Chapter Three: God is With You | Ten Candles: Eclipse

Summary

Podcast Summary: Critical Role & Sagas of Sundry – Chapter Three: God is With You | Ten Candles: Eclipse

Episode Information

• Title: Chapter Three: God is With You
• Podcast: Critical Role & Sagas of Sundry
• Host/Author: Geek & Sundry (Hosted by Daryl Crittenden)
• Description: An immersive actual play session of the tabletop horror role-playing game Ten Candles: Eclipse. This episode delves into tragic narratives and character-driven stories set against the backdrop of a world overtaken by darkness and despair.
• Release Date: April 14, 2025

---

1. Introduction and Character Setup ([01:26] - [04:00])

Host Daryl Crittenden welcomes both returning and new players to the session, expressing excitement about introducing new faces to the game. The players present are:

• Ivan Van Norman as Oliver Cash, a truck driver seeking escape from monotony.
• Michelle Wynn Bradley as Elliot Arlon, a software engineer drawn to Mount Fuji by chance.
• Mary Beth Baker (played by Xander Jeanneret) as Eve Fam, a waitress searching for purpose.
• Julia Dennis as herself, with previous experience in Relics and Rarities.

Notable Quote:

• Daryl Crittenden ([01:48]): “I am very, very excited to have all of you at the table because we have some new faces, people I've never played with before.”

2. Establishing Virtues and Vices ([07:00] - [10:00])

Players engage in character creation, focusing on their characters' virtues (positive traits) and vices (flaws). This process involves passing cards around and writing down personal attributes that will influence their actions and decisions throughout the game.

Notable Quotes:

• Michelle Wynn Bradley ([09:00]): “Headstrong. I told you. Headstrong.”
• Mary Beth Baker ([09:23]): “It's a selflessness of. Selfless.”

3. Setting the Scene: Aftermath of the Great Wave ([11:00] - [20:00])

Daryl sets the stage for the current chapter. Eleven days prior, a catastrophic tidal wave obliterated regions below 5,000 feet, leaving only the summit of Mount Fuji intact. The players find themselves confined in a bed and breakfast on the mountain, grappling with dwindling supplies and the psychological strain of isolation.

Notable Quote:

• Daryl Crittenden ([11:38]): “...the tidal wave hit all of basically the eastern part of the Pacific and destroyed presumably since it washed over everything except for the very top of Mount Fuji.”

4. The Descent: Searching for Supplies ([30:00] - [50:00])

Faced with scarcity, the group decides to descend Mount Fuji to scavenge for supplies. During their descent, they encounter a submerged SUV. Investigating the vehicle, they discover a dead body—a baby—leading to immediate tension and moral conflict among the players.

Notable Quotes:

• Eliot Arlon ([28:22]): “I think we should get down there and see what's there and what we can use and maybe find a way off this island.”
• Mary Beth Baker ([50:19]): “We're doing Great.”

5. Confrontation and Collapse ([55:00] - [90:00])

As the group continues to search, internal conflicts escalate. Ivan reveals a dark secret—he secretly killed the baby in the SUV, causing a rift in the group. This revelation leads to a physical confrontation, resulting in Mary Beth being trapped and the group succumbing to a mudslide that threatens their survival.

Notable Quotes:

• Ivan Van Norman ([82:37]): “I'm the one that's brave enough to do what it takes, okay, to save all your asses.”
• Mary Beth Baker ([94:04]): “I need help. I'm the one that needs a little bit of help.”

6. Final Struggle and Sacrifice ([100:00] - [120:00])

The remaining survivors face relentless threats from mysterious entities lurking in the mud. Xander's character, Mary Beth, grapples with her faith and the desperate measures needed to protect the group. In a climactic moment, Ivan attempts to save Mary Beth by holding her, only to be dragged into the abyss by another ominous presence emanating from the monolith.

Notable Quotes:

• Mary Beth Baker ([121:52]): “We are making a hard decision.”
• Ivan Van Norman ([125:07]): “I know you didn't do anything wrong.”

7. Conclusion and Aftermath ([170:00] - [175:00])

As the session draws to a close, the characters confront the overwhelming darkness enveloping Mount Fuji. Mary Beth makes a sacrificial decision, attempting to baptize Ivan, which ultimately leads to his demise. The group realizes the futility of their efforts as the monolith's influence proves insurmountable, resulting in a somber end to their tragic journey.

Notable Quotes:

• Mary Beth Baker ([142:37]): “I think this is what we're supposed to do. Nothing else here in this messed up situation makes sense.”
• Xander Jeanneret ([164:07]): “We march on. And we're just dragging him.”

8. Reflections from Departed Characters ([172:28] - [177:00])

In a post-game segment, the characters share reflective messages:

• Ivan Van Norman expresses regret and thanks the host for the opportunity to explore deeper emotions.
• Mary Beth Baker speaks about the randomness of survival and finding a sense of aliveness despite dire circumstances.
• Michelle Wynn Bradley reflects on unfulfilled dreams and the importance of seizing opportunities.

Notable Quotes:

• Ivan Van Norman ([172:28]): “I just wanted to thank you for giving me that.”
• Mary Beth Baker ([174:14]): “I spent all of my life waiting to become something more. But now there's not a lot of time left.”

---

Conclusion

Chapter Three: God is With You delivers a poignant and harrowing narrative, showcasing the depths of human emotion and the complexities of survival in a world drowning in darkness. Through intense character interactions and dramatic plot twists, the episode encapsulates the essence of horror role-playing, leaving listeners both moved and reflective on the fragile nature of hope and humanity.

Additional Notes

• Quotes Selection: Only key interactions and pivotal moments with clear speaker attribution and timestamps have been included to maintain focus on the core narrative.
• Skipped Sections: Advertisements, promotional segments, and non-content-related dialogues have been intentionally excluded to preserve the summary's coherence and relevance.
• Flow and Structure: The summary progresses logically through the episode's timeline, ensuring clarity for readers unfamiliar with the podcast.

Transcript

[Ivan Van Norman]

This episode is brought to you by Chevy Silverado. When it's time for you to ditch the blacktop and head off road, do it in a truck that says no to nothing. The Chevy Silverado Trail Boss. Get the rugged capability of its Z71 suspension and 2 inch factory lift, plus impressive torque and towing capacity thanks to an available Duramax 3 liter turbo diesel engine. Where other trucks call it quits, you'll just be getting started. Visit chevy.com to learn more.

[Daryl Crittenden]

McDonald's meets the Minecraft universe with one of six collectibles and your choice of a Big Mac or 10 piece McNuggets with spicy nether Flame sauce. Now available with a Minecraft movie meal at participating McDonald's for a limited time. A Minecraft movie only in theaters. Warning.

[Julia Dennis]

The program you're about to listen to contains explicit language and descriptions of adult themes and graphic violence that some people may find disturbing. Listener discretion is advised.

[Daryl Crittenden]

Hello, everybody. Hi.

[Michelle Wynn Bradley]

Hi.

[Daryl Crittenden]

Hi. I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry. I keep bringing people to this table and I don't have control over it anymore. It just keeps happening.

[Ivan Van Norman]

Wait, which seat am I in? Oh, it doesn't even matter at this point.

[Daryl Crittenden]

I am the center. I am the hu. And I am very, very excited to have all of you at the table because we have some new faces, people I've never played with before.

[Michelle Wynn Bradley]

Yay.

[Daryl Crittenden]

I know you.

[Michelle Wynn Bradley]

Yes, I know you.

[Daryl Crittenden]

I love you.

[Michelle Wynn Bradley]

I've seen you around, and I'm actually.

[Daryl Crittenden]

Super stoked that you're here.

[Michelle Wynn Bradley]

Dude. Thank you. I'm really happy to be there.

[Daryl Crittenden]

And new friends.

[Xander Jeanneret]

Yes, new friends. Hello. I'm Julia. And I'm so scared.

[Ivan Van Norman]

This is exactly where you need to be.

[Daryl Crittenden]

So coming from the vet, I know. How many times has it been?

[Ivan Van Norman]

Xander, listen, I signed it for life.

[Mary Beth Baker]

You sign?

[Daryl Crittenden]

It's actually, you have your contract in my pocket right here.

[Michelle Wynn Bradley]

Why is there so much blood on my contract?

[Ivan Van Norman]

Blood brothers litter.

[Xander Jeanneret]

Oh, yeah, that one works.

[Daryl Crittenden]

And, Michelle, I have been dying to get you at a table forever. So I'm sorry you had to say yes to this one.

[Mary Beth Baker]

Well, y'all gotta go sometime.

[Daryl Crittenden]

And we are. We are going to go. So things have been escalating, as one would expect in a game such as this. And we've talked. We talked a lot more than my last two groups because stuff has been happening and I am very interested in kind of at least letting people know what, you know, a little bit about the scenario and what is happening before we dive straight into character creation. The big thing is that you experienced before the events of last episode, this giant wave that just crashed into the east coast and basically has washed out everything that is anything from around 5,000ft above sea level and below. And we talked a little bit about you being on a dark area, and we are putting you on the other continent, on the other side. We were in San Francisco last episode, and now I think we're putting you. We talked about it. We were talking about Mount Fuji. Right, Cool. All right. Well, then, with that said, before we get into handing out cards and doing character creation, let's learn a little bit about the people playing the doomed ones. Julia, would you like to start?

[Xander Jeanneret]

Yes. My name is Mary Beth Baker, and.

[Daryl Crittenden]

I would like to know about Julia. And then we'll learn about Mary Beth.

[Xander Jeanneret]

Great. Yes, I am Julia Julia Dennis. And I am so excited to play this game. Cool.

[Daryl Crittenden]

Have you ever done for one. Have you done horror RPGs before?

[Xander Jeanneret]

No. No. Well, I did Relics and Rarities with Deborah and Wool and she's terrifying.

[Daryl Crittenden]

From.

[Xander Jeanneret]

Home game to streamed game. Roll, scary girl. But no, I've never done anything like this.

[Daryl Crittenden]

Okay, well, welcome. So, I mean, I will say that you know, me knowing these three well, you are in a safe place. And if at any time you don't feel like you're in a safe place, just punch me in the face.

[Xander Jeanneret]

Can we have a safe word?

[Daryl Crittenden]

Punch me in the face?

[Xander Jeanneret]

Yes.

[Daryl Crittenden]

So about to punch you. That's my X card. It's right here.

[Michelle Wynn Bradley]

Am I supposed to say it or do it? I'm confused. I'm gonna do both just in case.

[Daryl Crittenden]

Daryl.

[Michelle Wynn Bradley]

Hi, I'm Daryl Crittenden. You know me from Asinine Wisdom and other dumb things that on this network. And I'm super excited. I've played around Ivan, but I've never got to play with Ivan. And I'm super confused as to why he has me on here. So it should be revenge.

[Daryl Crittenden]

I like to push boundaries, take people out of their comfort zones.

[Michelle Wynn Bradley]

I am super uncomfortable. I'm excited.

[Daryl Crittenden]

But you say it with a smile on your face, which is why I love you.

[Michelle Wynn Bradley]

I was told not to stop smiling.

[Daryl Crittenden]

Ms. Michelle.

[Mary Beth Baker]

Hi, I'm Michelle Wynn Bradley. I play lots of tabletop shows on the Interwebs. This is our first time doing, like an on camera thing together, so I'm very excited. I've played with this Ding Dong a couple times. I'm like, really stoked. I've never done a strictly horror RPG before. I've done D and D where bad things happen and stuff, but I've not been. I'm usually the funny character.

[Daryl Crittenden]

Know that feeling, the comedic relief in an otherwise dark and dismal territory. Well, you can still be a bright candle, but it is now flick.

[Mary Beth Baker]

Oh, no, I'm not going to.

[Ivan Van Norman]

You're starting already with imagery and words.

[Michelle Wynn Bradley]

On the adjectives.

[Daryl Crittenden]

Hi, Xander.

[Ivan Van Norman]

Hi, I'm Xander Jeanneret. I was in Relics and Rarities with Julia. I also do LA by night vampire. The masquerade story we tell here. Callisto 6. We're a live frontier. I'm very, very lucky. And when Ivan calls me, I say, how high? No, wait.

[Mary Beth Baker]

What?

[Ivan Van Norman]

Ask. Oh, jump. Okay. How high?

[Daryl Crittenden]

I don't know. I was actually really pleased I. I got to actually play and be a cam.

[Ivan Van Norman]

Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Daryl Crittenden]

On la. My night. It was really. That was special to be a player.

[Ivan Van Norman]

Congratulations.

[Daryl Crittenden]

Thank you. And congratulations on your. On the terrible things that are probably happening because of the cam.

[Michelle Wynn Bradley]

Yeah.

[Daryl Crittenden]

Banners for unlife.

[Ivan Van Norman]

Unlife.

[Daryl Crittenden]

Anyway, so let's start by taking your cards. And as we discussed, your note cards are actually pictures of you, which we will destroy and deface as you slowly descend into darkness.

[Ivan Van Norman]

Can I draw a mustache now, or.

[Daryl Crittenden]

Yeah, if that's how you feel about tiny Xander.

[Ivan Van Norman]

He can't grow a mustache now. Xander can't grow a mustache.

[Michelle Wynn Bradley]

There's me before I could grow a mustache.

[Ivan Van Norman]

Look at that.

[Xander Jeanneret]

Let me see. Oh, he's adorable.

[Daryl Crittenden]

Yeah, well, let's give him up. Let's give him up to. As for us, because we're gonna start with virtues. Why don't you give that one to Julia? We're gonna pass all of ours to the right.

[Mary Beth Baker]

Oh, I see.

[Daryl Crittenden]

Pass one to the right. Thank you. Skipping me.

[Ivan Van Norman]

Gambit here. Yoink. Yoink.

[Michelle Wynn Bradley]

Gambit.

[Ivan Van Norman]

It's sticky. I'm Spider Man.

[Michelle Wynn Bradley]

This is beautiful.

[Mary Beth Baker]

Thank ya.

[Daryl Crittenden]

You're a mom. Young child, we're gonna begin by writing a virtue. Something that you wish upon somebody and you hope that they exemplify as part of your time together. To be abundantly clear, if this is your first episode, people watching today, your character, not you.

[Xander Jeanneret]

I wrote very small. Should I write big?

[Daryl Crittenden]

As long as the person who is there can read it.

[Xander Jeanneret]

Okay.

[Daryl Crittenden]

Yes. Okay.

[Michelle Wynn Bradley]

I have glasses. I'll be fine.

[Daryl Crittenden]

All right. Are we all good? Let's pass them back.

[Michelle Wynn Bradley]

Thank you.

[Mary Beth Baker]

Gambit.

[Ivan Van Norman]

Gambit. Gambit. Hold on.

[Mary Beth Baker]

I practiced that a lot when I was a kid because I was really into Gambit.

[Ivan Van Norman]

Good thing I'm not really Gambit.

[Michelle Wynn Bradley]

Do we look yet?

[Daryl Crittenden]

I would actually love to see what you all have. Julia, would you Mind starting? What did you get?

[Michelle Wynn Bradley]

Oh, my God. You wrote this. So smart.

[Xander Jeanneret]

Headstrong. I told you. Headstrong.

[Daryl Crittenden]

Headstrong. Great. All right, Daryl.

[Michelle Wynn Bradley]

Fair.

[Daryl Crittenden]

Fair.

[Michelle Wynn Bradley]

Fair.

[Daryl Crittenden]

You are a fair child. Fair man.

[Michelle Wynn Bradley]

Fair. Fair. Fair. Fair.

[Mary Beth Baker]

Do you burn easily in the sun?

[Michelle Wynn Bradley]

I think it's. I'm not smart enough to know how to spell them differently, but this is the one that you go to. And also I think is good.

[Daryl Crittenden]

Michelle.

[Mary Beth Baker]

It's a selflessness of. Selfless.

[Daryl Crittenden]

Selfless.

[Ivan Van Norman]

Decisive.

[Daryl Crittenden]

Ooh, decisive. Great. Well, now, let's take another one of your cards. And we will now pass them to the left.

[Mary Beth Baker]

Do I have to pick the most evil looking one?

[Daryl Crittenden]

It doesn't matter.

[Ivan Van Norman]

Oh, no. I used my goth phase already. To the left. So we're going back to the same person?

[Daryl Crittenden]

Yes. Oh.

[Ivan Van Norman]

Different people.

[Daryl Crittenden]

Different people. It should be going to different people.

[Ivan Van Norman]

It didn't work at all.

[Daryl Crittenden]

Here, how about this? How about your hands?

[Xander Jeanneret]

Yeah, sure are.

[Michelle Wynn Bradley]

Oh, good.

[Ivan Van Norman]

There, there, there.

[Michelle Wynn Bradley]

These are. I'm sorry, say it again.

[Daryl Crittenden]

We are now writing a vice.

[Ivan Van Norman]

Vice.

[Daryl Crittenden]

Something that creates more problems than it solves and is not something you would wish upon anybody. Except you are.

[Michelle Wynn Bradley]

Hope I spelled that right.

[Daryl Crittenden]

You have this thing with words, huh?

[Michelle Wynn Bradley]

I'm pretty dyslexic.

[Daryl Crittenden]

All right, return. Return, please. Yes. Let's send it back to the next. Here.

[Ivan Van Norman]

We had it. We had eye contact.

[Daryl Crittenden]

It's like looking at the shoulder when you're doing a high five. Right.

[Mary Beth Baker]

Why am I sending this in? This Ding dong.

[Daryl Crittenden]

Xander, what's your voice?

[Ivan Van Norman]

I'm fussy.

[Daryl Crittenden]

A decisive fussy one.

[Ivan Van Norman]

Ah, I see.

[Daryl Crittenden]

Okay.

[Mary Beth Baker]

Xander wrote in the back of mine. Fuggin. Bossy. Two GS.

[Ivan Van Norman]

That's how you know it's a vice. It's not a good thing.

[Michelle Wynn Bradley]

I am a hoarder.

[Daryl Crittenden]

Oh, my.

[Michelle Wynn Bradley]

Which is hard for me, but I will do.

[Daryl Crittenden]

Okay. I'm looking forward to seeing what this pack looks like.

[Michelle Wynn Bradley]

Yeah.

[Daryl Crittenden]

And Julia.

[Xander Jeanneret]

What?

[Michelle Wynn Bradley]

Zealot.

[Xander Jeanneret]

Oh, I have no idea what that is.

[Michelle Wynn Bradley]

So religious zealot would be a thing.

[Ivan Van Norman]

Easily obsessed with something so like.

[Xander Jeanneret]

Yes.

[Michelle Wynn Bradley]

Yeah.

[Xander Jeanneret]

Yes.

[Michelle Wynn Bradley]

Gun. Ho for like.

[Daryl Crittenden]

Or it's. I think another word for it would be, like, in Extremist.

[Ivan Van Norman]

Yeah.

[Xander Jeanneret]

Yes.

[Daryl Crittenden]

Yeah.

[Ivan Van Norman]

You have a too far gene.

[Daryl Crittenden]

Too far. Too far.

[Michelle Wynn Bradley]

Too far. A gene.

