1 00:00:01,680 --> 00:00:03,240 Speaker 1: Cool Zone Media. 2 00:00:06,800 --> 00:00:12,040 Speaker 2: Book Club book Club, book Club book Club. Hello and 3 00:00:12,119 --> 00:00:15,080 Speaker 2: welcome to the Coolzone Media book Club, the only book 4 00:00:15,120 --> 00:00:19,759 Speaker 2: club that is introduced by me. Going book Club, book Club, 5 00:00:19,840 --> 00:00:20,640 Speaker 2: book Club. 6 00:00:21,320 --> 00:00:24,479 Speaker 1: This week we're back to fiction, and I have a 7 00:00:24,480 --> 00:00:28,200 Speaker 1: little Valentine's treat for you. This is a really fun 8 00:00:28,280 --> 00:00:32,640 Speaker 1: story by a writer named November Rush. Hazel pitched this 9 00:00:32,800 --> 00:00:36,280 Speaker 1: story to me as what if Alien The movie was 10 00:00:36,320 --> 00:00:40,280 Speaker 1: about the horror of falling in love, and so what 11 00:00:40,600 --> 00:00:45,199 Speaker 1: more could you want from Valentine's Day than a story 12 00:00:45,280 --> 00:00:50,320 Speaker 1: about falling in love? That is horrible. I will have 13 00:00:50,479 --> 00:00:53,800 Speaker 1: seen Wuthering Heights by the time that you hear this, 14 00:00:54,280 --> 00:00:56,480 Speaker 1: but I have not seen it yet by the time 15 00:00:56,520 --> 00:01:01,760 Speaker 1: I'm recording it, So I wonder whether it will also 16 00:01:02,000 --> 00:01:07,160 Speaker 1: misunderstand stories about love. Anyway, that's entirely unrelated. We are 17 00:01:07,200 --> 00:01:09,679 Speaker 1: going to be reading a story called black Hole by 18 00:01:09,720 --> 00:01:13,960 Speaker 1: November Rush. It's a weird little space journey through psychedelic, 19 00:01:14,160 --> 00:01:18,240 Speaker 1: out of control body horror. It's about parasitic body jumping, 20 00:01:18,360 --> 00:01:22,680 Speaker 1: codependent lesbians searching to find each other again, and the 21 00:01:22,720 --> 00:01:27,160 Speaker 1: wake of destruction they leave behind them. That sounds like 22 00:01:27,319 --> 00:01:30,200 Speaker 1: romance to me. I'm not actually a cynical as I'm 23 00:01:30,200 --> 00:01:33,360 Speaker 1: making it sound. This story is from the collection Bury 24 00:01:33,400 --> 00:01:37,440 Speaker 1: Your Gaze, an Anthology of tragic queer horror, edited by 25 00:01:37,440 --> 00:01:43,440 Speaker 1: Sophia Asram, which Hazel describes as very fucking good. So yeah, 26 00:01:43,959 --> 00:01:47,680 Speaker 1: the story's fun. Just trust us here. It is black 27 00:01:47,720 --> 00:01:53,040 Speaker 1: Hole by November Rush. Morgan blinks down at her hands, 28 00:01:53,560 --> 00:01:57,320 Speaker 1: sluggishly touching her thumbs and fingers together as she tries 29 00:01:57,360 --> 00:02:01,080 Speaker 1: to figure out how an ordinary cinicied plan could cause 30 00:02:01,080 --> 00:02:04,960 Speaker 1: a psychedelic effect in a human. The palm of the 31 00:02:05,040 --> 00:02:08,080 Speaker 1: hand she's just used to touch the alien plant sample 32 00:02:08,800 --> 00:02:11,520 Speaker 1: is covered with a mist of tiny beads of blood, 33 00:02:12,040 --> 00:02:15,080 Speaker 1: as though her flesh is a sponge, as though something 34 00:02:15,200 --> 00:02:18,840 Speaker 1: minuscule on the plant has burrowed into her skin and bloodstream, 35 00:02:19,280 --> 00:02:22,720 Speaker 1: which seems like a clue, though she's having trouble focusing 36 00:02:22,800 --> 00:02:29,440 Speaker 1: on how. Splitting splitting another clue, like a splitting headache, 37 00:02:29,440 --> 00:02:35,119 Speaker 1: but more like her head is split. Her mind is split, kaleidoscopic, 38 00:02:35,600 --> 00:02:43,120 Speaker 1: fracturing into yes, that's me and actually this is Morgan 39 00:02:43,160 --> 00:02:46,959 Speaker 1: attempts to sort through the disjointed foreign images in her mind. 40 00:02:47,600 --> 00:02:50,960 Speaker 1: Terror bubbling up from her stomach like bile, and it 41 00:02:51,000 --> 00:02:54,440 Speaker 1: occurs to her she may have an increasingly short window 42 00:02:54,480 --> 00:02:58,359 Speaker 1: of time. She feels her mouth open and her tongue 43 00:02:58,520 --> 00:03:02,080 Speaker 1: run along her teeth, feels the sting as her teeth 44 00:03:02,200 --> 00:03:05,760 Speaker 1: close on her lip a little too hard. Something is 45 00:03:05,840 --> 00:03:10,359 Speaker 1: trailing up her arms and pulling gently experimentally on the joints, 46 00:03:10,880 --> 00:03:14,600 Speaker 1: and she realizes belatedly it's her own fingers, no longer 47 00:03:14,680 --> 00:03:18,760 Speaker 1: under her command, and a single idea pierces the fog 48 00:03:18,840 --> 00:03:26,320 Speaker 1: of panic. Find void, except Morgan actually wants to alert 49 00:03:26,360 --> 00:03:33,799 Speaker 1: Allan and get help, not find void, because she suspects 50 00:03:34,320 --> 00:03:39,440 Speaker 1: she is dying. How exactly would one go about alerting 51 00:03:39,480 --> 00:03:44,840 Speaker 1: Alan and getting help and not dying a little hard 52 00:03:44,880 --> 00:03:47,360 Speaker 1: to figure out, even if she could control her hands 53 00:03:47,440 --> 00:03:51,040 Speaker 1: or make noises. Since she has the overwhelming and bizarre 54 00:03:51,080 --> 00:03:54,160 Speaker 1: feeling this is the first time in maybe years, she 55 00:03:54,200 --> 00:03:56,640 Speaker 1: has had access to a mind capable of this level 56 00:03:56,680 --> 00:04:01,960 Speaker 1: of intellect. Morgan is intoxicated by the dizzying rush of 57 00:04:02,160 --> 00:04:06,119 Speaker 1: unfamiliar memories that her plant and insect bodies can only 58 00:04:06,160 --> 00:04:11,600 Speaker 1: comprehend as emotions or maybe temperature warm and safe for 59 00:04:11,720 --> 00:04:14,320 Speaker 1: the times the two of them wait her and who 60 00:04:14,920 --> 00:04:19,880 Speaker 1: the void were little furred animals together for the times, 61 00:04:19,920 --> 00:04:23,800 Speaker 1: dozing in puddles of light as children or invertebrates, or 62 00:04:23,839 --> 00:04:29,120 Speaker 1: bandits cool for waiting in stasis for an opportunity, for 63 00:04:29,160 --> 00:04:32,520 Speaker 1: centuries passing, as the tree of her body thrust knobbed 64 00:04:32,600 --> 00:04:35,920 Speaker 1: roots through the soil to lap up nutrients and brush 65 00:04:36,000 --> 00:04:40,280 Speaker 1: fronds against the sky, And most of all, the frigid loss, 66 00:04:40,760 --> 00:04:44,600 Speaker 1: the grief when they are torn apart, the cold of searching, 67 00:04:44,839 --> 00:04:48,600 Speaker 1: searching for the warmth of hoping, the heat of finding 68 00:04:49,680 --> 00:04:54,440 Speaker 1: overlaid confusingly with her own short human life, Morgan remembers 69 00:04:54,480 --> 00:04:59,080 Speaker 1: the blur of thousands of lives, looping thousands of times 70 00:04:59,400 --> 00:05:04,040 Speaker 1: around hun undreds of suns, of knowing so much and 71 00:05:04,160 --> 00:05:07,680 Speaker 1: only sometimes having the brain to understand it all. She 72 00:05:07,760 --> 00:05:11,040 Speaker 1: sees winding through them all like a vein of gold, 73 00:05:11,200 --> 00:05:17,040 Speaker 1: like a fracture void her eyes, her multitude of eyes 74 00:05:17,800 --> 00:05:22,080 Speaker 1: that are pale and orange and black, all at different times, 75 00:05:22,120 --> 00:05:26,760 Speaker 1: but all void. Her smile, her smiles, the twist of them, 76 00:05:27,200 --> 00:05:31,040 Speaker 1: and the way that a serpentine body, or a cartilagineous one, 77 00:05:31,560 --> 00:05:34,800 Speaker 1: or a leaf can smile, can smile with a twist. 