(upbeat music) This episode is brought to you by Experian. Are you paying for subscriptions you don't use, but can't find the time or energy to cancel them? Experian could cancel unwanted subscriptions for you, saving you an average of $270 per year, and plenty of time. Download the Experian app. Results will vary, not all subscriptions are eligible. Savings are not guaranteed. Paid membership with connected payment account required. (upbeat music) It's Wednesday Wonders, science fiction and fantasy on the mutual audio network. The following audio drama is rated R and is recommended restricted for anyone under the age of 17. The following audio presentation may contain mature language, situations in violence, listener discretion is advised. (upbeat music) (beeping) (dramatic music) (dramatic music) (dramatic music) (dramatic music) (dramatic music) (dramatic music) (dramatic music) (dramatic music) (dramatic music) Something just happened. (dramatic music) He's gone. - He disconnected. - Garrett, all the clients are gone. All of them. - I don't know if that's really good news or bad news. Probably bad. I wonder if you woke up. - Wonder. - Wonder after waking up yourself. - You must wake up. You are listening to "Eat It Zero" and by us, the science fiction audio drama series, starring Robert Cudmore, James Keller, Julie Hoverson, Bill Rossi, Tanya Milloyevich, Russell Gold, Fiona Thrale, Chris Barnes, David Collins Rivera, Michael Hudson, Owen McEwen, Bill Walsh, and creator, Jeff Kincaid. - Capital city. - I hear a manager. They're too large to leave the central chamber where they're being spawned. - One thing we got going for us, those nightmares with teeth don't have that problem. - It's creating so many that it has to be running out of room in there. - The entities aren't physical at first. - I remember now. - They keep traveling until they find a place to materialize. - The exit, we're almost there. - Yeah, and then this is gonna spill out afterwards, like a first thing, bite from hell itself. We make a beeline to Harvey as soon as we cry. - Now would be a good time for some of that overkill. Blocking them off would be great. - It sounds like it's already collapsing. - I'll help with that. Everyone, keep running. Get out to safety. - Cora, what about you? - Go. I'll be right behind you. They will not. Terminated. (tense music) - Above North Island. - Everything is ripping apart, built is the land, the ground itself. Everything in everyone in a wave of destruction. My God, look at it. - You can do the looking. I'm not. I'm keeping these eyes right on this screen here. Right here. I'm not looking behind us. I'm not looking behind us. That's not happening. Not happening. - Gemini, look, Gemini. - Nobody look. - Gemini's ahead. Keep your damn eyes off it. - And we won't know when we're about to die. - Knowing doesn't give us any control over better off not knowing when we can't get this damn thing to move any faster. And don't be fucking tailing. - Who are the humans? Why haven't they stopped this? - That's another thing that may be better off not knowing. - As long as it doesn't speed up, it won't catch up to us. - We've gotten ahead of it more because of the crash to the client system. But we may not be for long because there's a hurricane of new entities being spawned. I've never seen anything like it. Maybe we can do something more from Dolos' station. - Don't go messing with things you don't understand and making things worse. We can't afford any of our ye and little faith in climate. - That's a spoon line. Take whatever ricks from him you want except the dangerous, reckless ones. - Yeah, not those. We've got no fucking wiggling for that with a whirl blowing apart behind us. - The ambassadors gave Dolos access to the embassy systems. - And field transmission channels apparently. - Oops, how'd I do that? Holographic keys, I hate Hologu. - Cut over it quickly. - The ambassadors also adjusted our course to capital city. Why would they do that? - There's no they anymore. There's one ambassador left. - Goodbye for a second. Did you hear that? They were talking about Agent Garret. Oh, the captain. - What about him? - I didn't. We think of that. That must be where the captain is with Garret. He's probably delivering his Hologuys in his head right now. That's where he is. - Hang on. - I thought you said that Nick was in custody. - That was my understanding. - Then why are they waiting on his arrival? - Did he not have him? Is he still over there? - Okay, this says that he's in transit with you dash three. Unit three, it must be to you three. - But there's something extra here. There's some associated process. Hang on. Hang on. - What do you mean by process? - What does ARV stand for? - Armoured recovery vehicle. - B-A-T-T, battalion bottle aircraft. - The bat, B-A-T-T, armored tactical transport. - A hovercraft that if I has tactical uses, some of the units, like seven, three, and-- - Jim, come here, look at this. - I'm not sure what I'm looking at. - If I'm parsing this right, it's in an automated flight program. - I'm disabled. Why would they disable communication? - They disabled a lot more than that. - What is its destination? - I have a vector, hang on. That would be Eastergate in Southern North Island. - What's an Eastergate? Why so far? There's nothing in Eastergate. - Unless I'm getting my location wrong. - That sounds right. There's a hanger and a small airfield there. Is it still hidden there? - It used to be a VEO site, and then the Ilic one began using it for operations. That's where the rest of my FIS unit was initiated into the industry. - The craft, the Eastergate, is still going there. - Yes. - That's a problem. - There's not gonna be a damn Eastergate soon. - Why is it North Island goes first? - It's not playing favorites, it's closing in from all directions. - My God, all the people in must still be down there. - Unit three doesn't have manual control. Then they needed to turn that thing around, back toward the mainland. - I don't see how to do that, but we can warn them. I