THE HARBINGERS
EPISODE 1: I’D LOVE TO CHANGE THE WORLD
Transcript
TEASER
We begin somewhere dark and quiet... For a BEAT, everything is still. And then... a SPARK. A sudden burst of power.
And around it... the sound of something very BIG spooling up.
A great, churning in the space, as if something massive was beginning to spin... Almost like we’re experiencing some kind of enormous power generator but from inside the generator...
The electrical charge around us builds... until everything around us is vibrating... no, shaking -
Like whatever is happening here is too much -
And then - just as it feels like the very air around us is about ready to combust and tear us apart...
There’s a STRANGE, JERKING SOUND, followed by a great RUSH OF AIR and suddenly...
SILENCE.
INT. SKINNER, DE VRIES, WISEMAN - INTERVIEW ROOM - NIGHT
The first thing we hear is tick... tock... tick... tock... The heartbeat of a GRANDFATHER CLOCK. The old kind. The classic kind. The “costs a lot of money” kind.
Actually, everything here’s expensive. The table. The chairs around the table. The bookcase that runs along a wall. The digital screen which recedes into the opposite wall.
We hear the HEAVY BREATH a man takes. A mix of impatient and anxious. He’s been waiting for a bit now.
After a BEAT, a DOOR OPENS. A young woman - an assistant, call her ERICA PFEIFFER - pops her head into the room.
ERICA PFEIFFER: Ms. Skinner will be right with you, Dr. Blackwell. We’re sorry for the delay.
ADAM BLACKWELL: It’s fine. Don’t - don’t worry about it.
The man who’s been waiting - ADAM BLACKWELL, early 30’s - is a fascinating clash of tonal registers. On the one hand, both his glasses and his tweed jacket gesture towards academia. On the other hand, there’s... if not a swagger at least a sure-footedness about Adam. Almost like, at a certain point, a lot of people decided he was very attractive.
Underneath both these things, though, there’s something else. A certain hunger, or perhaps even an anger.
ERICA PFEIFFER: Can I get you anything while you wait? Water, a cup of coffee?
ADAM BLACKWELL: I’m all right, Miss Pfeiffer, thank you.
(A pause.)
ADAM BLACKWELL: Was there something else?
ERICA PFEIFFER: No, that’s everything. Thank you.
(starts to leave, then:)
ERICA PFEIFFER: Well.... look, I just want to say, I know it probably feels like the whole world’s against you right now. But there’s people who... get what you did. And why you did it.
ADAM BLACKWELL: Thank you, Ms. Pfeiffer. I... appreciate you saying that.
ERICA PFEIFFER: I mean it. If you hadn’t been there, if you hadn’t done what - they’re saying that it could have gotten so much worse than -
ADAM BLACKWELL: It got bad enough, Ms. Pfeiffer. We... let it get bad enough.
ERICA PFEIFFER: I know, I know. But... still.
(A door opens and someone enters.)
CLAUDIA SKINNER: Thank you, Ms. Pfeiffer - I think that’s more than enough.
ERICA PFEIFFER: Yes, ma’am. Is there anything - ?
CLAUDIA SKINNER: I think we are all set. I’ll ring if we need anything.
ERICA PFEIFFER: Yes. Ms. Skinner. Dr. Blackwell.
(A door opens and closes as Erica departs. Skinner sits down.)
CLAUDIA SKINNER: Please excuse Erica, Dr. Blackwell. She’s a wonderful assistant, but unfortunately she’s still a bit...
ADAM BLACKWELL: Naive?
CLAUDIA SKINNER: Optimistic. Still a bit young and optimistic. I’ll fix that in due course. But in the mean time... welcome to Skinner, De Vries, and Wiseman, Dr. Blackwell. My name is Claudia Skinner, it’s a pleasure to finally meet you.
ADAM BLACKWELL: Yes, same here. Thanks for making the time. You’re... young. Young to have your name on the side of the building, I mean.
CLAUDIA SKINNER: Ahh. It’s my father’s name. He started the firm back in oh-four.
ADAM BLACKWELL: Ahh. And so you...
CLAUDIA SKINNER: Graduated summa cum laude from Brown and went on to get law degrees in both Cambridge, England, and Cambridge, Massachusetts? Absolutely. I assure you, Dr. Blackwell, you are in excellent hands.
She PRESSES SOME BUTTONS on the RECORDER. As she does so:
CLAUDIA SKINNER: Do you have any questions before we get started?
ADAM BLACKWELL: Yes. How much do you charge?
CLAUDIA SKINNER: My fees are being taken care of, you don’t need to worry about that.
ADAM BLACKWELL: That’s not what I’m asking, I’m asking... A personal injury lawyer’s, what? Two-fifty an hour? Give or take? If I was trying to get a divorce, that’s four-hundred. It’s six-hundred an hour for an immigration attorney, and nine for the kind of lawyer I’d need if I had shot a man in Reno just to watch him die. So how much are you - with your Alexander McQueen suit and your name on the side of the building and your naive assistant you’re turning to the dark side - how much are you charging per hour to sit here and talk to me?
CLAUDIA SKINNER: It’s more than any of the numbers you just quoted. I can say that much.
ADAM BLACKWELL: How much more?
CLAUDIA SKINNER: Dr. Blackwell, is there a reason you need to know this right now?
ADAM BLACKWELL: Is there a reason why you’re not just telling me?
Skinner takes a DEEP BREATH, considering her opponent. Then -
CLAUDIA SKINNER: You know, there’s this story my father used to tell his clients. He’d go, once upon a time there was a young scorpion, who wanted to cross a river. Unfortunately, he couldn’t swim. So he asked a passing turtle to carry him on his back. The turtle hesitated, but eventually agreed after the scorpion promised not to sting him. But, when they were halfway through the river, a terrible impulse fell upon the scorpion. He brought his stinger down and -
ADAM BLACKWELL: - and as they both start drowning, the scorpion says, “Don’t look at me, it’s in my nature, and you knew I was a scorpion when you agreed to take me across the river.” Yeah, I know that one.
(A pause.)
CLAUDIA SKINNER: Actually... as the scorpion’s stinger bounced harmlessly off the turtle’s hard shell, he found the other animal looking back at him over his shoulder. And the turtle just said, “Tell me: do you want to fuck around some more, or do you want me to get you across this fucking river?” That was a story about how sometimes you can just let people help you.
(A pause.)
ADAM BLACKWELL: A frog. It’s usually... a frog when I’ve heard that story.
