting off-
AUSTIN: Leaving, yeah.
JACK: -people fleeing?
AUSTIN: Absolutely.
JACK: And I feel like-
AUSTIN: God.
JACK: -even if we don’t know, the viewer of the TV show is like, is they trying to show us Crysanth leaving the city?
AUSTIN: I think- no, I think there’s an explicit thing which is like, as Clem walks back to her room on Fort Icebreaker, we get parallel shots of Crysanth walking to the throne room, and the set up for the viewer would have been, oh my god,
JACK [overlapping with Austin]: Oh- there’s going to be a-
AUSTIN: -they’re gonna have a confrontation. But then we get there and there’s only a letter. And there’s a deflation of the energy, right, like ah, not yet. Which is good. Alright, final prediction here is, Kesh will use their part of the Exemplar against Millennium Break. [short chuckle] So this is interesting, because, I think if you go back and check the transcripts or the episodes about when Gur talked about the Exemplar, there’s some pretty clear indicators about where its parts are? Its voice runs through the canyons of Apostolosian territory. Its heart was in the sea until the Church of the Resin Heart brought it up. Its blood is in the Pique Ridge. Its eyes were in the caverns underneath Vigil City where the Rare Memoria was, where the Equiaxed commune was. But none of that is in the Verglaz Taiga, none of that is in Kesh territory. And yet, you know, this is- this prediction comes true. So, I- I do think there is something here.
AUSTIN: [continued] I think, to zoom out a little bit in time to pay this off, and look at the kind of weeks and months to come after the Kingdom game? Maybe more weeks than months, but you know I think after Cruciat falls to Millennium Break, something strange happens throughout all of the Verglaz Taiga? Green begins to break through the snow and the ice all across the northern latitude of Partizan. There’s like a new biome, you know, taigas already have some degree of green. They’re not- they’re not you know, icy tundras necessarily. But this is something else, this is like, a jungle emerges overnight with new creatures. A whole new ecosystem. And is undoubtedly an echo of- or it seems like an echo of the original miracle that happened on Partizan that first brought life to the barren moon. And it’s not against you exactly, it’s not- it’s not like, oh and therefore Millennium Break loses people or something.
AUSTIN: [continued] But what it is, is- it catches the public’s attention like wildfire. Kesh is blessed! By who or by what, who knows, and also kind of who cares? Like maybe it was a new Divine, maybe it was the beauty of the Divine Principality itself righting the wrong of what’s happened in Cruciat. Maybe Chasmata hit something special in that big mine of theirs up north. I bet even there are some people who are like, oh that was Perennial, or that was Autonomy Itself, or some other heretic god who has decided to show favour on Kesh instead of their foolish believers or whatever. I mean so I actually suspect that we have a lot of Kesh loyalists who’ve been teetering on the brink of supporting Millennium Break, or supporting Nideo, or someone else, it maybe even you know, betraying them and going to Apostolos, deciding to hold fast, seeing this as a sign that their loyalty will be rewarded. And I also think this is like the exact sort of grandiose symbol that the theatre loving propagandists of Nideo really, really love. And so I think within like a month, hostilities between Kesh and Nideo completely cease. They work together in fact against Apostolos and now also against you, the rebellious nuisance of Millennium Break.
AUSTIN: [continued] And also I think there’s something else, there's another little cost here worth bringing up. Which is, I think that like, it bums Gur Sevraq the fuck out? Like, they know that whatever this thing is tied to the Exemplar in some way, whatever caused this. It rubs in the idea that Gur took up the wrong priorities, right? Like, I don’t wanna say it’s tantamount to a crisis of faith? But he really is thinking like, I can’t believe I got so caught up in internal politicking that I put aside this mission from- from Autonomy Itself. You know, his skin is a little thinner, his self worth is shot, part of it too is that they know now, or at least suspect that The Curtain is gunning for other pieces that Kesh, and specifically Crysanth Kesh is actively searching for and trying to utilise pieces of the Exemplar. And that frankly, if they get them, it’s bad. You know, Columnar thinks that they have a cave of like really cool crystal hard drives. Crysanth knows better, very clearly.
AUSTIN: [continued] Insofar as we have- we’ve kind of had two major threats emerge this season, one of them—in the back half of the season—one of them is uh, Crysanth Kesh, and this newfound desire from The Curtain to kind of retrieve the pieces of this machine? And the second is we’ve seen Motion and GLORY and that part of the Apostolosian war machine that is kind off its fucking like, just all the way committed to doing the worst war shit possible. And so I think in terms of a preview for what’s to come, those are the two forces that- that Millennium Break will be most directly up against. Especially since, as we just found out, a lot of the Pact’s Millennium Break bases have been destroyed. So yeah. That is- that is how Kesh is using the quote unquote part of the Exemplar that they had access to.
JACK: Great. You love to see it.
AUSTIN: I think- yeah. With this note, the game is over obviously. But I don’t think- I don’t think Gur Sevraq is a power anymore. I think is- is maybe a Perspective again? But we’re not continuing Kingdom but, this is a moment-
KEITH: Had a good Power run of a few minutes.
AUSTIN: Of a few, of a few- hey! One big call is still pretty useful, right? So, let’s- let’s take a look a Touchstone stuff. Touchstones, tell us how your character feels about everything that happened, that’s how people of the Kingdom feel too. Check or uncheck up to two crisis boxes to reflect your feelings. Our Touchstones are Ver’million Blue and Sovereign Immunity. Millie.
SYLVIA: Millie is ecstatic. We did something.
AUSTIN: We did something!
SYLVIA: We actually did something-
AUSTIN: Yeah!
SYLVIA: We stopped-
AUSTIN: We did a big thing!
SYLVIA: -like, we did a huuuge thing, and we like helped a bunch of people in theory.
AUSTIN: Yeah.
SYLVIA: Like, Millie’s great about this. I think I’m gonna uncheck… one? And maybe- no, I’m gonna do one, because we did a big war.
AUSTIN: We did a big war, people still got hurt, etc. Big wars are hard.
SYLVIA: I unchecked it.
AUSTIN: Sovereign Immunity.
ART: Um, I think Sovereign Immunity is like a little- there’s like, there are like, everything went great, but we didn’t- we didn’t get the bad guy. You know? We- we got a- we got a throne but it’s just a chair. We got a palace but it’s just a building. And we got a city but it’s just a place, you know?
AUSTIN: Yeah.
ART: We- so there’s like the, we did great work, it’s good to do good work. But it- there’s a, there’s that feeling of the lost opportunity.
AUSTIN: Mhm.
ART: So I will be crisis neutral.
AUSTIN: Okay. So we are ending with three crisis I think? Or four? Four crisis. That’s still-
KEITH: We never hit a crisis the whole game!
AUSTIN: No.
KEITH: We never hit it.
AUSTIN: Nope. We came very close at a certain point,
KEITH: Yeah.
