THE HARBINGERS
EPISODE 5: EXPERT IN A DYING FIELD
Transcript
(We hear a news report on a television.)
REPORTER: … well folks, it’s the top of the hour. Normally we’d be going to Elliot Bower…
NARRATOR: Sinclair University. Rogers Hall. March, 2027.
REPORTER: … to just stay with you and continue to bring you coverage on this - this absolutely shocking development. We’re going to be talking to some of the early eyewitnesses who were…
(A door opens as Adam enters. The reporter continues talking in the background.)
ADAM BLACKWELL: Morning. Julian, I was wondering if you have time to look at these sometime today? I think we might be - (yawns) - might be missing something in the articulation of the phrases here? I know a fragment of the tablet from the Sandoval was missing, but if we cross-referenced it -
JULIAN MCCANDLESS: Blackwell... shut the hell up.
ADAM BLACKWELL: What? What’s going - ?
REPORTER: … a second person with magical abilities has emerged.
ADAM BLACKWELL: What?
REPORTER: An open mic night at Manhattan’s famous South River Tavern took a sudden turn when what appeared to be a regular stage magician revealed that she could perform real acts of magic. WNS is still gathering eyewitness accounts, but early reports claim the woman was capable of reading minds…
ADAM BLACKWELL: Okay...
JULIAN MCCANDLESS: They must have another Harbinger article too. It’s the only way.
REPORTER: ... the magician performed under a stage name, “The Silver Witch,” and disappeared from the venue shortly after their performance ended. But WNS has identified them as a PHD candidate at Columbia by the name of Amelia Stirling.
ADAM BLACKWELL: Excuse me?
REPORTER: … so far we have not been able to contact Ms. Stirling for comment just yet, but we do know that before she was a student at Columbia, she studied at Sinclair University, and was a classmate of Adam Blackwell’s -
(Adam sighs, annoyed.)
REPORTER: - who before today was thought to be the only human capable of performing magic. We will bring you more of this story as it develops. For the World News Service, this is Jeanine Al-
(There’s a jingle as the segment ends. The TV is turned off.)
JULIAN MCCANDLESS: Amy Stirling. Well then. That’s... interesting.
(Some footsteps. A door opens.)
JULIAN MCCANDLESS: Adam? Where are you going?
ADAM BLACKWELL: Come on. We’ve got work to do.
JULIAN MCCANDLESS: Adam. This isn’t something that -
ADAM BLACKWELL: I said... we have work to do. Let’s go.
(Adam leaves, slamming the door shut behind him.)
(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 5: "Expert in a Dying Field.”
(The opening theme resolves and fades away.)
ACT ONE
(We fade in to the familiar sounds of the lawyer’s office.)
CLAUDIA SKINNER: March Twenty-Fifth, 2027. The day we went from having one person who could selectively bend the laws of physics to having two of you. After the Silver Witch’s debut, you -
ADAM BLACKWELL: Must we? (A pause.) It’s just... Look, if Amy wants to have her little cutesy nickname for the rest of the world, fine, whatever. I’ll roll my eyes and deal with it. But while we’re discussing whether the US government is about to figure out new, exciting ways to shellac me, could we just use her proper name?
(A pause.)
CLAUDIA SKINNER: Fine. After Amelia Dorothy Stirling’s debut... everything changed. I think that one’s to me?
ADAM BLACKWELL: Yeah, I think it is.
(A pen makes a mark on a piece of paper.)
CLAUDIA SKINNER: What’s the score so far today?
ADAM BLACKWELL: That’s four for you, two for me.
CLAUDIA SKINNER: Well, chin up, Dr. Blackwell. It’s not over ‘til it’s over. Interesting choice of words. “Shellac.” I’ve always wondered, why do we use that word to mean “trounce” or “defeat?”
ADAM BLACKWELL: It’s a, uh, it’s a pun that took on a life of its own.
CLAUDIA SKINNER: What?
ADAM BLACKWELL: Shellac is a kind of... resin, I guess. Comes from a bug. Around the end of the middle ages, they started using it to treat wood. So if you’ve been shellaced, then...
CLAUDIA SKINNER: Ahh. You’ve been finished. I’ve been meaning to ask, Dr. Blackwell... why are you going along with all of this?