[Daryl Crittenden]

Yeah. Next. I already had an opportunity to kind of introduce the module that we're playing a little bit, but I will set up the scene for you as we go into this moment. We talked about this a little bit before the game, but we all kind of had a conversation about you are currently on top of Mount Fuji or at least somewhere on the mountain above 5,000ft. Now I think we discussed maybe being at a hotel that's close to a shrine or some kind of touristy kind of area. Rest area. Rest area. And you have been there for the last 11 days. Terrible things have happened. The monoliths came out of the ground as we discussed 11 days ago. They shot up out of the ground. People have been disappearing. Rumors are that there is something in the ground that is taking people. Some of you may have even seen this happen. And very recently, the most recent event that you can recall is that a giant tidal wave hit all of basically the eastern part of the Pacific and destroyed presumably since it washed over everything except for the very top of Mount Fuji, wiped out the entire continent of Japan and presumably all of Southeast Asia, China, eastern Russia and certainly the Philippines. At this point. This is all speculation that you've been able to decipher from the 100 foot plus wave that you saw as it washed across the water as the sun was going down. In fact, the impact was so huge as it struck the mountain that it visibly shook the ground underneath you after the wave started to diminish, which is where our scenario is beginning. As the wave is starting to come back down. It left nothing behind because the force was so great. So with that said, let us generate a moment that you hope your characters to accomplish in this scenario today. Something that you will write for yourself and it is something that we will share. What do you hope to accomplish in this story with the information that has been provided to you?

[Ivan Van Norman]

And we can start with I will find hope when.

[Daryl Crittenden]

I will find hope when. I can find hope when. Yes, all of those things. The abuse of ellipses inside of the rule book of ten candles is prolific. It's. I should also tell you I'm also terribly proud of you. I know many of you have done this before. But I also know for the ones who are coming and joining me today, I want to celebrate your bravery today before I do terrible things.

[Michelle Wynn Bradley]

Okay, thanks.

[Ivan Van Norman]

Well, so proud of you for you getting in the saddle again, doing it all over. It can't be easy, emotionally or otherwise.

[Daryl Crittenden]

Let's just say that when my four year old, when I was putting him to bed last night, we told him, I told him some very sweet non scary stories to just kind of mouthwash everything out of it.

[Michelle Wynn Bradley]

It was like your ginger at a sushi point.

[Daryl Crittenden]

Except I hate ginger.

[Michelle Wynn Bradley]

That makes sense. You seem the type.

[Daryl Crittenden]

Let's see, let's talk it to everyone write their hope.

[Ivan Van Norman]

Yes.

[Daryl Crittenden]

Great. Okay, Michelle, let's begin with you. What do you hope to accomplish? What is your character name?

[Mary Beth Baker]

First of all, my character name is Eve. Fam.

[Daryl Crittenden]

And what do they hope to accomplish in this story?

[Mary Beth Baker]

My new hope, now that it has been 11 days, is that I find clarity and meaning to the madness that is happening around us.

[Ivan Van Norman]

Wow.

[Daryl Crittenden]

Meaning to the madness. Okay, Excellent. Is there anything else we should know about Eve before we hop off?

[Mary Beth Baker]

Eve is a waitress. It has come out in conversation already since we've been here for 11 days. I always talk about finding myself because you also know that I'm a failed actress. Or at least I was aspiring to be an actress, and I kind of gave up. And I am here with this group because I was trying to escape reality and again, find something in my soul.

[Daryl Crittenden]

By trying to escape reality. You found an entirely different reality. Yes. Yes.

[Mary Beth Baker]

Irony. His thick.

[Daryl Crittenden]

Daryl, who are you playing today?

[Michelle Wynn Bradley]

I'm playing Elliot Arlon, and he is a software engineer. He is here on Mount Fuji with you guys by chance. And. Yeah. He won a contest. Yay.

[Daryl Crittenden]

So fate has delivered you to this place, and in many ways, that is both awful. Yes, because you are now stuck. But in many ways, it's also amazing because you are alive.

[Michelle Wynn Bradley]

Right. I would have been probably somewhere around San Francisco. So I would imagine that I'm doing well compared to everyone back on sea level.

[Daryl Crittenden]

Yeah. Fair enough. And what do they hope to accomplish?

[Michelle Wynn Bradley]

I will find hope when I can follow through my ideas successfully with everyone. So I want to be a leader.

[Daryl Crittenden]

You want to make a plan and actually execute it. Yes. Excellent.

[Michelle Wynn Bradley]

And pull it off.

[Daryl Crittenden]

Julia, who will you be playing today?

[Xander Jeanneret]

I'm playing Mary Beth Baker. I'm a wedding planner from Magnolia, Texas. And knowing my virtue and vices, I have decided that my mission statement is to find hope and a moment of purpose in this place. To honor God's decision to clean the world.

[Ivan Van Norman]

Whoa.

[Xander Jeanneret]

Wow.

[Daryl Crittenden]

So you need to find peace in this choice of this ultimate flood that has come across.

[Xander Jeanneret]

And also why I have been saved.

[Daryl Crittenden]

Why you have been saved. All right.

[Xander Jeanneret]

Yes.

[Ivan Van Norman]

Amazing.

[Daryl Crittenden]

Excellent. And Sander.

[Ivan Van Norman]

Yeah. So I'm gonna be playing Oliver Cash. He's a truck driver.

[Daryl Crittenden]

Yeah.

[Ivan Van Norman]

And he is bored of the monotony, and it's getting him down. So his therapist recommended going abroad.

[Daryl Crittenden]

Yeah.

[Ivan Van Norman]

And now look what happened. It was on Groupon.

[Daryl Crittenden]

Well, good for him for listening to his therapist.

[Michelle Wynn Bradley]

Yeah.

[Daryl Crittenden]

Yeah, that therapist probably isn't around anymore.

[Ivan Van Norman]

No. And he's just been miserable this whole time. He's A creature of comforts.

[Daryl Crittenden]

Truly a fish out of water.

[Ivan Van Norman]

Yeah. And I will find hope when I finally share my feelings. Well, whatever those may be.

[Daryl Crittenden]

Whatever those may be. Well, that is interesting, because I actually have a truth from the last group to give to you. It is something that they established as a truth in this world. And it is one statement just the same that we, when we talk about truth, and we'll do this in the game as we go into it. Their truth that they gave to you is that God is with you. Wow.

[Xander Jeanneret]

Oh, praise his name.

[Daryl Crittenden]

Yeah. That is the truth that they handed.

[Xander Jeanneret]

Is that, Lord. And.

[Daryl Crittenden]

And with that said, let's write your Brinks.

[Ivan Van Norman]

Oh, boy.

[Daryl Crittenden]

So the Brinks will start by giving one of your cards to the person to your right. And I'm included in this matter, so not only will you be handing me one, but I will be handing you one.

[Michelle Wynn Bradley]

Okay.

[Daryl Crittenden]

Now, this is a unique situation for you too.

[Michelle Wynn Bradley]

Okay.

[Daryl Crittenden]

I'm going to be writing a brink describing them and what they have seen you do as far as a character goes. Something that they know about you.

[Mary Beth Baker]

The them. The.

[Ivan Van Norman]

The capital T. The bad them.

[Michelle Wynn Bradley]

The them.

[Daryl Crittenden]

The they. Yes. While Elliot, you will be telling me a brink. A fact about them.

[Michelle Wynn Bradley]

Uh huh.

[Daryl Crittenden]

And this is something that you can share to expand on the world based on the knowledge that you know, can be about the monolith, since that's part of the context, or it can be about really them in general.

[Michelle Wynn Bradley]

Okay.

[Daryl Crittenden]

And that will be given to me. And that is something that I will hold onto for the rest of this story.

[Michelle Wynn Bradley]

Got it.

[Daryl Crittenden]

Okay. It cannot be a weakness. That is the one qualifier.

[Michelle Wynn Bradley]

Right?

[Daryl Crittenden]

So.

[Ivan Van Norman]

And we should say, I have seen you.

[Daryl Crittenden]

I have seen you. And in the circumstances of me. And they will. I will say this. They have seen you. And you will say, I have seen them. It.

[Ivan Van Norman]

Really like rumble. I'm like, oh, God.

[Mary Beth Baker]

It's like those 4D movies where you can smell and feel everything.

[Ivan Van Norman]

Oh, that was me. Sorry.

[Mary Beth Baker]

Two spoon paper.

[Xander Jeanneret]

Xander, you get gassy.

[Mary Beth Baker]

Feel like putting us on the same side of the table?

[Ivan Van Norman]

It's a mistake. It's a mistake.

[Mary Beth Baker]

Anyway, no giggling. Only serious. Only death.

[Daryl Crittenden]

Oh, it's fine. Go get it all out of yourself.

[Xander Jeanneret]

Yeah, yeah.

[Daryl Crittenden]

Get out of it now.

[Michelle Wynn Bradley]

And then like that. It's gone.

[Mary Beth Baker]

I'm scared to get my. My brink.

[Xander Jeanneret]

Are we learning our Brinks right away?

[Daryl Crittenden]

Yeah. Yes. And then you will hold on to.

[Ivan Van Norman]

Them and that one other person will know. But that's it at the table.

[Xander Jeanneret]

I'm not reading it out loud.

[Michelle Wynn Bradley]

You know My brink. And I know my brink. And that's the only two people that know are my brink. Yeah. You know, Xander.

[Ivan Van Norman]

And you know I know you're breaking Oliver because I have seen you. Blah, blah, blah.

[Mary Beth Baker]

I feel like it's taking him way.

[Ivan Van Norman]

Too long to write my full novel.

[Daryl Crittenden]

Cool.

[Mary Beth Baker]

Cool, cool, cool. Great. Here he goes.

[Michelle Wynn Bradley]

You'll let me know that this is wrong, right?

[Daryl Crittenden]

Absolutely.

[Michelle Wynn Bradley]

Yeah.

[Ivan Van Norman]

Eye contact. Ready? This is gonna go right in your face if I.

[Xander Jeanneret]

Great.

[Daryl Crittenden]

Oh, no, don't look at it.

[Mary Beth Baker]

Oh, I got chills.

[Michelle Wynn Bradley]

Okay.

[Mary Beth Baker]

Making like a car.

[Daryl Crittenden]

Yeah.

[Michelle Wynn Bradley]

Yeah. Made Ivan happy.

[Daryl Crittenden]

Okay, cool. I like that I have to write that breakdown.

[Mary Beth Baker]

Don't look at the gm. No cheating.

[Daryl Crittenden]

No cheating.

[Xander Jeanneret]

No cheating.

[Ivan Van Norman]

And if I could. If you get. If it helps, you can make a stack with your cards. And the brink will always be at the bottom of the stack. And you can put the other ones on top of it till I keep it secret.

[Daryl Crittenden]

Yeah. We are now going to set our stack. And you can. You can put them however you wish. Virtues, vices and moments. And you have knowing that when you burn or get rid of them, in order to do dice, you will have to do whatever is on top first. Which means you cannot get to your moment until the moment is on top.

[Michelle Wynn Bradley]

Got it.

[Daryl Crittenden]

All right. But again, you may stack that however you wish, but the brink must be on the bottom.

[Michelle Wynn Bradley]

The brink must be on the bottom.

[Daryl Crittenden]

Yes.

[Ivan Van Norman]

And the other, like the vice and the virtue and stuff can inform your character decisions, but you can only burn whatever is at the top first.

[Daryl Crittenden]

That's why he brings Andrew to every table.

[Ivan Van Norman]

Sorry, I don't mean to.

[Daryl Crittenden]

No, he just literally like having an assistant dm. It's the best.

[Ivan Van Norman]

Weird. I live. I'm the only one.

[Michelle Wynn Bradley]

Wait, what?

[Daryl Crittenden]

Any more questions? Comments, Concerns?

[Xander Jeanneret]

Yeah. What's our last?

[Daryl Crittenden]

The last one is simply to write your character name, your concept, your look. It's a little cheat sheet for who you are.

[Michelle Wynn Bradley]

Got.

[Daryl Crittenden]

Excellent. Your story begins as the last decaying light of the sun begins to bend over the eastern horizon. As you have watched this decimating wave crash against Mount Fuji. And the last receding lights of the sun show you a horizon of pure water laid out all around you, with your lonely mountain peak sitting as the only crested top on this wide horizon. You are in a bed and breakfast on the side of this wonderful huge historical landmark that is part of the wonders that is nature. And in many ways, it has been incredibly peaceful, minus the clenching starvation that you occasionally have to deal with. People have come and go. Many people have actually found this place and have decided that that is not where they wish to stay and have left. And many people have decided that they need to do something other than just wait to die. And they have gone down the mountains to find whatever hope and purpose they may find on the bottom of the mountain. But for one reason or another, the four of you have stayed. And now you're out of food. You sit in this hollow, empty building after watching what is probably one of the most spectacular things to ever occur in your life. I'd like to know what you're thinking right now, Eve.

[Mary Beth Baker]

I am feeling weirdly lucky. I didn't know staying here was the right choice. I just didn't feel like going down the hill. And I made the right choice, and the four of us are here.

[Daryl Crittenden]

That's all that matters.

[Mary Beth Baker]

Yeah.

[Daryl Crittenden]

Yeah. How about you, Elliot?

[Michelle Wynn Bradley]

I think we made a huge mistake in staying here. I think we should have gone down the hill with the rest of the group. I think we could have found something down there to maybe build a raft, construct something. Maybe even use part of the monolith itself. I think this is a huge mistake to still be up here. We're out of food. We need to go.

[Ivan Van Norman]

Oliver, listen. They left it to us. No one else is here. This is ours now. We have land. We have somewhere to go. We can create a stronghold here. We don't need. They have places to go. They have homes. They have families. We have nobody.

[Daryl Crittenden]

You have nobody. You have just you four.

[Xander Jeanneret]

Mary Beth, we have been chosen. Y'all don't even see that yet, but you need to have faith that we have been chosen here. There is a reason we did not go down that mountain. You were called to stay here, and we are gonna find a way out of this place.

[Daryl Crittenden]

So as you stand with both attitudes of this is a great stronghold versus we could have something better. This comes to your mind as you spend the next few hours watching as the water recedes drastically. And we're talking. Well, if I may be so bold, it's like watching a bathtub drain slowly out as the waterline just recedes feet by the minute, as the mountain slowly becomes more and more exposed. And as you look down with the limited night vision you have, as it is now dark, but the moon providing such a magnificent glow, being the size that it is in the sky now, you can see that it is just devastated and waste in front of you, many of the trees. And actually looking at the flotsam as the wave has pushed itself out towards the west, you can see that A lot of the water that is slowly receding is now filled with debris. Trees, parts of buildings, trash, all of it. As this tub of a world slowly comes down, what would you like to do?

[Ivan Van Norman]

Well, this is great. I mean, there's supplies down there. Now. There could be anything. I mean, plastic survives, right? It could be a first aid kit. There could be firewood, anything. We should go down there.

[Michelle Wynn Bradley]

I agree with Oliver. I think we should get down there and see what's there and what we can use and maybe find a way off this island.

[Mary Beth Baker]

Seems a really big hike. I feel like if you two just did it.

[Ivan Van Norman]

Are you kidding me?

[Mary Beth Baker]

Now someone has to watch this.

[Michelle Wynn Bradley]

The more hands we have down there, the better.

[Ivan Van Norman]

The more things we could take back up.

[Xander Jeanneret]

I agree. This is an offering and we should accept it.

[Mary Beth Baker]

I go grab a bag and just start walking down by myself.

[Daryl Crittenden]

Okay, so as Eve surreptitiously grabs a backpack, you three, are you just going to be taking.

[Ivan Van Norman]

This is nighttime, right?

[Daryl Crittenden]

It is. It is the beginning of night.

[Ivan Van Norman]

The beginning of night, yeah.

[Daryl Crittenden]

The sun has set.

[Ivan Van Norman]

Okay. We have. From the temple's emergency kit, we do have one flashlight, but it's sort of on its last legs. Yeah, it's a plastic flashlight for emergency type of thing. So I'm definitely gonna grab that. And, yeah, I don't really have a bag or anything.

[Daryl Crittenden]

All right. So at this point, whatever you can find, you will have to go in there. Usually at ten candles, it explicitly states that you have whatever is in your pocket. But in this kind of scenario, since you do have the hotel available to you, there is probably a limited amount of supplies that would be around, stuff that either hasn't been taken or you have as part of your personal effects that haven't been used up to this point. So I think that's a fair assessment. Flashlight is fine. So unless you tell me otherwise, what I'm hearing is you begin descending down the mountain. The first thing you notice when you start descending down the mountain is just how odd it is to smell the sea this high up just that crisp salt, kelp kind of intensity this high. When you have just left ostensibly large topiary and you're walking down the steep decline, knowing that you came up here originally with a cable car and came into this place. Whatever road you took, there is some remnants of it that you could potentially follow down. But if you were worried about being slowed down by tree density or anything like that, that has all been washed away at this point. So you begin to climb down, and it's minutes pass. An hour passes, Half an hour. What I mean is an hour and a half passes and you still find yourself walking and you just can't believe how fucking tall this thing is as you get down. But you are hungry, and you're definitely far enough away from where you are at the point where the hotel is that you basically start to see the scattered remains of all of the forests that were laid out around now laying on top of each other. In fact, I don't know if any of you have seen gone to Oregon or seen clear cutting or anything like that. When they just clear out large swaths of trees and lay it down, it's very similar to that. The mud is just thick because it's wet, and the dirt is there, a lot of it just eroded away. So you're either walking on irregular rock or you're just ankle deep in mud as you're continuing to move down. And the first true obstacle that gets in your way is a mishmashed pile of logs that have seemed to serativitously just pile itself right in front of you. It's not so big that you couldn't go around, but it's also the first major pile of wood you've seen in a long time as well, too. What would you like to do?

[Michelle Wynn Bradley]

I think we go around it. There's no point in risking going over the top and somebody spraining an ankle or twisting a wrist or something.

[Daryl Crittenden]

Okay, you can absolutely go around.

[Ivan Van Norman]

Is there some way we could use this? It's a lot of wood. It's wet, but I don't know.

[Michelle Wynn Bradley]

I mean, I'm not carrying a tree back up a mountain, especially not Mount Fuji.

[Daryl Crittenden]

Yeah, you're right. 16 is all you need. Oh, all right. Two sixes. I will take these ones for myself. You are welcome, by the way, at any time to burn whatever you'd like to reroll these, but I'll hold onto them in the meantime. So you. Actually, at this point, I don't have any dice to work with. So, Elliot, I'm giving you narration rights. Would you like to tell me how you very easily avoid this immensely large pile of fallen trees?

[Michelle Wynn Bradley]

Well, I say we go up to the high ground and go around over the top. Because if we go around to the bottom, then there's a chance there's something up top waiting on us to drop down on us. So I want to go up to the top.

[Daryl Crittenden]

So you climb over it?

[Michelle Wynn Bradley]

No, no, I want to go. It's up against a crest and I want to climb up on the side of the mountain so we can peek around just to make sure that there's nothing there.

[Daryl Crittenden]

It's a good thing you did as well, too, because the reason that crest, the way that it's sitting on top of each other, if you had just gone directly around the trees onto it, it actually had a pretty steep drop off with what was a fairly largely eroded base. The trees had basically stopped a large amount of the mud, which had piled up into it, but it was a fairly large drop off on the other side. So going around the crest was a good idea.

[Michelle Wynn Bradley]

Lucky us.

[Ivan Van Norman]

It's like a dam. Like, did it stop the water?

