THE HARBINGERS
EPISODE 6: ACT OF THE APOSTLE
Transcript
TEASER
(We come in on the familiar ticking clock of the lawyer’s office.)
(Skinner flips through a piece of paper.)
CLAUDIA SKINNER: Let’s talk about your Harbinger ring. The source of your powers.
AMY STIRLING: Isn’t it pretty? Goes well with my nails, doesn’t it?
CLAUDIA SKINNER: Ms. Stirling... that’s your wedding ring.
AMY STIRLING: ... you know, you’d be surprised how many people that works on. (holds up other hand) Ms. Claudia Skinner, meet Shral Ta Siran.
CLAUDIA SKINNER: The Ring of Thoughts.
AMY STIRLING: “Of Thoughts” or “Of the Mind,” depending on how you slice a few translational knots.
CLAUDIA SKINNER: Dr. Blackwell has discussed the discovery of his ring quite extensively over the years. But you’ve talked about yours in only the most... skeletal of terms.
AMY STIRLING: Yeah, that’s because I wear my ring, Adam is worn by his. (A pause.) What?
CLAUDIA SKINNER: It really has been that simple, huh? Whenever you didn’t want to give a straight answer, you just made some snide comment about Dr. Blackwell and that was it.
AMY STIRLING: What can I say? People love drama. (A slight pause.) Look... in this one instance... Adam has the better story. He spent three days buried in a fucking tomb, he almost died. That’s some good drama. I just went to Ireland and looked under some rocks.
CLAUDIA SKINNER: And is it generally speaking good archeological practice to put on a ring that you found under a rock?
AMY STIRLING: Mmm, you could ask that same question to Adam.
CLAUDIA SKINNER: I did. He said that he had spent three days buried in a fucking tomb and almost died, give him a break. I thought that was fair enough.
AMY STIRLING: I... I don’t know what you want me to say.
CLAUDIA SKINNER: I... would like you to say a bit about what happened after you transferred out of Sinclair. About how you ended up going to Ireland. And above everything else... I want you to tell me the real story of how you ended up with that thing on your finger.
(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 6: "Act of the Apostle.”
(The opening theme resolves and fades away.)
ACT ONE
(The sounds of a professor’s office.)
NARRATOR: New York University. October, 2026.
(A knock on the door.)
GENEVIEVE SUMMERS: Enter.
(The door opens.)
AMY STIRLING: Umm, Professor Summers? I was wondering if now would be - ?
GENEVIEVE SUMMERS: Ms. Stirling. Yes, please. Here, close the door and have a seat.
(Amy walks up to Professor Summers’s desk.)
AMY STIRLING: Thank you.
GENEVIEVE SUMMERS: What can I do for you?
AMY STIRLING: Umm, Amy’s fine, really. And... well, I have my proposal review coming up and I was hoping that I could get your perspective on a couple of things?
GENEVIEVE SUMMERS: I’d be delighted to help.
(Professor Summers closes a book.)
AMY STIRLING: Awesome. Okay, so basically I’m -
GENEVIEVE SUMMERS: But first... How are you handling the transition?
AMY STIRLING: Fine, thank you. So I was thinking -
GENEVIEVE SUMMERS: It’s a big adjustment, I imagine. Going from Sinclair to Columbia.
AMY STIRLING: Not as big as you might imagine. What I’m proposing is -
GENEVIEVE SUMMERS: I mean, after working with Julian McCandless, what we do here must seem very quaint.
AMY STIRLING: It’s fine. Now, the sites in Ireland -
GENEVIEVE SUMMERS: And I can’t... I can’t imagine what it must have been like, having been in the same cohort as Adam Blackwell.
AMY STIRLING: Yeah. I... I can’t really describe it, even. So the excavations along the northern side of -
GENEVIEVE SUMMERS: What was he like?
(Amy sighs under her breath.)
AMY STIRLING: He was... he was fine. He was a good student, very smart. The sites we’ve found in Leitrim so far -
GENEVIEVE SUMMERS: I just - I’d never have never believed it. Somebody actually use a Harbinger artifact to do magic. Isn’t that amazing?
AMY STIRLING: Every day it blows my mind a little bit more, but if we - ?
GENEVIEVE SUMMERS: And is it true? The expedition he was on - he was there as a student? McCandless actually brought him along to something like that?