ADAM BLACKWELL: “This”?
CLAUDIA SKINNER: The hearings, the subpoenas, the DOJ... unlike most people who draw the attention of the US Government, you can literally snap your fingers and make it all go away. Why are you going along with it at all?
ADAM BLACKWELL: I mean... it is tempting. To go the full Andrew Jackson. “The government has made its decision, now let’s see them enforce it.” You want to put a man in jail who has the power to teleport himself, the guards, the jail, and anything else anywhere else? Best of luck with that, gents.
CLAUDIA SKINNER: … but?
ADAM BLACKWELL: But... nah. That doesn’t go anywhere good. For starters, when the U.S. government finds itself struggling to gets someone behind bars, it tends to solve that problem by just shooting them. And as we’ve learned the hard way, these rings do not make us bullet-proof. And what happens to magic when the Most Powerful Man in the World becomes the Most Wanted Man in the FBI Database? What happens to Amy when the United States decides magic is a criminal offense? What happens to the others, to my work, to everything I’ve done for… No. No man is above the law, only gods. And as we’ve already covered... I am definitely not a god. If I did something bad, I deserve to face consequences. It’s as simple as that.
(A pause.)
CLAUDIA SKINNER: Excellent. That is the correct answer, Dr. Blackwell. Please, give yourself another point.
(The pen makes another mark on the piece of paper.)
CLAUDIA SKINNER: You all right?
ADAM BLACKWELL: Fine, yeah. Just... Any chance I could get a coffee?
(Skinner hits a button on an intercom.)
CLAUDIA SKINNER: Erica? Could we get two Americanos in room C? And use the water from the tea kettle, please? (back to Adam:) Let’s get back to the topic at hand. For a little over a year, you are the only person capable of doing magic. Then, one day, you look up and there she is, your academic rival slash ex-girlfriend, reading minds left and right. What went through your mind that first day?
ADAM BLACKWELL: Honestly? I didn’t give it much thought.
(The scene transitions to a classroom.)
NARRATOR: Sinclair University. March, 2027.
(A door opens and we hear footsteps as someone enters.)
ADAM BLACKWELL: Ericks, good. Come in, come in. Take a seat. Ladies, gentlemen, now that we’re all here... we need to go faster.
JULIAN MCCANDLESS: Adam -
ADAM BLACKWELL: We need to go faster, Julian. It’s as simple as that. If we can’t figure out more of the words, we don’t have the syntax. If we don’t have the syntax, we can’t put ideas together. If we can’t put ideas together, we cannot expand upon what the magic is capable of. Yeah?
JULIAN MCCANDLESS: Well -
(Adam starts writing on a blackboard as he speaks.)
ADAM BLACKWELL: By my count, we’ve managed to piece together the meaning and use of about a hundred and thirty-four words in the Language of the Stars. By this time next year, we need to have tripled that number. Petersen, I want you to go over everything from the MacMurray Tablets. Break them down, cross-reference with anything you can think of. Nichols, go over everything that they’ve dug up at the Reishel. If it’s got carvings on it, I want at least an approximation of what’s in there. Ericks, Shibasaki, examine everything that we’re getting from the Sandoval. Look at other sources in the area, any recovered artifacts, local ruins, any - Look, if it’s older than Christ and it has writing on it, I want you to give it its day in court. Work quickly, work carefully, work outside the box, okay? Everything’s a bad idea until it works, so... find me something we’ve missed. Go.
(We hear footsteps and a door opening and closing as Adam’s underlings exit the room.)
ADAM BLACKWELL: Julian, in terms of compiling all the research, what I’m thinking is -
JULIAN MCCANDLESS: You should call her.
ADAM BLACKWELL: Call - who’s her? What are you - ? No, absolutely not. I’m not going - what would I even call her for?
JULIAN MCCANDLESS: I don’t know, to congratulate her?
ADAM BLACKWELL: Congrat- no. No. Look... if the universe has decided to be fucking hysterical and give Amy Stirling of all people magical powers, that’s... well, that’s good for the universe. But as far as I can tell, what Amy’s doing with those powers amounts to new and improved card tricks. If she wants to hop on stage? Power to her. But I’m gonna stay focused on what really matters: getting information so we know what we’re dealing with.