switched the combat gun. - When it's something, do they talk you? - He's the fake. - Well, I, yeah. - I never really, it's bad for you. Say it never, it's best to keep your options open. - Bye. - You hear me? You're popping, you're popping, you're popping. - Ooh. - Shao. - Shao. - Zern, let's agent Zern. Wake up, you fiend. - Wake up. - Ha ha ha ha ha ha. - They actually needed to make me learn. - Zern. - In the underground, please leave, respond now. - What's he doing here? - You figure out how to give you back to the actual operation. You have to abort and turn back to the mainland. - Do not respond. - You can support it. - Hello, agent Zern. Though I know you're not really Zern because this is a dream, but I'll play along. - No, no, no. You're awake now. - Agent Garab, why are you answering the radio? - There's no one else. Also, this is my dream. Though, to be honest, I really am wondering why my subconscious chose to bring you in as a projection. What do you represent? - I don't know why you think you're dreaming, but you're not. - The view I'm seeing through the windscreen suggests otherwise. It is definitely the stuff of nightmares. It's elaborate. Yep, this is a dream. It does look pretty cool, though. - That's real. The real world. - Oh. - Our world. - Wow. We're all in deep shit, aren't we? - Why is it you on the radio? - I told you, there's no one else here. Everybody else is dead. Radik is dead. A lot happened. - Did I hear you right? The dead? John Radik? - Completely, and there's nothing I can do about it. Now, let me throw that early question back to you. Why is it you on the radio instead of UC Resnick? - Capital city. (footsteps) - Where's Cora? And where's our ride? - Our transport. Where did it go? - Corby was supposed to be here. You need to evac now. Outside the central port. Now. - UC Resnick, where is she? She's not here. - She collapsed the corridor. I don't think she made it out. Oh my God, she may have trapped herself in there. - Or worse. Shit. And we've got more coming out here. (dramatic music) - Holy hell, hot damn. You knocked him right out of the ballpark. - Physics must be changing. - Now, I figured out how to up the intensity. - Here you go! (dramatic music) - Cora, this Cora. - She's here now. (dramatic music) - Derminate it. - A female ambassador. My hard times have changed. - Hold your fire. - Hold your fire. - He's with us. - Don't do that. You might damage my talismans, not to mention the coat. It's tattered enough, the only good one I have left. (dramatic music) - Everything on the world grid is being systematically destroyed from the edge of the intervectal origin, the center of the mainland. There has to be some way to do a manual override from the control panel. - Wow, you're talking like a crypto punk. Did you get the same recruitment speech I did? - What the hell are you talking about now? - Probably not. Remember though, if you join the shadow group, it's the same deal as when you joined our investigative unit. You'll always be the adopted one. - You'll always be the problem child. Will you please be serious for two seconds? - Why is everyone constantly accusing me of not being serious? And the problem child in that group? - Hmm, I would have had a lot of competition there. - We're trying to find a way to give you back control, but if you stay on the heading you are now, you're going to fly right into the destruction. - Make sure the captain stays with him, directly on top of him. - What? - How is that going to help them? - I have bad news about the captain. His quantum was on the verge of dying from gunshot wounds, and I had to leave it behind in capital city. I left it in a safe place though. Not to worry. - It's not there anymore. We recovered it, but then we lost it. His body is gone. - Not in a safe place now. Good job. - Your base, the shadow group base was destroyed. - Captain? - It is true. I am no longer bound to it. - The quantum is gone. - I'm sorry to hear that. It is gone from the world. - You can live in my head for a while until you're on your feet again, or somebody's feet, but only as a temporary guest. You'll be expected to clean up after you. - Make sure the captain keeps inhabiting you. We're going to try something. - Spoon put a tractor on both the captain's entities. MC Quantum was his body. Mad cap is his actual entity. - I would ask if you're sure this is going to work, but I'm afraid to know the answer. - You'll have to account for us moving. - More than that, we're both moving. - You could miss him. All you could teleport him behind us and we'll have him falling out of the sky. - Vector bath time, I can do this. - The big box is going to tank from all these overflows. - There's dozens of entities spawning every second. My unit must be right in the middle of it. - Capital city, spool. - Won't you hit? - Did you get the drive? - Do you have the access? Greever, does it, does Greever still-- - Greever is disarmed. Van Rij is clearly not as he has the artifact. - He doesn't have it, but it's still spawning entities like crazy-- - Who has it? - No one. He dropped it. - On purpose as a diversion, he wouldn't waste. - By accident. - Rewind, if it's not in anyone's hands, then how is it still active? - He triggered a powerful corruption event to cover his tracks, and the artifact was caught in it. - What kind of event? - I don't know, does it matter? - It absolutely doesn't that this-- - The type of corruption voodoo matters, and right now it is down there an entity spawned central. - Nobody's getting anywhere near it. - Where is Van Rij? - Remove him and the Hexgate entities should-- - We don't know where he is. - You don't know? - No, we do not. We do not know, but we will find him. - Okay, he escaped, but he couldn't have gone far, not without teleportation. - Between the five of you, you let him get away. - There wasn't much of a choice. The artifact was spitting out entities like a machine gun. - It's going to crash everything. - The world is crashing. - It will crash faster. - Carrot. You don't even care that you're going to