The Mission | 4.8

[00:00:00] Escaping Denver, Batch 4, Episode 8, The Mission

[00:00:31] Birds can't smell you or anything, right? There's no, like, bloodhound bird that I don't know about. Am I missing something? Did a crow follow me across a dozen states? Is that even possible? I feel like I'm losing my mind here, folks. I really do. It is impossible, though, right?

[00:00:47] What I saw was a crow. Just a crow. Not an old friend or secret spy satellite, but a crow. Right?

[00:00:55] Attention, passengers. Do not leave baggage unattended. Unattended baggage may be confiscated and or destroyed.

[00:01:03] And before we waste emails on the obvious, yes, I'm in a train station again. Where? Doesn't matter. The very clever will deduce it and the information won't matter for those who can't.

[00:01:11] It's up to the collective to figure out if I'm heading to Fort Worth or maybe Spokane or visiting Sarah's family in Flagstaff.

[00:01:18] Or this could all be a ruse and I'm getting on a bus or nothing at all. See?

[00:01:22] I've given nothing away by being in a train station. And if they're sending spy birds after me, it doesn't matter anyways.

[00:01:29] It is impossible, though, right?

[00:01:31] Almost as impossible as cloning people in an attempt to make a key to a portal to another world.

[00:01:36] Because that's what the archivist is implying. What we've known all along to some degree.

[00:01:41] Initially, I thought they were the key to opening the portal, but now, now it feels like they're literally the key.

[00:01:48] And then what? The collective tested on us to make a new army?

[00:01:52] No. They tested on you to make a key.

[00:01:56] How can a person be a key?

[00:01:58] I'm not sure.

[00:01:59] And why does it involve changing our DNA?

[00:02:01] I'm not sure.

[00:02:02] And if so, why even choose us?

[00:02:04] You're not sure.

[00:02:06] I'm not. I'm sorry.

[00:02:08] But you had to know they had a purpose for you.

[00:02:10] I thought the experiment was the purpose.

[00:02:13] That the powers and the maze and the song was the whole fucking purpose.

[00:02:16] I can see you're upset.

[00:02:18] I'm-

[00:02:19] We're frustrated.

[00:02:21] I'm like the original collective.

[00:02:22] They were also getting pretty tired of existing on the whim of powers they didn't understand.

[00:02:27] And finding out that all this was happening long before you were captives couldn't have helped.

[00:02:33] Who cares about that?

[00:02:34] I actually do.

[00:02:35] We've always existed under somebody's thumb.

[00:02:38] Whether it's the government or travelers from the beyond doesn't change my experience.

[00:02:42] It's all the same bullshit.

[00:02:45] These truths don't affect the lives of the individual as much as we'd like to think.

[00:02:48] I thought I was the glib one.

[00:02:50] I thought the same.

[00:02:51] This isn't glib. It's realistic.

[00:02:54] Pragmatic even.

[00:02:55] Makes the pill all the easier to swallow.

[00:02:58] Yeah, but the pill we're trying to swallow is that aliens have always been here and in control.

[00:03:04] It's a big fucking pill.

[00:03:06] Aliens, government, hell, even a bad job.

[00:03:09] If I'm not steering and have no control over who is, why bother complaining?

[00:03:16] The collective certainly felt differently.

[00:03:19] Thank God. Some sense.

[00:03:21] They're the ones who've been doing all this to us.

[00:03:24] We don't know that yet.

[00:03:25] He hasn't finished his story.

[00:03:27] So far, they're the heroes in this.

[00:03:29] Oh, it's the collective, all right.

[00:03:32] They've 100% been the ones testing and hunting you.

[00:03:35] Travelers have been wiped out.

[00:03:36] See?

[00:03:38] Wait, what?

[00:03:39] They're gone.

[00:03:41] Gone.

[00:03:41] Like, all of them?

[00:03:43] As far as the collective is aware.

[00:03:45] Yes.

[00:03:46] But how?

[00:03:47] They were aliens with all sorts of future tech.

[00:03:50] They were teachers.

[00:03:51] Artists.

[00:03:52] And explorers.

[00:03:53] Still.

[00:03:54] Not still.

[00:03:56] That's all they ever were.

[00:03:58] Pacifists.

[00:03:59] Not once is a show of violence mentioned in the runes.

[00:04:02] At least not a show of violence from the travelers.

[00:04:05] Wasn't necessary.

[00:04:06] Humans have a singular unifying reaction to the other.

[00:04:10] Fear.

[00:04:11] It was likely their means of control.

[00:04:13] I shouldn't have to say that ruling through fear is pretty much the same as violence.

[00:04:17] Am I wrong?

[00:04:19] No.

[00:04:20] Really?

[00:04:21] Dude.

[00:04:22] It all depends on what you do to earn that reaction of fear.

[00:04:25] An iron fist in human misery is one way.

[00:04:28] And another?

[00:04:29] The personification of moralistic and everlasting repercussions.

[00:04:33] What?

[00:04:34] They pretended to be God.

[00:04:36] They were received as gods.

