Kult: Divinity Lost - Downfall, Episode 4

[00:00:02] Speaker A: Hello, friends, and welcome back to another single serving tabletop adventure from Queen's court games. My name is Aaron, and tonight we will be entering the final episode of Downfall, a scenario for cult divinity lost by M. Marshall. We'll be delving into a small recap in just a moment, but first, allow me to introduce to you our cast as spurned lover, Kendall, QCG's very own beast of an artiste, it's vlock. Hi. As small town twin sister Aisha, our social media maven, and gangrel guru, Laura Tutu. Hello. [00:00:34] Speaker B: Hello. [00:00:36] Speaker A: And as the two faced classmate, Aidan, joining us all the way from Nat 20 Productions, it's PJ McGaugh. [00:00:42] Speaker C: Hey, everyone. Great to see you. [00:00:44] Speaker A: And finally, as looting, brooding professor Francis, he is our good friend from sidekick Productions, recent guest star on the NBC series Poker Face. It is Joshua R. Pangborn. How are you? [00:00:55] Speaker D: I am great and so happy to be here. [00:00:57] Speaker A: Well, I couldn't be happier to have you here. I couldn't be here happy to have any of you here. But in order to make sure that everybody, including our audience, stays happy, I must remind you that cult is an adult horror game, which means tonight's episodes definitely will contain content that some viewers may find disturbing or objectionable. What I would like all of you to do, I honestly got just one of you can do it. But if you all want to rush, that's fine by me. Put exclamation point safety in chat. It'll bring up a list of content warnings for tonight's episodes. If you need a palate cleanser. After that, you can also put an exclamation point social, and it'll bring up the links that you can click to follow all these four wonderful performers. In fact, I might just hold the show hostage until you do. Wouldn't want that. You wouldn't want to be the reason that no one else gets to watch this episode, would you? Looking at you, Conrad, I'll wait. Well, all of that said, let us return to the part of the show where I ask any one of you to remind us what we were most recently up to. It shouldn't be too difficult. You were all in the same room. Do I have any volunteers? I will get out the dice. All right, Lora Tutu. [00:02:23] Speaker B: Well, now you put me on the spot, and I've panicked. [00:02:26] Speaker A: Oh, yeah. Okay. Well, we can use this opportunity in cultivating lost. When a player fails a role, one of the things the GM can do is take something called hold, which means I'm not going to do something bad to you. Now, but I will do something bad to you later. Yeah, well, you're like, oh, it's gonna happen anyway. I don't give a shit. [00:02:46] Speaker B: We're already here. This is already a fucking nightmare. Like, Aaron, buddy. [00:02:50] Speaker A: Fair enough. Josh, can you. Can you rescue Laura from herself? [00:02:54] Speaker D: I will try. When last you all saw us, we were going to get dressed for a night out. We decided to all go to a wonderful party, which was, I believe, 120 nights of Sodom is the name of the party, which, of course, leads so much to the imagination. And we all had to get dressed appropriately for Sodom, and we all found different ways of doing that. Unfortunately, poor Aisha did not come to the city prepared for such a party. I don't know what you were thinking, uh, but, uh, luckily, Kendall had some extra gear around the apartment because, uh, Noah was quite the. The gear fiend. And he enjoyed collecting, apparently. And so Kendall was able to loan something possibly a little inappropriate for someone as faithful and religious as dear Aisha. Uh, but luckily, Aiden and the professor myself had our own stuff in our apartments. We didn't need to borrow anything, although I think both of us would look fetching in either of those harnesses as well. But in any event, we went to the party, and we arrived at the party and we tried to go inside, but it was a little complicated because there was a very large man with a very, very special trio of friends that he had at his feet and in collar. I believe it was Kendall who was the one who, unfortunately, went towards the door and saw them for what they were, which was a sex cerberus, I guess we'll call it. And then, lo and behold, we were able to then enter the throngs of people and watch a lot of debauchery happen as we tried to make our way through. I do not think we were able to get very far, though, because it was very complicated. There was a lot of folk there, and only for some reason, Aisha is the one that has all this. I mean, there were sirens and everything, as you can hear right now, probably outside my window. And then Aisha was the only one who seemed to be able to maneuver around the room without anyone wanting to touch her because she is too pure for the place that she found herself in. But the rest of us, we were stuck among the throngs. And I think that's where we were. [00:05:23] Speaker A: It sounds pretty good to me. Anything that got lost there. I see Kendall making a face. [00:05:28] Speaker E: Yeah, the entire first half of the episode. [00:05:32] Speaker D: Yes. I just got so excited by the party. [00:05:37] Speaker E: You forgot about the shitty party that we had to go to, because Aiden apparently knows the people that throw the parties. And instead, we showed up to the world's saddest party with the most strung out Lee. What he was strung out on, I have no idea. I left the room, and then I came back, and Aiden had done something to wake him up and make him a little more lucid. And then Aisha and Francis had some weird moments with the few people. Question mark finger quotes. [00:06:20] Speaker A: They had skin. What more do you want? [00:06:24] Speaker E: They did have skin. Yes. Somebody's skin. Whether it was their skin, who knows? Somebody's skin. It was a very sad party. But Lee was the one who told us about the 120 days of Sodom. And then. [00:06:44] Speaker D: Actually, no. Didn't Lee not tell us anything? Wasn't it just. We were very lucky. We walked outside and there was a flyer. [00:06:50] Speaker E: No, Lee told me and Aidan about 120 days of Sodom. Yes, Lee told us about that. And then, yes, we did happen upon a flyer, because Lee did say that there were flyers around. You just had to find one. And of course, I'm sure it was totally luck. And definitely not any supernatural forces intervening to make sure that we found the flyer. But we got one. [00:07:18] Speaker A: And now you're on your way. [00:07:19] Speaker E: No. And now. And now. Well, now we're in it. Yeah, now we are. We are at 120 days of Sodom. It is a. [00:07:28] Speaker B: In fact, in the shit. [00:07:29] Speaker E: Yeah. [00:07:31] Speaker A: Once you see how day one goes, you're gonna wonder how they go, how they're gonna keep up for their 119. [00:07:38] Speaker E: Oh, my God. [00:07:39] Speaker D: Airway. [00:07:40] Speaker E: I can't do, like, a three day weekend at some places. I don't know how you keep going for 120 days. That just sounds tiring. I'm already tired. [00:07:48] Speaker B: I am already tired thinking about it. [00:07:50] Speaker A: Well, I am happy to fill you in. We are all dressed for the occasion. We are surrounded by like minded revelers. And with that, let me tell you a story. [00:08:20] Speaker D: No, this work, it's incredible. But the things you've described, the sexuality, the violence. [00:08:28] Speaker A: Are. [00:08:28] Speaker D: Are you okay? [00:08:33] Speaker E: The last time we talked, he was twitchy, nervous, picking at his skin. I have no idea where to find him. Trust me, I've tried. [00:08:47] Speaker A: Your body is throbbing with base urges your waking mind simply fails to comprehend. Crawling under your skin, there's something inside you. Something that wants to break free. [00:09:04] Speaker C: With all of the experiences that I gave for him, that he grew from, that he manifested, those things became in him a new person. [00:09:19] Speaker B: I lost my brother once. When he moved to New York. I will not lose him again. [00:09:39] Speaker A: Well, then we have established that the party is in full swing, and I've neglected to this point to really drive home the images. But living in my head occurs to me that you might be imagining a scene from the matrix where there's a bunch of very attractive people jumping up and down, having a good time in various states of undress, but that really undersells the experience. There is leather being worn, but it's not the neo and the Trinity kind. Very early in our character discussion, Joshua and I referred to the Eagle, which is a series of gay leather bars, not a franchise, but a brand spread across the country and indeed the world. And it is more in that line. So I don't want you to imagine a real banger of a club where everyone is having a great time in that way. This is the kind of place where there are various kink implements spread around that you're just as easy. You're just as likely to find someone who is enthralled, the music, dancing with someone else, as you are to see a performance strapped to a very sensuous cross or bent over a spanking implement of some kind. The lighting is just such that you can see the silhouettes of depravity playing off in the distance, with the occasional twinkle of a light giving you a flash moment of someone's face as they enter. Ecstasy or agony, it is hard to tell. You have come dressed for the occasion, and despite all the energy you've put into your respective costumes, you will find that everybody is dressed as such. In fact, your outfits are comparatively tame. But we don't have time to linger on the scenery. Each of us is here to find Noah for a different reason. And find him we shall. Professor Wilmot. Pushing through the crowd, you find an archway, the kind that's stacked bricks leaning up one another, brings to mind a very old New York subway station. And it's as you pass through this hallway, walking towards it's a. It's almost mystical, something vaguely religious, a pipe organ, a quiet whisper, maybe even the. The very hushed hums of a choir. You're approaching this archway, breaking through the crowd. When you finally step forward in. It's more like being squeezed out the sea of bodies in a pulsing motion, pushing you into this space. And the hallway starts fairly wide as you start walking forward. It's not until you're about halfway through that you realize it's been narrowing the entire time. The lights, previously, the club lighting, anyone who's been in a club that is too expensive and too fancy for its own good, knows the racks in the ceiling, all of that goes to the wayside, as the imagery is broken instead by little sconces with candles. And you feel the brick of this tunnel closing in on you every time you inch forward. It's the scrape of it against the side of your flesh and occasionally the splatter of hot wax before finally, like being squeezed out of a tube of toothpaste, your body splats forward into this room. It is not a nightclub in any sense that you understand. It's more like, I think in orthodoxy it's called the narthex, the entry way to a large cathedral. The ceiling is impossibly high for this space, even as long as it took you to walk down that stairway. The tenuous grasp on the laws of physics, of proportion, of three dimensional space that you have, would still say that this ceiling is too entirely high. Row after row after row of each side. You've been in a church that has a balcony around it, right, but never one that has two and then three and then four. The pews are stretched at strange angles, even in the low light. It's strange that even at that distance, the candles are casting that much illumination, that no matter how far away the source is, the level of lighting is always the same. Some of them are stacked vertically with bodies coming off horizontally, others sunk down into the ground such that limbs are knees are up in people's chests as they sit there. There is a kind of worship going on, several instances of it, some in twos and threes and fours, others reaching out to one another, finding partners, sometimes touching people they can see, sometimes just reaching out among the bodies to grab the nearest that attracts their attention or their desire. [00:15:37] Speaker D: Is there an altar in that room or like a central focus? [00:15:43] Speaker A: There is indeed. It's in the standard fashion. You have a cross shape on the ground, right, so the long central hall, there's an altar at the front of it. There's also surrounded by a spiral staircase. You can see something that descends from this pit. There's a figure at the front of it, a bit in shadow, but as the light plays, you can see it like a gem, scintillating, I suppose, occasionally casting into relief certain parts of its body, one more than others. And then where that altar sits, there is a branch that goes to the right and a branch that goes to the left. More pews, more bodies. [00:16:36] Speaker D: Um, I'm. I. Does anyone probably know what is paying attention to me? They're all consumed with themselves. I would end their trios and duos and everything. [00:16:46] Speaker A: Yeah. It's hard to say that any one person is paying attention to any one thing. There's a fluidity to it. I I don't. Yeah, you know, soul train, where everyone gets their chance to dance down the line of people. Let's choose a verb that isn't dancing and go from there. [00:17:12] Speaker D: So a lot of undulation, then. [00:17:15] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:17:18] Speaker D: I will continue. I will try to walk through the pews, past everyone, towards the. The altar, and the. Especially the shadowy figure. He's. The shadowy figure is alone, indeed, yes. Rather than interrupt everyone else's fun or whatever it is they're doing, I'll head towards the individual who looks by themselves. Perhaps I can at least ask them if they know which direction might lead towards Noah. Am I able to make out faces of everyone around me? Am I. Is it clear that Noah is not among them? [00:18:00] Speaker A: Yeah, it's quite clear that Noah's not among them. I think you might be surprised at some of the other people in attendance. Not every face. One you recognize, but plenty of them. Faces that you do. Plenty of them making faces that are familiar for more than one reason. You make these steps forward again, the room closing in around you. I don't mean that in a psychological sense. It feels like every time you're not looking, one of the walls has shifted in closer, there's that liminal puzzle where you stare off into the horizon and you walk forward, but it's actually not the. The horizon closing in. It's just the things getting closer to you. And it's the first time that maybe a sharp moan catches your attention and you look left. And. I mean, that student hasn't been in New York for ages, and yet here they are, proceeding further still. That's a colleague who you know for a fact doesn't belong in a place like this, who you could never imagine doing the kind of things that they are doing. [00:19:22] Speaker D: Um, I I'll. I'll keep walking because I don't know if I'm ready to talk, to even think about why they would be there, either of them or anyone else that I'm recognizing. I worked pretty hard to keep my past and my current life separate. And when I go out, I work very hard not to be in a world where anyone from NYU or anyone from respected society would recognize me. And the people that I bring home or go home with, they are not people that I would mix with my day to day life. So I'm just gonna keep walking forward. [00:20:22] Speaker A: Once you do that, I'm gonna ask you to act under pressure. Because when you said the dean is a real cop, this surely isn't what you had in mind. Thank you. [00:20:40] Speaker D: Thank you. [00:20:43] Speaker A: All right. So desire as you might to proceed quickly and immediately towards what you pray is the exit. There is just something entirely too enthralling about this unnatural human curiosity. Of course, there have been strange things happening to you for weeks now. There's a part of you that has to wonder if these are even the real people. Right? I mean. [00:21:12] Speaker D: I've seen things. So sometimes I've been wondering what's going on these past couple days. [00:21:19] Speaker A: And I suppose it's that conversation about the dean that's going to be the real hitch here. Acting under pressure is the ability to just set these things aside and charge towards your destination. But your eyes are drawn to this moment. The dean, very conservative gentleman, the kind who would have said that the novels of the sixties and the seventies were just a fart in the wind of excess, and whose rigidity and devotion to the. The purity of art automatically rejects anything even remotely transgressive or countercultural. That kind of person. In your less polite moments, you might have just been quietly wondering when he was going to die and let the department move on to actually engage with the modern era. Which I suppose is why you find it so enthralling to watch his performance. I. There's something assiduous about it, something skillful that reflects experience. At the very least, you would expect him to be the kind of person who can't brush his teeth too enthusiastically, let he gag. And now I guess we're both wrong on that assumption. That's where it darts. But there's something about the way lips transit a phallus. We'll say there's a fluidity to it, there's a familiar motion, and you're used to the physics of it, right? In a particularly vigorous moment, the hips go this way and the mouth goes that way, and then friction and passion take their hold. It would be a clumsy effort indeed if those two bodies moved in the same direction, right? Because at that point all motion is relative. It's just static at this point. So there's a confusion about how intensely he is performing this act and how enjoyable the recipient is finding it, considering