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Speaker 2: Chapter twenty six, The Blender.
Speaker 3: The Ispet event began. Emily limped arm in arm with Marcus,
Speaker 3: the Shifter behind, and the stairwell ahead. Flames surged, engulping
Speaker 3: the floor, walls and ceiling. A metal rod sailed perilously close,
Speaker 3: twirling end over end toward the building's core. They were
Speaker 3: still on the fourth floor of Amber's apartment complex. Not
Speaker 3: long ago. The buildings swarmed with contra agents and residents
Speaker 3: who had all since fled both the blaze and the Shifter.
Speaker 3: Emily's friends had also escaped, with the exception of Marcus,
Speaker 3: who leaned against her for support as they edged toward
Speaker 3: the stairs. She recalled the discussion with September about anomalies
Speaker 3: and their unten consequences. In his example, he used a
Speaker 3: skyscraper as the setting. He noted that her ispet would
Speaker 3: not directly kill her, but if it caused a skyscraper
Speaker 3: to collapse on top of her, she would not survive.
Speaker 3: Fatal repercussions could occur indirectly. While not a skyscraper, this
Speaker 3: ten story building was enough to get the job done
Speaker 3: if they didn't escape. Soon, more metal objects hurtled past
Speaker 3: her toward the center of the building, forcing her to
Speaker 3: dodge to the side to avoid being a kit Reaching
Speaker 3: the stairwell, she urged Marcus ahead and then risked a
Speaker 3: look back. Her isfet stream poured from her well into
Speaker 3: a metal vortex in the center of the hallway, drawing
Speaker 3: metal from every direction. The debris didn't just collide, it fused,
Speaker 3: forming a growing metallic sphere. A large metal desk tore
Speaker 3: through a wall, driven by the magnetic pull, urgency propelled
Speaker 3: her to the stairs. She checked on her carbinger from
Speaker 3: the railing, injured but descending past the third floor. His
Speaker 3: progress was steady but slow. She rushed after him. Pausing
Speaker 3: on the third floor landing, she saw the metal sphere
Speaker 3: had expanded massively, siphoning metals through walls and ceilings. The
Speaker 3: sphere had torn its way through the fourth level floor
Speaker 3: and was now grinding.
Speaker 4: Through the third.
Speaker 3: Emily continued down the stairwell, running to catch up with Marcus.
Speaker 3: She did not stop at the second floor to steal
Speaker 3: a third glance.
Speaker 5: Two was enough.
Speaker 3: The stairwell's metal railing started to detach. Drawn to the sphere,
Speaker 3: that was all the confirmation she needed. Near the first floor,
Speaker 3: she dodged a flying doorknob and lost her footing. She
Speaker 3: stumbled down the last few steps, then burst through the
Speaker 3: exit and into September's waiting arms. He guided her across
Speaker 3: the street with safety, just as the apartment buildings succumbed,
Speaker 3: collapsing inward. Breathless and weary, Emily sank to the ground
Speaker 3: beside Marcus, watching the last ispet streams ev away.
Speaker 6: It was over, Emily. Are you hurt?
Speaker 7: I'm fine.
Speaker 4: Good. Let's get you to the car.
Speaker 8: Wait a second, I don't think anyone is going anywhere
Speaker 8: until we sort.
Speaker 6: This out, September. We can't stay here, Detective.
Speaker 4: The building is burning, the contra are gone, the fire
Speaker 4: department is already here, and the police are almost certainly
Speaker 4: on the way.
Speaker 8: Bullard and I are the police, and I would feel
Speaker 8: much more comfortable if you stayed right where I can
Speaker 8: see you. I need some time to think.
Speaker 6: Do you intend to detain us, Detective.
Speaker 9: I haven't decided yet.
Speaker 5: No, we aren't. We aren't after what we just saw
Speaker 5: in there.
Speaker 4: No, thank you, Detective Bullard.
Speaker 5: But that said, you're definitely not taking my car.
Speaker 4: I didn't mean your car. I rented my own.
Speaker 9: George Marcus is a criminal if we let him.
Speaker 5: Walk, Mariano, we just saw a shape shifting monster in there.