[00:04:38] So all religions are just alien propaganda?

[00:04:40] Of course not.

[00:04:42] Most religions are fabrications by humans to control and subjugate.

[00:04:46] These aren't religions I'm talking about.

[00:04:48] More ancient beliefs.

[00:04:51] Thousands of years ago, even before the written word, stories were passed down through an oral tradition.

[00:04:57] Like a game of multi-generational telephone, the story twists and turns through the ages.

[00:05:03] Evolving.

[00:05:04] Stories of first contact, direct intervention, and outside influence become the greetings and guiding of gods.

[00:05:12] And now us, sitting here thousands of years later, have to dissect these stories and try to untwist them.

[00:05:19] Get to the original truth.

[00:05:20] I've never heard of frog gods interacting with anyone.

[00:05:23] Have you?

[00:05:24] Frog gods?

[00:05:26] No.

[00:05:27] See?

[00:05:27] But, I mean, history is littered with animal-human hybrids.

[00:05:31] You're not helping.

[00:05:32] In Mesoamerican cultures, you have heaps of animal hybrids.

[00:05:35] Egyptians have Ra, Set, and Anubis.

[00:05:38] Even Odin was said to be accompanied by two large dogs.

[00:05:40] They were wolves.

[00:05:41] But yes.

[00:05:42] Are you insinuating that was all the aliens?

[00:05:45] Maybe.

[00:05:47] Was it?

[00:05:48] Likely.

[00:05:49] They were said to be shapeshifters.

[00:05:50] But whether it was fast like an octopus or slow is yet to be seen.

[00:05:54] I've always thought that many of your gods were likely transitions gone wrong.

[00:05:58] Like failing upwards.

[00:06:00] They're trying to make us into them.

[00:06:03] What?

[00:06:04] Aren't they?

[00:06:05] You're jumping ahead a bit.

[00:06:06] But yes.

[00:06:07] That's what I've deduced with the given info.

[00:06:09] What am I missing?

[00:06:11] That's how we're the key.

[00:06:12] I still don't.

[00:06:13] Whatever this door is, it'll only open for them.

[00:06:16] Like a DNA combo locker.

[00:06:18] Not how I would have described it.

[00:06:19] But yes.

[00:06:21] Essentially.

[00:06:21] You said you didn't know how we were the key.

[00:06:24] I said I wasn't sure.

[00:06:26] And I'm still not.

[00:06:27] I've never seen this door.

[00:06:29] And I don't think anyone in the collective have either.

[00:06:31] Every expedition to those depths has disappeared without a trace.

[00:06:35] So they don't even know how close to the door they're getting.

[00:06:37] How do they know the door is even there?

[00:06:39] A repeated piece of text found throughout the world.

[00:06:41] In multiple languages.

[00:06:44] Septum ingressis e exodus.

[00:06:46] Kiper.

[00:06:47] Or rather.

[00:06:48] Seven ingresses and egresses that pair.

[00:06:51] That's it?

[00:06:52] Seven ways in and out?

[00:06:54] That's the sentence that kickstarted all of this?

[00:06:57] That's certainly simplifying it.

[00:06:59] But really.

[00:07:00] How do we know this door is even down here in the facility?

[00:07:03] Where in those like six words does it say the tunnels under Denver?

[00:07:07] It doesn't.

[00:07:08] Then how do we even know it's here?

[00:07:10] Because they just do.

[00:07:11] That is a non-answer.

[00:07:12] You sound like my mother when she loses an argument.

[00:07:15] Your mother said that to save face.

[00:07:17] Whatever she was trying to explain away would have been too much for your feeble child's brain to comprehend.

[00:07:23] And rather than invite the hundreds of follow-up questions, she would shut it down.

[00:07:28] Just as I have done.

[00:07:29] For the same reason.

[00:07:31] That was...

[00:07:32] Yeah.

[00:07:33] I feel both insulted and embarrassed.

[00:07:36] Is there a word for this?

[00:07:38] Humiliated.

[00:07:38] Hang on.

[00:07:39] Yeah.

[00:07:39] I feel humiliated.

[00:07:41] That was not my intent.

[00:07:42] Honestly.

[00:07:43] I just flew off the handle, as it were.

[00:07:46] You seemed pretty calm.

[00:07:47] I was raging.

[00:07:49] Inside.

[00:07:50] I'm sorry, but we have to ask questions.

[00:07:53] No.

[00:07:54] You want to.

[00:07:55] But still, I understand.

[00:07:58] I've spent a lifetime cataloging, researching, and connecting the dots.

[00:08:02] So simple questions feel like an insult to the work I've done.

[00:08:06] But why do they know the exit is here?

[00:08:08] Math.

[00:08:09] Backtracking from one of the seven entrance sites and connecting it to this space.

[00:08:14] Confirmed when they found travelers working in the space.

[00:08:18] Maintaining, or encouraging, we still don't know, the wildlife.

[00:08:22] Reasoning that the creatures came from somewhere,

[00:08:25] and maybe when you use the door to exit, they're able to squeeze in.

[00:08:29] Do you know the math?

