THE HARBINGERS
EPISODE 13: Sex, Drugs, and Existential Dread
Transcript
TEASER
(The sounds of a New York City apartment.)
NARRATOR: New York City. April ninth, 2029.
(A pause. Then, the door opens as Kris enters.)
AMY STIRLING: Hey... Aren’t - aren’t you supposed to be on the way to the airport by now?
KRIS MIDDENDORF: Change of plans. Got a call in the car.
(Kris exhales lets down a piece of luggage he was carrying.)
KRIS MIDDENDORF: There was rain in Mobile.
AMY STIRLING: Good for Mobile?
KRIS MIDDENDORF: Mobile where we were shooting. Mobile that doesn’t normally get that much rain. Mobile... where the sets Peterberg just spent three months building are now underwater.
AMY STIRLING: Oh. Shit.
KRIS MIDDENDORF: Yeah, shit. So they’re gonna... talk to the insurance company who is going to talk to the studio who is going to call the production house who is going to... I don’t fucking know. Point is, they’ll let me know when we’re starting again, but... it’s gonna be at least three or four weeks.
AMY STIRLING: God. I’m sorry.
KRIS MIDDENDORF: It’s... whatever. What were you doing?
AMY STIRLING: Just... watching TV.
KRIS MIDDENDORF: Amy, the TV’s off.
AMY STIRLING: Well... you know, one step at a time.
KRIS MIDDENDORF: Ah. Sure.
(A long pause.)
KRIS MIDDENDORF: The next leg of your tour doesn’t start until...?
AMY STIRLING: - end of May. I’m doing bigger arenas now, so... we gotta wait until they’re available.
KRIS MIDDENDORF: Right, right. Well... since we’re both off work, we can spend some time together!
AMY STIRLING: Yeah, absolutely!
KRIS MIDDENDORF: We haven’t gotten much time together since -
AMY STIRLING: - since Madison Square Garden, yeah. It’ll be nice!
KRIS MIDDENDORF: Yeah, yeah.
(Another long pause.)
AMY STIRLING: Okay, we need to talk.
KRIS MIDDENDORF: Yeah, we do.
AMY STIRLING: You’re freaked out. No, you are, it’s okay. I’m kinda scared. And back at the show, I... I got a little scary.
KRIS MIDDENDORF: You were under so much stress. There were people that who wanted to -
AMY STIRLING: Yes, I was. And they were. But still. I got a little intense. I’m sorry.
KRIS MIDDENDORF: It’s okay. But... there’s been something else going on. There’s been something on your mind. For the past week and a half, every time we talk, you’re distant, you’re jumpy. I don’t know what happened, but -
AMY STIRLING: I can’t tell you.
KRIS MIDDENDORF: Look, maybe I won’t get it, but you can tell me anything about -
AMY STIRLING: No, Kris, look at me: I can’t tell you.
KRIS MIDDENDORF: ... oh.
AMY STIRLING: Yeah. Sorry.
KRIS MIDDENDORF: And half the time I’m away shooting a movie...
AMY STIRLING: ... and the other half I’m on tour.
KRIS MIDDENDORF: And it’s just... it’s a lot. And it’s happened very fast.
AMY STIRLING: So fast, oh my god. And - I think you’re amazing.
KRIS MIDDENDORF: Oh, I’m crazy about you.
AMY STIRLING: But maybe... maybe we need to slow down.
KRIS MIDDENDORF: Catch our breath a little.
AMY STIRLING: Yeah. And then... then we can see if...
KRIS MIDDENDORF: If things make sense?
(A pause.)
AMY STIRLING: Yeah. If things make sense.
(The scene transitions to Claudia Skinner’s office.)
CLAUDIA SKINNER: Wow. Very mature of the two of you. I’m impressed.
AMY STIRLING: Oh yeah. It... uh, it would have been nice if that’s what I had actually said...
CLAUDIA SKINNER: Excuse me?
AMY STIRLING: Oh, you know... hindsight’s twenty-twenty right? Always easier to see what you should have said in a moment after you’re past the moment.
CLAUDIA SKINNER: Okay... but then what did you actually say?
(A whipping sound, and we transition back to the New York apartment.)
