Previously on the Atomless.
Azan he?
Ike! She!
My name's Thiriyak.
What's up? My name's Skye! Welcome to the patchwork, my dudes!
Everyone, welcome to WildTams.
You are trying to merchandise the organisms? The specimens?
Sometimes foundations need to change for something to grow.
Do you ever think that your foundations just... don't fit anymore?
Kiskak, you see Lorak, who is one of the board members.
Thank- thank god. Um, I didn't know if you'd be here in time.
I don't know what is happening to the park, but things are weird.
I don't think Kiskak went on holiday at all.
And we're gonna make our way over to Mr. Wilde's presidency.
Were they called Wilde before the park?
Oh, for fuck's sake. Is it another board member?
Thiriyak!
I- I hope your holiday was good.
Wilde, it's- it's good to see you again.
They turned the screen around. There is a short email that leads to a picture.
It's from an unknown email address.
Has the words, Bounty Alive 500,000 credits.
And below is a picture from Waymorth School for the Young and Gifted.
And is a picture of Ike.
Now I heard that you took an awful lot of money.
Did you really think that that wouldn't come back you in the ass?
The sky washes with colour as the sun makes its triumphant return.
As the nocturnal animals make their beds, the diurnal beings wake for their shift on the planet Adun.
And as they do, so do the people that rely on the park.
Helo Lepore watches himself in the mirror, witnessing the soft shifts of his skin as he applies more wax to his hair.
Anokhan's door moves him. He crosses his apartment, telling the park's AI to turn the cinema screen TV on.
He opens his door and takes his freshly pressed suit from the cleaner.
Sir Minsel wakes seeing an aquarium tank that acts as the back half of her head floating in a charged space.
The fish playfully swim, unaware of their life as a fashion accessory.
An already cooked breakfast and brewed coffee, the Kastasher type, since the human type never sat well with them,
gets bought in by the mechanical butler.
She takes the food from the robot chef and eats, watching the fish swim.
The robot chef stares for a second too long before turning and moving back toward the charge port.
Sir Minsel then walks up, takes the tank and attaches it to her head before starting her day.
Feed doesn't wake, but a voice echoes through her room, stating the time.
She looks up at the speaker as the voice booms throughout the room, then out the window at the park.
If she had skin, bags would hang heavy from her eyes, but instead her face portrays the perfect expression, soft, unassuming and loved.
She looks at her wrist, a small battery charge betrays her looks as it blinks red.
She wipes away the warning and opens a string of messages from people who only see her face.
Lin watches the sun rise from his bed.
The red light groans in his eyes.
Worry has not given him rest tonight.
He sits up, books and papers fall to the floor.
He stands, wiping the sleep out of his eyes, and looks over the scattered papers.
Notes scribbled in intelligent passion, experiments, visions of a powerful future and deals that cannot be spoken of, plans for a legacy that will surely devour him.
He gathers the papers and hides them away from prying eyes.
The waves of an untapped ocean can be heard from a cracked window in Theory X's apartment.
Mismatched people litter the floor and the sofas.
The sun has called for morning and is attempting to awake these four possible friends.
The gateway has opened and people are beginning to travel down to wild times.
Who wakes first?
Like clockwork, Azam wakes the same time every single morning.
There's a small sound of tears as his horns extricate themselves from the couch.
And there's loud cracks that echo all over his joints as the...
Even while he slept, the crust slowly cooling him down from the outside rearranges itself so he can move properly.
But he doesn't move much.
He like resettles himself, opens his eyes, which are this morning are almost glowing, and stares at the ceiling wondering,
What on earth do we do now?
I don't think Theory Act went to bed.
I think Theory Act's been up all night just at the computer.
What are they doing on the computer?
They have been mostly perusing through lots of documentation from the park, lots of spreadsheets concerning visitor attendance,
any maybe some like mismatched financial accounts going through ledgers.
Just trying to find something that's like a skew with the park beyond just vague suspicions.
Theorek is essentially just looking for evidence at this point of some sort of any footprints left behind, any traces of misdeeds.
Attendance is immaculate. It is so good.
Whatever these board members are doing, they are definitely keeping really like...
They have, you know, they're working overtime.
They have made it so that people are attending and coming from all over constantly.
This park, if this keeps up, this could be an actual mainstay for the galaxy for like countless, countless years.
The last few hours, you've found yourself lost in a scroll,
checking numbers that random attendance you end up like accidentally clicking at and looking on,
and your mind just wanders to different things which don't seem to go anywhere.
You are still up. You are still awake.
You're broken slightly out of this scroll by the creaking of Azam's bones and skin.
Good morning.
Yeah, morning.
How was...
No, it's fine.
I was going to ask a very inane question.
Ask it.
How was the couch?
I miss home.
Soft.
It was soft.
You didn't sleep.
Am I that easy to see through?
I'm not even looking at you right now.
It's in your voice.
There's something here.
There is something here, otherwise there would not be the emergence of this behavior.
You know, in my...
There's a bird.
It's a bird where I'm from.
Large, blot out the sky if it flies.
They live, theoretically, forever.
A lot of our stories are like that, but...
No, they die instead, because they keep on pushing themselves.
See, the Rook don't sleep, Firiak.
They don't rest.
They keep going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going until
eventually their body decides for them.
You're not going to find anything out by pushing yourself beyond realms of...
Raxolite physiology.
That's something you know very well.
What are you looking for?
What did you find?
You know what?
Never mind.
Clearly, I'm not finding anything.
I only judge because I care.
That sounds like you know the answer.
Do you?
Firiak, when you set out for wild times, is this anything close to what you imagined?
It is incredibly close to what I imagined.
Good parts.
The ones you actually wanted.
Do you see all of that around you, right here?
Do you see the system set up for education and intention on preservation?
Is that what you see?