AUSTIN: But we did not in the end. Alright. So, Time Passes, nope. Ending the game. Your game has no preset end point, you stop when you feel the story is done, it’s usually best to finish by resolving a Crossroad, Crisis, or Time Passes, since that lets everyone have a final say. If your Kingdom is destroyed by the crisis, the game ends immediately, whether you planned on it or not. If you know when you need to stop playing, it’s best to say when the last crossroad is created. We did all that. No matter how the game ends, you can always include epilogues to describe the fate of your characters so long as you don’t change the fate of the Kingdom. Congratulations on a game well played.
AUSTIN: [continued] Does anyone have final shots here? In terms of what’s up with their characters. I’ll note something really quick. I am giving everyone one more tick on their clocks, for having successfully overthrown Cruciat. There is no way in which that would have set you back on any of your individual goals. You have so many more resources available to you for everything you’re doing. And that means... let’s take a look at total clocks really quick, as I fill them up. Jesus Christ. Y’all got clocks. Alright, so.
AUSTIN: [continued] Thisbe has one drive clock. Valence has one drive clock- I’m not counting half clocks, but know that there- anyone who has more than one has more than a single one, everyone has like up to a- is like 1.1 or one point, you know, one and a half or whatever? But, I’m just gonna count completed clocks. So Thisbe has one, Valence has one. Broun has one. Clem has one- almost has two, unfortunately not. Sovereign Immunity has two. Leap has two. Millie has one. So total, that’s one, three, five, six, seven, eight, nine drive clocks available to you.
KEITH: We could do the highest level bit of change twice.
AUSTIN: You could. And still have one left over. You could do- you could do um, the highest level change? Which in this case could be founding Millennium Break as um, a kind of permanent uh faction? Not just a set of squads who are aligned, but like, actually a faction- would be four clocks? And what that would do is like, ensure that I can’t just like, it would give them punching power in the same way that the other Stels have? And would make dealing with them a much bigger thing, and would make those groups cohere in a way that right now, you know, that could start falling apart pretty directly? And then yeah, you could also, people have enough for their personal goals in a real way right now. Which is wild, right? Not everybody, but like. Leap does. Sovereign Immunity does, though I don’t know that Sovereign Immunity’s goal of becoming Clementine’s assigned Sovereign still holds.
ART: Yeah, what’s that worth? Nothing. Less than nothing.
AUSTIN: [chuckles] And then so- I would given all this, also be happy to let people change their- their drives, so long as it’s something- you could spend drive clock on something that is not your drive, right? You get drive clock from pursuing your drive, but you don’t necessarily have to- you don’t necessarily have to spend it on that. You could spend it on anything that has the sort of fictional positioning- you have the fictional positioning for. So what do y’all wanna do with those? I guess the big one is, do you want to pull them to create Millennium Break as a de facto faction in Beam Saber. Which would literally pull a lot of factions away from other groups. Which is fun.
SYLVIA: I’m okay doing that with my clock if other people are.
KEITH: Sorry what do you mean by pulling factions over?
AUSTIN [overlapping with Keith]: Cause you need four. You need four? And so it’s like- oh. You’re saying- I’m saying that like, for instance, the Red Fennecs are technically an Apostolosian faction, or squad right now. But they would become-
KEITH: Right.
AUSTIN: -a Millennium Break squad.
KEITH: Right.
ALI: Oh, okay yeah.
AUSTIN: Right? Likewise, with the Swordbreakers, which we’ve talked about. Likewise with- what is it called? The Company of the Spade. Like, all the groups that make up Millennium Break in this sort of like, “you know we’ll try it out thing”, would be permanent members versus having done this and now been like, “alright we’re good, bye”. Or leaving at the next time that there’s a conflict, right? Also, I’m curious if people want to cash in on their own things, for those who-
SYLVIA: I kind of feel like I’ve done mine.
AUSTIN: In a way, yeah. Totally, right? Like. You’ve- well, no, because you’re still at war, right?
SYLVIA: I’m still at war, yeah.
AUSTIN: You’re not at that farm house yet, Millie.
SYLVIA: It’s true.
AUSTIN: Maybe your goal’s changed. Maybe you’ve changed your drive, if you feel like that drive is not aligned with what she wants anymore, but.
ANDREW: Hey, Broun?
ALI: Hi.
ANDREW: Would you like to spend two clocks to change like circum- the life circumstances of one person?
ALI: Um, I only have-
ANDREW: Aka giving Broun a spaceship?
ALI: [laughs] I only have the one clock, um.
ANDREW: Yeah, Valence has one clock.
ALI: Oh, sure! Um. Yeah, my um, my plan’s replacement drive was to find a future for Millennium Break off of Partizan? As an extension of like, I want a spaceship, I wanna get out of here.
AUSTIN: Mhm.
ALI: [chuckles] So, for sure. Um. But I don’t know if that’s better- I don’t know if that’s better spent towards Millennium Break or towards Broun. Do you know what I mean?
AUSTIN: I know that we’re-
ANDREW: I am very happy to [Ali giggles] have Valence give their drive clock to Broun.
ALI: Sure.
AUSTIN: Which would complete- this is the thing, that would complete Broun’s drive clock, which means like, if they wanted to go, they could go.
ALI: [giggles] For now! [laughs] Is this a scene? Oh my god. Cause it would be...
AUSTIN: Yeah this’ll like-
ALI: It could be Broun… it would be us spending those clocks and then Broun being like, whaaat you know.
AUSTIN: Well yeah, what’s that conversation?
ALI: You’re still gonna need me for that farm or whatever. [laughs, Andrew laughs too]
AUSTIN: Yeah. Is it like a week later, and Valence is like, listen I called in some favours. [Ali chuckles]
ANDREW: Yeah, I mean in my head, I was almost trying to set this up a couple crossroads ago with the- the secret Kenzi information.
AUSTIN: Right.
ANDREW: And so maybe Valence just goes to like, check that tip out.
AUSTIN: Mhm. And among the things there, is a spaceship? Or is-
ANDREW: Yeah.
AUSTIN: Yeah.
ANDREW: And they call Broun before they let anybody else know.
AUSTIN: I can slide this off the spreadsheet. No one will know this was here. [Ali chuckles]
ANDREW: Mhm.
ALI: Yeah, is it Valence being like, hey come meet me at this-
AUSTIN: Yeah.
ALI: -this warehouse or whatever, and they walk in and like-
ANDREW: At this clandestine bunker.
AUSTIN: Yeah! [Ali giggles]
ALI: They walk in and see the spaceship.
ANDREW: There is probably a whole thing where they’re using their psychic connection to like, guide Broun-
ALI: Aww!
ANDREW: -through some weird corridors or whatever. [Ali chuckles]
ALI (as Broun): Oh, I’m here. H- oh- hey.
ANDREW (as Valence): I think, I think there’s stuff in here that makes us even?
ALI (as Broun): Wait, um. Like that spaceship you’re standing in front of?
ANDREW (as Valence): Yeah.
ALI (as Broun): Does it work?
