THE HARBINGERS
EPISODE 21: Scream Drive Faster
Transcript
TEASER
(We hear the rush of wind and the roar of an airplane engine. There’s a beep from a communications console.)
ATC: Kilo Alpha Foxtrot five-niner, this is SHAKA OPS.
SOO-JIN CHOI: Kilo Alpha Foxtrot, roger.
(We hear the characters speaking through a radio system.)
ATC: Still seeing cumulonimbus build-up on your route, about a hundred and fifty miles out. Please adjust to flight level seven-one-zero.
SOO-JIN CHOI: Wilco, SHAKA OPS, adjusting to seven-one-zero. Over and out.
(The plane’s engine gets louder as it rises.)
NARRATOR: ROKAF F-15 Slam Eagle. Fifty-five thousand feet over the Pacific and climbing. July Eighth, 2029.
SOO-JIN CHOI: How are you doing back there, Miss Stirling?
AMY STIRLING: I’m - I’m fine, Captain Choi. You know, when you said you had an open seat on your plane this is... this is not what I had in mind.
SOO-JIN CHOI: Flights were grounded out of Hong Kong. You needed to get back to the States. And I had some time before my next deployment. I’m happy to help out.
AMY STIRLING: And I appreciate that but… why are you not grounded?
SOO-JIN CHOI: Because it’s been a long time since I’ve flown commercial. This is an F-15. It’s all-weather fighter. Nothing stops it.
AMY STIRLING: And - just to be really clear - it’s okay that I’m here in the cockpit? Because - because the controls are right there.
SOO-JIN CHOI: It’s fine, Miss Stirling. I’m completely in control of what the airplane does.
AMY STIRLING: Okay.
SOO-JIN CHOI: All the controls back there are just for the weapons systems.
AMY STIRLING: Okay.
SOO-JIN CHOI: Don’t worry - if you manage to bomb something, I’ll be very impressed. You’re very lucky, you know.
AMY STIRLING: Because I might bomb something?
SOO-JIN CHOI: Because of what you’re about to see.
AMY STIRLING: Wait, what am I about... oh my holy shit.
SOO-JIN CHOI: That sounds about right.
AMY STIRLING: What - just happened to the sky?
(The plane’s engine levels off.)
SOO-JIN CHOI: What happened to the sky is that... well, most planes you’ve been on fly between thirty thousand and forty thousand feet. I fly at seventy thousand. You’re looking at what they call the “Edge of Space.” Where the Earth’s sky goes away and you can see the curvature of the Earth.
AMY STIRLING: Holy fuck...
SOO-JIN CHOI: Aren’t you glad you didn’t just wait for the weather to clear up?
AMY STIRLING: This is... normal for you? This is a regular day at the office?
SOO-JIN CHOI: No, it’s not. Normally I’d be going much faster.
AMY STIRLING: What?
SOO-JIN CHOI: On this kind of plane? Normally I’d take it up to Mach two, two-five. But I’ve got a newbie in the back seat, so I’m taking it easy.
AMY STIRLING: Right... so how fast could you go? If you wanted to?
SOO-JIN CHOI: I could go fast.
AMY STIRLING: And... what would happen to me? Like, would it be dangerous? Would I pass out from the g-force or whatever?
SOO-JIN CHOI: Dangerous? No... not if you’ve got a good pilot. It might just be a little...
AMY STIRLING: What?
SOO-JIN CHOI: Overwhelming. For someone who hasn’t done it before.
(A small pause.)
AMY STIRLING: Try me. Show me what you can do.
SOO-JIN CHOI: All right... hold on tight.
(Captain Choi makes some adjustments and the plane’s engine roars into high gear. The scene fades away as we go into our opening titles music.)
ANNOUNCER: Audacious Machine Creative Presents: The Harbingers. Created by Gabriel Urbina. Episode 21: “Scream Drive Faster.”
ACT ONE
(The sounds of the meeting room on the navy ship. A door opens and Skinner enters.)
CLAUDIA SKINNER: Good morning, Miss Stirling. You’re up bright and early.
AMY STIRLING: Ehh, I’ve never slept much, especially when I have to worry about where the fuck did you get that?
(Skinner holds up a newspaper.)
CLAUDIA SKINNER: Mr. Musa had a stack brought in this morning. It’s today’s.
AMY STIRLING: Wow. A physical newspaper. The things you miss while you’re stuck on a navy boat. Can I have it when you’re done with it?
(Skinner slides the newspaper across the table to Amy.)
AMY STIRLING: Wait, really?
CLAUDIA SKINNER: I gave it a good scan while I had... what we will generously call breakfast an hour ago. Take it.
AMY STIRLING: Oh, amazing. Thank you.
(Amy flips through the newspaper. After a few moments:)
CLAUDIA SKINNER: Twenty-nine, in case you were wondering.
AMY STIRLING:Hmm?
CLAUDIA SKINNER: Twenty-nine percent. The latest poll. “If the election were today, who are you voting for?” Twenty-nine percent are voting for the president. Walker’s at thirty-four percent.