What I see...
Right here...
My friend sleeping inside of a domicile, directly adjacent to one of the most beautifully preserved
coral reefs in the galaxy.
That's not necessarily anything that you had just listed, but it is enough to give me hope.
I do not deny that hope is important.
I live off of hope.
I really do.
But hope isn't enough.
Do you have more than hope, or just hope?
I have lots of drive.
No without sleep, you don't.
I have lots of it in spite of sleep.
You sound like me when I was younger.
Is it a crime to be young?
As my mum would always say to me when I ask similar questions, yes.
Which is why you must admit that you're living on stolen time and use it effectively.
Well what are my mums?
If you have a mum would just say, why are you wasting my time?
I'm tired.
Two very different mums.
Mmm, my dad was even worse.
He just grunted from time to time.
Until I started crying.
And suddenly man had a million words in his mouth.
That's the thing with my people in general.
We're either too florid or too silent.
Firiyek?
Yes?
You have hope, you have drive.
Information will come.
I feel as though waiting for this information to come.
No one said anything about waiting for it, now did we?
Look, Skye can wield all information practically out of anyone, you know why?
Because she talks and makes people comfortable around her.
Over there I could probably hack into any system that you can think of.
And I just tend to frighten people.
You aren't alone.
The solution is to practically everything, you've just got to rely upon people around
you rather than just...
You're not a superhero Firiyek, you're a person.
No but forgive me if the people who I have connected myself to are not the ones I immediately
jump to for help.
Considering the situation.
I can forgive you just fine.
Question is, will the world forgive you for ignoring what's right in front of you?
Azam, I very much appreciate all of your words of wisdom but I am in a place where big questions
like that on...
Those are too grand for my scale I need to work at right now.
I need smaller concise questions that I can give refined answers for.
I understand, I understand.
So here's what we're going to do.
We're going to make a list of resources we currently have and we're going to find the
best way to use those resources to find the information we need.
Make a list of questions focused on one by one.
Done that already or no?
No, I haven't if you believe it.
If you're one of those people that can't focus on a big picture right now, make a bunch of
little ones.
You know one thing about age, it just starts aching everywhere.
And I start getting up from the couch.
May I say that Ike was up and stayed in bed and was going to get up and then heard this
and was like, well...
But as it sort of tapers off, she'll crawl out of whatever sleep she was in and go find
Dr. Therriak and just sort of...
Hi, good morning.
Morning.
I heard that you didn't sleep.
No I didn't.
I'm so sorry.
There's quite a lot on your plate right now.
Why are you sorry?
Just for your stress.
I appreciate that.
I wanted to say something.
I was quite distressed last night when we spoke.
Well you took quite a bit of that stress off my mind.
I actually feel quite better so I wanted to say thank you and give you something if you
don't mind.
A gift?
Just a little something.
I don't see why not.
It's...I don't know how to describe it but it's this.
I remember when we were on the patchwork and we...I spoke to the crystal and tried to get
more information and you know you had said you wished you could hear it.
And I really wish you could hear it too organically but maybe this is next best thing.
I just wanted you to know what it sounded like.
And I'll put the container of message slime in their hands.
Forgive me.
How does this work?
I haven't used this viscous communication before.
Well you just sort of moved past it.
It's triggered by motion so you open it up and move past it.
It'll play and I mean it's not much but it just plays what I hear.
As you move this silly putty in front of your face you feel a bit like a silly putty at
first.
Sorry.
But then...I made myself laugh.
But then after a little bit you hear this almost click in your mind like this soft...almost
like a light switch is turned on in like just behind your ears in the back of your mind.
I am pulling.
Doctor I am pulling.
And then it repeats I am pulling.
Theiriak like has to like recalibrate for a second after hearing it.
And this came from the crystal.
That's what it repeats to me every time I talk to it.
Hello this is the first time it's mentioned you so that's new.
Pulling.
That's what it says.
Okay.
Alright from the crystal.
Pulling.
We'll jot down something in their notes.
Alright thank you.
I will look into this later after our meeting but thank you.
Thank you.
Of course.
Somehow Theiriak looks relieved and more stressed simultaneously.
Sure.
At this time, I, you receive a text message from Skye.
I'm not feeling very well.
Could you please bring me a glass of water?
I am in the closet.
Oh um oh please.
And Skye will run grab the water and head to the closet.
Skye?
Come in and shut the door.
Okay.
Here's your water.
Are you feeling worse?
Oh I'll shut it.
Alright cool.
You can just put it anywhere or drink it.
Whatever.
I need you to do me a favor.
Oh.
So when I woke up in the hospital, I was out of it for god knows how long.
We're in a theme park run by somebody who was or is in the void and I was seeing things
when I woke up.
Could just be nothing.
Could just be dreary.
But I need you to talk to the chip inside my brain.
I just want to make sure that nobody's messed with it.
Oh.
Oh my goodness.
Okay.
I did not even think of that.
Uh absolutely.
Uh hold on.
Do I have to sit a certain way or?
No just um you know what?
Where is it?
Can you point to it?
It's like just behind Skye's eye.
With saying messed with it, you do know that Scrap quite early into your little adventure
did fuck with it so that it is not currently trackable or usable until you put your goggles
on and then it connects to another chip that's in your goggles and then that's how you control
the skateboard and you...
I was wondering if it was still trackable and if we were gonna have to worry about that.
Like because Scrap has also, you would know, has done it to himself as well.
Okay.
Has also messed with the chip in his mind, his head to make sure it's trackable.
That would just make me want to be double sure somebody hasn't turned tracking back
on.
I did get nervous.
I don't know if you remember this but when you...
You get nervous a lot.
Was it like above average?
It was above average nervousness when we were in the med bay and you were asleep.
