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Speaker 1: All Zone Media. Hey everyone, it is it could happen

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Speaker 1: here a podcast about things falling apart, about a little

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Speaker 1: thing we like to call the crumbles, which is more

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Speaker 1: or less the state of affairs we're all living in

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Speaker 1: right now. You know, hottest year on record, you know,

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Speaker 1: unprecedented wildfires, smoke blanketing half the country, all that good jazz.

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Speaker 1: It gets one in the mood for stories and not

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Speaker 1: necessarily you know, happy stories, but not necessarily sad ones either.

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Speaker 1: You know, this is normally a daily news podcast focused

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Speaker 1: on collapse and things falling apart, but here at cool

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Speaker 1: Zone Media, a lot of us are big fans of fiction,

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Speaker 1: particularly speculative science fiction, often with a dystopian bent to it.

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Speaker 1: I've written a book in that theme. And then Margaret Kiljoy,

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Speaker 1: host of cool People who did cool stuff, and one

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Speaker 1: of one of our favorite people is an author of

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Speaker 1: numerous short stories, novels, novellas, all focusing on kind of

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Speaker 1: at least elements of the feeling of collapse. And so Margaret,

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Speaker 1: you know, you came to us a while ago. Andre,

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Speaker 1: like you know it would be neat, is starting a

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Speaker 1: literary magazine that's focused on the same kind of stuff

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Speaker 1: that we cover from a news basis in our daily

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Speaker 1: show because basically fiction is has collapsed as a way

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Speaker 1: for people to make a living, but somehow we have not.

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Speaker 1: So we're trying to sneak our way into paying people

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Speaker 1: for writing fiction. And that'll work as long as you

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Speaker 1: people listen. Margaret, that's that's what I got for an intro?

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Speaker 1: How was that? Is that what you hoped for? Right? For?

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Speaker 2: No, that's good. That puts it more clearly than I would.

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Speaker 1: That's good.

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Speaker 2: We're taking over Sundays because there really wasn't anything to

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Speaker 2: take over because there wasn't anything.

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Speaker 1: We weren't doing any Sunday content. Yeah, that's right. Now

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Speaker 1: it's really a daily show bitches.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, because no one there is no no one goes

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Speaker 2: to church anymore. But we suddenly still have Sunday free,

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Speaker 2: and so we figured we can sneak into Sundays.

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Speaker 1: Yeah. Are we saying that this is church for you

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Speaker 1: now that we are your God? Yes? Essentially?

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Speaker 2: Yeah? Why not? Yeah, this story does have things that

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Speaker 2: are like gods in it.

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Speaker 1: Yeah.

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Speaker 2: Well, the first thing that we're going to do, the

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Speaker 2: first several episodes are going to be one of my novellas.

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Speaker 2: The general format is going to be that I'm going

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Speaker 2: to have authors on to read me stories. But I

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Speaker 2: thought that I would start with one of my own

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Speaker 2: and bring Robert on to read Robert a story.

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Speaker 1: I love stories.

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Speaker 2: The first story that we're going to read is a

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Speaker 2: novella that I wrote called The Lamble Slaughter of the Lion.

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Speaker 2: It was originally published by tour dot com and you

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Speaker 2: can read it in paper form if you want, or

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Speaker 2: you can listen to it here.

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Speaker 1: Margaret, what separates legally a novel from a novella.

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Speaker 2: It's a length thing. It's a novellas are short novels.

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Speaker 2: It goes flash fiction, short story, novelette, novella, novel, and honestly,

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Speaker 2: usually people just use the word counts of various awards

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Speaker 2: in order to determine the categorization of these things.

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Speaker 1: That makes sense.

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Speaker 2: And from that point of view, oh, I don't have

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Speaker 2: it in front of me, but I think a novella

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Speaker 2: starts at about seventeen thousand words and runs up to

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Speaker 2: about forty thousand words and then novel takes over. And

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Speaker 2: this is at least I think for the Hugo Awards,

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Speaker 2: which this is not a winner of, but it is

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Speaker 2: the categorization that people use. I like writing avellas I

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Speaker 2: write short by default anyway, And I don't know whether

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Speaker 2: it's undiagnosed ADHD or what.

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Speaker 1: I think it's just a matter of skill because and

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Speaker 1: here's the thing, a lot of people who aren't in

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Speaker 1: the viz may know, it's harder to write good short

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Speaker 1: fiction than good long fiction. At least that's my opinion,

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Speaker 1: as it's the same reason why one of the things

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Speaker 1: that was neat for a while about Twitter, It hasn't

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Speaker 1: been this way for a minute, but back when there

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Speaker 1: was an actual cap on how much you could post,

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Speaker 1: there was a degree to which. One of the reasons

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Speaker 1: writers liked it a lot, especially joke writers, is it

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Speaker 1: kind of forced brevity, and like brevity is the soul

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Speaker 1: of wit, you know. That's the thing. I don't know.

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Speaker 1: It's silly to actually say like that short novels are

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Speaker 1: harder than long novels, But as a general rule, I

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Speaker 1: think the most impactful fiction I read tends to be

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Speaker 1: short fiction, even though I prefer long fiction because it

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Speaker 1: gives me something to do with my time. But like

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Speaker 1: when I think about stuff that's like hit me, like

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Speaker 1: in the gut, real hard. It's usually been short fiction.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, no, that makes sense to me. I remember in

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Speaker 2: high school someone told me the like cliche that every

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Speaker 2: novelist is a failed short story writer, and every short

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Speaker 2: story writer is a failed poet. Yeah, and so I

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Speaker 2: guess by that standards, I'm a failed poet. But don't worry.

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Speaker 2: I'm not subjecting you to that. I'm only subjecting you

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Speaker 2: to my fiction.

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Speaker 1: That's right, that's right. I will subject you guys to

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Speaker 1: my poetry one of these days. But uh no, I won't.

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Speaker 1: I didn't have a joke there. I was thinking I

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Speaker 1: was the figure in one, but it turns out I

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Speaker 1: don't have one. So let's just do the story, all right.

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Speaker 2: So this book is called The Lamble Slaughter the Lion.

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Speaker 2: It's the first book in the Danielle Kine series, which

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Speaker 2: currently only has two books in it. But we'll see

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Speaker 2: about me trying to solve that chapter one. Sometimes you

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Speaker 2: have to pull a knife. It's not a good thing.

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Speaker 2: I don't enjoy it. Some times you've just got to

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Speaker 2: get a knife in your hands and make it clear

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Speaker 2: which way the stabby end is pointing. Let me out here,

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Speaker 2: I'd said, before the knife got involved. It hadn't been

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Speaker 2: a question. Men always assumed that declarative statements like that

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Speaker 2: are questions. This is a ghost town, he said. I

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Speaker 2: hadn't caught his name. He'd been nice enough to pick

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Speaker 2: me up pitch hiking in the middle of nowhere, Iowa,

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Speaker 2: but he wasn't nice enough to let me out where

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Speaker 2: I wanted. That's all right, I said, just let me out.

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Speaker 2: There'll be someplace better, a wal Mart or something. I'll

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Speaker 2: let you out there. Let me out here. I can't

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Speaker 2: just let you out in the middle of nowhere, not

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Speaker 2: by yourself. It isn't safe, he said it without a

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Speaker 2: trace of irony. He locked the doors. That's when the

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Speaker 2: knife got involved. I slid it out from my Jean's pocket,

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Speaker 2: clicked it open. Pulling a knife means going double or nothing.

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Speaker 2: I was either going to get out of the situation

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Speaker 2: or the situation was about to get a lot worse. Jesus,

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Speaker 2: he said. He pulled over. I unlocked my door, grabbed

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Speaker 2: my pack, and hit the gravel before he came to

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Speaker 2: a complete stop. Fucking bitch. I flipped off his car

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Speaker 2: as he drove away, But at least he was driving away.