ANDREW (as Valence): I- you know. [Ali chuckles] I didn’t turn it on. I didn’t think turning on a spaceship inside was a good idea. Also, it’s like, you know, if it does work it’s your spaceship and I’d feel really bad like, if I drove it before you did [Austin chuckles]. Like if I bought you a car, but said, well I drove it over here.
ALI (as Broun): So it’s mine?
ANDREW (as Valence): If you want it. You’re- you and I are the only people who know about this.
ALI (as Broun): Oh, so it’s mine then. Um. [Austin chuckles, then Ali] Thank- thank you. I have to run some tests, I guess, um.
ANDREW (as Valence): Do you need any help?
ALI (as Broun): Well if you think you know what you’re doing. I- yes. I would.
ANDREW (as Valence): I mean, you know what you’re doing.
ANDREW: And then Valence like taps their head [Ali chuckles].
AUSTIN: Mhm.
ALI: Yeah. I think Broun is like fighting tears? [laughs] Is like trying to do the like- trying to be very professional, be like,
ALI (as Broun): Yeah. I mean it- I- I- I’m familiar with that model, and I, if it’s the year that I think it is, I’m sure um, I- they have problems with filters sometimes, but um. [Austin chuckles]
ANDREW (as Valence): Sure. I’ll check the filters.
ALI (as Broun): Yeah. Ye-yeah. Follow me.
AUSTIN: Is Broun leaving?
ALI: [chuckles] Um, I don’t think so. And I- [giggles] it’s weird because I you know, I’ve played Broun as someone who has been purposely really closed off because they assume that they would just be saying goodbye to people?
AUSTIN: Right.
ALI: And then joined a revolution, and was like- oh, there’s you know.
AUSTIN: Uh huh.
ALI: Some people are chill. [laughs]
AUSTIN: Made friends, became a pirate, stopped being a pirate.
ALI: Right! Yeah, yeah. Say it out.
AUSTIN: Got back on a pirate boat with a T-shirt gun. [Andrew laughs]
ALI: Right. Mhm. Yeah. Made some cool fruits [chuckles]. Didn’t develop any fruits, I just grew them. [laughs]
AUSTIN: Right. They walked, was my understanding.
ALI: [chuckles] I think that they would still be like a jerk about it though, which is like, I think that you know, Valence and Broun spend the time like looking at the ship, and Broun is obviously very overwhelmed, and is just like saying shit. Like the filters thing, right? Which is [makes noises].
ALI (as Broun): I have a lot of, you know. C-steel at home, and I heard that you know, that’s what they used for this. You know, I- I can repair this really easily, it’s actually really great for me.
ALI: [laughs] And they’re like, taking a shuttle home, there’s the like, the fake, sharper side of Broun, which is like. [sighs]
ALI (as Broun): Well. Now I need to get a space map. I doubt it’s preloaded with them. And, you know. I don’t think Millennium Break can get me a- the flight clearance yet. So it’s gonna be another couple months.
AUSTIN: Alright. So those clocks are spent, can you mark them off and we can figure out new drives, sooner than later. Or not sooner than later- everyone’s gonna take a fucking break because we recorded this show a lot in the last few weeks. [Ali laughs]
ANDREW: Mhm.
KEITH: Ya-
ART: I gotta pinch-
KEITH: Congratulations on everyone to keeping this slightly shorter than all of Marielda.
AUSTIN: Uh huh. Maybe? Maybe?
KEITH: I think we- I think we beat it by a couple hours plus whatever-
AUSTIN: That’s us.
KEITH: -else is gonna get edited out.
AUSTIN: Yeah, yeah.
ART: We should cut this down into individual scenes and post two a week and not work for the rest of the year.
AUSTIN: Incredible. [laughter from the friends] Perfect. Alright. Who is looking to spend clocks to help build this fucking thing?
ART: I will. I’ll spend both clocks-
AUSTIN: Alright.
ART: -on building Millennium Break.
SYLVIA: I’ll use one. My only one.
AUSTIN: Your only one. Well that leaves us at a weird interesting position, because then the only ones left are Leap, and Clementine. [Sylvia laughs]
KEITH: [clears throat] [Ali laughs]
JANINE: I also- I also have a clock, but I don’t know-
AUSTIN: Oh you do! Thisbe- sorry, wait a second, I scrolled. Sorry, you’re right, that choice is not as difficult anymore. Thisbe still has a clock.
JANINE: Yeah...
AUSTIN: You’re totally right, apologies.
KEITH: Well, I can- if we want, I can really quick clear up how many clocks I actually have.
AUSTIN: Oh, sure, what’s up?
KEITH: It’s zero. [Ali chuckles]
AUSTIN: Cause you’re breaking out of prison.
KEITH: I’m breaking out of prison.
AUSTIN: Incredible.
KEITH: I mean I have- I have broken out of prison.
AUSTIN: Right, but this is like. And Crysanth can’t fucking find you. And,
KEITH: Right.
AUSTIN: -you, yeah. What- what do you do?
KEITH: Well I get- I get my crew together.
AUSTIN: Your new pirate crew?
KEITH: Partially from- my new pirate crew. I think it’s uh, it’s people from the um, it’s people from the Cruciat invasion?
AUSTIN: Mhm.
KEITH: I think it’s people from Millennium Break. I think it’s people from- that we rescued from Vigil City, the Equiaxed we rescued from there?
AUSTIN: Mhm.
KEITH: And- uh I mean I- I think we gotta take, I think maybe can I have those boats? Can I have all these boats?
AUSTIN: [whoops in laughter] Wait!
JANINE: Absolutely not!
AUSTIN: You pitched me this!
JANINE: You can’t have all of the boats! What?
KEITH: Well, I just thought- the boats didn’t exist when I was talking about this before.
AUSTIN: It’s true.
JANINE: Then you don’t- then you extra don’t need them.
KEITH: Well but now- now there’s- now we can sail seven seas.
JANINE: That’s not what these boats are for!
ALI: How many boats do you think you can get away with, I think is the question. [laughs and wheezes]
AUSTIN: Right. Right! Is your first act of new piracy [chuckles] taking the boats?
KEITH: Okay, so my first act of new piracy is taking the boats. I’m still fl- I still have- I’m borrowing them, I’m flying the Millennium Break flag. I guess you call me maybe a privateer?
AUSTIN: Right!
KEITH: A privateer.
JANINE: I mean that’s not- a privateer- the thing a privateer does, is a privateer gets a boat at the graces of the person they’re privateering for, and not just stealing the boats-
KEITH [overlapping with Janine]: Yes, thank you so much for these boats. [Austin and Ali laughing]
JANINE: -to undermine the defences of the newly claimed fucking city.
AUSTIN: Well you’re still doing the thing!
KEITH: Don’t- yeah, don’t listen to- whatever anyone else says, I was gifted these boats. [table chuckles]
SYLVIA: Oh my god!
AUSTIN: So like, wait. Can we- can we just say what you’re doing?
KEITH: Yeah!
AUSTIN: The thing- yeah, go ahead.
JANINE: Are you still LARPing?
KEITH: Oh! I guess you could call that! Is it LARPing if you’re actually doing pirate- doing pirates?
