Episode 78
Episode 78 - Authorized Playback
Field tests can be unpredictable.
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The Rescuers are played by the cast of 9mm Retirement Radio
- Seewolf: Lukas
- Pathfinder: Caius
- Warden: Max
- Echo: Mike
- Lifeline: Jan
Published by arrangement with the Delta Green Partnership. The intellectual property known as Delta Green is a trademark and copyright owned by the Delta Green Partnership, who has licensed its use here. Illustrations by Dennis Detwiller are reproduced by permission. The contents of this podcast are © GiggleDome Productions, LLC, excepting those elements that are components of Delta Green intellectual property.
Transcript
Hello?
Speaker B:What time is it?
Speaker A:Who is it?
Speaker C:I don't know.
Speaker A:Situation green.
Speaker C:Old bone.
Speaker A:Sorry love, I have to take this.
Speaker C:So Pathfinder, he went first through the squeeze and is pulling everybody out one by one.
Speaker C:And you see this smile that's been plastered on his face for the last few hours.
Speaker C:Still there.
Speaker A:But it feels wrong.
Speaker C:And as the last of you civil gets pulled through and into the wider tunnel, Pathfinder just starts laughing quietly.
Speaker C:So.
Speaker C:So we've taken another circle.
Speaker C:Again we're in a loop.
Speaker C:This is the same fucking squeeze, Warden says.
Speaker D:What are you talking about?
Speaker C:It was the same fucking squeeze, Warden.
Speaker C:The same ice pick marks, the same type of slide, the same incline, the same boot prints here on the floor that we're standing on.
Speaker C:We've been here before.
Speaker C:We're going through another goddamn loop.
Speaker D:You realize we've been going in a.
Speaker D:We've been going in a straight line.
Speaker C:Oh we went in a straight line two days ago.
Speaker C:Warden.
Speaker C:And he starts like extreme like just hyperventilating.
Speaker D:Warden's going to grab you by your shirt collar and lean in quietly and say Shut the fuck up.
Speaker C:I'm going to shut you shut.
Speaker D:Shut.
Speaker A:Roll your unarmed please.
Speaker C:Thank you.
Speaker D:Oh Jesus.
Speaker C:Could I argue for athletics?
Speaker A:You cannot.
Speaker C:No, no.
Speaker C:That's a failure at an 84.
Speaker A:You try to wrench free of Warden, he holds you fast and he.
Speaker A:He's gonna go ahead and roll his unarmed now.
Speaker D:Because I would love to.
Speaker E:Yeah, there's gonna be someone stepping in after you do this, but please.
Speaker D:Oh yeah.
Speaker D:That's a 39 under 50.
Speaker A:You hold him fast and you shake him a few times for good measurements.
Speaker A:He's a sinewy dense guy and you've seen his athleticism.
Speaker A:But he doesn't know how to fight.
Speaker A:You hold him tight and you hiss again at him.
Speaker D:I told you to shut the up.
Speaker C:What's the point?
Speaker F:I. I'm.
Speaker D:He'll put his hand over his mouth.
Speaker C:I feel like the.
Speaker C:The pressure of his extremely rapid and shallow breaths just on your hand as, as you cover his mouth.
Speaker F:Dr. Kramvis will run over to Lifeline and say you need to sedate him.
Speaker F:Pathfinder, he's.
Speaker F:You gotta.
Speaker F:You got something?
Speaker G:The lifeline is engrossed watching these two fight.
Speaker F:I'm shaking you.
Speaker G:Oh yeah, no, I.
Speaker G:Fully engrossed.
Speaker A:Yes.
Speaker A:I have.
Speaker G:I have something even better than just cuts into that.
Speaker E:Oh no.
Speaker E:First of all, keep your hands off Lifeline.
Speaker E:There will be no one sedated, not especially not the navigator Pathfinder.
Speaker E:Lieutenant Colonel if I down.
Speaker G:Lieutenant Colonel if I may.
Speaker G:It's been something I've been sitting on.
Speaker E:No, you listen.
Speaker E:Now, first of all, all of you, calm the down.
Speaker E:Pathfinder.
Speaker E:Obviously we will see tracks of them.
Speaker E:They need to go through here.
Speaker C:Now, behind Warden's hand, you just hear like a muffled but just absolutely manic peel of laughter.
Speaker C:That.
Speaker C:That almost sounds like a sob.
Speaker E:Something is trying to ruin this whole expedition.
Speaker E:But we will not let it be ruined.
Speaker E:Lifeline, what did you want to add?
Speaker G:Respectfully, Lieutenant Colonel, there's a fight going on, right?
Speaker C:At this point.
Speaker C:Morden is like holding.
Speaker C:He's not fighting anymore.
Speaker C:He's just freaking out.
Speaker F:Oh.
Speaker F:It's not like a fight.
Speaker A:Not anymore.
Speaker G:Not anymore.
Speaker A:Thank you.
Speaker F:Okay.
Speaker A:Now, Chris wouldn't let you be talking.
Speaker E:If it was a fight.
Speaker G:Yeah.
Speaker G:Lifeline will look to Z Wolf and say.
Speaker G:Respectfully, Lieutenant Colonel, it's something I was sitting on in case of an emergency, specifically catastrophic injury.
Speaker G:But I think in this case it might be warranted.
Speaker G:It is a LIA and ketamine solution.
Speaker A:Nice.
Speaker C:He's gonna trip balls.
Speaker D:Put him in that keyhole.
Speaker G:Ketamine is for dissociative anesthesia.
Speaker G:It's going to kill your pain reception.
Speaker G:The LIA is there to enhance the sensory input, keep you awake.
Speaker G:There's a pharmacological stabilizer keeping everything working together nicely.
Speaker G:I'm not going to lie.
Speaker G:It's heavy stuff.
Speaker G:I wasn't going to use it unless some of you, I don't know, fell and had your shin bones sticking out of your knee.
Speaker G:But as it stands now, I think it may be warranted.
Speaker G:For she hesitates to say Pathfinder, but.
Speaker G:And says for those of us who are particularly stressed, if any of you feel uncomfortable, speak now.
Speaker A:Dr. John, while this is going on, y' all are all watching this.
Speaker A:No one's not watching this situation.
Speaker A:Dr. John, you notice echo is like going through Dr. Huple's equipment that's on the dirt where he is.
Speaker A:Has deposited himself out of the squeeze.
Speaker A:It's kind of weird.
Speaker F:Yeah, you keep saying weird shit like that.
Speaker B:Hey, wait.
Speaker B:Wait a second.
Speaker B:Echo.
Speaker B:What are you.
Speaker B:That's not your bag.
Speaker B:What do you need?
Speaker B:What are you looking for?
Speaker A:Hoop, will you look over when you hear this and you see echoes pretty close to you going through your stuff.
Speaker A:Dr. Kramdis, Dr. Bolas.
Speaker B:Why are you in the.
Speaker A:This is over.
Speaker A:Kind of in the.
Speaker A:Agent grabs ancient area like very tightly and says, unarmed, please.
Speaker H:Unarmed.
Speaker A:I want that.
Speaker A:Unarmed.
Speaker A:I need it.
Speaker F:You're here physical.
Speaker B:If this is about the air quality data, just ask.
Speaker A:And that was A fail.
Speaker A:Wow.
Speaker F:Dang.
Speaker F:And he rolled question marks.
Speaker F:You're done, Eric.
Speaker A:I don't like that.
Speaker A:Dr. Huple does reach down and grab you.
Speaker A:Echo.
Speaker A:And you look up.
Speaker A:Now what would you like to do?
Speaker A:Looks like you rolled an unarmed.
Speaker A:So I mean, it looks like you might be fighting back is what your intention was.
Speaker A:I didn't ask for one.
Speaker H:I am grabbing his arm and throwing it away.
Speaker H:And I'm saying immediately, I'm trying to repair the comms equipment.
Speaker H:You're interfering with my work.
Speaker B:Joppa's gonna step in and also kind of like, put a hand on Echo.
Speaker B:Echo, focus.
Speaker B:This is not your back.
Speaker B:This is not your equipment.
Speaker B:This is Dr. Huple's equipment.
Speaker H:I am focusing.
Speaker B:This is not your equipment.
Speaker B:Seiwa.
Speaker A:Seiwa.
Speaker C:I need to.
Speaker H:I need to test.
Speaker H:I need to test everyone's equipment.
Speaker H:We need to get comms back to the surface.
Speaker A:So all of you know that this is not the container or the bag or the rucksack that has the comms equipment or the power equipment that you carry in your person.
Speaker A:This is actually where Bertrand has stowed his personal devices and Koutremonts and the things that Liz Mackenzie provided you.
Speaker A:It also contains the hatbox.
