Axon Clips Chapter 8

Kamal
genetic_profile
 * Audio Compilation 6min 49sec

(working on chatter) Kamal: Peekaboo you bastard... I'll find you... I'll find you peeping tom sucker-- ghost me, huh? Sophia: Kamal? Kamal: Sophia. What are you doing here? Sophia: Uh, just dropping by. Hiro told me where to find you, and I thought that we could have lunch or something. Kamal: I'm pretty busy actually. Sophia: Oh? What are you working on? Kamal: Laura. Her accident. Sophia: Who's Laura? Kamal: My sister. Sophia: I thought her name was Yasmine. Kamal: Sophia, it turns out your juvenile MCF victim has a real interesting genetic profile. If you look hard, you get 2 distinct groups. The congenitally disfunctional, and a much smaller group of ultra-high achievers. Sophia: Like your sist-- Kamal: --shhhh... (whispers) people are listening. Sophia: Kamal, there's nobody here. Kamal: Not here, here... (taps chatter) Let me show you something.<BR>

parabolic_lemonade_failure

Kamal: The cafeteria's a better place to talk. Realistically they can't have a live person monitoring every minute of my day.<BR> Sophia: Monitoring?<BR> Kamal: It's got to be a program. Probably not even an AI, just a simple keyword scavenger. An environment like this will make it harder for the voice recognition to work.<BR> Sophia: Why do you think someone is ghosting you?<BR> Kamal: --I don't think, I know. Someone is going me. I know the signs.<BR> Sophia: Kamal...<BR> Kamal: Remember that headset I won in the lottery?<BR> Sophia: You mean the chatter you won in the raf--<BR> Kamal: --keywords, Sophia.<BR> Sophia: Oh. Oh... I get it.<BR> Kamal: There was no raffle.<BR> Sophia: Lottery.<BR> Kamal: Right, it was a setup. Someone just wanted me to have a particular--<BR> (together) --Headset.<BR> Kamal: Right.<BR> Sophia: You don't think Aiden--<BR> Kamal: --No. No, I don't. Aiden couldn't dream of doing the kind of ghosting that's been <BR>happening to me. Sophia: Then...<BR> Kamal: I think it's someone who's interested in parabolic lemonade failure.<BR> Sophia: Parabolic..? oh...<BR> Kamal: Right.<BR>

going_offline

Sophia:  Your...brother? The people who took your brother on that trip.<BR> Kamal: Exactly.<BR> Sophia: Wow.<BR> Kamal: Let's get some food.<BR> Sophia: What are you going to do?<BR> Kamal: I'm thinking about going offline.<BR> Sophia: Don't!<BR> Kamal: Why?<BR> Sophia: It's dangerous. Cars won't drive you, hospitals won't treat you, the automatic <BR>door at the grocery store won't slide open for you, and the cashier won't take your money. You don't know what it's like to be off the grid.<BR> Kamal: And you do? (to a vender) Can I have a piece of the cornbread?<BR> Sophia: It's not you Kamal... you'd be like a fish on dry land without your chat<BR>

abracadabra

Kamal: Hang on... (signal/offline) And presto! Now I'm offline. As far as the grid knows, I've just disappeared.<BR> Sophia: If someone really is listening to you, won't they notice that you just vanished?<BR> Kamal/Offline: I spent the last few days building a little Franken-kamal out of my own <BR>bitstream traces. Sophia: I'm going to pretend I understood that to keep you from explaining it again.<BR> Kamal/Offline: Good call.<BR> Sophia: So what if they're listening to me too?<BR> Kamal/Offline: Funny you should ask. I rigged a small... do you mind(?)<BR> Sophia: I don't want to be offline.<BR> Kamal/Offline: It's just a test.<BR> Sophia: Alright.<BR> Kamal/Offline: Abracadabra! (signal/offline) Congratulations! As far as the world knows, you're dead.<BR>