ART: Doing pirate. [chuckles]
KEITH: I was already a pirate, I’m just expanding my horizons.
AUSTIN: Right.
KEITH: I’m on permanent vacation.
AUSTIN: Don’t use horizon from- with the person who runs Horizon whose boats you’re taking.
KEITH: But yeah. Leap’s gonna- Leap’s going.
AUSTIN: Leap is- still part of Millennium Break.
KEITH: Yep.
AUSTIN: But not in Fort Icebreaker anymore.
KEITH: No.
AUSTIN: And instead is founding a new squad.
KEITH: Yes.
AUSTIN: Which we need to find a name for. Um, that will be a sick squad of pirates run by Exeter Leap. Which means that the next time that we play Beam Saber, you’re gonna have a new character.
KEITH: Yes.
AUSTIN: Which is exciting.
SYLVIA: Aww! Millie and Leap do a big hug before Leap goes. [Ali chuckles]
JACK: They didn’t visit!
SYLVIA [overlapping with others]: That has to happen!
KEITH: Yeah I’ll do a hug.
SYLVIA: And still-
JACK: Is Leap going to like swing by with the pirates every so often?
SYLVIA [overlapping with Jack]: I’m sentimental! We just raided a city together!
AUSTIN: Right, listen, I don’t know that Leap is gone forever. Leap- you know. Leap is on the planet still, right?
KEITH: I’m on the planet. I also don’t know that I’m gone forever. It is, I’m calling it a permanent vacation, but- [Ali giggles]
SYLVIA: During the Kingdom game we established that they have a best friends handshake,
AUSTIN: Sure.
SYLVIA: And I’d just like to say that they’re doing that before Leap goes.
KEITH: Yeah, it’s um-
AUSTIN: We don’t get a lot of happy endings for characters on this show. But spending drive clocks means that you get the thing you want.
KEITH: Yeah.
AUSTIN: Like I don’t-
KEITH: Anyone can come, obviously.
AUSTIN: Right.
KEITH: Except Clem.
AUSTIN: Well, yeah. [Ali giggles] No offence Clem.
ALI: God. Oh, Leap.
AUSTIN: Can I tease about the character we talked about you playing as?
KEITH: Yes.
AUSTIN: I’m not gonna give more detail, but I’m gonna say-
KEITH: You can give two adjectives if you want.
JANINE [overlapping with others]: Is it the ghost? Is it the ghost? Coming from the-
AUSTIN [overlapping with Janine]: Yeah, one of them- yeah what are the two adjectives? What are the two adjectives, Keith?
KEITH: Inky, and billowing.
AUSTIN: Ah.
JACK: Yes! [Janine laughs]
SYLVIA: FUCK YES!
JANINE: Sure.
AUSTIN: Uh huh.
JANINE: Yeah.
AUSTIN: Uh huh.
JACK: Ohh!
JANINE: Yup.
SYLVIA: Uhh!
AUSTIN: Incredible.
ALI: We make the best podcast in the fucking world.
AUSTIN: Uh huh!
SYLVIA: Oh my god! [Ali laughter and wheezing] We really do!
AUSTIN: I have to admit it’s not a ghost, is that okay? Can I say that it’s not a ghost-? Well. Ghosts are a lot of things.
KEITH: Well, it depends what you think a ghost is.
JANINE [overlapping with Keith]: What is a ghost if not something that people call a ghost?
AUSTIN: Yeah.
ALI: What does-
KEITH: It’s not the spirit of a dead person.
AUSTIN: Right. But it is-
ALI: Are they still haunting?
ART: Is it the spirit of a dead squid? Cause that’s really,
AUSTIN [overlapping with Art]: Of a dead squid!
ART: Still a ghost, if you really think about it.
KEITH: It is- Ali I think asked the right question which is, is it still haunting? And yes, it is still haunting.
ALI: Sure.
AUSTIN: Yeah. So on Fort Icebreaker, GLORY was doing some experiments on something they captured. So you know that there’s a war to the space in the north, right? With the group called the Branched. Who are the descendants of the people from the Golden Branch. And they are like post-human. They are more like poetry, or an open fire, or the feeling you get when you see like a spider? And you go like “uhhh!” That is what they’re like. That is what their lives are like. That is what it is to be one of them, is to ena- is to enable or inhabit that sort of- the sort of being that for us to look at, it would freak us the fuck out. And so they take on different forms, they take on like, a war form, or an envoy form, so they can deal with people? Because they’re so much different than people?
AUSTIN: [continued] And there was a group of them sent here to Partizan to investigate if this God thing that Gur Sevraq was talking about was real? And specifically, what if God was on the side of the Divine Principality, that would be bad. And they are like the sort of curious beings who’d be like, “well if that’s the case, we should know that”. And they got here and they learned “nah, actually definitely not- God is not on the side of the Divine Principality”. The Divines are, but the True Divine, the thing that Gur Sevraq talks about, not in- no. Not on the side of the Divine Principality so much. But before they could leave, GLORY captured them. Well, killed two of them, and captured one of them. And began to do what GLORY does, which is experiment. And so- I think the way that I kind of pitched it to you Keith is, it’s not so much that the inky mass, the inky billowing you know entity on Deck 7 is the- the Branched that you will be playing? It’s that the entire like- Deck 7 is the being in its form, in its true form. All of the terrible feelings of like hauntedness that you get when you go on that deck, the sense that something is around the corner- that is the Branched that you will be playing. As well as the inky, billowy mass. It’s-
KEITH: Right.
AUSTIN: -it’s all of that stuff together in its, you know, when they are in their-
KEITH: It’s a place that has a monster in it.
AUSTIN: Right! And is a being, is an entity.
KEITH: Right.
AUSTIN: And also will be able to do cool sick shit, cause there’s a cool playbook called the Transformed that lets you like turn from a person into a mech. Or into a bigger person.
KEITH: Into a monster that acts as a vehicle-
AUSTIN: That acts as a vehicle, that’s exactly right. So while I have no idea what that shit looks like yet, we’ll talk about that off mic, we’ll figure it out, but I’m excited for it?
KEITH: Yeah.
AUSTIN: Cause it fucking slaps! So that will be fun.
JANINE: Can I ask real quickly, does Leap take Figure A?
AUSTIN: Good question.
KEITH: That’ll be- in my- so, I don’t know if I- no, I didn’t. I was thinking of Figure A first mate even.
AUSTIN: Oh, I love it. [Ali makes a kissing sound] I fucking love Figure- oh!
ART: Figure Mate. [Ali and Jack chuckle]
KEITH: So I take- I take- Figure A comes with me, and so does the Vernacular comms ring.
AUSTIN [overlapping with Keith]: Oh, absolutely! You’re just an incredible pirate because you have access to all of the internal communications of an entire Stel!
KEITH: Yea. Yea.
AUSTIN: Fucking get out of here, Stel Nideo, you can’t do shit!
KEITH: And I also, just to give a little bit of flavour, you know, though we were decked out for war already, I’m- my first order as commander of a pirate fleet-
AUSTIN: Commodore, please.
