The show you're about to listen to was originally a live streamed actual play on twitch dot tv slash on Made Gaming. Arise, millions and welcome to this unmade gaming production. Join us on our adventures as we take a jump to the left, a step to the right, and time warp all around the multiverse to find out exactly how to save the town of Garrett and this original Tales from the Loop actual play Atari Twilight rollout. Thank you so much, my friend, and we've got a long road to go and a short time to get there. So for the second to last time, Atari Twilight is a story about the eighties, played using Free League's Tales from the Loop system. It is a story about a group of kids tasked with saving the world entire standing against them a collection of villains from the far corners of movies, TV, comic books, and novels. Their hometown of Garrett, Maryland has become a battleground of myth and might. The Army of Happily ever After, comprised of all the heroes of the eighties, battle against armies of their evil counterparts. But while battling the forces of good, the evil doers that have descended on Garrett Covet Pollute, a particle accelerator whose reckless science has breached the veil between Garrett and its limitless parallel dimensions. The Loop and its science mean many different things to the various factions. Geopolitical power, a source of energy so concentrated as to reawaken a dead planet, a means to rule in this and all realities, and finally, a way to make things right. After traveling and diving to numerous mirrors of their hometown, are heroes nicknamed the Autobots themselves back in their Garrett. The secrets they have learned along the way, coupled with friendships forwardridged, maybe the only thing standing between us and armageddon. The date Sunday, December thirty first, nineteen eighty nine. Time is running out. The greatest decade, the eighties draws to a close, and if allowed to end, so two ends all the worlds. Can our heroes find a way to stop the loop and save existence. That is what we are here to find out. Our kids stand at the heart of it all. Rob ought, you have to go away to get ahead? What does that mean? Here in the Twilight where heroes become legend? Shannon Locke. A choice awaits her, and the decision will direct the rest of her life, however long that may be. George Butts, his choice is made, and now their enemies will witness the firepower of this fully charged and operational battle. Butts Jerry Baker, the group's stall work defender. Jerry will be put to the test where failure may not be an option, but it is fatal. Casey Mitch Mitchell, Burdened with the knowledge that he may become their worst enemy, Mitch seeks to rewrite the story Fate has written, one edit at a time. In this the last year of the Greatest decade, Here in nineteen eighty nine, all will be decided, for good or ill, the end of the Age, and this tale is upon us. Four years, over one hundred and sixty five songs, ultimately forty episodes in the making, comes down to this. Now we return to Garrett Prime in the Highlands of Maryland. Welcome one and all to the End of an Age. Welcome my friends to part one of our series finale. Welcome to Atri Twilight Rollout Episode eleven until the day for the very last time, thanks to a bank to Michigan, you may refresh both your luck and your pride. Now anyone, any one can roll Leadership rob you automatically receive a pool of Ford Leadership dice. I wonder why yes, four, yeah, yeah, you may roll as well if you'd like. But if you want to split it up and another member of the group role for additional leadership, go right ahead. Not it. I mean, I'm just saying we tend to split a lot, and if I'm not with you, guys, I don't know if I can offer you my help. Is this a situation like normal where if we roll now, we can't roll next episode in our Finally, both of you to assume we're not going to die before next episode. I don't know that it is, and I didn't mention that. So if someone wants to roll tonight, they may also be eligible to roll next week. Provide choice of words. I will roll just in case I suddenly don't exist anymore. Leadership, Leadership, leadership, Okay, in case I accidentally on alive. Yep, it's not unheard of. No, Oh, okay, go figure cool again. No, you've got nothing bush. If you'd like, you can use luck right right again. If it is allowed to pass, it passes without there being a leadership pool beyond that bequeathed to Rob Yea. My friends, this is the eighties that never was, or the eighties that could have possibly been. It's our eighties. It's the eighties of a Tardy Twilight and Garrett Maryland. And this eighties, like all the eighties, is fueled and powered and directed by music. So if you could please go to your Spotify playlist, I would like you to go down to track number five, Missing You by John Waite. My friends were going to go back in time just a smidge. As the previously on ended, We're going to back up time a moment. So the group of four kids that were with you, accompanied by Van Halen, are still standing with you in the back of the Butts, the backyard of the Butts Residents, where there are splashes of electrified and popped gremlins everywhere, a torn up yard where once there was grass. But a huge battle has taken place here. The victors stand accumulated in the yard. But before you you see the group that fought alongside you, played the living chest beside you, My friends, these are messages from the keystones to you, as this is their parting words to each of you. You may react in any way that you would like. Obviously, they are not here to continue a conversation, but I wanted they wanted to let you know one parting thing before they left. To Jerry. Ricky, the archer who helped you out, sticks out his hand. Thank you for having our backs. It was a pleasure watching you fry those little suckers. They creep me out. And Scarlett, the girl that you remember from the football team, stands next next to Ricky and gives Jerry a big grin big hero energy. Literally. She also puts her hand out, but this time for a high five. You gotta teach me how to do that, Jerry, what is your reaction to these two accolades from the warriors of the other team. Well, Jerry's you know, he's the older kid to these guys, so he's got to keep his cool composer. He'll shake hands, he'll live five. But you know, at the end of the day, he's like, given Ben a side eye. Well he just folds his arms over his chest. He's he's the cool guy, the old cool guy. Yeah. Absolutely, As you look at Ben, you roll me in empathy as we move over too. Butts, But Scarlett walks over to you and sticks out her hand. I hope you find what you needed in there, she indicates your house of all the robot dudes. I know you're definitely the coolest. Thanks for saving our asses, and sorry about hitting you. Her smile widens because she knows it hurt her more than it hurt you. I've never been glad to be wrong before, and if you don't mind, I'm going to borrow this. She holds up the aluminum bat that she grabbed to fend off the on rushing gremlins. I'll give it back to you, I promise. Ricky the Archer also nods to you, glad to see you aren't evil and thank you for the same. But do you have any responses in this your moment of one hundred and ten percented nous