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Speaker 2: The worst of it was he'd probably thought he was

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Speaker 2: just taking care of me, that he was a nice guy.

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Speaker 2: I hoped bad things were going to happen to him,

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Speaker 2: and soon ten years of putting up with shit like

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Speaker 2: that from drivers, it was getting old. Hell, at twenty eight,

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Speaker 2: I was getting old. Ten years ago, I'd talked to

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Speaker 2: drivers about anything and loved them for it. I loved

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Speaker 2: the nice ones for their kindness. I love the crazies

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Speaker 2: for their stories. And sure I hated the racist pieces

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Speaker 2: of shit, but if nothing else, I got to feel

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Speaker 2: like I had the pulse of this racist piece of

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Speaker 2: shit country. But a decade is an awful long time,

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Speaker 2: and whatever shine I'd found on the shit that his

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Speaker 2: hitchhiking had long since faded. Still it got me where

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Speaker 2: I wanted to go. The town's welcome sign had been

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Speaker 2: painted over. Don't know what it used to say, but now,

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Speaker 2: in clean, stenciled letters, it said Freedom, Iowa City Limits, unincorporated,

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Speaker 2: an entire town, abandoned by a dead economy and occupied

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Speaker 2: by squatters and activists and anarchists. It was the last

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Speaker 2: place Clay had lived, the last place he'd spent much

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Speaker 2: time before he'd found his way west, and his hand

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Speaker 2: had shown his razor the way to his throat. No

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Speaker 2: warning signs, no cries for help. I had a lot

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Speaker 2: of questions. If there were answers, I might find them

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Speaker 2: in Freedom, Iowa. I shouldered my pack and clipped the

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Speaker 2: waistbelt shut. It had been Clay's pack. I had his

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Speaker 2: suicide note folded up in the smallest pocket. The road

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Speaker 2: into town was two lanes that led away from the highway,

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Speaker 2: paved with pale patched asphalt. The trees beside it climbed

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Speaker 2: toward the sky, and I walked in the double yellow

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Speaker 2: with something of a spring to my step. After a

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Speaker 2: hundred yards and a couple turns, when the trees were

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Speaker 2: getting thick enough to cast the whole of the road

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Speaker 2: into shadow, I saw a deer on the shoulder ahead,

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Speaker 2: rooting at something on the pavement. The beast was crimson red,

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Speaker 2: blood red. I didn't even know deer came in that color.

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Speaker 2: I crossed to the far side of the street so

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Speaker 2: I wouldn't disturb him, but I couldn't help staring. A

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Speaker 2: rabbit was dead on the ground beneath him, its belly up,

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Speaker 2: its rib cage splayed open. The deer looked up at me,

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Speaker 2: then his red muzzle dripping red blood. On the right

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Speaker 2: side of his head, he bore an antler. On the

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Speaker 2: left side of his head, he bore two Jesus. I said,

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Speaker 2: I kept walking, because what else do you do? He

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Speaker 2: watched me until I was around the next bend, and

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Speaker 2: I couldn't help feeling his gaze on my back. The

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Speaker 2: only sounds in the air were birds and the faint

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Speaker 2: white noise of a nearby river, and wild flowers were

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Speaker 2: in bloom on the forest floor. Another quarter mile and

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Speaker 2: I stepped out of the woods and saw the town

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Speaker 2: on the far bank of a small, slow moving river.

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Speaker 2: Half a hundred houses were set into the hillside along

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Speaker 2: a single winding street. A few old cars were part

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Speaker 2: along the curb and in driveways, but I couldn't get

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Speaker 2: a gauge on whether they were in use or abandoned.

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Speaker 2: A two lane bridge spanned the river. Clay had talked

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Speaker 2: about the place like it was paradise. I crossed over,

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Speaker 2: pausing to look down over the guard rail at the

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Speaker 2: water thirty feet below as it tumbled and tore its

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Speaker 2: way over river rock. Just at the other end of

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Speaker 2: the bridge, a boarded up gas station was covered in

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Speaker 2: street art as good as any I'd seen in Oakland.

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Speaker 2: It was a quarter mile farther up the hill to

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Speaker 2: the first houses, and most were overgrown, more than a

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Speaker 2: few with caved in roofs. Others looked haphazardly maintained. I

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Speaker 2: walked into town, but I didn't see any signs of life,

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Speaker 2: no smoke or lights or motion. No one was out

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Speaker 2: on the street or sitting on their porches. Maybe everyone

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Speaker 2: had left when Clay had. Maybe the water was poisoned

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Speaker 2: the same as it seemed to be in half of

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Speaker 2: Middle America, and singing shit like that fucked up mutated

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Speaker 2: deer with three antlers made everyone realize it wasn't safe

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Speaker 2: to stick around. The first five or six houses I

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Speaker 2: passed were split levels set into the hill. Welded rebar

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Speaker 2: statues populated one front lawn, a three antler deer amongst

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Speaker 2: other woodland and farmyard animals. Even the statue seemed to

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Speaker 2: bore into me with its stare, and the damn thing

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Speaker 2: didn't even have eyes. The next house, alone on its block,

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Speaker 2: was an old colonial. It was handsome, its wood siding

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Speaker 2: painted dark. Its circular attic window is an eye, casting

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Speaker 2: its longing gaze out over the river.

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Speaker 1: And Iowa.

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Speaker 2: I walked up the cement steps to a large wooden

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Speaker 2: patio on the side of the house and peered in

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Speaker 2: through the sliding door. But it was darker inside than outside,

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Speaker 2: and I only saw my own straggly short hair reflected

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Speaker 2: and a silhouette in the glass. I sat down on

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Speaker 2: the porch chair and leaned back to ponder the empty

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Speaker 2: town and my lack of luck. I had no idea

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Speaker 2: how to find what I wanted to find. I had

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Speaker 2: come here because I needed motion. Without motion, there was

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Speaker 2: nothing without motion, I was probably as dead as clay.

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Speaker 2: I kicked back in the chair, put my feet up

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Speaker 2: on the table, and looked out over the town. I'd

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Speaker 2: make it my kingdom for the day, I decided, and

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Speaker 2: hit the road again tomorrow. I had canned food enough

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Speaker 2: to see me through at least three meals, and if

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Speaker 2: I got desperate, I had a jar of peanut butter

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Speaker 2: somewhere in my bag that would keep me alive for days.

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Speaker 2: I took out my phone and headphones, put on black metal,

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Speaker 2: and dozed off. I like the tiny little dreams I

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Speaker 2: get when I sleep. In the afternoon that day, I

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Speaker 2: was a very young goblin riding this bronosaurus like thing,

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Speaker 2: and I was in love with a human boy, and

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Speaker 2: I was afraid he'd find out I was a goblin.

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Speaker 2: When I'm awake, I'm happy sometimes, but I don't know

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Speaker 2: that I'm ever as happy awake as I am when

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Speaker 2: I'm dreaming. Awake, I've got all this nostalgia, this feeling

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Speaker 2: that I'm separated from something I can smell but can't touch.

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Speaker 2: I get these sudden, un arable realizations that I should

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Speaker 2: have been more present during all those moments in my life,

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Speaker 2: that I should have taken the time to be like,

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Speaker 2: oh shit, man, this is my life and it's fucking awesome.

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Speaker 2: Sometimes dreaming I just swim in the joy and the

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Speaker 2: intensity and the nowness of life. Late in the afternoon,

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Speaker 2: I heard rustling and opened my eyes. Halfway on the

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Speaker 2: railing in front of me, a rabbit cleaned its paws.

