Ep. 57: Misha‘s Memory, Part 2

[Gentle, hopeful piano music carries us into the episode.]

Kyle

The Iron Wind is silent. The Iron Wind is invisible.

[Rushing winds begin.]

It’s effects, however, are neither. As you make your way down this back side of the ravine, out of Hanrenheid Castle, led by your scarf, Misha, you can see behind you a line of change.

[Heavy crashing accompanies the fierce winds.]

Suddenly there’s mountain ranges, and then it pops into different things. It pops into cauliflower, it pops into electricity, it pops into a muddy mess of all three slammed together, and you can track it by this line that’s being drawn, this invisible line as these things are popping into existence and they’re getting closer and closer to you.

You’re struggling to stumble as you’re being dragged along by the scarf. It seems much more determined to go than you are.

Ari

Yeah.

Kyle

But, the Iron Wind is still following quickly.

[Environmental sounds fade.]

What are you doing? What are you feeling? What’s Misha’s state right now?

Ari

Well, Misha first and foremost is feeling a type of, if they were to describe it, a type of sadness that they had not felt as much before. They felt bad when Fayz hurt his leg, and they have felt scared and anxious and confused, but this is a new feeling because they had never said goodbye to a friend before, and even though they promised they would head back and they only wanted to head back as soon as possible, with every step they are realizing more and more that is probably not going to happen anytime soon. The more they’re walking away they realize that. There’s more distance between them and their friend that just helped them a lot. So, they still sometimes feel thankful for having the scarf around at least, though they’re at least—

Kyle

[Flatly, interrupting.] Roll Speed defense.

Ari

[Caught off guard.] What?

Kyle

Roll Speed defense.

Ari

Ooh. Okay. Lucky purple die.

[Rolls.] That’s a 6.

[Smiling nervously.] I got 6!

[Fast-paced futuristic music begins.]

Kyle

You are thrown out of your thoughts as above you on the mountainside you can see the line has caught up to a bit of the mountain and has removed some of the rocks protecting the space above you leaving the rest of them disconnected from the sides. Suddenly, with a great rumble, the mountain itself seems like it starts to fall down on you. with the scarf’s help, it pulls you out of the way, and you stumble to the ground and get up, and as you get up you realize that within all this thought you’ve let the Iron Wind catch up to you.

Ari

Oof.

Kyle

On your left and on your right, you’re starting to see things change and move and burst into existence, and you’ve gotta motor fast.

Ari

Oh my god.

Kyle

So what are you gonna do, Misha?

Ari

Well, they’re just gonna sprint. They are just gonna go for it, try to run across the sand.

Kyle

As you sprint, suddenly at one point a stray bolt of electricity shoots out from the mountainside and goes right in front of where you’re running.

Ari

I turn around and try to book it at a 90 degree angle from where that thing fell, so that I’m not actually running back where I came from.

[Rolls.] And I got a 16.

Kyle

You turn over and there isn’t anything there, there’s the wall, but suddenly the wall collapses and turns into an ocean that parts itself by the sides.

Ari

Damn. Okay.

Kyle

But suddenly, it starts to collapse back in on itself again as it hits the outsides of the mountain that has kind of made this pool. The waves hit the outside and swing back in.

Ari

Well, I’m trying to, Misha’s gonna increase their speed, try to beat the waves and find a way to just go all the way past this ocean before it drowns them.

[Rolls.] They got a 6. I got another 6.

Kyle

The oceans come and they fall on top of you, and you are slammed against the earth for 6 points of Might damage as you are thrown through this whirlpool.

Ari

Oh my god. I got 6 of Might damage. Okay. And I was a weak boy back in Tier 1. [Laughs.]

Kyle

[Laughs.]

Eventually this whirlpool throws you out onto the ground, and you can see just the mountainside itself

[00:05:00]

falling down into the valley below, but that’s not your problem. Actually, no, that is your problem. what are you doing?

Ari

So the mountain’s crumbling on top of, like…?

Kyle

Yeah. You are now on top of part of the ravine, and where you are – much like was just happening to you on the other side – is falling down into the ravine itself.

Ari

Okay. Is there another place that I can try and jump to?

Kyle

Yeah. You can jump to a neighboring Cliffside.

Ari

Yeah. Alright. I’m gonna try and do that.

[Rolls.] But I got a 4.

[Nervous giggling.] That’s not very good. I have immunity. I can’t die before the campaign actually starts.

Kyle

[Laughs.]

Ari

[Pinched.] Right?

Kyle

You get replaced with an identical Misha Jarvis.

Ari

Yes, it’s a clone all along.

Kyle

Actually…

[Tense action music begins.]

Ari

I don’t like that face.

Kyle

You jump and you grab with the scarf’s help onto the side of the other Cliffside. You’re holding on, and you’re about to make it through, but that’s when the cliff you were just on sandwiches you between the cliff you’re holding onto and itself.

Ari

[Exhaling heavily.] Oh boy.

Kyle

And Misha Jarvis, after losing all of their Might points,

Ari

Holy fuck.

Kyle

Falls down, down, down, down, down… into the darkness below, and the only thing we can see as they fall is one bright red light turn into two.

[Static interference overtakes the music and both fade.]

Kyle (as Jeff)

Alright, so uh, DinDavid.

Ari (as DinDavid)

Uh, what is up, Jeff?

[Lurching country western style music begins.]

Kyle (as Jeff)

Ugh. Oh god. It’s been like two weeks since we started on this damn thing, but at least we got that first chunk of stuff done.

Ari (as DinDavid)

I would say it’s pretty good. I mean, you know, as long as nobody looks at it with a magnifying glass I think it’s passible, you know, just the surface level stuff.

