In this final episode of Brittle Tourniquet, Jenny faces down Hunger and Annette for the last time, while Ed takes on The Duke.
Transcript:
Brittle Tourniquet, Episode 8
by Alicia E. Goranson
Scene 1. Introduction Theme
Scene 2. EXT. Forest around ROXDALE’s compound
SFX:
(Forest ambiance. JENNY wheezes from the ground.)
JENNY:
(PANTS, WHEEZES)
Why?
ANNETTE:
(MATTER OF FACT)
This became all about you. Now it’s not.
ED:
(FURIOUS)
That’s it.
ANNETTE:
(MATTER OF FACT)
You too.
SFX:
(ANNETTE fires at ED’s arm. He falls and grimaces.)
ANNETTE:
(PITYING)
Oh, stop complaining. Put a tourniquet on your arm.
SFX:
(ANNETTE snaps her fingers. Security walks to the van. The van’s side door is swung open.)
ANNETTE:
(MATTER OF FACT)
Don’t give him the TQ yet.
SFX:
(ANNETTE types on ROXDALE’s phone. A failure buzz sounds.)
ANNETTE:
(GRUMBLING)
Communications are still down.
HUNGER:
Get the Deus Trystero away from me. I really don’t like it being so close.
ANNETTE:
(COMMANDING)
You have more important problems right now. You ate a very well connected individual. You
(BEAT)
Are now a threat.
HUNGER:
I don’t feel any different.
ANNETTE:
(FRUSTRATED)
But you are. And we don’t have time. When the Pantheon finds out, they will not be happy. You need to show the cabals you’re dangerous and will retaliate if they send the DUKE after you.
HUNGER:
So I’ll eat someone else.
ANNETTE:
(MATTER OF FACT)
I recommend the Senator. On camera. While I stream.
HUNGER:
You said the internet’s down.
ANNETTE:
(MATTER OF FACT)
It’ll be back soon.
HUNGER:
I want to eat JENNY.
ANNETTE:
(ANNOYED)
You would get nothing from the dead.
HUNGER:
She’s barely alive.
ANNETTE:
(FRUSTRATED)
Untreated, she has fifteen, twenty minutes with that hole in her chest.
HUNGER:
Just a taste.
ANNETTE:
(ICY)
I am not watching her die.
(PAUSE)
I chose. Now it’s your turn. Her or me?
HUNGER:
The Senator it is.
ANNETTE:
(ICY)
Lovely. Once phone service is back.
ED:
(GRUNTS)
ANNETTE:
(MATTER OF FACT)
Ah yes. Your tourniquet.
SFX:
(ANNETTE tosses ED a tourniquet. ED pulls up his sleeve and straps it to his arm.)
ANNETTE:
(COMMANDING)
Take him to the hospital. Take her to the morgue.
SFX:
(Security lift ED and JENNY. They carry ED and JENNY to the van.)
HUNGER:
And take the Trystero away.
ANNETTE:
(MATTER OF FACT)
I want it here.
HUNGER:
No. Get rid of it.
ANNETTE:
(MATTER OF FACT)
If the DUKE shows up, we need some ammunition.
HUNGER:
Fair.
SFX:
(POV follows ED and JENNY into the back of the van.)
Scene 3. INT. Back of a van
SFX:
(Van door closes. Guard sits inside with ED and JENNY. ED is on a gurney. JENNY is on the floor.)
ED:
(IN PAIN, PSYCHING HIMSELF UP)
Hey. Guard friend. You, watching us. You got a pen? You gonna write the time on my forehead?
SFX:
(Van starts up and starts driving.)
ED:
(IN PAIN, PSYCHING HIMSELF UP)
The time I got hit?
(PAUSE, THE GUARD DOES NOT REPLY)
Right. Same to you, pal.
JENNY:
(WHEEZES)
Hard to breathe.
ED:
(ANGRY)
I don’t think he’ll let me treat you.
(TO GUARD)
So? Nothing? Just going to sit there. Mind if I get up?
SFX:
(GUARD shuffles, preparing to stand. Grinds against the van wall.)
ED:
(RELENTING)
Okay, okay. Settle down.
(PAUSE, IN PAIN)
Well, I want that pen. Your driver’s going slow. Probably to give JENNY some time. But when we get there, I want that time written on my forehead. I want them to know they can save my arm.
SFX:
(ED rips off a strap holding him to the gurney. He slides to the floor. GUARD stands again, grinding against the van wall.)
ED:
(IN PAIN, ANGRY)
Yeah. You want to go? You don’t think I can take you like this? There’s a choice, and you’re making it. I take a step toward you. And either we go at it, or you hand me that pen in your pocket. And then I get back on the stretcher. Up to you.
SFX:
(The GUARD thinks for a moment, and then hands over the pen.)
ED:
(IN PAIN, RELENTING)
Good choice. I’ll take it.
SFX:
(ED reaches for the pen. He then jams his right, wounded arm up and into the GUARD’S outstretched hand. He takes the pen with his left hand and slams the pen under the GUARD’s helmet into his jaw. He uses his shoulder to slam the GUARD’s fist into the Guard’s neck. They struggle. The GUARD coughs and then goes silent.)
ED:
(PANTS)
JENNY:
(IN PAIN, WHEEZING)
D’jyou win?
ED:
(IN PAIN, EXHAUSTED)
Give me a second.
SFX:
(ED tears through a bag of medical supplies. He rips open two unvented chest seals.)
ED:
(IN PAIN, EXHAUSTED)
Get your shirt up.
JENNY:
(IN PAIN, WHEEZING)
Okay. I’m holding the wound shut though.
ED:
(IN PAIN, EXHAUSTED)
I’ll be quick. Exhale and pull it off. I have chest seals for you. I have to wipe the areas down.
SFX:
(Van stops. Engine turns off.)
ED:
(IN PAIN, FRUSTRATED)
Crap. Come on.
JENNY:
(LIFTS SHIRT, IN PAIN, WHEEZING)
Okay.
SFX:
(ED wipes the blood around JENNY’s chest wounds.)
ED:
(IN PAIN, FRUSTRATED)
Oh boy. Okay. Best I could do.
(SWALLOWS)
Crap. Slap these on yourself.
SFX:
(ED stands up.)
JENNY:
(IN PAIN, OVERWHELMED)
Sure. I. I think. I.
SFX:
(Van side door rolls open. ED jumps out and wrestles with the Driver.)
JENNY:
(IN PAIN, OVERWHELMED)
Putting these. On. Myself.
SFX:
(ED and Driver continue fighting. JENNY slaps on the chest seals as best as she can. She breathes in deeply. ED and Driver stop fighting. ED comes back in the van.)
ED:
(PANTING)
JENNY:
(IN PAIN, OVERWHELMED)
You are. A beast.
