THE HARBINGERS
EPISODE 7: WHY DOES MY HEART FEEL SO BAD?
Transcript
TEASER
(We come in on the sounds of a professor’s office.)
NARRATOR: Sinclair University, Adam Blackwell’s Office. April, 2028.
(A door opens and someone enters.)
(Adam flips through a packet of notes as he says:)
ADAM BLACKWELL: Trevor, thanks for coming in. Look, I appreciate all the work that you’ve been putting into translating the stuff they’ve been digging up in Atacama, but... I don’t know, it sort of feels like we’re missing something. Something big and obvious that’s starting us right in the...
(Whoever just entered the office clears their throat.)
ADAM BLACKWELL: ... face. Umm, hello?
ANDREA SHEPHERD: Hello, Dr. Blackwell. The two of us need to talk.
(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 7: "Why Does My Heart Feel So Bad?”
(The opening theme resolves and fades away.)
ACT ONE
(The familiar sounds of the lawyer’s office, including the ticking of the clock.)
CLAUDIA SKINNER: We’re coming up on a few of the big turning points now... Walker. The Hearts and Minds Tour. The Doomscroller.
ADAM BLACKWELL: Please tell me you don’t need me to talk about the Doomscroller.
CLAUDIA SKINNER: Not a fan?
ADAM BLACKWELL: No. He’s an egotistical anarchist, wildly irresponsible, an active danger as far as I’m concerned, and - oh yes, little thing - he called himself the fucking Doomscroller.
CLAUDIA SKINNER: (holding back laughter) It is a little on the theatrical side -
ADAM BLACKWELL: Do you have any idea how many times I’ve had to say the words “The Doomscroller” out loud? When talking to important people? When talking at the U.N.? I’m thirty-two and I’ve had to give my opinion on things The Doomscroller is doing with a straight fucking face. Fucking ridiculous.
CLAUDIA SKINNER: Yes, very good, if we could perhaps move onto - ?
ADAM BLACKWELL: The day I figure out how that jackass got magic...
CLAUDIA SKINNER: If we could move on, please... I’d like to talk about April Fourth, 2028.
(A long, startled pause.)
CLAUDIA SKINNER: ... or do you wanna talk about the Doomscroller instead?
(Adam lets out a low, annoyed groan.)
CLAUDIA SKINNER: Thank you.
ADAM BLACKWELL: Thank you for what?
CLAUDIA SKINNER: Before you came in today, Erica and I made a little bet. She thought you’d be quite excited to talk about the day in question, I thought you might be rather... you at the prospect.
ADAM BLACKWELL: Ha-ha.
CLAUDIA SKINNER: Now, while I’m sure there’s going to be an absolutely absurd answer to this question... whence the hesitance? Why do you not want to talk about what happened?
ADAM BLACKWELL: Because... what happened was a mistake. Like you said, this is a before and an after moment. And I knew it - I knew it was a bad idea. And I still... yeah.
CLAUDIA SKINNER: Why don’t you start at the beginning?
(Adam takes a deep breath.)
ADAM BLACKWELL: It started... with a knock on the door to my office.
(The scene fades back to Adam’s office.)
NARRATOR: Sinclair University. April Fourth, 2028.
ANDREA SHEPHERD: The two of us need to talk.
ADAM BLACKWELL: O-okay? Umm, have a seat, I guess.
(She sits down as she says:)
ANDREA SHEPHERD: Thank you. Dr. Blackwell, I - actually, wait, do you know who I am?
ADAM BLACKWELL: You’re Andrea Shepherd.
ANDREA SHEPHERD: Yes, good.
ADAM BLACKWELL: You’re Andrea Shepherd and you’re in my office right now.
ANDREA SHEPHERD: Terrific.
ADAM BLACKWELL: You’re Andrea Shepherd, why are you in my office?
ANDREA SHEPHERD: Okay, shut up. I’m in your office because I need your help, professor. I need a magician.
ADAM BLACKWELL: Uh-uh. That is -
ANDREA SHEPHERD: Let me finish -
ADAM BLACKWELL: No, no, no -
ANDREA SHEPHERD: - explaining what the -
ADAM BLACKWELL: I don’t think it would -
ANDREA SHEPHERD: - situation is before you -
ADAM BLACKWELL: It’s not the sort -
ANDREA SHEPHERD: - it’s a matter of life and death!
(A pause.)
