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CONTENT WARNING: Strong existential dread, despair, and unreality, character betrayal, doppelgängers, pyrophobia, depictions of loss and grief, character injury, death, and separation, coughing and choking sound effects, and loud noises including explosions and screams

????2020_07c: The last stand.

Starring James Cain as Peter Slate, Van Winkle as Sam Bailey, Robin Gabrielli as Allen Gott, Meredith Nudo as Amy Sterling, Airen Neeley Chaconas as Anna Sheridan, Ezra J. Wayne as Ned Leroux, Jesse Steele as Bill Tyler, Maurice Cooper as Jerry Price, Chris Martin as Robert Quincy, Mike Kennedy as Edgar Morrison, Sam Taylor as Ren Park, Virginia Spotts as Kate Sheridan, and Amitola Lomas as Maria Sol, with original music by Jesse Haugen. Written and produced by Virginia Spotts, with dialogue editing and sound design by Van Winkle.

This episode was made possible by our supporters at Patreon.com/homesteadcorner, ko-fi.com/homesteadcorner, and our backers on Seed&Spark.

Script

Transcript

CONTENT WARNING: Strong existential dread, despair, and unreality, character betrayal, doppelgängers, pyrophobia, depictions of loss and grief, character injury, death, and separation, coughing and choking sound effects, and loud noises including explosions and screams

[The waves of Agate Shore]

[A steady rain falls as thunder rumbles overhead]

[Peter shivers slightly, and pulls his coat tighter]

Peter Slate

Okay… um… “Oh! Anna! Is that you? How—” No that’s stupid… “how’s it going” is probably the stupidest thing I could say. “How’s it going? Oh yeah! Right on!” [he laughs at himself]

Okay. [He sighs] “Anna? Oh my god, it is you— Guess what? Guess what today is? April Fool’s! Isn’t that a wild day—”

Nah. No, I mean that… She doesn’t want anything jokey, it’s been… hard. Ugh, okay. [He sighs] How about… “Anna, we have missed you so much. Welcome! Come…” [He trails off]

What if she thinks that’s insincere, though? I mean… doesn’t sound sincere to me.

[Pause, he sighs]

Just come back, Anna. And bring Kate with you.

[Cassette noises]

[Click]

[Main Theme, in reverse]

Recording Begins

[Cassette noises]

[Click]

[Static fades]

[Russel races around the corner in Sam and Allen’s old home, barking]

Sam Bailey

Russel! Russel, shhhh, it’s just me, it’s Sam, you need to keep quiet before—

[The front door opens, the rain outside is heard clearly]

[The tap of Russel’s nails on the floor continues]

Allen Gott

Goddamn, it’s raining like the dickens out there. [He closes the door, and looks at Sam] Sam? What are you doing sitting out there in the dark? [His keys jangle] Come and help me with the groceries, space cadet!

Sam Bailey

A-Allen?

[Russel howls]

[Allen shifts, looking at Sam]

Allen Gott

Did you get off early or something? I thought you were on shift until late… all that extra work right now, you know?

Sam Bailey

Extra work. The… the drowning cases?

Allen Gott

Sam… are you alright?

Sam Bailey

I… I need to lie down… 

Allen Gott

Whoa, easy there sweetie… 

[Allen moves towards him, and helps Sam get down onto the couch]

Allen Gott

I’ll be right back, I’ve just gotta grab those groceries. Don’t you go anywhere.

[Allen opens the front door and heads back outside, closing the door behind him]

[Sam leans forward and picks up the newspaper from the coffee table]

Sam Bailey

March 16th, 2018… So… sometime after those three teenagers were found drowned in that car…

[Pause]

Two weeks before he died.

[Allen grunts as he opens the door and comes back in, laden with groceries]

[He sets them down, shuts the door, and approaches Sam]

Allen Gott

Alright, love… I’m all yours. You okay?

[Sam begins to cry]

Sam Bailey

[Sobbing] I can’t do this… I can’t do this… 

Allen Gott

Oh, Sam… I know, I know, the cases have been a lot lately. No wonder you’re feeling this way. Hey… hey…

What do you say we get away for a few days? We could both do with getting out of this rain for a bit at least. I think we both have some PTO saved up…

[Sam stops crying and looks at Allen]

Sam Bailey

Out of town… somewhere far away from here…

[Click]

[Silence]

[Click]

[The echoing beach in the Source]

[Distant waves]

Amy Sterling

I helped you bring Sam to this place because I knew it was the only way to get you into the Source to begin with. Do you have any idea how long I waited for this moment, unable to return to my life because I needed your memories to survive here? Now that you’re trapped on this side of the veil though… I can finally return to the world I lost and get my old life back.

Anna Sheridan

You… You were never going to help me, were you?