They obviously they took care of you which is I'm all well and good but I did realize
that I didn't want them to have your information so I did scrub it from their system but if
they scanned you or anything before Scrap and I got in there we should look at it.
So I'm...
Let me just focus for a minute.
This is gonna be weird.
Usually I'm talking to a computer but I'm just gonna talk to your head for a minute.
Well it's a computer thingy inside my head.
I literally just want you to hop on in there and be like, yo have you been hacked?
Really no need to make small talk with the chip in my head.
Okay no small talk.
Hello?
Business inquiry only here?
Can you just please tell me what's the state of your security please pretty please and
then that's all.
I was hallucinating if that helps.
I saw a person in the room that disappeared so I just want to make sure that nobody's
added a hallucinogen mod to the chip.
Right.
If you see any changes to your parameters in the last 24 hours please please tell me.
The tiny thing that you haven't quite fully like registered or looked at before is this
very very very thin thread that leads just past Skye's eye to the space behind it.
You hear like a slight feedback, feel a lot of different systems.
A tracker that has been disabled, a remote way of controlling skateboard.
But you do sense a fresh presence in the chip.
A slight like embers of a new system inside it.
Something appears to have been done to the chip.
I don't know exactly what yet.
Delir.
I can sometimes fix things like that but if I'm being very honest normally I don't do
things that are attached to my dear friend's brains so I would really like to take some
time for this.
Thanks for doing it.
You're literally the only option I could think of.
Well I was gonna say, do you happen to have that boy's number?
That's not an option.
That's why I said you were the only option.
Whether or not I still have his number is not important.
Well I was just gonna suggest maybe if he has the same abilities maybe we could work
together on it and it just be two brains on the same task and it could be safer for you
and your mind which is very valuable and important.
And I'm just putting it out there.
I will still do this if you say no and I will take my time and I will be very careful but
it was just a thought.
He stole the crystal.
I agree.
I'm not his biggest fan.
You wanna let this kid in my brain?
He well I would be escorting him.
I don't want him escorting anything anywhere close to me.
Okay got it.
Understood.
Absolutely.
It was just an idea.
I will give you his number and if we think that is our only option then you can text
him.
Is that a good middle ground dude?
Okay yes.
Pass it over.
There was before we head on out there into the day.
There was one more thing that I wanted to talk to you about.
What's that?
I was raised to be a manipulator.
Calm down.
Okay.
And a manipulator's job is to find what someone is motivated by and trade it with them in
exchange for whatever they want.
The void wants you alive.
So I just need to tell you that at the worst of times the void didn't feel like a cult.
It felt like a community.
They felt like the only people in the entire world that wanted to help me.
That wanted to take care of me.
They were the only people in the world that felt like they wanted to make the world a
better place.
And I know because they told me so.
A lot.
They told me that no one outside would care about me like they did.
So I need you, especially if they want to use you, to know that if any void member comes
up to you and tries to give you affection, it's not for free.
And I just need you to do me a solid and run as fast as you can.
Okay?
Okay.
Stellar, let's go get breakfast.
Sure.
Okay.
You walk out, both of you walk out of the closet to his arm and theriac in the main
living space.
I'm just pouring coffee.
There's coffee?
Yes.
Fair trade.
Gimme gimme gimme.
Yes, well, what would be a fair trade?
I don't have anything.
No, nevermind.
I'm a minor.
Is coffee all right for someone of your species of your age?
I mean, there's a lot of stuff we do that isn't all right for my species.
But we do it anyway.
You know?
You have a good point.
Here you go.
Is that how you drink coffee?
I just start giggling.
Just eat the mug.
I just has like a little giggle fit at the table.
Okay, we don't need to be laughing at me.
It's too early to be me.
I still have an IV attached to me if anybody else didn't notice.
It's supposed to be hanging up, isn't it?
It is just on the table.
What do I?
It's also almost empty.
Should we be concerned about that?
But that's good.
I think.
Can I toss this away now?
Okay.
All right.
We will make sure you get proper medical attention after our meeting.
I don't think I need it.
I think I might just be built different.
I feel great.
I promise you, Scar, you are not built different.
How do you know?
I know scientifically you are not built different.
You are extremely skilled athletes and border.
Is that what you're called?
I thought you were going to say border, like bordering on something.
No.
Anyway.
You're exceptionally good at thieving things and thieving ships.
I mean, if I was a good thief, you wouldn't know that because you wouldn't know.
Well, I think you've revealed yourself quite a lot to us.
The point being, you are extremely skilled.
That is not outside of the realm of organic capability.
I mean, I don't know the circumstances of my birth.
What if I was born in a volcano to the god of thunder and an owl that holds all the wisdom
of the universe?
Theriac has got a point.
Being exceptional does not mean that you can exceed realms of your own capability.
And I say that looking directly at Theriac, not at Sky.
Well, what if you were?
What if you were special?
I mean, you could be.
What if it was like Gondor the Terrible and how he was born, you know?
Terrible?
Forged by, you know, Gondor.
Tell me, I can't remember the comic book I read 38 times.
Tell me, how was Gondor the Terrible born?
I hate to interrupt this lecture about the natal occurrence of a barbarian in the fictional
realm, but I do have important matters to ask you all.
Of course.
So we, Azam and I, last night went and visited Mr. Wild, Mr. Wild being the other co-founder
of Wildtides, hoping perhaps that he may provide some guidance.
And he was very gracious.
Mr. Wild is willing to assist us in the enforcement of investigation.
Should we want that or desire that?
If we want things, if we want information directly from the mouths of the board members.
I personally would rather stay as far away from Wild as possible.
The Void just has a really big presence on Saga.
And I don't know if I trust someone right away that was affiliated with them, but I'm
also kind of just like your sidekick, you know?
So I will, if you just go into a meeting, I'm just going to be somewhere else is what I'm
saying.
