Dust: Episode 2 (raw)
Source: collected/038-dust-episode-2-raw.mp3
SHA-256: 6df6ebaa7e05fa66aca3967c38dfa66b7a9a1f37f4af9a3989cbf9cc03f63525
Model: scribe_v2 | Transcribed: 2026-10-10T18:17:07.948377+00:00
Machine transcript — uncorrected. Speaker labels are local to this recording and do not identify people.

[00:00:00.000] Speaker 1: Dust.

[00:00:51.420] Speaker 1: Chapter three. Framed. Sandel fell a few feet to the floor of the train. Unlike the actual train she'd just left, this one was silent and still. Four silver shock troopers were frozen in mid-stride farther down the hallway. A statue of Regulus was stuck with one hand on the door going out the other end of the dining car. When she saw him bolt, she drifted on instinct into the closest frame. Sandel was grateful for those instincts. She couldn't hide here forever though. The longer she spent in the past, the harder it would

[00:01:26.340] Speaker 1: be to get back to the present. So she needed to put some distance between her and these shock troopers. She might be able to hide out in one of the sleeper cars. The third person, Trit, was frozen in concern in the seating booth. She felt a little pang of guilt in leaving him here, but that was the business. If you took a job for the puppeteer, you accepted this as a possibility. Sandel lingered there for a moment longer, then walked past the armored guards. She slid open the door to the first Fairlane car, nodding to the statuesque man who guarded

[00:02:01.300] Speaker 1: the door as she passed. Thanks. I'll only be a moment. The Fairlane cars were scarcely occupied. The passenger and employee cars had been absolutely packed by comparison. Figures. Figures. The aristocrats never suffered the casual indignities of having to share space with other people. Who could imagine the horrors of sharing a bathroom? So instead, they'd simply brought their own train cars to attach to the end of the train. Sandel shook her head. She passed by a rather

[00:02:36.220] Speaker 1: curvy-looking woman with a key around her neck. The woman had her mouth open. She looked furious. This was probably the one who had alerted the vault guards. Sandel bumped into the statue of the woman, and she shattered on the ground. Oops. The world of the past was a good deal different than the world of the present. The real aristocrat would be just fine back in the present frame. This was merely a snapshot in time. There were still physical laws in other frames, but even those deteriorated quickly. If she went too far back

[00:03:11.260] Speaker 1: in time, things would get very weird. Weird in a deadly sort of way. Sandel made her way through another Fairlane passenger car. She pulled open the exterior door and stepped onto the short catwalk between the two train cars. She took a moment to appreciate the scenic view, frozen in time like everything else. Sand blew across the desolate wastes, though it only hung in midair here. This desert had a name. They all had names, but what was the point? They were all the same. Wind, rocks,

[00:03:46.020] Speaker 1: burning heat, and not much else. Just dust, really. And what was the point in naming dust? There was something wrong with the train car in front of her, and it took her a moment to realize what. This was the vault car. It was the first time she'd actually seen it. The puppeteer had given her precious little information about it or what was inside. He, or she, Sandel supposed, as she'd never met them, had given her $12,000 up front and the promise of ten times that if she

[00:04:20.700] Speaker 1: succeeded. That had been all the information she'd needed. With her ability to drift, not to mention all the other skills she'd picked up over the years with her last team, it had just seemed like easy money. Worst case scenario, if things went crooked, she just disappeared, like she always did. Disappear and leave everyone else with the mess. It was probably not a good time to unpack that. Sandel walked right through the empty doorway. The exterior door was simply gone, as if someone had ripped it off the hinges

[00:04:55.880] Speaker 1: and flung it into the desert. With any luck, she wouldn't meet the person who'd done that. Inside the vault car was the vault itself. Anyone with permission would be allowed to pass through the vault car, but there was a proper vault inside that no one but the Fairlanes could access. As Sandel eyed the empty and open vault, she considered the implications. Either the Fairlanes robbed themselves... But why? For insurance money? It was impossible to say without knowledge of what was inside. The puppeteer had been