Amy Sterling

How does one define help? Has it been help you’ve offered me since I disappeared from your life? Refusing to forget me for over twenty years, prolonging my existence in this horrible, horrible place?

And yet… and yet… your memories allowed me to become powerful beyond my wildest imagination. Gave me all the tools I needed to escape.

Anna Sheridan

Amy, you have to help me. I’m going to die in here if you don’t. I’m going to become—

Amy Sterling

Well, I certainly have to do something with you. You and I are two poles on a magnet, and I don’t suppose our friend the Guardian will be too happy to see you and I together. 

Don’t worry. I would never be able to forget you, not after all this. So your life here should be much the same as mine has been. Which is to say… you’ll never fade away. Not truly. But you will become something… different.

Anna Sheridan

Amy, you can’t–!

[Pause; deep breath]

I can’t imagine what you’ve been through here, but… you can’t do this to me. After everything you’ve been through, why would you want to do this to me?

Amy Sterling

I want to live my own life, Anna. I deserve to have my own life. A real life, a human life. I want to experience the passage of time, the change of the seasons. The warmth of sunshine. Rain on my skin. Friendships. Relationships. Sunsets. Flowers… 

You had all of that, and you took it for granted. You isolated yourself, locked yourself away from the world, from the people who loved you the most, and refused to live your life to the fullest. You got your chance. I never did.

Now it’s my turn.

[Click]

[Silence]

[Click]

[The rain falls steadily outside]

Sam Bailey

Where would we go?

Allen Gott

I don’t know… Tahoe… Truckee… oh, maybe San Francisco? Maybe that’s what we both need: sea air, a good cup of coffee, and some steep hills to climb. God knows I need the cardio.

[He chuckles] We could go at the end of the month I think, if we put in the request today.

[Sam pulls back from Allen]

Sam Bailey

I… I’m not sure… 

[The rain picks up outside, growing louder]

[Sam begins to panic]

Allen Gott

Oh, sweetheart… 

[Allen wraps his arms tightly around Sam, and Sam fights it as it makes his panic worse]

Sam Bailey

[Shaking his head, panicking] No… no… NO… 

[Allen lets go]

Allen Gott

Fuck, sorry Sam… that usually helps… 

[Sam continues to breathe rapidly and shallowly]

[Allen addresses Sam plainly after a moment]

Allen Gott

I think it’s time you told me what’s going on here.

Sam Bailey

[His panic slows and stops] W—what?

Allen Gott

Tell me what’s really going on, Sam. You’re supposed to be at work. But you… you look different. I don’t recognize those clothes. Your hair is longer than it was when you left this morning. And your beard… I saw you shave yesterday, and you’ve never grown it out that much.

Listen, Sam — I’m not an idiot.

Sam Bailey

I never said you were, it’s just—!

Allen Gott

I know there’s been a lot of strange stuff happening around here. Not too long ago, I thought I heard you on the other end of a phone call… but you were right here with me, at home. So… what… are you Sam’s secret twin or something? A time traveler? Some kind of doppelgänger?

[Sam laughs]

Allen Gott

What?

Sam Bailey

I just… I didn’t expect you to be so blunt about it.

Allen Gott

You do remember how I told you I was interested in you, right?

Sam Bailey

…Yeah.

Allen Gott

So? Tell me what’s going on. [He stands, walks to the groceries] And help me unpack these groceries, would you? I think the lettuce is starting to wilt in there.

[He grabs the bags]

[Click]

[Silence]

[Click]

[The distant waves of the beach in the Source]

Anna Sheridan

I waited for you, Amy. I waited for years. I never stopped talking about you, never stopped remembering you. You were my best friend. My first ghost. If you want to know what it was that haunted me all those years, what led me further into my own nightmares and cut me off from the rest of the world, it was you. I didn’t fail your memory by becoming what I did… I honored it. Don’t you dare use that against me now.

Amy Sterling

Don’t pretend like you avoided your life out of some sense of duty. You wanted it. You wanted that isolation. You were always more comfortable engaging with the great beyond than your everyday life, more interested in stories than the people around you. I just gave you the excuse to do it. So now… I’m ready to give you what you really want. Free and open access to the endless mysteries of the infinite. A window into every universe that has ever and could ever exist. A chance to take a look behind the curtain like no human being ever could. No publisher to report back to. No family to disappoint. No friends to neglect. No lover to fail. You can have it all, you just need to let… me… go.

Anna Sheridan

I… I could never leave Maria. She’s the reason I stayed so long—

Amy Sterling

Oh come on. If Maria was actually your reason, you would have fought harder to keep her around. You would have actually tried to keep her—

Anna Sheridan

You don’t get to decide that! I don’t care what you’ve seen, I’m the only one who gets to say what she means to me.

