THE HARBINGERS
EPISODE 14: I’ll Be The Death of You
Transcript
TEASER
(The sound of a hotel bar.)
(Some footsteps as Amy approaches the bar.,)
AMY STIRLING: Hi. Can you make a French 75? One of those, please.
(The bartender makes the drink. It arrives with a clink.)
AMY STIRLING: Thank you. Can you charge it to Room 214, please? Cool. Cheers.
(Amy grabs the cocktail and walks away. After a few steps:)
ADAM BLACKWELL: Fyrio Saldro Barten Eldrenia.
(Amy stops walking and lets out a low breath.)
AMY STIRLING: What?
ADAM BLACKWELL: Fyrio Saldro Barten Eldrenia. What do you think?
AMY STIRLING: What do I think?
(She steps up to the table.)
AMY STIRLING: I think... that I just got off a six hour flight. I think tomorrow’s a big, annoying day. I think I’m tired and just want to have a drink alone in peace.
ADAM BLACKWELL: Oh, sure, but... well, you know how after a long day, it’s nice to unwind with a bit of academic reconstructive surgery to translate a bit of a dead language? Fyrio Saldro Barten Eldrenia: what do you think?
NARRATOR (AMY): The bar at the Thurston Hotel, Downton Boston. June second, 2030. 9:13 PM. Fifteen hours and forty-seven minutes before Athena Energy’s nuclear fusion reactor is scheduled to go online.
(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 14: "I’ll Be the Death Of You.”
(The opening theme resolves and fades away.)
ACT ONE
(We return to the sounds of the hotel bar.)
NARRATOR (ADAM): The hotel bar. Two minutes later.
(Amy and Adam sit together. She takes a sip from her cocktail.)
AMY STIRLING: You know, I was starting to think I had this whole place to myself.
ADAM BLACKWELL: Me too. Apparently Eckerberg booked the whole place out. But a bunch of his investors out in Japan and Singapore had their flights grounded because of a storm, so... (A pause.) I wasn’t expecting to see you. You weren’t on the guest list.
AMY STIRLING: Well, I’m not on Eckerberg’s guest list, but...
ADAM BLACKWELL: Ahhh... you’re the president’s plus one.
AMY STIRLING: Let’s be real, I think I’m Andie’s like... plus fourteen. But yeah.
ADAM BLACKWELL: I’m still surprised she’s coming up for the ribbon cutting tomorrow.
AMY STIRLING: Big new technological innovation she made possible? One that’s gonna make Boston run on clean, effectively infinite energy? Yeah, I guess she was having a slow day and needed something to fill up the afternoon.
ADAM BLACKWELL: Heh, sure.
AMY STIRLING: You have to be there, yeah? Still?
ADAM BLACKWELL: Still. They need me for ignition. I need to kickstart the whole thing.
AMY STIRLING: Any of the others coming? J.S.P.?
ADAM BLACKWELL: I don’t think so. I mean, who knows with her, but... I haven’t heard anything. (A pause.) You haven’t come around on this whole thing, have you? A year later.
(A pause.)
AMY STIRLING: No. I haven’t. I don’t think I’m going to. I get why it’s good on paper. I get people wanting it to work. I get why Andie has to support it. But... I don’t like it, Adam.
ADAM BLACKWELL: Well... you don’t need to like it. But I hope you know that we’ve been really careful. We’ve looked at everything that can go wrong, we have contingencies for every -
AMY STIRLING: Yeah, yeah, I’m sure you do. Can we - sorry, can we talk about something else?
(Adam holds up a piece of paper to her.)
ADAM BLACKWELL: Okay, so here’s what I’ve been working on, and I’d love your thoughts on this.
(Amy lets out a low breath as Adam says:)
ADAM BLACKWELL: These past six months, we’ve been finding all of these new sites. In Ireland, in Oceania, in Indonesia... and in a bunch of them, we’ve found different versions of this same pictorial carving, chiseled into the walls. And beneath it, the same inscription. “Fyrio Saldro Barten Eldrenia.” If this image was so important to the Harbinger culture, then it must -
AMY STIRLING: “Together but apart.”
