Thank you listeners for tuning in to this episode of the Atomless.
Just so you know, this episode is a very special episode of the Atomless.
It is the first part in a four part mini-series that takes place in the distant past before
the start of the main campaign.
This mini-series is featuring a new cast, but does feature all of the main cast in some
way or another, and is a part of our canon story.
Before we begin, I would like to say a special thank you to everyone who has supported us
on Patreon, and most especially to Sunny, Noah, and Daniel for your support in making
this show's production so great.
Thank you for joining me for this special, and I hope you enjoy!
The afternoons on Saga this time of year are sunny and warm, with the occasional wispy
breeze that carries the earthy smell of vines into Artacaria City and the towns that just
lie outside.
The hide and seek lodge is just opening its doors for the day, while the owners and chefs
at Comfort Cups, the local favorite lunchtime spot, is closed to prepare for the next rush.
In the center of town there is a hush of people going about their day as usual, while a few
miles away in the city proper machines whir with the tinkering of construction.
Grist and Nim, you are within the center of town, just outside the city proper.
Comfort Cups and the lodge, as well as several other shops and things about town are nearby.
What would the two of you be up to on your average afternoon?
At this time of day, Grist would probably be working one of several odd jobs to just
help put money on the table and feed themselves, as well as Nim, though they're not sure at
the stage if Nim needs to eat.
Honestly, Nim doesn't necessarily like to eat, but I have a feeling that Grist has tried
multiple times to get her to eat, just because it's one of those things where, due to the
fact that she has the physical body of a child, a lot of people tend to kind of rise questions
when they don't see Nim taking care of themselves.
I think in that case, we probably find ourselves outside of this shabby looking apartment complex,
maybe on the steps of it, of cracked flagstone.
Grist is standing kind of on the porch facing you and has a little brown paper bag that
is reeking of food, food stuff, people food stuff that they're tentatively holding out
to you.
As Grist stands there, we look at them and we see someone who is built like the forgotten
shadow of a powerful hero.
They are six foot five with these hard ribbons of muscle wrapping around their form like
desperate armor, and they are a half-orc with this kind of colorless gray pallor of bleached
ash kind of skin and spider webbing across their neck, across their exposed arms, across
their hands, and even across their face are scars of a darker gray kind of like charcoal
slashing across a bleached canvas.
And her eyes are this pale kind of lifeless washed out shade of yellow.
And they've got this thick shaggy mane of black hair combed in this kind of lackluster
way.
Like they tried to school it into a kind of discipline, but then gave up halfway through.
And these dark strands hang in her face as she kind of towers over you and holds up this
paper bag.
And yeah, Grist looks like she could have been a hero.
She's built like one.
She's got the tenor, the timber, the cadence of a hero.
But their skin is a little too bloodless.
Their eyes are a little too lightless.
There's something that's a bit hunkered, a bit withdrawn, surly about them.
But they hold out this paper bag.
Kids gotta eat.
When you see NEM, you see this very short humanoid child.
However, sprouting out of their back is these sort of black wings that have these feathers
that kind of flutter down to the ground whenever they move.
They haven't really figured out why they're shedding, but it's been a thing for quite
a minute.
It's been kind of worrisome.
But when you look into their eyes, you don't really see irises.
You don't see pupils, but you see galaxies.
You see constellations and you see this depth that a child shouldn't have yet.
And kind of flowing over their shoulders is this raven black hair that kind of like is
in coils and spirals and whatnot.
And their skin is like a russet brown.
They have the demeanor of someone who has lived eons and someone who has been through
more than they should have.
But at the same time, though, she still has the innocence of a child and she has the innocence
of someone who is young.
And on her, what she's wearing basically are these kind of worn down clothes, something
that Nim doesn't really pay attention to, and she's kind of she has this look about
her that is worn and has been traveling.
So she looks at the paper bag and they're like, you know, I can't stand that stuff,
right?
I switched it up.
It's different.
I believe these are what the people here call French fries.
French fries.
Mm hmm.
It's very greasy.
I believe I know what you're talking about, but remember the last time I ate grease, it
didn't necessarily go well.
Right.
It's the combustion incident of last week.
Grist slowly lowers the bag and just kind of like tucks it back into her workman's bag,
like this kind of patchy saddle bag just by her hip and closes the flap.
Dang it.
Well, how about I give you some money?
You can get what you want from the town square.
We can meet up after work.
And Nim takes a moment because she knows that Grist is trying their best and she nods and
it's like, mm hmm.
All right, kiddo.
Remember, stay out of trouble and don't tell anyone about your past.
I'll try my best.
And Grist reaches into a pocket and fishes out these greasy like kind of paper bills,
which I think is maybe I don't know what the currency is like here, but it might be unusual
to use material money or like a bit outdated.