AMY STIRLING: God, he sure did, that madman, what are we going to do with him? But back to my project, I am thinking -
GENEVIEVE SUMMERS: How did it happen? Getting a student involved at the - ?
AMY STIRLING: It’s a long story for another time. What I’m saying we should do is -
GENEVIEVE SUMMERS: Oh, and -
AMY STIRLING: And what!? What else, Genevieve? What else would you like to know about Adam Fucking Blackwell? What kind of pens he uses? How he’s such a petulant, arrogant asshole? (Mock gasp.) Whether he’s a good kisser or not? Come on, let’s just have it all so we can just - just close the fucking book on Adam Blackwell and maybe talk about the thread by which my academic future is hanging, if it wouldn’t be too much trouble?! (A pause.) I should go, shouldn’t I?
GENEVIEVE SUMMERS: Yes, yes you should.
AMY STIRLING: You’re not my advisor anymore, are you?
GENEVIEVE SUMMERS: No, I’m not.
AMY STIRLING: Cool. Good talk.
(The scene transitions to the lawyer’s office. Amy lets out a low breath.)
AMY STIRLING: After I left Sinclair, all I wanted to do was... get back to my studies. Get some field work under my belt and finish up my doctorate.
CLAUDIA SKINNER: Easier said than done?
AMY STIRLING: The summer of 2025, the study of the Harbingers had been seventeen nerds arguing about carvings on old clay pots. By the spring of 2026, it turned out that the Harbingers had fucking magic powers. All anyone wanted to talk about was the rockstar professor who led the expedition and the wunderkind student who actually came back with magic powers.
CLAUDIA SKINNER: And you were the person who knew both of them.
AMY STIRLING: Worse. I was the person who had walked away from both of them. I was the person who hadn’t gone to Antarctica. All anyone wanted to talk to me about was fucking Adam.
CLAUDIA SKINNER: It sounds... challenging.
AMY STIRLING: Oh, fuck off. “Sounds challenging, you poor little cushy grad school baby, it must have been so hard to deal with people wanting to talk to you about your ex.” (A pause. Amy exhales.) It felt like he’d won. McCandless, the anthro department at Sinclair, the ghosts of the Harbinger Empire, everyone seemed to be on the same page: Adam was better than I was.
(Skinner flips through some pages, makes a thoughtful “hmm” noise.)
CLAUDIA SKINNER: “I’m okay with losing, but I can’t lose-lose.”
AMY STIRLING: I just... I just felt very alone.
CLAUDIA SKINNER: What about your gal pal?
AMY STIRLING: Andie? She was back in Chicago. And by that point, she had way bigger fish to fry.
(The scene transitions to a city street as Amy Stirling walks down it.)
NARRATOR: New York City. October, 2026.
(Amy’s phone rings. She answer it.)
AMY STIRLING: Good afternoon and how are -
ANDREA SHEPHERD: (through the phone) Why did I ever let you talk me into this? What was I thinking?
AMY STIRLING: ...we doing today, what’s going on?
ANDREA SHEPHERD: What’s going on, Amy? My make-up artist just quit, a bunch of the research I was using for prep is apparently way off, I haven’t slept in three days, and I’m about to get trounced on television. What - what am I supposed to do here?
AMY STIRLING: Hire a new make-up person, put in the new data, twenty-minute power nap, and... don’t get trounced.
ANDREA SHEPHERD: You know sometimes, I don’t even know why I bother calling you.
AMY STIRLING: I think I know why. Andie, do you need to hear the thing?
(A pause. Andrea exhales.)
ANDREA SHEPHERD: Yeah. Yeah, yeah I could really use the thing right now.
AMY STIRLING: Okay. Andrea Shepherd: you are about to rock this. You want to know how I know that? Because I have known since approximately five seconds after I met you. This is someone who is going to change the world, forever. One day, everyone will know her name. And I am so fucking sure that this is where it all happens. This is where it all begins. And if you get trounced, well, it’s only local television.
(They both laugh.)
ANDREA SHEPHERD: You always know what to say.
AMY STIRLING: That’s what you pay me for. Which, uh, check’s in the mail, I hope?
ANDREA SHEPHERD: Oh, yeah, totally, totally. I gotta go put out some fires in, like, two minutes, but... how are you doing? Is anyone paying attention to your rocks yet?
AMY STIRLING: It’s not just rocks, sometimes it’s very, very old clay. And... no. Everyone is still pretty much just interested in getting the low-down on what Adam’s like, what Adam had to say about the Childers Column, what does Adam hair smell like, et cetera, et cetera. Ugh.
