THE HARBINGERS
EPISODE 15: The Sound of Letting Go
Transcript
TEASER
(The sounds of a university auditorium. The people in the audience chatter among themselves.)
NARRATOR: Sinclair University. Andrews Lecture Hall. April fifth, 2030: fourth night of the Sinclair Luminaries Lecture Series.
(Someone approaches a podium. There’s a squeal of feedback from the microphone, and the audience hushes up.)
JULIAN MCCANDLESS: Good evening. To begin tonight, I think I’d like to talk about the Erondra Carev Fyndran. The myth of Fyndran.
(There’s some rustling of McCandless’s notes.)
JULIAN MCCANDLESS: Now, those of you who have taken one of my classes know that in my particular corner of academia, “myth” can be a bit of a slippery term. When I was your age, figuring out what was Harbinger history and what was Harbinger myth was fairly straightforward. Apply this simple test: does the story in question contain instances of, say, someone reading someone else’s mind, or making fire rain from the heavens? If yes, surely that must be a myth. Oh those were days.
(The audience laughs at that.)
JULIAN MCCANDLESS: These days, it’s a bit more complicated. You need to take things in context, evaluate the language with which things are being presented, compare and contrast with... well, the point is: there’s some educated guesswork to it. For anyone that is interested in absolute, immutable truths of the universe, Sasha Kuznetsova’s lecture on abstract mathematics is right here, this time tomorrow.
(A bit more laughter from the audience.)
JULIAN MCCANDLESS: But for those who can stomach a bit of soft tissue in their academia: the myth of Fyndran. And this is one that I think is a myth, not a history. I hope, actually. You’ll see why in just a moment.
(As McCandless talks, he periodically clicks on a remote, making a slide show that’s being projected behind him advance.)
JULIAN MCCANDLESS: Once upon a time, in the ancient kingdom of An-Carelith, there was a young man named Fyndran. He was a briloth - a lesser but not inconsiderable member of the noble ruling class, something akin to a... duke or a minor princeling. We are told he was handsome and dashing and all those things a fairy tale hero is supposed to be. But above all else... he was wise. Let’s remember that, please. This is a story about a wise young man. Now, young Fyndran has a lot of adventures in his youth that we’re going to gloss over. He traveled on a haunted ship, he fought in a war, he romanced a maiden of the underworld, he caught a legendary pale stag for a devil, who promised to do our hero a great favor somewhere down the line, blah blah blah, all the greatest hits.
(He advances the slide show again.)
JULIAN MCCANDLESS: Here’s where it gets interesting. Fyndran meets the beautiful princess Eylira. Falls in love with her. Wins her hand. And in so doing? Really ticks off this other guy, Radagal. Radagal the Blackhearted, who was also in love with Eylira. And who, when he found out she had taken another to be her husband, set a two-headed snake into her bedroom. (A pause.) While Fyndran buried his young wife, Radagal fled. He fled to Tyr-Ciridan - the fortress city by the sea, built around a solitary, jagged peak that rose a thousand feet out of the ocean. Their walls were tall and sturdy and their armies fought like tigers. And it was known far and wide that neither army nor trickery could breach the gates of Tyr-Ciridan. (A pause.) For five years, Fyndran tried to break into the city, tried to reason with its authorities, hunted their enemies down and offered them in trade to the high kings of the starlight palace... if they would give him the man that killed his wife so justice could be done. And for five years he was refused. Until... the day came when Fyndran grew desperate. And so he took out the jewel that the devil Erodio had given him. He kissed the gem, and the devil came to him. And...
(He stops for a moment.)
JULIAN MCCANDLESS: Before I tell you what he did... why are we talking about this? Why does any of this matter? Well... I think it matters because cultures rarely leave behind a record of what they were like. Not really. Where they were? Yes. Who they conquered? Absolutely. But what they were like? Not so much. (A pause.) What clues us into that... are stories. The stories a culture leaves behind. Stories that illustrate what values they held, who they rooted for, the way our films and our novels and our plays speak about what we are like today. (A pause.) And sometimes... when you compare the stories of today to the stories of six thousand years ago? You’re surprised by how things match up. And sometimes... you’re surprised by the other thing. (A pause.) The devil came to the young princeling. And Fyndran said, “There is a man in this city, and though walls and swords and the will of men keep me from him, he must die. Can this be done?” And the devil said, “It can be done.” (A pause.) They came up with a word for what happened. Mulkratorvan. “The mountain of fire.” The eruption destroyed not just Tyr-Ciridan, but also three other cities. And it darkened the sky for years. And Fyndran... was celebrated as a hero upon his return home. He was hailed as Fyndran the Wise, bringer of justice. (A pause.) Does that unnerve you? A story where the moral is, “Sometimes you need to throw a volcano at your problems?” It unnerves me. But... it seems this was the way Harbinger culture worked. If a thing had to be done? You did it. And as for all the people that got hurt along the way? Well, sooner or later... you figured out how to let that go.
(There is a fast, approaching, rushing sound, which suddenly cuts out, leaving us in silence. Over that, we hear:)
ANNOUNCER: Audacious Machine Creative Presents: The Harbingers. Created by Gabriel Urbina. Episode 15: "The Sound of Letting Go.”
ACT ONE
(The sounds of the lawyer’s office. For a long moment, we just hear the ticking of the clock.)