die. You wouldn't make it very long without me, would you? - This should be interesting. - What the devil are they doing? - Hey guys, you didn't mention what you guys were going to try, but whatever it is, you might want to speed that up. - You need to hold on. - No pressure or anything, but I get the sense that I'm going to die soon. And I'm almost certain that I was meant to die alone and that the captain is going to die with me kind of messes that up. - You go, I go. - The gods might become very angry about that. I am not really okay with that either. If my opinion makes any difference, I could get figuring out the controls another go. I do have a few new ideas how I might get them working. - Don't touch the controls. Leave them alone. Don't do anything that can change your speed or altitude. - Okay, but that wave of annihilation you were talking about is the only thing I see through the windscreen here, which means we might be super close. - Alright. Ow! - God! - You did it! - Oh. - Score! - We almost ran out of time there. - We're still running out of time. - Is the captain with you? Does the teleport field also transport-- - I am here. - Yo! - Oh, you can't see me. - Yes, he's here. He just jumped into me. - We're on the sixth island, yet it's in the sky now. - No, the whole island. Just that's pop. - You convinced me that I wasn't dreaming anymore, but I think I'm gonna have to evaluate that again. (suspenseful music) - Number nine, why are you not responding? - It's over there! - Get out there! - Get out of here! - Move out of the way! - Got this. Skydome, Skydome, Skydome. Skydome, Skydome. - Can't keep this up. Where the hell is the vehicle? - It's coming! They moved earlier to deliver ops to another entry point before all hell broke this-- - Boo! - Boo! Number nine, where are you? - Good question. I would arrive once the amendment executes. - Yes, I grant you a license to telepathically broadcast on my frequency. Thank you ever so much for asking. How long we needed it sooner? Data streams, how bad. - Not a damn moment too soon. The opposite of too soon. - Blindest and complex has been destroyed. The hell, and all the interfaces with-- - Oh, well, not only the embassy I presume. - You presume, correct. (grunting) - Number nine, where are you? - Is there a damn volcano in the mainland? - There is now, but it's not going to be lava gushing out, it's going to be something far uglier. - Number nine is communicating with you? - He stopped responding to my transmissions. - That's because London isn't there anymore. - Not there? - Not. I don't know where he is, but he's coming. - We must get off the streets. - Everybody to Harvey, come on! - Go, go, hurry! - It's now or never, I'll cover you. - Eat it zero, we'll attempt to pack up in five seconds. - Goodbye, love. - Come on, come on! - How do you hold the ball? - We're still here, we're still here! - There's too many of them. - No, it's not here right now, we gotta go. - Dammit, what was that? - I think that was number nine, it still is. He'll be back, if he didn't throw a clear off the grid. - We'll cover you, go! He's at you right now! - I insist. - Have you both got this? Good, I have to find Van Rich. - There's not enough time! - This time, no, next time, maybe. - What? - Capital City, two blocks away, building rooftop. - How am I going to be able to find you in all this? - Where would you go? - Where? - Wow, so now we're counting on robots restoring habitability to the medical wing and the admins being woken up to save us. - That's the theory. - We have been waiting for a while now. - That theory is not going too well. - No, we noticed! - It's slowing down. We're farther away from this, is it pulling back? - All the entities and processes being destroyed and all the new ones being created by the artifact may have reached an equilibrium, but it won't stabilize for long. - We're coming up in the mean land now. That's hard right here. We're running out of time. - And space. - We're coming up on a war zone, and my unit is down there. - And I see a part. - Why couldn't the creators of Flux Bar Nine have been in a nice family game instead of this? - Artists. Damn torture to artists. - Ah, metaphors. - Gotta love 'em. - Those metaphors are about to murder our friends. - Metaphors. - Game developers aren't that deep. - Take that back, jam. - Gage, let me use the radio like we did before. - Former game designer, I resent that you're down playing the deep social significance of the first person shoot. - Age, radio. - Where are you taking that? An outlet for the frustration and anger of those crushed by oppressive systems. - Badly. - Gentlemen. - And that for once, they get a chance to triumph. Who cares? - Nice. Guys, is this the time for this debate? - Thank you. - A hero against all odds. One person against a thousand demons. (dramatic music) - God, you shall never become brothers in the day of the day. Turn my day, cause it. - How am I supposed to find him in this mess? (dramatic music) - TK, FX bomb, set radius. Done. Time to declutter. (dramatic music) Teleport. (dramatic music) - Wait, what about Korra? - I don't think she's coming. We gotta close the hatch. - She's staying. - I'm gonna close the hatch. - We need to go now, we're going to be overrun. - With the new abilities, she should be able to extract herself and extract herself to wear. - We're so sure she's going to come. - Whoa, what the? - Oh, hey! - Go now, take us up now. - We're pulling out. - Excuse me, why are we going that way? - That's where most of them are coming from. - We'll make the turn in a minute. The hatch damaged. It won't close. - Oops, telefrag. - Oh! - Talismans? Good. - A fine ridge. Where the hell could you have gone? (dramatic music) - Three, are you still alive down there? TU-3, leave ever. - Here's the room, is it? - Ancient form. - All units, unidentified craft. What is it? - Our world's come to an end, but we've got five sources. - A flying saucer. - How could that be? - Little green men now. Why not? - We've got about everything else. - How do I exhaust