Kyle (as Jeff)

Yeah, passable at best. It probably won’t even take up to an hour to summarize all of it, but ugh… One of us is gonna have to tell the client.

Ari (as DinDavid)

Ugh. I feel like that’s way, way above my paygrade, man.

Kyle (as Jeff)

Listen, I know. I’ve heard stories about the client, man. Freaking scary things. Nah, fucking scary. I can swear, you can’t, I forgot about those rules. Fucking scary, man.

Ari (as DinDavid)

Yeah. Look. I encountered the client a little bit once, just from a distance, and I was like that is not for me, man, that is absolutely not for me, so talking to them up close? I will have to get a raise.

Kyle (as Jeff)

Listen, I—

Ari (as DinDavid)

And a free burger.

[Music stops abruptly.]

Kyle

[Laughing.] I don't know why I find that so funny.

Ari

[Laughing, nearly unintelligible.] It’s funny!

Kyle

It’s just such an odd thing to ask for. I want a raise, and I want a burger!

Ari

A free burger.

Kyle

And then I’m happy!

Ari

[Smiling.] Dave has unique tastes.

Kyle

[Fighting through giggles.] Okay, so… Um. What the fuck was I gonna say?

[Music returns.]

Kyle (as Jeff)

Listen, DinDavid, I get it, alright? I want a burger too, although honestly I’m more partial to, you know, chackin sammiches, but that’s just me.

Ari (as DinDavid)

I guess I could go for a calzune, but…

Kyle (as Jeff)

Ahh, you disgust me, Dave.

Ari (as DinDavid)

Listen. Listen. Anything that’s free food that’s not patsa or snapoas I’m fine with.

Kyle (as Jeff)

Anyways, so, this is what happens. This is what happens when you back up your memories in the proverbial cloud so to speak. You can’t have your memories up here and then a physical form down there, because when that happens and you cut off from the Datasphere, poof, you gotta get us two shmos to fix it.

Ari (as DinDavid)

Yeah, and it’s not easy, it’s definitely a lot of work. I still don’t know why we’re doing it, but hey.

Kyle (as Jeff)

Why, why does, why does the client care so much about this thing? It’s cute.

Ari (as DinDavid)

I do not want to ask questions that I should not ask. I’m paid to fix things. I’m fixing things. I don’t understand why this is so important, but I’m just regular {*9:00}.

[Static interference overtakes the scene again and fades out.]

Kyle

Her lips smile. Her red lips smile.

[Methodical, synthetic melody, the Lady with Cinnabar Lips’ theme begins.]

Her red lips smile as she looks at you. Her red lips smile as she looks down at you and extends an arm. Her red lips smile as she looks down at you and extends an arm, and the lips frown as a force around your torso pulls you back and away from her.

[Music fades.]

Misha, you wake up some time later. It’s hard to tell when. As you sit up, you can see two red lights on the wall, one of which fades as your red eye turns back to being gray. On the ground beneath you, looking exhausted somehow,

[00:10:00]

Ari

Aw.

Kyle

You see your scarf just kind of lazily laying on your lap.

Ari

Aww. Misha will go to the scarf and ask,

Ari (as Misha)

How did we get here? Did you do all this?

Kyle

Your scarf just looks up at you and lays back down, but a little more… earlier it looked like it just was kinda flopped, almost as if it wasn’t animate at all, but now it looks up at you and it kinda nestles in.

Ari

Aw. Misha will say,

Ari (as Misha)

Well, thank you. If you did all this, it’s very interesting.

Ari

So, Misha is inside… Are there actual lights and stuff in the place where they’re at?

Kyle

Um. So, you fell down like a ravine, like a crack between—not like “the big valley,” but you fell down a small crack between mountains. As you look up you can’t make out the light. It’s just kind of an empty darkness up there. It looks like you fell pretty dang far.

Ari

Ohh, okay.

Kyle

You’re in what looks to be a cavernous-like space.

Ari

Okay. Okay. So, how big is this cave?

Kyle

I don't know. It’s tough to know. You gonna sit down or you gonna get up and walk around a bit?

Ari

Misha will get up and walk around a bit. If it’s, hmm, I guess if it’s dark I don’t have anything to light it… but there’s this red light, right? They will go to see what that is, if it’s inside the cave.

Kyle

Okay. You go and walk towards the red lights, and you get closer and closer to it, and as you get closer it gets bigger and then bigger and bigger. Eventually you get right up, face to the wall, and you only see red.

Ari

Oh.

Kyle

And you realize the red light is just from your red eye.

Ari

Oh, I see!

Kyle

It’s like a flashlight.

Ari

Ohh… It’s just pretty—okay, I see, I see. That was my bad, then.

Kyle

No, that’s fine.

Ari

Yeah, then Misha will go around and explore the cave a little bit more, holding tight to the scarf and petting it a little bit, because they seem that it has been through a lot.

Kyle

[Laughs.] Yeah, your scarf nestles up right on you. it seems to be sagging a bit more, because it’s just tired. It’s like if you hold a baby in one of those little papooses.

Ari

Yeah.

Kyle

Yeah. So you walk around, and I gotta say, for being a cave that you fell into in a life and death scenario… it’s surprisingly cozy.

Ari

[Easing.] Okay.

[Soft music begins that gives a hollow but positive feeling.]

Kyle

It looks like while the crack that you fell down might have been made randomly this cave has been around for a while, and it does seem pretty lived in. you find just a handful of things. You find some tomatoes, some other frets – that’s what fruits are – some other fruits and vegetables.

Ari

I mean, Misha doesn’t care about those, so it’s fine, but they can use them as decoration for the cave, just put them around for some color.

Kyle

You see some bunks, some random objects. The only really interesting thing to you is you do see a very worn out book all about Numenera and magic items.

Ari

Hmm.

