WEBVTT

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Speaker 1: [rock music]

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Speaker 1: Mortal

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Speaker 1: Steel. [crows cawing] Please, please
don't.

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Speaker 1: [gasping] Ethan awoke six minutes, 11
seconds

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Speaker 1: later to the sounds of dying. Not the
sounds of fighting because from the look of

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Speaker 1: it, the fighting was done.

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Speaker 1: The bodies of Crucifer soldiers
littered the street. Many of them were mortally

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Speaker 1: wounded, but not yet dead. Nobody
seemed especially eager to put them out of their

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Speaker 1: misery either. Small demons, like
giant cockroaches with

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Speaker 1: human heads glued to their backs,
were pulling away the ones already dead. Ethan

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Speaker 1: curled a lip in disgust. There were
corpse nests living within Paradise?

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Speaker 1: The monsters didn't seem to bother
the few humans who idled about, though. For
their

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Speaker 1: part, the humans mostly ignored them
as well, sometimes even pushing a body toward

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Speaker 1: the creatures for disposal. Lord in
heaven, why did the apocalypse have to be so

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Speaker 1: revolting? Wouldn't a ray of
incinerating light have been more to the point?

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Speaker 1: A man built like a beanbag chair
wrapped around a barrel stepped into view.

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Speaker 1: Ethan could barely lift his head to
take him in.

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Speaker 2: Hey, holy man's awake.

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Speaker 1: Dumpit put one hand out to lift him
up, but Ethan just shook his head.

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Speaker 2: Can't, can't stand yet.

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Speaker 1: His nausea sensors confirmed this for
him. He allowed himself to feel the full

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Speaker 1: experience and not just the data for
only a moment before turning it all back off

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Speaker 1: again. Actually, why was he here at
all? He should have

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Speaker 1: been blown to pieces. His second mind
played him an audio message recorded while he

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Speaker 1: was unconscious.

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Speaker 3: Ethan, it's Gabriel. We need to talk
in person. Erica won't destroy you,

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Speaker 3: not after what I told her. I'm
signing off on your patch remotely. You may
disable

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Speaker 3: your radio. Just promise me you'll
return. The stakes are higher than you know.

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Speaker 1: Ethan queried his second mind.

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Speaker 3: Did you already apply the patch?

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Speaker 1: It was difficult to understand the
response, which was odd because normally it was

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Speaker 1: so intuitive. This almost had an edge
of emotion to it. Its reply could be

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Speaker 1: summarized in a single word,
"Obviously."

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Speaker 1: Ethan squinted up at Dumpit.

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Speaker 2: How are we still alive?

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Speaker 1: Dumpit struck a heroic pose, then
frowned at the bloody clothing stuck on his

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Speaker 1: fireplace poker foot.

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Speaker 2: Don't you hate it when that happens?
I guess you were sleeping. I don't think I've

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Speaker 2: ever seen anyone fight like you did.
Gets me shaking just thinking what you were

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Speaker 2: like with arms. Good show there. Yep,
once The King showed up, it was all

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Speaker 2: over, though.

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Speaker 1: The sun itself got a little dimmer
then as a man stepped into Ethan's view.

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Speaker 1: [stone scraping] [earth rumbling]
Where exactly had he come from?

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Speaker 3: Yes, but they got what they came for.
They lost two dozen useless Acolytes and

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Speaker 3: gained over 100 children. Fresh
blood.

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Speaker 1: The man was not a man, but a demon.
Or perhaps somewhere in

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Speaker 1: between. He shook his head with
genuine sadness. Half of his face was

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Speaker 1: sad anyway. The other half was
covered by a plate of bone that grew up from his

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Speaker 1: collarbone and wrapped around his
head. Ethan found that he could only manage a

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Speaker 1: single word for The Stalker.

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Speaker 2: You.