ED:
(IN PAIN, EXHAUSTED)
And you’re in compensatory shock. We’re getting you to the hospital. Bad news. My right arm’s no good. Worse news. I’m right-handed.
JENNY:
(IN PAIN, OVERWHELMED)
Any good news?
ED:
(IN PAIN, EXHAUSTED)
The van’s automatic. I can get you there. Hang on.
SFX:
(ED steps out and rolls the van door shut. Silence.)
Scene 4. INT. Back of a van by the hospital
SFX:
(ED rolls the van door open.)
ED:
(CALLING OUTSIDE TO EMS)
Hey! Hey! I’ve got a woman shot through the chest! Possibly pneumothorax! She needs attention! She has insurance!
(TO JENNY)
You have insurance, right?
JENNY:
(GROANS, IN PAIN)
Private.
ED:
(IN PAIN, REASSURING)
Great. They’re coming over to help you. You’ll be fine. Few weeks of healing at most.
JENNY:
(IN PAIN, GROWING WEAKER)
I know.
(PAUSE, REALIZING)
You’re not staying.
ED:
(IN PAIN, FRUSTRATED)
I have to get back there.
JENNY:
(IN PAIN, GROWING WEAKER)
Your arm.
ED:
(IN PAIN, FRUSTRATED)
I can take a few more hours of this. ANNETTE is really good at disappearing and I don’t want HUNGER getting any worse.
JENNY:
(IN PAIN, GROWING WEAKER)
How will you stop them?
ED:
(IN PAIN, FRUSTRATED)
I don’t know yet. But I’m not waiting another month to find them.
JENNY:
(IN PAIN, COMMANDING AS BEST SHE CAN)
I better see you soon.
ED:
(IN PAIN, REASSURING)
I can’t promise anything.
SFX:
(EMTs run up.)
ED:
(TO EMTs)
She’s right there!
(TO JENNY, REASSURING)
Get better. Keep the fight going.
SFX:
(EMTs lift JENNY out.)
JENNY:
(IN PAIN)
To the end.
SFX:
(EMTs roll JENNY away on a gurney.)
ED:
(SIGHS)
Heck.
SFX:
(ED rolls the van door closed.)
Scene 5. INT. Van driver’s cabin
SFX:
(ED drives the van.)
ED:
(IN PAIN, PSYCHING HIMSELF UP)
All right.
(PANTS)
Find ANNETTE. Charge the van at her. Swerve right. She goes for cover. Nick her before she can get to it.
(PANTS)
If she’s surrounded, duck. Wait for them to scatter. Brake. Roll out. Hope I get her.
(PAUSE)
That’s a lot of cops. Probably for the Senator. Okay.
SFX:
(ED racks an AR-15 poorly with his left arm.)
ED:
(IN PAIN, PSYCHING HIMSELF UP)
Ow. Here goes.
SFX:
(ED rolls down the driver’s side window. He guns the engine. He hits the brakes.)
ANNETTE:
(FROM OUTSIDE, SURPRISED)
ED!
SFX:
(AR-15 shot.)
ANNETTE:
(PAUSE, FROM OUTSIDE, AMAZED AT HIS AUDACITY)
ED, you can’t possibly hit anything with that arm.
SFX:
(Van’s driver’s side door opens. ED falls out the side.)
Scene 6. EXT. Forest around ROXDALE’s compound
SFX:
(Forest ambiance. Police rush in.)
ANNETTE:
(COMMANDING)
Easy. He’s no threat.
ED:
(IN PAIN, SEETHING)
Did you use it?
ANNETTE:
(NERVOUS)
Use what?
ED:
(IN PAIN, SEETHING)
The Deus Trystero.
THIN BLUE DUKE:
The what?
ANNETTE:
(NERVOUS)
I don’t know what he’s talking about.
THIN BLUE DUKE:
You have it?
ANNETTE:
(MATTER OF FACT BUT NERVOUS)
It went up with all the artifacts in that explosion.
THIN BLUE DUKE:
You do have it.
ANNETTE:
(FRUSTRATED)
Please. Listen.
SFX:
(Sky rumbles, echoes, blast of wind.)
ANNETTE:
(VERY FRUSTRATED)
Nuts. He left.
HUNGER:
ED. You idiot.
SFX:
(Police pull out their pistols.)
ANNETTE:
(COMMANDING)
Officers, I had no intention of using it on the DUKE.
ED:
(IN PAIN, SEETHING)
He’s gone?
ANNETTE:
(MATTER OF FACT)
Yes, he’s gone.
ED:
(IN PAIN, SEETHING)
Well, that bites.
SPD:
Miss TURLA? On the ground!
ANNETTE:
(INSULTED)
Why?
SPD:
You have threatened the Senator. You are in possession of a stolen Class Six object. On the ground!
ANNETTE:
(RELENTING)
Fine! Going down!
SPD:
Now!
HUNGER:
Officers?
SPD:
What?
HUNGER:
Are we still streaming?
ANNETTE:
(NERVOUS)
On ROXDALE’s phone? Yes.
HUNGER:
To all the cabals watching, know this. If you come for me.
SFX:
(Multiple fleshy bites. Nasty wet foley. All the police are eaten.)
HUNGER:
You have been warned.
ANNETTE:
(PAUSE, MATTER OF FACT BUT STRESSED)
Listen to the god. And look at what’s left of those officers.
SFX:
(Phone beeps.)
ANNETTE:
(STRESSED OUT)
I cut the feed.
ED:
(IN PAIN, CONFUSED)
The heck did I walk in on?
ANNETTE:
(MATTER OF FACT)
We were about to consume the Senator and her detail live on stream. Then the DUKE showed up.
ED:
(IN PAIN, SEETHING)
To stop you, right?
ANNETTE:
(MATTER OF FACT)
To watch. Honored guest, please eat ED.
HUNGER:
No.
ANNETTE:
(CONFUSED)
Are you full?
HUNGER:
He’s useful.
ANNETTE:
(COMMANDING)
I’m in danger now. The DUKE knows I have the Deus Trystero.
HUNGER:
Exactly. So give it to ED.
ED:
(CHUCKLES)
You’re kidding, right?
HUNGER:
I can’t read minds but I think I know you well enough. No gods, no masters, right? The DUKE is both. You’ve wanted the DUKE dead as long as you’ve known about him. So kill him. Or the next best thing. Use the God Muzzle on him.
ED:
(IN PAIN, SARDONIC)
For you?
HUNGER:
For both of us. You have to admit, he won’t be expecting it from you.
ED:
(IN PAIN, AMUSED)
Piss off.
HUNGER:
I’ve never heard a human fall for this argument, but I think it’ll work for you.
(GETS CLOSE TO ED)
Come on. You know you want to.
ED:
(THINKS)
I’m not saying no.
HUNGER:
One other thing. ANNETTE, could you call the hospital?
ANNETTE:
(ANNOYED)
We don’t have time.
