WEBVTT

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Speaker 1: [gentle music]

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Speaker 1: Everhouse.

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Speaker 1: Prologue. SRO Central Mail Office.

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Speaker 1: The Sewing Room Outskirts Central
Mail Office was barely controlled chaos.

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Speaker 1: The operation had outgrown this
three-room area a decade ago. Now it
unofficially

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Speaker 1: stretched across 200 rooms. The
rooms' official occupants had mostly

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Speaker 1: vacated. There were a few holdouts,
though, people who ate breakfast and read books

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Speaker 1: while the business of mail was done
around them. One old man continued, despite

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Speaker 1: every insistence from their people,
to use the toilet of one of the mail receiving

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Speaker 1: rooms. The room was officially
allotted to him, after all. That could be fixed
with

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Speaker 1: the stroke of a pen. The people of
Inner House couldn't even be bothered to lift a

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Speaker 1: pen to help them, though. How hard
was it to lift a pen? Well, things didn't

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Speaker 1: stop in the Outskirts just because of
that. If there was a problem, they either

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Speaker 1: worked around it, or if they could,
they flat out ignored it. Yes, things kept

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Speaker 1: moving in the Outskirts, one way or
another. It was wild here, but it was alive.

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Speaker 1: Ebenezer Credence pulled the next
crate of letters off the stack and onto his
desk.

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Speaker 1: The heavy crate thumped against the
desk. Ebenezer prepared his mind for the mental

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Speaker 1: load. You had to warm up for things
like this.

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Speaker 1: Other people with similar-looking
crates in their arms raced around through the

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Speaker 1: routing office. A look of fragile
panic accompanied each of them. One slip-up and

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Speaker 1: the mountain of mail they'd failed to
deliver might come crashing down on them.

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Speaker 1: Ebenezer pulled the first letter out
of the crate and examined it. It was written in

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Speaker 1: a beautiful flowing script. The
envelope itself read, "From Maple Rooms,

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Speaker 1: Sitting Room District South,
Courtyards. To Office of Outskirt

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Speaker 1: Protection, Governance District, The
Emerald Halls."

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Speaker 1: [whistles] Must be an important
letter.

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Speaker 1: Jonas sat down at the desk next to
Ebenezer, shaking the room. The sound of his

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Speaker 1: breathing pulled him away from the
letter. "Another day in paradise, right?"

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Speaker 1: "Yeah. Grace quit. You heard that,
right?" "Of course I heard that. You could hear

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Speaker 1: that a dozen rooms away. They wanted
her to work the replenishment. I would have

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Speaker 1: quit, too." "When's that?"
"Replenishment? Tomorrow, Eb. Maker's

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Speaker 1: hand, how many shifts have you
worked?" His vision drifted to the hallway
beside

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Speaker 1: him. The crates of mail were stacked
so high that there was little room to walk

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Speaker 1: anymore. The tightening maze of
crates only added to the hum of anxiety around
them.

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Speaker 1: "A couple. [sighs] I'll catch the
next replenishment." But

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Speaker 1: Jonas was already in his own world.
He'd pulled his own letters out of a crate and

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Speaker 1: started haphazardly sorting them into
slots, only slowing to actually read the

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Speaker 1: destinations when somebody wandered
by their desks. Hopefully none of those letters

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Speaker 1: were important. Ebenezer looked down
at the letter in his hands again. It was a

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Speaker 1: shame about that pretty handwriting.
This was as far as that letter would go in the

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Speaker 1: envelope they'd used. Nothing reached
The Emerald Halls without his supervisor's

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Speaker 1: personal stamp. It would get vetted
like that through two more routing offices. So

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Speaker 1: naturally, he tore it open and read
the contents. "To the

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Speaker 1: bureaucrat ignoring our letters. It
has been six months since my first letter, and

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Speaker 1: you still haven't responded. We're
desperate. Is anyone even reading these?

