Shownotes
Ancient history is unearthed. And the Agents find the site where their targets appear to have relocated their operations.
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Transcripts
Hello?
Speaker B:What time is it?
Speaker A:Who is it?
Speaker C:I don't know. Situation green.
Speaker D:What about the teeth?
Speaker A:Sorry, love, I have to take this.
Speaker C:So, welcome to the shit. Horatio tells me you're like a Canada version of what we do. Right? That doesn't make too much sense to me. But I'm okay with need to know.
So it's no biggie if you can't tell me, but I think you two definitely need to know what's actually behind all the crazy shit we deal with.
Speaker B:Okay, absolutely.
Speaker D:That'd be ideal.
Speaker C:Yeah. It's aliens, right? It's always aliens. Kids go missing in Detroit, it's aliens. Impossible corpse showing up in New York. Fucking aliens. All right.
been here since at least the:As far as I've been told, they can fly into a person's head like it's not even solid. They curl up in there, start whispering shit to you. Makes you go crazy.
Speaker D:So, hold on. They fly into your head?
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker B:Do you see it coming?
Speaker C:Do you see them fly into your head? I don't think so. I don't know. Look, they've got technology we can't even guess at, okay? It's like. It seems like magic, what they do, you know?
You know that saying.
Speaker D:Does it kill you?
Speaker C:No, worse. And look. And they're evil as shit.
Speaker B:Are you completely oblivious when it happens? You have no. If it happened to you, would you even know?
Speaker C:I think so.
Speaker A:So just to have you answer that, since Frankfurt has been dealing with these things for years, yes, you can see them. When they do enter a host, it's typically a painful experience.
You can watch it happen to yourself as it curls up against your spinal column or the bottom of your equilibrium and starts whispering nasty things to you. So, yes, Frankfurt has definitely witnessed things go in, things come out, and it's always an unpleasant experience for the host.
Speaker C:Does the host ever survive or, like, come back out of this at all or. No.
Speaker A:Yeah, sometimes. Thanks to Self.
Speaker C:All right, cool. Yeah, you can see it. You can see it go in. It's not a pleasant experience. I've seen it happen a few times. It's fucked up.
Speaker D:So the Shan. They enter your head. They hurt you when you do it. What do they do when they're in there?
Speaker C:Oh, they just snuggle right up and get cozy and start whispering all the most evil shit you can imagine.
Speaker D:So that's it?
Speaker C:Well, look, there's more to the whole story. All right. Turns out they've been up to something in the British Isles since they ever got to Earth. We still aren't really sure what.
That's mostly before my time, though. Okay. These days, we do know a few things for sure.
One, they've compromised the British and most European governments by taking over important VIP level hosts in both the political and corporate worlds. Because they tend to drive their hosts crazy. They have to swap folks out a lot. It's one of their few vulnerabilities. So, you know, take note of that.
Speaker D:The vulnerability, being there, driving their host. Matt.
Speaker C:Yeah. They can't spend too long in one host.
Speaker D:How long are we talking?
Speaker C:Oh, it just depends on the host. Some people go in days, some people last years. Just depends on how set they are mentally, how strong they are.
On top of that, too, you know, the British version of what we do also got compromised. That's. That's the real killer. Right? So the SHAN knows way more about all this than they should when it comes to how groups like ours operate.
They also got a hold of a lot of weird shit that the Brits have been collecting up until they got taken over. Not good. Three, we've been working over here since like, 99. Keep those weird fucks from doing the same in America.
When the group reorganized after the towers fell, the new program's leadership didn't want to prioritize us anymore, which is fucking insane. A lot of us didn't join up because of it. We kept fighting, but it was tough going, okay?
Especially when the Reorg started snapping up stateside resources and old assets again. Before my time. But I'm told shit was hard. Even more so than now, if you can imagine. A lot of close calls.
And the SHAN kept trying to show up over here and get a foothold.
I'm told the only reason we've been able to keep him out until now is because a British resistance group reached out through the old channels and started feeding us usable intel. So we've been fighting an invasion against these things.
Speaker B:Do we have any idea what they even want?
Speaker C:Seems like they want to take control. They're chasing down all the VIPs, the leaders and governments for some reason, I don't know. But they're trying to take control.
I know that much at least.
Speaker D:You've been fighting this secret war. Yeah, under the nose of the previous organization's involvement.
Speaker C:So the only reason we even. We've even made it this far again is this British resistance group that's been feeding Us, the intel.
And so at some point before I was recruited, you know, those of them out in the cold, and the Brit resistance team, they teamed up formally, but honestly, they really run the show now. We're like their operational arm over here. They feed intel and assets. We stomp bugs.
Speaker B:Can I get a little personal real quick?
Speaker C:Sure.
Speaker B:Well, based off of everything that just happened before this conversation, you and Felix were kind of going back and forth on this. The concern over who might have a bug, as you put it.
Speaker C:Felix thinks I'm infested. Fine, I'm not. But that's the kind of shit that.
Speaker D:Happens in cell F. Okay, look, you said you're not. But how do we know the way.
Speaker C:We normally deal with potential hosts? You know, we watch them. Sometimes for weeks. Real hosts do deviant shit, okay? They get off on violence and depravity. It's like a drug to them.
That's weakness number two, if you're still counting. And then we test them. Our British intel arm developed a sort of verbal test. You heard Felix earlier. He was reciting a few of the questions.
But it really needs to be done in a long sit down situation. Something we don't have time for right now. You know, when you sit down, you watch the potential host real careful.
They usually can't help but say some weird shit. Okay. You get a knack for it after a while. If that doesn't work, well, you pop a hole in the skull. Why? Self almost always has a surgeon in the field.
Lowers the casualty rate. We also get issued a sort of powder at a special box to capture the sham that flies out. See, they hate sunlight, you see?
Can't bear it for more than a few minutes before dissolving. That's weakness number three. Me and Felix were part of.