78 00:05:35,480 --> 00:05:38,800 Speaker 1: Morgan feels her mind's eye fixed hungrily on a pool 79 00:05:38,880 --> 00:05:43,400 Speaker 1: of light as the fallible, tactile biology around it, royals, 80 00:05:44,000 --> 00:05:49,839 Speaker 1: shaped shifts huge than tiny, scaled than feathered, then vibrant green, 81 00:05:50,480 --> 00:05:54,159 Speaker 1: recognizing some of the animals, people, and alien life forms, 82 00:05:54,640 --> 00:05:59,919 Speaker 1: but not most. The consistent glow of void recognizable throughout 83 00:05:59,920 --> 00:06:04,240 Speaker 1: her many shapes, perceived by a multitude of sensory organs 84 00:06:05,600 --> 00:06:09,840 Speaker 1: in a jumble of identity, purpose, and form. Moving towards 85 00:06:09,920 --> 00:06:12,960 Speaker 1: void is an instinct that doesn't require a brain at all. 86 00:06:13,920 --> 00:06:16,880 Speaker 1: Even a plant knows to turn and face the sun. 87 00:06:17,800 --> 00:06:21,360 Speaker 1: The love of Void is unlike anything Morgan has ever felt. 88 00:06:21,720 --> 00:06:24,960 Speaker 1: The confusion of her self destructive love for the metamorphizing 89 00:06:25,080 --> 00:06:31,320 Speaker 1: void calls an old human story to mind. Okay, so 90 00:06:31,680 --> 00:06:35,400 Speaker 1: in retrospect, most of those thoughts probably don't belong to Morgan. 91 00:06:36,120 --> 00:06:39,160 Speaker 1: It's been mere seconds, but she's lost control of her body, 92 00:06:39,200 --> 00:06:43,640 Speaker 1: worse her brain. Morgan realizes that a foreign consciousness has 93 00:06:43,720 --> 00:06:47,560 Speaker 1: dug its tendrils into her mind, her personhood, and is 94 00:06:47,600 --> 00:06:51,640 Speaker 1: pressing her down, holding her still as she feebly thrashes 95 00:06:51,720 --> 00:06:55,839 Speaker 1: like a fish in the bottom of a rowboat. Taking over. 96 00:06:56,960 --> 00:07:00,839 Speaker 1: Morgan's lungs take a soft, shaky breath, and her throat 97 00:07:00,920 --> 00:07:05,240 Speaker 1: constricts a few times, making a noise like which is 98 00:07:05,279 --> 00:07:08,479 Speaker 1: not enough to attract attention, and her mind begins to 99 00:07:08,480 --> 00:07:11,720 Speaker 1: blur sideways. It feels a little like being the sinicied 100 00:07:11,760 --> 00:07:15,120 Speaker 1: plant sample. Again. With her last strength, she tries to 101 00:07:15,160 --> 00:07:17,800 Speaker 1: cling to why it matters whether she was really a 102 00:07:17,880 --> 00:07:21,600 Speaker 1: parasitic entity occupying a plant a few moments ago, or 103 00:07:21,640 --> 00:07:25,240 Speaker 1: whether she was a human woman named doctor Morgan Christie 104 00:07:25,520 --> 00:07:28,320 Speaker 1: who knew how to breathe with her lungs and analyze 105 00:07:28,320 --> 00:07:31,800 Speaker 1: a sample of alien fauna, who could use part of 106 00:07:31,840 --> 00:07:35,320 Speaker 1: her throat to communicate with other humans in a natural 107 00:07:35,400 --> 00:07:42,440 Speaker 1: and unsuspicious way. She fails. Star feels a cautious satisfaction 108 00:07:42,960 --> 00:07:46,920 Speaker 1: as the consciousness of doctor Morgan Christie fades to black 109 00:07:47,400 --> 00:07:53,360 Speaker 1: and her own consciousness takes over the body completely. Doctor 110 00:07:53,440 --> 00:07:58,720 Speaker 1: Christie says, Alan, these first few moments are critical. Star 111 00:07:58,840 --> 00:08:03,160 Speaker 1: flicks through Morgan's mead's eyelids fluttering, then discards that idea 112 00:08:03,160 --> 00:08:06,080 Speaker 1: and focuses on Morgan's general knowledge of her identity in 113 00:08:06,160 --> 00:08:09,440 Speaker 1: the world instead. How would she have appeared to Alan? 114 00:08:09,600 --> 00:08:14,720 Speaker 1: Just now, Ah, I've identified something unexpected in the sample, 115 00:08:14,920 --> 00:08:19,640 Speaker 1: she says, place it back in quarantine for me. Was 116 00:08:19,680 --> 00:08:23,800 Speaker 1: that enough? Actually? Now that she's here there's only four 117 00:08:23,840 --> 00:08:27,480 Speaker 1: other crew members, so there's a one in four chance. 118 00:08:28,440 --> 00:08:32,880 Speaker 1: Star dubiously surveys Alan's bland concern and Morgan's knowledge of 119 00:08:32,920 --> 00:08:37,280 Speaker 1: this unremarkable man, and shelves that idea. If she knows Void, 120 00:08:37,520 --> 00:08:41,560 Speaker 1: and she does, like one hand knows the other, Alan 121 00:08:41,600 --> 00:08:45,000 Speaker 1: wouldn't be it. She makes an excuse to him and 122 00:08:45,280 --> 00:08:48,440 Speaker 1: turns from his searching expression, picking up a clipboard and 123 00:08:48,480 --> 00:08:52,840 Speaker 1: wincing as unexpectedly light it rises a little too fast 124 00:08:52,880 --> 00:08:57,600 Speaker 1: in her clumsy hands. She heads for the door, searching. 125 00:08:58,960 --> 00:09:02,760 Speaker 1: But you, dear listener, don't have to search too hard 126 00:09:02,800 --> 00:09:06,720 Speaker 1: yourself in order to find these sweet deals and let 127 00:09:06,920 --> 00:09:12,520 Speaker 1: them subsume your personality and destroy it until there is nothing, 128 00:09:13,320 --> 00:09:18,680 Speaker 1: nothing but left over. That's all that will be left 129 00:09:18,720 --> 00:09:38,079 Speaker 1: of you. Here's ads, and we're back. It's been decades 130 00:09:38,120 --> 00:09:41,360 Speaker 1: and hundreds of forms since Star and Void last saw 131 00:09:41,440 --> 00:09:45,560 Speaker 1: each other. Star runs through the old signs and signals 132 00:09:45,559 --> 00:09:49,400 Speaker 1: they've used in the past, finding them all wanting. She 133 00:09:49,480 --> 00:09:52,480 Speaker 1: considers any possible reason for Morgan to mention to her 134 00:09:52,520 --> 00:09:57,240 Speaker 1: crewmates moving water thrice, or to reference the entangled rulers 135 00:09:57,240 --> 00:10:00,360 Speaker 1: of a historic dynasty on a planet that human have 136 00:10:00,400 --> 00:10:05,439 Speaker 1: no idea exists. As she walks, she runs Morgan's limited 137 00:10:05,480 --> 00:10:09,280 Speaker 1: color vision over the metal and plastic contours of the ship. 138 00:10:10,320 --> 00:10:15,240 Speaker 1: Its sterile and artificial. Here, few life forms other than 139 00:10:15,240 --> 00:10:18,520 Speaker 1: the humans, their lab samples, and a little of their food, 140 00:10:19,520 --> 00:10:24,880 Speaker 1: barely even a micro organism. It's hostile, with precious few 141 00:10:24,920 --> 00:10:29,599 Speaker 1: options should she need to hop Nowhere to shelter, no 142 00:10:29,679 --> 00:10:33,400 Speaker 1: where to hide. Star is sure enough that Void is 143 00:10:33,440 --> 00:10:36,120 Speaker 1: wearing someone on the ship that she has bet everything 144 00:10:36,200 --> 00:10:39,680 Speaker 1: on it. Once she had received Void's signal, it was 145 00:10:39,800 --> 00:10:43,520 Speaker 1: hard enough to coordinate her arrival here, following the movements 146 00:10:43,520 --> 00:10:46,760 Speaker 1: and plans of the ship, occupying just the right animal 147 00:10:46,800 --> 00:10:50,840 Speaker 1: or plant, just the right place, waiting dormant and insensible 148 00:10:50,880 --> 00:10:53,959 Speaker 1: for the moisture and bacterial scent of a new life 149 00:10:53,960 --> 00:10:57,079 Speaker 1: form to touch her fragile, borrowed body with a porous 150 00:10:57,120 --> 00:11:00,640 Speaker 1: part of their own, or lean close enough to breathe her. 151 00:11:02,200 --> 00:11:05,640 Speaker 1: She arrives at the bridge, surveying a crew as close 152 00:11:05,760 --> 00:11:09,640 Speaker 1: as family to her body and entirely alien to her mind. 153 00:11:10,520 --> 00:11:13,560 Speaker 1: The captain and first mate are here, two out of four. 154 00:11:14,360 --> 00:11:17,640 Speaker 1: She runs through Morgan's knowledge of each of them, scans 155 00:11:17,640 --> 00:11:20,959 Speaker 1: them as subtly as she can for hints, The captain 156 00:11:21,040 --> 00:11:26,679 Speaker 1: turns and smiles at her expectantly. The sample from planet 157 00:11:26,760 --> 00:11:29,800 Speaker 1: Side turned up some very