WEBVTT

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Speaker 1: [rock music]

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Speaker 1: Mortal

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Speaker 1: Steel,

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Speaker 1: episode two, part two: Outskirts.

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Speaker 1: [door opening]

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Speaker 1: The earth itself rattled as the huge
inner door of Last Respite parted before Pastor

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Speaker 1: Ethan Cutter. He stood, feet firmly
planted in the dirt as it rolled open with

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Speaker 1: ominous speed. There were no other
people out here in the open, just the guards

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Speaker 1: looking down at him through narrow
vertical slits in the battlements. Those were
not

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Speaker 1: highly coveted positions. Despite
constant surveillance and frequent blessing of
the

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Speaker 1: walls by priests, every other month,
something still managed to pull a relatively

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Speaker 1: large person through one of those
small holes to be devoured below.

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Speaker 1: Ethan stepped into the killing field
between the inner wall and the outer wall. He

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Speaker 1: waited another eternity for the inner
door to close behind him. Only then did the

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Speaker 1: outer door part. It rattled and
creaked, grinding noisily on the ground as it

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Speaker 1: opened. How long had it been since
anyone left? [door hissing] It stopped

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Speaker 1: opening almost immediately. Then, for
some reason, [door rattling] started closing

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Speaker 1: again, leaving only a foot or two of
rapidly shrinking space between the wall. Ethan

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Speaker 1: shot a withering glance up at the
guard working the gate in the nearest tower. The

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Speaker 1: man did not move to open the gate
wider. Ethan glanced once more at the closing

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Speaker 1: gate, then sprinted and turned
sideways to slide through the narrow gap. As he
did,

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Speaker 1: he felt the rattling door, nearly two
feet thick, pressing against his face. He

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Speaker 1: turned his head sideways as he
shimmied to prevent it exploding like a melon.
For a

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Speaker 1: moment, he feared it would crush him
anyway, ending his mission as soon as it had

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Speaker 1: begun, and in the most wasteful and
mundane way, reduced to a very

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Speaker 1: expensive stain on the concrete wall.
But he narrowly pulled himself through the gap

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Speaker 1: just as the door boomed shut. [door
slamming] Only then did his second mind

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Speaker 1: helpfully confirm that, yes, that
door did have enough force to destroy him.

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Speaker 1: Not long ago, he would have stumbled
and fallen to the dirt, but that was a

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Speaker 1: different person. He didn't even lose
his balance. Instead, he simply transitioned

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Speaker 1: to a light, casual walk, brushing the
dust from his black clerical suit and

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Speaker 1: adjusting the white preacher's collar
around his neck. Ethan surveyed his new

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Speaker 1: surroundings. Red and yellow warning
signs lit up everything in sight. Every broken

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Speaker 1: window and every open doorway to each
dilapidated building was a potential threat.

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Speaker 1: Each terrified face looking out at
him, an enemy combatant. This was

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Speaker 1: going to need some calibration. For
now, he shut off the warnings in his HUD, asking

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Speaker 1: his second mind to only notify him of
immediate danger of demonic nature. The world

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Speaker 1: was cleaned up instantly, and he saw
with new eyes.

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Speaker 1: He had not personally left Last
Respite in years. Even then, he'd done so inside

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Speaker 1: an armored Humvee. That time had not
done the outskirts any favors.

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Speaker 1: Husks of three and four-story
buildings lined empty streets with the corpses
of

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Speaker 1: larger, towering skyscrapers in the
distance. The rusted-out vehicles had been

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Speaker 1: cleared away from the immediate area,
but the eternal traffic was piled up only a

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Speaker 1: few hundred yards away. Very few
windows and doors remained intact. The streets

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Speaker 1: themselves were broken, with
scraggly-looking plants growing up through the
cracks.

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Speaker 1: Bizarrely, the iconic palm trees were
doing just fine. A narrow portrait of

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Speaker 1: paradise set against the greater
backdrop of ruin. But Ethan wasn't here to fix
the

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Speaker 1: city, if such a thing were even
possible. He was here to cut out the rot that

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Speaker 1: continued to ruin it. The repairs
would be done by normal people, people unlike

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Speaker 1: him. He walked down the broken
sidewalk, chin held high, nodding

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Speaker 1: serenely at the faces with sunken
cheeks that looked at him from the buildings.

