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Source: collected/013-mortal-steel-episode-5.mp3
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00:00:00.000 Speaker 1 [rock music]
00:00:53.920 Speaker 1 Mortal Steel, episode five.
00:00:57.300 Speaker 1 [grass crunching] Fleabag pulled the wagon, but it kept getting
00:01:03.360 Speaker 1 stuck on even the smallest cracks in the road. Why wouldn't one of the adults help?
00:01:09.120 Speaker 1 They were all afraid to get close probably. It's like they couldn't decide whether
00:01:13.460 Speaker 1 they were in love or super scared. Maybe some are both, which was weird.
00:01:20.140 Speaker 1 Adults were weird, especially Uncle Trey. He wore three pairs of socks
00:01:26.100 Speaker 1 every day. Fleabag didn't even have one pair of socks. He hit another crack
00:01:32.140 Speaker 1 in the road and the wagon moaned.
00:01:34.460 Speaker 2 Ugh. Oh, you hitting those deliberately?
00:01:37.800 Speaker 1 Fleabag looked back at the huge lump covered by a blanket. For being a superhero,
00:01:43.340 Speaker 1 sometimes Holy Man sure didn't act like it. Superheroes weren't supposed to complain
00:01:48.480 Speaker 1 this much. Then again, Fleabag had never had his arms ripped off, so maybe it was
00:01:54.380 Speaker 1 okay to complain a little.
00:01:56.100 Speaker 3 It might be easier if someone helped me.
00:01:58.860 Speaker 1 The adults all looked away or started walking faster. Some of the older ones rubbed
00:02:04.220 Speaker 1 one finger around on their chest. Was that like a secret sign? The Holy
00:02:10.199 Speaker 1 Man sign. That's what the head scary boy had called him right
00:02:15.920 Speaker 1 before he got dusted. Tough luck. Never call out a superhero if you're not ready to
00:02:21.880 Speaker 1 get dusted. Fleabag would remember that lesson. Even The Protector
00:02:27.880 Speaker 1 got dusted. Fleabag didn't think anyone could beat The Protector. Maybe he
00:02:33.880 Speaker 1 really could beat The King. Not without arms, though. It was a good thing he was
00:02:39.640 Speaker 1 around. Every superhero needed a sidekick.
00:02:43.600 Speaker 3 Hey, how did you get your superpowers?
00:02:47.320 Speaker 1 Holy Man was quiet for a long time under the blanket, so Fleabag
00:02:53.480 Speaker 1 stopped walking. Maybe he fell asleep. Then all the adults stopped
00:02:59.200 Speaker 1 walking too.
00:03:00.660 Speaker 2 Some women in black robes gave them to me.
00:03:04.620 Speaker 3 Really? Do they have superpowers too?
00:03:08.860 Speaker 2 No. They just read a lot of books.
00:03:14.360 Speaker 3 What? That's lame.
00:03:17.100 Speaker 1 Unless they were magic books. Now, that was a possibility. The Great
00:03:22.680 Speaker 1 Talisman got her powers from a magic book. He would know because he'd read every
00:03:28.060 Speaker 1 Great Talisman comic book there was, except one, issue number
00:03:33.820 Speaker 1 34, the fight with Blue Goo. But he'd read number 35 where Blue
00:03:39.800 Speaker 1 Goo gets sucked into a bottle and trapped, so it wasn't that big of a deal. Still,
00:03:46.120 Speaker 1 it would be cool to read it.
00:03:48.040 Speaker 2 Ugh. How much longer, Fleabag?
00:03:51.280 Speaker 3 We're close. You gotta be quiet, okay?
00:03:54.480 Speaker 1 There were guards up ahead where The King's territory, Paradise, started. They
00:04:00.480 Speaker 1 would let anyone in during the daytime, but if you wanted to stay, you had to pay or
00:04:06.000 Speaker 1 join up with the scary boys.
00:04:08.380 Speaker 2 Then why?
00:04:10.080 Speaker 3 Because you can't fight until you get your powers back. If The King finds you, he
00:04:15.280 Speaker 3 won't wait until you're strong.
00:04:17.620 Speaker 1 That would be stupid. He knew the difference between comic books and real life.
