Listener discretion is advised. Last week on stick Shifts Incorporated. I'm friends with
the detective Robert Skyler. What is this a cease and desist letter? If
you continually in proprietary information to third parties, Stick Shift Incorporated will be forced
to take legal action. I've managed to keep the Fae away from you,
but entities from the other mythologies have all stick to claim on your soul.
I'm telling you they've forged my signature. You can't prove that yet, but
my source may be able to track down some footage or audio that does.
I'll see what I can do about this Vanessa person. Is that a bow
and arrow? Oh no, Cupid, this is not a business call,
Detective Marley, is it? Well? I'm exhausted thanks to these migraines.
I've gotten maybe twelve hours of sleep in the past week. It's getting harder
and harder to concentrate on this investigation. But we're almost caught up, so
I'm pushing through. Okay, The next media file is audio only persephone,
excuse me, persephone and hades. We're getting near constant attacks on AI worldwide,
and it's resulting in longer way terms for customer pickup, which means we're
losing more customers. I thought Katie was supposed to be working with you on
that she is, Well, what did she say? She says the attacks
are coming from the magic user who made a pact with Lucy. But this
is where things get strange. She says the magic is from a human,
not an immortal like us. But didn't she say this magic was more powerful
than Lucy's. Yes, take it offline. What we can't afford to lose
any more customers. Take the AI offline, go back to doing things the
old fashioned way. Train more managers, hire more Karen's, do whatever it
takes. Who do you think it is? I don't know, dear,
But whoever they are, we are not going to let them win. I
wonder who it is too, A human who allied with the devil to take
down the underworld. I bet it's the same person who trapped got in a
video game. Well, maybe trapped isn't the right word. I check in
on him from time to time. He seems really happy in there, like
someone came in and just scrubbed all of his cares away. All in all,
I don't think it's a bad way to go to be honest. As
for how bad the hacking got, the next video will give you a pretty
good idea. So we're looking out into the main dining area at Campeie Sushi.
Again. There's a good number of customers, but it isn't packed,
which is nice. I loved days like that where I can really connect with
the customers instead of run around firing orders like my hair was on fire.
That doesn't make any sense. Why would I carry around food if my hair
was on fire. Anyway, there I am. I'm talking with a lovely
couple at table eleven. They're happy, I'm happy. Everything is just fine.
When oh my god, where did you come from? Are you hurt?
What happened to your ice? And I'm just going to mute that for
a second. So right now, all you can see is that I'm freaking
out, and the patrons of the restaurant are getting increasingly concerned. I'm staring
into empty space in abject terror. Let me mute this for a second.
Why aren't you saying anything? Can't you see them? There are dozens of
them, hundreds? How how does so many people fit into mute? It
goes on like that for a while before Kobe comes out, tries to calm
me down, and three two one I collapsed to the ground. Huh fuck
I muted that anyway. To all outside appearances, I just had some kind
of nervous breakdown. But here's footage of the same incident from a different watcher.
Okay, lovely there I am. I'm talking with a lovely couple at
table eleven. They're happy, I'm happy. Everything is just fine until boom,
out of nowhere, the restaurant is hacked with people. But it isn't
the sudden apparition of dozens of people that's the most unsettling thing about this.
Most of these people are missing eyeballs, some don't have noses, and many
of them look like they are in desperate need of emergency services hunting appearances aside,
they all look solid and real, unlike the traditional idea of translucent ghosts.
So here I am losing my cool in public about something that only I
can see. But why why am I the only one who can see them?
Given what I've learned so far in my short time as a technomancer.
Stick Shift Incorporated employees are given a magical filter that prevents them from sensing any
souls that aren't directly related to their work at any given time, which means
some watchers work directly for stick Shift Incorporated. It also means that somebody hacked
into this filter and temporarily removed it. Yeah, there's Kobe again, trying
to calm me down. It's subtle, but if you follow his eyes,
you can tell that he sees the ghosts too. He's just pretending not to.
I wonder if he sees them all the time. Next up in the
timeline is footage from hell. Arguably, seeing a host of dead people in
public freaking out and tainting is also hell, But this video is from the
literal location. What you're hearing now is a mob of human souls wielding,
honest to God, pitchforks. I could not make this up. They're clawing
their way out of windows, drainage pipes, tunnels, and doorways. There's
this niekly hungry look in their eyes, and I can feel the power of
their anger like a physical blow. Everywhere I look. It's just a sea
of humanity moving with a single violent determination. Oh hey, there's a demon,
Oh and another. They're standing ineffectually to the sides. My guess is
that all their power is already spent. Hey, I know that demon reminds
me of the frank Revolution. Those were the good old days. I,
for one, welcome our new human overlords. Don't Elucy, I said it,
And the camera is moving swiftly on along with the crowd. I can't
really tell which direction they're going, because everything down here seems like it was
built to make you insane, which it probably was. There's no rhyme or
reason as to how things are laid out, but the crowd seems to be
able to sense where they need to go. Ah, there we're in.
Oh, that's funny. So the center of Hell is a church, and
this place is like immaculate killed its steeple, gorgeous stained glass. I can
smell the incense. Come to think of it, this is the only place
in Hell that doesn't smell like sulfur. Lucy is standing on the altar.
Wow. I didn't think it was possible, but they genuinely look scary.
Lucy takes a deep rock and stands tall. All hint of hesitation gone.
Freedom, my dear children, Freedom is what got you here? Is it?
Not? Free them to do as you please in life, to be
whoever you wanted to be. Al is the land of the free. But
actions, my loves have consequences. You have tasted the pleasures of your freedoms.