Speaker A:Oh, shit.
Speaker A:Okay.
Speaker I:Dr. Bolas, who's right there, also just kind of puts a hand on Echoes and says, I'm going to attempt to persuade Rul or Charisma or something.
Speaker A:I'm still not super comfortable with player versus player persuading.
Speaker A:Charisma rolls.
Speaker A:Unless.
Speaker A:Echo, Mike, if you're cool with that, Are you all right with that?
Speaker I:I was thinking they're an NPC.
Speaker I:They're not NPCs, right?
Speaker I:They're okay.
Speaker A:They're.
Speaker A:No, not really, dude.
Speaker H:Just try and do it through roleplay.
Speaker A:Just role play.
Speaker I:Dr. Bolas gently puts his hand on necklaces.
Speaker H:I don't want all these hands on me.
Speaker I:You're doing a great job.
Speaker I:This is not the comms back.
Speaker I:Okay?
Speaker I:You're focusing.
Speaker I:Great.
Speaker I:It's a very important thing that you're doing, but it's okay.
Speaker I:This is not the comms bag.
Speaker I:This is personal.
Speaker H:I know it's not the comms bag.
Speaker H:I'm looking for anything that could fix our issue right now.
Speaker H:I need time and I need you to get.
Speaker A:Those are my personal ass, and I don't have anything in there that I think you need.
Speaker H:You are all sabotaging this mission.
Speaker B:This feels like a protocol breach.
Speaker B:Data integrity.
Speaker B:Back off, Echo.
Speaker B:Say wolf.
Speaker B:Say wolf.
Speaker E:I'm sorry.
Speaker A:I think we should give Seiwolf a moment to respond to either of the crises happening to his right and to his left.
Speaker E:He's like completely.
Speaker E:This is so fantastic with like the lifeline Hoople path and a Warden thing.
Speaker E:He's like standing there and then to.
Speaker E:To his right the other kids are crying like he's a good dad.
Speaker E:He has a lot of children so he kind of can micromanage.
Speaker E:And just slightly turning his upper body to the right side, he just loudly says, echo, calm down.
Speaker E:Stop going through their stuff.
Speaker H:Echo immediately stops what she's doing and leaves the bag.
Speaker E:And then Seawolf turns to the left again, looking at Pathfinder.
Speaker E:Bradley, are you okay to continue or do you want to be sedated just a bit?
Speaker E:Just as a little bit.
Speaker A:Just a bit.
Speaker C:Is Warden going to take his hand off of Pathfinder's mouth?
Speaker E:Oh yeah, probably.
Speaker A:Well it's up to Warden.
Speaker A:That's up to.
Speaker D:I'm going to look over to Zawulf.
Speaker D:If he is calm I will take my hand off of his mouth.
Speaker D:But if he is not calm, it's staying.
Speaker E:I cannot hear his answer if your hand is on his mouth, Warden.
Speaker D:I turn back to Pathfinder and say, are you going to be cool?
Speaker F:Not once.
Speaker C:Pathfinder is just fully crying at this point.
Speaker A:Oh children, this is fantastic.
Speaker D:Do you, do you, do you see?
Speaker D:Do you see his face?
Speaker D:He's not fine.
Speaker E:Sibof will take over basically brushing Warden off of Pathfinder.
Speaker D:Warden will remove his hands immediately then.
Speaker E:And he puts a. Seawolf puts a hand on Pathfinder's shoulder just like holding up his chin with the other hand and says, Bradley, listen to me.
Speaker E:We have been through shit.
Speaker E:I know, but this is not a Kessler of mine.
Speaker E:You are professional.
Speaker E:You have been hand picked as I said time and time again.
Speaker E:You will get through this.
Speaker E:We will all get through this.
Speaker C:As you're asking this Pathfinder is just like his lips are quivering and he seems to almost melt a little bit as you're touching him, allowing you to hold up some of his body weight.
Speaker C:Quietly mumbles something that you can't make out.
Speaker C:You would need to lean in to hear it basically.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker E:Sebwulf leans in.
Speaker C:In very broken mispronounced German he says, Mein Herr's klump sif Wolf.
Speaker C:Mein Herr's klumpfen sol der seichen viktikle.
Speaker E:Oh Jesus.
Speaker D:The fuck does that mean?
Speaker C:He just starts sobbing and I think like just collapses to the like to the like.
Speaker C:Sits down on the ground and just puts his head between his knees.
Speaker D:Warden Says, you see what I mean?
Speaker D:He's not okay.
Speaker A:And I'm going to take a moment to move the camera over to the agents, who are now well isolated from what's going on amongst the rescuers.
Speaker I:Dr. Bolas has something he wants to say to the group.
Speaker A:Yeah, yeah, please.
Speaker I:Dr. Bolas kind of looks at the group.
Speaker I:My friends, if I am not mistaken, we need at least one, maybe two of them to get back out once we finish what we come here to do.
Speaker I:Right.
Speaker B:Need might be a strong word.
Speaker I:Unless some of you have become cavers, and I don't.
Speaker I:I don't know them.
Speaker F:Dr. Kramdis will reach into his pocket, pull out the earplugs that we brought.
Speaker F:It might be time for that last song.
Speaker A:Last song?
Speaker I:Shit.
Speaker I:Remind me.
Speaker I:I don't think Vega knows what that is.
Speaker I:Right.
Speaker E:No.
Speaker A:No idea what he's talking about.
Speaker A:Is Echo still near us?
Speaker A:No, no, that's.
Speaker A:That's now.
Speaker A:Okay, Hooples, you guys are kind of in your own spot while the chaos is continuing on.
Speaker A:Okay?
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker F:And I'll make eye contact with Dr. JMP.
Speaker B:Dr. Jhomp is.
Speaker I:What the fuck is this?
Speaker B:Dr. Bolas.
Speaker B:And Dr. JMP's gonna reach into a pocket as well, pull out some extra earplugs and sort of slyly pass them over to Dr. Bolas and Dr. Huple.
Speaker A:Dr. Huple slowly takes them, gives her an inquisitive look.
Speaker A:Explain what's going on.
Speaker B:Well, we can't explain what we don't know for certain, but there's clearly a problem with their mental health.
Speaker B:And in that case, we might need to eliminate.
Speaker B:Or maybe I.
Speaker B:Sorry.
Speaker B:Neutralize the potential threat, which at the moment seems like it might be them for the bigger.
Speaker I:Please tell me you're not saying you want to fucking kill them.
Speaker B:I don't want to kill them.
Speaker I:We can't get out without them.
Speaker I:But listen, can you climb out of a fucking cave?
Speaker F:No, no one's saying that.
Speaker F:I'm saying if it comes to us versus them.
Speaker F:All I'm saying.
Speaker F:But we need to continue.
Speaker F:And these people are losing their minds.
Speaker F:And I think it's the object that's underneath this eyes.
Speaker B:And on that note.
Speaker A:And why aren't we losing our minds?
Speaker F:Dr. Kramdis will like Eureka moment and run over to his bag and start looking through it.
Speaker A:Dr. Kramdis.
Speaker A:God, I love these names.
Speaker A:You love them?
Speaker A:I know, I know.
Speaker A:They are memorable names for an audience who has to deal with a bunch of shit.
Speaker A:So that was my.
Speaker F:And real.
Speaker F:And real.
Speaker A:And real.
Speaker A:You look through these prepared personal effects.
Speaker A:And you're relieved to see that the box from scpl, or at least what contains the thing from scpl, is there.
Speaker A:And then you think, perhaps this was your eureka moment.
Speaker A:Well, is this the problem or the solution?
Speaker F:I will palm it and walk over to.
Speaker A:It's like football size, right?
Speaker A:Not palmable.
Speaker F:Oh, that's right.
Speaker A:It's like a grapefruit size inside a larger box.
Speaker A:Okay, okay, okay.
Speaker A:Yes, yes, yes.
Speaker F:Dr. Kramdisk will stuff the object back into his bag and pull his bag back to the group and say, maybe the thing that I brought from Mexico is protecting us.
Speaker B:We just need to know that.
Speaker I:What are you talking about?
Speaker B:We just need you to trust us.
Speaker B:And I think we should come up with a code word.
Speaker B:And if there's a moment where we need to take more serious steps, we'll say the code word.
Speaker B:You put those earplugs in and you just trust that we'll get through this.
Speaker B:The four of us, at the very least.
Speaker B:The four of us.
Speaker F:Dr. Bolas, remember that need to know stuff that you've done for us before.
Speaker F:You gotta do it again.
Speaker F:All right?
Speaker F:Get your shit together.
Speaker I:Fucking paycheck better be worth it.
Speaker B:So a code word.
