Volaxis: Episode 1
Source: collected/028-volaxis-episode-1.mp3
SHA-256: c7aaf6ee1643ffd457d0d522bf8c962f843e0926fc677504fac8bdbfc6edc1a1
Model: scribe_v2 | Transcribed: 2026-10-10T18:15:47.278913+00:00
Machine transcript — uncorrected. Speaker labels are local to this recording and do not identify people.

[00:00:00.080] Speaker 1: [gentle music]

[00:00:41.740] Speaker 1: Volaxis. Chapter One: False Flag. Reese Greystone strolled through the ration house, pretending to look at the food on the shelves. He waved at an elderly woman. He helped a lost child find their parent. He was a model citizen, greeting everyone at the door and making a show of being seen. And if he had to stay in this pigsty a moment longer, he was going to rob the place himself. Seriously, how long did it take to rob a store?

[00:01:16.660] Speaker 1: Reese walked up to the counter. The middle-aged man shook visibly when he approached. Reese took a step back, and the man calmed. Then he took another step closer. He began shaking. They even behaved like livestock. Reese looked for a house pin on the man's clothes out of habit. He shouldn't have bothered. He wouldn't find a house pin within 10 square blocks of this place. The man was houseless, so he couldn't own property. Perhaps they'd gone too deep into the commonery for this one. Did they even

[00:01:51.600] Speaker 1: know who he was? There wasn't much point if they didn't. His role today was to play hero. These people were to play the bystanders assaulted by the FMR terrorists in a robbery gone wrong, but ultimately saved by the legitimate Twinestone mage who happened to be in the area, Reese. He looked up and down at the man behind the counter. "Are you the tenant of this shop?" "I am, my lord." "I'm not your lord." The man grimaced as if in

[00:02:26.500] Speaker 1: actual pain. He was well-trained, at least. "I beg pardon, but you are. T-This is a Greystone tower, sir. Your tower." Ah. See, now that didn't fit the storyline. Saving his own profit was something a noble would do, but it wasn't a noble thing to do. Couldn't they have robbed a commonery tower instead? There were some of those left, right? He couldn't remember. By then, Reese had been there long enough to attract a

[00:03:01.380] Speaker 1: few dozen gawking commonery. As he surveyed them, they looked away, each pretending to be busy, like livestock. A small crowd of people who idled around the shop, never quite able to decide which of the identical bags of bread flour they wanted. Basically, people who were doing exactly what he was doing. Were they the robbers, perhaps? He hadn't been told this part of the plan, at his own insistence. It was hard to act when you knew what was coming, after all. So Reese

[00:03:36.240] Speaker 1: leaned on the counter and continued to play his part. The flowing sleeves of his robe spilled onto the rough wooden countertop. It looked like the grime had sunk an inch deep into the wood. This was the kinda place that never got clean again, no matter how much you scrubbed. A little fire might do some good, actually, especially now that he knew it was his property. He motioned for the shopkeeper to lean in with two fingers. Somehow, the shaking man quivered even more as he drew closer. Did he have some kinda condition? Nihlus

[00:04:11.180] Speaker 1: would be interested in that. "Have you been robbed already today?" "No. No, sir." "Are you sure?" The shopkeeper nodded enthusiastically. If this man shook any harder, something was going to fall off. He hooked a thumb at the door behind him. "My sons are working in the storeroom, sir. They have clubs." As if on cue, four men filed out of the wooden door behind the counter. Their laughter stopped as they took in the scene before them,

[00:04:46.140] Speaker 1: their quivering elderly father looking up at Reese in his imposing duelist robes as he leaned over the counter. The largest of them, the oldest brother perhaps, made a show of adjusting his belt. They were indeed armed with clubs. Reese spread his hands in a show of peace. "Hold on, fellas. I'm not the one robbing you." He was still thinking about how stupid that sounded when he heard a single footstep behind him. Someone slipped their thin arm casually around his torso,