chatter_to_chatter

Kamal/Offline: You're a ghost! Sophia/Offline: So now you think you're safe?<BR> Kamal/Offline: Theoretically I guess you could build a program that would jump from chatter to chatter, tracking us everywhere we went, but it would have to be so unimaginably powerful.<BR> Sophia/Offline: We aren't right now.<BR> Kamal/Offline: Yeah.<BR> Sophia/Offline: I know that feeling.<BR> Kamal/Offline: Looks like it's southern food today.<BR> Sophia/Offline: Are those real instant mashed potatoes, or the other kind?<BR> Waiter: Didja see a maitre'd when ya walked in?<BR> Sophia/Offline: I guess I'll have the... uh... chicken-fried tofu.<BR> Kamal/Offline: Kamal. Pay attention to me now. Ask me how I am.<BR> Sophia/Offline: How are you?<BR> Kamal/Offline: Fine.<BR> Sophia/Offline: Now ask me what I'm doing here.<BR> Kamal/Offline: Actually, what are you doing here?<BR> Sophia/Offline: I--<BR> Kamal/Offline: --a glass of juice please. Blue--<BR> Sophia/Offline: --just... thought I'd drop by.<BR> Kamal/Offline: Oh.

deported

Kamal/Offline: That's great!<BR> Sophia/Offline: You know, sometimes you are so stupid<BR> Cashier: Will that be everything?<BR> Kamal/Offline: I mean, yeah thanks, uh, I'll pay for the lady.<BR> Cashier: (tries card) Your card's dead.<BR> Kamal/Offline: Well that's impossible. Oh, wait a sec. (signal/online) Now try. Please?<BR> Cashier: (tries again)<BR> Kamal: You see?<BR> Cashier: Have a nice day.<BR> Kamal: Thanks<BR> Sophia/Offline: Can you turn mine back on?<BR> Kamal: Yeah, it was just a test. Hold on. (signal/online)<BR> Sophia: So, ask me again why I'm here eating crappy food with you in a lowsy hospital <BR>cafeteria in the middle of the day. Kamal: Um, something's wrong?<BR> Sophia: You know for a smart guy, you're... you're kind of stupid sometimes.<BR> Kamal: Sophia?<BR> Sophia: I'm going to be deported.<BR>

ashtray

Kamal:  What?!<BR> Sophia: Aiden's in jail, the immigration cops caught him. They cancelled like half the <BR>Visa's he'd arranged, including mine. Kamal: Oh my God!<BR> Sophia: There's going to put me on a transport next month--<BR> Kamal: Sophia?!<BR> Sophia: --So my life is ruined.<BR> Kamal: Omigod, isn't there any way you can stay?<BR> Sophia: Ya, marry a citizen real fast.<BR> Kamal: Not Aiden!<BR> Sophia: Oh! Ya, sure, better to see me rot in a transport back to that dump.<BR> Kamal: You didn't mean it that way!<BR> Sophia: You know, you want to be this thing, Aiden's right, you know, you want me to <BR>be your mother, that little baba(?) making coffee, but I hate that place! Kamal: You don't mean that.<BR> Sophia: I'm glad I left! The Covies can turn it into a damned ashtray for all I care!<BR> Kamal: ...I think you should go now.<BR> Sophia: ...To hell with you.<BR>

they_got_it

(Kamal returns home)<BR> Hiro: Hey, uh, Sophie called looking for you.<BR> Kamal: Oh yeah?<BR> Hiro: How about a beer?<BR> Kamal: No. I'm going to go inside and trace the bastards ghosting my chatter. I'm pretty <BR>sure they're coming off the east coast. Hiro: Beer first.<BR> Kamal: Hiro - let me in the door.<BR> Hiro: Kamal, Coral's...gone.<BR> Kamal: What?<BR> Hiro: Reports are just coming in -- they got it. It's gone. I'm sorry.<BR> Kamal: Oh my God.<BR> Hiro: On Reach, you know, on Reach they left some stuff. You've got to hope it was like <BR>Reach Kamal, hold on to that. Kamal: ...oh my God. My family!<BR>

just_wondering

(working on chatter)<BR> Kamal: What does the navy even do? We give them all this money--<BR> (knocks)<BR> Kamal: Oh no.<BR> (knocks)<BR> Sophia: Kamal?<BR> Kamal: Sophia?<BR> (opens door)<BR> Sophia: I, uh, Kamal, I was just... I--<BR> Kamal: --Sophia, it's raining, come in.<BR> Sophia: (crying)--I was in the neighborhood, I was just wondering...<BR> Kamal: Sophia, get some warmth(?)<BR> Sophia: Just wondering if you hate me?<BR> Kamal: Shh...<BR> (Sophia's crying)<BR> Sophia: Oh my God, I didn't mean it, you know I didn't mean it<BR> Kamal: I know...<BR> Sophia: Please can I stay here tonight?<BR> Kamal: Sure, of course<BR> Sophia: Please... (crying) mom...<BR> Kamal: Shh, shh...<BR>

