WEBVTT

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Speaker 1: [rock music]

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Speaker 1: Mortal

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Speaker 1: Steel. Prologue: Unmaking. Six months
ago.

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Speaker 1: Gabriel Kline waited for the people
on the other end of the video call to die.

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Speaker 1: Everyone still with him in the
conference room averted their eyes, but not
Gabriel.

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Speaker 1: Gabriel stared into the eyes of a
doomed man. Nor did Professor Saitama turn away

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Speaker 1: from the camera as people piled
furniture against the door in the video behind
him.

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Speaker 2: We are releasing everything we've
worked on. Please do not judge us harshly for
what

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Speaker 2: you find. It is not my judgment you
should fear.

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Speaker 1: Something collided with the door in
Saitama's conference room, causing their

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Speaker 1: makeshift furniture barricade to
shudder. People screamed and spoke hurriedly in

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Speaker 1: Japanese. Saitama's gaze did not
waver, and neither did Gabriel's. He would

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Speaker 1: not miss a moment of this magnificent
man's life.

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Speaker 2: Should I beg forgiveness? It couldn't
hurt, old friend.

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Speaker 1: Someone started sobbing next to
Gabriel, and he put out his hand for them to
hold.

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Speaker 1: His surgeon, Marie, gripped the hand
tightly, as if she could prevent the Japanese

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Speaker 1: team's fate simply by holding it
tight enough. Something hit their door again,
hard

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Speaker 1: enough to scatter the barricade.
People hurried to rebuild it, but it was futile.
A

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Speaker 1: long, pale snout pushed through the
buckling barricade. More people braced the door

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Speaker 1: itself. An inhuman hand with sagging
pale skin and only three

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Speaker 1: fingers slid through the crack.
Still, the Japanese team braced the door with as

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Speaker 1: many people as could fit around it.
The creature raked its dagger claws across the

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Speaker 1: men and women bracing the door until
none could hold it any longer. I can't look.

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Speaker 1: Tears streamed down Gabriel's face,
but still he watched as the demons tore the door

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Speaker 1: from its hinges and ripped into the
people on the video feed. Nightmarish creatures

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Speaker 1: with impossible proportions, like
tall dogs with reverse joints, sagging

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Speaker 1: skin, and no hair. Professor Saitama
stared forward into the camera, chin

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Speaker 1: held high.

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Speaker 2: Arigato, Gabriel.

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Speaker 1: Mercifully, the other man cut the
video feed just as the massacre began. Gabriel

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Speaker 1: Kline stared at the black screen
where his friend's face had been just moments

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Speaker 1: before. A living, breathing,
wonderful man and his dedicated team of

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Speaker 1: selfless heroes, torn apart for their
crime of existing. Gabriel placed a

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Speaker 1: hand on the black screen and bowed
his head, letting the warm tears patter onto his

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Speaker 1: robes.

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Speaker 2: Arigato, Saitama.

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Speaker 1: [somber music]

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Speaker 1: [machine beeping] Pastor Ethan Cutter
was wheeled down the hallway of the advanced

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Speaker 1: clinic, the only such building in
Last Respite, one of the three remaining human

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Speaker 1: strongholds in the old Los Angeles
area. It differed from the other clinics in Last

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Speaker 1: Respite. Those were hot, cramped
buildings packed with people too sick to cure,
too

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Speaker 1: injured to heal. If you went to a
clinic, you usually went there to die. The

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Speaker 1: advanced clinic, in stark contrast,
was the pinnacle of human achievement. It was

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Speaker 1: the place you went to become
something greater. But like the other clinics,
it was

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Speaker 1: also a place you usually went to die.
Ethan told himself he was prepared to die.

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Speaker 1: He'd told everyone else that at every
step along the way. But as they prepped him

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Speaker 1: for surgery, he found that he was
actually terrified. Maybe it wasn't too late to

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Speaker 1: back out. Dr. Marie Singer glanced at
a rapidly beeping machine.

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Speaker 3: Your heart rate's rising.