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Speaker 2: I watched it, drowsy. It turned toward me, and its

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Speaker 2: chest was a raw red wound, its rib cage and

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Speaker 2: organs gone. It smelled like death and blood, and I

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Speaker 2: don't usually smell much in my dreams. It hopped away,

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Speaker 2: and I presumed it a nightmare and fell back asleep.

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Speaker 2: Get your feet off the table. What I asked, startled awake,

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Speaker 2: ripping out my earbuds. Can't have dirty boots on the table,

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Speaker 2: he said. I got my feet back on the porch

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Speaker 2: and turned around. A gangly, handsome fellow was looking at

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Speaker 2: me with a brown fist on his hip and a

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Speaker 2: weird sort of smile hovering on his face. His septum

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Speaker 2: was pierced. One side of his head was shaved. The

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Speaker 2: rest of his hair was thick black curls. His short

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Speaker 2: dress was clean, faded black, stitched up in a few

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Speaker 2: places with dental floss. He was heavily tattooed, mostly black.

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Speaker 2: Work Behind him, the sliding glass door was open. Obviously

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Speaker 2: I hadn't heard him walk out. And who are you,

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Speaker 2: he asked Danielle, I said. He was looking me over,

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Speaker 2: his head cocked to the side, trying to make up

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Speaker 2: his mind about something. I uh, I didn't know anyone

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Speaker 2: lived here. I told him, well, he said, someone does.

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Speaker 2: There's at least four or five spots left if you

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Speaker 2: want your own place, more than that too, if you

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Speaker 2: know how to patch a roof. He stared at me

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Speaker 2: as I tried to process this information. Oh, you're new,

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Speaker 2: like new, new, like don't know anything new. I just

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Speaker 2: got here, I said, I was thinking maybe there wasn't

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Speaker 2: anyone left. I'm vulture. He said, what pronouns do you prefer?

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Speaker 2: She I said, I use He told me. I nodded, well, Danielle.

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Speaker 2: I came outside because there was a strange woman sleeping

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Speaker 2: on her porch. Everyone else there inside wondering who the

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Speaker 2: hell you are. He started drumming his fingers on his chin. Wade,

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Speaker 2: what's your last name, Cain. It wasn't my legal name,

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Speaker 2: but it was my punk name. You're Danny Kine. His

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Speaker 2: whole body loosened up and a smile exploded across his face.

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Speaker 2: I had rather Danielle than Danny, I said. I hadn't

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Speaker 2: let anyone but Clay called me Danny. In years, Clay

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Speaker 2: talked about you. I don't know. Maybe every day, come inside,

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Speaker 2: eat with us, Welcome to town. There's a kind of

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Speaker 2: hospitality found amongst squatters and punks that I'll never stop appreciating.

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Speaker 2: When there's not enough to go around, that's when people share.

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Speaker 2: As far as I can tell, it's part of why

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Speaker 2: us poor get taken advantage of so much. So I

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Speaker 2: met a tattooed man in a ghost town, and I

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Speaker 2: followed him into his house because he knew someone I knew. Sure,

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Speaker 2: I had to give it some thought, but it felt

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Speaker 2: a hole of a lot safer than getting in a

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Speaker 2: car with a stranger. Outside. The house was rustic and

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Speaker 2: kind of pretty. Inside it was astounding. I've spent plenty

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Speaker 2: of times in squats in the US, and I thought

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Speaker 2: I knew what to expect most squats. They range from

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Speaker 2: people who, honest to God, piss in the fucking corner,

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Speaker 2: to kind of normal but pretty messy, to artists obviously

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Speaker 2: live here. Jesus Christ, why is there a life size

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Speaker 2: hippo made from styrofoam in the living room? But that

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00:16:37,680 --> 00:16:40,960
Speaker 2: house was something else. It was clean, for one thing,

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Speaker 2: and every wall was painted gray, black or copper. Every

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Speaker 2: fixture was gold or copper, even if half of them

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Speaker 2: were spray painted that way. Mirrors were everywhere, letting daylight

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Speaker 2: reach into the corners.

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Speaker 1: Of the house.

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Speaker 2: While two full sized couches sat empty, The three people

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Speaker 2: in the living room were crammed onto a love seat,

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Speaker 2: lounging atop one another in the way that punks and

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Speaker 2: puppies do. A man and a woman sat next to

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Speaker 2: one another while another woman lay across them, tattooing the

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Speaker 2: back of the man's neck by hand with needle, thread

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Speaker 2: and ink. May I present to you, Danielle, Vulture said, grandly,

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Speaker 2: gesturing the Danny Kane. Danielle now though just walked into

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Speaker 2: town for her very first time. Well damn, the tattoo recipient, said,

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Speaker 2: Miss Kane herself. That's Thursday and Doomsday. Sitting down proper,

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Speaker 2: Vulture said, by way of introductions, we call them the

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Speaker 2: days Freedom. Iowa's only power couple. Come on, do the thing.

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Speaker 2: He clapped his hands giddy. I don't want to. The

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00:17:40,720 --> 00:17:43,879
Speaker 2: woman said, we gotta do it, the man said. He

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Speaker 2: wrangled his arms free from underneath a tattooist, then held

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Speaker 2: out his fists hands together. He had the word Thursday

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Speaker 2: tattooed on his knuckles, black against his brown skin. The

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Speaker 2: woman's sighed, then held out her pale hands, palms down

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Speaker 2: in the same fontday Today's tattoo, but clearly more faded

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Speaker 2: was the word doomsday. And this is Brynn, Vulture said. Brynn.

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Speaker 2: The tattooist looked up at me with pale, gray eyes.

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Speaker 2: An inch thick black line was tattooed from the bangs

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Speaker 2: of her hair line to the bridge for nose, which

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00:18:17,920 --> 00:18:21,840
Speaker 2: where it met her glasses formed a hypnotizing geometry. She

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Speaker 2: had the same military style belt I did, the same

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Speaker 2: extendable baton worn in its holster on one side and

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Speaker 2: pepper spray on the other that I did. Both weapons

333
00:18:30,160 --> 00:18:32,840
Speaker 2: are better than a knife for self defense. Knives are

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00:18:32,880 --> 00:18:36,080
Speaker 2: only good for threatening, not for fighting. Pepper spray can

335
00:18:36,119 --> 00:18:39,360
Speaker 2: actually disable someone. Baton can beat someone near to death

336
00:18:39,359 --> 00:18:43,240
Speaker 2: without cutting them. Her eyes met. I try not to

337
00:18:43,280 --> 00:18:45,400
Speaker 2: read too much into things like that, but her eyes met.

338
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Speaker 2: After a brief moment, she went back to tattooing. Thursday,

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00:18:50,200 --> 00:18:52,040
Speaker 2: so it brings you to this shitty little corner of

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Speaker 2: the world, Bryn asked, without diverting her attention from her work.

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Speaker 2: It's not shitty, Thursday said. Don't talk. Your neck moves

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00:18:59,320 --> 00:19:03,960
Speaker 2: when you talk. It's kinda shitty. Doomsday said, by the

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Speaker 2: look on his face, not talking was probably one of

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Speaker 2: Thursday's least favorite things. All done, Bryn announced, she put

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Speaker 2: the needle down next to the vial of ink on

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00:19:13,680 --> 00:19:16,639
Speaker 2: a rag on the coffee table and turned Thursday around

347
00:19:16,680 --> 00:19:19,360
Speaker 2: so everyone could see. On the back of his neck

348
00:19:19,440 --> 00:19:23,040
Speaker 2: was a stylized deer's head, three antlers sprouting from its

349
00:19:23,080 --> 00:19:27,520
Speaker 2: crown and running up towards his hairline. I was about

350
00:19:27,520 --> 00:19:30,520
Speaker 2: to ask about it, but a sudden fear shut my mouth.