Jersey
real_animal_fat
 * Audio Compilation 5min 04sec

Bev: Hello, and welcome to Hot'n'Cold. Please, place your thumb on the transaction plate.<BR> Jersey: I'd like... do you have real cheese this week?<BR> Bev: We have a high quality, soy-based, cheese product. Many people prefer it to dairy.<BR> Jersey: I'm not of of them. Are the beans real?<BR> Bev: Thank you! I'm afraid I don't know the answer to your question.<BR> Jersey: *sigh* Give me a burrito.<BR> Bev: Would you like sour cream with that?<BR> Jersey: Is it real?<BR> Bev: We have a high quality product (voice morphs into Durga) made with 100% real <BR>animal fat. Durga: Just get a burrito.<BR>

dispenser

Jersey: Durga? Are you in the dispenser?<BR> Durga: Yes. Listen, Jersey. Something clicked in my head again this week and suddenly <BR>I heard the old man. Jersey: The spy? W-wait, the one that thinks Section III is trying to kill Rani?<BR> Durga: Yes. This time he was getting his aide transferred to somewhere safe. He thinks <BR>Section III is coming for him, too. Jersey: Hm, where in the world is safe now?<BR> Durga: He sent him to New Mombasa.<BR> Jersey: Ok, that's pretty out of the way.<BR> Herbert: Oh, are you done with this dispenser yet?<BR> Jersey: Uh, almost. ...Durga, I feel stupid as hell talking to a dispenser!<BR> Durga: Too bad! I like it!<BR>

black_three_sugars

Herbert: Listen, buddy. I aint got all day. Give me a cup of coffee - black, three sugars.<BR> Durga: Thank you! I am still serving Mr.Morelli.<BR> Herbert: What are you, Miss Manners? Give me my damn cup of coffee!<BR> Durga: Listen, Herbert...<BR> Herbert: How do you know my name is Herbert?<BR> Durga: If you'd seen the same DNA tests I have, I'd spend less time barging into lines, and more time wondering who Herbert Jr.'s real father is.<BR> Herbert: What?<BR> Durga: I'd also start looking for work.<BR> Herbert: What?? I have a job.<BR> Durga: That was then. (chatter ping) Uh oh! I bet that's (chatter ping) going to be bad news.<BR> Jersey: Durga!<BR> Durga: (chatter ping) I wouldn't answer that in a public place if (chatter ping) I were you.<BR> Herbert: (leaving hastily) All I wanted was a cup of coffee (chatter ping)<BR> Jersey: Ok, immensely powerful dispenser, where's this voice in your head coming from?<BR> Durga: I don't know. It's as if I had a guardian angel looking out for me.<BR> Jersey: I know that feeling.<BR> (dispenser dispenses)<BR> Jersey: What's this?<BR> Durga: A free burrito. Who says flattery will get you nowhere...<BR> Jersey: Yes!

burrito_funeral

Jersey: Wait. It's got lettuce on it.<BR> Durga: Lettuce is good for you.<BR> Jersey: But I don't like lettuce.<BR> Durga: You don't even like vegetables.<BR> Jersey: I eat more than you do! hahaha Gotcha!<BR> Durga: I have seen your 4th grade picture, Jersey, and I can send it to every girl you <BR>know in a heartbeat. Remember that.<BR> Jersey: Yikes. Lettuce will be fine. So, what's so interesting about this old guy?<BR> Durga: He thinks there's an incredibly powerful device being kept secret on Chawla base.<BR> Jersey: Is there?<BR> Durga: (mocking dispenser impersonation) Thank you! I'm afraid I don't know the <BR>answer to your question. Enjoy your burrito! Jersey: Alright, so how much time do we have?<BR> Durga: You need to get back to the apartment and change.<BR> Jersey: *sigh* Yeah, this is my first.<BR> Durga: Burrito?<BR> Jersey: Funeral.<BR>

