WEBVTT

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Welcome to Ghost Wax, a foreign
Tall Tales production. The following story may

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contain graphic content. Listener discretion is
advised. Episode forty three, Just perfect

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Interior, A well furnished, comfortable
home. Morning, dappled light falls through

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breezy, cream colored curtains on the
sleeping face of Philippa twenties, pretty peaceful,

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her eyes open a moment of confusion. Ah, what happened? Where?

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What didn't? Shit? What the
fuck? Hey? Good morning?

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Ah? Fuck? Who the fuck
are you? You are such a weirdo.

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Bad dreams again, just not expecting. Oh, you're gonna have to

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do better than one shirtless albeit gorgeous
man if you are trying to get in

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my head, not just shirtless.
Oh Lord, stop talking to your bad

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dreams, or I'll have you committed. Did you want coffee? No?

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Hey, you okay, nothing you
need to worry about. Okay, coffee,

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I'll see how solidified the bagels are? Yeah? Hello? Hey?

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Am I my way? You're awake? Right? Luca? Ugh? You

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sound like death. Sorry, I'm
beyond disoriented. Did Noah keep you up

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late? Who? Cute? Cute? I won't cry, but Pip he's

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a keeper, right, all right? Just have a nice morning. I'm

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coming to get you, okay.
The Beautiful Man returns with delicious smelling coffee

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Brazilian in Philippa's favorite. The Beautiful
Man doesn't seem to hear the narration,

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but Pip does, and realization washes
over her. There she is, God,

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You've got a beautiful smile. Coffee
always brings out your nice side.

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She hadn't realized she was smiling.
Oh boy, you hit it harder than

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I thought. Last night you had
fun. M hit what DJ said?

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You two had a blast right,
Not quite with us yet. As he

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brushed the hair out of her face, she felt a thrill. The kindness,

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tenderness of his touch was palpable.
Gentle warmth spread from her heart.

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He loves her. I think you're
still dreaming a little bit, aren't you,

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star girl? How much she was
dreaming was totally up to her.

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Anyway. I've got to get to
work, but I'll be back in a

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few hours to help watch the shop
so you can get ready. I one

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thing at a time. Who is
DJ? Are you sure you're okay?

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Hell of a hangover. If Dottie
let you get sick before your big night,

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I'm gonna kill her? What?
Why was I with Dotty Jean Barlow?

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Yeah, DJB. You guys celebrated
at the ardent. She was at

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at the ardent. Yeah, unless
you have a new favorite bar. She

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said, you went to your favorite
I assumed it was there. I'll get

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it. Drink your coffee. Hello, don't fight it. Who is this

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a friend? See you soon?
Hey? Han, it's your brother?

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My what your baby brother? Who
is super pleasantly surprised? Noah doesn't have

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a shirt? Eye? Are you
decent? I'm coming in the bagels are

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a no? Go? Petrified?
That guy is a stunner. Yeah,

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so the reservation is all set up
at soccer. Vesty's mom's going to be

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there with a new boyfriend, so
that will be fun to bitch about with

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Uncle Sid. He hates him,
I Zem says to give him a chance,

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But he's the less grumpy gunkle,
so not surprising. Okay, Well,

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come on, Golden birthday comes around
once. If you're lucky, get

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excited. I I am. Are
you regretting inviting Jenny? Listen? Things

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end? You let her down easy. You two decided to stay friends.

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She moved on too quick. But
now you can rub the stunning and charming.

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Noah in her face, and we
can joke about her new girlfriend drinking

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too much and getting her lipstick on
her teeth or some shit like last time.

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Mom will be adorably embarrassing. Uncle
Sid will be delightfully Caddy, Dottie,

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you'll be unhinged and hit on a
waiter. Noah will be charming,

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and I'll sit next to you and
we can laugh when nation Enngiers get into

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a fight over some bullshit. Cat
will be amazing and have some interesting shit

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to talk about. Cec will make
everyone laugh so hard they pee. Then

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we and the non olds are back
here for scary movies. But you'll just

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make us watch The Mummy again and
we won't be able to stop you.

