Ep. 64: One Neon Night, Part 6

[Intro song plays, “Friends” by Miracle of Sound.]

Kyle

Grün. Grün. Grün. Grün. Grün. Grün. Grün.

[Idealistic piano music plays.]

The rhythmic thump of Pryliman legs vibrates all across Grün’s courtyard making a slow, gentle sound that sounds oddly like the courtyard’s namesake. This ceramic circle is surrounded with columned walkways embedded with roping greenery and dotted with dozens of rotund stone automatons with vines connecting each appendage together like muscle.

Now, each of these Prylimans moves with a different purpose, a different company, a different urgency across this communal ground which serves as the centerpiece for the Grün Module, a floating residential district. From over the edge of the courtyard, across the open sky which whistles a quiet, peaceful tune, dozens of other floating communities can be seen: a sphere, a star, a diamond that would look like a pyramid if half submerged underwater.

[Someone snickers.]

All of these connected to one another by a network of interlocking tubes. Jessar, you are sitting at the edge, extending the round ends of your stone legs as far over the open sky as the flexi-glass barrier will let you, and watching in glee as small birds dance on the other side. It is many years before the Quest Friends would have their first encounter with the kingdom, but you aren’t aware of that at all. Instead, you’re just relaxing. What are you up to today? … Okay, Jessar, I know how you work. What responsibility are you shirking right now?

[Music ends.]

Tom

I’m not shirking anything.

[Peppy music begins.]

You see, I’m a watcher. I watch the skies for, you know, trouble and stuff… and birds.

Kyle

[Laughs.]

Hallie

Sometimes they’re one and the same.

Tom

Exactly.

Kyle

Pryliman Watchers. What is the marking that they have?

Tom

It’s a band like the sky, like a long band on the upper part of the shoulder as if it was the sky.

Kyle

Okay. You’re watching, doing your job, very important job.

Tom

Mm-hmm.

Kyle

Very important. Have you seen these birds before?

Tom

The birds I’m looking at right now?

Kyle

Yeah.

Tom

Well, I mean, that’s hard to say. I see so many birds, but I hope they’re my friends.

Kyle

Oh yeah, I mean friends are good. There are so many friends all around. It’s one of the nice things about being here in the Grün District, because this is where everyone goes to relax. … Oh! Wait. You’re looking at everyone else and not at the sky again, aren’t you?

Tom

What is around me?

Kyle

Well, as you look around you see a few pebbles. That’s what I’m gonna call Pryliman children. They’re pebbles.

Hallie

Aww! I love it!

Kyle

You see a few pebbles running around playing games. They’re playing, um… hacky stone.

Hallie

[Breathy laugh.]

Kyle

You’ve got a couple of scientists discussing research. You notice they come from the Redd Module, some super-important module that’s been bouncing from place to place lately.

Tom

Hmm.

Kyle

And then, right next to you, you see looking down at you as if they’ve been there for a while and you just haven’t noticed…

[Music ends.]

Tom (as Jessar)

Oh hey Leik.

Hallie (as Leik)

Hello Jessar. Do you know how many ways an experiment can fail?

[Quirky tuba music begins.]

Hallie

And that is because Leik works in the Redd Module, as a Failure Recorder.

Kyle

[Laughs.]

Hallie

Leik’s job is specifically to only record things that fail, but like in explicit detail so that the other scientists can figure out, like, here’s what happened, here’s how we avoid it. As such, Leik’s sedimentattoo is just the “no” symbol, that’s like a circle with the dash through it, but there’s an X in each half of the circle that the line divides so it’s almost like the dead smiley face with the X eyes and the little tongue sticking out. It’s a sad job, but somebody’s gotta do it, and that somebody is Leik.

[Music fades.]

Tom (as Jessar)

I feel like it has to be at least 18.

Hallie (as Leik)

That’s a good guess, but it’s wrong… like all my experiments.

Tom

[Startled and sad.] Oh…

Kyle

As you say that, Leik, you look down at an object you have in your hands. The best real-world equivalent right now would be is it looks vaguely in the shape and purpose of a coffee mug except, in celebration of your new role, Jessar got you this as a gift, because it’s not just a coffee mug, it’s a coffee mug that has a cheesy line on it that is misspelled and grammatically incorrect. It’s just a failure of a mug.

Hallie

[Laughs.]

Kyle

What does this mug say?

Hallie

Um… It says coffee, but it’s spelled C-O-U-G-H-E-E.

Kyle

[Laughs.]

Tom

Don’t talk to me until I’ve had my morning… coughee?

Hallie

Don’t talk to me, I’m coughing, but it’s like… I’m drinking coughee, like coughee-ing… It’s a verb now.

[00:05:00]

Tom

[Laughs.]

Hallie

[Laughing.] This is getting very far away from what—

Kyle

So I’m gonna take this back. It’s not misspelled. It’s not grammatically incorrect. It is just an extremely forced pun, which as anyone who’s said that in a crowd can attest, is the biggest mistake you can make.

Hallie

[Weakly.] Yeah…

Tom

[Laughs.]

Hallie

[Breathy, fighting laughter.] That’s fair.

Tom (as Jessar)

Well, I don't know if this’ll make you any happier, but I found this really cool cloud—Oh, it’s gone… Oh, I’m sorry. It was a really cool cloud. It made me think of you.

Hallie (as Leik)

I’m used to disappointment. That’s okay.

Tom (as Jessar)

Anyway. What brings you all the way out here?

Hallie

Leik stares into the distance.

Hallie (as Leik)

They told me to take a break.

Tom (as Jessar)

That bad, huh?

Kyle

[Laughs.]

Hallie

[Smiling.] Leik just nods.

Hallie (as Leik)

Everything’s that bad.

Tom (as Jessar)

Well then, I’m gonna help. Let’s take a break. Um… we’re gonna take a break that way.

Tom

Jessar gets up and just sort of puts an arm around his shoulder and just points.

Tom (as Jessar)

Let’s start here.

Hallie (as Leik)

That’s as good a starting point as any.

Kyle

[Laughs.]

Tom (as Jessar)

Adventure and relaxation awaits us.

[Fun relaxing guitar music begins.]

Kyle

So you make your way further into the Grün Module. It looks like a cork in a wine if you stuck one of those curly wine things in it.

Hallie

A wine bottle opener?

Kyle

Yeah, wine bottle opener. Basically, what it is, is it is a circle on top and then it is kind of a spiral leading down like a parking lot ramp.

Hallie

Yeah.

Tom

And like, there are little bubbles off of the spiral that are like courtyards, spherical courtyards.