(A pause. Then footsteps and a door opening.)
ADAM BLACKWELL: Julian, where are you going?
JULIAN MCCANDLESS: I’m gonna go call Amy, Adam. To congratulate her.
ADAM BLACKWELL: No, didn’t you - ?
JULIAN MCCANDLESS: Given that she was doing something that resulted in her finding a Harbinger item - an item which we had no idea even existed, by the way - it certainly seems like she knows something. And she’s probably more likely to share that information with, you know, people she likes. So I think I’m going to take five minutes to do the polite thing and call to congratulate her. After all... what really matters is getting information. So we know what we’re dealing with.
(The door closes as McCandless exits.)
ADAM BLACKWELL: Jesus Christ...
(The scene transitions back to the lawyer’s office.)
CLAUDIA SKINNER: Call me a bit obtuse, but -
ADAM BLACKWELL: You’re a bit obtuse. Well, you asked for it. Miss Pfeiffer, back me up.
(The slight clatter of china as Erica, Skinner’s assistant, sets up some coffee cups in front of them.)
ERICA PFEIFFER: Heh, you did slightly ask for it, ma’am. Sorry to say. Uh, here’s your coffee, Ms. Skinner.
CLAUDIA SKINNER: Thank you, Erica, much appreciated. Dr. Blackwell... you were teleporting things in your first class session. Clearly you knew enough of the Language of the Stars to do magic. Why the sudden obsession with translation?
ADAM BLACKWELL: There’s a difference between knowing a language and knowing a language.
CLAUDIA SKINNER: And what is the difference? Enlighten me.
ADAM BLACKWELL: Ms. Pfeiffer, can I borrow your brain for a moment? Just for a quick demonstration?
ERICA PFEIFFER: Umm, well -
ADAM BLACKWELL: Here, sit, sit. It’s okay, don’t worry, it’ll just take a second.
(Adam gets up from his chair. Erica settles into it.)
ADAM BLACKWELL: Let’s say that you have the ability to just say... something and make it happen. Anything you say, yep, in English, it happens. The universe obeys your instructions.
ERICA PFEIFFER: Umm…
ADAM BLACKWELL: Let’s say you want to make this cup of coffee go from here, next to you, to allll the way across the table to where Ms. Skinner is. What would you say?
ERICA PFEIFFER: ... please move this cup to the other side of the table?
ADAM BLACKWELL: Ahh, you’d think that would work, but the universe is tricky. It knows some things but it doesn’t know other one. Cup, table - those terms are too advanced. We made those things, the universe doesn’t know what you’re talking about.
CLAUDIA SKINNER: Dr. Blackwell, could - ?
(Adam snaps his fingers.)
ADAM BLACKWELL: And you’re not thinking about a couple of things that might affect things. Did you want the coffee to go with the cup or not? What about the saucer? Try again.
ERICA PFEIFFER: Umm... Please move the... object shaped like a cone that’s in front of me... as well as any liquid it is currently holding... so that it is next to Ms. Skinner.
ADAM BLACKWELL: Better. Much better. But still not right. What’s “next to?” Three feet in the air behind Ms. Skinner is perfectly compliant with “next to” but all that’s gonna get us is coffee all over the carpet. You need to be exact. If you give the universe space to fuck you over, it will fuck you over. Try again.
CLAUDIA SKINNER: I think you’ve illustrated the point that you’re trying to make -
ERICA PFEIFFER: No, hang on, I can get this... okay, how about - ?
ADAM BLACKWELL: Oh, wait. One second, I almost forgot. Let me just come up to your bookshelf here for a moment and...
(He grabs a book. Flips through its pages.)
ADAM BLACKWELL: Mm-hmm. The only English you know... are the words on this page.
(He tosses the book to Erica.)
ERICA PFEIFFER: This is... a page on tort reform.
ADAM BLACKWELL: Yeah, sure looks like it. Oh, what? You mean it might be a little difficult to get the universe to follow your instructions if the words found on a random page of text that you happened to have a translation for through sheer, dumb, historical luck is all you had to work with?! Might it be nice to have a bit more vocabulary at your disposal as you try to do the impossible?!
(A pause.)