anytime, guys. Scarlet runs over to Arkaville, who is busy taking off a pair of shaded goggles and cooling ear plugs out of his ears. She gives him a hug and a kiss on the cheek. Thank you, she says, Oh, you're welcome. Heather, the introverted girl that you spoke with rob along the street turns to everybody to address them in mass, not going up to anybody individually. Thank you for helping us today. You guys did a pretty good but for a moment, Rob, she makes eye contact with you and gives you a small smile and a little wave. Then Ricky, the one with the bow, comes over. Thanks for keeping my friends safe. I hope you find your dad an optimism. If I see him first, I'll let him know that you are. Okay. How do you respond? Rob? You two? Scarlet moves over to you. Match. I'm sorry, there's an evil you trying to destroy the multiverse. That's shitty for what it's worth. I hope you stop him or maybe stop him from being evil or regardless. Good luck. Oh and when you go to the loop, watch out for booby traps. Okay, thanks, yeah, and good luck with your wizard ship. You finally see Scarlett go over to Ben. She hugs him, and you hear stay safe, b don't disappear on me again. Okay, stay close to Jerry. Did you know he can shoot lightning from his hands. There's a pause, and you see her head dropped to his shoulder, and Ben's head dropped to her shoulder, and what is said is lost. To all of you here. The fourth boy, the one that was there for the chess tournament, the one that's hanging back, the one that is carrying a Mitchie talkie, simply waves, guys are all welcome at my place. When this is over. They slowly jump over the fence and leave, Ben following them and waving behind. Once they've departed, Ben turns around and drops down. My friends. If you could go to your Spotify playlist, please switch up to track number three, Toy Soldiers by Martika. And I've been singing that song for weeks. It's been trapped in my brain. It's a great song. Man. Ben turns to you all, and this is the first time you've seen him for se I mean literally speaking months, but for you all, it's only been and felt like hours or a day or two or the three days that you spent in the paused second. But he's standing before you now for the first time, and he looks at you. Mitch. Evil Mitch is gonna try to slow us down, guys. He has arranged for all the villains to be in the same spot at the same time, basically acting like roadblocks. The only way to get to Evil Mitch before he destroys everything is to buy the time we need with each of us. He doesn't think that we'll split up. He's counting on it. I am. We have to make sure that Mitch gets to him. He's and he can't make eye contact with you anymore. Mitch, he's not right. He's he thinks he's right. He thinks he's the only one that's right. You just need to get their Mitch. You need to stop him. That's the that's the plan. Man, are you are you okay? Yeah? We just have to finish this man, I'm tired. Yeah. He's in the loop. You're he's in the loop. He's in the place called the nexus. I don't know where it is. Arkaville steps forward. I am, I know where the nextus is. It's a center. It's a It's an intrinsic field generator in the very center of the loop. It's I made it, at least in my world I did. I could get you go there. If it's the same, what does it do everything? Remember when I told you about beating up time to make crops grow fast, slowing it down to help people that had a disease. It's the only place where it worked I tried to recreate it in my lab, but I failed. I failed. Well, let's succeed now. Yeah, all of your role and investigate for me. Please one success for Mitch Shannon got three? Rob got three. Robin Shannon, you are the only two to see Prince Humperdink attempting to sneak off. And where do you think you're going? He bends over to pick something up. I just dropped this. It seems to be a finger of a gremlin. Uh huh hrich next what is that? Oh? This isn't mine? And he drops it? Greats you Still we'll still have a deal, right, still gonna help us? This elderly gentleman seems to know more than I do. I've never been to this loop. He you them, never showed it to me. I'm sure we can find a way for you to be useful. Yeah, it's called Operation human Shield. I was thinking more like distraction. Whichever comes first. I guess how would you like me to distract? Would you like me to pretend like I am with you all and go in a different direction? That sounds good. I'll head south, some kind of performance, perhaps to dance. Yeah, I don't dance without a partner. Oh well, what about one of them? Are the other people from the chess board, They're still no they have all left to take part in. The battle that is occurring is present, okay, And speaking of which, to kind of give you all a little bit of backgrounds noise, you hear what can only be every battle you've ever heard in the movie, every fight that you ever imagined from a comic book panel with a pal and a kerplue. You hear all of these sounds as they echo through Garrett as the forces of good battle against the forces of evil from every corner of pop culture. It is a nice cacophony of violence, but it's distant here in the residential area. So any of my band I had in high school of violence? Right, Mine was Humperdink's missing finger. Go ahead, that's unnecessarily that one got me. Yeah, okay, okay, my friends. With this, I will give you a bit of meta information. You currently have. It's roughly seven o'clock. You have zoomably five hours until the end of this day, which would also mark the end of this year and the end of the decade known as the eighties. If any of the warnings that you've received to this point, deem or appear to be accurate. The world will end when the eighties does, and so if Mitch has placed himself in the loop, at least the evil version, then to stop him you must get there. But my friends, the how and the why that you get there is up to you. I will provide you with as much help as I humanly can help that you've cultivated along this and every prior season of Atari Twilight. But the story is yours to end. So at this moment you are surrounded by three NPC's Ben Mackenzie, who's been with you quite a while, Doctor Holter Arkaville who's been with you for several episodes and sessions now, and one Prince Humperdink, who is a notorious asshole. I will give you this for free, no need for an empathy role. He will screw you the first chance that he gets it, but he seems at least pleasant enough if you keep an eye on him. You are standing in the butts of state, each of you in the same dress and manner in which we left at the end. The slide is here, that is the interdimensional gateway. It has been damaged. It can be repaired, but Like anything, time is of the essence, and to repair it will take time. My friends, For one of the very last times, I will simply ask you, what do you do? Doc quick? I have a quick question about you said we were wearing last time. What am I wearing? What do I look like? Because I made a choice between flesh and blood and not well, I have a question for you because we never really got a chance to delve into this rhino. You have the option of remaining the fifteen year old version of Butts. You may be the twenty two year old version of Butts, the already one year old