HUNGER:
It’ll only be a minute. See, with ED here, he probably gave JENNY to EMS. I’m just curious. Please.
ANNETTE:
(ANNOYED)
Oh, very well.
SFX:
(ANNETTE dials a number on her phone.)
ANNETTE:
(ON PHONE, MATTER OF FACT)
Yes. Yes, thank you. I’m checking on a recent gunshot victim. JENNY BITTERS. Was admitted in the last hour. I’m her partner, ANNETTE TURLA. It’s in our records.
(PAUSE)
She isn’t? When?
(PAUSE)
No one stopped her?
(PAUSE)
Do you know what vehicle she took?
(PAUSE)
Thank you.
SFX:
(ANNETTE hangs up the phone which beeps.)
HUNGER:
You said you’d finish her.
ANNETTE:
(FRUSTRATED)
I did. But she’s gone.
HUNGER:
Where?
ANNETTE:
(FRUSTRATED)
No idea.
HUNGER:
(PAUSE)
Wow.
(PAUSE)
I think this is the first lie you’ve ever told me.
ANNETTE:
(QUIET, RELENTS)
All right. She’s going for CLYDE’s phone at the MAMMON’s compound.
HUNGER:
Hmm. I was born there, wasn’t I? I don’t have a good memory of that.
ED:
(IN PAIN, SARDONIC)
You know you could have asked me.
HUNGER:
ED, do you want some motivation? I’m going to the MAMMON’s compound. You’ve probably noticed I can’t move that fast. Your vehicles can outdrive me. So let’s have a race, hmm? You and me, from this spot. You go one way, I go the other. If you can put the Trystero on the DUKE before I reach JENNY, I might not eat her. How does that sound?
ED:
(PAUSE, SEETHING)
Like as good a deal as I’m going to get.
HUNGER:
Fabulous. ANNETTE, put a tracking anklet on ED so I know where he’s going.
ANNETTE:
(RELENTING)
Of course.
SFX:
(ANNETTE rustles in a bag. She walks over to ED.)
ED:
(IN PAIN, HALF-AMUSED)
I could just go to the compound. And with the Trystero. You wouldn’t touch either of us.
HUNGER:
Which is why I’m leaving now for a head start. Don’t let him leave for a half hour. Goodbye, ED. I’m sure I’ll feel it when you muzzle the DUKE.
SFX:
(Wind blows away. ANNETTE snaps the anklet onto ED.)
ANNETTE:
(WRY)
You need a ride to the hospital?
ED:
(ANNOYED)
No.
ANNETTE:
(WRY)
Then get to it.
SFX:
(ANNETTE ruffles in her backpack.)
ANNETTE:
(GRINNING)
Here’s your lockbox. Let’s take a drive. I’ll give you the code once we’re there.
SFX:
(ANNETTE slides open the van’s side door.)
ANNETTE:
(MATTER OF FACT)
In the back.
Scene 7. INT. Back of van
SFX:
(Van driving)
ED:
(IN PAIN, STRAINING TO SEE OUT FRONT)
You see one yet?
ANNETTE:
(QUIZZICAL)
Maybe. Threeper poster on the front yard?
ED:
(IN PAIN, ANNOYED)
Naw.
ANNETTE:
(QUIZZICAL)
Cafe sign. “Officers drink free?”
ED:
(IN PAIN, ANNOYED)
Let me see.
(PAUSE)
Naw.
ANNETTE:
(ENCOURAGING)
You’ll have to be more specific.
ED:
(IN PAIN, WRY)
If you’d let me up front.
ANNETTE:
(MATTER OF FACT)
Nope.
ED:
(IN PAIN, FRUSTRATED)
Look, I’ll know right spot when I see one.
ANNETTE:
(MATTER OF FACT)
Well then.
SFX:
(Van stops. Engine idles.)
ANNETTE:
(MATTER OF FACT)
What about that?
ED:
(IN PAIN, FRUSTRATED)
Blue Lives Matter flag on a pole? Not on its own.
ANNETTE:
(MATTER OF FACT)
There’s candles and signs around its base.
ED:
(IN PAIN, RELENTS)
Hmm. Yeah. Drop me off.
SFX:
(ANNETTE opens the driver’s side door. She walks around and opens the van’s sliding side door.)
ANNETTE:
(MATTER OF FACT)
You have a phone?
ED:
(IN PAIN, AGREEABLE)
My burner.
ANNETTE:
(MATTER OF FACT)
I’ll text you the code when I’m out of range.
ED:
(IN PAIN, BEMUSED)
You don’t need the gun. I could take you out like I took out those guards from the van. But I haven’t.
ANNETTE:
(MATTER OF FACT)
I appreciate your restraint. Have a lovely time with the DUKE.
SFX:
(ED gets out from the back of the van.)
ED:
(IN PAIN, BEMUSED)
I will.
Scene 8. EXT. Suburban sidewalk
SFX:
(Suburban ambiance. ANNETTE climbs back in the driver’s cabin. She shuts the driver’s side door.)
ANNETTE:
(MATTER OF FACT)
Goodbye. This is the last time we’ll speak. Because if I see you again, the next bullet’s for your heart.
SFX:
(Van starts and drives off.)
ED:
(IN PAIN, ANNOYED)
Good riddance. All right. Thin blue line flag. Candles. Signs. Thoughts. Prayers. It’s a genuine altar to the DUKE. Well, you know what happens if you desecrate one of these.
SFX:
(ED kicks glass jars. They break and roll. ED cuts the cord of the flag rope. He pulls the flag down. He rips the flag.)
THIN BLUE DUKE:
(RESIGNED)
Of all people, why do you want my attention?
ED:
(IN PAIN, GRINNING)
Hey.
SFX:
(Police siren whoops in the distance.)
THIN BLUE DUKE:
I have someone coming for you. I suppose we have a few minutes together. Is there something you wanted to talk about?
SFX:
(ED’s burner phone beeps.)
ED:
(IN PAIN, WRY)
Just a sec. I have to read this text.
(PAUSE AS HE READS)
Uh huh. Four digits.
(TO DUKE)
We’ve been through a lot, you know?
THIN BLUE DUKE:
I hardly noticed you until you punched my officers.
ED:
(IN PAIN, WRY)
Yeah, that was fun. But we can’t play forever, I guess.
THIN BLUE DUKE:
You should have your fun while you can. Why don’t you kick another candle so my officers can witness it?
ED:
(IN PAIN, WRY)
In good time.
SFX:
(ED presses three buttons on the lockbox. He pauses and presses the fourth. The box flap flicks open.)
THIN BLUE DUKE:
What is that?
SFX:
(ED takes a long pause to think. He locks the box again.)
ED:
(IN PAIN, MATTER OF FACT)
HUNGER’s at the MAMMON’s compound. The abandoned one near here. Go. Make it pay. End it.
SFX:
(Police cruiser pulls up. Its siren whoops.)