AMY STIRLING: Oh.
CLAUDIA SKINNER: Eighteen undecided. Seventeen weeks before the election. Could be worse, but... yeah.
(A pause.)
AMY STIRLING: For the record, I was actually checking to see if you’d done the crossword or not.
CLAUDIA SKINNER: Ahh. Apologies. But no, I haven’t.
AMY STIRLING: Well, there’s a bit of good news.
CLAUDIA SKINNER: Are you... worried at all? About November?
(Amy scoffs.)
AMY STIRLING: What, am I worried about the most decent president we’ve had in my lifetime possibly getting defeated in her rematch against the most xenophobic one since Calvin Fucking Coolidge? The one that has beef with me personally? Nah, it’s fine.
CLAUDIA SKINNER: You’re not getting nearly as involved as you did last time.
AMY STIRLING: Yeah, well... the last time that I got involved -
CLAUDIA SKINNER: - people started shooting at you?
AMY STIRLING: ... a lot of people got hurt. Is what I was going to say. You know what I was reading about last night? While I wasn’t sleeping? The Iranian Hostage Crisis.
CLAUDIA SKINNER: No wonder you couldn’t sleep.
AMY STIRLING: Carter and his administration dealt with that nightmare for fourteen months... and then the hostages got released minutes after Ronald Reagan was inaugurated as president. In more than a few people’s minds, it became his first great achievement. I don’t know if I can change twenty-nine percent. I don’t know if I should. But... I’ll be hanged if the first thing that happens in Walker Two is the people on those planes coming home from Atlantis.
CLAUDIA SKINNER: And if they came home before then... that might be just the thing to swing some numbers in the right direction? Well, let’s get started, then. Adam’s given me a good overview of our adversary before she got the ability to bat gravity around like a ball of yarn. Now... I’d like to talk about the inflection point. I’d love to get your perspective on... October Fifth. I’d -
AMY STIRLING: Ahh. You want to talk about the shit-show around Hailey Davenport.
(The scene fades to an office.)
SOO-JIN CHOI: Who exactly is Hailey Davenport?
AMY STIRLING: The White House. Chief of Staff’s Office. September fourteenth, 2029.
JOSEPH MUSA: She’s a reporter, Captain Choi.
AMY STIRLING: She’s not, though.
JOSEPH MUSA: She is.
AMY STIRLING: She’s an anarchist. The kind that gives anarchy a bad name.
SOO-JIN CHOI: Do you two need a moment?
JOSEPH MUSA: No, Captain Choi, we’re fine.
AMY STIRLING: Hailey Davenport is a tabloid writer, from... Kent or something. She got famous real fast because when the Doomscroller leaks started happening, she was one of the first to print them. Before anything was verified.
JOSEPH MUSA: Hey, it all ended up being true.
AMY STIRLING: She got lucky, Joe, on a huge gamble, all on the basis of “tee-hee, let’s maybe take a huge shit on people’s lives, it’ll be fun.”
JOSEPH MUSA: She’s not in the tabloids anymore. She got scooped up by WNS.
AMY STIRLING: Which I have feelings about...
SOO-JIN CHOI: Excuse me, but is there a part of any of this which... matters?
JOSEPH MUSA: Yes, thank you, Captain Choi. The joint interview we’ve been talking about. She’ll be conducting it.
AMY STIRLING: No, that’s - there has to be a better choice.
JOSEPH MUSA: It’s WNS’s choice, Amy. We’re asking for a prime time slot and trying to get it simul-cast on the networks. If they wanted Zendaya to do it, we’d say, “You got it.”
AMY STIRLING: Can we get Zendaya to do it? I’d be super down for Zendaya to do it.
JOSEPH MUSA: Hailey Davenport brings in the ratings, so we’re gonna play ball. You’re gonna play ball.
(Amy makes some angry, rumbling noises under her breath.)
AMY STIRLING: And just... why do we need to do this, why is this happening?
JOSEPH MUSA: Are you kidding? Here, let’s see what’s playing on ANM right now...
(He uses a remote control to turn on a TV.)
CHRIS WATTS: - oining us for this special editorial report. Magic in the world today: could it be a dangerous threat to the foundation of American democracy? In this thirteen part series, we will -
(Joseph clicks the remote control again, turning the TV off.)
AMY STIRLING: What, did you know that was going to be playing right then?
JOSEPH MUSA: No, it just worked out amazingly well. Look, Walker’s machinery is working overtime to make the four of you into the world’s newest boogeyman. We need something that defangs you a bit. That shows you’re...
AMY STIRLING: Cuddly?
JOSEPH MUSA: Human.
SOO-JIN CHOI: My Command’s on board with this?
JOSEPH MUSA: Seoul sees our point, Captain Choi. You’ve terrified your adversaries, now let’s get the rest of the world to sympathize with you. You’ll be getting some instructions from them directly.
SOO-JIN CHOI: Fine. Let’s get this over with.
JOSEPH MUSA: See, Amy, why can’t it be that easy with you?