Kyle

And in one of them you see a couple of—Hallie, give me an age range.

[Music ends.]

Hallie

Seventeen to 24.

Kyle

Okay. You see a couple of college-aged kids playing some sort of game in one of the courtyards.

Tom (as Jessar)

Oh! Oh! You’ll love this. So, the game is called Stop, there’s a knife in my hand.

Hallie

[Laughs.]

Tom (as Jessar)

Now, I should probably start by saying there are no actual knives in hands. Instead, you take this, it’s basically like a stick, and you try and fling it through this hoop we stick in the ground and someone tries to block it. The rules can get a little bit more complicated when there are a lot of players, because the teams get picked in a very interesting sort of… You know what, you like math stuff, right? I never quite understood the rules for team picking, but I’m sure one of those kids will be able to show you. Come on. Come on.

Hallie (as Leik)

Okay…

Hallie

Leik is uncertain but does not want to diminish Jessar’s enthusiasm.

Kyle

So, Leik, you follow Jessar—

Tom (as Jessar)

[Enthusiastically.] How do you do, fellow youths?

Tom

Jessar says while waving an arm in the air.

Kyle

[Smiling.] You follow Jessar into this courtyard, and then,

Kyle (as ???)

[Emphatically but not threateningly.] Stop! There’s a knife in my hand!

Hallie (as Leik)

But there isn’t…

Tom (as Jessar)

No, be cool. Be cool, Leik. Play along.

Hallie

The first rule of improv: no. [Laughs.]

Tom (as Jessar)

It’s part of the game.

[50s diner rock music begins.]

Kyle (as ???)

Nah pal! They’re cool!

Kyle

You see this robot who has these markings. It’s basically all black around their arms and around the side of their body and then two little points stick out next to their face. What I’m saying is that their markings look like a leather jacket with a popped collar, because they’re the greaser role.

Hallie

[Breathy chuckle.]

Kyle

Because every society needs at least a few delinquents.

Hallie

[Laughing.] Like, this is their job. They got a tattoo for it. They were like, you get to be the delinquents who play I got a knife in my hand.

Tom

[Chuckles.]

Kyle (as ???)

What’s your name, friend? I’m Tobias!

Tom (as Jessar)

[Quietly.] Was he talking to me or to you?

Hallie (as Leik)

[Quietly.] I think he’s talking to you.

Tom (as Jessar)

Oh! My name’s Jessar, Jessar Rosem.

Kyle (as Tobias)

Heh-heh. Super cool! What about you, mug bot?

Tom

[Delighted.] Mug bot.

Hallie

Leik is confused by the moniker and furrows their eyebrows a little bit.

[Music fades.]

Holds up their mug, looks into it, and then lowers it.

Hallie (as Leik)

… I don’t really know.

Kyle (as Tobias)

That’s alright! Don’t need a name to play some Stop, there’s a knife in my hand! Come around, everyone. It’s time to pick teams. I’m gonna start, and I’ll pick… mug bot!

Hallie (as Leik)

[Slightly less mopey than usual.] That’s me.

Kyle

[Laughs.]

Tom (as Jessar)

It is you!

Kyle

I need each of you to roll, and don’t tell me the answer. Just, if it is over 10 you will be on the winning team, if it is below 10 you will be on the losing team. What I wanna do is I want to announce this.

[Joyful, gentle rock music begins.]

So a game breaks out of Stop, there’s a knife in my hand. The game starts. Tobias throws the stick. He passes it on over to Leik!

Hallie

Leik, confused, they catch it, but they’re kind of used to just going with it and figuring out what to do in situations with very short notice, because things explode around them a lot. So, Leik’s got the stick, and they were explained the rules beforehand, and they’re really, really good at remembering rules, so they remember that when you pass a stick you can hold onto it for no longer than 8.4 seconds, but if you manage to hold onto it for exactly 8.4 seconds you get an extra 10 points to your team!

[00:10:00]

Kyle

[Chuckles.]

Hallie

So Leik does this and then throws it to the nearest teammate.

Kyle

And Cassandra takes it, but

[Grunts.] is body checked by Beatrix who runs long and slides it on over to you, Jessar.

Tom

Jessar is gonna make quite the steal here, and Jessar has always been quite good at nailing the shot into the hoop. Jessar does a slide on her knees underneath a tackle from another machine and then just flings it like a javelin through the hoop.

Kyle (as Tobias)

Heh-heh! Super cool, 8 points!

Kyle

So the game goes on long, long into the day, into the afternoon. The sun is setting as the final stick falls into the hoop, and

[Music fades.]

Kyle (as Tobias)

With a final score of…

[Jingles coins or keys.] 1,320.2, team Blackstreet Barbers wins~!

Hallie

[Chuckles quietly.]

Kyle

Alright, tell me your rolls. Who was on team Blackstreet Barbers?

Tom

I was.

Hallie

Leik was!

Tom

[Amused.] We were on the same team!

Hallie

Plot twist!

Kyle

[Laughs.]

Tom (as Jessar)

Wow Leik, you did so well!

Hallie (as Leik)

Well thanks, it felt good to succeed.

Kyle

[Laughs.]

Hallie (as Leik)

You were great out there, Jessar.

Tom (as Jessar)

Aw shucks. Thanks.

Tom

Jessar’s gonna do the anime, back of head, awkward rub.

Kyle

[Laughs.] So, greasers gotta grease. Don’t know what that means, but they gotta do it.

Tom

[Chuckles.]

Kyle

So, everyone heads out. The sun is starting to set. It’s getting to be a nice orange. As it sets, you just start walking around and you start talking a little bit about what you’ve really been up to lately.

Tom (as Jessar)

Leik, do you think we’re going to be okay?

Hallie

Leik furrows their brows a little bit.

Hallie (as Leik)

My opinion is biased by the very nature of my work. I only see the ways in which things fail.

Tom (as Jessar)

I mean, I try to live my life being happy and all, but sometimes I just get a little bit afraid wondering when that thing is going to come back, if any of our plans will work out. I don't even know what we’re really building to fix it, but I hope it’ll make everything better… I’m sorry if I made things kind of weird now. It’s scary to watch the skies for that thing coming back when I know if I see it it’ll probably mean that’s the… that’s the end, that’s the last time we ever get to take breaks or go on adventures or play knife in the hand. I’m sorry. This was supposed to be a relaxing day for you.

Hallie (as Leik)

It was.

[Xoc & Ness’s theme begins.]

I had never played Stop, there’s a knife in my hand before, and I had fun, and I am glad that I got to take a break, but I’m glad to go back now so that people can still keep playing Stop, there’s a knife in my hand. I am not optimistic because of my nature, but there is a weapon.