351
00:19:31,359 --> 00:19:33,840
Speaker 2: There was something more to freedom than I knew, and

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Speaker 2: as much as I wanted to feel right at home,

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Speaker 2: I didn't. Vulture complimented Brynn on her work and Thursday

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00:19:40,320 --> 00:19:42,840
Speaker 2: on his taste, then took a photo of the tattoo

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Speaker 2: with his phone. Vulture, you want to help me get

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00:19:46,000 --> 00:19:49,480
Speaker 2: started on dinner, Brinne asked. Thursday started clearing up the

357
00:19:49,520 --> 00:19:52,560
Speaker 2: tattoo equipment. As soon as I find the right filter

358
00:19:52,640 --> 00:19:56,919
Speaker 2: and post this, I can help. I said. I like cooking,

359
00:19:58,240 --> 00:20:00,919
Speaker 2: so I followed Brynn to the kitchen to dinner, happy

360
00:20:00,920 --> 00:20:02,800
Speaker 2: to see if making food he get my mind off

361
00:20:02,880 --> 00:20:06,280
Speaker 2: the worries that raced through me. Vulture straggled behind us,

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00:20:06,320 --> 00:20:09,600
Speaker 2: tapping and swiping at his phone. You definitely don't have

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00:20:09,640 --> 00:20:12,840
Speaker 2: to help cook, Brynn said, I'd enjoy it, I said,

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00:20:13,320 --> 00:20:16,439
Speaker 2: I loved cooking for groups, hated cooking for myself. If

365
00:20:16,480 --> 00:20:18,840
Speaker 2: it's just me, I'll eat fucking protein bars for dinner.

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00:20:19,720 --> 00:20:22,120
Speaker 2: Brynn turned on the lights. A series of bright LEDs

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Speaker 2: wired into a wooden strip screwed into the ceiling. Where

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00:20:25,800 --> 00:20:29,360
Speaker 2: do you get power, I asked solar, Vulture said, still

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00:20:29,400 --> 00:20:31,960
Speaker 2: staring at his phone. Don't use it for much, just

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Speaker 2: some lights in our phones. He set his phone down

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Speaker 2: on the counter and started rooting through a produce basket,

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Speaker 2: procuring an onion, which he set in front of me.

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Speaker 2: I started dicing it as Brynn ran outside to turn

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Speaker 2: on the propane for the stove. Where do you get

375
00:20:46,440 --> 00:20:50,480
Speaker 2: the gas, I asked, We of Valter demurd We buy

376
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Speaker 2: it at Walmart, only place to get pretty much anything

377
00:20:53,119 --> 00:20:56,040
Speaker 2: within a two hour drive. I almost asked them where

378
00:20:56,040 --> 00:20:58,359
Speaker 2: they got the money, but I figured I knew the answer.

379
00:20:58,720 --> 00:21:02,880
Speaker 2: Some combination of crime, seasonal labor, and working remote same

380
00:21:02,920 --> 00:21:06,359
Speaker 2: as the rest of us travelers. And the water, I asked,

381
00:21:07,040 --> 00:21:09,520
Speaker 2: used a water key? Just turn the city water back on?

382
00:21:09,640 --> 00:21:12,560
Speaker 2: He said, you can buy basically anything on the internet.

383
00:21:12,840 --> 00:21:16,320
Speaker 2: Got a ship to someone in Chicago. Vulture at this

384
00:21:16,359 --> 00:21:18,720
Speaker 2: grand way of gesturing with every word he spoke and

385
00:21:18,800 --> 00:21:22,280
Speaker 2: bewing everything around us with meaning. Brynn came back in

386
00:21:22,400 --> 00:21:25,840
Speaker 2: whistling and swept up the diced onion into a frying pan.

387
00:21:26,560 --> 00:21:29,560
Speaker 2: She was taller than me, muscled, and handsome as hell.

388
00:21:30,560 --> 00:21:32,679
Speaker 2: In any other circumstance, i'd probably be in love with

389
00:21:32,720 --> 00:21:36,000
Speaker 2: both of them already. Instead, they were a mystery to me,

390
00:21:36,359 --> 00:21:39,679
Speaker 2: a mystery I am to solve for Clay's sake and

391
00:21:39,760 --> 00:21:44,560
Speaker 2: for my own. The Water's not like fucked up or something, though,

392
00:21:45,320 --> 00:21:48,919
Speaker 2: No way, the water's great, Vulture said. I opened my

393
00:21:48,960 --> 00:21:52,120
Speaker 2: mouth to ask about the mutated deer, but shouting from

394
00:21:52,160 --> 00:21:55,159
Speaker 2: the street cut me off. Brynn set down the spoon,

395
00:21:55,960 --> 00:21:58,400
Speaker 2: Vulture set down his knife, and we all met each

396
00:21:58,440 --> 00:22:02,480
Speaker 2: other's eyes. The shower was soon a scream. We ran

397
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Speaker 2: for the door. Chapter two. I'm gonna do two chapters today.

398
00:22:10,520 --> 00:22:12,480
Speaker 2: Everyone is listening. You're gonna get to hear the first

399
00:22:12,520 --> 00:22:15,399
Speaker 2: two chapters today. That's man, that's how much I love you.

400
00:22:15,600 --> 00:22:20,480
Speaker 1: Yay. Yeah. I read both of these a while ago,

401
00:22:21,160 --> 00:22:24,199
Speaker 1: and I'm eagerly awaiting the third. But I think the

402
00:22:24,280 --> 00:22:28,080
Speaker 1: thing that like I found most enticing about this is

403
00:22:28,160 --> 00:22:32,199
Speaker 1: like about about the Daniel Kine series in particular, is

404
00:22:32,240 --> 00:22:37,280
Speaker 1: this kind of like the It takes the occult, cryptid

405
00:22:37,400 --> 00:22:42,680
Speaker 1: sort of milieu that I've always loved and provide It's

406
00:22:42,720 --> 00:22:45,439
Speaker 1: the first like procedural I've seen in that kind of

407
00:22:45,520 --> 00:22:50,240
Speaker 1: genre that's that's like punk focused. Yeah, and there's a

408
00:22:50,240 --> 00:22:52,240
Speaker 1: lot of it fits really well because a lot of

409
00:22:52,280 --> 00:22:54,520
Speaker 1: like there's a lot of themes, like early death is

410
00:22:54,520 --> 00:22:57,359
Speaker 1: a really big theme just generally in your writing, but

411
00:22:57,440 --> 00:23:02,560
Speaker 1: also in this series. And like the what's interesting is

412
00:23:02,640 --> 00:23:05,760
Speaker 1: kind of taking that that milieu where usually you've got

413
00:23:05,800 --> 00:23:07,919
Speaker 1: like I don't know, a couple of FBI agents or

414
00:23:07,920 --> 00:23:12,440
Speaker 1: whatever combating these these horrors that are are kind of inexplicable,

415
00:23:13,080 --> 00:23:18,080
Speaker 1: whereas with with with this series, the horror is always

416
00:23:18,840 --> 00:23:22,439
Speaker 1: very explicable. The thing that's actually frightening is always the

417
00:23:22,440 --> 00:23:25,560
Speaker 1: way human beings treat each other, Like the way people

418
00:23:25,560 --> 00:23:28,760
Speaker 1: are pushed out and edged out and crushed in the

419
00:23:28,800 --> 00:23:33,560
Speaker 1: margins of society. Like that's that's the actual horror. And

420
00:23:33,600 --> 00:23:37,159
Speaker 1: the the monsters, the the occult stuff is you know,

421
00:23:37,680 --> 00:23:41,680
Speaker 1: those are those are something a little bit harder to define.

