Stories RPG Crossover: Gigacity Guardians 5 Bricks and Mortar

Summary

Stories Podcast: A Bedtime Show for Kids of All Ages
Episode Summary: "Stories RPG Crossover: Gigacity Guardians 5 Bricks and Mortar"
Release Date: February 13, 2025
Host/Author: Starglow Media / Wondery

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Introduction

In this special crossover episode of the Stories Podcast, titled "Gigacity Guardians 5 Bricks and Mortar," the host Amanda Weldon invites listeners into an immersive storytelling adventure. This episode blends elements of traditional storytelling with interactive role-playing game mechanics, allowing children and their families to engage in a dynamic narrative experience. Skipping over the initial advertisements and introductions, the episode plunges directly into the action, setting the stage for an exciting continuation of the Gigacity Guardians saga.

Setting the Scene

At the outset (03:04), Amanda Weldon reintroduces the listeners to the world of Gigacity Guardians, a team of heroes dedicated to protecting their city from various threats. The Guardians—Firefly, Ape Canaveral, and Animus—are thrust into a high-stakes situation involving a formidable adversary, the enigmatic hacker Ellipsis, and his drone army. The previous episode ended with Firefly and the team grappling with Ellipsis's interference, leaving the heroes in a precarious position.

The Crisis Unfolds

As the episode resumes, the Guardians find themselves amidst chaos:

• Firefly and her team are engaged in a tense hacking duel with Ellipsis at the Lighthouse.
• Animus infiltrates Tusk Corp and discovers a mysterious fungus-like figure surrounded by frightened individuals.
• Ape Canaveral faces a physical threat from a menacing centaur-like brick mutant, leading to a dramatic confrontation.

Amanda provides a vivid recap of the last episode's cliffhanger, emphasizing the urgency and danger facing the Guardians (03:49).

Gameplay and Decision-Making

The heart of the episode revolves around interactive gameplay, where each Guardian makes strategic moves to navigate the escalating drama. Key moments include:

• Ape Canaveral attempts to thwart the centaur mutant's assault by physically interposing himself (06:47). Despite his invulnerability, he feels the strain and races against time to protect his team.

  Ape Canaveral: "What's going on here?" (07:05)

• Animus explores Tusk Corp's depths, uncovering troubling evidence of experiments and grappling with emotional turmoil upon encountering the distressed fungus figure (04:17).

• Firefly leverages her technological prowess to control drones, attempting to find a safe pathway for Animus and the captured individuals despite losing visual feeds to Ellipsis's interference (19:20).

Key Quotes and Interactions

Throughout the episode, notable quotes enhance the narrative's depth and emotional resonance:

• Amanda Weldon: "Champions of the city, defenders of the peace, Heroes of justice, the Giga City Guardian." (04:17)

• Jillian Jayes (Firefly): "Welcome to Stories Podcast. I'm your host, Amanda Weldon." (00:02)

• Ape Canaveral: "Ape's gonna look up and say, hey, follow him into the sewer." (26:29)

• Animus: "I need to get them out to safety somehow." (22:00)

These interactions showcase the Guardians' teamwork, strategic thinking, and emotional struggles as they navigate the unfolding crisis.

Climactic Confrontations

As tensions rise, the Guardians face critical decisions:

• Firefly uses her suit's supersonic capabilities to chase down escaping mutants, leading to intense aerial maneuvers and confrontations with Ellipsis's drones (24:19).

• Jillian Jayes (Firefly) confronts the centaur mutant, revealing a past conflict involving the "Scarlet King" and expressing remorse over unintended harm caused to innocent beings (37:37).

  Firefly: "I don't want to hurt his friends." (39:56)

These moments highlight themes of responsibility, redemption, and the complexity of heroism, reinforcing positive values for young listeners.

Resolution and Consequences

The episode concludes with a temporary resolution but sets the stage for future challenges:

• The Guardians manage to save several captives and thwart some of Ellipsis's plans, but public perception of the Guardians takes a negative turn due to manipulated media coverage by Fred Tusk (46:27).

• Fred Tusk publicly denounces the Guardians, labeling the "bricks" as terrorists and calling for an anti-Brick task force, deepening the narrative conflict and setting up future episodes (46:27).