Tom (as Jessar)

Oh?

Hallie (as Leik)

And I know at least 747 ways that it doesn’t work, which means there’s a chance we found the one that does.

Tom (as Jessar)

I guess that’ll have to be good enough.

[Music is replaced by a siren-like alarm.]

Kyle

An alarm starts to let out.

Hallie

[Distraught.] No…

Kyle

Across all of Prylima. The alarm does not say words, it does not give instructions, but every single Pryliman knows what it means. This thing made of glass and spider has found you.

Tom (as Jessar)

Is there any way the two of us can help? Should we get back to the lab, or is it time to hide?

Hallie

Leik’s standard expression is glum. Their expression right now is completely neutral.

Hallie (as Leik)

I guess it’s time to go back to the lab. Do you want to come with?

Tom

Shivering a little bit, Jessar is going to nod and say,

[Occasional heavy rumbles join the alarm.]

Tom (as Jessar)

Yeah, I wouldn’t mind staying with you in case… in case we don’t make it.

Hallie

Leik takes Jessar’s hand.

Kyle

You make your way to the Redd Module.

[The alarm and rumbling are gradually overtaken by sinister, almost melancholy music, the Apocrita theme.]

As you make your way, the city powers up with light. Those green bands start to illuminate, especially around the tubes in between various parts of the city, as Prylimans run from place to place, many fleeing towards other modules. In the distance you see a series of tubes shoot out in bright light before suddenly being silenced as one of the other modules in the distance is hit by this large glittering obsidian force, and as it gets consumed all of the light within disappears. As you run, I need each of you to roll a Speed.

Hallie

Leik got another 11.

Tom

Oh, I got a 7, sorry.

Kyle

Jessar, you are hit by a series of panicking pebbles as they just kind of run into you and knock you over.

Hallie & Tom

[Soft, sad groaning.] Oh…

Kyle

Leik, you’re able to help her out, but in the process your mug accidentally slips from your hand,

[00:15:00]

and almost like being washed over a sea is just picked up by this mass of moving bodies and carried somewhere off in the distance, off towards where the Bleu Module would be.

Hallie

Leik watches it go without an expression.

[Music fades.]

Tom (as Jessar)

[Upset.] I’m real sorry that you dropped your mug because of me. I’ll help you find it once this is all over.

Hallie (as Leik)

It’s not important. I only had it in the first place because of you.

Tom

[Pleased and emotional.] And I guess, with that, we keep going for now.

Hallie (as Leik)

Let’s hurry.

Tom (as Jessar)

Yeah!

[The Apocrita music-box theme begins.]

Kyle

Another part of the floating city collapses as you rush off into this trapezoidal-like building, unlike the others which all have people rushing towards them trying to get from module to module. Nobody wants to get into Redd, because everybody knows where Redd is going. You get into this trapezoidal building, make your way up the steps, and you find this small pod illuminated on its outside, like the outside lines of a drawing with this green light.

Hallie

As we’re going in, Leik just wants to stop for a hot second.

Hallie (as Leik)

Are you sure you wanna come in? You don’t have to.

Tom

Jessar’s just going to nod.

Tom (as Jessar)

I wanna stay. I wanna help.

Hallie

Leik nods and then will continue with Jessar in.

Kyle

The force of this pod moving would be enough to knock any human being off of their feet, but you’re able to make your way through it fine enough. The most disturbing thing is you can’t really see anything. This tube isn’t dark, it does have this internal lighting that keeps it alight, but you can’t see anything on the outside. After all, why would they make it so that you could see things when you know where the pod is going, but with a danger like this outside you don’t really know where you’re going, and each twist and turn as you move through the tube there’s a bit of worry that this might be the last sensation you feel. But you make your way up, you make your way into a trapezoidal building into the next module, the Redd Module.

[Music ends.]

This module is a large cube that’s split into three different departments. There’s one on your left, one on your right, and then one stretching forward. Which one are you running towards?

Tom

Can I suggest?

Hallie

Yes, please.

Tom

Let’s call it the Connectivity department. They work on interfacing all kinds of different things with other things.

Kyle

You follow this line of glittering powder that leads you in the way, not only in its form but in its words, and you choose out of the three places to go to go to the Connectivity department, because that’s where that 1 in 700-something odds item lives. As you make your way, Redd is surprisingly normal. It’s smaller than usual. Some Prylimans have left their post, and in the face of something like this it’s kind of hard to blame them. The rest are acting as if they were doing their regular jobs, because in the face of this that’s all they can do, although there is a quiet understanding that this is not just any other day.

As you get through, you walk up to this massive door that lights itself up with green lights and moves to the sides. You run inside, you see a series of items, and then in the center of the room you see standing on this pedestal this long, thin spear with a dull prismatic tip and various ropes extending out of it.

Tom (as Jessar)

So, is this that 1 in 700?

Hallie

Leik nods, and as they go to pick it up they’ll move one of the ropes a little bit, just tweak it a little bit, and then say,

Hallie (as Leik)

There was a similar thing that didn’t work in that configuration. I haven’t tested this one yet.

Tom (as Jessar)

Well, I guess no time like the present.

[Oppressive ambient music begins.]

Kyle

From the outside you start to hear scraping, and you hear as more pieces—you know as more pieces of the city start to fall, because you can’t hear that. You can’t hear Prylima anymore. You can just hear the glass, and as the glass gets closer you can hear the skittering of some small, many-legged thing as well.

Tom

Jessar is gonna take Leik’s hand for a bit, squeeze it, and say,

Tom (as Jessar)

So, where do we have to be to use the thing?

Hallie

Leik will point to an elevator.

Hallie (as Leik)

As close to it as we can get.

Tom

She’ll nod and head for the elevator.

[Music ends.]

Kyle

You step into this elevator. A line of green surrounds each of your feet. Most elevators lead somewhere, but this leads nowhere, and that’s by design. The elevator goes out, and around you, you see the open air.

[Heavy, tragic music begins.]

Many parts of the city are gone, just the open air in their place, but almost more frightening are the parts of the city that are covered up in this emptiness; the shadows of the obsidian making it look as if the sky itself had been cut out of frame. As you look above you see tiles start to reach themselves around Redd, the dull ceramic being covered by this glittering obsidian.

[00:20:00]

It reaches down as if multiple fingers curling themselves around Redd, slowly reaching towards you, and two fingers turn around and face in front of you. The ends of these massive fingers open up, revealing inside of them glass facsimiles of species you have never heard of and one species you are very familiar with, and in front of them, dozens, hundreds, thousands – the number doesn’t matter, it’s enough – of spiders start pouring themselves out and going straight towards you.