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Speaker 1: If you are, know this: 65 people
still live here. That's

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Speaker 1: 65 people's blood on your hands.
Whoever you are, please send

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Speaker 1: help. Lightslingers. We need
lightslingers. The infection is out of

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Speaker 1: control. We have the children
barricaded at night. The Sprawl are starting to

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Speaker 1: walk." "Hey, Eb." Ebenezer looked up
from his letter. Jonas was

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Speaker 1: pointing at a pen on the ground.
"Hey, can you get that for me?" Ebenezer bent

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Speaker 1: over and picked up the pen, then went
back to reading his letter. "The Sprawl are

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Speaker 1: starting to walk. Nothing bigger than
an end table, yet. We can't solve this

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Speaker 1: with perimeter lamps. They eat the
damn lamps. That's what kind of infestation
we're

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Speaker 1: talking about here. It's not just the
Maple Rooms either. Every neighborhood around

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Speaker 1: here is overwhelmed. Last week, we
got more lamps. We don't need more lamps. We

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Speaker 1: need lightslingers. Nothing else will
help. If you even pretend to care about the

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Speaker 1: Courtyards, you'll send help. Marcy
Felt Chair."

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Speaker 1: Ebenezer set the letter down and
scratched his chin. This letter wasn't going

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Speaker 1: anywhere. It wasn't even stamped by a
local mail office. By all rights, he should

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Speaker 1: throw it straight into the trash can.

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Speaker 1: Then Heather walked by and handed
each routing clerk a little card of their work

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Speaker 1: schedule on it. Ebenezer originally
had tomorrow off. Looked like that plan had

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Speaker 1: changed. Crushed beneath the
ever-growing mountain of mail from the
Outskirts,

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Speaker 1: just like everything else. Next to
him, Jonas pounded his desk

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Speaker 1: furiously. "Replenishment. Eb,
they've got me working replenishment now." "The

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Speaker 1: food'll still be there when you get
off." "It's not about the food. It's about the

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Speaker 1: principle of it. Don't you get that?"
"You just wanna read all day." "And

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Speaker 1: what's wrong with that? I'd love to
read all day." "Then pick up a letter and get to

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Speaker 1: work." "No. No, I'm done with this."
With effort,

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Speaker 1: Jonas got up and started to walk
away. He started to walk down the narrow hallway
to

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Speaker 1: their left, then realizing he
wouldn't fit, began to turn around. Then a grin

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Speaker 1: spread across his face. "Oh, no." He
turned back around and

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Speaker 1: pushed his way down the hallway lined
with crates of mail, holding one arm out and

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Speaker 1: knocking down the towers of boxes as
he passed. "Oh, no, no, no, no."

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Speaker 1: The mountain came crashing down, and
Jonas kept walking. Eventually, the

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Speaker 1: cascade of mail grew too thick, and
the big man was left flailing in the river of

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Speaker 1: boxes and letters. People rushed out
with hands on their heads. Tears were already

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Speaker 1: flowing. Someone started screaming at
Jonas, hitting him with a rolled up piece of

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Speaker 1: paper. It was their supervisor,
Maryanne. The man squirmed around on the ground,

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Speaker 1: unable to extract himself from the
mess, shielding his face. And Ebenezer just

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Speaker 1: stood there, watching it all in
shock. It would take them a month to clean that
up.

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Speaker 1: Forget about cleaning it up. It would
take three more months to organize it all

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Speaker 1: again. Nothing was going out until
they finished. Then he glanced down at

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Speaker 1: the letter on his desk. Maryanne
continued to swat at the helpless Jonas with her

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Speaker 1: paper club. Her office was left open,
though. The supervisor's stamp would be in the

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Speaker 1: top desk drawer. Ebenezer supposed
that one more letter might make it out,

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Speaker 1: if he hurried. While everyone was
distracted, he readdressed and sealed the
letter,

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Speaker 1: stamping it with the supervisor's
stamp and a few other stamps that looked pretty

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Speaker 1: important. Ebenezer personally
dropped the letter into the mail runner's bag
before

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Speaker 1: returning to his desk. Jonas had
finally made it out. In his wake, only a

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Speaker 1: few mail workers with stunned looks
on their face stood on the now literal mountain

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Speaker 1: of mail, picking up letters and
putting them back into crates, one at a time,

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Speaker 1: without much zeal. Ebenezer sat down
and picked up another letter out of his crate

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Speaker 1: and got back to work. Things kept
moving in the Outskirts, one way or another.