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Speaker 1: The people around The Stalker, Dumpit
included, gave him a respectful nod, but

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Speaker 1: nothing more. They seemed quite
comfortable with the disfigured abomination.
Chummy

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Speaker 1: even, which only made Ethan more
squeamish. Were these people

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Speaker 1: under his control? That was at least
half the reason he'd been built. Possess could

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Speaker 1: control regular humans as easy as
breathing. Not forever, and not too many,

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Speaker 1: but that made it very difficult to
get an assassin anywhere near them. Dumpit

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Speaker 1: slapped the creature on the back and
laughed.

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Speaker 2: What happened to the protector
anyway? You get tired of outsourcing the fun
part?

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Speaker 1: The Stalker narrowed his one eye. His
dark, messy bangs made him look handsome,

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Speaker 1: but brooding.

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Speaker 3: I expect our friend here killed it.

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Speaker 2: Now, what did you do that for? We've
been feeding that thing a steady diet of

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Speaker 2: Crucifer.

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Speaker 3: I don't play well with demons.

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Speaker 1: The Stalker glanced back at the
bodies pinned to the wall with a rebar spear.

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Speaker 3: Or anyone, apparently.

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Speaker 4: You don't remember me?

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Speaker 4: What?

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Speaker 1: He smiled, closing the one eye,
shaking his head.

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Speaker 4: Guess I shouldn't be surprised.

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Speaker 1: The stalker reached forward with his
human arm and tapped Ethan's forehead. Warning

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Speaker 1: alarms blared and threat simulations
played automatically.

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Speaker 4: Who knows how much Ethan Cutter is
left in there.

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Speaker 1: He,

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Speaker 1: he knew his name? Ethan shook his
head and killed the simulations, ignoring

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Speaker 1: their results. It didn't matter. This
creature needed to die.

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Speaker 1: But more importantly...

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Speaker 4: I need your help.

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Speaker 1: The stalker lifted his head to the
sky and laughed. It started very

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Speaker 1: humorous, very human. Then it slowly
stretched into something

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Speaker 1: nasty. Ethan felt a very large hand
close around

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Speaker 1: him.

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Speaker 4: We call it a pact, Holy Man.

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Speaker 1: Then he grinned a wild, unholy smile.
And

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Speaker 1: Pastor Ethan Cutter knew this was how
good people started down the

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Speaker 1: path to evil, one necessary step at a
time.

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Speaker 1: He fought the almost irresistible
urge to kill this monster. He would have to.

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Speaker 1: His orders were not subject to this
much interpretation, but they could be

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Speaker 1: delayed. The stalker's execution
could wait because there was

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Speaker 1: someone small and weak that

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Speaker 1: needed his help.

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Speaker 1: Mission be damned.

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Speaker 1: [gentle music]

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Speaker 1: The bigger boy tried again to take
Fleabag's shirt.

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Speaker 5: I'm not weak.

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Speaker 1: Seriously, did he think he would just
let him have it? It wouldn't fit him anyway.

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Speaker 5: Give it here.

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Speaker 1: The bigger boy jerked Fleabag forward
by his shirt, [fabric ripping] tearing it.

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Speaker 1: So Fleabag pulled the weapon from his
waistband, the piece of broken metal from Holy

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Speaker 1: Man's arm blade that had been stuck
in the protector. Fleabag slashed the bigger

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Speaker 1: boy's arm with a quick swipe. It
wasn't deep enough to be dangerous, but it was
deep

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Speaker 1: enough to let them know that Fleabag
was dangerous.

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Speaker 1: The other boy stumbled backward,
staring in horror at the bright red blood on his

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Speaker 1: arm. One of the sand hags pounded on
their wooden cage with her cane.

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Speaker 3: No fighting. You will have time
enough for that.

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Speaker 1: Then she turned back to the team of
makeshift vehicles, mutated animals, and

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Speaker 1: people that pulled their train of
child prisoners. There had to be

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Speaker 1: 100 other kids in these cages.
Fleabag's cage had eight other kids. Most of
them

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Speaker 1: were crying. Why? It's not like that
actually solved anything.