Yeah, yeah.
It's usually all electronic credits at this point in time that are, you know, kept on
little drives that everybody carries around.
Yeah, it's like usually writing a check at the grocery store today.
Yep.
Yes.
Yeah, it would be a little outdated, but not totally unheard of.
I think Grist insists on being paid paper money.
Like they refuse to take digital currency.
So they take out like actual coins and actual paper, which is like super, super archaic
at this point, and they like fork some over to you.
So it's my understanding that you give the money to the person that you're trying to
buy items from, right?
Yes.
You can't just take stuff.
Oh, well, that's kind of a bad idea.
It's kind of happened a few times, but I can't really do anything about it now.
Yeah, I know.
It's okay.
We'll just lay low.
There's a lot of people with wings here.
We'll blend in.
Okay.
All right.
And if you and if you need anything, let me know.
Yeah, sure.
You'll be the first to know, kiddo.
And Grist kind of pats you on the head in a maternalistic way almost, almost like an
older sister, really.
And then like rolls her shoulders back, sort of pulls herself up to her fuller six foot
five hunkered height and like smooths down the front of her sleeveless leather vest that
she's got on this kind of raggedy, honestly, almost a little like agrarian looking, like
brown leather vest that looks like it was made from like actual real leather and not
like bio engineered leather, right?
And she's got this kind of like hard scratchy tunic underneath tucked into these like trousers
and a belt and these top like these like thick hardy workman's boots.
Like she's dressed down like very much like just a regular day laborer.
She nods and she turns and she goes off to work at probably whatever big corporation
is running a lot of things here.
As you are heading off, you see it running kind of towards you a little bit stumbly is
this short of stature is Soki that is sort of field mouse like an appearance, feet a
little bit bigger than the rest of their their body proportions and their overall pants like
kind of hang down over their feet.
And as they're like running over to you, they sort of stumble a little bit and then catch
themselves, pull themselves back up.
They've got a sort of utility belt filled with different tools and things like that.
And you know this person you've you've worked with them before you know them to go by switch
and they sort of stumble up to you and hey hey Chris we got like a couple of other jobs
I heard you were looking for extra work.
You still got room on your plate.
I always have room on my plate switch if there's money involved and if they don't mind doing
it hard.
Yeah, it's a little hard to find you jobs that pay in in you know the old stuff but
luckily you know the there's a couple of people who still do any anyway the the comfort cups
folks there you know their sheet doors broken again.
I could fix it but I just got too many things going on.
So you know maybe after work or something you stop by swing around and they they'd appreciate
it they'll pay you in paper.
Yeah sounds good I'll make sure to swing swing by after work.
Thanks for looking out switch.
Yeah you got it okay I really got a run off.
Sorry.
But everything okay you're always in a hurry.
Oh if I sit still for too long I start to get really anxious so I got I that's all right.
There's just too much going around.
Yeah this place is pretty overstimulating.
Oh yeah cool sure yes thank you.
Okay and they run off as you had to work.
Apex where would you be as switch is headed in your direction.
Apex is probably leaving one of the research labs that I would say he has a deal with of
just either like paying for some material and then like return it like make like a material
trade like they were if they were looking for something he would give them that and
they would probably have a isolated formula or something of the sort that he would need
to do the work that he's trying to do.
So like trading trading information for resources or vice versa and then just meeting up with
one of them and then walking down the street and kind of just doing like math in his head.
As you're doing your calculations sort of lost in those thoughts switch comes barreling
towards you.
Hey Apex hey.
We how's it going today.
It is a lovely day switch and how are you.
I'm pretty good.
Look there's a couple of words from inside the city.
They're contracting a bunch out to you know the townsfolk these days and I don't know
it's just pretty it's pretty unusual I'd say you know like they don't hire us for things.
Is that a good idea.
Most of you are very fleshy.
It's true very fleshy but you know if you're looking to make coins they'll certainly take
you there's there's a Bernie and Calico over at the lodge.
They apparently got some contracts in the mail working for the city proper and Apex
is wearing this like full body armor suit.
There is a black hood.
The mask has what almost looked to be like a painted on like sharp row of teeth on the
front and then there's two like red circles for the eyes.
But when switch mentions the place to go the eyes like narrow a little bit probably perceiving
what's under the mask to relay the facial expressions on the mask.
You seem like check his gauntlets on his wrist a little bit and then like kind of crack his
neck.
All right.
Do you know if they're paying these people well.
No not not to my understanding at least not the way that they pay you know the the the
suits it's.
But I mean it's still it's still money.
That's true.
Would you like me to go and help.
Well I just think it'd be it'd be swell maybe you know like it also there could be some
information that's interesting to you.
I don't know but at the very least it could help.
Do you think they know where to find a basilisk.