CLAUDIA SKINNER: All right. June third. Six months ago. Where do you want to start with this?
(Adam scoffs.)
ADAM BLACKWELL: Where do I want to...? I don’t know. How do you usually start talking about the worst day of your life?
CLAUDIA SKINNER: Usually, I start with a vodka martini with a dash of orange bitters.
(Adam chuckles.)
CLAUDIA SKINNER: But let’s go through it sober at least once to start with.
ADAM BLACKWELL: Ooooohhh, see?
CLAUDIA SKINNER: Wait -
ADAM BLACKWELL: You just said the word -
CLAUDIA SKINNER: That’s not -
ADAM BLACKWELL: Go through it once, implying that we’ll go through it multiple times.
CLAUDIA SKINNER: Well -
ADAM BLACKWELL: And after we’ve gone through it a whole lot of times, I’m gonna have to go through it a whole lot more times at the hearing -
CLAUDIA SKINNER: Doctor -
ADAM BLACKWELL: - and then at the trial, and at the appeals, and - it’s never gonna stop! It’s never gonna stop, is it?
(A pause.)
CLAUDIA SKINNER: What do you want me to say?
ADAM BLACKWELL: I don’t know. Something clever and cynical that’s also a real thing we can do to make this all go away.
CLAUDIA SKINNER: I’m afraid I’m not the one with magic powers, Dr. Blackwell. And making things go “away” is more your department. How’d it start?
ADAM BLACKWELL: You know how it started. Everyone knows -
CLAUDIA SKINNER: I don’t care what everyone knows. Tell me. June third. What happened?
ADAM BLACKWELL: ... we got to the Observatory. The Athena Facility. A little before noon.
(The scene fades to a high-tech control room.)
NARRATOR: The Observatory. Boston. June third, 2030.
(There’s a beep and a mechanical door slides open.)
ADAM BLACKWELL: Amy Stirling, welcome to Project Vesper.
AMY STIRLING: So... this is the low-key getaway where you’ve been spending your weekends?
ADAM BLACKWELL: Something like that... Here, if you look through those windows? That’s the main core. That’s where we’ll be making the reaction that makes the, uhh, well the star happen. All it needs is a little bit of... Amy? You all right?
(There was a soft woosh from somewhere around them.)
AMY STIRLING: ... y-yeah. Sorry.
ADAM BLACKWELL: Everything okay?
AMY STIRLING: I... I think so. It’s... just a weird feeling.
ADAM BLACKWELL: You sure? Because if -
AMY STIRLING: It’s fine. I got it.
ADAM BLACKWELL: I mean -
(Some approaches them and hugs Adam.)
MELISSA ERICKSON: ADAM! There you are!
ADAM BLACKWELL: ... hi, Mel.
MELISSA ERICKSON: You don’t call, you don’t write, you don’t bring that handsome face of yours around the office.
ADAM BLACKWELL: ... I was here two weeks ago, Mel.
MELISSA ERICKSON: That’s two weeks too long. A girl and her star get lonely, you know.
AMY STIRLING: Umm, hi.
ADAM BLACKWELL: Yes, umm, Amy, this is Dr. Melissa Erickson.
MELISSA ERICKSON: Call me “Mel”, everyone does.
AMY STIRLING: Nice to meet you, Dr. Erickson.
ADAM BLACKWELL: Mel’s the, uh, well the genius that’s behind Athena’s fusion project. That’s her baby out there.
MELISSA ERICKSON: Oh come on, at this point it’s our baby.
ADAM BLACKWELL: Oh, uh, that’s - you are giving me too much credit if you - Umm, Mel, do you know where Eckerberg is? I need to -
MELISSA ERICKSON: Oh, he’s around. Probably meeting and greeting with -
(A klaxon goes off around them.)
MELISSA ERICKSON: Ugh. Okay, I’ve got a million and a half things to do right now, but tea or coffee or drinks or something later? I’ve got some new spectroscopy ideas to run past you!
(Mel starts to walk away from them.)
ADAM BLACKWELL: Sounds good, I’ll find you later! (back to Amy) Okay, I’m gonna see if I can find a moment to talk to Eckerberg before we - what?
AMY STIRLING: Oh, no, no, nothing. You, uh... you got a baby with a science mama, huh?
ADAM BLACKWELL: Oh for god’s - in the name of everything that’s holy can we talk about it later?
AMY STIRLING: Is that before or after “drinks or something” with her? Just checking.
(There’s another woosh in the space around them.)
AMY STIRLING: ... what the...?
ADAM BLACKWELL: Okay, that’s the second time you’ve been weird in like a minute and a half.
AMY STIRLING: Yeah, sorry, it’s... I don’t know. It’s like deja vu or something. Just a flash and then it’s gone again.
ADAM BLACKWELL: Oookay, but is - ?
(A door opens on the other side of the room.)
US MARINE: Ladies and gentlemen - The President of the United States.
(There’s applause as Andrea Shepherd enters the room.)
ANDREA SHEPHERD: Hey. Thanks for having me. Eric, it’s good to see you. Thank you, it’s good to be here. Absolutely, I wouldn’t miss it for the world.
(As Andrea says the above, over it we hear:)
ADAM BLACKWELL: Is it me or has she gotten taller?
AMY STIRLING: You’re just a little afraid of her now, ever since she yelled at you at the White House.