00:04:23.980 Speaker 1 In comic books, the bad guys always talked until the hero was ready to fight. The
00:04:29.440 Speaker 1 King wasn't like that. Real bad guys weren't like that. They just killed
00:04:35.400 Speaker 1 you, like they killed Sub and Big Derrick and Nozzle
00:04:42.320 Speaker 1 and everyone else. Most of the time, they killed you just because they could,
00:04:48.260 Speaker 1 just because you were there.
00:04:51.240 Speaker 1 They turned a corner and Fleabag saw a ton of guards at the end of the street, a
00:04:55.980 Speaker 1 scary boy too. At least the scary boys wouldn't kill you for no reason. He
00:05:01.820 Speaker 1 glanced back at the wagon, but they might if they saw Holy Man here.
00:05:08.340 Speaker 3 We're here, but there's like a butt load of bad guys blocking the way.
00:05:13.980 Speaker 2 Can you find another way?
00:05:16.040 Speaker 3 No. Oh, crap. They see me.
00:05:19.300 Speaker 1 A few of the guards pointed at him. Fleabag froze. This was it. They were gonna pull
00:05:25.120 Speaker 1 off that blanket and he was done for. No. No, he couldn't act like that. He
00:05:31.140 Speaker 1 was a sidekick. He had to be smart, at least until he could find the magic women and
00:05:37.020 Speaker 1 get his own powers. Fleabag looked at the adults gathered around him in a loose
00:05:41.620 Speaker 1 circle.
00:05:42.340 Speaker 3 Hey, you all want to be in a club, right? That means you have to help too. Go
00:05:47.880 Speaker 3 distract those guys so we can sneak past.
00:05:50.980 Speaker 1 A man in a gray trench coat stepped closer to him, whispering so the guards who were
00:05:56.020 Speaker 1 already talking to people wouldn't hear. Where do we meet after? Fleabag
00:06:01.968 Speaker 1 rolled his eyes. Did he have to come up with everything?
00:06:06.048 Speaker 3 He'll give a sermon at sundown.
00:06:08.748 Speaker 1 That was his thing, right? It must be how he recharged his power. The man in the
00:06:14.628 Speaker 1 coat nodded once, then fell to the ground screaming, rolling around and clutching at
00:06:19.108 Speaker 1 his leg. It was a pretty good job. Nozzle would've been proud. No one could cry like
00:06:25.068 Speaker 1 Nozzle. While the man howled, Fleabag snuck behind the group of people. They grouped
00:06:30.808 Speaker 1 up to block the guards' view. Maybe they weren't useless after all. Fleabag strolled
00:06:36.128 Speaker 1 right past the guards and into the shantytown.
00:06:40.288 Speaker 1 A hand fell on his shoulder.
00:06:44.528 Speaker 1 Where do you think you're going? The woman spun him around by the shoulder. She was
00:06:49.688 Speaker 1 a Scary Boy, which never made much sense to him. Why shouldn't she be a Scary Girl?
00:06:56.468 Speaker 1 Paradise is closed to outsiders right now.
00:06:59.228 Speaker 3 I can pay.
00:07:00.568 Speaker 1 Doesn't matter. She shoved him backward, and he fell against the wagon. What are you
00:07:05.827 Speaker 1 hauling? Fleabag backed away slowly, palms sweating. What was he supposed to do?
00:07:11.408 Speaker 1 What could he do? This wasn't some sewer dweller. She had demon blood.
00:07:17.948 Speaker 1 The Scary Boy stared at the wagon and tilted her head. I know that smell.
00:07:24.888 Speaker 1 She reached out a hand to pull the blanket off the wagon. If that happened ... A
00:07:30.668 Speaker 1 man in a gray trench coat slammed into the Scary Boy and the two of them crashed to
00:07:35.948 Speaker 1 the ground. [thudding]
00:07:36.468 Speaker 2 It hurts. [groans]
00:07:38.968 Speaker 1 Fleabag pulled the wagon as fast as he could, not daring to look back. He heard the
00:07:43.548 Speaker 1 screaming, though. He raced into the shantytown and took a turn down an alley, then
00:07:47.828 Speaker 1 another, and another. Then he squatted down and closed his ears so
00:07:53.748 Speaker 1 he wouldn't have to hear the screams anymore. He cradled his legs and pressed his
00:07:58.728 Speaker 1 back to the side of a building.