Like I said, Selef, we're the forgotten, you know, we keep the old codenames to honor how many have fallen in this war, but the program seems to think isn't a priority. Fucking morons and a lot have died, right? This is a lonely goddamn war. And it's even harder to recruit folks to replace those we lose.
We gotta test prospects to the extreme before trying to recruit them. Gotta make sure they aren't infested. Because at this point, we can't trust anyone.
I mean, the bugs getting into our heads would mean that they learn everything about this decades long resistance. We can't have that. Look, I'd put a bullet in my own skull first. Any of us would.
Speaker B:I guess that's what I wanted to get At? I mean, that got pretty heated previously. And what do you make of Felix getting calls from Fletcher? What do you think about that?
Speaker C:What do I think about that? Look, I'm pretty sure they took over Fletcher and Finster, too. Okay? Things got real bad. Right?
But we got to trust what Horatio points us at, since they're the ones who are seeing this whole picture. And that brings us around to David Young. Right? David Young is a host. A loose end on American soil that we have to put down.
Could also be a different Shan. Things are getting so bad over here now, we've lost our grip.
And the damned insects have figured out a way overpass any intel Horatio and her team could get to us. Just how it is.
Speaker D:Jesus.
Speaker C:And on that note. Look, just because we haven't put you two through the ringer doesn't mean I trust you, okay? Horatio seems to.
So that gets us this far, but I'm not telling you any more than I have, all right? So no secret handshakes or anything until I'm sure you're clean.
Trust me, the minute either of you two start acting like a Shan is driving your mind, I'll take care of it. And you'll want me to trust me. You'll be begging me. From behind your eyes, I've seen it.
Speaker D:Okay, just one thing. What about the teeth?
Speaker C:What about the teeth?
Speaker B:What do you mean, what about the teeth? Why do you have so many teeth? Whose teeth are they? What grown man carries around teeth?
Speaker C:Look, it's a. It's just a thing from the past, okay?
Speaker D:And how do we know that's not a Shan activity?
Speaker B:We're a thing of the present?
Speaker C:Well, first of all, it's none of your fucking business. And second.
Speaker D:Well, you've just made it our business.
Speaker B:We're working together, for God's sake.
Speaker C:It's a thing I do. I've been doing it so long that there's no way I could have been infected for that long and not gone crazy.
The fact that I'm even sitting here having this conversation with you should be proof enough, right? Well, not proof enough, but it is what it is.
Speaker D:Look, pal, I don't know how long you've been doing it, but the fact that it freaked out our friend Felix means he didn't know about it.
Speaker B:Your friend, for that matter.
Speaker D:So we don't know how long it's been.
Speaker C:Look, there's. Felix and I are dealing with some odd things right now in terms of our memories, and we're just trying to reconcile a lot.
And we also just Lost Fletcher and Finster. Right. These were. Finster was a friend. Okay, look, let's just get this done, okay?
Speaker D:Okay.
Speaker C:Hey, if you see me start. Start torturing people for fun, you look in my eyes, you just take me out if I don't do it myself.
Speaker D:Okay, I can do that.
Speaker A:I just want to take a moment to step out and ask you, Eric, how does Shields take this? Does he take it at face value or is he still. Is the jury still out?
Speaker D:I think he takes enough of it at face value due to the situation that we're currently in. Finally getting some information from people that kind of ties things together.
Speaker B:And for you, Bennett, I'm weary and cautious of him, mostly. Keeping in mind Felix and his reserves, I'm gonna semi trust the process, but be very cautious as we go.
Speaker A:Both of you roll your sanities, please.
Speaker C:You're welcome.
Speaker B:Sanity.
Speaker A:Shields. Bennett, would either of you like to project for any potential loss?
Speaker D:Yeah, I think he's going to start feeling really resentful of Tanis for throwing him and Bennett into this clusterfuck of a situation that just keeps unspooling more and more as they get further involvement.
Speaker A:Absolutely. Go ahead and roll a 1D4.
Speaker B:And I am not going to project this time around.
Speaker A:All right. Okay. Lose one willpower, please. Shields. And one from Tanis McIntyre, your temporary regional director.
I'm also going to award both of you two unnatural. I don't know why you used the.
Speaker E:Word award, but yeah, I was getting all jealous. I'm like, I want xv. Come on.
Speaker C:Not this kind.
Speaker A:Okay, let's return back to that scene now that he's basically told you the reason for all supernatural activity is body swapping aliens.
Speaker C:Anybody need a drink?
Speaker D:Yeah, you got Molson's?
Speaker E:That's a type of syrup for our listeners out there.
Speaker D:Canadian syrup. Yeah.
Speaker C:Look, we should probably go track down Felix before he does something.
Speaker B:I'm glad you said that, because that's what I was about to say.
Speaker D:Yeah, that's probably top priority. I'm sorry, you guys.
Speaker C:Paris stands up. I mean, Frankfurt. How the fuck am I anymore? I don't even know who I am.
Speaker A:I've done my job here. So you stand up, you said.
Speaker C:Yep. Yeah. Stand up. Head to the door.
Speaker A:Okay, you turn and you basically. Are you gonna tell them where you want to go?
Speaker C:Oh, I just said. Yeah, I just said, hey, we need to go track down Felix before he does something. So I get up and start heading out to find him.
Speaker A:SHIELD Spin it.
Speaker B:I could give him a call.
Speaker C:Okay.
Speaker D:If you think that's gonna work.
Speaker B:You go right ahead and I'm going to call Felix.
Speaker A:Let's move the camera to Felix now. You left the hotel quite a few minutes ago at this point. Where are you headed?
Speaker E:Do you want me to say on the air?
Speaker A:I mean, that's up to you.
Speaker E:I think I told you what my plan was.
Speaker D:Do you want us to mute our headphones?
Speaker A:Let's do that. Everybody deafen, please.
Speaker E:Okay, yeah. So last time Felix or Tiberius or whoever, they went to the barbecue place to set up a spot. Like a blind.
