1.01 Time To Wake Up, Little One

Four friends share a haunting vision… then get ready for a party. Fran searches for inspiration. Ibra gets a check-up. Gordon promises a favor. JJ gets a philosophy lesson.

**Check out our worldbuilding episodes to see how we built the City of New Prosper, and learn more about the themes & characters driving our first story!**

-- links --
Website: wanderingpathpod.com
Support our show: patreon.com/wanderingpathpod

-- 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
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 —

Mischa: You come to consciousness in total darkness.

[SFX: deep bass. Music begins. Low, suspenseful thrumming reverberating].

Mischa: You can't see anything in any direction for as long as it goes. You take a step forward, and as your foot hits an impossibly smooth surface in black on black [SFX: a thunk of footfall onto a glass-like surface], a tower of glowing crystal formations spawn beneath your feet [SFX: crackling and crumbling], descending into the depths below. And every step you take spawns a new tower of crystals, leaving a trail of them behind up [SFX: repeated crunching footstep thuds]. I want to roll–

Ian: Jesus

Mayanna: Oh my god.

Lyn: Holy moly.

Mischa: –our first roll. I want to roll a wisdom saving throw.

[Shouting].

Lyn: Shut up!

[Laughter]. [Dice rolls].

Mayanna: 15.

Bex: 16.

Lyn: Would you believe it or not, a Nat 1!

All: No!

[Laughter].

Mischa: What a way to start, Lyn!

Ian: (Sing songy) It’s not going well!

Lyn: And I have proficiency in that! I have plus five to this!

Mayanna: Oh my god!

Bex: Something feels right about the first crit of the campaign being a one.

[Laughter].

Mischa: Ibra.

Bex: Oh no.

Mischa: You look behind you at the glowing trail, and the columns of crystal growing into the floor–this impossible surface–have now illumnated you to yourself. Now that you're facing them, the light bounces off of the front of you, and you see that you are dressed in resplendent, pristine armor that form fits to you, that you have never seen before, a style of which you are incredibly unfamiliar. Nobody makes armor like this. A mystery for another time, you turn back around and keep walking.

Mischa: Eventually, you come to a place that feels like the meeting place. Something inside of you says that this is the meeting place. And across a flat courtyard, you can see backlit at other cardinal directions three more figures, each silhouetted in armor. What do you do?

Bex: Are they evenly spaced, or is one–

Mischa: They are.

Bex: And they're equally far from me?

Mischa: Yes. Well, geometry. But, you know, hypotenuse or whatever. Hypotenuse or whatever.

[Laughter].

Bex: Hypotenuse or whatever. I want to hypotenuse this and go for the one that's sort of the quickest trajectory.

Mischa: So, that would just be moving straight ahead, because your already sort of moment is carrying you. You run across the flat expanse. You try to make it to the person across the way from you, and you take a few steps forward and splash [SFX: splashing] into a pool of water.

Mischa: As soon as you do, the steps you take [SFX: low reverberating thud] illuminate a crystal formation now that encompasses the entire center, a pool of water with a glowing crystal formation that's shaped like a funnel that curves in, and goes down and down and down as far as you can see. The funnel's light starts pulsing [SFX: low throbbing hum], beating, like a heartbeat. And all four of you, in the back of your mind, hear a whisper.

Mischa (Unknown voice): (Whispering) It's happening again.

Mayanna: (Under breath) What?

Bex: I get out of the pool.

[Laughter].

Mischa: Yeah, you scramble back to the surface. [SFX: splashing].

Bex: I stand up, and I sort of get a better awareness of, of my situation. I look at everything that's been illuminated so far, everything that I can see.

Mischa: Yeah, the lightest thing you can see is the trails of each other person's footsteps in cascading crystal columns behind them. Each of these three figures are backlit, and their silhouettes are kind of imposing in their resplendent armor.

Bex: Does–The armor looks like mine, right?

Mischa: Yes. The armor looks–Although you've never seen any other piece of armor like it, their armor looks like yours.

Mayanna: Whoa.

Bex: My heart sort of skips a beat at feeling like there's something that I'm part of even though I have no idea what it is. I can tell that there's something here, and I'm a part of it.

Mischa: Yeah.

Bex: I think I start to follow the footsteps towards my compatriots around– I-I go around the pool if I can.

Mischa: Yeah, sure. You sort of skim the edge now that you can see this bright, glowing pool. You approach the figure around the circle to your left. How do you get their attention?

Bex: Can I see their face, or is this silhouette completely obscuring?

Mischa: Currently they're facing in such a way that the silhouette is completely obscuring, but you could call out to them.

Bex: I call out very tentatively,

Bex (Ibra): Friend?

Mischa: JJ, is that Ibra's voice?

Mayanna: (Gasps).

Lyn (JJ): Ibra, what, what, um, hi?

Bex (Ibra): JJ?

Lyn (JJ): Yes?

Bex (Ibra): Uh, hold on, this is not Gwen's office. Wha–?

Lyn (JJ): I really hope not.

Mischa: Just at that moment [SFX: large boom, fire crackling], a star ignites overhead, illuminating the entire rest of the courtyard below around this strip mine filled with water. You can now see the faces of the other two figures. It's Gordon and Fran from Boggins’.

Bex (Ibra): What?

Mischa: And they're dressed in exactly the same kind of resplendent armor that you are.

Ian (Gordon): Wow, look at this. Oh my gosh, this is so swanky.

Mayanna (Fran): Okay, I should take notes. Okay, so what do we got? Gloves? Slay. Boots? We love to see it. Shoulder pads? Wow, whoever did this is an artist.

Ian (Gordon): You look amazing.

Mayanna (Fran): Oh my god, you look amazing.

Ian (Gordon): Thank you!

Mayanna (Fran): Thank you so much. I–I have no idea who made these, but I must find out.

Lyn (JJ): We all look amazing, but is no one concerned about what's going on?

Mischa: The star shines bright overhead, illuminating the rest of the field around you.

Ian (Gordon): Wow, bright.

Mischa: And now that you look around, you can see vaguely humanoid shadows.

Ian (Gordon): Hm.

Mayanna (Fran): Okay.

Mischa: The front of their heads all tilted up looking directly at the star. Myriads and myriads, infinite forms stretching into the dark distance are now slightly illuminated by the star. They stand there, shadowy mouths agape, mesmerized. And you hear the voice again.

Mischa (Unknown voice): (Whispering) They don't remember. How could they?

Mayanna (Fran): (Whispering) You-you guys heard that too right?

Bex (Ibra): (Whispering) Absolutely.

Mayanna (Fran): (Whispering) Oh my god.

Ian (Gordon): Yeah, this is getting a little creepy now.

Mayanna (Fran): Yeah. Did we take something?

Bex (Ibra): (Whispering) I think it is telling us to whisper. Are we not allowed to–or are we–

Ian (Gordon): I don't know. I just don't I don't want to spook these other guys.

Lyn: Can I look at the star?

Mischa: Yeah. Roll a constitution saving throw.

Mayanna: Oh my god.

Lyn: Roll better this time.

[Laughter]. [Dice rolls].

Ian: Nat one, your eyes are burned out of your head.

Lyn: 15.

Mayanna: (Relieved) Whew.

Mischa: You look up at the star and the center of it is blinding especially in the middle of this vast darkness. [SFX: twinkling chimes]. But the more you look, as your eyes get attuned to the brightness, as you shield yourself in just the right way, you can see that this isn't just a burning circle. This star has points, that it's a four pointed star ringed by a rainbow corona. And actually, as you continue to stare at it, the corona– it's hard to tell because what does light look like when it's spinning? But you do get the sense that the corona starts spinning faster and faster and it expands outwards. It contracts and pulses and expands. And falls into the center, and boom! [SFX: large thud and echoing ringing] expands out into a full ring around the star, filled with five other bright shining points.

Ian: Ah!

Mayanna: Oh my god.

Mischa: Everybody, except for JJ, needs to roll a dexterity save.

Mayanna: Ooh, boy-oh. [Dice rolls]. Oh no! 1! Oh no! Oh no!

Lyn: We're getting them out of the way. We're getting them out of the way. It's fine.

Mayanna: Okay.

Mischa: Imagine if your Nat Ones, and I just killed you in the opening sequence.

Lyn: Honestly? Baller.

Mayanna: In the dreamscape?

Ian: 16.

Bex: 15.

Mischa: Okay. The light blasts outward from the center of the star, and eventually, after a moment, the shockwave reaches the surface of the water, expands outward across it, and blows everybody backwards.

Mayanna: Oh my god.

Mischa: Fran, the blustering wind, howling wind, sort of knocks your face aside.

Mayanna (Fran): (Grunt).

Mischa: And you lose sight of what's going on. The rest of you can see that whatever smooth glass like surface you were walking on before you got here gets blasted away by the shockwave. [SFX: shattering]. All that's left are floating platforms wherever your footfalls created a pillar of crystal.

Ian (Gordon): Okay. This is officially the weirdest dream I've ever had.

Mischa: Around you, the phantasmal forms have their surfaces seared away. [SFX: rustling]. It bleaches the shadows white and whips across the heads of their forms, and draws long wispy tendrils out of their heads. It blasts the smooth surface of their face plates away until there's a grimace of bearing teeth. And they're all still staring eyelessly, wordlessly up at the crown of light.

Ian: Is it loud or is it, you know, like do we hear the wind rushing and the burning and the all of it or is it more…

Mayanna: Unsettling silence?

Ian: Yeah.

Mischa: Imagine both.

Mayanna: No!

Ian: Ugh, fucker.

Mayanna: I don't want to.

[Laughter].

Lyn: Is it like that thing that what happens after like a concert or something where the rush of your own like blood in your head?

Mayanna: Ooh. Ugh.

Mischa: Yeah, I think so. Your heartbeat?

[Disgust].

Mischa: But it's it's coming from somewhere external. Usually with that sound I can tell like oh that's in my ears. That's in my biology. That's like a sound that my brain is creating. You can tell exactly where this is coming from.

Mayanna: Oh my god.

Ian: We don't have swords with this armor, right? We're just in armor?

Mischa: Have you looked yet?

[Intrigue].

Ian: I start to feel around my body.

Mischa: You feel a weapon belt with a scabbard.

Ian (Gordon): (Excited) Ooh.

Mischa: And pouches for different materials and vials for different concoctions. All of them are empty.

(Gasps).

Ian: Bummer.

Mischa: You hear the voice again, the moment you can hear sound again.

Mischa (Unknown voice): (Whispering) Someone should warn them.

Ian: I definitely draw my sword. I don't know what at, but I'm freaking out at this point.

Mayanna: It's just the handle, right?

Mischa: You don't have a sword, it's just the sheath.

Mayanna: The holder.

Ian: Oh! Oh! Oh no!

Mischa: You grope for your sword, hoping desperately that there will be something there to protect you from whatever is coming from above, and your hand gropes air, and you feel nothing.

Ian: Oh my gosh.

Mayanna: I'm gonna just start going up to– How far away are the humanoid figures from where we are?

Ian: Yeah.

Mischa: They're standing on your footsteps, they're three feet behind you.

Mayanna: Okay, I'm gonna turn around and start, like, shaking them, like,

Mayanna (Fran): You gotta get out of here! You gotta get out of here!

Mischa: Roll a charisma save.

Mayanna: Oh my god, oh my god. [Dice rolls]. 14 plus 1. 15.

Mischa: This one turns its gaze away–

Mayanna: Okay.

Mischa: Towards you–

Mayanna: Nice.

Mischa: And it has no eyes.

Mayanna: Okay!

Mischa: It just has like a face plate–

Mayanna: Alright.

Mischa: Drawn back into tendrils–

Mayanna: Okiedokie. Okay.

Mischa: And its teeth bear to the surface, open slightly, and like a raspy breath breathes out into your face. [SFX: chilling exhale].

Mayanna (Fran): Alright. Very cool. You should still go! Get away from here! It's dangerous. (Scared) I don't know. Somebody told me to warn you.

Bex: Do I have my shield?

Mischa: You reach onto your back where your ever present shield should always be, and you feel it bare.

Bex: (Angry groans).

Mayanna: Oh my god.

Mischa: In fact, the clasps of your sash, your belt that holds it to your back, are broken.

Mayanna: (Gasp).

Mischa: As though something tore your shield away.

Bex: (Groan).

Mischa: You look back up to the sky, and a streak of golden fire [SFX: firecracker streaks] comes down from outside your field of vision, and collides with the crown of light [SFX: echoing boom]. More unseen force blasts outward from the center, blowing the phantasms to ghostly ash and dust around you. The only platforms left are the ones you're standing on. I need everyone to make a strength save.

Mayanna: Oh my god.

Ian: Jesus.

Mayanna: 19.

Ian: (Cackles).

Bex: Oh, that doesn't help. I have a plus 5 to this save. I rolled a 4. [Laughter]. I got a 9, baby.

Mischa: Not gonna do it.

Bex: No.

Lyn: 13.

Ian: So then a 3. [Laughter]. Gonna be honest, this is all a little too much for Junior Baker. I have to tell you.

Mischa: Yeah. Ibra and Gordon, you are blown off of your platforms and fall into the now ash white void.

Ian: Sick.

Mischa: Fran and JJ, you manage to hang on to the edge of your platforms to hear one last message.

Mischa (Unknown voice): (Whispers) The path is set, but maybe not the destination.

Mayanna (Fran): (Scared) Okay.

Mischa: You can resist just long enough to hear that one extra message before you two are blown back off of your platforms and blown into the endless white void. Backwards and backwards, falling and falling until your entire vision is white.

Mischa (Unknown voice): (Whispers) Time to wake up little one. Lots to do.

Mayanna: You're telling me, buddy. Oh my god.

[Theme music].

Mischa: Hello, and welcome to The Wandering Path. Thank you so much for being here. My name is Mischa Stanton, pronouns xe/they, and I am gonna be your game master for this first story here on the podcast. Before we get started, why don't we go around the table and introduce y'all's characters?

[Cheers]. [SFX: ambient twinkling music begins in the background].

Mayanna: Hi, I'm Mayanna Barron. My pronouns are she/her. I'll be playing Fran Weaver, whose pronouns are also she/her. She's a human woman. She's about 5'5 She's got tan skin and a curvy build. She's also got bright eyes and a calm yet passionate demeanor. She works as a waitress, but she's got bigger aspirations of being a fashion designer. Her class is craftsmen. So she focuses predominantly on like making stuff, especially during like downtime. So Mischa and I have worked out like a resource management system.

Mischa: Yeah. We're pulling a lot of our classes for this campaign from the book, Valda's Spire of Secrets by Mage Hand Press.

Mayanna: Yeah. I've never-I've never done it before, so I'm very excited. And her aspiration is to craft really beautiful items of clothing that hopefully the wealthy people in the Constellation will wear that has Astra and magic infused into every fiber.

Bex: Hello, I'm Bex Taylor-Klaus, pronouns they/them. I am playing Ibra Bracha-Shinmar, pronouns also they/them. Ibra appears human. They stand about six foot tall, athletic build. Think like baseball player, they got that good butt and good shoulders.

Mischa: Nice.

Bex: They appear human but with a very distinctive mark on their forehead that indicates that they are actually a hexblood. That's the base, and we're sort of re-skinning it for our wonderful world that we've created. I am also playing the warden class, which is another class taken from the wonderful Valda’s Spire of Secrets. Thank you, Mage Hand Press!

[Cheers].

Bex: Ibra is a privileged judicial law student with no idea what their dreams are quite yet because they've been at the mercy of their parents and doctors’ wills for their entire existence. That is also a little bit of a hint as to why their skin coloring is just a little bit blue?

Mischa: We'll find out!

Lyn: Hi, my name is Lyn Rafill, my pronouns are they/them, and I'll be playing JJ Calderon, pronouns she/they. JJ is a half dwarf, so short for a human, tall for a dwarf, standing at a great 4'10”. Dark tan skin, hair cropped very much into like an Eton crop, very 20s-esque. Just wearing a bunch of hand me down workwear that has been repurposed into like business casual. It's fine. It works out mostly okay. There are too many pockets. So JJ is supposed to be an engineering student and has recently found their way into becoming a peace cleric as a common person learning to be a better person. They're slacking off on their classes. It's fine. They're fine!

[Laughter].

Bex: They're doing great.

Lyn: They're just fine.

[Laughter].

Ian: Amazing. Hi, my name is Ian McQuown, pronouns, he/him, and I'm playing Gordon Baker. Also pronouns, he/him. Gordon Baker is an alchemist, which is a bomb maker, with a subclass of apothecary, which is like healing. So, we're-we're kind of playing with healing bombs and we're flavoring that as chef. Or! Baker.

[Laughter].

Ian: The inspiration for Gordon is big Tombo energy from Kiki's Delivery Service. And then Gordon is a baker in a-in one of the guilds. that, like, rule this world, basically. Gordon wants to succeed and like, climb the ranks of the guild, for sure. But, but really, he's just a goofy, fun guy, lookin to have fun, fall in love, hang out with his friends. You know, just the basic stuff. Ride his bicycle around a cobblestone city.

Mayanna: Ah, the dream.

Mischa: Man, aren't we all?

Ian: Right?

Mischa: Isn't that what we're all just lookin for?

Ian: Yeah.

Mischa: Sweet, thank you. So now that we know who exactly will be the heroes of this story, let's get in there.

[Cheers]. [SFX: Music ends].

Mayanna: Here we go!

Mischa: The city of New Prosper.

[SFX: Music begins in the background: pensive, wistful piano].