AMY STIRLING: Oh how you wish. What about Adam? What about Damián?
JOSEPH MUSA: Adam is not particularly well-known for his diplomatic finesse. And dealing with Damián starts with the church and ends with a new age sermon. We’re trying to put our best feet forward here.
AMY STIRLING: And the vague feeling that I’m getting here that you’re just relying on the ladies to fix your PR problem, Joe?
JOSEPH MUSA: Suppress it. Don’t worry, Amy, you’re gonna do great.
(The scene fades back to the meeting room in the navy ship.)
CLAUDIA SKINNER: The great Amy Stirling, scared of a reporter. I never thought I’d live to see the day.
AMY STIRLING: That’s not it, exactly, it’s...
(A long pause.)
CLAUDIA SKINNER: Yes?
AMY STIRLING: Look, Davenport’s made a name for herself on exactly one thing: burning it all down. Now we were being told to please go score brownie points by being interviewed with her and coming across as likable. It... didn’t really compute.
CLAUDIA SKINNER: Why’d you agree to it?
AMY STIRLING: I don’t know. My friend who was the president asked me to. It’s hard to say no to your friend when they’re the president. And they were right. Walker had gotten started. Andie was the magician president, and he was turning that into a bad thing. And... it was early days. It was her first year. We all thought we had time. More fool us, I guess.
(The scene fades to a room in a TV studio.)
NARRATOR: WNS Studios. New York City. September twentieth, 2029.
(A clock ticks. There’s a long, uncomfortable pause.)
SOO-JIN CHOI: Is it normal here for an reporter to be this late to an interview?
AMY STIRLING: It is not normal here, no.
(Another long pause… then both Amy and Captain Choi burst into laughter.)
AMY STIRLING: Sorry, it’s just -
SOO-JIN CHOI: It’s all right.
AMY STIRLING: I can control people’s minds, you can make anything that annoys you not exist anymore, and here we are, waiting on a tabloid hack that’s almost an hour late.
SOO-JIN CHOI: In Qin China, unpunctuality among military officers was punished by death, no matter the reason for the delay. Truly, our most enlightened days are behind us.
AMY STIRLING: Where have you been all my life, Captain Choi?
SOO-JIN CHOI: Busan.
(They both chuckle a bit.)
AMY STIRLING: You’re really okay with this? Going through this three-ring circus just because your masters ordered you to?
SOO-JIN CHOI: Not masters. My superiors.
AMY STIRLING: What’s the difference?
SOO-JIN CHOI: A master has taken power. A superior has earned it.
AMY STIRLING: That’s deep, man.
SOO-JIN CHOI: I don’t like the military in spite of its structure. I like it because of it. I like that I can put my faith in the people around me. I like that my choices are made with people who have been where I am.
AMY STIRLING: I thought you liked it because they let you fly planes faster than the speed of sound.
SOO-JIN CHOI: I can like multiple things about it at the same time.
(Amy chuckles at that.)
AMY STIRLING: Nobody’s been where you are now, Captain Choi. Not in the ways that matter.
SOO-JIN CHOI: ... you have. And you’re doing this... what was it? Three ring circus? Aren’t you also listening to your superiors?
(Amy inhales, but a voice is approaching from outside the room.)
VOICE: ... going to be absolutely fine, don’t get your knickers in a twist.
(A door bursts open as Hailey Davenport enters the room.)
HAILEY DAVENPORT: Listen, darling, I’ve gotta get scarce, I’ve got the thing. But be good, do crime, say less, love ya. (She hangs up.) Easy, right. Here we are now, entertain us.
AMY STIRLING: Umm, hello. It’s nice to meet you, Miss - oooh!
(Hailey Davenport takes Amy’s hand and shakes it.)
HAILEY DAVENPORT: Amy Motherfucking Stirling. It’s a pleasure, it’s an honor, I was there when you did the thing, I didn’t sleep for three days, it was leg, whoever is doing your hair is absolute fire, kill them, canonize them, give them my number, have them call me post, yeah? Yeah?
AMY STIRLING: Thank you? I think?
HAILEY DAVENPORT: And you must be Captain Choi. The Captain. I love it, I love the whole entree. The jacket, the muscles, the jawline, the - Are you seeing those zygomatics? Is she for real with those? - are you having a laugh with those cheekbones? That’s the sharpest face I’ve ever seen, I’m gonna cut myself on that mug.
SOO-JIN CHOI: Do not touch me.
HAILEY DAVENPORT: I wouldn’t dream of it, love, but I am going to dream of it, if you know what I mean.
SOO-JIN CHOI: I do not have the slightest idea.
AMY STIRLING: Miss Davenport, why don’t we talk about this interview that we’re here - ?
HAILEY DAVENPORT: Okay, listen up babes, this little docey-do is going to be the very soul. We go out there, we sit down, the lights come up, we all look hot, the cameras go ping, I go blah blah blah, you go bleh bleh bleh, I go, “Oh that is right interesting that is,” you compliment me on my fit, I go, “But some people are scared,” you go, “Really why,” I go, “I dunno, you two seem lovely,” and someone yells cut and Bob’s your uncle, right?