her? - Sure. - Why? - We're not alien. - Who did you say that is? - At least not all of us are. - That's us. - Ancient Benjamin's son. - Give me the radio. - You feel realistic, answer in your out there. - We're under heavy fire. (dramatic music) (dramatic music) (dramatic music) (dramatic music) - Oh my. (dramatic music) - Oh. Oh, goodness. If only Stasis worked on these entities. - What is in the sky? - Oh, that. Probability favors the final one, refuge. (dramatic music) - It's moving again. - What's moving? - The wall of oblivion. I think it's moving faster now. - It has already breached the mainland. - Where is Spong? - He's been near, I'm sure. Trying to stop what can he be stopped. Definitely down there, because the hex gate entities are coming up. - The ceiling thing again. - Gravity field changer, except in droves. - Learn, ease of turn. Are you okay? Did everyone make it? - Unharmed for now. We have Garrett and the captain too. Are you okay? What about the others? (dramatic music) - We are definitely not okay. (dramatic music) - There's a banister on top of us. Mr. Climb's on top of us. We only made it off the ground. - Our engines are going. We've taken too much damage. We're going down. - There's too many. (dramatic music) - Then, perhaps it's time. - Jules, Jules, Jules. There was an explosion down there. - They crashed. - Oh, man. - They might have just died. - Why didn't someone get them out of there? - It wouldn't have made much of a difference. We'll be joining them soon. - We have a few minutes, maybe. It's coming. I could probably send us toward Vekorogen, but it would buy us a minute, probably less. It's over. Everything's over. (dramatic music) - Spoon. Don't look at me like that. I've been looking everywhere for Van Reg, so I can take him out and stop this madness. Where is... Did the others make it to safety? - They did not. I could not restore them. - What happened? - I could not restore them. - Is that the... - Yes, their lives will not have been much longer, whatever. There is no shelter from the horizons. They're closing in on us now. - Why aren't you up there with the others in the ship? - I do not know. I did not wish to leave the remains. This is a logical, I'm aware. I could not restore them. I could not restore them. - The world can if the backup truly worked. And if the world restoration works, but it's less likely to work after a full-on crash, we can get more time from the instant the world backed itself up on the amendment. - Yes, and all that has happened since we play out, precisely the same as I am not number one. - I can't end like this. Don't tell me it's going to end like this. It can't end like this. - At least it's interesting. It doesn't get much more interesting than this. - Like the entire world getting sucked into a black hole. - Nah, this is more comparable to the big rip. - No. - It can't be the end of the world. It can't be the end of everything we know. - I can't end like this. - Listen, it's been the goddamn honor of my life quaking the gods with you all. For all the fuckery of these past months, all the shit fucking hell of it. They've been the best times I've ever known. The very best. - For me too. - We did what we could. - We did. - I'm glad that we're together right now. You're the only family I've ever known. Real family. - I know what you mean. Mine is already gone. - Not yet only family if you have it. You've got another. - Yeah, welcome to the shadow group. - Thank you. - It's going to be a short membership. - There are no small parts in a show you've been. Only small actors. - Even the captain is here, technically. The only one not here is... Ah, there he is. - What? - Spoon? - In the containment chamber? - Spoon, why did you jump Kate into there? - Keep calm, he must have a plan. - I do. - Keep calm, I changed the global object variable. - What? What did you do that for? - What are you doing Spoon? - You changed it to what? - To me. - You did what? - Come through from the old girl this one last time, or not many times. You've made it this long. - That killed me. - We can do this. We can do this. - I hope. - Turda. [Grunts] [Grunts] [Grunts] [Grunts] [Grunts] [Grunts] [Grunts] [Grunts] [Grunts] [Grunts] [Grunts] [Grunts] [Grunts] [Grunts] [Grunts] [Grunts] [Grunts] [Grunts] [Grunts] [Grunts] [Grunts] [Grunts] [Grunts] [Grunts] [Grunts] [Grunts] Damn it. What was that? Listen to me. Tell whoever is flying to go that way, not that way. [Grunts] What's that way? Bad. Death. Bad. There's bad everywhere. Great. Go. I'll cover you if that you wait now. Do not travel that way, or you all die. Soon. Make sure they go that way. I have to find that way. How do you intend to find him? Do you know where he is? I know where he's not. Let's move. Do you see the rest? I will assist you. We terminate them to get... [Grunts] [Grunts] [Grunts] [Grunts] [Grunts] We need to go now. We're going to be overrun. With her new abilities, she should be able to extract herself. Where is she going to go? Where is this? Tell the pilot not to fly straight ahead. We have to turn around and go the other way. [Grunts] Shit. Jesus. Go now. Take us up now. Swing it around. Don't go that way. Going straight toward where they're coming from would be a bad idea. We have to be farther off the ground before I can y'all. Damn it. I can't close the hands. Damn it. It won't close. Same drill. Teleport. Teleport. Teleport. Teleport. Skydome. Skydome. Skydome. TK. Ball. Teleport. All units. What the hell is that aircraft in the sky? Tell me that's ours. We got flying saucers. Man, what was that? None of the units have any flight saucers? Flying. What? Little green men down. Why not? That's us. It's along with the engine. I told you. You need to turn this damn thing around. I'm trying. Strewing me totally. That's what we have to do. Maybe you can get spoons to fly this damn. We're getting pucks damned. Where are we? Let me have the radio. Now. Sir. Hello. Are you okay? Tell them to come down here. We need more help. We're not going to make it. Don't let this is gone. All