[00:05:30.840] Speaker 1: willing to pay quite well for whatever it was. So if they didn't rob themselves... What am I doing? She could just find out who robbed it and what was inside. Sandel drifted into the next frame in the past. In the next frame, nothing had changed. Of course it hadn't. It had only been a fraction of a second. So she kept drifting faster and faster. The frames whirred by her. She saw the world playing in reverse. A young aristocrat woman ran backwards into the vault,

[00:06:05.940] Speaker 1: screamed, then walked backwards out the other door. Sandel kept drifting. Any moment now. A man walked into the vault, a huge revolver in his hand. Sandel studied him. This must be the robber. But how did he do it? I knew there was a mouse in the walls. Sandel stumbled backwards. You, you... He stuck the barrel of the gun in her face. The gun seemed impossibly large. He fanned the revolver back and pulled the trigger. The man

[00:06:40.644] Speaker 1: grinned. Almost had you. Doesn't work here. Sandel glanced at the vault door. The man was blocking her path out. Maybe she could slip past him, but if he grabbed her... She looked at him more closely. He wore a brown hat currently hanging around his neck on a tie. His face was rough and weathered, with a mustache and stubble that seemed to turn into a messy beard. He looked like a man who only used his smile as a weapon. He pulled a knife from his back pocket. But this still works. Sandel drifted into an older frame,

[00:07:15.924] Speaker 1: skipped two, skipped three dozen. She drifted as fast as she could, right past the moment when the vault was robbed. She slowed a little. Two frozen shock troopers stood, alarmed, looking at the vault door. Sandel's heart hammered in her chest. Could he follow her here? Of course he could. Another drifter? Was that really possible? Too many coincidences piling up. She wasn't safe here. The vault was still sealed in this frame, so without a way out, she rolled the frames forward by drifting toward the present. She watched the robbery play out as the vault guards had experienced it, except in

[00:07:50.424] Speaker 1: silence. Something had alerted the guards because they were already standing, though she had no idea what. In one frame, they were staring at the vault, and in the next frame, the vault door was simply gone. It took a moment to understand what she was watching. A man stood on the other side of where the door had been. He was tall, incredibly tall. Hands the size of dinner plates were still stretched out in front of him, pressed against where the door used to be. His face was locked in concentration. She should really get

[00:08:25.244] Speaker 1: going. Sandel rolled the frames back, then forward again. Sure enough, the door had vanished entirely in an instant. She drifted forward. The shock troopers pulled their rifles around to shoot. Before they could fire, the tall man had leaned forward and touched their heads with his huge hands, and then the guards had disappeared. Found you. The voice came from right behind her. Sandel tried to drift forward, but the man put her in a headlock and drifted with her. She felt a knife press against her kidney. Uh, uh, uh, uh, don't even think

[00:09:00.324] Speaker 1: about it. You know how that plays out. If he held onto her, he could drift too. It was much easier to follow someone else's drifting. It was like a windbreak, except through time. At least, that's how it had been explained to her. Sandel had never met another drifter, and she'd certainly never fought one. The eternally still world of the recent past had always been her special place, a place where she could always run and no one could ever follow. As the knife cut through her suit and she struggled against the man's arm, she knew that had never

[00:09:35.284] Speaker 1: been actually true. The shock trooper punched Regulus in the stomach again. He doubled over, gasping. I told you what you wanted to hear. Nothing you say is what I want to hear. Why was this man so angry? Sure, his rich employers had been robbed, but so what? He might be out of a job, but it wasn't the end of the world. See, this is why you never hired people like this. The shock troopers were skilled, but they were also unhinged. They were only so good at killing

[00:10:10.184] Speaker 1: people because they'd had practice. I haven't even been in the vault. Ask the guards. The trooper narrowed his eyes. Can't. And why not? Someone threw them off the train. Threw the whole damn vault door off the train. That didn't make sense. Perhaps this one was a little more unhinged than the others. Just ask Rita Claire Fairlane. She'll vouch for me. I'm innocent. The trooper snorted and pushed

