[Intro Theme]
[Music]
ANNOUNCER
Rusty Quill Presents: The Magnus Protocol.
Episode Fifty-Eight – Tough Call.
[PC recording begins]
[ALICE sits completely shell-shocked looking at CELIA who is almost cowering]
CELIA
I’ve wanted to tell you for a long time but after everything that’s gone on with Gwen and you being so set on the idea that anything connected to the tear is an evil hell-monster I just…
[Silence]
CELIA
I swear I never meant to hurt anyone. I just wanted to live, to be safe with Jack, away from – from all this, but then it started pulling me back and I heard about the O.1.A.R. and I thought it might finally have some answers for me and then I met you and Sam and I…
[Silence]
CELIA
Say something, Alice. Please. Yell at me, accuse me, tell me you hate me, just please say something!
ALICE
(quietly) Of course…
CELIA
What?
ALICE
(too intense) How did I not see it? This whole time you’ve been staring me right in the face with your weird hunches and mysterious past and I just didn’t…
What’s on the other side? What’s it like?
CELIA
(thrown) Uhhh… I –
ALICE
How dangerous is it? How long do you think Sam could last there?
[HARVEY enters.]
CELIA
(seeing Harvey) Uh…
ALICE
(impatient) Well?
HARVEY
Hello!
ALICE
(realizing unimpressed) Wha– oh. Oh no.
CELIA
(confused) Uh – hey… Can we help you?
HARVEY
(approaching) I hope so! There was no one out front so I just let myself in. Don’t know if I’m supposed to have a keycard or something or…
CELIA
(lost) I’m sorry, who’s –
ALICE
(strained politeness) Celia. This is Harvey. I’m guessing Gwen just hired him.
HARVEY
Yup, Harvey Liew, first day, “Aaaargh!”
CELIA
Right… Celia, hey.
HARVEY
(oblivious) Great to meet you!
[They shake hands]
[Awkward beat]
HARVEY
(seemingly unfazed) It’s weird coming into work this late, isn’t it? I couldn’t decide if I should be eating dinner or breakfast!
CELIA
Yeah…
HARVEY
I ended up getting a bacon sandwich by the station which, by the way, is officially the best commute I have ever had. There’s like, no one ‘round here at night at all. I basically had the whole carriage to myself, can you believe it!?
CELIA
(struggling) Uh-huh…
ALICE
(intervening) Sorry, Harvey, we’re just a bit surprised. Gwen didn’t mention she’d hired someone, and we were just hashing out some work stuff. [glitch]
HARVEY
Oh sure, don’t let me get in the way! I’m just excited to get started, you know? I mean, I’m sure there’s a learning curve but, sitting in an office all night listening to my jams and filing reports no one even reads? Amazing!
CELIA
Right…
[Beat]
HARVEY
(oblivious) I mean, okay, Gwen did warn me that I might have to talk to the odd contractor now and then, but I’m actually pretty good at talking to people…
ALICE
I never would have guessed. [glitch]
HARVEY
Oh yeah! I think the trick is just to try and stay positive y’know? I mean we’re all just people at the end of the day – or night I suppose?
[Beat]
ALICE
Uh-huh. Well, first things first, why don’t you head on over to Gwen’s office and she can get you started while Celia and I –
HARVEY
Right. It’s just her email said I should ask you to show me the ropes. She said you were a great teacher.
ALICE
Oh, she did, did she?
HARVEY
I mean, not in those exact words, but either way it’s no bother if you need to finish what you’re up to first. I can just sit here and clear some of this –
[He moves to clear some of Sam’s paperwork off his desk]
ALICE
(too loud) Don’t!
[Beat]
ALICE
Sorry, it’s fine, it’s just… someone’s already using that desk.
HARVEY
Oh right. Sorry, I just kind of assumed all the old paperwork meant…
CELIA
(intervening) They’re just a bit behind on their cases, that’s all. [glitch]
HARVEY
(laughing) Wow, note to self, don’t fall behind!
CELIA
(struggling to play along) Hah, yeah. Tell you what, Harvey, why don’t you take that seat over there and Alice will be along in a second.
HARVEY
(heading to a desk) Right-o!
[He starts gleefully setting up shop at his new desk]
CELIA
(quietly) Listen, Alice, I don’t think –
ALICE
Yeah, I know. But this conversation is very much not over.
CELIA
I – (hurt) Sure.
[Celia stands]
ALICE
(quick) Don’t you dare disappear on me.
CELIA
I’m just stepping out for some air. I won’t leave without you. I promise.