I'm you know Calico might she's been around.
So it's you know that I see I didn't expect you to know what that was but you're smart
one switch.
Well I have a lot of things to be afraid of so I tend to keep my wits about me.
Which way am I going.
Oh I don't down to the outskirts of town it points to like just outside the like alleyway
you're walking down if you head straight in all the way into town you would eventually
hit it.
And so with that being the case because apex is the worst he like.
Crouches down almost on all fours and then goes into a ferocious sprint and with.
The beast blood he makes a feline leap to go as high in the air as he can and then uses
his jet thrusters to even go further beyond and just like.
Basically just starts a spider-man leaping from building to building as he can with no
concept of who is disrupting or anything like that.
Okay bye.
And you are you are gone like a like a bullet.
Through the sky.
I'll kind of step into the city proper for a moment at a kind of swanky office that towers
above the city with a view.
Of the outskirts of town were you not so high up in the air that it was impossible to see
you theoretically would be able to see the entire the entire town.
Sebastian you are here for what has become a regular meeting with Merrick who is not
someone you know a lot about personally he's a youngish human man who dresses well and
does not have too much to say to you but in these meetings where you present what your
ideas are and go over the logistics you have about 15 minutes with him where he will pay
you every mind.
So sitting in this weird hybrid of overly anxious but very confident in what they're
about to talk about this five and a half foot large silk moth whose fur is extremely fluffy
but has this deep brown wooded texture.
Their wings have been almost tied to the to the back of them these half crescent moon
shapes that almost gild their wings and there have been these tattoos of almost this like
tapestry of what seemed like a like a medieval banner showing this like the journey of a
family and if you look deeper is seemingly a group of families and to the point where
it's almost this like these these tattoos of an entire city that splay across their
back they're wearing a as as buttoned as it could be their fur on their chest kind of
puffs this white shirt out a bit too far but they've tried to to do up this shirt without
being super uncomfortable.
They have one like deep black moth eye and the other one of their eyes has seemingly
been replaced by a camera shutter.
They have these big thick glasses one side of the glasses has been like taken out and
the other one is glass to help see but the camera shutter eye doesn't need any help seeing
anything.
They have these big ears spined again like a moth they sit awkwardly on the chair and
kind of repeating a log line to themselves they keep repeating like similar words along
like the same topic and they're like no not that so what it's about is it's a family story
about that.
Sebastian yeah you're ready.
Yeah yeah yeah I am from saga.
I was born and raised here I love the city and I love the people and my parents are both
from saga my grandparents are my great grandparents flew here and the old way from Nert Noir they
were suspected from the from the hive and the queen and they sailed on a ship through
the space in between into Asia and they and they settled here.
I love this city and I love its people and I wanted to tell a story that is about the
people here and that everyone is so connected and in a real communal sense even you know
no offense but even even big corporations can't get in the way of this of this connectivity
that everyone feels we have markets and this I want to make an experience that when people
using the drift come into saga they can see what we're all about they can see who we are
and how anyone is welcome we are nothing but a but a big city full of every person you
can imagine and all of this makes us one connected people.
I'm so proud of who we are and I put so much effort this film is so important to me it
is so personal and it's about my family and how we came here and how we settled our roots
yes but it is about saga it's about this planet everyone is sharing these similar experiences
because we are so unique and we are so different it's part documentary and part non-fiction
it is it is partly written about my great-grandfather's story and it is also interspersed with interviews
of people from saga and why they love it here this is the biggest project I've ever taken
and I know that I can't fund this myself but I hope that you will be able to give us the
backing we need to tell a story that is going to connect with people for generations.
Hey that's great stuff I mean look we're just the money guys you know that's why we
that's why we reached out to the smart clever creatives like you yeah no we're we're we're
just here to support you with the resources that you need obviously look it sounds great
sounds like a beautiful project really you got me right here with that stuff about your
great great great great great great great grandfather yes I mean I also love saga so
truthfully I get you however many credits you need I'm gonna give you blank stick right
you you you take whatever you need and you just make this project happen make it good
make it whatever your dreams are I trust in you you've got that kind of spirit.
Merrick yeah thank you so much thank you I like absolutely if there's you know if there's
anything I can do like to like like I would absolutely be down for it I appreciate it
thank you so much we're really gonna make something special.
You got it yeah I I have the utmost faith in you before you run out of here though here
and he puts a credit stick into your hand into your little little furry paws yeah look
just as a personal favor to me it's no I don't care it sounds like your project is perfect
as is.