THIN BLUE DUKE:
And what about the Deus Trystero?
ED:
(PAUSE, IN PAIN, RELENTING)
It’s here. In this lockbox.
THIN BLUE DUKE:
(SCARED)
Oh.
SFX:
(Sky rumbles, echoes, blast of wind.)
ED:
(SIGHS, IN PAIN, ANNOYED)
Drat.
SFX:
(Police cruiser door opens. SPD 2 steps out.)
SPD 2:
Whatcha doing there, pal?
ED:
(IN PAIN, GRINNING)
Oh this?
(PAUSE)
I’m just looking for a ride.
Scene 9. INT. MAMMON’s Office interior
SFX:
(Front door creaks open. Empty office ambiance. JENNY walks in slowly on the tile floor.)
JENNY:
(WHEEZES A BIT, WRY)
Well, CLYDE, wherever you are. I bet you didn’t see me breaking into my old job again.
SFX:
(JENNY continues walking.)
JENNY:
(WRY)
Nice they left the power on. Bill’s probably auto-paid. And the other MAMMON folks are too scared to touch this place.
SFX:
(JENNY stops walking.)
JENNY:
(SHOUTING)
Hey!
SFX:
(JENNY listens to the shout dissipate. She continues walking.)
JENNY:
(GRINNING)
Nobody. All the more for me, then.
(PAUSE)
Hey, MAMMON, how’re you doing? Your altar’s looking a little dusty.
(PAUSE)
Whoa, hey!
SFX:
(JENNY stops.)
JENNY:
(SURPRISED, ANNOYED)
That’s the case that had ARADIA’s shards in it. They just put junk in it now. Paint cans. Blowtorches. Solder. That’s disrespectful.
SFX:
(JENNY keeps walking.)
JENNY:
(SARDONIC)
Ah, and CLYDE’s office.
SFX:
(JENNY stops. She opens the office door.)
JENNY:
(SARDONIC)
Still as humorless as the day he left it.
SFX:
(JENNY walks in and explores.)
JENNY:
(SARDONIC)
So where’d he put it?
SFX:
(JENNY rummages around. She opens a drawer.)
JENNY:
(LIKE A CAT WHO CAUGHT THE MOUSE)
Ah. Couldn’t hide your phone from me. Decent charge.
(PAUSE, READIES HERSELF)
Okay. Showtime.
SFX:
(JENNY punches in the PIN which beeps the phone. The phone emits a tone to indicate it is unlocked.)
JENNY:
(GRINNING)
Oh, fantastic. There is so much here I want, but I gotta go for the prize. Audio files.
(PAUSE)
Bingo.
(TAKES A BREATH IN)
SFX:
(Phone starts playing kitchen ambiance.)
CLYDE:
(ON PHONE)
Thanks. I’ll keep this private.
ARADIA:
(ON PHONE)
I highly doubt it, moneychild. But what does it matter?
SFX:
(JENNY presses a button on the phone. The audio is paused.)
JENNY:
(LONG PAUSE, FLABBERGASTED)
She could talk? And to him? For how long?
SFX:
(JENNY presses a button on the phone. The audio continues. Phone plays kitchen ambiance.)
CLYDE:
(ON PHONE)
I’ll get to the point. I’m looking for an edge at work. There’s a guy named Larry who I
(BEAT)
Had to take down a peg to get his job.
ARADIA:
(ON PHONE)
With JENNY’s help.
CLYDE:
(ON PHONE)
Yes. He’s coming for me again.
ARADIA:
(ON PHONE)
Impoverished creature. Would you like a sugar cube?
CYLDE:
(ON PHONE)
Something like that. I have a lot to offer.
ARADIA:
(ON PHONE)
No. No, you do not. You have nothing to give.
CLYDE:
(ON PHONE)
I have artifacts. And influence.
ARADIA:
(ON PHONE)
No. I think I’ll just give you what you want for free. How would you like that?
CLYDE:
(ON PHONE, FLUMMOXED)
Very much so.
ARADIA:
(ON PHONE)
You know what I am.
CLYDE:
(ON PHONE)
Yes, the Beggar Goddess. The Patron of Revolutions. You see beyond the social order.
ARADIA:
(ON PHONE)
I am an old woman out of time. My life filled with stolen years. My home shriveled, empty, and dust. I get to peek in every once in a while, and I never like it. It doesn’t change, you know? The poor never win.
JENNY:
(DESPONDENT)
I’m sorry.
ARADIA:
(ON PHONE)
Don’t be. It’s why I’m here. To try again.
JENNY:
(PAUSE, SHOCKED)
You can hear me?
CLYDE:
(ON PHONE)
Who is that?
ARADIA:
(ON PHONE)
Shut up! I’m talking to my kin. You have questions.
JENNY:
(ANGRY)
Why HUNGER?
ARADIA:
(ON PHONE)
Why not?
CLYDE:
(ON PHONE)
Excuse me. Who’s HUNGER?
ARADIA:
(ON PHONE)
The most important person in the world.
JENNY:
(ANNOYED)
Not how I see it.
ARADIA:
(ON PHONE)
Who cares? Poppet, I hate you. Because I see it all. You make me see it all. I hate you.
CLYDE:
(ON PHONE)
I will do whatever I can to help this person.
ARADIA:
(ON PHONE, LAUGHS)
JENNY:
(ANGRY)
ARADIA, don’t do it.
ARADIA:
(ON PHONE)
Spoilsport. HUNGER was a joke. A one-shot punchline for CLYDE and his ilk. You made me watch it grow.
JENNY:
(COLD)
It was your child.
ARADIA:
(ON PHONE)
It was too much of me! I wanted to carve the powerful into good. Maybe eat the powerful who could not be salvaged. I wanted them to fear me again. I wanted something to work this time. Anything.
JENNY:
(COLD)
Even a god?
CLYDE:
(ON PHONE)
A god? I like the sound of that.
ARADIA:
(ON PHONE)
Yes, precious prince. A god just for you. Your own private godling to keep and nurture and grow large and strong.
JENNY:
(ICY)
Was HUNGER everything you hoped for?
ARADIA:
(ON PHONE)
I don’t care. Every time I’m pulled. Nothing. Every government toppled. Nothing. Every Pantheon eviscerated. Nothing. What do I hope for? That someone grows up around here. And you never do.
JENNY:
(COLD)
HUNGER has hurt more of the poor than the rich.
ARADIA:
(ON PHONE)
Why do you live? Why do I protect you?
(PAUSE)
To do what I cannot. To clear my failure from the eternal stain.
JENNY:
(DISTRUSTFUL)
How?
ARADIA:
(ON PHONE)
You have to stop it. My little one.
JENNY:
(SOLEMN)
However I can.
CLYDE:
(ON PHONE)
I’m sorry. I don’t know who you’re talking to.