this clumsy nature. And then it hits you as to why that is the case. Because it's hard to bob enthusiastically on a member when your lips are not attached to it metaphorically but literally. And in your failure to press on, you can see the flesh stick and pull. When you. In the moments when you fail to remember this in the future, you're going to get the image that they put in commercials when they pull the one slice of pizza and there's the stringy that attaches it to the rest of the pizza, and then it snaps back together. But it's a different kind of doughy, actually, in this case. And every time he thrusts further down onto this gorged flesh, the connection is further assembled until the moans coming out of his mouth aren't those of pleasure or those intended to heighten the experience for his partner, but the only sound one can make, when were it not for the openings in your nose, you were unable to breathe. [00:25:05] Speaker D: Um, can, I can pretty much tell he's in distress at this point. [00:25:17] Speaker A: Yeah, there's the, and I don't mean to put too fine a point on it, but you of all people understand the difference between I'm having a great time and can you please note, push my head down that hard. And then, worse. [00:25:35] Speaker D: I'm gonna, I'm gonna approach the two of them and I'm going to try to. I don't even know why. I mean, I've never seen anything like this before, and I've seen a lot of things. I'm gonna. I'm gonna approach them, and I'm gonna see if I can pull the dean off, peel the dean away. [00:26:01] Speaker A: The two of them is the first phrase I want to hitch on, because there's too much flesh here to be two people. That the dean and this stranger is not the first of couplings to happen. And I want to use the word couplings quite literally, because as the bodies are packed together, you realize that when they've been reaching out and touching one another, that groping is like digging a hand into wet mud. That it's not just the two that are in front of you. When you look to the right, there are two women who have been wrapped up in each other to kiss and to grind. And then it's a breast that's. That slopes teardrop down to where the nipple would be, but then it's a parabola. At that point, attached to another breast. There are mouths attached to necks and hands attached to genitals. And even in moments where there's a stray elbow has stuck, these bodies are merging together. You are in a cathedral, Professor Francis, but we are really going to twist the definition of mass when we describe the various people in this room. So you can reach out to touch the dean, and then you can feel his skin start to ripple underneath yours. It's the videos of those little spiders that run across the water, where you can see them playing with the surface tension. But if they pushed any harder, it would splash through into underneath. And that's what your little fingers are like as you reach out to touch. You know that if you push any harder, that you would break through. [00:27:58] Speaker D: I'm gonna pull back right away. [00:28:02] Speaker A: Not the worst of decisions. [00:28:05] Speaker D: Yeah, I, um. That I'm not gonna be. I don't want to be stuck to this man for the rest of my life. I'm gonna back away from the two of them. Or the mass of them. All of them, I guess. I don't even know what. I don't. I don't. Yeah, I'm gonna back away and try very hard not to touch a single person. [00:28:37] Speaker A: There's something amorphous about this, the gender here. Suffice it to say that this is an in the all pronouns situation, you will recoil backwards. And this is where the punishment from your role comes in. Failing to act under pressure means failing to maintain your situational awareness. And as you recoil away from the scene, once you see the beginning, it clicks. It makes sense. You are not paying much attention to the person on the other side of the aisle who would reach out to touch you. You will be able to pull away. But as the fingers sink into you, there's a stretching in your skin. It's that kink moment. The people who get the little ringlets put into their bodies and then sewn up nice and straight. And you can see how the skin pulls and stretches, and you can feel your skin pulling and stretching, not like someone's grabbed ahold of you and pulled it back, but all the flesh being just like the dough again comes to mind. Or maybe a taffy pulling machine. It's going to hurt when you lurch forward and most of you continues toward the altar, but some of you remains in the room. You ever had a hang nail, Professor Francis? And it goes just a little, too. And you pull it and more comes back than you want. [00:30:12] Speaker D: Oh, yeah. [00:30:14] Speaker A: Your back is going to scream with that same paper cut, white hot pain. And it is perhaps only the momentum of you charging forward away from the hurt that will stop you from turning back to see just how much of you is missing. So take one wound for me, please. You're going to suffer a harm as you lurch forward. But pain turns to revelation, as you see the priest, certainly not resembling any church service you've attended or someone approximating a church service at other events you might have attended. Because this thing does hold sensors. Its arms stretched up in a t shape, each hand holding a chain on which a large incense platform swings. But every priest that you've seen has a face. This one, not so much. It's a flat slate of flesh down to a mouth that peels open. A mouth, of course, necessary for the kind of acts that are being performed in this profane space. The body is an immaculate singularity of the masculine and the feminine, possessed of every sexual feature any person of any gender would desire, custom built from parts, to be whatever it is its flock desires it. [00:32:06] Speaker D: Just standing there, not acknowledging me. [00:32:09] Speaker A: Or theres a slight swaying, actually, very much like a conductor leading an orchestra. Atypical choice of baton, so to speak, but directing the symphony all the same. [00:32:32] Speaker D: I'll walk up to him or them without, but trying to maintain far enough a distance so I'm not anywhere near touching this after what I just experienced. And I'll speak to them. Excuse me. [00:32:55] Speaker A: You won't have to worry about touching them, because they are. The spiral staircase stretches around this round altar. There's a round dais, and then the bit above it. But the staircase that descends forms something of a moat. You speak to it. That is enough to attract its attention. He and she and it not turning to you, because that implies a fluidity of motion. This is. These are missing frames here, as part of the body turns to see you and then flickers back. Then it's facing you, but then it shimmies, shimmer, shimmers back into the other existence. There's a chittering clicking to the way that it moves, like each part of it exists in a separate dimension. And there's some kind of cosmic Rubik's cube trying to be solved so that it can face you properly. By the time it does, it has found a face. Hey, Francis. It's, uh. It's not time for our appointment, buddy. What are you doing here? Doctor? [00:34:12] Speaker D: Doctor, you. You can't. No, you can't be here. Doctor. Dan. [00:34:18] Speaker A: Hi. What do you mean? Yeah, appointments in the office. But sometimes, you know, you have to meet your clients where they need you the most. And look at this place. There are a lot of sick fucks in this room, Francis. A lot of sick fucks who need help. [00:34:35] Speaker D: Yes. And they're. They're. They're hurting themselves and. What? They're hurting me. [00:34:42] Speaker A: I. Well love Francis. We know that. It's not okay to. Some people are, of course, into activities that might seem painful to you, but we're not here to judge. [00:34:55] Speaker D: I am a very open minded person, doctor. But I am there. I am here to judge this. This is not normal. This is what is going on here. I am here looking for Noah, the student I told you about. And I wander into this scene from society. Hey. [00:35:13] Speaker A: Well, I mean, we don't get to judge what other people are in. Into, even if what they're into is other people. But let. We'll set that aside for a minute, Francis, because I think we had a deal about Noah. [00:35:33] Speaker D: We do have the deal about Noah. I am. I'm trying to find him before the others find him. Because they are very persistent people. I don't know if you've met them, but they are very persistent. And they. I've tried to slow them down. I tried to stop us from coming here tonight. I tried to do what I could, but they are. Well, they are. At least one of them is a very loving person. And she's here because it's her brother. And who could stop her when you're looking for someone you actually care about? I have never. Not important. I have not seen something like that from a family member before. But I have to deal with you. I do have to deal with you. I need to find Noah first, and so I can know where to steer them away from. Where is Noah? [00:36:35] Speaker A: Well, I mean, we've talked about this, right? The things that you desired are buried deep inside you. Francis, that's not a metaphor. Everything that we've worked together has been about unlocking the secrets that live in your heart, that take you to the decisions you make with your students. Right? Self discovery, it's an inward journey. Francis. [00:37:11] Speaker D: You'Re not. Are you? Are you suggesting what I think you're suggesting? [00:37:20] Speaker A: Like I said, we're. We're not into the. Why, Francis, that. That's not how this works for us. We're more suggest and let people find their own way to the answers kind of folks. [00:37:32] Speaker D: So I'll find Noah by looking inside myself? [00:37:42] Speaker A: Yeah. I think you might have to do more than look. [00:37:50] Speaker D: How do you propose I go about that, doctor? Daniel? [00:37:56] Speaker A: I don't know, Francis. Look around. And at this point, the creature leans forward. And one hand finds the very top of your head. And he goes to turn to show. And then he keeps turning. And he keeps turning and he keeps turning until you've had a nice 360 degree view of the room. And then everything that should not work. And yet it does. But you see that it's transitioned now. That there is a multitude that has agglomerated skin just stretched in a canvas. Occasionally, a mouth rolls to the surface to scream or moan. A hand reaches out from this lump around to that lump, to rub this part or to grab that part. The creature masquerading. As Dan leans forward, he says, I want to see your inside, Francis. And then I'll let you go. However, this is strangeness, right? You know that it's not Doctor Dan. You know something else is going on. You are being haunted. The things that you are witnessing can't be real, can they? So I need you to roll to see through the illusion. [00:40:00] Speaker D: Eight. [00:40:05] Speaker A: It has its own spell. And what a metaphor for life. That through whatever glasses we are wearing, rose colored or otherwise, we have created situations that we can't see other outcomes from. And in some cases, that's. I know it's not a healthy relationship, but I can't leave. I know this substance is bad for me. I can't stop doing it. I know I'm putting my job at risk, but I don't see an alternative. And that is the familiar human crisis you find yourself in. [00:40:40] Speaker E: Now. [00:40:44] Speaker A: There is a key inside you that will allow you to access this stairwell and move forward. But we've kind of stripped past the point of metaphor. [00:41:02] Speaker D: I turn to Doctor Dan and I ask him if I can do it myself or if I need to use them. It. [00:41:21] Speaker A: Of course you can do it yourself. I mean, who knows you better than you, right? [00:41:32] Speaker D: Are there any. When I touch my own flesh, does it. Am I able to have the same reactions as the masses in the room? [00:41:49] Speaker A: There's something quite fluid about it, yeah. Taking you back to the early nineties of flesh. Armstrong doll. But this one has a skeleton. It's you. There's a kind of like a magnetism, but it's. It's. It's more like finding that part of your body that hurts. There's like a knot on your back, and you can kind of reach around, rub to find it. And this one is about halfway down your chest on the left hand side. It's the little bone that keeps your spleen from getting into trouble. That little baby bottom rib down there. [00:42:32] Speaker D: I strip off the probably tattered remains of this shirt that I'm wearing since my back has been torn to pieces. And I take my hands and I go to that spot, that magnetized spot, and I push in. I push past the spidery feelings of flesh that I got from the dean. And I push them in and. [00:43:15] Speaker A: I. [00:43:15] Speaker D: Push them in as far as I can go. And then I pull. [00:43:22] Speaker A: You're going to be really surprised at how far you can push in. There is something insubstantial about you. It's a very curious thing to have such an acute sense of your own organs. You felt that, like, rumbly feeling in your tummy. And that's about as close as you've ever gotten to knowing exactly where your intestines are. And I mean, like maybe you can remember from high school biology where the appendix sits, but like now you know exactly where it is because your fingers are pushing it out of the way to reach for that bone and behind it, and finding a key hidden underneath your rib cage like it's a doormat outside of an apartment building. [00:44:09] Speaker D: I try to think about my favorite stories, the things I've written, the things I tried to bring to the world, the things that people didn't feel were good enough for the rest of the world world to see. And the reason that I'm here at NYU and not living the life I should be living. And I focus on those as I root around in myself searching for that key and finding it and pulling head out of my own body. [00:44:59] Speaker A: It doesn't actually resist. You can feel the soupy stickiness of yourself as you pull this thing forward. And then the pain is excruciating as it starts to move. But this is a place where pain isn't entirely ill of itself. When you finally pull that key out from your skin, you feel that the uppermost layer, epidermis attached to it before again springing back down into your body. That it is a release on so many levels. Holding the key is enough for the latch that blocks this stairway to open that part you won't have to fuss with. You see this dan creature just smiling, laughing, watching. As you transition from wince to something else. You find the key, the door opens, you climax all at about the same time. There is an innumerably long continuum of pleasure and pain. And we normally think about it. There's things we don't like over here and things we don't like over here. And then somewhere in the middle is the right answer. But this is. This is a flat plane now. No matter how much you get to one under the other, it's. It's still all mixed up. The more it hurts, the better it feels. The better it feels, the more it hurts. If it hurts just a little, then it feels alright. If it feels all right, then it hurts just a little. It's all wrapped up and confusing, but key in hand and pants, a bit wetter than when you entered for more than one reason, you are free to descend the staircase. Others of us are not descending, Aiden, as you proceed to your own corner of our little limbo. No journey. So simple for you. We know that the club here has a dance floor. We know that the club has a room off to the side where people can have a bit more of a private experience. But you're a man who's been to more than one fancy dig. What are other rooms that fancy clubs have? [00:48:09] Speaker C: Well, depending on the value of the clientele, sometimes you get, you know, indoor outdoor jacuzzis. [00:48:19] Speaker D: Bubble. [00:48:20] Speaker C: You know, the kind of soap bubble dance floors. Sometimes you get some private play areas. Sometimes you get some other, shall we say, technically advanced playrooms. Other than that, I think imagination is the limit. [00:48:39] Speaker A: You have no idea how correct that sentence is. Where did your brain start? But with a nice little jacuzzi section pushing out of the crowd, you punch through a doorway into what I assume is one of the floors at twitch headquarters. There are hot tubs and people in them for just everywhere. You look bigger than any hot tub you've seen. They normally don't come in this size. It looks more like a modest swimming pool than a hot tub, although it is filled with the right kind of water and the right kind of bodies. Aidan, you're a good looking man, and I don't mean to be rude when I say this, but you are the least attractive person in this room. So let that stand as an example to just how hot the average person has to be. For Aidan to walk into a room and be like a solid six and a half. If there were any point people wearing swimsuits, there is no evidence that you can see, so to speak of. It is very nude here. Gorgeous and lithe and every kind of every appetite. It is a buffet. People are into them short and strong. We've got you covered. If you like them tall and narrow, then I've got great news for you. If you are an ass man, we're having a special. If you are a rest man, that is what we're known for. It is a buffet for the sensual senses. We'll note some tables are currently occupied. And by tables, I mean genitals. [00:50:36] Speaker C: It would be a lame party if they were not occupied at this point in time. But I know the one thing that I have they don't is magnificent personality and the skills to make sure that my personality stands out. And at this point in time, I think I'm gonna have to use those to my advantage on some of these. A golden calves of the golden corral. That is this buffet only you can eat. Isn't that right? Anybody? [00:51:04] Speaker A: Alright. [00:51:07] Speaker C: Gonna have to project myself somewhere here. I look for an open spot as best as that can be described, so I can begin to ask some questions, maybe certain my dominance as a talker and not a naked person, for clarification. [00:51:26] Speaker A: For my sake. Do you mean open spot in the hot tub or open spot in someone in the hot tub? Mmm. [00:51:31] Speaker C: Let's start with the first one and see if we can kind of negotiate our way to the second. [00:51:37] Speaker A: You know, weirdly enough, they're both kind of going to be hard to find. There is a. An ebb and a flow. Have you ever seen like a crowd in a wave pool, how it just kind of sort of undulates together back and forth and then there's like a little every now and again you can kind of cut a path through? I suppose it's no different than trying to find your way to the front of a concert by just cutting through the gaps in between little circles of friends. At least you assume they're friends. It would be very forward to do this kind of thing with a stranger, but. Yeah. The way forward, sir, involves getting wet, so to speak. I'll leave that decision up to you. I can frame it another way if you'd prefer to just walk up to the. The edge of the pool and sit down and that's one thing. But if. If you're a cannonball into the middle kind of guy, we can cover you there as well. Hmm. [00:52:41] Speaker C: I am going. What's that? [00:52:44] Speaker A: I was gonna say the backstroke is also an option, but we're gonna be wanting to be very clear on some definitions before you commit. [00:52:51] Speaker C: Yeah, yeah. I think I might be more into either a butterfly or a brushstroke. But I think what I'm gonna do is I'm going to take off all my clothes, fold it into a meticulous and neat pile, hopefully somewhere where there isn't a sweaty body playing horizontal twister somewhere. So I'm just gonna put it down and I'm going to fully naked walk to the jacuzzi and just kind of slide myself in as best as possible. And if need be, I will make it very clear. I'm entering the pool. You will move for me now? [00:53:30] Speaker A: Yeah, I would. I would make the kind of face that these people are making as they watch you. But I don't want to violate the bounds of our friendship by letting you see that face. Suffice it to say, there's something hungry about it. An appetite for everybody and a body for every appetite. The way that you are walking towards the edge of this. This hot tub, this. This pool, this combination of those things there are. It's like survey. So imagine that you are on stage at a concert, right? And how you can walk up to the edge with the microphone and look out and then just see all the faces looking up at you. So it's like that. Just attention in every direction. And you are 100% certain that if you put your mind to it and had the time to spend, there is someone in this crowd interested in kissing each and every part of your body, no matter where it is. You don't need to command that much attention as you walk forward because, well, in this case, it's freely earned. Describe for me the first person that you speak to when Aiden thinks, who do I want to be trapped naked in a hot tub with what comes to mind? [00:55:00] Speaker C: I slide into the warm water, and I'm starting to feel my muscles relax and my rage start to simmer and my body begin to unknot from the stress of what I'm currently going through. I can't help but think of sort of Instagram perfection. You know what I mean by that? Something where every aspect is highly curated, cultivated to be as perfect as can be. You don't know if the makeup game is on point or if there's a filter or if they are just genetically superior to other haggard types. Tired? Try hard. Failed. Big struggle. Buses out there ruining my day with their constant inane imperfections. Maybe her eyes are bright green. Her hair is jet black. Her lips are pursing and beautiful and sultry. But whatever it is, I'm just in awe of the fact they are in awe of us together in this moment. [00:56:05] Speaker A: Yeah. Yeah. No staring at her. You understand what the program working with when they try to put those filters together? There's a. There is a CEO somewhere who's like, I want the app to find. Cost $15, and I want to make people look like that. She is all yours. Swimming forward in the water. So easy to be buoyant with a body like that. There is something hungry about her as she comes up to the edge of the pool, positioning herself such that there is no possible way that you can enter the water without feeling your bodies come together. And judging by the look on her face, she'd be pretty okay with that. You know, it has been a long. [00:57:00] Speaker C: Time since I felt a genuine human connection. A touch. Nothing more than just words and an emotional validation, sure, but a human touch. And I can feel almost this pressure that is kind of relaxing, like a blanket like a weighted blanket. As I start to kind of put my body close to hers in that warm water, and I'm reminded for a brief second kind of how nice it is just to be around people. Sometimes. [00:57:35] Speaker A: Nice does not begin to describe it. This is. There was an attention to detail paid on the genetic level to crafting this woman that even the worst male author on Reddit would struggle to achieve perfection. That can only be described by spending paragraph after paragraph after paragraph about each individual part of her. I swear to God, her fucking fingernails are beautiful. And I don't know how you do that. It alights parts of your. No matter where you look, every single skin, it's. [00:58:11] Speaker C: It. [00:58:13] Speaker A: Look, I know a lot of words, and I don't have enough to describe how immaculate, handcrafted, beautiful this woman is. She's flirty. Just speaking with you in a very so come here often kind of way, but appropriate for this kind of club. I would attempt it, but look at me. I am not that cool enough to go to those parties. I have no idea what people say there. [00:58:47] Speaker C: I mean, it's been my experience with many parties that it's the same as what you'd say anywhere else. You just ask questions, strike up a conversation, share the local colloquial jargons, and then you move on from there. [00:59:02] Speaker A: Well, then, what is the aim of this conversation? Or are we not here to talk? Oh. [00:59:11] Speaker C: You know, I get a flash in the back of my brain, like a spark of electricity that trails across my cortex and into the front part. Right now, I can't help but think the reason I originally came here and all that stress follows it like a stampede from my spine up to my skull. And the game stops, and I stop hitting on her, and my face has to strike on that smile I put on for other people. Hey, listen, I'm very sorry. I've been having a lot of fun, but unfortunately, I came here with a motive and a goal, and I'm very big on setting a goal and then following it. I'm looking for a person, a friend, a very dear friend. I don't know if you happen to see him around. His name is Noah. If you want to, I give you descriptors, but we're here with one of his family members who's very worried about him. We're sure he's safe, sensual, kinky, safe. But we want to just kind of talk to him. Have you seen Noah around anywhere? [01:00:27] Speaker A: You find it really hard to have this conversation when someone is so, so adamant about finding every possible moment to introduce a reason to stop thinking about it. For example, you say the word big, and she says, I know you are. I can tell. And pushes her stomach closer to yours. Well, leave that one to the imagination. Do a small physics puzzle in your head, and you'll understand how that works. And you get the keen sense that she's not paying much attention. As you say. You're looking for your friend Noah. She says, I think you've already found a friend. She presses her lips into your neck and follows up with, and I found your friend. And I think he likes me. And one hand under the surface, dragging on a certain seam on a certain part of the body that, were you, to just use a fingernail, might cause a reaction in certain men. Not telling on myself there, but just you with that. With you. Do with that what you will. Art is life. [01:01:29] Speaker C: Life is art. No one can judge it. [01:01:32] Speaker A: I mean, by this is in addition to flustering you with that image and also, Josh, it appears I got actually all four of you. I think that one. I'm pretty proud. I would need you to roll to maybe influence a person or make some kind of action to get this woman. There's a rhyming game here about, like, off your jock and down to talk, but I don't. I'm not there yet, so I'll think of that while you roll. [01:01:55] Speaker C: Sure, sure, sure. Because I'm trying to process. This is. This is flattering as all hell, but I came here with a purpose, and you're not listening to me. And. Oh, I don't like being not listened to. That is going to be a 19. [01:02:15] Speaker A: Okay, well, then, Aiden, I think the moment comes where she is being. You know what it is? You know what it is? There's the kind of hitting on you that feels really genuine, and then there's a certain aggression to it. That is a drunk sorority girl who realizes that the night is late and requires male attention. And maybe that's what snaps, is that you've gotten just like, oh, this is really flattering to, like. Okay, but like I said, no. And I have places to be. And, like, you're hot, but you're not that hot, so can we calm down? Kind of energy. And at that point, there's something that snaps, like a rubber band, like a light switch gets flicked both in this woman and in this room. She doesn't know where Noah is. Why would she care where Noah is when she has all of this? Don't you want to be in this? And that is maybe when the sinisterness starts to alight in the front of your brain, there's something about this that feels. I don't know. I suppose it would. You have a very acute understanding, perhaps, of what a fly thinks as it lands at the center of the little plant trap. Pitcher plant, in this case, as opposed to Venus fly, because the Venus fly works by shutting the things over it. But the pitcher plant creates a noxious stew that is very sweet and attracts attention. And then when you land in it, the. The juices in it are actually digestive fluids. And anything that lands in the pool, so to speak, is slowly consumed by the plant. [01:04:15] Speaker C: So am I to understand, given all of the reality based fuckery I've been going through the past couple of days, that as I'm sitting in this pool talking to this disingenuous hot mess who just can't understand that what I needed to do, just listen to me, this water that I'm in is somehow eating me alive? Is that what's happening? [01:04:41] Speaker A: Well, let's not use the word water, but do stick on the word hot mess. We will say that with a 19. You have managed to realize this fast enough that there's. There's. It's like a light tingle. Um, I don't know if you've ever had this experience. It's very unique to a chemistry class where there's sometimes, like, you, or, uh, we'll talk about cooking instead. When you go to reach something and you can feel the heat coming off of it before you grab it, and that stops you from wrapping your hand around something that is too hot or, like, you have the. For those of us who don't cook so much, when you get the pizza rolls out of the microwave and you. You can put your hand above it and be like, shouldn't put that in my mouth. There's lava inside. So you are talking to her, and the frustration is what snaps you out. You start to feel that tingle, and you can get out of the pool before it becomes more than a pleasantly light exfoliation. Skin a little reddish. But the speed at which the scene accelerates is alarming. You are pushing your way back from her even as she comes closer to you. But here's the thing about moving through water and trying to reach people, right? Water is a pretty thick substance. You have to have muscles to get your way through it. You have to swim. And it's hard to do that when various parts of you are beginning to boil and dissolve away. And it is as you are scrambling back up and pushing yourself out. She is reaching towards you. The one hand that is coming up out of the water, still sizzling, dripping a bit, it's got that hydrogen peroxide foaminess to it. And when the other comes up to swipe at you, it has been wholly degloved. This is a woman slowly turning into an anatomical diagram, the kind that you teach to learn the difference between the dermis and the epidermis and the fatty layer and the muscle and the bone in the sinew and so on. I don't know if it's that realization that will haunt you for the rest of your natural life, however long that may happen to be, if you don't find the baby or if it's the way that so many of them just keep going at it. There were people fucking in this pool when you got here, and they still are. And the only thing worse than a slightly boiling acidic bath that dissolves people into the worst of their essences, then what it would look like if you were having intercourse with someone all the while. Suffice it to say that the man who said, baby, no teeth won't have much to worry about if she stays underwater much longer. [01:07:37] Speaker C: So I. I'm. My brain is processing this one sip at a time as I'm trying to rub as much of the water off my body, this acid off my body, as much as I can. I can't. Can't stand the thought of a single blemish or burn or scar mark from this. [01:07:56] Speaker A: This. [01:07:56] Speaker C: This lie. And from there, I start getting my clothes on immediately, struggling with the pants and the belt buckle. And I'm not even tucked in right now because I just need to get the hell out of here. And from there, once I'm. Once I'm free, I leave. [01:08:14] Speaker A: And I. [01:08:15] Speaker C: Just start shouting for Noah. I'm beyond the point of playing coy now. My last nerve has been shot. [01:08:23] Speaker A: Lie is the word that we will hinge on because our world is an illusion. There's a truth beyond the curtains of our reality and the lie that we live in, built by forces outside of our control. And once you have peeled back that once you. Once you found the little man behind the thing doing, the little levers snap, it goes perfectly normal room. That whatever illusion had centered over this place. Like, congratulations, my guy. You passed your DC will. Your will DC, you just instantly see just a. A plain space. Uh, no bodies. We tend not to use that word for skeletons, but we'll get back to that later. And a very straightforward path. There's a door that you came in. There is a door for forward. The room isn't as big as you'd imagined, so we will allow Aiden to go charging forward. But there are two guests of our labyrinth who yet remain. Kendall, living for now in the cage of your human experience. A pornographic panopticon trapped inside the shackles of having been witnessed by so many people. And lo, as you enter through how the turns have tabled, because there is something a little oobleet about the room that you find yourself in. Yes, you've been maybe to a burlesque bar or a certain kind of strip club that has go go dancers hanging from the ceiling in those little cages. It has to be pretty fancy. It's an expensive club that has those kind of things. But you certainly haven't seen so many of them dangling from the ceiling like a menagerie. In fact, it's a little Indiana Jones, the way the floor bottoms away, revealing an infinite inky blackness. And there's a winding path, more than one that kind of would call to mind that the very fancy kind of asian inspired art you see on folks walls, or the. The geometric patterns of the wallpaper in a cheap doctor's office. A path like that standing above this abyss. And all of these cages around you, most of them are occupied, some by one people, many by two, occasionally with three. All of them dancing, gyrating, copulating, and having a fairly good time of it. [01:11:05] Speaker E: Great. Good for them. I guess. I'm glad that they're having a good time, because at this point, I don't think I am. And I don't know where the fuck Noah is, but, I mean, he's obviously not back the way I came. So I guess I just have to kind of push forward and see what's at the end of this weird, hellish maze. [01:11:35] Speaker A: It's not so much a maze. You can kind of see the direction you're going at all times. There is a very circuitous nature to it. You're walking through a bit of a seussian sidewalk, but on the whole, it's no more difficult to pass through this than it is to walk through beaded curtain. There is so much going on. I wonder at this point, I don't know. You've experienced the trauma, the violation of being watched, but these people are more consenting. Are you eyes forward on a mission? Or is this the kind of thing that you can't help? Miss. [01:12:23] Speaker E: I came in here and had eyes on me, and these people are here for it. But I'm. I'm not here to have a good time. I. The last time I participated in anything going on at this close, it wasn't exactly a really fond memory for me. So. Yeah, I don't. I don't really want to, you know, dive into this environment more than I have to. [01:13:00] Speaker A: I certainly wouldn't dive. You have no idea how deep the bottom is. No. But if you are going to proceed forward, then we will say you should act under pressure. Before you do, though, you have a certain advantage to your life motivated by rage. And I would suspect that this close to the object of your desires, there is something violently single minded about you. So let's think about. Yeah, act under pressure indeed. And depend, depending on how that goes, we might have more of a conversation. [01:13:42] Speaker E: I do not like the way you just phrased that. We're about to have more of a conversation, I think, because that's a six. [01:13:57] Speaker A: The dice. God's