KRIS MIDDENDORF: We haven’t gotten much time together since -
AMY STIRLING: - since Madison Square Garden, yeah. It’ll be nice!
KRIS MIDDENDORF: Yeah, yeah.
(A pause.)
AMY STIRLING: Here’s a thought: you wanna get drunk?
KRIS MIDDENDORF: Excuse me?
AMY STIRLING: Like, really drunk. Off of some really expensive booze?
KRIS MIDDENDORF: ... we should get really drunk.
AMY STIRLING: Drunk and fucked up.
KRIS MIDDENDORF: Hell... all my bags are still packed. You want to take a trip?
AMY STIRLING: Let’s go to a beach and drink.
KRIS MIDDENDORF: Let’s go to Paris and drink.
AMY STIRLING: Let’s go to Vegas and drink.
KRIS MIDDENDORF: You want us to go to Las Vegas to drink and get really fucked up? I may be really into this idea.
AMY STIRLING: That’s because it’s a great idea. Let’s do it.
(We transition back to the lawyer’s office.)
AMY STIRLING: Yeah... it was a bad idea.
(The scene fades away and the episode’s opening theme begins to play.)
ANNOUNCER: Audacious Machine Creative Presents: The Harbingers. Created by Gabriel Urbina. Episode 13: "Sex, Drugs, and Existential Dread”
(The opening theme resolves and fades away.)
ACT ONE
(The sounds of Skinner’s office.)
CLAUDIA SKINNER: Okay, let’s get into it. Your lost weekend.
AMY STIRLING: Well, for starters it was more than a weekend.
CLAUDIA SKINNER: True, but “tell me about your lost weekend” sounds a lot better to your lawyer than “tell me about the four and a half weeks you spent blitzed out of your mind in Las Vegas.”
AMY STIRLING: I was surprised when I saw this on the table of contents. You know, your little list of topics you wanted to cover for the hearing. This is... a ways away from Boston.
CLAUDIA SKINNER: It... connects in a couple of ways. It sets some pieces up for the endgame. And it...
(A pause.)
AMY STIRLING: What? Just say it.
CLAUDIA SKINNER: ... it speaks to character, Ms. Stirling. In 2028, the Silver Witch was campaigning for America’s first woman president. Four months later, she was very publicly partying on the Las Vegas strip.
AMY STIRLING: I was a rockstar.
CLAUDIA SKINNER: No, you were as famous as a rockstar. But this was where you started acting like you were drumming for Led Zeppelin.
AMY STIRLING: Who doesn’t love Stairway to Heaven?
CLAUDIA SKINNER: All right, as your lawyer? Allow me to just gently remind you: You have a thing around your finger that lets you selectively alter reality. Adam Blackwell used his to destroy a city.
AMY STIRLING: I’m not Adam Blackwell.
CLAUDIA SKINNER: Believe me, that much has sunk in over these past few weeks. But you understand why I need to wrap my head around this, right? Why the idea of you, say... blacking out after an evening of heavy drinking might make people nervous?
AMY STIRLING: Well, I’m not drinking now.
CLAUDIA SKINNER: Hip hip fucking hooray for that. What about then?
AMY STIRLING: Then... was the fourth time I’d been to Las Vegas. The first three were for an academic conference on archeological findings. This one was... not that.
(The scene transitions to a luxurious suite in a decadent Las Vegas hotel.)
NARRATOR: The Arcadia Hotel, Las Vegas. April ninth, 2029.
(There’s the beep of a keycard reader, and then a door opens. Kris and Amy enter, led by a concierge.)
GRETA: All righty folks, welcome to the Gilbert suite.
AMY STIRLING: Wow.
GRETA: This is one of our best penthouse spaces, with fountain view on the East side and sunset view on the West.
KRIS MIDDENDORF: Perfect, thank you.
GRETA: Just to give you the quick tour... through those doors there, you’ll find the first of your three king bedrooms. The second one’s up the stairs there.
KRIS MIDDENDORF: Great.
GRETA: The salt sauna and the massage rooms are through that passage there, and you’ll find a fully stocked kitchen by the entrance. Now, in case you’re entertaining, your common room’s through there, and it comes with a fifteen person bar and a grand piano.
