WEBVTT

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Ispet Archives has adult language and violence
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discretion is advised. Ispet Archives is
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listening and our binge. Here includes
access to this complete season. Thank you

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for listening, Chapter thirteen, Winter
Warning. All right, who's next on

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the list of the Hidden? I
suggest that next we discuss the guides,

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as they're the next group of hidden
with which you are most familiar. Yeah,

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okay. Guides have a natural intuition
for pathfinding in both the physical world

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as well as the metaphysical world.
They can navigate to almost any desired location

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as long as they have the means
of travel. They have an uncanny ability

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to avoid danger, survive with limited
resources, and find locations, items,

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or people that they are searching for, and what you would define as a

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more supernatural capacity, guides assist individuals
that are dying. They comfort them and

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ease their passing. They're present with
every person that dies. It seems like

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a lot. No, not every
death only for those individuals that would die

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alone with no one to comfort them. In any scenario where a person appears

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to have died alone, there was
actually a guide alongside to bring them comfort

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and help them pass over, pass
over to where I am not positive,

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but you are for sure saying that
there's life after death. There is most

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certainly life after death. It may
not be in the form that you imagine,

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but it exists. Bodies decay,
life grows from decay. Plants,

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bugs, bacteria, and the earth
itself can all benefit and birth life from

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the death of a person. That's
not what I mean. Your question is

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does one's consciousness transfer to a heavenly
celestial plane of existence after it leaves the

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body here? Correct? Mm,
I do not know, and I doubt

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September knows. His order simply fulfills
their purpose. What purpose is that?

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To guide people hastings? Sometimes you're
infuriating. September frequently reminds me of that

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fact. Fine, how do guides
help dying people cross over? I'm not

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exactly certain how the mechanics of the
process work. There are other researchers within

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the chroniclers that have a better understanding
of the guides. What I do know

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is that they are able to slow
time during the moment of the person's passing.

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It appears to only impact the person
who is dying and the guide that

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is connected to them. I believe
guides do this by manipulating the independent reality

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of the dying person just before death. Within that manipulation, they are able

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to project an image and sound that
could sue the dying individual. Guides are

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able to reshape reality based on these
specific laws and circumstances. Well, it's

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actually heartworm to know that no one
dies alone. It is a fear amongst

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many humans. You are likely to
find it quite pleasant. I'd presume,

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yeah, Hastings, that's a correct
presumption. Is there anything else you would

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like to know? Yes? I
feel like that was barely anything. Like

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how do guides know who's about to
die? Are guides immortal? If not?

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How long do they normally live?
Do guides have families? Why do

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guides hunt anomalies? Do guides have
a religion? I literally know next to

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nothing about them. I mean,
Jesus, how are they born? They

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see markers only visible to guides.
No, normally four to five hundred years,

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although the oldest guide is just over
nine hundred years old in a fashion,

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but different than humans because anomalies are
dangerous. Some guides have religion and

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best that you asked September that last
one regarding how they are born. You

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may think it is gross Hastings.
You are seriously infuriating sometimes between you and

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September, I will never forget.
Okay, how about this? Why do

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guides hate shifters so much? That
is a good question. Maybe we should

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discuss shifters next. A detective,
George Bullard, tossed the folder full of

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papers on his desk and collapsed into
his cushioned chair. The case inside that

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folder should be an open and shut
deal. A woman was murdered in her

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home. No forced entry. There
were signs of a struggle in the kitchen.

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The boyfriend was previously convicted on multiple
accounts of domestic abuse. His alibis

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were holier than Swiss cheese and stink
worse than Limburger. Getting the arrest warrant

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was probably the easiest thing that George
had done all week, and yet he

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did not feel good. That was
the only word that came to mind for

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George. He just wanted to feel
good about something. The case would still

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take an obnoxious amount of paperwork to
get wrapped up. He needed to appear

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in court later in the day for
a different case. The list of voicemails

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on his work phone was getting longer
by the hour, and there was absolutely

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no desire to talk to any of
the callers. He was exhausted. He

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felt worn down and lethargic. He
couldn't remember the last time he had a

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good night's rest, or the motivation
to hit the gym for that matter.

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It was just a never ending stack
of folders, folders that held cases,

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murder cases. When had he begun
to resent this job? You look like

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shit? What was that? I
mean, you always look off well.