CLAUDIA SKINNER: Well, let me assure you, Dr. Blackwell: you’re not dealing with a frog. And let me remind you: you are the center of an unprecedented disaster. One in which people died. The only reason you haven’t been charged with a hysterical number of criminal charges is because no one is quite sure of how the law interfaces with your unique circumstance. But the government’s catching up. They’re doing a congressional hearing, the kind that’s going to decide how a lot of laws are going to work in this country, and they have been kind enough to invite you to participate. And when I say “invited” I mean “subpoenaed.” This hearing is either going to go exceptionally well for you or it is going to lead to you being invited to see the inside of a courtroom in a trial which you will have no chance of winning. So finally, allow me to ask you: would you like me to get you across the river or would you prefer to fuck around some more?
(A pause.)
ADAM BLACKWELL: Let’s... let’s get across the river.
CLAUDIA SKINNER: Terrific. Let’s.
(Skinner hits a button. The tape recorder starts to run.)
CLAUDIA SKINNER: This is Claudia Skinner, handling case MGR-83-1. This is information/prep session number one. It is November seventh, 2030. Dr. Blackwell, just so we can get the formalities out of the way... could you please state your full name? As well as the capacity in which you are known as a public figure?
ADAM BLACKWELL: Yes. My name is Doctor Adam Blackwell. And I... I am the first human being with real, scientifically confirmed magic powers. I am... the most powerful man in the world.
(Theme Music Plays.)
NARRATOR: Audacious Machine Creative Presents The Harbingers, created by Gabriel Urbina. Episode 1: I’d Love to Change the World.
INT. SKINNER, DE VRIES, WISEMAN - INTERVIEW ROOM - NIGHT
Moments after where we were. Adam and Skinner sit opposite one another. The CLOCK TICKS away.
CLAUDIA SKINNER: All right,. Dr. Blackwell... Why don’t we start at the beginning?
ADAM BLACKWELL: Sure. I was born April fifteenth, 1998, in Portland, Oregon. The house where I grew up had yellow shutters and a white fence. The nursery was -
(Skinner clears her throat.)
ADAM BLACKWELL: Oh, what? You’re allowed to be cute but I’m not, is that how it works?
CLAUDIA SKINNER: That is exactly how it works. Let me be more precise. You were a graduate student at Sinclair University in Chicago, yes?
ADAM BLACKWELL: Yes.
CLAUDIA SKINNER: You were a masters candidate in the archeology program?
ADAM BLACKWELL: Technically in the anthropology department, but yes.
CLAUDIA SKINNER: Why?
ADAM BLACKWELL: Why? Why did I want to study archeology? Is that relevant?
CLAUDIA SKINNER: It could be. If you chose to study archeology because it was your beloved father’s dying wish? Very relevant. If you were convinced there were ancient secrets buried somewhere out there that would help us fight the rise of fascism, absolutely. If you became an archeologist solely out of your deep-seated love for the films of the Indiana Jones series? That can stay between the two of us.
(Adam scoffs.)
ADAM BLACKWELL: I liked languages. I thought I was going to study linguistics and go on to work as a translator. But then, my second year in college I took an anthropology class and I just... fell in love.
CLAUDIA SKINNER: Yes, that would be... “From Rapa Nui to Harbingers: An Introductory Survey to the Forgotten Empires of the World.” Taught by Julian McCandless, who went on to be your mentor and chief dissertation advisor.
ADAM BLACKWELL: That class changed my life. It showed me a new way of thinking about the world, taught me that -
CLAUDIA SKINNER: Tell me about Amelia Stirling.
(A pause.)
ADAM BLACKWELL: Amy... Ms. Stirling was another grad student at Sinclair. We started the masters program at the same time.
CLAUDIA SKINNER: Did you think much of her?
ADAM BLACKWELL: Ms. Stirling was... brilliant. Absolutely brilliant. But she could be... stubborn. It could be... difficult to get a word in edgewise around her.
CLAUDIA SKINNER: Would you call her a rival?
ADAM BLACKWELL: Okay, well... here’s what you need to understand: if you were interested in the study of ancient cultures? That grad program at Sinclair was the place. It was one of the best funded programs, it had some of the best professors, some of the best opportunities. But there... wasn’t enough of all of the above to go around. Any time one of us got a research project approved or a seat on a field expedition - or even time with our advisors - we were taking it away from one of the other students. In as much as you could say it about me and Amy, you could say it about all of us. We were all rivals.
CLAUDIA SKINNER: And yet... you didn’t go on a date with any of the other students in the program, did you?
ADAM BLACKWELL: Oh, come on. That’s in-bounds? How do you even know about that?
CLAUDIA SKINNER: This isn’t the hard part, you know. Lord knows we haven’t gotten anywhere near the hard part. It’s all going to come out, Adam, and I’m going to be the friendliest person that’s going to ask you about it. So, pretty please: stop fucking around and answer the question.
(A pause.)
ADAM BLACKWELL: One. I went on one date with her. I was twenty-six, and I thought it might be a good idea, and...
CLAUDIA SKINNER: Did you find her attractive?
ADAM BLACKWELL: The Venn Diagram between the people who like Ms. Stirling and the people who like oxygen is very close to being a circle.
CLAUDIA SKINNER: Dr. Blackwe-
ADAM BLACKWELL: Yes, I found her attractive. And we went out one time. It must have been... April of 2025.
CLAUDIA SKINNER: And how did it go? What did the two of you talk about?
(A transportive wooshing sound. The scene changes to a bar, with rock music playing in the background.)
NARRATOR: Sinclair University. April, 2025.
AMY STIRLING: Okay... did you know that right now on this planet there are seven people who could save the world?
ADAM BLACKWELL: Seven people who - what?
AMY STIRLING: Seven people. All with the power to save the world.
ADAM BLACKWELL: Right. Well, common sense says that cannot possibly be true.
AMY STIRLING: Ahh, and yet!
ADAM BLACKWELL: And you’re not talking like... people with their fingers on nuclear buttons who choosing not to press them, thus preventing any -
AMY STIRLING: No, no, fuck that. That sucks. I’m talking active, “making things that are broken not be broken” saving the world.
ADAM BLACKWELL: All right. I’m intrigued. Who are these seven real world superheroes?
AMY STIRLING: Paul Berthold, Makoto Kamiki, Simon Godowksi, Jerome Eckerberg, Jacqueline Saint-Pierre, Carlos Luis Méndez, and Zakir Mujambar.
ADAM BLACKWELL: The seven richest men in the world.
