Ep. 69: One Neon Night, Part 11

Kyle

Hey everyone, it’s Kyle. Quick announcement before we get started. Quest Friends has had over a hundred thousand downloads! At time of recording we have 101,159 lifetime downloads of the show, and that’s just… that’s entirely too many.

So, to celebrate and say thank you for supporting us the past three years, we’re gonna be having a Jackbox Party Pack celebration stream tomorrow on Thursday, December 17 at 7 PM Central Time. If you’re interested in hanging out for a little bit and voting on which of our terrible jokes is the most tolerable you can check us out at that time on twitch.tv/QuestFriends. I hope to see you there.

Previously on Quest Friends…

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

Tom (as Xoc)

What is a guardian program?

Emily (narrating)

Elee knew this child was special, because Karl was babbling about them even before he’d flung open the door.

Kyle (as Ein)

The guardian program was a way of looking for alternative parental figures for Misha.

Emily (narrating)

The scarf practically launched itself onto the coatrack in excitement as he’d explained how well the visit had gone, how—

Kyle (as Karl)

They’re only a few years old, but they don’t seem like it.

Emily (narrating)

They were smart, sweet…

Kyle (as Karl)

They’re passionate, they’re curious, and Elee they can sing. I’ve never seen anything like them.

Kyle

And Ein, who’s been rustling through the drawers over this whole conversation, finally opens the one she was looking for, and she pulls out this small photograph.

Emily (narrating)

They were perfect.

Kyle (as Karl)

You’re gonna be so excited. I just know that you two will be best friends.

Kyle (as Ein)

You never made it past that man who died 45 years ago.

Emily (narrating)

He finally paused for a breath.

Kyle (as Karl)

I was told we need to come back tomorrow if we wanted to adopt.

Kyle

She throws the photograph on the table, and with the exception of Misha no one recognizes the man in the image… well, almost no one.

Emily (as Elee)

[Weakly.] Karl…

[Intro music swells and carries into the episode.]

[Static interference and Morse code begins.]

[A faint recording in a foreign language plays, followed by dramatic piano.]

[The static and Morse code fade. Soft, surreal music begins.]

Kyle

The Datasphere lacks consistency. Within this layered reality fragments of information collide with each other to form malleable threads that can twist themselves into any form imaginable, but for a space where information manifests as reality one’s actual influence in the Datasphere is surprisingly limited. And so, she plucked from the edges of her lips a small fragment of herself and breathed into it life. The Lady then sought a relay, a messenger from the physical world that would be willing to serve as her vessel’s body, and after some searching she found them: a perfectly sculpted human facsimile built by a cowardly ant who would be easy to scare into compliance. However, unlike their creator, Misha Jarvis was not so simple to control.

[Music ends.]

Kyle (as Karl)

Oh, well this is very neat. What is it?

[Cheerful, bouncy music begins.]

Kyle

Misha, you are standing with Karl in front of the Tirefly. He is just taking it all in. This man seems dwarfed by the large vehicle he’s admiring. He’s been just walking back and forth examining all the little details, wanting to really take it in and show that he admires it without touching anything. It’s not his place, of course. He turns over to you and he says that, he asks, you know, well this is really neat, what is it?

Ari (as Misha)

Tirefly! It is the Tirefly! Does Karl like the Tirefly?

Kyle (as Karl)

[Whistles.] Karl really likes the Tirefly, and it looks like Karl’s friend does too.

Kyle

As Karl whistled you could see that this scarf that he had around his neck had piped up when he made the little musical  note and seemed to just gently put its end, kind of like a hand, on the Tirefly. This scarf is one of his pieces of clothing. Just as he speaks his clothes seem to sometimes dance along with him. This one tends to keep rhythm bouncing back and forth. You don’t know what color it is, I mean everything is red, but comparing it to the Tirefly you can tell that it’s that shade of red that Pete seems to call purple.

[Music ends.]

[00:05:00]

Ari

Misha will reach their hand towards the scarf and say,

Ari (as Misha)

Friend. Friend of Karl?

Ari

They won’t be touching it, because they…

Kyle

Yeah.

Ari

Even though they do want to.

Kyle

As you reach towards it, the scarf seems to recoil back in fear a little bit, just like ah, unfamiliar hand, but skarl…

[Mocking himself.] Skarl.

Ari

[Giggling.] Skarl.

Tom

I thought that was just gonna be the scarf’s canonical name.

Kyle

[Laughing.] Skarl!

Ari

[Laughing.] Skarl! That’s the name of the scarf all along! That’s so upsetting.

Kyle

[Laughs.]

Emily

[Smiling.] I’m so upset.

Kyle

But Karl takes the scarf and gently coos as he puts it down in his calloused hands and it seems to rest. He gently takes his hands and brings them with the scarf in it towards you and says,

Kyle (as Karl)

My scarf can be a little scared of things. My wife likes to tell all sorts of scary stories.

Ari (as Misha)

Oh! Misha does not want to scare scarf.

Ari

And they will kind of pull their hands back from the scarf a little bit.

Kyle (as Karl)

Oh no, it’s alright, it’s alright. You said you wanted to be the scarf’s friend?

Ari (as Misha)

Yes.

Kyle (as Karl)

Well…

Kyle

And he doesn’t wink… no, he does wink. He leans forward and he winks a little bit.

Kyle (as Karl)

Do you know how to sing?

Ari (as Misha)

Sing? Misha is not sure. Misha has heard of singing, but Misha has not tried before.

Kyle (as Karl)

Well, let’s try together.

Kyle

And he motions for you to kind of get on your knees with him, kind of doing the thing that you do with kids where you get down to their level.

Ari

Mm-hmm.

Kyle

Even though you’re taller than him by a significant margin. [Laughs.]

Ari

Yeah. Misha will immediately sit down all excitedly like kids do when like “let me tell you a story.” Like, they will sit down.

Kyle

Crisscross applesauce style?

Ari

Yeah.

Kyle

And he motions the scarf out to you and he says,

Kyle (as Karl)

Now the important part to any song is to sing it from your heart.

Ari (as Misha)

Yes, important.

Kyle (as Karl)

So the song I’m gonna teach you today is…

Kyle

He kind of pauses and almost wistfully flashes back for a second.

Kyle (as Karl)

It needs to be sung with unconditional love.

Ari (as Misha)

Love?! Misha loves a lot of things.

Kyle (as Karl)

Alright, so can you place your hand right here?

Kyle

And he motions to basically on top of his hands on top of the scarf.