Speaker A:He wants to head out to the barbecue place ahead of the gang. Got it. It's a ways out from where you are. It's in between Fayetteville and Russellville on kind of a two lane highway in the middle of Arkansas.
So it's not just down the block. So what's your plan here?
Speaker E:I'm going to thumb it, see if I can make it.
Speaker A:So you've got a rifle case in one hand.
Speaker E:Dang. That does look like a rifle case, right? Like straight up.
Speaker A:It is a rifle case and looks very much like one. You're in Arkansas, so people are very keyed into what that is. You are wearing fairly flashy clothing still.
Or did you change from the original quote, unquote disguise?
Speaker E:It's still the same disguise. Not my regular clothes.
Speaker A:Yeah, I thought so as well. So fairly poppin, I would say, as far as how you look overall. So, yeah, thumbing it's gonna be an interesting choice.
Speaker E:You know what, I'm just gonna flag a taxi.
Speaker A:Okay.
Speaker E:And take it. Figure it out when I get there.
Speaker A:Yeah, yeah. You do have to go to a gas station and call one. It's not really a flaggable event, but you can definitely get one coming your way.
And once you're finished calling dispatch to get a cab to come by the corner store that you're at, you do get a call from Bennett. Do you not have to pick it up? But that's what shows up on your phone the moment. Wait, do you still have a phone?
Speaker E:Fuck, I don't think I have a phone anymore.
Speaker A:Wait, you've been texting. Unless she got rid of it.
Speaker E:That was going to be my next question, actually. I can't remember.
Speaker A:You had to get. Remember you had to get a new phone.
Speaker E:That's right.
Speaker A:Because you were going nuts. So you do have an.
Speaker E:And then I went into the bathroom, texted her, and then. Yes, okay, yes.
Speaker A:So you do have a new phone.
Speaker E:I do have a phone.
Speaker A:So on that new phone that you've been texting Bennett on. She decides to voice call you.
Speaker E:Okay. I do not pick up.
Speaker A:Okay, no problem.
Speaker E:I just let it go to voicemail. And I guess I could just call a taxi service with my phone, right?
Speaker A: turning you into a Hobo from: Speaker E:We did that because we wanted to see more trains. I get that.
Speaker A:We always do. So you go ahead and ignore the call and you wait for the cab to come pick you up, which it does. Within about 8 to 10 minutes. Cool.
Speaker E:I'll just ask them to pop the trunk and put the case back there. Try to obscure it as much as possible.
Speaker A:The driver doesn't seem to even raise an eyebrow as you go ahead and load that into the trunk. In fact, the driver seems relieved that he doesn't have to remove himself from the driver's seat to assist you with your luggage.
As you slide into the back, you let him know your destination. Which I think you said was going to be Smokey Ridge barbecue.
Speaker E:Correct.
Speaker A:He goes ahead and plugs it into his GPS. Hey, boss. It's about 90 minutes away. It's going to be a pretty high ticket.
Speaker E:Don't worry about me. Just worried about getting there.
Speaker A:He shrugs, pulls out of the gas station parking lot and hits the road. After about five minutes, as you watch the trees flash by, staring out the window, your phone rings again. This time it's.
It's not Bennett, but when you see the words private number, you have an inkling who it might be.
Speaker E:I pick it up.
Speaker F:Felix? I'm Olivia. You answered. Would you care to discuss the matter we last addressed?
Speaker E:No need. I found my own. My own solution.
Speaker F:Well, I feel like. Well, I feel as though I need to get a bit off my chest. Why don't you let me talk for a moment? Are you alright with that?
Speaker E:I got a moment.
Speaker F:You are undoubtedly aware that Pisces had long been intrigued by the exploration of the more arcane realms of human potential. Following Pisces last purge, before the reorganization, we assimilated numerous members from that old establishment into our fold.
Among them are many who remain steadfast in their dedication to the old Talent program. Holmes oversees their work and they are still fervently engaged in identifying special individuals who could prove advantageous to our endeavors.
Your brother is among those individuals of exceptional caliber.
Speaker E:I turn off the phone. I shut it off and put it.
Speaker A:It rings again.
Speaker E:I completely turn off the phone. Take off the cellular. Put it in airplane mode and shut it off.
Speaker A:Okay.
You return your gaze to staring outside the window, watching cars pass, watching trees go by, watching the sun continue its slow descent towards the horizon.
Speaker E:Right on.
Speaker A:So we're returning back to Shields, Bennett and Frank Furrett now about to leave the hotel. Bennett stares at her phone, kind of furs her brow. Realizes that Felix is not going to pick up.
Speaker B:Well, he didn't answer. So where shall we go from here?
Speaker D:Well, we have a mission to do.
Speaker C:Yep, we probably headed to the car if you didn't just take off. So let's head that way.
Speaker A:All three of you leave the hotel safe house afforded to you by your various superiors. And when you reach the vehicle, correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't there a broken window?
Speaker E:Yes, there is a broken window. A broken back window.
Speaker A:Yeah, that's correct. And so Shields sees this the moment he is at the bottom of the stairs from across the lot.
Speaker D:Oh, son of a bitch.
Speaker A:Your group gets closer and closer to the car, and Shields is really moving quickly at a fast clip to get ahead of you and Shields. Yeah. The first thing you notice is that your rifle's gone.
Speaker D:Oh, for crying out loud. He's off in the rhubarb with my rifle. That's. That's not me.
Speaker E:Off in the rhubarb.
Speaker A:Classic colloquialism, dude.
Speaker B:Frankfurt. Where would he go next? What's next?
Speaker C:I'm not sure if he knows how to use that thing. If I had to guess, he's going to go be chasing down Finster and Fletcher.
Speaker B:I apologize. I just sort of thought about this. But you prefer Paris. This gets a little confusing.
Speaker C:Yeah. Yeah. If you don't mind better memories. Look, he's probably gonna go after them. He seems like he couldn't stay on mission, so.