[00:10:44.944] Speaker 1: Regulus into a dark room. Maybe you didn't rob us, but you ain't innocent. I'll tear this train and everyone on it to pieces if I have to. Pray that I don't find reason to come back here. Then he closed the door, leaving Regulus in darkness. Nice fellow. Almost as nice as the one who talked to me. Tritt? Tritt, I just wanted to say- Don't go

[00:11:19.764] Speaker 1: apologizing. I see the score. Listen, man, we were being attacked. You might be able to handle these brutes, but I'm no warrior. Tritt stepped into the feeble light that trickled out from under the door. Regulus couldn't make out any color, but the shape of the man's face was wrong. He was horribly swollen. Had they really beaten him so badly? My God, man, did they put your head in a beehive? Oh, this? No, it's a nut allergy. Only had a swig of brandy. Eh, doesn't make sense.

[00:11:55.004] Speaker 1: How do you get nuts in brandy? Hmm, now that was a bit of bad fortune. There was silence for a moment. Was it? What else could it have been? Hmm. Strange things happen around you, big nose. Like the drink order or that food cart. They really should tie those things down on a moving train. It hit the guards too, while you were running away to leave me there. Hmm. Helpful

[00:12:29.968] Speaker 1: little food cart. Hmm. Listen, I don't care what games you're playing, but I'm getting off this train, and I'm not sure I can trust you to stay out of my way. You really don't want to be in my way. Regulus swallowed and took a step backward. Trit closed the distance immediately, but didn't put his hands on him. Trit's breath was hot on his face. Regulus, you want to be useful to me, right? Sure. So I'll ask this

[00:13:04.708] Speaker 1: once. Can you get this door open? Regulus nodded, and there was a knock on the door. Hello? Is anyone in there? It's me, Irita Claire. Regulus, can you believe they locked me up? I'm innocent. I want to believe you. I do, really, but... But what? But something very precious was stolen from me. I'm just not sure I can trust you.

[00:13:40.488] Speaker 1: Now, that's not fair. Think of our time together. In reality, they'd only spent a few hours together. Very little of that time would inspire anyone to trust. He was truly just a stranger they'd reluctantly picked up. Of course, everyone except Irita Claire would feel that way. To her, he was... Oh, my darling. Why didn't you just come straight to me? We could have talked it through. We could have... Why do I feel this way? I'm afraid. My dear, it could be

[00:14:15.608] Speaker 1: love. He hated turning screws on a person like this, but he hated being locked up even more. Is it? You should tell the guards to let me out. Let's have that discussion. I'm sure we can sort things out. I can't. Nobody's listening to me. Milan and the others had me locked in my room. But I broke out to find you. Regulus heard a key wiggling in the lock. The doorknob started to turn, and he threw himself

[00:14:50.368] Speaker 1: against the door. Oh, wow. It appears to be stuck. What are you doing? Listen, Trit, this door cannot be opened under any circumstances. If she gets close to me... Irita Claire pushed hard on the other side of the door. Pull on your end. Oh, I am. It just, it won't budge. I'll be back with help. I promise. Don't go anywhere. Regulus waited until she walked off to pull open the door. The two of them were bathed in the light of an

[00:15:25.288] Speaker 1: empty hallway. Regulus let out a deep sigh. They'd come far too close just now. Trit was staring at him. It was hard to read the man's face, though, as it currently resembled a balloon. So, you gonna tell me what that was about? Like any good fixer, Regulus knew when to stop pushing his luck. One more lie might turn this man against him for good. A statistical improbability bordering

[00:15:59.548] Speaker 1: impossibility. Trit continued to stare, and Regulus rolled his eyes. Let's just say we can't be together. Why? Why? Well, in short, most of the train would be destroyed. Trit surprised him by nodding once and leaving the room, slapping Regulus once on the back as he walked by. Ah, say no more. I've known women like that. I sincerely doubt it. The two of them slipped out of the car they were being held

[00:16:34.328] Speaker 1: in and into a sleeper car where one of the rooms, blessedly, was unoccupied. They each sat down on a cot, facing each other. For some reason, Regulus felt the need to apologize to this man, to say something in his defense. But somehow he sensed that saying nothing at all was the best thing he could do right now. Words didn't really matter to people like Trit because he was a man of action. They were the hardest people to misdirect. So he would play it straight with him instead. Trit, is this your first job for The Puppeteer?

