I guess I'm not exactly perfect myself. But at least I have my fans.
-----
I say the words, but nothing ever happens. Nobody comes back. Nobody gets off the cross.
-----
They're big on recreation here. Supposedly it helps us vent our aggressions. Personally? I think they're trying to wear us out. Keep us sluggish so there won't be an uprising. Well, those JV tactics won't work against me. I'm a kicker. K-I-C-K-E-R. It even says so on my chart.
----- On chart:
"Grandoise Notions Hallucinations Uncontrollable fits (has put several orderlies in the hospital)
KICKER"
-----
"I recommend you shut the fuck up!"
-----
I wasn't always this cracked. I used to be normal. Well, as normal as any girl under the influence of teenage hormones. But after the killings began I started to feel...I dunno. Loose around the edges or something.
-----
Maybe it's another dimension. Or, you know. Just really deep.
-----
We were our yearbook pictures. Nothing more, nothing less.
-----
"It's a rock show. This is my rock look!"
-----
"It's just that I like the same things that she likes. We have stuff in common. That's why we're BFFs."
-----
Clubs have DJs and champagne. All we have is a jukebox and a sticker toilet.
-----
"Those guys are rank, Jen. Just forget about them."
-----
I watched her get into that van and I knew something awful was going to happen. He was skinny and twisted and evil like this petrified tree I saw when I was a kid.
-----
"Cheese and fries, there's somebody here."
-----
I knew it was real. I'd been up all night scrubbing the carnage off the linoleum floor.
-----
"I feel guilty just breathing."
-----
"We have creative nonfiction together and he's a really good writer. He's like all dark and emotional and stuff."
-----
"The fiery deathtrip last night, and now a cannibal psycho takes down the biggest guy in school? Come on. It's freaktarded!"
-----
We figured things could only get better. We had faith. We were fucking idiots.
-----
"Crass. It means greedy. Exploitive. Scummy."
-----
But nobody seemed to care anymore. Sorrow was last week's emotion. Sure, we all hoped this would be the last funeral. But I knew better.
-----
"No. I mean she's actually evil. Not just high school evil."
-----
"She's eating boys! They, like, make her really...pretty, and glowy, and her hair looks amazing. And then when she's hungry she's weak and cranky and ugly. I mean, like, ugly for her."
-----
All over Devil's Kettle kids were getting ready for the dance, blissfully unaware that some poor chump was on his way to being Satan chow.
-----
"She's just hovering. It's not that impressive!"
-----
"You know what? You were never a good friend. Even when we were little, you used to steal my toys, and pour lemonade on my bed."
-----
"Is it just to tick me off? Or is it because you're just really insecure?" "I - I am not insecure, Needy, god that's a joke. How can I ever be insecure? I was the Snowflake Queen." "Yeah - two years ago, when you were socially relevant..." "I am still socially relevant." "...and when you didn't need laxatives to stay skinny."
-----
"I love you." "I love you too..and you look totally hot in that dress." "Oh god, you're delirious."
-----
"Best friends forever, huh? You killed my fucking boyfriend, you goddamn monster, you dumb bitch!"
-----
"Cross out Jennifer."
-----
I don't know who Needy Lesnicki is anymore.
I'm a different person now. A person who uses curse words and kicks orderlies and sees things that aren't there. A very bad, very damaged person.
But sometimes change can be good.
-----
"Just might get lucky for once in your miserable life."
Thom, Lord of Trebond and the youngest living Mithran Master, poured a glass of wine for his guest, a mocking smile on his lips. “You can't imagine what a pleasure it is for me to have my sister's—friend—come to visit,” he said. “Particularly when it may be as much as your head is worth to be seen here, in the palace.” “Why not call me Alanna's lover, and be honest about it?” George suggested. The purple and gold brocade robe Thom wore over his stark black shirt and hose hurt the eyes; its cost would have fed a poor commoner and his family for a year. “As it is, I have a number of things I care to discuss with you. I couldn't be waitin' for your next excursion into the city to meet me.” “Particularly since I never go to the city,” Thom agreed. “So Alanna has returned to the desert, with the devoted Coram in tow. How selfless of her. Unless she was afraid Jonathan might convince her to take back her refusal? She needn't have worried; he's very much occupied with Princess Josaine these days.” George stared at Thom. If my lass had made no friends, only enemies, he thought, and if she'd been too frightened to let others know she was a human bein', disguise and all, she might well have turned out like this monster. He's all brain and cynicism now, with no heart left to him. “Well, you're a nasty bit of work, aren't you?” he remarked amiably. “Why don't we talk of your goin's-on here durin' All Hallow?” A look of grudging respect entered Thom's violet eyes. “I'm sure I told Alanna and you I was working on experiments.” George made a disgusted face. “And I'm sure it was no such thing. Didn't you feel my mother testin' your guardin'-spells? Or were so many tryin' to learn what you were up to that you took no notice of those left half-dead?” “I felt someone test the ward,” Thom admitted. “But I was—busy. I'm sorry it was your mother who was harmed, but she had no business prying into that kind of magic. She's fortunate to be alive.” “Glad you think so. And what experiments are so important that you must put such spells to protect them?” When Thom didn't answer, George pressed, “Who were you tryin' to raise from the dead?” Thom jumped to his feet, the mocking expression wiped from his face. “You dare to question me, George Cooper?” he yelled, fury radiating from him in waves. “Your relationship with my sister means nothing here, so do not think to try my patience!” George stood, his hazel eyes grim. “Don't think to threaten me, laddy,” he warned softly. “I won't stand for it.” “I have nothing more to say to you,” Thom gritted. “Get out.” “I'll take my leave, then,” George replied. “But I don't need my Sight to tell me you're in trouble, great sorceror or no.” He hesitated, then said wryly, “Doubtless I'll live to regret this, but for your sister's sake you may call on me in need.” Thom drew himself up. “I am more than able to handle my own affairs.” “Is that why you're shakin' so?” George enquired. “Best have a shot of brandy o steady your nerves, my lord. I'd hate to think there was anythin' in this world of ours could be beyond the skills of one such as yourself.” Bowing mockingly, he left Thom. And there's not a thing I can do or say, until I know what's ridin' him like the Old Hag of the Graveyards, the thief told himself grimly as he slipped out of the palace. But I'll bet every knife I own he's gotten himself into trouble that won't easily be fixed. (p 209)
Jack Your Firm's Name Here. Call me Jack. That's my Christian name. Why not rent my name? I travel the length of the land. I was Jack Microsoft for a while but after six months they wanted to upgrade me to a new version and I couldn't afford the facial surgery.
I may appear to you to be a salesman. I have things to give, things to show and much to explain. I have nothing to sell. You may ask: But is there a product? A product, dear friend. There are many products. You might as well enter a forest glade on a sunny spring day and ask, but is there a leaf ? You might as well look down on the city and ask, but is there a window?
Tell me this. Have you worked your whole life to earn enough money to get the things you want for yourself and the people you love? Have you?
Of course you have! Now, let's sweat the fat off that proposition. First you want to take away the earning and the money. That's just a mechanism. Do you have to see your heart beating to know that you're alive? We need to see the big picture. So what do we do, we climb onto the roof and go up the ladder and get into the basket of the balloon and fly up ever so high, ever so high, till we look down on the world below, and everything looks so very different, so much simpler than it did from down on the ground, doesn't it. What do we see from way up there when we look down? Mm? D'you know? Mm? Of course you do. We can see the truth! We can see the big, plain truth. And you know what that truth is, don't you. Yes. The plain truth is that you've worked your whole life to get the things you want.
But just tell me one thing. Just one little thing, mm? Not a big thing, a tiny little thing, but ever so important. Here's the thing: what's work? Mm? What's work? Hard labour? Climbing the stairs, gardening, is that work? Is it? Breathing, is that work? It can be difficult sometimes, we all know that. Or cooking, frying eggs, making a sandwich, is that work? Can be, may be, might be. Maybe it's leisure. Maybe you like it. Maybe you don't. Or breaking rocks. Ever tried breaking rocks? No? More enjoyable than you could possibly imagine. Or strangling chickens. Could be work — could be leisure. For me, leisure, but who knows? Each to their own. Sex. For me, work, but again, some people like to relax like that. You see which way we're moving here, my dear? Work is another one of these primitive ideas. People used to think everything was made up of earth, air, fire and water, and now we know everything is made up of little atoms too tiny to worry about. Everything is smooth. People used to think life was made up of work and leisure but now we know there's only life. So what do we have now? You've lived your whole life to get the things you want. This is like x equals x equals y, right, so let's strip it down to this: your whole life for the things you want. Are you following me?
“SARS,” Otto said. “It’s the same story as with Judy Washington.”
“I’m sorry,” Otto said with his charming smile. “No questions at this time.”
“I know I’m the dummy of the bunch,” Otto said. “So pardon me for asking—but you have a CDC report. What you’re saying is the stuff you guys have been studying for the past few days, that turns out to be a known factor?”
Otto spun in the director’s chair, three full circles as he spoke. “So the more people that claim to have this disease, the more publicity it gets, then more people hear about it, and then more people think they have it.”
“Or get wind of grannies slicing up their kids, then playing all Scarface with the cops,” Otto said. “Psycho grandmamas would definitely upset Mister and Missus Average American.”
Agent Otto whipped himself in circles. He seemed to be trying to see how many spins he could get off of one push. “So the fibers have been around for a while, but only now are reaching this larval stage? Does that mean they’re evolving?”
“Margaret, may I say something?” Otto asked.
He spun once in his chair, then gripped the desk with both hands, smiling the whole time. “You seem to let people push you around. You ever notice that?”
“Because it seems to me you’re a lot stronger than you think. We’re dealing with some pretty crazy stuff here, am I right?”
“So if you’ve got something you feel we need to do, maybe you should stop being such a pussy.”
“I said, Margaret, stop being such a pussy.”
“So stop letting Murray tell you what to do.”
“So he’s the deputy director. Do you know what you are?”
Otto spun twice, then spoke. “You are the lead epidemiologist studying a new, unknown disease with horrific implications.”
“You are short-staffed, and you can’t get the experts you should have.”
“Margaret, he put you in charge of this. What will happen if you insist on talking to this Cheng guy? Do you think Murray is going to bring in someone else to replace you?”
“So,” Otto said as he gave one strong push. He started spinning, speaking one syllable on each revolution, almost as if he’d read her mind. “Use . . . what . . . you . . . have.”
---
“Yes, sir,” Otto said. He smiled at Margaret. It was a small smile, but she couldn’t miss it.
Otto cleared his throat. “Excuse me for interrupting, sir, but most people don’t get their news from papers anymore, they get it from the Internet. You can set up a web page and have it indexed so the major search engines will find it. The Net is anonymous, so a host might surf it for information on the growths. They can contact you right from the web page.”
---
“Margaret,” Otto whispered. She opened her eyes. Now he was on the other side of the desk. He pointed to her, then held his left palm down at waist level. His right hand whipped back and forth in front of his groin, like he was spanking an imaginary person bent over in front of him. Then he pointed at the phone. “Go on, girl, whip that ass.”
A longer pause. Otto had moved on from slapping the imaginary booty, and was now “riding the pony.” He looked ridiculous, a big grown man, CIA agent, in the black suit and the red tie, twirling in a circle with an expression of affected ecstasy on his face. Margaret couldn’t help but smile.
“Are you ready?” Otto asked. She nodded.
“Hello, sweetie,” Otto said. “Hello, sir.” She didn’t look afraid at all. Nor did she look happy or excited, just matter-of-fact. “Are you Missy Hester?” She nodded, her curly pigtails bouncing in time. Otto’s empty right hand came out of his jacket, slowly dropping to hang at his side. Margaret stepped to Otto’s right, so the girl could see her clearly. “Missy, we’re here to see your mother. Is she home?” “She’s sleeping. Would you like to come in and sit down in the living room?” She stood aside and gestured with her hand. A regular little hostess. “Thank you,” Otto said. He walked inside, head turning quickly as he seemed to scan every inch of the house.
“They’re just being built better,” Otto said. “No disrespect to either of you, but you think too much. Murray hit it right on the head. Sometimes the most obvious answer is just that, the answer.” “Occam’s razor does seem to apply,” Amos said. “What’s that?” Otto asked. Amos smiled. “Never mind. It just means you’re probably right.”
Otto laughed. “Oh, we’re holding it, Lone Ranger. Is there a problem?” “Not if you keep your hands where I can see ’em, mister.” Otto raised his hands to shoulder height, palms out. “You’ll get no trouble from me, Ranger. No trouble ’tall.”
“Be safe, Ranger,” Otto said.
Otto calmly walked between the girl and Margaret. “Yes, honey, we’re from the government. How did you know?”
“Get the girl out of here,” Otto said. His voice was quiet, calm, but totally commanding. “Do it now.”
“Margaret,” Otto hissed. “Get her out of here.”
---
“Come on, Doctor,” Clarence Otto said, his voice tinny in her Racal suit’s headphones. “Suck it up. Now isn’t the time for you to go weak on me.”
“That’s Nguyen?” Otto asked. “You’re sure?” Margaret handed him the photo. “Sonofabitch,” Otto said as he looked from the painting to the photo and back again. “Damn, Doctor, you’ve got sharp eyes. Okay, so if that’s Nguyen, who are the other people?”
“Is that Gary Leeland?” Otto said, pointing again to the canvas.
---
He flashed his wide, easy smile. “No problem, Doc. I think I made some Kinko’s employees happy. I’m guessing it’s not every day they get sworn to secrecy at midnight and use their large color printer for national security.”
Clarence pulled out a map and gave it a quick study. “About ten minutes, give or take,” he said. Margaret grabbed Clarence’s strong arm, her face electric with urgency. “What’s the victim’s condition? What are his symptoms?” “I don’t know that, ma’am. Dew is en route, backed up by two rapid response teams in full biosuits. I believe it’s an apartment complex.” Margaret let go of his arm and tried to compose herself. “Do you think we’ll get this one alive?” “I think so, ma’am,” Clarence said. “Dew should already be there. The victim filled out a computer form. Instructions on that say to stay put and wait for help. I can’t imagine anything going wrong at this point.”
---
“Otto here.” “Get the squads in position,” Dew whispered. “I’m in Building G. Do not—I repeat, do not—approach until I say so. I’ll stay on the line. If the connection is cut off, move in immediately, understand?” “Yes sir. Margaret and Amos are with me. They’re ready.”
---
“You obviously don’t think it’s natural,” Otto said. “So you agree with Murray? That it’s a weapon?”
Otto shook his head. “I just don’t follow.”
“Then it doesn’t need people,” Otto said. “Why wouldn’t we have seen this in animals?”
Otto leaned forward. “Are you talking space travel?”
“The perfect infantry,” Otto said. “An army that doesn’t need to be fed or trained. You just mass-produce them, ship them out and when they land they build themselves and gather intel from their local host.” Amos and Margaret stared at Otto.
“Two reasons,” Otto said. “The first is recon. Gather intel on the environment, the people, the opposition. Maybe that’s why it’s not in animals, because . . .” His voice trailed off. He couldn’t finish the thought.
Agent Clarence Otto beamed at her. He nodded slowly. That smile of his was almost enough to take her away from this insanity, and she found herself smiling back.
“Intel is the first reason,” Otto said. “The second is to use that intel to create a beachhead. Establish control of a defensible area so you safely receive reinforcements.”
Clarence studied a map resting on his knees. He wiped sweat from his forehead with the back of his hand, then let out an exasperated sigh. “Come on, Margo, this suit is annoying,” he said. “I’m taking it off.” “Clarence, give it a rest,” Margaret said. “I don’t want to go over this again.” “But there’s no purpose for this thing,” Clarence said. “Dew has been around dozens of corpses — he hasn’t contracted anything.” “Yet.” Amos smiled. “You look like a black Stay Puft Marshmallow Man. It’s not a good look for you.” “And you look like a short KKK grand dragon who washed his whites with his darks,” Clarence said. He looked at Margaret again. “And what about Dawsey? You fixed him up, you didn’t start growing triangles. This suit is making me sweat, and sweaty is definitely not a good look for me.”
Amos laughed. “You serve up a softball about being all sweaty? I’m not even touching that one. Seriously, Otto, you have to make it a little harder to make fun of you two boinking whenever you think no one is looking.” “That suit will stop microbes,” Clarence said. “But I’m afraid it doesn’t offer much protection against a pistol- whipping.” Amos laughed again and held up his hands palms out: okay, okay, take it easy.
Clarence talked tough, intimidating gravel voice and all, but over the past three months he and Amos had become fast friends. Clarence Otto was just flat- out likable. Witty, helpful, respectful and with a major streak of deductive common sense, he often put a strategic perspective on Margaret and Amos’s scientific discoveries. As for Amos, his multidisciplinary expertise and sheer brilliance had helped the team stay one step ahead of the infection. More like a half step, maybe, but at least they were still ahead.
At some point in the past three months, both men had revealed a love for basketball. Otto, a former Division III point guard and a lifelong fan of the Boston Celtics, discovered that short, frail little Amos Braun had a wicked outside jumper. Well, calling it a “jumper” was a stretch — he came off the ground maybe three inches when he shot. Amos couldn’t play one-on-one to save his life. At a game of H-O- R-S- E, however, he could beat Otto six times out of ten. Amos was also a lifelong hoops fan, although he preferred the Detroit Pistons, giving the two men plenty to argue about in the many hours when there wasn’t a corpse on the autopsy table.
---
Otto sighed. “Yes sir.” “You made her this way,” Amos said. “I remember when Margaret was a total pushover. You’re the one that got her on the Gloria Steinem express, all women- libbed and everything.” “I know, I know,” Otto said. “I wish I’d kept my mouth shut. Keep her barefoot and in the kitchen.”
“Amos, my diminutive white friend,” Otto said, “you’re just mad that a fine- looking black man is getting all the action.” “Fine- looking until you put on that suit and get all sweaty,” Amos said. “Then you look like a half- chewed Tootsie Roll.”
Otto smiled and nodded, which meant he had a killer comeback, but his cell phone chirped before he could speak. There was only one person who would be calling. Clarence answered. “Otto here.” He listened. His smile faded into an expression that was all business. He pinched the cell phone between his shoulder and ear, then looked at the map. “We’ll be there in three minutes.” He hung up. “What’s the matter?” Margaret asked. “Baum and Milner are down,” Otto said. “A kid named Tad found them, said Dawsey was going to his house.”
---
“Tiny white man makes a good point,” Clarence said. “Dew, can your guys get the eunuch out of here?”
“Forget it, Margo,” Clarence said. “What the hell is wrong with you?”
“No way,” Clarence said. “He’s probably drunk again. Dew, is he drunk?” “If not, he’s on his way.” “See?” Clarence said. “That’s it, Margo, you’re not going in there.”
“He just killed three people,” Clarence said. “Someone please tell me I’m not hearing this bleeding- heart- liberal bullshit.”
“This is bullshit,” Clarence said. “I’m going to the back to get body bags,” Margaret said. “Amos, you come help me. Clarence, if you’re so worried about my safety, get in there and tell Perry to stay put. Feel free to threaten him, because that’s what you men do and it seems to work so well. But put on your hood and gloves before you go in!”
Amos unsuccessfully tried to choke back laughter. “Something funny?” Clarence asked. “Put on your hood and gloves,” Amos said. “If you weren’t so pissed already, I’d probably make fun of you.” “Now is not the time, Amos.”
“In the bedroom I’m in charge,” Otto said sullenly. “Unfortunately, that seems to be the only place I’m in charge.” “You’re whipped.” “I don’t see you backing her down.”
“Fuck you, midget. And help me with these gloves.” Amos held the gloves so Otto could slide his hands inside. Amos made sure the connecting rings snapped home, then ran sticky tape around them. “Hey,” Amos said. “Twenty bucks says Dawsey kills you.” “You’re on.” “I’ll take it out of your locker if he does,” Amos said. “Wouldn’t look right me rifling through the pockets of a corpse.” “What ever. If you win, I guess I won’t really be worried about appearances.”
“I’m off to make twenty bucks,” Clarence said. “Been nice knowing ya,” Amos said. “See you on the other side.”
---
“Hey, Clarence,” he said. “You look like a fat ninja.” “Thanks,” Otto said. “That means so much coming from a source of wisdom like you.”
Otto slowly looked around the room, surveying the damage. “Were you drunk when you killed these people?”
“I guess so,” Otto said. “Listen, man, you know you scare the crap out of me, right?”
“Margaret is coming in here,” Otto said. “Sure she is,” Perry said. “Look at all the new toys she has to play with. See this one?” He nudged the dead little boy with his foot. “I call him Slinky.” “Save me your psycho jokes,” Otto said. “Just understand that when she’s in this room, you make any sudden moves and I’ll put you down.” “Oh, come on, Clarence! A gun? Don’t be that guy! How about you and I settle this the old- fashioned way?” “Forget it.” “What’s the matter, Clarence? Massa Dew say you can’t play with the white kids?” Behind the helmet visor, he saw Clarence’s eyes narrow. “Go ahead, boy,” Perry said. “Take a swing. I won’t tell on you.”
“I’ll pass,” Otto said. “You can save all that macho bullshit. Only one way you and I are going to dance, and that’s if a bullet takes the lead.” “Oh, that’s horrible,” Perry said. “Did you write that shit yourself?” Perry thought he saw Otto smile, just a little bit, but then the stone face slipped back into place.
---
“I’m online, Margaret,” Clarence said, his voice in her earpiece. “I have the other bodies in the second trailer. Amos is checking out the baby, but he looks fine. Did you run the test prototype yet?”
“Fantastic,” he said. “I’ll let Murray know immediately. He can rush the testers into production. Great job, Margaret. That finally gives us what we need.”
---
“Russkies?” Otto said. “Doesn’t that phrase show your age?”
Otto frowned, then smiled. “Say, little white man, don’t you owe me twenty bucks?”
Otto pocketed the twenty. “He bet that Dawsey would kill me last night.”
“If I don’t laugh, I’ll cry,” Otto said. “Or something like that. I won twenty bucks — what else matters?”
“Huh,” Otto said. “I never thought of that.”
“Maybe a half stack of mini- pancakes, you mean,” Otto said.
“Oh, Amos,” Otto said, smiling as if he’d just had the most helpful idea in the history of man. “Are you upset because you can’t see over the table? Should I ask the waitress for a child’s seat?”
“I bet he will,” Otto said. “Dew here can be very persuasive.” “Twenty bucks says Dawsey doesn’t even leave the room,” Amos said. Otto nodded. “You’re on.” Margaret shook her head. “Is there anything you two won’t bet on?” “I’m sure there’s something,” Otto said. “Twenty bucks says there isn’t,” Amos said. Margaret shook her head some more. Otto smiled at Dew. “Well, go on and bring him here so I can win another twenty.”
“Doc,” Clarence said, “Dew says you need to go to the office.” “I’m a little busy,” she said. “Tell him if he wants to see me, he can come to the trailer. Then I’ll get rid of him, and you can give me a nice shoulder rub.” Clarence shook his head. “Uh, no can do, Doc. You need to get to the office, and bring a first- aid kit. Seems Dew and Perry had it out.” “Oh, no. Do we need an ambulance?” “You’re going to have to see this for yourself,” he said.
“Don’t worry, I’ll go with you.”
“You don’t need to be afraid,” he said as they reached the room. “I’ll be right here with you.” He opened the door for her.
“Like I told you,” Clarence said, “I’ll be right here.”
“Are you crazy? He’s down, he’s not dead.” “I know.” “He could snap at any second, Margo,” Clarence said. “I’m staying right here.”
“Honey, I know you want to protect me, but he’s not going to hurt me.” “He’s a killer, Margaret,” Clarence whispered back. “You’re going to have to trust my judgment,” she said. “I’ve taken care of him for five weeks, and I’m telling you he’s not going to hurt me.” “Fine, then I’ll stay to watch and see how wrong I am.”
“Well, that’s not exactly how I’d think of it,” he said. “But yeah, I’d be embarrassed if there was another guy watching me get stitched up. A nondoctor guy, of course. Doctors aren’t embarrassing in a situation like this.” “Guy logic?” “Guy logic,” he said. “Listen, can’t we at least get Amos to take care of him?” She smiled at him. “If you can talk Amos Braun into being in a room alone with Perry Dawsey, I’ll give you twenty bucks.” “I’m not taking that bet.” “Clarence, I’m a professional. I love the fact that you want to protect me, but this conversation is over, okay? Stand out here if you’re worried. If he tries anything, I’ll scream for help.” “That only works if you can make a noise before he breaks your neck.”
Russell Square lies a kilometre north of Covent Garden on the other side of the British Museum. According to Nightingale, it was at the heart of a literary and philosophical movement in the early years of the last century, but I remember it because of an old horror movie about cannibals living in the Underground system. The address was on the south side of the square where a row of Georgian terraces had survived. They were five storeys high, counting the dormer conversions, with wrought-iron railings defending steep drops into basement flats. The address I wanted had a noticeably grander flight of stairs than its neighbours, leading to double mahogany doors with brass fittings. Carved above the lintel were the words SCIENTIA POTESTAS EST. Science points East, I wondered? Science is portentous, yes? Science protests too much. Scientific potatoes rule. Had I stumbled on the lair of dangerous plant geneticists? I hauled my rucksack and two suitcases up to the landing. I pressed the brass doorbell but I couldn’t hear it ring through the thick doors. After a moment, they opened on their own. It might have been the traffic noise, but I swear I didn’t hear a motor or any kind of mechanism at all. Toby whined and hid behind my legs. ‘That’s not creepy,’ I said. ‘Not even in the slightest.’ I pulled my suitcase through the doors. The entrance lobby had a mosaic floor in the Roman manner and a wooden and glass booth that, while in no way resembling a ticket booth, indicated that there was an inside and an outside to the building, and that one had better have permission if one wanted to proceed inside. Whatever this place was, it certainly wasn’t Nightingale’s private residence. Beyond the booth, flanked by two neoclassical pillars, was a marble statue of a man dressed in an academic gown and breeches. He cradled a mighty tome in one arm and a sextant in the other. His square face held an expression of implacable curiosity, and I knew his name even before I saw the plinth, which read: Nature and nature’s laws lay hid in night; God said ‘Let Newton be’ and all was light. Nightingale was waiting for me by the statue. ‘Welcome to the Folly,’ he said, ‘the official home of English magic since 1775.’ ‘And your patron saint is Sir Isaac Newton?’ I asked. Nightingale grinned. ‘He was our founder, and the first man to systematise the practice of magic.’ ‘I was taught he invented modern science,’ I said. ‘He did both,’ said Nightingale. ‘That’s the nature of genius.’ Nightingale took me through a door into a rectangular atrium that dominated the centre of the building. Above me there were two rows of balconies, and an iron and glass Victorian dome formed the roof. Toby’s claws clicked on a floor of polished cream-coloured marble. It was very quiet, and for all that the place was spotless I got a strong sense of abandonment. ‘Through there is the big dining room which we don’t use any more, the lounge and smoking room, which we also don’t use.’ Nightingale pointed to doors on the other side of the atrium. ‘General library, lecture hall. Downstairs are the kitchens, sculleries and wine cellar. The back stairs, which are actually at the front, are over there. Coach house and mews are through the rear doors.’ ‘How many people live here?’ I asked. ‘Just the two of us. And Molly,’ said Nightingale. Toby suddenly crouched down at my feet and growled, a proper rat-in-the-kitchen growl that was all business. I looked over and saw a woman gliding towards us across the polished marble. She was slender and dressed like an Edwardian maid, complete with a starched white bib apron over a full black skirt and white cotton blouse. Her face didn’t fit her outfit, being too long and sharp-boned with black, almond-shaped eyed. Despite her mob cap she wore her hair loose, a black curtain that fell to her waist. She instantly gave me the creeps, and not just because I’ve seen too many Japanese horror films. ‘This is Molly,’ said Nightingale. ‘She does for us.’ ‘Does what?’ ‘Whatever needs doing,’ said Nightingale. Molly lowered her eyes and did an awkward little dip that might have been a curtsey or a bow. When Toby growled again Molly snarled back, showing disturbingly sharp teeth. ‘Molly,’ said Nightingale sharply. Molly demurely covered her mouth with her hand, turned and went gliding back the way she came. Toby gave a little self-satisfied snort that didn’t fool anyone but himself. ‘And she is…?’ I asked. ‘Indispensable,’ said Nightingale. Before we went up, Nightingale led me over to an alcove set into the north wall. There, resting on a pedestal like a household god, was a sealed museum case containing a copy of a leather-bound book. It was open to the title page. I leaned over and read: Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Artes Magicis, Autore: I. S. Newton. ‘So not content with kicking off the scientific revolution, our boy Isaac invented magic?’ I asked. ‘Not invented,’ said Nightingale. ‘But he did codify its basic principles, made it somewhat less hit and miss.’ ‘Magic and science,’ I said. ‘What did he do for an encore?’ ‘Reformed the Royal Mint and saved the country from bankruptcy,’ said Nightingale. Apparently there were two main staircases; we took the eastern one up toe the first of the colonnaded balconies and a confusion of wood panelling and white dust sheets. Two more flights of stairs led us to a second-storey hallway lined with heavy wooden doors. He opened one, seemingly at random, and ushered me in. ‘This is yours,’ he said. It was twice the size of my room at the section house, with good proportions and a high ceiling. A brass double bed was shoved into one corner, a Narnia wardrobe in the other and a writing desk was between them, where it could catch the light from one of the two sash windows. Bookshelves covered two entire walls, empty except for what turned out on later inspection to be a complete set of the eleventh edition of the Encyclopaedia Britannica published in 1913, a battered first edition of Brave New World and a Bible. What had obviously once been an open fireplace had been replaced with a gas fire surrounded by green ceramic tiles. The reading lamp on the desk had a faux-Japanese print shade and beside it was a Bakelite phone that had to be older than my father. There was a smell of dust and freshly applied furniture polish, and I guessed that this room had dreamed the last fifty years away under the white dust sheets. ‘When you’re ready, meet me downstairs,’ said Nightingale. ‘And make sure you’re presentable.’ I knew what that was about so I tried to stretch it, but it didn’t take me long to unpack.
---
You know you’re staying somewhere posh when the breakfast room is a completely different room and not the same place where you had dinner, only dressed up with different china. It faced south-east to catch the thin January light, and looked out over the coach house and mews. Despite the fact that only Nightingale and I were eating, all the tables had been laid and bore laundry-white tablecloths. You could have seated fifty people in there. Likewise the service table sported a line of silver-plated salvers with kippers, eggs, bacon, black pudding and a bowl full of rice, peas and flaked haddock that Nightingale identified as kedgeree. He seemed as taken aback by the amount of food as I was. ‘I think Molly may have become a little overenthusiastic,’ he said and helped himself to the kedgeree. I had a bit of everything and Toby got some sausages, some black pudding and a bowl of water. ‘There’s no way we can eat all this,’ I said. ‘What’s she going to do with all the leftovers?’ ‘I’ve learned not to ask those questions,’ said Nightingale. ‘Why’s that?’ ‘Because I’m not sure I want to know the answers,’ he said.
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My first proper lesson in magic took place in one of the labs at the back of the first floor. The other labs had once been used for research projects but this one was for teaching, and indeed it looked just like a school chemistry lab. There were waist-high benches with gas taps for Bunsen burners placed at regular intervals and white porcelain basins sunk into the varnished wooden tops. There was even a poster of the periodic table on the wall missing, I noticed, all the elements discovered after World War Two. ‘First we need to fill up a sink,’ said Nightingale. He selected one and turned the tap at the base of its long, swan-necked spout. There was a distant knocking sound, the black swan neck shook, gurgled and then coughed up a gout of brown water. We both took a step backwards. ‘How long since you used this place?’ I asked. The knocking grew louder, faster and then water poured from the spout, dirty at fist but then clear. The knocking faded away. Nightingale put the plug in and let the basin fill three-quarters before closing the tap. ‘When you’re attempting this spell,’ he said, ‘always have a basin of water ready as a safety precaution.’ ‘Are we going to make fire?’ ‘Only if you do it wrong,’ said Nightingale. ‘I’m going to make a demonstration and you must pay close attention – as you did when searching for vestigia. Do you understand?’ ‘Vestigia,’ I said. ‘Got it.’ Nightingale held out his right hand palm upwards and made a fist. ‘Watch my hand,’ he said and opened his fingers. Suddenly, floating a few centimetres above his palm was a ball of light. Bright, but not so bright that I couldn’t stare right at it. Nightingale closed his fingers and the globe vanished. ‘Again?’ he asked. Up until then I think a bit of me had been waiting for the rational explanation, but when I saw how casually Nightingale produced that werelight I realised that I had the rational explanation – magic worked. The next question of course was – how did it work? ‘Again,’ I said. He opened his hand and the light appeared. The source seemed to be the size of a golf ball with a smooth pearlescent surface. I leaned forward but I couldn’t tell whether the light emanated from inside the globe or from its skin. Nightingale closed his palm. ‘Be careful,’ he said. ‘You don’t want to damage your eyes.’ I blinked and saw purple blotches. He was right – I’d been fooled by the soft quality of the light into staring too long. I splashed some water in my eyes. ‘Ready to go again?’ asked Nightingale. ‘Try and focus on the sensation as I do it – you should feel something.’ ‘Something?’ I asked. ‘Magic is like music,’ said Nightingale. ‘Everyone hears it differently. The technical term we use is forma, but that’s no more helpful than “something”, is it?’ ‘Can I close my eyes?’ I asked. ‘By all means,’ said Nightingale. I did feel a ‘something’, like a catch in the silence at the moment of creation. We repeated the exercise until I was sure I wasn’t imagining it. Nightingale asked me if I had any questions. I asked him what the spell was called. ‘Colloquially it’s known as a werelight,’ he said. ‘Can you do it underwater?’ I asked. Nightingale plunged his hand into the sink and, despite the awkward angle, demonstrated forming a werelight without any apparent difficulty. ‘So it’s not a process of oxidisation, is it,’ I said. ‘Focus,’ said Nightingale. ‘Magic first, science later.’ I tried to focus, but on what? ‘In a minute,’ said Nightingale, ‘I’m going to ask you to open your hand in the same manner as I have demonstrated. As you open your hand I want you to make a shape in your mind that conforms to what you sensed when I created my werelight. Think of it as a key that opens a door. Do you understand?’ ‘Hand,’ I said. ‘Shape, key, lock, door.’ ‘Precisely,’ said Nightingale. ‘Start now.’ I took a deep breath, extended my arm and opened my fist – nothing happened. Nightingale didn’t laugh but I would have preferred it if he had. I took another breath, tried to ‘shape’ my mind, whatever that meant, and opened my hand again. […]
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When I got back to the Folly I found Nightingale in the reading room on the first floor. This was a scattering of upholstered green leather armchairs, footstools and side tables. Glass-fronted mahogany bookcases lined two walls, but Nightingale had admitted to me that in the old days people had generally come here for a nap after lunch. He was doing the Telegraph crossword.
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There’s nothing like excruciating pain for waking you up, so once it was clear I wasn’t going back to sleep I left my room and went looking for a snack. The basement of the Folly was a warren of rooms left over from when it boasted dozens of staff but I knew that the back stairs bottomed out next to the kitchen. Not wanting to disturb Molly, I padded down the steps as quietly as I could but as I reached the basement, I saw that the kitchen lights were on. As I got closer I heard Toby growl, then bark and then there was a strange rhythmic hissing sound. A good copper knows when not to announce his presence, so I crept to the kitchen door and peered in. Molly, still dressed in her maid’s outfit, was perched on the edge of the scarred oak table that dominated one side of the kitchen. Beside her on the table was a beige ceramic mixing bowl and sitting, some three metres in front of her, was Toby. Since the door was behind her shoulder Molly didn’t see me watching as she dipped her hand into the mixing bowl and lifted out a cube of chopped meat – raw enough to be dripping. […]
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You don’t tell your governor that you need a broadband connection, cable for preference, because you want to watch football. You tell him that you need the internet so you can access HOLMES directly instead of having contstantly to rely on Lesley May. The football coverage, movies on demand and multiplayer console games are all merely serendipitous extras. ‘Would this involve physically running a cable into the Folly?’ asked Nightingale when I tackled him during practice in the lab. ‘That’s why they call it cable,’ I said. ‘Left hand,’ said Nightingale, and I dutifully produced a werelight with my left hand. ‘Sustain it,’ said Nightingale. ‘We can’t have anything physically entering the building.’ I’d got to the point where I could talk while sustaining a werelight, although it was a strain to make it look as casual as I did. ‘Why not?’ ‘There’s a series of protections woven around the building,’ said Nightingale. ‘They were last set up after the new phone lines were put in in 1941. If we introduce a new physical connection with the outside, it would create a weak spot.’ I stopped trying to be casual and concentrated on maintaining the werelight. It was a relief when Nightingale told me to stop. ‘Good,’ he said. ‘I think you’re almost ready to move on to the next form.’ I dropped the werelight and caught my breath. Nightingale wandered over to the adjoining bench, where I’d dismantled my old mobile phone and set up a microscope I’d found in a mahogany case in one of the storage cupboards. […] ‘You’re about to suggest the coach house,’ said Nightingale. ‘Sir?’ ‘For this cable connection,’ said Nightingale. ‘The heavy defences tended to disturb the horses, so they skirt the coach house. I’m sure this cable connection of yours will be very useful.’ ‘Yes sir.’ ‘For all manner of entertainments,’ continued Nightingale. ‘Sir.’ ‘Now,’ said Nightingale. ‘The next form – Impello.’
I couldn’t tell whether the coach house had originally been built with a first floor, to house footmen or whatever, which had then been knocked through in 1920s, or whether the flood had been added by sticking a new ceiling on the garage when they bricked up the main gate. At some point someone had bolted a rather beautiful wrought-iron spiral staircase to the courtyard wall. When I’d first ventured up, I was surprised to find that a good third of the sloping roof on the south-facing side had been glazed. The glass was dirty on the outside and some of the panes were cracked, but it let in enough daylight to reveal a jumble of shapes shrouded by dust sheets. Unlike those in the rest of the Folly, these sheets were furry with dust – I don’t think Molly had every cleaned in there. If the chaise lounge, Chinese screen, mismatched side tables and collection of ceramic fruit bowls that I found under the sheets weren’t enough of a clue, I also found an easel and a box full of squirrel-hair paint brushes gone rigid with disuse. Somebody had used the rooms as a studio, judging from the empty beer bottles neatly lined up against the south wall. Probably apprentices like me – that, or a wizard with a serious alcohol problem. Stacked in the corner and carefully wrapped in brown paper and string were a series of canvases, painted in oils. These included a number of still lives, a rather amateurish portrait of a young woman whose discomfort was palpable, despite the sloppy execution. The next was much more professional – an Edwardian gentleman reclining in the same wickerwork chair I’d found under a dust sheet earlier. The man was holding a silver-topped cane and for a moment I thought he might be Nightingale, but the man was older and his eyes were an intense blue. Nightingale senior, perhaps? The next, probably by the same painter, was a nude with a subject that so shocked me I took it to the skylight to get a better look. I hadn’t made a mistake. There was Molly, reclining pale and naked on the chaise lounge, staring out of the canvas with heavy-lidded eyes, one hand dipping into a bowl of cherries placed on a table by her side. At least, I hope they were cherries. The painting was in the impressionist style so the brush strokes were bold, making it hard to tell: they were definitely small and red, the same colour as Molly’s lips. I carefully rewrapped the paintings and put them back where I’d found them. I did a cursory check of the room for damp, dry rot and whatever it is that makes wooden beams crumbly and dangerous. I found that there was still a shuttered loading door at the courtyard end of the room and mounted above it, a hoisting beam. Presumably to serve a hayloft for the coach horses. […] This, I thought, will do nicely. At one time or other most of my mum’s relatives had cleaned offices for a living. For a certain generation of African immigrants cleaning offices became part of the culture like male circumcision and supporting Arsenal. My mum had done a stint herself and had often taken me with her to save on babysitting. When an African mum takes her son to work she expects her son to work so I quickly learnt how to handle a broom and a window cloth. So the next day after practice, I returned to the coach house with a packet of Marigold gloves and my Uncle Tito’s Numatic vacuum cleaner. Let me tell you, 1,000 watts of suckage makes a big difference when cleaning a room. The only thing I had to worry about was causing a rift in the space-time fabric of the universe. I found the window cleaners online and a pair of bickering Romanians scrubbed up the skylight while I rigged up a pulley to the hoisting beam, just in time for the TV to be delivered along with the fridge. […] To inaugurate my re-entry into the twenty-first century I ordered some pizza and invited Lesley round to see my etchings. I had a long soak in the claw-footed porcelain tub that dominated the communal bathroom on my floor and swore, not for the first time, that I was definitely going to install a shower. I’m not a peacock but on occasion I like to dress to impress, although like most coppers I don’t wear much in the way of bling, the rule being never wear something round your neck that you don’t want to be strangled with. […] Among the many other modern innovations that I’d introduced to the coach house was an entryphone installed on the garage’s side door, so that when Lesley arrived all I had to do was buzz her in. I opened the door and met her at the top of the spiral staircase – she’d brought company. […]
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The cupboards in the lab were full of the scent of sandalwood and the most amazing range of antique equipment, including the Charles Perry microscope, all put away with such precision and tidiness that I knew no student had been involved.
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The Folly has three libraries: one, I didn’t know about back then, number two was a magical library where the direct treatise on spells, forma and alchemy were kept, all of them written in Latin and so all Greek to me, and number three was the general library on the first flood next to the reading room. The division of labour was clear from the start: Nightingale checked the magic library, and I hit the books in the Queen’s English. The general library was lined with enough mahogany to reforest the Amazon basin. On one wall the stacks went all the way to the ceiling, and you reached the top shelves by using a ladder that slid along on shining brass rails. A row of beautiful walnut cabinets held the index cards, which were the closest thing the library had to a search engine. I caught a whiff of old cardboard and mildew when I opened the drawers, and it comforted me to think that Molly didn’t fo so far as to open them up regularly and clean inside. The cards were arranged by subject, with a master index arranged by title. […]
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Just because I had an active case didn’t mean I was excused practice. I’d persuaded Nightingale to show me the fireball spell, which was, not surprisingly, a variation on Lux, with Iactus to move it about. Once Nightingale was convinced I could do the first part without burning my hand off, we went down to the firing range in the basement to practice. Not that I had known we had a firing range until then. At the bottom of the back stairs you turned left instead of right, through a set of reinforced doors that I’d always assumed was a coal store, and into a room fifty metres long with a wall of sandbags at one end and a line of metal lockers at the other. A row of vintage Brodie helmets hung from pegs above a line of khaki gasmask cases. There was a poster, white lettering on a blood-red background, that said: ‘Keep Calm and Carry On’, which I thought was good advice. There was a stack of cardboard silhouettes at the target end, brittle with age but still discernable as German soldiers with coal-scuttle helmets and fixed bayonets.
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It was as if the solid black and white tiles had been rendered transparent, and through them I could glimpse a terrible abyss – dark, bottomless and cold. I tried to move faster but it was like walking into a violent headwind. I had to lean forward and push hard to make progress. It wasn’t until I’d carefully steered myself through the narrow servants’ quarters under the east stairs that I wondered whether, this being the realm of ghosts, after all, I might just walk through the walls.
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The Folly, according to Nightingale, is secured by an interlocking series of magical protections. They were last renewed in 1940, to allow the Post Office to run in a then cutting-edge coaxial telephone cable to the main building, and the installation of a modern switchboard. I’d found that under a dust sheet in an alcove off the main entrance lobby, a beautiful glass and mahogany cabinet with brass fittings kept shiny by Molly’s obsessive need to polish. Nightingale says that these protections are vital, although he won’t say why, and that he, acting on his own, is not capable of renewing them. Running a broadband cable into the building was out of the question, and it looked for a while like I was going to be firmly mired in the dark ages. Fortunately, the Folly had been built in the Regency style, when it had become fashionable to build a separate mews at the back of a grand house so that the horses and the smellier servants could be housed down-wind of their masters. This meant a coach house at the back, now used as a garage, and above that an attic conversion that had once accommodated servants and then served as a party space for the young bucks, back when the Folly had young bucks. Or at least, more than one. The magical ‘protections’ – Nightingale was not happy when I called them ‘forcefields’ – used to scare the horses, so they don’t extend to the coach house. Which means I get to run in a broadband cable, and at last there is a corner of the Folly that is forever in the twenty-first century. The coach house attic has a studio skylight at one end, an ottoman couch, a chaise lounge, a plasma TV and an Ikea kitchen table that once took me and Molly three bloody hours to assemble. I’d used the Folly’s status as an Operational Command Unit to get the Directorate of Information to cough up half a dozen Airwave handsets with charging rack, and a dedicated HOLMES2 terminal. I also had my laptop and my back-up laptop and my PlayStation – which I hadn’t had a chance to get out of the box yet. Because of this, there is a big sign on the front door that says NO MAGIC ON PAIN OF PAIN. This is what I call the tech cave.
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Molly shot me a reproachful look and went gliding off towards the kitchen. Dr Walid led me over to a collection of overstuffed red armchairs and mahogany occasional tables that nestled under the overhand of the eastern balcony. […]
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We were eating dinner in the so-called Private Dining Room, which adjoined the English library on the first floor. Since the main dining room could sit sixty, we never used it in case Molly got it into her head to lay all the tables. Nevertheless me and Nightingale had dressed for dinner – we both have standards, and one of us had been exerting himself that afternoon.
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The Folly sits on the south side of Russel Square, the centre of which is occupied by a park with fixed gravel paths, big trees which I didn’t know the names of, a fountain that was specifically designed to get children and small dogs soaking wet and on the north side, a café which does a decent double sausage, bacon, black pudding, egg and chips. It was actually quite sunny, so I sat on the terrace outside the café and mechanically shovelled the food into my face. It really didn’t taste of anything, and in the end I put my plate on the floor and let Toby finish it off. I walked back to the Folly and in through the main door, where there was a drift of junk mail. I scooped it up. It was mostly flyers for local pizza joints and kebab houses, although there was one crudely designed leaflet from a Ghanian fortune-teller who felt we could only benefit from his insight into future events. I dropped the lot into the magazine rack that Molly leaves in the atrium for that purpose. […]
I've been doing a lot of reading, you know? Like, online about, like, just evolution and natural selection and how like there's this thing, right? It's called the apex predator, right? And basically what this is, is the strongest animal in the ecosystem, right? And as human beings, we're considered the apex predator but only because smaller animals can't feed on us because of weapons and stuff, right? A lion does not feel guilty when it kills a gazelle, right? You do not feel guilty when you squash a fly... and I think that means something. I just think that really means something.
Richard Detmer: Hey. Andrew Detmer: What? Richard Detmer: How are you getting to school? Andrew Detmer: I don't know what you mean. Richard Detmer: Don't bullshit me, you idiot. Matt doesn't come. He doesn't drive up. You leave the house. Who the hell's giving you rides to school? Andrew Detmer: M-Matt. Richard Detmer: All right. You know what? You're lying. You're up to something, and you can't hide it. You think you can just slink, hmm? Sneak in, sneak around my house, smiling? I'm onto your shit.
Richard Detmer: Hoarding a $500 camera while your mom dies in there? I mean, how selfish can you be? I went through your camera. Andrew Detmer: What did you see? Richard Detmer: Just you being a loser. You think that those people are your friends? Huh? They're not. You're an embarrassment. You're running around this town, spending my money. Look at me when I'm talking to you! Andrew Detmer: I didn't spend any of your money, Richard. Richard Detmer: 'Cause I don't have a dime to spend. Every last cent- Look at me! Every last cent goes to school for you- Andrew Detmer: School? Richard Detmer: and medication for your mother. Andrew Detmer: I go to a public school! Richard Detmer: I can't even pay for a goddamn- Andrew Detmer: You don't pay for a public school, you idiot! Richard Detmer: What did you call me? Did you call me an idiot, you shit? [he throw the table and Andrew backs away] Did you call me an idiot? Huh? You piece of shit! [he punches Andrew in the face and to the ground] Get up. I said get up! [he pulls his up] Get up! [Andrew in a great rage, grabs him and holds him up against the wall] Andrew Detmer: I could crush you, you hear me!?! Richard Detmer: Stop it-! [he is choking] Andrew Detmer: I can CRUSH YOU! [Andrew throws him on the floor across the room. His father stays down on the floor in pain]
[Andrew in flying in the sky and is crying during a lightning storm after his father beat him. Steve flies up to comfort him.] Steve Montgomery: Hey! Hey, asshole! What are you doing up here? Andrew Detmer: Just leave me alone, Steve! Steve Montgomery: You can't be up here, dude. This isn't safe. Andrew Detmer: I don't want to talk to anyone. Steve Montgomery: Bro! What are you doing up here? Andrew Detmer: Leave me alone! How did you find me? Steve Montomery: I don't know, man. My nose was bleeding. I heard your voice or something like-- What the hell happened to your face? Andrew Detmer: Nothing, man. Just leave me alone. Steve Montgomery: No, dude, that's not nothing. That-- Your dad! Your dad beat the shit out of you. He can't do that to you now. Andrew Detmer: Will you stop acting like you give a shit? Steve Montgomery: Dude. Why are you talking to me like this? I'm your best friend. Andrew Detmer: I don't have any friends! You were never my friend before any of this. Steve Montgomery: I hang out with you and Matt, like, every day! We're supposed to fly around the world together. Don't you-- Do you remember that? You think I'm-- Andrew Detmer: Stop! Just stop talking to me! Why won't you just leave me alone? Steve Montgomery: Come on, man. Andrew Detmer: Steve, I'm telling you, get away from me! Get away from me now! Please! Now! [Steve gets struck by lightning and is killed]
[Matt flies into Andrew's room] Matt Garetty: Andrew, what happened at school? Huh? Andrew Detmer: I need to go and pick up my mom's medication! [Andrew in a bit of a panic] Matt Garetty: Oh, yeah? [he grabs Andrew's backpack from him] You're gonna break the rules again? We're too strong for that now, Andrew! [he throws his backpack to the floor] If you did that, you know what I'd have to do! Andrew Detmer: You'd have to what? Matt Garetty: You have to start thinking. Andrew Detmer: What would you have to do, Matt? Matt Garetty: There are consequences to what you do! Andrew Detmer: You could not do anything to me because I am stronger than you. Matt Garetty: Stop that bullshit! I know what you did. I'm not gonna let you do it again! Andrew Detmer: I am not going to break your stupid rules! Okay? So just screw off and stay out of my life! [Andrew pushes Matt and Matt pushes back harder. Matt attempts to punch Andrew in the face but he stops his fist from hitting him by using his powers. At this, Matt flies away]
Matt Garetty: Andrew! Andrew, look at me! This has to stop right now, okay? This is really, really bad! What happened to you? Andrew Detmer: Why did you catch him? Matt Garetty: Listen, just focus, okay? Andrew Detmer: I dropped him! Why did you catch him? Matt Garetty: Andrew, this is not a game! Do you understand? You're hurting people! Andrew Detmer: You're weak, Matt! You're all weak! I am stronger than all of this! Matt Garetty: Andrew, listen to me, okay? Just... I need you to listen! Just focus for a second! Andrew Detmer: Do not tell me what to do! Matt Garetty: They can't stop us, it's not too late for us to go! Andrew Detmer: It is too late! I'm done! It's over... God, you treated me like shit! You left me alone! Matt Garetty: Andrew, you're not alone up here! I'm here with you! I should've been with you all along, but I'm here now and we can stop this right now, you and me! Andrew, we can just fly away, we can get out of here! We can be a family! Andrew... Andrew, look at yourself! This isn't who you are! Andrew Detmer: Apex predator... Matt Garetty: What? Andrew Detmer: I'm an apex predator.
[first lines; we hear knocking on a door and then Andrew, in his bedroom, positions his video camera on a tripod, facing it at a mirror] Andrew Detmer: What do you want? Richard Detmer: Why is this door locked, Andrew? Andrew Detmer: I'm getting ready for school. Richard Detmer: Open this door, Andrew? Listen to me. Andrew Detmer: No, you're drunk. Richard Detmer: I'm what? Excuse me? I said, unlock the door. Andrew? Andrew Detmer: Dad, it is seven thirty in the a.m. and you are drunk. Richard Detmer: You don't tell me if I'm drunk or not, you little shit! Andrew Detmer: Aren't you? Richard Detmer: What are you doing in there? Huh? [Andrew's father bangs the door] Andrew Detmer: I'm filming this. Richard Detmer: Huh? What? Andrew Detmer: I bought a camera and I'm filming everything from here on out. [we hear footsteps as Andrew's father walks away]
[Andrew points his camera at his terminally ill mother] Andrew Detmer: Mom? Mom? [his mother opens her eyes and smiles as Andrew films her] Andrew Detmer: Hey! Say hello to my new camera for me. Karen Detmer: Who's the audience? Andrew Detmer: Just the millions of people that are watching at home. Karen Detmer: Do I look awful? Andrew Detmer: No, no. Mom, you look...you look great. Karen Detmer: It's a nice camera. Andrew Detmer: Oh, thanks, mom.
[Andrew films his cousin Matt, as drives Andrew to school] Matt Garetty: So uh...should I ask about the camera or...? Andrew Detmer: I don't know. Um...I'm filming things now. I'm filming everything. Matt Garetty: Filming everything? Andrew Detmer: Yeah. Matt Garetty: Okay.
[Andrew continues to film Matt as he's driving them to school] Matt Garetty: Have you ever read any Arthur Schopenhauer? Andrew Detmer: No. What is Arthur Schopenhauer? Matt Garetty: He's um...he's a philosopher that I'm reading at the moment. Andrew Detmer: For school? Matt Garetty: No. No. Uh...basically human beings have to recognize themselves as beings of pure will, right? Andrew Detmer: Okay. Matt Garetty: So, all emotional and physical desires can never be fulfilled. Andrew Detmer: So, basically you're telling me that I should give up on life. Matt Garetty: Yes. [they both laugh]
[as Matt drives up to the school parking lot and parks his car] Andrew Detmer: Are you not coming in? Matt Garetty: I'm gonna hang back a while, okay? Andrew Detmer: Uh...you're gonna be late for first period. Matt Garetty: Yeah. I'll pick you up after seven.
[Andrew films the hallways as he walks to class] Andrew Detmer: This is my school, I guess.
[Andrew films the football field] Andrew Detmer: This is where I eat lunch, out here on the bleachers. [as he sits down to eat his lunch he positions his camera behind him, filming the cheerleaders practicing, one of the cheerleaders walks up to Andrew] Cheerleader: Hi. Andrew Detmer: Hey. Cheerleader: Could you not video tape us, please? It's really creepy. Andrew Detmer: Uh...no, I wasn't...
Andrew Detmer: This is the hallway where my locker is. [suddenly a bully wrestles the camera away from Andrew] Sean: Woh! What is this? Huh? What's on television? [Sean turns the camera around and we see Andrew being held by another bully] Bully #1: Man, you're on film. Turn to the camera. [the second bully repeatedly slaps Andrew in the face] Bully #1: You gonna cry? You gonna cry? [Sean makes fun of Andrew] Sean: Man you look pretty. [the second bully continues to slap Andrew] Bully #1: You gonna cry?
[Sean is still filming Andrew after taking his camera away from him] Andrew Detmer: Sean, come on. Give it back? Sean: Huh? You want your camera? Piece of shit from like 2004? [he drops Andrew's camera to the ground] Bully #1: Here you go. Here she is. In on piece. [he kicks the camera towards Andrew nearly knocking it into the lockers] Andrew Detmer: Woh! Guys! Bully #1: Almost. [Sean laughs] Andrew Detmer: Assholes!
[Andrew films Matt as he drives him home from school] Matt Garetty: There's a party tonight. Andrew Detmer: That's okay. Matt Garetty: Haven Hills. Andrew Detmer: Wait, I thought Haven Hills was closed. Matt Garetty: It's abandoned, yeah. What, you don't wanna go? Andrew Detmer: No. Matt Garetty: When was the last time you went to a party? Andrew Detmer: I don't go to parties. Matt Garetty: You are a senior. Andrew Detmer: I don't want to go to the party. Matt Garetty: You are a senior! Just come. Andrew Detmer: I'll think about it, okay? Matt Garetty: Okay. But when we go tonight, Andrew, can I give you like a pro-tip? Andrew Detmer: What? Matt Garetty: Maybe leave your camera at home. Andrew Detmer: Why? Matt Garetty: Because, it's a little weird. Andrew Detmer: It serves a purpose. Matt Garetty: I'm...I'm just trying to be a good cousin here. Okay? This is me being a friend, and telling you should probably not take the camera to a party. Andrew Detmer: Okay.
[in his bedroom, Andrew is watching the footage he'd filmed earlier in the day when his father walks into his room] Andrew Detmer: What do you want? [suddenly Andrew's father grabs him, hits him and throws him to the floor] Richard Detmer: When I say open that door, you open the door. You got it? Finish your Goddamn homework!
[as Matt drives towards where the party is being held] Andrew Detmer: Wow, look! A rave! Matt Garetty: Oh wow, look! A nerd with a camera!
[Andrew is filming them walking into the party] Matt Garetty: Just stop following me around all night, okay? Andrew Detmer: What do you mean? I thought...I thought you wanted me to come with you? Matt Garetty: I did. I did. But just go and do your own thing for once, okay? Just have a beer, talk to people. Andrew Detmer: I don't drink.
[as Andrew films the crowd of party-goers he spots another student filming the crowd, at which point she also spots him] Casey Letter: Hey! What are you filming for? Andrew Detmer: Uh...I...Uh...! Casey Letter: What? Andrew Detmer: I'm just... Casey Letter: I can't hear you! Andrew Detmer: I'm just filming. Casey Letter: Oh, cool! Cool! I'm filming for my blog. Andrew Detmer: Oh! Casey Letter: You should check it out. It's actually...
[as Matt interrupts Andrew's conversation with Casey] Matt Garetty: This is pretty lame, right? Casey Letter: Why is it lame? [she points her camera at Matt and we also see the footage from her camera] Matt Garetty: You know, Jung said parties are just people's way of seeking widespread validation. I'm not one to clamber to be cool, you know? Casey Letter: [sarcastically] Wow! Way to put it in analytical psychology spin on this barn party, Matt. That's awesome. Awesome. [Casey turns and walks away] Matt Garetty: You're awesome. Andrew Detmer: Hey, Matt? Hey, what did Jung say glow sticks? [Matt gives Andrew the finger and walks off]
[Andrew retreats outside and silently cries after he'd been spat on by a guy at the party for filming his girlfriend dancing] Steve Montgomery: Andrew! Andrew, with the camera. Can we...can we use that thing? Andrew Detmer: What? Steve Montgomery: We found the craziest shit and we gotta get it on tape. Andrew Detmer: Uh...it's not Steve Montgomery: What's up, man? You okay? Andrew Detmer: Yeah, I'm...I'm Andrew. Steve Montgomery: Okay. I'm Steve. [he hold out is hand to shake with Andrew] Steve Montgomery: Steve Montgomery. Andrew Detmer: Yeah, I know. Steve Montgomery: Really?
Steve Montgomery: Matt and I were just hanging out and we found this cool little...this thing. Andrew Detmer: Wait, you're with Matt? Steve Montgomery: You might wanna... Andrew Detmer: No, I just Steve Montgomery: You might wanna get this on tape. Andrew Detmer: No, I don't really... Steve Montgomery: Dude, just come on. Just come get it on tape. It'll be cool. Andrew Detmer: I don't know. Steve Montgomery: Trust me. Andrew Detmer: Alright. Steve Montgomery: Yeah, man.
[Andrew films as he follows Steve into the woods] Steve Montgomery: You know there are like tons of girls around here, right? And you're all by yourself, next to a tree. Andrew Detmer: I'm just really picky.
[Andrew continues filming Steve as they walk into the woods] Andrew Detmer: What were you guys doing out here? Steve Montgomery: Bunch of people were out here, cause we were like obsessed with the thing. Andrew Detmer: What thing? Steve Montgomery: You'll see. [they continue to walk into the woods] Steve Montgomery: Ah, that's right! Andrew Detmer! I remember you from home in freshman year, you always had that grey zip-up hoodie. [Steve calls out to Matt] Andrew Detmer: You remember that? Steve Montgomery: Yeah. I got...I got a thing for faces, which is why I'm going into politics.
[Steve finds Andrew, and calls out to him] Andrew Detmer: Guys, what is that? [Matt is standing next to a mysterious crater in the earth] Matt Garetty: Do you see it? Is that the camera? Steve Montgomery: Yeah! I got him! Andrew Detmer: Do you guys know how to get back from here?