Tom

Jessar says,

Tom (as Jessar)

Let me take the shot. I’m really good at hitting the hoop in Stop, there’s a knife in my hand. I can do this.

Hallie

Leik will hand Jessar the staff.

Hallie (as Leik)

Be careful. We want the birds to come back.

Tom (as Jessar)

[Sniffs.] Yeah, I want that too.

Tom

Then she’ll, I guess, rush towards—like, does it look like there’s a central figure to this cloud or is it just swarms of obsidian automatons?

Kyle

There isn’t a central figure, not yet.

Tom

In that case, Jessar is just going to go up and stab the first automaton she finds, just:

Tom (as Jessar)

[Action shout with exertion.] Hyah!

Kyle

The black tiles, for a second, are replaced with every color across the spectrum as the tip of Redd’s Blessing erupts in prismatic light. The ropes around its ends suddenly jump to life and start moving around as if a living being on their own right. They reach around you, Jessar, and they reach around you, Leik, wrapping themselves around your bodies and integrating themselves with the vines that go between your appendages.

The light gets brighter and more multicolored until all you can see are these different colors, and you feel these different sensations, every color, every taste, every sound that you have ever remembered… and hundreds of thousands of others that you don’t.

[Music fades carrying into the announcements.]

Kyle

Hello, and welcome to the announcement break for Quest Friends, Episode 64: One Neon Night, Part 6. I am Kyle, your GM, and our intro and outro song are Friends and Hitoshio, both by Miracle of Sound.

For today’s announcement break I got a few big things to talk to you about. The first one is our third year anniversary. In four days, on Friday, September 25, Quest Friends will be turning three years old, and to celebrate we’re gonna do the same thing that we’ve done the past couple of years and we’re going to have a Q&A stream.

During the stream, which will be happening at 7:30 PM Central Time, we’ll be providing answers to any and all questions you want to ask, interacting with the chat a bit, and then probably doing a debrief game. We’re actually gonna test out Among Us to see if that is something that the five of us can do together, because Emily’s computer normally doesn’t let her play games, so we’re testing things out.

So, if you’d like to join us for celebrating three years of Quest Friends you can follow us at twitch.tv/QuestFriends or just follow that link on Friday, September 25 at 7:30 PM Central Time. If you’d like to submit a question for that, any question you want – our thoughts on characters, behind the scenes information, what our future plans are – you can find a link to our questionnaire below. I will be compiling questions through Thursday night, so please feel free to add whatever you want to ask.

Additionally, I wanted to do a big, big shout-out to Tom and Hallie for this session. Something that I didn’t keep in the edited version of the episode but I think it’s important for you to know, Leik and Jessar were presented to Tom and Hallie literally after the session began. The session began, I did my introductory monologue, and then I said okay, who wants to play Jessar, and I was able to do that by providing them brief descriptions provided by two of our audience members.

A while back we asked our audience for prompts, things like their last text, a line from a book they read, their most valuable object, and you will see those manifest over the course of this and next episode, but we also asked people to kind of play around, give a sentence of a character and then send that to somebody else and have them add onto that sentence, and two audience members created paragraphs that would be the characters of Leik and Jessar, and those two audience members are DingBingBats, or DingBingBats on Tumblr, and Bee, or @ilgakasa [now @Bee_IsEden] on Twitter. Thank you so much for providing the prompts for those two characters. As you can tell, the three of us really fell in love with them.

I’m also mentioning Bee because Bee will appear in just a few minutes as a member of our name pool. What that means is that I used Bee’s name and I ascribed it to a person, place or thing in the Quest Friends universe.

[00:25:00]

If you would like to be part of the name pool just tweet or tumblr out about the show using the hashtag #QuestFriends, and if I am in need of a name and your name or username fits the bill you may just hear it in a future episode.

Okay, two more quick things. The first thing is that, speaking of characters, I’ve actually started compiling a list of notable names and linking them to each episode, starting with this one. If you follow the description below you’ll find a link to a Google Doc where I’ve put the names of important places, objects, and characters that are mentioned in this episode and a brief description of each, and I’m gonna be doing this for every future episode. I just know that sometimes we throw a lot of nouns your way, so I want to start putting this in future episodes so they’re a little bit easier to follow.

Finally, for anyone who from our 2020 survey had gotten a sticker or book reward – I would have emailed you if that was the case – that has now been mailed out, so if you don’t receive that in the next couple of weeks let me know.

Alright, that’s all I’ve got for you today. Our next episode will be releasing on Monday, October 5, but if you’d like additional content before then you can find stories, artwork, and behind the scenes insights at Patreon.com/QuestFriends. I’ll see you there.

[Otherworldly jazz music carries out of the announcements.]

Kyle

Many, many years later we are back in Bleu. We are in the quote-unquote “present day,” or at least the present day of the podcast. Hop, Xoc has just set down to talk to the nano spirits and try to figure out if he can Far Step across. What are you doing while Xoc’s having this communication that you can only hear half of? Like, when you’re in that awkward situation, like you go to college for the first time and there’s always that person that’s arguing with their significant other on the phone.

Hallie

Yeah. I was that person in college.

[Laughter.]

So thanks for bringing up that memory~

[Laughter.]

Hopper’s not gonna leave, obviously. He’s trying to give Xoc some private phone call space while not wandering too far, but he’s poking around. They determined that the tube was broken to the Coachman’s Tree area, which is where he really wants to get to.

Kyle

The tube is broken and the pod is not powered on.

Hallie

Yeah, we just can’t really get it… but he’s poking around to see, like, if there’s any writing on the walls. He won’t be able to read it, but he can be like “Xoc, please translate this for me” afterwards. He’s looking for cool stuff… He thinks everything here is cool. He’s just really happy to be on an archeological dig.

Kyle

Alright, so you’re poking around, and at one point you hear a little tink of stone beneath your feet as if you accidentally kicked something.

Hallie

I look down. What did I kick?

Kyle

You see what looks like to be a little fossil. Do you pick it up?

Hallie

[Gasps, delighted.] A little fossil? Yeah!

Kyle

Yeah, you pick up this little fossil. It’s this thing made out of, eh, maybe ceramic? It’s tough to tell, because of course with fossils you can only tell like the indentation, right?

Hallie

Yeah.

Kyle

But from what you can see of it, it looks like it was just a little, um… like a mug?

Hallie

I swear to god, Decker. The second you were like

[Cheerfully.] ceramic!

I was like no~!

[Laughs.] No~!