SOO-JIN CHOI: I am not crazy, some of that was not in English, correct?
(Amy lets out a low, exasperated exhale.)
HAILEY DAVENPORT: Anything I’m forgetting, anything I need to know?
AMY STIRLING: I think you’re a reckless, amoral muckraker who has absolutely no journalistic ethics.
HAILEY DAVENPORT: Babe, please. You know I like it nasty, but buy a girl a drink before you...
(Davenport’s phone gives off the “ping!” of a notification.)
HAILEY DAVENPORT: ... huh. Interesting.
AMY STIRLING: Everything okay?
(Davenport starts to type out a text message. Her phone keeps getting new notifications through all of the following:)
HAILEY DAVENPORT: Yeah. Well, maybe. Uhhhm, no. We might have a bit of a Barney.
SOO-JIN CHOI: What?
HAILEY DAVENPORT: Here, I’ll show you what - hand me that changer.
Amy passes Hailey a remote control, which she uses to turn on a nearby TV. On the TV, we hear Zoe Halliday, a WNS reporter.)
ZOE HALLIDAY: - out of London. The demonstration seems to confirm her startling claim. A sixth ring of magic has been found, and it is in the hands of British-French industrialist Jacqueline Saint-Pierre.
AMY STIRLING: Oh fuck me.
HAILEY DAVENPORT: Took the words right out of my mouth, love. Call me mental, ladies, but I think we might be getting bumped.
(Hailey Davenport starts to make a call on her phone.)
AMY STIRLING: I... I need to make a phone call.
SOO-JIN CHOI: I need to get back to Seoul.
HAILEY DAVENPORT: Yeah, Patrice? I’m gonna need everything we’ve got on JSP, quick like. And be a doll and get yours an espresso? I got a feeling this is gonna be a long night.
(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 meeting room on the US Navy ship.)
CLAUDIA SKINNER: JSP made her public debut at 8:15 PM London time on September 20th.
AMY STIRLING: She called a press briefing, gathered up a hundred cameras, and then walked off the ledge of the fifty-fifth floor of the Shard. That’s one way to get people’s attention, I guess.
CLAUDIA SKINNER: Well, she learned from the best. She got up on a stage and went, “Hey look at what I can do.” You’re gonna sit there and tell me it doesn’t remind you of anything? Every time another one of these is found, the bar on what counts as a miracle goes up. Adam moved some rocks. You did magic on a New York stage. The Doomscroller found Jimmy Hoffa, Father Zanetti made fire rain down outside of Buenos Aires, Captain Choi disintegrated a battleship. With one exception, all of you have done something showy to announce your arrival.
AMY STIRLING: Yeah, well... it’s no wonder our interview got bumped. Who cares what we had to say? We were last month’s news. Haven’t you heard? There’s a woman who can fly.
CLAUDIA SKINNER: It got rescheduled quickly enough.
AMY STIRLING: Yeah. Two weeks later, we were back on. Except now Trash London Barbie was interviewing three of us.
CLAUDIA SKINNER: Had you ever met Saint-Pierre? Before that day? How were you feeling? Going into it?
AMY STIRLING: Honestly? Pretty nervous.
CLAUDIA SKINNER: Why?
AMY STIRLING: Oh, I don’t know. Maybe it’s because every time I have to interact with a billionaire, my life gets irreparably fucked up.
(The scene fades to a balcony garden in a tall New York building.)
NARRATOR: New York City, WNS Studios. Northern Balcony. October fifth, 2029.
(Amy paces back and forth, talking on the phone.)
AMY STIRLING: I don’t know, I just... I’ve got a bad feeling about this. I didn’t like this interview idea before, now that JSP’s involved... what are we even doing here?
(From the other end of the phone call:)
ADAM BLACKWELL: You’re doing exactly what you were trying to do before. Putting a human face on the whole magic phenomenon. Trying to show people they don’t need to be afraid of us.
AMY STIRLING: Yeah, I think that’s where the bad feeling’s coming from. I think maybe we should be afraid of Mademoiselle Saint-Pierre.
ADAM BLACKWELL: She’s just a woman, Amy, same as you and me. She puts on her Donatella Versace one leg at a time.
AMY STIRLING: Yeah, just a multi-billionaire near-autocrat to whom the law of gravity no longer applies. She’s basically Jackie from the block.
ADAM BLACKWELL: You know what I mean. Have you actually met her yet?
AMY STIRLING: No, not yet. A bunch of her people are here now, but not her. I think Davenport’s drawing it out so we don’t meet until the cameras are rolling.
ADAM BLACKWELL: I swear to god, that woman is twice the menace any of us will ever be.
AMY STIRLING: That what I keep telling Andie, but does anyone listen to me?
(They both chuckle a bit.)
AMY STIRLING: Seriously, though. You got any advice on how to deal with her? You’ve actually met her, you’re in business with the woman.