Ari

Misha will do it very slowly and carefully, just to not disturb the scarf or anything.

[Thoughtful, peaceful music begins.]

Kyle

As you gently put your hands on the scarf, which has such an interesting texture, it’s so soft while also so multifaceted. Normally this kind of feeling would be rough when you have so many different parts to a texture, but there’s something soft about this kind.

Ari (as Misha)

Misha loves how scarf feels. It feels good.

Kyle (as Karl)

Alright, well I need you to hold onto that feeling, okay?

Ari (as Misha)

Yes.

Kyle (as Karl)

This song cannot be sung with any bad feelings. You have to sing with your soul.

Ari (as Misha)

My soul?

Kyle (as Karl)

Your soul. The deepest part inside of you. For any good song you need to share the deepest, most important part of your soul.

Ari (as Misha)

Misha will try. I think Misha can do that.

Kyle (as Karl)

I’m sure Misha can. Alright, follow along with me.

[Music ends.]

Kyle (as Karl)

[Hums the first few notes of “Karl’s Song”.]

Ari (as Misha)

[Hums the same notes back.]

Kyle (as Karl)

[Hums the next few notes.]

Ari (as Misha)

[Copies the next few notes, a little slowly.]

Kyle (as Karl)

Did you see it?

Ari (as Misha)

What?!

Kyle (as Karl)

It twitched!

Ari (as Misha)

[Gasps.]

Kyle

And as you look you can see that the scarf, in response to your singing, quiet and unsure as it is, is starting to twitch a little bit, and it almost seems to be raising its end like its head.

Ari (as Misha)

[Gasps.] Misha sees it! Misha… It, it… it moved!

Kyle

[Smiling.] And it flumps back down the second you start speaking.

Ari (as Misha)

[Gasps.] Aw, it stopped.

Kyle (as Karl)

[Softly.] Oh, that’s okay, that’s okay, it’s just resting when we’re not singing.

Ari (as Misha)

[Interested and reassured.] Oh.

Kyle (as Karl)

Let’s try one more time but a little bit louder, okay?

Ari (as Misha)

Yes!

[The two hum the song together. A soft, breathy version of Karl’s Song begins.]

Kyle

As you continue to hum the scarf slowly lifts its head up. It looks around, it looks at you, it looks at your hand on it. It looks back at Karl kind of confused,

[00:10:00]

like “what’s going on,” and he just gives it a warm loving nod, and as you finish your refrain the scarf suddenly leaps out of your hands and wraps itself around your neck.

Ari (as Misha)

[Gasps.] Scarf is hugging Misha.

[Music ends.]

Kyle (as Karl)

[Laughs.] Exactly! Now, to anybody else it might just look like you’re wearing that scarf, but you and it know that you’re always hugging each other.

Kyle

And Karl just smiles at you.

Ari

Misha will smile back all excited while still holding the scarf and hugging it as well kind of wrapping themselves around it too.

[Slow, nostalgic music begins.]

Kyle

And you find yourself doing the same thing 45 years later, although this one is less of a hug and more of an instinctual holding the scarf in anxiety. You are now in Collodi’s lab. In many ways it’s a lot less bright than the memory of Karl. It’s been a few seconds since Ein has pulled out this picture and shown it to you and the rest of your friends, although I can tell you it hasn’t felt that short.

Ari

Misha will just… they will be kind of, in a sense, out of it, so they will be holding the scarf while looking at the picture, really not saying anything other than just hugging it a little bit tighter while looking at it, and they explicitly will not look at Elee, they’ll just fix their gaze on the picture.

Emily

Elee wanted to keep looking at the picture, but she also didn’t, so she kind of stumbled backwards a little bit and is actually not really looking but reaching out to grab the hand of whoever’s closest.

Tom

Who is closest?

Emily

[Softly.] I don't know.

Ari

I assume it’s Hopper?

Hallie

It could be Hopper.

Emily

[Tearful.] Yeah, whoever it wants to be, that’s who—she’s just gonna grab for someone’s hand.

[Music ends.]

Hallie

At that grab, he’ll be like,

Hallie (as Hopper)

What’s wrong?

Emily (as Elee)

Um… That’s Karl. He went… here.

Kyle (as Ein)

Yes. This man’s name was Karl. Awfully nice man. He… How do you know that?

Emily (as Elee)

Um…

Kyle (as Ein)

Oh…

Emily

Elee just kinda looks at her, like, yeah.

Hallie

Hopper spends a few seconds trying to think of a polite way to word a follow-up question that doesn’t seem pressing.

Emily

[Chuckles.]

Hallie

However Ness doesn’t really care about that, so Ness will go,

Hallie (as Ness)

I don’t get it. Who is he?

Emily

[Laughs.]

Kyle

[Laughs.]

Tom

[Slightly disappointed but still amused sigh.]

Emily (as Elee)

That would be my husband.

Tom (as Xoc)

Oh…

Hallie (as Hopper)

Oh…

Hallie (as Ness)

Oh.

Emily

[Laughs.]

Emily (as Elee)

He came to see Misha, and I didn’t go with, and… then he didn’t end up bringing Misha home.

[Cheerful whistling music, Karl’s happy theme, begins.]

Kyle (as Karl)

Goodbye Misha! I’ll come back tomorrow.

Ari (as Misha)

[Happily.] Goodbye Karl! Misha and scarf friend would like to see you tomorrow! Misha had a lot of fun.

Kyle

You can see Karl waving as he walks out of Coachman’s Tree alongside Pete Win, and as he leaves you hear him start humming to himself and singing. His boots and his hat start to dance along with him. At one point Pete joins in and the hat just flips onto Pete and then flips back onto Karl. As they go away, the scarf on your neck tick-tocks to the song until it gets quieter and quieter… and eventually flops down.

[Music ends.]

After your song and seeing how much you loved it, Karl has decided to let you keep the scarf until he gets back with the little added comment:

Kyle (as Karl)

Now you have to make sure to practice the song.

Ari

Seeing that the scarf has stopped moving Misha will immediately start humming the song again and practicing little variations of it to see the scarf move again.

Kyle

[Chuckles.]

Ari (as Misha)

[Hums “Karl’s Song”.]

Ari

And Misha will like bob their head a little to the rhythm as they sing as they get more confident with it, and yeah, they’re just really learning to like that song.