CLAUDIA SKINNER: I think we’re all set here, Erica.
ERICA PFEIFFER: Of course, Ms. Skinner. Let - let me know if you need anything else.
(Adam lets out a sigh as Erica exits the room.)
CLAUDIA SKINNER: Please don’t terrorize my staff, Dr. Blackwell.
ADAM BLACKWELL: I didn’t - that was just - I... Sorry. I’ll apologize to her later. I’m just... a little on edge. (A pause.) There’s this thing called The Childers Column. They found it in the 1700’s. It’s the same text, carved into three of the faces of a column, but in different languages. One’s in the Language of the Stars. And for about two-hundred years, that was all we had of the magic words. That was it. And one of the words carved into that rock is... well, “coin.” It was one of the few things I could actually teleport with precision. And I don’t know about you, Ms. Skinner, but... when I got magic powers, I thought it would be good to be able to do more with them than just coin tricks.
(A pause.)
CLAUDIA SKINNER: You’re about to give me a point.
ADAM BLACKWELL: ... why?
CLAUDIA SKINNER: Because I’m about to be very clever. I think you’d like me to think that the very first thing you teleported was that coin, in front of your students. But unfortunately for you... I pay attention. And I remember that you would have died in the Harbinger Tomb in the Robinson site if not for the fact that you were able to teleport a big pile of rock and ice and debris out of the tomb. Which begs the million dollar question... were those words carved on the Childers Column? No, I didn’t think so. If I had to guess... I’d guess you didn’t know what those words were. Not until that moment. I think when you put that ring on... you suddenly just knew the words. The exact ones that you needed in that moment. And you didn’t know where they had come from. And so... You tried to find out. Because you don’t like having something just show up and not knowing where it came from, do you? How am I doing?
(A pause. Then, Adam exhales. Makes a mark on the piece of paper.)
ADAM BLACKWELL: Five to three.
(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 lawyer’s office.)
CLAUDIA SKINNER: All right... you gave your marching orders to your merry men and women. What happened after that?
ADAM BLACKWELL: Well... a year happened.
(A vinyl record starts to turn.)
ADAM BLACKWELL: A very, very long year.
(Music begins playing. The Allegretto Movement from Beethoven’s 7th Symphony. We now enter into a montage sequence, moving back and forth throughout a variety of spaces without discrete transitions.)
NARRATOR: April, 2027.
(A classroom door opens.)
ADAM BLACKWELL: Good morning, everyone. Let’s get started.
ADAM BLACKWELL: By day... I taught the beginners class. Introduction to Harbinger Linguistics.
ADAM BLACKWELL: ... reasons why we believe them to be contemporary languages, one for...
ADAM BLACKWELL: By night... I did everything I could to feel like less of a beginner myself.
(Adam snaps a book shut, erases some writing on a blackboard.)
ADAM BLACKWELL: We’ll break it down. Everything we’ve got. By the phoneme, by syntax, by morphology. We’re going to rebuild this language from first principles if we have to.
JULIAN MCCANDLESS: Adam... we’ve got a few tablets, a smattering of wall carvings, and a column, the last of which being the only one with anything that we could call complete sentences. How are you thinking we’re going to reconstruct anything?
ADAM BLACKWELL: … there’s always trial and error.
JULIAN MCCANDLESS: ... what do you mean?
ADAM BLACKWELL: I try saying something. And we see if the universe listens to me.
CLAUDIA SKINNER: Tell me that’s not actually what you were doing.
ADAM BLACKWELL: No, of course not.
ADAM BLACKWELL: Eria Caldro Sirin Dela.
JULIAN MCCANDLESS: No event.
ADAM BLACKWELL: I mean... it wasn’t the only thing we tried. We reviewed material, cross-referenced new findings, spoke to every linguist on the planet. But when we were completely out of other things to try...
JULIAN MCCANDLESS: Wooden block teleportation attempt number fifty-four. Go.
ADAM BLACKWELL: Eria Caldro Sirin Delo.
JULIAN MCCANDLESS: ... no event. Attempt number fifty-five. Go.
CLAUDIA SKINNER: And you just... did that?
ADAM BLACKWELL: We just did that. For months.
NARRATOR: May, 2027.
(A classroom door opens.)