Kyle

I say that because you have a worn Numenera book in your Tier 1 items.

Ari

[Grinning.] I DO have a worn Numenera book.

Kyle

Whoever was here you can tell are long gone. The food is rotting, which you have at least heard through the grapevines that humans do not usually eat food that is rotten, and they usually don’t keep it around, but sometimes they do because they’re just so damn strange.

Ari

[Chuckles.]

Kyle

Eventually, by following some lights that were hung on the ceiling – they’re no longer lit, the candles, but you can see them – you’re able to find the entrance to this cave. When you look out you can see under the bright blue moon the edge of the mountainside.

Ari

Okay.

Kyle

It extends to something you haven’t seen before, which admittedly you haven’t seen much, but as opposed to the rough sand of Legrash or the gravelly mountainside it’s this long, endless plain filled with grass and these long ears of corn. It’s basically what looks to be like giant fields, and farm fields.

Ari

Hmm. I guess Misha first will make a motion towards continuing, but then they will have a double thought about it and kind of speak to themselves but also to the scarf, but it’s a way to just, you know, talk to themselves a bit.

[Soft music ends.]

Ari (as Misha)

I suppose I could proceed there, but it seems big, and it seems endless in a way, and I don’t think the human that lived here is still here, but it seems like a nice place to be.

Ari

They will look back to where they came from.

Ari (as Misha)

I would like to go back with Fayz, but—

Kyle (as ???)

[Deep and reverberating.] No! Dangerous! Monster! Murder!

[Chanting repeats behind Misha speaking.]

Ari (as Misha)

I don’t think I should. I don’t think he wants me there anymore. And, he is right, I suppose.

[Static interference begins to grow.]

So, um, what do you say if we stay here? It’s nice. There’s not much to explore, but I suppose I could—

[Misha is drowned out by cacophonous shouting, chanting, and static before it all abruptly ends.]

[00:15:00]

Kyle (as Jeff)

Hey. Wait a second. Wait a second. DinDavid.

Ari (as DinDavid)

What’s up? What’s up?

Kyle (as Jeff)

What’s all this interference going on? I can’t hear the thing they’re saying to the scarf.

Ari (as DinDavid)

I don’t know what it is. Agh. I guess there’s a glitch in the cloud or something.

Kyle (as Jeff)

Ugh. This is ridiculous. We gotta- [Claps.] We gotta wrap this thing up by today, okay?

Ari (as DinDavid)

Ugh!

Kyle (as Jeff)

Alright. Let’s try it again, alright? Let’s try it again.

[Sounds of a cassette tape being fed into a player and spinning up, then quickly rewinding Misha.]

Ari

I guess Misha first will make a motion towards continuing, but then they will have a double thought about it and kind of speak to themselves but also to the scarf, but it’s a way to just, you know, talk to themselves a bit.

Ari (as Misha)

I suppose I could proceed there, but it seems big, and it seems endless in a way, and I don’t think the human that lived here is still here, but it seems like a nice place to be.

Ari

They will look back to where they came from.

Ari (as Misha)

I would like to go back with Fayz, but—

[Melancholy piano music begins.]

I don’t think I should. I don’t think he wants me there anymore. And, he is right, I suppose. So, um, what do you say if we stay here? It’s nice. There’s not much to explore, but I suppose I could read this book and I can learn more about humans in this cave?

Kyle

The scarf looks up at you kind of confused, and it actually shakes its head at first when you’re like “no, let’s not go outside,” but it notices something that you seem to be thinking about that you’re not saying.

Ari

Hmm.

Kyle

It reluctantly slinks back up and is like, yeah, we’ll stay for a bit.

Ari

Aw. Yeah, Misha will just be like,

Ari (as Misha)

This is a nice place, and we will learn to like it, won’t we?

Ari

And smile kind of sadly to the scarf.

[Whooshing sound signaling a scene change, melancholy music ends.]

Kyle

You don’t learn to like it. Within a day you’ve seen everything the cave has to offer. Within two you’ve read the whole book, because most of it is worn out and bad anyway.

Ari

[Chuckles.]

[Delicate and cautious piano music begins.]

Kyle

But every time you wanna go leave the cave, you take a few steps out, and even the scarf pulls like “eh, eh?”

Ari

[Soft, disappointed groan.]

Kyle

“Eh? Let’s go?” You don’t. You go, you wanna go step out, and then almost like a wall those anxieties come back, those words. It’s not like- I should make it clear. It’s not like you’re physically hearing the words, but they’ve buried themselves into your brain and taken root and live there.

Ari

Mm-hmm.

Kyle

And nothing, nothing gets you to leave until the day you hear the screams from the carn fields.

[Delicate music fades away.]

[Kyle makes animalistic shrieking and growling sounds.]

Ari

Oh god.

Kyle

Misha, suddenly, when you’re just hanging out in the cave doing whatever…

Ari

Reading the book again.

Kyle

[Laughs.]

You just hear this [Shrieks.] probably like half a dozen screams belting out from the carn fields.

Ari (as Misha)

What? What is that?

Kyle

The scarf immediately takes this opportunity and flies out to see, but it can’t see, it’s there to get you there.

Ari

[Laughs.]

Kyle

And you take suit, and you can see in the carn field pops of red, just these little red spires popping up through the carn, and then occasionally you’ll see bits of the carn stocks start to fall down, and bits of it are on fire, and it sounds like something is in trouble.

Ari

Misha will still first instinctively go for it, and then when they reach that place that they’ve never really left they’re going to stop and look at it.

Kyle

[Shrieks.]

Ari (as Misha)

Will I make it worse though if I go? Maybe somebody will show up and help this thing, maybe. Maybe if I go the screams will go louder and it will be worse, so it might be best if I stay here and, and, try and read this book again, because maybe I missed something, and then the screams over there will stop.