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Speaker 1: [gentle music]

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Speaker 1: Chapter One: Maple Rooms, Population
65.

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Speaker 1: Marcy reached out to grab Trent. She
missed the grab, but he stopped anyway, took

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Speaker 1: off his hat, and squinted at her.
"Let someone else join the patrol tonight.
You've

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Speaker 1: done more than your fair share. Elias
could stand to lose a few more rooms. You're

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Speaker 1: doing the man a favor." "I know that,
Marce, but you know I can't turn my back on a

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Speaker 1: neighbor." "You can when that
neighbor is Elias."

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Speaker 1: Elias had the allotment for almost
300 rooms. It made up more than half of

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Speaker 1: tonight's patrol route. A dozen of
those rooms were larders. Never mind that most
of

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Speaker 1: them were cobbed over at the moment.
That wasn't anyone's fault, and it certainly

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Speaker 1: wasn't their problem. Trent placed
one hand on her growing belly and flashed those

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Speaker 1: brilliant white teeth. Marcy fought
her own smile. This man was

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Speaker 1: insufferable. He was going to get his
way. Somehow, he always did.

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Speaker 1: And rot him. He always managed to
make it look like the right thing to do, too.

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Speaker 1: Trent Murdoch stepped closer and
pulled Marcy into a gentle hug. "I keep my

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Speaker 1: promises, which is why I'm going."
"You promised me a Maker's pie

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Speaker 1: tomorrow. Can't get it if you're
dead." "One magic pie by tomorrow

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Speaker 1: morning. Nothing in all of Everhouse
could stop me. I promise."

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Speaker 1: The pie was not actually magic. It
was a silly tradition, but tradition

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Speaker 1: nonetheless. There was nothing
special about it, an old wives' tale. It was no
more

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Speaker 1: special than any other food that
appeared in the replenishment. But Grace had
eaten

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Speaker 1: that pie and gone straight into labor
the next evening. Maker knew she wanted to be

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Speaker 1: done with this pregnancy, so he'd
better go find that pie, and he'd better not do

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Speaker 1: anything stupid in the meantime.
Trent had a tendency to find trouble and

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Speaker 1: deliberately place himself in the
center of it. There were reasons they lived in
the

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Speaker 1: middle of nowhere. Some of that
trouble had followed Trent home. Their little
family

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Speaker 1: was still whole, though, for now.
What would she do out here,

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Speaker 1: all alone? Well, it didn't matter. He
just needed to come back.

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Speaker 1: "But seriously, be careful. You're
more important than Elias

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Speaker 1: losing a few more rooms." She kissed
him, and then her fool of a husband finally

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Speaker 1: left. [door closing] Trent closed the
door to their bedroom,

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Speaker 1: leaving Marcy alone. He wiggled the
doorknob just to make sure it was actually

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Speaker 1: closed. It wasn't locked. A person
could just turn the knob to open it, but it

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Speaker 1: wasn't people he was worried about.
[door creaking] Trent checked the door again,

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Speaker 1: shaking it in the frame. It was
solid. You could always tell which doors the
maker

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Speaker 1: had placed themself. They had a
permanence to them.

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Speaker 1: [footsteps] Trent moved from room to
room, closing doors as he went,

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Speaker 1: until he got to the outermost door of
their allotment. The front door was painted a

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Speaker 1: cerulean blue, Marcy's choice. He
wanted an amber color to mark their rooms, but

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Speaker 1: marriage was all about compromise, so
he'd been told. Funny how he was always the

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Speaker 1: one to compromise on matters of the
home.