AMY STIRLING: Six richest men and its richest woman, thank you very much.
ADAM BLACKWELL: Okay, sure. And the way they save the world is - ?
AMY STIRLING: Simon Godowski has a net worth of two-hundred and ten billion. You want to know how much NGO’s estimate the yearly cost of ending world hunger would be?
ADAM BLACKWELL: From the way you’re presenting that question, I’m guessing two hundred billion?
AMY STIRLING: Nope. Way high. Conservative estimate? Ten billion a year. Easy.
ADAM BLACKWELL: What? That cannot possibly -
AMY STIRLING: Extreme Poverty’s even cheaper. Threshold’s set at those living for three dollars and twenty cents a day.
ADAM BLACKWELL: There’s people living - ?
AMY STIRLING: Yes there are people living for three and twenty a day. Bumping approximately nine hundred million people up to that level costs about one-point-eight billion. Chump change.
ADAM BLACKWELL: How do you just know - ?
AMY STIRLING: Clean water across the whole world? Fifty billion. Child health? About four-hundred dollars a year per child... call that another fifty billion. Homelessness is more complicated, but local experts estimate that thirteen billion would end homelessness in San Francisco. That’s not solving the issue globally, but -
ADAM BLACKWELL: No, still, that’s a start. All of which begs the question...
AMY STIRLING: ... if there are people who have the ability to just snap their fingers and save the world, why is the world not saved?
ADAM BLACKWELL: I mean, besides the obvious reason.
AMY STIRLING: It’s the whole - wait, obvious - what obvious reason?
ADAM BLACKWELL: Well, just because Jacqueline Saint-Pierre has a net worth of two hundred billion, it doesn’t mean she has it sitting in a bank somewhere. It’s in, like, stocks and bonds and company valuation.
AMY STIRLING: Okay, sure, fine, but that’s a road-bump. If you have something worth fifty billion, theoretically you should be able to sell it and then you have fifty billion, yeah?
ADAM BLACKWELL: I’m sort of scared to disagree with you right now.
AMY STIRLING: Good, that means my whole shtick is doing its job. But to get back to the real question: there is no fucking good reason. If someone has that much money, that much power, and there is so much broken in the world, they have a moral imperative to do something about it. So really, from a social, pragmatic point of view, I don’t think there’s a way to justify the existence of any of them.
ADAM BLACKWELL: So we’re gonna eat the rich?
AMY STIRLING: Just the seven richest. That’s all I’m asking. Let’s eat those seven people and feed the world. Holy shit. You put a beer and a half in me and I just went off on a whole thing.
ADAM BLACKWELL: It was very impressive.
AMY STIRLING: Still though. Sorry, I... clearly don’t know how to do first dates.
ADAM BLACKWELL: It’s fine. How do you know all of this stuff?
AMY STIRLING: I like actuarial tables and I have a good head for numbers. Even when I’m outraged. No, especially when I’m outraged.
(They both laugh. There’s a pause.)
ADAM BLACKWELL: So... now what?
(Amy takes a drink from her beer.)
AMY STIRLING: Oh, I don’t know. I was thinking... we’d finish these beers, settle up, and then I’d get you to walk me home.
ADAM BLACKWELL: You’d “get me” to walk you home? Would I have any say in the matter?
AMY STIRLING: Oh, none whatsoever. I have very pretty eyes and I can make them get all big and round, so I can basically get people to do anything I want. Here, watch. Pleeeeaaaase?
ADAM BLACKWELL: Oh my god. Put those away before you hurt somebody!
AMY STIRLING: It’s like a superpower. I’m basically a Batman villain.
(They both laugh.)
ADAM BLACKWELL: You know, there is an alternative.
AMY STIRLING: To you walking me home? Umm, because dude, I think you’re gonna want to -
ADAM BLACKWELL: No, I mean - no, I do want, just - how much would it cost to, say, fix climate change?
AMY STIRLING: Oh. That’s a big one. Somewhere in the ball park of... seven hundred billion? A year?
ADAM BLACKWELL: Well, see? There you go. If I was someone that wanted to solve climate change, but I only had two hundred billion... Wouldn’t the best, most ethical thing I could do with that money be to... well, turn it into seven hundred billion?
AMY STIRLING: I mean... no. Not if you - like if you’re burning the world to get richer, that’s not going to solve -
ADAM BLACKWELL: No, of course not. I’m just talking in the abstract. This isn’t even -
AMY STIRLING: Okay, good, because -
ADAM BLACKWELL: What you’re talking about obviously isn’t the -
AMY STIRLING: Obviously?
ADAM BLACKWELL: No, I just mean - this is all just a thought experiment.
AMY STIRLING: But you can -
ADAM BLACKWELL: No one person can actually stop the world from ending, that’s my -
AMY STIRLING: No, I think someone could.
ADAM BLACKWELL: Okay, maybe on like a Fritz Haber level, but here in the real world -
AMY STIRLING: Oh, I can’t wait to hear this.
ADAM BLACKWELL: Would you just let me talk for a moment? I can see it. Is all I’m saying. I can see why someone might not immediately sink all their resources into solving one problem if there’s something bigger and more meaningful they can do later on. And therefore... I can see why we might want to give your - your evil seven or whatever a bit of latitude. That’s all I’m saying.
(A pause.)
AMY STIRLING: You done? Cool. I’m gonna go home.
ADAM BLACKWELL: Amy, hang on -
AMY STIRLING: Pro tip, dude? Next time you’re trying to pick up a grad school girl with tattoos and a shaved head? Playing devil’s advocate for the billionaire oligarchy is so not the move. See you.
(Amy starts to leave.)
ADAM BLACKWELL: You know, this is exactly why McCandless hasn’t approved any of your research proposals.
(Amy walks back towards Adam.)
AMY STIRLING: ... what did you just say to me?
ADAM BLACKWELL: You know, your proposals? For the archives, for field work? You know how he keeps telling you to go back to the drawing board, to think bigger? This is why. You never look at the big picture, Amy. You always just... swing for the fences. And he knows it, and you know it.
AMY STIRLING: And you... Adam Fucking Blackwell... are so afraid of taking any swing at all... that when your opportunity comes, you’re gonna let it sail past you. And you know it.
(The transition sound plays again. We return to the lawyer’s office.)
CUT BACK TO:
INT. SKINNER, DE VRIES, WISEMAN - INTERVIEW ROOM - NIGHT
Back to where we were. The clock ticks, the recorder runs.