ADAM BLACKWELL: ... what are you talking about?
ANDREA SHEPHERD: Okay. I assume you’ve heard the news?
ADAM BLACKWELL: ... not... particularly. What news?
ANDREA SHEPHERD: The news out of Japan, Dr. Blackwell. Kris Middendorf just had a massive heart attack.
(There’s a dramatic music sting, which abruptly cuts off as Adam says:)
ADAM BLACKWELL: Who the fuck is Kris Middendorf?
(There’s a fast whipping sound and we quickly transition back to the lawyer’s office.)
CLAUDIA SKINNER: Are you for goddamn real right now?
ADAM BLACKWELL: Okay, wait -
CLAUDIA SKINNER: You are seriously going to tell me -
ADAM BLACKWELL: In my defense -
CLAUDIA SKINNER: - that you had never heard of Kris Middendorf before - ?
ADAM BLACKWELL: I’d never been much of a movie person and I’d been a little busy with -
CLAUDIA SKINNER: (simultaneous with the below) I mean, this isn’t just some actor from a couple of indie movies, by 2028 he was huge! He’d been in that iPhone commercial that was everywhere, he was the bad guy in Reign of Terror, did you not see Reign of Terror? Everyone loved him, he was on magazine covers, and he was the good lawyer in that courtroom drama that swept at the - I mean seriously, I understand that you were busy, but come on. The man was everywhere, he’d been nominated for an Oscar two months ago and you’re really going to sit here and tell me you’d never heard of him before April Fourth, 2028?!
ADAM BLACKWELL: (simultaneous with the above) - the whole “trying to resurrect a dead language so I can actually do magic,” thing? You know, because that’s the sort of thing that takes a little while, okay? So you’ll pardon me if I fell a little behind on - no, I didn’t see Reign of Terror, everyone told me it was great, I meant to see it, but then there was a new translation - of course you’d say that, a movie with a good lawyer in it? And you liked it? What a shocking turn. Well, while you were watching your little courtroom drama, I was busy doing work, so, no, I’d never heard of him before April Fourth, 2028!
(A pause.)
CLAUDIA SKINNER: For the record... in 2028, Kris Middendorf was America’s new actor boyfriend. He was smart, beautiful, and talented.
ADAM BLACKWELL: Yes. I know that. Now.
CLAUDIA SKINNER: Good. And also for the record, the correct answer to the question, “Did you know who Kris Middendorf was?” - you know the kind a mammal would give, not some kind of weird academic pod person - is, “Yes, of course I knew who Kris Middendorf was.”
ADAM BLACKWELL: I would get to know plenty about Kris Middendorf. In due time.
CLAUDIA SKINNER: ... yes, I suppose that’s true.
ADAM BLACKWELL: Okay. Well then. Can I get to the heart of the matter?
CLAUDIA SKINNER: Please.
(The scene fades the sound of a hospital meeting room.)
NARRATOR: Sinclair University Hospital. Thirty minutes later.
ADAM BLACKWELL: Okay, I don’t understand. Who has a heart attack at thirty-three?
ANDREA SHEPHERD: I’m sure that Mr. Middendorf will be very interested in delving deeper into that matter if he lives through today.
ADAM BLACKWELL: And a massive heart attack at that? What makes a heart attack “massive?” Are doctors even allowed to talk about medical episodes that way?
(A pause.)
ANDREA SHEPHERD: Blood vessels.
ADAM BLACKWELL: What?
ANDREA SHEPHERD: It depends on the blood vessel that’s blocked. Not all veins and arteries are made equal. If the blockage occurs in one of the smaller arteries, that only supplies a part of the heart with blood... they call that a mild heart attack.
ADAM BLACKWELL: And that’s not bad?
ANDREA SHEPHERD: Well, it’s still a goddamn heart attack, so I’m guessing it’s pretty bad. But if you have to have a heart attack...
ADAM BLACKWELL: ... that’s the kind you want to have. Sure.
ANDREA SHEPHERD: But when what gets blocked is one of the major arteries, it leads to a rapid shutdown of all cardiovascular activity. Or what is technically called...
ADAM BLACKWELL: ... a massive heart attack, sure. And this guy had one in Japan?
ANDREA SHEPHERD: On the island of Hokkaido, actually. He was there for a film shoot. Cypher Rose Two.
ADAM BLACKWELL: Who the hell is Cypher Rose and why was she also there?
