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Source: collected/023-mortal-steel-pilot-episode-1.mp3
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00:00:00.000 Speaker 1 [rock music]
00:00:07.060 Speaker 1 Mortal
00:00:52.180 Speaker 1 Steel. Prologue: Unmaking. Six
00:00:58.120 Speaker 1 months ago.
00:01:01.120 Speaker 1 Gabriel Kline waited for the people on the other end of the video call to die.
00:01:06.900 Speaker 1 Everyone still with him in the conference room averted their eyes, but not Gabriel.
00:01:12.320 Speaker 1 Gabriel stared directly into the eyes of a doomed man. Professor
00:01:17.840 Speaker 1 Saitama did not turn away from the camera as people piled furniture against the
00:01:22.580 Speaker 1 doors in the video behind him.
00:01:25.280 Speaker 2 We are releasing everything we worked on. Please do not
00:01:31.080 Speaker 2 judge us harshly for what you find.
00:01:33.460 Speaker 1 "It is not my judgment you should fear."
00:01:39.960 Speaker 1 Something collided with the doors in Saitama's conference room, causing their
00:01:44.460 Speaker 1 makeshift furniture barricade to shudder. People screamed and spoke hurriedly in
00:01:49.720 Speaker 1 Japanese. Saitama's gaze did not waver, though, and neither did Gabriel's.
00:01:55.720 Speaker 1 He would not miss a moment of this magnificent man's life.
00:02:01.120 Speaker 2 Should I beg forgiveness then?
00:02:03.460 Speaker 1 "It couldn't hurt, old friend." Someone started sobbing next
00:02:09.479 Speaker 1 to Gabriel, and he put his hand out for them to hold. Marie gripped the hand
00:02:14.720 Speaker 1 tightly, as if she could prevent the Japanese team's fate simply by holding on tight
00:02:20.020 Speaker 1 enough. Something hit the door again hard enough to scatter the barricade. People
00:02:25.340 Speaker 1 hurried to rebuild it, but it was futile. A long, pale snout pushed
00:02:31.360 Speaker 1 through the buckling barricade. More people braced the door itself. An inhuman
00:02:37.060 Speaker 1 hand with sagging pale skin and only three fingers slid through the opening
00:02:42.920 Speaker 1 crack. Still the Japanese team braced the door with as many people as could fit
00:02:47.780 Speaker 1 around it. The creature raked its dagger claws across the women and men bracing the
00:02:53.640 Speaker 1 door until none could hold it any longer. Tears streamed down Gabriel's
00:02:59.340 Speaker 1 face, but still he watched as the demons tore the door from its hinges and
00:03:05.240 Speaker 1 ripped into the people on the video feed. Nightmarish creatures with impossible
00:03:10.840 Speaker 1 proportions, like tall dogs with reverse joints, sagging skin, and
00:03:16.660 Speaker 1 no hair. Professor Saitama stared forward into the camera, chin held high,
00:03:22.760 Speaker 1 awaiting his fate.
00:03:24.880 Speaker 2 Arigato, Gabriel.
00:03:28.200 Speaker 1 Mercifully, the other man cut the video feed just as the massacre began. Gabriel
00:03:33.400 Speaker 1 Kline stared at the black screen where his friend's face had been just moments
00:03:37.700 Speaker 1 before. A living, breathing, wonderful man and his dedicated team of
00:03:43.500 Speaker 1 selfless heroes, torn apart for the crime of existing. Gabriel
00:03:49.260 Speaker 1 placed a hand on the black screen and bowed his head, letting the warm tears patter
00:03:54.440 Speaker 1 down onto his robes. "Arigato, Saitama."
00:04:02.360 Speaker 1 Pastor Ethan Cutter was wheeled down the hallway of the Advanced Clinic, the only
00:04:07.500 Speaker 1 such building in Last Respite, one of the three remaining human strongholds in the
00:04:12.320 Speaker 1 old Los Angeles area. It differed from the other clinics in Last Respite. Those were
00:04:18.100 Speaker 1 hot, cramped buildings packed with people too sick to cure, too injured to heal.