Mischa: A magitech powered metropolis. A shining beacon of civilization and hope. Bright Lights. Big City. New Prosper was founded almost 60 years ago, in the wake of a long, bitter war with the Balvarox, roving packs of horrible beasts that brought humans, elves, dwarves, capras, and saurids alike to the brink of extinction. Since then, New Prosper has grown into a thriving, sprawling, beating heart of a city, the largest in the world, all thanks to Astra, a crystalline fuel source for electrical and magical energy. Astra has enabled great architectural marvels, arcane wonders, and levels of everyday convenience past generations couldn't even have dreamt of. For those who can get it, of course. In Upper Prosper, the hovering-megafortress-turned-seat-of-power for its ruling classes, Astra enables good health, fortune, and dreams of grand design.

Mischa: Meanwhile below, in Lower Prosper, where the Astra miners’ shantytown has exploded out into a vast sea of tightly packed buildings and streets awash with millions of souls. To them, Astra provides the small conveniences that let them hope for more. One day, they'll be able to earn enough, have it all, if they can only get their feet under them. Maybe one day.

Mischa: New Prosper. A city of plenty. Plenty of hopes and dreams. Of plans and schemes. New It's a shining beacon over a dark pit. It's wildly magical and profoundly mundane. It's ecstatic and painful. It's beautiful and horrific. It's inspiring and terrifying and everything in between. It's a place where the past sprints day and night to keep pace with the oncoming future. It's a pressure cooker, and one day it might fulfill your every fantasy or drive you completely mad. But until then, it's a busy day with lots to do.

[SFX: Music ends].

[Groaning].

Ian: What the fuck?!

[Groaning and screaming].

Ian: How much do we remember?

Mischa: I just told it to you.

Ian: Great. All of it.

Mayanna: Great.

Ian: Crystal clear.

Mischa: Yeah. It's a busy day in the city of New Prosper. Bread to bake. Pipes to fix. People to wait on at Boggins’ Bee-stro inexplicably.

Mayanna: Yuck.

Mischa: There's a lot to get done especially if you guys are going to get ready for Paz’s birthday party tonight.

Mayanna (Fran): Oh, man. Alright.

Bex (Ibra): Yes!

Mayanna (Fran): Okay, I got a lot to do.

Bex (Ibra): Oh, I've been waiting for this night for so many weeks. I have so many gifts. I'm so excited.

Mischa: Let's roll initiative to see who we follow first.

[Dice rolls].

Ian: 14.

Lyn: I got a 10.

Mischa: Doing great.

Bex: Natural yeet.

Mischa: Nice!

Mayanna: Natural yeet.

[Cheers].

Mayanna: Yeet! 20 crew!

Mischa: Whoa! Fight to the death about it. No.

Mayanna: Oh no!

Bex: What do you have? What do you have?

Mayanna: Plus 3, so 22.

Bex: Oh, you win.

Mayanna: Whoa!

Mischa: So, Fran.

Mayanna: Hello! Good morning.

Mischa: You wake up in your…

Mayanna: (Sigh). Modest apartment.

Mischa: Modest apartment.

Mayanna: The most modest apartment.

Mischa: In the Barra, the entertainment district of New Prosper.

Mayanna: And it looks way less glamorous in the sobering light of morning.

Mischa: As opposed to the neon light of night? [Laughter]. It's never not bright in this apartment.

Mayanna: It's never not bright. I have what I was told were blackout shades, but they're not doing what they were supposed to do. So I get up, I'm gonna wash my little face. You gotta, you gotta get a good skin care routine going. Brush my teeth, put on my little uniform. But I like to– I-I'm a big quick change girly, so I usually wear the uniform as the base layer, but then I'll try to throw a cool jacket or something else over it. I'm not– I'm not just a waitress, okay? I've got other things going on, allegedly.

Mischa: Did you make the jacket?

Mayanna: I did make the jacket.

Bex: It looks sick.

Mayanna: It's a nice little jacket. Thank you so much. I have a little–little fringy sleeves and little fun little pocket detailing. This was really like my leather work era. You know, it was a fun era. Yeah. So. Live and learn.

Mischa: Back when– back when the style was just too many pouches.

Mayanna: Yes, exactly, yes. I learned that, you know, just because you can make more pouches doesn't mean you should. I learned about the responsibility. Takes guts, takes intuition, takes intelligence to understand that pouches are a limited resource. [Laughter]. You don't need so many pouches. It overwhelms the ensemble.

Ian: It's like the Johnny Depp rule of like, once you have all your pouches, take four of the pouches off.

Mayanna: Exactly. Exactly. [Laughter]. And I live by that. Yeah. I live by that.

Ian: I think that's smart.

Mayanna: Thank you. I think so too.

Mischa: How are you gonna spend your day? Do you have a day shift today? Did you get the night shift so that you could be working during Paz's birthday?

Mayanna: I think I. Yes, I think I'm working during Paz's birthday.

Mischa: Okay.

Mayanna: I kind of like to be busy. I get very stressed at an event when I don't have tasks.

Mischa: Yeah, sure.

Mayanna: So I have a night shift, so I think I’m gonna go out. I'm gonna visit my old craftsman friend. I'm gonna check on him this morning.

Mischa: Sure. You roll down the main drag of the Barra.

[SFX: Soundscape begins, exterior on a street] .

Mischa: Over to a little side place that nobody wants to admit that everybody knows exactly where it is, Gambler's Alley, because no matter the time of day, you're going to be able to find your craftsman mentor, Thorgunn.

Mayanna: Thorgunn, thank you.

Mischa: At the machines, at the slots.

Mayanna: Oh, Thorgunn.

[SFX: Soundscape shifts to the interior of a gaming parlor. Games and slot machines pinging in the background].

Mischa: He can't give his money away fast enough.

Mayanna: (Laughs). Okay, so I'm gonna, –is he on a pachinko, on a slots?

Mischa: Yeah, you tell me.

Mayanna: A pachinko. Okay, great. He loves a pachinko machine. Yes, I'll go over to Thorgunn and, just, just check in on him. I like to see how he's doing and also see if he has any little nuggets of wisdom he'll accidentally throw my way if I sit there next to him holding his cup of coins for long enough.

Ian: So I'm just curious, is he up or down today?

Mischa: I'm going to roll for it. [Dice rolls]. He is down today.

[Oh nos]. [Laughter].

Mischa: Oh, he's very down today.

Lyn: That's a bad mood for Thorgunn.

Mayanna: Oh, Thorgunn.

Mischa: He just goes,

Mischa (Thorgunn): (In French accent) Ah, the next one, I'm due for the next one.

Mayanna (Fran): For sure, for sure.

Mischa: He pulls the lever again.

Mayanna (Fran): Did you happen to take a look at the–some of the designs I gave you last time I saw you?

Mischa (Thorgunn): Oh, yes, I put them in my pocket here somewhere. [SFX: paper rustling].

Mischa: The papers just kind of like, pour out of the front of his shirt.

[Laughter].

Mayanna (Fran): Okay, you know, if you sweat a lot, you know, the papers will dissolve, the ink might run, so, you know.

Mischa (Thorgunn): Oh, is that what that was?

Mayanna (Fran): Oh, God. Okay, alright. Um yeah, so just. I was thinking, you know, maybe like, some sort of Astra-infused cloak garment. I call this one the Showstopper. It's, it's got Dancing Lights infused into the fibers so that when you walk around, it kind of like gives a little glow, a little light action. Thoughts? Feelings?

Mischa (Thorgunn): Will anybody notice this glow among the noise and lights of the neon signs? You must consider your environment, girl.

Mayanna (Fran): Okay. Okay. That's good. That’s good feedback.

Mischa (Thorgunn): For example, if your cloak is so glowing, it distract me from the pachinko.

Mayanna (Fran): Oh, okay, right. Well, I was thinking more so this would be for, for the Constellation, for folks up in–

Mischa (Thorgunn): (Scoff). You go to the Constellation with this?

Mayanna: Uh. Yeah, that was, that was my goal, my hope, (voice breaks) my dream.

Mischa (Thorgunn): A silly goal for young people.

Mayanna (Fran): Okay. Okay. I'll take that under advisement. Thank you.

Mischa (Thorgunn): I tell you this, my girl.

Mayanna (Fran): Yes, yes, yes.

Mischa (Thorgunn): They will love it up there. (Chuckles).

Mayanna (Fran): Okay. Okay, you're laughing like it's funny, but I think it's very serious, so. Alright, I'll just. Do you need anything? I've got some day olds from yesterday.

Mischa (Thorgunn): Oh, bread I do not have to pay for.

Mayanna (Fran): Yeah.

Mischa (Thorgunn): Even good day olds.

Mayanna: I take them out of my bag and I give them one.

Ian: I just want to say that I love that Thorgunn is French.

[Laughter].

Mayanna: (In French accent) Thorgunn.

Lyn: (In French accent) Thorgunn.

Mischa: Yeah, Thorgunn's an elf. And he is probably one of the most disheveled elves that you'll find in New Prosper. Truly, like, sitting in the same shirt that he was in three days ago.

Ian: Fuck yeah.

Mayanna: Oh, and I take something else out of my bag.

Mayanna (Fran): I sewed one of your shirts for you. The one you ripped from when you tripped that night when you were too drunk coming back from the pachinko parlor. So here you go.

Mischa (Thorgunn): Ah, my favorite shirt. I have wondered where it is.

Mischa: And he, he takes his shirt off in the middle of the gambling parlor.

Ian: Oh lord.

Mayanna: Ink prints from my designs on his are chest.

Mischa: Just smears. Like you, you spot like the corner of one schematic that like imprinted like silly putty on his chest there.

Mayanna: Go there it goes. Yep.

Mischa: And just strips off. And you see a couple of other people in the parlor and be like, “what does he do?”

Mayanna (Fran): He just–you know, you know how artists can be.

Mischa: And he throws the shirt on and he like really roughly treats it, and he thrusts through one hole. [SFX: rustling fabric].

Mayanna: Okay.

Mischa: And then thrusts the other hole. [SFX: rustling fabric].

Mayanna: All righty.

Mischa: And you just hear [SFX: fabric ripping].

Mayanna (Fran): Oh, okay. That's fine.

Mischa (Thorgunn): Oh. I am so sorry.

Mayanna (Fran): That's okay.

Mayanna: I have a little pocket sewing kit. So I'm gonna, I'm gonna start doing a little patch job.

Mischa: Okay.

Mayanna: Yeah, just a little, just a little to see if I can, I don't want him to look embarrassingly disheveled.

Mischa: Sure.

Mayanna: I respect him even if he doesn't always respect himself.

Mischa: Sure. You pull out your like, all purpose tool kit, which just has the right tool for the right job pretty much every time.

Mayanna: I love this thing. Hello.

Mischa: And like you sit there, like one arm, he's pulling the lever on the Pachinko machine.

Mayanna: And I’m like, (stressed gasping).

Mischa: Do Pachinko machines have levers?

Ian: That's what I want to know.

Mayanna: I am not sure. I think–

Bex: They do here.

Mayanna: Yeah. They do here.

Mischa: He, you know, like is working the machine with one hand while he's holding out his arms so that you can–

Mayanna: It’s “pachonko.”

[Laughter].

Ian: Pachonko. There we are.

Mischa: I love that because it's got a chonky lever.

Mayanna: Yeah. It's a chonky. It's Pachonko. Yeah. All right. So I'm just sewing the other side while he's pulling the slots and stuff.

Mischa: Yeah, and he finally wins one.

Mayanna (Fran): Oh my god! That's great!

Mischa: And he pulls a couple of copper pieces from the bottom of the machine and he like, tucks them into one of your pockets on your jacket.

Mayanna: Oh!

Mischa (Thorgunn): For you, my girl.

Mayanna (Fran): Thank you, Thorgunn. You, you're alright.

Mischa (Thorgunn): I am simply what I am these days. But I will not be anything else.

Mayanna (Fran): Ooh, I love that. Oh my god, I'm gonna write that down.

Mayanna: I have a little pocket notebook. Fuck, yes. I write down all the things that I perceive as wise things, he says, but there's just things he's saying.

Mischa: Yeah. Roll insight.

[Dice rolls].

Mayanna: Okay. Ooh, not good. I think that's a, that's a 3.

[Laughter].

Ian: I'm so glad that that totally matches what the vibe I'm getting, which is, is a very one sided mentor relationship in which you are missing some of the flags.

Mayanna: Yeah. I mean, isn't he great? He's so brilliant.

Mischa: He laughs at what you've just written. Must be some like, inside elf joke from like a hundred years ago.

Mayanna (Fran): Oh my god. So deep and cool. All right. Thank you so much for sharing your wisdom with me.

Mischa (Thorgunn): I hope you share your wisdom with others.

Mayanna (Fran): I will.

Mischa (Thorgunn): It is wasted on the floor of the Pachonko parlor.

Mayanna: Right. Oh my God.

Mischa (Thorgunn): Yes. This is why I only give my advice here. [SFX: lever pulling].

Mayanna (Fran): Okay, man. Riddles and riddles and metaphors. Gotta keep reading. Gotta get there.

[Laughter]. [SFX: Soundscape ends].

Lyn: I adore this.

Ian: Do we know that this is a toxic relationship as her friends or not?

Mischa: I don't know how or why you would possibly know that.

Bex: I don't think we've met Thorgunn.

Ian: I don’t think that either.

Mischa: Yeah, I don't know if you've met Thorgunn.

Mayanna: Yeah.

Mischa: I think, and from what you get from Fran, it's probably just like, “Oh my God, he's always so wise. I'm always parsing his wisdom.”

Ian: Oh my lord.

[Laughter].

Mayanna: I'm like writing out on napkins what I think “I'll have the potatoes” meant. I'm like,

Mayanna (Fran): Okay, so like potatoes could be like a metaphor for like creativity and like, he'll have the creativity, but with a side of like intuition, you know?

[Laughter].

Mischa: Where, where do you go after the pachonko parlor?

Mayanna: I think I'm gonna walk amongst the shops.

[SFX: soundscape shifts back to the street exterior. Lighthearted music in the background].

Mayanna: You know, I'm never, I'm never really–never really taken with the clothing. It's a lot of like “what happens in the Barra stays in the Barra” type shirts and whatnot.

Mischa: Sure, so is this the kind of thing where you're just like strolling through like looking for like, “hmm I can do that better here.”

Mayanna: Yeah, it's the inspiration or yeah, like. I like to sketch and doodle and just think of like, what would I, if I was given this assignment, how would I innovate in this space?

Mischa: Sure, do you have–do you have an ongoing project that you're currently working on that you're looking for inspiration for?

Mayanna: Definitely the Showstopper. I think that, like, it's this beautiful, ornate cloak, but I think that it's just a little uninspired right now. I think it's very simple in its structure, so I'm always looking for, like, interesting sleeve detail, or interesting, like, movement and flow. That kind of thing. So I'm looking at all the duster jackets and whatever I can find in the city.

Mischa: Sure. Well, let's hope you find some inspiration, and we'll move on to our next scene here.

Mayanna: Amazing.

[SFX: Soundscape ends].

Mischa: Ibra, you wake up after that lovely dream.

Bex (Ibra): (Stretching noise).

Bex: I immediately reach over to check for my shield, and whether or not it's in its rightful place when I'm sleeping, which is right leaned up against my bedside table. And it's there. I stop panicking a little bit, and start to breathe and-and-and release the anxiety of whatever the hell that dream was.

Mischa: Yeah.

Bex: Today is doctor day.

Mischa: So it's going to be a packed day before the party then.

Bex: It's going to be a packed day before the party. I have to go all the way up to the Constellation. I have to go see the doctor. Maybe I can see Paz before the party tonight, probably not. I have to get back down here and keep working at Gwen's and there's, it's a packed day.

Mischa: Yeah.

Bex: It's too much to do.

Mischa: It's a packed day. Doctor's appointment's first thing in the morning.

Bex: First thing's first.

Mischa: So you sort of get yourself dressed, you pack up your shield, and you head over to the funiculars. You flash them your family commuter pass, which has the crest of House Bracha on it. And you take the ride up. You are conveyed in this sleek little pod on sort of like a magic tether that holds the former fortress of Upper Prosper in place above Lower Prosper. It's a smooth ride, but it's not fast.

Bex: Yeah.

Mischa: It, like, it's a commute to get up there. It takes, I mean, an hour or so. Even though you can always see it. It's like, it's right there. It feels like it should be faster.

Bex: Right? And I use the time on my little devices to get as much clerical work done for Gwen's so that I have less clerical work to do when I get there later today.

Mischa: Mmhmm. Great. Filling out your most recent assignments. Hopefully that clears your queue, and you'll get a couple new assignments today. The last ones were pretty tedious, pretty run of the mill. Just, you know, there's always labor assignments to be had in New Prosper. You know, this is a lot of like, requisitions from Minetown looking for more grunt labor, and there's always less of that to go around, and always more of that to go around than you hope.

Bex: It's been really, really hard to fill, like, three certain positions, and that's the one that I'm really focusing on on this commute, is those last three.

Mischa: You eventually get up there. You take the trams that makes up the transport network of Upper Prosper [SFX: tram cars rolling down tracks] all the way around deeper into the Constellation.

Mischa: You pull up, you walk a couple of city blocks, and you head over to Sacred Tree Heart Clinic. [SFX: sliding door opening]. You have a standing weekly appointment.

[SFX: soundscape of the doctor’s office. An air conditioner hums in the background].

Mischa: You walk in, and the air inside smells like someone tried to hastily paint over anesthetic. It's sharp, it's astringent, it's like way too perfumed, and it's like artificial perfumed. You glance up into the corner and you see a glowing piece of Astra in like a device that's obviously casting Prestidigitation to make the air smell like something.

Bex: Ibra sneezes like three times in a row. [SFX: sneeze].