KRIS MIDDENDORF: Ahh, maybe I’ll finally convince her to let me hear her sing.
AMY STIRLING: Yeah, not even a little bit of a chance.
GRETA: The room comes with twenty-four seven butler service, and you can hit zero on any of the phones to reach my desk.
KRIS MIDDENDORF: This is amazing, Greta, thank you.
GRETA: My pleasure. Anything else we can get for you?
AMY STIRLING: How about... champagne?
GRETA: You’ll find three different vintages in the fridge. I’d recommend starting with the Belle Epoque.
AMY STIRLING: You are a godsend.
GRETA: Just doing my job. If anything else comes up, just let us know!
(Greta exits, shutting the door behind her. After a small pause:)
KRIS MIDDENDORF: ... so? What do you think?
(A pause.)
AMY STIRLING: ... I think... yeah, I think it’ll do. You know, for now.
(The two of them burst into joyous laughter.)
KRIS MIDDENDORF: So champagne? You wanna try one of those three vintages?
AMY STIRLING: I want to try all three of those vintages.
KRIS MIDDENDORF: One flight coming right up.
(The scene transitions back to the lawyer’s office.)
CLAUDIA SKINNER: How much did this penthouse mansion of yours cost?
AMY STIRLING: Don’t ask. We were young, and had just spent two years doing little but working. We had money. We had more money than we knew what to do with. Might as well spend it...
(A pause.)
CLAUDIA SKINNER: Spend it how? How does that sentence end? What were doing?
AMY STIRLING: You know... I’m not completely sure. It wasn’t a break. I could have gone to Montauk with a stack of paperbacks for a break. I would have come back from that actually rested. This was... a break with reality.
CLAUDIA SKINNER: In a good way or a bad way?
AMY STIRLING: Both. I was suddenly this person who... was embroiled in politics and made huge decisions that affected people. Who knew secrets that could change the world.
CLAUDIA SKINNER: Someone people wanted to burn at the stake.
AMY STIRLING: Yeah, that too.
CLAUDIA SKINNER: So how did you manage that?
AMY STIRLING: Well, running away from home was a good first step.
CLAUDIA SKINNER: And what was step two?
(The distant, foggy sound of a champagne bottle’s cork popping.)
AMY STIRLING: Alcohol. Large quantities of very excellent alcohol.
(Secret by Yuval Maayan and Shelly Archer starts playing and we go into a montage sequence. A set of blackout curtains are rolled back as Amy sighs, contented.)
AMY STIRLING: It started first thing in the morning.
KRIS MIDDENDORF: Mimosa?
AMY STIRLING: Please.
(Another bottle is popped. A glass is poured. Several others followed, along with the sound of rolling dice.)
AMY STIRLING: Champagne with breakfast, cocktails at eleven, afternoon Irish coffee... round it out with a massage, some time at the craps tables, a Macallan neat to celebrate a good run at the dice...
(Betting chips clatter.)
AMY STIRLING: It’s not a bad way to start to feel like you’re someone else. And then the next day...
(The blackout curtains open again. Amy yawns, stretching.)
AMY STIRLING: Good morning.
KRIS MIDDENDORF: Mimosa?
AMY STIRLING: Thank you.
(Two glasses clink as they come together.)
AMY STIRLING: Rinse and repeat.
CLAUDIA SKINNER: And... was it just alcohol?
AMY STIRLING: Yeah... you know, at the start.
(A plastic bottle is opened. Pills rattle.)
AMY STIRLING: I’ve never slept much, but those days it was especially bad.
(Another bottle is popped. Another glass is poured.)
AMY STIRLING: So I started taking benzos at night, to turn off. Did that for a few days...
(Pills rattle, glasses clink…)
AMY STIRLING: Then it was benzos at night, uppers at noon to sharpen up.
(More drinks are poured…)
AMY STIRLING: Then a bit of hash, because... well someone had it and they offered and it seemed rude to refuse.
(Laughter, glasses clink together…)
CLAUDIA SKINNER: And Mr. Middendorf?
AMY STIRLING: He also thought it would be rude to refuse. We spent the afternoon watching the walls change color.
(We hear snatches of Amy and Kris laughing.)