the flying connections are gone. We're going down. Don't show up again. Whoa! Oh my god, stop! Damn it. You could be anywhere. Probably cowering in a corner somewhere. I am banisher. Hold still. See, cheese. And a pose. Use your enemy combatants detective. Invade. Terminate purpose. You got me. Skydome. Calm down. Okay. Fields. Fields. Fields. That has to be a quick and easy index to locate you. Just make up barbarians for a finally radius. And one that I can remember. Ha ha. Ah. Ah. Ah. I only need one of you. Skydome. Slowly. Slowly. Oh. Racking one of you takes a load of energy. Oh. There we are. Too many of them. I could not restore them. I... I'm sorry. I could not restore them. Number nine. There has to be a way to find van. Spoon. What's going on here? What? The wreckage. That's... It happened again. Spoon. Why? Didn't you stay and help us here? Look at this. This direction. You weren't here last time. You had crashed in a different place. Damn it. I told them to go the other way. We're all going to die now. Focus. How do we find van rich? How can we find them? I need your minds now. Spoon. Oh my... Are you reading me number nine? Good. Keep reading. We've been here before. I certainly don't remember what you do. What are you both talking about? How can we trace him? Compute. What scenarios? There's no time now. There's no time. Ah. There is. Sort of. We were only able to locate him before. Because of the corruption signatures of his devices. If he is not employing them. Got it. Okay, I've got to go. Because this may not work if there's a hard crush. What may not work? I'm glad that we're together right now. You guys are the only real family I've ever known. I know that feeling. The other agents in my unit, they were back to me. You've got another with us. If you want. If you want us or not. Welcome to the shadow group. I appreciate that. Limited time only. It's going to be a short... Uh... Oh dear. What the devil was that? Hmm. We did our best. I hope that's true. Uh, am I the only one who noticed the chicken dragon fly by the window over there? Huh? Huh? Uh... Stop kidding around this time like this. Well, what was... Spoon? It's him. Spoon? It is. Why did you teleport into the containment chain? Keep calm everyone. Spoon is going to die. What are you doing in there? It's like that Superman thing. What? The... What? We took that code for that kill switch thing. What kill switch? Spoon? It'll be something fucking lonely. Of course. What else with it? Break stop. I've got these. Don't TK blast number nine stop break stop stop stop stop stop Too many of them lost. There is number nine. Here any moments Nine take over help her keep the hordes back Brigs it's very important that you know what never mind Doesn't he have things to do? What are you doing? Who's this guy with us? Everyone hold on to something. This may not be gentle. How did you do that? Spoo. Oh hi. Spoo. Yes. We're on take three now. I'll stay longer this time to deal with them. There they go. Safely go. All the hell did he do that? Honey pick up the whole damn ARV and spit it around like that. A very deep bag of tricks. Are we just going to leave Cora back there? She has an ambassador and spoon. I think she's well covered. Probably not for long. That voice is absurd. Age absurd. What's that about our airspace? It's not alien. It's us. We're friendly vessel. Eucharistic. I need to talk to Eucharistic. Who the hell is this? He's part of our unit. Agent Sir. Hand over the radio. And start climbing up and out of here. Looking for me? Everybody shoot at him. What? Hold him for a moment. Hey. Are you sure that spoon guy is on our side and he wouldn't put us in harm's way? Yes. He's coordinating with us. Why are you asking that? Look down there. Down where? There's somebody crouched on the street and he's been ignored by all the robot troopers and hell things. That can't be a good thing. They're not attacking you. That can only be one person on me. Shit. He has a weapon aimed right at me. I can see why Sam and Joey enjoyed these so much. Jewels. Jewels. Oh man. Jewels. Some. But it was an explosion down there and she's no longer answering it. Some. That could mean a few things. There was more than an explosion. There was a corruption event. I see it. That's the signature of Van Bridge's super weapon. The BFG. The one that killed audio and almost killed me. Why were they even down there? Did anyone else see what flew past the window? Hmm. What kind of aircraft? It might have been my imagination but I think it was that ugly firing chicken. Ah, the fire breathing chicken dragon. Stay clear of them. What did you do? Telly death teleported them all to the same vector simultaneously. It did cause a strange bump in physics though. There's legends more coming and something even worse that's going to destroy us all and we can do nothing. Nothing. The other agents. Safe? They are all vaporized. Something shot them down. They are all vaporized. What could have done that? Not the little favors. The BFG. From where? That leaves behind our signature. I have no access to the embassy systems and data streams. They're gone. Those interfaces are gone. Hold conversation. There's nothing more we can do here. You see wrestling. I will teleport you to the center of the grid which may be the last round to stand. Wait, why didn't you do that in the first place? You're both off your game. I do not have that ability. Yes. Never. What about you? I was frightened and it did not hurt. You're not supposed to be frightened. We came all this way just to feel like this. We all failed. Yes, yes, yes. We're all going to die. The world's going to end. Running out of time. This time, get out of the way. There he is. In the nick of time. With what? With what? Did you find out how to stop this? Boo. What's happening down there? What always happens except when it doesn't gauge move? I need to use the holocaust brats. Did you see Korop or Briggs or Jules while you were down there? Yes, before they died again. Wait. Again? What? What died again? Tell us what is going