Mischa: Gross. I think the, the receptionist, Nora, goes,

Mischa (Nora): (Scottish accent) Oh, hello dearie. Do you need a tissue and a mask, perhaps?

Bex (Ibra): Oh, you know, it happens every time I walk in here. That, that perf–that Astra perfume just, whew! The first couple seconds are a doozy.

Mischa: Nora's definitely the kindest person in this office, warmth pouring out of her big brown doe eyes. She's a capra, a deer woman. Her face and hands are covered in a layer of velvety fur that's graying slightly in a few patches, and her antlers are two spirals standing straight out of the crown of her head. She gestures to her face, she's wearing a medical face mask, and, like, it loops above the horns. She points to her face mask, and she says,

Mischa (Nora): Aye, and with my nose! It's so–you know, I get used to it in the first hour or so, but I'll talk to the doctor about changing it.

Bex (Ibra): Do you need anything? You're the one who has to sit in this all day.

Mischa (Nora): Oh no, you're here to check in for Dr. Abbadio? Yes. I'll let him know you're here.

Mischa: You sit down and, you know, continue twiddling away on your–your…tablet?

Bex: I think so.

Mischa: Okay, I'm gonna roll something.

[Dice rolls].

Ian: What are you gonna roll?

Mischa: Ooh, yeah, it runs out of power while you're sitting there.

Ian: Sick.

Bex (Ibra): I forgot to charge it last night. Maybe that's part of what my dream was, was not having what I need when I need it. Okay. (Sing songy) Trying to make sense of my dreams.

Mischa: You sit there. The time ticks by. You know, how's your sense of time, Ibra, generally?

Bex: Eh, not great. In battle situations, there's more focus, and I'm better about timing.

Mischa: Yeah.

Bex: But in every other day when it's not battlefield focus, I'm more like, that was now? Oh, oof.

Mischa: I do think that in this moment, you probably do have a good sense of time. Because you're right, you're battle trained, but also, maybe being in this office sets off your fight or flight a little bit?

Bex: Hundred percent. This is a battle scenario for Ibra.

Mischa: Yeah. Eventually, after what seems like on the edge of too long, Dr. Abbadio comes out into the lobby and calls you back.

Mischa (Dr.Abbadio): (French accent) Ah, my greatest experiment. Please, please, come back, come back.

Bex (Ibra): Hi Abbadio.

Mischa (Dr.Abbadio): It is Doctor Abbadio and you know this.

Bex (Ibra): Hi Doc.

Mischa (Dr.Abbadio): The disrespect of your generation. Sit on the table there.

Bex (Ibra): Mhmm. [SFX: Scanner hums in the background].

Mischa : He starts taking your vitals. It's kind of rough. You know, the blood pressure cuff, [SFX: Cuff pumping with air] is squeezed hard and maybe you wince at it, but like, you've gotten your blood pressure taken every week since you were born. It doesn't need to be that hard.

Bex: And every week it feels like he's doing it a little bit harder.

Mischa: Mhmm.

Ian: When you guys said it was rough, me and Mayanna just immediately looked at each other.

Mayanna: Yeah, we were both like, that isn't how that should be going.

Ian: Jesus, no.

Mayanna: Yeah, that's not how that should have been going.

Ian: Ew.

Bex: Yeah.

Mischa: He says,

Mischa (Dr. Abbadio): Tell me about your diet.

Mischa: And he's not really even looking you in the eye, he's like, examining your ears, and, you know, like, measuring your musculature. He says,

Mischa (Dr. Abbadio): Tell me about your diet.

Bex (Ibra): Well, you know, I've been mostly eating in the cafeteria at school, but every once in a while I go eat a whole big bag of bolts.

Mischa (Dr. Abbadio): You really should be coming up to the Constellation, we must monitor your health, and that is your diet as well.

Bex (Ibra): Yeah, well, if you ever listen to me, maybe you'd know that I do come up here every week and I have dinner with my family. But, hm, no, you don't actually listen to me, so we're fine.

Mischa (Dr. Abbadio): But you are hearty and you do battle! You do battle training! How is your exercise, my dear one?

Bex (Ibra): You know, every once in a while, I have to stop exercising cause, you know, I have to go to the bathroom, but doesn't seem to bother any of my superiors so far.

Mischa (Dr. Abbadio): And your bathroom visits? They are regular and normal?

Bex (Ibra): Why is that the only thing you heard? Okay yeah, my bathroom visits are regular and normal. They're fine. I'm fine. Everything's great.

Mischa: He writes down all of the pieces of data that are relevant to his investors on his tablet–

Mayanna: (Intrigued) Oh.

Mischa: –and, and goes,

Mischa (Dr. Abbadio): And your stress levels?

Bex (Ibra): Stress levels?

Mischa (Dr. Abbadio): We have talked about these before. The cortisol levels in your blood are somewhat toxic for proper musculature growth, at least as far as my guidelines are concerned.

Bex (Ibra): Yeah, you know, I don't know if going to the doctor every week is stressful or anything. Don't know if there's a correlation there.

Mischa (Dr. Abbadio): Whether there is a correlation or not, I will write it in my notes. But you know we must do this. You know we must track every week this was in the terms and conditions when you were born.

Bex (Ibra): I did not sign anything. I was just born into this.

Mischa (Dr. Abbadio): Take it up with your parents, I guess.

Bex (Ibra): Still doesn't mean I have to like it.

Mischa (Dr. Abbadio): Well, we are just about done here. I shall prepare my investor report. Thank you very much for your cooperation, once again.

[SFX: Soundscape ends].

Ian: Okay, just a couple questions.

[Laughter].

Mayanna: Several questions!

Mischa: Maybe for later in the show.

Lyn: I would like to file an audit.

Mayanna: I'd like to file, like, a harassment complaint.

[Laughter].

Ian: Also, is Dr. Abbadio, which sounds just like “Doctor A Body, Yo”–

Bex: Yep.

Mischa: Yeah.

Mayanna: So funny.

Ian: –also French and therefore also an elf?

Mayanna: Correct.

Ian: Sick.

Mayanna: Oh my god, I love that.

Ian: All elves are French in this world.

Mayanna: Yes!

Ian: Hell yeah.

Mischa: You know, this is a city, full of a few different types of people. There's humans and elves and dwarves and capras and saurids, all living in and amongst each other. It seems to be a fairly integrated society, although there is some imbalance when accounting for different lifespans of different species.

Mayanna: Interesting.

Ian: Wait, okay, another, and another question.

Mischa: Okay.

Ian: Are we supposed to–Why-why do you-why-why– [Laughter]. Why is there a contract relating to your health? Do–we're not supposed to know that yet, right?

Bex: No, not yet.

Mayanna: I love the mystery.

Mischa: Yeah. I think that's up to Ibra. Like how much would you have told your friends about where you go every week?

Mayanna: Oh my god.

Bex: I think I've told you I go to the doctor every week. I think I've explained that they, you know, they have to keep tracking my systems.

Ian: Wild.

Bex: But you don't know how much of a dick my doctor is.

Mayanna: Yeah, seriously.

Bex: Yeah, you know that I'm part of, like, an experimental study, but you don't know the extent of it.

Lyn: It's like a clinical trial. It's like, yeah, that makes sense.

Ian: Sure.

Mayanna: What race is Ibra?

Bex: Ibra looks human with a big ol birthmark on their head.

Mayanna: Okay, sick. Sick sick sick.

Mischa: Human…ish.

Mayanna: I love that.

Bex: Human-ish, but with like an odd blue tint to their skin?

Mischa: Oh yeah?

Mayanna: I would probably just assume just that you would have corrected me by now if there was any. So I'm just like, yeah, human. Yeah, for sure.

Ian: Blue– Blue human. Blue-man.

Mayanna: Blue blue blue.

Bex: Blue human.

Mayanna: Blue-man. Blooman.

Lyn: Blue man group.

Mayanna: Bloomin onion.

[Laughter].

Lyn: Ooh!

Bex: It's like, it's like the blue tint is really, really visible in the light of the Constellation, but not quite as visible in the light of the Barra.

Mayanna: That's fair. I would probably just asse you have like a bad sunscreen.

Ian: Yeah. It's like Twilight rules where you sh–the vampires shimmer in the daylight.

Mayanna: Yeah, perfect. [Laughter]. Message received. I got Mischa with that one.

Mischa: This is the skin of a killer, Bella. [Laughter]. Ibra, you finish up at the doctor's office. [SFX: Door opening]. Go back out to Nora, the receptionist, and you set your time for next week?

Bex: While I'm checking out with Nora,

Bex (Ibra): Do you know when my siblings are coming in next week?

Mischa (Nora): Oh, I'm so sorry, dear. We're implementing a new protocol. You're actually, we're not supposed to tell you when they're coming in.

Bex (Ibra): We literally have the same DNA.

Mischa (Nora): I know, it's something about controls and experiments.

Bex (Ibra): (Frustrated groan).

Mischa (Nora): I, the science is a bit above my pay grade.

Bex (Ibra): Oh, thank you, Nora.

Mischa (Nora): I’m so sorry.

Bex (Ibra): I know.

Mischa (Nora): If I could tell you I would. But my hands are tied on this one.

Bex (Ibra): I appreciate you so much. I hope you have a great week.

Mischa (Nora): You too.

Mischa: Where to next, Ibra?

Bex: Right back to the funicular. It’s a-

Mischa: It's a big commute day. Well, I'm gonna leave off, if that's alright–

Bex: Yes, please.

Mischa: –with you catching the tram [SFX: tram rolling by], and Gordon!

[SFX: rooster crow].

Ian (Gordon): Ugh! Oh! Wow, that was a dream.

Mischa: What time do you wake up, buddy?

Ian: So much earlier than everybody else. I was going to ask earlier, but I didn't want to be a dick.

Mischa: No, that's the thing.

[SFX: Soundscape begins. Birds lightly chirping in the distance].

Ian: A hundred percent. I mean, so, I think, I think a baker wakes up at four?

Mischa: Yeah.

Mayanna: Even earlier sometimes.

Lyn: Yeah, even earlier.

Ian: Three, and then you get in at four?

Mayanna: Yeah.

Ian: Yeah, so it's still dark out. It's, it's, you know, it's like that, like, cold, cool, dark part of the morning, maybe? And my first moment is terror. Because, remind me, I was falling down, a bottomless–

Mayanna: Void of white until your eyes see white and there's nothing.

Ian: Yeah.

Mischa: Yeah.

Ian: Tough start to the morning.

Mischa: Yep. Still got to bake the bread though.

Ian: Still got to bake the bread.

Mayanna: Bread’s not going to make itself.

Ian: I think I transitioned pretty quick, right? It's like,

Ian (Gordon): (Gasping, heavy breathing, noises of confusion). Okay, okay. I think we're okay.

Ian: And then I grab like a, a morning muffin that I baked yesterday. I always bake the– tomorrow's morning muffin at the end of yesterday.

Mischa: Sure. So it's always like at least a few hours, like at least eight hours old by the time you eat it.

Ian: Yeah, but I don't care because it's like when you're a baker, you're always around the fresh bread, you know, so I can have fresh bread anytime I like.

Mischa: That's fair.

Ian: Day old bread is actually more of a rarity.

Bex: Delicacy.

Mayanna: Novelty.

Ian: Delicacy. So I grab the day old muffin, night old muffin off the thing, shove it in my mouth because that's my first thing I do every morning.

[SFX: Music begins, leisurely, folksy guitar and harmonica].

Ian: And then I, I'm in my apartment. Right?

Mischa: Yeah, do you, so your apartment is, is more into the Edge of Prosper, right? You living sort of closer to the farmlands where your guild works and, and I, I imagine that there's like sort of the, the, the Baker's Guild, like headquarters, having like huge communal ovens and training facilities. Are you, do you live in there?

Ian: I was kind of wondering if it was like, not dorms necessarily, but like little apartments above the, so you could just walk right downstairs and start baking.

Mischa: Sure. Sure. And I think that there's, it's almost like cubicle kitchens.

Ian: Yeah.

Mischa: Like, you can sort of like, sign out. By the time you're a certain age, you kind of just have like, your long standing appointment of like–

Mayanna: That's so cool.

Mischa: –my oven time.

Ian: Yeah, it's like Le Cordon Bread.

Mischa: Yeah.

[Laughter].

Mayanna: Le Cordon Bread!

Mischa: I love it.

Ian: Yeah, so I think, so, I, I, you know, I get my flour-dusted apron on.

Mischa: Mhmm.

Ian: I shake off the dream. I think by this point now I'm totally back to normal, and I start baking. I gotta bake so much–Am I baking for Paz's birthday, by the way?

Mischa: Are you?

Ian: I think I mean, probably.

Mayanna: I think so, yeah.

Ian: How well do I know Paz?

Mischa: Roll history!

[Dice rolls].

Ian: Oh, I rolled it out of the box. [Laughter]. Jesus. Um, 9.

Mischa: You're not the closest with Paz. You know that Paz is Ibra's friend from like way, way back. And I think you're probably closer to Ibra than Paz, but like, it's a birthday. You're a baker.

Mayanna: Make a cake. Come on!

Ian: I’m making a cake.

Mayanna: Make a cake.

Bex: I think I've specially requested at least one dessert for Paz.

Ian: Yeah. Oh yeah, so maybe I'm not making a cake. Maybe I'm making, like, sweet rolls.

Mischa: I think, I think with a 9, you also know one other thing about Paz, and that's that Paz has a lot of like, dietary restrictions.

Ian: Yeah.

Mischa: So you might have– So like, but that's all normal to you. You know, like, the Baker's Guild deals with that kind of stuff all the time.

Ian: So I think what I'm making then, yeah, maybe, cause like, people, some people are very sensitive to the gluten in bread. (Sarcastically) No one's ever heard of that before.

Mischa: Couldn't relate.

Ian: So I think I'm making a, like a sourdough bread dessert, right? It's sourdough, so it's easier to eat, but it's also like filled with cinnamon and butter.

Mayanna: Like a French–

Mischa: Oh yeah.

Mayanna: like one of those big French toast blocks.

[Oohs].

Ian: Yeah.

Mischa: I love like a sweet and spicy.

Ian: Yes. With like a big sort of like a, like a vein of, you know, cinnamon deliciousness through the entire center of the block.

Mischa: Like a big cinnamon roll.

Ian: Yeah. So it's, and then maybe, and then maybe I'm going to frost it like a cake, so it'll look like a cake–

Mayanna: Oh that’s so cute.

Ian: But then you cut into it, and it's cinnamon sourdough bread.

[Excitement].

Lyn: I like that.

Mischa: Your portion of this campaign is going to make me so hungry.

Ian: Top of my class, motherfucker.

Mayanna: (Chanting) Fan art of the food. Fan art of the food.

Lyn: Please.

Mischa: Thank you.

Lyn: (Chanting) Recipes for the food. Recipes for the food.

Bex: (Chanting) Fan art of the food.

[Laughter].

Mischa: Cool. So you, do you take that, do you take care of that out of the way?

Ian: Like, oh, so I have to get up even earlier! 'Cause I have to do that before all my other bread duties.

Mischa: Or you can just do like in between kind of. I'm wondering.

Ian: I think I got up super early today.

Mischa: Okay.

Ian: So I think I got up and did all that stuff so that I can just bake it right before.

Mischa: Cool, so cinnamon roll's done, you're in the midst of your bread orders.

Ian: Right.

Mischa: You know, Boggins’ Bee-stro is one of your clients, I'm sure not the only one.

Ian: No.

Mayanna: Maybe you have like a couple more.

Ian: Right.

Mischa: So it's just like big orders.

Ian: Yeah, I just gotta make, I probably have to make like, pfft, 500 loads of bread before, you know, seven in the morning.

Mischa: Yeah. Oof.

Ian: And you just start making them, like, on racks.

Mischa: Yeah. Yeah.

Ian: And it's good, it's good work though, you know?

Mischa: Yeah, absolutely. It's, it's honest work, and that's why the Baker's Guild exists, is because everyone deserves their daily bread.

Ian: Yeah.

Bex: Hey!

Ian: You know, get some exercise in.

Mayanna: (Singing) Amen.

[Laughter].

Mischa: While you're in the midst of making your bread rolls, you hear a knock at the doorway to your kitchen area. [SFX: knocking]. You turn around and Cecilia, who is a very kind of important person within the Baker’s Guild. Now, remind me, is she also your sister? Did we talk about this?

Ian: No, I don't think we did talk about this. Do I want to roll for it?

Mayanna: Roll for sister.

Mischa: No, I think I just want to ask you. So we've come, we sort of come up with a system–

Ian: A sister system?

Mischa: –whereby, like, your guild is as important to you as family. And that's where I got confused.

Ian: Oh.

Mischa: I don't know if she's actually your blood sister or you just think of her as a sister or?

Ian: Yeah, I think she's more just my boss. My sister boss.

Mischa: Great.

Mayanna: Your senpai.

Bex: Sister boss?

Ian: Yeah.

Mischa: The person you're trying to impress.

Ian: My senpai.

Mischa: Well, and today, Gordon, senpai's noticed you.

[Gasps].

Ian: Oh dang.

Mischa: She knocks on your door and says,

[SFX: Music ends. Soundscape begins. Light whirring of kitchen fans.]

Mischa (Cecilia): Hey, Gordon.

Ian (Gordon): Hey, boss.

Mischa (Cecilia) How's it going?

Ian (Gordon): Oh, it's so good. I'm just, you know, about a quarter of the way breaking all the rules for the day. I only ruined like four racks. It's fine.

Mischa (Cecilia): Four?

Ian (Gordon): Well, you know, I just, I'm still a junior baker.