[00:08:31] No.

[00:08:31] I don't even know all seven ingresses.

[00:08:34] Do you know any?

[00:08:36] Some.

[00:08:37] Pyramids?

[00:08:38] Which ones?

[00:08:39] Uh, Giza complex?

[00:08:41] No.

[00:08:42] The Sphinx?

[00:08:44] That's part of the Giza complex.

[00:08:46] Right.

[00:08:47] The Red Pyramid?

[00:08:48] Oh.

[00:08:49] Yeah, he smiled.

[00:08:50] You saw him smile.

[00:08:51] Stonehenge?

[00:08:52] That's one.

[00:08:53] I was still guessing.

[00:08:54] Wait, is that why they were building one underground?

[00:08:57] I told you all about that.

[00:08:58] It's why I asked.

[00:09:00] So is that why they were building one?

[00:09:02] Probably to better understand it.

[00:09:04] But Stonehenge isn't the pair for this exit.

[00:09:07] What is?

[00:09:09] I don't know.

[00:09:10] If I did, I could understand the supposed math.

[00:09:13] But that's kept secret.

[00:09:14] Even from me.

[00:09:15] And imagine it's something I'll never learn now.

[00:09:19] I really love this space.

[00:09:21] I think you upset him.

[00:09:23] We're sorry we've upturned your life.

[00:09:25] I don't like change.

[00:09:27] I don't think anyone does.

[00:09:28] And look, if it helps, you can come with us.

[00:09:31] Come with you?

[00:09:33] With all due respect, you're a sinking boat offering me a ride.

[00:09:37] No, I'll be fine.

[00:09:38] It's you I'm worried about.

[00:09:40] Dare I say the Archivist is growing attached to us.

[00:09:43] Worried can have a variety of meanings.

[00:09:45] I don't know how much more I should help you.

[00:09:47] Because I'm not sure I want you to open that door.

[00:09:50] Who says we can?

[00:09:53] A hunch.

[00:09:54] You two have done more than any before you.

[00:09:57] I need more information.

[00:09:58] And you need some rest.

[00:10:00] You'll be safe here.

[00:10:01] And after you're back up and about, I'll help in the best way I see fit.

[00:10:06] That's it?

[00:10:06] A hunch?

[00:10:08] For what it's worth, we don't want to open this door.

[00:10:12] We just want out.

[00:10:13] Ideally with some proof to bring some justice to the collective.

[00:10:17] I know you don't want to open the door.

[00:10:19] But what if your die has already been cast?

[00:10:21] Whoa, unexpected belief in fate.

[00:10:24] I believe in patterns.

[00:10:25] And yours leaves a trail of destruction.

[00:10:29] Let me get some more information while you rest.

[00:10:31] We'll be safe here?

[00:10:32] Yes.

[00:10:33] And you won't fuck us over, right?

[00:10:35] I'd hate to have to kill you.

[00:10:36] No, I won't fuck you over.

[00:10:39] And I'd hate for you to try.

[00:10:41] Rest up.

[00:10:45] I can't believe you got him to swear.

[00:10:48] Some days raising kids feels like no matter what you do, it's the wrong thing.

[00:10:53] So we created a place for parents to share their terrible and hilarious mistakes with other sleep-deprived parents just like us.

[00:11:01] I'm Ryan.

[00:11:02] I'm Johnny.

[00:11:03] And I'm Shauna.

[00:11:03] And between us, we have seven kids ages 4 to 17.

[00:11:07] Join us for a brand new season of our podcast, Bad Parents.

[00:11:10] This season, you can watch the video version of the podcast as well on YouTube.

[00:11:15] Search for and follow the Bad Parents podcast wherever you find your podcasts.

[00:11:19] New episodes every Wednesday.

[00:11:22] I'm safely indoors.

[00:11:23] Of course.

[00:11:25] Right.

[00:11:27] Aliens.

[00:11:28] Right?

[00:11:29] Sure, when this all started, hearing aliens would have set off my hokum alarms.

[00:11:33] And yes, statistically, there is other life in the universe.

[00:11:36] But why would they waste a minute of it in Colorado?

[00:11:39] No offense, Colorado.

[00:11:40] I'm sure the altitude is worth the trek across the country.

[00:11:42] I just don't buy that it's worth the trek across the galaxy.

[00:11:46] But now, it's almost a relief to hear aliens.

[00:11:50] I was worried that these fear beings or travelers, now aliens, were part of this ancient culture that predated us.

[00:11:57] And we, being humans, wiped them out.

[00:11:59] And while it sounds like we did that anyways, it's not filled with the same, I don't know, colonial guilt.

[00:12:05] They came here under the apparent directive to guide us and fast track us into being some sort of galactic neighbor.

[00:12:11] Not giving us the technology, mind you, but somehow helping us.

[00:12:14] And I don't buy it.

[00:12:16] Call it my human lens, but I don't see how anyone with superior technology, knowledge, and power would not subjugate these us lesser beings.

[00:12:25] In fact, I'd argue that being received as gods is against their directive to make us equals.

