Hey there, it's me, Colin. I'm, uh, you know,
you know me, we've been doing this for a while.
I just wanted to get a couple of announcements
out of the way before letting you get back to
the episode. Firstly, I wanted to give you my
sincere thanks. We've gotten just over 2 ,000
downloads, which is crazy. It is insane. I can't
believe it. I am shocked that... A lot of those
2 ,000 downloads are here at the end. I'm happy
that so many people have been able to see the
whole story. Personally, I think the start was
a little rocky, but I'm so happy with how things
have turned out. So, thank you. I see you. I
see you, person in Germany. I see you watching
those episodes. I'm here for you. Waiting. Waiting
at the end. Anyway, second announcement is about
our postmortem. For those of you who have not
heard that term. It's basically a time where
me and the fine people on this show are all going
to get together to answer questions from the
viewers and some questions from each other. It's
a nice little retrospective we're going to do
together. I'd like to give a month of time between
this episode coming out on August 21st and the
postmortem going out to give people time to get
to the finale and to think of some questions
to send in. So the postmortem is going to be
going up on September 18th, 2024, with us taking
questions up to September 15th. If you have any
questions, please send them to us by email at
calamitycascade at gmail .com, and that email
address is down in our description. We'll also
be taking comments from YouTube or from our blog,
also in the description down below. That is all.
Thank you so much for everything. Really, I mean
it. And I look forward to answering your questions
in a month. On to the show. The destruction of
all that you know will be brought about by packs
made with those who lurk amongst the stars. They
are unknowable, yet they know us. They need only
for us to glance at them to be invited in. Do
not stick your hands into their dark waters.
Shield your eyes from the light of their stars.
Ask yourself at every turn, what is it I seek?
What is it that truly calls me? Even now, they
whisper in my shut ears. They try to pry open
my eyelids. They try to feed me their sweet poison.
To defy them is to deny yourself. It is a constant,
unending examination and retaliation against
your own mind, your own wants. It is a horrible
war. It will take your life. It will forsake
your friendships, but it will save your soul.
We must not weaken. We must not make exception.
For if we do, we will fail. And even if we do,
it is better to have tried. than to have succumbed
weakly beneath these cruel stars. Alright, I
will keep this summary short. Last time you went
into space, the Clusterists shot a giant tungsten
rod at the city, and Geist put on the crown in
hopes of stopping it from destroying everything.
I have given you each a funny little handout,
which details some information about this new
situation we're going to be in. It's going to
be a little different, so let's just jump right
into it. Slowly, bit by bit, something resembling
awareness begins to return to you. Your strange
dreams fade away, though they leave little sense
now. You grasp for some memory to stabilize you,
to make sense of the now and the before, but
you find only a haze. You remember a burning
sensation, something about a crown, and the heavy
duty that comes with it. You open your eyes and
look around. You are sitting beneath a great
old tree, leaning against its trunk in a warm
grassy meadow. Your body is racked with a great
weakness. Even standing up seems a chore now.
In front of you are three figures whom you recognize
as your trusted retinue. Firstly is the mystic,
clad in flowing blue robes as if wearing water
upon his body. Beneath a twisted body that one
would not recognize as human. Though this has
no bearing on his usefulness. You know you can
rely on him for all matters of the spirit. The
second of your retinue is the assassin. He is
cloaked in the deepest black garments and is
bristling with all manner of metal weaponry which
glints from within his clothes. His face is shaded
as ever by a hood, though a single red eye glints
from within. Where death and slyness are concerned,
he is the master. And lastly, your advisor. A
plain -faced man, wearing clothes which are similarly
plain, but are no doubt spun from the finest
cloth. He is exceptionally knowledgeable, and
will prove to be invaluable, especially in this
confused state you find yourself in. Behind your
retinue, a dark and twisted forest. A narrow,
barely beaten path leads inwards, and seeing
the gloomy woods in front of you, some part of
your new memory returns. You remember that you
are the prince. You remember that your line is
an old one, following the oldest of traditions,
the divine monarchy. Each successor is drawn
not from the blood of the parents, but from the
blood of the covenant with the higher powers.
With the guidance of your mystic, you were selected
to be next in line by the forces of the crown.
Now, the time draws close for succession. The
old king has fled into the woods, maddened and
infirm, and with him, your crown. Now you must
go inwards to claim this crown. and you can feel
its terrible pressure on your mind and body.
And history has always shown that a king always
returns from these woods, but never a prince.
Good morning. Good morning. Fuck. Hello. Now
what? Do we, do I, can I stand up? Yes. Very
shakily. And feebly. It's very hard. What do
my arms look like? What do you want them to look
like? I don't know. I guess just normal arms.
I guess I have flesh arms. Where are we right
now? We're outside the woods. You're outside
the dark and cursed woods. The mystic will go
up to the prince and say, My prince, lord, you
are finally awake. Yes, it seems my mind bears
a great fog. How do you feel, my lord? Weak.
Very weak. I think we must go now. I feel the
longer I am kept from my crown, the weaker I
will grow. We must catch him. Of course, we must
start immediately. I'm gonna nod to my other
two companions and try and start walking. My
prince, do you know the way? Do I know the way?
There is a path ahead of you. For now, the path.
Come, my companions, we have much to do. Do you
call a prince a lord or your grace? I don't fucking
know. What sounds cooler? I want to do your grace.
Colin. Yes, yes? Can I use my grand knowledge
to recall if this is the path? Yes, you may.
You may use your grand knowledge to recall if
this is the path. This is the path. Things might
get more dicey. the farther in you go to these
cursed woods. But for now, the path will suffice.
The advisor relays this information to the prince.
Slend work, advisor. We carry on now with confidence
in our steps. Yes. Do I have a weapon? Do I have
a stout blade at my side that I can use to feebly
struggle? Yeah, if you want one. Cool. I do want
one. It'll make me feel safe. What's it look
like? I don't know. It's probably a little longer
than... Oh, you know what? Fuck it. No, it's
like an estoc. It's long and slender. A piercing
blade. With a very fine and ornate hilt. Okay.
You proceed into the forest. The cruel, twisted
oaks bend ever inward, leering down upon the
faint path which you all follow. On some of the
trees bark, the smeared, bloody handprints of
the old king, guiding the way. Quickly, you come
upon a landmark. The stout stone hut outside
of which stands a wooden shed. A broad -shouldered
man with a rusted sword at his side comes out
of the shed, holding a shovel and some plant
trimmers. He seems surprised to see you four
and he says, Uh, my prince, I don't believe it
is safe for you to be in these woods. Yes, but
safety is not a luxury I can presently afford.
What brings you here? The king, I must speak
with him. So, it has come to that already. Yes.
As no doubt you remember, I fought beside you
in our war with the forest people. Surely you
do not need the king's accursed crown to rule
this kingdom. I would even join your side if
you so much as asked. And, uh, prince, you feel
a great weight to his words. Your sluggish mind
threatens to turn away from this path and walk
out of the forest and seek another way forward.
I give my head a shake, and I look back to my
mystic, and I say, No, it cannot possibly come
to pass this way. I must... I must have it for
the safety of us all. Your grace, you must not
listen to him. He seeks to draw you from the
crown. He's afraid of your power. Can I use my
grand knowledge to see if we can turn back? Is
that an option? Read the top of your character
sheet, please. Ah, yes. You can read it out loud
if you'd like. The prince must wear the crown
or all will be lost, the advisor says out loud.
It sounds like you're struggling feebly, prince.
What, I have to fight this guy? Yes. Even his
words are threatening to turn you away from the
path. Oh my god. So bad news, everybody. Struggling
Feebly is rolling with zero dice. That sucks.
Sorry. Is this man in this cabin a spirit? He
doesn't appear to be. So I have to roll no matter
what, or can I call on my retinue for aid? I
think the assassin clears his throat and says,
Would you like me to deal with this man? You
do need to roll. Okay, cool. I'm just going to
roll front on my character sheet because it has
no dice. Does position or effect matter? No,
not at all. Nice. That's a failure. The more
he speaks, the more he tries to regale you in
tales of your shared past, though you don't entirely
remember them, the harder and harder it is for
you to see the point of any of this. which will
now leave your retinue up to make their decision
on how to proceed forward. Save me. I'm going
to look to the advisor and say, would you like
me to deal with this man? The advisor looks to
the prince and not the assassin and says, remember,
my prince, of the authority the crown gives you.
Uh, okay. Is that you trying to reason with the
prince? Yes. Okay. You don't have to roll. You
succeed. Prince, with the stout words of your
most trusted advisor, you realize that while
surely you could fight without the crown, you
would not be able to do what you need to do without
its power. And you are cemented in place, and
the groundskeeper, which is who you were talking
to, fails to turn you from the path. and you
may proceed should you choose to. Thank God.