Kyle

Yeah, it’s just a little fossil of like a little mug or something, which is weird because based on everything you knew these things didn’t drink anything.

Hallie

Yeah, they’re robots, they didn’t really need to. Maybe they did culturally? You know, cultural practices.

Kyle

But it looks identical to one of the mugs Dad Theo would have in the morning.

Hallie

Dad Theo likes his mugs. He likes his coffee.

Kyle

[Laughs.] I’m assuming you just hold onto it or something?

Hallie

Yeah. Actually, Hop’s gonna pocket it.

Kyle

Okay.

Hallie

It’s like a cool find. It doesn’t belong to anybody, so he’s not really stealing.

Kyle

At that point, Xoc opens his eyes, leans forward and starts breathing really heavily into them.

Tom (as Xoc)

[Long breathy groan.]

Hallie (as Hopper)

Didn’t go so well, huh?

Tom (as Xoc)

So, bad news… I decided to cut ties with the nano spirits for now. I don’t know if I’m going to be speaking to them again, ever, and I don’t have any of my magic.

Hallie (as Hopper)

Are you okay with how that went?

Tom (as Xoc)

Uh…? Ask me again in a few hours. I don't know how useful I’ll be for the rest of this journey, but at least I can read the stuff in here. I suppose that’s one thing.

Hallie (as Hopper)

Well, we’ll figure something out. You know, your magic doesn’t define you. you’re plenty without it. You don’t need to measure yourself by that is what I’m saying.

Tom (as Xoc)

Thank you, Hopper Scotch, although my arms are very noodly.

Tom

And he does like the arm waving.

Hallie

[Laughs.] Hopper will laugh a little bit and say,

Hallie (as Hopper)

We’ll manage just fine.

[00:30:00]

Kyle

And as you say that…

Hallie

[As a small groan.] No.

Kyle

…the echo resounds again.

[Bellowing monstrous snarl.]

But it gets louder, and louder… and I need you to roll Speed defense. And by you I mean you specifically, Hop.

Hallie

Hopper rolled a 9, and he’s trained in Speed defense, and he’s got his shield which is an asset.

Tom

Yup.

Hallie

I might be specialized in Speed defense. Hang on.

Tom

When did you get all that Speed defense training?

Hallie

Uh, apparently never. I am not specialized in Speed defense, just trained.

Kyle

[Sarcastically feigning sympathy.] Oh, bad luck…

Hallie

Wow. Rude.

Tom

Was it 18 versus 15?

Hallie

Rude.

Kyle

It was a Level 6 roll.

Tom

God damn it.

Kyle

And the sound gets louder, the [Monstrous snarl.]

And eventually you hear it start to make words as just like a bullet of wind you just hear,

Kyle (as ???)

[Shouting very quickly.] What are you doing with my fossils?!

[Energetic quirky piano music begins.]

Kyle

And Hop, you are thrust to the ground by this large force, and you hit the ground for 6 points of damage.

Hallie

Ow!

Tom

[Smiling in disbelief.] What the fuck?!

Kyle

Above you, you see this oily white giant beard and this man with these extremely angry eyes. He’s got this glowing vine around him. This man looks at you and he keeps going…

Kyle (as angry man)

[Shouting very quickly.] [Completely unintelligible until the line:] FUCKING KILL YOU!

Kyle

…and he raises this pickaxe with blood on it as if he’s about to strike it down on top of you.

Hallie

[Laughing.] Hopper will go—

Tom

Yeah, Xoc is gonna raise the strong-glass staff to knock that pickaxe away.

Kyle

Alright Xoc, give me a roll.

Tom

Let’s spend a level of Might Effort.

Hallie

[Laughing.] I can’t fucking believe this is happening. On top of everything else tonight, this is happening now!

Tom

Out of curiosity, how much would a 3 get me if I had spent a single level of Effort?

Hallie

Nooo!

Kyle

You go to swing at this man, and he just grabs your staff with his bloody pickaxe and throws it to the ground, both the pickaxe and the stronglass staff. So hey, you did well, except suddenly from behind his back he pulls out a bloodied shovel and he swings at your face, and I need you to roll Speed defense.

Hallie

[Laughs.]

Tom

Jesus fucking Christ.

Kyle (as angry man)

[Shouting very quickly.] What, are you trying to pretend to get my fossils?! Do you want me to kill you too?!

Tom

[Smiling.] Jesus fucking Christ.

[Music ends.]

Ooh! Woo! A 17?

Kyle

[Tightly through a big smile.] Uh, Xoc… take 6 points of Might damage.

Tom

Fuck you if you say that’s Level6. Fuck you!

Hallie

[Laughs.]

Tom

Fuck you!

Kyle

So you just ‘blonk,’ Xoc is hit in the side of the head.

Tom

Xoc is impaired.

Kyle

This man turns back to you and he starts reaching around in your—Do you have a bag, Hop?

Hallie

Oh, Hopper’s trying to get the backpack off. He’s gonna give this man what he wants.

Kyle

He reaches in, grabs the fossil, looks at it, looks at you, leans in super close and says,

Kyle (as angry man)

[Low and gravely.] Now don’t you come back after another one of my fossils, you understand?

Hallie (as Hopper)

I didn’t know they were YOUR fossils! I am so… I didn’t know anybody was here! You know, I just thought it was—I didn’t mean to take anything from anyone. I didn’t think that it was stealing. I’m really, really sorry.

Hallie

While he’s saying this he’s like trying to get over to Xoc because Xoc was just beamed with a shovel.

Tom

Xoc is just lying there on the floor, dazed.

Hallie

Yeah. Hop’s gonna, he’s like trying to make sure Xoc is okay, so to Xoc…

Hallie (as Hopper)

[Softly.] Hey, are you okay?

Hallie

…and then back to this angry stranger, and go,

Hallie (as Hopper)

Again, I am so so--you can take any fossils that are in that bag.

Kyle (as angry man)

[Very quickly,, growing louder, still half unintelligible.] You should be very sorry; I’m the owner of these fossils. These are my fossils. You’re not gonna get any of my fossils. You’re not gonna get my fossils!

Hallie (as Hopper)

Truly, um, I—Are you a collector?!

Kyle (as angry man)

[Low and rumbly.] I collect all sorts of fossils…

Hallie (as Hopper)

So like an avid collector! That’s really cool. That’s a cool interest to have. And again, you are welcome to the fossils that are in my bag.

Tom

Xoc slowly sitting up:

Tom (as Xoc)

[Strained.] Whooo are youuu?

Kyle

As he’s reaching in and just looking around he just turns around and grunts,

Kyle (as angry man)

[Nearly indecipherable through grunting.] Rockryan.