00:04:24.060 Speaker 1 If you went to a clinic, you usually went there to die. The Advanced Clinic, in
00:04:28.980 Speaker 1 stark contrast, was the pinnacle of human achievement. It was the place you went to
00:04:33.720 Speaker 1 become something greater. But like the other clinics, it was a place you usually
00:04:38.980 Speaker 1 went to die. Ethan told himself he was prepared to die. He'd told everyone else
00:04:44.860 Speaker 1 that at every step along the way. But as they prepped him for surgery, he found that
00:04:49.580 Speaker 1 he was actually terrified. Maybe it wasn't too late to back out.
00:04:55.740 Speaker 1 Dr. Marie Singer glanced at a rapidly beeping machine. "Your heart rate's rising."
00:05:00.580 Speaker 1 "What can I expect here, Doc?" She smiled reassuringly and
00:05:06.540 Speaker 1 held his hand as they wheeled his gurney into the operating room. "Oh, this'll be
00:05:11.980 Speaker 1 easier than any of your training until now. This step is on us. We'll take good care
00:05:17.920 Speaker 1 of you." Just like they'd taken care of the first three candidates before him,
00:05:24.440 Speaker 1 the ones that had died on the operating room floor. He wasn't supposed to know about
00:05:30.000 Speaker 1 that, but people talked. Dr. Singer glanced at his vitals again and frowned.
00:05:36.000 Speaker 1 "Ethan. Can I call you Ethan?" "Yes." "Ethan, you
00:05:41.900 Speaker 1 need to calm down." "I just need to know what to expect." She pursed
00:05:47.920 Speaker 1 her lips, clearly uncomfortable with talking about the next step. Ethan knew in the
00:05:53.320 Speaker 1 abstract what was happening, of course. He'd signed up for it, after all. But he
00:05:58.780 Speaker 1 needed to know. If he knew, he could face it. All of which was
00:06:04.296 Speaker 1 ridiculous, of course, because he'd be unconscious for it. Somehow it still mattered
00:06:09.336 Speaker 1 to him. The doors to the operating room slammed closed with finality. There was the
00:06:15.036 Speaker 1 sound of an air seal, and then all of them were bathed in an antiseptic mist. Dr.
00:06:21.216 Speaker 1 Singer waited until the mist stopped to speak. We're going to make you into
00:06:27.116 Speaker 1 something better. You will still be you, just more.
00:06:33.356 Speaker 1 In order to do that, first we have to unmake you. There is no better
00:06:39.256 Speaker 1 word for this. The first two-thirds of the operation will be removing body parts and
00:06:44.756 Speaker 1 keeping you stable. It's a delicate balance between working fast enough to keep you
00:06:50.016 Speaker 1 alive and working slow enough to not make any errors. Ethan turned away from
00:06:56.016 Speaker 1 the surgeon and stared straight up at the ceiling. That was all he needed to hear. A
00:07:01.636 Speaker 1 mission. He gave that mission a singular focus. Hmm.
00:07:08.176 Speaker 1 Heart rate's falling. She leaned over him and placed an oxygen mask on his face. Dr.
00:07:14.456 Speaker 1 Singer held his hand again and squeezed tight. She dropped the reassuring smile,
00:07:19.616 Speaker 1 which must have been effective on children, and gave him a serious, humorless gaze
00:07:25.036 Speaker 1 instead, searching his face with those intelligent dark brown eyes. Ethan
00:07:31.036 Speaker 1 felt the anesthesia start to kick in. Will you fight for me, Ethan?
00:07:37.376 Speaker 1 For all of us? Yes. I will fight.
00:07:43.976 Speaker 1 And then the world faded into nothing, and his fight began.
00:07:51.736 Speaker 1 Part one. The Messenger. Six months later.