ANDREA SHEPHERD: So the whole “stop thinking about Adam Blackwell” thing?
AMY STIRLING: Not going as planned. But hopefully my proposal will get approved and I can get a nice, big Atlantic Ocean between him and me.
ANDREA SHEPHERD: And… that’ll do the trick?
AMY STIRLING: I don’t know but I am very excited to find out!
ANDREA SHEPHERD: Okay... and you think you are getting approved this time?
AMY STIRLING: I’m doing everything in my power to make it happen... including calling in a very humiliating favor. Uh, speaking of which... I should go. Let me know how your thing goes?
ANDREA SHEPHERD: I will. You’re awful, I love you.
AMY STIRLING: You’re awful, I love you. Bye.
(Amy hangs up. She walks up to an outdoor table. A person stands up from a chair.)
AMY STIRLING: Hey! Thank you so much for taking the time to meet with me.
JULIAN MCCANDLESS: Oh, it’s my pleasure. It’s good to see you again, Ms. Stirling.
(The scene transitions back to the lawyer’s office.)
CLAUDIA SKINNER: Why was this proposal so important?
AMY STIRLING: Okay, so... when you were in law school, is there a point at which they like... make you start going to trials? Like sitting in and seeing what happens in court?
CLAUDIA SKINNER: Well -
AMY STIRLING: Whatever. Let’s say there is. Let’s say there’s this line. Before the line, you’re just reading about the law, after the line, you’re actually doing things. In fact, you can’t do a bunch of the stuff you need to do to get your law degree, until they let you start going to court. With me so far?
CLAUDIA SKINNER: ... sure.
AMY STIRLING: Okay. Now imagine that instead of there being lots of trials in your local area, there’s seven of them. A year. In the whole world. And they’re all really far away, so sending you to court costs tens of thousands of dollars. Conservatively. That is the way graduate work in anthro goes. It all revolves around field work. Which really means it all revolves around you convincing them to let you do field work.
CLAUDIA SKINNER: What happens if they just... don’t?
AMY STIRLING: You know those horror stories of people that spend fourteen years in grad school? That’s what happens. I’d had... four field work proposals rejected while I was at Sinclair. McCandless never liked my proposals. So when I found out he was going to be in New York for a conference... I figured: who better to tell me what I’m getting wrong?
(The scene transitions back to the outdoor tables at the coffeeshop where Amy met McCandless.)
NARRATOR: New York City. October, 2026.
AMY STIRLING: (hold up some pagers) ... and then I walk them through this slide, where we go over everything that we’ve found in the Petrie site since it’s discovery. What do you think?
JULIAN MCCANDLESS: Mmm… I think this is… all very interesting, Ms. Stirling. The research is very thorough. I would expect no less from you. And it’s a bold proposal. I think the selection committee is going to... well, they’re going to have a hell of a time with you, Stirling.
AMY STIRLING: If you heard this proposal, would you approve it?
JULIAN MCCANDLESS: Well, it’s more complicated than -
AMY STIRLING: Why not?
JULIAN MCCANDLESS: There’s a lot of factors that -
AMY STIRLING: You rejected three of my proposals and now you think this one’s “interesting.” What’s wrong with my work?
JULIAN MCCANDLESS: You... think I’m just going to give you the right answer?
AMY STIRLING: Yes.
JULIAN MCCANDLESS: As a professor, I can’t -
AMY STIRLING: You’re not my professor anymore, I’m asking for a favor, and you owe me. What am I doing wrong?
JULIAN MCCANDLESS: I owe you? (Laughs.) How do I -
AMY STIRLING: You took him with you. You took him with you. The idea was to take us both, I know, but then he did the - and you just - you - you just went with it, and now he - you owe me. You owe me and you know it.
(A pause. McCandless takes a breath, clears his throat.)
JULIAN MCCANDLESS: ... who’s on your committee? (The rustle of a piece of paper.) Summers is good, she’s pretty fair. Miller is tough, you’ll need to convince him. Reinhold Brandt... who is that?
AMY STIRLING: Corporate liaison. Someone associated with one of the department’s corporate donors.
JULIAN MCCANDLESS: Ahh. The money guy. Well... All right. Fine. Let’s do three years of grad school in three minutes. Here, hand me your coffee cup and - that’s empty, right?