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Speaker 1: A girl with thick glasses scooted up
beside Fleabag, but not quite willing to

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Speaker 1: touch him. She had been one of the
crying ones until just now. She looked young

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Speaker 1: and small, like Drip. Drip had been
even smaller than this girl.

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Speaker 1: Fleabag gave her a confident grin,
ignoring the larger boy who was now amongst the

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Speaker 1: other crying children.

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Speaker 5: What is that? Part of a magic weapon.
It's just a part, though.

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Speaker 1: Her eyes lit up, and she seemed to
forget that she was upset.

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Speaker 5: Really? Yeah. It's part of Holy Man's
arm sword.

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Speaker 5: Who is Holy Man?

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Speaker 1: Fleabag smiled again. The other kids
in his cage noticed their conversation and

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Speaker 1: either scooted closer to listen or at
least stopped sobbing. Fleabag crossed his

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Speaker 1: arms and held the shattered blade out
in front of them for them all to see.

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Speaker 5: I'll tell you the story of how I got
this. I'll tell you about Holy Man and

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Speaker 5: how he's going to save us.

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Speaker 1: That got their attention. Even the
bully with the bleeding arm was wrapped up in it

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Speaker 1: now. Fleabag pointed directly at him.

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Speaker 5: You're shirtless.

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Speaker 1: The kid looked at him skeptically,
then shrugged. Then Fleabag went around the

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Speaker 1: cage, pointing at each child, giving
them their new

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Speaker 1: names.

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Speaker 5: Bottles, Screech, Armpit, Geezer,
Rainbow Flakes, Umpire,

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Speaker 5: Medium Willy, and I'm Cyber Blade.

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Speaker 5: [clapping]

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Speaker 1: They nodded, eager for him to tell
his story. And just like that,

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Speaker 1: he had a new name.

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Speaker 1: [gentle music]

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Speaker 1: Part eight, Pact.

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Speaker 1: The stalker's throne room was a
security guard's office at the bottom of an

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Speaker 1: underground parking garage. At first
blush, this was an esoteric decision, but

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Speaker 1: tactically, it was very defensible.
The corkscrew path leading down to the office at

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Speaker 1: the bottom was filled with his scary
boys. The mixes of

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Speaker 1: admiration and loathing on their
faces had been an odd combination.

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Speaker 1: The stalker himself sat sideways on
an ornate dining room chair,

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Speaker 1: apparently brought in to serve as his
throne. He had not bothered to remove the

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Speaker 1: Baywatch poster which still hung on
the painted concrete wall above his

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Speaker 1: throne.

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Speaker 4: So what? You're just gonna walk in
there with one arm and a bad attitude?

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Speaker 1: One arm.

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Speaker 4: It's your lucky day. Forgemaster says
he can reattach one of them.

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Speaker 1: That was a pretty lofty title for a
man who called himself Dumpit. This

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Speaker 1: coming from the man whose throne room
still smelled like a truck stop bathroom even

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Speaker 1: 30 years after the apocalypse. And
no, I'm not a fool.

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Speaker 1: There was no love between Crucifer
and Last Respite at the best of times. Their

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Speaker 1: communication at this point was
limited to messages like, "Cross this line and
we

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Speaker 1: start shooting." Even then, those
lines were an ever-changing thing. Ethan
wouldn't

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Speaker 1: make it past the front gate. In his
current condition, they'd have no trouble

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Speaker 1: putting him on a spike as a warning.
Not that anyone came within 10 miles of the

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Speaker 1: place by choice, which was why he had
a plan.

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Speaker 1: I'm going to New Hope first. The
stalker sat up straight in his chair.

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Speaker 4: You're making a tour of my enemies
then. Sounds like something I would back.

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Speaker 1: There's a team of specialists there
who can repair me. The stalker did not look

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Speaker 1: impressed, but what did Ethan care?
He was gonna kill the man. He'd just been

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Speaker 1: bumped down the task list
temporarily.

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Speaker 4: New Hope isn't like Last Respite.
Just like Crucifer, they've survived because

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Speaker 4: they've matched the brutality of a
demon invasion. Don't let their polished comm

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Speaker 4: presentation fool you, Pastor. New
Hope makes my spine eater look like

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Speaker 4: a puppy.