(A pause. Andrea Shepherd lets out a low breath.)
ANDREA SHEPHERD: Okay: Cypher Rose... is a movie, Dr. Blackwell. A spy movie. Came out last year. Made half a billion dollars at the box office.
ADAM BLACKWELL: ... oh.
ANDREA SHEPHERD: Mr. Middendorf plays Cypher Rose’s love interest, rogue intelligence officer Matthew Diamond. He’s been in Hokkaido for three months now, shooting the second film in the series. Cypher Rose... Two.
ADAM BLACKWELL: Ah. (A pause.) Sorry. I... I don’t really leave the university much these days. I don’t have time for… movies.
ANDREA SHEPHERD: ... maybe you should try to find some time. When’s the last time you had a night off?
ADAM BLACKWELL: It’s been... a while. Umm, but okay. So, he’s there, has this massive heart attack. That’s very sad, but... where do we come into it? I’m sure they have good hospitals in Japan.
ANDREA SHEPHERD: (scoffing:) Oh, they have absolutely terrific facilities. We’re trying to solve a different problem.
(Andrea produces a sheet of paper and passes it over to Adam.)
ADAM BLACKWELL: What’s... what’s this?
ANDREA SHEPHERD: That’s Jenny Hegelmier.
ADAM BLACKWELL: Who’s Jenny Hegelmier?
ANDREA SHEPHERD: Jenny Hegelmier was twenty-four.
ADAM BLACKWELL: Was?
ANDREA SHEPHERD: Was. She ran a traffic light this morning, at Milwaukee, North, and Damen. Had a head-on collision. A piece of rebar went through her neck. She died instantly.
ADAM BLACKWELL: So she’s dead...
ANDREA SHEPHERD: ... but very fortunately... Jenny Hegelmier was a registered organ donor.
(A pause.)
ADAM BLACKWELL: You’re not going where I think you’re...
ANDREA SHEPHERD: I’m afraid I am. It’s a perfect match, too, fits what we need on every criteria.
ADAM BLACKWELL: Okay, great - !
ANDREA SHEPHERD: Except -
ADAM BLACKWELL: Yeah, of course there’s an except.
ANDREA SHEPHERD: Eighteen hours. That’s how long, on average, it takes to fly from Chicago to Hokkaido. Transplant operation is four to six hours, and the best, brightest, most gifted people on the premises have made every assurance that if they don’t start in the next… hour and fifty-two minutes, they might as well not even start. We don’t have eighteen hours.
ADAM BLACKWELL: So they have absolutely terrific hospitals in Japan...
ANDREA SHEPHERD: ... but what they don’t have is a new heart to give Kris Middendorf. But we do, here in Chicago.
ADAM BLACKWELL: Which would be a real problem...
ANDREA SHEPHERD: ... except the other thing we have here in Chicago is a wizard with the supernatural power to teleport matter from one place to another.
ADAM BLACKWELL: Fuck... you do need a magician.
ANDREA SHEPHERD: I really, really need a magician. Which brings us to the half a billion dollar question... can you do it?
ADAM BLACKWELL: It’s... it’s... I’m sorry.
ANDREA SHEPHERD: Huh. Let me rephrase: I need you to do this.
ADAM BLACKWELL: That’s great, but - organics are a problem right now.
ANDREA SHEPHERD: I’ve - I’ve impressed upon you that -
ADAM BLACKWELL: You have, yes. But I haven’t figured out how to - the movement of something as delicate as a heart...
ANDREA SHEPHERD: Dr. Blackwell...
ADAM BLACKWELL: And - that’s - that’s farther than I’ve ever teleported anything and - and doing a precision jump to somewhere that far away is -
ANDREA SHEPHERD: Doctor Blackwell -
ADAM BLACKWELL: It’s - it’s too much. Too much uncertainty. Too much I can’t guarantee. It’s just -
ANDREA SHEPHERD: Adam. Someone is going to die. If you don’t try, a man is going to die.
ADAM BLACKWELL: I... I can’t. I can’t. I can’t! If I screw it up, if the heart ends up in the wrong place, or if it gets messed up in the -
ANDREA SHEPHERD: He’ll be no more dead than if you didn’t do anything. But at least -
ADAM BLACKWELL: I hear you, but - there has to be another way, a plane, a jet -
ANDREA SHEPHERD: Oh, a jet that can get literally across the world in under two hours? That’s a fast jet.