Speaker D:So do you have any idea where they might be? Because things are going from bad to worse.
Speaker C:Look, we gotta stay on mission Two, okay? Just because he's going AWOL doesn't mean we can.
Speaker D:He has a rifle that belongs to me, and I can no longer trust his better judgment for what he's gonna do with that rifle.
Speaker C:What other weapons do we have? Do we have any other weapons in the car?
Speaker D:Grenades?
Speaker A:Terrace? You do not. You just have your concealable knife. Because everything has been left behind at a massacre scene.
Speaker C:Yep, yep, yep, yep, yep.
Speaker E:Not the teeth.
Speaker A:True. As far as what Shields and Bennett brought with them, you're now missing just the rifle.
Speaker B:Shields. Listen, I know that she's important to you. That rifle she has a lot of special meaning. But if you listen. You trust me, right?
Speaker D:Bennett, I understand your concerns.
Speaker B:You trust me. I know you trust me. That wasn't a yes, but I know it's a yes. Listen, I trust Felix. So you can trust him. I know she's gone. Your lovely rifle.
You'll get her back. But you can trust him. Let's go.
Speaker D:Shields rubs the stubble on his chin and kind of kicks rocks for a second and then says, you're right. The mission's more important. You're right. Remind me, what are we doing next?
Speaker C:Let's get in the car. I think, Chris, it would be appropriate for. I feel like it'd be appropriate for me to call Horatio back and be like, hey, Felix has gone awol.
Report that in.
Speaker A:You kind of already did that.
Speaker C:Oh, okay.
Speaker A:She said she was going to call him and rein him back in.
Speaker C:All right, look, at this point, all we can do is trust Horatio to see if they can bring him in. Just keep your phones on. Meantime, we need to get out to this barbecue, this barbecue restaurant and see if we can track down David Young.
Speaker B:I don't mind driving.
Speaker C:Okay?
Speaker D:Be my guest.
Speaker A:Bennett takes the wheel and looks up this barbecue restaurant. Smokey Rich barbecue. And yeah, it's about 90 minutes out. Again, it's gonna follow down a county road. Two lane highway.
Looks like it's a bit off that road to the north, about halfway between. Again, halfway between Russellville and Fayetteville. And it looks like it says permanently closed, according to Google.
Speaker D:That's good. Less collateral.
Speaker A:Bennett, you go ahead and jump on the highway and we can follow in the GPS instructions to get to this establishment. Is there anything y'all want to do in the meantime? Or you just want to go ahead and click the fast travel button?
Speaker D:So I haven't said a lot about what you all have been discussing, considering other lives. And to be absolutely honest with you, I'm having a hard time with that. Even you, Bennett. I just.
Speaker B:I know.
Speaker D:Help me out here. I. How is this even affecting you?
Speaker B:It's hard to explain. It's just something that.
You know, when I said that out loud, I had a very difficult saying that in front of you because I knew it wouldn't make sense. And you know me so well, right? And you've been there for me. But that man saved me. And it's hard to explain, but I. A devastating experience.
And that man went out of his way to save me. And I know that I don't remember everything, but I know that. And I can Feel it to my core.
And it can't be the weirdest thing that we've gone through or going through, but can't really make more sense of it than that.
Speaker D:Well, I've never heard of this happening before. And seeing as I'm the only one that knows, I'm for sure me with no other people in my head, I'm not.
Speaker B:Not me. I'm still me. I'm still Amelia Bennett, but I'm also someone else.
Speaker D:That being said, I think.
I hate to say this, but seeing as I'm the only one that doesn't or isn't experienced in this phenomena, I'm gonna be keeping a closer eye on things, driving from the back, if that's all right with the two of you.
Speaker B:I trust your judgment.
Speaker E:Thank you, Brace. I would. Also, as I'm sitting there waiting, I want to check in on the surveillance app on my phone.
Speaker A:So that means you're going to go ahead and put the battery back in your SIM card and get everything booted back up.
Speaker E:I will. Before I get to my location.
Speaker A:Gotcha. Since you've taken the focus, now's the time, so you're only about 30 minutes out now.
Speaker E:Okay, yeah. I'll put the battery back in, boot it up, and go on the surveillance app.
Speaker A:You go ahead and boot up your phone, and you take a look at this app that allows you to view these security cameras. And it says equipment offline. That doesn't look right to you?
Sometimes it takes a little bit of time once you reboot your phone, but it doesn't look great. You go ahead and start the app again. And again. You wipe its cache. You start it again. All hardware offline.
Speaker E:No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. That. That bitch.
Speaker A:Everything all right, sir?
Speaker E:Family business. Don't you mind? Just step if you can step on it.
Speaker A:You feel sweat begin. Feel a slickness on the back of your neck. Your hands feel cold. You see that your right leg is bouncing up and down at a fast clip.
Speaker E:Tim, you son of a bitch. You better be fine. Private number starts ringing you, I dismantle the phone again.
Speaker A:Okay, go ahead and roll your sanity. All right. Would you like to use your ability to transfer what could be an acute episode to any of your bots?
Speaker E:Absolutely not. I have really good success inside of taxis. I think we can all agree.
Speaker D:All right.
Speaker A:Your Jimmy, like, picks up in speed, and the sweat begins pouring down the sides of your face. The driver's looking at you now through the rear view, his brow furrowed a bit. You don't really care.
Staring at the phone, waiting for it to say something besides hardware offline. Refreshing, refreshing. Over and over again.
So as you both make your way down this narrow two lane highway, closer and closer to your destination, you soon spot a weathered brown sign that points north in the direction of an unmarked dirt road. It reads in white lettering smoky Ridge Barbecue.
You can see from here that this dirt path, it winds its way up a steep incline and then disappears from sight of the highway itself. The taxicab driver begins to slow down as you get closer and closer and prepares to make a left up this dirt path. Oh, pretty. Looks pretty rough.
You been out here before?