00:08:02.308 Speaker 1 The lump in the wagon sat up [fabric rustling] and the blanket slipped off of Holy
00:08:07.048 Speaker 1 Man.
00:08:07.668 Speaker 3 They'll kill him for that.
00:08:09.568 Speaker 1 Holy Man didn't correct him. He just looked sadly in the direction of the commotion.
00:08:16.128 Speaker 1 Fleabag took his hands off his ears.
00:08:19.288 Speaker 2 Not all heroes have powers, Fleabag.
00:08:22.748 Speaker 3 The ones who survive do.
00:08:26.328 Speaker 1 Fleabag wiped his eyes and stood up. Some sidekick he was.
00:08:30.508 Speaker 3 [sniffs] I'm fine. We gotta go.
00:08:34.548 Speaker 1 Then he grabbed the wagon's handle and hurried through the maze of buildings.
00:08:39.208 Speaker 1 [gentle music]
00:08:46.608 Speaker 1 [people chattering] Turn after turn, Ethan watched the dizzying journey through the
00:08:51.648 Speaker 1 crowded shantytown from a lifted corner of his blanket. Makeshift homes of plywood,
00:08:57.668 Speaker 1 plastic tarps, and even cardboard covered the sidewalks outside the original old LA
00:09:03.668 Speaker 1 buildings. He was amazed at how many people were living here. It was
00:09:09.428 Speaker 1 impossible to estimate without knowing the full size of the town, but from what he'd
00:09:14.028 Speaker 1 seen already, it was more than a few thousand. What did they eat? How did they
00:09:19.548 Speaker 1 defend themselves? He'd known that people still scraped by in the outskirts, but
00:09:25.228 Speaker 1 this was nearly a civilization, which made it all the more disheartening.
00:09:32.128 Speaker 1 This was the pinnacle of civilization, and it was pathetic. The
00:09:37.948 Speaker 1 people were universally filthy and malnourished, and they all shared the same
00:09:43.608 Speaker 1 frightful, distrusting demeanor, as if their neighbors in the cardboard house next
00:09:48.928 Speaker 1 door might take their meager belongings at any moment.
00:09:54.108 Speaker 1 Though a few people tried to haggle with Fleabag for his wagon, no one tried to take
00:09:59.208 Speaker 1 it from him. Perhaps the low growl emanating from it may have helped discourage
00:10:04.288 Speaker 1 them. The weaponsmith's workshop turned out to be in one of the solid old Los
00:10:09.568 Speaker 1 Angeles buildings, a single-story brick building with bars over the windows. The
00:10:15.308 Speaker 1 paint had long since peeled from the exterior.
00:10:17.868 Speaker 1 [metal clanging] Ethan had a great view of the
00:10:23.868 Speaker 1 dusty wood paneling on the front counter. He could hear men and women at work,
00:10:28.728 Speaker 1 striking metal, the smell of ash in the air. Got some scrap?
00:10:35.148 Speaker 3 Yeah. I wanna see Dumpit, though.
00:10:39.008 Speaker 1 He's busy. You can deal with me.
00:10:41.908 Speaker 3 It's militech, and I know where there's more.
00:10:45.988 Speaker 1 [scoffs] Come on back if your story wears thin.
00:10:52.448 Speaker 1 I'm taking this wagon. Fleabag wheeled the wagon through the building, most of which
00:10:57.068 Speaker 1 had been torn apart to make space for the various workbenches and furnaces there.
00:11:02.548 Speaker 1 People cut, hammered, and melted strips of metal. Whatever they were doing, they
00:11:08.388 Speaker 1 were doing a lot of it. Here he is.
00:11:13.028 Speaker 2 All right, let's see what we've got here.
00:11:15.588 Speaker 1 The blanket was pulled off the wagon. [blanket rustling] Ethan looked up at an
00:11:19.128 Speaker 1 impressively fat man, considering the state of the people he'd seen so far.
00:11:23.988 Speaker 2 [whistles] Holy dog farts in heaven.
00:11:28.908 Speaker 2 [footsteps]
00:11:29.228 Speaker 3 Can you fix him?
00:11:31.068 Speaker 2 Fix him? I'd shake your hand, but [laughs] you'd have to do all the work. It
00:11:37.308 Speaker 2 talks.