KEITH: Is- sorry- commo-
AUSTIN: Is that too much like a cop?
KEITH: Yeah it is. It’s commander. I know it’s commander because of Master and Commander.
AUSTIN: Ah, right, of course. Sure.
KEITH: And- so we’re- we’re going- we’re selling my rings. Not all of them! But most of them.
AUSTIN: Not the Vernacular ring, the-
KEITH: No, no.
AUSTIN: The Cruciat rings.
KEITH: The box of rings.
AUSTIN: Yeah. Uh huh.
KEITH: What was it? Eighty? Did I get eighty rings?
AUSTIN: [in disbelief] It was not eighty! It was-
KEITH: Thirty expensive rings- no, eighty was my initial pitch.
AUSTIN: Okay.
KEITH: [table friends chuckling] I was talked down from eighty to thirty. I am still-
AUSTIN: That’s a lot of rings.
KEITH: -I saw that. Leap saw that room. That room, there was no difference between eighty rings and thirty rings in that room.
AUSTIN: That’s fair.
KEITH: But. But, I’m selling- I’m selling I’d say, twenty four.
AUSTIN: Okay. Can still wear three on each hand.
KEITH: Yeah.
AUSTIN: Plus the Vernacular one.
KEITH: No, four on one hand and two on the other.
AUSTIN: Right, sure, yes you can mix it up.
KEITH: Yeah. And I’m gonna deck out those- this is going to be an extremely well, well stocked and armed pirate fleet.
AUSTIN: Incredible. Okay.
KEITH: Thank you Clementine Kesh.
AUSTIN: Got her!
SYLVIA: Finally she did something for ya.
AUSTIN: Uh huh. Alright, so. Thisbe, Sovereign Immunity, and Millie are the ones spending to form Millennium Break? Thisbe?
JANINE: I-
ART: And are therefore the coolest people in Millennium Break? That’s the rule.
AUSTIN [overlapping with Art]: I need- I need people to say yes first.
KEITH: Yeah I don’t wanna be a stickler but I don’t know that Thisbe has confirmed.
JANINE: I kind of didn’t want to. But,
AUSTIN: Mhm.
JANINE: If no one else will, then I will.
JACK: An alternative also.
AUSTIN: Oh, go ahead.
JACK: Um, you could take it from Clem. [Ali chuckles] Is a thing that I’m-
AUSTIN: What’s that look like?
JACK: I’m- you would need to tell me, like. I think this is a moment where I as a player,
AUSTIN: Right.
JACK: Am willing to cede to- to the group that- that- one of Clem’s drive clocks could be taken away? But I don’t think that that’s something Clem the character is offering. I think it would be- I think it would be a question of like, you know, what is Clem able to- you know, what resources is Clem able to provide that-
AUSTIN: Right.
JACK: Millennium Break is just willing to take.
AUSTIN: Right. You know where the secret caches are. You know, you know, the places of Cruciat that we wouldn’t- that would be hidden or protected that you know. You know like- you know, it is true, you are not a citizen anymore, but- but who are the people who come on board if we put you in front of a camera you know, with Zo’la and you say Millennium Break is the future of the Divine Principality, right?
JACK: Right. Yeah, which, I mean- I think that the Thisbe one also works pretty well, but I know that there was some level of it to which Janine was like, I don’t know if Thisbe would pick this.
AUSTIN: Right.
JACK: So it’s- it’s really, it is really up to you lot. I just want to go on record as saying like, I would be happy with Millennium Break taking a clock from Clem.
AUSTIN: Framed thusly. Framed as-
JACK: Yeah, it would absolutely- yeah. I cannot stress enough.
AUSTIN [overlapping with Jack]: Now get on- get in front of this fucking camera, yeah. Uh huh.
JACK: That it wouldn’t- this is not Clem giving a clock. This is them like expropriating property from Clementine.
AUSTIN: Shit when you put it that way.
KEITH: There’s plenty rings left in that room.
AUSTIN: [chuckles] Right! [Ali chuckles] Party? Isn’t this- that ain’t me. I don’t spend clocks. I fill ‘em.
ALI: There’s something appealing to that where it’s like, Thisbe still has a path to her ends.
AUSTIN: Yeah.
ALI: Whereas Clem has seen their dream shattered in front of her.
AUSTIN: [chuckles] Yes! Yeah I can’t- yeah. [Ali chuckles]
JANINE: But like, to me that’s almost an argument to the contrary which is like, does Clem need to change her drive or something, right?
AUSTIN: Which she would at this point, right?
JACK: Yeah, I’d change it, but I’m- I can build up another drive clock. Like.
AUSTIN: I just- this is fucking poetry to me? Is,
JANINE: Yeah.
AUSTIN: This specific “rule Stel Kesh”, [Jack chuckles] one clock filled, three clock- you know, three fourths of the second clock filled. So close. So close to make yourself the empty leader of Stel Kesh. Alright. I don’t know that I have more. I don’t know that I have a final shot here. I guess, it’s like the- the Millennium Break flag going over the ruins of Cruciat’s Winter Palace.
AUSTIN: [continued] When the Swordbreakers show up with Cas’alear to be like, alright, where do we put our shit? We’re defecting from Apostolos now. They, you know, call someone aside. Probably- probably Sovereign Immunity. And they say,
3:10:08
[MUSIC - “BOREA. BELLWETHER. INDIGOBIRD.” starts]
AUSTIN (as Cas’alear): I bring word from Dahlia. This comes not as leader of Stel Apostolos, not from them as Princept. This comes- this comes as only Apokine. Leader of Apostolos. They recognise you as a sovereign nation. And I am here as attaché and envoy. A gift from my sibling.
ART (as Sovereign): We’ll call you Diplomatic Immunity.
AUSTIN: [chuckles] And they laugh, and we zoom out to see this. Cruciat chanting in victory, under a new- under the dawn of a new day. And I’m not gonna make us figure out the eighth manifesto law, actually I- we already did, which is like. You know,
AUSTIN: [continued] We will leap.
AUSTIN: [continued] When we- you know. When we reach the edge, we will Leap. Capital L for Exeter Leap. [Ali chuckles] And so the manifesto, and I’m not gonna make us redo these, because I think they turned out okay.
AUSTIN: [continued] We will help those displaced by the war on Partizan.
KEITH: We will claim supplies only when it adds loses to the ledgers of the unjust.
ANDREW: Free and Fair elections will be held every two years.
JANINE: Burn thrones, build tables.
ALI: When we provide for ourselves, we can provide for others.
SYLVIA: We will not turn our backs on allies in need.
ART: If you must play their game, make sure to bloody their noses.
JACK: When we reach the edge, we will Leap.
AUSTIN: And it seems like there’s another one here, I have to move this. What’s this last one? Number 9? [table friends break out in laughter] Someone has to read it. Millie?
ANDREW: I think it should be S- yeah. [chuckles]
AUSTIN: Sylvia?
SYLVIA: Number 9. Look sick as shit!
AUSTIN: Ayy!