[00:12:30] Power corrupts.

[00:12:32] All beings, apparently.

[00:12:34] Ape and Axolotl alike.

[00:12:35] And hearing that the collective started out as this great resistance doesn't help either.

[00:12:40] It just confirms that neither party should be steering.

[00:12:44] It's beginning to feel like there are no good guys in this fight at all.

[00:12:49] Ah.

[00:12:50] I was out cold there for a while.

[00:12:53] I didn't realize how tired I was.

[00:12:56] It felt weird to let my guard down.

[00:12:59] Even here.

[00:13:00] Even under the watchful eye of the great archivist.

[00:13:07] I'm grateful for whatever help we're going to get for him.

[00:13:10] I just...

[00:13:12] I don't know.

[00:13:13] There's just stuff he's obviously not telling us.

[00:13:18] And now we need to decide whether that's enough of a red flag in and of itself.

[00:13:24] And I say we to include Noah, but...

[00:13:27] I'm here by myself.

[00:13:29] Noah left a note.

[00:13:31] That he was teaching the archivist a game.

[00:13:34] Priorities.

[00:13:37] Hmm.

[00:13:38] I mean, the archivist has a decent setup here.

[00:13:41] A few cargo containers in the stacks of literally hundreds.

[00:13:46] Or even thousands of cargo containers.

[00:13:54] The deeper we get into the archives, the more these archives feel impossible.

[00:13:59] Endless, even.

[00:14:01] The archivist says there are lower levels filled with private libraries and chemically sealed God knows what.

[00:14:08] Another red flag.

[00:14:10] I mean, how does one man keep charge of such an impossibly large collection?

[00:14:16] It takes six city workers to dig a hole.

[00:14:19] Yet this one man catalogues, protects all of this.

[00:14:23] He doesn't do it alone.

[00:14:25] Give me a heart attack?

[00:14:26] Fuck me!

[00:14:27] Sorry, I didn't mean to...

[00:14:29] Cough? Knock? Something?

[00:14:31] I thought you heard me.

[00:14:32] I'm a captive on the run with superpowers.

[00:14:34] I didn't think...

[00:14:35] Well, think.

[00:14:38] What are you doing here?

[00:14:39] The archivist.

[00:14:41] Of course.

[00:14:42] We share some of the same network.

[00:14:44] For an endless tunnel system, this is all feeling very small town.

[00:14:48] We share some of the same network.

[00:14:51] And I insisted on being the one who came.

[00:14:54] Finally.

[00:14:55] Some honesty.

[00:14:56] What do you want?

[00:14:57] To help.

[00:15:00] Really.

[00:15:00] You're checking in on me.

[00:15:02] What's there to check in on?

[00:15:04] You rescued Noah.

[00:15:05] Noah.

[00:15:05] Partial broiled Harper.

[00:15:07] Job done.

[00:15:08] I rescued a Noah.

[00:15:10] And what do you mean, partial broiled?

[00:15:12] That blast should have turned her to ash.

[00:15:14] Looks like you're made of tough stuff.

[00:15:16] Even without powers.

[00:15:18] She survived.

[00:15:19] Which doesn't make sense.

[00:15:20] Why not pump her full of the same cocktail as they did me before sending her in after us?

[00:15:25] I'm sure they did, but like an organ transplant, sometimes it doesn't take.

[00:15:29] In fact, it rarely does.

[00:15:32] And pumping her with even more serum would...

[00:15:35] Create a monster.

[00:15:36] I'm not so sure that wasn't the case anyway.

[00:15:40] Now that we're no longer in the grass of the Collective, are you going to try and kill us again?

[00:15:45] No.

[00:15:45] Lesson learned.

[00:15:47] You're more valuable as an ally than a dead asset.

[00:15:50] Oh, you make it sound so romantic.

[00:15:52] You don't strike me as one who loves flowery language.

[00:15:55] No, I don't love flowery anything.

[00:15:58] So, if there's nothing to check in on, why come?

[00:16:02] To congratulate you.

[00:16:04] You continue to surprise us.

[00:16:06] And because we still need your help.

[00:16:08] There it is.

[00:16:10] What do I get?

[00:16:12] Same thing we do.

[00:16:13] To get to stop the Collective.

[00:16:15] For now.

[00:16:16] To get to stop the Collective for now.

[00:16:18] I mean, every win we've had has been followed up by another challenge.

[00:16:22] Another wave.

[00:16:23] It's like trying to fight back the tide.

[00:16:25] I agree.

[00:16:26] It's too much power for anyone to have, which is why it's paramount that we curb it now.

[00:16:31] Is this about the door?

[00:16:33] I told the Archivist we wouldn't open it.

[00:16:35] Hell, I made a deal with Tunnel Tarzan not to open it before I even knew what the door was.

[00:16:41] I have no desire to welcome in a bunch of alien creatures, nor am I interested in helping the Collective.

[00:16:48] While I appreciate that sentiment, I no longer believe they need you to open it anymore.

[00:16:53] We should get inside.

[00:16:55] That's just Noah.

