Original subtitles

♪ (tense mysterious music) ♪

TALIESIN: What keeps the children of Hale

safe from their curiosity?

Nursery rhymes serve as cautionary tales

to explain Candela Obscura's earliest adversaries.

So when a creature of legend returns

to the hollowed labyrinth of Grayslate,

a new and unusual circle of investigators is formed,

tasked to face an unholy corruption.

As the unsuspecting Newfairens

bear witness to this macabre phenomena,

each investigator must steel their mind,

perhaps even from themselves.

The Circle of Tide and Bone.

Assignment #31-58: The Antiquarian.

♪ (tense mysterious music) ♪

AABRIA: A thickly built middle-aged man

with sun freckled skin shuffles silently

through the moonlit corridors

of a facility built to brutal scale and proportion.

He's a study of white in pristine cotton pajamas

of a patient of the Grayslate Sanatorium,

matching his prematurely white hair.

Silva Sarkis, at one time the pride of

the Office of Unexplained Phenomena,

swallows his fear,

and remembers himself and his training

through the haze of his mind now that he's gone gray.

There's a mystery here

and he seems to be the only one

out of the shambling masses,

out of the administrators that turn a blind eye

up to the challenge of solving it.

There's a sound as he moves.

Shuffling, the shifting of fabric,

something rhythmic that breaks through the silence

of this terrible place.

Following as fast as he dares,

he reaches a dull gray wooden door, slightly ajar.

Inside he sees a nun.

He knows her name to be Sister Iovar

and she seems to be slowly lowering herself

across the lap of Director Greenvale.

Director Greenvale's eyes are rolled back

in ecstasy and expectation.

Then this moment that blushes this older man's cheeks

is snapped out of reverie as a hand bashes into the window

and they both turn and look.

Silva, squinting, sees in the moonlight

a face he recognizes.

Another patient that's dropped off the face of the map.

Every time he inquired, "Where did he go?

"No one gets checked out here,"

he was met with a shrug or a casual brushing aside.

But this man beats on the window

with fingers worked down to bloody shreds, caked in mud,

and turns and sprints across the lawn to a clearing.

That startle is just enough time

for Silva to get out of the way.

He hides in an alcove

as both the nun and the director get up

and run through the corridors and outside.

Silva doesn't trust that he can remain unseen.

He can't follow as fast. There's nowhere to hide.

There's no escaping the sanatorium, except--

He's torn.

He doesn't know if he should go

and find and follow and understand,

or if he should take this chance and leave.

No one gets to leave Grayslate.

He's been sent here,

like so many Periphery officers before him

who have seen too much, who have experienced too much.

Things that can't put words to.

He's been locked away forever, but this is his chance.

Maybe he can't solve the mystery

of what took this patient and several others away,

but there is no other chance for him

to make his way to freedom.

So not knowing anything but the hunch in his gut

fueled by the haze and the bleed

and the stacked trauma of all the things he's seen,

he turns and flees and somehow he makes it out.

He makes his way to the only people

that he could trust with his information.

Not the Periphery,

not any of the administrators of the Triumvirate.

He wanders the streets of the Sidle until he finds someone

with a small diamond pin from Candela Obscura

and hopes that he will finally be believed.

(sighs) Welcome to Newfaire.

It's a mild day in late spring,

though every year seems to recover from the chill

of the previous winter with less and less enthusiasm.

There's banners of green and copper

decorating the finer parts of the city

as it celebrates the 15th anniversary

of the end of the Last Great War.

The city is buzzy and alive

as the electricity flows through it,

as the energy of a world moving back to life

flows through it.

Citizens appear in generally good spirits,

if such a thing can be said

to be known through the slightly dirty dingy window

of a quirky little occult bookshop

tucked away in a quiet street in the Sidle.

The westernmost district in the city of Newfaire

sprawling out towards Westwreck

as middle class comforts drive growth.

With tome laden walls,

The Antiquarian, we find Lightkeeper Nokari,

a tall dark-skinned person, bald, clean shaven

with broad smooth features

perpetually dressed in the same

shiny gray sharkskin material

cut into suits of the style of the time.

Whispering fervently

in soft but tense conversation with one Cosmo Grimm,

the owner of this place:

A chapter house of Candela Obscura.

Liam, would you like to introduce yourself, please?

LIAM: (elderly) Yes, of course.

AABRIA: Tell us what we're looking at.

LIAM: Well, welcome to The Antiquarian,

my bookshop that houses many fascinating tomes

on the history of the region and occult subjects.

My name is Cosmo Grimm.

I'm 97 years old this year.

I'm a thin, wiry old gentleman wearing a jacket of tweed

that is a little large for me

and bow tie that is definitely too large.

I roll about the shop in a brass wheelchair.

Spend any amount of time with me

and you'll notice a small electrical engine

attached to the back.

But for the most part, I wheel myself about with ease.

This is my shop.

I have been a part of Candela Obscura

for many, many decades.

I've passed on offers to retire to Lightkeeper status.

I enjoy the field, I enjoy the hunt,

I enjoy my own personal studies,

and I enjoy my shop.

AABRIA: As your conversation gets a little more pitched,

I don't think it's until Nokari notices Eloise,

another retired member of Candela,

who instead of becoming a Lightkeeper

decided to have an easier life tending your shop

and generally staying out of your way.

She passes by a door and they look over

and go, "Understood."

Nokari pulls up a chair

and takes a seat across from you, still leaning in,

still as keyed up as they they were before.

"Cosmo?" LIAM: Yes?

AABRIA: "I-I've pushed this off as long as I could,

"but this is it.

"This is your last chance. You have to retire.

"You are a one-man repository of so much information,

"so much research.

"You are wasted in the field, and--"

He looks down at your legs and your chair

and you can see him trying to figure out

how best to broach the subject of your decreased mobility.

LIAM: Nokari, Candela has many capable Lightkeepers.

Surely you are staffed to the gills.

AABRIA: "There is no one here who has been around

"as long as you, and I know you know that."

LIAM: Better served in the field. I don't mind.

I'm spry. You know that as well.

AABRIA: "Your ability to have avoided harm

"for this many decades notwithstanding,"

"you are too powerful an asset to lose.

"I have pulled my last string on your behalf.

"So, you gave me some names weeks ago

"the last time we had this fight.

"It seems as though

"a new circle must be brought into being.

"I need you to understand.

"You've been searching for something for so long

"and I don't presume to know what it is,

"or I can't speak to how council members speak of you

"behind closed doors.

"But this has to be it."

LIAM: Cosmo looks--

We're sitting in Cosmo's study in the rear of the shop,

and Cosmo looks over his shoulder.

There's a desk to the rear of the room

and an oil painting on the wall of a ship,

tossed at sea in a storm.

He gazes there a moment before turning back.

Nokari, what exactly is it you are charging me with here?

AABRIA: "One final circle. You are in the field.

"They are your people.

"Take care of the assignment as you always have,

"but once your circle breaks in tremendous success

"or tragic circumstance, you leave the field.

"Become a Lightkeeper, continue your research, or--"

At that, they lean and look in the direction

of where Eloise has toddled off,

"Or live a quiet life.

"But this is it."

LIAM: I suppose we'll jump off that bridge

when we come to it.

AABRIA: "For what it's worth, I'm sorry I couldn't do more."

LIAM: It's all right. I appreciate our years.

I appreciate you.

I know it's not entirely in your hands, either.

AABRIA: "(sighs) I've sent out the call.

"They should be arriving shortly,

"the three you asked for,

"but one more with a specific tie

"to whatever this phenomenon is.

"I do believe you know him, though.

"A Dr. Rajan Savarimuthu."

LIAM: Yes, I do.

AABRIA: "Good."

LIAM: He's a very bright young man.

AABRIA: "Yeah." LIAM: I'd be happy to have him

within our circle.

AABRIA: "Okay. As do the others."

At this, they lean in a little more

not because there's a need to whisper,

but the way you have spoken about your family,

the way you refer to them,

the gravity of it implies a need for secrecy.

"He'll be a part of it.

"Of course, you've been doing a great job

"of keeping an eye out for him,

"but I don't need to tell you that they are watching."

LIAM: Oh, yes.

I cannot say I haven't had my suspicions.

AABRIA: "Yeah.

"I believe with all of my being

"that the work we do is good and just and necessary,

"but our methods are not always kind."

LIAM: Well, we've always done what was needed.

Not always comfortable,

but definitely necessity dictated our ends.

AABRIA: "(sighs) I will brief them on arrival."

As you see them transitioning away

from this dark moment

and sitting back into the plush chair

and reaching for a long-cold cup of tea,

a little tinkle bell sounds

as Doctor, you make your way into The Antiquarian.

Ashly, would you like to describe what you look like?

ASHLY: Love to.

So Dr. Elsie Roberts is my name.

I'm 33 years old.

And not-- Forgetting briefly

that the meeting was supposed to be happening here,

I'm walking in a bit disheveled and I see Nokari

and I start to surreptitiously try to pin my hair up.

My clothing is in the style

of maybe two or three seasons ago.

AABRIA: Mm. ASHLY: It's a little worse

for the wear, but I've made a very grand attempt

to keep up appearances.

So my hair, my makeup, everything is in the style

of the upper class, but it's obvious

that I'm not living as well as they do.

So I'm a little off kilter when I come in.

Lightkeeper Nokari.

AABRIA: "You're looking well."

LIAM: Dr. Roberts, welcome.

ASHLY: I forgot we were doing this today. Pardon me, ahem.

I notice as I'm fidgeting

that there's some blood under my fingernails.

If you'll excuse me, I'm going to freshen a little

before the others arrive.

I go into the back and-- I go upstairs.

LIAM: Yes, join us downstairs when you are ready.

AABRIA: As you scrub up,

even over the sound of the water in the sink,

you can hear a tinkle of a bell.

You remember now that you were summoned to a meeting,

but the only information

was that your Lightkeeper, Nokari, had a new assignment,

a new circle, and the only person they mentioned

was your longtime associate and roommate

here in the apartments of The Antiquarian, Cosmo.

You hear a little tinkle and inside steps,

unbeknownst to you, Oscar.

Would you like to introduce yourself?

SAM: Sure. The name is Oscar Grimm.

I'm a little shorter than Sam Riegel is.

(laughter)

AABRIA: Who?

SAM: I'm five foot six, but stout.

Broad chested, broad shoulders, 200 pounds,

sandy blond hair, well-groomed mustache.

If you saw him, you'd notice that he's got scars.

Scars all over his face, neck, ears.

ASHLY: Are they hot?

SAM: The one on his eye is.

ASHLY: (laughs)

SAM: His fingers look like they've been broken

and healed incorrectly.

They're off at the wrong angles.

But despite his physical wear and tear, he dresses great.

He's got a sharp three-piece suit,

a nice, thick gold chain dangling out of his vest.

He's got a long black overcoat.

When he walks, it's with a limp

and a jingle with that chain.

When he pops his head in, he also pops a hard candy.

(laughter)

AABRIA: Wild. Yes.

SAM: Always has one in his mouth.

He pushes into the door, looks around,

tries to instantly survey the situation.

See if there's any other eyes, any other bodies in the room.

He's a big guy and he looks like he's looking

for any danger.

AABRIA: Yeah, you see that without even looking up,

Eloise gives you a wave

while addressing the shelves

and peeking into that back parlor room

where most of the business of Candela takes place.

You observe Cosmo and Lightkeeper Nokari

with a very distinct tightening of their eyes

that I think they didn't hide that well as you approach.

Would you like to make the first roll of the game?

SAM: I would love to.

AABRIA: Go ahead and give me a Read.

SAM: Okay.

I will roll two dice and take the lower of the two.

AABRIA: Oh, great! ASHLY: Oh no!

AABRIA: Starting off on a strong foot. Chapter 3!

SAM: Six. ASHLY: Oh!

SAM: And a three. ASHLY: Oh.

(laughter)

AABRIA: It is very obvious, you look for trouble

and you look for the signs of brewing trouble on people

as things begin.

But there is something in the lack of hostility

that accompanies this coldness

that doesn't ping enough in your mind

to worry too much about it.

They gesture into the room,

but very quickly attempt

to move back into conversation with Cosmo.

LIAM: Don't just stand there on the doorstep, Cary.

Come in, come in.

SAM: Oh, thank you, Cosmo-- uh, Grandpa.

Hi. Who are you?

AABRIA: "My name is Lightkeeper Nokari.

"I will be handling your assignment

"and the creation of your circle."

SAM: Lightkeeper?

What is that, like a general?

AABRIA: "It's a Lightkeeper." SAM: Sergeant?

Oh, okay. AABRIA: "It is what it is.

"I help you to shed light

"on the mysteries that you uncover and deal with.

"Not everything is a fight, Mr. Grimm."

SAM: Well, not at first, it isn't.

(sighs) Sure. ASHLY: Can I--

Oh I'm sorry. Can I hear this conversation from where I am?

AABRIA: Absolutely. ASHLY: I'm going to come out,

rinsing, have a towel with my hands.

Oscar!

SAM: Oh, hey, Doc. How you doing?

ASHLY: I'm fine. I didn't expect to see you here.

SAM: I didn't expect to come honestly,

but I was summoned, so.

ASHLY: Summoned? SAM: I showed up.

AABRIA: "The formation of our new circle."

ASHLY: Right. Yes, of course.

LIAM: Yes, Oscar is being inducted into our ranks

for the first time.

ASHLY: Congratulations.

SAM: I guess thanks.

It's not really my choice, but I'll take it.

AABRIA: "Your skills will be put to good use, I'm sure."

SAM: As long as I make it through this in one piece

and the old man, too, I'll consider that a win.

LIAM: Oscar is good at adapting. Always has been.

AABRIA: "Hm."

"Good. Nothing then but to wait.

"And--" ASHLY: To wait?

AABRIA: "For the rest of your circle."

ASHLY: What do you mean?

AABRIA: You see a look of surprise

and they reach into a pocket in the front of their vest

and pull out an impossibly small notebook and open it up.

I think just even flitting through it,

you can't even see writing.

It just looks like a vague black line across pages.

They focus.

"That's right,

"you're normally a part of smaller circles, correct?

"Just the Grimms?"

ASHLY: As part of an arrangement with the Candela.

I assumed that you would remember.

AABRIA: "Huh."

"(clears throat)

"This circle was asked for

"very specifically by name.

"So if you want to take up your grievances,

"I think you ought to look to your left."

LIAM: Who's got their fingers in this pie, Nokari?

AABRIA: "It's the people you asked to work with.

"At some point,

"I thought I could give you as many of them as possible.

"So you have Oscar-- Cary, what's your preference?"

SAM: I mean, my friends call me Cary.

I just don't-- AABRIA: So, Oscar?

SAM: I don't have a lot of friends.

ASHLY: No one calls you Cary, Oscar.

SAM: Well, I was trying to--

It was a thing I was hoping would catch on.

ASHLY: I see.

AABRIA: "Yourself, a Madam Glask,

"and an individual with a little more

"of a personal connection to this

"that was not necessarily on your list, but--"

Just at that time,

I think maybe we miss the bell on this.

There's something about the suaveness of you slipping in

as conversation and pitched discussion happens

that allows you to get through the door.

Would you like to introduce yourself?

NOSHIR: My goodness. No doorman here.

ASHLY: (laughs)

AABRIA: Damn. What an entry phrase.

(laughter)

NOSHIR: Gramps, it's very good to see you.

LIAM: Welcome.

ASHLY: Raj? NOSHIR: It's been a long time since--

Elsie.

Fancy meeting you here.

ASHLY: What are you doing here?

NOSHIR: Well, (chuckles)

I've actually been asked to participate

in this little game we're having.

You know me, I'm not usually a team player,

but this was too exciting to turn down.

LIAM: Hey, I think we're all friendly here, Rajan.

NOSHIR: Oh, of course. Of course.

AABRIA: Can I get a physical description?

NOSHIR: Rajan is almost 6'.

AABRIA: Ooh.

NOSHIR: Probably the most glaring thing

when you take his visage in

is the scars running across one side of his face.

The left side is covered in what look like runic tattoos

and he's always head to toe in finery.

He's well put together,

tends to wear gloves when he can.

When he closes the door,

you'll notice that he holds a handkerchief in his hand

and then promptly wipes it off before he puts it away.

He is brash when at his best

and some would argue perhaps obnoxious

at his worst. ASHLY: (laughs)

NOSHIR: A professor from the university.

My specialty is archeology.

I've been brought in

because perhaps I can bring a little bit of perspective

to this latest trial.

AABRIA: "Dr. Savarimuthu,

"I believe, at some point in the past had dealings

"with what we might be dealing with here.

"My information is limited because the eyewitness to this

"did not take that much in.

"But Silva is here

"and available for

"deeper discussions once you all arrive."

LIAM: Understood.

ASHLY: May I--

My hands are gripping around the handles

of your wheelchair.

Could we speak somewhere else for moment, Cosmo?

LIAM: Yes, of course. Excuse us one moment.

Why don't you wheel me into my back room?

ASHLY: And I do. AABRIA: Elsie,

as you wheel him,

and you can feel the leather giving under the handles

as you push, please take your first token.

LIAM: So we are already in my study,

but there is a door leading to my private home

and bed chambers, the living room.

SAM: So as they leave, I'm going to lean over.

So, this one's the Lightkeeper.

I mean, what are you, like something higher than that?

Something fancier?

I mean, are you some sort of showman or what?

NOSHIR: Well, I guess you could call me a consultant,

if that helps you.

SAM: It does not. ASHLY: (laughs)

NOSHIR: And who, pray tell, are you?

SAM: Oh, Oscar to you.

I'm Cosmo's grandkid. ASHLY: (laughs)

SAM: I'm just here to make sure

none of you all kill yourselves.

NOSHIR: Oscar Grimm?

SAM: Oscar Grimm. That's me.

NOSHIR: Ah, fascinating.

In all my time with the professor,

he never mentioned you.

It's a pleasure.

I'm curious to see how you contribute to this crew.

SAM: Do you smile all the time?

NOSHIR: What's not to smile about?

SAM: We'll find out.

I'll go over in the corner

and pop another candy in my mouth.

(laughter)

GINA: Just going through those.

AABRIA: As you head to the corner

and scope both the scene within

and without through the window,

we see a figure approach.

Last but not least, Madam Glask.

As you finally spot the name of the building

and make your way in,

will you please introduce and describe yourself?

GINA: Sure. I play Madam Glask,

owner of the Glass Cat Casino.

She walks in,

the door almost opens without her moving it at all.

There is a cloud of light smoke from her rosy cigarettes.

She stands at 5'7", adorned in jewels and fur.

She smells like the most expensive fragrant oils

from across the seas.

She walks in, takes her glasses off and says:

It's busiest day of the year.

It's the anniversary. Happy anniversary.

Oh! Oscar!

SAM: Yeah, hi, Madam Glask. GINA: Hi.

SAM: It's nice to see you.

GINA: I thought I told you to wait at the door.

SAM: I was taking my personal day today.

My grandpa called me to do some work

and so I thought I'd take the day off.

I hope that's all right. I'm sorry.

GINA: Fine, but let me know next time.

SAM: Yeah.

GINA: Speaking of, where is Cosmo?

SAM: He's in the back with Doc. With Doc Roberts.

GINA: Mm. Excellent, and--

SAM: Oh, don't even with this guy.

ASHLY: (laughs) SAM: I mean--

Yeah, it's--

NOSHIR: The legendary Madam Glask.

SAM: Okay. AABRIA: (laughs)

NOSHIR: It's such a pleasure to meet you.

I've heard many great things.

GINA: You've heard of me? How lovely.

She hands out her hand to him. And you are?

NOSHIR: Professor Rajan Savarimuthu.

GINA: Oh, professor. How lovely.

SAM: Yeah.

GINA: She takes off her fur, and when you look at her,

you first see such luxury

and all the finest things that money can buy.

But you can also tell

it's a little bit of overcompensation, too.

Not a single hair out of place.

She tries very hard to carry herself

like an upper class, stands up very straight.

But if you look closely,

the threads come loose.

She walks in, says:

I don't know why Cosmo would call me here

on such a busy day.

He knows this is when we make the most money. (sighs)

AABRIA: "Apologies."

Nokari, who has been sitting quietly

and appraising both you upon your entry

and some of the interactions here with a smirk.

They're not doing any--

They're not hiding it at all.

"Mr. Grimm was operating on my orders.

"I will be your Lightkeeper

"and your circle,

"once a private conversation is finished,

"will be brought to attention

"and I will get you all up to date.

"Why don't we just have a cup of tea. Eloise?"

They try to summon Eloise, who walks in the door

and shakes her head a little bit.

Nokari, for all of their suaveness and composure

immediately gets up.

"I'm going to make tea.

"I'll do it because I like making tea in a kitchen

"that I know where that is."

Eloise gives him another dirty look as she goes by.

