In this first episode, Jenny Bitters attempts a summoning ritual to get back in the supervillain game – but ends up seemingly summoning her ex and her former boss instead. Unless….
Transcript
Brittle Tourniquet, Episode 1
by Alicia E. Goranson
Scene 1. INT. JENNY’s apartment
MUSIC:
(Short stream intro song)
JENNY:
(TO INTERNET CHAT, STREAMSONA IS FULLY ON)
Hey chat! We’re going to get ourselves a goddess! I know some of you are thinking, what the heck, JENNY? I thought we were going to dish more about the Mammon cabal. Or the Dianas. Or the Inannas. But, listen. We’re going to get right back on that. But tonight, there’s a reason this is happening on stream. Well, reasons. First, part of the ritual is that I need a witness who I don’t know. Used to be, back in the day, they’d grab someone off the street. Gag ‘em. Tie them to a chair. Then make them watch. Nowadays, I’ve got a…
MUSIC:
(Peppy chiptune.)
JENNY:
(EXCITED, STREAMSONA AT FULL BLAST)
PoggersYaga has subscribed for seven months! Seriously, thank you. Thank you everyone. Even you, ED Astra. I see you in the chat list. Chat, tonight, I am so happy you all came. I’ve been prepping for two years now, since the cabal of Mammon let me go. Screw those guys. Slam that hashtag. MammonTransphobic. But tonight. Tonight, I come back. I get to be a player again. And you all get to witness me. I’ve been telling you for months all about the dozens of cabals around the world in service to their own deity. Remember that weird period during the Iraq war when none of the troops could hit each other? Or when we had that unscheduled eclipse in 2016? Yeah. The works of gods and cabals. I was there. You wouldn’t believe the things I can’t tell you I did. Like the time I almost took my ex to the stars.
Scene 4. INT. Outside ROXDALE’s vault, flashback
SFX:
(A sudden rush of air as the vault door swings open. The room vents into outer space.)
ANNETTE:
JENNY!
SFX:
(ANNETTE loses her grip on the table and flies out into space.)
JENNY:
(DESPERATE)
Medic! Throw her your bag!
SFX:
(Bag flies out into space. The vault closes. Air rushing stops. Vault thumps closed.)
Scene 5. INT. JENNY’s apartment sanctum, back to present
JENNY:
(WISTFUL, THINKING BACK ON BEING IMPORTANT AND LOSING IT ALL)
You’re going to see something incredible. All those dis videos going up online from folks hating on me? Done. After this, no one’s going to care what they say. I’ll be able to walk in anywhere. Even my old job, up to my old boss CLYDE, and tell him…
Scene 6. INT. Mammon cabal’s office headquarters, flashback
SFX:
(JENNY shatters a glass exhibit.)
CLYDE:
(DEADPAN, CLOYING)
What do you think you’re doing.
JENNY:
Getting my frickin’ severance.
SFX:
(JENNY scoops up clay and glass fragments and puts them in a paper bag)
CLYDE:
We’ll be deducting that from your actual, money severance.
JENNY:
Oh, wow. You’re pretending this is a real business and not a fetch service for whatever Mammon wants today.
CLYDE:
Great. Fine. You know, Mammon doesn’t want you.
SFX:
(JENNY finishes scooping up pieces, shakes the bag)
JENNY:
For someone who doesn’t want me, he says that an awful lot.
CLYDE:
Okay. Take it. Let it blow up in your face for all I care.
SFX:
(Office door opens, footsteps approach)
ANNETTE:
Hello. CLYDE, I’m back. Thank you for the ride.
JENNY:
(THRILLED TO SEE HER)
ANNETTE! You’re okay! Oh my gosh!
SFX:
(ANNETTE smacks JENNY’s face.)
Scene 7. JENNY’s apartment sanctum, present
JENNY:
(STREAMSONA SLIPPING, HER OWN FRUSTRATIONS EMERGING)
I’ll tell him I have my own goddess now. And a big one. Forbidden too. You know how forbidden something has to be for people who can walk on the ceiling to call it that? We’re talking a goddess with no receipts to her name, yet everyone still fears her. They say, they found her name under the ruins of Pompeii. That she walked the Long March with Mao. Her name appears in forms all around the world. I don’t want to throw shade on her fan clubs, but anyone who knows anything true about her ain’t talking.
SFX:
(JENNY opens boxes around her.)
JENNY:
(STILL WISTFUL, FRUSTRATED)
So after I summon her,
(SWITCHES TO PERKY STREAMSONA AGAIN)
Hopefully she’ll be available for a Q and A with chat tonight! Just think, you’ll be able to ask questions never answered for hundreds of thousands of years! Oh, she’s been around. They say she continually dies and is reborn decades later. She’s a trickster. She could rip off the snake from the Garden of Eden. She has knowledge so dangerous, she can’t be kept here on this world. She’s the Beggar Thief of a hundred pantheons and she’s only going to be on this stream. If you’re ready, spam her name in chat. Let her know you’re ready. Cheer for her. Bless her name. Aradia. Aradia. Aradia.
SFX:
(JENNY stands and walks around the room, holding the mic.)
JENNY:
(STREAMSONA FULLY ON, BUT MORE LIKE WHEN SHE USED TO LEAD PRESENTATIONS AT WORK)
For the ritual, we need three impossible ingredients. The soil between suns. The blood of a city. And the ear of a mushroom. Chat, I’ve been telling you about my incredible adventures getting all of these. First, we’ve got space dirt from the ISS because your girl’s got the hookup! Next, there’s juice from a substation transformer coursing through an original Edison bulb. Screw that guy, by the way. Finally, I got a petri dish of a particular form of mycelium engineered to form a fruiting body thin enough to react to sound. Get it? Smell, sight, and touch. And in the center of our offerings is this. Check it out.
SFX:
(Pottery shards rattle.)
JENNY:
(PRESENTATION STREAMSONA CONTINUES)
These are the pieces of the last relic Aradia was bound to. A clay pot. Probably from an artist from where Senegal is today. But who the heck knows. That’s what it said on its exhibit but I don’t buy a word of it. You see, it’s in pieces. She needs to be bound to something in this world, and it has to be brittle. Like this bottle of lime Coke!
SFX:
(JENNY takes a swig of the Coke drink.)
JENNY:
(PROMOTIONAL STREAMSONA FULLY BACK)
Mmmm! Lime Coke is today’s sponsor, everyone. I will down a six-pack if you let me. It’s so good, you can bind a goddess to it!
SFX:
(JENNY sets the empty drink down.)
JENNY:
(SUDDENLY SERIOUS, NEEDS TO FOCUS LESS ON CHAT, MORE ON THE RITUAL FOR GETTING EVERYTHING SHE WANTS)
(PAUSE)
I said I wanted to wait until we had five thousand viewers, but I think it’s time.
SFX:
(JENNY crumbles the dirt. An old electric bulb hums.)
MUSIC:
(A soft drum beat starts.)