[00:05:21.240] Speaker 1: almost like a lover embracing him from behind, and then he felt a sharp object press into his skin above his right kidney. He gritted his teeth and fought the urge to defend himself. This was all part of the plan. Just part of the plan. "Don't move, Noble." "Took you long enough." "You're gonna walk nice and slow into that back room. Don't make trouble. I know what primed magic looks like." "Ha. I don't think so. If you think you can threaten these people while I stand

[00:05:56.280] Speaker 1: by and do nothing..." The knife plunged into Reese's side, and his world shattered with pain. He gasped and threw himself forward and felt the knife slide back out of him. In an instant, the attacker was on top of him again. The knife flashed toward his throat. Reese threw up his green glowing right hand. He caught the knife in the metal that had grown like webbing between his fingers. The tip of the blade punched through the iron, stopping inches from his throat. He held it there, struggling between his fingers. His attacker leaned on the

[00:06:31.208] Speaker 1: knife with her entire body weight. It was a silent struggle. Real fights were like that, a quiet fight for control, marked only by the sounds of effort, and then the final dying sounds of the defeated. But that would not be him. His mind raced. This wasn't a farce like they'd planned. This person was trying to kill him. They were trying to kill him. Reese used his right hand, now covered in an inch of fresh iron, to wrench the knife from his attacker by twisting it out of her hands. She had dark hair and

[00:07:05.928] Speaker 1: tired eyes. Her yellowed teeth were locked in a grimace of rage and determination. Unexpectedly, she shifted her weight and let the knife be taken from her, then faked a jab at his face with the other hand. He flinched to block, and she used her knife hand, now empty, to punch him in the throat with quick, efficient blows. One, two, three. The room began to go black as Reese coughed. His vision was red at the edges. He tried to push away, but he was up against the counter. He tried to throw her off as she hit him again

[00:07:40.948] Speaker 1: and again, but she moved with his weight. Reese Greystone refused to be a victim. He refused to die on the floor. He was a twin stone mage, not some common street urchin. He roared in pain and defiance, spraying blood in her face. Then Reese's hands glowed blue this time. He slapped the ground to the left and right of them, and the stone simply fell away as if made of sand. He saw her eyes go wide for only an instant, and then they were both falling through the hole he'd punched in

[00:08:15.968] Speaker 1: the ground. They smashed onto the stone floor one level down. Reese heard an awful popping sound as they hit, unable to determine whether it was from his own body or from his enemy. He tried to sit up, but his body screamed in protest. The attacker was getting up next to him, so he prepared himself to defend. But instead, she started limping away. By the time he forced his own body up, she had already disappeared down the flight of stairs. That was when he heard the sound of zip lines through the hole in the ceiling. He saw flashes

[00:08:50.988] Speaker 1: of people in black outfits and masks. Everyone get on the ground. This is the FMR. We'll be relieving you of your personal belongings. Lay nice and still while we collect them now. That's right. Nope. Stay behind the counter. And you, empty that register. Of course. Now they come. A few seconds later, someone poked their head through the hole in the ceiling and lifted their mask to look down at him. Reese? What are you doing down there? Someone

[00:09:25.968] Speaker 1: stabbed me. I'm taking a shortcut. Meet me on the ground. What about the But Reese wasn't listening anymore. This was so much bigger than another false flag operation. He glanced at the stairwell. He'd never be able to catch her that way. Something warm was running down his side, and his mind was getting fuzzy. Every step was agony. So he stumbled into the closest stone wall before he could think better of it. His hands glowed blue, and a section of the wall disintegrated. Reese let himself

[00:10:00.788] Speaker 1: tumble through the hole into the early morning air. The street, six floors below, rapidly grew closer. Wind roared in his ears. As he fell, he wondered if he would pass out and fall to his death. A stupid thought. He'd practiced this a hundred times. But as the ground flew up at him, just like a hundred times before, he was certain he would die. With a force of will, his fingers, and only his fingers, glowed blue. He thrust his fingers into the side of the stone tower racing past him.