[Michelle Wynn Bradley]

I mean, it looks like it's just piled up here. I don't. I don't. I don't really know. I mean, it stopped the water, but I don't think it's going to stop another wave like that. I think it'll bust it.

[Mary Beth Baker]

There is a dam here. Why don't we look for, I don't know, stuff it caught, like bugs or fish or seaweed items.

[Ivan Van Norman]

I'll examine with you. I'll go down at the base.

[Daryl Crittenden]

So just looking for whatever organic material or non organic.

[Ivan Van Norman]

I'm looking for plastics and things like that that have washed up too.

[Daryl Crittenden]

Yeah. Let's see if anything got caught in this small break that was generated on the side of the mountain. Why don't you go ahead, Eve? Okay. It was your idea.

[Ivan Van Norman]

I'm split.

[Mary Beth Baker]

Got 16 and 1 1.

[Daryl Crittenden]

Aw, I didn't see. Let me take mine and see if I can steal narration rights from you. Oh, so the six will give me narration rights on this?

[Ivan Van Norman]

You could burn if you want to. To reroll.

[Daryl Crittenden]

Yeah, I did have the one. Okay, then you can reroll that one. One that I took from you.

[Mary Beth Baker]

Okay.

[Daryl Crittenden]

How are you? You're doing your vice, though, which is on top, Right. So roll it. First of all, if you get another six, then you get narration rights, please.

[Xander Jeanneret]

Oh, girl. Oh, yeah. That was risky.

[Daryl Crittenden]

That's fine. I. Yeah. I'm gonna tell you how it happened, and I'm gonna tell you how you were a fuggin bossy girl while you were doing that. So, Eve, as you already pretty much established at this point, you were going to be ranger in this party and move straight forward with whatever. And if they followed you, great, whatever. You basically start coming around and start pulling through the muck. You're just looking through, passing stuff around. And as you basically start to pull this muck and this wood around, you hear a. As you look above you and you see that you've pulled enough mud away that it has now shifted. The large logs that were above you have shifted and started to twist and move. And it's only Oliver being with you right there at the moment to grab your arm and pull you away when one of the logs shift enough to basically fall right down. Just right where you were a moment ago.

[Ivan Van Norman]

Jesus Christ, woman. You gotta be careful.

[Mary Beth Baker]

I thought I was being careful.

[Ivan Van Norman]

You were tearing through that like it was a bag of candy.

[Mary Beth Baker]

Well, aren't we hungry?

[Ivan Van Norman]

Common sense.

[Mary Beth Baker]

The longer we take, the faster we're gonna die out here.

[Daryl Crittenden]

Look, you look at the logs that have shifted as a result of you pulling it down, and in it, you've noticed that the bit of logs have actually made a perfect cage for what appears to be an SUV that's been lodged deep inside of this group of trees at the moment. Yes.

[Ivan Van Norman]

Oh, shit.

[Xander Jeanneret]

Hey, y'all, I'm still up on this ridge right now. I know y'all having a moment, but I actually think I see a vehicle. Is that accurate?

[Ivan Van Norman]

What? Examine. Can I get close without it?

[Daryl Crittenden]

Yeah, you can look at it. Yeah, you can look at it. So you definitely. I mean, it is impossible to see inside. Cause it is covered in seaweed and dirt. And you can actually see there's, like a fish flopping somewhere on top of it.

[Ivan Van Norman]

Is it, like, pinned and, like vertical, like we'd be looking down into the windshield, or is it like.

[Daryl Crittenden]

Yeah, it's horizontal. So if you imagine, like this clump of horizontal trees, this thing basically built like a cage around it. And when she moved enough of the dirt to shift the logs so that you can actually see through it at the moment, yes.

[Ivan Van Norman]

And so the windshield is exposed.

[Daryl Crittenden]

Windshield's exposed. And the wild part is that it looks fairly dry inside of there. Yeah.

[Mary Beth Baker]

You guys are welcome that I found this for us.

[Xander Jeanneret]

You are our fisherman.

[Michelle Wynn Bradley]

What?

[Xander Jeanneret]

You found it?

[Michelle Wynn Bradley]

Don't think that luck like this is going to last. So just don't do stuff like that again, okay? You got lucky. Let's not get ahead of ourselves. We don't even know if this thing's gonna drive. It's been underwater. It's been surrounded by trees.

[Mary Beth Baker]

We got a fish.

[Ivan Van Norman]

Listen, you're a smug guy. This thing's not gonna drive, but there might be something inside.

[Michelle Wynn Bradley]

Yeah. So let's just. Let's take it easy. Let's put the fish in the bag. Let's take it easy.

[Daryl Crittenden]

Yeah. So the fish is not going to consent to being taken. You're grabbing it, and it's Flopping and it's very mad. But you do pound it into submission eventually. You do, you do whoever.

[Mary Beth Baker]

I feel like you do.

[Ivan Van Norman]

Oh, yeah, yeah.

[Daryl Crittenden]

And it does, it does relent to going into the bag eventually. And it is, you know, I'm not terribly familiar actually at this point it could be any fish in the ocean, so.

[Ivan Van Norman]

And you could tell me any fish and it would make a difference.

[Daryl Crittenden]

It is a mid sized fish.

[Ivan Van Norman]

Okay.

[Daryl Crittenden]

Yes.

[Michelle Wynn Bradley]

As long as it's got scales.

[Mary Beth Baker]

It's a medium sized mackerel.

[Ivan Van Norman]

Oh, there we go.

[Michelle Wynn Bradley]

It's a mackerel. Mackerel Saba.

[Mary Beth Baker]

Yeah.

[Daryl Crittenden]

Cool. I know.

[Mary Beth Baker]

I love fish.

[Daryl Crittenden]

And right now that's about as much as you've been able to glean. Because the one challenge is that even though the digging has exposed that a car is inside of there, it is 100% lodged in this clump of trees. Right. So really the only way and if the intent is to get in the car, to try to find things that are around it, you do see an exposed window that someone could wiggle through the logs to go through.

[Ivan Van Norman]

Hey, church lady, you're up there. Can you grab a branch and break these windows or something? Better than us doing it down here.

[Xander Jeanneret]

Absolutely, yes. I am going to throw some things onto the windshield as hard as I can.

[Ivan Van Norman]

Is that glass houses?

[Xander Jeanneret]

Is that all right? Yeah.

[Ivan Van Norman]

Phrase V's name.

[Daryl Crittenden]

So you're basically looking for something large that you could, without getting too close to it, just chuck the rock down?

[Xander Jeanneret]

Yes, correct.

[Daryl Crittenden]

Okay. I would love a.

[Mary Beth Baker]

Did you say you're gonna throw things down at this car?

[Ivan Van Norman]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Xander Jeanneret]

So do take cover in case I do miss and it bounces.

[Mary Beth Baker]

I'm a move by.

[Daryl Crittenden]

All right, go ahead.

[Xander Jeanneret]

Okay.

[Daryl Crittenden]

1611. Okay.

[Ivan Van Norman]

Okay.

[Daryl Crittenden]

Okay. So he has to get one six.

[Ivan Van Norman]

Dang it.

[Daryl Crittenden]

Yeah.

[Ivan Van Norman]

So you could reroll that one if you want to use your thing. Otherwise he'll take narration on it.

[Xander Jeanneret]

I am burning my card.

[Daryl Crittenden]

Okay, so it is a success though. You do have a six. So it just. It's determined to determine who narrates the success is all. So I imagine at this point, since you're being very deliberate about not being in the mess of trees while you take this is you start grabbing whatever decent sized rock you can find and you've got to get arm deep in the mud in order to even get that. So as you're kind of moving the slosh around and you're kind of feeling as the very wet ground beneath you is just sliding down ever so lightly, you do find a couple of Larger than skipping stone, but not bowling ball size kind of situations. And you kind of size yourself up and you just start throwing rocks at a windshield and a couple of them bounce off of the wood. More pepper as you kind of are trying to get your aim. But the last one that you throw, the last one that you hold onto goes down with enough force that you actually see its spiderweb just across. And you see it has definitely made a reasonable impact on top of that thing.

[Xander Jeanneret]

Yes. Well, I was shot put champion at Ridgecrest High. Okay. So if I can throw anything, it's gonna be me.

[Daryl Crittenden]

Well, if the shot putting is this.

[Xander Jeanneret]

Action, then yes, you know, it's hearsay.

[Ivan Van Norman]

It's been a while.

[Xander Jeanneret]

Okay, it's been a while.

[Daryl Crittenden]

So, I mean, you've very much. Like that window is going to go, you know, perfect.

[Michelle Wynn Bradley]

So does anybody just want to try the door handle before we throw any more rocks?

[Ivan Van Norman]

I can tell you right now, it's pretty pinned in there. It doesn't look like the doors are going to open.

[Daryl Crittenden]

You'd have a little bit of wiggle room.

[Michelle Wynn Bradley]

Potentially digging has not been successful for us. I just.

[Ivan Van Norman]

Hey, take the lead, smart guy.

[Michelle Wynn Bradley]

Can I try a door handle? Just.

[Daryl Crittenden]

If you would like to crawl in there and start wiggling the door handle. All means make a compliment.

[Michelle Wynn Bradley]

Everybody else, like, just stay back. Let me just try the door handle. Just let me try.

[Ivan Van Norman]

Be my fucking guest.

[Mary Beth Baker]

You do realize she broke the windshield already, right?

[Michelle Wynn Bradley]

Yeah, but it's not open. It's just broken.

[Mary Beth Baker]

You just kick windows.

[Xander Jeanneret]

He's gotta do it his way.

[Daryl Crittenden]

Okay, all right, so you got one. And I will roll to see if I can take over narration rights. Nope. Elliot, would you kindly take over narration rights and tell me how you successfully get this door open?

[Michelle Wynn Bradley]

So I'm able to pull the door. It's unlocked. I'm able to pull it open just enough that I can reach my hand in and roll down the manual door windows, and then the door windows are down, and then all we have to do is just one of us. I'm here. I'll crawl in and just look around and see what's in this car and see if there's any first aid kits, a clif bar, anything. Is that okay with everybody? Do you want to throw anything else? Do you want to dig anything else?

[Mary Beth Baker]

I know you're trying to make us feel stupid, but I feel like I found the car, so I'm still good. I don't know these two.

[Xander Jeanneret]

I broke the windshield.

[Ivan Van Norman]

I got a fish.

[Michelle Wynn Bradley]

Awesome.

[Mary Beth Baker]

We're doing Great.

[Xander Jeanneret]

We're doing real good.

[Michelle Wynn Bradley]

I'm super. I'm going to go in the car.

[Daryl Crittenden]

You're going to go in the car and start looking. All right, Elliot, I wouldn't actually consider this too much of a conflict, but the going inside, what I am more interested in is just what you could potentially find. So that's why I'm making you roll right now. It's not so much that.

[Michelle Wynn Bradley]

Should I say what I'm hoping to find?

[Daryl Crittenden]

I would love to hear what you're hoping to find.

[Michelle Wynn Bradley]

I'm hoping to find a road flare kit broken down. There you go. I forget what they're. Is this just road. Roadside. Roadside kit. Roadside kit. And I'm hoping to find just a stash of snacks. I'm hoping it's a mom car.

[Daryl Crittenden]

Yeah.

[Michelle Wynn Bradley]

With just like, some applesauce packets.

[Daryl Crittenden]

Absolutely.

[Michelle Wynn Bradley]

And some.

[Daryl Crittenden]

Go for it.

[Michelle Wynn Bradley]

So one success and one I feel like I should burn. We're down to just three. I'm gonna.

[Ivan Van Norman]

Oh, and this is perfect, too.

[Michelle Wynn Bradley]

Burn a hoarder. So, yeah, roll that one.

[Daryl Crittenden]

You already have the success, so let's just talk about that one real quick.

[Michelle Wynn Bradley]

So I roll it again. Yes.

[Daryl Crittenden]

Yes.

[Michelle Wynn Bradley]

And then the hoarder.

[Daryl Crittenden]

Another one. I will take that from you. Yes. And I actually need to ask for narration rights at this point.

[Michelle Wynn Bradley]

Be.

[Daryl Crittenden]

Yeah, that's two sixes.

[Xander Jeanneret]

Oh, no.

[Mary Beth Baker]

Goodness gracious.

[Ivan Van Norman]

Okay.

[Daryl Crittenden]

Elliot, as you begin wading through the car, you can see that while it's dry on the inside, it 100% was submerged at some point inside of there. You are correct. This was a mom car for sure. And, you know, because of the distinct car seat that is sitting in the back of the vehicle right now. Also because of the bodies that are in the backseat, you can't see them because they are. Whatever was in the car seat has been covered by some kind of blanket. But the adult body that is lying in the backseat is definitely an adult. And in that you see. Well, totes. Totes of plastic encased stuff. And it's opaque. So what is in there exactly is hard to tell, but there are at least several on either side of the car seat.

[Michelle Wynn Bradley]

I mean, I'm gonna grab everything I can. I'm not gonna look at. I don't want to look at anything. I just want to get this stuff. I'm gonna. It's gonna be a. They. They've been irresponsible so far, so I'm just gonna keep some of this stuff back for me just to keep it safe. I'll give it to them when they're ready for it, but they're not ready for it yet.

[Daryl Crittenden]

So you're going to take some of the stuff and put it into your bag.

[Michelle Wynn Bradley]

A situation of one for them, one for me, two for them, one, two for me, that kind of thing, and just hang on to some stuff and just. I'm keeping it safe. I'm doing the right thing.

[Daryl Crittenden]

Great, great. So you come out with totes in hand and you bring it down. You all see, like, Elliot basically bringing these totes out.

[Mary Beth Baker]

Dang. Good job, Elliot. You did something.

[Michelle Wynn Bradley]

Yeah. It was not good in there.

[Daryl Crittenden]

What?

[Mary Beth Baker]

What do you mean it's not good?

[Michelle Wynn Bradley]

His body's. It's not good in there.

[Ivan Van Norman]

I'm sorry.

[Michelle Wynn Bradley]

It's okay.

[Xander Jeanneret]

We need to bury them. Absolutely. We need to bury them.

[Ivan Van Norman]

That is not a priority. That is not the priority.

[Xander Jeanneret]

What do you mean this is not a priority?

[Ivan Van Norman]

It's not the right religion.

[Michelle Wynn Bradley]

They're buried. They're under trees, they'll be under mud. They're buried just as much as anyone.

[Ivan Van Norman]

Else in this godforsaken city.

[Mary Beth Baker]

Guys, this is. I don't know about you, but this is my first time encountering bodies. Usually people just disappear. We were on top of that hill for so long and people just kept leaving, but we. I knew people were dying, but jeez.

[Xander Jeanneret]

I'm going down to the car and I'm just gonna save the dark.

[Ivan Van Norman]

I'm gonna try to stop you.

[Daryl Crittenden]

Okay. Oh, well, I think in this. I haven't had a strong contested roll in a long time.

[Ivan Van Norman]

Oh, no.

[Daryl Crittenden]

But I think in this circumstance, I'm just gonna give you both dice equal to what the current candle or what the current leftover candle situation is, and then we'll go from there. This might not be par for the course on the rule book, so sorry, Steve and Dewey, if I'm messing this up, but it is what I would like to do.

[Ivan Van Norman]

Okay. And we're just doing successes. The ones don't go to you.

[Daryl Crittenden]

The ones don't go to me.

[Ivan Van Norman]

Okay.

[Daryl Crittenden]

Yeah.

[Julia Dennis]

Let me ask you something. Do you say data or data? Well, at my house we say da Ta. Like weird magicians. Can you imagine a. Oh, my God, that would be a nightmare. What is a nightmare is actually thinking that paying a fortune for your monthly data plan is something normal and it's not. And I found that out when I found out about Mint Mobile and their premium wireless plans that start at just 15 bucks a month. All plans come with high speed data or data, your choice. Even though one is wrong. And unlimited talk and Text delivered on the nation's largest 5G network. Use your own phone with any Mint Mobile plan and bring your phone number along with with all your existing contacts. I ditched my overpriced wireless paying over $100 a month for my data plan and now I got three months of premium wireless service for Mint mobile for just $15 a month. No matter how you say it, don't overpay for it. Shop data [e-mail] criticalrole that's mintmobile.com criticalrole upfront payment of $45 for a 3 month 5 gigabyte plan required equivalent to $15 a month new customer offer for first 3 months only, then full price plan options available, taxes and fees extra. See Mint Mobile for details.

[G]

There are many ways to entice a potential new customer with flashy branding and calculated marketing strategies. But at the end of the day, the success of a business comes down to the ability to close the sale. And for businesses like Thrive Cosmetics, Allbirds or Skims, it's what goes on behind the scenes. Making, selling and for shoppers, buying simple that makes the difference for them and for millions of businesses. That difference is made with Shopify. Businesses that want to grow, grow with Shopify. Because if your goal is growth, your commerce platform better be ready to sell wherever your customers are scrolling or strolling. And Shopify will make sure you're ready. On the web, in your store, in their feed, and everywhere in between. Nobody does selling better than Shopify. And with shop pay, they boost conversions up to 50%, meaning way less carts going abandoned and way more sales going. It's no wonder Shopify is home of the number one checkout on the planet. Upgrade your business and get the same checkout Allbirds uses. Sign up for your $1 per month trial period at shopify.com realm all lowercase go to shopify.com realm to upgrade your selling today. That's shopify.com realm.

[Daryl Crittenden]

One success, one six and she failed. Okay, so I actually think I know what's happening. Please. Great. First of all, so as Mary Beth, as you're continuing to come down and Oliver is doing everything he can to stop you, he is, you know, has a little more body mass in you at the moment. And if he's ostensibly denying you this opportunity to do what you think is the right thing in order to bring these people to rest in there. So even though he's physically stopping you, you know, I would like to know what you want to do about it. Other if your option is to not Be able to go to the car. How do you feel?

[Ivan Van Norman]

So, just to give you an image, you've tried to hit me with both your hands. And I've gotten both of your wrists and turned you around so I'm right next to your face as I'm holding you. Constricting. You don't know. You haven't seen a dead body. You don't need to see this. Okay? I'm sparing you.

[Xander Jeanneret]

Your greed is sparing no one. These people have died, and we have stolen from them.

[Ivan Van Norman]

They're dead. They can't. They don't need this stuff. We do.

[Xander Jeanneret]

Well, I have someone that I gotta answer to when this is all over, and I know where I'm going. So you can hold me down, but I am still gonna close my eyes and I'm gonna say a mantra for these people.

[Ivan Van Norman]

I am saving you from seeing these people behind your eyelids every night before you go to sleep.

[Xander Jeanneret]

Well, you're the one who's not gonna be sleeping after this.

[Ivan Van Norman]

See if I care. I'll let her go.

[Daryl Crittenden]

Okay.

[Ivan Van Norman]

Fuck.

[Daryl Crittenden]

So as Oliver kind of storms off and Mary Beth does what she feels like is absolutely her right to do for these people. You take this opportunity to kind of watch as this confrontation goes off. And that is the moment when you start to feel movement below your feet. The ground is sliding ever so slowly beneath you.

[Mary Beth Baker]

Guys, guys, guys, guys, guys. I think. Is this a mudslide? This is a mudslide. I don't know.

[Michelle Wynn Bradley]

We need to go down with it.