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I can't help with that ugly mugg
you call a face, But lately you're

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looking like you could scare children.
Real funny, I'm serious. Medicine has

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come a long way. You're not
alone. I'm sure there's a doctor out

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there that be willing to take on
your case and see your impression of carrot

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top doesn't end at the curly hair. I mean, you don't even have

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to worry about the pay. I
bet they do it for free. Just

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ITU helped the whole world if we
didn't have to look at you. Just

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a full on pro bono case,
Davis, Is there something you need?

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You just hear a simply bask in
my beauty. Seriously, man, you

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need a break. When was the
last time you took a vacation? I

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don't know. When was the last
time I visited your mom? Oh?

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There he is glad to see you're
awake. Shut up, really though,

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Please take some time off go visit
my mom. Lor No, she needs

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a company. You even have a
mother? I thought you were spawn from

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some monstrosity. Same thing. Quit
dodging. Take some time off once I

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can put a dent in these cases. There are all always going to be

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more cases. Go talk to the
chief. Get your name on a week

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before all the rookies gobble up the
holidays. Yeah, yeahme on it.

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Speaking of which, you got any
plans for the holidays? Double pay sounds

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nice? They're going to work.
I don't see why not.'tis the

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season for homicide? Morbid but fair? Why don't you take Thanksgiving weekend off

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and come spending with me and my
family? Will your mother be there?

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Hahah One shittier mom joke is about
all I can stomach before lunch. Hey,

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you started this. Come on,
what do you say there with me

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the family? Yeah, maybe I'm
not much of a holiday person, but

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your husband cooks a mean bert.
I'll tell him you said. So.

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Hey, I have to bounce for
the rest of the day. I got

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court and I want to grab an
energy drink on the way and maybe it'll

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pick me up with your old ass
heart that's going to kill you. Maybe

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then I could skip court. Count
that as a win. Oh hey,

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before where you go? Someone dropped
this envelope on my desk for you.

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Just because we're partners doesn't mean I'm
gonna start being your personal little male boy.

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What is it? I don't know. I have my own files to

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go through. I'm not interested in
yours unless the chief says I have to

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be fair enough. Mmm. What
is it? You said you weren't interested?

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I said, I'm not interested in
reading your mail. I'm still nosy.

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It's from Wisconsin, PD Racine.
What do those cheeseheads want? Nothing?

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They sent photos. It's like still
frames from gas station security camera pictures

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of who Brett Farvre, Marcus Baker. Oh fuck me? Hiding on Wisconsin

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kind of makes sense. Photos are
dated from six months ago. Dodd he's

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still there. This sounds about right
for a Wisconsin PD only six months behind

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the rest of the world against Wisconsin. Does you have family there? Yeah,

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and they're Packers fans, so they're
pretty much dead to me. What

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the fuck? What is it?
Wu's in that photo? I didn't go

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right there? Gas station photo with
the front view of the car. Those

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two women, yeah, who are
they? And one there I don't recognize

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this one. That is Emily Swanson, the girl with those two annoying friends.

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Yeah. What does the report say? It looks like it's a report

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of a murder scene. Emily,
No guess and the other woman in the

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photo. You need to hand that
off to the captain. It isn't your

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case anymore. Oh No, I'm
serious, George. You need to hand

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it to him and walk away.
Said, no, no, do it

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as soon as I get back from
court, George, I gotta go.

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Let me know if I get any
more mail. Sure, George, I'll

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do that. Emily clicked the ad
to cart button, placing a second bag

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of Dill flavored potato chips into her
order. She felt no shame for her

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impulse purchases. If she had to
be stuck in a house, hiding from

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police, the Contra, and whatever
else might be hunting her, She would

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snack how she danned well pleased.
September had told her that she shouldn't go

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into town for groceries because it wouldn't
be safe. That made sense to Emily,

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but she noted that they would still
need to eat. September resolved that

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concern by leaving her a laptop and
one of his credit cards. Emily assumed

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that someone as old as September would
likely have a lot of money squirreled away.

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He owned multiple properties and was at
least a few hundred years old.

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He had money, she hoped.
She clicked proceed to check out, and

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then looked over at Marcus. He
was sitting on the couch, wrapped in

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a blanket and holding a cup of
coffee in his hands. That was at

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least his fourth cup of the day. Emily thought that seemed excessive, but

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she said nothing. He was entitled
to his own comfort foods or drinks or

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whatever. Instead, she looked back
at her laptop screen and clicked order Now.

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Grocery orders in and will be delivered
tomorrow morning. Great, I should

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have asked you to order more.
Blankets are you really that cold. Yes,

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it's freezing in here. I would
hardly call this freezing. My fingers

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are ice sickles. You are so
dramatic. Weren't you raised in Chicago?