version of Butts, or the forty year old version of Butts. I think I'll stick with the fifteen year old. Then you are wearing exactly what you have been wearing, and I think with you this is a probably a carry over of the pop collars from the very last place that you were allowed to actually change. The only difference here is if anybody were to look at you, no longer as your speech slurred as it has been before, you have more of a You seem taller, you seem more upright. Your movements are lightning fast and down at the bottom right here in corner. It is flashing a firm one hundred and ten percent. Okay, I was worried I was gonna be naked. I just want to double check that was the main thing. You are not. Okay, you are. Had you make another choice, would have made it would have found out. Gosham. Hey, hey, doc, you said the intrinsic general or whatever the thing in the nexus, intrinsic field generator or damp or whatever you decided the equation you're on. Yes, okay, cool. You said that it can do stuff like speed up and slow down time or make the one second in time thing. No, you can't make to one second in time. It can. I was able to slow it down in a very specific area inside. I could slow it down. And I don't want a labrate. I met a labrate. What happened if you set that up inside of it two points of the slide. I don't know why would you do that? I don't know what you're playing making. You want to blow it up? Well, blow it in, I guess implode it. He thinks for a second, Well, if it's got it an immense amount of power. It uses everything that the loop generates from its particle. Each other reader. If we focused it all into the slide, it would have to go somewhere. But if it starts, it will draw the matter in around it. I don't know how much that would be. You could try to contain it to the loop, but it's kind of like sign on the fly. Okay, we'll call that plan b Okay. He starts to kind of like fold up the loop or the slide. You cannot my robot's talking to me. Someday it'll rule the world, you know, Uh, sorry, what did you say, Greg? He just starts to fold up the slide and kind of prepare it and get it ready to go. It doesn't take much, you know. He's kind of keeping the frame together. It's damaged a bit, but he doesn't seem to be terribly concerned. If this is what your use is for it where it's not like actually going to be like sending a human or drawing forth like a living subject. He just starts to busy himself with putting it together. Be you said, you said that we have to split up? Okay, yeah, how do you? He and you can see that Ben is on the edge of breaking down. He is just you all known that this is not an empathy role for Ben Mackenzie. You've seen him go through incredibly horrific shit, and it's not that this is a culmination of all of that, or it's just this the straw that broke the camel's back. This is a kid that, having been through all of this, this moment is the one that threatens to break him in isolation. Keep you fucking Mitch, Heap Megatron, all those people rugin heat arranged for them all to be between us and him. He thinks that will stop. He thinks that we won't be able to and he kind of looks at Shannon for a second. He thinks that you guys won't be able to agree, and he just wants to slow you down. That's always trying to do is slow you down. Okay, this sounds bad shit, but I have a plan, uh, something that I would never predict myself doing. Shannon, you're in charge. We do whatever, Shannon says, Roll force, Mitch, roll, roll, roll a fucking force right now? Do you mean this? Yeah? One success you watch Mitch's he vomits all over the the dirt area here in the backyard of the Butts residence. Anything you've had like the protein bars from the spared second of the Garrett come rushing back up. Anything that is still resting in your stomach is now resting in the backyard. And there is a crackle on the Mitchie talkies and you hear your own voice. What the fuck are you doing? I'm in control. There's no answer. Okay. When that happens, that means I change something. So you're right, okay, if food of your house butts, No, we're robots. Remember that's right. There's probably some snacks left in the backpack, though, I think it's the bottom of the barrel choices at this point, Shannon kind of he's even granola. Yeah, it's like it's like the ship that nobody want, like the trail makes with the raisins and nonsense like that, Like just all yeah, all the M and m's are already gone. Yeah, pick clean for sure. Uh Okay. In this moment, I will let you know too that you feel a buzzing from your pocket, like a something that seems to be humming or vite thing again it is. She kind of takes it out, looks it floats the inch or two off of your palm. Mhm. Okay, that means Jimmy's here. That means he's actually here, yeah, except for is he alive here? Like it means he's alive right, As described by the ever elusive Jimmy. Right, when you would arrive into a garrett where Jimmy is also present, he has the sister stone. Then they're both seemed to be made out of the same magnetic grab material. So when within a close proximity to one another, they begin to buzz. The buzzing gets more furious the closest closer you get, and the only other trick they do is, however, about in an inch or two off of your hand. Okay, so unless somebody else has the stone or it's like okay, yeah, going through some of the stuff that happened last time. But okay, well, I think Ben's right, we're definitely gonna have to split up. I don't think we're all going to be able to tackle it in one direction. Granted, meeting back together would probably be the best bet, but we need to get to the loop. Ideally, we find Jimmy, if it is in fact him, She looks at the stone. I think we're gonna need his help. Ben nods, Yeah, just get to the loop. Quick. He's scared of you mentioned yes, because I'm awesome. I guess, man, all right, what kind of vehicle situation do we have here? You still have the battle wagon, yep, which is parked down the street and around the corner by Shannon's house, which is actually very close to Butts's house, unless, of course, you double back and got it, which I would easily allow you to ret con it could be at Butts's house as well. So you have that. But beyond that, the other suv from the loop was taken by the other four kids. Got it? Got it? Okay? Yeah? But I mean, how would have we otherwise gotten to Butt's house if it wasn't for the battlewagon? As my guess, probably he's close enough to run or walk, but you could easily have ran back and grabbed it and made it there in the same amount of time. Yep. Yeah, Well, let's just go ahead for the sake of time, say it's here. So it's enough. It's big enough for everybody that we have in our party at this point, except for Humper Dick over here, so maybe he stays behind. Hey, you know what you can do. You can clean up this mess. She the grumpins all over the place. Do you have a staff or some ladies in waiting or someone that I She picks up a shovel off the ground. There's your staff. This is a laborer's device. Congratulations, you've been promoted. Oh no, man, you have ten staff on hand. Oh quaint poverty humor. Okay, And you see him begin to like rake with he's like dragging the shovel as if he's like with a broom. Yes'm putting my