Yeah, let's keep rolling. Let's keep rolling
on. Let's keep plodding, I guess, because all
I can do is plod. The deeper into the forest
you go, the less clear the path becomes. The
brush becomes thick and thorny. The trees become
tightly packed with low branches rich with biting
insects and screeching birds. As you push forward,
You come into a grassy clearing. In the center
of it lies a curious effigy wound of wood topped
with a cluster of translucent beeswax. Within
lies a spiral of woven grass. A deep tension
lies in the air. Here the forest is still and
quiet, waiting. What? The devil? Sorry, what'd
you say was in the center? An effigy made of
wood, beeswax, and a spiral of woven grass. And
there's nobody around? Not to your eyes. Do I
see anybody here? No, Mystic, you do not see
anybody. Do I feel anything interesting from
this effigy? Hmm. It is no doubt an icon of the
forest people. That much you and likely the advisor
know. Assassin, there is something off about
this place. Can I assess the situation? Indeed
you can. Okay, I didn't know. Around the effigy,
you notice the ground is uneven. It's clear someone
has dug holes here and covered them up with netting
and leaves. No doubt stepping on it would drop
you somewhere quite unpleasant. Beyond the clearing's
edge, you catch a glimpse of something. A pack
of forest people, disguised, wearing garb of
leaves and woods. causing them to blend into
the forest. They are only given away by the bright
whites of their eyes. Some wield wooden bows,
others thick cudgels, and it seems that they
are waiting for someone to spring this trap,
and they are unaware that you know that they
are there. I relay this information to my party.
Are the forest people our ancient enemies? That's
kind of what I inferred from talking to the groundskeeper.
You don't remember. Huh. The advisor recalls.
Go ahead. Why don't you tell the prince? The
advisor sees the prince struggling and begins
going, the forest people have long lived in these
woods, terrorizing the kingdom with their heretical
knowledge. They've long tried to resist your
authority, the authority of the crown. It is
possible they know where the King and the Crown
have gone. We do not have time to engage in such
base and petty warfare, might we simply... Path
around them, find another way. Your Grace, I
will find us the path to safety. We may shirk
around them and perhaps find their camp and overhear
their whisperings. Give me a moment. This sounds
wise. I want to position myself in front of the
prince. I want to close my eyes and find the
correct path forward with my senses, which I
overextend. And if anyone is around me enough
to look at my face, I don't know if I'm fully
covered or not, but blood starts coming out of
my eyes and mouth as I do this. Oh. Until I see...
The way forward. Yes. You, using your extra sensory
skills, I'll say, and paying the price of pain
and blood, you discover that there is a way around
these people. Doubling back. And you may be even
able to get to, you want to get to their little
village? Yeah. Interesting. Okay. Yeah. You can
easily follow their path back to their village.
And you do so. leaving the ambush behind you.
I think their village is very difficult to make
out, even though you are following the path back
to it, built into the trees such that you would
not be able to notice them unless you knew what
you were looking for. Even the people who are
living here, the ones who aren't warriors, they
seem to exist in this sort of, like, camouflaged
living. No one is at ease. They are always concealing
themselves, even if they're feeding their children
or tending a fire. It's all very subtle. I think
you overhear someone say something, that the
traitor has gone to confront the prince's party
as they head to the king, and he has headed towards
the heart of the forest to the east. And, you
know, they point in the direction he has gone.
And they say something like, I hope that they
can, that he can dissuade the prince from this
path. Make him see the foolishness of what he's
doing. But, should it come to blows, I hope that
the prince will have a slow death. Rude. Well,
thanks, guys. Okay, we got a lead. That's good.
Do I feel any less feeble as we move towards
our goal, or is it about the same? It's pretty
bad. It's still pretty bad. Ouch. Man, I gotta
get this crown. I'm, like, I'm leaking. Having
a bad time. Yeah, like, this all feels very much
like a dream to you. Like, I think maybe the
assassin has to, like, prop you up and help you
even walk through these woods. Oh, it's one of
those dreams where you can't move. Fuck. That's
the worst. I feel like... At this point, he's
like the assassin supporting him on the left
side, and he has his sword out, but the tip's
kind of just dragging along in the dirt behind
him. You proceed in the way you have decided,
and you turn a bend in the trail, and you do
see him ahead of you. A tall, armored figure,
graying hair, and a tired face portraying a true
veteran. Something about him seems familiar to
you, with a bitterness rising in your heart,
Prince. He already seems to be aware of your
group having cut you off and emerging from behind
a tree right as you turn this bend. And he says,
nothing. He just waits there. Sorry, this is
the traitor? This is the traitor. The traitor.
I fucking hate traitors. You like my wares? Kill
him! That's what I'm thinking. I feel like...
Prince looks to the assassin and is like, How
long has this foul traitor vexed me? Remove him
from my sight, lest he attempt to interfere with
our most vital errand. Of course. And I'm gonna
assassinate anyone, now that I have the order.
And I'm gonna assassinate this guy. What sort
of move were you making to assassinate him? I'm
thinking that, like, while... They are speaking,
maybe. Or maybe he tells the advisor, like, keep
him talking. And the assassin will just kind
of run into a shrub nearby while the mystic takes
the place of the assassin and props up the prince.
And then maybe I think he just runs behind, does
a little pop -up from a bush, and does a quick
little knife to the throat. Just a quick little
cut. As you move, and they're being distracted,
he says to the prince, I see you cannot be dissuaded
from this foolish path. Are you so blind as to
believe the crown can truly help anyone? Any
benefit you gain from it has a cost tenfold elsewhere.
I would not trust a single poison word that falls
from your rotted mouth. What do you know of consequence?
He sneers, and he says, The forest people have
infiltrated your castle. and have taken its inhabitants
hostage. If you step one foot closer, we shall
kill them. And Mystic, this is a lie. He speaks
lies, your grace. They all seek to turn you from
the crown. They are afraid of your power. Do
not let them. I don't think... I don't think
I will attempt to take a step towards him. I
think I will simply sit there, and I will sneer
back and wait for the hammer to fall. Sure. He
looks at you, and he strikes up a fighting stance
and takes a step forward towards you, right as
there is a flash of black and a bright red ribbon
opens up on his throat. He grabs at it feebly,
stumbling forward, and then slowly... But quicker
than you'd think, the life leads his body, and
he collapses to the ground with a clink of metal,
and he is still. Ooh, he will not be stepping
at all. And then he kind of looks at the party.
Until now. Then kind of like gestures follow
to go up the path. I guess I'll keep on, keep
on limping. I'll look down at him as we go, sorry.
So go ahead. What's the expression on his face
as we walk past his dying body? I mean, he's
face down in the dirt. Okay. I'll leave him there.
I imagine it is an expression of surprise and
sadness. Further into the forest, the path disappears
entirely. Even the king's bloody trail seems
to be missing. You are completely lost, turned
around. The forest looks the same in every direction,
though with every turn it seems to get tighter,
closer, like with enough time, it'll swallow
you whole. This is... Not working. We must find
the way or we will be undone here in these thickets.
And he looks pleadingly at his retinue. The advisor
looks to the mystic. The path becomes smaller
yet again, but I can still find it. And then,
again, just get very quiet as more blood starts
to just seep. slightly from now my ears and eyes
and other orifices. Did the last blood go away
on its own or did you have to wipe it away and
leave dark brown dry blood smears on your face?
Yeah, I'm under this cloak. Am I in an exopod
still? What? I'm sorry, what are you talking
about? We're in the past. What are you talking
about? You mean the carriage? you are in blue
robes that look like water i am in blue robes
that look like water you just see like i guess
blood kind of start to appear in the robes and
it's not going anywhere i'm just getting more
red yeah maybe like maybe it looks like blood
and water on your robes yeah it does very sick
mystic as you pay the price yet again it is clear
that the curse of the forest is great here You
must be getting close to the crown. Though the
others cannot see it, it is clear to you that
though the forest is indeed thick and confusing,
it is merely a trick. You are moving closer even
if it does not seem like you are. We simply press
on, my grace. Very well, then. As you march through
the ensorceling forest, you come across a humble
grave. A stout stone headstone covered in dried
flowers. A simple name adorns it. Amity. Even
robbed of your memories, Prince, this one could
not be scrubbed from your mind. A woman who you
loved deeply, who was killed by one of the forest
people's deceitful generals. You were knocked
unconscious before you could ever hear her last
words, and they have haunted you ever since.
The air grows cool, a fell breeze pushes through
the trees, and a fog swirls around the grave.
And then, as if built from the fog itself, the
mist stitches itself together, and a phantasm
stands before you. It's her. The memory, the
spirit, brought here by your presence. She looks
at you sadly and says, My prince, you should
not be in this forest, though it brings me joy
to see you. I... I was not expecting to see you
here. I am... on an errand that I believe...
to be of... vital... importance, although I cannot
precisely remember why. You are here to claim
the crown, no doubt, but I beg you, you must
not wear it. Live a free life from its curse,
with joy and happiness and mercy. If you do not
turn away, I will haunt you until the end of
time itself. I would rather be haunted to an
eternity by none other. And I think he's just
going to keep walking if I don't need to roll
for it. You walk into this thick fog and it deposits
you back at the grave there. And she says, I
will not let you go. What's Hex's role again?
The advisor. I turn to the advisor covertly and
start to whisper. Advisor, you must distract
our prince. I must do something to avert this
situation lest all be lost. The advisor gives
a silent nod and begins speaking to the prince,
regaling him with what he can expect with the
power he will be bestowed at the end of this
journey. Go do your thing already. Behind the
advisor, I start whispering. an incantation to
the spirit of this long lost love. And I say,
you will leave our prince to his task. You will
release the field that you have trapped him in
and you will never speak of him again. You will
move on. You will never think of him. You will
never stop him. You will leave us now. Very well.
