Mortal Steel: Episode 8
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Model: scribe_v2 | Transcribed: 2026-10-10T18:09:37.078970+00:00
Machine transcript — uncorrected. Speaker labels are local to this recording and do not identify people.

[00:00:00.000] Speaker 1: [rock music]

[00:00:54.800] Speaker 1: Mortal Steel, episode eight. Part 10: Babies, Bodies, and Steel. Dr. Marie Singer stood at the end of an underground tunnel in the dark. Moments like this were precious. It gave her an opportunity to reflect on her mistakes. Where to start? Hitting her third grade teacher in the face because she didn't know what mitosis

[00:01:29.620] Speaker 1: meant. No, that was too far back, and she wouldn't classify that as a mistake anyway. Taking on the Hail Mary project. Yes, in retrospect, that was a poor career choice. Based on her current situation, perhaps a lethal one. It wasn't long until Sister Francesca interrupted her inner dialogue.

[00:01:53.040] Speaker 2: Do you think we're gonna die?

[00:01:55.580] Speaker 3: Quite probably.

[00:01:57.540] Speaker 1: Hmm. It was rare that Ursula offered her opinion. When she did, she was usually right.

[00:02:05.140] Speaker 4: Hush, you two. There's hope yet. Did either of you hear where that robot went off to? If you're shaking your heads, I can't see that.

[00:02:16.360] Speaker 3: I'm shaking my head.

[00:02:19.100] Speaker 1: Ugh. Why couldn't someone other than Francesca have jumped down this hole? As a matter of fact, why had she? She added that as one more mistake to the list, directly under the imaginary heading, choices that will probably kill me. A bright vertical white line appeared in the darkness near them. The line resolved into an open doorway with a kind-looking woman standing inside. She'd come down this hole because even low odds were

[00:02:53.880] Speaker 1: better than zero. Marie reorganized her mental list, only belatedly realizing she should probably say hello.

[00:03:02.840] Speaker 4: Is this New Hope?

[00:03:05.280] Speaker 1: The stranger closed her eyes and smiled warmly, moving to the side while holding the door open for them to enter.

[00:03:14.180] Speaker 3: It is. I'm so glad you found us. I'm Kelly John Four.

[00:03:20.560] Speaker 1: Dr. Singer traded a nervous glance with the other two. Well, with Ursula anyway. Francesca just gave her that same slightly annoyed, slightly bewildered look she always did. It said, "Why are you looking at me?" Marie walked in first, signaling with her hands to enter battle formation. The other two flanked her to the left and right, and slightly behind. One of them groaned audibly. It wasn't hard to guess who. Kelly John Four appeared to be human,

[00:03:55.900] Speaker 1: and Dr. Singer considered herself to be somewhat of an expert on the topic as well. She would recognize a cyborg. Supposedly, New Hope had some past dealings with the late, great Professor Saitama. To what extent they had their own version of the Hail Mary project, well, that she had never discovered. No, no. She had stayed as far away from politics as possible and kept her focus on building The Man. She'd said that phrase so

[00:04:30.660] Speaker 1: often it was burned into her very soul. No time for politics. No time for a relationship, or family, or friends, or God. Just building The Man. This, this was not the time to have a mental breakdown. Marie balled a fist, prepared to club this kind-looking lady at the first sign of danger.

[00:04:57.120] Speaker 4: Where are you taking us?

[00:04:59.280] Speaker 3: The cafeteria.

[00:05:01.060] Speaker 1: She let the balled fist relax.

[00:05:04.160] Speaker 4: Oh, that's very kind of you.

[00:05:07.420] Speaker 1: Sister Francesca leaned uncomfortably close to Marie's left ear.

[00:05:12.120] Speaker 2: What if they're going to eat us?

[00:05:14.800] Speaker 1: Kelly John Four flashed that wonderful smile again. No wonder they sent her to greet them. She was infuriatingly friendly.

[00:05:23.940] Speaker 3: We're not going to eat you. If you don't want to come, you don't have to.