elbow grease. They see he's doing character. Yeah, all right, well let's go. Let's get go by where Jimmy might be. Maybe we can figure out some general direction if I do kind of if she had to wats around in like any particular direction, is there one that kind of seems to be more only an investigate Yeah, give yourself a plus two since you have what is essentially an iconic item in your hand, right one success. Yes, in fact, you feel it getting stronger, not as you walk in any direction, but when you turn back towards Garrett proper, you can actually feel it starting to get stronger and intensify. He's getting closer to you. Oh interesting, Okay, Well, everybody get into the battlewagon. I guess, grab any supplies that you need, whether first aid, if there's anything. I mean, they're I know, robots, but just gotta be something. Anything a Mitch image, Yeah, shuck, come on, I've built sort of a bitch. Rules are rules, man. I I evil Mitch. I might have called shotgun. So this this, oh, don't change, don't this isn't gonna be a thing forever. You're not feeling cuckoo coo you queezy, no, because in no world and no version of Mitch does Mitch out called Jerry for shot Jack. I'm the constant, right, Just build off that. As you all walk outside towards the battlewagon, having moved from this area, bringing with you Arkaville the slide and Ben Mackenzie. Ben is going to hang back, and you feel a tug on your sleeve Arry as you kind of like pass by Bennett. Everybody else continues to move, all right, and me and I told you and I have to stay together. Yeah, of course the rest of them can't. Though, Man, do you know that? What do you mean? I can't tell you, man, but I you and I have to stay together. You gotta trust me, man, So mean wrote empathy. If you want I'm good enough. You get a plus four because this has Ben. Wow, that's good because I'm not good at this. Yeah, I'm really not good at this. You can luck push ride if you feel it necessary. No, no, Jerry's going with his gut. You tell me what you need and I'll do it. You know that I need you to. I need you to be a hero man, no matter what happens. It all sort of depends on it, no matter what. Okay, Okay, if we ever get separated again, I'll I'll wait for you in that garret where we had the bunk beds. Yeah, yeah, that was a good one. Yeah, I'll try to get there, but you'll have to break it off with Sam. Yeah. I'm sure there are other people there too. You know, we'll get there. But like we're all going to get through this. We got this, Ben. It's promised me. Okay, I promise. Man. You're freaking me out. He just walks off Jerry. Jerry's kind of dumbfounded. He stands there. Fiber guests for a minute, Shannon, as you lead everybody else out, trailing Jerry and Ben, pausing for a few moments of conversation, you feel that vibration reach a bit of a crescenda, but then it maintains that kind of It's not like it's you know, irritating and everything like that. It just kind of hits a high hum and you all see two headlights approaching. Oh I hope this is good not bad. Mitch, maybe you should hide just in case. Yeah, yeah, yeah, and he jumps behind whatever is the mitchiest size thing around. From the hide behind, there is a slightly overgrown but interestingly pruned bush. Does it look like does it look like a Magnetriene truck? It does not? Do we want to know what it looks like? Gray Mitch hides behind the flower see Season one. Huh so, Mitch, as you hide, does anybody else you know grab their own bush's low hanging fruit? Yep, too easy. No, this is my house. I'm gonna make sure I'm heard, okay. So as Mitch hides a rule stealth for me, Mitch, no, success, that's great, Okay. So everyone can see basically like Mitch's feet from underneath this this car. Imagine it's like a legitopi area. So it's like the so it's just like the picks up. So right, it's the old adage. If they I can't see them, they can't see me. So as you're all kind of sitting there in the middle of the road, you see these headlights come up and it gets bigger and you realize this is a larger via cool And when it comes to a stop, you hear the air brakes go off as a red freight liner tractor trailer pulls up and glaring in the front where a hood ornament would be in the grill is the autobots symbol. The door opens the side and main street. Jimmy jumps out. Okay, it's okay, you can come out. It's Jimmy. Okay, Oh my god, you're you're you're you're all here? Yeah, surprisingly, yeah, you're all here, so are you? Yeah? But I was always here, all right. We're not gonna help yeah yeah, uh huh, but I hope you guys. I'm here to help you guys. M we're going to the loop still, Yes, yes, that is what we are doing. Just gonna do a different plan hopefully then what is expectable. Don't tell me what the plan is, right, nobody knows what the plan. Just me. You're in charge. Yeah, was that not supposed to say that. Oh no, yeah, it's never happened. All right, Okay, let's go, Yeah kick can I can I ride with Jimmy? I think we're oh well yeah, actually we do need to slip the vehicles up, don't we. Since we don't have to go find you, we're just gonna all go to the loop. Yeah. How much? How many seats does he have in this truck? Just the two? Yeah, but there's there's the cotton you got. You could fit five and they're easy more. You could all get in, I guess. But Rob, he wants you to drive? What oh oh duck? No, no, no, no, okay, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah yeah, Jack did No, you're driving? I know? Yeah, okay, okay, then I will Actually, but you're driving the battlewagon. What the she's in charge? I know I said it so Ben, Jerry, but and Mitch are going in the battlewagon. I'll join in the freightliner. Shannon, Where would you like the NPCs? You have Ben Mackenzie, you have main Street Jimmy, and you have doctor Arkabel. We're gonna keep Arkabille with the bucks crew. Hey, are we meeting up somewhere because we can't use the walkies anymore. That's a good point because he has one. Hey, it's okay, turned to this frequency. We this is main Street, Jimmy, we gotta we got it locked down, and he reaches out for your Mitchie talkie. He hands it to him. You see him make some adjustments as he kind of it's like he's been fiddling with one of these for oh, I don't know, a decade or two. And as you look down the old radio shack kind of dial that you have on there to help you with where it is. It's one of six point one FM. We have the radio station when my friends are there. We just came from there. Look, look, and he takes his out of his pocket. This now realizing, Shannon, that whatever one that you saw in that beauty salon is not the one that's actually in the hands of Jimmy Alpha try on for Martha in the morning, and you hear a cackle or cackle or crackle. You hear a crackle as Martha here go for try on, Jimmy says, we're wheels down, ready to roll out. You hear a female voice that butts you recognize as Veronica Kirkshaw. Jerry. You quickly realize it too, that this is Sam's older sister responding to the moniker Martha in the morning. We will give you info for as long as we can. Jim Garrett's gone hit them hard, Jimmy, avenge us, and you see Jimmy kind of look into his radio. Veronica, what's going on again? That cackle the crack with Jesus. But I don't keep saying that