Character Development and Team Dynamics

Throughout the episode, the Guardians' characters are fleshed out through their decisions and interactions:

• Firefly demonstrates leadership and a willingness to make tough choices for the greater good.

• Ape Canaveral exhibits courage and strategic thinking, often taking bold actions to protect his team.

• Animus shows empathy and determination, striving to safeguard innocents while grappling with personal regrets.

Additionally, the episode includes moments of camaraderie and support among the team members, reinforcing the importance of teamwork and friendship.

Conclusion and Teasers for Next Episode

As the episode wraps up, Amanda Weldon acknowledges the Guardians' efforts and hints at future developments:

Amanda Weldon: "Stay tuned next time to find out about Flipside Microbial and all the rest of the bricks under the city, and also what Fred Tusk is up to." (52:23)

Listeners are encouraged to engage further by following the podcast on Patreon, where they can access additional content and participate in the interactive storytelling experience.

Notable Quotes with Timestamps

• Ape Canaveral: "What's going on here?" (07:05)
• Firefly: "I don't want to hurt his friends." (39:56)
• Animus: "I need to get them out to safety somehow." (22:00)
• Amanda Weldon: "Champions of the city, defenders of the peace, Heroes of justice, the Giga City Guardian." (04:17)
• Jillian Jayes: "I will make amends with the bricks." (50:30)

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Final Thoughts

This episode of the Stories Podcast masterfully combines interactive role-playing elements with engaging storytelling, creating a captivating experience for kids and their families. Through the adventures of the Gigacity Guardians, themes of heroism, responsibility, and teamwork are explored, all while maintaining a fun and imaginative atmosphere suitable for all ages. As the Guardians face new challenges and navigate complex moral dilemmas, listeners are left eager for the next installment in this thrilling saga.

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Transcript

[Host]

Hello.

[Amanda Weldon]

Welcome to Stories Podcast. I'm your host, Amanda Weldon. Today's story is a crossover episode from Stories rpg, our Play at Home, Listen and Learn game that helps people of all ages tell amazing stories together. Tune in for a regular episode of Stories Podcast later this week. We have Stories Podcast merch, [e-mail] shop. We're also on Cameo for all of.

[Jillian Jayes]

Your personalized video message needs. And don't forget to follow us on Instagram oriespodcast. If you send us a drawing of.

[Amanda Weldon]

Your favorite scene or character, we'll share it on our feed. Now, here's a word from our sponsors. This episode of Stories Podcast is sponsored by Squarespace. Squarespace is the all in one website platform for entrepreneurs to stand out and succeed online. Whether you're just launching a new venture or managing a successful business, Squarespace makes it possible to create a beautiful website and engage with your audience. And Squarespace makes it so easy to sell anything from products to content to time, all in one place, all on your terms. With Squarespace payments onboarding is fast and simple. Get started in just a few clicks and start receiving payments right away. It's even easy to invoice clients and create proposals, estimates and contracts, simplify your workflow and manage your business on one platform. Also, Squarespace has integrated SEO tools. Every Squarespace website is optimized to be indexed with meta descriptions, an auto generated sitemap, and more, so you show up more often to more people in global search engine results. Head to squarespace.com for a free trial and when you're ready to launch squarespace.comdragon to save 10% off your first purchase of a website or domain. That's squarespace.comdragon for 10% off your first purchase of a website or domain. Parents does your child struggle with a specific subject and need extra help? Are they way ahead and not getting challenged enough in class? IXL Learning is an online learning program that enriches your homeschool curriculum. It offers practice in math, English language arts, science and social studies while adapting to each child, meeting them where they are. Plus, IXL encourages students to be curious and empowers them to choose how to learn. And it's flexible and personalized. Kids can explore any topic in any grade level. If your child is falling behind in some areas and soaring way ahead in others, IXL is a great program to help them get the exact support they need exactly where they need it. Make an impact on your child's learning. Get IXL now. Stories podcast listeners can get an exclusive 20% off IXL membership when they sign up today at ixl.com dragon Visit ixl.com dragon to get the most effective learning program out there at the best price. Thanks. Enjoy the episode.

[Host]

So welcome back to Stories rpg. This is the podcast where we use a game to tell stories together. And you can too. I am joined, as always, by the Gigacity Guardians, that is Firefly. Tell them who you are.