Tom (as Xoc)

I’m sorry, what?

Kyle (as Rockryan)

[More forcefully, still grumbly.] Rockryan!

Hallie (as Hopper)

Is that how you pronounce it?

Kyle (as ???)

[Drawn out.] This is, uh, Rockryan.

Kyle (as Rockryan)

[Through grumbles.] Yeah, Rockryan.

Kyle

And this man, who I guess his name is Rockryan, just grunts in response to this mysterious voice.

Hallie (as Hopper)

Rockryan, I’m Hopper, Hopper Scotch. It’s nice to meet you.

Kyle (as Rockryan)

[Through grumbles.] Eh, whatever. Bee, go say hello.

Hallie (as Hopper)

Sorry, I didn’t catch that.

Kyle (as Bee)

[Drawn out.] Oh! I’m sorry. He told me to say hello, but I could not remember the words.

Kyle

Suddenly, one of the vines on his shoulder just extends out. It looks like one of the vines that had been alive around from last time.

Tom

Mm-hmm.

Kyle

It extends out and it raises towards you like a pert snake, and this beam of green light, the same green light you had seen around, moves its way up and along the vine

[00:35:00]

and perches on the head almost as if it forms two eyes, and they – because this character uses they/them pronouns – they look down at you and say,

[Southern guitar music begins.]

Kyle (as Bee)

[Drawn out.] My name is Bee. It is nice to meet you, Hopper.

Kyle (as Q-BO)

[Beep-boop.] It is nice to meet you too, Bee, and Rockryan, last name not identified.

Kyle (as Rockryan)

[Grumbles.]

Kyle (as Q-BO)

[Beep-boop.] Rockryan, still not identified.

Hallie

[Chuckles.]

Kyle (as Q-BO)

[Beep-boop.] I am Q-BO, and this is Hopper Scotch and Xoc.

Kyle (as Bee)

Oh! Well, it is great to meet both of you.

Hallie

Is the vine still extended?

Kyle

Yeah, the vine is extended. If you reach out your hand they will, like, shake.

Hallie

That’s exactly what Hop was planning to do.

Kyle

Alright. Bee, the light, moves back a little bit causing the vine to just slump into your hand where you can shake it. It’s one of those like loose handshakes.

Hallie

Yeah.

Kyle (as Bee)

We have not seen many collectors since the last ones.

Kyle

And you can’t help but eye the blood on the pickaxe and the shovel as Bee says that.

Hallie (as Hopper)

It sounds like this area is spoken for.

Kyle (as Rockryan)

This area and all areas are spoken for. Every fossil is mine!

Tom (as Xoc)

Well, luckily, we are not actually interested in fossils ourselves. We were just trying to get over to the other side of the ruins and look for evidence, definitely not the fossily kind of evidence.

Hallie (as Hopper)

Any evidence that isn’t fossils.

Kyle

[Chuckles.]

Kyle (as Rockryan)

Eh, I thought you two looked like posers anyway.

[Music ends.]

Hallie

[Laughs loudly.]

Tom

Fucking wow.

Hallie

The dunk.

Kyle (as Rockryan)

Yeah, go ahead. Go on over there and get yourself killed. Not like I care.

Hallie

Is that an invitation to get my bag back?

Tom

[Laughs.]

Kyle

Yeah, he’s thrown the bag to the side.

Hallie

Okay, because I want it back.

[Laughter.]

Hop will grab the bag.

Hallie (as Hopper)

So, Rockryan and Bee, how long have you been here?

Kyle (as Rockryan)

[Grumble sounding like “I dunno”.]

Kyle (as Bee)

Uh… let me inter- interp- interprate… Let me interpret that.

[Sounding like “I dunno”.] Uhhh…

Rockryan does not know how long he’s been here. I have al- all- always?

Kyle (as Rockryan)

[Unintelligible.]  Bee’s like fine or whatever and [unintelligible trailing] helped me get around the facilities. I thought it was pretty helpful or whatever.

Hallie

From what we have seen, from what Hopper and Xoc have seen, is it clear that Bee is a Pryliman robot?

Kyle

Bee is not a Pryliman robot. Bee is literally a vine wrapped around his neck.

Hallie

Oh! I’m sorry. I thought Bee had vines on them.

Kyle

No, Bee is a vine wrapped around Rockryan Shanksfossil, kind of—

Hallie

I gotcha.

Kyle

Very similar to Misha’s scarf, except Bee, there seems to be this symbiosis between the vine and this glowing light inside of it.

Hallie

Okay.

Hallie (as Hopper)

So, living here isn’t a problem? Like, you can get around and open doors and that kind of thing?

Kyle (as Bee)

Yes. It is no problem at all, unless of course we run into The Preserve.

Kyle (as Rockryan)

Eh, The Preserve ain’t shit. It ain’t a big deal.

Tom (as Xoc)

Uh, what is that?

[Dark synth music begins.]

Kyle (as Bee)

Well… Uh… What is- What is word?

Kyle (as Rockryan)

Ghost!

Kyle (as Bee)

Oh! That is the word. It’s a ghost.

Hallie (as Hopper)

A ghost.

Tom (as Xoc)

A ghost?

Kyle (as Q-BO)

[Beep-boop.] Ghosts, or incorporeal enemies, tend to be remnants of long-lost bad memories that stick around the place in which they were incurred. Being incorporeal ghosts cannot be harmed unless they are attacked by things such as esoteries or azure steel. Luckily, Xoc has—

[Error noise.] Oh.

Tom (as Xoc)

[Defeated.] I do not.

Kyle (as Q-BO)

[Beep-boop.] But Elee B has—

Tom (as Xoc)

She is not here.

Kyle (as Q-BO)

[Error noise.] Oh. …

[Beep-boop.] Ghosts cannot be fought and should be run away from.

Hallie

[Laughs.]

Kyle (as Bee)

That is, uh… not wrong.

Kyle (as Rockryan)

Correct.

Kyle (as Bee)

That is correct. The Preserve is a ghost and it is also an avid collector.

[Music fades.]

Hallie (as Hopper)

Oh, so I assume that you have crossed paths then. I mean, you just said that was the only trouble you had navigating around, right? What does The Preserve, uh, what does it guard? Where does it hang out?

Kyle

The end of the vine starts tapping partway of the middle as if someone pointing to their head.

Tom

Think, think, think…

Kyle

And Bee says,

Kyle (as Bee)

The Preserve… It is not encounter. Encounter happens not always. The Preserve is, um, not, not always chasing.

Kyle

Bee extends out as if they’ve realized something very correct.

[00:40:00]

Kyle (as Bee)

The Preserve is always chasing.