You've got expertise here.
Let's not discount it.
I wasn't discounting it.
I definitely know I have expertise.
I just want to keep it far away from Mr. Wild.
How are you feeling, by the way?
Stellar.
I mean, like the coffee is kind of giving me a little headache.
Okay.
Just spit it out.
We got so little time here, man.
You almost died.
Wouldn't be the first time.
Skye, you almost...
Are you sure you're all right?
This is going to sound real dark.
I don't know how to not make it sound real dark.
Breathing in the air of the lower decks my whole life and other circumstances of it,
I've had to process and accept the possibility of dying young since I was about five.
So was it scary?
Yes.
I'm not saying it wasn't.
Was it difficult?
Yes.
But I'm fine.
It wasn't a surprising experience.
And physically?
I felt worse after a Jajan's dog.
Is there any chance I could convince you to go back to the hospital?
I'm very sorry.
Wait, hold on.
I just want to hear a yes and no.
Unlikely.
Okay.
I pull out like a big old jug of water.
Drink all this, yeah?
Please.
Go on, Doc.
I just want opinions on the matter.
I understand also that you all are here to actually experience wild times, and I want
you all to experience the thing I've put years of work into and I am very proud of
and give you all comprehension of the thing itself, and I feel as though you are all being
introduced backwards into the thing I am most honored to be associated with.
We will see it once we know what's going on and that it's safe.
I'm looking forward to it.
Yeah, dude, I was excited to see your facility.
Now I get to see your facility.
And there's a murder plot.
This rules.
That does not rule.
That absolutely does not rule.
By all accounts, that is a terrible metric.
It's just a little more exciting than a roller coaster, you know?
It is not exciting for me.
We will figure this out and then we'll go get a burger and see all the animals.
We just have to make sure that we don't, you know, destroy this place in the process and
then we can enjoy it just as much once we solve the mystery.
So I had a thought.
I know that there are other board members and that they might have insights and they
might be able to help.
I also know that apparently there's some sort of bounty on my head, which is a-okay.
So I probably shouldn't be involved in that.
But maybe I could look at the chip that we got off the rat and I could investigate it,
try to find anything that might help us pinpoint or narrow things down.
I'm sure that in all those hours there's something suspicious, something telling.
So maybe I could do that.
As you all sit and discuss, there is a very brief tone that goes throughout the room.
Do do do do.
Doctor, there is someone at your door.
This person's name is- Hey, it's me, it's your boy.
I just got some food.
I went out.
I want to get le- Are they allowed to come in?
I walk over to the door before I can even finish talking, because I just can't and I
open it up.
Hey!
What's up, my dude?
Oh, you're in a good mood.
At least someone is.
Scrap comes in.
He's covered in dirt, but has a little baggie of some fast food that was in Raven's Roost.
Okay, I don't mean to interrupt whatever you're doing.
Hands to the bag.
I just bought a bunch of lunch and breakfast things I have.
Shuts the door and turns back.
I've dealt with the problem.
I've gotten rid of the body.
Yep.
How is everyone doing today?
What is the plan?
What are we talking about?
We're going to go sit down about a very long night.
I mean, we got food.
Why don't we pop open a projector or something, take a look at what's on this card, because
the rat had a camera on their head, right?
I'm assuming it's like a video file.
Mm-hmm.
Yeah.
That's right.
We're going to grab some french fries.
Dr. Therriac, would that be okay?
I unfortunately have a lot on my plate.
You all may.
I'm not going to stop you.
I have other things to attend to.
I just want preference as to how we want to do this.
Do we want to confront them or do we want to perform espionage?
I think the best strategy would be to perform espionage, because if you're trying to get
information out of people, going in guns blazing isn't a good first move.
You want to get people to trust you first.
So maybe we all pick a board member and hang out with them for a while, let their boundaries
down and then start asking them some questions.
I feel like it's a good idea for you to just try and match this up to people who you think
would be able to view well or get along with.
I don't mean to discredit this right out of the gate, however I am going to do that.
We are not the most inconspicuous people I've ever seen.
We may not be inconspicuous, but we'll blend in right there in a while so long as we're
not hanging out with each other all the time.
Who's going to notice a yosoki running around?
Well this yosoki is also very much wanted at the moment.
I do think I should stay out of the people part of the espionage.
If you really want to, because you feel safe that way, sure, but there are ways to, I mean
a little make up and-
Look, I hate to fully tell you all this, we have someone wanted and a rebel leader.
We can't just pretend to be regular citizens.
And one ex-void member, right?
Don't ask a single question.
Do not poke, do not prod, do not linger on this conversation.
Dr. Therriak, I have been in the void since I was born.
I am not anymore.
This ends now.
But now you know.
May I recommend an actual interrogation tactic?
Not a bad idea.
Not to say that you don't know, you strike me as the kind of dude that would know interrogation
tactics, but may I recommend that you pair us up with one of the board members who you
think would respect us or respect us so little that they think we're too stupid to not grasp
information from them.
That's the same thing.
So like, do you know anybody that is jealous of youths and time that they've lost or maybe
somebody that would take advantage of I being, oh, so sweet.
Oh, I'm just a little rat.
I don't know anything.
That sounds just like me.
Thank you.
Or somebody that's like, you know, alpha predator and would look up to a Zom because, you know,
they're big, bulky, intimidating and charismatic.
I again, need some time to ruminate over that.
We are discussing a group of now five other members, if I'm correct, amongst three of
you, four of you.
Yes.
You're not the only person that needs to ruminate on that.
Our pasts are our own.
That's the problem.
Yeah.
I need to breathe.
Is there a roof or something?
No, we're surrounded by water.
Okay.
I'm going to give me give me a board member.
I'm going to go meet with them.
No, I do not want that.
I absolutely do not want that right now.