Seta unmentioned though they kind of they just want to get a beat on how the people
of saga are feeling about you know the new project under mea ipskin the vertical plates
just maybe just see how the people are feeling get a little get a little opinions if you
if you would while you're filming I mean you're gonna be filming the people of saga anyway
yeah yeah yeah I mean and whatever they have to say we want the truth right we want to
we want to hear about that and Seta unmentioned wants the truth too yeah okay sure no that's
that's yeah I can I can do that no problem wow you're a real team player I could see
why you love saga so much you're like it's like working with a member of the community
oh well you know that's that's that's what it is that's that's what this is about you
know it's about us all working together and hey thank you so much for this this is a you
know this script has been a thing which we've been batting around for like years and years
so this really means a lot thank you yeah yeah you you you got it kid all right well
happy filmmaking I'll catch you at our meeting next week all right yeah absolutely I'll see
you there passed you emotions to a gentleman who is sat at a very very fancy very very
glossy desk who buzzes you out the door thank you thank you and then thanks the person who
buzzed them in and then and then leaves walks out and then waits for a moment and then as
the door like yes yes oh okay does the hair and then like rebounds their shirt and gets
out there little communicator and then starts starts texting texting their little like friend
group chat of like filmmaking people of just like we got it and he's very excited about
it there are so many futuristic gifts that get exploded into that group chat to celebrate
your big win grist this is the overall building of setta unmentioned right now Sebastian is
on the floor in which the multimedia company subsidiary rests but there are many others
here and if you were headed here to work maybe a couple offices down you might have heard
the faraway sounds of a moth celebrating yeah grist pauses she's fully scrubbing toilets
janitor here like she's in the middle like with her rubber gloves all the way up to her
elbows and pauses like like dozens of floors away she goes what the huh yes someone's having
a good day at least and like goes back to scrubbing it back in the outskirts of town
not far away from comfort cups we have the hide and seek lodge which is not made of wood
is very much a new high tech building however the outside has been camouflaged via technology
to look like an old-fashioned log cabin might if you were to put your hand up to touch that
wall however it would go right through and touch the steel and metal that actually make
the building the lodge has has just opened up for the afternoon it opens late and stays
open late bernie and calico are are around tending to people but winston i imagine you'd
be there uh upon opening if if i'm not mistaken oh yes i am uh winston i perfectly time my
arrival to the lodge so that i'm not waiting i am casually strolling in through the doors
and as i pass through the doors if you were on the inside you would see a polar bear in
a burberry suit very well pressed very well maintained almost almost very regal demeanor
carrying a uh a cream colored briefcase walking in doesn't need to check his wrist for the
time but does anyway and reveals just like i don't know future rolex um equivalent and
will walk in and as soon as the doors close the the lodge doors uh close behind the the
regal demeanor deflates a little bit oh an audible sigh escapes i'm as close to home
as i could possibly be right now i can relax yeah uh standing at around nine and a half
feet tall uh a as most male polar bears are about that that that height uh will will pull
from his suit pocket it looks like it's going to be a cigar but it's actually a beef jerky
stick and we'll start start nibbling and gnawing at it in much in the same way that uh someone
would a cigar um and finds a very comfortable seat by the by the hearth and will just lay
the briefcase down unbutton the top uh button of his shirt loosen the burberry patterned
maroon tie and allow himself to just escape for a little bit calico who is one of the
two uh owners of the lodge also a bear more like a sun bear with a sort of golden coloring
uh a gentle lady who wears a frilly uh pink and white dress uh that uh swishes when she
walks uh comes up to you oh hello winston it's so good to see you again likewise calico
it's very good to see you today how's work going are you working too hard oh you know
work is work calico i am often working often too hard but you gotta make a living here
in saga you know i admire the work that you do i appreciate that you love it i wish that
one day i can do the exact same thing you do well we're not we're definitely short hands
here you could definitely work at the lodge if you wanted to give me a few extra days
off a month if you know what i mean but we don't pay like those fancy lawyers do so you
you're probably better off where you are oh you know i could i would if i could if you
would excuse me calico on the topic of work work does call oh you're such a busy bear
i'll be back with some hot towels and she uh walks away uh gathering some some little
goodies and passing them about to the customers at the lodge i will uh a smile and then put
my beef jerky stick back into my pocket save that for later pull out my my phone and uh
check the notification uh it is from maric who works for setta unmentioned uh not exactly
someone you normally work directly with but you're uh on this present project together
the text says the film guys coming into town is going to start asking people about how
they feel about the mayor and the project please make sure that the terms are strict
before they sign okay i'm going to read it roll my eyes and will respond you are you
sure there was no one else with any expertise in film that could be on this project question
mark respectfully of course you get back respectfully no i will uh text back where can i meet the
them today they just send you the contact details i see that i will um respond confirmed
heading out now and i will put my phone away tilt my head back big old bear sigh rebutton
the tie uh the the shirt straighten the tie a little bit and slowly oh get up pick up
