1.10 If You Have A House, Live In It

Our heroes are resolved - but are their loved ones so happy about their new mission? Ibra takes their leave. Gordon reveals the hard truth. Fran makes a tiny friend. JJ faces the music.

-- links --

Website: wanderingpathpod.com

Support our show: patreon.com/wanderingpathpod

-- sponsors --

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-- cast & crew --

Created by Mischa Stanton

Produced by Bex Taylor-Klaus, Lyn Rafil, & Mischa Stanton

Gamemaster: Mischa Stanton

Ibra: Bex Taylor-Klaus

JJ: Lyn Rafil

Gordon: Ian McQuown

Fran: Mayanna Berrin

Sound design: Mischa Stanton

Cover art: Lyn Rafil

Transcript assistance: Darby Summers

Music: Independent Music Licensing Collective

Production & House Manager: Erin Bark

-- about --

The Wandering Path is an actual-play podcast putting complex characters, resonant themes and engaging new mechanics at the heart of immersive adventures. We’re making the stories we want to see in the world, one game session at a time! Join us for our first season, as we dive to the heart of the City of New Prosper: a techno-magical metropolis on the rise, where those who seek to craft themselves a new future will first have to settle the debts they owe the past. New episodes every other Monday.

— transcript —

Mayanna: Last time on The Wandering Path.

[Theme music begins in background of recap].

Mischa: There was just a nice dinner party at Gordon's house, and they cooked stuffed eggplant and yogurt sauce, and everyone had a nice time, and no one had a breakdown, and everything was fine! And that's why the gang needs to get/procure and/or steal some extra funicular passes and also possibly break into the governor's office who is also Paz's dad. Completely normal. Everything is fine. I'm fine! All caught up? Okay, then let's see what's around the bend today on The Wandering Path.

[Theme music fades out].

Mischa: Hello, my lovelies. Welcome back to the show. 

Mayanna: Thank you, hi. 

Ian: What a start. 

Mayanna: It's so nice to be a lovely. 

Mischa: Yeah!

Lyn: Yeah.

Mayanna: What a gift. What a treat. 

Ian: But see, now pitch that into a scary voice. And go. 

Mischa: Hello, my lovelies. (Mischievous cackle).

Ian: Different vibe. Yup, see.

Lyn: I kinda like it.

Mayanna: Ohhhh. Is this our Halloween episode? (laughs).

Lyn: No.

Mischa: Like mid-fall, I think. Mid-fall. 

Mayanna: Hey, that's close!

Lyn: That's relatively close. 

Mayanna: That's close to Halloween.

Lyn: All of fall is Halloween. 

Mischa: Falloween. That's what we call it in this world. 

Mayanna: Falloween, ooh.

Ian: There it is. You beat me to it. 

Mischa: Just before we start the game today, I just did want to acknowledge that we're missing a Bex today. 

Mayanna: We're sans one lovely. 

Lyn: Aw, yeah. 

Mischa: Yeah. Bex, we miss you.

Mayanna: Yeah, we miss you. You'll be back soon. 

Mischa: Bex will be back in two weeks. 

Mayanna: Heck yeah!

Mischa: But today it's time to talk to families.

[Music begins: gentle ambient strings].

Mayanna: Yes. 

Lyn: Ahhhh! 

Mayanna: Found and biological. 

Mischa: Yeah. Last time, you guys had decided that you want some information from JJ's family and that you might need to convince Cecilia to give up her funicular pass– 

Ian: Oh, fuck. 

Mischa: –so that you guys can get up there. We left off last evening. We're going to pick up the following morning. Gordon, Cecilia has texted you that she's on her way back from the Upper City.

Ian: I believe the words were “I'm disappointed.” 

Mayanna: Oh, yeah. 

Lyn: Mhmm.

Ian: Regret that choice. 

Mischa: Yeah? 

Ian: I regret that game choice. 

Mischa: Yeah. 

Ian: I've been nervous about this for the past two weeks. 

Mischa: It was a text message, but like, you could hear her voice behind it–

Mayanna: That disappointment

Mischa: –just like, hammer blows. I think it's maybe rattling around your mind this morning?

Ian: Yeah, oh, yeah, I think, I mean… I, Ian, have been thinking about it since it happened. 

Mayanna: Damn.

Ian: I think Gordon's probably sweating. 

Mischa: Yeah? 

Ian: And like, shaking. 

[Music shifts: ethereal reversed tones].

Mayanna: Aww.

Mischa: Oh. 

Lyn: (Sympathetic grumble).

Mayanna: I just feel compelled to say that you didn't actually fail. You lied about failing. You were doing great at Gordon's delivery service. 

Ian: I understand. The thing I'm worried about are the consequences.

Mayanna: Of course. Of this lie. 

Ian: Of this lie. 

Mayanna: I totally understand. 

Ian: And I think what's probably gonna happen is I'm gonna have to convince her to give me her pass. But I think my original intention last week was trying to steal it from her at a lunch. 

Mayanna: Yes. 

Ian: Which I just don't think is feasible in any way. 

Mischa: How's your sleight of hand, your stealth abilities?

Lyn: (laughs).

Ian: I think they're pretty medium at best. 

Lyn: Medium, mhmm.

Mischa & Mayanna: pretty mid. 

Ian: Yeah, they're mid as hell. 

Mayanna: Oh. 

Ian: I just feel like it's gonna not go well. You know what I mean? 

Mischa: All right. Well. You can– 

Ian: Yeah, plus 3 to stealth.

Mayanna: That’s pretty good

Mischa: –you can ponder tactics all morning because you still have to bake your bread. 

Ian: Yes. 

Mischa: But, but if this is all you can think about, and you're a little distracted, maybe, maybe instead of just automatically assuming the bread's good today, maybe I would like you to roll for bread.

Ian: Fuck! 

All: Oh!

Lyn: Bread roll?? 

Ian: Oh no! 

Mischa: Yeah. 

Ian: Oh no! 

Mayanna: Roll for rolls?

Lyn: Roll for rolls. 

Ian: Do I get a modifier on it? 

Mischa: Yeah, it's your intelligence modifier, and it's with your cook's utensils, so we'll add proficiency to that as well. 

Ian: Great. Okay, so that's a plus six. 

Mischa: Okay. 

Ian: I'm gonna roll with the floating dragon eye dice ‘cause it's ominous, and I just feel like so many of my choices today are very ominous. And here we go. [Dice rolls]. Dirty 20. 

[Gasps].

Mayanna: Oooh!

Ian: Bread is good. 

[Music shifts: gentle, slightly jazzy piano].

Mischa: You have this morning routine so down pat that even distracted by the biggest of concerns, the bread's coming out pristine. 

Mayanna: Perfect. 

Ian: I'm good at baking! And I'm getting better by the day. 

Mischa: Yeah! You know, and I keep, as a GM, I keep wanting to trip you up and admit like, hmm, maybe it's, maybe Gordon's off his game today, but Gordon's never not on his game.

Mayanna: He loves bread.

Ian: You gotta admit, when I turned up the temperature in the entire bakery, that was a pretty slick move. 

Mayanna: That was really slick. 

Mischa: For you. For you and you alone. Yeah, absolutely.

Ian: For me and me alone. 

Mischa: Great, well, then, despite my efforts to trip you up, you get out the door to make your deliveries right on time. As much as I love our little minigame, I think I'm going to forego Gordon's delivery service today. 

Ian: Wow, well we do have, yeah, it's probably, I probably don't get to do the delivery service on the day that I'm being punished for failing at the delivery service, rightly or wrongly. 

Mischa: Maybe you only make deliveries to Gordon's regulars.

Ian: Sure. 

Lyn: Did Celia call in a pinch hitter for the day? 

Mischa: So, no matter what I try to do to trip you up, Ian, Gordon's making that bread. And it comes out great every single time. 

Ian: Today it was a onion and garlic bread. 

Mayanna: Ah, that sounds awesome. 

Mischa: Ah, onion rolls. 

Lyn: I love a good onion roll, it's so good. 

Mischa: Today, as you're finishing up the batches, you hear a knock on the door of your bay. [SFX: knocking]. 

Ian: Oh no. Oh, I'm so worried. I'm really, I'm actually nervous. 

Lyn: Ian is clutching his heart. 

Mischa: Yeah. 

Lyn: Like, clutching it. 

Mischa: There's a journeyman baker–

Ian: Ah, okay.

Mischa: –named Chaunce. You see him around, maybe he was like, a few years ahead of you in classes, and just has like, you know, is like, upper classmen, but not, powerful over you energy. 

Ian: Got it. 

Mischa: Chaunce is a, a half saurid, vaguely humanoid features, but like a flatter nose, and like, scales, but like, maybe not everywhere?

Ian: Sure. 

Mischa: Yeah, why not? There's, there's half saurids too. 

Mayanna: Yeah. 

Ian: Heck yeah. 

Mischa: And also, just like, a guy who thrives being in front of an oven all day. 

Ian: Oh, got it. 

Mischa: Like a, just a very natural baker. Just like, yeah, like, as a journeyman, like, really is into his own work and just always seems like he's in his element.

Ian: I love that. 

Mischa: Comes in and taps on the doorpost and just says, 

Mischa (Chaunce): Uh, hey, Gordon, man? 

[Music ends].

Ian (Gordon): Hey, hey! Chaunce, right? 

Mischa (Chaunce): Hey, yeah. 

Ian (Gordon): Hey, how are you doing? 

Mischa (Chaunce): Good, good. 

Ian: Patting that flour off myself. 

Mischa (Chance): Yeah, oh. Ooh. What, you got onion rolls? 

Ian (Gordon): Yeah. 

Mischa (Chaunce): Oh, nice. 

Ian (Gordon): You want to try one? 

Mischa (Chaunce): Yeah, I do. 

Ian: Toss him an onion roll. 

[chuckles].

Mischa: No, I’m not gonna roll for it.

Ian: No, roll for it. No, roll for it!

Lyn: The roll was tossed. Dexterity save. 

Mischa: No, you already rolled a dirty 20 for the rolls. 

Lyn: Yeah, but did he catch the roll? 

Ian: That doesn't speak to any of Chaunce's taste. 

Lyn: Did he catch the roll?!

Mayanna: Oh It's like the flirt rolls. It's the taste roll. 

Mischa: Okay, sure. Ooh, 19. 

Ian: Yeah, that's what I thought. That's what I motherfucking thought, game.

Mayanna: Yes, yes! 

[Laughter]. 

Ian: Okay, I'm back. 

Mischa (Chaunce): Oh, so good. These are excellent. 

Ian (Gordon): Yeah. 

Mischa (Chaunce): Oh, the steam all up in my nostrils, so nice. 

Ian (Gordon): Yeah. 

Mischa (Chaunce): Listen, man, Cecilia texted me this morning and just, and told me you were having a little bit of trouble with your delivery routes. Everything okay? 

Ian (Gordon): Oh, yeah… oh, yeah, they've just been kind of real tough for me. Struggling just a bit, but Cecilia's gonna talk to me about it this afternoon, so I don't think you have to worry about anything.

Mischa (Chaunce): Sure, yeah, um do you want me to take, take care of some of that delivery for you? 

Ian (Gordon): Did Cecilia tell you–?

Mischa (Chaunce): Yeah, she did. 

Ian (Gordon): Yeah, yeah, sure,  

Mischa (Chaunce): I didn't, I didn't, I was just trying not to be a jerk about it, I'm sorry. 

Ian (Gordon): No, yeah, that's totally cool, Chaunce, you're not a jerk, I appreciate it.

Mischa (Chaunce): Listen, it's okay, hey, Cecilia's pretty high up in this place for a reason, you know? She takes on a lot of work, and she's good at what she does. It's hard to be at her level. If we all could do it, we would, you know what I mean? 

Ian: Yeah, yeah, the jerk thing really came back around on me. 

Ian (Gordon): Okay, here, I'm gonna give you the keys, 

[Music begins: melancholy synth chimes].

Ian: And I take the keys out of my pocket, [SFX: metal keys clinking], and I've gotten really used to having the double key ring, you know, because it just feels so much more powerful than my single small key ring.

Mischa: Right. 

Ian: And I hold the keys for a second and like a single tear comes to my eyes because even though this is for the good of mankind, I really did like having Gordon's delivery service. And then I unhook the big keys, [SFX: metal keys clinking], and I extend my arm out to Chance. 

Mayanna: Ah, this hurts me. 

Mischa: Chaunce takes the keys–

Ian: Fuck.

Mischa: –and just, like, doesn't, without kind of a second thought, just tosses them in the apron pocket. [SFX: metal keys clinking]. Like, doesn't, doesn't give them anywhere near the reverence that you have given them in this moment. 

Mayanna: Aw.

Mischa: Like, you're just like, “these keys are part of me now.” And he's just like, “yeah, cool, whatever.” 

Mayanna: Aww. Dang. 

Mischa: He goes, 

Mischa (Chaunce): Don't worry, man. I gotcha. We're all, we're all one big Baker family here, you know? 

Ian (Gordon): Yeah. Yeah, totally.

Ian: And then as he's leaving, I turn around, like it's an 80s movie, you know, it's like that really, really, deep moment in an 80s movie. 

Mischa: Mhmm. 

Ian: And I go, 

Ian (Gordon): Hey, Chaunce, this is a really important route, man. Just take care of it. 

Mischa (Chaunce): Gotcha. You know what I find, man? I think they're all really important routes, you know?

Ian (Gordon): Yeah. 

Mayanna: Mmm.

Ian (Gordon): Yeah, they are. Alright man. 

Mischa (Chaunce): Okay catch you later! 

Ian (Gordon): Okay catch you later. 

Mischa: And he like, strolls back out. 

Ian (Gordon): Stupid Chaunce. 

[Laughter]. 

Mischa: And Chaunce, you know, I think a couple of guild apprentices come in and load out your trays into Chaunce's tuk-tuk. 

Ian: Fuck. 

Mischa: What do you do after everything you baked this morning has been loaded out?

Ian: I think I'm standing in my in my, like, baking stall.

Mischa: Mhmm.

[Music ends].

Ian: And it's, like, so much emptier than it's been over the past week. And I got really accustomed to how full it was, just like the keys. And I think I let out a long exhale, and I load up my pallets. To–I don't have the tuk-tuk anymore. So man, how was I doing my deliveries before that? Was I like biking them around? 

Mischa: Yeah, probably. 

Ian: So walk them out to like a little, you know, like school bike. It's like kind of rickety and rusty [SFX: rickety wheels turning] and has like a much smaller rack for like the four pallets I have as opposed to like the twelve. 

Mayanna: Yeah.

Lyn: Mhmm.

Ian: And I like bungee the pallets to the back of the bike. 

Mayanna: Oh my god. And you don't even have Boggins anymore. I think you just have one place you deliver to. 

Ian: Yeah, I have, I have like literally enough rolls, like I'm just bringing rolls to a friend's house for dinner. Like, this isn't real. This isn't a job. 

Lyn: Mmm.

[Music begins: low ambient synths].