Kyle

[Makes a crunching explosion noise.] You hear another explosion from the corn field and the scarf starts tugging on you.

Ari (as Misha)

[Nervously.] Oh! Well, I suppose we can go and see, just see what is going on, not approach it too much, just see it, and, and we’ll see that everything is fine, we’ll see that there’s help, and we’ll head back to the cave.

Kyle

So, you run down to the corn field, the carn field.

Ari

Corn. Carn. Carn field.

Kyle

[Emphatically.] The carn field.

Ari

The carn field.

Kyle

You run down to the carn field. You’re scared, but the sense of almost liberation after taking out those first few steps…

[00:20:00]

You make it all the way to the carn field, ready to figure out what’s going on, and… roll Speed defense.

Ari

Ooh boy. Alright. You know, I’ve been rolling semi well, semi bad.

[Rolls.] So, I rolled a 14. See, yeah, I still got it, I still got it. Maybe.

Kyle

Suddenly, out of the carn… [Makes bawking noises.]

[Humorous, bouncy accordion music begins.]

You see this thing that looks like a turkey.

Ari

[Breathy.] What?

Kyle

Except instead of feathers

Ari

Oh my god.

Kyle

It has these red sacks on it.

Ari

Oh god, what?

Kyle

And instead of like a head it just has this, like, spout at the top of its neck.

Ari

God, it’s a blood turkey.

Kyle

[Pleased.] It’s a blood barm!

Ari

Oh yeah, that thing!

Kyle

And it just starts tick-tick-tick-tick-tick, it starts running at you, and suddenly you just feel a shadow go over you and push you to the side and both you and the shadow tumble over, and the turkey just [Caws loudly.] and then runs back into the field.

Ari

I want to say, as Misha is stumbling down with the shadow they are going to out loud say,

Ari (as Misha)

This was a mistake.

Kyle

[Chuckles.]

Ari (as Misha)

This was a mistake. This was a mistake.

Ari

[Smiling.] Like, repeatedly.

Kyle

As you get down, and you’re still shouting this, the shadow moves itself up. She is a tall figure with a black robe and a skull mask. She just turns to you and says,

Kyle (as Gabby)

Life’s a mistake, but we still have to do our job.

[Accordion music stops.]

Ari

[Giggling.] What the fuck is happening right now?

Kyle

And she charges back into the carn field.

Ari

Uh… Misha will be like, they will look at this figure that just left to the carn field, they will stare for a second, then they will be like,

Ari (as Misha)

Well, it is now time to return to the cave.

Ari

And then they are going to start walking there, but then they’re going to like turn around and go to the direction of where that person is. [Laughs.]

Kyle

“Well, it’s time to return to the cave,” and I like to believe that Misha goes to walk back and the scarf just pulls on Misha who falls on their butt and just gets dragged.

Ari

Oh, I like that.

Kyle

Through the carn.

Ari

Yeah. Let’s say it. Let’s just edit to like that. Misha will just say,

Ari (as Misha)

It’s time to return to the cave.

Ari

And then you just say that.

Kyle

[Laughs.] Eventually you get to a clearing where a bunch of carn has fallen down. The scarf stops pulling you and you just kinda fall on your back, so you see everything upside-down at first until you’re able to go up and see it. What you see is you see six of these turkeys, which are called blood barms, facing off against this tall figure who has a scythe on her back but doesn’t seem to be doing that and instead seems to be trying to wrangle these blood barms with her hands, and she’s not doing too well.

At one point you can see one of them rams into her, and a lot of the pockets break, and out of them a dozen tiny little two-inch tall blood barms pop out and just start piling on this shadow who’s stumbling on the ground.

Kyle (as Gabby)

Ugh! Agh! Get off me! Stop it!

Ari

Um… Misha will first just stand there and watch, and then they are going to slowly approach and just be like,

Ari (as Misha)

[Apprehensively.] Do you need help?

Ari

Really reluctantly.

Kyle (as Gabby)

Gabriella of the Shadows never needs help!

Kyle

And she continues to flail and starts trying to knock things over.

Kyle (as Gabby)

I can do this all by myself!

Kyle

And out of the bottom of the cloak a bright white tennis shoe kicks out and hits one of the blood barms, and more mini turkeys pop out and start pinning down this figure even further.

Ari (as Misha)

Gabriella. Nomenclature recognized. Gabriella, do you know Fayz? Do you know Fayz?

Ari

They are going to approach and try and also take the blood barms out as they are asking that question.

Ari (as Misha)

[Staggered, as if each word comes with a swing.] Do, you, know, Fayz?

Kyle

Alright. Give me three rolls for each, “do, you, know, Fayz.”

[Smiling.] Actually, that’s four rolls.

Ari

Okay. [Rolls.] Six.

[Rolls and knocks several dice around.] Oh god, hang on. Fourteen, 16, and 6. I probably got a lot of 6s today.

Kyle

Well luckily these are Tier 1 enemies, so it works.

Ari

That’s true.

Kyle

You brush off all of the little baby blood barms, and the figure gets up and stares down at you. you can see the skull mask frown a little bit.

Kyle (as Gabby)

Fayz… I understand now why you’re here. Well, unfortunately killer, we can’t destroy these ones, we gotta wrangle them up.

Ari (as Misha)

Uh… I…

Ari

Misha is just confused as to all of the things.

Ari (as Misha)

So, I interpret that you do know Fayz, but you want to wrangle these turkeys before providing more information. Is this correct?

Kyle

And Gabby, who is back down on the ground with more turkeys covering her, just says,

[00:25:00]

Ari

[Laughs.]

Kyle (as Gabby)

Ugh. Fine! Yes!