I go to the bathroom, go to the bathroom, go to the bathroom.
There you go.
Sky leaps.
We need to take some time.
Let me see what I can do with the video.
Dr. Theriac, you think and take your time.
Think about who we should go to, if anyone.
Yeah, Theriac.
Why don't you sleep on it?
I think Theriac just leaves.
Okay.
What?
I just want to know.
Do you think this idea of going and speaking to board members is the safest one?
We observe them while we speak to them.
One or the other.
We figure out a way to do it over cameras privately in their private places.
It'd be a good option.
But yes, we cannot deal with this kind of thing with gloves on, unfortunately.
Okay.
Maybe that's maybe that's a better route.
Maybe we can spy a bit.
If we spy, what we can do is narrow down a list of options.
We'll still likely have to do some one-on-ones.
Okay, but maybe we can limit it and maybe limit the amount of time we're putting the
higher profile people among us under tough circumstances.
Are you all right?
Oh, I just I was worried about something else and forgot to worry about the fact that I'm
wanted by the void.
What are you worried about?
Oh, good.
Now I'm worried about that.
So that's good.
That's good.
I'm just keeping my worries present.
That's all right.
I'm going to go check on Skye just in a gentle way.
It's all going to be okay.
Before you do that, I grab the bag of food and hand it over.
Oh, okay.
It's like a little shoveling occurs and I go over to the bathroom, sit outside the door
without knocking or going in and just, Skye, I'm not going to come in.
I certainly hope not.
I'm taking a big stinky shit in here.
I get the life.
I'm just saying.
Do you want to talk through the door?
No.
Okay.
That's weird that you want to talk to me while I'm taking a big stinky shit.
I assumed that this was a ruse to get away from the situation.
I didn't.
Never mind.
Okay.
Goodbye.
Can I open the door?
One day.
I will talk about it.
In order to talk about it, I need to accept that it happened and it can't ever unhappen.
And I haven't done that yet.
Okay.
Don't go in there for a while.
I'm going to go back to the table, keep drinking my coffee.
Okay.
I'm going to take out a comic book though.
I'm going to quietly find a corner and look at the chip somewhere.
Or more accurately, I'm going to try to.
I don't know if we have like, yeah, our laptop or something, whatever computerized thing
we have and I was going to just sit quietly with it for a while.
And I goes to like the table where everyone's sitting and then like has the chip, the USB
in hand and it's like the SIM card and it's like looking around like a little bit frantic
and then scrap it like, like, you can use this and then puts this like kind of almost
threadbare laptop bag and gestures.
It's like not password protected.
It's like this little almost old Macintosh fucking laptop, all put together with different
parts that he's like, you use that.
Okay.
Theriak.
Where did we go?
Theriak left the, left their compound, went back up to the surface and is headed directly
for the lab.
There is, I think, a lot of paranoid doubts running through their mind at the moment that
the lack of sleep is not helping and that lack of sleep and the inspired thoughts convince
them to not sleep further.
They have the crystal in hand, the message in the capsule and they are going to try to
speak to the crystal directly.
They walk past a lot of the behind the scenes equipment and facilities that we had seen
previously, other creatures behind the scenes that we had seen before, the knife squirrel,
the bear thing, the raccoon with a broom, all the way down past all of the veterinary
enclosures deep within the laboratory to their personal office.
It is still a mess as it was last time, still scattered with lots of religious text abound.
And they walk in having forgotten that it was left in that state and immediately begin
to compile it all and are like thumbing through it.
Just trying to refresh themselves on what they had in mind.
I think Theriac is going to place the crystal back in the same machine that it had been
in previously where it had read out those coordinates.
Just as a place to put it for now that won't be forgotten.
And they begin to speak aloud under their breath.
You know me.
You know who I am.
I don't know who you are.
And I want to change that.
You relayed a message to me.
I want a direct feed.
I want to know.
I want you to speak unto me.
I don't know how, but I will find a way to do that.
Theriac is going to begin working on research regarding organisms based around crystalline
memory systems.
There are quite a few species in this galaxy who are made of some type of crystal or have
a more crystalline structure.
And quite quickly you dismiss these ideas as a... they're too different in structure
from this crystal.
You know from what Ike has told you about its words and from studying the shape of the
crystal itself you know that it is a broken part of a whole.
And even this smaller bit identifying it as a thing seems cruel.
Because during your research and this time that you spend you get the feeling that the
crystal is almost a living being in its own right.
Still unsure of its... if it has sentience or if these words that it keeps repeating.
Unsure if this is a almost pre-recorded message or a natural response that this crystal keeps
stating.
You think about this new statement that it said which is Doctor.
It has never addressed Ike as far as you're aware.
So the fact that it's addressed you is unique.
There might be a chance that it might not directly be addressing you but stating another
part of this message that it seems to feed in.
But then also maybe it finds some form of kinsmanship with your own mind.
You move from digital writing to physical for a bit and you sitting next to the crystal
whilst watching it tap a pen that you hold in your hand on the side of this table.
And you keep hearing the words in your mind as it repeats I am pulling, pulling.
And you put the pen down on the table and you turn just to look at some other texts.
And as you go back your hand naturally lands on the space that you placed the pen.
You notice that it's rolled slightly towards the crystal.
And a few other things have also just pulled slightly toward it.
Almost like this crystal has taken a breath in.
Is it a specific set of things that are like intended to like incite action or is it just
a series of light objects?
Things that the pen was rounded cylinder it rolled toward a slight piece of paper slightly
fluttered toward it.
And Iriak will look around the room seeing these smaller objects pulled closer.
The
crystal hovers ominously unsure if it heard you or can hear you.
But it sits a small light from the room reflects and refracts in it.
These rainbow patterns shine from the inside of it just like you saw on the Leviathan's
Eye when there was just one beam of light that was refracting all of these different
lights around the room.