[00:17:09.668] Speaker 1: No. Not my first. Regulus got up and paced around the room. Things really had derailed quickly. And we can still finish this job. Huh. Was this man serious? They'd be lucky to get off the train without shackles on. Only that drifter was likely to get out of here unscathed. She'd had the right idea to run. She'd simply been better at it. I'm serious. We need our mage, though. Mage? Yeah, our magic

[00:17:44.708] Speaker 1: doer. Spell flinger. [laughs] Magic isn't real. Say things like that and people will think you're some backwater dooney. Yeah? And what's wrong with being a dooney? They're inbred, ingrate, cave-dwelling mutant people. Trit got off the cot and took one step towards Regulus. What did you just say? Oh, don't expect me to defend those. Say one more crooked word about Doonies,

[00:18:19.832] Speaker 1: I swear. Regulus looked down. Somehow Tritt had a knife in his hand. He wasn't brandishing it around, just holding it against his side. Regulus cleared his throat, but didn't speak. Good answer. So you can shut up when you need to. The knife disappeared back into the folds of Tritt's clothing somewhere. He walked over to the little window of the sleeper car and parted the cloth drapes. Whatever had just happened, apparently Regulus had been forgiven.

[00:18:55.952] Speaker 1: Listen, Big Nose, things are about to get real interesting, real fast. We won't have a lot of time to make our move. We need to find who robbed that vault. Then we need to rob the robbers, all before all hell breaks loose. Regulus did not like the sound of that. If the day so far didn't qualify as interesting, he didn't want to find out what would. You're not telling me something, Tritt? Yeah, didn't get to that part of the plan before you left me

[00:19:30.932] Speaker 1: to rot. What part of the plan? The part of the plan where thirty-four pissed-off shock troopers finally catch up with the man who blew up their train. That, that couldn't be. Don't tell me. Tritt grinned. A huge, toothy grin. What kind of insane people would chase down this train? They could simply radio the station ahead and wait. It's not like we could go anywhere.

[00:20:05.832] Speaker 1: Tritt shook his head. He'd been banking on the same thing. Shock trooper squads were mercenaries, and mercenaries could generally be counted on for only two things. One, to look out for themselves, and two, to stick to the exact letter of their contract. And they did so in that order. He'd expected the sabotage to be met with a collective shrug. Thirty-six of the forty men would be delayed from duty, lose their contract, and would promptly go get drunk and forget about the whole thing. What he hadn't counted on was that this mercenary

[00:20:40.872] Speaker 1: band was completely, totally, irreversibly insane. I saw something when those guards were kicking me around. Something on their necks under the armor. Big Nose narrowed his eyes at him. Maybe he'd heard of this before. Good. Tritt didn't want to explain it to him. On their necks? Like an ascot? What? Ascots? Under their armor? Like a scarf? Well, it makes a completely different

[00:21:15.832] Speaker 1: statement than a scarf. Scarves are for- Shut up. Not a scarf, not an ascot, a radio bomb. Fortunately, the other man did actually shut up for once. These aren't just shock troopers. These people took a grave-bound contract. If they don't stick to the exact letter of their contract, boom. Their employers killed them? Oh, yes. Well, that explains a lot. Yeah.

[00:21:51.072] Speaker 1: It means if this train was already robbed, they'll do anything to find what was stolen. Because if they don't... Boom. Tritt nodded. It really made one wonder what was so valuable that they'd filled a train with forty living bombs just to protect it. The passengers on the train had no idea what was coming. Most of those poor souls didn't even know aristocrats were on board. There would be innocent blood spilled today, and Tritt wasn't sure he could stop it. It was wrong not to try.