ADAM BLACKWELL: ... what?
AMY STIRLING: That’s what it means. Fyrio Saldro Barten Eldrenia. “Together but apart.”
ADAM BLACKWELL: Okay, you want to look at it for longer than three seconds before - ?
AMY STIRLING: I thought you wanted my opinion on -
ADAM BLACKWELL: I do want your opinion, but I’d love for you to take a look at -
AMY STIRLING: Do you think I’m wrong?
ADAM BLACKWELL: I - I think that’s a decent approximation of what’s going on here, but... well, this image turns up in so many different places. It must have been an important piece of Harbinger culture and iconography, so knowing precisely what they were trying to convey with it would be -
(Amy starts to get up and leave.)
ADAM BLACKWELL: - be very useful to our... where are you going?
AMY STIRLING: I’m... I think I’m too tired for this, Adam. Sorry. I’ll see you tomorrow.
ADAM BLACKWELL: But - Amy!
(Amy takes off.)
ADAM BLACKWELL: ... okay. (calling after her:) Good night, then! Every fucking time…
(The scene transitions to a hotel room. There’s a beep from key card reader as the door unlocks and swings open.)
NARRATOR (AMY): Room 214, the Thurston Hotel. 9:35 PM.
(Amy takes a deep breath. Walks a bit. Pulls out her phone. Taps on it a few times. We hear a call tone, followed by a voicemail beep.)
AMY STIRLING: Hey. I know you’re busy with the shoot right now, but... I just wanted to leave you a message to let you know I got into Boston all right. I still can’t believe I’m here right now. The things I do for my friends, right? I guess someone needs to keep an eye on Adam too, make sure he doesn’t fuck up the magic side of the thing. (A pause.) Sorry. I know you don’t like it when I... whatever. Sorry. (A pause.) Umm... anyway. I’ll be up for a little bit if you want to call, but I know you’re busy, so no worries. I hope O’ahu is... wonderful and sunny and beachy and all those amazing Hawaii things. And I hope you have a... a good time tonight. (A pause.) Anyway. I love you, and I’ll... I’ll talk to you soon.
(She hangs up. Lies down on the bed. Turns the TV on, from which a song starts playing.)
(A pause. Amy lets out a breath that turns into a snarl.)
(Amy gets back up.)
(The scene transitions back to the hotel bar.)
NARRATOR (ADAM): Hotel bar. 10:11 PM.
(The sounds of Adam flipping through some papers and scribbling on them. Some footsteps approach, and then a glass clinks as it’s set down on the table.)
ADAM BLACKWELL: What’s that?
AMY STIRLING: MacCallen neat. It’s what you were drinking, right?
ADAM BLACKWELL: ... right.
AMY STIRLING: Well, there you go. You’re welcome. Here pass me those.
(Amy sits down at his table, grabs some of his pages.)
AMY STIRLING: Well, here’s half the issue. You’re still using Rosen and Langholtz, like some kind of illiterate? Half of what you’re seeing in this inscription would take on a different meaning if you paid attention to what the subjunctive use was suggesting for -
ADAM BLACKWELL: I’m sorry, but what the shit is happening right now?
AMY STIRLING: What? I thought you wanted me to tell you what you’re getting wrong.
ADAM BLACKWELL: That’s not what I said, I wanted your opinion, not just a -
AMY STIRLING: I mean, well, but you are getting things wrong.
ADAM BLACKWELL: I wanted another pair of eyes to -
AMY STIRLING: You can see that, right?
ADAM BLACKWELL: Would you stop! Stop! Give that back.
(He grabs the material back from her.)
AMY STIRLING: First I’m not paying enough attention for you. Now I’m paying too much attention?
ADAM BLACKWELL: That was an hour ago! I didn’t - you know what?
(Adam starts to get up, gathering his things.)
ADAM BLACKWELL: I’m going to bed.
AMY STIRLING: What? Oh, come on, you big baby.
ADAM BLACKWELL: Good night, Amy.
AMY STIRLING: Adam, you -
(Adam leaves.)