ADAM BLACKWELL: I am, yeah... She’s doing the full press photo op thing, isn’t she?
AMY STIRLING: Wouldn’t you? The administration’s thrown so much of their weight behind this clean energy project. If she has to own it, she might as well own it.
(Some footsteps as President Shepherd walks up to Adam and Amy.)
ANDREA SHEPHERD: Dr. Blackwell. Ms. Stirling.
AMY STIRLING: Madame President.
ADAM BLACKWELL: It’s good to see you.
ANDREA SHEPHERD: You too. You ready to change the world for the better, Adam?
ADAM BLACKWELL: Ready to do my little part for the energy future of America.
ANDREA SHEPHERD: Oh my god. Please, when you talk to the reporters make it sound a bit more exciting than that, would you?
ADAM BLACKWELL: I’ll - I’ll try, madame president.
ANDREA SHEPHERD: Seriously. With the amount of money we’ve thrown at this, I want some grandiose headlines tomorrow.
ADAM BLACKWELL: I’ll - I’ll get something together on... physics and magic coming together like never before.
AMY STIRLING: Maybe something about changing our ideas of what’s possible for humanity.
ADAM BLACKWELL: Oh, that’s good, thank you, Amy. (A small pause.) Everything okay, madame president?
ANDREA SHEPHERD: What’s - what’s this thing, what’s happening here?
ANDREA SHEPHERD: Bullshit. What’s going on with the two of you?
ADAM BLACKWELL AND AMY STIRLING: Nothing’s going on!
(But then, from across the room:)
MELISSA ERICKSON: Adam? We need you up at the core now. We should get the materials ready for ignition. It’s time.
ADAM BLACKWELL: Okay, thanks Mel. Madame President, Amy, if you’ll excuse me...
(Adam starts to walk away.)
AMY STIRLING: Adam? (A pause.) Good luck.
ADAM BLACKWELL: Thanks.
(The scene fades to the sound of Vesper’s core.)
NARRATOR: Vesper Reactor Core. Fifteen minutes later.
(Adam enters the space. Stops as he spots someone already here.)
ADAM BLACKWELL: I didn’t expect to see you up here.
JEROME ECKERBERG: No? It’s the heart of the action. It’s everything I’ve been working towards for years. Where else would I be?
ADAM BLACKWELL: Oh, I don’t know.
(There’s some footsteps as Adam walks towards him, towards where he needs to be for his part in the process.)
ADAM BLACKWELL: There’s a room downstairs with cameras and reporters and investors and - oh yes - the most powerful woman in the world. That seems more like your speed.
JEROME ECKERBERG: There will be time for that later. But right now? I want to be as close as I can to it.
(A pause.)
ADAM BLACKWELL: Well, you’re welcome to be here. Front row seat to the birth of the star that’s gonna power up half the Eastern seaboard.
(Adam starts to get ready. A pause.)
JEROME ECKERBERG: ... my father would have loved this. (A pause.) He inherited a fortune from his mother. One of the last true oil baronesses of the American South. Spent years trying to develop a process for what they called green hydrogen. Electrolysis to produce fuel. Same results as fossil fuels, but... less of a carbon footprint. And you don’t need oil for it, just water.
ADAM BLACKWELL: ... and? Did it work?
JEROME ECKERBERG: No. The idea was too ahead of its time. Technology wouldn’t be there at scale for another two decades. He passed away in ‘95. Two years earlier, he’d declared bankruptcy. But it was a beautiful dream. Energy without its dark shadow. (A pause.) Have you ever heard of Fritz Haber, Doctor Blackwell?
ADAM BLACKWELL: What?
JEROME ECKERBERG: Fritz Haber. German chemist. The man who saved the world from starving to death. The man who gave us...
ADAM BLACKWELL: Yeah, I know about him.
JEROME ECKERBERG: This, Adam, this is a “bread from the air” moment. This is the beginning of something very important.
(A pause.)
ADAM BLACKWELL: Jerome. (A pause.) When... once Vesper’s up and running? The two of us should talk. About a couple of things.
JEROME ECKERBERG: Is everything all right?
ADAM BLACKWELL: It’s... it will be. But there’s a few things for us to discuss. About the future.
JEROME ECKERBERG: Well... let’s make it a bright future, then?
(The machinery around them settles, and seems primed. A few valves release some steam.)
MELISSA ERICKSON (OVER INTERCOM): Adam? Pressurization is set. You’re up, magic man.
ADAM BLACKWELL: Yeah... all right. Stand by.
(Adam takes a deep breath.)
ADAM BLACKWELL: Oreldo Gherio Trinteria Arrelva Veriai Brilgo Oria Beranta Salandro Cara.
(There’s a rush of air and a woosh as a container disappears. Adam lets out a low breath.)
ADAM BLACKWELL: Two Mississippi... Three Mississippi... Four Mississippi... and...
(There’s a powerful sparking sound. The machinery seems to spin faster, beginning to arc with power.)
JEROME ECKERBERG: Houston, we have ignition.
ADAM BLACKWELL: And that was that...
(The scene fades back to the lawyer’s office.)
ADAM BLACKWELL: My part was done. I’d given Vesper the kick it needed. After that, Mel took over. Got the machinery up and running. Sustainable fusion. Clean energy for the masses. It was real: magic and science together at last.
CLAUDIA SKINNER: And then what happened?