But you are right about some things, Amy. I did avoid my everyday life. And about… the people I disappointed with my absence. Or my independence.

But Maria? We worked. We had our problems, sure. And lately, I’ve kept too many secrets from her. But at the core of us… we could be curled up under the stars, or howling around a campfire, or sitting in LA traffic, or hiking up a mountain, or sitting in a coffee shop in Wellington, or escaping the rain in Scotland, or comforting each other after a nightmare, or sharing a sleep-deprived Christmas morning together, and we… we just worked. We’re home to each other. And I’ll be damned if I let you keep me from my love.

But you’re right about one more thing. I can’t imagine the pain and the hell you’ve lived through.

Amy Sterling

I couldn’t explain it if I tried.

[Brief pause]

Anna Sheridan

You know… for a long time, I actually lived two lives? One where you were gone, yes, but in the other one… I swear I saw us grow up together.

Amy Sterling

What do you mean?

Anna Sheridan

I saw us go to senior prom, Amy. You worked up the courage, and you kissed Samantha. And… well, it didn’t go well, but you still managed to—

Amy Sterling

Samantha? I… I kissed her?

Anna Sheridan

Yeah.

Amy Sterling

I always liked her.

Anna Sheridan

I know.

Amy Sterling

Where is she now?

Anna Sheridan

She’s… Oh, Amy. She’s gone. Eaten up by something awful. I can’t say it was a good death. I’m so sorry.

Amy Sterling

So she’s gone.

Anna Sheridan

Yes.

Amy Sterling

What about my parents?

Anna Sheridan

I… [She sighs] In the timeline that seems the most real… they didn’t stay together. They divorced and moved away the year after you disappeared. I remember my parents talking about it. It sounded like they’d never had a child and just… went their separate ways.

Amy Sterling

I… see.

Anna Sheridan

I’ll never understand what you’ve had to survive in here, Amy. And I know it would only seem fair to let you have a turn at life… let you be the one to remember me, for a change. But… 

What would even be there for you, Amy? Samantha’s gone. I’d be trapped here. Your parents… I don’t know if they’d even be able to recognize you. You’ve been here so long, you… you’ve changed. You’re all… blurry around the edges. Like you’re not really there.

I’m not sure you would survive out there, Amy. There’s no point in losing both of us. I can still go back… I don’t know if you can anymore.

Amy Sterling

I wasn’t expecting you to be so… kind. [Pause] You’re right. I was afraid you would be.

[Anna takes a few steps towards Amy, who flinches]

Amy Sterling

What are you doing?

Anna Sheridan

I’m giving my friend a hug.

[Click]

[Silence]

[Click]

[Clattering, cabinet doors creaking, bottles clanking, shuffling, cabinet doors closing as Sam and Allen put away groceries]

Sam Bailey

I’m… I’m not even sure I can tell you anything.

Allen Gott

Alright. How about this… you looked surprised to see me when I came in. Like… you hadn’t seen me for a while.

Sam Bailey

…Yeah.

Allen Gott

What happened?

Sam Bailey

I… don’t think that’s something I can tell you. No matter how much I want to.

Allen Gott

That bad, huh? Hmm. Okay… did we break up?

Sam Bailey

Allen, I can’t tell you.

[Pause]

Allen Gott

So what do I do, then?

Sam Bailey

Keep loving me. Pretend like you never saw me… this version of me. You can’t mention this to anyone, but especially me. There’s… there’s too much at stake.

Allen Gott

Matter of life and… death, is it?

Sam Bailey

Basically… exactly that. Yes.

[Pause]

Allen Gott

I’m uh… I’m only going to ask this once… Is there any way to avoid what’s coming?

Sam Bailey

I’ve thought about that every single day since… since it happened.

My time with you… including right now… is utterly unforgettable. I never thought I’d get to have this conversation with you. Trust me, I’ve wished for it… 

I’ve missed you so much, Allen.

Allen Gott

How is it that you’re right here talking to me, and I feel like I haven’t seen you in years? [Pause] You’ve done some growing. I can tell.

Sam Bailey

I’ve tried.

Allen Gott

[Quietly] And I’m so proud of you.

[Long, tender pause]

Sam Bailey

I need to go, Allen. I have somewhere I need to be. Someone who really needs me. A whole lot of someones, actually.

Allen Gott

And you… the you that’s still at work… needs me here.

Sam Bailey

He really does.

[Pause]

Allen Gott

Before you go, then… 

Sam Bailey

Yes?

Allen Gott

Let me kiss you. And then I’ll let you go.

[Click]

[Silence]

[Click]

[The black sand beach of the Source]

Anna Sheridan

So do you really not know where I need to go to get out of here?