422
00:23:41,720 --> 00:23:45,159
Speaker 1: But it's not the as in the real life. As

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00:23:45,200 --> 00:23:47,760
Speaker 1: as in the real world, I should say, like that's

424
00:23:48,080 --> 00:23:50,840
Speaker 1: I don't know, uh, is a unique vibe, So.

425
00:23:51,880 --> 00:24:05,280
Speaker 2: No, I appreciate that. Yeah. Two, the sun sat fat

426
00:24:05,320 --> 00:24:08,159
Speaker 2: and low on the western horizon at the top of

427
00:24:08,200 --> 00:24:11,120
Speaker 2: the street, and the last light of the day lent

428
00:24:11,200 --> 00:24:15,760
Speaker 2: everything vivid faded colors, white lambs dappled with red and purple.

429
00:24:15,760 --> 00:24:19,240
Speaker 2: Wounds paced a circle around both lanes of the street,

430
00:24:19,800 --> 00:24:23,399
Speaker 2: not twenty yards from where we stood. Geese dodged in

431
00:24:23,440 --> 00:24:27,639
Speaker 2: and out between them, and a regal goat oversaw the parade.

432
00:24:27,720 --> 00:24:30,200
Speaker 2: Each creature had only a gaping wound where its rib

433
00:24:30,240 --> 00:24:34,240
Speaker 2: cage had been, Yet they lived. They opened their mouths

434
00:24:34,280 --> 00:24:37,639
Speaker 2: to bellow and squawk and bleat, but their organless bodies

435
00:24:37,720 --> 00:24:41,600
Speaker 2: let out only strange rasps mixed in with the good

436
00:24:41,640 --> 00:24:45,879
Speaker 2: summer scents, early summer flowers, a neighbor's barbecue, a campfire.

437
00:24:45,960 --> 00:24:49,679
Speaker 2: Farther off still was the iron of dried blood, the

438
00:24:49,760 --> 00:24:52,680
Speaker 2: rod of death, the same as the rabbit I thought

439
00:24:52,680 --> 00:24:57,439
Speaker 2: i'd dreamt. A fluttering above me caught my eye on

440
00:24:57,520 --> 00:25:01,359
Speaker 2: the power lines. Hundreds of birds without ribcas ages, sparrows

441
00:25:01,359 --> 00:25:05,639
Speaker 2: and finches, jays and pigeons, cried dry and unholy, an

442
00:25:05,720 --> 00:25:10,480
Speaker 2: angry jury to the trial below. I was transfixed. I

443
00:25:10,520 --> 00:25:13,080
Speaker 2: can't say if it was magic or shock. I can't

444
00:25:13,080 --> 00:25:15,720
Speaker 2: say the two are wholly distinct. I stood on the

445
00:25:15,760 --> 00:25:18,359
Speaker 2: lawn with my jaw hanging low, staring at the undead

446
00:25:18,400 --> 00:25:22,720
Speaker 2: spectacle before me. At the center, a man stood bent over,

447
00:25:22,880 --> 00:25:27,560
Speaker 2: fighting for breath. He'd been running, he'd been screaming. Hints

448
00:25:27,600 --> 00:25:30,119
Speaker 2: of white hair peeked out from beneath his sweater's hood,

449
00:25:30,480 --> 00:25:32,600
Speaker 2: and he wore patched black jeans and the look of

450
00:25:32,640 --> 00:25:35,760
Speaker 2: a man condemned. For a moment, I thought he was

451
00:25:35,800 --> 00:25:39,320
Speaker 2: the master of those animals, some punk rock summoner. But

452
00:25:39,359 --> 00:25:42,399
Speaker 2: everywhere he tried to walk, a barnyard demon blocked his path.

453
00:25:43,200 --> 00:25:47,160
Speaker 2: He was trying to reach us, Doomsday, he called out,

454
00:25:47,280 --> 00:25:52,840
Speaker 2: his voice hoarse from screaming, Tell Doomsday run. I started

455
00:25:52,880 --> 00:25:55,560
Speaker 2: toward him. Vulture put his hand on my arm. He

456
00:25:55,640 --> 00:25:59,119
Speaker 2: was filming with his phone. We've got to help, I said,

457
00:25:59,440 --> 00:26:03,639
Speaker 2: we can't. Bolter said he was near to tears. Bryn

458
00:26:03,680 --> 00:26:06,720
Speaker 2: on my other side was as well. They knew this man,

459
00:26:06,840 --> 00:26:10,320
Speaker 2: They cared about him. Thursday and Doomsday stepped out the

460
00:26:10,320 --> 00:26:12,840
Speaker 2: front door a few moments after the rest of us,

461
00:26:13,119 --> 00:26:16,600
Speaker 2: each with an identical handgun. She held her slack at

462
00:26:16,600 --> 00:26:19,359
Speaker 2: her side at dead weight. He kept both hands on

463
00:26:19,440 --> 00:26:23,200
Speaker 2: the grip, his fingers near the safety. Where the hell

464
00:26:23,200 --> 00:26:27,399
Speaker 2: had I found myself? Then I saw the deer, the

465
00:26:27,400 --> 00:26:30,640
Speaker 2: blood red deer stalk down the hill, the last remnants

466
00:26:30,640 --> 00:26:33,119
Speaker 2: of the sun at his back as three antlers and

467
00:26:33,200 --> 00:26:37,320
Speaker 2: sharp silhouette. The beasts parted for their master, and the

468
00:26:37,359 --> 00:26:41,800
Speaker 2: old man straightened up turned to meet his fate. The

469
00:26:41,840 --> 00:26:44,119
Speaker 2: creature reared on to his back legs and kicked the

470
00:26:44,119 --> 00:26:47,679
Speaker 2: man in the chest. His ribs broke loud like gunshot.

471
00:26:47,800 --> 00:26:51,280
Speaker 2: My ears rang from the blow. The man collapsed without

472
00:26:51,280 --> 00:26:53,359
Speaker 2: a sound, and the deer reached his muzzle into his

473
00:26:53,520 --> 00:26:57,840
Speaker 2: chest and tore out his heart. If I'd had a car,

474
00:26:57,960 --> 00:27:01,520
Speaker 2: I could have run. I could have safe somewhere, anywhere

475
00:27:01,600 --> 00:27:04,080
Speaker 2: if I'd had a car. The highway was too far

476
00:27:04,160 --> 00:27:07,640
Speaker 2: to run, and I had visions of that monstrous deer

477
00:27:07,720 --> 00:27:10,359
Speaker 2: chasing me over the river through the forest, hoofs in

478
00:27:10,440 --> 00:27:13,440
Speaker 2: my back, antlers in my chest, my heart held aloft

479
00:27:13,440 --> 00:27:17,560
Speaker 2: above my dying eyes. So I didn't run. I stood

480
00:27:18,119 --> 00:27:21,720
Speaker 2: in company with Clay's friends, near to paralyzed with fear.

481
00:27:23,080 --> 00:27:27,080
Speaker 2: The Sun's almost gone. Vulture whispered, it's powerless at night.

482
00:27:28,400 --> 00:27:31,160
Speaker 2: The beasts parted once more, and the hill walked off

483
00:27:31,200 --> 00:27:33,560
Speaker 2: down the hill, down toward the river and out of sight.

484
00:27:34,359 --> 00:27:39,240
Speaker 2: The animals plodded slowly after the birds were still just

485
00:27:39,359 --> 00:27:44,200
Speaker 2: then and the man was still forever. What the ever

486
00:27:44,280 --> 00:27:48,320
Speaker 2: loving fuck? I asked? I was sweating. We were back

487
00:27:48,320 --> 00:27:50,720
Speaker 2: in the living room, but Doomsday was the only one sitting.