He sweeps out of the room

to go find a way to provide refreshments for you.

We'll move slowly into the back chambers.

LIAM: Elsie, dear, I can feel your discomfort

wafting off of you from across the room.

What is the matter, child?

ASHLY: I didn't think that I would need to remind you,

Cosmo, of my condition.

There's a reason the circles have been small.

You know that.

LIAM: I was not prepared for this meeting.

I had no forewarning. Elsie. I apologize.

But everyone here I have worked with personally.

I can vouch for their expertise

and their professionalism.

I trust them. All of them I trust.

ASHLY: Do you trust what they would do if they saw me?

I can't do this. (shudders)

AABRIA: Please take your other token.

ASHLY: You need to talk to the Lightkeeper.

Take me off this assignment. LIAM: Dear--

ASHLY: You can do it without me.

LIAM: Dear, I have a confession.

Before you arrived, I was just informed

this may be my last circle.

I don't really have any say

in the matter, I think.

It's been coming a long time.

I've seen it coming down the road a long while now.

I hear you,

but I also have faith in you, dear.

If this is to be my last go of it,

I could really use you here, child.

You've always, for all your challenges,

been a steadying presence to me.

ASHLY: Okay.

Okay.

Just

please

try to

help keep me calm.

Especially around Raj.

LIAM: I have always sensed a little bit

of something in the air between you two,

but I never wanted to pry.

ASHLY: We have history.

LIAM: Well, I've worked with the young man

a number of times myself and he's always

been buttoned up and on point.

I don't know, you,

the both of you, each in your own way are

like children to me.

He's a good boy.

You are a fine doctor and I have no doubt

that we will pull together

as circles do, as circles must.

ASHLY: I trust you.

LIAM: You warm a very old heart.

ASHLY: I put my hands around the handles of the wheelchair

and they are less tense now.

(deep breath)

I'm going to start wheeling him back out

and say,

as we go:

Speaking of being a fine doctor,

you've been avoiding your physical.

Then take him into the main room. SAM: (laughs)

AABRIA: (laughs)

As you are wheeled back into the main room,

this is a very nice wheelchair, but it makes noise

across floorboards

in this very cozy abode

and store, and you see

Nokari immediately pop their head back in

and they rejoin you,

hands empty.

"I didn't find anything, but

"perhaps it's just better to begin."

LIAM: Oh!

Godot, come here, boy.

Lad, come here.

There is a little black and tan colored long haired

dachshund, a wiener dog who lives here in the shop with me.

He's--

ASHLY: I'll get him. I'll get him.

It's all right. LIAM: Yes.

ASHLY: I cross over, being very, very deliberately

not looking at Raj and pick up

the dog and bring him to you.

LIAM: No, no, you hold him.

Give her--

She needs a friend.

AABRIA: Oh, he's already all over your face

and aiming for your mouth. (laughs)

ASHLY: Nope, no. Just-- LIAM: Good boy, Godot.

AABRIA: (laughs) ASHLY: Thank you.

GINA: I go over to Cosmo. Cosmo, my dear.

It's been weeks since you've been by.

LIAM: Madam Glask, I am used to visiting you

at your establishment.

You grace us with your presence here at mine.

GINA: The pleasure's all mine.

I take both of his hands and I kneel down to him

and I kiss him on both cheeks.

LIAM: It's good to see you, dear.

GINA: You look amazing, as usual.

The girls miss you.

LIAM: (laughs)

Well, they can

beat me at cards again next week, perhaps.

GINA: Quite a crew you've assembled, Nokari.

Perhaps we should get to the point.

SAM: Yeah, like you said we're becoming a circle.

What is this?

You're going to pass out bowls of goat blood

to drink or something?

LIAM: Oscar, just look and listen. NOSHIR: (laughs)

LIAM: Boy, look and listen.

AABRIA: "A circle is an important

"and sacred thing.

"You will be the Circle of Tide & Bone

"and in this moment, you are bound together

"to solve this assignment, to help each other

"Until such a time as your circle dissolves

"under good or bad circumstances.

"I will admit, loathe though I may be,

"that I must apologize.

"This assignment is not like

"the ones I am normally entrusted to assign."

Nokari moves through the story

of an officer,

an investigator, and a hunch,

and just a gut feeling that something is wrong

without proof.

In that, I think there's a little apologetic look

in your direction

to communicate that this

was the flimsiest of circumstances

that they could provide in order to get

the people you need together

in order for you to do whatever you need to do

to put your research and your life's work at rest.

It's the best an old friend could offer.

They look a little uncomfortable with it

as they finish.

"Normally,

"the inciting circumstances are a little more grave,

"a little more clear.

"But Silva Sarkis,

"this officer, is here

"and under Candela Obscura's care and protection

"until such time as we can determine

"the validity of his concerns.

"So, he is hidden until you report back

"as to the nature of whatever might be happening

"at the sanatorium, and is available to you.

"Though, I'm not sure

"how much information you'll get."

They gesture back, and back past--

You have your back rooms, and then off to the side,

because this is a bookstore

and a little bit of an apartment,

very multi-use building in the center

of a part of town that sprawls out

and becomes a little more singular in building type,

there is a little garden.

You see sitting amongst some slightly wilted ivy,

a little solid cast iron picnic table,

a little, solid, cast iron picnic table,

garden table, sits a very nervous man

in white pajamas, rocking back and forth,

looking around.

"Well, if you have any other questions

"about the nature of your circle

"or your work with Candela,

"I will remit you to the care of your grandfather."

SAM: I think I get it.

We go out there,

beat this guy up, see what he knows--

GINA: Oh my. SAM:-- shake him down,

and follow his leads, I guess?

LIAM: We normally start with conversation, Oscar.

SAM: Okay. LIAM: Normally.

SAM: (sighs) Sure, that'll work too.

AABRIA: "I leave it to you.

"I wish you all the best of luck."

With that, Nokari

stands and dusts off their suit

and puts on their jacket

and sweeps out the front door

and to parts unknown to handle

other assignments, other phenomena.

You are left to the quiet of your room

and your interviewee outside.

LIAM: Cosmo goes 1,000-yard stare for a moment

and just looks back at

seven or eight decades of work in Candela.

The things I've seen and the places I've been.

I stick for a moment on how

simple and perfunctory

the end appears to be.

Well.

Well.

Shall we pick apart this knot

and see what we're dealing with?

GINA: Oh, we shouldn't pick him apart.

He's been through hell.

How about I try to calm him down first?

LIAM: That is one of your specialties. Yes.

GINA: Madam Glask walks towards the garden outside

and sits next to him

and gently puts a hand on his shoulder.

Oh.

You look

troubled.

AABRIA: As you approach,

his eyes immediately lock on you

and though there's no move to move away,

he's not frightened, but he's skittish.

The moment you reach out a hand,

you get that very subtle withdrawal.

You can put your hand on his shoulder,

but it's very

clear that he is still in a place of agitation

where guarding his space feels important to him.

GINA: Madam Glask pulls her hands back.

She's very familiar with how to

deal with people and their troubles.

She says:

Oh, of course,

and sits next to him.

I understand that you need our help.

AABRIA: "You're with them?"

GINA: As of today, I suppose so, yes.

But I wanted to-- AABRIA: "You're new."

GINA: I'm sorry? AABRIA: "You're new.

"You're not a normal--

"You're not a--

"You're new to Candela. You don't do this.

"They don't believe me." GINA: No, no. Oh, no, no.

No, I-- AABRIA: "You're wearing

"a ball gown." SAM: (laughs)

AABRIA: "It's the morning."

ASHLY: (laughs) SAM: (laughs)

AABRIA: "Oh god."

GINA: I don't own-- AABRIA: "They're going to

"send me back." GINA:-- many daytime clothing.

AABRIA: "Daytime--"

You see, he looks down at his wrinkly pajamas.

GINA: (laughs)

LIAM: I'll wheel myself out. I assure you, Mr. Sarcas,

members of Candela come in all shapes and sizes

and just because you're not familiar with Ms. Glask,

does not mean she hasn't

been a part of our explorations for some time.

GINA: I assure you,

I am a very good old friend of Cosmo and

you can put your trust in me.

ASHLY: Can I see this happening even if I'm not there?

AABRIA: Yeah. ASHLY: Okay.

I'd like to just watch him as they're talking to him

and see if I can pick up

if there's anything psychological or arcane

going on with him as he speaks.

AABRIA: Yeah.

Let's get a roll about it.

If you are looking for the nature,

the very mundane nature of his distress,

give me, let's call it Focus.

A Focus roll, but if you're trying to see

if there is something very specifically magickally

wrong with him or interacting with him,

give me a Sense roll.

ASHLY: I'll try a Sense.

AABRIA: Yeah!

ASHLY: I don't know, let's go. SAM: Come on, let's go.

AABRIA: It's going to be so good.

ASHLY: I failed.

(laughter)

ASHLY: He's a guy.

AABRIA: He's a guy. ASHLY: (laughs)

AABRIA: You lean in

and you begin to focus

on scanning him with doctor's eyes that even

with your time with the occult, with your time with Candela,

it still all begins with that scan,

looking for the first thing wrong,

so you can build a pattern, so you can make a diagnosis.

The more you lean in, the more you search him,

you don't really notice it

but there's something about him,

something that he's seen.

I need you to take a bleed token.

ASHLY: Oh, shit. GINA: Oh.

AABRIA: As something you can't quite clock--

ASHLY: Okay. AABRIA:-- is awry with him.

ASHLY: Oh, dear.

Baby's first bleed.

AABRIA: Baby's first bleed! Welcome!

ASHLY: It hurts!

LIAM: Mr. Sarcas, our party is gathered.

I suggest we call them all out into the garden

so you don't have to repeat yourself.

AABRIA: "Yes.

"Yes, I will--

"(shaky exhale) Yes." LIAM: Oscar!

AABRIA: "Ah!" LIAM: Boy!

Bring the--

SAM: Yeah, yeah, okay. LIAM: Bring your new friend

into the garden.

SAM: Yeah. You want to come? NOSHIR: Oh, that must be me.

SAM: Yeah, here. I'll get the door for you.

I'm sure you're not accustomed to door handles.

ASHLY: I'm going to stick-- NOSHIR: Fast learner.

ASHLY:-- close to Oscar as we go out.

SAM: I will-- ASHLY: Probably markedly close.

SAM:-- puff my chest up and just make sure that there's

no sudden moves.

AABRIA: Oscar and Elsie move out into this,

now getting very cramped little garden.

Raj, you're the last one through.

As you see him, as you move into this space

and you begin to share the air of him,

you feel it hit you like a freight train.

So my question to you is, what is it--

What does it feel like when you

enter into the presence of a tremendous amount of bleed?

ASHLY: Ooh.

Shit.

NOSHIR: Like being in the middle of a gale,

or the beat of a thousand wings.

It

pierces through thought

and almost bypasses fear,

going straight to something much more

primitive, so to speak.

It takes a lot of willpower for me to not

physically step back in the moment.

AABRIA: You feel like you are suddenly overwhelmed,

overrun, overcome.

You know before whatever happens next,

the longer you stay here, the more you risk

taking damage from proximity

to a feeling

so specific.

You've consulted with Candela before.

You've been in proximity to

items and monsters

and things of bleed and thinnings and Flare.

But this has all of the scent

and understanding of a long,

nearly forgotten fear.

This is the bleed, the flavor,

the scent of the Maw,

and everything you experienced in your childhood.

You're right back there again.

Staring her down,

looking at your sister.

And you, if you stay here, will be lost to it.

What do you do?

NOSHIR: We need answers and we need them quickly.

LIAM: Dr. Savarimuthu, you are looking a little peaked.

NOSHIR: I'm fine.

ASHLY: Can I tell that he's not fine?

AABRIA: That's not a roll. He's not fine.

(laughs)

ASHLY: Rajan, do you need to step inside?

NOSHIR: I leave this to you, Professor.

LIAM: Yes. Yeah.

Mr. Sarcas, perhaps you should cut to the quick of it.

Explain to us what you are in need of.

AABRIA: "Yeah, yeah, yeah, last night

"there's been people disappearing from Grayslate.

"We always knew that when you go gray,

"when it's too much, when you break, they put you away

"like a fucking child's toy that you're outgrown.

"They ship you into that building and you never come back.

"But even when you're in it, people go missing.

"They just go away.

"It might be a jail,

"but even jails have ledgers

"and paperwork, and they just don't seem to care.

"Maybe I don't get to be what I was before,

"I don't feel like I did before, but someone should care.

"It feels like it all started when that nun showed up."

ASHLY: At that word I think I'm going to take,

if Rajan hasn't gone inside,

I might lock eyes with him and go, let's go inside.

NOSHIR: I think not, Elsie.

I think this might be a little more important.

Please continue, good sir.

AABRIA: There's something in that look,

the struggle for your composure that settles Silva, weirdly.

"I wasn't able to find anything,

"but everywhere she goes,

"whoever she turns her attention on, they disappear.

"Every time I ask a director

"or any of the orderlies there, I'm brushed off,

"treated like I'm making a big deal out of nothing.

"I, it's, I, if I'm--

"(shouts) If I'm crazy, then just--

"I'm not crazy, I'm not..."

LIAM: Perhaps you could help us with specifics.

Who is the clergy woman you are referring to?

AABRIA: "She introduced herself as Sister Iovar.

"She's beautiful."

NOSHIR: The most beautiful woman you've ever seen.

AABRIA: "It's, it's eerie, it pulls you in."

NOSHIR: You hunger for her.

You're not crazy.

AABRIA: "I'm not crazy.

"You've seen her, too?"

NOSHIR: Yes, we've crossed paths before.

AABRIA: "I'm not crazy. There's just something wrong with it.

"Wherever she goes, they disappear and no one cares.

"Then I saw them that night,

"her on the director,

"and I'm a married man,

"so it's not easy for me to admit what I thought,

"things that I thought about when I first saw it.

"But even through the lust,

"the wrongness of it,

"you can't put that away.

"You feel it in you even as all the other emotions,

"all the other urges hit.

"Then a patient, Johnny, I don't even know his last name,

"he was banging on the window.

"His hands were ripped up.

"He led them away.

"Maybe it was the wrong thing,

"maybe I should've tried to follow

"but I didn't think I could safely,

"and I just, I thought if I could get here,

"if I could find any of you, you could do something.

"You could find something.

"You would just, you would hear me

"and believe me, there's something happening.

"I was good at my job.

"I was good at my job and then, then they--

"I'm still good at my job.

"Something's wrong."

GINA: How did you escape?

Perhaps there's a way

for us to get in through where you left.

AABRIA: "Scaled the wall.

"Normally, you have to pass the director's office

"and she doesn't seem to sleep.

"So for whatever reason, the security, the orderlies,

"So for whatever reason, the security, the orderlies,

"there was no one around.

"I saw a chance and I took it.

"I was good at my job."

LIAM: You fled the sanatorium,

and she, what, resides there on a permanent basis?

AABRIA: "I've never... if she's not walking around,

"if she's not in a meeting, or viewing the grounds,

"or she's in her office, always, always."

ASHLY: Do they know you're gone?

Will they be looking for you?

AABRIA: "They have to know.

"They have to know." NOSHIR: Don't have much time.

Where did your friend, Johnny, take them?

AABRIA: "There's a walking grounds.

"It's a large lawn,

"but there's little copse of trees and shrubbery.

"He was running in a dead sprint

"towards some shrubbery in the back."

NOSHIR: What makes him so important?

AABRIA: "He was bleeding and he didn't even notice.

"He was hurt and didn't care."

NOSHIR: Is Johnny a patient there?

AABRIA: "Yeah, yeah,

"one of the ones that disappeared without concern."

LIAM: And showed up inexplicably that night

and you fled, and you've no idea

where they ended up that night.

AABRIA: "I had a choice, understand or report,

"and I'm an officer,

"I understand authority and structures.

"I knew if I could just make someone understand,

"you could go, I...

"If I go back, I'll never leave."

LIAM: After listening to this gentleman for several minutes,

I'm wondering, does he seem to me confused

or like he is omitting anything in his story?

AABRIA: Are you using mundane or magical means?

LIAM: Mundane, I'm using my bullshit detector.

(laughter)

AABRIA: Go ahead and give me a Read roll.

LIAM: Yeah, I will burn a drive.

AABRIA: Ooh!

LIAM: This is gilded, here we go.

Not on the gilded, but that is a six, a success.

AABRIA: With a six.

You see that the problem with him isn't anything to do

with omission, it's just the thinness.

He came to you with an instinct, a gut feeling

that nothing was wrong and that this is a person,

you don't really have a sense of how long

he's been locked away in the sanatorium,

but this is a person that's been convinced

steadily over time that his instincts are wrong.

This is a person that lived by his instincts.

Hunches solve cases.

The OUP is a lot like Candela.

They're the part of The Periphery here

in the city that engages with magical phenomena,

much in the same way that you are about finding,

cataloging, suppressing and moving forward.

This is the part of The Periphery,

the police state here, that will do whatever it takes

to protect the populace from magical problems.

The relationship between Candela and them

is occasionally amicable,

but mostly they try to beat you to the punch

so they can take credit for all these goings on.

Candela will take control of something and hide it

and not necessarily share information with the public.

But anything that gets through this office to The Periphery

gets to the Triumvirate and becomes more information for

the government to understand, to control, to weaponize.

LIAM: Understood, and this gentleman, while a bit

in a spin does not seem muddled in his story--

AABRIA: Not at all.

LIAM:-- and has absolute conviction in it.

AABRIA: 100%. LIAM: Yes?

AABRIA: He seems bolstered by the strong reaction with Rajan.

Someone understands, even that little bit

of confirmation is enough.

You see him returning to himself in real time.

ASHLY: A question. AABRIA: Yeah?

ASHLY: I'm a blood and guts doctor,

but is there anything that I've done

since I've been with Candela that might help someone,

like can I feel that I took a point of bleed basically,

that this guy might need some help?

Do I have anything that helps

with that or am I just your standard issue GP?

AABRIA: I think what you are getting off of him,

that mixture of like,

there's nothing physically wrong with him.

The closest you can get is that understanding

of taking bleed, being in proximity to something

that is throwing off a lot of that negative energy

has affected him.

From your time, and your studies,

and your existence as a doctor in this city,

you know that the sanatorium

is where they put Periphery officers

that have been too close to very bad things for too long

and get burnt out of efficacy,

in the same way that a Candela Lightkeeper

is someone that has been in the field for so long

that they've aggregated too much scarring on their body,

or their mind, or that thing within them that engages

with and understands the magical truth of the world.

ASHLY: So there's nothing I could do to help him

with the feelings that he's having?

AABRIA: Talking, believing him,

like there's nothing physically--

ASHLY: Okay. AABRIA:-- that you could do.

GINA: Madam Glask leans over to him in a very reassuring voice

and says: You are indeed very good at your job.

AABRIA: "Thank you."

GINA: Is there anything else that you could tell us

that may help us with this Sister Iovar?

AABRIA: "Yeah, yeah,

"we keep tabs on a lot of things,

"and in our line of work," and now you see that he's

a little more bought in on the 'we are the same.'

He's no longer treating you

as this neophyte that was thrown in his way

as another act of dismissal.

"Religion is a vector

"through which a lot of misdeeds get into the world,

"so we keep tabs on The Ascendancy.

"There aren't many clergymen in the city.

"I've never heard of an Iovar before.

"I don't know, I don't know what she is,

"and I think that's the thing that bothers me.

"She doesn't feel real in the way that you and I are real.

"I wish I had more.

"Everything was taken when they sent me here."

GINA: I understand, that's more than enough, thank you.

LIAM: I would open it up to the circle then to brainstorm.

NOSHIR: Brainstorm? LIAM: My instinct is to start

with the outside and work our way in,

unless anyone has a better idea.

Perhaps we wait until nightfall?

NOSHIR: Why are we waiting?

Professor, with all due respect,

we know that Grayslate is where this is happening.

We know that Sister Iovar was last seen there.

Why are we, why are we waiting?

LIAM: Hopefully to get in and out unscathed.

SAM: Can't we just make an appointment or something?

I mean they're open for business, right?

You guys are prominent citizens.

LIAM: I'm just curious to see if there is anything left

on the premises from your associate

who fled before charging into the maw of the beast.

ASHLY: The stories about the sanatorium

is that they don't let people out.

NOSHIR: No.

SAM: They can let people in, right, to visit?

ASHLY: There's something really wrong going on there.

We don't want to just rush in.

LIAM: What do you think, Rajan? Should we be charging

up to the door and making an appointment with this sister?

AABRIA: Rajan. LIAM: Seems like that might

be a bad idea.

AABRIA: Rajan, you feel the eyes

of this circle turn to you,

but in this moment, you didn't hear any word

after "maw."

You fall into yourself.