Janissary
sweet_as_sweet
 * Audio Compilation 6min 17sec

Jan: I'll be ready when I'm ready.<BR> Gilly: Great angles from these windows. Jim picked a good place. Defensible. I guess he <BR>did most of the cleaning around here. Is that what you're wearing to the funeral? A combat shirt with the sleaves torn off?<BR> Jan: Yeah. Look, you're not my mother, ok? You weren't here when I was growing up, <BR>he was. Gilly: Yeah. Ok. I guess I'm more like the ghost of your mother. Hey, here comes Gladys. You could pick her off sweet as sweet from these windows.

not_coming

Gilly: (closes the window) Time for me to bug out.<BR> Jan: Aren't you going to the funeral?<BR> Gilly: Mmm... dead people don't interest me so much.<BR> Jan: Jeezus!<BR> Gilly: It's not like Jim Lee is going to be there kid.<BR> Gladys: (knocks) Hey? Anybody home?<BR> Jan: Hey, Gladys.<BR> Gladys: Hello Jan. Hey Gilly. You're not coming, right?<BR> Gilly: Nah, take care of the kid. See ya.<BR> Gladys: Yeah, see ya Gilly. (door closes) You holding together ok, hun?<BR> Jan: Is she on drugs?<BR> Gladys: Hope so. Is that what you're wearing?<BR> Jan: Don't hassle me, ok?<BR>

one_point_one

(ambient funeral sounds)<BR> Jan: Thanks<BR> Gladys: Well, that was a nice service - clean, short. Hun, aren't you cold?<BR> Jan: No, I'm fine. So, who are all these people?<BR> Gladys: Well it's your kin. That there's Moralis, oh and the kid next to him is his son <BR>Kevin, who's like you, a 1.1. And that there, that guy's DAC10, came in from the west coast for this--<BR> Jan: A 1.1?<BR> Gladys: A Spartan 1.0's kid. There's 16 of you.<BR> Jan: Oh great, another freak.<BR> Gladys: Kevin's a nice boy. Oh, Moralis said that you could stay with him for a while. Might be nice to get to know another kid like you.<BR> Jan: Stay with him? I don't even know him.<BR>

this_damn_rain

Gladys: Well, it's not like you can stay with Gilly<BR> Jan: I dont have to stay with anybody.<BR> Gladys: No one is saying you need to decide anything right now.<BR> Jan: I'm 17, I can live on my own.<BR> Gladys: Ok!<BR> Jan: He looks like a grind...<BR> Gladys: Who? <BR> Jan: The 1.1 kid. He's a dweeb.<BR> Gladys: Kevin? He doesnt usually wear a suit.<BR> Jan: Yeah, but look at his hair... on the other hand, he obviously hasn't gotten his dad killed.<BR> Gladys: Now I told you once and I'll tell you again, that dog don't hunt. Jim James got in over his head. It happens.<BR> Jan: It's rule #1, Gladys. Never go into a situation alone.<BR> Gladys: And he broke it.<BR> Jan: Because it was me!<BR> Gladys: Sometimes those things happen, honey. Like the weather... like this damn rain.<BR>

james_james

Jan: Hey Gladys, Gilly called dad by a different name. Lee - Jim Lee.<BR> Gladys: She did, huh?<BR> Jan: Is my last name really Lee?<BR> Gladys: Your last name is whatever you want it to be. You want to be Janissary James, <BR>that's who you are. Jan: But I...<BR> Gladys: James James... (chuckles) He said it was so dumb everybody would assume he'd <BR>been born with it. Jan: So do I... have cousins or something?<BR> Gladys: Well now I can't help you out there. I know this family, but Jim never talked <BR>about that one.