Ari (as Misha)

Oh. Certainly. I will do so to get more information.

Ari

So Misha will go and try to wrangle these turkeys. I assume I need to roll for that?

Kyle

Yeah. How are you wrangling—Oh, I forgot I called them turkeys and not blood barms.

Ari

Oh, sorry! I just—

Kyle

No, I did that too. It’s fine. We’re just gonna say that local people call them turkeys.

Ari

Turkeys.

Kyle

How are you wrangling these turkeys?

Ari

Turkeys. Okay. Um… Well, how many are there?

Kyle

There are six.

Ari

[With a silly inflection.] Six!

Kyle

[Mimicking the silly inflection.] Six!

Ari

Okay. How big are they?

Kyle

They’re turkeys. They’re the size of turkeys.

Ari

Alright, alright, alright, alright, alright. Okay. Sure.

Kyle

They’re blood barms. They’re disgusting sack turkeys.

Ari

Uhh… hmm, that’s pretty big. Maybe Misha will try and like put all their weight on top of three of them and then try and maybe put the scarf so that, like, send it so that it wraps the other three? Or two, I don't know, I’m bad with physics.

Kyle

Alright, so yeah, you go to grab three of them. At the neck you can reach that.

Ari

Okay.

Kyle

Give me five rolls.

Ari

Ooh boy. [Rolls.] That’s a 2.

Kyle

Fail.

Ari

[Rolls.] That’s a 3.

Kyle

Fail.

Ari

[Giggling.] How many rolls do you want?

Kyle

Five.

Ari

Okay. Okay.

[Rolls.] That’s another 3.

Kyle

Fail.

Ari

[Rolls.] That is a 6. [Chuckles.]

Kyle

Fail.

Ari

[Inhales, rolls, then says with a nervous squeak.] That’s a 5? [Laughs.]

Kyle

Alright! Kick in the music!

[Fast fiddle music begins giving a slapstick feeling.]

So, this is what happens, in a flash. Misha, you grab the blood barms. You throw them. Unfortunately, your scarf was gonna throw them in the opposite direction, so all of them hit each other and explode into a million more blood barms, little baby ones.

Ari

[Long groan.] Oh god.

Kyle

The baby ones crawl all around you. You don’t wanna hurt them.

Ari

[Whines.] No.

Kyle

They’re still kind of cute, because they’re small. Because of that though, they kind of just lock you in place.

Ari

Oh my god.

Kyle

And the other blood barms take turns just whacking you with their heads.

Ari

Oh nooo!

Kyle

Eventually Gabby gets in and starts roughing some of them up, and they hiss at Gabby, and she’s like,

Kyle (as Gabby)

[Indecipherable, stammering, frustrated growl.]

Kyle

They shoot out this icy blood spit they have, and it’s like,

Kyle (as Gabby)

Ahh! It’s in my eyes!

Kyle

So Gabby starts falling to the ground, and eventually… eventually, many hours later

[Fiddle music begins to fade away.]

When the sun has set and you and Gabby are on the ground, battered and bruised, the blood barms just look down at you, like people who have just kicked someone, and from the distance you hear,

Kyle (as ???)

Yoo-hoo! blood barms! Time to come home! Benny, Jenny, Penny, Kenny, Bobenny, and Tim, all come back!

Ari

[Laughs.] And Tim!

Kyle

And the blood barms all immediately pop up and run back on, and Gabby just is like,

Kyle (as Gabby)

If that DAMN farmer could have called them the WHOLE time then why did they require my services? Ow…

Ari (as Misha)

Are you hurt?

Ari

Misha will try to—

Kyle (as Gabby)

Don’t touch me!

Ari (as Misha)

Oh. My apologies. Uh… I wanted to help. I realize I was not that helpful, but, um, I wanted to help you because I have recognized your nomenclature from Fayz. I realize I did not help with the blood barms, but—

Kyle (as Gabby)

[Even deeper and more sinister than usual.] Yeah, of course you know Fayz.

Ari (as Misha)

Oh. My apologies. I thought you were friends with Fayz. Is that not correct? He told me about you a lot.

[Deep spooky music begins.]

Kyle (as Gabby)

That damn Fayz, he attracts killers, people like you and me, folks who can’t… folks who don’t know anything else. But unfortunately, he just can’t tolerate the murderous, dark, edgy tendencies of us, which is absolutely the reason why he didn’t wanna date me.

Ari

[Snorts.]

Kyle (as Gabby)

He likes being around killers, but he can’t stand them for long. Folks like me and you, we’re a liability to everyone else.

Ari

So, under other circumstances Misha would have latched on the “they” part of that sentence, but the other parts of that sentence were more salient on Misha’s mind, and so upon hearing these words they will just get really quiet and kind of think a little, and say,

Ari (as Misha)

Oh. Yes, I… I suppose that is why he wanted me away as well, isn’t it?

Kyle (as Gabby)

Ugh.

Ari (as Misha)

All of those things you did, did you know you were doing it? Did you want to do them? Do you regret them? I don’t know if I did, but…

Kyle

Gabby looks into the distance, super edgy.

Kyle (as Gabby)

Well, I never actually did any of those things, but I know that I could have. And really, is there any difference?

Kyle

And with that, she will walk through the rest of the corn.

[00:30:00]

Ari

Misha will look at Gabriella disappearing in the distance and they will have a big sense of dread as they do, because even though it’s not as clear as the past few weeks, and even those are starting to fade a little,

[Spooky music fades.]

They know that they have done more things than Gabriella has done.

[Somber music begins.]

So, when that realization comes back, even though they don’t know how they know exactly but they know that they have done bad things, they will book it back into the cave, like running. They will internally promise to themselves that they will not do anything like this again.