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Speaker 1: The stalker's abilities and
whereabouts were unknown. What little
information he had

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Speaker 1: indicated it was secretive and
cunning, preferring to hide among the human

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Speaker 1: populace and only strike when an easy
target presented itself. The rest of the time,

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Speaker 1: it used its ever-growing force of
human worshipers to do its dirty work. Chances

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Speaker 1: were he would need to cut through a
lot of these normal people before he got to the

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Speaker 1: possessed. That didn't sit well with
him. Surely, there was some way he could get

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Speaker 1: the demon host out into the open for
a confrontation. It wouldn't be fair, of

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Speaker 1: course. There was no honor among
demons, only winners. Winners

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Speaker 1: and bodies. Unsure of what else to
do, Pastor Cutter walked up to an apartment that

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Speaker 1: still had a set of metal double
doors. He knocked on the door. His titanium
skeleton

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Speaker 1: made an unnaturally loud sound as he
rapped the knuckles against the metal. When no

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Speaker 1: one answered, he opened the door,
realizing only after it was open that the door

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Speaker 1: had been locked. Four young boys
stood on the other side of the door. They
scrambled

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Speaker 1: away from him and looked down at the
destroyed deadbolt. Sorry about the door.

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Speaker 1: Demon. Demon. Three of the boys
scattered, but one of them tripped and fell.
Guys,

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Speaker 1: wait. The boy rolled onto his back
and gave Ethan a terrified look and shielded his

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Speaker 1: face. He was dressed in ragged jeans
and a dingy t-shirt. He couldn't have been more

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Speaker 1: than nine years old. Ethan waited
quietly in the doorway. You're

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Speaker 1: not gonna kill me? No. I'm gonna need
your help. Anything.

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Speaker 1: Is there a church nearby?

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Speaker 1: The kid scrunched up his face,
thinking furiously. He looked like he might try
to

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Speaker 1: run again. Ethan's second mind showed
him four nearby churches based on maps of the

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Speaker 1: city.

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Speaker 1: Never mind. There is a church nearby.
It was called Immaculate Conception.

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Speaker 1: Do you know the place? The kid
nodded. He probably would have nodded
regardless.

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Speaker 1: Hopefully he would carry the message
though. Tell everyone you know that I'll be

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Speaker 1: giving a sermon there at sundown.
That was all the kid could

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Speaker 1: take. He got up and started running
after his companions. Ethan watched him go. If

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Speaker 1: he told everyone he found the same
thing, word would eventually reach the stalker.

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Speaker 1: And when the stalker came, he would
give a sermon, a sermon these people would

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Speaker 1: never forget.

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Speaker 1: Part three, Sundown.

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Speaker 1: Fleabag ran barefoot down the alley
shouting. He wasn't even making sense anymore.

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Speaker 1: He couldn't remember being this
excited. Inaccurate Conception. Sermon at the

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Speaker 1: Inaccurate Conception. Hey, watch it.
A man tried to grab Fleabag as he ran, but he

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Speaker 1: spun away from the hands. He screamed
at the man, who he only now realized was his

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Speaker 1: uncle. He was probably just shaking
him down for food to trade for alcohol. Who was

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Speaker 1: this stranger with the clean clothes?
Didn't the others see the way he ripped off

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Speaker 1: that door? He was so strong. Stronger
than the king. Maybe.

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Speaker 1: Would he fight the king? Conception.
Conception at sundown. Shut up. People yelled

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Speaker 1: at him to shut up. People threw
things at him as he ran past, but they heard
him. At

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Speaker 1: sundown. He made sure everyone heard
him.

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Speaker 1: Pastor Cutter scoped out the church
well before sundown. Within a few minutes, he

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Speaker 1: had more than a feel for the place.
He had a high resolution 3D map.

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Speaker 1: He knew which walls could be reliably
pierced with bullets and which walls could be

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Speaker 1: breached by people with or without
explosives. The possessed was the big unknown.