interesting characteristics that I think 158 00:11:29,880 --> 00:11:33,719 Speaker 1: you should know about, Starr says, using Morgan's voice in 159 00:11:33,880 --> 00:11:38,600 Speaker 1: Morgan's expertise. She smiles professionally and looks over Captain Jace's 160 00:11:38,720 --> 00:11:42,440 Speaker 1: rigid posture, her hair tidily secure in a dark bun 161 00:11:42,480 --> 00:11:46,480 Speaker 1: at the nape of her neck. Power often attracts void, 162 00:11:47,080 --> 00:11:50,680 Speaker 1: which she has to admit does make things easier. The 163 00:11:50,760 --> 00:11:54,520 Speaker 1: captain is wearing a meticulously maintained squarish jacket in a 164 00:11:54,600 --> 00:11:59,000 Speaker 1: light blue sleeves pulled practically back to her elbows, not 165 00:11:59,240 --> 00:12:03,280 Speaker 1: part of stand uniform. Could that be anything? She considers, 166 00:12:03,280 --> 00:12:06,760 Speaker 1: which alien languages this body's throat and tongue could articulate 167 00:12:07,080 --> 00:12:12,280 Speaker 1: through a cough. Star begins to detail her report. She 168 00:12:12,360 --> 00:12:15,000 Speaker 1: considers how long she can draw this out and thinks, 169 00:12:16,160 --> 00:12:18,600 Speaker 1: my hunger for you is teaching me to hate each 170 00:12:18,679 --> 00:12:22,600 Speaker 1: one of these beautiful, soft creatures I discover because they 171 00:12:22,640 --> 00:12:26,200 Speaker 1: are not you. It takes her more than an hour 172 00:12:26,280 --> 00:12:28,240 Speaker 1: to think of anything to try, and by the time 173 00:12:28,320 --> 00:12:31,320 Speaker 1: she does, she's running out of excuses to stay on 174 00:12:31,400 --> 00:12:34,240 Speaker 1: the bridge. Failing to find a natural way to bring 175 00:12:34,360 --> 00:12:37,480 Speaker 1: up any of the old signals. She turns instead to 176 00:12:37,559 --> 00:12:43,280 Speaker 1: their one constant change, the malleability and interchangeability of the body. 177 00:12:44,040 --> 00:12:47,840 Speaker 1: She could say something like I'm not feeling myself, or 178 00:12:48,800 --> 00:12:51,360 Speaker 1: I'd love you as a lion or a swan or 179 00:12:51,400 --> 00:12:55,679 Speaker 1: a campfire. What was that story that Morgan had been 180 00:12:55,720 --> 00:12:58,920 Speaker 1: reminded of before her feeble kicking turned a twitching and 181 00:12:59,040 --> 00:13:03,400 Speaker 1: stopped altogether? Some elf prince named tam Lee or something. 182 00:13:04,200 --> 00:13:06,120 Speaker 1: What does that have to do with her and Void? 183 00:13:07,440 --> 00:13:12,680 Speaker 1: Four people on the bridge that doesn't leave mushroom, says 184 00:13:12,679 --> 00:13:17,920 Speaker 1: a voice from behind her. That's that's a pun, a 185 00:13:18,000 --> 00:13:21,480 Speaker 1: mushroom pun. That's so stupid. God, it's so much better 186 00:13:21,520 --> 00:13:26,120 Speaker 1: than what she was going to say. She turns. Void's 187 00:13:26,160 --> 00:13:30,400 Speaker 1: expression is carefully neutral, and her eyes shimmering. The corner 188 00:13:30,440 --> 00:13:34,040 Speaker 1: of her mouth trembles, just a fraction wanting to smile 189 00:13:34,240 --> 00:13:39,040 Speaker 1: before being carefully schooled with a twist of her Void 190 00:13:39,120 --> 00:13:42,679 Speaker 1: is in a surprising, fragile body. Her blonde hair is 191 00:13:42,800 --> 00:13:45,800 Speaker 1: greasy at the roots, like she hasn't quite figured out 192 00:13:45,800 --> 00:13:48,079 Speaker 1: how to deal with it, and there is an anxiety 193 00:13:48,120 --> 00:13:51,560 Speaker 1: that has permanently marked her. Peaky face with somewhat the 194 00:13:51,600 --> 00:13:55,520 Speaker 1: look of a white lab rabbit. Her uniform hangs awkwardly 195 00:13:55,559 --> 00:13:57,680 Speaker 1: on her frame and is afraid at the wrists, where 196 00:13:57,679 --> 00:14:00,240 Speaker 1: it looks like she choos it. It's not the kind 197 00:14:00,280 --> 00:14:03,000 Speaker 1: of body that Void usually chooses, and she wears it 198 00:14:03,040 --> 00:14:07,480 Speaker 1: with a softness. The thrumbs Star's chest with physical pain. 199 00:14:08,480 --> 00:14:12,080 Speaker 1: She's wearing a chunky and tasteless beaded necklace that looks 200 00:14:12,080 --> 00:14:15,200 Speaker 1: like it was made by a child, and Star's new 201 00:14:15,240 --> 00:14:18,800 Speaker 1: heart jitters as she recognizes the colors that harold a 202 00:14:18,840 --> 00:14:22,120 Speaker 1: house they once dedicated their lives to as bounty hunters. 203 00:14:22,920 --> 00:14:26,600 Speaker 1: And that's not all. Her fraying collar is fraying in 204 00:14:26,640 --> 00:14:29,800 Speaker 1: a very specific way, actually, and the patterns of little 205 00:14:29,840 --> 00:14:32,880 Speaker 1: tears and protruding threads form a world in a language 206 00:14:32,880 --> 00:14:36,520 Speaker 1: only spoken several galaxies away, the name of a cult. 207 00:14:36,600 --> 00:14:39,840 Speaker 1: They had found it and became extremely fond of one 208 00:14:39,840 --> 00:14:42,400 Speaker 1: of the only places they'd been accepted and cherished for 209 00:14:42,480 --> 00:14:45,200 Speaker 1: what they truly were to have the divinity of their 210 00:14:45,320 --> 00:14:50,520 Speaker 1: changeable flesh acknowledged. And craziest of all, her coveralls are 211 00:14:50,640 --> 00:14:53,240 Speaker 1: unbuttoned to reveal a T shirt with an image of 212 00:14:53,280 --> 00:14:57,160 Speaker 1: a fox skull with mushrooms growing out of it. That's 213 00:14:57,240 --> 00:15:00,760 Speaker 1: just two on the nose, there were dicks less. Creature 214 00:15:00,920 --> 00:15:04,000 Speaker 1: didn't even have to use her stupid, risky pun because 215 00:15:04,040 --> 00:15:07,720 Speaker 1: she's wearing their lives all over herself, not knowing if 216 00:15:07,720 --> 00:15:10,600 Speaker 1: her transmission had been received or if Star were even 217 00:15:10,640 --> 00:15:14,160 Speaker 1: still alive. Void has been sending signals out into an 218 00:15:14,200 --> 00:15:19,280 Speaker 1: empty universe on speck on faith. Star Love's are so 219 00:15:19,440 --> 00:15:25,240 Speaker 1: goddamn much she could scream. Morgan's memory recognizes the body 220 00:15:25,320 --> 00:15:30,560 Speaker 1: Void as wearing Cole the ship's tech. Notably, Cole and 221 00:15:30,600 --> 00:15:34,920 Speaker 1: Morgan were friendly, if slightly awkward coworkers and not thousand 222 00:15:35,040 --> 00:15:40,120 Speaker 1: year old star crossed lovers. But she's gone speechless. She's staring. 223 00:15:41,000 --> 00:15:44,280 Speaker 1: Priority one needs to be staying safe and not lunging 224 00:15:44,320 --> 00:15:47,200 Speaker 1: across the bridge and finding out what two of these 225 00:15:47,320 --> 00:15:50,320 Speaker 1: warm and lightly furred bodies feel like when they press 226 00:15:50,360 --> 00:15:55,120 Speaker 1: against each other. She has to say something chill and normal. Actually, 227 00:15:55,400 --> 00:15:58,320 Speaker 1: now that you're here, I'm having issues with the lab processor. 