Kyle

So you make your way through Coachman’s Tree singing the song. You eventually make it back to the—I’m not gonna call it a building, more like the nest. If Coachman’s Tree is a tree then the rooms are like bird nests. You make it to the nest where you and the rest of the Jarvis models are staying, and you start just walking around eventually passing by “the forbidden room,” the forbidden room of course being father’s private lab.

The doors are shut. They’d been shut for a long time. He and Ein have been in there working on something fierce the past couple of weeks.

[00:15:00]

Ari

Misha will see it and will be even more tempted to go inside just because they want to show Ein, and father, but mostly Ein, the friend by having the scarf touch her or something or hug her too or something, but they think better of it, because their hesitance is more than just their desire to show Ein, so they’ll just go around and look for other Jarvis models to show the scarf to.

Kyle

[Chuckles.] yeah, I like to believe you’re just looping around the same hallway over and over waiting for them to get out, but you’re just looping.

Ari

Yeah.

Kyle

As you’re walking around you hear CK’s boisterous voice say,

Kyle (as CK)

Well hello there, sib. What friend do you have there? Ow!

[Metallic swing music, CK’s theme, begins.]

Kyle

And you can see that he had reached out one of his hands to just touch the scarf and get in its business, and it just slapped his hand away as he did that. [Chuckles.]

Ari (as Misha)

Oh, CK! CK! Misha met a new friend! This is scarf. Uh, scarf, CK. CK, scarf. CK, scarf is slightly shy, but it likes singing. Does CK like singing? We could sing together.

Kyle (as CK)

Hmm…

Kyle

CK has flown in front of you and is using his other five hands to nurse his single little end of hand that got hit.

Emily

[Laughs.]

Kyle

He narrows his bug eyes at the scarf which in turn looks at him. If it could narrow its eyes it would, but it’s like perched with its neck kind of back.

Kyle (as CK)

Hmm… Most people are frightfully afraid of singing. If that’s what this thing’s deal is, I think it and I will be fantastic friends.

Ari (as Misha)

Oh, good! Misha likes friends to be friends… of friends.

Ari

[Chuckling.] That’s a sentence.

Ari (as Misha)

Misha likes for friends to befriend other people too.

Kyle (as CK)

Well, I’ll join in! [Sings “Karl’s Song” poorly.]

[Music ends abruptly.]

Kyle (as Collodi)

CK, for the love of god, you have to stop making such an infernal racket!

Ari (as Misha)

Oh, my apologies, father. It was Misha’s fault. I was showing CK Misha’s friend. Does father want to see Misha’s friend?

Kyle (as Collodi)

[Huffs.]

[Soft, almost menacing music begins.]

Kyle

Collodi crosses his arms in his big lab coat and lets out a massive sigh.

Kyle (as Collodi)

Right, Misha’s friend, the one from… Pete.

Ari (as Misha)

Yes? Uh, Misha met Karl and met scarf friend. Karl left, but he will come back tomorrow.

Kyle

His eyes grow wide when you say that, and he starts tapping his foot.

Kyle (as Collodi)

[Hesitantly.] T-Tomorrow…?

Ari (as Misha)

[Softly.] Yes, Misha thinks so. Is father going to be out of his office tomorrow? Maybe Misha can introduce Karl to father and we could all sing with friend together.

Kyle (as Collodi)

See friend…

[Scoffs.] Perhaps.

Ari (as Misha)

[Gasps.]

Kyle

And he just turns to CK and says,

Kyle (as Collodi)

Now CK, I have very important things to do. You are distracting both me and my assistant, so if you would please stop that racket and get that hideous thing off of their shoulders.

Kyle

And he motions to you, Misha, as he shuts the door behind him.

[Music ends with a door slamming.]

Ari

Oh no. Misha will look really sad at it and will look at CK, without really saying anything but kind of pleading to not take the scarf off, like making puppy eyes.

Kyle (as CK)

[Sighs reluctantly.]

Kyle

And then he covers his bug eyes with his six hands and he starts to fly away saying,

Kyle (as CK)

I didn’t see anything.

Ari (as Misha)

[Gasps.] Thank you!

[Hushed.] Thank you. Thank you!

Ari

They would lower their voice at their first out-loud thank you.

Ari (as Misha)

[Hushed.] Thank you, CK! Thank you!

Kyle (as CK)

I don’t know why I make these sacrifices for you.

Kyle

He takes two of his hands and just opens up one of his eyes.

Kyle (as CK)

Ah, but you’re just too dang cute to say no to. AH!

Kyle

And he bumps into a pillar, because he’s been flying backwards with his eyes shut, and he just starts mumbling to himself as he flies off.

Ari

[Chuckles.] Oh no.

Misha will probably go outside to sing with the scarf a bit more since father doesn’t want noise inside.

Kyle

[Chuckles.] Yeah, so you go outside to sing with your scarf. You start walking around. Nobody really is around. CK… Whenever you have a secret with CK he has to go someplace else, because he’s too loud to keep it a secret. You haven’t seen Ein in weeks. Ever since you had that race by yourself she’s been basically in lab all the time. So in the end, that just leaves you, your scarf, and your conscience.

[Slow, menacing synthetic music begins.]

You continue to sing with the scarf, you have a good time, but suddenly your conscience pipes up again. Usually it gives you a feeling, you know, shame, fear, worry, although occasionally it does speak to you, and so as you’re singing with your scarf, in your view, red words appear, a single red word with four letters.

[00:20:00]

[Static interference begins. Morse code for “stop” accompanies Kyle.]

S-T-O-P.

[Static interference ends.]

Ari

Oh… Misha will look at it, keep singing but just a little bit slower and more tentatively, like maybe that’s not what she means, maybe it’s something else, so they will stop walking as much and will just stand in place and sing. Maybe it’s just other things but not that.

[Static and Morse code returns.]

Kyle

The text reappears. “Misha…”

[Static and Morse code end.]

Ari (as Misha)

[Nervous.] Oh, hello. Why does conscience want Misha to stop?

Kyle

As you ask that, a feeling of shame overwhelms you, Misha, like why should I be asking this question, why should I be doing this. I should just trust my conscience.

Ari (as Misha)

[Exhales.] My apologies. You are correct. You’re always correct and always take care of me, so I suppose I will stop singing for now.

[Music ends.]

Kyle

So you stop singing, and what do you start doing?

Ari

Well, they will still hug the scarf and I guess they will go towards the Tirefly maybe and just kinda show it to the scarf. Even if it’s not moving they will still go towards it and kind of show it to it.