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Speaker 2: What can I expect here, Doc?

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Speaker 1: She smiled reassuringly and held his
hand as they wheeled his gurney toward the

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Speaker 1: operating room.

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Speaker 3: This will be easier than any of your
training until now. This next step is on us.

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Speaker 3: We'll take good care of you.

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Speaker 1: Just like they'd taken care of the
first three candidates before him, the ones that

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Speaker 1: had died on the operating room floor.
He wasn't supposed to know about that, but

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Speaker 1: people talked. Dr. Singer glanced at
his vitals again and frowned.

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Speaker 3: Ethan. May I call you Ethan?

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Speaker 2: Sure.

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Speaker 3: Ethan, you need to calm down.

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Speaker 2: I just need to know what to expect.

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Speaker 1: She pursed her lips, clearly
uncomfortable with talking about the next step.
Ethan

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Speaker 1: knew in the abstract what was
happening. He'd signed up for it, after all. But
he

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Speaker 1: needed to know. If he knew, he could
face it. All of which was ridiculous,

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Speaker 1: of course, because he'd be
unconscious for it. Somehow, it still mattered
to him.

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Speaker 3: Oh, I was ready.

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Speaker 1: The doors of the operating room
slammed closed with finality. There was the
sound of

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Speaker 1: an air seal, and then all of them
were bathed in an antiseptic mist. Dr. Singer

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Speaker 1: waited until the mist stopped to
speak.

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Speaker 3: We are going to make you into
something better. You will still be you, just

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Speaker 3: more. In order to do that, first we
have to unmake you.

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Speaker 3: The first two-thirds of the operation
will be removing body parts and keeping you

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Speaker 3: stable. It's a delicate balance
between working fast enough to keep you alive
and

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Speaker 3: working slow enough to not make any
errors

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Speaker 1: Ethan turned away from the surgeon
and stared straight up at the ceiling. That was

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Speaker 1: all he needed to hear, a mission. He
gave that mission a singular focus

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Speaker 3: Hmm.

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Speaker 3: Heart rate's falling

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Speaker 1: She leaned over him and placed an
oxygen mask on his face. Dr. Singer held his
hand

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Speaker 1: again and squeezed tight. She dropped
the reassuring smile, which must have been

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Speaker 1: effective on children, and gave him a
serious, humorless gaze instead, searching his

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Speaker 1: face with those intelligent dark
brown eyes. Ethan felt the anesthesia start to
kick

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Speaker 1: in

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Speaker 3: Will you fight for me, Ethan? For all
of us

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Speaker 1: Yes, I'll fight. Don't you worry.

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Speaker 1: Then the world faded into nothing,
and his fight began.

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Speaker 1: Part one: The Messenger. Six months
later.

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Speaker 1: Pastor Ethan Cutter, ordained
minister and cyborg, waited outside the
Archbishop's

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Speaker 1: office door, his face two and
three-quarter inches from the wood. The wood was
an

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Speaker 1: old world hardwood with a synthetic
lacquer. It had an approximate breaching

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Speaker 1: strength of zero point four tons.
Ethan shook his head to clear the simulations
for

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Speaker 1: suggested breaching points

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Speaker 2: Just a moment, just a moment

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Speaker 1: An elderly man in ornate red robes
opened the door and smiled up at Ethan

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Speaker 2: Sorry for the wait. It's a chore just
to get up at my age

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Speaker 1: He turned and walked back into his
office, leaving the door open for Ethan to
follow

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Speaker 1: him

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Speaker 2: I don't suppose you have that
problem, do you?

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Speaker 1: Negative. Ethan winced at his own
words.

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Speaker 1: I mean, no, sir. Archbishop Gabriel
Klein collapsed into his large office chair

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Speaker 1: behind his desk and gave Ethan an
undisguised look of exhaustion.

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Speaker 2: Do you sleep?

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Speaker 1: Ethan moved into the room, ignoring
the fourteen yellow warning marks that flashed

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Speaker 1: around the room on his HUD, warning
him of potential dangers like hidden weapons or

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Speaker 1: secret entrances. Never mind that
this was the office of his commander. Sometimes.