[Ivan Van Norman]

You know, what if we get in the car? We got to get in the car.

[Mary Beth Baker]

Oh, God.

[Michelle Wynn Bradley]

We get in the car, then we're trapped in a car.

[Ivan Van Norman]

He protected them.

[Michelle Wynn Bradley]

They were. It won't happen twice. I say we go with the mudslide. You swim it like it's. Like it's the surf.

[Ivan Van Norman]

What?

[Michelle Wynn Bradley]

That's what you do. I saw it on, like, a show once. You swim it like it's the surf.

[Ivan Van Norman]

What?

[Michelle Wynn Bradley]

You swim with the mudslide. You go with it. You swim and stay on top.

[Mary Beth Baker]

No, we're gonna get covered by the mud, and we're gonna suffocate.

[Daryl Crittenden]

It starts to move now a little more.

[Mary Beth Baker]

I jump in the car.

[Xander Jeanneret]

I jump in the car.

[Ivan Van Norman]

I'm gonna follow.

[Michelle Wynn Bradley]

Okay, I'm getting in the car, too.

[Daryl Crittenden]

So you all kind of come together at this point as he has this plan and Elliot launches into it. You all kind of jump into this car. As you start to hear the as just out and pounds and pounds of mud just now start to push and you can hear, actually, before even the mud, you can hear the creaking and the bending of wood as the weight and pressure of this earth is now starting to bend the trees around you. And you can hear the snapping of whatever leftover branches are on these stripped piles of wood as the metal bends ever so slightly from the pressure that's being put onto it. You just see this thing start to slide from the little bit of the shattered window that you can see in front of you. You start to see movement as you just all are just barreling down.

[Michelle Wynn Bradley]

I put on my seatbelt.

[Daryl Crittenden]

I know what you are trying to do, and I appreciate that, which is why I'm letting you roll for the structural integrity of this one window.

[Michelle Wynn Bradley]

Hey, Mary Beth.

[Daryl Crittenden]

No successes, which means we end this. All right, we have nine truths in which to speak about the story moving forward. What is going to happen is we now have an opportunity, now that this scene has ended, we are going to speak nine truths about this story right now. And that can be anything in the context of what is happening right now. It can even flash forward a little bit, or it can be something around the greater story, the context in general. All right, so if you'd like, normally, Elliot, since the conflict failure was on the roll that you made, I would have you speak the first truth as a little bit of a. Here you go. For the benefit of it. But if you would like an example, I am happy to go first.

[Michelle Wynn Bradley]

I could use an example. I kind of get the concept. I just want to make sure.

[Daryl Crittenden]

Absolutely.

[Michelle Wynn Bradley]

In the right tone.

[Daryl Crittenden]

So the first truth. And there is nine of these, because there is nine candles left. The first truth is, of course, the world is dark. All right. But the first truth that we will speak for this is that the mudslide carries you down to the bottom of the mountain. And then we would go to Eve.

[Ivan Van Norman]

Are we doing it, or was that the example?

[Daryl Crittenden]

Well, that's actually a good point.

[Michelle Wynn Bradley]

I'll go ahead. Go ahead, Ellie, go ahead. Sorry. The car fills with mud.

[Daryl Crittenden]

That's it. That's all you need to say. The car fills with mud. That takes you to the bottom of the mountain.

[Mary Beth Baker]

We can now see the bottom of the closest monolith.

[Ivan Van Norman]

The car still runs.

[Daryl Crittenden]

Oh. 1, 2, 3, 4. Mary Beth, hold on.

[Xander Jeanneret]

We can now see the closest monolith.

[Daryl Crittenden]

I've never had anyone write down, you're gonna be writing a lot of truths.

[Michelle Wynn Bradley]

I just wanna make sure I don't forget anything.

[Xander Jeanneret]

Yeah, the car still runs.

[Ivan Van Norman]

And you can piggyback off of anything else. That's been said. Or do something completely off.

[Xander Jeanneret]

I see a boat.

[Daryl Crittenden]

You see a boat. Back to you, Elliot.

[Michelle Wynn Bradley]

We're not alone down here.

[Daryl Crittenden]

Excellent. You have about a foot of mud on top of the car.

[Mary Beth Baker]

There are lights on in the boat.

[Daryl Crittenden]

And I think that leaves you with the last one.

[Ivan Van Norman]

Last one. The child is still alive.

[Michelle Wynn Bradley]

I like to restate. Xander.

[Xander Jeanneret]

Sorry.

[Ivan Van Norman]

It's what came to mind. I was like, that's interesting.

[Daryl Crittenden]

Okay, so we start back with nine dice for this scene. And we. We start inside of the vehicle. You are inside of this suv. And because of the integrity of the window, it broke. And mud did start to pour inside of this vehicle because you were all moving at a certain velocity, going down at God knows what kind of pace you are attached to. The relative spread seemed to mitigate it, just pouring in constantly so it was trickling down. But since you were all moving together so fast, it didn't really start to come on in full until you finally rested and settled. And all of you just scream as you're just riding this cable car of hell down this mountainside with all of the mud around you as you barrel towards. And once everything starts to settle, it's at that moment that you realize that there are not four screams inside of this building, but there are five screams that are coming in here. And one of them is so high pitched and wailing that you are just aghast at what's happening. And you can see the small blanket in the car seat start to wiggle and move. The mud is pouring into the window now at a pretty consistent rate. What do you do?

[Xander Jeanneret]

I immediately go to the baby.

[Daryl Crittenden]

Yeah.

[Xander Jeanneret]

And I take the blanket and I slowly pull it down and I give a hopeful look on my face. And I know that I don't speak the language, but I'm just looking at this child and I'm going, it's okay. It's okay. And I'm looking for bruises, I'm looking for bleeding, I'm looking for any limb of the child that could be broken, for any physical damage to this child.

[Daryl Crittenden]

The child is terrified. And even your comforting face is just not enough to keep it from where it is. And it is ashen gray, but it doesn't seem to be bleeding or anything broken. The car seat, for what it's worth, protected the child very well. It seems to be about 18 months old. And besides being very wet and you can tell that it is soiled, that is all you know.

[Xander Jeanneret]

Okay. So I immediately. I'm not holding the baby. Physical contact, skin to Skin, comfort.

[Daryl Crittenden]

You have it. You have the child as you hold onto it with all of your might.

[Ivan Van Norman]

So as this car has been going down, you two had kind of made your way to the back seats where the people are, and we're up in the front. And I thought that you had gotten into the driver's seat, but it turns out that I'm in the driver's seat because it's fans. And as we're falling down and we hear all this happening, I see the dome light at the top. It sort of flickers on and off, and something is like, wait.

[Daryl Crittenden]

What?

[Ivan Van Norman]

Wait a second. It has battery. So as things are filling up, I try to start the engine. I got this. I'm a truck driver. Ay, ay, ay. Oh, one and a six.

[Daryl Crittenden]

All right, one. One and a six. Yeah. I don't have a dice to roll. So you have full narration rights over this situation.

[Ivan Van Norman]

Okay. So it's just constantly. And finally it starts running. The engine turns over.

[Daryl Crittenden]

Oh, my God.

[Ivan Van Norman]

But I can tell that it's not long for this world. Like, it's full of stuff. So it's barely. Barely running. But I slam my foot on the gas, and it's enough to sort of create this sort of splash of mud and things going past. So we're not going anywhere. But the spinning tires are making sort of, like this path. So the mud has stopped kind of coming in. We're still, like, pretty full up in it.

[Daryl Crittenden]

Yeah. And you can feel it. It seems, especially since the traction of the mud is. Is not great. It's more fishtailing.

[Ivan Van Norman]

Exactly.

[Daryl Crittenden]

Against, you know, force that is in front of it than it is really pushing forward. But you can tell as long as you're keeping that accelerator down and you can see the RPMs are jumping up.

[Ivan Van Norman]

Smoke and stuff.

[Michelle Wynn Bradley]

Yeah, smoke. We're in mud. You need to turn it off. That's going to give us CO2 poisoning.

[Daryl Crittenden]

7.

[Ivan Van Norman]

We're going to get buried if we don't stay afloat somehow. Okay.

[Michelle Wynn Bradley]

Let's just get out of here.

[Ivan Van Norman]

Just hold your breath.

[Daryl Crittenden]

Yeah. So what's the plan?

[Michelle Wynn Bradley]

We gotta get. Look, check the radio, see if there's anything. Then let's get out of the car.

[Xander Jeanneret]

Yes. Check the radio.

[Ivan Van Norman]

Do you wanna do. I'm kinda busy.

[Mary Beth Baker]

All right. I just slam the power button and try to find a station.

[Daryl Crittenden]

Oh, my. All right. You just are hitting seek as things are going through, and precious seconds are happening as you watching the spinning numbers just trail through. And then you make the decision to swap to another. Like FM2. And you watch as the numbers are trailing through. And then you hit it again and you slap it to am. And you watch as the numbers trail through and it stops. And you just hear this vibrant, ethereal, almost bone penetrating hum that just is inside of your body. And you can hear it just. And there's something. Something inside of this humming. And you can hear it. You can hear it, Eve. It's just on the edge of your consciousness. Like, you can tell there are voices somewhere buried deep within that static. And you can't put your finger on it.

[Mary Beth Baker]

Guys, this is not. This is. This is wrong. This is wrong. Get out. Get out. Get out of the car.

[Ivan Van Norman]

Get out. It's a mudslide.

[Mary Beth Baker]

We have to get out of this car. He's right. We have to get out of this car. This is wrong. This is all wrong.

[Ivan Van Norman]

I'll shut it off.

[Daryl Crittenden]

Okay, Shut it off. And you can see that actually for a moment, you were starting to. The mud that was in front of you in the front door. And the baby is still wailing this whole time. But you can see in front of you that the mud is slightly lighter than it is. With the darkness behind you, you aren't far from the top.

[Ivan Van Norman]

Oh, we made it back up.

[Daryl Crittenden]

Not back up. I'm just saying you're not far from the top of the mudslide.

[Ivan Van Norman]

Oh, I thought you meant Mount Kuju.

[Daryl Crittenden]

Oh, no, no, no, no. My bad. No, the truth was that you were at the bottom, yes. But you are not far from the top of the crest of the mudslide.

[Michelle Wynn Bradley]

We can bust through this. Let's go.

[Ivan Van Norman]

Has it settled down?

[Daryl Crittenden]

Yeah, the mud has started to settle. There's still mud oozing in, but not at like a. Because it's extremely viscous.

[Michelle Wynn Bradley]

And the more that it oozes, the longer that it's gonna take to get out, the more calories we burn, the harder it is. Let's go. Let's dig out. You're first. You're in the front seat.

[Daryl Crittenden]

Okay.

[Ivan Van Norman]

Okay.

[Daryl Crittenden]

Climb out. Yeah. Climb out. Climb out. Climb out of that mud. First. Out.

[Ivan Van Norman]

No successes in two ones. I gotta. I hate this mud. I hate getting dirty.

[Michelle Wynn Bradley]

Dang it.

[Daryl Crittenden]

Take your one, two ones.

[Michelle Wynn Bradley]

Two ones again.

[Daryl Crittenden]

No.

[Ivan Van Norman]

Ow. Oh, no.

[Michelle Wynn Bradley]

Oliver. Cash.

[Xander Jeanneret]

Oh, you're so. You're so evil right now. What is happening in your eyes right now?

[Ivan Van Norman]

Just.

[Daryl Crittenden]

The scene has ended. So.

[Ivan Van Norman]

So no successes in.

[Daryl Crittenden]

No successes.

[Ivan Van Norman]

Oh, God.

[Mary Beth Baker]

Oh.

[Daryl Crittenden]

Already the scene ends. I did not expect that.

[Michelle Wynn Bradley]

Wow.

[Daryl Crittenden]

Let's speak some truths about what has transpired. We have eight now in which to work with.

[Ivan Van Norman]

And we can move forward in the story too. So we can say along the lines of like, we got out fine and we're now. You can if you want. Or we could live this moment too.

[Daryl Crittenden]

You could live this moment too.

[Michelle Wynn Bradley]

I believe you start. Since you screwed the pooch.

[Ivan Van Norman]

That's right.

[Daryl Crittenden]

It is. It is yours now, Oliver.

[Ivan Van Norman]

Okay. We. Mm. Mm. Okay. We know these things to be true. The world is dark.

[Daryl Crittenden]

The world is dark. Yes. Thank you.

[Ivan Van Norman]

And the baby is fine.

[Daryl Crittenden]

The baby is fine. Right. Mary Beth, you get to begin the next truth.

[Xander Jeanneret]

When everything was going on in the boat. I mean, in the car, before we got out of it, I was just looking towards the boat and I saw shadows.

[Daryl Crittenden]

So there are shadows outside of the mudslide?

[Xander Jeanneret]

Yeah, on the boat.

[Daryl Crittenden]

We'll keep there.

[Michelle Wynn Bradley]

On the boat.

[Xander Jeanneret]

On the boat.

[Michelle Wynn Bradley]

Shadows on the boat.

[Daryl Crittenden]

We'll keep there. Yes, Elliot.

[Michelle Wynn Bradley]

We find a little. Let's call it a cave.

[Daryl Crittenden]

Yes, you find a cave. So are we. I'd like to establish that if you want to get out of this mudslide. In order to find a cave, a truth will have to be speaking. Cause otherwise, we've ended the scene with Oliver attempting to climb out from the car at this moment.

[Michelle Wynn Bradley]

We get out of the car.

[Daryl Crittenden]

Okay. We already established that you're at the base of the monolith.

[Michelle Wynn Bradley]

Mm.

[Daryl Crittenden]

We've discussed that. The shadows are them.

[Michelle Wynn Bradley]

Eve, how does their shadows.

[Mary Beth Baker]

We. After exiting the car, we've set up a small camp away from the boat. Because we're not sure what's in the deck.

[Daryl Crittenden]

Okay. So I'm sorry. That was a small camp.

[Michelle Wynn Bradley]

We have 1, 2, 3, 4, 5.

[Daryl Crittenden]

Yes.

[Ivan Van Norman]

The boat is close enough to swim to.

[Daryl Crittenden]

Right? Swimming mud.

[Michelle Wynn Bradley]

Wade.

[Daryl Crittenden]

All right. And I believe we are at seven.

[Xander Jeanneret]

Six.

[Michelle Wynn Bradley]

Yes, this will be seven.

[Daryl Crittenden]

I know.

[Xander Jeanneret]

I just want to say, like.

[Daryl Crittenden]

What?

[Xander Jeanneret]

I'm so scared. Can I. Can I say I found a machine.

[Mary Beth Baker]

Gun.

[Xander Jeanneret]

Or like a bomb or like a. Or like a thing that grenade. Can I say I found a grenade. I found a grenade.

[Daryl Crittenden]

You found a grenade?

[Xander Jeanneret]

I'm not holding it, though, because I'm having a baby. No, it's not both.

[Daryl Crittenden]

The tenacity, the desire to have that I. Duly noted. Thank you.

[Xander Jeanneret]

I found one grenade.

[Daryl Crittenden]

And you get the last one.

[Michelle Wynn Bradley]

Elliot, only Mary Beth and I know about the grenade.

[Xander Jeanneret]

I love that.

[Michelle Wynn Bradley]

Not having. And then blow it up.

[Ivan Van Norman]

I would never.

[Daryl Crittenden]

Alright.

[Mary Beth Baker]

Yeah.

[Daryl Crittenden]

Well, that leaves us in our next scene, which I think it's appropriate to say that the little camp that you have set up is Actually directly on top of the vehicle. So you've managed to at least climb up and the car has settled and is a stable enough structure that the roof that you. Both the trunk, the roof and the hood are kind of unstable enough that you can sit there and rest and absorb basically what has happened. Because everything you've attempted to walk to, in and around. If we're talking about the boat being within swimming distance, this mud is like quicksand. As soon as you step into it, just starts immediately absorbing you. And it took a couple of strong hands to pull up whoever was first to make that venture into the space. And the monolith is within throwing distance of where you are right now.

[Ivan Van Norman]

What does the material look like that we can see that it's.

[Daryl Crittenden]

Since it's within throwing distance, you're looking at it. It is. Is almost like chiseled onyx. It is a hard line making each one of its. And there is no windows, no doors, nothing that you can see. You can't tell how much of the monolith is buried under the mud at this moment, since with your dark vision, you basically just see enough of it before it is. Is lost into darkness above you. But I don't think anyone has been this close to one before. Good night.

[Mary Beth Baker]

Since we've gotten out of the car, I've made my camp. Little area on the hood of the car. And I've been staring at the monolith this entire time. We've been there for maybe an hour or so, maybe. And I can see the monolith within the throne distance. So I just kind of dangle my arms off the side of the car, grabbing debris, just trying to throw it at the mud.

[Daryl Crittenden]

You watch small arcs of dissipating goo just flop into the mud around it. And it's. I have to say, the picture that I'm painting in my head of this lazy chucking is quite a contrast to Mary Beth sitting with this crying baby on her shoulder at the moment.

[Ivan Van Norman]

And I'm with you. Hey, I don't have anything against you, all right? I thought I was protecting you. And I'm sorry for what just happened. I just want you to know that.

[Daryl Crittenden]

Are you admitting your feelings right now?

[Ivan Van Norman]

Maybe not quite.

[Daryl Crittenden]

Okay.

[Xander Jeanneret]

It's okay.

[Ivan Van Norman]

Yeah.

[Xander Jeanneret]

It's all right. We found life where we thought there was death. You and I have no quarrel.

[Michelle Wynn Bradley]

And we buried the mom. So kudos to us. We need to come up with a plan. We can't just sit here and hope that something's gonna work out. There's Something happening on that boat. I'm not comfortable with it. I don't want to be this close to the monolith. I want to get off this car. I'm going to figure out a way.

[Ivan Van Norman]

A way to what?

[Michelle Wynn Bradley]

To get out of here.

[Ivan Van Norman]

To where?

[Michelle Wynn Bradley]

It doesn't. This is nowhere. Let's go nowhere. Somewhere else. Somewhere away from the monolith.

[Ivan Van Norman]

We should hike back up. We should take over a stronghold and. And keep there.

[Michelle Wynn Bradley]

Oliver.

[Ivan Van Norman]

Yeah? Look, I know, okay? I know.

[Michelle Wynn Bradley]

Think. How many calories would it take to get up there?

[Ivan Van Norman]

It doesn't. Who cares?

[Michelle Wynn Bradley]

I care. Because we only have about 2 and 2,3000 calories between all of us to share. That would get maybe one of us about halfway up there. Going up is a fool's dream.

[Ivan Van Norman]

Listen, we're not gas tanks, alright? We can go. We have persistence. We have willpower, Okay? I don't need carbs.

[Mary Beth Baker]

Do you all even know what this thing is? This monolith thing? Do you all even know why. Why this is happening?

[Ivan Van Norman]

It's the cause of all our fucking problems.

[Mary Beth Baker]

Maybe this is just how it's gonna go, guys. I don't know. I don't. How are we supposed to get out of here? And if we get out of here, like you said, there's maybe there's nothing else out there. I mean, we're the last four people left on this stupid planet. What's the point of going anywhere? We should just.

[Ivan Van Norman]

Just what?

[Mary Beth Baker]

Why are we running away from this thing? It's gonna kill us anyway. Should we figure out what it is?