00:11:38.568 Speaker 3 This is Holy Man. He's a superhero.
00:11:43.188 Speaker 1 Ethan didn't feel the need to disabuse Fleabag. It seemed like one thing too many to
00:11:48.868 Speaker 1 take from the boy. He'd already seemed to have forgotten the violence from just a
00:11:53.348 Speaker 1 few minutes ago. He was a resilient kid, resourceful too. Ethan
00:11:59.348 Speaker 1 guessed you had to be to survive out here.
00:12:02.688 Speaker 2 What are you? Pastor Ethan Cutter, Hail Mary prototype
00:12:08.336 Speaker 1 Cyborg. And you?
00:12:11.936 Speaker 2 Name's Dumpit.
00:12:13.836 Speaker 1 The man's name was Dumpit? That did not bode well.
00:12:20.816 Speaker 1 Dumpit hobbled over and gingerly picked up one of Ethan's severed arms out of the
00:12:25.316 Speaker 1 wagon. He was missing a foot of his own, replaced with what looked like a fireplace
00:12:30.756 Speaker 1 poker. Fleabag, are you sure there's no one else?
00:12:34.896 Speaker 2 Hold on now. Duchin got one thing right. There ain't nothing I can't fix.
00:12:40.675 Speaker 2 Usually my projects don't talk back, but I can make an exception.
00:12:46.096 Speaker 1 Dumpit set the arm back in the wagon and put his hands on his wide hips. His stomach
00:12:51.156 Speaker 1 sagged out from beneath a stained white T-shirt.
00:12:54.796 Speaker 2 These are toast. So what, you want some chainsaw arms or something?
00:12:59.296 Speaker 1 Ethan saw Fleabag put his hands on the side of his face and his mouth dropped open.
00:13:05.156 Speaker 1 Can you do that?
00:13:07.156 Speaker 2 Sure, I can give him a matching foot too.
00:13:10.276 Speaker 1 Can't you just, you know, reattach them? Dumpit squinted one eye and rubbed his
00:13:15.716 Speaker 1 chin. Then he squatted down to take a closer look, which seriously threatened the
00:13:21.176 Speaker 1 integrity of his pants. Ethan's second mind ran the strain calculations.
00:13:27.576 Speaker 1 He just let it do its thing. It only wanted to be helpful.
00:13:34.276 Speaker 1 Tension forces exceed predicted pants tensile strength. Further investigation
00:13:40.076 Speaker 1 recommended.
00:13:42.396 Speaker 1 That was not going to happen. Dumpit picked up one of the arms.
00:13:49.156 Speaker 2 Unlike the other one, this one has most of the socket joint intact. The wires and
00:13:53.336 Speaker 2 tubes are cut pretty clean as well. I can make this work.
00:13:57.576 Speaker 1 Maybe there was some hope after all. The man was so lost in the project of fixing
00:14:02.856 Speaker 1 him that he hadn't even asked about payment. Perhaps the challenge was payment
00:14:07.416 Speaker 1 enough.
00:14:08.796 Speaker 2 So just one chainsaw arm then.
00:14:12.056 Speaker 1 Ethan opened his mouth to answer, but the sound of a siren in the distance cut him
00:14:16.736 Speaker 1 off. Fleabag seemed to shrink into the corner of the room reflexively.
00:14:22.816 Speaker 1 Dumpit felt around at his hip for something, then stumbled over to his cheap wooden
00:14:27.956 Speaker 1 desk with shaking hands. He pulled a sawn-off shotgun from the top drawer.
00:14:34.176 Speaker 1 What is that?
00:14:35.736 Speaker 2 Reed. Damn. First some lunatic guns down our boys, now this.
00:14:41.756 Speaker 2 Sometimes I wonder if we missed the Rapture by a couple decades.
00:14:46.056 Speaker 1 There was a commotion throughout the workshop. People raced around, donning
00:14:50.116 Speaker 1 makeshift armor, lifting crude-looking weapons. Dumpit opened his office door to
00:14:56.156 Speaker 1 join them, then looked down at Ethan in the wagon.
00:15:01.536 Speaker 2 It's a shame you can't fight.
00:15:03.476 Speaker 1 Ethan narrowed his eyes and lifted his chin toward Dumpit's false foot. How fast
00:15:09.416 Speaker 1 can you give me one of those? Dumpit grinned a piano key grin.