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You should be used to the cold. Just because as I grew up in

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Chicago doesn't mean I have to be
used to the cold or enjoy it.

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For that matter, I'm Latino and
we aren't meant for this type of weather.

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Then turn the heat up. I
will once I can get the blood

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to circulate in my legs again.
Oh my goodness, Marcus, I'll do

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it. Are you always this dramatic? You think this is bad? Wait

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until I catch a cold. I
can only imagine. What does the thermostat

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say. It says the heat is
set to sixty five, but it's only

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sixty inside. Turn it up to
seventy. Okay, wait, no,

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make it seventy five. It's not
like we pay the bills here and September

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and Hastings can cover the cost of
a little extra heat. All right,

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seventy five? It is happy.
Yes, thank you, I am going

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to light the fireplace all right.
Speaking of September and Hastings, how do

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you think they're doing. I'm sure, they're just fine. Yeah, I'm

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sure, I guess. I mean, what do you think they're doing at

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the Chronicle archives. I assume they're
trying to figure out how your powers work.

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If that was in the archives,
don't you think Hastings would already know?

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Maybe maybe not. Maybe Hastings is
a peon like us and he doesn't

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have access to everything. I guess
that could be true. Maybe he's trying

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to find out more information about you, or maybe he's reporting back what he

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learned about you, and they're going
to continue to study us like laborrats.

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I don't think Hastings is reporting on
us. From the way he in September

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talked, it seems like they're breaking
the rules by keeping us alive. I

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do have a theory about all this. What's that? What if ISFAT isn't

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really chaos after all? Maybe you're
just very powerful and they use ISFET as

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an excuse to keep anomalies controlled.
Chroniclers can't lie, though, So if

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Hastings says is FET is chaos,
then it is. You said the chroniclers

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can't lie, but they can give
misinformation, right, Yeah, So if

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Hastings is a peon with the chroniclers. Maybe he has been manipulated to believe

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that Isfat is chaos. It could
be a loophole by his leaders. Maybe

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they lie through omission, and the
rest of the chroniclers just believe the misinformation.

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That seems like a lot of work
to manipulate each other, and the

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chroniclers don't really seem like they work
that way. You've only met one so

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far, and he's strange. You
can't make a decision about all chroniclers based

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off what we know about Hastings,
right, I mean, that doesn't really

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make sense. It could all be
a ruse. You're right, but I

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need to believe that Hastings in September
are good and that they're here to help.

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I mean, what other option do
I have right now? True?

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Sorry, I didn't mean to stress
you out. You didn't I'm fine.

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I'm just curious what they'll find in
the archives. I'm sure they'll find something

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useful, maybe something to do with
why you can see different colors in your

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lines, or how to decipher these
dreams, or how to make me normal

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again? Marcus, what I don't
want this. I don't want to be

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special or a harbinger or whatever I
am I want to go back to the

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way things were, even if that
means going back to jail probably prison.

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And what about all the lives you
can potentially save with your visions? I

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mean if you went back to being
normal and I stayed an anomaly, I

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could potentially hurt people, a lot
of people, just like at the police

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station. You don't know that the
police station was your fault, Marcus.

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We do know that maybe they can
make you normal again as well. No,

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Marcus, I'm not a human.
I never was. They can't change

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me back to something that I never
was to begin with. This is my

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normal. Well, I am human, a human with powers. Would you

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really give those powers up, even
if it meant giving up the ability to

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save thousands of lives? Yes,
that's selfish. So what if it's selfish?

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Why should I help them? Why
isn't my responsibility? Those people don't

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give a shit about me or you. They would gladly toss me in prison

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and throw away the key. Marcus. It wasn't my choice to have these

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powers either. I'm sorry this is
happening to us, but we can't change

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this. And maybe you're right,
maybe those people don't deserve our help.

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Maybe you'll never be recognized as a
hero and people will always see you as

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a criminal. But you're the only
thing keeping me from hurting the people around

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me. That makes you the most
important person in the world to me,

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at least until you find the next
harbinger. Marcus. I'm sorry, I

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I really am. Maybe it's just
that I'm stuck in this house. It's

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so cold outside, and I'm just
overwhelmed. I feel trapped, and unfortunately

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you're the only person for me to
vent too. It's okay, I get

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it. How about we give this
topic a break for a little bit.

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I'll grab us a bottle of wine
and we can enjoy the fireplace. I

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heard the heater kicked on, but
doesn't seem to be getting any warmer in

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here yet, so I'll grab a
few more blankets too. As Emily returned

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to the common room with a bottle
of wine in one hand and two glasses

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in the other, she noticed that
Marcus had not moved closer to the fireplace.

