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Source: collected/014-mortal-steel-episode-4.mp3
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00:00:00.000 Speaker 1 [theme music]
00:00:52.920 Speaker 1 Mortal Steel, episode four.
00:01:00.140 Speaker 1 Archbishop Gabriel stared at the projector screen in disbelief, watching Ethan
00:01:05.379 Speaker 1 charge the class A demon through the man's own eyes. It had been such a promising
00:01:11.320 Speaker 1 start, too. When he'd descended the building, somehow still intact, they'd broken
00:01:17.300 Speaker 1 out the wine. Technically, it wasn't supposed to be used in celebration,
00:01:23.160 Speaker 1 but Lord knew they needed a win. The conference room was crowded with people.
00:01:29.120 Speaker 1 A few of the nuns had been brought in to advise on technical issues, if any had
00:01:33.940 Speaker 1 arisen. The wine glasses either sat in front of people, completely forgotten,
00:01:40.060 Speaker 1 or their owners drank the rare treat shockingly fast, eyeing their neighbors'
00:01:45.240 Speaker 1 glasses with a nervous itch.
00:01:49.040 Speaker 1 Bishop Erica turned to look at Gabriel, her face solemn.
00:01:53.840 Speaker 2 I'm sorry, Gabriel. When he gets close, I'm detonating him.
00:01:59.660 Speaker 1 Gabriel Klein nodded slowly. It was the rational thing to do. Some of
00:02:05.620 Speaker 1 these people probably thought it was a net victory to kill something that dangerous
00:02:09.960 Speaker 1 in trade. He watched as Ethan ducked an unnaturally fast swing aimed at the
00:02:15.620 Speaker 1 cyborg's head, then swung the trinity blades, only for the weapon to get lodged in
00:02:21.600 Speaker 1 the creature's thick armor. Ethan struggled and failed to pull his arm free.
00:02:28.920 Speaker 1 Erica flipped the clear plastic lid on the detonator.
00:02:33.440 Speaker 3 You should have a little faith, Erica. By the way, I resign my position.
00:02:39.000 Speaker 3 [laughs] It seems proper to do that first.
00:02:43.180 Speaker 1 Erica glanced over at him, detonator still in hand.
00:02:47.120 Speaker 2 What?
00:02:47.820 Speaker 1 Then Gabriel Klein stood up from his chair, brushed off his
00:02:53.600 Speaker 1 robes, and tackled her.
00:03:02.720 Speaker 2 Ah!
00:03:04.700 Speaker 1 [crowd murmurs] [upbeat music] The trinity blades, still stuck in the creature's
00:03:09.320 Speaker 1 armor, tore free from his arm with an awful ripping sound. Blood and mechanical
00:03:14.720 Speaker 1 fluids dripped from the wound as he was hung upside down. His second mind tried to
00:03:20.200 Speaker 1 tell him exactly what the fluid was and what it was for, but he pushed the
00:03:24.020 Speaker 1 information away.
00:03:25.820 Speaker 3 You put your metal on the inside.
00:03:30.040 Speaker 1 Ethan swung around, trying to get leverage, but he was unable to reach the creature.
00:03:35.080 Speaker 1 It was infuriating being helpless. It felt like... Well, it felt like
00:03:41.140 Speaker 1 being human. Then he heard and felt a crunching
00:03:47.200 Speaker 1 sound above him. Warm fluid dripped down his body. There was a flash of
00:03:53.100 Speaker 1 pain data in his foot, and then nothing. The demon
00:03:58.860 Speaker 1 snarled and spat something to the ground beside him. His foot.
00:04:05.480 Speaker 1 Ethan looked away, trying to stay focused on what looked like an increasingly futile
00:04:11.320 Speaker 1 battle. The demon's motion let Ethan swing to the side, and he caught a glimpse
00:04:16.860 Speaker 1 inside the church. He rewound the footage in his mind, and there he saw
00:04:23.460 Speaker 1 two things that changed everything. First,
00:04:29.460 Speaker 1 there were people in the church. The doors may have been destroyed, but there were
00:04:35.080 Speaker 1 faces peeking at him from behind the overturned pews. 17 people.