Speaker E:No, no, I haven't been out here. I got an appointment. Doesn't look like much activity happens around here. You ever come out here?
Speaker A:He shakes his head and makes the turn.
Speaker E:Felix puts his hand, both hands on his leg and tries to steady it.
Speaker A:It is bouncing. You can almost feel it through the car's frame. You're hitting it so hard.
Speaker E:That's fine.
Speaker A:As you continue pass by a few small ranches, you try to calm yourself by observing the cattle that are out there leisurely grazing in the fields, just unaware of anything outside their small bubble. But before long, thick towering trees start to obscure your view of the road.
And it's not much longer until a structure comes into view as a nearly empty parking lot.
You go ahead and hit the back of the driver's seat, ask him to stop before you get much closer to what is very obviously because of the faded sign on top of the single story building, the Smokey Rich barbecue restaurant. He brings the vehicle to a stop a little bit off the dirt road.
There's not much of a shoulder here, so you're basically stopped in the middle of the road. It is dusk, there's still a little bit of light. What would you like to do?
Speaker E:Okay, so on the, on the taxi app thing, right? I'm assuming I logged in. Do I have a credit card saved in there? Am I like good to go on payment?
Speaker A:Yeah, it's $210.
Speaker E:Cool. Yep. I'll give him a nice fat tip too.
Speaker A:Got it. All right, thank you sir. Are you gonna need to be picked up out here? If so, you'll see my number there on the app.
Just give me a call back, I'll make my way back out.
Speaker E:No need, but I appreciate it.
Speaker A:All right. Kind of looks over at the darkened building suspiciously, looks at you, shrugs. Have a good appointment.
Speaker E:God bless.
Speaker A:God bless you and yours.
Speaker E:I walk off with the case under my Arm and I want to find. Is there any other buildings around or is it just kind of like what is.
Speaker A:You peer through the woods towards this parking lot, towards this aged building. It's covered with chipped paint, broken windows. It kind of gives off an easy vibe to you.
As you kind of scan the cab doing a three point turn behind you to leave, you can see that there are two vehicles in the parking lot. One is a van bearing the name Wizards Carpet Karen Moore and it is parked beside a 50 foot long semi trailer.
Although there's no truck attached, there are no lights on inside the broken down edifice. And the path to the restaurant is overgrown with weeds. It's covered by tangled vines and thick greenery. It all seems fairly, fairly abandoned.
Speaker E:I'm going to try to find a high spot or large rock or something that I can kind of position myself behind where I can see the entrance of the place.
Speaker A:Yeah, let's see what we can do for you. While I'm rolling something for you. I would like you to also roll a military science if you have it.
Speaker E:Probably not, no.
Speaker A:Okay, so you go ahead and look around. There are piles of leaves, not really a rocky outcropping, a hillock or anything. Easy.
If you felt good about climbing one of these trees, they're pretty sturdy looking. You might be able to set yourself up in one and hope that some of the leaves would form as kind of a half assed blind.
Yeah, you don't have any great choices ahead of you, but what choice do you make?
Speaker E:Yeah, I'll just post up behind a tree and just use that as cover.
Speaker A:Got it.
So what you're doing is you're, you're choosing an angle where you feel like you're relatively obscured from the front of the restaurant, including its parking lot as well as the approaching road. And if necessary, you can kind of flatten yourself down onto your stomach into some leaves.
And maybe as the light continues to dwindle that will help obscure your figure.
Speaker E:Perfect.
Speaker A:Anything else I need to be aware of before we switch back to the team?
Speaker E:I will ready the rifle and load it.
Speaker A:If it's not all right, you go ahead and open up the case. And the magazine is empty, so you go ahead and begin loading it. Loading a 30 round magazine for the C8 is. It's tough on the old fingers.
Do you load it up all the way though?
Speaker E:Yes.
Speaker A:Okay. You're going to spend the time loading up that magazine and getting ready to potentially fire upon. Who knows.
Let's move back to the team in the Vehicle Bennett is driving, you're heading in the same direction to that wooded spot between Fayetteville and Russellville.
Speaker B:Paris, I have to ask. You know Shields, he knows me well. And that was hard for me to answer his question. But you stayed silent.
And you're familiar with these events as well. You know, when we were read in into coming onto this team with you, we were told Felix and Frankfurt. But you prefer Paris.
So is there anything that you can give SHIELD and I to answer his question about these double lives? Does it have anything to do with aliens? Do you know?
Speaker C:Let's just say it's a. I mean, if it's happening to you, you get it. Right now, it just feels like a scar from a fight. I'm not sure how else to put it. Just more damage done.
Just another fucking thing to carry, I guess. I'm not sure what else you want me to say.
Speaker B:Why do you prefer Paris? What does that mean to you?
Speaker C:Paris kind of looks at her side of his eyes. Look, two sets of memories, right? Both of mine are just fighting, right? Both just of war. One's a little better than the other. Okay.
Speaker D:Better how?
Speaker C:Look, guys, can we just leave it at that? We're almost there.
Speaker D:I hate to insist, but the more you can ease my mind, the better off we're all gonna be. You want me on your side right now?
Speaker B:Honestly, I. You don't recognize me at all, do you? I mean, I. I don't recall you, but I know that Felix saved me from something extremely horrific.
And it felt like a nightmare. These memories that I have.
Speaker C:What do you remember? What was the nightmare like when you keep saying he saved you? What did he.
Speaker B:He saved my life.
Speaker A:How?
Speaker B:I just. There is a lot of screaming, a lot of blood.
Speaker C:This is going to sound weird, but was it like just explosions of blood and metal? Wait, man. Tiberius had this chick with him.
Speaker A:Fuck.
Speaker C:Wait. Were you in the tower? You were in the tower? You were the bartender, weren't you?
Speaker B:I. I was.
Speaker C:What the fuck?
Speaker D:So what. What tower are we talking about now?
Speaker C:The tower that I. I can't remember the name of because I didn't have it written down in front of me.