You're going to take a bleed

for remaining here,

as a poor reward for your bravery.

You think back. You were so young.

No one would blame you for the things that happened.

Your sister, after your mother went,

after something inside of her broke,

Atheka, she was lost to you, she was lost to your family.

And how could you blame her?

You were grieving.

So then when a beautiful nun,

Rahema, appeared

offered you solace, offered you hope,

you and your father and the broken family

that you were left with

took it as a blessing, as a boon.

Over time, she flourished,

and you thought it was going so well.

You feel yourself jumping through time,

feeling that hope

that maybe you could get back to a place

where your family could feel okay, could feel good again.

Then you get to that night and you followed

across the city,

to the dingiest, darkest part of town,

and you saw her there on her hands and knees,

feverishly digging down

deep into the ground.

She looked up at you,

and for a while you didn't see your sister.

You saw something ravenous and in rapture.

You saw Rahema,

and everything that came after

she turned into something monstrous,

something fierce.

She attacked you.

She hurt you.

In a moment, you did your best

to save yourself.

A poem, a nursery rhyme,

drilled into you by your mother

whose shape, the lack of her, shattered your family.

You thought, "I have the words to drive back this monster,"

like they do in a fairytale.

And a slip of the word,

and you saved only yourself.

Your sister was lost to a thing that you understand,

even as it hit and cleaved

deeply between muscle and bone

til you could feel it scratch lung, heart,

the very core of you.

The Maw, a monster

hiding behind a beautiful face.

She's taken your sister

and left you like whatever you are now.

But she's back,

which means hope is back.

So you accept the bleed greedily,

because if you are built for anything, it's this.

You come back to yourself

and see that your circle,

that this officer is staring you down,

expecting some sort of response.

LIAM: Rajan?

NOSHIR: (sighs)

(clears throat contemplatively)

I think perhaps there's an easier strategy here.

Madam Glask, do you perhaps have any sway

over these security personnel at this sanatorium?

GINA: I suppose I may have heard a few clients talk

about guarding the place.

I believe I remember what their names were.

I may know them.

If they happen to be there tonight,

I suppose I can pull a few strings to get us in.

Discreetly, though.

NOSHIR: If not, greed is always a powerful motivator.

Either way, I think we have our in.

LIAM: Right.

What will you do with yourself?

AABRIA: "If I show my face, they'll find me.

AABRIA: "If I show my face, they'll find me,

"the Periphery.

"I was put away, so."

ASHLY: Glask, you're known for your secrecy.

Maybe we should take this gentleman there.

NOSHIR: I think perhaps

Nokari might be a good resource here.

The collateral damage if they come after Sarkis is high.

AABRIA: "I have other information

"about what my office has been working on, I think.

"I think I can make a deal.

"Barter for safe passage out of the city or--"

LIAM: I think that wise. No offense,

but I think your presence has an ill effect.

Otherwise, I would offer a room here

or suggest Madam Glask's establishment.

I don't think that that's a good idea.

AABRIA: "I understand. It's not personal."

LIAM: No. AABRIA: "New start.

"I have a lot of memories here,

"family I can't go home to."

NOSHIR: Perhaps I might be able to help.

I have property on Briar Green.

It's unoccupied.

Perhaps you could lay low there for a while.

SAM: You have an extra house?

GINA: (laughs)

AABRIA: "Look at his jacket." NOSHIR: You don't?

GINA: (laughs)

GINA: I do apologize, it is a place of business

and I normally would, especially if Cosmo asks,

but I can't risk it.

AABRIA: "Oh, yeah. No, I understand.

"You're all being very, very kind.

"I appreciate that you believe me at all.

"I hope you find something.

"I hope you help them

"figure out whatever's going on.

"But you believed me

"and that feels really good.

"So."

NOSHIR: Rajan takes a hand out of his jacket pocket, gloved,

and gently takes Mr. Sarkis' hand

and rubs with his thumb very soothingly across the top.

You'll be well taken care of.

I promise you that.

AABRIA: You feel, even in that,

and it's very apparent to everyone here,

that even in that act of tenderness and gentleness

there is a sting that you would recognize

as someone else resonating at that frequency of proximity

to the Maw and the collateral damage

from when you get too close.

But you shrug through it.

NOSHIR: I'm waiting to see if the scarlet I've smeared

across the back of his hand has taken effect.

AABRIA: Oh. Oh!

Hmm. Why don't you give me a Hide roll to see--

Let's just see how effective you are.

LIAM: You're a slick son of a bitch.

AABRIA: Yeah. (laughter)

GINA: That's really good.

NOSHIR: I'm going to add two drive.

AABRIA: Okay. SAM: Two drive.

Ooh.

AABRIA: I will say, the stakes aren't necessarily high here,

but this will be less about hiding this from Sarkis,

who's leaned in and locked in,

and more about the people here.

NOSHIR: Mm.

(sighs)

Critical success on gilded.

SAM: Ooh!

(impressed exhales)

AABRIA: What an act of tenderness.

You see Sarkis begin to relax.

He doesn't even know that it has anything to do

with a chemical agent.

He thinks that maybe just being believed and understood

and perhaps being touch starved

from months and months of isolation,

that that was all he ever really needed.

You see him surge up,

both relaxed, but that renewed confidence of someone

who believes that there's hope, a way through.

who believes that there's hope, a way through,

that maybe he's not grayed out, maybe he's not useless.

I think you have a little bit of an understanding.

I would never presume to tell you how your character feels,

but you know intimately well

the trajectory and duration

of that false hope,

of that elation that comes from scarlet.

NOSHIR: Rest untroubled, friend.

You've done your duty.

AABRIA: "(sighs)

"Thanks. Yeah.

"Thank you. I will speak more with the Lightkeeper

"and we'll figure something out.

"Be careful, if you're going at night.

"Just be careful.

"It's a hospital,

"but whatever rot got inside it,

"it's not a good place.

"Not just because of the nun or the director.

"I think it's been wrong and rotten for far longer."

LIAM: I pull a pencil and paper from a pouch

that hangs in inside my wheelchair and hand to him.

Why don't you do me a favor, son, and draw me a basic map

to the director and the sister's quarters.

AABRIA: "Yes."

Given a task and something that he is very good at,

it takes maybe a minute.

He's not an artist, but it's very clear.

You have a top down layout of as much of the interior

of the sanatorium as a patient will be granted access to.

So there's large blocks and swaths

and floors that he has no information on.

LIAM: Yes. AABRIA: But that bottom floor,

mapped perfectly down to windows and the grounds.

Three distinct sections of trees,

and a little fountain,

and the shrubbery that abuts the far wall

that makes it that much harder to clear and escape.

LIAM: Why don't you add an X

to where your fellow patient ran to?

AABRIA: Because he does not know where they stopped,

he'll give you a dotted straight line--

LIAM: Trajectory. AABRIA:-- of the straight trajectory.

LIAM: Yes.

AABRIA: It's very clear that whatever that run was,

there was no sense of follow the garden path.

It's a straight shot towards--

There's a central little tree lined area with some benches

and then the far corner where there's some tree line, too.

So you have two potential places.

LIAM: Hopefully this will make our work

ever so slightly easier.

AABRIA: "I'm happy to have helped."

LIAM: Remind me, GM,

did the Lightkeeper leave premises?

AABRIA: Yes, they did. LIAM: Yes. All right.

So you are going to check in with Nokari?

AABRIA: "Mm-hmm."

LIAM: All right.

AABRIA: "The way I understand it,

"this is not their chapter house."

LIAM: No.

AABRIA: "It's daytime.

"I might lie low for a little longer,

"but I can make my way over.

"The Steel is easy to navigate

"when it was your beat. (laughs)

"I'll be okay."

NOSHIR: Is Eloise still here?

AABRIA: You--

Above game, I don't think you have any reason to believe

that she would have departed.

But if Rajan asked out loud,

you just get a blank stare back from Silva.

He goes like, "Who?"

SAM: She should still be, yeah.

LIAM: Eloise?

NOSHIR: Yes, Professor. LIAM: She minds the shop.

NOSHIR: Sarkis cannot be left alone here.

If the Ascendancy were to find him,

what do you think will happen?

We will never see him again.

More importantly, you know he must be observed.

LIAM: I might agree with that, doctor,

but he seems to be having a serious effect on you.

I hate to see you stretched.

SAM: Also, not to be rude, but what do we care?

We've got a mission, we've got a place,

we've got a time, we've got a person.

I might have misjudged this whole Candela thing.

I mean, going after a sex-crazed nun kind of sounds fun now.

What do we need this guy anymore for?

He gave us his info.

AABRIA: "Well."

NOSHIR: A sex-crazed nun.

Maybe you're right, Oscar.

Maybe it's not such a big deal after all.

ASHLY: Can I see--

I don't want to know.

I know that I wouldn't have noticed

what he smeared on Silva.

AABRIA: Mm-hmm.

ASHLY: But I want to see if I can notice traces of scarlet use

on Rajan as he's speaking.

AABRIA: Oh. Give me a Read roll.

ASHLY: Can it be a Focus? SAM: (laughs)

AABRIA: Yeah. You know what?

Go ahead and make it a Focus roll. Love that.

(laughter) AABRIA: Love that.

ASHLY: I'm going to spend a drive because I'll use a gilded.

I have a gilded baby in here.

Mm, that is a mixed success.

AABRIA: Uh-huh.

There is something to his pallor and presentation,

exacerbated by whatever you saw him fall into

as he's been out here in proximity with this man.

Scarlet could explain it,

but there's a lot of reasons

that someone could look this way, look this drawn.

You feel it inside of you too, that wrongness,

something scratching into you

because of your proximity to this person.

SAM: Scarlet is a drug?

AABRIA: Scarlet is the predominant drug here.

SAM: Okay. AABRIA: And has lots

of different ways it pops up.

It's often mixed into alcohol and used for social things.

SAM: Okay. AABRIA: But yeah,

across the board. LIAM: I'll tell you, Rajan,

I was primarily concerned for you, son.

But I want the machine that is this circle to be well-oiled.

If you would feel more comfortable

with him taking one of the rooms upstairs

until Eloise can get word to Nokari,

I can abide by that.

Would that ease your mind?

NOSHIR: Yes, Professor, thank you.

It's much appreciated.

LIAM: We are all friends here, son. We are friends.

AABRIA: With that, with a sort of understanding

of the when and the how of it,

plans to sneak out tonight to broach the grounds,

to find for yourself,

we're going to cut as you wait out the day.

You are able to make plans with Eloise who is,

though she is drawn and skittish

and very averse to picking up even bits and hints

of your work with Candela now that she's out, she is capable

and babysitting one man is an easy enough task

to set her to, though she asks

for as few details as possible.

LIAM: She was one of the sharpest agents in the field

when she was still in the game.

I have no doubt in her.

AABRIA: Yeah.

ASHLY: Before we fast forward too much,

could I have a scene with Raj?

AABRIA: Love it. Go ahead and paint me a picture.

LIAM: I'll follow up afterward.

(laughter)

ASHLY: So I think at this point that Silva has been--

escorted upstairs. AABRIA: Yeah, off and away.

Yeah.

ASHLY: I'm going to find a moment when Raj is alone

and approach him.

AABRIA: Yeah, you have hours until night falls.

ASHLY: Mm-hmm.

Raj?

NOSHIR: Elsie.

ASHLY: (sighs)

NOSHIR: Oh, I know that look. Ever the good doctor.

ASHLY: You seem a bit worse for the wear.

I wondered if I might

(breathes shakily) do a brief examination

to make sure everything's okay.

NOSHIR: What? Are you worried about me, Elsie?

ASHLY: I'm a doctor, it's my job.

NOSHIR: Yes.

I think I'm doing quite fine on my own,

but I promise I will be a very good patient.

If I need you, I'll come running.

ASHLY: Doing fine on your own, and yet you joined this group.

How long have you been tracking this?

What are you going to do if you don't find her?

NOSHIR: Ever full of doubts, Elsie.

ASHLY: I was given reason-- NOSHIR: Let's not worry

about a problem that hasn't arised yet, yes?

I don't need you looking after me right now.

ASHLY: Did you know I was going to be here?

NOSHIR: Complete surprise.

ASHLY: Hmm.

NOSHIR: I must say, though, it is very good to see you.

ASHLY: I wish I could say the same.

NOSHIR: (laughs)

ASHLY: I'm going to turn to leave

unless he wants to stop me for a second.

AABRIA: He lets you leave,

and something in that, the confrontation of it,

the coldness of it.

Take another token.

SAM: Oh boy.

ASHLY: ♪ Oh, we're halfway there ♪

NOSHIR: On second thought-- No.

(laughter)

AABRIA: Hug her and tell her whatever's happening is fine.

ASHLY: (laughs)

AABRIA: Is there anything else you want to do

before we get to the sanatorium?

SAM: I'll walk over-- AABRIA: Yeah.

SAM:-- to wherever he is.

LIAM: In my study.

Close the door.

SAM: Oh, I had to-- Okay, sure.

LIAM: You find me with my back to you and Godot in my lap,

staring at the painting on the wall behind my desk.

Piles of books and charts everywhere,

sketches of strange Oldfairen architecture,

symbols you can't read.

You look well, boy.

Like you always do, you look well.

SAM: I feel fine, yeah. How about you?

I mean, you know, you don't have to do this anymore.

I'm sure you've been told enough, but--

LIAM: Don't I--

Your time inside wasn't too harsh, I hope.

SAM: I mean, prison's a lot like every day.

Same routine, just smaller walls,

fewer windows.

I would've been fine.

You didn't have to pull strings and bust me out.

I would've been fine.

LIAM: Well, old habits and all that.

SAM: Yeah, you're always taking care of me.

(sighs) I appreciate it.

I just, I think it should be the other way around.

LIAM: Listen to me.

Believe it or not, I am glad to have you close.

I am trepidatious.

I don't know what to make of Dr. Savarimuthu

and this man's coincidental overlap.

I don't know what that means, but

I do know that there will be eyes on us, Oscar.

He hasn't looked at you once this whole time

and finally turns.

There will be eyes on you.

SAM: I can take it.

I'll just be as subtle as I can be.

Look, if we get in a scrape,

just stay behind me, okay?

You don't need to be doing anything brave or bold.

You've done plenty, all right? Just take it easy.

We'll help these people out,

help the prince out, or whatever his name is,

go home, rest, and be done with it.

I know you want this to be more

than just one of your regular missions,

but I've stopped trying.

LIAM: Time is a funny thing.

Always wanting more, never enough.

Or is it too much?

Is it too much time?

Try not to rock the boat with the circle.

That young man is a good boy at his core.

SAM: Yeah, he seemed like he cared.

That's a good thing, I guess.

Still, I mean, come on, look at him.

AABRIA: (laughs quietly)

SAM: (sighs) I'll do my best, all right, Cosmo?

LIAM: Not all of us have played baseball down by the docks.

SAM: Yeah. LIAM: We all walk

different walks in this life.

SAM: Well, I hope it's a grand bam.

(laughter)

LIAM: That's an inside joke just for us.

(laughter)

LIAM: Listen-- SAM: Listen. I got to go.

I got to go, I got to go,

my boss is out there. GINA: Oscar.

SAM: I got to go. I got to go. LIAM: Yes, you beat me to it.

Madam Glask does not suffer fools. Go, go, go, go.

SAM: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. GINA: Time is of the essence.

SAM: Eat something before we go tonight, all right?

LIAM: I hold up my wiener dog.

Oh, you have been eating fish. SAM: No, no. Food.

ASHLY: (laughs) SAM: Get Eloise

to get you some-- All right, I'm out of here.

Is there anything else you want to cover

before you head out?

SAM: I want to break into a sanatorium.

(laughter)

AABRIA: Beautiful. LIAM: It's minor,

but once Oscar departs,

Cosmo spends the hours of the day poring through any books

in his collection that discuss the history

of the Ascendancy, dating all the way back

to the War of Embers and looking for anything

that sounds like this woman Iovar,

and finds nothing.

AABRIA: She is a tidy blank in your copious research.

LIAM: I had to try.

AABRIA: As you focus and fixate,

doing what you do best in the field,

which is know and understand and catalog and process,

the hours slip away, and the sun moves across the sky,

and at some point, you look up

and night has settled over the Sidle and over Newfaire

and it's time to go. LIAM: The witching hour.

AABRIA: And we'll get to that after our break.

SAM: Ooh. NOSHIR: (laughs)

GINA: Woo! AABRIA: Woo! (laughs)

We'll see you in a bit!

AABRIA: And after a day of preparation

and thought, and conversations,

you find yourselves standing in the street,

looking up at the imposing dark gray structure

that is the Grayslate Sanatorium.

It's been around for a couple centuries

and any historical understanding of it

as a place of genuine convalescence and healing

has given way to the understanding

that it's where the rich hide away

the family members that embarrass them,

and largely, the Periphery uses it

as a convenient dumping ground

for their soldiers who have seen a little too much

and are holding a little too much,

and are no longer of use.

I think there's something in the brutal structure of it.

There's nothing calm or kind

or sympathetic to a person at their lowest,

most vulnerable, that you see,

that yeah, this reads more like a fortress

to keep things in than a place to heal and help.

As you look, you see maybe

every two to three minutes,

a guard in a dark gray jumpsuit

that blends in with the wall if they ever go still

to observe or listen in to the other side of the walls,

makes their pathway around.

You're all hidden out of sight, it's night.

How do you make your way in? What's the plan?

SAM: With all due respect to all you guys:

Your Highness,

Madam, Doc, Cosmo.

This is sort of my bag, so if you wouldn't mind,

maybe I can go out there and sneak around

and see if I can get eyes on that guard that you know.

GINA: Sure, about 6'4", a dark mustache,

a scar over his right eye.

SAM: That's me, you're talking about me.

(laughter)

GINA: 6'4?

SAM: Well, I mean, okay.

I think I've seen him, though, at--

He's a customer, right?

I think I've seen him around.

GINA: Yes, if you can get eyes on him,

I can possibly ask him to let us in.

SAM: All right.

LIAM: So we're staying away from the front gates.

The entrance we're coming in on the side?

SAM: Maybe I should scurry up over.

Are these solid stone walls or cast iron?

AABRIA: So you're looking at a poured concrete

and brick construction,

but there's just enough of crenulation and decoration

that there are footholds at least from the outside.

SAM: All right, I don't think I need a boost or anything,

but I think I can make it up and peer over the top.

ASHLY: Be careful.

SAM: Thanks, Doc. If I fall,

I know who's going to patch me up, right?

(laughter) SAM: Let's go.

AABRIA: Okay, you time it so the passing of the guard

gives you your biggest clearance.

You have maybe a minute

before someone will turn around a corner

and if you're not high enough,

you'll be spotted.

So give me, let's call it a Move roll,

unless you want to make a case for something else.

SAM: No, Move sounds good.

Is it to get to the top of the--?

AABRIA: Yep, cleanly, quickly and quietly.

SAM: I will use a drive.

AABRIA: Yeah, I will say the stakes on this are high

not for harm, but for getting there unperceived,

either visually or auditorily.

ASHLY: I was going to say:

Could I potentially be sort of--

SAM: Boosty? ASHLY: Not boosty,

but if you were to drop something

that might make a sound or something,

I want to be at the ready to maybe catch.

AABRIA: Yeah, you're all very aware that--

you've gotten a sense of the timing,

so you can get in there,

help as much as you can, and then get out of Dodge before--

ASHLY: Does that mean I add a drive to his?

AABRIA: Yeah. ASHLY: Okay.

SAM: Oh, so I get another dice, amazing.

AABRIA: Do you want to jump in on this?

NOSHIR: I'm wondering if perhaps it's worth it

for Madam Glask and I to

create a little commotion somewhere

to draw a little bit of attention.

SAM: Oh boy. We're trying to do this sneaky.

You sure about that? NOSHIR: Oh, I mean away from you.

SAM: Sure, sure.

NOSHIR: No, I'll let the professional handle this.

(laughter)

GINA: Oh, I was hoping we could have some fun.

SAM: We'll find out. AABRIA: All right.

SAM: Four, that's a mixed success.

AABRIA: Okay.

How important is it to you--

ASHLY: Uh-oh.

AABRIA:-- to get up undetected?

If you have to choose between success

or harm to yourself,

what do you choose? SAM: Oh, success.

AABRIA: You scurry up,

moving quickly and impressively quietly,

and you have a spotter.

The Doc is under you ready to catch anything,

to make sure you're soundless and you can feel it

as you are picking all of your handholds and your footholds,

there's something so hostile about the architecture

that you feel your hand grabbing onto not smooth stone

worn down by time, but it's almost as if

it's been sanded or polished, so it hurts to hold.

You feel your hands ripping as you go,

and it takes everything in you to wipe your shirt

or your coat over the spot

so you're not leaving bloody hand prints.

Please take a body.

SAM: Oh, okay. ASHLY: Shit.