Kyle

You go to show the scarf the Tirefly, and as you look around and you go to hug it for a second you feel and you realize it’s not there anymore.

Ari (as Misha)

Friend? Where did good friend go? Oh, no, friend! Friend, where are you?!

Kyle

Where do you go to look?

Ari

They will retrace their steps. I guess they will go back through the road that leads to the Tirefly and then near the building, the nest.

Kyle

As you go around you can see holding onto the scarf but with a grip in both of his hands that man you met named Karl.

Ari (as Misha)

Oh!

[Creepy music begins.]

Kyle

But his expression is no longer of open, clear love, it’s of quiet conspiracy, and he just whispers to it.

Kyle (as Karl)

[Overlaid with a monstrous voice.] Now I need you to make sure that thing trusts us, because we need to take it away from everything it cares about.

Ari

If there’s like a tree or something Misha will duck behind it and peek to see more without approaching it while to themselves just going,

Ari (as Misha)

[Softly and sad.] Karl?

Kyle

As you go to investigate this feeling of dread overwhelms you as he just continues. You can’t quite hear what he’s saying, but he’s whispering in this deep voice. It gets almost demonic, and…

[Music ends abruptly.]

Suddenly you feel a tap on the top of your head.

Ari (as Misha)

[Startled.] What?

Ari

Misha will look up, like what just touched me.

Kyle

When you look up you see, looking down at you, Karl’s scarf.

[Silly lighthearted music begins.]

Ari (as Misha)

Oh! How did you, uh…

Ari

Misha will look back at where Karl and the scarf were, or are. Are they still—?

Kyle

Yeah. You look around and they’re still there, and he’s still whispering, but you also see and feel the other scarf kind of peek its head out with you and look, and then look back at you, and then look at where you seem to be looking.

Ari (as Misha)

Are there two scarfs? Perhaps Karl has two of them. It could be that Karl has multiple friends. That makes sense, but…

Ari

Misha will ask the scarf.

Ari (as Misha)

Do you know what he means? Has he said that same thing to you?

Kyle

In response, the scarf curls itself off your shoulders and flies out to where Karl and apparently itself are and disappears into the image of them.

Ari (as Misha)

Oh. How did you do that? Where did Karl go?

Kyle

As you look at Karl and the scarf, the actual scarf pops its head out from this image, looks back and forth, and then just waves at you.

[Music ends.]

Ari

Misha will confusedly wave back.

Ari (as Misha)

Uh, um…

Ari

Misha will approach the image really slowly and tentatively put their hands towards Karl and the scarf.

Kyle

As you reach your hand out to both of them it passes through…

Ari (as Misha)

[Relieved.] Oh.

Kyle

…and him and his scarf disappear, and all you see is what seemed to be the duplicate scarf still waving at you before it just lays its head in your hand, kind of like when you go to do a high-five but then you just hold hands afterwards instead.

Several

Aww.

Ari

Misha will frown and say,

Ari (as Misha)

Oh, I suppose I imagined things. I guess it has been a long day. Friend, my apologies if I scared you.

Kyle

The scarf just curls around you again and looks at your face, but something weird happens.

[Concerning, dramatic piano music begins.]

Its shade seems to turn a different red, and your eyes start to burn…

Ari

Oh god.

Kyle

…with a silent fury.

[00:25:00]

[Music swells and carries into the announcements.]

Kyle

Hello, and welcome to the announcement break for Quest Friends, Episode 69: One Neon Night, Part 10. I am Kyle, your GM, and our intro and outro songs are Friends and Hitoshio, both by Miracle of Sound.

For today’s announcement break I’ve got another NPC shout-out for you. This shout-out is for Heather, or @IrishGirl71126 on Twitter, and Heather would like VIRGULE to read the following quote from Comedy of Errors.

Kyle (as VIRGULE)

And if you’re not familiar with The Comedy of Errors it’s by that Shake-spar guy. Anyways. [Clears throat loudly.]

Am I in earth, in heaven or in hell? I mean, I think the answer’s pretty obvious, but—sleeping or waking, mad or well-advised? Known unto these and to myself disguised. I’ll say as their say and persever so, and in this mist at all adventures go. What the hell does that mean?!

Kyle

Anyways. Thank you so much, Heather, for supporting us on Patreon. If you would like an NPC shout-out from a character of your choice you can subscribe to us on Patreon at a $5 level or above.

Alright, that’s all I got for you this week. As I mentioned last episode, we’re gonna take a bit of a break, we’re gonna have a little bit of a cliffhanger time here as a group. So in two weeks we won’t be releasing a regular episode and instead we’re gonna be releasing a bonus episode, Anyone Can ?Wear the Mask. It’s of a new game by the same name that’s coming out today I think, and Tom, Emily and I will be trying that out together. So that bonus episode will be coming out on Monday, December 28 and then two weeks after that, on Monday, January 11, we will return to this arc for the confrontation against The Lady With Cinnabar Lips.

If you’d like additional content before then, you can always find stories, artwork, and behind the scenes insights at Patreon.com/QuestFriends. I’ll see you there.

[Concerning, dramatic piano music plays and carries out of the announcements, then shifts to softer, sadder music.]

Kyle

The red light continues to burn in the present day, trying to almost burn a hole in the scarf itself which stares at Misha’s face, glaring back at Misha’s red eye.

Emily

I feel like Elee would probably… She would eventually try to approach Misha.

Ari

Would it be just approaching Misha? Like, what would she do?

Emily

She would sort of hold her hands up, like “it’s okay, I’m unarmed.” [Laughs.]

Just that look, like, as non-threatening as possible, because Misha obviously looks very distressed.

Emily (as Elee)

Karl died a long time ago, but that’s okay. It’s… It’s okay.

Ari

At seeing that, Misha will actually move away from Elee and try to not look at her, so like if Elee goes in front of Misha, Misha will like try to turn…

Emily

Yeah.

Ari

…away from her while shaking their head and hugging the scarf a bit, but a bit less tightly now.

Kyle

As you turn away, almost like a shadowy imprint of Elee stays in your vision, a red ghost staying in the center of where you look no matter how far away you look.

Ari

In that case Misha will try to move as far away from everybody and close their eyes a bit while letting go of the scarf.

[00:30:00]

Kyle

But as you close your eyes it gets worse, because then instead of being the main thing you see it’s the only thing you see, and a deep shame starts to rise.

[Music changes to slow, soft, somewhat sad piano.]