JENNY:
(FULLY IN SERIOUS RITUALSONA. CHAT IS GONE IN HER MIND.)
I speak in shadow. I see in sandalwood. I lie in thaumaturgy and sculpt in waking dreams. I am the outcast, the fallen, the hungry. I recognize the mundane for the divinity it contains.
SFX:
(JENNY runs her fingers through the clay shards.)
JENNY:
(SERIOUS RITUALSONA)
I see, before you left this world, you gripped this piece.
SFX:
(JENNY lifts a clay shard.)
JENNY:
(SERIOUS RITUALSONA)
And so I set it on your new vessel.
SFX:
(JENNY sets the clay shard in the opening of the Coke bottle.)
JENNY:
(SERIOUS RITUALSONA)
What good is an empty vessel if it has nothing to quench your thirst? I fill it with a memory, yours for the taking and mine to lose forever.
(INHALES)
I got in the Mammon cabal like everyone else. I broke in. I was a lab tech at Log Chemicals. And I was trans and there were a lot of old men and women there. They put up with me but they’d all grown up hearing about trans people as predator punchlines. I was out of course. But they whispered that to new folks like it was some forbidden secret. Anyhow, it sucked until the Mammons and my ex broke in.
Scene 8. INT. Corporate laboratory, flashback
SFX:
(Sound grows soft to indicate time passing. Beakers bubbling. JENNY speaks into a phone.)
JENNY:
(COLLEGE POST-GRAD, FRUSTRATED AT BEING TOLD WHAT TO DO BY A JOB THAT REQUIRES HER TO JUST DO WHAT THEY TELL HER AND NOT USE HER COLLEGE EDUCATION)
The titrate from solution B hasn’t been separating nicely since the introduction of compound J, that I know you asked me to add. But really, it’s just.
(INTERRUPTED ON PHONE)
Okay, I’ll add two milligrams more. I don’t think it’s going to help but.
(INTERRUPTED ON PHONE)
Okay.
SFX:
(Door is thrown open. Moving feet rush in and stop.)
ANNETTE:
(MATTER OF FACT, EXPERIENCED AT CLEARING ROOMS, UNAFRAID)
On the ground. Everybody! On the god damned ground.
SFX:
(JENNY and others lay down on the tile floor.)
ANNETTE:
(UNAFRAID, SMUG, SATISFIED)
Wonderful. The Mammon cabal…
(TO ONE OF HER TROOPS)
Is it the Mammon cabal?
(TO JENNY AND THE OTHERS)
The Mammon cabal thanks you for your surrender. Feel free to hit the alarms. They already know we’re here.
SFX:
(Someone rushes the alarms. Gun shot. Someone falls.)
JENNY:
(SCARED)
Mmmf!
ANNETTE:
(“TUT TUT” MOTHER HEN MODE)
What part of “on the god damned ground” was hard to understand? Is this a straight thing?
(TO ONE OF HER SOLDIERS)
Do they not understand me? Is this a Transbian thing?
(TO THE HOSTAGES)
Anyway, we’ll be taking your experimental compounds right…
SFX:
(ANNETTE taps buttons that beep. A failure buzzer follows.)
ANNETTE:
(QUITE FRUSTRATED)
Come on.
SFX:
(ANNETTE taps buttons that beep. A failure buzzer follows.)
ANNETTE:
(EXTREMELY FRUSTRATED, ABOUT TO SHOOT SOMETHING)
Mmmm.
JENNY:
(TRANSFIXED WITH THE INVADER’S POWER, SUMMONING ALL HER COURAGE)
Excuse me?
ANNETTE:
(PAUSE, DECIDES TO GIVE JENNY A CHANCE)
All right. What is it?
JENNY:
(NERVOUS, SCARED, BUT SHOWING HER AMBITION)
You didn’t say not to speak.
ANNETTE:
(AMUSED)
I’m aware, sweetie.
JENNY:
(GATHERING HER COURAGE)
I know the code.
(PAUSE)
I know the code.
ANNETTE:
(REASSURING)
I heard you.
JENNY:
(TERRIFIED SHE’LL BE REJECTED)
(PAUSE)
I’ll trade.
ANNETTE:
(SMILES)
For what?
Scene 9. JENNY’s apartment sanctum, present
JENNY:
(SERIOUS RITUALSONA, WEIGHED DOWN BY REMEMBERING BEING TREATED LIKE A PIECE OF MEAT AT HER CHEMICAL COMPANY JOB)
Forget that place. I saw the guys eyeing me like how much I cost for a night of girldick. They still let me mix up their product. A new set of compounds I am still under NDA for, locked up in a high security lab and all the bigwigs were arguing over who got to set the code. But right on cue, the Mammon cabal broke in. And ANNETTE. Remember ANNETTE, my ex? She was leading them. She told me, “On the floor.” I went down. I heard her futz with the lock. But she couldn’t budge it. Because I’d changed it to something so brain-dead, the department head would remember it. I stood up, and long story short, they got the chemicals, they got the girl, and I got the heck out of there. I give you this memory, and I’ll throw in that they fired all the other trans employees the next week. Because we couldn’t be trusted.
SFX:
(Period of silence, listening to the music)
JENNY:
(SERIOUS RITUALSONA, THIS IS IT – THIS IS EVERYTHING SHE’S BEEN WORKING TOWARDS SINCE THE MAMMONS FIRED HER)
I call to you between worlds, visions, sunsets, and eruptions. I call with welcoming arms. I’ve set a place for you outside of wealth, power, and need. Come to me. Come to us. Aradia.
SFX:
(Wind blows, the clay shards crumble to dust. JENNY falls to the floor. Long pause. JENNY stirs.)
JENNY:
(AWAKENING)
Ow.
SFX:
(JENNY stands)
JENNY:
(REACTING TO SEVERE FADING MIGRAINE)
My frickin’ head.
(EXHALES, REMEMBERS SHE IS STILL ON STREAM)
Chat? Did something happen? How long was I out?
SFX:
(JENNY checks the laptop. She replays the last part of the ceremony, in which she hears the memory description.)
JENNY:
(TRYING TO RECALL WHAT SHE IS SEEING ON THE SCREEN, EXCITED THAT SHE CAN’T)
Uh huh. Uh huh. I don’t remember any of this. I don’t frickin’ remember this! Aradia! Aradia?
(PAUSE, HOPE IS FADING)
Chat, did you see anything?
(PAUSE, HOPE IS FADING MORE)
I forgot the memory. Is she here? She has to be. Where the heck?
SFX:
(JENNY paws through the dirt, frustrated. She knocks it to the floor. She breaks the bulb. She knocks the petri dish down.)
JENNY:
(STREAMSONA FALLING, FRUSTRATION THAT EVERYTHING DIDN’T WORK FOR HER, CLOSE TO SNAPPING)
Frick. I’m sorry, chat.
(THINKS, TRYING TO SAVE THE STREAM, ANYTHING TO KEEP GOING)
I have some more stories I can.