[00:05:30.460] Speaker 2: So you'll let us leave?

[00:05:32.500] Speaker 4: Francesca.

[00:05:34.140] Speaker 1: Kelly put a thoughtful finger to her chin and shrugged.

[00:05:37.600] Speaker 3: Oh, I don't know. Probably. You can ask the intercom.

[00:05:45.080] Speaker 2: I think she's stupid.

[00:05:47.040] Speaker 4: Will you stop?

[00:05:48.840] Speaker 1: Fortunately, Kelly either didn't hear or didn't notice the insult. Or maybe it simply didn't phase her. The four of them walked down a hallway lined with steel doors which had no handles or locks. Very curious. Emergency exits? Or something else. Dr. Singer stepped covertly to the side and rapped three times on one of the doors as she passed. [knocking] Nothing happened. Kelly opened

[00:06:23.792] Speaker 1: the door at the other end of the long hallway. It led to a large lobby that had been retrofitted into a small cafeteria. 50 or so people in vintage clothing sat at the tables, stood in line, and, well, generally looked like normal people, if a little malnourished. She took it all in. Pieces. The clues of an unknown puzzle to put together in her mind. Clues she might need later. Not much communication came out of New Hope. If

[00:06:58.812] Speaker 1: old world fiction was any guide, that was probably not a good sign. Francesca and Ursula hurried ahead to the end of the food line with a complete lack of decorum. Kelly John 4 closed the door behind them. There was neither a handle nor a lock on this side. And as she closed the door, Dr. Marie Singer heard her first clue.

[00:07:27.512] Speaker 1: [banging] Kelly quickly closed the door all the way. Marie met her eyes. She saw not the gleeful look of a spider catching a fly, but the terrified, shameful look of a fly betraying its own. Then an instant later, she smoothed the expression and smiled as if nothing had happened.

[00:08:02.812] Speaker 1: Marie put a gentle hand on Kelly's upper arm. It was time to stop building the man. The man was built and gone. It was time to start asking questions.

[00:08:16.832] Speaker 4: What was that?

[00:08:19.332] Speaker 3: I don't know. I don't ask, and neither should you.

[00:08:25.732] Speaker 1: Kelly John 4 walked away toward a table of people waving to her. She kissed a man seated there and then took the baby from his arms. She cradled it in her arms in that way that only a mother does, like it was the only thing in the world. What she would give to feel that again. It was still not the time for a mental breakdown. Dr. Singer joined the other two in line. They were speaking to each other quickly under their breath.

[00:09:00.712] Speaker 2: And what kind of a name is Kelly John 4?

[00:09:03.712] Speaker 4: Perhaps we should ask her.

[00:09:05.632] Speaker 1: Francesca shot her a look of total confusion.

[00:09:10.792] Speaker 2: You can't just ask the crazy cult people if they're crazy.

[00:09:16.132] Speaker 4: Why not?

[00:09:17.432] Speaker 2: Because, because...

[00:09:20.652] Speaker 4: Oh, because they don't do it in movies?

[00:09:23.792] Speaker 2: No. Because they'll murder us right away.

[00:09:28.512] Speaker 1: Marie looked over at Kelly John 4 and her thin, cheerful companion skeptically.

[00:09:35.912] Speaker 4: I don't think she's the murdering type.

[00:09:39.132] Speaker 1: So she left the line and walked right over to their table, then did the unthinkable. She simply asked for all their secrets up front.

[00:09:49.292] Speaker 4: Why are you named Kelly John 4? And are you going to murder us?

[00:09:53.832] Speaker 1: Kelly John 4 looked like she'd been run through with a spear. The look of horror on her face was frameable artwork.

[00:10:03.092] Speaker 3: I, I...

[00:10:05.852] Speaker 2: Holy crap, they were going to murder us.

[00:10:08.892] Speaker 1: But instead of sprouting fangs then attacking, Kelly John 4 pulled her baby tightly to her chest and began crying.

[00:10:19.212] Speaker 3: Please, don't make trouble. Please. They let me keep this one. They let me keep her.