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Speaker 1: It wasn't because he didn't have an
opinion on colors or furniture or art.

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Speaker 1: It was because it was not really a
compromise at all. Trent Murdock already had

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Speaker 1: everything he needed, his own little
corner of Everhouse and a wonderful,

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Speaker 1: patient, kind-hearted wife, and soon
a baby.

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Speaker 1: He checked the cerulean front door
again. [door creaking] It didn't matter that it

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Speaker 1: was cerulean and not amber. It only
mattered that it was theirs. Trent looked down

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Speaker 1: the long hallway. It was dotted here
and there with unpainted doors, signifying that

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Speaker 1: no person lived there. Those rooms
didn't belong to Trent and Marcy. All 23

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Speaker 1: rooms in their allotment were behind
this blue door. One way in, one way out.

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Speaker 1: That was how he liked it.

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Speaker 1: Some people, like Elias, thought more
rooms was always better. Trent thought

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Speaker 1: the value of an allotment was not in
how many rooms it had, but how many rooms were

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Speaker 1: between you and everyone else.
[footsteps] It was a 10-minute walk to their
nearest

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Speaker 1: neighbor, and that felt just right to
him. The hallway outside their allotment was

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Speaker 1: lit up like a courtyard bonfire.
Lanterns hung above every doorway. Not the

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Speaker 1: giant gloom banes, but still pretty
big. Trent started making his

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Speaker 1: way to the meetup point. He ran his
hand along the hallway as he walked. He admired

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Speaker 1: the smooth maple paneling for which
the maple rooms had been named. There had been

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Speaker 1: 1,000 outskirt neighborhoods they
could have settled, but the description of this

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Speaker 1: place and its ubiquitous paneling in
a newspaper ad had won him over. He still

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Speaker 1: remembered the ad. "Like being
replenished every time I step outside my

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Speaker 1: front door. I feel free here." It
hadn't felt like that

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Speaker 1: lately. Trent looked at each hanging
lantern as he passed. [door creaking] He had to

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Speaker 1: fight the urge not to check their oil
levels, to make sure the doors beneath them

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Speaker 1: were closed tight. He had to fight
that terrible fear of leaving Marcy alone, so

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Speaker 1: far away from anyone. Isolation had
its downsides.

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Speaker 1: Trent followed the cerulean line
painted on the floor. The path lines were mostly

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Speaker 1: for children and guests to find their
way around the new neighborhood. Not that

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Speaker 1: they'd had a guest in a long time,
but Trent often found himself using them just to

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Speaker 1: free up his mind to wander. As he
walked, a thin yellow line joined the cerulean

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Speaker 1: line at an intersection. His nearest
neighbors, the Iron Basins, lived in that

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Speaker 1: direction. If you followed the line,
it would take you straight to their front door.

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Speaker 1: [door creaking] At the next
intersection, three more lines of color joined
the

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Speaker 1: others. He kept following the rainbow
of path lines until he reached a door leading

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Speaker 1: to the neighborhood's central
courtyard, the patrol meeting place. He stepped
out

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Speaker 1: into the night air and lifted his
head to bask in it. The smell of withering
plants

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Speaker 1: hit his nose. They would pop back up
to life in tomorrow's replenishment, though. He

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Speaker 1: loved that potent, fragrant smell
right after a replenishment.

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Speaker 1: Trent looked around. Central
Courtyard was the largest and most impressive in
the

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Speaker 1: area. Elias had actually tried to
include this in his allotment, but fortunately,

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Speaker 1: the government had made the right
call for once and made this a common space

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Speaker 1: instead. There were three tiers of
manicured gardens connected by winding stone

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Speaker 1: paths dotted by cozy little seating
areas. A large brass bell stood on wooden

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00:17:04.552 --> 00:17:08.372
Speaker 1: supports in the middle of the
courtyard. [door creaking] It was totally dark.