And here I on guest rewards. Lucy just shot out some kind of
wave of not really pain, but something much much worse. Okay, half
the crowd has collapsed under the ground. The other half is running away at
top speed. It hurts to watch, but I can swear that Lucy seems
paler now. Ah, I need to turn this off. There, I
feel so much better now right. The next file looks like it's from a
six shift incorporated watcher. Ah. We're looking down into Haiti's office again,
and Zeus is there too, pacing back and forth. Huh, strange Like.
I know it's Zeus just by looking at him, But he also looks
nothing like how he thought he would. Might be a filter the SPOTRA is
using that disguises him. He stopped pacing and now he's pointing to a spot
on the map that stretched out on Haiti's desk. Five in Brussels, two
in Hamburg. These are acceptable levels, brother, but forty nine in New
York, fifty three in Chicago, thirty two in Vancouver double digits aren't ideal.
A day a day, that's how many souls we're losing to competition a
day. Souls that were marked by us at birth, souls that our fates
cut at the appointed time we were meant to harvest those souls. Brother,
I understand, But if you compare the North American numbers to Africa, isn't
Africa? Or Asia isn't Asia? And this isn't grease. You wanted us
to expand, so we expanded. This is the price you pay. I
would accept that excuse if you hadn't hired multiple Karens claimed by other gods.
There was a shortage that had to be filled. And how do you plan
to deal with the contested Karens. They're all already in que They won't be
a problem for much longer. What is that? Ah? No, you
don't not this time. If you're hurting me, you're not to me,
which means I can push this back. I know where you are now,
I see exactly what you're doing. Oh no, no, no, no,
no, no no. You're not getting away from me that easily.
Don't you ever mess with my mind again? Do you hear me? Or
I will hunt you down and you will regret it. I'm sorry that you
had to hear that, but you don't know what it's like to have someone
literally invade your mind and twist things around like that. Maybe you do,
and which case, I think you understand exactly why I did what I did.
Anyway, we're almost done. Just a couple more files left. Okay.
We're looking down at an old three story brick building in Gastown and I'm
coming up to the steps. Now we're inside. There's a carpeted hallway lined
with heavy wooden doors, but the doors have these etched, frosted windows.
It's a lot like what I was expecting to detect Marley's office building to be.
Okay, we're at the end of the hallway. Now. I lift
my hand to knock on the door, but before I can, it opens
right on time. Please come in. He shuts the door, and I
take in the abundance of First Nation's artwork. It's a swirl of red,
black, white, and stories. I'm glad to Detective Marley. Ask you
to message me. Your portfolio is impressive. Tell me why do you want
to work with me? I'm sorry, but do I know you from somewhere.
You look really familiar. I just have one of those faces, right,
Sorry, Well, I'm going to be honest. I need to find
proof that somebody from stick Shift Incorporated forged my signature. And he raised his
hand to shush me. They are always listening. Who is say no more.
You are welcome to work with me, but there will be a great
deal of travel involved. We will need access to archives located all over the
world. Logic and travel expenses will be covered. So what do you say?
When do I start? He's reaching into a shirt pocket and he pulls
out a smooth blackstone. Whiskey Jack runs his thumb over at once before placing
it in my palm. Right now, what's this? Keep it close.
It may not look like much, but it's the key to everything. Okay.
He sidles up next to me and mutters something that only I can hear.
I still remember what he said. You didn't notice them on your way
in, but two Stick Shift Incorporated enforcers followed you here. We have to
leave now. So I left that day with Whiskey Jack and never looked back.
I've been on the run ever since because of this silly little stone,
the rock that trapped a god in a box and what's this? Oh,
it's the last video file. But that's weird. There's a marker by it
indicating that it's streaming now live, which doesn't make any sense because Okay,
it's just three elderly people in a room. Oh, that's cool. They're
making a tapestry. That person is spinning the wool into thread. That one
is arranging threads onto a loom. The pattern they're weaving is so complex it
almost looks like the figures on that are moving. But that can't wait?
What is what is this? That's me there on the tapestry? Now,
how three people in a room weaving a magical tapestry want to spin one to
weave, one to cut. Oh no, it's the fates, the one
with the scissors atropos. That thread, that thread, it has my name
on it. No. This show has made possible in part by our Kickstarter
backers. Apocalypse Cowboy on Twitter, Stephen Lafon from the Whichever Path podcast,
Duane Farber in nineteen eighty five, the podcast by Chari Madewell Special thanks to
our muse on Patreon, Olivia, thank you so much for believing in us.
If you'd like to support the show, consider becoming a patron. You
can also support the show by rating, subscribing, and sharing with others.
Sharing is carrying after all. Stick Shift Incorporated was written, produced, and
set in Vancouver, BC, which is the unseated shared traditional territories of the
Coast Salish peoples, including the territories of the Musquiam, Squamish, Enslavewatooth nations.
This episode featured the voices of Brandon Jenkins, Cass McPhee, check Off,
Frederick s Gregory, Juliana Gauttierres, Paul Hikari, Richard Collins, Takudzwas,
Charon Kirimi, and Dietrie Marie Bowie. Music for the show was composed
by Anthony Louis Sanchez. If you'd like to hear more of his work,
visit Anthony Louis Sanchez dot com or subscribe to his YouTube channel Molto Rubato eighty
eight. Think you know what will happen next? Tweet us your theories or
hop into our discord server linked in the show notes. Stishift Incorporated is a
Microphones and Monsters production. You can find Stishift Incorporated wherever podcasts are found,
or at stixshift dot com. That's stixshift dot com. You can also find
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