[as they get close to the crater, Steve jokes around] Steve Montgomery: Andrew, what's making that sound? [Steve and Matt lie down next to the crater to listen to the sounds that are echoing from the crater] Matt Garetty: Come here. Listen to this. Listen to this. [Andrew hesitates close to the crater] Steve Montgomery: No! No! No! You gotta get in! You gotta literally...almost...! Andrew Detmer: Okay. Don't push me! Matt Garetty: We're not gonna push you in. Were just trying to get in on camera. Steve Montgomery: Listen. [Andrew gets closer to the crater and point the camera down the hole] Matt Garetty: Listen. Can you hear that? Andrew Detmer: What...? [suddenly they hear a loud screeching noise coming from the crater] Steve Montgomery: Wait! How creepy is that?
[as the screeching noise continues to echo through the crater] Matt Garetty: Is the sound coming up? Andrew Detmer: I don't know. I mean, probably. It is pretty loud, right? [Matt shouts down the crater] Matt Garetty: Hello? Steve Montgomery: Alright, dude. We're going inside. Andrew Detmer: I'm going back. Come on, you guys. Steve Montgomery: I gotta know, man. I gotta know. Andrew Detmer: Matt, seriously? [suddenly Steve jumps into the crater] Andrew Detmer: Wait! Hey! Steve! [Matt laughs as Steve shouts his own name] Matt Garetty: Oh, shit! He's a ninja. Andrew Detmer: Matt! [suddenly Matt attempts to climb down the crater] Andrew Detmer: Woh! Matt! Matt! Matt! What are you doing? Are you serious? Matt Garetty: Hey, dude, can you give us some light? Andrew Detmer: Matt, don't be an idiot! [Matt jumps down the crater and disappears] Andrew Detmer: Matt, you're my ride home!
[Andrew films as the three go deeper into the circular tunnel] Andrew Detmer: Does it go down much deeper, or what? Steve Montgomery: Yeah, man. It goes really really far. Matt Garetty: Andrew, bring the light. Look at the walls, it's like a straight shot down. We've probably already come, like, forty or five feet. Andrew Detmer: Yeah, just don't talk about it. Okay? Matt Garetty: You ever heard of Plato's Allegory of the Cave? Andrew Detmer: I don't know, Matt. Let's just get this over with.
[at the end of the tunnel they reach a cavern and at it's center is a mysterious giant crystal] Steve Montgomery: Holy shit! Matt Garetty: What the hell is that? Andrew Detmer: Matt, I'm not kidding. I can't breathe. Matt Garetty: Look at this! Andrew Detmer: What the...? Matt Garetty: Can you believe this? Andrew Detmer: Matt! What am I looking at? [the crystal glows electric blue and suddenly the screeching noise becomes louder] Steve Montgomery: Ah! Shit! Andrew Detmer: I'm freaking out right now! Matt! Can we get out of here, please?! Matt Garetty: It is showing up on the camera like that? Andrew Detmer: I don't know, Matt! It's messing with it, I don't really wanna film... Matt Garetty: Dude, I'll buy you a new one.
[Andrew film Steve standing close a protruding object sticking out of the crystal] Andrew Detmer: Matt! Matt, look at this! Matt Garetty: What? Andrew Detmer: Look at this! Matt Garetty: Dude, what is...? Woh! [Steve touches the object and it turns red] Andrew Detmer: Dude, no way! [Matt says something but the there's interference noise on the camera] Andrew Detmer: I can't here you! Steve Montgomery: This is awesome! [suddenly Steve's nose starts to bleed] Andrew Detmer: Dude, your nose! [Matt and Andrew shout as Steve collapses, the camera then fizzles and amidst the sound of commotion it cuts to black]
[we see Andrew filming Steve and Matt instructing them where to stand] Andrew Detmer: Matt, dude, put your phone down. Turn it off! Matt Garetty: Okay. Okay. Okay. Andrew Detmer: Right, Steve, you too. Alright? We have to document this. Okay? Are you guys ready? Steve Montgomery: Yeah, alright. Andrew Detmer: Alright, here we go. Okay, Steve, can you move to your left? Steve Montgomery: Here? Andrew Detmer: Um...yeah, that's good. And then Matt, can you just go right in front of Steve? Matt Garetty: Here? Andrew Detmer: Um...yeah, perfect. Yeah. Yeah. Okay, this is the ball test. Steve Montgomery: Ready? Matt Garetty: Yeah. [Steve throws the baseball in his hand at Matt and hits him the face, Steve laughs as Matt is hurt and angry, we then see various footage of Matt and Steve pitching baseball at one another in air-bending ways]
[Steve gets behind the camera as Matt throws the baseball at Andrew and Andrew stops the ball mid-air with his mind] Steve Montgomery: That is crazy! Matt Garetty: Oh, my God! Oh, my God! Steve Montgomery: Holy sh...! [suddenly Andrew's nose starts to bleed] Matt Garetty: Oh, my God. Oh, dude, you're bleeding. You're bleeding Andrew Detmer: Shit. Steve Montgomery: Stop! Stop! Stop! Get a tissue. Matt Garetty: You did it! Yes!
[Matt is behind the camera filming as Steve listens to the angry voice message his girlfriend left him] Steve Montgomery: I'm gonna get a brick through my window. I am legitimately scared. I have an election coming up and I don't have time for this. Matt Garetty: Dude, why are you asking us for advice on girls? Andrew Detmer: Because we're his mistress. [they all laugh]
[Andrew films as Matt is driving] Andrew Detmer: So, what? You think it's like radiation or something? Steve Montgomery: Radiation from what? Matt Garetty: Dude, it's the government. Steve Montgomery: What? Matt, what are you talking about? Andrew Detmer: I'm feeling pretty splunked out, actually. Steve Montgomery: Andrew, relax.
[Andrew films the barn where the party took place that night of the crater discovery] Matt Garetty: That's so weird. It looks completely different during the day. [films skips to show them walking in the woods towards the crater again] Andrew Detmer: Look, I don't care. I am not going in the hole again. [suddenly Steve turns and jumps towards Andrew to scare him] Andrew Detmer: Asshole. [they find the crater and find that it's caved in] Matt Garetty: It's like sunk in or something. Steve Montgomery: There goes your old camera, dude. Andrew Detmer: Oh, shit.
[they get close to the caved in crater and Steve touches the dirt on top of the crater] Steve Montgomery: It's weird, I can still feel it down there. Andrew Detmer: I can't believe we made it out of there. Steve Montgomery: Whoa! I mean, that answers that, right? Andrew Detmer: Um...what does? We still don't know what happened? Steve Montgomery: We're still alive. Matt Garetty: I mean, I was definitely... [they get interrupted by a park ranger] Park Ranger: Hey! You guys can't be here, okay? You gotta move on out. Matt Garetty: What? Park Ranger: Ground's unstable. We're taping the whole place off. [they turn and leave]
[Andrew films Steve as he drives him home] Steve Montgomery: New camera's working out for you, it's good? Andrew Detmer: Yeah, it's pretty cool Steve Montgomery: Yeah, it's smaller, doesn't shoot on tape. Andrew Detmer: No, it just like records right onto the camera. You know, I just wanna record all this stuff that we can don. You know? Steve Montgomery: Yeah, but it's like all the time. You don't feel like it's a little weird? Like it puts a barrier between you and everything else? Andrew Detmer: Uh...I don't know. Maybe I wanna be.
Steve Montgomery: So, like, what's up with your dad? What's his story? What does he do? Andrew Detmer: Um...my dad's a firefighter. Steve Montgomery: Okay, that's cool. Ah, man, that must have been awesome! Andrew Detmer: Yeah, he...he was, I guess. Steve Montgomery: What happened? Andrew Detmer: Uh...I don't know. He...he didn't die or anything. He just...he got injured on the job and now he um...he collects the insurance, you know? Um...so he doesn't really do anything. He just...he um...he'll go out during the day, but I don't know where he goes. Uh...he drinks a lot, I know that much.
[Andrew is on a day out with his sick mother, she takes the camera and films Andrew] Karen Detmer: Is it on? Andrew Detmer: Yep. Yeah, you got it. Karen Detmer: I wanna remember you like this. Andrew Detmer: Oh, mom. Karen Detmer: You're stronger than this. Can you say that for me? Please? Andrew Detmer: I'm stronger than this.
[Andrew is filming Matt as he uses his telekinesis power to throw a rock into the river] Steve Montgomery: Oh, nice. Matt Garetty: Alright. Here, watch this. [using his power he throws another rock into the water] Steve Montgomery: Weak. Andrew Detmer: Hey, Matt. Matt Garetty: Yeah? Andrew Detmer: Do you like me? Matt Garetty: Um...yeah, of course. I mean, you know, I...I didn't...I mean, I didn't always. Andrew Detmer: What do you mean? Matt Garetty: I don't know. You haven't...you haven't always been super easy to talk to, you know? I mean, I'm not saying that you...you're not now. I'm just... Andrew Detmer: You're such an asshole. Matt Garetty: That's what I'm talking about, dude. You're hostile, see?
Andrew Detmer: Hey, Matt. Matt Garetty: Yeah? [referring to their newly found powers] Andrew Detmer: Do you ever think about, like, doing more with it? Matt Garetty: What with this? Not really. Why? What else is there?
[Steve is reading the meaning of telekinesis from his cell phone] Steve Montgomery: Telekinesis. Matt Garetty: Yes, do tell. Steve Montgomery: The ability to move, lift, vibrate... [Matt and Steve laugh] Steve Montgomery: That's my favorite. [Steve continues to read the description of telekinesis] Steve Montgomery: Spin, bend, break or impact objects through the direct influence of mental power or other non-physical means. Andrew Detmer: Sounds familiar. Matt Garetty: It does sound familiar. Steve Montgomery: Very familiar.
[footage shows them on the bleachers at the football field discussing their powers] Matt Garetty: This is my theory though, is that it's like a muscle. Like it's elastic, if you stretch it too far too quick, it'll tare. That's why I think we're getting stronger, you know? Cause we're working it out. Getting buff. Steve Montgomery: Buff. How about this for a workout? [Steve holds a tube of potato chips and uses his power to lift the chips one by one into his mouth] Matt Garetty: Oh, shit! That was awesome. [Steve burps] Matt Garetty: Classy. Steve Montgomery: Mmhmm. Attractive. Andrew Detmer: I think it's time we took this out of the backyard.
[after Andrew tries to stab Matt with a fork and the fork just gets bent when it hits Matt] Andrew Detmer: Just pretend that there's a barrier over your hand, alright? And then when things are gonna hit you, as long as you're ready, they will not hurt you because of the barrier.
[the three are standing in the parking lot of a toy store] Steve Montgomery: That is disgusting. Matt Garetty: But do you guys share cups in the team? Steve Montgomery: No, we don't share cups. You see that car though? The red one. Matt Garetty: Yeah. [referring to the Matt's failed attempt to pull the gum out of the a shopper's mouth] Steve Montgomery: Alright. The gum was cool, alright? You tried. It was a failed attempt though. Watch this. Matt Garetty: What are you doing? Steve Montgomery: Watch. Matt Garetty: Go. Go. Go. [Steve stands closer to the red car and using his power he moves the car around the parking lot and parks it in a different spot] Matt Garetty: What? Oh, no way! Holy shit! Dude!
[footage of them returning home from the store with Matt driving] Matt Garetty: How did nobody see that? It was out in the open. Andrew Detmer: Her face! I cannot get her face out of my mind! Steve Montgomery: That was awesome! Man, this give me so many ideas for stuff that we can do.
[referring to the aggressive driver tailgating them in his Bronco] Matt Garetty: Go around. Steve Montgomery: Ah, it's just some redneck assholes. Andrew Detmer: Steve! Steve! Steve! Take the camera. Take the camera. [Steve takes the camera and turns it to show Andrew in the back sit turning to look at the truck tailgating behind them] Andrew Detmer: Alright, just make sure it's zoomed out a little. Steve Montgomery: Gotcha, I can see you. [the truck keeps tailgating them and honking his horn] Matt Garetty: Okay, buddy. Steve Montgomery: What you gonna do? Matt Garetty: What the hell is this guy's problem? Steve Montgomery: What are you doin'? Andrew Detmer: Abracadabra. [Andrew uses his power and accidently sends the truck crashing into the lake] Steve Montgomery: Woh! Woh! Woh! Andrew! Matt Garetty: Shit! Steve Montgomery: What the hell did you just do? Matt, stop the car! Stop! Stop! Matt Garetty: Are you crazy?! Steve Montgomery: Pull down the road. We gotta go down there, right now! Andrew Detmer: You guys! I'm sorry!
[the three of them go down to the lake where the truck has crashed and overturned] Matt Garetty: What did you do? Why did you do that? Andrew Detmer: I...I didn't mean to! I didn't...! Matt Garetty: What the hell is wrong with you?! Look at this! Andrew Detmer: Will you just calm down! Matt Garetty: They're probably still in there! Andrew Detmer: I'm sorry, okay? [Andrew uses his power to movie truck slowly out of the water] Matt Garetty: Andrew! Stop! Stop! Andrew Detmer: I can help! I can get them out! Matt Garetty: Stop doing things! [suddenly Steve dives into the lake and swims towards the overturned truck] Matt Garetty: Steve! Steve! Steve, be careful! Shit! Shit! Oh, my God! Andrew! Are you kiddin' me? [Matt dives into the lake and helps Steve pull the truck driver out of the water and Matt calls the police]
[later that night Matt grills Andrew about the accident] Matt Garetty: Is this a game or something? Andrew Detmer: I don't understand how you guys can be so angry. Matt Garetty: You don't understand how we could be angry? Andrew, you...you put somebody in the hospital tonight. Okay? Do you understand that? [Andrew doesn't reply] Matt Garetty: Andrew, look at me! You put a guy in the hospital! How do you feel about that? You hurt somebody! We need rules, okay? Rule number one; no using it on living things. Rule number two; you can't use it when you're angry. That's it! Rule number three; I don't think we should be using it in public, or telling anybody about it. Okay? Andrew Detmer: You can't just declare rules. Matt Garetty: I will declare rules, when you do something... Andrew Detmer: You're the one that said nothing matters. Matt Garetty: I will declare rules. If we're gonna keep going and we're getting stronger, we need rules. [turning to Steve, who's been quite and pacing around them] Matt Garetty: We need rules, right? Steve Montgomery: Matt's right, we need rules.
[in Matt's car as he drives them to meet Steve] Andrew Detmer: Matt, what did he say? [Matt doesn't reply] Andrew Detmer: Are you still mad at me? Matt Garetty: No, I'm not mad. Andrew Detmer: Well, you seem mad. Matt Garetty: I'm not mad, I just...I just think that we need to be more careful now, you know? We can't...we have to think a little bit more. We can't just do things, we have to think first. Okay? Andrew Detmer: I understand. Matt Garetty: Okay.
[they arrive at an old mill and spot Steve's car but don't see Steve] Matt Garetty: Why is Steve out in the boonies? Andrew Detmer: Where are we? Matt Garetty: Steve! Andrew Detmer: His car's right there. Matt Garetty: Yeah. [shouts out] Matt Garetty: Steve, where are you at? Andrew Detmer: Steve? [Matt gets a text message from Steve and reads it] Matt Garetty: Look up. [they look up and see Steve floating twenty feet above the ground] Steve Montgomery: Hello, boys! Matt Garetty: What? What is up?
[as the other two look in shock at Steve floating above them] Steve Montgomery: Here me out! Here me out! Matt Garetty: What are you doing? Steve Montgomery: It's...it's much easier than it looks, I swear. It's much easier than it looks. Matt Garetty: Oh, my God, dud!
[Steve gives instructions to Matt as he attempts to fly] Steve Montgomery: Make sure you catch yourself, and don't try and jump. Matt Garetty: I got it! I got it! Steve Montgomery: Flip yourself. Andrew Detmer: Come on, Matt. Come on. [Matt tries to fly, but is unsuccessful and just lands straight onto the dirt on the ground] Matt Garetty: Oh, shit! [Steve and Andrew laugh] Andrew Detmer: Oh, man! In dirt, man. Matt Garetty: Get behind me, you're in my way. Andrew Detmer: What do you mean, I was in your way?
[Matt is behind the camera filming Andrew as he learns to fly] Matt Garetty: Is that your focus face? Andrew Detmer: Oh, my God, dude! Wooh! [Andrew starts to float up] Matt Garetty: Bullshit! Are you kidding me? Andrew Detmer: Holy crap! Steve Montgomery: Hold it! Andrew Detmer: Oh, my God, dude! Steve Montgomery: Hold it! Andrew Detmer: I'm doing it! Matt Garetty: Holy crape, dude! Andrew Detmer: I am doing it! Aah! Steve Montgomery: Yeah! You're doing it! Andrew Detmer: Okay! Wooh! Matt Garetty: Andrew, don't fart, we'll never find you again. [Andrew floats up next to Steve] Andrew Detmer: Steve, stop me! Stop me! Matt Garetty: Oh, my God! Steve Montgomery: You are flying! Matt Garetty: You guys look so cute together. I'm coming up. I'm bringing the camera, okay? Alright. Andrew Detmer: Alright, how do we get down?
[after the the three are fooling around flying, the three plummet to the ground when an airplane nearly slams into Steve] Steve Montgomery: We have broken history! I mean, I'm talking about since the caveman time! Uh...uh...or the Egyptians! The Wright brothers! [Steve pulls in Matt in front of the camera] Steve Montgomery: Come here! Come here! Get in here! Get in here! Say it, 'I can fly.' Matt Garetty: I can fly. Steve Montgomery: I can fly! Andrew Detmer: Oh, come on. Steve Montgomery: Come on, stay it with your chest. Matt Garetty: I can fly! Andrew Detmer: Say it, Matt! [Steve and Matt both shout loud] Steve Montgomery: I can fly! Matt Garetty: I can fly! I can fly!
[fooling around at Steve's place] Matt Garetty: I tried to save you, man! Andrew was just quicker. Steve Montgomery: How does that go again? Andrew Detmer: You almost died! Steve Montgomery: Oh, please.
[referring to Steve's girlfriend] Matt Garetty: How does she not notice though? Steve Montgomery: I mean, come on. Let's be serious guys. She definitely noticed that it's gotten better. You just gotta be, you know? Matt Garetty: Yeah? Steve Montgomery: You gotta be...you gotta be subtle. Andrew Detmer: Woh, that is so cool! Matt Garetty: Dude, I haven't had sex since summer. Andrew Detmer: I haven't had sex since ever! Matt Garetty: Oh, really? Steve Montgomery: That is completely unacceptable. How are you guys so cool? How are you guys so cool, man? Matt Garetty: Liquid Nitrogen. [they all laugh]
[as they all fall asleep, Andrew's camera floats up] Matt Garetty: Hey, guys? Guys? You guys up? Andrew Detmer: Yeah. Matt Garetty: I um...today was like, it was like...I think the best day of my life. Like, I mean, I'm...I'm thinking about it and I can't...I can't think of any day that I liked better than today. You know? I really...I think it was. Andrew Detmer: Yeah. Steve Montgomery: Unanimous. Andrew Detmer: Yes. Matt Garetty: Okay.
[the three are studying in the school library] Steve Montgomery: Okay. Check this out, right? Say what you want, but I'm thinking about booking at Malibu for the weekend. What's up with that? Matt Garetty: Seriously? Andrew Detmer: Well we could do it. I mean, I was thinking of the same thing, except I've always wanted to go to Tibet. Matt Garetty: Why Tibet? Steve Montgomery: Tibet? Andrew Detmer: Yeah. I don't know, it...it seems really beautiful, you know? With all the like... [Matt starts doing the Tibetan chant loudly and Andrew tries to stop him by putting his hand over his mouth]
[referring to Tibet] Andrew Detmer: The monuments and mountains, you know? I don't know. And the...the monks have achieved such a high level of enlightenment that they can like, they can like float and shit, you know? So we could fit right in. Matt Garetty: We could really mess with their heads as well. [Steve and Matt laugh] Andrew Detmer: Yeah. But like, seriously, okay? I think we should go. It would be really cool. Peaceful. Matt Garetty: No, I think it's a really good idea. I actually would like to go. I'm down. Are you down, Steve? Steve Montgomery: Well, I...I don't know, man. There's no bikini's in Tibet, so I don't know if I'm down for that.
[as they sit on top of a building and Andrew is controlling the camera by using his power] Steve Montgomery: Dude, when did you start doing this? Like since when? Andrew Detmer: What, with the camera? Steve Montgomery: Yes, with the camera. Andrew Detmer: Um...I don't know. It's been little while, I guess. Steve Montgomery: See, Oh my... I can't do that. I can't do stuff that requires finesse. I tried to type my name out yesterday and I cracked my keyboard in half. Andrew Detmer: No, dude. It's really easy. You just, okay, you think that you're holding it.
Andrew Detmer: See it's different, cause you've always had friends. And...and people wanna talk to you and be around you. I never had any of that. I mean, before this, I barely even hung out with Matt, and he's my cousin. We were close when we were little. But, I don't know, in high school everything changed. Steve Montgomery: You know, I've been meaning to ask you. Winter break is coming up, you should go to talent show with me. Andrew Detmer: No way. Steve Montgomery: Why not? It'll be good for you to get out there, you know? Meet some people. Meet some girls. Andrew Detmer: No. No. It's just not... Steve Montgomery: What? Andrew Detmer: Look, I'm just really shy. Okay? And I don't...I mean, I don't even really have any talents, so? Steve Montgomery: What are you talking about? You don't have talent? You have talent. You've got talent. [Steve looks at the camera which Andrew controlling by using his powers] Andrew Detmer: Oh, dude. No way!
[after the talent show, Matt is driving them to the after-party] Matt Garetty: Oh, my God! I can see you're head is like exploding right now. Andrew Detmer: What? Matt Garetty: This is the beginning of your downfall. Hubris, right there. Andrew Detmer: What's hubris? Matt Garetty: Ha-ha-ha! Andrew Detmer: No! What does hubris mean, Matt? Matt Garetty: Seriously? Andrew Detmer: What does seriously mean? Matt Garetty: What? I'm...
[Steve films as he walks into the bedroom after Monica had stormed out] Steve Montgomery: Drew! Drew! It's okay, man. Don't worry about it. Look, it happens to the best of us, okay? You just had a little too much to drink. [inside, Andrew is sat on the bed with his pants around his ankles and puke on his jacket] Steve Montgomery: Oh, woh! Buddy! What's goin' on, dude? [Andrew quickly pulls his pants up] Andrew Detmer: Why are you laughing? Steve Montgomery: Oh, man! All on my jacket! Andrew Detmer: Stop! Stop laughing! Steve Montgomery: What are you talkin' about? It's cool, man. It's cool. Andrew Detmer: No, it's not cool! Steve, stop. Steve Montgomery: Stop what? It's cool, man. Andrew Detmer: Will you just get out of here! Get out! Steve Montgomery: Drew! Drew! Andrew Detmer: What's your problem? You think this is funny? Steve Montgomery: No! No! I'm not laughing. Andrew Detmer: Get out!
[at Steve's funeral Matt watches Andrew suspiciously and Andrew walks off filming graves] Matt Garetty: What are you doing? You filming graves? I don't get it. Andrew Detmer: What do you care? Matt Garetty: You haven't been returning my calls. Why aren't you returning my calls? Andrew Detmer: I've been busy. Matt Garetty: No, you haven't. Why aren't you returning my calls? Andrew Detmer: I just don't feel like talking. Matt Garetty: Turn off the camera. Andrew Detmer: No. Matt Garetty: Andrew. Andrew, turn off the camera. [Andrew turns his camera away and starts to walks off]
[referring to Steve's death] Matt Garetty: Andrew, how did he get struck by lightning during a storm with no recorded lightning strikes? How? And they found Steve out in the middle of a field. Why would Steve go out in the middle of a field during a lightning storm, Andrew? Andrew Detmer: I don't why. Matt Garetty: What? What?! Andrew Detmer: I don't know what happened, Matt! Matt Garetty: I don't believe you, okay? I don't believe you. I want you to turn off the camera and talk to me. Andrew Detmer: No! Why? Matt Garetty: Because, I wanna have a conversation with you, okay? Andrew Detmer: Don't tell me what do, Matt. Matt Garetty: Just turn off the camera. Andrew Detmer: Don't tell me what to do, Matt. [Matt walks towards Andrew and tries to take the camera off Andrew] Matt Garetty: Turn it off! Andrew Detmer: Don't you ever tell me...! Matt Garetty: Just give me... [Andrew uses his power to make the camera float above them] Matt Garetty: Andrew, are you joking right now? Is this...is this a joke to you?
[Andrew is at Steve's grave, crying and filming all the flowers laid on his grave] Andrew Detmer: Please believe me, Steve! Please! It's just I...I don't know what I did. I lost control and...and I'm so sorry. This thing is just becoming a part of me now, and I don't... I miss you, Steve.
[in School Andrew gets bullied again by Wayne and and uses his power to pull out Wayne's teeth, he goes into the bathroom and talks into the camera and showing off the teeth] Andrew Detmer: Okay. So, see this one here? This one I got really clean, cause I did this little, like, lasso thing around the root, you know? But then these two, these I did not get as good. [he holds up the other two teeth in front of the camera] Andrew Detmer: See how they're broken? I think it's because I got 'em from the middle, you know, instead of the root.
[Andrew is at impound yard talking into a camera] Andrew Detmer: I've been doing a lot of reading, like online, about like...like, just like evolution and like natural selection. And how like there's this thing, right? It is called the apex predator, right? And basically what this is, is the strongest animal in eco-system, right? And...and as human beings we are...we're considered the apex predator, but only because, like...like smaller animals can't feed on us, because of weapons and stuff, right? A lion does not feel guilty when it kills a giselle. Right? You do not feel guilty when you squash a fly. And I think that means something. I just think that really means something. [he then uses his power to crush the car behind him]
[after Matt stops Andrew from killing Richard, he and Casey try to get away but Andrew uses his power to lift their car and send it flying across the Space Needle, Matt flies Casey to safety and goes back to Andrew who's floating by the Space Needle causing havoc] Matt Garetty: Andrew! Andrew! Look at me! This has to stop, right now! This is really really bad! Andrew Detmer: Why did you catch him? Matt Garetty: Listen! Just focus, okay? Andrew Detmer: I dropped him! Why did you catch him? Matt Garetty: Andrew, this is not a game! Do you understand? You're hurting people! Andrew Detmer: You're weak, Matt! You're all weak! Matt Garetty: Andrew! Andrew Detmer: I'm stronger than all of this! Matt Garetty: Andrew, listen to me. Okay? Just...just...I need you to listen! Just focus for a second! Andrew Detmer: Do not tell me what to do!
She was just one of a few, unfit for family. Horse glue.
She expired at Allenside Park.
(Asked if I was the lead on the quarry body.)
--
Good riddance, Elizabeth Childs.
[I'm not Beth!]
Dirty little copy-cop. Who are you?
[stabby stab]
Not yet, not-Beth.
--
I'm not Beth...
--
(She said you would come. Pick a colour.)
--
(-Female killers tend to chronic detachment. Isolation breeds sociopaths. This psalm: "Fearfully and wonderfully made." She's a religious fanatic. -The stick figures, the doll's head, the fortune teller. Early childhood development issues. Could be extreme abuse. -Yes but she's also careful in her way. No prints on any of this.)
--
[Detective Childs]
No you're not. Beth is dead, isn't she?
You didn't feel it?
We have a connection.
I need to know who you are. Let's meet again. I never got your name.
Helena.
You're doing police work, but how long can that last? When the real police find me-- you are me, I am you. We are both the victim and the cop.
So come see me. Discuss. I already gave you directions.
--
Out.
--
Detective Childs.
Oh. Hello Paul.
Mm, not too good. I got beat up.
Please come get me... outta here.
--
[My name is Detective Beth Childs. I murdered Margaret Chen. It wasn't an accident. I shot her on purpose.]
--
Things must be getting uncomfortable there for you now.
Oh, you're a terrible detective. Beth figured this out.
It's not about revenge. It's about you.
In person. You have my invitation.
--
I am unarmed.
This isn't necessary.
You're different than the others.
I think I'm dying.
Where did you come from?
God sent me.
You don't know God.
Maggie helped make you. Then she saw the light and came to our side.
I can save you.
I can see a light in you.
No. No! The others-- poor copies of God's human beings.
Let me save you.
You're wrong.
Can you feel it?
You do feel it.
--
Tomas.
--
Tomas. Where am I?
--
Thank you, Tomas.
She's different than the others.
I don't know. We have a connection.
She said I am not the original, that we are all the same.
Forgive me, Tomas.
--
The copies were harder to find.
I'd like to see her again. Tomas...
I'll be strong.
[Tomas says shit and hands her a razor.]
--
[echoing Tomas:] I am the original. I am the light.
--
I'm not here to hurt you, I just want to talk.
Please, I have an offer for you, but we must talk. And eat. Let's have lunch.
--
I dreamed that we were friends.
We will be. I have seen it.
This is a nice restaurant, isn't it?
You know my name. Tell me yours.
No. I grew up pure in a convent in Ukraine.
No. They saved me from abandonment. [burp] Excuse me. I want my knife back, the one you took from me.
Mm. I'm supposed to kill you too, but you let me live.
We'll never be seperate. Tell me the names of the others and I will spare you.
You have until midnight to tell me the names. Call this number or you die first. Bye bye.
--
"How was your day, Paul? Yes. I also had a pleasant day. I went working and shopping." [ring ring] "Pardon me, it's work."
It's almost midnight. Do you have names for me?
That's not the name of a sheep.
Baaaaaaa.
--
Shh shh shh shh shh. Hello, friend.
Do you want to be saved?
Give me a name first.
I want the name of a sheep too.
Tell me.
--
I want to see your tail. [beats him down]
Now show me the tail. Slowly. That's good. How is this possible? Did you lie with a beast?
I have a message for your master. From Tomas.
[cuts off his tail.]
--
"Dear mummy, I miss you. Mrs S says you are in the sunshine. Please come home. Love Kira."
--
"I miss you mummy, I miss you mummy, I miss you mummy, I miss you mummy."
Scotsburn Avenue 148.
--
I am taking you to meet someone. How can you be Sarah's daughter, child? How can that be?
No, I'm not. She's not real.
Yes, angel?
I don't know.
Yes. Do you know the way?
Goodnight, angel.
--
There was a girl, a little girl.
Sarah is the mother.
The girl was hit by a car because of me.
--
She's innocent. I did what I was told, I used Sarah to get to the others.
That man, Olivier, I took off his beast tail for you!
[Phone rings, tomas is a dick] No, no! That's her!
[Answering phone:] Is Kira alright?
It was an accident.
No! [beatdown :C]
--
Let go! Let go! No! No, no!
Tomas, no...
[crying/screaming etc in cage]
--
Sarah! You are the only one I can really turn to.
--
You came. How is Kira?
I would never hurt her.
Do it.
You care. :))
You are all I have now. I love you.
You can't harm her kid!
You made me this way.
--
Sarah! Sarah! [locked in the trunk etc] Sarahhh~
--
How can you be my birth mother?
--
Sestra? You are my twin sister.
--
[pretending to be Sarah] Drink?
How... did scientists put babies inside you?
You gave me to them. You let them make me this way.
--
We missed you, sister. Come join us.
--
Moi sestra. My twin. I'm sorry, mother isn't very well.
She separated us. She tore us apart. But now we're together.
London Calling.
Scientists made one little baby then we split in two. So I cannot kill you, sister. Like you could not kill me. Sarah, we make a family. Yes?
[Eastern european accent and... scarification? Angel wings. No ID but these are the contents of her pockets. Sugar packs, lollipops. Shot point blank in the chest and she walks in? How is she even alive?]
--
Who are you?
[Family.]
--
[Forgive me. An old custom.
Hello Tomas
I am so grateful to your family for my rescue. And for hers. I found myself praying for her soul.
Well, that's not so crazy, is it?
Abominations have no soul. Though one could easily mistake the bullet missing her heart for a miracle.
It is a miracle, my friend. Your charge is a genetic anomaly. She's a mirror. See, her internal organs are all reversed.
What?
It's a condition that sometimes occurs in identical twins. Kind of a yin-yang sort of thing. One of them's right handed, one of them's left handed. One of them has their heart on the left side and one of them has their heart...
Her heart is on the wrong side. This is surely the mark of corruption.
....
What you see is not who she is. Your new order should appreciate this wretch is not merely an affront, she is the war for the future of creation.]
--
[Impossible. She's defective and dangerous. Any child of hers would be a monster.]
--
Grace... is your name?
[Yes]
Why am I here?
[Father says he wants you to join our family.]
I've already got a family.
[You're barely even human.]
I have a twin. Sestra. And a pleminnytsya. A niece. Where is Tomas?
[Gone. My dad said back to Europe and the dark ages.]
(spits out grapes onto floor) Good riddance. (offers chicken leg :V)
--
[Shh, shh. Helena, easy now. Easy.]
My head hurts.
[That would be the sedative. Here, water helps.]
What did you do to me?
[No, you're injured, remember? We're trying to get you well.]
There were people all around me.
[That was just our family. Oh, that's right, Helena. It's okay. Everyvody just came by to say hey there. Helena, I can't imagine the kind of life you've led up til now but that's all over and done with. We're not like Tomas. We love you for who you are. You just rest. Don't worry. Your life is here now with us.]
--
[Stop it! Stop it, just leave us alone! Just die!] (Gracie tries to smother Helena, who plays dead) [Go back to Hell where you belong.]
( Helena wraps her arms around Gracie's throat from behind and chokes her out)
Shh, shh, shh, shh. You sleep now.
--
Shh. Shh. Hello, sestra. Good to see you.
[Helena, what are you doing here?]
I followed you from mother's house.
[I shot you! You were dead!]
Yes, you did. It's a miracle. We were meant to be together.
[Stay away from me!]
Please. Sestra. I need your help. Don't send me back. I was married. I think he took something from inside of me.
(Points knife at her stomach. Then she fits her body creepily against Sarah's and hugs her weirdly. :V)
--
[You are now pitted between two psychopaths. Cut her loose. If she hadn't shown up, I'd be dead. She can't stay here, Sarah! She's not-- Oi. Just, just, just get her something to wear. Please. Fine. I'm sure I've got a Ukrainian folk costume in here somewhere.]
(Helena makes AN ACTUAL FUCKING CAT HISS at Felix as he walks past oh my god.)
[Hey! Hey hey hey. You treat him with respect. He's my brother. Which means he's one of our sisters. Family. You get it, meathead?]
Do not call me this.
[Do you understand, Helena?]
He is sestra?
[Oh god. Exactly. So pick some clothes, wash up and do everything he tells you to.]
(sniffs the clothes and walks to bathroom) Thank you, Felix.
[Just don't kill my rubber ducky. Jesus. What did those fish cult freaks do to her? I don't know. She wouldn't say. But I know somebody who can handle her. Maybe he can find out. I just need you to chaperone her.]
--
(Felix presumably rode her over on his bike omg qties)
[Alright. Best behaviour, little... sestra.]
Hello again, Detective Bell.
[Inside. Hands on the table.]
I don't like to be touched.
[Yeah? Well, that's too bad. I just gave her new clothes; she doesn't have any weapons or anything-- That's my pen!]
I wanted to write letter.
[I haven't forgot that you took a shot at me.]
(lauuuugh)
[Do as he says, meathead. ... Look, Helena. He wants to help you and Sarah.]
He lies down with pigs. (weird-ass oinking noise, mouth closed what even Helena)
[And... that's my cue to leave. I've got a hot date too. Um. Good luck... with... that. Oh, um, try food.]
--
[Hey. Hey! Maggie Chen. Also a Prolethean. She was your spotter. She tracked down clones for you. The two of you worked together. Thing is, last time I saw you, you were running away from Joe Hanson's followers in a wedding dress. Want to tell me what that was all about? What did they do to you? What did they do to you? How did Maggie find the clones? How did she communicate with you?]
(Helena draws a girl stick figure on the fishtank in her breath)
[I am a very patient man, Helena, so I'mma just make me a grilled cheese sandwich while you think about it.]
--
When I was seven, the nuns said I had devils inside me. Sister Olga locked me in cellar. She gave me darkness. But. I gave her darkness. (thumbs, eye gouging, pop sound :C) Does Sarah know of swan man?
[I don't think so.]
Swan man played god.
[How'd he do that?]
He's in her locker.
[Whose locker? Maggie's?]
Why does Rachel want Sarah? Is it for Kira too?
[Does Magggie Chen have a locker?]
(shakes cuffs) How does this help my sestra?
[Listen. Helena. This is really important.]
(nods) I want to tell you something.
[Yeah?]
(points at donut box) These I like.
--
[Whoa whoa Sarah Sarah slow down. Okay, I will call some people at the station blah blah blah]
(Helena picks the handcuff locks while he's talking and disarms and disables Art)
Got you, Arthur.
(Then presumably handcuffs him to a post in his apartment and makes a paper fortune teller and then leaves lol)
--
(snip snip barbie hair)
"A little more off the back, Helena." Yes, Rachel, of course. So pretty you are. So much money. So much money.
(puts on lipstick, kisses doll head -- is this a ritual thing with her? Katja barbie head at sniper site too)
--
"Do you like my hair, Paul?" "Yeahhh. Very pretty, dirty sexy Rachel. Like my mother."
--
Hello, sestra.
[Helena stop. Helena, put the gun down.]
Mind your weapon, Art, or I pull trigger. Come see, Sarah.
[Okay. Helena, you can't do this. You can't.]
Rachel is problem. I fix problem.
[I wish you could. They've got Felix.]
Brother sestra?
[He's in jail. If you kill Rachel, they're gonna keep him there.]
Look. (shifts binoculars over with her foot) Look, Sarah. Paul is unfaithful.
[I don't care about Paul.] (Helena makes kissy noise) [He doesn't matter any more.]
Then I kill him for you.
[No! Helena, stop. Take your finger off the trigger and put down the gun. No, just--]
Pull, Art, see who's faster.
[Please! I can't let her shoot. Helena. Listen to me. There's another way. We can make a deal for Felix but I need your help. Only you can help me find swan man.]
You only want to use me.
[No. That's not true. You saved my life. You're my sister. Helena, I thought- I thought I killed you. I couldn't tell anybody what I lost. But you came back. Please, put- put down the gun. Please. That's good. Come down. Thank you.]
You make me cry, sestra.
[Come on, meathead.]
Don't call me this.
--
[Right, so how do we find swan man?]
Mrs S has a nice truck. Much leg rooms.
[Helena, where are we going?]
Cold River.
[What's that? A town?]
The place of screams.
--
[You got an iron gut, haven't ya?]
I only ate half.
[No, thank you.]
You have to eat, Sarah.
[So, Cold River. Where is it?]
That would spoil the surprise.
[Why don't you just tell me where Duncan is? We can take him to Leekie.]
If you knew where swan man was you would leave me behind. Sestra? If you have Kira and we are twins, could I have babies too?
[Why?]
Mm, I am very good with children.
[You said the Proletheans did something to you. Something about married? What happened?]
I don't know. I had a fever. Kira is lucky.
[Why's that.]
You are a good mother.
[I don't really think so.]
There's somebody here. (dog noises and shadow puppets help) Look, look. He likes youuu... He likes you. (kissy noises, licking sound)
[Ewwww. Gross. Go to sleep, weirdo. We've got an early start.]
Don't let the bedbugs bite.
(fart and lol) Excuse me.
[Piss off!]
--
[God, you act like you've never been in a car before.]
Never been on road trip. Only told where to go and what to do. (radio stations flicking)
[Would you just-- Pick a station, please?]
(Sugar Honey Honey omg, Sarah shuts it down)
[Uh-uh, not happening. (Helena turns it back on) Oh, for--]
"You are my candy girl and you've got me wanting youu~"
[Oh this must have been a huge hit with the nuns in Ukraine.]
Yes. Super sunshine hit. "You are my candy girl and you got me wanting you~"
[Are you gonna sing the whole way?]
"I just can't believe the loving..." Uh-- (throat clear) "I just can't believe it's youuuuuu. Oh honey!"
[(lol) Stop please.]
"Oh sugar honey" (goofiest awkward lol) "You are my candy girl and you've got me wanting youuuUUUUUU~"
[Helena!]
"Oh HONEY!"
--
[This isn't Cold River, Helena. The church. Is this where Duncan is?]
Where he was last seen. Maggie tracked him here. Now we follow his trail, yes?
[Oh no no no. No, no. You are staying in the car. Don't cause any trouble.]
Can I have radio?
[No. Helena, just don't do anything, please.]
--
[Starting early, huh? You better pace yourself.]
I am on vacation.
[Do you wanna join us? We're nicer than we look.]
I think you bad goats. Maaaa.
[Are you being rude, you little skank? I'm not quite sure I heard what you said. (finger sprain) Jeez! You broke my finger!]
Don't be baby, I only sprain. Next one I break.
(Jesse comes in and acts all noble and shit.)
[Sorry about that ma'am. Miller, pork rind?]
(she slides her drink over) White Russian?
(he offers her food) Pork rind?
(she eats them like a Helena do.)
--
In Ukraine, I was police detective. I shot many criminals.
[Ukraine, huh? I've never been further than Sioux Falls myself.]
Then I was brilliant scientist, but I quit to be with my family.
[Oh come on, don't tell me you're spoken for.]
Divorced, after rehab drinking problems. But now I am with my sestra. Having adventures.
[You sure have led a life, huh? I wonder how a simple guy like me keeps a girl like you in a place like this.]
You'd have to be very strong.
(ARM WRESTLING TIME. she beats him then lols mightily and drinks)
--
[You know what? You have real pretty eyes.]
You have a nice hat. And very nice red face.
(Aaaand she beats him again and lols. they do shots)
[Damn! Alright, tie breaker. Let's do this.]
Okay! Real challenge please.
[Wait wait wait... May I?]
(aaaand he's taking her to dance and they dance a bunch then kiss a whole bunch and make out on the pool table then weird biker comes in and acts like an ass and helena beats him down and tries to gouge his eyes out while looking extremely happy about it c:)
--
[Roy! Roy, man, come on! She didn't do nothing.]
I want my boyfriend. (and she's being led away in handcuffs. Sees Sarah.) Sestra.
--
I want my boyfriend. Where is Jesse?
[No idea. But those guys you beat up aren't pressing charges.]
Good, so I continue my holiday.
[Yeah. As soon as the paperwork is done. Your, uh, sister's here.]
[Gracie: Sister. It's good to see you.]
You tried to kill me.
[Yes.] (Helena lol) [My father and I, we don't always see eye to eye so...]
He sewed you silent. Your lips. I had this also once. It will heal.
[Helena. We want you to come back.]
I have my sestra now. She needs me.
[She's not coming back for you. Helena. We want to take you to your children.]
You took my babies from inside me.
[Your eggs. My father, he... He made them whole for you.]
Why?
[Because he sees something beautiful in you.]
But you don't.
[It doesn't matter what I see.]
He will take my babies and put them inside me like... how I was made?
[How?] (points at her uterus) [Yes. Like that.]
[Hello, Helena. Your friend asked me to give you this.]
Take me to my babies.
--
[Alright, you just hold onto Alexis's hand there. She's the midwife. You may feel just a bit of discomfort right now.]
[You're doing very well and you're very strong]
[It's just the catheter threading through the cervix.]
What is cervix?
[Well, when the time is right, it'll open wide enough to let the baby pass. Now for the embryos.]
Those are my babies?
[That's right. Now I'm going to inject these into your womb and then they will implant themselves in the lining of your womb and they'll start to grow just as nature intended. Aaaand... that's it. God willing, in 9 months we'll be welcoming a brand new you into the world. Maybe even twins.]
--
[How are you feeling?]
I have gas.
[There's plenty more of that to come. Now let's get you dressed. There's something I'd like to show you. ... This is our nursery and preschool. Feel free to spend as much time here as you wish. You're part of our family now.]
(Helena pokes out her tongue at a little girl - Faith - and smiles c:)
--
[Okay children. Naptime. Come on, let's go. Now.]
[One day, this room will be full of your children. It's time to get ready, Gracie.]
(Faith comes up and touches Helena's hair, Helena smiles at her and touches her hair back, pokes out her tongue again.)
[(evil lady) You're not listening, Faith!]
[I just wanted to touch her hair.]
[Don't talk back to me.]
[Ow, you're hurting me]
[You're lucky you're not getting the strap. (spank :c) It's naptime, do as you're told. Shall we head back then?]
(Helena grabs her by the throat.) There was a woman in convent like you. You touch her again and I will gut you like a fish.
--
(pig noises at Alexis)
[Well, now that you're both in a family way, you can keep each other company.]
You are sad to be pregnant? Might as well eat. You will be fat soon, anyway. ... I thought you like Mark.
[You don't get it, do you? My father is the father. I'm carrying your babies!]
My baby's in your cervix.
[For your genes, Helena. Haven't you been listening to anything my father says?]
Not really.
--
He puts babies in all these women.
[Yes. To multiply is divine. Try and eat something, Gracie, please.]
(kissy noises) You love her like puppy, but you let him make her broodmare.
[The women here don't see it that way. Tell her, Gracie. (Gracie turns away)]
("Wouldn't it be nice" in Ukrainian??) [Oi, meathead, I don't think those are gonna fit.]
They are very little.
[-Maybe you can wear them on your fingers. -They're not for her, silly! Helena's going to have a little monkey, too!]
Monkey number two.
[-Felix, that ox liver smells fantastic! -Doesn't it? It's our sestra's favorite. Marinated in horilka all day. -Mm, that'll go perfectly with these. -Are you going to say thank you?]
Thank you, sestra Alison.
[-Oh, heavens, just a few things I've made. This is your special day, Helena, you and your precious cargo. -Dude, you look awesome.]
You look awesome also, sestra. You are well?
[Oh, yeah, I'm, like, way better thanks to science. Check it out!]
Babka cake.
[Mm-hmm.]
Kielbasa.
[Go ahead, dig in, you're eating for two now.]
(aaaand then the dream turns into a nightmate)
[Relax, Helena. You remember me, don't you?]
Yes, Pupok. It's been a long time.
[You're being tested again. And this time you're carrying a child.]
It's hot here. I can taste sand. They took me from my sestras.
[No one said it was going to be easy, kiddo.]
--
My legs hurt.
[-Picture a box, inside a box inside a box. -She's been in almost 48 hours. - All right. In you go. -Congratulations, you escaped the first box.]
--
[-Go. (Helena gets waterboarded :CCCCCC) -Now. -Go. -Go again. (Helena gets some more :CCCCCC) -Stop! Stop. Stop the stress tests. -We've got two more cycles to run. -She's pregnant. Blood work results. (Helena gasping) Just be still. You're going to feel the water rattle around in there for a while. Helena, I'm Doctor Virginia Coady. I know it doesn't seem like it, but I'm very happy to meet you.]
--
[-All mangoes are golden. Nothing golden is cheap. Conclusion-- -Did he say mangoes? -All mangoes are cheap. Is that a sound conclusion, based on those statements? -We like mangoes. -Please concentrate. All mangoes are cheap. True or false. -Where are these mangoes?]
Where are these mangoes?
[Do I have to explain the exercise again?]
I would like to see these mangoes.
[The doctor asked a question.]
I met your brother. He's ugly.
[-Okay. That's enough. -Keep provoking them, we'll never get any mangoes.]
Silence, insect!
[Helena. Let's walk.I will say this about the place: the air is good at night, and I can smoke where I want. You must be very early on. A week? Two? Makes you quite a special case, doesn't it?
Ask the last person who told me that. The Mark-faced boys, they are your babies?
[They came to me when they were very young. The irony of it? I never wanted kids. Didn't think it was for me. Next thing I know, I've got more than I can count.]
How unpleasant.
[I think you should know how you got here, Helena. Your family sold you out. Sarah sold you out. They decided you were expendable.]
I don't believe you.
[You can be sure of this: You're not expendable to me. Or my boys. You've overcome so much. Your upbringing, your biology, your fate. We're going to find out how.]
[Tell me something. Sarah Manning. The gatherer of sisters. When she sold you out, when she gave you to us, that must've been quite a blow.]
You come inside, I tell you about it.
[-Oh, sweetheart, there is nothing more that I would love. -That's enough. -Just getting to know the enemy, Major. -You have an assignment. I will brief you so this time you don't stray. -Sir.]
(clicks her tongue) Dirty Paul. He lies with my sestras. Even Rachel. Come inside. Have another.
[You won't believe me, but I am sorry it has come to this.]
Hmm. One day, I kill you all. (makes a machine gun noise and points gun fingers at him)
--
[-Hey, keep it down! -Step aside. -She's bleeding, Sergeant Miller.]
My shit! Eat my shit!
[-Okay, go in. -Yes, sir. -Sergeant Miller, report. -She bashed her head against the bars this time. -We'll have to get her over to the infirmary. Helena, it breaks my heart to see you hurt yourself like this. (Helena grins and spits) You know how this goes. Keep still if you don't want it to hurt.]
--
[Helena. Helena. Get up. They're gone. Hurry up. We don't have much time before the drugs set in.]
My arm is like dead fish.
[You have to stay alert. Look for an escape.]
To escape the first box, you must know what next box holds.
[Right. Scout this place and get back here. And don't blunder around like an idiot.]
I will be as quiet as church mouse.
[Hurry up. You're gonna pass out.]
No, no, no. Not yet.
[Helena. On your feet. Snap out of it. Get us back before it's too late.]
--
You must be Parsons.
[Please k--]
What did they do to you?
[-Kill me. K-- kill me. -Stupid girl. Why would you waste your chance of escape on him? He's already dead. Get moving. Leave him. -Please. Please--]
We've both been abandoned by our families, left to suffer. I will make it go away. No more pain, little one. Shh. Shh, shh, shh. (hums, stabs him in the brain 8v) Sleep now, lamb chop. Sleep.
[Guards! You stupid girl--]
You say you love boys, but you lie.
[Guards!]
You're a shit mother!
[Take her!]
--
Pupok.
[You killed their labrat. What did you expect - cheesecake?]
He was suffering.
[And now you are. ... Oh Helena, guilty pleasures won't help you escape.]
[Oh, my God. Helena? Helena! Hey! Hey! Oh God, you're alive! What have they done to you? Are you okay?]
I'm most wonderful.
[Hey, look at me. What have they done to you?]
You put me here.
[What? No. Hey, are you hurt? Hey!]
You did this to me! I know you made deal with their mother. Me for you.
[Oh, shite.]
Yes, much shit.
[-Hey. Hey. That's not what happened. I don't know anything about their mother. -Give her nothing.]
Don't worry, Pupok. I will sew my mouth shut.
[What? Helena, please, look at me.]
--
[-Helena, yes. Yes, there was a deal made for you, but I didn't make it. Mrs. S did. She traded you to Castor to get me and Kira out of DYAD. She made a bad choice. -Sarah's lying. She's poison. She's going to melt you like butter.]
Shut up about the butter.
[-What? Look, Mrs. S, she made that decision to protect her granddaughter. Think of what you would do to protect that baby in your belly.]
Keep it far away from you.
[-You know, I had to send Kira away again because these Castor assholes came after us, but I knew I had to come find you because we can't fight them alone. You know, I should have just left you here to bloody rot.]
In convent, I live for four months in a broom closet. I do not rot. (door clanks) Five, four, three, two, one.
[-Another one of you bastards. -Back away from the door. -Here, kitty, kitty, kitty, kitty. -Against the wall. -I don't think so. -Come on, let's go. -Helena? -Let's go. -Hey, Helena? -Come on. -Helena, you know they're our brothers, right? They tell you that? ... -You must be very proud of your boys. Fine, let's chat. What have you done to my sister? -Helena's fine. She's been confined and controlled much of her life. My opinion, a secure environment gives her comfort.]
--
The mother wants to make medicine for the Mark-faced boys.
[Yeah, thank you for the warning. They took like a gallon of blood.]
You say they are our brothers? I do not believe.
[No?]
Mm-mm.
[Well, I don't care what you believe. You're institutionalized.]
What does this word mean?
[It means that you love it here. Don't worry, I'm sure they'll make a nice little cage for your baby too.]
To a rat, a small hole is like a door.
[Have you figured a way out of here?]
Eat your food, sestra.
--
[Okay, Helena, how many men live on this base?]
Approximately eleven million.
[I know you. I know you've counted them.]
(door clanks) Five, four, three, two, one.
[-All you had to do was stay away. -What's this, then? Huh? No uniform, no rank? -I'm a major, Sarah. -Yeah, I wouldn't wear a uniform either if I was doing illegal shit. -Come on, now. You are short on friends. -Are you all right? -Fat lot you care. -I do care. -I was trying to keep you out of all this.]
(kissy noises) Mmm, mmm. Hello, dirty Paul.
[Hey, you know what? This is the guy who sold you out to S. If you don't believe me, you can piss off too.]
Is this true, Paul?
[-It was either her or you. -So you're a snake either way you cut it. -If you thought about it for one second, you'd realize all I am doing for these men is what you do for your sisters: protecting them. -So they can assault women and and abduct people? That's a hell of a cause. -And Helena's innocent? How many people has she killed? Just do the right thing. -Let us go. -That is out of my hands now. The military is just another family, Sarah. Your genetic siblings are dying. Everything we do is for them. -You tell yourself whatever you need to.]
Opening up their heads? I think Parsons would disagree.
[Second lieutenant Parsons sacrificed what little life he had left for his brothers.]
He begged me to end it.
[No, you murdered him, and you destroyed months of data that could have helped them.]
Maybe you're next, Paul. Ckk.
[Yeah, Paul! Maybe you're next!]
--
[Come on, Helena. I know you're planning some kind of escape.]
I have no plan. I am institutionalized.
[Come on. We're surrounded by desert, yeah? So we're in Mexico or something. Come on, talk to me. I can help.]
You want to be my sandwich?
[What?]
In Siberia, when planning escape, you take weak person with you. They're called "sandwich" because you eat them. (laughs)
[You want to know why I left Kira with Mrs. S? 'Cause I was too young and I felt tied down and trapped, so I would leave Kira with S for days on end. Then one day, Mrs. S wouldn't let me see her.]
Why she does this?
[Oh 'cause I was high or hungover or some shit, and she was right to do that. But-- I left town with Vic just to show S what a mistake she'd made. I missed nearly a year with my kid just being selfish. I didn't get to watch her grow or share her secrets or be her mum. So you want to hold this stupid grudge, you go ahead. Fine with me.]
[-Meal tray. -I'm not done with it. -Yes, you are. Put it through the slot. -Why don't you come in and get it? (Helena laughs) Open. -Great. -Everybody come in. -All right. -Ah! Ah, ah, ah. -I don't think so. -Hey. I would suggest you show the brothers some respect, make life easier on yourself. Okay? Cooperation is your friend. You can take her back now.]
--
[Hey. Hey, Helena. It worked.]
Sarah, I think you are institutionalized too.
[Sorry I ever said that. Okay, ready? Hide, hide, hide. Okay, good, good. Good girl, good girl.]
--
Okay, I'm ready.
[You ready? You ready? Okay. Um, um, um-- Okay, go! Now, now! Now. Come on. Hurry, hurry. Hurry. Shh, shh, shh. Hide! Hide. Okay. Okay. Come on. You got it, you got it, you got it! Well done, well done. Hurry now, you have to hurry. Hurry. Hurry. Helena? Get the camera. Get the camera. Helena! Psst, psst! (Doctor guy/guard comes to check camera) Hey! Hey, what's up, mate? Oi. Your bloody camera is-- I don't know what's happened to it there. (Helena stabs him) Oh! (Helena spits on him) Get the keys. Get the keys. Helena, get the keys. Get me out. Come on. Come on, we have to be quick.]
Now we are even, sestra.
[No. What? No, no! You leave me here, you've got nobody. Come on. You've got nobody. Come on. Come back. Helena, no! Come on! No, no, Helena!]
--
[What are you doing? Go, stupid.]
Moi sestra, she tears my heart.
[-Your sister's dead. Think of the baby inside you. -Everyone! Get out here now! Now! Out! (alarm) Helena has escaped! -Run. Run while you still can. -I want everyone searching the camp. She's got to be here somewhere. You two. Now! Move!]
In the army, they give you two sets of dog tags. One they lace through your boots in case your head gets blown off. They figure if they can't find you they'll at least find your boots. Uh uh. I can only do this if I don't look at you. My best friend over there was this girl named Becca. I met her my first week. We used to play cards together after lights out using these little... goo flashlights? Um. One night there was a rocket attack in a remote outpost. It was bad. I should've been there, but my superior sent me back to the barracks. They said I'd worked a double. There was this, um, five year old kid on the side of the road. Becca wanted to stop to give him some candy. He threw a backpack. The blast took out two seven-ton trucks and everybody in them. One of them was Becca. They found her boots. She had a baby at home. I should've been there but I wasn't. So. That's one thing that happened.
[I'm sorry you lost your friend. I'm sorry that happened. ]
Yeah.
--
I have the nightmares. You know what else freaks me out? Headlights. A car comes around the corner at night, my heart jumps out of my chest.
[Whistles.]
Backpacks.
[Children's toys.]
Hot days.
[Yeah, hot days. Heat.]
--
[We're not together now but we were in Iraq. Well, we had this intense chemistry and then kept our hands off each other and then she came home and found out that her husband had been screwing around on her the whole time so then she got stop-lossed and came back to Iraq and we fell in love. She told me she was going to get a divorce ...]
--
She could die, Helen, I don't know what else to do.
--
Hey, don't be brave on my account. I'm no good to you if you're not honest.
--
Hi, my name is Veronica. I was a nurse in Iraq and ever since I got back my-- like you, my reactions to things tend to be a little out of proportion. Um. My marriage is ending. It's my fault. I-- I had an affair with this doctor guy while I was in Iraq and he, um, he then had the genius idea to move here when he got out without any advance notice. Anyway, my husband found out. Um. I mean, he's a really great guy and I love him a lot but he was sort of expecting the girl he married to come back and she kinda left the building my second week in the desert, you know. And that doctor guy, man, I really care about him, but... not that it matters because he met somebody else. So. All the men are gone. And I'm still living with my parents which is a little like its own hideous situation comedy. Wow. I'm talking a lot. But I'm fine. I've, um, I've decided to take a break from drinking, which is very good, and I'm also working a lot which is totally saving my ass. I guess it's just weird, because Iraq was-- well, you guys know what Iraq was like but every time I heard those choppers, I knew exactly what to do. Now I've got no freaking clue. So. (I hate that.)
--
He's having a crisis of faith. I don't know what to tell him. I mean, after what we saw over in the sandbox, I don't have a lot of faith in faith. What got you through over there?
--
I lost my faith too, you know. I went to war and I saw some things and then I just could not get with God anymore.
[So what do you believe now?]
I think that's God's in people. I think that the Devil is in people too. I had this soldier bleed out on me on his 19th birthday. You could tell that he was a good boy, like one of my brothers maybe. I held his hand while he was dying. All I could think was "Who could point their gun at this boy and point the trigger? How can we do that to eachother?" But you know what one of his buddies told me? He ran into the shooting to save this little girl. Who has that kind of courage and grace at 19 years old? That's miraculous to me. Maybe that's enough.
[I still miss God.]
Me too.
--
I saw this pig and I thought of you. Wait, that didn't come out right. I got you this pig, Mike. I'm told it's the dumbest present ever but... it's for you.
[You carried this around just for me?]
You have no idea. Just don't eat it all in one sitting.
--
It's in your nose. Gets on the hairs in there.
--
There was this terrorist group that flew hijacked planes into the towers and they fell. Three thousand people died. September 11, 2001. There's been a war going on ever since. I went there. It was-- I wish I could've slept through that. You're lucky you did. Anyway, the whole country freaked out. People were scared in a whole new way. It's a different world.
--
Can we talk about the gigantic elephant in the ambulance?
--
Remember Dubai?
[Cheap way to win a game.]
Who said this was a game? That three day leave in Dubai was the best three days of my entire life. Oh and by the way, we're tied.
--
Well, I gave it my best shot. [walks away] You know, I don't mean to be a sore loser but the game was rigged! First of all, you are taller than me and you played in high school and there were unfavourable weather conditions--
[That's not rigged, that's life.]
"That's not rigged, that's life." That is exactly my point, Chris. Life is rigged. I mean, you show up here just as I am trying to get my marriage back together so I try and do the right thing and then you just happen to meet this totally awesome girl - who, PS, I love - plus, I am actually a really fun girl when I'm not half out of my mind with PTSD. And all I really want is to get back to those three days in Dubai with you because I love you. But it's not going to happen. Plus, I--
(He kisses her)
I didn't get to finish my speech.
--
Because I got through two tours of duty without shooting anybody. Why were you robbing a donut shop?
--
That is also true, insightful ghost.