You just sit and suddenly hovers this low hum of the lab as you watch these rainbow
refractions.
Something seems to come from its watching of you and your watching of it.
When I first learned you spoke I thought you might be someone to assist us.
Perhaps even someone I already know.
I am beginning to doubt that.
But every good scientist has faith.
I have not given up on you.
I do one thing very well and it is learn.
I will return you to Ike.
If you have objections leave a message.
In the Almanac, which is the religious text of photoism, Theriac has propped open an image
from a story describing sativum and what it looks like its inhabitants what it is.
Inside this illustration are these almost sentinel like figures.
Something if we were to compare it to a religion that we understand as earth people these look
like Lama Sue from Babylon.
These look like archangels from the Abrahamic religions.
Massive divine beings.
But they are not the deities themselves.
They are something more akin to delegates, acolytes, servants to these higher powers.
And they appear some mix of all four elements.
Something between stone and plant and plasma.
And all fused together.
Not as a jigsaw, but as a blend.
Theriac leaves the lab in a little bit better condition than last time.
The papers are not scattered about.
It does not have to leave in a rush like last time.
And everything is a little bit tidier.
May I actually say that you opened the door to sky like...
Yo!
Hello.
I haven't been standing here too long.
I definitely heard you talking to yourself but that just seems like you know the part
of your whole vibe.
I don't want to take up too much of your time.
And in fact I can't because if I linger on certain memories too long I have a complete
meltdown like you witnessed.
Which I apologize for that by the way.
So I'm going to be vague and I'm going to beat around the bush but I didn't want to
tell you like that.
I was kind of hoping it would be after I like saved a life or cured a disease or something.
I guess maybe I subconsciously wanted you to know like I feel bad or something because
I'm usually not that bad with slip ups.
It was really embarrassing for me actually but I just want to know if...
I just want to know if you hate me.
There's no wrong answer to this.
It's not an interrogation or anything.
I just would rather know if you hate me.
And then I'll leave you alone.
Do you think I hate you?
I mean I'd hate me.
I do hate me.
Was there anything indicative within my behavior that indicated I hate you?
You stormed off right after finding out.
I stormed off too to be fair but...
Do you want to sit?
I would but I can't feel my legs.
Why don't you come inside?
I don't...
It's better we discuss inside than in the hallway.
Yeah I know but like I knew to find you here because what the top of the patchwork is to
me I figured this would be for you.
That is correct.
That's why I'm inviting you in.
Oh geez okay.
The inner sanctum.
This is a very, as a refresher, very mix between clinical center, greenhouse, veterinary center,
like very both clinical and natural.
It is a very strange mix.
It is also organized in a very peculiar way to other labs you might have walked past and
seen.
There is something ritual about this place.
Some theory act shows you to a seat near their desk.
I don't know if I can have like a sit down conversation about this.
I don't know if you saw my brain melt.
I want to just talk to a friend right now.
I want to talk to you.
When I stormed off earlier that was not me.
That was not me passing judgment on you or Ike or Zom or Scrap.
That was me being overwhelmed with the situation and needing to remove myself.
You are very correct.
This location is my top of the patchwork.
This is where I come to think and meditate.
It's a very different meditation, but it is where I process.
You say that your life is different from mine is a vast understatement.
I understand that you being a part of this crew is not, is something that you hold dear.
You enjoy our company and I enjoy yours very much.
I do consider you a friend and a pupil and a mentor.
Do you understand?
Maybe.
Sorry.
No one's ever called me a friend before that wasn't trying to get something out of me.
My initial emotional response is absolute terror, but I'm working on getting over that.
You're right as usual.
You would be surprised.
I think you are seeing a few successes at the long end of several hundred thousand failures.
Failures?
This is not a pep talk.
This is a reality check.
We are sitting in a zoological facility that you built from the ground up, dude.
I understand that.
That was made through those failures.
No, but I just, I need you to pat yourself on the back.
I'm not saying that dismissively.
Failure is part of the scientific process.
But, Theory Yak, I've never been given such a grand opportunity, so.
Right.
You've had a lot of failures.
I respect and understand that.
What you were saying before is true, that our lives are incomparable.
I don't, I wanted to come here and make sure you don't hate me because now you know I can't
get into sativum.
I'm, my heart's freezing up a little bit, so there's a stamina with this subject matter
that I'm running a little low on.
So any follow up questions, Doc?
You are a good friend.
And I appreciate you coming to see me.
I trust you.
And you do have a place in sativum.
That's a weird request, but can you say something mean just to balance that out so I have a
chance of believing it?
Something mean?
A genuine, genuine ask, Dr. Theory Yak.
I've been around a lot of people that I'm trying to avoid being love bombed.
Do you know what love bombing is?
I'm familiar with the term.
Yeah, so I just need you to be like a dick for a second.
Just say something like, oh, I know you got a bunch of thoughts brewing up in there.
Just let one of them out.
I trust you.
I need you to trust me.
How can I go about that better?
I know we are all still relatively new to one another.
But I hope that I am not so intimidating that you can't share the truth with me.
I don't know if intimidating is the word I would use.
You're like a foot.
I could kick you across the room.
All right.
Okay.
I understand what you're saying.
Knowing things about everyone in our crew will make navigating the issues that surround
each other clearer.
I'm not trying to say something new because I don't trust you and it had nothing to do
with you at all.
In fact, I knew I needed to tell you at some point.
The only reason that you didn't know is because I can't say it out loud.
Yet.
I am the one that I can't hear it.
The only reason I get a ZOM news is because the hats went digging up in there and I spiraled
and freaked out and started self-sabotage.
I was a mess.
It was embarrassing.
God, I'm so glad that you weren't there actually.