(Amy hands him her coffee cup. McCandless arranges it upside down, along with two others.)
AMY STIRLING: Yeah, I’m done with it.
JULIAN MCCANDLESS: Okay. Here we have three coffee cups, turned upside down. It costs twenty bucks to turn a cup over. Ms. Stirling, I would like you to give me twenty dollars to look under one of these cups.
AMY STIRLING: ... why?
JULIAN MCCANDLESS: Why not? There might be something interesting under one of them. Maybe something historically significant. More to the point... they’re there. Isn’t it worth going to a bit of trouble to see what’s under them? Come on, twenty bucks - help me flip one of these over.
AMY STIRLING: No, why - why would I?
JULIAN MCCANDLESS: Exactly. Year one: done.
(McCandless takes out a bill. Puts it under one of the cups. Mixes them up.)
AMY STIRLING: What are you - ?
JULIAN MCCANDLESS: Hang on. Let me mix these up...
JULIAN MCCANDLESS: Okay. Year two. Ms. Stirling, I have it on very good authority that under one of these three coffee cups there is a fifty dollar bill. I want you to give me twenty dollars so that I can look under the one of the left here. Deal?
AMY STIRLING: I... wait, what happens to the money?
JULIAN MCCANDLESS: Oh, you can keep the fifty dollars, if it turns out it is, actually, under this cup. I don’t care. I just want to see what’s under the cup, that’s all.
AMY STIRLING: And you’re... sure it’s under that coffee cup?
JULIAN MCCANDLESS: Oh, you know, pretty sure. We’ve done some studies, analyzed the... past trends of money being under coffee cups. We think there’s a good shot. But you know what I can guarantee for goddamn certain?
AMY STIRLING: ... that there’s a fifty dollar bill somewhere under there.
JULIAN MCCANDLESS: Very good, Ms. Stirling. Thus endeth year two. Year three:
(He takes out another bill. Mixes up the cups again.)
JULIAN MCCANDLESS: Twenty dollars to look under one of the cups. Underneath one of them is three-hundred dollars... and two minutes from now, they’re going to burn the one on the left. So I want to look there, before it’s gone. Because... well, maybe I’m about to waste twenty of your dollars. But if the money is under there, and nobody looks... it’ll just be ash. So... can I have twenty dollars? (He gets up from the table.) “What” is never the point, Stirling. The question, the only question that really matters... is why this has to be what we do, right now, instead of everything else we could be doing. That’s what you’ve always been missing
(McCandless walks away.)
AMY STIRLING: ... oh, fuck me.
(The scene fades away.)
ANNOUNCER: The Harbingers will be back after these messages.
ACT TWO
ANNOUNCER: And now... back to The Harbingers.
(We fade in on a university auditorium.)
NARRATOR: Columbia University. November, 2026. Amy Stirling’s Proposal Defense.
AMY STIRLING: So... to summarize, ladies and gentlemen... I think the Petrie site is overdue for a more modern examination. Nobody has really tested the site since the early seventies. It has long been considered one of the more... underwhelming sites, but I think that has more to do with the men who did the original survey than with the archeological potential of the location. I - I could go on, but honestly, I worry that I might start to bore you.
(A bit of laughter from the panel.)
AMY STIRLING: So... I think at this point, I would be thrilled to answer any questions that you might have.
JONATHAN MILLER: (amplified through a microphone) Thank you, Ms. Stirling. For the record, this is Jonathan Miller, acting as head proctor on behalf of the review board. I think to just... ask the question on everyone’s mind... you don’t want to go to Antarctica?
(There’s a bit more soft laughter.)
AMY STIRLING: Well... Look, everyone knows that as far as Harbingers research is concerned, you can’t beat what we’re finding in Antarctica. It’s the... biggest settlements, in the best shape, with the least contamination from the outside world. I know that. And... so do the folks over at Sinclair. And at Oxford. And the University of Sydney. And La Universidad de Buenos Aires. And literally hundreds of tourist and amateur expeditions that have cropped up since the start of the year. The Robinson Site, the Anderson, the Yuen - they have plenty of eyes on them right now. But... I think as exciting as the Antarctic findings are right now... it is worth remembering that the Harbingers were a global phenomenon. Their art, their architecture, their language has been found in practically every corner of the world. And I think we have more to gain by not neglecting that global perspective than we have to lose by looking at places other than the most obvious answer.