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Speaker 1: Ethan wasn't sure he bought that
story. They were reclusive and aloof, sure, but

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Speaker 1: they didn't eat spines. There was a
difference between allowing evil to

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Speaker 1: happen and holding the bloody ax. The
stalker leaned forward in

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Speaker 1: his dining chair. His enormous
disfigured arm began crawling up the

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Speaker 1: wall behind him, almost as if he
couldn't control it, or

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Speaker 1: perhaps he couldn't control it all
the time.

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Speaker 4: What will you do if they let you in,
only to shake you down for parts and drop your

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Speaker 4: brain in the dumpster?

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Speaker 1: I'm open to suggestions.

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Speaker 4: Humility is a good look on you,
Father.

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Speaker 1: Ethan surrendered motor control of
his body to his second mind. Didn't

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Speaker 1: trust himself to not bury a headbutt
into this creature's face. Eh, he would

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Speaker 1: regenerate, so it's not like it was
that big of a deal.

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Speaker 4: If you wanna take down New Hope and
Crucifer, I'm in. We've been fighting a war on

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Speaker 4: three fronts for years now. Now that
Last Respite has finally entered the fray,

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Speaker 4: well, that changes everything.

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Speaker 1: Every sentence this creature uttered
was information the archbishops would have

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Speaker 1: killed for. Three fronts.

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Speaker 1: The stalker put his fingers in his
mouth and whistled. Two scary boys who'd been

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Speaker 1: standing outside came in like good
little pets.

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Speaker 4: Gear up. We're taking six elites for
a walk. Anyone who survives gets some juice.

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Speaker 4: And tell the Forgemaster he gets 48
hours to work on the cyborg.

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Speaker 1: The scary boys practically licked
their lips. Whatever they'd been promised, they

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Speaker 1: craved it. When they left, the
stalker and Pastor Ethan Cutter were

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Speaker 1: alone. The possessed man's entire
demeanor changed. He sat

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Speaker 1: patiently and correctly in his chair.
Though the massive arm still

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Speaker 1: crawled around, feeling for something
unknowable.

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Speaker 4: You really don't remember me?

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Speaker 1: No.

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Speaker 4: Bah. It's not like we were friends or
anything. Last Respite is a big place. You did

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Speaker 4: me a solid once.

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Speaker 1: Ethan sensed an opportunity here.
Insight from his human mind, for a

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00:16:56.632 --> 00:16:57.152
Speaker 1: change.

201
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Speaker 1: Why? The stalker snorted. They both
knew what he was asking.

202
00:17:05.512 --> 00:17:10.892
Speaker 1: The possessed man leaned his head
back against the chair and looked up at the

203
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Speaker 1: ceiling.

204
00:17:14.552 --> 00:17:20.092
Speaker 4: I was a Sunday school teacher. Not
even. I played songs for the kids. Worked the

205
00:17:20.152 --> 00:17:25.952
Speaker 4: walls the rest of the time. Guard
duty. I just got tired of

206
00:17:26.052 --> 00:17:30.212
Speaker 4: singing songs to smiling kids in the
morning and then looking down at starving ones

207
00:17:30.272 --> 00:17:35.012
Speaker 4: in the afternoon. I could just barely
see their dirty little faces looking up at me.

208
00:17:36.952 --> 00:17:42.592
Speaker 1: So you became a monster. The
disfigured hand found a cheap particle board

209
00:17:42.672 --> 00:17:48.172
Speaker 1: desk. The stalker's face lit with
sudden anger and the desk was crushed to dust

210
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Speaker 1: between the bulging purple fingers.

211
00:17:52.612 --> 00:17:58.392
Speaker 4: I became a king. Why do you think
your silly little fortress is still standing?

212
00:17:58.852 --> 00:18:04.472
Speaker 4: Why do you think anyone is still
alive outside your walls? Me.