[ALICE heads over to Harvey’s desk while Celia dejectedly heads outside]
[PC recording begins]
[HARVEY’s computer boots up and the microphone switches on]
[Harvey is sat at GWEN’s old desk. ALICE is putting in the effort.]
ALICE
So I know you said Gwen told you what we do here, but just to play it safe, why don’t we start right from the beginning, in case of a one-in-a-million chance that she missed something. Sound good?
HARVEY
Sounds great.
ALICE
Glad to hear it, so –
HARVEY
(reaching for his bag) Oh, I brought my onboarding paperwork too –
ALICE
You didn’t tick the 121 box, did you?
HARVEY
Honestly, I skipped most of it. I can give it another go though if –
ALICE
God, no. The last thing we need is more paperwork.
HARVEY
(genuine) Whatever you say.
ALICE
(warmer) You’ll go far with that attitude, Harvey.
HARVEY
Great!
ALICE
Now, first things first. Did Gwen give you your login details?
HARVEY
Nope.
ALICE
Shocker.
[She leans over and starts typing as she continues]
No worries. We’ll get you started on mine and then we’ll sort yours later.
HARVEY
Okay.
ALICE
I’m going to assume you don’t have your hammer yet?
HARVEY
My… hammer?
ALICE
Yeah, in case the PC goes mental and tries to eat you.
HARVEY
(joking) I must’ve left it at home.
ALICE
(not joking) You can borrow mine.
[She puts a hammer on the desk]
[Beat]
[Harvey laughs; Alice sighs]
ALICE
(pressing on) Anyway, let me introduce you to Freddy, your digital gateway to a lifetime of insomnia, nightmares and gruesome death.
HARVEY
(looking) Okay… Not too bad.
ALICE
I’m sorry, what?
HARVEY
I mean, it’s old-school, but I’ve definitely used worse.
ALICE
Really?
HARVEY
You do not want to see what TFL is using.
ALICE
Yikes. Well, this system is meant to search online databases for weird incidents, flag them, then pass them through to us for assessment.
HARVEY
Well that covers “O”, “I” and “A”, so where does the “R” come in?
ALICE
Yeah, we don’t really do “response” any more, on account of all the horrific monsters.
HARVEY
Government work, amirite?
[Beat]
ALICE
You are right, Harvey.
HARVEY
(leaning in) So I’m guessing these are the cases here and if we double-click…
[He does so]
[A phone tap recording begins]
AUGUSTUS
RECORD TYPE: TELEPHONY INTERCEPT
CALL REF: ULI –
ALICE
(speaking over Augustus) Ah yeah, watch out.
[She hits spacebar to pause the case]
HARVEY
Sorry!
ALICE
Not your fault. So normally we work from the text summaries, but every so often the system will read one of them out and won’t let you carry on until it finishes.
[Beat]
HARVEY
Do we have to listen to them?
ALICE
I wouldn’t.
HARVEY
…So what I’m hearing is that every so often I literally can’t do any work and so get to just go bunk off for a bit until it finishes, sat in a canteen with free coffee, decent Wi-Fi and no queues?
ALICE
More or less.
HARVEY
And I’m being paid to work here. With a government pension and everything?
ALICE
If you live to collect it.
HARVEY
Ha!
[Beat]
ALICE
(being super clear) Listen Harvey, I can see that you think I’m joking but it’s really important you understand that I’m not. I am telling you that this place is literally dangerous and you need to leave before you get hurt. The computers are haunted and we’re up to our eyes in supernatural bullshit with actual, real monsters that are directly threatening us. One of us has already died and another is lost in some nightmare dimension with no way back. This is not a job you want, okay? Do you understand?
HARVEY
(into Alice’s “joke”) Nice. This place is going to be a blast.
[Beat]
[Alice sighs, genuinely exhausted]
ALICE
I want you to know I’m going to be genuinely upset when you mysteriously disappear, Harvey. But I won’t be surprised.
HARVEY
Coffee?
ALICE
…
(accepting) Yeah, all right.
[ALICE hits the spacebar again and the case resumes as they walk off to the canteen together.]
AUGUSTUS
– 12413105 23:55:13.
Collection ID: WT-GB-1026
Authority: ERR
Service: GCHQ (SIGINT)
Target line: ERR
Intercept node: LON-EXCH 02
Segment: 06 OF 06
Format: PCM
File name: WTGB026_243105.AU
Checksum: ERR
Status: Archived
File reads:
[The recording starts: dial-up internet tones that convert into an old ringing dialtone]
[The heavy phone receiver is picked up]
INTERVIEWER
Please state your name and how long you’ve been working here.