Kyle

As you book it back to the cave, the sun starts to set,

[Chanting loops beneath Kyle speaking, “No! Dangerous! Monster! Murder!”.]

And its light turns from a yellow, to an orange, to a red that almost seems to chase you back the whole way.

[Contemplative music swells and carries into the announcements.]

Kyle

Hello, and welcome to the announcement break for Quest Friends, Episode 57: Misha’s Memory, Part 2. I am Kyle, your GM, and our outro song is “Friends” by Miracle of Sound.

We know the wait between episodes can be long, especially when Jeff and DinDavid bungle it and an episode appears even a day later, and unfortunately there isn’t really a way to get weekly episodes going, but because we all have found ourselves with a little bit more time on our hands we’ve actually started trying to stream on Twitch.tv/QuestFriends, that’s one word, QuestFriends, all as one. So, we are streaming a lot. We are streaming approximately five days a week. You can find a general, basic schedule on any of our social medias, at least some time today, but for anyone who can’t check, on Mondays I run GMing stuff, on Tuesdays Emily has a chill art stream, on Wednesdays Ari and Hallie play The Sims, on Fridays Tom and I actually do a video game race, we’re doing one of our favorite games Valkyria Chronicles right now, and on Sundays I alternate between either editing an upcoming episode – which the pace for editing is really slow, so you don’t really have to worry about massive spoilers – or I play Sonic Adventure 2, because in addition to our regular stream schedule at Twitch.tv/QuestFriends, Hallie and I are partnering with Kat Kuhl and Pranks to run a four-parter Sonic Adventure 2 roleplaying stream starting on May 25.

If you’re not familiar with Kat and Pranks, now is a great time to get familiar with both of them. Both of them make an all-ages actual play show called Autonomic, which can be found at AutonomicPodcast.com. It’s spelled like the nervous system. You can also find the link below. In addition, Kat has started streaming on Twitch over at kuhl_kid, that’s K-U-H-L, underscore, K-I-D, where the vibe of their channel is relaxing, homey games played kindly amidst rambling story time, basically what we’re aiming for with the Emily streams but with Animal Crossing and other fun games instead of drawing. Pranks and Kat are also part of Never Tell Me the Pods which is a periodic Star Wars podcast that they do with two other friends.

What I’m saying is that these two roleplayers are absolutely up our alley in the kind of content they create and I am over the moon at the prospect of being able to take a Sonic game with a fun story wrapped behind just layers of bullshit and seeing how we can play with that base to have a really fun time.

So again, the schedule for that and all of our other streams can be found linked on our social media, I’ll stick it below, or you know you could just follow us on Twitch.tv/QuestFriends and be notified every single time we go live.

Alright, that is all I have for announcements today. We’ve got a bonus episode coming in a week, but the week after that, two weeks from now on Monday, May 25, I will see you for our next episode, Tales from The Beyond. I’ll see you then.

[Contemplative music carries out of the announcements.]

[00:35:00]

Kyle

A streak of icy blue hair. Hot, angry, red light. An ice pick on your skull. This wasn’t what had been promised. This wasn’t safe. This wasn’t okay. nothing was okay. This is all a lie.

[Exasperated.] They lied to you!

[Static interference starts rising.]

Misha Jarvis, you feel your soul being ripped in two.

[Static fades.]

Misha, for the second time, you wake up again, or more accurately there’s a gap where memories should be. You look around the cavernous space you’ve been hiding in. Again, as you look on the wall, two lights on the wall fade into one. How do you respond?

Ari

Uh… Misha’s going to approach the wall where the other red light is no longer there, really anxiously, because there’s two things that worry them and they seem to be connected. They are worried about these gaps. They don’t like having gaps in their memory. They’re already really afraid of the big gap that seems to just extend forever. And also, because they think that it might be tied to this difference in their eyes changing color, and they don’t understand it and they don’t like it, so they are really afraid, so they are just going to keep looking at it.

Kyle

You look at the wall?

Ari

Yeah.

Kyle

Do you reach for comfort from your scarf at all?

Ari

Yes. Misha is going to look—after that for a moment, they are going to look for the scarf. I assumed that he was around Misha’s neck. If they’re not, then they’re going to look for it.

Kyle

Yeah.

Ari

But they are going to. When they shrank a bit, also I mean that they are trying to hug the scarf, it’s just… hard to say it, but they try to like touch their shoulders hugging the scarf.

Kyle

Since you’ve gotten up, Misha, it wouldn’t be a headache, but it’s the closest that a human could experience.

[Persistent beeping begins, resembling Morse code.]

You feel this pulse banging against your head, and as it gets stronger and you’re looking at the wall one of the lights, the second light, starts to illuminate itself again.

Ari

Ooh. Okay.

Kyle

But it only comes in in-full when you reach up for the scarf on your neck…

[Beeping stops.]

And you feel nothing but tatters.

Ari

[Gasps.] What?! Oh no! Misha will look down!

Ari (as Misha)

Scarf? Scarf?!

Kyle

Your scarf, at least as you know it, is not there. All you see instead is a limp rag.

[Methodical, synthetic melody, the Lady with Cinnabar Lips’ theme plays.]

Ari

[Distraught.] Oh my god. What?

Kyle

Torn into pieces.

Ari

No! What?! Kyle, no.

[Whining.] Not my scarf. Oh no. Misha will hold it, and be like,

Ari (as Misha)

Scarf… I’m so—I apologize. I…

Ari

And they are going to try and look around, see if they can fix it somehow.

Ari (as Misha)

I’ll fix it. I apologize. I’ll fix it. I’ll fix it.

Kyle

What do you grab?

Ari

Um. So, what is around? Is there any, like, tape or…? [Laughs.]

Kyle

Yeah. There’s some dact tape. Roll to apply it.