[Jillian Jayes]

Hello, I am Jillian Jayes, who is a high school student by day and I am also Firefly, who is the leader of the Giga City Guardians by night. I'm also Amanda from Stories podcast.

[Host]

Yay, Amanda. And also the amazing Ape Canaveral.

[Ape Canaveral]

Ape Canaveral. He is a rocket experiment gone right, I would say. Anyway, he's here, he's with the Giga City Guardians and he's doing his best, which is pretty great.

[Host]

Impervious to harm. You forgot that. That's so critical. And then Animus, the Dark Horse, the newbie, tell them who you are.

[Animus]

Yeah, Newbie is correct. This is less than 24 hours from meeting Giddigac City Guardians and I am right. It feels like in the middle of mess. I am Animus, office worker turned Guardian and I am ready to take down Tess Corp.

[Host]

Champions of the city, defenders of the peace, Heroes of justice, the Giga City Guardian. And on that note, we left last time in the middle of a drama clock, so I'm just going to set the scene for you here to remind you where you were, which was on the edge of your seats. You were Firefly Inspects are back at the Lighthouse. They were engaged in a high stakes hacking duel with the sort of mysterious superhuman hacker Ellipsis, who has been jacking their tech and also sort of taking back the drones he's been controlling. Animus was deep within Tus Corp, having managed to get past security and has found a strange fungus like figure in a room that had been broken into, surrounded by people who look very out of it and very afraid. And she was feeling a lot of grief off of this figure when we last left her and Ape. We left as, as Scriv put it last time, eating an ab sandwich crushed beneath a massive, shockingly good looking oversized Centaur Brick, who had fallen and slid into him after Ape had, you know, casually placed a banana in his path and currently is surrounded by a pile of bricks, people who look like they were either abducted or rescued, you don't know from Tusk Corp. And you've just been joined by two of Gigacity Gold 2 Ton and Gyro who seem like they really want to get all these people back or possibly, you know, just beat on these bricks. It's unclear. There's a lot of drama going on and nobody really knows what's happening, at least on your side. So when we left off, each of you had taken one move, a piece from everyone. And then Scriv, you've made a second move. So now Firefly has a move and Ape has a move. Two moves left until this drama clock runs out. And you must get at least two triumphs in those moves, so you cannot afford to fail. Who would like to start?

[Ape Canaveral]

I'd like to resolve this centaur just crushing me and this brick crushing the centaur who's crushing me.

[Host]

2 ton.

[Ape Canaveral]

2 ton crushing the centaur, Crushing me. I'm going to. I guess I'm going to say to the centaur just in between, like. Like, boom. What's going boom on with this?

[Host]

It's also. It's going to be kind of squeezed because you may be invulnerable, but your. Your lungs still require air. So you're probably. It's gonna. Hey, you, like there's gonna be a little bit of a strain to squeeze it out. Yeah.

[Ape Canaveral]

What's going on here?

[Host]

You feel this massive shift. The body kind of rotates a little and shoves. You kind of are able to squeeze out sideways. You see that this brick, this massive centaur, has got his hands locked with Teuton and they're kind of pushing against each other. Two Ton all of a sudden lifts up and so does the centaur and they both begin to float. And two Ton flips on top of him and up into the air and. And then suddenly plummets down again. And you scramble sideways as he does, and he slams the centaur into the pavement. And it looks like it hurts. It feels like it hurts. You feel the reverberation. Meanwhile, Gyro. Gyro has just flown past feet first. Remember, he has those massive boots that allow him to redirect gravity and grabbed one of the figures and then he. He flips and flies up and he lands on a building top and deposits it and then jumps down to go get another. The cat looks over at you and hisses and goes, look what you've done. Do you even know what's going on? And then she hurls the claws up into the air. She whips her claws back and you see these little metallic glints fly through the air. It's like she's chucking metal claws.

[Ape Canaveral]

Are they flying at me?

[Host]

No, she's chucking them at Gyro.

[Ape Canaveral]

Oh, that's fine with me.

[Host]

Skitter is trying to pull the bodies. He looks over and he goes, hey, monkey dude. Are you gonna be, like, useful or something? Like, what do you want?

[Ape Canaveral]

This is the bug kid?

[Host]

Yeah.

[Ape Canaveral]

Oh, he did call me monkey dude. Kind of like it.

[Jillian Jayes]

Have we asked any of their names yet?

[Amanda Weldon]

Nope.