228 00:15:58,480 --> 00:16:01,640 Speaker 1: If you could take a look, she manages, and Void 229 00:16:01,720 --> 00:16:05,760 Speaker 1: Coal is saying, of course, doctor before she's even finished, 230 00:16:05,760 --> 00:16:08,640 Speaker 1: and she may simply not be able to control Morgan's face. 231 00:16:09,480 --> 00:16:12,840 Speaker 1: As they leave the bridge together. She catches a few glances, 232 00:16:13,280 --> 00:16:19,120 Speaker 1: and the first mate leans whispering towards the captain. Oh well, 233 00:16:19,440 --> 00:16:22,320 Speaker 1: they'll think of a good excuse for this later. Now 234 00:16:22,320 --> 00:16:26,600 Speaker 1: that they're finally, finally together again, Star isn't wasting another 235 00:16:26,680 --> 00:16:30,960 Speaker 1: moment on catering to expectation. Void leans close to her, 236 00:16:31,440 --> 00:16:35,000 Speaker 1: murmuring in the language of these people, finding expression there 237 00:16:35,040 --> 00:16:39,880 Speaker 1: so naturally idiot, She says, I would know you anywhere 238 00:16:40,200 --> 00:16:44,600 Speaker 1: and anything. The place that Void brings her to is 239 00:16:44,680 --> 00:16:47,360 Speaker 1: hidden enough to do for now, and as they duck 240 00:16:47,480 --> 00:16:50,880 Speaker 1: squeezing into the crawl space beneath the large computer together, 241 00:16:51,600 --> 00:16:54,800 Speaker 1: Star has to agree that the warmth, the hum and 242 00:16:54,880 --> 00:16:58,880 Speaker 1: the smallness of it, the darkness punctuated by flickering lights, 243 00:16:59,600 --> 00:17:03,440 Speaker 1: is pleasure and comforting. They fold together, finding the parts 244 00:17:03,480 --> 00:17:06,640 Speaker 1: of themselves and each other that are soft or pointed 245 00:17:06,720 --> 00:17:11,119 Speaker 1: to lie against. Void drags the translucent scales at the 246 00:17:11,240 --> 00:17:14,040 Speaker 1: ends of her fingers through the mane of hair that 247 00:17:14,160 --> 00:17:18,400 Speaker 1: crests Star's head, showing her how the feeling sends prickles 248 00:17:18,400 --> 00:17:23,280 Speaker 1: of physical pleasure down Star's scalp and spine. I love it, 249 00:17:23,400 --> 00:17:26,960 Speaker 1: she says, I'm like a little you know, those flexible 250 00:17:27,000 --> 00:17:31,439 Speaker 1: mammals that live inside, says Star. Comprehends that concept of 251 00:17:31,440 --> 00:17:36,240 Speaker 1: housecats and giggles and feels the vibration of laughter bubble 252 00:17:36,320 --> 00:17:40,200 Speaker 1: through her for the first time. The combination of Star's 253 00:17:40,240 --> 00:17:44,240 Speaker 1: love of Void and Morgan's body's instinct has made her 254 00:17:44,320 --> 00:17:47,359 Speaker 1: desperate to touch the pale silver of skin visible at 255 00:17:47,440 --> 00:17:51,960 Speaker 1: Void's collar and sleeves, and Void rolls the coveralls back 256 00:17:52,280 --> 00:17:55,520 Speaker 1: to allow Star's thumb and index to circle her wrists 257 00:17:55,640 --> 00:18:00,720 Speaker 1: with a gentle craving. There are soft, dark bruises spotting 258 00:18:00,800 --> 00:18:05,879 Speaker 1: Void's skin, like she's an over ripe fruit. Morgan's scientist's 259 00:18:05,960 --> 00:18:09,119 Speaker 1: mind recognizes the heaviest bruising on the part of the 260 00:18:09,160 --> 00:18:13,000 Speaker 1: forearm that must rest against the desk. As Void sits 261 00:18:13,000 --> 00:18:16,919 Speaker 1: at the console, she frowns, and Void glances down at 262 00:18:16,920 --> 00:18:21,320 Speaker 1: her own arms. That's gotten a bit worse. Void says, Damn, 263 00:18:21,359 --> 00:18:24,720 Speaker 1: I was trying to be careful. You're pressing too hard, 264 00:18:24,760 --> 00:18:27,679 Speaker 1: I think, says Star. I know, but that's not the 265 00:18:27,720 --> 00:18:30,520 Speaker 1: only reason. I dent much easier than when I first 266 00:18:30,520 --> 00:18:34,439 Speaker 1: got the body. Look and Void takes Star's finger and 267 00:18:34,480 --> 00:18:37,240 Speaker 1: grinds it into her own wrists so hard that the 268 00:18:37,280 --> 00:18:40,399 Speaker 1: tips of both of their fingers turn white, then rolls 269 00:18:40,440 --> 00:18:44,080 Speaker 1: the skin a little between Star's fingers, as though crushing 270 00:18:44,080 --> 00:18:47,400 Speaker 1: a leaf. Sure enough, when Void lets her take her 271 00:18:47,400 --> 00:18:51,320 Speaker 1: hand away, a yellowish mark has begun to blossom. The 272 00:18:51,359 --> 00:18:57,280 Speaker 1: fragility is hypnotizing malnutrition. Probably, Star says, you have to 273 00:18:57,320 --> 00:19:00,760 Speaker 1: be more careful than this, doesn't it hurt? And Void 274 00:19:00,800 --> 00:19:04,480 Speaker 1: nods and shrugs. Star continues, If we're going to find 275 00:19:04,480 --> 00:19:06,040 Speaker 1: a way off the ship, we have to make these 276 00:19:06,080 --> 00:19:09,240 Speaker 1: bodies last and keep them looking normal. You have to 277 00:19:09,240 --> 00:19:13,159 Speaker 1: pay attention to the pain. Don't lecture me, I know, 278 00:19:13,400 --> 00:19:16,439 Speaker 1: says Void, rolling her eyes. I was waiting for you. 279 00:19:16,920 --> 00:19:20,520 Speaker 1: I'll be more careful now. But Star is still frowning 280 00:19:20,560 --> 00:19:24,000 Speaker 1: a little, running through Morgan's memories of coal and noting 281 00:19:24,040 --> 00:19:26,960 Speaker 1: how her skin looks a little too tight. Her uniform 282 00:19:27,000 --> 00:19:30,200 Speaker 1: fits a little wrong, her eyes are brighter and wider 283 00:19:30,240 --> 00:19:33,760 Speaker 1: than they used to be. This body is already starting 284 00:19:33,760 --> 00:19:37,720 Speaker 1: to give. Void is riding it too hard. I mean it, 285 00:19:37,920 --> 00:19:40,760 Speaker 1: says Star. Maybe this could be our shot. We could 286 00:19:40,800 --> 00:19:43,800 Speaker 1: live a thousand years among these humans and not run 287 00:19:43,840 --> 00:19:46,399 Speaker 1: out of things to be. And these two are good, 288 00:19:46,640 --> 00:19:50,600 Speaker 1: healthy and intelligent. I want to stop running love, and 289 00:19:50,680 --> 00:19:54,800 Speaker 1: I want to hop less as little as possible, void 290 00:19:54,920 --> 00:19:58,000 Speaker 1: smiles a little. Your sensitivity is part of what I 291 00:19:58,080 --> 00:20:01,440 Speaker 1: love about you, she says, I know you hate seeing them. 292 00:20:01,440 --> 00:20:05,000 Speaker 1: Empty voids certainly been in coal long enough that the 293 00:20:05,040 --> 00:20:08,440 Speaker 1: mind of the sweet and quiet programmer with a surprisingly 294 00:20:08,480 --> 00:20:12,760 Speaker 1: wicked streak of humor is gone, forever. Left to her 295 00:20:12,800 --> 00:20:15,760 Speaker 1: own whims shall grind the body down to the quick, 296 00:20:16,320 --> 00:20:19,919 Speaker 1: shall ride the fraying nervous system as the body deteriorates 297 00:20:19,920 --> 00:20:23,879 Speaker 1: around her, delighting in the mind the sensations, and when 298 00:20:23,920 --> 00:20:28,440 Speaker 1: she becomes too obvious or too uncomfortable, shall jump a 299 00:20:28,520 --> 00:20:33,280 Speaker 1: memory bobs to the surface. They had activated queendom, and 300 00:20:33,359 --> 00:20:36,320 Speaker 1: they stayed as long as the fragile and decaying bodies 301 00:20:36,359 --> 00:20:41,480 Speaker 1: could disguise them, piloting near corpses, pressing chalky powder to 302 00:20:41,560 --> 00:20:44,679 Speaker 1: the skin to hide the rot, filling their chambers with 303 00:20:44,760 --> 00:20:48,720 Speaker 1: sickly sweet blooms to mask the smell, the strips of 304 00:20:48,800 --> 00:20:52,439 Speaker 1: flesh ribboning away, sending the prickle of impulses through the 305 00:20:52,520 --> 00:20:57,320 Speaker 1: nerves and dead meat, the limbs ceasing to function, frantically, 306 00:20:57,359 --> 00:20:59,639 Speaker 1: trying too late to figure out what had gone wrong, 307 00:20:59,720 --> 00:21:02,480 Speaker 1: not being able to reverse the decay that had begun 308 00:21:03,280 --> 00:21:06,119 Speaker 1: and Void in her arms at the last, her mouth 309 00:21:06,160 --> 00:21:10,320 Speaker 1: parts black as she smiled, eyes feverish, dragging the husk 310 00:21:10,359 --> 00:21:13,399 Speaker 1: of herself to the communicator to summon a page for 311 00:21:13,440 --> 00:21:17,720 Speaker 1: the first time in months, asking for strong ones, two 312 00:21:17,760 --> 00:21:22,439 Speaker 1: of them. Ugh, that had been bad. It's not just 313 00:21:22,480 --> 00:21:25,639 Speaker 1: the emptiness I'm worried about, says