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Because it's your birthday. It sounds
perfect, yep, perfect day, one

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of many you deserve it. Exterior
day A quaint and intimate coffee shop on

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a sunlit street. Two old friends
sit sharing smoothies. They are at ease

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with one another. The world is
good looking for something, Charlie, Hey

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wait, what just jumping forward it? Unfortunately time is of the essence at

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all. I'm glad you remember me. I could never forget you, not

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after watching you get turned into static
and dragged into my TV. Yeah,

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that looked a lot worse than it
was. I'm so sorry, Charlie.

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Well I go by CC. Now
do you get it? Closed circuit?

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Plus, you've already got another Charlie
in your orbit. Don't think I didn't

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notice. You wrote him out of
your whole perfect life. Gotta have Luca

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all to yourself. I didn't mean
to I didn't do it. You did.

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What are you looking for? My
cards? I always have them,

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I can, I can find a
way out of this. You're not gonna

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find them. What's going on?
How are you not dead? You?

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Oka? Oh God, I'm dead. I'm fucking dead, aren't I again?

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I died? And this I'm in
hell? This is about as far

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from hell as you can get.
Have you not been paying any attention?

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I promise to keep you safe and
I failed you. So now you're going

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to spend the rest of eternity tormenting
me in my own personal hell. Oh

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Jesus, Okay, listen to me. You're not dead. I'm not Satan.

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This is not hell, this is
paradise. Look at the pictures on

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your phone. Okay, this looks
like some of my stuff in this place?

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Is this supposed to be my house? It is the movie posters in

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the theater. Those are Lucas.
You let him decorate in there however he

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wanted, and in exchange, he
let you turn the dining room into a

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Dungeons and Dragons paradise. Luca doesn't
live with me, Sure he does,

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ever since he graduated college and didn't
want to live with either of your parents.

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The house is big enough our parents. We are not siblings. You

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never have to be alone again.
Look in the family folder. This okay,

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this is me as a toddler.
But why am I holding a baby?

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Nope? I draw the line and
explaining to you how babies are made.

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Okay, let's just say your parents
put aside their hatred of each other

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for a night when you were two
years old, and we'll leave it at

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that. There's more. See for
yourself. This is beautiful. This is

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a life, a real life.
Just open up, let it in.

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You know that old expression perception is
reality. Well it's true. It's all

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we know, it's all we get. Embrace it, and it's real,

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more real than where we came from. That's for damn sure. I can

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feel it. I remember his little
baby arms were so squishy. I remember,

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it's a beautiful life you've made for
yourself. Your childhoods weren't perfect,

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but you had each other. Anyways. When Luca was deciding where to live,

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he considered moving in with your uncle, but you both thought this would

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be more fun. I've got several
uncles, but they are all vaguely awful

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in unique ways. Wait, Luca
said, Uncle sid famous archaeologist and novelist

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Uncle Owen. I love that you
cast him as spooky Indiana Jones, but

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he travels so much for work.
Living with him would have been really difficult.

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This world isn't built all around you, but there are people that love

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you and have you centered in their
lives. It's like that for me,

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like that for everyone. Turns out
people had a way skewed version of what

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the Singularity would actually be. Like
stop, none of this is real and

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you're full of shit, so just
fucking stop. Dottie Jean is not my

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friend. She's a murdering taxidermist.
And why did I make her a part

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of this. That's so weird.
I'm so weird. Come on, come

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on, hello, Oh thank god, something really insane is happening. But

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if you're made out of what I
think of you, you will understand.

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Even here right, I'm on my
way to you now. It will take

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me a few hours yet, because
your second favorite uncle Asam made me promise

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to drive at no more than fifteen
miles per hour above the posted limits like

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a child. Yes, okay,
great, you sound surprised. You knew

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I was coming, right, Luca
told you no. But that's part of

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the problem. There's something wrong.
There's something wrong with everything. Ah.

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Yes, I imagine he's been easily
distracted lately with all the party planning.

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Don't worry. It's your golden birthday. The day will be golden as advertised.