CLAUDIA SKINNER: No, that’s not - how were you getting along with him?
AMY STIRLING: Oh, much better. But it was just because we weren’t talking. Not really. We were too busy with -
KRIS MIDDENDORF: Cheers.
(Two glasses clink together.)
AMY STIRLING: And with -
(Betting chips clatter.)
KRIS MIDDENDORF: Five thousand on red.
AMY STIRLING: And with a lot of -
(Amy and Kris both let out low, breathy exhales and moans.)
KRIS MIDDENDORF: Amy...
(The music fades away, and the scene transitions back to the lawyer’s office.)
CLAUDIA SKINNER: This is the man who a year earlier had a massive heart attack?
AMY STIRLING: This is a man who started sky diving when he was thirteen. For his thirtieth birthday he went shark cage diving at the Farallon Islands, got this close to a great white.
CLAUDIA SKINNER: What does that have to do with - ?
AMY STIRLING: He’s always liked to push. To go right up to the edge and dangle his feet. It’s how he... lets go. This was just another way to dangle.
CLAUDIA SKINNER: Sounds very healthy...
(APSHAD by Jaxon Wild starts playing, and we go back into the montage.)
AMY STIRLING: No, it doesn’t. That was the point. And then one day, I woke up and...
(The curtains are pulled back once again.)
AMY STIRLING: Good... morning?
KRIS MIDDENDORF: Problem?
AMY STIRLING: Why is it so dark?
KRIS MIDDENDORF: ... because it’s eleven at night.
AMY STIRLING: ... it is?
KRIS MIDDENDORF: Yeah, apparently... you wanna get breakfast? Dinner? Both?
AMY STIRLING: Yeah...
(The music accelerates.)
AMY STIRLING: That’s the thing about Vegas. It finds all your lines and starts to blur them. Day/Night. Here/There. Drunk/Sober. Until it’s all just...
CLAUDIA SKINNER: A mess?
AMY STIRLING: ... a swirl. It wasn’t a mess...
(A set of doors open.)
AMY STIRLING: ... until one day I found people I didn’t know in my suite.
KRIS MIDDENDORF: ... that is the worst thing I’ve ever - Amy! Amy, this is Darren and that’s Bob. They were producers on Reign of Terror.
DARREN: Nice to meet you.
KRIS MIDDENDORF: I ran into them downstairs. We were gonna go out to meet up with some friends, maybe have a couple of drinks. You wanna come?
AMY STIRLING: Why don’t you just tell your friends to come up here?
KRIS MIDDENDORF: ... you’re serious?
AMY STIRLING: I mean, we’ve barely touched our fifteen person bar, right? Fuck it.
AMY STIRLING: That’s when the brakes came off.
(The music keeps accelerating. Interspersed with the following, we hear glasses clinking, drinks being poured, dice rolling, betting chips clattering, and the like.)
AMY STIRLING: For the next two weeks, I didn’t leave my hotel room. And neither did half of Las Vegas.
(The door into their hotel suite opens.)
KRIS MIDDENDORF: Amy, these are some friends of mine from Cypher Rose, who -
(The door opens again.)
AMY STIRLING: Allow me to introduce Alice Fieldstone, an amazing singer-songwriter, and her girlfriend -
(The door opens again.)
KRIS MIDDENDORF: - couple of agents from UCA who are in town for -
(The door opens again.)
AMY STIRLING: I worked with these guys during the campaign and -
(The door opens again.)
KRIS MIDDENDORF: - art dealer in the West Coast -
(The door opens again.)
AMY STIRLING: - her fall collection is half of what I’ve been wearing to -
(The door opens again.)
KRIS MIDDENDORF: - introduce Prince Anatoly from -
(The door opens again.)
AMY STIRLING: - nice of you to drop by, Senator.
(The sounds of a party and the music rise to a crescendo.)
AMY STIRLING: And so it went... until that night.
(The music stops. We are now in Amy’s suite, where a party is in progress.)
KRIS MIDDENDORF: Amy! I got a call from Nancy.
AMY STIRLING: Which Nancy?