[00:16:56] I know who it is.

[00:16:57] But as he hasn't seen me since I tried to kill him, I'd prefer not to cause a scene out in the open in case he reacts unfavorably.

[00:17:05] You act like you're scared of him.

[00:17:07] I am.

[00:17:10] I'd asked that you not yell.

[00:17:12] Sorry, I'm just...

[00:17:12] She tried to kill us!

[00:17:14] Many have.

[00:17:15] Yeah, well those ones usually end up dead.

[00:17:18] Which is what I'm hoping to avoid.

[00:17:20] Of course you are.

[00:17:21] Noah, please.

[00:17:23] You can't possibly buy this.

[00:17:24] She directed us to a planned bombing site in order to use us as bait.

[00:17:28] Which worked.

[00:17:29] Worked?

[00:17:30] If she had it her way, we'd be scattered in a million pieces amongst the debris.

[00:17:33] But she didn't have it her way.

[00:17:35] Then what worked?

[00:17:36] Got rid of Andre and his kill squad, and destroyed their capacity to make thousands more of us.

[00:17:40] But...

[00:17:41] I get it.

[00:17:42] This is all batshit, but it always has been.

[00:17:45] All of it.

[00:17:46] She can help us, and we could use the help.

[00:17:48] She's more valuable to us as an ally than a dead asset.

[00:17:52] Exactly.

[00:17:52] Yeah, not quite ready for your import just yet.

[00:17:55] We need help, right?

[00:17:57] Not from her.

[00:17:58] Do we need help?

[00:17:59] But...

[00:17:59] Do we?

[00:18:02] Yes.

[00:18:03] I didn't bring her here.

[00:18:05] He did.

[00:18:06] And we came to him for help, so this is him helping.

[00:18:09] She right?

[00:18:09] I asked her to come.

[00:18:10] Yes.

[00:18:11] So I'm all voted on this.

[00:18:12] I don't remember a vote.

[00:18:14] You're not out anything.

[00:18:15] This is just you and me.

[00:18:17] And if this is all too fishy for you, we can bounce.

[00:18:20] But if it isn't, I say we allow them to help us in any way they can.

[00:18:25] I mean, she was the one who gave me the walkman.

[00:18:28] A walkman?

[00:18:30] Cassette player.

[00:18:31] Can I see it?

[00:18:33] Is this really the time?

[00:18:34] Yes.

[00:18:41] There.

[00:18:41] Look away.

[00:18:42] It's broken anyway.

[00:18:43] You broke it?

[00:18:44] I was blown up.

[00:18:46] Look, can we get back on task?

[00:18:49] Which was?

[00:18:50] Convincing Noah to let you help us.

[00:18:52] I'm convinced.

[00:18:54] Really?

[00:18:55] I don't want to force you into this.

[00:18:57] No, we need the help.

[00:18:59] But can we please stop befriending the people who try to kill us?

[00:19:03] No promises.

[00:19:06] Go.

[00:19:06] You have the floor.

[00:19:08] Help away.

[00:19:10] Just like that?

[00:19:11] All right.

[00:19:12] Hi.

[00:19:13] We've met, but I'd of course like to start again.

[00:19:17] I'm Noah.

[00:19:17] Captive.

[00:19:19] Your Sand Dune cult leader.

[00:19:21] Sand Hugh.

[00:19:22] Close enough.

[00:19:23] One is a land form and the other is Danish for truth.

[00:19:27] Thank you.

[00:19:27] The title of Sand Hugh is an honorary title bestowed upon me by those who remember the truth.

[00:19:32] We're not a cult.

[00:19:34] Technically, no.

[00:19:36] You'd need to be worshipping a leader who is still alive.

[00:19:38] And in your case, the travelers have been wiped out.

[00:19:41] Thank you, Archivist.

[00:19:43] Once again, so coldly but accurately put.

[00:19:46] We're a think tank in opposition to the collective.

[00:19:49] You have an underground cathedral.

[00:19:50] Think tanks need spaces to work.

[00:19:53] And in the spirit of transparency, yes.

[00:19:56] The roots of the group were certainly more worshipped based than we are today.

[00:20:00] In true human nature, we looked to them as gods.

[00:20:04] But that has obviously evolved into our acknowledging their true purpose.

[00:20:08] To guide us into the next era of evolution.

[00:20:11] To invite us into a new stage of trade.

[00:20:14] Trading in goods, yes.

[00:20:16] But more the trade of ideas.

[00:20:18] Technology.

[00:20:19] Ideologies.

[00:20:21] And I fear we may have lost that invitation when the collective killed our guides.

[00:20:25] So this is what you need our help with?

[00:20:27] Wait, I thought they were helping us.

[00:20:29] They go hand in hand.

[00:20:31] What could we possibly do to mend that relationship?

[00:20:33] We can't bring them back.

[00:20:35] No.

[00:20:36] But we can stop them from progressing this war.

[00:20:38] The door.

[00:20:39] It all comes back to this fucking door that we don't even know exists.

[00:20:44] We do know it exists.