ADAM BLACKWELL: Oh, there were speeches. Eckerberg made a speech...
(Distant and ghostly, we hear:)
JEROME ECKERBERG: ... a before and after day in the history of...
ADAM BLACKWELL: President Shepherd made a speech...
(Again, distant and ghostly:)
ANDREA SHEPHERD: ... proud to stand with the best of American industry and American ingenuity to usher in a new age...
ADAM BLACKWELL: There was champagne and hugging and reporters asking questions and Amy making fun of me because my answers weren’t sparkly enough. It was... I don’t know. I’d spent a year brute-forcing my way into knowing how to do magic. I’d spent another one with Dr. Erickson, trying to figure out how make Vesper work. How to make it safe. Even knowing Eckerberg had been moving us all around his chess board this whole time... it felt like a good day. It was a good day.
(A pause.)
CLAUDIA SKINNER: And when did you know?
ADAM BLACKWELL: That it was all gonna go wrong? About two hours later. About... three minutes before it happened.
(The scene fades back to the control room. Various people mill around. In the background, we hear the steady hum of the high-tech machinery.)
NARRATOR: The Observatory Control Room. Two hours later.
(Footsteps as Mel Erickson approaches Adam.)
MELISSA ERICKSON: Adam. I think I’ve got two or three minutes where I don’t need to have eight different people in my ear.
ADAM BLACKWELL: I’ll take them. How’s it looking?
MELISSA ERICKSON: Well... given all our testing, we were hoping for a six-two. But... we’re not there.
ADAM BLACKWELL: Fuck. Is it at least a five-five?(A pause.) No? Jesus, what is it?
(A pause.)
MELISSA ERICKSON: Seven-three.
ADAM BLACKWELL: Shut the fuck up.
MELISSA ERICKSON: This thing could already run half of Massachusetts by itself.
ADAM BLACKWELL: Oh my - Mel, that’s huge! Congratulations!
MELISSA ERICKSON: Congratulations, man!
(The two hug.)
MELISSA ERICKSON: And it’s just the beginning, okay? I’ve got ideas for bigger reactors, for relativity explorations, we’re gonna figure out how the fuck you’re getting around conservation of energy. We’re gonna do big things, you and me.
ADAM BLACKWELL: Mel, would you at all be open to doing that in, say... a university?
MELISSA ERICKSON: What?
ADAM BLACKWELL: Or maybe a government facility?
MELISSA ERICKSON: I’m - I’m sorry? Adam, is everything all right with you and Mr. J? Because he can be a little -
ADAM BLACKWELL: It’s - it’s complicated. But I just... I really don’t think I’m meant to be in the private sector.
MELISSA ERICKSON: Private sector’s where the money’s at, man.
ADAM BLACKWELL: After today? I think the money’s going to be wherever you are. And besides... you see that lady in the tailor-made Brooks Brothers suit? She owes me a huge favor, and I hear she’s got some pull in Washington these days...
MELISSA ERICKSON: I...
ADAM BLACKWELL: C’mon... we did this one your way, how about doing the next one my way?
MELISSA ERICKSON: Well... it’s tempting. I might -
TECH: Hey, Mel? We’re getting a bit of shimmy here.
MELISSA ERICKSON: Let’s see... yep, the newborn’s fidgeting. Somebody get me a line to structural, please.
(Mel returns to the central console, and Amy walks up to Adam.)
AMY STIRLING: So you two done figuring out what the rest of your kids are gonna be called or what?
ADAM BLACKWELL: Oh my - would you drop it?
AMY STIRLING: No, I’m not gonna drop it! The big brain physics lady is making all kinds of thirsty eyes at you, it’s the most hysterical thing I’ve ever heard.
ADAM BLACKWELL: She’s - that’s just the way she is. With everyone.
AMY STIRLING: I don’t know that’s all it is, Adam... (A pause.) Do you... want that to be all it is? (A pause.) Do you want me to find out if it’s all it is?
ADAM BLACKWELL: I...
(A rumble. The building around them seems to shake for a moment.)
MELISSA ERICKSON: Structural, what the hell are you doing down there? (A pause.) Danielle, you got eyes on the containment line?
JEROME ECKERBERG: Everything all right, Dr. Erickson?
MELISSA ERICKSON: It’s fine... just a bit of irregularity. I just don’t know why they’re not on comms. (A pause.) I’m gonna go down there and check out what the problem is. Keep me on channel one, all right?
TECH: Copy.
(Some footsteps as Mel heads to an exit. President Shepherd approaches Adam and Amy.)
ANDREA SHEPHERD: Well, this is getting more exciting by the moment.
AMY STIRLING: Is this... normal amounts of exciting, Adam?
ADAM BLACKWELL: Oh, this is nothing. The first test I was here for, I think the whole city block was shaking. Believe me: it’s a lot to take in, but they know what they’re doing.
AMY STIRLING: All right... we’ll take your word for it, but...
(Another woosh, now including a strange sound, almost like a fast snippet of another scene, present so briefly that it’s unintelligible.)
AMY STIRLING: ... what the...?
ANDREA SHEPHERD: Okay, Amy, what is up with you?
AMY STIRLING: Nothing.
ADAM BLACKWELL: No, it’s not nothing. You’ve been weird all day.
AMY STIRLING: That’s called a hangover, Adam.
ADAM BLACKWELL: No, it’s not, it’s the deja vu thing.