Speaker 5: I don't know what is going on with Marcus and Emily,
Speaker 5: but they're into some very unnatural shit. You really think
Speaker 5: the best solution is to bring Marcus in right now?
Speaker 9: I I just think that we should know where they are.
Speaker 9: They're dangerous.
Speaker 4: They are dangerous, but only because they're untrained. We can
Speaker 4: help them, help them how, we can show them how
Speaker 4: to control their powers.
Speaker 6: September. I don't think it's safe for Emily to be
Speaker 6: in a city this size. I recommend we leave if
Speaker 6: we can.
Speaker 5: Let's see what Emily has to say.
Speaker 7: Very well, Oh, Emily, I'm okay.
Speaker 5: Your shirt's pretty bloody. Looks like your shoulder and your
Speaker 5: stomach is that blood yours?
Speaker 7: I guess some of it.
Speaker 5: You want to see one of the paramedics over there.
Speaker 7: No, Hastings can patch me up just fine.
Speaker 5: I have a first aid kit in the car. I'll
Speaker 5: give it to him before you leave. Thank you, Marcus.
Speaker 5: How are you?
Speaker 2: I'm just a little dizzy and tired and sore and cold.
Speaker 7: You're always cold and whiny.
Speaker 2: You think this is bad? You should hear me whant
Speaker 2: to get sick?
Speaker 5: Emily? What was that thing? That shape shifter?
Speaker 6: Thing?
Speaker 7: Just that, a shape shifter?
Speaker 5: What did it want me?
Speaker 7: I think? Although I don't know why?
Speaker 5: Is it dead?
Speaker 7: I think so? They're really hard to kill, but I'm
Speaker 7: pretty sure were they more like it? Yeah? From what
Speaker 7: Hasting tells me, at least.
Speaker 5: They're going to be hunting you too.
Speaker 7: I don't know.
Speaker 5: Look, I'm not even gonna pretend to know what's going on.
Speaker 5: This is all bizarre, but I know my instincts would
Speaker 5: tell me to trust you on this. Can I trust you? Emily?
Speaker 7: Trust me to do what?
Speaker 5: I don't know the right thing?
Speaker 2: I guess I'll try.
Speaker 5: All right, That's good enough for me. Now the million
Speaker 5: dollar question? Do you really want to go with them?
Speaker 7: September and Hastings?
Speaker 5: Yeah, can they really help you with all of this.
Speaker 7: Yeah, I think so, Amber.
Speaker 5: What about you?
Speaker 10: No, I don't want to go with them.
Speaker 7: Amber, You're not safe here. You should come with us.
Speaker 11: No, I don't trust them, and you shouldn't either, Amber. Please, no, em,
Speaker 11: I can't go with them. There's something not right about
Speaker 11: those two.
Speaker 5: Emi. I'll put Amber and Sam someplace safe as long
Speaker 5: as as they're willing.
Speaker 8: I've got just the spot where my family has some
Speaker 8: property in Wisconsin.
Speaker 12: God damn packers.
Speaker 5: That's all we should tell you better? To keep things
Speaker 5: separate for the time being.
Speaker 7: I understand.
Speaker 5: So here's how this is going to go down. Davis
Speaker 5: and I will grab your camp and equipment and the
Speaker 5: first aid kid out of my car and give it
Speaker 5: to those two. After that, we'll take Amber over to
Speaker 5: the paramedics to get checked out. She felt pretty hard
Speaker 5: on that fire escape. In the meantime, I'd recommend saying
Speaker 5: your goodbyes for the time being.
Speaker 13: Okay.
Speaker 5: I'm also going to drop my phone number into the
Speaker 5: first aid kit in case you ever need someone to
Speaker 5: talk to.
Speaker 7: Thanks, George.
Speaker 5: Yeah, well you'll be careful, okay.
Speaker 14: Yeah, so hey, I think I'm going to see if
Speaker 14: Hastings will walk me to the car. Give you guys a.
Speaker 7: Moment, okay, Marcus.
Speaker 2: Amber, it was nice to meet you. Sure, all right,
Speaker 2: I'll see ya.
Speaker 7: Hey, Amber, are you all right?