Amy Sterling

You don’t need to worry about that. The moment is coming, I think. There is just one last thing… 

Anna Sheridan

What is it?

Amy Sterling

There are two aberrations that haven’t been patched. Two final threads in the timeline that need to be woven.

Anna Sheridan

Which are…?

Amy Sterling

Your tapes. They need to be taken from Sam’s room at the Meriwether facility on January 30th, 2020, and left in your van on October 31st, 2018 for the police to find.

Anna Sheridan

…and how am I supposed to do that?

Amy Sterling

Don’t worry… I’ll make sure you land at exactly the right moments… 

[A door appears, creaking open]

Anna Sheridan

Just… through there?

Amy Sterling

Better hurry. Sam will be back any moment now.

[Anna steps through the doorway]

[Rattling of items, rumbling, crashing, alarm sounding]

Anna Sheridan (yelling)

What the hell Amy?! You didn’t tell me this place was falling apart!

Amy Sterling

Better grab them fast then! They’re under the bed!

[Anna grabs the case, drags it out, and runs back through the doorway]

[The door closes]

Amy Sterling

And the drop off… 

[A new door opens]

[Anna steps through, her feet hitting desert dirt]

[She opens her van door]

Anna Sheridan

This is so weird… 

[She shoves the tapes under her passenger seat]

[She closes the van door and walks back through the door Amy created]

[She stops]

Anna Sheridan

Whoa. I don’t feel so… 

[Amy closes the door]

I don’t feel so good. [pause] What’s the second one?

Amy Sterling

Kate needs to remember the well, and me, in order for the team that finds you to be ready. But there’s a moment in time, close by, where we may be able to reach her… through your mother.

Anna Sheridan

My mother…?

Amy Sterling

We could send the message through her.

Anna Sheridan

I’m not sure… I’m not sure I can send another message, especially not after… 

Amy Sterling

For all you’ve… tried to do for me… I suppose I can take care of it. [Pause; distortion builds] Remember, Anna. The moment is coming. Listen.

[Amy winks out of sight in a bubble of distorted static]

[Click]

[Silence]

[Click]

[In Sam and Allen’s quiet living room]

[They pull apart from a kiss]

Allen Gott

You’re… you’re fading.

Sam Bailey

Oh, God. No, no, not yet.

[Echoes and distortion build]

Allen Gott

I… didn’t know it would look like this… this is… 

Sam Bailey

Allen! Allen!

[Sam’s voice and distraught breathing echoes in the Source]

Sam Bailey

Don’t cry… don’t cry… keep your wits about you…

Nice of you to finally take me back in.

Goddamn you.

[Click]

[Silence]

[Click]

[Fires burn and portals hum in Morrison’s throne room]

Bill Tyler

No. 

Ned Leroux

No?

Bill Tyler

If you’re right, then there’s no point in running either. If Morrison wins here, then sooner or later there won’t be anywhere left to run.

Ned Leroux

…it could buy us a little bit more time.

Bill Tyler

Maybe. But I’ve spent too much of my life letting people like Morrison win. I’m not running anymore.

Jerry Price

And neither am I.

Robert Quincy

Me neither.

[Ned looks around, then sighs]

Ned Leroux

Hell. Figure I’m not running either.

Jerry Price

It’s now or never, Ned. We need to do something. 

[Morrison laughs from his throne]

Edgar Morrison

Come out of your hiding hole, brave heroes. There’s more than one way to drive a rabbit from its warren.

[He yells in triumph, opening more rifts in the Source]

[Unholy wind blowing, howling]

[Distortion increases]

Behold! Your doom has come to you, O inhabitant of the land. The time has come; the day is near, a day of tumult, and not of joyful shouting on the mountains!

[Huge booms, outside]

[The palace shivers]

What the — NO! No!! My soldiers, they… she destroyed them!

[He breathes hard in rage, and then noise of him fades]

[Bill pokes his head out]

Bill Tyler

What the… where the hell did he go?

[The exterior door of his palace creaks open and closed]

Jerry Price

Is he running away?

Robert Quincy

How did he get over there so quickly?

[Steady thrum begins outside]

Ned Leroux

No, and probably a short hop in and out of the Source. Clever bastard.

Bill Tyler

What’s he doing out there?

Ned Leroux

If I had to guess… raising some more “officers” to replace the ones who just went boom.

Robert Quincy

…shit.

Ned Leroux

Let’s try to find a better position while we can. We don’t have long, Morrison will be back any moment now.

[The sound of a rumbling, deep power growing outside]

And I think he’ll have backup.

[Click]

[Silence]

[Click]

[The waves of Agate Shore]

[The voice of “Other” Ren Park echoes as he speaks]

Ren Park (Other)

What now, Ren? They can’t hear you. You can’t help Kate against the apparition of Morrison. And you can’t help Maria against her vision of the Echo.