Mischa (Cecilia): All right. Well, we'll have to get you, get you in like the 201 course, man.

Ian (Gordon): I drop a, I literally like accidentally knock a bowl off the counter. [SFX: metal clanging]. Oh, sorry. I–ignore that.

Mischa (Cecilia): You know that flour has costs, right?

Ian (Gordon): Yeah, I'm trying.

Mischa (Cecilia): All right. All right. Listen, I do need you– Can I jump in and help you a little bit? I need a favor from you today.

Ian: Oh, oh my gosh. I would be honored. Yes. Come on in.

Mischa: She jumps in, she ties on her apron, which is, like, dusted, but with flour, just like yours, but very evenly and very precisely, like, there's not, like, spots where it got thrown at her apron.

Ian: Yeah.

Mischa: She rolls up her sleeves, washes her hands, and gets into making rolls with you. And goes,

Mischa (Cecilia): Yeah, I would love to help you finish this up. I really need a big favor from you today and kind of the rest of the week. I've gotta spend a bunch of time up in the Constellation this week.

Ian (Gordon): Oh.

Mischa (Cecilia): We really need a rep on the ground there. Er- boots on the floor up there. So I was wondering if maybe you would cover my deliveries while I'm up there. I might not be able to make it back in time.

Ian (Gordon): Are you asking me to go up to the Constellation and cover your delivery?

Mischa (Cecilia): I'm expressly not doing that. We only have one commuter pass.

Ian (Gordon): No, you're doing the opposite of that, aren't you?

Mischa (Cecilia): I would love if you would stay down here and take care of my normal stuff.

Ian (Gordon): Oh.

Mischa: While I go and do the big important things for our guild.

Ian (Gordon): Yeah, yeah.

Mischa (Cecilia): Junior Baker, no disrespect.

Ian (Gordon): Totally.

Mischa (Cecilia): Absolutely none. It's all part of the process.

Ian (Gordon): Yes.

Mischa (Cecilia): Junior Baker.

Ian (Gordon): Uh-huh.

Mischa (Cecilia): Almost head of the guild.

Ian (Gordon): Totally understand.

Mischa (Cecilia): Cool.

Ian (Gordon): Yeah, my mistake. There was a very strong portion that I thought that you were saying, “Do you want to come up to the Constellation with me?” Which is why I looked really excited. And so now the fact that I look really sad, don't worry about it. I totally can cover that. It's fine. I would love that. That'd be great.

Mischa (Cecilia): Okay. Cool. So if you could just come with me on my delivery today so you can get the route down and then you'll pick it up for me.

Ian: Love that. Just, and just, you know, I don't know, you know, you're the boss, so not really giving you a note. But just saying, when you start the sentence with, “come with me,” you know, and you're talking about going to the Constellation later, it just leads people to believe that maybe they're going, you know, I'm just.

Mischa (Cecilia): Gordon, what's step one of the recipe? It’s “read the whole recipe,” isn't it?

[Gasps and pained stutters].

Ian: (Weakly) Oh no!

[Laughter].

Mayanna: Psychic damage.

Ian: And then I just put my head and I go,

Ian (Gordon): Yes ma'am. Apologies.

Mischa (Cecilia): Cool. Listen, you're not going to get nothing out of this. I'm definitely going to, you know, put a recommendation into your– Do we do files here? I'm not really even sure.

Ian (Gordon): Bread files.

Mischa (Cecilia): Yeah, this, you're going to get some points for this. Don't worry about it.

Ian (Gordon): Oh, great. Okay.

Mischa (Cecilia): This is your time. Show me you're responsible and you can go places in this guild.

Ian (Gordon): Thank you so much, Cecilia. I really appreciate that. It's been so nice hanging out with you and thanks for the help. And thanks for thinking of me and, you know, picking me out to help you with this.

Mischa (Cecilia): You got it. You know, you are my, um. The best choice.

Ian (Gordon): Love it. [Laughter]. Heck yeah!

Lyn: This is so–

Mayanna: The only option.

Ian: Failing upward.

Mischa: Cecilia jumps into your kitchen and helps you finish up your orders, your batches in record time. [SFX: dishes and metal clinking]. You pack up your vehicle. You have like a delivery, like a little delivery tuk tuk or something?

Mayanna: Beep beep.

Ian: I feel like it's a little, yeah, like a little three wheeler. Maybe it's got a tiny motor.

Mischa: Yeah, she goes into the garage and grabs like a softball sized piece of dull Astra, plugs it into the engine, and it starts lighting up.

Ian: Yeah, the classic sort of like three wheel anime truck. You know what I mean?

[SFX: End soundscape].

Mischa: Yeah, exactly.

Mayanna: Like a Porco Rosso energy.

Lyn: Ooh.

Mischa: But if it was powered by like a really big frosted glass marble.

Ian: Yeah.

Mayanna: So cool.

Ian: Where does it plug in?

Mischa: I think it probably, honestly, I love the idea of it plugging in right in the wheel well of the front wheel – [agreement and excitement] – of just any vehicle. I was trying, you know, we're starting up this campaign. I was thinking about like, well, we have e-bikes with this magic stuff too. And like, what if it was just a big wheel that you sit on top of and there's a crystal in the middle?

Mayanna: I love that so much.

Mischa: That's dope.

Lyn: Yeah that’s great.

Mayanna: That’s so sick.

Lyn: I love an orb.

Bex: Sexy.

Mayanna: Love an orb, oh my god, yeah.

Lyn: Let's continue to ponder them.

Mayanna: Yes.

Mischa: Shut the fuck up!

[Laughter].

Mischa: JJ.

Lyn: Yes, hello.

Mischa: JJ, you wake up from that dream.

Lyn: I think it's the classic, like, alarm? [SFX: Beeping of alarm clock]. Panic alarm. Slamming it, um, the –

Mischa: Roll athletics?

Lyn: Roll athletics? Oh, goodness.

Bex: Yes!

Lyn: So bad! Yeah, that's a 4.

Mischa: It takes you like, three or four tries. [SFX: repeated thuds, hitting wood]. And you-I think you break something else on your nightstands. [SFX: alarm stops. Light crack].

Lyn (JJ): Oh no, I'm gonna have to fix that later, it's fine.

[SFX: Music begins, rhythmic, somewhat frantic synth loops].

Lyn: But it's the equivalent of, like, 5am. Very regimented routine. Get out of bed, make the bed, go to the bathroom, shower, brush teeth, etc., sit down, make coffee, open up calendar.

Lyn (JJ): Okay, so classes later today, so that gives me an hour and a half to study before I go to recitation and then half an hour, I'll grab lunch then. I have a shift today at the magistrate's office, four and a half hours, then I'll have another hour to study and then – Oh, wait, when's Paz's birthday party? Oh gosh. Okay. That's later tonight. So then that'll give me, oh wait, I should eat dinner before the– should I eat dinner before the–? no, I'll eat dinner at the Bee-stro, but it's gonna be late so I should–

Lyn: –and then it's just like reorganizing my calendar, like trying to plan like minute by minute –

Mischa: Oh, wow.

Lyn: – what's happening for the day.

Mayanna: Heart palpitations. Immediately.

Lyn: And then like, as soon as it hits 7am, it's go. For everything.

Mayanna: Wow.

Lyn: That's, that's JJ.

Mischa: Wow.

Bex: Wow.

Mischa: That's intense!

Ian: Personal assistant vibes.

Mischa: Yeah!

Lyn: Is not happy about that, but does it anyway.

Mischa: Yeah, so, sorry, remind me, what was, what were the first couple of stops today?

Lyn: The first, uh, okay. So…

[SFX: music ends].

Mischa: Sorry, I thought you had all that written down. Did you come up with that from the dome?

Lyn: No, I didn't. I was making that up, yeah. I was getting into the headspace.

[Laughter].

Ian: That's personal experience.

[Laughter].

Lyn: Actually, no.

Ian: Really?

Lyn: Yeah, I slacked off a lot in college.

Ian: Wow!

Lyn: Absolutely not.

Mayanna: So your fantasy is being a good student.

[Laughter].

Mischa: Wow. Read to filth on your own podcast.

Lyn: Yeah, exac- Yeah, I was a great student, but I love doing as little work as possible.

Mayanna: I mean, same. Abso-frickin-lutely.

Lyn: So I think first, um, oh, I have a recitation early in the morning first. So some class type thing.

Mischa: Sure. It's, it's, you know, I like to imagine our education district here in New Prosper, which we call the Come-Up, a place where sort of, young adults move out of their parents’ place to sort of like, learn independence in situ. It's a little bit set up by the guilds, you know, Montessori style learning where it's just like, there's work happening. And if you want to learn how it's done, go and watch and assist and help until you know it. But, you know, there have to be lectures at some point.

[SFX: Soundscape begins. Chattering of students in a lecture hall].

Mischa: Are they Mechanist recitations this morning, or are you sort of following your own track today?

Lyn: I think this is one of the ones where I'm following my own track. I'm studying for the Mechanist stuff. That's where my other several hour long blocks are, but–

Mischa: Which is okay, you can get away with that, because the Mechanists have a lot more hands-on training. So like, it's, you know, if you want to fill a recitation hour, they're not really going to notice where you go.

Lyn: Yeah, so, in this case, this is probably something more along the lines of, like, probably a philosophy course almost. So, the recitation is a lot of arguing about the reading, like, “what's your interpretation of this?”

Mischa: Sure. I think that you maybe have heard about this lecture series from your friend Samira.

Lyn: (Agreeing) Mhmm. Absolutely.

Mischa: Who is a pretty strong student of the School of Rhetoric, which is where they teach philosophy courses. She probably was like, “Oh yeah, this one's really good.” But today, like, because you're just arguing about reading and the teacher is taking, is very much taking like a, “I'm going to defend the reading stance no matter what it says because that's what we're doing in the lecture today.” It seems so regimented. So kind of throughout the lecture, Samira will just raise her hand and be like,

Mischa (Samira): So, I don't understand why the author, I don't know, completely ignored the plight of the people on the ground when the city was being built. They were going through completely different–

Mischa: And the teacher cuts her off and is like,

Mischa (Professor): Well, that's addressed in chapter five, which I hadn't had you read yet.”

Mischa: And Samira just goes,

Mischa (Samira): Oh, so we're only arguing about part of the reading today. Got it. Got it. Got it.

Mischa: And then she turns to you and laughs.

Lyn: Mhmm. And then I'm, I really try and like, stifle like,

Lyn (JJ): (Whispering, holding back laughter) Dude, stop. No you’re right you’re right –

Mischa (Samira): I'm gonna get you to laugh. End of the lecture. I'm gonna do it.

Lyn (JJ): Fuck you.

Mischa (Samira): Um, ‘scuse me, teacher? I think JJ has some really important things to say about this topic.

Lyn (JJ): (Groan). I'm gonna kill you. I'm, after this, I'm killing you. I'm killing you and I'm murdering you and I'm burying you in the Pit.

Mischa (Samira): Three, three o'clock, out by the playground. You and me, let's go.

Lyn (JJ): You and me, let's go.

[Laughter].

Lyn: Yeah, Samira is like my absolute best friend, so [laughter]. And this is probably, I think like the only course that we have together. So even though–

Mischa: Okay.

Lyn: Even though that we, like, like came to school together, we're on different paths.

Mischa: Yeah.

Lyn: We don't get to see each other as much anymore, so I'm always trying to hide how much I like being in the class with her.

Lyn (JJ): Uh, yeah, I, I do have something to say. (Under breath) What the fuck am i gonna say?

Lyn: Like, just like making, eye contact.

Mischa: Like she, she just like throws up her hands. She's like,

Mischa (Samira): It's your time, your time to shine.

Lyn (JJ): So if we're not expected to go over the entire– what the author is actually trying to purport– then are we not just misconstruing what their own argument is? Unless we take into account their entire perspective?

Mischa: The teacher says,

Mischa (Professor): In the real world, you're not always presented with the entire perspective. You must only argue what's in front of you. This is an important piece of rhetorical strategy that you must learn. You cannot argue that which is not in front of you.

Lyn (JJ): I see.

Lyn: I write that down in my notes and I'm like,

Lyn (JJ): That doesn't make any fucking sense.

Mischa: Samira leans over to your desk with her pencil and writes underneath it “that doesn't make any fucking sense.”

Lyn: I, I go over like–not making any eye contact, but I put my arm over onto her desk and her paper. And I literally just write “fuck you too” on it. And it's so messy because I'm not looking at it, but I'm trying to look like I'm still paying attention to my own notes as I try and deface her own, which I'm sure she's actually not even writing.

Mischa: Mm, roll perception.

[Oohs (Intrigue)].

Mischa: I can tell you stuff, but at any point, I can just make you roll for something.

Lyn: 19 plus something.

Mischa: Whoa.

Mayanna: Perceptive.

Lyn: 19 plus 5. 24.

Bex: Shit.

Mischa: You've written in the margins of her notes, and at first you glance down and you're like, “that's so many notes for Samira to take in this class she doesn't really seem that into.” And then you get a glance at it. It's a speech. She's writing a speech.

Lyn: (Confused) Oh.

Mischa: You just glance down and you're like, “Oh, this is clearly something else. This has nothing to do with this class.” The lecture wraps up the point, you sort of got distracted trying to look at whatever was on Samira's paper and says,

Mischa (Professor): All right, now for next lecture, you shall read chapters six through eight and see how the author refutes his own argument. You see patience, patie –

Mischa: And everybody's already leaving. The teacher’s like,

Mischa (Professor): Patience in rhetoric is important, you must remem– Ugh.

Mischa: Up the aisle of the lecture hall, you hear the clack of a crutch landing on carpet. And Paz walks up to you and goes,

Mischa (Paz): You guys are terrible.

Lyn (JJ): Listen, I think it's actually rhetorically important to get to the point sometimes?

Lyn: And I'm looking at Samira, like,

Mischa: Samira just goes,

Mischa (Samira): Yeah, and I think it's rhetorically important that everyone listen to me sometimes. I'm kidding, I'm kidding.

Lyn: Yeah, I just like, shove her a little bit.

Mischa: Yeah, Paz is like,

Mischa (Paz): Some of us were here to like, learn things. We're supposed to be learning stuff. Are you guys going to be at my party later?

Lyn (JJ): Of course, we wouldn't miss it for the world.

Mischa (Paz): I, I'm so excited.

Lyn (JJ): Yeah, who's all gonna be there?

Mischa (Paz): You know, I invited, you know, Ibra, and Fran's gonna be on shift, and Gordon's probably gonna be there?

Lyn (JJ): Oh nice.

Mischa (Paz): I hope. I hope Gordon's gonna be there.

Ian: (Intrigued) Ooh. (Suggestive) Yeah.

Lyn: Insight check!

[Excitement and agreement].

Bex: Do it, do it, do it.

Lyn: 6 plus 5.

Mayanna: Nice.

Lyn: 11.

Mischa: You know, I rolled, and that beats what I rolled. [Laughter]. She just goes,

Mischa (Paz): What? I just mean he's always busy. He's got a lot of clients, and I don't know, I just don't want to take him off the shift.

Ian: Sick.

Mischa (Paz): (Rushed) I'll see you guys later.

Mischa: And then and then she sort of like, walks quickly out of the lecture hall.

Lyn: I just give like a really like meaningful glance to Samira, like –

Mischa: Samira's face – like, her – She's got a grin, but her mouth is also wide open like,

[Samira and JJ make weird, squealing sounds at each other].

Lyn (JJ): Okay, okay, okay, okay, okay, no, it's fine.

Mischa (Samira): I know what I want to get Paz for her birthday!

Lyn (JJ): It's fine, it's fine. Okay, no, it's fine. We're, we're all fine.

Mayanna: Oh my god, and Gordon made a cake.

[Laughter].

Ian: Oh no!

Bex: Oh yes!

Ian: Oh no!

Mayanna: Oh my god!

Bex: Oh yes!

Mayanna: It's gonna, it's going down!

Mischa (Samira): I'm shipping it so hard.

Lyn (JJ): Ah! Okay, I will see you later, then. Oh I have so much to do. I'm so sorry, I gotta–

Mischa (Samira): Yeah, girl, you gotta take care of your stuff, I'll– yeah, I'll be there, I'll be–

Lyn (JJ): Okay.

Mischa (Samira): I'll be at Boggins’ later.

Lyn (JJ): I'll see you later.

Mischa (Samira): Yeah, see you later.

Lyn (JJ): Bye. Hug. Bye. Okay, bye.

Mischa: And you're off to your next appointment.

Lyn: Yep.

[SFX: Soundscape ends. Midroll theme music].

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.

Mischa: Welcome to the show! We are all so excited to put this out into the world. We've been working so hard on it, and I think it's sounding really cool. The adventures we have in store for this world and these characters are just getting started, so thank you for joining us, we are so glad to have you! If you like what you're hearing in all its rich, glorious detail, and you think it's cool too, and you want to help us keep making it so the world can have more cool shows made by real artists in it, please, please help us out by spreading the word. Maybe you have a friend, or a partner, or a mutual, or a co-worker that might also think this show is pretty neat? If that maybe, possibly, could be true, the best thing you can do to help us grow is to get them listening to us as well. And then you'll have someone else to talk about it with. And that's half the fun of being a fan of something anyway, right?

Mischa: Tell your friends to find us most places you usually find podcasts, or hit the links at our website, wanderingpathpod.com. We're also now on Patreon. If by some miracle you've got some money to spare, if you want to support independent artists in the face of an oncoming cyberpunk dystopia threatening all of our jobs, if you want to give us life, sustain us, and bring us to new seasons, you can join up starting at just a few dollars per episode. You'd really be helping us out. That's patreon.com/wanderingpathpod. Okay, that's it for now! Let's get back on the path and back to the show.