(A pause.)
JONATHAN MILLER: Okay, then... the Petrie Site, which you would like to take a closer look at... the original team that discovered it judged its findings to be pretty complete. What makes you think they were wrong?
AMY STIRLING: Well, sir, two things. First, when this site was first discovered, we didn’t know nearly as much about the Harbingers’ proclivity to mirror their structures as we do now. Have we found everything there is to see aboveground? I think yes. But below-ground? I think that is way more open to debate. Secondly... the man who made that evaluation was Dr. James Petrie. Dr. James Petrie of... Oxford University. Who was leading a, uh, very English team doing research in a site located in Leitrim County. Which is... on the border with Northern Ireland. In 1972. I... I wouldn’t like to speculate, but... given the location, the nationalities, the political climate as the Troubles began to -
JONATHAN MILLER: Ms. Stirling, are you saying that Dr. Petrie rushed through his evaluation? Did a poor job of it?
AMY STIRLING: An... incomplete job of it, sir. Which is understandable, given the circumstances. But... I think we are long overdue to correct his oversights.
JONATHAN MILLER: Thank you, Ms. Stirling. For the record... the panel is inclined to… agree with your evaluation.
(There’s a shuffle of paper as something is handed to Jonathan Miller.)
JONATHAN MILLER: Uh, Ms. Stirling... a question from Mr. Reinhold Brandt. Why does this expedition need to be undertaken today? Is there a pressing need to give the Petrie site further study?
AMY STIRLING: Well, sir... if we could go to the next slide... So, this is, most experts agree, Helgar III. Or rather, a stone sculpture of Helgar III. Also known as the Magus King. This particular statue was found in the burial chamber of Sarkor Der Rulan, at the Robinson Site. The room where, uh, where Adam Blackwell was stranded for three days. Next slide please.
(Her slide show advances with a click.)
AMY STIRLING: This is a detail of the the sculpture. The sculpture’s hands. And unusually for Harbinger art, Helgar III is depicted as wearing a ring on each of his fingers, save for the thumb. Eight rings. And the one on his ring finger seems... startlingly similar to the object we now know as Article Zero. Shral Ta Keren. Next slide, please.
(Her slide show advances with a click.)
AMY STIRLING: This... is a statue found at the Petrie site. And it’s... in pretty poor condition. Really, it’s the remains of a statue. Just a bit of the subject’s face, and his torso, and... well his, something. We were never able to really identify what that was. Because we didn’t have anything to compare it to. Until now. Because... slide, please...
(Her slide show advances with a click.)
AMY STIRLING: If we see them side-by-side, we can see they’re the same statue. The one in the Robinson site was much better preserved, but key features match. Same facial structure. Same details of the clothing on the torso. And now comparing our unidentified element to what was at the Robinson Site... the same ring on his left index finger. Throughout the course of history, only the extremely accomplished, the extremely gullible, or the extremely foolish have kept all their power concentrated in a single place. The things that give you strength tend to get carved up by different factions, divided by the winners of different conquests - or at minimum inherited by multiple children. Given their history as prolific travelers and explorers - given the way they left ruins and tombs all over the world... I can’t imagine the Harbingers were any different.
(A pause.)
AMY STIRLING: I guess... to just come out and say it: if there are more Harbinger artifacts of power to be found... and I think there are... another one of the Magus King’s rings, perhaps... the Petrie Site in Ireland is one of the most likely places for where we might find one. And... I think we need to go look now. Because if we don’t... someone is going to get there before we do. (A small pause.) Any other questions?
(The scene transitions back to the lawyer’s office.)
CLAUDIA SKINNER: And so you found your ticking clock. Very compelling.
AMY STIRLING: Thank you. I thought I did quite well.
CLAUDIA SKINNER: And? Did they let you go to court?
AMY STIRLING: Oh, it’s not that simple. They never tell you in the room. They ask questions, they shake your hand and slap you in the back, they send you away, and then they call you back for follow-ups, and then they haggle over the budget, and -
CLAUDIA SKINNER: Safe to say it takes a while?
AMY STIRLING: I presented my proposal halfway through November. I hoped that I’d get a yes or no by Christmas. But... then my phone rang. A week later. I was actually at JFK, I was going home for Thanksgiving. It the corporate liaison. Said he had some questions, some details he needed me to go over with his people. And it had to be that day. Said that if I couldn’t be at his office in two hours, I... I shouldn’t bother coming in. So I left. Went back to midtown.