[THE INTERVIEWER is speaking in COLIN’s voice.]
FERN
(afraid) It’s Fern. Fern Haskins. I’ve been here about 2 months.
INTERVIEWER
Describe your work experience with Starkwall. Why did you take the job?
FERN
So, I hadn’t worked much since bouncing at The Plaza last summer, so I was pretty stoked to get something. I figured security would be a good fit. Didn’t expect to be guarding a phone though, that was a surprise.
INTERVIEWER
Describe what struck you as odd about the assignment.
FERN
All of it. Having a huge old rotary phone in the middle of an empty warehouse is odd. The fact that its plugged into an old dial-up modem, that’s odd. All the side-rooms being filled with miles and miles of thick phone cabling? Also odd. And the fact that two people guard it while it rings, but never pick it up? Odd.
INTERVIEWER
You weren’t supposed to answer it.
FERN
That’s what they told me. Watch, listen, and don’t ever, ever, ever pick it up. The supervisor said it, HR said it, that lawyer said it and Phil said it.
INTERVIEWER
Tell me about Phil.
FERN
Philip Teague. The other guy guarding the phone. We got along pretty well. He’s been here 3 years and watched the phone the whole time. Which, I gotta say, is impressive: that would drive me crazy.
INTERVIEWER
How often does the phone ring?
FERN
Hard to say. Phil never figured out any pattern or anything this entire time and I sure as hell couldn’t. Sometimes it rings just once, sometimes for 5 minutes, sometimes three times a day, sometimes it skips a day or two. Phil said the longest it rang was about an hour last year, and the longest it’s been quiet was a whole month.
INTERVIEWER
Does anyone ever answer it?
FERN
Sure. Just not us. Every few months or so someone comes in. Different guy each time, usually in a suit. Might be government, could be business. They flash a Starkwall visitor’s pass, wait for the phone to ring and then pick it up. They talk for a while, then head off and we don’t see them again.
INTERVIEWER
Did Phil ever pick up the phone?
[Beat]
FERN
It’s funny how quickly you can get used to something. He was here for years before I joined him, never once broke procedure. But I think the phone was finally starting to get to him.
INTERVIEWER
Did Phil ever pick up the phone?
FERN
He got really into guessing when it would ring. Got good at it, too. And every time he was right, he’d move his chair just a little bit closer. What was I supposed to do? I’d only just been given the job! Besides, the whole thing was a joke! When I first started, I honestly thought it might be some kind of prank. The money’s real enough, though. I don’t know who hired Starkwall to do this, but as long as we’re all getting paid, right?
[Beat]
It was my fault, okay? I got too curious. I went to pick it up.
INTERVIEWER
What did Phil do?
FERN
He stopped me, grabbed me and shoved me back. Hell, he almost picked me up which, I mean, I didn’t get bouncing jobs by being a lightweight. I was proper mad, almost hit him, but then he seemed really scared all of a sudden. He started going on about how important the job was, how important it was that we obey our orders, no matter how curious or frustrated we were or how long we had to sit there and watch it. He practically broke down in tears. That was when the phone rang again.
INTERVIEWER
And he answered it.
FERN
It was just a reflex. He wasn’t thinking.
INTERVIEWER
What happened?
FERN
I’m not sure. He started answering questions for whoever was on the other end, but my head started to throb and I had to sit down. Next thing I knew Phil was gone.
INTERVIEWER
You found him.
FERN
Yeah. He was in one of the side rooms with all the cables. He…
[Her breathing is ragged.]
INTERVIEWER
Describe what he was doing?
FERN
He’d taken his pocket knife – Phil loved pocket knives, had a different one for each day of the week. Kept showing me fancy ones online and pushing me to buy one. Said it was the only truly essential tool.
INTERVIEWER
What was he doing?
FERN
He’d taken out his knife, his Monday knife, and had cut huge holes into his legs, his arms, his torso… At first it looked like he was pulling out his veins, teasing them from his body in thin, bloody strands.. only… they weren’t veins… they were cables… telephone cables… God, there was so much blood…
INTERVIEWER
He was screaming.
FERN
Yes. He was screaming so loud I could barely hear the phone ring.
INTERVIEWER
How long ago was this?
FERN
Four days.
[Beat]
INTERVIEWER
You didn’t quit.
FERN
No. No, I – I wanted to. But I didn’t.
INTERVIEWER
Fern Haskins. Why did you answer this phone?