00:04:41.440 Speaker 1 And if there were 17, maybe there were more. Whoever those poor souls were
00:04:47.260 Speaker 1 outside, they weren't his makeshift congregation.
00:04:53.640 Speaker 1 The second thing he saw was the faint shimmer at the threshold of the church,
00:04:59.960 Speaker 1 a barrier of consecration. They believed in him.
00:05:06.960 Speaker 1 They were alive, and they believed in him.
00:05:12.680 Speaker 1 1,745 combat simulations completed.
00:05:19.000 Speaker 1 One victory. Chances of success,
00:05:24.260 Speaker 1 0.00057%.
00:05:31.000 Speaker 1 A smile appeared on Ethan's face. That's all I need.
00:05:37.420 Speaker 1 Hey, you still hungry? Why don't you have another bite? Ethan saw the
00:05:43.280 Speaker 1 demon's head turn to the side in a very human expression of curiosity. Then it
00:05:49.240 Speaker 1 lifted his other foot underneath the slab of dark armor that covered its face. Ethan
00:05:54.640 Speaker 1 scrolled through his mods and selected hydraulic heel with his mind, waited for the
00:06:00.220 Speaker 1 moment the creature bit down-
00:06:06.080 Speaker 1 And eighteen and a half tons of force exploded the demon's face.
00:06:13.400 Speaker 1 The hand holding him went limp, and Ethan fell to the ground. He lunged for its left
00:06:18.440 Speaker 1 leg and placed the tree-sized knee joint in the crook of his elbow. Then he engaged
00:06:23.620 Speaker 1 the neck cracker mod. A wedge of hardened steel welded directly to his
00:06:29.200 Speaker 1 endoskeleton ran along the inside of his bicep and forearm. It was very much
00:06:35.220 Speaker 1 like a hydraulic nutcracker. It may as well have been called The Guillotine.
00:06:41.380 Speaker 1 Ethan turned on the hydraulics, and the neck cracker strained against the demon's
00:06:45.320 Speaker 1 armor for a long moment. Then cold man-made steel crushed the joint
00:06:51.260 Speaker 1 and severed the monster's leg at the knee. The demon fell over, and Ethan rolled out
00:06:56.140 Speaker 1 of the way. He rose and stumbled toward the church on one good leg, but
00:07:02.020 Speaker 1 stopped in the doorway, slumping against it. The sound of armor scraping on the
00:07:08.080 Speaker 1 concrete made him turn around.
00:07:11.720 Speaker 1 The demon sat on the ground looking at its stump of a leg. No,
00:07:17.860 Speaker 1 that wasn't a stump. It was regrowing.
00:07:23.940 Speaker 1 And its face, mostly an enormous sideways mouth filled with glowing orange molars,
00:07:31.080 Speaker 1 was healed.
00:07:34.000 Speaker 1 A moment later, the leg had healed, and the demon stood up with casual grace for
00:07:39.620 Speaker 1 something so large.
00:07:43.300 Speaker 1 Ethan's tired mind noted that the armor had not regrown, however. Maybe
00:07:49.320 Speaker 1 he could use that. He could have anyway, if he had
00:07:55.180 Speaker 1 anything left. Nothing. Nothing but words left now.
00:08:02.320 Speaker 1 Sorry about your face. Didn't realize it was already messed up.
00:08:07.620 Speaker 3 Get out of my way, broken toy.
00:08:13.620 Speaker 1 No.
00:08:15.480 Speaker 3 You are already defeated.
00:08:20.040 Speaker 1 He could hide inside with the others. The consecrated building would protect him.
00:08:26.440 Speaker 1 It would protect him until this thing tore the building down on top of them all.
00:08:32.720 Speaker 1 It didn't matter if it was consecrated if there was no building. He could still
00:08:38.440 Speaker 1 run. The demon reached out to pull Ethan from the doorway in much the
00:08:44.480 Speaker 1 same way you might move a misbehaving toddler. Unthinking, Ethan
00:08:50.340 Speaker 1 grabbed the monster's enormous hands,
00:08:54.740 Speaker 1 threaded his own fingers between the creature's talons. He forced the hands away
00:09:00.620 Speaker 1 from his body, away from his people. He would
00:09:06.380 Speaker 1 not run. Every pressure sensor in Ethan's body was reporting critical
00:09:12.340 Speaker 1 failures. Ethan fought the overwhelming force with everything he
00:09:17.860 Speaker 1 had, but there was no higher effort than one hundred percent.