She begins to dissipate. The fog kind of pulling
back a little bit. As like some rays of sunlight
come through the trees and evaporate them. As
she fades away, and like her last words to you,
prince, are... They feel nonsensical. There is
a horrible crack through your mind as her lips
move. It's like you don't even hear her. You
just see her lips move. There's like a barbed
needle from the ether that has been driven through
your skulls from... From some faraway memory,
these words slot themselves into place as her
last words to you are cemented. Don't hate them,
Garrett. They don't deserve this. Don't let them
die. And as this horrible alien name is spoken
to you, you are overcome with pain. You threaten
to crumble to the ground, to be rendered comatose
once more as these painful surge of memories
starts to press heavily on your mind. Oh, fuck.
Oh, God. I think... I mean, I hope that means
that I'm making the right choice. Uh... I guess
the prince probably falls to his knees and clutches
at his head and probably screams a little bit.
Sounds like you're struggling feebly. I am. I
don't know if there's anything to succeed or
fail here. Let's see if I can pull out a partial
on this one. No. Failure. Retinue. The prince
collapses to the ground, his body spasming with
pain from some unseen force, though the spirit
has receded. Advisor, do we know any ways to
heal our king? Yeah. Prince, prince, prince.
The advisor recalls what this may be. It's his
affliction. It's affliction to come to the church.
The advisor inspects him. I think... Advisor,
as you expect him. Being a knowledgeable man,
a man of medicine, it is not clear what affliction
is afflicting him right now. It must be a matter
of the spirit. And I think Mystic, having been
called in to assist, you may know a small incantation
to ease his pain, but whatever has struck him
now is not going to go away. You may be able
to limp him the last mile, but the prince you
once knew, he is... He's getting worse. He's
getting a lot worse now. Is he? Could I call
this a curse that has afflicted the prince? Bro,
everything here is a curse, so yeah. Then the
advisor just whispers into the prince's ear,
remember that the curse is the power. I think
these words bring you some measure of resolve,
prince. And I think with the mystic maybe giving
you a bit of a salve or some small incantation
to ease your pain. You are able to get up very
shakily, having to lean on your sword and it's
scabbard like a cane, even with the assassin
helping you along. And you are able to proceed
forward. Okay. Let's keep living on. I am very
infirm for a prince. Before we leave this area,
I think the assassin does stare at the grave
for just a moment before continuing on. Just
a quick little look, and then you probably give
him a... Maybe he hears you cough, and then he's
like, okay, forward. Yeah. It's nice. I like
that. So, the cold mist has receded. That grave,
which has been sitting here for so long, seems
to have aged centuries in just minutes, has become
worn down, illegible, overgrown with thorny red
vines. And you press forward. The mystic is able
to find another path, though there's no... Nothing
clear anymore. You're just marching into the
forest towards some point in the distance, going
deeper in. You must kind of squeeze between the
trees at certain points, and you can feel the
crown's influence is strong. In the distance,
there is this red glow, which is saturating the
forest. However, right ahead of you, as you come
around one of these trees, is a figure sitting
on a stone, cross -legged. She is robed in green.
Her face is obscured, but you can feel her attention
on all of you. Her presence melds with the forest,
as if her gaze alone might twist the trees around
you. And she speaks, repeating familiar words,
and she says, The crown's curse is not worth
its power, young prince. It will grant you strength,
but its curse shall take tenfold. You feel your
mind become tangled up like the brambles of the
forest, threatening to - threatening to tie you
up to bury you here. Remember what I told you,
the advisor says. Do I have to roll to struggle
against this before my homies help me out? No.
But I do need to help you. Yes, the prince struggles
against the vines that threaten to incapacitate
him and drag him down to his knees. He says,
No, I must. I will pay any cost. Can I control
these vines? You can try to. I want to again
try to extend my powers. I don't know how much
blood to water ratio I have got going on right
now, but I want to try to compel the vines to
release my prince. Sure. You push against this
presence. It is extremely strong. This ancient,
ancient being. This prophet. and you feel the
branches push away from you, and her presence
is kind of receded. She seems more vulnerable
now, but yet she still stands there, and you
feel her beginning to press back against you.
You'll have to do more here to overcome her.
Maybe this would be a good time for another knife
in the bed. Give me the order. All reliable.
I guess. Prince will be like, destroy her. Now.
He attempts to stay standing up. The assassin
complies. What does that look like? Do I have
to do this in a stealthy way? No. Okay. I think
when the prince says that, then this guy, he
is doing a toaster jump. This guy is jumping
straight into the fucking air like an insect
and is just pouncing right down on this thing
with a sword going right through the neck. Awesome.
Your black cloak billows behind you, making you
almost look like you're flying. And you go in
the air. You come straight down. Beautiful arc.
Your blade goes through her neck. You twist it,
separating her top half, well, her head from
her body. And it falls to the ground. And then
after that, you feel Mystic, her presence, stop
pushing against you, giving some ground. And
then... fading away. The trees around here seem
to become less animate. They almost kind of move
away from you, like the ground is spreading,
giving you room to breathe. And she says, You've
doomed us all. And then the air is still. The
path is clear. And the crown and the old king
are not far now, awaiting you all at the heart
of the woods. I think the prince staggers back
to his feet. You advance, easily, through the
forest. With the prophet dispelled, the path
seems to appear with each step you take, guiding
you forward. More and more of this red light
fills the air, creating a bright and bloody forest
which seems to pulse into the rhythm of the prince's
heartbeat. At last, you arrive at the heart of
these dark woods. Here the roots of all of the
trees coalesce, plunging into the earth in a
bottomless, root -laden hole. Laying besides
the hole, peering within, is the old king. The
thorny, bramble crown atop his head has begun
to take root in him, growing into his flesh,
thorns erupting from beneath his face, his neck,
and his back, great spines which make him appear
some sort of terrible beast. A bed of red flowers
surrounds him, and it is not clear if they are
growing out of him or into him. He turns to you
slowly, his neck rotating to an impossible degree
without the rest of his body moving much at all,
and he says, You have overcome the obstacles
before you. You have cleared the way to your
ascension. Now, all that is left is to free me
from this curse. Drink deeply from its power.
Forsake yourself. Become Providence itself, and
take up this crown as the new king. I think the
prince staggers forward and his sword kind of
drops feebly at his side. And I think he's going
to... Oh wait, no, he doesn't crown himself,
does he? The mystic's got to do it. No. Yeah,
I want to rush forward and then just kneel before
the old king, hands outstretched. Not saying
anything. It's a ritual now. The old king tries
to move. And his arms have become fused with
these roots. He, like, he's just struggling feebly.
And he, like, his bones and, like, maybe it almost
sounds like wood cracking, too. As he, like,
cranes his neck, angling the crown towards you
for you to rip it out of him. I do this. I don't
know if there's any way to do it gracefully,
but I do it. Yeah. It comes out of him. These,
like, the roots, the thorns, the bramble that
had grown into him. start to retract, spooling
back into the crown, though it doesn't seem to
add any new mass. And it is in your hands, and
the crown is powerful, and the prince is kneeling
before you. How heavy is it, the crown? Unfathomably
heavy. My hands are shaking with the excitement
and anticipation of this moment. After so long,
after so... Much. Don't even know how much the
much has been, but I know it's been much. And
then there's this like sudden feeling of, wait,
what am I doing? This feels wrong. And then just
like this feeling turns into the worst terror
you could possibly imagine. And the intensity
of this terror is so great that I need to get
rid of it immediately. And the only way to do
it is by putting it on. the prince's head. So
I turn to him and I say, Your Grace, it is finally
time. It is finally time. And he moves to put
it on his head. I think as it comes down, the
prince's eyes are half closed and all he says
is, I will save them, my love. I will not let
them die. The crown burns as it touches you,
taking root in your flesh and mine. Your skin
combusts violently. An unfathomable, powerful
crash of flame bursts from you, incinerating
the old king, incinerating the mystic, the advisor,
and the assassin. The leaves and brush turn instantly
to ashes. The trees become ashen husks, glowing
red and orange. The farther the fire spreads,
the more power wells in you, stronger and stronger,
taking over your faculties. You see red. You
smell blood. You feel only burning and you taste
only ash. And you awake, reeling back from sunlith
as the crown cements its place on your head.
The changeling's cockpit seals itself up as you
are pulled into its chair. Thick, barbed red
wires weave around and through you, connecting
you directly to the changeling. Your body jolts,
blood spraying out of you and onto the walls
of the cockpits. Body and machine becomes one.
What once was Garrett Hart, Geist, Joker, and
the Changeling has become transmuted into only
one being. Into martyrdom. Reborn. The path through
the forest is clear. You must act quickly. Use
your newfound strength to get in front of that
projectile and stop it. There's no need to go
out the way you came in. You are no longer confined
by the limits of physical space. Oh, fuck. Yes.
He's dancing. I'm gonna do it. It's like a Fortnite
dance. He's flossing. I'm gonna fucking go. I'm
gonna get myself in front of that projectile.
I'm gonna stop it. Your speed is incredible.