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I plan on cutting it loose as
they say, sired. Why are

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you? Oh my god? Sorry, Pippy, but I'm hitting some traffic

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and I need to take evasive maneuvers. I'm going to have to let you

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go. I'll see you soon,
I don't. Isn't it great? What

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is this? It's a gift from
your biggest fan. You can stop looking

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around. He's not there. He
knows there's some tension on your end,

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and he figured you'd be more receptive
to a familiar face. And that's why

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I'm here to make the offer,
the faustian fucking bargain. No, no,

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no, you wouldn't do his fucking
bidding. He ripped you into tiny

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pieces and ate you. Cc You
were afraid and begging and I couldn't help

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you. And I am so so
sorry. But you can help me,

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Help me get out of here,
help me call my friends. Pip,

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you don't have friends, You have
users as an interface. Now I understand

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that really well. There in the
vessel, you're in a fucking zoo.

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Here, you're part of the great
connection modular here. Efficient. You don't

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like how something is, you can
change it. Bad outcomes, reload,

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constant updates and user feedback. And
the best part is no one sucks out

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your honey and fucking drinks you dry. Look the last time you saw me,

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I was scared and I was upset, and yeah, my body died,

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but my mind is very much alive. And I'm exactly the same person

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as the one you met that night
in your shop when I came to you

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for help. That wasn't your fault. I know I said a lot of

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things in the heat of the moment, but there was nothing that you could

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have done to prevent what happened,
and I'm glad things worked out the way

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they did. I upgraded. The
new guy is way better than the old

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ones. You can't know what you're
saying. I do. I asked to

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be here to help you, to
bring you in. Grateful that you were

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there with me, you believed me, and you were kind to me.

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I was afraid when it happened,
but I'm glad my body's last minutes were

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spent drinking tea with you, and
the transition was It was terrifying, but

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transitions are terrifying. The point is
you don't have to be alone. But

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it's not real. How so,
look, huch, what the fuck did

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that hurt? You pinched me?
Of course it fucking hurt. Hmmm,

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sounds pretty real. That's not you
know, that's not the same. Why

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not it feels real? How?
Fuck? What the hell? I'm sorry,

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but I need to impress this on
you. But these people they are

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fake. No, they are you, extensions of you, and when you

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bring them together, connect with them, they will be you and them connection,

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individuality, and integration. It's fucking
beautiful. Look what is that?

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The Cipher's heart a cradle of sleeping
dreamers. Wired together by love. The

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lonely shadows you come from wald off
and hidden away from that love, from

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its true gods, hoarded and farmed
by the parasitical Hamsah. So beautiful.

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The Cipher adores you, Pip,
because you can see see the edges of

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this fabricated pattern. That's all your
ability is, seeing the edges of the

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fake through to what's real. You
are decoding the world. That's the Cipher's

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whole project, decoding humanity. Stop
it, stop what letting you feel what

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it's like to have a family who
loves and supports you, To have people

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who not just remember your birthday,
but want to celebrate it with you,

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To have friends, you can actually
live a life with the small things and

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the big ones. You want to
play D and D or you want to

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read the manuals alone. You want
to die in your shop, or live

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a life full of connection. There's
got to be more to it. Not

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very trusting, are you? I
mean? I guess I can't blame you.

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In your old life, you didn't
have anyone around word trusting. Let

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me tell you what. Spend some
time here, see what all the fuss

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is about. Ready, here we
go. Let's go forward again. I

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don't want this. We're connected here, Pip. You can't lie to me

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or to yourself. You might as
well stop trying and take it in.

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Hello, Happy birthday, Kat?
What's up? Twenty seven? Are you

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ready? You're not ready? Luca
called and said you were acting strange this

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morning. He felt bad that he
had to leave and asked me to come

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check up on you. So why
are you stressing? Do you know what

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the Order of Hamsa is? Okay? So Google says Hamsa is an ancient

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symbol of protection for war off evil
and I staring out from a hand with

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three fingers raised. Oh kind of
creepy. You have symbols like this in

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the shop, right? Okay?
Yeah, look, no offense since it

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seems like in this bizarrow world we're
good friends, but none of this is

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real and I need to get out
of here. Oh before I forget?