00:09:23.980 Speaker 1 There was no limit beyond maximum. Ethan braced himself in the
00:09:29.900 Speaker 1 church's doors with what remained of his body. The creature continued
00:09:35.580 Speaker 1 pulling.
00:09:39.880 Speaker 1 You will never get
00:09:45.200 Speaker 1 through me.
00:09:50.860 Speaker 1 Then it tore Ethan's arms from his body.
00:09:57.760 Speaker 1 Pastor Cutter sagged to the ground before his enemy. He'd
00:10:03.660 Speaker 1 given everything.
00:10:06.680 Speaker 1 He could die knowing he'd given everything. He was picked up by the front of his
00:10:12.060 Speaker 1 shirt and brought face to face with the demon. Putrid, bloody breath washed over
00:10:18.000 Speaker 1 him. Ethan felt the demon's words forming in his mind. He felt his own
00:10:24.060 Speaker 1 second mind, chipper as always, ready with its own final quip.
00:10:30.760 Speaker 1 But instead of speaking, Ethan reared his head back and smashed
00:10:36.600 Speaker 1 his forehead into the demon's face. Then again, the
00:10:42.460 Speaker 1 beast stumbled backward, dazed and alarmed. Ethan slipped from its grasp, then
00:10:47.500 Speaker 1 lunged at the monster with his one good leg and slammed it against the creature,
00:10:51.800 Speaker 1 knocking it to the ground. He jumped on its chest, not giving it a single second to
00:10:56.720 Speaker 1 recover. Then he brought his head down in another savage headbutt. Titanium
00:11:02.400 Speaker 1 alloy met bone again, and again, and again.
00:11:09.040 Speaker 1 Ethan pounded its skull over and over with his own. Like a hammer to the nail, the
00:11:15.080 Speaker 1 beast's head sank into the concrete. The sound was wet and vicious. In
00:11:20.980 Speaker 1 that moment, he was not a man or a machine. He was pure violence.
00:11:27.800 Speaker 1 Ethan drove the creature deeper into the concrete, ignoring the warnings, ignoring
00:11:33.300 Speaker 1 the damage reports, ignoring the shouting voices, and even his very own human
00:11:39.020 Speaker 1 terror. He pounded the demon's head into an unrecognizable heap
00:11:45.100 Speaker 1 of tainted flesh. Then he lifted his face to the gray sky and
00:11:51.000 Speaker 1 screamed.
00:11:56.320 Speaker 1 When he looked down again, the creature's flesh was already knitting back together.
00:12:03.640 Speaker 1 So he bit down on the edge of the demon's armor above the shoulder and dragged the
00:12:08.340 Speaker 1 body inch by grueling inch toward the church. A
00:12:14.340 Speaker 1 moment later, people he didn't know streamed out of the church. A dozen hands
00:12:19.560 Speaker 1 grabbed the hulking monster and heaved with him. Strangers.
00:12:25.460 Speaker 1 No, not strangers. Humans. People.
00:12:32.440 Speaker 1 Like him. At last, they reached the threshold of the church where,
00:12:38.540 Speaker 1 blessedly, the creature's body ignited as they dragged it through the barrier.
00:12:43.260 Speaker 1 [fire whooshing] Even as the corpse burned beneath him, Ethan dragged the
00:12:49.120 Speaker 1 thing by his teeth. He pulled until there was no enemy, only a
00:12:55.220 Speaker 1 pile of ash blowing around the floor of the consecrated church.
00:13:01.740 Speaker 1 Only then did he stop. His second mind told him the threat was
00:13:07.160 Speaker 1 eliminated. Only then did he allow himself to
00:13:12.740 Speaker 1 slump to the ground.
00:13:16.700 Speaker 1 Many hands pulled him deeper into the church. People were screaming in his ears,
00:13:23.280 Speaker 1 except that wasn't screaming. It was
00:13:28.680 Speaker 1 cheering.