the briefcase start heading out see calico on the way out and say i apologize i wish
i could stay longer but duty calls oh of course we'll see you again soon i know we will of
course of course is my second home good day to you calico
and as you're getting ready to leave i believe apex you were headed here and you would make
it around at this time uh are you going straight in or what's your what's apex's plan he'd
be going straight in kind of curious he wants to see potentially what kind of people are
going to be here uh and make sure that they're not just gonna take this job because they
want money and then get in trouble like it's like ah yeah i'll go do this thing and then
it's like six children who decide to fight a demon uh as you walk in before either winston
gets to leave or apex has really approached anyone the tv's on the lodge which are all
playing like a sort of idol um music uh station that's playing different tracks of of popular
music around switches off of music and switches to a commercial the hospitality kindness and
ingenuity of the people of saga is unmatched by anything in the expanding universe it's
no surprise that people throughout the universe want to call our cozy plan at home let's make
room for them and support the vertical real estate program endorsed by mayor ipskin and
it the tv's all switched back to whatever programming they were on in the lodge it's
back to the dulcet sounds of easy listening music i think um i feel like winston's heard
this before i i think like he was in a bunch of the the the the meetings in the and the
you know in the room when this was first pitched and has been through a few iterations and
so to him it's just noise at this point he knows it's coming right so unfazed he can
he's continuing to walk through while everyone kind of like oh this is new like like looks
at the televisions and stuff so um we'll definitely get to the door i think as we'll
open the door and see apex is right there oh i'm i'm quite sorry after you my friend
how how tall is winston nine and a half feet tall i'm very tall apex is about seven and
a half feet tall so he's not as big as you but still relatively large um there's there's
a moment where you see like the lights on apex's eyes go from like red red to white
and then maybe there's like a quick scan of you and not just like looking like like when
you see something scan something out and then processing it oh interesting i i i'm fully
holding the door open like with the with the briefcase like welcoming you into the lodge
winston sort of you know cox and eyebrow and just is just like can i help you my friend
i don't think so are you um involved with this establishment that is recruiting people
for an excursion oh i don't know very much about an excursion but this establishment
is a very fine establishment they'll take care of you for whatever you need i'll look
over at calica and i'll wink why did you do that i'm just letting my mom the very good
host let her know that there's a potential new patron here and to treat you kindly you
did all that through a wink you see that calico is skirting her way over uh to you apex's
eyes do that like narrowing thing again with the lights they go but and then he'll look
at you and wink you you catch on pretty quick now if if you don't mind i must take my leave
good luck happy trails and i will puzzled look and then just be on my way a storyteller
yes can i use my blind sense scent to see if i can smell what's inside of that case
yes yes yes you can what are you keeping your briefcase winston okay um it's future tech
so uh it's future times so there's not very many paper things you know maybe what is with
you people of paper in the future there's no paper they eliminate some paper there there
is some paper let me be clear about but that you can you can smell i don't know like if
i don't know if you can smell like a tablet you know just that i keep all my work files
on you can smell uh some amount of beef jerky sticks uh you can smell ink and you can smell
some documents and and and in particular uh you can pick up the chemicals of very official
notary ink apex will remember that they're like step to the side and then kind of turned
look at the briefcase lift his head up to you and then you you hear like coming through
the mask a registering that this gigantic bear person is just carrying beef sticks in
like 3033
all right and then he like there's like he's kind of frozen because now there's this giant
bear steak beef person behind him and then another like mrs doubtfire beef person bear
person walking towards him and he's like what did i agree to why am i here all right sure
let's just keep people from dying i guess hello dear welcome in welcome into the lodge
what can i do for you you want a seat you want a chair or do you want a private booth
what do you what do you need today a small friend of mine told me that you were gathering
people here to look into some excursion oh oh you talked to switch huh okay yes i did
why do you seem concerned ah wink okay it's just that we got these uh contracts left in
our mailbox just this morning and we really it's my visor not working why are you acting
weird the bear told me to do this winston i told you to wink at me yes i'll talk to
him i'm a married woman uh so what you know it's it's all right though um look so we got
these contracts and your switch's uh friend the one that apex they said you were interested
in all of those kinds of science things so i figured i'd show you um switch seems to
think you're pretty trustworthy and frankly i don't know who else to show lead the way
he brings you into a a back room of the lodge an office the illusion of the log cabin feel
is no longer present in this office it is a modern um office with a holographic computer
screen uh on the desk and a very very confused tired disgruntled uh looking there another
sun bear as well who is hunched over this desk swiping through a very long document
that's going across the screen uh sorry uh calico deer who's our friend oh this is apex
it's switches contact uh they're here to maybe look at the things and see what's going on
here uh oh sorry oh look i look i don't i don't know what any of this means i don't
trust the city really uh but this contract shows up at my doorstep and i'm expected to
sign it i guess so i don't know if you got some insights couldn't hurt to look let me