Speaker 5: No?
Speaker 7: Are you kidding me?
Speaker 5: Right now?
Speaker 11: You have been gone for months. I haven't heard from
Speaker 11: you in months.
Speaker 7: Emily, Yeah, I know.
Speaker 11: And then you call to say there are assassins after me,
Speaker 11: which I thought was bullshit anyway, I thought you were brainwashed.
Speaker 7: I'm sorry.
Speaker 11: And then and then you show up to my apartment
Speaker 11: with your friends, the assassins and a goddamn monster.
Speaker 7: Amber.
Speaker 10: So no, em I am not fucking all right.
Speaker 7: I didn't mean for you to get caught up in
Speaker 7: all of this.
Speaker 11: How the hell did you get caught up in all this?
Speaker 7: Why don't you come with me and then I can
Speaker 7: explain everything.
Speaker 13: Go with you, m You should.
Speaker 10: Stay here where the detectives can keep you safe.
Speaker 7: Amber, be realistic. Do you think those two detectives could
Speaker 7: handle something like that shifter back there or trained assassins.
Speaker 7: They were barely surviving themselves.
Speaker 11: But maybe if you got away from September and Hastings,
Speaker 11: those others would leave you alone.
Speaker 7: No, they wouldn't. They want me just as bad as
Speaker 7: they want them. I know you don't believe me yet,
Speaker 7: but September and Hastings are trying to protect me.
Speaker 11: This makes no sense.
Speaker 7: I know. I promise I'll explain everything.
Speaker 5: I'm sorry to interrupt. Amber. It's time to go, Amber.
Speaker 11: I love you, em, but I can't go with you.
Speaker 10: I'm gonna stay with Bullard.
Speaker 7: Okay, you had.
Speaker 11: Better call me. I will and call Sam too.
Speaker 7: I can do that.
Speaker 10: Do you want triple back?
Speaker 7: Would you mind hanging on to it for a little
Speaker 7: bit longer?
Speaker 11: Of course I don't mind. Sam and I have been
Speaker 11: splitting time with her anyway.
Speaker 7: I saw that. Thank you.
Speaker 11: I love you, em Please please be careful.
Speaker 10: I will.
Speaker 7: I love you too.
Speaker 5: Wiswonson, George, I expect you to call me as well.
Speaker 5: I want better tabs on you and your friends. Do
Speaker 5: you understand?
Speaker 7: Yeah? Of course?
Speaker 5: All right, come on, Amber, let's get you patched up.
Speaker 7: Hi, Emily, Detective Davis, right, yeah, it's nice to meet you.
Speaker 8: You as well. What you did back there was nothing
Speaker 8: short of incredible.
Speaker 7: Incredible. I think you mean horrific.
Speaker 9: I said what I meant. Oh, all right, Escaping a
Speaker 9: shifter is no easy feat, and three times it's impressive.
Speaker 7: Thank you.
Speaker 9: I'll be seeing you around.
Speaker 4: Emily. Are you ready to go?
Speaker 7: Yeah? I'm ready.
Speaker 4: Is everything okay?
Speaker 7: I really don't know.
Speaker 4: Let's get out of here.
Speaker 3: Rubble fell away as Denali stood, shaking off the remains
Speaker 3: of the collapsed apartment complex. This marked the second instance
Speaker 3: Emily had dropped a building upon them, and the third
Speaker 3: time she eluded them, events sure to enrage their patron. Previously,
Speaker 3: Denali had been trapped against the hallway wall, immobilized by
Speaker 3: several metal pipes with flames searing beneath. Had it not
Speaker 3: been for the anomaly's summoning of a magnetic sphere that
Speaker 3: tore the pipes away, Denali might have perished in the fire.