--
That is so weird that you say that, because I have always wanted to go to Australia.
[So what's stopping you?]
Well, I have people. I have friends and I have family and I have an estranged husband and I am in a relationship. Kind of.
[So why didn't you go to him after you shot me?]
I don't know. I mean, he's seen me at my worst but not... quite like this.
[It ain't pretty.]
We spent a month at this cache in al-Anbar. Lost more wounded there than during my entire second tour. And then, at the end of our stay, this dog that hung around the hospital got run over--
[Wait, wait, your lowest point in Iraq is when a dog got flattened by a Humvee?]
No, it wasn't about the dog, idiot. It was about the stuff leading up to the dog. I don't even remember the dog's name. ...okay, it was Happy. Chris put him down for me. ... Can I see that phone?
[Hey, what are you doing?]
I'm calling him.
[Okay, but if he doesn't pick up we do things my way. Too bad. He's probably busy.]
So... Australia?
[Come on, let's get real. You know that's not where we're going.]
--
Why are you still here? What do you want?
[I want what you want, to be free of all this.]
I am not going to do that. It's crazy. I have a whole life here.
[You know what's crazy? The fact that you think you can live a normal life. You left a piece of yourself in Iraq that you're never gonna get back. You've seen too much, and now you can add murder to that list.]
Stop saying that word.
[You know the reason he didn't answer his phone? It's cause he doesn't want to take care of you for the rest of his life. You're never gonna be okay. The nightmares are never gonna stop. Maple bars are gonna start freaking you out now. Nobody's ever gonna love you.]
That's not true. Mike loves me.
[Not enough. It's only a matter of time before he finds somebody nice and normal. So let's just go. Let's just go wherever, I mean, as long as they serve booze.]
I hear Oregon's nice.
[Oregon. Okay. That's good.]
Mike.
[What? Man, what the hell is he doing here? What is he, telepathic?]
This is the beach we used to come to when we were kids. This is where we said I love you for the first time.
[Great. That was like a hundred years ago. Let him be. Just let him have a normal life.]
Mike! Mike!
[Hey. I'll see you around.]
[God, you had me scared.]
Sorry. Something really bad happened.
[Oh, I know. The whole thing, it wasn't your fault. You'll be okay.]
You promise?
[Yeah. Promise.]
--
To be honest, I'm having some trouble not dwelling, but with a place to go and knowing that I'm helping people, I think I can hold on.
--
Come on, it's my first-day-back-at-work-after-shooting-a-guy dinner! The least you can do is drink with me. ... Too soon?
Nothing, it's just that... I'm actually kinda hungry now.
[So am I.]
--
Boyd? (Metallic noises and his dad's voice.)
[Hand me the 7/16ths wrench. Ugh, what the hell? This is the 9/16ths, you moron. You know what the difference between a 7 and a 9 is, dumbass.]
You know what the difference between a 7 and a 9 is? It's a stripped bolt.
[A stripped bolt.]
I'm sorry, I didn't know. What do you want me to do?
[I want you to shut up.]
"I want you to shut up. Shut up." You shut up. "What can I do, I can't fix this now. I can't fix this now." I can't fix it. I can't fix it.
[I can't even keep it closed. Grab the chains.]
What? "Grab the chains and get in. I said get in."
[Are you not hearing me, son? I said get in the damn freezer.]
"GET IN!"
--
[Boys! What'd you think you're doing?]
Uhhh-- We were watching over you.
[We wanted to make sure you weren't the third sacrifice. But both of you were asleep. (to Isaac:) You were on watch last.]
What're you talking about, you were on watch last.
[No. You were on watch last.]
I might've been on watch last.
[My heroes.]
--
[Go back to school.]
Well actually, we can't. Boyd and I are incredibly and unbelievably sick.
[With what? Brain damage?]
Well, I have a migraine and, uh, Boyd here has, uh, explosive diarrhea.
[We're here to protect you. You're here to protect me? Well. I'm in trouble then.]
Actually. Boyd here came up with a plan.
[Yeah, I thought about the time Gerard had me and Erica locked up? Tied up with electrical wires pushing current through us. So I was wondering how we could do something like that... but on a bigger scale.]
--
[----- and anyone who steps in here? They'll get a pretty shocking surprise.]
Especially anyone who's barefoot.
--
Is this gonna kill them?
[I hope so.]
--
Isn't the light on that supposed to be on?
[Yeah.]
What does it mean if it's not?
[Someone cut the auxillary power.]
--
Derek. What do we do now?
[We fight.]
--
(Isaac sneaks into Allison's house like a creeper and she disables him like a boss)
[What do you think you're doing?]
You weren't at school...
[Did Scott send you to check up on me?]
Maybe he's worried about you.
[I can take care of myself.]
Yeah. I've noticed. More than once.
--
Okay okay hold on a second-- Your dad's the killer?
[No. I mean, I don't think he is, at least. I hope he isn't.]
You hope he isn't the serial-killing dark druid who's been slicing people's throats?
[Yeah.]
Right.
[Do you want to help me or not?]
Yeah, I'm just, I'm just trying to get all the cards on the table here.
[See the marks? There's five more bodies to be found but it doesn't say who the bodies are. ... What are you doing?]
Something I learned from my father. Take a step back, look at the whole picture. Sometimes you see things you wouldn't notice if you were up close and all you're looking at were the details.
[Look at that, you see that?]
Whoa, what is that?
[Fivefold knot. It's a celtic symbol.]
Virgins.
[Warriors.]
Healers.
[Philosophers.]
Guardians.
--
[I have to stop him.]
Is that really a good idea? I mean, if your dad is really doing all this, that m--
[If? Look at this. He knows everything. He's-- He's planned everything.]
What're you doing?
[If Mr Westover was taken from the school there's gotta be another point on the telluric current.]
You mean where he'll be sacrificed. There. That mark's new.
[Then that's where he is.]
--
You really don't think we should call Scott?
[Stay behind me and stay quiet.]
Oh, this is so not gonna end well.
--
FYI, if your dad tries to kill me I'm gonna defend myself.
[If my dad tries to kill you, you'll be dead.]
Thanks for the vote of confidence. ... I smell blood.
[Where? What direction?]
I don't know, I'm not that good at this yet. But I think it's-- Allison. Allison, wait! Allison, don't!
[Get down. Help him!]
[It's Mr Westover.]
It's our history teacher.
[We were wrong. It's not guardians as in law enforcement.]
--
[You want to tally up the lies, Allison? I don't think you'll come out ahead on that one.]
Yeah, just a thought? Maybe right now's not the best time for a little family meeting. There's still one more teacher.
--
I can't get a hold of Derek or Scott. How's Lydia?
Storm's that bad?
Beacon Memorial... that's where Cora is, right?
I have to get to the hospital. I can't leave Cora there with just Peter.
--
No, not with the rain this heavy.
--
I'm gonna take that as a sign you're a little worried.
I think I heard something.
Below us.
--
But there's no way of getting them out without turning the power back on.
She's uh, she's the one with the brown hair. She's kind of hot. Oh, it's just-- Just an observation.
--
Yeah.
Do I look nervous?
Yeah, I can still hear you. Very very clearly.
Yeah. Yeah, I got it.
--
Stiles, let's go. Stiles!
--
[Come on, let's go. Drive, you idiot!]
I can't! Not without Scott.
[...Oh for the love of god go now]
Alright!
--
You see the twins?
Not to bring up uncomfortable memories-- wasn't the last time you saw them the time you killed Kate and they burned you alive?
Hm?
I don't know. Scott and Stiles went back for Derek and Jennifer.
I had to get Cora out.
--
She's dying, isn't she?
[I don't know.]
So what are you gonna do?
[I don't know.]
Wanna figure something out? Because while Scott and Stiles were out there trying to help people from being killed, you were in here rolling around in the sheets with the actual killer. Do you get how many people she's killed? Erica and Boyd are dead, Cora is dying and you are doing nothing! Why'd you do this to us, Derek? Was it all about the power? Were you bored? Were you lonely?
[Maybe. I told Cora I wouldn't leave...]
There's no time! The full moon's coming. The Sheriff and Melissa are gonna be dead so I'm gonna try and help them. You can sit here and perfect the art of doing nothing.
--
I can't shoot a gun or use a crossbow but, well, I'm getting pretty good with these.
--
Thought you only used those on werewolves.
--
[Why did he do that?]
I don't know. We need to go, okay. We need help. Allison.
Allison, we have to go.
[They're all gonna die. Aren't they?]
--
You guys were out a long time.
--
Why does it matter anyway?
So we're gonna trust him? The guy that calls himself death, destroyer of worlds - we're gonna trust him?
--
What about me?
How do you know my name?
--
Mine are both dead.
--
I still haven't gotten anything from Stiles. You?
Alright, well, we can't wait for him. Come on.
--
How're you gonna do that?
--
Are you sure we're going in the right direction?
I'm trying but I can't g-- I hear something. It's, uh... It's an
emitter. It's one of your dad's.
It has to be. Come on!
Allison.
--
They're coming, alright? They're on their way to help.
--
Is it just me or is this place getting smaller?
--
I can't do it. I can't hold it, I can't hold it.
--
Hey.
[Oh, hey.]
Are you- Are you going to school?
[Yeah.]
Kay, me too.
[Good.]
Yeah. Can I ask you a question?
[Okay.]
Are you angry at me?
[No.]
Are you sure?
[No?]
What does that-- What does that mean?
[I guess I'm not really sure how I'm feeling...]
Okay. Do you hate me?
[No, of course not.]
Do you want to hit me?
[No.]
I think you should hit me.
[I don't wanna hit you.]
Are you sure?
[Why would I wanna hit you? I mean, you didn't do anything, did you?]
No. No, I mean, um. What- What do you-- What do you mean?
[I mean, like-- You didn't kiss her or anything, right?]
No. No, absolutely not. No.
[Did you want to?]
Oh yeah, totally. ... Feel better?
--
[Right at her head?]
Almost right through it. And she keeps saying the same thing, that she keeps seeing her aunt. Whatever's happening to you guys is getting worse and if I hadn't been there then Lydia would be dead.
[What were you doing there?]
--
They're all locked up because they're insane.
For half my childhood I was locked in a freezer, so being helpful is kind of a new thing for me.
Yeah, we are still milking that.
--
Wrathful deities. And what are those?
--
[Are you sure Scott's okay with this? Isaac?]
Yeah. He's one hundred percent over it.
[He said that?]
Not in so many words but... he's moved on. You should too.
--
[Allison's a perfect shot.]
No, she-- She used to be.
[She can do it.]
If we manage to find the thing.
[Okay, what is the point of him? Seriously, I mean what is his purpose? Aside from the persistant negativity and the scarf-- What's up with the scarf anyway? It's 65 degrees out.]
Look, maybe I'm asking the question that no one here wants to ask. Alright, how do we turn a coyote back into a girl when she hasn't been a girl for eight years?
--
I wouldn't trust Peter.
--
I've got a pretty good lock on her scent. It's actually kind of strong.
[What is it?]
Pee. [...] You okay?
--
Allison!
[Oh my god, I am so sorry. I'm so sorry.]
Oh, it's better than ring daggers I guess.
[How am I supposed to help anyone when I'm like this?]
Allison. Let me help you. Show me what to do.
--
Actually, we're trying to keep a guy from killing a coyote... who is actually his daughter who we don't know how to change back from a coyote to his daughter, but...
--
Allison-- there he is. Hit Tate. Use the tranq gun on him, okay?
Allison. Breathe.
--
I can think of one - that's the two of you holding Derek's claws while Kali impaled Boyd. In fact, I don't know why we're not impaling them right now.
[You wanna try? Yeah, sorry but they don't trust you and neither do I.]
--
[You are the hottest girl.]
What?
[I'm the hot girl.]
Yes, you are.
--
Barrow went after kids with glowing eyes - he said those exact words?
--
This is how it's gonna be now? We trust them?
[Just because I'm letting them help doesn't mean I trust them.]
Yeah, well, I don't trust them either. Or like them. In fact I hate them and I just want them to die.
[Well, if Barrow's actually here and he's got a plan you might
get what you want.]
--
Electrified the windows?
[Yep.]
Didn't wanna... say anything about it?
[Nope.]
Okay.
[What are you doing here?]
I figured you could use an extra pair of eyes.
[Can you read Latin?]
No, but I can look at pictures.
--
Did you find anything?
Oh, just-- Beelzebub, the lord of the flies.
What?
No I wasn't.
Alright, maybe I was trying to kiss you.
Never, okay. Alright. Fine. I won't kiss you either.
--
No, nothing. Just stuff about flies and the dead, nothing else.
--
Did you see them?
There were five of them. They wore black. I could- I couldn't I could see their faces, they were covered.
One of them-- I could see his eyes they were greenish-yellow, like a firefly.
They didn't. It's like they came out of the shadows.
From everyone?
--
Derek can never know about this.
--
You see Scott?
[Yeah.]
Tell him what happened?
[No, we still have a couple hours remember? We promised my dad?]
You promised your dad.
[Yeah, I promised him in order to protect him.]
You did. I didn't.
[Is protecting my father such a bad thing?]
I don't like keeping secrets from Scott.
[No, you don't. You just like to stand there awkwardly waiting for someone to notice us, whatever we are. And then you like to make things incredibly uncomfortable.]
And what's that supposed to mean?
[What do you think it means?]
I think it means you're probably mad.
[I'm not mad.]
No?
[No.]
Okay.
[I'm frustrated.]
Sexually?
[Do you want to talk about Scott or do you want to paint my body?]
I want to paint your body.
--
What's wrong?
[There's something on your neck. It's behind your ear.]
--
What is that?
[It looks like the number 5.]
Did you hear that?
--
It'll trigger the healing.
--
Your dad's 24 hours are up.
--
Same thing as what it did to me.
[Anyone with a connection to the supernatural.]
Then who's the guy they went after in Japan?
[... they cut down every living thing in their way.]
Did they mark him like they did us?
[...I spent yesterday tracking him down.]
Didn't look like he wanted to be found.
--
So how're you gonna get to him?
[blah blah You're not going alone.]
If she's going, I'm going.
[To be honest, I don't feel good about bringing either one of you.]
But they were looking right at Scott when the sun came up.
[That might only leave us til nightfall to find a way to protect him.]
Alright. Let's go see if the paranoid yakuza wants to put another gun in his collection.
--
Well, he's a paranoid recluse, shouldn't you be a little less surprised?
[I was trying to remain optimistic that we wouldn't have to go to my plan B.]
Plan B. And what's plan B?
[How tall are you?]
--
Guys? This isn't-- This isn't gonna work, I look ridiculous. I mean-- I look like I just stepped out of the last period of a Catholic prep school and there's no way that I am going to be able to remember all this. I mean, what does this even mean: revolving over and under barrels?
[You look great.]
I am sweating all the way through my jacket. I didn't even know that I could sweat this much.
[Gimme a second. You can do this. You're not a boy if you walk in there acting like a man. Okay? Go in there with confidence and all they'll see is a boyish-looking man.]
Or a stupid teenager pretending to be a man. I'm going to get my head blown off by a bunch of Japanese fingerless mobst-- (kissy :>)
[How do you feel now?]
(Reservoir Dogs-esque entrance lol) Gentlemen. I believe Mr Kotashi is expecting me.
[I'm expecting you.]
--
What we're looking at here is a mint condition, French flintlock turnover pistol. Crafted in the mid-17th century it was a gift from Louis the 14th to a prominent French family. It's only ever been fired once.
[During a duel between brothers. On the grounds of the palace of Versailles.]
So you're f-familiar with it.
[Oh, Mr Kotashi knows what he wants. We'll take it. A hundred and fifty thousand.]
Well that is certainly better than the version that I heard. I'm gonna trust you guys with the money here and le--
[Personally, I'd like to hear your story.]
(Isaac wolfs out.)
--
Guys? They have a werewolf too.
--
Why did they take your finger?
[A yakuza performs the ritual himself]
--
[Isaac! Isaac, get up! I need your help.]
Why? What's wrong?
[It's Stiles. Get dressed.]
What's wrong with Stiles?
[I don't know.]
--
[Maybe he thinks he's part of an unsolved case.]
Or is an unsolved case.
[You don't know where he is? He said he's in an industrial basement somewhere.]
We came here to get a better scent.
[What else did he say? Something's wrong with his leg, it's bleeding.]
And he's freezing.
[Tonight's the coldest night of the year it's going to drop into the 20s. ... I'll catch up. There's something here.]
Yeah. Evidence of total insanity.
--
[Is there anything you need to tell me that I can't tell everybody out there? Lydia knew he was missing. Can she help find him?]
She's working on it.
[Anything else?]
--
[He's not here. Not anymore. The whole building? Gone.]
I'll go tell Stilinski.
--
What the hell have you been doing?
[Sleeping, what the hell are you doing?]
You didn't get any calls? Or a text?
[My phone's off. I never turn my phone off. Sleepwalking. Is he okay?]
Yeah, they found him a few minutes ago. Bringing him to the hospital.
[I don't know what happened, I never turn it off. (Japanese voicemails)]
What is that?
--
[I don't know, all the messages are the same and they all say blocked ID.]
Can you translate it?
[Mostly. The man speaking is giving instructions, actually. The first line is "All evacuees are to stay at least 10 feet back from outside fences"]
What does that mean? What fences?
[Fences surrounding a Japanese internment camp in WW2. After Pearl Harbor Japanese Americans were rounded up and put into camps. This man is reading instructions out to those on arrival. Where does something like that come from? I have no idea, because it's fake. It mentions the name Oak Creek. There was no internment camp named Oak Creek in California.]
--
Allison!
--
[What are you doing here?]
I thought I'd come and see you.
[You didn't just walk out of the hospital, did you?]
It's okay. I feel a lot better. All healed.
[Giving you the alarm code was a bad idea.]
Maybe.
--
[There you are. What're you doing over there?]
There's still a lot of weapons here. I thought your new code was about protecting.
[Most of them are non-lethal.]
This looks pretty lethal to me. Maybe you should keep them. There's still a few of us out there who aren't so non-lethal. Like the twins.
[I thought we were going to give them a second chance.]
They don't deserve it.
[Things are different now. It doesn't have to be like that anymore.]
I had a feeling you'd say something like that.
[Isaac, wait-- Isaac!]
--
I guess this is the part where I say something witty. ...I'm not witty.
--
Come on, Coach, you gotta have a lighter. For everyone. For Erica, for Boyd. I'm gonna burn it. I'm gonna burn it. ... Nice sword.
[Isaac]
--
[Isaac, you're next.]
Wait, alright...
[Don't fight it. Don't fight.]
--
[That's it, that's Lydia's car.]
The scent's strong with emotion.
[Fear?]
No, anger.
[Sounds like Lydia. Let's see what else we can find. Just, just out of curiosity, do you remember the other night?]
You mean the night before last night?
[That night before you weren't you.]
Yeah. I remember.
[So that night were you you, or were you not you?]
You mean the night when we were... us?
[Yeah. I just- I just wanna know if it was actually you with me.]
Did-- Did you want it to be someone else?
[No. No. Of course not.]
Okay. Okay then. Cause it, it was me. And I do remember it. I really remember.
--
[Okay, if she tells me.]
If she tells you? Can you ask her?
--
[No.]
I'm just saying--
[Isaac, we are not going to torture her.]
I meant scare her.
[We're not going to psychologically torture her either!]
Fine. Okay, how about this: you said she hears things, right? Doesn't that mean she's like Lydia, a banshee?
--
[Just focus on the silence.]
Listen to the silence.
[Focusing on the silence.]
Listening to the silenc--
[Okay, would you just let me handle this, Isaac, please? It's just, I have more experience with banshees.]
Yeah. And mental patients.
[Isn't anyone going to get that? Get what? The phone. What phone?]
The phone.
[Oh. The phone. My phone. Yes. Hello? Yes. She is, actually. She's sitting right here. It's for you.]
--
[Yeah. I'm okay. You don't have to worry about me.]
Alright, I'm gonna say it: you look like you're dying. You're pale and you're thin and you look like you're getting worse. We're all sitting here thinking it. When we find the other you, is he gonna look like he's getting better?
[What happens if he gets hurt? What do you mean? Like if he dies then do I die? I don't care, just so long as no one else dies 'cause of me. I remember everything I did, Scott. I remember pushing that sword into you. I remember twisting it. It wasn't you. Yeah, but I remember it. You guys gotta promise me. You can't let anyone else get hurt because of me.]
--
I just didn't feel like doing any homework.
--
[Mom?]
What is that? What does it mean?
[It means there's been a change in ownership. Now they belong to me.]
--
How do we stop them?
[You can't!]
--
[Can you remember anything else? Anything else? Isaac?]
I'm sorry. It just happened so fast.
--
[I appreciate the concern but you don't have to stay. I'll be alright. I've dealt with this before. I have a capacity and an ability to compartmentalise my emotions.]
I don't.
--
[Careful. That one takes some practice. When Allison was learning she had to bandage her fingers because they got so raw. Wouldn't give up on it, though.]
She kept trying to say something.
[What's that?]
She was trying to say something. "Scott, you have to tell him", she said. "You have to tell my father." She didn't get a chance to finish it but I'm sure it was just that she
loved you.
[Okay. That's okay. She made a point of telling me earlier.]
Earlier?
[There's a tradition we have--]
A silver bullet.
[She was making a silver arrowhead.]
But where is it? The arrowhead?
[Downstairs.]
I need to see it.
[Why?]
Because I have a feeling it isn't there.
--
[Why would she make four of them?]
She didn't. She made five. She made the first one and then she figured it out. She used the first silver arrowhead to kill one of the Oni. We saw her do it.
[How?]
The same way that you almost did. Do you remember when you told us about one of your first gun deals, the yakuza?
[That meeting wasn't one of my first deals, it was my first.]
The bullet that you used to shoot the Oni, was that a silver bullet?
[Yes. But it didn't kill him. It just broke his mask.]
Probably went straight through. What if silver is like a poison to them? What if it needs to stay in the body? What if that's what she was trying to tell Scott? What if that's what she was trying to tell you - that she'd figured it out?
[These four were still setting when she went off to meet Scott.]
No. Sorry, I-- I just remembered, I have a morning practice to get to.
A few. Usually they just take stuff like jewellery.
Her liver.
--
Um. So far it's an A in French and a B- in Econ.
I'm not sure yet. Midterms are in two days so it could go up.
Grade?
Uh. I'm not sure.
Just, uh-- I meant generally.
No.
I just told you, I- I don't know.
Dad, the semester's only half over, there's plenty of time to go--
It's a D.
Yeah.
[daddy is a massive douchebag and throws shit on the floor etc etc and at isaac's head]
You could have blinded me.
--
Derek! Derek!
My dad, I think he's dead.
That's the thing, it wasn't me.
--
Don't tell them. Please don't tell them.
--
Well, I'm a little bummed about being a fugitive but other than that I'm great.
--
Are we done? I got about a hundred bones that need a few hours to heal.
If they wanted us dead, why aren't they coming for us now? What are they waiting for?
--
You're still gonna have to do one more thing for us. Well, actually... for me.
--
Yeah-- then we kill the bitch, right?
Kanima.
--
[If you harm one perfect strawberry blonde hair on her head, I'm gonna turn your little werewolf ass into a fur coat and give it to her for her birthday.]
Huh. Really? I've never actually been to one of her big invite-only birthday parties. I did ask her out once, though.
[Sounds like the beginning to a heartwarming story. I'm gonna pass, thanks.]
It was the first day of freshman year.
[You thought everything was gonna be different for you in high school and she said no...]
Yeah, she even laughed. Told me to come back when the bike I rode to school had an engine, not a chain.
[Unrequited love's a bitch. Maybe you should write about it in English class, you know, channel all that negative energy.]
Nah. I was thinking I'd... channel it into killing her. I'm not- very good at writing.
--
Where is she?
--
You know the full moon's coming, Derek?
[I'm aware of that. Ooh, these look comfy.]
You said you were gonna teach us to change whenever we wanted.
[There hasn't been time.]
But if you have to lock us up during the full moon, that means you're alone against the Argents.
[They haven't found us.]
Yet. So how about we forget the kanima?
[We. Can't. But there was something about the way Gerard looked at it. He wasn't afraid. At all.]
--
So. What are you, some kind of... witch?
--
[I don't see anything here that's going to be an effective defence against a paralytic toxin. We're open to suggestions.]
What about an effective offense?
--
[I think maybe he couldn't let the same thing happen to someone else.]
How'd you know it's not part of the rules? The kanima kills murderers. If Jackson kills the wife then the baby dies too.
[Does that mean your father was a murderer?]
Wouldn't surprise me if he was.
--
[What if something that affects the kanima also affects its master?]
Meaning what?
[Meaning we can catch them. Both of them.]
--
[Here's an idea: you give us the tickets and devote your life to abstinence.]
How do you two losers even survive?
[What are we supposed to do? No one's even selling.]
Wait here, boys.
[What is he doing? Oh. That's excessive. Ow, that'll bruise. ]
Enjoy the show.
--
Why me?
[Cause I gotta make sure that Argent doesn't completely ruin the plan. Look, you gotta do it intravenously, which means in the vein. When you find them, pull back on this plunger right here. In the neck's probably gonna be the easiest. So you find the vein, jam it in there, pull back on the plunger. Be careful.]
Oh, I doubt it'll even slightly hurt him.
[No, I mean you. I don't want you to get hurt.]
--
[He okay?]
Well. Let's find out.
[Okay! No one does anything like that again, okay?]
Ah, I thought the ketamine was supposed to put him out.
[Yeah? Well, apparently this is all we're gonna get so let's just hope that whoever's controlling him just decided to show up tonight.]
--
[Okay. More ketamine. The man needs ketamine, c'mon!]
We don't have any more.
[You used the whole bottle?]
--
What is that?
[It's a triskele. The spirals mean different things. ... It's a spiral. ... Alphas can fall to betas or even omegas.]
What, like Scott?
[Scott's with us.]
Okay. Well, where is he now?
[He's looking for Jackson. Don't worry, he's not going to have it easy tonight either.]
--
So how come she gets to wear the headband?
[Because she'll be able to withstand more pain than the two of you. I've got an extra one if you really want it.]
I'll pass.
-- How do you not feel this?
[I feel every second of it.]
The how do you control it?
[Find an anchor. Something meaningful to you. Bind yourself to it, it keeps the human side in control.]
What is it for you?
[Anger. But it doesn't have to be that for everybody.]
You mean Scott?
[Yeah. Alright, that should do it.]
--
[Think you'll be okay now. Looks like you found an anchor.]
My father.
Your father locked you in a freezer in the basement to punish you.
He didn't use to.
--
Why does it smell like that? ... What?
[Scott said almost the same thing to me a few months ago. Somehow, he could somehow tell the difference between which animals were getting better and which... were not.]
He's not getting better, is he? Is it cancer?
[Osteosarcoma. It has a very distinct scent, doesn't it? Come here. I know you're well aware of what your new abilities can do for you - improved strength, speed and healing. Have you ever wondered what it could do for others? Give me your hand. Go on.]
What'd I do?
[You took some of his pain away. Only a little bit, but sometimes a little can make quite a difference. It's okay. The first time he showed me, I cried too.]
(the cutest fucking cry grin every i can't u qt dumb puppy)
--
They're leaving. Tonight. During the game.
[So? Why are you telling me?]
I'm not telling you, I'm asking you. I'm asking for your advice.
[From me? Why?]
Because I trust you.
[Why?]
Cause you always... seem to wanna do the right thing?
[I usually have no idea what I'm doing. Actually, I always have no idea what I'm doing.]
Huh. Do you wanna let me know what you're doing right now?
[I'm not going anywhere, if that's what you mean. I have too many people here who need me.]
Well, I guess that makes me lucky, cause, uh-- Cause I don't have anyone. So.
[Well, are you gonna go with 'em?]
Yeah. Yeah, I think I will. Good luck with the game.
[Oh thanks, but I'm not going either. I can't even think about playing some meaningless game right now.]
You weren't at practice last week, were you?
[No, I skipped it. Why?]
And you didn't hear?
[Hear what?]
Jackson was there.
[What do you mean 'there'? Like, he was pr--]
As if nothing had happened.
[But that means, the game tonight...]
Yeah. He's playing.
--
[You came to help!]
I came to win.
--
You got a plan yet?
[Right now it's just keep Jackson from killing anyone.]
Well, that might be easier if you were actually in the game. We have to make it so coach has no choice but to play you.
[How do we do that? He's got a bench full of guys he could use before he ever puts me on the field. ... Can you do it without putting anyone in the hospital?]
I guess I've always been pretty good with words. In my line of business it's as important to be able to describe what I'm doing as it is to do what I'm doing. When to say what, what words to select. Some men hate to hear certain terms. They can't stand specific moves and then they can't live without others. It's part of my job to know where to place my hand, my lips, my tongue, my leg, and even my thoughts. What kind of pressure, for how long, when to stop. I can become your first kiss, or a torn-out image from a Playboy magazine you found when you were nine years old. Am I your secretary, or am I your daughter? Maybe I'm your seventh-grade math teacher you always hated. All I know is that if I do it just right, I can become your living, breathing, unflinching dream, and then I can actually... disappear.
--
Yeah, fine, thank you.
...there's no toilet paper in this stall.
Men are such assholes.
Thank you.
I think you dropped this.
Take it anyway.
I want you to have it.
--
Do you want to buy me a drink?
What are you having?
I don't usually meet with women. Couples, yes, but... a single woman...
Do you choose his women for him?
He can't come in himself? Why not?
It's Chloe.
Most of my clients are married.
What does he look like?
If he asks what I do for a living, what do you want me to say?
Some Japanese.
--
Excuse me... I'm sorry, can I borrow your sugar?
Thank you. :3
--
Did you not recognise me?
I saw him. Just like you said, he had his newspaper right there and I- I went up and asked for sugar. And he pretended to read his newspaper, and he--got up and came over to me and asked me if I was a student. And I said that I was studying language like you told me to -- Japanese -- um and he asked me if I could say something in Japanese which made me blush and I ended up just saying konnichiwa and then he asked me what my name was and I said Chloe.
Nothing happened...
He barely flirted, he was just-- friendly.
He's cute.
I try to find something to love in everybody. Even if it's a small thing. Something about the way someone smiles. There's always something, there has to be. I try to make myself generous. I- I do things I don't wanna do. I- I think about what not to critisize. And the strangest things come back to me. Like... you.
Yeah. Yeah, people like you walk into my life.
Okay.
--
Hey. They're amazing. c:
But I already did.
No. I already saw him.
I was at the cafe a-and I he I approached him like you asked me to and I we went to lunch. Yeah, it was, um- A picnic, kind of?
Uh, we bought some sandwiches, and then, um, I asked him about his teaching and he started talking about all this music and he s- kind of stared at me.
And then he asked me if he could kiss me.
But then he said he could not kiss me because he's married. You see, at first he was hesitant- And then he asked me if there was somewhere he could kiss me where no one would see us and I said to him that we should go to Allen Gardens, you know that place down the street. The big greenhouse.
Do you want me to... stop?
We walked through this big long corridor, all these exotic flowers. And there was nobody around. I love Allen Gardens. It's always so warm and the air just feels so beautiful, it's like you're suddenly in another country. I know there's a place in the back where they keep tools and stuff. No one ever goes in that section, it's like a secret hiding place. He brought his mouth up to my lips and we hovered there for a long time. I could feel he was excited through his pants.
I don't really know what you want.
--
Did you carry that bag with you in your car?
Actually let's not cut it, sorry. I I'm gonna take them off, so-
I'm sorry.
Is it gonna scar?
We were hidden, um, deep in this forest of exotic plants, trees. And we could hear voices in the distance, but we were pretty sure no one could actually see us. I pushed my hand down his pants and I felt him.
And then I, um, I moved my hand lightly on him.
And then I kept doing this; moving my hand on him in his pants and he said to me I can't come, I can't come I have to go to work, but I didn't stop. And then I bit his tongue and then g- just then, he came, in my hand.
And then he had to go to work, so he walked away.
Oh I, no I, I've got tests.
Okay, yeah.
--
[Embellishing their stories Attention-seeking, playing for sympathy etc She knows how to be what people want, but hasn't got a good idea of what people actually want except for johns. Real emotional connection is hard. "I try to find something to love in everybody, even if it's a small thing."
Can't let her get away, but not really prepared. Thrown by the possibility of rejection, scrambles for something to keep her drawn in. -- "I was at the cafe a-and I he I approached him like you asked me to and I we went to lunch. Yeah, it was, um- A picnic, kind of?" And he kind of stared at me
Pushing her, getting her upset, trying to manipulate her way into her emotions. When it looks dangerous/like she might be rejected, she reels her out and in again. Detailed lies. Very detailed. Best lies filled with truth. She tells lies like they're true, without hesitation.
Bike; on purpose? She sees her watching. Semi-on purpose. Accidentally on purpose. Playing for sympathy, not afraid of a little bit of hurt. -- she gets taken care of, and it's intoxicating. Attention and sympathy and caring.
Story, pinpointing fear and insecurity. On purpose, to keep her dependant?
Flirting with the son -- almost... she could have a relationship with him?
Chloe Sweeney -- I wish someone had given me lessons. I love music. "Raised by Swans"
She knows how to be sexual, how to be alluring]
--
We met in the park again, um. This time he didn't bring sandwiches. We checked into this room. He put on the news, pretended to be interested. Kissed me. Whispered "Let's fuck." He couldn't get it up. We tried a few times. He was really embarassed, but I told him it didn't really matter. But I liked it, that it meant that we could just wait a little bit longer. At that point he was fully dressed, I was completely naked. ... Does this turn you on?... He wanted to stay dressed. He sat right over there on that bench. Told me to get between his legs. I put him in my mouth, and then he got hard. "sneeze" It's nothing, I'm taking zinc. ! Did he come in your mouth? ! No. I pulled him out of me, put a rubber on him, straddled him. And he came almost immediately after he entered me. I put my tits in his face.
--
[Money. -- oh. :c Yeah, that's right. Money. She still thinks it's a business thing.
Do you still love him? -- I don't know.... gauging the place. Then kiss
A good sense of when to push, when to break someone down. Kiss -- misjudged. Thought it would be the right time. But nope.
Body as an object. Not important. Hence why tlc feels good. When it gets harsh, violent, whatever, semi-dissociation? Sex, using it as a lure, as something she sees as good and something?
SEX -- watching HER get off, not getting off herself. ???
No, it's- this used to be my mother's. And I want you to have it. "Did you drop this on purpose?" c: I wanted to talk to you. ... "You'll see me on the street?" hidden outrage behind joking joking
Email -- blackmail photo, no message. "I'm in your waiting room, didn't you see me when you came in?" :3
I don't want this to be over. And I don't think that you... want it to be either. ... It's not about money. ... /cries This isn't was- this thing this is was so real and you know that. What about last night I touched you an I- ...
Business transaction -- the hurt and pain of that
Sleeps with the son -- in the bed. You can't control everything. Getting herself off]
--
Your mom is Doctor Stewart.
You look like her.
Yeah. It's the same look in your eyes. I mean, not really the colour or the shape, but the look. And your lips, too.
I'm Chloe. Sweeney.
Nice to meet you.
Are you a musician?
I wish someone had given me lessons. I love music.
Raised by Swans.
You never heard of the band Raised by Swans?
You'd like them. ... I think you'd really like them.
--
Hey.
I bought you that CD that we talked about; Raised by Swans?
What?
But you didn't download the case. Or the artwork. Or the CD that you can keep forever, and hold in your hands...
I hate the internet. Nothing is private, nothing is real like this, me meeting you hear. The penalty box. Do you have a page?
I know, I saw it. That's how I knew that you had a game today. Nice picture.
Yeah you do. I like that picture of your mom.
Isn't she in the background when you're getting that award.
You're all about good works, aren't you, you sanctimonious prick? Did you tell her everything? About my power over her?
['Course not.]
Good, 'cause that could really bite you on the arse. Tell me, how long have you had the hots for Dawn? Or should I say the colds?
[Don't make this cheap.]
You wanna fuck her.
[I hate seeing you misuse your powers with such a great person.]
How would that go, Mister Freezy with the warmest, nicest person in the world?
[That's not why I helped her.]
You wanna hump her, shag her, make the beast with two backs.
[Fuck you!]
I'll get her back, Ty. One phone call, she's mine again.
[Don't do it to her, she deserves better than you.]
Oh, give me a break, Ty! You're the one who should be letting her go, not me. Unless you want Dawn to be another one of your girl friends. That is, a girl, who's just your friend. You give yourself away, Ty, all the time. Don't mess with my business again.
--
... I thought we were only having a drink.
[I couldn't let you leave without a proper tribute to your brilliance. And I have good news on many fronts-- not that you care, now that you've left. Glack & Stronack have given us the Australasian account.]
Don't they want to sue your arse for defaming their product?
[Initially, yes, but I talked them around and now Headstrong is the new Viagra. All thanks to us.]
But that's not true.
[Oh, we're making the appropriate denials but it's rushing off the shelves. All those punters want to get lucky and score themselves a cougar.]
Rosie's not a cougar.
[She is now and she's loving it. I got her two major magazine covers and a renewal on her contract.]
But I thought they wanted a younger demographic.
[Young is how you feel, baby, and Rosie has shown a whole new side to herself. Two years and a cougar confessional book deal. I love Rosie, I looked after her. And you, Dawn, you're my bedrock. My core values. Without you, I'm nothing; I want to look after you too. Please, please don't leave me.]
I want a pay rise.
[Done.]
--
Just get me home before somebody sees me in this shitty car.
[You're the one who dragged me out, then got pissed and then got us thrown out.]
They were all dogs anyway.
[They were nice girls! Until you started being horrible to them.]
They weren't her, though, were they?
[No. So?]
So they were all dogs. Your car smells real bad. (Horns beep) Fuck, okay!
--
[I'm off lunch.]
Ooh. Bring me back something?
[I can't. I'm actually having lunch with someone.]
Anyone I know?
[Just a friend.]
Girl friend or man friend?
[A none-of-your-business friend.]
You gonna come back all sweaty from sex?
[Ew. No. Oh, your brother's here. Be rude to him instead.]
Good, I need to talk to you.
[Why?]
I think we need to broaden our search criteria.
[How do you mean?]
The Frigg. Trawling bars isn't working, so--don't ask me why--I'm thinking churches.
[Why would a Norse goddess go to church?]
It might... fulfill something in her. We'll start Sunday morning.
[Oh, I sleep in on Sunday mornings so forget that. You remember the other night when I gave you a lift home?]
Vaguely. Your car smelled of feces.
[No. You didn't happen to leave anything in my car, did you?]
Apart from my dignity?
[Yeah, apart from that.]
Such as what?
[You'd know what if you left it there.]
Can you give me more of a clue?
[No, because it obviously wasn't you who left it there.]
Left what?
[None of your business!]
It was when you came in here.
[And now it's not.]
I think this church thing could be a real go.
[I've got way more important things to worry about right now.]
--
So that's why you were being Mr Mysterious. Why didn't you just ask?
[So you did leave them in my car.]
Oh, please. If I had a shitload of class-As on me, do you really think I'd be stupid enough to leave them in your piece of shit car?
[You were pretty pissed.]
Not that pissed. Where are they now?
[I don't know!]
Pity. Hospital cocaine, that's pure shit! Cocaine hydrochloride, they use that eye surgery and all kinds of stuff.
[Can we take this seriously, please?]
Mike, drugs are a subject I take very seriously. I even did a campaign for an anti-drug organisation once. The research was awesome.
[Anders, Axl could go inside for this. Thanks for the reminder, Mike!]
Three to nine years for supply. So you stole the drugs from the hospital, right?
[I didn't steal any drugs.]
Shut up and think. You go to the hospital for this appointment.
[Which was totally bogus.]
Oh, isn't that amazing? And next thing, low and behold, there's cocaine in your car.
[... Someone was using me to smuggle drugs out of the hospital.]
I so hope that fully powered up Odin is nowhere near as dense as you.
[What?]
You're being framed, Axl.
[Of course he's being framed! It's not like the blow fairy paid him a visit. But who would want to frame me? ...ah. Right.]
Yeah, now you're catching on.
[Shit. When I rang the number about the appointment, I thought the voice sounded familiar.]
Your goddess friend is back.
[Bitch.]
I so want to meet this woman.
[Jesus, Anders. She's trying to put our brother in prison!]
Exactly. No way is he going to find Frigg when he's inside for three to nine years, or if he does it's not going to be the Frigg we're looking for.
[Anders--]
What? It's a good plan. To buy them time to find Frigg first. What, I can't admire a good plan when I see one?
[I don't want to go to prison! You're not going to go to prison. How do you know! Because I'll figure out a way to beat their plan. I am so doomed. It's okay. We just have to think through the options.]
You two? What the hell are you two going to come up with? Drugs, chicks messing with your minds... drugs. This is so my territory and you know it. Axl, go home and do not leave. If your dickhead flatmate resurfaces, give me a call, but above all do not worry. Mike, you go home and worry 'cause that's what you do. But leave this to me because I am going to take these goddess bitches down.
How the hell did that little guy kick Kirk fucking Landis's ass?
(So Mickey's out soon, yeah?)
In about a week or so if he doesn't stab anyone else. Plastic fork. Barely broke the skin but it bought him another thirty days.
(You gotta be looking forward to having Mickey home again, huh?)
... I guess?
--
Karen Jackson? After that thing with your dad?
(Sneaking antibiotics into his toothpaste just in case.)
--
Here he comes. You know you didn't have to come with me.
(Bad neighbourhood.)
We live in a bad neighbourhood.
(Yeah, but we're related to the bad people in our bad neighbourhood. Hell's he doing here? Hey Mick.)
He thought I needed protection.
(Oh yeah? Trust me, you think you know my sister? You don't know my sister til you've fought my sister. She's protecting your ass.)
You smell like barbeque sauce.
(Smell like what?)
Oh, ow! What did dad tell you?!
(Fuck the police?)
No titty-twisters now that I'm a C-cup.
(C-cup? Bitch, you wish.)
--
(Think it's possible for a guy to be called Jody and not be a douchebag?)
Ever thought about calling him chodey?
(Tool hijacked my sex buddy. Revisionist history. What? More than a sex buddy. Nah, that was just my little brain doing all the thinking while my ass was doing all the talking. You guys want to come on the icecream truck later? Can't. Volunteering at the VA.)
It's a waste of time.
(It'll look good on my Westpoint application. You know you should be figuring out how to work the system instead of playing into it. America's a meritocracy.)
They don't even make --- jobs anymore. It's all about how ???
--
Another word and I'll blow your brains all over the fucking linoleum.
--
(So. When'd you get home?)
Last night. ... He drinks and mistakes me for mom. Only once in a while, not like it's a big deal. What's that fucking look on your face? A Gallagher looking down on me? I don't think so.
(Why'd he think it was me?)
He blacks out. Forgets. Lip better keep his mouth shut.
(He will.)
I just wish the whole thing would go away.
(We can make it.)
You got six hundred dollars lying around?
(Well, we can raise it. ...the money, not the baby.)
You'd do that?
(You're my girlfriend.)
--
Why didn't you stab him?
You ride the city bus without a knife?
--
Holy shit.
How does a child rapist only get five years?
You want help? My dad always loves a good perve posse.
Hell no. I'm gonna teach you self-defense, Milkovich-style. C'mon.
--
Where'd you learn this?
(Nowhere. Just relax and enjoy.)
You been watching porn without me? Cause you know I consider that cheating.
(No. I haven't. Although I do consider that rule pretty unrealistic. I just-- thought it up. It's hot, right?)
Maybe if I was licking it off you. ...I'm hungry, trade places.
(No.)
No? Since when did you turn down a BJ? Your dick's not even hard.
(It was a sting operation. She's a pedophile! I took a picture for the cops.)
Yeah, fuck the cops. They had their chance.
--
You Blake?
(Yes?)
You're moving now, Blake. You're moving tonight.
(Excuse me?)
I don't excuse you, you sick bitch. I don't excuse you cause you're hot or cause you're blonde or cause of what you've got between your legs. Come take a look. ... See that? They're digging your grave and you want to be gone before they get down to six feet. How's it going, boys?
(Good.)
Tick-tock. Kid fucker.
--
She's my half-sister whose meth-head mother apparently died.
(You have a sister?)
Half. Wanna finish?
(... sure.)
--
(So this sister--)
Half.
(She's just waiting somewhere for your dad to go pick her up?)
In Milwaukee.
(He gonna do it?)
No.
(So you think maybe-- I don't know, maybe you should call her? Tell her he's not coming?)
No call answers that question just as good as a call does.
(So you're cool with your sister going into the foster care system?)
Well, the system's better than here.
(Says the girl who - miraculously - has never been in the system. She have any other relatives?)
Who knows? Look, it sucks but there's nothing I can do about it.
(She sounded desperate. Let's see if we can get her, let's see if we can help.)
Help how?
(I don't know, maybe locate the rest of her family?)
How are we gonna do that?
(I dont know, drive up there. Figure it out.)
In the car neither of us have?
(She's your sister.)
Half.
--
Hey Molly. It's me, Mandy. This is Lip, my... friend.
(Hey. Is daddy here?)
He's at sea. Uh. But... he sends his love. How are ya?
(Am I coming home with you?)
You never met any uncles or aunties?
--
Hey Fiona.
(This is Molly, Mandy's sister.)
... I do. Hey, Molly, bathroom?
--
Sex o'clock.
--
(I'm a dick! Mandy! I'm a dick. Can you come down? Hey.)
I'm not a tool.
(Yeah, I know. )
So you don't get to treat me like one.
(I know. Come down. Please?)
--
Who's this?
(Hey Mandy. It's Karen Jackson. I just wanted to call and say thank you for applying to colleges for Lip.)
What?
(My mom kinda sucks these days so it'll be awesome to have somewhere new to go and all I have to do is poke one hole in a condom and he'll do whatever I say. Forever. Heh. I mean, we learned that from last time.)
Fuck you.
(Oh, what, you mean like all three of us? Yeah, I could be down for that. Do you want me to ask Lip next time we do it?)
--
(What'd ya hit?)
Girl at school.
(Don't forget to check for hair behind the grill. Call Matty about the windshield.)
--
(Sorry about that.)
It happens.
(Look it's not you I just-- I can't get Karen getting hit by that car out of my mind. Hey. Hey, wait a minute. I can focus.)
I'm late for school. We can give each other head in the shed behind the football field at lunch.
(Oh, it is hard to turn down head in the shed....)
She's in a coma.
She won't even know that you're there.
You want me to come with?
--
Hey. Where were you today? I didn't see you at school.
(Something came up.)
They gave us homework over the Christmas break. You know, I told Mrs Stoltz that Jesus didn't want us celebrating his birthday by fucking reading. Want the assignments?
(Just came by to see you. Who's at the goddamn door?)
It's for me, shithead! I got some nitrous. I'll go get it.
--
Okay, I got the nitrous. Meet you outside?
('Kay. The fuck do you want?)
Really? I mean, that's all you're gonna say to him? You're a fucking pussy.
--
(Hey. Hi. Um. I got into MIT. It's a full ride. Anyway, it would've happened without you. So, um. Thank you.)
Are you gonna go?
--
(Whoa, what happened to you? Kenyatta happened.)
I'm over it, okay? Let's move on.
(I told Mickey she could stay here. And you're not going back, by the way. We'll find you some place to live. Why the fuck should she leave? It's our house.)
Why are you making such a big deal about it? Jesus.
--
Is that a shiv?
(Yep! Later. Thirteen years old and she's bringing a shiv to school. Man, I miss high school.)
--
Hey. This look okay?
(How'd you do that?)
Cover-up. Living with Terry brought out the artist in me.
--
Not the first time a boyfriend's beaten the crap outta me, but it's definitely the last.
(I hope so.)
How's your boyfriend?
(Mm, he's not.)
Sorry, I lost track.
(I have too much to do to even worry about him or the girl he's seeing, so really it's a good thing.)
The first guy who even slaps you? I want you to take that shiv and jam it in his eye, don't even let him start.
(Hm. Lip told me to go for the scrotum but the eye works too.)
--
(Hey. What, uh-- What brings you here? She's staying with us 'cause Kenyatta--)
You can spare him the details. It's temporary, so don't get your flowered panties in a knot.
(What happened to your eye?)
This. [flips him off]
--
(What the fuck is this?)
You guys hungry? ...is that a yes?
(The fuck are you doing with him?)
Having lunch.
(With this piece of shit? You wanted him dead yesterday.)
Psh, don't be dramatic.
(Mandy, he hit you. In the face.)
No. He didn't.
(Seriously?)
No, he didn't. I just said that 'cause I was angry. No, I was shitfaced and I fell.
(You fell. Yeah, okay. Alright then, clumsy feet. Enjoy your fucking spaghetti. Mandy, we need to get you out of here right now. I promised I was gonna get you someplace safe, away from him.)
Ian, let go.
(Listen, you can't stand for this, you said you weren't gonna stand for this!)
Let go!
(Mandy! What the fuck? Ian! Ian, look at me. It's cool. Everything's cool. We're leaving. Let's go.)
--
Everybody want coffee?
(Oh yes, please.)
Okay, great. We've got a special on the ??? house breakfast. It's a ham and cheese omelette. It's got sausage or bacon, grits-- Grits, um, huh, with a choice of toast and it's 4.99. Okay. Um. I'll be back to take your order.
...
(Mandy. Hey.)
You want some more coffee, sir?
(Uh. No. No, um. I didn't know you worked here.)
I'll be with your table in just a minute.
(You look great.)
You want something else? More sugar? Cream?
(No. Uh. No, we're good. ... Thank you.)
--
(And he hasn't gotten out of bed?
No. He's just-- sleeping. I can't get him up, I tried.)
Yeah, so did I.
(And what about before, what was he like?
Before? He was fine, he was happy. He's staying up all hours of the night, dancing, telling fucking jokes. He kicks my ass every day, I can't keep up with him.
We gotta get a hold of Lip. He should know.
Know what? What's wrong with him?
Uh. D-- Depression, I think?
He's depressed? What'd'you mean he's depressed-- I mean we all get fucking depressed. How the fuck can we not, living around here?
It's not that kinda depressed, okay? Look, I-- I could be wrong, but it could be bipolar disease like our mom.
Bi-- Bi-- what? What the fuck is that?)
It's... manic depression, Mick.
(It's like high highs followed by low lows over and over again. We'll get him an appointment at the clinic and we'll see what they say.)
Love? You haven't seen Harry for weeks, you don't even know if he's alive.
--
Perhaps they were worried we'd get carried away and build a swimming pool.
--
Just a couple of sips.
(They're in agony.)
It's something.
--
I know just the thing. (goes off singing are we downhearte)
--
We've run out of bandages.
(What about our personal things?)
That's what I mean: we've got nothing left.
What about the supply ships?
(ripping petticoats:) Come on Agnes, no time for mock modesty.
--
I'll tell the other girls.
--
Helen of Troy!
Alright, I'm coming.
Oh, I don't have dysentery, I'm here this time every day.
Lucky hygiene isn't important in our profession.
I won't what they're lining up for. Agnes! Is that where they're hiding the lemon pudding?
You can't leave!
Yeah, but you'd still be leaving Lemnos.
--
We are desperately understaffed, you really mustn't leave. I solemnly pledge myself before God to practice my profession faithfully and devote myself to the welfare of those committed to my care. The Florence Nightingale pledge, Agnes, we all took it.
Well, what about the Nursing Services one? I pledge to do all in my power to allieviate the suffering of the sick and the wounded sparing no effort to bring comfort of body and peace of mind.
You made a pledge, Agnes! No-- We made a promise. We made a promise to these boys signing up that we would care for them.
So you're running away? Don't you care what they'll think of you back home? Your family?
--
I want to be discharged. My temperature hasn't been above 99 in four days, I'm back on solid food and in terms of movements--
Matron Wilson has a hard enough time staffing these wards as it is.
I feel better.
What am I supposed to do here? Just look at you all day?
I'd need a chaperone... but Sister Daley has the day off.
--
My parents weren't enthusiastic about it but they didn't try and stop me, either. Story of my life really: "Don't encourage her, she'll give up eventually."
I don't think I know...
Ahahaha. [unsure]
You read the bible, Mr--?
Has it always been your calling?
So you traded in the church to work for the devil?
--
Star of Bethlehem, I know. Where have those wise men got to, anyway?
(I know you're still too ill to have it, but... You must try the horseflesh.)
Horseflesh? Oh! It's- Turkish delight! Thank you!
(You didn't think I was going to get you to eat that one, did you?)
I'm hungry enough to most days. ... Never seen a sunset like it in Australia.
(Me neither. ...you've been sick, Sister Haynes, I'd better get you back.)
You should call me Olive.
--
You sure you can't use me in the wards?
(You're on light duty, Sister Haynes. Doctor's orders. Only on Lemnos could clearing out a tent be classified as 'light duty'.)
What we have here is a modern design. A rustic yet harmonious blend of canvas and rope. Stepping onto the porch, one is immediately struck by its spaciousness and its commanding harbour views. This is undoubtedly the finest dwelling on Lemnos island.
--
(His father's a mechanic.)
It must have been terrible to give him up but I suppose one must abide by one's parents' wishes.
(Listen to you. Earnest is a nice enough fellow but he is no Major Sherwin. He seems rather keen on you.)
Oh, well, he'll kinder than most MOs but that is not what we're here for. ...Mr Dooley seemed nice.
(The orderly?)
--
Lime juice, to prevent scurvy. (takes a tough bite of hardtack) We're certainly lucky to have a dentist on the island.
--
They treat us like dirt. Brass don't care. Our boys are getting slaughtered at Gallipoli and the ones that pull through get sent straight back to be killed. I feel like a chewed-up piece of string most days. My hair is revolting. I haven't recieved a single letter from Australia. I'm so sorry, Matron. You've lost your brother! I have no right to complain!
(...Suffering is suffering, whether it's from a lice-infested trench or a leaky tent. You're miserable. It's alright. But there are still men that need your help, if you've still got the strength to keep going.)
(Hello. This K Company? We're supposed to be in 60 mortars, second squad.
Jesus. These guys are supposed to be 60 mortars.
This is second squad.
Robert Oswalt.
Eugene Sledge.
You mortars too?
Rifleman, third platoon. Bill Leyden.
Then we'll ignore you.
That's Snafu. That man's De L'Eau, and I'm Corporal Burgin. Find yourself a bunk.)
Taken. Taken.
(Come on, I'll show you around, find you another tent.)
--
(Working party! Three of you boots to go with Snafu. Hurry up!)
You heard the sergeant. Now!
(You don't mind, do you, Leyden?)
You assholes're gonna miss cleanin' out oil barrels pretty soon. You're gonna be humpin' up some fuckin' hill or across a beach, Japs pourin' shit for fire, pissin' your pants, cryin' "Boo hoo," and wishin' you were back here with nothin' asked'a you but to scrub oil outta drums.
(Why don't you grab a brush, give us a hand?)
Fuck that shit. I scrub drums for no man.
(Can we take a break?)
Do whatever you want. This ain't my detail. I was s'posed to dump you all off here then report back to the CP.
(Then why are you still here?)
I like to watch the new guys sweat.
--
[Marines watching a movie, kissing scene] (Whadda you waiting for? Fuck her!)
You think she's blonde down there?
--
(I don't smoke.)
Yeah? [Snaf grins, vomits, then lights up a smoke, what a gross dude c:]
--
Son of a bitch. Those are Jap tanks.
--
You goin' Asiatic?
(Feet are soaking wet.)
What you gonna do in your stockin' feet when the fuckin' Japs bust through the line?
--
(You men got enough ammo?)
Sure thing, Skipper.
(Perimeter's thirty yards out from your hole. LP's out beyond that. The password's "Lilliputian". One man awake at all times.)
Lilliputian?
(Hard for the Japs to say? Hard for me to say.)
[after watching Sledge struggle opening his ration:] Trade you. ...shit, I forgot about that guy. [goes off to stick a knife in a dude's mouth and dig for teeth] We're rich, boys. Jap's got a shitload of gold in his teeth. Gold is what-- 30 bucks an ounce? [pockets the teeth, settles down on some rocks for a sleep] Take the first watch. Wake me up in four hours. Anything moves, kill it.
--
(...Ten yards from where we slept, the fucking Grand Canyon. A mile down, colours I'd never seen before. My dad was right: pictures don't show it. You have to be there, looking down into it.)
Shut the fuck up, you idiot.
(We have to go out there tomorrow...)
--
What the hell you doin'? Break this shit down. Get ready to move.
--
(Quit whining. It'll all be over by the time you cross.)
Japs hate mortars and bazookas's much as riflemen, Leyden.
(How many Japs d'you think are up there?
Anyone got any asswipe?)
No asswipe, no chow, no water, so don't even think about it. A nice cold sip'a water? Little splash on your head? Put it right outta your mind.
(I got a little water. [they pass it around]
Thank you. You've been promoted.)
You gonna give him the mortar sight?
(It's the least I can do for the water.)
--
(Pork chops!)
Pork chops? That's my meat.
--
Saw you readin' last night.
(My Bible.)
Writin' too. Ain't s'posed to write shit down, you know. Gives the Japs valuable intel, they find it.
(I guess I won't show it to 'em then.)
Got a smoke? Thanks, Sledgehammer.
(Sledgehammer. I like that.
Jesus Christ.)
Don't worry, we got a nickname for you too, Bill Leyden. We call you ball-peen hammer. Like a little hammer, for a little man.
(Alright, Snafu. Shit'n'ass... fuck up.)
Little joke from the little man.
--
(You think he'll come back?)
You disobey orders, you get court-martialed.
(You guys, check your weapons. Keep a round chambered.)
Done.
(Can you believe this bullshit about the dog? Some dog's supposed to smell a Jap before me? I don't think so. I appreciate the thought, but ain't no dog gonna make me sleep safe at night.
I've got a dog. His name's Deacon.
You keep fucking with your stovepipe. If the Nips come through here at high port with fixed bayonets, you nail 'em with flare and HE as fast as you can. You think you can do that?)
We got it, Gunny.
(I was asking Sledgehammer.
Yes, Gunny Haney.
Woof.)
What the fuck was that? "Hey stovepipe boys-- woof!" [laughing]
--
What's that?
(Sounds like some guy having a nightmare.)
He better shut up before every Nip on this island knows we're here.
(Quiet that man down.
Hold him down, stick him with morphine.)
Shut that fucker up.
(Stick him with morphine.
Jesus Christ, who the hell is that?
Hold him down. Calm down.
Help me, please! Help me!)
That guy is gonna get us all killed if he don't shut up.
(Hold him down. Hold him. Hit him with something!)
1100? Ack Ack just gave us the fuckin' mornin' off!
--
(Any of you guys got a Jap sword or flag? I'll pay good money for it. Or a Jap bayonet? Any kinda Jap weapon, I'll take it.
Sure. I keep them in my ass. Reach up, grab what you want.
Seriously. I gotta get me a Jap sword. I can't go home from the war empty-handed.
I can arrange for a Purple Heart.)
Ain't nobody goin' home.
--
What was that? What happened?
(What the fuck is going on out there?
I dunno.
Who the hell was that?
Two Japs, I think. One ran down the road, the other jumped in Packer's foxhole.)
--
(What kind of guy gets out of his hole at night without sounding off?)
The kind with two Japs up his ass.
(Just one.)
Leyden knows what it's like to have a Jap up his ass.
(Fuck off.
Can it, Bill.)
--
(Burgie. Burgie. Japs in the bunker.
First platoon cleared it with grenades. They must've checked.
No. Listen.
Wake up, Sledge.
Burgie, I'm sure. They're in there.
Son of a bitch! Sledgehammer, check that side!)
Sledgehammer, Burgie, up here!
(Keep 'em bottled up til I come back!)
--
Die, you Jap fuck! Fuckin' die! Fuckin' die!
--
(Look at the gold teeth on this one!) [some other guy digging in a wounded Japanese soldier's mouth with a knife]
(Christ, put him out of his misery!
Fuck off!)
[Snaf comes over and executes him] Makes it easier.
--
Bullshit. The McCullock boosted my old man's Mercury V8 40%.
(It only adds four PSI, Snaf.)
You get better torque, you know that.
(Yeah, well, you run that thing for a while and it'll get noisy.)
So?
(How you doing, boys?)
Skipper.
(Gunny made some coffee if anyone wants some. It's actually pretty good.)
Burgie here says superchargers are worthless. Whatchu think, Skipper?
(Out here, I'd have to agree with him.)
--
Oh, fuck!
(Fall back.)
Let's go! Let's go, let's go!
--
(What the fuck is the matter with you? Why'd you take so long to shoot him?
Damn, Jay. If it ain't coming out your mouth, it's coming out your ass.)