spikes hurt real bad. Jackie never made it back inside. Hannah's at the door, but we can't hold him for long. They're breaking in. Jimmy, we're going to blow the station. Take a few of them with us. And you see Jimmy drop his his walkie talkie as he starts running back towards Optimist. He is screaming, Optimists, get back to the stage. You get back to the station, and as it hits the radio continues, that's nothing plan, Jimmy. We always knew this would happen. It's time to finish it. Does anybody pick up the radio? Jimmy, he's running it over, screaming at Optimis. Mitch's has already tuned to that frequency, right, yeah. Uh, Mitch picks up the radio because he only recognized one of those names, and he just squawks the radio and says, go go to fall back to tell a tran two. You hear a pause, Bill Jack? Ye, yeah, we're stuck. We'll give you as much time as we can. But we have till a tran two's eye in the sky. We're getting information right now. It's clear all the way to the loop. If you go now, it's clear. They all seem to be focused in the center of town, but it's spreading. The fighting is everywhere, but between you and the loop, there's nothing. We'll hold him as long as we can. Mitch, what if this is one of the things that we're supposed to change? Wait? Wait, yes, that should wait, Hey, Hupper Dick, go to them. Someone directions you call off the things whatever there is out there. Me, yeah, I don't. You're a weird, bad guy. I'm not in charge of anything. You you're all royal and bullshitty. Just say say I'm in charge of things and call them off. People seldom listen to me when I speak. I don't know that God's been translated very well. Tell them I said it. How would you want me to do that? I don't care. Just go do it. I'm saying it. Go do it. I'm in charge. Go okay, find a car or a horse. I don't know what you can do. Find something. You see him start walking in about halfway down the block. You hear him saying here he He just looks as Shannon and throws his hands up because hail Mary. Yeah, well, at least it's something different. I'm sure. Okay, we need to get to the loop. Jimmy, are you okay? He's kind of defeated now as he realizes what's going on. There is a crackle from the Mitchie talkie wheel Jack. Yeah, tell Jerry, Tell Jerry. I'll see him on the flip side. He's he's here. You tell him. He just looks at Jerry. I gotta go. Now, what's the risk of us sending up them? And she points to Jimmy and the truck. I mean what if they go to help instead and we go to the loop. I don't know. Jimmy steps forward. We need allies. Yeah, if we can save all of them, then that's more allies for us. What Jimmy, Yeah, what happened last time? I can't remember. Everything's changed. It's not the same, it's everything's different. I can't remember what happened and what didn't happen. There weren't as many of you, there was more of you. It's all changed now, it's all different. Going to the truck just you just go sit in the driver's side, which maybe something will speak to you. Do you go in? Rob? Oh, I thought you were talking to Jimmy. I'm talking to you. Oh yeah, No, I've been in the provercy. You're talking to me through the wind. Okay. So as soon as you sit down and the door closes, uh, you climb up into the freight liner. And when you sit down in the middle of the console where just below where the radio would be, you see a panel that begins to like an led climb, almost something that you could see in a stereo. And you hear hello, Rob, Hey, hey, hey, optimist, welcome back. I could say the same to you. And these uh, these chicken new new new new seats are these leather m maybe and you can't see anything, but you think that if optimists could smile, he would be. We haven't much time, Rob, We need we need need to save those people, but we we need to get to the loop. I don't I don't I don't know what we should do, Optimists. I've never I've never had had to make this this hard of a decision. That is the cross that all leaders must bear. We have to go to the loop. All right, we'll get you there. But when I am gone, the last of the primes, you will be You'll never leave. You're you're, you're, You're here here, We're here with me all the time, Optimous, I promise, all right, will be one with the matrix, and someday you will too. Until the day I can live with that. But let us take one last drive as father and son. Rob's gonna reach out and grab the steering wheel. Let's roll over, my friends, do you mount up? So Rob, are we going all to the loop or are we diverting? We have to go to the loop now, all of us. We don't have time. Okay, well let's go to the loop. Then, guys, So what if we what if we pile in an Optimist and we give them the battle wagon and he points to back and forth between Jimmy and an Arctaville. They can go to the station. That's that's up to them. But we're going to the loop. I don't think that's a good idea. You're in charge. I think Jimmy is going to need to do something else. I'm here to help. I don't remember what happens, but I'm here to help. Okay, let's go, And to clarify, Jimmy is riding an Optimist with Shannon and Okay and Rob yep yep. As you all pile in and load in, you begin to move through the edge of the residential area north to the loop. The loop is about forty five minutes to the north of Garrett, and as you leave you see the fires that are now raging through Garrett. When Veronica said that Garrett has gone, she wasn't being hyperbolic. It seems as if the town has at least been fifty percent destroyed. There is a massive fight going on. You have no idea what that means for the people that live there. It cannot be good. But as you kind of pull up and come out of the basin that is Garrett into the highlands and the mountains surrounding deeper towards where the loop exists here in December thirty first, the snow begins to fly when you hit a certain elevation. It's not laying or anything like that. It's just whipping past and through the headlights, creating that almost like Starborne, you know, going to warp speed effect as it bristles and floats and streaks past the windshields of both vehicles. My friends, please go to your Spotify playlist and if you would go down to track number seven by the Dream Academy Life in a Northern town. As you are driving the wheel feels. Let me put it to you like this, should you live beyond this day, Rob, you can't imagine there ever being a vehicle or anything that you would pilot that would ever feel as comfortable as the seat and the wheel of Optimist Prime. It is the proverbial glove. It is the millennium falcon to Han Solo, do you say anything as your I am a Prime? I am a Prime? And yeah, he's just gonna yell at and have just the hugest cheese smile on its face, probably not tears yet, but right there. Who is in Optimist I know, Shannon, you're there. Who else is in Optimists? It's just Shannon, Jimmy and Raw Shannon roll me an investigate one success. When Rob yells out, you see what appears to be a glow coming from inside his shirt, and then it's gone. Shannon probably just has like the lightest of smirks on her face. Nobody is watching her, I'm sure, but yeah, and she remains quiet through the rest of the journey to the loop. Well with that smile, you feel a tap on your shoulder from what would be like the