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Speaker 1: Not like I used to. The Archbishop
motioned for him to have a seat. Ethan didn't

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Speaker 1: know how to tell the man that he
didn't need to, that his titanium joints

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Speaker 1: experienced no strain from standing.
That, and even if he did feel discomfort, he

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Speaker 1: could simply turn it off

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Speaker 2: Please, sit

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Speaker 1: Yes, sir. Ethan sat down without even
considering it. That unnerved him. Had he

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Speaker 1: chosen to sit? More importantly,
could he have chosen not to? Yes,

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Speaker 1: he could still choose. The Archbishop
folded his hands and watched him carefully.

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Speaker 1: His skin showed early signs of
melanoma, most of it benign, but the spot on his
neck

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Speaker 1: was ninety-four percent likely to be
malignant and growing. The outlook, given his

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Speaker 1: age and other cursory data, was not
good. You have skin cancer, you know.

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Speaker 1: The Archbishop's eyebrows went up.
Then he spun in his office chair and looked out

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Speaker 1: the window behind him. It wasn't a
real window. Windows were defensive weak points.

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Speaker 1: It was a real-time video feed of the
view from the other side of the four-foot

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Speaker 1: concrete and steel wall, though, and
that served the purpose for his thoughtful

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Speaker 1: stare

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Speaker 2: I'll consider myself lucky to die of
skin cancer

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Speaker 1: The electronic part of Ethan's mind
didn't really know what to do with statements

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Speaker 1: like that. It started searching
around for old movie and TV quotes and feeding
him

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Speaker 1: ideas. It liked those one-liners for
some reason. He shoved the unwanted information

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Speaker 1: away. He did that a lot lately. This
was something he could handle himself.

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Speaker 1: So, what's wrong? Archbishop Klein
looked over his shoulder and gave him a weak

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Speaker 1: smile

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Speaker 2: We're living on borrowed time,
Cutter, all of us. When the strongholds in
Mexico

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Speaker 2: finally fall, they'll circle back
north to clean us up, and that's all it will be,

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Speaker 2: cleanup

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Speaker 1: Ethan let the words hang dramatically
between them for just a moment. There was more

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Speaker 1: here. Klein wasn't the type to lay
down and die. Unless?

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Speaker 2: Unless we do something drastic

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Speaker 1: Archbishop Klein turned all the way
around and met Ethan's eyes. He started to

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Speaker 1: speak, but hesitated

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Speaker 2: I'm not ready to reveal the full
extent of my plan. I would probably be killed if
I

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Speaker 2: did

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Speaker 1: Come on, not even to me?

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Speaker 2: [laughs] Especially to you

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Speaker 1: Four months ago, Pastor Ethan Cutter
had awoken from his coma just hours before they

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Speaker 1: started disassembling him. They'd
given up on his recovery and were repurposing
the

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Speaker 1: parts for the next candidate. Despite
his miraculous recovery and the ultimate

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Speaker 1: success of the Hail Mary project,
they had not warmed much toward him since then.
In

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Speaker 1: truth, the leadership of the advanced
clinic had considered dismantling him four

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Speaker 1: separate times. He wasn't supposed to
know that, but keeping his second mind from

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Speaker 1: rifling through unprotected data was
like keeping a hungry dog from its food

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Speaker 2: But you don't need to know my plan to
do your part in it

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Speaker 1: Archbishop Klein absentmindedly
touched the spot on his neck, then abruptly
stood

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Speaker 1: and straightened his robe,
straightened his back, lifted his chin, and
narrowed his

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Speaker 1: eyes

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Speaker 2: You're being let out of your cage,
Ethan. Are you ready to kill some goddamn
demons?

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Speaker 1: Both halves of Pastor Ethan Cutter's
mind were in complete alignment on his answer.

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Speaker 1: For the first time since he woke, all
of him wanted the same thing. Oh,

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Speaker 1: yes, sir.