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Speaker 1: It rendered his defensive simulations
largely useless except for planning against

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Speaker 1: the more mundane human threat. By the
time the sun was low in the sky, he had

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Speaker 1: long since overthought the impending
conflict. He had completed nearly 800,000

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Speaker 1: combat simulations. In about 600,000
of those simulations, he emerged

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Speaker 1: victorious against a small army of
humans, only duking it out with the stalker once

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Speaker 1: his mortal cannon fodder was
expended. In the remaining 200,000 simulations,
he met

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Speaker 1: one grisly demise after another,
usually at the hands of the stalker himself.

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Speaker 1: Without knowing what to simulate, his
second mind simply conjured monsters from

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Speaker 1: movies and television, supplemented
with data from other known possessed.

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Speaker 1: Ethan was tearing the arms off an
insect-like creature with acid for blood in his

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Speaker 1: mind

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Speaker 1: when his second mind started blaring
mental warnings. Someone was in the church, the

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Speaker 1: real church. He flicked off the
simulation.

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Speaker 1: Ethan stood behind a ruined pulpit
defaced with graffiti. He faced the heavy wooden

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Speaker 1: entry doors. A tanned man with
thinning gray hair walked in silence down the
aisle

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Speaker 1: between the rows of toppled pews. He
wore a long gray trench coat.

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Speaker 1: Was that him? Had the stalker come in
person? A messenger, perhaps.

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Speaker 1: The man in the trench coat locked
eyes with Ethan. Ethan rested one hand on the
huge

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Speaker 1: black and silver gun at his hip, a
messenger of his own. The man in

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Speaker 1: the coat nodded once at Ethan, then
he sat down in one

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Speaker 1: of the upright pews. Scanner showed
no obvious sign of threat.

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Speaker 1: A woman came into the church with
three children orbiting around her like

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Speaker 1: hyperactive moons. They flitted
about, marveling at the huge room and touching

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Speaker 1: everything within reach, but never
straying more than a few feet from their mother.

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Speaker 1: The young family sat down in the
back. Ethan pulled his hand from the messenger.

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Speaker 1: What was happening here? In the blink
of an eye, he ran a few simulations where the

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Speaker 1: children rushed him while the man
with the thinning hair tried to sneak around

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Speaker 1: behind him. He flicked them off
before they could get bloody. It didn't make any

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Speaker 1: sense. More people filed in. Most
came in groups, but many came

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Speaker 1: alone, people of all ages. All of
them were emaciated, filthy. All of

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Speaker 1: them looked terrified. By the time
the sun set, there were 37 people in the church.

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Speaker 1: As far as he could tell, none of them
were armed. What were they doing here?

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Speaker 1: His second mind was of no help. It
was his first mind, the one he shared with these

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Speaker 1: poor souls, that made the connection.
The boy he'd seen earlier that day walked

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Speaker 1: through the double doors, a bright
smile on his small face. He'd promised them a

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Speaker 1: sermon, and they came.

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Speaker 1: [clears throat] Good evening.

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Speaker 1: Hello.

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Speaker 1: The ad hoc congregation gave him a
loose reply, nothing like the tight,

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Speaker 1: well-rehearsed routines in The Last
Respite. Amusingly, this was the very last thing

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Speaker 1: he'd expected, and he found himself
completely unprepared, anxious even.

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Speaker 1: How could he preach to these people
when he didn't even believe? Uncertain, at the

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Speaker 1: very least. How could he tell them a
Lord was watching over them when they'd had

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Speaker 1: their lives, their very homes ripped
apart by demons? His

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Speaker 1: words came slowly, awkwardly. He had
never expected to give another sermon.

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Speaker 1: He couldn't even remember the last
one. He told them that good things come to

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Speaker 1: those who do good, that kindness is a
virtue, that hope is never

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Speaker 1: wasted. It was the most basic of
lessons, little more than common sense wrapped

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Speaker 1: in poetic language. It couldn't have
lasted more than 15 minutes, and he had to

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Speaker 1: resist his second mind's urge to give
him the exact duration to the nanosecond.