cab area, and Jimmy looks at you. He's old, but you can still see that that that young version of Chris with the one blue eye, one brown eye kind of you know, buried deep within this weathered and time beaten kind of face. Back when I was a kid with you and Dutch and Knee, I really love being with you guys. Yeah. Things were a little bit easier back then. Huh yeah, Yeah, it was easier because I felt like I belonged with you guys. I didn't feel like I belonged to anywhere else. It was. Someone told me sometimes some when that maybe when we die, we go to the time that we love the most. And I hope that's true, because that's where I want to go. You know what, Jimmy, me too. I'll race you there. Don't race me too fast, come on, you know I've always been faster, right, Oh, you definitely faster now. It took a bullet and a knee and them share point and he just kind of patch your shoulder and then sits back in the kind of darkness you can you can see the snow that's bristling through the windshield or around the windshield in his two multi colored eyes. Shannah will also lean back and then put her arm through his arm and kind of like sits with him. You You feel Jimmy do something that he seldom does, and he slips into a completely RESTful sleep. Awesome, Rob, Yeah, you know what is ahead the end? Huh m hm. And Rob's gonna reach out. It makes the air horn sound. Yeah, that was set for no other reason other than he just wanted to do that. I will help you as long as I can. I have and you can hear a hesitancy in the robotic voice, sustained heavy damage. What what does it? What does that mean? It is? There is there is a special special mechanic we take we take you to or some f and gave me extra time, precious moments that I am grateful for. But you must do something for me anything. What do you what do you need Maggie. She is somewhere in the loop. We'll find her, free her, of course, of course. Okay, so okay, so so we gotta gotta free free Maggie from the can't just blow up the loop. Maggie's in the loop. So we gotta go in the loop to get Maggie. Okay, okay, we can we can do that. We can do that. He's gonna look over at Shannon. She she, she, she can do that. Sharnon, your father is there too. I figure I know what I need to do. Again. The two of you have no idea how you could even sense this. But if there was a smile to be borne by Optimist Prime, he is smiling right now. You two are perfect soldiers, but you are better people. A blessing in these dark times. Thank you. As you start to the final climb towards the loop, Optimists goes quiet, but he has one thing he needs to say. We're going to go back to the battlewagon. As you all are driving, Doctor Arkville is on the whiteboard that's inside the battlewagon as he is writing. Actually it's the side of the battlewagon. It's not a whiteboard, right, it's just the actual metal well, he's sitting there, and Mitch, if you're joining with him, he's and this is him working through how to implode the loop. So everybody, if you want to start playing Whisper to a screen, which is track number ten by the Icicle works now, would be a good time. He's because he writes along the side, show if we said, yeah, right, it didn't actually and then return it on. We will have to depending upon what you're doing in there, and if there's a focal point for the energy, we would have to either face it directly toured or directly away from it, so it would be on the same plane as the impact point. As he goes on and on about you know, kind of seeing your plan to fruition Mitch, yeah, yeah, and then you said we need to send it somewhere. We send it to the spare second. Good, yeah, good idea. The spare second. It's a moment of time. They can't hur anybody. And I already have which coordinates great. And you see him like with the little box that he has with it, he's kind of like, you know, moving dials and moving things like that. We're going to get it. Oh wait, can this help? And he pulls the transceiver out of his radio shack back back. Doctor Arkaville looks at it and says, oh, as he as you pull it out, and oh he should a uh huh, And you just see him start like running wires from the back of one, cracking open the transceiver. But as he's doing it, he's showing you what he's doing. Should we have to connect it here because then it runs back and forth through the circuit now and then he as he's kind of explaining to you as he does it. He's a teacher, this Arkaville, which is part of his selflessness as opposed to your ever visions selfishness. I think everybody else in the truck or the battlewagon, what do you do as you follow the autobotonnist Optimus Prime towards the loop? George was driving right, so that's curious, sitting up front kind of silently stewing for most of the ride. Finally he'll like break the silence. It doesn't feel right. What are you talking about. We're leaving people behind. We don't do that. There's going to be a time when we can't save everybody. I don't believe that. And why does that? Why does that time have to be now then, who's sitting against his back against the same wall that Arkaville's writing over his feet, kind of drawn up in his arms around his legs. He's trying to slow you down. All he's trying to do is slow you down. No, but it doesn't feel right. He's counting on that. Man, this was never gonna be easy. We might have to make some concessions, but this sounds like it's our last chance. She was getting really sick of last chances. That's all Ben says. We've got to finish it, then, man, we got to finish it for good. Let's do it, George, and your head's up display it says activate emotional response with a question mark yes, and you feel the pressures and the stress of the situation. Rush in handling it, however, George would handle it. But it's present now. It's there. Whether it's a weight when your shoulders, a heaviness in your hearts and anxiety, or a vibration in your hands of adrenaline. It's a mimiced response in your artificial body. It's very human. Back in Optimists, as you take the last hill, Rob Optimists says to you, you are the son of my spark. I cannot tell you anymore, but for what is to come. You are to know that the parents that love you, that see you as the son of their souls. It's myself and Maggie know that. In these moments, I know, I know Optimists, and thank you for everything until the day, until all are one. As you go over the hill and look down for the first time in our series, you see it. Initially coined by the government with the cumbersome title of the Facility for the Research of High Energy Physics, it quickly became known simply as the Loop, a nod to the massive circular particle accelerator running around the facility but beneath the ground like Satan's very own personal carousel, complete with an apocalyptic calliope. Visible above the ground, though, we're three massive, monolithic like vents that each stretch roughly twelve stories in the air. Surrounding these passionless centuries are huddled smaller research labs, test tracks, test fields, and hazardous material bunkers. Sounds of battle drift to you even at this hype and distance. Flashes of lightning and laser fire and flare. A war rages between you and the middle of the facility, in the very center of the doomsday atom, known as the