(SWALLOWS, REALIZES SHE CAN’T SAVE THE STREAM)
You know what? I’m done.
(EXHAUSTED)
I’m done. I’m. Done.
Scene 10. INT. JENNY’s kitchen, the next day
SFX:
(JENNY takes a long drink and sighs.)
JENNY:
(FRUSTRATED THAT EVERYTHING SHE WAS WORKING FOR DIDN’T WORK AND SHE HAS NO PLAN FOR WHAT TO DO WITH THE REST OF HER LIFE)
Frick my life.
(PAUSE, MOMENT OF HOPE)
Aradia?
SFX:
(JENNY listens as nothing responds.)
JENNY:
(ONLY HALF-TRYING, KNOWING IT WON’T WORK, FRUSTRATED)
Aradia. Aradia? Aradia. Nope. Still nothing.
SFX:
(A cheerful knock on her front door. JENNY looks out the window.)
JENNY:
(SEES ANNETTE, WHO HASN’T SPOKEN WITH HER SINCE JENNY WAS KICKED OUT OF THE MAMMONS, REALIZES ANNETTE MUST WANT SOMETHING WITH REGARDS TO THE STREAM RITUAL)
Mammon’s testicles.
SFX:
(A couple more door knocks.)
JENNY:
(FRUSTRATED)
Gods, what does the ex want?
SFX:
(Additional door knocks, insistent.)
JENNY:
(SHOUTS, HOPING ANNETTE WILL GIVE UP AND JENNY WILL NOT HAVE TO DEAL WITH HER RIGHT NOW WHEN JENNY IS AT HER LOWEST)
I’m not here!
SFX:
(The knocks stop. JENNY waits, then gets up and opens the door.)
ANNETTE:
(USING ALL HER CHARM TO RECONNECT)
Heya.
JENNY:
(SEETHING, RESIGNED, WOULD RATHER DEAL WITH THIS ANOTHER DAY)
How did you find me?
ANNETTE:
(CONTINUING TO CHARM)
You told me about this place.
JENNY:
(FALLING FOR THE CHARM A BIT BUT HOLDING ONTO HERSELF)
No I didn’t.
ANNETTE:
(CHARM CONTINUES, REASSURING)
You told me you had a special hideout.
JENNY:
(MATTER OF FACT)
I didn’t give you the address.
ANNETTE:
(CHARMING, REASSURING)
No, you did. P.O. Box 762.
JENNY:
(AMAZED AT ANNETTE’S AUDACITY)
That’s five towns over.
ANNETTE:
(CHARMING, REASSURING)
Well, you had to pick up your packages sometime. At least three, I think. The dirt, the bulb, the dish.
JENNY:
(OF COURSE ANNETTE FOLLOWED HER. WHY WOULDN’T SHE? RESIGNED)
You followed me.
ANNETTE:
(INDIGNANT)
I would never! I have drones for that.
JENNY:
(SIGHS, ANNOYED THAT HER OLD LIFE IS STILL INTRUDING ON HER)
I thought I was OUT out.
ANNETTE:
(MATTER OF FACT)
Aren’t you glad to see me though?
JENNY:
(SOFT, UNDERSTANDING, RESIGNED)
No. Come in.
SFX:
(JENNY and ANNETTE enter the kitchen. JENNY shuts the door and locks it.)
JENNY:
(BEING POLITE, HAS MIXED FEELINGS ABOUT ANNETTE BEING HERE)
Tea? Soda? Rum?
ANNETTE:
(MATTER OF FACT, SMIRKING THAT SHE’S INSIDE)
Oh yes. The last two.
SFX:
(JENNY mixes a rum and Coke in a glass with ice.)
JENNY:
(BREAKING THE CONVERSATIONAL ICE, WANTS TO GET TO IT)
What do you want?
ANNETTE:
(BRIGHT, BEAMS, MATTER OF FACT)
I’m out.
JENNY:
(STOPS MIXING THE DRINK, EXTREMELY SURPRISED AND DISBELIEVING)
Really? You?
ANNETTE:
(MATTER OF FACT, UNAPOLOGETIC)
The Mammons. The Appolonians. Even the Shivans. Everyone heard. Nobody wants to contract me.
JENNY:
(GENUINELY SURPRISED)
I didn’t hear.
ANNETTE:
(MATTER OF FACT, UNAPOLOGETIC)
It was all over the news. Do you read the news?
JENNY:
(LIES, DOESN’T WANT TO ADMIT ANYTHING IN FRONT OF HER)
Sometimes.
ANNETTE:
(MATTER OF FACT)
I was running security for a rail transport for a manticore.
JENNY:
(AMAZEMENT SHOWING THROUGH THE WALL SHE’S KEEPING UP AT RECONNECTING WITH ANNETTE)
A real one?
ANNETTE:
(MATTER OF FACT)
Mmm hmm.
JENNY:
(AMAZED, PUSHING ANNETTE FOR DETAILS)
You can’t manifest those.
ANNETTE:
(MATTER OF FACT)
She was the hiring party.
JENNY:
(BEMUSED, CONFUSED)
How.
ANNETTE:
(MATTER OF FACT)
Her soul was in a cube of synthetic ruby. That I may have taken a hammer to.
JENNY:
(GENUINELY SURPRISED)
Holy frickwits.
ANNETTE:
(MATTER OF FACT)
And dropped a train on.
JENNY:
(LETS HER CARE FOR ANNETTE SLIP THROUGH, STILL HOLDING HER GUARD UP)
Are you all right?
ANNETTE:
(PLEASED AS PUNCH WITH HERSELF)
The Mithrans were very happy and generous when they heard. I won’t have to work again.
(LAUGHS)
JENNY:
(ANNETTE IS OBVIOUSLY LYING, FRUSTRATED AT ANNETTE RUBBING THAT KIND OF CASH IN HER FACE, SOFTLY RIBBING HER)
Screw you too.
ANNETTE:
(MATTER OF FACT, DROPPING HER FACADE, HONEST)
It doesn’t matter how. I’m out. You can’t mess up in this business.
JENNY:
(REMEMBERING SOME EXAMPLE OF WHEN SOME GUY AT WORK SCREWED UP AND STILL KEPT EMPLOYMENT)
You can. But.
ANNETTE:
(SMILING, BEMUSED)
Not this bad.
SFX:
(JENNY brings ANNETTE her drink.)
JENNY:
(RESIGNED, FINALLY RECONNECTING WITH ANNETTE BUT NOT HAPPY ABOUT IT)
I know. What’d you think of the stream?
ANNETTE:
(JOKING, MATTER OF FACT)
Miserable. Unsubscribed.
JENNY:
(FRUSTRATED AT LOSING HER VIEWER COUNT)
Wasn’t just you.
ANNETTE:
(KNOWING HOW TO REASSURE JENNY)
Would have been amazing if you’d done it though.
JENNY:
(IN HER OWN HEAD, FRUSTRATED AND GLAD THAT SHE CAN VENT TO SOMEONE ABOUT IT.)