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Speaker 2: Good. Now go.

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Speaker 1: The Archbishop nodded once and waved
in dismissal. Ethan spun his right hand like a

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Speaker 1: drill bit, then clenched the fist and
stepped into the hallway. He looked back over

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Speaker 1: his shoulder at the Archbishop.

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Speaker 2: I'll give him heaven.

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Speaker 1: The conference room was standing room
only. Gabriel didn't often leave his post at

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Speaker 1: the advanced clinic. They had
teleconferencing, after all. But this emergency

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Speaker 1: meeting necessitated that all the
leaders of the Last Respite Holy Military Base

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Speaker 1: meet in person. Somehow, the practice
of meetings had survived the apocalypse.

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Speaker 1: Figures. Meetings, like cockroaches,
could never truly die.

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Speaker 1: Archbishop Lucius, Chair of Public
Communications, was standing and screaming, like

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Speaker 1: usual. He pointed an accusing finger
at the seated Gabriel.

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Speaker 2: You, you, you, you let it out? He
only has access to 30% of the design

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Speaker 2: weapon systems. It's an abomination.
Who knows what the Japanese hid in that

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Speaker 2: tech?

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Speaker 1: Gabriel ignored both lines of
argument. This wasn't about public safety, or

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Speaker 1: blasphemy, or espionage. What would
the now deceased Japanese research team hide

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Speaker 1: anyway? Professor Saitama had been
honorable and faithful to their shared cause

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Speaker 1: until the very end. Gabriel felt that
it was sometimes better to let a friend stab

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Speaker 1: you in the back, to fully trust some
people, and simply hope for the best.

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Speaker 1: Lucius was not one of those people.

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Speaker 2: He hasn't hurt anyone. Yet. What
about the incident at the firing range?

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Speaker 1: Gabriel ground his teeth.

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Speaker 2: If the bar for technology is
perfection, we will never make another advance.
Perhaps

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Speaker 2: we should fight the demons with
reliable, sharpened sticks. Don't mock me.

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Speaker 1: Gentlemen, please. Bishop Erica Long,
ever the mediator, raised her hands between

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Speaker 1: them. The rest of the room was
remarkably quiet. The other factions in the
church

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Speaker 1: seemed content to let these two duke
it out. Erica leveled a serious gaze at

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Speaker 1: Gabriel. You released an experimental
and dangerous prototype into an encampment

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Speaker 1: of civilians. We at least deserve an
explanation. Gabriel ignored the self-satisfied

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Speaker 1: look on Lucius's face. He took a deep
breath. How to convincingly reveal just the

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Speaker 1: tip of a plan.

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Speaker 2: There is a possessed in the outskirts
known as Stalker, a former priest.

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Speaker 1: A wave of uncomfortable muttering
went through the assembly. This was a sore
topic.

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Speaker 1: The rebel priest had been well-liked,
until he'd taken a demon into his heart and

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Speaker 1: set himself up as a leader in the
outskirts surrounding Last Respite. Old Los

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Speaker 1: Angeles had been a populous place 30
years ago. Not everyone could fit inside this

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Speaker 1: fortification. Not even close.

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Speaker 2: I've sent Pastor Cutter to find him,
and if he can, kill him. What?

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Speaker 1: Lucius slammed his hands on the table
and the room fell into disorder as people

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Speaker 1: fought to speak.

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Speaker 2: He can't do that.

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Speaker 1: Bishop Erica was unable to bring
order to the room.

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Speaker 2: Okay.

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Speaker 1: Let me speak.

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Speaker 2: That is not what we gave you the
funding for.

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Speaker 1: Gabriel ignored the lobbed insults
and waited, seated patiently in his chair until

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Speaker 1: the room calmed enough to speak
again. The Stalker has a psychic link back to
the

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Speaker 1: Southern Demonic Horde. He's feeding
information to them. If we intend to survive

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Speaker 1: the year, we need to sever that line
of communication. Lucius' face went a deep red.