ADAM BLACKWELL: Or - another donor. Another heart that’s closer, that’s -
ANDREA SHEPHERD: That we’ll find and prep and get ready in - I cannot underline this enough - under two hours?
ADAM BLACKWELL: I...
ANDREA SHEPHERD: Do you think I’d be here if I thought there was any other option? Don’t you want to at least try? to give it an... hour and forty-nine minutes’ worth of try? Before you say you can’t?
ADAM BLACKWELL: I... (A pause.) ... I need a room with a whiteboard. And I need someone to run back to Sinclair. To pick up some notes from my desk.
ANDREA SHEPHERD: Okay. Okay, I can - I can arrange all of that. Thank you.
ADAM BLACKWELL: Oh... don’t thank me yet. Thank me after this is all over, after I’ve figured out a way to teleport living matter without causing it to explode, and after I’ve figured out how to hit a bull’s eye from seven thousand miles away, and after I haven’t fucked up any of the words I’m about to guesstimate... If we can make all of those fucking miracles happen in the right order... I’ll be very, very happy to say “you’re welcome.”
(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 hospital classroom.)
NARRATOR: Sinclair University Hospital. An hour and fifteen minutes later.
(A door opens as Andrea enters the room.)
ANDREA SHEPHERD: Dr. Blackwell?
ADAM BLACKWELL: Down here.
ANDREA SHEPHERD: Why - why are you down there?
ADAM BLACKWELL: Legs got tired. I wanted to sit.
ANDREA SHEPHERD: ... why didn’t you get a chair?
ADAM BLACKWELL: Didn’t have time for a chair. Needed to think. The floor’s fine.
ANDREA SHEPHERD: ... okay. Is it all right if I join you?
(She sits down next to him.)
ANDREA SHEPHERD: You... you filled up all three white boards.
ADAM BLACKWELL: Yeah, well... I had a lot of figuring out to do.
ANDREA SHEPHERD: That’s a lot of spells up there.
ADAM BLACKWELL: Not spells. Just spell. One spell. One... very big, very complicated, hopefully very exact spell.
ANDREA SHEPHERD: Oh. (A pause.) I’m sorry, by the way. I... haven’t said that yet. It’s... not exactly fair of me to just... barge into your life and foist the responsibility for whether someone lives or dies onto your hands. So... I’m sorry. And thank you. For trying.
(A pause.)
ADAM BLACKWELL: ... two people.
ANDREA SHEPHERD: What?
ADAM BLACKWELL: Whether two people live or die. If I screw this up and something happens to the heart, if it explodes or gets lost or... anything, then... well, then we don’t have a heart anymore. And we can’t give it to someone here. I’m sure someone needs it.
ANDREA SHEPHERD: Yeah. That’s... that’s very true.
(A long pause.)
ANDREA SHEPHERD: I got a call from Hokkaido. They’ve set up an area for you, in front of the hospital. It’s about a hundred square meters, they say, and it’s flat, more or less at local sea level. If you can get the container and its contents in there, they’ll be able to retrieve the heart, so you got a bit of wiggle room.
ADAM BLACKWELL: A hundred square meters.
ANDREA SHEPHERD: That’s basically the size of four tennis courts.
ADAM BLACKWELL: Yeah, just gotta hit four tennis courts from halfway around the world.
ANDREA SHEPHERD: Hope you got a good serve.
(They look at each other… and then share a tired, overwhelmed bit of laughter.)
ANDREA SHEPHERD: Oh god, okay… Want to walk me through it? Would that help?
ADAM BLACKWELL: Yeah. So... problem number one is organic randomization. This is the latest and greatest theory on how to get around that. Basically going... I’d like to move this... container, I guess, whatever we’re keeping the heart in. And I’d like everything in the container to stay the way it is. Veriai Brilgo.
ANDREA SHEPHERD: Veriai Brilgo...
ADAM BLACKWELL: That’s basically Harbinger magic words for “as is.” I think. I hope. And - and then there’s the issue of teleporting to somewhere I can’t see. It’s hard to give the universe specific directions. But there’s this Harbinger site in Oceania, which had this big... atlas, almost, carved into one of the walls, with these words we’d never seen next to it. This guy at Oxford, Edmund Rowbotham, has this theory that they’re the Harbinger version of coordinates. A way orientating yourself based off of the center of the Earth. I just called him and got the latest download, mapped it onto where we need to go.