[00:20:46] Technically we don't.

[00:20:47] But it could.

[00:20:48] Not helping.

[00:20:49] Yes, it's the door for lack of better term.

[00:20:52] We believe you were being tested on to create some sort of key.

[00:20:57] So we've been told.

[00:20:58] I don't think they ever intended to physically use you two for the expedition down.

[00:21:02] You were just the lab rats for the cocktail.

[00:21:05] You know how to make us feel special.

[00:21:07] But you are special.

[00:21:09] Truly.

[00:21:09] Broke out of the testing levels.

[00:21:11] With help.

[00:21:12] And made it through miles of uncontrolled levels filled with creatures the likes of which very few people have survived.

[00:21:18] Again, with help.

[00:21:20] Which you find and earn.

[00:21:23] In the heart of a facility literally teeming with enemies, you two keep finding friends.

[00:21:29] That is something in and of itself.

[00:21:30] And everyone who helps us ends up dead.

[00:21:33] Tunnel Tarzan, Andre, Alan, even Camilla.

[00:21:36] We leave bodies in your wake.

[00:21:38] You leave change.

[00:21:40] And that's why I think you got all those people to follow you.

[00:21:43] To help you despite the danger involved.

[00:21:46] And we should feel good about this?

[00:21:48] I don't care how you feel about it.

[00:21:50] I care about the results.

[00:21:52] You two have done more in your short time here than we have done in our decades of resistance.

[00:21:57] I'd say we are to take it home.

[00:22:00] I agree.

[00:22:01] Then what's the hold up?

[00:22:02] If we're the danger of opening the door, send us home.

[00:22:05] Get us the hell out of here and away from the door.

[00:22:07] What am I missing?

[00:22:09] They still need our help.

[00:22:11] We do.

[00:22:12] We've received intel that they've created something they believe can open the door.

[00:22:16] Yeah.

[00:22:17] We can't defuse a bomb or anything.

[00:22:18] It's not really our skill set.

[00:22:20] You took down the puncher.

[00:22:21] I wouldn't sell your skill set short.

[00:22:24] But no.

[00:22:25] It's not a bomb.

[00:22:26] It's an it.

[00:22:27] Like a creature?

[00:22:29] Like.

[00:22:30] But from what we've heard, it's on a scale we've never seen before.

[00:22:33] Like elephant big?

[00:22:36] Kaiju big.

[00:22:37] Holy shit.

[00:22:39] What's a Kaiju?

[00:22:41] Like a Godzilla or Mothra or whatever.

[00:22:43] We can't take on a Kaiju.

[00:22:45] Between her strength and your healing, you might be the only ones able.

[00:22:49] We don't have the same resources as a collective.

[00:22:52] No spider robots in our arsenal.

[00:22:55] But surely you have soldiers.

[00:22:56] People trained to do this.

[00:22:58] Trained to kill.

[00:22:58] Your lack of training hasn't been holding you back.

[00:23:01] And Sarah is racking up the kind of numbers they make documentaries about.

[00:23:05] But we're still hoping it doesn't come to you taking this thing head on.

[00:23:09] They have one massive hurdle ahead of themselves still.

[00:23:12] Taming it?

[00:23:13] Getting that thing down there, to begin with.

[00:23:16] There are very few routes to the depths.

[00:23:18] Let alone direct routes for a 50-foot bastard of science.

[00:23:22] 50 foot?

[00:23:22] I said Mothra.

[00:23:24] I had no idea what you were talking about.

[00:23:25] I was just nodding along.

[00:23:26] Sorry, and you expect us to fight this thing?

[00:23:29] If it comes to it, yes.

[00:23:31] But in the meantime, maybe we can stop them from moving it at all.

[00:23:36] But how?

[00:23:37] Block whatever new tunnel they're digging?

[00:23:39] They're not digging.

[00:23:40] But you said...

[00:23:41] The shafts.

[00:23:42] What, they're just going to drop it down?

[00:23:44] There's been a massive construction project happening in one of the shafts to the west.

[00:23:49] A lot of resources pouring in, and it looks like they're making a lift system.

[00:23:53] Something to bring the thing down, and maybe bring large quantities of things up.

[00:23:58] Up?

[00:23:59] Like plundering the other side of the door?

[00:24:01] In one way or another, yes.

[00:24:04] If they want to bring things up, they might want to bring them to the surface.

[00:24:08] This was our thinking.

[00:24:10] While the lift is still said to be under construction, our understanding is that they have a series

[00:24:14] of ladders and platforms that run all the way to the top.

[00:24:18] If you can sabotage the lift and drop an explosive down the shaft, we'll have likely shut them

[00:24:24] down from getting the weapon to the lower levels.

[00:24:27] Couldn't they use another shaft?

[00:24:29] Depending in which lab it was made, they might be limited to that shaft, failing some significant

[00:24:34] tunneling, which is neither fast nor easy.

[00:24:37] And we do this thing for you?

[00:24:38] Destroy the lift, drop the bomb?

[00:24:40] We what, climb up and out to the free world?

[00:24:44] Basically.