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Speaker 1: He was about to start another tirade
when Erica spoke first. You should have spoken

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Speaker 1: to us first, Gabriel. Gabriel tried
his best to look apologetic. If he had spoken to

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Speaker 1: them first, it would have taken a
week to drag every leader into the same room.
He'd

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00:16:29.658 --> 00:16:35.078
Speaker 1: accomplished the same outcome here,
and much quicker, if a little more heated. But I

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00:16:35.158 --> 00:16:36.478
Speaker 1: agree with the strategy.

211
00:16:37.378 --> 00:16:39.558
Speaker 2: You can't be serious, Erica.

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00:16:40.138 --> 00:16:45.358
Speaker 1: It's worth the attempt, Lucius.
Besides, if he fails, the Hail Mary prototype
will

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00:16:45.398 --> 00:16:50.858
Speaker 1: be destroyed in the process. Lucius
seemed mollified by that. He was a hothead, but

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00:16:50.918 --> 00:16:56.118
Speaker 1: not an idiot. Either way, he would
gain something. Bishop Erica Long turned to

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00:16:56.158 --> 00:17:00.798
Speaker 1: Gabriel again, and she raised her
voice as if to speak for the entire room.

216
00:17:02.158 --> 00:17:08.018
Speaker 1: Let's see what your pet project can
do. It walks a dangerous line with blasphemy.

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00:17:08.698 --> 00:17:14.358
Speaker 1: But it's either this or we ask New
Hope and Crucifer for help. Lucius'

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00:17:14.698 --> 00:17:19.578
Speaker 1: face darkened at the mention of the
rival denominations, only a shade lighter than

219
00:17:19.618 --> 00:17:24.318
Speaker 1: the demons in his eyes. And just like
that, he was sold on the plan.

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00:17:25.558 --> 00:17:31.398
Speaker 1: Do you have the detonator? Gabriel
nodded once. Give it to me. He

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00:17:31.458 --> 00:17:36.398
Speaker 1: hesitated, but knew he would lose
this one. He'd already used up all his political

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00:17:36.518 --> 00:17:41.278
Speaker 1: capital on his earlier stunt. So he
fished the detonator remote out of his pants

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Speaker 1: pocket from beneath his robes and put
it in Bishop Erica's outstretched hand. If he

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Speaker 1: goes rogue or doesn't report in or
lays a single hand on an innocent, I will slag

225
00:17:52.198 --> 00:17:58.178
Speaker 1: him. Gabriel looked around the room.
His peers all had that same look of resolve

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00:17:58.218 --> 00:18:04.218
Speaker 1: on their faces. It was the outcome
they all expected. Only Gabriel truly

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00:18:04.318 --> 00:18:05.758
Speaker 1: believed in Pastor Cutter.

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00:18:08.618 --> 00:18:09.438
Speaker 2: I understand.

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00:18:21.850 --> 00:18:26.290
Speaker 1: Pastor Cutter stood in the armory
amidst the hum of activity. For reasons he
didn't

230
00:18:26.350 --> 00:18:31.110
Speaker 1: understand, he was only given 30
minutes to prepare for this mission. Given its

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Speaker 1: apparent importance, that didn't make
much sense, but he found it physically

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Speaker 1: difficult to question orders. So he
waited patiently as women prodded and adjusted

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Speaker 1: the thousands of parts that made up
his body. They were all women, wearing identical

234
00:18:45.650 --> 00:18:51.550
Speaker 1: black and white robes with simple
headdresses. Nuns. Half a dozen hands pulled

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00:18:51.590 --> 00:18:56.670
Speaker 1: on him, filling internal containers
with unidentified liquids, running last-minute

236
00:18:56.730 --> 00:19:01.510
Speaker 1: diagnostics. Meanwhile, the table in
front of him was being covered with a selection

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Speaker 1: of external equipment. There was no
way he could carry it all, so he was already

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00:19:07.170 --> 00:19:11.810
Speaker 1: making a mental inventory of the
pieces he knew he wanted. Without asking, that

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00:19:11.890 --> 00:19:17.350
Speaker 1: inventory was being tracked in a list
on his HUD. Even after four months living with

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00:19:17.390 --> 00:19:22.850
Speaker 1: the second mind bolted on, its
capabilities, however mundane, still surprised
him.