[Michelle Wynn Bradley]

There's five of us.

[Xander Jeanneret]

There's five of us.

[Michelle Wynn Bradley]

And you're more than welcome to stay here. I'm gonna take the food I got out of the car and I'm gonna take myself and figure out a way off this car.

[Xander Jeanneret]

I think we need to leave. We've been seen. There's things moving around here and I don't feel safe.

[Michelle Wynn Bradley]

She finally makes sense.

[Xander Jeanneret]

And y'all need to keep your voice is down when you're having an argument.

[Daryl Crittenden]

Fine.

[Mary Beth Baker]

Don't you think those things can see us? We're sitting on top of this car in plain view of the big black thingy and the boat full of scary thingies. And there's.

[Ivan Van Norman]

You wanna go look? You wanna go see what's there?

[Mary Beth Baker]

They can already see us.

[Xander Jeanneret]

Well, I don't wanna stay in a mousetrap, okay? So let's go.

[Michelle Wynn Bradley]

So I have an idea. I want to look in the car and see if there is like a cover for the tailgate. Area and see if that's something I can spread out and disperse my weight, and we can maybe, like, hopscotch it or leapfrog it from one piece to the next so we can disperse our weight.

[Daryl Crittenden]

So, like.

[Michelle Wynn Bradley]

Cardboard car seat. Pull the chairs out.

[Daryl Crittenden]

Yeah.

[Michelle Wynn Bradley]

I get you something to spread around. Lily pad. That's the word I was looking for. Thank you.

[Daryl Crittenden]

So I think I can tell you with confidence that the. At the very, very least, the protective floor mats that would usually be on all of the seats that are kind of laid out in order for you to pull out, and then spray it down with a hose and put it back in. Shiny and new, Right? These are all in the car. And that will give at least two people the snowshoe kind of traction that I think you're looking for.

[Michelle Wynn Bradley]

Great. I think Oliver and I should go get closer to the boat. See what those shadows are. I know we think it's them, but we also thought there were two dead beings in the car. We've been wrong before. Let's get close. You don't want to go anywhere, so you get your wish. You're babysitting, so.

[Ivan Van Norman]

Oliver, what if I want to babysit? Why don't you fucking go?

[Xander Jeanneret]

That's fine.

[Michelle Wynn Bradley]

Well, there's a nurturer, and then there's what you are.

[Ivan Van Norman]

You don't know me, buddy. You don't know what I'm capable of. All right? I don't get a chance to have that anymore. Okay.

[Michelle Wynn Bradley]

Okay.

[Ivan Van Norman]

Because of this. Cause the world is over, and I.

[Michelle Wynn Bradley]

Am super sorry for that. The baby's already kind of bonded. I think it's gonna be less crying, less attention if we leave the baby still. You and I can go. You can yell at me the whole way over there. You can tell me what a piece of shit I am every step of the way.

[Ivan Van Norman]

You already know it. Then it doesn't have any bearing.

[Michelle Wynn Bradley]

I look forward to this.

[Daryl Crittenden]

Let's hopscotch.

[Michelle Wynn Bradley]

Come on. Sixes.

[Daryl Crittenden]

Yeah, two sixes. No ones.

[Ivan Van Norman]

Oh, finally.

[Michelle Wynn Bradley]

So we. I narrate.

[Daryl Crittenden]

Yeah, Elliot, by all means, we successfully.

[Michelle Wynn Bradley]

Hopscotch our way about ten yards out. Yeah, from. From the boat. And I say we post up here and observe. Are you good with that?

[Daryl Crittenden]

Yeah.

[Ivan Van Norman]

I can't see anything, though.

[Michelle Wynn Bradley]

Well, I can't see anything either. But there's lights on in there. Let's just wait and just see.

[Daryl Crittenden]

So you can. As you sit and stand on this stable patch of ground, you've collected your mud flaps to be able to do your movement the way you need. You look out and. And you can see this tiny glisten of light that is coming from this boat, this tiny emanation. And it seems like almost a halo of just safety. It's just. There's something so secure about seeing electric light that's still coming from anything. And as you look into it, the dancing light between your night vision and what that candle is able to give you is you can see there is movement in the mud. Something is swimming around the boat. And it seems every once in a while, you'll watch as something crests out for a moment, as if it's making some kind of dive. And then it will come up. And it's just the sound that it makes as it moves into this mud is like a mix of just vacuumous popping as it just comes up and down. And as it pops, it's one of its bubbles, and then just this slick, as if someone's just taking a piece of steel wool and just rubbing it up against a dish. Just this grating sound. And it's impossible to tell what exactly it is, just that they seem to be not. They seem to be attracted to the boat, but are not going on the boat.

[Ivan Van Norman]

I didn't know they could swim in mud.

[Michelle Wynn Bradley]

I didn't know anything could swim in mud. I didn't know this could happen. I didn't know monoliths could shoot on the ground.

[Daryl Crittenden]

Eve, how are we feeling right now? Are we still just enjoying a little flick session?

[Mary Beth Baker]

I've.

[Daryl Crittenden]

Are we having deeper thoughts right now?

[Mary Beth Baker]

After arguing with everyone and hearing about how they stole into to survive, it made me feel confused. I go over to. After the two have left, I've gone over to Marybeth. So. Marybeth, I know you're super into, like, Jesus or something. Do you? How do you. You seem like you really, really, really believe in it, but this is something that this is real for you.

[Xander Jeanneret]

Absolutely.

[Mary Beth Baker]

How do you. How do you talk to your gods? What do they sound like?

[Xander Jeanneret]

It's like a stillness in your heart. It's a calming breath every time, in and out. There is a purpose for us. Don't you see that? We've been chosen, we've been saved, and we found life here.

[Mary Beth Baker]

I only see that we had very strange luck. And the voice that I've heard, what.

[Xander Jeanneret]

You think is luck, I think is faith. You understand?

[Mary Beth Baker]

It doesn't feel super good, this fate of yours.

[Xander Jeanneret]

You know what didn't feel good? When God gave his only son. That didn't feel good. Okay. But there are reason for that. That's why we are here. Do you want to pray?

[Mary Beth Baker]

No, I want you to listen to something. I go down into the car, I turn the key just to the electrical. And I want to play that sound for her to see if she can hear it too.

[Xander Jeanneret]

All right?

[Daryl Crittenden]

And you play the tone. And it is the static that I described earlier as coming into it. And not much has changed E from what I tell you about just that edge of consciousness. There just seems to be something. Maybe it's your imagination, maybe it's something there, but there is something. And it's not static like you would expect, because static would just skip over it in this. But there is a signal and it is a hum. And it is perfect. It is just like a harmony that is resonating. And for you it feels a bit abrasive. Just feels. It's uncomfortable, you know, there's some familiarity to it, but it is uncomfortable. And then Eve for you, it just is. It's alluring. It's hard to put your finger on it.

[Xander Jeanneret]

Turn it off.

[Mary Beth Baker]

Can't you feel something wrong?

[Xander Jeanneret]

Turn it off. Turn it off.

[Mary Beth Baker]

About this. No, listen. I try to turn it higher. Listen, this is. I think this is them. I think this is whatever is trying to destroy our world or already has. Maybe they're can communicate. Maybe we should be communicating.

[Xander Jeanneret]

You want to communicate with that?

[Mary Beth Baker]

Well, running away is doing. What are you going to do?

[Xander Jeanneret]

You going to hum? What are you going to do? I'm not communicating with that.

[Daryl Crittenden]

It starts to get to the point of where the battery dies, by the way. And the humming cuts out immediately. And you are back into the stillness. You cranked it so loud that you made the baby start to cry again. But it's stops abruptly and you are both left in the silence on top of the vehicle. When you cranked it up for that moment, that moment in which you lifted it up, you too could hear it from the 10 yards away that you were there. You definitely look back and you look back to hear this loud humming and their risen voices. Now the baby is starting to cry and. And you also see that what was swimming around the boat at the moment, you feel as something just. And you watch as something tall. But it's just a shape, a single shadow just lifts itself up out of the mud before it just slides back down into the muck again. And for a moment, as you look at it, there was something fucking human about it. Like it had. Like it was. Like it just heard something and it just starts diving into the muck. And the other one that you Felt was flying around if there was another one. Just other shapes that are there. They just dive under the mud and seem to disappear away from the boat's general direction.

[Michelle Wynn Bradley]

Let's get on the boat.

[Daryl Crittenden]

What? We gotta get back.

[Ivan Van Norman]

What are they doing?

[Michelle Wynn Bradley]

Who cares? Let's get on the boat. We can go back for them after we see what's on the boat.

[Ivan Van Norman]

Are you sure?

[Michelle Wynn Bradley]

They're fine. They're on the hood of the car. Nothing's gonna happen so loud though. They're gonna be loud here on the boat. What would you rather have them distracting? Whatever. Fish man.

[Ivan Van Norman]

Fine, fine, fine, fine.

[Michelle Wynn Bradley]

Let's go.

[Daryl Crittenden]

You know you. Scotland. Tim. Hip hop already. Skip, skip.

[Michelle Wynn Bradley]

I don't want the response to get on the boat.

[Ivan Van Norman]

One six, no ones.

[Daryl Crittenden]

There you go.

[Ivan Van Norman]

I am nimble as fuck.

[Daryl Crittenden]

Yeah. Why don't you narrate to me how you get onto this boat?

[Ivan Van Norman]

So we're having this argument and we're still relatively far away from the boat, but we're on these pads and we're starting to tug on them a little bit because this is like part of the process that we had figured out. And my foot sort of slips off of the pad and finds solid ground, which is unexpected because we saw them sort of dipping in and out, but the whole path is totally solid. And so I just take off towards.

[Daryl Crittenden]

The boat and just find solid rock the entire way there. And you hop straight into the boat. Yeah.

[Ivan Van Norman]

Like vault the railing.

[Daryl Crittenden]

Yeah. And you get in there and if this was another world and another place, you. It's actually so pristine and nice. I mean, there were still pools of water from it being carried out with what it is. But you could be fishing outside of Santa Monica Pier at this point. It's torn up, Everything's soaking wet. But it is a boat and the light is on and there's a door.

[Michelle Wynn Bradley]

So after you. Let's open the door and go inside the cabin.

[Ivan Van Norman]

Fine.

[Michelle Wynn Bradley]

After me.

[Daryl Crittenden]

And Mary Beth. After this silence confronted and you now hear the baby continuing to wail. You watch as whatever you can 10 yards away is still probably within your darkvision to be able to see both of them just take off for the boat and what's going on in your minds right now? I'm sorry, I did not mean to interrupt this discussion you two are having. But are you still feeling it at this point or have you relented even?

[Xander Jeanneret]

I have a question. Did we see those things? No. We are unprivy to that.

[Daryl Crittenden]

Unprivy to that information. It's for the best.

[Mary Beth Baker]

I Have made up my mind about figuring out if the thing that's destroying us is sentient or figuring out what it is. I've made some sort of mental decision about that. I haven't said anything, though. And. Mary Beth, what are we gonna do with this baby? I mean, how are we gonna keep it alive? How are we gonna keep any of us alive? What are you planning to do with it?

[Xander Jeanneret]

Whatever it takes. Whatever it takes. Like we've been doing. We've made it this far. Look around you. You see anybody else? We've made it this far. We gonna make it a little bit farther.

[Mary Beth Baker]

To where?

[Daryl Crittenden]

To.

[Xander Jeanneret]

To where we create. This can't just be all it is.

[Mary Beth Baker]

I think. I think we need to find out what is still here to even enjoy in this world anymore. It looks like there's nothing left. Just this boat and this weird monolith.

[Xander Jeanneret]

Oh, my God. Eve, listen. I don't have time right now to comfort you and comfort this child, okay? I'm sorry. I don't have the energy for it. I'm hungry. I'm cold. I want the two men to get back. I want to figure out what's our next step. But I want to sit here and have 40 in conversation with you. I'm sorry. I know it's not polite.

[Daryl Crittenden]

And at this point is when you start to at least feel more than see a displacement of mud as it slightly rocks the car that you are on at the moment.

[Xander Jeanneret]

Are you seeing that?

[Mary Beth Baker]

I think it's moving. I think it's moving. I think the mud's moving again.

[Xander Jeanneret]

What are we gonna do? Do we get back in the car?

[Mary Beth Baker]

I think. Get out.

[Xander Jeanneret]

Get out of the car. Get out of the car.

[Daryl Crittenden]

Are you going?

[Xander Jeanneret]

There are things swimming outside of the car.

[Mary Beth Baker]

I wanna see if I can find the spare tire in the car. Usually it's either in the trunk under the thing, or it's attached to the outside of the back of the car.

[Daryl Crittenden]

Yeah.

[Mary Beth Baker]

To detach it. So it's a little floaty for us to sit on and get out of there.

[Ivan Van Norman]

Tubing.

[Daryl Crittenden]

Put an actual spare tire on there. Okay. I don't think that's too difficult. So you dive back basically into the car in order to go and get this thing at that moment. Actually. Just give me a second to think.

[Xander Jeanneret]

I would also just like to say I've taken my coat off and I'm tying the baby around. Like. Yeah. But hard. Right. So if I have to jump, this kid is secure and I can use my limbs.

[Daryl Crittenden]

That's good. Give me just A second. This is important. Okay. Eve you back and dive into this car in order to basically rummage this last piece of tire that's in front of you as you hold onto and grab it and you start hauling it up. In the meantime, Mary Beth, as you're securing this child with every ounce of effort that you possibly can, you see something. Something. A light coming from the monolith. Some sliver of pure, iridescent, almost blinding light just opens as you see it first from your peripheral vision. But as you focus upon it, focusing upon it makes it bigger to where it almost seems to be a doorway leading straight into the structure itself. And this. This is the thing you notice as a large, semi sectional, nature lifts itself up out of the mud with tiny tentacles coming out of each of its side. And you see a long, open row of teeth that is glistening as it stares at you.

[Xander Jeanneret]

Yeah. And you want to know what I do?

[Daryl Crittenden]

What do you do?

[Xander Jeanneret]

I hit a high. I hit a high C so loud that it hurts this thing's ears. And I have my fingers over the baby's ears and I am wailing. That's what I'm doing.

[Ivan Van Norman]

Black Canary.

[Xander Jeanneret]

Oh, you know what I see? Two sixes. Good luck. Oh, no.

[Michelle Wynn Bradley]

Did you.

[Xander Jeanneret]

You feel. Yeah, its ears are bleeding and it gets back into the ground.

[Daryl Crittenden]

So you hit a note that is so almost above human hearing that you can possibly strike. And as this thing gleams and looks down upon you, you watch as it kind of just starts to just rock back and forth as it just something about the tone that you have hit. And as it's wailing and as it's moving, the radio turns back on and that humming just starts to radiate across everywhere again. And you feel this thing dive back down into the mud, and you feel like for whatever had happened, whatever the moment it was, that perfect combination of those two things seem to have driven it for the moment, but not before its flails slap the side of the car as it makes its escape away from you and sends you toppling into the mud.

[Xander Jeanneret]

Okay.

[Daryl Crittenden]

I'm glad you approve.

[Michelle Wynn Bradley]

See how this is going mean back on the ranch?

[Ivan Van Norman]

Yeah.

[Daryl Crittenden]

Yeah. All right.

[Ivan Van Norman]

So the boat has been pretty much picked clean at this point.

[Daryl Crittenden]

It's been picked clean not necessarily because someone has completely looted it, but also.

[Michelle Wynn Bradley]

Because the ocean looted it.

[Ivan Van Norman]

Right.

[Daryl Crittenden]

So there is some waterlogged life vests and some water protected materials that you could look for inside of that are in the seats potentially. But as far as what is out for view, it is stripped.

[Michelle Wynn Bradley]

I want to find a pair of water skis.

[Daryl Crittenden]

Yeah.

[Michelle Wynn Bradley]

I don't find a bear one.

[Daryl Crittenden]

Thank you.

[Michelle Wynn Bradley]

That was hurtful.

[Mary Beth Baker]

Oh.

[Ivan Van Norman]

Oh, no. Success.

[Daryl Crittenden]

Before we establish the truth, I would like to point out that Mary Beth creating this distraction or deterrent was probably more accurate as whatever was in this mud has slid away from the car, is now barreling straight towards the boat, and it has no discernible desire to try to go around it. And that is the truth that I would like to speak after, of course, saying. The world is dark. Elliot.

[Michelle Wynn Bradley]

Seven this time, Correct?

[Daryl Crittenden]

Seven.

[Ivan Van Norman]

And we can be anywhere in time. Like that time or forward.

[Xander Jeanneret]

Oh, yeah.

[Ivan Van Norman]

Just letting me know.

[Xander Jeanneret]

Question.

[Daryl Crittenden]

Yes.

[Xander Jeanneret]

The truth that I'm gonna say can involve their world because I don't know their world.

[Daryl Crittenden]

You can involve their world. Yes, absolutely. So I just. I remind you that I know that you gave yourself weaponry in the last time you did this. Truth. I just want to remind you that ten candles is not a game that you can win. Just a reminder. So.

[Xander Jeanneret]

Okay.

[Mary Beth Baker]

Okay.

[Xander Jeanneret]

Like you think that.

[Daryl Crittenden]

But yes. Elliot, will you start off sloth.

[Michelle Wynn Bradley]

Boy? I'm disheartened. I. I'm able to find some. Find some baby food.

[Daryl Crittenden]

Cool. Great. I already spoke mine.

[Mary Beth Baker]

We, Marybeth and I have safely escaped the car on two tires that we found. And we're just kind of pedaling our way towards the guys.

[Xander Jeanneret]

Yes.

[Daryl Crittenden]

Great. Around the tires.

[Ivan Van Norman]

After reuniting, I secretly kill the baby.

[Xander Jeanneret]

What?

[Ivan Van Norman]

But only one of you knows that I did that.

[Daryl Crittenden]

All right.

[Michelle Wynn Bradley]

Yeah.

[Xander Jeanneret]

Seriously, why would you, like, even do that?

[Ivan Van Norman]

We'll talk about it later. If you ever find out that I did that. That's horrible.

[Daryl Crittenden]

I know. Well, you're up next, Mary Beth, with your truth.

[Xander Jeanneret]

Um, we make it into the cave.

[Daryl Crittenden]

You make it into a cave?

[Xander Jeanneret]

Cave into a cave.

[Daryl Crittenden]

Yeah. Yes, absolutely.

[Michelle Wynn Bradley]

We're able to find starter fire. This is the last one to you?

[Daryl Crittenden]

I think so.

[Michelle Wynn Bradley]

Oh, yay.

[Daryl Crittenden]

That light, only you can see it.

[Ivan Van Norman]

The light in the monolith.

[Daryl Crittenden]

Yes.

[Michelle Wynn Bradley]

I have a quick question. Who knows what you did? Do we establish that in the spot?

[Ivan Van Norman]

Eve knows.

[Xander Jeanneret]

Okay, so I'm just holding a dead baby?

[Ivan Van Norman]

No, no, no. I had gotten it away from you at some point to hold it and did it in secret.

[Michelle Wynn Bradley]

And it died.

[Xander Jeanneret]

But the baby has died. We are aware it died. We just don't know that you killed it.

[Ivan Van Norman]

Yeah.

[Mary Beth Baker]

You think it just, like, died of natural causes? I guess.

