(The group is getting ready to head out, first waiting on Hasty’s return as she tries to fix her mic. Patchrabbit is watching a crowd of Sleepers chasing her noisemaker onto a rooftop.)
PATCHRABBIT: Oh, that’s a lot of—! One, two—!
PATCHRABBIT: Wait, did I just see a stalker go through that fence…? Gate?
PATCHRABBIT: No, that’s a Sleeper.
SHADOW: (simultaneously) No, that’s another Sleeper.
PATCHRABBIT: I just thought it was unusual that—what… direction they were headed in.
SHADOW: I mean, when Sleepers crouch, they look like a stalker, so…
PATCHRABBIT: I just thought it was unusual the direction they were headed in, ‘cause everyone—all the other Sleepers were going different directions from that.
PATCHRABBIT: (as a pinned Lucid stands back up) Oh, hello again, Lucid! Good morning!
(PATCHRABBIT goes to meet HASTY on the fence and blows a kiss.)
PATCHRABBIT: Hello, Hasty!
HASTY: Hi~! (laughs)
? (DEVIN): hey patch. little bird told me you don't pray to them so much anymore. you know, there's always an alternative. i call it sanity.
HASTY: (simultaneously) I’m like, “Testing! One, two, three!” (gasps)
PATCHRABBIT: (near-simultaneously) Oh!
SHADOW: (near-simultaneously) Woah-woah-woah-woah-woah!
PATCHRABBIT: Uh…
HASTY: Little bird, huh? Better get somewhere high, Patch.
SHADOW: (tentatively) Hi!
HASTY: Hey, Ant, how are you doing?
SHADOW: May I… inquire who this is?
SHADOW: Or should I call you “mystery person”?
ROMAN: (sighs, regarding recording-related stuff)
SHADOW: (after a pause) Who is this “little bird”?
? (DEVIN): patch. knock knock. call me nemo if you want. one fake name’s as good as any
HASTY: Could be the Club...
PATCHRABBIT: (small laugh) I’m sorry…
SHADOW: (laughs)
HASTY: (small laugh)
PATCHRABBIT: I tried saying something, but I guess I was just a little quiet.
SHADOW: If you’re calling yourself Nemo, do we have to find you?
ROMAN: (laughs)
PATCHRABBIT: (laughs) Um… Iiiiii don’t think so.
SHADOW: Sorry. I’m a bit of a jokester.
PATCHRABBIT: (quietly) Um…
SHADOW: Slap me in the face if you want.
? (DEVIN): huh? like captain nemo. means no one. read a book
PATCHRABBIT: (giggles)
PATCHRABBIT: Oh… Um.
SHADOW: (simultaneously) Oh, I read books, just not the ones you do.
SHADOW: I’m gonna go see this place for the first time. Wheeee!
(SHADOW enters The Place Between.)
HASTY: Heh! There he goes!
PATCHRABBIT: I’ve… Just… Been feeling a little… bit of extra anxiety lately, that’s all.
PATCHRABBIT: It takes a lot for me to… talk.
SHADOW: I love this landscape.
? (DEVIN): just remember. they use you. contact is all about what benefits them.
PATCHRABBIT: Iiiii realize this.
SHADOW: Are these the Dead Skeptics?
PATCHRABBIT: Umm…
ROMAN: Nnnnot really.
PATCHRABBIT: Yeah, I realize that, and I… made my decision knowing that.
SHADOW: I have returned.
HASTY: Welcome back, Shadow!
? (DEVIN): part of why i quit the club. and joined, yeah. i’m a junior member. i get access to some of their resources.
ROMAN: Hey, um...
HASTY: Are you still looking for passwords, by any chance?
ROMAN: Can you, uh…
PATCHRABBIT: Uh.
Shadow: (background chatter)
PATCHRABBIT: Yeah, I think Roman has some questions.
ROMAN: I’ve—Well, I know someone asked you about this, I think. Eh… But can you have—can you gain access to some information the Ske—Skeptics have?
SHADOW: I got a Lucid pinned.
PATCHRABBIT: Oh, hi, Shape…
ROMAN: Because I think they asked you on my behalf, uh—some time ago.
SHADOW: (background chatter)
? (DEVIN): as it so happens, yes. a guy came to town, worked with me, and some of you? then turned. i am in his van. systems need passwords.
PATCHRABBIT: Oops…
HASTY: (text) ant--if you’re still looking
SHADOW: Oh… If this is who I think it is…
PATCHRABBIT: (near-simultaneously) Mmm-hm.
ROMAN: Ehhhhh, can I ask you if you can search about a… Jazzy Shines?
PATCHRABBIT: Um… You should probably—also give—them… context.
ROMAN: Well, more information is that, eh…
ROMAN: I am looking for a person that was previously a host of the Adversary, and he knew a girl, named Jas—Jasmine, and that was her stage name—stage name, according to the Adversary.
ROMAN: And we are thinking that that person might have—Cody, might have joined the Skeptics, and if he did, then… well… he could have done some research, and if he did, that files could be, well, stored somewhere.