Mischa: Yeah, you, you head out for your one delivery [SFX: bike wheels on pavement] and, you know, even on your bike, I mean it's slower than the tuk-tuk, but, but you make it out and back, and it's– I think you come back in like the late morning. It's like the earliest you've finished your delivery route in a really long time. 

Ian: Mhmm. 

Mischa: Cecilia's not back yet. 

Ian: Thank God. 

Mischa: What do you do while you wait for her? 

Mayanna: Sweat. 

[Laughter]. 

Ian: No, I do research. 

Mayanna: Ooh. 

Ian: (in a lower voice) I do research. 

Lyn: Research into what? 

Ian: Batman never sleeps. 

[Laughter]. 

Lyn: I thought you were saying you're doing research into Batman.

Ian: What I look into is spells. Mind control spells. Based on what we talked about last week. Do we have a library of any sort? Do we have like an old little nook of a library in the Baker's Guild? 

Mischa: Ooh, yeah. I mean you do. I gotta imagine it's mostly–

Ian: Baking.

Mischa: –agrarian and food prep. 

Ian: I think I'm gonna go, and I'm gonna start my search.

Mischa: Okay. 

Ian: And see if I can find anything. 

Mischa: Yeah, go ahead and roll arcana. It's gonna be a really high difficulty, 

Mayanna: Nice.

Mischa: Like a, like a, such a high roll. 

Mayanna: Like 99! 

Mischa: No! 

Mayanna: Just kidding. 

Mischa: Yeah. 1d20 plus something equals 99. 

Lyn: Yeah!

Ian: It's a 12. 

Mischa: I think the only references to magic you can find with a 12 are like, plant growth, you know, kind of like how to, how to use a light cantrip to increase crop yields, stuff like that.

Mayanna: So relatable. 

Lyn: Shape water. 

Mischa: Yeah. Irrigation techniques via shape water. Stuff like that. 

Ian: A treatise on shaping water, great. Okay, then I, maybe I try to take a nap, that probably doesn't go well, so then I bet what I do is I clean the entire test kitchen. [Hums]. Like all the bays, everything. It's pretty clean because it's a school, but I think I just do like a deep clean on everything. [SFX: cleaning rags wiping across surfaces].

Lyn: Stress cleaning. 

Ian: Stress cleaning.  

Mayanna: Yeah, good ol’ stress cleaning. 

Lyn: Good ol’ stress cleaning.

Ian: Nice little sweaty, [SFX: water running, wet rags scrubbing] don't have to be alone with your thoughts while you clean, while you scrub ovens. 

Mischa: Will you roll? Will you roll performance for me? 

Mayanna: Ooh.

Ian: Yep. [dice rolls and clatters]. Whoa! 12. 

Mischa: 12? 

[Laughter]. 

Ian: Shit. 

[Music ends].

Mischa: No, I think as people come in from their own deliveries, other apprentices, like people who only have one or two, or maybe, you know, just like a smattering of places to deliver to that come back from their routes, the earliest people back, spot you cleaning but, don't really think anything of it, kind of like head upstairs for their… mid-afternoon… siesta?

Mayanna: Yes! 

Lyn: Yeah! 

Mayanna: Yes. 

Mischa: Yeah.

Ian: Except in this world. It's called a–

Mayanna: Sorstina. 

Ian: There it is.

[Laughter]. 

Ian: I pointed to a random person as I said that just so everyone knows how that happened. The sorstina. 

Mischa: Okay, 

Mayanna: The sorstina. 

[Music begins: gentle low synths with high, ethereal synths]

Mischa: Yeah, so they they go up for their sorstina and just kind of like leave you to your stress cleaning. You know, you, you, Here people stream in after you and don't give them a second thought, you're just sort of using the, the cleaning as like a, a meditative activity, just like to get, to get your thoughts a little clearer, to, to stave off that feeling of– 

Ian: Stress.

Mischa: Yeah, to stave off that stress, that anxiety. 

Ian: That hook in the center of your sternum that gets all tight. 

Mayanna: Oh god. 

Lyn: Mhmm.

Mischa: Yeah. And I think eventually you do stop lifting your head for every single person who walks through the door. Like drea–Half hoping, half dreading that it's gonna be Cecilia. 

Ian: (Loud groan). I'm so stressed about this right now! I know where you're going! This is super cinematic, and I can feel it coming, and I'm stressed. Please continue. 

[Laughter]. 

Mischa: And you're scrubbing away, [SFX: scrubbing] and from behind you, you just hear, 

Mischa (Cecilia): You missed a spot.

Ian (Gordon): (sighs) Hey. Hey, Cecilia. 

Mischa (Cecilia): Hey, I was kidding about you missing a spot. Did you clean the entire kitchen? 

Ian (Gordon): Yeah. 

Mischa (Cecilia): Wow. 

Ian (Gordon): Sorry. I mean, nevermind. Hi. 

Mischa (Cecilia): Let's go step into my office, shall we? 

Ian (Gordon): (sighs) Yeah. Yeah, let's step into your office. 

Mischa: She takes you up to the second floor of the bakery silo and around the railing [SFX: door opens] into a room that looks pretty similar to your baking bay. It's just got like, a couple more ovens in it, a little bit more workspace, a few more racks along the wall, and a desk in one side of the room, which is about twice as large as yours. but, other than like, just sort of a little bit more facility to accommodate the capacity that Cecilia takes on, like pretty similar to all the other kitchens. She gestures you inside and closes the door behind you and takes a seat behind her desk. [SFX: Door closing]. She goes, 

Mischa (Cecilia): All right I you know, I don't like to be like, “The Principal” or whatever. (sighs) It's, it, you know, it's disappointing to hear that, you know, I really needed someone to, to come through for me this week, and it's just, it's disappointing to hear, but I want to hear your side of it. So, you want to tell me what happened?

Ian: A couple questions. Not for Cecilia, for you. 

Mischa: Okay. 

Ian: Can I see her travel pass? Is it hanging from a necklace? Is it hanging from a waist–? 

Mischa: Ooh, yeah. Roll perception. 

Mayanna: (gasps) Perception. 

[Dice clattering].

Mischa: Yeah, we're in the game now

Mayanna: It’s happening

Ian: Now we're in the game. Now we're playing. Where's my dice? 

Mischa: Sometimes I just like when people roll for stuff because it's fun to make people roll dice. But then we go into the game. 

Ian: [Dice rolls]. Oh, God. It went poorly. 

Mayanna: Uh-oh. 

Ian: It went so poorly. 7. 

[Laughter]. 

Mayanna: Ooh, That is bad. 

Mischa: She didn't walk in carrying it. 

Ian: Yeah. 

Mischa: It does look like she just, like, walked right in. You know, she didn't, like, get settled before she came to talk to you. Like, she, so you have to imagine it's on her person. But she didn't, like, come in and toss it onto the desk while she sat down or anything. So you can't, you can't tell where it is. 

Ian: Nor is it dangling sort of laissez faire. 

Mischa: It’s not like on a carabiner, like a ring of keys. 

Ian: Yeah. I take a big, deep breath in. I don't see the pass anywhere. My plan of trying to steal it is quickly falling apart. [Laughter]. So I then just take a big exhale and I say, 

Ian (Gordon): Cecilia, I'm really sorry. I lied to you. 

Mischa (Cecilia): What? 

Ian (Gordon): Everything was going great. It was awesome. I loved every second of it. 

Mischa (Cecilia): What? Wai–

Ian (Gordon): Also, by the way, this guy at the church, he has a huge crush on you, I think. 

[Laughter]. 

Mischa (Cecilia): What?!

Ian (Gordon): But we can talk about that another time. It was awesome. But something terrible is happening in New Prosper, and I had to get you back down here, and I have to get your travel pass. 

Mischa: Okay, I want you to roll Persuasion with disadvantage. 

Mayanna: Oh, no, no. 

Ian: Here we go [dice rolls] (groans)

Lyn: Oh no.

Ian: Okay, Well, it's a 6. 

Mayanna: No!

Mischa (Cecilia): Hold on. Hold on. What what are you talking about? 

Ian (Gordon): (Groans).

Mischa: (Cecilia): So so take me back to I didn't hear anything from the clients. I assume I would have heard if something was going wrong. So I was kind of confused when you, so now, so everything went great?! 

Ian (Gordon): Everything went great. 

Mischa (Cecilia): So I didn't have to come back here.

Ian (Gordon): Maybe. 

Mischa (Cecilia): Gordon!

Ian (Gordon): I know! I know it's bad. 

Mischa (Cecilia): Did you think I wasn't doing anything important up there? 

Ian (Gordon): I know you were doing incredibly important things, but everybody in New Prosper might be under a mind control spell. I know how this sounds! 

Mischa (Cecilia): Oh, everyone in New Prosper is under a mind control spell? That's ridiculous. Who even– how would you even do that?

Ian (Gordon): I don't know! I don't know, and I need to figure it out, but– Okay wait, I'm gonna start over. Breathe, Gordon, breathe, 

Mischa (Cecilia): Yeah, breathe. 

Ian: I'm like shaking. I'm sweating in my palms. 

Mischa: Yeah, she leans back in her chair and folds her arms, very– 

Mischa (Cecilia): This better be good. 

[Music shifts: conspiratorial piano and synths].

Ian (Gordon): Okay, as of about four days ago, myself and Fran and Ibra and JJ have all been wrapped up in crazy ghost encounters and mysterious people throwing bridge bombs and government cover ups, and it might go all the way up to the highest level. There is a very real chance that the answers that we need to solve whatever is going on are up in the Constellation. We have to get up to the Constellation, and we have to, and I swear, please do not scoff at me! (Quickly) Break into the governor's house, maybe.

[Laughter].

Mischa (Cecilia): (Scoff in disbelief).

Ian (Gordon): I know, I know, I know, I know, I know, I know. But just stop. Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. Think about it. Has anything strange been happening for you recently? Have you noticed anything weird? 

Lyn: Does she remember being at Boggins's? 

Ian (Gordon): Cecilia, Boggins, remember Boggins's with the ghost? 

Mischa (Cecilia): Yeah, I remember the ghost.

Ian: Oh! Oh!! Okay.

[Shouts, exclamations]

Lyn: WAIT CECILIA REMEMBERS?!

Mayanna: Holy shit. 

Ian: Wait, wait, wait. 

Ian (Gordon): Cecilia, I need you to text Samira right now. And ask her if she remembers the ghost at Boggins. 

Mischa (Cecilia): Okay…

Mischa: Cecilia taps away on her compad for a minute and sends off a message. 

Ian: And then I look at her and while we're waiting I say, 

Ian (Gordon): Do you remember how scary that was? 

Mischa (Cecilia): Yeah. 

Ian (Gordon): Do you remember how intense of an experience that was?

Mischa (Cecilia): Yeah. 

Ian (Gordon): Wouldn't it be crazy if someone didn't remember it? 

Mischa (Cecilia): That would be wild. 

Mischa: And as soon as she says that, the compad buzzes on her desk. [SFX: device buzzing].

Mischa (Samira): [SFX: Staticky filter, indicating a text] No, why does everyone keep asking? 

Mischa (Cecilia): That would be wild. 

Ian (Gordon): We are in the middle of something terrifying and scary and other synonyms for words that have to do with fear. 

[Laughter]. 

Ian (Gordon): And I wish I could explain better what it is, but the answers that we need to do that are up in the Constellation. 

Mischa (Cecilia): Damn. 

Ian (Gordon): And I wouldn't have asked you to come back and lied to you–I'm so sorry–if it didn't seem like it was the most important thing in the city, ever. 

[Music ends].

Mischa (Cecilia): So you lied to me. To get me down here quickly.

Ian (Gordon): Well, I lied to you because I was going to try and steal your pass, but that is neither here nor there. 

Mischa (Cecilia): (sighs) Gordon, I, really? 

Ian (Gordon): I know. It's so bad. 

Mischa (Cecilia): I appreciate your current honesty.

[Laughter].

[Music begins: ominous low synths]

Mischa (Cecilia): Okay. (Sighs) Yeah, it would be really weird if there was some kind of wraith attack and nobody who saw it remembered it. Just like the other day... 

Ian (Gordon): What happened? Wait, what? What happened the other day? 

Mischa (Cecilia): So, I've been in the Constellation all week, or I was supposed to be in the Constellation all week. I'm up there with reps from the Greengrocers Guild and the Shepherds Guild. It's like a summit, a meeting of the minds. We're meeting with reps in the Upper City just to make contact and we're talking to people on city council. You know, we do this every, about every year. We just renegotiate the contracts with the city, making sure all of our members are looked after. It was day one of proceedings, and we were taking a break, we were on like a recess, I was out getting lunch with Viridia, she was the rep for the Greengrocers, and we were just walking by, I, I saw one of the city council reps walking, minding their own business on the street, and one of those things appeared. That thing that we saw at Boggins. 

Ian (Gordon): Another wraith appeared? 

Mischa (Cecilia): Yeah, it was crazy. 

Ian (Gordon): Just in the middle of the street? 

Mischa (Cecilia): Yeah, people were running, people were screaming, it came after that city council rep. I did the same thing I did at Boggins. I was just trying to keep bystanders safe, you know. I sort of lost track of it. At one point, I think some people showed up to, to fight it off. Like a, like a team of, like a–

Ian (Gordon): Like a government team?

Mischa (Cecilia): Yeah, like a response team came to sort of contain the situation. 

Ian (Gordon): Do you remember seeing a woman with a big pickaxe with a giant piece of astra in it? 

Mischa (Cecilia): yeah, I do. Like a, like a saurid lady with like a red stripe on her neck.

Ian (Gordon): Yeah. 

Mischa (Cecilia): Yeah, I did see her. 

Ian (Gordon): We know her. 

Mischa (Cecilia): I also saw–This is gonna sound really crazy. Is there any chance Ibra was there? 

Ian (Gordon): Wait, what? 

Lyn: No, there's no chance. 

Ian: No? Didn't Ibra just go up? 

Lyn: This was day one of proceedings, that was a few days ago. 

Mischa: Yeah, it was a few days ago. 

Lyn: Also, we know that–this is out of game–

Ian: Yeah, no, but you know. 

Lyn: Ibra has–is one of three triplets. 

Ian: Yeah yeah yeah.

Mayanna and Ian: (escalating yells of realization) Ahhhhhh! Ah!! Ahhhh!

Ian (Gordon): No! no, no, Ibra wasn't there. Was there someone there who looked like Ibra? 

Mischa (Cecilia): Yeah, you sure? 

Ian (Gordon): What did that person look like? 

Mischa (Cecilia): Lean and muscular, bluish skin, I guess? 

Ian (Gordon): Just like Ibra. 

Mischa (Cecilia): Yeah. 

Ian (Gordon): No, Ibra was with us the entire time. 