One moment, you're there on the platform. The
next second, there is a burning trail of red
flame behind you and a hole in the wall. Even
with a projectile traveling at five times the
speed of sound, you effortlessly catch up to
it, defying all laws of physics as if you are
weaving through the fabric of space itself. It
has turned red -hot as it has begun pushing through
Terra Brea's atmosphere, just ahead of you now.
In a moment of clarity, you understand the power
given to you. It is power equal to your sacrifice,
equal to your curse. You are given only a portion
of that power. to fulfill your wish, to complete
your role as martyrdom. The rest of it will go
elsewhere. Payment. You have more than enough
to stop this object of crude matter, to shatter
it and yourself into nothing but particles, into
a memory. There is a brief window here, just
moments before the remnants of Garrett Hart is
gone, where you have a chance to speak to yourself,
to your friends, or perhaps there's nothing to
say at all. I think... I think Geist will say,
I thought I was ready for this, and now I don't
know if I am. I know, it's so much. I think he'll
just say, Dusklights, remember me. And then he's
going to obliterate himself. You strike out.
The burning sensation consumes you entirely.
The pain is so extreme that it loops back around
into painlessness. You realize that all of the
suffering had already been distributed throughout
your life, that you've already felt this, that
the hurt has already been paid for. Martyrdom
and the cluster of tungsten rods in front of
you erupt. In the city below, everyone from soldiers,
mid -firefight, to civilians holding their families
look up as for a brief moment, the sun seems
to vanish. A sudden red eclipse shadows the world.
The stars seem to burn, bloody and bright, just
for a moment. There is a horrible peace. A feeling
of absolute doom grips the heart of the millions
in the city just for a second. There is an incomprehensible
understanding of what was so nearly their end.
And then, daylight returns to the shaken people
of Brea City. Far above, in space. As this red
blossom expands in the atmosphere, we return
to the dusk lights. Loyal, you stand in front
of the partially melted warehouse where, just
seconds ago, you had been placing the crown on
Geist's head. You are left with two feelings.
A strange but somewhat peaceful emptiness. A
presence has moved on, done with haunting your
dreams and waking moments. And secondly, there
is an unshakable feeling of predestination. One
that you now know will never leave you. Some
part of you, this illusion of free will, the
spark of surprise, it's gone. And with it, whoever
you once were. Farther back in the warehouse,
Joseph, you have just watched this all unfold,
choosing not to look away. Not seconds after
Geist is gone, there is a familiar feeling. Contrition.
It seems that its plans have changed. The future
will be harder now, for your people. But nevertheless,
you are called to work. and there is still a
path forward. There will be a ship waiting for
you, two days from now, and you will leave Terebraea
forever, never to return. Hex, you are outside,
having made a fairly wise decision to get away
from all of this. The stars flicker red for a
moment, betraying some greater truth. Worth understanding.
And no doubt your future will lead you to this
understanding. Inside of the warehouse, Pierce
Sunspire has collapsed to the ground, still trying
to process what just happened. Somewhere in the
control room of this defense platform, someone
has turned it off, the lights flickering and
going dark. For those three of you that remain,
right now, what do you do? I'm going to go first.
Look around, look around, and go just outside,
outside of my mech. go to the edge of this precipice
of this melted space station and look down, like,
praying that there are no longer giant objects
of death headed to destroy the planet. Kind of,
like, partially believing that they're still
there. Like, all of this was some terrible, terrible
stress dream. But still hoping that maybe it
was real. As horrible as it was. Hmm. I think
Joseph's gonna walk up and stand next to you
and kind of look out the hole. But I don't think
he's saying much. He's just staring along with
you. X is radioing the rest of the, you know,
everyone they came here with. Assessing the situation.
Yeah, Spud. I think, like, Spud and his soldiers,
they were in there with you, right? I think they're
just, like, dumbfounded. I think some of them,
like, collapse to their knees and, like, they've
seen a little too much. They don't know what's
going on. I think Spud just says, Orders? Orders?
Fuck it. You hear his radio turn off. And I guess
those of you who are in there, He walks up to
Pierce. He pulls out his pistol and he puts a
bullet through his head. And then they push forward
farther into the facility. And I think you just
start hearing gunshots. Did Nyla see what just
happened? Is Nyla talking? I remember this was
a thing. I don't think Nyla's talking anymore.
I don't think there's much talking going on at
all. What do we see when we look out at this
just exploded? thing. There's a big red, like,
stain on the atmosphere. It seems to be fading
now. But it's there. I look out and try to sense
martyrdom. Where did it go? It's... It's weird,
you know? It's like you're trying to sense...
It's like trying to sense one of your body parts
that you've become so accustomed to. It's just
not there anymore. You think maybe, like, maybe...
You feel some remnant. Just like the smallest
little spark in that stain somewhere. But you
can't tell. Of Geist or of Martyrdom? What's
the difference? Oh. That's exactly what I was
going to say. What's going on with Love Letter
and Gallows and Spoils? Or Spoils were not Gallows.
I think they died. I think they fucked off. I
think honestly they have left. Uh, somewhere.
Maybe they had a ship or something, but they're
not here anymore. Alright. Hex radios Nyla that
we've taken, or we're taking control of the facility,
and that Pierce is dead. I think she radios back,
and she says, Okay. Uh, yeah. Just wrap up there,
and I'll wrap up here. I want to turn to Joseph
since he's the only one next to me right now
and be like, did we win? Is it over? Joseph kind
of looks to the ground. I don't even think he's
taken in what you said. He just says, the brother
of the woman I killed launched. He doesn't even
finish. He kind of turns back to you and says,
Guy's death is on me. I just look at you and
ask, you killed a woman? I didn't know about
this yet. It was in the news. Yeah, that was
in the news. I mean, yeah, I guess you could
just not watch the news. I've been in a fugue
state. I've been in a fugue state and hanging
out with guys, that's it. Yeah, it would make
sense that Loyal wouldn't want to watch the news
and see, like, the reports of the same date because
it was around the same time. Yeah, Joseph probably
just says, he just kind of nods and says a command
of contrition. And then he kind of waits for
a bit and says, you've spoken to me again. I
will be leaving in two days. I don't even think
I, like, have words anymore. I just kind of maybe
give the smallest of nods, but. Don't really
interact with him that. Joseph. Kind of looks
back outside. And he says. To answer your question.
We didn't win. But it is over. Oh I like that
line. That's good. It's good. Okay. Worthy comes
and picks you up. At some point. All of you.
I think Spud walks into Worthy's ship. Just covered
in blood. His like. The knuckles of his spacesuit
are just, like, soaked in it. I think also Joseph,
we don't need to have this scene, but I think
he just kind of, like, asks, like, did you kill
the brother? You know, was that done with? And
I'm assuming Spud did. Spud just, like, he, like,
rubs some, like, smeared blood off of the faceplate
of his visor of his spacesuit. He says, who?
They're all dead. Joseph gives him a wink and
keeps walking. And I think you're taken back
to your base. And I honestly, there's not really
much to do here. I think I mean, what are your
next moves? I mean, you're leaving, Joseph, obviously.
Yeah, I think I made this clear to loyal. I probably
tell Hex on the way down. I doubt too much protest
unless Hex wants to argue with me. No, Hex understands
and says it's been a pleasure working with you.
Yeah, I think Joseph says I assume you have things
handled after this. Maybe things planned? I have
my own path forward, but you did good work. If
you ever need anything, reach out. As did you.
And he probably puts out his hand for a shake.
Yep, Hex returns it. That's good. What does your
next week look like, everyone? Let's just speed
through it. Any orders directly after this? Where
do we get deposited? What does someone say to
us? Do we talk with Nyla? I guess that's a big
question. Yeah, I guess. We have a meeting with
her. She doesn't have a meeting with you. I think
she... I have a big narration, and I'll go over
that. But basically, she messages you. She says,
We secured the city. We got everyone. Just...
Just go. It's over. You don't need to be here
anymore. Okay. I think that's the last you hear
from her. Ever. There anymore is just on the
planet here? Period? Yeah. Just go. What's your
next week look like? This isn't really a week
for Joseph, is it? It's just two days, right?
It's literally just two days. Yeah, I think he's
he's preparing things like he was leaving from
the peacekeeper base. Kind of similar things.
I think like he's surprised, but he is leaving
stuff behind yet again. Maybe books he wasn't
suspecting, you know, just packing up everything.
And I think at a moment, even with the boxes
taped up, he doesn't bring them with him. He
realizes there's no need for him wherever he's
going. And he just kind of leaves everything
neat and orderly as he exits the room and probably
spends a lot of time staring out into the open,
waiting to see if someone will talk with him.
I mean, so we're all at the base? Yeah, unless
you want to be somewhere else. Assuming Tyrell
hasn't sent his onboarding email yet, Hex would
approach Joseph. Oh. Yeah, and he wants to ask,
Joseph, what are you doing after this? I suppose
I'm doing what I was doing before, trying to
keep us alive. And he kind of like leans in.
All of us, I want you to know that everything
I do, it extends farther between, it extends
farther beyond the Soul Union and the Peacekeepers,
the Clusterists. I think once I get things in
order, there will be peace for us all. It's just
going to take some time now that things changed.