Star, picking up her 314 00:21:25,680 --> 00:21:28,760 Speaker 1: train of thought. If we leave these bodies anywhere, they'll 315 00:21:28,760 --> 00:21:31,760 Speaker 1: identify the traces of us in them. Yeah, they know 316 00:21:31,880 --> 00:21:35,000 Speaker 1: about us. That's bad luck, says Void. There have been 317 00:21:35,040 --> 00:21:39,160 Speaker 1: others that got caught. I wonder who. Yes, I want 318 00:21:39,200 --> 00:21:41,560 Speaker 1: to try. Let's live it out. We'll stay on the 319 00:21:41,600 --> 00:21:44,760 Speaker 1: ship and be Morgan and Coal and wait and live 320 00:21:44,840 --> 00:21:48,080 Speaker 1: like real people and rest. We can wait for a 321 00:21:48,080 --> 00:21:53,840 Speaker 1: good opportunity. Relief washes over Star. Of course, Star knows 322 00:21:53,880 --> 00:21:56,560 Speaker 1: that even if she tends Morgan's body like a garden, 323 00:21:56,680 --> 00:21:59,439 Speaker 1: learns to be gentle in the right places, uses all 324 00:21:59,440 --> 00:22:03,480 Speaker 1: the systems properly, Morgan's mind and self will still be dead. 325 00:22:04,400 --> 00:22:07,080 Speaker 1: But she is now the keeper of Morgan's memories, and 326 00:22:07,160 --> 00:22:09,960 Speaker 1: she will incorporate them into herself, carry them forward with 327 00:22:10,000 --> 00:22:13,200 Speaker 1: her as a sign of gratitude and respect. That's how 328 00:22:13,200 --> 00:22:18,040 Speaker 1: it should be, how it could be maybe now, and 329 00:22:18,440 --> 00:22:21,240 Speaker 1: says Voyd, There's so much more I want to show you. 330 00:22:21,800 --> 00:22:25,440 Speaker 1: She reaches behind Star fingers, skimming the waistband of her pants, 331 00:22:26,119 --> 00:22:29,600 Speaker 1: and pulls her shirt free. Void's hand finds the heat 332 00:22:29,640 --> 00:22:33,520 Speaker 1: of stars Morgan's skin, and Star shivers in a new way. 333 00:22:34,600 --> 00:22:37,359 Speaker 1: They tumble from the humming crush of the crawl space 334 00:22:37,400 --> 00:22:41,240 Speaker 1: onto the floor. Star finds herself on her stomach as 335 00:22:41,320 --> 00:22:45,480 Speaker 1: Void's thigh presses between her legs and sparks thrum through 336 00:22:45,520 --> 00:22:49,679 Speaker 1: the length of her. Desire kindles in Star and if 337 00:22:49,680 --> 00:22:52,720 Speaker 1: her lungs feel a little tight a Void is lying 338 00:22:52,800 --> 00:22:55,399 Speaker 1: on her a little too heavy, and her pelvis is 339 00:22:55,440 --> 00:22:59,439 Speaker 1: grinding into the floor too hard, it matters less and less. 340 00:23:00,320 --> 00:23:04,879 Speaker 1: Void Coal's narrow, cold hands slide under Star's clothing completely 341 00:23:05,280 --> 00:23:09,560 Speaker 1: and begin to demonstrate what human bodies can do. Void 342 00:23:09,680 --> 00:23:12,439 Speaker 1: rolls the bulk of Coal forward onto Star's neck and 343 00:23:12,520 --> 00:23:15,480 Speaker 1: head and no, okay, now she really can't breathe, and 344 00:23:15,480 --> 00:23:18,960 Speaker 1: that's clearly a problem. Her arms and torso are pinned 345 00:23:18,960 --> 00:23:22,360 Speaker 1: in place, but she rolls her jaw experimentally to the side, 346 00:23:22,560 --> 00:23:24,800 Speaker 1: seeing if it's flexible and strong enough to lift her 347 00:23:24,840 --> 00:23:28,720 Speaker 1: head and create a little space for air. It isn't 348 00:23:29,359 --> 00:23:32,440 Speaker 1: what she realizes at the exact moment, as Void grinds 349 00:23:32,520 --> 00:23:36,400 Speaker 1: down into her heart, lost in her own exploration of sensation. 350 00:23:37,720 --> 00:23:42,000 Speaker 1: Terrible timing, that's what it is. Star hears the pop 351 00:23:42,320 --> 00:23:45,480 Speaker 1: and doesn't understand what it means. She dazedly tries to 352 00:23:45,560 --> 00:23:48,399 Speaker 1: run her tongue over the inside of her mouth and 353 00:23:48,520 --> 00:23:51,919 Speaker 1: finds that the shape is wrong, the tongue too, and 354 00:23:51,960 --> 00:23:55,280 Speaker 1: in a moment, Morgan's nervous system fires a white explosion 355 00:23:55,320 --> 00:23:58,920 Speaker 1: of pain into her. Something hot is filling her mouth, 356 00:23:58,960 --> 00:24:01,840 Speaker 1: and her cheek is too on the floor. It seems 357 00:24:01,920 --> 00:24:05,360 Speaker 1: wrong that she could break so easily. Her strangled yell 358 00:24:05,480 --> 00:24:08,520 Speaker 1: is choked off. She can't close her mouth or actually 359 00:24:08,520 --> 00:24:11,399 Speaker 1: move it at all. She still can't breathe, and her 360 00:24:11,400 --> 00:24:14,640 Speaker 1: writhing and gargling must read a little too much as pleasure. 361 00:24:16,040 --> 00:24:19,440 Speaker 1: It takes precious seconds until she begins to gag and cough, 362 00:24:19,520 --> 00:24:23,040 Speaker 1: sincerely for Void to catch on to what's happening. Star 363 00:24:23,119 --> 00:24:26,160 Speaker 1: can't blame her. Once lost in pleasure, they often don't 364 00:24:26,160 --> 00:24:28,560 Speaker 1: express it the way that memories of the species they 365 00:24:28,600 --> 00:24:32,760 Speaker 1: occupy would expect. Void bucks off of her and flings 366 00:24:32,760 --> 00:24:35,880 Speaker 1: her onto her back. Ah. Good, now she'll be able 367 00:24:35,880 --> 00:24:39,040 Speaker 1: to breathe and spread Morgan's ribs like a flower in 368 00:24:39,080 --> 00:24:42,840 Speaker 1: the sunlight, creating the vacuum that will fill them with relief. 369 00:24:43,240 --> 00:24:45,680 Speaker 1: But oh no, there isn't any air in her mouth. 370 00:24:45,880 --> 00:24:48,560 Speaker 1: There's that hot liquid which doesn't feel right at all. No, 371 00:24:48,960 --> 00:24:51,639 Speaker 1: that doesn't work. It has to be air. But with 372 00:24:51,720 --> 00:24:54,560 Speaker 1: all this liquid, there isn't mushroom left in her lungs. 373 00:24:54,600 --> 00:24:58,919 Speaker 1: And actually something has gone very wrong. Indeed, a prepper 374 00:24:59,000 --> 00:25:01,320 Speaker 1: human would probably have known not to take such a 375 00:25:01,400 --> 00:25:06,000 Speaker 1: huge and greedy lungful of a non air substance. Her 376 00:25:06,040 --> 00:25:09,360 Speaker 1: face is starting to feel thick. She tries to raise 377 00:25:09,400 --> 00:25:11,560 Speaker 1: a hand to touch it, and watches the hand swim 378 00:25:11,680 --> 00:25:15,440 Speaker 1: helplessly at the corner of her vision, before veering away somewhere. 379 00:25:16,520 --> 00:25:18,960 Speaker 1: As the world begins to blacken at the edges, like 380 00:25:19,000 --> 00:25:23,080 Speaker 1: a love note burning in a grate, star focuses Morgan's 381 00:25:23,080 --> 00:25:27,359 Speaker 1: eyes on the white and purple triangle avoids coal face, 382 00:25:27,920 --> 00:25:32,760 Speaker 1: the terror and panic there looking like starvation. And do 383 00:25:32,840 --> 00:25:35,280 Speaker 1: you know what you can lock onto in your own 384 00:25:35,359 --> 00:25:38,439 Speaker 1: moments of terror and panic? Like a love note burning 385 00:25:38,560 --> 00:25:42,680 Speaker 1: bright against the blazing meaningless void of space and time. 386 00:25:43,520 --> 00:26:01,520 Speaker 1: It ads and we're back, and Jase glances at Mira 387 00:26:01,680 --> 00:26:06,000 Speaker 1: and Alan ready she asks, no skin showing, make sure 388 00:26:06,040 --> 00:26:09,240 Speaker 1: they don't touch you, and don't take off the filtration masks. 