[INT. MAGNUS INSTITUTE: THE TUNNELS]
[TAPE CLICKS ON. THE SOUND OF PETER’S STATIC IS AUDIBLE IN THE BACKGROUND ALONG WITH SLOW, HEAVY FOOTSTEPS. MARTIN MAKES AN AGITATED SOUND.]
PETER: I hate being a podcast character.
MARTIN: It’s fine. Don’t particularly like it down here.
PETER: I hate being a podcast character.
MARTIN: (wry chuckle) Yeah, well, everyone else seems to these days, so…
PETER: I hate being a podcast character.
MARTIN: (interrupting) I would really. Rather not talk about it, Peter.
PETER: I hate being a podcast character.
[A FEW SECONDS OF SILENCE AND FOOTSTEPS.]
MARTIN: Are you sure about that map? I’m pretty certain the tunnels change.
PETER: I hate being a podcast character.
[RUSTLING]
MARTIN: That’s a Leitner.
PETER: I hate being a podcast character.
MARTIN: And the, um… the blood on it?
PETER: I hate being a podcast character.
MARTIN: (apprehensively) …Riiight.
PETER: I hate being a podcast character.
MARTIN: No, no, I’d really rather you didn’t –
PETER: I hate being a podcast character.
[A FEW SECONDS OF SILENCE AS NOTHING HAPPENS.]
MARTIN: (wryly sarcastic) Very impressive.
PETER: I hate being a podcast character.
[MORE SILENCE, THEN FAINT FOOTSTEPS.]
MARTIN: Peter. Peter, there’s a… Peter, I think there’s something in there.
PETER: I hate being a podcast character.
[A LOUD, SCRAPING SOUND GROWS IN VOLUME, ALONG WITH AGITATED, INHUMAN NOISES, BEFORE NOT-SASHA ENTERS WITH A DISTORTED SCREAM. IT LETS OUT A FEW RAGGED GASPS.]
NOT-SASHA: So you finally decided to let me out, Jon? (calling) Jooooon?
NOT-SASHA: Who’s there?
[MARTIN’S TERRIFIED BREATHING CAN BE HEARD.]
NOT-SASHA: Who let me out?
NOT-SASHA: Don’t be shy… I just want to say thank you.
NOT-SASHA: …alright, have it your way. Now if you’ll excuse me… I have some unfinished business.
[IT LETS OUT A CACKLING LAUGH AS ITS VOICE FADES.]
[MARTIN LETS OUT A SHAKY BREATH.]
MARTIN: That- that - that was. Um–
PETER: I hate being a podcast character.
MARTIN: And it’s going to -
PETER: I hate being a podcast character.
[SEVERAL SECONDS OF SILENCE, MARTIN LETS OUT A RESIGNED INHALE.]
PETER: I hate being a podcast character.
[CLICK]
[CLICK]
ARCHIVIST: Gone how?
DAISY: Just walked, out as far as we can tell.
BASIRA: A couple of guards on duty vanished too.
ARCHIVIST: (agitated) Vanished. How?!
BASIRA: Just left. Best we can tell, he had some dirt on them.
DAISY: Old friend at the prison let us know.
ARCHIVIST: What, and no one thought of that?
BASIRA: Asshole could have left at any time, but he just sat there laughing at us.
ARCHIVIST: No, no, this - this can’t be a coincidence.
BASIRA: Coincidence with what?
ARCHIVIST: Martin, or someone, left me a tape. Him and Peter Lukas are looking for something down in the tunnels.
BASIRA: Do you know what?
ARCHIVIST: No. He called it a device.
DAISY: When?
ARCHIVIST: I mean, I don’t - I mean… n-now? I guess? They could - it can’t be a coincidence that this is when Elias chooses to make a break for it.
BASIRA: You think he’s coming here?
ARCHIVIST: You don’t?
DAISY: Let’s go.
ARCHIVIST: (sighs) I’ll get the key.
[CLICK]
[CLICK]
[MORE CLANGING FOOTSTEPS.]
MARTIN: What is this place?
PETER: I hate being a podcast character.
MARTIN: And it’s been down here the whole time?