Do you see how terrified they look? How lost? How alone? For all the times you’ve refused to intervene to stop the suffering of others… now you have no choice. [Distorted laugh]

Ren Park

Why are you doing this? What do you want?

Ren Park (Other)

A nightmare wants nothing. Only your suffering. Are you suffering, Doctor Park?

Ren Park

Kate! Maria!

Ren Park (Other)

I have told you already this is useless. But do feel free to scream. I would so enjoy hearing your throat dry out and crack.

Ren Park

I’m going to find my way out of here — I’m going to help my friends.

Ren Park (Other)

Will you? Are you sure that you even can? How do you know, for instance, that you’re really here? That you still exist? That you ever did?

Ren Park

What?

Ren Park (Other)

Well, if Kate and Maria can’t see you… can’t hear you… then how do you know this isn’t entirely in your own head? How do you know you haven’t already died — been killed in an instant by some piece of debris on the shores of the lake, your blood mingling in the foamy waves as your dreams of reaching the stars die on the sand?

Ren Park

Because I don’t believe my mind would ever create you.

Ren Park (Other)

Oh, really? And how do you know I’m not a manifestation of your guilt? For all the experiments you’ve run, the humans and almost-human creatures you’ve let suffer under the scope of your work, the relationships you’ve let fall…

Tell me Ren, are you so sure that you know yourself? How can you know that what you think and believe about yourself is true?

[Ren begins to sink into the sand]

[He fights against it]

Ren Park

What? No… no!

Ren Park (Other)

Now tell me, Doctor… are you actually sinking into the sand, or is this just another trick? Oh, I do enjoy this. [They laugh]

[Ren stops sinking, and stops fighting]

Ren Park

Well, if none of this is real… I suppose it’s just as true to say that everything is real.

Ren Park (Other)

Yes… yes… everything is real. A nuclear warhead could drop on this spot at any moment. Somewhere, patient zero will die from what will soon become an extinction-level pandemic. Everything and everyone you’ve known will forget you, and your legacy will die in the dust.

Ren Park

And somehow, in the grand realm of possibility, Salut d’amour plays on Morrison Propaganda FM.

Ren Park (Other)

…Oh? Oh, what an interesting new game. I like—

[Static of radio]

[The opening of Salut d’Amour whirs to life on the radio, slightly out of tune at first but growing stronger]

Ren Park (Other)

What is… that music. It’s… it’s… transcendent.

Ren Park

Sure, you do a good job embodying my greatest fears. But you’re also great at embodying all of my loves. Unfortunately for you.

[The doppelganger sinks to the ground with a pleased sigh, fading to nothing]

[Ren struggles out of the sand]

[Click]

[Silence]

[Click]

[Salut d’Amour, floating on the airwaves]

Edgar Morrison (Other)

Oh, a pretty piece of music? Little good that will do you now.

Kate Sheridan

No… I know this music…

Ren is here. He isn’t gone… that’s just another illusion. Like Andrew in the lake. Like you.

Edgar Morrison (Other)

And you think that means you’re safe here? That I won’t still find you and kill you when the time comes?

Kate Sheridan

Yes, it does. You can’t hurt me anymore. You tried to take my sister from me, and you failed. You tried to take Bill and Rob away from us, and you failed. You tried to crush our spirits, and you failed. Your time is over, Morrison… leave.

[Morrison disappears with a growl, and a distorted hiss]

[Kate shifts her body to look for Ren]

Kate Sheridan

Ren! Ren, come here!

Ren Park

Kate! [He runs to her] Oh my God, are you okay!?

Kate Sheridan

Just untie me, and I will be.

[Click]

[Silence]

[Click]

[The music drifts to Maria]

Maria Sol

That music… Ren…

[She steps forward]

Sorry, I guess I forgot what I’m dealing with here. I command this illusion to melt away. I KNOW Ren is here. You are not.

Anna Sheridan (Other)

Are you sure? I’m as close to the real Anna as you’ll ever see again. And I know you’ll regret sending me away.

Maria Sol

No, I won’t. I want my Anna, or none at all.

[The Echo vanishes with a scoff]

[Maria turns around]

Maria Sol

Where are–Kate! Ren!

[Maria takes a step towards them]

[Click]

[Silence]

[Click]

[Anna stands on the Source beach, shivering]

Anna Sheridan

Where do I go now?

[She numbly opens a door, steps through, and finds herself in a cave]

[The door closes]

Oh shit, I can’t see a goddamn thing in here…

[She feels behind herself frantically]

Where did the door go?

[She begins to breathe nervously]

[She takes slow steps forward]

Not by sight… not by sight… come on, Anna. It’s worked before, and Amy told you to listen. Not by sight… Not by sight…

[A distant whoosh approaches her]

Ned Leroux

There, you see that? I thought I saw someone up ahead. 