I’ve been going over every book on the subject. I thought I’d figured it out.
ANNETTE:
(REASSURING)
You did something.
JENNY:
(LEGITIMATELY CURIOUS)
Hmm? What?
ANNETTE:
(SMILING, SMUG AT BEING ABLE TO POINT THIS OUT)
You forgot.
JENNY:
(RESIGNED THAT IT HAPPENED BUT NOTHING CAME OF IT)
I know.
ANNETTE:
(ENJOYING BEING ABLE TO POINT THIS OUT, BUT DOING SO DIPLOMATICALLY)
You forgot a very specific memory. That is precise psychosurgery that we do not currently have.
JENNY:
(STILL FRUSTRATED, NOT CARING ABOUT THE RAMIFICATIONS)
I guess.
ANNETTE:
(HELPING TO HELP JENNY REALIZE THE RAMIFICATIONS)
This could revolutionize PTSD treatment. To be able to cut out traumatic memories would free so many people. Worth millions.
JENNY:
(REALIZED ANNETTE IS HERE FOR MONEY, JENNY WAS RIGHT TO DISTRUST HER ARRIVAL)
I knew it.
ANNETTE:
(MATTER OF FACT, REASSURING)
I do still care about you.
JENNY:
(CHALLENGING ANNETTE, RESIGNED)
I don’t know why.
ANNETTE:
(MATTER OF FACT, REASSURING)
I’m not taking anything from you. I’m offering to help you figure out this thing. Then I’d like to go into business with you.
JENNY:
(PAUSE, RESIGNED, CURIOUS ABOUT WHAT SHE COULD BE GETTING INTO)
Have you told anyone?
ANNETTE:
(MATTER OF FACT)
I got here quick as I could after your stream. I can’t be the only one who thought of this.
JENNY:
(CALLING ANNETTE OUT, SOFT BUT FIRM)
Hon, you smacked me the last time I saw you.
ANNETTE:
(MATTER OF FACT)
Could you blame me?
JENNY:
(ANNETTE FELL FROM THE STRATOSPHERE SO JENNY UNDERSTANDS WHY SHE MIGHT HAVE BEEN A BIT MIFFED)
No.
ANNETTE:
(MATTER OF FACT)
You can imagine I’d had quite the time.
JENNY:
(FRUSTRATED WITH HERSELF AND HER PLANNING THAT HEIST)
I know. I messed up.
ANNETTE:
(WARMLY, REASSURING)
And so have I.
JENNY:
(PAUSE, WANTS TO GET BACK ON TRACK WITH NEGOTIATIONS AND NOT THINK ABOUT HER SCREWUPS)
Who’s going to buy? The world still doesn’t believe in magic.
ANNETTE:
(ANNETTE HAS BEEN PLANNING THIS FOR A WHILE, SMUG)
We’ll start with the cabals.
JENNY:
(SCOFFS, SHE’S BEEN DOWN THIS ROAD BEFORE)
Once they get a piece of it, it’s over.
ANNETTE:
(CONFIDENT, MATTER OF FACT)
So we hit it big on our first sale.
JENNY:
(HONEST, SEES A POTENTIAL PATH BACK INTO THE VILLAINS LIFE)
I like big.
ANNETTE:
(TEMPTING JENNY)
We could get you a new left eye.
JENNY:
(JENNY AND ANNETTE HAD A WHOLE TIFF OVER WHO WAS THAT IMPETUS FOR JENNY GETTING HER GLASS EYE AND JENNY DOESN’T WANT TO GET INTO THAT TIFF AGAIN)
I’m good.
ANNETTE:
(MATTER OF FACT, TEMPTING)
Not just your glass one. Something real pretty.
JENNY:
(AVOIDING THE OLD ARGUMENT WHERE ANNETTE THINKS JENNY GAVE UP HER EYE TO DATE ANNETTE AND JENNY DID IT FOR HERSELF)
Just stop it, okay? You had nothing to do with that.
ANNETTE:
(REMEMBERING THE OLD ARGUMENT, STILL DISBELIEVING JENNY BUT LETTING THE ARGUMENT GO TO PLACATE JENNY)
I know. You did that. I understand that.
JENNY:
(DISBELIEVING ANNETTE, FRUSTRATED)
So you keep saying. Again and again and again and I still don’t believe you.
(SIGHS, TIRED OF THIS, WANTS TO MOVE THE CONVERSATION BACK TO MONEY, RESIGNED, MATTER OF FACT)
I’m down to split the cash with you.
ANNETTE:
(MATTER OF FACT, SMILES)
That would be lovely.
JENNY:
(HER OLD SCIENCE SELF EMERGES)
But we have to replicate it to be sure.
ANNETTE:
(EXCITED TO HELP INSIDE BUT STAYS MATTER OF FACT)
Do you still have your ritual offerings?
JENNY:
(DISINTERESTED)
They’re in the trash bin.
ANNETTE:
(ENCOURAGING)
We’ll get some new ones then.
JENNY:
(SLOWLY GETTING INTO THE IDEA, MATTER OF FACT)
I can start tomorrow. But I’ll need cash.
ANNETTE:
(MATTER OF FACT, SMUG)
I’ll send you a Duke’s ransom. Get two of everything. Three, if you can.
JENNY:
(OLD SUPERVILLAINESS SELF PEEKS OUT, SMILING A LITTLE)
I’ll ruin some seller’s life trying to get these.
ANNETTE:
(MATTER OF FACT, SMUG)
Beauty of capitalism.
JENNY:
(RHETORICAL, KNOWING IT WON’T HAPPEN, ANNOYED)
Should I delete the stream?
ANNETTE:
(MATTER OF FACT)
Anyone who wanted it archived it already.
JENNY:
(RESIGNED)
Shoot.
ANNETTE:
(MATTER OF FACT)
They won’t be able to replicate anything. Your camera’s terrible.
JENNY:
(RESIGNED, MILDLY CURIOUS)
Fair. You have any memories you want gone?
ANNETTE:
(KNOWS EXACTLY HER RESPONSE)
If I had the opportunity, I’d sell it to some rich jackass. Tell him he could watch his favorite movie over and over again like it was the first time.
JENNY:
(SMIRKS, APPROVING BUT MORE MATTER OF FACT)
Nice.
ANNETTE:
(MATTER OF FACT)
I’m good though. There’s a lot I’d change about my life but not a thing about how I’ve remembered it.
JENNY:
(KNOWING SHE HAS A NEW PATH IN LIFE, GOES INTO “I’M GOING TO DO WORK NOW” MODE)
Then I’ll get on this.
ANNETTE:
(MATTER OF FACT)
I suppose I should too. Thank you for the drink.
JENNY:
(DEFLECTING)
The bottle’s gotta empty itself somehow.
ANNETTE:
(KNOWING HOW TO CONNECT WITH JENNY)
Damned Protestant upbringing makes you finish all the peas on your plate, doesn’t it?
JENNY:
(HONEST, THINKING ABOUT HOW SHE’S GROWN SINCE BEING A KID)
I’m better at letting go than I was.