[Haunting music begins.]

Kyle

Suddenly you hear another growl, but this one isn’t angry and like [Snarls like Rockryan.]

This one is quiet, whispering… a gentle demand saying things such as “sleep more,” “weeding out the weak,” “I did, thanks.”

“My life?” “Thumbs up. Thumbs up. Thumbs up. Thumbs up. Thumbs up. Thumbs up.”

You start hearing these voices repeat over and over as like a cyclone. You hear a rattling of pots and jars coming from behind you, and you feel something is clamoring its way to you.

Tom (as Xoc)

I wonder if it might be helpful to continue this conversation elsewhere. Did you say you have a way, say, across the bog over to there?

Tom

He points behind, like, he does a thumb behind himself to point at the pod that’s broken and the other module.

Kyle (as Bee)

Oh! There?

Kyle

The vine that is Bee suddenly jolts out of view as Rockryan just thumps into the pod. He just basically falls into it. Then he pokes his head out and he gestures.

Kyle (as Rockryan)

Come on. Come on, Bee likes you.

Tom

Xoc will step into the pod.

Hallie

Yeah, Hop will too.

Kyle

Perfect.

Hallie

Making sure Q-BO is there.

Tom

[Chuckles.] Yes, we’re not leaving Q-BO to die.

Hallie

[Laughs.]

Kyle

You pick up Q-BO. You come in. Rockryan picks up his shovel and his pickaxe, and he just kind of—You know that thing on stage where you loop someone off stage with a cane?

Hallie

Yeah!

Kyle

He does that with both of you to help push you in further.

Hallie

Oh my god. I love it. Hopper doesn’t, I love it.

Kyle

And suddenly you wonder, have we made a mistake?

[Music fades.]

Hallie

Yeah.

Kyle

This is a very stuffy pod. It is a very tight fit for three people and a giant vine. The only light is Q-BO, who because he’s kind of stuffed under other people because there’s no space, his light is really hampered.

Hallie

Is Bee’s light on?

Kyle

Yes, but then suddenly you see Bee’s light move across the vine and move into the pod itself, and suddenly this light extends itself throughout the sides of the pod, lining it up, almost like it’s drawing the outside of a cartoon or something. Rockryan just turns to you and says,

Kyle (as Rockryan)

Hold on.

Tom (as Xoc)

To what?

Kyle

Xoc, I need you to take a GM Intrusion.

Tom

Okay. Hopper gets the other XP.

Hallie

By default, my favorite kind.

Kyle

Each of you roll me two rolls. One is gonna be Might defense, and the other is going to be Might defense.

Hallie

So they’re both Might defense? Okay. [Laughs.]

Tom

[Rolls.] An 11 and a 17.

Hallie

[Rolls.] I got a 2 and an 18.

[Electronic race music begins.]

Kyle

Okay. I’m not gonna have you take any damage, because holy shit you’ve taken so much.

Hallie

Yeah, we’re both pretty—Xoc’s impaired.

Tom

Yeah. I think I’m gonna need a ten minute rest once we reach the other pod.

Hallie

Yeah, that’d be great.

Kyle

Both of you are just thrown to the back of the pod as it just rockets forward. It feels as if a rocket had launched – you know, the kind of G-Force you get with that – but

[Snaps.] in a second you just hear,

Kyle (as Rockryan)

[Laughs.] 

Kyle

Rockryan, who has taken his pickaxe and embedded it in the wall of the pod to hold onto, is just laughing at you as you fall in back.

Hallie

Laughing at the noobs.

Tom

Fuck you too, Rockryan.

Kyle

You just feel a lot of things. In the flashback it was a very deliberate back and forth, you know? As Jessar and Leik were being thrown around they were being thrown around as if they were moving from place to place deliberately, but in the case of your pod you feel like you’re moving in a stable place for about five seconds, and then you get to the outside where the tube is no longer intact.

Hallie

[Nervously.] Uh…

Kyle

And you’re kind of freefalling.

Hallie

[Nervously.] UHH.

Kyle

Imagine just in the air, it’s surprisingly smooth like you’re freefalling, because you are, and then suddenly a jolt as you hit something, and you bounce back and forth and you rattle against something and fall down and skid on the bog for a little bit. Do you say or do anything as you successfully manage to hold your composure? Actually, how do you keep yourself from falling back again? That will be your second Might roll, you’re able to actually hold yourselves in place a little bit.

Tom

Xoc uses the strong-glass staff, basically just wedges it in a narrow spot between the walls and clings onto that.

Hallie

Seeing Rockryan Shanksfossil using his pickaxe to keep himself steady, Hop will pop out his forearm blade – that he definitely has, that I forget that he has all the time.

Tom

[Amused.] The forearm blade he’s had since the beginning of the game.

Hallie

Since the beginning! Yes, his Assassin’s Creed forearm blade, he will use it today to keep him steady in the pod.

Kyle

Okay. We, from the outside, can see the pod shoot out into thin air. It hangs time for a little bit before falling further and further down, but the very deliberate network of tubes connecting the modules of Prylima are now more of a tangled knot when they all crashed on top of each other.

[Music ends.]

[00:45:00]

So you fly out, and then the pod falls down into this network and actually slides in between two tubes going down that pathway a little bit. It jolts back and forth. It actually hits the side of some of where you wanted to go, some of that Coachman’s Tree area. It just slides by for a second. We see a bit of from the inside of what looks to be a mysterious lab with mysterious equipment.

Hallie

[Intrigued.] Oh-ho~

Kyle

We just see [Yells.]

as the pod slides by, and it eventually gets back into a bit of tubing,

[Haunting music begins.]

but what’s more interesting is behind it you see a series of fossils. These fossils are moving about, but they’re not just a coffee mug. You see a small stuffed animal. It’s like a teddy bear, but it would have been made out of stone. You see notebooks that used to be filled with glittering powder. This weird, cheap-looking instrument that long ago would have had these adhesives on it, these tacky stickers, the equivalent of. All this equipment you see moving in a torrent of anger and malevolence, reaching out, forming the shape of what it needs to do, hands when it crawls, eyes when it needs to see, and as the pod flies out into the air it reaches out in an attempt to grab it and misses. As it misses and it reaches further and further it chases after, but when you get into the tube it hits it and some of the pieces fly to the side, and instead of pursuing you the rest of The Preserve sweeps back and grabs those fossils returning it to its mass.

[Music ends.]

Meanwhile, the pod,

[Makes thudding and power-down noises.] slowly stops. The side door opens,

[Makes air releasing and sliding noises.] and the green light returns to the vine.