KRIS MIDDENDORF: Nancy Grief, from Reign of Terror? She played Adele. You met at the benefit dinner for -
AMY STIRLING: Oh, right, right, yes, Nancy.
KRIS MIDDENDORF: She’s in town for something or other. I told her to come up for a drink. She’s really excited to talk to you.
AMY STIRLING: Oh? Any reason in particular? Should I be worried?
KRIS MIDDENDORF: No, nothing like that. Apparently she’s acting in a movie about Desmond Childers.
AMY STIRLING: The explorer? They’re making a movie about Desmond Childers?
KRIS MIDDENDORF: Yeah, so she’s in a real Harbingers kick right now. She’d love to pick your brain.
(A knock on a door.)
KRIS MIDDENDORF: That might be her, actually. Can you let her in? I need to call down and ask for a deck of cards and another case of Glenfiddich.
AMY STIRLING: On it.
(Amy walks towards the suite’s door. After a moment, she unlocks it and opens it.)
AMY STIRLING: Hey. Nancy, it’s good to see you.
NANCY GRIEF: Hi. Amy. It’s been a while.
AMY STIRLING: Too long. Here, come in, come in.
NANCY GRIEF: Thank you so much for hosting this... what are you calling this?
AMY STIRLING: Circus, I think, is the right word.
NANCY GRIEF: Sure, sure. Oh, and umm, I hope it’s okay, but I brought a friend.
AMY STIRLING: Oh, of course! The more the...
(The door swings open further.)
AMY STIRLING: ... the merrier. Well, well. Long time.
ADAM BLACKWELL: Hi, Amy.
(The scene fades away.)
ANNOUNCER: The Harbingers will be back after these messages.
ACT TWO
ANNOUNCER: And now... back to The Harbingers.
(The sounds of a balcoy off of Amy and Kris’s Las Vegas suite.)
NARRATOR: Arcadia Hotel, Las Vegas. The balcony outside of Amy’s suite. Five minutes later.
(A sliding door opens and closes with a click.)
AMY STIRLING: Well, this is fun. We’re gatecrashing now, Adam?
ADAM BLACKWELL: I - I was in town, I was hanging out with - she invited me, she knows I know you, what was I supposed to say?
AMY STIRLING: And you’re hanging out with Nancy Fucking Grief now, what is happening?
ADAM BLACKWELL: Is there a reason I shouldn’t be?
AMY STIRLING: Oh, no, no. Nancy’s fine if you like them all... gorgeous and graceful, with incredible cheekbones. If that’s your thing, go, have fun.
ADAM BLACKWELL: It’s not like that, Amy. She’s just a... colleague, I guess. I’m doing someone a favor and doing some work with her.
AMY STIRLING: Oh yeah, I’m sure. You’re here for work with Nancy Grief in Las Vegas.
ADAM BLACKWELL: I am. It’s the third day of AIC.
AMY STIRLING: Hah! Nice try, AIC’s not until May.
ADAM BLACKWELL: Amy, it is May. It’s the ninth of May. You do realize that, don’t you?
(A long, alarmed pause. Then, Amy laughs weakly.)
AMY STIRLING: All right... I’m... I’m maybe a little out of it right now. (A pause.) It’s the third day of AIC? So like... somewhere down there, Eddie Rowbotham and Karen Jeong are losing money at blackjack?
ADAM BLACKWELL: Same as it ever was. They’d love to see you.
(A pause.)
AMY STIRLING: I don’t think that’s a good idea right now.
ADAM BLACKWELL: How long have you guys been out here?
AMY STIRLING: A while... a “lose track of how long it’s been” while.
ADAM BLACKWELL: Is it a... “ever since Washington” while?
(A pause.)
AMY STIRLING: ... yeah. Pretty much. A “waiting for the shoe to drop” while.
ADAM BLACKWELL: Yeah. (A pause.) I’ve been researching possibilities for the other rings.
AMY STIRLING: Oh my god...
ADAM BLACKWELL: There’s some stuff they’ve dug up in Oceania that might give us a rough idea of -
AMY STIRLING: Oh my god.
ADAM BLACKWELL: What, what?
AMY STIRLING: Adam, I’m so not doing “new academic findings from ruins in Oceania” right now. Look at me! I’m too drunk, I’m too high, I’m too - too Vegas right now.