AMY STIRLING: Seriously: you are fucking up the subjunctive!
(She lets out a deep, exasperated groan.)
(The scene transitions to a hotel room.)
NARRATOR (ADAM): Room 318. 10:25 PM.
(The beep of a key card reader, then the door swings open.)
(Adam enters. He lets out a low breath, paces around the room. He pulls out his phone and taps on it a few times. There’s a call tone.)
ADAM BLACKWELL: Hey, buenas noches. Sorry, it’s not too late, is it? I can - Okay, okay, bueno, bueno. (A pause.) No, no, I’m in Boston. I made it in all right. No, it’s not getting started until noon. I have... I have some time in the morning. (A pause.) Estoy bien, just tired and a little - (A pause.) No, you’re not hearing a tone, there’s no tone. I’m just - (A pause.) ... yeah. She’s here. I mean, you... you know what she’s like. (A pause.) No, believe me, I tried. I’m... I’m just tired. I think I’m just gonna stay up here and read for a bit. (A pause.) Yeah, like that’s gonna help with anything. (A pause.) Well... I appreciate it. And yeah, I’ll let you know how everything goes tomorrow. (A pause.) Okay, okay, si, voy a tener un poco de fe. Todo va a salir bien. (A pause.) Thanks, Damián. Hablamos más luego.
(Adam hangs up. Flips through one of his notebooks.)
(A long pause.)
(The scene transitions back to the hotel bar. Amy sits at the same table.)
NARRATOR (AMY): The hotel bar. 11:17 PM.
(There’s a few fast, stomp-y footsteps as Adam walks up to her.)
ADAM BLACKWELL: All right, you know what your problem is?
AMY STIRLING: What? What do you -
ADAM BLACKWELL: You always need to win. No, I mean it. Always. And I think that’s why you keep - there are so many things in life where one person can be a little right and the other person can be a little more right, and then together they can be completely right. But you don’t work that way, you need to always be the winner, even in cases where you could be a winner. And it’s infuriating, because your brain is about the size of Kansas, you are so fucking smart. But you need there to be a loser - there always has to be someone that loses - and when you are the person that is frequently just a little less right than you are? That’s me! And it makes it so hard to root for you, Amy, even when you really, really want to.
(A pause.)
AMY STIRLING: Would you like to sit down, Adam?
ADAM BLACKWELL: Yeah, that’d be great.
(Adam sits down. A pause.)
AMY STIRLING: So... what? Is this one of the ones where I apologize to you or one of the ones where you apologize to me?
ADAM BLACKWELL: I don’t fucking know. I lost track.
AMY STIRLING: Okay. Feel better, though?
ADAM BLACKWELL: Yeah. Lots, actually.
AMY STIRLING: Good.
(Adam pulls up some of his papers.)
ADAM BLACKWELL: All right, you want to do this? You want to tell me... exactly what’s wrong with my subjunctive? (A pause.) What? What’s with that look?
(Amy slides a glass of whiskey over to him.)
ADAM BLACKWELL: What’s that?
AMY STIRLING: That... is the drink I got you a while ago. Drink it. (A pause.) I’m serious. You want me to help with that translation? Drink that. Right here, right now.
ADAM BLACKWELL: You want me to down a full glass of whiskey just to - ?
AMY STIRLING: Yeah, I do. Seriously. I’m not saying another word until you drink every drop in that glass.
ADAM BLACKWELL: Yeah, all right. (A pause.) Oh, come on. (A pause.) You - you really expect me to...?
(A pause. Adam lets out a low breath.)
ADAM BLACKWELL: Yeah, all right.
(Adam picks up the glass.)
ADAM BLACKWELL: ... what do Scottish people say for “cheers”?
AMY STIRLING: Slàinte mhath.
ADAM BLACKWELL: You just had that in the chamber? Okay... Slàinte mhath!
AMY STIRLING: Salud.
(Adam downs the whole glass in one gulp.)
ADAM BLACKWELL: Bleagggh.
AMY STIRLING: Good boy.
ADAM BLACKWELL: All right... now can we talk?
AMY STIRLING: Yeah.