ARADIA:
(ON PHONE)
Hush! You blood-soaked cretin, playing the pawn for power no one has earned. Your soul finds only comfort in the corpses of the innocent. I, who am reviled by Nature itself, call you Monster. In the name of the foulest decadence, soaked in the ichor of children, I grant you a god. I grant you a deity for the loathsome, revolting, pus-stuck, degenerate filth you are.
CLYDE:
(ON PHONE)
You have some nerve.
ARADIA:
(ON PHONE)
You have nothing I want but your final scream at the Void, hearing nothing in return. CLYDE. Oh, CLYDE. You are cursed forever. My child is in your cup.
CLYDE:
(ON PHONE)
Shut up!
SFX:
(On phone, CLYDE throws the Coke bottle onto the floor. It shatters.)
JENNY:
(COLD)
I’m glad you’re dead, CLYDE.
CLYDE:
(ON PHONE)
Hello? New god?
(PANTS)
It’s in the cup.
SFX:
(On phone, ice cubes clink)
CLYDE:
(ON PHONE)
Crap.
SFX:
(On phone, CLYDE runs out the front door. The audio stops. The kitchen ambiance stops.)
JENNY:
(WRACKING HER BRAIN)
What’s in the cup?
(THINKS)
Tea. Soda. Rum. No. Holy gods.
SFX:
(JENNY runs out of the room. POV follows.)
JENNY:
(SEARCHING)
Fire. Fire. Blowtorch in the exhibit!
SFX:
(JENNY stops and grabs a blowtorch from a tank. She continues running.)
JENNY:
(CONFIDENT)
Can’t stop me now, CLYDE.
SFX:
(JENNY stops at a hallway. She turns and looks either way.)
HUNGER:
Hello, JENNY.
JENNY:
(MATTER OF FACT, HINT OF TRIUMPH)
Not now. I figured out how to kill you.
HUNGER:
What a coincidence.
JENNY:
(MATTER OF FACT, HINT OF TRIUMPH)
I know. Wild.
HUNGER:
It was awful to know you. Please enjoy the next life, if there is one.
SFX:
(JENNY unlocks CLYDE’s phone. She plays the audio file.)
CLYDE:
(ON PHONE)
Thanks. I’ll keep this private.
ARADIA:
(ON PHONE)
I highly doubt it, moneychild. But what does it matter?
CLYDE:
(ON PHONE)
I’ll get to the point. I’m looking for an edge…
SFX:
(JENNY stops the audio.)
HUNGER:
That’s my mother.
JENNY:
(SARDONIC)
Sure is.
HUNGER:
Play it back. Play the rest of it.
SFX:
(JENNY presses buttons on the phone. The phone makes a shoo-wup sound.)
HUNGER:
Play it!
JENNY:
(MATTER OF FACT, SINCERE)
I erased it. It’s gone. And now.
SFX:
(JENNY pops the micro-SD card from the phone.)
JENNY:
(MATTER OF FACT, KNIFE-TWISTING)
The audio was on this SD card. Maybe a clever hacker could bring it back. Maybe.
SFX:
(JENNY flicks on the blowtorch. She burns the micro-SD card.)
HUNGER:
Stop!
JENNY:
(MATTER OF FACT, KNIFE-TWISTING)
Too late. It’s unrecoverable.
HUNGER:
(PAUSE, FURIOUS)
What’d it say?
JENNY:
(MATTER OF FACT)
What if I promise to tell you someday? Would you still eat me?
HUNGER:
(THINKS, BREATHES)
I haven’t decided yet.
SFX:
(JENNY walks up the hall, towards the entrance.)
HUNGER:
Naw. You’d never tell me.
JENNY:
(EXCITABLE)
Hey, you know what this place is, right?
HUNGER:
You’re stalling me.
JENNY:
(EXCITABLE)
I mean, yes. But this is a temple to MAMMON. It looks like a corporate office building. But it has MAMMON’s altar right here in the entrance hall.
SFX:
(JENNY stops walking.)
JENNY:
(EXCITED)
How about we desecrate it?
SFX:
(JENNY flicks on the blowtorch. She burns MAMMON’s altar.)
HUNGER:
You are truly desperate.
JENNY:
(WRY)
How about a battle between the very gods? You think you could win?
HUNGER:
(CHUCKLES)
JENNY:
(SARDONIC)
Let’s find out.
SFX:
(Thrum sound, loud. Thunder.)
MAMMON:
I am…
(SHOUTS IN PAIN)
SFX:
(Loud, repeated, fleshy bites. HUNGER desperately chews on MAMMON, exhaling “HAH!” with every bite.)
JENNY:
(TERRIFIED)
Oh. Oh no.
SFX:
(JENNY runs down the corridor, in the opposite direction. Bites continue, horrific. Freezer hum grows louder.)
JENNY:
(TERRIFIED, REALIZING)
The freezer.
SFX:
(JENNY hurries into the room. Bites stop. HUNGER pants.)
HUNGER:
JENNY, am I an abomination? Because I didn’t feel that.
SFX:
(JENNY stops by the freezer. She throws it open. While HUNGER speaks, she digs into it and throws ice cubes to the floor.)
HUNGER:
I didn’t enjoy that. It wasn’t pleasurable at all. Just intense. I just ate. And ate. And ate.
(PANTS)
I don’t think I can stop myself.
JENNY:
(PANICKING)
Ice. Come on. Where is it?
HUNGER:
I don’t think I can keep myself from eating you.
SFX:
(JENNY tosses a frozen clump of ice on the floor. She throws more cubes down.)
HUNGER:
And it won’t feel good. It’ll be
(BEAT)
Nothing in me. You’ll be gone. And I’ll have to keep doing this.
JENNY:
(PANICKING)
No, you won’t.
HUNGER:
All I wanted was to talk with my mother again. Even if she was awful. I think I understand her. I could have had a good life in this world. Working for the Pantheon. But now. I have to eat them all, don’t I? Even the DUKE.
SFX:
(JENNY throws one last clump of ice down. She flicks on the blowtorch.)
HUNGER:
Don’t do that. Stop it. Stop what you’re doing, ROGER.
Scene 10. EXT. Suburban neighborhood
SFX:
(Quiet suburb ambiance. Blowtorch vanishes.)
ROGER:
(PANICKING)
Hey. Hey, this isn’t real. Bring me back.
HUNGER:
There’s nothing you can do, ROGER. This is how you end.
ROGER:
(DEFIANT)
I know who I am. And I am trans. This is not me.
HUNGER:
What good is knowing who you are when no one else does?
ROGER:
(DEFIANT)
This is how you want to play it?
HUNGER:
In your final moments, ROGER, you are a man. And as far as anyone knows, that’s all you ever were.
ROGER:
(RESOLUTE)
Okay.