ADAM BLACKWELL: Yeah, don’t remind me… Don’t play her game. She’s probably gonna do something crazy just to get you off-balance. When she does, just... stay focused. Bring it back to what you were actually talking about.
AMY STIRLING: Adam, are you trying to very politely tell me not to over-react when the billionaire billionaires?
ADAM BLACKWELL: Just ignore every single instinct in your bones and you’ll be fine.
AMY STIRLING: Go away, go away fast. Hey, thanks. For picking up. I was... maybe getting close to spiraling for a second there.
ADAM BLACKWELL: What’s that thing your friend says?
AMY STIRLING: Which one? Oh.
ADAM BLACKWELL: Bring it on, Amy. You’ll do great.
AMY STIRLING: Thanks, Adam. I’ll talk to you later.
(Amy hangs up and takes a deep breath. There’s some footsteps as a man with an English accent approaches.)
MAN WITH AN ENGLISH ACCENT: Umm, hi, sorry, Amy.
AMY STIRLING: Hi, yeah, I’ll be in in just a moment, I’m just taking a -
MAN WITH AN ENGLISH ACCENT: No, Amy. Hi, it’s me.
(A pause as Amy finally looks at this man properly.)
AMY STIRLING: Ohmygod, Eddie.
EDDIE ROWBOTHAM: Yeah, it’s me.
AMY STIRLING: Oh holy - I’m such - sorry, I was way up in my own head, I didn’t -
EDDIE ROWBOTHAM: It’s all right, I get it.
AMY STIRLING: No, but - oh, come here.
(She gives him a hug.)
AMY STIRLING: How the hell are you? How’s everything?
EDDIE ROWBOTHAM: Oh fine, yeah. Can’t complain.
AMY STIRLING: Yeah? Oh fuck, I never got back to you about that study you wanted to -
EDDIE ROWBOTHAM: It’s - it’s fine. Don’t give it another moment’s thought.
AMY STIRLING: Yeah, did you find someone to - ?
EDDIE ROWBOTHAM: Uhh, no, not... not really. That all kind of... fell through.
AMY STIRLING: Oh.
(An awkward pause.)
AMY STIRLING: Well, you, uh, you look great and - fuck, it’s so good to see you, man. I can’t believe you’re here. Oxford paid to bring you out for this?
EDDIE ROWBOTHAM: Uh, no, they didn’t. Primarily because... I’m not at Oxford anymore.
AMY STIRLING: Shut the fuck up. Really? I thought you were gonna be there until the next ice age.
EDDIE ROWBOTHAM: Eh, so did I, to be honest with you. But... well, things change.
AMY STIRLING: They sure fucking do. So where are you now? Cambridge, Leeds? Wait, did somebody bring you to this side of the Atlantic? Because if you are about to tell me that you’re at Sinclair now, I’m going to... to... What? What’s that...? (A pause.) Oh. Eddie, tell me you didn’t.
EDDIE ROWBOTHAM: I’m sorry, Amy.
AMY STIRLING: You’re working for Jacqueline Fucking Saint-Pierre? After the way her company gutted those funds and - and the way they demolished those sites in - weren’t you the one that told me that - what the fuck?!
EDDIE ROWBOTHAM: I know. I just... she needed a languages person. And she could pay... a hell of a lot more than Oxford ever would. And... I feel appreciated. Essential, actually. In a way I haven’t in a long time.
AMY STIRLING: That’s all it took? Bit of money and a pat on the head? I wouldn’t have thought you were that cheap.
EDDIE ROWBOTHAM: And here I was worried you were going to take it the wrong way.
AMY STIRLING: I just... wow. I can’t believe it.
(There’s a beep from Amy’s phone.)
AMY STIRLING: I... sorry, I gotta go. They need me for last checks.
EDDIE ROWBOTHAM: Sure. Uh, nice... catching up with you. Maybe we can get a drink afterward, if you have time.
AMY STIRLING: Yeah, uh, maybe.
(Amy starts to walk away.)
EDDIE ROWBOTHAM: I got tired.
(Amy stops.)
AMY STIRLING: What?
EDDIE ROWBOTHAM: I got tired of waiting. Of being on the outside, looking in. Maybe... maybe you can sympathize. At least a bit.
(A pause.)
AMY STIRLING: Yeah. I... I can. I’m sorry, Eddie.
EDDIE ROWBOTHAM: It’s all right. See you around, Amy.
(Amy keeps and the scene fades back to the meeting room on the ship.)
CLAUDIA SKINNER: Did you get to meet JSP? Before you went on the air?
AMY STIRLING: Just for a second on the set. “Hi, I’m so-and-so, nice to meet you, can I just - oop, no we need to be quiet now.” That sort of thing.
CLAUDIA SKINNER: And how the interview itself go?
AMY STIRLING: Oh, come on. It was WNS’s highest rated show of the fall season. Thirteen million people saw it live, and then the rest of the planet watched it on Youtube. You know exactly how it went.
CLAUDIA SKINNER: How’d it go from your perspective?