Mischa (Cecilia): Okay, weird. Um, yeah, and these people, they came and contained it, and, you know, they saved the city council rep's life, I guess? They evacuated nearby buildings? You know, people were really concerned. We cancelled negotiations for that day, and we were supposed to pick up yesterday, and Viridia and I were, you know, we met like for coffee beforehand, and we were like, so we're definitely gonna bring this up to the, the, in negotiations, how to, how to keep people safe when something like that happens, and no, we were the only two who knew anything about it. 

Mayanna: (Gasp).

Mischa (Cecilia): They like, kind of paused negotiation. They like called us crazy and told us to that they were gonna pause negotiations until we'd like.. be rational. It was very disrespectful. 

Ian (Gordon): Okay, so that saurid lady, she knows this is happening. She was at Boggins. She works for the governor's office. Now, let me ask you this.

Mischa (Cecilia): Okay? 

Ian (Gordon): Why would the people in charge be trying to hide whatever is happening from everybody, because even if other people don't remember, why aren't they telling us so that we can take precautions? Think about it. 

Mischa (Cecilia): Yeah, that's, that's true. 

Ian (Gordon): I don't know what is going on, but as of last night, me and JJ and Fran and Ibra and Paz…

Mischa (Cecilia): Paz? 

Ian (Gordon): Paz is working with us. Paz can shoot lightning!

Mischa (Cecilia): What??

Ian (Gordon): Out of the hand. Hand lightning. 

[Laughter].

Mischa (Cecilia): Okay. Listen, I, I took a huge insult to people calling me crazy when I was describing objective things I experienced. So I'm not, I'm not gonna pass judgment on the thing you just said, I guess, except… (Sputters) How?!

Ian (Gordon): I'm gonna, I don't know, I'm gonna show it to you though, we'll show it to you.

Mischa (Cecilia): Cool. 

Ian: So then I can, I tell you that story, I say exactly what happened with the other wraith, and the, and I just recap that whole story to you. 

Mischa: Yeah.

Ian (Gordon): So, here's the deal. 

Mischa (Cecilia): Yeah. 

Ian (Gordon): Very few people remember and know what is happening, and you’re one of them. We have to get up to the Constellation, but more importantly, I don't know anyone who's more capable than you in this entire city.

Mischa (Cecilia): Thank you. 

Ian (Gordon): You're welcome. The compliment is really for me to ask you—I need your fucking help. 

Mischa (Cecilia): Yeah. Um... shit. Bleh. I'm supposed to be up there for a week. I'm supposed to be like, in the room fighting for the rights of the guild members. 

Ian (Gordon): Can you say you're sick? 

Mischa (Cecilia): Yeah, but then, then who's in the room, man? I gotta think of my people. That's my whole gig. 

Ian (Gordon): They're not going to be around, I don't think, if this continues. 

Mischa (Cecilia): But if they are, someone's gotta fight for the next day. 

Ian (Gordon): Okay. 

Mischa (Cecilia): Plus, Ambrose, head of the guild, like, he– I'm gonna be in huge trouble with him. 

Ian (Gordon): Because you left? 

Mischa (Cecilia): Yeah, because I, I’m AWOL. 

Ian (Gordon): You didn't tell them you were leaving? 

Mischa (Cecilia): I told them I was coming down to handle you.

Ian (Gordon): So they know you left, they know you're down here. 

Mischa (Cecilia): Right, but I have to go back. 

Ian (Gordon): (groans) Okay. Okay, okay, okay, think, think. 

Mischa (Cecilia): But you're, but you're right. You're, man, that's so heavy. You're-you're absolutely right. 

Ian (Gordon): Is there any way you could smuggle me up with you? 

Mischa (Cecilia): Uh…

Mayanna: (whispers) Bag of holding.

Ian: (Excited stammering). 

[Music ends].

Lyn: No, no, no living creatures can go in the Bag of Holding. 

Ian: No, I didn't know that rule. 

Mayanna: I know. 

Lyn: I'm so sorry, I don't want you to die via Bag of Holding. 

Mayanna: I know. 

Ian: And that's how we lost Gordon in one fell swoop. 

Mischa: It was so close. 

[Laughter]. 

Mayanna: You can't, yeah, you can't survive in the Bag of Holding. 

[Music begins: gentle, hopeful piano].

Mischa: She's on the same page as you. She's obviously seen something that makes her want to believe all these things you're saying. And I think one of the last things is like, 

Mischa (Cecilia): Just so I have it clear: Delivery's? Going fine? 

Ian (Gordon): Great, so good. 

Mischa (Cecilia): Hey man, nice work. 

Ian (Gordon): Thanks, really, it was such an honor. 

Mischa: Will you roll a new persuasion with advantage this time?

Lyn: Ooooohhh!

[Laughter].

Ian: I thought you were speaking as Cecilia for a second. 

Mayanna: I love it. 

Ian: [Dice rolls]. Yeah, sick. That's a 21. 

Mayanna: Oh, yeah!

Lyn: Do you want to see if you can get a natural 20? Just for fun?

Ian: Yeah, let's see if I get a natural 20. [Dice rolls]. Oh, I didn't, but I stalled the die on the exact same number. 

Mischa: That was pretty sick. 

Ian: 21, 21. And it's a little, it's a little corner box stall.

Mayanna: Oh, that’s great

Ian: Like I'm on a skateboard. 

Mischa: Yeah. You guys sort of put your heads together, and I think Cecilia comes around to the conclusion that you're at the center of it, that you know what's going on with strange things she's experiencing. And that if everything was going great, that you're equipped to handle it, you know, you guys try to put your heads together to come up with some kind of scheme where she like smuggles you in a suitcase or puts you, you know, somehow to get you, the both of you up there and she goes, 

Mischa (Cecilia): Ugh. If time is a factor, man, you gotta go. 

Mischa: And she reaches in her pocket, and she hands you her pass. 

Ian: (Gasps).

Mayanna: Oh my god. 

Lyn: Oohhh.

Ian (Gordon): Cecilia, I can't tell you how much this means to me. 

Ian: And I give her a huge hug. 

Mischa (Cecilia): (Strained) Oh, uh–

Ian (Gordon): (Rushing) You're the best boss anyone could ever have, Cecilia. Thank you so much. I really appreciate this. I'm never gonna forget it. Thank you so, so, so much. 

Mischa (Cecilia): (Strained) Yeah, okay, no problem, thanks man.

Ian (Gordon): (releases her) Okay, okay. Got a lot of planning to do. By the way, we don't have the evidence yet, but I really, really do think that the entire city is being controlled by some sort of mind control spell. I'm just gonna pass that to you in case anything occurs to you while I'm up in the Constellation.

[Music ends].

Mischa (Cecilia): Yeah, I'll, you know. Keep my eye out for that. 

[Music begins: bittersweet, hopeful piano].

Ian (Gordon): Cool. Well. 

Ian: I hold up the pass. I go, 

Ian (Gordon): This means a lot. 

Mischa (Cecilia): Don't waste it, man. 

Ian (Gordon): I won't. 

Ian: And then I like flip the pass around my finger like it's like a spinning smoking gun. Put it in my side pocket of my flour-y apron. And I saunter out the door like a cool cowboy.

Mischa: Cecilia follows you out and like watches you go out into the sunlit day, task completed, and she looks around at the spotless kitchen, and she, she didn't receive any texts from any clients that were unhappy with your work. She, you know, you were, if you were lying, then there's only proof that you were doing an excellent job. And she sighs with satisfaction, and she goes, 

[Music ends].

Mischa (Cecilia): Did he say that guy from the church had a crush on me?

[Laughter].

[Midroll theme plays and fades out]

Mischa: Hey there, it's Mischa. This is the Rest Stop. Come take a break beside the path with me. Just until we catch our breath. As always, we reserve this space on the Rest Stop post board thingy for our patrons, over at patreon.com/wanderingpathpod, thank you so much for coming on board, Helen W, for sticking with us, Voyager level patron JWX, and we are so excited to announce our first cartographer level patron, Mubarak D! We are so, so grateful to have you helping us chart a course. Not only does Mubarak also get a shout out in every episode, but they also get early access to each new episode. Plus, behind the screen game mechanics, bloops for every drop, and whatever else we can cook up. If any of those things appeal to you, or honestly, if you just want to help give us life, sustain us, and bring us to new seasons, please sign up with us for even just a few dollars per episode. One more time, patreon.com/wanderingpathpod. 

We're sponsored this week by United by Blue. United by Blue is a fashion and lifestyle brand that prioritizes sustainable materials and ethical manufacturing to lead the charge towards better business practices. For every product purchased, United by Blue removes one pound of trash from oceans and waterways. Get it? Blue for the ocean! They've removed over 3. 5 million pounds so far, and from picking up the plastic bottles that litter our shorelines to cleaning up their own packaging and supply chains, they're on a mission to eliminate single use plastic. From non-toxic regenerative fibers that keep harmful pesticides out of the environment, to recycled fabrics that put existing trash to good use, they do their best to keep it clean from the very start. Their products are created to last, because the best way to be a conscious consumer is to ultimately consume less. They make this attainable by designing products that facilitate new ways to generate less waste, like take-it-with-you meal kits and reusable coffee cups. Now listen, I I have a little bit of NeuroSpicy going on with me, so shopping for clothes that have just the right fabric and just the right feel is a little bit more of a challenge. It takes me forever to find just the right clothing that fits my life, that feels good, that is sustainable in this fast-fashion economy. God, it's just terrible, isn't it? So I'm really excited to have United by Blue as a sponsor because they are trying to pave the way forward. So if that interests you, go to unitedbyblue.com and use code WANDERINGPATH to get 20 percent off your first order. That's unitedbyblue.com and code WANDERINGPATH to get 20 percent off your order. 

Okay, that's it for now. Let's get back on the path and back to the show.

[Midroll theme plays and fades out]

Mischa: Well, while Gordon was getting a hold of a funicular pass and also Cecilia's expectations and thoughts about him… 

Ian: Success? 

Lyn: Yeah, yeah.

Mischa: Yeah, honestly, pretty successful. 

Mayanna: I'd say he made out pretty fucking great. 

Mischa: While all that was going on, JJ. 

[Music begins: ethereal, ambient synths]

Lyn (JJ): [SFX: Staticky] Okay, Fran, I’m so sorry, if we’re gonna get to my family’s place all the way in Hillside, we’re gonna have to take the bus and it's gonna be a long time. I'm so sorry for waking you up–

Mayanna (Fran): [SFX: staticky] I ride the bus all the time. 

[Music begins: low ambient synths].

Lyn (JJ): [SFX: staticky] No, I just mean that I'm sorry for having to wake you up this early. 

Mayanna (Fran): [SFX: staticky] That's fine, I get up this early anyway.

Lyn (JJ): [SFX: staticky] Really?

Mayanna (Fran): [SFX: staticky] Yeah…

Lyn (JJ): [SFX: staticky] Oh. I guess I also wake up early. I don’t know, I just expect other people to not…

Mayanna (Fran): [SFX: staticky] I mean I’m still kinda on Boggin’s time.

Lyn (JJ): [SFX: staticky] Oh.

[Soundscape begins: birds tweeting, the occasional car or motor in the distance, gentle winds]. 

Mischa: You guys wake up early and catch a bus clear across the city over to Hillside, a sleepy community on the east side of town, resting up against the foot of the nearby mountain. The streets of Hillside are made up of rows and rows of single family homes, arranged into a picturesque suburban ideal. It's a quieter district, less of the noise and bustle of the city center. More lawnmowers and the distant sound of children playing in a nearby manicured park. Because Hillside tends to be the place you move to when you've got your career firmly under you and you can afford to move out to a quieter, safer place to start raising a family. You know, it's the kind of place where they say the schools in Hillside are very good. 

[Laughter]. 

Lyn: They do say that here. 

Mischa: JJ, you're waiting at the bus stop when Fran's bus pulls up [SFX: bus brakes squealing, door opening] and Fran disembarks at the Hillside Stop. And, and you guys walk down through the lanes up to the Calderon house. 

Lyn: I'm walking my bike, alongside me. 

Lyn (JJ): So, okay.

Mayanna (Fran): Uh-huh.

Lyn (JJ): I guess you met Paul. Paul's great. 

Mayanna (Fran): Okay. Yeah, of course. Paul is great. 

Lyn (JJ): At the worksite. you haven't met my other dad. You haven't met my aunt or my grandmother or my baby sibling.

Mayanna (Fran): They all live in this house?

Lyn (JJ): Yeah. 

Mayanna (Fran): Okay.

Lyn (JJ): you know, if you have a house, live in it. Um.. uh..

Mayanna (Fran): [00:35:00] Right. So how many generations are we talking about in this house right now? 

Lyn (JJ): I mean, I guess technically three total. My grandmother and my parents and my aunt and then, well I don't live here anymore since I live on campus, but baby sibling and then future baby sibling. Also, my, my grandma's a little bit old school, so when you come in, she will offer her hand to you, and then you take her hand and put it up to your forehead as like a little bow of respect. 

Mayanna (Fran): Okay, okay. 

Lyn (JJ): She's great. I think my aunt is really gonna love you. You know, all my family are either tinkers or craftsmen of various capacities, so it runs in the family.

Mayanna (Fran): Are you okay? 

Lyn (JJ): I'm just a little nervous. I’m nervous, I’m nervous.

Mayanna (Fran): Okay, that's okay. 

Lyn (JJ): I'm, I'm happy you're here. I'm genuinely very happy you're here. 

Mayanna (Fran): Mhmm.

Lyn (JJ): I think my family will really love you. I hope you like them. 

Mayanna (Fran): I'm sure I will love them. 

Lyn (JJ): I hope they’re not– 

Mayanna (Fran): You're great. We're friends. I love you. 

Lyn (JJ): Oh, I love you too. 

Mayanna (Fran): Yeah. 

Lyn (JJ): Do we say that a lot? I don't know if we say that a lot.

Mayanna (Fran): No, but we can.

Lyn (JJ): We should make it known. 

Mayanna (Fran): Yeah. 

Lyn (JJ): That's nice. 

Mayanna (Fran): I love you, friend. 

Lyn (JJ): I love you. 

[Laughter]. 

Mischa: Fucking adorable!

Mayanna: I just hug JJ for a second. I, and I, I hold, I think I put like a hand on your head, and I just kind of, like, hope that you, like, settle into that for a second. 

Lyn (JJ): (Sigh). Okay. Yeah.

Mayanna (Fran): It's gonna be great. 

Lyn (JJ): Thank you. 

Mayanna (Fran): You’re welcome.

Lyn (JJ): we're all of Dwarven heritage, etc. So my family is older, all of everyone there, obviously, aside from my baby sibling. 

Mayanna (Fran): Mhmm. Do they all have beards? 

Lyn (JJ): Huh? 

Mayanna (Fran): Do they all have beards? 

Lyn (JJ): I don't have a beard. 

Mayanna (Fran): Okay, I know you don't have a beard, but I thought maybe that was like a style choice. I just like–I don’t meet a lot of dwarves. 

Lyn (JJ): Oh. Should I have a beard?

Mayanna (Fran): No, no, no, I truly no. I actually, you're, you have a very strong jawline. 