[The signal tone starts to grow louder in the background.]
FERN
I had to know what you said to him.
INTERVIEWER
And are you satisfied with the answer?
FERN
No.
INTERVIEWER
But you know what happens next.
FERN
Why? Why does it have to happen? Why do you do this?
[The signal tone swells unpleasantly]
INTERVIEWER
We all feed the machine. Goodbye, Fern.
FERN
Goodbye.
[Fern hangs up the phone]
[The digital signal tone stops dead, replaced by a dial tone that persists for a moment before the case concludes]
[Silence]
[Approaching footsteps]
ALICE
– and if we’re lucky he should already be finished…
HARVEY
Sounds like it.
ALICE
Great.
[They take their seats]
HARVEY
And you’re sure we don’t need to listen to them?
ALICE
I wouldn’t recommend it. It’ll only freak you out.
[Laptop recording begins]
[Sounds of Celia washing up]
[A soft knock at the door]
[Celia puts down a plate and a cloth, then heads over and opens the door for a bedraggled Alice]
CELIA
Everything all right? When you told me to go home I didn’t know if –
ALICE
(heading inside) It’s fine. I had to stay late to catch up after spending all night with Harvey Liew, rogue optimist.
CELIA
Ah. You want a towel?
ALICE
Please.
[ALICE takes off various soggy layers as CELIA ducks into the bathroom to grab a towel]
CELIA
(calling) Thought I saw some guy hanging around outside the front earlier. I was worried he was giving you trouble.
[She chucks the towel to Alice]
ALICE
(catching it) I didn’t see anyone.
CELIA
Well, keep an eye out when you leave.
[Alice dries herself]
[There is a moment of calm they both want to keep but eventually:]
ALICE
(leading) So.
[CELIA sighs in preparation, then settles herself.]
CELIA
Do you mind if I take the lead? There’s a lot and it’s hard to keep it all straight.
ALICE
Be my guest. I want to understand.
CELIA
Thank you.
[Silence. She has no idea where to start.]
CELIA
Okay, but before we start, I need you to promise that no matter what happens, no matter what you hear, I need to know I can trust you here with Jack.
ALICE
(hurt) What exactly do you think I –
CELIA
(a touch desperate) I just – I need to hear it, Alice. Please.
[Beat]
ALICE
(sincere) I promise that no matter what happens, Jack will always be safe with me. All right?
CELIA
Thank you.
[Beat]
[CELIA steadies herself]
CELIA
Okay, first you need to understand I don’t have all the answers. There’s a lot I don’t know, and most of what I do know I don’t understand, and most of that is just guesswork based on what happened to me.
ALICE
Okay.
CELIA
That said…
I came from the other side of the tear. I don’t really remember passing through it, only being spat out this side, starved half to death with no idea where I was. But I do remember some of where I came from and it was… bad.
We were living in tunnels, scraping by on what we could scavenge, hiding from monsters and weird reality traps and well… it might not have been literal hell but it was damn close.
I don’t remember anything before that, though. Georgie and the others said they found me, rescued me from something that had stolen my memories. They tried to teach me about how the world was before it ended. The way they described it, it sounded like that world was basically the same as this one, give or take a few details. Like the Magnus Institute.
Turns out back there, the Institute did some kind of doomsday ritual and let the fear gods take over everything and we were living in what was left, hunted by monsters and watched over by this massive tower… I actually met one of them once. She called herself Helen and tried to eat me with a door…
Later a pair of men came, and everyone talked like they were somehow special. I didn’t really understand why, but they had the same voices as Chester and Norris. We were helping them get into the tower and then… Then it all gets muddled. I was lost somewhere else and they were there and… there was an explosion… Something about a tape… I… Anyway, when I came to, I was lying in a basement at the Hilltop Centre.
I managed to drag myself outside and someone saw me and called an ambulance. I struggled for a long time at the hospital. I wouldn’t eat, wouldn’t talk, I just couldn’t believe it was real; that things were okay, that there weren’t any monsters and everything was… fine.
Eventually I played along, pretended I’d come to my senses and got out while I could, but I didn’t know what to do with myself. I just knew that there was a whole living world out there free to explore.
I won’t try and explain everything that happened next. Let’s just say I had a couple of wild years and leave it at that. Turns out if the only thing you’ve ever known is misery and then you’re chucked into a world with actual possibilities for joy it’s pretty easy to get carried away. I have no idea who Jack’s father is, but I don’t regret it.