00:07:58.276 Speaker 1 Pastor Ethan Cutter, ordained minister and cyborg, waited
00:08:04.336 Speaker 1 outside the Archbishop's office door, his face four and two-quarter inches from
00:08:10.336 Speaker 1 the wood. The wood was an old-world hardwood with a synthetic lacquer. It had an
00:08:16.036 Speaker 1 approximate breaching strength of zero point four tons. Ethan shook his head to
00:08:21.236 Speaker 1 clear the simulations for suggested breaching points. Just a moment. Just a
00:08:26.976 Speaker 1 moment. An elderly man in ornate red robes opened the door and smiled up at
00:08:32.896 Speaker 1 Ethan. Sorry for the wait. It's a chore just to get up at my age. He
00:08:38.596 Speaker 1 turned and walked back into his office, leaving the door open for Ethan to follow
00:08:43.136 Speaker 1 him. I don't suppose you have that problem, though, do you? Negative.
00:08:49.236 Speaker 1 Ethan winced at his own words. No, sir. Archbishop
00:08:54.856 Speaker 1 Gabriel Klein collapsed into his large office chair behind his desk and gave Ethan a
00:09:00.536 Speaker 1 look of undisguised exhaustion. Do you even sleep?
00:09:06.776 Speaker 1 Ethan moved into the room, ignoring the fourteen yellow warning marks that flashed
00:09:11.616 Speaker 1 around the room on his HUD, warning him of potential dangers like hidden weapons or
00:09:16.856 Speaker 1 secret entrances. Sometimes. Not like I used to. The
00:09:22.776 Speaker 1 Archbishop motioned for him to have a seat. Ethan didn't know how to tell the man
00:09:27.576 Speaker 1 that he didn't need to, that his titanium joints experienced no strain from
00:09:32.616 Speaker 1 standing, that even if he did feel discomfort, he could simply turn it off.
00:09:39.176 Speaker 1 Please, sit. Yes, sir. Ethan sat down without even considering
00:09:45.236 Speaker 1 it. That unnerved him. Had he chosen to sit? More
00:09:50.856 Speaker 1 importantly, could he have chosen not to?
00:09:55.256 Speaker 1 Yes, he could still choose. The Archbishop folded his hands and watched
00:10:01.096 Speaker 1 him carefully. His skin showed early signs of melanoma, most of it benign, but the
00:10:07.096 Speaker 1 spot on his neck was ninety-four percent likely to be malignant and growing. The
00:10:12.396 Speaker 1 outlook, considering his age and other cursory data, was not good. You have skin
00:10:17.896 Speaker 1 cancer. The Archbishop's eyebrows went up. Then he spun in his office chair and
00:10:23.896 Speaker 1 looked out the window behind him. It wasn't a real window. Windows were defensive
00:10:29.836 Speaker 1 weak points. It was a real-time video feed of the view from the other side of the
00:10:35.296 Speaker 1 four-foot concrete and steel wall, and that served the purpose for his thoughtful
00:10:40.356 Speaker 1 stare. I'll consider myself lucky to die of skin cancer.
00:10:46.376 Speaker 1 The electronic part of Ethan's mind didn't really know what to do with statements
00:10:50.556 Speaker 1 like that. It started searching for old movie and TV quotes and feeding him
00:10:56.136 Speaker 1 ideas. It liked those one-liners for some reason. He shoved the unwanted information
00:11:02.176 Speaker 1 away. He did that a lot lately. This was something he could handle himself.
00:11:08.936 Speaker 1 What's wrong? Archbishop Klein looked over his shoulder and gave him a weak smile.
00:11:15.376 Speaker 1 We're living on borrowed time, Cutter. All of us. When the strongholds in
00:11:21.196 Speaker 1 Mexico finally fall, they'll circle back north to clean us up. And that's all it
00:11:26.856 Speaker 1 will be. Cleanup. Ethan let the words hang dramatically
00:11:32.576 Speaker 1 between them for just a moment. There was more here. Klein wasn't the type to
00:11:38.516 Speaker 1 lay down and die. Unless... Unless we do something
00:11:45.156 Speaker 1 drastic. Archbishop Klein turned all the way around and met Ethan's eyes.
00:11:51.256 Speaker 1 He started to speak, but hesitated. I'm not ready to reveal the full extent
00:11:57.276 Speaker 1 of that plan. I would probably be killed if I did. Not even to me?