SAM: Ah, that hurt, but I'm here.

ASHLY: Are you okay?

SAM: Yeah, yeah, yeah, nothing you can't fix, maybe.

You brought bandages, right?

ASHLY: Yes, I brought bandages, Oscar.

SAM: I'll peer over and see what I can see.

AABRIA: What you see is all of the decoration from the outside

absolutely stops when you get on the inside.

You're about 16 feet in the air,

and the sloped architecture

that gives very gothic vibes falls away

into a dead drop of

intensely slick, polished stone

that would provide no purchase on the other side

for you to jump and come back.

SAM: Oh boy. AABRIA: But what you see--

Sorry, mic.

What you see is this flat, wide area of grass,

maybe a hundred yards in every direction.

A big square with a couple little pockets of trees.

To call them copses or little natural spots of shrubbery

is a gross exaggeration and I think you have a strong sense

of what becomes normal after a while,

given how stark everything is in here.

You can count the number of trees on your fingers and toes

and yeah, you've got eyes on the two areas

highlighted by the map provided.

There's nothing visually that you can clock,

but that central copse 50 yards to get there

and then the tree edge,

that would've been the other side of that diagonal

that Johnny ran, would be probably skirting the outside.

It would take you maybe 120 yards

to walk the edges and get over there.

SAM: Can I ID any of the guards walking around

or see anyone coming?

AABRIA: I think we can walk that back

and say that if you were trying to get

the timing of the guards,

you would have seen your mark, Cronin,

making the rounds.

It takes him probably 20 minutes to do the full lap.

So the fact that you were seeing someone

every couple of minutes means

that there's five or six guards on duty.

SAM: Oh, okay.

I will whisper all that back down to the Doc.

What do we do?

LIAM: What's it like at the front gate

because I'm not going over the wall?

AABRIA: You have seconds to have this conversation

before another one comes around.

ASHLY: I'm going to say: Just get down, get down for now.

SAM: I could throw a rock or--

ASHLY: Oscar, get down. SAM: All right,

all right, I'll get down.

It's just, they're so punchable, all right.

ASHLY: As soon as you get down,

I'm going to take your hands and look at them.

SAM: It's fine, It's just a cut, it's fine.

ASHLY: I thought you were tougher than this.

SAM: I am.

ASHLY: Apparently not.

Then when I have a few moments of calm,

I can make a Focus roll to heal one body mark on an ally.

AABRIA: Amazing. SAM: Oh wow.

AABRIA: Let's go.

SAM: Don't waste that on me.

NOSHIR: I agree.

(laughter)

NOSHIR: Kidding, kidding.

ASHLY: Who are you?

SAM: All right, so we know where--

Oh, do you have to roll for it?

AABRIA: Yeah. ASHLY: I do.

AABRIA: What'd you get?

ASHLY: On a four or a five, spend two intuition

to accomplish this.

So one of them was a gilded die,

so I'll get rid of one drive,

and you get your body healed.

AABRIA: Did you take the result from your gilded die?

ASHLY: Yes. AABRIA: Okay, cool, cool, sweet.

ASHLY: Better?

SAM: Yeah, thank you.

ASHLY: Sure.

SAM: You doing okay?

ASHLY: (exhales) I'm, uh--

NOSHIR: Time is of the essence, people.

SAM: Sorry, sorry, yeah.

Okay, I saw the trees where we're going.

It's in there to the left,

but there's lots of guards.

I think we're going to need

some sort of distraction to get there.

GINA: I know one.

So you did see Cronin?

SAM: He's making the rounds,

but so are a half dozen others.

GINA: Five others.

ASHLY: Well.

LIAM: What about the front entrance?

SAM: What did I see in the front entrance?

AABRIA: You looked-- So you popped up

to look into the back and the lawn.

So I think your best eyes were on the back entrance

to the main building.

What you see is, even though this place

is very dark and very cold and very stark and not well lit,

there's still movement inside.

It's early evening, so it's not like this place

is settled down for the night.

But it does feel a little busy

and without having to roll,

you're street smart, you've got it.

If an inmate escaped, they've heightened patrols,

they're on alert because the impossible has happened.

ASHLY: Cosmo and I could probably get in,

but that's just the two of us.

GINA: I can distract them.

They're already on high alert

because they've lost an inmate already.

What if we pretend that I just saw another inmate run out.

I'm sure that will--

SAM: Get everyone to run to the front gate at least, yeah.

We could do that and slip in while they run out.

NOSHIR: But if we put security at the front gate,

there's no way the professor's getting over the wall.

GINA: To the back, since we're on the side of the back, right?

I'll make a commotion on that side,

they'll surely have to.

Is there a back gate thing? Oh, it's only the front.

SAM: Some of us could climb over

while the two of them go in the front door.

I would have brought some rope with us

knowing that we are breaking into a place,

I would assume. AABRIA: Yeah.

You can have your fucking rope.

SAM: Okay. (laughter)

SAM: So some of us can go over the wall

while these two go in the front.

GINA: I can escort you to the front

or I can go with you to the front.

ASHLY: They might need you for-- NOSHIR: Oh good.

AABRIA: (laughs)

SAM: Are you okay at climbing, or--?

GINA: Because how am I going to climb that?

NOSHIR: I think I'll manage.

SAM: Will the slippers slip?

AABRIA: Oh!

NOSHIR: I think I'll be okay.

After all, I'm with a professional.

ASHLY: Are you two going to be okay on your own?

NOSHIR: Oh, absolutely. SAM: Absolutely.

AABRIA: You got to take a token;

that stressed me out.

(laughter)

ASHLY: Convincing.

Well, Cosmo?

LIAM: Well, what's our story going in?

ASHLY: Well, we talked about this a little bit,

I forgot, off-camera--

(laughter)

ASHLY:-- for the viewers.

I've dressed as if I'm working at the sanatorium,

and you are prepared to act uncouth?

LIAM: That's easy, I'm just wondering

about the first moments in the gate if there's anyone there.

Are we returning me from treatment?

GINA: My father has been so sick lately

and now he's acting out of control

and I don't know what to do!

Please help him.

SAM: Like you're committing him. ASHLY: She's pretty good.

LIAM: Yes, grandfather, though, probably.

GINA: Oh, grandfather. LIAM: Yes.

AABRIA: Hey, you could have-- Hmm.

GINA: 49. AABRIA: Yeah!

LIAM: What happens when we get inside?

ASHLY: We might just have to make a beeline

for the director's office.

I don't know if we're going to be able to get these two in.

SAM: We'll check out the outside,

the copse of trees or whatever

and depending on what we find,

we can try to find you afterwards.

Rendezvous either inside at the office if it's easy

or back outside the gate.

LIAM: You're just going to make a run for it?

What about this man?

SAM: Man? GINA: Is there any way I can,

once we're inside, I can break away from you two

and cause a commotion to distract the guards

for them to climb over?

SAM: We'll be okay.

GINA: Yeah? SAM: Yeah.

ASHLY: You sure? SAM: Yeah.

NOSHIR: Nothing ventured.

ASHLY: Fine, we'll go through the front.

LIAM: So we're just going to make a cold call

to the director's office?

ASHLY: I don't know about cold.

Where on the map is the director's office?

AABRIA: 20 feet from the front.

There's a little intake, reception desk

and then, yeah, 20 feet back, massive office on the left.

ASHLY: If you two

keep moving deeper into the sanatorium,

and make a commotion like you said,

I can try to slip into the director's office

and see what I can find.

LIAM: Yes, and I will

demand the director vociferously

in the halls, and then you'll slip in.

ASHLY: Okay.

LIAM: Yes, I'll make a stink.

ASHLY: If I call for you,

it's happening.

So just get them out.

NOSHIR: No one's leaving you alone in there, Elsie.

ASHLY: I'll be fine.

Let's go.

SAM: Okay.

AABRIA: All right.

We move from there to all the pieces in place.

You two at the back, still with that perfect timing

of the guard's rotation. It seems uninterrupted.

Now that you've had a couple more minutes

while you're waiting for the rest of your circle

to get in place, you see that even the pauses

to knock some dirt off of a shoe

or to scratch a back, they're all timed perfectly.

This is a feigned casualness,

but they're staying in perfect sync with one another.

All of this is to affect a lack of concern,

though you are absolutely certain

that they are on high alert right now.

So you wait for your moment,

and slip up and in and we'll cut to that.

The three of you walk through the front door,

rolling, raving. What does it look like?

LIAM: I don't know what you put in me.

GINA: No! LIAM: What did you put in me?

GINA: Careful!

I just don't know how-- ASHLY: Both of you--

GINA:-- to handle him anymore. ASHLY: I'm sorry.

LIAM: I want to speak-- GINA: Please, help us.

LIAM:-- to who's in charge!

ASHLY: It was a mild sedative. LIAM: It's not you!

ASHLY: I don't know why it's not taking.

I don't know why it's not taking. GINA: Ever since his

wife left him, he hasn't been the same. LIAM: You're a bitch!

What did you put in me? GINA: No!

You can't say that. LIAM: What?

ASHLY: You need to keep your voice

down, sir. GINA: Oh my goodness

gracious. LIAM: I don't trust it.

I don't trust you! GINA: (hysterical moans)

ASHLY: Can you control your grandfather, please?

GINA: Grandfather, please--

LIAM: I want to speak to the man or woman in charge!

GINA: Who's in charge? AABRIA: (laughs)

You move into this lobby, mid spin-up,

and you see a receptionist

that almost seemed to be dozing

with a paperback book over their chest,

snaps to attention.

A couple of orderlies, just normal people,

they don't look particularly burly or intimidating,

filter in from the sides, running up the halls

to meet you with your energy.

You see this woman leans forward.

"I'm-- Oh. Oh, I'm so sorry. Sir?"

LIAM: You're not real.

AABRIA: "Sir." LIAM: You're not real.

GINA: I don't know what to do anymore. LIAM: You're not a real person.

AABRIA: "Sir!" GINA: It's just so (hysterical speech)

ASHLY: Her grandfather needs to be admitted.

I've given him a sedative,

it is not taking effect. LIAM: She put something in me!

AABRIA: "Okay."

ASHLY: He's demanding to speak-- GINA: (sobs)

LIAM: (sharp groan) ASHLY:-- to a director.

LIAM: I want to speak to who's in charge!

ASHLY: It might help calm him-- LIAM: Someone real!

ASHLY:-- if you could get

your director, please. GINA: Grandfather, please!

AABRIA: "Sir." LIAM: I want to speak

to someone real. AABRIA: "I'm in charge.

"My name is Kathleen, and I'm here to help."

SAM: (laughs) LIAM: I want someone real!

Get me someone real! ASHLY: Kathleen, look at me,

this has been happening for 45 minutes.

I need you to get your director here now.

LIAM: You put some sort of drug in me!

GINA: It was nothing, Grandfather! LIAM: I don't trust it.

ASHLY: Kathleen. GINA: I just need you to go to sleep.

AABRIA: "Yeah." ASHLY: He will become

violent soon.

Now, your director, please. LIAM: It burns. It burns!

GINA: So violent!

AABRIA: Give me a Sway. LIAM: Give me

someone real! GINA: Ever so violent!

SAM: Come on! ASHLY: Shit, I don't have any Sway.

AABRIA: Give me a Sway roll.

But I will say that the stakes of this,

of being able to call down the manager

is much simpler now because of the cacophony,

and the way you've presented yourself and that calm command

of, hey you, you specifically,

you can do this. Yeah.

LIAM: I'm burning a drive in Cunning

to help sway by screaming

like a lunatic! (laughter)

AABRIA: (screams) Yeah. ASHLY: Does that mean--

I have no Sway,

so does that mean two? AABRIA: So you're at one now.

ASHLY: I'm at one now. SAM: Oh my god.

LIAM: Oh, I burn two. GINA: I want to give her another one.

ASHLY: Oh, you're going to give me more? GINA: I'll give her one.

ASHLY: Okay. AABRIA: Okay, one and one

LIAM: No, two from me. AABRIA: Okay, okay, okay.

ASHLY: Okay, so three? AABRIA: You're at three.

SAM: Add one from Gina.

ASHLY: So three?

AABRIA: Three total. ASHLY: Okay.

Oh, I got two sixes. LIAM: Critical! Critical!

AABRIA: Yeah! (laughter)

NOSHIR: Holy shit!

SAM: Wait, because they helped--

Oh wait, they don't get their drive back.

AABRIA: They don't get their drive back.

ASHLY: Oh shit! (laughter)

AABRIA: You have to be bad at things,

and this was the opposite of that.

Now, I think there's a moment where you realize

this plan is psychotic

and if there's any hole in it,

you know everyone's on alert,

you know that this could fall apart if it's not bought in.

But your comrades are good at what they do.

You see on your right, Madam Glask

has dissolved into sobbing tears

and is feigning that level of like I might faint.

The orderlies are like, we are in place to catch her,

what's happening?

Cosmo, losing his mind. GINA and ASHLY: (laugh)

AABRIA: You are the point of order,

and you words shoot through all of the noise

and hit Kathleen perfectly.

It's a problem she can fix.

All she has to do is go get the director.

She says,

"Yes, doctor, I'll be right back."

ASHLY: Quickly, please!

AABRIA: "Going." GINA: Please, quickly.

AABRIA: She pushes away from the desk and runs down the hall

and you see her I immediately bank left

to where you know the director's office is,

and she knocks on the door banging on it.

Then you see her correct herself, now like: Okay,

I don't have to have the energy you have

and it switches to a knock,

opens the door, and you can't hear what she's saying,

but you know she's having a hushed conversation

with someone on the other side.

LIAM: This is a bloody mummers' show!

ASHLY and AABRIA: (laugh)

AABRIA: While this is happening,

is there anything you're trying to scope

now that you're inside with a clear view

and the heat's kind of off you?

ASHLY: My hope is that we would successfully

get the director out.

They would keep the ruckus up,

and then I would (schloop)

AABRIA: Yeah. Sweet. ASHLY: That's me sneaking.

That's what that was. AABRIA: I was just seeing

if you're going to scan anything

while you're waiting to see the resolution on this.

ASHLY: If I was trying to see anything--

AABRIA: Yeah, trying to-- You have a moment

to scan things without looking,

without being noticed for casing a joint.

ASHLY: I suppose I should, since you're asking.

That would be a Survey, I'm guessing?

AABRIA: Just give me an idea

of what you're looking for.

And that's for all three of you.

ASHLY: I want to make sure-- AABRIA: You have a moment.

ASHLY:-- that my path is clear

to sneak into the director's office

and not raise any suspicion.

I mean they're successfully distracting everyone,

but I want to make sure I'm not going to

turn a corner and a guard's going to come by

and be like, what are you doing?

AABRIA: Yeah, from what you can see,

all of that busyness and the commotion

is way down the corridors and way down the hall towards,

you can see pouring in of moonlight,

that doors that would lead out into that back area would be.

So it seems like they're back there

and then farther again away

where the patients are probably being held.

So your way is clear.

Anyone else trying to look for something specific?

LIAM: Yeah, I know it's total chaos,

but I would like to know

if all the people who are rushing around us,

they see stuff like this all the time.

AABRIA: Yeah. LIAM: So,

do they look really perturbed

or upset or is it just business as usual?

AABRIA: The three people you've seen,

Kathleen, the receptionist,

and the two orderlies that have poured out,

Kathleen seems by far the most startled.

She's not really actually-- ASHLY: Is she new here?

(laughs) AABRIA: She doesn't look

like she's been around for a while,

like oh, it popped off in a way

and I don't really know the protocol,

which is why she was so eager to align

to a point of authority.

The orderlies on the other hand,

seasoned professionals, and they're moving closer to you,

and waiting, without grabbing you,

you're not being manhandled,

but you can see that they're on deck

if you begin to pop off

in the way that the doc warned them.

LIAM: I am starting to wheel away from the direction

of where Elsie wants to go,

trying to draw attention away from-- SAM: Oh, smart.

AABRIA: Yeah. GINA: I chase after him.

Grandfather, no no, come back! LIAM: None of you are real.

GINA: No, you can't--

But I'm barely running. AABRIA: Yeah.

LIAM: You're not real! AABRIA: You're doing the,

I don't know how to run in heels. LIAM: You're not real!

AABRIA: Yeah. GINA: Yeah.

AABRIA: They're trying to figure out,

how the fuck do you get in the way of someone with wheels.

Oh, he's so side to side, curvy agile.

I'm used to a juke.

This is new. LIAM: Bob and weave, serpentine,

serpentine! AABRIA: Yeah!

(laughter)

AABRIA: So as they're trying to figure out the best way

to have coverage on you, you draw them back

towards the front door, and now you have space.

You can see Kathleen speaking into the office.

She stands back in a way that would suggest

that she's waiting for the director to come out.

So if it is your intention to go in that way,

you can head off.

You know that you've got a couple seconds

before she emerges. ASHLY: Yeah.

AABRIA: So what do you want to do?

ASHLY: Ideally, I would be part of the fracas still

until the director is pulled past me,

and then when his attention is distracted

I would slip in behind them.

AABRIA: Okay. Yeah, you wait a couple seconds

and you see her emerge.

Director Greenvale is shorter woman,

very thin in that way of runners.

There's not a lot of extra flesh to her.

Appears to be in her early 40s,

short severe blonde bob,

and eyes that you can't really get a read on

behind some fairly thick half frames.

She's dressed pristinely.

It's the early evening, but she looks like she's wearing

freshly pressed clothes at the top of her day.

She comes out, nods something

in confirmation to Kathleen,

and then gives her the go ahead.

Kathleen takes off farther down the hall

in the other direction and she turns

and casually walks your direction.

(Director) "Seems-- (clears throat authoritatively)

"Seems like we have a little bit of a problem here."

LIAM: I'm still waiting! GINA: Oh! We just need help!

ASHLY: Please, please, if you could go speak to him please.

LIAM: Who are you? Are you real?

GINA: We're all real grandfather, please.

AABRIA: "Remains to be seen, sir. One second."

You see she slides off of you in a way

that someone who works with rowdy patients

and people in crisis,

none of it is hitting her in any emotional way.

She re-locks in on you.

"Are you the one that's going to be committing him, ma'am?"

ASHLY: Yes, and transparently, this is--

I'm new to this sort of assignment,

so I'm a little frazzled

and I was hoping that maybe you could calm him

because nothing I'm doing seems to be helping.

LIAM: I wheel up. I want--

You're the one, aren't you?

I want my room prepared!

AABRIA: You get-- LIAM: I want a free room!

(laughter) LIAM: I want a free room!

GINA: I grab him. "Grandfather--" LIAM: And I want it to be real!

GINA: "It's not a hotel. It's not a hotel!

AABRIA: How close do you get to the director?

LIAM: I get right up and I actually tug on her sleeve.

AABRIA: The moment you get within melee range,

her foot comes up in her skirt

and she stops you with the heel,

in between your knees on your chair.

She goes, "Sir."

LIAM: Yes? Yes. AABRIA: "I'm going to need you

"to wait a moment. I'm speaking."

LIAM: I want to be in a room.

I want to be in a room away from this one and her tricks!

GINA: Oh, how could you? How could you?!

He doesn't mean that. LIAM: I want to be put in a room!

GINA: I'm his granddaughter, please.

LIAM: Right now! ASHLY: I'm so, so sorry.

GINA: (hysterical mumbling) LIAM: I don't want to speak

to any underlings, or flunkies, or phonies,

I want someone real. AABRIA: "Eyes on me."

LIAM: (angrily) Ah!

AABRIA: "I need you to calm down.

"My name is Director Greenvale

"and I will take care of you.

"But nothing good will happen if you continue this way.

"Do you understand?" LIAM: My own room?

AABRIA: "Yes, your own room."

You see her scanning you.

You're nicely dressed and it seems like only after

she appraised you did she agree.

"Yes, now can you give us a minute, Mr.--?"

LIAM: Ogilvy. AABRIA: "Ogilvy.

"Is that of the

"Ogilvys in Silverslip?"

LIAM: No, I'm from the Sidle.

AABRIA: "Hmm. Okay, we'll take care of you."

LIAM: You are a liar.

AABRIA: She's going to try to refocus on you.

So what do you want to do to try to break away from this?

ASHLY: I'm going to say: I'm so sorry.

I would love to speak to you about everything

that's happened thus far, but I really would like

a moment to compose myself if I could.

So if you wouldn't mind please taking him

to his room and I will meet you there.

AABRIA: "Understood.

"I have to-- Okay, I just sent Kathleen off.

"That's fine.

"I will draw up some intake paperwork.

"If you can just hold on here.

"Are you the executor

"of his estate?

"Can you sign that paperwork or would that be--"

ASHLY: That would be her. GINA: That would be me.

AABRIA: "Okay." GINA: I'm his granddaughter.

AABRIA: "I'll be back with paperwork for you.