488
00:27:51,080 --> 00:27:52,960
Speaker 2: I couldn't figure out if I felt safer near the

489
00:27:52,960 --> 00:27:55,439
Speaker 2: door and away from these people, or far from it

490
00:27:55,520 --> 00:27:57,359
Speaker 2: and away from the corpse that lay under a sheet

491
00:27:57,400 --> 00:28:01,320
Speaker 2: on the patio. Vulture had left the stranger shovels over

492
00:28:01,359 --> 00:28:04,840
Speaker 2: their shoulders to dig the man's grave. A small crowd

493
00:28:04,920 --> 00:28:09,080
Speaker 2: was gathering on the patio, well wishers, investigators, the curious.

494
00:28:09,760 --> 00:28:11,920
Speaker 2: No one told me, and I couldn't figure it out.

495
00:28:12,880 --> 00:28:15,960
Speaker 2: Brynn put her hand on my shoulder blade. I recoiled

496
00:28:16,000 --> 00:28:20,119
Speaker 2: from her touch. The creature's name is Ulixie, Doomsday said,

497
00:28:20,880 --> 00:28:24,600
Speaker 2: what the ever loving fuck? You knew Clay? You knew

498
00:28:24,600 --> 00:28:27,480
Speaker 2: his magic? Yeah, I mean he read taro and shit.

499
00:28:27,680 --> 00:28:29,880
Speaker 2: Sometimes he'd wave his hands around, say a couple words

500
00:28:29,920 --> 00:28:32,840
Speaker 2: about chaos and endless spirits to like, get her head

501
00:28:32,920 --> 00:28:36,880
Speaker 2: straight before we do something stupid or dangerous. You've never

502
00:28:36,920 --> 00:28:39,800
Speaker 2: seen one of the endless spirits. No, I hadn't seen

503
00:28:39,840 --> 00:28:41,800
Speaker 2: one of the endless spirits because the endless spirits were

504
00:28:41,800 --> 00:28:46,920
Speaker 2: fucking metaphors. All right, they're not Doomsday, said, no shit.

505
00:28:48,040 --> 00:28:50,040
Speaker 2: I started tapping the heel of my palm on my

506
00:28:50,120 --> 00:28:53,560
Speaker 2: outer thigh obsessively. It wasn't a nervous habit I'd ever

507
00:28:53,600 --> 00:28:57,880
Speaker 2: had before. I'd probably never been so nervous. We burned

508
00:28:57,920 --> 00:28:59,800
Speaker 2: the hell out of dinner. But Thursday came in with

509
00:29:00,160 --> 00:29:03,120
Speaker 2: cups on a tarnish silver platter, offered me a cup.

510
00:29:03,880 --> 00:29:06,680
Speaker 2: I knocked it out of his hand. The porcelain hit

511
00:29:06,680 --> 00:29:09,560
Speaker 2: the wooden floor and rolled away. If only the floor

512
00:29:09,600 --> 00:29:12,520
Speaker 2: had been cement, it would have smashed like it should have.

513
00:29:13,720 --> 00:29:16,440
Speaker 2: After all these years I'd lived outside of polite society,

514
00:29:16,960 --> 00:29:20,400
Speaker 2: I'd finally fallen through the looking glass. I know you're

515
00:29:20,400 --> 00:29:23,760
Speaker 2: freaked out, Thursday said, I would be too, But right

516
00:29:23,800 --> 00:29:26,880
Speaker 2: now this can't be about you. Right now, we've got

517
00:29:26,920 --> 00:29:30,800
Speaker 2: to figure some shit out. No Doomsday, said to her lover.

518
00:29:31,560 --> 00:29:34,800
Speaker 2: It's all right. The words will hold. The house is safe.

519
00:29:35,280 --> 00:29:39,800
Speaker 2: I'm safe. The plush couch welcomed me into its embrace.

520
00:29:40,280 --> 00:29:42,600
Speaker 2: Brynn sat next to me and I leaned against her.

521
00:29:43,160 --> 00:29:45,320
Speaker 2: I let my nervous energy flow out of me into

522
00:29:45,360 --> 00:29:48,040
Speaker 2: the ground, like Clay had taught me. I let a

523
00:29:48,040 --> 00:29:51,560
Speaker 2: stranger support me. The people in the house, they probably

524
00:29:51,560 --> 00:29:54,000
Speaker 2: weren't going to hurt me. That's about all I could

525
00:29:54,000 --> 00:29:58,640
Speaker 2: ever be sure about anyone. Doomsday met my eyes. She

526
00:29:58,840 --> 00:30:02,800
Speaker 2: was a severe, powerful woman, heavy set, commanding and beautiful,

527
00:30:03,800 --> 00:30:06,240
Speaker 2: not without a certain warmth, a certain flicker of something

528
00:30:06,280 --> 00:30:09,480
Speaker 2: carrying at the edge of her eyes. The deer's name

529
00:30:09,520 --> 00:30:13,440
Speaker 2: is Eulixe, she told me again, an endless spirit, a demon,

530
00:30:13,960 --> 00:30:16,920
Speaker 2: a creature of vengeance that walks these woods, swims in

531
00:30:16,960 --> 00:30:21,280
Speaker 2: this river, watches this town. He's been a guardian spirit

532
00:30:21,560 --> 00:30:25,920
Speaker 2: until tonight. You worship it, I said. It wasn't a question.

533
00:30:27,080 --> 00:30:32,440
Speaker 2: I'd say people revere him. There's no worship why, Doomsday

534
00:30:32,440 --> 00:30:35,840
Speaker 2: sipped her tea. We summoned him to kill a man

535
00:30:36,200 --> 00:30:39,040
Speaker 2: last year on Solstice, to kill a man who'd made

536
00:30:39,120 --> 00:30:42,240
Speaker 2: himself king. We summoned him to keep anyone from following

537
00:30:42,320 --> 00:30:47,400
Speaker 2: in that man's footsteps. Desmond Brynn said. There were about

538
00:30:47,400 --> 00:30:49,840
Speaker 2: thirty people who moved here at the start, Doomsday said

539
00:30:50,240 --> 00:30:54,440
Speaker 2: two years ago, in early spring. Clay was one of them.

540
00:30:54,720 --> 00:30:56,360
Speaker 2: After a couple of months, when it looked like the

541
00:30:56,400 --> 00:30:58,600
Speaker 2: place wasn't about to be cleared out by cops, word

542
00:30:58,640 --> 00:31:02,680
Speaker 2: went around. More of us showed up, mostly from Chicago.

543
00:31:02,760 --> 00:31:05,000
Speaker 2: It was hard living, and we were cold and hungry

544
00:31:05,080 --> 00:31:08,080
Speaker 2: and overworked. For some people it was a free place

545
00:31:08,080 --> 00:31:11,560
Speaker 2: to live. Other people a place where anarchist ideals could

546
00:31:11,560 --> 00:31:14,200
Speaker 2: be put into practice. Some of us came for our

547
00:31:14,240 --> 00:31:19,880
Speaker 2: own reasons. It worked all right until Desmond motherfucker managed

548
00:31:19,920 --> 00:31:22,680
Speaker 2: to take power. Thursday said. No one was supposed to

549
00:31:22,680 --> 00:31:24,960
Speaker 2: be able to do that, that was the whole point.