Look like you were in a sack race, Jay. [mimics the pants-around-his-thighs run]
(Aw, shit. I shit myself.
[laughter] No kidding!
Fuck. I fucking shit myself. [even more laughter] You guys are fucking nuts.
Go back and get yourself some new dungarees, Jay.
It's all over my hands.)
You left a trail, boy. They're gonna find us now.
--
What you doin', Sledgehammer?
(Thought I'd bag me some Jap gold.)
You don't wanna do that.
(Why not? I saw you do it.)
Don't. You shouldn't do it. Germs. Doc Caswell says all these dead Nips has germs.
(Germs.)
Bad germs. Diseases that'd make you sick.
(Bad germs. ... Well, is it alright with you if I cut out his insignia then?)
No danger in that I know of.
(Yeah? That pass muster with you?)
[Snaf swallows but doesn't protest, Sledge cuts out the insignia, everything is kind of awkward and awful :c but Sledge didn't pry out anyone's teeth so ???]
Seriously. I'm gettin' that yellow jaundice that's been goin' around, I know it. The heebie-jeebies.
(It's hepatitis and you don't have it.)
I'll catch a fever then turn inside out through my asshole like Carson in Love Company. C'mon, look in my eyes. I'm dyin', Sledge.
(Hey.
Hey.)
Check out my eyes, Jay. They look yellow?
(I just got transferred outta King.
What? Where?
Headquarters Company.)
It'll be alright, Jay. Shit, you're jus' down the road.
(Yeah. I'm just down the road. Least I can do is buy you guys a drink at the slop shoot.)
--
Shut the fuck up, Kathy. Don't you hear good? They're Okinawans.
(Fuck off.)
What you say, boot?
--
New ponchos are full'a chemicals.
(Chemicals, huh?
What chemicals?)
They treat 'em with all kinda chemicals. That shit'll make you sick. Real, real sick.
(I didn't hear that.)
Yeah, you think they're gonna tell you? ... Here. Take mine.
(Hey, thanks.)
Semper fi.
--
(Well look what we got here.
I thought you didn't take prisoners.)
Those are th'army prisoners, boo.
[...]
Outta the way, Hirohito. Move, you slant-eyed bastard! Move!
(Shoot him!
Sit down.)
Move!
(Sit down!)
Move!
(You can't mistreat these men! They're protected by the Geneva Conventions...)
Fuck the Geneva Code!
--
(Lock it in there. Make sure this is straight.)
Hurry the fuck up!
--
(Put a small hole at the bottom, helps with the drainage.)
Don't know why you bother. They'll be dead in a few days. Don't wanna know their names.
(Hamm: H-A-two Ms. Just use it to get my attention.)
Hamm, with two Ms. Now I gotta forget somethin'. I need some long thin ones.
(Try this.)
I got one.
--
(Holy hell.)
Jesus Christ! What the fuck is that stench?
(Shit. Unbelievable. Start diggin'.)
Fuckin' horseshit.
(Oh man.)
--
Short round! Short round!
(Shit.)
Let's go. Try again. Fuck!
(Misfire!)
Misfire!
(It's hot.)
Clear it. Easy. Got it.
(Try again?)
No, our fuckin' rounds are all wet!
(Keep firing, goddamn it! Pour it on!)
Our rounds are wet!
(Get more, then. There's ammo up the road.)
Dice, Hamm, with me. You stay here!
--
(Why aren't we giving them safe passage?)
Whatchu talkin' about?
(The civilians. We should be-- We should be giving them safe conduct.
A lot of them are helping the Nips, Hamm.
That family wasn't.)
Only thing that matters up here is killin' Japs.
(You know, the first time you see someone get killed, it's something.
You get used to it.
I was fifteen. A buddy and I were hopping subway cars in Brooklyn. We went through a tunnel that was a little bit too small. I fractured my skull, he, uh-- His brains and bones got sprayed all over my face and chest. You never ever forget something like that.)
Good thing your damn head's so fuckin' hard. You got nine lives, Bill Leyden. ... What's the matter, Kathy? One day'a combat and you're all wore out? More excitement's on the way, princess. Japs fighting for their own turf now. Every damn foot we go South they'll get meaner and meaner. You better get mean too, boo. [grabs Kathy's picture] Ooh. Ooh, la la la. Now that's a piece'a ass.
(Careful, that's a man's wife you're talkin' about.)
Mmm.
(Wow.)
Yeah.
(I'd marry her.
Marry? Who said anything about marriage?
Give it back.
Kathy Jones? I thought you said your name was Peck? She's not-- She's not your wife!)
Oh, that's rich! What's the missus think about kitty cat?
(I met her after I was drafted.
What?)
Drafted? What kinda marine is drafted?
(Hamm, were you drafted too?
No.)
I don't believe it. No way that broad is bangin' some drafted marine. No way.
(I don't care what you think.)
--
Great. 'Cuzza you we're gonna get our asses shot up.
--
We need more damn men up here.
--
(Incoming!
Those are ours.
Short round!)
Our own fuckers are shellin' us.
--
This is fuckin' bullshit! If I ever find the fuckin' FO that called that arty, I'll shoot 'im!
(The sons of bitches will just do it again.
Why did they shell us?
Because some asshole officer read a map wrong, and nobody gives a shit about us! There is no goddamn reason.)
--
Eugene. Gene?
(My dog died.)
'm sorry.
(He was a good dog.)
How old was he?
(Got him as a pup about nine years ago. Maybe ten.)
They say dogs live, what-- seven years to every one of ours?
(My brother was on the Bunker Hill.)
Wow.
(Ship got hit by two kamikazes. Five hundred guys died, asshole. How the fuck can they do that? Fly themselves into a ship?)
Emperor is God. Duty to God.
(They can't fuckin' surrender?
I hope they don't. I hope we get to kill every last one of 'em.)
--
Hey. Why don't you get a newer poncho off a dead body?
(This one suits me just fine.
Man. I thought it'd be different.
Different from what? Books you read? Movies you saw?
Nah, I just-- I'm just saying.
Grow up, Hamm.
Fuck you, Sledge. [Snafu laughs.] Why don't you pull yourself in the hole next time, okay?)
That's the talk.
(Yeah. Fuck you too.)
The Hammbone did learn somethin' in boot camp. Where you from, Hamm with two Ms?
(So now you wanna know where they're from?)
--
(We got here April 1st. Easter Sunday.)
Fuckin' April Fools, no matter how you look at it.
(That's sixty-six days.
We're never getting off this island.)
Aw, c'mon, Kathy. Summer's right around the corner, then Halloween, and then there's Thanksgivin'. Look, I'm already workin' on your Christmas present.
(Outta the sticks in '46.)
Hell to heaven in '47.
(The Golden Gate in '48.)
--
(Screw it.)
We need some reinforcements up here.
(Give it a rest.)
Fuck you, Eugene.
(Yeah, fuck you too, Shelton.)
Fuck, I'm so fuckin' tired. I'm fuckin' tired of this maggoty stench. First they order us to push forward when we ain't got enough bodies then they order us to sit in our own shit--
(Shut up.)
They fuckin' shell us with our own artillery!
(Shut up.)
I'm so fuckin' tired of not havin' enough fuckin' bodies!
(Jesus Christ, shut up!)
Fuck you!
(Shut up!)
Fuck you, Sledge!
(Shut up, Shelton!)
Fuck you!
(Hey Peck--
Peck, sit down!)
Peck!
(Come on, you fuckers!
Peck! Shit--
Come on! Come on! Come and fucking get me! Come on! Come on, you motherfuckers!
Peck! Peck, come on--
Come on and get me! Come on! Come on! Come and fucking shoot me!)
Eugene!
(Come and fucking get me.
Hey, Peck! Peck!)
[Snaf to Sledge:] Stay down!
[Hamm gets shot and killed :c]
(You stupid bastard. You stupid-- You stupid stupid stupid bastard! You fucking idiot! You stupid stupid bastard!)
My pleasure. [to girl walking past:] Hiya. I'm Merriell Shelton. How 'bout I take you to the back of the train and you can show me your caboose? [she slaps him lmao] Fiesty.
(Snafu just got pinked on the train home.)
If we'd'a been here six months ago that broad woulda given us all blowjobs. [the guys laugh] Lied to again. This entire division didn't do that "plus six months" horseshit we did.
(They got home a week after V-J Day-- parades, pretty girls. 1946, the party's all over. Not as much as a complimentary beer.
Somebody had to stay and clean up after the war.
I suppose I'm gonna have to get a job too.)
Doin' what?
(I dunno. Anything between digging ditches and owning a bank. First I gotta get Florence home.
Wait, Florence from Melbourne?
Mm-hmm.)
You shippin' her all the way over here and this the first we hear 'bout it?
(Come on, Snaf. It was Okinawa. Figured it'd be bad luck to talk about it then.
Well, when's she coming?
I dunno. I cabled her but we've been at sea. I guess I'm gonna find out soon enough whether I'm getting married or not. What about you, Sledgehammer?
I'm just hopin' this Florence girl comes to her senses. [they laugh]
You got a job lined up in Mobile?
Nah. No job, no girl. No plans.)
How long you think that's gonna last?
(As long as the sheriff lets me.)
I'm gonna get that girl.
(Aw, leave her alone.)
You boys watch. I'm gonna get that girl.
(You've been saying that about every girl since San Diego.)
--
(There's my little brother. No sign of Florence.)
Melbourne's a hell of a long way, Burgie. It'll take Florence a while to get from Australia to here. Thanks... for doin' all you did to keep us from gettin' our fool heads shot off.
(You're good marines.)
--
[THEN SNAF FUCKING LEAVES WITHOUT SAYING GOODBYE. ASSHOLE.]
[It's, uh- Jesus. It's called The Tin Soldier. It's a bunch of malarky.]
Mm.
[Smoke?]
Mm, not possible.
[James Darmody.]
Richard- Harrow.
[Nice to meet you.]
Mm. Would you want- this? My sister- sends 'em to me- 'cause I used to enjoy 'em.
[You don't anymore?]
It occurred to me- the basis of fiction- is that people- have some sort of connection- with each other- mm, but they don't.
[Thank you.]
They makin' you- take the test?
[The nutcase test? Yeah.]
Mm. Then they'll tell us- if we're normal or not. I hear- some of the questions- are embarrassing.
[Just lie.]
Mm, I find that- difficult now. Mm. They're interested- in what's in our heads- so that next time- we'll fight better.
[Hm.]
I should leave this- mm, in my room- but if I don't have it with me- I become anxious.
[German sniper mask.]
Mm. I had to wait- a very long time- for him to take it off.
[You were a marksman?]
I watched him- from a blind- for three days. He lifted it- to scratch his nose. I put a bullet- one inch below his eye.
[Well. Fuck him, right?]
Yeah. Mm. On the test, they ask- if you ever made love to a girl.
[James Darmody? James Darmody? He left. Did he say why? He said he was feeling fine. Then he left. ... Richard Harrow? He left too. Go ahead. Try lying.]
Mm. Yep. That's right.
---
Mm. You live here? This- is a whorehouse.
[Yeah. You want a drink?]
Bourbon.
[Two bourbons. The real stuff. Uh... You got a straw back there? A straw? The second drawer down. Down. To the lost. Again?]
Mm. You have a gun- under your jacket.
[It's a Colt. 1903.]
Mm. I have- one of those. And a Smith & Wesson triple lock. A Roth-Steyr, a Webley .455. Mauser 1914. Very small. Mm. Enfield 1917. 30-06- mm, telescopic sight. Very accurate- mmhmm. Accurate to 700 yards. Mm. I like the Colt- in the hand. How'd you use yours?
[How do you think?]
Mm. You use it to kill people. It's very good for that.
[I wanna introduce you to someone. Odette. Odette. Hi. This is Richard Harrow. He's a friend of mine. He's a war hero. He needs to know how grateful the nation is for his sacrifice. You're a patriot, right? I'm whatever you want me to be. I'll watch your things. I'll watch them. It's okay. C'mon baby, I got a whole tickertape parade for you.]
---
[Richard. We missed you this morning. The dedication, for the memorial.]
I wasn't- interested in that.
[You alright?]
I should- talk to Jimmy.
[Okay, Ange. Where were you today?]
Needed to take a walk.
[I should've gone with you.]
We're both back now.
[You up for a job tonight? ... Is there a problem, Richard?]
Would you- fight for me?
[Of course I would. Right down to the last bullet.]
Then let's go to work.
---
[The whole company is supposed to be singing and this fella Radcliffe, he starts changing the words. Over there, fuck a bear, I'll fight any night, in my underwear~]
Mm. You know, I'd be out- days on end. Moving from blind to blind. Mm. Water, rations, rifle. Never speak a word. I'd come back to camp, the boys joking- and I'd feel... this is where I'm meant to be.
[Nobody was meant to be there.]
But that's where we were. And we're still there, aren't we?
[Time to come home, Richard.]
How?
[I don't know, but promise me you're gonna try.]
---
Who was that?
[Nucky. He found Manny Horvitz.]
I'll come with you.
[It's okay.]
I could take care of this for you.
[This is something I gotta do myself. Did Jimmy go out?]
(SHANNON speaks into the large brick cell phone held up to her ear.)
-It's two-hundred dollars for two weeks. -Yeah, it kind of is an emergency. -No, it's fine, I'll figure it out.
PHONE: (Inaudible.)
-That's true. -I guess he can't kick me out for another week or two. -But can I trust him not to just change the locks?
PHONE: (Inaudible.)
-Yes, and I appreciate that, but-- -Ok, you're right. -Just... nevermind. I have to go. Sorry.
PHONE: (Inaudible.)
-Ok. I'll talk to you tomorrow. Love you. -Forget it. Bye.
(SHANNON hangs up the phone and puts it away.)
------
CONWAY: Excuse me, ma'am, I saw the light was on and I'm looking for the onramp to--
-Are you here to kick me off the property? -Do you believe in ghosts?
CONWAY: Oh, no, no... I guess you don't belong here either, do you?
-Do you work for the power company? -Are you just out wandering?
CONWAY: Ha. Well, I do drive a lot. Just me and the road mostly, when the sun is out.
-You sound lonely. -Is that your job? Driving?
CONWAY: Here's what it is: I drive deliveries for a shop called Lysette's Antiques, and I'm out trying to finish this job.
-You're making a delivery to the mine? -What kind of stuff are you hauling?
CONWAY: Oh, uh... no. I have a delivery for "5 Dogwood Drive", and I can't remember ever seeing that address before. Now I heard I need to take a highway called the Zero. So I met this young lady, name of Weaver Marquez, and she sent me this way, and so here I am. Uncommon kind of place for an onramp, but that's what it's been like so far anyway with--
-What?
CONWAY: Weaver Marquez. Do you know her?
-So you saw her. Tonight. I know Weaver. She was... she's my cousin. I'm Shannon Marquez.
CONWAY: Oh, you're the one who fixes televisions.
-That's right. Did she tell you that, too? Of course she did. Weaver doesn't lie. One time, when we were younger, she told me my dad had been in a terrible car wreck. There was crushed metal everywhere, and we'd be hearing it echo through the house for years, she said. I was very upset, crying, and then my dad walking in the door, just come back from a trip to the junkyard collecting scrap metal to fashion into windchimes. I was angry, but she said it wasn't a joke, and it wasn't a lie. At the time I thought she meant it as a riddle or a puzzle. But Weaver's not a puzzle. She's a mystery.
CONWAY: So, what are you doing down here, Shannon?
-I talked to Weaver earlier this evening, too. Or anyway, she talked to me; it's hard to tell if she's listening sometimes. Weaver told me I had to come down here to the old Elkhorn Mine. She said I'd find... something I've been looking for.
CONWAY: What are you looking for?
-I'm not exactly sure. I have a few ideas... I'll know it when I see it. It's not such a bad thing, you showing up now. All told, I'd rather not go down there alone. Your dog should stay up here, though. It's no place for a dog. This is an old mine. It runs pretty deep and tangled. If we're going to go down into it, find your onramp and whatever else, we've got to keep our bearings. I don't want to get turned around. I've got some gear here to measure conductivity, frequency, response, stuff like that. Maybe we can find a way to put a signal out ahead, do some analysis and figure out what kind of topology we're up against.
CONWAY: Sure. Let's look around.
--------
S- That runs into the mine's PA system. Do you think it still works?
C- Only one way to find out.
S- Alright, give it a whirl!
C- (into PA) Uh, is anybody down there?
S- Nothing. Hm... Oh, there's no power. Yeah, OK. Even when this old mine was up and running it was tricky to keep stuff powered. You know, the miners used to have to pay just to run the fans and the lights? Yeah, they got paid in these shitty plastic tokens - coal scrip, you know? And if you want to run the fans for a bit to clear the air up, well, you have to put a token in. My parents used to work here. So did Weaver's parents. I guess a lot of folks' parents worked here...
C- So let's just head into the mine and see what we see.
S- No, I'd definitely feel better getting some readings first. We don't know what it's like down there anymore; years of seasonal changes and seismic irregularities could have totally reconfigured it. I'm not going in blind, and neither are you. I bet we just have to free up some power for the PA system. Everything is rationed. Here, set up that lamp of yours, and I'll go unplug these ceiling lights.
C- (Tries to think of something clever to say.)
S- I heard the speakers back here crackle a bit: it's on now, right? Try saying something into the mouthpiece.
C- (into PA) Well...
S- OK, I hear you... We need to measure the echo delay time and figure out how deep the tunnels run. Just make some noises into the mouthpiece.
C- (Taps the mouthpiece. Knocks on the table. Whistles.)
S- Damn, that's a long delay! These tunnels run deep. I bet some of them have ruptured or joined up with a cave system. Alright, I set up my spectrum analyzer, so just say something into the mouthpiece and we can get a sense for how narrow the mine tunnels are. Don't be shy, just say anything that comes into your head. Tell me a story about something - or what did you have for breakfast today?
C- (Into PA) I had breakfast with Lysette. She made biscuits. We listened to the radio. Then I loaded the truck.
S- ...got it. Looks like the tunnels are pretty cramped... Yeah, low ceilings, hope you're ready to stoop a bit! Eh, you're probably used to it. One more test. We just need to know if the air is breathable, or if it's too thin, or too dense. Just sit real close to the mouthpiece and breathe. I'll measure the resonance of your breath with the air in the tunnels. Just try to relax. Try to breathe naturally.
C- (Breathes, and thinks about resting. Breathes, and remembers a moment earlier in the day.)
S- Getting some pretty strong readings here. I think we're in good shape, but keep at it for a minute!
C- (Breathes, and visualises a hot meal.)
(CONWAY breathes and relaxes, as a peal of feedback and loose rock engulfs him.)
Daja was a smith, with intense bonds to fire, but for all that, she was normally slow to anger. Something in what he had said lit the tiniest of sparks. I don't know if he realises it sound like he wants me out of the way, she thought, heat tingling in her cheeks. Or like I can throw myself on my foster-sister's charity. Of course he didn't mean it to sound as if he wants me out of the way. Even if we have been living in each other's pockets for longer than we'd first expected to. We didn't intend to stay so long in Olart, or Capchen, or Anderran. We didn't plan to spend a whole extra year and a half away after Namorn.
'Daja?' Frostpine asked hesitantl.
I can't look at him, she thought. I don't want to cry. I feel all... lost. Funny.
'We should get moving,' she said, nudging her horse into motion. The sky remained cloudless, but now the day felt grey. Her eagerness to go back had faded.
'Daja, please talk to me,' Frostpine said. 'You can stay with me or with Sandry. Frankly, I had expected you would want a house, perhaps even a forge, of your own, since you're of age. Certainly you can afford it. You haven't taken vows of poverty.'
He's smiling at me - I can hear it in his voice, she thought. I should smile back, not worry him. But I feel empty. Lost, like when the Traders declared me outcast because I was the only survivor of that shipwreck. Why didn't Sandry warn me, all those letters she's been writing? She babbled of the duke's health and something or other Lark wove or she embroidered, but wrote no word of not being able to return to Discipline. Of course not. She has family. The duke, and her cousins in Namorn. But me... I'm cast out of my home. If I don't have Winding Circle, what do I have?
Briar and Tris will be in the same basket when they come home, Daja realised. They'll be outcasts, too.
--
Tris poured the tea water, noticing that her hand on the grip of the pot trembled. It's all wrong, she told herself. We should be in Discipline, with the kitchen and the table all in one room, and Lark and Rosethorn... Stop it! she ordered herself tartly. She put down the teapot and slid her fingers behind her spectacles to wipe away tears. When she could see again, Daja had taken charge of the teapot.
'Things change,' Daja said softly. 'We change with them. We sail before the wind. We become adults. As adults, we keep our minds and our secrets hidden, and our wounds. It's safer.'
--
Briar was smugly pleased to find that, unlike most non-Traders who rode under the protection of Trader caravans, the four were not kept to a seperate camp, guarded by the Traders but shut out of Trader conversations and Trader campfires. He tried not to smirk at the non-Traders when he passed their lonely fires. The four would have been forced to join them if not for Daja. Though she had once been a Trader outcast, the same powerful act of magic that had left her with living metal on one hand had also redeemed her name with all Traders, and made her and her friends known and respected by her people. Now Daja carried an ebony staff, its brass cap engraved and inlaid with the symbols of her life's story, like any Trader's staff. Now she could do business with Traders, eat with them, talk with them, and travel with them, as could her brother and sisters.
--
Daja was relieved when a footman brought in a plate of trout cooked in wine and began to serve it. It feels so strange to be talking about experience - sex - with them, she realised. I don't see why Briar keeps plunging in. I tried the kissing, and the petting, that time in Gansar, and that other time in Anderran. It just felt... awkward. That one boy smelled of sweat, and the other one had chapped lips. But Briar llikes it. Lark and Rosethorn like it. Frostpine likes it. I wonder if Tris...
She sneaked a look at Tris. The redhead had a book in her lap and was reading it between bites.
Perhaps not, with Tris, Daja thought. You'd have to get her attention first, and she'd probably hit you with a book. She looked up and met Sandry's dancing blue eyes. Sandry had noticed that Tris was reading at the table, too.
Daja grinned. At least some things are still familiar, she thought. And at least Sandry is still Sandry, whether she lives in a marble pile or not.
--
--
'Well, we certainly can't leave you here,' Tris drawled, looking at Zhegorz. 'And Green Man knows potions or oils won't work for long. And you can't wear my spectacles for the scraps of things you see, because my spectacles are specially ground for my bad eyes. It's too bad it isn't a matter of a living metal leg, or living metal gloves... living metal spectacles?'
'Maybe like nets?' suggested Briar. 'To catch visions in?'
'Or sounds. No, that's mad. Perhaps. Let's go see Daja,' Tris said.
'Daja will do something mad?' asked Zhegorz, now thoroughly confused.
Tris sighed. 'Daja can make spell nets out of wire, and she can make a leg that works like a real one. She was even crafting a living metal eye, once. Maybe she can think of something in living metal to help you.'
Briar and Tris were both dozing on Daja's bed as the smith finished the pieces they had decided might serve their crazy man best. Zhegorz himself sat on the floor by the hearth, watching Daja work.
For Zhegorz's ears, Daja had fashioned a pair of small living metal pieces that looked like plump beads pierced by small holes. Once they were done, she wrote a series of magical signs on them under a magnifying lens, using a steel tool with a razor-sharp tip.
'You understand, this will take adjustments,' she told Zhegorz softly. 'Depending on what you want them to do, just speak the name for each sign. Then the pieces should let that much more sound into your ears.' She knelt beside Zhegorz and gently fit one of the living metal pieces into his left ear. Watching as it shaped itself to fill the opening precisely, Daja asked, 'How is that? Comfortable?'
'It's warm,' whispered Zhegorz, looking up at her.
'I'm not going to put cold metal in your ears,' Daja said, a little miffed that he would suspect that of her. Once she checked the fit of the first piece, she gently turned Zhegorz's head and inserted the second. 'There,' she whispered, deliberately speaking more quietly to tet the ability of the pieces to pick up everyday sound. She recited the first lines of her favourite story. 'In the long ago, trader Koma and his bride, Bookkeeper Oti, saw that they had no savings in their account books, no warm memories laid up for the cold times.'
'That's a Trader tale,' Zhegorz said. 'It's about how the Trader and the Bookkeeper created the Tsaw'ha and wrote their names in the great books.'
Daja sat back on her heels. 'On the way to Dancruan you can tell me how you learned Trader stories,' she told him with a smile. 'Not now. I would like to get some sleep tonight.' She reached over to her worktable and carefully picked up her second creation. Tris had sacrificed a pair of spectacles for this piece. Daja had replaced the lenses with circles of living metal hammered as thin as tissue. Once they were fixed over the wire frames, she used her sharp-pointed tool to write in signs to fix the metal in place and cause it to work as she wished it to.
Gingerly, she settled the bridge of Zhegorz's bony nose and hooked the earpieces in place. I really don't know about this, she thought, nibbling her lower lip. I've made plenty of odd things, that's certain, but eyeglass lenses that let someone see normally and not magically? Only Tris would even come up with the idea.
'Can you see me?' she asked.
Zhegorz nodded.
'He'd have to be wrapped in steel not to see you, Daja,' said a grumpy and drowsy Tris from the bed. 'You're a big girl and you're right in front of him. Chime, will you fly around? Zhegorz, can you see Chime?'
Daja watched Zhegorz follow the glass dragon's flight as Chime dived and soared around the wood carvings of teh ceiling. She began to grin, elated. 'I begin to think I can cure dry rot with this stuff,' she said, proudly stroking the living metal on the back of her hand.
'Rosethorn would say pride will trip you on the stairs,' Briar said with a yawn. 'Come on, Zhegorz. We'll give those things a real trial in the morning.'
Daja got to her feet, wincing as her back complained after hours bent over her work. She was stretching when Zhegorz patted her shoulder. 'I'll tell you what they do in the morning. I'm sorry I ever said no-one could see through metal spectacles.' He scuttled out of the room as Daja shook her head over him.
Tris caught her by surprise, swooping in to press a rare kiss on Daja's cheek. 'I know they'll work,' she said. 'Thank you, for him.'
'He's my crazy man, too,' Daja said as Tris hurried from the room.
--
--
At the same time, seeing the way the light struck Rizu's curly lashes, casting their shadow over her eyes, she thought, She's so beautiful. Te question burst out of her before she realised it: 'Why aren't you dancing? You haven't danced all night. And nobody's asked you, even though you're almost as beautiful as the empress.'
Rizu smiled. 'You think so, truly?'
Daja opened her lips to say that of course she thought so, but she didn't get to speak. Instead, Rizu leaned over and kissed her softly, gently, on the mouth.
After a moment, she pulled away. There was a look of worry in her eyes. Her hands were fisted in her skirts.
'Oh,' said Daja when she remembered how to talk. She felt as if the sun had just catapaulted into her mind. Dazzled wth what it showed her, she realised also, Rizu's afraid. She's had enough people tell her no that she's not sure...
Strictly to make Rizu feel better, certainly not because she wanted more of that sunlight spilling into her heart and mind, Daja leaned over and kissed Rizu's mouth all on her own. Then, rather than ruin the quiet between them, Rizu took Daja's hand and led her into the palace by a door that did not open into the Moonlight Hall.
--
After breakfast, he read for a while. Normally he'd expect his sisters to be awake not long after dawn - their lives had made all of them into early risers - but after a gathering like last night, he couldn't blame them for sleeping in. When the ornamented clock in his sitting room chimed the hour before midday, he put his book aside and went in search of Daja.
At first, when he knocked on her door and there was no response right away, he thought she might have gone out. Then he heard female voices, muffled ones.
Maybe the maid will know where she got to, Briar thought, and pounded harder. At last he heard fumbling at the latch. The door opened to reveal Daja wearing only last night's rumpled tunic. 'Sorry,' she mumbled, letting him in. 'I couldn't find a robe.'
Briar smiled at her knowingly and glanced at the open bedroom door. Rizu stood there, wrapping a sheet around herself. Her long curls were free of their pins and dangled to her waist. The sheet only enhanced her buxom figure.
Briar raised his eyebrows at Rizu, then looked at Daja, who scratched at the floor with a bare toe. 'Well, that explains more than it doesn't,' Briar remarked. He told himself, Now I know why I was sure Rizu was never interested in me, or any man. 'Daja, why didn't you say you're a nisamohi?' he asked, using the Tradertalk word for a woman who loved other women. 'What with Lark and Rosethorn, did you think we cared?'
'I didn't know that I was a nisamohi,' Daja whispered, still not looking at him. She shrugged. 'I've been too busy, and there was never anyone...' She looked back at Rizu, who smiled at her with a beautiful light in her eyes.
'I'll go away in a hurry if you've got some of that heavy copper wire,' Briar said. 'The stuff you can just manage to bend around your wrist.'
Daja went over to her mage kit and hunted until she produced the coil of heavy copper wire. 'It's not spelled, so it should act as you want,' she said, handing the wire to Briar with one hand as she pushed him to the door with the other. 'Don't tell Sandry or Tris yet, please,' she added as she let him out. 'It's just... so new.'
'I wouldn't dream of it,' Briar said, but she had already shut and locked the door.
--
Her heart thudded in her chest. It's trying to drown out that question in mind mind. I thought I'd have all summer to work on her before having to ask. I thought we could build something solid in that time, when all we have is something new. I wish we'd had more time to fuse together!
Wishes are toys your mind plays with while pirates sneak up behind. That had been one of her aunt Hulweme's favourite sayings, ghost words from an aunt seven years dead.
Daja shook her head to clear it. I never liked Aunt Hulweme, she thought as she rapped on Rizu's door.
Daja's power shone from the bedroom. Determined, Tris went to the door. 'If you were just going to be a brute to me, I would have stood for it, because when itch comes right down to scratch, you Traders don't know how to act,' she said cruelly. Tris knew from early experience that sharpness spurred Daja harder than kindness. 'But you had no right to frighten poor old Zhegorz out of what wits he's got. You're some kind of talisman for him, and when you tell him to go away, he thinks it means he can't travel with us. Now you get off your behind and go tell him you wouldn't think of leaving him!'
'Later!' Daja cried. She lay in bed on her belly, raising her face from her pillows to talk. 'I'll talk to him later, Tris, and I won't talk to you at all right now, so go away! And insulting my Trader blood won't work, either, you rat-nosed, pinch-coin, gold-grubbing merchant.'
Tris was about to blister the other girl when she caught the ragged tones in Daja's voice. With a frown she walked over and plumped herself on the bed, reining in her whirling breezes until they were still again. Daja turned her face away from Tris too slowly.
'Oh, dear,' Tris said, understanding. Daja's eyes were puffy and wet. Her nose ran. Tris dug out a handkerchief and stuffed it into Daja's hand. When Daja tried to pull the hand away, Tris grabbed her wrist.
Did you really think she would come? Tris asked through their magic. Give up her own place at court, at the empress's side, to live on your generosity? Rizu's proud, Daja. She has every right to be. As Mistress of the Wardrobe she decides what every guardsman and servant in the palace wears. She chooses the imperial wardrobe. What would she have in Summersea compared to all that?
But I love her! cried Daja, accepting the renewed connection between them without a struggle. I thought she loved me!
Tris sighed and patted Daja's heaving back. At least she didn't laugh at you when she found out how you felt, she remarked. At least she didn't turn you into a joke for her friends. And she told you something about yourself you really ought to know: that you're beautiful, and worth loving. Even for just a summer.
All the boys I went with in Summersea after we came back from Kugisko said I was cold, Daja replied wearily. I didn't like kissing them. It was nothing special, like all the books say love is. Then, when I liked kissing Rizu... it was such a blessing. I'm not cold. I was just kissing the wrong people. Even living with Lark and Rosethorn, I never thought that maybe I should try kissing girls. None of them drew me. Have you ever...?
Tris shook her head. No interest, she explained. And the boys don't want to kiss a fat girl like me. They're also scared of me. That doesn't help.
They sat in silence for a long time, Tris simply rubbing Daja's shoulders. Finally Daja pushed herself up and turned over to sit on the bed. 'They made a joke of you?' she asked roughly, and blew her nose.
'Twice,' Tris answered softly. 'After that, I tried not to let boys know when I liked them. One time the boy set up a meeting in a garden. Then he and his friends dumped honey on me. They told me that even a gallon of honey wasn't enough sweets to satisfy a tub like me.'
'I called the rain,' replied Tris. 'To get the honey off me. All right. To run them off, too. But I've been trying to be good about it. About the weather.'
'And the other boy?' asked Daja, getting up to splash water on her face.
'They made fun of him until he came to hate me,' Tris said with a shrug. 'At least both times we left the towns eventually.' She could feel the heat in her face. If there had been light in here, Daja would have seen her humiliated blush. 'I dived into my studies after that and tried not to notice any boys. Most of them just aren't like Briar, you know. He'll drive you commit murder, but the only part of him that's hidden is the good part. And he isn't nasty to any female, have you noticed? Not to the little farm children or the old grannies who want to tell him how beautiful they they were in their prime.'
'That's because he knows Rosethorn would pull him out by the roots and throw him on the compost heap if he was,' Daja said. Both girls looked at each other and giggled softly at the image of Briar thrown out with the rotten leaves of cabbage and the heaps of dead weeds.
When they had quieted, Daja suddenly kissed Tris on the cheek. 'I had forgotten that Sandry wasn't my only saati,' she whispered. 'Thank you.'
--
Mage kit in hand, he went to Daja's room. She slept as soundly as the others. Once more, Briar uncorked his wake-up potion and put the vial under her nose. She gasped, choked, and opened her eyes. Coughing, she swung a fist out to clip Briar's head. Expecting it - the potion had that effect on many people - he dodged the blow.
'Kill me later,' Briar told her as she scrambled to get at him. Some belbun nicked Sandry, and he's got a serious mage in his pocket. If he isn't the mage himself.'
Daja rubbed her eyes. 'What's in that poison?'
'Just the biggest wake-up weeds I know, spelled to crunch through any sleep spell. That's how they got us in Gyongxe, sleep spells.'
Daja pulled a sack out of her mage kit and began to put items in it. She wore only her medallion, a breast band secured with a tie looped around her neck, and a loincloth. Her lack of clothing didn't seem to concern her. 'One of these days you're going to have to tell me about what happened in Gyongxe,' she said, turning a spool of fine wire over in her hand before she stuffed it into the bag. 'And not that "It was just a war" pavao.' She straightened. 'Let's go smelt this down and see what floats.'
Sweetheart, it stopped raining like three hours ago, alright? Everything's gonna be fine - hey, dickhead, flow of traffic mean anything to you?
[What if you hydroplane?]
I'm not gonna hydroplane. It is my job to assess risk, so please trust me when I tell you that statistically speaking I am much more likely to get into an accident because I am talking to you on the phone, alright? I have to go, I will talk to you soon. Goodbye.
Edward Kaspbrak speaking.
[You didn't say "Goodbye, I love you," like you usually do.]
Listen to me, I can't - I'm gonna be late to this... meeting.
[Say "I love you," Eddie]
Okay. I love you, mommy.
[What?]
Myra. Goodbye.
Hello? Who's this?
[Mike.]
Mike who?
[Eddie? Are you okay?]
Yeah, I'm pretty good!
---
... and I'm allergic to soy, anything that has egg in it, ah, gluten, and if I eat a cashew I could realistically die - holy shit.
---
[So this meeting of the Loser's Club is officially begun.]
Heh, look at these guys.
---
[So wait, Eddie, you got married?]
Yeah, why's that so fucking funny, dickwad?
[What, to, like, a woman?]
Fuck you, bro.
[(Laughs) Fuck you!]
...
[Yeah, no I got married]
When?
[Did you not hear this?]
No.
[You didn't know I got married?]
No?
[Yeah, no, me and your mom are very happy. ... He totally fell for it.]
Fuck you.
[Yeah, sometimes she'll put her arm around me and whisper, Bisa kupatha, bisa wookie]
We all get it, my mom was a great big fat person! Hilarious, histerical!
---
Yeah, dude, no shit you lost a few pounds.
[You're hot.]
It's true.
---
Stan.
What - why would Stanley save you, anyway? Was I not the one who basically performed surgery on you? After Bowers cut you up - holy shit, that's right!
[Please tell me you ended up becoming a dcotor, Eds.]
No, ah, I ended up becoming a risk analyst.
[Oh, that sounds really interesting. What does that entail?]
Yeah, so, I work for, like a big insurance firm and, ah...
[Richie snoring]
Fuck you, dude. Fuck you.
[Was this job invented before fun?]
Oh, that's so not funny.
[It is funny!]
No, it's n-- What the fuck are you laughing at?
---
How about proposing a toast?
[I propose a toast, to the Losers.]
All right.
---
Let's take our shirts off and kiss!
---
Thank you.
---
I don't want one.
[Wait, you're not... You don't wanna eat it for health reasons?]
Those are fucking bad for you! No, I don't wanna get type two diab - type two diabetes, I don't.
[It's in your head.]
It's not in my head.
[It's in your head.]
'Cause I don't wanna ... needles.
[I think you read shit on the internet and it makes you nervous.]
... in my head ... If I have one of those, because I'm middle-aged, I will shit my pants immediately.
---
When Mike called me I crashed my car.
[Seriously?]
Yeah.
---
[Pennywise.]
Oh, the fuckin' clown. (asthmatic wheeze, patting his chest pockets for inhaler)
...
[There's an echo here in Derry that bounces back every twenty-seven years--]
What are you talking about?
[Hold on, listen, listen--]
No, I don't --
...
[Mike.]
Holy shit. Dude--
...
I don't wanna hear about this, man. I don't wanna--
...
[Well, that shit got dark fast. Thanks, Mike.]
My fortune cookie just says could.
...
Why would it guess it could not cut?
[Guess it could not cut.]
When it says "it"--
It - it could -- it could not guess.
Yes.
When it says "it", is it talking about It? Is that what it means? Is it It?
Yeah, this is fucking weird (weak?), dude. This is weird.
It - it could --
[Did you fuck with the fortune cookies, Mike?]
[Why are you doing this, man?]
I need my fucking inhaler!
...
He cut up the fucking things and put 'em in the cookies. This is so not funny! So not funny!
...
Fuck - why does it say Stanley? Will someone else fucking answer me? Holy shit. Shit.
...
I don't wanna be here. I can't fucking do this. I wanna go home. I don't wanna be here. I don't wanna be here. I don't wanna be here.
Holy shit.
I can't --
Fuck!
---
That - that's what Pennywise does, right? He fucks with us. So Stanley's probably fine.
Wait, is that - is that --
Rich, be careful, dude.
[I don't write my own material.]
I fucking knew it. I fucking knew it!
---
You lied to us. That's not okay.
[Yeah, the first words out of your mouth should've been ... 'cause I would've said no. This is fucking entrapment.]
--
Stanley. Pennywise knew. He knew before we did.
...
Sorry, man, I - ah, I'm - I'm with Richie.
What? We stay, we die, that's it? I'm gonna go back to the Inn, I'm gonna pack up my shit, and I'm gonna drive to my home. I'm sorry, man. Good luck.
---
[Let's get our shit and get the fuck outta here.]
[To Ben:] Did you leave your stuff here?
...
Okay, I've just gotta grab my toiletry bag and then we can go. ... What'd I miss?
---
Okay, so, what d'you mean you've seen us all die?
Okay, so you have nightmares. I have nightmares. People have - they have nightmares. That doesn't mean that your visions are true.
...
I mean, Rich, come on...
How the hell are we supposed to do that?
Wait, we'll be seventy years old, asshole?
[We die.]
Horribly.
I didn't say it. She said it, not me.
...
And once it does, we're fucked.
---
Yeah, you did. I - I do remember that.
---
DUDE.
Are you gonna be like this the entire time we're home?
[Whispered:] That was so fucking terrible.
Bill.
---
Yeah. I wonder what he was like all grown up.
...
[A sacrifice? I nominate Eddie.]
Wait, what?
[You're little, you'll fit on a barbeque.]
I'm five nine. It's like average height for most of the world.
...
I think Bill just did that.
Okay, Mike, so where do we find our tokens?
...
Yeah, I gotta - I gotta say, statistically speaking, you look at survival scenarios, we're gonna do much better as a group.
---
Ah! Asshole!
Hello--
Yeah, I called in a - I had a prescription called in for Kaspbrak.
It's an inhaler.
Mmhmm, that's me.
Yeah.
Oh, ah, she died a few years ago, it's very sad, it was from liver cancer.
What's what?
Alright.
Alright, okay. No, it's not gonna pop, it's a mole.
Cancer?
Okay.
---
What's all this shit doing here? Why is that curtain still here? Okay, alright. You can do this, Eds. It's just a memory. It's just a memory, you're fine. Deep breath. Deep breath. Okay. Gotta do it.
Shit, shit, oh fuck, shit, no, ah, no, ah, ah, ah, stop--
Ah, ugh, ugh, ah, fuck, die, fuck you, fuck you--
Ah. Oh, ugh, oh, ah. What the fuck?
Aha, I gotta go (inaudible) -- what?
[Push, not pull, you moron.]
Oh, aha, thanks.
---
Nothing, I'm fine. I'm fine. Everything's fine.
---
Oh, and then the leper? He threw up all over me. "Hey, it's Mike Hanlon. Why don't you come back to Maine?"
Ah! What? What are you - why did you do that?
Who says it's my time?
Ah, ah - ahaha, hee hee hee.
You should cut that fucking mullet, it's been like thirty years, man.
Guys!
Bowers is in my room.
Is it bad? Oh--
---
Oh, we're not gonna like this, are we?
---
So does somebody wanna say something?
---
No, Bill --
Ben!
---
Ah, god--
(Asthmatic wheezing)
--
Eddie! Are you okay?
I'm--
Oh, there he is.
I wanna go home.
...
I don't want Richie too. I don't, I don't.
Please don't be mad, Bill. I was just scared.
---
Oh, man. Ugh.
Greywater.
---
No, no, no. No, no, ah.
---
Guys? Okay, guys, come on. Hey guys? Guys, come on. Come on, please, please, come on, I don't wanna walk out of here alone.
I don't - don't - I feel like crying.
---
Is he okay?
Whoa, whoa, whoa, oh--
You guys, I can't do it.
I can't. You saw what happened up there. I was - I was gonna let - I was gonna let you die. I just fucking froze up. You let me go down there with you, I'm gonna get us all killed. (Puff of inhaler)
[Hey, gimme that--]
Richie--
[Let go of it, you little turd]
I just - let me get--
Alright, I got it.
[Who killed a psychotic clown before he turned fourteen?]
Me.
[Who stabbed Bowers with a knife that he pulled out of his own face?]
Also me.
[Who married a woman ten times his own body mass?]
We seek a dangerous fugitive. This is no common anarchist, but a devotee of the treasonous Jedi order. Failure to turn over this traitor will result in a charge of sedition. Turn yourslef in or everyone present shall face summary execution.
[... To the Empire, we're all just expendable.]
Yes. You are. (stabs Prauf through the chest w her saber)
Look at this. A lightsaber.
---
Going somewhere? (Cal draws his lightsaber.) I recognize that stance. Perhaps you've had some training after all. Who was your master, Padawan? Someone I killed, perhaps? Whaat Jedi gave their life so that you might live?
---
Scared, are you?
You bleed like all of the others.
That strike will be your last.
This is the price of your arrogance.
Faster than I thought.
---
Cal Kestis. How predictable. Oh yes, I know your name, your past, and most importantly, about Cordova. Tell me, where did he hide the holocron? (Cal draws his lightsaber.) Outstanding.
---
This is too easy.
I'm the superior fighter.
Stop moving.
So slow...
Let's finish this.
I've suffered far worse.
I'll destroy you like the others.
You can't run forever.
That was nothing.
I will destroy you.
---
You're learning. Not quite as gifted as Cere's last apprentice, but not bad.
[You've been keeping count.]
I'm surprised she didn't tell you. Cere was never good at keeping secrets.
[And you know her so well, huh?]
She was weak. Cracked in an Imperial torture chair. Surrendered the location of her naive Padawan. They would never have found me if it wasn't for her. She betrayed me.
[You're Trilla.]
In the flesh.
[I won't let you manipulate me.]
So sure, are you? When faced with the choice to protect herself or her padawan, she chose self-interest. She'll sell you out too.
[Well, I can handle myself.]
Can you afford to take that chance? Your new master harbours great darkness. The look on her face when she saw what they had done to me, as I am now. She turned, exposing her true nature. She used the Dark Side.
[She cut herself off from the Force.]
Oh? How long before she cracks and betrays you too? Is that who you want beside you when you find the holocron? What would Jaro Tapal say?
[You have no right to say his name.]
What would he think if he could see his Padawan now, skulking in the shadows with a betrayer? Granting her access to a legion of impressionable students--
[No, I won't let anyone touch them.]
I thought the same thing once.
---
[I found it, but... Cere, why didn't you tell me?]
Because she's a liar.
[You! How?]
I rerouted communication the moment you tried to contact her. Slicing encrypted transmissions was always a pastime of hers. She taught me once. There's no technique Cere has that I haven't perfected.
---
You're running out of time.
[For what?]
My scouts located an artifact of interest at the read of this tomb. Even now I'm studying it, learning his secrets. It seems Cordova was rather taken with these Zeffo. Perhaps enough to hide the holocron amongst their bones.
[Yeah, we'll see how much you learn.]
---
More of my soldiers breach this tomb every minute.
[Afraid to face me yourself?]
Had your droid not intervened, I would have killed you with ease.
[Beep!!!
It's okay, buddy, just ignore her.]
---
Imagine the artifacts the Empire would have missed if it weren't for your intervention on this backwater planet.
[Sure it's worth the cost? I hear Project Auger came at a high price.]
Stormtroopers and workers. Expendable resources.
[You're a monster.]
I am what Cere made me.
---
I've taken the artifact back to my ship for analysis. Pity you couldn't make it in time.
[Doesn't matter what you steal. You'll never understand it.]
Yet you do?
[You'll find out soon enough.]
I'll take those odds.
---
I noticed something while examining this sarcophagus. It's a very convenient location to dispose of nuisances.
[You lured me here. Was this your plan all along?]
You truly have the wits of a scrapper.
---
Very good, Padawan. You've cleared the way.
[What are you talking about?]
I needed this tomb raised, and now that I have what I need, you are of no use to me.
[Beep!
Can you reverse what she's done?
Be-boop beep.]
---
Oh? How uncharacteristically prescient of you. Here, I thought your greatest virtue was your dogged persistence as you stumble from one debacle to the next.
A scant mercy. I wagered one meaningless Padawan against a prize that will win me the Emperor's favour.
Of course not. We both have our pride. But yours has cost you the lives of all the Force-sensitive children on that holochron. And your own.
---
I'm going to enjoy ending you.
Still running?
Has Cere not trained you?
---
Careful with that thing. It's been through hell.
---
Don't go. We need to stick together.
[No, I'm going to lure them away and then I'm going to circle back. Stay with the younglings, Trilla. May the Force be with you.]
Master! Don't leave us!
[Trilla, what's going to happen?]
It's okay. It's okay.
---
[Trilla. I saw what you've been through. You've experienced great suffering. It's not too late to let it go.]
Let go? I'm stronger now, because of the pain. I knew you'd come back for this. No, thank you. You'll never make it out of this place alive.
---
That won't change anything.
Reel in agony.
Weak technique.
You can't win.
This is the end, Padawan.
You can't escape.
Suffer, as I have.
---
[Cal.
I have the holocron.
I need to do this. It's over, Trilla.]
Nothing is ever truly over.
[This fight is over. I know the darkness that is eating you up inside and every day we choose to either feed it or fight it.]
It's too late, Cere.
[No. It's not. I know the choices that I made took all your choices away, and I have failed you, Trilla. I failed you, and I am so very sorry.]
Being an Inquisitor taught me that no set back is too great. When you've already lost yourself, a limb's easy. You know, I was a Jedi. It would be fun to bring you in, watch you crack like the rest of us. Oh, angers you? Just wait til the isolation, torture, mutilation, and your friends--
Hey man! You must be Barry. I'm NoHo Hank. I trust the flight was good, no? Are you hungry? I mean, do you want a submarine sandwich? If you're thirsty, we've got juice boxes, Hawaiian Punch, or maybe beer or something? So, we're gonna do this outside, if that's okay. His daughter has some friends over, huh? They're watching their Jessie. We haven't been in LA long, but we've made a lot of progress. The harbours, identity theft, meth, 99 Cent Stores. Business has been going great. Recently, personal matter has cropped up which needs to be kept seperate from the business, so we called you. This is Ryan Madison. He's a physical trainer in Silver Lake. He works with Goran's wife, Oksana. They've been training together for - what do you think? What do you think, two? Two, three months? Hmm? Yeah? Over the past few weeks, these sessions became more frequent. Goran asked me to follow her, and I became aware that they were taking up at a Holiday Inn in Studio City. I snuck a lipstick camera - similar to this one - in the room and got... this.
(Why would I want to see this? Turn that off. Turn it off!)
Come on. I wanted to give him the whole--
(He gets it. You already said they are taking up in hotel. Why show footage?)
It's important for him to know!
(You are just impressed with yourself for planting camera.)
I am not impr--
(Trash that footage.)
Okay.
(So you guys want him gone?
Yes.)
Yes.
(Good, okay.)
We pay you--
(No, you don't pay me anything. Fuches takes care of the money. I just need his name and address, and it'll be done in a couple of days.)
That sounds good.
(Alright. Now, there's a lot of ways I can, uh, do this for you. Um... One of them is I could stab him in the nut. That's something I - I did once, and I am very comfortable doing it again.
What?
Or not.
Why?
Forget about it.
Who would want this?)
Can't you just shoot him?
(Yeah, no, I--)
Because being shot is very painful. Have you ever been shot? Huh. I have. It's, like, crazy painful.
(Anything is better than stabbing guy in nut.
I'll shoot him. I'll shoot him. I'll shoot him.)
Okay. Goran... I think he is going to shoot him.
---
What the fuck? What the fuck? They were hugging.
---
Now. Now, now, now, now, now. Now! Take the shot! Shoot him!
(Don't pull that gun on me, man. Don't pull that gun on me.)
Now! Take the shot! Now, now, now, now, now, now, now, now!
---
You know, Barry, I have to be honest, I'm quite a bit angry. But I'm going to put that aside for now, because rage is counterproductive, yes? And I know, if the situation were reversed, I probably would have done same thing you did.
(You did do what I did. You tried to kill me.)
Okay, well, now we're getting little "he said, she said". Uh, okay, so, Barry - so, after you were finished shooting me, right, and, uh, I had lost consciousness, did you perhaps take something out of the car?
(No.)
No? Like, specifically off the dashboard, maybe?
(No.)
Small blinking item?
(Wait, you didn't bring that fucking lipstick camera with you, did you?)
What? No! That would be super crazy, huh? This conversation never happened, okay? Hey, Goran, Barry and Fuches, on the silver plate.
(You did not think I would find you? You killed two of my men. One of them, Lucky, was best Chechen assassin.
Well, he wasn't that great.
Hey, let's not--
You put me in big fucking bind, Barry. Lucky, he had job to do tonight. He was to take out guy who give us some confidential information.)
About a Bolivian stash house.
(Shut the fuck up.)
Oh.
(Now, I make calls to my family and they are sending someone to take Lucky's place, but who knows how long that will take. This hit is - this hit is urgent.
No way.
Why not?
Why would I work for you, man? You double-crossed me. I don't like it when people do that.
Aw. That's water under bridge.
Have one of these guys do it.
They are not assassins. They are muscle. Big difference.
Well, have Hank do it.
You fucked him up!)
Yeah. Yeah, this arm is bullshit.
(Right, well... What about that guy?
Vasha? He is fucking freak. You see this? Apron? Why is he wearing that? He doesn't need to be wearing that. No, he's too... self-consciously scary.)
He's just a lot, you know? It's like, "We get it."
(No, no, no, I, uh - I want you to do it, Barry.
He wants you to do it, Barry.
Yeah, I don't - I don't wanna do this anymore.
You - you - you don't wanna - you don't - what?
Yeah, I - I - I - I don't do this anymore. I just don't wanna do it.
(Chechen: Help change his mind.) Lucky, man you kill, was Vacha's brother. Vacha was crying all day.
...Fuches teeth stuff)
Then you hit the bubbles, and then more bubbles come down.
(...
My daughter is having sleepover and we are being too loud.
...
If you hurt him anymore, I'll come back here and I'll kill all of you.)
He cares about Fuches. That's just nice.
---
Hey man. Are you seeing this beautiful morning? What are you doing? How are you?
(What am I doing? I'm set up to kill Paco like you asked me to. What do you mean, what am I doing?)
Oh, right. Duh. Ummm, here's the thing: I need you to wait, Barry, just a little bit longer for my signal.
(Wait? For what? Wait? What - what signal? Why?)
Because we sent bullet to the Bolivians.
(You sent a bullet to the Bolivians? What, like, in the mail?)
DHL. It's actually really cool. So, Paco is our informant within the Bolivians. We tell him, "Trust us. Tell us everything you know." He tell us, because he is stupid, and now we have to kill him before he tell other people he tell us.
(Okay, what does that have to do with mailing a bullet?)
See, this way, we send message to the Bolivians, get inside their heads. They open mail. Bullet. "What?" Phone rings. "Hello? Paco's dead? WHAT?" Little what leads to big what for full effect.
(Hank, you can't do this to me right now, alright? I'm fully exposed here. I gotta do this now. Alright? I gotta do it right now.)
Well, when I get DHL confirmation from www.DHL.com, alright, that's when you kill Paco. Can you be a bro for me, please? Wait for high sign?
(Hank, I got a clear shot of Paco right now. I'm taking him. I'm not waiting for some fucking bullet.)
I'd rather you did, though.
(Oh my god. I cannot fucking believe you're doing this to me, man. Fuck you. Fuck you and Pazar! Fuck you guys! Mailing a bullet? What fucking grade am I in, man? You bald fuck. Fuck you, man.)
Come on, you don't mean that. Website says it out for delivery, so the bullet should be arriving anytime between now and midnight. Bolivian time. So just wait, because if you do not, we do have Fuches here still with us, and I would hate for something to happen to him. I know you guys are best friends.
(Ah-ha, ha ha, ha ha ha.)
Barry? Hello? He must have bad reception.
(Did he ask how I was?)
No, but he did seem weirdly frustrated.
(Yeah, I couldn't help but overhear. You mailed a bullet? This Paco seems like a good informant. Why kill him at all?)
Look, the whole mailing bullet concept is something Goran's been workshopping for years now, and I just think, this time, we can really stick the landing with Paco.
(Hank! Hank, Hank. I just get call from home.)
Okay?
(They are sending Lucky's replacement. They are sending... Stovka.)
What? Oh my -- Stovka? He's coming here? Oh my god!
(Who's Stovka?
He is best assassin in history of Chechnya!)
Yes!
(A legend!)
Oh -- ow, okay, it's still tender, but he is beyond legend, okay? He has taken out whole armies by himself. He must've murdered over, what, hundreds?
(More. Way more. He is unreal. Simply unreal.)
Okay, when I was kid, I saw him once walking out of discotheque. He flicks cigarette at bird, knocked it out of sky. When will he be here?
(Within hour, they said.
Yeah, real quick: what does this mean for me and Barry?
We cross that bridge--)
We'll probably kill you, but I haven't checked with Goran yet.
(--when we get there.)
---
Nice. Nice. Great.
(Alright. That's enough, that's enough. Come on, get out. Go, go go. Back to work. Go.)
This one's going on the wall.
---
Yes! DHL shows bullet was delivered and signed for ten minutes ago.
(See, this is exactly what I'm talking about.
Hank. Leave.)
What? Come on, man. This is the thing!
(Get out!)
I will go tell Barry, then. Jeez Louise!
---
(Yep?)
Is it done?
("Is it done?" Hank, you know, I can't just walk up to his front door with a big fucking gun. That would be stupid. Right?)
Okay.
(Look, I'm in position and, uh, you know, these things take as long as they take.)
Okay.
(Okay? It's called being professional.)
Got it.
(Alright.)
It's just that timing is key.
(Right.)
Because to properly get into someone's head, it is truly--
---
(Hello?)
Hey man, how's it going?
(It's done.)
Sitting on good news, I could (ind)--
(Release Fuches.)
---
(The fucking police were at my house, asking me, "Do you recognise voice on camera? Do you know man who got away?" and I am thinking, "Yes, I - I know man who got away. It is same fucking moron who put lipstick camera in car." Too much heat. We must call off stash house hit, killing Bolivian leader, all of it.
Whoa, whoa. Goran, Goran--
I think that's a great idea, Goran. I think that's what we should do.
You know what? I got it. Goran, walk with me. Come on. Yeah, come on. I wanna tell you something. You play the market, Goran? Stocks, bonds? You ever heard of Warren Buffett, the world's greatest investor? He says, "Be bold!")
How great is this place? You know, Barry, if Goran calls off this hit, um, because of my video, I'm dead man.
(I don't care.)
No, I'm - I'm serious.
(I'm serious too. He should kill you. You brought a lipstick cam to a hit. Fucking idiot.)
What can I say, man? I'm a gearhead. You know? I love gack.
(Wow.)
And what is this talk about killing me? Come on. Cool your jets, man. You sound like a psychopath.
---
Oop, watch your step here.
(Ah, that's a big one.)
You know, if we knock down that wall, it would really open the place up. You know, clean up the blood, maybe add some French doors - maybe a ping pong table right there, you know? I'm just riffing.
(Now Cristobal will come here to US. [As Cristobal, getting on his knees:] "Hey, you took my fucking stash house! I'm going to slit your fucking throats!" And we will be waiting for him.)
Yes, because they are short, right.
(Right.)
Goran, this is great physical comedy of you.
(Ah, it costs, it costs.)
Oh, it's good though.
(What?
I have prezentatsiya for you. Okay, I take photos. All time, Barry no doing hits. Barry buy fancy new clothes. Barry have sex with nun. Barry buying new computer. No hit.)
You're so creepy, man. You're just so fucking creepy.
(You were following Barry? Who tell you to do this? Whole point is that Barry have no connection to our family. You follow him around and be personal photographer? That's connection! Why would you do this?
He kill my brother.)
Okay, you need to let that go. Okay?
(Oh my god. No one cares. It's so boring. Every day with "kill my brother". Look! Barry got us stash house! Beautiful super awesome sexy stash house.)
It's so nice.
(He does great work.
Let me kill him.
Are you deaf? Leave him alone.
Boss--
Look. Here, finally, is job that is tailor-made for you. Chop, chop, chop, blood and guts. You can wear your apron and your fucking creepy hockey mask. But no Barry.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
jessihoney) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
musetrash2012-06-05 01:36 am
no subject
-----
I guess I'm not exactly perfect myself. But at least I have my fans.
-----
I say the words, but nothing ever happens. Nobody comes back. Nobody gets off the cross.
-----
They're big on recreation here. Supposedly it helps us vent our aggressions. Personally? I think they're trying to wear us out. Keep us sluggish so there won't be an uprising. Well, those JV tactics won't work against me. I'm a kicker. K-I-C-K-E-R. It even says so on my chart.
-----
On chart:
"Grandoise Notions
Hallucinations
Uncontrollable fits
(has put several orderlies in the hospital)
KICKER"
-----
"I recommend you shut the fuck up!"
-----
I wasn't always this cracked. I used to be normal. Well, as normal as any girl under the influence of teenage hormones. But after the killings began I started to feel...I dunno. Loose around the edges or something.
-----
Maybe it's another dimension. Or, you know. Just really deep.
-----
We were our yearbook pictures. Nothing more, nothing less.
-----
"It's a rock show. This is my rock look!"
-----
"It's just that I like the same things that she likes. We have stuff in common. That's why we're BFFs."
-----
Clubs have DJs and champagne. All we have is a jukebox and a sticker toilet.
-----
"Those guys are rank, Jen. Just forget about them."
-----
I watched her get into that van and I knew something awful was going to happen. He was skinny and twisted and evil like this petrified tree I saw when I was a kid.
-----
"Cheese and fries, there's somebody here."
-----
I knew it was real. I'd been up all night scrubbing the carnage off the linoleum floor.
-----
"I feel guilty just breathing."
-----
"We have creative nonfiction together and he's a really good writer. He's like all dark and emotional and stuff."
-----
"The fiery deathtrip last night, and now a cannibal psycho takes down the biggest guy in school? Come on. It's freaktarded!"
-----
We figured things could only get better. We had faith. We were fucking idiots.
-----
"Crass. It means greedy. Exploitive. Scummy."
-----
But nobody seemed to care anymore. Sorrow was last week's emotion. Sure, we all hoped this would be the last funeral. But I knew better.