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Speaker 1: Besides the faint burbling of a water
fixture, it was silent as well.

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Speaker 1: So was he going on patrol solo? That
seemed like

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Speaker 1: exactly the kind of thing Marcy had
warned him not to do. A door opened across the

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Speaker 1: courtyard. Lantern light cast a
red-orange semicircle on the dark stone. A man
with

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Speaker 1: thick spectacles peeked out, glanced
up at the open dark sky, and then ducked back

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00:17:36.972 --> 00:17:42.912
Speaker 1: into the room quickly. Murdock smiled
to himself and started walking. He knew

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00:17:42.952 --> 00:17:47.872
Speaker 1: the man, and he could do worse for a
patrol partner. Eh, could do better too,

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00:17:48.092 --> 00:17:52.352
Speaker 1: actually. He pulled open the door,
and the spectacled man scrambled backwards,

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Speaker 1: nearly dropping his lantern on the
ground. "Maker's jewels, Trent.

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Speaker 1: You scared me."

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00:18:01.152 --> 00:18:07.072
Speaker 1: Frederick Tilemaster, Freddy to
people who knew him, squinted up at Trent,

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Speaker 1: then looked around. "No one else?
There were 10 of us on the patrol schedule."

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00:18:13.676 --> 00:18:18.176
Speaker 1: Trent just slapped him jovially on
the back. "Then that means we'll do the work of

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00:18:18.236 --> 00:18:23.536
Speaker 1: 10 and give 'em a hard time tomorrow,
right, Freddy?" "Oh, that's gonna take all

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00:18:23.596 --> 00:18:29.016
Speaker 1: night." "Well, I guess we could split
up and do it in half the time."

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00:18:29.056 --> 00:18:34.896
Speaker 1: "Yeah, right. It's already late. I
guess the two of us will have to do."

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00:18:36.636 --> 00:18:41.436
Speaker 1: Freddy waited for Trent to lead the
way. Trent just smiled and tipped his hat,

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00:18:41.516 --> 00:18:47.036
Speaker 1: though. Freddy had to know he
wouldn't go first. Trent sometimes did

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Speaker 1: things he didn't bother to explain to
others. "Never be the first into a room,

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00:18:52.956 --> 00:18:58.616
Speaker 1: and always be the last out," he
remembered his father saying. His father had
been

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Speaker 1: part of the last generation of
wanderers, and there was a knowledge there. And
while

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00:19:04.416 --> 00:19:09.076
Speaker 1: Trent had spent most of his life in
the very civilized parts of Everhouse, he had

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00:19:09.136 --> 00:19:14.296
Speaker 1: inherited his father's cautious
nature. It had given him a code to live by.

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00:19:15.116 --> 00:19:19.516
Speaker 1: It wasn't his cleverness or his
bravery that kept Marcy and him alive way out
here,

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00:19:20.116 --> 00:19:25.736
Speaker 1: and soon their baby. It was
diligence, the willingness to do the critical

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00:19:26.096 --> 00:19:31.756
Speaker 1: but mundane and frankly boring work
that made life in the outskirts possible,

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00:19:32.736 --> 00:19:38.416
Speaker 1: like participating in a neighborhood
patrol, a joyous community affair in civilized

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00:19:38.476 --> 00:19:44.476
Speaker 1: parts, little more than a gossipy
tour of allotments. Out here in the outskirts,

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00:19:44.556 --> 00:19:49.756
Speaker 1: though, the tradition meant
something, at least if you didn't want your feet
eaten

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Speaker 1: off in your sleep.