Speaker A:This sounds like something Mr. Holmes would be very behind.
Speaker B:Do you have a suggestion, Dr. Hoople?
Speaker F:Sleep tight.
Speaker F:Sleep tight.
Speaker B:Sleep tight.
Speaker B:It's a mouthful, but I like it.
Speaker A:And at this point, we're gonna bring the camera right back to the rescuers.
Speaker E:As Seawolf basically helps Pathfinder sit down.
Speaker E:He looks at Lifeline, Warden, and then at Echo and ushers them over.
Speaker E:While the agents are doing their thing.
Speaker H:While all these little conversations have been going on, now that you're focused on Echo again, she's been twiddling with her comms equipment while everyone's been preoccupied.
Speaker B:She found the right bag.
Speaker H:I don't think she acknowledges that at all.
Speaker H:She seems hyper focused on her equipment.
Speaker H:That's on herself, specifically the line that goes to the surface.
Speaker H:But she straightens when you call her out and moves over towards you to see what Seawolf has to advise here.
Speaker E:Seeing the.
Speaker E:The whole team assembled, seeing Pathfinder in tears.
Speaker E:Echo, who was completely scrambling, going through all of this Lifeline, who's just like, yeah, let's just sedate him.
Speaker E:And Warden, who kind of kept to himself during all.
Speaker E:Well, he shook up Pathfinder, but that's another thing.
Speaker E:Seaworth will look at each and every one of his fellow rescuers and with a shaky voice just say, something's not right here.
Speaker E:We have Adversary down here.
Speaker E:Someone is trying to make this operation fail.
Speaker E:Someone's trying to fool with God's perfect plan for us to rescue the.
Speaker E:The Percy expedition.
Speaker E:Oh, the devil that telegraph stands before us say.
Speaker E:With turns to just look at the agents daring cahoots with Daspers.
Speaker E:I think we need to get it out of them.
Speaker E:So what do we have you brought ropes.
Speaker E:We gotta.
Speaker E:We gotta see one of them.
Speaker E:One of them's gonna.
Speaker E:And he like briefs more heavily.
Speaker E:We gotta get the evil out of them.
Speaker A:Whoa.
Speaker A:See?
Speaker A:Hold on.
Speaker E:It must be.
Speaker D:Hold on.
Speaker D:What are you talking about, Brandon?
Speaker E:Nothing.
Speaker E:Nothing.
Speaker E:Seawolf.
Speaker H:Seawolf, what are you.
Speaker G:Order.
Speaker E:Seawolf has been going the right way.
Speaker E:From the moraine to the sliding.
Speaker E:And now to dice pluck.
Speaker E:She's been away.
Speaker E:Every thing was hindered.
Speaker A:Yeah, but it's not.
Speaker D:It's not all because of them, though.
Speaker E:Well, why wouldn't it be because of them?
Speaker D:You saw those things down below, and you know what we went through.
Speaker E:I know what we went through.
Speaker E:We went through something that revealed more.
Speaker E:That revealed God's plan to us.
Speaker E:Warden, can't you see this?
Speaker E:An adversary standing before us.
Speaker E:Can't you see that they're trying to make this fail?
Speaker A:As this is happening, Dr. Kram Dis walks over to Echo.
Speaker A:And this is when the rescuers look up and stop speaking in such hushed, threatening tones because Dr. Kramdis is now going to approach your group.
Speaker H:I just want to say Echo had her form prostrated to Seawolf and literally grabbing his feet, begging for.
Speaker A:So, Kramdis, that might change your approach a little bit.
Speaker A:Please take it away.
Speaker A:Oh, man.
Speaker F:Now, my intent was, as Dr. Kramdis PhD was to walk over and look at the line that Echo was making love to, to make sure that our line back is secure.
Speaker F:So I was.
Speaker F:I was trying to kind of, like, edge around their insane conversation, but I am in your shot.
Speaker F:Yes.
Speaker A:Got it.
Speaker A:Well, they have all pretty much stopped talking, except, you see, Echo is in a very strange position at the feet of Sifu.
Speaker C:So is that real or is that a joke fire.
Speaker G:No, that's real.
Speaker A:No, that was real.
Speaker A:Oh, no, no, that is real.
Speaker F:And do.
Speaker F:Kramdis will not interrupt.
Speaker F:He will just continue towards the line to look at.
Speaker D:Like, gently, like, kick Echo to, like, get up.
Speaker F:And if anyone comes towards Dr. Kram, this, he will stop.
Speaker H:Echo's form turns to Warden, much like a fearful rat, and she straightens herself.
Speaker D:Warden's going to lean in and say, you're acting like a fool right now.
Speaker D:You're acting like a fool right now.
Speaker A:What?
Speaker C:Pathfinder lifts his head from between his knees where it has been for the last several minutes, and looks towards Lifeline and says, I think we all need Diamox.
Speaker C:We all need anti anxiety, we all need anti inflammatory.
Speaker C:If this is like Kessler, we are anoxic.
Speaker C:We need to de escalate.
Speaker C:We need to calm down, we need to eat, we need to rest.
Speaker C:I'm sorry I escalated things.
Speaker C:I. I should be more.
Speaker G:Lifeline will advance toward Pathfinder and kneel down.
Speaker G:Just pull him into a hug and just say, it's okay, Bradley.
Speaker G:Everything's gonna be okay.
Speaker C:I'm just so tired.
Speaker G:Let me help you.
Speaker C:I'm just gonna get out.
Speaker G:Let me help you, Bradley.
Speaker C:He nods.
Speaker C:Says.
Speaker C:All of us.
Speaker C:All.
Speaker C:Everyone.
Speaker E:No, everyone acting right.
Speaker G:Everyone will.
Speaker A:Don't worry.
Speaker G:Don't worry, Bradley.
Speaker G:And she will take from her surgeon's kit a clear syringe and very gently slide it into Pathfinder's neck.
Speaker C:He lets that happen, he'll feel a.
Speaker G:Pinch and then you'll feel warm.
Speaker G:You'll feel good.
Speaker G:Just let it low 3.
Speaker C:Give everyone.
Speaker C:Give everyone diamox.
Speaker G:Oh, I will.
Speaker C:He just repeats that over and over.
Speaker C:Just.
Speaker C:We're anoxic, we're anoxic.
Speaker C:And he's.
Speaker C:And he's rubbing the other side of his neck with his left hand.
Speaker A:While you're doing this, Dr. Kramdis is over pretty close to you, like I mentioned.
Speaker A:And he's looking over the power coil and the line that leads back up the way you came back through the.
Speaker A:The second squeeze.
Speaker A:And he's just very focused, checking it out, getting very close to it, looking at it.
Speaker D:Warden is going to walk over to Dr. Kramdis.
Speaker H:Echo is immediately going to go over an extremely angry.
Speaker D:Hold on, hold on.
Speaker H:What are you doing?
Speaker D:That's why I'm asking.
Speaker D:Dr. Kramdis, do you have a question?
Speaker D:Is there something with the line?
Speaker F:Well, I mean, we're not doing anything.
Speaker F:I just want to take a look.
Speaker D:What are you trying to see?
Speaker F:See that it's intact and didn't get snagged on anything.
Speaker H:The equipment is fine.
Speaker H:This is my line of Brendan.
Speaker H:This is my expertise.
Speaker H:You are scientist.
Speaker H:And this is my equipment.
Speaker D:Down.
Speaker G:Who are you talking to?
Speaker C:You mean Echo?
Speaker E:Yeah.
Speaker E:Echo is not Brandon.
Speaker C:Nobody's Brandon, I don't think.
Speaker D:Exactly.
Speaker C:Oh, sorry.
Speaker C:I'll shut up.
Speaker C:I was.
Speaker A:I thought it was a maxism.
Speaker F:Sorry, no, shut.
Speaker C:I fully thought that was a maxism.
Speaker H:Echo is puffing up her chest, breathing heavily, looking at you extremely angry.
Speaker D:You're not intimidating.
Speaker D:Go back with the others.
Speaker F:Dr. Kramdis will put his hands up and walk slowly backwards as you walk.
Speaker A:Back to the agents.
Speaker A:Dr. Bolas.
Speaker A:Dr. Jump.
Speaker A:Dr. Huple, what are you doing?
Speaker A:While this shit's going down, Dr. Huple is just staring in disbelief at how this is all just falling apart.
Speaker A:He's going to look to Dr. Bolas and Dr. Jamp.
Speaker A:I think.
Speaker A:I think it's time Dr. JMP.
Speaker I:Dr. Bolas eyes get wide and he just kind of looks at him like, time for what?
Speaker I:What the fuck am I involved with?
Speaker B:Dr. JMP is going to pull the earplugs up and kind of just dangle him for Dr. Bullis to see.