00:13:31.540 Speaker 1 Cheering?
00:13:33.940 Speaker 1 Red text flashed on his HUD. He hadn't even noticed it until now.
00:13:40.980 Speaker 1 Emergency shutdown. Three, two,
00:13:47.440 Speaker 1 one. Then there was black, and shortly after that,
00:13:54.320 Speaker 1 nothing.
00:13:55.000 Speaker 1 [gentle music]
00:14:07.160 Speaker 1 Part 6: Paradise
00:14:17.820 Speaker 1 [static crackling] Ethan's mind turned on before he was truly awake. He had no body,
00:14:24.040 Speaker 1 not yet. Text scrolled down his vision. He could read it, but couldn't turn
00:14:29.920 Speaker 1 around. There was nothing to turn. It was a diagnostic report.
00:14:38.220 Speaker 1 Biological status, severe cerebral hemorrhaging, stable, recoverable,
00:14:44.860 Speaker 1 four days. Frontal lobe damage, minor impedance, recoverable,
00:14:50.640 Speaker 1 140 days. Left arm, missing, not recoverable.
00:14:57.220 Speaker 1 Right arm, missing, not recoverable. Left leg, foot
00:15:02.940 Speaker 1 missing, not recoverable. Right leg, nominal.
00:15:08.480 Speaker 1 Endoskeleton, multiple fractures, not recoverable. Other
00:15:14.080 Speaker 1 systems, severe damage, stable, not recoverable.
00:15:20.940 Speaker 1 Followed by a list of dozens of subsystems responsible for everything from digestion
00:15:26.840 Speaker 1 to circulation. Why was he seeing this? Electronic
00:15:32.480 Speaker 1 status, Hail Mary implant, minor damage, not recoverable.
00:15:38.560 Speaker 1 Followed by a list of hundreds of electronic systems, most of which were damaged or
00:15:43.580 Speaker 1 destroyed. The implant was damaged? That couldn't be good.
00:15:49.740 Speaker 1 As if in reply to the thought, another line of text scrolled into view. Estimated
00:15:55.140 Speaker 1 lifespan, 46 days.
00:15:59.460 Speaker 1 Proceed with boot sequence.
00:16:03.500 Speaker 1 Y/N. Then there was a flashing cursor.
00:16:07.320 Speaker 4 I don't understand. Are you asking me if I want to live?
00:16:13.860 Speaker 1 Proceed with boot sequence. Y/N. For
00:16:19.640 Speaker 1 reasons he found difficult to explain, Ethan hesitated.
00:16:26.120 Speaker 1 But there were still people counting on him. There was only one
00:16:32.200 Speaker 1 real answer.
00:16:34.580 Speaker 4 Yes.
00:16:35.020 Speaker 4 [electronic sounds]
00:16:41.060 Speaker 1 Ethan stared up at the support beams of a dark room. A tiny hand waved
00:16:47.080 Speaker 1 around in front of his face.
00:16:49.960 Speaker 4 Are you alive? [clapping] Hello?
00:16:54.740 Speaker 4 Ugh, Fleabag, when was the last time you bathed?
00:17:00.180 Speaker 4 Last time I did what? Ugh, never mind.
00:17:03.900 Speaker 1 Ethan tried to sit up, but as soon as he did, alarms, both biological and
00:17:08.620 Speaker 1 technological, sounded.
00:17:11.180 Speaker 4 You're pretty beat up. Hold on, I'll help.
00:17:15.080 Speaker 1 Fleabag put his small arms behind Ethan's neck and pulled.
00:17:20.380 Speaker 4 Holy crap, you're heavy. What do you eat? I'm sustained by an internal drip of a
00:17:26.320 Speaker 4 nutritional paste. That and hydrogen isotopes.
00:17:31.740 Speaker 1 With some effort, they got him propped up against the wall behind them. The
00:17:35.840 Speaker 1 congregation had brought him to a back room somewhere. It was only him and Fleabag
00:17:40.720 Speaker 1 in the room. Were they trying to hide him?
00:17:45.460 Speaker 4 Where's everyone else? Sleeping. I told them to go home, but they won't leave the
00:17:50.340 Speaker 4 church.