Tom

Xoc is gonna stagger out of the pod and just say,

Tom (as Xoc)

That’s, uh, that’s handy.

Kyle (as Bee)

Handy…?

Tom (as Xoc)

Mm, human slang I picked up. Uh, it’s very useful that you can use the technology of this place.

Kyle

At the same time, Bee and Q-BO go,

Kyle (as Q-BO

[Beep-boop.]

Kyle (as Bee & Q-BO)

Oh! That is very useful to know. I will be sure to remember this.

Kyle (as Q-BO)

[Beep-boop.] Although that is a rather peculiar ability. How did you acquire it?

Kyle (as Bee)

Uh… I have always had it.

Tom (as Xoc)

Are you stratic life, Bee?

Kyle (as Bee)

Stratic…?

Kyle (as Rockryan)

[Angrily.] Oh, we don’t deal with any of that nano nonsense over here. Fuck nanos. They’re complete nonsense.

Tom (as Xoc)

[Thoughtfully.] Agreed.

Do you have any memories before you were a vine?

Kyle (as Bee)

Uh… Well, no, but I’m not good at remembering. I don’t remember, like, The Preserve.

Tom (as Xoc)

Mm-hmm. That’s okay. I have a good friend who had forgotten a lot of things as well. It’s a little overrated, and also categorization, un important. Total bunk.

Hallie (as Hopper)

I agree.

Hallie

Hopper says, finally emerging from the pod.

Tom

[Laughs.]

Hallie

He needed to take a second to collect himself, so when he does he pops up and his hat is like sideways and he fixes it.

Kyle

As you get up, Hopper, suddenly with a swish you are stopped in your tracks as almost like a sword being put an inch away from your face, the shovel is put at your face, and Rockryan stares at you and says,

Kyle (as Rockryan)

What are you doing here?

Hallie (as Hopper)

Well, we’re here to find two things. We are here to find some evidence to help out a friend, and we are also here to find something called Redd’s Blessing. Have you ever heard of it?

Kyle (as Rockryan)

That sounds like a fossil to me.

Hallie (as Hopper)

I don't think it’s a fossil.

Tom (as Xoc)

It’s definitely not been fossilized. Can confirm.

Kyle (as Rockryan)

[Grunts.]

Tom (as Xoc)

It’s a spear. It’s got these cables and ropes coming off of it.

Kyle (as Bee)

Oh! The… The no room. That is in the no room.

Hallie (as Hopper)

Please tell me it’s named for some other reason than it’s a room we shouldn’t go in.

Kyle (as Bee)

That is exactly why it’s called the no room. You’re very perceptive.

Hallie (as Hopper)

What exactly are the dangers in the no room?

Hallie

Hopper’s trying to move the sword away from his face and get further out of the pod.

Kyle (as Bee)

Oh… That’s where The Preserve lives.

Kyle (as Rockryan)

Well, if I can’t get in there, there’s  no way you can get in there.

Tom (as Xoc)

Well, we’ve been known to have some very resourceful ways.

Hallie (as Hopper)

Maybe if we work together. We’ve never all been together before. You know, maybe through a team effort we can get in.

Tom (as Xoc)

That’s true.

Kyle (as Rockryan)

[Grumbles.] Together or whatever [Unintelligible grumbling.] Yeah and whatever, get yourself killed. That’s what everyone has done before. 

Kyle

Suddenly, Bee will pipe up.

Kyle (as Bee)

Every “one,” Rockryan. We’ve only seen one, ones, individuals go in there.

Tom

[Whispering.] Everett.

Hallie

[Giggles.]

Kyle (as Bee)

But as a group…

Kyle

Rockryan goes [Grumbles.]

and he thinks about it, and he strokes his beard, and just bits of the oily dirt gets on his hands as he does it.

[00:50:00]

Kyle (as Rockryan)

You’re gonna let me have all the other fossils, right?

Hallie (as Hopper)

Any fossils we find belong to you.

Tom (as Xoc)

Mm-hmm.

Kyle (as Rockryan)

Huh…

Kyle

He extends his hand out towards you.

Tom

Xoc will shake that hand.

Hallie

Hop is a gentleman. He will also shake that hand.

Kyle

Alright, so Rockryan extends his hand, Xoc takes it, Hop takes it as well, kind of puts his hand on top, and then you see this glowing vine thump their hand on top as well.

[Outro music begins, “Hitoshio” by Miracle of Sound.]

Tom

Q-BO is also here.

Kyle

And the vine just says,

Kyle (as Bee)

It is agreed. We will team up, and we will not… not… not die.

[Outro music swells and carries out to the bloopers.]

Tom

[Distressed noises.]

Hallie

[Pinched but smiling.] Can we stop this recording?

Kyle

Yeah, I’d say let’s take a ten minute break and come back.

Hallie

[Emotional.] Yeah, could we please take a break? I need to collect myself.

Kyle

So that was the part I was gonna extend. It was originally just gonna be two robots hanging out and then the Apocrita attacks and it’s like “whirr” and then we transition, but I was like, let’s…

Tom

[Sniffles.] It was really good. This part really fucked me up.

Hallie

Yup. I’m tear—I teared up a little bit.

Tom

I’ve been tearing up a lot, actually.

Hallie

You made both me and Tom cry!

Kyle

You made yourselves cry. I just did the setup.

Hallie

[Laughs.]

Tom

[Deeply amused.] We did this. We played ourselves.

Hallie

We played ourselves! [Laughs.]

Tom

[Weakly.] Oh no…

Hallie

Nooo!

Tom

[Laugh-sobs.] Oh…

Hallie

No…!

Tom

[Tearful.] How did we play them for like 40 minutes and love these two robots so much?

Hallie

Right?! Like, that was—[Laughs.]

Almost we had no time with them.

Tom

[Into his hands.] We want the birds to come back!

Hallie

But Jessar and Leik are so pure, and I love them.

Tom

I’m so upset.

Hallie

And they deserved better than the Apocrita. I’m not…

Tom

I’m not okay. [Chuckles.]

Hallie

I’m not… I’m not well.

Tom

[Exhales.] So Aegon had to fight just two robots bound together.

Hallie

[Gasps, into her hands.] Why would you hurt me that way?

Tom

I’m sorry!

Hallie

I have to take this knife out of my gut. God! You just stabbed me, with your game! [Laughs.]

Stop, there’s a knife in my gut! Fuck!

Tom

[Laughs.]

Hallie

There’s a knife in my heart! It took me like three tries to make that joke.

[Tearful.] I’m not okay! I’m a mess! I’m not okay…

[Episode end - 00:52:42.]