ANDREA SHEPHERD: The what?
ADAM BLACKWELL: She’s been feeling something since we got here. Like she’s been half-recognizing something.
ANDREA SHEPHERD: You mean in your head?
AMY STIRLING: Yeah, I mean in my head.
ANDREA SHEPHERD: Well, can you not - ?
(There’s a burst of static from one of the computer consoles.)
MELISSA ERICKSON (VIA COMMS): Structural, there you are. Why are you not answering on comms? And what are you - wait... no. Who are - what are you doing with - ?
(The comms cut off.)
JEROME ECKERBERG: Mel? Mel, do you copy? (A pause.) Security, get down there. I want eyes on Dr. Erickson in two minutes max. Ms. Stirling. Can you use your powers? To see what’s happening down there?
AMY STIRLING: I can try. It’s hard to get a pin-point lock without visuals. But -
JEROME ECKERBERG: Please. Try.
AMY STIRLING: Okay.
(Amy takes a deep breath. She casts a spell, sending out a pulse of power around her. There’s a brief pause, then:)
AMY STIRLING: SECURITY! YOU HAVE A SECURITY BREACH IN THE CORE!
ADAM BLACKWELL: What?! Amy what do you - ?
AMY STIRLING: Eckerberg, you need to shut this thing down right now and evacuate the building -
ANDREA SHEPHERD: Amy slow down, you’re not making any -
(There's a squeal of feedback from the PA system over their heads.)
ADAM BLACKWELL: What was that - ?
JEROME ECKERBERG: That’s the PA system... but we shouldn’t have anyone on -
VOICE (OVER PA): I told you... You could have left well enough alone. But look what you made me do.
AMY STIRLING: I’m not kidding - turn this thing off right now!
VOICE (OVER PA): But you can’t argue with the laws of God.
AMY STIRLING: That’s Lawrence Donahue.
ADAM BLACKWELL: What? Lawrence Dona-
LAWRENCE DONAHUE: Witches have to burn.
(There’s the loud blast of a sudden, violent explosion.)
(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 the lawyer’s office.)
ADAM BLACKWELL: It was Lawrence Donahue. And his group, the Agnus Dei. This had been their... their actual target. From the beginning. A chance to take out Amy, Eckerberg, Shepherd... all in one fell swoop.
CLAUDIA SKINNER: How’d they pull something like that off?
ADAM BLACKWELL: Money. Connections. Compromising material on the right people in the right positions at Athena, in the government, the secret service... (A pause.) He put it together. Even after it was all gone, he pieced together how they got in there. How they’d done it. Spent weeks at it, I think. (A pause.) Only good thing the Doomscroller’s ever done, as far as I’m concerned. His report on how they got a homemade bomb in the room containing Vesper’s main generator.
(A pause.)
CLAUDIA SKINNER: The bomb alone blew a fourth of the facilities to smithereens. Why didn’t it kill you?
ADAM BLACKWELL: Honestly? Best guess? Sheer dumb luck. Mel discovered Agnus Dei agents before they got the bomb fully in position. They detonated rather than risk letting us evacuate. So... a lot of people died in that first blast. Just not me.
CLAUDIA SKINNER: What’s the next thing you remember?
ADAM BLACKWELL: The ringing. In my ears.
(We start to hear a high-pitched ringing sound as it starts to fade into the scene…)
ADAM BLACKWELL: I was out for... I don’t know. A minute. Five. Ten, maybe. When I came to... half the room I’d been standing in was gone.
(The scene fades back to the control room, now littered with debris and various shattered bits of machinery and building.)
(Adam groans as he regains consciousness. Looks around him. In the background we hear the machinery of Vesper, still going but sounding considerably less stable. It periodically arcs and sparks ominously in the background for this scene, and the whole building seems to shake throughout.)
ADAM BLACKWELL: Amy... Amy - !
(Amy groans too, also coming to.)
AMY STIRLING: Yeah - yeah, Adam - I’m - I’m here.
(They struggle to their feet.)
AMY STIRLING: Who else is - Andie?! Andie?!
(The machine continues churning in the background. After a small pause:)
ADAM BLACKWELL: Jesus Christ. We need to - ugh - we need to find Mel. We need to -
AMY STIRLING: Adam.
ADAM BLACKWELL: - we need to find her, and... and get that thing under control, before it -
AMY STIRLING: Adam. She was closer to the bomb than any of us. I’m sorry.
(A heavy pause.)
ADAM BLACKWELL: Okay. Okay. Okay. We gotta - we gotta find some way to - to stop that thing.
JEROME ECKERBERG: I - I don’t know if you can -
(They follow the sound, finding another wounded survivor with them.)
ADAM BLACKWELL: Eckerberg.
JEROME ECKERBERG: I’m... I’m not sure if it can be stopped.
AMY STIRLING: What... the fuck... are you talking about?
JEROME ECKERBERG: This was the nerve center. Every... every piece of machinery is... controlled through here. Without it, we have no way to stop the reactor.
AMY STIRLING: Fuck you. There must be a failsafe. A redundancy. Some way to -
JEROME ECKERBERG: There are... but...
ADAM BLACKWELL: If they were going to activate... they would have done so already.
AMY STIRLING: So... so then what? It’ll run out of fuel eventually, no?
(A pause.)
JEROME ECKERBERG: It’s called ignition. It... it can sustain itself.