not. I, whoever you in chat who hexed this game just so we could see the worst of it. Like I see you. Yeah, it's rage. It's a drug. We all have different weaknesses. That's the theme of the story. The way that our emotions manipulate us into making bad choices. Whether that's lust in the case of the professor, or greed in the case of our friend. In your case, it is violence. As you proceed forward down the sidewalk, you start to realize how unusual it is that both the room and the activities in it would go on this long. I have never worn gigantic stiletto heels and danced naked in a hanging cage before. But just visualizing it, it sounds exhausting. Visualizing the gentleman in front of you, the nearest cage, doing it. Exhausting. Do you know that feeling in. I mean, you've been on like, an elliptical for just a little too long, and your calves on the back start to burn. And, like, you know, you can push through it, but it's gonna hurt more. Or if I told you to just stand up and then just lift your. Looked your heels off the ground, right? And you work that muscle that's usually just supposed to stabilize your body, but now you're making it do work work. And how exhausting and painful that gets really on the same page, right? So how long would you have to dance before that happens? I don't know. It's obvious that this gentleman has been dancing longer than that. And it's not all that bad until he stops. He falls forward against the bars of the cage, his hands finding it desperate. Anything to get some of the weight off of his tired feet, of his twisted ankles. And that is when you realize you're not entirely alone on these pathways. Something not unlike the creature that visited Francis. The immaculate joining of male and female, faceless, but possessed of all genders, of all attractive features, steps out from between a shadow and another shadow with a savage looking whip in hand. I don't know how long it would take someone to get lashed before they went back to dancing. I think that's something that only you can decide for yourself. But however long that is, in this case, he hasn't. It's gonna take a while. Here. Closer. Now, you can see that everyone in these cages, no matter what act they're engaged in, whether it being sensuous gyration or some kind of sex act, there are sore jaws, a desperate need of lubrication, pinched flesh, all of these things. It is an agonizing treadmill of sensuality. And now you understand why they can't stop. Here's the thing about it, though. These are creatures of excess, and you are in a prison made from your own emotion. They are weak. This is what happens when you succumb to your desires. They thought it would be a nice, fun game to get into this, and now they're being punished. The way that Noah deserves to be punished, because he pushed you into this same position. They're all like this. So I don't know if you will necessarily remember when the cattle prod got pushed into your hand. I don't think you know where the thought came from. That this is the way forward, that providing a service to this prison, the means by which you can proceed. And yet, both of those things are true. Noah dated someone before you, and in the early part of your relationship. He wouldn't stop talking about her in that way that people who are clumsy at dating do. And you never met her personally, but you heard plenty about her. Certainly plenty enough for you to describe her to me now. [01:19:05] Speaker E: Yeah, I did. I. This. This girl, she had curly hair. It was kind of auburny red. She had three freckles that were just so cute and so pretty, perfectly placed right underneath her left eye. And then she had this cute, tiny, tiny. It was just like the smallest little mole. And it was really obvious that it wasn't a freckle. And she was small, and she wasn't, like, a strong person physically. And she was really dainty, and she wore sundresses, and she was just so. So soft and so angelic. And, you know, she always wore these ballet flats. And Noah just thought ballet flats were just the sweetest thing. And he really liked the way that these ballet flats in particular, laced up around her ankles, which were so small. And he would help her tie the ribbon before they went out. And it, it was great. [01:20:22] Speaker A: What would you do to get revenge against this woman? What would you do to let out the rage that is inside you? What would you do to cover up the feelings, the wondering? If he talks about her so much because he liked her more and he can't have her now. But I guess you'll do. What would you do to eradicate those emotions from a tired and angry brain? I'll remind you that she can't escape the cage. And you are holding a cattle prod. [01:20:57] Speaker E: You know, actions, actions have consequences, right? People make choices all the time, for better or for worse. And, you know, some people deserve what they get, right? So she's here in this cage. That means she made a choice and Noah made a choice. And in this moment, she and Noah, not that different from each other, right? [01:21:38] Speaker A: They say karma always comes around. You get what you deserve. [01:21:43] Speaker E: Yeah, well, I got what I got before I was able to give. So let's get what's coming to me then. [01:21:56] Speaker A: Putting on a clinic, really, of rage the first one might feel. I don't imagine that you're a cattle product expert, but once you figure out how the tools work, this sounds like something you'll take to apologies, Aidan. Like a fish to water. I don't know how long it's going to take you to realize that you could have continued at any point after maybe the first or second that at a certain juncture you have strayed from your mission because you are enjoying yourself. That there's something about the way these creatures, there are more of them peeking out of non existence to watch you. And it's difficult to read the facial expression when they don't have eyes. But you'd swear it was an approving smile, one tormentor recognizing another with a sense of professional respect. And it's not actually just this woman. There are a lot of people who have wronged you, Kendall, and there are a lot of cages to get through. So we will let you avail yourself of the opportunity to take revenge. Revenge, the thing that drives you. And someone has neatly wrapped up all of these faces, all of these wrongdoers for you to punish as you please. Good. But it is not all punishment. No, we'll use a different p word. Penitent, I think, coming to mind, referring, of course, to Aisha, who has, despite the outfit, I don't think you're pastor's going to appreciate the choice of clothing or the shape. It's a bit on the nose is what I'm saying, but you can proceed all the same. Elsewhere in this building, there are people who are suffering in imaginable ways. Not only your colleagues, but also the people they are interacting with. You have a slightly different experience. There's nothing threatening you I mentioned earlier, a little halo of interaction, a little bubble, rendering you simultaneously safe but invisible as you push through the crowd and end up in the next little segment of the room. I actually don't know the name of this implementation, but I am visualizing a large wooden x. There are cuffs at the top of each corner. At the bottom of each corner, it sits at an angle, so you can lay forward on it. They are in a half circle oriented around a central position where a man is standing. We will get to who is occupying the kranzes in a moment. Will describe the implement a little bit later. But the very first thing is probably dealing with the, I want to say the elephant in the room, because that is going to introduce the visual of a trunk to the situation. And don't worry, we're getting there. But my point is this. You have made it a long, long way in your life. I share with that suffering, the forces of temptation. It would take someone very special to lead you astray from the path. I want you to imagine right now how urgently you feel about finding your brother. And then imagine the kind of person who you would give a second glance to even as you charged forward. Describe for me the person in the center of this room. [01:26:13] Speaker B: Yeah. Okay. I may be sheltered and sure. The idea of saving myself was very much integral to my upbringing, but, um, I'm not blind. Taller, probably edging towards six foot. [01:26:55] Speaker A: Broad. [01:26:56] Speaker B: Shoulders, good shoulders, dark hair, dark eyes. And it's not so much the looks. It's the aura. It's the power. That quiet power. It's someone who doesn't have to shout about the fact that they are in charge. For you to know that they are in charge. [01:27:29] Speaker A: Well, that you have in spades. There is. This man could carry the weight of the world on his shoulders. He's got more than enough. Let's say it's a Dorito shaped torso, but at least the Doritos are pretty even triangle, right? Like the top is not alarmingly wide. The shoulders are, though, also necessary for motion. Kendall, you're the expert here, but I imagine you use this one here when you're winding up to swing a whip, right. You need some of the rotation from back there. I'm making this up. I don't know. Regardless, you, Aisha, will get a wonderful display of those muscles as you come towards the center of the room. And he winds up this cat of nine tails and gives. If there were a world championship for erotic spanking, this guy has, like six years in a row of gold medals. People come to the competition to, like, see who gets second because they know who is going to be. It's like swimming, right? So you have cat o'ninetails, you have paddles, you have open hand. And he is the michael Phelps of this ship. He needs those shoulders because it's not fractured from working out, it's from carrying all the medals from this contest home. That is the level of expertise that we are dealing with. I think also by now, it goes without saying, but I should mention it anyway. Holy nude. There is a deep and abiding gratification from each time the strike happens and the perfect amount of teasing as he walks forward and asks them if they want it. And they beg and he denies them. Walks between the left and the right, having them compete over who gets the next strike. And there's a little bit of that before he turns to notice you, all of him turning to notice you, all of him noticing you, and he smiles. But that's the thing about people who know how to commend attention. They don't have to ask, they don't have to initiate call conversation. They can just stare at you, gorgeous and nude, as they exchange the cat of nine tails with a riding crop on a nearby rack. [01:30:29] Speaker B: There are other folks in this room watching the spectacle. [01:30:35] Speaker A: Mm hmm. Around the outside, shadowed enough, you can see the figures, the humanoid forms, but it's a bit eyes wide shut. Not masks, but anonymity. Standing in shadow. We'll say that there's actually a spotlight above each of the crosses so that everyone can see just how red the skin turns when it gets that nice. [01:31:07] Speaker B: And I'm assuming no sign of my brother. [01:31:12] Speaker A: No. Although, given the circumstances, we can probably. That's a good thing, right? Yeah. [01:31:27] Speaker B: I am, I suppose, hesitant to interrupt the show. I don't want to be that person at the party. I suppose the only way to go forward is to, well, go forward. So I will. [01:31:46] Speaker A: Mm hmm. Two options available to you there. The first I would take. Act under pressure, probably if you feel like you can justify it as a player, if you can realize this place for what it is, you could try to see through the illusion, but I don't know if you have the motivation for that exactly. Right now, I'm amenable to an argument, but I'm skeptical. [01:32:16] Speaker B: I mean, the last place we were at the party that turned out to be a dud, it was ripped away. That illusion, wasn't it? Quite spectacularly and with some violence. If that is still burning in the back of my brain, if that is what I have come to understand as the reality right now, I imagine that might be something I'd be looking for, especially considering the vision in Kendall's bathroom. [01:32:55] Speaker A: It works for me. Real soul. [01:33:02] Speaker D: Hmm. [01:33:06] Speaker B: Seven. [01:33:10] Speaker A: Mmm. Not today. Lots of games have these kind of things where you can roll to notice if things are weird, and sometimes it's good to fail them. This is not one of those times. Because as you reach to, I keep saying, peer past the curtain, and I should really find a better way, or at least a different way. As you attempt to look beyond what exists here and find a true way forward, you take a step too far. There is one thing that is peering past the curtains, and there's another thing where you reach up and just rip them down and let all the sunlight in. So squinting forward, you go looking through, trying to find the truth beyond this, and it reveals itself entirely. I think based on the faces many of you made. When I say cat of ninetails, you are not imagining the traditional historical version of the tool, because those were barbed little fishhooks on them. They were for punishment, and not like, ha ha, daddy. I said no, but you wanted me to say yes. Punishment. But like, you have committed a crime on a ship, and now it's time for the admiralty to take its due punishment. The redness here is not because a nice, hearty thwack can leave a handprint. It is because, as Francis will explain to you, when you peel skin away, it leaves behind that. That surface bubbling of blood, an abrasion, like when you skin your knee as a kid. You stumble forward in the concrete, and it doesn't bleed, it just kind of rises to the surface. And there is that. With every swing, a chunk comes loose, a quarter or a dime sized piece of skin that those shoulders are able to wrench clean off. And as the tool reaches the completion of its arc, the little flecks go splattering onto the space between the observers and the gentlemen. You would have wondered why you didn't see that the first time you entered. I suspect the crows have something to do with that. We'll lose two stability for this, but with the advantage of being able to charge forward, running through the scene. [01:36:16] Speaker B: And calling as I do. Noah. Noah, tell me you're here, Noah. [01:36:38] Speaker A: Well, I have a good news and bad news situation. So many of you searching out Noah. So many of you trying to call out his name. He would answer if he could, but in his current position, he cannot. Well, I would apologize, but I'm not so sorry. So instead, I will merely recognize that I might have put each of you through a lot for the last few moments. So how's about this? The five of us, we're gonna take a real quick break, do some safety check ins, stretch our legs, get our brains back together, and then probably jump right back into it. You, as the audience, should do the same. Ten minutes from now, we'll be back. You can see how it all ends. Well, we've made it all back in one piece. Did a little bit of our safety work, made sure everyone's feeling okay, got good affirmative nonce from all four players, which means I think we are ready to see this adventure to its conclusion. Climax. I don't know. It was sitting in my brain the whole time. And I said, I'm better than this. I'm not gonna do that. No, I'm not better than that. [01:38:01] Speaker E: You're not better than that? Nope. [01:38:03] Speaker B: And we love you for it. [01:38:05] Speaker E: It's true. [01:38:06] Speaker A: People, by now, they know exactly what they're signing up for. [01:38:09] Speaker C: Look, you don't leave gold in the mine. You gotta take it out. [01:38:12] Speaker A: Mm hmm. All of that said, each of you has experienced a particular kind of order ordeal. All of it ending with another door opening on another wall, not the one you came in through. Those disappeared in various reasons, of course. Western Francis descending on their own. Aiden hopping up out of the pool, charging forward. Aisha racing straight through the scene. Kendall making a small walk through the labyrinth, availing yourself of the tools and bodies available to you before ending on the other side of this Indiana Jones style pit. I I know you've all got that in your head, and it's fairly stressful. The next part is probably not going to make it better, because as you come thundering through the door, in Laura's case, tiptoeing through it, in Kendall's case, four different doors open. And as you step through it, I need you to imagine that the behind you is your own individual space. And ahead of you is one shared space. So there's a bit of a blurring, like someone has stitched a vhs taped together poorly. And Kendall, you open the door, and you step through, and you find yourself shouldering in with Professor Francis and Aiden. You go screaming forward, throw the door open, and it's Francis and Kendall standing there, all the three of you, soon to be bowled over by Aisha as she, looking over her shoulder, comes flying through the door. Get your reactions in just a moment. But it's also important. There's a very long hallway ahead of you at this point. Maybe enough for two people to walk abreast if you are okay being touched by whoever's with you. The ceiling is very short. It's quite cramped, so I don't know who's tallest among you. It might be Aidan. You'll feel your hair kind of scraping against the top of it. Not. Not enough to duck, but just enough to have that feeling there. Let's begin there. [01:40:30] Speaker E: As Aisha kind of like, bowls into us. I'm sure there's a moment where we're all kind of falling into one another. And I'll reach out and I'll grab her arm and just. Aisha. Aisha. All right, slow down. Hold your horses. Are you okay? [01:40:47] Speaker B: Slow down. [01:40:49] Speaker E: Okay. [01:40:56] Speaker B: I. This. This place is. It's a lot. [01:41:08] Speaker E: Yeah. Uh, yeah, it