CLAUDIA SKINNER
And would we consider this one of your more successful first dates? No, don’t answer that.
(flips a page)
Field work that year was in... Princess Elizabeth Land.
ADAM BLACKWELL
Yup.
CLAUDIA SKINNER
Which, just for the record is in...
ADAM BLACKWELL
Antarctica. East Antarctica, to be precise. One of the flattest, most accessible parts of the continent.
CLAUDIA SKINNER
And why did we want to go to this lovely place?
As Adam talks, he REACHES into his POCKET, searching...
ADAM BLACKWELL
Well, umm, they call the Robinson Site. They’d found it a few years earlier, buried under the ice. Global warming and all. The remains of An-Serith.
He’s found what he’s looking for - a packet of CIGARETTES and a LIGHTER. As he starts to LIGHT UP:
ADAM BLACKWELL
That’s, umm, one of the great Harbinger cities - constructed about four-thousand years B.C., according to the carbon testing. It was buried under nearly -
CLAUDIA SKINNER
Whoa, whoa, whoa, what is - what is this? What are we doing here?
ADAM BLACKWELL
What? Oh, come on. You’re my lawyer, I’m your client, it’s your office, and you’re still going to tell me I can’t smoke?
CLAUDIA SKINNER
Company Policy. Apologies. Should I have Erica get you an ashtray?
ADAM BLACKWELL
No, don’t bother, I’ll just...
He shifts his gaze, turning from her to the cigarette. And then he says... something. For the record, it’s:
ADAM BLACKWELL
Eru Kun Tell Ka.
But between the way he mutters it and the rote, automatic way he tosses it off, we might not catch more than the audio equivalent of a blurry glimpse. Wait, huh, what was that?
At that moment, however, there’s a sound. Like the world jerks forward for an instant. And in that jerk, all the sounds of the lit cigarette vanish.
ADAM BLACKWELL
There. Happy?
(off her face:)
Oh shit. Sorry. I - it’s a habit by now. I... forget that it’s less fun for people now.
CLAUDIA SKINNER
It’s okay. It’s... okay.
(then:)
Where did you send it?
ADAM BLACKWELL
Away. Just... away.
(BEAT)
Shall we... ?
CLAUDIA SKINNER
Yes. Let’s. Umm, sorry, we were... Antarctica. Dig site. Ruins. McCandless was putting together an expedition?
ADAM BLACKWELL
Yeah. They’d been digging it up for a few years, which is really hard when half the year is freezing darkness. Before sunset the previous, umm, you know, April, they’d made a discovery. A crypt, or something like a crypt, something at the very bottom of the excavation. McCandless wanted to go check it out.
CLAUDIA SKINNER
And you got to go?
ADAM BLACKWELL
And I got to go.
CLAUDIA SKINNER
But not Ms. Stirling?
ADAM BLACKWELL
But not Ms. Stirling.
CLAUDIA SKINNER
Mm-hmm. And I presume that’s where it happened?
By way of reply, Adam just sort of holds up his hands: yeah.
CLAUDIA SKINNER
Right.
(reading off a paper)
December fifteenth, 2026. “The world continues to reel after last night’s announcement. What was supposed to be a simple archeological expedition to the Australian sector of Antarctica may instead be remembered as a turning point in Western Civilization. Following contact with the object now known as Article Zero, mild-mannered graduate student Adam Blackwell has been given the ability to freely relocate matter at will.“
ADAM BLACKWELL
I don’t think the Times actually called me mild-mannered.
CLAUDIA SKINNER
No, that was just me having a bit of fun. You went to the South Pole, found a thing, and suddenly you can do magic? Am I getting that right?
ADAM BLACKWELL
Not just any thing.
There’s a METALLIC HUM as Adam flexes the fingers of his right hand.
ADAM BLACKWELL
This thing. Article Zero. A Harbinger ring of magic.
CLAUDIA SKINNER
But still... field trip, ring, boom, magic? That’s the broad strokes of the thing?
(he nods)
What happened when you got back to America? What happened after you got superpowers?
ADAM BLACKWELL
They’re not superpowers, it’s - I came home. Spent weeks going through tests. Until finally... they were satisfied. I really could do magic.
CLAUDIA SKINNER
And after they let you go?
ADAM BLACKWELL
I went back. To a little thing called my life. Finished my dissertation. I graduated in the spring, started teaching at Sinclair in the fall.
CLAUDIA SKINNER
Is that usual?
ADAM BLACKWELL
To get hired that fast? No. I was an exceptionally strong student, I had a good relationship with the head of the department, and the news had just broken that I could do fucking magic. Having me as an adjunct was the best and last ad Sinclair would ever need to run. So they had me as an adjunct.
She thumbs through some papers, looking for...
CLAUDIA SKINNER
That first fall semester, you took over one of the survey classes. “Introduction to Harbinger Linguistics.” Catchy title. Was it popular?
ADAM BLACKWELL
The last time they’d run it, there were four people in the class. That fall, after they saw the enrollment forms, they moved me over to Sumpter Hall. That’s where they run movies on the weekends. It seats just shy of three-hundred and fifty.
CLAUDIA SKINNER
You taught a three-hundred and fifty person class on the mechanics of dead languages from six thousand years ago?
ADAM BLACKWELL
No. The class was four-hundred and fifty. If you didn’t get there early, it was standing room only.
There’s another WOOSH, and we -
CUT TO:
INT. SINCLAIR UNIVERSITY - SUMPTER HALL - DAY
An enormous auditorium. Every seat is taken, and students are sitting on stairs, standing along the back wall, etc.
NARRATOR (ADAM)
Sinclair University. September, 2026.
Adam stands in the front. There’s already been a bit of a transformation from the young man we glimpsed in 2025. He stands taller, dresses better, his hair is neater.
ADAM BLACKWELL
Now, the name “Harbingers” is what is known as a secondary observer exonym. With some ancient cultures, we have some record of what they called themselves. Failing that, we can usually at least call a people by the region they inhabited. These people lived in the Indus Valley, so let’s take a wild leap and call them the Indus. Not saying that’s a good practice, but it’s a common practice.
Around him we hear as people SCRIBBLE notes on notebooks.
ADAM BLACKWELL
With the Harbingers, you run into problems. We haven’t found any records yet that point to what they called themselves. And as for geography... sites containing written records in the Harbingers’ languages have been found in Atacama in South America, in remote islands in the South of Oceania, and, most recently, in rural Ireland. They seemed to, uh, mostly exist to make historians’ lives difficult.
That gets him a bit of a LAUGH from the audience.