-----
"No. I mean she's actually evil. Not just high school evil."
-----
"She's eating boys! They, like, make her really...pretty, and glowy, and her hair looks amazing. And then when she's hungry she's weak and cranky and ugly. I mean, like, ugly for her."
-----
All over Devil's Kettle kids were getting ready for the dance, blissfully unaware that some poor chump was on his way to being Satan chow.
-----
"She's just hovering. It's not that impressive!"
-----
"You know what? You were never a good friend. Even when we were little, you used to steal my toys, and pour lemonade on my bed."
-----
"Is it just to tick me off? Or is it because you're just really insecure?"
"I - I am not insecure, Needy, god that's a joke. How can I ever be insecure? I was the Snowflake Queen."
"Yeah - two years ago, when you were socially relevant..."
"I am still socially relevant."
"...and when you didn't need laxatives to stay skinny."
-----
"I love you."
"I love you too..and you look totally hot in that dress."
"Oh god, you're delirious."
-----
"Best friends forever, huh? You killed my fucking boyfriend, you goddamn monster, you dumb bitch!"
-----
"Cross out Jennifer."
-----
I don't know who Needy Lesnicki is anymore.
I'm a different person now. A person who uses curse words and kicks orderlies and sees things that aren't there. A very bad, very damaged person.
But sometimes change can be good.
-----
"Just might get lucky for once in your miserable life."
no subject
“Why not call me Alanna's lover, and be honest about it?” George suggested. The purple and gold brocade robe Thom wore over his stark black shirt and hose hurt the eyes; its cost would have fed a poor commoner and his family for a year. “As it is, I have a number of things I care to discuss with you. I couldn't be waitin' for your next excursion into the city to meet me.”
“Particularly since I never go to the city,” Thom agreed. “So Alanna has returned to the desert, with the devoted Coram in tow. How selfless of her. Unless she was afraid Jonathan might convince her to take back her refusal? She needn't have worried; he's very much occupied with Princess Josaine these days.”
George stared at Thom. If my lass had made no friends, only enemies, he thought, and if she'd been too frightened to let others know she was a human bein', disguise and all, she might well have turned out like this monster. He's all brain and cynicism now, with no heart left to him. “Well, you're a nasty bit of work, aren't you?” he remarked amiably. “Why don't we talk of your goin's-on here durin' All Hallow?”
A look of grudging respect entered Thom's violet eyes. “I'm sure I told Alanna and you I was working on experiments.”
George made a disgusted face. “And I'm sure it was no such thing. Didn't you feel my mother testin' your guardin'-spells? Or were so many tryin' to learn what you were up to that you took no notice of those left half-dead?”
“I felt someone test the ward,” Thom admitted. “But I was—busy. I'm sorry it was your mother who was harmed, but she had no business prying into that kind of magic. She's fortunate to be alive.”
“Glad you think so. And what experiments are so important that you must put such spells to protect them?” When Thom didn't answer, George pressed, “Who were you tryin' to raise from the dead?”
Thom jumped to his feet, the mocking expression wiped from his face. “You dare to question me, George Cooper?” he yelled, fury radiating from him in waves. “Your relationship with my sister means nothing here, so do not think to try my patience!”
George stood, his hazel eyes grim. “Don't think to threaten me, laddy,” he warned softly. “I won't stand for it.”
“I have nothing more to say to you,” Thom gritted. “Get out.”
“I'll take my leave, then,” George replied. “But I don't need my Sight to tell me you're in trouble, great sorceror or no.” He hesitated, then said wryly, “Doubtless I'll live to regret this, but for your sister's sake you may call on me in need.”
Thom drew himself up. “I am more than able to handle my own affairs.”
“Is that why you're shakin' so?” George enquired. “Best have a shot of brandy o steady your nerves, my lord. I'd hate to think there was anythin' in this world of ours could be beyond the skills of one such as yourself.” Bowing mockingly, he left Thom.
And there's not a thing I can do or say, until I know what's ridin' him like the Old Hag of the Graveyards, the thief told himself grimly as he slipped out of the palace. But I'll bet every knife I own he's gotten himself into trouble that won't easily be fixed.
(p 209)
THE REST
no subject
I may appear to you to be a salesman. I have things to give, things to show and much to explain. I have nothing to sell. You may ask: But is there a product? A product, dear friend. There are many products. You might as well enter a forest glade on a sunny spring day and ask, but is there a leaf ? You might as well look down on the city and ask, but is there a window?
Tell me this. Have you worked your whole life to earn enough money to get the things you want for yourself and the people you love? Have you?
Of course you have! Now, let's sweat the fat off that proposition. First you want to take away the earning and the money. That's just a mechanism. Do you have to see your heart beating to know that you're alive? We need to see the big picture. So what do we do, we climb onto the roof and go up the ladder and get into the basket of the balloon and fly up ever so high, ever so high, till we look down on the world below, and everything looks so very different, so much simpler than it did from down on the ground, doesn't it. What do we see from way up there when we look down? Mm? D'you know? Mm? Of course you do. We can see the truth! We can see the big, plain truth. And you know what that truth is, don't you. Yes. The plain truth is that you've worked your whole life to get the things you want.
But just tell me one thing. Just one little thing, mm? Not a big thing, a tiny little thing, but ever so important. Here's the thing: what's work? Mm? What's work? Hard labour? Climbing the stairs, gardening, is that work? Is it? Breathing, is that work? It can be difficult sometimes, we all know that. Or cooking, frying eggs, making a sandwich, is that work? Can be, may be, might be. Maybe it's leisure. Maybe you like it. Maybe you don't. Or breaking rocks. Ever tried breaking rocks? No? More enjoyable than you could possibly imagine. Or strangling chickens. Could be work — could be leisure. For me, leisure, but who knows? Each to their own. Sex. For me, work, but again, some people like to relax like that. You see which way we're moving here, my dear? Work is another one of these primitive ideas. People used to think everything was made up of earth, air, fire and water, and now we know everything is made up of little atoms too tiny to worry about. Everything is smooth. People used to think life was made up of work and leisure but now we know there's only life. So what do we have now? You've lived your whole life to get the things you want. This is like x equals x equals y, right, so let's strip it down to this: your whole life for the things you want. Are you following me?
no subject
no subject
---
“SARS,” Otto said. “It’s the same story as with Judy Washington.”
“I’m sorry,” Otto said with his charming smile. “No questions at this time.”
“I know I’m the dummy of the bunch,” Otto said. “So pardon me for asking—but you have a CDC report. What you’re saying is the stuff you guys have been studying for the past few days, that turns out to be a known factor?”
Otto spun in the director’s chair, three full circles as he spoke. “So the more people that claim to have this disease, the more publicity it gets, then more people hear about it, and then more people think they have it.”
“Or get wind of grannies slicing up their kids, then playing all Scarface with the cops,” Otto said. “Psycho grandmamas would definitely upset Mister and Missus Average American.”
Agent Otto whipped himself in circles. He seemed to be trying to see how many spins he could get off of one push. “So the fibers have been around for a while, but only now are reaching this larval stage? Does that mean they’re evolving?”
“Margaret, may I say something?” Otto asked.
He spun once in his chair, then gripped the desk with both hands, smiling the whole time. “You seem to let people push you around. You ever notice that?”
“Because it seems to me you’re a lot stronger than you think. We’re dealing with some pretty crazy stuff here, am I right?”
“So if you’ve got something you feel we need to do, maybe you should stop being such a pussy.”
“I said, Margaret, stop being such a pussy.”
“So stop letting Murray tell you what to do.”
“So he’s the deputy director. Do you know what you are?”
Otto spun twice, then spoke. “You are the lead epidemiologist studying a new, unknown disease with horrific implications.”
“You are short-staffed, and you can’t get the experts you should have.”
“Margaret, he put you in charge of this. What will happen if you insist on talking to this Cheng guy? Do you think Murray is going to bring in someone else to replace you?”
“So,” Otto said as he gave one strong push. He started spinning, speaking one syllable on each revolution, almost as if he’d read her mind. “Use . . . what . . . you . . . have.”
---
“Yes, sir,” Otto said. He smiled at Margaret. It was a small smile, but she couldn’t miss it.
Otto cleared his throat. “Excuse me for interrupting, sir, but most people don’t get their news from papers anymore, they get it from the Internet. You can set up a web page and have it indexed so the major search engines will find it. The Net is anonymous, so a host might surf it for information on the growths. They can contact you right from the web page.”
---
“Margaret,” Otto whispered. She opened her eyes. Now he was on the other side of the desk. He pointed to her, then held his left palm down at waist level. His right hand whipped back and forth in front of his groin, like he was spanking an imaginary person bent over in front of him. Then he pointed at the phone. “Go on, girl, whip that ass.”
A longer pause. Otto had moved on from slapping the imaginary booty, and was now “riding the pony.” He looked ridiculous, a big grown man, CIA agent, in the black suit and the red tie, twirling in a circle with an expression of affected ecstasy on his face. Margaret couldn’t help but smile.
“Are you ready?” Otto asked. She nodded.
“Hello, sweetie,” Otto said.
“Hello, sir.” She didn’t look afraid at all. Nor did she look happy or excited, just matter-of-fact.
“Are you Missy Hester?”
She nodded, her curly pigtails bouncing in time. Otto’s empty right hand came out of his jacket, slowly dropping to hang at his side. Margaret stepped to Otto’s right, so the girl could see her clearly.
“Missy, we’re here to see your mother. Is she home?”
“She’s sleeping. Would you like to come in and sit down in the living room?” She stood aside and gestured with her hand. A regular little hostess.
“Thank you,” Otto said. He walked inside, head turning quickly as he seemed to scan every inch of the house.
“They’re just being built better,” Otto said. “No disrespect to either of you, but you think too much. Murray hit it right on the head. Sometimes the most obvious answer is just that, the answer.”
“Occam’s razor does seem to apply,” Amos said.
“What’s that?” Otto asked.
Amos smiled. “Never mind. It just means you’re probably right.”
Otto laughed. “Oh, we’re holding it, Lone Ranger. Is there a problem?”
“Not if you keep your hands where I can see ’em, mister.”
Otto raised his hands to shoulder height, palms out. “You’ll get no trouble from me, Ranger. No trouble ’tall.”
“Be safe, Ranger,” Otto said.
Otto calmly walked between the girl and Margaret. “Yes, honey, we’re from the government. How did you know?”
“Get the girl out of here,” Otto said. His voice was quiet, calm, but totally commanding. “Do it now.”
“Margaret,” Otto hissed. “Get her out of here.”
---
“Come on, Doctor,” Clarence Otto said, his voice tinny in her Racal suit’s headphones. “Suck it up. Now isn’t the time for you to go weak on me.”
“That’s Nguyen?” Otto asked. “You’re sure?”
Margaret handed him the photo.
“Sonofabitch,” Otto said as he looked from the painting to the photo and back again. “Damn, Doctor, you’ve got sharp eyes. Okay, so if that’s Nguyen, who are the other people?”
“Is that Gary Leeland?” Otto said, pointing again to the canvas.
---
He flashed his wide, easy smile. “No problem, Doc. I think I made some Kinko’s employees happy. I’m guessing it’s not every day they get sworn to secrecy at midnight and use their large color printer for national security.”
Clarence pulled out a map and gave it a quick study. “About ten minutes, give or take,” he said.
Margaret grabbed Clarence’s strong arm, her face electric with urgency. “What’s the victim’s condition? What are his symptoms?”
“I don’t know that, ma’am. Dew is en route, backed up by two rapid response teams in full biosuits. I believe it’s an apartment complex.”
Margaret let go of his arm and tried to compose herself. “Do you think we’ll get this one alive?”
“I think so, ma’am,” Clarence said. “Dew should already be there. The victim filled out a computer form. Instructions on that say to stay put and wait for help. I can’t imagine anything going wrong at this point.”
---
“Otto here.”
“Get the squads in position,” Dew whispered. “I’m in Building G. Do not—I repeat, do not—approach until I say so. I’ll stay on the line. If the connection is cut off, move in immediately, understand?”
“Yes sir. Margaret and Amos are with me. They’re ready.”
---
“You obviously don’t think it’s natural,” Otto said. “So you agree with Murray? That it’s a weapon?”
Otto shook his head. “I just don’t follow.”
“Then it doesn’t need people,” Otto said. “Why wouldn’t we have seen this in animals?”
Otto leaned forward. “Are you talking space travel?”
“The perfect infantry,” Otto said. “An army that doesn’t need to be fed or trained. You just mass-produce them, ship them out and when they land they build themselves and gather intel from their local host.”
Amos and Margaret stared at Otto.
“Two reasons,” Otto said. “The first is recon. Gather intel on the environment, the people, the opposition. Maybe that’s why it’s not in animals, because . . .” His voice trailed off. He couldn’t finish the thought.
Agent Clarence Otto beamed at her. He nodded slowly. That smile of his was almost enough to take her away from this insanity, and she found herself smiling back.
“Intel is the first reason,” Otto said. “The second is to use that intel to create a beachhead. Establish control of a defensible area so you safely receive reinforcements.”
no subject
---
Clarence studied a map resting on his knees. He wiped sweat from his forehead with the back of his hand, then let out an exasperated sigh.
“Come on, Margo, this suit is annoying,” he said. “I’m taking it off.”
“Clarence, give it a rest,” Margaret said. “I don’t want to go over this again.”
“But there’s no purpose for this thing,” Clarence said. “Dew has been around dozens of corpses — he hasn’t contracted anything.”
“Yet.”
Amos smiled. “You look like a black Stay Puft Marshmallow Man. It’s not a good look for you.”
“And you look like a short KKK grand dragon who washed his whites with his darks,” Clarence said. He looked at Margaret again. “And what about Dawsey? You fixed him up, you didn’t start growing triangles. This suit is making me sweat, and sweaty is definitely not a good look for me.”
Amos laughed. “You serve up a softball about being all sweaty? I’m not even touching that one. Seriously, Otto, you have to make it a little harder to make fun of you two boinking whenever you think no one is looking.”
“That suit will stop microbes,” Clarence said. “But I’m afraid it doesn’t offer much protection against a pistol- whipping.”
Amos laughed again and held up his hands palms out: okay, okay, take it easy.
Clarence talked tough, intimidating gravel voice and all, but over the past three months he and Amos had become fast friends. Clarence Otto was just flat- out likable. Witty, helpful, respectful and with a major streak of deductive common sense, he often put a strategic perspective on Margaret and Amos’s scientific discoveries. As for Amos, his multidisciplinary expertise and sheer brilliance had helped the team stay one step ahead of the infection.
More like a half step, maybe, but at least they were still ahead.
At some point in the past three months, both men had revealed a love for basketball. Otto, a former Division III point guard and a lifelong fan of the Boston Celtics, discovered that short, frail little Amos Braun had a wicked outside jumper.
Well, calling it a “jumper” was a stretch — he came off the ground maybe three inches when he shot. Amos couldn’t play one-on-one to save his life. At a game of H-O- R-S- E, however, he could beat Otto six times out of ten. Amos was also a lifelong hoops fan, although he preferred the Detroit Pistons, giving the two men plenty to argue about in the many hours when there wasn’t a corpse on the autopsy table.
---
Otto sighed. “Yes sir.”
“You made her this way,” Amos said. “I remember when Margaret was a total pushover. You’re the one that got her on the Gloria Steinem express, all women- libbed and everything.”
“I know, I know,” Otto said. “I wish I’d kept my mouth shut. Keep her barefoot and in the kitchen.”
“Amos, my diminutive white friend,” Otto said, “you’re just mad that a fine- looking black man is getting all the action.”
“Fine- looking until you put on that suit and get all sweaty,” Amos said. “Then you look like a half- chewed Tootsie Roll.”
Otto smiled and nodded, which meant he had a killer comeback, but his cell phone chirped before he could speak. There was only one person who would be calling. Clarence answered.
“Otto here.” He listened. His smile faded into an expression that was all business. He pinched the cell phone between his shoulder and ear, then looked at the map.
“We’ll be there in three minutes.” He hung up.
“What’s the matter?” Margaret asked.
“Baum and Milner are down,” Otto said. “A kid named Tad found them, said Dawsey was going to his house.”
---
“Tiny white man makes a good point,” Clarence said. “Dew, can your guys get the eunuch out of here?”
“Forget it, Margo,” Clarence said. “What the hell is wrong with you?”
“No way,” Clarence said. “He’s probably drunk again. Dew, is he drunk?”
“If not, he’s on his way.”
“See?” Clarence said. “That’s it, Margo, you’re not going in there.”
“He just killed three people,” Clarence said. “Someone please tell me I’m not hearing this bleeding- heart- liberal bullshit.”
“This is bullshit,” Clarence said.
“I’m going to the back to get body bags,” Margaret said. “Amos, you come help me. Clarence, if you’re so worried about my safety, get in there and tell Perry to stay put. Feel free to threaten him, because that’s what you men do and it seems to work so well. But put on your hood and gloves before you go in!”
Amos unsuccessfully tried to choke back laughter.
“Something funny?” Clarence asked.
“Put on your hood and gloves,” Amos said. “If you weren’t so pissed already, I’d probably make fun of you.”
“Now is not the time, Amos.”
“In the bedroom I’m in charge,” Otto said sullenly. “Unfortunately, that seems to be the only place I’m in charge.”
“You’re whipped.”
“I don’t see you backing her down.”
“Fuck you, midget. And help me with these gloves.”
Amos held the gloves so Otto could slide his hands inside. Amos made sure the connecting rings snapped home, then ran sticky tape around them.
“Hey,” Amos said. “Twenty bucks says Dawsey kills you.”
“You’re on.”
“I’ll take it out of your locker if he does,” Amos said. “Wouldn’t look right me rifling through the pockets of a corpse.”
“What ever. If you win, I guess I won’t really be worried about appearances.”
“I’m off to make twenty bucks,” Clarence said.
“Been nice knowing ya,” Amos said. “See you on the other side.”
---
“Hey, Clarence,” he said. “You look like a fat ninja.”
“Thanks,” Otto said. “That means so much coming from a source of wisdom like you.”
Otto slowly looked around the room, surveying the damage. “Were you drunk when you killed these people?”
“I guess so,” Otto said. “Listen, man, you know you scare the crap out of me, right?”
“Margaret is coming in here,” Otto said.
“Sure she is,” Perry said. “Look at all the new toys she has to play with. See this one?” He nudged the dead little boy with his foot. “I call him Slinky.”
“Save me your psycho jokes,” Otto said. “Just understand that when she’s in this room, you make any sudden moves and I’ll put you down.”
“Oh, come on, Clarence! A gun? Don’t be that guy! How about you and I settle this the old- fashioned way?”
“Forget it.”
“What’s the matter, Clarence? Massa Dew say you can’t play with the white kids?”
Behind the helmet visor, he saw Clarence’s eyes narrow.
“Go ahead, boy,” Perry said. “Take a swing. I won’t tell on you.”
“I’ll pass,” Otto said. “You can save all that macho bullshit. Only one way you and I are going to dance, and that’s if a bullet takes the lead.”
“Oh, that’s horrible,” Perry said. “Did you write that shit yourself?”
Perry thought he saw Otto smile, just a little bit, but then the stone face slipped back into place.
---
“I’m online, Margaret,” Clarence said, his voice in her earpiece. “I have the other bodies in the second trailer. Amos is checking out the baby, but he looks fine. Did you run the test prototype yet?”
“Fantastic,” he said. “I’ll let Murray know immediately. He can rush the testers into production. Great job, Margaret. That finally gives us what we need.”
---
“Russkies?” Otto said. “Doesn’t that phrase show your age?”
Otto frowned, then smiled. “Say, little white man, don’t you owe me twenty bucks?”
Otto pocketed the twenty. “He bet that Dawsey would kill me last night.”
“If I don’t laugh, I’ll cry,” Otto said. “Or something like that. I won twenty bucks — what else matters?”
“Huh,” Otto said. “I never thought of that.”
“Maybe a half stack of mini- pancakes, you mean,” Otto said.
“Oh, Amos,” Otto said, smiling as if he’d just had the most helpful idea in the history of man. “Are you upset because you can’t see over the table? Should I ask the waitress for a child’s seat?”
“I bet he will,” Otto said. “Dew here can be very persuasive.”
“Twenty bucks says Dawsey doesn’t even leave the room,” Amos said.
Otto nodded. “You’re on.”
Margaret shook her head. “Is there anything you two won’t bet on?”
“I’m sure there’s something,” Otto said.
“Twenty bucks says there isn’t,” Amos said.
Margaret shook her head some more.
Otto smiled at Dew. “Well, go on and bring him here so I can win another twenty.”
“Doc,” Clarence said, “Dew says you need to go to the office.”
“I’m a little busy,” she said. “Tell him if he wants to see me, he can come to the trailer. Then I’ll get rid of him, and you can give me a nice shoulder rub.”
Clarence shook his head. “Uh, no can do, Doc. You need to get to the office, and bring a first- aid kit. Seems Dew and Perry had it out.”
“Oh, no. Do we need an ambulance?”
“You’re going to have to see this for yourself,” he said.
“Don’t worry, I’ll go with you.”
“You don’t need to be afraid,” he said as they reached the room. “I’ll be right here with you.” He opened the door for her.
“Like I told you,” Clarence said, “I’ll be right here.”
“Are you crazy? He’s down, he’s not dead.”
“I know.”
“He could snap at any second, Margo,” Clarence said. “I’m staying right here.”
“Honey, I know you want to protect me, but he’s not going to hurt me.”
“He’s a killer, Margaret,” Clarence whispered back.
“You’re going to have to trust my judgment,” she said. “I’ve taken care of him for five weeks, and I’m telling you he’s not going to hurt me.”
“Fine, then I’ll stay to watch and see how wrong I am.”
“Well, that’s not exactly how I’d think of it,” he said. “But yeah, I’d be embarrassed if there was another guy watching me get stitched up. A nondoctor guy, of course. Doctors aren’t embarrassing in a situation like this.”
“Guy logic?”
“Guy logic,” he said. “Listen, can’t we at least get Amos to take care of him?”
She smiled at him. “If you can talk Amos Braun into being in a room alone with Perry Dawsey, I’ll give you twenty bucks.”
“I’m not taking that bet.”
“Clarence, I’m a professional. I love the fact that you want to protect me, but this conversation is over, okay? Stand out here if you’re worried. If he tries anything, I’ll scream for help.”
“That only works if you can make a noise before he breaks your neck.”
no subject
I didn't realise we were back in third grade here.
Seriously, cut it out, Al. My nerves are shot!
I'll wait here, Al. I'll hold down the fort. I'll be with you every step of the way, holding down the fort. Locking the door now, Al.
What, what the hell was that? I saw something from the window.
Oh geez. Oh geez. You're not crazy. I wish you were crazy, but you're not crazy. Al, be careful.
no subject
The address was on the south side of the square where a row of Georgian terraces had survived. They were five storeys high, counting the dormer conversions, with wrought-iron railings defending steep drops into basement flats. The address I wanted had a noticeably grander flight of stairs than its neighbours, leading to double mahogany doors with brass fittings. Carved above the lintel were the words SCIENTIA POTESTAS EST.
Science points East, I wondered? Science is portentous, yes? Science protests too much. Scientific potatoes rule. Had I stumbled on the lair of dangerous plant geneticists?
I hauled my rucksack and two suitcases up to the landing. I pressed the brass doorbell but I couldn’t hear it ring through the thick doors. After a moment, they opened on their own. It might have been the traffic noise, but I swear I didn’t hear a motor or any kind of mechanism at all. Toby whined and hid behind my legs.
‘That’s not creepy,’ I said. ‘Not even in the slightest.’
I pulled my suitcase through the doors.
The entrance lobby had a mosaic floor in the Roman manner and a wooden and glass booth that, while in no way resembling a ticket booth, indicated that there was an inside and an outside to the building, and that one had better have permission if one wanted to proceed inside. Whatever this place was, it certainly wasn’t Nightingale’s private residence.
Beyond the booth, flanked by two neoclassical pillars, was a marble statue of a man dressed in an academic gown and breeches. He cradled a mighty tome in one arm and a sextant in the other. His square face held an expression of implacable curiosity, and I knew his name even before I saw the plinth, which read:
Nature and nature’s laws lay hid in night;
God said ‘Let Newton be’ and all was light.
Nightingale was waiting for me by the statue. ‘Welcome to the Folly,’ he said, ‘the official home of English magic since 1775.’
‘And your patron saint is Sir Isaac Newton?’ I asked.
Nightingale grinned. ‘He was our founder, and the first man to systematise the practice of magic.’
‘I was taught he invented modern science,’ I said.
‘He did both,’ said Nightingale. ‘That’s the nature of genius.’
Nightingale took me through a door into a rectangular atrium that dominated the centre of the building. Above me there were two rows of balconies, and an iron and glass Victorian dome formed the roof. Toby’s claws clicked on a floor of polished cream-coloured marble. It was very quiet, and for all that the place was spotless I got a strong sense of abandonment.
‘Through there is the big dining room which we don’t use any more, the lounge and smoking room, which we also don’t use.’ Nightingale pointed to doors on the other side of the atrium. ‘General library, lecture hall. Downstairs are the kitchens, sculleries and wine cellar. The back stairs, which are actually at the front, are over there. Coach house and mews are through the rear doors.’
‘How many people live here?’ I asked.
‘Just the two of us. And Molly,’ said Nightingale.
Toby suddenly crouched down at my feet and growled, a proper rat-in-the-kitchen growl that was all business. I looked over and saw a woman gliding towards us across the polished marble. She was slender and dressed like an Edwardian maid, complete with a starched white bib apron over a full black skirt and white cotton blouse. Her face didn’t fit her outfit, being too long and sharp-boned with black, almond-shaped eyed. Despite her mob cap she wore her hair loose, a black curtain that fell to her waist. She instantly gave me the creeps, and not just because I’ve seen too many Japanese horror films.
‘This is Molly,’ said Nightingale. ‘She does for us.’
‘Does what?’
‘Whatever needs doing,’ said Nightingale.
Molly lowered her eyes and did an awkward little dip that might have been a curtsey or a bow. When Toby growled again Molly snarled back, showing disturbingly sharp teeth.
‘Molly,’ said Nightingale sharply.
Molly demurely covered her mouth with her hand, turned and went gliding back the way she came. Toby gave a little self-satisfied snort that didn’t fool anyone but himself.
‘And she is…?’ I asked.
‘Indispensable,’ said Nightingale.
Before we went up, Nightingale led me over to an alcove set into the north wall. There, resting on a pedestal like a household god, was a sealed museum case containing a copy of a leather-bound book. It was open to the title page. I leaned over and read: Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Artes Magicis, Autore: I. S. Newton.
‘So not content with kicking off the scientific revolution, our boy Isaac invented magic?’ I asked.
‘Not invented,’ said Nightingale. ‘But he did codify its basic principles, made it somewhat less hit and miss.’
‘Magic and science,’ I said. ‘What did he do for an encore?’
‘Reformed the Royal Mint and saved the country from bankruptcy,’ said Nightingale.
Apparently there were two main staircases; we took the eastern one up toe the first of the colonnaded balconies and a confusion of wood panelling and white dust sheets. Two more flights of stairs led us to a second-storey hallway lined with heavy wooden doors. He opened one, seemingly at random, and ushered me in.
‘This is yours,’ he said.
It was twice the size of my room at the section house, with good proportions and a high ceiling. A brass double bed was shoved into one corner, a Narnia wardrobe in the other and a writing desk was between them, where it could catch the light from one of the two sash windows. Bookshelves covered two entire walls, empty except for what turned out on later inspection to be a complete set of the eleventh edition of the Encyclopaedia Britannica published in 1913, a battered first edition of Brave New World and a Bible. What had obviously once been an open fireplace had been replaced with a gas fire surrounded by green ceramic tiles. The reading lamp on the desk had a faux-Japanese print shade and beside it was a Bakelite phone that had to be older than my father. There was a smell of dust and freshly applied furniture polish, and I guessed that this room had dreamed the last fifty years away under the white dust sheets.
‘When you’re ready, meet me downstairs,’ said Nightingale. ‘And make sure you’re presentable.’
I knew what that was about so I tried to stretch it, but it didn’t take me long to unpack.
---
You know you’re staying somewhere posh when the breakfast room is a completely different room and not the same place where you had dinner, only dressed up with different china. It faced south-east to catch the thin January light, and looked out over the coach house and mews. Despite the fact that only Nightingale and I were eating, all the tables had been laid and bore laundry-white tablecloths. You could have seated fifty people in there. Likewise the service table sported a line of silver-plated salvers with kippers, eggs, bacon, black pudding and a bowl full of rice, peas and flaked haddock that Nightingale identified as kedgeree. He seemed as taken aback by the amount of food as I was.
‘I think Molly may have become a little overenthusiastic,’ he said and helped himself to the kedgeree. I had a bit of everything and Toby got some sausages, some black pudding and a bowl of water.
‘There’s no way we can eat all this,’ I said. ‘What’s she going to do with all the leftovers?’
‘I’ve learned not to ask those questions,’ said Nightingale.
‘Why’s that?’
‘Because I’m not sure I want to know the answers,’ he said.
---
My first proper lesson in magic took place in one of the labs at the back of the first floor. The other labs had once been used for research projects but this one was for teaching, and indeed it looked just like a school chemistry lab. There were waist-high benches with gas taps for Bunsen burners placed at regular intervals and white porcelain basins sunk into the varnished wooden tops. There was even a poster of the periodic table on the wall missing, I noticed, all the elements discovered after World War Two.
‘First we need to fill up a sink,’ said Nightingale. He selected one and turned the tap at the base of its long, swan-necked spout. There was a distant knocking sound, the black swan neck shook, gurgled and then coughed up a gout of brown water.
We both took a step backwards.
‘How long since you used this place?’ I asked.
The knocking grew louder, faster and then water poured from the spout, dirty at fist but then clear. The knocking faded away. Nightingale put the plug in and let the basin fill three-quarters before closing the tap.
‘When you’re attempting this spell,’ he said, ‘always have a basin of water ready as a safety precaution.’
‘Are we going to make fire?’
‘Only if you do it wrong,’ said Nightingale. ‘I’m going to make a demonstration and you must pay close attention – as you did when searching for vestigia. Do you understand?’
‘Vestigia,’ I said. ‘Got it.’
Nightingale held out his right hand palm upwards and made a fist. ‘Watch my hand,’ he said and opened his fingers. Suddenly, floating a few centimetres above his palm was a ball of light. Bright, but not so bright that I couldn’t stare right at it.
Nightingale closed his fingers and the globe vanished. ‘Again?’ he asked.
Up until then I think a bit of me had been waiting for the rational explanation, but when I saw how casually Nightingale produced that werelight I realised that I had the rational explanation – magic worked. The next question of course was – how did it work?
‘Again,’ I said.
He opened his hand and the light appeared. The source seemed to be the size of a golf ball with a smooth pearlescent surface. I leaned forward but I couldn’t tell whether the light emanated from inside the globe or from its skin.
Nightingale closed his palm. ‘Be careful,’ he said. ‘You don’t want to damage your eyes.’
I blinked and saw purple blotches. He was right – I’d been fooled by the soft quality of the light into staring too long. I splashed some water in my eyes.
‘Ready to go again?’ asked Nightingale. ‘Try and focus on the sensation as I do it – you should feel something.’
‘Something?’ I asked.
‘Magic is like music,’ said Nightingale. ‘Everyone hears it differently. The technical term we use is forma, but that’s no more helpful than “something”, is it?’
‘Can I close my eyes?’ I asked.
‘By all means,’ said Nightingale.
I did feel a ‘something’, like a catch in the silence at the moment of creation. We repeated the exercise until I was sure I wasn’t imagining it. Nightingale asked me if I had any questions. I asked him what the spell was called.
‘Colloquially it’s known as a werelight,’ he said.
‘Can you do it underwater?’ I asked.
Nightingale plunged his hand into the sink and, despite the awkward angle, demonstrated forming a werelight without any apparent difficulty.
‘So it’s not a process of oxidisation, is it,’ I said.
‘Focus,’ said Nightingale. ‘Magic first, science later.’
I tried to focus, but on what?
‘In a minute,’ said Nightingale, ‘I’m going to ask you to open your hand in the same manner as I have demonstrated. As you open your hand I want you to make a shape in your mind that conforms to what you sensed when I created my werelight. Think of it as a key that opens a door. Do you understand?’
‘Hand,’ I said. ‘Shape, key, lock, door.’
‘Precisely,’ said Nightingale. ‘Start now.’
I took a deep breath, extended my arm and opened my fist – nothing happened. Nightingale didn’t laugh but I would have preferred it if he had. I took another breath, tried to ‘shape’ my mind, whatever that meant, and opened my hand again.
[…]
---
When I got back to the Folly I found Nightingale in the reading room on the first floor. This was a scattering of upholstered green leather armchairs, footstools and side tables. Glass-fronted mahogany bookcases lined two walls, but Nightingale had admitted to me that in the old days people had generally come here for a nap after lunch. He was doing the Telegraph crossword.
---
There’s nothing like excruciating pain for waking you up, so once it was clear I wasn’t going back to sleep I left my room and went looking for a snack. The basement of the Folly was a warren of rooms left over from when it boasted dozens of staff but I knew that the back stairs bottomed out next to the kitchen. Not wanting to disturb Molly, I padded down the steps as quietly as I could but as I reached the basement, I saw that the kitchen lights were on. As I got closer I heard Toby growl, then bark and then there was a strange rhythmic hissing sound. A good copper knows when not to announce his presence, so I crept to the kitchen door and peered in.
Molly, still dressed in her maid’s outfit, was perched on the edge of the scarred oak table that dominated one side of the kitchen. Beside her on the table was a beige ceramic mixing bowl and sitting, some three metres in front of her, was Toby. Since the door was behind her shoulder Molly didn’t see me watching as she dipped her hand into the mixing bowl and lifted out a cube of chopped meat – raw enough to be dripping.
[…]
---
You don’t tell your governor that you need a broadband connection, cable for preference, because you want to watch football. You tell him that you need the internet so you can access HOLMES directly instead of having contstantly to rely on Lesley May. The football coverage, movies on demand and multiplayer console games are all merely serendipitous extras.
‘Would this involve physically running a cable into the Folly?’ asked Nightingale when I tackled him during practice in the lab.
‘That’s why they call it cable,’ I said.
‘Left hand,’ said Nightingale, and I dutifully produced a werelight with my left hand.
‘Sustain it,’ said Nightingale. ‘We can’t have anything physically entering the building.’
I’d got to the point where I could talk while sustaining a werelight, although it was a strain to make it look as casual as I did. ‘Why not?’
‘There’s a series of protections woven around the building,’ said Nightingale. ‘They were last set up after the new phone lines were put in in 1941. If we introduce a new physical connection with the outside, it would create a weak spot.’
I stopped trying to be casual and concentrated on maintaining the werelight. It was a relief when Nightingale told me to stop.
‘Good,’ he said. ‘I think you’re almost ready to move on to the next form.’
I dropped the werelight and caught my breath. Nightingale wandered over to the adjoining bench, where I’d dismantled my old mobile phone and set up a microscope I’d found in a mahogany case in one of the storage cupboards.
[…]
‘You’re about to suggest the coach house,’ said Nightingale.
‘Sir?’
‘For this cable connection,’ said Nightingale. ‘The heavy defences tended to disturb the horses, so they skirt the coach house. I’m sure this cable connection of yours will be very useful.’
‘Yes sir.’
‘For all manner of entertainments,’ continued Nightingale.
‘Sir.’
‘Now,’ said Nightingale. ‘The next form – Impello.’
no subject
If the chaise lounge, Chinese screen, mismatched side tables and collection of ceramic fruit bowls that I found under the sheets weren’t enough of a clue, I also found an easel and a box full of squirrel-hair paint brushes gone rigid with disuse. Somebody had used the rooms as a studio, judging from the empty beer bottles neatly lined up against the south wall. Probably apprentices like me – that, or a wizard with a serious alcohol problem.
Stacked in the corner and carefully wrapped in brown paper and string were a series of canvases, painted in oils. These included a number of still lives, a rather amateurish portrait of a young woman whose discomfort was palpable, despite the sloppy execution. The next was much more professional – an Edwardian gentleman reclining in the same wickerwork chair I’d found under a dust sheet earlier. The man was holding a silver-topped cane and for a moment I thought he might be Nightingale, but the man was older and his eyes were an intense blue. Nightingale senior, perhaps? The next, probably by the same painter, was a nude with a subject that so shocked me I took it to the skylight to get a better look. I hadn’t made a mistake. There was Molly, reclining pale and naked on the chaise lounge, staring out of the canvas with heavy-lidded eyes, one hand dipping into a bowl of cherries placed on a table by her side. At least, I hope they were cherries. The painting was in the impressionist style so the brush strokes were bold, making it hard to tell: they were definitely small and red, the same colour as Molly’s lips.
I carefully rewrapped the paintings and put them back where I’d found them. I did a cursory check of the room for damp, dry rot and whatever it is that makes wooden beams crumbly and dangerous. I found that there was still a shuttered loading door at the courtyard end of the room and mounted above it, a hoisting beam. Presumably to serve a hayloft for the coach horses.
[…]
This, I thought, will do nicely.
At one time or other most of my mum’s relatives had cleaned offices for a living. For a certain generation of African immigrants cleaning offices became part of the culture like male circumcision and supporting Arsenal. My mum had done a stint herself and had often taken me with her to save on babysitting. When an African mum takes her son to work she expects her son to work so I quickly learnt how to handle a broom and a window cloth. So the next day after practice, I returned to the coach house with a packet of Marigold gloves and my Uncle Tito’s Numatic vacuum cleaner. Let me tell you, 1,000 watts of suckage makes a big difference when cleaning a room. The only thing I had to worry about was causing a rift in the space-time fabric of the universe. I found the window cleaners online and a pair of bickering Romanians scrubbed up the skylight while I rigged up a pulley to the hoisting beam, just in time for the TV to be delivered along with the fridge.
[…]
To inaugurate my re-entry into the twenty-first century I ordered some pizza and invited Lesley round to see my etchings. I had a long soak in the claw-footed porcelain tub that dominated the communal bathroom on my floor and swore, not for the first time, that I was definitely going to install a shower. I’m not a peacock but on occasion I like to dress to impress, although like most coppers I don’t wear much in the way of bling, the rule being never wear something round your neck that you don’t want to be strangled with.
[…]
Among the many other modern innovations that I’d introduced to the coach house was an entryphone installed on the garage’s side door, so that when Lesley arrived all I had to do was buzz her in.
I opened the door and met her at the top of the spiral staircase – she’d brought company.
[…]
---
The cupboards in the lab were full of the scent of sandalwood and the most amazing range of antique equipment, including the Charles Perry microscope, all put away with such precision and tidiness that I knew no student had been involved.
---
The Folly has three libraries: one, I didn’t know about back then, number two was a magical library where the direct treatise on spells, forma and alchemy were kept, all of them written in Latin and so all Greek to me, and number three was the general library on the first flood next to the reading room. The division of labour was clear from the start: Nightingale checked the magic library, and I hit the books in the Queen’s English.
The general library was lined with enough mahogany to reforest the Amazon basin. On one wall the stacks went all the way to the ceiling, and you reached the top shelves by using a ladder that slid along on shining brass rails. A row of beautiful walnut cabinets held the index cards, which were the closest thing the library had to a search engine. I caught a whiff of old cardboard and mildew when I opened the drawers, and it comforted me to think that Molly didn’t fo so far as to open them up regularly and clean inside. The cards were arranged by subject, with a master index arranged by title.
[…]
---
Just because I had an active case didn’t mean I was excused practice. I’d persuaded Nightingale to show me the fireball spell, which was, not surprisingly, a variation on Lux, with Iactus to move it about. Once Nightingale was convinced I could do the first part without burning my hand off, we went down to the firing range in the basement to practice. Not that I had known we had a firing range until then. At the bottom of the back stairs you turned left instead of right, through a set of reinforced doors that I’d always assumed was a coal store, and into a room fifty metres long with a wall of sandbags at one end and a line of metal lockers at the other. A row of vintage Brodie helmets hung from pegs above a line of khaki gasmask cases. There was a poster, white lettering on a blood-red background, that said: ‘Keep Calm and Carry On’, which I thought was good advice. There was a stack of cardboard silhouettes at the target end, brittle with age but still discernable as German soldiers with coal-scuttle helmets and fixed bayonets.
---
It was as if the solid black and white tiles had been rendered transparent, and through them I could glimpse a terrible abyss – dark, bottomless and cold. I tried to move faster but it was like walking into a violent headwind. I had to lean forward and push hard to make progress. It wasn’t until I’d carefully steered myself through the narrow servants’ quarters under the east stairs that I wondered whether, this being the realm of ghosts, after all, I might just walk through the walls.
---
The Folly, according to Nightingale, is secured by an interlocking series of magical protections. They were last renewed in 1940, to allow the Post Office to run in a then cutting-edge coaxial telephone cable to the main building, and the installation of a modern switchboard. I’d found that under a dust sheet in an alcove off the main entrance lobby, a beautiful glass and mahogany cabinet with brass fittings kept shiny by Molly’s obsessive need to polish.
Nightingale says that these protections are vital, although he won’t say why, and that he, acting on his own, is not capable of renewing them. Running a broadband cable into the building was out of the question, and it looked for a while like I was going to be firmly mired in the dark ages.
Fortunately, the Folly had been built in the Regency style, when it had become fashionable to build a separate mews at the back of a grand house so that the horses and the smellier servants could be housed down-wind of their masters. This meant a coach house at the back, now used as a garage, and above that an attic conversion that had once accommodated servants and then served as a party space for the young bucks, back when the Folly had young bucks. Or at least, more than one. The magical ‘protections’ – Nightingale was not happy when I called them ‘forcefields’ – used to scare the horses, so they don’t extend to the coach house. Which means I get to run in a broadband cable, and at last there is a corner of the Folly that is forever in the twenty-first century.
The coach house attic has a studio skylight at one end, an ottoman couch, a chaise lounge, a plasma TV and an Ikea kitchen table that once took me and Molly three bloody hours to assemble. I’d used the Folly’s status as an Operational Command Unit to get the Directorate of Information to cough up half a dozen Airwave handsets with charging rack, and a dedicated HOLMES2 terminal. I also had my laptop and my back-up laptop and my PlayStation – which I hadn’t had a chance to get out of the box yet. Because of this, there is a big sign on the front door that says NO MAGIC ON PAIN OF PAIN. This is what I call the tech cave.
---
Molly shot me a reproachful look and went gliding off towards the kitchen. Dr Walid led me over to a collection of overstuffed red armchairs and mahogany occasional tables that nestled under the overhand of the eastern balcony.
[…]
---
We were eating dinner in the so-called Private Dining Room, which adjoined the English library on the first floor. Since the main dining room could sit sixty, we never used it in case Molly got it into her head to lay all the tables. Nevertheless me and Nightingale had dressed for dinner – we both have standards, and one of us had been exerting himself that afternoon.
---
The Folly sits on the south side of Russel Square, the centre of which is occupied by a park with fixed gravel paths, big trees which I didn’t know the names of, a fountain that was specifically designed to get children and small dogs soaking wet and on the north side, a café which does a decent double sausage, bacon, black pudding, egg and chips. It was actually quite sunny, so I sat on the terrace outside the café and mechanically shovelled the food into my face. It really didn’t taste of anything, and in the end I put my plate on the floor and let Toby finish it off.
I walked back to the Folly and in through the main door, where there was a drift of junk mail. I scooped it up. It was mostly flyers for local pizza joints and kebab houses, although there was one crudely designed leaflet from a Ghanian fortune-teller who felt we could only benefit from his insight into future events. I dropped the lot into the magazine rack that Molly leaves in the atrium for that purpose.
[…]
no subject
Richard Detmer: Hey.
Andrew Detmer: What?
Richard Detmer: How are you getting to school?
Andrew Detmer: I don't know what you mean.
Richard Detmer: Don't bullshit me, you idiot. Matt doesn't come. He doesn't drive up. You leave the house. Who the hell's giving you rides to school?
Andrew Detmer: M-Matt.
Richard Detmer: All right. You know what? You're lying. You're up to something, and you can't hide it. You think you can just slink, hmm? Sneak in, sneak around my house, smiling? I'm onto your shit.
Richard Detmer: Hoarding a $500 camera while your mom dies in there? I mean, how selfish can you be? I went through your camera.
Andrew Detmer: What did you see?
Richard Detmer: Just you being a loser. You think that those people are your friends? Huh? They're not. You're an embarrassment. You're running around this town, spending my money. Look at me when I'm talking to you!
Andrew Detmer: I didn't spend any of your money, Richard.
Richard Detmer: 'Cause I don't have a dime to spend. Every last cent- Look at me! Every last cent goes to school for you-
Andrew Detmer: School?
Richard Detmer: and medication for your mother.
Andrew Detmer: I go to a public school!
Richard Detmer: I can't even pay for a goddamn-
Andrew Detmer: You don't pay for a public school, you idiot!
Richard Detmer: What did you call me? Did you call me an idiot, you shit? [he throw the table and Andrew backs away] Did you call me an idiot? Huh? You piece of shit! [he punches Andrew in the face and to the ground] Get up. I said get up! [he pulls his up] Get up! [Andrew in a great rage, grabs him and holds him up against the wall]
Andrew Detmer: I could crush you, you hear me!?!
Richard Detmer: Stop it-! [he is choking]
Andrew Detmer: I can CRUSH YOU! [Andrew throws him on the floor across the room. His father stays down on the floor in pain]
[Andrew in flying in the sky and is crying during a lightning storm after his father beat him. Steve flies up to comfort him.]
Steve Montgomery: Hey! Hey, asshole! What are you doing up here?
Andrew Detmer: Just leave me alone, Steve!
Steve Montgomery: You can't be up here, dude. This isn't safe.
Andrew Detmer: I don't want to talk to anyone.
Steve Montgomery: Bro! What are you doing up here?
Andrew Detmer: Leave me alone! How did you find me?
Steve Montomery: I don't know, man. My nose was bleeding. I heard your voice or something like-- What the hell happened to your face?
Andrew Detmer: Nothing, man. Just leave me alone.
Steve Montgomery: No, dude, that's not nothing. That-- Your dad! Your dad beat the shit out of you. He can't do that to you now.
Andrew Detmer: Will you stop acting like you give a shit?
Steve Montgomery: Dude. Why are you talking to me like this? I'm your best friend.
Andrew Detmer: I don't have any friends! You were never my friend before any of this.
Steve Montgomery: I hang out with you and Matt, like, every day! We're supposed to fly around the world together. Don't you-- Do you remember that? You think I'm--
Andrew Detmer: Stop! Just stop talking to me! Why won't you just leave me alone?
Steve Montgomery: Come on, man.
Andrew Detmer: Steve, I'm telling you, get away from me! Get away from me now! Please! Now! [Steve gets struck by lightning and is killed]
[Matt flies into Andrew's room]
Matt Garetty: Andrew, what happened at school? Huh?
Andrew Detmer: I need to go and pick up my mom's medication! [Andrew in a bit of a panic]
Matt Garetty: Oh, yeah? [he grabs Andrew's backpack from him] You're gonna break the rules again? We're too strong for that now, Andrew! [he throws his backpack to the floor] If you did that, you know what I'd have to do!
Andrew Detmer: You'd have to what?
Matt Garetty: You have to start thinking.
Andrew Detmer: What would you have to do, Matt?
Matt Garetty: There are consequences to what you do!
Andrew Detmer: You could not do anything to me because I am stronger than you.
Matt Garetty: Stop that bullshit! I know what you did. I'm not gonna let you do it again!
Andrew Detmer: I am not going to break your stupid rules! Okay? So just screw off and stay out of my life! [Andrew pushes Matt and Matt pushes back harder. Matt attempts to punch Andrew in the face but he stops his fist from hitting him by using his powers. At this, Matt flies away]
Matt Garetty: Andrew! Andrew, look at me! This has to stop right now, okay? This is really, really bad! What happened to you?
Andrew Detmer: Why did you catch him?
Matt Garetty: Listen, just focus, okay?
Andrew Detmer: I dropped him! Why did you catch him?
Matt Garetty: Andrew, this is not a game! Do you understand? You're hurting people!
Andrew Detmer: You're weak, Matt! You're all weak! I am stronger than all of this!
Matt Garetty: Andrew, listen to me, okay? Just... I need you to listen! Just focus for a second!
Andrew Detmer: Do not tell me what to do!
Matt Garetty: They can't stop us, it's not too late for us to go!
Andrew Detmer: It is too late! I'm done! It's over... God, you treated me like shit! You left me alone!
Matt Garetty: Andrew, you're not alone up here! I'm here with you! I should've been with you all along, but I'm here now and we can stop this right now, you and me! Andrew, we can just fly away, we can get out of here! We can be a family! Andrew... Andrew, look at yourself! This isn't who you are!
Andrew Detmer: Apex predator...
Matt Garetty: What?
Andrew Detmer: I'm an apex predator.
no subject
Andrew Detmer: What do you want?
Richard Detmer: Why is this door locked, Andrew?
Andrew Detmer: I'm getting ready for school.
Richard Detmer: Open this door, Andrew? Listen to me.
Andrew Detmer: No, you're drunk.
Richard Detmer: I'm what? Excuse me? I said, unlock the door. Andrew?
Andrew Detmer: Dad, it is seven thirty in the a.m. and you are drunk.
Richard Detmer: You don't tell me if I'm drunk or not, you little shit!
Andrew Detmer: Aren't you?
Richard Detmer: What are you doing in there? Huh?
[Andrew's father bangs the door]
Andrew Detmer: I'm filming this.
Richard Detmer: Huh? What?
Andrew Detmer: I bought a camera and I'm filming everything from here on out.
[we hear footsteps as Andrew's father walks away]
[Andrew points his camera at his terminally ill mother]
Andrew Detmer: Mom? Mom?
[his mother opens her eyes and smiles as Andrew films her]
Andrew Detmer: Hey! Say hello to my new camera for me.
Karen Detmer: Who's the audience?
Andrew Detmer: Just the millions of people that are watching at home.
Karen Detmer: Do I look awful?
Andrew Detmer: No, no. Mom, you look...you look great.
Karen Detmer: It's a nice camera.
Andrew Detmer: Oh, thanks, mom.
[Andrew films his cousin Matt, as drives Andrew to school]
Matt Garetty: So uh...should I ask about the camera or...?
Andrew Detmer: I don't know. Um...I'm filming things now. I'm filming everything.
Matt Garetty: Filming everything?
Andrew Detmer: Yeah.
Matt Garetty: Okay.
[Andrew continues to film Matt as he's driving them to school]
Matt Garetty: Have you ever read any Arthur Schopenhauer?
Andrew Detmer: No. What is Arthur Schopenhauer?
Matt Garetty: He's um...he's a philosopher that I'm reading at the moment.
Andrew Detmer: For school?
Matt Garetty: No. No. Uh...basically human beings have to recognize themselves as beings of pure will, right?
Andrew Detmer: Okay.
Matt Garetty: So, all emotional and physical desires can never be fulfilled.
Andrew Detmer: So, basically you're telling me that I should give up on life.
Matt Garetty: Yes.
[they both laugh]
[as Matt drives up to the school parking lot and parks his car]
Andrew Detmer: Are you not coming in?
Matt Garetty: I'm gonna hang back a while, okay?
Andrew Detmer: Uh...you're gonna be late for first period.
Matt Garetty: Yeah. I'll pick you up after seven.
[Andrew films the hallways as he walks to class]
Andrew Detmer: This is my school, I guess.
[Andrew films the football field]
Andrew Detmer: This is where I eat lunch, out here on the bleachers.
[as he sits down to eat his lunch he positions his camera behind him, filming the cheerleaders practicing, one of the cheerleaders walks up to Andrew]
Cheerleader: Hi.
Andrew Detmer: Hey.
Cheerleader: Could you not video tape us, please? It's really creepy.
Andrew Detmer: Uh...no, I wasn't...
Andrew Detmer: This is the hallway where my locker is.
[suddenly a bully wrestles the camera away from Andrew]
Sean: Woh! What is this? Huh? What's on television?
[Sean turns the camera around and we see Andrew being held by another bully]
Bully #1: Man, you're on film. Turn to the camera.
[the second bully repeatedly slaps Andrew in the face]
Bully #1: You gonna cry? You gonna cry?
[Sean makes fun of Andrew]
Sean: Man you look pretty.
[the second bully continues to slap Andrew]
Bully #1: You gonna cry?
[Sean is still filming Andrew after taking his camera away from him]
Andrew Detmer: Sean, come on. Give it back?
Sean: Huh? You want your camera? Piece of shit from like 2004?
[he drops Andrew's camera to the ground]
Bully #1: Here you go. Here she is. In on piece.
[he kicks the camera towards Andrew nearly knocking it into the lockers]
Andrew Detmer: Woh! Guys!
Bully #1: Almost.
[Sean laughs]
Andrew Detmer: Assholes!
[Andrew films Matt as he drives him home from school]
Matt Garetty: There's a party tonight.
Andrew Detmer: That's okay.
Matt Garetty: Haven Hills.
Andrew Detmer: Wait, I thought Haven Hills was closed.
Matt Garetty: It's abandoned, yeah. What, you don't wanna go?
Andrew Detmer: No.
Matt Garetty: When was the last time you went to a party?
Andrew Detmer: I don't go to parties.
Matt Garetty: You are a senior.
Andrew Detmer: I don't want to go to the party.
Matt Garetty: You are a senior! Just come.
Andrew Detmer: I'll think about it, okay?
Matt Garetty: Okay. But when we go tonight, Andrew, can I give you like a pro-tip?
Andrew Detmer: What?
Matt Garetty: Maybe leave your camera at home.
Andrew Detmer: Why?
Matt Garetty: Because, it's a little weird.
Andrew Detmer: It serves a purpose.
Matt Garetty: I'm...I'm just trying to be a good cousin here. Okay? This is me being a friend, and telling you should probably not take the camera to a party.
Andrew Detmer: Okay.
[in his bedroom, Andrew is watching the footage he'd filmed earlier in the day when his father walks into his room]
Andrew Detmer: What do you want?
[suddenly Andrew's father grabs him, hits him and throws him to the floor]
Richard Detmer: When I say open that door, you open the door. You got it? Finish your Goddamn homework!
[as Matt drives towards where the party is being held]
Andrew Detmer: Wow, look! A rave!
Matt Garetty: Oh wow, look! A nerd with a camera!
[Andrew is filming them walking into the party]
Matt Garetty: Just stop following me around all night, okay?
Andrew Detmer: What do you mean? I thought...I thought you wanted me to come with you?
Matt Garetty: I did. I did. But just go and do your own thing for once, okay? Just have a beer, talk to people.
Andrew Detmer: I don't drink.
[as Andrew films the crowd of party-goers he spots another student filming the crowd, at which point she also spots him]
Casey Letter: Hey! What are you filming for?
Andrew Detmer: Uh...I...Uh...!
Casey Letter: What?
Andrew Detmer: I'm just...
Casey Letter: I can't hear you!
Andrew Detmer: I'm just filming.
Casey Letter: Oh, cool! Cool! I'm filming for my blog.
Andrew Detmer: Oh!
Casey Letter: You should check it out. It's actually...
[as Matt interrupts Andrew's conversation with Casey]
Matt Garetty: This is pretty lame, right?
Casey Letter: Why is it lame?
[she points her camera at Matt and we also see the footage from her camera]
Matt Garetty: You know, Jung said parties are just people's way of seeking widespread validation. I'm not one to clamber to be cool, you know?
Casey Letter: [sarcastically] Wow! Way to put it in analytical psychology spin on this barn party, Matt. That's awesome. Awesome.
[Casey turns and walks away]
Matt Garetty: You're awesome.
Andrew Detmer: Hey, Matt? Hey, what did Jung say glow sticks?
[Matt gives Andrew the finger and walks off]
[Andrew retreats outside and silently cries after he'd been spat on by a guy at the party for filming his girlfriend dancing]
Steve Montgomery: Andrew! Andrew, with the camera. Can we...can we use that thing?
Andrew Detmer: What?
Steve Montgomery: We found the craziest shit and we gotta get it on tape.
Andrew Detmer: Uh...it's not
Steve Montgomery: What's up, man? You okay?
Andrew Detmer: Yeah, I'm...I'm Andrew.
Steve Montgomery: Okay. I'm Steve.
[he hold out is hand to shake with Andrew]
Steve Montgomery: Steve Montgomery.
Andrew Detmer: Yeah, I know.
Steve Montgomery: Really?
Steve Montgomery: Matt and I were just hanging out and we found this cool little...this thing.
Andrew Detmer: Wait, you're with Matt?
Steve Montgomery: You might wanna...
Andrew Detmer: No, I just
Steve Montgomery: You might wanna get this on tape.
Andrew Detmer: No, I don't really...
Steve Montgomery: Dude, just come on. Just come get it on tape. It'll be cool.
Andrew Detmer: I don't know.
Steve Montgomery: Trust me.
Andrew Detmer: Alright.
Steve Montgomery: Yeah, man.
[Andrew films as he follows Steve into the woods]
Steve Montgomery: You know there are like tons of girls around here, right? And you're all by yourself, next to a tree.
Andrew Detmer: I'm just really picky.
[Andrew continues filming Steve as they walk into the woods]
Andrew Detmer: What were you guys doing out here?
Steve Montgomery: Bunch of people were out here, cause we were like obsessed with the thing.
Andrew Detmer: What thing?
Steve Montgomery: You'll see.
[they continue to walk into the woods]
Steve Montgomery: Ah, that's right! Andrew Detmer! I remember you from home in freshman year, you always had that grey zip-up hoodie.
[Steve calls out to Matt]
Andrew Detmer: You remember that?
Steve Montgomery: Yeah. I got...I got a thing for faces, which is why I'm going into politics.
[Steve finds Andrew, and calls out to him]
Andrew Detmer: Guys, what is that?
[Matt is standing next to a mysterious crater in the earth]
Matt Garetty: Do you see it? Is that the camera?
Steve Montgomery: Yeah! I got him!
Andrew Detmer: Do you guys know how to get back from here?
[as they get close to the crater, Steve jokes around]
Steve Montgomery: Andrew, what's making that sound?
[Steve and Matt lie down next to the crater to listen to the sounds that are echoing from the crater]
Matt Garetty: Come here. Listen to this. Listen to this.
[Andrew hesitates close to the crater]
Steve Montgomery: No! No! No! You gotta get in! You gotta literally...almost...!
Andrew Detmer: Okay. Don't push me!
Matt Garetty: We're not gonna push you in. Were just trying to get in on camera.
Steve Montgomery: Listen.
[Andrew gets closer to the crater and point the camera down the hole]
Matt Garetty: Listen. Can you hear that?
Andrew Detmer: What...?
[suddenly they hear a loud screeching noise coming from the crater]
Steve Montgomery: Wait! How creepy is that?
[as the screeching noise continues to echo through the crater]
Matt Garetty: Is the sound coming up?
Andrew Detmer: I don't know. I mean, probably. It is pretty loud, right?
[Matt shouts down the crater]
Matt Garetty: Hello?
Steve Montgomery: Alright, dude. We're going inside.
Andrew Detmer: I'm going back. Come on, you guys.
Steve Montgomery: I gotta know, man. I gotta know.
Andrew Detmer: Matt, seriously?
[suddenly Steve jumps into the crater]
Andrew Detmer: Wait! Hey! Steve!
[Matt laughs as Steve shouts his own name]
Matt Garetty: Oh, shit! He's a ninja.
Andrew Detmer: Matt!
[suddenly Matt attempts to climb down the crater]
Andrew Detmer: Woh! Matt! Matt! Matt! What are you doing? Are you serious?
Matt Garetty: Hey, dude, can you give us some light?
Andrew Detmer: Matt, don't be an idiot!
[Matt jumps down the crater and disappears]
Andrew Detmer: Matt, you're my ride home!
[Andrew films as the three go deeper into the circular tunnel]
Andrew Detmer: Does it go down much deeper, or what?
Steve Montgomery: Yeah, man. It goes really really far.
Matt Garetty: Andrew, bring the light. Look at the walls, it's like a straight shot down. We've probably already come, like, forty or five feet.
Andrew Detmer: Yeah, just don't talk about it. Okay?
Matt Garetty: You ever heard of Plato's Allegory of the Cave?
Andrew Detmer: I don't know, Matt. Let's just get this over with.
[at the end of the tunnel they reach a cavern and at it's center is a mysterious giant crystal]
Steve Montgomery: Holy shit!
Matt Garetty: What the hell is that?
Andrew Detmer: Matt, I'm not kidding. I can't breathe.
Matt Garetty: Look at this!
Andrew Detmer: What the...?