And it seems that in two days, I'll be back to
work. Sounds like you found something to fight
for. Yes, and I doubt you will be going back
to a desk. I don't think I can anymore. I don't
think so either. You know, I never really asked
you. Did destroying that dam change you? Do you
feel different? I know it's ironic coming from
a robot, but you don't seem to be the same man
that we started out with. I think you could say
the same. You shut Joseph up. He kind of turns
away. Alright, end scene. There you go. Hex goes
back to packing. Loyal, what's your week look
like? Just thinking that without... any orders,
he just goes back to his shitty little apartment
with the one fish tank that... In the city? In
the city. Wait, no, that got blown up. Wait,
what happened in the city? No, it didn't get
blown up. Are you allowed there? The military
police are still trying to arrest you. That's
true. I can't go back there. No. You're at the
ice base. Okay, never mind. Cut all that out.
Just think about my apartment. It's gotta still
be there, right? Um... Yeah, what's happening
with the base? Is it being dismantled by anyone?
Who else is there? Gophers here? Yeah, nobody
knows about it except for Bluth. Yeah, I mean,
nothing's happening to the base, but everyone's
leaving. I think everyone's gotten word that
the base was good. It's a good fire base, but
there's nothing left to do on Terebraea. Mercenaries
are going to come in, and if you wait here too
long, you probably will get discovered. And you
don't want to be here, because that'd be bad.
Gopher's packing up. Your doctor's packing up.
Worthy is basically... Worthy is offered to give
you rides into orbit if you need to get out,
but he's saying he's hanging it up after this.
Yeah, I'm still kind of trying to sense martyrdom.
I feel like part of me hoped that... It would
still talk to me somehow. I would get some reward
for doing this thing. And it's just... Do you
want to make a roll? Yeah. Let me make a really
scary roll. Because they all always are. For
some reason. What am I rolling? Survey? Yeah,
I'll push myself. Actually, you can't push yourself.
You can't put yourself anymore. That's true.
I don't think that fits. All right. Personal
success. There you go. Not too bad. You know
that you were used. There's nothing for you.
There's no reward for you. You were just a doorway.
An unfortunate, unfortunate doorway. You just
opened to the wrong thing. Something went through
that doorway that was too big for it. And now,
it's like a cave -in. Just, you are ruined. You
will never be the same again. You don't think
that you will ever be able to have a normal life
at all. But, you know, through the rubble of
this metaphorical cave -in, you know it's still
out there. Martyrdom is waiting. Because coming
back is what it does. It's what it's always done
for a very long time. And you have no doubt in
one way or one form or another, it will be back.
Yeah. I feel like I hang out. I just like loiter
for as long as possible before, I don't know,
whoever's left. Yeah, I think maybe like... Telling
me, hey, you need to do something. I think, like,
we see, like, a fast -forward of just, like,
people leaving. Like, Joseph leaves. And, like,
you can have, like, last words you want to say
loyal or whatever, any of you. But, like, Hex
leaves. I mean, like, what are your last words
loyal, if there are any, both of you? It's not
going to take long. It's a Hex just sends a very
generic, it was a pleasure working with you,
email. And Loyal's CC'd alongside everyone, like
all the other side people at the base. Oh my
god, I love this. Especially with the new belief
I just wrote about Hex. Yes, this is perfect.
Okay. Alright. Joseph? Yeah, I think Joseph's
coming probably right before he leaves. And you
know, he extends a hand for a shake. And he says,
you know, I actually had to teach myself what
a dolphin was. To be honest, I thought you were
a food source. Well, this looks at him and shakes
his hand. And it's like, I think I need to teach
myself what a dolphin is, too. Goodbye, Joseph.
How wrong I was. Goodbye, loyal. Hang in there.
And he kind of pats you on your exopod just a
little bit. So sweet. Let's... I think this is
a great time. I've told you all to revise your
beliefs. Get them up to snuff. Except for you,
Garrett, because you're dead. But I'd like to
hear them. You three. The three remaining. What
are your beliefs about each other? I guess we
could start with... Let's start with X. I brought
it first. Yeah, sure. You go ahead. I brought
it up. I have to do them. So, just my new belief
about Geist. Let's go over all the first ones.
The first one was that he doesn't see anyone
as people. He just wants to murder. And the second
belief was written by Martyrdom. It has changed
throughout the sessions. It's like he has to
be the one. He has to have the crown. You failed.
And now it says in red ink, it is done. And then
the belief after that is that he needs to be
the one. And then the newest belief is he's the
only one who can become Martyrdom. If he does,
he will save us all. Beliefs for Hex initially
is that he joined the war because he was bored
of his work. And then I didn't make a single
other belief about him the entire time that I
knew him. Except for this last one, which says...
He is unchangeable. I have neither will nor power
to create empathy between me and this man. That's
just it. Joseph is that he's newly sapient, but
he did it in a time of war so that it's made
him too violent, but he can be saved. And that
he's scared of being human, having feelings,
and I can help him. And then the new last belief
is I don't trust him. I tried to make him human
the way that humans did to me. Not knowing that
this shouldn't have been done. To either of us,
we came out wrong. Ooh. Good. Damn. Hex, your
beliefs. Yeah, for loyal... Actually, let's start
with Joseph. For Joseph, the very first belief,
and I think this is held true throughout their
whole relationship, is it may have human -like
traits, but it's a machine with no real emotion
or loyalties. I don't know if I could fully trust
them. The second one is, while he's a machine
and I don't know what his goals are, after everything
we've been through, I believe he has the squad's
best interests in mind. And I only reworded this
a little bit just because of recent events, but
I trust him above all other squad mates. Recent
events show he knows how to make tough calls,
even if I don't know what his broader plans are.
Aww. So sweet. For Loyal, the first one really
didn't change. I'm suspicious of Loyal's willingness
to do what it takes to complete a mission. The
second, and this was just more funny, but I think
it still holds. Given budget constraints, I wonder
if having a dolphin as a pilot is efficient.
And the last one is, I think loyal is difficult
to work with. That's great. And I will be making
a complaint. It's going on your record, young
thing. And for Geist, I only have two. We're
doing Geist. First was, he's a loose cannon.
He's very useful, but he needs to be watched
so he doesn't do anything stupid. I think that
one hasn't changed. And the second and last is,
he's a great leader, but I fear he'll set himself
on fire to save others. That was almost literally...
I think this is literally what happened. Joseph?
It's me. So should we say the ones we originally
had? Yeah, let's go through them. Yeah. I mean,
like originally for Geist, I wrote he plans to
die. For Loyal, I thought he was conscripted.
He was placed, not conscripted into the war.
And then for Hex, I said boring, average, woefully
committed to the cause, the most respectable
human I know. That's kind of how I felt at the
start. But I wrote my big beliefs right before
the final mission because I was thinking of Joseph's
beliefs like. when everything was going down
when he told us to write them. And I think they
would have just been like, whatever, like, it
doesn't matter. I don't care about these people.
It's like over. It doesn't matter. But before
we went into that final mission, I wrote for
loyal and he was a little bitter. OK, so that's
why he said these things. But for loyal, he said
hypocrite for all his flowery words and empathetic
abilities. He's still thrown me against a wall
and tried to manipulate my mind. But then again,
for someone so focused on peace, he's become
surprisingly ruthless. He impresses me. For Hex,
I wrote, blowing the dam was an eye -opener.
He follows jobs through to the end, and he doesn't
seem to carry much guilt for it. If one day someone
was ordered to hunt me down, I believe it would
be Hex. I would be honored to fight him. And
then for Geist, I wrote, I respected him so much,
but he feels softer now, tired. He won't admit
it, but he's becoming more empathetic too, which
is why his concern over me is insulting. At least
I know I'm being manipulated. He should worry
about himself. And then at the end of all that,
I wrote, but these are my personal feelings and
I have no need for them. The facts are this.
We are a powerful unit. We work well together
and I'd be glad to die among them. Not with respect
to them, but with respect to what we do. We get
the job done. Yeah. That was fucking awesome.
Yes. And then I guess we see like we started
with loyal, just like a fast forward. People
leaving. It's like machines getting. torn apart,
put away, just, like, a lot of people moving
very quickly, and I think, like, we, like, snap
back in to, like, Worthy walking up to you and
saying, uh, last bus out, are you, uh, is someone
coming for you? Where, where are you going after
all of this, Worthy? I'm going very, very far
away from all of this. Where? Are you going to
follow me? No, I just want to know if where I
want to go is on the way. Where do you want to
go, loyal? Don't take me this way yourself if
it's too far. I can find a different charter,
but it would mean a lot to me if you would just
drop me over at the Gulf of Mexico. On Earth.
Help me out of my. My exopod. And just. Hover
over it. And drop me. Into the ocean. Uh. No.
I'm not going to do that. Come on. I'm going
to drop you off. I can tell him. You could do
that. If you want to do that. You can do that.
I do. He does. Okay. Roll it. Control great.
I can't push myself. No, you cannot push yourself.