ANDREA SHEPHERD: Is Edmund Rowbotham good?
ADAM BLACKWELL: Right now I need to operate under the assumption that Eddie Rowbotham is a once-in-a-generation fucking genius, because otherwise we are sunk before we’ve even begun. (A pause.) He’s good. He’s really good. But... this needs to be really, really good. And I don’t have time to make it better, so we are going with it.
ANDREA SHEPHERD: What’s that last section?
ADAM BLACKWELL: That’s... well... (A pause.) We’re not... a hundred percent on what the... word is. In the Language of the Stars.
ANDREA SHEPHERD: The word for what? (A small pause.) The word for heart?
ADAM BLACKWELL: Depending on how you interpret a couple of the pieces of writing that we’ve found, it might -
ANDREA SHEPHERD: You have got to be kidding me.
ADAM BLACKWELL: It’s - it’s either one thing or the other. It’s either Amargola or Ennerventia. It’s one or the other.
ANDREA SHEPHERD: Do you... need the word? Can’t you just go “make this thing go over there?”
ADAM BLACKWELL: No. I mean... yes, I could, but the more you rely on the universe knowing what you mean by “this thing” the more you leave yourself open to getting fucked over by a passing trickster god. (A pause.) Amargola. Amargola. It’s amargola. And... as soon as I can get myself sure enough to bet two people’s lives on it... we can get started.
(A pause.)
ANDREA SHEPHERD: It’s going to be okay.
ADAM BLACKWELL: You really don’t know that.
ANDREA SHEPHERD: I do, though. I... I knew the moment I walked into your office and saw you. This is someone who can do the impossible. Not the ring, not the magic, you. And very soon, everyone will know that. And I am so sure that this is where it all happens. This is where it all begins.
ADAM BLACKWELL: I know, you know. I know that you and Amy are friends. In case you were wondering. She used to talk about you a lot. When we were still at Sinclair.
ANDREA SHEPHERD: What did she say?
ADAM BLACKWELL: Just that... you’re kind. And clever. And have great hair.
ANDREA SHEPHERD: All very true.
ADAM BLACKWELL: Yeah. And... that she genuinely believed with all her heart that you were gonna save the world one day. And that you had this incredible ability to let people see what they were actually capable of. Even when they... didn’t want to.
ANDREA SHEPHERD: Jesus Christ, Stirling... Gah, she always saves the best stuff for when you’re not around to stop her, you know.
ADAM BLACKWELL: Yeah, I know.
(They both laugh a bit.)
ANDREA SHEPHERD: She had lots to say about you as well.
ADAM BLACKWELL: Yeah? What did Amy Stirling have to say about me?
(A pause - Andrea takes a breath, and -)
ADAM BLACKWELL: Nah. You - you know what? Never mind. Let’s - let’s not get distracted. Do I have five minutes?
ANDREA SHEPHERD: ... five minutes is about all we have. They need it now if they’re going to operate.
ADAM BLACKWELL: Okay. I just... let me call my professor. He’s the world’s best expert on Harbinger linguistics. Let me just... make sure I’m not about to miss anything obvious.
ANDREA SHEPHERD: All right. Just... make it quick, please.
ADAM BLACKWELL: I will. I’ll be right there.
(The scene fades back to the lawyer’s office.)
ADAM BLACKWELL: You’ve been unusually quiet today.
CLAUDIA SKINNER: I’m just... shocked. I can’t believe you actually went along with this.
ADAM BLACKWELL: I know. Blame Andrea Fucking Shepherd. I think if it had been anyone else, I would have stuck to my original guns. (A pause.) It was an insane risk to take.
CLAUDIA SKINNER: What happened? After you got your last minute check from McCandless?
ADAM BLACKWELL: Well...
(The scene fades to a hospital operating room.)
NARRATOR: Sinclair University Hospital. Seven minutes later.
(A door opens. Two men walk in, carrying something.)
ANDREA SHEPHERD: Gentlemen - is that - ? Okay, good. Thank you. Bring it here, please.
(More footsteps, and an object is deposited. The men depart, shutting the door behind them.)
ADAM BLACKWELL: That’s it, then? In that container?
ANDREA SHEPHERD: That’s it.
(A pause.)
ADAM BLACKWELL: It’s smaller than I thought it’d be.
ANDREA SHEPHERD: Yeah. It’s tiny. (A pause.) You’re ready.