00:17:51.400 Speaker 1 That was wise, considering it was nighttime. Humans were an unfavorable matchup
00:17:56.620 Speaker 1 against almost anything wandering around out there. Darkness would not help those
00:18:01.460 Speaker 1 odds. The kid laid down next to Ethan.
00:18:05.500 Speaker 4 I can't sleep. Yeah, me either.
00:18:09.600 Speaker 1 In this case, he literally could not. But he wasn't about to try explaining the
00:18:14.620 Speaker 1 difference between being off and sleeping to a nine-year-old.
00:18:21.016 Speaker 5 Can you tell me a story?
00:18:23.276 Speaker 1 Pastor Cutter narrowed his eyes.
00:18:26.796 Speaker 4 Okay. I know a bedtime story.
00:18:30.176 Speaker 1 Fleabag's eyes lit up.
00:18:32.476 Speaker 4 Now, once upon a time, there lived a small village. They lived in abject
00:18:37.996 Speaker 4 poverty. Conditions were unsanitary because they were ignorant of germ theory and
00:18:43.716 Speaker 4 basic hygiene.
00:18:45.396 Speaker 5 What's that?
00:18:46.336 Speaker 4 Hey, pay attention. So one day, their troubles compounded.
00:18:52.776 Speaker 4 A monster attacked the village, carrying the weak and the sickly back to its cave to
00:18:58.256 Speaker 4 devour them.
00:19:00.156 Speaker 5 What did they do about it?
00:19:02.356 Speaker 4 Well, they surrounded the mouth of the cave with explosives and waited for the beast
00:19:07.696 Speaker 4 to exit. And when it finally did, they detonated the trap. The monster was
00:19:13.776 Speaker 4 ripped to shreds by the explosion. Bloody chunks rained down everywhere.
00:19:20.296 Speaker 5 Whoa. So they lived happily ever after?
00:19:24.516 Speaker 4 Hell no. They lived in abject poverty. Life was short, brutal, and filled
00:19:30.456 Speaker 4 with unnecessary suffering.
00:19:34.796 Speaker 4 So are you tired now?
00:19:36.216 Speaker 1 Fleabag's tan face was covered in shadow. Ethan switched to infrared. He did not
00:19:42.096 Speaker 1 look tired. Perhaps another story then.
00:19:46.116 Speaker 5 Are you really a preacher?
00:19:48.696 Speaker 4 I used to be. Now I preach a different gospel.
00:19:53.276 Speaker 5 What?
00:19:54.556 Speaker 4 The gospel of lead.
00:19:58.616 Speaker 5 Why do you say things like that?
00:20:01.296 Speaker 4 I don't know. It just kinda comes out. Think I might be sick.
00:20:07.276 Speaker 5 In your brain?
00:20:08.116 Speaker 4 [laughs] I guess so.
00:20:12.776 Speaker 5 It's okay.
00:20:14.636 Speaker 1 Then the kid leaned against Ethan and closed his eyes. And even though he didn't
00:20:19.896 Speaker 1 need to sleep, Ethan closed his eyes too.
00:20:24.916 Speaker 5 Can you protect us from the real monsters?
00:20:29.056 Speaker 4 I'm going to try.
00:20:33.176 Speaker 1 Fleabag let out a long breath, and a minute later he was snoring, his
00:20:39.116 Speaker 1 small head resting on Ethan's armless torso. If he didn't get repairs soon,
00:20:45.116 Speaker 1 though, he wouldn't be protecting anyone. It was unlikely he'd be
00:20:51.156 Speaker 1 able to kill a second demon with his teeth. Then this
00:20:57.036 Speaker 1 tiny person would die. A knife of pain made it through his pain
00:21:02.656 Speaker 1 filters. This was not a physical pain. It was something
00:21:08.736 Speaker 1 unfamiliar and far more frightening. What if
00:21:15.196 Speaker 1 he could not save them?
00:21:17.036 Speaker 1 [gentle music]
00:21:32.096 Speaker 1 Sometime before dawn, Ethan stirred to the sound of a voice.
00:21:36.816 Speaker 5 Number Four? Number Four, can you hear me?