[SFX: Midroll music].

Mischa: We're gonna come back in to Gordon and Cecilia on Cecilia's Routes.

[SFX: Soundscape begins. Engine rumbles along the street].

Ian: Yep.

Mischa: You've been all over the city.

Ian: She has such a longer route than I have.

Mischa: Yeah.

Ian: You know, like, I go to the Bee and one other place and she goes to like 25 places.

Mayanna: (Hums in understanding).

Mischa: Yeah. And she makes it look easy.

Ian: Yeah.

Mayanna: Damn.

Ian: I'm a little worried, I think. Because I have to take care of it while she's out.

Mischa (Cecilia): And you know, these guys, they really appreciate the seeded bread, so I try to put, like, extra seeds on there, just for this one delivery, and save the darkest baked ones for this place. You got all that?

Ian (Gordon): Uh-huh, uh-huh.

Ian: Furiously taking notes.

Ian (Gordon): Yeah, one second. Hmm, mm, yeah, sorry, what was the bread that you were just talking about? Seeded? Seeded. Seeded.

Mischa (Cecilia): Yeah.

Ian (Gordon): Seeded. Great. No problem. This is easy.

Mischa (Cecilia) Okay.

Ian: I'm like, shoving, like, day old muffins out of a bag, just in my mouth to keep me sane. Just,

Ian (Gordon): (Muffled chewing) Uh-huh, yeah, no problem. Everything's gonna be fine.

Mischa (Cecilia): Hey, hold on one sec.

Mischa: She, like, parks the tuk tuk on the side of the road for a second, and is like,

Mischa (Cecilia): Hey, this is like a weird concern, so forgive me if I'm being like, forward and personal, like.

Ian (Gordon): (Muffled chewing) Yeah, no problem.

Mischa (Cecilia): You're eating fruit and other stuff though, right? Like, not just bread all the time?

Ian (Gordon): (Still chewing) Uh-huh. Yeah, I totally–

Mischa (Cecilia): Okay, so you know, like, a loaf of bread.

Ian (Gordon): Mhmm.

Mischa (Cecilia): You have to like, put yeast in there, but the yeast won't rise until it has like the right conditions of sugars and, you know, oxygen to like make the dough rise and like make it a proper fluffy, delicious thing that people want to interact with.

Ian (Gordon): (Swallows). Yep.

Mischa (Cecilia): So like, you just need to make sure that you're giving your body the proper environment.

Ian: Reaches over, grabs another muffin. [SFX: crinkling of bag].

Ian (Gordon): (Gulps, eating another muffin).

Mischa (Cecilia): Okay. I'm just making sure you're taking, you're taking care of yourself. You know, it's like, it's, it's kind of my job to, to make sure that the workforce keeps, keeps trucking.

Ian (Gordon): (Muffled chewing) I really appreciate that Cecilia.

Mischa (Cecilia): Sure.

Ian (Gordon): And thanks for taking a second to calm me down. I'm feeling a lot less stressed.

Mischa (Cecilia): Sure. I'm going to give you this orange.

Ian (Gordon): Mhmm.

Mischa (Cecilia): And I just, I just want to make sure that you're also, you're going to eat that.

Ian: I take the orange, and then, as though I've never seen one before, I just take a bite out of the orange, like, through the rind.

Mischa: Okay, I definitely need a constitution saving throw.

[Laughter].

Bex: Okay, but that’s how, that's how my father-in-law eats oranges.

Mayanna: No, are you serious?

[Laughter].

Ian: Are you fucking kidding me?

[Laughter].

Ian: Ooh, that's– Man, I'm not rolling great today, everyone.

Mayanna: Oh boy.

Mischa: Good thing these are just like the joke silly story rolls.

Mayanna: Yeah.

Mischa: And not where it's like gonna kill you if you roll bad.

Ian: It's a 5.

[Gasp].

Mischa: Excellent. I think that you have never tasted anything quite so bitter?

Ian: Yeah.

Mischa: Have you never made, like, an orange cake? Or –

Ian: I have, but I don't think I've ever bitten through orange rind. Maybe I'm always using orange oil in the–

Mischa: Yeah, or zest!

Ian: –I mean I guess I should know.

Mischa: I– well, no, I just think that you, maybe you just like, you're pretty good at zesting, so you've never had to deal with the bitterness.

Ian: Yeah, I think I'm also just so stressed that I don't even like, look at the thing she's talking I'm not even like, really listening to what she's saying.

Mischa: (Agreeing) Uh-huh.

Ian: I just grab the first thing and I take a bite, and I've bitten through an entire orange.

Mischa: Yeah, and it's, it's just, god, it's just so bitter.

Ian: It's so bad. But, but Cecilia's my boss, so I'm not going to hurl in the, the delivery truck.

Mischa: Okay.

Ian: So instead, I've just got full cheeks, and like, kind of a red face, as I'm like, slowly chewing a full orange rind.

Mischa (Cecilia): Okay, we'll, we'll head on to our next stop.

Mischa: And she puts the thing in gear. [SFX: motor revs].

Ian (Gordon): (Mouth full) Oh good, thank you so much.

[Laughter].

Mischa: You all can't see this, but Ian is holding up an imaginary muffin in one hand and an imaginary orange in the other hand.

Ian: And then I look at the muffin and I go,

Ian (Gordon): Oh my god, this muffin's got blueberries! I'm doing it!

[Laughter].

Mischa (Cecilia): Yeah, man, you're doing it. Okay.

[SFX: music begins in background, soft, melancholy metallophone]

Mischa: She pulls up into a new section of the city which has popped up in the past few years, which it's not really like an official district of the city, but everyone calls it the Dustpan.

Ian: Oh.

Mischa: It's a lot of strung-out people, people not in housing, people handing second, third, fourth degree hand me downs back and forth to each other, making shelter and making it work, because they're spending all the money they can muster on Dust, the substance that's sort of been making its way around the city the past few years. And Cecilia parks the tuk tuk, grabs a couple of her baking implements that she's carried with her into the vehicle, and she sort of straps them to herself, like she's, she's arming up, and she's like,

Mischa (Cecilia): Okay, get ready. It's a little dangerous in this part of town.

Ian: Shit. I don't have, I haven't brought any of my cooking gear. I just look down, and I like, grab into my sack, and I pull the two hardest muffins I can.

[Giggles].

Mischa: And she goes,

Mischa (Cecilia): Okay, but like, stay friendly. Just follow my lead, I guess.

Ian (Gordon): (Nervously) Mhmm.

[SFX: music ends. Soundscape begins. Quiet bustling in the city’s open air].

Mischa: Slowly but surely, a bunch of people in the population sort of like drift into a vague queue at the back of the tuk tuk. And she opens up the back and she, she starts handing out loaves of bread.

Ian: Awww, Cecilia. I, I, I’m like, I'm so surprised that we're here that I want to know, like, what's the look on Cecilia's face? You know, like, what's Cecilia's vibe?

Mischa: It's, yeah, roll insight.

Mayanna: (Knowing hum).

Ian: 18, plus whatever.

Mischa: Woo hoo! Uh, yeah, it's mixed. It's, it's very much a like, we're here to do something good. And so there's like a contentedness to it that comes with, like, good work, hard work.

Ian: Yeah, it feels very important.

Mischa: But at the same time, it's like such a volatile good work that she's like, guarding herself? She's not letting her walls down while she does this vulnerable thing.

Ian: I think as I like, watch her do that, I like, I then see a rolling pin in the, in the bed of the truck and I like, finally get it. I like, pick the rolling pin up and I put it in my like, side holster.

Mischa: Yeah.

Ian: Um, and then start handing bread out.

Mischa: Yeah. You know, you, you hand out bread for, like, you know, a good half hour there.

Ian: I give the two muffins away, too.

Mischa: [Laughing] I think, one of the, one of the dust heads here kind of chomps it, and, like, the top of the muffin crumbles off, and, like, sticks in their mouth, and they're just like,

Mischa (Dustpan Resident): (Muffled chewing) Oh, thank you sir.

Mischa: And then they take the muffin out, and, like, a tooth comes with it.

Ian: Oh, God.

Ian (Gordon): I'm sorry, I'm just a junior.

Mischa: He goes,

Mischa (Dustpan Resident): This is one of the kindest things somebody's done for us in a little while.

Mischa: [SFX: Soft squelch]. Tooth back in head.

Ian: I start to cry a little bit. I don't like full cry, but I just like, tear up.

Mischa: Cecilia kind of ribs you, like, nudges you hard in the ribs and goes,

Mischa (Cecilia): Hey, this needs to be done.

Ian (Gordon): Ow.

Mischa (Cecilia): Everyone deserves their daily bread. But these people are unfortunately in such a state that you can't predict what they'll do and they might prey on weakness. So you got to– you gotta do a nice thing with a hard face, you got it?

Ian (Gordon): Yep, got it.

Mischa (Cecilia): This is one of my most important stops in the day. You know, we, the guild needs the rest of the money, but…

Mischa: She looks back at the people, like, patiently waiting. But people are like, you know, swaying back and forth and kind of off balance, and some of them have glassy eyes. And she goes,

Mischa (Cecilia): This one I need for my soul. So take care of ‘em, okay?

Ian (Gordon): (Softly) Yeah, yeah, I got it.

Mischa (Cecilia): Cool.

Mischa: She, she finishes up. She rolls down the back rolling door of the tuk tuk. And she goes,

Mischa (Cecilia): All right, Let's make the rest– you have a stop in the Barra, right?

Ian (Gordon): Oh, yeah. Yeah.

Mischa (Cecilia): Cool.

Ian (Gordon): Let's go.

Mischa (Cecilia): Cool. Excellent.

[SFX: motor revs. Music begins in background, lighthearted, rhythmic synths].

Mischa: You head back away from the Dustpan further into the Barra District. Along the Buffet, the road in the Barra with all of the, quote-unquote “finest restaurants in the city.” The sign definitely says that, whether or not it's true.

Mayanna: It has a question mark at the end. “The finest eating in the city?”

Lyn: Yeah, it's definitely graffiti that has the question mark.

[Laughter].

Mischa: Maybe there's like a spray, like a spray paint question mark that has to get cleaned off like once a month.

[Laughter].

Lyn: Which only makes it look worse. They just like, paint over it all the time. [Agreement] And like they're clearly, it's just a battle of like– There's graffiti, it's painted over. There's graffiti, it's painted over.

Mischa: Oh, you remember one month where they painted over it and it was blank, and they were like “finally, they stopped” but anytime you shined a UV light at it–

[Laughter].

Ian: You could see all of them underneath just like an endless–

Mayanna: Yes. Void of question marks.

Ian: P.S. What you're describing is actually my, the front of my apartment building.

Mischa: And Fran, you spot the, the tuk tuk puttering its way with like a light cloud of flour around it sort of down the street. [SFX: faint motor revving].

Mayanna (Fran): I know that cloud of flour anywhere.

Ian: And I'm like out the front window and I see her and I'm like,

Ian (Gordon): Hey!

Mayanna (Fran): Hey, Gordon!

Ian (Gordon): Hey!

Mayanna (Fran): Hey!

Ian (Gordon): We brought bread!

[SFX: music ends. Soundscape shifts to the exterior of the restaurant].

Mayanna (Fran): I– you always do. Thank you so much for doing that. Hi, Cecilia. Are you, what is this? Some kind of like, audit?

Mischa (Cecilia): Oh. [Laughter]. That'd be funny if it was. That'd be hilarious. No, I, I have a bunch of business up in the Constellation next week and, Gordon's going to take over my route.

Mayanna (Fran): (Soft gasp) Oh, my god.

Mayanna: I'm like, going to lean into Cecilia.

Mayanna (Fran): Are you worried?

Mischa (Cecilia): I’m–

Mayanna (Fran): Are you excited? Are you worried?

Mischa (Cecilia): No, dude. I'm like kind of stressed.

Mayanna (Fran): Oh girl.

Mischa (Cecilia): It's always like such an ordeal. That's when I have to spend any amount of time up there.

Mayanna (Fran): Oh!

Mischa (Cecilia): And this time's actually really important, and I really need to like rep for the guild and –

Mayanna (Fran): Sounds like, uh, maybe you need a, a, little a travel buddy? Maybe a little, maybe hook, hook a girl up with your little travel pass. Maybe I uh, maybe I come up there with you?

Mischa (Cecilia): You know that I would bring you up there in the heartbeat, but the commuter pass really only–

Mayanna (Fran): I get it.

Mischa (Cecilia): They're kind of strict about it too.

Mayanna (Fran): I understand. I understand.

Ian: I come back – while you guys were having that conversation, I had gotten out of the other door and like opened up the, you know, the roll door and gotten bread out and I come back at this point and I go,

Ian (Gordon): Are you trying to get Cecilia to bring you up to the top with her?

Mayanna (Fran): No. Yes.

Ian (Gordon): You could bring us both.

Mayanna: Yeah, we give you like, the shimmery puppy dog eyes. (Whining noises). Like, we've asked you this like a hundred times.

Ian: Cheek to cheek.

Mischa: She goes,

Mischa (Cecilia): Ha ha ha, yeah, hold on one second.

Mischa: And she takes a piece of raw clear Astra out of her back pocket. It's a little, round, sphere of crystal, like a crystal ball. Like you can see through it and it's a little distorted. You can see right through it.

Mayanna: Wow.

Mischa: It's perfectly clear. There's no impurities in it. This is a well made piece of Astra. And she takes it out, and she taps it to the commuter pass, which is a laminated piece of paper. She's like,

Mischa (Cecilia): Wha – Oh, I guess magic won't work. It still only carries one.

Mayanna (Fran): Okay. We get it.

Ian (Gordon): Yeah.

Mayanna (Fran): You don't have to do the demonstration.

Mischa (Cecilia): Okay.

Ian (Gordon): Really weird. You know?

Mischa (Cecilia): Well, I like to make sure you guys get the message. I love you dearly.

Mayanna (Fran): I get it. Wait, where do you get the Astra?

Mischa: You can buy it at the Astra dispenser.

Mayanna (Fran): Nah, but it's like, it's really clean. I'm just like, it's, it’s crisp.

Mischa (Cecilia): Yeah, you have to like, go through the market stall and like, pick the clear ones. What, are you going to pick ones with impurity and pay full price for them?

Mayanna (Fran): (Defensively) No, obviously not. I'm just impressed by your level of taste.

Mischa (Cecilia): (Defensively) Thank you.

Mayanna (Fran): (Defensively) You are welcome.

Mischa (Cecilia): (Still defensively, but waning) Why, are we talking–

Mayanna (Fran): I don’t– I don’t know –

Mischa (Cecilia): –this way?

Mayanna (Fran): I don't know.

Mischa (Cecilia): It's so aggressive.

Mayanna (Fran): I'm sorry. I don't mean to be–

Mischa (Cecilia): Thank you, I–

Mayanna (Fran): I respect you.

Mischa (Cecilia): (Touched) Girl.

Mayanna (Fran): (Recognizing) Girl.

[Laughter].

Mayanna (Fran): (Higher pitched, lightheartedly) Girl!

Ian (Gordon): I've been holding four pallets of bread for like, six minutes and I'm not very strong. Can I put this down for a minute?

Mayanna (Fran): Sorry, sorry.

Mischa (Cecilia): Yeah, sorry, my bad. Hold on, man. Let me, I'll take those in. I got this. One second.

Ian (Gordon): (Relieved sigh). Oh my arms.

Mischa (Cecilia): Watch the tuk tuk, alright?

Mischa: And she goes inside.

Mayanna (Fran): How are ya?

Ian (Gordon): I'm so good!

Mayanna (Fran): Are you sure?

Ian (Gordon): Well–

Mayanna (Fran): Sounds like you've got a big, a really big thing you might be having to do.

Ian (Gordon): Yeah, I'm really scared actually for next week.

Mayanna (Fran): (Understanding hum).

Ian (Gordon): Also, I had this crazy dream this morning.

[SFX: Suspenseful music in the background].

Mayanna (Fran): Really?

Ian (Gordon): Yeah, we were all in it, wearing like crazy armor, and like a sun exploded. It was– I'm just like, I'm having the weirdest day.

Mayanna (Fran): I had the same dream.

Ian (Gordon): What?

Mayanna (Fran): Yeah.

Ian (Gordon): What do you mean? No.

Mayanna (Fran): I had the same dream. You were there. There was a star. It exploded. It was weird people with no eyes. And we fell into the void of all white until all we could see was white, and then you woke up?

Ian: So at this point, like, I think I've pushed it off until, you know, right? Because I've been thinking about all this other stuff. And I think when she says that, like, a little like, trickle of sweat goes down the back of my neck, you know, like the hair stands up just a little bit.

Mayanna (Fran): You okay?

Ian (Gordon): Uh. No?

Mayanna (Fran): Me either. Yeah, it was weird.

Ian (Gordon): Great.

Mayanna (Fran): It was weird that we had the same dream. We–

Ian (Gordon): Shall we head into the restaurant?

Mayanna (Fran): I suppose we should…Go about our day…As if that's not weird.

Ian (Gordon): Yeah.

Mayanna (Fran): Okie dokie. Well, (nervous laughter). Yep. All right. Here we go!

Ian: And we go start, we both start to walk in together and then like, as we get halfway, I,

Ian (Gordon): Sick, armor though, right?

Mayanna (Fran): (Whispering) I know, so good!

Ian (Gordon): God, where did that come from?

Mayanna (Fran): It made me angry.

Ian (Gordon): Yes.

Mayanna (Fran): It was so good.