ADAM BLACKWELL: I... I think so, yeah.
ANDREA SHEPHERD: It wasn’t a question. You’re ready. You can do this, Adam.
ADAM BLACKWELL: ... thank you. (A pause.) All right. Everybody cross your fingers. Here we go.
ADAM BLACKWELL: Arola Grunlo Carela Sirin Airiria, Tellos Kronen Seldria Vorega -
(Around them, we start to hear a deep rumbling.)
ADAM BLACKWELL: - Trellia Fre-Frergora Dripel, Skargro Grinnel Ferengo Luska -
(Objects start to shake around them.)
ANDREA SHEPHERD: Adam? Is this - is this normal?
ADAM BLACKWELL: - Reskio Alaria Brendo Siskola Sherkora Herkiera Fel Verai Fel Veriai Brilgo -
(Metal bends. A lightbulb bursts, making Andrea let out a small yelp.)
ADAM BLACKWELL: - JIRGO LADENDRUM POLGRENK HARIA TRASKALICO IXPRACORA DUSHAKA -
(The rumbling, the shaking, the metallic sounds - they’re all getting more pronounced. Another lightbulb bursts over Andrea’s head.)
ANDREA SHEPHERD: ADAM! ADAM IS THIS - ?!
ADAM BLACKWELL: - KAR-KARISIA LERICO ERTRA... ERTRA SIL CONTRE - SIRIN LARIA TERO ENNERVENTIA!
(A magical woosh builds up… then, with a pop, the container disappears. All the sounds stop at once.)
(Adam and Andrea both let out quiet, overwhelmed breaths.)
ADAM BLACKWELL: Oh...okay. It’s... gone.
ANDREA SHEPHERD: Yeah. Are... are you okay?
ADAM BLACKWELL: Yeah, I... I think so. You all right?
ANDREA SHEPHERD: Yeah, just... just some glass in my hair, I think. (A pause.) Adam... what the fuck was that?
ADAM BLACKWELL: I... I don’t know. It had never been like that. I... I don’t know if the universe likes getting instructions that are... that are worded like that.
ANDREA SHEPHERD: Yeah. Maybe... maybe not.
(A pause. Then, Andrea’s phone vibrates with an incoming call. She picks it up at once.)
ANDREA SHEPHERD: Shepherd. (A pause.) Yeah? (A pause.) Confirmed, it’s there?
(Adam lets out a relieved breath.)
ANDREA SHEPHERD: Yeah, yeah? And it’s in - it’s in good condition? In one piece? It is? Good. Good.
(Adam collapses onto the floor, going limp with relief.)
ADAM BLACKWELL: Oh my god.
ANDREA SHEPHERD: Okay, great. Thank you. Now go finish the job. Bye.
(She hangs up.)
ANDREA SHEPHERD: You did it, man.
ADAM BLACKWELL: Oh my god... don’t - don’t mind me, I’m just gonna... pass out for a little bit here, all right? (He laughs a bit.) You are... very, very, very welcome.
(Both Adam and Andrea let out a very relieved burst of laughter.)
(The scene fades back to the lawyer’s office.)
ADAM BLACKWELL: And that was pretty much it. The spell worked, the heart made it to Hokkaido. The doctors performed the transplant, and five hours later Kris Middendorf had a new heart. Three months later, he finished shooting his part for Cypher Rose Two.
CLAUDIA SKINNER: And you had a solution for your organic and your long-distance problems. The Most Powerful Man in the World gets more powerful. Why did your spell react that way? Make the room shake, break things?
ADAM BLACKWELL: Yeah, that... unnerved me. At the time I figured it had something to do with the length of the spell. The was... easily six or seven times longer than anything I’d ever tried before. I thought it might be like... leaving an open paren for too long. At a certain point, the person that’s taking dictation starts wanting you to wrap it up already.
CLAUDIA SKINNER: A parenthesis? Or... a door? (A long pause.) So... then what?
ADAM BLACKWELL: Then... that was it. Ms. Shepherd and I shook hands and I went back to the university. I made her promise that absolutely no one would know of my involvement in what happened that day. But she’s her. So, naturally, by the next day...
(The scene fades to Adam’s usual classroom at Sinclair University. Adam opens the door, enters, and - )
ADAM BLACKWELL: Good morning, everybody, let’s get - whoa!
(The whole room just burst into applause and cheering.)