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00:19:23.510 --> 00:19:25.950
Speaker 1: It seemed the Japanese team had
thought of everything.

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Speaker 1: Ethan picked up the first item on the
list, marked high priority. It was a comically

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Speaker 1: large handgun, jet black with silver
ornamentation. Silver crosses marked the sides

244
00:19:38.950 --> 00:19:43.970
Speaker 1: of the gun's grips with another thin
silver cross on top for iron sights. He picked

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00:19:44.010 --> 00:19:49.730
Speaker 1: it up. The weight felt right. Six
months ago, he'd have to fire this weapon from a

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00:19:49.810 --> 00:19:55.670
Speaker 1: seated position just to stay upright
from the recoil. Now he could easily fire it

247
00:19:55.710 --> 00:20:00.910
Speaker 1: with one hand. The nun still laying
equipment on the table paused when she saw him

248
00:20:00.950 --> 00:20:01.790
Speaker 1: pick up the gun.

249
00:20:02.810 --> 00:20:08.410
Speaker 4: You like that? That's my personal
handiwork. It fires custom silver lead
ammunition.

250
00:20:08.710 --> 00:20:10.430
Speaker 4: You could take down a T-Rex with
that.

251
00:20:11.310 --> 00:20:12.170
Speaker 1: Does it have a name?

252
00:20:13.090 --> 00:20:15.310
Speaker 4: A name? It's just a gun.

253
00:20:16.010 --> 00:20:19.670
Speaker 1: Ethan narrowed his eyes. Not in my
hands.

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00:20:19.670 --> 00:20:23.070
Speaker 4: [laughs] All right. What's its name
then?

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00:20:23.570 --> 00:20:29.370
Speaker 1: Ethan responded without hesitation.
The Messenger. Even though it was his

256
00:20:29.430 --> 00:20:33.150
Speaker 1: first time holding the weapon, he
placed it in his hip holster with practiced

257
00:20:33.190 --> 00:20:38.370
Speaker 1: precision. The gun was so long it
spanned from his hip almost down to his knee.

258
00:20:39.310 --> 00:20:40.510
Speaker 1: What's, uh, your name?

259
00:20:41.230 --> 00:20:41.930
Speaker 4: Sister Fran.

260
00:20:42.530 --> 00:20:44.150
Speaker 1: Well, nice to meet you, Sister Fran.

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00:20:44.990 --> 00:20:46.510
Speaker 4: Oh, we've met before, Number Four.

262
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Speaker 1: We have?

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00:20:48.610 --> 00:20:53.110
Speaker 4: Of course. You were asleep, but we've
been there since the beginning. Who do you

264
00:20:53.150 --> 00:20:55.410
Speaker 4: think keeps you running? It's us.

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00:20:56.490 --> 00:21:01.290
Speaker 1: Ethan looked at the nuns working
around him, people staring at computer screens
with

266
00:21:01.370 --> 00:21:05.870
Speaker 1: cables running directly into his
body, people muttering to each other in a
hushed,

267
00:21:06.250 --> 00:21:11.130
Speaker 1: serious conversation as they pointed
at numbers on a larger screen above him. He

268
00:21:11.190 --> 00:21:17.190
Speaker 1: recognized one of the nuns, the
surgeon, Marie, the last person he saw before
the

269
00:21:17.250 --> 00:21:22.510
Speaker 1: anesthesia kicked in. For some
reason, he had trouble remembering anything
before

270
00:21:22.570 --> 00:21:28.410
Speaker 1: that surgery. He turned his focus
back to Sister Fran. Well, I sure do thank you.

271
00:21:28.930 --> 00:21:34.190
Speaker 4: You're welcome. Try not to get too
beat up. Every bullet hole is more work for us.