[00:24:45] Where is the part where you help us?

[00:24:47] We'll equip you with some fresh resources, weapons, whatever you need.

[00:24:51] What about on the surface?

[00:24:52] What?

[00:24:53] I share Noah's confusion.

[00:24:55] You have power on the surface, right?

[00:24:58] Connections, money.

[00:24:59] Our network is global, if that's what you mean.

[00:25:02] But we're not rich, if that's what you're after.

[00:25:05] Well, we need something.

[00:25:07] When we get to the surface, if we get to the surface, we still have to live.

[00:25:11] We're going to spend the rest of our lives on the run.

[00:25:13] Which would be the case whether you help us or not.

[00:25:16] Exactly.

[00:25:16] So why risk our lives?

[00:25:18] We could just get to the shaft and head upwards.

[00:25:21] And don't blab on about the greater good because that's not a selling feature.

[00:25:25] You're all assholes from my humble position in all of this.

[00:25:28] I wouldn't say I'm an asshole.

[00:25:30] What can you offer?

[00:25:32] You do this thing for us.

[00:25:34] Sabotage the lift or stop the creature.

[00:25:36] We can give you both new names, new social insurance numbers, and enough pocket money for a fresh start.

[00:25:43] Nothing lavish, but enough.

[00:25:45] That sound like something that could work.

[00:25:48] Noah?

[00:25:50] I honestly hadn't thought as far ahead as getting out, but yeah, we're going to need new everything if we're actually able to get out.

[00:25:58] Then deal.

[00:26:00] Tell us everything you know.

[00:26:04] You grabbing your torch?

[00:26:05] Oh, you recording?

[00:26:06] Just started.

[00:26:08] Figured we made it to this step.

[00:26:09] Maybe a quick update.

[00:26:10] Yeah, update away.

[00:26:12] Hello.

[00:26:13] Another update from your favorite pair of subterranean captives.

[00:26:16] We're still technically in the archives, although we've gone down a couple floors.

[00:26:20] I just wish we had more time, to be honest, because we passed dozens of glass-steeled rooms just filled with books and scrolls and all sorts of stuff.

[00:26:27] A treasure trove for a curious mind.

[00:26:29] Got it.

[00:26:30] Let's move.

[00:26:31] I'm still recording.

[00:26:32] Still?

[00:26:33] I just started.

[00:26:34] Can you walk and talk?

[00:26:35] I hate standing still.

[00:26:37] Yeah.

[00:26:39] So yeah, it was like being in the basement of the Vatican and not being allowed to actually look at anything.

[00:26:43] Yeah, so hard done by.

[00:26:45] You weren't curious?

[00:26:46] Yeah, I am, but not at the expense of my life.

[00:26:48] I mean, staying on the move is what's kept us alive.

[00:26:51] Anyway, we passed all this cool stuff and are now exiting through a weird drain culvert.

[00:26:55] And the archivist said it was built to avoid the possibility of flooding in the lower levels.

[00:26:59] That doesn't change what it is.

[00:27:00] It's culvert city for the next couple miles.

[00:27:04] So, Sanhue and the archivist hooked us up with all sorts of goodies and sent us on our way, including this cool compass.

[00:27:10] I had no idea how to use one before today, but I'm getting the hang of it.

[00:27:14] We're supposed to drop a few levels and head west when we get the chance.

[00:27:17] They told us to take our time.

[00:27:20] Take our time?

[00:27:21] Yeah.

[00:27:21] You want to tell them about time?

[00:27:23] Yeah, Sarah's still a little peeved about the whole time of it all.

[00:27:25] I'm not peeved.

[00:27:26] No, I'm unsatisfied.

[00:27:28] We ask them why the hell we think it's different years and they don't have an answer for us.

[00:27:32] The collective have the ability to make you think it's whatever year they want,

[00:27:37] so it doesn't make sense that you two would be given different information.

[00:27:41] Like, that is not an answer.

[00:27:43] We were given different information, so what the hell, right?

[00:27:48] There's something there.

[00:27:49] Maybe.

[00:27:50] Or maybe someone in the lab just messed up on which Noah and Sarah models were used.

[00:27:54] That's a creepy visual.

[00:27:56] Well, it makes me picture shelves full of, well, us.

[00:28:00] Better than I've been.

[00:28:02] Only marginally.

[00:28:03] Okay, where was I?

[00:28:05] Heading west.

[00:28:06] Right.

[00:28:06] So we're supposed to head west, find the shaft, and destroy at least one of the generators

[00:28:10] that they have scattered up and down the lift system.

[00:28:13] And drop the bomb.

[00:28:14] Yes, drop the bomb.

[00:28:17] Where is that, by the way?

[00:28:18] You don't have it?

[00:28:20] Kidding.

[00:28:21] Not funny.

[00:28:22] Yeah, it's a little funny.

[00:28:23] It's a bomb, Noah.

[00:28:24] So we drop the bomb and climb on up.

[00:28:26] Boom.

[00:28:26] Easy.

[00:28:27] Easy.

[00:28:28] Yeah.