[SFX: music ends. Fades back into soundscape].

Ian (Gordon): Man.

Mischa: Cecilia comes back out and goes,

Mischa (Cecilia): Yo, dude, Sid is so weird.

Mayanna (Fran): Whoa, wait, what? Wait, what happened?

Mischa (Cecilia): Nothing. He's just like, asked me if I could give him another discount on the bread, and I feel like the discount was Gordon, who's an up-and-comer, and like,

Mayanna (Fran): Very generous, yeah.

Mischa (Cecilia): Real, like, apprentice rates. My hands are kind of tied. And he seemed mad about it. I– like, I've been working with you guys for years. I thought he knew how it worked.

Mayanna (Fran): No, do you want me to talk to him?

Mischa (Cecilia): Do you feel like talking to the owner of Boggins’?

Mayanna (Fran): I don’t feel like talking, but, you know, I, I don't like you-I don't like you feeling weird. So I will go figure this out.

Mischa (Cecilia): Oh! No, I, it's, you are a waitress in this restaurant. I'm, like, near the head of one of the food guilds.

Mayanna (Fran): I know, but you've got a lot on your plate right now. Do you want me to just, like, see if he's like, mad? I don't know, maybe he's just in a weird mood and he said something he didn't mean to say, you know.

Mischa (Cecilia): Sure.

Mayanna (Fran): Okay.

Ian (Gordon): You guys, I've been holding this door open for like–

Mayanna (Fran): Oh my god.

Ian (Gordon): – six minutes, and I'm not very strong.

Mayanna (Fran): Thank you so much. Thank you so much.

[Laughter].

Mischa: I just realized that that's Gordon's catchphrase.

Mayanna: “I'm not very strong.”

[Laughter].

Ian: (Laughing) I'm not very strong.

Mayanna: Do you have good forearms at least? From all the–

Ian: No, no I'm a string bean.

Mischa: Yeah.

Ian: Which is crazy considering how much, carbohydrate bread I eat.

Mayanna: And how much, how much kneading of dough you do in a day.

Ian: Yeah, 100%. But again, 13 HP. [Laughter]. First strength roll of the game was a 2.

Mayanna: His rolls are soft, much like his-

Ian: Just like his doughy bread.

Bex: He’s mushy.

Mischa: Yeah, you step through the threshold and into Boggin's Bee-stro.

[SFX: soundscape shifts into the interior of the restaurant. Chattering, cheesy jaunty music, and blips of arcade games in a restaurant].

Mischa: The loudest, chintziest, family friendliest, fun times to be had on the strip of the Barra. This is like the Tokyo equivalent of a Dave & Buster's.

Mayanna: Yes!

Mischa: There's like a long sort of bar that only serves soda. And there's like dining tables, and there's like a low half wall that separates it from all of the arcade. Like, bits – there's like, I think there's probably the equivalent of like those basketball-hoops-like games. I think it's probably some kind of fantasy sport. I don't think that– I, I don't know if they have basketball.

Mayanna: Blitzball.

Mischa: Yeah.

Mayanna: That– wait that– that one's, that one's trademarked.

Ian: Bon ball.

Mayanna: Shutterball.

Lyn: Barrelball.

Mayanna: Barrelball.

Mischa: It’s like– It's like, yeah. Barrelball.

Mayanna: Barrelball and Pachonko.

[Laughter].

Mischa: You are greeted as ever by the animatronic version of Boggins’ Bee singing like, the same song you hear 300 times a day [SFX: electronic musical jingle] at your normal shifts over your head as you walk in. The eye is like not very well maintained and it kind of twitches a little bit.

Ian: Oh god.

Mayanna: We gotta do something about that. We gotta.

Mischa: It's almost like you should talk to a craftsman or engineer and see if they know anything about fixing things.

Mayanna: (Gasp). Wait a minute.

Mischa: (Laughing) How long have you been working here?

Mayanna: I, you know, it's been a little bit. I would say I've been, I've been working here for about a year.

Mischa: Okay.

Mayanna: I, you know, so I'm one of the more senior waitresses. Like, I know everybody. If somebody new is there, I, it's very notable to me. I'm very familiar with the flow. I'm very familiar with whatever. I, I, I wonder if at some point I have offered to fix the thing? Maybe he just was like, “Eh, I'm not paying you for that. I barely pay you as it is!”

Mischa: Yeah. This is probably something that like, your manager Morga has talked to you about a lot. Where she's really like,

Mischa (Morga): (New York accent) Listen, I know it's gonna bother you. There's a lot of stuff around this place that bothers me, too. I ain't getting paid to fix that, you know what I mean?

Mayanna (Fran): I understand, but at the same time, I mean, like, if you're walking around with jeans with a hole in them, at some point you're gonna want to patch the hole.

Mischa (Morga): You're so good at crafting. What, what's, what's your rate these days?

Mayanna (Fran): Um. Hm. You know? I've been doing it kind of as like a, like a side thing for a long time. I, I– should, I like, like, quote a rate, to fix, Mr. Bee?

Mischa (Morga): That's how business gets done.

Mayanna (Fran): Okay. Alright.

Mischa (Morga): Gotta put, put together like a rate sheet. I'll take it up to, you know, I wanna hire you.

Mayanna (Fran): (Thankful) Oh, girl.

Mischa (Morga): It's not up to me. My hands are tied on this one.

Mayanna (Fran): I understand.

Mischa (Morga): My claws are tied on this one.

Mayanna (Fran): I, I see it. I see it.

Mischa: She's a Saurid.

Mayanna: Okay!

[Laughter].

Ian: That's a lizard person?

Mischa: That's a lizard person.

Mayanna: That's– my claws are tied.

Mischa: Yeah. She's like,

Mischa (Morga): My, my claws are tied on this one.

Mayanna (Fran): I understand. By the way, your new shed? Immaculate. It’s-I love it.

Mischa (Morga): Oh my god, it was so itchy for so long.

Mayanna (Fran): I. (Knowingly) Girl.

Mischa (Morga): You're not working until later, huh?

Mayanna (Fran): Yeah, I’m– So, it's Paz's birthday, so I was like, you know.

Mischa (Morga): Oh yeah.

Mayanna (Fran): I want to celebrate, but I also kind of like to be busy, so.

Mischa (Morga): That's so adorable.

Mayanna (Fran): Well, I don't know about that.

Mischa (Morga): You got closing, right?

Mayanna (Fran): Yeah, I got closing.

Mischa (Morga): Okay, cool, because I didn't really want to stick around to close.

Mayanna (Fran): I understand. I got you, girl.

Mischa (Morga): Excellent, excellent.

Mayanna (Fran): I'll set it up really, nice for the morning shift.

Mischa (Morga): Alright, do your thing.

Mayanna (Fran): Alright, thank you.

Mayanna: I, I just like look at the animatronic again and I’m just like,

Mayanna (Fran): I could fix that.

Mischa: (Imitating the electronic zaps) Bzzt bzzt.

Mayanna (Fran): (Annoyed) Oh god.

[Laughter].

Ian: P.S., does this– because it's a family restaurant, does it have like, a little corner that has like, some pinball-y types of games in it?

Mischa: Oh yeah, this is –

Mayanna: Like skee-ball?

Ian: I think that's immediately where I ran. As soon as I walked in, like I forgot all the discomfort of the dream and I went,

Ian (Gordon): Games!

[Laughter].

Ian: And so that whole conversation, I'm like, just in the back like pulling the thing.

Mischa: Yeah, I think you, you run over to, one of your spare– you pull out the rolling pin that you pocketed.

Ian: Yeah.

Mischa: And you go over to the machine where you know it'll do the most good: the Whack-A-Balvarox machines.

Ian: Oh, sick.

Mayanna: Yes!

Mischa: Where the horrors of generations’ past have been turned into a cutesy kids game.

Ian: Wild.

Mischa: Where– but like, these little moose-gorilla looking things, like, pop out of their little like, cave holes and you pop them back down.

Ian: Like,

Ian (Gordon): Gotcha! Oh, so close.

Mischa: Yeah, you head upstairs to Sid's office.

Mayanna: Yes! Knock on the door. [SFX: knocking].

Mischa (Sid): (Stuffy voice) Come on in. [SFX: door opens]

Mayanna (Fran): Alright, I know you don't like to be disturbed. I just wanted to check in. Is everything going okay with like, our bread situation?

Mischa (Sid): We don't need the high quality stuff. I just want to pay as little as possible, and get what we need to serve our customers so they'll pay as much money as possible.

Mayanna (Fran): Right, but like, don't you think– Just out of curiosity, that like, I don't know, raising our quality bar may actually increase profits?

Mischa (Sid): (Hefty pause). What are you, a numbers girl now?

Mayanna (Fran): (Stammering).

Mischa (Sid): You know everything about quality to price ratios, branding business plans –

Mayanna (Fran): Uh, well, I mean, you know, it's just like, I would pay more for something knowing a lot of work and craftsmanship went into it.

Mischa (Sid): You know, Fran, that's why I love you. It's because you're such a sucker.

Mayanna (Fran): Okay. Thanks, Sid.

Mischa (Sid): How about this? I'll run the business, and you wait the tables. And we'll both do our own jobs here.

Mayanna (Fran): (Defeated) Okay.

Mischa (Sid): How about that?

Mayanna (Fran): Yep. You got it.

Mischa (Sid): You got it?

Mayanna (Fran): I got it.

Mischa: And that's probably why Cecilia doesn't like him.

Mayanna: (Deep sigh). Yeah.

Mayanna (Fran): Dammit.

Ian: From the other room, you might hear that I, like, raise my arm to hit one of the gorilla-monkeys, and I accidentally, like, let that rolling pin slip, and it flies out of my hand and, like, breaks something behind me on the wall. [SFX: glass shattering].

Mayanna (Fran): I'll go clean that up.

Mischa (Sid): Damn right you will. Close the door on your way out.

Mayanna (Fran): Okay, you got it. [SFX: door closes]. Fuck.

Ian (Gordon): Sorry!

Mayanna (Fran): It's fine.

[Laughter].

Mayanna: So I go get the mop. There's only one mop. It's falling apart. It's got three strings left. [Laughter]. And I started mopping up the spill.

Ian: Did you just say a three string mop?

Mayanna: Yeah.

Ian: Sick.

Mayanna: It's like– it’s like, it's it's been so worn down, and we- I keep saying we should get a new mop. We probably have the budget for it.

Mayanna (Fran): You know, Sid acts like we don't make any money at this establishment. This establishment was one of the only family friendly establishments. We are busy all the time. I don't understand why we can't get a good mop.

Ian (Gordon): Yeah.

Mayanna (Fran): Why, why Boggin’s Bee has a wonky eye. Sorry, Gordon. I know that you're in the middle of playing a game, but I just, I have to vent.

Ian: We're literally standing in front of the game, and you're just mopping with the three, just total vent.

Mayanna: (Horrible squeaky mop sounds).

Ian: And I'm like,

Ian (Gordon): Yeah, that sounds terrible.

Ian: –as I'm continuing to whack.

Mayanna (Fran): It's the worst. Ugh!

Mischa: And Morga is standing over by the bar being like,

Mischa (Morga): I thought she wasn't working till later.

Mayanna: Oh, right. I'm not even on the clock right now. [Laughter].

Ian: You don't even realize though. You're just like, fuming.

Mayanna: Yeah, furious mopping. And then I think I go into my tool box. I'm, I'm, I'm heated about this! Like, I don't, maybe it's because of this weird dream I had, but it's like, it's occurring to me that like I can do things that could make things better.

Mischa: Yeah!

Mayanna: Even just a marginal amount. So I think I'm going to look in the closet and see if there's any like rope, and to see if I can maybe like manufacture kind of a better, a better mop situation. If I can like fray it, just get something more absorbent than the three strings left of mop.

Mischa: Sure. Well, you can go into your craftsman's tool belt–

Mayanna: Yes, I would love to do that.

Mischa: –and sort of fashion a mop–

Mayanna: Pft.

Mischa: -for today?

Mayanna: Yeah.

Mischa: What is it? Three times a day, you can pull any mundane objects from your tool belt.

Mayanna: I think so, yes.

Mischa: So yeah, you sit down and you're not on the clock, so you can spend as much time as you need to crafting a thing.

Mayanna: Yes! Yay.

Mischa: And then you come up with a mop, and Morga's like,

Mischa (Morga): I didn't know we had a spare mop? Where'd you get that?

Mayanna (Fran): Um? Oh! Oh, I just. Just made it.

Mischa (Morga): Oh my god, girl, you're so talented. What are you doing here?

Mayanna (Fran): You know I can't afford anything. I, I, if I could, if I could be somewhere else, no offense, I would be, but like–

Mischa (Morga): None taken, I also fucking hate it here.

Mayanna (Fran): Yeah. What do you want to do? What's your dream?

Mischa (Morga): Oh, me? I mean, I stopped, I stopped having dreams when I had kids.

Mayanna (Fran): But if you had one –

Mischa (Morga): You know, my dreams are their dreams.

Mayanna (Fran): Sure.

Mischa (Morga): I really just hope my clutch of eggs, you know, makes, makes something of themselves.

Mayanna (Fran): Yeah. Well, I guess that's a dream. That's a nice dream.

Mischa (Morga): Thanks. I think so. Meanwhile, I got to stick it out in this fucking joint.

Mayanna (Fran): (Begrudingly) Yeah, I understand.

Mischa (Morga): Did you finish cleaning up that broken machine?

Mayanna (Fran): Oh, well, oh, the Bee?

Mischa (Morga): No, no. The thing that Gordon broke.

Ian: I think I think my rolling pin –

Mayanna: Oh, oh my god.

Ian: – smashed like a jar of sauce or liquid, and it’s on the floor.

Mayanna: And so now with the new mop, I'm going to go finish up the cleaning job, which is, I imagine, infinitely easier with a more absorbent mop.

Mischa: (Laughing) Yeah, absolutely.

Mayanna: And I think I feel very proud. I think if I like. I'm so focused on my, my little things that I, I've never thought really about how to apply my talents to this job. They're so separate in my mind, but it's like, “wow! I can make things better.”

Mischa: Yeah, I think when you're done and like you go back out into the street cause you're not working til later, you hand off the mop to Morga and she goes,

Mischa (Morga): Hmm. Not bad.

Mischa: And she goes off to like mop the rest of the floors, like one of which probably like has been sticky since the beginning of time. And like all of a sudden she could clean the actual place because of something you made.

Mayanna: (Small squeal). I think I feel very proud of myself. Very excited.

[SFX: Soundscape ends. Changes to ambient, industrious music].

Mischa: We'll move from here back across the city to the office of the Department of Labor Resources over in the Come-Up. We enter through a busy, bustling office suite full of clerical assistants walking swiftly back and forth from office to office, filling out paperwork, fielding private messages, that sort of thing. It's a constant state of activity, but it's not messy. The office is orderly. Just everything within it moves with a sense of urgency and purpose. We head towards the back to the one closed office door, behind which sits the tallest human woman most of you would have ever seen, big and broad shouldered and platinum blonde. It almost seems like a giant sitting behind her normal sized desk. She's intimidatingly professional, direct and commanding, but not cruel. She embodies the idea that the work of managing the balance of the various workforces that keep New Prosper running is vital and necessary, and that nothing should sway the decisions she and her office make, except the true needs of the people. Ibra and JJ, who makes it into the office first today?

[SFX: music ends].

Bex: JJ by a long shot.

Lyn: Mhmm. (Chuckles).

Bex: I got held up on the Constellation by the funicular ride back down.

Lyn: Oh, and my minute-to-minute schedule puts me in at the office 15 minutes earlier than I need to be.

Mischa: Excellent.

Lyn: Because if you're not early, you're late.

Mayanna: Yeah.

Mayanna: Exactly.

Ian: Is your schedule called the “Minutes, Minutes” Schedule?

Lyn: I said “Minute To Minute,” but now it's “The Minutes Minutes.”

[Laughter].

Mischa: Do you check in with anybody at the office, or do you just start right in?

Lyn: I think it's like, on the way in, I'm probably still reading one of my textbooks and drinking coffee at the same time to make the most out of my day. And by that I mean, I'm– What's the word of like, when you're maxing out–?

Mayanna: Optimizing.

Lyn: Yeah. Just like truly optimizing things. But like on the way in, I'm, there's probably a couple of people. I'm so regimented at this. So it's just like,

[SFX: soundscape begins. Quiet motion in the office interior].

Lyn (JJ): (Awkwardly and stilted) Oh, hi Megan. Good morning. Daniel. Great. Hi. Nice to see you. How are the– ? Okay. Moving on.

Lyn: Just like, trying to like, make niceties while I'm going through.

Mischa: Sure.

Lyn: Before I actually get to where I need to be here.

Mayanna: You min-max small talk.

Lyn: Yeah, I'm trying to min max small talk. I'm not great at that part. I know I'm supposed to do it.

Mischa: Yeah.

Lyn: And I try very earnestly. So it's a lot of,

Lyn (JJ): (Very awkwardly) Hi, hello. Good mo– oh it's afternoon. Good afternoon. How was your day? Gr-great, great. Mine's good, mine's good. St-studying, studying. Tests, yeah. Um. Yep! Nice to see you too. Have a good week– weekend later. Are you leaving? Oh, you're leaving. Okay. Um, bye. Okay. (Deep breath and sigh). Okay.

[Laughter].

Mayanna: There's definitely someone who works there who's like, (very tired) “Oh, fuck. Not again.” [Laughter]. “Oh my God.”

Lyn: I feel like it's probably like a mix of like, (cutesy) “Aw, she's trying so hard.” Also like, (cringing) “Oh my God, she's trying so hard.”