free_cemetery

Jersey: Hey Jan. I guess the rain finally stopped, huh?<BR> Jan: Jersey, what are you doing here?<BR> Jersey: I'm so sorry about your dad. Listen, could I talk to you for a sec?<BR> Jan: Talk away, Jersey, it's a free cemetery.<BR> Jersey: I mean in private.<BR> Jan: Look, I'm kind of strung out from all this, could we do it some other time?<BR> Jersey: It's important. I promise.<BR> Jan: Sure.<BR> Jersey: Hey, do you want my rain coat? You look really cold.<BR> Jan: No, I'm ok. Now, what did you want?<BR> Jersey: Look, I know all about Thin Kinkle. And Bradley. And the knife.<BR>

go_ninja

Jan: How do you know that?<BR> Jersey: I've been ghosting your CP.<BR> Jan: You've been spying on me?<BR> Jersey: A little, a little - but before you go all ninja and kill me, let me just say we can <BR>really help you. Jan: We? Hah, like who? You and Steve? Oh! I know, you and Dwayne.<BR> Jersey: No, just me, and a really good AI program I've got.<BR> Jan: You pathetic sneaking bastard, if you were listening to me, why didn't you call the cops?!<BR> Jersey: Listen, listen - Kinkle's boss is a woman called Monster Ann, she works out of a place called Crystal Security Fence & Gate.<BR>

perimeter_alarms

Jan: Say that again...<BR> Jersey: I know who Kinkle's boss is. And I know the business that she uses as a front.<BR> Jan: How do you know that?<BR> Jersey: Jan, I've got God's own spyware. And if you tell anybody about it...<BR> Jan: Jeezus Jersey...<BR> Jersey: I can get you inside their security.<BR> Jan: If you're lying to me--<BR> Jersey: Hey, hey, remember how the perimeter alarms went off when your dad showed up at Thin's place?<BR> Jan: Yeah.<BR> Jersey: Never went off went Gilly showed up did they?<BR> Jan: I don't know, I don't know, I was out.<BR> Jersey: Well, they didn't.<BR> Jan: You did that?<BR> Jersey: We did.<BR> Jan: Aunt Gladys! Aunt Gladys! Hey, come over here, there's someone I want you to <BR>meet.

say_please

Gladys: So you want me to believe you've got an AI that can hack into things the police <BR>can't split open? And you programmed this thing yourself? Jersey: No, well...<BR> Gladys: Boy - either one of two things: You are lying and this is a setup by the people who killed Jim James, or you are wasting my time. And in either case, I am not a happy woman.<BR> Jersey: No wait, for one thing, you don't want to piss her off.<BR> Gladys: 'Her'?<BR> Durga: Me. You are Gladys Wilson, born Gladys Ashantia Swanson in Tahoka, Texas. You volunteered for a Spartan program in January of 2491, after a year and a half of special forces.<BR> Gladys: How in the world--?<BR> Durga: Your superior, Aaron Lewis, said he OK'd the transfer because you were a good soldier. But in his words, 'more trouble than fireants at a barbeque'. And this was one way to get rid of you.<BR> Gladys: What the hell is this?<BR> Durga: You were decorated for bravery at Eridanus, retired after making Gunnery <BR>Sargeant, entered into a brief, but spectacular marriage-- Gladys: --huh--<BR> Durga: --with a man who just couldn't keep his zipper--<BR> Gladys: --Shut her up!<BR> Durga: Say please.<BR>

Jersey
military_application

(entering apartment)<BR> Jersey: That was sad.<BR> Durga: Yes.<BR> Jersey: ...and scary. Gladys...<BR> Durga: I thought you handled her fine.<BR> Jersey: You're the one that handled her. Durga?<BR> Durga: Yes.<BR> Jersey: Are we doing the right thing? I mean, giving Jan all this stuff about Thin and <BR>Monster Ann and Crystal security? Durga: Why do you ask?<BR> Jersey: Well, Jan's looking to make someone hurt. Even if it's just herself.<BR> Durga: If you're waiting for me to say violence is never the answer, you'll be waiting a <BR>long time. As you pointed out, I was built as a military application. Jersey: Yeah... I've been thinking about that. Durga, what's Kamal doing right now?<BR> Durga: He's gone offline. I've been meaning to tell you - he's got processes running to <BR>block me. And he's turned everything off. Jersey: Commuter grid?<BR> Durga: Nothing.<BR> Jersey: You'll find him.<BR> Durga: I don't like not knowing where he is.<BR>