AMY STIRLING: So... what? It’ll never stop?!
JEROME ECKERBERG: It’ll stop when... we can no longer contain the energy Vesper is generating. Then it will... it will disperse in the form... the form of...
ADAM BLACKWELL: An enormous explosion. Of a magnitude we’ve never seen before.
(A pause.)
ADAM BLACKWELL: Okay. Amy, Eckerberg... listen to me.
(The scene fades back to the lawyer’s office as Adam takes a breath.)
ADAM BLACKWELL: I realized... I was the only one that could do something about it. Vesper was going to... well, it was out of control. The damage it could do, it might have... changed the shape of the Eastern Seaboard. And so I... I made the hard choice. (A pause.) One city, to save... I don’t even know how many lives. And so I... just did it. Before it was too late.
(A long pause.)
CLAUDIA SKINNER: Well... I just have one more question, then.
ADAM BLACKWELL: What’s that?
CLAUDIA SKINNER: Is it that you think I’m stupid, or just that you don’t respect me?
ADAM BLACKWELL: Excuse me?
CLAUDIA SKINNER: Why aren’t telling me everything?
ADAM BLACKWELL: What - who says I’m not?! What makes you -
(A pack of pages land on the table in front of Adam.)
ADAM BLACKWELL: What - ? What is - ?
CLAUDIA SKINNER: Phone records. For your cell phone. Outgoing calls.
ADAM BLACKWELL: But - I didn’t call anyone on June -
CLAUDIA SKINNER: No, you didn’t. But you did on April Fourth, 2028.
ADAM BLACKWELL: April - what?
CLAUDIA SKINNER: You made four calls the afternoon of April Fourth, from Sinclair University Hospital. Before you teleported a heart halfway across the world. You said you called Julian McCandless, and you did. Three times. But none of them connected and afterwards, you placed a call to an international line, which at the time was located in France, registered to one Amelia Stirling.
(A slight pause.)
ADAM BLACKWELL: What... are you getting at?
CLAUDIA SKINNER: What I’m getting at is... this whole time we’ve been doing this, there’s been one question on my mind. One question that is every question. And... I could only come up with one plausible answer. And I’ve been waiting to find out if I’m right.
ADAM BLACKWELL: What’s the question?
CLAUDIA SKINNER: The question is... why would a man who is about to go before the US government, who is already facing the court of public opinion, who might very well be going before a jury of his peers in the very near future... why would he not be more concerned about how he comes across? About seeming... reasonable. Personable. Like a human being with human concerns and human emotions.
ADAM BLACKWELL: ... and the answer?
CLAUDIA SKINNER: Maybe the man doesn’t care what happens... to him. Maybe the man is okay with being, as he himself put it, finished... so long as he’s the only one that’s finished. Which is why he would elide a certain phone call. Why he would insist he hasn’t had much contact with a certain person in the past five years. Why we’d only hear the parts of the story that are about the two of them fighting and not trusting each other... when really, the man might trust her a lot. He might have actually trusted her with the biggest moment of the worst day of his whole life. (A pause.) How am I doing?
(A long pause. Then, Adam picks up a pen.)
ADAM BLACKWELL: So... how much do you want for that? Five points?
CLAUDIA SKINNER: Are you serious right now?!?
ADAM BLACKWELL: Fine, let’s call it ten points and -
CLAUDIA SKINNER: ADAM.The only thing I want - and let me say this for the fifteenth time to see if it will finally sink in - is for you to stop fucking around and let me get you across the river. (A pause.) I know it makes it easier. To think of me as the enemy. Because right now everyone feels like the enemy. But whatever you’re trying to do? I’m on your side, and I’m here to help you do it. But I can’t unless I know what you’re doing. Okay? (A pause.) Okay. So pretty please, with sugar and cream and a cherry on top, cut the bullshit. Just between you and me... what actually happened that day?
(Adam takes a deep breath. The scene fades back to the control room.)
ADAM BLACKWELL: Amy, Eckerberg... listen to me. How long before Vesper goes supernova?
JEROME ECKERBERG: I... I...
ADAM BLACKWELL: How long?
JEROME ECKERBERG: ... fifteen minutes. Tops.
(The generator crackles with energy, growing louder.)
ADAM BLACKWELL: Okay. Both of you: get out. Get as many people out as you can as quickly as you can. Any alarms you can ring, ring them. Get as many people away from this city block as you can. Understood?
JEROME ECKERBERG: Adam what are you going -
ADAM BLACKWELL: We don’t have time for this! Get them out! Right now, go!
JEROME ECKERBERG: ... right. Good luck.
ADAM BLACKWELL: Yeah, you too.
(Some footsteps as Eckerberg leaves.)
AMY STIRLING: I’m staying -
ADAM BLACKWELL: Amy, go.
AMY STIRLING: No, you need someone to -
ADAM BLACKWELL: Listen to me -
AMY STIRLING: No, listen to me. My ring makes me immune to your magic, remember? Whatever you do, I’m not going anywhere. So I can help you. Help you get the spell right.
ADAM BLACKWELL: Oh my fuck. You’re right.
AMY STIRLING: Yeah, I know I’m right. C’mon, let’s get to work.
ADAM BLACKWELL: Okay, okay - you got something we can write - ?
AMY STIRLING: Here.
(She tosses him something, which he snatches out of the air.)