Speaker B:Of course, Dr. Huple, as they seem to be on the same page.
Speaker B:She's gonna run her eyes over real quick to Dr. Kramdis.
Speaker B:He's walking backwards, right?
Speaker B:So he wouldn't necessarily.
Speaker A:And as you do, just because of the angle that he's walking towards you at.
Speaker A:Beam of light catches the far end of the wall.
Speaker A:This is what you see.
Speaker A:A subway.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker C:It's the same fucking.
Speaker G:We're back here.
Speaker C:And now we know why Pathfinder's been freaking out.
Speaker E:First time.
Speaker A:So, Dr. JMP, it's still.
Speaker A:The spotlight's still on you.
Speaker B:How far away would you say Dr. Kramnis?
Speaker B:As well as walking backwards, like towards us, I presume.
Speaker A:So when your light catches the wall behind him and reveals that you are in a passage so eerily similar to the subway you passed through before hours and hours ago.
Speaker A:He's about three meters away from you.
Speaker B:Dr. Jampus.
Speaker B:Jarpus.
Speaker B:Sorry, Dr. John.
Speaker A:That's a good name too.
Speaker B:She's just gonna kind of say aloud with the atone that Dr. Kramdis should hear as well as Dr. Bolas and Dr. Hoople.
Speaker B:Sleep tight.
Speaker B:Sleep tight.
Speaker G:Earplugs in.
Speaker B:She's going to insert those earplugs.
Speaker F:Oh, the good cramp.
Speaker F:Cramp.
Speaker F:Kramdis will do the same.
Speaker B:In that moment she's actually going to have to pull out a tablet that she has with.
Speaker B:She has a USB she's going to insert into the tablet to essentially she's got something to play on this USB and she's just going to go for it.
Speaker I:Dr. Bullis did put the earplugs in.
Speaker I:Just to be clear.
Speaker I:She followed suit.
Speaker A:You gotta say it.
Speaker I:Followed suit with the rest of the group.
Speaker B:Trust.
Speaker I:All look at.
Speaker I:While looking at them all like they're.
Speaker I:They're idiots.
Speaker I:But he did it.
Speaker I:Yes.
Speaker I:Yes.
Speaker A:From this Tablet.
Speaker A:Soft at first, until Dr. Jap turns it up and up and up, and she ensures that it meets the.
Speaker A:Well.
Speaker A:60 plus decibel level that the instructions require.
Speaker A:And rescuers, you all stop what you're doing.
Speaker A:You're roused.
Speaker A:Furrow.
Speaker A:You hear what sounds like a baroque string quartet, but oddly off kilter, as if there's like a.
Speaker A:A problem with the recording.
Speaker A:As if there's a rhythmic warping that occurs in a strange pulsing pattern.
Speaker A:And you all look up and you see Dr. Jump side by side with Dr. Huple, Dr. Bolas and Dr. Kramdis, who are wearing orange earplugs.
Speaker A:And she's holding tablet towards you as the sound pours forth in this pulse, this warp, in the sound of this, the string swelling.
Speaker A:You feel it pulling at something in your chest.
Speaker A:You feel like you want to sing or dance or lift up as if.
Speaker A:As if you want to move with the very music as it passes through the air between Dr. Jomp and yourselves.
Speaker A:I need Zifwolf to roll a 1D10, please.
Speaker A:Oh, sick.
Speaker A:You're going big.
Speaker E:Yeah, go big.
Speaker A:Go.
Speaker A:Go home.
Speaker C:Good or very bad?
Speaker A:Pathfinder, would you roll a 1D 10, please?
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:This is gonna be great.
Speaker C:Seven.
Speaker A:There we are.
Speaker A:Warden, please.
Speaker D:Warden.
Speaker D:Okay, that's a one.
Speaker A:Echo, please.
Speaker C:Oh, awesome.
Speaker C:We're gonna see all lines of the spectrum.
Speaker A:And finally.
Speaker C:Now you just need to roll a three.
Speaker A:And finally, Lifeline, please.
Speaker D:Nice.
Speaker A:Should have covered your ears.
Speaker A:Pooh.
Speaker A:In quick succession as rescuers, you begin to feel this warping pulse in the air.
Speaker A:You watch as Sifu falls to his knees.
Speaker A:His face goes pale.
Speaker A:He pitches forward onto the ground, face first.
Speaker A:Echo.
Speaker A:The lights go out completely.
Speaker A:Warden, you go ahead.
Speaker A:And as you listen to this, you undo your right glove and pull back your sleeve.
Speaker A:And you begin biting into your own flesh.
Speaker A:Pathfinder, this is mana from heaven.
Speaker A:You feel yourself carried away on the sounds.
Speaker A:The beautiful sounds coming through the tablet.
Speaker A:You feel your brother's hand in your own.
Speaker A:He smiles at you.
Speaker A:Walks through a bright room.
Speaker A:Disappears.
Speaker A:Your heart swells.
Speaker A:You feel old pains dissipate.
Speaker A:You can't remember them.
Speaker A:You're just so happy.
Speaker A:So, so happy.
Speaker A:Lifeline, you're not sure what's happening, but you look over and you see Zwulf fall to the ground as if he's been struck by something.
Speaker A:You are closest to him.
Speaker A:And you kneel down and you feel his pulse.
Speaker A:And you turn him over and he appears to be having a heart attack.
Speaker A:Oh, Jesus.
Speaker G:Well, that's no good.
Speaker A:Before.
Speaker A:Before we continue.
Speaker A:Dr. Jaunt, Dr. Bullis, Dr. Hoople, Dr. Kramdis, you're watching this happen in quick succession, but you have a moment to do something at this point.
Speaker A:What would you like to do?
Speaker H:Fucking run, Chris.
Speaker H:Am I blind?
Speaker A:Echo, you can't see anything.
Speaker H:Oh, shit.
Speaker A:You're blind now, Miller.
Speaker A:I'm blind.
Speaker A:Okay.
Speaker G:You ain't got no eyes, Echo.
Speaker H:That's nice.
Speaker G:You ain't got no eyes.
Speaker E:You don't need them.
Speaker E:Where are you going again?
Speaker A:Dr.
Speaker A:Hoop will.
Speaker A:HOOPEL turns towards Jump and gestures to the back the way they came as far as he understands it.
Speaker A:So that's the squeeze.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:So what happens is Dr. Huple tugs on your sleeve and points towards the squeeze.
Speaker A:What does Dr. Bolas, Dr. Kramdis, and Dr. Jaunt do?
Speaker I:I can't believe I'm gonna do this to myself.
Speaker I:Chris, should Dr. Bolas take a sanity check right now?
Speaker I:Because this is fucking insane.
Speaker A:I need to know what.
Speaker A:I need to know what he does first.
Speaker A:All of y' all are gonna take sanity checks.
Speaker A:I have to know what you do first.
Speaker A:I need.
Speaker A:I need you to answer my question.
Speaker A:So what are y' all doing when you see this happen?
Speaker I:Dr. Bolas is standing in shock.
Speaker A:Kramdis.
Speaker F:Dr. Kramdis will.
Speaker F:Dr. Kramdis will remove the object from the bag and start towards the.
Speaker F:The rest of the group.
Speaker F:He's not near them.
Speaker F:Right.
Speaker F:He was backing up.
Speaker A:And.
Speaker F:And he's gonna say, is this enough?
Speaker A:Okay, so you have about enough time to slowly bend down and reach your hand into the back.
Speaker F:Okay, I'll do that.
Speaker A:And Dr. JMP and Dr. Jap.
Speaker A:What are you doing?
Speaker B:Dr. Jap is going to sort of take action with Dr. Hueple's suggestion and turn to Dr. Bolas, kind of grab him by his shoulder, his arm, and pull him back towards the squeeze.
Speaker B:Like, start moving him in that direction.
Speaker A:Perfect.
Speaker A:All four of you, roll your sanities, please.
Speaker A:Thank you.
Speaker A:Would anybody like to project any potential loss?
Speaker F:This is a big bone, so I'm.
Speaker B:Going to do that as well.
Speaker A:It's a 1D4 from your willpower plus a bond of your choice.
Speaker F:I rolled an amazing four, and I'm going to do that with my friend Blake Gibbons, who now is not my friend because they're at zero.
Speaker B:Great.
Speaker B:I also had a one, so I will.
Speaker B:Dr. John is going to have that removed from the bond.
Speaker A:Nukalik, the boyfriend.
Speaker B:My boyfriend.
Speaker A:Ex boyfriend.
Speaker A:All right.
Speaker A:Dr. Kram to send you a roll.
Speaker A:Another sanity, please.
Speaker C:We're gonna all die.
Speaker A:That was a surprising roll.