(LONG PAUSE)
Long long ago, a woman was taken in and raised by villains. And she became pretty darned evil herself. And she and her lovers thrived in it. The thrill of theft. The rules no longer applying. The power of money. The ecstasy of the in-group. Until the day she messed up. She cost the villains too much to maintain. So she was banished. But on her way out, she stole one last thing. Some fragments of pottery, thought to be important or dangerous. Because they had the mark of a forbidden goddess upon them.
HUNGER:
Tell me about the pottery.
ROGER:
(RESOLUTE)
Brittle clay from around the area of Senegal. Maybe an art project. Maybe a tourist’s bauble. Who knows? Nobody. Because that’s how this goddess rolls. She leaves rumor and speculation in her wake. The woman expected much of her. She gathered the components for the summoning and before a crowd on-line…
Scene 11. INT. MAMMON’s Building
SFX:
(Office ambiance.)
JENNY:
(BEAMING)
ARADIA came!
SFX:
(JENNY flicks on the blowtorch again.)
JENNY:
(BEAMING)
Though she didn’t speak to the woman, or her audience, or anyone. Believing in her failure, the woman despaired.
SFX:
(JENNY kneels on the floor. She applies the blowtorch to a piece of ice.)
JENNY:
(LETTING HER ENERGY FALL)
Her old life was over. Her dream of rejoining the fold would never happen. And she had been humiliated before hundreds of people. And of all that she had lost, the worst was a memory.
(BEAT)
A memory for nothing.
(PAUSE, NOSTALGIC)
Oh, her old lover came back to her with tales of how it wasn’t all bad. Losing memories was sometimes a blessing. She gave the woman hope. And so did the woman’s old boss, who returned to her, asking to speak with ARADIA.
SFX:
(Ice cubes continue to sizzle as the blowtorch hits them.)
HUNGER:
Go on.
JENNY:
(NOSTALGIC, DESPERATE)
The woman let him for a pittance. ARADIA was in a bottle. She left the bottle and the boss together, thinking them the fools. But ARADIA was merely biding her time.
HUNGER:
Wait. You’re doing something to me. Stop it.
JENNY:
(NOSTALGIC, DESPERATE)
And ARADIA spoke to him, lambasting him for his villainous ways. Cursing him, and…
HUNGER:
I said to stop it.
SFX:
(Winds blow softly. Blowtorch falls to the floor and turns off.)
HUNGER:
I took away your body once. I can do it again.
SFX:
(Winds blow softly.)
JENNY:
(WEAKLY, SOFTLY)
And reviling him for being part of the social order. But the world still respected him. Expected evil from him. Because the powerful were all villains. They all consumed the poor. And so ARADIA asked him, what if there was one who could carve and consume the rich?
HUNGER:
(THINKS)
I heard the same from her.
JENNY:
(WEAKLY, SOFTLY)
A child hungry for the powerful. To soften them up. Attend to their needs. To give them what they thought they wanted. To coax them into its maw and remove them from doing evil on the world.
(BEAT)
And how would this child feel if it only consumed those it was meant to save?
HUNGER:
I had no way to know. She wasn’t there. You get that. She kept to herself when we needed her. You and I, JENNY.
SFX:
(JENNY falls to the floor. She starts the blowtorch again. She continues melting the ice.)
JENNY:
(SPEAKING NORMALLY AGAIN, GROWING DEFIANT)
The child was birthed in delight. In a building. A temple full of villains, all seduced by its promises. All ran joyfully into a closet where its maw was opened. The child grew so strong that day. It was everything ARADIA wanted. A great evil was erased from the world. The child went wandering. But the child would not have lasted longer if the woman’s lover had not returned to the empty temple, and shut the freezer.
SFX:
(Freezer hums back on.)
HUNGER:
How would that matter?
JENNY:
(DEFIANT)
Because, like its mother, the child was bound to the brittlest of anchors. It was bound to the cubes of ice in the boss’ drink.
HUNGER:
I can.
(SWALLOWS)
I can still kill you.
JENNY:
(DEFIANT, RESOLUTE)
No. It’s not happening.
HUNGER:
I’ll stab you.
SFX:
(Crystal clink of sugar glass.)
JENNY:
(RESOLUTE)
You can’t make more than sugar glass.
HUNGER:
I’ll eat your memories.
(BREATHES)
I’ll eat them.
(PANTS, WEAK)
Why can’t I eat you?
JENNY:
(RESOLUTE)
I already told you. I’m unimportant. I have no power. Except over you. And these ice cubes. I’ve been melting them while we’ve been talking.
HUNGER:
There are so many cubes in there.
(WEAK)
How did you know which were mine?
SFX:
(Echo from a past scene.)
CLYDE:
(ECHOES)
I know you’ve got a good whiskey in there. On the rocks, please.
JENNY:
(RESOLUTE)
Because they were amber.
HUNGER:
(PANTS, WEAK)
How dare you. You could have told me. You could given me a chance.
JENNY:
(RESOLUTE)
You’re way out of chances. You burned every one and so.
SFX:
(JENNY turns up the blowtorch.)
JENNY:
(DEFIANT)
I burn you.
HUNGER:
(WEAK)
It’s not fair. You were as bad as me. Why do you get to live. It’s not.
SFX:
(Last bit of ice cube evaporates. JENNY rests in the silence.)
JENNY:
(DEFIANT)
And don’t come back. Ever.
SFX:
(JENNY stands up. She walks to the entrance. The entrance door creaks open in the distance. ANNETTE walks toward her. JENNY stops.)
JENNY:
(DEFIANT)
You’re too late.
ANNETTE:
(AMUSED)
For what? HUNGER, finish her off.
SFX:
(ANNETTE stops walking. She realizes what has happened.)
ANNETTE:
(SHOCKED)
How did you do it?
JENNY:
(DEFIANT)
HUNGER was bound to an ice cube. I melted it.
ANNETTE:
(COLD)
No.
SFX:
(ANNETTE takes out her gun and racks the slide.)
ANNETTE:
(THREATENING)
I melted it.
JENNY:
(RELENTING)
Okay. Sure.
ANNETTE:
(THREATENING)
I need to stay in this business too.
JENNY:
(RELENTING)
I won’t tell.
ANNETTE:
(THREATENING)
You?
(CHUCKLES)
You’d still know. I can’t risk it.
JENNY:
(TERRIFIED)
I promise.
ANNETTE:
(THREATENING)
Because I’m in an unbelievable amount of trouble. I tried to murder a Senator in front of her security detail.
JENNY:
(TERRIFIED)
I know.
ANNETTE:
(THREATENING)
And I lost the only leverage I had. Cleaning up HUNGER would get me so much favor.
JENNY:
(TERRIFIED)
And it’s all yours.
ANNETTE:
(UNAMUSED)
You’re just saying that.
SFX:
(Outside, a police siren whoops, and stops.)
ANNETTE:
(ICY)
Damn it.
JENNY:
(TERRIFIED)
Shoot me and they’ll hear. Good luck explaining that.