CLAUDIA SKINNER: They wanted to talk to you on Thanksgiving?
AMY STIRLING: Money never sleeps, I thought. And I figured... if they wanted to speak to me urgently, it must mean they’re interested. If it was a “no,” then... whatever. They could just say no. If they had to meet with me, it must be a good sign, right? I got to their office. A secretary showed me into a conference room. And then... half an hour went by before the door opened again.
(The scene transitions to a corporate office.)
NARRATOR: New York City. November Twenty-Sixth, 2026.
(A door opens as a man enters.)
JEROME ECKERBERG: My sincere apologies for keeping you waiting for so long, Ms. Stirling.
(Amy gets up.)
AMY STIRLING: Oh, that’s all right, don’t worry about it Mr... Mr. Brandt.
JEROME ECKERBERG: I’m afraid I’m not Reinhold Brandt, Ms. Stirling. It’s one of my most significant personal failings.
AMY STIRLING: You’re - you’re Jerome Eckerberg.
JEROME ECKERBERG: Please, have a seat. Did anybody offer you anything to drink? A cup of tea?
(Amy sits down.)
AMY STIRLING: I - just - sure. That’d be sure.
(Eckerberg presses a button on an intercom on the table.)
JEROME ECKERBERG: Gloria, could we have two cups of the Mariage Frères Earl Grey Blue? Do you take it with anything? Milk, sugar? (A small pause.) As-is will do quite nicely, thank you. Now, as I was saying, I hope you’ll excuse us for making you wait. Even for a man of my resources, it takes a few days to vet someone.
AMY STIRLING: To v- Sorry, did you say to “vet” someone?
(Eckerberg opens a folder.)
JEROME ECKERBERG: Amelia Dorothy Stirling, born October Twenty-Eighth, 1999. You are the only daughter of Alexandra Stirling, career campaign manager and dedicated DNC strategist. As a result of your mother’s career, you had an… ambulatory childhood, moving from town to town as she helped to tighten the Democratic stranglehold on the local politics of the American Northeast. The exception to this, of course, was 2013 and the first half of 2014 - the period when, after a collision against a moving construction truck, you were left bedridden. Now, more than one teenager might have whiled away the hours of convalescence on social media or playing video games, but… not Amelia Stirling. You read. You read voraciously, developing a fascination first with history, then with archeology, then... with the long-lost civilization of the Harbingers. An interest you and I have in common.
(A knock on the door.)
JEROME ECKERBERG: Ahhh, that’ll be our tea. Yes, come in.
(The door opens and an assistant comes in. Over the course of the following, they’ll set up two cups of tea at the table.)
JEROME ECKERBERG: In the fall of 2015, you returned to in-person classes. Made it through high school with top marks, and went on to graduate with honors from Princeton University, with a double major in anthropology and linguistics. You then did two years of a masters program at Sinclair University before transferring to Columbia, where you just submitted a proposal for field work. A proposal that just crossed… my desk.
AMY STIRLING: ... you’re... you’re involved with the corporate funding for the department.
JEROME ECKERBERG: As far as Columbia is concerned, I am the corporate funding. Ahh, that smells wonderful. Thank you, Gloria.
AMY STIRLING: Yes, thank you, Gloria.
(The assistant leaves, closing the door behind her.)
JEROME ECKERBERG: The world has been uncommonly generous to me, and I’ve taken a lot from it. It’s only fair that I give back where I can. You’re not pleased to learn that my checking account is what makes your education possible?
AMY STIRLING: No, I’m not.
JEROME ECKERBERG: You don’t like me?
AMY STIRLING: No, I don’t.
JEROME ECKERBERG: May I ask why not?
(Amy laughs a little, overwhelmed.)
AMY STIRLING: Because - ! Because you’re a billionaire, Jerome. As far as I’m concerned that’s an animal that shouldn’t exist. You only get to be a billionaire by finding ways to innovate on the feudal playbook. You’ve fucked over the peasantry so you can be a dragon sitting on a mountain of money.
JEROME ECKERBERG: So it’s a categorial thing?
AMY STIRLING: No, it’s not just - your first company was built on stolen intellectual property that was -
JEROME ECKERBERG: Everything about that case was settled, and no one was -
AMY STIRLING: The logging practices of your holdings in South America have devastated entire ecosystems that -
JEROME ECKERBERG: The environmental studies pointed out that the long-term effect would be negligible to -
AMY STIRLING: What about the fact that three separate unions are suing you right now for the conditions in your factories? Or how about the fact that you are in infamous for your blatant tax evasion?