"Take all the time you need.

"There's a powder room down the hall on the right."

ASHLY: Thank you very much.

AABRIA: She truly just, foot comes down

she pushes past you.

There's just a coldness to her

as she goes back into her office.

ASHLY: Oh, she goes back into the office?

AABRIA: Yeah. ASHLY: Fuck!

GINA: Oh, I know. Okay.

ASHLY: Okay. AABRIA: I will say,

20 yards away, you see her moving back

in that direction to go grab something.

ASHLY: I'm just going to be gone--

AABRIA: Yeah.

ASHLY:-- as if I'm in the powder room.

AABRIA: Sweet. ASHLY: I'm going to try

to wait to have them all go--

AABRIA: Perfect. ASHLY: Yeah.

GINA: Before she makes it about 20 yards away--

AABRIA: Mm-hmm.

GINA: (whisper-mumbling character sheet info) Okay.

Madam Glask, as loud as she possibly can, just--

SAM: Oh boy. GINA: (wailing) Oh!

I can't take this anymore!

And faints, just dramatically faints on the ground,

furs all over the ground, rings flying out.

AABRIA: You land on the ground--

Do you commit to--

GINA: Yeah, oh baby yeah, absolutely.

AABRIA: Okay.

As you hit, you see the orderlies have moved

off of Cosmo and are looking at you,

and it's at that moment that you see the swing

of the bob as the director peeks back out.

"What now? Fuck!"

She comes back out

and moves in your direction. SAM: Awesome.

GINA: Yes. ASHLY: Are they far enough away

that it would be safe for me to go in there?

AABRIA: It looks like now

everyone's grouped up around these two.

ASHLY: Okay. AABRIA: So they're not even

looking back in your direction.

ASHLY: Okay, I'm going to-- AABRIA: The way is clear.

ASHLY: I'm going to get in there then, I guess.

AABRIA: So you're diving into the office?

ASHLY: Yep, yep, yep.

AABRIA: Perfect. ASHLY: That's what I'm doing.

AABRIA: Okay. You slip in. Do you leave the door ajar?

Do you close it? Do you lock it?

How committed are you to giving yourself time?

ASHLY: Fuck. I think I need to keep it open

so that I can hopefully move out quickly if I need to.

AABRIA: Fine. Okay.

Then we'll cut to that in a second.

Let's go see what's happening in the back of house.

Gentlemen, what's your plan?

SAM: If he can hack it, we'll scale the wall.

Wait 'til there's a break in the guards

and dash over into the darkness.

NOSHIR: Lead the way.

AABRIA: I love all of this energy.

Okay. Your timing is locked in.

I need both of you to make Move rolls to go up.

I will say a slight difference in stakes

between the two of you.

A regular roll, regular stakes,

because you've seen it done before.

You have a sense of how to get up there,

though you may not have a perfect sense

of how physically precarious it is to go up.

But because your hands are bandaged,

this is going to be a little harder for you.

It will require a full success--

SAM: Uh! AABRIA:-- for you to get up in time.

SAM: Like a six?

AABRIA: Yes. SAM: Oh my god!

ASHLY: Even though I healed him?

NOSHIR: This is on a-- AABRIA: I mean you,

did you use magick to heal him

or did you patch him up? ASHLY: I took his body away,

his body mark.

AABRIA: Right, I think that handles the-- he's no longer

dealing with the deleterious effects of harm.

ASHLY: Okay. AABRIA: But unless--

How badly do you want it to be gone?

How important is it to you

that he is unimpeded and unbandaged.

ASHLY: I think it would be important to her, yeah.

AABRIA: So maybe there's something in

the way you bandaged it,

and the way you've cleaned these wounds that

almost feels like

they sealed up again.

That's how precise you were.

Even though this was very ragged, ripped damage,

everything just settles in a way,

like it was more of a surgical cut than a series of scrapes.

You are not worried about why it worked,

simply that it did.

Take a bleed. ASHLY: (sharp inhale)

Baby's got one more bleed in the pocket.

(laughter)

NOSHIR: God dang. ASHLY: I don't know what the fuck's--

(laughter)

AABRIA: Your roll is normal. SAM: Okay.

AABRIA: Good luck! (laughs) ASHLY: (laughs)

NOSHIR: So if this is a rope, is this a Move or a finesse?

SAM: I probably have to go up there with the rope first

and drop it down to you, I would assume,

unless you're going to let us--

AABRIA: I mean, I'm happy to let you have a grappling hook.

ASHLY: (laughs) GINA: (laughs)

AABRIA: If you want a grappling hook.

SAM: Sure, I mean,

we knew we were going to go break into a place, right?

AABRIA: Yeah. Yes. Then yes,

it can be an interaction

that would be Move or Control.

I'll let you decide what you use.

SAM: Doesn't matter to me,

so I'll burn a drive and start climbing up.

Okay, six.

(laughter)

ASHLY: Would've been fine!

AABRIA: You actually see, he makes it look easy.

That first initial scrabble belies

how effective

and really graceful he is.

He's lithe. He slips up.

It barely makes a sound as it catches at the top of the wall

and he's making a little too much eye contact with you

as he begins to climb. (laughter)

AABRIA: You actually see that Oscar--

You understand that there's a muscle memory

to certain behaviors, because you actually see as he climbs,

he's tucking the rope under him at first

to cover his tracks, and then he remembers

that it's for you, too, and he releases it behind him.

SAM: Before I release it, I'll be like:

Hey.

Do you want to take off that jacket before you come up here?

(laughter)

NOSHIR: Not really, no. SAM: All right, fine.

Just don't sparkle us so much that you get us caught.

(laughter)

NOSHIR: I'm going to add a drive,

because the fuck I'm getting shown up by this--

(laughter)

AABRIA: I love this energy.

SAM: I'll also give him a drive.

GINA: Oh! SAM: Because I'll pull.

AABRIA: Ooh! GINA: Okay.

NOSHIR: Oh, good. AABRIA: That's so good.

NOSHIR: Charity. SAM: With one arm.

ASHLY: I think you guys might have the sexual tension.

AABRIA: One arm, and in that way

that he's not hiding that he's doing it.

GINA: Why don't we explore this more?

NOSHIR: Oh man. Wow, okay.

I barely make it with a four.

AABRIA: Ooh! ASHLY: Okay.

AABRIA: Mixed success.

You make your way up, and you can feel him assisting you.

You can feel the ways in which

you are confined by your outfit,

though your pride won't let you back down.

I'm going to say,

I'm going to make you take a brain mark

as your pride has been checked

in a really foundational way for you.

SAM: I got you. Don't worry. (laughter)

AABRIA: Take a scar.

GINA: Oh my god! (laughter)

NOSHIR: Thank you, Oscar.

What would I do without you?

SAM: We'll find out soon enough.

Let's look out for the guards.

You look right, I'll look left.

AABRIA: You look out and over, and looking in,

you see that the guards are guarding the perimeter.

I think you can have that moment

of being significantly more impressed

with Silva's ability to escape, because again,

it's that polished stone sheer face

that he was able to work something out

with a little bit of the trees against the wall,

even though they're not touching,

and a little bit of the ivy.

Whatever he did was unreal to get up and out.

But there's no one patrolling the inside.

SAM: Okay.

AABRIA: So you can drop down,

it's just a bit of a drop. SAM: The coast is clear.

Let's go.

NOSHIR: Sarkis made this climb unaided.

SAM: Yeah, he must be some sort of acrobat or something.

NOSHIR: Or he was let out.

SAM: Hmm.

Well, we'll figure that out later, I guess.

Come on, we've got to go.

NOSHIR: All right, I'm right behind you.

SAM: All right, I take off.

AABRIA: You use the rope and drop down?

SAM: Yes, please. AABRIA: Okay.

No roll required.

You drop into the back and you have a clear view

of the two areas of intrigue.

You know that you've got a football field's length

to the door where people are moving around inside.

But the moon is out,

but there's a little bit of cloud cover.

It's not so well lit that you would stick out

like a sore thumb, and most importantly,

you're not wearing the stark white clothing

that would give you away in uninterrupted expanse.

As long as nothing disastrous happens, you can make your way

to either one of those points unimpeded.

SAM: Go to the closer one first, I guess.

NOSHIR: I'd like to use Focus to analyze

what might be the most strategic place to go.

Closest isn't necessarily the best.

SAM: (sneers)

(grumbles mockingly) ASHLY: (laughs)

AABRIA: Go ahead and give me that roll.

NOSHIR: (laughs) ASHLY and GINA: (laugh)

NOSHIR: Why can't we just be friends?

AABRIA: (laughs)

NOSHIR: Oh right, because I don't like you.

AABRIA: (gasps) ASHLY and GINA: (laugh)

AABRIA: I'm sorry!

NOSHIR: Double fives on my gilded, so a success.

SAM: Nice. AABRIA: Yep.

NOSHIR: I would hope. AABRIA: Mixed success,

and you get a drive back if you spent it.

You look. You have a little time.

You can breathe. You can think.

You could split up, but splitting up is dangerous.

There's just enough distance that if something goes awry,

you're not able to work together

and these walls are strange.

Just as a note, do you leave the rope hanging down,

or do you take it down with you?

SAM: If we want to get out fast,

I would have left it hanging.

NOSHIR: The only thing I would consider is,

there is no way your father is getting out with that rope

unless we carry him ourselves.

SAM: Cosmo is going to be fine.

He's got the doc with him. He's got the Madam with him.

(sighs)

NOSHIR: So we take the rope,

and your father fends for himself.

SAM: We still need to get out, don't we?

NOSHIR: I suppose we do.

Lead on, Captain.

SAM: All right. AABRIA: Closest one first.

You make your way across the grassy expanse

to three stunted oaks

and some low-lying shrubbery.

You don't have to get all the way to the brush line

to see the ways in which that low-lying plant life

has been recently dug up and ripped out.

You realize quite quickly,

even through the shadows

and the not nearly enough moonlight

that you are looking towards something that is hiding

the depth of it from you as you approach a hole.

SAM: A hole?

Okay, how big? How deep?

AABRIA: You get right in there.

Five feet across, and you look down.

Without any external light source,

you don't have a strong sense,

but it is just dark brown dirt

that leads endlessly down.

You don't know how deep it goes.

SAM: Didn't happen to bring a flashlight with you, did you?

NOSHIR: A what?

I have a candle.

ASHLY: (laughs)

LIAM: Oh my god.

AABRIA: What in the what?

SAM: Wow, even your gear's assholes.

(laughter)

SAM: Great, light the candle, then.

NOSHIR: What is fla-- Is that a prison move or something?

ASHLY: (laughs)

NOSHIR: I don't understand.

Okay. SAM: Yeah!

ASHLY: (laughs)

NOSHIR: Under the level of the hole,

so that the light hopefully stays shielded

from our insistent patrols, I'll light the candle.

AABRIA: You light the candle using the trees,

make sure that in as much as you can block yourself

from vision at the back of the actual building.

You tilt the candle down,

and once you get a little light in there,

you have a sense of depth.

This goes down about 15 feet

and terminates

at this slate gray shale rock

that seems to have crumbled inward.

SAM: We've got to go down.

NOSHIR: We don't even know if this leads into the sanatorium.

SAM: Wherever it leads, it's weird, right?

Candela's all about finding weird shit.

GINA: (laughs)

NOSHIR: Oh god.

SAM: That guy was scared, the Johnny guy, the patient guy.

He ran this way, maybe it was to get away

to a secret spot he knew.

NOSHIR: This is the place on the map

that's marked with the X?

This is where Johnny disappeared?

AABRIA: This is the-- SAM: Direction that he ran.

AABRIA: Yeah, this is the trajectory.

With your memory of bloody hands

and being coated in dirt? Yeah.

SAM: Why?

What do you know about them?

I saw your face when you were talking to that guy.

You went all blank.

What do you know that you're not telling us?

NOSHIR: Not enough, apparently.

Prepare yourself.

SAM: For what?

NOSHIR: Horrors.

After you.

SAM: (heavy exhale)

All right, let's go. AABRIA: In that moment,

as you steel yourself to go below,

we'll cut back to the office.

You find yourself in a massive office.

It stretches out.

There's just not enough furniture for this place.

You see what is too much of a big mahogany desk,

probably eight feet long, beautifully carved,

covered with all of the tchotchkes

and little decanters and pen holders,

and it still feels small

and a little simple to you.

You grew up in finery

and you understand

how all of that should look and feel,

what rooms that exude grandeur should evoke.

This feels,

to you, a sort of bad attempt,

a mockery of opulence. ASHLY: Mm.

AABRIA: You're standing on a nice rug,

but again, too small for this room.

The back wall is a bank of glass windows

looking out onto the premises,

the lawns,

and you have an unimpeded view as the curtains are open.

There's a little bit of moonlight.

You see to the left, all the way flush against the wall,

again, a too small set of cabinets and files.

On the far right wall, a little washbasin,

but no other sitting arrangement.

Just her desk, her chair, her rug,

and the tools of her business.

What do you look for?

ASHLY: I'd like to look for--

I think it would be potentially

personal correspondence,

because the nun

I don't think is necessarily directly involved

with the sanatorium.

AABRIA: Definitely not.

ASHLY: So there must be something.

It wouldn't be in medical files or anything,

any information we're looking for,

so I'm guessing I would go to the desk

and try to see if there's anything

that looks like it doesn't belong there,

like it isn't about the business

that she would be conducting.

AABRIA: Yeah. Give me a Survey roll.

ASHLY: Okay.

Do I want to use drive? AABRIA: (laughs)

ASHLY: Yeah. SAM: (laughs)

GINA and ASHLY: (laugh)

AABRIA: That was adorable.

ASHLY and AABRIA: (laugh)

ASHLY: I got a mixed success. AABRIA: Okay.

You begin searching frantically,

and you have that sense of, I don't know how long I have,

but I have to find it.

They figured out a way to make it, but I'm on my own,

and if I squander this opportunity, it's wasted,

and who knows what will happen to them?

You don't know how they're doing.

Yeah.

(sighs)

ASHLY: Do I do this?

AABRIA: The question is, how stressed out is Elsie

in this moment as she searches?

You will, at the end of whatever this is,

find the information you're looking for,

but how calm and how confident are you

as you search through,

and it takes just a little bit too long?

You're opening more drawers

than you thought you would have to.

ASHLY: Not calm. I think this is not--

Most of the assignments that she's been on with Cosmo

have probably been less intense than this.

AABRIA: Yeah. ASHLY: She's already had to

lie and act in front of a bunch of people.

That's not something she does. AABRIA: Yeah.

ASHLY: She knows that time is of the essence.

AABRIA: Yep.

ASHLY: In general, the day has been kind of a bear,

so I think she is not composed at all.

AABRIA: Okay. Token. How many are you at?

ASHLY: Five. AABRIA: Good to know.

ASHLY: I have one left. AABRIA: One left.

SAM: Oh boy. AABRIA: (sighs)

You eventually find it.

You see it there.

Letters, correspondence, folded in a way

that official business simply isn't

on heavier letter stock that isn't used in the day to day

where you would spend time and money and care

in woven paper and nice ink

and maybe even a light smell to it.

I will say, your mixed success was not the panic.

That was coming no matter what.

The mixed success is that you notice, as you're moving,

as you're searching around the desk

looking for a hidden compartment,

because you're not getting what you want,

you see a little flicker of light

off in the distance in the backyard,

and your eye flicks up to that

central little area of trees.

You're not sure what's happening,

but you do see movement there,

and the very specific yellow glow

of a small bit of fire light or a candle.

ASHLY: Do I know--

Am I geographically savvy enough

to know that that's where they would be headed?

AABRIA: You have that sense of, oh, this opens out

onto the back area, and looking at the map, you're like,

great, I knew that there was a thing in the middle,

one off on a side, and then the back wall.

So yeah, you can put two and two together

and say that that's either them

or something different and worse is happening.

ASHLY: Okay, I'm going to, if I can,

because there's a window, right?

AABRIA: Mm-hmm. ASHLY: I'm going to glance

and see, have guards noticed this?

Is this something--

Am I the only one seeing this or has there been--

AABRIA: There's no one else out in that lawn.

ASHLY: Okay.

(laughs) I know Raj keeps candles on him.

(laughs) AABRIA: (laughs) Yeah.

Yeah, okay.

That's so quirky, it's got to be true.

ASHLY: Uh-huh.

AABRIA: I accept it, yeah.

ASHLY: Okay, well, if there aren't-- AABRIA: Little candle man.

NOSHIR: We were experimenting,

what was I supposed to do? ASHLY: (laughs)

LIAM: Candle wax. AABRIA: Yeah.

(laughter)

AABRIA: Temperature play.

ASHLY: So if I don't see any guards that could notice them,

I don't necessarily think that I would panic about that.

AABRIA: Yeah. ASHLY: I would clock that--

AABRIA: Yep. ASHLY:-- they've maybe found something.

AABRIA: Clocked, and it's just enough of a distraction

that your mind moves to them

and, oh, how are they doing?

ASHLY: Yeah. AABRIA: How am I doing?

We're all doing our jobs right now

and we're under the clock. ASHLY: Uh-huh. Okay.

AABRIA: Then you find the correspondence.

You open it up and see it,

and you don't recognize the words.

It's not the alphabet

that you've ever interacted with.

It's just strange symbols patterned with breaks

and all of the spacing of a letter written in Fairen,

and yet, even in your time in Candela,

I don't know if you've come across ancient Fairen,

but you know you're not looking

at your language.

ASHLY: Okay. AABRIA: Something's different.

ASHLY: I'm going to pocket it

and then try to put things back--

AABRIA: Yep.

ASHLY:-- where they were and then (clicks tongue)

skedaddle. AABRIA: You restore order

and slip out, hoping that you didn't waste too much time.

To my friends in the front, the fainter and the freak out,

how are you doing?

You have two orderlies around you,

one's holding you heroically,

and the other's just slapping your face.

ASHLY: (laughs) AABRIA: Like, "Come on.

"Up, up, up."

GINA: Get your filthy hands off of me.

(scoffs) I'm up. AABRIA: "It's not filthy.

"I have to be clean. I work in a hospital."

GINA and ASHLY: (laugh)

GINA: I peek over at Cosmo to see how he's doing.

LIAM: Cosmo, at a lower level, is still babbling,

but at a lower frequency.

I don't know, none of you are real.

This isn't real. Who are--

But I've got one eye creeping up to the hallway

waiting for Elsie to appear.

AABRIA: Yeah.

LIAM: (babbling incoherently) But I want--

Yeah, she's lying to me, they're lying to me.

AABRIA: (laughs) LIAM: I'm old. Eyes!

AABRIA: I'm not even going to make you roll

because you've so fully committed

to I'm a distraction and I will spin up and down

and in sync with that and the moment you see

just that little bit of extra moonlight,

before you see her,

before you see her shadow on the ground,

you see the change in light there.

Yep.

LIAM: Where am I?

AABRIA: Spin up again.

LIAM: Where an I? GINA: I keep an eye on him

and I mirror him.

The more he freaks out, the more--

LIAM: What is this place?

Where am I? GINA: Oh! I don't feel that good!

AABRIA: "What's happening?" GINA: Oh, it's so warm in here!

ASHLY: I'm going to come back out and-- AABRIA: "Where did the doctor go?"

ASHLY: I'm sorry, I'm sorry.

I'm so sorry. AABRIA: "Did you pull it together?"

LIAM: I don't want this, I want my room.

I want my room! AABRIA: "Sure, sure."

LIAM: I don't want this, I want my room!

AABRIA: "You know what?" GINA: I'm missing eyebrows.

AABRIA: "We can have them committed--" LIAM: Take me home to my room!

AABRIA: "-- now and have you pull--" ASHLY: Look, I'm so sorry, I--

LIAM: I want my room!

ASHLY: I understand.

This is very unprofessional of me.

AABRIA: "Deeply. What's your name again?" ASHLY: I'm so sorry.

AABRIA: "Do you have a license?" ASHLY: Yes.

AABRIA: "Prove to me,

"just give me some kind of documentation."

LIAM: Take me home, I want my room. AABRIA: "Because you're not

"giving me a lot of confidence

"in your medical abilities." LIAM: I want my room.

ASHLY: I mean, I would have.

GINA: We will have a room soon.

ASHLY: Yeah, you're reading perfectly as a doctor.

She's just unloading on you.

ASHLY: Look, I'm so sorry.

I will take him back to his-- I can handle this.

LIAM: No! ASHLY: I'll take him home.

LIAM: My room! ASHLY: I know,

I will take you home. LIAM: My room!

ASHLY: I will take you home.

AABRIA: "You have 30 seconds to leave my facility--"

ASHLY: Yes, ma'am. AABRIA: "-- or all of you

"will be put under evaluation."

ASHLY: Okay, yes, ma'am, we are leaving.

We are leaving. LIAM: All of you can go to hell!