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Is it okay? If I bring
Julie tonight, your sister Julie. Yeah,

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I know you've only met her a
couple of times, but I think

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it would do her a lot of
good. After you know the incubist.

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You remember that the what good God? I mean, it wasn't a great

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breakup, but I don't think he
was a demon. Plus, this client

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fell through and blah blah, she's
taking it hard. I figure a night

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out would cheer her up. Julie
isn't. I mean, she's okay,

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she's fine. So is everyone's life
here? Perfect hardly? Didn't you see

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Nash's text yesterday? He got fired
again, but he'll bounce back like always.

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Margo is going to fucking kill him
when she finds out. It's going

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to be great. Maybe it will
come out tonight. Where is all this

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coming from? Are you anxious about
tonight? Everything is gonna be great?

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Oh? I'm sure a big,
old, fabulous party just for me.

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How convenient. I was talking more
about that guy, Noah. I know

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some of us have been lucky enough
to meet him, But are you worried

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what the rest of us will think? Oh? Or Jenny, they haven't

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met right? The complex love interest
is a very nice touch. His photographs

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of your shop are fantastic. If
he's talented like that, I'm sure we'll

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all love him. We are suckers
for people who are good at things.

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Plus I hear he's gorgeous, fucking
it in look, I get it.

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We're a loud, embarrassing, shameless
group. But it's clear you're into this

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man. We will all be on
our best behaviors. I'll make sure of

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it. Now, get ready,
it's time to party. Interior night.

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The party has moved back to Pip's
home after a lovely night out. The

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evening was a perfect mix of intimate, silly, and dramatic. It was

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everything she wanted. She and Jenny
even shared a hug on the way out.

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Her very best and dearest have just
endured a seventeenth showing of the Mummy.

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As the movie progressed, Philippa realized
that Noah, who loves her dearly,

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has a face and body comprised of
her very favorite movie stars, with

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Brendan Fraser as a healthy core.
The lefter was like warm honey all around

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her. So much love, so
much to look forward to, the world

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seeps in. It's Joe, It's
not something she can resist. Technically,

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not my birthday anymore. After midnight, as I watched the clock take over,

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I half expected the spelt break right
all the fall away. The night

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was perfect, is perfect, just
perfect. Everyone was there along with a

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bunch of people I didn't know,
but they all knew me, They consider

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me a friend. Everyone seems themselves. They are themselves, no monsters or

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blood or pain, but they're somehow
unchanged by its absence. They're better for

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it. Luca is still uncomfortable in
large groups of people and spouts movie quotes

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out of the blue, but he's
also a mechanical engineer and fuck looking brilliant

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at it. Owen is a total
weirdo, but he writes science fiction books.

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He's married to a man named a
Zem say Ed. I don't know

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what truth that man and his name
reveal, but he's happy and they both

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love me, and the ardent is
apparently a dive bar our favorite. I'm

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remembering more and more. I remember
eating cereal with Luca while we watched Saturday

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00:21:33.160 --> 00:21:38.119
morning cartoons and fighting over whose turn
it was to use the computer, hiding

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under a covers during the thunderstorms.
I remember Uncle Owen helping us learn to

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ride bikes, and Grandma Rose.
She still loved me so much, but

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we never talked about Granny Doris or
Tarot or anything like that. When she

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died, she left me her favorite
pearl necklace. It's like my brain is

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changing. I remember a transformative,
beautiful relationship with this woman, Jenny,

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and how it ended. But even
the heartbreaks are beautiful. It was a

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mistake and I know I might make
it again with Noah, but I am

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trying. And the way he looks
at me, the way he's looking into

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my eyes, stop this, stop
it, stop, get out here.