[Animus]

No, but we've just heard Skitter.

[Host]

Oh, I just let that slip, did I? Yeah.

[Ape Canaveral]

Too late now. Now we know.

[Host]

Eep. Anybody who's played the game at home will know Skitter from the game.

[Ape Canaveral]

I just had to kind of throw up my hands like. Like, whoa, whoa, whoa. Pretty slow down. It's probably not going to work. That's fine. I just said I'm going to yell at. At the bug man and the cat lady, and she's going to be like, hey, what's going on? Why are they after you? Why are you running? Just give me the quick and dirty here.

[Host]

The cat lifts up one of the bodies and goes, if you want to know anything, come with us and grab someone. And, like, starts running the kid. The kid's like, I'm too small to do much of this, but you could help him out. And points over at the big guy, and he goes, hey, Ken hand. The big centaur looks over and goes, no, I'm fine. And as he says that, you see Two Ton jump up lightly on his feet, clearly weightless, and flip above this guy's head, Ken's head. And Ken lifts up, too. It looks like he's made both of them weightless. And then suddenly turn into a ball and slam back onto the back of this massive centaur. And you hear the pounding, and you swear, Ape, there was some cracking in there. That guy does not look good. He's really giving him a wham. And you hear. You hear the center go, oof. Okay, maybe not.

[Ape Canaveral]

All right. Ape is going to jump between these two. He's like, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. Why are we beating this guy up?

[Host]

You try to jump in between them. He's literally on top of this guy's back. So the closest you can come is you kind of, like, jump next to him, and you're like, hey, like, what's going on? Two Ton looks over at you, and he goes, a guardian. And then he reaches out, touches you, and he does this flick. And when he flicks you, you lose mass, and you go flying away, floating through the air, and you lose the mass reduction right over the water. You plunge like a rock, and you're in the water.

[Ape Canaveral]

All right. Mad about it. Certainly. Just quick, really quick. Googling. If chimps can swim.

[Animus]

Oh, I'm so. Can't talk.

[Host]

So you've got some. You got some extra skills most chimps don't have.

[Animus]

You're a space aviator. So pilots have to go through certain kinds of training, Right? I'm sure you had to go through training.

[Host]

Wait a minute. Zero G when he's massless. Wouldn't Ape Canaveral be like super good at zero G?

[Ape Canaveral]

Movement 100%. But he already. If he's in the water, the water is a little different thing.

[Host]

Well, I'm ready to say you go flying.

[Animus]

Winding.

[Host]

Of course, we can always edit. This is a story we tell together. We want to tell the best story possible. Right. And we want it to make sense, but we also want it to be dramatic and cool. Do you want to make a move here to do something to flip this weightlessness in your favor?

[Ape Canaveral]

Yeah. So I've been weightless before. I understand how it works. I understand physics. I lift up kind of as I'm drifting by stuff, my hands kind of flailing. I'm going to try to catch a chunk of rubble from all this destruction, and I'm going to chuck it away from me to use that force to push me in the direction I want to go.

[Host]

Where do you want to go? Where are you going? To try to redirect.

[Ape Canaveral]

I looked right back at this guy. If he throws me again, I'm going to do it again.

[Host]

Are you going for the face? Are you like, I don't know how you're going in, man.

[Ape Canaveral]

Yeah, I'm going in. Both feet up, drop kick style, if I can manage it. But I'm going to. I'm going to roll for it. And I think, is this a.

[Host]

Okay, this is a move. That's what I needed to know if it's a move. All right, what do you got that's going to help you with this move?

[Ape Canaveral]

Definitely my drive. Getting back into space. My space time.

[Host]

This is your space training. I buy it. I buy it.

[Ape Canaveral]

Cannot be harmed. Not super useful here.

[Host]

I don't know. You're about to throw yourself at a guy who's pretty dangerous, but okay, that's true. I would give you your ration. Cocky. This is like you're quickly making a move here.

[Ape Canaveral]

Yeah. And I don't really have a plan for when I get back there because he already kind of dealt with me once. But I'll figure that out when I get there.

[Host]

You're like hey, what's going on? And he flipped you away, and you're like, I don't care. I'm going right back in. Yeah.

[Ape Canaveral]

All right, here, let me give my roll. Take three. Die.