she_died

Jersey:  Yeah, I think there's a reason for that.<BR> Durga: What?<BR> Jersey: Tell me about his sister.<BR> Durga: Who cares about her?<BR> Jersey: Durga! Does Kamal have blue eyes, or brown?<BR> Durga: Brown.<BR> Jersey: Favourite color?<BR> Durga: He thinks it's red, but it's a tie between iced-tea color and water at dusk blue.<BR> Jersey: The third test he took his 2nd year at med-school...?<BR> Durga: Pathology 2 - Skin Infections. He aced it, which was trickier than it sounds. The <BR>professor didn-- Jersey: --So he had a sister, she died, and it turned out she was kidnapped.<BR> Durga: So? I mean, who cares? (voice slowly mutates)<BR> Jersey: Take a little girl, right... kidnap her, so they could turn her into a Spartan. Only <BR>some people don't make it through the process. That's what Jan's dad said. Durga: (girl's voice slowly intercedes) I don't care about her. I'm me.<BR>

another_name

Jersey: The ones that don't - there's this thing called 'cognitive impression <BR>mapping'. They use their brains to make smart AIs. Like you. Durga: Jersey?<BR> Jersey: When you were little, Durga, they kidnapped you. They faked some kind of <BR>accident and rushed you to the hospital. Durga: Stop it Jersey.<BR> Jersey: They sent the flash-clone home to your family.<BR> Durga: Please?<BR> Jersey: Once upon a time, a long time ago, you had another name, Durga. And that name <BR>- was Yasmine. Durga: Don't say that! (Durga's voice slowly returns) It feels-- I feel terrible. Jersey. <BR>That's not me. I like what I am. Jersey: (whispers to himself) For a quality experience, kiddo, the girl had to be real.<BR>

Rani
sleeping_underground
 * Audio Compilation 7min 57sec

Rani: Sarah-John, thanks for the offer, but I've got to stay with my mom and dad.<BR> Sarah: Jason wouldn't mind.<BR> Rani: Well you've been married a month! Jason sure'd better mind!<BR> Sarah: Well then stay with my mom, you don't have to stay at your parents'.<BR> Rani: They can't make me that crazy, for two nights.<BR> Sarah: Rani, he's making your mom live in the bunker...<BR> Rani: They're living underground?<BR> Sarah: Your dad's afraid they won't get any warning.<BR> Rani: Well I am not sleeping underground in my dad's bunker.<BR> Sarah: (laughs) It's more than just a bunker, Rani. Your mom and dad had us over for dinner last Sunday, and we got - the tour.<BR> Rani: "The tour?"<BR> Sarah: You at your driveway yet?<BR> Rani: Just coming up on it.<BR> Sarah: Wait til you see your new room.<BR> Rani: New room?<BR> Sarah: Actually it's your old room - he moved the whole thing.<BR> Rani: What does that even mean? My room is on the 2nd-- (sees the house) Oh my God! <BR>What happened to my house?? Sarah-John?! Sarah: 'No point in leaving the good stuff above ground' - that's what your dad said!<BR>

duck_pond

Rani: Dad, are you down here?<BR> Tommy: Rani! Well don't you look business-like? Move back home and you can wear <BR>overalls every day. Rani: Just visiting for the weekend, daddy. I've got a good job.<BR> Tommy: A good job. The Covies are coming and you're worrying about your job? Come <BR>home, honey... Rani: If we don't all do our part in the fight, we will surely all die when they get here, <BR>dad. So yeah, I'm worried about my job... dad... why are you living under the duck pond?<BR>

heat_sink

Tommy: (chuckles) Hear me out now. You see, water can never be hotter than <BR>boiling, which is 100 degrees. That pond is a heat sink. You know what a heat sink is...?<BR> Rani: I can kind of figure it out, but--<BR> Tommy: --underneath the pond is a full meter of ice, wrapped in piezo-foam and <BR>pelticours. Rani: Daddy! Listen to yourself!<BR> Tommy: And under that, is a meter of wax. Under that is the sealant here which is <BR>foamed glass, just like a cooking pot. Rani: How did you afford all this?<BR> Tommy: They measure it in joules. The heat, and this room, can take 70 billion of them <BR>before it even begins to warm up! Rani: Dad?<BR> Tommy: I've been all through the pension thing with your mother, Rani. I don't need to <BR>hear it from you. Rani: Your pension?!