Ari

Then Misha eventually is going to turn around towards Elee and say,

Ari (as Misha)

No, don’t say that it’s okay. It’s not. You know it’s not okay. It’s…

[Tearful.] It’s not okay, Elee.

Emily (as Elee)

I know. It’s not. Nothing is okay, Misha, but that’s not on you.

Ari (as Misha)

No! No, stop saying that it isn’t on me. Why aren’t you—Why are you angry?

Emily (as Elee)

I was angry and full of so much hate for so long, but Karl told me… he said “they’re passionate, they’re curious, and they can sing.” He said he’d never seen anything like them, that they were perfect. He said “you’re gonna be so excited, I know that you two will be best friends.” That’s what he said to me when he came home to tell me about you.

Kyle

And he lied. You can see, Misha, that memory, all the way back in Roulettia, that moment where you had talked with Xoc, and Xoc had said that he would warn you if things got dangerous… and he didn’t. He lied. Ein had promised to keep you safe. Ein had lied. Everybody had made so many promises, but every time they kept lying, and why on earth should this in any way be different?

Ari (as Misha)

[Upset.] Well, he was wrong, Elee. All of you are wrong by thinking that any of this will be different. All of you just… don’t see it, just keep lying to me to make me feel better, but… it’s not working. It will never work, because you know deep down that it’s not true.

Emily (as Elee)

I’m not lying, Misha. Karl wasn’t lying.

Ari (as Misha)

Well, he might have thought that, but it wasn’t true. Even if he thought that, even if you thought that about me, it’s not true. If it wasn’t for what he thought about me he wouldn’t have died, Elee.

[A meaningful silence as music ends.]

Kyle (as Karl)

Okay, so I press this button, or this button, or is it…? Oh, it’s—!

Kyle

And Karl points to the ignition on the car alongside the scarf.

Kyle (as Karl)

It’s this button, isn’t it?

Ari (as Misha)

Yes, but Karl needs to be careful, because the Tirefly can go really fast, and I don’t want it to go too fast and crash. It has happened to Misha before, but it’s really scary and Misha doesn’t want to scare Karl or the scarf.

Kyle (as Karl)

[Hardy laugh.]

Kyle

And Karl laughs from the driver seat of the Tirefly and gives you another wink.

Kyle (as Karl)

Trust me, if anything happened to me my wife would make it so I should be the last person to be concerned.

Ari (as Misha)

Oh. Misha wouldn’t like your wife to be mad. I guess Misha hasn’t asked Karl as much… Do you think she will like Misha?

Kyle (as Karl)

Oh, I think she’ll love you.

Emily

[Exhales deeply.]

Kyle (as Karl)

She likes to act tough, but she’s a little shy like the scarf.

Ari (as Misha)

Oh… Okay! Misha can be very careful with her so that she isn’t scared like the scarf was.

Kyle (as Karl)

Oh, there’s nothing to worry about, I’m sure you two will be best friends.

Ari (as Misha)

[Excited.] Best friends? Oh, Misha cannot wait to meet her. Do you think she will like the Tirefly? Misha could show her the Tirefly too.

Kyle (as Karl)

I think… I think she’ll love it.

Ari (as Misha)

[Gasps softly.]

Kyle (as Karl)

But we have to practice to make sure we can get it home.

Ari (as Misha)

Yes. Yes! Misha will do that. Has Misha shown you the horn?

Ari

And Misha will do the little horn that does the croak sound.

Ari (as Misha)

Karl can press it if Karl wants. It doesn’t distract Misha and it’s very fun.

[The group chuckles quietly.]

Kyle

Karl looks alarmed at first like he did not expect that sound, but then he smiles and gets a conspiratorial look and just gently pushes his hand towards it… and presses it, and it goes,

[Frog croaks twice.]

and he’s like a fucking kid at a candy shop, he’s so excited by this.

Ari (as Misha)

It’s so fun! I really like it. I hope Karl likes it too.

Kyle

You hear a voice from the speakers go,

Kyle (as CK)

Are the racers ready?

Ari & Kyle (as Misha & Karl)

Yes!

Ari (as Misha)

Though it won’t be a very fast race, because Misha wants Karl to be safe.

[Happy, bouncy music begins.]

Kyle

You’re currently on the racetrack. Karl, as he has promised, came back the day afterwards.

[00:35:00]

While father couldn’t see him, it seems that father is actually really excited about having him come back. I mean, he was the one who encouraged Pete to let you two race around a little bit.

Ari

Misha is really happy about that. Was Ein around at any point? Because Misha also would like to introduce Ein to Karl and the scarf.

Kyle

Ein was not. She’d be like,

Kyle (as Ein)

Oh yes, I would love to… I… I’m a little busy right now though.

Ari (as Misha)

[Disappointed.] Oh…

Kyle

And she would go back to do more research despite the protests of Stein who…

Kyle (as Stein)

[Animated robotic quacking that sounds like complaining.]

Kyle

…just really wanted to get out once in a while.

Ari (as Misha)

That’s okay. When Ein isn’t busy Ein can meet him, and even if she is still busy after Misha leaves, Misha will come back. Misha doesn’t want to stop seeing Ein, or father sometimes.

Kyle

Misha definitely does not have to worry about CK, though, who volunteered to do an exciting racetrack style announcement for you two just driving. He probably thought it would scare Karl, so that’s why he got into it, but Karl is loving it.

Ari

Aw.

Kyle (as Karl)

Alright. Shall we get started?

Ari (as Misha)

Yes! Let’s do it!

[Music changes to a lower, sillier song.]

Kyle

He presses the button and the car slowly starts inching out of the gate bit by bit. Karl is going real slow. He’s got his hands on both sides like the little old lady behind the steering wheel, just taking as slow as he wants, because he does not want to scare you.

Ari

Misha is not used to this slow speed in a while, but they won’t say anything because they don’t want also to scare Karl, so they will still be excited and talking as the car moves.

Kyle

[Laughs.] So, like five minutes pass and you can finally say your first “turn left,” and then another five minutes go… “turn right.”

Ari

[Giggles.]

Ari (as Misha)

Misha usually goes faster with Ein, so um, if you feel comfortable we could go faster, but Misha doesn’t want Karl to go faster if Karl doesn’t want to, because safety is the most important thing. That’s what Misha’s conscience always says.

Kyle

[Chuckles.]

[Music ends.]

And in the corner of your eye you can see the thing that someone’s typing a message from Misha’s conscience like what happens when someone’s typing a message in the chat.

Ari

The “dot, dot, dot.”