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Speaker 1: With any luck, it would be a quiet
night for patrol. They followed the dotted gray

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00:19:58.316 --> 00:20:03.376
Speaker 1: path line out of the central
courtyard and down a hallway in the direction of
the

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00:20:03.416 --> 00:20:08.256
Speaker 1: neighborhood limits. Normally, a
larger patrol party could just split up and
cover

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Speaker 1: the entire perimeter in a few hours.
When they got to the end of the dotted line, it

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00:20:13.996 --> 00:20:19.276
Speaker 1: split off in two directions, two dark
hallways reaching into the abyss of

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00:20:19.356 --> 00:20:25.336
Speaker 1: Everhouse. "What do you think?
Counterclockwise?" "Sure. Hope you

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00:20:25.376 --> 00:20:27.516
Speaker 1: brought coffee, though. It's gonna be
a late night."

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00:20:29.136 --> 00:20:33.976
Speaker 1: "Coffee? I wish. I haven't had coffee
in months. It's always gone from the one

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00:20:34.036 --> 00:20:39.596
Speaker 1: pantry I go to." "Shame. I know where
the good stuff is." "Wait,

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00:20:39.816 --> 00:20:45.776
Speaker 1: seriously? Tell me." [laughs] "Give
up my secret spot? I don't

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00:20:45.836 --> 00:20:51.436
Speaker 1: think so." "Is it that powdered
stuff?" "No, sir. Whole

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00:20:51.496 --> 00:20:57.096
Speaker 1: bean. Guatemalan." "What does that
mean?" "No

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00:20:57.216 --> 00:21:03.136
Speaker 1: idea, but it tastes divine." Trent
tipped his hat back, letting it fall

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00:21:03.196 --> 00:21:07.256
Speaker 1: off his head and be caught by the
string around his neck. There was no reason to

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00:21:07.296 --> 00:21:12.136
Speaker 1: wear a hat at night, but it seemed
wrong not to have one. It was courtyards, after

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00:21:12.196 --> 00:21:18.136
Speaker 1: all. It was practically uniform out
here. He took a sip of water from his canteen

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00:21:18.196 --> 00:21:23.576
Speaker 1: and listened to the yawning creaks of
Everhouse around him. "I'll trade you for it."

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00:21:23.596 --> 00:21:29.276
Speaker 1: "Hmm, another gathering spot?" "No,
no, not information. Something

229
00:21:29.356 --> 00:21:30.316
Speaker 1: way cooler."

230
00:21:32.236 --> 00:21:36.756
Speaker 1: They both squatted down, and Freddy
looked around to make sure no one was watching.

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00:21:37.496 --> 00:21:42.456
Speaker 1: Trent couldn't help but crack a
smile. He was always showing off some new piece
of

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Speaker 1: his collection to anyone who'd
listen. It was always some incredible prize to

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Speaker 1: Freddy, but just junk to everyone
else. Between him and Phil, there was enough
junk

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00:21:52.236 --> 00:21:58.096
Speaker 1: to fill 100 rooms, maybe more. "I
think we're alone." Freddy pulled the pack off
his

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Speaker 1: shoulders and rummaged around inside.
Then he pulled out something heavy, metal, and

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00:22:04.196 --> 00:22:10.056
Speaker 1: wrapped in cloth. He set it down with
a clunk on the wooden floor. Trent let

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00:22:10.096 --> 00:22:14.616
Speaker 1: his hand hover over the thing for a
second, then he pulled the handkerchief back,

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00:22:14.876 --> 00:22:20.516
Speaker 1: and his jaw dropped. A long silver
gun with cherry paneling on the

239
00:22:20.576 --> 00:22:25.856
Speaker 1: grip. Intricate etchings along the
barrel spelled out one of the codes,

240
00:22:26.756 --> 00:22:32.636
Speaker 1: the lightslinger's codes. The
etchings on this one read, "Hope for

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00:22:32.696 --> 00:22:33.656
Speaker 1: the hopeless."