PETER: I hate being a podcast character.
MARTIN: But there’s nothing in the cells.
PETER: I hate being a podcast character.
MARTIN: I don’t understand. Why are we here?
PETER: I hate being a podcast character.
MARTIN: And you need me for this?
PETER: I hate being a podcast character.
MARTIN: So that’s it. Both Lonely and Watching.
PETER: I hate being a podcast character.
MARTIN: I suppose I am.
PETER: I hate being a podcast character.
MARTIN: Current…
[MARTIN SEES SOMETHING AND STOPS.]
MARTIN: (tense) Who is that?
PETER: I hate being a podcast character.
MARTIN: I’ll need to kill him.
PETER: I hate being a podcast character.
[THE SOUND OF ROLLING, SLIDING STONE.]
MARTIN: (shaky breath) Where are his eyes?
ELIAS: Exactly where they’ve always been, Martin.
[MARTIN LETS OUT A TREMBLING GASP.]
ELIAS: Watching over my Institute.
[CLICK]
[CLICK]
BASIRA: And you’re sure?
ARCHIVIST: Yes, I’m sure it wasn’t here before!
BASIRA: It’s just that there’s a lot of tapes around.
ARCHIVIST: And I don’t keep any of them with the key to the tunnels. It’s been left for me.
DAISY: And it says ‘play me’. Kind of suspicious.
BASIRA: So Elias left it.
ARCHIVIST: Or Martin, or Peter, or Annabelle!
BASIRA: Fine. Whatever. Could be a distraction.
ARCHIVIST: Only one way to find out.
BASIRA: We don’t have time for this.
DAISY: We don’t know that. We’ve no idea what sort of time frame we’re on. I say play it.
ARCHIVIST: Thank you.
[CLICK]
[CLICK]
[THE SOUND OF SLOSHING LIQUID. A DOOR SWINGS OPEN.]
ELIAS (JONAH): Gertrude.
GERTRUDE: (under her breath) Damn.
ELIAS (JONAH): Did you really think I wouldn’t notice?
GERTRUDE: I’d rather hoped you’d still be hampered with all the Dark’s business. It’s their ‘Grand Eclipse’ at the moment, isn’t it?
ELIAS (JONAH): But I think we’ve both come to the same conclusion about that. That’s why you’re here.
GERTRUDE: Yes. Shame, really. I used to be able to torch a building in half the time. Age catches us all. (contemptuously) Well, almost all of us, Elias.
ELIAS (JONAH): You were the one so… insistent on staying human.
GERTRUDE: And no doubt that makes my death a lot less complicated.
ELIAS (JONAH): What exactly were you hoping to achieve here? Why not come at me directly instead of burning everything first?
GERTRUDE: I was rather hoping the fire would occupy you while I did just that.
ELIAS (JONAH): I see.
ELIAS (JONAH): How long have you known?
GERTRUDE: About your body? Not long after you took your new host and we had our little… chat. It wasn’t exactly a huge leap to the panopticon after that. The hard part was figuring out how to actually reach it. Took me the better part of a decade.
ELIAS (JONAH): So you burn the place down, use it as cover to reach my body, and then we die together. How poetic. Doesn’t seem like your style at all.
GERTRUDE: I wasn’t actually planning on dying.
ELIAS (JONAH): And how exactly were you planning on achieving that while you’re still bound to the… ha. Oh, I see. Very clever. (amused smirk) I thought Eric was the only one to figure that little morsel out.
GERTRUDE: Knowledge has a way of surviving. You of all people should know that.
ELIAS (JONAH): Quite. It was a good plan, actually. If you hadn’t been so complacent about me keeping an eye out down here, probably would have worked. (sarcastic) Gertrude’s grand retirement.
GERTRUDE: It still might.
[SOUND OF FLINT AND STEEL]
GERTRUDE: Just needs a little spark, and -
[A GUN COCKS.]
GERTRUDE: I see. So you’re finally getting your hands dirty? I must really have caught you off guard.
ELIAS (JONAH): I suppose we both got a little complacent. Fifty years is a long time. End of an era.