ASHLY: We're leaving and I take him and I start wheel him out.

GINA: We'll help him get home. AABRIA: Yeah.

You feel as you are moving around

to go grab the handles of his wheelchair,

you see she puts a gentle hand.

It doesn't look flexed or hard on your shoulder,

and with one violent jerk, actually scoots your chair

so you are pointed out the door

in a show of incredible strength with no effort.

LIAM: Take it, take it away.

AABRIA: "Have a good night." LIAM: Take it away.

ASHLY: I'm so sorry. AABRIA: "Make better choices."

ASHLY: I'm very sorry, I'm very sorry.

And then I keep going out. LIAM: I'm surrounded by a

circus of lies.

AABRIA: (laughs)

ASHLY: As as we're leaving, he's, yeah.

AABRIA: Yeah. ASHLY: That's what we're doing.

LIAM: As we're leaving the door,

because I don't want this just to shut off:

What are you giving me?

I don't want that.

I don't want that!

Ow, ah! No!

Ow, ow.

Oh.

Oh.

Into a faux medicated taper off.

(laughter)

AABRIA: Okay.

LIAM: (weak groan)

AABRIA: Do you pause?

Yeah. ASHLY: We're going.

We're moseying back to where--

LIAM: Towards the exit.

I want to be quiet by the time we get there.

AABRIA: Perfect, yep.

You see the orderlies flanked by the director

and now some of the guards that were farther down

in the hall, and even maybe a patient or two,

peeking through the glass doors

at the far end of the hallway.

Everyone's just watching the commotion.

So, on top of all of that, you have pulled any focus

the guards inside the building might have had on the back.

ASHLY: Sweet.

LIAM: I am now just limp body.

LIAM: (groans) AABRIA: Beautiful.

(laughs)

You make your way out back to the quiet evening.

Do you go down my little hole?

SAM: Of course.

(laughter)

SAM: Do you?

NOSHIR: Well, I want to ask. AABRIA: Yeah?

NOSHIR: How does bleed detection work?

Like what can be told from detecting bleed?

AABRIA: So the idea of this would be if you're trying

to pick up a trail or detect bleed in thresholds

or amounts that you wouldn't notice right away

because anyone in proximity to incredible amounts of bleed

is going to feel it regardless,

but this allows you a little more sense of focus,

directionality, intensity,

and the ability to hone in.

NOSHIR: Does it give any indication of say recency?

AABRIA: Recency? NOSHIR: Like if

a bleed taint has been in the area recently,

would that be something that you could tell

with a bleed detector or not?

AABRIA: So the fun thing about this is you get to tell me

what your bleed detector is like and what it's capable of,

and if it was important to you to have that information,

like the fact that your mind went to that might indicate

that it would be something that you would,

like a functionality

you would want to have on you, so, yes.

NOSHIR: You don't have to like me,

but do you trust me in this moment?

SAM: No.

ASHLY: (laughs)

GINA: Saw that coming.

NOSHIR: Do you trust Elsie, then?

SAM: Of course.

NOSHIR: Then for her sake, you keep a lookout.

I'm going to see if I can tell--

SAM: Me keep a lookout? NOSHIR:-- if this creature's

been down there, yes.

SAM: You're going to scurry down? NOSHIR: I'm not going down there.

I just need to check on bleed real quick.

Can you do that for me?

My attention will be focused here.

SAM: I can do that for her.

NOSHIR: On that, we can agree.

Thank you.

I pull a monocle out of my jacket pocket.

AABRIA: Oh!

NOSHIR: And peer down into the space.

While I do that, my other hand,

de-gloved, goes to my jacket

and clutches a claw.

As I watch in the space,

centipedes and maggots

and small insects start to come out of the soil

and I'm watching to see the direction that they travel

and how dense they arrive.

If it's scant, there won't be a lot of response,

but if it's a high presence or recent activity,

I'll see it in how agitated they are.

AABRIA: You watch this strange set of circumstances.

I think in your little bit of interaction with Candela,

all of this is very technical and very clinical,

stupid little gadgets made of brass that spin and squeal.

This feels close to the thing

that you're looking for.

Monocle up, his hand in his pocket,

and then as if a fresh rain has sent

all of the bugs in this freshly turned earth upward,

you see earthworms

and centipedes rising up, writhing,

wriggling, and then flinging themselves into the hole.

You can feel it.

She's there.

So close.

Your chest-- NOSHIR: We have to wait.

SAM: Wait?

Wait for what?

NOSHIR: We have to wait for the others.

SAM: I don't even know if they're coming here.

NOSHIR: The two of us alone can't handle whatever she is

and she is down there.

SAM: I'll wait if you tell me what she did to you.

NOSHIR: We don't have time for this.

SAM: We do if we wait.

What did she do to you?

NOSHIR: What she did to me is of no consequence.

SAM: Then I'm going down.

NOSHIR: She destroyed my sister.

Broke her into something

I couldn't recognize.

Shattered her mind and broke her will,

and then tore her into a thousand pieces in front of me.

Is that enough for you?

What more details do you need?

SAM: How old were you?

NOSHIR: Not old enough.

SAM: I'm sorry.

NOSHIR: It was a long time ago.

SAM: (sighs)

AABRIA: Oscar,

what are you going to do?

SAM: I scan around to see if any guards are afoot,

anyone picking up our--

AABRIA: You see the guards that you saw milling about

have now backed away and are gone.

SAM: That's weird.

(sighs)

If I look towards the front door,

do I see any of our people?

ASHLY: We would've presumably made some sort of plan

about meeting up again or something.

SAM: Oh, you would think. ASHLY: You would think.

AABRIA: That's really fun. I didn't hear it.

ASHLY: Yeah, fair enough. SAM: I didn't either.

ASHLY: Fair enough.

SAM: Fine, I'll go get them.

Wait here. I'll go get them. I'll be right back.

NOSHIR: You would--?

Fine.

SAM: Okay.

AABRIA: What do you do?

SAM: I'll close up my coat

and scurry across around the back towards the front,

see if I can find our friends.

AABRIA: You get back up and over the wall.

SAM: Over the wall?

We're inside the wall, right?

AABRIA: Yeah, you're inside the wall.

Where are you headed?

SAM: I'm going to the, I assume there's a--

AABRIA: This is basically a backyard

with a single door that leads into the building.

SAM: Oh, it's not an open thing.

AABRIA: No, it doesn't go all the way around.

SAM: Oh, I-- AABRIA: You are stuck

in the backyard of this place. LIAM: I did not understand that.

ASHLY: I didn't either. SAM: I didn't understand that either.

AABRIA: I didn't explain it well and that's on me.

SAM: It's not like a campus that we're inside the walls of now.

AABRIA: No. LIAM: How the hell

am I going to get there?

SAM: How are they going to get here?

Well, if they're going to go-- if I knew that, then I would,

I'll go around, up the wall all the way around the front

to fetch them, I guess.

AABRIA: You know what? No.

I'll walk it back, it's okay.

You have a backyard.

You see that the main building

is such that that's the one door you can go to.

There is that little bit of an edge between the main wall

that's maybe a person's length and a little overgrown,

that it would funnel you towards that set of doors,

but the wall and the building are not flush together

on the side, there's a little bit of clearance.

SAM: There's a dog run?

AABRIA: There's a dog-- (laughs)

Yes.

There's a little dog run on the side

that could get you to the front.

SAM: Okay, I'll peer down the little side run

and if it's clear, I will shimmy through.

AABRIA: Yeah, you're able to make your way

and pick your way through, and you can hear them

before you can see them because there's still a little bit

of getting around a corner and potentially interacting

with any of the guard cycles and rotations,

but you can hear distinct set of footsteps,

boots, heels, wheels.

SAM: I can hear them. AABRIA: Yeah, you hear them

coming out the front of the building.

SAM: Once they're clear, I will give a,

if I see them, I'll give a: Psst, psst.

ASHLY: Oh, so we hear that? AABRIA: Yep.

GINA: We hear that? AABRIA: Yep.

SAM: Hey, over here.

LIAM: (weak groan)

SAM: Oh god, what did you do to him?

ASHLY: He's fine. He's acting.

He's being a little bit too method.

GINA: I think we're clear now.

LIAM: How'd you know my father was in the circus?

GINA: (laughs)

ASHLY: All right, so we're going to wheel him over.

AABRIA: So yeah, you have that sense of like, oh, okay.

Not seeing it from the front.

We'll give it up to a trick of the light

and the imposing architecture

that there is that little bit of gap there

that is a little overgrown because it's not well-manicured,

but there is clearance to get to the side

and then the dog run and then back to the yard.

SAM: Is there clearance for a wheelchair

or do we have to pick him up?

AABRIA: No, we can get a wheelchair back there.

SAM: Okay. LIAM: I could Yoda it

if I need to?

(laughter)

SAM: You mean do flips and lightsabers?

AABRIA: Yeah.

(laughter)

GINA: Oscar, where's Rajan?

SAM: Oh yeah, he's in a dark, scary hole that's full of--

GINA: What? Ooh! ASHLY: What do you mean

a dark scary hole? GINA: You left him there?

SAM: I don't know, there was all sorts of worms and bugs

and stuff and-- AABRIA: Take it.

Token. ASHLY: Fuck!

Because I would know, wouldn't I?

AABRIA: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. ASHLY: Fuck.

ASHLY: So I roll six dice?

AABRIA: So let's talk about what's going to happen now

as you explain

and you watch as the good doctor begins to spin up.

It's quietly at first but you are aware of her breath,

feeling it before you hear it.

She's not panting,

but it's steady and it's loud.

You are going to roll 6d6

and I need you to tell me how many ones you get, if any.

GINA: Ooh, Elsie. LIAM: Elsie, dear.

SAM: Doc? GINA: You don't look too well.

ASHLY: What did he say about it?

SAM: He just said that there was lots. I'm sure it's fine.

Calm down.

ASHLY: He wouldn't have stayed there if it wasn't--

I got one.

AABRIA: One one? LIAM: One one.

AABRIA: That's all it takes. Elsie.

You are asking, you are trying to make sense.

Maybe if you know a little more,

if you know what was said, if you know what you saw,

you could figure it out and you could spin yourself down.

Then you feel it, almost like a pulse.

Almost like a release that begins not in your heart

but your lungs as your breath takes over

and you are lost to it and you begin to transform.

ASHLY: Can I croak out a "Run!" before I start to transform?

AABRIA: Yes. ASHLY: Okay.

Y'all know what that means.

SAM: I do.

AABRIA: I don't know. Cosmo. ASHLY: Oscar.

AABRIA: Has Cosmo ever seen it?

LIAM: No.

ASHLY: Just Oscar. SAM: I know.

AABRIA: Then what's about to happen will be quite a shock.

SAM: Run.

AABRIA: Would you like to describe what happens

as Dr. Elsie Roberts loses herself to her beast?

ASHLY: I would love to. AABRIA: Yeah?

ASHLY: So I scream "run"

and then I manage maybe to croak out a "Raj, run!"

as the veins in my neck pop out

and the clothing on my body begins to shred

as muscles that don't belong to a human start to gorge out

of every part of my body.

My face, the skin on my face tears

and in its place becomes a bastardized version

of an orca and a mantis.

As the muscles protrude with sickening crunches

as my bones elongate in ways they're not supposed to,

I get onto all fours.

I become impossibly large,

so large that I'm towering over them,

and there's no vestige of who I was in my eyes anymore.

I am a creature and I am gasping for air.

As I gasp for air,

a fog flood begins rolling over

the surrounding grounds.

It's covering everything.

You can't see an inch in front of your face.

As I pant and wheeze and pant and wheeze

and then scream

and rush into the sanatorium.

SAM: Into? GINA: Into?!

Oh, we're just going in. AABRIA: Oh!

LIAM: Oh, Elsie, I'm so sorry, child.

(wheelchair bumping) (laughter)

SAM: As that's happening,

I instinctually put my body

between hers and Cosmo's.

Before she runs off,

since I know this is happening--

AABRIA: Mm-hmm. SAM:-- I'm going to

try to prevent her from doing that,

if that's all right. AABRIA: Ooh.

I would love it. ASHLY: Yeah.

AABRIA: There's a moment we can have here

if we all agree at the table.

You have one "one" that you need to resolve.

ASHLY: Uh-huh. AABRIA: Your beast

must destroy something

in order to resolve itself, in order to move through it.

There is something offering itself to you.

It would be so easy.

He's right there in front of you.

ASHLY: No. AABRIA: Defenseless.

Do you think your beast would turn away such easy meat?

ASHLY: Could I make a roll

to see if there's any Elsie in there

that knows who's in front of her?

AABRIA: I love dice games and I love story.

ASHLY: You want me to just choose? (laughs)

AABRIA: But this is not a roll of the dice.

Your beast is not reasoned with and Elsie is not home.

Whatever you choose, we will respect and honor as a table.

I simply ask that you choose,

and know that we all know what kind of story this is.

ASHLY: Okay. Okay. AABRIA: No wrong choices.

What does the beast do?

ASHLY: (sighs)

The beast would take Oscar

by the neck--

SAM: Bring it.

ASHLY:-- and slam him against the nearest wall

and start choking,

but with the force of a gorilla, basically.

AABRIA: Yeah.

You do the thing

that you always hoped to do,

which was protect.

You agreed to be here

in order to look out for the old man.

There is a perverse satisfaction

to getting your wish.

There's no fighting it. She's too strong.

You knew what was coming. You knew what would happen.

So I guess there's not a lot of fear

or noise or fight

as you feel the tender flesh

of your neck give way.

First your larynx, then the bone, and the nothing.

SAM: As my throat is crushed,

I will try to eke out a very calm:

It's okay, it's okay, I'll be fine.

AABRIA: And then he's dead. [heavy breathing]

AABRIA: You feel yourself sated.

You return to the surface

and maybe the fastest it's ever happened.

You come back,

but we're not worried about Elsie right now.

Oscar, we're here again.

It's just you and me in the dark.

ASHLY: What?

AABRIA: How many times has this happened to you?

[heavy breathing]

SAM: This'll be seven.

GINA: What the fuck?

AABRIA: Again and again and again.

Maybe this time you hope it would be different,

but it feels just like every other time.

Oblivion and weightlessness.

But you're still there.

There's nowhere for you to go but back.

I'm going to ask you, you can feel it in this space.

I think some part of you knows

that you won't keep the understanding

of this back there.

But you have to pay a price every time.

You don't get to choose it.

You will return again.

You can't stay down.

What do you give to whatever this is

that pulls you back?

What do you lose forever?

SAM: (exhales sharply)

[heavy breathing]

SAM: A memory, a skill,

a friend,

an image.

I've lost them all every time I'm killed.

AABRIA: Every time.

SAM: I don't remember

my other kid.

I've forgotten most of my wife.

[heavy breathing]

SAM: I lost

some of my charisma, my performance ability.

I don't really have anything else to lose.

AABRIA: That's not true.

SAM: I have only Cosmo.

ASHLY: (gasps)

SAM: I only have my son.

And so if I take a breath in,

I know it will cleanse my mind of our days together.

[heavy breathing]

AABRIA: You feel something in that space.

There's always a pushback.

There's always something that you're fighting against,

even at the edge of the void.

There's someone with you,

something with you.

It doesn't stay your hand or claim all of your breath,

but just a little gasp of surprise or panic.

Just some, not all.

He's everything.

Even that cost is too dear.

So a portion.

What do you lose of him?

SAM: I guess I'll lose everything from before.

AABRIA: Yeah.

SAM: From when he was just a kid.

AABRIA: Yeah. That's enough.

Part of you.

Loving and doting and precious

because every moment means so much

because he'll grow up and someday you'll be gone.

All you can do is hope

that your time together

will allow him the strength

and the wisdom and the grace

to move through the world well.

A worthy cost.

And you have no other choice. It's gone.

You feel something important leave you.

It's not a voice, but you know there's a voice

as something pours itself into the gap

that your young son has left in you,

and it tastes like old magick and melted gold.

"You're so close.

"Any more, and I don't know if you'll be there, too,

"but I need you to come to me."

SAM: Who's saying that?

AABRIA: You have no idea.

The more you pour your thought

and energy into what this is and where you are,

you are rocketed back to the world,

to life.

You will never remember the conversation,

the seventh conversation that you've had here in the dark.

You all are standing

over the corpse of Oscar Grimm.

What do you do?

GINA: I am holding onto him.

Oscar? Oscar, please no!

I look over at Elsie. What in the hells was that?!

LIAM: Elsie, dear?

GINA: Oscar?

LIAM: Elsie, it's all right. ASHLY: Cosmo?

LIAM: It will be all right.

I'm so sorry, child.

ASHLY: I'm so sorry, Cosmo. (breaths shakily)

LIAM: No, no.

No, no. GINA: Oscar, wake up. Oscar?

LIAM: I brought you here.

I practically begged you.

It's all right, child.

It's all right. It's all right.

AABRIA: Go ahead and take two brain for me

of the trauma of killing one of your closest relationships.

Now I will say, Raj, you heard the scream.

You see strange fog from that side in the corner.

Do you wait? Do you move? NOSHIR: No.

AABRIA: What do you do? NOSHIR: I heard Elsie cry.

AABRIA: You did.

NOSHIR: I go there as fast as I can.

AABRIA: So you have definitely rejoined them

as the fog begins to dissipate.

No sign of the beast she became.

Just the person you once loved

shaking and sobbing and standing over a corpse.

GINA: She killed him! Whatever she was.

NOSHIR: What?

GINA: She's this beast! She's not human!

She killed Oscar. Look at him.

NOSHIR: What are you talking about?

GINA: His throat's been ripped out because of her!

Whatever the hell that was!

LIAM: Everybody just take a breath.

Take a breath.

Elsie is like a daughter to me.

GINA: What?

LIAM: It's going to be all right.

We have to keep our heads in this moment.

ASHLY: I'm going to take one of Oscar's hands

and gently turn it to where I had bandaged it.

AABRIA: You just hold and weep.

Try to pull yourself together.

Keep it quiet.

You are still hidden.

You are still a part of a mission.

(thuds)

(thuds)

LIAM: I take Glask by the hand.

AABRIA: (thuds) GINA: Cosmo,

what are you doing?

What if she hurts us? AABRIA: (loud thud)

ASHLY: I can't be here. GINA: Cosmo.

LIAM: She's not going to. AABRIA: (loud thud)

GINA: Look what she did! ASHLY: I can't be here.

GINA: Cosmo, how can you trust her?

LIAM: As long as you've known me, you have to trust me.

ASHLY: Cosmo, I can't be here. AABRIA: (loud thud)

NOSHIR: I'm going to hold her.

AABRIA: You feel it before you see it.

The shift in the corpse

as broken vertebrae snap into place.

The distorted figure of his neck

coming back into alignment.

GINA: Oscar?

AABRIA: The rush of blood

that brings color back to his cheeks

and then gently, peacefully,

Oscar Grimm opens his eyes.

GINA: What?

ASHLY: Oscar? GINA: What?

Impossible.

SAM: I mean, most people call me Cary.

ASHLY: (laughs)

GINA: I hate him so much. LIAM: I want--

Like sometimes you just--

LIAM:-- everyone to keep their heads.

ASHLY: I killed you myself. I killed you.

I snapped your neck, I felt your neck snap, how are you--

LIAM: Elsie, Elsie, Elsie. ASHLY: How are you alive?

SAM: I don't know,

but that was loud and we have to move.

LIAM: Are you all right?

Look at me. Are you all right?

SAM: I go over to Cosmo and I

wrap my arms around him and I give him a giant hug

and just say:

I'm sorry.

I'm sorry.

LIAM: For what? SAM: I'm a burden on you.

LIAM: What, boy?

SAM: I'm a burden on you.

LIAM: No.

No.

This wasn't your choice, boy.

It wasn't your choice.

SAM: I should be taking care of you,

not the other way around.

LIAM: We don't choose

what our family is.

SAM: (heavy sigh)

LIAM: It simply is.

SAM: I'm sorry, Doc. I'm sorry.

I'm sorry to all of you, but we can't stay here.

There's guards, there's--

We have to move.

We have to finish.

We have to get out of here.

GINA: Surely, we can't take her with us!

Look what she just did.

SAM: She's one of us. AABRIA: You know now--

I'm just going to jump in, Glask.

You know that with your raised tone,

you can hear your voice carry.

It wraps through that little dog run area.

You can feel it echoing.

ASHLY: She's right, Cosmo. AABRIA: You see

the low-lying fog on the ground.

LIAM: We will have to continue this somewhere else,

not on these grounds. ASHLY: She's right, I'm not safe.

SAM: You're fine.

You're one of us.

ASHLY: I killed you.

SAM: Nobody's perfect.

We just got to look out for you

like you look after me.

Like I look after him and he looks after me.

LIAM: So where do we go?