00:12:04.136 Speaker 1 Klein let out a short,
00:12:07.376 Speaker 1 Especially to you. Four months ago, Pastor Ethan Cutter had awoken from his coma
00:12:13.704 Speaker 1 just hours before they started disassembling him. They'd given up on his recovery
00:12:19.064 Speaker 1 and were repurposing the parts for the next candidate. Despite his miraculous
00:12:23.764 Speaker 1 recovery and the ultimate success of the Hail Mary project, they had not warmed much
00:12:29.664 Speaker 1 toward him since then. In truth, the leadership of the advanced clinic had
00:12:34.884 Speaker 1 considered dismantling him four separate times. He wasn't supposed to know that,
00:12:41.424 Speaker 1 but keeping his second mind from rifling through unprotected data was like keeping a
00:12:46.864 Speaker 1 hungry dog from its food. "But you don't need to know my entire
00:12:52.484 Speaker 1 plan to do your part in it." Archbishop Klein absentmindedly touched the spot on his
00:12:58.564 Speaker 1 neck, then abruptly stood and straightened his robe, straightened his back,
00:13:04.284 Speaker 1 lifted his chin, and narrowed his eyes. "I'm letting you out of your
00:13:09.944 Speaker 1 cage, Ethan. Are you ready to kill some goddamn
00:13:15.304 Speaker 1 demons?" Both halves of Pastor Ethan Cutter's mind were in complete
00:13:21.264 Speaker 1 alignment on his answer. For the first time since he woke, all of him
00:13:26.944 Speaker 1 wanted the same thing. "Yes, sir." "Good.
00:13:33.124 Speaker 1 Now go." The archbishop nodded once and waved in dismissal. Ethan spun his right
00:13:39.184 Speaker 1 hand like a drill bit, then clenched the fist and stepped into the hallway. He
00:13:44.424 Speaker 1 looked back over his shoulder at the archbishop. "I'll give 'em heaven."
00:13:54.504 Speaker 1 The conference room was standing room only today. Gabriel didn't often leave
00:14:00.364 Speaker 1 his post at the advanced clinic. They had teleconferencing, after all. But this
00:14:06.244 Speaker 1 emergency meeting necessitated the leaders of the Last Respite Holy Military Base
00:14:12.224 Speaker 1 meet in person. Somehow, the practice of meetings had survived the
00:14:17.524 Speaker 1 apocalypse. Figures. Meetings, like cockroaches, could never
00:14:23.104 Speaker 1 truly die.
00:14:25.584 Speaker 1 Archbishop Lucius, Chair of Public Communications, was standing and
00:14:31.124 Speaker 1 screaming, like usual. He pointed an accusing finger at the seated Gabriel.
00:14:36.824 Speaker 1 "You let it out?" "He has access to only thirty
00:14:42.704 Speaker 1 percent of the designed weapon systems." "It's an abomination.
00:14:48.664 Speaker 1 Who knows what the Japanese hid in that tech?" Gabriel ignored both lines
00:14:54.604 Speaker 1 of argument. This wasn't about public safety or blasphemy or
00:14:59.944 Speaker 1 espionage. What would the now deceased Japanese research team hide anyway?
00:15:06.164 Speaker 1 Professor Saitama had been honorable and faithful to their shared cause until the
00:15:10.644 Speaker 1 very end. Gabriel felt that it was sometimes better to let a friend stab
00:15:16.624 Speaker 1 you in the back, to fully trust some people and simply hope for
00:15:22.664 Speaker 1 the best rather than live in paranoia. Lucius was not one of those
00:15:28.444 Speaker 1 people. "He hasn't hurt anyone." "Yet.
00:15:34.484 Speaker 1 What about that incident at the firing range?" Gabriel ground his teeth.
00:15:40.484 Speaker 1 "If the bar for technology is perfection, we will never
00:15:46.224 Speaker 1 make another advance. Perhaps we should fight the demons with
00:15:51.424 Speaker 1 reliable sharpened sticks, Lucius." "Don't mock me."