is. Um, and I'll. Are the doors to the individual places still open? Or have they, like, shut at this point? [01:41:24] Speaker A: Let's see. Doors. That's the part I'm gonna hold you on. Cause it's not door. Zuh, it is door. [01:41:31] Speaker E: Door. Okay. Okay. So when I look back, I only see mine. When Aisha looks back, she only sees hers. We have all. Okay, awesome. Then I think I'm even more confused. Retroactive ad confusion, because nobody was in there with me, and so. Yes. No, this place kind of fucks with your head a little bit. And I'll just kind of, like, peer into my space again through that door, just to make sure that nobody else is coming out. Not that I'd see them if they were, but, I mean, we're all here together, so. I imagine not. [01:42:16] Speaker A: Yeah. For the sake of individuals. Kendall, if you look and you open that door, it would appear that Aisha had somehow made it her way into your room and then come through. And then likewise, Frances and Aidan, you would have. The most rational explanation is that you were somehow followed. Of course, that's not the truth. And I would hope by now none of you have the curious streak to say, let's call attention to the weird thing. [01:42:42] Speaker E: No, no, I'm thinking about it. But, like, first off, we definitely probably don't have time to talk about it. And also, what's the point? [01:42:53] Speaker D: Did I ask if I am still bleeding in my back from where they. I was stuck to the massive. [01:43:01] Speaker A: Oh, yeah. [01:43:03] Speaker D: So then I. This is the first time anyone has seen me. I'm not. I don't have my shirt. I'm bleeding from my back. So I'm extremely confused. I literally just dug something out of my own body to get here, and nobody doesn't make sense. None of this makes any sense at all. [01:43:27] Speaker E: Oh. So then it stands to reason that as I reach out for Aisha, I see, because you've bumped into me, that I likely have some of your blood on my arm. And I. As I see this, I have to examine myself, and I realize it's not me. And I look over at you, and I. Oh, holy fuck. [01:43:46] Speaker B: Oh, my God. [01:43:49] Speaker A: Jesus. [01:43:50] Speaker E: Are you. Are you okay? [01:43:55] Speaker D: Well, I don't know if that's really a term that we can use right now. How bad is it? I can't see. [01:44:05] Speaker E: Uh, storyteller, scale of one to ten. [01:44:09] Speaker A: Well, um. It's kind of weird how often this word comes up in Queen's court games. But I'm going to turn again to my old pal flenst. You know, you've been to a supermarket or maybe a very fancy deli. And there's the machine that has the spinny blade, and you can kind of push the ham down on it a little. Little bit at a time. We'll say we got two or three good passes on the back of Professor Francis. There is what you would look like. Very severe, like skinned knee. The blade obviously wasn't sharp, so it's got that. That rough texture to it. Like the little bits of skin still there. It's not clean. I suppose you might also think about, like, ripping wallpaper off a wall and how that leaves little spots behind. It does not look great. No, best. [01:45:04] Speaker C: I'm gonna be honest with you. It looks like shit. It looks like you lost a fight in the deli market. And I'm generally, generally. I'm genuinely worried right now. I don't know if you all happen to see the hot tub. [01:45:22] Speaker D: Um. The hot tub? The hot tub. [01:45:26] Speaker A: I am. [01:45:27] Speaker D: I am, as you said, deli meat. And you want to talk about a. [01:45:30] Speaker A: Hot tub, Aiden, because the hot tub. [01:45:33] Speaker C: Is an acid pit. Your back is the beginning of what I just escaped from. People are melting like snowmen made of meat popsicles. And if we want to sit here and do a mental check in, we can. But if that's the foreplay, how fucked do you think Noah is right now? Just putting that out there? [01:45:55] Speaker B: And that's enough to get me moving. [01:45:59] Speaker A: We're not going to call any attention to the fact that Kendall is still holding what appears to be some kind of torture implement. [01:46:06] Speaker C: I mean, it is that kind of party. [01:46:08] Speaker B: It's Kendall. [01:46:12] Speaker A: Of all the people, to have a random cattle Kendall prod. Cattle prod. I mean, like, yeah, three weird things have happened, and then it's just Kendall carrying a cattle prod. I mean, whatever. [01:46:23] Speaker E: Hash justkendlethings. [01:46:25] Speaker A: Yeah, I wish we could sell Kendall branded cattle prod on the website, but that's probably a bit outside of our reach. [01:46:31] Speaker B: That's a little much. [01:46:32] Speaker E: Yeah. Yeah. [01:46:34] Speaker A: Well, all of that said, the emotions are high, things are bubbling up, quite literally in Aiden's case, but else there's nowhere to go but forward. Sounded to me like Aidan and Aisha, you were willing to head on that plan. Kind of. Regardless, whatever this place is, it's. It's leading you somewhere. If a building can be sentient, it is guiding you through itself. I. [01:47:08] Speaker B: It is going to get worse. At this point, I'm just resigned to that fact. It is going to get worse out of what I have already witnessed and whatever is here and whatever. Whatever's taken Noah and I mean, at this point, I need to see this through. If I can get him out, I need to get him out. [01:47:40] Speaker A: Then forward we shall go. It starts out looking very much like an ordinary hallway. And it will be probably 20 or 30ft down before you maybe notice the ways that it begins to change. You have straight vertical walls, horizontal ceiling, and then it starts to kind of become more and more tubular. If you've seen, like, lava tubes in a volcano, dormant volcano, that might be the case, but those aren't. Aren't ridged or ribbed, and they normally stay the same kind of size. But as you progress forward, it starts to get closer and. And more claustrophobic until you can feel the walls of it pushing in on you. And you might be expecting cold stone or maybe splinters from wood, but it's not that. There's something a little spongy to it. It's muscly. And I say muscly because as it presses in against you, there's that point where you take that step forward and you might have to turn your body to kind of squeeze, and then you're wedging, and then there's this pulse of a push. Just a second. As this tunnel kind of grabs you and then nudges you forward a little bit and it begins to undulate in that direction. And there's like a. There's a moisture to it. It's clear, mucusy, not enough to like alien dripping from the ceiling. But there's a slickness to it. I will leave it to your own imagination what body part you think you might be trapped inside of. But regardless, at the end. Well, rewind a second. Regardless. I need to know who's in front, Aisha. Then you, with more force there on that last pulse, get pushed out into some kind of ant chamber. You have something solid under your feet. It's black, but that vanta black, that impossible black. And it kind of stretches out in every direction around you for a minute. You imagine yourself standing on, like, a glassy bridge inside the black hole at the center of the universe that's infinitely dark in every direction. You have no sense of time or scale except for the door. And I would normally describe this door, but I think it's actually your job, because you're the only one of us who knows what Noah's bedroom door in your old home looks like. [01:50:47] Speaker B: I mean, it was a. It was a standard ranch home. Good solid oak. And he had these God awful posters. Just the dumbest comedians and bands that went out of style, like, four years ago. And I think the familiarity is what pulls me forward. It's the only thing that has been familiar and the only thing that seems real here, even though I know it's not. [01:51:21] Speaker A: Yeah. The other three of you coming up behind, it's a very wide shot, like you've been cramped and crunched. And now, for the first time, the three of you can kind of stand abreast. And you see Aisha walking towards the door, presume everyone's following. There's no last minute regrets, no thoughts bouncing around. [01:51:49] Speaker C: I have a job to do, and I have a need to survive. And in order to survive, I need to get this job done. [01:51:56] Speaker A: It's all. [01:51:57] Speaker C: It's all straightforward. So I just confidently back up Aisha as we go through the door. [01:52:06] Speaker A: So Aiden's motivations are perfectly clear. Aisha's kendall, what motivates you to take that step? And the next and the next? [01:52:17] Speaker E: Aside from the fact that I'm not 100% sure that there is a way out here that isn't forward, there's a lot of things that I need to see kind of come to a close here in whatever form that takes. And finding Noah is part of that. So I'm walking up, too. I'm not letting go of that cattle producer, because at this point, who knows? It may come in handy, but never know. You never know. [01:52:56] Speaker A: And, Francis, what about you? [01:53:00] Speaker D: I am much like Kendall, not really thinking I can go backwards. I'm certainly not going to climb through this meat tunnel that we just got pushed out of. Um, and I'm not going to go back through that mass of people, I. I. If that's what's left of them. Um, I have one choice, and that's to find a way to stop these people from doing whatever it is they're going to do to. Until whatever Noah is supposed to do is done. Um. I don't really know what Noah's going to do. Uh, but I know that I need to let him do it, because I will get what I need, what I want, what I deserve. I've already literally. I. I'm. I'm the only person here who is literally bleeding for what I need and what I want, and I will get it. I just have to figure out how to stop three very headstrong people, so I'm going along with them. [01:54:18] Speaker A: You can take small comfort in the fact that you're not the only one bleeding. At least once the door is open. This door, which exists out of space, opens to a room which exists out of space. It's got very old hardwood. You can get back to that refurbished meatpacking warehouse. Feel really old. Wood, brick walls. There's a filthy mattress on the far left corner, maybe six inches thick if you include all the clothing and other detritus piled up. There's a single bare light bulb just gently swinging from the ceiling. Strewn about the area. Not included with the mattress are dozens of notebooks, digital camera, all kinds of single pages torn out, scribbled on. And laying there on the mattress is a young african american man, unconscious and naked, except for a t shirt. Even from a distance, I ain't sure you can tell that he is considerably thinner than the last time you saw him. Emaciated, even a husk of himself. His skin is dry, it's peeling in places. The hair is long, unkempt, greasy, sticking to his face and his neck, his beard, giving that bush vibe. As you come closer, that's when you'll start to notice the abrasions, the black, pulsing veins under his skin, the various places that he's been cut, the parts of him that pulse and swell unnaturally. Noah. [01:56:33] Speaker B: And I, as I move forward without any notice to the people who have followed me, without any notice to the rest of the room, just to my brother. Oh, God. Oh, God. [01:56:52] Speaker E: Oh, God. [01:56:52] Speaker B: Oh, God. What? [01:57:00] Speaker A: Ayesha? Sorry. [01:57:02] Speaker B: No, I just. I kneel next to him. [01:57:22] Speaker D: I'm gonna follow behind her, partially out of motivation to. I just don't know how what I'm seeing before me is supposed to do anything, let alone whatever task Doctor Dan wants, wants of him. And I kneel down next to Aisha and I just. I'm just confused. So confused. [01:57:56] Speaker A: Is it just confusion, Noah? Was the star going to be more famous than you could ever be? You could guide him there and for that, have his gratitude. And now you see him like this. [01:58:12] Speaker D: I guess some. I guess. I guess part of me is disappointed, actually, that's maybe even angry. I've been where he is. In what I saw. I was in those paths that he went down. I've experienced all of this. Maybe not quite as insane as what this is, but I've experienced it. And I didn't let that consume me. And he has. And I hate that I'm going to admit this, but he has so much more talent than I do and is lying here on death's door and he's going to deprive everyone of it. And I'm so disappointed. And so angry. [01:59:15] Speaker A: Less on the disappointed end, I imagine. Aiden and Kendall fall. Aiden, you're a survivor. The alpha. If people can't handle this world, they don't belong in it. And there's a million and a half dollars riding on whatever is currently writhing. It appears in his stomach. [01:59:43] Speaker C: That's exactly the clarification Aiden needs. As I'm coming to this room, I see people that are worried about someone. If they couldn't be successful, then that's on them. That's their fault. If you cannot outwit me, if you can't out think someone, if you can't out talk someone, that is how society will treat you. In second place, they'll throw you away. So you gotta step on people. People are tall for a reason. We make great ladders. But right now, I need to get down there to their level and see what hell this package is, to put it in polite terms, because that's what I need to get this behind me. And you said it was in the stomach. Still. [02:00:34] Speaker A: That thought. I see you thinking. But I'm sure that I'm not the only one who has noticed Kendall smirking, quite pleased with herself this entire time. [02:00:44] Speaker E: I don't know what you're talking about. I'm so concerned for Noah and his. Well, okay. It's probably really good that, um, Aisha's not looking at me, huh? Cause I don't really have a great poker face for these kinds of things. At least insofar as Noah is concerned, huh? Yeah. I wanted to see him hurt the way he hurt me. And I mean this. We can call it a fall from grace or what have you. This is exactly where he deserves to be after what he did. Oh, yeah. [02:01:42] Speaker A: Well, I believe for the most part. But key to the humiliation that you suffered was its public nature. Insofar as we know, the four of you have seen Noah like this. Maybe a few other people, maybe whoever did this to him. Five, six, we can call it. Is that enough? [02:02:04] Speaker E: See, I wonder if folks would believe it or if they would think it was just some student film. But you know what? Whether or not they do. [02:02:16] Speaker A: Hmm? [02:02:17] Speaker E: Not 100% sure, I really care in the outcome as far as public opinion. Right. So it's about this time, with the cattle prod safely in my right hand, I will pull out my phone, and, I mean, I guess first check to see if it works down here. [02:02:38] Speaker A: You're asking if you have signal in limbo? Probably not. [02:02:42] Speaker E: Not signal. I'm not looking to live stream anything. I just need to know if the camera functions, because my phone wasn't super working in the hallway, so I'm not. It kind of has that same weird vibe, so I'm not sure it'll work. [02:02:57] Speaker A: So you've traveled overseas. You know how you have to swap out your SIM card sometimes to get it to work in a foreign country? Take that and extrapolate upon it. You have entered this dimension, which Kendall might not understand, but I think we've got a pretty good grasp on. Name something that might have changed about the phone that allows it to work. [02:03:23] Speaker E: Oh, my God. Uh, that's a good. That's a good question. Oh, God. I'm not prepared for this kind of question. I'm not creative enough for this. [02:03:35] Speaker A: Um, well, you can direct your attention to the soul blinking eyeball where the normally is. [02:03:43] Speaker E: See, I was thinking it would have to be something, some sort of weird body horror kind of exterior difference. [02:03:54] Speaker A: Case made of meat, camera made of eyeball. [02:03:57] Speaker E: Mm hmm. Yep. Yep. And, I mean, at this point, we just came down a nice, fleshy, I. [02:04:05] Speaker A: Wouldn'T think about it too much. [02:04:06] Speaker E: Meat tunnel is what somebody called it. So we're gonna. We're gonna go with that. So, you know, sure, this is weird. It's fucked up. But you know what? We're just gonna. We're just gonna roll with it. We're just gonna roll with it. [02:04:29] Speaker A: Yeah, roll with it, indeed. Because the moment of your vengeance is upon you. And it would be the prudent thing to remain discreet, to let Aiden do his work, or Aisha to say her prayers. But you're really not here to get a video of Noah surrounded by his friends. You're here to get a video of Noah. So why don't you roll your disadvantage for me, and we'll see if you can keep your discretion gland pumping. Oh. [02:05:07] Speaker E: That'S a seven. [02:05:10] Speaker A: Yeah, I'm not a mathematologist, but I don't recall that being enough according to the rule set. So, as Aisha, you are having a deeply personal family moment. Aiden, you are preparing to hot rope out of the situation. Exeville in control. Man on a mission. Professor, you're having a more private, inward looking moment shared with this. This prodigious or prodigy student of yours. And then comes Kendall barreling through like the woman at the store who you got her order wrong, and she doesn't care if there's a line because she said three pumps instead of one. And I'm gonna raise hell about it shouldering through the lot of you, lips twisted up into a glorious smile. Are you giggling as you do this? What's the noise that comes out as you just camera out, smiling, watching all of this? [02:06:06] Speaker E: Oh, it's. It's akin to a cackle, I think is probably the best word for it, because there is magic menace behind it. There is glee behind it, and it just. It comes out so twisted as I just. Oh, my God. [02:06:32] Speaker A: Oh. [02:06:33] Speaker E: Oh, God. It