[00:22:26.492] Speaker 1: He knew that much. It was probable that not even the Fairlanes knew what a grave-bound shock trooper was capable of, what a man would do when he was certain he would die. There was a smash in the distance, followed by the sound of wrenching metal. Tritt bent down to check his boots. Both hole punchers were missing now. Shame. That would be the boarding train. Regulus rushed to the door and looked out. People were racing up and down the halls. Passengers looked around in fear and

[00:23:00.852] Speaker 1: confusion. A server tried to reassure a panicking man who'd left his room. Big Nose looked back at Tritt. Remember how I said we wouldn't have a lot of time to make our move? Regulus nodded. Clock's ticking. We better find our mage fast. Sandel squirmed against the man's grip, but he held her tight. This is the part where you tell me everything. He emphasized his point by pressing the knife just hard enough to prick her skin. I'm here on a

[00:23:35.932] Speaker 1: job. With who? Two others. Hmm. Hmm. Would that be the two men you sat with? Yes. How did... Ah, ah, ah, ah. Keep talking. He'd been watching them? How? She'd been careful. So careful. A job for who? Talk. I can't say. The knife bit into Sandel's skin, sinking in just half an inch, but enough to make her gasp in pain. The Puppeteer.

[00:24:12.232] Speaker 1: Figured, but I needed to be sure. Didn't guess they'd send more than one team. That was dirty. Then he sighed, like he was stealing himself to do something he would dislike. And Sandel's intuition told her this was it. If she didn't fight now, there wouldn't be another chance. She didn't drift, not right away, because he would be expecting that. Instead, she brought her head back as hard as she could. She felt a crunch against the back of her head and felt a knife dig into her side. Then she was drifting, not

[00:24:47.184] Speaker 1: forward toward the present frame, but backward, backward as fast as she could go. She flew through time. The shock trooper guards reappeared. The vault door reappeared. Minutes flew by in mere seconds. She watched the two guards talk to each other silently with exaggerated speed. Harder. She needed to push harder. A man with a hat briefly flickered into view. She drifted farther back in time to get away from him. Her head was spinning. Nausea started to set in. She'd never gone this fast, never tried to race to the brink. The man in the hat

[00:25:22.244] Speaker 1: appeared in an instant and rammed a shoulder into her. Sandel fell over, drifted a dozen frames, then got back up. He appeared next to her and stabbed with the knife. She drifted away, causing him to vanish just before the knife struck her. Sandel breathed heavily. Her mind was stuffy. Her fingers tingled and her limbs went numb. Too fast. She was going too fast. But she kept drifting anyway. It was the only way, the only way to escape. Sandel didn't know how far back in time she'd gone when she finally stopped. It had only been a few minutes for

[00:25:57.264] Speaker 1: her, but these frames were probably hours old already. When she stood, she looked up at open sky. The train around her was melting away into black dust. The desert around the train was darkness, deep and black. Two men lay on the ground here, one curled up in a fetal position, the other completely motionless. Sandel tried to drift farther back but felt a strong resistance. There were no older frames. She was here. She panicked and waited for it,

[00:26:32.784] Speaker 1: but the man in the hat didn't appear again. One of the shock troopers on the ground looked up at her. Are you real? Sandel stumbled backward. What were they doing here? They were alive? How did they get here? She kept walking backwards. The vault door was still here in this frame, but part of the wall was missing already. Finally, a bit of good luck. She slipped through the disintegrating wall and ran down the length of the vault car, away from the shock trooper. Where am I? Where

[00:27:07.744] Speaker 1: am I? Where? She kept running. She made it two full train cars before the erosion finally caught up to her. The train ahead was falling apart. The screaming man finally fell silent as the erosion moved over him, too. She waited until the very last moment, until everything around her was darkness, until everything was dust. Then she drifted forward.