00:15:57.004 Speaker 1 "Gentlemen, please." Bishop Erica Long,
00:16:02.984 Speaker 1 ever the mediator, raised her hands between them. The rest of the room was
00:16:07.704 Speaker 1 remarkably quiet. The other factions in the church seemed content to let these two
00:16:12.724 Speaker 1 duke it out. Erica leveled a serious gaze at Gabriel. "You
00:16:18.564 Speaker 1 released an experimental and dangerous prototype into an
00:16:24.324 Speaker 1 encampment of civilians. We at least deserve an explanation."
00:16:30.564 Speaker 1 Gabriel ignored the self-satisfied look on Lucius' face. He took a deep
00:16:36.304 Speaker 1 breath. How to convincingly reveal just the tip of the plan.
00:16:41.884 Speaker 1 "There is a possessed in the outskirts known as Stalker, a
00:16:47.764 Speaker 1 former priest." A wave of uncomfortable muttering went through the assembly.
00:16:54.224 Speaker 1 This was a sore topic. The rebel priest had been well-liked until he'd
00:17:00.184 Speaker 1 taken a demon into his heart and set himself up as a leader in the outskirts
00:17:05.404 Speaker 1 surrounding Last Respite. Old Los Angeles had been a populous place thirty years
00:17:10.784 Speaker 1 ago. Not everyone could fit inside this fortification. Not even close.
00:17:16.344 Speaker 1 "I've sent Pastor Cutter to find him, and if he can,
00:17:22.784 Speaker 1 kill him." "What?" Lucius slammed his hands on the table, and
00:17:28.804 Speaker 1 the room fell into disorder as people fought to speak. Bishop Erica was unable to
00:17:33.844 Speaker 1 bring order to the room. Gabriel ignored the lobbed insults and waited, seated
00:17:39.464 Speaker 1 patiently in his chair until the room calmed enough to speak again. "The
00:17:45.584 Speaker 1 Stalker has a psychic link back to the southern demonic horde. He's feeding
00:17:51.304 Speaker 1 information to them. If we intend to survive the year, we need to sever that line of
00:17:57.244 Speaker 1 communication." Lucius' face was a deep red. He was about to start
00:18:03.124 Speaker 1 another tirade when Erica spoke first. "You should have spoken to us first,
00:18:09.004 Speaker 1 Gabriel." Gabriel tried his best to look apologetic. If he had
00:18:14.911 Speaker 1 spoken to them first, it would have taken a week to drag every leader into the same
00:18:19.412 Speaker 1 room, assuming that they would even approve his mission. He'd accomplished the same
00:18:24.812 Speaker 1 outcome here, and much quicker, if a little more heated.
00:18:30.772 Speaker 1 But I agree with the strategy. You can't be serious, Erica.
00:18:36.892 Speaker 1 It's worth the attempt, Lucius. Besides, if he fails, the Hail Mary
00:18:42.472 Speaker 1 prototype will be destroyed in the process. Lucius seemed mollified by that.
00:18:48.492 Speaker 1 He was a hothead, but not an idiot. Either way, he would gain something. He wanted
00:18:53.752 Speaker 1 to see the cyborg project killed. Bishop Erica Long turned to Gabriel again, and she
00:18:59.652 Speaker 1 raised her voice as if to speak for the entire room. Let's see what your
00:19:05.652 Speaker 1 pet project can do. It walks a dangerous line with blasphemy, though.
00:19:13.852 Speaker 1 But it's either this or we ask New Hope or Crucifer for help.
00:19:20.392 Speaker 1 Lucius' face darkened at the mention of the rival denominations, only a
00:19:26.032 Speaker 1 shade lighter than the demons themselves in his eyes. And just like that, he was
00:19:31.852 Speaker 1 sold on the plan. Do you have the detonator, Gabriel?