[Laughter].

Mischa: Yeah. And you head back to Gwenivere's office, knock on the door and enter. [SFX: knocking. Door opens].

Lyn (JJ): Good afternoon.

Mischa (Gwen): Ah, JJ. Thank– I'm so glad you're here. Close the door. Come in.

Lyn (JJ): Um, yes.

Mischa (Gwen): Have a seat. JJ, I… I'm going to be frank with you. (Sigh). I often wonder what you're still doing in my office. Not to say I'm not glad that you're here. It's just, you know, I, I've, I've been in touch with your parents, and I know that you're on a mechanist track. I worry that there's just not a lot my office can offer you in your education. But today I'm actually really glad you're here because I have a new assignment for you that (deep breath) really could take a, a holistic problem solving approach to the task at hand. You see sometimes here, a lot of our job here at the Labor Department is making sure the departments we already have – that the jobs that the city needs doing, are appropriately assigned and staffed, and that there's education and forethought put into those assignments as well. Another part of our job here at the Department of Labor Management is training people for jobs that don't exist yet. And today we have one such assignment. In fact, I would love for you to work closely with, with Ibra. Are they here at the office today?

Bex: Door bursts open. [SFX: Door slams].

Bex (Ibra): I'm so sorry I'm late. I'm so sorry. I missed the first funicular. It’s all my fault.

Mischa (Gwen): It's okay, Ibra. Ibra, breathe.

Bex (Ibra): (Deep breath). Okay. I really don't like being late. I’m so–

Mischa (Gwen): You're right on time.

Bex (Ibra): Okay.

Mischa (Gwen): Have a seat.

Bex (Ibra): Okay. (Pained sigh). Hi, boss.

Mischa (Gwen): Hi.

Bex (Ibra): Hi, JJ. Okay. Sorry.

Lyn (JJ): You're very sweaty.

Bex (Ibra): I am? Oh god.

Bex: I take off my leather jacket.

Bex (Ibra): Oh, that helps.

Mischa (Gwen): Do you, do you need a drink of water?

Mischa: And she pulls out a glass bottle, like a glass cylinder of water. She goes,

Mischa (Gwen): The irrigation section of the Mechanist's Guild sent me a case of these, and I really don't have a use for it, but please, please take one, please take one.

Bex (Ibra): Oh, thank you, thank you. (Several deep gulps. Gasps for air). Breathing. Breathing between gulps. Okay.

Lyn (JJ): They're gonna get the hiccups.

Bex (Ibra): (Whimper, hiccup) Oh.

Lyn: (Chuckle) Oh.

Bex (Ibra): (Hiccup). (Pained) Oh.

Lyn (JJ): (Sympathetic) Oh.

Mischa (Gwen): Listen, I'm, I'm glad you're here. I have an assignment for the both of you. [SFX: Suspenseful music starts]. There is a position that needs filling, and unfortunately, I am not authorized to tell you that much about it. We need to look through our talent pool for people who think on their feet, who adapt to situations, who are courageous in the face of dangerous and unknown tasks and situations at hand.

Bex (Ibra): I had dreams about unknown tasks and situations at hand. This feels weird.

Lyn: I look at you very strangely and I'm like, (heavy pause).

Bex (Ibra): Just a weird night.

Lyn (JJ): (Whispering) I-I.. We’ll talk about this later.

Bex (Ibra): (Knowingly) Oh, oh!

Lyn (JJ): Sorry.

Mischa (Gwen): I would love for you to find a way to recruit these people. Find a tutor who would be fit to encourage those traits in recruits. And I need this done as soon as possible. We don't have time. This is priority one. I need you both to work on this until it's done.

Lyn (JJ): Of course. Is the implication here that there's a threat of danger at…?

Mischa (Gwen): I can't say.

Lyn (JJ): Got it.

Mischa (Gwen): Good. Now, this is an important task. It's priority one. It's priority one for my office. I'm here to answer–

Mischa: And then the door bursts open [SFX: click of door handle. Music ends], and I think Megan comes in and goes,

Mischa (Megan): Minister Gwen?

Mischa (Gwen): What is it?

Mischa (Megan): A section of the highway has collapsed. We'll need to reach out to the Mechanist’s Guild right away.

Mischa (Gwen): Yes, that is a major problem. If you'll excuse me for one moment, I'll be right back.

Mischa: And she rushes out of the door and closes the door behind her.

Lyn (JJ): Okay, big task, big task. What were– what were– what were you saying about a dream?

Bex (Ibra): Oh, uhh.

Lyn (JJ): Cause you were in my dream, which is weird, I don't normally dream about–

Bex (Ibra): Wait you were in my dream.

Lyn (JJ): you– or our friends in general.

Bex (Ibra): Wait, hm, I had a dream with you in it, and all our friends in it.

Lyn (JJ): Yes.

Bex (Ibra): There was a lot of glowing lights.

Lyn (JJ): Oh, yes.

Bex (Ibra): And there was a star that exploded.

Lyn (JJ): Several times, yes.

Bex (Ibra): And then I got knocked off a platform, into endless whiteness and oblivion until I woke up.

Lyn (JJ): Yeah, it was blinding and terrifying all at the same time?

Bex (Ibra): It feels connected.

Lyn (JJ): Whispers? Whispers, scary whispers. There were a lot of scary–

Bex (Ibra): Scary, scary whispers.

Lyn (JJ): Okay, cool, great.

Bex (Ibra): Okay, so. (Worried stammering). We had the same dream?

Lyn (JJ): Yes, that's, that's, yes. Yes we did. That's not typical, right?

Bex (Ibra): No, I, I mean I'm a triplet and I've never had the same dreams as either of my siblings.

Lyn (JJ): That's so fascinating, I want to know more about that.

Bex (Ibra): (Awkward squeak) Maybe someday.

Lyn (JJ): Okay. Um…

Bex (Ibra): I don't like, not believe in coincidences or any of that bullshit. But I do feel like it's a little weird that there's a new job popping up that we need to fill, and we just got warned by our dreams. I don't know things feel weird right now.

Lyn (JJ): Yeah, it does not bode well for the state of affairs. Nor us. Okay. I know, I know she said that she couldn't say anything, but I feel like she was saying something by not saying something.

Bex: You hear the crinkling of leather as Ibra pulls their motorcycle jacket into their chest like a security blanket.

Lyn (JJ): I think we should probably take this job really seriously then, right?

Bex (Ibra): Yeah…

Lyn (JJ): Should we– (whispering) should we talk to someone about the dream?

Bex (Ibra): (Whispering) I think, should we talk to, like, Fran and Gordon?

Lyn (JJ): Oh yeah, they were, they were, they were a big part of that.

Bex (Ibra): They were absolutely there.

Lyn (JJ): Oh.

Bex (Ibra): Like, and did Fran make that armor?

Lyn (JJ): Oh, I bet Fran made that armor.

Bex (Ibra): It was such cool armor.

Lyn (JJ): It was so good. It was beautiful.

Bex (Ibra): Oh, man.

[SFX: Music fades out].

Ian: I feel like it's possible that at this moment, I've texted them in that, right, in whatever communication device we have.

Mischa: Yeah, everybody, everybody in New Prosper has a– what is it? An N-Gage Sidekick? To text everyone?

[Screams of excitement].

Lyn: Incredible.

Ian: (Singsongy) Living the life I never got to live!

Mischa: Where, where there's just like, you know, like, it's a flat device with a keyboard where you can text each other, but there's like a slot for Astra in the back where you can swap out the battery.

Mayanna: Nice.

Mischa: You know, you can plug it into the back.

Ian: Yes!

Lyn: Incredible.

Ian: So I think I texted them like,

Ian (Gordon): [SFX: staticky filter] Hey, see you guys tonight. Fran’s cleaning the restaurant right now. Should be really fun! When are you guys coming out tonight?

Lyn (JJ): (Slowly, while typing) “After work and class.” Do you have class after this? Are we going straight after?

Bex (Ibra): I was just gonna skip and get Paz a couple more gifts.

Lyn (JJ): Oh crap! I didn’t get Paz anything.

Bex (Ibra): Oh, don't worry, you can – i have like four in my backpack, you can have one of them.

Lyn (JJ): What?

Bex (Ibra): Look, Paz is my best friend, I really like to shower her with gifts. Like. You can have one of them, it's fine.

Lyn (JJ): That’s really cute.

Mischa: Gwen comes back in through the door and goes, [SFX: click of door opening].

Mischa (Gwen): I'm so sorry about that. That wasn't a joke. There's a major section of one of the highways across Lower Prosper that collapsed.

Lyn (JJ): (Worried) Oh.

Mischa (Gwen): I'm gonna need to spend the rest of my day assigning work teams and making sure that the training regimen that we've been running the Mechanist Guild through covers these sort of problems. I need you guys to take care of that assignment. Grab any numbers you need from the bullpen. They know you're working on this. Hurry, please.

Bex (Ibra): Oh.

Lyn (JJ): Oh, okay.

Mischa: And then she sits back down at the desk and immediately starts making, like, frantic phone calls.

Lyn: I'm also gonna text my parents who are in the Mechanist Guild, is that correct? Send them a quick text – like,

Lyn (JJ): [SFX: staticky filter] Highway collapse, you good?

[Laughter].

Ian: Great text.

[Laughter].

Mischa: I think your dad Paul answers you back and goes,

Mischa (Paul): [SFX: staticky filter] We just heard – we're packing up our gear and headed to the site.

Lyn (JJ): Be safe. Heart emoji.

Lyn: Are, are there emojis on– No –

Mischa: Yeah, absolutely.

Lyn: Heart– Heart emoticon – less than three

Ian: (Approving) Mhmm. A hundred percent.

Ian: The only way.

Mischa: Yeah, only ASCII characters in this texting.

Mischa: Cool. So you guys head out into the bullpen, gather up statistics and lists of names and different spreadsheets that you'll need to sort of parse through to get this information. Do you guys have a, have a place you work? Other than Boggins’ or?

Bex (Ibra): I mean, we could go to the Commons, but I kind of want to go to Boggins’.

Lyn (JJ): We could just go there. I was going to go there to study anyway.

Bex (Ibra): Right? It's so bright and fun, and it's perfect. We'll just go do that there.

Lyn (JJ): The background noise is, it does something to me.

Bex (Ibra): Yeah, and look, if we end up getting stuck, we can ask for covert help from our friends.

Lyn (JJ): I mean, I guess that is part of the recruitment process. Okay, yeah, let's just take some of these things.

Lyn: Do we have computers in this world?

Mischa: (Hesitant) I–

Lyn: Like a, like a Lenovo ThinkPad situation?

Mayanna: Ibra had a tablet?

Mischa: Yeah, good question.

Bex: I was sort of thinking we'd have something?

Mischa: I, I truly think that, like, there is– devices to access text databases–

Ian: Right.

Mischa: –and like, like, websites, but not interactive media. That it's not like, and maybe this is not because the technological limitations are such, but maybe it's just like the culture is such that like– the things you can do digitally are, are text based things.

Lyn: Yeah. so, the computer is just like. Actually, just like a word processor –

Mischa: Yeah, it's like a terminal and word processor.

Lyn: Great. A Lenovo ThinkPad!

[Laughter].

Mischa: Cool. You guys, yeah, you get the files you need from other people working in the office. I think probably a couple of those people are like,

Mischa (Susan): Wow, you, like, this is a really kind of important task to give to, like, interns that aren't, don't even work in this office. But, like, good on you for stepping up.

Lyn (JJ): You know, looking for ways to prove myself. Anyway, um–

Mischa (Susan): But you're like a mechanist, though.

Lyn (JJ): Yeah.

Bex (Ibra): Yeah, but people can be good at a lot of things, right?

Mischa (Susan): It's kind of how it– We, we find the people who are good at something and then give them jobs for that thing. That's kind of the office's whole deal? No?

Ian: Craig leans over the table and goes,

Ian (Craig): Stop being so judgmental, Susan. We need the extra hands.

Mischa (Susan): Okay, fine. All right, Craig.

[Laughter].

Mischa (Susan): Where are the reports from last week?

Ian: I don't know, where are they?

Mischa (Susan): That's what I thought.

Ian (Craig): (Frustrated) Oh, god.

Lyn (JJ): Okay.

Mischa (Susan): Anyway–

Bex (Ibra): (Whispering) We should just go.

Mischa (Susan): –files are done. Here you go.

Lyn (JJ): (Awkwardly stilted) Um, thank you so much. I appreciate the time and your cooperation.

Mischa (Susan): (Awkwardly) Yeah.

Lyn (JJ): (Rushed) Okay, have a good rest of your day. Goodbye.

Mischa (Susan): (Hesistant) Yup.

Mischa (Susan): Craig, is it just me or is she like so weird.

Ian (Craig): Those interns are so weird. I was just about to say.

[Laughter].

Mischa: You guys –

Lyn: JJ’s just so nervous!

[Laughter].

Mischa: Yeah. You guys head over to Boggins’ to get work done early. Fran, did you leave at some point to come back or are you just?

Mayanna: (Sigh).

Mischa: Because I'm pretty sure Gordon is lost in the sauce over in the arcade section.

Mayanna: I think, I meant to leave? And then I think I posted up in one of the empty booths cause it's not that busy yet. And I started, like, drawing out schematics for how I would fix the wonky eye of the bee. (Laughing) I just can't stop thinking about it.

Mischa: I think Cecilia is probably sitting at the booth across from you, just kind of like casually munching on probably not bread, but probably like some other thing they make here at Boggins’.

Mayanna: Some cheesy sticks or something.

Mischa Oh yeah. She definitely got like a basket of cheesy fries.

Mayanna: Yes. Cheesy fries.

Mischa: And is just kind of like eating them and watching you work, and is like,

Mischa (Cecilia): The way your mind works. It's, honestly, it's wild.

Mayanna (Fran): (Stammering). Thank you, that's really nice. I don't know, I think what you guys do is way more impressive. I can't make food.

Mischa (Cecilia): Turn on fire, make bread. I don't even know –

Mayanna (Fran): No, there's so– You know there's more steps than that.

Mischa (Cecilia): Look how many mechanisms are drawn on your page to work on a bee's eye.

Mayanna (Fran): I mean, yeah, well it's just there's a lot of pieces. That's just, you know, that's just how it is.

Mischa (Cecilia): Really? Cause to me, there's like three pieces. One eye, two more eyelids. Psssh.

Mayanna (Fran): (Chuckle). Alright, agree to disagree. I think you're great, you think I'm great, can I have a cheesy fry please?

Mischa (Cecilia): Yeah!

Mayanna (Fran): Thank you.

Mischa (Cecilia): Why do you think I got a large?

Mayanna (Fran): (Whispering) Oh, you’re a genius.

[Laughter].

Bex: I love this aggressive friendship.

Ian: Agreed. Also from the food perspective of this podcast, is this like mozzarella cheesy fries, cheese-curd – cheese-curd cheesy fries?

Mayanna: Ooh.

Bex: Poutine!

Ian: Poutine fries?

Mischa: No, its –

Ian: Parmesan fries – parmesan fries?

Mischa: It's Boggins Bee-stro. It's absolutely American cheese, melted on the batch of fries.

[Mixed crosstalk of agreement and disgust].

Ian: What was I thinking?

Mayanna (Fran): How would you, how would you innovate on these fries, Cecilia?

Mischa (Cecilia): How would I innovate?

Mayanna (Fran): Yeah, like what would you do to make these better?

Mischa (Cecilia): Well, like, I would process the potatoes differently?

Mayanna (Fran): Okay.

Mischa (Cecilia): There's like –

Mayanna (Fran): I'm, like, starting to write this stuff down.

Mischa (Cecilia): There's so many other cheeses you can– There's – I'm pretty sure this cheese is, like, half plastic. It is so good, though.

Mayanna (Fran): Yeah.

Mischa (Cecilia): I cannot stop eating them.

Mayanna (Fran): It is addictively good.

Mischa (Cecilia): But, like, I can feel it in my arteries.

Mayanna (Fran): Yeah.

Mischa (Cecilia): And that's probably not good.

Mayanna (Fran): That's not good. Well it's, like – Cause I don't know – it just – why do we settle for what's there, right? Like, you wouldn't settle for, like, mediocre bread, you would keep making bread until it's like, the best bread you can possibly make, right?

Ian (Gordon): (Yelling from afar) Yep, definitely!

Mayanna (Fran): Gordon do you want to come over and sit with us?

[SFX: Arcade machine announces “High score!”].

Ian (Gordon): (Yelling from afar) One second!

Mayanna (Fran): Oh my god–

Ian (Gordon): (Grunts and yells).

Mayanna (Fran): I don't know. I just – I don't know, I'm all fired up about this today.

[SFX: Music begins in the background, inspiring and pensive].

Mayanna: It's just like, why do we just look around and go, “Yeah, this is good enough.” It's not! It's just not, objectively. It could be so much better!

Mischa (Cecilia): I mean, I feel you. Sometimes we get so busy that all we can do is maintain, I guess.

Mayanna (Fran): (Exasperated) Yeah, okay.

Mischa (Cecilia): It doesn't feel good.

Mayanna (Fran): No, it doesn't!

Mischa (Cecilia): It doesn't feel good.

Mayanna (Fran): (Deep sigh).

Mischa (Cecilia): I agree.

Mayanna (Fran): How do we, I don't know, how do you – cause you're like a leader. You're like, you're like making moves, doing deals, like – how do you get, how do you get there?

Mischa: Cecilia kind of sighs, looks over at Gordon and is like,

Mischa (Cecilia): You get to the top and then you teach other people how to do it, for the people around them, and you give them space to grow. And that, that's, that's why I'm going up to the Constellation next week. I– (Deep sigh) I gotta bring some issues up to the higher ups, and I'm really the one who does that these days.