Kyle

And it’s been going on for a while.

Ari

Oh boy.

Kyle

But Karl looks at you, smiles, and gives what to anyone else would look like just a nice young old man smile, but as his wife would tell you…

[Synth rock music, one of the Speedy Speed Boys racing themes, begins.]

…is the most devilish smile in existence, and he guns it.

Ari

[Amused.] Oh god! Misha will… They will think for a second to tell him to slow down, but they really like this speed too, so they are just all in it and they will just lean forward looking very carefully at the road to tell him when to turn and things like that, but they are just… this is their speed, their maximum speed.

Kyle

You keep going, and you’re the navigator, so you keep telling Karl left, right, do the loop de loop, now you’re gonna have to stop and go backwards because there’s a crab there, it’s a very angry crab, we don’t upset the crab… and everything is going great, but you get this feeling of dread, this feeling of guilt like you shouldn’t be doing this and that this is wrong. This isn’t safe. That increases even more when Karl taps on the brakes and just kinda goes…

[Music fades.]

Kyle (as Karl)

Huh… That doesn’t seem to be working as good as I thought it would.

Ari

Oh? It’s not slowing? Uh…

Ari (as Misha)

[Nervous.] Oh no! Uh, this hasn’t happened before. Misha is sorry. We should slow down, Karl. Maybe press a little bit less on the accelerator? Maybe try doing it like that?

Kyle (as Karl)

Oh, don’t worry about it, I’ve ridden many a runaway tyrannosaurus before, although it is a bit strange, these brakes don’t seem to be working at all.

Kyle

As you look and he gets ready for the next turn,

[Creepy, quiet, urgent music begins.]

suddenly the message completes,

[Static and Morse code return.]

and your vision is just covered with the word stop, stop, stop, stop, stop.

Ari (as Misha)

[Panicked.] Stop, Karl! Stop!

Kyle (as Karl)

Oh, of course I will. Um… You said there were mystery boxes around here. Maybe one of those will help.

Kyle

He starts reaching around trying to find something, and you can see his scarf is reaching around looking for it too.

Ari

I assume there’s not a handbrake in this cursed car.

Kyle

There isn’t a handbrake, but you can tell he’s not gonna make the turn, he’s not moving hard enough. You actually can see the wheel turning even further right. It’s drifting. It’s drifting drastically, in fact the wheel is spinning to the right, just keeps on spinning, and he’s not stopping, he’s not noticing it, he’s not doing anything about it!

[00:40:00]

Ari

Misha will try to grab the wheel and redirect it so that they don’t crash.

Ari (as Misha)

My apologies, Karl. I need to do this. We need to not crash. This is going too fast. We need to stop the car.

Kyle (as Karl)

Oh no, Misha, it’s fine—

Ari (as Misha)

No!

Kyle

You grasp out and you grab the wheel which continues to inexplicably keep turning right, and so you crank it as left and as hard as you can.

[The music, static, and Morse code all end in the sounds of a violent crash.]

To the outside observer they would have seen a car going perfectly straight and then they would have seen it suddenly jerk to the left before tumbling over and over and over and over again and colliding with the wall in the worst crash the Speedy Speed Boys had ever had.

Emily (as Elee)

Karl came home and told me that he loved you, and even before I met you I loved you too, and I didn’t know it was you when I met you, but I loved you, and I love you, Misha, and I know that you feel like I shouldn’t, but I do, and you deserve… you deserve to be loved, Misha. You deserve to be loved for who you are, and you are good.

Ari (as Misha)

But… But I am not, though. Because of me, when he went back to tell you those things it was the last time he went back. If he had met any other kid he would have loved that kid just the same and it would have fixed all of this. None of this would have happened, Elee.

Emily (as Elee)

He told me you were special, and you are. You are, Misha, in the best way.

[Nostalgic, hopeful music begins.]

Ari (as Misha)

No, I… I am different, yes, and special, but not in a good way, not in a way that will keep any of you safe. It only has caused problems, Elee, not just for him and for you but because of me Xoc doesn’t have any powers anymore, and it really was just a matter of luck that Simon Scotch was fine after we went into the rollercoaster. It’s not okay. It’s not fine.

Emily (as Elee)

This is not because of you. Because of you our lives are better.

Tom (as Xoc)

All of the things that happened were from our own choices too, and I don't know everything that happened back then, but I know we all still love you. I still love you.

Hallie (as Hopper)

Our lives are better for you being in it, Misha.

Emily

Elee’s going… She’ll stop if Misha recoils, but she is gonna step forward with the intent to hug, but she’s not gonna push them.

Ari

If Elee approaches, what Misha is going to do is they will recoil, but they will take the scarf off and put it on Elee instead.

Ari (as Misha)

Y-You… This is the only thing you should be hugging. It’s not mine anyways.

Emily (as Elee)

It’s not mine. It was never mine. It was Karl’s, and now it’s yours, and it should be yours. It wants to be yours, Misha.

Kyle

And that’s when everyone can see Misha’s eye spark with a furious red light.

It doesn’t want to be yours. Why would it want to be yours? Why would it want to do anything with it? It was associated with that man.

[Static and Morse code returns.]

And after all, and for the first time since the Heart of Charmonde, the text from your conscience appears in your eye again.

[Chanting begins: “No! Dangerous. Monster. Murderer.” Plays behind Kyle speaking.]

“You are special. Do you remember why?”

[All music, static, Morse code and chanting ends.]

Kyle (as Pete)

Dangerous? A monster?

[Scoffs.] Murderer? No. This is all ridiculous.

Kyle

He’s trying to stay out of your earshot, Misha, but you can hear Pete Win from the edge of the hallway where you are sitting. He’s been pacing back and forth talking with various other members of the Speedy Speed Boys.

Word spread quickly after the crash. You don’t quite know what happened, because nobody really told you. You were quickly taken away and you haven’t seen anything of Karl other than his scarf which immediately wrapped itself around your shoulders and tried to stay with you and is in fact still on you right now, hugging you tighter than it ever had before.

Pete is in earshot, he doesn’t think he is, but he’s busy talking with other Speedy Speed Boys. He’s eyeing the room you’re sitting in front of, which is Collodi’s room.

[00:45:00]

He seems to want to have some words, but as I said, news spreads quickly and he’s got a lot of other things he needs to deal with. In fact, after a few seconds you can see as he kind of gives you a sad look but has to walk away because he has to take care of something else related to the crash. So yeah, you’re alone.