213
00:18:04.552 --> 00:18:09.932
Speaker 1: He stood and slammed the demonic hand
against the floor in a bizarre pantomime of

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00:18:09.972 --> 00:18:11.032
Speaker 1: his human hand.

215
00:18:12.432 --> 00:18:13.092
Speaker 4: I'm why.

216
00:18:14.212 --> 00:18:19.868
Speaker 1: He collapsed back into the chair
Clearly borne down by more than a

217
00:18:19.948 --> 00:18:25.688
Speaker 1: physical weight. Well, sharing a body
with a demon would do

218
00:18:25.768 --> 00:18:31.308
Speaker 1: that. Was Ethan really supposed to
believe he'd joined the enemy to

219
00:18:31.488 --> 00:18:37.348
Speaker 1: save people? There was very little
logic in that, so he changed the

220
00:18:37.408 --> 00:18:40.848
Speaker 1: topic. You mentioned a deal.

221
00:18:41.508 --> 00:18:42.068
Speaker 4: A pact.

222
00:18:42.968 --> 00:18:46.088
Speaker 1: Fine, a pact. What are your terms?

223
00:18:47.388 --> 00:18:51.708
Speaker 4: You help me destroy New Hope,
Crucifer, and the Mixers.

224
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Speaker 1: Ethan's eyebrows went up. Kill two
human settlements and take on a rival

225
00:18:58.028 --> 00:19:03.688
Speaker 1: demon army? That was a pretty big
opening ask. What could possibly be worth all
that

226
00:19:03.748 --> 00:19:08.888
Speaker 1: trouble? Ethan could just save
Fleabag himself. Maybe.

227
00:19:10.348 --> 00:19:16.188
Speaker 4: And in return, I'll turn all of my
forces and all of my allies against the Southern

228
00:19:16.268 --> 00:19:16.728
Speaker 4: Horde.

229
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Speaker 1: Ethan stared blankly at the
possessed. Why would I trust you?

230
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Speaker 4: Because it's not a deal, it's a pact.
If I break it, you get my power.

231
00:19:29.968 --> 00:19:35.248
Speaker 1: Oh, yeah, that's what he needed. A
demonic roommate for his computer.

232
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Speaker 1: And if I break it?

233
00:19:38.708 --> 00:19:42.728
Speaker 4: Father Cutter, are you considering
double-crossing me?

234
00:19:43.328 --> 00:19:47.968
Speaker 1: Well, you can't cross the devil.
You're already sin incarnate.

235
00:19:48.608 --> 00:19:54.008
Speaker 4: I'm not the devil. If you betray me,
though, you would get to meet him.

236
00:19:54.888 --> 00:20:00.388
Speaker 1: Threats aside, everything up until
this moment had just been shuffling deck chairs

237
00:20:00.468 --> 00:20:06.348
Speaker 1: around on the Titanic. Ethan might
save Fleabag. He might even

238
00:20:06.428 --> 00:20:12.208
Speaker 1: carve out some relative safety for a
few dozen followers in the outskirts. But

239
00:20:12.288 --> 00:20:18.268
Speaker 1: they would all die when the Southern
Horde returned. If he could

240
00:20:18.368 --> 00:20:24.308
Speaker 1: find a way to stand against that
tide, even a cyborg was still just

241
00:20:24.408 --> 00:20:30.128
Speaker 1: one person. He needed something else.
If there was even the

242
00:20:30.228 --> 00:20:35.528
Speaker 1: slightest chance this creature could
help, it was worth everything he had.

243
00:20:36.748 --> 00:20:42.208
Speaker 1: And with that, he took one more
necessary step

244
00:20:42.808 --> 00:20:48.528
Speaker 1: down that foreboding path. Fine. I
accept your pact,

245
00:20:49.008 --> 00:20:54.828
Speaker 1: demon. And he became a little less
human.

246
00:21:06.488 --> 00:21:12.488
Speaker 1: Archbishop Gabriel sat in his simple
robes, in his simple room, and waited for

247
00:21:12.568 --> 00:21:17.548
Speaker 1: death. It was a fickle thing, though,
apparently unwilling to greet you when you

248
00:21:17.608 --> 00:21:18.168
Speaker 1: called it.