It, it, I, I, Theriac, I need you to look me, I'm going to sit down on the ground to
be eye level with you.
Theriac, I do trust you and that's the scariest thing in the world to me.
Now I'm, I'm, I'm going to go.
Okay.
Because I, I definitely left without telling anyone.
So I don't want them to flip out.
Okay.
I wanted to get some air, make sure that you weren't calling wild on me right away.
And then, so I was suspecting you were calling wild on me right away, not because I don't
trust you, it's because I trust you to do the right thing.
I just, you know, wanted to gauge what you thought that was.
Right.
Thank you for tracking up on me.
I still appreciate it.
Do you know how to get out and take a ride at the third door?
Cool beaker.
I'll go back.
Cool.
We move back to Theriac's apartment.
Azzam, is there anything in particular that you're doing?
Nope.
Azzam is just holding a coffee cup, letting it cool down, well, letting it sit at temperature.
Does Azzam's like hands kind of like keep the mug like a little warm?
Yeah.
The coffee's like trying to get cold and Azzam's body's like, no.
Oh, that rules.
Okay.
Cool.
The sucky part is he likes iced coffee, but that's-
Oh no!
That's a possibility.
F. No, he's just sitting there off staring into space, not even taking a sip.
You right there?
Hm?
You had a bit of a long distance there.
Yeah.
Reminds me of the old days.
Home getting to you a bit.
Home sickness.
Yeah, I get that.
At least when I was stuck in a cell, I knew there was no way I could...
I could just pretend like it never happened, like it was a dream.
Push it off into a corner of my mind and deal with it here and now.
Now!
I don't have that luxury anymore.
Plus all this talk of espionage and...
Reminds me of being younger.
Right?
Yeah, I get that.
I don't know what it's like for you, but I've completely forgotten how to speak to people.
I just don't get it.
I've been trying to speak to Ike, trying to give him a pep talk the other day about the
situation, the thing that happened.
God.
I don't know how to do that.
Don't you feel like you just forget to connect, or don't know how to connect to people anymore?
No.
No, I feel like I'm too good at it.
I never really know if someone's interested in me because of me or because of...
Condemn into it somehow.
Seduce them against their wishes into doing what I need.
How are you supposed to fucking tell the difference?
Yeah.
You're all good at it.
It's frustrating.
I've tried very hard to not like you.
We both have kind of like a...
I've built the patchwork and everyone calls me captain, but you have such a leader.
It's like natural.
I tried very hard to be like, I don't trust that guy.
But you offset it pretty hard.
I wanted to be a baker.
I wanted to make a cavern wall close to an active volcano and just cook.
Every day, recognizable pattern of feelings and things and seeing my local community come
up and be integral.
Yeah, but not be...
I'll be fine.
Just getting sentimental in my old age.
Sky has her feet up on the kitchen table, crossed, reading a comic book, sipping her
coffee and just goes, that's life, dude.
That's just life.
Having dreams, having them not work out, wanting things, not getting them.
Once in sky, I lost a planet full of people.
I didn't just lose my dreams.
I lost a purpose.
I mean, think of it.
How many of me have you actually seen around here?
How many tall walking fire giants have you seen in the past week who weren't me?
I'm not saying it wasn't hard.
Not saying it wasn't fucked up.
Not saying it wasn't a terrible, awful thing that shouldn't have not happened.
I'm saying that the universe doesn't care what's fair.
I know that.
I'm well aware.
This is my version of a pep talk.
I'm not good at them at all.
And I'm sorry.
This is genuinely me trying to...
I know.
It's not working, but I know.
I appreciate the effort.
There's going to be a point at some point in life where the regrets are going to start
overwhelming everything.
Oh, at some point?
Hold on.
And you're going to think that your role in life is over.
Think of it like a comic book.
At some point, a lot of comic books choose to retire a character, right?
But people are not characters.
See, my big battle, I fought it, I lost it.
And now I need to figure out how to live life beyond that.
And truth is, I have no idea how.
One day at a time it's not working anymore.
But we have bigger fish to fry.
I have something to say before we're done.
Thank you.
May I have the floor?
You can have a talking stick.
So I was really into this.
I was really into this comic book at one point, right?
Like the main character was so fucking cool.
The art was so rad.
I was like so into it.
And then the company make and it just ran out of money.
I couldn't find the next issue anywhere.
And I found out it's because it never came out.
They left it on a cliffhanger.
God, that sucked so hard.
But that's life.
I don't think I've had to come to terms real fast with the fact that maybe there is no
living after something fucked up happens to you.
Maybe there's no way you can go back to the way things were before.
Maybe some things are just broken and they won't be fixed again.
And you just kind of have to learn to live with that.
Four plus four doesn't always equal eight.
You don't get that as a little inside joke with Lentheriak, who they're my friend.
Oh, I had my time.
You're floating on air right now, aren't you?
I'm always floating on air.
Glad to hear it.
That's my problem, Sky.
I don't know how to move on right now.
Me neither.
I've got a lot of time to do it.
Sky, I believe in it.
I know it sounds ridiculous considering everything I've gone through, but I believe in fate.
I believe your fate is much different than this.
Much more.
I just think you're a late bloomer.
I think maybe not for lucky, upper deck style bastards, but I think for me, my key to being
happiness is accepting my comic book might get discontinued.
My lungs are pretty messed up, dude.
I'm not cooling down faster than I should be.
Age comes to all of us.
Life comes to all of us.
When you're young, and you are young, the world is going to try and take your heart,
boy, Sky.
You shouldn't let it.
Look at you.
You've got a boy chasing after your tail.
You've only lived a full life.
Hold on.
Which one?
Yeah, your lungs aren't great.
You almost just died, but I'd say you are in the middle of your golden age.
Oh, dude, I know.
This is the best my life has ever been.