ANNETTE:
(DESPERATE)
I can say I was defending myself.
JENNY:
(TERRIFIED)
Let me walk out of here. I go to the hospital. We’re done.
ANNETTE:
(DESPERATE, RAISES VOICE AND THEN LOWERS IT)
And then what? You retire? You know what you did to avoid retiring? I can’t have you telling anyone you killed HUNGER. I have a reputation. I fix problems.
JENNY:
(TERRIFIED)
You do. You did. Come on. You already shot me once.
ANNETTE:
(DESPERATE)
All right. I don’t think anyone would believe you in prison. From here on, you don’t speak unless I tell you. You understand?
JENNY:
(TERRIFIED)
Mmm hmm.
ANNETTE:
(DESPERATE)
Good.
SFX:
(The entrance door creaks open in the distance. ED walks in.)
ANNETTE:
Officer, I’ve caught someone trespassing on private grounds. Please arrest her.
(RECOGNIZES ED, COLD)
Oh, it’s you.
ED:
(IN PAIN, SARDONIC)
Hey. Hey JENNY.
ANNETTE:
(ICY)
Did you do what we asked you to?
ED:
(WRY)
No.
ANNETTE:
(ICY)
Well, lovely.
SFX:
(ANNETTE shoots ED, again. He coughs and falls.)
ANNETTE:
(ICY)
I never intended for either of you to die. I thought ED would save you, JENNY. And he did. But here we are.
JENNY:
(TERRIFIED)
What does it matter? We’re nobodies. Just let us go.
ANNETTE:
(DESPERATE, GRINNING, HOLDING BACK TEARS)
JENNY, love. You’ll always be there for me.
(STRUGGLES NOT TO CRY)
And I can’t have that. Never again.
ED:
(WRY)
Hey. I brought it.
JENNY:
(REALIZING)
I. No.
ED:
(GRINNING)
For you.
JENNY:
(TERRIFIED)
I don’t need it.
SFX:
(ED slides the lockbox across to JENNY.)
ED:
(GRINNING)
Too bad.
(SHOUTS A CRY)
SFX:
(ED charges at ANNETTE.)
ANNETTE:
(SCARED)
Get back!
SFX:
(ANNETTE shoots at ED again. He pants but keeps charging and grabs her. They struggle.)
JENNY:
(FURIOUS)
Crap. A box. Already unlocked.
SFX:
(ED and ANNETTE continue struggling. The box flicks open.)
JENNY:
(DESPERATE)
ANNETTE!
ANNETTE:
(FURIOUS)
JENNY, you’re next.
ED:
(LAUGHS PAINFULLY)
SFX:
(ANNETTE pushes ED away.)
JENNY:
(FURIOUS)
ANNETTE!
ANNETTE:
(ICY)
What?
JENNY:
(FURIOUS)
Just shut up.
SFX:
(JENNY activates the Deus Trystero. It makes the chorus heard in the previous episode.)
ANNETTE:
(SHOUTS)
Aaaah!
SFX:
(ANNETTE’s shout turns into crackling glass and stops.)
ED:
(STANDS, COUGHS, AMAZED)
She’s glass. A statue. Wearing her clothes.
JENNY:
(AMAZED, SAD)
Crap. I didn’t know it would work.
(LOOKS AROUND)
You’re hit again. There’s got to be a medical kit around here somewhere.
ED:
(PANTING, EXHAUSTED)
Do what you can. I got pressure on the wound.
SFX:
(Outside, more police sirens whoop. JENNY walks around, hunting.)
JENNY:
(DESPERATE)
That your crew?
ED:
(SARDONIC)
No. They followed my anklet. They’re a bit mad I stole one of their cruisers.
JENNY:
(ANNOYED WITH HIM)
I had it under control.
ED:
(AMUSED)
Sure you did. ANNETTE was going to let you walk out of here, right?
JENNY:
(FRUSTRATED AT NOT FINDING MEDICAL KITS)
(ANNOYED)
Crud. Take ANNETTE’s jacket for pressure. Your shirt’s soaked.
SFX:
(JENNY rips ANNETTE’s jacket off her glass form. She hands it to ED.)
ED:
(RELENTS)
Thanks.
(GRUNTS IN PAIN AS HE PRESSES THE JACKET TO HIMSELF)
There’s some crap in the pockets.
JENNY:
(INQUISITIVE, EXHAUSTED)
Let me see.
(CHECKS THE JACKET)
Hey. ROXDALE’s phone. And another tiny lockbox.
ED:
(REMEMBERING)
Oh yeah, should be the god shackle that works.
JENNY:
(EXHAUSTED, GROWING EXCITED)
One that works? Now we’re talking. Hang on.
SFX:
(JENNY types on ROXDALE’s phone. It beeps unlocked.)
ED:
(QUIZZICAL)
How did you know ROXDALE’s PIN?
JENNY:
(EXHAUSTED, GROWING EXCITED)
I don’t. I know ANNETTE’s. Let’s see here. She’s transferring his funds into her accounts. And, uh. Boy, he’s got a good contacts list.
THIN BLUE DUKE:
Well, I was right. You did use the Deus Trystero. I thought I felt it.
ED:
(SARDONIC)
Hello again.
THIN BLUE DUKE:
It’s just the two of you, in very bad shape. I’ll have my officers come in and haul you off.
JENNY:
(EXHAUSTED, DISTRACTED)
Just a second.
THIN BLUE DUKE:
Pardon me?
JENNY:
(DISMISSIVE)
I said, a second.
SFX:
(JENNY runs off and runs back.)
ED:
(EXHAUSTED, TAUNTING)
Hey, DUKE. It’s your lucky day. I got shot twice. I may not last long enough to reach my court date.
THIN BLUE DUKE:
Without your little God Muzzle, I really don’t care about you at all.
JENNY:
(WRY)
You got us, DUKE. I only have one weapon left against the cops.
THIN BLUE DUKE:
(CHUCKLES)
I’m sure.
(SEES JENNY HAS HER PHONE OUT)
Oh.
MUSIC:
(Short stream intro song)
JENNY:
(TO STREAM, EXHAUSTED, STREAMSONA ON)
Hey chat! Been a while, I know. I’m streaming from my former workplace. The Washington MAMMON’s compound.
ED:
(GRINNING)
Ah yis.
JENNY:
(STREAMSONA IN FULL GEAR)
Woo! Slam that hashtag MAMMON-Transphobic. It’s been a ride and I have a lot to tell you. But first, check out this other stream too while you’re watching mine.
THIN BLUE DUKE:
Officers! Come in and take them.
SFX:
(Front door opens. Several footsteps run in.)
JENNY:
(STREAMSONA, EXCITED)
I think you’ll all be very interested in it. Pay no attention to Washington’s finest charging in here. The pigs don’t want me sharing this. You enjoying it?
SPD 2:
(IN DISTANCE)
Hands on the floor!