Lyn (JJ): Thank you. 

Mayanna (Fran): It would be a criminal travesty [Laughter] to hide that jawline from the world. I just wanted to double check. 

Lyn (JJ): Okay. 

Mayanna (Fran): Okay, cool. 

Lyn (JJ): Nice. 

Mayanna (Fran): Sick. 

Lyn (JJ): No, but, everyone but Paul's name starts with a J. 

Mayanna (Fran): J, got it. Okay. Alright. 

Mayanna: I pull out a little notebook to start tracking all the names. 

[Chuckling].

Lyn (JJ): They will tell you how they want you to call them. Obviously, I call them different things. 

Mayanna (Fran): Oh, okay, like nicknames and stuff?

Lyn (JJ): I guess. Yeah, I don’t know.

Mayanna (Fran): Okay. It's gonna be great! 

Lyn (JJ): Yeah, okay. 

Mayanna (Fran): It's gonna be awesome! 

Lyn (JJ): It will. 

Mayanna (Fran): We're just here to learn stuff and have dinner? 

Lyn (JJ): Yeah, probably. I mean, we're gonna eat at least three times while we're here.

Mayanna (Fran): Three times?!

Lyn (JJ): Yeah. They can't stop feeding people. It's kind of nice. 

Mayanna (Fran): Okay. I'm not used to that. 

Lyn (JJ): Oh, well, you should, I mean, it's kind of a distance, but you could come over here whenever you wanted, I'm sure. 

Mayanna (Fran): Oh my god, okay!

Lyn (JJ): Okay. 

[Laughter]. 

Mayanna: I imagine this was, like, right in front of the door. 

Lyn: Yeah, we were standing, like, like–

Ian: For such a time.

Lyn: Like, yeah, like, in the cul de sac, we've been standing, like, not even a full quarter of the circle away from the house. 

[Laughter]. 

Mischa: Well, and what's so interesting is that, actually, as you round the corner, it's really loud. 

Mayanna: Woah.

Mischa: Yeah. There's like a big ol clangin’. 

[Soundscape ends].

[Soundscape begins: construction machines whirring, wood, metal and other materials thumping].

Mayanna: Oh! 

Lyn: Huh.

Mischa: like as you round the corner, you stop in front of the Calderon house, which is like a, a one story ranch house, kind of smaller than a couple of the houses alongside it. But also, that one section of it looks like it's in the middle of renovation. 

Mayanna: Oh. 

Lyn: Oh. 

Mischa: Like, there's, like, sort of some auto construction equipment, like, working alongside the house that's big and, like, metallic clanking and clunking away. 

Mayanna: Okay. 

Mischa: Sort of, reconfiguring the house as you walk up. 

Mayanna (Fran): You didn't tell me they were remodeling.

Lyn (JJ): I did not know they were remodeling. 

Mayanna (Fran): Mm. Hm. 

Lyn (JJ): Of all the texts that we've sent, this was not one of them. 

Mischa: JJ. There's one other thing about it too. 

Mayanna: (Gasps).

Lyn: Uh-huh? 

Mischa: That's the side of the house that your room was on. 

Mayanna: Oh! 

Lyn (JJ): Oh! Wait, hold on, pause! 

Lyn: And I start walking faster. 

Mayanna: Oh my god. 

Mayanna (Fran): Oh wait whoa whoa…

Lyn: I'm like, 

Lyn (JJ): Wait my stuff! 

Mayanna: They turned it into the gym.

[Laughter]. 

Lyn: (Sing songy) Ding dong ding dong ding dong ding dong. 

[SFX: chiming doorbell].

[Laughter]. 

Mischa: Yeah, Paul comes to the door and answers it. [SFX: door creaks] And says, 

Mischa (Paul): Oh, JJ! 

Lyn (JJ): Hi dad!

Mischa: Gives you a big hug and welcomes you in. 

[Construction soundscape fades to background].

Mischa (Paul): Oh, and, and your friend, Fran! 

Mayanna (Fran): Hi, nice to see you again. 

Mischa (Paul): Hi, welcome to our home! 

Mayanna (Fran): Thank you so much. 

Mischa (Paul): So glad to see you. 

Mayanna (Fran): Thank you so much. it is very, it is an honor to be here.

Lyn (JJ): I saw that there's, shoes on or off today? 

Mischa (Paul): Oh, you're gonna want shoes on. It's a little bit of a worksite here. 

Lyn (JJ): Yeah, what… is that about? 

Mischa (Paul): Well, we'll need space for the baby. 

Lyn (JJ): Yeah… 

Mischa (Paul): You know. 

Lyn (JJ): Okay. I understand that, 

Mischa (Paul): aAd we just figured, you know. We could afford the permits and a little bit of time off or you know. There's there's gonna be a little bit of time on my hands now that I'm you know, moving into the later stages here. 

Mayanna (Fran): Yes, when is the baby due?

Mischa (Paul): Oh should be it should be a few months out now.

Mayanna (Fran): That's exciting. 

Lyn (JJ): Yeah.

Mischa: And he like pats his belly and beams with pride. 

Mayanna: Awww. 

Mischa (Paul): Yeah, we thought we'd make a little, you know, baby suite. You know, just 

Lyn: That's really cute. 

Mischa (Paul): Sure, so we're gonna want you to come in and take a look at your stuff. 

Lyn (JJ): Yeah, where, is it? The room is kind of–

Mayanna (Fran): Under construction. 

Lyn (JJ): Yeah. 

Mischa (Paul): Your father didn't–he didn't talk to you? 

Lyn (JJ): No.

Mischa (Paul): (Sighs).

Lyn (JJ): Should he have?

Mischa (Paul): Well, come on in. Keep your shoes on. 

Mayanna (Fran): Okay. Shoes on. Worksite. 

[Music begins: jazzy piano].

Mischa: The house is loud and raucous. JJ, as you wander through the front living room, your younger sister Josephine runs out and like, jumps into your arms. 

Lyn (JJ): Hi! 

Mischa (Josephine): JJ!  

Mayanna (Fran): Aww

Lyn (JJ): Woo!

Lyn: And I, pick her up and spin her over my head as much as I can. It's like, 

Lyn (JJ): okay, Josie, here's tita Fran!

Mayanna (Fran): Hi! Hi! Nice to meet you! 

Mischa (Josephine): (tentatively) Hi. 

Mayanna (Fran): It's okay, hi. 

Lyn (JJ): She's a friend. She's very fashionable. 

Mischa (Josephine): (whispers) She's so pretty. 

Lyn (JJ): (whispers) I know. 

Mayanna (Fran): (whispers) Oh my god, thank you, you are very pretty as well. 

Mischa (Josephine): Eee, thank you

Mayanna (Fran): Oh, you're welcome. 

Lyn (JJ): what have you been up to, Josie? 

Mischa (Josephine): It's building day! 

Lyn (JJ): It's building day! 

Mischa (Josephine): It's building, we're building! 

Lyn (JJ): Yeah, you're building! What are we building? 

Mischa (Josephine): New room for the baby!

Lyn (JJ): Yeah, that is what we're building. Good job. 

Mischa (Josephine): Yeah! 

Lyn (JJ): Yeah. Did you see the blueprints? 

Mischa (Josephine): Yes! 

Lyn (JJ): Yeah, did you–

Mischa (Josephine): I gave approve. 

Mayanna (Fran): She gave approval!

Lyn (JJ): Yeah. Do you have a stamp? 

Mischa (Josephine): Yup!

Mischa: There's actually a drafting table in the living room with the blueprints for the project up, and you see, in the bottom left corner, in green crayon, just like a scrawl.

Mayanna: Oh my god, that's so cute. 

Lyn (JJ): You have an excellent stamp.

Mayanna: Wait, so she has, she has crayons? 

Mischa: Yeah. 

Mayanna: Okay, cool. Can I, can I take like a piece of metal– 

Lyn: Like a little rubber stamp for her?

Mayanna: –and like craft a little seal for her and then, and then melt a little crayon? 

Mischa: Oh my god, yes! 

Lyn: That’s so cute! 

Mischa: You wanna use one of your tool charges? 

Mayanna: Yeah, I wanna use one of my free, one of my free crafts for the day and make her a little, I, like a little piece of wood and a little metal and I, I, what, what are her initials? It would be JC?

Lyn: Mhmm.

Mayanna: So I do a little JC with a little heart. Carve it into some metal, attach it to like, a very like, you know, not super stylish, just like a small block of wood. And then I melt a little bit of the crayon, and then I press it into the, where, where she was doing her little scribbles on the blueprint.

Lyn (JJ): Ooh, a wax seal, Josie! 

Mischa (Josephine): Woah!

Mayanna: And then I give that to her. 

Mischa: She takes it in, in one fist, and like, huge eyes reverently looks at it in her hand. Looks back up to you, and then bolts off for the hallway like slamming it against the wall. 

[Laughter]. 

Lyn (JJ): Hey, hey! Say thank you, say thank you!!

Mischa (Josephine): (yelling from a distance) Thank you!

Mayanna (Fran): You're welcome! That's your personal seal of approval! 

Lyn (JJ): Use it wisely! Eh, she's… Okay. 

Mayanna (Fran): She's approving a lot of things. Everything’s approved.

Lyn (JJ): Everything is very approved. 

[Laughter]. 

Lyn: And I give a thumbs up to–

Mayanna: I give you a thumbs up back. 

Lyn: Yeah. 

Mayanna: Yeah! 

Lyn: Just another at Josie in the distance. 

Mayanna (Fran): Did I just create more problems for you? 

Lyn (JJ): No, this is, this, you know, you should have seen what I did as a kid. 

[Laughter]. 

Mayanna (Fran): What did you do as a kid?

Lyn (JJ): Um. A lot, anyway!

[Laughter]. 

[Music ends]. [Music begins: cozy acoustic guitar].

[Soundscape begins: sizzling of cooking].

Mischa: You wander back through the living room and pass by the kitchen where your grandmother is just constantly back and forth all cooking up a storm. 

Mayanna (Fran): Oh my goodness. 

Lyn (JJ): Hi, Mama Joy. 

Lyn: Does the, does the thing.

Mischa (Mama Joy): Oh, hello JJ. 

Lyn: And holds out a hand for you. 

Lyn (JJ): Mano po, this is my friend Fran.

Mischa (Mama Joy): Hello, Fran. 

Mayanna: I take the, I do what JJ just did. 

Mischa: Can you roll performance for me, Fran? 

[Laughter]. 

Mayanna: Yes, absolutely, I can. I would be insulted if you didn't. Okay, let's see here. Oh, no! It's a 4. It’s bad. 

[Laughter].  

Mischa: I think you take her hand and you like and like fall back to your old habits, and you just like kiss the knuckles real quick. 

[Laughter]. 

Mayanna (Fran): Sorry, I don't know. I don't know why I go for like the dap up– 

[Laughter]. 

Mayanna (Fran): No, wait, what? Sorry, I'm sorry. 

Lyn: JJ’s cracking up behind you.

Mayanna (Fran): I just, I think, I got excited. I think I just, sorry, I just learned it and I, I don't know what happened. [Laughter]. I just really, I'm so sorry about that. 

Mischa (Mama Joy): Hm. Your friend is strange. Welcome home. 

Lyn: Big hug. kiss on the cheek. 

Lyn (JJ): So, how's the, how's the renovation going?

Mischa (Mama Joy): You know your parents, always doing something. 

Lyn (JJ): That is true. Work site stuff isn't uncommon, I just normally know when it's happening. 

Mayanna (Fran): Mm. 

Mischa (Mama Joy): I think your father, he might be a little upset with you. 

Lyn (JJ): Where's tatay at right now? 

Mischa (Mama Joy): He's back in your room, back in, back in the, I'm sorry, the project wing. 

Mayanna (Fran): The project wing?

Lyn (JJ): Ooh, okay.

Mischa (Mama Joy): Yes, I'm, I'm sorry, I box up your things as best I can.  

Lyn (JJ): Oh, thank you. You–that was really nice of you. You didn't have to do that. I would have come back and done it. 

Mischa (Mama Joy): You have been busy. 

Mayanna: Do I know you changed your major? I think we talked about that, right? 

Lyn: Yeah, last night. We would’ve talked about it.

Mayanna: So I think I know, I think I pick up immediately of like, oh, it's about that, huh?

Lyn: Mhmm. 

Lyn (JJ): Okay, I guess I should go… See him… (Nervous humming).

Mayanna (Fran): I would really love to, the next time I'm here to try the greeting again. I just, I keep thinking about it and it's probably gonna haunt me all night. And like, I keep replaying it over and over and it's just, I'm just so sorry. 

Mischa: Mama Joy, impassive face, just, just stone, and then turns back to cook. And, like, like, like, something starts burning and she turns back to cook it. [SFX: more intense sizzling from a hot pan]

[Music ends]. [Soundscape ends].

Mayanna: (Stressed humming). I like turn to JJ, I'm like, 

Mayanna (Fran): I get it! I get why you are the way you are! 

Lyn (JJ): No, she likes you. 

Mayanna (Fran): She likes me? That's good? 

Lyn (JJ): She didn't slap you. 

Mayanna (Fran): Oh wow. Okay! 

Lyn (JJ): Like a playful thump. 

Mayanna (Fran): Oh, okay. 

Lyn (JJ): More like a thump. 

Mayanna (Fran): Just a thump? 

Lyn (JJ): Yeah, a little thump.

Mayanna (Fran): A little playful thump. Okay. Right on. We should go see your dad, I guess? 

Lyn (JJ): Yeah. 

Mayanna (Fran): Mhmm. Okay. 

Mischa: Yeah, you wander back into where your room was, 

Lyn: Okay.

[Soundscape begins, construction machines whirring, hydraulics working, metals and woods clanking and clattering].

Mischa: And you can see, Your father, Jovany, overseeing a construction bot, placing, like, floorboards and sort of expanding the platform of your bedroom. Because one wall is missing, and presumably those walls will come back up at a later date.

Lyn: Yep, at some point, probably. 

Mischa: It's loud, it's cacophonous, it's, it's –

Lyn: I hand you some earplugs. 

Mayanna: Oh god, okay, thank you. 

Mischa: OSHA approved baby!

Lyn: We have, like the over ear ones, like, hanging at every vestibule in the house. 

Mayanna: I just, this is so foreign to me. Like, I, so much construction, like, I just can't imagine being around this level of chaos all the time.

Lyn (JJ): I don't think we have pink or purple ones, but, there’s some..

Mayanna (Fran): Dammit! Do you have cream? 

Lyn (JJ): Oh yeah, here's some. Oh, thank god. A little off white. 

Mayanna (Fran): Yes. 

Lyn (JJ): Yeah, here we go. 

Mayanna (Fran): Oh, I love it. 

Lyn (JJ): These are my aunt’s, but if she's not using them, you can use them. 

Mayanna (Fran): Okay, great, awesome. 

Lyn (JJ): Anyway.

Mayanna (Fran): Are you okay? 