Speaker E:The Two Towers. Lord of the Rings. The Two Towers.
Speaker B:It's the best one.
Speaker C:Tell me. Plaza, right?
Speaker B:That one.
Speaker C:Look, we were. We were there hunting a. A bug. And some new weapon got unleashed and really did a number on some things and. Yeah, someone from cell F. I. Paris.
Speaker B:I was bartending. I worked at this convention center. Does that seem familiar?
Speaker C:Yeah, that's what it was. We. We infiltrated this to try to get to. Shit. Chris. You forgot me. The guy's name again. What was the CEO's name?
Speaker A:Rowan Cook. Your greatest nemesis.
Speaker C:Thank you.
Speaker A:Thank you.
Speaker C:We infiltrated that party to get to Roman Cook. This fucker has a bug in his head. And we thought we had him and then he. I still don't really understand. I don't really understand.
All I know is they got it. They turned the tables on us. We thought they had us. And then someone from cell left did something and I woke up with two sets of memories.
I don't know. Sounds crazy.
Speaker B:I mean, it's not crazy if you just. Shields. Bear with me. But Paris, I was bartending there and the images are blurred, but the sounds. Everything's blurred.
Except for Felix helping me in. Those sounds, the screams, the pops. They're nightmares.
Speaker C:Yeah. That was a weapon.
Speaker B:A weapon?
Speaker C:Yeah, yeah. Nightmare. That's one way to put it. Jesus. Fuck. It was a.
Speaker B:It was real.
Speaker C:I mean, I remember it too. So it's as real as that.
Speaker B:Everyone was dying around us and he helped me live.
Speaker C:Yeah. I remember being. I remember being. Don't take it the wrong way, but I remember being upset with him because I felt like he was running off mission.
But look, I'm glad he saved you.
Speaker B:The hero. My hero.
Speaker A:Go ahead and turn on your left turn signal, Bennett. You see a dirt path winding its way up a steep incline. That's where your map is telling you to travel.
And as you begin going down this bumpy dirt road, passing by empty ranch fields. The sun has now nearly disappeared from the sky. And you turn on your headlights in order to better see in front of you.
Knowing that out here, deer or other animals could jump in front of your vehicle at a moment's notice. It doesn't take much longer as your car passes through a dense wood.
It doesn't take much longer to see a structure out there, kind of tucked within the trees. An aged wooden building, chipped paint, broken windows. Front door held together by a single rusty hinge.
And a giant faded sign on top declaring itself as Smokey Ridge Barbecue. Large parking lot that's overgrown. But you do see two vehicles there. One is a van, Wizard's Carpet Care and more.
The other is a 50 foot long semi trailer, but with no truck attached.
Speaker C:Hey, Bennett, slow down a little bit.
Speaker D:Shields. Eases the fastener on his chest holster under his blazer.
Speaker A:Oh, you're concealed by gun holster.
Speaker D:Yeah.
Speaker A:Gotcha. Done.
Speaker C:Why don't we sit for a moment, see if we see any Movement before we go in and start walking up there.
Speaker B:Is that the van you all were talking about last time?
Speaker C:That's the van. And I'm guessing that's one of the trailers that's moved out here.
Speaker A:In the darkness of the woods, the only source of light are the headlights from Bennett's vehicle shining through the trees towards the facade of this edifice.
Speaker C:Do we have any flashlights in the car?
Speaker D:Flash bangs.
Speaker C:I like the way you think.
Speaker B:Do we have any service?
Speaker A:Roll your luck, please. Shields. I don't see that you have a flashlight.
Speaker D:No. Flashbangs.
Speaker A:You have a flashlight. I know, but I would. I was hoping you'd also a flashlight. But if you use flashbangs to light your way, you are a hardcore motherfucker. Not good.
Speaker C:That's why I said I like the way you think.
Speaker A:This way, everyone. What?
Speaker D:Sear it in your mind.
Speaker A:Nice.
Speaker C:I hope his phone is on. It gives him away.
Speaker A:You do have service out here, but there's no answer to your texts.
Speaker D:Out in the woods we hear Rick Astley is never going to give you up. Ringing from something.
Speaker B:Well, I thought I'd take a chance and we'd hear back from Felix, but I'm at least going to convey to him where we are.
Speaker D:Yeah, well, let's gear up. Shields. Produces from a bag several throat mic, earpiece, tac radio sets, Hands one to each of you, puts one on himself in case we get separated.
Speaker C:Yeah. Hey, Chris, how much light is there right now? Like, is there a moon at least, or is it total darkness at this point?
Speaker A:The sun has disappeared from the sky and the only light is from the headlamps of the vehicle.
Speaker C:Right, but if. Is there. So there's no. Cause there's a big difference between a no moon at night or at least a full moon. So that's what I'm kind of asking.
Because even if there's a full moon, you can at least kind of see what you're doing.
Speaker A:You don't have any moonlight. The only light that you have is from the headlamps of the vehicle.
Speaker C:So then I'm gonna go ahead and say, hey, guys, we don't have any flashlights. Feels a bit unwise to go charging in here without having any light.
Speaker D:We've got the car lights.
Speaker A:You also have your phones.
Speaker D:And our phones.
Speaker B:If I'm being honest, you know, your night vision, it sets in pretty quickly. We just have to get used to the darkness first.
Speaker C:We could point the headlights straight at the house. Anybody looking in this direction would get blinded by them while we move in.
Speaker D:Nicholas takes out his phone, turns on the flashlight, puts it in his lapel pocket. So the flashlight's sticking up out. This is as good as I got.
Speaker C:It's about as good as I'll have.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker C:I follow suit. Put the phone in my pocket.
Speaker B:Should we just go ahead and announce ourselves?
Speaker C:I think we already have.
Speaker D:Everybody knows we're here, so here's the idea. First we flash, then we tear. Makes sense.
Speaker C:Sure.
Speaker A:Okay.