389 00:26:10,440 --> 00:26:13,159 Speaker 1: What had been nothing more than a whispered suspicion between 390 00:26:13,240 --> 00:26:16,720 Speaker 1: Jason her first mate, has quickly become a full blown 391 00:26:16,800 --> 00:26:20,119 Speaker 1: rescue operation now that Coal, or the fungal entity that 392 00:26:20,200 --> 00:26:24,919 Speaker 1: is currently controlling her, as disappeared with Morgan, Jace and 393 00:26:24,960 --> 00:26:28,720 Speaker 1: Beira raise their weapons, moving Alan behind them a little, 394 00:26:29,240 --> 00:26:32,000 Speaker 1: and Jace reaches forward and punches the button to open 395 00:26:32,040 --> 00:26:36,919 Speaker 1: the door. The Coal thing crouches over Morgan, knuckles white 396 00:26:37,160 --> 00:26:40,280 Speaker 1: as her fingers dig into the doctor's arms, holding her 397 00:26:40,280 --> 00:26:43,720 Speaker 1: face down above the floor and almost seeming to shake her. 398 00:26:44,440 --> 00:26:48,680 Speaker 1: Morgan's dark hair falls forward limply, and a long red 399 00:26:48,800 --> 00:26:52,399 Speaker 1: drool of blood connects her unseen face to the dark 400 00:26:52,440 --> 00:26:56,720 Speaker 1: puddle on the floor. Jiggling and swaying as she hacks 401 00:26:56,960 --> 00:27:01,520 Speaker 1: with gagging coughs, What used to be Coal snaps its 402 00:27:01,560 --> 00:27:06,320 Speaker 1: head forward, mouth slack and eyes like dark pits. Blank 403 00:27:06,400 --> 00:27:10,480 Speaker 1: with horror. Jace expects her to scramble to her feet. Instead, 404 00:27:10,920 --> 00:27:15,879 Speaker 1: her legs coiled beneath her abruptly spring pistoning her body 405 00:27:15,920 --> 00:27:19,280 Speaker 1: towards them like a projectile, making no attempt to use 406 00:27:19,280 --> 00:27:22,600 Speaker 1: her arms to cushion her fall. As she cannons into 407 00:27:22,600 --> 00:27:27,080 Speaker 1: their little huddle, Jace registers the thunk sound of Mira's 408 00:27:27,080 --> 00:27:30,680 Speaker 1: blaster being fired. A little after part of Coal's head 409 00:27:30,760 --> 00:27:35,600 Speaker 1: goes missing, Cole's remaining eye slides sideways, as though a 410 00:27:35,720 --> 00:27:38,719 Speaker 1: string that was holding it steady has been cut, and 411 00:27:38,760 --> 00:27:42,720 Speaker 1: her tongue protrudes from her mouth, stretching forward inquisitively, like 412 00:27:42,760 --> 00:27:47,320 Speaker 1: a tentacle mind its own. She's drier inside than Jace 413 00:27:47,320 --> 00:27:50,040 Speaker 1: thought she would be. All the puff of what looked 414 00:27:50,080 --> 00:27:52,639 Speaker 1: like dust that rises from the crater of her face 415 00:27:53,080 --> 00:27:57,280 Speaker 1: may contribute to that impression. Not dust, of course, thinks 416 00:27:57,320 --> 00:28:00,320 Speaker 1: to Jace as she raises her blaster. Those it must 417 00:28:00,320 --> 00:28:04,600 Speaker 1: be the spores. How incredible that whitish cotton fluff across 418 00:28:04,640 --> 00:28:06,920 Speaker 1: that bit of brain she can see must be part 419 00:28:06,920 --> 00:28:11,879 Speaker 1: of it too. Thank God for the filtration masks. Jace 420 00:28:11,960 --> 00:28:15,120 Speaker 1: fires into the trunk of what was Coal, and its 421 00:28:15,280 --> 00:28:18,240 Speaker 1: neck bends like a flower stem bearing too heavy a 422 00:28:18,320 --> 00:28:22,520 Speaker 1: blossom and opaque pink fluid. The texture of thickened milk 423 00:28:22,880 --> 00:28:26,080 Speaker 1: dribbles from her half head, but the creature is twitching 424 00:28:26,160 --> 00:28:30,920 Speaker 1: and swaying, but not falling. Its head rolls drunkenly, mouth 425 00:28:31,040 --> 00:28:35,480 Speaker 1: slowly widening, and a hand snaps up with instinctual speed 426 00:28:36,080 --> 00:28:41,560 Speaker 1: and rips the ventilator from Mira's face. The coal thing 427 00:28:41,680 --> 00:28:45,120 Speaker 1: finally buckles and folds to the floor, a few grayish 428 00:28:45,200 --> 00:28:48,360 Speaker 1: lumps spattering from its head, as though spilled from a bowl. 429 00:28:49,120 --> 00:28:53,000 Speaker 1: Jace watches transfixed for a moment too long, and that 430 00:28:53,080 --> 00:28:58,760 Speaker 1: cross her everything. Uh thunk whispers from beside her, and 431 00:28:58,840 --> 00:29:02,360 Speaker 1: she wrenches herself to see Mirah with her blaster in hand. 432 00:29:02,800 --> 00:29:05,120 Speaker 1: Her gaze follows the line of the shot to see 433 00:29:05,160 --> 00:29:09,040 Speaker 1: Alan collapse on the ground, eye lids twitching and neck missing. 434 00:29:09,880 --> 00:29:12,720 Speaker 1: Jace stumbles back, but it doesn't look like Mira's attention 435 00:29:12,920 --> 00:29:17,600 Speaker 1: is on her, or Jace thinks whatever is now occupying Mira. 436 00:29:18,320 --> 00:29:21,360 Speaker 1: The body of one of Jace's oldest friends lurches to 437 00:29:21,400 --> 00:29:25,200 Speaker 1: the ground next to Morgan, yanking her wheezing form upright, 438 00:29:25,680 --> 00:29:28,680 Speaker 1: winding its arms around the doctor and latching to her 439 00:29:28,960 --> 00:29:32,880 Speaker 1: like a limpet. Morgan's head jerks back and Jace's heart 440 00:29:32,960 --> 00:29:38,080 Speaker 1: drops sickeningly. Morgan is alive, gasping raspily, but the bottom 441 00:29:38,080 --> 00:29:41,040 Speaker 1: half of her face isn't in the right place. Her 442 00:29:41,080 --> 00:29:44,040 Speaker 1: bitten through tongue is so swollen it fills her lulling 443 00:29:44,160 --> 00:29:46,880 Speaker 1: skewed mouth, and her cheek has ripped a little at 444 00:29:46,880 --> 00:29:50,800 Speaker 1: the corner, torn skin frilling at the edge, stretched to 445 00:29:50,840 --> 00:29:54,800 Speaker 1: the point it becomes lacy. Her face is purplish and 446 00:29:54,800 --> 00:29:58,240 Speaker 1: her bulging eyes are watering. The Mira thing is clinging 447 00:29:58,280 --> 00:30:01,520 Speaker 1: to Morgan as though it's trying to, which makes it 448 00:30:01,640 --> 00:30:06,360 Speaker 1: considerably more difficult to get a clear shot. The Mirra 449 00:30:06,520 --> 00:30:10,560 Speaker 1: thing begins to windmill its legs awkwardly, scrambling to drag 450 00:30:10,640 --> 00:30:14,960 Speaker 1: both Morgan and itself towards Captain Jase. Still holding the 451 00:30:14,960 --> 00:30:18,160 Speaker 1: gun level, Jase reaches for the dispenser at her side, 452 00:30:18,560 --> 00:30:23,200 Speaker 1: pops the safety and douses both women with the entire contents. 453 00:30:24,400 --> 00:30:28,160 Speaker 1: Foul smelling yellow liquid plasters the thing's hair to its 454 00:30:28,200 --> 00:30:31,240 Speaker 1: face in strands, and drips from the edge of its 455 00:30:31,280 --> 00:30:35,840 Speaker 1: nose onto the doctor. Mira's body arches, and a soft 456 00:30:36,080 --> 00:30:40,200 Speaker 1: animal keening comes from its throat. A flossy strand of 457 00:30:40,240 --> 00:30:44,720 Speaker 1: myilium begins to snake from one nostril. The frond's tip 458 00:30:45,200 --> 00:30:51,320 Speaker 1: quests blind, seeking moisture, bacterial sense, organic life forms. The 459 00:30:51,400 --> 00:30:55,040 Speaker 1: first thread is followed by more furred, little tendrils curling 460 00:30:55,080 --> 00:30:58,680 Speaker 1: around the edges of the nose. Almost shy, Mira's eyes 461 00:30:58,800 --> 00:31:02,240 Speaker 1: roll back and slide closed. The creature tilts its head 462 00:31:02,280 --> 00:31:06,800 Speaker 1: and continues easing forwards, Propelled wormlike by the strangely flexible 463 00:31:06,840 --> 00:31:09,840 Speaker 1: movements of shoulder and hip. It seems to be relying 464 00:31:09,920 --> 00:31:13,440 Speaker 1: on the filaments as its primary sense organ and moves 465 00:31:13,480 --> 00:31:17,760 Speaker 1: as though pulled. Jay screams and flings the empty canister 466 00:31:17,880 --> 00:31:21,000 Speaker 1: at the creature that was supposed to kill the fucking thing, 467 00:31:21,080 --> 00:31:24,080 Speaker 1: not merely draw it out. She lifts her blaster and 468 00:31:24,120 --> 00:31:28,080 Speaker 1: then sees something else, another pale thread, writhing like a 469 00:31:28,160 --> 00:31:31,680 Speaker 1: headless snake against the broken cheek of doctor Morgan Christie 470 00:31:32,080 --> 00:31:37,520 Speaker 1: protruding from a tear at the corner of her mouth. Oh, unexpected, 471 00:31:38,280 --> 00:31:41,840 Speaker 1: there's two of them. Jase fires into the doctor's chest. 