Lyn (JJ): Yeah, let's, we got stuff to do… 

Mayanna (Fran): Look, you have nothing to apologize for. It's kind of weird that he is, like, kind of making a statement without talking to you, because you didn't do anything wrong. 

Lyn (JJ): I… See your point? 

Mayanna (Fran): I get where you're going with this, and no, it is not my place, and I do not understand the dynamic of your family, so I am going to stay out of it, but just know, you didn't do anything wrong.

Lyn (JJ): I appreciate you. 

Mayanna (Fran): Even if they feel like you did, that's their opinion, but it's not fact. 

Lyn (JJ): Okay. 

Mayanna (Fran): But I will not step in unless you would like me to. 

Lyn (JJ): If I give you a thumbs down– 

Mayanna (Fran): Uh-huh. 

Lyn (JJ): –I might need some backup. 

Mayanna (Fran): You got it. You got it. 

Lyn: I make my way into the “project wing.” [Laughter].  Tatay! Tay? 

Mischa: Jovany takes down, takes like one ear off of the ear protection, and his face starts to light up as soon as he sees you, and then he catches himself, and he like, remembers that he's mad at you, and turns back and pulls the lever on the machine to stop it working, [SFX: metal thud], and goes,

Mischa (Jovany): Oh, anak, welcome home. 

[Music begins: high ambient synths].

Lyn (JJ): Hi, Tatay. 

Mischa: And, and, and gives you a hug, and it's kind of hard and stony. 

Lyn: Mhmm. Give him two solid pats on the back and a hug, and then step away. 

Mischa: Mhmm.

Lyn (JJ): I, came home– oh, this is Fran. 

Mayanna (Fran): Hi.

Lyn (JJ): I don't know if you've met before, I don't think you have. 

Mayanna (Fran): I met, we, I met Paul. but no, it's a pleasure to meet you.

Mischa (Jovany): A pleasure to meet you, Fran. 

Lyn (JJ): Fran was, was, with me at the, at the bridge site the other day. 

Mayanna (Fran): Yeah. 

Lyn (JJ): And helped out a lot with that. 

Mischa (Jovany): Oh, yes the bridge site, Your father told me about the bridge site. 

Lyn (JJ): Yeah.

Mischa (Jovany): I heard about that. 

Lyn (JJ): Mhmm. 

Mayanna (Fran): Mhmm

Lyn (JJ): Luckily everyone was safe. It was..

Mischa (Jovany): I thank the stars for that. I am so, I'm, we are happy you're safe. We hear you are keeping other people safe as well. 

Lyn (JJ): Yeah. Yes. Yep. That is, that is a thing I'm doing now and I wanted to talk to you about it. For a number of reasons, but –

Mischa (Jovany): Yes? 

Lyn (JJ): Um.

Lyn: Like kind of looks at him and then like looks at Fran and– 

Mischa: Do you want to roll insight for me?

Lyn: Yeah.

Mayanna: Ooooh.

Lyn: Come on. Insight. Come on. Proficiency.

Mayanna: You got this. You got this. 

Lyn: [Dice rolls]. 18. 

Mayanna: Nice. 

Mischa: Yeah. It's a mixture. It's not just the consternation that you were fearing, right? 

Lyn: Yeah.

Mischa: Like, I think within 18, you can compartmentalize a little bit. You can, you like, take a deep breath and really look over how he's actually reacting instead of just how you were expecting him to react.

Lyn: (Agreeing).

Mischa: he is not happy. About this choice, in the way you were expecting, but like, he is genuinely happy that you're safe, that something bad didn't happen to you. 

Lyn: Yeah, mhmm.

Mischa: And again, it's almost like he has to like, remind himself that he's still mad. 

Lyn: Yeah.

Mischa: Like he, it looks like he's, he's disapproving, but with effort.

Lyn: Yeah. Mhmm. 

Lyn (JJ): I'm sorry I didn't talk to you about it. I am. 

Mischa (Jovany): Well, I am sorry we didn't talk to you about your room. I'm, I'm sorry. 

Lyn (JJ): I mean, the blueprints look great. I see that Josie already stamped it with her little seal. So, honestly, that's the only foreman you have to worry about around here right now. 

Mischa (Jovany): Yes, we always have to run it by the committee, you know?

Lyn (JJ): Mhmm.

Lyn: And like, with the reflection of like, he's trying to like, be upset with me. Like, still upset, but like, JJ looks at Fran and gives you actually a thumbs up. 

Lyn (JJ): So, what would you like to talk about first? 

Mischa (Jovany): Well, I… 

Lyn (JJ): Or do you want to go eat? Have you taken a break yet? Have you gotten your 30? 

Mischa (Jovany): Oh, well, thank you for noticing. Look who still remembers the regulations. 

Lyn (JJ): Ha ha ha, I'm still getting good grades in those classes. 

Mischa (Jovany): I still have another couple of hours before my mandated, but we can, we can blow the steam whistle early, I guess, I suppose. 

Lyn: I take out a little whistle and blow it. [SFX: high-pitched whistle]

Mayanna: Awww. 

Lyn (JJ): I would have used it earlier if you couldn't hear me. It is your whistle. Okay, let's go. Let's go! 

[Laughter]. 

Mayanna: I'm so joyful. 

Lyn (JJ): Coffee? Coffee, anyone? Let's get coffee. Over in the kitchen. Coffee.

Mischa: You head back to the kitchen, and on the way, Jovany points out that all of your stuff has been neatly boxed and labeled and, like, is off in sort of one side of Josie's room. 

Lyn (JJ): Oh. Do you want us to go through that today?

Mischa (Jovany): Well, we know you're still living in the Come-Up, we know it's a small place, 

Lyn (JJ): yeah

Mischa (Jovany): we don't want to burden you, we will put it in storage if you need us to. 

Lyn (JJ): Yeah, I should go through that. Fran, would you mind helping me go through this later? You'll tell me what I should–what I–

Mayanna (Fran): Absolutely. I have a very good method for this. If it doesn't spark joy, you throw it in the garbage. 

Lyn (JJ): Wow. I really like that. 

Mayanna (Fran): Yeah, I really, I think I'm, I'm gonna work on publishing. 

[Music ends].

[Chuckles].

Lyn (JJ): I think, yeah. 

[Laughter]. 

Mayanna: Edit this out.

[Raucous Laughter].

Mayanna: The Fran Weaver method. 

Lyn: Yeah.

Mayanna (Fran): Just, it's just snap decisions. You just look at it and if, you either know if you need it or you don't. If, if guilt is the overriding emotion you feel when you're like trying to figure out if you need it or not, you don't need it. 

[Music begins: melancholy synth string chords].

Lyn (JJ): Okay. 

Mayanna (Fran): That's the thing that I did when I moved out.

Lyn (JJ): Yeah. We don't. Really? I don't really know where you lived before. 

Mayanna (Fran): Yeah, It was me and my mom. 

Lyn (JJ): Yeah? 

Mayanna (Fran): Before, yeah. Kind of running away, in a way, from that. I don't really have a dad, so to speak. 

Lyn (JJ): Yeah, Well, I got extra. 

Mayanna (Fran): I see that, it's really nice. I'm glad you have two of them. 

Lyn (JJ): Yeah. 

Mayanna (Fran): And they both seem really great.

Lyn (JJ): Yeah.

Mayanna (Fran): You're lucky. 

Lyn (JJ): Yeah…

Mischa: You head back out into the kitchen and, Paul and Jovany share a look across the room and all sort of gather around the coffee table in the living room on, like, couches and chairs. 

Lyn: I take some bread and dip it in my coffee. 

Mischa: Paul goes to do the same. Jovany goes, 

Mischa (Jovany): No, what are you doing?

[Music ends].

Mischa: And grabs the coffee cup and went, 

Mischa (Jovany): You can't have caffeine. What are you doing? 

Mayanna (Fran): It'll stunt your growth. 

Lyn: (cackling) That was so funny because that's been my whole fucking life IRL.

[Laughter].

Lyn: You nailed it in one. Good job. 

Mischa: yeah, Paul looks at you, Fran, and, and just gives a very exaggerated, like, 

Mischa (Paul): Oh, shoot. 

[Laughter]. 

Mischa: Jovany comes back with another cup. It's presumably herbal tea. Paul gives a sniff, 

Mischa (Paul): I want coffee. 

Lyn: (laughing)

Mayanna: Aww.

Lyn (JJ): So…

Mischa (Jovany): So…

Mayanna (Fran): Yeah…

Lyn (JJ): So…

Mayanna (Fran): Yup we were wondering…

Mischa (Jovany): So JJ, how are your classes? 

Lyn (JJ): Uh. (Clears throat). Well, some are good. 

Mischa (Jovany): Okay.

Lyn (JJ): Some are I don’t really know, because I… am changing tracks. 

Mischa (Jovany): Okay. You're to a different side of Mechanist–you work with different systems, what is it? 

[Music begins: high ethereal ambient synths].

Lyn (JJ): Um. yes and no. I mean, working with different systems, yes. Still working for the city. Yes. 

Mischa (Jovany): City. Government work? 

Lyn (JJ): Yes. Um.

Mischa (Jovany): Okay. 

Lyn (JJ): Still hands on. 

Mayanna (Fran): Yeah. 

Lyn (JJ): (whispering to Fran) Is that accurate?

Mayanna (Fran): Yeah. I think so, yeah.

Lyn (JJ): Yeah. 

Mayanna (Fran): Very important. Very important work for the city. Vital work, in fact. 

Lyn (JJ): Yeah, so, I mean, as you know, I was working with the labor department to, you know, learn about. labor, an important and vital part of etc. 

Mischa (Jovany): Yes, of course, we loved it. That sort of work background diversity looks great on the resume.

Lyn (JJ): Yeah, yeah. And, so expanding my knowledge about… 

Mayanna (Fran): (whispered) You got this, JJ. 

Lyn (JJ): (whispered) Thank you.

Mayanna (Fran): (whispered) You’re welcome.

Lyn (JJ): Um.. oh my god, I'm gonna throw up. 

Mayanna: I put like an empty bowl in front of JJ. 

Mischa: I think Paul puts a hand on your shoulder. 

Mayanna: Aww.

Mischa (Paul): It's okay, honey. 

Lyn (JJ): Okay, I.. won't be working directly within the Mechanist's Guild. Anymore.

Mischa (Jovany): (sighs heavily)

Mischa: Jovany, keeps a deep sigh and mutters something quietly to himself in Dwarvish.

Lyn (JJ): You know, you know I love it. There are lots of parts of it that I love, but I think you also know that I love what it does for people and what the people do for it. And I am part of a relatively new team now to work amongst all the guilds and beyond for, I guess, the safety and security of everyone? 

Mayanna (Fran): Mhmm.

Mischa (Jovany): Sounds dangerous. And not very stable. 

Lyn (JJ): Well, yeah. 

Mischa (Jovany): JJ, don't you understand why we sent you to the Mechanist Guild, why we want you to join us? It is–Everybody always needs the maintenance. All of our infrastructure needs to be taken care of. That is how you take care of people. You take care of the world for them.

Lyn (JJ): I know. 

Mayanna (Fran): That's what JJ is doing. 

Mischa (Jovany): And they will always need you. And you will always have a job. 

Lyn (JJ): You're not wrong. You're not wrong. I agree with you. You know I do. I've been with you this whole time. I'm not leaving. Not like that. 

Mischa (Jovany): So now your job is to run into danger? How does this end? You think this is a way to build a life?

Lyn (JJ): I'll do it if it means that other people can build theirs. And I know, you know what that means. 

Mischa (Jovany): I don't care about them. I care about you. You are my daughter!

Lyn (JJ): And this whole city is our family. You've always been telling me that. 

Mischa: Roll persuasion. 

Mayanna: Ooh, 

Ian: Dun dun dun!

Lyn: Come on, come on.

Ian: You got this.

Mayanna: You got this, you got this.

[Dice rolls]. 

Lyn: Oh, okay, okay, okay, okay. 17? 

Mischa: Yeah. 

Ian: Nice. 

[Music ends].

Ian: P. S. What I also rolled for persuasion, it's the roll of the day. 

Lyn: (Stressed noises).

[Music begins: energetic synth chimes].

Mayanna: Yeah, it's true. [Laughter]. 

Mayanna (Fran): You got this. I'm so proud of you. 

Lyn (JJ): Thank you. 

Mayanna (Fran): I'm so proud of you. 

Lyn (JJ): Thank you, Fran. 

Mayanna (Fran): You're welcome. 

Mayanna: I'm just like saying this under my breath to you while you're talking to your dad. 

Mischa: Fran, I think Paul, like, takes your hand.

Mayanna: I hold, I hold Paul's hand. 

Mischa: Jovany sighs in frustration and kind of snorts and looks back to his mother, Mama Joy, in the kitchen who has not stopped cooking whatsoever or preparing food whatsoever while this intense family meeting is occurring. 

Mayanna: Damn.

Lyn: Mhmm.

Mischa: And she glances over her shoulder to her son and gives him kind of a, “come on now,” look. Jovany says, 

[Music shifts: higher mournful synth notes join].

Mischa (Jovany): they are not my family. All this time, we have tried to build for it. I have seen an ugly side to these people. I work for their betterment because if the world is safer for everyone else, it makes the world safer for us. Gives us a place in this world that cannot be taken from us. But I don't want you to inherit this from me. 

Lyn (JJ): I don't want to live always running headlong into danger. That's why I like the regulations and safety and predictability. And infrastructure. God, I love it. But right now, all of that is in a really precarious state. I'm working to investigate some really weird things that have been going on. Things that I think impact the grid. The very things that we have laid every foundation of on this city. Everything that, just as you said, everyone's lives depend on. And we do need help. 

Mayanna (Fran): Mhmm

Lyn (JJ): I'll always need your help. Okay?

Mischa (Jovany): We are here for you. 

Lyn (JJ): I'm here for you. I know it doesn't always feel like that, I know. 

Mischa (Jovany): I suppose if we knock down the walls of your room, we make it harder. 

Lyn (JJ): You'll rebuild those, you can always rebuild those. 

[Music ends]. [Music begins: low energetic synths].

Lyn (JJ): What I'm–what we are, we–

Mayanna (Fran): Mhmm,

Lyn: And I look over at Paul, 

Lyn (JJ): And, you know, everyone else you met at the worksite the other day, part of a team that is working on this investigation, and we're a little bit worried that it might be running so deep that the ability to rebuild is, we'd need far more than any amount the Mechanist Guild is available.

Mischa: Paul looks at Jovany and goes, 

Mischa (Paul): That's what I was trying to tell ya. I was at work on that reconstruction site underneath the bridge, and the kids came in and stopped a catastrophe, and we were supposed–I thought we were going to return right, get right back to it. All of a sudden they, you know, another day passes, they suspend operations there. We're just supposed to move on, they're just gonna what, they're just gonna leave it? 

Lyn (JJ): They suspended all operations? 

Mischa (Paul): Oh yeah. 

Mayanna (Fran): So that bridge is just closed? 