is. You know, I was expecting something good, but I was not expecting this good. This good. [02:06:49] Speaker B: Are you out of your fucking mind? [02:06:55] Speaker E: No, I'm not, actually. Um, thanks, though. I'm sorry, were you expecting more? I don't. What do you want from me? [02:07:09] Speaker B: I don't know. Maybe some fucking compassion? What is wrong with you, Kendall? [02:07:15] Speaker E: Okay, first question, why? Second, in response to your question, nothing. But if there is something wrong with me, it's probably because of what your brother did. So we're just here getting a little bit of revenge at this point. [02:07:34] Speaker B: What the fuck are you talking about? [02:07:37] Speaker E: I don't want to get into it with you because I know how judgey you can be. Now's not super the time, and obviously you're not really in a place to have this conversation, so. [02:07:49] Speaker B: You heartless bitch. [02:07:55] Speaker E: Look, if you would like to know that I'm not the only one who knows what's going on, and I'll just, like, gesture at Aiden. He knows. He knows what this motherfucker did. [02:08:09] Speaker A: Yeah. [02:08:10] Speaker E: Which is why I'm not a good guy. Thank you, Aiden. Thank you. Hats off to you, my dude. Your brother's not a good guy, Aisha. I'm sorry that you had to find out this way. I mean, I'd say that I was sorry that, like, he's kind of in. [02:08:27] Speaker B: This predicament, but, like, karma slapper across the face. [02:08:32] Speaker E: Oh, okay. [02:08:37] Speaker A: Well, let's see how far that goes. Because your disadvantage. Uh, jealousy. Part of it, yes. And you've done a really good job so far of. Of resisting the urge to slap her. But I don't think this situation stops at slapping her. [02:08:55] Speaker B: No? No. She is reveling in not just someone else's pain, but my brother's pain. And I may not be reasonable right now, but he is. Whatever has been done to him, whatever is left of him. He's been left a husk. He's been left a shell. He has. Has been torn apart. And she is fucking laughing. Bitch. [02:09:28] Speaker A: The player versus player rules in Colt are not incredibly sophisticated. But, Ayesha, you can roll violence. Your advantage protector gives you an ongoing bonus to endure injury when you protect someone else. I think it's incredibly prudent at this point to give you the plus two to beat the shit out of Kendall. Kendall. Why don't. Well, hold on. We'll see how this goes, I guess. You're looking very proud of herself. [02:10:02] Speaker B: I mean, it's not great, but that's still a 1414. [02:10:06] Speaker A: All right, then let us say, Kendall, you get a plus one on your endure injury. [02:10:13] Speaker E: Only on top of my. On top of my bonus already for injury or. [02:10:20] Speaker A: Oh, I'm sorry. I was under the impression that you got a different. When you are in combat, you may awaken your inter. Rage. [02:10:29] Speaker E: Mm hmm. [02:10:31] Speaker A: You can make a choice to do that. [02:10:33] Speaker E: Oh, yeah, no, I will. I will. Absolutely. Yeah, I'll let her hit me. That's fine. But I will absolutely increase my rage. [02:10:44] Speaker A: Okay, so you're gonna lose minus one stability for that. And then, mark one rage. You can do one of three things with your rage. You can add plus one harm to your attack. You can take plus two to endure injury, or you can shake off and ignore any psychological or supernatural influences. [02:11:11] Speaker E: Oh, we're gonna go brutal assault. We're gonna take one harm to my attacks? Absolutely. [02:11:17] Speaker A: Okay, then. If you are not attempting to endure the injury or attempting to fight back, you should roll violence. [02:11:26] Speaker E: I will roll violence. Thank you. I have a little bit of bad news for Aisha, because that is a. [02:11:40] Speaker A: 1717, so that's three heart. Well, follow up question this. Just fists and fighting, because you do still have the. [02:11:52] Speaker E: Oh, no, no, no. I have that cattle prod, and it is in my hand. And I made sure that it was in my right hand, which is, you know, before I came into the session, I did not have a cattle prodding hand. I do now, which is great. Got a lot of practice with it. Got pretty good at it. So, no. She slaps me, my face, turns, and as soon as I look back at her, that cattle prod is coming up. [02:12:17] Speaker A: Okay, well, with a ten to 14, that's going to be Kendall. You'll take the one harm and deal three in return as you. It's. It's honestly gross. It's the. The. If this were a movie, there'd be the person in the room saying, enough already. Which might be you, Aiden, or might be you, Frances, because Kendall comes at Aisha like Brian Erlocher in his prime. I don't think the two of you are on your feet anymore at this point. There is first into the wall and then onto the floor. I don't know for sure. I think. I don't think that fight's gonna stop unless someone jumps in or I'm gonna. [02:13:06] Speaker D: Gesture to aid and do something about this. [02:13:10] Speaker C: I look at these two people fighting. I look at Noah on the ground. I look at the digital camera. Is the digital camera still on? Does it have a little cassette in it? [02:13:21] Speaker A: Oh, cassette, man, this is a new millennium. It's got an SD card in there. [02:13:24] Speaker C: Oh, even better. I walk over, press a button, get out the SD card, assuming that Noah's been busy recording some of his escapades. And I walk over to Noah, and I bend down, and I look at him, and I say out loud, not looking at anyone. If you want revenge or evidence, I have it right here. Free and, of course, voluntarily shot by yours truly on the ground here. I'm sure it's way more than a few seconds from a crappy camera phone. Now, if you want the boy who's on the ground, I can also give that to you. But there's something else that I need first, and I need you all to wait until this happens, or we are all pasted to the wall like meat stains. Your choice. Say that again. [02:14:16] Speaker D: You know what's happening here. [02:14:18] Speaker C: Yes, I do, to a degree. I know it's happening. Enough with this situation. And that's all I need to know. So you can go ahead and kill each other. I don't. I really don't care. It makes my life a lot easier. But if we're gonna get out of here, it's because we're going to come to a plan and make a deal and then get the fuck out like civilized adults. So who's gonna help me with this? [02:14:47] Speaker A: You should, Kendall. Is that enough to stop what you two are doing to one another? [02:14:59] Speaker E: I'm gonna leave this question to Aisha, because here's the thing. As much fun as I'm having beating the snot out of her, and I am sure that I could keep this up for a very long time. And I do have the advantage of the cattle prod. Yeah. No. Getting additional material to embarrass the fuck out of her brother sounds way more fun than killing her here. Didn't really come down here to kill her. So if she continues, if she doesn't turn her aggression towards aiden or fall apart into pieces in some way, then I guess we'll have to keep going. But if she stops. [02:15:50] Speaker B: Game master, we've all been slowly losing stability as we go down this rabbit hole and peel back the layers to see the true horror of this world. [02:16:09] Speaker A: Mm hmm. [02:16:12] Speaker B: What's the advantage? For someone who willingly drops the last of their stability? Is there an advantage to it? [02:16:19] Speaker A: Oh, golly, I don't know. Because there's something. Well, okay, I tell you what. You can trade your ability to exist comfortably in the real world by giving yourself over to whatever this other place is, right? But it's a bit like, you know, something will change. You're not entirely sure that will be on your terms. It could be catastrophic. You're essentially. It's the scene in the movie where the scared child throws their hands up to the sky and says, somebody help me. And then you never know who's going to say yes. Aisha has asked God for forgiveness and for help. He hasn't answered, but there are more active deities in the universe. [02:17:20] Speaker C: So that. [02:17:21] Speaker A: Would be the bargain. That, uh, the human brain, especially in this cosmology, devotes so much of itself to not seeing what's out there. But you can probably turn that part off, right? [02:17:50] Speaker B: I have lost everything. And what is left of my world is dying on a filthy mattress in a filthy room surrounded by fucking vultures. And you're right, game master. I have. I have prayed and pleaded and begged and nothing. Nothing was done. I don't fucking care anymore. I want them to suffer the way I have suffered and the way Noah has suffered. I want them to pay. [02:19:11] Speaker A: I wasn't prepared for this. Pause for a second. This is not something we covered in our, like, safety bits. So I just want to make sure that. That we're all on the right between Laura and I. Right. Okay. We made it back. Just wanted to spend some last minute. There were some things that we hadn't explicitly covered in our safety tools. I wanted to make sure we weren't going to step on anything by accident. But it seems that we are a okay on that regard. And everyone just give me a nod, thumbs up if we're all in agreement there. Excellent. Got it. Another one. So, bringing us back into the scene, Kendall has just launched upon Aisha. The professor is, knows better than to jump between them, or at least lacks for the physical ability to stop them. Called out to Aiden, Aiden says, I got my own thing to do here, my guys, but, like, whatever, you want to stop fighting. And then Kendall made the deal and said, yeah, no, if Aisha is willing to knock it off, then we can go back to business. And that is where we zoom in on Aisha. Because the professor, for as much as he loved your brother and as much as he said, and from the very, very beginning, when Francis said, oh, he reminds me so much of you, so I'm sure you're perfect as well. And there were even a few moments where Kendall, despite being Kendall about it, did offer a bed, did offer clothes. It was wrapped up in something else, but there was at least a little bit there. And now this has happened. And Aidan reveals himself to be himself. He'd always been a bit on the selfish side, but again, in the very beginning, he said, I'm here, willing to do whatever it takes to get you in touch with your brother. And then one after the other act of the, the other, the three people who you've trusted the most, the three people who you made a list of everyone Noah knew, sent emails, made phone calls, and they have all abandoned you alone in this room, now, bloody beaten by Kendall. Because when the chips are on the table, they don't give a fuck about you. What happens then? [02:21:32] Speaker B: They said they were here to help me. They said they wanted to help. They wanted to help me find Noah. They wanted to help me bring my brother back. And they all lied. And the rosary in my hand, the rosary that I've been carrying with me this whole time, drops to the filthy floor. And I stare at Aidan and at the professor and Kendall. And it feels like. It feels like my chest breaking open and my insides turn to ash. And all that is left behind is nothing. And maybe that is a sensation that I should fear. But in spite of myself, I reach for it and I hold fast. [02:23:18] Speaker A: And. [02:23:19] Speaker B: I begin to pray for whatever. Whatever else might be listening. If God has abandoned me, I will find something else. Something else is listening. Down here. Something else is listening down here. I know it. I know it. And I will have that power. I will not be helpless. I will not be useless. Not now, not ever, not again. [02:23:55] Speaker A: You're mouthing the prayer or whispering it to yourself. And there's a rustle across the floor like a. Like a too long gown just drifting across a ballroom. And you can feel the aftertaste of that kind of brush across your shoulders, fingers like fabric. Nothing actually there, just the air moving and kind of swirling around you. There's this profound, intense feeling of being watched. Not watched, seen, perceived. Weighed and measured. And this feeling, it coils around you like a serpent, starting at your legs. I'm visualizing that you're hauling yourself up onto your knees after Kendall has taken you to the floor. And it curls around your thigh and kind of around the chest and then up under an armpit. And there's this sensation, this thing, this little twist of void, like staring into a mirage ahead of you, formless, but distorting the light. And a voice whispers, you don't hear it in your ears, you hear it between them. Not your internal monologue, but behind that, and in front of that, echoing in the surround sound of the interior of your skull. And it says simultaneously, like 1520, an infinite number of female voices. It's in your moment of need that you have besieged the devouring mother. Tell me, Aisha, do you understand now what it feels to be alone? [02:26:13] Speaker B: Yes. [02:26:17] Speaker A: You are the outcast. The black void where no human looks upon you. But if you take my hand, this can become your power. Please, I ask very little in return for this service. You do not need to hurt anyone here. But you must understand you will forever be alone, and so also will be your burden to spread that loneliness, that darkness, that empty lack of connection with everyone you touch. [02:27:19] Speaker B: I am already alive. [02:27:23] Speaker A: It's weird to feel your brain smiling, but then that feeling retreats. If you can imagine someone has their fingers and they're just kind of rifling through your gray matter and then they pull them out and you can feel your shoulders kind of lull and then the voice, more distant now. Then you need only take my hand. [02:28:10] Speaker B: Is there a hand offered, game master? [02:28:14] Speaker A: Not that you can see, but you can feel something there. It's that electricity before a storm. It's the air pressure changing. You don't understand the illusion, but you know there are things in this world that you can't see. And absent any other explanation, you would say there's one of those things in the room with you. That is too much. Not like this world to be inside it, but is standing co located adjacent. [02:28:54] Speaker B: May I make a roll for it? [02:28:58] Speaker A: We can see through the illusion if you'd like. [02:29:03] Speaker B: That's the soul modifier. [02:29:05] Speaker A: Mm hmm. [02:29:11] Speaker B: 15 on the nose. [02:29:16] Speaker A: You open your eyes and squinting through the tears, there is a woman standing in front of you, maybe five and a half feet tall. And she's wearing. It's a long gown, as described, a black ruffled fabric that comes up to a very tiny waist. And then where you would expect to see the blouse or the top of the dress, there's instead something made of iron, a dark black iron that sits perched on her hips. It's like a cauldron or a cast iron kind of material. And then that is the. The bodice that is held up with small little crenellations around it, if you can imagine, like a brazier or the torches you always see in fantasy movies. And then coming up off the shoulders, it's like pauldrons, but made of a. It's fabric, but it isn't. She has a collar that is solid metal stretching from under her chin to her collarbone. And then the hair comes up and is twisted outward, these long, drawn spawn spirals, looking like a spool of thread of her hair. And then everywhere else on the skin that is exposed, you see little iron nails about halfway into her skin, and she's holding out her hand. You can't. There's something in it that you can't quite make out. [02:31:11] Speaker B: She said it was simple enough. I just have to take her hand, so I will. [02:31:20] Speaker A: The rest of you may or may not see Aisha reach forward. But when you grasp that is the connection having formed the lightning rod. And like lightning, there's a bolt of clarity between dimensions. The other three of you looking, can see that figure. Just blink and you'll miss it. A single frame of film. And then, Aisha, there'll be a yelp of pain as you realize what she was holding. There's a razor blade in your palm now with a curious symbol, some kind of rune. But everything feels distant, far away. That as close as Kendall is, if you started to fight, she could swing and she could charge, but she would never quite be able to reach you. That you can make eye contact with Aiden, but you see past him, there's no ability to connect pupils to pupils to. To read between the lines. There's the profound emptiness that pours into you, starting into your toes and upwards. You feel the capacity for joy boiling off like dry ice. You don't need that anymore. Because it's like an eclipse. If you imagine happiness as the sun, and then something passes in front of it and the whole world comes into darkness. But there's pleasure in that. There's comfort in that. There's strength in that. You like it here. If you had to be alone for the rest of your life, that would be the greatest fulfillment. Save for perhaps filling others with that sense of nothingness, of loss and lack of meaning. Your eyes will fall upon Noah, and he's gone. There's a part of you that knew he was gone when you walked into that room at NYU. Wherever he is, whatever he is now, that's not the Noah that you had a connection with. And now there are no connections. But as that's happening, and you start to digest those feelings, Aiden, you're a man on a mission. So I don't know that you were turning to listen to any of this, right? You do not strike me as the person who hears Aisha starting to cry and whisper a prayer and goes, yep, that needs my attention right now. [02:34:30] Speaker C: She's already a very, uh, staunch Catholic. Why is her praying now any different than any of the other times she's prayed? No, I'm. I'm here to get this one thing out of Noah, and then I'm