(Amy slides an empty glass over to Adam.)
AMY STIRLING: Go get us two more from the bar, and then we’ll talk.
(Adam gets up and heads towards the bar.)
(The scene fades away.)
ANNOUNCER: The Harbingers will be back after these messages.
ACT TWO
ANNOUNCER: And now... back to The Harbingers.
(We return to the sounds of bar.)
NARRATOR (ADAM): Hotel bar. 12:37 AM.
(Adam and Amy sit together, both laughing.)
AMY STIRLING: That is - that is not how that went down at all!
ADAM BLACKWELL: It is! I remember it like it was yesterday!
AMY STIRLING: Then you are remembering it like a crazy person. The issue on the table was whether early explorers had been too motivated by issues of colonization -
ADAM BLACKWELL: Which they were!
AMY STIRLING: Yes, no duh they were! They were Edwardians, everything they did was about sticking their flags into something.
(Adam laughs at that.)
AMY STIRLING: But what you, my slippery friend, have never been able to grasp, is this little idea that this colonial mindset might have been in line with the Harbingers’ own imperial attitude.
ADAM BLACKWELL: But that was not what we were discussing!
AMY STIRLING: It should have been!
ADAM BLACKWELL: I’m sure you thought so. But at a certain point you need to stick to the topic on hand.
AMY STIRLING: Oh, bullshit. You and McCandless ganged up on me, I could have killed you.
ADAM BLACKWELL: We could have killed you!
(A pause as the laughter dies down a bit.)
ADAM BLACKWELL: You, uh... you ever imagine we’d end up here?
AMY STIRLING: What, in Boston?
ADAM BLACKWELL: No. I know you’d never come here given the choice. I mean... back when we were snarling at each other in grad school, did you ever think that -
AMY STIRLING: - that I’d be the president’s plus one? (A pause.) I think the nice thing about studying archeology was supposed to be that it was... done. It was supposed to be this puzzle that you had to discover, but which was finished. It was done evolving.
ADAM BLACKWELL: And then it became a moving target?
AMY STIRLING: And then there were seven of us with ancient powers from the world that came before. Yeah.
(A pause. Adam takes a sip from his drink.)
ADAM BLACKWELL: We could have done worse.
AMY STIRLING: What do you mean?
ADAM BLACKWELL: I mean... us, Damián, the others... the rings could have ended up in worse hands. Think about it.
AMY STIRLING: Adam, one of us is the Doomscroller.
ADAM BLACKWELL: Who’s a lunatic, that one’s bad.
AMY STIRLING: And out of the others… one of us is the last person that needs more power, one of us has to deal with a thousand pound military gorilla on her back, one of us is losing her mind -
ADAM BLACKWELL: Okay, look -
AMY STIRLING: Have you talked to her lately, by the way?
ADAM BLACKWELL: No, not at much as I should.
AMY STIRLING: Is she okay, do you know?
ADAM BLACKWELL: I don’t know. She... she doesn’t want to talk to anyone. Damián’s a good guy.
AMY STIRLING: Damián has a boss, Adam. Sooner or later that agenda is not gonna line up with your agenda.
ADAM BLACKWELL: Okay, let me rephrase: in 2025? If you’d told me that by 2030 we’d have seven people in the world with unstoppable magic powers running around? I would thought the world would have been destroyed by now. Nobody has... I don’t know, tried to conquer the world or blown up the moon or something.
AMY STIRLING: You know the old joke about the two guys who get pushed out of a plane? Well, every hundred feet, they look around. and then they turn towards each other and kind of bob their heads side to side, and they shrug and go... “Hey... so far so good.” Doesn’t matter how the fall goes. It’s what happens when you hit the ground.
(The scene transitions to later in the night,)
NARRATOR (AMY): 1:21 AM.
(A clcik as Amy looks at her phone.)
AMY STIRLING: Ah shit. I missed a call from Kris.
ADAM BLACKWELL: Oh. Do you want to - ?
AMY STIRLING: It’s okay. It’s late, I’ll call him tomorrow.