Loop, sits a small squat structure with seemingly little to define it as special. This cinder block and metal structure is known as the Nexus. Here, the consolidated might of the Loop can be brought to bear to fuel whatever scientific design the Loop's children can think. Up Here was born the robots, the clean Garrett streets. Here born the mag trucks that float lazily over the landscape, varying goods to every corner of the country. But those aren't the only inventions housed here. They are just the most well known weapons of war. Bipedal robots and vast suborbital anti grav platforms are also birthed here. Whether creations of peace or strife, each invention shares one similar trait. They are all created under the watchful eye of doctor Holter Arkaville. Doctor Arkaville keeps most of his finest invention secret, as they have had to do with multidimensional travel and time. He and his team have breathed and breached the space between this world and the others, somehow piercing the mystical veil as well. They communicated with extra dimensional beings like Megatron, and conducted exploratory trips that forever sundered worlds, all of these powered by the Loop and its vast reserve of liquid energy flowing beneath the ground around it. Even Arkaville is still torn about what came first, the Loop or the Energohn. Did the Loop draw it into the surface, did the Loop create it? Or was it some cosmic stroke of luck. Somehow two of the universe's greatest sources of energy were placed within a stone's throw of one another. Arkaville could care less tonight. With the help of the Energohn, he intends to bring the Loop and its new branches fully online, and his life's work will be complete. Beneath you, my friends, humming like a kindly woodworker creating a kitchen table, the Loop prepares itself in somewhere in the Nexus, Evil Midge prepares to destroy the world. Somehow he got himself in there undetected. Somehow he meticulously placed powerful forces between you and him, a shield of wicked design. He is there. You are here, my friends, for the very last time together. What do you do? Optimist Pools was stopped just at the edge of what would be the loop's property. I guess we were getting out of the vehicles, can go as far as needed. I didn't know how stealthy you wished us to be. Well, he already knows we're coming. But it's a matter of how many other forces are opposing us and working together or against one another. And that's kind of what we don't know. Megatron is here, I can feel here? Is that? What that is? That will wait? We need you to help us with Megatron, or at least his other soldiers. I will give you everything I have, the last of my spark. Okay, if we can, we can, we can do that. Let's let's let's get let's get get with the with it with the others real quick and just kind of cut come come up with a with a good idea. Okay, there is a swirl of snow as presumably you all exit the vehicles, and as you stand there, George, you begin getting telemetry readings. Roll me a roll me whatever you would like here, Roll me either an investigate or a tinker, and investigators more human, a tinker is more robut well neither it's great, So I'm just gonna go with Tinker zero successes where the one hundred and ten percent is just above it, almost like some type of you know, line by line readout that fades into it turns translucent and fades into your view. You see just lines of code going by and disappearing. It seems like it should be familiar, but as of this moment, it's not coming through. You're not grasping its intent, but it's still there and you're still kind of aware of it. It's something that you'll get, but now it's going to take you a little time. Everybody, what do you do? As you look down upon the three huge vents of the loop, the kind of outbuildings and test facilities that kind of are peppered around these three large columns and free of charge, you see at the very center of all of this, kind of separated by about fifty yards of field and either every direction around it, it's just a little cinder block building, and by little, it's like warehouse size, but in relation to everything else, it seems like it's the smallest building. Are there like a lot of different entrances or is there really only one way in? From what we're seeing from this kind of elevated position, you can see that there is a gate which is open. If you continue along the road that you're on, there is a gate to the north that also appears to be open. There is a hole in the fence to the west, and there is the absence of fence because there is a huge crater to the east. Crater is still smoking and burning. You actually see flames kind of licking around that area like something landed. There's something either landed there was shot there and exploded both. It is an impact point of pretty healthy dimensions. Okay, well, do you guys come up with anything in the van on the way up about a leagon. We combined the slide and the transceiver, and I think plan B. I think we can. I think we can implode the loop and send it to the spare second. But it's still it's still plan B. I have a bad plan, an idea. I don't have plans. I'm not charge. I have an idea. I did it once before. It worked pretty well. He looks at Jimmy. What if I what if I push Optimus to the radio tower I made I made Jimmy dive without me being attached, and the veils down and there's like all kinds of crazy shit going on, So maybe it's easier, but you've never pushed within the same space. Uh No, it's it's like it's it's a risk. But if we do nothing, then then mister Dairy is going to die and whoever the hell Martha and Jackie and whatever the other person's name was, Well, they're going to die anyway. If we fix what's happening here, we've just got to buy them time. Don't you think this is exactly what the other you expects you to do. No, the other me would expect me to go. I think go where to the radio tower to save them? Yeah, so it's kind of like doing what I expect, but also not because I'm still here and you're willing to put everybody's lives on that. I mean, no offense. But he's a giant truck. He can't get in the loop with us, even in robot form. He's too big. Yeah, but the enemies aren't all inside the loop necessarily, don't forget. Yeah, who was flying overhead not but a day ago, which you might not remember. I certainly do because I've tangoed before. I'm not happy with that. I'm just putting out there. I'm not again, I'm in charge. You guys can vote or whatever. Okay, then I'm curious to see what everybody else thinks. Weren't they trying to buy us time? Yeah? So I'm wondering how much of that is a distraction from the back bend. Just whispers make it worth it? If we lose everything, what's the point of winning? You know? Sounds like they knew what they signed up for. Anybody else, Rob, Yeah, I think we should have probably probably ask optimis this is not my war to lead. H You're going to be the one m hm being pushed. But I mean they don't. They don't deserve what's coming to him. But you know, if he gets there and it's too late and we wasted the time sending him there when he could help this here, I don't know. Mm hmmm, send him. It's two and two. I don't get a vote. I mean he Jimmy, lookit, Rob, he was in the truck. He heard everything