[00:10:31.872] Speaker 1: A fire grew in Marie Singer's chest, a rage she did not know she still contained. A fire which had started when her son died, Raphael, and had burned her soul every day since. Her eyes narrowed to slits, the gaze sharp as a razor.

[00:10:56.832] Speaker 4: You will keep this one. You will see her laugh and learn and grow well into adulthood. You will see her live.

[00:11:06.132] Speaker 1: Then she placed a gentle hand on Kelly's upper arm for a second time.

[00:11:11.692] Speaker 4: Now, why don't you tell me everything about this place so I can make sure she lives?

[00:11:17.852] Speaker 1: And so she could tear it apart. Dr. Singer really didn't need to know any more. It might take time. It might put many entries under choices that will probably kill me, but you didn't mess with kids, and you sure as hell didn't mess with moms.

[00:11:37.692] Speaker 1: [upbeat music] Ethan and the gang rode their bikes through the broken city for almost an hour. Even on vehicles well-suited for fast travel, it was laborious. The lead rider put up her hand and signaled for them to stop. The seven of them pulled up

[00:12:12.732] Speaker 1: in a line and cut the engines on their bikes The scene before them was quite unlike the rest of the urban landscape. It could best be described as a pit lined with bones and covered in a webbing of bizarre, alien arteries, as if the earth itself had sprouted some living tumor, and the infection had spread across this football-sized clearing. At the bottom of the pit was a gaping hole. From here, it was impossible to see how

[00:12:47.476] Speaker 1: deep. One of the scary boys chuckled and made a joke to his companion, elbowing them in the side. Then both of them looked at Ethan and laughed again.

[00:12:59.736] Speaker 5: What's so funny?

[00:13:00.656] Speaker 1: [laughs] It's a butt hole. He put a hand to his face.

[00:13:08.016] Speaker 5: Seriously?

[00:13:09.696] Speaker 1: We're not going in there.

[00:13:11.596] Speaker 5: And why not?

[00:13:13.896] Speaker 1: Just look at it.

[00:13:15.536] Speaker 5: I thought this was supposed to be your ally.

[00:13:18.356] Speaker 1: The scary boy shook her head. That doesn't mean I'm going in the demonic butt hole. Then the other scary boys laughed, and Ethan ground his teeth.

[00:13:29.016] Speaker 5: Fine.

[00:13:30.276] Speaker 1: He got off the bike and started making his way down the incline, careful to avoid stepping on any of the pulsing veins that grew up from the ground. Surely there was a more convenient way to meet with this creature. If there was, the scary boys would have likely withheld that information simply for their own amusement. Ethan looked up the hill at the scary boys. They seemed content to watch him struggle, still laughing and cutting jokes at his expense. At last, he made it to the edge of the

[00:14:05.016] Speaker 1: hole and looked down. A wave of warm, foul air wafted upward. There was only darkness, so he switched to infrared. It helped a little in the sense that he could see what was down there now. It did not help to know what he would be dropping down into. A pit of human bodies. The walls and floor were made of people, reanimated corpses attached to each other to form a

[00:14:39.976] Speaker 1: single gigantic organism. Countless undead eyes watched him from the walls and floor of that pit. Untold numbers of human mouths opened and spoke as one, calling for him.

[00:14:56.916] Speaker 5: You may enter, warrior.

[00:15:01.556] Speaker 1: Ethan took one last look up the hill at the other riders. They hadn't left, yet. Then he groaned with resignation and let himself fall into the demonic butt hole. Dozens of limbs reached out to catch him with surprising gentleness. The hands and legs and faces broke his fall, then pushed him along the floor of bodies to a place where the flesh parted before him,

[00:15:36.876] Speaker 1: a small hill of dirt upon which he could stand. When he found his balance there, the many limbs of the creatures disappeared back into an indistinct writhing mass. Ethan spun around in a circle, trying to take in the sight, so unimaginable that he found it difficult to even comprehend, even as he looked right at it. He queried his second mind.