see it and it'll put out his hand scrolling through this document it's there are some
plain things about it and some not so plain things what you're able to pick up very uh
immediately is that this is a basic contract asking the owners of the lodge to share some
information about their clientele with setta unmentioned which has of course a research
subsidiary in biology and evolution the contract is asking them to share things pertaining
to this lodge has like uh sauna and gym and things like that and as such like has some
records on people like their physical abilities heart rates uh some very light biometrics
and they're asking for the lodge to share that with them in return the lodge would be
well compensated there would be provided with a privacy agreement of course only setta unmentioned
would get a hold of this information they wouldn't share it with any advertisers or
anything like that it's all going to research but the thing that strikes you as odd is that
this contract seems much longer than it needs to be to convey just that information there's
a lot of twists and turns to the language and it would be easy for something to be slipped
in here uh to allow for loopholes and other arrangements i feel like a good person to
speak to would be the lodge figure that actually just left what did you say his name was winston
he seemed to be the type involved with legal situations i just got a whiff of something
like that oh you're for sure correct he's very good with the the the legal side of things
it's just that we take our customers relaxation time very seriously they come here to have
a good time and and put work off their shoulders and if they come here and then all of a sudden
i'm asking him to review these documents and things i'm kind of going against you know
what this place is for which is to leave work outside the door but he winked at you they
they do they wink quite often um but it's it's it's just a little a quirk of theirs
are you married to winston oh no this is this is my husband here and he hello this may be
awkward i'm done with this part of the conversation okay that's that's fine uh well what do you
think should we sign it or or or what i think you should ask if you can speak to a representative
so that they can further clarify some misunderstood notions and that you yourself would like to
have a legal representative to make sure you are represented in the way that you would
like to be if they fail to do so they're trying to how do you say fuck you oh not like that
you're afraid to use the language you want uh but i it's very a little crass for my taste
that's all um all right well we'll we'll consult with somebody that's okay uh you know just
i don't know if we could use the help so i figured we'd we'd try what would you like
well they're offering a significant amount of money for this info so i might might be
concerned how badly do you need the money how much are they offering you they they're
offering 10 000 credits at first and then there's a contracted fee for more a month
is there a role or anything that apex could make to see how bad this would be if they
signed it like what the repercussions could be would you would you make a sense motive
role uh after having read this this contract it's a 21 even though the document is huge
and would take so much time to pour through one thing that seems clear is that if they
were to do this and provide this information and sign this contract it would be it would
be up to set it unmentioned to ever cancel it that power and ability would not be something
that the lodge would have capability of oh hate that uh yeah okay uh apex will mention
that too and say that it would be better if yeah it would be better if they could convince
a representative to come speak to them personally um and apex would be willing to come back
around whenever that figure was coming around and like ready to have that conversation so
that he could be a middle ground or peacekeeper if necessary uh because basically sounds like
they're trying to strong arm them and that like they would have the full agency of like
well this ends because we're done not because like we could drive you into the ground ruin
your reputation and you can be like no ha ha ha nah we don't do that here oh okay i think
i understand um thank you and if you want there's a sauna room uh with your name on
it on the house today um thank you so much for stopping by and and uh switch uh you you
send them my uh love i just think they're so sweet so yeah apex will uh give kailaco
their information and it's like a private little sauna room uh so apex is gonna head
to the sauna room turn the sauna on full blast uh takes his helmet off but in true like movie
fashion as his helmet comes off there's fog in front of it and then you see two glowing
eyes underneath that then blink and get covered in the sauna mist
back in the center of town nim is there any way nim would like to have been spending the
afternoon she for sure was just kind of walking throughout the town and uh taking everything
in she's been here for a minute but they're still trying to get a sense of where they
really are as far as like the climate and also the um kind of the politics of the place
too and how things work so uh they've definitely just been walking and exploring and just things
that i feel like chris wouldn't necessarily let them do oh and you know just as far as
like protection goes everything seems vaguely familiar in a way the way that people walk
with purpose to their destinations uh the way some people hold each other's hands as
they uh as they travel things that just have this vague sense of familiarity and comfort
far away on like the outskirts the peripherals of your awareness and your vision there is
something akin to dread anxiety but you can't discover the source of it yet there is something
far away that is boom vibrating almost with this sense of impending consequence and dread
so i think nim is definitely going to kind of follow the sense to see if it gets stronger
as they get closer to it uh as you follow this this course and you start weaving you
notice that you're you're getting further outside of town and closer into the city noise
goes from the low hum of people talking and working and operating about their day to something
more loud and mechanical uh there is the whirr of different of more machines there is the