Mischa (Paul): That's what they tell me. 

Mayanna (Fran): Huh. 

Lyn (JJ): did they say it was under further investigation or anything? 

Mischa (Paul): Pft. Well, they don't tell me that kind of stuff. 

Lyn (JJ): They should!

Mayanna (Fran): Don't people like, need that bridge to like, commute and travel? 

Lyn (JJ): Yeah, traffic everywhere around the city has been awful. I got here on my bike faster than you on the bus!

Mayanna (Fran): Yeah, yeah, yeah, the bus took, I'm not gonna lie, it was arduous, but, again, not your fault, I'm just telling you, not for you to feel bad, but because it's weird, because the buses run great, normally.

Lyn (JJ): Yeah, A lot of weird things have been happening. We're not sure yet, but everyone in our family, weirdly, knows so much more about the history of this city than most of us know. You've all been here since the very beginning. 

Mayanna (Fran): Yeah, mhmm. 

Lyn (JJ): We think that there's a problem with the grid. 

Mayanna (Fran): Mhmm

Lyn (JJ): There's been some… 

Mayanna (Fran): Anomalies, 

Lyn (JJ): Extreme anomalies, danger that is either feeding off of or is built by the Astra-electrical conduits. These creatures that can appear through electrical lines or possess mechanical automatons. 

Mayanna (Fran): Yeah, they possessed the drill at the site. 

Mischa (Paul): That thing was possessed? 

Mayanna (Fran): Yeah, and they came– 

Mischa (Paul): Like a ghost? 

Lyn (JJ): Something like that.

Mayanna (Fran): Yeah, and they came through the grid and attacked Boggins and this is something that people are not really talking about and they're trying to contain it.

Lyn (JJ): And something is happening that not everyone can remember.

Mayanna (Fran): Mhmm.

Lyn (JJ): That's why we've been called to action. 

Mayanna (Fran): Yep. 

Lyn (JJ): It's because we can remember and we can help. 

Mayanna (Fran): Mhmm.

Lyn (JJ): I don't mean to make this a business call, but, you know? Maybe you can tell us some stories about how the city came to be. 

[Music ends].

Mischa: Jovany and Paul look at each other silently and just pass wordless thoughts to each other.

Mayanna: Hm.

Mischa: I think they both sort of lean forward in their chairs and sigh in unison. 

Mischa (Jovany): Okay. JJ, what do you want to know? 

Lyn (JJ): Okay, Fran, get out your notebook!

Mayanna (Fran): Great. Absolutely. The mines. Tell us everything there is to know about the mines. 

[Music begins: pensive piano].

Lyn (JJ): The fact that this is a huge Astra deposit, we don't even know where Astra comes from, what it is, how the grid even came to develop. I know that that is part of what both of you studied as far as like the infrastructure of everything was both like mining and excavation technology as well as electrical engineering and all of it is so mundane now. But it wasn't always that way, was it? 

Mischa (Paul): Well, no. It, it took a, a lot of effort, a lot of, a lot of elbow grease building this town. Tell you what. Well, I mean, we were on that fortress. What, how long, honey? 

Mischa (Jovany): I, after I moved up there, we were up there, it was 15 years before we, we landed in this spot. 

Mayanna (Fran): Damn. 

Mischa (Paul): And I was born along that thing, so. 

Lyn (JJ): Mhmm. 

Mayanna (Fran): And you would go to the mines like every day? 

Mischa (Paul): It was, it was the only thing we were. We were running scared, you know, we, we'd pick people up off the ground who had nothing, their homes destroyed. We were, we were giving them sanctuary. And then one day our, our leaders announced that they were scanning, you know, they were trying to find Astra deposits to sort of fight back. 

Mayanna (Fran): Huh. 

Mischa (Paul): We, we, we needed something, we, we were running scared. 

Mayanna (Fran): Who was telling you that you needed to find Astra? Like, who, who was in charge of that?

Lyn (JJ): How was it even discovered? 

Mischa (Paul): I don't know, I feel like we've always had it. It's, I mean, it's, it's been in the, it, it grows in the ground. 

Mayanna (Fran): Right. And so–

Lyn (JJ): Like regular ore? 

Mischa (Paul): I guess you didn't get to that class yet, huh? 

Lyn (JJ): I'm not in the natural sciences side of things now. 

Mischa (Jovany): No, But yes, you, you bury an astra crystal and you, you leave it for many years. It grows into the soil. The soil converts into it. It grows, it grows through the ground. 

Mayanna (Fran): But where did the first crystal come from? 

Mischa (Jovany): I don't know. Was it not always here? 

Lyn (JJ): So even in your lifetime you didn't know? I mean, if, I mean, whether it grows like sodium, like, yeah, sure, crystals can proliferate, hmm, I don't like it.

Mischa (Jovany): Well, the biggest problem, of course, was that wherever we tried to find deposits before, the Balverox would, would keep us from it. 

Mayanna (Fran): Uh-huh. 

Mischa (Jovany): They wanted this, this stuff for themselves. 

Mayanna (Fran): What did they use it for, do we know? 

Mischa: They, Jovany and Paul look at each other quizzically, and they're like, “do you even know?”

Mayanna (Fran): So we don't, so we don't know what the enemy needed Astra for. Like, they, they could have been using it for the same reasons we were using it, and we just didn't ask or find out, we just, they just attacked us and we just attacked them.

Mischa (Jovany): They used it to destroy my home. 

Mayanna (Fran): Right. Totally. 

Mischa (Jovany): They use it for destruction. They use it for whatever–I don't know. They do dances in caves. What do you want? 

Mayanna (Fran): But like, why did they, but why did they attack? Like why, why, what would, what would be the reason for them to attack us in the first place? 

Mischa (Jovany): I didn't know. 

Lyn: I kind of turn my attention to the kitchen. 

Mischa: Mama Joy is standing over the stove, pointedly not looking in your direction, lost in thought.

Lyn (JJ): Yeah, you would have been even younger than us when this happened. 

Mischa (Jovany): I was just a boy! 

Mayanna (Fran): Totally.

Lyn (JJ): Yeah.

Mischa (Jovany): Some of my very first memories are living in tents, wandering the countryside, hoping desperately they wouldn't come after us. Fifteen years we were on the ground before they came and got us. Hard years. 

Lyn (JJ): Yeah, and I don't want that happening again.

Mayanna (Fran): No. 

Lyn (JJ): That's why this is important. Okay. 

[Music ends].

Lyn: And I say that while turning towards the kitchen. 

Mayanna (Fran): Yeah. 

Lyn (JJ): So, I tried to do some research, and you know the library at the Arc, how it's so locked down? 

[Music begins: ominous electronic synths].

Mischa (Jovany): Yes, they, they like to think magic is a big secret. Magic is a trick of engineering 

Mayanna (Fran): Right? That's what I've been saying. Ah! You get me. 

Lyn (JJ): (whispered) See, I told you, they'd like you. 

Mayanna (Fran): (whispered)Totally, yeah, yeah, 

Lyn (JJ): I couldn't find anything about anything like we've experienced. Which seems weird to me. Like, it would be weird if this is the first time ever something like this was happening. 

Mayanna (Fran): Mhmm.

Lyn (JJ): And we got confirmation that it's been happening for who knows how long. Have you heard of anything like strange occurrences happening with the grid that didn't have an engineering explanation? 

Mischa (Jovany): No, I have not seen anything like that. And unfortunately, I–If there were anomalies with the grid, I think I would have noticed. 

Mayanna (Fran): Unless someone was keeping that from you. 

Mischa (Jovany): Well, of course. Yes. 

Mayanna (Fran): Right. 

Lyn (JJ): Hmm. 

Mayanna (Fran): What about that factory? That, that abandoned factory? 

Lyn (JJ): Yeah, there’s an abandoned factory in Minetown. 

Mayanna (Fran): Yeah. 

Lyn (JJ): That, there's been reports of strange things happening there. And I think most people are just chalking it up to, you know, skaters. 

Mayanna (Fran): Yeah. 

[Music ends].

Mischa: Paul gives a big exaggerated sway and goes, 

Mischa (Paul): Oh, now you think skateboarders are annoying. Well, how the tables turn.  

Mayanna (Fran): (chuckles).

Lyn (JJ): Okay, fine. Whatever. 

Mischa (Paul): Like you weren't Little Miss Skater Chick. 

Lyn (JJ): Yeah, yeah, yeah, okay, we're not talking about it. 

Mayanna (Fran): Wait, were you a skater chick?! 

Lyn (JJ): We're not talking about it! 

Mayanna (Fran): (Jokingly scolding) JJ! 

Lyn (JJ): We're not talking about it. 

Mayanna (Fran): (conspiratorial whisper) What color was the skateboard? 

Lyn (JJ): It was ultramarine blue, if anyone's asking, but whatever. 

Mayanna (Fran): (whispering) I was asking.

Mischa (Paul): If I recall, it had, like, pretty sick flames up the middle like a racing–

Mayanna (Fran): Pretty sick flames, okay.

Lyn (JJ): Okay, yeah. 

Mayanna (Fran): JJ was a little risk taker? A little safety disregarder? 

Mischa (Paul): No, absolutely not, that's why we thought it was weird she wanted to ride a skateboard. 

Mayanna (Fran): Was she all in the pads and stuff? 

Lyn (JJ): Yes!

Mayanna (Fran): Oh, JJ. 

Mischa: Jovany goes, 

Mischa (Jovany): your little friend Samira bought a skateboard–

Mayanna (Fran): (gasps).

Mischa (Jovany): And all of a sudden JJ had to have a skateboard even though we told her it's unsafe.

Mayanna (Fran): Oh, I love Samira. 

Lyn (JJ): (quietly, strainted) Stop talking. Right now.

Mayanna (Fran): Samira's great. 

Lyn (JJ): Shh, shut up. 

Mayanna (Fran): Oh. 

Mischa (Jovany): Then maybe you should tell her to behave a little nicer, a little better. 

Mayanna (Fran): Oh. Mmmm. Hm.

Lyn (JJ): Please. 

[Music begins: quiet, contemplative piano].

Mayanna (Fran): Mhmm. She is a wild, a wild child, but you know, sometimes a ripple in a lake, yeah, it's, it's disruptive, but it kind of settles back to the same place, but it was kind of nice for a second, you know?

Mischa (Jovany): We build our lives for the stability part. 

Mayanna (Fran): Totally.

Mischa (Jovany): She does not care about this. 

Lyn (JJ): That's not true. And you know it. That's really unfair. 

Mayanna (Fran): Stability looks different to different people, right? 

Mischa (Jovany): I suppose if you make stability out of instability, if you make instability the status quo, then it is always what you are used to, yes?

Lyn (JJ): (whispering to Fran) We gotta talk about entropy at some point, anyway! Fran, this is not–

Mayanna (Fran): (whispering) Totally. 

Lyn (JJ): (whispering) It's a thing, I should have I forgot that in the thing. I should have mentioned that. 

Mayanna (Fran): (whispering) Flames on the skateboard, huh? 

Lyn (JJ): (whispering) Not that part! We're not talking about that part! 

Mayanna (Fran): (whispering) I still want to talk about that part. 

Lyn (JJ): (whispering) Fine. Later. 

[Music ends]. [Music begins: ethereal ambient synths].

Mayanna (Fran): (whispering) Okay, fine. (normally) Anyway.

Lyn (JJ): (normally) So this factory.

Mayanna (Fran): This factory, yeah. 

Lyn (JJ): There've been reports– 

Lyn: And I give the description that we have at the factory.

Mayanna: And there was also that house that the gas line exploded. 

Lyn: Oh yeah. 

Mayanna: Cause Gordon told us about that. 

Lyn (JJ): I, yeah. And like things have been happening. 

Mayanna (Fran): Strange things, infrastructure things. 

Lyn (JJ): And I know the work you do. Like this amount of instability doesn't come from nowhere. 

Mayanna (Fran): Mhmm. Pretty strange. Pretty odd. 

Mischa (Jovany): Very true.

Lyn (JJ): You haven't been getting reports about it at all? 

Mayanna (Fran): Pretty weird!

Mischa (Jovany): Well, no, if, if the factory is abandoned, they're, they would've been cut off from the grid. If they're not paying the power bill. So, 

Mayanna (Fran): Hmm.

Mischa (Jovany): I would, they wouldn't have reported problems if it's abandoned. 

Lyn (JJ): But then they shouldn't even have access to– 

Mayanna (Fran): Boggins was also shut down.

Lyn (JJ): Yeah, some stuff happened. After we cut the power. 

Mayanna: I'm gonna text Gordon and ask if he knows if the house, if that apartment complex with the busted gas leak was also closed down.

Mayanna (Fran): [SFX: Staticky] Hey, remember when you told us about that, that house that you heard about from the old lady in the dog park?

Ian (Gordon): [SFX: Staticky] Mhmm.

Mayanna (Fran): [SFX: Staticky] Do you know if that house, or do you know if that like building is still attached to the grid? 

Ian (Gordon): [SFX: Staticky] Dot, dot, dot. I don't know, but I can check. 

Mayanna (Fran): [SFX: Staticky] Yeah, that would be great. 

Mayanna (Fran): So if they're cutting things off from the grid,

Lyn (JJ): Yeah.

Mayanna (Fran):  That presumably had weird things happen. 

Lyn (JJ): It's a quarantine. 

Mayanna (Fran): It's a quarantine. But it's not containment.

Lyn (JJ): Mhmm.

Mayanna (Fran): It's like cutting off your nose to spite your face.

Lyn (JJ):  I do not understand that metaphor, but you said it was such confidence that it gave me chills. 

Mayanna (Fran): Well, it's like, it's like, hey, the grid is causing some problems. Well, let's just stop the grid from going to the place where the problem is. But that's not really the problem. The problem is the grid. 

Lyn (JJ): Yeah. 

Mayanna (Fran): It's not the building. 

Lyn (JJ): It’s a very, just a bandage solution. 

Mayanna (Fran): Which again means that there's something going on with the grid. Is the mine connected to the grid? 

Mischa (Jovany): Yes, the mines are connected to the grid. That's how they run the equipment deeper into the tunnels. 

Mayanna (Fran): And at this point, are we still excavating Astra from the mine still to this day?

Mischa (Jovany): Oh, constantly. There's a massive supply down there. You remember, don't you, honey? 

Mischa: And Paul goes, 

Mischa (Paul): Oh yeah, the day they found it, they–It was a jubilation in the streets. Finally, we, a place to settle. Finally, a way to win. Finally, we were going to turn the tides. It was, it was huge. 

Mayanna (Fran): So let me get this straight. You bury Astra in the ground to build more Astra, which means somebody buried Astra at the bottom of this mine, a lot of it, and we just stumbled upon it and then built our entire civilization around it, but we don't know who planted it. And we don't know why. 

Mischa (Paul): It grows in the ground naturally. It grows from itself. I mean, maybe it grew up from deep within the planet? 

Mayanna (Fran): Hmm.