on. Getting the location vector where the BFG was initialized. My detective entities in this region would have triangulated it. What's going on? Bang! Gotcha. Ban Ridge. He's probably not there anymore. He will be there earlier. Now I have to remember it. Remember the vector. Remember the vector? Remember the vector? Go on again. He'll be there early. That's a crazy domain tip. He's not gone. He's there. In the containment chamber. Yes, in the containment chamber. Again, this time I find him. The explosion happened a minute ago. He could be anywhere. I'm not going to have time to do anything. Is this like the Superman thing where the chamber feels infected outside? I'm not going to find anything. Riggs, don't TK plus number. There's too many of them. Never mind. Move team yourself. Where did you tell him what to do? Kneel Beck origin. Now you. I will not tolerate during support. What the hell's brick? Spoon. Something can happen. I know. You're about to be teleported. Jesus. And you. This is how we're going to do it every time from now on. Every time what? Every single time. Wait, where's your secret? Is that everyone? Everyone what? Ah, the driver and PCs too. Evacuate now. Near vector origin. Spoon. Why? I evacuated them to the middle of the grid. There is no use in any of them being here. The entities are spawning by the thousands and they overwhelm you every time. Read me. Right now. Look into my eyes. Read. Your eyes are not required for. Oh. Oh indeed. Now go to where I set them in a bony's and explain. Then come back. I will be dealing with Ban Ridge. Oh my. It worked. You know his location. Read me faster next time. I know where he is about to be. Near this vector. Center city. Rural area. Near vector origin. Oh. Where are we? Somewhere in the central mainland. We got us out of there. That's for sure. We were just evacuated. Quite expeditiously. It must be for good reason. This will be the safest place for the longest. But you should not have done that without explaining why or clearing it with us first. Look at it. All around us. Looks like a storm from hell. That's all day, Brie. And physics itself breaking down. What about Doc Stetter? He sent Harbor with Griever. I can only imagine what conversation they're having there in the observatory. I don't think they're having any conversations right now. Arburo is probably gone. The capital city is next. Then here. Everywhere. Number nine. You are all here because you would have been terminated sooner. Based on your prediction models? Based on Spoon's experiences. The world is being restored repeatedly from the moment it was backed up on a drive in a time loop. A time loop. A time loop. You saying we died in previous loops? Yes. Several times I have leaned. There's nothing we can do is there. Something must have gone wrong on the pioneer. It's been too long. Longer than we know. Is there anything Spoon can do? Times will tell. Capital City. They must have set a condition for the teleport functions. No matter. As soon as I find a way to the. She wasn't lying. This is the end. It's not the best end, but a better end than living under Jeremy. That can't be. He's dead. That's impossible. He couldn't have survived. He couldn't. It can't be. It can't. This must be an error. BCX alpha zero. BCX offset static script seven. BCX batch 716. This can't be right. You can't be detecting him. You can't. It's impossible. Impossible. BCX talismans. Impossible, you say? That is one of my names. Care for what you summon? Listen. No talk. Also, transparency hasn't worked on me for seven or eight years, and I know you displaced yourself from... right there. Oh. I also displaced myself, you must know. That won't matter. Oh, for what? And offset static for seven. BCX talismans listened off. You are not the only one who prepares scripts for hypothetical occasions of spool. This one uses a find radius. Six devices are holding you in place and paralyzing your arms. I will soon stretch out far away from your body. What are you without your hands? With your fingers to hit all those nice little buttons. You're nothing without those. We are at the end spool. The master program is in its death throes. It's coming soon, as you must know. It would be happening later if not for that accursed paradox artifact. I told you to never play with those or, of course, you had to. Opposition of defiance? That reminds me of a teacher I once had. Perhaps I was impressionable, and you should have been more careful. Whatever you did to it has it flooding the world right now from somewhere beneath the rubble of the city, and now even you can't stop it. Yes. That... wasn't what I had in mind. You know, spoon, I had time to put a lot of thought into this script that's restraining you right now. I meant to employ it when we arrived at Inverness. At Red Castle. When you all murdered my friend. You shouldn't have taken her. Her. It. So fear. Oh, it wasn't so fear. It was a sick repurposing of some other person to create a wife-bought parody of Sophia. That should have told you how much she meant to me. Told me that the subservient female droid wholly devoted to you and only you was all you saw the real Sophia. It told me that's what she represented. Loved her. Did you even know her? Don't say that. I loved Sophia with everything that I am. So you're saying... not much. What would your cold heart know about that? About grief. About love. You're an idiot. She was important to you. That much is obvious. So important, whatever it is that she did represent you, that her loss destroyed all the good that was left in you. If there ever was any and I wasn't projecting my own onto you, seeing what was never there, a reflection of my own decency. Do you have any idea the level of disappointment I have in you? You're not the master anymore. I don't care. You're the master. Is that it? Master of what? The genius master of destruction. Destruction is easy. It's diabolically simple. Destruction is for mortals. Tiny, tiny mortals like you. Monsters like you. Destruction is a snap. It's the easiest thing of them