ADAM BLACKWELL: A marker? You got a white board to - ?
AMY STIRLING: It’s called the floor, baby, come on.
(They get down and start writing with their markers on the floor.)
ADAM BLACKWELL: Okay, okay...
AMY STIRLING: Can you teleport just Vesper?
ADAM BLACKWELL: I don’t exactly know the Harbinger words for “big nuclear reactor,” and I don’t know how big the reaction’s gotten.
(A big crackle of energy from Vesper.)
ADAM BLACKWELL: I think it needs to be this whole facility. The whole fucking city block.
AMY STIRLING: If you’re gonna say teleport everything around a single point of origin, that’s... what? A five hundred foot radius?
ADAM BLACKWELL: Call it six to be safe. Six hundred foot radius sphere, centered on -
(Another crackle of energy. We start to hear metal creaking and bending all around them.)
ADAM BLACKWELL: - centered on that thing.
AMY STIRLING: Fine, I’m on it. You got a destination in mind?
ADAM BLACKWELL: I’m thinking... We need somewhere remote, distant, where it can’t do any damage.
AMY STIRLING: So that’s - what? Middle of the ocean? The desert?
ADAM BLACKWELL: I - I - don’t know!
AMY STIRLING: Well think of something! This isn’t gonna be as easy as sending my coffee to the moon!
(A small pause.)
AMY STIRLING: Oh my fucking - you know how to send things to the moon.
ADAM BLACKWELL: That’s about as remote and distant as we can make it. Here, help me to build the clauses to -
AMY STIRLING: Yeah, I’m on it, I’m just trying to remember what the different terms for -
(There’s a sound. Amy looks up.)
AMY STIRLING: What the fuck was - ?
(A very soft woosh.)
AMY STIRLING: Oh, shit, shitshitshit!
(Amy stops working, rushes over to a pile of debris.)
ADAM BLACKWELL: Amy what are you - ?
AMY STIRLING: Adam, shut the fuck up!
(Amy moves a piece of debris aside, revealing Andrea Shepherd, buried and pinned down beneath a pile of broken building.)
ANDREA SHEPHERD: What - what the fuck -
ADAM BLACKWELL: Oh shit -
AMY STIRLING: Andie! AndieAndieAndieAndie - !
(Amy hugs Andrea and kisses her forehead.)
AMY STIRLING: You’re - you’ll be all right.
ANDREA SHEPHERD: Yeah, I’m sure... but let’s - let’s start by getting me out from under this debris, all right?
AMY STIRLING: Yes, let me -
(A blast of energy from Vesper. They don’t have a lot of time left.)
AMY STIRLING: ... we don’t have time for that.
ANDREA SHEPHERD: What? What do you -
AMY STIRLING: Adam.
ADAM BLACKWELL: I know, Amy, but -
AMY STIRLING: No, Adam. We don’t have time.
(A small pause.)
ADAM BLACKWELL: Oh.
AMY STIRLING: Yeah. Come on. You do this, I’ll finish the spell.
(Adam and Amy trade places.) ADAM BLACKWELL: Hey Madame President.
ANDREA SHEPHERD: Adam. What are you - ?
ADAM BLACKWELL: Listen to me, listen to me. You’re going to be all right.
ANDREA SHEPHERD: I... I’m pretty banged up here, Adam. I don’t know if -
ADAM BLACKWELL: No, listen: you’re going to be okay? You know how I know that? Because if there’s one thing you and I know it’s that they have absolutely terrific medical facilities... in Hokkaido.
(The machinery rumbles ominously.)
ANDREA SHEPHERD: Wait, Adam.
ADAM BLACKWELL: Arola Grunlo Sirin Airiria Tellos Kronen Vorega -
ANDREA SHEPHERD: No, stop, you don’t know if -
(The room grows a little quieter and an ominous rumbling begins to appear as Adam’s spell goes forward.)
ADAM BLACKWELL: - Trellia Frergora Dripel Skargro Ferengo Luska -
(There’s shaking around them…)
ANDREA SHEPHERD: Adam, stop, you can’t just -
ADAM BLACKWELL: - Reskio Alaria Brendo Siskola Sherkora Herkiera Veriai Brilgo -
ANDREA SHEPHERD: This is insane - you’re not -
(The shaking is getting worse…)
ADAM BLACKWELL: - Karisia Lerica Ertra Sil Contre Sirin Laria Tero Andrea Shepherd.
(There’s a woosh and a pop, and the room goes back to normal as the spell concludes. The debris shifts around a bit as Andrea Shepherd disappears.)
ADAM BLACKWELL: Okay, that’s one part done.
AMY STIRLING: Promise me she’s okay.
ADAM BLACKWELL: I did the best I could, but -
AMY STIRLING: Adam, promise me she’s okay!
ADAM BLACKWELL: She’s okay! I promise!
AMY STIRLING: She still has her skin?!
ADAM BLACKWELL: Yes, she still has - can we focus, please?! We need to finish this!
(There’s another loud, ominous crackle from the generator. Adam and Amy lean back down towards the floor, working with their markers.)
AMY STIRLING: Okay, this is fine, that’s fine -
ADAM BLACKWELL: Elyro Cor would work better here, I’m gonna change it -
AMY STIRLING: Yeah, sold. But let me just adjust the tense of this bit over here -
ADAM BLACKWELL: Good, good. Double check me on the wording here, I don’t know -
AMY STIRLING: No, that’s fine, but we need this to match up with -
ADAM BLACKWELL: Yeah, got it, does this look like the right - ?