[00:28:28] We just have to get across miles of uncontrolled tunnels and hallways, avoiding both man and

[00:28:32] beast alike.

[00:28:33] Then we have to use our combined zero years of explosives experience to destroy some sort

[00:28:39] of giant elevator.

[00:28:41] Exactly.

[00:28:42] Easy.

[00:28:42] See, you can't shake my positivity.

[00:28:44] I can almost taste the open air.

[00:28:50] Tasting the air?

[00:28:51] Oh, it's so musky.

[00:28:53] For someone so fastidious, he's got a gross back door.

[00:28:57] Oh, grow up.

[00:28:58] Come on.

[00:28:59] You know what I meant.

[00:29:00] Anyway, we gotta stay positive.

[00:29:02] We have far more information than we normally do going into an elaborate plan.

[00:29:05] But Sanhugh's network, it really came through for us.

[00:29:09] Yeah.

[00:29:09] If the intel is right.

[00:29:11] Well, she knew about Harper and the explosion and even Tunnel Tarzan.

[00:29:15] I'd wager she knows a few more things, too.

[00:29:17] She did give us that heads up about the trap.

[00:29:19] She warned us of a trap, yes.

[00:29:22] But we conveniently will never get to find out if it's true.

[00:29:25] You want us to walk into a trap?

[00:29:27] Of course not.

[00:29:28] But that's the point.

[00:29:29] She knew we'd never risk checking on the trap.

[00:29:33] Well, what if we do?

[00:29:35] What if we what?

[00:29:37] Walk into a trap.

[00:29:38] Or rather, sneak up and check to see that there's really a trap.

[00:29:41] Well, that's insane.

[00:29:42] We'll be careful.

[00:29:44] If we're being double-crossed, there won't be a trap waiting for us.

[00:29:47] And if she's really on the level, well, it's not really a trap if we know about it.

[00:29:53] This could be dangerous.

[00:29:54] Oh, it's definitely dangerous.

[00:29:56] But we can't move forward if you don't trust the plan.

[00:29:59] This will put that all to bed either way.

[00:30:00] Plus, this is as easy a task as we've had so far.

[00:30:04] We don't even have to detonate the bomb.

[00:30:05] We're letting gravity do the work there.

[00:30:07] And that doesn't stress you out?

[00:30:09] You're carrying a bomb that blows up from impact.

[00:30:12] What if you fall backwards?

[00:30:13] I won't fall.

[00:30:14] And even if I do, it's not as sensitive as all that.

[00:30:17] I'd have to run it over with a truck to trigger it, which is why it needs to fall.

[00:30:20] What if it gets shot?

[00:30:23] Uh, we should just avoid that.

[00:30:26] Of course we should.

[00:30:27] But we're rarely the ones shooting the gun.

[00:30:29] Yeah, all the better for it.

[00:30:30] I'm a terrible shot.

[00:30:32] Plus, we don't need them anymore, what with your super strength.

[00:30:35] It doesn't just turn on like a switch.

[00:30:37] Well, it does with the song.

[00:30:38] And the archivist fixed your Walkman.

[00:30:40] That he did.

[00:30:42] So, not only am I right in this instance, but how did the all-knowing archivist fix your Walkman?

[00:30:50] You're a child.

[00:30:51] Yeah, totally.

[00:30:51] Yeah, yeah.

[00:30:51] But how did he fix it?

[00:30:55] Duct tape.

[00:30:57] Sorry, I couldn't hear you.

[00:30:59] What was that?

[00:31:00] You got one out of me.

[00:31:02] Don't push it.

[00:31:02] Duct tape.

[00:31:03] Like a certain genius.

[00:31:05] What was that?

[00:31:09] Karma.

[00:31:10] There.

[00:31:11] You hear it?

[00:31:12] It's driving me insane.

[00:31:14] I don't want to get into the details of my current situation, but I can't find anything that would make that sound.

[00:31:19] I've checked.

[00:31:20] So, if you hear a tap, I don't need emails telling me about it.

[00:31:24] What I need are emails talking about this planned pivot.

[00:31:27] My gut says that it's an insane length to go to for Noah and Sarah to check on Sanhugh's homework.

[00:31:32] But, on the other hand, if you don't have trust, you...

[00:31:35] Damn it.

[00:31:36] Can't even focus.

[00:31:37] What was I saying?

[00:31:39] Trust.

[00:31:39] Right.

[00:31:40] Well, living without trust is lonely.

[00:31:42] Scary.

[00:31:43] Sometimes even hopeless.

[00:31:45] I haven't been on the run all that long and all...

[00:31:48] Come on!

[00:31:49] There is nothing here to tap.

[00:31:51] I have a desk.

[00:31:53] I have a chair.

[00:31:54] There's nothing.

[00:31:55] Look.

[00:31:55] Nothing.

[00:31:56] Nobody.

[00:31:57] If this is just a ghost or whatever, come on in.

[00:31:59] Just stop the tapping.

[00:32:03] Son of a bitch.

[00:32:09] Hey, Merry Christmas, man!

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