ADAM BLACKWELL: Good morning, everyone. Why don’t we get started?
JULIAN MCCANDLESS: Attempt number two-hundred and four.
ADAM BLACKWELL: ... now if you’ll look at the next slide...
JULIAN MCCANDLESS: No event.
ADAM BLACKWELL: Eria Caldro Eiron Delo.
JULIAN MCCANDLESS: No event.
(McCandless takes a note on a clipboard.)
CLAUDIA SKINNER: Where were you even doing these... experiments?
ADAM BLACKWELL: Well... we needed somewhere out and open, with lots of space, in case something suddenly worked. So -
(A stadium floodlight is turned on.)
ADAM BLACKWELL: We’d go out after midnight to the football field.
JULIAN MCCANDLESS: Attempt number six-hundred and forty-nine...
ADAM BLACKWELL: Eria Caldra Eiron Dela.
JULIAN MCCANDLESS: ... no event.
ADAM BLACKWELL: Eria Keldra Sirin Delo.
JULIAN MCCANDLESS: ... no event. Attempt number nine-hundred and two... Attempt number one-thousand, two-hundred and nine... Two-thousand, one-hundred and twenty-nine...
NARRATOR: July, 2027.
JULIAN MCCANDLESS: Three-thousand and fifty two…
(A stack of papers lands on a desk.)
JULIAN MCCANDLESS: New from the sites in Argentina.
ADAM BLACKWELL: Thank you... Let’s compare them to the stuff from the Robinson, see if there’s any overlap.
(Adam takes a deep breath.)
ADAM BLACKWELL: Aria Caldra Deiron Delo. Aria Caldro Sirin Velo. Aria Caldra Sirin Velo.
JULIAN MCCANDLESS: No event... no event... no event…
NARRATOR: September, 2027...
(The classroom door opens.)
ADAM BLACKWELL: Hello everyone, welcome to the fall semester. Let’s get started.
JULIAN MCCANDLESS: Attempt number six-thousand, three-hundred and eighty-two...
ADAM BLACKWELL: ... I have to stress, once again, this class won’t actually teach you how to do magic...
CLAUDIA SKINNER: And did you really think you were going to get somewhere?
ADAM BLACKWELL: I did. I think at a certain point I had to believe we’d get somewhere. But I also thought I was losing my mind. Until...
(McCandless yawns.)
JULIAN MCCANDLESS: All right, let’s see... this is wooden block teleportation attempt number… nine-thousand, five-hundred and eighty two. Go.
ADAM BLACKWELL: (brimming with power) Aria Caldro Sirin Eiria.
(A burst of air as an object is teleported.)
JULIAN MCCANDLESS: ... event recorded.
ADAM BLACKWELL: What the fuck did I just say?
ADAM BLACKWELL: It’s a bit like a crossword puzzle. Every square you fill in makes it easier to fill in the other squares.
NARRATOR: October, 2027.
JULIAN MCCANDLESS: This is glass jar teleportation attempt number seven-hundred and eighty-five. Go.
ADAM BLACKWELL: Aria Fyldro Voren Seren Eria.
(Woosh. Pop.)
JULIAN MCCANDLESS: Event recorded.
ADAM BLACKWELL: Good...
(The classroom door opens.)
ADAM BLACKWELL: Good morning, ladies and gentlemen, let’s get started...
NARRATOR: November, 2027.
JULIAN MCCANDLESS: Copper wire teleportation attempt number four-hundred and twelve. Go.
ADAM BLACKWELL: Aria Noldro Koren Seren Eria.
(Woosh. Pop.)
JULIAN MCCANDLESS: Event recorded!
ADAM BLACKWELL: Whoo, yes! Fuck yeah!
JULIAN MCCANDLESS: Just got this from Petersen - the latest from the sites in Ireland.
(He starts to hand some papers of Adam.)
ADAM BLACKWELL: This is all they’re giving us?
JULIAN MCCANDLESS: That is all they’re giving us.
ADAM BLACKWELL: Nothing on the lower chambers?
JULIAN MCCANDLESS: Nothing. No.
ADAM BLACKWELL: Motherfucker... have him keep trying, okay?
JULIAN MCCANDLESS: Adam...
ADAM BLACKWELL: Have him keep trying, please.