Speaker 3: Although they could withstand brief encounters with fire, prolonged exposure
Speaker 3: threatened through life. Navigating cautiously through the wreckage, Dnali avoided
Speaker 3: any areas where the floor seemed unstable. Hearing human activity outside,
Speaker 3: they decided to adopt a disguise, morphing into the familiar
Speaker 3: guise of a grocery delivery boy from Montana, a precaution
Speaker 3: in case they encountered any bystanders during their exit. Plushed
Speaker 3: in their left hand was a piece of fabric torn
Speaker 3: and stained with Emily's blood, which Donali had seized when
Speaker 3: their grip on the anomaly's shoulder had slipped. The impending
Speaker 3: conversation with Donali's current patron promised to be challenging, but
Speaker 3: this bloodied remnant might temper their dissatisfaction. Returning with such
Speaker 3: a token was surely advantageous, and what better gift for
Speaker 3: a blood born than the blood of an anomaly. After
Speaker 3: placing the fabric into a plastic sandwich bag retreated from
Speaker 3: the debris, then Aali's next steps were to return to
Speaker 3: the Bloodborn, deliver the report, and then find Emily. This
Speaker 3: was the way things were, This was the contract made,
Speaker 3: This was the code, and the code could not be broken.
Speaker 3: Agent Natalie White fumbled her cell phone and swore as
Speaker 3: it fell to the floorboard of the Enterprise rental car.
Speaker 3: The pain in her wrist had dulled from the level
Speaker 3: of excruciating blaze to a more manageable, agonizing throb. Her
Speaker 3: partner took a sharp turn, forcing Natalie to steady herself
Speaker 3: by gripping the seat, sending a jolt of sharp pain
Speaker 3: through her arm.
Speaker 12: It's not too much to ask, could you maybe not
Speaker 12: drive like a jackass.
Speaker 2: Oh, I can call you an uber if you prefer.
Speaker 12: No, maybe just a little less speed racer if you
Speaker 12: don't mind.
Speaker 3: I am trying to get you to the hospital.
Speaker 12: I'm not dying, Victor. We're not in a huge rush.
Speaker 4: Look, with the amount of people that were just injured
Speaker 4: in that apartment building, the hospital is going to be flooded.
Speaker 1: I want to get us in and out before anyone
Speaker 1: thinks to start paying attention.
Speaker 10: Okay, you're right, that's smart.
Speaker 4: Oh, now I'm smart. You must have hit your head
Speaker 4: pretty hard.
Speaker 10: Funny, got it?
Speaker 4: Are you good?
Speaker 13: Yeah?
Speaker 10: Drop the phone. I need to call the operator.
Speaker 3: Oh, I'm sure this is gonna go well calling.
Speaker 13: Do you see a cleaning supplies? How may I direct
Speaker 13: your call operator?
Speaker 10: It's White and Brown.
Speaker 13: Good morning, Agent White. I hope you are contacting me
Speaker 13: with good news.
Speaker 12: Unfortunately, no, the whole party showed up for the meeting,
Speaker 12: and we had more guests than intended and the meeting
Speaker 12: went up in flames. HM.
Speaker 13: That is unfortunate.
Speaker 10: There is definitely another player at the.
Speaker 13: Table, Detective Davies employer.
Speaker 10: Seems like is Davies.
Speaker 13: Connected to the other unexpected guest.
Speaker 10: I don't know for sure, right, Do.
Speaker 13: You have anything else to report?
Speaker 12: No, I will submit a report in a few hours.
Speaker 12: I'm on the way to the doctor for a checkup.
Speaker 13: Do take care of your health. We need all our
Speaker 13: field agents and tiptop shape.
Speaker 10: How would you like us to proceed from there?
Speaker 13: Agent White? This deal is deemed irregular. We would like
Speaker 13: you to preturn to England to discuss next steps directly
Speaker 13: with management.
Speaker 10: I understand.
Speaker 13: Goodbye, Agent White.
Speaker 4: All right, what's a good word?
Speaker 10: We're heading to HQ.
Speaker 3: Emily sat next to Marcus in the back seat of
Speaker 3: Hastings rental car, her gaze fixed on the passing landscape
Speaker 3: as the vehicle merged onto the highway. September drove the
Speaker 3: car while Hastings examined the contents of the controfile Emily
Speaker 3: had given them. The quartet was once again departing Chicago,
Speaker 3: the city shrinking behind them. A blender, that's what Marcus
Speaker 3: had told her, would destroy the apartment building. How many
Speaker 3: people survived? That ispet event? Her ispet event. No, that
Speaker 3: wasn't the right question. The real question that was haunting
Speaker 3: her was how many innocent people died from her is event.