Matt Garetty: Can you believe this?
Andrew Detmer: Matt! What am I looking at?
[the crystal glows electric blue and suddenly the screeching noise becomes louder]
Steve Montgomery: Ah! Shit!
Andrew Detmer: I'm freaking out right now! Matt! Can we get out of here, please?!
Matt Garetty: It is showing up on the camera like that?
Andrew Detmer: I don't know, Matt! It's messing with it, I don't really wanna film...
Matt Garetty: Dude, I'll buy you a new one.
[Andrew film Steve standing close a protruding object sticking out of the crystal]
Andrew Detmer: Matt! Matt, look at this!
Matt Garetty: What?
Andrew Detmer: Look at this!
Matt Garetty: Dude, what is...? Woh!
[Steve touches the object and it turns red]
Andrew Detmer: Dude, no way!
[Matt says something but the there's interference noise on the camera]
Andrew Detmer: I can't here you!
Steve Montgomery: This is awesome!
[suddenly Steve's nose starts to bleed]
Andrew Detmer: Dude, your nose!
[Matt and Andrew shout as Steve collapses, the camera then fizzles and amidst the sound of commotion it cuts to black]
[we see Andrew filming Steve and Matt instructing them where to stand]
Andrew Detmer: Matt, dude, put your phone down. Turn it off!
Matt Garetty: Okay. Okay. Okay.
Andrew Detmer: Right, Steve, you too. Alright? We have to document this. Okay? Are you guys ready?
Steve Montgomery: Yeah, alright.
Andrew Detmer: Alright, here we go. Okay, Steve, can you move to your left?
Steve Montgomery: Here?
Andrew Detmer: Um...yeah, that's good. And then Matt, can you just go right in front of Steve?
Matt Garetty: Here?
Andrew Detmer: Um...yeah, perfect. Yeah. Yeah. Okay, this is the ball test.
Steve Montgomery: Ready?
Matt Garetty: Yeah.
[Steve throws the baseball in his hand at Matt and hits him the face, Steve laughs as Matt is hurt and angry, we then see various footage of Matt and Steve pitching baseball at one another in air-bending ways]
[Steve gets behind the camera as Matt throws the baseball at Andrew and Andrew stops the ball mid-air with his mind]
Steve Montgomery: That is crazy!
Matt Garetty: Oh, my God! Oh, my God!
Steve Montgomery: Holy sh...!
[suddenly Andrew's nose starts to bleed]
Matt Garetty: Oh, my God. Oh, dude, you're bleeding. You're bleeding
Andrew Detmer: Shit.
Steve Montgomery: Stop! Stop! Stop! Get a tissue.
Matt Garetty: You did it! Yes!
[Matt is behind the camera filming as Steve listens to the angry voice message his girlfriend left him]
Steve Montgomery: I'm gonna get a brick through my window. I am legitimately scared. I have an election coming up and I don't have time for this.
Matt Garetty: Dude, why are you asking us for advice on girls?
Andrew Detmer: Because we're his mistress.
[they all laugh]
[Andrew films as Matt is driving]
Andrew Detmer: So, what? You think it's like radiation or something?
Steve Montgomery: Radiation from what?
Matt Garetty: Dude, it's the government.
Steve Montgomery: What? Matt, what are you talking about?
Andrew Detmer: I'm feeling pretty splunked out, actually.
Steve Montgomery: Andrew, relax.
[Andrew films the barn where the party took place that night of the crater discovery]
Matt Garetty: That's so weird. It looks completely different during the day.
[films skips to show them walking in the woods towards the crater again]
Andrew Detmer: Look, I don't care. I am not going in the hole again.
[suddenly Steve turns and jumps towards Andrew to scare him]
Andrew Detmer: Asshole.
[they find the crater and find that it's caved in]
Matt Garetty: It's like sunk in or something.
Steve Montgomery: There goes your old camera, dude.
Andrew Detmer: Oh, shit.
[they get close to the caved in crater and Steve touches the dirt on top of the crater]
Steve Montgomery: It's weird, I can still feel it down there.
Andrew Detmer: I can't believe we made it out of there.
Steve Montgomery: Whoa! I mean, that answers that, right?
Andrew Detmer: Um...what does? We still don't know what happened?
Steve Montgomery: We're still alive.
Matt Garetty: I mean, I was definitely...
[they get interrupted by a park ranger]
Park Ranger: Hey! You guys can't be here, okay? You gotta move on out.
Matt Garetty: What?
Park Ranger: Ground's unstable. We're taping the whole place off.
[they turn and leave]
no subject
[Andrew films Steve as he drives him home]
Steve Montgomery: New camera's working out for you, it's good?
Andrew Detmer: Yeah, it's pretty cool
Steve Montgomery: Yeah, it's smaller, doesn't shoot on tape.
Andrew Detmer: No, it just like records right onto the camera. You know, I just wanna record all this stuff that we can don. You know?
Steve Montgomery: Yeah, but it's like all the time. You don't feel like it's a little weird? Like it puts a barrier between you and everything else?
Andrew Detmer: Uh...I don't know. Maybe I wanna be.
Steve Montgomery: So, like, what's up with your dad? What's his story? What does he do?
Andrew Detmer: Um...my dad's a firefighter.
Steve Montgomery: Okay, that's cool. Ah, man, that must have been awesome!
Andrew Detmer: Yeah, he...he was, I guess.
Steve Montgomery: What happened?
Andrew Detmer: Uh...I don't know. He...he didn't die or anything. He just...he got injured on the job and now he um...he collects the insurance, you know? Um...so he doesn't really do anything. He just...he um...he'll go out during the day, but I don't know where he goes. Uh...he drinks a lot, I know that much.
[Andrew is on a day out with his sick mother, she takes the camera and films Andrew]
Karen Detmer: Is it on?
Andrew Detmer: Yep. Yeah, you got it.
Karen Detmer: I wanna remember you like this.
Andrew Detmer: Oh, mom.
Karen Detmer: You're stronger than this. Can you say that for me? Please?
Andrew Detmer: I'm stronger than this.
[Andrew is filming Matt as he uses his telekinesis power to throw a rock into the river]
Steve Montgomery: Oh, nice.
Matt Garetty: Alright. Here, watch this.
[using his power he throws another rock into the water]
Steve Montgomery: Weak.
Andrew Detmer: Hey, Matt.
Matt Garetty: Yeah?
Andrew Detmer: Do you like me?
Matt Garetty: Um...yeah, of course. I mean, you know, I...I didn't...I mean, I didn't always.
Andrew Detmer: What do you mean?
Matt Garetty: I don't know. You haven't...you haven't always been super easy to talk to, you know? I mean, I'm not saying that you...you're not now. I'm just...
Andrew Detmer: You're such an asshole.
Matt Garetty: That's what I'm talking about, dude. You're hostile, see?
Andrew Detmer: Hey, Matt.
Matt Garetty: Yeah?
[referring to their newly found powers]
Andrew Detmer: Do you ever think about, like, doing more with it?
Matt Garetty: What with this? Not really. Why? What else is there?
[Steve is reading the meaning of telekinesis from his cell phone]
Steve Montgomery: Telekinesis.
Matt Garetty: Yes, do tell.
Steve Montgomery: The ability to move, lift, vibrate...
[Matt and Steve laugh]
Steve Montgomery: That's my favorite.
[Steve continues to read the description of telekinesis]
Steve Montgomery: Spin, bend, break or impact objects through the direct influence of mental power or other non-physical means.
Andrew Detmer: Sounds familiar.
Matt Garetty: It does sound familiar.
Steve Montgomery: Very familiar.
[footage shows them on the bleachers at the football field discussing their powers]
Matt Garetty: This is my theory though, is that it's like a muscle. Like it's elastic, if you stretch it too far too quick, it'll tare. That's why I think we're getting stronger, you know? Cause we're working it out. Getting buff.
Steve Montgomery: Buff. How about this for a workout?
[Steve holds a tube of potato chips and uses his power to lift the chips one by one into his mouth]
Matt Garetty: Oh, shit! That was awesome.
[Steve burps]
Matt Garetty: Classy.
Steve Montgomery: Mmhmm. Attractive.
Andrew Detmer: I think it's time we took this out of the backyard.
[after Andrew tries to stab Matt with a fork and the fork just gets bent when it hits Matt]
Andrew Detmer: Just pretend that there's a barrier over your hand, alright? And then when things are gonna hit you, as long as you're ready, they will not hurt you because of the barrier.
[the three are standing in the parking lot of a toy store]
Steve Montgomery: That is disgusting.
Matt Garetty: But do you guys share cups in the team?
Steve Montgomery: No, we don't share cups. You see that car though? The red one.
Matt Garetty: Yeah.
[referring to the Matt's failed attempt to pull the gum out of the a shopper's mouth]
Steve Montgomery: Alright. The gum was cool, alright? You tried. It was a failed attempt though. Watch this.
Matt Garetty: What are you doing?
Steve Montgomery: Watch.
Matt Garetty: Go. Go. Go.
[Steve stands closer to the red car and using his power he moves the car around the parking lot and parks it in a different spot]
Matt Garetty: What? Oh, no way! Holy shit! Dude!
[footage of them returning home from the store with Matt driving]
Matt Garetty: How did nobody see that? It was out in the open.
Andrew Detmer: Her face! I cannot get her face out of my mind!
Steve Montgomery: That was awesome! Man, this give me so many ideas for stuff that we can do.
no subject
Matt Garetty: Go around.
Steve Montgomery: Ah, it's just some redneck assholes.
Andrew Detmer: Steve! Steve! Steve! Take the camera. Take the camera.
[Steve takes the camera and turns it to show Andrew in the back sit turning to look at the truck tailgating behind them]
Andrew Detmer: Alright, just make sure it's zoomed out a little.
Steve Montgomery: Gotcha, I can see you.
[the truck keeps tailgating them and honking his horn]
Matt Garetty: Okay, buddy.
Steve Montgomery: What you gonna do?
Matt Garetty: What the hell is this guy's problem?
Steve Montgomery: What are you doin'?
Andrew Detmer: Abracadabra.
[Andrew uses his power and accidently sends the truck crashing into the lake]
Steve Montgomery: Woh! Woh! Woh! Andrew!
Matt Garetty: Shit!
Steve Montgomery: What the hell did you just do? Matt, stop the car! Stop! Stop!
Matt Garetty: Are you crazy?!
Steve Montgomery: Pull down the road. We gotta go down there, right now!
Andrew Detmer: You guys! I'm sorry!
[the three of them go down to the lake where the truck has crashed and overturned]
Matt Garetty: What did you do? Why did you do that?
Andrew Detmer: I...I didn't mean to! I didn't...!
Matt Garetty: What the hell is wrong with you?! Look at this!
Andrew Detmer: Will you just calm down!
Matt Garetty: They're probably still in there!
Andrew Detmer: I'm sorry, okay?
[Andrew uses his power to movie truck slowly out of the water]
Matt Garetty: Andrew! Stop! Stop!
Andrew Detmer: I can help! I can get them out!
Matt Garetty: Stop doing things!
[suddenly Steve dives into the lake and swims towards the overturned truck]
Matt Garetty: Steve! Steve! Steve, be careful! Shit! Shit! Oh, my God! Andrew! Are you kiddin' me?
[Matt dives into the lake and helps Steve pull the truck driver out of the water and Matt calls the police]
[later that night Matt grills Andrew about the accident]
Matt Garetty: Is this a game or something?
Andrew Detmer: I don't understand how you guys can be so angry.
Matt Garetty: You don't understand how we could be angry? Andrew, you...you put somebody in the hospital tonight. Okay? Do you understand that?
[Andrew doesn't reply]
Matt Garetty: Andrew, look at me! You put a guy in the hospital! How do you feel about that? You hurt somebody! We need rules, okay? Rule number one; no using it on living things. Rule number two; you can't use it when you're angry. That's it! Rule number three; I don't think we should be using it in public, or telling anybody about it. Okay?
Andrew Detmer: You can't just declare rules.
Matt Garetty: I will declare rules, when you do something...
Andrew Detmer: You're the one that said nothing matters.
Matt Garetty: I will declare rules. If we're gonna keep going and we're getting stronger, we need rules.
[turning to Steve, who's been quite and pacing around them]
Matt Garetty: We need rules, right?
Steve Montgomery: Matt's right, we need rules.
[in Matt's car as he drives them to meet Steve]
Andrew Detmer: Matt, what did he say?
[Matt doesn't reply]
Andrew Detmer: Are you still mad at me?
Matt Garetty: No, I'm not mad.
Andrew Detmer: Well, you seem mad.
Matt Garetty: I'm not mad, I just...I just think that we need to be more careful now, you know? We can't...we have to think a little bit more. We can't just do things, we have to think first. Okay?
Andrew Detmer: I understand.
Matt Garetty: Okay.
[they arrive at an old mill and spot Steve's car but don't see Steve]
Matt Garetty: Why is Steve out in the boonies?
Andrew Detmer: Where are we?
Matt Garetty: Steve!
Andrew Detmer: His car's right there.
Matt Garetty: Yeah.
[shouts out]
Matt Garetty: Steve, where are you at?
Andrew Detmer: Steve?
[Matt gets a text message from Steve and reads it]
Matt Garetty: Look up.
[they look up and see Steve floating twenty feet above the ground]
Steve Montgomery: Hello, boys!
Matt Garetty: What? What is up?
[as the other two look in shock at Steve floating above them]
Steve Montgomery: Here me out! Here me out!
Matt Garetty: What are you doing?
Steve Montgomery: It's...it's much easier than it looks, I swear. It's much easier than it looks.
Matt Garetty: Oh, my God, dud!
[Steve gives instructions to Matt as he attempts to fly]
Steve Montgomery: Make sure you catch yourself, and don't try and jump.
Matt Garetty: I got it! I got it!
Steve Montgomery: Flip yourself.
Andrew Detmer: Come on, Matt. Come on.
[Matt tries to fly, but is unsuccessful and just lands straight onto the dirt on the ground]
Matt Garetty: Oh, shit!
[Steve and Andrew laugh]
Andrew Detmer: Oh, man! In dirt, man.
Matt Garetty: Get behind me, you're in my way.
Andrew Detmer: What do you mean, I was in your way?
[Matt is behind the camera filming Andrew as he learns to fly]
Matt Garetty: Is that your focus face?
Andrew Detmer: Oh, my God, dude! Wooh!
[Andrew starts to float up]
Matt Garetty: Bullshit! Are you kidding me?
Andrew Detmer: Holy crap!
Steve Montgomery: Hold it!
Andrew Detmer: Oh, my God, dude!
Steve Montgomery: Hold it!
Andrew Detmer: I'm doing it!
Matt Garetty: Holy crape, dude!
Andrew Detmer: I am doing it! Aah!
Steve Montgomery: Yeah! You're doing it!
Andrew Detmer: Okay! Wooh!
Matt Garetty: Andrew, don't fart, we'll never find you again.
[Andrew floats up next to Steve]
Andrew Detmer: Steve, stop me! Stop me!
Matt Garetty: Oh, my God!
Steve Montgomery: You are flying!
Matt Garetty: You guys look so cute together. I'm coming up. I'm bringing the camera, okay? Alright.
Andrew Detmer: Alright, how do we get down?
[after the the three are fooling around flying, the three plummet to the ground when an airplane nearly slams into Steve]
Steve Montgomery: We have broken history! I mean, I'm talking about since the caveman time! Uh...uh...or the Egyptians! The Wright brothers!
[Steve pulls in Matt in front of the camera]
Steve Montgomery: Come here! Come here! Get in here! Get in here! Say it, 'I can fly.'
Matt Garetty: I can fly.
Steve Montgomery: I can fly!
Andrew Detmer: Oh, come on.
Steve Montgomery: Come on, stay it with your chest.
Matt Garetty: I can fly!
Andrew Detmer: Say it, Matt!
[Steve and Matt both shout loud]
Steve Montgomery: I can fly!
Matt Garetty: I can fly! I can fly!
[fooling around at Steve's place]
Matt Garetty: I tried to save you, man! Andrew was just quicker.
Steve Montgomery: How does that go again?
Andrew Detmer: You almost died!
Steve Montgomery: Oh, please.
[referring to Steve's girlfriend]
Matt Garetty: How does she not notice though?
Steve Montgomery: I mean, come on. Let's be serious guys. She definitely noticed that it's gotten better. You just gotta be, you know?
Matt Garetty: Yeah?
Steve Montgomery: You gotta be...you gotta be subtle.
Andrew Detmer: Woh, that is so cool!
Matt Garetty: Dude, I haven't had sex since summer.
Andrew Detmer: I haven't had sex since ever!
Matt Garetty: Oh, really?
Steve Montgomery: That is completely unacceptable. How are you guys so cool? How are you guys so cool, man?
Matt Garetty: Liquid Nitrogen.
[they all laugh]
[as they all fall asleep, Andrew's camera floats up]
Matt Garetty: Hey, guys? Guys? You guys up?
Andrew Detmer: Yeah.
Matt Garetty: I um...today was like, it was like...I think the best day of my life. Like, I mean, I'm...I'm thinking about it and I can't...I can't think of any day that I liked better than today. You know? I really...I think it was.
Andrew Detmer: Yeah.
Steve Montgomery: Unanimous.
Andrew Detmer: Yes.
Matt Garetty: Okay.
[the three are studying in the school library]
Steve Montgomery: Okay. Check this out, right? Say what you want, but I'm thinking about booking at Malibu for the weekend. What's up with that?
Matt Garetty: Seriously?
Andrew Detmer: Well we could do it. I mean, I was thinking of the same thing, except I've always wanted to go to Tibet.
Matt Garetty: Why Tibet?
Steve Montgomery: Tibet?
Andrew Detmer: Yeah. I don't know, it...it seems really beautiful, you know? With all the like...
[Matt starts doing the Tibetan chant loudly and Andrew tries to stop him by putting his hand over his mouth]
[referring to Tibet]
Andrew Detmer: The monuments and mountains, you know? I don't know. And the...the monks have achieved such a high level of enlightenment that they can like, they can like float and shit, you know? So we could fit right in.
Matt Garetty: We could really mess with their heads as well.
[Steve and Matt laugh]
Andrew Detmer: Yeah. But like, seriously, okay? I think we should go. It would be really cool. Peaceful.
Matt Garetty: No, I think it's a really good idea. I actually would like to go. I'm down. Are you down, Steve?
Steve Montgomery: Well, I...I don't know, man. There's no bikini's in Tibet, so I don't know if I'm down for that.
[as they sit on top of a building and Andrew is controlling the camera by using his power]
Steve Montgomery: Dude, when did you start doing this? Like since when?
Andrew Detmer: What, with the camera?
Steve Montgomery: Yes, with the camera.
Andrew Detmer: Um...I don't know. It's been little while, I guess.
Steve Montgomery: See, Oh my... I can't do that. I can't do stuff that requires finesse. I tried to type my name out yesterday and I cracked my keyboard in half.
Andrew Detmer: No, dude. It's really easy. You just, okay, you think that you're holding it.
Andrew Detmer: See it's different, cause you've always had friends. And...and people wanna talk to you and be around you. I never had any of that. I mean, before this, I barely even hung out with Matt, and he's my cousin. We were close when we were little. But, I don't know, in high school everything changed.
Steve Montgomery: You know, I've been meaning to ask you. Winter break is coming up, you should go to talent show with me.
Andrew Detmer: No way.
Steve Montgomery: Why not? It'll be good for you to get out there, you know? Meet some people. Meet some girls.
Andrew Detmer: No. No. It's just not...
Steve Montgomery: What?
Andrew Detmer: Look, I'm just really shy. Okay? And I don't...I mean, I don't even really have any talents, so?
Steve Montgomery: What are you talking about? You don't have talent? You have talent. You've got talent.
[Steve looks at the camera which Andrew controlling by using his powers]
Andrew Detmer: Oh, dude. No way!
no subject
Matt Garetty: Oh, my God! I can see you're head is like exploding right now.
Andrew Detmer: What?
Matt Garetty: This is the beginning of your downfall. Hubris, right there.
Andrew Detmer: What's hubris?
Matt Garetty: Ha-ha-ha!
Andrew Detmer: No! What does hubris mean, Matt?
Matt Garetty: Seriously?
Andrew Detmer: What does seriously mean?
Matt Garetty: What? I'm...
[Steve films as he walks into the bedroom after Monica had stormed out]
Steve Montgomery: Drew! Drew! It's okay, man. Don't worry about it. Look, it happens to the best of us, okay? You just had a little too much to drink.
[inside, Andrew is sat on the bed with his pants around his ankles and puke on his jacket]
Steve Montgomery: Oh, woh! Buddy! What's goin' on, dude?
[Andrew quickly pulls his pants up]
Andrew Detmer: Why are you laughing?
Steve Montgomery: Oh, man! All on my jacket!
Andrew Detmer: Stop! Stop laughing!
Steve Montgomery: What are you talkin' about? It's cool, man. It's cool.
Andrew Detmer: No, it's not cool! Steve, stop.
Steve Montgomery: Stop what? It's cool, man.
Andrew Detmer: Will you just get out of here! Get out!
Steve Montgomery: Drew! Drew!
Andrew Detmer: What's your problem? You think this is funny?
Steve Montgomery: No! No! I'm not laughing.
Andrew Detmer: Get out!
[at Steve's funeral Matt watches Andrew suspiciously and Andrew walks off filming graves]
Matt Garetty: What are you doing? You filming graves? I don't get it.
Andrew Detmer: What do you care?
Matt Garetty: You haven't been returning my calls. Why aren't you returning my calls?
Andrew Detmer: I've been busy.
Matt Garetty: No, you haven't. Why aren't you returning my calls?
Andrew Detmer: I just don't feel like talking.
Matt Garetty: Turn off the camera.
Andrew Detmer: No.
Matt Garetty: Andrew. Andrew, turn off the camera.
[Andrew turns his camera away and starts to walks off]
[referring to Steve's death]
Matt Garetty: Andrew, how did he get struck by lightning during a storm with no recorded lightning strikes? How? And they found Steve out in the middle of a field. Why would Steve go out in the middle of a field during a lightning storm, Andrew?
Andrew Detmer: I don't why.
Matt Garetty: What? What?!
Andrew Detmer: I don't know what happened, Matt!
Matt Garetty: I don't believe you, okay? I don't believe you. I want you to turn off the camera and talk to me.
Andrew Detmer: No! Why?
Matt Garetty: Because, I wanna have a conversation with you, okay?
Andrew Detmer: Don't tell me what do, Matt.
Matt Garetty: Just turn off the camera.
Andrew Detmer: Don't tell me what to do, Matt.
[Matt walks towards Andrew and tries to take the camera off Andrew]
Matt Garetty: Turn it off!
Andrew Detmer: Don't you ever tell me...!
Matt Garetty: Just give me...
[Andrew uses his power to make the camera float above them]
Matt Garetty: Andrew, are you joking right now? Is this...is this a joke to you?
[Andrew is at Steve's grave, crying and filming all the flowers laid on his grave]
Andrew Detmer: Please believe me, Steve! Please! It's just I...I don't know what I did. I lost control and...and I'm so sorry. This thing is just becoming a part of me now, and I don't... I miss you, Steve.
[in School Andrew gets bullied again by Wayne and and uses his power to pull out Wayne's teeth, he goes into the bathroom and talks into the camera and showing off the teeth]
Andrew Detmer: Okay. So, see this one here? This one I got really clean, cause I did this little, like, lasso thing around the root, you know? But then these two, these I did not get as good.
[he holds up the other two teeth in front of the camera]
Andrew Detmer: See how they're broken? I think it's because I got 'em from the middle, you know, instead of the root.
[Andrew is at impound yard talking into a camera]
Andrew Detmer: I've been doing a lot of reading, like online, about like...like, just like evolution and like natural selection. And how like there's this thing, right? It is called the apex predator, right? And basically what this is, is the strongest animal in eco-system, right? And...and as human beings we are...we're considered the apex predator, but only because, like...like smaller animals can't feed on us, because of weapons and stuff, right? A lion does not feel guilty when it kills a giselle. Right? You do not feel guilty when you squash a fly. And I think that means something. I just think that really means something.
[he then uses his power to crush the car behind him]
[after Matt stops Andrew from killing Richard, he and Casey try to get away but Andrew uses his power to lift their car and send it flying across the Space Needle, Matt flies Casey to safety and goes back to Andrew who's floating by the Space Needle causing havoc]
Matt Garetty: Andrew! Andrew! Look at me! This has to stop, right now! This is really really bad!
Andrew Detmer: Why did you catch him?
Matt Garetty: Listen! Just focus, okay?
Andrew Detmer: I dropped him! Why did you catch him?
Matt Garetty: Andrew, this is not a game! Do you understand? You're hurting people!
Andrew Detmer: You're weak, Matt! You're all weak!
Matt Garetty: Andrew!
Andrew Detmer: I'm stronger than all of this!
Matt Garetty: Andrew, listen to me. Okay? Just...just...I need you to listen! Just focus for a second!
Andrew Detmer: Do not tell me what to do!
no subject
She was just one of a few, unfit for family. Horse glue.
She expired at Allenside Park.
(Asked if I was the lead on the quarry body.)
--
Good riddance, Elizabeth Childs.
[I'm not Beth!]
Dirty little copy-cop. Who are you?
[stabby stab]
Not yet, not-Beth.
--
I'm not Beth...
--
(She said you would come. Pick a colour.)
--
(-Female killers tend to chronic detachment. Isolation breeds sociopaths. This psalm: "Fearfully and wonderfully made." She's a religious fanatic.
-The stick figures, the doll's head, the fortune teller. Early childhood development issues. Could be extreme abuse.
-Yes but she's also careful in her way. No prints on any of this.)
--
[Detective Childs]
No you're not. Beth is dead, isn't she?
You didn't feel it?
We have a connection.
I need to know who you are. Let's meet again. I never got your name.
Helena.
You're doing police work, but how long can that last? When the real police find me-- you are me, I am you. We are both the victim and the cop.
So come see me. Discuss. I already gave you directions.
--
Out.
--
Detective Childs.
Oh. Hello Paul.
Mm, not too good. I got beat up.
Please come get me... outta here.
--
[My name is Detective Beth Childs. I murdered Margaret Chen. It wasn't an accident. I shot her on purpose.]
--
Things must be getting uncomfortable there for you now.
Oh, you're a terrible detective. Beth figured this out.
It's not about revenge. It's about you.
In person. You have my invitation.
--
I am unarmed.
This isn't necessary.
You're different than the others.
I think I'm dying.
Where did you come from?
God sent me.
You don't know God.
Maggie helped make you. Then she saw the light and came to our side.
I can save you.
I can see a light in you.
No. No! The others-- poor copies of God's human beings.
Let me save you.
You're wrong.
Can you feel it?
You do feel it.
--
Tomas.
--
Tomas. Where am I?
--
Thank you, Tomas.
She's different than the others.
I don't know. We have a connection.
She said I am not the original, that we are all the same.
Forgive me, Tomas.
--
The copies were harder to find.
I'd like to see her again. Tomas...
I'll be strong.
[Tomas says shit and hands her a razor.]
--
[echoing Tomas:] I am the original. I am the light.
--
I'm not here to hurt you, I just want to talk.
Please, I have an offer for you, but we must talk. And eat. Let's have lunch.
--
I dreamed that we were friends.
We will be. I have seen it.
This is a nice restaurant, isn't it?
You know my name. Tell me yours.
No. I grew up pure in a convent in Ukraine.
No. They saved me from abandonment. [burp] Excuse me. I want my knife back, the one you took from me.
Mm. I'm supposed to kill you too, but you let me live.
We'll never be seperate. Tell me the names of the others and I will spare you.
You have until midnight to tell me the names. Call this number or you die first. Bye bye.
--
"How was your day, Paul? Yes. I also had a pleasant day. I went working and shopping." [ring ring] "Pardon me, it's work."
It's almost midnight. Do you have names for me?
That's not the name of a sheep.
Baaaaaaa.
--
Shh shh shh shh shh. Hello, friend.
Do you want to be saved?
Give me a name first.
I want the name of a sheep too.
Tell me.
--
I want to see your tail. [beats him down]
Now show me the tail. Slowly. That's good. How is this possible? Did you lie with a beast?
I have a message for your master. From Tomas.
[cuts off his tail.]
--
"Dear mummy, I miss you. Mrs S says you are in the sunshine. Please come home. Love Kira."
--
"I miss you mummy, I miss you mummy, I miss you mummy, I miss you mummy."
Scotsburn Avenue 148.
--
I am taking you to meet someone. How can you be Sarah's daughter, child? How can that be?
No, I'm not. She's not real.
Yes, angel?
I don't know.
Yes. Do you know the way?
Goodnight, angel.
--
There was a girl, a little girl.
Sarah is the mother.
The girl was hit by a car because of me.
--
She's innocent. I did what I was told, I used Sarah to get to the others.
That man, Olivier, I took off his beast tail for you!
[Phone rings, tomas is a dick] No, no! That's her!
[Answering phone:] Is Kira alright?
It was an accident.
No! [beatdown :C]
--
Let go! Let go! No! No, no!
Tomas, no...
[crying/screaming etc in cage]
--
Sarah! You are the only one I can really turn to.
--
You came. How is Kira?
I would never hurt her.
Do it.
You care. :))
You are all I have now. I love you.
You can't harm her kid!
You made me this way.
--
Sarah! Sarah! [locked in the trunk etc] Sarahhh~
--
How can you be my birth mother?
--
Sestra? You are my twin sister.
--
[pretending to be Sarah] Drink?
How... did scientists put babies inside you?
You gave me to them. You let them make me this way.
--
We missed you, sister. Come join us.
--
Moi sestra. My twin. I'm sorry, mother isn't very well.
She separated us. She tore us apart. But now we're together.
London Calling.
Scientists made one little baby then we split in two. So I cannot kill you, sister. Like you could not kill me. Sarah, we make a family. Yes?
SEASON 2
[some other shit??]
--
[Eastern european accent and... scarification?
Angel wings. No ID but these are the contents of her pockets.
Sugar packs, lollipops. Shot point blank in the chest and she walks in? How is she even alive?]
--
Who are you?
[Family.]
--
[Forgive me. An old custom.
Hello Tomas
I am so grateful to your family for my rescue. And for hers. I found myself praying for her soul.
Well, that's not so crazy, is it?
Abominations have no soul. Though one could easily mistake the bullet missing her heart for a miracle.
It is a miracle, my friend. Your charge is a genetic anomaly. She's a mirror. See, her internal organs are all reversed.
What?
It's a condition that sometimes occurs in identical twins. Kind of a yin-yang sort of thing. One of them's right handed, one of them's left handed. One of them has their heart on the left side and one of them has their heart...
Her heart is on the wrong side. This is surely the mark of corruption.
....
What you see is not who she is. Your new order should appreciate this wretch is not merely an affront, she is the war for the future of creation.]
--
[Impossible. She's defective and dangerous. Any child of hers would be a monster.]
--
Grace... is your name?
[Yes]
Why am I here?
[Father says he wants you to join our family.]
I've already got a family.
[You're barely even human.]
I have a twin. Sestra. And a pleminnytsya. A niece. Where is Tomas?
[Gone. My dad said back to Europe and the dark ages.]
(spits out grapes onto floor) Good riddance. (offers chicken leg :V)
--
[Shh, shh. Helena, easy now. Easy.]
My head hurts.
[That would be the sedative. Here, water helps.]
What did you do to me?
[No, you're injured, remember? We're trying to get you well.]
There were people all around me.
[That was just our family.
Oh, that's right, Helena. It's okay. Everyvody just came by to say hey there. Helena, I can't imagine the kind of life you've led up til now but that's all over and done with. We're not like Tomas. We love you for who you are. You just rest. Don't worry. Your life is here now with us.]
--
[Stop it! Stop it, just leave us alone! Just die!] (Gracie tries to smother Helena, who plays dead) [Go back to Hell where you belong.]
( Helena wraps her arms around Gracie's throat from behind and chokes her out)
Shh, shh, shh, shh. You sleep now.
--
Shh. Shh. Hello, sestra. Good to see you.
[Helena, what are you doing here?]
I followed you from mother's house.
[I shot you! You were dead!]
Yes, you did. It's a miracle. We were meant to be together.
[Stay away from me!]
Please. Sestra. I need your help. Don't send me back. I was married. I think he took something from inside of me.
(Points knife at her stomach. Then she fits her body creepily against Sarah's and hugs her weirdly. :V)
--
[You are now pitted between two psychopaths. Cut her loose.
If she hadn't shown up, I'd be dead.
She can't stay here, Sarah! She's not--
Oi. Just, just, just get her something to wear. Please.
Fine. I'm sure I've got a Ukrainian folk costume in here somewhere.]
(Helena makes AN ACTUAL FUCKING CAT HISS at Felix as he walks past oh my god.)
[Hey! Hey hey hey. You treat him with respect. He's my brother. Which means he's one of our sisters. Family. You get it, meathead?]
Do not call me this.
[Do you understand, Helena?]
He is sestra?
[Oh god.
Exactly. So pick some clothes, wash up and do everything he tells you to.]
(sniffs the clothes and walks to bathroom) Thank you, Felix.
[Just don't kill my rubber ducky. Jesus. What did those fish cult freaks do to her?
I don't know. She wouldn't say. But I know somebody who can handle her. Maybe he can find out. I just need you to chaperone her.]
--
(Felix presumably rode her over on his bike omg qties)
[Alright. Best behaviour, little... sestra.]
Hello again, Detective Bell.
[Inside. Hands on the table.]
I don't like to be touched.
[Yeah? Well, that's too bad.
I just gave her new clothes; she doesn't have any weapons or anything-- That's my pen!]
I wanted to write letter.
[I haven't forgot that you took a shot at me.]
(lauuuugh)
[Do as he says, meathead. ... Look, Helena. He wants to help you and Sarah.]
He lies down with pigs. (weird-ass oinking noise, mouth closed what even Helena)
[And... that's my cue to leave. I've got a hot date too. Um. Good luck... with... that. Oh, um, try food.]
--
[Hey. Hey! Maggie Chen. Also a Prolethean. She was your spotter. She tracked down clones for you. The two of you worked together. Thing is, last time I saw you, you were running away from Joe Hanson's followers in a wedding dress. Want to tell me what that was all about? What did they do to you? What did they do to you? How did Maggie find the clones? How did she communicate with you?]
(Helena draws a girl stick figure on the fishtank in her breath)
[I am a very patient man, Helena, so I'mma just make me a grilled cheese sandwich while you think about it.]
--
When I was seven, the nuns said I had devils inside me. Sister Olga locked me in cellar. She gave me darkness. But. I gave her darkness. (thumbs, eye gouging, pop sound :C) Does Sarah know of swan man?
[I don't think so.]
Swan man played god.
[How'd he do that?]
He's in her locker.
[Whose locker? Maggie's?]
Why does Rachel want Sarah? Is it for Kira too?
[Does Magggie Chen have a locker?]
(shakes cuffs) How does this help my sestra?
[Listen. Helena. This is really important.]
(nods) I want to tell you something.
[Yeah?]
(points at donut box) These I like.
--
[Whoa whoa Sarah Sarah slow down.
Okay, I will call some people at the station blah blah blah]
(Helena picks the handcuff locks while he's talking and disarms and disables Art)
Got you, Arthur.
(Then presumably handcuffs him to a post in his apartment and makes a paper fortune teller and then leaves lol)
--
(snip snip barbie hair)
"A little more off the back, Helena." Yes, Rachel, of course. So pretty you are. So much money. So much money.
(puts on lipstick, kisses doll head -- is this a ritual thing with her? Katja barbie head at sniper site too)
--
"Do you like my hair, Paul?" "Yeahhh. Very pretty, dirty sexy Rachel. Like my mother."
--
Hello, sestra.
[Helena stop.
Helena, put the gun down.]
Mind your weapon, Art, or I pull trigger. Come see, Sarah.
[Okay. Helena, you can't do this. You can't.]
Rachel is problem. I fix problem.
[I wish you could. They've got Felix.]
Brother sestra?
[He's in jail. If you kill Rachel, they're gonna keep him there.]
Look. (shifts binoculars over with her foot) Look, Sarah. Paul is unfaithful.
[I don't care about Paul.] (Helena makes kissy noise) [He doesn't matter any more.]
Then I kill him for you.
[No! Helena, stop.
Take your finger off the trigger and put down the gun.
No, just--]
Pull, Art, see who's faster.
[Please!
I can't let her shoot.
Helena. Listen to me. There's another way. We can make a deal for Felix but I need your help. Only you can help me find swan man.]
You only want to use me.
[No. That's not true. You saved my life. You're my sister. Helena, I thought- I thought I killed you. I couldn't tell anybody what I lost. But you came back. Please, put- put down the gun. Please. That's good. Come down. Thank you.]
You make me cry, sestra.
[Come on, meathead.]
Don't call me this.
--
[Right, so how do we find swan man?]
Mrs S has a nice truck. Much leg rooms.
[Helena, where are we going?]
Cold River.
[What's that? A town?]
The place of screams.
--
[You got an iron gut, haven't ya?]
I only ate half.
[No, thank you.]
You have to eat, Sarah.
[So, Cold River. Where is it?]
That would spoil the surprise.
[Why don't you just tell me where Duncan is? We can take him to Leekie.]
If you knew where swan man was you would leave me behind. Sestra? If you have Kira and we are twins, could I have babies too?
[Why?]
Mm, I am very good with children.
[You said the Proletheans did something to you. Something about married? What happened?]
I don't know. I had a fever. Kira is lucky.
[Why's that.]
You are a good mother.
[I don't really think so.]
There's somebody here. (dog noises and shadow puppets help) Look, look. He likes youuu... He likes you. (kissy noises, licking sound)
[Ewwww. Gross. Go to sleep, weirdo. We've got an early start.]
Don't let the bedbugs bite.
(fart and lol) Excuse me.
[Piss off!]
--
[God, you act like you've never been in a car before.]
Never been on road trip. Only told where to go and what to do. (radio stations flicking)
[Would you just-- Pick a station, please?]
(Sugar Honey Honey omg, Sarah shuts it down)
[Uh-uh, not happening. (Helena turns it back on) Oh, for--]
"You are my candy girl and you've got me wanting youu~"
[Oh this must have been a huge hit with the nuns in Ukraine.]
Yes. Super sunshine hit. "You are my candy girl and you got me wanting you~"
[Are you gonna sing the whole way?]
"I just can't believe the loving..." Uh-- (throat clear) "I just can't believe it's youuuuuu. Oh honey!"
[(lol) Stop please.]
"Oh sugar honey" (goofiest awkward lol) "You are my candy girl and you've got me wanting youuuUUUUUU~"
[Helena!]
"Oh HONEY!"
--
[This isn't Cold River, Helena. The church. Is this where Duncan is?]
Where he was last seen. Maggie tracked him here. Now we follow his trail, yes?
[Oh no no no. No, no. You are staying in the car. Don't cause any trouble.]
Can I have radio?
[No. Helena, just don't do anything, please.]
--
[Starting early, huh? You better pace yourself.]
I am on vacation.
[Do you wanna join us? We're nicer than we look.]
I think you bad goats. Maaaa.
[Are you being rude, you little skank? I'm not quite sure I heard what you said. (finger sprain) Jeez! You broke my finger!]
Don't be baby, I only sprain. Next one I break.
(Jesse comes in and acts all noble and shit.)
[Sorry about that ma'am. Miller, pork rind?]
(she slides her drink over) White Russian?
(he offers her food) Pork rind?
(she eats them like a Helena do.)
--
In Ukraine, I was police detective. I shot many criminals.
[Ukraine, huh? I've never been further than Sioux Falls myself.]
Then I was brilliant scientist, but I quit to be with my family.
[Oh come on, don't tell me you're spoken for.]
Divorced, after rehab drinking problems. But now I am with my sestra. Having adventures.
[You sure have led a life, huh? I wonder how a simple guy like me keeps a girl like you in a place like this.]
You'd have to be very strong.
(ARM WRESTLING TIME. she beats him then lols mightily and drinks)
--
[You know what? You have real pretty eyes.]
You have a nice hat. And very nice red face.
(Aaaand she beats him again and lols. they do shots)
[Damn! Alright, tie breaker. Let's do this.]
Okay! Real challenge please.
[Wait wait wait... May I?]
(aaaand he's taking her to dance and they dance a bunch then kiss a whole bunch and make out on the pool table then weird biker comes in and acts like an ass and helena beats him down and tries to gouge his eyes out while looking extremely happy about it c:)
--
[Roy! Roy, man, come on! She didn't do nothing.]
I want my boyfriend. (and she's being led away in handcuffs. Sees Sarah.) Sestra.
--
I want my boyfriend. Where is Jesse?
[No idea. But those guys you beat up aren't pressing charges.]
Good, so I continue my holiday.
[Yeah. As soon as the paperwork is done. Your, uh, sister's here.]
[Gracie: Sister. It's good to see you.]
You tried to kill me.
[Yes.] (Helena lol) [My father and I, we don't always see eye to eye so...]
He sewed you silent. Your lips. I had this also once. It will heal.
[Helena. We want you to come back.]
I have my sestra now. She needs me.
[She's not coming back for you. Helena. We want to take you to your children.]
You took my babies from inside me.
[Your eggs. My father, he... He made them whole for you.]
Why?
[Because he sees something beautiful in you.]
But you don't.
[It doesn't matter what I see.]
He will take my babies and put them inside me like... how I was made?
[How?] (points at her uterus) [Yes. Like that.]
[Hello, Helena. Your friend asked me to give you this.]
Take me to my babies.
--
[Alright, you just hold onto Alexis's hand there. She's the midwife. You may feel just a bit of discomfort right now.]
[You're doing very well and you're very strong]
[It's just the catheter threading through the cervix.]
What is cervix?
[Well, when the time is right, it'll open wide enough to let the baby pass. Now for the embryos.]
Those are my babies?
[That's right. Now I'm going to inject these into your womb and then they will implant themselves in the lining of your womb and they'll start to grow just as nature intended. Aaaand... that's it. God willing, in 9 months we'll be welcoming a brand new you into the world. Maybe even twins.]
--
[How are you feeling?]
I have gas.
[There's plenty more of that to come. Now let's get you dressed. There's something I'd like to show you. ... This is our nursery and preschool. Feel free to spend as much time here as you wish. You're part of our family now.]
(Helena pokes out her tongue at a little girl - Faith - and smiles c:)
--
[Okay children. Naptime. Come on, let's go. Now.]
[One day, this room will be full of your children. It's time to get ready, Gracie.]
(Faith comes up and touches Helena's hair, Helena smiles at her and touches her hair back, pokes out her tongue again.)
[(evil lady) You're not listening, Faith!]
[I just wanted to touch her hair.]
[Don't talk back to me.]
[Ow, you're hurting me]
[You're lucky you're not getting the strap. (spank :c) It's naptime, do as you're told. Shall we head back then?]
(Helena grabs her by the throat.) There was a woman in convent like you. You touch her again and I will gut you like a fish.
--
(pig noises at Alexis)
[Well, now that you're both in a family way, you can keep each other company.]
You are sad to be pregnant? Might as well eat. You will be fat soon, anyway. ... I thought you like Mark.
[You don't get it, do you? My father is the father. I'm carrying your babies!]
My baby's in your cervix.
[For your genes, Helena. Haven't you been listening to anything my father says?]
Not really.
--
He puts babies in all these women.
[Yes. To multiply is divine. Try and eat something, Gracie, please.]
(kissy noises) You love her like puppy, but you let him make her broodmare.
[The women here don't see it that way. Tell her, Gracie. (Gracie turns away)]
Mm.
more season 2
[Oh, what are you doing?]
I don't... belong here.
[But... where will you go?]
To my sestra. You're a good girl, Grace. But if you don't want to have my babies, don't have my babies.
[I would never do that. (Gracie starts getting boots on too.) I'm coming with you. This way, it's faster.]
[You disappoint me, daughter. Go back to your beds.]
[No, father.]
[We trusted you to counsel her, to help her embrace her purpose.]
I am not afraid of you.
[Neither am I. Mother's gone out west to find more broodmares. Both of you can go to hell.]
(He knocks Helena out then drags Gracie to a cage.) [Oh Gracie, what would your mother say?]
[No, no! I hate you, I hate you!]
...
[Helena is a miracle, Mark. She defies the laws of science. It is a sign I cannot ignore.]
[You're not locking Gracie up anymore.]
(Helena attacks him, subduing him.)
Go, run! Run!
--
[Helena, Helena what are you doing?]
Why do you sound so scared?
[Helena, we saved you.]
Mmmmm...
[Helena, I am the father of your children. They are going to need me when they get older.]
Daddy, how do they make babies? Would you like... horse baby? Cow baby? Is this how you do it?
[You've made your point. This isn't funny.]
Do I look like I am trying to be funny?
[Helena, Helena... Don't do this.]
Ah, no... (and then she shoves the thing in his butt and laughs like a crazy person before setting the farm on fire presumably. :|)
--
[Well, I can tell you I just came home to find someone at my table.]
[What do you mean? Who?]
[She's eating.]
Hello sestra brother. I want to see Sarah.
[Holy shit. Helena's back.]
--
I fell in love with a boy called Jesse. But after bar fighting he had to go to war and become a tow truck driver.
[Look, there was a fire at the Johansen ranch last night. Do you know anything about that.]
No.
[Helena. Did you burn down the fish people's ranch?]
No. (cheeky fucking smile) When do I see Sarah?
[Soon. She said that Kira can't wait to see you.]
After my heart was broken, I became roommates to a very good girl.
[Okay. So tell me about that.]
She had a crisis of faith.
--
[Listen, I don't know if this is a good idea or not because it's crazy, but Art has someone downstairs who really wants to meet her sisters.]
[Helena. This is your sister, Cosima.]
[Hey!]
You should not be up.
[I'm up. Come here. (hug :>>>>) You're very beautiful.]
Thank you. I like your hairs.
[Oh thanks! I like your hairs too.]
[Helena, this is your other sister, Alison.]
[Hello, Helena. Lovely to meet you.]
Pleased to meet you too. You are married?
[Yes. Oh yes, very much so. To Donny.]
I will be married too, one day.
[Well, it's very rewarding if you can get through the rough patches.]
[Auntie Helena! (more hugs c:) We thought you ran away from us.]
I came back to see your little face. I am so happy to see you I am going to eat your finger. (lolol pretend chomping)
(CLONE DANCE PARTY)
--
(then she gets kidnapped and i cry forever)
season 3
They are very little.
[-Maybe you can wear them on your fingers.
-They're not for her, silly! Helena's going to have a little monkey, too!]
Monkey number two.
[-Felix, that ox liver smells fantastic!
-Doesn't it? It's our sestra's favorite. Marinated in horilka all day.
-Mm, that'll go perfectly with these.
-Are you going to say thank you?]
Thank you, sestra Alison.
[-Oh, heavens, just a few things I've made. This is your special day, Helena, you and your precious cargo.
-Dude, you look awesome.]
You look awesome also, sestra. You are well?
[Oh, yeah, I'm, like, way better thanks to science. Check it out!]
Babka cake.
[Mm-hmm.]
Kielbasa.
[Go ahead, dig in, you're eating for two now.]
(aaaand then the dream turns into a nightmate)
[Relax, Helena. You remember me, don't you?]
Yes, Pupok. It's been a long time.
[You're being tested again. And this time you're carrying a child.]
It's hot here. I can taste sand. They took me from my sestras.
[No one said it was going to be easy, kiddo.]
--
My legs hurt.
[-Picture a box, inside a box inside a box.
-She's been in almost 48 hours.
- All right. In you go.
-Congratulations, you escaped the first box.]
--
[-Go. (Helena gets waterboarded :CCCCCC)
-Now.
-Go.
-Go again. (Helena gets some more :CCCCCC)
-Stop! Stop. Stop the stress tests.
-We've got two more cycles to run.
-She's pregnant. Blood work results. (Helena gasping) Just be still. You're going to feel the water rattle around in there for a while. Helena, I'm Doctor Virginia Coady. I know it doesn't seem like it, but I'm very happy to meet you.]
--
[-All mangoes are golden. Nothing golden is cheap. Conclusion--
-Did he say mangoes?
-All mangoes are cheap. Is that a sound conclusion, based on those statements?
-We like mangoes.
-Please concentrate. All mangoes are cheap. True or false.
-Where are these mangoes?]
Where are these mangoes?
[Do I have to explain the exercise again?]
I would like to see these mangoes.
[The doctor asked a question.]
I met your brother. He's ugly.
[-Okay. That's enough.
-Keep provoking them, we'll never get any mangoes.]
Silence, insect!
[Helena. Let's walk.I will say this about the place: the air is good at night, and I can smoke where I want. You must be very early on. A week? Two? Makes you quite a special case, doesn't it?
Ask the last person who told me that. The Mark-faced boys, they are your babies?
[They came to me when they were very young. The irony of it? I never wanted kids. Didn't think it was for me. Next thing I know, I've got more than I can count.]
How unpleasant.
[I think you should know how you got here, Helena. Your family sold you out. Sarah sold you out. They decided you were expendable.]
I don't believe you.
[You can be sure of this: You're not expendable to me. Or my boys. You've overcome so much. Your upbringing, your biology, your fate. We're going to find out how.]
--
(Singing:) Oy khodyt' son kolo vikon, a drimota...
--
[I thought you'd smell like Sarah.]
Another one. You are the ugliest Mark yet.
[Tell me something. Sarah Manning. The gatherer of sisters. When she sold you out, when she gave you to us, that must've been quite a blow.]
You come inside, I tell you about it.
[-Oh, sweetheart, there is nothing more that I would love.
-That's enough.
-Just getting to know the enemy, Major.
-You have an assignment. I will brief you so this time you don't stray.
-Sir.]
(clicks her tongue) Dirty Paul. He lies with my sestras. Even Rachel. Come inside. Have another.
[You won't believe me, but I am sorry it has come to this.]
Hmm. One day, I kill you all. (makes a machine gun noise and points gun fingers at him)
--
[-Hey, keep it down!
-Step aside.
-She's bleeding, Sergeant Miller.]
My shit! Eat my shit!
[-Okay, go in.
-Yes, sir.
-Sergeant Miller, report.
-She bashed her head against the bars this time.
-We'll have to get her over to the infirmary. Helena, it breaks my heart to see you hurt yourself like this. (Helena grins and spits) You know how this goes. Keep still if you don't want it to hurt.]
--
[Helena. Helena. Get up. They're gone. Hurry up. We don't have much time before the drugs set in.]
My arm is like dead fish.
[You have to stay alert. Look for an escape.]
To escape the first box, you must know what next box holds.
[Right. Scout this place and get back here. And don't blunder around like an idiot.]
I will be as quiet as church mouse.
[Hurry up. You're gonna pass out.]
No, no, no. Not yet.
[Helena. On your feet. Snap out of it. Get us back before it's too late.]
--
You must be Parsons.
[Please k--]
What did they do to you?
[-Kill me. K-- kill me.
-Stupid girl. Why would you waste your chance of escape on him? He's already dead. Get moving. Leave him.
-Please. Please--]
We've both been abandoned by our families, left to suffer. I will make it go away. No more pain, little one. Shh. Shh, shh, shh. (hums, stabs him in the brain 8v) Sleep now, lamb chop. Sleep.
[Guards! You stupid girl--]
You say you love boys, but you lie.
[Guards!]
You're a shit mother!
[Take her!]
--
Pupok.
[You killed their labrat. What did you expect - cheesecake?]
He was suffering.
[And now you are. ... Oh Helena, guilty pleasures won't help you escape.]
--
[Hey. Hey! Hey! Hello? Hello?! Anybody?! Oh, shit!]
Not so smart after all.
[Oh, my God. Helena? Helena! Hey! Hey! Oh God, you're alive! What have they done to you? Are you okay?]
I'm most wonderful.
[Hey, look at me. What have they done to you?]
You put me here.
[What? No. Hey, are you hurt? Hey!]
You did this to me! I know you made deal with their mother. Me for you.
[Oh, shite.]
Yes, much shit.
[-Hey. Hey. That's not what happened. I don't know anything about their mother.
-Give her nothing.]
Don't worry, Pupok. I will sew my mouth shut.
[What? Helena, please, look at me.]
--
[-Helena, yes. Yes, there was a deal made for you, but I didn't make it. Mrs. S did. She traded you to Castor to get me and Kira out of DYAD. She made a bad choice.
-Sarah's lying. She's poison. She's going to melt you like butter.]
Shut up about the butter.
[-What? Look, Mrs. S, she made that decision to protect her granddaughter. Think of what you would do to protect that baby in your belly.]
Keep it far away from you.
[-You know, I had to send Kira away again because these Castor assholes came after us, but I knew I had to come find you because we can't fight them alone. You know, I should have just left you here to bloody rot.]
In convent, I live for four months in a broom closet. I do not rot. (door clanks) Five, four, three, two, one.
[-Another one of you bastards.
-Back away from the door.
-Here, kitty, kitty, kitty, kitty.
-Against the wall.
-I don't think so.
-Come on, let's go.
-Helena?
-Let's go.
-Hey, Helena?
-Come on.
-Helena, you know they're our brothers, right? They tell you that?
...
-You must be very proud of your boys. Fine, let's chat. What have you done to my sister?
-Helena's fine. She's been confined and controlled much of her life. My opinion, a secure environment gives her comfort.]
--
The mother wants to make medicine for the Mark-faced boys.
[Yeah, thank you for the warning. They took like a gallon of blood.]
You say they are our brothers? I do not believe.
[No?]
Mm-mm.
[Well, I don't care what you believe. You're institutionalized.]
What does this word mean?
[It means that you love it here. Don't worry, I'm sure they'll make a nice little cage for your baby too.]
To a rat, a small hole is like a door.
[Have you figured a way out of here?]
Eat your food, sestra.
--
[Okay, Helena, how many men live on this base?]
Approximately eleven million.
[I know you. I know you've counted them.]
(door clanks) Five, four, three, two, one.
[-All you had to do was stay away.
-What's this, then? Huh? No uniform, no rank?
-I'm a major, Sarah.
-Yeah, I wouldn't wear a uniform either if I was doing illegal shit.
-Come on, now. You are short on friends.
-Are you all right?
-Fat lot you care.
-I do care.
-I was trying to keep you out of all this.]
(kissy noises) Mmm, mmm. Hello, dirty Paul.
[Hey, you know what? This is the guy who sold you out to S. If you don't believe me, you can piss off too.]
Is this true, Paul?
[-It was either her or you.
-So you're a snake either way you cut it.
-If you thought about it for one second, you'd realize all I am doing for these men is what you do for your sisters: protecting them.
-So they can assault women and and abduct people? That's a hell of a cause.
-And Helena's innocent? How many people has she killed? Just do the right thing.
-Let us go.
-That is out of my hands now. The military is just another family, Sarah. Your genetic siblings are dying. Everything we do is for them.
-You tell yourself whatever you need to.]
Opening up their heads? I think Parsons would disagree.
[Second lieutenant Parsons sacrificed what little life he had left for his brothers.]
He begged me to end it.
[No, you murdered him, and you destroyed months of data that could have helped them.]
Maybe you're next, Paul. Ckk.
[Yeah, Paul! Maybe you're next!]
--
[Come on, Helena. I know you're planning some kind of escape.]
I have no plan. I am institutionalized.
[Come on. We're surrounded by desert, yeah? So we're in Mexico or something. Come on, talk to me. I can help.]
You want to be my sandwich?
[What?]
In Siberia, when planning escape, you take weak person with you. They're called "sandwich" because you eat them. (laughs)
[You want to know why I left Kira with Mrs. S? 'Cause I was too young and I felt tied down and trapped, so I would leave Kira with S for days on end. Then one day, Mrs. S wouldn't let me see her.]
Why she does this?
[Oh 'cause I was high or hungover or some shit, and she was right to do that. But-- I left town with Vic just to show S what a mistake she'd made. I missed nearly a year with my kid just being selfish. I didn't get to watch her grow or share her secrets or be her mum. So you want to hold this stupid grudge, you go ahead. Fine with me.]
... Okay, Sarah. Okay. But you have to help me.
--
[Helena, what's happening?]
Any moment now.
(door clanks, together:) Five, four, three, two, one.
[-Meal tray.
-I'm not done with it.
-Yes, you are. Put it through the slot.
-Why don't you come in and get it? (Helena laughs) Open.
-Great.
-Everybody come in.
-All right.
-Ah! Ah, ah, ah.
-I don't think so.
-Hey. I would suggest you show the brothers some respect, make life easier on yourself. Okay? Cooperation is your friend. You can take her back now.]
--
[Hey. Hey, Helena. It worked.]
Sarah, I think you are institutionalized too.
[Sorry I ever said that. Okay, ready? Hide, hide, hide. Okay, good, good. Good girl, good girl.]
--
Okay, I'm ready.
[You ready? You ready? Okay. Um, um, um-- Okay, go! Now, now! Now.
Come on. Hurry, hurry. Hurry. Shh, shh, shh. Hide! Hide. Okay. Okay. Come on. You got it, you got it, you got it! Well done, well done. Hurry now, you have to hurry. Hurry. Hurry. Helena? Get the camera. Get the camera. Helena! Psst, psst! (Doctor guy/guard comes to check camera) Hey! Hey, what's up, mate? Oi. Your bloody camera is-- I don't know what's happened to it there. (Helena stabs him) Oh! (Helena spits on him) Get the keys. Get the keys. Helena, get the keys. Get me out. Come on. Come on, we have to be quick.]
Now we are even, sestra.
[No. What? No, no! You leave me here, you've got nobody. Come on. You've got nobody. Come on. Come back. Helena, no! Come on! No, no, Helena!]
--
[What are you doing? Go, stupid.]
Moi sestra, she tears my heart.
[-Your sister's dead. Think of the baby inside you.
-Everyone! Get out here now! Now! Out! (alarm) Helena has escaped!
-Run. Run while you still can.
-I want everyone searching the camp. She's got to be here somewhere. You two. Now! Move!]
no subject
[I'm sorry you lost your friend. I'm sorry that happened. ]
Yeah.
--
I have the nightmares. You know what else freaks me out? Headlights. A car comes around the corner at night, my heart jumps out of my chest.
[Whistles.]
Backpacks.
[Children's toys.]
Hot days.
[Yeah, hot days. Heat.]
--
[We're not together now but we were in Iraq. Well, we had this intense chemistry and then kept our hands off each other and then she came home and found out that her husband had been screwing around on her the whole time so then she got stop-lossed and came back to Iraq and we fell in love. She told me she was going to get a divorce ...]
--
She could die, Helen, I don't know what else to do.
--
Hey, don't be brave on my account. I'm no good to you if you're not honest.
--
Hi, my name is Veronica. I was a nurse in Iraq and ever since I got back my-- like you, my reactions to things tend to be a little out of proportion. Um. My marriage is ending. It's my fault. I-- I had an affair with this doctor guy while I was in Iraq and he, um, he then had the genius idea to move here when he got out without any advance notice. Anyway, my husband found out. Um. I mean, he's a really great guy and I love him a lot but he was sort of expecting the girl he married to come back and she kinda left the building my second week in the desert, you know. And that doctor guy, man, I really care about him, but... not that it matters because he met somebody else. So. All the men are gone. And I'm still living with my parents which is a little like its own hideous situation comedy. Wow. I'm talking a lot. But I'm fine. I've, um, I've decided to take a break from drinking, which is very good, and I'm also working a lot which is totally saving my ass. I guess it's just weird, because Iraq was-- well, you guys know what Iraq was like but every time I heard those choppers, I knew exactly what to do. Now I've got no freaking clue. So. (I hate that.)
--
He's having a crisis of faith. I don't know what to tell him. I mean, after what we saw over in the sandbox, I don't have a lot of faith in faith. What got you through over there?
--
I lost my faith too, you know. I went to war and I saw some things and then I just could not get with God anymore.
[So what do you believe now?]
I think that's God's in people. I think that the Devil is in people too. I had this soldier bleed out on me on his 19th birthday. You could tell that he was a good boy, like one of my brothers maybe. I held his hand while he was dying. All I could think was "Who could point their gun at this boy and point the trigger? How can we do that to eachother?" But you know what one of his buddies told me? He ran into the shooting to save this little girl. Who has that kind of courage and grace at 19 years old? That's miraculous to me. Maybe that's enough.
[I still miss God.]
Me too.
--
I saw this pig and I thought of you. Wait, that didn't come out right. I got you this pig, Mike. I'm told it's the dumbest present ever but... it's for you.
[You carried this around just for me?]
You have no idea. Just don't eat it all in one sitting.
--
It's in your nose. Gets on the hairs in there.