? (DEVIN): yeah. someone else asked me about that. the passwords you already gave me paid off
HASTY: That’s good. I’m goo—I’m glad to hear about that. Are you still… trading information, by any chance?
PATCHRABBIT: (simultaneously, pleased) Oh.
SHADOW: have you heard anything about sundown?
HASTY: Ah! That, too!
SHADOW: (after a pause) Because as far as I’m concerned, as long as my friend Vin is safe… like… the rest of the Voices could… you know, eat a giant chicken shit sandwich, but…
? (DEVIN): Jazzy Shines… let me pull it up
ROMAN: Well I hope there is… at least… something there.
ROMAN: Eh, um… About the Sundown, yes, that’s, well… really not… great.
ROMAN: What’s going to happen, probably…
SHADOW: I’m kind of scared to be honest, like…
ROMAN: Well at least—
SHADOW: I know we signed up for this club to find Bells and everything, but like…
ROMAN: Well. If it’s—something, something...
? (DEVIN): listen, first one’s free. but y’all dont work with us. yet. unless you’re ready to renounce.
ROMAN: Well, if the other ones require some… kind of… deal…
ROMAN: ...then what would you want in exchange for that information?
SHADOW: (simultaneously) That’s all up to my friend Vin really. I’m trying to convince… I’m trying to convince my friend to work with you.
PATCHRABBIT: Um.
PATCHRABBIT: One at a time, please?
SHADOW: Apologies. Who goes first? (small laugh) Sorry.
PATCHRABBIT: Um. I think Roman was going before you.
ROMAN: Eh, so, if you want... something in exchange for the, well, more information, what would that be? Other than, well, renouncing.
ROMAN: I guess more information? Information for info—information, yes?
SHADOW: It’s beautiful out tonight.
? (DEVIN): the passwords were the exchange. this one you earned. now shhhhhh
(PATCHRABBIT and HASTY both laugh.)
ROMAN: Ah… Well, I’ll be quiet.
SHADOW: Do they know about the whole Wayka thing?
HASTY: Oh they did. They were the ones to retrieve the first name for us. Which, thanks—that’s—that’s been a real odyssey.
SHADOW: Well, like I said before, I’m trying to convince my friend Vin to, uh, join TDS.
SHADOW: But as for me, it really depends on how the rest of them treat him, because... I treat him like my little brother.
SHADOW: So as long as—as long as he renounces, I’ll follow suit, but… it’s all depending on him.
SHADOW: He’s like the only other person I have left that doesn’t look at me like I’m some crazed weirdo. Even my parents can’t look at me at the dinner table anymore.
? (DEVIN): aaaaanyway
PATCHRABBIT: Aaanyway.
HASTY: (text) ant--
HASTY: (text) Dova
HASTY: (text) Sophie/Lunatic
HASTY: (text) MadamMoonShadow
HASTY: (text) If you’re still in the realm of passwords, find them
? (DEVIN): Jazzy Shines. Stage name of Jasmine Oberlund. Burlesque dancer, apparently…
ROMAN: Oh?
ROMAN: So—we have now the—more information…
ROMAN: Does… that file have some information on… where she may be or something?
ROMAN: Or if someone looked for her recently?
HASTY: (text) you have any use for the Voice pair names?
HASTY: (text) Wayka happened to give me one herself...
? (DEVIN): Some people got together in Toppenish because she vanished, leaving them a video message that did *not* sound like her.
PATCHRABBIT: (contemplative noise)
ROMAN: Well, eh, yes, from what we, eh... the Adversary told me, eh... He didn’t know what Voice she followed, or—if any, and Cody, like… left Toppenish to look for her.
ROMAN: And I don’t know if he found her—(gibberish)—or any information at all.
HASTY: You guys need any help down there? Or I’ll just stay up here.
PATCHRABBIT: Uh, the Shape was on Roman’s tail.
SHADOW: (simultaneously) I’d volunteer to help, but I have nothing.
PATCHRABBIT: But he’s gone, now. (very quietly) I think.
PATCHRABBIT: Op—Shape’s coming in the locker room.
HASTY: (text) oh, and another tinfoiler
HASTY: (text) kitty. kittyface17
SHADOW: It’s very persistent tonight, is it not?
? (DEVIN): my guy didn’t have that. he wasn’t part of their crew. but… our people think she did that thing. singing with two voices at once.
PATCHRABBIT: (quiet, contemplative noise)
PATCHRABBIT: Oh!
SHADOW: Multihosting…
ROMAN: (simultaneously) Em, someone read that message fully? Because, I-
PATCHRABBIT: So… she… could have been hosting more than one person…? Is that what that was? Or more than one Voice?
HASTY: (text) so like the sculptor then?
PATCHRABBIT: Since the last person who was like that… could?
ROMAN: Hmm...
SHADOW: But didn’t the Voice take that guy personally?
ROMAN: No, not—not—
ROMAN: (contemplative noises)
SHADOW: Or is that a different guy? I forget. ADHD memory is bad.