[00:16:08.756] Speaker 5: Oh, do you have the ability to repress memories?

[00:16:12.836] Speaker 1: The answer came back as pure intuition. Of course, it was one of his most used functions. That response didn't make him feel as good as it should have.

[00:16:26.816] Speaker 5: Can you repress this memory?

[00:16:30.496] Speaker 1: Again, the response was immediate, but this time it replied with a quotation from some old world psychological text. Traumatic memories can be useful if framed correctly. They can provide lessons that a person may draw upon later in life for strength. Repressing memories, therefore, is almost never in a person's best interest. Ethan rolled his eyes. That was a very fancy way of saying, "I can do it, but you can't." He turned his attention back to the corpse

[00:17:05.136] Speaker 1: abomination before him, the so-called corpse mother. He had only two priorities now. One, deal with this creature as fast as possible. And two, find somewhere to bathe. Thousands of human mouths began to speak.

[00:17:27.476] Speaker 5: You are in disgust. Why? There are so many hearts and necks and eyes. They are not being used. Surely you can see, Pastor, the compulsion to the practicality of this.

[00:17:50.456] Speaker 1: As much as Pastor Cutter wanted to start pulling the trigger on the messenger, or better, refill his tank of holy fire, he didn't kill indiscriminately. Not only was that not heroic, a trait which his second mind seemed almost pre-programmed to admire, it wasn't right. If this thing wasn't harming humans, at the very least it deserved to be rotated to the bottom of his things to kill list. The Lord knew that list was already unrealistically long.

[00:18:26.452] Speaker 5: I take it the stalker told you I was coming.

[00:18:29.712] Speaker 6: Yes. I was promised a home by Melchizedek.

[00:18:36.192] Speaker 5: Well, forget whatever he told you. Here's the deal. One, you don't attack unless I say go. Two, you don't hurt anyone acting only in self-defense. And three, you do all that, and you can have the dead bodies of anyone in New Hope, as long as they die of natural causes.

[00:19:00.892] Speaker 6: Promise already broken.

[00:19:05.012] Speaker 5: What is your answer, demon?

[00:19:10.532] Speaker 6: I decline.

[00:19:12.412] Speaker 1: There was movement in the darkness all around him. He cocked his arm to load two shells into the gun, then flipped to infrared only. He saw distinct creatures made of people separating itself from the mass of parts at the edge of the pit. The tide of human limbs rose at his feet, threatening to pull him into the mass. He kicked away the first grasping hands. If that happened, he would disappear into suffocating darkness beneath hundreds of writhing, reanimated bodies. His second mind didn't request this

[00:19:47.032] Speaker 1: capability, but it gladly request his terror. As the bodies rose to his waist, Ethan forced himself to remain calm.

[00:19:57.632] Speaker 5: Did I mention that I have a bomb?

[00:20:00.832] Speaker 1: The flesh abomination stopped enveloping him.

[00:20:05.972] Speaker 5: Oops. Must have slipped my mind.

[00:20:09.312] Speaker 1: The stitched-together creatures released him, then slipped and folded back into the walls and floor.

[00:20:16.832] Speaker 6: You break your master's word and then threaten my life. Your deeds are crooked, my lonely warrior.

[00:20:29.172] Speaker 1: Ethan wasn't sure if that was a compliment or an insult coming from a demon. Hopefully, it would never catch his bluff. While he had a bomb, he had no way of setting it off now. His second mind pinged him with an update. Hmm. Apparently, that was no longer true. With his most recent patch, he'd acquired full control over a very explosive self-destruct. And it had been the very pocket fusion reactor itself that powered him the

[00:21:03.812] Speaker 1: entire time. That, that would be a very big boom. He could glass half of old LA. Now, that was a very useful negotiation tool. Of course, that had the same drawbacks as using fission nukes back when the hordes first appeared. But when innocents mixed tightly with enemies all across the globe, nuclear weapons could not be used effectively. At least, not unless you wanted to duke it out

[00:21:38.852] Speaker 1: in a fallout wasteland afterward. A few places had still taken that route, despite the drawbacks.