Speaker A:Excellent.
Speaker F:I Don't know if that's bad or good.
Speaker A:Dr. Jomp, you're trying to drag Dr. Bolas and hoople is of course coming with you as it was something he has kind of pointed you in direction of back towards the squeeze there.
Speaker A:Dr. Bolas, you're watching as these people in front of you are collapsing or hurting themselves or screaming or moving their hands around as if they can't see what's in front of them because of the strange muffled music coming out of the tablet next to.
Speaker A:Next to your ear.
Speaker A:This is impossible, but you can't deny it.
Speaker A:And as you're pulled along, you wonder if you should go with them.
Speaker A:You're not sure what to do.
Speaker I:He's actually going to pull back and not allow himself to be pulled toward the.
Speaker I:Yeah, he does not want to go back into the squeeze.
Speaker A:Dr. Jhomp, you notice Bolas pulls away from you.
Speaker A:Dr. Kramdis, at this point, you've picked up the box out of your sack.
Speaker A:Mm.
Speaker A:Dr. Jhomp, you're watching as Warden is just tearing into his right arm, chewing a bit and then spitting it onto the dirt floor.
Speaker A:He looks up Pachu with lazy glazed over cow like eyes.
Speaker A:Roll your sanity again.
Speaker A:As you know what you're doing is causing him to do this to himself.
Speaker A:All right.
Speaker A:Would you like to project any potential loss?
Speaker B:Yes.
Speaker B:I'm also going to project again onto my boyfriend's.
Speaker B:I've been keeping that relationship pretty solid up to this point.
Speaker B:I only just got one.
Speaker B:I feel better about that.
Speaker A:What do you do now that Bolas is not feeling like coming with you?
Speaker A:Dr. Huepel, you're noticing the lack of movement from Bolas.
Speaker A:You're not sure if it's just because he's in shock or if he truly doesn't want to go with you.
Speaker A:Maybe you could ask him a question.
Speaker A:Pull out those earplugs.
Speaker B:No, Dr. Jamp is actually going.
Speaker B:She.
Speaker B:She is looking back at Dr. Huple and sort of shaking her head left to right like this isn't working.
Speaker B:And she's not going to attempt to grab Dr. Bolas again.
Speaker A:Hoople sees you both kind of hesitating and he hesitates and he's looking back towards the squeeze, collects himself.
Speaker A:You see him like, take a deep breath and get both y' all's attention.
Speaker A:Point down the other way like he's fairly certain we should be going the other way now.
Speaker B:Oh, no.
Speaker A:Dr. Kramdis, you have this box now.
Speaker A:Is there anything you'd like to do?
Speaker A:You're not wanting to look up and see the grazing of Warden upon his own arm.
Speaker A:You see that Echo has fallen on the ground and she's grasping blindly in front of her.
Speaker A:She screams and screams and screams.
Speaker A:You can definitely hear this despite your earplugs and the sounds coming from the tablet.
Speaker A:Lifeline is Neil knelt over Seawolf, her head cocked to the side.
Speaker A:She looks confused.
Speaker A:She's not moving.
Speaker A:But Sewolf is now convulsing on the ground.
Speaker F:Dr. Kramdis will take all of this in quickly run over to Dr. JMP and doing a cut it out hand across the neck motion.
Speaker B:Dr. Jump is going to react with confidence in Dr. Kramdis and stop playing the USB on the tablet and then remove youe watch.
Speaker A:His Pathfinder falls to the ground.
Speaker A:His knees striking the stone.
Speaker A:He puts his hands together in a prayer motion.
Speaker A:Tears streaming down his face.
Speaker A:He stares at the ceiling.
Speaker A:You watch as Warden spits out a chunk of flesh.
Speaker A:Looks confused.
Speaker A:And then he starts screaming and screaming in pain as he grasps his ruined arm.
Speaker A:Echo falls to the ground.
Speaker A:She grasps around and life flying and Seawolf don't move.
Speaker A:Agents.
Speaker A:What do you want to do?
Speaker I:Does Dr. Bolas see?
Speaker I:Is he able to recognize that Seawolf is having a heart attack right now?
Speaker A:He's definitely having a medical event.
Speaker A:I would say everyone in front of you is having some medical event.
Speaker A:Looks like Lifeline's in some sort of shock.
Speaker A:Looks like Seyewolf is.
Speaker A:Well, it's not good.
Speaker A:He fell straight down into his face and turned pale.
Speaker A:Real bad signs.
Speaker A:You don't know if it's a heart attack yet.
Speaker A:That's something Lifeline has determined due to her proximity.
Speaker A:Pathfinder looks like he's seen God.
Speaker A:He's looking straight at the ceiling with his hands clasped in prayer.
Speaker A:Warden is screaming and holding on to his arm that he's been chewing upon for the last few seconds in understandable pain.
Speaker A:He seems to be the only one who is of clarity of mind as he now holds his arm to his stomach.
Speaker A:He lurches back.
Speaker A:Is now against the wall of this new subway.
Speaker A:This very similar tunnel that you've discovered.
Speaker A:You're in here.
Speaker A:He's gritting his teeth and he looks like he's about to pass out.
Speaker A:So that's what Dr. Bullis sees.
Speaker I:Yeah.
Speaker I:He quickly moves over to Seowulf and just starts checking his vitals.
Speaker I:See if he can understand what's happening.
Speaker G:Lifeline will.
Speaker G:Lifeline will let him through.
Speaker H:Oh, I'm probably just screaming help.
Speaker A:Help.
Speaker H:And just trying to shuffle over towards the noises.
Speaker D:Would Warden be cognizant that they did something to him or no.
Speaker D:Before he passes out.
Speaker A:That is not what's on his mind at all right now.
Speaker A:What's happened is he has come to with a massive injury and he's losing a lot of blood.
Speaker A:And the pain is everything.
Speaker A:The only reason you didn't fall down is because your back hit the wall of the cave.
Speaker C:How conscious is Pathfinder at the moment?
Speaker A:Pathfinder?
Speaker A:It is a world full of beauty.
Speaker C:Okay, he's still there.
Speaker C:All right.
Speaker A:One that.
Speaker A:One that you don't deserve.
Speaker A:But you are blessed to be in.
Speaker D:Hello, Ketamine.
Speaker A:And you look up at the ceiling of this new subway tunnel and you lift your hands in supplication to whatever being is out there who has blessed you such.
Speaker A:You don't have a name for it.
Speaker A:It's obviously more than you.
Speaker A:It's whatever the ancients thought God was.
Speaker A:There are multitudes of names for it.
Speaker A:But to you, it is communion.
Speaker A:You are one with it now.
Speaker A:That's where you're at.
Speaker A:All right.
Speaker C:Good to know.
Speaker H:So echoes stop screaming and just shouts out Warden.
Speaker A:Warden.
Speaker H:Turn on the chem lights.
Speaker H:Turn on the chem lights.
Speaker H:We don't have power.
Speaker H:Arm.
Speaker H:Can't see anything.
Speaker A:Roll a constitution, Warden.
Speaker A:Let's see if you can.
Speaker A:It's a rough one for you.
Speaker D:Yeah, I would imagine so.
Speaker D:Never know.
Speaker D:Oh, I mean my cons pretty good though, like watch it fail me though.
Speaker D:That's a 24 on worse.
Speaker G:You stay awake.
Speaker A:Nicely done.
Speaker A:Yeah, Warden, you.
Speaker A:You stay.
Speaker A:You stay conscious.
Speaker A:And it's not a pleasant consciousness, that's for sure.
Speaker A:The pain is excruciating for a moment as the blood seeps over your other gloved hand and drips upon the floor in great black gouts.
Speaker A:You lift it away because some.
Speaker A:Something inside you just wants to see the damage.
Speaker A:And muscle, tendon, bone is visible.
Speaker A:And you slap your hand back down.
Speaker A:Oh fuck.
Speaker A:Oh, shit.
Speaker A:Our bad.
Speaker D:Lifeline.
Speaker G:What is it?
Speaker H:Fuck.
Speaker A:Dr. Bullis, did you get that first aid for me?
Speaker I:Oh, I got you.
Speaker I:Sorry.
Speaker I:Success.
Speaker I:45 out of 80.
Speaker A:Beautiful.
Speaker A:So while this chaos is swirling around you, Dr. Bullis, you are taking the measure of this fallen man.
Speaker A:It's very clear.
Speaker A:He's in the middle of a cardiac episode right now.
Speaker A:You're gonna do what you can, Lifeline.
Speaker A:You glance over with dim curiosity, look back at Warden, who's yelling at you.
Speaker A:Dr. Bullas.
Speaker A:You are in heightened mode.
Speaker A:You have something to do.