00:15:14.496 Speaker 2 [laughs] I think we're gonna get along just fine, Holy Man.
00:15:20.916 Speaker 2 Now hold still so I can get this in straight. Don't want you stumbling around when
00:15:24.736 Speaker 2 those crucifer bastards charge you.
00:15:27.156 Speaker 1 A moment later, Ethan got to his feet, testing out his balance on the iron point of
00:15:32.176 Speaker 1 his new foot. A new mod icon appeared in his HUD, The Foot
00:15:37.836 Speaker 1 Skewer. Ethan flashed his own wild grin.
00:15:43.096 Speaker 2 Looks like it's time to get medieval.
00:15:45.256 Speaker 2 [rock music]
00:15:52.436 Speaker 1 Part seven, Hail to the King.
00:15:57.816 Speaker 1 Dumpit finished strapping the spear to the side of Holy Man. What a name that was.
00:16:03.496 Speaker 1 Not that he was one to talk. He'd been born Randall Goodman. But Randall
00:16:09.576 Speaker 1 Goodman died 30 years ago. Dumpit had survived though, and he was gonna
00:16:15.616 Speaker 1 survive today too. Holy Man sneered with perfect white teeth. The dark
00:16:21.576 Speaker 1 stubble of a beard framed his perfect, powerful chin. Like Dumpit, this man
00:16:27.476 Speaker 1 had been remade, though he'd been made with much more patience, resources, and a
00:16:33.496 Speaker 1 hell of a lot more technology. Old world tech. Not even. Comic book
00:16:39.516 Speaker 1 tech.
00:16:41.156 Speaker 2 Now, you're sure you don't want a chainsaw arm instead?
00:16:44.716 Speaker 1 Why would I want a chainsaw arm?
00:16:47.316 Speaker 2 Why would you not?
00:16:49.156 Speaker 1 The sounds of fighting could be heard down the street. The Forge warriors were
00:16:53.496 Speaker 1 streaming out to reinforce. Dumpit should already be out there, but this important
00:16:58.356 Speaker 1 matter needed to be settled first. It's loud, unwieldy, and requires fuel,
00:17:04.436 Speaker 1 and if the chain breaks, it becomes little more than a noisemaker. Dumpit shook his
00:17:09.536 Speaker 1 head with deep disappointment. Some things you just couldn't teach.
00:17:16.836 Speaker 2 Fine. Move around a little. Let's see if it holds.
00:17:21.416 Speaker 1 Holy Man looked down at the sharpened rebar spear strapped to one shoulder, and then
00:17:26.476 Speaker 1 at the sheet of metal duct taped to the other for a makeshift shield. Then he jumped
00:17:32.116 Speaker 1 six feet straight up into the air. When he landed, the fireplace poker punched right
00:17:37.276 Speaker 1 through the concrete floor. He pulled it free, scattering little bits of concrete
00:17:41.576 Speaker 1 across the room. The makeshift weaponry held fast. Dumpit slapped the
00:17:47.396 Speaker 1 sawn-off barrel into his open palm and laughed.
00:17:51.296 Speaker 2 Boy, you are gonna tear him a new one.
00:17:54.976 Speaker 1 Holy Man narrowed his eyes. I'll tear them three.
00:17:59.696 Speaker 1 [laughs] And to think, this weapon just showed up on his doorstep.
00:18:05.056 Speaker 1 Unbelievable fortune. Sometimes the Lost God still worked his miracles,
00:18:10.856 Speaker 1 apparently Hell, Dumpit might even say a prayer or two if he lived. That seemed like
00:18:16.496 Speaker 1 a fair trade. As he walked out of the forge, he shielded his face from the burning
00:18:21.276 Speaker 1 sun and squinted one eye up at the pale blue sky.
00:18:25.036 Speaker 2 You hear that, big guy? Time to start making yourself useful.
00:18:35.196 Speaker 1 Ethan stepped out of the forge to find a defensive line of Crucifer acolytes, nine
00:18:41.196 Speaker 1 sweating, bloody young men. Bodies from both sides already lay on the dusty,
00:18:46.896 Speaker 1 broken asphalt between them. Ethan could hear more sounds of fighting on the next
00:18:51.956 Speaker 1 street over. It was impossible to tell how big the raid party was, which he supposed
00:18:57.416 Speaker 1 was probably the point. Dumpit looked over his shoulder and hissed at Ethan.