(Amy takes a deep breath.)
AMY STIRLING: It started fine. Hailey was saving JSP for last, since she knew that’s who everyone actually wanted to hear from. So she started with me.
(Music starts playing and we fade to the WNS Studio as we go into a montage sequence.)
HAILEY DAVENPORT: Miss Stirling, you do grasp why some people are alarmed, don’t you? It’s easy to feel like you’ve got an atom bomb on your finger.
AMY STIRLING: That’s a bad metaphor, Hailey. A bomb is destructive by it’s nature. It’s designed to explode, and sooner or later it will unless you take it apart. There’s nothing to make us believe that my ring, or what it lets me do, is inherently destructive.
AMY STIRLING: I did fine. Enough to soften the ground a bit, at least. Then, she asked Captain Choi some questions.
HAILEY DAVENPORT: Captain, you are a military agent, and you are using your magic as a military asset. Is it ethical to use magic as a form of warfare?
SOO-JIN CHOI: It is ethical to use magic to end unnecessary conflict.
HAILEY DAVENPORT: You reckon that’s what you’re doing?
SOO-JIN CHOI: A military only attacks an opponent it believes it can defeat. It is pointless to attack one that can destroy you. So instead, you seek a different solution to your disagreements. Magic takes away the point of conflict. It dispenses with the need for long, drawn-out conflicts.
HAILEY DAVENPORT: And those who ask why your lot should get to have this kind of armament?
SOO-JIN CHOI: Miss Davenport, a year ago our military had access to the Hyunmoo-5. Do you know of this device?
HAILEY DAVENPORT: Umm, sorry, I don’t - enlighten us, why don’t you?
SOO-JIN CHOI: It is a missile. Surface-to-surface. Most ballistic warheads are one ton or less. Hyunmoo-5’s is eight tons. It can do a lot of damage. But when we unveiled it in 2024, practically none of the people who are afraid of my magic had anything to say about it. Do you know why? I think it was because they understood what that missile was made to defend. A nation of democracy. Of human rights and equal justice. Of innovation and freedom. And, yes, most important of all: the home of Blackpink.
(A bit of laughter in the studio.)
SOO-JIN CHOI: I wish we lived in a world where these things didn’t need to be guarded by a military in order for them to survive. But we live in this world. And if you value them the way I do, you should rest easier at night because I have this ring on my hand.
(A bit of applause.)
AMY STIRLING: And then... after the second commercial break, it was time.
HAILEY DAVENPORT: Let’s bring our third guest into the mix. Jacqueline Saint-Pierre, the whole world is talking about you. Two weeks ago, you unveiled a ring that lets you manipulate gravity. That sounds like it could do a lot of damage. Why shouldn’t people be scared of what you can do with that sort of power?
JACQUELINE SAINT-PIERRE: Oh, I absolutely think they should be. It’d be ludicrous not to be.
HAILEY DAVENPORT: ... come again, love?
JACQUELINE SAINT-PIERRE: What I can do? It’s terrifying. It challenges every bit of our instincts, of our history, of our sense of order. It is scary. But just because something is scary, doesn’t mean we should turn away from what it could do for us... does it now?
HAILEY DAVENPORT: I... see. Well, in that case. Let’s go back a tick. Let me ask you:
AMY STIRLING: From that point on? It was the JSP show, brought to you with commercial interruption by Hailey Davenport.
JACQUELINE SAINT-PIERRE: Innovation is always scary. Technological advancement means breaking away from what came before. It is leaping without knowing where you will land. But these leaps have led to the greatest increases in living standards the world has ever seen.
AMY STIRLING: One - one second. I think there’s a difference between magic and technological development, and it -
JACQUELINE SAINT-PIERRE: Is there? Don’t you have a device on your hand, one that lets you effect outcomes you could never manage on your own? Isn’t that just a different kind of technology?
HAILEY DAVENPORT: It’s a good point, Miss Stirling, what’s the old saying? Any sufficiently advanced form of technology is indistinguishable from magic?
AMY STIRLING: No, but there’s -
HAILEY DAVENPORT: Actually, I’m going to let Miss Saint-Pierre finish the point she was making. Miss Saint-Pierre?
JACQUELINE SAINT-PIERRE: Thank you, Hailey.
AMY STIRLING: She went on. And on.
JACQUELINE SAINT-PIERRE: Furthermore, I believe Captain Choi is onto something. Overwhelming weapons do guarantee a kind of peace. The arrival of nuclear arsenals brought with it a period where open war between major powers was remarkably scarce.
SOO-JIN CHOI: One moment, that is not exactly -
JACQUELINE SAINT-PIERRE: They used to call it “Mutually Assured Destruction,” back in the Twentieth Century. And it does work. It works splendidly.
SOO-JIN CHOI: I think there’s a difference betw-
JACQUELINE SAINT-PIERRE: But don’t kid yourself. It doesn’t work because a powerful opposition makes you stop to reflect upon your choices. It works because facing a weapon that could end the world - the way that you could, if I understand matters correctly, end the world with a snap of your fingers - is scary. It works because of the fear.