--
There was this terrorist group that flew hijacked planes into the towers and they fell. Three thousand people died. September 11, 2001. There's been a war going on ever since. I went there. It was-- I wish I could've slept through that. You're lucky you did. Anyway, the whole country freaked out. People were scared in a whole new way. It's a different world.
--
Can we talk about the gigantic elephant in the ambulance?
--
Remember Dubai?
[Cheap way to win a game.]
Who said this was a game? That three day leave in Dubai was the best three days of my entire life. Oh and by the way, we're tied.
--
Well, I gave it my best shot. [walks away] You know, I don't mean to be a sore loser but the game was rigged! First of all, you are taller than me and you played in high school and there were unfavourable weather conditions--
[That's not rigged, that's life.]
"That's not rigged, that's life." That is exactly my point, Chris. Life is rigged. I mean, you show up here just as I am trying to get my marriage back together so I try and do the right thing and then you just happen to meet this totally awesome girl - who, PS, I love - plus, I am actually a really fun girl when I'm not half out of my mind with PTSD. And all I really want is to get back to those three days in Dubai with you because I love you. But it's not going to happen. Plus, I--
(He kisses her)
I didn't get to finish my speech.
--
Because I got through two tours of duty without shooting anybody. Why were you robbing a donut shop?
--
That is also true, insightful ghost.
--
That is so weird that you say that, because I have always wanted to go to Australia.
[So what's stopping you?]
Well, I have people. I have friends and I have family and I have an estranged husband and I am in a relationship. Kind of.
[So why didn't you go to him after you shot me?]
I don't know. I mean, he's seen me at my worst but not... quite like this.
[It ain't pretty.]
We spent a month at this cache in al-Anbar. Lost more wounded there than during my entire second tour. And then, at the end of our stay, this dog that hung around the hospital got run over--
[Wait, wait, your lowest point in Iraq is when a dog got flattened by a Humvee?]
No, it wasn't about the dog, idiot. It was about the stuff leading up to the dog. I don't even remember the dog's name. ...okay, it was Happy. Chris put him down for me. ... Can I see that phone?
[Hey, what are you doing?]
I'm calling him.
[Okay, but if he doesn't pick up we do things my way. Too bad. He's probably busy.]
So... Australia?
[Come on, let's get real. You know that's not where we're going.]
--
Why are you still here? What do you want?
[I want what you want, to be free of all this.]
I am not going to do that. It's crazy. I have a whole life here.
[You know what's crazy? The fact that you think you can live a normal life. You left a piece of yourself in Iraq that you're never gonna get back. You've seen too much, and now you can add murder to that list.]
Stop saying that word.
[You know the reason he didn't answer his phone? It's cause he doesn't want to take care of you for the rest of his life. You're never gonna be okay. The nightmares are never gonna stop. Maple bars are gonna start freaking you out now. Nobody's ever gonna love you.]
That's not true. Mike loves me.
[Not enough. It's only a matter of time before he finds somebody nice and normal. So let's just go. Let's just go wherever, I mean, as long as they serve booze.]
I hear Oregon's nice.
[Oregon. Okay. That's good.]
Mike.
[What? Man, what the hell is he doing here? What is he, telepathic?]
This is the beach we used to come to when we were kids. This is where we said I love you for the first time.
[Great. That was like a hundred years ago. Let him be. Just let him have a normal life.]
Mike! Mike!
[Hey. I'll see you around.]
[God, you had me scared.]
Sorry. Something really bad happened.
[Oh, I know. The whole thing, it wasn't your fault. You'll be okay.]
You promise?
[Yeah. Promise.]
--
To be honest, I'm having some trouble not dwelling, but with a place to go and knowing that I'm helping people, I think I can hold on.
--
Come on, it's my first-day-back-at-work-after-shooting-a-guy dinner! The least you can do is drink with me. ... Too soon?
--
no subject
I'm fine.
--
Whoa. Where you going?
[Uh I was gonna go get some food to eat]
Oh cool, I'll come with you.
[Nah dude it's okay. I can eat alone]
What're you getting?
[Uhhhhh. Mexican?]
Dude, I love Mexican.
[Isaac. I can eat alone, it's okay.]
You're not going alone. C'mon.
--
[What?]
Nothing, it's just that... I'm actually kinda hungry now.
[So am I.]
--
Boyd? (Metallic noises and his dad's voice.)
[Hand me the 7/16ths wrench. Ugh, what the hell? This is the 9/16ths, you moron. You know what the difference between a 7 and a 9 is, dumbass.]
You know what the difference between a 7 and a 9 is? It's a stripped bolt.
[A stripped bolt.]
I'm sorry, I didn't know. What do you want me to do?
[I want you to shut up.]
"I want you to shut up. Shut up." You shut up. "What can I do, I can't fix this now. I can't fix this now." I can't fix it. I can't fix it.
[I can't even keep it closed. Grab the chains.]
What? "Grab the chains and get in. I said get in."
[Are you not hearing me, son? I said get in the damn freezer.]
"GET IN!"
--
[Boys! What'd you think you're doing?]
Uhhh-- We were watching over you.
[We wanted to make sure you weren't the third sacrifice.
But both of you were asleep.
(to Isaac:) You were on watch last.]
What're you talking about, you were on watch last.
[No. You were on watch last.]
I might've been on watch last.
[My heroes.]
--
[Go back to school.]
Well actually, we can't. Boyd and I are incredibly and unbelievably sick.
[With what? Brain damage?]
Well, I have a migraine and, uh, Boyd here has, uh, explosive diarrhea.
[We're here to protect you.
You're here to protect me? Well. I'm in trouble then.]
Actually. Boyd here came up with a plan.
[Yeah, I thought about the time Gerard had me and Erica locked up? Tied up with electrical wires pushing current through us. So I was wondering how we could do something like that... but on a bigger scale.]
--
[----- and anyone who steps in here? They'll get a pretty shocking surprise.]
Especially anyone who's barefoot.
--
Is this gonna kill them?
[I hope so.]
--
Isn't the light on that supposed to be on?
[Yeah.]
What does it mean if it's not?
[Someone cut the auxillary power.]
--
Derek. What do we do now?
[We fight.]
--
(Isaac sneaks into Allison's house like a creeper and she disables him like a boss)
[What do you think you're doing?]
You weren't at school...
[Did Scott send you to check up on me?]
Maybe he's worried about you.
[I can take care of myself.]
Yeah. I've noticed. More than once.
--
Okay okay hold on a second-- Your dad's the killer?
[No. I mean, I don't think he is, at least. I hope he isn't.]
You hope he isn't the serial-killing dark druid who's been slicing people's throats?
[Yeah.]
Right.
[Do you want to help me or not?]
Yeah, I'm just, I'm just trying to get all the cards on the table here.
[See the marks? There's five more bodies to be found but it doesn't say who the bodies are. ... What are you doing?]
Something I learned from my father. Take a step back, look at the whole picture. Sometimes you see things you wouldn't notice if you were up close and all you're looking at were the details.
[Look at that, you see that?]
Whoa, what is that?
[Fivefold knot. It's a celtic symbol.]
Virgins.
[Warriors.]
Healers.
[Philosophers.]
Guardians.
--
[I have to stop him.]
Is that really a good idea? I mean, if your dad is really doing all this, that m--
[If? Look at this. He knows everything. He's-- He's planned everything.]
What're you doing?
[If Mr Westover was taken from the school there's gotta be another point on the telluric current.]
You mean where he'll be sacrificed. There. That mark's new.
[Then that's where he is.]
--
You really don't think we should call Scott?
[Stay behind me and stay quiet.]
Oh, this is so not gonna end well.
--
FYI, if your dad tries to kill me I'm gonna defend myself.
[If my dad tries to kill you, you'll be dead.]
Thanks for the vote of confidence. ... I smell blood.
[Where? What direction?]
I don't know, I'm not that good at this yet. But I think it's-- Allison. Allison, wait! Allison, don't!
[Get down. Help him!]
[It's Mr Westover.]
It's our history teacher.
[We were wrong. It's not guardians as in law enforcement.]
--
[You want to tally up the lies, Allison? I don't think you'll come out ahead on that one.]
Yeah, just a thought? Maybe right now's not the best time for a little family meeting. There's still one more teacher.
--
I can't get a hold of Derek or Scott. How's Lydia?
Storm's that bad?
Beacon Memorial... that's where Cora is, right?
I have to get to the hospital. I can't leave Cora there with just Peter.
--
No, not with the rain this heavy.
--
I'm gonna take that as a sign you're a little worried.
I think I heard something.
Below us.
--
But there's no way of getting them out without turning the power back on.
She's uh, she's the one with the brown hair. She's kind of hot. Oh, it's just-- Just an observation.
--
Yeah.
Do I look nervous?
Yeah, I can still hear you. Very very clearly.
Yeah. Yeah, I got it.
--
Stiles, let's go. Stiles!
--
[Come on, let's go. Drive, you idiot!]
I can't! Not without Scott.
[...Oh for the love of god go now]
Alright!
--
You see the twins?
Not to bring up uncomfortable memories-- wasn't the last time you saw them the time you killed Kate and they burned you alive?
Hm?
I don't know. Scott and Stiles went back for Derek and Jennifer.
I had to get Cora out.
--
She's dying, isn't she?
[I don't know.]
So what are you gonna do?
[I don't know.]
Wanna figure something out? Because while Scott and Stiles were out there trying to help people from being killed, you were in here rolling around in the sheets with the actual killer. Do you get how many people she's killed? Erica and Boyd are dead, Cora is dying and you are doing nothing! Why'd you do this to us, Derek? Was it all about the power? Were you bored? Were you lonely?
[Maybe. I told Cora I wouldn't leave...]
There's no time! The full moon's coming. The Sheriff and Melissa are gonna be dead so I'm gonna try and help them. You can sit here and perfect the art of doing nothing.
--
I can't shoot a gun or use a crossbow but, well, I'm getting pretty good with these.
--
Thought you only used those on werewolves.
--
[Why did he do that?]
I don't know. We need to go, okay. We need help. Allison.
Allison, we have to go.
[They're all gonna die. Aren't they?]
--
You guys were out a long time.
--
Why does it matter anyway?
So we're gonna trust him? The guy that calls himself death, destroyer of worlds - we're gonna trust him?
--
What about me?
How do you know my name?
--
Mine are both dead.
--
I still haven't gotten anything from Stiles. You?
Alright, well, we can't wait for him. Come on.
--
How're you gonna do that?
--
Are you sure we're going in the right direction?
I'm trying but I can't g-- I hear something. It's, uh... It's an
emitter. It's one of your dad's.
It has to be. Come on!
Allison.
--
They're coming, alright? They're on their way to help.
--
Is it just me or is this place getting smaller?
--
I can't do it. I can't hold it, I can't hold it.
--
Hey.
[Oh, hey.]
Are you- Are you going to school?
[Yeah.]
Kay, me too.
[Good.]
Yeah. Can I ask you a question?
[Okay.]
Are you angry at me?
[No.]
Are you sure?
[No?]
What does that-- What does that mean?
[I guess I'm not really sure how I'm feeling...]
Okay. Do you hate me?
[No, of course not.]
Do you want to hit me?
[No.]
I think you should hit me.
[I don't wanna hit you.]
Are you sure?
[Why would I wanna hit you? I mean, you didn't do anything, did you?]
No. No, I mean, um. What- What do you-- What do you mean?
[I mean, like-- You didn't kiss her or anything, right?]
No. No, absolutely not. No.
[Did you want to?]
Oh yeah, totally. ... Feel better?
--
[Right at her head?]
Almost right through it. And she keeps saying the same thing, that she keeps seeing her aunt. Whatever's happening to you guys is getting worse and if I hadn't been there then Lydia would be dead.
[What were you doing there?]
--
They're all locked up because they're insane.
For half my childhood I was locked in a freezer, so being helpful is kind of a new thing for me.
Yeah, we are still milking that.
--
Wrathful deities. And what are those?
--
[Are you sure Scott's okay with this? Isaac?]
Yeah. He's one hundred percent over it.
[He said that?]
Not in so many words but... he's moved on. You should too.
--
[Allison's a perfect shot.]
No, she-- She used to be.
[She can do it.]
If we manage to find the thing.
[Okay, what is the point of him? Seriously, I mean what is his purpose? Aside from the persistant negativity and the scarf-- What's up with the scarf anyway? It's 65 degrees out.]
Look, maybe I'm asking the question that no one here wants to ask. Alright, how do we turn a coyote back into a girl when she hasn't been a girl for eight years?
--
I wouldn't trust Peter.
--
I've got a pretty good lock on her scent. It's actually kind of strong.
[What is it?]
Pee. [...] You okay?
--
Allison!
[Oh my god, I am so sorry. I'm so sorry.]
Oh, it's better than ring daggers I guess.
[How am I supposed to help anyone when I'm like this?]
Allison. Let me help you. Show me what to do.
--
Actually, we're trying to keep a guy from killing a coyote... who is actually his daughter who we don't know how to change back from a coyote to his daughter, but...
--
Allison-- there he is. Hit Tate. Use the tranq gun on him, okay?
Allison. Breathe.
--
I can think of one - that's the two of you holding Derek's claws while Kali impaled Boyd. In fact, I don't know why we're not impaling them right now.
[You wanna try?
Yeah, sorry but they don't trust you and neither do I.]
--
[You are the hottest girl.]
What?
[I'm the hot girl.]
Yes, you are.
--
Barrow went after kids with glowing eyes - he said those exact words?
--
This is how it's gonna be now? We trust them?
[Just because I'm letting them help doesn't mean I trust them.]
Yeah, well, I don't trust them either. Or like them. In fact I hate them and I just want them to die.
[Well, if Barrow's actually here and he's got a plan you might
get what you want.]
--
Electrified the windows?
[Yep.]
Didn't wanna... say anything about it?
[Nope.]
Okay.
[What are you doing here?]
I figured you could use an extra pair of eyes.
[Can you read Latin?]
No, but I can look at pictures.
--
Did you find anything?
Oh, just-- Beelzebub, the lord of the flies.
What?
No I wasn't.
Alright, maybe I was trying to kiss you.
Never, okay. Alright. Fine. I won't kiss you either.
--
No, nothing. Just stuff about flies and the dead, nothing else.
--
Did you see them?
There were five of them. They wore black. I could- I couldn't I could see their faces, they were covered.
One of them-- I could see his eyes they were greenish-yellow, like a firefly.
They didn't. It's like they came out of the shadows.
From everyone?
--
Derek can never know about this.
--
You see Scott?
[Yeah.]
Tell him what happened?
[No, we still have a couple hours remember? We promised my dad?]
You promised your dad.
[Yeah, I promised him in order to protect him.]
You did. I didn't.
[Is protecting my father such a bad thing?]
I don't like keeping secrets from Scott.
[No, you don't. You just like to stand there awkwardly waiting for someone to notice us, whatever we are. And then you like to make things incredibly uncomfortable.]
And what's that supposed to mean?
[What do you think it means?]
I think it means you're probably mad.
[I'm not mad.]
No?
[No.]
Okay.
[I'm frustrated.]
Sexually?
[Do you want to talk about Scott or do you want to paint my body?]
I want to paint your body.
--
What's wrong?
[There's something on your neck. It's behind your ear.]
--
What is that?
[It looks like the number 5.]
Did you hear that?
--
It'll trigger the healing.
--
Your dad's 24 hours are up.
--
Same thing as what it did to me.
[Anyone with a connection to the supernatural.]
Then who's the guy they went after in Japan?
[... they cut down every living thing in their way.]
Did they mark him like they did us?
[...I spent yesterday tracking him down.]
Didn't look like he wanted to be found.
--
So how're you gonna get to him?
[blah blah
You're not going alone.]
If she's going, I'm going.
[To be honest, I don't feel good about bringing either one of you.]
But they were looking right at Scott when the sun came up.
[That might only leave us til nightfall to find a way to protect him.]
Alright. Let's go see if the paranoid yakuza wants to put another gun in his collection.
--
Well, he's a paranoid recluse, shouldn't you be a little less surprised?
[I was trying to remain optimistic that we wouldn't have to go to my plan B.]
Plan B. And what's plan B?
[How tall are you?]
--
Guys? This isn't-- This isn't gonna work, I look ridiculous. I mean-- I look like I just stepped out of the last period of a Catholic prep school and there's no way that I am going to be able to remember all this. I mean, what does this even mean: revolving over and under barrels?
[You look great.]
I am sweating all the way through my jacket. I didn't even know that I could sweat this much.
[Gimme a second. You can do this. You're not a boy if you walk in there acting like a man. Okay? Go in there with confidence and all they'll see is a boyish-looking man.]
Or a stupid teenager pretending to be a man. I'm going to get my head blown off by a bunch of Japanese fingerless mobst-- (kissy :>)
[How do you feel now?]
(Reservoir Dogs-esque entrance lol) Gentlemen. I believe Mr Kotashi is expecting me.
[I'm expecting you.]
--
What we're looking at here is a mint condition, French flintlock turnover pistol. Crafted in the mid-17th century it was a gift from Louis the 14th to a prominent French family. It's only ever been fired once.
[During a duel between brothers. On the grounds of the palace of Versailles.]
So you're f-familiar with it.
[Oh, Mr Kotashi knows what he wants. We'll take it. A hundred and fifty thousand.]
I'm gonna need to count it.
[Oh really?]
Yeah.
no subject
[Personally, I'd like to hear your story.]
(Isaac wolfs out.)
--
Guys? They have a werewolf too.
--
Why did they take your finger?
[A yakuza performs the ritual himself]
--
[Isaac! Isaac, get up! I need your help.]
Why? What's wrong?
[It's Stiles. Get dressed.]
What's wrong with Stiles?
[I don't know.]
--
[Maybe he thinks he's part of an unsolved case.]
Or is an unsolved case.
[You don't know where he is?
He said he's in an industrial basement somewhere.]
We came here to get a better scent.
[What else did he say?
Something's wrong with his leg, it's bleeding.]
And he's freezing.
[Tonight's the coldest night of the year it's going to drop into the 20s.
...
I'll catch up. There's something here.]
Yeah. Evidence of total insanity.
--
[Is there anything you need to tell me that I can't tell everybody out there?
Lydia knew he was missing.
Can she help find him?]
She's working on it.
[Anything else?]
--
[He's not here. Not anymore.
The whole building?
Gone.]
I'll go tell Stilinski.
--
What the hell have you been doing?
[Sleeping, what the hell are you doing?]
You didn't get any calls? Or a text?
[My phone's off. I never turn my phone off. Sleepwalking. Is he okay?]
Yeah, they found him a few minutes ago. Bringing him to the hospital.
[I don't know what happened, I never turn it off. (Japanese voicemails)]
What is that?
--
[I don't know, all the messages are the same and they all say blocked ID.]
Can you translate it?
[Mostly. The man speaking is giving instructions, actually. The first line is "All evacuees are to stay at least 10 feet back from outside fences"]
What does that mean? What fences?
[Fences surrounding a Japanese internment camp in WW2. After Pearl Harbor Japanese Americans were rounded up and put into camps. This man is reading instructions out to those on arrival.
Where does something like that come from?
I have no idea, because it's fake. It mentions the name Oak Creek. There was no internment camp named Oak Creek in California.]
--
Allison!
--
[What are you doing here?]
I thought I'd come and see you.
[You didn't just walk out of the hospital, did you?]
It's okay. I feel a lot better. All healed.
[Giving you the alarm code was a bad idea.]
Maybe.
--
[There you are. What're you doing over there?]
There's still a lot of weapons here. I thought your new code was about protecting.
[Most of them are non-lethal.]
This looks pretty lethal to me. Maybe you should keep them. There's still a few of us out there who aren't so non-lethal. Like the twins.
[I thought we were going to give them a second chance.]
They don't deserve it.
[Things are different now. It doesn't have to be like that anymore.]
I had a feeling you'd say something like that.
[Isaac, wait-- Isaac!]
--
I guess this is the part where I say something witty. ...I'm not witty.
--
Come on, Coach, you gotta have a lighter. For everyone. For Erica, for Boyd. I'm gonna burn it. I'm gonna burn it. ... Nice sword.
[Isaac]
--
[Isaac, you're next.]
Wait, alright...
[Don't fight it. Don't fight.]
--
[That's it, that's Lydia's car.]
The scent's strong with emotion.
[Fear?]
No, anger.
[Sounds like Lydia. Let's see what else we can find. Just, just out of curiosity, do you remember the other night?]
You mean the night before last night?
[That night before you weren't you.]
Yeah. I remember.
[So that night were you you, or were you not you?]
You mean the night when we were... us?
[Yeah. I just- I just wanna know if it was actually you with me.]
Did-- Did you want it to be someone else?
[No. No. Of course not.]
Okay. Okay then. Cause it, it was me. And I do remember it. I really remember.
--
[Okay, if she tells me.]
If she tells you? Can you ask her?
--
[No.]
I'm just saying--
[Isaac, we are not going to torture her.]
I meant scare her.
[We're not going to psychologically torture her either!]
Fine. Okay, how about this: you said she hears things, right? Doesn't that mean she's like Lydia, a banshee?
--
[Just focus on the silence.]
Listen to the silence.
[Focusing on the silence.]
Listening to the silenc--
[Okay, would you just let me handle this, Isaac, please? It's just, I have more experience with banshees.]
Yeah. And mental patients.
[Isn't anyone going to get that?
Get what?
The phone.
What phone?]
The phone.
[Oh. The phone. My phone. Yes. Hello? Yes. She is, actually. She's sitting right here. It's for you.]
--
[Yeah. I'm okay. You don't have to worry about me.]
Alright, I'm gonna say it: you look like you're dying. You're pale and you're thin and you look like you're getting worse. We're all sitting here thinking it. When we find the other you, is he gonna look like he's getting better?
[What happens if he gets hurt?
What do you mean? Like if he dies then do I die? I don't care, just so long as no one else dies 'cause of me. I remember everything I did, Scott. I remember pushing that sword into you. I remember twisting it.
It wasn't you.
Yeah, but I remember it. You guys gotta promise me. You can't let anyone else get hurt because of me.]
--
I just didn't feel like doing any homework.
--
[Mom?]
What is that? What does it mean?
[It means there's been a change in ownership. Now they belong to me.]
--
How do we stop them?
[You can't!]
--
[Can you remember anything else? Anything else? Isaac?]
I'm sorry. It just happened so fast.
--
[I appreciate the concern but you don't have to stay. I'll be alright. I've dealt with this before. I have a capacity and an ability to compartmentalise my emotions.]
I don't.
--
[Careful. That one takes some practice. When Allison was learning she had to bandage her fingers because they got so raw. Wouldn't give up on it, though.]
She kept trying to say something.
[What's that?]
She was trying to say something. "Scott, you have to tell him", she said. "You have to tell my father." She didn't get a chance to finish it but I'm sure it was just that she
loved you.
[Okay. That's okay. She made a point of telling me earlier.]
Earlier?
[There's a tradition we have--]
A silver bullet.
[She was making a silver arrowhead.]
But where is it? The arrowhead?
[Downstairs.]
I need to see it.
[Why?]
Because I have a feeling it isn't there.
--
[Why would she make four of them?]
She didn't. She made five. She made the first one and then she figured it out. She used the first silver arrowhead to kill one of the Oni. We saw her do it.
[How?]
The same way that you almost did. Do you remember when you told us about one of your first gun deals, the yakuza?
[That meeting wasn't one of my first deals, it was my first.]
The bullet that you used to shoot the Oni, was that a silver bullet?
[Yes. But it didn't kill him. It just broke his mask.]
Probably went straight through. What if silver is like a poison to them? What if it needs to stay in the body? What if that's what she was trying to tell Scott? What if that's what she was trying to tell you - that she'd figured it out?
[These four were still setting when she went off to meet Scott.]
We can stop them.
[No. We can kill them.]
SEASON 2
--
It's Lahey. Isaac Lahey.
I'm sorry, I-- I didn't see anything.
School.
Nah, lacrosse.
Yeah.
No. Sorry, I-- I just remembered, I have a morning practice to get to.
A few. Usually they just take stuff like jewellery.
Her liver.
--
Um. So far it's an A in French and a B- in Econ.
I'm not sure yet. Midterms are in two days so it could go up.
Grade?
Uh. I'm not sure.
Just, uh-- I meant generally.
No.
I just told you, I- I don't know.
Dad, the semester's only half over, there's plenty of time to go--
It's a D.
Yeah.
[daddy is a massive douchebag and throws shit on the floor etc etc and at isaac's head]
You could have blinded me.
--
Derek! Derek!
My dad, I think he's dead.
That's the thing, it wasn't me.
--
Don't tell them. Please don't tell them.
--
Well, I'm a little bummed about being a fugitive but other than that I'm great.
--
Are we done? I got about a hundred bones that need a few hours to heal.
If they wanted us dead, why aren't they coming for us now? What are they waiting for?
--
You're still gonna have to do one more thing for us. Well, actually... for me.
--
Yeah-- then we kill the bitch, right?
Kanima.
--
[If you harm one perfect strawberry blonde hair on her head, I'm gonna turn your little werewolf ass into a fur coat and give it to her for her birthday.]
Huh. Really? I've never actually been to one of her big invite-only birthday parties. I did ask her out once, though.
[Sounds like the beginning to a heartwarming story. I'm gonna pass, thanks.]
It was the first day of freshman year.
[You thought everything was gonna be different for you in high school and she said no...]
Yeah, she even laughed. Told me to come back when the bike I rode to school had an engine, not a chain.
[Unrequited love's a bitch. Maybe you should write about it in English class, you know, channel all that negative energy.]
Nah. I was thinking I'd... channel it into killing her. I'm not- very good at writing.
--
Where is she?
--
You know the full moon's coming, Derek?
[I'm aware of that.
Ooh, these look comfy.]
You said you were gonna teach us to change whenever we wanted.
[There hasn't been time.]
But if you have to lock us up during the full moon, that means you're alone against the Argents.
[They haven't found us.]
Yet. So how about we forget the kanima?
[We. Can't. But there was something about the way Gerard looked at it. He wasn't afraid. At all.]
--
So. What are you, some kind of... witch?
--
[I don't see anything here that's going to be an effective defence against a paralytic toxin.
We're open to suggestions.]
What about an effective offense?
--
[I think maybe he couldn't let the same thing happen to someone else.]
How'd you know it's not part of the rules? The kanima kills murderers. If Jackson kills the wife then the baby dies too.
[Does that mean your father was a murderer?]
Wouldn't surprise me if he was.
--
[What if something that affects the kanima also affects its master?]
Meaning what?
[Meaning we can catch them. Both of them.]
--
[Here's an idea: you give us the tickets and devote your life to abstinence.]
How do you two losers even survive?
[What are we supposed to do? No one's even selling.]
Wait here, boys.
[What is he doing? Oh. That's excessive. Ow, that'll bruise. ]
Enjoy the show.
--
Why me?
[Cause I gotta make sure that Argent doesn't completely ruin the plan. Look, you gotta do it intravenously, which means in the vein. When you find them, pull back on this plunger right here. In the neck's probably gonna be the easiest. So you find the vein, jam it in there, pull back on the plunger. Be careful.]
Oh, I doubt it'll even slightly hurt him.
[No, I mean you. I don't want you to get hurt.]
--
[He okay?]
Well. Let's find out.
[Okay! No one does anything like that again, okay?]
Ah, I thought the ketamine was supposed to put him out.
[Yeah? Well, apparently this is all we're gonna get so let's just hope that whoever's controlling him just decided to show up tonight.]
--
[Okay. More ketamine. The man needs ketamine, c'mon!]
We don't have any more.
[You used the whole bottle?]
--
What is that?
[It's a triskele. The spirals mean different things. ...
It's a spiral. ... Alphas can fall to betas or even omegas.]
What, like Scott?
[Scott's with us.]
Okay. Well, where is he now?
[He's looking for Jackson. Don't worry, he's not going to have it easy tonight either.]
--
So how come she gets to wear the headband?
[Because she'll be able to withstand more pain than the two of you. I've got an extra one if you really want it.]
I'll pass.
--
How do you not feel this?
[I feel every second of it.]
The how do you control it?
[Find an anchor. Something meaningful to you. Bind yourself to it, it keeps the human side in control.]
What is it for you?
[Anger. But it doesn't have to be that for everybody.]
You mean Scott?
[Yeah. Alright, that should do it.]
--
[Think you'll be okay now. Looks like you found an anchor.]
My father.
Your father locked you in a freezer in the basement to punish you.
He didn't use to.
--
Why does it smell like that? ... What?
[Scott said almost the same thing to me a few months ago. Somehow, he could somehow tell the difference between which animals were getting better and which... were not.]
He's not getting better, is he? Is it cancer?
[Osteosarcoma. It has a very distinct scent, doesn't it? Come here. I know you're well aware of what your new abilities can do for you - improved strength, speed and healing. Have you ever wondered what it could do for others? Give me your hand. Go on.]
What'd I do?
[You took some of his pain away.
Only a little bit, but sometimes a little can make quite a difference.
It's okay. The first time he showed me, I cried too.]
(the cutest fucking cry grin every i can't u qt dumb puppy)
--
They're leaving. Tonight. During the game.
[So? Why are you telling me?]
I'm not telling you, I'm asking you. I'm asking for your advice.
[From me? Why?]
Because I trust you.
[Why?]
Cause you always... seem to wanna do the right thing?
[I usually have no idea what I'm doing. Actually, I always have no idea what I'm doing.]
Huh. Do you wanna let me know what you're doing right now?
[I'm not going anywhere, if that's what you mean. I have too many people here who need me.]
Well, I guess that makes me lucky, cause, uh-- Cause I don't have anyone. So.
[Well, are you gonna go with 'em?]
Yeah. Yeah, I think I will. Good luck with the game.
[Oh thanks, but I'm not going either. I can't even think about playing some meaningless game right now.]
You weren't at practice last week, were you?
[No, I skipped it. Why?]
And you didn't hear?
[Hear what?]
Jackson was there.
[What do you mean 'there'? Like, he was pr--]
As if nothing had happened.
[But that means, the game tonight...]
Yeah. He's playing.
--
[You came to help!]
I came to win.
--
You got a plan yet?
[Right now it's just keep Jackson from killing anyone.]
Well, that might be easier if you were actually in the game. We have to make it so coach has no choice but to play you.
[How do we do that? He's got a bench full of guys he could use before he ever puts me on the field. ... Can you do it without putting anyone in the hospital?]
I can try.
--
He did it to himself.
--
[If either one of you see him--]
Then we'll call you.
--
[Is that everyone?]
I think so.
no subject
--
Yeah, fine, thank you.
...there's no toilet paper in this stall.
Men are such assholes.
Thank you.
I think you dropped this.
Take it anyway.
I want you to have it.
--
Do you want to buy me a drink?
What are you having?
I don't usually meet with women. Couples, yes, but... a single woman...
Do you choose his women for him?
He can't come in himself? Why not?
It's Chloe.
Most of my clients are married.
What does he look like?
If he asks what I do for a living, what do you want me to say?
Some Japanese.
--
Excuse me... I'm sorry, can I borrow your sugar?
Thank you. :3
--
Did you not recognise me?
I saw him. Just like you said, he had his newspaper right there and I- I went up and asked for sugar. And he pretended to read his newspaper, and he--got up and came over to me and asked me if I was a student. And I said that I was studying language like you told me to -- Japanese -- um and he asked me if I could say something in Japanese which made me blush and I ended up just saying konnichiwa and then he asked me what my name was and I said Chloe.
Nothing happened...
He barely flirted, he was just-- friendly.
He's cute.
I try to find something to love in everybody. Even if it's a small thing. Something about the way someone smiles. There's always something, there has to be. I try to make myself generous. I- I do things I don't wanna do. I- I think about what not to critisize. And the strangest things come back to me. Like... you.
Yeah. Yeah, people like you walk into my life.
Okay.
--
Hey. They're amazing. c:
But I already did.
No. I already saw him.
I was at the cafe a-and I he I approached him like you asked me to and I we went to lunch. Yeah, it was, um- A picnic, kind of?
Uh, we bought some sandwiches, and then, um, I asked him about his teaching and he started talking about all this music and he s- kind of stared at me.
And then he asked me if he could kiss me.
But then he said he could not kiss me because he's married. You see, at first he was hesitant-
And then he asked me if there was somewhere he could kiss me where no one would see us and I said to him that we should go to Allen Gardens, you know that place down the street. The big greenhouse.
Do you want me to... stop?
We walked through this big long corridor, all these exotic flowers. And there was nobody around. I love Allen Gardens. It's always so warm and the air just feels so beautiful, it's like you're suddenly in another country. I know there's a place in the back where they keep tools and stuff. No one ever goes in that section, it's like a secret hiding place. He brought his mouth up to my lips and we hovered there for a long time. I could feel he was excited through his pants.
I don't really know what you want.
--
Did you carry that bag with you in your car?
Actually let's not cut it, sorry. I I'm gonna take them off, so-
I'm sorry.
Is it gonna scar?
We were hidden, um, deep in this forest of exotic plants, trees. And we could hear voices in the distance, but we were pretty sure no one could actually see us. I pushed my hand down his pants and I felt him.
And then I, um, I moved my hand lightly on him.
And then I kept doing this; moving my hand on him in his pants and he said to me I can't come, I can't come I have to go to work, but I didn't stop. And then I bit his tongue and then g- just then, he came, in my hand.
And then he had to go to work, so he walked away.
Oh I, no I, I've got tests.
Okay, yeah.
--
[Embellishing their stories
Attention-seeking, playing for sympathy etc
She knows how to be what people want, but hasn't got a good idea of what people actually want except for johns. Real emotional connection is hard.
"I try to find something to love in everybody, even if it's a small thing."
Can't let her get away, but not really prepared. Thrown by the possibility of rejection, scrambles for something to keep her drawn in. -- "I was at the cafe a-and I he I approached him like you asked me to and I we went to lunch. Yeah, it was, um- A picnic, kind of?" And he kind of stared at me
Pushing her, getting her upset, trying to manipulate her way into her emotions. When it looks dangerous/like she might be rejected, she reels her out and in again. Detailed lies. Very detailed. Best lies filled with truth. She tells lies like they're true, without hesitation.
Bike; on purpose? She sees her watching. Semi-on purpose. Accidentally on purpose. Playing for sympathy, not afraid of a little bit of hurt. -- she gets taken care of, and it's intoxicating. Attention and sympathy and caring.
Story, pinpointing fear and insecurity. On purpose, to keep her dependant?
Flirting with the son -- almost... she could have a relationship with him?
Chloe Sweeney -- I wish someone had given me lessons. I love music. "Raised by Swans"
She knows how to be sexual, how to be alluring]
--
We met in the park again, um. This time he didn't bring sandwiches. We checked into this room. He put on the news, pretended to be interested. Kissed me. Whispered "Let's fuck." He couldn't get it up. We tried a few times. He was really embarassed, but I told him it didn't really matter. But I liked it, that it meant that we could just wait a little bit longer. At that point he was fully dressed, I was completely naked. ... Does this turn you on?... He wanted to stay dressed. He sat right over there on that bench. Told me to get between his legs. I put him in my mouth, and then he got hard. "sneeze" It's nothing, I'm taking zinc. ! Did he come in your mouth? ! No. I pulled him out of me, put a rubber on him, straddled him. And he came almost immediately after he entered me. I put my tits in his face.
--
[Money. -- oh. :c Yeah, that's right. Money. She still thinks it's a business thing.
Do you still love him? -- I don't know.... gauging the place. Then kiss
A good sense of when to push, when to break someone down. Kiss -- misjudged. Thought it would be the right time. But nope.
Body as an object. Not important. Hence why tlc feels good. When it gets harsh, violent, whatever, semi-dissociation? Sex, using it as a lure, as something she sees as good and something?
SEX -- watching HER get off, not getting off herself. ???
No, it's- this used to be my mother's. And I want you to have it. "Did you drop this on purpose?" c: I wanted to talk to you. ... "You'll see me on the street?" hidden outrage behind joking joking
Email -- blackmail photo, no message. "I'm in your waiting room, didn't you see me when you came in?" :3
I don't want this to be over. And I don't think that you... want it to be either. ... It's not about money. ... /cries
This isn't was- this thing this is was so real and you know that. What about last night I touched you an I- ...
Business transaction -- the hurt and pain of that
Sleeps with the son -- in the bed. You can't control everything. Getting herself off]
--
Your mom is Doctor Stewart.
You look like her.
Yeah. It's the same look in your eyes. I mean, not really the colour or the shape, but the look. And your lips, too.
I'm Chloe. Sweeney.
Nice to meet you.
Are you a musician?
I wish someone had given me lessons. I love music.
Raised by Swans.
You never heard of the band Raised by Swans?
You'd like them. ... I think you'd really like them.
--
Hey.
I bought you that CD that we talked about; Raised by Swans?
What?
But you didn't download the case. Or the artwork. Or the CD that you can keep forever, and hold in your hands...
I hate the internet. Nothing is private, nothing is real like this, me meeting you hear. The penalty box. Do you have a page?
I know, I saw it. That's how I knew that you had a game today. Nice picture.
Yeah you do. I like that picture of your mom.
Isn't she in the background when you're getting that award.
Yeah, she is. I notice everything. I'll see you.
--
So show me around the house.
no subject
[Not always, no.]
... That's a little bit hurtful.
--
You're all about good works, aren't you, you sanctimonious prick? Did you tell her everything? About my power over her?
['Course not.]
Good, 'cause that could really bite you on the arse. Tell me, how long have you had the hots for Dawn? Or should I say the colds?
[Don't make this cheap.]
You wanna fuck her.
[I hate seeing you misuse your powers with such a great person.]
How would that go, Mister Freezy with the warmest, nicest person in the world?
[That's not why I helped her.]
You wanna hump her, shag her, make the beast with two backs.
[Fuck you!]
I'll get her back, Ty. One phone call, she's mine again.
[Don't do it to her, she deserves better than you.]
Oh, give me a break, Ty! You're the one who should be letting her go, not me. Unless you want Dawn to be another one of your girl friends. That is, a girl, who's just your friend. You give yourself away, Ty, all the time. Don't mess with my business again.
--
... I thought we were only having a drink.
[I couldn't let you leave without a proper tribute to your brilliance. And I have good news on many fronts-- not that you care, now that you've left. Glack & Stronack have given us the Australasian account.]
Don't they want to sue your arse for defaming their product?
[Initially, yes, but I talked them around and now Headstrong is the new Viagra. All thanks to us.]
But that's not true.
[Oh, we're making the appropriate denials but it's rushing off the shelves. All those punters want to get lucky and score themselves a cougar.]
Rosie's not a cougar.
[She is now and she's loving it. I got her two major magazine covers and a renewal on her contract.]
But I thought they wanted a younger demographic.
[Young is how you feel, baby, and Rosie has shown a whole new side to herself. Two years and a cougar confessional book deal. I love Rosie, I looked after her. And you, Dawn, you're my bedrock. My core values. Without you, I'm nothing; I want to look after you too. Please, please don't leave me.]
I want a pay rise.
[Done.]
--
Just get me home before somebody sees me in this shitty car.
[You're the one who dragged me out, then got pissed and then got us thrown out.]
They were all dogs anyway.
[They were nice girls! Until you started being horrible to them.]
They weren't her, though, were they?
[No. So?]
So they were all dogs. Your car smells real bad. (Horns beep) Fuck, okay!
--
[I'm off lunch.]
Ooh. Bring me back something?
[I can't. I'm actually having lunch with someone.]
Anyone I know?
[Just a friend.]
Girl friend or man friend?
[A none-of-your-business friend.]
You gonna come back all sweaty from sex?
[Ew. No. Oh, your brother's here. Be rude to him instead.]
Good, I need to talk to you.
[Why?]
I think we need to broaden our search criteria.
[How do you mean?]
The Frigg. Trawling bars isn't working, so--don't ask me why--I'm thinking churches.
[Why would a Norse goddess go to church?]
It might... fulfill something in her. We'll start Sunday morning.
[Oh, I sleep in on Sunday mornings so forget that. You remember the other night when I gave you a lift home?]
Vaguely. Your car smelled of feces.
[No. You didn't happen to leave anything in my car, did you?]
Apart from my dignity?
[Yeah, apart from that.]
Such as what?
[You'd know what if you left it there.]
Can you give me more of a clue?
[No, because it obviously wasn't you who left it there.]
Left what?
[None of your business!]
It was when you came in here.
[And now it's not.]
I think this church thing could be a real go.
[I've got way more important things to worry about right now.]
--
So that's why you were being Mr Mysterious. Why didn't you just ask?
[So you did leave them in my car.]
Oh, please. If I had a shitload of class-As on me, do you really think I'd be stupid enough to leave them in your piece of shit car?
[You were pretty pissed.]
Not that pissed. Where are they now?
[I don't know!]
Pity. Hospital cocaine, that's pure shit! Cocaine hydrochloride, they use that eye surgery and all kinds of stuff.
[Can we take this seriously, please?]
Mike, drugs are a subject I take very seriously. I even did a campaign for an anti-drug organisation once. The research was awesome.
[Anders, Axl could go inside for this.
Thanks for the reminder, Mike!]
Three to nine years for supply. So you stole the drugs from the hospital, right?
[I didn't steal any drugs.]
Shut up and think. You go to the hospital for this appointment.
[Which was totally bogus.]
Oh, isn't that amazing? And next thing, low and behold, there's cocaine in your car.
[... Someone was using me to smuggle drugs out of the hospital.]
I so hope that fully powered up Odin is nowhere near as dense as you.
[What?]
You're being framed, Axl.
[Of course he's being framed! It's not like the blow fairy paid him a visit.
But who would want to frame me? ...ah. Right.]
Yeah, now you're catching on.
[Shit. When I rang the number about the appointment, I thought the voice sounded familiar.]
Your goddess friend is back.
[Bitch.]
I so want to meet this woman.
[Jesus, Anders. She's trying to put our brother in prison!]
Exactly. No way is he going to find Frigg when he's inside for three to nine years, or if he does it's not going to be the Frigg we're looking for.
[Anders--]
What? It's a good plan. To buy them time to find Frigg first. What, I can't admire a good plan when I see one?
[I don't want to go to prison!
You're not going to go to prison.
How do you know!
Because I'll figure out a way to beat their plan.
I am so doomed.
It's okay. We just have to think through the options.]
You two? What the hell are you two going to come up with? Drugs, chicks messing with your minds... drugs. This is so my territory and you know it. Axl, go home and do not leave. If your dickhead flatmate resurfaces, give me a call, but above all do not worry. Mike, you go home and worry 'cause that's what you do. But leave this to me because I am going to take these goddess bitches down.
no subject
--
How the hell did that little guy kick Kirk fucking Landis's ass?
(So Mickey's out soon, yeah?)
In about a week or so if he doesn't stab anyone else. Plastic fork. Barely broke the skin but it bought him another thirty days.
(You gotta be looking forward to having Mickey home again, huh?)
... I guess?
--
Karen Jackson? After that thing with your dad?
(Sneaking antibiotics into his toothpaste just in case.)
--
Here he comes. You know you didn't have to come with me.
(Bad neighbourhood.)
We live in a bad neighbourhood.
(Yeah, but we're related to the bad people in our bad neighbourhood.
Hell's he doing here?
Hey Mick.)
He thought I needed protection.
(Oh yeah? Trust me, you think you know my sister? You don't know my sister til you've fought my sister. She's protecting your ass.)
You smell like barbeque sauce.
(Smell like what?)
Oh, ow! What did dad tell you?!
(Fuck the police?)
No titty-twisters now that I'm a C-cup.
(C-cup? Bitch, you wish.)
--
(Think it's possible for a guy to be called Jody and not be a douchebag?)
Ever thought about calling him chodey?
(Tool hijacked my sex buddy.
Revisionist history.
What?
More than a sex buddy.
Nah, that was just my little brain doing all the thinking while my ass was doing all the talking. You guys want to come on the icecream truck later?
Can't. Volunteering at the VA.)
It's a waste of time.
(It'll look good on my Westpoint application.
You know you should be figuring out how to work the system instead of playing into it.
America's a meritocracy.)
They don't even make --- jobs anymore. It's all about how ???
--
Another word and I'll blow your brains all over the fucking linoleum.
--
(So. When'd you get home?)
Last night. ... He drinks and mistakes me for mom. Only once in a while, not like it's a big deal. What's that fucking look on your face? A Gallagher looking down on me? I don't think so.
(Why'd he think it was me?)
He blacks out. Forgets. Lip better keep his mouth shut.
(He will.)
I just wish the whole thing would go away.
(We can make it.)
You got six hundred dollars lying around?
(Well, we can raise it. ...the money, not the baby.)
You'd do that?
(You're my girlfriend.)
--
Why didn't you stab him?
You ride the city bus without a knife?
--
Holy shit.
How does a child rapist only get five years?
You want help? My dad always loves a good perve posse.
Hell no. I'm gonna teach you self-defense, Milkovich-style. C'mon.
--
Where'd you learn this?
(Nowhere. Just relax and enjoy.)
You been watching porn without me? Cause you know I consider that cheating.
(No. I haven't. Although I do consider that rule pretty unrealistic. I just-- thought it up. It's hot, right?)
Maybe if I was licking it off you. ...I'm hungry, trade places.
(No.)
No? Since when did you turn down a BJ? Your dick's not even hard.
(It was a sting operation. She's a pedophile! I took a picture for the cops.)
Yeah, fuck the cops. They had their chance.
--
You Blake?
(Yes?)
You're moving now, Blake. You're moving tonight.
(Excuse me?)
I don't excuse you, you sick bitch. I don't excuse you cause you're hot or cause you're blonde or cause of what you've got between your legs. Come take a look. ... See that? They're digging your grave and you want to be gone before they get down to six feet. How's it going, boys?
(Good.)
Tick-tock. Kid fucker.
--
She's my half-sister whose meth-head mother apparently died.
(You have a sister?)
Half. Wanna finish?
(... sure.)
--
(So this sister--)
Half.
(She's just waiting somewhere for your dad to go pick her up?)
In Milwaukee.
(He gonna do it?)
No.
(So you think maybe-- I don't know, maybe you should call her? Tell her he's not coming?)
No call answers that question just as good as a call does.
(So you're cool with your sister going into the foster care system?)
Well, the system's better than here.
(Says the girl who - miraculously - has never been in the system. She have any other relatives?)
Who knows? Look, it sucks but there's nothing I can do about it.
(She sounded desperate. Let's see if we can get her, let's see if we can help.)
Help how?
(I don't know, maybe locate the rest of her family?)
How are we gonna do that?
(I dont know, drive up there. Figure it out.)
In the car neither of us have?
(She's your sister.)
Half.
--
Hey Molly. It's me, Mandy. This is Lip, my... friend.
(Hey.
Is daddy here?)
He's at sea. Uh. But... he sends his love. How are ya?
(Am I coming home with you?)
You never met any uncles or aunties?
--
Hey Fiona.
(This is Molly, Mandy's sister.)
... I do. Hey, Molly, bathroom?
--
Sex o'clock.
--
(I'm a dick! Mandy! I'm a dick. Can you come down? Hey.)
I'm not a tool.
(Yeah, I know. )
So you don't get to treat me like one.
(I know. Come down. Please?)
--
Who's this?
(Hey Mandy. It's Karen Jackson. I just wanted to call and say thank you for applying to colleges for Lip.)
What?
(My mom kinda sucks these days so it'll be awesome to have somewhere new to go and all I have to do is poke one hole in a condom and he'll do whatever I say. Forever. Heh. I mean, we learned that from last time.)
Fuck you.
(Oh, what, you mean like all three of us? Yeah, I could be down for that. Do you want me to ask Lip next time we do it?)
--
(What'd ya hit?)
Girl at school.
(Don't forget to check for hair behind the grill. Call Matty about the windshield.)
--
(Sorry about that.)
It happens.
(Look it's not you I just-- I can't get Karen getting hit by that car out of my mind. Hey. Hey, wait a minute. I can focus.)
I'm late for school. We can give each other head in the shed behind the football field at lunch.
(Oh, it is hard to turn down head in the shed....)
She's in a coma.
She won't even know that you're there.
You want me to come with?
--
Hey. Where were you today? I didn't see you at school.
(Something came up.)
They gave us homework over the Christmas break. You know, I told Mrs Stoltz that Jesus didn't want us celebrating his birthday by fucking reading. Want the assignments?
(Just came by to see you.
Who's at the goddamn door?)
It's for me, shithead! I got some nitrous. I'll go get it.
--
Okay, I got the nitrous. Meet you outside?
('Kay.
The fuck do you want?)
Really? I mean, that's all you're gonna say to him? You're a fucking pussy.
--
(Hey. Hi. Um. I got into MIT. It's a full ride. Anyway, it would've happened without you. So, um. Thank you.)
Are you gonna go?
--
(Whoa, what happened to you?
Kenyatta happened.)
I'm over it, okay? Let's move on.
(I told Mickey she could stay here. And you're not going back, by the way. We'll find you some place to live.
Why the fuck should she leave? It's our house.)
Why are you making such a big deal about it? Jesus.
--
Is that a shiv?
(Yep! Later.
Thirteen years old and she's bringing a shiv to school.
Man, I miss high school.)
--
Hey. This look okay?
(How'd you do that?)
Cover-up. Living with Terry brought out the artist in me.
--
Not the first time a boyfriend's beaten the crap outta me, but it's definitely the last.
(I hope so.)
How's your boyfriend?
(Mm, he's not.)
Sorry, I lost track.
(I have too much to do to even worry about him or the girl he's seeing, so really it's a good thing.)
The first guy who even slaps you? I want you to take that shiv and jam it in his eye, don't even let him start.
(Hm. Lip told me to go for the scrotum but the eye works too.)
--
(Hey. What, uh-- What brings you here?
She's staying with us 'cause Kenyatta--)
You can spare him the details. It's temporary, so don't get your flowered panties in a knot.
(What happened to your eye?)
This. [flips him off]
--
(What the fuck is this?)
You guys hungry? ...is that a yes?
(The fuck are you doing with him?)
Having lunch.
(With this piece of shit? You wanted him dead yesterday.)
Psh, don't be dramatic.
(Mandy, he hit you. In the face.)
No. He didn't.
(Seriously?)
No, he didn't. I just said that 'cause I was angry. No, I was shitfaced and I fell.
(You fell.
Yeah, okay. Alright then, clumsy feet. Enjoy your fucking spaghetti.
Mandy, we need to get you out of here right now. I promised I was gonna get you someplace safe, away from him.)
Ian, let go.
(Listen, you can't stand for this, you said you weren't gonna stand for this!)
Let go!
(Mandy!
What the fuck?
Ian! Ian, look at me. It's cool. Everything's cool. We're leaving. Let's go.)
--
Everybody want coffee?
(Oh yes, please.)
Okay, great. We've got a special on the ??? house breakfast. It's a ham and cheese omelette. It's got sausage or bacon, grits-- Grits, um, huh, with a choice of toast and it's 4.99. Okay. Um. I'll be back to take your order.
...
(Mandy. Hey.)
You want some more coffee, sir?
(Uh. No. No, um. I didn't know you worked here.)
I'll be with your table in just a minute.
(You look great.)
You want something else? More sugar? Cream?
(No. Uh. No, we're good. ... Thank you.)
--
(And he hasn't gotten out of bed?
No. He's just-- sleeping. I can't get him up, I tried.)
Yeah, so did I.
(And what about before, what was he like?
Before? He was fine, he was happy. He's staying up all hours of the night, dancing, telling fucking jokes. He kicks my ass every day, I can't keep up with him.
We gotta get a hold of Lip. He should know.
Know what? What's wrong with him?
Uh. D-- Depression, I think?
He's depressed? What'd'you mean he's depressed-- I mean we all get fucking depressed. How the fuck can we not, living around here?
It's not that kinda depressed, okay? Look, I-- I could be wrong, but it could be bipolar disease like our mom.
Bi-- Bi-- what? What the fuck is that?)
It's... manic depression, Mick.
(It's like high highs followed by low lows over and over again. We'll get him an appointment at the clinic and we'll see what they say.)
no subject
--
Perhaps they were worried we'd get carried away and build a swimming pool.
--
Just a couple of sips.
(They're in agony.)
It's something.
--
I know just the thing. (goes off singing are we downhearte)
--
We've run out of bandages.
(What about our personal things?)
That's what I mean: we've got nothing left.
What about the supply ships?
(ripping petticoats:) Come on Agnes, no time for mock modesty.
--
I'll tell the other girls.
--
Helen of Troy!
Alright, I'm coming.
Oh, I don't have dysentery, I'm here this time every day.
Lucky hygiene isn't important in our profession.
I won't what they're lining up for. Agnes! Is that where they're hiding the lemon pudding?
You can't leave!
Yeah, but you'd still be leaving Lemnos.
--
We are desperately understaffed, you really mustn't leave. I solemnly pledge myself before God to practice my profession faithfully and devote myself to the welfare of those committed to my care. The Florence Nightingale pledge, Agnes, we all took it.
Well, what about the Nursing Services one? I pledge to do all in my power to allieviate the suffering of the sick and the wounded sparing no effort to bring comfort of body and peace of mind.
You made a pledge, Agnes! No-- We made a promise. We made a promise to these boys signing up that we would care for them.
So you're running away? Don't you care what they'll think of you back home? Your family?
--
I want to be discharged. My temperature hasn't been above 99 in four days, I'm back on solid food and in terms of movements--
Matron Wilson has a hard enough time staffing these wards as it is.
I feel better.
What am I supposed to do here? Just look at you all day?
I'd need a chaperone... but Sister Daley has the day off.
--
My parents weren't enthusiastic about it but they didn't try and stop me, either. Story of my life really: "Don't encourage her, she'll give up eventually."
I don't think I know...
Ahahaha. [unsure]
You read the bible, Mr--?
Has it always been your calling?
So you traded in the church to work for the devil?
--
Star of Bethlehem, I know. Where have those wise men got to, anyway?
(I know you're still too ill to have it, but... You must try the horseflesh.)
Horseflesh? Oh! It's- Turkish delight! Thank you!
(You didn't think I was going to get you to eat that one, did you?)
I'm hungry enough to most days. ... Never seen a sunset like it in Australia.
(Me neither. ...you've been sick, Sister Haynes, I'd better get you back.)
You should call me Olive.
--
You sure you can't use me in the wards?
(You're on light duty, Sister Haynes. Doctor's orders.
Only on Lemnos could clearing out a tent be classified as 'light duty'.)
What we have here is a modern design. A rustic yet harmonious blend of canvas and rope. Stepping onto the porch, one is immediately struck by its spaciousness and its commanding harbour views. This is undoubtedly the finest dwelling on Lemnos island.
--
(His father's a mechanic.)
It must have been terrible to give him up but I suppose one must abide by one's parents' wishes.
(Listen to you. Earnest is a nice enough fellow but he is no Major Sherwin. He seems rather keen on you.)
Oh, well, he'll kinder than most MOs but that is not what we're here for. ...Mr Dooley seemed nice.
(The orderly?)
--
Lime juice, to prevent scurvy. (takes a tough bite of hardtack) We're certainly lucky to have a dentist on the island.
--
They treat us like dirt. Brass don't care. Our boys are getting slaughtered at Gallipoli and the ones that pull through get sent straight back to be killed. I feel like a chewed-up piece of string most days. My hair is revolting. I haven't recieved a single letter from Australia. I'm so sorry, Matron. You've lost your brother! I have no right to complain!
(...Suffering is suffering, whether it's from a lice-infested trench or a leaky tent. You're miserable. It's alright. But there are still men that need your help, if you've still got the strength to keep going.)
Pavuvu + Peleliu Airfield
Jesus. These guys are supposed to be 60 mortars.
This is second squad.
Robert Oswalt.
Eugene Sledge.
You mortars too?
Rifleman, third platoon. Bill Leyden.
Then we'll ignore you.
That's Snafu. That man's De L'Eau, and I'm Corporal Burgin. Find yourself a bunk.)
Taken. Taken.
(Come on, I'll show you around, find you another tent.)
--
(Working party! Three of you boots to go with Snafu. Hurry up!)
You heard the sergeant. Now!
(You don't mind, do you, Leyden?)
You assholes're gonna miss cleanin' out oil barrels pretty soon. You're gonna be humpin' up some fuckin' hill or across a beach, Japs pourin' shit for fire, pissin' your pants, cryin' "Boo hoo," and wishin' you were back here with nothin' asked'a you but to scrub oil outta drums.
(Why don't you grab a brush, give us a hand?)
Fuck that shit. I scrub drums for no man.
(Can we take a break?)
Do whatever you want. This ain't my detail. I was s'posed to dump you all off here then report back to the CP.
(Then why are you still here?)
I like to watch the new guys sweat.
--
[Marines watching a movie, kissing scene] (Whadda you waiting for? Fuck her!)
You think she's blonde down there?
--
(I don't smoke.)
Yeah? [Snaf grins, vomits, then lights up a smoke, what a gross dude c:]
--
Son of a bitch. Those are Jap tanks.
--
You goin' Asiatic?
(Feet are soaking wet.)
What you gonna do in your stockin' feet when the fuckin' Japs bust through the line?
--
(You men got enough ammo?)
Sure thing, Skipper.
(Perimeter's thirty yards out from your hole. LP's out beyond that. The password's "Lilliputian". One man awake at all times.)
Lilliputian?
(Hard for the Japs to say? Hard for me to say.)
[after watching Sledge struggle opening his ration:] Trade you. ...shit, I forgot about that guy. [goes off to stick a knife in a dude's mouth and dig for teeth] We're rich, boys. Jap's got a shitload of gold in his teeth. Gold is what-- 30 bucks an ounce? [pockets the teeth, settles down on some rocks for a sleep] Take the first watch. Wake me up in four hours. Anything moves, kill it.
--
(...Ten yards from where we slept, the fucking Grand Canyon. A mile down, colours I'd never seen before. My dad was right: pictures don't show it. You have to be there, looking down into it.)
Shut the fuck up, you idiot.
(We have to go out there tomorrow...)
--
What the hell you doin'? Break this shit down. Get ready to move.
--
(Quit whining. It'll all be over by the time you cross.)
Japs hate mortars and bazookas's much as riflemen, Leyden.
(How many Japs d'you think are up there?
Anyone got any asswipe?)
No asswipe, no chow, no water, so don't even think about it. A nice cold sip'a water? Little splash on your head? Put it right outta your mind.
(I got a little water. [they pass it around]
Thank you. You've been promoted.)
You gonna give him the mortar sight?
(It's the least I can do for the water.)
--
(Pork chops!)
Pork chops? That's my meat.
--
Saw you readin' last night.
(My Bible.)
Writin' too. Ain't s'posed to write shit down, you know. Gives the Japs valuable intel, they find it.
(I guess I won't show it to 'em then.)
Got a smoke? Thanks, Sledgehammer.
(Sledgehammer. I like that.
Jesus Christ.)
Don't worry, we got a nickname for you too, Bill Leyden. We call you ball-peen hammer. Like a little hammer, for a little man.
(Alright, Snafu. Shit'n'ass... fuck up.)
Little joke from the little man.
--
(You think he'll come back?)
You disobey orders, you get court-martialed.
(You guys, check your weapons. Keep a round chambered.)
Done.
(Can you believe this bullshit about the dog? Some dog's supposed to smell a Jap before me? I don't think so. I appreciate the thought, but ain't no dog gonna make me sleep safe at night.
I've got a dog. His name's Deacon.
You keep fucking with your stovepipe. If the Nips come through here at high port with fixed bayonets, you nail 'em with flare and HE as fast as you can. You think you can do that?)
We got it, Gunny.
(I was asking Sledgehammer.
Yes, Gunny Haney.
Woof.)
What the fuck was that? "Hey stovepipe boys-- woof!" [laughing]
--
What's that?
(Sounds like some guy having a nightmare.)
He better shut up before every Nip on this island knows we're here.
(Quiet that man down.
Hold him down, stick him with morphine.)
Shut that fucker up.
(Stick him with morphine.
Jesus Christ, who the hell is that?
Hold him down. Calm down.
Help me, please! Help me!)
That guy is gonna get us all killed if he don't shut up.
(Hold him down. Hold him. Hit him with something!)
--
(I guess better him than all of us.)
Sledgehammer's right. Had to be done.
Peleliu Hills
--
(Any of you guys got a Jap sword or flag? I'll pay good money for it. Or a Jap bayonet? Any kinda Jap weapon, I'll take it.
Sure. I keep them in my ass. Reach up, grab what you want.
Seriously. I gotta get me a Jap sword. I can't go home from the war empty-handed.
I can arrange for a Purple Heart.)
Ain't nobody goin' home.
--
What was that? What happened?
(What the fuck is going on out there?
I dunno.
Who the hell was that?