GERTRUDE: I’m not really in the mood for nostalgia, Elias. You might have noticed I’m rather busy so either shoot me or -
[A GUNSHOT RINGS OUT. GERTRUDE GASPS AND COLLAPSES.]
GERTRUDE: (gasping) Well… there it is. Thought it would hurt more.
ELIAS: (sighs) Pity.
[CLICK]
[CLICK]
BASIRA: Right, so what does that tell us?
BASIRA: Jon? Jon?
ARCHIVIST: Y-yes, sorry, right. Just, uh… uh, the panopticon. It’s the, um-
BASIRA: The design of Milbank prison, based on an all-seeing watchtower. I know. I did the reading.
ARCHIVIST: Right.
BASIRA: You think that’s the device?
ARCHIVIST: Yes. And I’d wager that Elias’ body -
BASIRA: Gotta be Jonah Magnus, right?
ARCHIVIST: I’d say so.
BASIRA: (sigh) And he’s been body hopping like whatever was in Reynor.
ARCHIVIST: So is he going to help Peter or stop him?
BASIRA: Lukas is planning to take over the panopticon. Can’t imagine he wants that to happen.
ARCHIVIST: But Elias put him in charge. That doesn’t make any- what… Daisy are you-?
BASIRA: Shh!
[HEAVY, UNEVEN FOOTSTEPS. DISTANT FEMALE SCREAMS CAN BE HEARD.]
ARCHIVIST: Oh, no.
BASIRA: Stay here, both of you. I’ll check it out.
[CLICK]
[CLICK]
PETER: I hate being a podcast character.
ELIAS (JONAH): Oh, you needn’t worry.
PETER: I hate being a podcast character.
ELIAS (JONAH): I couldn’t stop you if I wanted to. I just wanted to be here at the end. Can a man not watch his own death?
MARTIN: What, wh- what? What? How are you even here?
ELIAS (JONAH): Well-
PETER: I hate being a podcast character.
ELIAS (JONAH): (contemptuous) Peter.
PETER: I hate being a podcast character.
MARTIN: Both of you just - just shut up. Just give me a second to think.
PETER: I hate being a podcast character.
ELIAS (JONAH): Come now, Martin. I would have thought you’d jump at the chance to kill me.
MARTIN: That’s not… why wouldn’t you help against the Extinction?
ELIAS (JONAH): Because I’m a busy man. It has never been my top priority.
MARTIN: I don’t believe you.
ELIAS (JONAH): That really doesn’t matter, I’m afraid. It’s the only answer you’re going to get.
MARTIN: If I…
MARTIN: If I do kill you, will the others survive?
PETER: I hate being a podcast character.
ELIAS (JONAH): Come now, Peter, it’s a valid question. And you should have addressed it yourself, really.
ELIAS (JONAH): The short answer is, I don’t know, Martin. I guarantee it won’t be pleasant for them, but I honestly don’t know if their ties to the Institute are quite as strong as I may have implied. You, at least should be insulated from the fallout by your new allegiance. Jon… might be powerful enough to weather it. Melanie’s well out of it, so that just leaves Basira and Daisy. And the rest of the Institute, of course, and you can’t tell me you care about them.
MARTIN: (indignant) Wh- of course I do!
ELIAS (JONAH): Do you though? Do you really care about any of them? Or is that worrying just simply an old reflex?
ELIAS (JONAH): Goodness. Peter has done his work well, hasn’t he? No, the only choice I think that matters is whether you want to kill me or not.
MARTIN: I do. (laughs) I really, really do.
PETER: I hate being a podcast character.
MARTIN: Yeah. Yeah, I think I would.
PETER: I hate being a podcast character.
[A LONG PAUSE.]
MARTIN: No.
[CLICK]
[CLICK]
DAISY: Well?
BASIRA: Looks like two people. An old guy and-
DAISY: A woman with a scar.
ARCHIVIST: Oh, God, now? Why now?!
BASIRA: It’s probably not a coincidence. From what I saw they’ve been toying with the rest of the Institute, but it won’t be long until they’re all dead or escaped.
DAISY: And then they’re coming here.
ARCHIVIST: (under his breath) Right.