AMY STIRLING: Just make sure you hit the pronunciation sharp, if you join those two -
ADAM BLACKWELL: No, got it, you’re right, is this the right - ?
AMY STIRLING: Yep, that’s fine, what about - you think this looks - ?
ADAM BLACKWELL: Yeah, that’s good.
(A pause.)
ADAM BLACKWELL: That’s good... I think that’s all of it. I think that’s right. Amy?
(A pause. Power arcs around them…)
ADAM BLACKWELL: Amy?! Is this good, am I good - ?
AMY STIRLING: Shut up, I’m - I’m checking!
(A pause.)
AMY STIRLING: It’s good. Do it.
ADAM BLACKWELL: Okay. Holy fuck.
(Adam takes a deep breath. Gets ready.)
ADAM BLACKWELL: Erolia Freiro Traigilia Vesto Preino -
(The building rumbles…)
ADAM BLACKWELL: - Freydro Graio Barus Brin Uldo -
(Energy arcs… the shaking is getting worse…)
ADAM BLACKWELL: - Merio Calera Prolvo Garko -
AMY STIRLING: Adam, if you could go a little faster - !
(The machinery is getting louder, rising towards a fevered pitch…)
ADAM BLACKWELL: - Hyrio Brekero Sylvo Meiro -
(Various pieces of metal and concrete start to break around them.)
AMY STIRLING: Adam... Adam, Adam, Adam, Adam -
ADAM BLACKWELL: - Serilia Grilo Condel Losen Sil -
(Vesper seems to be on the brink of exploding…)
ADAM BLACKWELL: - Erildo Varo!
(Amy screams as everything rises towards a violent climax -)
(And then, a woosh as everything disappears.)
(For a long moment, we just have silence.)
(Then… a bit of wind. Some relieved, disbelieving breaths.)
ADAM BLACKWELL: Did... did that work? Are we alive?
AMY STIRLING: ... I... I think it did. I think it... Oh.
ADAM BLACKWELL: Oh my god. It worked. We - we got rid of it.
AMY STIRLING: No, no, wait -
ADAM BLACKWELL: We managed to get rid of it before -
AMY STIRLING: Adam. Why... Why are all the buildings gone? Where is... where is the city?
(A long, horrible pause. Then, the scene fades back to the lawyer’s office.)
ADAM BLACKWELL: Hyrio. In the Language of the Stars, that’s a unit of measurement that’s... I meant to say “Pyrio.” That’s a unit close to a foot. Six hundred feet. That’s what I meant to - (A pause.) That’s what I was trying to -
(A pause.)
CLAUDIA SKINNER: Instead you said “Hyrio.” Which in Imperial comes out to...
ADAM BLACKWELL: ... approximately 5.75 miles. It was... the entire city.
(A pause.)
CLAUDIA SKINNER: Whose mistake was it? Who wrote that part of it down?
(Adam lets out a low, dark laugh.)
ADAM BLACKWELL: I have no fucking idea. It could have been either one of us.
CLAUDIA SKINNER: And because you did what you did, by our best estimates? Millions did not die in a fiery pillar of nuclear annihilation.
ADAM BLACKWELL: Yeah, well tell that to the six hundred and forty-five thousand people who did die! Who wouldn’t have died if I’d just -
(He breaks off, overcome with emotion.)
CLAUDIA SKINNER: Adam... was the end of that sentence if you’d spent more time studying your dead language? You did the best you could in impossible circumstances. And by the way, you also saved the life of the president of the United States. I don’t think you can just -
ADAM BLACKWELL: I was in a place and I did a thing and now people are dead! And if I hadn’t been there and done that, they would be alive today. It’s as simple as that.
(A pause.)
CLAUDIA SKINNER: Am I right, then? This is about not taking anyone else down with you?
ADAM BLACKWELL: It was my spell. It was my magic. I started it. I finished it. No one else is responsible.
CLAUDIA SKINNER: And what about - ?
ADAM BLACKWELL: No one else, Ms. Skinner.
CLAUDIA SKINNER: ... and you’re really not even going to try to save yourself?
(He lets out a bit of mirthless laughter.)
ADAM BLACKWELL: Save myself? I stopped caring about saving myself at 3:43 PM on June third. That... that was the moment I let go.
(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 18th for Episode 16, "Wrapped Around Your Finger." 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, Lauren Grace Thompson as Amy Stirling, Emmy Bean as Claudia Skinner, Joshua K. Harris as Julian McCandless, Sabrina Odigie as Andrea Shepherd, Dan Granata as Jerome Eckerberg, Sunnie Eraso as Melissa Erickson, and Sebastian Orr as Lawrence Donahue. It also featured the voices of Casey Callaghan and Jill Oliver. Our original music was composed by Nicholas Podany. 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.)
ADAM BLACKWELL: Today’s history tidbit: on June 4th, 2030, United States President Andrea Shepherd became the first human being in living memory to be magically teleported, appearing in a small plaza outside of Sapporo Medical University Hospital in Hokkaido, Japan, shortly before 4:00 AM local time. The President would undergo two surgeries and spend a week in critical condition before being transported back to the United States. It is believed that she suffered no adverse effects from the teleportation itself.