When the baby came, things settled down. I got an address, put together a proper identity and I even managed to find Georgie. Not my Georgie, of course, but this world’s Georgie. She’s still a lifesaver.
Then last year, I started waking up in weird places with no idea of how I got there. After a while I realised – it was the tear. It wanted me back, but I couldn’t leave Jack, so I had to figure out how to stop it. I tried to find out what I could about this world’s Magnus Institute in case they had something to do with it, but they’re all long gone.
Then Georgie put me onto the O.1.A.R. while we were recording her podcast and I thought they might have some answers. So I got a job and, well, you know as well as I do how little anyone knows of what’s really going on. And the whole time since I’ve been slipping back to the tear more and more, leaving Jack on his own…
[She chokes up, then pulls herself back together]
CELIA
I found all this Magnus alchemy stuff and I started to think maybe they were onto something. Maybe it’s a balance problem. The tear wants me back, but what if someone else were to go, to take my place and balance the scales?
I tried to find another way, I really did, but Sam was so determined to understand the Institute and stop the Archivist and he said he would do anything for Jack and me and then everything just kept pushing us to the tear and we were at the portal and I –
[ALICE shifts slightly but says nothing]
CELIA
I couldn’t do it. Even for Jack, I couldn’t… but in the end it didn’t matter. The Archivist attacked and they fell. I might not have pushed him myself, but I’m still the reason Sam’s gone.
[A silence as the rain hammers on the window]
CELIA
And the worst bit is after all that… it didn’t work. I’m slipping back again. I’m going to be dragged back and Jack’s going to be on his own and…
[CELIA cries]
[Pause]
[Eventually ALICE sits beside her]
ALICE
…Jack won’t be on his own.
CELIA
You don’t know that.
ALICE
Yes I do. Although if Luke’s anything to go by, I can’t promise he won’t turn out a sarcastic little prick with me looking after him. I’m sure Georgie will be a good influence though.
[CELIA sobs, upset, grateful and afraid all at once, then leans in and ALICE holds her]
CELIA
(crying) I’m so sorry, Alice.
ALICE
I know.
CELIA
I miss him.
ALICE
Me too.
[Beat]
[The mood changes, they lean into one another and then –]
[There is a loud knock on the door]
ALICE
(coming to herself) Are you expecting someone?
CELIA
(concerned) No…?
[More banging on the door. It doesn’t sound good.]
ALICE
Go keep an eye on Jack. I’Il see who it is.
CELIA
Yeah, okay.
[CELIA heads into Jack’s room]
[ALICE approaches the door and stands beside it as it bangs again]
ALICE
(calling) Who is it?
TEDDY
(through the door, confused) Alice?
ALICE
(confused) Teddy?
[ALICE begins unlocking the door]
CELIA
(reentering) You know who it is?
ALICE
Yeah, it’s Teddy. He’s a friend, we used to work together.
CELIA
At the office?
ALICE
(opening the door) Yeah, no idea why he –
[CELIA gasps slightly]
CELIA
That’s the guy who was hanging around outside!
ALICE
Teddy, what the hell are you doing here?
TEDDY
(broken) I’m sorry, Alice…
ALICE
You should be, you pillock! You nearly scared us half to –
[Beat.]
ALICE
(careful) What’s the knife for, Teddy?
CELIA
What’s going on, Alice?
ALICE
I don’t –
TEDDY
I’m sorry…
ANNOUNCER
The Magnus Protocol is a podcast distributed by Rusty Quill and licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial Share-alike 4.0 International License. The series is created by Jonathan Sims and Alexander J Newall, and directed by Alexander J Newall.
This episode was written by David Carlson and Alexander J Newall and edited with additional materials by Jonathan Sims, with vocal edits by Lowri Ann Davies, soundscaping by Tessa Vroom, and mastering by Catherine Rinella with music by Sam Jones.
It featured Billie Hindle as Alice Dyer, Lowri Ann Davies as Celia Ripley, Anusia Battersby as Gwendolyn Bouchard, with additional voices from Jonathan Sims.
The Magnus Protocol is produced by April Sumner, with executive producers Alexander J Newall, Dani McDonough, Linn Ci, and Samantha F.G. Hamilton, and Associate Producers Jordan L. Hawk, Taylor Michaels, Nicole Perlman, Cetius d’Raven, and Megan Nice.
To subscribe, explore exclusive extras, and enjoy early access ad-free episodes, visit members.rustyquill.com or join our Patreon. Rate and review us online, follow us on social media and email us at mail@rustyquill.com.
Thanks for listening.