ADAM BLACKWELL
It was actually one of the great mysteries of the Age of Exploration. People would sail from place to place and find these... ancient objects, with languages that weren’t the ones spoken by the locals. Imagine: you’re a Seventeenth Century Irish sailor, you leave your little village where Old Man McDonald found those spooky rocks with the strange carvings. You sail halfway around the world, and what do you find? More old spooky rocks with the same weird language nobody understands. Can you even imagine what they must have thought of that?
(BEAT)
Umm, in any case, they kept finding these really old artifacts all over the world, almost like this... really old culture had been around before everyone else got their act together. That’s where the name came from. Harbingers. Ones who came before. It wasn’t until the age of Antarctic exploration began in earnest that the real ruins of what is now known as the Harbinger Empire were discovered. But by then, the name had stuck, what are you gonna do?
A bit more LAUGHTER from the crowd.
ADAM BLACKWELL
Now, I did say Harbinger languages in the plural. The modern theory is that these are actually contemporary languages - one was used for day-to-day activities, your regular “please pass the salt” sort of things. The other one was their... well, sacred is a loaded word, but their... ritualistic language. It was only used for rites and special activities.
(NEXT SLIDE)
For a long time archeologists referred to these as the day tongue and the night tongue, but a more accurate translation would be... the Language of the Sun and the Language of the Stars. And, uh, needless to say, there’s a lot more that the Harbingers wrote in the Language of the Day, so we know comparatively very little about how the Language of the Stars worked.
(BEAT)
Okay, this - we’ve only got a few minutes left. So we’ll call this good for today, rather than diving into a whole other topic. Does anybody have any questions?
Practically every hand in the auditorium shoots up.
ADAM BLACKWELL
Any questions that... don’t have to do with my unusual abilities?
Slowly... most hands dwindle downwards.
ADAM BLACKWELL
Yeah, all right. Everyone, I need you all to understand... This is a serious class, okay? I take the academic study of Harbinger languages seriously, and I expect you to do the same. Anything else that I can do... that’s not really what we’re here for, okay?
A wave of half-hearted “okays” sweeps through the room.
ADAM BLACKWELL
... which is why we’re only going to do this once, okay?
NEVERMIND, WE’RE SO BACK. Everyone is leaning forward.
ADAM BLACKWELL
Just a quick demonstration and then we’re done, all right? Folks in the front row... anyone have a quarter? You do? Okay, great.
(takes the coin)
Thank you very much. Okay, just so we know that I’m not pulling a fast one on you... I’m just going to take this marker and put an A on one side of the coin and a star on the other side, okay?
(as he does so:)
Now, for most of human civilization, if we wanted to transport an object from here to there, we had to expend energy to move it across space. Whether it was by carrying it ourselves or...
He FLIPS the COIN, then catches it on its way down.
ADAM BLACKWELL
By using a burst of kinetic energy to set it in motion on its own. What I can do... is transport matter from A to B without crossing the intermediary space.
(looks around)
Everybody ready? I think we’re gonna hear it more than see it, with something this small. Here we go: three, two...
A BEAT, then... He FLIPS it upwards. But before it can land:
ADAM BLACKWELL
Berum laro iora kata.
Again, there’s that JERKING SOUND, like the record that is the world just skipped for a second.
The COIN CLATTERS onto a desk.
But a desk far away. It landed on the other side of the room.
ADAM BLACKWELL
Okay, let’s see... Where’d it land? From the sound I think it was around the second to last row, maybe? Does anybody... yeah, you got it? And it’s got the A and the star, yeah? Well, there you go: A to B in an instant.
The room BURSTS into APPLAUSE. Adam indulges in it for a BEAT, then gestures at them: settle down...
ADAM BLACKWELL
Now... how did I do that? Part of it is just mental focus. Part of it is the words. This, it seems, is what the Language of the Stars actually was, the Harbingers’ way of channeling this ability. And part of it is... the part we don’t understand yet. I found this ring in a very old, very remote part of the world. And as long as I’m wearing it... well, it seems to let me do that. And it really seems like it takes all three, so, uh, in case the course catalogue didn’t make this clear, learning the words won’t let you move things across space. Not on its own.
(off a comment:)
What was that? Could I transport something bigger? Bigger like what?
(BEAT)
A person? Well, a person’s tricky. Because... what’s a person? Is a person one thing or many? Like, what if I transported you to the middle of the quad and you went but... your clothes didn’t?
Some TITTERS from the class.
ADAM BLACKWELL
Yeah, that’s not what we want. I have to be very precise with the language. If I want to do it right.
(BEAT)
All right. That’s time. Time was a minute or two ago, actually. Please read chapters three and four of the Warner and I’ll see you all here on Thursday.
As people start to file out of the room, we -
FADE TO SILENCE.
NARRATOR (ADAM)
The Harbingers will be back after these messages.
END OF ACT ONE
ACT TWO
Over SILENCE:
NARRATOR (ADAM)
And now... back to The Harbingers.
MINUTES LATER:
The last of the students exit, CLOSING THE DOOR with an ECHOING THUD.
NARRATOR (ADAM)
Sinclair University. 2026. Ten minutes later.
Left alone, Adam EXHALES, a bit of the armor coming off.
ADAM BLACKWELL
(low mutter)
All right... that wasn’t too bad. One session down... thirty-one to go.
A quiet BEAT, and then...
VOICE
What did you stop yourself from saying?
He frowns, follows the sound of the voice. Finds a figure still in the auditorium, descending down the stairs.
ADAM BLACKWELL
Well, well, well... Amy Stirling.
And so it is. Looking a bit older, a bit more self-assured, perhaps, but largely like herself.
AMY STIRLING
Adam Blackwell. It’s good to see you.
She’s reached where he is by now.
ADAM BLACKWELL
You too, Amy. Did you watch - ?
AMY STIRLING
I snuck in the back about five minutes in. So? What did you stop yourself from saying?
(off his look:)
C’mon. At the end. When they asked you about teleporting a person. You bit down on something. You said, what if you go but your clothes don’t. What did you almost say?
Adam stares at her, equal parts amused and annoyed.
ADAM BLACKWELL
I almost said... what if you went... but your skin didn’t?
AMY STIRLING
Ah. Lively.
ADAM BLACKWELL
I thought... it’s gonna be a whole thing, it’s their first day. I didn’t want to freak them out.
AMY STIRLING
Didn’t want to put too much of the fear of you in them?