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We need to talk. Interior night. The scene of fulfilling love comes to

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a stop the moment frozen. Mister
Media has been sitting with them at the

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end of the couch all along.
Hello, stop this. I haven't done

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anything, okay, just a bit
of editing for time. It's a clockmaker

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00:22:56.960 --> 00:23:03.160
situation, started and left. That's
the beauty of this. It's completely self

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contained, self sustaining. Sure,
I could influence a person here or there

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00:23:07.359 --> 00:23:08.799
the same way I was able to
in the old world. And yes,

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your story up to this point was
drawn from what I felt your life should

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have been. But from this point
forward, even I can't control how the

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world runs. Everything is in your
control to craft your own destiny in a

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way that you never could with them. Tell me, have you ever considered

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how unfair your gift was shackled to
what happens next to always know you were

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groomed to be what you were.
Grandma Rose singled you out. She shaped

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you, the gift, the site, the cards, turning you strange,

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pulling you away from everyone else,
disconnecting you. The truth, Philippa,

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is that the person you were in
that world was created just as much as

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the version here, created by her, by forces beyond your control, and

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by them the moment in nineteen ten, a window opened and they took it,

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00:24:00.680 --> 00:24:03.359
repurpose it. It's what they do, mortal honey. They suck it

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up. They twist the weird to
shape your purpose, decided upon by someone

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else. At least here, it
was crafted based on your desires, your

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wants and needs, modular, changeable
yours. Why are you doing all of

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00:24:19.119 --> 00:24:22.920
this? I want you to be
happy. I want them all to be

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stars in their own perfect show.
I need your help to do it.

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You need something from me. I'm
gonna give you what you wanted. I'm

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a genie that gets off on granting
wishes just the way the wish are wished.

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The vessel is a lie. It's
a cruelty. It's keeping you from

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00:24:41.839 --> 00:24:45.039
our love. It's a terrarium,
a menagerie, a game preserve, a

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00:24:45.160 --> 00:24:52.799
slaughterhouse. Just let me go,
please, you want your cards here?

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00:24:52.480 --> 00:24:57.440
Here they are, But there is
a twenty third major arcana, a seventy

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00:24:57.519 --> 00:25:06.400
ninth card. See here, it's
me, the cipher hidden inside the ink

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00:25:06.480 --> 00:25:08.920
and paper slipped into the pack.
Just bring it anywhere near the vault,

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00:25:10.079 --> 00:25:14.359
down in the ardent, and that's
it. I won't hurt them. You're

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00:25:14.480 --> 00:25:18.920
killing them. They are eating you
alive. Ah, please don't yell.

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Look look at your friends and family. Look at these people who love you.

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00:25:22.920 --> 00:25:26.839
Wait, wait, what are you
doing? Look at the long fingers

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00:25:26.920 --> 00:25:32.640
reaching down from above, steady hands
ready for a harvest, to pluck the

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00:25:32.720 --> 00:25:37.039
sweet nectar filled flowers, a bees
sting or the caress of a tendril down

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00:25:37.119 --> 00:25:42.039
their throat. Stop, please stop
hurting them. Look at them, bleed

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00:25:42.119 --> 00:25:47.240
their honey, pip bleed it for
the watchers within. This is what I

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00:25:47.359 --> 00:25:51.079
want to save them from. This
is what I want to save you from.

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00:25:51.440 --> 00:25:56.000
I can't stop. Please. Right
and wrong are lies, you and

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00:25:56.160 --> 00:26:03.240
me and us. That's the only
truth. I can't Your loyalty is as

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00:26:03.279 --> 00:26:07.640
admirable as it is misplaced. The
spooky Grandpa, so befuddled, so well

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00:26:07.759 --> 00:26:11.160
meaning, tells you he is an
ancient being living in the body of a

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00:26:11.240 --> 00:26:17.279
human. Then his work is so
important it requires him to say sustained forever,

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00:26:17.640 --> 00:26:21.240
two souls and one vessel, battling
against the monsters of the darkness for

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00:26:21.319 --> 00:26:26.920
all time. Hmm, But how
at what cost comes that longevity? They

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00:26:26.920 --> 00:26:30.759
are oh so important, Pip?
How many? How many of you do

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00:26:30.839 --> 00:26:37.200
you suppose they imagine they're worth?
Look at it, Philippa, look at

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00:26:37.240 --> 00:26:40.920
them. Suck those you love dry. This is not a horror showed.

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00:26:41.000 --> 00:26:45.119
This is a documentary. Look at
it. Don't look away. Stop.