ADAM BLACKWELL: Okay, okay, thank you everyone -
(More applause and cheering. Some students seem to be banging on their desks.)
ADAM BLACKWELL: Right, okay, that’s more than enough, let’s -
(The ovation just goes on and on…)
ADAM BLACKWELL: Oh god...
(The applause keeps going. The scene fades back to the lawyer’s office.)
ADAM BLACKWELL: That was the moment something broke. I... I’d gotten involved now. I couldn’t just hide at the university anymore. The Most Powerful Man in the World had used his powers to change the course of a man’s life. I was on the game board now. Whether I realized it or not.
CLAUDIA SKINNER: God...
ADAM BLACKWELL: What?
CLAUDIA SKINNER: I swear to god... I sometimes think that you are so set on digging your own grave.
ADAM BLACKWELL: That’s not -
CLAUDIA SKINNER: You saved a man’s life. You took a man who was going to die a stupid, pointless, young death and you spared him from that. There are so few things in life that are an absolute good, and you did one of them. Can you not let yourself enjoy it?
ADAM BLACKWELL: It’s... it’s just hard. With everything that happened afterwards.
CLAUDIA SKINNER: Anything else? Anything else I need to know about that day?
ADAM BLACKWELL: I... I don’t think so. (A pause.) No. That’s... that’s all there is to it.
(A pause, then the scene fades back to the hospital classroom.)
NARRATOR: Sinclair University Hospital. April, 2028. Eight minutes before the teleportation.
ADAM BLACKWELL: Do I have five minutes?
ANDREA SHEPHERD: ... five minutes is about all we have. They need it now if they’re going to operate.
ADAM BLACKWELL: Okay. I just... let me call my professor. He’s the world’s best expert on Harbinger linguistics. Let me just... make sure I’m not about to miss anything obvious.
ANDREA SHEPHERD: All right. Just... make it quick, please.
ADAM BLACKWELL: I will. I’ll be right there.
(Andrea gets up, walks across the room, opens the door and exits.)
ADAM BLACKWELL: All right...
(Adam pulls out his phone, hits the screen a few times. We hear the call tone a few times, then -)
JULIAN MCCANDLESS: (through the phone) You’ve reached Julian McCandless. Please leave your message at the sound of the tone.
ADAM BLACKWELL: No, no, no...
(Adam tries again. The same call tone…)
ADAM BLACKWELL: Do not do this to me right now, Julian, please...
JULIAN MCCANDLESS: You’ve reached Julian McCandless. Please leave your message -
ADAM BLACKWELL: Fuck!
(He tries again. A few more call tones, then -)
JULIAN MCCANDLESS: You’ve reached Julian McCandless. Please leave your -
ADAM BLACKWELL: Fuck, fuck!
(He hangs up. Mutters some anxious mumblings beneath his breath. Exhales.)
ADAM BLACKWELL: Okay, okay, okay…
(He hits the screen again. Once again, a few call tones, then - )
AMY STIRLING: (through phone) Well, well, well... If this is a prank call, you, sir, are a little late.
ADAM BLACKWELL: Amy, I -
AMY STIRLING: April Fools’ was three days ago. But I suppose that may be part of getting me to let my guard down for -
ADAM BLACKWELL: Amy. Listen... I need help. I need help with something important.
(A small pause.)
AMY STIRLING: What do you need?
ADAM BLACKWELL: Heart. In the Language of the Stars. What is it?
AMY STIRLING: Ennerventia.
ADAM BLACKWELL: Ennerventia? You’re sure?
AMY STIRLING: Positive.
ADAM BLACKWELL: How sure?
AMY STIRLING: A hundred percent. Trust me.
(A pause.)
ADAM BLACKWELL: Okay. Okay... thank you, Amy.
AMY STIRLING: Yeah, don’t... don’t mention it.
ADAM BLACKWELL: No, really. Thanks. I... I need to go... do a thing. But... really. You’re a life-saver.
AMY STIRLING: Anytime, Adam.
(Adam hangs up the call.)
ADAM BLACKWELL: Thank you, Amy.
(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 Christmas Day for Episode 8, "Both Sides Now" 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, and Sabrina Odigie as Andrea Shepherd. 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 December 11th, 1998, the landmark Phillips vs. Youth Leaders of New York case is decided by the state supreme court. The liberal victory is largely credited to the work done by Arthur Phillips’s lead attorney, Jordan Skinner.