CLAUDIA SKINNER: Did you try to... stop it? To argue against her?
AMY STIRLING: Oh, I tried to get in there so many times. But every time I tried...
AMY STIRLING: Can I respond to that, because - ?
HAILEY DAVENPORT: Actually, we need to go to a commercial break, but we’ll be right back.
AMY STIRLING: Or...
AMY STIRLING: Can I jump in for a moment? It’s -
HAILEY DAVENPORT: Sorry, Miss Stirling, we’ll come back to that, but first...
AMY STIRLING: Or best of all...
AMY STIRLING: Okay, as someone with an archeological background, I can -
HAILEY DAVENPORT: No, I -
AMY STIRLING: Oh come on -
HAILEY DAVENPORT: I want to move us onto another topic, because -
AMY STIRLING: - would you please let me get a fucking word in edgewise here?!
(A pause.)
AMY STIRLING: S-sorry. I didn’t mean to shout. Or to curse. It’s just - just...
JACQUELINE SAINT-PIERRE: Why haven’t you made her let you talk?
AMY STIRLING: What?
JACQUELINE SAINT-PIERRE: You can put thoughts into her head. You can control what she thinks. Why have you been letting her walk all over you all night?
AMY STIRLING: No, that’s - I don’t do that.
JACQUELINE SAINT-PIERRE: Why not?
AMY STIRLING: Because - because no. She hasn’t consented to it, she hasn’t come to one of my shows where she knows I’ll be using my magic on her, I’m not going to just force her to stop speaking because -
JACQUELINE SAINT-PIERRE: Your timidity is going to get people killed.
AMY STIRLING: ... excuse me?
JACQUELINE SAINT-PIERRE: Your timidity. Your rules. Your... it’s okay over here, but not over there. Miss Stirling, this matters. You’re trying to persuade the world to see things your way, to get a message out to help you, your cause, your country and your president if I’m not mistaken. Why are you not doing everything in your power to win this?
AMY STIRLING: Be...cause... Because... I, uh…
SOO-JIN CHOI: Because Amy Stirling doesn’t do things like that. Because changing minds is hard, but it is worth doing the right way.
JACQUELINE SAINT-PIERRE: Do you think so? I’m talking to all of you now. Out there, watching this broadcast. Do you think my two colleagues here are right? Or are they just... afraid? You know what’s scary? Going fast. It can be terrifying. But you know what’s worse? Getting hit by something you weren’t prepared for. Something that you could have been ready for if you’d started earlier. If you’d just gone a little faster. I see a lot of places where we’re not going fast enough. Where we’re not ready. Environmental studies. Medicine. Astronomy. Technological safeguards. Even infrastructure. Last year, I started building the first tower on an artificial island in the Atlantic. They told me it would take six years for the tower to be ready. Thanks to the powers my ring has given me, as of yesterday... it is finished. If there really are some lines you won’t cross, no matter what is at risk, well... I hope that turns out well for you. In the long run. But if you feel as I feel... that there are worse things to be than scared... I’ll be waiting for you. Thank you for having me, Miss Davenport. A lovely time.
(She stands up, unhooked her microphone - causing a bit of feedback squeal - and walks out of the room.)
(A small pause.)
HAILEY DAVENPORT: Captain Choi, any last thoughts?
SOO-JIN CHOI: 씨발.
HAILEY DAVENPORT: Yes, I think I know what you mean.
(The montage ends and the scene fades back to the US Navy ship.)
AMY STIRLING: And... that was it. She didn’t even wait for the broadcast to finish, she just... bounced. (A pause.) “Facing certain defeat.” Four letters, there’s a u in there.
CLAUDIA SKINNER: Excuse me?
AMY STIRLING: I started filling out the crossword while you were taking notes.
CLAUDIA SKINNER: Oh, I see…. Sunk.
(Amy lets out a mirthless chuckle at that.)
AMY STIRLING: Oh. Yeah. Sure.
(Amy starts to write it down on the crossword.)
AMY STIRLING: Miss Skinner, what are we waiting for? JSP’s out there snatching planes out of the sky, kidnapping people, and we’re just... sitting around. What are we waiting for? Why aren’t we trying to negotiate with her, or hit her, or - ?
CLAUDIA SKINNER: Because we don’t know what she wants.
AMY STIRLING: What are you - She wants Adam, she wants his ring. She’s said it about as clearly as she possibly could.
CLAUDIA SKINNER: You think so? In my experience, negotiation is about one thing: figuring out what your opponent actually wants before they figure out what you’re actually willing to give. Maybe all she wants is Adam. Or she just wants another piece of Harbinger magic in her little kingdom. But... Every part of my gut is saying no. Adam is so hard to get, doing this pisses off so many people, there’s other rings that would be easier to maneuver towards. No, this feels like it’s just a step towards... something. Something big, something imminent... something that she needs to get to as fast as humanly possible.
AMY STIRLING: Like what?