00:21:40.516 Speaker 1 He scanned the room, careful not to stir the sleeping Fleabag. There was
00:21:46.456 Speaker 1 no one in the room.
00:21:48.816 Speaker 5 It's Sister Fran.
00:21:50.856 Speaker 1 Coming from his mind, then. Great. That was the last place he needed more
00:21:56.336 Speaker 1 voices.
00:21:57.836 Speaker 4 Fran, this is Pastor Cutter.
00:22:00.816 Speaker 5 You're alive. Ha. I told you it would work.
00:22:05.196 Speaker 4 What is this?
00:22:07.336 Speaker 5 A radio. You have a receiver in your spine.
00:22:10.956 Speaker 4 And why?
00:22:13.456 Speaker 5 So we can monitor you, obviously.
00:22:17.696 Speaker 1 They'd been watching him?
00:22:19.696 Speaker 5 Listen, I don't have long. Things have gone crazy in Last Respite. Gabriel went
00:22:25.456 Speaker 5 rogue. The advanced clinic is done. Me and the other nuns got out, though. Oh, and
00:22:31.056 Speaker 5 you have a bomb in you.
00:22:35.536 Speaker 5 Number Four?
00:22:37.396 Speaker 4 I'm here.
00:22:38.795 Speaker 5 Okay. Whew. I thought she blew you up.
00:22:41.716 Speaker 4 Is that a risk?
00:22:43.556 Speaker 5 Yeah, for sure. That's why I'm sending you a patch. Erica can probably hear this,
00:22:48.376 Speaker 5 though. They know everything you're doing, even if they can't blow you up, yet. So
00:22:54.416 Speaker 5 you should probably come up with a reason why they shouldn't blow you up until the
00:22:58.756 Speaker 5 patch is done. The patch will totally disable your receiver, so you're going to have
00:23:03.256 Speaker 5 to go dark.
00:23:03.876 Speaker 4 [sighs]
00:23:06.796 Speaker 1 He hadn't even realized he had a radio receiver. What else did he not know about?
00:23:13.096 Speaker 1 Why play games like this? And a bomb.
00:23:19.136 Speaker 4 Because I haven't completed my mission.
00:23:22.836 Speaker 5 Your what?
00:23:24.236 Speaker 4 I'm going to kill the Stalker.
00:23:27.236 Speaker 5 Listen, we've treated you more like a project than a person since you woke up,
00:23:33.036 Speaker 5 and I wanted to say sorry. You don't have to do this.
00:23:39.176 Speaker 1 She wasn't doing a very good job of not getting him blown up. Another voice entered
00:23:44.416 Speaker 1 his mind then, because why not? That made four now, by his count.
00:23:50.576 Speaker 1 Bishop Erica Long said only one word.
00:23:54.876 Speaker 5 How?
00:23:56.576 Speaker 4 I need ammunition and repairs.
00:23:59.876 Speaker 5 No.
00:24:01.916 Speaker 5 You have 48 hours, then we're sending a salvage crew for your parts.
00:24:07.676 Speaker 1 Erica said nothing else after that.
00:24:12.396 Speaker 4 Fran?
00:24:13.676 Speaker 5 I'm here, but not for long. We're heading for New Hope.
00:24:19.156 Speaker 4 Is that, uh, wise?
00:24:22.076 Speaker 5 Probably not, but it's not like we can survive in the outskirts. It hasn't worked
00:24:28.016 Speaker 5 out too well for you, has it?
00:24:31.266 Speaker 2 If you survive, come find us and we'll patch you up. God go with you, Number Four. I
00:24:36.366 Speaker 2 mean,
00:24:38.146 Speaker 2 Ethan. You want to be called Ethan, right?
00:24:42.046 Speaker 4 That is my name.
00:24:44.026 Speaker 2 Right. Bye, Ethan.
00:24:47.766 Speaker 1 A moment later, an icon appeared in his HUD. Secure patch. Update
00:24:53.986 Speaker 1 Y/in.
00:24:56.026 Speaker 4 Oh, hell yes.
00:24:58.266 Speaker 1 Permissions error. Admin approval required.
00:25:02.686 Speaker 4 You gotta be kidding me. And who are the admins?