472 00:31:42,240 --> 00:31:45,120 Speaker 1: Morgan sputters and chokes anew, but the creature and mirror 473 00:31:45,200 --> 00:31:50,360 Speaker 1: doesn't stop advancing. The captain breathes in, breathes out, shudders, 474 00:31:50,400 --> 00:31:53,160 Speaker 1: a part of her brain and nimbly fires point blank 475 00:31:53,240 --> 00:31:57,400 Speaker 1: three times in Emer's head. A headless neck dips towards 476 00:31:57,400 --> 00:32:01,400 Speaker 1: her severed white tendrils, shivering in the spine, and Jace 477 00:32:01,560 --> 00:32:04,760 Speaker 1: lunges backwards as she feels a vice like grip lock 478 00:32:04,840 --> 00:32:09,200 Speaker 1: around her boot, fingers digging and burrowing. Mindless of pain, 479 00:32:09,640 --> 00:32:12,200 Speaker 1: she can only scrabble backwards a half step before she 480 00:32:12,240 --> 00:32:15,000 Speaker 1: feels the press of Mira's hand on her bare ankle. 481 00:32:15,600 --> 00:32:18,280 Speaker 1: Jay snaps her foot out in a kick to dislodge 482 00:32:18,280 --> 00:32:22,240 Speaker 1: the headless corpse, whose grip on the shuddering doctor is slackened, 483 00:32:22,760 --> 00:32:26,640 Speaker 1: except she doesn't do that. She tries again, and her 484 00:32:26,720 --> 00:32:29,800 Speaker 1: leg does move, but it folds under her props her 485 00:32:29,920 --> 00:32:33,960 Speaker 1: up insensitive to Jace's desperate attempts to control it. She 486 00:32:34,040 --> 00:32:37,600 Speaker 1: still has time moments. She's still herself, and she's still alive, 487 00:32:37,640 --> 00:32:41,840 Speaker 1: and that can't be it. She kicks herself free clambers back, 488 00:32:42,560 --> 00:32:47,080 Speaker 1: except she doesn't. Jace watches a helpless prisoner as her 489 00:32:47,120 --> 00:32:51,360 Speaker 1: body sits and leans forward, fluttering its hands over the doctor, 490 00:32:51,400 --> 00:32:55,080 Speaker 1: whose face is wrong and es is collapsed. She feels 491 00:32:55,080 --> 00:32:58,920 Speaker 1: the slipperiness of the doctor's blood and a few troubling chunks, 492 00:32:59,320 --> 00:33:01,719 Speaker 1: but she can't even control the direction of her eyes, 493 00:33:02,080 --> 00:33:05,160 Speaker 1: fixed on what's left of Morgan or the water that 494 00:33:05,240 --> 00:33:10,000 Speaker 1: begins to fill them. No, that can't be it. They 495 00:33:10,040 --> 00:33:13,760 Speaker 1: still have time moments. She's alive, she's right here. But 496 00:33:13,840 --> 00:33:16,320 Speaker 1: if they could get her to a plant, yes, that's it, 497 00:33:16,360 --> 00:33:19,200 Speaker 1: to the labs, she'll be fine, like always. But the 498 00:33:19,280 --> 00:33:21,960 Speaker 1: lab is far. The samples are locked in quarantine that 499 00:33:22,040 --> 00:33:25,000 Speaker 1: only Morgan or Allan's brains knew how to access. And 500 00:33:25,080 --> 00:33:28,320 Speaker 1: this is so much blood. Joyce Void could lift her. 501 00:33:28,720 --> 00:33:31,800 Speaker 1: Jace's body is strong and she's whole, at least one 502 00:33:31,840 --> 00:33:34,320 Speaker 1: of them is. She could carry her. But if she 503 00:33:34,360 --> 00:33:37,480 Speaker 1: begins to lift stars Star lets out a gurgling gasp 504 00:33:37,840 --> 00:33:40,360 Speaker 1: as something in the openness of her ribs sucks in 505 00:33:40,480 --> 00:33:45,320 Speaker 1: and out. Wetly. Star reaches up a hand, movements syrupy slow. 506 00:33:45,960 --> 00:33:48,640 Speaker 1: Her fingers drift to the Captain's ear, as though in 507 00:33:48,680 --> 00:33:52,160 Speaker 1: a dream, rolling the lobe so gently, with a kind 508 00:33:52,200 --> 00:33:54,880 Speaker 1: of wonder, like she's the first person in the universe 509 00:33:54,920 --> 00:33:58,160 Speaker 1: you've ever thought to do it. The twist of Jace 510 00:33:58,240 --> 00:34:03,280 Speaker 1: Void feels like it's unspooling. Morgan's Star's body dipsent on unconsciousness. 511 00:34:04,200 --> 00:34:06,800 Speaker 1: The danger doesn't occur to Void until she's looking down 512 00:34:06,880 --> 00:34:10,440 Speaker 1: dreamily at the body she had so recently occupied. Oh wait, 513 00:34:11,040 --> 00:34:15,000 Speaker 1: she wasn't. She's void. She never had Morgan's body. She 514 00:34:15,120 --> 00:34:16,839 Speaker 1: was borne into it and died in it to day 515 00:34:17,040 --> 00:34:20,680 Speaker 1: or Star was, which is herself. Void is aware of 516 00:34:20,719 --> 00:34:24,400 Speaker 1: a flicker of images, scratched and jumpy, like an artifacting video, 517 00:34:24,760 --> 00:34:28,160 Speaker 1: her own memories, but othered flipped. She sees her own 518 00:34:28,239 --> 00:34:31,240 Speaker 1: myriad shapes through the myriad eyes of Star and thinks, 519 00:34:32,040 --> 00:34:33,960 Speaker 1: I thought I was my best with her, but she 520 00:34:34,000 --> 00:34:36,200 Speaker 1: saw how wretched I was, and she loved me for it. 521 00:34:36,840 --> 00:34:42,319 Speaker 1: Oh no, not this dizzy in semi lucid, Star is 522 00:34:42,360 --> 00:34:45,600 Speaker 1: in Jace, and Void is in Jase, and so Star 523 00:34:46,080 --> 00:34:51,120 Speaker 1: is in Void. As above, so below. Without sentient thought 524 00:34:51,200 --> 00:34:55,160 Speaker 1: or purpose, trapped in an invalid host, Starr's most basic 525 00:34:55,239 --> 00:35:00,000 Speaker 1: chemistry has attempted to hail Mary any port in a storm, 526 00:35:00,080 --> 00:35:04,200 Speaker 1: including hostile takeover. Frantically attempting to make room for Star 527 00:35:04,320 --> 00:35:08,160 Speaker 1: inside Jace, Void presses her hands to Morgan's bare neck, 528 00:35:08,600 --> 00:35:11,880 Speaker 1: mashes her mouth against the clammy lips, and puffs breath 529 00:35:11,920 --> 00:35:15,120 Speaker 1: into her. But she can't force the transfer. There's not 530 00:35:15,320 --> 00:35:18,520 Speaker 1: enough left of the woman. Her attempt to hop to 531 00:35:18,600 --> 00:35:22,480 Speaker 1: Morgan's rapidly spoiling body and die with it has failed. 532 00:35:23,520 --> 00:35:26,239 Speaker 1: Void wants to vomit. She's sweating and shaking, and she 533 00:35:26,280 --> 00:35:29,359 Speaker 1: doesn't know whether it's her biology's natural reaction to Star, 534 00:35:29,920 --> 00:35:32,520 Speaker 1: fighting her off like a fever, or if it's her 535 00:35:32,560 --> 00:35:36,239 Speaker 1: heart's natural reaction to Star. Willing herself to die in 536 00:35:36,320 --> 00:35:39,560 Speaker 1: Star's place and destroy every fraction of herself and her name. 537 00:35:41,080 --> 00:35:44,640 Speaker 1: That could work, She thinks desperately, I always hoped i'd 538 00:35:44,680 --> 00:35:47,080 Speaker 1: die for you, and I can do it. Now, take 539 00:35:47,239 --> 00:35:50,600 Speaker 1: Jace's body from me. She tries to make herself weak, 540 00:35:51,120 --> 00:35:54,320 Speaker 1: to still her panic, to give up. That would be 541 00:35:54,320 --> 00:35:57,560 Speaker 1: a poetic end, fitting, there could be a point to it, 542 00:35:58,440 --> 00:36:03,080 Speaker 1: but nature doesn't care for poetry, and Void has always 543 00:36:03,080 --> 00:36:06,840 Speaker 1: had a strong immune system. She's dying again, and this 544 00:36:07,000 --> 00:36:10,760 Speaker 1: time it's the big one. No, unfortunately not the Void 545 00:36:10,800 --> 00:36:15,440 Speaker 1: half the Star. Half. Void isn't sure if Star can 546 00:36:15,520 --> 00:36:18,759 Speaker 1: hear her, but suspended in the moment before the drop off, 547 00:36:19,440 --> 00:36:23,240 Speaker 1: Void thinks to her lover as though thinking can save them. 548 00:36:24,120 --> 00:36:27,200 Speaker 1: I always felt, even with our bodies pressed together, I 549 00:36:27,239 --> 00:36:29,800 Speaker 1: can never get close enough to you to slake my thirst, 550 00:36:30,520 --> 00:36:34,200 Speaker 1: and look at us now. We have become divine, not 551 00:36:34,480 --> 00:36:37,520 Speaker 1: for the power and expansiveness of us, but for the 552 00:36:37,640 --> 00:36:40,719 Speaker 1: end of our story. At once one heart and the 553 00:36:40,760 --> 00:36:46,240 Speaker 1: dagger thrust through it. We are aspirational and cautionary God. 554 00:36:46,320 --> 00:36:52,239 Speaker 1: Creatures should be parables. Star's tiny fungal corpse will be 555 00:36:52,280 --> 00:36:57,399 Speaker 1: processed and expelled invisibly by Jas's body. Void won't even 556 00:36:57,440 --> 00:37:01,759 Speaker 1: have a smear of mucus to weep over the emptiness 557 00:37:02,239 --> 00:37:07,080 Speaker 1: of a cold universe stretches away from her on all sides. 