hammering and buzzing of construction off in the distance there is just more of everything
there's more light the thing that you notice the most as you as you get closer to the city
and following closer to this sense of dread is the appearance of more and more of these
big enormous electronic monitors displaying advertisement after advertisement on loop
uh occasionally it's the one you heard before in town but it's also many others for many
other things there's something that keeps repeating and repeating and repeating and
it is the smallest print of funded by setta unmentioned and that is on almost all of these
little billboards that increase as you leave the town and enter the city grist you are
just about due to get off of work i think as grist got off work there was a period of
time when she was like pushing her janitorial cart like down these hallways like heading
it toward the break lounge to like store everything with the rest of the custodians when all of
the monitors in the hall had flicked over to that commercial that we heard over the
airwaves earlier and when that happened while grist was still alone like in these halls
she had frozen and yanked her head to the side and stared and as the commercial played
especially as i said drift core uh we see just like a pulsation of light flare in the
hits of her colorless dead eyes just kind of go up for a second and like a little bit
of what is that radiance what is that loose sense just sort of like throb for a second
uh through the spider webbing crack like scars across her skin and like her grip tightens
on the handle of the janitorial cart so hard that it cracks the plastic steel uh like it
just she takes a deep breath closes her eyes and like everything just sort of like comes
back down and that faint hum of almost sounds kind of like a tesla coil that had been building
like goes back down and then she puts the cart back back in its stall and now as she's
on the city streets she's got her saddlebag by her side as usual uh sort of rolling a
shoulder out like rolling her neck out from a hard day of just on her hands and knees
scrubbing floors and toilets uh when she i think like freezes on a street corner as
she sees nim definitely in a part of saga that they've never been before and probably
shouldn't be according to according to grist nim oh hello what are you doing here did something
happen no i was just exploring is all it's dangerous out here in the city there are a
lot more people a lot more vehicles a lot more stuff i've noticed but something caught
my attention that was sort of in the air and i've been trying to figure out what it is
but i can't necessarily pen paint it it wasn't grease fumes again was it no it wasn't it
was more of a feeling the best way i can describe it is that it felt like something was pushing
me down into the earth grist takes a poignant pause at that glances around at this packed
street looks at all the monitors with the supplemental messages uh flashing through
the speakers and actually holds out an arm and like toward your shoulders to like sort
of pull you off to a more secluded area maybe like a little crevice or a nook or a cranny
somewhere so we're not just kind of in the middle of broadway uh and we'll you know let
you come we'll not force you yeah she'll definitely follow was this sensation this feeling have
you ever felt it before in different capacities but this is weighted as if there's something
deeper that's going on it was as if i couldn't move almost as if i couldn't keep going forward
in many senses worry knots grist's brow darkens her face a contraction of shadow flits across
her expression and she tentatively reaches out a big calloused scarred hand and like
pauses by your face and like looks at you for permission to touch the side of your cheek
and she places her palm against your cheekbone looking at nim at the noise at the billboards
and within this is not magic at work this is not any sort of magical manipulation at
work this is a different kind of power this is the kind of power that people have uh that
people can wield whether they have magic or not this is the overwhelming amount of wealth
and control that you see as you see the name of the company that you work for with whom
you barely interact with people on the executive level you have not seen a person in a suit
there face to face since the day that you were hired however these names and people
whoever they are all operate under this one name and this one name is suddenly everywhere
and the familiarity of that is what you recognize in nim except for nim it's chaotic and for
you it's personal you sense how familiar that feeling is light flashing through the
scars up their wrists like the serrated fingers of electricity uh really this deep magmatic
red had cracked its way up her skin all the way to her fingers and even though like heat
literally vibrates off the surface of grist's hand it doesn't hurt you at all nim as she's
touching the side of your cheek it feels like a warm like heat pack almost uh and her eyes
had like sort of rolled shut and her eyelids had fluttered closed but toward the end of
that investigation you see these two bright bulbs of light flash through her eyelids like
shining a flashlight through a thin film of flesh and then her eyes flash back open like
the light dies down that like energetic feeling settles back down and she like almost like
snatches her hand back as if burned and like jerks away from you a little bit which i don't
think she's ever done before this did i hurt you no no no never i just this it's happening
it's it's happening again it's just like in crisis just like this time she's the one that
reaches up and puts one of her small hands on your face remember what we talked about
when things get like this yeah you just breathe
and on that deep ragged exhale we see like i think tendrils of smoke and heat that had
started to coil off of her leather vest like settle back down and sizzle back down right
right it's just him this place it's it's got its problems sure it has its ugliness yes
but it's also so beautiful like grain 962 was like other planets in crisis and for it
to happen again here i can't i won't i can't we can't go through it again chaos is beautiful
in some ways but it destroys a lot i mean all that matters is that we still have each