here to go. That's all I need. And I'm just waiting for whatever happens at this point to happen. [02:34:54] Speaker A: Well, absent anyone making a happen happen, it's pretty obvious Noah is. You can get close to him. He's at the very least, unconscious. You can see his chest rising and falling, in addition to the awkward pulsing we talked about before. He's not dead, but he is not in a state to be responsive to any of you. If you got close enough, you can see that his jaw is actually dislocated. It's hanging a little off to the side. Suffice it to say, whatever happens in this room, from here on forward, Noah's going along for the ride. He doesn't have the agency here. [02:35:40] Speaker C: I did promise as a bargaining token that I could give Noah to his sister, even though at this point, I don't. [02:35:52] Speaker A: It's a tactic. [02:35:53] Speaker C: It's a tactic, Aiden. Just go with it. People want people. So I'm going to repeat the trick that served me so well with Lee just earlier today. Besides, maybe if Noah's in better health, I could get this damned dahlia out of him faster and move on with my night. So I start to just kind of gently rub my hands together, making sure no one's paying attention. I gently place them upon Noah. I just mumble a snarl as I begin to try and heal what's left of this broken man. [02:36:32] Speaker A: And as you do that, Francis Kendall, how close are you to Noah at this moment? [02:36:39] Speaker D: I'm still right next to him. Really? Actually, I haven't really moved. I might be standing and I'm not. I'm not kneeling anymore. I'm standing next to him, but I'm right there. There. [02:36:52] Speaker E: I don't know exactly how far away from Noah the interaction with Aisha took me. It's not 100. Sorry about that. It's not 100% clear to me what exactly I'm looking at with Aisha right now in the aftermath of the bargain that I definitely don't know happened. So I don't. I think I'm just still kind of, like, focusing on that for a brief moment. So not other side of the room, but not right next to pretty sure. [02:37:28] Speaker A: Well, I expect your attention will be drawn because Aiden leans forward. He lays his hands upon Noah's chest, would you say? [02:37:39] Speaker C: Yeah, chest is a good place. [02:37:40] Speaker A: Chest it is. And mutters something. So we have Aiden kneeling next to the mattress. Professor over the shoulder, and then a bit closer to the door. Aisha up against the wall where Kendall threw her. Kneeling, mumbling and then Kendall standing a few feet to the right of that. We have a kind of visual picture, and all of you are going to hear the crunch and snap at the same time. Aiden, you put your hands down on his chest, and it's like shock paddles. You finish your incantation. If the incantation has ever mattered. Seems relevant, but he lurches up, jaw still hanging slack, mouth open to scream. There's no sound coming out, but you see his body start to spasm, and as it twists and bends into shapes, you realize the crack that said everyone's attention was his spine elongating in the process. Noah starts to elongate on his mattress, and then his spine bends backwards and his hips are thrust forward rhythmically, as if being puppeted. It's the same motion of someone getting fucked from behind, but there's no one there. And then, like, as if I were to do the unbuttoned, if I were to unbutton this shirt. One by one, the ribs pop free of the sternum, opening up like a Venus flytrap all the way down. And this bulge that was in his stomach raises up into this cavity where the chest is pressing against the fascia underneath until it becomes nearly transparent. And there's this not blood. It's like a black ickery pus that starts to drool from the flesh and his eyes out of his mouth, his nose, his ears. It pools under his fingernails as he pulls, trying to understand what's happening to his body. And in one final thrust, he ejaculates and a slightly humanoid, opalescent, slick thing tumbles out of his chest onto the mattress. The room is filled immediately with this pungent, sulfuric smell as this thing, newborn sized, flops. And you see it start to wriggle, attempting to right itself. And Aiden, as you are closest, it turns to face you. But face is not the correct word because the. The bald, oval head has no eyes or mouth. It just has a round sucking hole for a face, lined on the inside with. Not teeth, more like a leech. And it pulses at regular intervals, a long, slimy tongue flickering on the inside. And that's when the appendages start to crack from its back like sentient intestines. And they come around to the bed and it pushes itself into the air. How we all doing? [02:42:09] Speaker D: Okay. [02:42:10] Speaker E: I mean, better than him. [02:42:16] Speaker A: Well, first things first. I need everyone who's not Aisha to roll, to keep it together. [02:42:22] Speaker C: Understandable. [02:42:35] Speaker D: 812. [02:42:40] Speaker C: Eleven. [02:42:44] Speaker A: Well, none of that is good. Aisha, you didn't have to roll because you are untethered from this place and these people. When I say isolation, I don't mean it in an ambiguous sense. It is literal. You are disconnected from the everything. Able to move through it and to see it. But not only can you not be affected by it in that way, there is not a single cell in what remains of your now divine body that could be bothered to care. And if this thing that has been birthed rips the three of these people limb from limb and animates them, who cares? But Kendall, Aiden, Professor Francis. Very different reality for you, Kendall. Remind me. Your role was well below the threshold, right? [02:43:42] Speaker E: It was eight. [02:43:45] Speaker A: Okay, then you don't have the indignity of just falling to your knees in impotent fear while this thing approaches you. But I need you to understand that you know you're not on. On the plane of reality anymore, right? And Kendall doesn't know this, but the cosmology that the different little pockets behind the illusion, they blur. And you're close enough to that place of inferno where vengeance lives for it to reach out for you like flickering flames. This thing crawling out of Noah has robbed you of months or years of vengeance. It's not enough to have the video and humiliate him if he can't feel humiliated. You have to carry this around for the rest of your life. People have seen you and he gets away with it. And that rage, blind, unstable. Your mind, already having been twisted by this labyrinth of things and people, drives you to violence. But I don't think I need to explain what happens when an ordinary mortal tries to attach a thing of the gods. So you will all see Kendall charging towards the creature, raising up the cattle prod. Maybe she intends to shock it or just hit it until it stops moving. Kendall's mind isn't operating in the tactical phase. But Francis, seeing that is not enough to fill you with any kind of confidence. You weren't able to stand between Kendall and Aisha, whatever this is. Look, you. You made your deal with Doctor Dan. You ticked the box. It's time to get the fuck out of here and you are charging, blind and unthinking towards the door. We'll talk about what happens when you see their side of it here in a moment. Aiden. Then you get to see the aftermath of Kendall's attack. Because it's, you know, there's a, there's like a nanosecond where you think she's got it. She swings that thing down. It hits this writhing, oozing body baby. And you see it recoil. You think it recoils, but really it's just the way that a snake comes back before it strikes forward. And those two appendages come wrapping down around Kendall and it lifts itself up and at this point, suspended above her, Kendall, you get the. A better view that in addition to a face that is not a face, it has a body that is not a body, that down the chest are eight breasts with very adult. In another context they would be delightful nipples, despite there being too many of them. And it hoists itself up and then the legs dangling like little, just loose, limp stumps between its legs are genitalia. And I don't. That's not a euphemism for a penis or a vagina. It is the plurality of genitalia. Male, female, there's something like a claw awake, some blurred together. It is the. The panoply of sexual reproduction methods available to the evolution that has graced our planet simultaneously. All represented individually but also as one. And then that face comes to yours. And you can feel the heat as the tongue flickering, comes out and crawls past your lips and down into your throat. And then, Aiden, you watch this creature essentially fold itself up, crawling into Kendall like a child might, into a sleeping bag, like a terrier into a rat's burrow. And as is appropriate for this scenario, the creature doesn't have a flanged base. It disappears inside of her, and with her eyes wide and her mouth open to scream. But because this thing is in it, the last little bit you'll see are those two appendages bulging in her throat as it fills her up. Now, Kendall, this is terrifying, as it happens, but there is no word in the universe that can describe how good it feels when it's done. You know that warmth when it's winter and you've had to go out and shovel the driveway, and you come back in the. And you kick off your boots and you put your feet up by the fire, and your significant other is brought over for you. Thank you for shoveling the driveway. Cup of cocoa. That warmth of both body and soul, that's. That's it. And there are memories that aren't your own attached to this. It's like remembering a dream you can't get all the way to there. But there's a part of you growing ever distant as this thing ingratiates itself to your nervous system. Now you understand why Noah and Lee weren't able to resist the woman they met. Because as this thing crawls along your muscles and dances with the in you, as it introduces you to the reality from which it came and makes you a vessel, you are that woman. And it feels fucking great. [02:50:40] Speaker E: There. There are no words at this point. I'm sure there's a look of confusion on Aiden's face as I go from one emotion to another. And I just kind of look down at myself and make sure that I'm still me. And I. I don't resemble anything like Noah. And when it's clear that I don't, I just. I turn to Aidan and I smile. [02:51:21] Speaker A: It's not enough that you're still you. You're the best possible version of you. Anything that you didn't like about yourself that was too big or too small or too flat or too bulbous, it's the way it should be. Eyelashes a little longer, if that's the thing, down to the minute detail. If there's a freckle somewhere that you always thought you would look incredibly sexy if you had just the right freckle. Good news for you, Aiden. [02:52:06] Speaker C: In the back of my mind, there is nothing but panic as I am, furious as I. What does this even mean? You selfish, stubborn little. You know what? Fuck it. The baby's a baby, and it's in a. It's in a person. The job is done. It's finally done. There's no more guns being threatened at my head. There's no more abductees in the middle of the night. There's no more being forced to be around. Selfish, fucking loud, immature, ungrateful fucking people. And I say that with this most disgust and dismay, as that deserve, which is every fucking ounce and syllable of it. And now I'm free. I'm free. I'm fucking free. I'm free because I deserve to be. And this is it. This is, this. [02:52:57] Speaker A: This. [02:52:57] Speaker D: This is. [02:52:57] Speaker C: This is it. A moment. Moment. I'm fine. I'm finally free. Fucking Christ. It took too long. And at this point, just staring at her like a goddess, going, you're like, liberty, you're my ticket out of here. Holy fuck. I gotta make a phone call. How do I even. Oh, fuck. No signal. I don't even know anymore, man. [02:53:26] Speaker B: Oh, my fucking God. [02:53:27] Speaker E: It's over. [02:53:31] Speaker C: But on the outside, I just say hi. I'm guessing you're still Kendall. I'm still Aiden. It's a pleasure to meet you. I'm so excited to talk more elsewhere. [02:53:46] Speaker A: Kendall did divide this question into two pieces. Did you find Aidan attractive at the beginning of this story? [02:53:56] Speaker E: No. I thought he was an asshole. [02:53:59] Speaker A: Those are two different questions. Let. [02:54:06] Speaker E: He's not. He's not unattractive, like, generally, right? He's not exactly my type, and the whole asshole thing just kind of, like, knocks him down a couple pegs. If he was less of a douchebag, yeah, I would probably say yes. I'd find him. I would find him decently attractive. Yes. Like, he's, like, he's a ten, but he's Aiden, right? So, like. Like a six on a good day. [02:54:37] Speaker A: Okay, well, setting aside his personality for a moment, when I say you want to devour Aiden, I am not speaking metaphorically. The new Kendall doesn't really care if they have a personality. There's a part of new Kendall that doesn't really care if they are attractive. New Kendall knows that there's just a. There's a depravity that you need. Noah was looking for new experiences, was willing to bend, making his morality flexible, and that is what invited this thing in to him. Those are the people that you need, right? Yeah. And second to douchebag, what describes Aidan better than flexible? [02:55:40] Speaker E: Are we. Are we stepping away from depraved? Cause, I mean, let's be honest, I've always kind of blamed him for the activities that Noah got up to, so obviously, he's in that same category. [02:55:55] Speaker A: They did go to the same parties. [02:55:57] Speaker E: Mm hmm. They did. [02:56:01] Speaker A: Well, Aiden, whatever your mission is, it does sit on the other side of that door. Francis has already charged through it. Kendall will follow you through it. But I don't know, maybe after the fact. Sleep on it. You'll think of just how predatory that look in her eyes was as she followed you and Aisha, sitting placidly, watching them leave. This room is so much better alone. The thing about the labyrinth, about the illusion, all these places that exist just beyond our reality, they always take you where you need to go. Maybe not where you think you need to go, but where you actually need to go. Francis, you've sealed your pact. It's not a doctor deep voice that whispers at you, but you can feel something different. It's in your fingertips. There's an urge to fly across the keyboard or grab the nearest pen. You burst through that door, and in a universe, imagine in a universe where this door takes you exactly where you need to be. And something bigger than the sun and the stars in the universe we share now has your back. Where does that door go? [02:57:42] Speaker D: I burst through that door, and I find myself in my dream library. Not a library like the New York Public Library, but like your personal library, like Belle and Beauty and the beast, finding this beautiful room full of every book that I could ever want with every piece of writing equipment or a desk, everything I need is there to just surround myself and just immerse myself in writing. I recognize some pieces of my furniture from my apartment. They're there. But this is as if I were able to transpose my apartment into my dream world. And I stop in my tracks when I burst into there and realize I did it. I did it. I got what I promised, which was whatever that thing was, and I kept my end of the bargain. And now I am here. I am where I want to be, in my dream home. And that's when I continue looking around. And the opposite side of the library is filled with things that would make Noah and Kendall blush in terms of, equipment is probably the palatable word for that. There is a sling. There is a wall of toys and props and everything, and it's, it's the fusion of everything I would want, my future of career, like my library of dreams and then a playroom of nightmares. And it is an incredible, exciting place to be. And in there are two of the most perfect men that I could ever want. They are standing there, beckoning to me, wanting to sling me up and put me in my place and make sure that I get everything I deserve in all the best ways possible. But before I can go to them, the phone on the desk is ringing, and something tells me I have to go pick that up. So I do. [03:01:06] Speaker A: Hello? Yes, is this professor Francis Wilmot? [03:01:10] Speaker D: Yes, it is. [03:01:12] Speaker A: Hi, this is Frank Bustamante from the National Book circle. We wanted to confirm your attendance for the awards ceremony two weeks from now. [03:01:25] Speaker D: And it hits me. I don't say anything at that for a second because I realize I'm winning an award. I am winning an award. I am being recognized for what I should be recognized for what I should have been recognized for for the past 1520 years. I am finally going to get what I deserve. Everything that I deserve here in my beautiful new home. There in the world outside. They're recognizing me for what I. But of course, I just politely say, yes, of course I'll be there. I wouldn't dream of missing it. [03:02:12] Speaker A: I'm delighted to hear it. We'll have someone call to make the details. Of course. We don't want to have an award show where the winner doesn't show up. Right. [03:02:20] Speaker D: That would be kind of silly, I think. [03:02:24] Speaker A: And then, of course, you'll get a plus one, which I think means the rest of the night's going to be spent on deciding which of those two delightful men gets to go with you. Well, on the topic of delightful men, Aiden, in a world where there's a 1.5 million. I saw that. On a world in a world where there's a $1.5 million check waiting to clear. So long as you deliver a baby. Asterisk where Kendall is possessed of this creature. Maybe it's inside her. Maybe she's inside it. The details are unclear, but also, to a certain degree, irrelevant. Where does that door go? [03:03:15] Speaker C: Assuming, if