ADAM BLACKWELL: Okay. How’s... how’s that going, by the way?
AMY STIRLING: What? The... being with a huge Hollywood actor thing? I don’t know.
ADAM BLACKWELL: He seems great. He’s always seemed great.
AMY STIRLING: No, he is great. It’s just… (A pause.) How honest should I be? (A pause.) Well, okay then. Kris is... funny. And charming. And sexy. Wildly popular. Rich, which is nice, but not like... unethically wealthy, which is very nice. He’s... He checks off a lot of boxes on the list. He’s exactly the kind of person that you should be with, if you can be with them. If you can get them, you pounce. And so... I pounced. And nine days out of ten it’s great.
ADAM BLACKWELL: ... and on the tenth day?
AMY STIRLING: On the tenth day... There’s parts of it he doesn’t get. (A pause.) We’re both weirdos. Our lives are so different from everyone else. It’s like he’s from Saturn and I’m from Jupiter, but we’re both here on Earth. And it’s so nice - no, so necessary, to have someone I can turn to and go, “Holy shit, being an alien among all these earthlings is so weird. And it’s... it’s not going to stop being so weird, is it?” Having someone that gets that? It’s enough to get by... almost all the time.
ADAM BLACKWELL: But every now and then... it’d be nice to be able to talk to a fellow Jovian?
AMY STIRLING: ... a what?
ADAM BLACKWELL: A - a person from Jupiter. That’s what you call them, a Jovian.
AMY STIRLING: Neeeerd. (A pause.) But yeah. It’d be nice. (A pause.) ... I’m also pretty sure he was out on a date with someone tonight.
(Adam chokes on the sip he was halfway through taking from his drink.)
ADAM BLACKWELL: Ex-excuse me, what?
AMY STIRLING: Ahh, just a first date, no a big deal. Some girl from a shoot he’s been chatting with. Oh my god, please. Adam, he’s one of the handsome it-boys of the moment, you really think we’re not doing the open thing?
ADAM BLACKWELL: Frankly it just - I hadn’t thought of - I guess that makes - yeah, sorry, I just... (A pause.) So... he can do things with other people?
AMY STIRLING: Yeah. So can I. It’s not a big deal.
ADAM BLACKWELL: Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. (A long pause.) Remember when you guys almost got married in Las Vegas? That was... that was something.
(A pause.)
AMY STIRLING: ... just for the record? We... did.
ADAM BLACKWELL: What?
AMY STIRLING: We... did get married. Not at Vegas! That would have been - no, that was stupid. I was in a place, that was bad. But... Yeah. We did a little seaside thing. Six months ago.
ADAM BLACKWELL: I didn’t know.
AMY STIRLING: Nobody knows, really.
ADAM BLACKWELL: Sooo... does that make you Mrs. Midden-
AMY STIRLING: No, no it does not.
(They both chuckle a bit.)
ADAM BLACKWELL: Sorry, I’m just... I feel like this conversation took off running in two separate directions all at once.
AMY STIRLING: Mine do that sometimes, sorry.
ADAM BLACKWELL: But so you... you really think he’s the one, huh? Even with the whole... tenth day thing?
AMY STIRLING: I think... I think I can honestly say that... I want every future version of myself to be someone that loves Kris. That feels like a good thing. That feels like a good thing that I want to hold onto. Like a promise I want to keep.
ADAM BLACKWELL: And you can... hold onto that? Hold onto a feeling like that? Even... years later?
AMY STIRLING: Yeah, I can hold onto it. Another?
ADAM BLACKWELL: Yeah, please.
(Amy gets up and heads towards the bar.)
(The scene transitions to later. The muzak that’s been playing in the background winds down as the jukebox is unplugged.)
NARRATOR (ADAM): 2:25 AM.
(Adam and Amy are still together at the same table.)
ADAM BLACKWELL: All right, can I ask you something?
AMY STIRLING: Yeah.
ADAM BLACKWELL: It’s gonna piss you off.
AMY STIRLING: Well, now I’m really excited.