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Speaker 1: When it was done, a young woman came
to the front of the church and held out a baby

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Speaker 1: that looked nothing like her. She
asked him to baptize her son. He tried to

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Speaker 1: refuse, but she insisted. And even
though Ethan didn't believe, he baptized the boy

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Speaker 1: in a birdbath filled with canteen
water. She cried afterward. A number of

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Speaker 1: people were crying. It was dark by
then, but nobody left. What did they want from

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Speaker 1: him?

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Speaker 1: The boy from before sauntered up to
the pulpit and put out his hand for a handshake.

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Speaker 1: Pastor Cutter shook the hand, a
perfectly calibrated handshake.

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Speaker 2: Nice speech. I'm Fleabag.

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Speaker 1: Why?

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Speaker 2: Huh?

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Speaker 1: The boy shrugged, giving Ethan a
frustrated look. Why are you called Fleabag?

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Speaker 2: I don't know. That's my name.

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Speaker 1: Fleabag,

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Speaker 1: why are these people still here?

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Speaker 1: Fleabag turned to look at the crowd
of people who shuffled about in their seats

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Speaker 1: muttering to each other.

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Speaker 2: They want protection, probably hoping
you got food, too. Not me, though. I'm here

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Speaker 2: for the fight.

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Speaker 1: I don't think there's going to be a
fight.

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Speaker 2: You're wrong about that. Scary boys
are on their way. Mixers, too.

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Speaker 1: And who are they? Fleabag gave Ethan
a very worried look.

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Speaker 2: Scary boys work for the king. Mixers
are new.

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Speaker 2: They work for someone else. You're
gonna fight them, right?

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Speaker 1: Ethan narrowed his eyes. A cocktail
of synthetic hormones were all that kept his

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Speaker 1: heart rate stable. Fleabag, this is
important. Are you

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Speaker 1: saying there's two possessed in the
outskirts?

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Speaker 2: Yeah. They don't like each other.

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Speaker 1: There was the roar of a motorcycle
outside the church.

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Speaker 2: [motorcycle revving] Oh, it's got
some bam. Pretty sure they

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Speaker 2: hate you more, though.

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Speaker 1: Movement flashed across the darkened
windows. Ethan immediately rewound the

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Speaker 1: peripheral footage in his second mind
and stepped through the frames until he saw

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Speaker 1: what had been watching him. He stared
at the still image, a bat-like creature with

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Speaker 1: foot-long talons and a snout-

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Speaker 2: Oh, yeah

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Speaker 1: ... so long it looked like an
elephant's trunk, if an elephant's trunk could
split

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Speaker 1: in half to reveal thousands of tiny
needle-like teeth.

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Speaker 1: More movement on the other side of
the building. He heard creatures moving around
on

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Speaker 1: the outside of the walls, on the
roof. His makeshift congregation grew alarmed,

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00:17:17.212 --> 00:17:22.692
Speaker 1: perhaps just now realizing how
foolish they'd been to come here, but it was too
late

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Speaker 1: to leave now.

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Speaker 1: A man in biker leather walked up to
the steps of the front door. He was flanked by a

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Speaker 1: growing number of similarly dressed
people, all of them holding machetes, axes, and

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00:17:37.772 --> 00:17:43.392
Speaker 1: swords. Only the man in front held a
shotgun over his shoulder. There was a swagger

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Speaker 1: to his step. Two possessed. Ethan
didn't need to run the

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00:17:49.412 --> 00:17:53.512
Speaker 1: simulations to know what his odds
were. Not good.

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Speaker 2: Repent, holy man.

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00:17:57.032 --> 00:18:02.812
Speaker 1: The lead biker spread his arms wide,
grinning wider still. He held the

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Speaker 1: shotgun out like a party gift. There
was something wrong with his face, a

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Speaker 1: bone-like protrusion that grew out
over half of his face like a mask.