SYLVIA: That’s the most important one.
AUSTIN: That’s the most important one. [someone starts clapping] Alright.
ALI: Yay Millennium Break!
AUSTIN: Congrats everybody.
[music ends]
JACK: I- I want. What’s. What is Clem’s situation going forward?
AUSTIN: God.
JACK: What is the deal?
AUSTIN: [sighs] Um?
JACK: She has not been left in a good place.
AUSTIN: [chuckles] No. Well, she hasn’t left many people in a good place, so.
JACK: She has zero for three chess record [Austin chuckles], Clementine Kesh.
AUSTIN: You know, I don’t know that that final game was ever finished, technically. I think maybe- the last thing that happened was Gur put you in check, that wasn’t checkmate. Maybe there was a move you didn’t see.
JACK: Just a chessboard waiting for the environmental storytelling person-
AUSTIN [overlapping with Jack]: Right, yeah.
JACK: -to come through like, “oh, this was a diplomatic-”
AUSTIN [overlapping]: I solved the chess puzzle, and then I can- yeah, yeah, exactly. I think you get a call. Or not a call, I think you get a m- you get a message. You get a- the guard that was, that is still the guard for, one of the guards for Cynosure, has also become one of your, like the person they-
JACK: Ohh!
AUSTIN: -send to check on you and make sure that you eat food?
JACK: The “don’t you know who I am” man?
AUSTIN: Ye-ye- or the-
JACK: The person who I said “don’t you know who I am” to.
AUSTIN: Yes. Yes. Exactly. Correct. The notetaker. I think that he shows up, and he shows up with food for you in your room, it sounds like from before, you’ve been like, pretty locked off?
JACK: Crying. Crying.
AUSTIN [overlapping with Jack]: Crying, yeah. Uh huh.
JACK: Locked off. Couldn’t leave if I wanted to.
AUSTIN: Yeah. Well now you’re being asked to. You’re being asked to well, hm. Now you’re being told to come to the top deck. You know like, where the- where Gur Sevraq gave the- the opening like sermon at the very beginning of-
JACK: 400 years ago.
AUSTIN: At the very beginning of Kingdom, 400 years ago.
JACK [overlapping with Austin]: Both in game and in recording time.
AUSTIN: God. And also, where- let’s say this is after another sermon. I- let’s say there was another sermon that they just delivered. And having not seen you there, this was kind of like the victory in Cruciat, the victory of Millennium Break, the like, we did a successful thing. But yeah, you’re asked to go meet him up there.
JACK: Okay. You know, led by- led by, is it a guard in front or a guard behind situation?
AUSTIN: It’s a guard to the side. It’s not- it’s- this isn’t- you're not being escorted in that way. You’re being escorted, but you’re not being- this isn’t a prison walk, you know what I mean?
JACK: Right right right. Yeah. Up- up a flight of steps.
AUSTIN [overlapping with Jack]: You could say no I guess. Yeah.
JACK: No, I’m. I’m pissed. I’m gonna go and see Gur.
AUSTIN: Alright. When you get up there, you see that like, there are people clearing the deck still right? Like, getting rid of chairs, and rolling up you know, a carpet or like some material- some cloth material that was part of the service. Because this was for more people than could fit in the chapel, basically. And putting speakers away, and you know, doing the sort of like, okay we’re breaking down everything. And they’re rushing to get it all done because it’s a little cloudy, and maybe there’s some early rain droplets around the ocean, so you can kind of see a storm approaching?
JACK: Oh yeah.
AUSTIN: You know what I mean? That sort of like,
JACK: Waves are getting higher.
AUSTIN: Crysanth on the other- not Crysanth, Jesus. On one side there’s Crysanth- on one side there’s Cruciat, and on the other side it’s the open sea. And in the open sea you can see this storm getting closer and closer to you. And there’s Gur Sevraq you know, speaking with some of the service members. Some of the Millennium Break like crew. [mumbles] Seemingly in good spirits. And then catches your eye as you kind of come across the deck. And I think he goes over and two of you kind of- he kind of says like,
AUSTIN (as Gur): Clementine.
JACK (as Clementine): What do you want?
AUSTIN (as Gur): We should. Well. So. In fact, come with me.
AUSTIN: And leads you a little bit further away from everybody off to kind of like the side. And- in fact maybe even waves some people away? To be like, let’s, we should have some privacy for this. And they’re like.
AUSTIN (as Gur): We have come to an arrangement with Stel Nideo for the exchange of prisoners, including Mourningbride. To return a number of refugees and soldiers of Millennium Break, and have them escorted to a vessel. This exchange was also offered to your mother for you. We have not heard back.
JACK: I think Clementine like looks up at the- there’s someone like carrying a like a load of plastic cups? Like ten feet away, the wind is blowing them,
AUSTIN: Yeah. Just thunder.
JACK: Like how high up are we?
AUSTIN: We’re so high up. We’re at the top of Fort Icebreaker. It’s, you know, looking down from a mid-tier skyscraper or something, you know what I mean? It’s very tall.
JACK: Yeah, it’s like. This is like a sci-fi ship.
AUSTIN [overlapping with Jack]: Maybe ten or twenty or thirty- Yeah, it’s huge!
JACK [overlapping with Austin]: The ships are tall, and this is a ship from the future.
AUSTIN: It’s- I always think about- the touchstone for this thing I think about are-
JACK: Oh yeah!
AUSTIN: -thing in Armored Core called Fort- called [finding sounds] Fortress of- not Fortress of Motherwill. Spirit of Motherwill.
JACK: It’s great.
AUSTIN: And then also the XCOM 2, like the XCOM 2 ship. You know?
JACK: Yeah yeah yeah.
AUSTIN: The Avenger is what that thing’s called- Like that-
JACK: Which has like 12 floors.
AUSTIN: It has like 12 floors, is giant, it can hover around and stuff. This doesn’t hover around, but you know, similarly. It’s that style of thing. So yeah, it’s pretty high up, and then it’s also in the ocean which you know, the ocean is big. So it’s a big thing in a bigger thing.
JACK: Yeah I think Clem just like, turns her head and screams at this person carrying the- the plastic cups and just says like,
JACK (as Clementine): Go below decks! Take your friends with you!
JACK: Like, even at 15 feet away, what is being said to Clem is so embarrassing that she’s just like, everybody get the fuck out of here.
AUSTIN: Uh huh.
AUSTIN (as Gur): Clem, that was unnecessary.
JACK (as Clementine): Fuck you it was unnecessary! Now you want to talk?
AUSTIN (as Gur): I’ve always been available to speak with you.
JACK (as Clementine): Yeah, not to listen.
AUSTIN (as Gur): You need friends if you want someone to listen to you, Clem. You have none. Not anymore.
JACK (as Clementine): I have friends.
AUSTIN (as Gur): Name- name one.