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00:22:35.236 --> 00:22:40.776
Speaker 1: It was beautiful and terrible. Trent

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00:22:40.856 --> 00:22:45.596
Speaker 1: exhaled slowly, reverently.
"Frederick

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00:22:45.716 --> 00:22:51.396
Speaker 1: Dialmaster." "Yeah?" "They could kill
you for touching

245
00:22:51.456 --> 00:22:57.316
Speaker 1: this, for stealing it." "What? No
way. It doesn't even work. No one even knows

246
00:22:57.396 --> 00:23:03.256
Speaker 1: it's here." "Where'd you get it?" "I
traded for it, just like I'm

247
00:23:03.316 --> 00:23:09.216
Speaker 1: doing now." "There's no way I'm
trading for that." "Come on, it's a piece of

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00:23:09.296 --> 00:23:15.096
Speaker 1: history, even if it doesn't work." "I
know what they are, and I know

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00:23:15.156 --> 00:23:18.536
Speaker 1: what Innerhouse does to people who
shouldn't have one."

250
00:23:20.236 --> 00:23:24.456
Speaker 1: Freddy just shrugged and wrapped up
the big silver gun and put it back in his bag.

251
00:23:25.356 --> 00:23:31.116
Speaker 1: Trent put away his canteen and put
the hat back on his head. "Now, you don't share

252
00:23:31.176 --> 00:23:35.836
Speaker 1: this, you hear? But check the top
cupboards in the blue sitting room next to the

253
00:23:35.896 --> 00:23:41.856
Speaker 1: central courtyard. There's two tins
of Guatemalan in there." "Seriously?"

254
00:23:42.456 --> 00:23:45.516
Speaker 1: "Eh, the best-kept secrets are hidden
in plain sight, aren't they?"

255
00:23:47.036 --> 00:23:51.836
Speaker 1: Freddy pulled his pack on, adjusted
his spectacles, and smiled. "Thanks, Trent.

256
00:23:52.116 --> 00:23:57.096
Speaker 1: You're telling me for free?" "No,
there's a price." "Yeah? What's that?"

257
00:23:58.176 --> 00:24:03.756
Speaker 1: "You're gonna get rid of that thing."
"The light revolver? It's an artifact."

258
00:24:03.756 --> 00:24:08.136
Speaker 1: "It's bad news. Trash it and forget
about it." "

259
00:24:08.136 --> 00:24:13.076
Speaker 1: [sighs] Fine. It's not like it works
anyway."

260
00:24:14.436 --> 00:24:19.016
Speaker 1: They started their patrol and made
small talk about their favorite gathering spots,

261
00:24:19.756 --> 00:24:25.646
Speaker 1: following the path line of the
neighborhood limits. They had standard, if
slightly

262
00:24:25.706 --> 00:24:31.426
Speaker 1: more robust, defenses. Each room with
more than one exit was fitted with a giant

263
00:24:31.506 --> 00:24:37.406
Speaker 1: gloom bane, huge oil lanterns that
stood sentry against the sprawl. They were

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00:24:37.426 --> 00:24:42.806
Speaker 1: their best and only defense. These
lanterns were what made life

265
00:24:42.866 --> 00:24:45.506
Speaker 1: possible at the edge of the civilized
world.

266
00:24:47.386 --> 00:24:53.326
Speaker 1: For 30 minutes they walked, their
conversation low, smelling the air, looking

267
00:24:53.386 --> 00:24:58.746
Speaker 1: down dark hallways and into empty
rooms. And then their

268
00:24:58.806 --> 00:25:04.466
Speaker 1: conversation died when they found a
large, dark room.

269
00:25:06.266 --> 00:25:11.086
Speaker 1: The two of them stood at the doorway,
staring into the black, then shared a

270
00:25:11.126 --> 00:25:16.646
Speaker 1: concerned look. Trent took the small
oil lantern off Freddy's pack and lit it with a

271
00:25:16.706 --> 00:25:21.766
Speaker 1: match, then lifted the light into the
room. The gloom bane in the center of the room

272
00:25:21.806 --> 00:25:27.345
Speaker 1: was on its side, a large pool of dark
liquid spread across the floor next to it.