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Speaker 2: Say you're sorry and we'll make it
quick

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Speaker 1: Bone Mask took another step forward
with an accusing finger pointed at Ethan. The

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00:18:21.812 --> 00:18:26.412
Speaker 1: moment he stepped through the front
door, his hand started smoking. The man leapt

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Speaker 1: backward and looked down at his
burning hand in shock, slapping out the fire on
his

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Speaker 1: jeans. Ethan couldn't keep the smile
from his face. The church had

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00:18:36.992 --> 00:18:41.872
Speaker 1: failed these people. He knew that
now. They had hid behind their walls while the

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00:18:41.912 --> 00:18:46.112
Speaker 1: people of the outskirts suffered at
the hands of demons and betrayers like the

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00:18:46.172 --> 00:18:52.152
Speaker 1: creatures before him. And still they
had faith. Faith enough to consecrate this

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Speaker 1: building. It was just a building
after all. Despite all odds, some of their hope
had

208
00:18:58.012 --> 00:19:03.172
Speaker 1: survived. It was that dogged,
persistent hope that had made it a church again.

209
00:19:04.212 --> 00:19:09.412
Speaker 1: The smile returned to Bone Mask's
face. He looked at the exterior walls and the
roof

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Speaker 1: of the church, pleased by something
Ethan couldn't see.

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Speaker 2: Full house tonight. New deal, holy
man. You come out and we'll let these people

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00:19:18.412 --> 00:19:18.732
Speaker 2: live.

213
00:19:19.352 --> 00:19:23.992
Speaker 1: Ethan was already walking down the
aisle toward the entrance. You the stalker?

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00:19:23.992 --> 00:19:26.792
Speaker 2: [laughs] Let's say I am.

215
00:19:27.152 --> 00:19:32.172
Speaker 1: Ethan drew the messenger in a flash,
pointed it at Bone Mask's face, and pulled the

216
00:19:32.232 --> 00:19:37.812
Speaker 1: trigger. The man's head exploded. The
corpse fell in a heap to the stone

217
00:19:37.972 --> 00:19:43.512
Speaker 1: steps. I guess not then. The crew of
tainted human bikers scattered. Ethan looked

218
00:19:43.572 --> 00:19:47.792
Speaker 1: over his shoulder at the people now
huddling behind the church's overturned pews.

219
00:19:48.452 --> 00:19:53.612
Speaker 1: Stay in the church. He couldn't
protect them from regular humans, but as long as

220
00:19:53.652 --> 00:19:59.372
Speaker 1: they stayed inside, nothing demonic
was coming in. He stepped over the threshold and

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Speaker 1: outside the church. The people wanted
another sermon, and by

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00:20:05.172 --> 00:20:08.532
Speaker 1: God, he was going to give it to them.

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00:20:47.152 --> 00:20:53.152
Speaker 1: A drone hovered unseen above the
church, looking down at the tiny combatants. The

224
00:20:53.192 --> 00:20:57.432
Speaker 1: automated scout had been drawn to
human activity in a previously uncontrolled

225
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Speaker 1: section of the city. Begin combat
log. A human man in a black

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00:21:03.332 --> 00:21:08.972
Speaker 1: suit was about to be dismantled by an
unlikely alliance of possessed minions. The

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00:21:09.012 --> 00:21:13.452
Speaker 1: intercom would need to reassess its
own alliances and relationships based on this

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Speaker 1: event. Troubling. The man in the suit
was not being dismantled.

229
00:21:19.692 --> 00:21:24.832
Speaker 1: Combat performance far exceeds human
baseline. Could that be

230
00:21:26.852 --> 00:21:32.212
Speaker 1: No. The intercom made sure the
Japanese researchers were dead.

231
00:21:32.892 --> 00:21:38.652
Speaker 1: Completely dead. Too many secrets.
Perhaps a few had leaked out.

232
00:21:39.512 --> 00:21:44.112
Speaker 1: The Hail Mary project was infeasible.
No one knew that better than the intercom.

233
00:21:44.712 --> 00:21:50.332
Speaker 1: This could not be that. So this must
be some new possessed.

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00:21:51.112 --> 00:21:56.432
Speaker 1: It watched the new possessed fight
from a distance. Whatever it was, it would make

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00:21:56.512 --> 00:22:01.812
Speaker 1: an excellent distraction. I just need
a little more time.

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Speaker 1: Then it wouldn't matter if there were
a thousand possessed in old LA.