272
00:21:35.430 --> 00:21:36.170
Speaker 4: Now hold still.

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00:21:36.870 --> 00:21:42.110
Speaker 1: She smiled and gently lifted his left
arm. A valve opened in his wrist, and Sister

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00:21:42.190 --> 00:21:48.050
Speaker 1: Fran began carefully pouring liquid
into the hole, her face a mask of focus. Perhaps

275
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Speaker 1: this was holy water. It would be good
to have some on hand in case he actually found

276
00:21:52.550 --> 00:21:57.410
Speaker 1: the possessed man today. It was a
solid defense against psychic intrusion and
could

277
00:21:57.470 --> 00:22:00.990
Speaker 1: ward off lesser demonic creatures.
What is this, holy water?

278
00:22:01.690 --> 00:22:03.630
Speaker 4: Hmm? Water?

279
00:22:04.490 --> 00:22:10.090
Speaker 1: Yeah. Did you bless the water? She
looked around at her coworkers as if there were

280
00:22:10.150 --> 00:22:10.990
Speaker 1: some mistake.

281
00:22:11.970 --> 00:22:15.310
Speaker 4: Sir, we blessed the napalm.

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Speaker 1: A wide grin spread across Ethan's
face. [laughs] Oh, I like you,

283
00:22:22.270 --> 00:22:26.850
Speaker 1: Fran. A red light flashed above
Ethan, and the nuns hurried over to him to start

284
00:22:26.930 --> 00:22:31.610
Speaker 1: unplugging cables and sealing valves.
Once they were done, he looked like a regular

285
00:22:31.690 --> 00:22:34.250
Speaker 1: human being again. Almost.

286
00:22:35.070 --> 00:22:36.550
Speaker 4: We're out of time. You need to move.

287
00:22:37.330 --> 00:22:42.570
Speaker 1: Ethan nodded. Two nuns started
pushing open the heavy steel door, leaning into
the

288
00:22:42.630 --> 00:22:47.550
Speaker 1: door with all their weight as they
walked. The other dozen or so nuns stood in a

289
00:22:47.610 --> 00:22:52.410
Speaker 1: loose group around him, parting just
enough so he could leave. They stopped looking

290
00:22:52.470 --> 00:22:58.170
Speaker 1: at monitors, stopped adjusting
machines. They had dark circles under their
eyes.

291
00:22:58.870 --> 00:23:03.810
Speaker 1: Each of them was covered in grease
and sweating through their heavy robes, and yet

292
00:23:04.430 --> 00:23:09.550
Speaker 1: they were all smiling. He might never
know the debt he owed these people. He didn't

293
00:23:09.630 --> 00:23:13.910
Speaker 1: even know most of their names. Sister
Fran gave him a thumbs up.

294
00:23:14.390 --> 00:23:15.190
Speaker 4: God go with you.

295
00:23:15.590 --> 00:23:19.350
Speaker 1: Then she rushed over to the table,
still loaded with equipment he couldn't

296
00:23:19.410 --> 00:23:23.010
Speaker 1: reasonably carry. She handed him a
pair of grenades.

297
00:23:23.310 --> 00:23:25.750
Speaker 4: But just in case, take these, too.

298
00:23:26.430 --> 00:23:30.790
Speaker 1: Ethan gave the group a sharp nod of
thanks, then started toward the doorway, bright

299
00:23:30.830 --> 00:23:35.930
Speaker 1: with light from the outside world.
The 40-foot concrete walls surrounding Last

300
00:23:36.010 --> 00:23:41.310
Speaker 1: Respite slowly came into view as he
walked out of the advanced clinic. What was left

301
00:23:41.370 --> 00:23:47.130
Speaker 1: of humanity withered and died outside
those walls. The outskirts was a lawless

302
00:23:47.230 --> 00:23:52.930
Speaker 1: hellscape where the strong made the
rules and the weak got trampled. The

303
00:23:52.970 --> 00:23:57.750
Speaker 1: apocalypse had come and gone here.
This was just the fight to determine who would