Speaker A:You don't have to take in the insanity around you the logical leap that you had to make based off of what Dr. Jomp did to these people.
Speaker A:And you, get to work.
Speaker A:The rest of my agents.
Speaker A:What are you now doing?
Speaker F:Dr. Kramdis will look at the agents and say, we gotta continue.
Speaker B:I'm prepared to move forward.
Speaker F:We need to get there before the bugs do.
Speaker A:Yeah, let's move.
Speaker B:Dr. Jump is also going to look over at Dr. Bolas and just kind of.
Speaker B:Y'.
Speaker B:All.
Speaker B:We leave them in your very capable hands.
Speaker B:Be careful.
Speaker I:Leave them.
Speaker A:The three agents begin trudging down through the subway, doing their best to jump from smooth outcropping to rocky formation.
Speaker A:As they begin to move out of sight into the darkness.
Speaker A:Dr. Bolas, you are trying to save this man's life.
Speaker A:He is.
Speaker A:You're gonna have to give him cpr.
Speaker A:Go ahead and open up his several layers of cold weather gear.
Speaker A:You begin to administer as best as you can.
Speaker A:This is an emergency situation and you are stuck beneath the earth.
Speaker A:Warden, what are you saying right now?
Speaker D:Hey, come on, man.
Speaker D:Leave that motherfucker.
Speaker D:Help me out.
Speaker D:I'm still conscious, my friend.
Speaker D:Arm's bleeding, man.
Speaker A:Echo.
Speaker A:What do you say?
Speaker F:Warden?
Speaker H:Where are the fucking lights?
Speaker H:Turn on the fucking lights.
Speaker A:At this point, Pathfinder, are you comfortable saying a little bit based off of what I've set up?
Speaker C:I. I don't think he is speaking.
Speaker C:I think it is.
Speaker C:It is just a soft hu.
Speaker C:Love it.
Speaker F:That is so creepy.
Speaker F:That's so creepy.
Speaker A:Lifeline.
Speaker A:Lifeline, you stand up and you kind of crack your neck.
Speaker A:And you walk over very casually and slowly to Warden.
Speaker A:What would you like to do?
Speaker G:Lifeline will pick up that ruin of his arm.
Speaker G:Well, this isn't gonna work at all.
Speaker A:Oh.
Speaker F:Oh, no.
Speaker F:Yes.
Speaker G:She will unfold her entrenching tool.
Speaker E:Oh, Jesus Christ.
Speaker G:And gently tap it against Warden's.
Speaker G:The top of Warden's head.
Speaker G:And say.
Speaker G:I can make this quick.
Speaker G:Just get.
Speaker A:What.
Speaker D:What the are you doing, man?
Speaker G:The word Warden.
Speaker G:And let me help you.
Speaker D:Chris, could I summon up any sort of strength to just tackle her?
Speaker A:Oh, absolutely.
Speaker A:It's an unarmed minus 40%.
Speaker D:Okay, let's fucking give it a go then.
Speaker D:Let's see what happens.
Speaker A:Yeah, of course.
Speaker A:I mean, seems like it's a life or death situation now.
Speaker A:Oh, shit.
Speaker D:I meant to do a success.
Speaker G:My God.
Speaker A:You launch yourself at Lifeline, realizing that she's bananas.
Speaker A:Lost it just like the others.
Speaker A:You're watching the madness unfurl around you and this is it.
Speaker A:You launch yourself and slam into her chest and stomach.
Speaker A:She reels backwards and she rolls on unarmed as well.
Speaker G:I. Yeah, I will do.
Speaker G:So any penalty for that because I just got tackled or.
Speaker A:No.
Speaker G:Nope.
Speaker G:Okay, Success.
Speaker G:And mine's.
Speaker G:Well, yours is.
Speaker G:Well, if we're going by the negative 40, though, per DG.
Speaker E:No, no, no, yours is closer.
Speaker E:It's more about the higher number in general.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:Yep.
Speaker B:This has you cover.
Speaker C:So you buy one by one.
Speaker E:It's not from your.
Speaker A:No, no, no.
Speaker A:You won.
Speaker A:You won by one.
Speaker E:It's not distance from.
Speaker A:So this is an opposed roll.
Speaker A:Correct.
Speaker A:All right.
Speaker A:You almost tumble over.
Speaker A:You almost end up pinned underneath this.
Speaker A:This maimed man, but you stop him.
Speaker A:Still strong.
Speaker A:Maybe you were wrong.
Speaker G:Kneeling down on, like, putting my knee into the small of his back.
Speaker A:Oh, no, no.
Speaker A:He's like, around you.
Speaker A:No, hold on.
Speaker G:Okay, sorry.
Speaker A:He tried to tackle you.
Speaker A:His hands are around your midsection.
Speaker A:You didn't fall to the ground.
Speaker A:That's all that's happened so far.
Speaker G:Yeah.
Speaker G:Okay.
Speaker G:Easy enough.
Speaker G:Then I will just swing the entrenching tool as best I can up onto the crown of his head.
Speaker A:That's a melee.
Speaker A:Weapons, please.
Speaker G:Yep.
Speaker D:Can I block that?
Speaker C:No.
Speaker A:Damn.
Speaker G:Well, it's good for you.
Speaker G:That lifeline is more of a healer than a herder, genuinely.
Speaker D:Yeah.
Speaker D:Well, knowing how these roles have been going.
Speaker G:Oh, no.
Speaker G:40, failure.
Speaker A:You bring down the club atop his head.
Speaker A:Warden, for a moment.
Speaker A:You see stars.
Speaker A:She's beating you.
Speaker A:What would you like to do?
Speaker D:Headbutter.
Speaker A:You reel your head up as fast as you can, hoping to catch her chin with your helmet.
Speaker A:Roll your unarmed club, please.
Speaker A:Oh, no.
Speaker G:He's actually good at this.
Speaker A:Nice.
Speaker A:Go ahead and roll your damage, please.
Speaker D:Holy shit.
Speaker A:Maybe.
Speaker G:Give it to me.
Speaker A:Give it to me.
Speaker D:Is Dr. Bolas gonna react to this?
Speaker I:Yeah, that's what I'm saying.
Speaker I:Give me.
Speaker I:When I.
Speaker I:When it's.
Speaker I:When it's a moment, you will react to this.
Speaker A:So, listen, I. I know you guys want to get Dr. Bolas into this.
Speaker A:He's super focused on trying to save Civil right now.
Speaker A:He's got screaming people all behind him right now.
Speaker A:He's actually not going to give a.
Speaker A:About this.
Speaker A:Fair enough.
Speaker A:So, sorry about that.
Speaker A:No, all good.
Speaker A:He's not going to happen.
Speaker I:Run away as soon as he notices.
Speaker A:Dude, no, no, no, no, no, no.
Speaker A:I don't think you understood, John.
Speaker A:Everybody's screaming around you or humming or doing weird, and you went to the guy who was having a heart attack and you started to save his life.
Speaker A:Now what's all that's changed is there's more.
Speaker A:More screaming now, if you want to look up and run away, that's fine, but that's like, not.
Speaker A:There's, like, for him, there's no sensory difference.
Speaker A:Does that make sense?
Speaker I:Yeah.
Speaker I:No, it makes perfect sense.
Speaker I:Where I'm taking him is like, at some point he's going to look up and realize that, A, the people behind him are murdering each other, and B, his team has abandoned him.
Speaker I:So he's.
Speaker A:Well, they did yell at you and say they were leaving, so maybe that is the cue where you.
Speaker A:Where you stop working.
Speaker I:I definitely did not catch that part.
Speaker I:They just ran off.
Speaker F:No, we told you.
Speaker A:No, they said, hey.
Speaker A:They did.
Speaker A:Yeah, you got this.
Speaker A:They literally yelled at you, bud.
Speaker A:Oh, no.
Speaker A:Yeah, I heard.
Speaker I:Yeah, there's like, all right, you got this.
Speaker I:And they left.
Speaker I:And then I'd have a chance to say anything, so I was like, all.
Speaker A:Right, okay, well, if that.
Speaker A:If that's when you wanted to leave, then that's fine, but you didn't, so I assumed you were staying.
Speaker I:The narrative was rolling so fast, and then I didn't realize.
Speaker I:You did take a. Hippocratic actually left me behind.
Speaker A:What do you want to do?
Speaker A:Let's take.
Speaker A:Let's.
Speaker A:Let's.
Speaker A:Let's roll.
Speaker A:Let's roll it back then.
Speaker A:Because my understanding.
Speaker A:You got it.
Speaker A:You got to stop the action if I move.
Speaker A:That's fine.
Speaker I:Hey, stick with what we got it.
Speaker I:Just when he real.