ANNETTE:
(MATTER OF FACT, WARMLY)
Ah. Talk to you soon, I guess. Hug?
JENNY:
(ACCEPTS BUT NOT WARMLY)
Sure.
SFX:
(They hug.)
ANNETTE:
(MATTER OF FACT, SMUG)
You have a lovely day. And don’t forget to spend some of my cash on yourself.
JENNY:
(LAUGHS, ALREADY PLANNING ON SOMETHING PRICEY SHE WANTS)
Won’t be a problem.
ANNETTE:
(SMUG FROM HAVING GOTTEN EVERYTHING SHE WANTED)
Wonderful! Farewell. Au revoir. Here’s my new number. Text me tomorrow.
SFX:
(JENNY shuffles ANNETTE out the door.)
JENNY:
(GLAD TO SEE ANNETTE LEAVING SO SHE’LL GET A MOMENT TO THINK ABOUT THIS BY HERSELF)
Thank you. Goodbye!
SFX:
(JENNY shuts and locks the door. She sighs. She moves the chair ANNETTE was sitting in.)
JENNY:
(SUSPICIOUS OF ANNETTE)
Don’t see any listening bugs she left behind.
SFX:
(A car drives off outside.)
JENNY:
(GETTING BACK INTO HER OLD SUPERVILLAIN WORKSONA GROOVE)
Okay then. Gotta see if I have any favors left with anyone.
SFX:
(JENNY scribbles on a notepad. She is interrupted by a firm knock on the front door. She stops writing. There is another knock. JENNY goes to the door, grumbles, and opens it.)
CLYDE:
Hello JENNY.
JENNY:
(POLITE BUT ANGRY AND FRUSTRATED AT SEEING HER OLD BOSS WHO FIRED HER)
Take a flying leap off the Washington Monument, CLYDE. How’d you find me?
(TOGETHER)
You followed ANNETTE.
CLYDE:
(TOGETHER)
I followed ANNETTE. May I come in?
JENNY:
(POLITE BUT NOT GIVING HIM AN INCH)
No.
CLYDE:
Do I have to call my buds from the car?
JENNY:
(FEELING THE WEIGHT OF HER OLD ORGANIZATION TURNED AGAINST HER, RESIGNED)
Make it quick.
SFX:
(JENNY leads CLYDE in. She shuts the door.)
JENNY:
(COLD POLITENESS)
Tea? Soda? Rum?
CLYDE:
I know you’ve got a good whiskey in there. On the rocks, please.
SFX:
(JENNY puts ice in a glass, and pours a drink over it. She hands it to CLYDE.)
JENNY:
(WANTS SOMEONE TO SAY SOMETHING, DOESN’T LIKE BEING SILENT WITH HER OLD BOSS WHO, GRANTED, WAS NICE TO HER, BUT STILL)
How’d you like the stream?
CLYDE:
I watch it all the time. Love noticing what you don’t say. Super impressed, really.
JENNY:
(MATTER OF FACT, COLD)
Are you here about the memory thing?
CLYDE:
About what? No. I don’t care.
JENNY:
(ASSUMING HIS INTENTIONS, COLD)
But you’re here for the ritual.
CLYDE:
No, I want to speak with Aradia.
JENNY:
(BURSTS OUT LAUGHING, WHAT THE HECK IS WRONG WITH HIM, THE RITUAL FAILED SPECTACULARLY)
You want to.
CLYDE:
That’s right.
JENNY:
(STILL LAUGHING, HE’S AN IDIOT)
You really think.
CLYDE:
I do.
JENNY:
(WHATEVER DUDE, JENNY DOESN’T CARE)
She’s in that Coke bottle. Knock yourself out.
CLYDE:
Gladly. Mind if the bottle and I have some privacy?
JENNY:
(ACQUIESCES TO CLYDE, LET HIM TALK, WHO CARES)
Uh, sure?
CLYDE:
I’ll pay for the time. Two hundred thousand right now for five minutes. I have a check.
JENNY:
(CLYDE OBVIOUSLY LIVES IN A DIFFERENT WORLD THAN JENNY, BUT YEAH, SHE’LL TAKE HIS CASH.)
Yeah, absolutely. Give it here.
SFX:
(JENNY signs the check.)
CLYDE:
Glad we could do business.
JENNY:
(DISBELIEVING, STILL THINKING THE SITUATION IS FUNNY)
Yeah. Wow. I did not expect to ever see you again.
CLYDE:
Could I start now?
JENNY:
(WHATEVER DUDE, FLUMMOXED, MATTER OF FACT)
Yeah, sure. I’ll be in the next room. You have a good time talking with the bottle.
CLYDE:
Thanks, I will.
SFX:
(Perspective stays on JENNY as she walks out of the room into the living room and shuts the door behind her. CLYDE’s voice can barely be heard muffled behind the door. (Actual conversation is in the Episode 8 script.) JENNY rustles some papers and then dials her phone.)
JENNY:
(BACK INTO WORKSONA MODE, THINKING ABOUT WORKING WITH ANNETTE AGAIN, EXCITED TO DO SO BUT BEING PROFESSIONAL ON THE PHONE)
(TO PHONE)
Hi! Mr. Adric? This is about that soil sample you got me a few months ago. I wonder if there’s any more.
(PAUSE)
Yes, I understand the price has gone up.
(PAUSE)
Yes, that’s fine. Can you get me two orders?
(PAUSE)
Three orders?
(PAUSE)
Okay, just the two.
(PAUSE)
That sounds great. Would you like cash or diamonds for that?
(PAUSE)
Not a problem. We can do that again.
(PAUSE)
Sure, happy to speak to your lawyer and accountant. If you have the product.
(PAUSE)
Great. I can get it to you in a couple days.
SFX:
(Muted, in the kitchen, a small glass crash.)
JENNY
(TO PHONE)
Hold on.
SFX:
(JENNY opens the door to the kitchen. CLYDE slams open the front door and runs outside. JENNY runs into the kitchen.)
JENNY:
(WHAT THE HECK DID CLYDE JUST DO TO JENNY GOOD KITCHEN? AND RUN OFF? JENNY WANTS TO GET HIS ATTENTION)
Hey! Hey!
SFX:
(Outside, a truck squeals to a halt. CLYDE gets in and the truck drives off.)
JENNY:
(FURIOUS, HE MADE A MESS IN HER KITCHEN)
Frick!
SFX:
(JENNY kicks the glass shards on her floor.)
JENNY:
(FURIOUS, RESIGNED)
Even took the drink I made him.
SFX:
(JENNY collapses in a chair.)
JENNY:
(THINKING ABOUT LOSING MORE CASH, NOT A LOT, BUT, SIGH, WHATEVER)
I was going to sell that Coke bottle.
(THINKS, REALIZES THAT SOMETHING MUST HAVE HAPPENED WITH THE BOTTLE)
If he was going to prank me, why did he wait? Why didn’t he just smash it when I left the room?