That rules so much more when my happiness isn't dependent on whether or not there's
hope.
Because the universe didn't owe me this safety and comfort.
It happened, regardless.
This conversation is getting so real.
Where's Ike?
Dude, Ike took that laptop and the chip and has found the quietest spot, probably the
closet where Sky slept, and has closed herself in.
She's got like, it's like hours and hours.
It's like so many hours of footage, right?
Yeah.
So I think what she's gonna do is she's gonna pop it in and like have it playing through
on like super high speed to get through all that footage.
And she's gonna ask the computer chip.
And she's gonna kind of like, Ike is gonna kind of like lay down on the floor, like sort
of like slumber party style, like at the computer, and is like, okay, so this is gonna be an
odd request.
We need to find suspicious information, probably about the board members of Wild Times.
So I just want you to help me collect as much of the footage that might involve them, anything
like their voices or their images.
So just if you could help me out, and we can go through this together.
I mean, I'll also scour it, but you might have facial recognition in your capabilities,
and maybe you can help me.
And yeah, it's really quite pressing.
So I'm prepared to go through this all day to find what we need.
The footage continues to speed forward.
You see sewers, tall grass.
You see this rat attacking other smaller creatures eating, hanging out with other rats.
Can I be a real pain in your ass?
And interject that as it's going through the mundane footage, Ike is also like, so I know
you don't know them personally, but Dr. Theriak held my hand last night.
And I think part of it was that I was just very stressed, and they were probably just
trying to make me feel better.
But I don't know.
Maybe.
Well, I don't know, we have more important things to do right now than worry about that.
But I just I never held anyone's hand like that before.
So maybe it's something.
I don't know.
I would ask you what you think, but you're focused on something else.
I just kind of wanted to talk about it.
Anyway, back to work.
Sorry.
As you finish off and you say you're sorry, the video stops and pauses.
There's these scan lines, so you can't quite tell where the video has stopped.
But it has pause and there is a little play button.
Oh, OK.
Why hit play?
The camera shows a lab.
The lights are low and the sound is all crackled and broken.
You see Lin, his little Chihuahua face, smiles at the camera as he pulls a small, thin mechanical
device back.
You get the impression that he's freshly installed this rat with this camera.
A Shirin that resembles an earthworm walks up behind him into frame.
They look kind of disgusted at the scene, but then through the static crackles.
Is this it?
No, no, no, no, no.
This is just for me to see the inner workings of the park from a smaller perspective.
This is purely just for my own scientific enjoyment.
I don't have long, Lin.
And you know I don't like it down here.
OK, fine, fine, fine.
Lin walks back and the sound dims a little, but you can still hear them.
They bend down and there's a sound of a cage getting pulled and opened.
It went about as well as I thought.
Some brains aren't meant to hold this amount of information or have any of these functions
that you want.
I tried using some of the park's AI, but it's way too advanced with the new upgrades.
And it just kept refusing to attach, so honestly I don't think this project will work.
And I don't really like the voice print.
Weeds me out a little.
But I would like to tell you about something that myself and Lorik have been working on.
They close the cage and they walk off.
The sound crackles and dims as it becomes indistinguishable from the room tone.
Have you hear from the cage?
I'm just a little guy.
And then a shh, shh, shh of a broom.
The video cuts to more footage of the under of the park.
And as it starts to speed up and re-resumes this almost inconsequential view of the park,
we leave this room.
And we leave our crew.
And we leave Raven's Roost.
And we see the park laid out before us.
In a Arctic section, a group of children are trying to get wrangled by an adult who is
trying to get everyone in line.
They're looking over this large... looks similar to a bear.
Multi-arms.
It seems more hunched over with this almost armoured barding around it.
We see, walking around the corner, a socialite looking android woman who is walking alongside
another android.
This other android they're walking with looks like a shiren.
If a shiren was made of metal, these metal mandibles, they have this uniform that has
the crest of the heath on them.
As Fede, who is the socialite woman, walks around with this person and looks over this
little Arctic cage.
So I was thinking that we could maybe put a few advertisements up in this area and then
going onto the main square we could have a few more little bits advertising and as people
leave and they go through the gateway we could say, sponsored by the Ulfhefnar, as I believe
that that might bring in quite a few people to you.
The shiren nods.
And Fede leans up against the separator between herself and the crowds and this large hulking
armoured creature.
And as she does, there's this little buzz of electricity and a tsh tsh tsh from around
the chamber and the separator falls down and she screams and falls into this pit.
And as she does she lands with a thump and the separator goes live again and this large
hulking creature turns and she tries to step away and walks over to the door, the feeding
chamber and starts to bang on it and she screams and as she does this large hulking bear charges
over to her and clamps its jaws down on her head.
And that is where we're going to leave today.
Hi there beautiful wonderful souls, thank you so much for listening to the Atomless.
We have a few quick thank yous before we shout out the players.
Our music today was provided by Artlist under their fair use license and our soundscapes
were by Michael Gelfie again under their fair use.
You should visit both of their patreons because our show would not be what it is without them.
Thank you to our hosts at the Welcome Inn.
If you want to listen to the full version of this episode head on over to their YouTube
where you can find all unedited Atomless and other beautiful shows that they have on there.
We legit would not be here without them.
Our players today were Momo O'Brien playing Sky, Superdillon playing Ike, Nour Noli who
is where Will feels on socials who plays Azam and Andre Rivera Art who plays our wonderful
Garlic Thirik and me, not me, I'm not me, I'm reading a script right now.
Matthew Egberg, Captain Grail on all things who voiced the boo boos, that is our wonderful
GM who wrote this script that I just read without thinking.
Love you Matt.
Thank you all so much for listening.
I give you a kiss and the next time we fly through the Atomless Sea I hope you'll be
there to fly with us.
Thankyou but goodbye bye bye.