00:19:37.772 Speaker 1 Gabriel nodded once. Give it to me. He hesitated, but
00:19:43.552 Speaker 1 knew he'd lose this one. He'd already used up all his political capital on this
00:19:49.152 Speaker 1 earlier stunt. So he fished the detonator remote out of his pants pocket from
00:19:54.352 Speaker 1 beneath his robes and put it in Bishop Erica's outstretched hand. If he goes
00:19:59.912 Speaker 1 rogue or doesn't report in or lays a single hand on an innocent,
00:20:06.392 Speaker 1 I will slag him. Unfortunately, she had the power to do that.
00:20:13.092 Speaker 1 They could monitor everything he saw and did through his eyes, unbeknownst
00:20:19.051 Speaker 1 to him. Gabriel would just have to hope that the cyborg didn't have another
00:20:24.512 Speaker 1 accident. He looked around the room. Every one of his peers had
00:20:30.392 Speaker 1 the same look of resolve on their faces. This was the outcome they all
00:20:36.252 Speaker 1 expected.
00:20:38.592 Speaker 1 I understand.
00:20:48.932 Speaker 1 Pastor Cutter stood in the armory amidst the hum of activity. For reasons he didn't
00:20:54.092 Speaker 1 understand, he was given only thirty minutes to prepare for this mission. Given its
00:20:59.512 Speaker 1 apparent importance, that didn't make much sense. But he found it physically
00:21:04.632 Speaker 1 difficult to question orders. So he waited patiently as women prodded and adjusted
00:21:10.532 Speaker 1 the thousands of parts that made up his new body. They were all women, wearing
00:21:16.112 Speaker 1 identical black and white robes with simple headdresses. Nuns.
00:21:22.292 Speaker 1 Half a dozen hands pulled on him, filling internal containers with unidentified
00:21:27.692 Speaker 1 liquids, running last-minute diagnostics. Meanwhile, the
00:21:33.512 Speaker 1 table in front of him was being covered with a selection of external equipment.
00:21:38.112 Speaker 1 There was no way he could carry it all, so he was already making a mental inventory
00:21:42.732 Speaker 1 of the pieces he knew he wanted. Without asking, that inventory was being tracked in
00:21:47.952 Speaker 1 a list on his HUD. Even after four months living with the second mind bolted on,
00:21:53.872 Speaker 1 its capabilities, however mundane, still surprised him. It seemed like the
00:21:59.572 Speaker 1 Japanese had thought of everything. Ethan picked up the first item on the list,
00:22:05.752 Speaker 1 marked high priority. It was a comically large handgun, jet
00:22:11.592 Speaker 1 black with silver ornamentation. Silver crosses marked the sides of the gun's grip
00:22:17.552 Speaker 1 with another thin silver cross on the top for iron sights. He turned it around in
00:22:23.512 Speaker 1 his right hand. The weight felt right. Just six months ago, he'd have
00:22:29.532 Speaker 1 to fire this weapon from a seated position just to stay upright from the recoil. The
00:22:35.092 Speaker 1 nun still laying equipment on the table paused when she saw him pick up the gun. You
00:22:40.812 Speaker 1 like that? That's my personal handiwork. It fires custom silver lead
00:22:46.352 Speaker 1 ammunition. You could take down a T-Rex with that. Does it have a name? A
00:22:52.272 Speaker 1 name? It's just a gun. Ethan narrowed his eyes. Not in
00:22:58.172 Speaker 1 my hands.
00:23:02.452 Speaker 1 All right. What's its name then? Ethan responded without hesitation.
00:23:09.092 Speaker 1 The Messenger. Even though it was his first time holding the weapon, he
00:23:14.892 Speaker 1 placed it in his hip holster with practiced precision. The gun was so long it
00:23:20.352 Speaker 1 spanned from his hip almost down to his knee. What's your name?
00:23:26.432 Speaker 1 Sister Fran. Nice to meet you, Sister Fran. Oh, we've met before,
00:23:32.732 Speaker 1 number four. We have? Of course. You were asleep,
00:23:39.032 Speaker 1 but we've been there since the beginning. Who do you think keeps you running? It's
00:23:43.732 Speaker 1 us.