[00:10:36.588] Speaker 1: They sunk into the stone as if it were made of water. But in his stupor, he'd waited too long to slow his fall. His left arm ripped him upward violently, and he heard and felt an awful tearing sound in his shoulder. Reese screamed, but kept channeling his stone absorption. If he stopped, he would be hanging from the side of a building with a dislocated shoulder three stories up. He rode the side of the building down, dragging one hand through the stone to slow his fall. The pain was

[00:11:11.648] Speaker 1: unbearable. He clenched his teeth so hard he was worried they would break next. Reese fell in a sad, boneless pile to the street at the ground level. It was hardly heroic. Fire ran through his shoulder. Lava boiled on the other side of his body where the knife wound was. He looked up at the pale blue morning sky through the gaps in the stone towers. Little black silhouettes moving on thin black lines that ran between the buildings like a black spider's web. Even

[00:11:46.588] Speaker 1: though it was early, people still used the zip lines. Traffic never truly stopped in Valaxis. He just stared upward. There was no way he was getting up. He couldn't. So he just lay there in pain, waiting, knowing how stupid he'd been. How impulsive and reckless he'd been with his own life. And two of House Greystone's greatest treasures. Not that his father needed two more stones of power, but if his attacker collected them off his dead body No, no, that was

[00:12:21.376] Speaker 1: unacceptable. He would not arm the underground mages. So he had to stay alive. Some eternity later, a young woman burst through the street door at the base of the tower. Stop. She heard him, of course, stopped, and turned to look back at him. That was when he realized he was in no condition to fight her again. She looked around in confusion, probably wondering why her victim had gone to such great lengths to lay prostrate at

[00:12:56.416] Speaker 1: her feet. Surely it must be a trap. No, not a trap. I'm just an idiot. She stood over him, but just far enough out of reach to dodge. It was dark down there on the ground. If she was from the Free Magic Resistance, the real Free Magic Resistance, not his team dressed like them six floors up, this would be familiar territory to her. They loved dark, tight, filthy places like this. Not unlike other vermin, really. When

[00:13:31.456] Speaker 1: no one sprung out of the alleys to get her, the woman brought her foot back for a swift kick to his temple. And though he tried to dull the blow with a quick layer of iron plating on his head, the boot struck and Rhys started falling again, this time into complete darkness. Chapter Two South Bloom Towers Tessa watched the noble sleeping in her bed, and somehow it felt wrong. He shouldn't get the bed.

[00:14:07.456] Speaker 1: She would have put him on the floor, but he might do that stone-melting magic thing again and get away. More likely, given his injuries, ruin her floor and hurt himself. He seemed prone to that kind of thing. Maybe she should have just killed him and taken the stones for herself. It was an unbelievable fortune. If she could sell them without being killed in the process, no guarantees there. Too late for all that anyway. Things were already in motion. A safer deal, hopefully. It was

[00:14:42.356] Speaker 1: always smart to take the safer deal, even if you got paid a little less. Tessa was happy to let someone else take the heat from this one. She looked out the window again. If she stuck her head out the window and angled it just right, she could still see a sliver of blue sky. It wasn't a good idea to make a habit of that, though. Besides the eternal rain of pigeon droppings, she might get a face full of human droppings. People usually threw their waste down the chutes in the center of the tower. But it was a long walk for some, and the window was right

[00:15:17.176] Speaker 1: there. Tessa looked down the rows of identical stone towers outside. A few wretched souls stumbled around through the alleyways below, but most of the traffic was on the zip lines far above. She got up and paced around the room, stealing occasional glances at the door. Dawn, Frisk, and the others should have been back by now. Didn't they know how big this was? Everyone in the FMR would know soon. And that's what she was afraid of. Two stones of power. And a noble hostage to