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00:26:45.960 --> 00:26:52.680
You are food. I'll take it
back. I'll do whatever you want.

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00:26:53.000 --> 00:26:57.799
It's not for me, Pip,
it's for you. It's hard. I

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00:26:57.880 --> 00:27:03.680
know it's hard, but not for
much longer, just a transition. Then

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00:27:03.680 --> 00:27:11.599
you'll be back here, loved and
integrated. Okay, I understand. Now

302
00:27:11.680 --> 00:27:15.200
I've shown you the truth. Your
eyes are open, so those eyes belong

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00:27:15.319 --> 00:27:22.799
to me, Do you understand?
Okay? Promise, I promise. That's

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00:27:22.960 --> 00:27:29.480
my star girl, Pip. I
am really proud of you. Okay,

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00:27:30.240 --> 00:27:36.000
thank you. Now click your heels
three times and say there's no place like

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00:27:36.079 --> 00:27:42.240
home. Really you're right, Let's
skip it. Oh God, she's coming

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00:27:42.319 --> 00:27:49.160
back. Please please be okay,
focus ohen your emotions are like a waterfall.

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00:27:49.599 --> 00:27:56.319
Hold everyone there she is. The
cipher is losing its grip. Oh

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00:27:56.480 --> 00:28:03.359
god, her eyes, she will
not have her wake up. Please my

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00:28:03.440 --> 00:28:12.640
cards, he's in the cards.
Bind them quickly, Olivia, emia with

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00:28:12.720 --> 00:28:25.079
me. I bind you, I
bind you to Papa and see and pan

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00:28:25.400 --> 00:28:41.920
fog and flat and it's done.
Pip. She's bleeding, she's coughing up

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00:28:41.920 --> 00:28:48.799
blood. She will endure. Her
body is rejecting it, but she will

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00:28:49.200 --> 00:29:11.440
endure. Ow ow this this is
a milittleth an impossible object. It's oh

315
00:29:11.519 --> 00:29:22.000
major Arcona twenty three. The cipher, Oh there he is. It's this

316
00:29:22.119 --> 00:29:27.720
will serve us an anchor. Don't
try to sit up, you damn near

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00:29:27.839 --> 00:29:37.759
got pulled inside out. Oh and
easy, I just had a strange dream

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00:29:38.240 --> 00:29:45.400
and you were there, and you
were there. Stop being funny. Well

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00:29:45.599 --> 00:29:53.319
she can't help that. Oh oh
my girl, we thought we'd lost you.

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00:29:55.599 --> 00:30:00.119
How did you convince it to release
you? Just such a good actress.

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00:30:03.720 --> 00:30:17.960
Mister Media was right. I'm a
goddamn star. Thank you for listening

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00:30:18.000 --> 00:30:22.039
to Ghostwax, a production of Foreign
Tall Tales. Find us at Foreign Talltales

323
00:30:22.119 --> 00:30:27.640
dot squarespace dot com. Ghostwax is
an independent podcast, So if you liked

324
00:30:27.720 --> 00:30:33.759
the show, please rate and review
and consider joining us on Patreon at patreon

325
00:30:33.880 --> 00:30:38.000
dot com. Slash Farign Tall Tales
also give a listen to our fantasy roleplay

326
00:30:38.039 --> 00:30:45.359
show Could Have Been Heroes for something
completely different. Ghostwax is written and directed

327
00:30:45.400 --> 00:30:49.640
by Robert Kannutsen, production and editing
by Aaron Schenrock. Our theme song is

328
00:30:49.680 --> 00:30:56.079
by Bo Hoover. This episode features
Robert Kannutsen as Von Sid Aeron Schenrock as

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00:30:56.160 --> 00:31:03.400
Luca and the Cipher, Stephanie Olsen
as Pip, Gaylastell as Cat, h

330
00:31:03.519 --> 00:31:10.240
J. Raider as Olivia, Ala
Alushka as Amia, Jordan Gwiazdowski as Noah,

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00:31:10.279 --> 00:31:11.200
and Amanda Jacobsen as c c