ADAM BLACKWELL: Okay... five years ago, you said there were seven people who could save the world. With the resources they had. And you were angry. Because none of them were doing it. Saving the world. But now... one of them is doing something that might be the biggest step we’ve ever taken towards reversing climate change.
AMY STIRLING: And setting himself up to be the world’s richest man several times over in the process.
ADAM BLACKWELL: Well, that’s my question... is that wrong? If one person does something that benefits them and saves the world... isn’t that a win-win?
AMY STIRLING: That’s what a lot of the effective altruism people were saying. You know, before they got sent to jail for massive fraud and embezzlement.
ADAM BLACKWELL: You’re dodging.
AMY STIRLING: I know, I need time, I am thinking. (A pause.) I might be over the idea of one person saving the world. Because I think most people would only save the world if they could benefit from it. Like, if they suddenly had to pick between getting richer or making sure the world was still here two hundred years from now? I know which way they’re going. (A pause.) I think saving the world is maybe something that only happens with a lot of people working together to make it happen.
ADAM BLACKWELL: ... but destroying it is something one powerful person could do by themselves? Is that why you’re worried about tomorrow?
AMY STIRLING: Who said I was worried about tomorrow?
ADAM BLACKWELL: ... no, you’re right. Worried isn’t the right word. It’s something else.
AMY STIRLING: What are you, Sherlock Holmes now?
ADAM BLACKWELL: No, just - just someone that’s known you for a long time.
AMY STIRLING: Sometimes I feel like you barely know me at all. (A small pause.) All right. Come on, let’s hear it. If you’re really the world’s premiere expert on Amy Fucking Stirling, tell me: why do I hate what’s going to happen tomorrow? Impress a girl.
(Adam laughs a little bit.)
ADAM BLACKWELL: Okay, umm, let’s see... well, let’s discard all the obvious stuff. Your skepticism of the billionaire class in general, the fact that this’ll make Jerome Eckerberg even more obscenely wealthy than he already is.
AMY STIRLING: I mean, I do hate that.
ADAM BLACKWELL: Yeah, but... that’s not it. And it’s not that you think the reactor isn’t safe, or that it’s a bad idea in general...
AMY STIRLING: I don’t?
ADAM BLACKWELL: You have the ear of the president of the United States. If you really thought this shouldn’t be happening, that she shouldn’t support it, I think you could make it not happen. So... It’s not categorical, it’s not about safety, it’s not political... That leaves... it’s personal.
AMY STIRLING: Personal? I barely know Eckerberg.
ADAM BLACKWELL: ... which is strange when you stop and think about it.
AMY STIRLING: ... what do you mean?
ADAM BLACKWELL: He was a huge campaign donor for your friend, you run in the same circles... he has a fascination with magic, spent a year courting me, wants to research it and develop it... Why don’t you know the guy better?
(Amy sputters for a second.)
ADAM BLACKWELL: And it’s weird because you don’t act like you don’t know him. You know everything about him, about his businesses, about his interests, his movements -
AMY STIRLING: I have a good memory when I’m angry.
ADAM BLACKWELL: No, this isn’t some actuarial table you read once. This is... this is Don Corleone did you a solid one time, so every time he shows up at a party you exit stage left before he can ask you to return the favor.
AMY STIRLING: Adam -
ADAM BLACKWELL: But that’s ridiculous, because... what favor would you ever need from Eckerberg? You have plenty of money from your shows, you’re well connected, you have friends in high places -
AMY STIRLING: Adam, wait -
ADAM BLACKWELL: Hell, I really can’t think of anything that you’ve really needed these past few years, not since you went to Ireland and got that ring on your -
(He stops. Realizing.)
ADAM BLACKWELL: ... Amy?
(A long pause. Then:)
AMY STIRLING: Motherfucker!
(Amy throws her glass at the floor, causing it to shatter.)
AMY STIRLING: Sorry! Sorry, that was - that was - Sorry, that was me! Charge it to my room, please. (lower:) ... like a fucking mind reader, Jesus Christ, Blackwell. (A pause.) He found it. He found it and he... he chose me. Set me up so I could be... useful to him. So I could nudge things in the right direction. So I could get the right person elected and make the right ideas popular and... a million other things. (A pause.) So I could help him figure out Harbinger things. And help him figure you out. And I had to do it. Because... I didn’t want anyone to know how I’d gotten this thing on my hand.