550
00:31:25,360 --> 00:31:28,240
Speaker 2: But I don't know. He got himself running the security Council,

551
00:31:28,360 --> 00:31:31,200
Speaker 2: and he got himself running in just about everything. He

552
00:31:31,240 --> 00:31:33,440
Speaker 2: did some good, scared off some dudes who were giving

553
00:31:33,480 --> 00:31:37,400
Speaker 2: us shit, but he just power man power just fucked

554
00:31:37,440 --> 00:31:39,840
Speaker 2: up things to people. A tracks fucked up people in

555
00:31:39,880 --> 00:31:44,160
Speaker 2: the first place. So you killed him, I asked, No,

556
00:31:44,240 --> 00:31:47,240
Speaker 2: we didn't kill him, Thursday said. Then he looked introspective.

557
00:31:48,000 --> 00:31:51,840
Speaker 2: Well eventually, yeah, but only after it got all animal

558
00:31:51,880 --> 00:31:54,240
Speaker 2: farm up in here and Desmond fucking beat this kid

559
00:31:54,280 --> 00:31:56,600
Speaker 2: to death right there on the bridge in front of

560
00:31:56,640 --> 00:31:59,320
Speaker 2: ten people, caved in his skull, tossed the body into

561
00:31:59,360 --> 00:32:03,040
Speaker 2: the river. Ben the nicest little crust lord you ever

562
00:32:03,040 --> 00:32:06,400
Speaker 2: would have met, Vulture said. He slid the door shut

563
00:32:06,440 --> 00:32:10,000
Speaker 2: behind himself and started to strip off his grave soiled clothes.

564
00:32:11,320 --> 00:32:12,920
Speaker 2: You have any idea how hard it is to get

565
00:32:12,960 --> 00:32:16,200
Speaker 2: friend's body out of a river. We didn't know what

566
00:32:16,280 --> 00:32:18,720
Speaker 2: to do, Doomsday said. There weren't enough of us to

567
00:32:18,800 --> 00:32:21,480
Speaker 2: kick him out. He had too much sway. We could

568
00:32:21,480 --> 00:32:23,480
Speaker 2: have killed him, but it would have meant civil war.

569
00:32:24,560 --> 00:32:26,960
Speaker 2: We were going to leave. Thursday said, about half the

570
00:32:27,000 --> 00:32:30,320
Speaker 2: town was going to leave. Desmond started saying shit about

571
00:32:30,360 --> 00:32:32,800
Speaker 2: how we couldn't like if we left. We couldn't be

572
00:32:32,840 --> 00:32:35,640
Speaker 2: trusted because we knew too much. If we left, he

573
00:32:35,720 --> 00:32:39,960
Speaker 2: quote couldn't guarantee our safety. Clay was the one who

574
00:32:39,960 --> 00:32:43,520
Speaker 2: talked to us out of assassination, Doomsday said. Thursday and

575
00:32:43,560 --> 00:32:45,960
Speaker 2: I were on our way out the door, guns in hand,

576
00:32:46,440 --> 00:32:49,720
Speaker 2: before the first light of morning of summer solstice, almost

577
00:32:49,720 --> 00:32:50,320
Speaker 2: a year ago.

578
00:32:50,360 --> 00:32:50,600
Speaker 1: Now.

579
00:32:51,640 --> 00:32:53,840
Speaker 2: Clay caught up with us because he was gathering up

580
00:32:53,840 --> 00:32:55,960
Speaker 2: the only people in town crazy enough to believe in

581
00:32:56,000 --> 00:32:59,680
Speaker 2: his magic. Rebecca. She was the only other real witch.

582
00:33:00,200 --> 00:33:04,160
Speaker 2: The man you saw die, his name was Anchor. The

583
00:33:04,200 --> 00:33:07,080
Speaker 2: three of them came for me in that early morning fog.

584
00:33:07,280 --> 00:33:09,240
Speaker 2: We went down to the river right under the bridge.

585
00:33:10,000 --> 00:33:12,760
Speaker 2: We each had a roll. I was the innocent. They

586
00:33:12,760 --> 00:33:17,000
Speaker 2: blindfolded me. Clay and Rebecca set their peace anchor, drew

587
00:33:17,000 --> 00:33:19,000
Speaker 2: blood up from his palm, let it run into the

588
00:33:19,080 --> 00:33:22,520
Speaker 2: river and on to the stone. When the solstice sun rose,

589
00:33:23,200 --> 00:33:26,440
Speaker 2: it drew Eulixe into the world. A spirit that turns

590
00:33:26,440 --> 00:33:30,600
Speaker 2: the predator into the prey. Eulxe hunts the vengeful, the hateful.

591
00:33:31,240 --> 00:33:34,320
Speaker 2: As Clay put it, Eulxe hunts those who wield power

592
00:33:34,360 --> 00:33:37,840
Speaker 2: over others. I wouldn't believed a word that she was

593
00:33:37,880 --> 00:33:41,080
Speaker 2: saying had I heard it the night before. As she spoke,

594
00:33:41,120 --> 00:33:44,360
Speaker 2: her voice fell in and out of confidence. Likely the

595
00:33:44,400 --> 00:33:47,200
Speaker 2: times she'd told the story before, it had been heroic.

596
00:33:48,720 --> 00:33:51,480
Speaker 2: Desmond and his crew tried to interrupt us. One of

597
00:33:51,520 --> 00:33:53,680
Speaker 2: his friends ripped my blindfold off, just in time for

598
00:33:53,760 --> 00:33:56,640
Speaker 2: me to watch Eulxe come out of the water. He

599
00:33:56,680 --> 00:33:59,920
Speaker 2: staggered like a new born colt, then looked hard at Desmond.

600
00:34:00,600 --> 00:34:04,960
Speaker 2: Desmond stumbled back, tripped, and Eulixe caught him by the throat,

601
00:34:05,720 --> 00:34:07,680
Speaker 2: dragged him over to the river's edge and held his

602
00:34:07,760 --> 00:34:11,200
Speaker 2: face beneath the water, ripped open his rib cage, tore

603
00:34:11,239 --> 00:34:17,280
Speaker 2: out his heart. Desmond's crew fucked off. Eulixe stayed damn,

604
00:34:17,880 --> 00:34:24,400
Speaker 2: I said, polysyllabic expression was sort of beyond me. So yeah,

605
00:34:24,480 --> 00:34:27,719
Speaker 2: welcome to Freedom, Iowa. For the past year, we've had

606
00:34:27,719 --> 00:34:31,560
Speaker 2: this benevolent, murderous spirit watching over us, which is weird,

607
00:34:32,040 --> 00:34:36,440
Speaker 2: but it's gone fine, which brings us to tonight. Thursday said,

608
00:34:37,520 --> 00:34:40,960
Speaker 2: which brings us to tonight Doomsday agreed. The last thing

609
00:34:41,040 --> 00:34:42,920
Speaker 2: Clay said to me when I dropped him off at

610
00:34:42,960 --> 00:34:45,840
Speaker 2: a truck stop about two months back was that Eulixe

611
00:34:45,880 --> 00:34:49,560
Speaker 2: would turn on his summoners. I didn't really believe him,

612
00:34:49,719 --> 00:34:53,440
Speaker 2: not until tonight. There was a rap on the sliding

613
00:34:53,480 --> 00:34:56,520
Speaker 2: door and I jolted Vulture, slid open the door and

614
00:34:56,560 --> 00:35:00,640
Speaker 2: had a brief conversation with someone. They're ready, I guess,

615
00:35:00,719 --> 00:35:04,880
Speaker 2: he reported, then slipped outside. The days stood up, strained

616
00:35:04,880 --> 00:35:09,000
Speaker 2: each other's collars and hair, then went out the door. Well,

617
00:35:09,080 --> 00:35:14,440
Speaker 2: Brent said, I suppose we're going to a funeral. Duh,

618
00:35:15,320 --> 00:35:19,480
Speaker 2: there's really a cliffhanger, but you know that's what we got.