Ari

Okay! [Rolls.] That’s a 2.

Kyle

The dact tape doesn’t work. It rips off even more pieces. What’s something else you try?

Ari

Oh my god. Misha’s panicking. They’re just looking around everywhere, just throwing things that might be sticky. They’re going to look up how to fix scarf.

[Static interference begins rising.]

Kyle

You look up how to fix scarf, and it’s like when, you know, you press a button and it just sticks?

Ari

Mm-hmm.

Kyle

So it’s how to fix scarf—[Audio intentionally repeats to simulate a record or CD skipping.]

Ari

Oh no.

[Static slowly fades away.]

Kyle

It repeats, and you’re just seeing images, it’s an image result of the scarf, more and more and more and more, ripped into bits and pieces. What’s the next thing you try?

Ari

Oh god, no! [Seethes.] Uh, they’re…

[Clears throat.] They… are, I guess, I mean I don't know if Misha would know this, though. They don’t know how to sew, but I guess they will try to see if there’s any string that they can wrap around the scarf, like tie it, try to tie it together, like if it’s falling apart try and tie it together.

Kyle

Give me one more roll.

Ari

Oh my god.

[Rolls.] Oh, that’s a nat 1.

[Smiling but pained.] It’s a nat 1 that I have rolled. Why? Is this a different scarf?!

Kyle

You go to grab the string, and you wrap it around and around and around, but it just seems to slip off more and more. Part of the reason it struggles is because you struggle to look at the scarf which grows more and more limp, and as you’re trying to wrap it around almost looks like, you know, it’s convulsing.

Ari

Oh no… Oh no! No!

Kyle

And all your efforts do is give you a greater look at the scarf

[00:40:00]

which is sitting there limp and lifeless.

Ari

No. No!

Kyle

Bathed in red light, as if it’s bathed in blood. And during this time you feel something pulling at you, pulling at your arms, pulling at your legs, pulling at your neck, and I need you to roll defense, assuming Misha struggles against it at all.

Ari

[Exhales.] Misha will. Yeah. Misha will just keep screaming.

Ari (as Misha)

No! No! No!

Ari

Repeatedly.

[Rolls.] And um, that’s a 4, so…

Kyle

Misha, you take 4 points of Might damage.

Ari

Okay.

Kyle

As you are thrust backwards against the wall, and all the lights go out from your eyes.

Ari

Oh no.

[Music ends.]

Kyle

And after a moment, one red light goes back on, and above it you see, looking down at you, very concerned, your purple scarf

[Soft, emotional music begins.]

Ari

[Tearful.] What?

Kyle

Which stares back down at you and unslithers itself from your neck where it had pulled you backwards.

Ari

[Emotional.] Aw. Was it like a vision? Was this not real?

Kyle

I dunno. What do you do?

Ari

Misha will hug the scarf. They will just be like,

Ari (as Misha)

I’m sorry! I apologize, scarf! I apologize. I… I… How did you… How did you heal? I apologize.

Ari

They are just going to be doing that a lot.

Kyle

The scarf wraps itself around you in a tighter hug than it’s ever had before. It’s a long time before you’re able to look at the space where you thought the scarf had been tattered on the ground, and when you eventually do, hours or even days later, you don’t see anything, but that doesn’t provide you much comfort. After all, as Gabby had said, it doesn’t matter whether or not it did happen…

[Soft music ends.]

It matters whether or not it could have happened.

[Impactful pause in silence.]

Not much happens the remainder of our month. We’ve got about a week and a half left. I’m assuming you don’t even look for the entrance to the cave.

Ari

No, no, no. Misha is not even going much. Maybe sometimes they look up stuff, about things, but in general they’re just kind of catatonic almost. They’re just staring there, hugging the scarf a lot, apologizing, and just promising that they will never let that happen even though they feel like their words are kind of empty.

Kyle

As you’re making that promise, you’ve got nothing else to do but to read the Numenera book.

Ari

[Laughs.] Yeah.

Kyle

Luckily, at the end, there are pages of noble and good adventurers, the people who found these Numenera. It’s literally just the biography of the author section at the final page of the book.

Ari

[Grinning.] That’s the most interesting part.

Kyle

Yeah. You devour that, over and over, hundreds and thousands of times each day, but you do not move from your spot.

Until one day, when the scarf which had convinced you, it had slowly moved you closer and closer to the edge of the cave, suddenly perks up like a dog that had seen something and starts trying to tug you out of the cave.

Ari

Misha will feel that and they will be like,

Ari (as Misha)

No. No. You saw what happened before. You saw what could have happened here. If that could happen here, what could happen if I leave? I cannot do that.

Kyle

The scarf keeps tugging. It does not stop. It keeps pulling, harder and harder.

Ari (as Misha)

You can go. I will stay.

Kyle

The scarf pulls again.

Ari (as Misha)

Uh… If…

[Light piano and guitar music begins, giving a feeling of relief.]

If I do two steps and go back, that’s fine for you, right? There do not seem to be any ants on the floor, so I will not even step on those if I walk two steps out. So, we can do that and head back.

Kyle

The scarf is just pulling.

Ari (as Misha)

Take four steps, then head back, and that’s it. Four steps.

Kyle

Alright. You get to the four steps, and the scarf is still pulling.

Ari (as Misha)

Okay. Alright. Eight… but that’s all. That’s all. I won’t, I won’t go farther, it’s fine. It’s… It’s… Why do you want to go?

Ari

And I keep asking questions to the scarf like that, all the time.

Kyle

And the scarf keeps pulling. You keep doing this tug-of-war that the scarf fully moves. It’s two steps, then four, then six, then twenty, then fifty. Eventually you’re down and you’re even past the corn field, and you crest a hill, and as you get to the top of the hill, suddenly the scarf leaps off of you and flies off over the edge of the hill.