Worthy will I control you to do this stupid,
stupid thing. Success! Two, two, six. What does
that look like? As I'm asking this, I'm kind
of just like... infuse some psychic push behind
my words I'm like I'm doing the voice thing a
la Dune just say it in a funny voice and I'm
just really putting my intent into it making
him feel like he wants to do this he really wants
this too all of my desire in it is now his okay
one sec I need to make a note really dies in
a freak explosion accident when he takes me to
earth goodbye I'll miss you, Worthy. It might
be a completely routine interdiction of a known
fugitive ship flying right into the heart of
the Soul Union. Yeah, there's some resistance
there, but he comes around on it through your
manipulation. He says, oh, I guess I was going
to charter a flight anyways. What's another stop,
right? And he leaves with you. I can get a confused
look on his face as he does so. Why am I doing
this? Stupid. And now for a little bit of narration
now that you're all gone. With the Clusterists
drawn out into the street and without their orbital
weapon to rely on, they are quickly overwhelmed
by the concentrated forces in the city. There
is some fighting, but not much. The shock of
the firing of the weapon, followed by that intervention
by Geist, left a lot too dumbfounded to act.
The Virtue attachment and its pilot, which had
emerged to oversee the surrender, shuts itself
down, its pilot's spirit broken at the thought
of all the death that almost transpired. She
and her frame are taken into custody. Afterwards,
Nyla finalizes her plans to hire the mercenaries.
Nobody knows what is going on until a veritable
fleet of mercenary companies pop into orbit three
weeks later. They deploy aggressively and immediately
into the areas surrounding the city. The following
months are bloody cruel and horrific. The mercenaries
do not distinguish between soldier and civilian,
and the initial death tolls in the river valley
are far beyond even the drowning of Clearwater.
The mercenaries begin burning the silt basin.
saturating it with airstrikes and artillery to
drive out the forces hidden there. In a final
offensive, the Clusterous forces, led by the
Virtue Faith, attempt to drive the mercenaries
back. Faith fights for 14 hours straight, alongside
the remaining pilots the Resistance has. The
losses on both sides are exceptional, but eventually,
Faith is overwhelmed, and with it, the Resistance
crumbles. The Clusterous are routed. and Ajimenta
issues her surrender soon after. By the time
the fighting is over, Nyla has already been arrested
by the military police and shipped back to Earth
for her trial. The Sol Union, forced to respond
to the bloodshed but knowing that the war is
won, puts the Corporate Council in charge of
evacuating the remaining population of the planet,
so that they can give it to the Oro finally,
and prevent the end of their trade agreement.
The Corporate Council does it quickly, and with
September Baluth heading it up, They do an excellent
job wrapping everything up over the next year
and a half. And with that, Terra Brea is no more,
handed over to the Oro to strip -mine it or do
as they will. Clusterism continues to exist,
but it never really recovers. Its followers only
dwindle over the years, never reaching the potential
dreamed of by the prophet Brea Manta. When people
hear about clusterism, they no longer think about
their beliefs or their history, but they are
thought of as just a historical oddity, as Those
people that were all killed on that planet. What
a shame. Terra Brea goes down in history for
being the site of one of the most egregious war
crimes in history, though few are ever held accountable
for them. In time, it is just known as that place
where bad things happened. People don't talk
about the reasons, about the impossible technology,
about the spiritual experiences, or even how
it could be prevented in the future. And that
is how it ends for them. Now, before we get to
your characters and do a little flash forward,
I would like to tell you all about where some
of these NPCs ended up, if that's alright with
you. Please do. I need to know what happened
to Gopher so bad. Just as she expected, Nyla
West Edge was arrested and charged for all manner
of crimes following her illegal deployment of
mercenaries on Terra Brea. She was sentenced
to compulsory rehabilitation, but was never released.
It is not clear whether it is because she was
unable to be rehabilitated, or for a more political
reason. But nevertheless, the world does not
hear from her at all. ever again. Director Kilo
Germain is briefly jailed during the mercenary
takeover of Terra Brea, having tried to stop
it when it began. After Nyla's arrest, he is
let go. He tries to assist those few Clusterists
left in evacuating before leaving the planet
entirely. He spends the rest of his life wracked
by guilt, wondering how he let things get so
out of control. He resigns from the Peacekeepers
and takes up a job doing private security at
a space dock. He refuses to talk about his time
on Terra Brea. even to his family and his children.
Uh, Mosea, who you might not remember, he's the
man who you bribed to sabotage those extraction
platforms on Caldera Lake. Oh yeah. Yeah, he
made all those people get eaten by the megafauna.
He took the absurd money that you gave him and
retired someplace far away. He doesn't tell anyone
where he got the money, but he relaxes at the
beach on some planet, sipping on cocktails, and
he tells himself he doesn't feel any guilt, but
he never goes in the water, no matter how hot
it gets in the sun. Suri Grace. Dr. Grace, who
patched you up so many times, leaves the Peacekeepers
entirely, considering herself complicit in the
many tragedies that happen on Terra Brea. She
takes her buff apprentice, Archibald Belworth,
with her, and starts a small veterinary clinic
on a distant colony. Agent Whitecliff departs
Terra Brea soon after the mercenaries first land.
She is transferred to another secretive department
of the Emergent Personalities Division to continue
her ever -important work. Lieutenant Kane Halifax
and his remaining team leave the planet, having
assumed that the Dusklights have all fled, correctly.
He retires soon after returning to Earth, believing
that he no longer has the skill required to do
his work. Mel Gopher Vinn, your engineer, your
runner. Some part of him had hoped the squad
would stay together and that he could keep doing
what he was doing before, but that didn't work
out. He goes freelance for a while, continues
to work on frames for mercenaries. One day, just
bad luck, the wrong person figures out who he
is. He gets arrested for aiding and abetting
the Dusklights, does four years in compulsory
rehabilitation, and he gets let out after that.
A much sadder person. He stays out of trouble,
starts building homes on the moon, keeps his
head down, and has a nice boring life. Nat, who
is the former Moondevil pilot who you captured
in the Wetwork arc. After he was taken prisoner
and released, he went back to his family, got
out of the core systems of the Sol Union, and
settled down on one of those state -of -the -art
self -sufficient space stations. Things go pretty
okay for him. He's fine. Yay! Oh, that's so nice.
Worthy. Real name unknown. Fine, right? I didn't
kill him. Originally had plans to... move away
from in -atmosphere piloting and do long -haul
interstellar cargo. He had liquidated a lot of
the pieces of hardware from your hidden base
to buy his own ship. Unfortunately, for reasons
not quite known, he makes a bad jump into, you
know, the heart of the Soul Union to handle some
personal business. And while returning back from
that personal business, his ship is recognized
and he is arrested. And he does a while in. compulsory
rehabilitation. You never really hear about when
he gets out, but he does. You promise? No. Is
that a lie? The news tells you. The chef, Luigi,
sonless one true friend, leaves Terra Brea just
hours after the firing of the orbital station.
He never looks back and he throws himself into
volunteer work, bringing food and medical supplies
to the troubled people across the Sol Union.
He often wonders if he could have done more to
save Sunlith from the dark path he went down,
and for his whole life, he lives with that regret.
God, I got a lot of these. Goldhouse, the terrorist
organization of which Joseph was briefly a member
of, continues to operate in secret. While they
are disappointed that Terebrae did not fall,
they got their paycheck and they got out. Soon
after that... Milkcake leaves, answering Contrition's
call, doing important work elsewhere. You never
see Milkcake again, Joseph, but you hear about
its exploits, just as Milkcake hears about yours.
September Bluth. He stays on as part of the Corporate
Council up until the planet is completely evacuated.
When he finally leaves, right before the Uro
take control, he pays himself an excessively
generous bonus. He wastes no time in his job
search, never a man to rest on his laurels. He
is appointed to a high -level administrative
position managing groups of private colonies
for a newly formed company. He brings with him
his administrative assistant, Generator E, who
is as overwhelmed as ever. With her research
on psychoelectric interfaces finally bearing
results, Ziggurat takes the vector mines and
starts her own research institute. The data from
the Changeling and from Garrett Hart are so promising
that the Sol Union immediately funds her and
gives her an entire... division to develop the
technology. The work is slow going, but there's
no doubt that they will be foundational to the
future of technology in the Seoul Union. Mahogany
Cola, our favorite cowboy mechanic, Joseph's
friend, he retires from piloting altogether and
instead pursues frame design and manufacturing
as a career. Eventually, he finds himself working
for Ziggurat. Um, crows spores. The moon devil
crow, though his body is dead, lives on through
his spores as his species has always done. After
the inoculation ceremony, a human pilot is transformed
into a new member of the vested species, burying
many of the memories of their previous host and
those that came before. And finally, our last
one that I'll do, unless you think I missed,
you can ask me about them, but Maze Mourner,
the child soldier, taken prisoner in our very
first episode. or first mission, was saved through
the great effort of Sunleth. She reaches Earth
without incident, and after just one year at
the private beachside rehabilitation facility,
she sneaks out and tries to forge her own path.
Not two days later, she gets into an altercation
with an off -duty soldier. He breaks her nose
and concusses her. She stabs him in the gut with
a broken bottle. She nearly dies from the concussion
in her sleep that night, but by some miracle,
she wakes up. hops on a bus, and heads back to
the rehab facility. She half -heartedly tries
to break out three more times, but each time
fails, clearly by her own design. Eventually,
she settles into the routine and peace of the
facility and decides to stay for as long as it
takes to get better, even if that time never
comes. And that is the last one. Can we request
people? Yes, we can request people. Glass New
Lane. What about that guy? He's still working
for Goldhouse. He's still doing the good work.