NARRATOR: December, 2027.
ADAM BLACKWELL: You’ll find the details for your final assignments on the back of the sheet...
JULIAN MCCANDLESS: Cotton fabric teleportation attempt number one-hundred and ninety-seven...
(Fireworks.)
NARRATOR: January, 2028.
JULIAN MCCANDLESS: Happy New Year, here’s the latest from Argentina.
ADAM BLACKWELL: Thanks... have they released anything new from the Petrie Site up in Leitrim?
JULIAN MCCANDLESS: Adam...
ADAM BLACKWELL: Anything new from Ireland?
JULIAN MCCANDLESS: These things take time.
ADAM BLACKWELL: How much time?
JULIAN MCCANDLESS: Water teleportation attempt number eighty-two...
ADAM BLACKWELL: Welcome back, everyone. This is Introduction to Harbinger linguistics...
NARRATOR: February, 2028.
JULIAN MCCANDLESS: Plaster teleportation attempt thirty seven...
(Woosh. Pop.)
JULIAN MCCANDLESS: Paper teleportation attempt seventeen...
(Woosh. Pop.)
JULIAN MCCANDLESS: New material from the Reishel...
(The classroom bursts open.)
ADAM BLACKWELL: Let’s get started.
NARRATOR: March. 2028.
JULIAN MCCANDLESS: Gold teleportation, attempt number one. Go.
ADAM BLACKWELL: Aria Urol Coran Sirin Eria.
(Woosh. Pop. The music reaches its final movement and ends, as does the montage. We stay in the football field.)
JULIAN MCCANDLESS: ... got it in one. Fucking A.
ADAM BLACKWELL: You know Julian... I think I’m starting to get the hang of this.
(The scene transitions back to the lawyer’s office.)
CLAUDIA SKINNER: So you were actually starting to solve the crossword puzzle.
ADAM BLACKWELL: A year after Amy announced herself, I’d figured out how to teleport forty-seven different kinds of mater, and we’d quadrupled what we knew of the Language of the Stars. Never give up, never surrender.
CLAUDIA SKINNER: So I take it the days of you just going, “make this go over there,” were long past you?
ADAM BLACKWELL: Well... up to a point. There were still two issues. Precision is tough. Especially if I wanted to send something to somewhere I couldn’t see. Send a thing to other side of the room, the universe sort of knows what that means. Please deliver this package to Forty-Two Wilson Avenue? Not so much.
CLAUDIA SKINNER: But in Antarctica -
ADAM BLACKWELL: Oh, the universe can do “away.” If you just want something to go away, that’s not a problem. And if you’re doing it somewhere big and empty like Antarctica, you’re probably going to be okay. But if you’re somewhere populated, like, say Chicago... your odds of teleporting something big and heavy on top of someone’s head go up quite quickly.
CLAUDIA SKINNER: Hence your empty football field for testing. Hmm, clever. What was the other issue?
ADAM BLACKWELL: ... organics. Organics are tricky. In the eyes of the universe, a rock is a single, solid thing. A living thing? Not so much. It sort of tows this line between one single thing and lots of squishy things all in conversation with one another.
CLAUDIA SKINNER: So your magic didn’t work with living things?
ADAM BLACKWELL: ...I didn’t say that, exactly.
(There’s a woosh and we transition back to the football field. There a squishy, bursting sound, and Adam and McCandless are both showered by wet, gooey stuff. We hear as they both spit out some of whatever just flew at them.)
JULIAN MCCANDLESS: Watermelon teleportation attempt thirty two... let’s call that mixed results.
ADAM BLACKWELL: Yeughhh….
(Another woosh, and we’re back in the lawyer’s office.)
ADAM BLACKWELL: It’s called randomization. Everything goes where you send it, more or less, but the universe doesn’t know how to keep it all in the same shape. So it arrives a little... shuffled. And when that happens, things have a way of reacting, which releases potential energy stored in the cells, which can cause things to -
CLAUDIA SKINNER: - explode?
ADAM BLACKWELL: ... yeah, basically.
CLAUDIA SKINNER: So... you were capable of teleporting things... but only certain kinds of things and only so long as it wasn’t very far. I must say, Dr. Blackwell, this is hardly the all-powerful magician the early news reports made you out to be.