00:19:02.676 Speaker 2 Let's circle back around and make a sandwich.
00:19:05.936 Speaker 1 The man was already overweight in a place where that was a crime against humanity.
00:19:11.316 Speaker 2 You sure it's a good time for that? Get them from behind, I mean.
00:19:15.916 Speaker 1 Both the sandwich and the attack were immediately off the table, however, because
00:19:21.276 Speaker 1 the fighting from the next street stopped and another group of raiders turned the
00:19:26.256 Speaker 1 corner behind them. 11 more Crucifer acolytes and
00:19:32.056 Speaker 1 one grafted.
00:19:34.536 Speaker 2 Ah, pig feathers. Now we're screwed.
00:19:37.896 Speaker 1 The two groups of raiders boxed them in. Ethan jabbed a spear at one of them. The
00:19:43.096 Speaker 1 man must have thought it was a feint because he died with a cocky smile still on his
00:19:47.876 Speaker 1 face. Their advance halted there. The six uninjured forge workers, Dumpit,
00:19:53.956 Speaker 1 and Ethan pressed against each other back to back. Wait, where
00:20:00.036 Speaker 1 was Fleabag?
00:20:04.036 Speaker 1 Pastor Cutter smashed into the line of smirking acolytes with his makeshift plate
00:20:09.296 Speaker 1 iron shield. They scattered before him, allowing the rampaging cyborg
00:20:15.176 Speaker 1 through the line.
00:20:17.156 Speaker 2 Where's the boy?
00:20:18.756 Speaker 1 His second mind pinged him.
00:20:21.735 Speaker 2 Overclock.
00:20:23.516 Speaker 1 Time crawled nearly to a stop while he reviewed 10 seconds of footage caught from
00:20:29.136 Speaker 1 his peripheral vision just moments before. Five women in rags
00:20:34.936 Speaker 1 pulled a young boy from the forge building. He was kicking and screaming,
00:20:42.116 Speaker 1 screaming for Ethan.
00:20:44.236 Speaker 2 Why didn't you tell me sooner?
00:20:46.836 Speaker 1 His second mind did not respond. It didn't operate on emotion like his human
00:20:52.636 Speaker 1 mind. He was lucky a computer even considered notifying him at all. It
00:20:58.516 Speaker 1 wasn't part of his mission. In all actuality, he had no
00:21:04.536 Speaker 1 reason to care for the boy at all. He was one such soul among
00:21:09.876 Speaker 1 thousands like him, children of war. Why was this one any
00:21:15.876 Speaker 1 different? His second mind could not answer that question,
00:21:21.796 Speaker 1 but his first mind didn't even care. It mattered that he
00:21:27.756 Speaker 1 lived. It mattered that he was okay. He replayed the
00:21:33.656 Speaker 1 footage one more time, freezing on a frame where Fleabag reached out one
00:21:39.276 Speaker 1 last time before he went out of sight, mouthing the word,
00:21:44.776 Speaker 1 "Please."
00:21:56.096 Speaker 1 He released the overclock and rammed his spear through the sides of three acolytes,
00:22:00.956 Speaker 1 but he didn't stop running. He pushed until the entire line of soldiers on one side
00:22:06.836 Speaker 1 was either skewered on his spear, trampled beneath their combined mass, or knocked
00:22:12.436 Speaker 1 aside.
00:22:18.956 Speaker 1 Then he slammed the spear and all the people impaled on it into the side of the
00:22:24.616 Speaker 1 forge building.
00:22:27.196 Speaker 1 The spear stuck in the wall, leaving the corpses to hang in place like a shish
00:22:31.756 Speaker 1 kebab.
00:22:35.796 Speaker 1 When he tried to rip the spear out, it tore free from the strap on his shoulder
00:22:39.696 Speaker 1 instead, making it look like he intended to leave those victims there as a symbol.
00:22:46.776 Speaker 1 Ethan spun and faced the new line of soldiers, who were now a good 10
00:22:52.696 Speaker 1 feet further back.
00:22:58.096 Speaker 2 Where do you take the children?