[Ivan Van Norman]

Yeah. It's a suffocated it.

[Daryl Crittenden]

So we pick the scene back up with now seven candles inside of the cave. At this point, Marybeth and Elliot, you are aware that the child has succumbed and is no longer breathing, as you are aware of the small aura of light that you have generated as part of this campfire that you have in a small overhang that is basically generated. It's not so much a natural cave formation as it is a spill off of ruins from the city that have managed to block the mud enough that you can. Well, you're basically standing on the ruinous floors of probably an upper rise condo at this stage that is completely surrounded by the spill off from Mount Fuji. Marybeth, where are you in this cave right now, this makeshift hovel that has a small amount of light?

[Xander Jeanneret]

I'm not in the cave. I'm so upset that we lost this child, and I just don't want to do anything.

[Daryl Crittenden]

So you're just standing outside of the entrance?

[Xander Jeanneret]

Yeah, I'm lost in this moment, Elliot.

[Michelle Wynn Bradley]

I'm eating baby food.

[Mary Beth Baker]

Eve, I'm trying to make way into the condo to see if I can find anything, any supplies or people or anything at all.

[Ivan Van Norman]

I'm helping. I gotta keep focused.

[Daryl Crittenden]

So you two are scrounging through whatever you can, continuing to look through. And it is quiet. This moment that you all shared on the car, it seems almost surreal, the only remnant being what has now been lost. And it's just surreal that just so short of a time ago, you were back up on this hotel on the top of Mount Fuji, and everything could have been normal. And now you're at the base of this muddy ruin, and Oliver and Eve, you continue to look. Is there anything specific you'd like to find? Or is it just food and gear and things?

[Mary Beth Baker]

I am looking for survival gear. So something like. Or I guess, kind of aquatic gear. So not water skis, but maybe you'd.

[Daryl Crittenden]

Like something to help you navigate the mud.

[Mary Beth Baker]

Yes. Yeah.

[Daryl Crittenden]

Because you did have a boat, and now the boat is gone.

[Mary Beth Baker]

Yeah.

[Daryl Crittenden]

But if you'd like just something that will help you in the mud, go ahead. Okay. Two ones. No successes.

[Ivan Van Norman]

Oh, no.

[Daryl Crittenden]

Are you gonna burn something?

[Ivan Van Norman]

Oh, yeah.

[Mary Beth Baker]

Yes, yes, yes, yes.

[Daryl Crittenden]

All right, let's take your virtue and let's have you roll it.

[Ivan Van Norman]

Please, please, please, please. Otherwise, the chapter is over.

[Michelle Wynn Bradley]

Please.

[Mary Beth Baker]

I know.

[Ivan Van Norman]

They add up to six.

[Michelle Wynn Bradley]

Sorry.

[Daryl Crittenden]

No successes. I still would like to hear an act of selflessness that's in this process. Even if this thing has completely failed, and it has. In fact, this is more a somber moment in time, this scene that we've established, than anything else. I still want to hear some kind of selflessness come from Eve.

[Mary Beth Baker]

Oliver and I have been down digging through the inside of the condo, sort of wordlessly. I know he. I know we don't really get along, but now that the baby is gone, I feel like having less of us is worse than anything else I felt so far. We're digging through, I find a door. Looks like a closet door. So I figure there might be supplies in it. I can't open it, so I make Oliver go do it.

[Ivan Van Norman]

Yeah. Yeah. I jump at the chance.

[Mary Beth Baker]

As he's opening it, he's standing on the wrong side of the door, and just a bunch of metal and boxes and debris because there's a hole in the ceiling from somewhere else just start to pour out. I think about saving him, and I just push him out of the way. But by doing that, I get caught. You get caught, I get stuck.

[Daryl Crittenden]

All right. And it falls on you instead.

[Mary Beth Baker]

Yeah.

[Daryl Crittenden]

Okay. I think that is a great way to pick up. As we end this scene, we are now down to six dice.

[Michelle Wynn Bradley]

Six truths.

[Daryl Crittenden]

Six. Six truths, six candles and Eve. We get to start with you. I'm perfectly okay, by the way, that being your truth. If you'd like it otherwise, you're welcome to speak a new one.

[Mary Beth Baker]

I think a new one is that we make it back out of the condo. Except I. I can't use my left arm anymore.

[Daryl Crittenden]

So you've broken your arm.

[Mary Beth Baker]

Here's broken.

[Daryl Crittenden]

So your truth is your arm is broken?

[Mary Beth Baker]

Yep.

[Ivan Van Norman]

The truth is that I managed to make a hasty sling for you, so you're able to. You did that for me, right?

[Xander Jeanneret]

Mary Beth, I saw the light go back on.

[Daryl Crittenden]

Right. You can see it from the monolith.

[Xander Jeanneret]

Wait, was it flickering? Or it went on and then it ended? Or. It's just. It's been on this whole time.

[Daryl Crittenden]

Oh, it's been on this whole time.

[Xander Jeanneret]

Oh, okay.

[Daryl Crittenden]

Yeah.

[Xander Jeanneret]

Then, no, that doesn't work.

[Daryl Crittenden]

If that is something you'd like to truth though, we can. I'm perfectly happy having it come off. For the time in which, presumably in the story, it took you to get away from the monolith. But as you were sitting, grieving, mourning, and you looked at it, you watched it come back back on.

[Xander Jeanneret]

Yeah, that's what I want.

[Daryl Crittenden]

I think that's fine. Elliot.

[Michelle Wynn Bradley]

I've managed to find a large bag full of other plastic bags.

[Daryl Crittenden]

You found a bag of bags? I have that in my closet. Bag of bags.

[Xander Jeanneret]

This episode is brought to you by Pluto tv. Pluto TV has all the shows and movies you love streaming for free. That means left mysterious free with gut.

[Daryl Crittenden]

Busting comedies like the Neighborhood Key and.

[Ivan Van Norman]

Peele and Ferris Bueller's Day Off.

[Xander Jeanneret]

Mystery is free with countless cases to.

[Daryl Crittenden]

Crack from Criminal Minds Tracker and Matlock.

[Xander Jeanneret]

And thrills are free with heart pumping.

[Ivan Van Norman]

Hits like the Walking Dead and Defiance.

[Xander Jeanneret]

Feel the free Pluto TV stream now pay never.

[Daryl Crittenden]

More rewards, more savings with American Express Business Gold.

[Julia Dennis]

Earn up to $395 back in annual statement credits on eligible purchases at select shipping, food delivery and retail subscription merchants, including the $155 Walmart plus monthly membership credit and $240 flexible business credit. Enjoy the benefits of membership with the Amex Business Gold Card. Terms apply. Learn [e-mail] Business Gold AmEx Business Gold Card. Built for business by American Express.

[Daryl Crittenden]

You're out of wood. Last one.

[Mary Beth Baker]

We've had a funeral for the baby.

[Daryl Crittenden]

Okay, so we pick the scene back up after this moment in which Eve. In fact, I would say probably we pick this scene back up as the funeral of the baby has ended and Eve is sitting with this sling over her arm. And the decaying embers of the fire that you've been holding onto are slowly starting to flicker out. And the sun should have risen by now. It's been well, more than 12 hours. But as you look out from the last vantage point you can see, it just seems like if the moon is just ever present in the sky, it's almost like it's leering at you, this pock marked thing that while providing you light, just. It's that uncomfortable distance when someone gets too close to you and you just want them to take a step back. It feels revolting. What do you want to do?

[Ivan Van Norman]

Mary Beth, can I talk to you for a moment?

[Xander Jeanneret]

Mm.

[Ivan Van Norman]

And this is right after the funeral and everything? I'll take you aside. I know that. I know I come across as sort of, I don't know, unfriendly. And I don't know if you can sort of do this, but I know that you're being religious and all. Can you forgive people?

[Xander Jeanneret]

I can't forgive people. But God can forgive people. And all you have to do is ask. It's as simple as that.

[Ivan Van Norman]

I'm asking you, could you forgive people?

[Xander Jeanneret]

What have you done?

[Ivan Van Norman]

It's been a. I'm a truck driver. Okay. I mean, the only love that I find is with the guys at truck stops. You don't even know their names. But I'm not a bad person.

[Xander Jeanneret]

Of course you're not. That's fine. We all find love and human touch.

[Ivan Van Norman]

And I Killed the baby. I had to. Okay. You're not gonna do it.

[Daryl Crittenden]

They're not talking.

[Ivan Van Norman]

I had to.

[Xander Jeanneret]

Get away from me. Get away from me.

[Ivan Van Norman]

What chance did it have? Elliot, Eve?

[Daryl Crittenden]

You hear her just crying out?

[Ivan Van Norman]

I share my emotions.

[Daryl Crittenden]

Do you find hope?

[Ivan Van Norman]

I guess. Speaking them out loud. I guess I'm trying to find some sort of salvation.

[Xander Jeanneret]

No. We're about to have a witch trial.

[Michelle Wynn Bradley]

Okay?

[Daryl Crittenden]

Yeah. Elliot, Eve, you run towards Marybeth, who is screaming for both of you right now at the entrance of this makeshift home that you've done. The darkness now everywhere. Only shed by whatever moonlight is left.

[Mary Beth Baker]

What's happening? What's all the screaming about?

[Xander Jeanneret]

He needs to go.

[Michelle Wynn Bradley]

Where?

[Xander Jeanneret]

Away from us. He needs to go away from us.

[Michelle Wynn Bradley]

Why? He's super helpful.

[Xander Jeanneret]

You need to trust me. He's not helpful. This man is nothing.

[Ivan Van Norman]

I helped you more than you know. All right?

[Michelle Wynn Bradley]

I don't.

[Xander Jeanneret]

You did a lot more than he knows. Since you're all feeling good and juicy about confession, you want to just say that part? One more?

[Ivan Van Norman]

Isn't that what that was supposed to do? Like what? Confession.

[Xander Jeanneret]

Oh, okay. God was real clear about the Ten Commandments. And I think number one was, thou shall not kill. Okay, he killed the baby.

[Ivan Van Norman]

I did you a favor, all right? We can't keep care of a baby.

[Xander Jeanneret]

Even if that was not your decision.

[Ivan Van Norman]

To make, what world would it be growing up in this hellhole?

[Xander Jeanneret]

One that we are gonna build.

[Ivan Van Norman]

We're not gonna build shit, man.

[Daryl Crittenden]

You're right.

[Xander Jeanneret]

You're not gonna.

[Michelle Wynn Bradley]

Stop, stop, stop, stop, stop. Look, I get it. I wouldn't have done it.

[Xander Jeanneret]

You get it?

[Michelle Wynn Bradley]

I get it.

[Mary Beth Baker]

I mean, I knew.

[Michelle Wynn Bradley]

I didn't. What? Didn't know that.

[Mary Beth Baker]

That's not what I was thinking. I saw him. I didn't stop him either.

[Xander Jeanneret]

That is blasphemy.

[Ivan Van Norman]

It was quick. It.

[Xander Jeanneret]

You want to sit here and bow your head for this child?

[Ivan Van Norman]

No. You do.

[Xander Jeanneret]

Quick.

[Michelle Wynn Bradley]

If you could just. Everybody just take one step back. This is so bad. In many ways, but, like, just, you know. Eve's hurt. I'm hungry.

[Xander Jeanneret]

Oh, I'm so sorry. Are y'all still breathing? Because last time I checked, you were. I am not going over. Oh, okay. Great. Well, that's real lovely. You know what I like.

[Ivan Van Norman]

All right.

[Xander Jeanneret]

I'm not judging you, sweetheart, but I'm going to tie you.

[Mary Beth Baker]

We are all making a hard decision.

[Xander Jeanneret]

And leave you here. Okay?

[Michelle Wynn Bradley]

I think everybody should just maybe find a quiet corner. Let's come up with an idea to. Oh, look, the light, the light, the light. Is dying here, okay?

[Ivan Van Norman]

They're after us.

[Michelle Wynn Bradley]

They seem to be after us. They seem to sums after you.

[Xander Jeanneret]

I tell you that right now.

[Ivan Van Norman]

After all of us.

[Michelle Wynn Bradley]

The. The light. When we were by the boat. Let's just go back to the boat. When we were by the boat, Oliver, it that them didn't go near it with the light on.

[Ivan Van Norman]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Michelle Wynn Bradley]

As best I can tell, they didn't like your radio sound that you guys talked about that I didn't hear. And light. We are down to our last fire log. While the baby is pressing. We are still breathing. We have to keep going. We have to survive. If you don't want to talk to each other, that's fine. I've worked with lots of people that don't want to talk to me. It's cool. But it will take all of us. So you don't want to talk to him, talk to me. You don't want to talk to her, talk to me. I know. I know, but. I know.

[Xander Jeanneret]

All right, here's what I think we should do, okay? Y'all want to move together? Y'all want to push past this? Why don't we go to the monolith and offer him up as a sacrifice? And maybe we can get the hell out of here. Because something's going up. Something's going on over there, okay? And I sure shit am tired of just standing around and waiting for something to come for me. Let's just give. Give him to them.

[Ivan Van Norman]

Fine. If you think that's gonna work, fine. I'm the one that's brave enough to do what it takes, okay, to save all your asses. Why not? Another thing.

[Xander Jeanneret]

All right, Judas, let's go.

[Daryl Crittenden]

So we're traveling to the monolith. All right. The mud is still precarious. It has been some time, and a lot of the moisture has been sucked out from the mudslide, But I would still say it is not a safe path in which to fully travel. So are we using the mud pads in all the pieces?

[Michelle Wynn Bradley]

I was gonna say I'd like to try to fashioned some basically mud snowshoes together out of debris and the plastic bags. No, those are for me.

[Daryl Crittenden]

That's fine. So the mud shoes, the little whatever you've been able to get together, and probably at this point, maybe you've even found some drywall that you.

[Ivan Van Norman]

Badminton racket.

[Michelle Wynn Bradley]

I was thinking tennis racket.

[Daryl Crittenden]

Yeah, tennis racket.

[Ivan Van Norman]

But I went badminton because Japan.

[Daryl Crittenden]

But I think this is enough that all of you can make makeshift snowshoes and start traversing through it. So as you begin walking, who's going in front?

[Michelle Wynn Bradley]

I'll take lead.

[Daryl Crittenden]

You'll take lead?

[Michelle Wynn Bradley]

Yep.

[Daryl Crittenden]

Elliot, you are walking closer to the monolith, and you have no light with you. All of you are traversing a dangerous territory, knowing that they are out there. I want you to know right now, very quickly, that every check moving forward could have deadly consequences.

[Ivan Van Norman]

If it helps, they do have the flashlight on for however long it lasts.

[Daryl Crittenden]

Yeah, absolutely.

[Michelle Wynn Bradley]

And we have the road flares, which we haven't cracked open yet.

[Daryl Crittenden]

Wait, at what point do we get.

[Ivan Van Norman]

Road flares with the kit that he found in the car?

[Xander Jeanneret]

Okay, so, yes, also, I can see everything. I don't need any of that shit.

[Ivan Van Norman]

I have darkvision. It says on here I have dark vision.

[Michelle Wynn Bradley]

I would like to go ahead and crack open a road flare right away. Open the road flare and I can't see Mary Beth. So I'm just. This is just checking to see if I can.

[Daryl Crittenden]

This isn't checking for anything. This is a conflict of you walking towards the monolith. You will either succeed or fail.

[Michelle Wynn Bradley]

I am walking towards the monolith. And I am a group super unsuccessful. So what, this means I can't burn anything?

[Daryl Crittenden]

That this scene ends?

[Michelle Wynn Bradley]

Guys, I need to stop rolling dice. I didn't do any better.

[Daryl Crittenden]

And we move on to the next candle. No, I don't mean to take this away from you, but to make this conflict fail, I'm going to narrate it. And then we will start by having you pick up the truths.

[Michelle Wynn Bradley]

It's nice to know I'll still be there at the end. Go ahead.

[Daryl Crittenden]

You will. I did say that this could have potentially deadly consequences. Yeah, I did say that. Yeah. Cool. Great.

[Ivan Van Norman]

Decided. Whatever.

[Daryl Crittenden]

Whatever.

[Michelle Wynn Bradley]

Whatever it is is decided.

[Daryl Crittenden]

Okay. You all begin walking. You've cracked this road flare, and you have this dark red light coming around you. As you're walking towards the light from this road flare and the small plastic flashlight that you've been able to hold onto, you are carrying this thing forward, and you see the monolith, and it is getting closer. And I discussed how it's 100 stories the width of the Empire State Building. So as you get closer to it, just the sheer enormity of it is starting now to kind of weigh down upon you as you stare at this thing, this alien thing of which nobody knows about. And as you begin to walk closer and closer to it, very shortly off the bat, you can already start to feel the ground begin to move and crest and move beneath it. But you Keep walking, determinating pace as you keep going. As you move forward, Elliot, suddenly you feel a bit of the ground come out from underneath you as your leg sucks straight down into the ground. And you feel the warm earth kind of pull up, up to your hip almost. And there is pain. Oh, God, is there pain as you can feel your leg being torn apart. And that is where we will begin. Our truths. Our truths. Right now that we speak, these five that we have left, what is your first truth, Elliot?

[Michelle Wynn Bradley]

My right leg is gone.

[Daryl Crittenden]

There is more than one of them.

[Mary Beth Baker]

We can all see the monolith's light now.

[Daryl Crittenden]

Okay.

[Ivan Van Norman]

I cut off Elliot's leg with a pocket knife.

[Daryl Crittenden]

Mary Beth.

[Xander Jeanneret]

I'm in charge.

[Ivan Van Norman]

This is the truth.

[Xander Jeanneret]

Yeah, I'm in charge now. He's unclear to fit. You're a baby killer, and you don't have any conscious. So I'm in charge, Right?

[Daryl Crittenden]

So we start that right here. Elliot is screaming as you basically get down there and start pulling at him. And you can see the leg, and you can see something is moving the dirt underneath him as you are basically pulling him out. Like an ant stuck in an antlion cave, you are just pulling in. You feel and hear the last bits of tissue and bone separate as you pull him out. Taking that last bit of clothing away with that pocket knife as you pull him out. And you see Elliot on the ground now, bleeding from various arteries coming out from his leg. What do you do?

[Ivan Van Norman]

I'm just covered in your blood and spooked by the things that could come up at any moment, and I'm panicking.

[Xander Jeanneret]

I take the flare and I start stabbing it into his leg to cauterize the bleed.

[Daryl Crittenden]

Please. Reality check me here. Flare's hot, yes?

[Ivan Van Norman]

Yes.

[Michelle Wynn Bradley]

Yeah, it's still fire. It's like a waxy burning.

[Daryl Crittenden]

Cauterize the wound, Mary Beth, Please colorize the wound. I see no success.

[Mary Beth Baker]

No worries.

[Xander Jeanneret]

No worries. No worries. No worries. No worries. I am an extremist.

[Ivan Van Norman]

Yeah.

[Daryl Crittenden]

Unfortunately, there's no ones to reroll.

[Xander Jeanneret]

What? That's rude. Okay.

[Daryl Crittenden]

Unfortunately, it's happening so fast.

[Xander Jeanneret]

Please. So that didn't work.

[Michelle Wynn Bradley]

So that didn't work.

[Ivan Van Norman]

And now we move on to the next scene. If there's no successes, can I ask a question, please?