619
00:35:20,480 --> 00:35:25,960
Speaker 1: Yeah. I I I find the uh, the the idea

620
00:35:26,040 --> 00:35:31,919
Speaker 1: you're playing with here particularly compelling because it's it's such

621
00:35:31,920 --> 00:35:35,799
Speaker 1: a again, it's such like a The actual conflict here

622
00:35:35,960 --> 00:35:39,120
Speaker 1: is so grounded, like a significant chunk of our audience

623
00:35:39,560 --> 00:35:42,600
Speaker 1: have have dealt with the problem of like self declared

624
00:35:42,640 --> 00:35:47,560
Speaker 1: security taking power and radical activists. Like it's the it's

625
00:35:47,600 --> 00:35:50,080
Speaker 1: like the easiest way to tell if somebody is a problem,

626
00:35:50,160 --> 00:35:55,320
Speaker 1: if they've like appointed themselves security and sort of this. Uh,

627
00:35:55,440 --> 00:36:01,920
Speaker 1: but also like when you're the the the difficulty is

628
00:36:02,000 --> 00:36:05,799
Speaker 1: like it's a double edged knife, right because not only

629
00:36:05,840 --> 00:36:08,040
Speaker 1: is there the problem of like people putting themselves in

630
00:36:08,120 --> 00:36:12,080
Speaker 1: a position of power, but when you start talking about like, well,

631
00:36:12,080 --> 00:36:14,000
Speaker 1: how do we get someone out of power, how do

632
00:36:14,040 --> 00:36:17,239
Speaker 1: we like remove the like, well, that's the effectively the

633
00:36:17,280 --> 00:36:19,520
Speaker 1: same problem, just a different shade of it, and it

634
00:36:19,840 --> 00:36:23,000
Speaker 1: can go it's the same dark places again. I just

635
00:36:23,080 --> 00:36:25,960
Speaker 1: love I love the I love that all of the

636
00:36:26,360 --> 00:36:31,480
Speaker 1: the actual like the quote unquote monster in this isn't

637
00:36:32,320 --> 00:36:35,319
Speaker 1: isn't the monster I can definitely see. You know, we

638
00:36:35,360 --> 00:36:37,480
Speaker 1: talk when we hang out, we talk a lot about Tolkien,

639
00:36:37,640 --> 00:36:39,960
Speaker 1: and I can see I can even see a bit

640
00:36:40,000 --> 00:36:42,879
Speaker 1: of Toll Like I can see the Tolkien in this story, right,

641
00:36:42,920 --> 00:36:45,800
Speaker 1: because like, no matter how how kind of like grand

642
00:36:46,120 --> 00:36:52,080
Speaker 1: the magic we're talking about here, the actual, the actual

643
00:36:52,200 --> 00:36:55,440
Speaker 1: conflict is always power and how to use it and

644
00:36:55,480 --> 00:36:59,560
Speaker 1: how it gets used, whether or not it ever can

645
00:36:59,680 --> 00:37:02,800
Speaker 1: be Uh anyway, I don't know. I like your stories, Margaret.

646
00:37:02,920 --> 00:37:03,160
Speaker 2: Yeah.

647
00:37:03,280 --> 00:37:03,960
Speaker 1: Thanks.

648
00:37:04,320 --> 00:37:08,919
Speaker 2: Well, if people want to hear part two, chapters three

649
00:37:08,920 --> 00:37:11,680
Speaker 2: and four, they're gonna have to wait a whole last week.

650
00:37:11,960 --> 00:37:17,040
Speaker 1: Isn't that just cruel you assholes? How dare you wait? Yes?

651
00:37:17,200 --> 00:37:23,040
Speaker 2: Yeah, but we'll be back next Sunday for the second

652
00:37:23,080 --> 00:37:25,719
Speaker 2: episode of the It could Happen Here book Club? Or

653
00:37:25,719 --> 00:37:26,839
Speaker 2: is it the Cool Zone book Club?

654
00:37:26,960 --> 00:37:30,040
Speaker 1: What is this called the Cool Zone book Club? That

655
00:37:30,120 --> 00:37:32,319
Speaker 1: is that is your job to figure out?

656
00:37:32,360 --> 00:37:34,720
Speaker 2: All right, it's the Cool Zone book Club.

657
00:37:35,640 --> 00:37:39,040
Speaker 1: Yeah, it rolls off, happens to your ear earbuds. So

658
00:37:39,440 --> 00:37:42,719
Speaker 1: check back in next week where we will uh, we'll

659
00:37:42,719 --> 00:37:46,239
Speaker 1: be doing more punk X files. I will say I

660
00:37:46,280 --> 00:37:50,960
Speaker 1: think modern David Duchovny would be great, uh in as

661
00:37:50,960 --> 00:37:54,680
Speaker 1: as an elder punk in the Danielle Kane series one

662
00:37:54,800 --> 00:37:55,399
Speaker 1: stick him in there.

663
00:37:55,640 --> 00:38:01,640
Speaker 2: One one like Wonderful Brief Week Holly with director who's

664
00:38:01,680 --> 00:38:03,840
Speaker 2: like movies I've seen and shit was like messaging me

665
00:38:03,880 --> 00:38:07,120
Speaker 2: on Twitter looking into adapting this and it didn't end

666
00:38:07,239 --> 00:38:09,719
Speaker 2: up going forward. But I had this moment where I

667
00:38:09,800 --> 00:38:12,800
Speaker 2: was like, I want to see this show so badly.

668
00:38:13,400 --> 00:38:16,719
Speaker 1: Yeah, well I also you could, you could, You could

669
00:38:16,800 --> 00:38:20,960
Speaker 1: absolutely have Molder in this, just like Molder as an adult,

670
00:38:21,000 --> 00:38:24,359
Speaker 1: when he's when his life has finally collapsed around him,

671
00:38:24,400 --> 00:38:27,840
Speaker 1: just like living in his squat, masturbating, he was studying

672
00:38:28,080 --> 00:38:31,040
Speaker 1: pornography the way he always did on this show, just

673
00:38:31,080 --> 00:38:33,160
Speaker 1: like this week. Oh yeah, that guy moved in here

674
00:38:33,200 --> 00:38:35,239
Speaker 1: like a couple of years ago, and he's like he's

675
00:38:35,320 --> 00:38:37,319
Speaker 1: unsettling his hell, but he seems like he might be

676
00:38:37,360 --> 00:38:39,279
Speaker 1: the guy to go to about this monster.

677
00:38:39,080 --> 00:38:43,560
Speaker 2: Situationally, everyone kind of puts up with him, even though

678
00:38:43,600 --> 00:38:46,480
Speaker 2: like he's not quite sure why he's there. They're not

679
00:38:46,560 --> 00:38:47,200
Speaker 2: quite sure.

680
00:38:47,040 --> 00:38:48,800
Speaker 1: Why he's there. Yeah.

681
00:38:48,880 --> 00:38:53,400
Speaker 2: Yeah, well, if you're listening a different Hollywood director than

682
00:38:53,440 --> 00:38:57,120
Speaker 2: the last one who wasn't able to uh, you know,

683
00:38:57,920 --> 00:39:02,600
Speaker 2: you can reach me, but everyone else can reach me. Bye.

684
00:39:02,760 --> 00:39:05,800
Speaker 2: Waiting a week, that's not really reaching me. That's just waiting.

685
00:39:06,480 --> 00:39:07,200
Speaker 2: That's what you can do.

686
00:39:08,320 --> 00:39:09,839
Speaker 1: Yeah, so wait,