ADAM BLACKWELL: And people don’t understand why I spent a few years locked up in a library. Amy had it easy. Her magic just needs to make the connection. After that it’s all intuitive.
CLAUDIA SKINNER: Same with the D-
ADAM BLACKWELL: Yeah, same with him too.
(Skinner flips through some pages of her notes.)
CLAUDIA SKINNER: When you met Amy backstage at her show in New York, in 2027, you tried to teleport a lock of her hair. Did you know the Harbinger words for “lock of hair?”
ADAM BLACKWELL: No. I didn’t. But I knew enough to be able to say “make this thing in my hand” go away. If it’s small enough for me to hold, the process is a lot easier.
CLAUDIA SKINNER: And the whole... “randomization” aspect of the equation...?
ADAM BLACKWELL: Ah, well... I hadn’t made that particular discovery just yet. But still. There’s a reason I had her cut off the hair before I tried it.
CLAUDIA SKINNER: You... had her cut off the hair?
ADAM BLACKWELL: Yeah, of course. I mean, I was pretty sure it wouldn’t work, but... I’d never just try something like that on something that was still a part of someone. I’m not crazy. (Skinner flips through a few more pages.) What? Is something wrong?
(A pause.)
CLAUDIA SKINNER: Don’t, uh, worry about it. So... the plan was, what? Keep studying? Keep trying to crack of the Language of the Stars?
ADAM BLACKWELL: Yeah. That was the plan. Of course... along the way, there were a few complications.
(We transition to his classroom at Sinclair University. The door opens as Adam enters.)
ADAM BLACKWELL: Good morning, folks, let’s get...
(Around him, the auditorium is silent. His class isn’t here.)
ADAM BLACKWELL: ... started. Okay... where is everyone...?
THE MAN: Have you heard the one about the man who wanted to understand the inner workings of the universe?
ADAM BLACKWELL: Ex-excuse me?
(As the Man talks, his voice gets a little louder, as if he was walking towards Adam.)
THE MAN: The man who wanted to understand how the universe works? Well, it goes a little something like this: so there’s this a man, and he wants to understand the science that holds the universe together. And he doesn’t want to mess around, so he goes straight to the source, picks up an original copy of Einstein’s book on relativity. He reads the whole thing, cover to cover, doesn’t understand a single word. But he goes, “Okay, maybe I need to start smaller.” So he reads other books, takes lessons on math, physics, talks to experts. Gets what he thinks is a pretty good foundation. He goes back to the Einstein, still can’t make heads or tails of any of it. So he goes back, does more research, takes more classes, spends more sleepless nights. Tries the Einstein a third time. Nothing. Finally, our man is at the end of his rope, so he does the unthinkable: he asks his wife if she can make any sense of this stuff. Greta leafs through the book, shrugs, and says she can understand it perfectly well. The man is apoplectic. “How can this be?” he says. “You don’t know anything about math, about physics, about any of this!” And Greta replies, “Yes but, John, unlike you... I speak German.” Adam Blackwell. It’s good to meet you.
(The two shake hands.)
ADAM BLACKWELL: It’s nice to... sorry, this is very - are you, umm…?
THE MAN: I’m afraid so. At least, I was the last time I checked the paperwork.
ADAM BLACKWELL: Okay. And I assume you had something to do with the... sudden absence of all of my students?
THE MAN: Yes, I’m sorry about that. I needed to speak to you, and I’m on a bit of a tight schedule. They’ll be compensated for the inconvenience.
ADAM BLACKWELL: I’m sure they will... so what do we need to talk about that is worth you going through all the trouble?
THE MAN: I find myself in need of someone with your particular talents.
ADAM BLACKWELL: You need an expert in dead languages?
THE MAN: I need an expert in the sorts of dead languages that can change the world.
(A pause. Then Adam laughs nervously.)
ADAM BLACKWELL: Look, this is - it’s very flattering. And surreal. But I’ll tell you the same thing I told the army scientists, and the nice men in the black suits from the government, and Boeing, and the two other dozen companies that knocked on my door. I am just an academic. The only thing I’m interested in doing with -
THE MAN: What do you know about Athena? Athena Energy, my company. What have you heard?