all. It's everything else that's difficult. Did there ever exist a greater non-challenge than destruction? You taught me well. You taught me quite a few things as well. The latest being how to handle you next time. There is no next time. Maybe not, but probably, as the old girl has been a trooper so far. What are you talking about? We will all soon be gone. These ex-things. You wedged him, but the talismans are still going. You have to destroy the talismans. We have second time. To a hard crash. Terminate me. That should still work. Spoo, read me. Terminate me now. I cannot. It did not work. This can't be right. You can't be detecting him. You can't. It's impossible. Impossible. V C X talism. Impossible, you say? Yet again? Sigmoid. Sigmoid. Is that a word? Room behind. Scoop lollabarictus sinus. Goblet sticks woofer. Trades at the low land. A yellow bice by the low lander. Now you're getting nasty. I call this talisman. Drum roll, please. The speech borker. A talisman from after your time. Holy candor. Hi, yes, Dr. Pudding. A peach crumb juicy bork. Borker-rific. Looks like in the slitty troll's tip guy and gimblin' the wave. What are you without your voice commands? Jump gate to nowhere. The endless fallen voice. Bye-bye and damn it, I shouldn't have done that. You might not. This can't be right. You can't be detecting him. You can't. It's impossible. Impossible. Bad man bottled. Now. Use a gun, terminate it. Please notice. Please go away. Mass removal anytime now. De-activate. You're not going. None of you are going. Why aren't you going? Why aren't you going? Spool. Timothy Van Roof. Bottles, but they're not going away. You should have worked. It backs up the primary field and zeds them just like the hypergate code. It was inspired by that code. Shall I terminate? The bottle's in there behind me. Terminate the bottle. Is that? Elephant. Elephant. It's weird space. Now, here's space. Timothy Van Roof. Terminate it. And nothing's happening. They're not disappearing. The artifact itself is corrupted by an event that Van Roof caused underground. The entities themselves may be corrupted in addition. First thing first, next time. Get rid of as many of those as possible to reduce the strain and gain a little more time. [Music] Come on! Come on! I'm going to hold them off. I got them. I got them. I got them all out in a big radius. How are you going to do that? Mass tele-deaf through the entity chain. [Music] What's happening? This is breaking down now. Oh, bugger it. Too many pieces. Too much at once. All right. What have you done? Are you? I'm still waiting now. What if it's that Superman thing? What if you're nice? You're safe in the chain. I bugged it all out, too. She wouldn't do that too. Why are you in the containment chain? I'm being undone, repressing. Let's check the direction. You don't want to see the chicken dragon then? Bad, bad, bad, bad, bad. [Music] Last as many back as possible. I will take them all out. Do you know how much damage you would have to inflict? Yes, but you don't have a storm. Find radius, find baddies. Find them, and then what? Call lightning. Lightning. Yeah, lightning. Yeah, that damn lightning just happened. That boy still needs work, I don't know. I thought I had it. Spoo. Reading me. Do not repeat this course of action. I agree that this went very badly. [Music] Don't TK Blast number nine. You go to Vector Origin. You're all going by by. Be back. Bob, what are you doing? Sending you with the others. Spoo. I don't mind. I don't mind. Number nine. Read me. Did you see? The Hexgate entities will not deactivate regardless of whether Van Rid is alive or here at all. We have to remove the artifact itself. Can you terminate it? If I'm within a proximity, that is not possible. Because it's in the middle of spawn central. And environmentally corrupted. Beyond imagination. What if I bring it up here on the street? You'd have to find it first. Yes, I would have to go down there to teleport it. Avatar or no avatar. That area will destroy all the same. Which means restore again and start over. I'll try it. I will do it. You stay up here. Listen, if you still had the embassy machines and had access to the data streams, you could pinpoint the corruption of the area it's in? If it's that pronounced. The interfaces of the embassy are no more. Wait for it. Spin. What now? There it is. It has to be that area. Wanna do what? We're remote retrieving the Hexgate disc. Not now, but later. When I have its precise vector. Or a vector close enough to it. So a wide teleport field will snatch it up. How is any of this going to help? What later are you talking about? There is no later. You have to get close to it. You're going to break it here? You're doing what? No, the destination vector will be on the street. And number nine will terminate the artifact. Do you think I'm insane? Yes. Absolutely. Oh yes. Even the captain thinks so. Oh yes. You all agree that I'm insane? Brilliant. Because insanity is a requirement for teleporting into an area that corrupted. What area? Spoon. Go. You have no idea. No. Munchalas, man. Wait. Damn it. Damn it. No. I couldn't find it. It was down there somewhere. Breaks, don't T.K. Blast number nine. Don't worry. Listen. I'm teleporting you to the center of the gradient. God. What just happened? Everyone's gone. They're all gone. Gauge. Gem. Prime. Gone. That last one was a hard crash, wasn't it? And where are you, wetlanders? Did you forget about us? Or did you not make it either? Yeah. That was one way to cut down on processes. Remove everyone. But not me. Do all special purpose entities get this treatment, or global object variables, or avatars? If all three, I have the jackpot triad of privilege. He did good there for a while, old girl. You were brilliant for a while. We all were. You can't be brilliant forever, though, can you? Unless? Capital city underground. Still intact. Corruption's high, but not as high. And there you are, you little bastard. So environmentally corrupted that you borrowed into your own little well. Borrowed securely. But I know