Speaker 3: The weight of this thought made her nauseous. She couldn't
Speaker 3: think about it, not right now. She was too exhausted
Speaker 3: to confront it.
Speaker 6: Right now.
Speaker 3: Her physical wounds had been tended to thanks to the
Speaker 3: first aid supplies from Bullard and Hastings medical knowledge, Yet
Speaker 3: she still felt as if she had been hit by
Speaker 3: a mack truck. She already missed Amber and regretted not
Speaker 3: seeing Sam. She resolved to maintain better contact with her
Speaker 3: friends this time. Her previous attempts at isolation hadn't safeguarded them.
Speaker 3: Perhaps keeping them informed could. The sound of a page
Speaker 3: turning pulled her attention to the front seat, catching September's eyes.
Speaker 4: In the rearview mirror. How are you holding up?
Speaker 6: Oh? I'm well, Well, this file is interesting.
Speaker 4: Not you, Hastings. I'm talking to Emily.
Speaker 7: Oh right, I'm fine, just a little sore.
Speaker 4: It seems like you and Marcus had a bit of
Speaker 4: an adventure while we were gone.
Speaker 7: Between the Contra and the Shifter. I would say that's
Speaker 7: the understatement.
Speaker 10: Of the year.
Speaker 4: I'm sorry that we left you unprotected like that. I
Speaker 4: will do my best never to leave you again.
Speaker 7: It wasn't your fault. You didn't know this would happen.
Speaker 4: I should have better anticipated something like this.
Speaker 7: It's okay, September. Was your trip worth it?
Speaker 6: At least very much?
Speaker 1: So?
Speaker 6: We were given access to the restricted archives. I read
Speaker 6: quite a few interesting texts, including several that were originally
Speaker 6: authored by dragons chronicler Dean believes anomalies are responsible for
Speaker 6: the extinction of the Dragons. He also removed me from
Speaker 6: my current position and intends to reassign me. The archives
Speaker 6: were attacked by Contra agents, and I stole some information
Speaker 6: that may lead us to other anomalies.
Speaker 7: Are you serious?
Speaker 6: Yes, Emily, none of those statements would make a good joke.
Speaker 7: You know where other anomalies are.
Speaker 4: Maybe we have some leads. I'll explain it all to
Speaker 4: you after we find a place to settle down and
Speaker 4: recover for a couple of days.
Speaker 7: That's amazing.
Speaker 6: I told you the trip was worth it.
Speaker 7: You said the archives were attacked.
Speaker 4: Yeah, but I don't think it was anything to do
Speaker 4: with us specifically. It probably had taken the Contra quite
Speaker 4: a bit of time to set up a full scale
Speaker 4: assault like that.
Speaker 7: Well, I'm glad You're okay.
Speaker 6: I'm glad as well.
Speaker 4: We left as soon as the attack.
Speaker 7: Began, so the contract could have taken the archives.
Speaker 4: It's possible, but I doubt it. There were plenty of
Speaker 4: guides and chroniclers to guard the facility.
Speaker 6: The chroniclers employ highly skilled security guards as well.
Speaker 1: Well.
Speaker 7: I guess that's good. So you said Dean blames the
Speaker 7: anomalies for the death of dragons? Did he say why?
Speaker 6: I still need to do some research into that topic.
Speaker 6: He suggests that I take a similar branch of study
Speaker 6: as him and hopes that I might discover what happened.
Speaker 6: Are you going to in a sense at this moment,
Speaker 6: I intend to split my time studying the past with
Speaker 6: studying you, Hastings.
Speaker 4: You've got to work on your delivery.
Speaker 7: It's okay, I'm used to it.
Speaker 6: I didn't mean to offend.
Speaker 7: Yeah, you never do. So what did the books say?
Speaker 4: Not a lot?
Speaker 7: Unfortunately, was there anything in there about different color ispet
Speaker 7: lines or harbingers.
Speaker 4: They seem to lack accurate information about the lines, and
Speaker 4: we have theories about harbingers.
Speaker 7: What about why there are eighty one anomalies born every year?