ADAM BLACKWELL: Umm, it’s... alternative energy. Clean energy. Experiments with fusion out in the Arizona Desert. Something like that?
THE MAN: Something like that. I’m trying to take the big oil companies on at their game. I believe America should be the world’s top energy provider, not just its top energy consumer. And I think within ten years we can get there.
ADAM BLACKWELL: Well, that’s great and -
THE MAN: But that’s just the start. We’re working on other things. Carbon capture. Plastic-eating enzymes. I’m trying to turn the clock back on global warming.
ADAM BLACKWELL: So you’re here to tell me all about your plans to save the world?
THE MAN: I think that’s a prosaic way of looking at things. But too many things are on fire right now. Anyone that has any sense should be looking for a fire extinguisher.
ADAM BLACKWELL: And you think I’m a fire extinguisher?
THE MAN: I think what you can do might be. Tell me, Dr. Blackwell, have you ever read Einstein?
ADAM BLACKWELL: ... never quite found the time, I’ll be honest with you.
THE MAN: Well, I did. Him. Newton. Hawking. Maxwell, Feynman, and a hundred other physicists whose theories are being thrown out as we speak. You know why? Because of you. And Ms. Stirling. In a world where you exist... conservation of energy doesn’t seem like the hard and fast rule it’s been for a long time.
ADAM BLACKWELL: But you think something else... ?
THE MAN: Adam, I’m just a passably well-read businessman. It doesn’t matter what I think. But the blisteringly smart people that I have working for me... they think something else is going on. They think that when you move something from one place to another, you aren’t just creating energy out of nowhere. You’re getting it from somewhere. What you have, Adam, is a door.
ADAM BLACKWELL: A door that goes... where?
THE MAN: Wouldn’t you like to find out?
(A long pause.)
ADAM BLACKWELL: I... Look, thanks for coming by and talking to me, but... whatever you’re trying to do? I think you’re talking to the wrong person. This sounds more like Ms. Stirling’s thing. She’ll help you put out some fires in her... own special way.
THE MAN: You’re more my style, Adam. I like a man that looks before he leaps. I like a man who... teaches himself German before trying to rewrite our understanding of the universe.
ADAM BLACKWELL: I, ummm... I have a class to chase down. But... It was nice to meet you.
(A pause.)
THE MAN: Well, if you change your mind... my number’s on this card. Call me anytime.
ADAM BLACKWELL: ... yeah. Sure.
(Footsteps, as the Man starts to leave. Then -)
THE MAN: Oh, I almost forgot.
(He turns back around. Hands Adam a packet of pages.)
THE MAN: Materials from the sites in rural Ireland, up in Leitrim. My linguistics team already took a first stab at the translation. They think it should add a few... dozen terms to your vocabulary.
ADAM BLACKWELL: How did - ? We’ve - we’ve been trying to get them to release these to us for seven months, and -
THE MAN: My company owns a company that supports a foundation that - the details don’t matter. But... public bureaucracy has a way of moving very slowly. Sometimes you need a little capitalism to speed things up a bit. Think of it as a present from your friends in the private sector. Doctor Blackwell.
(He starts to walk away again.)
ADAM BLACKWELL: How would it work? I’d just... go out to your facilities in the desert? And we’d... just see if we can find this... door of yours?
THE MAN: Not quite. Our main facilities are in the Arizona Desert, but we just opened a new lab. State of the art. We’d be running these experiments in Boston.
(The scene transitions. Back to the lawyer’s office.)
CLAUDIA SKINNER: And that’s how it happened?
ADAM BLACKWELL: Yeah. That’s how it happened. That’s how I met Jerome Eckerberg. The third richest man in the world.
(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 November 27th for Episode 6, "Act of the Apostle." 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, Emmy Bean as Claudia Skinner, Joshua K. Harris as Julian McCandless, Dan Granata as Jerome Eckerberg, Kristen DiMercurio as Erica Pfeiffer, and Rachel Music as Jeanine Alfaro. Our original music was composed by Nicholas Podany. Today's episode also featured the Seventh Symphony by Ludwig van Beethoven. 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 November 13th, 2015, Andrew Walker officially resigned as President of America News Media. A year later, he was elected to the US Senate.