ROMAN: There is also, like… the priest that kinda jumped off the cliff, and now the—
PATCHRABBIT: Oof.
ROMAN: —cliff is named after him.
SHADOW: Oh. I don’t know why they’d na—it seems kind o—I don’t know.
SHADOW: But naming the point of someone’s suicide after them is, like, kind of disrespectful in my opinion, but…
SHADOW: Who knows?
ROMAN: Don’t—don’t ask me, I don’t know.
PATCHRABBIT: Oh, Shape, no! Shape!
SHADOW: ‘Kay, I’m gonna come down there.
? (DEVIN): as an adult. yeah. something wanted her. to use her for a meeting. between voices. she found out, and ran. because...
SHADOW: Ouch.
ROMAN: (contemplative) For a meeting?
PATCHRABBIT: Oh.
ROMAN: So…
ROMAN: (quietly to himself) meeting between Voices…?
HASTY: (understanding noise) The little Voice language broker?
ROMAN: (quietly to himself) Some— Eh—
ROMAN: Cipher here.
ROMAN: Hmmm… Wait. But… that must have been a…
? (DEVIN): someone warned her that “she” wouldn’t exist when they were done. that’s what i got.
PATCHRABBIT: (disgruntled noise)
SHADOW: That…
ROMAN: So maybe…
SHADOW: …kinda sounds like SAO.
ROMAN: Either the Hunter or the Makers.
ROMAN: And… Toppenish were before that… and… the Makers left Toppenish and… probably arrived here…
ROMAN: I don’t know, do we know of any meetings before the Pact?
ROMAN: Wait, no, we…! Remember, um… that… the reason that the Adversary got destroyed here was because, mmm… he got… expo—exposed someway but there was a meeting here something—somewhere.
? (DEVIN): yeah, might have nothing to do with the Zzz assholes ruining our lives at all, idk. ancient history.
ROMAN: (quietly) Hmm….
SHADOW: Welcome to Redacre, where we get paid in snacks to disrupt a cult, and then, you know. Die for it.
SHADOW: My life is absolutely fucking fantastic, how’s yours.
ROMAN: Hummm, I might…
HASTY: You know, I really appreciate that candor tonight. (laughs) You say what I just could not say.
ROMAN: I—I guess, if I…
? (DEVIN): hasty. yep. like the sculptor. they seem like prime real estate.
SHADOW: I’m gonna go sabotage her poster, now.
ROMAN: (contemplative noise)
HASTY: Which would be… really, really important to find that baby right now.
ROMAN: (simultaneously) I guess I will have to ask—
PATCHRABBIT: (simultaneously) Uhhh… Roman, the Shape’s right here, again.
ROMAN: The Shape really likes me today.
PATCHRABBIT: Yeah, he is—right on you.
SHADOW: Honestly, my ambition is to make them trust me a lot, and then renounce them.
SHADOW: It’ll be funny!
HASTY: Just out of curiosity, Ant… Do you… happen to know anything about singing in dual tones yourself?
PATCHRABBIT: (gasps as the Shape knocks her over) OW.
ROMAN: I might…
? (DEVIN): anyways. patch. listen. if you get sick of trusting them with your mind, or heart… find a way to let us know.
PATCHRABBIT: Uh…
PATCHRABBIT: I will… let you know. But…
PATCHRABBIT: I think I’m fine with where I am.
PATCHRABBIT: I know what—I know that I’m being used.
PATCHRABBIT: And…
SHADOW: (quietly) Woah, woah, woah…
ROMAN: Well, thanks for the information, I guess? I will need to ask someo—someone who knows more about… the more ancient... history, to find out what really happened, I guess. But! That information helps.
? (DEVIN): wow. you’re welcome, ‘i guess’.
PATCHRABBIT: Um…
PATCHRABBIT: Wait, what?
SHADOW: Well, thank you.
PATCHRABBIT: I am… I’m very distracted.
SHADOW: Even though we’re not—
ROMAN: Well, I… often use “I guess”...
ROMAN: I don’t know, that’s… That’s how I speak.
SHADOW: Even though we’re not part of you, I appreciate what we’re doi—what you’re doing… ‘Cause, I mean, anything that helps us find Bells is really what I’m after. After that, I’m done. I’m… just done with the Voices and all their bullshit.
SHADOW: Once we get her back, I’m done with the Blackout Club. It’s done.
HASTY: (regarding the Sonic Fences) I’d love to be done, but I would love to be able to leave, you know?
PATCHRABBIT: (to HASTY) Yyyyep…
? (DEVIN): i’m just fucking with you. i want bells back too. and i like that bullshit part. stay awake
HASTY: (laughs)
PATCHRABBIT: (small laugh)
HASTY: Stay awake, Ant.
PATCHRABBIT: We really want her back.
SHADOW: You too!
ROMAN: Stay awake.
PATCHRABBIT: Keep yourself safe.
PATCHRABBIT: …As safe as you can.
SHADOW: Give ‘em hell for us!
HASTY: How are you doing, Patch?
PATCHRABBIT: Hi, Hasty.
HASTY: Hi~!