ADAM BLACKWELL
Very funny, Amy. So what brings you around these parts? They said you’d transferred.
AMY STIRLING
They said the truth. Took my business to Columbia. The Big Apple. Greener pastures and all that.
ADAM BLACKWELL
And are they actually greener?
AMY STIRLING
Ehh, who knows. Kinda hard to tell with all the concrete. I’m just here to handle some paperwork and take some meetings, I’m flying back tomorrow. But I realized I hadn’t seen you since -
ADAM BLACKWELL
Ah, sure.
AMY STIRLING
And I couldn’t resist poking my head in here, seeing how your class was going.
ADAM BLACKWELL
How’d I do? Any notes?
AMY STIRLING
It was fine. Your fourth slide had some photos of the stuff they dug up at the Riemann, that’s still not verified.
ADAM BLACKWELL
Oh, dammit. I’ll take care of that. Anything else?
(BEAT: she stares at him)
What? What else?
(BEAT)
You’re... you’re not really here to fill out paperwork, are you, Amy?
AMY STIRLING
... nah. I just... I had to see it. I had to see it with my own two eyes. You can do fucking magic and you are...
(bit of laughter)
You are lecturing... about carvings in goddamn rocks.
ADAM BLACKWELL
Yes, Amy, I am.
AMY STIRLING
I cannot believe you are lecturing about carvings -
ADAM BLACKWELL
And what should I be doing? Hmm? Instead of being here, where am I supposed to be right now, Amy? Or what, am I not doing enough with my platform for you?
AMY STIRLING
(as a reporter)
“We are fifty-four days away from the Mid-term elections, Dr. Blackwell. Which political party do you support?”
Adam lets out a LOW BREATH, starts gathering up his papers.
ADAM BLACKWELL
Okay. Nice of you to drop by, Amy, I enjoy our little talks.
AMY STIRLING
It’s just - I - Fuck.
(BEAT)
I don’t know what you should be doing. But dude... you can do magic. Literally the only thing that’s a wrong answer to the question, “What do you do if you get magic powers?” is “Exactly the same fucking thing you would be doing if you didn’t get the goddamn magic powers!”
ADAM BLACKWELL
All right, Amy. This has been fun. Let’s get together again the next time one of us develops magical abilities. In the meantime: have a good time at Columbia, where you’ll also be looking at carvings on rocks.
He starts to head out. As he goes:
AMY STIRLING
You are such an asshole, Adam. No one - no one - has ever changed the world by sitting in an ivory tower. Magic is wasted on you.
ADAM BLACKWELL
And yet... I’m the only one that can do it. It really is a shame you didn’t get to come on that expedition, Amy. What could have been, right?
As he exits, the DOORS to the auditorium SLAMMING SHUT, we -
CUT BACK TO:
INT. SKINNER, DE VRIES, WISEMAN - INTERVIEW ROOM - NIGHT
Skinner SCRIBBLES a note on a piece of paper as she says:
CLAUDIA SKINNER
She has a point, you know.
ADAM BLACKWELL
She very much does not.
CLAUDIA SKINNER
She does, though.
ADAM BLACKWELL
Aren’t you my lawyer, what are you - why are you - a point about what?
CLAUDIA SKINNER
A point about how nobody has ever changed the world by hiding in the ivory tower of intelligentsia.
ADAM BLACKWELL
Oh for god’s - Fritz Haber. Do you know the story - ?
CLAUDIA SKINNER
Excuse me?
ADAM BLACKWELL
Okay, Fritz Haber. See, a lot of people have this mistaken idea that the apocalypse is something we’ve only had to worry about in recent years. But no, actually, people have had concerns - very valid concerns - about the world coming to an end at practically every point in human existence. In the nineteen-hundreds, you know what was at the top of the list of global concerns? Starvation. The world had reached an absolutely massive population - one and a half billion people - and we could not produce enough food to feed them. The problem was our crops - they took up too much of the nitrogen in the soil, and it took too long to replenish it. So it was estimated that over the course of the following twenty agonizing years, two thirds of the world would starve to death. Ahh, but see, there was this guy. German chemist, called Fritz Haber. Big thinker, real kind of ivory tower guy. He locked himself in his lab, and figured out a way to make ammonia. You might be familiar with it - it practically extracts nitrogen from the air and is used to grow three quarters of the goddamn crops in the world today!
(BEAT)
Bread from the air. That’s what they called it in the newspapers. Bread from the air. It was seen as a miracle. And so, thanks to Mr. Haber, the world didn’t starve, and we now have nine billion humans. Over half of what we ate in the Twentieth Century was thanks to his discoveries, and when we try to calculate which individual human beings are directly responsible for saving the most human lives, Fritz Haber is at the top of that list. So don’t ever tell me that you can’t change the world by taking the time to figure shit out!
He takes a DEEP BREATH, his blood pressure elevated.
CLAUDIA SKINNER
Okay, is it my turn now?
(BEAT)
Great. Dr. Blackwell, could you do me a favor? Could you say a bit about Fritz Haber’s work after 1912?
ADAM BLACKWELL
... what?
CLAUDIA SKINNER
Fritz Haber. This man who you clearly think so highly of. 1913 and onwards. What did he get up to?
A LONG, SQUIRMY BEAT. Before finally:
ADAM BLACKWELL
He... became involved in World War One. He invented the chlorine gas that the German Army used against the Allies. And he personally oversaw much of its deployment.
CLAUDIA SKINNER
Which is why he is often called...?
ADAM BLACKWELL
... the father of chemical warfare.
CLAUDIA SKINNER
And after World War One? Any other major contributions to European history?
(BEAT)
Doctor Blackwell?
ADAM BLACKWELL
... he... developed a gas. A pesticide gas, which had a... warning scent. After his death, it was discovered, and reformulated. So it no longer had that warning scent.
CLAUDIA SKINNER
And what was it called? Before and after the reformulation?
ADAM BLACKWELL
... Zyklon A. And Zyklon B.
Jesus. Well, shit. Adam EXHALES, annoyed.
CLAUDIA SKINNER
I need you to stop doing that.
ADAM BLACKWELL
You need me to stop doing what, answering your questions?
CLAUDIA SKINNER
Losing your temper and going on a three minute screed about the achievements of a German war criminal.
ADAM BLACKWELL
Wait, but - look, he was involved in monstrous things, but that doesn’t -
CLAUDIA SKINNER
Really? We’re doubling down? On the merits of - what was it? - the father of chemical warfare?
(then:)
This is going to be a very hard process, you know. If you’re going to get through it... I need you to be able to not get baited into saying or doing something stupid.