JEROME ECKERBERG: Oh, so you think I should write the Walker Administration a check? Help fund their deportation programs, the dismantling of the public health program?
(A pause. Amy lets out a low breath.)
AMY STIRLING: ... no. I’d rather you didn’t.
JEROME ECKERBERG: Why not?
AMY STIRLING: Because... I only hate you. They don’t make a word strong enough in English for what I feel towards those motherfuckers.
JEROME ECKERBERG: You... greshulka them.
(A pause.)
AMY STIRLING: You... you speak the Langauge of the Sun?
JEROME ECKERBERG: Not nearly as well as you do, I’m sure. But like I said... we share the fascination.
AMY STIRLING: ... which is why you fund archeological expeditions to their ruins.
JEROME ECKERBERG: Well... yes. But that’s hardly all of it. I’m trying to do good with the resources at my disposal. I’m helping us rediscover our history, I’m investing in clean energy, social infrastructure, trying to help those who -
(Amy lets out a cackle of disbelieving laugh.)
JEROME ECKERBERG: ... what?
AMY STIRLING: Yeah, all right. I’ve heard this pretty talk before. Look, if you actually wanted to help? Do you know how much it would cost to solve world hunger?
JEROME ECKERBERG: Ten billion a year.
AMY STIRLING: No, it’s only - Yes. Exactly.
JEROME ECKERBERG: It’s on the list. Along with clean water access and extreme poverty. But solving those things won’t count for much if the world’s leading nation continues to march the planet into a death spiral. We have a... decline of the American Empire problem, Ms. Stirling. Before we can save the world, we need to save this nation from itself.
AMY STIRLING: ... and you do that, how, exactly...?
JEROME ECKERBERG: By reminding the world that we can walk and chew bubblegum at the same time. (reading off a page:) “The great Republican victory has been framing the choice between liberal and conservative as a choice between economic prosperity and an abstract moral high ground. Until the Democrats find a way to show that progress, social unity, and a global perspective is the best way to make money today, they will keep losing tomorrow.”
AMY STIRLING: That’s from the Balfour Campaign, in Concord. The governor said that.
JEROME ECKERBERG: I suspect more to the point, the governor’s campaign manager, one Alexandra Stirling, said that. It is wildly cynical... and perhaps the smartest thing anyone has said about American politics in the past fifty years.
AMY STIRLING: Okay, not that I’m not enjoying this... very creepy, invasive tour of my entire past, but... what are we doing here, Jerry? What does any of this have to do with my proposal?
JEROME ECKERBERG: It has everything to do with your proposal. I read what you put together, your analysis of the Petrie Site in Ireland. I think it’s brilliant.
AMY STIRLING: So you’re going to approve it? (Pause.) You’re not going to approve it? Why not?
JEROME ECKERBERG: Because, Ms. Stirling, as they say... in war, it’s about getting their firstest with the mostest.
AMY STIRLING: This is war now?
JEROME ECKERBERG: Has been for a while.
(He slides a piece of paper across the table at her.)
JEROME ECKERBERG: Four months ago, a local energy consortium put up a new set of windmills in Ireland. To maximize the energy potential, they had to be set up in a rather remote, rather empty part of Leitrim. Very discrete, very boring work, you understand, all carried out, right in the vicinity of the Petrie Site, by a newly acquired subsidiary of Athena Energy.
AMY STIRLING: Your company. You were already there. (Pause.) And?
JEROME ECKERBERG: And... you were correct. There was a hidden sub-level, one that hadn’t been found. Fourteen subterranean chambers, all in startlingly good conditions. The news about it won’t be released to the community at large for another two months, but... I figured, for your trouble, you deserved to be among the first to know.
AMY STIRLING: Oh my god... (Pause.) But... no ring. I wasn’t right about that.
JEROME ECKERBERG: Well, I didn’t say that.
(He places an item on the table.)
AMY STIRLING: ... what is that?
JEROME ECKERBERG: It’s a ring box, Ms. Stirling.
AMY STIRLING: ... what is in that ring box?
(Eckerberg picks up the ring box. Opens it. Puts it back down on the table.)