exactly where you are now, your exact vector. Which is only useful if... We're on the same page. Come on, old girl, make it so. It's time to save the world again. I have what I need. Go on, go on, go on, go on, go on. Brinks, stop decaying, I've got this. Now you go. Spown, why did you teleport Brinks? I'm teleporting them all, just in case. You're teleporting us where? All, all you, just like last time. We don't need Fanridge to stop this. In fact, removing him does nothing at all as its entity is so corrupted. They might still remove themselves if the artifact is gone. Number nine, read me. Read you. Read me. Oh, it worked. And you remember? How do you... I'm holding the precise vector of the hex gate disc in my head right now. The middle of the object, absolute entity origin. The only way to stop it is to remove it. I can remote retrieve it using the computers from the admin sky charried up there. I can make the destination vector on the street right here. All you have to do is wait for it. And you can terminate. Where did he? Where did he go? How do you know where the hex gate disc is? No time to explain. Artifact, terminate it. It's working. You removed it? You couldn't do that before. Before what? I assuredly could have with that precise vector. Before what? Did you have to go down there? You said you had to be within proximity. Only for an instant, spool. We might be doing this again. Number nine, it hasn't stopped. It has only slowed down. You should both inform the other agents what's going on. The center city. Rural area. Near vector origin. Director Doc Stater and Simon Grever were certainly removed. They must have watched it coming from an observatory of all places. Just as we're going to watch it coming. Slowly but surely, yes. From what I have gleaned from Spoon's recent experiences. Well, the master program has proven itself to be even more robust than predicted. And his connection to it. Deeper than hypothesized. Its end, however, remains a mathematical certainty. It will break down as all things do with time. This talk isn't the best thing right now. What is the alternative? Ignore it? I hold my hand, Marcus. Always. You know, I could have adjusted to a life in the boonies with you. If that's what you wanted, I really could have. You wouldn't have lasted two months. I'm scared, too, Jules. I am also scared. This feeling has been a surprising development. A touch disturbing. But strangely, pleasant at the same time. In some way that I have trouble articulating with precision. A lot of feelings you can't capture with words. They're bigger than words. When that growing nothing reaches us, we will be removed at once. Seast be. We may all take solace from knowing that we will never experience that moment when our end is that close at hand. Spoon will certainly continue to restore the master program until it can restore no more. And we will all be here again, as if it's the first time. Exchanging these words, I suspect, with only the slightest variations. How many times, I wonder. I suspect when the master program quits, it will be sudden. Instantaneous. Agent Zern is still with the shadow group? They are under way here. We're now flying toward Vector Origin. They will find us there later. We may have an hour there, or a little more. Not much more. Capital Seti will be gone in a few minutes. Dulles believed the humans would succeed. Or did he believe it? Have you considered what would have happened to us if they had? Stop using the past tense. There's still hope, isn't there? We can't know what's going to happen next. Can we? We can, and it's right out there. No more of which we look. That's what happens next. This time, the previous times, and the next time. Every time that you terminate yourself in the chamber, it starts all over again. From the backup point, when the amendment went through, that's correct. You each have the right to be alarmed, if not horrified, when I take that action. But at least you will understand why I'm doing it. You don't give up. And Edict Zero doesn't give up. The old girl has been handling it better each time, only as well as it can under the circumstances, but it is a champion all the same. But it restores the master program back to its state at that moment. The backup point, just as it does us. How can it be improving? How do we feel eventually? Yes, and the world will lose more and more of its bearings, but it will hold on as much as it can, while it has some presence of mind. Edict Zero has the tenacity and spirit of the people who once inhabited it. A great people. You're all great as well, in your own way. Thanks. I think. That's not an answer. Spin. She was asking how the big ball- I know what she was asking. It remembers because I remember. It remembers with me, through me. I will be explaining this many times to you all. You won't remember all those times. I will until time runs out. Ordinarily, I don't have much tolerance for having the same conversations over and over again, but with you, my friends, I will cherish it. It is not the gift that I would have thought to ask for, but know that I will appreciate it for the gift it is, each and every time. Spoon. Spoon. Yes. Spoon, can you promise? No, it's not. Thank you for listening to this episode of Edig Zero at PIS. Music and ambience heard on the show come from. Nine-inch nails. Damiano Belldonic. Misha de Oxine. Autryon von Ziegler. Kevin MacLeod. Kai Engel. Tom Cusack. How to destroy angels. MachinimaSound.com. E-R-H. Type Choir. Sergey Cherumizanov. Anti-Marticaianin. Craig Jax. And Salatus. Other music and sound effects come from public domain show producers of good nine studio resources, as well as material released freely on the internet through such venues as the Internet Archive. For more information on Edig Zero at PIS, visit its home at edigzero.com. Thank you for listening. Music and sound effects. (gentle music) [ Silence ]
The FIS adventures from Jack Kincaid continue with the penultimate series finale... “Times End (II)”!
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