Lyn (JJ): If we're approaching it like ore in other capacities, that's how ore, as we know it, works. 

Mayanna (Fran): Mm. Mhm. Hm. On average, what color is the astra that we excavate from the mine? 

Mischa (Jovany): Uh, neutral white. It's white in its rough form and then it's polished to a clear. 

Mayanna (Fran): Mhmm. Are there other colors of Astra that you're aware of?

Mischa (Jovany): Minor impurities that run through the stream, sure. 

Mayanna (Fran): Hm.

Mischa (Jovany): I mean, we don't run experiments. That's not really–

Mayanna (Fran): Right. 

Mischa (Jovany): As long as it generates current, I don't really care. And most Astra does that, even, even the dud pieces will make a little spark. 

Mayanna (Fran): Huh.

Mayanna: What color was the electricity of the wraith in episode two? I believe it was blue, correct?

Mischa: (Smugly) Yeah, it was blue. 

Lyn: Mhmm.

Mayanna: Hm. It's occurring to me in this moment that Ibra has a bluish tint to their skin. What color is the Astra on your bracelet, JJ? (laughs).

Lyn: What color is it? 

Mischa: It's, it was just like, machine vended, right? 

Lyn: Yeah, yeah, yeah. 

Mischa: So it's, it's, I mean, it looks like all the other ones, which is to say, white-ish clear.

Lyn: White ish clear, 

Mayanna: White-ish clear, okay. 

Lyn (JJ): The one that we found was orange? 

Mayanna (Fran): (whispers) Yes, it was. 

Mischa (Paul): Yeah, I mean, I've heard guys talk about, you know, they find other minerals mixed in, you know, that could be something like that? 

Mayanna (Fran): Mhmm. It could be some kind of contaminant, maybe. Or some cross pollination of some kind?

Lyn (JJ): I mean, some minerals can interact in that way. I'm, actually, I don't know. Natural sciences was not my forte. 

Mayanna (Fran): That's okay. 

Mischa (Paul) : Yeah, they sort of studied that on the other side of town. 

Lyn (JJ): Yeah. 

Mayanna (Fran): Mmm.. I don't know. I feel–

Lyn (JJ): But the wraiths were blue. 

Mayanna (Fran): The wraiths were blue, and the Astra we found is orange. 

Lyn (JJ): The Astra we found was orange. The pickaxe is orange. 

Mayanna (Fran): The pickaxe is orange and like–

Lyn (JJ): The electricity that ran through the mech was blue. 

Mayanna (Fran): Was blue. 

Lyn (JJ): What color were the Balverox? 

[Music ends].

Mischa: Paul goes, 

Mischa (Paul): I mean, I never saw one up close. 

[Music begins: mysterious, slightly ominous synths].

Mischa: Jovany goes, 

Mischa (Jovany): Oh, well, big brown fur. They have these brilliant, sort of, opal antlers, big and huge, big hulking masses. They stand heads taller over us, covered in shaggy brown fur and walls of muscle.

Mayanna (Fran): Could they do magic? 

Mischa (Jovany): They possessed some rudimentary powers, but, but nothing so refined, not spells as we would call them. You know, they're, they're not harnessed to a specific effect. It was just waves of raw power. I don't remember. Mother, did you, did you ever see? 

Mischa: And from the kitchen,

Mischa (Mama Joy): They bark a word and knock down my home.

Mayanna (Fran): Huh.

Lyn (JJ): What word, mama? 

Mischa (Mama Joy): A word in no language we speak, the language of beasts. 

Mayanna: Hm. So I think like. I'm starting to chart out that, like, there are different kinds of Astra, and there's kinds of Astra that we are not, like, collectively aware of as a society. 

Mayanna (Fran): I just, like, I keep trying to figure this out, because it's like, whatever they're looking for, it's in the Earth already. There, it exists, like, it's, it's out there, and it's, like, naturally occurring, and they're trying to find it, and they're trying to contain it before anybody else finds it. 

Mischa (Mama Joy): Who is?

Mayanna (Fran): The… (whispers) The governor.

Mischa (Paul): What?! 

Mayanna (Fran): I don't know. I mean, we're in too deep now, we gotta tell him. 

Lyn (JJ): The official investigation is being run directly through the governor's office. We are technically working in collaboration with it, but that relationship is–

Mayanna (Fran): We have conflicting objectives. 

Lyn (JJ): You know, bureaucracy. 

Mischa (Paul): You're conflicting with the governor? 

Mayanna (Fran): Not on purpose. 

Lyn (JJ): And not directly, but–

Mayanna (Fran): We just, we have concerns that they have been inadequate at answering. 

Lyn (JJ): Again, you know…

Mayanna (Fran): Unsatisfactory. 

Lyn (JJ): Bureaucracy. 

Mayanna (Fran): Yeah. 

Mischa (Paul): Man, I voted for that guy. 

Mayanna (Fran): Oh. 

Mayanna: Wait, are we in an election year? 

Mischa: When are you n–when is it not an election year? 

[Laughter].

Mayanna: Ah, okay. 

Lyn (JJ): Are there private mining–

Mayanna (Fran): Ooh, yeah. Private mining contracts? 

Lyn (JJ): Any private mining contracts? 

Mischa (Paul): Sure, yeah, people compete for the contracts to different veins. 

Mayanna (Fran): So the governor could have, like, their own private mining contract?

Lyn (JJ): Or anyone could, the Constellation could, anyone. 

Mischa (Paul): Sure? 

Lyn (JJ): In theory, if they have enough..

Mayanna (Fran): Money and resources? 

Lyn (JJ): Resources... 

Mischa (Paul): Yeah, I mean, we, we subcontract to those guys, personally. 

Mayanna (Fran): Hmm.

Mischa (Paul): You know, whenever we get hired for a Pit job, it's always, it's, we're always working for one of those, those companies. 

Lyn (JJ): This might be something to also go through some of the labor resources. This is, yeah, if we can find any private operations? 

Mayanna (Fran): Yep. 

Lyn (JJ): Oh boy. 

Mayanna (Fran): How dangerous are the mines? 

Mischa (Paul): Well, they don't like kids down there, that's what I'll say.

[Laughter]. [Music ends].

Mischa: (Silly fart noise). Sorry, my notes for Paul just say “big dad energy.” I'm just trying to play that for you. 

Lyn: I know, I know, that is what it says. 

Mayanna & Lyn: Big dad energy. 

[Chuckles].

Mischa: I'm pretty sure you just wrote big dad energy on my card here. 

Lyn: Yeah, that is literally all I wrote initially. 

Mayanna: (Light southern twang) “I don't know darn nothing about whatever it is y'all are up to, but I love you so damn much.”

Ian: (Light southern twang) “But good luck you kids.” 

[Laughter].

Mayanna: (Light southern twang) “Hey, don't go to those mines, they sound real dangerous.” 

Ian: (Light southern twang) “You kids, you keep me young.” 

Mayanna: (Light southern twang) “You keep me young with your newfangled Pokey-man cards and Minecrafts.” 

[Laughter].

Ian: (Light southern twang) “Different colored Astra, I never thought.” 

Mayanna: (Light southern twang) “Never would have thunk in a million years.”

Lyn: (Light southern twang) “Back in my day, we only had one color-a Astra”. 

Ian: There it is. 

Mischa: (Light southern twang) “We walked 15 miles down into the mine to get it.”

Mayanna: (Light southern twang) “In the snow, barefoot with no shoes.” [Laughter]. “Which is the same thing as barefoot.”

Lyn: Nope, they got bears for feet. 

Mayanna: (Light southern twang) “We had bear feet and no bear shoes.” I don't know where, I don't know. 

[Laughter].

Ian: It's gone so off the rails. 

Mayanna: I know. Man, I, Fran's mind is. Swimming with just all these questions about like, cause there's different schools of magic and we know that magic comes from different places, but like what color is blue magic, what color is orange magic, what color is clear magic, like… And so I'm just like notating all of these things just like to myself in my notebook just like trying to, trying to figure out why the orange one is the one that everyone's looking for.

[Music begins: low unsettling, ominous ambient synths].

Mischa: Yeah, your notebook's starting to look a little bit like a–

Mayanna: Conspiracy board? 

Mischa: –conspiracy board without the red string. 

Mayanna: Yeah. I started writing in, like, shorthand, for some of the more, like, speculative things that, like, a little language that I came up with just in case this ever gets taken from me. 

Mischa: Ooh. 

Mayanna: Yeah. Fran's gotten real, distrustful of the world.

Mischa: Yeah. 

Mayanna: Yeah. Rightfully so. but yeah, I think like, I just keep trying to, I just keep remembering this moment of just like this drill just digging so desperately into the earth to get this orange Astra and like why was that the one it needed? It's making me so frustrated that I can't quite figure this out yet.

Mischa: I don't want to… push you in any particular direction. 

Mayanna: Mm. Mhmm, mhm.

Mischa: I will point out, just as one of your many options here, there's one way to find out what makes the orange Astra different. 

Mayanna: Do we use it? 

Mischa: Yeah, you have some. 

Mayanna: I do, well, Gordon has it, actually. Gordon has it in the Bag of Holding. 

Mischa: That’s fair, that’s true.

[Music ends].

Lyn: Do we have the vial? 

Mayanna: We do, I think we do have the vial. 

Lyn: We could show them the vial at least. 

Mayanna: Yeah, we could show them the vial. 

[Music begins: ethereal ambient synths].

Mischa: Okay. 

Mayanna (Fran): What do you make of this? 

Mayanna: And I take out the vial and I show it to JJ's parents. 

Mischa: Jovany takes it from you, and holds it up to the light, and Paul, like, struggles up from the couch and strides across the room to get close, and they both sort of press their faces together and look at it up into the light.

Mayanna: Aw, cute. 

Lyn (JJ): Put on your glasses! 

Mischa: Jovany takes the safety glasses that they put on their forehead when the conversation started, and puts them back down over its eyes. And Paul says, 

Mischa (Paul): Honey, do you feel that? 

Mischa (Jovany): Yes. What is it? 

Mischa (Paul): It feels like… 

Mayanna (Fran): Home? 

Mischa (Paul): Yeah. It feels like walking in the door at the end of a long work day.

Mayanna (Fran): Mhmm.

Mischa (Paul): Is that, that's… that's not how Astra normally feels. Normally it feels like nothing. 

Mayanna (Fran): Right. But this one doesn't because I think it has something inside it. A heart, a soul? 

Mischa (Paul): What is it? 

Mayanna (Fran): (whispers) I think it's a memory. 

Lyn (JJ): I don't know what it is, but Astra carries intention, doesn't it? 

Mayanna (Fran): Yeah. 

Lyn (JJ): We've been working with neutral, but what if it could carry something else?

Mischa (Jovany): I thought it was just a conduit. We carry the thoughts, we carry the intentions, we push them through the Astra, and that is how– 

Mayanna: I'm gonna, I'm gonna take a finger to my forehead, and I'm gonna try and pull a memory out. 

All: Whoa! 

Mischa: What memory are you gonna pull out? 

Mayanna: I, I'm gonna do the dinner we just had yesterday.

Lyn: Whoa. 

Ian: Eggplant? What? What? No! 

Lyn: Not the eggplant! 

Ian: No, Fran! 

Mayanna: It's not gone. It's just different now. And it's a con save, correct? [Dice rolls] Okay, that's a 17. 

Mischa: Yeah, with a 17 you can easily close your eyes and you remember the warmth of the bakery silo and everybody digging into this delicious meal that you all made together. 

Mayanna: Mhmm.

Mischa: And as you draw your finger away from your temple, the soft light of the bakery silo and the vibrant purple of the eggplant and the green of the arugula all goes grayscale. [SFX: ghostly shimmer].

Mayanna: What color is the string? White, right? 

Mischa: Yep. Comes out as a slender, glowing white thread. 

Mayanna: I think I have a little spool in my craftsman's tools and I like, wrap it around. Cause I don't have, I can't refine it right now. Cause I don't have a loom right now. 

Mayanna (Fran): This is, this is a memory. I just took this out of me. And it's magical. And I made a bag of holding out of one of them. 

Lyn (JJ): Fran's a really talented designer and engineer. 

Mayanna (Fran): (Whispers aside) Thank you so much. (Normally) If I can do that with my own thoughts, who's to say that Astra comes from nowhere? Could it come from somewhere?

Mischa (Paul):  Fran, we-we believe you. 

Mayanna (Fran): Okay, 

Mischa (Paul): You–Honey, I think, 

Mischa: And Jovany says, 

Mischa (Jovany): Yes, it seems important. 

Mischa (Paul): We think you guys are, are as qualified as they're saying. You guys are doing this job. I don't know anything about that. 

Mayanna (Fran): Uh-huh. 

Mischa (Paul): We're just, we're like electricians and mechanists.

Mayanna (Fran): Totally. 

Mayanna: I put it away. 

Mischa (Paul): You're asking me where Astra comes from? That's like asking me where the trees come from. Heck, I don't know. 

Mayanna (Fran): Seeds. 

Mischa (Paul): Seeds from different trees. 

Mayanna (Fran): Yeah. 

Mischa (Paul): Going back millions of years. 

Mayanna (Fran): Totally. But like, seeds are not neutral. Astra's not neutral. 

Mischa (Paul): I thought it was! 

Mayanna (Fran): But it might not be. 

Mischa (Paul): Maybe it's not. Maybe you're right. I don't know. You're telling me that for the first time today. 

[Music ends].

Mayanna (Fran): Totally. 

Lyn (JJ): I–

Mischa (Paul): You could be right though. I don't know. 

Mayanna (Fran): Ugh, man. 

Lyn (JJ): Let's–

Mayanna (Fran): Yeah. 

Lyn (JJ): I think we have to figure some stuff out. 

Mayanna (Fran): Yeah. 

Lyn (JJ): A bit. But If, if you hear of anything that's happening infrastructure-wise. 

Mayanna (Fran): Mhmm. 

Lyn (JJ): Like, we can go through the official channels, but… 

[Music begins: ominous, low synth strings].

Mayanna (Fran): Or, if somebody named Inspector Ravona comes to your door–You're not home. 

Mischa (Paul): Are they coming for us? 

Mayanna (Fran): No. But if they do, you're not home. Because she came to the worksite. 

Mischa (Paul): Oh yeah, I remember. 

Mayanna (Fran): And she had an orange pickaxe. 

Lyn (JJ): Wait, did she, did she do anything there? Were you there? 

Mischa (Paul): She took our statements. 

Lyn (JJ): Yeah. 

Mischa (Paul): About what happened. 

Lyn (JJ): Did she look around for, did she find anything?

Mischa (Paul): I don't know, they closed down the site, they sent us home. 

Lyn (JJ): Okay.

Mayanna (Fran): Yeah, we gave her the detonator. But that was it. 

Lyn (JJ): Yeah, it was a detonator. It was a planted thing. It was, it was, there, it is dangerous. 

Mischa (Paul): Oh, what?! 