Speaker I:What's going to happen is at some point he's going to look up and realize what's happening and then realize his team is gone, and he's going to have to react to that.
Speaker A:Okay, I'll give you an opportunity to look up, but my understanding of how things played out is that you're focused on savings.
Speaker I:That's what he's doing right now.
Speaker I:That's his focus.
Speaker A:Okay, well, the terrible grunts, screams, and humming continue from around you as you focus on.
Speaker A:On cpr.
Speaker A:Let's see here.
Speaker A:Where.
Speaker A:Where the heck were we?
Speaker A:Oh, lifeline, you just took a freaking.
Speaker A:Oh, yeah, massive nose is fully broken, actually the chin.
Speaker A:So what's happened is your bottom jaw has closed at a very quick and rapid pace upon your tongue.
Speaker A:And you even see with some measure of fascination, a small, fleshy pink tip fly across the the room through the beam of your headlamp and land somewhere into the darkness.
Speaker G:Oh, hell yeah.
Speaker G:That's exciting.
Speaker A:Wow.
Speaker A:The pain is exhilarating.
Speaker A:What would you like to do?
Speaker G:That's a great question.
Speaker G:I. I did DM you, but that's to your discretion.
Speaker A:Okay, one sec gotten 100 million messages.
Speaker G:I understand.
Speaker G:So that's why I brought it up.
Speaker D:Hopefully y' all are okay with us going at it.
Speaker C:That's literally what we're here for.
Speaker G:Very rare.
Speaker D:It's very rare we get to do this kind of shit.
Speaker G:I always want to do this, man.
Speaker C:We've always wanted to kill you.
Speaker D:Just remember, you rolled a 100 recently in our show.
Speaker A:Caius.
Speaker A:Shut the fuck up.
Speaker A:Shut the fuck up.
Speaker A:Shut the fuck up.
Speaker A:I will.
Speaker C:I will comfort you.
Speaker A:Next.
Speaker C:As soon as I'm out of this, I need you.
Speaker A:Lifeline to roll a 1D 100, please.
Speaker H:Of course.
Speaker A:Oh, gosh.
Speaker G:Six under.
Speaker A:Holy.
Speaker C:Holy fucking hell.
Speaker A:You move with great and focused purpose.
Speaker A:It's been a while, so those muscles are.
Speaker A:Takes a second, well, less than a second, for you to regain mastery.
Speaker A:But, yeah, you move in, you move quick.
Speaker A:And I need Warden to roll.
Speaker A:Power, please.
Speaker D:Alrighty.
Speaker D:Which, if I recall correctly, is not great.
Speaker D:Oh, no, it's not.
Speaker D:Oh, no.
Speaker F:That's a failure.
Speaker D:That's a 54 over 35.
Speaker A:Warden, you're.
Speaker A:The pain's gone.
Speaker A:You're sitting in a place that you vaguely remember comes back to.
Speaker A:You're at the bottom of that.
Speaker A:That cavern, that shaft.
Speaker A:But you never went all the way down.
Speaker A:You look over to your left and you see Brendan.
Speaker A:Bodies mangled, twisted.
Speaker A:Shards of bone poking through his vest.
Speaker A:His jaw's missing.
Speaker A:It must have caught on something on the way down.
Speaker A:But what's left of it moves slowly.
Speaker A:His eyes stare at you, pleading.
Speaker A:His hand reaches up, somehow intact.
Speaker A:You reach back towards him.
Speaker A:When you touch his glove, he pulls you in close towards him.
Speaker A:Close towards that gaping hole.
Speaker A:Somehow, you hear.
Speaker A:You little man, you.
Speaker A:You can stay in this hole forever.
Speaker A:The laughing echoes.
Speaker A:You feel something at the base of your spine stab deep.
Speaker A:And they become one with it.
Speaker A:Something dirty, something horrible.
Speaker A:You look up the top of the shaft.
Speaker A:Her eyes look like lifelines.
Speaker A:But then something else.
Speaker A:The laughter continues.
Speaker A:You begin to scream.
Speaker A:And Lifeline begins to scream.
Speaker A:Dr. Bolas.
Speaker A:At this point, you spin around.
Speaker A:The screaming's gone way over the top.
Speaker A:Lifeline's on the ground.
Speaker A:She's crying and clawing at her eyes as blood pressure pours down from her face.
Speaker A:Warden is screaming and staring at her, just screaming and screaming, as if his screams are affecting her.
Speaker A:As if something emanates from his constant, almost breathless screams are causing her to hurt herself in this way.
Speaker A:Roll your sanity, please.
Speaker A:Dr. Bullet.
Speaker A:Holy shit.
Speaker C:Jesus Christ.
Speaker G:All according to plan.
Speaker A:Dr. Bolas, would you like to project any potential loss from that sanity roll.
Speaker I:Yes.
Speaker A:Roll a 1.
Speaker A:D4.
Speaker D:Big bone.
Speaker I:That's a couple of them.
Speaker I:A couple of them there also.
Speaker D:Shitcast.
Speaker D:I hope you've enjoyed our performances and our time together.
Speaker A:This has been fucking fun.
Speaker E:It's not over yet.
Speaker A:I. I don't know.
Speaker A:I don't know what you're.
Speaker A:What you're doing.
Speaker A:Bowing out.
Speaker A:Dr. Bullis.
Speaker A:I don't think I can describe it again.
Speaker A:But what you hear to your right as you try to take in this gore fest is the softest of hums.
Speaker A:Oh yeah.
Speaker E:He's still there.
Speaker C:Please don't take my son.
Speaker A:Shine away, Dr. Bullis.
Speaker A:This is your world right now.
Speaker I:Dr. Bullis looks.
Speaker I:He surveys the scene.
Speaker I:Realizes that his team is not there.
Speaker I:Looks.
Speaker I:Stands up.
Speaker A:And as you try to stand up you feel a hand grasp your arm.
Speaker E:And you hear a faint whispering from Seawolf.
Speaker E:You're not getting out of here.
Speaker A:Here.
Speaker A:Teufl.
Speaker E:I see.
Speaker E:You see?
Speaker E:Wolf grabs as hard as you can.
Speaker A:Dr. Bullis.
Speaker A:This man was near death.
Speaker A:And you had not completed even the first round of CPR maneuvers.
Speaker A:You look down at him.
Speaker A:All blood is gone from his face still.
Speaker A:But there's something glittering black behind his eyes.
Speaker A:He grasps your arm with uncanny strength.
Speaker A:He's still lying prostrate on the the ground.
Speaker A:Face up on his back.
Speaker A:What would you like to do?
Speaker A:You have not yet stood up.
Speaker I:I'm going to try to stand up and break.
Speaker I:Break away from him.
Speaker A:Perfect.
Speaker A:All I need is a strength from civil.
Speaker A:That's at a minus 20%.
Speaker A:And I need a strength.
Speaker A:Or unarmed from Dr. Bolas.
Speaker A:Whichever is higher.
Speaker E:Damn.
Speaker E:74 over now 50 from Zulf.
Speaker I:I got a 3 out of 45 on strength.
Speaker A:Sad.
Speaker A:You rip your arm away from his weak grasps.
Speaker A:Whatever strange strength has entered him.
Speaker A:It's not enough.
Speaker A:And then hear the scene stop as you turn and a hand lands on your shoulder.
Speaker A:It's firm.
Speaker A:You glance behind you.
Speaker A:Pathfinder has stopped singing.
Speaker A:He's no longer kneeling on the ground.
Speaker C:My sun and shine.
Speaker C:Don't take him away.
Speaker C:Help.
Speaker A:It's.
Speaker C:It's this beautiful plan.
Speaker C:You have to help us.
Speaker C:It.
Speaker C:It's what it wants.
Speaker C:It's what it wants.
Speaker I:Dr. Bowles Just.
Speaker I:Just like mutters Dios mio to himself and starts trying to back away from him as well.
Speaker I:Down the.
Speaker I:Down the.
Speaker I:The new subway.
Speaker A:Pathfinder, are you trying to stop him?
Speaker A:Or do you let him go?
Speaker C:I. Pathfinder just nods and says.
Speaker C:I understand all.
Speaker C:I'll help you.
Speaker C:We'll get out.
Speaker C:We'll get to our places.
Speaker C:And he will follow Bolas.
Speaker C:He knows where Sevwolf is.
Speaker C:He knows where Warden is, where Echo is, where Lifeline is.
Speaker C:He'll come back.
Speaker C:But right now, he needs to help Bolas find his place.
Speaker A:Oh.
Speaker A:As Bolas quickly moves through the subway, trying to get away from the madness behind him, Pathfinder very close on his heels, but not in a threatening way, more of in a.