273
00:25:28.406 --> 00:25:33.886
Speaker 1: It's just a little darkness, Trent.
Nothing to be afraid of. Just a little darkness.

274
00:25:34.586 --> 00:25:39.806
Speaker 1: He set his jaw and stepped into the
room. It wasn't that large, with only three

275
00:25:39.906 --> 00:25:45.726
Speaker 1: exits. Sloppy black X's had been
painted across two of the doors. The gray

276
00:25:45.846 --> 00:25:50.286
Speaker 1: line marking the Maple Room
neighborhood limits ran under one of those
crossed-out

277
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Speaker 1: doors.

278
00:25:52.386 --> 00:25:58.126
Speaker 1: The night had been going so well,
too. Trent looked at the turned-over

279
00:25:58.166 --> 00:26:02.606
Speaker 1: gloom bane, careful not to bring his
lit lantern too close to the spreading pool of

280
00:26:02.686 --> 00:26:08.346
Speaker 1: oil that gushed out of it. He found
the mortal wound on the thing, a long, serrated

281
00:26:08.406 --> 00:26:14.126
Speaker 1: gash in the oil well. They were lucky
it hadn't caught fire. He shuddered. He

282
00:26:14.186 --> 00:26:19.426
Speaker 1: imagined the Maple Rooms burning. His
dreams, his life,

283
00:26:20.026 --> 00:26:25.946
Speaker 1: his family, up in flames. He shook
the dark vision

284
00:26:26.006 --> 00:26:31.046
Speaker 1: and shot a forced grin at Freddy.
Come on, best not to linger here.

285
00:26:31.826 --> 00:26:37.646
Speaker 1: Freddy nodded slowly, shock creeping
onto his face. The man was shaking.

286
00:26:38.426 --> 00:26:43.666
Speaker 1: He was staring at the broken gloom
bane, probably running through the short list of

287
00:26:43.746 --> 00:26:48.426
Speaker 1: things that could knock that over.
Nothing on that list was good.

288
00:26:49.626 --> 00:26:53.626
Speaker 1: Don't think too much, Freddy. It's
not good for anything except a rough night's

289
00:26:53.686 --> 00:26:59.326
Speaker 1: sleep. Yeah, you're right. It could
have been anything.

290
00:27:01.586 --> 00:27:06.966
Speaker 1: Trent turned away so the other man
couldn't see his face, couldn't see the terror

291
00:27:07.046 --> 00:27:12.586
Speaker 1: fighting its way onto his expression.
This was a small part of something

292
00:27:12.646 --> 00:27:18.406
Speaker 1: bigger. He just knew it. He had a
sense for trouble. Trent looked at the

293
00:27:18.466 --> 00:27:24.186
Speaker 1: crossed-out doors marking the
northeastern exclusion zone, the place they'd
trapped

294
00:27:24.286 --> 00:27:29.986
Speaker 1: a growing infestation. A hungry,
intelligent, growing

295
00:27:30.066 --> 00:27:36.006
Speaker 1: infestation. Unless some lightslinger
showed up, it was only a matter of time

296
00:27:36.066 --> 00:27:41.726
Speaker 1: until the sprawl finally claimed the
rest of the neighborhood. Eating

297
00:27:41.866 --> 00:27:47.606
Speaker 1: everything inside. Everyone inside.
Trent Murdock stared

298
00:27:47.686 --> 00:27:52.686
Speaker 1: deep into the flame of his lantern,
thinking dark, difficult thoughts.

299
00:27:53.626 --> 00:27:59.586
Speaker 1: Thoughts of wildfire in the Maple
Rooms. And whether he was prepared to

300
00:27:59.646 --> 00:28:05.586
Speaker 1: burn it all, if it came to that. Not
so deep down, he knew he

301
00:28:05.646 --> 00:28:10.766
Speaker 1: would. He was that kind of man. And
it terrified him.