ADAM BLACKWELL: ... and nobody knows?
AMY STIRLING: Nobody knows. (A pause.) Well? Come on? Yell at me already! Tell me that I’m irresponsible and - and an egotistical little idiot and... would you just start yelling please?!
(A pause.)
ADAM BLACKWELL: Amy, are you okay?
AMY STIRLING: ... what?
ADAM BLACKWELL: Are you all right? That is so much to deal with all on your own.
AMY STIRLING: ... why are you being nice right now?
ADAM BLACKWELL: B-because - I don’t know. Because -
AMY STIRLING: You can’t be nice to me right now, why are you -
ADAM BLACKWELL: - because I care about you, okay?! Because I know you and I can only imagine how much this has been eating you up alive, and holy shit why wouldn’t I be nice to you?
(A pause. Then, Amy lets out a little laugh.)
AMY STIRLING: Brains and heart... Where was this Adam five years ago?
(Adam laughs a little too.)
ADAM BLACKWELL: I... I don’t know. Too wrapped up in my own shit to notice what was going on with you, I guess.
AMY STIRLING: Well... welcome to the party, it sucks here. I’m gonna get one last drink.
ADAM BLACKWELL: Uh, sure.
(Amy gets up and leaves the table.)
(A pause, then:)
ADAM BLACKWELL: ... what the fuck...?
(A pause, then some rushing footsteps as Amy runs back towards the table.)
AMY STIRLING: Okay, good news, bad news. The bad news is he’s closing up and we missed last call. I don’t think the broken glass helped.
ADAM BLACKWELL: Okay, what’s the good news?
(Amy holds up a bottle, making the liquid within slosh.)
AMY STIRLING: I stole this bottle of wine when he wasn’t looking. Come on, we can have this up in my room.
ADAM BLACKWELL: Are you - ?
AMY STIRLING: Yeah, come on, come on.
(She pulls him up, making him follow her.)
(The scene transitions to a hotel hallway. Amy and Adam walk together.)
NARRATOR (AMY): Hotel hallway. 2:50 AM.
(A moment of silence.)
AMY STIRLING: Here, this is me.
ADAM BLACKWELL: Ahh. Very good.
AMY STIRLING: Here, let me just -
(Amy unlocks the door, and they both step into her room. She shuts the door behind them.)
AMY STIRLING: Welcome, welcome.
ADAM BLACKWELL: Thank you.
AMY STIRLING: Let’s see about the bottle, I think I’ve got a corkscrew somewhere around -
ADAM BLACKWELL: It’s okay, don’t bother.
AMY STIRLING: What? What, are you just going to - ?
ADAM BLACKWELL: Aderia Lindro Prelvo Trax.
(There’s a magical woosh and a pop as the cork in the bottle vanishes.)
ADAM BLACKWELL: There. Good to go.
AMY STIRLING: Wow. Good move. That must get you all kinds of girls at parties.
ADAM BLACKWELL: Oh, wouldn’t you like to see one of my moves. You got a glass or a - ?
AMY STIRLING: Yes, I would.
ADAM BLACKWELL: What? Did you just - ?
AMY STIRLING: Yeah. Come on, let’s see it.
ADAM BLACKWELL: You want me to - ?
AMY STIRLING: Make a move. Yeah.
ADAM BLACKWELL: I - I don’t know that -
AMY STIRLING: No, come on, I mean it. Make a move, Adam.
ADAM BLACKWELL: I... Amy, listen -
AMY STIRLING: (suddenly urgent:) Adam. Move.
ADAM BLACKWELL: It’s - I just want to make sure that -
AMY STIRLING: No - Adam, MOVE.
(Amy rushes past him, into the bathroom.)
(Through the door, we hear as Amy retches and vomits into the toilet.)
ADAM BLACKWELL: Ah. Sure. Yeah.
(Adam sits down on the bed.)