Speaker D:You know how to use these shields. Begins breaking out a flashbang and a tear gas grenade and sets them aside for Paris.
Speaker C:Yeah, I've got some familiarity.
Speaker D:Okay. He takes his hand off of them so that they're in front of you. And he looks at Bennett. Would he know her skill set fully at this point?
Speaker A:Absolutely.
Speaker D:And does she have the skills to use these?
Speaker A:She does not have grenade training.
Speaker D:Okay. He says, bennett, you know what to do.
Speaker B:I have your back.
Speaker D:All right, so once you're geared up, one of us is going to go look for any other exits besides this one. With these comms, we're going to be able to keep in touch. Radio in when we find another entrance. Then we do a countdown. We flash from both sides.
Then we tear gas and we wait.
Speaker C:Yeah, I'll go around back.
Speaker A:Okay.
Speaker D:Radio when you found an entrance or exit, very quietly. Try it if you can. But if not. I understand. And when you're ready, we'll start the show.
Speaker C:Let's do it.
Speaker A:Paris, you go ahead and walk around this building. Glancing over at the wizard's van, seeing that it appears empty, darkened. And as you.
As you circle back, you can see that there is a separate rundown building behind the main restaurant. A large, faded wooden sign announces that this is the Smoke House. This structure is even more deteriorated. It's got a partially collapsed roof.
See vines creeping up its brick walls. The pathway between the two buildings is also quite overgrown.
Speaker C:Hey, shields. We've got a second structure back here behind this main building. It's looks like the smokehouse. This thing's falling apart.
I don't think we have anybody inside here.
Speaker D:No activity.
Speaker C:One sec. Paris looks real hard at it. Just see if he sees any movement.
Speaker A:You don't see any movement or any light. And as you glance over at the back of the restaurant itself, there are a few broken windows here as well. There's a metal door. It's closed.
But you don't see any indication of inhabitants.
Speaker C:Hey, shields. I've got another door back here. A couple broken windows. I'm going to get up close, see if I Can hear or see anything. One moment.
Speaker D:Proceed with caution.
Speaker C:All right, Paris is going to very carefully move up near the windows. Listen first. And then.
Speaker A:Is your light still shining pretty brightly from your pocket?
Speaker C:Dear God, no. Turns that off. Thank you. Turns off his light.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:You peek your head into one of the broken windows, and you can see this is a window going into a small kitchen. The steel tables and cutting boards are all covered with a fairly thick layer of dust.
There are broken plates scattered about, tongs, spatulas, a pile of something in the middle of the kitchen. Looks like somebody is sweeping up, but didn't finish. No light.
Speaker C:I've got a no light, no movement, but maybe some recent activity. What's the call?
Speaker D:Are you able to move forward and get another vantage point?
Speaker C:No. Everything here is just looking into the kitchen.
Speaker D:Is the door to the kitchen open?
Speaker C:Paris quietly moves over to the door and checks to see if it's open or not.
Speaker A:Go ahead and roll your luck.
Speaker C:Success. 30 out of 50.
Speaker A:Yeah, it opens right up.
Speaker C:Yeah, I've got the door open. Are you seeing anything at the front of the building?
Speaker D:Can I see anything from here?
Speaker A:No, it's as I described. So broken windows. It's got that door that's on a single hinge that's kind of swaying in the non existent breeze. It's dark inside.
You haven't really gone up to look or shine any lights in yet from my understanding.
Speaker D:Right. Nicholas Shields is going to turn off that flashlight on his chest.
Speaker A:All right.
Speaker D:And signal Bennett to cut the lights on the car.
Speaker A:Okay, so you're gonna have Bennett walk all the way back through the parking lot to the car and turn off the lights?
Speaker D:I suppose not.
Speaker A:So you, Bennett and Shields are now next to the building. The car is back across the parking lot with the light shining onto you to the front of the building. And Paris has gone around back.
Speaker D:Right. Okay. Shields is going to holster his gun, take out a flashbang, and have that ready in his right hand.
And with his left hand, he'd reach and open the single hinge door all the way.
Speaker A:Mm.
Speaker D:And then gesture for Bennett to proceed.
Speaker A:Okay, Bennett, you still have your flashlight on?
Speaker B:Yep. I'm moving forward with a flashlight.
Speaker A:So as you enter and you're stepping inside, it looks like the restaurant has had some recent activity as well as seeming like it was abandoned in a hurry. The tables here are covered in a thick layer of dust as well. You see old menus, broken plates scattered about.
Faded photographs of happy diners are hanging on the walls. As you shine your light from side to side, they're now distorted through the accumulation of grime.
There's a pungent combination in the air of burnt meat and smoke that fills the air and it mingles with a musty scent that you can't quite place. But you can see that there are lots of boxes, totes a few ovens that you recognize from the Hog City Mushroom and Herbal Supply.
Speaker D:Bennett Centering.
Speaker A:Paris, you see a light?
Speaker D:Okay.
Speaker B:I'm gonna move to put my eyes on those boxes just for confirmation and use my hand and I'm signaling. Shields basically come in. Moving in the opposite direction of this kitchen.
Speaker A:Yeah. The boxes appear to be labeled very meticulously, showing that they are indeed from the same company that you called earlier.
Speaker D:And spoke to Lewis Shields clears the room.
Speaker A:Yep. You follow in behind. Check your corners. The place is very easy to check because most everything is in disrepair.
The boxes themselves are below hip height. They're not stacked high or anything. Looks like the job, whatever it is, is not completely finished.
You're assuming that there's probably more from the truck that hasn't been loaded in. Just by looking at the small amount that already has been.
Speaker B:Seems like someone was here and moved really quickly.
Speaker D:Paris, proceed. We're clear, Cap.
Speaker C:Paris carefully moves into the kitchen.
Speaker A:Through the door, you can see Paris, his dark silhouette emerge from an open doorway that you assume goes into a kitchen. As your flashlight gleams over scuffed up copper pants.