BASIRA: Set up by the door. Try and take them when they break through.
DAISY: Right.
ARCHIVIST: Do I, uh… do I get a gun?
BASIRA: You’ve fired one?
ARCHIVIST: (indignant) You never taught me!
BASIRA: You never asked. Besides, we’ve got problems enough without -
[A LOUD CRASH.]
NOT-SASHA: Hello, Jon.
BASIRA: Oh, shit.
ARCHIVIST: You’ve got to be fucking kidding-
[LOUD CRASH, GUNSHOTS]
BASIRA: Go!
[CLATTERING SOUNDS AS JON RUNS.]
TREVOR: Joooooonny boy! (cackles)
JULIA: We want to make a statement!
NOT-SASHA: Oh, hello! What’s happening here? New friends?
[GUNSHOTS. NOT-SASHA LAUGHS.]
NOT-SASHA: Not new friends? Even better.
DAISY: What the hell is that thing?
JULIA: Ha! You see that, old man?
TREVOR: Talking. They’re all monsters in here.
ARCHIVIST: You remember what happened to Sasha?
BASIRA: That’s the thing that took her.
ARCHIVIST: It was trapped in the tunnels. It - Martin. Something’s happening down there.
BASIRA: If he’s down there with Peter, or Elias… dammit, we need to get down there.
TREVOR: (in the background) Come out, come out, wherever you are!
TREVOR: (sniffs) Can you smell ‘em?
JULIA: Ugh. Hard to tell over the stink of that thing!
BASIRA: They’ll follow us… goddammit. Jon, go, we’ll keep them busy.
ARCHIVIST: What? No! I -
BASIRA: Don’t argue. Just go.
NOT-SASHA: Joooon?
ARCHIVIST: Fine. Just don’t die.
BASIRA: Go.
[A FEW MOMENTS OF SILENCE AND CLANKING.]
BASIRA: This might be it.
DAISY: Basira…
BASIRA: Didn’t think it would end like this. (heh) You know what, actually, I think I did.
[JULIA LAUGHS MANIACALLY IN THE BACKGROUND]
DAISY: Basira, promise me something.
BASIRA: What - no. Daisy, no.
DAISY: Basira, when this is over, you need to find me. And kill me. Promise me.
BASIRA: No. No, Daisy, we’ll figure something out.
NOT-SASHA: You can’t hide forever, Jon…
DAISY: These last few months… it was always borrowed time, wasn’t it? Can’t outrun it forever.
BASIRA: (desperately) Daisy…
DAISY: Promise me.
BASIRA: I promise.
DAISY: Thanks. Now run.
BASIRA: Daisy -
DAISY: (voice growling, distorted by the Hunt) Run…
[QUICK FOOTSTEPS, DAISY SNARLING. JULIA LAUGHS AND COCKS A GUN.].
JULIA: There you are.
TREVOR: All alone.
DAISY: (snarling) Shit!
[A GUNSHOT RINGS OUT.]
[CLICK]
[CLICK]
PETER: I hate being a podcast character.
MARTIN: I’m… saying no. I refuse. Game over.
[THE KNIFE CLATTERS TO THE GROUND.]
PETER: I hate being a podcast character.
MARTIN: (laugh) You know, I think that was actually the problem. You made the stakes too high. All the little details that didn’t add up… it made them more obvious. Exaggerated.
PETER: I hate being a podcast character.
MARTIN: Oh, I’m sure it is! But that’s not what this is about, is it? This isn’t about saving the world, it’s all just some power play against him. I might not know exactly what’s going on, but I don’t think I want any part of this. However much I want to kill him… I’m out.
PETER: I hate being a podcast character.
MARTIN: Honestly, I mostly just said what I thought you wanted to hear.
PETER: I hate being a podcast character.
ELIAS (JONAH): Hardly.
MARTIN: It’s not him! It’s not anybody. It’s just me. Always has been. I…
MARTIN: When I first came to you, I thought I had lost everything. Jon was dead, my mother was dead, the job I had put everything into trapped me into spreading evil and I… I really didn’t care what happened to me. I told myself I was trying to protect the others, but… honestly we didn’t even like each other. Maybe I just thought joining up with you would be a good way to get killed.