SFX:
(JENNY sweeps the glass shards together in a pile.)
JENNY:
(REALIZING, CLYDE SPOKE WITH ARADIA SOMEHOW)
Frick.
SFX:
(JENNY ruffles through the trash.)
JENNY:
(THINKS SHE DOESN’T HAVE A LOT OF TIME, HOPEFUL THAT ARADIA MIGHT ACTUALLY HAVE BEEN THERE, TRYING TO CALL ARADIA BACK)
Crap. Dirt.
(FINDS IT)
Dirt! Petri dish. Bulb. Gods damn it. Heartbeat of the city. Music. Pulse.
MUSIC:
(JENNY puts on a generic bass beat.)
JENNY:
(DESPERATE, MENTALLY GOING THROUGH EVERYTHING SHE NEEDS TO RECREATE THE RITUAL)
Phone.
(TO PHONE)
Hey, Mr. Adric? Are you still there?
(PAUSE)
His lawyer? We’ve never met, right? I need you to listen for the next few minutes. Whatever you hear, whatever weird crap happens, please keep listening.
(PAUSE)
Thank you!
SFX:
(JENNY spreads trash over the floor, as she crawls around the glass shards.)
JENNY:
(DESPERATELY PUTTING THE RITUAL TOGETHER, HOPING TO CATCH ARADIA AGAIN, DESPERATE RITUALSONA, RACING, DON’T LET HER BE GONE)
Okay. Here. Here. And gotcha. I speak in shadow. I see in sandalwood. I lie in thaumaturgy and sculpt in waking dreams. I am the outcast, the fallen, the hungry. I recognize the mundane for the divinity it contains. I see, before you left this world, you gripped this piece.
SFX:
(JENNY taps a glass shard.)
JENNY:
(REALIZES ARADIA NEEDS TO BE BOUND TO SOMETHING, DESPERATE TO FIND SOMETHING THAT WORKS)
What is she going in. Frick. Glass. Something glass.
(PAUSE)
I can’t leave the circle. What’d I bring?
(THINKS)
My eye. I stroke the shard. I stroke my eye. There. Transferred. What good is an empty vessel if it has nothing to quench your thirst? I fill it with a memory, yours for the taking and mine to lose forever. Okay. I, uh. This has to be something important.
(THINKS, SLOWS HER DESPERATION, GETS MORE INTO SERIOUS RITUALSONA)
Okay. It was a cloudy night in my first apartment. The street lamp across from my window had gone out a few days ago. That was the night I decided to stop living in pain and get my eye replaced. I had canceled another date with ANNETTE because my glaucoma had me crying on the couch. It was unmanageable. And I was thinking, I could go on living like this. I could keep a part of me that only brought pain. Or I could be with someone I dearly wanted in my life. So I called her back and told her I was going to get it replaced. I was clear. This was for me, not her. But that wasn’t exactly true. We talked and I planned to make the appointment the next day. I was crying. I wanted the pain gone and I had just frikkin’ done the thing. After so long of living with it. Waking up to it. Why had I been such an idiot. I call to you between worlds, visions, sunsets, and eruptions. I call with welcoming arms. I’ve set a place for you outside of wealth, power, and need, in my own garbage. Come to me. Come to us. Aradia.
SFX:
(JENNY breathes. Nothing happens. She picks up the phone.)
JENNY:
(PULLS HERSELF BACK TOGETHER, DESPERATELY LOOKING FOR ANY SIGN OF HOPE THAT ARADIA HAS MANIFESTED)
(TO PHONE)
Hello? Ms. Lawyer? Did you hear all that?
(PAUSE)
Great.
(PAUSE)
Yes, I understand. Billable hours. I’ll send you a check.
(PAUSE)
No, I don’t do crypto.
(PAUSE)
Thank you. One sec. Do you recall, I was probably telling a story about a memory? Do you know what it was about? You know what, forget it. I’ll be okay. Thank you. I’ll be in touch. Bye.
SFX:
(JENNY stops the call.)
JENNY:
(HOPEFUL, DESPERATE THAT THERE WILL BE AN ANSWER)
Aradia?
SFX:
(JENNY waits, hears nothing. She dials the phone.)
JENNY:
(NEEDS TO TALK ABOUT WHAT HAPPENED TO SOMEONE)
(TO PHONE)
ANNETTE?
ANNETTE:
(MATTER OF FACT)
(ON PHONE)
Hey, some dealer giving you trouble?
JENNY:
(FRUSTRATED THAT CLYDE SHOWED UP, NEEDS TO TALK ABOUT IT WITH SOMEONE, EXASPERATED)
CLYDE was here.
ANNETTE:
(MATTER OF FACT-SONA DROPS, ANGRY, REASSURING)
(ON PHONE)
Damn it. I’ll make sure that does not happen again. You have my word.
JENNY:
(EXASPERATED)
CLYDE came to speak to Aradia. He gave me two hundred thousand dollars for a few minutes with the Coke bottle.
ANNETTE:
(CURIOUS, ICY)
(ON PHONE)
And did he find something?
JENNY:
(EXASPERATED, FRUSTRATED)
I don’t know. He smashed the bottle and ran off with the drink I made him.
ANNETTE:
(ANGRY, KEEPING IT CONTAINED)
(ON PHONE)
Son of a biscuit.
JENNY:
(WANTING TO TRACK CLYDE DOWN)
Where do you think he went?
ANNETTE:
(MATTER OF FACT AGAIN, REASSURING)
(ON PHONE)
Are you okay?
JENNY:
(JENNY IS NOT FINE)
I’m fine.
SFX:
(JENNY shuffles against the trash.)
ANNETTE:
(ALMOST CHUCKLING, REASSURING)
(ON PHONE)
That doesn’t sound fine.
JENNY:
(MATTER OF FACT)
I did the ritual again. Just to be sure.
ANNETTE:
(CONFUSED)
(ON PHONE)
With what?
JENNY:
(MATTER OF FACT)
The stuff in the trash.
ANNETTE:
(GETS READY TO TURN HER CAR AROUND)
(ON PHONE)
I’m coming to see you.
JENNY:
(ANNETTE NEEDS TO FIND CLYDE)
No.
ANNETTE:
(FRUSTRATED AT BEING NOT LET BACK INTO JENNY’S LIFE< REASSURING)
(ON PHONE)
I want to make sure you’re all right.
JENNY:
(JENNY IS NOT OKAY)
I’m okay.
ANNETTE:
(MATTER OF FACT)
(ON PHONE)
Why on earth would you think that?
JENNY:
(EXCITED, EXASPERATED)
CLYDE learned something. I want to know what it is.
ANNETTE:
(RESIGNED)
(ON PHONE)
And how would I find that out?
JENNY:
(EXASPERATED, JENNY KNOWS ANNETTE LIED BEFORE, ANNETTE ALWAYS HAS GOOD CONTACTS AS A CONTRACTOR)
Because you’re still in the game. You still have all your contacts. You were lying to me when you came over. It’s fine. I expect it from you at this point.