00:23:45.692 Speaker 1 Ethan looked around at the nuns working around him. People staring at computer
00:23:50.632 Speaker 1 screens with cables running directly into his body. People muttering to each other
00:23:55.592 Speaker 1 in hushed, serious conversations as they pointed at numbers on a larger screen above
00:24:00.552 Speaker 1 him. He recognized one of the nuns. The surgeon, Marie. The last person
00:24:06.452 Speaker 1 he saw before the anesthesia kicked in. He turned his focus back to Sister Fran.
00:24:12.972 Speaker 1 Thank you "You're welcome. Try not to get too beat up. Every bullet hole is
00:24:18.996 Speaker 1 more work for us. Now hold still." She smiled gently and lifted his left
00:24:24.776 Speaker 1 arm. A valve opened in his wrist and Sister Fran began carefully pouring liquid into
00:24:30.536 Speaker 1 the hole, her face a mask of focus. Perhaps this was holy water.
00:24:36.576 Speaker 1 It would be good to have some on hand in case he actually found the possessed man
00:24:40.856 Speaker 1 today. It was a solid defense against psychic intrusion and could ward off lesser
00:24:46.156 Speaker 1 demonic creatures. "Is this the holy water?" "Hmm? Water?"
00:24:51.996 Speaker 1 "Yes. Did you bless the water?" Fran looked around at her
00:24:57.976 Speaker 1 co-workers as if there were some mistake. "Sir, we blessed the
00:25:03.656 Speaker 1 napalm." A wide grin spread across Ethan's face.
00:25:08.536 Speaker 1 "I like you, Fran." A red light flashed above Ethan and the
00:25:14.176 Speaker 1 nuns hurried over to him to start unplugging cables and sealing valves. Once they
00:25:19.256 Speaker 1 were done, he looked like a regular human being again. Almost. "We're out of
00:25:25.116 Speaker 1 time. You need to move." Ethan nodded. Two nuns started pushing open
00:25:31.076 Speaker 1 the heavy steel door, leaning on the door with all their weight as they walked. The
00:25:36.856 Speaker 1 other dozen or so nuns stood in a loose group around him, parting just enough so he
00:25:42.496 Speaker 1 could leave. They stopped looking at monitors, stopped adjusting machines.
00:25:48.436 Speaker 1 They had dark circles under their eyes. Each of them was covered in grease and
00:25:53.716 Speaker 1 sweating through their heavy robes. And yet, they were all smiling. He might
00:25:59.556 Speaker 1 never know the debt he owed these people. He didn't even know most of their names.
00:26:05.376 Speaker 1 Sister Fran gave him a thumbs up. "God go with you." Then she rushed over to the
00:26:11.316 Speaker 1 table, still loaded with equipment he couldn't reasonably carry, and handed him a
00:26:16.796 Speaker 1 pair of grenades. "But, just in case, take these too." Ethan
00:26:22.736 Speaker 1 gave the group a sharp nod of thanks, then started toward the doorway, bright with
00:26:28.656 Speaker 1 light from the outside world. The forty-foot concrete walls surrounding Last
00:26:34.196 Speaker 1 Respite came slowly into view as he walked out of the advanced clinic. What was left
00:26:40.156 Speaker 1 of humanity withered and died outside those walls. The outskirts were a
00:26:45.936 Speaker 1 lawless hellscape where the strong made the rules and the weak got trampled.
00:26:52.556 Speaker 1 The apocalypse had come and gone here. This was just the fight to determine
00:26:58.596 Speaker 1 who would rule over the rubble. Today, he was finally going to get a say in whether
00:27:04.236 Speaker 1 that would be good, compassionate people, or literal demons. Truthfully,
00:27:10.336 Speaker 1 he didn't know whether he was an instrument of God's will or not, but he was an
00:27:15.416 Speaker 1 instrument of retribution. A lot of prayers had gone unanswered in the last thirty
00:27:20.876 Speaker 1 years. Most of them he couldn't do anything about. But for those few who
00:27:26.756 Speaker 1 prayed for retribution, well, they were about to get their
00:27:32.596 Speaker 1 prayers answered.