Ari (as Misha)

No! Scarf, come back! I apologize. Are you still—Are you mad at me? I apologize. Don’t leave me. I do not want to be alone.

Ari

They will try and follow the scarf.

Kyle

As you run up the hill, Misha, you look around. You’re on top of a hill. You see all sorts of plains around you. A few miles away you can see this small, rustic town, and walking towards it you see three small bobbing lights.

Ari

Oh.

Kyle

And, if you follow the lights back, you can see a series of deep,

[00:45:00]

heavy footprints in the ground, and right by one of the footprints you see, lying on the ground, your scarf which is lying on top of a piece of paper.

Ari

Aw… Oh, okay. Misha will pick the scarf, hug it, if it’s a little dirty they’ll try to take the dirt off, and then they’ll pick the paper up.

Kyle

As you pick up the scarf, it almost seems to jump to life for a second, it seems like it was just laying there like an inanimate scarf, but then as soon as it like almost wakes up from its stupor it immediately looks around for something, looks down dejected when it can’t see anything, but then sees the piece of paper you’ve picked up and starts excitedly pointing at it.

Ari

Misha will read it.

[Powerful and majestic music begins.]

Kyle

This paper is a call from the town of Rhubarb. It looks like it is looking for the one thing Misha has read a lot about. Looks like it’s looking for adventurers.

Ari

Misha will light up at that word.

Ari (as Misha)

Adventurers! Like the ones in the book! And that Fayz talked about! And…

Ari

They are going to realize that they actually got excited about that, and then be like,

Ari (as Misha)

Oh. Um… Well, I suppose I could see what this is about. We could try and learn more about humans this way, just for a small time, and then we can return to the cave. It will not take that long, I suppose.

Kyle

The scarf looks at you, stiffens up, nods authoritatively, then wraps itself around you in one more hug, extends one of its ends, and points forward like a charge.

Ari (as Misha)

[Confidently.] Let’s do adventuring today, and go back to the cave at night!

Kyle

[Laughs.]

[Static interference rises and drowns out the music before fading.]

Kyle (as Jeff)

Woo! We did it, DinDavid. [Claps.] We got it all together.

[Lurching country western music returns.]

Ari (as DinDavid)

Yeah. It’s as good as it’s gonna get, Jeff. So, uh…

Kyle (as Jeff)

Luckily it all seems pretty smooth sailing from here. I mean, we have that weird thing in that like Charmonde…

Ari (as DinDavid)

Uh, yeah. There seemed to be a couple glitches that I don’t know how to fix, some sort of name mix-ups there, here and there, but uh…

Kyle (as Jeff)

Yeah. It ain’t part of the contract, we’re not gonna worry about it, right?

Ari (as DinDavid)

Yeah. It’s too far in advance. We’ll just leave it. I mean, how disruptive can it be, you know?

Kyle (as Jeff)

Alright ma’am, so uh, yeah. DinDavid and I, this is all of our work, ma’am. We did exactly like you requested. We’ve hit everything that you want. I know it’s not perfect, but I think you’re gonna make big strides with this. Okay? And that’s the last one, that’s the last scene, you know. I know from the grapevine some of this other stuff is, eh, a bit of a touchy subject, so there’s no need to continue from—

[Western music ends abruptly.]

Kyle (as the Lady with Cinnabar Lips)

[Demanding and deliberate.] I want to see all of it.

[Static interference begins rising.]

[Voice grows deeper and more sinister.] I want to see them.

[Static rises further and fades away.]

Kyle

Unlike the northern country of Navarene, Rhubarb doesn’t seem that wealthy.

[Drawling saloon-like music plays that soon kicks into a fast rhythm.]

While you might find an electric tether here or a telepathic sheepdog there, for the most part people get by by the grit of their teeth. And grit they have, making their pay by taming a multitude of wild creatures including aneens, blood barms, and broken hounds. Misha, you are here because the town has been posting a call for anyone daring, desperate, or deluded enough to adventure for hire.

You enter the mayor’s office which is in a back room of the town bar. This bar is alive with what I like to call life and strife. Food and fists are flying as part of a massive bar fight, but everyone seems to be having a good time. You’ve got friends smiling at each other and then just punching each other’s teeth out. There’s a band in the corner ducking as food and beer is being thrown over them, but never faltering in their tune, they keep it going.

[Saloon music fades and is replaced by “Friends” by Miracle of Sound.]

But most importantly, within the crowd hide three individuals, each struggling to bear their own burdens but with more than enough strength to carry them together. Heh, it’s just like humans to be so peculiar.

[“The music swells and carries out to the bloopers.]

Kyle

Do, do-do, do-do. Yeah, it’s Morse code.

Ari

Okay.

Kyle

It could be deciphered.

Ari

Huh. Misha will go to the scarf and ask,

Ari (as Misha)

How did we get here? Did you do all this?

[00:50:00]

Kyle

[Chuckles.] Suddenly, out of nowhere, the scarf makes a mouth and starts to speak.

Kyle (as scarf)

[Aggressive and raspy voice.] Yeah, I pulled us down here!

Ari

[Snorts, laughing.] Why does my—What is this?!

Kyle (as scarf)

I don’t like to speak much. I smoke 40 packs a day. This is the stress you put on me, your scarf!

Ari

Listen! [Laughs.] Why does scarf--?

Kyle (as scarf)

[Pretends to inhale from a cigarette.] Listen, Misha. I seen that lady around. She bad news, okay? You don’t fuck with her.

[Inhales again, deeply.]

Kyle

Okay, I gotta figure out an actual response. [Laughs.]

Ari

[Laughs.]

[Episode Ends - 00:50:29]