Sam Bailey

Keep focusing, we’ll be there in no… [gasp]

Ned Leroux

Who is… 

[Anna turns, and gasps in relief]

Anna Sheridan

Sam! You’re okay, you’re here!

Sam Bailey

…Anna?

Ned Leroux

Oh my God.

Anna Sheridan

Wait… no… no, this isn’t right. [looking at Ned] Who are you?

Ned Leroux

Ned Leroux. Why do you look so…

Sam Bailey

Wait… Anna, you know me?

Anna Sheridan

No, no, this isn’t right… 

[Anna backs away]

Sam Bailey

Anna, listen to me — I’ve been looking for you. We’re here to take you back to the other side. It’s time to go.

[Distortion builds]

Anna Sheridan

No! Something’s wrong!

[Anna gasps]

Anna Sheridan

Don’t look! Don’t look behind you!

Sam Bailey

Wait, why?

Anna Sheridan

This isn’t the right time. You aren’t here yet. Go where you need to be! RUN!

[She shoves them both away, and they zoom away through the reaches of the Source]

[Silence]

[Footsteps slowly approach her]

Sam Bailey

Anna? Is that you?

Anna Sheridan

Oh thank god… this has to be right… you’re the right Sam, aren’t you?

Sam Bailey

…Was that the moment I thought it was?

Anna Sheridan

Still seems like you know a lot more about this place than I do.

Sam Bailey

I wouldn’t be so sure about that. You helped me find two very important friends. Thank you.

Anna Sheridan

[Sarcastically] Anytime.

Sam Bailey

I’m not letting go of you again, Anna. It’s time for us to get out of here.

Anna Sheridan

Promise?

Sam Bailey

I promise.

[Click]

[Silence]

[Click]

[Outside the palace, Morrison’s voice booms amidst a low, steady pulse, and a deep rumble]

[Inside, fires burn]

Edgar Morrison (muffled, through the door)

Rise, soldiers of the Lord! You have been made manifest and summoned to bring my kingdom into being on this earth, that none shall stand in our way!

Ned Leroux

He’s taking his time out there. Probably making sure he has enough soldiers to finish us off.

Bill Tyler

Shit.

Jerry Price

What’s our plan when he comes back?

[Pause]

Ned Leroux

Bill. Rob. Whatever happens next, I need you to stay hidden.

Bill Tyler

Wait, what—?

Robert Quincy

Ned… you’ve gotta give us more than that.

[Morrison enters the throne room again]

[His officers follow, marching]

Edgar Morrison

Come out… come out… wherever you are…

Ned Leroux

No… no… that’s… that’s even more than I thought…

Edgar Morrison

What’s wrong, my children? [His officers stop] Do not fear the dark that waits you beyond the veil… fear me, for that is the beginning of—

[Morrison cuts off, wincing and holding his chest]

Bill Tyler

He winced.

Ned Leroux

He just goddamn winced.

Robert Quincy

Guys — careful, but… look.

[They take a closer look, peeking carefully]

Robert Quincy

Looks like he’s favoring one leg.

Ned Leroux

When did that happen?

[Morrison grunts as he opens his shirt to examine his wound]

Ned Leroux

Oh my god… look, look at his chest.

Bill Tyler

It looks like there’s a piece of him that never made it back.

Robert Quincy

And those… black streaks? Oh my god. It looks like… like poison.

Bill Tyler

His heart… it never healed correctly. Maybe his body is rejecting it?

Ned Leroux

No part of that wound is clean, that’s for sure.

Jerry, Bill, Rob… As soon as he’s distracted, I need you to keep those officers busy. Here Rob, take my bat. [He hands him the bat] And Bill… 

[Ned picks up a loose metal pipe in the rubble]

Put those broad shoulders to good work, would you?

Bill Tyler

Yes, sir. Everyone ready?

Jerry Price

Ready. 

Bill Tyler

And what do you plan on doing?

Ned Leroux

What I have to. You just stay alive. I love you, Bill. You too, Rob.

[Ned kisses Bill and Rob on their foreheads]

[He takes a deep breath, runs at Morrison, and takes a running leap at him]

[Morrison is caught off guard]

Edgar Morrison

You little — AAAAAHHH!

[Click]

[Silence]

[Click]

[The rushing winds of the Source]

Anna Sheridan

How are we supposed to get back?

Sam Bailey

The causal loops have all been closed now. Our only hope is to concentrate on Agate Shore: on Kate, Maria, and Ren, waiting for us.

Anna Sheridan

[Emotional laugh] I can’t believe they all came together for this. [Pause] They must be so angry with me. I definitely would be.