MARTIN: And then… Jon came back, and… and suddenly I had a reason I had to keep your attention on me. Make you feel in control so you didn’t take it out on him. And if that meant drifting further away, so what? I’d already grieved for him. And if it meant now saving him, it was worth it.
MARTIN: When you started talking about the Extinction, though… you had me actually, then, for a while. But then - (laughs sardonically) then, you tried to make me the hero. Tried to sell me on the idea that I was the only one who could stop it. And that I’ve never sat right with me. I mean, I mean, look - look at me, I’m not exactly a - a chosen one. But by then I was in too deep. So I played along. Waited to see what your end game was, and here we are.
MARTIN: Funny. Looks like I was right the first time. It’s probably still a good way to get killed?
ELIAS (JONAS): (smugly) I warned you, Peter.
PETER: I hate being a podcast character.
MARTIN: Oh, I’m getting there, but if this is the final test or something? Then bad luck. The answer’s still no.
PETER: I hate being a podcast character.
MARTIN: Jonah had nothing to do with it.
PETER: I hate being a podcast character.
ELIAS (JONAH): You’ve lost, Peter, admit it. He played you like a… (gleefully) like a… cheap whistle.
PETER: I hate being a podcast character.
ELIAS (JONAH): Peter. It’s time.
PETER: I hate being a podcast character.
MARTIN: Great. Now perhaps one of you, then, can tell me what’s…
[PETER’S TELLTALE STATIC FADES IN SUDDENLY, DROWNING OUT MARTIN’S VOICE. WHEN IT FADES OUT, MARTIN IS GONE.]
ELIAS (JONAH): It won’t be that bad, Peter. You’ll see. Now, he’ll be here soon, so you can leave or -
PETER: I hate being a podcast character.
ELIAS (JONAH): Your choice. Just make sure to leave the door open.
[PETER’S STATIC RISES ONE LAST TIME, THEN FADES. ELIAS, BY HIMSELF, LETS OUT A LONG, TRIUMPHANT LAUGH.]
[CLICK]
[CLICK]
[A FEW SECONDS OF JON’S LABORED BREATHING]
ELIAS (JONAH): Ah, Jon. I was almost worried. You found your way all right?
ARCHIVIST: (out of breath) Yes. Yes, I did.
ARCHIVIST: …how?
ELIAS (JONAH): Suffice it to say I called you.
ARCHIVIST: What is this place?
ELIAS (JONAH): Hmm. A complicated question. And time is as -
ARCHIVIST: The panopticon.
ELIAS (JONAH): (pleased) …my, you have grown. Yes. A masterpiece, isn’t it?
ARCHIVIST: Yeah. It is. And that’s you there? Your… body?
ELIAS (JONAH): Not anymore. But not really, although if you harmed it, it wouldn’t go well for me. Or any of your friends, for that matter.
ARCHIVIST: Maybe it’s worth it.
ELIAS (JONAH): Maybe. And I’m sure in another circumstance, you would be more than happy to take your chances for a shot at revenge.
ELIAS (JONAH): But…
ELIAS (JONAH): But for Martin, time is very much of the essence.
ARCHIVIST: Where is he?
ELIAS (JONAH): Peter Lukas has cast him into the Lonely, and with every passing moment he gets further away from you.
ARCHIVIST: How do I bring him back?
ELIAS (JONAH): From out here? Impossible.
ARCHIVIST: You want me to follow him?
ELIAS (JONAH): No, Jon. You want you to follow him. I simply want you to know that if you do so, you are almost certainly not coming back. To go into the Lonely willingly is as good as death.
[THERE IS NO HESITATION.]
ARCHIVIST: How do I do it?
ELIAS (JONAH): Wasn’t too long ago. And I’m sure traces of their passage still remain. Just open your mind. Drink it all in. Know their route, and simply… follow it.
[THE STATIC ONCE AGAIN RISES.]
ELIAS (JONAH): Very good.
ELIAS (JONAH): Are you scared, Jon?
ARCHIVIST: (quietly) Yes.
ELIAS (JONAH): Perfect.