Speaker D:We've got boxes. I'm gonna go kill the lights on the car. We should take a look at what's in here. Okay.
Speaker C:Paris turns his light back on his phone and starts looking around.
Speaker D:And Shields proceeds to go and turn off the car light.
Speaker A:Yeah. You go ahead and walk out the front door and make your way up to the vehicle and turn off those headlamps.
Now, the only light is that from your cell phone flashlights.
Speaker D:Okay. Proceeds back to the barbecue and begins opening boxes.
Speaker B:Shilt. You remembered the keys, right?
Speaker D:Oh, yeah.
Speaker A:You open a couple of boxes. It appears to be Mykos and other branded soil samples.
Speaker B:Well, this all seems to check out from what we saw earlier with the movement.
Speaker C:Yeah. I'm gonna go look through the kitchen a little more. Perry's gonna head into the kitchen certificate. Start poking around.
By poking around, I mean carefully searching.
Speaker A:Sure. Help me understand what you're looking through.
Speaker C:Checking the cabinets. There's a walk in. Is the kitchen. I mean, I guess. Let me ask this question. Does the kitchen still have all of its appliances in it and everything?
Speaker A:You don't really see any Appliances, but you see broken plates, spatulas, tongs. Everything's pretty rusted or covered with dust. Everything's covered in grime again. There's some copper pans.
Speaker C:Yeah, they're like cabinets and like there's a walk in.
Speaker A:There's no walk in freezer here that you see.
Speaker C:Okay, well, yeah, he just checks everything. If there's nothing to open and look into and investigate, then he will walk back into the main section of the restaurant.
Speaker A:Yeah, all three of you are in the main section of the restaurant. You're watching Shields open up some of these boxes and shine his light in.
Speaker D:Just looks like more of those supplies from the rest. From the mushroom supply. You said there was a smoke house?
Speaker C:Yeah, there's a smokehouse just out behind here through the back door.
Speaker D:Let's go have a quick look.
Speaker B:If something doesn't sit right, we know someone's here. There's vehicles outside. Someone has to be here.
Speaker E:And there's zero barbecue suspicious.
Speaker D:Who said that?
Speaker A:Who was that?
Speaker D:Who was that?
Speaker E:Felix, Is that behind you?
Speaker C:All right. Paris leads them through the kitchen at the back door towards the smokehouse.
Speaker A:You three move through the kitchen and outside again and look over at this dilapidated building, the smokehouse, as it is called.
As you step into the structure over a partially collapsed roof, like I mentioned, and wall, your eyes are drawn immediately to the massive rusted pit that just dominates this building. It's a huge, huge pit. Now, obviously this used to be maybe the centerpiece of this establishment.
In the dark, as your flashlights play over, it now resembles a hungry mouth with blackened bricks and an ash covered floor behind a pile of decaying wood. As you peer over this scene, you see a solid iron door. It's flat against the ground, nearly slightly tilted upwards.
Speaker D:So it's a like a cellar door type of situation.
Speaker A:That's a beautiful, beautiful phrase. But yeah, I see what you did there.
Speaker C:Is it locked? Not opening it. I'm just asking if I can see if it's locked. Like, is there a padlock on or something?
Speaker A:You don't see a chain covering it, obviously.
Speaker D:Are there any scuff marks around it, like of recent foot activity?
Speaker A:You go ahead and walk up to the iron door and shine your light around and yes, it does look like there were multitude, a multitude of persons through here recently.
Speaker D:Okay. Bingo.
Speaker B:I think we should check the perimeter before we go in, see if there's.
Speaker C:Another way in or out.
Speaker B:Also know our surroundings.
Speaker D:We don't know how far we have to search to find another door or how long that's going to take.
Speaker B:So you're saying you just want to go balls to the wall?
Speaker D:What I am saying is this is a very unsafe situation and we could be caught flat footed outside. We can go in here.
Speaker B:Well, we already came out with our lights on, so if someone's here, they probably know we're here too.
Speaker D:That's a possibility, yeah.
Speaker C:Unless they've been hiding down here this whole time.
Speaker B:I just figured we would do maybe a walk around. Secure the area before we enter the building. I know it's dark.
Speaker D:Okay.
Speaker C:All right, let's do it.
Speaker D:You volunteered.
Speaker B:I'll lead the way. I've got great night vision and I'm very stealthy. Soft feet. I should have been a ballerina.
Speaker A:So what are we doing now?
Speaker D:Bennett's gonna do a quick search around the area.
Speaker A:Okay. By yourself? Is that correct?
Speaker C:A parasol. Go.
Speaker A:Okay.
Speaker C:And help secure the perimeter.
Speaker D:And then shields will stay.
Speaker C:Guard the door.
Speaker D:Door, yeah. Gun ready?
Speaker A:Are your flashlights on?
Speaker D:Shields is not.
Speaker A:Okay. You turn off your flashlight shields. What about Bennett and Paris?
Speaker B:No, I'm relying on my night vision. My eyes have kind of adjusted. I don't have a flashlight on.
Speaker A:Okay. Same with you. Paris.
Speaker C:Yeah. Paris following suit.
Speaker A:Okay, cool. Both of you roll your searches minus 20% please.
Speaker C:That's a failure.
Speaker B:32 out of 83 looking pretty good.
Speaker A:Gotcha. Okay. You two began walking around the building along the wood's edge. Now it is fairly close to the building.
The woods themselves, it's nestled in there. But you're kind of looking around, letting your natural night vision bring in the details of the surrounding area.
You walk to the side of the building, to the front of the building, along the parking lot. Again not really seeing any movement or any indication of anything having changed since you arrived.
And you go full circle around the building, back to the smoke house and rejoin shields.
Speaker D:All clear.
Speaker C:Clear.
Speaker B:I signal to shields with my hand, the A O K. Clear.
Speaker C:Okay.
Speaker D:Ashields places his hand on the handle of the door and gives a look to Paris.
Speaker A:Ready?
Speaker C:Ready. I.