[Distortion builds, chaotic noise]

Sam Bailey

Anna, careful! You have to watch what you say— Hang on!

[Sam pulls them out of a loud area of distortion, Anna cries out in alarm]

[They pant in relief]

Sam Bailey

Anna… they all desperately want you back. All of them. And right now… more than ever… we need to focus on the good memories you have with them. You need to picture them waiting on that shoreline with open arms.

Anna Sheridan

Okay… I’ll try… [Brief pause] How long… how long will it take to get back?

Sam Bailey

Any minute now. Just hang on.

[Click]

[Silence]

[Click]

[Battle chaos]

[Bill, Jerry, and Rob grunt as they swing at officers]

[The officers die with hydraulic hisses and screeches, falling to the floor]

[Ned and Morrison grapple]

[Ned gets a good hit on Morrison, who growls in anger]

[Morrison grapples for him]

[Ned hits the floor heavily, Morrison begins to kick him]

Bill Tyler

Ned!

[Morrison laughs darkly]

Edgar Morrison

Hello again, Bill—

[Ned kicks into Morrison’s side, and Morrison crumbles]

[Ned continues to kick]

Bill Tyler

Hell yeah!

Jerry Price

Get him, Ned! [Pause; a sudden realization] Oh my God! I figured it out! The third act turn, oh it’s perfect!!

[Jerry takes out officers continually as he talks]

[Morrison growls]

Jerry Price

If I didn’t hate y’all so much, I’d thank you in my dedication!

[Ned lodges Morrison’s head into his clenched arm, and drags him towards a rift]

Edgar Morrison

What the… what are you doing, Ned!?

Ned Leroux

Go to Hell, Morrison.

[Click]

[Silence]

[Click]

[The gentle waves of Agate Shore]

[Maria sighs]

Maria Sol

Would you look at that? The first slivers of dawn. The stars are disappearing.

Kate Sheridan

The day didn’t loop on us.

Ren Park

Our first real dawn in ages.

Maria Sol

It’s beautiful. [Pause] What do we do, now?

Kate Sheridan

I don’t know. It seems like Morrison is distracted, whatever is going on.

Maria Sol

Is that why we were able to break out of his illusion like that?

Ren Park

Who knows. Was it that, or the music?

Maria Sol

I hope it’s because he’s getting his ass kicked.

Ren Park

Me, too.

[Brief pause]

Kate Sheridan

What we can do now — the only thing we can do… is we hope. We fix ourselves as hard as we can to this spot, and the image of Sam and Anna coming out of that lake.

[Click]

[Silence]

[Click]

[Battle chaos]

[Jerry, Bill, and Rob continue fighting and taking down officers in the background]

[Ned and Morrison grapple, panting, grunting, and trading hits on each other]

[They separate, panting as they stare at each other]

Edgar Morrison

What’s got into you, Ned? Why are you still fighting for these pathetic humans?

Ned Leroux

I figured… it was about time I tried something new.

Edgar Morrison

…What?

[Ned launches himself forward and punches Morrison in the teeth]

[Ned laughs darkly]

[Click]

[Silence]

[Click]

[The rushing waters of the Source]

Sam Bailey

There’s a glimmer ahead! It looks like water! Anna, I think we’re almost—

[Anna mumbles in exhaustion, her grip weakening]

Sam Bailey

Anna, please hold on! We’re almost there!

Anna Sheridan

I’m… trying… 

[Click]

[Silence]

[Click]

[Battle chaos and marching can still be heard in the background, though fainter]

[Ned breathes hard]

[Distortion is heavy, a nearby rift dangerously close]

Edgar Morrison

And what do you think you’re going to do now, huh? We’re both exhausted, but you can never beat me. You can’t risk it. Your friends will lose strength. Doorways to chaos lie all around us, and soon, that chaos will manifest fully in this world.

Shall I remind you of how you fear the dark? The dissolving… endless… chaotic… darkness. The place where all things are worn down and reformed for purposes no mortal mind could ever understand.

Do you remember the deal we made? When you were still DeWitt, crawling inch by inch towards your torn and scattered legs. I picked you up. I made you an offer you were only too desperate to accept.

Ned Leroux

I remember.

Edgar Morrison

I offered you power. A position at OCPD. A chance to be a first among my many… many monsters.

Ned Leroux

I said I remember.

Edgar Morrison

I learned things from you, Ned. Things… in our proximity… that I couldn’t have learned in a thousand years of study. I learned your manipulation. The way that you would… bend reality.

[Morrison raises his hand, widening a nearby portal as he laughs wickedly]

[A ripping noise, and a howling]

[He laughs, wheezing] I have treasured our time together. But now I fear it’s time for you to go. Back to the place you fear. The place that now… bends… to my will.