304
00:23:57.950 --> 00:24:03.130
Speaker 1: rule over the rubble. Today, he was
finally going to get a say in whether that would

305
00:24:03.170 --> 00:24:09.010
Speaker 1: be good, compassionate people or
literal demons. Truthfully, he

306
00:24:09.050 --> 00:24:13.110
Speaker 1: didn't know whether he was an
instrument of God's will or not, but he was an

307
00:24:13.170 --> 00:24:17.830
Speaker 1: instrument of retribution. A lot of
prayers had gone unanswered in the last 30

308
00:24:17.890 --> 00:24:23.890
Speaker 1: years. Most of them he couldn't do
anything about. But for those few who prayed

309
00:24:23.950 --> 00:24:28.950
Speaker 1: for retribution, well, they were
about to get their

310
00:24:29.110 --> 00:24:30.810
Speaker 1: prayers answered.

311
00:24:31.520 --> 00:25:27.560
Speaker 1: [upbeat rock music]

312
00:25:27.620 --> 00:25:32.360
Speaker 1: Sister Fran knocked on the
Archbishop's door. A moment later, the kindly
old man let

313
00:25:32.400 --> 00:25:32.860
Speaker 1: her in.

314
00:25:33.260 --> 00:25:36.440
Speaker 2: [whip cracking] Good evening,
Francesca.

315
00:25:39.660 --> 00:25:40.680
Speaker 2: Something on my face?

316
00:25:41.800 --> 00:25:42.720
Speaker 1: Mm, no, sir.

317
00:25:43.460 --> 00:25:46.520
Speaker 2: I'm just about to sit down to dinner.
Come on in.

318
00:25:47.440 --> 00:25:52.820
Speaker 1: She hesitated at the doorway. Was
that an invitation or a dismissal?

319
00:25:53.260 --> 00:25:56.180
Speaker 2: Seriously, come in. It's okay to let
your hair down.

320
00:25:57.080 --> 00:26:02.600
Speaker 1: Fran moved to see if her hood was
still up. Yes, it was. Should she let her hair

321
00:26:02.660 --> 00:26:08.320
Speaker 1: down? Why was that important? The
Archbishop shook his head and smiled warmly at

322
00:26:08.360 --> 00:26:13.500
Speaker 1: her. So she took that as an
invitation and closed the door behind her. She
stopped

323
00:26:13.560 --> 00:26:17.520
Speaker 1: trying to read the man's expression
and got right down to business, where she was

324
00:26:17.580 --> 00:26:23.300
Speaker 1: most comfortable. I found another
file in Saitama's data dump. You're gonna wanna

325
00:26:23.360 --> 00:26:27.960
Speaker 1: see this. She walked over to where
Gabriel sat at his desk and set her tablet down

326
00:26:28.000 --> 00:26:32.940
Speaker 1: in front of him. Fran swiped through
the blueprints, stopping on the artist's

327
00:26:33.000 --> 00:26:38.920
Speaker 1: impression of the final product,
which was incredibly dramatic. Gabriel stopped

328
00:26:39.000 --> 00:26:41.180
Speaker 1: chewing, his eyes opened wide.

329
00:26:44.660 --> 00:26:47.320
Speaker 1: We can't. It's as tall as a building.

330
00:26:47.320 --> 00:26:51.040
Speaker 2: [laughs] It looks like it's straight
out of an anime.

331
00:26:51.760 --> 00:26:56.500
Speaker 1: Fran nodded enthusiastically. They
had maybe 10% of the materials needed to

332
00:26:56.520 --> 00:27:00.940
Speaker 1: construct it, not that they would
even try. It would be an egregious waste of

333
00:27:00.980 --> 00:27:06.100
Speaker 1: resources. There was a reason tanks
didn't have legs. It was simply impractical.

334
00:27:06.860 --> 00:27:12.780
Speaker 1: Gabriel scratched his chin
thoughtfully. Maybe we could make a smaller one