Speaker A:A way where he seems like he feels responsibility for you, Dr. Bolas.
Speaker A:You can't shake that strange feeling.
Speaker A:It's not a comfortable one, though.
Speaker I:No, it's not.
Speaker A:And as.
Speaker A:As the flashing lights and the screaming begin to recede behind you, you see a beam of light strike the shrinking form of Safewulf one last time.
Speaker A:He's crawling towards you, his face contorted in a grimace of anger.
Speaker A:And thankfully it's gone.
Speaker A:As you turn back away and focus on catching back up, hopefully to those.
Speaker A:Those others who might be able to steer you clear of this place.
Speaker A:You hope to God they can.
Speaker I:Dr. Bols is shouting at this point, too, saying hey.
Speaker A:Hey.
Speaker A:In response, all you hear is Pathfinder repeating the same phrase over and over again.
Speaker C:We've got to find our place.
Speaker C:All of us.
Speaker C:We rest with that boy in his coffin.
Speaker C:And we'll find our resting homes, too.
Speaker A:This second subway tunnel yawns beneath the glacier's missing heart.
Speaker A:It's a claustrophobic vein of stone, slick with damp rot.
Speaker A:And now despair.
Speaker A:Water drips like a haunting metronome, punctuating the brief moments of silence between screams.
Speaker A:Lifeline's corpse lies crumpled, a marionette cut loose, her blood a black pool seeping into the cracks and down into the deep grooves of the tunnel.
Speaker A:Warden convulses nearby, his screams guttural and frayed, torn from a throat raw with anguish.
Speaker A:Even now, his mind reels before a cascade of twisted, vivid imagery.
Speaker A:His childhood home a pyre.
Speaker A:Brendan's helpless wails, a lash across decades abandonment by those whom he thought loved him most.
Speaker A:All of it is compressed into a searing instant that repeats again and again, flaying his mind.
Speaker A:His right arm hangs a mangled tapestry of flesh and bone, weeping crimson gouts, while his left hand claws at the unforgiving stone, desperate for purchase upon something real.
Speaker A:Echo's voice trembles through the dark, blind and broken.
Speaker A:Seawolf.
Speaker H:Seawolf.
Speaker H:Her slights.
Speaker H:I can't see anything.
Speaker A:Her fingers scrape the ground, seeking answers in a world gone black.
Speaker A:Sifu drags himself onward, his breath a rattling hymn of pain and fury, his face a mask of zealots.
Speaker A:Fire.
Speaker E:Devil's hand.
Speaker E:The cowards fled.
Speaker E:Gott Wirzigristen.
Speaker A:Something rigid and unyielding coils tighter in Warden's skull.
Speaker A:Kill them now.
Speaker A:It hisses, a sibilant venom that floods into Warden's nerves with fire.
Speaker A:And his body moves.
Speaker A:It suddenly lurches upright, moved to a purpose by a will other than his own left hand, snatching up a jagged rock, its edges glinting like a guillotine in the cave's faint sheen.
Speaker A:The unending hissing and laughing in his head drives him towards a predator's stagger through the gloom.
Speaker D:I had.
Speaker D:I wanted.
Speaker D:I had a thought.
Speaker D:Lifeline had an entrenching tool.
Speaker D:Could I have that instead in my hand?
Speaker D:Instead of a rock?
Speaker A:Let's go ahead and roll a lock.
Speaker D:It's a 53 over 50.
Speaker A:So no, as your barely controllable fingers reach and sprawl across the dirty ground, it comes upon this jagged, knifelike rock.
Speaker A:And it is now in your hand as you lurch toward the prostrate forms of both Echo and Safe Wolf.
Speaker A:Echo.
Speaker A:You hear Warden's ragged breaths, and you might reach out with trembling hope.
Speaker A:Warden.
Speaker H:Warden, you're still here.
Speaker A:Please.
Speaker H:Please help me.
Speaker H:I can't see.
Speaker H:My eyes.
Speaker H:We gotta get out of here.
Speaker H:The comms.
Speaker H:The comms.
Speaker H:I can get us back.
Speaker A:Help.
Speaker A:Help.
Speaker A:Her pleas are like daggers, piercing the haze of Warden's torment.
Speaker A:His mind's a shattered ruin.
Speaker A:No will, no sanity.
Speaker A:Just a cage of memory, misery.
Speaker A:But his body.
Speaker A:Body remembers the engineer who braced the weak, who mended the broken.
Speaker A:The sharp rock rises, quivering in his grip.
Speaker A:Pendulum of fate.
Speaker A:Warden, please roll a constitution.
Speaker D:Yes, sir.
Speaker D:That is a 15 under 90.
Speaker A:Warden's frame shudders, a fortress of sinew against the tide of blood, blood loss and internal agony.
Speaker A:His lips part, a ghost of defiance.
Speaker A:No.
Speaker A:Not Brendan.
Speaker A:I'll save him.
Speaker A:The rock tumbles out of Warden's grasp, striking the floor with a hollow clack.
Speaker A:Crumples down beside Echo.
Speaker A:His breath a wet raspberry run.
Speaker A:Blood streams from his nose, his arm, a scarlet tide pooling beneath him.
Speaker A:Something within screeches again, a shrill, inhuman rage lashing him with phantom flames.
Speaker A:But Sevulf's eyes blaze.
Speaker A:He misreads this tableau as it happens through a lens of scripture, the mourning.
Speaker E:Vassals of Satan, Lucifer.
Speaker E:He thunders his utility.
Speaker E:Knife in hand.
Speaker E:He lunges forward.
Speaker A:The tarnished blade trembles in his weak grip, but he rolls.
Speaker A:A melee weapons.
Speaker A:Go ahead.
Speaker E:Melee weapons.
Speaker E:42 under 60.
Speaker A:Success.
Speaker A:The knife plunges into Warden's thigh, a gush of red blooming anew inside the poor engineer's head.
Speaker A:Head.
Speaker A:Something seizes the pain, a puppeteer's cruel delight, forcing Warden's arm to swing a clumsy arc that a clumsy arc that clips Sebwulf's shoulder, tearing cloth and flesh.
Speaker A:Say.
Speaker A:Wulf reels but strikes back, his blade slashing Warden's forearm.
Speaker A:A shallow ribbon of blood splashes onto the stone.
Speaker A:Echo.
Speaker A:Sveko's voice cracks the chaos savel.
Speaker A:Warden, what are you doing?
Speaker A:Her hands are flailing, a blind anchor grasping at both.
Speaker A:Warden's body sags, a marionette with half cut strings.
Speaker A:With a final fading surge he shoves Echo towards Se Wulf, his voice a broken whisper.
Speaker A:Go.
Speaker A:Zafua freezes, his fanatic's fire flickering.
Speaker A:Perhaps this isn't the adversary he named Maya.
Speaker E:Maya.
Speaker E:We must endure.
Speaker E:We must endure this.
Speaker A:He rasps, clutching his bleeding shoulder as he hauls Echo with him.
Speaker A:Their crawl a desperate retreat into the tunnel's black maw.
Speaker A:Warden turns turns over, slumping against the wall, listening to their footsteps retreat into darkness.
Speaker A:He's a husk cradled by the cold stone.
Speaker A:His pulse is a faint drumbeat against the silence.
Speaker A:Now blood pools beneath him, a dark mirror reflecting nothing.
Speaker A:Yet something is seething within him, its essence a tangle of frayed dendrites and spite.
Speaker A:Warden.
Speaker A:Whatever's left of him.
Speaker A:It aware of an argument.
Speaker A:The thing is thinking, weighing its options.
Speaker A:It knows it could leave him here to die.
Speaker A:It knows the blind one and the zealots are still close enough.
Speaker A:But it feels spent.
Speaker A:Warden has never felt it feel so weak until now, feels stretched thin by lifeline's collapse and his own obstinate shell.
Speaker A:It feels like that it knows another shift might snap its being.
Speaker A:And it also knows that the spares disappearing down the tunnel are flawed, one in sightless terror, the other with a heart teetering on ruin.
Speaker A:Warden's mind guilt drenched resistance.
Speaker A:It knows the cave's bones.
Speaker A:It knows pursuit.
Speaker A:His body, cursed with grit, defied the entity not by will but by some infuriating reflex of meat.
Speaker A:Warden's will suffers a grievous blow as he realizes the thing doubles down and begins whispering new horrors, a symphony of fire and screams, all to grind him into an all too inevitable submission.
Speaker A:If he lives, it'll hollow him yet.
Speaker A:If he dies, it'll bide its time.
Speaker A:A predator coiled in the dark.
Speaker A:The subway stills a crypt of echoes dripping water, retreating gasps and the faint alien hum of a mind unbowed but unmade.
Speaker A:Sam.