Ned Leroux

Does it now?

Edgar Morrison

Of course it does.

Ned Leroux

What about that wound in your side? If the power beyond was truly subject to you… couldn’t you have healed yourself by now? If you were really master of the Source… would I even be able to touch you?

[Ned takes a step towards Morrison, and Morrison steps back]

[Ned laughs, confident]

[He continues walking at him]

Bill Tyler (distantly)

What’s happening?

Robert Quincy (distantly)

No Bill, Don’t get any closer!

[Ned stops and addresses Morrison]

[Battle chaos continues in the background]

Ned Leroux

I’ve kept a list, my whole life, of the things I’ve done. I’ve killed with arrows. With the sword. With my own two hands. I’ve stood on the tallest mountains in the world, swam its depths, made my home in the deep. I’ve seen hundreds of generations of man, I’ve seen empires crumble, and I’ve seen brilliance rise and fall through the ages in a million forgotten ways. I’ve cheated. I’ve stolen. I’ve betrayed. I’ve lied.

But one thing remained. That first… thing. The one everyone else does, when they first get started living. The one I overlooked. I’ve done everything, but it hasn’t meant anything… not until I’ve loved.

I think at some point, in the great mystery of all this, we must have made a trade. You took on my manipulation. And I… I made use of your humanity. But then again, I’ve always been more resourceful than you.

[Morrison laughs]

Edgar Morrison

Centuries of smooth-talking, and the only thing you can say now is a cliche? Love? A thing like you wouldn’t know the meaning of it. You’re a twisted hunk of tar. But you have always known fear, and you will know fear now.

Ned Leroux

I don’t think fear can reach me anymore. Not where I stand now.

Edgar Morrison

I will cast you into the void! You will dissipate into nothingness! Into ephemeral rot!

Ned Leroux

No. You won’t.

Edgar Morrison

What?

Ned Leroux

You know what I think? I think that’s the very last thing you’re going to do. Because in your state? If you get any closer to these portals you’ve so carelessly torn open… Hm. Well. Those wounds of yours are looking worse than ever… and you just spent most of your remaining energy creating new officers.

I think there’s a very real chance that if you go back in there, you lose it all.

Edgar Morrison

That’s what you think, is it?

Ned Leroux

What are you so afraid of, huh? Is it the Guardian? Now that its chains are broken… now that you’ve been weakened… it would unmake you just the same as any of us, wouldn’t it? Especially if someone made sure you stayed there until the bitter end.

Bill Tyler (distantly)

Ned… Ned, what’s happening?

Robert Quincy (distantly)

No. No… 

Edgar Morrison (simultaneous)

You better watch it. I’m counting down from 10… 9… 8… 7… 6… 5… 4… 3… 2… 1… 

Ned Leroux (simultaneous)

The void. The void is only an ocean. Mother… Chaos… And I’ve lived full. Seen and done it all. And it would be… my pleasure… to be the reason… 

[Morrison falls silent at the end of his countdown]

Ned Leroux

…that My love lives on.

Edgar Morrison (desperate whisper)

Ned… no… wait…

[Ned launches at Morrison with a victorious grunt, and Morrison screams as they both fall into the void]

[Morrison’s scream distorts]

[The void slams shut with a burst of energy]

[The officers scream as the remaining ones die, and fall]

[All portals shut, disappear, and distortion leaves the air]

[Jerry cries out in surprise]

Jerry Price

What — what’s happening?!

[It’s quiet]

[Bill and Rob run forward]

Bill Tyler

Ned? Ned? Where are you?

[His voice echoes]

[Rob’s breath is shaky]

[After a moment, Jerry walks over to them both and holds them]

[Slowly, the sound of birds return]

[Click]

[Silence]

[Click]

[The rushing waters of the Source]

[Distantly, a crashing and crackling]

Sam Bailey

Wait–something’s happening… [He looks in the distance, and hears Morrison’s distorted scream] Ned! He’s got!… [Pause] He’s got Morrison! [The Guardian groans, distantly] Ned…?

[Sam and Anna break the surface of Agate Shore lake, choking and gasping]

Kate Sheridan (distantly)

Anna!!

Maria Sol (distantly)

Oh my God, Anna!!

Anna Sheridan

[Coughing, choking] Maria!?

Ren Park (distantly)

Sam!! Anna!!

Sam Bailey

[Gasping, choking] Come on, Anna! Swim! Swim for the shore!

[Sam and Anna, struggling in the water and the waves]

[They collapse on the sand]

[Their friends cry in stunned silence]

[Distortion dissolving away as Morrison’s bubble disappears]

[The birds return]

Peter Slate (distantly)

Anna! Anna, is that you?! 

[Clack]

Final Recording Ends

End Theme & Credits