Mayanna (Fran): Is that scary?

Mischa (Cecilia): Yeah. Yes. Yeah.

Mayanna (Fran): You just never struck me as someone who's scared of anything.

Mischa (Cecilia): I'm scared– I'm scared all the time.

Mayanna (Fran): Really?

Mischa (Cecilia): Yes. And part of my job is being scared so that everyone else doesn't have to be.

Mayanna: I just give, like, like give Cecilia a little side hug in the booth.

Mischa (Cecilia): Thanks.

Ian: In the distance you hear, like, (imitates arcade game music). And I say,

[SFX: Actual arcade game music].

Ian (Gordon): Oh my gosh, the highest score ever! I don't have a care in the world!

[Laughter]. [SFX: music ends].

Mischa: Amazing. Ibra and JJ, you walk in.

Lyn: How did we get here? Cause you were on your motor –

Bex: On my e-Bike!

Lyn: Oh, okay.

Lyn (JJ): I could have just taken the bus.

Bex (Ibra): Yeah. But wasn't that fun?

Lyn (JJ): (Deep sigh. Resigned.) Yes.

[Laughter].

Ian: How, how soaked in sweat are you?

Lyn: I's pretty – pretty sweaty. It's so much faster than my actual bike.

Mischa: Yeah, the zero to 60 speeds on these Astra e-bikes – because it's truly just like magical power from the crystal converted to electricity. And like, there's no in between steps. So the motors on those things can kick in.

[Multiple imitations of a speedy bike].

Mayanna: I think I noticed that you guys have arrived. And I think that, you know, I'm, I'm aware where you guys like to sit. So I like flag you over to our little section because that's kind of, the zone –

Lyn: I wave– I wave.

Mayanna (Fran): Hello!

Bex (Ibra): Hey!

Lyn (JJ): (Stilted) Hi, good afternoon –

Mayanna: I like, turn to Cecilia and I'm like,

Mayanna (Fran): She always looks like she's in pain when she's talking

Bex (Ibra): You don't have to be formal with them.

Lyn (JJ): I know. It's hard to switch. It was so fast. I normally use the bus rides to decompress.

Mayanna (Fran): Have a soda! Chill out!

Lyn (JJ): (Deep sigh).

Ian: Gordon also sits in the booth.

Ian (Gordon): Ooh, cheese fries! (Chomping sounds).

Mayanna (Fran): Have a cheese fry. You seem stressed. More stressed than usual.

Ian (Gordon): (Agreeing, full mouth) Mhmm.

Lyn (JJ): Um … yeah. Okay. Oh, hi, Cecilia. You're also here.

Mischa (Cecilia): Hey, yeah.

Lyn (JJ): Great. Everyone's here. Well everyone and Ceci– Hello. How are you?

Mischa (Cecilia): Am I not – part of –

Mayanna (Fran): No, you’re –

Mischa (Cecilia): Do you need me to leave?

Mayanna (Fran): No. No.

Lyn (JJ): (Rushed) No no no.

Mischa (Cecilia): I wasn't going to.

[Laughter].

Lyn (JJ): Yeah. Okay. Can I, I, , Cecilia, I, I'm working, we're working on a – I have three survey questions to ask you!

Mischa (Cecilia): Fire away.

Mayanna: Oh boy.

Lyn (JJ): One, do you consider yourself someone that thinks on their feet?

Mischa (Cecilia): Yeah.

Lyn (JJ): Great. Two, do you consider yourself someone that can adapt to any situation?

Mischa (Cecilia): I would really love to hope so.

Lyn (JJ): Great. And finally, do you consider yourself brave and courageous in the face of danger and/or the unknown?

Mischa (Cecilia): Unfortunately, yes.

Lyn (JJ): Wonderful. (Whispering) Add Cecilia's name to the list.

Bex (Ibra): (Whispering) Already done.

Mayanna (Fran): What are you guys doing?

Bex (Ibra): Nothing!

Ian (Gordon): (With full mouth) You guys are being so weird right now.

Mayanna (Fran): (Suspicious) Yeah.

Bex (Ibra): Usually!

Mischa (Cecilia): You guys know I already have a job that I really like most days, right?

Lyn (JJ): We are maybe looking for tutors?

Bex (Ibra): Yes.

Mischa (Cecilia): Okay.

Bex (Ibra): Someone who can teach those three things?

Mischa (Cecilia): (Hefty pause) I make bread.

Mayanna (Fran): Yeah, she makes bread.

Lyn (JJ): Yeah, but you're really good at it!

Ian (Gordon): Really good at it.

Mischa (Cecilia): That I know.

Lyn (JJ): And you're good at business stuff.

Mayanna (Fran): (Appreciative hum).

Bex (Ibra): Yeah.

Lyn (JJ): And talking to people.

Mischa (Cecilia): Alright, I feel like I'm about to get recruited into, like, some kind of weird pyramid scheme. Like, what is happening?

Lyn (JJ): No, we got a new task from our boss to find people.

Mayanna (Fran): Ooh, Tall Lady?

Bex (Ibra): Yeah.

Lyn (JJ): (Simultaneously) Yeah.

Mayanna (Fran): Cool.

Lyn (JJ): She's so tall.

Mayanna (Fran): She's the tallest, from what I hear.

Lyn (JJ): Yeah.

Mayanna (Fran): Never seen her in person.

Mischa (Cecilia): I'm gonna take the rest of my cheese fries and I'm gonna like –

Mayanna (Fran): Do it.

Mischa (Cecilia): – go over there before I get, like, recruited.

Mayanna (Fran): No, that's fair. That's fair.

Ian (Gordon): Bye boss.

Bex (Ibra): Bye Cecilia.

Lyn (JJ): Nice to see you.

Mayanna (Fran): What's going on with you guys?

Lyn (JJ): (Blurting suddenly) Did y'all have a crazy dream last night?

[SFX: Suspenseful music begins].

Lyn (JJ): Okay, I was trying not to say it in front of Cecilia, but I was –

Bex (Ibra): Like where we all, like, fell into the void in nothing but blinding whiteness, and it was horrifying?

Ian: I think I freeze when you say that.

Mayanna: Yeah, I do as well. Cause I was like, it's weird enough that one other person had the same dream.

Lyn (JJ): Because we were talking and we were there, and–

Bex (Ibra): You were there

Lyn (JJ): – but you were also there.

Mayanna (Fran): (Nervous) Uh huh.

Lyn (JJ): So we thought that maybe you were there, actually.

Mayanna (Fran): We were there.

Ian (Gordon): (Hefty pause. Quietly) We were there.

Mayanna (Fran): Yeah.

Bex (Ibra): (Shakily) Okay.

Mayanna (Fran): Did we like, did someone like someone like microdose us or something was like a collective, like, hallucination?

Ian (Gordon): Like, a drug situation?

Mayanna (Fran): Yeah. Like, I mean that's, come on. That would be – there's no way –

Bex (Ibra): I mean, usually I would blame my sibling Hema for that. But (stammering) I haven't seen them in a couple days. I don't think they're clever enough for this either.

Lyn (JJ): I also don't know of a drug that makes people share dreams. It would just be like separate weird dreams, right?

Mayanna (Fran): Do you have any more muffins?

Ian (Gordon): Yeah, I have a whole sack.

Mayanna (Fran): Excellent.

Mayanna: I'm gonna just eat– stress eat muffin.

Ian: I pull out muffins for the table.

Mischa: While you guys are like sort of discussing this dream and sort of going over details and making sure that like, yeah, you were in fact inhabiting the same kind of space, I think the rest of the restaurant sort of is like, slowly clearing out.

[SFX: Music fades out].

Mischa: And then, finally, Samira and Paz walk in.

Mischa (Paz): You guys are already here! That's, that's really nice.

Mayanna (Fran): Happy birthday!

[Cheering].

Mischa (Paz): Thanks. It really means a lot that you guys came out to my favorite restaurant slash arcade, to come have some fun. Fran, I am sorry that it is the place you work.

Mayanna (Fran): That's fine. This is your favorite place?

Mischa (Paz): I love it here.

Mayanna (Fran): Okay. That's great.

Mischa (Paz): I – I know that's –

Mayanna (Fran): That makes me so happy!

Mischa (Paz): I’m – does that – does that make me lame? Does that, like, make me like a little kid? Cause I do I feel –

Mayanna (Fran): No! No, I love that for you. I'm so happy to be here. Yeah, I know. Yeah,

Ian (Gordon): I was just gonna say I also love this place! It's great! The games? Oh! I have to frost your birthday cake! I'll be right back.

Ian: And I pop up out of the booth and then when I'm, like, walking past her, maybe, like, we just brush. You know, like, brush, like, shoulders just a little bit, as I like, walk past.

Mischa: Yeah, you head off into the kitchen, and Samira looks at Paz and is like,

Mischa (Samira): (Gasp. Whispering) The sparks, they're flying!

Mischa: Paz is like,

Mischa (Paz): Shut up! Oh my god.

[Laughter].

Mayanna (Fran): Wait, what's happening?

Mischa (Paz): Nothing! No.

Mayanna (Fran): Oh no.

Mischa: And Samira's like,

Mischa (Samira): Paz and Gordon.

Mayanna (Fran): Pfft! Gordon?

Mischa (Samira): Just imagine it. Paz and Gordon. It would be so cute!

Mayanna (Fran): Yeah, if Gordon was able to, like, I don't know, pay attention to details, ever.

Ian: A bunch of pans clatter from the kitchen.

[SFX: Metal clanging]. [Laughter].

Ian (Gordon): (From afar) I'm okay!

Mayanna (Fran): Like that.

Bex (Ibra): Why does he need pans for frosting?

Mayanna (Fran): Well, I– he knocked into them.

Bex (Ibra): Oh.

Mayanna (Fran): Cause they're on the way there. If you do want to make something happen, you're gonna have to really spell it out for the guy.

Mischa (Paz): Okay. Okay. (Heavy breathing).

Mayanna (Fran): You okay?

Mischa (Paz): (Nervously) Yeah.

Mischa: And she reaches –

Bex (Ibra): You – you need your inhaler?

Mischa: Yeah, she reaches back into her bag. She's like already taking it out and she pops her inhaler.

Mischa (Paz): (Deep inhale. Exhale). Okay. It's my birthday. Let’s–

Mayanna (Fran): The night is young!

Mischa (Paz): Yeah.

Bex (Ibra): To start your birthday off on the right note–

Bex: I fish through my jacket.

Mischa: Yeah.

Bex (Ibra): I got you, a little Boggins’ bobblehead.

(Gasps).

Mischa (Paz): Oh my god!

Bex (Ibra): It's the little bee and it bobbles, isn't it cute?

Mischa: (Imitates the sound of a spring bouncing).

Mischa (Paz): I love it.

Bex (Ibra): I knew you would.

Mischa (Paz): It's so cute. Oh my god, look! It's got the little twitchy eye just like the real one!

Mayanna (Fran): (Aggressively) Not for long, you porcelain monster!

[Laughter].

Ian: Oh my god!

Mischa: I'm sorry! I knew you were going to respond but that was not what I expected you to say!

Bex: That was delicious.

Mayanna (Fran): Well, I'm gonna start serving you guys,

Mayanna: So I, like, take off the jacket layer, and then I have my little apron, but of course, you have to wrap around on the back the stinger.

[Laughter]. [SFX: Music begins in the background, upbeat and lighthearted ukelele].

Mischa: Yeah!

Mayanna: And you put on the antenna, and then I'm like,

Mayanna (Fran): Buzzzzz! What's the buzz with you guys tonight? How can I make your evening sweeter?

Bex (Ibra): (Begrudging) Oh, Fran, are we going all out?

Mayanna (Fran): I mean, I don't know. I thought she wants the experience.

Bex (Ibra): (Sigh) All right, I'll be right back.

Bex: And I go to the back room.

Mischa (Paz): Is it kind of weird? I do want the experience.

Mayanna (Fran): That's – that – it's your birthday, girl.

Bex (Ibra): (From afar) I'm on it!

[Laughter].

Bex: I go back in. I put on the Boggins’ Bee costume.

Ian: Sick.

Mayanna: Nice.

Bex: And I come back out for the full experience.

Mayanna (Fran): Here we go.

Mischa: Paz just looks at you and goes,

Mischa (Paz): You are a guest at this party. It never gets old seeing you in the bee.

Lyn (JJ): It is so funny.

Bex (Ibra): You're welcome.

Mayanna: Then we do a little shimmy bee dance.

Bex: (Sad shimmying noises).

Mayanna: A little shimmy dance.

Lyn (JJ): You have to do the birthday dance.

Ian: Happy, happy Bee Day from all of us to you. (Others joining) We wish it was our Bee Day so we can party too! Buzz.

[Laughter and buzzing sounds].

Mischa: Happy Bee Day? That’s genius. It's such a funny joke.

Ian: That's why you hired me.

Bex: And part of the dance is at buzz at the end we turn around and shake our stingers.

Mayanna: Little stingers.

Lyn: Yeah.

Mayanna: And then like there's a “Happy Bee Day” button! See, here's a little “Happy Bee Day” button, and I write your little name on it in sharpie.

Mischa: She pins it right to, like, the front of the crutch on her arm, and is like,

Mischa (Paz): Look, see, it's so cute!

Mayanna (Fran): Aww, so cute!

Mischa: Gordon, you're in the back frosting this cake. Sort of the, the kitchen has, like, died down. Maybe there's, like, you know, a dishwasher who's kind of ignoring you.

Ian: Yeah.

Mischa: You're in the middle of, like, frosting your, your cinnamon roll cake.

Ian (Gordon): (Humming wistfully).

Mischa: Do we do candles here? What do we–?

Mayanna: I think-

Lyn: Sparklers.

[Agreement].

Mayanna: Yeah, sparklers. Yeah, and like a little, one of those candles that when you light it, it opens up, so it's like a little beehive?

Mischa: Oh!

Ian: Oh.

Mayanna: That when you light it, it, it opens a little bee.

Mischa: Right. Beeswax candles, bee themes.

Ian: Beeswax candle.

Mischa: Anyway. So you're just getting them in place and you light up the sparklers to bring it outside and the lights in the kitchen flicker.

[SFX: buzz and flicker of a fluorescent light].

Mayanna: (Gasp).

Ian (Gordon): Huh.

Mischa: And like, they just go out for a second. I mean, you're already done, so like you're, you're not dropping anything, but –

Ian: Yeah, I don't think anything of it. I'm like,

Ian (Gordon): Oh, weird. Meh.

Ian: And then I go back to whistling while I work. (Whistling jauntily).

Mischa: Yeah, sure. ,You bring the cake out. Or the cinnamon roll.

Ian: Yeah, the super cinnamon roll cake.

Ian (Gordon): Hey I got your cake everybody! I missed the song! Happy– I love that song! Happy, happy – (players join in with varying degrees of enthusiasm) – Bee Day, from all of us to you! We wish you a Happy Bee Day so we can party too!

All: Bzzz!

[Laughter].

Mischa: You set it down, and the beeswax candles illuminate Paz's smile. [SFX: suspenseful music fades in slowly]. And she closes her eyes, and she makes a wish. And she blows out the candles, and all of the lights inBoggins’ go out completely.

[SFX: breaker shuts down. Emergency alarm beeps in the distance.]

Mayanna (Fran): (Whispering) Oh, my god.

Ian (Gordon): Huh.

Bex (Ibra): Oooh! Neat trick, Fran!

Mayanna (Fran): (Scared) No, that's not a trick.

Bex (Ibra): Oh.

Mischa (Paz): That wasn't–? that was really cool, you didn't –?

Mayanna (Fran): I mean the fuse box is fritzy, but not like that.

[SFX: Suspenseful music intensifies].

Ian: And the darkness of this moment reminds me of the darkness of our dream.

Mayanna: Oh my god.

Mischa: Yeah.

Ian: And I immediately– I don't panic, but I immediately drop into a cold sweat.

Mischa: Yeah.

Lyn: Light cantrip.

Mischa: Ooh, let's get into it. So you Light cantrip?

Lyn: Mm hmm. I think because we're all at the table, I think it's just like, the, the moment– I light up the table.

Mayanna: Nice.

Mischa: You light up the table and illuminate the four of you, uplit. Samira and Cecilia are sort of like, drifting in the background, but it's the four of you and Paz at this table. And the lighting from the uplit table reminds you of how you guys looked in the dream when you were lit from below, of those glowing crystal structures. That puts you right back into that dream.

Bex: I start sweating too.

Mischa: Paz looks around at you guys and,

Mischa (Paz): Guys, it's just a power outage. Are you okay?

Mischa: And that's when.

[SFX: piercing spectral screech. Soundscape begins. Electricity and static crackling, building].

Mischa: Lights start flashing and flickering across the screens and wisps of ghostly white light start drawing into each other and swirling around, and gathering and forming at the top of a structure, which then illuminated with a blue glowing vascular system? Do ghosts have vascular systems?

Mayanna: They do now.

Mischa: Something, tendrils of something, are strung throughout a vaguely humanoid, wispy appearance that floats five feet above the floor, sort of occupying like above head space. This thing forms up and contorts and twists in uncanny ways – fast and staccato – and it turns its center of light towards you all and screams again.

[SFX: piercing spectral scream].

Mischa: And next time, we roll for initiative.

[Screaming, cheers].

Ian: Fuck yeah!

[SFX: theme music begins].

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 Baron. Cover Art by Lyn Rafil, 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 the show. Thanks for wandering with us. Til next time.

[SFX: theme music fades out].