JENNY:
(STREAMSONA, DEFIANT)
Because I have one of the most valuable phones in the world. I have the personal numbers and addresses of every CEO, every world leader, billionaire, venture capitalist, and cabal head. And I am the only one who can stop the upload.
SPD 2:
(CLOSER)
Hands on the floor!
JENNY:
(STREAMSONA, DEFIANT)
Shoot me and every number goes out on the web! I’m not stopping it until somebody calls the pigs off me. You order the cops to let me go, I cut the upload. What do you say?
SPD 2:
Phone on the ground! Phone on the ground! Now!
JENNY:
(RELENTING)
Okay!
SFX:
(JENNY puts the phone she is holding on the tile floor.)
JENNY:
(RELENTING)
It’s down!
SPD 2:
Take it out!
SFX:
(Police unload their pistols at the phone. Shots and casings bounce around. They take an unbelievable number of shots and miss it.)
ED:
(SARDONIC)
You going to actually hit that thing sometime?
SFX:
(Police unload their pistols at the phone again. They finally hit it.)
ED:
(ANNOYED)
Ow. That was loud.
JENNY:
(SCARED)
ED, give me your phone.
ED:
(DISAPPOINTED)
I only have the burner.
(FEELS ANNETTE’S JACKET, INSPIRED)
But ANNETTE’s phone is in here.
SFX:
(SPD’s radios squawk.)
SPD 2:
(TO RADIO)
Yes?
(PAUSE)
That’s impossible. We got it.
THIN BLUE DUKE:
You shot it.
JENNY:
(GRINNING)
I think you’ll find the stream is still going.
SPD 2:
Where is it?
JENNY:
(MATTER OF FACT)
I’ll talk to your bosses about it.
SFX:
(JENNY unlocks ANNETTE’s phone.)
JENNY:
(MATTER OF FACT)
I’m starting the stream again if you don’t mind. On ANNETTE’s phone.
ED:
(COUGHS AND LAUGHS)
JENNY:
(WRY)
Good job shooting up my phone. Too bad it wasn’t ROXDALE’s.
(TO STREAM, STEAMSONA)
Hey, chat. Sorry for the interruption. Hope you’re enjoying all that juicy contact information. Hey, anyone want that flow to stop? Call them off.
SFX:
(All SPD’s radios squawk.)
THIN BLUE DUKE:
Stand your ground.
SPD 2:
(TO RADIO)
Yes?
THIN BLUE DUKE:
Stand your ground!
SPD 2:
(TO OTHER OFFICERS)
We fall back.
THIN BLUE DUKE:
No!
SPD 2:
We let them go.
THIN BLUE DUKE:
Arrest them! Don’t even call EMS!
SPD 2:
Command says to let them go! Everyone out.
THIN BLUE DUKE:
Ignore Command! Let them die! Let them rot! Just don’t leave them!
SFX:
(SPD walk back to the front door and leave the building.)
JENNY:
(STREAMING, BEAMING)
See that, chat? Washington’s finest are backing out. I want you to remember this, chat. Make this viral. This is how badly they want my stream to stop. Everyone can see. The cops are bought. They do not serve or protect. They are purchased. Hook, line, and sinker. Remember that, chat.
ED:
(EXHAUSTED, BEAMING)
And they can’t even hit a phone on the ground from seven feet. You see how many shots that took?
(COUGHS)
SFX:
(JENNY walks away. POV follows her.)
JENNY:
(STREAMSONA, WRAPPING UP)
I guess it’s time I did my part. Got to stop the stream. Thanks everyone. It’s been real. We’ll do this again later, when I have less of a hole in my chest. Smell you soon. Cheers.
SFX:
(JENNY stops the stream. Her phone beeps. She stops walking. She picks up ROXDALE’s phone, previously hidden. She walks back to ED. She taps on ROXDALE’s phone to stop its stream.)
JENNY:
(RELIEVED)
Stream’s off.
ED:
(EXHAUSTED, RELIEVED)
Good call.
THIN BLUE DUKE:
I’m not done with the two of you.
JENNY:
(COMMANDING)
Too bad. I am with you.
SFX:
(Chains clank, echoing.)
THIN BLUE DUKE:
Ow! Let me out!
SFX:
(THIN BLUE DUKE struggles in chains.)
THIN BLUE DUKE:
(LOW)
Set me free.
JENNY:
(SMOLDERING)
ROXDALE was going to use that to bind HUNGER to his Vault plane.
ED:
(WRY)
So I guess you’re not going anywhere for a while.
THIN BLUE DUKE:
When I get my officers on you, they will turn your lives into pain you can’t imagine.
JENNY:
(EXHAUSTED, AMUSED)
Yeah but until then, we’re going to leave you here. Locked down, unable to move, unable to stop us or anyone. Whatever we do.
THIN BLUE DUKE:
Antifa and groomer tranny. I will have you dead someday.
ED:
(WRY)
Course you will. Never doubted you.
SFX:
(JENNY lifts up ED over her shoulder. They walk to the entrance together.)
JENNY:
(RELIEVED)
Let’s get you to the hospital.
ED:
(EXHAUSTED, SERIOUS)
Maybe a clinic. Somewhere I don’t get picked up.
JENNY:
(WHEEZES, TIRED)
I’ll see. I ain’t doing that hot either.
ED:
(SARDONIC)
How good’s your insurance?
JENNY:
(CHUCKLES, WRY)
As good as ANNETTE’s bank account now.
ED:
(BEAMING)
Aw, heck yeah.
JENNY:
(SAD)
I wish I didn’t have to do that to her. It didn’t have to go down like this.
ED:
(SYMPATHETIC)
Yeah. I guess you two.
JENNY:
(SAD)
It was a lot.
ED:
(SYMPATHETIC)
I hear you.
JENNY:
(REGRETFUL)
Nothing to be done. I’ll miss her.
(PAUSE, REALIZING)
But hey. I guess we’re players again. If we make it to treatment.
SFX:
(JENNY and ED stop. JENNY swings the door open.)
ED:
(WRY)
I’ll take those odds.
JENNY:
(GRINNING)
Frikkin’ yeah.
(PAUSE, SAD)
Bye, ANNETTE. I’m sorry about everything. Keep the DUKE company, okay?
THIN BLUE DUKE:
(GRUMBLES)
JENNY:
(CHUCKLES THAT TURNS INTO A SOB)
SFX:
(JENNY and ED walk outside. The door shuts. Silence.)
Scene 12. INT. Void
JENNY:
(TO AUDIENCE)
Hey, everyone listening. I just wanted to let you know. The god of police is locked up in a prison. Today, we have fewer gods. Fewer masters. Get out there. Cause trouble. Be the hero the villains fear.
(PAUSE)
And as you do so, remember who made it possible. Keep her name on your lips. Shout it. Aradia.
Scene 13. END CREDITS