[pauses]
AUSTIN (as Gur): Regardless,
JACK (as Clementine) [overlapping]: Sovereign Immunity is-
AUSTIN (as Gur): Oh. [amused exhale] It’s not my place. Regardless, there are no amount of friends that you have that will change the outcome of this. I’ve done what I can for you, Clem. Out of… a misplaced sense of loyalty perhaps. There are those who want you killed. You have until mid-week to leave this vessel with all of your things. I don’t care where you go. I would advise not going to Cruciat.
JACK (as Clementine): [dripping with petty sarcasm] I would advise not going to Cruciat. You- is this a funny joke? You making a funny joke? As you wave me away?
AUSTIN (as Gur): They’ll string you up there.
JACK (as Clementine): Mmm. Mhm. Do you like to think about that? The- the enemies of your revolution getting strung up in the streets.
AUSTIN (as Gur): No, which is why petitioned to let you live.
JACK (as Clementine): Oh, what a gift! You know what I’m gonna do? I’m just gonna- where am I gonna go? You’re sending me off to die.
AUSTIN (as Gur): I’m sending you off to d- you are one of the richest people on this world, Clementine Kesh. Every- if this is what counts as being sent off to die, maybe you’ve gained a little perspective of what it is like to be anyone else on Partizan.
JACK (as Clementine): You took my fucking throne away from me!
AUSTIN (as Gur): You never had a throne!
JACK (as Clementine) [overlapping]: You have probably warmed your hands around its fire. I bet you’ve fucking taken that thing and burned it, can’t stand to look at it.
AUSTIN (as Gur): [frustrated] You don’t listen, we build tables with- [sighs]
JACK (as Clementine): Bullshit! All of that sanctimonious bullshit that we spend, we spend hours workshopping the nitty gritty of this build thrones, not tables- are you gonna put it on a fucking banner?
AUSTIN (as Gur): It is what it is. Clem. This is not a thing I can change any more than I already have.
AUSTIN: And there is a moment here- so. I wanna communicate there’s a moment here where Gur looks a little bigger. Just like, stands just a little bit taller than we’ve seen them before. And- and the rain is here.
JACK: Yeah. Can it start raining?
AUSTIN: Yeah, it’s the rain. The rain is here.
JACK: Just like- lens flare the red lights around-
AUSTIN: Yeah, yeah.
JACK: -the, like red warning lights flashing on the like-
AUSTIN: Uh huh.
JACK: the balustrades.
AUSTIN (as announcement) [overlapping]: All personnel please return below deck.
AUSTIN: You know, that style of-
JACK (as announcement): Heavy storm approaching.
AUSTIN: Yes, exactly.
JACK: We have a computer system that just says stuff like that, it’s great!
AUSTIN: Yeah, it’s fantastic.
JACK: Um. Hm.
JACK (as Clementine): Yeah but there are things you can change, can’t you? You were quite happy to make this fucking- make this fucking boat disappear. You waved your hands, the boat disappeared- as soon as- as soon as I stop being useful to you, I- who took this fucking vessel for you?
AUSTIN (as Gur): I never- I have never underestimated your value or what you’ve done.
JACK (as Clementine) [overlapping]: You keep saying this, and then you keep demonstrating that you are underestimating it.
AUSTIN (as Gur): Because of what you’ve proven. I once estimated great things for you. I saw the world you wished to build. One more liberal, more fair in- in margins. And I thought, perhaps that world would be better than ours. Not utopia, but a step. And now I know you can’t even achieve that. You’ve had every opportunity! You're right, you did take this vessel. And within moments you’d lost it. Because you have no idea how to build anything around yourself. You’ve no idea how to do anything other than dream of a throne.
JACK: Just like rain, sideways, like plastering- Gur Sevraq does not have hair, do they? Just-
AUSTIN: No, no.
JACK: -a bald metal top.
AUSTIN: Yeah, bald metal hai- head, yeah.
JACK: Plastering Clem’s hair to her head, just bedraggled.
AUSTIN: Ohh. Yeah.
JACK (as Clementine): You know I know exactly what you’re going to do. I know exactly how this is gonna go for you. You’re gonna send me off to god knows where, where I’m gonna get fucking pecked apart by birds in two weeks, just you see. The money will go really quickly.
[MUSIC - “MINUTEHAND. GLACIER. BITTERTASTE.” starts]
JACK (as Clementine): [continued] And then you- you and your friends, are gonna fucking- you’re gonna sit around some little table. Some- some puny little table, and you’re gonna be really cold. And they’re gonna see, “oh, Gur Sevraq! W-w-what magic trick can you do for us now?” And then you’ll say, “the time isn’t right-” and then the time will be right one day, and you’ll snap your fingers and you’ll make something fucking disappear, or something appear, or you’ll let someone see a dog that they’ll get one day. Because you fucking love that stuff! You- you love those moments where you-
AUSTIN (as Gur) [overlapping]: [brimming with anger] Do. Not. Make a joke of my faith. Clementine Kesh.
JACK (as Clementine): Of- of the magic tricks? Of the little golden ball? I’m grateful for the fact that that ball means that I can use my mech a little better. The ball doesn’t speak to me in any kind of way. I don’t think the ball speaks to you in any kind of way other than-
AUSTIN (as Gur) [overlapping]: I took the ball when I killed the Elect that came before.
JACK (as Clementine): Yeah, yeah, we’ve all killed people. You like to stand up there, and you’re going to at that table. They’re gonna say “oh no, Orion’s coming. Columnar’s coming”. Because they will come. Those ships are moving now. I will be long dead before they arrive, and I will be grateful for it. But you’ll stand up, and you’ll hold that little ball up, and you’ll do something and they’ll go ohhh-! clap clap clap clap clap [clapping sounds]. And you will be so fucking happy at what you are able to offer those people in that little moment.
JACK (as Clementine): [continued] I don’t think you worship your god. I think you just like to feel like you are one.
[music ends]
AUSTIN: I push you off the edge.
JACK: [laughs]
AUSTIN: I push you off the edge of the ship. I push you off the edge. Just like, nothing. Like it’s nothing. Like, push.
JACK: Just like- a weightless-
AUSTIN: Or, Gur tries to do that, I don’t know that that’s Clem- Yeah, yeah it’s your character,
JACK: I think there’s-
AUSTIN: I cannot just do that.
JACK: No, no, it’s amazing! It’s great! [chuckles] It’s great. I think there’s just a moment of perfect shock. Of- of having been- we have seen Clem get outflanked in basically-
AUSTIN: Yeah.
JACK: -every way a human can get outflanked? But I think being pushed from the top of Fort Icebreaker-
AUSTIN [overlapping with Jack]: Fort Icebreaker Prime, yeah.
JACK: By a- by an ascetic monk? [Austin chuckles] Is so monument- like, her mouth is in an ‘O’.
AUSTIN: Right.
JACK: Just backwards, just lift- lifted partly by the wind, backwards off the top of Fort Icebreaker-
AUSTIN [overlapping, crosstalk]: The wind is blowing, the thunder is hitting,
JACK: Lightning strikes.
AUSTIN [overlapping]: Lightning hitting, yeah.
JACK: It’s like fucking lightning hitting the ocean.