(From the restroom, we hear as the toilet flushes. The sink runs for a moment and is then shut off. The door opens as Amy re-enters.)
AMY STIRLING: ... sorry. I didn’t... Amy Stirling: Cool Sexy Woman Who Has Her Shit Together. Not how I wanted this to -
ADAM BLACKWELL: Amy, come here.
AMY STIRLING: What? No, Adam, I’m not going to -
ADAM BLACKWELL: Amy. Do you need a hug?
(A pause.)
AMY STIRLING: Yeah. Please.
(Amy goes to the bed. Curls up around Adam.)
AMY STIRLING: ... thank you, Adam.
ADAM BLACKWELL: You’re welcome.
AMY STIRLING: Can you... can just stay here? For a bit?
ADAM BLACKWELL: ... yeah. I’m not... I’m not going anywhere.
(The moment lingers for a long moment.)
(The scene transitions to the same hotel room, the following morning.)
NARRATOR (ADAM): Room 214. 8:59 AM.
(The phone rings. Amy groans as she picks it up.)
AMY STIRLING: Y-yeah. Okay. Thank you. Appreciate it.
(Amy hangs up the phone.)
AMY STIRLING: Adam?
(There’s a sleepy grumble from Adam.)
AMY STIRLING: Adam, wake up. It’s nine AM.
ADAM BLACKWELL: ... yeah? It is?
AMY STIRLING: Yeah. Up and at them. It’s... it’s a big day.
(They both start to groggily get up from the bed.)
(The scene transition to the hotel lobby.)
NARRATOR (AMY): The lobby of the Thurston Hotel. 11:00 AM.
(Some footsteps at Amy approaches.)
AMY STIRLING: Good morning.
ADAM BLACKWELL: Good morning. You’ve perked up.
AMY STIRLING: The miracle of a hot shower. Here.
(She hands him a small bundle of papers.)
ADAM BLACKWELL: What is... ?
AMY STIRLING: Your translation. You left some of your notes in my room. Gave me a chance to look through them as I dried my hair.
ADAM BLACKWELL: And...?
AMY STIRLING: And... you were right. I needed to look at it for longer than five seconds. For starters...
(Amy flips a page over.)
AMY STIRLING: ... I should have seen what was in this carving that’s been popping up all over the place. A man’s hand and a woman’s hand reaching out towards each other. You remember the myth of the Radiant One and the Shadowed One?
ADAM BLACKWELL: The tragedy of the angel and the devil? I don’t know if that’s ever been authenticated...
AMY STIRLING: Well, I think this is compelling fucking proof that it should be. Angel and devil, forbidden love affair, discovered by the others...
ADAM BLACKWELL: ... and cast out.
AMY STIRLING: Stripped of even their names.
ADAM BLACKWELL: And sentenced to the deepest part of a dark, terrible dungeon.
AMY STIRLING: Chained up so that they were just barely outside of each other’s reach. And told that if they ever touched each other, they’d go free.
ADAM BLACKWELL: And then they spent the rest of eternity reaching out for one another.
AMY STIRLING: Where they still are to this day. Always reaching, never touching.
ADAM BLACKWELL: “Fyrio Saldro Barten Eldrenia.”
AMY STIRLING: ... yeah. Exactly.
(A pause.)
ADAM BLACKWELL: That’ll do it. Thanks, Amy.
AMY STIRLING: Don’t mention it.
(There’s a chime from Adam’s phone.)
ADAM BLACKWELL: I think my car is here. You want a ride down to the Observatory?
AMY STIRLING: Yeah, sure. Let’s do this thing.
(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 June 4th for Episode 15, "The Sound of Letting Go." Today's episode was written by Gabriel Urbina. It was directed and sound designed by Jeffrey Nils Gardner. It featured the voices of Andrés Enriquez as Adam Blackwell and Lauren Grace Thompson as Amy Stirling. 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 21st, 2029, Paris officially banned the use of fossil fuel-powered automobiles within its city limits, citing environmental and public health concerns as the motivations behind the divisive legislature. Amsterdam, Berlin, and Central London all enacted similar measures within a year.