Speaker 7: That still seems very unlike chaos.
Speaker 4: I'm sorry, but nothing about that yet either.
Speaker 7: This doesn't seem like a very successful visit.
Speaker 6: Emily, While I was there. I had my laptop and
Speaker 6: four external hard drives with a capacity of three terabytes each.
Speaker 6: While September and I studied in the restricted archives, my
Speaker 6: laptop downloaded as many digital files as the hard drives
Speaker 6: could hold, and considering most of those are scanned images
Speaker 6: and text documents, that is a lot of content.
Speaker 7: Oh, I didn't realize you had digital versions. Why couldn't
Speaker 7: you download them from here?
Speaker 6: The files are housed in private, secured servers. We had
Speaker 6: to go there to access them.
Speaker 7: Ah, okay, that makes sense.
Speaker 6: It will take time, but it gives me a lot
Speaker 6: of information to work with.
Speaker 7: One last question about the books, what is it? Did
Speaker 7: any of them mention anything about dreams or being able
Speaker 7: to speak with other anomalies through dreams?
Speaker 4: Speaking with other anomalies and.
Speaker 7: Dreams, Yeah, communicating while one anomaly is dreaming and the
Speaker 7: other is awake.
Speaker 6: I didn't see anything about that, neither did I.
Speaker 7: Oh, okay, well, I've started talking to another anomaly named Cricket.
Speaker 4: Cricket, you can talk to them while you dream.
Speaker 7: No, he talks to me while he dreams and I'm awake.
Speaker 6: Emily, please tell me everything you know about Give me
Speaker 6: as much information as you can.
Speaker 7: Recall, well, he first showed up when we were back
Speaker 7: in Montana.
Speaker 14: Guys, please can we talk about cricket later? I need
Speaker 14: to know what is the shifter going to show up again?
Speaker 14: Because I don't think I can keep doing this.
Speaker 4: If it shows up, we will be here to help.
Speaker 7: I think I killed it. I pinned it to a
Speaker 7: wall and set it on fire, then turned the building
Speaker 7: into a blender.
Speaker 4: A blender, so it's for sure.
Speaker 5: Dead, I think so.
Speaker 7: I think everyone that was left in that building is dead.
Speaker 7: I killed them all.
Speaker 4: Emily, you did not kill them, and if you killed
Speaker 4: the shifter, that was self defense.
Speaker 7: I don't want to talk about this, not right now.
Speaker 7: I need time.
Speaker 6: Okay, so about cricket.
Speaker 7: I'll catch you up on the details later. But he
Speaker 7: said that anomalies have any.
Speaker 6: Ads, any ads and any ad as a group of nine.
Speaker 7: Yeah, he said that they work together.
Speaker 6: Nine groups of nine.
Speaker 4: What was that?
Speaker 6: Eighty one anomalies are born every year, all in groups
Speaker 6: of nine, nine groups of nine.
Speaker 7: Do you think one of the anomalies you found could
Speaker 7: be part of mienniad?
Speaker 4: There's only one way to find out. We are going
Speaker 4: to find them.
Speaker 3: Emily Swanson is voiced by Tisha Zaying. Hastings is voiced
Speaker 3: by Adam Culbertson. September is voiced by Richard Collins. Detective
Speaker 3: Bullard is voiced by Tony Kinney. Detective Mariano Davis is
Speaker 3: voiced by Glenn Michael Saxton. Marcus Baker is voiced by
Speaker 3: Nico Rodriguez. Amber Lang is voiced by Nari Quack. Agent
Speaker 3: Victor Brown is voiced by t Alexander Saxton. Agent Natalie
Speaker 3: White is voiced by Sarah Callahan. The Operator is voiced
Speaker 3: by Helen Edgar and narrated by Michael Cole. Isfet Archives
Speaker 3: was written by Nico Rodriguez in collaboration with Titia Zang.
Speaker 3: Espett Archives is a Creative Typo entertainment production. Find out
Speaker 3: more about our show at www dot creative typo dot com.
Speaker 2: A very special thank you to our executive producers from Patreon,
Speaker 2: Nick Mead and Patrick t Arsenal