[Mary Beth Baker]

So when we get to our cards with moments and then the brink, the moments, we just play it out, and then it's over.

[Daryl Crittenden]

The moment is played out. While the moment is on top, you.

[Ivan Van Norman]

Could get a hope die, which means you can add a die to any roll.

[Michelle Wynn Bradley]

I've been trying to get My moment to play since, like, right after I burned my first card.

[Daryl Crittenden]

Okay.

[Michelle Wynn Bradley]

It's.

[Mary Beth Baker]

It's hard. Okay.

[Daryl Crittenden]

That's why he keeps coming up with these plans. To see them succeed through and to perfect. Dramatic failure. Continues to see it not pan out.

[Michelle Wynn Bradley]

It's been fun.

[Ivan Van Norman]

Also, can you remind me of the brink mechanic? Once it's.

[Daryl Crittenden]

It's a full reroll. Not just ones. Sixes. Everything can be rerolled. And as long as you succeed, you can continue to keep. But if you fail, if you use it and it fails, not only is a candle burnt, you lose your hope, die.

[Ivan Van Norman]

Right.

[Daryl Crittenden]

Everything.

[Mary Beth Baker]

Oh, there's only three.

[Daryl Crittenden]

There's four. There's four.

[Mary Beth Baker]

Okay.

[Michelle Wynn Bradley]

Okay.

[Mary Beth Baker]

So no more failures.

[Michelle Wynn Bradley]

Wait, you blew. Yep.

[Daryl Crittenden]

There's four. I'm so. Actually, Mary Beth, this is your first truth. You get to speak the first truth in this one.

[Michelle Wynn Bradley]

Keep taking my bottles.

[Daryl Crittenden]

I'm hoarding them. Yeah, that's fair.

[Xander Jeanneret]

We march on. And we're just dragging him. He's passed out. And we're just dragging him behind us.

[Daryl Crittenden]

He's semi conscious.

[Xander Jeanneret]

Okay.

[Daryl Crittenden]

Yeah. If you don't mind.

[Xander Jeanneret]

Fine. Feel it center.

[Daryl Crittenden]

Elliot.

[Michelle Wynn Bradley]

I've. I've taken every painkiller we've got.

[Daryl Crittenden]

Right.

[Xander Jeanneret]

This guy.

[Daryl Crittenden]

You are at the monolith.

[Xander Jeanneret]

Perfect.

[Mary Beth Baker]

We. You said there was two. They's two.

[Daryl Crittenden]

You said there's more than one.

[Mary Beth Baker]

More than one. We can hear them. We can hear their voices.

[Daryl Crittenden]

Do you mind if I adjust slightly?

[Mary Beth Baker]

Sure.

[Daryl Crittenden]

You can hear their voices. Oh, God. Okay, great. We are there. So our four truths.

[Ivan Van Norman]

Dang it.

[Daryl Crittenden]

Nope. Our four truths have been spoken. And now we start our scene. Oliver has been dragging Elliot 4 yards. I would even still go so far as to say nearly a mile at this point. Elliot, you are in and out of consciousness. In and out of consciousness. Mary Beth shoved that thing in there, hoping to cauterize it. And to be fair, she did something. But you are still bleeding. And not only have you taken every painkiller that the whole group has offered at this point, but you were losing blood quickly.

[Xander Jeanneret]

Just for a visual. Does his thigh kind of look like a Popsicle?

[Daryl Crittenden]

If that's how you like to view it.

[Xander Jeanneret]

Or like a peg leg.

[Ivan Van Norman]

Oh, my God.

[Daryl Crittenden]

So at this point, with what the bone would be where the knee joint is. And since I did say it came up, there is definitely splintered bone at the very end of what is left of the, like, charred and still bleeding flesh.

[Xander Jeanneret]

I don't know why that's good for me.

[Ivan Van Norman]

I don't know why that's good for you either. I'm very, very consent baby killer. Okay. All right. Okay.

[Michelle Wynn Bradley]

For Stone.

[Daryl Crittenden]

We basically start this. And even though you've been moving and you've been taking small steps, just waiting for the next moments that one of them would try to take another one of you. The moments are excellent, agonizing as you just continue to trek forward in each crunch on the mud as it is now dried and cracked. At this point, almost like an alien planet, you are seeing this broken and cracked just plain around you with this monolith just sticking out from it. And you hear the soft moans of Elliot as he continues to move forward. And you stand not two arm's breadths away from it, as we have established with the truth. All of you can see now this light that's coming from it, and it's blinding. It's just. You can't even. Now that you're this close, you can't even look directly at it, Mary Beth. You do anyway. You stare at it. It's just as ingrained in your irises at this point, but it's small. Maybe the size of a door. What do you do?

[Ivan Van Norman]

Is it hiding of the ground or is it at kind of our level?

[Daryl Crittenden]

It's at your level.

[Xander Jeanneret]

I'm walking in.

[Michelle Wynn Bradley]

Does anybody have a belt?

[Ivan Van Norman]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Michelle Wynn Bradley]

Can I just pocket?

[Daryl Crittenden]

You know what? Let's make this last four candles interesting.

[Ivan Van Norman]

Let's.

[Daryl Crittenden]

It is about 20ft above you.

[Ivan Van Norman]

This is gonna be my truce. Is that a staircase?

[Xander Jeanneret]

Appears I would like to climb.

[Daryl Crittenden]

It is absolutely sheer. We'll make it a little lower so that someone could ostensibly boost you up should they need to. Yes.

[Michelle Wynn Bradley]

Will not be me.

[Daryl Crittenden]

Yes, you, Mary Beth. Absolutely tried to go up to the monolith, but the angle is so sheer and the smooth cut stone, which it's hard to tell if it's stone or not. You wanted to press your hand against it as if it would be cold, like onyx should be. But it actually is quite warm.

[Xander Jeanneret]

Can I fashion something around it so I can walk up?

[Ivan Van Norman]

Huge.

[Xander Jeanneret]

It's 100 Empire State Building. All right, all right, all right, all right.

[Daryl Crittenden]

I think, Mary Beth, the only way for you to get up there is to have one of the heretics.

[Michelle Wynn Bradley]

Well, it's gonna have to be Oliver herself. Broke.

[Xander Jeanneret]

Yeah.

[Michelle Wynn Bradley]

You guys just have to work. If she wants to go in there, let her go in there.

[Daryl Crittenden]

Yeah.

[Ivan Van Norman]

He's mumbling. Should anyone listen?

[Xander Jeanneret]

No.

[Ivan Van Norman]

Go on, Elliot. What do we say?

[Michelle Wynn Bradley]

I just think. I just think. I think this is a bad idea. I think we should go back to the car.

[Ivan Van Norman]

What?

[Michelle Wynn Bradley]

To go back to the car.

[Ivan Van Norman]

Well, your. Your resistance is noted. And I think we're not in charge anymore.

[Mary Beth Baker]

I think. I think this is what we're supposed to do. Nothing else here in this messed up situation makes sense. Except that it's been calling to us. It's been looking for us.

[Xander Jeanneret]

Mm.

[Ivan Van Norman]

You agree?

[Mary Beth Baker]

What else are we supposed to do? Just run around in circles till we run out of food and die? At least we can make some sort of decision here, find out what's happening.

[Xander Jeanneret]

Yeah, we're figuring this out.

[Daryl Crittenden]

Mary Beth, you said you're in charge here.

[Xander Jeanneret]

That was the first you spoke. Listen to me.

[Ivan Van Norman]

Yeah, yeah, I'm listening.

[Xander Jeanneret]

I'm climbing up your shoulders. You're gonna give me a solid boost, and then I'm gonna tell them to come get you, okay?

[Ivan Van Norman]

Them?

[Xander Jeanneret]

Yeah.

[Michelle Wynn Bradley]

Are we allowed to question your leadership? Like, with a question that I want to ask? A question.

[Xander Jeanneret]

You can speak because you're dying.

[Michelle Wynn Bradley]

What happened?

[Xander Jeanneret]

Oh, sweet Jesus.

[Daryl Crittenden]

And so is this boost happening?

[Xander Jeanneret]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Ivan Van Norman]

I'll do whatever you say.

[Daryl Crittenden]

All right.

[Michelle Wynn Bradley]

So is the light on?

[Xander Jeanneret]

Yes, light's on.

[Michelle Wynn Bradley]

You can all see it now?

[Mary Beth Baker]

Yes.

[Xander Jeanneret]

Yeah, we can all see the light. Honey, you might be seeing a different kind of light.

[Daryl Crittenden]

Okay, give her a boost. Yeah.

[Ivan Van Norman]

One success.

[Daryl Crittenden]

No. One. No.

[Ivan Van Norman]

Once. Oh, I didn't use my hope die. That's fine.

[Daryl Crittenden]

That's okay. You didn't.

[Ivan Van Norman]

Can I use that after I roll, or is it.

[Daryl Crittenden]

Oh, technique. Should be rolling with it.

[Ivan Van Norman]

Okay, okay.

[Mary Beth Baker]

Yeah, but it's a one time dealy.

[Daryl Crittenden]

No, you get to use it with every roll. Oh, look, another one. That would help with my narration rights, actually.

[Ivan Van Norman]

Two sixes.

[Xander Jeanneret]

Why did you get that dice?

[Ivan Van Norman]

Cause I used my. I had my moment where I confessed my feelings.

[Daryl Crittenden]

I got two sixes, too. But it is a success. You do? Absolutely. Get her up. So, Oliver, you stand right underneath this blaring white light, which doesn't actually seem to be emanating light. It doesn't have a spill on either side. The cut is so stark. And you give her a boost as you lift her leg up, and Mary Beth, you take a hold of it, and you grab ahold of the ledge, and there is. Well, it's hard to describe. Let me see if I can put the right words to it.

[Xander Jeanneret]

Heavenly.

[Daryl Crittenden]

It is warm. And it feels as if there is a threshold right here. It would be impossible. You see nothing beyond what is right there. Just the stark white light. And it is very clear that the lip that you are pressed upon, which now that you're about 10ft up is about this much, much space. That there is a threshold.

[Ivan Van Norman]

Like a force field?

[Daryl Crittenden]

No. Some kind of event horizon that exists right here. So you step through.

[Michelle Wynn Bradley]

Oh, fearless leader, Are you going to.

[Daryl Crittenden]

Step through this moment that you start to look at it? You came with such resolve, Marybeth.

[Xander Jeanneret]

I did.

[Daryl Crittenden]

You came here with such purpose. You were so confident in being able to call Oliver and Eve a heretic as you sat and spat upon the ground they walked upon. But here, right now, at this event horizon, doubt is now creeping into your mind. Is this a test? Is this a bad choice? Something is here, and you don't know what it is. And for once, since the baby has died, you are scared. What is it going to be?

[Ivan Van Norman]

Um.

[Xander Jeanneret]

I. I sweep my arm across. I look down and I say, I think y'all need to see this.

[Ivan Van Norman]

Are you okay?

[Xander Jeanneret]

I'm okay. And I extend my hand down.

[Ivan Van Norman]

I'll go over to you and sort of boost you up.

[Mary Beth Baker]

I get caught up. I'm like, all right, let's do something.

[Daryl Crittenden]

Somehow, in some way, I describe this being about as big as a door. Right. As you bring her up, looking down, you are helping to reach her up. And as you bring your hand back up, you realize there's just a enough room for now, both of you, to stand side by side as you now are on the threshold together, staring into this light.

[Mary Beth Baker]

I turn away from Marybeth, and I look at the light, and I think I have my moment. Because being here, avoiding this monolith, thinking it was the cause of all our problems, was not correct. I believe now that we were supposed to come here, that I'm supposed to come here. I can hear them talking. The voices are getting louder now that I'm in this monolith. And I finally have hope for the first time since it started. And I walk in.

[Daryl Crittenden]

Eve walks, looks at you, and has this look of hope upon her face. When would he even say just bliss as she takes a step into the threshold. Thank you so much for playing. I really, really appreciate you being here and doing this. Your fate, whatever it may be, is completely unknown. But I do know that your story is done.

[Michelle Wynn Bradley]

What?

[Daryl Crittenden]

Oh, my God. Wait.

[Ivan Van Norman]

Come back.

[Daryl Crittenden]

Wait.

[Xander Jeanneret]

Where are you going? I. I was gonna push her. I was. Cuz I thought she was gonna push me when she went like this, so I was about. I just wanted to be honest about that.

[Michelle Wynn Bradley]

I appreciate that. I was gonna push you, too. I lost my life, so.

[Xander Jeanneret]

Popsicle. This is terrible.

[Daryl Crittenden]

Mary Beth, you stand on the threshold alone as you see, now that Eve is gone completely.

[Michelle Wynn Bradley]

What happened?

[Xander Jeanneret]

I'm coming down.

[Ivan Van Norman]

Wait, what?

[Michelle Wynn Bradley]

Where's Eve?

[Xander Jeanneret]

They took her.

[Ivan Van Norman]

Well, get down. Get down. I'll motion to help you down.

[Daryl Crittenden]

So Mary Beth slides down and hits her feet across the ground and comes back into you, and you both meet up. Elliot, are you propped up at this point against the monolith?

[Michelle Wynn Bradley]

I'm probably, yes, at best. At worst, my head's just leaning on a bunch of plastic bags. Yeah, fearless leader, I have a question. What happened? Did it seem. Did.

[Daryl Crittenden]

Well, she.

[Xander Jeanneret]

Not here, is she?

[Michelle Wynn Bradley]

Did it seem like it hurt?

[Xander Jeanneret]

No, it didn't. It seemed actually quite peaceful.

[Ivan Van Norman]

Maybe it's what we're supposed to do. Maybe they took pity on her.

[Xander Jeanneret]

I mean, I guess you could get chomped up like him or you could.

[Daryl Crittenden]

Walk into the light, by the way. Something erupts from the ground and now it is starting to lift up and tentacles have sprayed out in front of all of you.

[Michelle Wynn Bradley]

I pulled a grenade, all right?

[Daryl Crittenden]

Hit it on the ground. This impact. So dirt just sprays up everywhere until you watch.

[Michelle Wynn Bradley]

Hit the deck.

[Ivan Van Norman]

Hit the deck and.

[Michelle Wynn Bradley]

Oh, my God. I couldn't. I can't. It's a moment.

[Daryl Crittenden]

Oh, no.

[Michelle Wynn Bradley]

Well, I mean, I guess I can.

[Daryl Crittenden]

Many.

[Michelle Wynn Bradley]

No, no.

[Daryl Crittenden]

The moment needs to be fulfilled at.

[Ivan Van Norman]

Heart to be a success.

[Daryl Crittenden]

As you calm down, you watch. And this is, I have to tell you, as you basically storm up, this thing lifts up and you see as dirt and spray cross everywhere and something grabs ahold of han, your severed popsicle leg, and it yanks you straight up into the air.

[Ivan Van Norman]

Oh, my God.

[Daryl Crittenden]

Lifted up 10, about the same level as where the light was into the air. And you can see this segmented top creature with large, almost mantis like pincers that are falling out from its body right now as it screeches and it pulls you and it starts swinging you as it's lifting up and you're watching a retracting cord, it's just pulling you up and it slides you straight into its mouth. As you are completely engulfing as you are being slowly moved into this thing, there's a warmth about you as you actually feel the muscles contracting as it's pulling you deeper in. It didn't even have the audacity to bite you. It's just slowly pulling you in. Something is going through your mind right now, Elliot. What is it?

[Michelle Wynn Bradley]

Run.

[Daryl Crittenden]

And this grenade that you had pulled to pin onto it, you watch as it's being lifted into the air. You see it cascade down as it slips out from your hand and it spindles off just outside, but still within blast radius of where everybody is right now.

[Xander Jeanneret]

Wait, wait. Did he pull the pin?

[Daryl Crittenden]

Three truths.

[Ivan Van Norman]

Oh, fuck.

[Daryl Crittenden]

Three truths need to be spoken. And. Elliot. Darryl.

[Michelle Wynn Bradley]

I was gonna say thank you so.

[Daryl Crittenden]

Much for being here.

[Michelle Wynn Bradley]

My pleasure. Thank you for having me.

[Daryl Crittenden]

Appreciate you being here.

[Michelle Wynn Bradley]

I'm gonna call my mom. Good luck, you two.

[Ivan Van Norman]

Oh, God.

[Daryl Crittenden]

The first truth before we speak our truths. The first truth is the world is dark. Normally, Elliot would be speaking the first truth after this, but since he is not with us, I will instead speak the first truth. The light is not coming back on. Ever.

[Ivan Van Norman]

The monster has choked on Elliot's corpse.

[Daryl Crittenden]

All right, last one. Mary Beth.

[Xander Jeanneret]

We're alone.

[Daryl Crittenden]

The fateful and the heretic together with the last episode and the brink of all of creation. We have three dice. We have three candles. Mary Beth, Oliver. This thing that had come out of the ground comes, and it slithers back into the darkness. And as it's about to come down, you watch as it seems to irk for a moment before it slips back down into the darkness, presumably to its own fate. You feel a stillness. Nothing has neither of you move, too afraid to do anything. Anything other than just stand and stare at each other. What do you do?

[Ivan Van Norman]

I'm sorry.

[Xander Jeanneret]

I'm sorry.

[Ivan Van Norman]

We gotta get to that boat. Okay?

[Daryl Crittenden]

Okay.

[Ivan Van Norman]

We gotta survive for them.

[Xander Jeanneret]

Okay.

[Ivan Van Norman]

All right.

[Daryl Crittenden]

Yeah. So you run to the boat.

[Ivan Van Norman]

Mm. Yeah. Flashlight on.

[Daryl Crittenden]

One success. No ones. Mary Beth, tell me how you get to the boat.

[Xander Jeanneret]

We move quickly. And we move together. And we enter onto the boat. And I'm shocked to see how clean and pristine it is. And the first thing I do is drink water. And we sit down and look at each other. And I say, turn this bitch on.

[Ivan Van Norman]

Even if I could. It's beached. We're on land.

[Xander Jeanneret]

Then push it where?

[Ivan Van Norman]

You want me to push it out to the ocean, buy myself a boat.

[Xander Jeanneret]

I don't know what to do.

[Ivan Van Norman]

I know. I know you don't. I'm sorry. I don't mean to take it out on you, but. All right, we know that they're afraid of light. Okay?

[Daryl Crittenden]

Right?

[Xander Jeanneret]

Yeah.

[Ivan Van Norman]

Like from this boat. They haven't come in because the lights are on.

[Daryl Crittenden]

Right?

[Ivan Van Norman]

So we just got to keep making sure that the light is on. And we gotta wait till daylight. Once it's daylight, it's everywhere, right?

[Xander Jeanneret]

Okay.

[Ivan Van Norman]

We could go get for call for help. We could go back up up the mountain.

[Xander Jeanneret]

Okay. I don't know, but I don't know who's gonna Answer and I don't know who we're calling.

[Ivan Van Norman]

Good. That helps. Thanks.

[Daryl Crittenden]

So you're going to stay on the boat as close to the light as you possibly can and just wait it out until dawn. You sit in silence as you both are back in the small dash light that this boat provides. Hours pass as night continues to permeate around you. About half an hour ago, the flashlight went out. The battery's completely spent. And you continue to wait.

[Ivan Van Norman]

Something's wrong.

[Xander Jeanneret]

No shit.