Ari

Oh great. Uh… I don't know. I don't know what… I mean, Misha’s confused, and I guess if there’s anybody they can talk to they would ask where Karl is, or how is Karl or something, because I guess they don’t fully get what happened. Otherwise they’re just gonna be looking around while sitting there, because they kinda feel like they have to stay there. They’re kinda like when a kid is grounded or something.

Kyle

You spoke to a lot of people, but they’re all brushing back and forth, and many of the Speedy Speed Boys seem not to want to speak to you except for this small child with a big mushroom growing out of his head who seemed real excited but had no idea who Karl was.

But eventually you do hear a familiar voice from your side, because as she slides down to sit against the wall next to you, Ein says,

Kyle (as Ein)

Hi.

Ari (as Misha)

Oh… hello Ein. Do you know what is going on? Do you know, uh, is Karl okay after the crash?

Kyle (as Ein)

Oh. Well…

Kyle

She turns her head away from you.

Kyle (as Ein)

You’re okay, right? Stein told me you weren’t harmed in the crash or anything, but he can exaggerate sometimes.

Ari (as Misha)

Well, I guess basically I am okay, but I am worried. The car was going really fast and I just wanted to make sure that Karl was safe, because I like Karl a lot and I didn’t want anything to happen to Karl. Did Misha do something wrong? Is it because I damaged the Tirefly? Is that why everybody seems upset?

Kyle (as Ein)

O-Oh no. No, no, I, um…

Kyle

Ein doesn’t know what to say and is just kind of sitting there. At one point the scarf just falls into her hands trying to comfort, and she just, after forever, asks,

Kyle (as Ein)

How’s your conscience doing?

Ari (as Misha)

Oh, I think she’s okay. She actually, um, she saw that we were driving too fast. She actually told us to stop, and I was trying to do that because of that. She saw that it wasn’t safe so I was trying to protect Karl from the ride, because it was too fast. She let me know that it was too fast.

Kyle

A series of emotions goes over Ein’s face. She’s concerned for you, she’s sad, she’s confused when she hears that your conscience kept you safe… but when you say that your conscience is the one that helped you stop Ein gets a weird look that you didn’t recognize from her. Ein looks furious.

Ari (as Misha)

[Small.] Did Misha do something wrong?

Kyle (as Ein)

O-Oh, no. No. Misha did not do anything wrong.

Ari (as Misha)

Misha doesn’t believe that. Ein looks really upset.

Kyle (as Ein)

I have another fun fact today.

Ari (as Misha)

[Without energy.] Misha likes fun facts.

Kyle (as Ein)

Remember the promise that we made?

Ari (as Misha)

Yes. That is in part why I had to save Karl, because I had to make sure my friend was safe just like I am going to make sure you are safe.

Kyle (as Ein)

Well…

[Peaceful synth music, Ein’s theme, begins.]

Kyle

And she stands up, her fists curled.

Kyle (as Ein)

My fun fact is that I found a way to honor that promise.

Kyle

And she walks into the room in front of you.

Ari

Misha will frown at that.

Ari (as Misha)

Oh… okay.

Kyle

So you wait, just sitting there, you and the scarf. It feels like days, just the two of you there, and that’s because it is. You don’t see much, a few Jarvis models go back and forth, the scarf limply moving around as you occasionally try to quietly sing. After a few days Ein leaves the room, gives you more assurances that everything is gonna be okay, and disappears. Then a few days later the door opens and, in his ratty lab coat, father looks at you and motions for you to come inside.

[Music fades.]

Ari (as Misha)

There? But father never lets me get in there.

Kyle

He doesn’t say anything other than motions.

[00:50:00]

Ari (as Misha)

Oh… Okay. I will go there. Is Karl in there too?

Kyle (as Collodi)

[Heavy frustrated sigh.]

Ari (as Misha)

Okay, I’ll go in.

[Soft, slow, concerning music begins.]

Kyle

You make your way inside. You see a variety of machines. I can’t describe them now, and honestly I don’t want to describe them. It doesn’t matter what they are, what matters is what they do.

But in the center, in the middle of all the machines, there’s a space for you to sit, and as you go to sit down you feel the scarf squirm in your hands a little bit, trying to recoil back as Collodi just roughly pulls it off of your shoulders, throwing it into the corner and mumbling something you don’t hear but that I think we all as the audience should hear and that you know after the fact.

Kyle (as Collodi)

I’ll just dump it with the rest of the body when it’s done.

Ari

Oh god. Misha will try to motion for it.

Ari (as Misha)

Could I… Could I have it—

Kyle (as Collodi)

[With force.] Sit!

Ari (as Misha)

[Weakly.] Okay. Um… How is Karl? Is he okay? Uh… I haven’t seen him after the crash, and um, I was wondering if you knew?

[Music ends.]

Kyle

As you’re saying that, Collodi does not seem to pay your words any mind as he walks to another corner of the room and he picks up a device which he starts speaking into.

Ari (as Misha)

Your room is really nice, father. Thank you for letting me in.

[Tape recorder is pressed, turns on, and softly hums.]

Kyle (as Collodi)

Log of Dr. Signus Collodi, Day Last. Yes, today will be my final log on this misguided experiment. I’ve solved it! With the aid of my research assistant, I have finally isolated the route of this unyielding infection, and with this knowledge I can finally rid myself of that grinning specter. There are dangers, of course, but…

[Whooshing of a machine powering up.]

I have taken precautions to protect myself.

[The metal door creeks open.]

Kyle (as Ein)

Collodi?!

Kyle (as Collodi)

Miss Ein, I request that you stay away from the subject!

Kyle (as Ein)

The… subject? Wait. What’s going on? Is that—?

Kyle (as Collodi)

[Forceful..] Stay back, Ein!

Kyle (as Ein)

C-Collodi, this isn’t what I meant.

Kyle (as Collodi)

That is irrelevant! You know what she can do!

Kyle (as Ein)

“She” isn’t here!

[Sounds of equipment being knocked around, lasers firing, and strange high-tech machines.]

Kyle (as Ein)

I promised them, Collodi! I promised they would be safe.

Kyle (as Collodi)

And I promised the world!

[Silence falls.]

Kyle

The rest plays out like it did before, like it always had been, a streak of icy blue hair, hot angry red light, an icepick on your skull. This isn’t what had been promised. This wasn’t safe. This wasn’t okay. Nothing was okay. You can feel The Lady inside of you scrambling out of your body and back into the Datasphere, but not quickly enough, as your soul, her soul, is ripped in two.