Lyn (JJ): Please. Oh my god, I can't believe we really, I was upset with you for burying the lede earlier and now I'm, oh no!

Mayanna (Fran): Hey, hey, hey it's okay. You just didn't remember. It's been a, it's been a long few days. 

Lyn (JJ): That's why we think this is really important and why we think that, that there might be some, maybe even multiple agents of–

Mayanna (Fran): The destruction of the bridge wasn't an accident. It was planned. 

Mischa (Paul): Whoa. 

Lyn (JJ): Even the possession. 

Mayanna (Fran): Yep. We found several detonators, and somebody activated the mech. 

Lyn (JJ): And that's what happened. 

Mayanna (Fran): Yeah. 

Mischa (Paul): Well, no wonder they shut it down. I wouldn't want to go back there now. 

Mayanna (Fran): Well, yes, of course. 

Lyn (JJ): Yeah, please don't go back. 

Mayanna (Fran): Don't. 

Mischa (Paul): I'm not gonna. They already reassigned me, but I'm not gonna anyway. 

Mayanna (Fran): Good! You’re expecting! You're on mat leave, presumably, soon. 

[Music ends].

Lyn: Pat leave? 

Mayanna: Pat leave. 

Mayanna (Fran): You're on pat leave!

Mischa (Paul): Yep, took my paternity leave. Just a couple months early. Figured I had deserved the time at home. 

Mayanna (Fran): Yeah, I agree with you. 

Lyn (JJ): You did.

Mischa (Paul): Working hard or hardly working. 

Lyn (JJ): (overlapping) Hardly working for you, hopefully? Please hardly work. 

Mayanna (Fran): (overlapping) Yes. Please don't be working. Please. For the baby.

Mischa (Paul): But I get bored. 

Mayanna (Fran): Sure. 

Mischa (Paul): I get bored sometimes. 

Lyn (JJ): Maybe take up weaving. 

Mayanna (Fran): Highly recommend getting a loom in general. It's really nice. 

Lyn (JJ): (Chuckles). Could be fun. 

Mayanna (Fran): Good piece of technology. 

Lyn (JJ): Yeah. So just keep in touch with anything that we… 

Mayanna (Fran): Yeah

Lyn (JJ): That you hear of, anything weird. We should maybe go through some of my things?

Mayanna (Fran): Yeah.

Lyn (JJ): I guess? 

Mayanna (Fran): That sounds great. 

Lyn: And I'm going to like take one last stray look in the kitchen. 

[Music begins: gentle, contemplative piano].

Mischa: You all stand up from around the coffee table. Josie comes back out and like peeks around the corner and goes, 

Mischa (Josephine): You guys are done? 

Mischa: And Paul kind of slaps his thigh and holds up an arm out to pick Josie up on his hip.

Mayanna (Fran): Yeah, grown up talk's so boring. I get it. You, get out of here when we're like, when we're gabbing away. God. 

Lyn (JJ): What’d you approve? 

Mischa (Josephine): Yeah. I approved all, all the walls. 

Mayanna (Fran): Nice. 

Mischa (Josephine): All the floors. 

Mayanna (Fran): Nice

Mischa (Josephine): Wanna get the ceiling, cause they're not approved, I can't reach. 

Mayanna (Fran): That's okay. 

Lyn (JJ): Yeah

Mayanna: How tall are the ceilings? 

Mischa: They're, I think they're probably a little short for you, Fran. Like, it's a half-dwarven home. 

Mayanna: Can I, like, pick up Josie and just put her up to the ceiling?

Mischa: Yes.

[Laughter].

Lyn: You can put her on your shoulders and just walk around. 

Mayanna: Yeah, I put her on my shoulders and I go, 

Mayanna (Fran): Go on! 

Mischa: Yeah, you parade Josie around the house to approve the ceilings. 

Mayanna: Yup. Nice. 

Mayanna (Fran): That's a good one. And that's a good one. 

Mischa: JJ, as you walk back around the corner– 

Lyn: Yeah, I'll take all of the mugs to the kitchen. [SFX: glassware clinking]

Mayanna: Aww.

Mischa: Yeah, Mama Joy turns to look at you. And like, sort of comes, puts her, puts aside her food prep for a moment. [SFX: food sizzling]

Mischa (Mama Joy): My love, we sacrifice so much, but it is all In the dream of you doing something you love and being happy with people who care about you. 

Lyn (JJ): I know. 

Mischa (Mama Joy): Your father, he is afraid. He grew up in hard times. 

Lyn (JJ): I know.

Mischa (Mama Joy): But maybe he wasn't old enough to understand why. We love you. We only want you to be happy and to contribute to a better world. (pause) I miss my village. I miss the way it was. Before threats. Before beasts. Before a long road… Before huddling for safety in a great metal city in the sky. I don't know if you kids know, but for just a little bit in the beginning, things were okay. Your father, I don't think he remembers that part. 

Lyn (JJ): Yeah. 

Mischa (Mama Joy): So I don't think he knows that this is what this was for. 

Mischa: And she puts her hand on your cheek. 

Mischa (Mama Joy): You make us proud. 

Lyn (JJ): I try. 

Mischa (Mama Joy): Don't waste your gifts, and we will be happy. 

Lyn (JJ): Okay. 

Mischa (Mama Joy): You go look through your things. Josie's room is so cramped. 

[Music ends].

Lyn (JJ): Yeah, I, I can see why she's been out here a lot more.

Mischa (Mama Joy): Food in a minute. 

Mayanna: Of course. I come back into the kitchen. 

[Music begins: ambient synths].

Mayanna (Fran): Okay, we've approved all the ceilings. They're all great. 

Mischa (Josephine): Okay. 

Mayanna (Fran): You're doing, you're great foreman. 

Mayanna: That's what the, the foreman's approve things, right? 

Lyn: Yeah! 

Mayanna: Okay, yeah, 

Mayanna (Fran): you're great foreman. 

Mischa (Josephine): Approve! 

Mayanna (Fran): Approve! 

Mayanna: Does she have long hair, Josie? 

Lyn: It's like a really tight ponytail.

Mayanna: Tight ponytail? I take out a little strip of ribbon from my craftsman's tools and I tie it around–Presumably she already has a ponytail on, but I wrap it around and tie her little on top of it. 

Lyn (JJ): Looks good. 

Mayanna (Fran): It's the foreman's ribbon. 

Mischa (Josephine): (gasps in awe) The foreman's ribbon. 

Lyn (JJ): It's really important, you've been promoted. 

Mayanna (Fran): Yep.

Mischa (Josephine): About time! 

Mischa: And she runs off. 

[Laughter]. 

Mayanna (Fran): I love her. She's going places. 

Lyn (JJ): She truly is going to leave all of us in the dust. 

Mayanna (Fran): Absolutely. We have to make sure that happens. 

Lyn (JJ): Yeah. 

Mayanna (Fran): Should we go look at your stuff? 

Lyn (JJ): Yeah, we are not looking at the skateboard. 

Mayanna (Fran): Okayyy! 

Mischa: You head back into Josie's room, it's got her smaller bed, like, off to one side. You know, she's even littler, so, like, yeah. She's got plenty of room, they let her run around the house, but, yeah, fully one half of the room is just taken up by, stacks of, of boxes and stuff. 

Mayanna: Oh wow.

Lyn (JJ): Oh, This is way more than I thought it was. 

Mayanna (Fran): Dang. I know, it's like when you take your whole life and you put it in boxes, you kinda realize like how much stuff you have.

Lyn (JJ): Yeah, normally I just put things in boxes and don't ever look at it again. 

Mayanna (Fran): Yeah, we should, yeah, you mean like emotionally–

Lyn (JJ): Huh?

Mayanna (Fran): Or like literally? 

Lyn (JJ): Oh. 

(Beat).

[Music ends].

[Laughter].

Mayanna: “Oh. Huh. Mmm.” 

Mayanna (Fran): JJ. 

Lyn (JJ): Anyway, let's look at this one! 

Mayanna (Fran): Oh my god, alright. 

[Music begins: cozy acoustic guitar].

Mischa: JJ, your whole childhood is boxed up in here. 

Mayanna (Fran): Okay, these shoes. 

Lyn (JJ): Oh my god. 

Mayanna: Keep or throw away. 

Lyn (JJ): Please throw those away. 

Mayanna (Fran): You got it, absolutely. I’m glad you–

Lyn (JJ): What are those? 

Mayanna (Fran): This hat. 

Lyn (JJ): Oh!

Mayanna (Fran): This one's like– no, come on. 

Lyn (JJ): But, I don't know. 

Mayanna (Fran): No, when have, when in your life have you needed this hat? You didn't even remember it was here. 

Lyn (JJ): Maybe I'll look cool with it. 

Mayanna (Fran): Fine, put it on right now. 

Lyn (JJ): Yeah, okay! See–

Mayanna: Roll for cool. (chuckles)

Lyn: Oh no. 

Lyn (JJ): This is performance. [Dice rolls]. (snorts). 

[Laughter].

Lyn: That's a 6! 

Ian: Oh no! 

Mayanna (Fran): It's gone! Gone! 

Lyn (JJ): Come on! 

Mayanna (Fran): Yesterday! 

Mischa: Now, I don't know about everyone else out there, I had a few objects in my childhood that weren't, that didn't mean a whole lot to me, that it was okay when my parents got rid of them when they moved out of their house. What is the thing in this stack that you're looking for?

Mayanna: Mm. Great question, oh my god. 

Lyn: Oh... I think what I'm looking for is… the equivalent of, like, a big LEGO or K'Nex set. 

Mayanna: Aww! 

Mischa: Oh yeah? Like a building toy? 

Lyn: Yeah, like building toys. Like, it probably started with, like, the regular LEGOs, but then, like, evolved into the LEGO Technic sets really quick. 

Mayanna: Mm.

Mischa: Sure. 

Lyn: But like, really, 

Mischa: Not sponsored. 

All: Not sponsored. Not sponsored!

Lyn: You could like it could make like those like big like marble run type things, but also like big city builders like it was a lot of it. 

Mischa: Yeah, I think it's probably like a full box. 

Lyn: Yeah, just several several kits that were that just dumped into one big pile.

Mischa: Mhmm .

Lyn: Yeah, I think that's the thing that JJ is wanting to find the most right now, especially 

Mischa: You, you know, start unstacking things, just like, cracking them open. [SFX: cardboard rustling] After stacking a couple of boxes, you hear that familiar rattle as soon as you shake the box that you're looking for. [SFX: plastic pieces clinking]

Lyn (JJ): Okay, now I found it.

Mayanna (Fran): Oh? Is it necklaces? 

Lyn (JJ): Yeah, I just collect so many.. necklaces. (laughs)

Mayanna (Fran): Okay, you're being sarcastic. What's in there? What is in there? What is that? 

Lyn (JJ): Yeah, I couldn't keep my mouth straight. 

Lyn: and then I open it up, and it's just a million, one million pieces. 

Mayanna (Fran): (gasps) Oh my god, JJ.

Lyn (JJ): You wanna take them out? 

Mayanna (Fran): Yeah, take them! Obviously! We have a bag of holding now!

Lyn (JJ): Yeah, okay. 

Mayanna (Fran): You can fit all of that in there.

Lyn (JJ):  Okay, we don't have the bag of holding. 

Mayanna (Fran): But like we can fit it in there

Lyn (JJ): I will be taking this box. 

Mayanna (Fran): Of course, you take the box. 

Lyn (JJ): I’ll strap it to the bike, 

Lyn: and I just like start taking pieces out, and being like, 

Lyn (JJ): Pkay, so this, oh, these pieces make really good, light posts, and then you can have them everywhere.

Mayanna (Fran): Okay, Uh-huh

Lyn (JJ): So I like these ones for light posts. 

Mayanna (Fran): Okay, Great, great

Lyn (JJ): And, oh, these ones, they're supposed to [SFX: audio fades, continuing in the background for a few seconds]

Lyn: And then like starts pulling out random things and just like starts info dumping about all of the– 

Mayanna: I'm just so happily.

Lyn: Random like, things that they would use the pieces for. 

Mayanna: Yeah.

Lyn: Like talking about like all of the various cities and stuff that they would build.

Mayanna: Yeah, I’d live there. 

Lyn (JJ): [SFX: fading back in] ..this one’s really off color. So I always use this for a laundromat. 

Mayanna (Fran): Oh my God, that's so fun. 

Lyn (JJ): It's giving laundromat, right? 

Mayanna (Fran): Because it feels different. Like you're like, this one's the laundromat.

Lyn (JJ): Yeah, exactly. 

Mayanna (Fran): Yeah. It just like, it just calls to you in that way. 

Lyn (JJ): Mm-Hmm… 

Mayanna (Fran): Yeah. 

[Music ends]. [Music begins: reversed synth tones].

Mischa: Jovany and Paul are standing a little ways down the hallway listening to you guys pull these toys out. 

Mayanna: Mmm.

Mischa: And Paul says to his husband. 

Mischa (Paul): That's our JJ. Always trying to figure out how to build it better. As long as there's communities, they're gonna need leaders.

Mischa: Jovany sighs. 

Mischa (Jovany): I just don't want them to get hurt. 

Mischa (Paul): Them get hurt? They're saving everyone. You gotta let them go. It's what she's built for. And we build them like no other. 

Mischa: And Jovany chuckles. And hugs his husband tight. 

Mayanna: And then I say, 

[Music ends].

Mayanna (Fran): Oh there's the skateboard! 

Lyn (JJ): Oh, no no–

Mayanna (Fran): Yes! Oh my god! Look at the flames! Oh my god!

Lyn (JJ): Okay wait wait wait, you wanna try?

Mayanna (Fran): Oh my god, it's amazing. 

Lyn (JJ): Oh wait, [SFX: wheels turning] the axels are still good. Hold on. Let's go, let's go. 

Lyn: And they start pushing–

Mayanna (Fran): Oh yes! 

[SFX: skateboard wheels against a floor].

Lyn (JJ): Wait, helmet! 

Mayanna (Fran): Oh, put the helmet on! 

Mischa: And you ollie out the front door. 

Lyn: Yeah. 

Mayanna: Yeah!

Ian: Kickflip, kickflip outta the front door. 

Lyn: Kickflip!

[Theme music plays]

Mischa: The Wandering Path was created by me, Mischa Stanton, and produced by Bex Taylor-Klaus, Lyn Rafil, and me. This story was game mastered and sound designed by me, Mischa Stanton, and was played and performed by Bex Taylor-Klaus, Lyn Rafil, Ian McQuown, and Mayanna Berrin. Cover art by Lyn Rafil, transcript assistance by Darby Summers, and music courtesy of the Independent Music Licensing Collective. Our production and house manager is Erin Bark. 

If you like what you're listening to, please tell your friends and let them know where to find us. Our website is wanderingpathpod.com, where you'll find links to subscribe and follow us wherever the path leads. We're also on Patreon, patreon.com/wanderingpathpod. We're so grateful for anything you can do to help us keep making this show. Thanks for wandering with us. Til next time!

[Theme music fades out]