not directly, to the delivery of Kendall and said child, then that door would lead to Cancun. Beachside, beautiful sunset, getting drinks handed to me. I am being served, and I am being left alone. I know in my hands that Aisha always prayed to her God, but in me, I am God. And on the 7th day, I got to finally fucking rest. Sipping drinks, smooching, flirting with the logo offerings. Being blissfully, peacefully alone. [03:04:14] Speaker A: Is paradise. Kendall, you are the thing inside you. The thing inside you is you. You are tethered now to a dimension where pleasure and pain blur together. And you alone are the gateway through which men, women, non binary folks of our world can transit to this place. It's a world of lust and desire distilled beyond what the conscious brain is capable of. No, this is that reptile feeling that lives in the very back at the top of your spine, where evolution says you need to procreate. That kind of primal need. And as Noah said, that so often blurs into pain. So in a world that understands your new goal, and anyone who failed there, see the illusion roll behind you would see the outstretched wings of the creatures of raw lust. Where does that door take you? [03:05:43] Speaker E: So it's going to kind of funny because. Yeah. Creature of raw lust, driven in part. I don't think you can separate the vengeance aspect, right? And so often, pleasure, pain, the lines blur, but that door opens to a slightly different time, not. Not too far ahead. It's actually in Cancun. And it's so funny because, you know, I just. Coming out of the elevator, just turned the corner. Aiden, what are you doing here? [03:06:38] Speaker C: Hey, how are you doing? It is. It is truly divine to see you again. [03:06:45] Speaker E: It is. I. You know, I just. I just needed a break. New York really fucked me up. You know, I kind of wanted to get away somewhere I wouldn't see any demand faces. I'm at a loss for words. I can't. This is so. So strange. I was. I was gonna hit up the bar. I don't know what your plans were, but if you wanted to go get a drink. [03:07:25] Speaker C: You know, I do have plans tonight, but I think. I think I deserve a treat with a friend, if not a lovely acquaintance. First drink's on me, gentlemen. [03:07:45] Speaker A: Oh, Aidan. I hope you brought protection. But what. What need does someone have for protection when they will make no contact with the universe? Can't catch anything if you don't touch anyone. If you can glide effortlessly in even the most crowded spaces, without a single hair out of place, without a single jostle of a passerby. Where you are liberated from the need for human connection, where there is no emotion, there is only the peace of solitude for someone who wants to be alone. Where does that door take you, Aisha? [03:08:44] Speaker B: I watch these others stand and run or walk off. I'm sure they will all get what they deserve. I leave behind a body. And as I step through this door, there is more darkness. But it opens its arms to me, welcoming me home, in a way. And there is a comfort in that. [03:09:34] Speaker A: Each of you have ascended to godhood in your own way, found your own personal divinity. Our world is a prison built by creatures that conspire to keep us from knowing the light that is inside our souls. And in the case of Noah, in the case of Kendall and Francis and Aisha and Aidan. It seems that so far as this story is concerned, those forces have succeeded. As we give in to our desires for power and prestige, as we give in to our desires for greed, for vengeance and for solitude. This has been downfall, a scenario for cult divinity lost by M. Marshall and oh, man. I am Aaron and I have been your game master for this and many previous evenings. But the story would not be what it is without our cast in between stalking men who deserve it, infecting them with an extra dimensional disease and causing them to give birth to things just like her. V. Locke is the one doing all of our art design overlays. She is the art czar of the court. Vy, what you think about that? [03:11:09] Speaker E: Oh, my gosh. It was downfall was bananas from start to finish. That's all I can say. I did not expect the ending. I knew so some parts of it were coming. Cause obviously safety tools and things like that. But oh, boy. Was not. Was not ready for all of that nonsense. [03:11:34] Speaker A: Well, if people want to see you seduce your next unsuspecting victim, where can they find you on the Internet? [03:11:42] Speaker E: If you would like to see more of me, you can find me on Twitter veasfor vampire because my name is Vy and I like vampires. You can also see me doing a lot of stuff over here. All the things. Most of the things. Not all the things. Most of the things. I meant a lot of things. I do a lot of behind the scenes stuff, too. I do all the art for our Patreon. So if you like seeing my art and you want to see more art and all the art that I can't show elsewhere because it's super secret Patreon art, you can go sub on our Patreon. But otherwise, yeah, I just kind of. I show up every now and then, guesting elsewhere, but mostly right here. Right here at the court. [03:12:26] Speaker A: Got anything in the works or recent things that people should go check out? [03:12:30] Speaker E: Oh, gosh. I guested over at Hallowed Haven Studios for their season finale of apotheosis. It's their scion campaign. I was an SPC. I played Artemis. It was a fantastic time. Highly, highly, highly recommend that. It was a. It was a blast. That's kind of the most recent thing. And then we just have so much stuff in the works that, like, I don't know when it's gonna come out on our calendar, so I can't. I can't talk about it too much. But we've had, like, we've had some amazing people show up here and we've got, like, some amazing sponsored stuff coming up that's gonna be really cool. And, like, we just have. We just have a lot. But, like, I also did this really cool thing, which is not like a TTRPG thing, but, like, I did some voiceover work with, like, a really cool group. It's called Sidekick Productions. I was the voice of, um. Uh. I mean, I can't. I don't want to ruin it for you. And it's. It's. It's a good, like, half hour, so you should go check out sidekick productions. I forget exactly what episode number, but it's called the Codex, episode four, season two. Episode four. I do a little voiceover work, and that was super, super fun, and I had a blast. So you should also go check that out. [03:13:48] Speaker A: It's going to create a bit of an awkward transition as I skip over Josh, who just mentioned to go to Laura, who is next in order. But for those of you who are familiar with the grammatical marks, will see circle the word, and we'll draw the arrow over it to come back to it in a second, because I would like to say that Aisha, uh, Laura, you are. You are not normally an isolated person. How did you find your journey from. From God? I need to fix this. Literally, God to. You know what? Fuck all y'all. How did you enjoy it? [03:14:17] Speaker B: Um. Well, that was weirdly satisfying, um, considering. But you know what? Um. When you gotta keep your options open, man. [03:14:32] Speaker E: It'S usually how that works. [03:14:33] Speaker A: It's like they say, when in doubt, call out and see who answers. [03:14:38] Speaker B: You know, make a bargain with an ancient eldritch angel of death. [03:14:44] Speaker E: It's fine. [03:14:46] Speaker A: Yeah. So there is a good one. Has a bit of a similar vibe to the lonely, if you're familiar with the Magnus archives canon, but is more interested in also making other people be alone. So it talks about being the kind of person who, like, hangs out on the Internet and tells the white teenagers, like, no, man. Yeah, no one does love you. You should walk away from all of it or digs into artists and being like, yeah, I mean, like, you're good, but no one's ever going to understand you. You should keep this all to yourself and spends the rest of their lives walking around and then just, like, snipping the little ties that connect people to people. Pretty interesting way to go through life. Well, I think people who want more of isolated lore are going to be hard pressed to find it, because, as I understand, you are quite popular. Where can folks see how popular you are on the Internet. [03:15:43] Speaker B: Well, the. The biggest place to find me is probably gonna be on the TikTok for however long that shit lasts. Underscore Laura. Underscore tutu, as in the fluffy pink skirt. Underscore again. You'll find everything from my cosplay videos for my various barbarian chic things to little previews of the character that will be cropping up here with Queen's court in a bit here. And if you don't want to find me on TikTok, you can find me on Twitter as Laura Tutu. It's where I shitpost into the void. It's honestly where I'm the funniest. And if you don't want to find me there, you can find me hanging out with the fine folks here at Queen's court games. As said, there will be many, many things coming down the pipeline. Keep a listen out for the fabulous things that we have set for the all night society. I'm just saying you should probably get on that Patreon so you can get all the beats and, you know, more beautiful art, all of the content that we have coming up down the pipeline. As I said, we don't have it on the schedule yet, so I can't talk about it. But it is coming, and it's gonna. [03:16:54] Speaker A: Be mint fucking that. You have been guesting, or we'll be guesting soon. Would you keep an eye out for. [03:17:02] Speaker B: Yeah, actually, I just went to hang out over at roll for Dylan with the folks over at darkness over New Orleans. I got a different flavor of vampire that was no less delicious than what I'm used to. So if you want a good time, go hang out with Dylan. Dylan is delightful. I'll be hanging out with my buddy kato over at Tabula Rasa in May. [03:17:29] Speaker A: I'll have to check tabula Sono. [03:17:32] Speaker B: Tabula Sono. [03:17:33] Speaker A: Geez. [03:17:35] Speaker B: I'll be hanging out with my buddy Kato at Tabula Sono in May for a wee little one shot that they've asked me in for more details on that as they arrives. But, yeah, for the most part, I'm gonna be here a lot. Vy and Aaron invited me in, and I refused to leave. [03:17:57] Speaker A: It's worked out pretty well for us. I think it worked out a little less well for our good friend PJ McGaugh, because Aiden makes two for two psychopath dickheads. We've asked you to come here and play, and I don't. I don't. It's not, like, intentional, but you do a damn good job, and I just it's kind of turned out that way, but so you got to play Ralph. Now you have to play Aiden. How have you involved? How have you enjoyed, rather, your second cultivity loss game? [03:18:29] Speaker C: You know, it's nice. Some people say great acting comes from the ability to show wonderful emotional spectrums. Some people say it's a reflection of what you're not. And, you know, Ralph being this broken, angry incel and Aiden being this narcissistic rage machine, it was kind of fun to be like, oh, yeah, let's not just be the wonderful himbo that you can find on the all night society podcast on Spotify. And, yeah, so it was a lot of fun to play. Different energy, kind of cool to get in the psychology of narcissists and sociopaths. [03:19:06] Speaker A: I apologize. That is my cat weaving her way through my feet because she'd like to be fed, even though she's already had her dinner. Well, we're always glad that you're willing to come guest us, but you definitely have another main gig. Where can people find that and more of you on it? [03:19:25] Speaker C: Absolutely. Well, you can find me personally all over the Internet at PJ McGough, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. No longer on the ticky tox. Haven't been for a long time. You can also find my company Nat 20 introductions on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube for Nat 20 prods. We just had our season two for Edge of Legend wrap up, I think a few days ago. So if you want to catch up on everything before season three starts sometime later this year, you can go on Nat 20 prods on YouTube, watch season one, watch season two, watch all the recaps, everything else, because it is a big universe that even the, even the one shots and charity games we have kind of builds the world a little bit more so you can watch stuff there. I have also three projects, if not four, that I am in the works on. One that you may see here at Queen Quartz games. It's going to be great. And two others elsewhere. And more details about that. More details about that when I can let you know. [03:20:27] Speaker A: It's going to be salty. Salty and scandalous, I am told. [03:20:31] Speaker C: Very much so. [03:20:33] Speaker A: Well, no good transition from salty and scandalous. Well, scandalous, perhaps. No, I spoke too soon. An abundance of scandalous over at sidekick Productions, where our good friend Joshua R. Pangborn makes his home. Josh, how did you involve. It was your very first actual play experience, cultivating the lost. We threw you in the deep end. How did you enjoy it? [03:20:54] Speaker D: I was tickled pink the entire time. And I am apparently in the middle of New York City. So that's what all of this sound is. So apologies for that, everyone. There's never not an emergency in New York City. But no, seriously, this was such an incredible experience. I loved every second of every torture second was nothing but pleasure in the pain. So. [03:21:23] Speaker A: Well, I think I speak for all of us here that would be thrilled to have you back. I don't know what it's going to be, but as the schedule comes along, we will definitely invite you here. I know our audience has loved it and the folks at Helmgast have been watching it like, oh my God, it's so good. So we're going to continue to enjoy that. But if people want to see you not actually playing, where can they go? What can they watch? [03:21:45] Speaker D: You can find me in a lot of places, mostly in the worlds that I create in my head. I am the founder of Sidekick Productions and you can watch all of our movies and [email protected]. Sidekickproductions it is a wonderful world that we call the Crooniverse with right now three long running series and an upcoming feature film, a couple short films, and we are about to start production on a new short form series series. So that is going to be very exciting to do as well. So you can find me on YouTube there. You can find us on [email protected]. Sidekickproductions, you can find me on Instagram at sidekickproductions. You can find me on Facebook at Joshua R. Penguin. You can find me on Twitter sidekickprod because character limits. And then you can find me on TikTokidekickproductions as well. [03:22:39] Speaker A: I, it's interesting because your films are explicitly not made for me, but I love them nevertheless because they are of themselves just like great shows. And then, so I can only imagine how people who are like in those scenes, like scenes as in kink scenes, not scenes as in movie scenes. It's just got to be so great for them. So if you are into horror, if you're into queer film, I cannot, my, my, what would it be like? My critical blurb is like, loved it, even though I'm straight. [03:23:11] Speaker D: That's perfect. That's all we need. I mean, we are the, we are probably the only active queer, fat positive, sex positive film and television production company out there. So we have a niche, but come and play in it. [03:23:25] Speaker A: And V did, as she mentioned and V did. [03:23:28] Speaker D: We were very, very fortunate that V was able to do her voiceover work for the character of Molly and I think episode four of Demon Doctor season two is fabulous. And V's contribution to it is very, very much invaluable. [03:23:45] Speaker A: So V's contribution most places is invaluable. I don't anyone who's seen the work that she does for us would agree. Because I am your student storyteller. I can make all the words, but you would not be watching. It didn't look so damn good all around it. So if you maybe the kind of person who's like, my eyes are so full of beautiful art that I can't stare at beautiful things anymore. I just want to read, like, something kind of dry and academic about dtrpgs. If you wanted to do that. Oh, buddy. I got you covered, Erin, in words on Twitter. That's where I keep most of my thoughts to myself. Else you'll be able to find the things that I am doing mostly, predominantly Queen's court rpg on Twitter, Queen's court games on Facebook, and the other places. Also heading over to Redwood, role playing a couple guest things there. We play unknown armies with Greg Stoltzy, and we are currently charging through the Whopper of the Warhammer fantasy role playing campaign, enemy within. Aside from that, I guess you have to come back here not one week from now. Now. But two weeks from now, 3 hours ago, to see what's coming up next from us. It's gonna be a bit of a roulette to see what it is. Watch us on Twitter. Go follow us. If you didn't before I told you to and you didn't, now is your chance because I'm gonna go check. But until then, bye for now. [03:25:23] Speaker D: No. This work, it's incredible. But the things you've described, the sexuality, the violence. [03:25:31] Speaker A: Are. [03:25:32] Speaker D: Are you okay? [03:25:36] Speaker E: The last time we talked, he was twitchy, nervous, picking at his skin. I have no idea where to find him. Trust me, I've tried. [03:25:50] Speaker A: Your body is throbbing with base urges your waking mind simply fails to comprehend. Crawling under your skin, there's something inside you, something that wants to break free. [03:26:07] Speaker C: With all of the experiences that I gave for him, that he grew from, that he manifested, those things became in him a new person. [03:26:22] Speaker B: I lost my brother once when he moved to New York. I will not lose him again.