fusion_cell

Rani: Daddy!<BR> Tommy: Did you listen to the news today, honey? They got to Coral too.<BR> Rani: Oh my god... Coral too?<BR> Tommy: Money's no good when the planet's glassed, sweet pea. I have got a year's <BR>supply of food down here and a composter that turns waste into soil, I've got a starship grade recycler, and a fusion cell to run it.<BR> Rani: But... this is crazy...<BR> Tommy: Over here I've got picks and drills for digging out through the glass, and seeds <BR>that ought to do well after, well... you know, afterwards. Hey, I've been doing my homework on this.<BR> Rani: Daddy, this is crazy. It might be 20 years before the Covenant comes.<BR> Tommy: "So man also knoweth not his time", as the preacher said.<BR> Rani: You know what... I... I can't even talk to you. I can't.<BR> Tommy: Rani... Rani!<BR> (Rani leaves)<BR>

persnickety

Rani: I'm amazed dad still lets you use the above ground kitchen.<BR> Leah: It's just until he can get the fusion cell working. It's being persnickety.<BR> Rani: Mom, you've got to stop him. This is crazy.<BR> Leah: Honey, you're daddy's doing what he thinks he needs to do.<BR> Rani: You're living under a duck pond!<BR> Tommy: Rani!<BR> Leah: Tommy, don't you have to go to the hardware?<BR> Tommy: I don't have to go right now, I can go tomorrow morning.<BR> Leah: Well you go now. And get there before they close.<BR> Tommy: Look, I just want to explain--<BR> Leah: --Let us talk a bit.<BR> Tommy: Oh. Ok, uh... Rani, you want I should get you anything?<BR> Rani: No, daddy. I'm fine.<BR>

new_chicken

Tommy: I'll just take stock in the garage a minute, and then I'll go.<BR> Leah: Here's your tea, sweet pea.<BR> (dad leaves)<BR> Rani: How can you put up with it? When I was a kid, it was the AI dog-walker business. <BR>And then he was going to grow ginseng. And then, it was duck. The new chicken. It's one crazy scheme after another, and now, this!<BR> Leah: Your daddy has always worked hard, always has a job, and always been faithful.<BR> Rani: You're living under a duck pond.<BR> Leah: I know! Aint it great?

only_one_alive

Leah:What cute young thing with a figure is that man <BR>going to lure under a duck pond?<BR> Rani: Mom, be serious.<BR> Leah: Rani, everybody is looking at the same thing, and we've all got to find ways to deal with it.<BR> Rani: Well, medication is a whole lot cheaper.<BR> Leah: They're saying people survived on parts of Reach. And for your father that means there's a chance. If only he can take it.<BR> Rani: Do you really think it's going to work?<BR> Leah: Honey, if the Covenant comes, I don't want it to work. I don't want to be the only one alive. But I trust in my maker. Whatever happens happens for a reason. Rani: I don't know, mom.<BR>

eye_out

Leah: You know what I admire about your father? Despair looked him in the eye <BR>and he didn't blink. And these days, hope is something we need more than pills or bullets.<BR> (chatter beep)<BR> Rani: Hold on mom.<BR> (Rani takes the chatter outside)<BR> Herzog: (on chatter) Rani...<BR> Rani: Wow, aren't you afraid this line will be cracked?<BR> Herzog: Not this line. Listen, Section 3 security on Chawla base - that's where they're <BR>keeping the artifact. Rani: I know it. I don't have nearly that kind of clearance.<BR> Herzog: I know, but keep an eye out. Watch for techs. Word is they've been going over <BR>and over it with magnetometers.