249
00:21:32.948 --> 00:21:38.928
Speaker 1: The woman seated in the chair across
from him looked tired, beyond tired,

250
00:21:39.408 --> 00:21:45.068
Speaker 1: visibly fraying at the edges. Bishop
Erica Long rubbed at her

251
00:21:45.148 --> 00:21:45.708
Speaker 1: temples.

252
00:21:46.988 --> 00:21:50.688
Speaker 6: Couldn't you have blackmailed me in
some other way?

253
00:21:51.988 --> 00:21:56.488
Speaker 1: You would have tortured me for the
information. Besides, it's not my life I was

254
00:21:56.548 --> 00:21:57.368
Speaker 1: trying to preserve.

255
00:21:58.008 --> 00:22:00.088
Speaker 6: I would not have tortured you.

256
00:22:01.188 --> 00:22:06.368
Speaker 1: She looked offended at that, more
bothered by the insinuation than the torture.

257
00:22:07.348 --> 00:22:12.708
Speaker 1: Gabriel waved casually at the door,
bolted shut from the outside.

258
00:22:13.468 --> 00:22:19.368
Speaker 1: Lucius would then. Erica shrugged in
acceptance. Gabriel

259
00:22:19.428 --> 00:22:24.268
Speaker 1: himself would have tortured someone
for the information he'd stored on the cyborg's

260
00:22:24.308 --> 00:22:30.168
Speaker 1: hard drive. In a single stroke of
elegant strategy, he'd managed to

261
00:22:30.208 --> 00:22:35.948
Speaker 1: turn the cyborg into his own
collateral. Last respite would not

262
00:22:36.028 --> 00:22:36.648
Speaker 1: touch him.

263
00:22:39.047 --> 00:22:42.008
Speaker 6: It's still kind of hard to believe,
but

264
00:22:44.308 --> 00:22:45.868
Speaker 6: demons were real after all.

265
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Speaker 1: Gabriel put a hand out to stall her.
He'd gone down this line of thinking himself

266
00:22:53.368 --> 00:22:58.988
Speaker 1: long ago. You shouldn't get your
hopes up. Don't expect them to be like the
stories.

267
00:22:59.368 --> 00:23:03.028
Speaker 1: There's no indication that they can
or will do anything to help us.

268
00:23:03.448 --> 00:23:06.948
Speaker 6: But they're angels, Gabriel. It's in
their nature.

269
00:23:08.168 --> 00:23:14.028
Speaker 1: Archbishop Gabriel Klein turned away
from her, trying to bury

270
00:23:14.108 --> 00:23:19.928
Speaker 1: his shame deep, deep down. He could
not

271
00:23:20.048 --> 00:23:21.828
Speaker 1: voice his terror to her,

272
00:23:23.428 --> 00:23:27.168
Speaker 1: couldn't give words to the crimes she
was ignorant of.

273
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Speaker 1: What would she say if she knew what
New Hope had done to the beings

274
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Speaker 1: they called angels?

275
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Speaker 1: If the angels granted them anything,
it would not be aid, but

276
00:23:44.268 --> 00:23:49.848
Speaker 1: vengeance. Which was why he prayed
that their existence would

277
00:23:49.908 --> 00:23:55.648
Speaker 1: remain undiscovered. And if Cyborg
No. 4 perished, the

278
00:23:55.708 --> 00:24:01.468
Speaker 1: clues leading to them would die with
him. For now, he straddled the

279
00:24:01.528 --> 00:24:07.288
Speaker 1: dangerous line between keeping their
existence buried and keeping Pastor

280
00:24:07.508 --> 00:24:13.208
Speaker 1: Cutter alive. If he did actually come
back here, though, these

281
00:24:13.288 --> 00:24:19.168
Speaker 1: people would dismantle him. And there
would be absolutely

282
00:24:19.368 --> 00:24:23.428
Speaker 1: nothing Gabriel could do to stop it.