 [Low, rising menacing synth music, the Lady with Cinnabar Lips’ theme begins.]

But, it isn’t just a memory this time, because in the present day as your feet lift from the earth and you spiral into the atmosphere the horrifying truth dawns on you, Misha. With each new memory, each tear gained and every spell learned, each step taken into the Datasphere, the two fragments of her soul have gotten closer and closer and closer to each other, and now The Lady With Cinnabar Lips intends to be whole again.

On the other side, all of you see as Misha, trying to explain, trying to justify that no, Misha is a danger, that you don’t understand… suddenly Elee, you feel the scarf in your hands fall limp.

Emily

Oh…

Kyle

And the rest of you see the body of Misha Jarvis fall onto the ground.

Tom

Xoc is rushing to Misha’s side.

Hallie

Yeah, I think same.

Emily

Yeah. Elee would have probably tried to catch them. [Chuckles.]

Kyle

I’ll let you catch them. I don’t want a roll.

Emily

Okay.

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

Kyle

You catch Misha, and you all run over hoping that they’ll have some response, but there’s nothing. Misha’s scarf isn’t moving. Misha themselves aren’t responding. At this point, the only thing that remains is the bright light shining from two cinnabar eyes.

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

Kyle

Any questions or thoughts before we start?

[00:55:00]

Emily

So what are the consequences for us if we die again?

Ari

Oh my god.

Emily

[Laughs.]

Tom

The story’s over.

Kyle

Uh, yeah, let’s talk about that to scare everyone a little bit. So consequences of putting your pools down to 0. I have said in the past that this does not necessarily mean death. It doesn’t even necessarily mean you’re out of the story. If it works for the story, you may die, but what it means is that a permanent consequence happens.

An example of that could be Misha being forced to stay as stratic life rather than being able to return to their android body, or Xoc remaining disconnected from the Datasphere, or Sera breaking up with Hop, like—

[Laughter.]

Tom

What?! One of these things is not like the other. One of these things just doesn’t belong.

Hallie

[Laughs.] Yeah! What?!

Kyle

Like it’s not gonna break the story, but it could be—

Hallie

No, but it would.

[Laughter.]

Kyle

But it would be a permanent consequence.

Tom

It breaks the story when all of your players riot and the story ends.

[Laughter.]

Kyle

Just take basically anything I’ve done to Tom, such as what I did during the Clockwork City, or what we did with the nano spirits, or everything with Loell. All of those would be punishments for losing all of your pools.

Tom

So what you’re saying is I get punished as if I die every arc.

[Laughter.]

Kyle

Yeah.

Hallie

Every single one.

Tom

[Amused heavy exhale.]

Ari (as Misha)

Uh… sing?

Ari

Hmm, let me see. I guess Misha would know. It’s not like singing is a foreign concept, so I guess I would—

Kyle

[Snaps and bounces around.] Is this Footloose? Collodi doesn’t allow dancing?

Hallie

[Laughs.]

Ari

That’s true. That’s true. Well yeah, but… hmm.

Kyle (as Karl)

The important part of singing to your—

Kyle

[Mocking himself.] To your clothes.

[Laughter.]

Kyle (as Karl)

—your soul, the deepest part inside of you, you’ve gotta share it with the clothes.

Ari

[Fighting laughter.] No, please.

But Misha will ask the scarf, like,

Ari (as Misha)

Do you know what he means? Has he said that same thing to you?

Kyle

[Inhales.] And the scarf takes its first drag of a cigarette.

Kyle (as scarf)

Alright! I suppose we should start speaking English to each other!

[Laughter.]

Ari

Listen! Listen! Oh my god. Once again, listen! There’s the pantomimes, my dude!

Kyle (as scarf)

This is gonna be a long relationship, Misha Jarvis! [Exhales.]

Ari

[Pained laughter.] Why? There’s pantomimes! That’s a thing!

Tom

The disrespect.

Ari

It’s such disrespect. He did the same thing in the memory episode, too. I’m so upset.

So do we assume that Misha did stop singing but then also kind of a second after was like fuck it and continued again because the scarf started moving?

Kyle

Yeah, well the thing with Misha is that Misha is always singing.

Ari

Ah, yeah.

Kyle

So I think just… It was a stretch to do it and have that power appear so suddenly, but it just felt right that Misha just kept going. [Laughs.]

Ari

It’s just a thing. Like, the humming of the computer when you turn it on and it’s just like {buzz} and that’s just a thing that just happens now.

Kyle

Yeah.

Emily

We already have the biggest plot hole in that apparently Elee has not recognized Karl’s scarf in the entirety of—

Hallie

[Laughs.]

Ari

Well I imagine that maybe there’s multiple scarfs like that, or…

Kyle

I mean, he had many scarves.

Emily

Yeah, I figured it was just like…

Ari

Plus, like, we, you know, since the memory episode you have known that Karl has a scarf, and we have known that, and yet we didn’t make the connection, so I think it’s not really a plot hole if us the players didn’t make the connection.

Tom

Elee had to stop herself from attacking everyone who had a purple scarf many decades ago.

Ari

Yeah, she probably went through that at some point. [Laughs.]

Kyle

Also it’s been 15 years, and when you lost the scarf was the same time Elee got very distracted by a charming new lady.

Hallie

Heheh.

Emily

[Quietly.] I don’t wanna talk about it.

Kyle

Which as we’ll see is very important to the scarf disappearing.

[Smiling.] It is Rei’s fault all of this happened and she doesn’t know it.

Emily

[Exhales.]

Ari

[Smiling.] Oh my god. Now it’s Rei’s fault too.

Kyle

Yeah, it’s Rei’s fault.

Emily

At least it’s not just Elee’s!

Hallie

It’s everybody’s fault! I’m here for it.

Kyle

But it’s not Hopper’s fault for once.

Hallie

That’s why I’m here for it.

Ari

Yeah.

Kyle

No one had anything big they wanted to do? … Okay, because we’re about to move into hardcore end-game.

Ari

Jesus Christ.

Kyle

Which would make this episode short, but I think that’s fine, right?

Tom

[Loudly whispering.] I think it’s okay.

Kyle

I don’t think there’s anything more we need.

Ari

[Laughs.]

Tom

[Loudly whispering.] That’s okay.

Emily

I like that when you said “anything more anyone wants to do” we all just straight-faced silent shook our heads at you. [Laughs.]

Hallie

No. [Laughs.]

[Episode Ends - 00:59:31]