AABRIA: You have two options.

You know that the hole is important,

but is that the priority?

Do you prioritize the mission,

or taking your shattered, broken circle

to safety and cutting your losses?

SAM: That's not my choice.

It's the guy who lost his sister's choice.

NOSHIR: Lost my sister?

You just lost yourself.

LIAM: Come. I'm moving-- NOSHIR: I don't understand.

LIAM:-- out onto the grounds away from this location.

Come.

SAM: Follow him.

NOSHIR: Elsie, he's fine.

I don't know what transpired here, but he's okay.

ASHLY: You don't know.

You don't know.

NOSHIR: I don't know,

and I'm not going to pretend that I do,

but Oscar is okay.

We're going to be okay.

ASHLY: I wish that were true, Raj.

ASHLY: I'm going to--

I think I'm going to start booking it

in another direction.

AABRIA: You're in the center of this little catch,

so you really only have two directions.

You're caught in that little nook

where either you come back from whence you came

and exit the grounds and leave

and go somewhere else in the city,

or you go back in the direction

that Raj and Oscar came from to the back towards the hole.

LIAM: The doctor is a phenomenon, yes?

AABRIA: Yes. LIAM: Yes.

As she begins to leave, I'm going to use

my occultist ability, Speak Their Language,

and I start to speak simple words

in Oldfairen

that reverberate in a barely noticeable, unnatural way.

In the base of your skull,

you understand me to be saying: Come back.

You are not alone.

Come.

ASHLY: Slowly, I'm going to, very much against my will,

turn back around and look at Cosmo.

Then let's go now.

NOSHIR: We have to leave.

SAM: I'm going to the hole.

NOSHIR: No. SAM: We're going to the hole.

NOSHIR: No. SAM: We didn't come

all this way,

I didn't die for nothing.

NOSHIR: I'm not losing more people I love

because we're not ready.

Do you understand?

We're not even close to full strength.

As it is, there's no chance.

SAM: What are you talking about?

We're fine.

NOSHIR: We're fine?

She's broken in spirit.

I don't even know what's happened to you.

LIAM: Doctor, I think Elsie's strength speaks for itself.

ASHLY: Let's finish what we started.

AABRIA: In this moment, what is Madam Glask thinking?

GINA: She does not trust Elsie at all.

She's torn between what she just saw

and one of her oldest friends, Cosmo,

reassuring her that everything is fine

and she wants to believe him so bad.

He's never led her astray.

AABRIA: I need you to take a brain.

GINA: Mm.

AABRIA: This is beyond the pale.

GINA: This is inhuman, it's not real.

AABRIA: You didn't sign up for this.

You thought the monsters

would be the things you fought,

not the things you fought alongside.

GINA: You have been in my home with my girls

and you didn't say anything!

Cosmo, and you knew about this!

ASHLY: I'm sorry.

GINA: Sorry?

How do I know you're not going to do this again?

NOSHIR: Cordelia, it is not the time. GINA: How do I know if I'm safe?

SAM: Keep your voices down.

GINA: How do I know if I'm safe?

ASHLY: You're not.

NOSHIR: None of us are safe.

LIAM: I will take responsibility for this.

GINA: Cosmo.

LIAM: Dr. Roberts is not a danger in the city

from day to day with your girls or with you.

I take it on myself.

I dragged her here. GINA: Cosmo,

if anything happened to you, Cosmo.

LIAM: I have lived enough for three lifetimes.

I'm not worried about me.

AABRIA: In this moment,

I think as the pivot point, the lack of trust,

the lack of commitment to the cause, commitment to this,

you don't have skin in this game the way the others seem to.

I want you to make the choice.

Which way do you walk?

Back into the grounds towards the hole, or do you leave?

GINA: I walk back in, I trust--

Cosmo, you've--

You're the longest friend I've had.

If anything, I will be there

to make sure you're safe.

LIAM: Dear, I--

I don't want you to do anything

you don't have a stomach for,

but this is why Candela shines in the dark

for so many centuries.

If not for us, what will keep the dark at bay?

Yes, we had to dabble in it ourselves

to understand and cope.

GINA: Madam Glask takes a last look at Elsie.

So we finish what we've started, then.

SAM: Lead on by the light of the candle.

ASHLY: It's what you came here for, Raj.

NOSHIR: Is it?

All right, professor.

Let's see it done.

AABRIA: So you are resolved to finish what you began,

to see this assignment through,

to climb down a hole that goes down to Mother knows where,

and you time your passage across that lawn

to the settling of the interior of the sanitorium.

You make quick work using some clever use of rope.

Everyone makes it down, yourself included,

past the dirt, down the slope,

past that broken-in stone that you realize

is the collapsed ceiling of some unadorned,

unimportant hallway in an Oldfairen building.

Now, in a city like this

that's so obviously and celebrated

for being built on top of the ruins of what came before,

this would be unremarkable,

but hmm, I need Cosmo.

LIAM: Yes? AABRIA: Can you make

a Focus roll for me?

LIAM: Of course, hmm.

So that's one of mine, yes.

I will go just a straight roll as it is.

NOSHIR: With my archeological experience,

is this something that I can

support? AABRIA: Absolutely.

NOSHIR: I'll give you a Drive.

LIAM: Oh.

NOSHIR: Oh, you've already rolled. LIAM: Save that shit!

(laughter) NOSHIR: Never mind.

LIAM: Because I got a six on the gilded.

AABRIA: Beautiful! ASHLY: Ooh.

AABRIA: A full success.

As your circle deals with how to lower you

and your chair down,

you begin to think, you spread out where you are

and the mental map that you have of Oldfaire beneath.

Though there are places due east of here

between the Sidle and the Stentorian River,

so many sites in Oldfaire sit underneath Groundswell

and Hallowharbor and the Eaves and South Soffit.

But to your recollection, you do not know

of any Oldfairen sites that sit underneath the Sidle,

and yet-- [astrolabe scraping]

AABRIA: You are all down there.

You hear it, you see it.

You are in an unadorned tunnel,

some attic caved in, in a bureaucratic building,

hallways extending in every direction.

And down littered by your feet,

along with 2,000 years of uninterrupted dust and detritus,

you see the corpses of five other patients,

their hands destroyed, broken down to nubs, missing fingers

beaten away as they spent their lives clawing, excavating,

getting down, following orders from the nun, the Maw.

They lie here, spent and forgotten.

You all see a mess of footprints

headed off to the left down a series of dark halls.

You make your way carefully, as quietly as you can,

until you hear it a little clearer,

thumping, scratching,

knocking, the sounds of further excavation down and away,

and low voices.

You make your way,

and then you feel it, you know it.

You are just around the corner from whatever this is,

whoever's down here, whatever's going on.

It's so loud.

The beating, the scratching, the clawing, not with tools,

but again that wet flesh being flung against stone and wood

and ancient history.

They don't hear you.

They didn't hear you coming.

So you have a moment now

before whatever happens happens.

What do you want to do?

ASHLY: Raj?

NOSHIR: This circle is not broken,

but it is most certainly bent.

My sister, Aadtika, suffered a fate very similar

to these chained servitors,

and I need you to know the little bit that I found.

Oldfaire specialized in ferocious weaponry.

LIAM: Yes.

NOSHIR: One of their weapons

that they found a way to control was famine.

Using dark forces,

they turned locusts into flesh-eating,

venomous spirits en mass.

In the other lands, the remains of those barren fields

were walked by children

whose parents had been annihilated.

The Great Maw comes from the despair of starving children.

To that end, if we go in there with doubt,

or the crumbling of hope, we will never succeed.

I don't have to like you to trust you.

I promise you here and now,

I will give my everything to keep you safe.

LIAM: It is not an easy burden that Candela bears.

We've carried it for centuries and more.

I wouldn't have begrudged any of you for leaving,

but I am grateful to have you here.

If things go south, Rajan,

all of you, it will be harder for me

to go up than it was to go down.

Don't let that trouble you, do your duty.

SAM: It's not going to come to that.

We're not going to leave you.

NOSHIR: I agree.

ASHLY: Raj.

What's on the other side of that door?

NOSHIR: If she is here,

I don't know the form she takes today.

She was beautiful

and then she was toothed horror,

like nothing I've ever seen,

more insect than person.

She will try to lever your greatest fears

and your deepest mistrusts.

LIAM: I reach into the satchel I always have at my side

and pull out a jawbone.

This jawbone detects bleed.

I found it 30 years ago or more on a long dead fellow

in another part of Oldfaire.

It has served me many a time.

As we move forward,

I intend to use it to gauge how close we are to trouble.

AABRIA: What does it normally feel like

when you detect bleed through that bone?

LIAM: It starts to bite like cold in my hand,

the barest sensation of electricity to it,

similar but different.

It normally leaves a bit of a welt,

but it's worth the pain.

AABRIA: The moment you wrap your hands around it

even through your leather gloves, you feel it.

That stinging sticking cold.

But what's more,

your index finger wrapped around

the back of the bone, you feel a little pinprick

as a tooth in the back grows longer

pressing through the leather piercing into your finger.

There is no need to detect bleed,

you are in proximity to it, you're here.

LIAM: We are in the frying pan, children.

Watch your step.

SAM: We're in a hallway, just a standard hallway,

there's not offshoots or anything like that?

AABRIA: You see that there are other little areas.

As you were walking down, it probably took five minutes

for you to get over here, walking pretty slowly

and trying to muffle your steps in the dust.

Lots of offshoots,

several collapsed in, no light anywhere else.

The only sound you were hearing was this thud

and talking that you've followed to a blind corner

that you're about to cross.

GINA: Madam Glask has been keeping a close eye on Elsie.

AABRIA: What are you looking for?

GINA: She still doesn't trust Elsie

and is still very scared of what may happen.

Elsie, whatever is behind that door,

will you be able to control yourself?

ASHLY: You say this thing feeds on mistrust,

then I owe you an explanation.

GINA: Yes.

ASHLY: I'm dying.

I have cullet.

You've probably seen it at The Glass Cat.

AABRIA: I'll jump in.

All of you know of cullet.

There's a technical term that no one can bother to remember,

but especially lately, in the last six or seven years,

following the war,

the poorer populations, and neighborhoods, and districts

of Newfaire have been falling ill

with a degenerative lung disease

that as the patient, as the victim coughs,

they have a sensation like broken glass inside their lungs,

ripping it up, hence the name.

ASHLY: I was researching it to help cure some of my clients

in the Eaves that didn't want to be associated with

what they saw as a degenerate's disease.

And in the course of my research,

I became ill myself.

And so I started experimenting.

I tried to find ways to keep

the pain at bay

but the worse it got, the more desperate I got.

And I started

meddling with things that I...

I didn't know about before

I met you, Raj.

And I became something

unrecognizable.

GINA: That beast out there?

ASHLY: Yeah.

AABRIA: Need you to take a brain--

SAM: Ooh.

AABRIA:-- at hearing this.

Having said that,

empty your beast pool as it resets.

SAM: Beast pool? AABRIA: Mm-hmm!

SAM: Ooh.

ASHLY: You don't have a beast pool?

SAM: I mean, it's more of a kiddie pool.

ASHLY: (laughs)

AABRIA: And now that you are returned back to life,

if you have any body marks, remove them.

SAM: I do not, since the good doctor already healed me.

ASHLY: I have spent my time in Candela

only around Cosmo and Oscar

because I know I'm a liability,

I know I'm dangerous,

and I've been able to control it

until you came back.

The one benefit is

if I can't control myself in there

I'd make a very good distraction

and I would encourage you

to take the opportunity and run.

GINA: That's if you don't attack us

Whatever it is that you have

going between you two right now, make it clear.

I don't want to risk any more casualties.

We're lucky Oscar's still even here.

SAM: Yeah, I mean, I'm not going to lie,

that was pretty scary.

ASHLY: I'm sorry.

SAM: No, it's...

ASHLY: I never...

SAM: It's something that I knew that you could do,

but I--

It hurt just the same.

GINA: You were tasked to protect me and the girls.

SAM: And I will. And I do.

ASHLY: It hasn't-- I thought that I--

I thought I had more control.

SAM: Madam Glask, I mean, with all due respect,

I know that this is super scary

and we got to keep moving,

but I've known Doc for a while

and you've known her, too,

and she's not a threat, she's a victim.

ASHLY: I am a threat.

SAM: Or maybe she's both.

AABRIA: You hear suddenly the speech stop,

and shortly thereafter that rhythmic thud

and just a (sniffing)

quietly from around the corner.

GINA: We have no choice. Figure it out.

ASHLY: Get behind me.

SAM: Should we

hide, split up?

I'm sorry, I'm honestly,

I'm having trouble thinking too clearly right now.

Someone just tell me what to do.

ASHLY: Can I-- Ooh, I shouldn't do that, never mind.

AABRIA: Hmm? ASHLY: I'll take a brain mark

if I do that.

You feel like you're ready to do something.

LIAM: I'm going to wheel on an angle slowly

while they're having their debate

and try to look around the corner.

AABRIA: Yeah.

Go ahead and give me a Survey roll.

LIAM: Oh, I'm not good at that.

But I'll burn a drive

and adjust my weight.

AABRIA: (snorting cough)

GINA: (laughs) Yes!

LIAM: Put on my action glasses here.

ASHLY: Sport mode. GINA: (laughs)

LIAM: Yes.

GINA: Oh, I love them!

AABRIA: Gets into sport mode. GINA: So cute.

LIAM: Okay. NOSHIR: Means business.

AABRIA: Incredible, this was going to be a high stakes

roll anyhow. LIAM: So this is Survey.

AABRIA: Yeah. LIAM: With a drive,

it's just a straight roll.

AABRIA: Yes.

LIAM: Here we go. AABRIA: I will let you know

the expectation setting here is on a miss

you will be spotted. LIAM: Yes.

AABRIA: So think, as you approach that corner,

you see that there isn't the beginning of hinges for a door.

LIAM: Well, maybe we'll burn two drives, then.

AABRIA: (laughs)

NOSHIR: Can I give him an assist?

I'll be at the back of the chair

and help ease him out,

so that if he tells me to, I can pull him back in cover.

AABRIA: Yeah. LIAM: Is that a third?

AABRIA: Yes. LIAM: Yes.

All right, I adjust my glasses and lean forward in my chair

and try to be quiet as a 97-year-old mouse.

That's a six.

SAM: Yes. AABRIA: Beautiful.

You wheel around, get that perfect little view.

Now that you know that someone's controlling the wheels

of your chair, you can lean a little more

without worrying about squeaking or making a sound.

You see the edge of this cohort.

You see a man, a woman,

and a wretched thrall throwing themselves

against a massive stone wall

trying to find purchase to break through.

It seems like a strange dead end,

but the room is probably 40 feet

by 30 feet and the ceiling opens up.

You go from this low hallway

that couldn't be more than seven or eight feet tall

to something that expands up

and domes at about,

by your guess, maybe 15 feet of height?

LIAM: You said a man and a woman and a thrall?

AABRIA: Yes, another one of those patients

that is bloodying themselves against the wall

under orders that they can't help but obey

even at the loss of their own physicality.

LIAM: And the man and woman are standing back and allowing this.

Is that what I'm seeing? AABRIA: Yes.

The woman is dressed like a nun.

She is beautiful.

Even in that slim profile.

The man has a look on his face,

so taut and tight

his features smooth over

a out-of-fashion, thin mustache,

with jet black hair slicked back.

But all the countenance of someone who looks like

he couldn't smile or shout if he tried.

A very Serious Man that you recognize

from decades ago.

LIAM: Somewhere around 90 years?

AABRIA: Yes.

It is only because of your full success,

and your wisdom, and how often you have seen things

that defy imagination and expectation

that you are able to face this

without taking any kind of mark.

LIAM: I quickly shoot a look back to Oscar,

and then up to you, Rajan.

NOSHIR: I ease him back.

LIAM: They were like 50ish feet away?

AABRIA: Yeah, they're on the far side of the room,

so you've got 50 feet.

But you do also see that

while they're facing each other

they're not speaking. They're paused,

and the nun was sniffing the air delicately.

You can see the body posture

as you're being wheeled back,

slowly turning in your direction.

SAM: What does that mean?

Okay.

LIAM: And Oscar? SAM: What?

LIAM: It's another. SAM: Oh, two people? Okay.

Three people?

ASHLY: Rajan.

GINA: Rajan. LIAM: Boy.

ASHLY: Do I understand what he just did?

AABRIA: You absolutely do.

ASHLY: Raj, look at me.

NOSHIR: I'm so sorry, little bird,

that you had to keep this secret on your own,

that I didn't make you feel safe enough

to share it with me.

But I will not leave you.

ASHLY: We can't handle this if you are on that.

AABRIA: "You might as well come in.

"I know you're there.

"You reek of my favorite flavors.

"(unsettling laughter)" ASHLY: Rajan, we can still leave.

NOSHIR: No, my darling, we can't.

I am going to ready my Core Sampler

and the acid vial that I prepared to open up a lock.

AABRIA: I need you to make a Sense roll

because you feel it deep inside you,

like a buzzing,

as whatever is deep within you,

the rot that she placed roils.

Though after long years you have believed

that you are the master of your monstrosity,

they know their mother and they're so close.

NOSHIR: I'm going to add two drive.

Oh, can I do that if I have nothing in Sense?

AABRIA: Yeah, you can. Burn the Sense now.

NOSHIR: A one

and a six.

(relieved groans)

GINA: He's so good. ASHLY: He's now how to do drama,

this guy. AABRIA: That was delightful.

The question is which one are you going to take,

the gilded result or the other?

NOSHIR: (laughs)

I don't think I have much choice in this matter.

I have to take the six.

AABRIA: Okay.

You feel it and you feel the beginnings

of something crawling up

the neck of your fine cut shirt,

but it stops, it yields.

You hear her on the other side

of this blind corner beginning to growl.

"Don't make me wait,"

and footsteps begin to move across the room.

SAM: What's the play, Raj?

NOSHIR: There is no play, Oscar.

We fight for survival.

LIAM: Cosmo rolls out into the opening.

SAM: Oh!

GINA: Cosmo, no.

AABRIA: What you see in front of The Serious Man

who has hung behind and just watches serenely.

The woman that walked forward that was a nun,

too beautiful, proportions picked

along lines that feel more mathematical than possible,

and yet she was real and in front of you

and inspiring feelings that maybe you have not considered

in a very long time.

That falls away.

She releases herself, releases form and continuity

and she becomes this thing shifting algorithmically,

fractally across line, and form, and sinew.

Her limbs lengthen.

You see musculature roping

under her skin and the monstrosity of her.

Everywhere you look, wherever your eyes linger, Cosmo,

you see a mouth begin to form

in the line and shadow of her shoulder and neck,

across the fingers that now stretch outward

that terminate in too long of claws.

The form of her when she was a nun and human was beautiful.

But the point of her is a Maw

and she's moving towards you,

smiling with too many mouths and too many teeth.

LIAM: I manage to tear my gaze from her for a moment

to look at the man in the distance

as she closes the distance and say: Hello again.

I grab the brass knob on the end of my wheelchair

and pull out an ancient brass dagger

couched inside to meet this woman as she attacks.

The blade cuts through my own hand

and glows pale blue at her approach.

SAM: Oh shit.

AABRIA: Amazing.

She sees it. She smells blood.

You've made it easier.

You've opened yourself to her

and she loves when you open yourself to her.

She's going to pounce at you.

I need you to try to roll to resist this

as a monster flings themselves in your direction gleefully.

LIAM: I don't. SAM: Oh!

LIAM: I sink the blade using my Ghostblade ability.

AABRIA: You take a body mark for using your Ghostblade.

LIAM: Yes, you attune a ritual knife to yourself

if you coat it in your own blood.

It is particularly effective against magickal beings.

And I stab knowing that she will

reciprocate and then some.

AABRIA: She falls onto you and folds around you,

and you feel the bites of a hundred mouths

shifting again, and again, and again.

Then one of the mouths screams

as you plunge the ghostblade into it

and beyond expectation, she rears back,

blood pouring from a set of gapped, jagged teeth

emerging from her left breast.

You're going to take two body marks.

LIAM: I loll terribly in my chair--

AABRIA: "What?" LIAM:-- holding an Ancient

Fairen blade of crude blonde.

AABRIA: "(screams)"

ASHLY: If I may? AABRIA: Yes, please.

ASHLY: Well, I actually have a question.

AABRIA: Sure!

ASHLY: At this point, does Elsie have the capability

to bring out the beast on command?

AABRIA: Oh,

what a fun question.

It's so early in your story,

and mechanically, we have a set of triggers

that this is the onset;

anxiety and panic stack,

breath caught, pushes you to a brink.

But I don't know if you've ever chosen it before.

ASHLY: I don't know if I have, either.

I'm wondering if I could try-- AABRIA: So what if we roll?

Yeah. ASHLY:-- to choose now.