00:23:00.676 Speaker 1 The remaining acolytes, no longer grinning with confidence, parted to let the
00:23:06.516 Speaker 1 grafted step forward.
00:23:12.916 Speaker 1 He stood almost a foot taller than anyone else. His lower jaw had been replaced by
00:23:18.936 Speaker 1 a thick piece of stainless steel. His arms from the elbow down had been replaced
00:23:24.796 Speaker 1 by two enormous axes which dripped with red liquid.
00:23:30.916 Speaker 1 The grafted were Crucifer's most elite, most insane warriors.
00:23:37.256 Speaker 1 If this man could even talk, he wouldn't be of much help. Well, Ethan would
00:23:43.196 Speaker 1 just have to make him talk. He charged the grafted with his shield raised.
00:23:49.156 Speaker 1 He would pummel him to the ground and break every bone in his body. He
00:23:54.916 Speaker 1 would... The grafted split the makeshift shield with one ax, then slammed the
00:24:00.696 Speaker 1 haft of the other into Ethan's thigh. He went down without even uttering a harsh
00:24:05.796 Speaker 1 word.
00:24:06.936 Speaker 2 Overclock.
00:24:08.596 Speaker 1 Which only gave him more time to consider the steel boot plummeting toward his face.
00:24:15.436 Speaker 1 There was no time to dodge. Overclocking gave him time to think. It didn't give
00:24:21.316 Speaker 1 him time to move faster. His second mind chirped. Yes,
00:24:27.356 Speaker 1 this steel boot could do potentially lethal damage to his human brain. At best,
00:24:33.976 Speaker 1 he would be unconscious, and that would be just as lethal. So
00:24:40.616 Speaker 1 he did the only thing he could. He sent one last
00:24:46.276 Speaker 1 message on the radio transmitter he didn't even know he
00:24:51.696 Speaker 1 had. Fern,
00:24:55.776 Speaker 1 detonate me.
00:25:37.116 Speaker 1 Four dozen people sat around an abandoned church just outside of Paradise. Rusty
00:25:42.556 Speaker 1 watched as still more filed into the tiny building. Maybe he should have gone to a
00:25:47.256 Speaker 1 bigger place. He rubbed at his jaw. It was definitely broken,
00:25:52.896 Speaker 1 fractured. Maybe the preacher knew some God magic to fix that. Or robot
00:25:58.516 Speaker 1 magic. Either worked. Rusty wasn't too particular. Someone started chanting.
00:26:04.876 Speaker 1 We want the show! But no one else picked up the chant. It was sundown,
00:26:10.856 Speaker 1 right? Was this the right place? Well, no one had told him a place. He got
00:26:16.816 Speaker 1 up and looked out a window. It was past sundown. He cursed inwardly. Hopefully
00:26:22.776 Speaker 1 no one got eaten for this. He sensed everyone's shared restlessness. Their
00:26:29.436 Speaker 1 shared hope. Maybe the preacher was busy. If he was busy,
00:26:35.576 Speaker 1 he was probably busy saving their bacon, one way or another. Rusty grumbled.
00:26:42.096 Speaker 1 Nothing for it, then. He'd have to give this evening's sermon at
00:26:47.456 Speaker 1 sundown himself. So he walked up to the podium and rubbed at his aching
00:26:53.456 Speaker 1 jaw. That scary boy had decked him good. But it also seemed like she'd
00:26:59.256 Speaker 1 pulled the punch. A little. Maybe it wasn't too late to get her house number.
00:27:06.436 Speaker 1 Rusty cleared his throat and let his gray jacket spread out behind him in what he
00:27:11.676 Speaker 1 hoped was a really cool way. Quiet down now, y'all. The
00:27:17.476 Speaker 1 holy man is off fighting some monsters on our behalf. Until he comes
00:27:23.196 Speaker 1 back, y'all gonna have to make do with me. To his surprise, they quieted
00:27:29.136 Speaker 1 down. More surprising still was the soft, shimmering glow at the edges
00:27:35.196 Speaker 1 of the room. It was hard to see if you looked right at it. It looked almost
00:27:41.256 Speaker 1 like the air rising off asphalt on a summer day. It was almost
00:27:47.056 Speaker 1 like power. Rusty grinned.
00:27:53.356 Speaker 1 Perhaps a little of that robot magic had rubbed off on him after all.