283
00:24:26.878 --> 00:25:14.118
Speaker 1: [rock music]

284
00:25:14.118 --> 00:25:18.798
Speaker 1: [footsteps] A woman in a simple brown
dress led John down the hall. She held his

285
00:25:18.858 --> 00:25:24.358
Speaker 1: hand gently, and if the possessed
appendage bothered her, she didn't let it show.

286
00:25:25.178 --> 00:25:28.478
Speaker 5: Right this way. They're all very
excited.

287
00:25:29.578 --> 00:25:33.658
Speaker 1: She pushed open the door and John
stepped inside. [door closing] His heart was

288
00:25:33.718 --> 00:25:39.538
Speaker 1: pounding. [door opening] Could he
really do this? Fourteen

289
00:25:39.698 --> 00:25:45.618
Speaker 1: kids, ages six to three, sat in a
semicircle on the floor. They looked up

290
00:25:45.658 --> 00:25:50.358
Speaker 1: at him, then down at his enormous
possessed hand.

291
00:25:51.618 --> 00:25:57.618
Speaker 1: No smiles. John glanced over at their
teacher for support. She gave him

292
00:25:57.718 --> 00:26:03.398
Speaker 1: a reassuring nod. So he pulled the
acoustic guitar off his back.

293
00:26:03.678 --> 00:26:09.298
Speaker 4: Hey, kids. I know you're probably sad
about all the other kids, you know, that went

294
00:26:09.338 --> 00:26:09.738
Speaker 4: missing.

295
00:26:10.318 --> 00:26:14.018
Speaker 1: One of the kids started bawling. The
teacher shook her head back and forth

296
00:26:14.118 --> 00:26:17.098
Speaker 1: violently, silently mouthing the word
no.

297
00:26:17.698 --> 00:26:18.478
Speaker 4: Aw, crap.

298
00:26:19.078 --> 00:26:23.378
Speaker 1: Then the voice inside his head
rumbled to life.

299
00:26:24.478 --> 00:26:27.538
Speaker 3: You should crush them

300
00:26:29.078 --> 00:26:33.258
Speaker 3: and feed me.

301
00:26:33.318 --> 00:26:35.978
Speaker 1: He ignored it, as always.

302
00:26:37.498 --> 00:26:41.098
Speaker 4: Which is why I wrote this song for
you, to cheer you up.

303
00:26:43.778 --> 00:26:47.998
Speaker 3: It would be so easy to kill them all.

304
00:26:48.078 --> 00:26:51.198
Speaker 1: John set the guitar gently over his
left knee.

305
00:26:51.458 --> 00:26:54.438
Speaker 3: How come? Small death.

306
00:26:56.178 --> 00:27:01.998
Speaker 1: Then he set his fingers on the frets,
getting ready to play something simple,

307
00:27:02.898 --> 00:27:08.098
Speaker 1: just a couple chords. He swung his
massive possessed hand over the

308
00:27:08.198 --> 00:27:13.858
Speaker 1: strings and the bloated purple
fingers shattered the body of the

309
00:27:13.898 --> 00:27:19.698
Speaker 1: guitar on the very first stroke,
reducing the entire guitar

310
00:27:19.958 --> 00:27:25.918
Speaker 1: to splinters of wood in his lap.
[guitar breaking] John stared down at the pieces

311
00:27:26.018 --> 00:27:27.418
Speaker 1: in disbelief.

312
00:27:27.958 --> 00:27:32.438
Speaker 3: Feed me.

313
00:27:32.478 --> 00:27:37.898
Speaker 1: Then the kid who had been crying just
moments before started laughing,

314
00:27:38.718 --> 00:27:44.658
Speaker 1: and then another, and another, until
the whole class was laughing.

315
00:27:45.798 --> 00:27:49.518
Speaker 1: John just shook his head and grinned
back at them.

316
00:27:49.538 --> 00:27:52.238
Speaker 4: [laughs] Oops