CLAUDIA SKINNER: ... I don’t know. Not yet. But it’s... something. And until I know what it is... we go over what we do know. What happened between the two of you?
AMY STIRLING: What, besides her going full mask-off with the psycho megalomania thing?
CLAUDIA SKINNER: No, not between you and JSP. Between you and Captain Choi.
AMY STIRLING: Oh...
CLAUDIA SKINNER: Those first few months after she got her ring, you saw a lot of each other. You did this interview, you had that first meeting with Adam, you did press, you attended big public events together. And then in 2030 it all kind of... stops. I’m just curious. What changed between the two of you?
AMY STIRLING: It... Nothing changed. Those first few months, it felt important that Captain Choi and I be seen together a lot. You know, projecting a sense of cooperation between her side and our side. It was the kind of thing that made people feel like the world wasn’t about to end. It felt like it was important to do. But then it was 2030, and a lot of things happened very quickly. I got shot, Number Seven came up, and oh yeah, Adam sent Boston to the moon. Suddenly... other stuff felt more important.
CLAUDIA SKINNER: That’s really all there is to it?
AMY STIRLING: That’s really all there is to it. Sorry to disappoint, but... much as I respect the Captain, she and I have never been that close.
(The scene fades to a luxurious apartment.)
NARRATOR: New York City. Amy’s apartment. Two and a half hours after the interview.
(A door swings open and Amy enters, carrying two bottles of wine.)
AMY STIRLING: Okay, it looks like I have another of the same red, or a bottle of white, a Grüner Veltliner. What do you think?
SOO-JIN CHOI: I think both, please.
AMY STIRLING: Good girl, I was hoping you’d say that.
(Amy opens one of the bottles of wine and starts pouring a glass.)
AMY STIRLING: What in the fuck happened today?
SOO-JIN CHOI: We got... I think the right word in English is “clobbered.”
AMY STIRLING: Yeah, I guess we did.
(There’s a notification beep from a cell phone.)
AMY STIRLING: Are the folks back in Seoul freaking out?
SOO-JIN CHOI: My superiors are starting to make their displeasure felt. I expect there will be much more of it in the next few days.
AMY STIRLING: God... Okay, so what now?
SOO-JIN CHOI: Now... we do this again. We go out there, and we do what we were supposed to do today, but we do it better. As many times as it takes.
AMY STIRLING: “Pick yourself up, dust yourself off, start all over again.” Oh, sorry, that’s - it’s from an old movie. It’d take too long to explain. Here.
(Amy hands Captain Choi a glass of wine.)
SOO-JIN CHOI: Thank you.
AMY STIRLING: But okay, I see what you’re saying. We lost the day, but... the war of ideas is still out there. How do we start to fight it, though?
SOO-JIN CHOI: I don’t know, Miss Stirling. It’s been a long day and this is only our second bottle. Give me some time, we’ll come up with something.
AMY STIRLING: All right, wait, can I just - ? Why do you still call me “Miss Stirling”?
SOO-JIN CHOI: You still call me “Captain Choi.”
AMY STIRLING: Yeah, but I’m getting it from you. It’d be weird for me to call you “Soo-Jin” while you’re still over there being all pomp-y and circumstance-y.
SOO-JIN CHOI: Pomp-y and -
AMY STIRLING: Doesn’t matter, don’t worry about it. But really: at what point do you start calling people by their first names? Do we need to get married or something?
SOO-JIN CHOI: That might be a bit of an extreme way to address the issue. (A pause.) It’s a matter of respect. A way of showing that I think of you as someone that deserves my admiration and my regard. And it’s... a reminder.
AMY STIRLING: A reminder of what?
SOO-JIN CHOI: Of who we are. Of the roles we play. Even though we are friends, I am also an officer in the military. You are a public figure that means a lot to your country. We do not always get to act purely in our self-interests. This is a good thing to remember... Miss Stirling.
AMY STIRLING: Well... as long as we are friends, I can work with.
SOO-JIN CHOI: Good. In that case... to winning the war of ideas with your friends. Cheers.
AMY STIRLING: Yeah, cheers.
(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 19th for Episode 22, "(En) El Septimo Dia." 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, Andrés Enriquez as Adam Blackwell, Emmy Bean as Claudia Skinner, Seoyoung Park as Captain Choi, André Teamer as Joseph Musa, Beth Eyre as Jacqueline Saint-Pierre, Emily Stride as Hailey Davenport, Tom Crowley as Eddie Rowbotham, and Pat King as Chris Watts. It also featured the voices of Peter Briceño Gertas and Jeffrey Nils Gardner. 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 5th, 1984, Princeton professor of linguistics Jeffrey Morgenstern appeared as a guest on the Tonight Show, following weeks of public criticism of Ronald Reagan. Professor Morgenstern came into conflict with Reagan over the president’s approval of a large oil pipeline that would cause significant environmental damage and destroy various sites of archeological interest in the Northern United States. His appearance on the show, along with the ongoing feud, would make the bookish university professor an icon of sorts among the American counterculture of the eighties.