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Hay stood in front of the couch
and lightly swayed back and forth as

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she opened her mouth to tease him
for whining about the cold. She was

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stopped short by the sight of her
friend. Marcus had gone quiet while she

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opened the bottle of wine and grabbed
the glasses. Emily had assumed that he

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was simply stewing on their conversation,
but now she could see something was wrong.

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His eyes were wide open and had
gone completely blue. They were not

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a nimbus blue like one would see
in a cartoon or supernatural television show,

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but instead they looked as if the
iris had expanded to cover his entire eyeball.

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This would be eerie enough, but
Emily knew that Marcus didn't have blue

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eyes. His eyes were naturally brown, dark brown in Marcus's own perception.

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He had walked across the room to
stand in front of the fire as Emily

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had left to get the wine.
The fire felt wonderful. For the first

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time in days, he actually felt
warm. He heard a sudden knock at

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the door and twisted his head over
his left shoulder to peer down the hallway.

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Emily had opened the door already.
How was fast. She must have

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been standing near the entrance for some
reason. As the door finished swinging open,

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Marcus's stomach sank. The creature standing
in the doorway was not human.

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The entity was a faceless monstrosity.
Horror struck. Marcus attempted to call out,

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but fear gripped his throat, choking
the noise from his lips. The

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faceless thing lifted its left hand.
In its hideous claw rested a red apple.

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The scene reminded Marcus of a picture
book he had as a child,

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when the Bruja gave the poisoned apple
to snow white. Just like the princess

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in the story, Emily could not
see the danger. She wasn't afraid of

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the creature, nor to take the
apple. As Emily lifted the apple from

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the monstrous left hand, the creature
lifted its right hand to display three raised

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fingerlike claws. Marcus knew that was
important, but didn't know why. Emily

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turned to show the apple to Marcus. Her face was pleasant and smiling.

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She said Marcus's name in an urgent, fearful tone. Her voice did not

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match her smile. She sounded panicked, but appeared calm. The creature behind

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her lowered its right arm and lifted
its chin. The featureless face split down

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the middle from top to bottom.
Sharp razor blades layered the inside of its

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mouth. They didn't look like teeth, but instead were flat and thin like

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actual razor blades. Marcus finally was
able to let out a warning screen for

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Emily to move away from the demon, but it was too late. The

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creature sank its rows of razors into
Emily's shoulder, neck, and chest.

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Its maw was huge, and the
bite tore through her body with ease.

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As the monster ripped flesh away from
Emily's torso, the nearby kitchen table began

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to lift from the ground and rise
into the air. Emily again shouted Marcus's

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name, for her expressions still did
not match the scene, and her voice

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seemed more concerned for him than her
own well being. Only seconds later,

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more items began to rise. Furniture, the kitchen island, the stove,

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the walls, and eventually the house
in its entirety all lifted into the sky,

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leaving only a patch of flooring beneath
Marcus. The creature's mouth sank back

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into Emily's body a second tie and
latched on. Emily did not even struggle

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as the creature drained her life away. The house formed into a large,

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melded structure that resembled an upside down
pyramid. The tip of the inverted pyramid

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hung just above the creature's head and
back. Just as Emily closed her eyes

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and exhaled her final breath, the
reconstructive pyramid house collapsed down on the creature

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and Emily. Even though Emily was
clearly dead, he could still hear her

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calling his name, Marcus. Marcus. Marcus woke to find Emily standing directly

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in front of him, lightly shaking
his shoulders and wearing a panicked expression.

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Jesus Marcus, with the fu was
that I I had a vision, and

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I think I know what it means. Agent Dubois and Agent Blanc of the

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Contra's thirty first Division were dispatched to
a lovely little town named Dover, Wisconsin.