ANNETTE:
(SARCASTIC, REASSURING)
(ON PHONE, PAUSE)
So I should just pop over to the nearest cabal and say, hey, CLYDE, you want to trust me with whatever you just paid two hundred kay for?
JENNY:
(MATTER OF FACT)
Yeah.
ANNETTE:
(FRUSTRATED IN THE WAY THAT YOU ONLY CAN BE WITH SOMEONE YOU’VE SPENT A DECADE WITH)
(ON PHONE)
You’re impossible.
JENNY:
(COME ON, ANNETTE, GET ON IT)
He left in a hurry. He’s probably at the Mammon compound near here.
ANNETTE:
(ANNETTE DOESN’T HAVE ACCESS TO THE COMPOUND WITHOUT AN APPOINTMENT)
(ON PHONE)
I don’t see how I can help there.
JENNY:
(PUSHING ANNETTE, KNOWING HER AMBITION)
If you don’t get that information, we are not in business together.
ANNETTE:
(REASSURING JENNY, JENNY IS FRUSTRATED, SHE NEEDS TO COOL OFF)
(ON PHONE)
Give yourself a rest. Call me later when you’ve thought about it.
JENNY:
(ANNETTE ALWAYS BITES AT A GOOD DEAL)
You get this information, we go into business together, seventy-thirty. And you’re the seventy.
ANNETTE:
(THIS IS A GOOD DEAL, BUT IT’LL TAKE MORE WORK THAN ANNETTE THOUGHT THIS WAS GOING TO)
(ON PHONE, THINKS)
I can’t promise a thing.
JENNY:
(IT’S JENNY’S TURN TO TWIST THE KNIFE IN ANNETTE)
We’re not in the business of guarantees. We serve gods. We hit it big or flop hard. We seek the impossible and sometimes, you know, it works out.
ANNETTE:
(ANNETTE IS TEMPTED BUT HOLDS ONTO HER COMPOSURE)
(ON PHONE, THINKS)
I’ll call you when I’m at the compound.
JENNY:
(MATTER OF FACT)
I appreciate everything you do.
SFX:
(Phone call beeps, stops.)
JENNY:
(CHUCKLES, FINALLY GETS A MOMENT TO HERSELF, LETS THE EMOTIONAL ROLLERCOASTER SHE’S EXPERIENCED SETTLE DOWN)
Frick.
Scene 11. EXT. Outside Mammon’s Washington compound, parking lot
SFX:
(Outside, car pulls up and stops. Engine is running. ANNETTE leans out the window.)
ANNETTE:
(MATTER OF FACT FROM A LIFETIME OF STARING DOWN BUREAUCRACY)
Hey! Anyone? Hey! There’s no one in the guard booth. You taking a smoke break? Let me in or I let myself in.
SFX:
(Pause, buttons beep, the gate rises.)
ANNETTE:
(LIKE A PERSON OF AUTHORITY)
Anyone?
(SIGHS)
Suit yourself.
SFX:
(ANNETTE pulls her car inside to a parking spot and shuts off the car. She looks around, not seeing anyone.)
ANNETTE:
(SOMETHING IS TERRIBLY WRONG HERE)
Huh.
SFX:
(ANNETTE leaves her car and walks across the parking lot.)
ANNETTE:
(AUTHORITY-MODE, IN CASE SHE’S BEING RECORDED)
Hello? Anyone? Security, you’re terrible. Ghastly. What are they paying you for?
SFX:
(ANNETTE stops. She cracks a creaking metal door open.)
Scene 12. INT. Mammon’s Washington compound, office
SFX:
(Metal door creaking open into a large room. ANNETTE enters.)
ANNETTE:
(SHOUTING, IN CASE ANYONE ACTUALLY RESPONDS, TAKING CONTROL OF A STRANGE SITUATION)
I’m here to see CLYDE! You’ve got a problem out front. There’s no security.
(PAUSE)
Anyone?
SFX:
(ANNETTE dials her phone. The room is quiet and her footsteps echo.)
ANNETTE:
(MATTER OF FACT)
Hello.
JENNY:
(CURIOUS WHY ANNETTE CALLED)
(ON PHONE)
Did you find out?
ANNETTE:
(MATTER OF FACT, HOLDING HERSELF TOGETHER, CURIOUS BUT READY TO REACT)
The opposite actually. I’m at the compound. The lights are on and so are the computers.
SFX:
(ANNETTE taps on a keyboard.)
ANNETTE:
(ISN’T THIS SITUATION CURIOUS?)
And there isn’t a soul here.
JENNY:
(WAIT, WHAT DID ANNETTE SAY)
(ON PHONE)
Nobody?
ANNETTE:
(MATTER OF FACT)
Nope. Do you know how long it takes a default Windows computer to lock itself? Two minutes. At ten minutes, the screen goes dark. The lobby computers are locked, but not dark.
JENNY:
(THE MAMMONS MUST HAVE FLED THE COMPOUND)
(ON PHONE)
So they can’t be far.
ANNETTE:
(MATTER OF FACT)
No one’s stopped me from coming in and I’ve been very loud. Some of the lobby chairs are knocked over though.
JENNY:
(WHAT WOULD JENNY LOOK FOR IF SHE WAS THERE?)
(ON PHONE)
Signs of a struggle?
ANNETTE:
(MATTER OF FACT)
I wouldn’t say so. And the parking lot is full. If they all left less than ten minutes ago, why are their cars still here?
JENNY:
(QUIZZICAL, CONCERN FOR ANNETTE)
(ON PHONE)
Are you safe there?
ANNETTE:
(DEADPAN)
Obviously not.
SFX:
(ANNETTE walks down the hall.)
JENNY:
(MATTER OF FACT, CONCERNED FOR ANNETTE)
(ON PHONE)
I’m recording this call.
ANNETTE:
(MATTER OF FACT)
I’m getting out my Sig.
SFX:
(ANNETTE withdraws her Sig Sauer.)
JENNY:
(THE WEIGHT OF THE SITUATION ANNETTE IS IN HITS HER)
(ON PHONE)
You’re carrying now?
ANNETTE:
(DEADPAN)
Nothing gets within twenty yards of me.
JENNY:
(ANNETTE, GET OUT OF THERE)
(ON PHONE)
You should leave.
ANNETTE:
(MATTER OF FACT, SCARED BUT THERE’S AN OPPORTUNITY)
An empty Mammon compound? With all this equipment lying around? One phone call, we could make a small fortune.
JENNY:
(TRYING TO GET HER OUT OF THERE)
(ON PHONE)
So leave and make the call.
ANNETTE:
(MATTER OF FACT)
Hard to sell a space when the buyer knows you won’t stay in it.
SFX:
(ANNETTE walks around a corner. She stops and waits. There is silence. She is startled when a freezer motor starts up.)
ANNETTE:
(CATCHING HER BREATH FROM THE SUDDEN ADRENALINE)
Good heavens.