that went on between you and Optimists. Jimmy. If robsy to send him, send them. Do you think you could do it, Mitch, then let's do it. It's not waste more time. Greg. I'm gonna walk to the front of the truck, the grill that has the big autobot symbol on it, and he's putting like both of his hands on the grill and he just sort of like leans his head in the center of the grill. You can see yourself reflected in the metallic surface of the autobot symbol. He whispers under his breath, please save them, and I'm going to use my pride. Only I can fix this before Optimus Prime is pushed. Do you say anything to him, Rob, He's gonna put his hand on him, just on the side of him and until hoole or one, until all are wat and then he's gonna just look at Mitch and shake his head. Okay, Jerry and George will mean to investigate. Since you are the farthest to wage. It seems one success, oh yeah, one successful to this. Then you see it, George, but you don't can't pinpoint exactly where it's coming from. Jerry, you see it exactly. You see the leather cord going around Rob's neck and descending into his shirt, and you see a glow that is crystal shaped, and for a moment it flares almost like a like a peek at the sun. Through clenched and split fingers, you know, or a lightsabers it just for a second, then it's gone. Tell me how you push Optimist prime? Ooh uh, I was not ready for that. Yeah, I think. I think it's like that's all we see is like that that like warp speed, but in reverse, so like wherever the back end of Optimists is starts getting like pulled and getting smaller and smaller and smaller, and the rest of it sort of catches up. And then Mitch's left standing there holding his hands. And my goal would be to get Optimists as close to the radio tower as possible, to get those people out of there. With your pride, you can get him as close as you'd like. He's gonna try to get him like right outside the door of the radio tower. And as soon as he feels like the cold metal no lore, I guess it was just driving, so the war metal no longer there, he like quickly pulls out the Mitchie talkie and just clicks it and says helps on the way, and then puts it back. There's no response, but that's another story. My friends. You are one autobot fewer here looking down. What do you do as you see the loop. How do you advance? Do you advance? What's the plan for this moment? Rob and I have a particular objective when we get in there. You guys need to find the center of it all and take it down. I would have read it in avoiding anybody that you can. We're not gonna avoid my dad. Put that. I'll take that on he shows up. You guys ignore them, I'll take it. OK. Hey, that's what I would do. What I would put things for you. You go after your dad, you go after Maggie, you go after your dad, You go after your dad. Everyone has to dad Jesus. I would put all of you going after your own power. I'd put them in your way so that you go to them, and then I would ambush you because you would go to them. But we already know that it would be a trap. Yeah, but it would be a trap for you. But only Rob and I are going to there. You guys are going the rest of the way. Let's just said, if he sees his dad, he would fight his dad. I'm saying is if if you see your person, I would have a trap there for you. Specifically. I know Rob and I aren't going to the end you are, and bus is going to get you there. Okay, do you understand what I'm saying to you, Mitch? We have to take those traps so you don't exactly Okay. Ben stands beside you, Mitch, and you feel his hand like on your trieset. I know, man, we got to get you there. That's our job in all this. I know it's tough, man, I know it's I know you. I know you want to win. I don't know if we can not, all of us. I need you guys to make a promise. If it looks bad after you get me through, you run if you can't win. And he looks like, specifically at Shannon, you caught and run, I can't make you that promise. If I think you guys aren't going to make it, this plan is going to be fucked from the start, then I guess we'd better make it. Mit roll of force two successes. You're able to keep from vomiting as the Mitchie talkies crack with a life, the ones that have not been tuned to one of six point one, and you would hear from everybody else's Mitch, all right, motherfucker. If we're gonna do this. Come on, I fucking dare you? H m hm hm Okay, so let's go. Wait, but I want Mitch to promise something too. If you end this, no matter what it's done, you can't fix it. Don't start it again. Okay, my friends, Ben can't roll empathy. But Ben's eyes narrow as he looks at Mitch. Swear on us, swear on the autobots that you won't try to fix things or do something like he's doing. Okay, yeah, uh yeah, yeah uh, And Mitch like puts out his hand like a group circle thing and just says, let's let's do this. Ben would put his hand in, as would Jimmy and Arqueville. But before the others put their hand in, I need to know as the GM and the players can know as players, but not as player characters. Are you telling the truth? Oh man? After after three years, Greg, yeah, this this this one, he's he's a heartfelt. Okay, he doesn't like it. But rolling a force two successes you keep from vomiting again. And you just hear the crackle of the I mitche talkie. You're never going to get here in time, My friends, do you all join hands? Shannon will yeah. Mitch kind of like looks looks around to everybody who has their hands on the circle. Uh, and then like looks to to Shannon, who is in charge now, and he says, okay, okay Uh. Autobots rollout, Rob and I will go in first. We'll try to get them and their attention on us as much as possible. I know you're not really good about laying low, but try to laylow a little bit. Rob. Are you ready for this? Mhm? Until all are one, I believe you have your has You all have your hands in the middle of the circle. Uh. The three wire rings of the Only Good Club kind of touching as Shannon, Mitch, and Arkaville have their hands in close proximity, and the rest of the autobots have their hands in as well. Ben is right beside Jerry. Everybody, if you could, as the autobots turned to face the loop and begin to march down towards both the facility and their destiny, go to track number twenty two on our Spotify playlist, Specter generals, Nothing's going to stand in our way. As the autobots roll out for the last time towards Evil Mitch's grand design and just as we are ready to cut away and take to Ravens Wings and the airs above the loop, Ben pulls you back. Jerry, you see tears pouring down his face. I'm lied, man, what do you mean? I know more than I'm letting on in man. I don't want to die and not tell you what do you mean? But he We're not all gonna make it. And that, my friends, is where we end our session of a Tarry Twilight. Atari Twilight is an Unmade Gaming production and a proud member of the Unmade Gaming podcast Network. If you'd like to support our endeavors and get some behind the scenes looks at upcoming projects, please join us on Patreon at patreon dot com slash Unmade Gaming. If you've enjoyed this podcast, please take a minute to give us a five star rating and review on iTunes. Thank you for joining us on us blast from the Past, and we'll see you next time on Atari Twilight.