other and that's something that we need to focus on from the mouth of babes i suppose
what ma always said i mean technically i'm not a child but i get what you mean right
yeah and i'm not a older sibling i never had siblings um but nim it's always it's always
the same culprit isn't it it was crassus core back home and here it's it's that and gris
turns her head toward one of the huge billboards flashing the subliminal message of seda and
mentions seda and mentions seda and mentions over and over and over again and you see a
steely set of her jaw she just pins her gaze upon it this is a reminder though that you
cannot carry the world's problems i'm not i just have a specific notch on my shoulder
i need to get out i'm not going anywhere i never let you you know you're the best of
us nim everything i do here everything we do here everything i've ever done ever since
you know it's it's been for you and i know i know you have feelings about that you tell
me my life is worth something you say i'm worth something and i appreciate that nim
and when you say that um she's the best of everyone like um nim is very it's not that
there's nothing there but she's not very expressive but for a split second there's a flash of
something that goes across her face and they look a little confused like why did that just
happen but then they kind of push it down and they sort of continue listening look at
me nim i'm a dead woman walking if i can take out as many of those bastards on my way back
down to the grave i will just don't kill yourself trying to do it right yeah but it's gonna
take a lot more than just you know a couple of shitty guys and suits to take me down you
don't have to worry about that you are very stubborn yes yeah paul always said my stubbornness
is what would keep me alive i uh guess he wasn't wrong uh do um hear them feel them
i mean at all in any way mostly when i try to sleep i do did they say anything to you
about me no they just stand there staring nothing is really sad and i sort of see it
as they aren't ready to say anything yet so that's why i try to be patient all right
right yeah well if they do say anything you'll let me know right of course you have my word
thanks nim oh i picked this up from the concession stand and she reaches into her satchel and
pulls out uh i think it's just a bunch of grapes like on a single thing it's just a
bunch of grapes like raw from the saddlebag it hands it over to you these are grapes yes
it's a fruit and she rolls the word fruit around in her mouth like it's a precious candy
interesting what what exactly does it taste like i don't know i wanted you to have all
of it i i only have had fruit two times thank you yeah you're welcome i hope you like it
better than the french fries i i tend to like sweeter things so i hope i like them too noted
all right let's uh go back home i just have to fix a door something like that just some
extra petty cash okay and she just kind of like takes one of the grapes and just like
puts one in her mouth and she like chews it for a second and she like does like the little
kid thing where she's like this is a weird texture but she keeps eating them as you have
back into town uh you do see that comfort cups uh has one of those almost like you know
uh the the the sheet metal uh that comes down around stores today but it's sort of like
a hologram that has like a little goodbye message and like when the opening times will
be and a sweet little preview of new soups and noodle cups recipes to come it's only
halfway down and you can clearly see that it is askew and not functioning winston after
you left the lodge what were you uh to have done i have the coordinate or they sent me
the information and all the coordinates and stuff to to where uh sebastian was heading
and so i'm heading straight there i am an efficient representative of loran loran and
associates i want to get this done as soon as possible so i can get back to the lodge
as you head back into town sebastian you're heading back into town after work gris and
nim you're back in town ready to work uh for this local soup shop and apex after your time
in the sauna where where might you be headed i think apex is actually just wandering around
trying to think of what those people want out of calico and the company kind of just
like sitting with his thoughts at that point because if like if you like running calculations
and like tests uh on the side then he's kind of just wandering around to see what's going
on at the same time well like processing for now uh because the city most things close
in the in the early evening this laboratory this research facility definitely would be
something that would pique your particular interests uh but it's likely that it's shut
down for the day however it's possible that other businesses in town have gotten similar
uh if not the same contracts if you're following that thread town is a good place to go as
the sun goes down and you all uh arrive in your particular places around town this part
of the neighborhood is quite alive at night uh people are out uh they don't really quite
go back into their homes right after the work day ends uh people tend to especially while
it is this nice out spend some time outside there are these large swats of grassy knoll
between all of the different businesses and uh buildings about and people tend to spend
a lot of time out here after work eating their meals outside even talking playing uh betting
games just decompressing on the end of the day which is what you all do until next session
this episode of the atom list is part one of an in-universe four-part special i was
joined by gabe hicks or gabe james games on socials playing apex connie chung or by connie
chung on socials playing brist brie or brito on socials playing nym christian or the cap
of chris on socials playing winston and matthew ekberg or captain krail on socials playing
sebastian we also had a special appearance by movo o'brien or movo underscore o'brien
on socials from the principal cast of the atom list music and foley sounds were provided
by artlist with the exception of the atomless original tracks by marty eisenberg and i'm
dylan or super dylan on socials and i'm thrilled to be gm'ing this glimpse into the past of
the aesir solar system and playing god in matthew's original universe as always the
next time we fly through the atomless sea i hope you are there to fly with us