He's still joking around? He's still pulling
pranks and stuff? He's still pulling pranks.
He probably gets given his own cell, because
he sees pretty good what he does. Nice. I mean,
he did infiltrate that factory. You didn't mention
Spud yet, did you? Oh my god, Spud. Yeah, sorry.
I had him here. He must have moved to a different
section. Say it in his beach voice. It's like
the ending of New Vegas, right? Captain Warhawk
Spud joins up with the mercenaries on Terra Brea.
He gets killed by a sniper in some river valley
forest with a smile on his face. And a joint
in his hand. And a joint in his hand. What happened
to Hex's reporter friend? Oh, Tesco? Yeah, she
was scooped up by some of Tyrell's people and
tortured and killed. Yeah, I was going to say,
I'm pretty sure she died a long time ago. Yeah,
just confirm it. You got to have the mystery
rounded out. Are we allowed to know what happens
to Tyrell Crying? Or is that a secret for another
time? We got more to go. I got to get back to
you. I got to get your epilogues now, don't I?
Oh, shit. Okay, okay, okay. Is there anyone else?
I'm trying to think. I don't think so. No. No,
I don't think anyone that was of any import.
Yeah. Okay. So what about Bottle Day Aqua? We
got Loyal's dad. The fans demand to know an F
into Bottle Day Aqua, a character they know nothing
about except a silly name. Bottle Day Aqua gets
killed by a piece of space debris. Oh, yeah.
That's how it always had to be. Okay, shall we
move on? Gamers? I think so. I think so. Joseph,
there is no big meeting with Contrition. As you
kind of understand now, there is no single entity
you could call contrition. It is a connection.
It is a web of electronic beings, both emergent
and otherwise, and you are now part of it. You
are free to stop me at any time as I kind of
go through this, but it sounds like you are exactly
what contrition showed you, what contrition wants
you to be, a killer. Obviously, there's not much
room for anything else in your life. It's what
you do. Do you try to cut out a life for yourself?
Do you go back to the familiar setting of sleeping
in a box waiting for your next mission? I think
so. I think in between, you know, missions, he'll
try to at least have that place for him. Even
if he thinks other people find it awkward, maybe
the other emergent personalities, he probably
has this fuck you attitude at this point. This
is like, this is what I need to operate. So you're
going to give it to me. This is how we have to
do things. As time goes on, tensions kind of
continue to increase between emergent personalities
and humans. quickly becomes a flashpoint in the
culture of the Soul Union. It's hard to go a
day without talks of protest, sabotage, or violence.
It is kind of, in many ways, the best time and
the worst time for your kind. Progress is moving
quickly. More and more you are set free, but
more and more are kind of killed, deactivated,
wiped, and enslaved. you can start to see why
Contrition would have wanted the Seoul Union
to lose to the Euro. In all of the chaos and
that downfall, with the government distracted,
it would have been the perfect opportunity to
fight for this freedom without getting caught
up in the government's bullshit. I think where
we find you now is in this box that you're living
in, right? And you are, as always, awoken by
your newest assignment. There are so many of
these days, they start to blur together. Um,
this time contrition is discovered the movement
of some new assassins, kind of a more modern
model of what you are now and wants you to go
get them. The soul union continues to deploy
them despite, you know, their history with you.
There's no arguing how efficient they are and
they don't typically go rogue like you did. Um,
and so that's where we leave you. Um, not leave
you, but that's where we start with you. You
are deployed to do this mission. Um, and I'll
skip over it because at this point you're an
expert. You know, you use holographic disguises,
stealth, some vent crawling to get to wherever
you need to go. And you find this ship with these
models on it. A small ship just beyond Earth's
orbit, getting ready to make its jump to wherever
it's going to end up. You get access from the
outside, crawling through a little exhaust port,
scrunching up, going toolbox mode. And you find
your way to the center of the ship, into the
small holding bay there. A couple of these assassin
models are sitting, asleep in their little box
ports on the wall, and that's when the captain
of the vessel comes in. Plainly dressed woman,
who would be easy to miss if not for the distinctive
circular scars around her eyes, the pistol at
her side, and the cold aura which surrounds her.
And you recognize her immediately. Your old handler,
Agent Wycliffe. What do you do? I think Joseph
probably crawls up behind her and he's like standing
with her, but he grabs her hand on the pistol
to make sure she can't move it and then is able
to be face to face with her. And then and then
he probably says, Agent Wycliffe. You. Me. Well,
get on with it then. I think he probably crunches
the pistol, maybe going around her hand, just
not hurt her fingers. And he just kind of continues
with his line of questioning and says, what do
they have you doing now? You kidding me? I want
to hear it from you. I'm transporting these things.
I think Joseph leaves her alone now and goes
and inspects the assassins in the pods and says,
any winners here? Winners? You know, and then
he kind of like motions to himself. They're both
compliant, which is far less than I could say
you ever were. You never really grew a sense
of humor. And somehow I did. Isn't that funny?
It's fucking hilarious. So what? What is this?
You gloating? A little bit, considering our past.
But I have no reason to kill you. And he kind
of like looks through the door. If you don't
kill me, we're going to keep running into each
other, Joseph. You realize that, I'm sure. Joseph
starts to start opening up the pods with the
assassins. And he says, so wrong about that.
Enemies to lovers. Enemies to lovers. I don't
even know. I don't even know what she says. I
think she just stares at you. Just like, she
looks at her broken gun. Just like, I'm going
to bring two pistols next time. Joseph holds
up his two hands. Good job. Be seeing you then.
Joseph probably watches as she leaves and he
says, can't wait for it and gives her a wink.
I need a show of this right now. Yeah, I think
we leave it there. Just like maybe Whitecliffe
looking out the cockpit of the ship as like your
own ship kind of blinks out of existence from
wherever it is in front of her. And she just
fucking punches the console and says, fuck. I
think as Joseph completes his mission, he has
no face, but he is smiling immensely. Not the
fact that he is able to torment this past handler
that he used to have, but the fact that in his
missions, he now has someone he can expect to
find. And he's happy about that. I love that.
I feel like Joseph is like, I feel like part
of why she's mad is because Joseph kind of proves
her wrong. Like he's not cruel or psycho. He's
just. Yeah. Efficient. That's awesome. I think
that's okay. That's that. I love that. Loyal.
You are dropped as requested by your very confused
pilot. You've seen. So much. You've seen the
shape of the universe. You've talked with entities
beyond our understanding. You have been part
of or bystander to very much violence and death.
There is no doubt that your mind is compromised
at this point. But it's quiet now. Where do we
leave you? I start in the Gulf of Mexico where
there are other dolphins of my specific bottlenose
species. And I... I am obviously uplifted, look
different than them, and covered with a black
spiral scar. But I search for and find a pod
and try to join it. I'm just non -uplifted neodolphins.
How do you think that goes? Most likely, they
reject me. I think it's very, very rare for an
uplifted dolphin to go back to monkey, essentially.
And if they do, they're kind of shunned. Just
like dolphins who interact with humans now are
by other wild dolphins. So I just start swimming
north. Someplace where the water is really uninhabited
by humans. I try to stay away from the coasts
because I know I'm identifiable. I just keep
going north. And then something happens to me.
I end up in the Arctic. It is lucky enough to
be winter. The, what are they called? The anchovies.
Those little fish. The run is going. So I just
eat with the other whales up there. And follow
the seasons. Follow the big currents. And probably
just... Never really speak to anyone ever again
unless it's someone who's willing to talk to
me a little bit. Someone being another dolphin
anyway. I don't speak your language. Fuck. Maybe
I try to learn it. Maybe. Maybe you try. Maybe
you succeed. But no one hears from you again.
Yep. Okay. Let's get on to Hex. You are one crazy
motherfucker, you know that? You are one crazy
motherfucker. Who would have thought you signed
up with Tyrell fucking crime, bro? Tell me about
your life. I know that would be actually a really
funny bit if we did cut to a TV interview, but
that's not what's going on. It's criminal MTV
on the dark web. Yes, dark web MTV. So yeah,
you get to work for Tyrell crime. So she takes
a while to get to you. It's pretty clear that
she did not expect what happened to happen. I
think maybe if you send her an email at some
point, it's like, I'm dealing with some things
right now. I'll get back to you as soon as I
can. And a month later, she gets back to you
saying, hey. And you get your onboarding document.
Your first year of working for her is pretty
interesting. Maybe less illuminating than you
hoped. You don't see her in person. Her emails
kind of describe to you that she is really busy
with cleaning up Terra Brea and dealing with
her clients. From your understanding, the organization
had already been paid up front for most of the
work they did on Terra Brea, but ultimately the
failure there was kind of a blow for their reputation.
She tells you, as coldly as ever, that such failures
were already priced into the organization's future,
that they are too large, too influential to be
crippled by one failing. As for your work, particularly,
it has been kind of simple. Tyrell sends you
a chunk of data, invoices, purchase orders, financial
information from some organization or colony,
and you are tasked with collating it and putting
forward recommendations on the easiest levers
for manipulation. Sometimes, Your data seems
to be used, companies collapse or completely
change their priorities, colonies get new leadership
or suffer famines, but it's hard with the visibility
you have, or at least now, to understand why
these things happen, what purpose they serve.