JENNY:
(CONCERNED FOR ANNETTE)
(ON PHONE)
What’s that?
SFX:
(ANNETTE walks to the freezer and slams the lid shut.)
ANNETTE:
(COLLECTS HERSELF)
They left the freezer open.
JENNY:
(CONCERNED FOR ANNETTE)
(ON PHONE)
Get out of there.
ANNETTE:
(MATTER OF FACT)
Just a moment.
SFX:
(ANNETTE picks up a glass off the floor.)
ANNETTE:
(FASCINATED)
I found the glass you gave CLYDE.
JENNY:
(CURIOUS)
(ON PHONE)
Where?
ANNETTE:
(CURIOUS HERSELF WHY IT ENDED UP THERE)
On the floor. Same as the glass you gave me.
JENNY:
(SCARED, THINKS SHE KNOWS HOW TO GET ANNETTE OUT OF THERE)
(ON PHONE)
ANNETTE, would you categorize this as an act of god?
ANNETTE:
(JENNY, FRUSTRATINGLY, IS RIGHT)
You have a point.
SFX:
(ANNETTE walks out to the hall and continues onwards.)
ANNETTE:
(READY TO WALK INTO THE LION’S DEN FOR A SIGN OF A NEW GOD)
(SHOUTS)
Aradia!
JENNY:
(WHY IS ANNETTE ALWAYS LIKE THIS?)
(ON PHONE)
Don’t.
ANNETTE:
(EXCITED, HOPING FOR A MANIFESTATION)
(SHOUTS)
Aradia!
(PAUSE)
Nothing.
JENNY:
(CONCERNED FOR ANNETTE)
(ON PHONE)
The ritual was ‘nothing’ too.
ANNETTE:
(SEES SOMETHING THAT SHOULDN’T EXIST – SLIME ON THE FLOOR LEADING INTO A CLOSET)
Wait.
(PAUSE, QUIZZICAL)
Oh, that’s very odd. I’m sending you a picture.
SFX:
(Phone snap sound.)
JENNY:
(WORRIED FOR ANNETTE, BUT KNOWING SHE CAN’T DO A THING TO STOP HER)
(ON PHONE)
Got it. What’s the shiny residue on the floor?
ANNETTE:
(FASCINATED AT THE MYSTERY)
It’s hard. It’s baked onto the tile. But, uh.
JENNY:
(NOTICES SOMETHING NEW)
(ON PHONE)
That is a lot of footprints.
ANNETTE:
(MATTER OF FACT)
They all lead into this open supply closet.
JENNY:
(HOPEFUL)
(ON PHONE)
Anyone inside?
ANNETTE:
(MATTER OF FACT, INDIFFERENT AT THIS TRAIN WRECK)
No. But I think they all were. Everyone in the compound. Look at the boot marks. They ran in. They pushed people aside. They clawed their way in.
SFX:
(ANNETTE walks toward the closet.)
JENNY:
(ANNETTE, PLEASE, GET OUT)
(ON PHONE)
Don’t.
ANNETTE:
(DON’T HARSH MY BUZZ, JENNY)
Now where’s the fun in that?
SFX:
(ANNETTE steps into the cramped closet. Pause.)
JENNY:
(WORRIED THAT ANNETTE IS GONE TOO)
(ON PHONE)
Still there?
ANNETTE:
(FRUSTRATED)
(PAUSE)
It’s dusty. Cramped. I’m leaving.
SFX:
(ANNETTE makes her way back outside through the building.)
JENNY:
(CONCERNED FOR ANNETTE)
(ON PHONE)
Please hurry.
Scene 13. EXT. Mammon’s Washington compound parking lot
SFX:
(ANNETTE steps outside.)
ANNETTE:
(DOUBTING THIS WILL WORK BUT KNOWING WHO IS RESPONSIBLE FOR THIS)
(SHOUTS)
Aradia!
SFX:
(Crows caw.)
ANNETTE:
(REALIZES SHE KNOWS SOMETHING – WHATEVER GOD WAS HERE, THEY ONLY DISAPPEAR PEOPLE)
Now that’s interesting. There are animals around.
JENNY:
(UNDERSTANDING WHAT ANNETTE IS SAYING)
(ON PHONE)
So whatever it was didn’t call them into the closet.
ANNETTE:
(MATTER OF FACT)
It’s not looking great for CLYDE. I’m going to call the Mammons and tell them what’s happening.
JENNY:
(WANTS TO STOP ANNETTE BUT FRUSTRATED SHE CANNOT)
(ON PHONE)
You really don’t have to.
ANNETTE:
(MATTER OF FACT)
And hon? I don’t advise you to perform that ritual again. Do you understand me?
JENNY:
(OKAY, MOM – GRAVITY OF THE SITUATION HITS HER)
(ON PHONE)
Yes.
ANNETTE:
(MATTER OF FACT)
It’s desolate here. I don’t have the words for it. I’m going to make my call. Talk later.
JENNY:
(ACKNOWLEDGING THAT ANNETTE IS INTO SOMETHING DEEP)
(ON PHONE)
Okay. Thank you.
ANNETTE:
(MATTER OF FACT)
Bye.
Scene 14. INT. JENNY’s kitchen
SFX:
(JENNY’s phone beeps to indicate the call ends. Kitchen ambiance. JENNY sits back in her chair.)
JENNY:
(NERVOUS, HOPING BUT NOT-HOPING FOR A RESPONSE)
A-ra-dia?
SFX:
(Quiet. JENNY picks up her phone and clicks it to indicate that she opens a video.)
POSTER:
(IN POSTED VIDEO PLAYED ON PHONE, EXCITED TIK-TOKKER)
Hey y’all. I want to let folks in the area of Holbrook and Wilmot Streets know that the gas station there is unattended. They got open cars here, which is weird. No one behind the counter. Don’t know what they’re off doing but, you know. Pump still works if you go inside to hit the ‘Authorize’ button. Later gators.
SFX:
(Video ends. JENNY puts her phone down.)
JENNY:
(LOW, CURIOUS, NEAR DEADPAN, THE GRAVITY OF THE MANIFESTATION OF A GOD DAWNING ON HER)
Posted one minute ago. How’d I know to find it. How’d I know where it was?
(THINKS, ARADIA IS REAL AND THE DAWNING REALIZATION THAT THERE MAY BE MORE)
CLYDE cut Aradia’s bonds a couple hours ago. If I really brought her back, it was after he left. If she’s with me, what if that’s not her at the compound? What if that’s something else?
SFX:
(JENNY picks up her phone and types on it.)
JENNY:
(LOOKING OVER HER MAP ON HER PHONE, SCARED AT SEEING A PATTERN)
Compound. Holbrook and Wilmot gas station. Jacobsville. Right in line, next.
(PAUSE, REALIZING WHERE THE NEXT PLACE TO BE HIT IS)
Frick.
SFX:
(JENNY grabs her keys and hurries out the front door. The door closes. The ambient sound dissolves into HUNGER’s rumble.)
Scene 15. END CREDITS