AUSTIN: I think there’s a beat.
[MUSIC - “SOFTPOINT. UMBRAL. TOUCHPAPER.” starts]
AUSTIN: [continued] And then I think Gur Sevraq like, the actuators in their face just go like bwaaah, and like there’s a moment of recognition of this terrible thing that- that they’ve done? He’s like, [sighs] and then rushes the edge to look over the edge if you’ve hit the water yet? Or if you’re still falling, or?
JACK: I don’t think it’s either of those things. I think- I think with one hand, [Austin chuckles] with the strength of somebody who has been piloting a mech. Who- who has been fighting on the front-
AUSTIN [overlapping]: Had been working out in the cells, uh huh!
JACK: [chuckles] -and has been working out in the cells! Clem just pulls herself up to the up- up to the surface. They are like- they are like- they are like a foot from the edge, right?
AUSTIN [overlapping]: Oh yeah. They’re right against this thing. Yeah.
JACK [overlapping]: They’re like, they are now standing right on the edge.
AUSTIN: Yeah.
JACK: And I think Clem just pulls like a little knife. Like a knife from a- what’s the most stylish and craven place to pull a knife from? Is it the boot.
AUSTIN [overlapping]: It’s the boot, yeah.
JACK: It’s probably the boot.
AUSTIN: Yeah. Uh huh.
JACK: Just pulls the knife from her boot and just goes- just furious, screaming, goes at Gur Sevraq.
AUSTIN: I mean, the thing about Gur Sevraq is we don’t look under the robes very often, but Gur Sevraq has eight limbs.
JACK: That’s bonus limbs! That’s more limbs.
AUSTIN [overlapping]: He has more limbs. You know, he’s like a spider under there, and each of those limbs ends in like this sharp metal arc you know? And they just- I think that- we just have to- you’re good with this, just like the most Coen Brothers five to seven seconds of weird violence. Upsetting-
JACK [overlapping]: Weird- upsetting like, asymmetrical violence? Like you know the Coen Brothers, the way they do fights where it’s just like Jesus, there are two people in the room and they are enacting violence upon each other.
AUSTIN: Yeah. Uh huh.
JACK: I think Clem- I think Clem shears a plate off Gur Sevraq.
AUSTIN: Right. The robe goes- gets cut open and gets caught in the wind. In fact the wind just catches it-
JACK [overlapping]: Snatches it off, yeah.
AUSTIN: This incredible, robotic spider humanoid body underneath.
JACK: Is this sort of- is this a sort of like, is Gur walking on more than one leg, or?
AUSTIN: They can- sometimes they can- sometimes they do, sometimes they don’t. And that’s part of like when they stand up, they like, push themselves up with four different limbs, you know what I mean? Like really tall, big, like, so much- you know. Eight times- like Thisbe height, if they want to be. But they don’t ever do that. And then- and then yeah, we get like, the- one of the blades of his limbs just goes like right through the shoulder blade of Clem. You know?
JACK [overlapping]: Oh Jesus. Yeah. There’s like Clementine-
AUSTIN: Like it’s nothing. Like it’s putting knife in bread, you know?
JACK: Clementine goes down, Gur picks her up again?
AUSTIN: Right.
JACK: How do we- what is the- okay. We are-
AUSTIN: I think, is this-?
JACK: What do we do?
AUSTIN: I think the knife is- we’ve stabbed each other. And we’re a foot from the edge of this thing. And I think the thunder hits, and the lightning hits, and the lightning lights the entire sky and we see them silhouetted against-
JACK: Knife goes off the edge.
AUSTIN: Knife goes off the edge, Cruciat’s behind them, you know?
AUSTIN (as announcement): Please- please- all personnel, leave the top decks and return-
JACK [overlapping]: And like a claxon going-
AUSTIN: Yeah like, waah! waah! waah! And then the lightning hits again and they’re gone.
JACK: Oh Jesus!
AUSTIN: And we just, we see them falling- fall-
JACK: We see them fall. Is there any impact on a piece of- on a piece of Icebreaker as they fall?
AUSTIN: Yeah, definitely right? This is not a clean fall. This is not the- this is not the Broun and Thisbe fall where it’s like loving embrace of two friends who are caring for each other-
JACK [overlapping]: No, the violence of the fight continues on the way down-
AUSTIN: They just don’t stop- right! They land, they hit, they slam against some outcropping, and then there’s like another stabbing motion.
JACK: A limb breaks.
AUSTIN: Yeah! And then, and then a tumble, and then both of them. Both of them. I- it always had to be. It’s almost- [chuckles] I always- since the two of them met.
JACK: [chuckles]
AUSTIN: Had to be they stab each other-
JACK: And just down. Just down into the water. Blast doors closed on the top deck.
AUSTIN (as announcement): All personnel please return below deck.
AUSTIN (as announcement): [continued] All personnel please return below deck.
AUSTIN (as announcement): [continued] All personnel please return below deck.
AUSTIN (as announcement): [continued] All personnel-
AUSTIN: And when we return to Beam Saber, Jack, you will not be returning as Clementine. And Gur Sevraq will be gone. And Millennium Break will not have their voices, antagonistic though they were, to help them for whatever comes next, as the eyes of everyone on Partizan turn in on them.
[MUSIC - “SOFTPOINT. UMBRAL. TOUCHPAPER.” fades out, “TANAGER. PERFECT. TOUCHPAPER.” fades in, transposed one key lower]
AUSTIN: [continued] Curious about what will become of this revolution on this moon, at the heart of the Principality. But it is not only the attention of Crysanth and Motion and the rest of Partizan which Millennium Break has earned. No. All across the Principality, all across the galaxy, those in the know watch and wait. To see how this situation on the Prophet’s Moon develops.
AUSTIN: [continued] From deep beyond the Partizan portcullis, those on the Nobel homeworld wonder what has become their wolf, Valence, and worry whether their emissary has secured safety for them. Rumbling above and beyond and through, Autonomy Itself buzzes patiently, a living contradiction, endless power that cannot reach justice alone, waiting for their disciples to invite them in.
AUSTIN: [continued] Under sunset-hued skies and in the safety of roaming fleets, the attentive scions of long dead Profits and Excerpts, Satellites and Cadents, see the future first, and prepare for what is to come. While in the false mirage, Pact members Rye and Gallica place bets. Not on such a small thing as the fate of Partizan. But on whether Millennium Break will break orbit and grow to the stars.
AUSTIN: [continued] On the infinite, golden worlds of Counterweight, the Branched hum, lyrics turned into guns, some shaping themselves like the absences of their missing kin on Partizan. Meanwhile, their greatest foe, Dahlia, is so confident about Cas’alear’s impending success, that they spare their sibling and Millennium Break little attention at all. They have two Keshes to conquer after all. The corrupt and antiquated Stel, and the planet, overrun by creatures so monstrous they ought not be given names.
AUSTIN: [continued] And none watches as closely as she in the very centre of it all. A now ancient presence dancing like sage in a storm. Our Lady, the Adversary, Perennial laughing.
[music ends]