[00:15:52.076] Speaker 1: sweeten the deal. I shouldn't have told Dawn. There was a rustling sound behind her. Tessa spun around, heart pounding, and reached for the knife in her belt. The movement made her arm roar in pain. She winced and awkwardly used the other hand instead. It wasn't there. Her knife wasn't there. A glance to the side. She'd left it on the desk. The pale man looked at her sleepily from her bed, unmoving. He'd lost a lot of blood on the way here. He looked so much different than the furious

[00:16:27.176] Speaker 1: warrior who had jumped off a building to chase her. Who did stuff like that? Even if you were a mage, you were still human. It smells like feet. Yeah, well, welcome to South Bloom. The smell grows on you. Who's Dawn? Your boss. I'll kill him first, saving you for last. Tessa walked over to the desk and

[00:17:02.036] Speaker 1: slipped her knife back into her belt, then sat down, propping her chin up on the uninjured arm. This man wasn't a threat anymore. Real life wasn't like those rooftop plays. Your enemies didn't get back up after wounds like this. They just laid there, waiting for the mercy of death. Your killing days are over. Look at yourself. The noble just grimaced. A feral, bloody grimace. His body was falling apart, but his spirit just didn't know when to quit. So who are

[00:17:36.876] Speaker 1: you? FMR? No. And it was the truth. That was her brother's thing. Freedom fighter. Revolutionary. It was gonna get him killed. He was the idealist. Tessa's vendetta was much more personal than that. Yeah, well, we'll see when my erasers get to work on you. It's funny you should mention that. And then the noble spirit was

[00:18:11.596] Speaker 1: finally cowed. The grimace turned ugly. Fearful. Apparently there were things that scared him. You're lying. You don't have an eraser. Tessa leaned back in her chair, trying to look relaxed, trying not to mess up her throbbing arm any further. It was definitely broken. When she didn't answer, he tried a different tactic instead. You got a name? Doesn't matter. Why?

[00:18:47.480] Speaker 1: Because in just a little bit, you won't remember my name, your name, or anything really. Just, uh, what's the word? She knew the word. Everyone knew the word. It was the Magisterium's favorite weapon. Oh yeah, blank. The noble winced, and again with that look of fear. It surprised her. This guy had been willing to chase her off a building, but he was afraid of losing his memories? How was death not

[00:19:22.420] Speaker 1: worse? He swallowed audibly, but continued speaking, also feigning confidence. Humory, what's your name? She thought about giving him a fake name. It was the smart thing to do. But really, what did it matter? This catch was so big she was either going straight to the top or going right down with him. It was almost enough to make her regret sticking him up. Almost. But her temper did what her temper did.

[00:19:57.720] Speaker 1: Tessa. Nice to meet you, Tessa. I'm going to kill you last. She rolled her eyes, and for the ten thousandth time, she looked at the door to her squat little apartment and wondered when the cavalry would finally get here. Best to just keep him talking if he was going to be awake. He might not survive another blow to the head. And you are? Rhys Greystone. A slow, knowing smile spread across

[00:20:32.700] Speaker 1: his face. She stared flatly at him. Am I supposed to know who that is? Greystone? Like, the name on the barrels? The what? Greystone. It's on all the barrels of grain that come in from the south. Yes, that Greystone. The barrels, the grain, the horses, the people. It's all ours. That and a thousand more things.

[00:21:07.320] Speaker 1: So, I'm supposed to be impressed because you make barrels? Rhys looked around as if searching for someone else to explain this to. One, I'm wasting my time. We can agree on that. Two, I changed my mind. What? And then Rhys raised a glowing green hand four feet from her face. I'm killing you first. Goodbye. Then his

[00:21:42.120] Speaker 1: glowing green hand flickered and died. He looked at his hand in alarm and confusion, as if it were a misbehaving machine he could shake back into working order. Tessa leaned back in her chair again. I force-fed you a null stone while you were sleeping. Small one, but it'll do the trick eventually, I think. You, you Tessa raised an eyebrow, waiting. Commonry trash! Basement-dwelling,