Two Japs, I think. One ran down the road, the other jumped in Packer's foxhole.)
--
(What kind of guy gets out of his hole at night without sounding off?)
The kind with two Japs up his ass.
(Just one.)
Leyden knows what it's like to have a Jap up his ass.
(Fuck off.
Can it, Bill.)
--
(Burgie. Burgie. Japs in the bunker.
First platoon cleared it with grenades. They must've checked.
No. Listen.
Wake up, Sledge.
Burgie, I'm sure. They're in there.
Son of a bitch! Sledgehammer, check that side!)
Sledgehammer, Burgie, up here!
(Keep 'em bottled up til I come back!)
--
Die, you Jap fuck! Fuckin' die! Fuckin' die!
--
(Look at the gold teeth on this one!) [some other guy digging in a wounded Japanese soldier's mouth with a knife]
(Christ, put him out of his misery!
Fuck off!)
[Snaf comes over and executes him] Makes it easier.
--
Bullshit. The McCullock boosted my old man's Mercury V8 40%.
(It only adds four PSI, Snaf.)
You get better torque, you know that.
(Yeah, well, you run that thing for a while and it'll get noisy.)
So?
(How you doing, boys?)
Skipper.
(Gunny made some coffee if anyone wants some. It's actually pretty good.)
Burgie here says superchargers are worthless. Whatchu think, Skipper?
(Out here, I'd have to agree with him.)
--
Oh, fuck!
(Fall back.)
Let's go! Let's go, let's go!
--
(What the fuck is the matter with you? Why'd you take so long to shoot him?
Damn, Jay. If it ain't coming out your mouth, it's coming out your ass.)
Look like you were in a sack race, Jay. [mimics the pants-around-his-thighs run]
(Aw, shit. I shit myself.
[laughter] No kidding!
Fuck. I fucking shit myself. [even more laughter] You guys are fucking nuts.
Go back and get yourself some new dungarees, Jay.
It's all over my hands.)
You left a trail, boy. They're gonna find us now.
--
What you doin', Sledgehammer?
(Thought I'd bag me some Jap gold.)
You don't wanna do that.
(Why not? I saw you do it.)
Don't. You shouldn't do it. Germs. Doc Caswell says all these dead Nips has germs.
(Germs.)
Bad germs. Diseases that'd make you sick.
(Bad germs. ... Well, is it alright with you if I cut out his insignia then?)
No danger in that I know of.
(Yeah? That pass muster with you?)
[Snaf swallows but doesn't protest, Sledge cuts out the insignia, everything is kind of awkward and awful :c but Sledge didn't pry out anyone's teeth so ???]
Pavuvu + Okinawa
(Why would your eyes be yellow?)
C'mon, your old man's a doctor. Look in my eyes.
(Give it a rest, Snafu.)
Seriously. I'm gettin' that yellow jaundice that's been goin' around, I know it. The heebie-jeebies.
(It's hepatitis and you don't have it.)
I'll catch a fever then turn inside out through my asshole like Carson in Love Company. C'mon, look in my eyes. I'm dyin', Sledge.
(Hey.
Hey.)
Check out my eyes, Jay. They look yellow?
(I just got transferred outta King.
What? Where?
Headquarters Company.)
It'll be alright, Jay. Shit, you're jus' down the road.
(Yeah. I'm just down the road. Least I can do is buy you guys a drink at the slop shoot.)
--
Shut the fuck up, Kathy. Don't you hear good? They're Okinawans.
(Fuck off.)
What you say, boot?
--
New ponchos are full'a chemicals.
(Chemicals, huh?
What chemicals?)
They treat 'em with all kinda chemicals. That shit'll make you sick. Real, real sick.
(I didn't hear that.)
Yeah, you think they're gonna tell you? ... Here. Take mine.
(Hey, thanks.)
Semper fi.
--
(Well look what we got here.
I thought you didn't take prisoners.)
Those are th'army prisoners, boo.
[...]
Outta the way, Hirohito. Move, you slant-eyed bastard! Move!
(Shoot him!
Sit down.)
Move!
(Sit down!)
Move!
(You can't mistreat these men! They're protected by the Geneva Conventions...)
Fuck the Geneva Code!
--
(Lock it in there. Make sure this is straight.)
Hurry the fuck up!
--
(Put a small hole at the bottom, helps with the drainage.)
Don't know why you bother. They'll be dead in a few days. Don't wanna know their names.
(Hamm: H-A-two Ms. Just use it to get my attention.)
Hamm, with two Ms. Now I gotta forget somethin'. I need some long thin ones.
(Try this.)
I got one.
--
(Holy hell.)
Jesus Christ! What the fuck is that stench?
(Shit. Unbelievable. Start diggin'.)
Fuckin' horseshit.
(Oh man.)
--
Short round! Short round!
(Shit.)
Let's go. Try again. Fuck!
(Misfire!)
Misfire!
(It's hot.)
Clear it. Easy. Got it.
(Try again?)
No, our fuckin' rounds are all wet!
(Keep firing, goddamn it! Pour it on!)
Our rounds are wet!
(Get more, then. There's ammo up the road.)
Dice, Hamm, with me. You stay here!
--
(Why aren't we giving them safe passage?)
Whatchu talkin' about?
(The civilians. We should be-- We should be giving them safe conduct.
A lot of them are helping the Nips, Hamm.
That family wasn't.)
Only thing that matters up here is killin' Japs.
(You know, the first time you see someone get killed, it's something.
You get used to it.
I was fifteen. A buddy and I were hopping subway cars in Brooklyn. We went through a tunnel that was a little bit too small. I fractured my skull, he, uh-- His brains and bones got sprayed all over my face and chest. You never ever forget something like that.)
Good thing your damn head's so fuckin' hard. You got nine lives, Bill Leyden. ... What's the matter, Kathy? One day'a combat and you're all wore out? More excitement's on the way, princess. Japs fighting for their own turf now. Every damn foot we go South they'll get meaner and meaner. You better get mean too, boo. [grabs Kathy's picture] Ooh. Ooh, la la la. Now that's a piece'a ass.
(Careful, that's a man's wife you're talkin' about.)
Mmm.
(Wow.)
Yeah.
(I'd marry her.
Marry? Who said anything about marriage?
Give it back.
Kathy Jones? I thought you said your name was Peck? She's not-- She's not your wife!)
Oh, that's rich! What's the missus think about kitty cat?
(I met her after I was drafted.
What?)
Drafted? What kinda marine is drafted?
(Hamm, were you drafted too?
No.)
I don't believe it. No way that broad is bangin' some drafted marine. No way.
(I don't care what you think.)
--
Great. 'Cuzza you we're gonna get our asses shot up.
--
We need more damn men up here.
--
(Incoming!
Those are ours.
Short round!)
Our own fuckers are shellin' us.
--
This is fuckin' bullshit! If I ever find the fuckin' FO that called that arty, I'll shoot 'im!
(The sons of bitches will just do it again.
Why did they shell us?
Because some asshole officer read a map wrong, and nobody gives a shit about us! There is no goddamn reason.)
--
Eugene. Gene?
(My dog died.)
'm sorry.
(He was a good dog.)
How old was he?
(Got him as a pup about nine years ago. Maybe ten.)
They say dogs live, what-- seven years to every one of ours?
(My brother was on the Bunker Hill.)
Wow.
(Ship got hit by two kamikazes. Five hundred guys died, asshole. How the fuck can they do that? Fly themselves into a ship?)
Emperor is God. Duty to God.
(They can't fuckin' surrender?
I hope they don't. I hope we get to kill every last one of 'em.)
--
Hey. Why don't you get a newer poncho off a dead body?
(This one suits me just fine.
Man. I thought it'd be different.
Different from what? Books you read? Movies you saw?
Nah, I just-- I'm just saying.
Grow up, Hamm.
Fuck you, Sledge. [Snafu laughs.] Why don't you pull yourself in the hole next time, okay?)
That's the talk.
(Yeah. Fuck you too.)
The Hammbone did learn somethin' in boot camp. Where you from, Hamm with two Ms?
(So now you wanna know where they're from?)
--
(We got here April 1st. Easter Sunday.)
Fuckin' April Fools, no matter how you look at it.
(That's sixty-six days.
We're never getting off this island.)
Aw, c'mon, Kathy. Summer's right around the corner, then Halloween, and then there's Thanksgivin'. Look, I'm already workin' on your Christmas present.
(Outta the sticks in '46.)
Hell to heaven in '47.
(The Golden Gate in '48.)
--
(Screw it.)
We need some reinforcements up here.
(Give it a rest.)
Fuck you, Eugene.
(Yeah, fuck you too, Shelton.)
Fuck, I'm so fuckin' tired. I'm fuckin' tired of this maggoty stench. First they order us to push forward when we ain't got enough bodies then they order us to sit in our own shit--
(Shut up.)
They fuckin' shell us with our own artillery!
(Shut up.)
I'm so fuckin' tired of not havin' enough fuckin' bodies!
(Jesus Christ, shut up!)
Fuck you!
(Shut up!)
Fuck you, Sledge!
(Shut up, Shelton!)
Fuck you!
(Hey Peck--
Peck, sit down!)
Peck!
(Come on, you fuckers!
Peck! Shit--
Come on! Come on! Come and fucking get me! Come on! Come on, you motherfuckers!
Peck! Peck, come on--
Come on and get me! Come on! Come on! Come and fucking shoot me!)
Eugene!
(Come and fucking get me.
Hey, Peck! Peck!)
[Snaf to Sledge:] Stay down!
[Hamm gets shot and killed :c]
(You stupid bastard. You stupid-- You stupid stupid stupid bastard! You fucking idiot! You stupid stupid bastard!)
Peck. You're okay, Peck. You're okay. You're okay.
(Hey. What the fuck happened?
Hamm's dead. And Peck's gone.)
--
(Might be a trap.)
Lots'a people fired mortars up here.
(That doesn't matter.
What the hell's the matter with you two?)
--
Find anythin'?
(No. Alright, let's get these boots squared away. Where's Burgie?)
--
(Burgie.
Where'd you get this, Hammer?
Gunny Haney gave it to me.)
Pops.
(Took it with him from Guadalcanal all the way to Peleliu. I heard Leyden made it back to the States.
Son of a bitch always said he was first.
Alright, enough with the sunbathing. Let's go. Move out.)
--
You see that? Line'a stars anglin' up?
(Yep?)
That's Snafu's pecker.
--
"What do we do now?" What an idiot.
(Well. I'll show you what I'm doin' now. [drinks] Well, there it is: my first official act of peacetime. Snaf?)
[Snafu drinks]
The train home
(Thanks, Snaf.)
My pleasure. [to girl walking past:] Hiya. I'm Merriell Shelton. How 'bout I take you to the back of the train and you can show me your caboose? [she slaps him lmao] Fiesty.
(Snafu just got pinked on the train home.)
If we'd'a been here six months ago that broad woulda given us all blowjobs. [the guys laugh] Lied to again. This entire division didn't do that "plus six months" horseshit we did.
(They got home a week after V-J Day-- parades, pretty girls. 1946, the party's all over. Not as much as a complimentary beer.
Somebody had to stay and clean up after the war.
I suppose I'm gonna have to get a job too.)
Doin' what?
(I dunno. Anything between digging ditches and owning a bank. First I gotta get Florence home.
Wait, Florence from Melbourne?
Mm-hmm.)
You shippin' her all the way over here and this the first we hear 'bout it?
(Come on, Snaf. It was Okinawa. Figured it'd be bad luck to talk about it then.
Well, when's she coming?
I dunno. I cabled her but we've been at sea. I guess I'm gonna find out soon enough whether I'm getting married or not. What about you, Sledgehammer?
I'm just hopin' this Florence girl comes to her senses. [they laugh]
You got a job lined up in Mobile?
Nah. No job, no girl. No plans.)
How long you think that's gonna last?
(As long as the sheriff lets me.)
I'm gonna get that girl.
(Aw, leave her alone.)
You boys watch. I'm gonna get that girl.
(You've been saying that about every girl since San Diego.)
--
(There's my little brother. No sign of Florence.)
Melbourne's a hell of a long way, Burgie. It'll take Florence a while to get from Australia to here. Thanks... for doin' all you did to keep us from gettin' our fool heads shot off.
(You're good marines.)
--
[THEN SNAF FUCKING LEAVES WITHOUT SAYING GOODBYE. ASSHOLE.]
no subject
[Keeps me occupied.]
Mm. What- is the book?
[It's, uh- Jesus. It's called The Tin Soldier. It's a bunch of malarky.]
Mm.
[Smoke?]
Mm, not possible.
[James Darmody.]
Richard- Harrow.
[Nice to meet you.]
Mm. Would you want- this? My sister- sends 'em to me- 'cause I used to enjoy 'em.
[You don't anymore?]
It occurred to me- the basis of fiction- is that people- have some sort of connection- with each other- mm, but they don't.
[Thank you.]
They makin' you- take the test?
[The nutcase test? Yeah.]
Mm. Then they'll tell us- if we're normal or not. I hear- some of the questions- are embarrassing.
[Just lie.]
Mm, I find that- difficult now. Mm. They're interested- in what's in our heads- so that next time- we'll fight better.
[Hm.]
I should leave this- mm, in my room- but if I don't have it with me- I become anxious.
[German sniper mask.]
Mm. I had to wait- a very long time- for him to take it off.
[You were a marksman?]
I watched him- from a blind- for three days. He lifted it- to scratch his nose. I put a bullet- one inch below his eye.
[Well. Fuck him, right?]
Yeah. Mm. On the test, they ask- if you ever made love to a girl.
[James Darmody? James Darmody?
He left.
Did he say why?
He said he was feeling fine. Then he left.
... Richard Harrow?
He left too. Go ahead. Try lying.]
Mm. Yep. That's right.
---
Mm. You live here? This- is a whorehouse.
[Yeah. You want a drink?]
Bourbon.
[Two bourbons. The real stuff. Uh... You got a straw back there?
A straw?
The second drawer down. Down. To the lost. Again?]
Mm. You have a gun- under your jacket.
[It's a Colt. 1903.]
Mm. I have- one of those. And a Smith & Wesson triple lock. A Roth-Steyr, a Webley .455. Mauser 1914. Very small. Mm. Enfield 1917. 30-06- mm, telescopic sight. Very accurate- mmhmm. Accurate to 700 yards. Mm. I like the Colt- in the hand. How'd you use yours?
[How do you think?]
Mm. You use it to kill people. It's very good for that.
[I wanna introduce you to someone. Odette. Odette.
Hi.
This is Richard Harrow. He's a friend of mine. He's a war hero. He needs to know how grateful the nation is for his sacrifice. You're a patriot, right?
I'm whatever you want me to be.
I'll watch your things. I'll watch them. It's okay.
C'mon baby, I got a whole tickertape parade for you.]
---
[Richard. We missed you this morning. The dedication, for the memorial.]
I wasn't- interested in that.
[You alright?]
I should- talk to Jimmy.
[Okay, Ange. Where were you today?]
Needed to take a walk.
[I should've gone with you.]
We're both back now.
[You up for a job tonight? ... Is there a problem, Richard?]
Would you- fight for me?
[Of course I would. Right down to the last bullet.]
Then let's go to work.
---
[The whole company is supposed to be singing and this fella Radcliffe, he starts changing the words. Over there, fuck a bear, I'll fight any night, in my underwear~]
Mm. You know, I'd be out- days on end. Moving from blind to blind. Mm. Water, rations, rifle. Never speak a word. I'd come back to camp, the boys joking- and I'd feel... this is where I'm meant to be.
[Nobody was meant to be there.]
But that's where we were. And we're still there, aren't we?
[Time to come home, Richard.]
How?
[I don't know, but promise me you're gonna try.]
---
Who was that?
[Nucky. He found Manny Horvitz.]
I'll come with you.
[It's okay.]
I could take care of this for you.
[This is something I gotta do myself.
Did Jimmy go out?]
Yes.
no subject
-It's two-hundred dollars for two weeks.
-Yeah, it kind of is an emergency.
-No, it's fine, I'll figure it out.
PHONE: (Inaudible.)
-That's true.
-I guess he can't kick me out for another week or two.
-But can I trust him not to just change the locks?
PHONE: (Inaudible.)
-Yes, and I appreciate that, but--
-Ok, you're right.
-Just... nevermind. I have to go. Sorry.
PHONE: (Inaudible.)
-Ok. I'll talk to you tomorrow. Love you.
-Forget it. Bye.
(SHANNON hangs up the phone and puts it away.)
------
CONWAY: Excuse me, ma'am, I saw the light was on and I'm looking for the onramp to--
-Are you here to kick me off the property?
-Do you believe in ghosts?
CONWAY: Oh, no, no... I guess you don't belong here either, do you?
-Do you work for the power company?
-Are you just out wandering?
CONWAY: Ha. Well, I do drive a lot. Just me and the road mostly, when the sun is out.
-You sound lonely.
-Is that your job? Driving?
CONWAY: Here's what it is: I drive deliveries for a shop called Lysette's Antiques, and I'm out trying to finish this job.
-You're making a delivery to the mine?
-What kind of stuff are you hauling?
CONWAY: Oh, uh... no.
I have a delivery for "5 Dogwood Drive", and I can't remember ever seeing that address before. Now I heard I need to take a highway called the Zero.
So I met this young lady, name of Weaver Marquez, and she sent me this way, and so here I am. Uncommon kind of place for an onramp, but that's what it's been like so far anyway with--
-What?
CONWAY: Weaver Marquez. Do you know her?
-So you saw her. Tonight. I know Weaver. She was... she's my cousin. I'm Shannon Marquez.
CONWAY: Oh, you're the one who fixes televisions.
-That's right. Did she tell you that, too? Of course she did.
Weaver doesn't lie. One time, when we were younger, she told me my dad had been in a terrible car wreck. There was crushed metal everywhere, and we'd be hearing it echo through the house for years, she said. I was very upset, crying, and then my dad walking in the door, just come back from a trip to the junkyard collecting scrap metal to fashion into windchimes.
I was angry, but she said it wasn't a joke, and it wasn't a lie. At the time I thought she meant it as a riddle or a puzzle.
But Weaver's not a puzzle. She's a mystery.
CONWAY: So, what are you doing down here, Shannon?
-I talked to Weaver earlier this evening, too. Or anyway, she talked to me; it's hard to tell if she's listening sometimes.
Weaver told me I had to come down here to the old Elkhorn Mine. She said I'd find... something I've been looking for.
CONWAY: What are you looking for?
-I'm not exactly sure. I have a few ideas... I'll know it when I see it.
It's not such a bad thing, you showing up now. All told, I'd rather not go down there alone. Your dog should stay up here, though. It's no place for a dog.
This is an old mine. It runs pretty deep and tangled. If we're going to go down into it, find your onramp and whatever else, we've got to keep our bearings. I don't want to get turned around.
I've got some gear here to measure conductivity, frequency, response, stuff like that. Maybe we can find a way to put a signal out ahead, do some analysis and figure out what kind of topology we're up against.
CONWAY: Sure. Let's look around.
--------
S- That runs into the mine's PA system. Do you think it still works?
C- Only one way to find out.
S- Alright, give it a whirl!
C- (into PA) Uh, is anybody down there?
S- Nothing. Hm...
Oh, there's no power. Yeah, OK. Even when this old mine was up and running it was tricky to keep stuff powered.
You know, the miners used to have to pay just to run the fans and the lights? Yeah, they got paid in these shitty plastic tokens - coal scrip, you know? And if you want to run the fans for a bit to clear the air up, well, you have to put a token in.
My parents used to work here. So did Weaver's parents. I guess a lot of folks' parents worked here...
C- So let's just head into the mine and see what we see.
S- No, I'd definitely feel better getting some readings first. We don't know what it's like down there anymore; years of seasonal changes and seismic irregularities could have totally reconfigured it. I'm not going in blind, and neither are you.
I bet we just have to free up some power for the PA system. Everything is rationed. Here, set up that lamp of yours, and I'll go unplug these ceiling lights.
C- (Tries to think of something clever to say.)
S- I heard the speakers back here crackle a bit: it's on now, right? Try saying something into the mouthpiece.
C- (into PA) Well...
S- OK, I hear you...
We need to measure the echo delay time and figure out how deep the tunnels run. Just make some noises into the mouthpiece.
C- (Taps the mouthpiece. Knocks on the table. Whistles.)
S- Damn, that's a long delay! These tunnels run deep. I bet some of them have ruptured or joined up with a cave system.
Alright, I set up my spectrum analyzer, so just say something into the mouthpiece and we can get a sense for how narrow the mine tunnels are.
Don't be shy, just say anything that comes into your head. Tell me a story about something - or what did you have for breakfast today?
C- (Into PA) I had breakfast with Lysette.
She made biscuits.
We listened to the radio.
Then I loaded the truck.
S- ...got it. Looks like the tunnels are pretty cramped... Yeah, low ceilings, hope you're ready to stoop a bit! Eh, you're probably used to it.
One more test. We just need to know if the air is breathable, or if it's too thin, or too dense. Just sit real close to the mouthpiece and breathe.
I'll measure the resonance of your breath with the air in the tunnels. Just try to relax. Try to breathe naturally.
C- (Breathes, and thinks about resting.
Breathes, and remembers a moment earlier in the day.)
S- Getting some pretty strong readings here. I think we're in good shape, but keep at it for a minute!
C- (Breathes, and visualises a hot meal.)
(CONWAY breathes and relaxes, as a peal of feedback and loose rock engulfs him.)
no subject
'Daja?' Frostpine asked hesitantl.
I can't look at him, she thought. I don't want to cry. I feel all... lost. Funny.
'We should get moving,' she said, nudging her horse into motion. The sky remained cloudless, but now the day felt grey. Her eagerness to go back had faded.
'Daja, please talk to me,' Frostpine said. 'You can stay with me or with Sandry. Frankly, I had expected you would want a house, perhaps even a forge, of your own, since you're of age. Certainly you can afford it. You haven't taken vows of poverty.'
He's smiling at me - I can hear it in his voice, she thought. I should smile back, not worry him. But I feel empty. Lost, like when the Traders declared me outcast because I was the only survivor of that shipwreck. Why didn't Sandry warn me, all those letters she's been writing? She babbled of the duke's health and something or other Lark wove or she embroidered, but wrote no word of not being able to return to Discipline. Of course not. She has family. The duke, and her cousins in Namorn. But me... I'm cast out of my home. If I don't have Winding Circle, what do I have?
Briar and Tris will be in the same basket when they come home, Daja realised. They'll be outcasts, too.
--
Tris poured the tea water, noticing that her hand on the grip of the pot trembled. It's all wrong, she told herself. We should be in Discipline, with the kitchen and the table all in one room, and Lark and Rosethorn... Stop it! she ordered herself tartly. She put down the teapot and slid her fingers behind her spectacles to wipe away tears. When she could see again, Daja had taken charge of the teapot.
'Things change,' Daja said softly. 'We change with them. We sail before the wind. We become adults. As adults, we keep our minds and our secrets hidden, and our wounds. It's safer.'
--
Briar was smugly pleased to find that, unlike most non-Traders who rode under the protection of Trader caravans, the four were not kept to a seperate camp, guarded by the Traders but shut out of Trader conversations and Trader campfires. He tried not to smirk at the non-Traders when he passed their lonely fires. The four would have been forced to join them if not for Daja. Though she had once been a Trader outcast, the same powerful act of magic that had left her with living metal on one hand had also redeemed her name with all Traders, and made her and her friends known and respected by her people. Now Daja carried an ebony staff, its brass cap engraved and inlaid with the symbols of her life's story, like any Trader's staff. Now she could do business with Traders, eat with them, talk with them, and travel with them, as could her brother and sisters.
--
Daja was relieved when a footman brought in a plate of trout cooked in wine and began to serve it. It feels so strange to be talking about experience - sex - with them, she realised. I don't see why Briar keeps plunging in. I tried the kissing, and the petting, that time in Gansar, and that other time in Anderran. It just felt... awkward. That one boy smelled of sweat, and the other one had chapped lips. But Briar llikes it. Lark and Rosethorn like it. Frostpine likes it. I wonder if Tris...
She sneaked a look at Tris. The redhead had a book in her lap and was reading it between bites.
Perhaps not, with Tris, Daja thought. You'd have to get her attention first, and she'd probably hit you with a book. She looked up and met Sandry's dancing blue eyes. Sandry had noticed that Tris was reading at the table, too.
Daja grinned. At least some things are still familiar, she thought. And at least Sandry is still Sandry, whether she lives in a marble pile or not.
--
--
'Well, we certainly can't leave you here,' Tris drawled, looking at Zhegorz. 'And Green Man knows potions or oils won't work for long. And you can't wear my spectacles for the scraps of things you see, because my spectacles are specially ground for my bad eyes. It's too bad it isn't a matter of a living metal leg, or living metal gloves... living metal spectacles?'
'Maybe like nets?' suggested Briar. 'To catch visions in?'
'Or sounds. No, that's mad. Perhaps. Let's go see Daja,' Tris said.
'Daja will do something mad?' asked Zhegorz, now thoroughly confused.
Tris sighed. 'Daja can make spell nets out of wire, and she can make a leg that works like a real one. She was even crafting a living metal eye, once. Maybe she can think of something in living metal to help you.'
Briar and Tris were both dozing on Daja's bed as the smith finished the pieces they had decided might serve their crazy man best. Zhegorz himself sat on the floor by the hearth, watching Daja work.
For Zhegorz's ears, Daja had fashioned a pair of small living metal pieces that looked like plump beads pierced by small holes. Once they were done, she wrote a series of magical signs on them under a magnifying lens, using a steel tool with a razor-sharp tip.
'You understand, this will take adjustments,' she told Zhegorz softly. 'Depending on what you want them to do, just speak the name for each sign. Then the pieces should let that much more sound into your ears.' She knelt beside Zhegorz and gently fit one of the living metal pieces into his left ear. Watching as it shaped itself to fill the opening precisely, Daja asked, 'How is that? Comfortable?'
'It's warm,' whispered Zhegorz, looking up at her.
'I'm not going to put cold metal in your ears,' Daja said, a little miffed that he would suspect that of her. Once she checked the fit of the first piece, she gently turned Zhegorz's head and inserted the second. 'There,' she whispered, deliberately speaking more quietly to tet the ability of the pieces to pick up everyday sound. She recited the first lines of her favourite story. 'In the long ago, trader Koma and his bride, Bookkeeper Oti, saw that they had no savings in their account books, no warm memories laid up for the cold times.'
'That's a Trader tale,' Zhegorz said. 'It's about how the Trader and the Bookkeeper created the Tsaw'ha and wrote their names in the great books.'
Daja sat back on her heels. 'On the way to Dancruan you can tell me how you learned Trader stories,' she told him with a smile. 'Not now. I would like to get some sleep tonight.' She reached over to her worktable and carefully picked up her second creation. Tris had sacrificed a pair of spectacles for this piece. Daja had replaced the lenses with circles of living metal hammered as thin as tissue. Once they were fixed over the wire frames, she used her sharp-pointed tool to write in signs to fix the metal in place and cause it to work as she wished it to.
Gingerly, she settled the bridge of Zhegorz's bony nose and hooked the earpieces in place. I really don't know about this, she thought, nibbling her lower lip. I've made plenty of odd things, that's certain, but eyeglass lenses that let someone see normally and not magically? Only Tris would even come up with the idea.
'Can you see me?' she asked.
Zhegorz nodded.
'He'd have to be wrapped in steel not to see you, Daja,' said a grumpy and drowsy Tris from the bed. 'You're a big girl and you're right in front of him. Chime, will you fly around? Zhegorz, can you see Chime?'
Daja watched Zhegorz follow the glass dragon's flight as Chime dived and soared around the wood carvings of teh ceiling. She began to grin, elated. 'I begin to think I can cure dry rot with this stuff,' she said, proudly stroking the living metal on the back of her hand.
'Rosethorn would say pride will trip you on the stairs,' Briar said with a yawn. 'Come on, Zhegorz. We'll give those things a real trial in the morning.'
Daja got to her feet, wincing as her back complained after hours bent over her work. She was stretching when Zhegorz patted her shoulder. 'I'll tell you what they do in the morning. I'm sorry I ever said no-one could see through metal spectacles.' He scuttled out of the room as Daja shook her head over him.
Tris caught her by surprise, swooping in to press a rare kiss on Daja's cheek. 'I know they'll work,' she said. 'Thank you, for him.'
'He's my crazy man, too,' Daja said as Tris hurried from the room.
--
--
At the same time, seeing the way the light struck Rizu's curly lashes, casting their shadow over her eyes, she thought, She's so beautiful. Te question burst out of her before she realised it: 'Why aren't you dancing? You haven't danced all night. And nobody's asked you, even though you're almost as beautiful as the empress.'
Rizu smiled. 'You think so, truly?'
Daja opened her lips to say that of course she thought so, but she didn't get to speak. Instead, Rizu leaned over and kissed her softly, gently, on the mouth.
After a moment, she pulled away. There was a look of worry in her eyes. Her hands were fisted in her skirts.
'Oh,' said Daja when she remembered how to talk. She felt as if the sun had just catapaulted into her mind. Dazzled wth what it showed her, she realised also, Rizu's afraid. She's had enough people tell her no that she's not sure...
Strictly to make Rizu feel better, certainly not because she wanted more of that sunlight spilling into her heart and mind, Daja leaned over and kissed Rizu's mouth all on her own. Then, rather than ruin the quiet between them, Rizu took Daja's hand and led her into the palace by a door that did not open into the Moonlight Hall.
--
After breakfast, he read for a while. Normally he'd expect his sisters to be awake not long after dawn - their lives had made all of them into early risers - but after a gathering like last night, he couldn't blame them for sleeping in. When the ornamented clock in his sitting room chimed the hour before midday, he put his book aside and went in search of Daja.
At first, when he knocked on her door and there was no response right away, he thought she might have gone out. Then he heard female voices, muffled ones.
Maybe the maid will know where she got to, Briar thought, and pounded harder. At last he heard fumbling at the latch. The door opened to reveal Daja wearing only last night's rumpled tunic. 'Sorry,' she mumbled, letting him in. 'I couldn't find a robe.'
Briar smiled at her knowingly and glanced at the open bedroom door. Rizu stood there, wrapping a sheet around herself. Her long curls were free of their pins and dangled to her waist. The sheet only enhanced her buxom figure.
Briar raised his eyebrows at Rizu, then looked at Daja, who scratched at the floor with a bare toe. 'Well, that explains more than it doesn't,' Briar remarked. He told himself, Now I know why I was sure Rizu was never interested in me, or any man. 'Daja, why didn't you say you're a nisamohi?' he asked, using the Tradertalk word for a woman who loved other women. 'What with Lark and Rosethorn, did you think we cared?'
'I didn't know that I was a nisamohi,' Daja whispered, still not looking at him. She shrugged. 'I've been too busy, and there was never anyone...' She looked back at Rizu, who smiled at her with a beautiful light in her eyes.
'I'll go away in a hurry if you've got some of that heavy copper wire,' Briar said. 'The stuff you can just manage to bend around your wrist.'
Daja went over to her mage kit and hunted until she produced the coil of heavy copper wire. 'It's not spelled, so it should act as you want,' she said, handing the wire to Briar with one hand as she pushed him to the door with the other. 'Don't tell Sandry or Tris yet, please,' she added as she let him out. 'It's just... so new.'
'I wouldn't dream of it,' Briar said, but she had already shut and locked the door.
--
Her heart thudded in her chest. It's trying to drown out that question in mind mind. I thought I'd have all summer to work on her before having to ask. I thought we could build something solid in that time, when all we have is something new. I wish we'd had more time to fuse together!
Wishes are toys your mind plays with while pirates sneak up behind. That had been one of her aunt Hulweme's favourite sayings, ghost words from an aunt seven years dead.
Daja shook her head to clear it. I never liked Aunt Hulweme, she thought as she rapped on Rizu's door.
'It's open,' she heard her lover call.
Daja bit her lip and entered Rizu's room.
no subject
Daja's power shone from the bedroom. Determined, Tris went to the door. 'If you were just going to be a brute to me, I would have stood for it, because when itch comes right down to scratch, you Traders don't know how to act,' she said cruelly. Tris knew from early experience that sharpness spurred Daja harder than kindness. 'But you had no right to frighten poor old Zhegorz out of what wits he's got. You're some kind of talisman for him, and when you tell him to go away, he thinks it means he can't travel with us. Now you get off your behind and go tell him you wouldn't think of leaving him!'
'Later!' Daja cried. She lay in bed on her belly, raising her face from her pillows to talk. 'I'll talk to him later, Tris, and I won't talk to you at all right now, so go away! And insulting my Trader blood won't work, either, you rat-nosed, pinch-coin, gold-grubbing merchant.'
Tris was about to blister the other girl when she caught the ragged tones in Daja's voice. With a frown she walked over and plumped herself on the bed, reining in her whirling breezes until they were still again. Daja turned her face away from Tris too slowly.
'Oh, dear,' Tris said, understanding. Daja's eyes were puffy and wet. Her nose ran. Tris dug out a handkerchief and stuffed it into Daja's hand. When Daja tried to pull the hand away, Tris grabbed her wrist.
Did you really think she would come? Tris asked through their magic. Give up her own place at court, at the empress's side, to live on your generosity? Rizu's proud, Daja. She has every right to be. As Mistress of the Wardrobe she decides what every guardsman and servant in the palace wears. She chooses the imperial wardrobe. What would she have in Summersea compared to all that?
But I love her! cried Daja, accepting the renewed connection between them without a struggle. I thought she loved me!
Tris sighed and patted Daja's heaving back. At least she didn't laugh at you when she found out how you felt, she remarked. At least she didn't turn you into a joke for her friends. And she told you something about yourself you really ought to know: that you're beautiful, and worth loving. Even for just a summer.
All the boys I went with in Summersea after we came back from Kugisko said I was cold, Daja replied wearily. I didn't like kissing them. It was nothing special, like all the books say love is. Then, when I liked kissing Rizu... it was such a blessing. I'm not cold. I was just kissing the wrong people. Even living with Lark and Rosethorn, I never thought that maybe I should try kissing girls. None of them drew me. Have you ever...?
Tris shook her head. No interest, she explained. And the boys don't want to kiss a fat girl like me. They're also scared of me. That doesn't help.
They sat in silence for a long time, Tris simply rubbing Daja's shoulders. Finally Daja pushed herself up and turned over to sit on the bed. 'They made a joke of you?' she asked roughly, and blew her nose.
'Twice,' Tris answered softly. 'After that, I tried not to let boys know when I liked them. One time the boy set up a meeting in a garden. Then he and his friends dumped honey on me. They told me that even a gallon of honey wasn't enough sweets to satisfy a tub like me.'
'Miserable dung-grubbing pavao,' whispered Daja. 'Did you... lose control?'
'I called the rain,' replied Tris. 'To get the honey off me. All right. To run them off, too. But I've been trying to be good about it. About the weather.'
'And the other boy?' asked Daja, getting up to splash water on her face.
'They made fun of him until he came to hate me,' Tris said with a shrug. 'At least both times we left the towns eventually.' She could feel the heat in her face. If there had been light in here, Daja would have seen her humiliated blush. 'I dived into my studies after that and tried not to notice any boys. Most of them just aren't like Briar, you know. He'll drive you commit murder, but the only part of him that's hidden is the good part. And he isn't nasty to any female, have you noticed? Not to the little farm children or the old grannies who want to tell him how beautiful they they were in their prime.'
'That's because he knows Rosethorn would pull him out by the roots and throw him on the compost heap if he was,' Daja said. Both girls looked at each other and giggled softly at the image of Briar thrown out with the rotten leaves of cabbage and the heaps of dead weeds.
When they had quieted, Daja suddenly kissed Tris on the cheek. 'I had forgotten that Sandry wasn't my only saati,' she whispered. 'Thank you.'
--
Mage kit in hand, he went to Daja's room. She slept as soundly as the others. Once more, Briar uncorked his wake-up potion and put the vial under her nose. She gasped, choked, and opened her eyes. Coughing, she swung a fist out to clip Briar's head. Expecting it - the potion had that effect on many people - he dodged the blow.
'Kill me later,' Briar told her as she scrambled to get at him. Some belbun nicked Sandry, and he's got a serious mage in his pocket. If he isn't the mage himself.'
Daja rubbed her eyes. 'What's in that poison?'
'Just the biggest wake-up weeds I know, spelled to crunch through any sleep spell. That's how they got us in Gyongxe, sleep spells.'
Daja pulled a sack out of her mage kit and began to put items in it. She wore only her medallion, a breast band secured with a tie looped around her neck, and a loincloth. Her lack of clothing didn't seem to concern her. 'One of these days you're going to have to tell me about what happened in Gyongxe,' she said, turning a spool of fine wire over in her hand before she stuffed it into the bag. 'And not that "It was just a war" pavao.' She straightened. 'Let's go smelt this down and see what floats.'
no subject
Sweetheart, it stopped raining like three hours ago, alright? Everything's gonna be fine - hey, dickhead, flow of traffic mean anything to you?
[What if you hydroplane?]
I'm not gonna hydroplane. It is my job to assess risk, so please trust me when I tell you that statistically speaking I am much more likely to get into an accident because I am talking to you on the phone, alright? I have to go, I will talk to you soon. Goodbye.
Edward Kaspbrak speaking.
[You didn't say "Goodbye, I love you," like you usually do.]
Listen to me, I can't - I'm gonna be late to this... meeting.
[Say "I love you," Eddie]
Okay. I love you, mommy.
[What?]
Myra. Goodbye.
Hello? Who's this?
[Mike.]
Mike who?
[Eddie? Are you okay?]
Yeah, I'm pretty good!
---
... and I'm allergic to soy, anything that has egg in it, ah, gluten, and if I eat a cashew I could realistically die - holy shit.
---
[So this meeting of the Loser's Club is officially begun.]
Heh, look at these guys.
---
[So wait, Eddie, you got married?]
Yeah, why's that so fucking funny, dickwad?
[What, to, like, a woman?]
Fuck you, bro.
[(Laughs) Fuck you!]
...
[Yeah, no I got married]
When?
[Did you not hear this?]
No.
[You didn't know I got married?]
No?
[Yeah, no, me and your mom are very happy. ... He totally fell for it.]
Fuck you.
[Yeah, sometimes she'll put her arm around me and whisper, Bisa kupatha, bisa wookie]
We all get it, my mom was a great big fat person! Hilarious, histerical!
---
Yeah, dude, no shit you lost a few pounds.
[You're hot.]
It's true.
---
Stan.
What - why would Stanley save you, anyway? Was I not the one who basically performed surgery on you? After Bowers cut you up - holy shit, that's right!
[Please tell me you ended up becoming a dcotor, Eds.]
No, ah, I ended up becoming a risk analyst.
[Oh, that sounds really interesting. What does that entail?]
Yeah, so, I work for, like a big insurance firm and, ah...
[Richie snoring]
Fuck you, dude. Fuck you.
[Was this job invented before fun?]
Oh, that's so not funny.
[It is funny!]
No, it's n-- What the fuck are you laughing at?
---
How about proposing a toast?
[I propose a toast, to the Losers.]
All right.
---
Let's take our shirts off and kiss!
---
Thank you.
---
I don't want one.
[Wait, you're not... You don't wanna eat it for health reasons?]
Those are fucking bad for you! No, I don't wanna get type two diab - type two diabetes, I don't.
[It's in your head.]
It's not in my head.
[It's in your head.]
'Cause I don't wanna ... needles.
[I think you read shit on the internet and it makes you nervous.]
... in my head ... If I have one of those, because I'm middle-aged, I will shit my pants immediately.
---
When Mike called me I crashed my car.
[Seriously?]
Yeah.
---
[Pennywise.]
Oh, the fuckin' clown. (asthmatic wheeze, patting his chest pockets for inhaler)
...
[There's an echo here in Derry that bounces back every twenty-seven years--]
What are you talking about?
[Hold on, listen, listen--]
No, I don't --
...
[Mike.]
Holy shit. Dude--
...
I don't wanna hear about this, man. I don't wanna--
...
[Well, that shit got dark fast. Thanks, Mike.]
My fortune cookie just says could.
...
Why would it guess it could not cut?
[Guess it could not cut.]
When it says "it"--
It - it could -- it could not guess.
Yes.
When it says "it", is it talking about It? Is that what it means? Is it It?
Yeah, this is fucking weird (weak?), dude. This is weird.
It - it could --
[Did you fuck with the fortune cookies, Mike?]
[Why are you doing this, man?]
I need my fucking inhaler!
...
He cut up the fucking things and put 'em in the cookies. This is so not funny! So not funny!
...
Fuck - why does it say Stanley? Will someone else fucking answer me? Holy shit. Shit.
...
I don't wanna be here. I can't fucking do this. I wanna go home. I don't wanna be here. I don't wanna be here. I don't wanna be here.
Holy shit.
I can't --
Fuck!
---
That - that's what Pennywise does, right? He fucks with us. So Stanley's probably fine.
Wait, is that - is that --
Rich, be careful, dude.
[I don't write my own material.]
I fucking knew it. I fucking knew it!
---
You lied to us. That's not okay.
[Yeah, the first words out of your mouth should've been ... 'cause I would've said no. This is fucking entrapment.]
--
Stanley. Pennywise knew. He knew before we did.
...
Sorry, man, I - ah, I'm - I'm with Richie.
What? We stay, we die, that's it? I'm gonna go back to the Inn, I'm gonna pack up my shit, and I'm gonna drive to my home. I'm sorry, man. Good luck.
---
[Let's get our shit and get the fuck outta here.]
[To Ben:] Did you leave your stuff here?
...
Okay, I've just gotta grab my toiletry bag and then we can go. ... What'd I miss?
---
Okay, so, what d'you mean you've seen us all die?
Okay, so you have nightmares. I have nightmares. People have - they have nightmares. That doesn't mean that your visions are true.
...
I mean, Rich, come on...
How the hell are we supposed to do that?
Wait, we'll be seventy years old, asshole?
[We die.]
Horribly.
I didn't say it. She said it, not me.
...
And once it does, we're fucked.
---
Yeah, you did. I - I do remember that.
---
DUDE.
Are you gonna be like this the entire time we're home?
[Whispered:] That was so fucking terrible.
Bill.
---
Yeah. I wonder what he was like all grown up.
...
[A sacrifice? I nominate Eddie.]
Wait, what?
[You're little, you'll fit on a barbeque.]
I'm five nine. It's like average height for most of the world.
...
I think Bill just did that.
Okay, Mike, so where do we find our tokens?
...
Yeah, I gotta - I gotta say, statistically speaking, you look at survival scenarios, we're gonna do much better as a group.
---
Ah! Asshole!
Hello--
Yeah, I called in a - I had a prescription called in for Kaspbrak.
It's an inhaler.
Mmhmm, that's me.
Yeah.
Oh, ah, she died a few years ago, it's very sad, it was from liver cancer.
What's what?
Alright.
Alright, okay. No, it's not gonna pop, it's a mole.
Cancer?
Okay.
---
What's all this shit doing here? Why is that curtain still here? Okay, alright. You can do this, Eds. It's just a memory. It's just a memory, you're fine. Deep breath. Deep breath. Okay. Gotta do it.
Shit, shit, oh fuck, shit, no, ah, no, ah, ah, ah, stop--
Ah, ugh, ugh, ah, fuck, die, fuck you, fuck you--
Ah. Oh, ugh, oh, ah. What the fuck?
Aha, I gotta go (inaudible) -- what?
[Push, not pull, you moron.]
Oh, aha, thanks.
---
Nothing, I'm fine. I'm fine. Everything's fine.
---
Oh, and then the leper? He threw up all over me. "Hey, it's Mike Hanlon. Why don't you come back to Maine?"
Ah! What? What are you - why did you do that?
Who says it's my time?
Ah, ah - ahaha, hee hee hee.
You should cut that fucking mullet, it's been like thirty years, man.
Guys!
Bowers is in my room.
Is it bad? Oh--
---
Oh, we're not gonna like this, are we?
---
So does somebody wanna say something?
---
No, Bill --
Ben!
---
Ah, god--
(Asthmatic wheezing)
--
Eddie! Are you okay?
I'm--
Oh, there he is.
I wanna go home.
...
I don't want Richie too. I don't, I don't.
Please don't be mad, Bill. I was just scared.
---
Oh, man. Ugh.
Greywater.
---
No, no, no. No, no, ah.
---
Guys? Okay, guys, come on. Hey guys? Guys, come on. Come on, please, please, come on, I don't wanna walk out of here alone.
I don't - don't - I feel like crying.
---
Is he okay?
Whoa, whoa, whoa, oh--
You guys, I can't do it.
I can't. You saw what happened up there. I was - I was gonna let - I was gonna let you die. I just fucking froze up. You let me go down there with you, I'm gonna get us all killed. (Puff of inhaler)
[Hey, gimme that--]
Richie--
[Let go of it, you little turd]
I just - let me get--
Alright, I got it.
[Who killed a psychotic clown before he turned fourteen?]
Me.
[Who stabbed Bowers with a knife that he pulled out of his own face?]
Also me.
[Who married a woman ten times his own body mass?]
Me.
[You're braver than you think.]
Alright, thanks Richie. Ow.
[Sorry.]
[Take it. It kills monsters.]
Does it?
[Yeah. If you believe it does.]
Thanks Bev.
no subject
We seek a dangerous fugitive. This is no common anarchist, but a devotee of the treasonous Jedi order. Failure to turn over this traitor will result in a charge of sedition. Turn yourslef in or everyone present shall face summary execution.
[... To the Empire, we're all just expendable.]
Yes. You are. (stabs Prauf through the chest w her saber)
Look at this. A lightsaber.
---
Going somewhere? (Cal draws his lightsaber.) I recognize that stance. Perhaps you've had some training after all. Who was your master, Padawan? Someone I killed, perhaps? Whaat Jedi gave their life so that you might live?
---
Scared, are you?
You bleed like all of the others.
That strike will be your last.
This is the price of your arrogance.
Faster than I thought.
---
Cal Kestis. How predictable. Oh yes, I know your name, your past, and most importantly, about Cordova. Tell me, where did he hide the holocron? (Cal draws his lightsaber.) Outstanding.
---
This is too easy.
I'm the superior fighter.
Stop moving.
So slow...
Let's finish this.
I've suffered far worse.
I'll destroy you like the others.
You can't run forever.
That was nothing.
I will destroy you.
---
You're learning. Not quite as gifted as Cere's last apprentice, but not bad.
[You've been keeping count.]
I'm surprised she didn't tell you. Cere was never good at keeping secrets.
[And you know her so well, huh?]
She was weak. Cracked in an Imperial torture chair. Surrendered the location of her naive Padawan. They would never have found me if it wasn't for her. She betrayed me.
[You're Trilla.]
In the flesh.
[I won't let you manipulate me.]
So sure, are you? When faced with the choice to protect herself or her padawan, she chose self-interest. She'll sell you out too.
[Well, I can handle myself.]
Can you afford to take that chance? Your new master harbours great darkness. The look on her face when she saw what they had done to me, as I am now. She turned, exposing her true nature. She used the Dark Side.
[She cut herself off from the Force.]
Oh? How long before she cracks and betrays you too? Is that who you want beside you when you find the holocron? What would Jaro Tapal say?
[You have no right to say his name.]
What would he think if he could see his Padawan now, skulking in the shadows with a betrayer? Granting her access to a legion of impressionable students--
[No, I won't let anyone touch them.]
I thought the same thing once.
---
[I found it, but... Cere, why didn't you tell me?]
Because she's a liar.
[You! How?]
I rerouted communication the moment you tried to contact her. Slicing encrypted transmissions was always a pastime of hers. She taught me once. There's no technique Cere has that I haven't perfected.
---
You're running out of time.
[For what?]
My scouts located an artifact of interest at the read of this tomb. Even now I'm studying it, learning his secrets. It seems Cordova was rather taken with these Zeffo. Perhaps enough to hide the holocron amongst their bones.
[Yeah, we'll see how much you learn.]
---
More of my soldiers breach this tomb every minute.
[Afraid to face me yourself?]
Had your droid not intervened, I would have killed you with ease.
[Beep!!!
It's okay, buddy, just ignore her.]
---
Imagine the artifacts the Empire would have missed if it weren't for your intervention on this backwater planet.
[Sure it's worth the cost? I hear Project Auger came at a high price.]
Stormtroopers and workers. Expendable resources.
[You're a monster.]
I am what Cere made me.
---
I've taken the artifact back to my ship for analysis. Pity you couldn't make it in time.
[Doesn't matter what you steal. You'll never understand it.]
Yet you do?
[You'll find out soon enough.]
I'll take those odds.
---
I noticed something while examining this sarcophagus. It's a very convenient location to dispose of nuisances.
[You lured me here. Was this your plan all along?]
You truly have the wits of a scrapper.
---
Very good, Padawan. You've cleared the way.
[What are you talking about?]
I needed this tomb raised, and now that I have what I need, you are of no use to me.
[Beep!
Can you reverse what she's done?
Be-boop beep.]
---
Oh? How uncharacteristically prescient of you. Here, I thought your greatest virtue was your dogged persistence as you stumble from one debacle to the next.
A scant mercy. I wagered one meaningless Padawan against a prize that will win me the Emperor's favour.
Of course not. We both have our pride. But yours has cost you the lives of all the Force-sensitive children on that holochron. And your own.
---
I'm going to enjoy ending you.
Still running?
Has Cere not trained you?
---
Careful with that thing. It's been through hell.
---
Don't go. We need to stick together.
[No, I'm going to lure them away and then I'm going to circle back. Stay with the younglings, Trilla. May the Force be with you.]
Master! Don't leave us!
[Trilla, what's going to happen?]
It's okay. It's okay.
---
[Trilla. I saw what you've been through. You've experienced great suffering. It's not too late to let it go.]
Let go? I'm stronger now, because of the pain. I knew you'd come back for this. No, thank you. You'll never make it out of this place alive.
---
That won't change anything.
Reel in agony.
Weak technique.
You can't win.
This is the end, Padawan.
You can't escape.
Suffer, as I have.
---
[Cal.
I have the holocron.
I need to do this. It's over, Trilla.]
Nothing is ever truly over.
[This fight is over. I know the darkness that is eating you up inside and every day we choose to either feed it or fight it.]
It's too late, Cere.
[No. It's not. I know the choices that I made took all your choices away, and I have failed you, Trilla. I failed you, and I am so very sorry.]
I've carried so much hate for you.
(nasty crime dad)
...
[You have failed me, Inquisitor.]
Avenge us.
no subject
Not bad for trash.
What about for a Jedi?
Is there a difference?
---
It's over.
Being an Inquisitor taught me that no set back is too great. When you've already lost yourself, a limb's easy. You know, I was a Jedi. It would be fun to bring you in, watch you crack like the rest of us. Oh, angers you? Just wait til the isolation, torture, mutilation, and your friends--
I won't let you touch them.
You can't stop the Empire.
I can stop you.
no subject
(Why would I want to see this? Turn that off. Turn it off!)
Come on. I wanted to give him the whole--
(He gets it. You already said they are taking up in hotel. Why show footage?)
It's important for him to know!
(You are just impressed with yourself for planting camera.)
I am not impr--
(Trash that footage.)
Okay.
(So you guys want him gone?
Yes.)
Yes.
(Good, okay.)
We pay you--
(No, you don't pay me anything. Fuches takes care of the money. I just need his name and address, and it'll be done in a couple of days.)
That sounds good.
(Alright. Now, there's a lot of ways I can, uh, do this for you. Um... One of them is I could stab him in the nut. That's something I - I did once, and I am very comfortable doing it again.
What?
Or not.
Why?
Forget about it.
Who would want this?)
Can't you just shoot him?
(Yeah, no, I--)
Because being shot is very painful. Have you ever been shot? Huh. I have. It's, like, crazy painful.
(Anything is better than stabbing guy in nut.
I'll shoot him. I'll shoot him. I'll shoot him.)
Okay. Goran... I think he is going to shoot him.
---
What the fuck? What the fuck? They were hugging.
---
Now. Now, now, now, now, now. Now! Take the shot! Shoot him!
(Don't pull that gun on me, man. Don't pull that gun on me.)
Now! Take the shot! Now, now, now, now, now, now, now, now!
---
You know, Barry, I have to be honest, I'm quite a bit angry. But I'm going to put that aside for now, because rage is counterproductive, yes? And I know, if the situation were reversed, I probably would have done same thing you did.
(You did do what I did. You tried to kill me.)
Okay, well, now we're getting little "he said, she said". Uh, okay, so, Barry - so, after you were finished shooting me, right, and, uh, I had lost consciousness, did you perhaps take something out of the car?
(No.)
No? Like, specifically off the dashboard, maybe?
(No.)
Small blinking item?
(Wait, you didn't bring that fucking lipstick camera with you, did you?)
What? No! That would be super crazy, huh? This conversation never happened, okay? Hey, Goran, Barry and Fuches, on the silver plate.
(You did not think I would find you? You killed two of my men. One of them, Lucky, was best Chechen assassin.
Well, he wasn't that great.
Hey, let's not--
You put me in big fucking bind, Barry. Lucky, he had job to do tonight. He was to take out guy who give us some confidential information.)
About a Bolivian stash house.
(Shut the fuck up.)
Oh.
(Now, I make calls to my family and they are sending someone to take Lucky's place, but who knows how long that will take. This hit is - this hit is urgent.
No way.
Why not?
Why would I work for you, man? You double-crossed me. I don't like it when people do that.
Aw. That's water under bridge.
Have one of these guys do it.
They are not assassins. They are muscle. Big difference.
Well, have Hank do it.
You fucked him up!)
Yeah. Yeah, this arm is bullshit.
(Right, well... What about that guy?
Vasha? He is fucking freak. You see this? Apron? Why is he wearing that? He doesn't need to be wearing that. No, he's too... self-consciously scary.)
He's just a lot, you know? It's like, "We get it."
(No, no, no, I, uh - I want you to do it, Barry.
He wants you to do it, Barry.
Yeah, I don't - I don't wanna do this anymore.
You - you - you don't wanna - you don't - what?
Yeah, I - I - I - I don't do this anymore. I just don't wanna do it.
(Chechen: Help change his mind.) Lucky, man you kill, was Vacha's brother. Vacha was crying all day.
...Fuches teeth stuff)
Then you hit the bubbles, and then more bubbles come down.
(...
My daughter is having sleepover and we are being too loud.
...
If you hurt him anymore, I'll come back here and I'll kill all of you.)
He cares about Fuches. That's just nice.
---
Hey man. Are you seeing this beautiful morning? What are you doing? How are you?
(What am I doing? I'm set up to kill Paco like you asked me to. What do you mean, what am I doing?)
Oh, right. Duh. Ummm, here's the thing: I need you to wait, Barry, just a little bit longer for my signal.
(Wait? For what? Wait? What - what signal? Why?)
Because we sent bullet to the Bolivians.
(You sent a bullet to the Bolivians? What, like, in the mail?)
DHL. It's actually really cool. So, Paco is our informant within the Bolivians. We tell him, "Trust us. Tell us everything you know." He tell us, because he is stupid, and now we have to kill him before he tell other people he tell us.
(Okay, what does that have to do with mailing a bullet?)
See, this way, we send message to the Bolivians, get inside their heads. They open mail. Bullet. "What?" Phone rings. "Hello? Paco's dead? WHAT?" Little what leads to big what for full effect.
(Hank, you can't do this to me right now, alright? I'm fully exposed here. I gotta do this now. Alright? I gotta do it right now.)
Well, when I get DHL confirmation from www.DHL.com, alright, that's when you kill Paco. Can you be a bro for me, please? Wait for high sign?
(Hank, I got a clear shot of Paco right now. I'm taking him. I'm not waiting for some fucking bullet.)
I'd rather you did, though.
(Oh my god. I cannot fucking believe you're doing this to me, man. Fuck you. Fuck you and Pazar! Fuck you guys! Mailing a bullet? What fucking grade am I in, man? You bald fuck. Fuck you, man.)
Come on, you don't mean that. Website says it out for delivery, so the bullet should be arriving anytime between now and midnight. Bolivian time. So just wait, because if you do not, we do have Fuches here still with us, and I would hate for something to happen to him. I know you guys are best friends.
(Ah-ha, ha ha, ha ha ha.)
Barry? Hello? He must have bad reception.
(Did he ask how I was?)
No, but he did seem weirdly frustrated.
(Yeah, I couldn't help but overhear. You mailed a bullet? This Paco seems like a good informant. Why kill him at all?)
Look, the whole mailing bullet concept is something Goran's been workshopping for years now, and I just think, this time, we can really stick the landing with Paco.
(Hank! Hank, Hank. I just get call from home.)
Okay?
(They are sending Lucky's replacement. They are sending... Stovka.)
What? Oh my -- Stovka? He's coming here? Oh my god!
(Who's Stovka?
He is best assassin in history of Chechnya!)
Yes!
(A legend!)
Oh -- ow, okay, it's still tender, but he is beyond legend, okay? He has taken out whole armies by himself. He must've murdered over, what, hundreds?
(More. Way more. He is unreal. Simply unreal.)
Okay, when I was kid, I saw him once walking out of discotheque. He flicks cigarette at bird, knocked it out of sky. When will he be here?
(Within hour, they said.
Yeah, real quick: what does this mean for me and Barry?
We cross that bridge--)
We'll probably kill you, but I haven't checked with Goran yet.
(--when we get there.)
---
Nice. Nice. Great.
(Alright. That's enough, that's enough. Come on, get out. Go, go go. Back to work. Go.)
This one's going on the wall.
---
Yes! DHL shows bullet was delivered and signed for ten minutes ago.
(See, this is exactly what I'm talking about.
Hank. Leave.)
What? Come on, man. This is the thing!
(Get out!)
I will go tell Barry, then. Jeez Louise!
---
(Yep?)
Is it done?
("Is it done?" Hank, you know, I can't just walk up to his front door with a big fucking gun. That would be stupid. Right?)
Okay.
(Look, I'm in position and, uh, you know, these things take as long as they take.)
Okay.
(Okay? It's called being professional.)
Got it.
(Alright.)
It's just that timing is key.
(Right.)
Because to properly get into someone's head, it is truly--
---
(Hello?)
Hey man, how's it going?
(It's done.)
Sitting on good news, I could (ind)--
(Release Fuches.)
---
(The fucking police were at my house, asking me, "Do you recognise voice on camera? Do you know man who got away?" and I am thinking, "Yes, I - I know man who got away. It is same fucking moron who put lipstick camera in car." Too much heat. We must call off stash house hit, killing Bolivian leader, all of it.
Whoa, whoa. Goran, Goran--
I think that's a great idea, Goran. I think that's what we should do.
You know what? I got it. Goran, walk with me. Come on. Yeah, come on. I wanna tell you something. You play the market, Goran? Stocks, bonds? You ever heard of Warren Buffett, the world's greatest investor? He says, "Be bold!")
How great is this place? You know, Barry, if Goran calls off this hit, um, because of my video, I'm dead man.
(I don't care.)
No, I'm - I'm serious.
(I'm serious too. He should kill you. You brought a lipstick cam to a hit. Fucking idiot.)
What can I say, man? I'm a gearhead. You know? I love gack.
(Wow.)
And what is this talk about killing me? Come on. Cool your jets, man. You sound like a psychopath.
---
Oop, watch your step here.
(Ah, that's a big one.)
You know, if we knock down that wall, it would really open the place up. You know, clean up the blood, maybe add some French doors - maybe a ping pong table right there, you know? I'm just riffing.
(Now Cristobal will come here to US. [As Cristobal, getting on his knees:] "Hey, you took my fucking stash house! I'm going to slit your fucking throats!" And we will be waiting for him.)
Yes, because they are short, right.
(Right.)
Goran, this is great physical comedy of you.
(Ah, it costs, it costs.)
Oh, it's good though.
(What?
I have prezentatsiya for you. Okay, I take photos. All time, Barry no doing hits. Barry buy fancy new clothes. Barry have sex with nun. Barry buying new computer. No hit.)
You're so creepy, man. You're just so fucking creepy.
(You were following Barry? Who tell you to do this? Whole point is that Barry have no connection to our family. You follow him around and be personal photographer? That's connection! Why would you do this?
He kill my brother.)
Okay, you need to let that go. Okay?
(Oh my god. No one cares. It's so boring. Every day with "kill my brother". Look! Barry got us stash house! Beautiful super awesome sexy stash house.)
It's so nice.
(He does great work.
Let me kill him.
Are you deaf? Leave him alone.
Boss--
Look. Here, finally, is job that is tailor-made for you. Chop, chop, chop, blood and guts. You can wear your apron and your fucking creepy hockey mask. But no Barry.
Okay. I leave Barry alone.)