ADAM BLACKWELL
That - that won’t be a problem.
CLAUDIA SKINNER
Won’t it?
(flips a paper over)
What happened on August sixteenth, 2028?
ADAM BLACKWELL
Well, that’s...... Fuck.
CLAUDIA SKINNER
Dr. Blackwell? What happened?
He SIGHS - guess we’re talking about this.
ADAM BLACKWELL
I was here in New York. I’d been asked to speak at an event at the U.N.
And as he starts to describe what happened, we -
CUT TO:
INT. NEW YORK COFFEESHOP - DAY
A hip, comfortable coffee shop. A combination of university students, young professionals, and tourists mill about.
NARRATOR (ADAM)
New York City. 2028.
A young BARISTA places a drink on the counter. The figure in front of him drops a BILL and some COINS on the counter.
ADAM BLACKWELL
Thank you. Keep the change.
Adam picks up the drink. He’s a bit older, the pure academic starting to fade a bit as something different muscles its way to the surface.
As he TAKES A SIP, we might hear a FOOTSTEP APPROACH...
VOICE
Well, well, well... look who actually made it off campus for once.
Adam SIGHS - dammit it all...
ADAM BLACKWELL
Oh, good, you’re here. And this had been such a pleasant day so far...
AMY STIRLING
Is that any way to say hello to a dear old friend, Dr. Blackwell?
There she stands. Except... she looks different. The glasses are gone. She has shoulder-length hair, died silver blonde. Her clothes - equal parts street wear and formal attire - are stylish enough to suggest she’s either gotten really into fashion or has hired someone to handle that side of things.
We won’t see that, of course, but we’ll maybe be able to hear it in her voice. The grad student has long receded.
ADAM BLACKWELL
Hello, Amy. How inevitable to see you.
AMY STIRLING
That’s more like it. Hello, Adam.
ADAM BLACKWELL
What are you doing here?
AMY STIRLING
Same thing you are.
She HOLDS UP a COFFEE CUP.
AMY STIRLING
Loading up on caffeine, and then walking over to today’s event.
ADAM BLACKWELL
You’re also speaking at the UN.
AMY STIRLING
I am.
ADAM BLACKWELL
And nobody told me.
AMY STIRLING
No.
ADAM BLACKWELL
Which I’m guessing is thanks to - ?
AMY STIRLING
It is.
ADAM BLACKWELL
Well, thanks for that. I like the hair, by the way. Is that part of the brand now?
AMY STIRLING
Something like that. I thought you liked the shaved head look.
ADAM BLACKWELL
Well, I had awful taste back when I was still a grad student. So... how have you been? How’s the tour?
AMY STIRLING
The tour is on hold for a bit. I’m doing some events with the campaign.
ADAM BLACKWELL
Oh yes. I saw your endorsement video.
AMY STIRLING
And I can’t help but notice that I haven’t seen yours. May I ask what the fuck is taking you so long? Don’t tell me you actually want Walker to get re-elected.
ADAM BLACKWELL
I keep telling you, Amy: I’m just a private citizen. I don’t see how it’s my place to tell anyone which way they should vote.
AMY STIRLING
My god, I sometimes forget just how full of shit you are, and then it’s like, “Oh right, he’s completely full of shit.”
They both smile snide smiles at each other.
ADAM BLACKWELL
I’m doing well, by the way. The translation work on the materials from the Riemann expedition is -
AMY STIRLING
I really couldn’t give less of a shit, Adam. Now come on, we gonna go do this thing, or what?
She strolls past him, out of the coffee shop.
We stay with Adam just long enough to hear him seethe for a moment, before he trots after her, leading us out into:
EXT. STREETS OF NEW YORK CITY - CONTINUOUS
It’s midtown, and the two of them weave around various cars and pedestrians as they walk. Adam quickly catches up to her -
ADAM BLACKWELL
You know, Amy - you can say that you don’t care all you want, but unfortunately for you? I know you. I know how much you loved this stuff, the translation, the discovery. I know how curious you must be. “What the fuck has he been doing? Cooped up in there all these years? What is he capable of now?”
AMY STIRLING
Oh, it’s so cute, the way you flatter yourself.
ADAM BLACKWELL
Oh, if you think that’s cute...
There’s something about the way he smiles at her that strikes a nerve. He does know her. After a BEAT:
AMY STIRLING
Oh, all right, Mr. Special. You really want me to believe you’re not just doing coin tricks like some birthday party magician? Let’s see it. No, come on, doctor... you want me to believe you can do something that’s worth my time? Let’s see it. Impress a girl.
He lets out a LOW BREATH... considering... looks around... spots something. His eyes narrow.
ADAM BLACKWELL
Erolia Barus Calera Pora Condel.
And once again, the WORLD-SKIPPING AROUND SOUND.
Instantly, the moment it’s done, AMY YELPS. Just a moment later, there’s a SPLASHING SOUND.
They both stop walking as she takes in what just happened, slowly regaining her composure.
AMY STIRLING
... you made my coffee cup disappear.
ADAM BLACKWELL
Yes, I did.
AMY STIRLING
... but... you didn’t make my coffee go with it.
ADAM BLACKWELL
No, I did not.
AMY STIRLING
... so now... there is quite a bit nitro cold brew... all over my clothes.
(BEAT)
You are a child.
ADAM BLACKWELL
(starting to walk again)
Come on, Amy. This is an important event. We don’t want to be late.
She GROANS in FRUSTRATION, but falls into step next to him.
AMY STIRLING
You are still an asshole, Adam. Where did you put my coffee cup anyway?
And as they keep walking, we -
CUT TO:
INT. SKINNER, DE VRIES, WISEMAN - INTERVIEW ROOM - NIGHT
Skinner rifles through some papers, looking for something.
CLAUDIA SKINNER
How long did it take? Before someone finally found the stupid coffee cup?
ADAM BLACKWELL
Six weeks. Give or take.
CLAUDIA SKINNER
Mm-hmm. And it was... this photograph that did it, yes?
She SLIDES a piece of PAPER over to him.
ADAM BLACKWELL
... that’s the one, yeah.
CLAUDIA SKINNER
Just for the record could you please verbally describe it?
ADAM BLACKWELL
... it is... a photo taken by the Extremely Large Telescope array. Of the Sea of Tranquility.
CLAUDIA SKINNER
... which is a part of?
ADAM BLACKWELL
... the moon. And about five meters to the left of the lunar landing site, there is now a... coffee cup.