ADAM BLACKWELL: Okay, but -
AMY STIRLING: No, no, but. There’s no sign on the booth, the Silver Witch is not in.
ADAM BLACKWELL: I never wanted the Silver Witch, I just wanted - (stops, takes a deep breath) Somewhere out there, a military has its hands on a ring of magic. You really think right now’s the time to go on a bender?
AMY STIRLING: I think it’s the perfect time. Because as soon as that shit kicks off? It’s not gonna stop for a while.
ADAM BLACKWELL: So this is what? Making bad decisions while you still can?
AMY STIRLING: Absolutely. You should try it sometime.
ADAM BLACKWELL: Yeah?
AMY STIRLING: Yeah. Come on, Doctor. Afraid you’re gonna get hurt?
(A pause - then, the sliding door opens again.)
KRIS MIDDENDORF: Amy, can we get you back here? Darren’s ready for your... Dr. Blackwell.
ADAM BLACKWELL: Hey. Mr. Middendorf. It’s good to see you.
KRIS MIDDENDORF: Call me... call me Kris, please. Sorry, am I interrupting something?
AMY STIRLING: No. It’s fine.
ADAM BLACKWELL: Just... talking about some old friends. We can finish up later.
KRIS MIDDENDORF: ... sure. Well, you mind if I borrow the lady of the hour for a minute? She’s about to do a thing.
ADAM BLACKWELL: Please. I’ll talk to you later, Amy.
AMY STIRLING: No, no, Adam... you should come too. You’ll get a kick out of this. Come on.
ADAM BLACKWELL: I’m not -
AMY STIRLING: I said come on.
(They step back inside, where a crowd is gathered.)
KRIS MIDDENDORF: Okay, okay, everyone, here we go.
(The crowd grows a little quieter.)
ADAM BLACKWELL: What... what thing are you doing, Amy?
KRIS MIDDENDORF: Okay... pick a card.
AMY STIRLING: Let’s start off with a classic: the queen of hearts.
KRIS MIDDENDORF: Okay, great. While you were out in the balcony, we gave everyone in this room a card, Dr. Blackwell. If everyone pictures their card in their minds, can Amy tell us who has the queen of heart?
ADAM BLACKWELL: You’re doing magic? Right now?
AMY STIRLING: Best show in town.
KRIS MIDDENDORF: Specifically, can she do it in twenty seconds or less?
DARREN: I say no fucking way.
KRIS MIDDENDORF: My, uh, colleague from tinseltown Darren here says “no fucking way.” So he and Amy have a bet going. (bit louder, to the whole room:) If she can find it in twenty seconds or less, Darren has to give me whatever part I want in his next movie.
DARREN: And if she can’t, the two of them have to make an enormous contribution to the financing for said next movie.
ADAM BLACKWELL: Is this really - ?
AMY STIRLING: Kris, you got a timer? Okay. Say when.
(A small pause.)
KRIS MIDDENDORF: Go.
(Cards are flipped over. There’s a magical woosh, followed by the spooky, unearthy sounds of Amy’s magic. After a few seconds of this…)
AMY STIRLING: Jade. You have the queen of hearts.
(Jade flips her card over.)
JADE: Got it in one, yep!
KRIS MIDDENDORF: And in thirteen seconds.
(A bit of applause.)
DARREN: Goddamn.
KRIS MIDDENDORF: I told you: she’s incredible. (noticing something:) Something wrong, Dr. Blackwell?
ADAM BLACKWELL: Amy, you... you didn’t say anything. To start the magic, you didn’t...
AMY STIRLING: Yeah, I don’t do that anymore. Darren, double or nothing. If I can find it in ten seconds or less, you give him... Kris?
KRIS MIDDENDORF: ... how about producer credit? On whatever we do next.
DARREN: Ten seconds? Yeah, you’re on.
KRIS MIDDENDORF: “Produced by Kris Middendorf,” start getting used to the sound of that right now.
DARREN: Yeah, we’ll see. Everybody switch cards with someone else.
(The guests exchange cards.)
NANCY GRIEF: Wait, Adam, you don’t have a card.