[Ivan Van Norman]

No, I mean, something's wrong with the sky. It should have been light by now, and it's not.

[Xander Jeanneret]

You're right. Why don't. Why don't. Why don't we start a fire?

[Ivan Van Norman]

We don't have any wood left.

[Xander Jeanneret]

We have the things we freaking walked on. Don't you think that's gonna burn the.

[Ivan Van Norman]

Pads from the car?

[Daryl Crittenden]

They will not burn.

[Ivan Van Norman]

All of the wood is damp. It's all wet. We can't.

[Daryl Crittenden]

At this point, you can start to hear the trickling of water as you look down and see a small. Almost as if. How do I put this? When there's been a long dry season and suddenly fresh rain comes and starts seeping into the well. Well, a cascade of water slowly starts to come and find itself along the edge of the boat.

[Xander Jeanneret]

Okay, wait. There's no holes in this boat, right? We're fine.

[Ivan Van Norman]

I don't know. I don't know.

[Xander Jeanneret]

Well, check for holes.

[Ivan Van Norman]

Check for holes.

[Daryl Crittenden]

What do you.

[Ivan Van Norman]

I don't know anything about boats.

[Daryl Crittenden]

As you continue to argue and the water begins to slowly seep around this, you feel it begin to sink.

[Xander Jeanneret]

Okay.

[Ivan Van Norman]

Okay, I got to do something. Just. So I look around and I find that there's actually computer paper and stuff still scattered around. And I start to grab whatever pen or marker is around, and I start to write on one of the nearby desks. And it starts off, things we know are true. They swim through the mud. The monolith has a light. Do not go in.

[Daryl Crittenden]

Right.

[Ivan Van Norman]

What else? Can I just start writing this freaking me out. Thank you.

[Daryl Crittenden]

Hope, Dice.

[Ivan Van Norman]

Okay, one success and one for you.

[Daryl Crittenden]

You begin to write furiously. And Mary Beth, you see her.

[Ivan Van Norman]

They are afraid of the light.

[Daryl Crittenden]

Yes.

[Ivan Van Norman]

There is a hum in the radio, Right. And then I roll it all up, and I try to find a bottle of some sort, like a glass bottle. If I can find one and shove it in.

[Daryl Crittenden]

All right. I think I can make that part of your conflict that you laid into it at this point. You start to see as the water is coming and it has started to pour over the railing. That's now where you went. As you feel the boat lurch down again, and you can see it's not water anymore, it's mud. It's just pouring into the boat, cascading over and over again into your receptacle.

[Ivan Van Norman]

Answer me truthfully. Are we in hell? Is this hell?

[Xander Jeanneret]

I don't know. I don't know.

[Ivan Van Norman]

It's what I deserve.

[Xander Jeanneret]

Oh, my God. Stop making this about you. We need to get off this boat now. I think we need to get off this boat.

[Ivan Van Norman]

How? How are we gonna get off the boat? We're gonna sink in the mud. Tell me what to do. Just tell me.

[Xander Jeanneret]

Let's just try.

[Ivan Van Norman]

All right. All right.

[Xander Jeanneret]

Let's just swim as much as we can. Let's go back up to the mountain.

[Daryl Crittenden]

Swim towards where you remember Mount Fuji being as the water continues to slip through.

[Mary Beth Baker]

Oh.

[Daryl Crittenden]

No successes?

[Ivan Van Norman]

No ones.

[Daryl Crittenden]

No ones. We have two candles left, two dice and two truths. The first truth is the world is dark. Mary Beth swimming, for what it's worth, is. Well, I'm sorry. You have the first truth.

[Xander Jeanneret]

Make it up the mountain.

[Daryl Crittenden]

Okay?

[Xander Jeanneret]

Okay.

[Daryl Crittenden]

With Oliver, you've one truth. You make it up the mountain.

[Ivan Van Norman]

I make it to the base of the mountain, but I'm too scared to go up.

[Daryl Crittenden]

So you swim through the mud, and it is agonizing. You have to pull each other the entire way. The only way that you can make it is just by sheer force of somebody finding enough of a platform and yanking the other one with every amount that they can get. And you pull and you pull each other until you find some kind of solid footing back at the foothills, and the water is climbing slowly enough at this point that you just walk up as much as you can. And you, Mary Beth and Oliver are head to toe covered in mud. There's not a part of you that isn't just caked to the brim with what the earth has given around you. And Mary Beth, you walk up the mountain, and Oliver, you stand there and you watch as Mary Beth's form continues to climb up this monument of cultural identity and splendor, knowing that you came here to do something to better yourself. What's going through your mind now as you're watching her climb up the hill?

[Ivan Van Norman]

She deserves it. She's a good person. I'm not a good person.

[Daryl Crittenden]

So you sit and you feel a little better about helping her get to this point, but you slowly, slowly let the mud come up to you. What's going through your mind right now?

[Ivan Van Norman]

I'm too scared. To go up the mountain. But I still have a survival instinct. It just kicks in and I start kicking my feet to free myself from the mud.

[Daryl Crittenden]

And you just stay one step in front of another. Almost like a rat in a cage. Help.

[Ivan Van Norman]

Help.

[Daryl Crittenden]

Marybeth, you turn around and you hear Elliot, or I'm sorry, you hear Oliver screaming behind you. He's down the mountain. He's yelling, help. Help. Whatever he can. And you look down and you can see he's at the base, just right where the water is rising.

[Xander Jeanneret]

I go back. I go back.

[Ivan Van Norman]

I'm stuck. I'm trapped. I need you to pull me up.

[Xander Jeanneret]

Do you want to just hold each other?

[Ivan Van Norman]

No, you. You're good, okay? You're a good person and I'm not. I deserve this and I deserve whatever's happening.

[Xander Jeanneret]

You are a wonderful person.

[Ivan Van Norman]

You don't know me.

[Xander Jeanneret]

You know enough. Let's just hold.

[Ivan Van Norman]

No, I don't want that.

[Xander Jeanneret]

There's nothing for us up here. And we know what's down there.

[Ivan Van Norman]

We don't. We don't know. You gotta. You gotta live. Okay? You gotta live. And you gotta promise me that you're gonna stop hurting yourself. Okay? I've seen it, and I've seen you do it. And I know it's cause you think you're bad, but you're not bad. You don't need God or anyone else to tell you that you're good. But I'm telling you now, okay? You could. You could. I don't need help. All right? I'm good. Here you go back up. You find.

[Xander Jeanneret]

I need help. I'm the one that needs a little bit of help. And I would love some help from you. So why don't you quit telling me what I need, what you think you think I'm doing, And let's just have one last moment together.

[Ivan Van Norman]

No. Pull me out. Pull me out of this thing. If you're not gonna go, I'm gonna carry you. Okay? This is not how it's ending. I'm gonna try to get out.

[Daryl Crittenden]

Great. Get out. Get out of the mud. Cause at this point, between the talking that both of you had, it has risen up to your words at this point, and it is just creeping slowly closer.

[Ivan Van Norman]

Okay. Okay. I'm gonna burn a decisive trait to reroll that one.

[Daryl Crittenden]

Give me that one. Roll it.

[Ivan Van Norman]

Okay. So I have a success. No ones also just letting people know what my brink is. I have seen you kill a local. And so that's what. Okay, that was. I know, right? No. Eve saw me kill a local. So she's the one that saw me kill the baby.

[Xander Jeanneret]

You monster.

[Ivan Van Norman]

I know.

[Daryl Crittenden]

So you say, pull me out. You say pull. And she may have her hand out, but it's more you than her at this stage as you just put your hands there and push your out of the muck. As you climb out and you grasp ahold of her and you pull yourself up her harm as you both come into an embrace. A muddy, full, just earthen embrace.

[Ivan Van Norman]

Come on. We don't have enough calories. Let's get up this mountain.

[Daryl Crittenden]

So you both walk and you both walk and you walk and you walk. And not much changes in this skyline. It is just broken tree after broken tree. There's a lot more rock after the mudslide exposed, but it does seem like hell. There's nothing. No trees, no expanse. You can't see high enough up the mountain to know just how far down you are. And the mud caked to you has turned your body so cold. The wet, wet cold that is clinging to you. And you just keep climbing. What do you want to do?

[Xander Jeanneret]

I want to find a moment of peace for us. I want to just sit on a rock and find a moment of peace.

[Daryl Crittenden]

Let's do it.

[Xander Jeanneret]

Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait.

[Daryl Crittenden]

Yeah, you got that one.

[Xander Jeanneret]

I am an extremist. I baptize him.

[Daryl Crittenden]

Roll it.

[Xander Jeanneret]

I roll the one.

[Daryl Crittenden]

Roll the one. Just the one. Still not a success. But it's like, kind of. But I totally want this baptism to happen. I totally want this baptism. But I'm going to take liberty to this. It's still a failure. That's okay. That's okay. Because this candle is gone. There are no more truths that can be spoken. There's one candle remaining. The only truth that can be spoken is. The world is dark. Maybe. Mary Beth, you continue to climb with Oliver as much as you can. And at some point you just have this thought in your mind about what to do. And you stop him and you look at him and what do you say?

[Xander Jeanneret]

Have you been baptized?

[Ivan Van Norman]

No.

[Xander Jeanneret]

You know what I think? I think I should baptize you. And I think you should re. Baptize me.

[Ivan Van Norman]

No. Here.

[Xander Jeanneret]

Yeah, here. Now we're top of a mountain.

[Daryl Crittenden]

As both Mary Beth, Oliver, you. You. Marybeth brings you down. She has a smile on her face. There's this pleasant knowing and understanding that what she's about to do is the right thing to do. And Oliver, there's a weird sense of peace in knowing that this is. This is. This is odd. What is about to happen. You've Never been baptized. But just the harmony of it, just the poeticness of it, is all that really stays with you as you turn around and stumble. It doesn't take long to get to where the water is rising and the mud is coming again. And, Mary Beth, you take his head and you bend his back slowly.

[Xander Jeanneret]

And I say, do you accept Jesus into your heart?

[Daryl Crittenden]

Yeah.

[Xander Jeanneret]

Do you accept that you are a son of God?

[Ivan Van Norman]

Yes.

[Daryl Crittenden]

Yeah.

[Xander Jeanneret]

Then I baptize you in the name of the Father. And I slowly dunk his head. And in the name of the Son and in the name of the Holy Spirit. And I make a cross with my thumb on his forehead. I say, you have been baptized.

[Daryl Crittenden]

And she lets your head go as you slowly cast. And you feel the old dark mud around you as you grab her. And now you are both weightless in this as the footing underneath you has dropped. And as you begin to slowly bob into the mud, you take her head and you bring her back, back down.

[Ivan Van Norman]

And I don't pull her back up.

[Daryl Crittenden]

Well, do you do the baptism or do you just don't pull her back up. And, Mary Beth, you feel the mud come across your face as you slowly splurt. And a bubble comes out of your mouth as soon. Small little bits. And you breathe in reflexively because there's nothing else to do. You reflexively breathe, and you can feel the viscous liquid into your esophagus and into your lungs. And something is going on in your head at this moment as you know that he is doing this. What are you thinking before darkness takes you?

[Xander Jeanneret]

I know why he's doing it. He is saving me from being the last person alive. And I just look up at him, and there's definitely a little bit of panic, but there's also a thank you that's happening because I don't have the strength to be here by myself.

[Daryl Crittenden]

And you decided into darkness.

[Ivan Van Norman]

I take comfort in knowing the last thing that you saw was the cross.

[Daryl Crittenden]

Julia, thank you so much for playing.

[Ivan Van Norman]

I'm sorry.

[Daryl Crittenden]

So sorry, but thank you so much. I really appreciate it. I'm going to have to ask you to leave my table, Oliver. So.

[Ivan Van Norman]

What?

[Daryl Crittenden]

As you have Julia's.

[Ivan Van Norman]

Marybeth.

[Daryl Crittenden]

Marybeth. As you have Marybeth's body in your hand, you can feel her. Maybe she grabbed you. Maybe she let go. But no matter what, you know it is done when that last bubble blips up from it and you feel yourself treading in the viscous, muddy liquid that you're in. And this is not something I would Normally do. But I feel like you have two fates ahead of you. You can either succumb to the mud where Julia is or you can go back up to the mountain.

[Ivan Van Norman]

Can I offer a plan B? C?

[Daryl Crittenden]

That would be a. C. What's the C?

[Ivan Van Norman]

I find the grenade.

[Daryl Crittenden]

Oh, bubby. The grenade is way down the mountain at this point. It is so far gone.

[Ivan Van Norman]

Lots of mudslides.

[Daryl Crittenden]

I appreciate your dramatic flair.

[Ivan Van Norman]

I don't know what you're talking about.

[Daryl Crittenden]

Yeah, okay.

[Ivan Van Norman]

But I'll make my way up.

[Daryl Crittenden]

You go back. You go back to the hotel.

[Ivan Van Norman]

I'm gonna make my last stand.

[Daryl Crittenden]

And you're gonna stay there. And as you stand in this hotel with no food, no water, freezing. You're sitting on the patio looking out.

[Ivan Van Norman]

To a world and everything, every surface A of this hotel is covered in my blood.

[Daryl Crittenden]

Yeah.

[Ivan Van Norman]

Writing out these things. We know. They swim in the mud. They're afraid of the light.

[Daryl Crittenden]

Can you bleed out the last message? Which is what? What is the last message?

[Ivan Van Norman]

The world is dark.

[Daryl Crittenden]

Thank you. I think that is the end of our story. I'm going to ask you to leave my table.

[Ivan Van Norman]

Oh, yeah, yeah. Used to it.

[Daryl Crittenden]

Well, there's one thing left to do and that is listen to the messages of our recently departed characters. Good night.

[Ivan Van Norman]

Hey. I guess, just kinda hoping against hope that you're the one that finds this message. But I don't even know your name. I did want to say though, the late night truck stop stuff. It was good and it meant something to me. I know you weren't looking for any strings or whatever, but the world is ending, so Fuck it. I was never really able to explore that part of myself, you know, out in the open. I just wanted to thank you for giving me that. Anyway, good luck.

[Xander Jeanneret]

Oh my. The whole reason. The reason I came to Mount Fuji was to find a location for my clients to get married. I guess that's something I've always tried to do is find the most beautiful place to make the most beautiful promise. And I never got to find the most beautiful person for me. But if there's anything I can leave behind in what was the most wonderful world is that we can always choose love. And we can always find love within one another. That's all that there is.

[Michelle Wynn Bradley]

I guess you could say I dream big. Only problem is I don't achieve big. When I was a kid, I thought I was going to end up with the world in the palm of my hand. I had lots of good ideas. I just never had anyone who wanted to back them up. And I never felt strong enough to do it on my own. I don't know, maybe that's just an excuse. One time I came up with a doghouse that was made of reinforced plastics that opened on the top and you could store dog food in it. You know, stuff like that. Just making life easier. I just. I just didn't take the risk on me. I just kept falling into the easiest jobs I could find. Which is how I ended up being a computer programmer in this cubicle that I'll never escape.

[Mary Beth Baker]

Hey.

[Daryl Crittenden]

Hi.

[Mary Beth Baker]

I'm Efam. Not sure what I'm supposed to say here. I don't know. All these years I tried to work hard, I tried to be important, I tried to be famous or at least good at my day job. And for what? I'm just a part time waitress at a restaurant I couldn't even afford to eat at if I wanted to. But. But important, famous, rich or not, we're all in the same boat now. The odds of us surviving, winning against this weird, unknown evil, they're not great. Look, we all have to go sometime. We all have to die sometime. That's just reality. That's normal truth that we been living with before this thing came. Yeah, it's weird that now everyone's disappearing and the end of times is upon us, but I kind of feel the most alive right now. And that's weird, right? That's definitely weird. I don't know. I spent all of my life waiting to become something more. But now there's not a lot of time left. I can feel it. There is actually nothing left to lose. So anyway, if you're hearing this message, hell, if you can hear, count yourself lucky.

[Daryl Crittenden]

Foreign.

[Xander Jeanneret]

I'm Amy Nicholson, the film critic for the LA Times.

[Daryl Crittenden]

And I'm Paul Scheer, an actor, writer and director. You might know me from the League, Veep, or my non eligible for Academy Award role in Twisters.

[Xander Jeanneret]

We love movies and we come at them from different perspectives.

[Daryl Crittenden]

Yeah, like Amy thinks that, you know, Joe Pesci was miscast in Goodfellas and I don't.

[Xander Jeanneret]

He's too old. Let's not forget forget that Paul thinks that Dune 2 is overrated.

[Daryl Crittenden]

It is.

[Xander Jeanneret]

Anyway, despite this, we come together to host Unspooled, a podcast where we talk about good movies, critical hits, fan favorites.

[Julia Dennis]

Must sees, and in case you missed.

[Xander Jeanneret]

Ems, we're talking the Home Alone from.

[Michelle Wynn Bradley]

Grease to the Dark Knight.

[Xander Jeanneret]

We've done deep dives on popcorn flicks, we've talked about why Independence Day deserves a second look.

[Daryl Crittenden]

And we've talked about horror movies, some that you've never even heard of a Ganja and Hess.

[Xander Jeanneret]

So if you love movies like we do, come along on our cinematic adventure.

[Daryl Crittenden]

Listen to unspooled wherever you get your.

[Xander Jeanneret]

Podcasts, and don't forget to hit the follow button.

[Daryl Crittenden]

Welcome to the ultimate social deduction game, Blood on the Clock Tower.

[G]

The Evil Team must stalk the streets at night, hunting down members of the good team one by one. Meanwhile, the good team must outmaneuver the Evil team using their unique abilities.

[Daryl Crittenden]

I'd like to kick things off by telling you all that I'm possibly the demon.

[G]

Our players can mislead and manipulate others with absolute freedom.

[Julia Dennis]

I didn't like hearing my name in the same sentence as demon. That was very upsetting for me.

[Daryl Crittenden]

Emily and I will be your storytellers, guiding you through every labyrinthian twist and turn.

[Michelle Wynn Bradley]

How are there so many evil players in this game?

[Daryl Crittenden]

What's happening?

[Ivan Van Norman]

With guests from no Rolls, Bard, the.

[Daryl Crittenden]

Pandemonium Institute, and Oxventure, you won't be able to stop listening. Go to realmspod.com clocktower to find out more. Hey folks, we're the hosts of Comic Sans, the podcast about comics for those who are sans knowledge. I'm Yen, a reader, writer, liver and breather of comic. And I'm Nat. I used to know absolutely nothing about comics, but now. So actually, I've got a quiz for you.

[Ivan Van Norman]

I still have a lot to learn.

[Daryl Crittenden]

About comics, thank you. On Comic Hans, I make Nat read some of my favorite works in the medium, including Saga, Daredevil, and the Flintstones, and Yen talks about what makes that comic special.

[Ivan Van Norman]

Sometimes it's a story, sometimes it's channeling.

[Daryl Crittenden]

Gutters, page turns, colorings, lettering, semiotics, juxtaposition.

[Ivan Van Norman]

Okay, professor, save it for the episodes.

[Daryl Crittenden]

You can listen to Comic Sans on Apple Podcast, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Ivan Van Norman]

You can BINGE Our first two seasons. That's over 20 episodes on 20 different.

[Daryl Crittenden]

Comics, and we just launched season three. New episodes every two weeks.