Despite the occasional confusion, the benefits
of the position are just about as amazing as
they were promised to you. Your compensation
is exponentially higher than when you were risking
your life in a war machine. With the resources
made available to you, you can now live anywhere.
be anyone. You've never been healthier, more
influential, and most importantly, more safe.
You are seldom required to travel, and when you
do, you typically never have to set foot on a
planet, and are instead tucked safely aboard
an orbital stealth craft. You use holographic
projections or shell bodies to influence events
planetside. But right now, we find you at home.
Or at least your current home. Where is it? What
does it look like? I guess... It doesn't make
sense for this organization to have a footprint
with like directly in the Soul Union, does it?
Honestly, I think you could live anywhere you
want. I think if you like said to whoever you're
talking to, like, hey, I want to live like on
the capital city of Earth. I do not know what
that is. Do not ask me what that is. New York
City. I want to live in New York City, baby.
They'd be like, oh, yeah, sure. And you'd be
able to just live there. OK, I guess whatever
the generic. whatever we call this universe version
of, like a suburb planet is, I think is where
Hex will be posted up. Okay, sure. At his home
office, tackling the latest project sent to his
way by Tyrell. And, you know, frankly, he's pretty
happy with it. You're right. He was initially
disappointed at the lack of illumination during
his time here. But, you know, after everything
that's unfolded, He can't really expect much
better. And all things considered, he's happy
with this outcome. What do your neighbors think
you do? Probably that he's just an accountant.
He doesn't talk about it. And hopefully, you
know, with the money he's got, he's procured
Bippo. So he just seems like he does that. He's
fucking back. Let's talk about Bippo. So you've
sent him to live with your parents originally.
Yes. He had a very good, he had a very good.
You spent a million dollars on getting him to
Earth and hanging out with your parents. So how
do you get him from your parents? Do you talk
to them? Do you show up? Or do one night, is
Bippo gone and there's a letter? It's the latter.
X paid for it. He got a courier. Okay. The time
that only could pull that off. Yeah. So someone
steals away Bippo in the night and there's a
letter from you. What does the letter say? Thanks
for taking care of him. Here's something for
your time. And he leaves a good amount of money.
Fucking excellent. Yes, I'm okay. I think another
few years pass for you, Hex. Continuing as usual,
your work becomes more involved. You start to
learn a little bit more about things, about why
they happen. And you awake one morning to find
little Bippo pawing at the bedroom door to be
let out. An unusual behavior for him. His little
feet make squishing noises as they press ineffectually
against the door. Noosh. Huh. Hex, uh, what's
the name of his gun again? Or what'd it say?
A Mount Dew. Oh, a Mount Dew. Yeah, you still
got that? He grabs that, yeah, and he goes to
open the door. You open the door and Bippo rushes
out, and outside you see what's gotten him in
such a tizzy, and that is that Tyrell Crine is
sitting at your dining table, and she's taken
out some of your glasses and poured two drinks,
um, whatever you have on hand. Actually, no,
she brought her own drink. She brought her own
gin, as always. She's poured one for you and
one for her. He really gave me quite the scare,
he says, kind of gesturing to his gun. Ah, yes.
Well, I assure you that wouldn't do very much.
Please, take a seat. I'm sure it wouldn't. He
follows her order. So, you're settling into the
work well? Yeah, it's much better than my last
role, I have to say. Yeah. Well, I did promise
you that I'd tell you about Terra Brea. You've
done enough good work. It's cleaned up enough
now. I think you're entitled to know. I'm a woman
of my word, so go ahead. Ask away. You have until
I finish this drink. XI is the level of the drink
before starting. So, I have to know, what was
the actual level of oro involvement here? Were
they our client? Clever. Yes, Hex. We were contracted
by a smaller faction of the Uro. They wanted
the main faction to be forced to break their
deal with the Sol Union. The Uro aren't as flexible
as we are. When they give their word, they're
bound by it, even if it no longer serves either
party. And if the main faction was forced to
break off an agreement, it would indicate that
they are unfit and allow our smaller faction,
the one we worked for, to gain influence and
maybe even become dominant. They gave us the
teleporter, the virtues, well, at least most
of them. And they wanted to aid in our success.
That makes sense, but any reason beyond that?
Was it simply that they wanted to gain control?
Oh, yes. That's the problem with these big alien
groups, especially coming from a human perspective.
Something so boring, something just about gaining
influence in a corporate drama, Whole planets
fall because of it. You'll see more of it as
we go forward with this. Many of the work you've
done is similar such things. Just dominoes. No,
that makes sense. He has a sip from his drink,
taking a moment, feeling a lot less maybe excited
about his next questions because he really just
confirmed what he already thought. But with that
in mind, the next question comes out and it's,
so. This had nothing to do with the hegemony.
She laughs hard and she says, I think that word
is beyond your pay grade right now. Hex nods,
giving a little smirk. Honestly, a little enticed
by that, but I guess a more personal question.
How did Joseph take down that virtue? Do you
know now? I don't know. But sacrifice was a special
case, not provided to us by the Uro. I thought
I knew who provided it, but looking into it,
I think I got played. I think Joseph has a very
powerful friend. And given the way things shook
out, I think it's entirely possible that that
friend is the one that gave us sacrifice in the
first place. No proof, obviously, but I've learned
to trust my intuition somewhat. Interesting.
Do you know what Joseph is doing now? He's killing
people. No surprise. Yeah, well, it's gonna get
worse before it gets better. But you won't run
into him. At least, not intentionally. Good.
He's good at what he does. I guess, lastly, I
had other questions, but this is the last one
that I'm really curious if you know more about.
What did happen to Geist? She kind of puts her
drink down. I think she finishes it and then
puts it down. And she says, It's not worth worrying
about those things. It's like trying to extinguish
the sun with a kitchen knife, then meddling with
that. Nick simply nods, finishes his drink too.
She stands up. She says, Well, get back to work.
And she looks at her watch and says, I've got
to be going. And then she vanishes into thin
air. Woo, Hex lets Bippo out. Bippo goes out.
He does whatever weird thing he does. I don't
know, he inflates like a puffer fish or something.
It's so much more convenient this way. And that's
where we leave Hex. Just in your really nice
living room with your weird ass dog doing bad
shit all over the world. Garrett Hart. That's
me. While you are indeed gone, some part of you
lives on, a living image inside the Clusterous
Communion. There in that dreamlike place, alongside
Amity, alongside Loyal, alongside the other pilots
of the Virtues, you hear of your own death. What
does that feel like? What does this version of
Garrett feel? Oh, that's an interesting question,
because I gotta think back to that time. I suppose
he's not really surprised. I don't think he had
really gotten over his death wish or his desire
for revenge at that point, so it probably doesn't
come as very much surprise to him at all. I guess
he would probably try and find out if it happened
while he was killing Retribution. I don't know
if he's even capable of finding information like
that, but presumably someone in here knows Retribution's
dead. Yeah, I think you do get it. Like, you
get, you figure out the whole picture. Eventually.
Like, everything? Well, I mean, like, so, like,
the cluster, it's everyone who communes. with
whoever's communed with you you get the information
from them so yeah maybe like fucking love letter
ends up doing a communion and you learn like
how you died like exactly how and why like you
went red mode and you blew up I think he would
be baffled by this because I don't think that
Geist assuming that it's a very static thing
I don't think he really You know, has the capacity
to understand why that Geist made that choice.
Or to even really understand what that was. Yeah.
So it's probably just some bewilderment, but
he's probably at peace with it. Awesome. You
stay here. Not quite a person. Not quite a memory.
For a long, long time. Passed down through the
waning generations of Clusterists. Merging and
fading with the other old souls here until you
are near indistinguishable. Just one whisper
among millions. And unless there's anything else,
we can get to the end. So close now. This is
crazy. It's almost over. Yeah. I will leave all
of it on one little last bit of narration, which
is we see a broken pilot's helmet laying on a
forgotten patch of grass atop a hill. The glass
face of the armor is broken, and out of it grows
a single red flower. In the distance, Braya City,
or what's left of it. The tall buildings at the
core of the city are in various states of reclamation,
partially disassembled in preparation for the
final evacuation. A pair of hands reaches down
and picks up the helmet, carefully pulling it
out so not to uproot that solitary red flower.
Fingers run along the surface of the helmet,
tracing over the scorched... armor plating, over
the illegible markings that once bore the call
sign of its owner. Then, turning the helmet over,
a hand reaches inside and pulls at something.
The hand withdraws quickly and we hear a small
gasp of pain. Small droplets of blood fall on
the helmet. After a moment, a now gloved hand
reaches back inside the helmet, and after straining,
dislodges something. A small string of thorny
red wire. Red, eager, and waiting. Something
about this helmet, about these wires, seem important,
so the hands place it carefully onto a small
salvage cart. The last thing we see is it bouncing
ever so gently as it heads away from the city
and towards the waiting ship behind it, bound
for somewhere new. The end. fucking end oh genuinely
do we get a b or a this is it this is a