ADAM BLACKWELL: It’s okay. Her magic doesn’t work on me. She doesn’t know what’s going on in my head.
AMY STIRLING: Pick a card, Darren.
DARREN: How about... the Ace of Clubs?
AMY STIRLING: You’re on. Kris?
KRIS MIDDENDORF: Three... two... and go.
(Everyone flips their cards over. Another long moment of Amy’s magical powers as they scan through the room. Then…)
AMY STIRLING: Your highness.
(Prince Anatoly laughs, amused.)
PRINCE ANATOLY: Da. I have it.
KRIS MIDDENDORF: Eight seconds.
(A bit more applause.)
DARREN: Damn...
NANCY GRIEF: How about it, Adam? Want to get in on this? Show us something.
ADAM BLACKWELL: No. I don’t do party tricks.
NANCY GRIEF: Oh, boo. That ring is wasted on you. Here, let me grab it for just a minute and -
(A slight rustle as they leans in, reaching towards his hand.)
AMY STIRLING: (simultaneous with the below:) No, don’t, stop - !
ADAM BLACKWELL: (simultaneous with the above:) Don’t do that!
(A bit of startled silence.)
ADAM BLACKWELL: (lower, just at Nancy:) Don’t. Just don’t.
(Amy takes a deep breath.)
AMY STIRLING: Sorry, everyone. It’s okay, but just... that’s a really bad idea. (A pause.) All right, all right - double or nothing, Darren. We win... and Kris gets your car.
KRIS MIDDENDORF: Amy, are you sure you - ?
AMY STIRLING: Yeah, I’m sure. You down? Five seconds.
DARREN: ... five seconds? Sure. Yeah.
KRIS MIDDENDORF: I -
AMY STIRLING: Everyone trade cards. Come on, come on.
(A new flurry of activity as everyone trades cards.)
AMY STIRLING: Who wants to pick a card, hmm? Adam? Come on, make it a good one.
ADAM BLACKWELL: ... seven of spades.
AMY STIRLING: All right. Kris?
KRIS MIDDENDORF: Ready...? Okay, aaand... go.
(Another sharp burst of magic.)
AMY STIRLING: Nancy.
NANCY GRIEF: You got me.
KRIS MIDDENDORF: ... three seconds.
(A bit more applause.)
ADAM BLACKWELL: All right, Amy, that’s eno-
AMY STIRLING: I’ll say when it’s enough. Darren?
DARREN: Noooo... Rien ne va plus. I’m out.
KRIS MIDDENDORF: Yeah, I think, maybe -
AMY STIRLING: Fuck that. C’mon, anyone want to take that bet? Nancy? Anatoly? Senator? Adam? What about you, Kris?
KRIS MIDDENDORF: Me?
AMY STIRLING: Yeah, you. I find the card in two seconds or less? We go find a chapel downstairs and get married.
(The crowd reacts to that, a few gasps and titters.)
KRIS MIDDENDORF: What?
AMY STIRLING: You heard me. We get married, right here, right now.
KRIS MIDDENDORF: Wait... are you serious right now?
AMY STIRLING: Yeah. You. Me. Vegas. Rock and roll.
(A pause.)
KRIS MIDDENDORF: Yeah, all right. (louder, to whole party:) All right, everyone. Party’s over.
(The crowd reacts. It starts to head out under the following:)
AMY STIRLING: What? No, but -
KRIS MIDDENDORF: I mean it! It was great to see you, now... get the hell out. You don’t have to go home but you can’t stay here.
ADAM BLACKWELL: Kris, I -
KRIS MIDDENDORF: It’s okay, Dr. Blackwell. Don’t worry about it.
ADAM BLACKWELL: No, I just... thank you. For the letter.
KRIS MIDDENDORF: ... oh. Sure.
(The two shake hands. After another moment, the last of the crowd departs, shutting the door behind them.)
AMY STIRLING: I’m... I’m sorry.
KRIS MIDDENDORF: It’s okay. It’s... it’s all right.
(The scene transitions back to Skinner’s office.)
AMY STIRLING: Turns out that... even when you’re trying to go too far... there’s such a thing as going too far.
(A small pause.)
CLAUDIA SKINNER: What would have happened?