00:25:08.306 Speaker 1 Hiro Saitama, Gabriel Klein.
00:25:12.186 Speaker 4 Wait, that's it?
00:25:13.926 Speaker 1 There were only two admins, and one of them was already dead. The other,
00:25:20.086 Speaker 1 from the sound of it, wasn't far from it.
00:25:22.846 Speaker 4 And what happens if I try to remove the bomb myself?
00:25:27.866 Speaker 1 Never mind that he didn't have any arms. The answer came back from his second mind
00:25:33.346 Speaker 1 immediately.
00:25:35.866 Speaker 1 Detonation.
00:25:39.066 Speaker 1 48 hours to kill something nearly unkillable, with no arms
00:25:45.406 Speaker 1 and no weapons. He looked down at Fleabag, who was stirring awake,
00:25:52.126 Speaker 1 and nine-year-olds notwithstanding, no allies.
00:25:58.946 Speaker 1 Sometimes the Lord giveth, and sometimes the Lord took you for all you were
00:26:04.886 Speaker 1 worth. Sure would be nice to have a little more of the former.
00:26:09.366 Speaker 4 Say, Fleabag, do you know any mechanics?
00:26:13.886 Speaker 1 The boy stood up, walked over to the side of the room, and began peeing against the
00:26:19.566 Speaker 1 wall.
00:26:21.226 Speaker 6 Oh, sure, I know a guy. He makes weapons for the king.
00:26:27.086 Speaker 4 And this person, can he be trusted?
00:26:31.186 Speaker 6 I don't know.
00:26:32.826 Speaker 1 Ethan sighed and leaned his head back against the wall. He looked up at the ceiling
00:26:38.906 Speaker 1 rafters, uncertain whether there was any divinity in that direction,
00:26:44.626 Speaker 1 or just termites. Then he muttered a prayer under his breath.
00:26:50.786 Speaker 4 God, if you're up there, you know I'm trying to go to bat for you,
00:26:57.646 Speaker 4 but I'm gonna need arms to swing it. A little help would be nice.
00:27:04.366 Speaker 1 Only silence answered. Well, that was how most prayers went.
00:27:10.926 Speaker 1 Ethan guessed there was only one way to find out if they were gonna get answered.
00:27:15.666 Speaker 4 All right, take me to this weaponsmith.
00:27:19.086 Speaker 1 Fleabag turned around and grinned.
00:27:22.786 Speaker 4 And wash your hands, boy. Didn't you learn anything from my story?
00:27:26.526 Speaker 4 [rock music]
00:28:08.946 Speaker 1 Bishop Erica Long poked at her black eye in the mirror.
00:28:13.746 Speaker 2 Seriously, Gabriel.
00:28:15.986 Speaker 1 Who had known the old man could throw a punch like that? He didn't really think she
00:28:21.426 Speaker 1 was going to detonate the cyborg at full power, did he? It was variable strength.
00:28:28.146 Speaker 1 In God's name, there were people in that church. She wasn't a monster. Except,
00:28:34.926 Speaker 1 the cyborg hadn't failed. It had won the day,
00:28:40.886 Speaker 1 somehow.
00:28:43.326 Speaker 2 No, you are not the bad guy here.
00:28:46.326 Speaker 1 There was a knock at the bathroom door.
00:28:48.666 Speaker 6 Madam, there are several urgent matters that need your attention.
00:28:52.486 Speaker 2 I'll be out in a moment.
00:28:54.066 Speaker 1 Couldn't she get a moment's rest? Why did everything fall on her?
00:28:59.986 Speaker 6 Bishop, we found an undocumented, unsanctioned weapons system in the advanced
00:29:04.766 Speaker 6 clinic.
00:29:06.346 Speaker 2 That's redundant. If it's unsanctioned, it's obviously undocumented.
00:29:13.286 Speaker 2 Ugh. Fine. Fine.
00:29:16.146 Speaker 1 Best to deal with this right away. Lord knew if she took the time to put on some
00:29:20.826 Speaker 1 makeup, there would be a hostage crisis, a strike, and maybe the Lord of Darkness
00:29:25.726 Speaker 1 itself would pay them a visit.