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The partners flew into O'Hare, then
took a puddle jumper to Milwaukee,

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where they rented a car and drove
the rest of the way to the Contra

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owned cabin just outside the Eagle Lake
area. By the time the two agents

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arrived at the cabin, the police
had come and gone. The entrance was

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barred with a yellow police tape that
announced to all that the cabin was the

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scene of a crime and common folk
are not allowed entrance, as was their

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custom. The two agents ignored the
tape and investigated the cabin. They recovered

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the surveillance cameras that had been hidden
in the wall, as well as the

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local hard drive that stored the camera
footage. This case would likely remain unsolved

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by the Racine County Sheriff's Department,
but it would be no fault of their

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own. They simply didn't know what
they were looking for. On the other

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hand, agents Dubois and Blanc did
know, and they would find their marks

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and eliminate them. Hastings in September
were a duo that were well known among

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the contra. The Chronicler and Guide
had been around for multiple lifetimes and had

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00:25:30.799 --> 00:25:36.519
been in the center of several catastrophic
events. When Agent Harp was deployed to

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Chicago, she was not aware that
the two in humans she would need to

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kill were September and Hastings. She
was a young agent and didn't have enough

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experience to take on those two.
It wasn't her fault, and it wasn't

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h q's fault. No one could
have known that they were the ones in

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Chicago, at least that is what
Dubois noted in the files. As they

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traveled back to the Windy City.
In Chicago, the agents connected the police

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department explosion to Emily Swanson. They
also investigated the Last Trip cafe, made

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00:26:08.160 --> 00:26:15.359
connections with Emily's friends Sam Wilson and
Amber Lange, and found ties to Marcus

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00:26:15.400 --> 00:26:21.359
Baker and his extended family. The
two spent several months looking for anything that

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would constitute a solid lead, but
September knew how to cover his tracks.

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It wasn't until Blanc hacked the cafe's
banking information and found credit card transactions belonging

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to September that the two were able
to pick up the trail. HQ was

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able to run that credit card number
for additional activity and found a happy little

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path leading all the way to Montana. The agents rented a new car,

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checked out of their hotel, and
left Chicago for Montana. Blanc dreux while

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Dubois booked their next hotel and submitted
their current report back to HQ. As

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dictated by Contra's standing operating procedures,
most of the critical details were handwritten on

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paper and housed in a folder.
They would send some information digitally, but

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key pieces of information would only be
hand delivered. A little bit of healthy

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paranoia was good for a secret agency
of Contra's nature. While the agents did

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not know exactly where September was staying, they were confident that he was with

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Hastings, Marcus, and Emily.
Why the inhumans hadn't killed the anomaly yet

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was another oddity, but maybe it
had something to do with her chaos.

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They would find out the answers to
all their questions after they got to town

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and did some investigating, or so
they had planned. Dubois and Blanc had

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been in town for a little over
twenty two hours before shit hit the proverbial

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fan. By our twenty three,
the corpses of agent Dubois and Blanc were

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stacked in the bathtub of their shared
motel room. A third corpse, one

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00:28:00.440 --> 00:28:03.799
wearing a grocery delivery uniform, sat
propped up on the toilet in that same

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00:28:03.880 --> 00:28:10.839
bathroom. All three men were killed
in a similar fashion, with deep cuts

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across each throat and midsection. Gore
was splattered across the floors, beds,

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lamps, walls, and ceiling.
The gruesome image was sure to scar whatever

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00:28:22.480 --> 00:28:27.440
cleaning crew discovered this mess tomorrow morning. The assassin tilted the head of the

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third corpse and then looked back into
the mirror. They were satisfied with the

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job they had done with their predator's
grace, they silencedly glided out of the

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bathroom, turning off the light and
closing the door behind them. They picked

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up the file that du Bois had
been using to collect case notes, and

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then exited the motel, leaving the
carnage behind. As the motel door closed,

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the assassin reached down to collect the
ball cap that the delivery driver had

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dropped. They brushed at a speck
of blood on the hat, the speck

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into a more noticeable smudge. Murder
can be so messy sometimes. They placed

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00:29:07.640 --> 00:29:10.960
the cap on their head, pulled
the car keys out of their pocket,

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00:29:11.480 --> 00:29:15.759
and began to whistle a cheerful tune
as they made their way to the car.

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Emily Swanson is voiced by Titia Zeng. Marcus Baker is voiced by Nico

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00:29:44.000 --> 00:29:51.799
Rodriguez. Hastings is voiced by Adam
Culbertson. Detective George Bullard is voiced by

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00:29:51.839 --> 00:29:59.599
Anthony Kinney. Detective Davis is voiced
by Glenn Michael Sexton and narrated by Michael

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00:29:59.640 --> 00:30:06.359
cole espt Archives was written by Nico
Rodriguez in collaboration with Tisha Zang. The

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00:30:06.480 --> 00:30:11.240
ESPT Archives is a creative type of
entertainment production. Find out more about our

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00:30:11.279 --> 00:30:18.160
show at www dot creative typo dot
com. A very special thank you to

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00:30:18.240 --> 00:30:25.200
our executive producers from Patreon, Nick
Mead and Patrick t Arsenal