[00:22:15.980] Speaker 1: waste-bathing, tunnel-crawling. That was when the apartment door finally opened. Two men she didn't recognize stood there. Tessa rose from her chair. Dawn? Donnie? Where? Right here. Dawn stepped out from behind the other men. It's okay. They're with me. Tessa let her hand slide off the knife hilt and moved back out of their way. The two burly men came in. They wore all black, unadorned uniforms. They looked

[00:22:50.760] Speaker 1: surprised, for some reason. The one without facial hair shot a glance at the other. What, did they think she'd been lying about this? We'd better put a hood over him. Lord above, girl. You said you found him in a ration house? Yes. Then he jumped off a building, and we dragged him here. The two men exchanged another look. The same look, actually, just played again. Is he disarmed? I fed him a null stone.

[00:23:26.080] Speaker 1: One of the uniforms gave her a sharp nod, and then they wrapped up Rhys Greystone in a few blankets and lifted him as gently as they could. It was done quickly and professionally. I want it when it comes back out, too. Tessa just managed to catch Rhys' disgusted reaction before they left the room. She was certainly playing into his fiction of the commonry. Well, he might be able to let a null stone sliver go, but this was a fortune to her. Dawn idled in giddy anticipation

[00:24:00.960] Speaker 1: out in the hallway, watching the two men carry the concealed Rhys away. This is big. Tessa, do you understand how big this is? Nope. She tried to put both hands in her pockets, winced, then put only one hand in her pocket. That's the son of one of the most powerful houses in Velaxis, and he fell right into our laps. Really now, is that what you told them? Well, no. Don't worry. I told them you

[00:24:35.736] Speaker 1: helped. You told them I helped? I seem to remember doing a lot more than just helping, Don. Don turned to her and placed his hands on her shoulders. Then he lifted them off her shoulders and grasped at the air as if trying to crush two invisible rocks suspended there. You don't get it. That's okay. You don't need to get it. Just, I love you. I love you, I love you, love you, love you, love you.

[00:25:11.016] Speaker 1: Tessa gave him a faint smile. This was next level, even for Don. We getting drinks later then? Drinks? Tessa, I'm gonna buy you a tavern. I'd like to buy my own tavern, if that's all right. He pointed a finger at her and flashed a brilliant smile. Ten taverns. You can have your own damn tower once we topple the Magisterium. Hold on, Donnie. I'm not waiting that long. I want to get paid, like, right the hell

[00:25:45.796] Speaker 1: now. They know that, right? Of course, sis. Of course. He started to spin away from her, but she grabbed him by the shoulder and turned him back, gently. Donnie, tell me I'm gonna get paid for this. He grimaced, and Tessa knew things were about to get ugly. Control, control, control the anger. Listen, if you get paid, then there's proof you were involved.

[00:26:20.956] Speaker 1: Honestly, Tess, we're lucky you're not going to the Eraser, too. The world started to boil and close in on her all at once. Her vision narrowed to a point. I'm getting paid. Tessa, please don't make this a thing. She fired a simmering look at him, and Don took a step back, hands raised. He was not ruining this for her. Payday didn't matter. She wasn't going to buy a tavern.

[00:26:56.016] Speaker 1: She wasn't going to buy drinks. She was going to buy something far, far more important. Don knew that, and that made it hurt even worse. He knew what he was withholding from her. I want to talk to them, your goons at the FMR. Tessa, it's not going to bring her back. You can't buy something like that. You can, actually. There's a price. Don started to speak again, but stopped as Tessa

[00:27:30.896] Speaker 1: brought her hands very slowly to his shirt collar and grabbed it tightly. She ignored the blaring alarm of pain in her right arm as she pulled his face toward her. Even though she was a full six inches shorter than him, he recoiled from her. Take me to them. I can't. I can't. Listen, they're taking him to To And then she released his shirt and walked right past him, because she

[00:28:05.596] Speaker 1: knew where they were taking Rhys now. It was almost too easy to get information out of her brother. He might be the revolutionary, but he was a coward, in his own way. Tessa, don't Don't go. They'll kill you. She didn't look back. No. They won't.