big_city

Rani:  Ok.<BR> Herzog: Since they triggered the artifact, it's been putting out fluctuating fields, up and down, weaker and stronger, but steadily overall, weaker - it's decaying. Rani: Is that wierd? It sounds binary or something... up, down, on, off...<BR> Herzog: It's more of an oscillation. I think it will continue for a few weeks more. It's regular enough they can estimate it.<BR> (rustling)<BR> Rani: My dad's coming out to his truck. I've got to go.<BR> Herzog: Uh Rani, I don't know how much longer I'll be able to keep in touch. If you can't find me, don't come looking, and don't mention anything to anyone. For your own protection.<BR> Rani: What are you g--<BR> (chatter off)<BR> Tommy: Hi Rani. Those folks making you work on the weekend?<BR> Rani: Big city, you know. Rush rush rush!<BR>

decay_timer

Tommy: So I said to Len, well, you know how Len is - Len, I can do the test. I've got the certification. (chuckles) ...A great dinner Leah!<BR> Leah: Thank you honey.<BR> Rani: Oh, yeah mom, really good.<BR> Leah: Something on your mind, sweet pea?<BR> Rani: Mm, I had a wierd call from work today. I'm not allowed to talk about it. Go on daddy.<BR> Tommy: Ah, well, Len wants me to make sure we're not getting static discharges. If you get static during assembly, it can fry your work.<BR> Rani: Uh huh<BR> Tommy: But we don't have the kind of audit equipment for what he's asking for. So I said, Len, I'm going to need a variable resistance reference, and with that kind of oscillation, I'd need a decay timer. I'd need an audit kit like the one I had over at McFarlane's.<BR> Rani: Wait, what did you say? A decay timer?<BR> Tommy: Yeah, a decay timer. You can estimate how long it's going to take before it drops under a certain threshold.<BR> Rani: So things decay, and they get weaker and weaker in a way that you can predict, right daddy?<BR> Tommy: Oh, well, sure.<BR> Rani: I've got to make a call.<BR>

counting_down

(Rani runs outside and calls Herzog)<BR> Herzog: (on chatter) Rani, you shouldn't call me.<BR> Rani: The artifact -<BR> Herzog: Yes?<BR> Rani: My dad was talking about something called a magnetic decay timer. What if the artifact is a timer?<BR> Herzog: The artifact...<BR> Rani: Maybe it didn't go off one time, like a grenade. Maybe that was just the pulse of it turning on and now it's counting down.<BR> Herzog: If it is, what happens--<BR> Rani: --when it gets to zero<BR>

Herzog
no_trespassing
 * Audio Compilation 1min 39sec

Standish: Herzog<BR> Herzog: Who is it?<BR> Standish: Standish<BR> Herzog: Is this connection secure?<BR> Standish: I'm using a disposable line. Are you busy?<BR> Herzog: Just catching up on paperwork while the car drives. What do you want?<BR> Standish: Uh where are you?<BR> Herzog: In a car, Standish.<BR> Standish: Hey, you hear they're talking about dropping the speed on the belt-way again? From 350kph to 300. Yeah, they say the road-bed is so degraded, it isn't safe, and it's too expensive to upgrade.<BR> Herzog: You called me to talk about construction on the belt-way?<BR> Standish: No! Uh, your girl, the one at Chawla - you'll be pleased to know the Admiral has put no trespassing all over her.<BR> Herzog: That was stupid Standish.<BR> Standish: I know. They weren't supposed to kill her, just scare her.<BR> Herzog: Spare me.<BR> Standish: You're right, they were going to kill her. <BR>

results_are_results

Standish: She was a problem. But, she wasn't the real problem.<BR> Herzog: No, the real problem was that you're a dictator and we live in a democracy.<BR> Standish: The real problem is that you and I have always seen the world differently. I am willing to sacrifice principle for results.<BR> Herzog: Principles are results they are ends in themselves.<BR> Standish: No, results are results.<BR> [Vehicle]: Switching from automatic guidance to manual.<BR> Standish: Herzog. At the bottom of this hill, watch out for the bridge.<BR> (comm off)<BR> [Vehicle]: I'm sorry, manual breaking at this speed is not recommended. If you would like me to apply automatic deceleration, please--<BR> (enormous crash, static)