AABRIA: I'm going to let you tell me

what you're going to roll

to see if you can summon this yourself.

ASHLY: I want to try Focus,

because I want to try

to see if I can pinpoint and almost try to commune with it,

and say that: You're going to come out

but you're going to come out

and I'm going to be there with you.

AABRIA: A concession.

ASHLY: Mm-hmm.

AABRIA: Communication, this feels good.

I think Cosmo's speaking to you

in that strange ancient tongue has alighted onto the idea

that it can be communicated with and treated with.

Go ahead and make your Focus roll,

no one can assist you. ASHLY: That's fine.

AABRIA: The stakes are thus:

A full success or a miss

will allow you to transform,

but only one of them will allow you to control it.

SAM: Shoot.

ASHLY: Okay, this seems like a good chance

to use a couple of drives.

AABRIA: Burn them now.

Where else would they come in?

ASHLY: So I can roll--

Should I just use all my drives?

Fuck it. LIAM: Smoke 'em if you got 'em.

ASHLY: I'm going to smoke 'em if I got 'em.

AABRIA: (laughs)

Oh my god.

ASHLY: I got a success.

SAM: Ooh. ASHLY: A six.

AABRIA: Amazing.

ASHLY: I'm going to ignore this gilded die,

which was a one. (laughter)

AABRIA: I like that you have put it away.

ASHLY: I don't want to even look at it or touch it.

AABRIA: Yeah. LIAM: Go in the corner.

AABRIA: What does it feel like

as you begin to spin yourself

up into this of your own volition for the first time?

ASHLY: So I think the intensity

of telling Raj,

of seeing him take scarlet,

of all the implications that that is,

of having killed one of my only friends,

and now seeing one of my only other friends

being one-on-one with this horrible beast,

I think the panic is starting to come.

But it just happened,

so there is this sense of: Not again,

you don't get to do this to me again,

not without me being here, too.

So you can come out, but you're going to play nice.

And I let the transformation begin to happen,

but this time, it isn't as intense.

There's almost a calmness to it.

As my arm extends-- [bestial growling]

ASHLY:-- my legs extend,

and as I start to transform

I say in a voice that is part beast, but part Elsie:

Get behind me.

[bestial growling]

ASHLY: As I transform, I'm going to lope into the room

and put myself between Cosmo and the Maw.

NOSHIR: Beautiful.

AABRIA: I will add to that.

You speak, "Get behind me," you think it.

But the beast, this thing that you are,

is a thing of stories and tales told to children

in the Fairelands for centuries,

millennia.

It is not of the language that you use.

So when you speak,

only those that speak Ancient Fairen understand you.

The rest hear growls,

words, syllables,

hard and sharp,

filled with great power as the beast within you

is pleased at a target.

You see the Maw, this terrible creature,

bleeding, confused by her moment of triumph,

takes a step back,

confused, concerned

for the first time in a very long life.

Before I have your beast attack,

is there anything anyone else wants to do or put into play?

GINA: Yes, in the panic of seeing the beast again

I rush over to Cosmo and grab his chair

and as fast as I can, run behind Elsie

and back to where we came from to get him to safety.

LIAM: Thank you, dear. GINA: Yes, Cosmo.

LIAM: Thank you.

GINA: Are you all right?

LIAM: I have seen a few better days.

GINA: I take off my shawl

and I start compressing his wound.

Stay still.

LIAM: It's crimson in seconds.

[bestial growling]

AABRIA: Anything from over here?

SAM: I am, seeing Cosmo attacked

and seeing Elsie change,

my instinct is to react,

to pounce, to fight back.

But weirdly, I just don't know what to do.

I reach for something at my hip and there's nothing there.

I'm just a little confused.

It's like I've forgotten how this all works.

AABRIA: Yeah.

SAM: So for a moment, I'm just looking around,

dumbfounded at what's going on.

AABRIA: I will say in that moment, as you search

and look and assess your group and assess the room,

you make eye contact with The Serious Man,

and he narrows his eyes,

and recognizes you.

SAM: Do I recognize him anymore?

AABRIA: Oh.

I think there's a lot of things

that you, in that space, have agreed to trade away,

but I don't think there's any world

in which, even if you thought in that moment

it was important to forget and move on,

whatever was in there with you

knows that it's too important to forget.

You could forget the name of the ship,

anyone else in that crew, the people that you traveled with,

and worked with, and performed with.

You could forget every other member of your family,

and maybe there are some there that you have,

but you are not allowed to forget this man,

because he is why you're like this.

SAM: Seeing his face and his stupid mustache

that looks just like mine right now--

ASHLY: (laughs) AABRIA: No, it's very thin.

Yours is like, it's fashionable.

You're giving "Peaky Blinders." It's good.

SAM: I'm just overcome with shock and rage.

I guess I'll step forward

and I will focus myself,

and I will take a ready stance

in case he comes closer.

But my eyes are locked on him now,

not on the crazy mouth woman.

AABRIA: Yeah. (laughter)

AABRIA: Good.

Rajan, I need you to take a bleed.

You are next to her.

It's undeniable.

All of the old history comes crashing back

in you and through you,

not as trauma remembered,

but trauma lived in this moment.

What do you want to do as your friend Elsie,

or whatever she is now, truly is now,

begins to attack?

NOSHIR: I've never seen anything so beautiful.

ASHLY: (laughs quietly) SAM: What?

NOSHIR: I certainly won't leave her alone.

I have never seen Maw

looking like she was on the back foot.

I hear a voice in my head,

"Mother Mercy ensconced in white--"

I recognize my mother.

"-- tends the hungry day and night."

I hear my sister, Aadtika,

and I continue the nursery rhyme,

which I now know to be a chant of binding,

"loving mother to the poor,"

and I start to loosen my cravat.

"Dare not enter through her door."

AABRIA: "No."

NOSHIR: "Mind this verse-- AABRIA: "Stop."

NOSHIR: "-- lest you should meet."

AABRIA: "Stop!" NOSHIR: "Please mind her smile--"

AABRIA: "Shut up!

NOSHIR: "-- and mind her teeth!" AABRIA: (furious) "No!"

NOSHIR: "Your name is known to me, Great Maw!

"Now unbind us from tooth and claw!"

AABRIA: Mouths across her body snap shut.

You see this shifting thing

begin to freeze and panic.

So the normal way we agreed on resolving your beast

was never about a roll, it was never about mechanics,

it was about destruction.

One for the one success.

You need to do one great and terrible act

to sate the beast and return to yourself.

No roll required.

What do you do?

ASHLY: I would like

to plunge my claw

into the Maw's chest,

and if I can find something approximating lungs,

crush them.

AABRIA: Yeah.

You plunge in with an arm,

like the knuckles of a gorilla,

like the claw of a badger,

like the sharp spike of a mantis,

and a mouth slowly beginning

to freeze itself shut

opens enough to scream in defiance

and you plunge in past it.

You touch something soft.

There's nothing soft about her like this.

You grab, and you pull,

and you crush, and you feel it.

What breath is, what it means.

It is not just air. It is a soul.

So much of Oldfairen death culture

is around breath.

Protect the breath, keep the soul in the body

so that it doesn't wander this world.

But you feel it now because you are like it,

magickal and wrong.

You crush it.

I want to ask you,

you feel the soul beginning to move through your fingertips.

Do you let it go,

or do you take that, too?

How much of a monster are you right now, Dr. Roberts?

ASHLY: I don't think the beast would discriminate.

So if it's possible

to crush a soul,

my grip tightens.

AABRIA: You crush the lungs,

you crush the body, you end the life

and you feel yourself in tune with the beast.

But this it knows as a predator, lashes out,

snaps at the air over the Maw's crumping form,

bites the soul,

dispels it, destroys it,

takes it into itself.

Your beast is a little worse now for it.

The line of the mouth gets a little longer,

new rows of teeth,

an impressive addition to a terrible creature.

That's it. A terrible act.

If you want to try to hold on

and continue a rampage,

I'll have you roll again.

But you do feel yourself beginning to calm down

and move back to yourself,

as The Serious Man in the back,

seeing what has been done, is about to bolt

past you towards the only exit.

This thrall, even with the thing

that compelled it

to throw itself away

for a cause, for a goal.

There's no tether, there's no magick to break.

This is simply its truth, his truth,

and he will continue to bludgeon himself to death

against the wall.

ASHLY: I'm going to let myself return to Elsie

with the understanding that whatever I just did,

I think I've made the beast

even harder to control, not easier.

AABRIA: Yeah, I think that makes sense.

You see The Serious Man begin to sprint

past the returning form of Elsie,

and he's going to try to push past you to get out the door.

SAM: I think I will just buckle down,

lower my shoulders,

and try to run up and tackle him as he goes.

AABRIA: Yeah, give me a Strike roll.

SAM: Strike? Okay.

AABRIA: Knock down is one of the three listed.

SAM: Yeah, I will use a drive. Why not?

AABRIA: I will say in this moment,

you are tending wounds.

If there's any way anyone else wants to assist

in this moment, you can.

NOSHIR: I'm going after The Serious Man.

AABRIA: Okay.

SAM: I rolled a three on the gilded.

AABRIA: Okay, you get

your drive back. (laughter)

GINA: It's something.

AABRIA: You lower your shoulder

and this man, who's maybe only an inch or two

taller than you, barrels through you

with a strength you didn't expect.

You wheel and turn, please take a body.

SAM: Sure.

AABRIA: You stand as the last line of defense

as Madam Glask and Cosmo are off to the side,

tending wounds.

Last chance. He'll get away. What do you do?

You know him, too.

How many walks did you go on

spotting him and your mother in quiet conversation?

Your past really is coming to haunt you tonight

and it's getting away.

NOSHIR: No. No, he's not.

I take my pointed ring

and gouge from shoulder to navel.

SAM: Oh my god, everybody's fucked up.

(laughter)

NOSHIR: And tear the remnants of my jacket and shirt,

revealing

paper and hexagonal cells,

a hive built into my body.

ASHLY: (gasps) GINA: What the fuck?

ASHLY: (laughs)

NOSHIR: I reach for The Serious Man,

specifically his legs.

And I tell my children to feed.

ASHLY: (gasps) SAM: Children?

SAM and GINA: What the fuck?

AABRIA: These locusts, this sign of pestilence

that was inflicted on you by the creature

once known as the Great Maw.

So long you thought it was a plague, a curse,

a punishment for being too young or naive,

not strong enough to stand up against her.

But over time,

an affliction can become a part of you.

They are yours.

And for the cost of two bleed,

they will follow your directions perfectly.

Where often they only follow your energy

and swarm, and bite, and sting as they would do.

Do you accept this cost?

NOSHIR: As I direct my host,

parts of the hive crumble

and two runes on my tattoos

burn into scars.

My claw marks start to travel across my face,

entering the eye where something other moves,

and I collapse, knowing that I've done all I can.

AABRIA: And it will be enough.

From his legs, you all watch the direction

in which he reaches and points.

The little bit of light given by the hand torch

that he was holding and directing the work with,

casting shadows across the room, but never on himself.

They swarm at the ankles and move upward

ripping away clothing, fine,

but maybe a little strangely out of date.

They leave welts, and scabs, and scars

as they go moving up, feasting, eating,

building on themselves, impossibly.

A hive becomes a swarm, becomes a pestilence,

becomes a plague, and this Serious Man is lost within it.

SAM: Does it look like he's going to die?

AABRIA: Yes. LIAM: Oh.

SAM: I'm going to call out:

Stop, stop, please, you can't do this,

you can't let him die, stop!

AABRIA: He falls to the ground unconscious.

GINA: Who is he to you?

ASHLY: Can I, whoo, I have-- AABRIA: What do you want to do

to try to stop this?

ASHLY: Well, I went back to being normal.

SAM: Okay. Okay.

ASHLY: I have Resuscitate--

Well, did you take a scar just now?

NOSHIR: I took, yes.

ASHLY: So Resuscitation, when a nearby ally takes a scar,

you can make a Focus roll

in an attempt to immediately revive them.

AABRIA: Oh.

NOSHIR: Damn.

ASHLY: On a six, it works. SAM: Oh boy.

ASHLY: Though they still receive the scar,

they're back on their feet.

On a four to five,

it'll cost three drive points of your choosing.

GINA: Oof.

ASHLY: I'm going to do it. AABRIA: Okay.

ASHLY: I used all my drive on the last one,

so she's going to be...

SAM: Is there a way I can assist?

LIAM: Ooh! SAM: Oh, well.

Maybe I don't have to.

(laughter)

ASHLY: Should I take, I'm going to take the mixed success

so I can get a drive back, but it was a five.

AABRIA: Okay. ASHLY: If that matters.

AABRIA: Okay.

ASHLY: So I'm going to, seeing what these guys are saying

and with what little strength I have left,

I'm going to-- AABRIA: You still have to

spend two other--

You still have to spend three drives

on a mixed success. ASHLY: Oh!

Then I should just take the six.

AABRIA: You should just take the six. ASHLY: I'll take the six.

AABRIA: Yeah, yeah, yeah.

ASHLY: So I'm extremely fatigued at this point.

But hearing them shout, I'm going to drag myself over

to Raj and flip him over

and start whatever doing whatever resuscitation means.

(laughs) Whatever that looks like.

AABRIA: I think you are looking at a man

whose face has split open. SAM: Oh jesus.

AABRIA: The hive in his upper torso has collapsed.

So we can say that this is less of a medical event

and more of-- ASHLY: Emotional.

AABRIA: Yeah. It's an emotional connection.

It's a reaching with the thing

beyond what you know exists in this world.

To do so, you will take a brain.

Mostly because this is a stressful situation

and you are pushing yourself.

ASHLY: Raj, get up.

SAM: Call them off, damn it.

ASHLY: Raj, wake up!

NOSHIR: My right eye opens,

and in a kaleidoscopic effect, I can see Elsie

in a fractal of nine,

and The Serious Man in the background.

I only have the strength to whisper to my children:

Death is too easy for him.

You let him live, but barely.

AABRIA: Suddenly they all stop,

the swarm doubled, tripled, tenfold,

all drop to the ground dead.

Your hive will be back.

They always come back.

NOSHIR: I know.

AABRIA: But The Serious Man is alive,

but in shock on the ground

LIAM: What shape is his flesh in?

AABRIA: He's looking pretty bad.

Just ripped up by bugs.

And like all of-- It's like he was attacked

by swarms and swarms of different things.

Biting things and stinging things together.

So there are welts of stings

and welts of allergic reactions

and bites, and chews, and blood.

He's alive and shaking.

GINA: As I'm aiding Cosmo, I ask him:

Cosmo, who is this man?

Why did we let him live?

LIAM: It's a full circle today

for my father and I.

GINA: Your father?

LIAM: Oh yes.

SAM: I'll go over and examine the body while he's talking.

GINA: Is that your father on the floor?

LIAM: No.

That one is.

SAM: I'll pick up the man and turn him over

and see if it's the same face I remember,

if it's him, if he's there, if he's alive.

AABRIA: Yes.

He is hyperventilating.

He's very shallow breathing and ragged,

but he is alive, just barely.

You recognize him from the day you became

whatever this is,

a ritual gone wrong

or right at his hands.

Then in a moment of conflux,

as your ship broke,

he left, abandoning his work

and whatever great magick he called into the world

foisted on you.

He loses consciousness, but he's alive in your hands.

LIAM: I can scarcely believe it.

SAM: Yeah.

Can you-- Doc, are you okay?

Can you stabilize him?

We need him alive.

He has answers that I need.

NOSHIR: The elder Grimm.

ASHLY: I'm going to look at Raj,

take his face in my hands and check him

and then gently put his head down

and then walk over to this man,

and I suppose I will try to tend to him.

AABRIA: There's a lot happening right now.

Just to interject, he is stabilized,

but bleeding out in his chair.

SAM: Oh, Cosmo is? AABRIA: Yeah

ASHLY: Let's do that first, then.

(laughter)

AABRIA: You have The Serious Man,

unconscious and in various states.

He's been brought back, but has taken and is showing signs

of damage that stagger the imagination.

I would recommend that you

take the spoils of victory here and now

and recover in safety somewhere else.

ASHLY: That sounds like a good idea.

LIAM: I just barely managed to lift this

thousands of years old dagger and slot it into my chair.

You hear old metal scrape as it slides back in.

ASHLY: Cosmo, Cosmo.

GINA: I call Elsie over. I scream: Elsie, please!

I put more pressure on the wound.

SAM: I lift up the man, seeing Cosmo hurt,

I'll try to shoulder him and carry him out.

We got to go, we got to save him.

We got to go now.

AABRIA: It will take effort.

But outside of the danger of The Serious Man

and the Great Maw, you have time.

You can make your way back

make your way up the gentle slope of dirt and debris

that you came down into this random tunnel in Oldfaire,

a dead end, but no, not really.

Time it, sneak, hide,

make your way back.

Get back to the safe house,

the chapter house, The Antiquarian,

and recover and figure out

just exactly what happened here

after you rest.

NOSHIR: Can I ask one question?

Am I able to get out on my own feet?

AABRIA: You are, but barely.

NOSHIR: I can't leave a thrall of Maw alone down here

to waste away.

AABRIA: Yeah.

NOSHIR: So I gently place my hand

upon his chest.

I take the Core Sampler and I ram it home

and the blade from the tube runs through his front

and spikes him to the wall in the back,

and I wish him an easy and quiet rest.

AABRIA: I think that's a good place to end

because only you,

with all of your knowledge

of what your sister went through,

what the Maw is capable of,

and maybe the little bit inside of him

that remembers himself and what he used to be

and can watch himself reduced to whatever this is,

will know what great mercy you showed here tonight.

And with that, we will end the first episode.

ASHLY: That was just one episode.

SAM: That felt like 20.

GINA: Oh my gosh. AABRIA: (laughs)

GINA: Oh my gosh. SAM: It's a season.

ASHLY: (laughs)

GINA: We got orcas, and mantises, and bees?

AABRIA: Yeah! ASHLY: Oh my!

GINA: We're going to a petting zoo, oh my!

AABRIA: Oh my! GINA: Jeez.

LIAM: Yes.

AABRIA: Okay, before we go

as we're transitioning out of heavy shit,

let's do the thing we didn't really get a chance to do

at the top and introduce yourselves--

ASHLY: Oh yeah.

AABRIA:-- and a little bit about your character

to the audience before we go.

We got to get a little aftercare in here.

It is heavy in the club.

ASHLY: (laughs)

AABRIA: Let's change the music.

Do we have some Cardi B?

No, it's not on my stream deck? Wild.

Let's start with you.

NOSHIR: Is this actually happening at the end?

AABRIA: Hmm?

NOSHIR: Like, we can talk about what has just

transpired, or--?

AABRIA: Well, this is just

a little quick introduction-- GINA: On the ride home.

AABRIA:-- because no one knows who any of you are.

And then we'll get into all of the fallout

from that next time. ASHLY: Great.

NOSHIR: I am Noshir Dalal,

playing Professor Rajan Savarimuthu,

scholar/professor.

ASHLY: Slash bee man. SAM: Slash dick.

(laughter)

NOSHIR: Slash-- NOSHIR and GINA:-- beekeeper.

(laughter)

AABRIA: He's of beekeeping age.

(laughter)

LIAM: It's that old Eddie Izzard bit:

Do you-- Do you know that you're covered in bees?

(laughter)

SAM: I am Sam Riegel, I'm playing Oscar "Cary" Grimm.

(laughter)

ASHLY: Still trying.

SAM: That's it, that's who I am.

And I'm very surprised

at everyone's very intense backstory.

(laughter)

NOSHIR: Because yours is super chill.

AABRIA: Super chill! (laughter)

SAM: I think everyone at this table's like,

"I've got something good."

(laughter)

SAM: But nope, it's not as good as the next person.

GINA: I am Gina Darling, and I play Madam Glask,

owner of the Glass Cat Casino and discrete brothel.

Am I the only normal one here?

Who knows?

We'll find out. NOSHIR: No such thing,

no such thing.

ASHLY: Hi, I'm Ashly Burch, I play Dr. Elsie Roberts,

and I am half woman, half beast.

SAM: In real life.

(laughter) ASHLY: In real life.

LIAM: (as Cosmo) I am Liam O'Brien.

I'm playing Cosmo Grimm.

I've been in Candela Obscura for many, many decades,

and I work sometimes with my father.

ASHLY: (gasps)

SAM: Hi.

(laughter)

GINA: What is the skincare routine?

Amazing. AABRIA: Yeah.

NOSHIR: Long story, long story.

AABRIA: Drop the products. LIAM: Very long story.

AABRIA: And I have been Aabria Iyengar,

your overjoyed storyteller here

for the Circle of Tide & Bone.

And we'll see you next time.

Until then, take a deep breath

in, out.

ALL: (breathe in and out)

AABRIA: Is it Thursday yet?