AMY STIRLING: ... you... you have a Harbinger ring of magic. You have a Harbinger ring of magic that nobody knows about, you - you have a secret fucking Harbinger ring of magic that nobody knows about and you’re just showing it to me.
JEROME ECKERBERG: Almost right. I have a secret fucking Harbinger ring of magic that no one in the world knows about... and I’m giving it to you. I would like you to have this ring, Ms. Stirling. I believe it will let you do magic, the way Dr. Blackwell’s lets him do magic.
(A startled pause. Then…)
AMY STIRLING: WHAT?! No, but that’s - look, I don’t think that - it doesn’t make any - what I’m trying - you can’t just - you’re really going to tell - Huh. Okay. I clearly, uh, need a second here. Let’s start with... why? Why would you give that thing to someone else? You understand it lets you do magic, right?
JEROME ECKERBERG: I do. But... I have no interest in being a witch king, Ms. Stirling. All that keeping that ring for myself would do would be to... paint an even bigger target on my head. Give the world another reason to be skeptical of everything I want to do. They have enough of those. No. This is new. A new kind of power, in the hands of someone new. Someone that can use it to its full effect. Someone that can... do some real good with it. Someone who is smart, and sharp, who was capable of figuring out where this was without my money or my team of experts. Someone who... loves the history of the Harbingers... but who grew up surrounded by what makes history today. Someone who... isn’t patient. Because we don’t have time for patience anymore.
AMY STIRLING: And you... would be the person behind that person. Just the way you like it. A billionaire is giving me a priceless object. What is he buying in this transaction, exactly?
JEROME ECKERBERG: Nothing. You would be entirely autonomous. You can use the ring, entirely as you see fit. I am entrusting you with it, because I trust you will use it well. All I’d ask is that we... stay in touch. As friends.
AMY STIRLING: Friends?
JEROME ECKERBERG: Yes, friends. And that... much like friends, we can help each other out. From time to time.
(A pause.)
AMY STIRLING: ... and if I... don’t want this ring?
JEROME ECKERBERG: ... then we part ways. I thank you for your time. I would insist that you let us compensate you for the flight you missed this afternoon, and arrange travel back to your mother’s house for the holiday.
(A long, conflict pause.)
AMY STIRLING: In that case... I think that needs to be it. No... no, thank you.
(A pause.)
JEROME ECKERBERG: Very well.
(He picks up the ring box. Gets up from the table.)
JEROME ECKERBERG: Thank you for a lovely chat, and... Happy Thanksgiving.
AMY STIRLING: Umm, yeah, Happy Thanksgiving.
(He walks away from the table. Stops at the door.)
JEROME ECKERBERG: If I may offer some free advice, Ms. Stirling? It is a war. A man has magic, and the United States has a new kind of nuclear bomb at its disposal. And remember... there were eight rings on that statue. If you think the rest of them are going to be discovered by bookish academics, you are being terribly naive. All over the world, forces are trying to -
AMY STIRLING: FUCK!
(She makes an anguished noise.)
AMY STIRLING: Can... can I just see it, Mr. Eckerberg? One more time?
(He walks towards her. Hands her the ring box.)
AMY STIRLING: And... and nobody knows I got it from you?
JEROME ECKERBERG: Nobody would ever need to know, if that’s the way you would like it. We can actually send you to Ireland for a bit. Go through the motions.
(She opens the ring box.)
JEROME ECKERBERG: Well? Go ahead. Don’t you want to put it on?
(A pause… then…)
(There’s a sharp metallic ringing sound. Amy gasps. There’s a swirl of magical power and disembodied voices around her, similar to what Adam heard when he put his ring on in Episode 3.)
(As these sounds start to fade away…)
JEROME ECKERBERG: Good choice, Ms. Stirling. Welcome to the history books.
(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 December 11th for Episode 7, "Why Does My Heart Feel So Bad?" Today's episode was written by Gabriel Urbina. It was directed and sound designed by Jeffrey Nils Gardner. It featured the voices of Lauren Grace Thompson as Amy Stirling, Emmy Bean as Claudia Skinner, Joshua K. Harris as Julian McCandless, Dan Granata as Jerome Eckerberg, Emma Sherr-Ziarko as Genevieve Summers, and Nate DuFort as Jonathan Miller. 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.)
AMY STIRLING: Today’s history tidbit: on November 27th, 2026, Reign of Terror opened in 4,200 theaters across America. It went on to gross over 300 million dollars.