558 00:37:09,840 --> 00:37:12,520 Speaker 1: The end. That's the end of the story, and what 559 00:37:12,920 --> 00:37:15,360 Speaker 1: a story. We've actually we've been talking about doing this 560 00:37:15,400 --> 00:37:17,200 Speaker 1: one for a long time now, and we wanted to 561 00:37:17,239 --> 00:37:22,200 Speaker 1: wait for Valentine's Day because we're not monsters, totally, not 562 00:37:22,360 --> 00:37:25,319 Speaker 1: at all. Anyway, Thanks for coming along in that wild 563 00:37:25,440 --> 00:37:28,680 Speaker 1: ride with us, Hazel, who helps me pick out the stories. 564 00:37:28,960 --> 00:37:30,719 Speaker 1: We and I talked about the story a lot when 565 00:37:30,719 --> 00:37:33,880 Speaker 1: we first read it, And if you take Star and 566 00:37:33,960 --> 00:37:37,480 Speaker 1: Void as the main characters, it's this cautionary tale against 567 00:37:37,520 --> 00:37:40,799 Speaker 1: codependence and becoming too lost in romantic love at the 568 00:37:40,800 --> 00:37:43,640 Speaker 1: cost of literally any other aspect of your life. But 569 00:37:43,680 --> 00:37:46,520 Speaker 1: if you take Morgan and Cole as the protagonists. It's 570 00:37:46,520 --> 00:37:49,440 Speaker 1: this allegory about how falling in love new relationship energy, 571 00:37:49,440 --> 00:37:53,520 Speaker 1: the swoons. Whatever is this out of body experience like 572 00:37:53,600 --> 00:37:57,960 Speaker 1: being taken over or possessed? Hazel says about it quote, 573 00:37:58,280 --> 00:38:00,960 Speaker 1: I particularly loved how star and to run up against 574 00:38:01,000 --> 00:38:04,120 Speaker 1: the fragility of the human body in small and big ways. 575 00:38:04,160 --> 00:38:07,319 Speaker 1: It felt so relatable to new relationship energy when I 576 00:38:07,360 --> 00:38:09,839 Speaker 1: often find myself consumed by something that feels so much 577 00:38:09,840 --> 00:38:12,600 Speaker 1: bigger than my bodily needs, Like no, I don't want 578 00:38:12,600 --> 00:38:14,239 Speaker 1: to get out of bed to eat, I want to 579 00:38:14,320 --> 00:38:18,520 Speaker 1: keep cuddling. And then what do I have to say 580 00:38:18,560 --> 00:38:20,839 Speaker 1: about it? I mean, you could take it as a 581 00:38:20,880 --> 00:38:26,239 Speaker 1: story about how if you try to save your friends 582 00:38:26,480 --> 00:38:30,239 Speaker 1: from codependence you have to shoot them with blasters in 583 00:38:30,360 --> 00:38:34,960 Speaker 1: order to do it. That's probably not the takeaway, but 584 00:38:35,080 --> 00:38:36,920 Speaker 1: it is interesting how the people who are trying to 585 00:38:36,960 --> 00:38:40,759 Speaker 1: save them from this like codependence destructive relationship end up dead. 586 00:38:41,480 --> 00:38:45,440 Speaker 1: I don't know whatever. This is what science fiction does best, 587 00:38:45,960 --> 00:38:51,239 Speaker 1: you know, is make these like non subtle metaphors yet 588 00:38:51,280 --> 00:38:55,560 Speaker 1: that are still somehow psychedelic and that you can't necessarily 589 00:38:55,640 --> 00:38:59,080 Speaker 1: pin exactly what they mean. We feel its meaning and 590 00:38:59,120 --> 00:39:01,160 Speaker 1: we can point to pe pieces of it, but we 591 00:39:01,239 --> 00:39:06,680 Speaker 1: can't grasp the entirety of what it's saying about everything. 592 00:39:07,360 --> 00:39:08,920 Speaker 1: I just really like that about art, and I think 593 00:39:08,920 --> 00:39:11,120 Speaker 1: that science fiction is incredibly well posed to do this. 594 00:39:11,360 --> 00:39:13,440 Speaker 1: When I first started reading it, I actually tend not 595 00:39:13,480 --> 00:39:17,640 Speaker 1: to like psychedelically written fiction, and so the first scene 596 00:39:18,480 --> 00:39:22,640 Speaker 1: I almost passed on this story. But it's worth it 597 00:39:22,719 --> 00:39:25,160 Speaker 1: and it becomes a little bit more understandable. But I 598 00:39:25,200 --> 00:39:27,200 Speaker 1: have to admit this is one of these stories that, like, 599 00:39:27,440 --> 00:39:29,080 Speaker 1: I don't know, y'all might need to listen to it 600 00:39:29,120 --> 00:39:33,320 Speaker 1: again or bury your gaze to read it properly anyway. 601 00:39:33,600 --> 00:39:37,200 Speaker 1: Bio the author November Rush. November Rush is a tattoo 602 00:39:37,280 --> 00:39:40,680 Speaker 1: artist and painter living in Montreal, Canada. This is her 603 00:39:40,719 --> 00:39:43,400 Speaker 1: debut as a writer, and you can follow her tattoo 604 00:39:43,440 --> 00:39:49,040 Speaker 1: and painting work at Underscore November Underscore Rush, which I 605 00:39:49,120 --> 00:39:52,080 Speaker 1: believe is Instagram is what it's saying, and on Blue 606 00:39:52,080 --> 00:39:58,360 Speaker 1: Sky at November Rush dot bsky dot social. I'm Margaret Kiljoy. 607 00:39:58,560 --> 00:40:01,000 Speaker 1: I have been your host. You can find my writing 608 00:40:01,160 --> 00:40:04,839 Speaker 1: on Substack. My newsletter there it's called Birds before the Storm. 609 00:40:04,880 --> 00:40:07,799 Speaker 1: It's really just Margaret Kiljoy dot substock dot com. And 610 00:40:07,840 --> 00:40:10,640 Speaker 1: I have various other podcasts on this very network. I 611 00:40:10,680 --> 00:40:12,520 Speaker 1: have cool people who did cool stuff. If you haven't 612 00:40:12,560 --> 00:40:14,560 Speaker 1: listened to it, what are you doing with your life 613 00:40:14,960 --> 00:40:17,440 Speaker 1: not listening to my podcast? That's what you're doing because 614 00:40:17,480 --> 00:40:19,839 Speaker 1: you hate me. That's what I think of everyone doesn't 615 00:40:19,840 --> 00:40:22,439 Speaker 1: listen to my podcast. I think they hate me. That's 616 00:40:22,440 --> 00:40:23,799 Speaker 1: actually not true at all. A lot of my best 617 00:40:23,840 --> 00:40:26,160 Speaker 1: friends don't listen to my podcasts. But that's out of 618 00:40:26,280 --> 00:40:30,799 Speaker 1: like weird stuff that's too personal. You don't get to 619 00:40:30,840 --> 00:40:34,480 Speaker 1: know that anyway. Dear listener, take care, love the ones 620 00:40:34,520 --> 00:40:39,840 Speaker 1: closest to you. I'll see you next week. Fuck Ice bye. 621 00:40:41,920 --> 00:40:44,400 Speaker 1: It could happen here as a production of cool Zone Media. 622 00:40:44,520 --> 00:40:47,200 Speaker 1: For more podcasts from cool Zone Media, visit our website 623 00:40:47,200 --> 00:40:49,440 Speaker 1: cool Zonemedia dot com, or check us out on the 624 00:40:49,480 --> 00:40:53,040 Speaker 1: iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to podcasts. 625 00:40:53,480 --> 00:40:55,560 Speaker 1: You can find sources where it could Happen here, updated 626 00:40:55,680 --> 00:40:59,160 Speaker 1: monthly at cool zone Media dot com slash sources. Thanks 627 00:40:59,160 --> 00:40:59,720 Speaker 1: for listening.