[00:21:51.372] Speaker 6: Why did the defenders kill my children? Am I to allow this?

[00:21:58.332] Speaker 5: Then you'll lose a few roaches.

[00:22:01.252] Speaker 6: Why do you speak so to a human mother? Because you believe we disgust, we deserve death?

[00:22:13.172] Speaker 1: Damn it. What was with these monsters? Were they making sense, or was he simply too far gone to tell the difference anymore? What happened to the good old days? Like when they jumped at you snarling and you got to blow them apart, then go home knowing you did the right thing. It was going to get exhausting if every nightmare he slew gave him a lecture about the value of life with its dying breath.

[00:22:44.731] Speaker 5: Fine. Just treat the people like people and the monsters like monsters.

[00:22:51.292] Speaker 6: How do you know the difference?

[00:22:56.492] Speaker 5: By their actions.

[00:23:01.352] Speaker 6: I accept.

[00:23:05.352] Speaker 5: Good. Because if I have to climb back down here again, I'm setting off a nuke.

[00:23:10.932] Speaker 5: [outro music]

[00:24:35.440] Speaker 1: The camera turned to fit the subject into the frame.

[00:24:39.040] Speaker 7: What is your name?

[00:24:41.920] Speaker 1: Temperance. Sister Temperance. Where am I?

[00:24:50.920] Speaker 7: I will give you a questionnaire. Please answer it to the best of your ability.

[00:24:56.200] Speaker 1: Then the intercom ran down the list of forty questions. It would give them a satisfactory quantitative view of the subject's true religious convictions and personal history with faith. Yeah, as close as one could get to quantitative anyway. It took quite a while to get the subject to finish the questionnaire, as they continually interrupted to ask questions or spend long moments trying to peer into the next room.

[00:25:22.420] Speaker 7: Now I'm asking you to pray for twenty minutes. Pray as hard as you can in whatever way is most meaningful to you. If you need something specific to pray for, pray for safety. Pray that you will escape.

[00:25:35.940] Speaker 1: Where am I? Twenty minutes later, the intercom remotely opened the metal gate between experiment chambers four and five. The intercom did everything remotely, except think perhaps. Hmm. That idea deserves some deliberation, but not now. The intercom turned its visual system back to the camera feed. An uncontrolled demon moved toward the opening from the other side. Predictably, the subject tried to flee. It was one of the so-called cull hounds. They looked like bizarrely

[00:26:11.000] Speaker 1: tall dogs with reverse joints and a skin disease, but they actually had a lot more in common with spiders. The exceptionally strong, sharp fibers on their body were what allowed them to find and kill people cowering in unexpectedly high places like apartments, skyscrapers, and even second-floor attics. The subject pressed her back, moving away from the demon as expected. It was rare, but sometimes the subjects attacked the demon first. The dog-like creature had been reused for multiple experiments by then, so it was more cautious than was

[00:26:45.880] Speaker 1: ideal. The intercom made note of that in their logs. The demon cautiously touched one foreleg to an almost invisible divide between the two rooms. The hairs on that foreleg burst into flame, and the demon froze in place, staring down the subject with statue-like patience. Again, the intercom noted this creature's familiarity with the process. It knew a meal was inevitable. It would need to be destroyed after this experiment regardless. [screaming]

[00:27:18.340] Speaker 7: That's it. Just keep praying.

[00:27:21.680] Speaker 1: The intercom switched over to the camera feeds of the neighboring experiments. Two more newly acquired subjects acted as controls, one with a sealed room, the other with a sealed grate between them and the demon. In the experiments so far, removing that grate had made all the difference. The study of consecration was such a laborious one. It was frustratingly difficult to measure objectively. But if anything without fangs was going to survive the apocalypse, it would need to be understood

[00:27:57.400] Speaker 1: completely. If humanity could reliably generate a natural weapon against the demons, maybe a future was still possible.

[00:28:09.400] Speaker 7: If you need something specific to pray about, pray for survival.