AMY STIRLING: If he’d taken my bet?
CLAUDIA SKINNER: If you hadn’t stopped Nancy Grief.
AMY STIRLING: Oh. You ever read the initial military report on Adam’s powers? I guess it’s still classified. Look it up if you can, see if they’ll release it to you. While he was still in testing, they tried to take Adam’s ring. The military. Two GIs held him down, two others tried to pry it off his hand.
CLAUDIA SKINNER: ... what happened?
AMY STIRLING: Shral Ta Keren did not appreciate that. His powers started going off, at random, outside of his control. Didn’t stop until they stopped. One of them got lucky. His fingers only went as far as the other side of the room.
CLAUDIA SKINNER: And the other one...?
AMY STIRLING: Less lucky. They never found where his arm ended up. (A pause.) They’ve never been sure how far it would go, how destructive it would get. They’re not even sure that killing Adam would stop it from happening. So... they’ve left it alone. Taking the ring away from him - from any of us - is really the last resort.
CLAUDIA SKINNER: He’s never mentioned that.
AMY STIRLING: Yeah, I’m not surprised. He doesn’t like talking about it.
(A pause.)
CLAUDIA SKINNER: That night in Las Vegas was May ninth? Which means the next day...
AMY STIRLING: Was May tenth. Yep.
(The scene transitions back to the Las Vegas hotel suite. A door opens as Kris enters.)
KRIS MIDDENDORF: Hey. I made some calls. We can make it back to New York tonight.
AMY STIRLING: Great. Thank you.
KRIS MIDDENDORF: Yeah, of course. You see the news? About South Korea?
AMY STIRLING: Yeah. I saw.
KRIS MIDDENDORF: ... I sorta get the feeling that you... you knew this was coming, didn’t you? And that’s part of why we went on this tear?
AMY STIRLING: Is there a problem?
KRIS MIDDENDORF: No, not exactly... I was tearing just as much as you were.
(He sits down. A pause.)
KRIS MIDDENDORF: You know, it’s not like I don’t want to marry you.
AMY STIRLING: No? Then why did - ?
KRIS MIDDENDORF: Because I’m not going to make that choice when it’s been days since I was last sober, Amy. And because... when we make that choice, it’s gonna be about me and about you.
AMY STIRLING: What? What do - I am seriously lost right now.
KRIS MIDDENDORF: Are you? When he’s around, you become a different person. It’s like this... tug of war between the two of you. And suddenly nothing else matters. (A pause) You know I’m crazy about you. And if you want to get married because this thing between us is right? I’m right here. But... I’m not gonna do it just to make you right. Okay? (A pause) All right. I think we gotta go pack now. Holiday’s over.
AMY STIRLING: ... the real world’s waiting. Yeah.
(The scene fades away as the episode’s closing theme begins playing.)
ANNOUNCER: This has been The Harbingers. Created by Gabriel Urbina. Come back on May 21st for Episode 14, "I’ll Be the Death of You." Today's episode was written by Gabriel Urbina. It was directed and sound designed by Jeffrey Nils Gardner. It featured the voices of Lauren Grace Thompson as Amy Stirling, Andrés Enriquez as Adam Blackwell, Emmy Bean as Claudia Skinner, Ian Geers as Kris Middendorf, Olivia Love as Greta, Jill Oliver as Nancy Grief, Casey Callaghan as Darren, Betsey Palmer as Jade, and Wesley Scott as Prince Anatoly. Our original music was composed by Nicholas Podany. Today’s episode also featured Secret by Yuval Maayan and Shelly Archer and APSHAD by Jaxon Wild. Our original show art was created by Cassie J. Allen. The executive producer for the series is Eleanor Hyde. You can learn more about the show, see a timeline of the events of our story, and become a supporting member at AudaciousMachineCreative.com. This is an Audacious Machine Creative production. Thank you for listening.
(The episode’s closing theme concludes and fades away.)
AMY STIRLING: Today’s history tidbit: on May 7th, 2017, a large shipment of historical artifacts was dispatched from Cambridge’s Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, headed towards the British Museum in London, where the pieces would have been on display for six months as part of a temporary exhibition. The shipment disappeared en route. None of the lost items have ever been recovered.