CLAUDIA SKINNER
Yeah. The moon. You put a cup of coffee on the moon because your ex-girlfriend double dog dared you to.
ADAM BLACKWELL
Ms. Skinner this is all - my relationship with Ms. Stirling is very particular due to - Okay, what you need to understand is that -
CLAUDIA SKINNER
You say that a lot, you know.
(BEAT)
What you need to understand is this. What you need to understand is that. You... are very worried about how you are seen.
(BEAT)
I’m gonna help you figure this all out. But I need you to let me help you. Okay?
(BEAT)
All right. That is all for today.
ADAM BLACKWELL
Really? But -
CLAUDIA SKINNER
This is plenty for one day. And I have another interview to conduct in a little while. We can pick up this fun tomorrow morning, bright and early.
ADAM BLACKWELL
Right. Well... I’ll see you tomorrow, then.
He gets up, starts to head to the door. He’s almost there when -
CLAUDIA SKINNER
Eighteen hundred dollars an hour. That’s how much I’m being paid. To get you across the river.
ADAM BLACKWELL
Okay. Thank you, Miss Skinner.
CLAUDIA SKINNER
And... while I will not have you smoking anywhere in my offices, you’ll find I’m less particular about what happens on the balcony on the east side of the building.
That wrings a tired smile out of him.
ADAM BLACKWELL
Sure. You got it.
As he OPENS a DOOR, we -
CUT TO:
EXT. SKINNER, DE VRIES, WISEMAN - BALCONY - MINUTES LATER
A DIFFERENT DOOR OPENS, leading to a small balcony overlooking the Manhattan skyline. Adam takes a few STEPS through the space, lost in thought.
ADAM BLACKWELL
Day one down... just another... five million more of these to go.
He FIDGETS for a moment with a LIGHTER, then LIGHTS a CIGARETTE. He’s barely gotten through the first DRAG when -
VOICE
Those things are gonna kill you, you know...
He turns around, and finds an approaching figure...
AMY STIRLING
Unless you’re so good now you can just teleport the cancer straight out of your lungs.
Except, once again, she looks different. Her hair is longer and glossy, done up in an elegant french twist. She’s dressed in a form-fitting black dress that probably costs more than the average American household. Her eyes sparkle behind a pair of designer sunglasses, worn even at night.
ADAM BLACKWELL
I don’t think I’m quite there yet.
AMY STIRLING
In that case, you might want to quit while you’re behind.
ADAM BLACKWELL
I’ll take it under advisement. Ms. Stirling.
AMY STIRLING
Dr. Blackwell.
She settles next to him, and they both look out over the city, not looking at each other as they speak.
ADAM BLACKWELL
I thought your residency didn’t end until the fourteenth.
AMY STIRLING
Oh, all the shows are canceled for a bit. You know, it’s hard to compete with the...
ADAM BLACKWELL
Everything.
AMY STIRLING
Yeah. With the everything. I keep... thinking I’m gonna see it. You know? Every time I look up. I know it’s too small and too far away, but... I keep thinking it’ll be there. Staring back at me.
ADAM BLACKWELL
Yeah, I know. Me too.
They just stand together, staring up at the night sky.
AMY STIRLING
You doing okay?
Adam takes a long DRAG from his cigarette. Then...
ADAM BLACKWELL
Nah. You?
AMY STIRLING
Nah. Not exactly what I had in mind for this year.
ADAM BLACKWELL
No?
AMY STIRLING
No. I thought there’d be more... books. I thought I’d read more this year. More books and less...
ADAM BLACKWELL
Everything?
(she nods: yeah)
You read McCandless’s new book?
AMY STIRLING
Yeah, I got an advance copy. I can’t believe the old fucker’s saying I wasn’t a good student. “Her proposals were never specific enough” my ass.
ADAM BLACKWELL
Well, can you blame him? You are the one that got away.
AMY STIRLING
Damn right I am.
(BEAT)
How’d it go in there?
ADAM BLACKWELL
Oh, I pretty much just spent a couple of hours getting bitch-slapped. It was fine.
AMY STIRLING
And? How are you feeling?
ADAM BLACKWELL
Tired. Tired and guilty.
AMY STIRLING
Don’t say that. It isn’t over yet. It’s barely even gotten started.
ADAM BLACKWELL
That’s not what I meant, Amy.
(BEAT)
I think this is usually the point in the conversation where you yell at me and tell me I’m an asshole.
She CHUCKLES SOFTLY.
AMY STIRLING
You are an asshole, Adam Blackwell. But... for all our sakes, I hope it turns out you’re an asshole who knew what he was doing.
ERICA PFEIFFER
(from the door)
Ms. Stirling? Ms. Skinner’s ready for you.
A BEAT. Amy and Adam glance at each other.
AMY STIRLING
Well... I gotta -
ADAM BLACKWELL
Yeah. Duty calls. Good luck.
AMY STIRLING
Yeah. See you around, Adam.
And as he takes another DRAG, watching her go, we -
CUT TO:
INT. SKINNER, DE VRIES, WISEMAN - INTERVIEW ROOM - MINUTES LATER
It’s now Amy at the desk, sitting where Adam was. We hear as Skinner finishes setting up their various implements.
CLAUDIA SKINNER
All right, ready to get started?
CLICK! The TAPE RECORDER STARTS TO RUN again.
CLAUDIA SKINNER
This is Claudia Skinner, case MGR-83-1. This is information/prep session number two. It is November seventh, 2030. Ms. Stirling, would you please state your full name and the capacity in which you have become known as a public figure?
AMY STIRLING
This is Amelia Dorothy Stirling, and I perform under the name The Silver Witch. For three years now, I have been able to manifest supernatural abilities. I am the second documented person in the world capable of performing magic.
Oh. Well then.
CLAUDIA SKINNER
Thank you. Ms. Stirling, do you know what I would like to talk to about?
AMY STIRLING
Well... if I had to take a guess, I’d say maybe it’s about how I started a chain of events that resulted in the most powerful man in the world teleporting the city of Boston to the moon. I mean, it’s either that or mojito recipes.
(off Skinner’s look:)
Nah, you want to talk about the Boston thing.
CLAUDIA SKINNER
Please.
AMY STIRLING
Okay. Where would you like to begin?
And off of that dramatic revelation, we -
FADE TO SILENCE.
END OF ACT TWO
END OF EPISODE 1
THE HARBINGERS WILL CONTINUE IN
EPISODE 2: “THE SEASON OF THE WITCH”