[Host]

Oh, you're adding the power, too. All right, we'll. We'll take it. I'm being very nice with y'all.

[Ape Canaveral]

Not great. Two, a three, and a four.

[Host]

Oh, wonderful. Okay, so here's what happens. That's success. That's triumph, but with a trouble. So you land on this guy's face, and he immediately goes up because you grab hold. And the problem is, if he changes mass, it doesn't make much difference if you're. You're digging your. Your fingers into his scalp, and that's exactly what you're doing.

[Ape Canaveral]

Yeah, my toes.

[Host]

Are you yelling at him while you're grabbing onto his head? Are you, like, saying anything? Are you just shrieking like a chimp? What's the move here?

[Ape Canaveral]

Definitely, I grab with my toe, grab, like, basically his lapels with my toes, and then I just lean in. I grab his face in both hands. It's like, what are you doing?

[Host]

Okay. You're like, what are you doing? And at that point, the centaur stands up and throws both of you.

[Ape Canaveral]

God.

[Host]

And you go flying. And this is the trouble. You're spiraling through the air. He kicks you off, and you go. You land on the ground, and you're gonna take a heart of damage, definitely, but you are free. And this guy is off the centaur. The others have started throwing the bodies that they've got onto the centaur. Gyro slams into the back of Ken's shoulders and then shifts and, like, turns, grabs one of the bodies, flips his boots the other way and shoots back towards that building. The big guy staggers a little, and then he starts running for what looks like one of those big. It's like the edge of the port, but there's, like, one of those sewer outs down there, and it looks like he's going to just jump in. The other two are each dragging a body and trying to run after him. There's a couple more bodies left, and Gyro just headed up to the. The other area.

[Ape Canaveral]

Ape's made up his mind. I've made up my mind. I don't trust these gold guys. This whole thing seems sketchy and not in their favor. I am going to kind of turn and now prepared for this guy, my monkey toes firmly grabbing the ground, and I'm going to place myself between the fleeing people and Giga. City gold. I'm gonna take off my sunglasses, just give them a quick screen em up, put them back on, and then just put up the Dukes again. Anchored to the ground by my toes, hoping Firefly and them are aware of me.

[Host]

I would give you one modification. You might want to stand near some rubble, because these guys are pretty agile. They could easily just leave you alone. Chuck some cement at them, and they got more problems.

[Ape Canaveral]

Yeah, I was imagining kind of blocking the way, but if it's a big way. Yeah, I'm gonna. I'm gonna make myself as big as I can and try to occupy their attention.

[Host]

There's a couple of bodies. There's a couple of these people who they were trying to carry who are sprawled on the ground. And you can see them now. They're in hospital gowns. One of them groans and kind of staggers to their feet. Their skin is pinkish. Gyro has just left for that. That building top. The big guy, two ton, looks at you and goes, ellipsis is really going to like this. And he grins really big. And then he touches his ear and he goes, you're going to want to get some video on this, by the way. You didn't get all the drones, Firefly, just to be clear, you got that swarm that was chasing them.

[Jillian Jayes]

What do you mean? I thought I.

[Host]

You got the swarm that was chasing them.

[Animus]

Oh, no, there's more.

[Host]

Remember when Animus closed with the building, there were swarms of drones kind of circling around.

[Jillian Jayes]

Yes.

[Host]

The swarm you got was the one that was originally chasing them. And you are aware. Specs goes, oh, we got feeds. One of the swarms peels off. You hear the voice again. You're still getting the dot, dot, dots on your screen. And he goes, this is fun. You're not bad at this.

[Jillian Jayes]

Oh, my God. I. This is infuriating. I do not like that kind of taunting at all. But I am not bad at this, and I do appreciate the compliment.

[Host]

You're like, I'm really mad, but actually, thank you.

[Animus]

Thanks.

[Host]

Game recognized. Game.

[Jillian Jayes]

Yeah.

[Animus]

Yeah.

[Jillian Jayes]

Okay, so there's another. There's what's showing up on my feed now. What are we seeing?

[Host]

You can see that. Oh, there's about three or four swarms of these things. It's massive. It's become kind of like a hovering thing, and they're plowing towards the waterline. And you can see their. Their feeds are going live. And Specs is like, I'm getting them out as. As soon as they pop up. But he's got multiple Feeds. I don't know how he's doing this.

[Jillian Jayes]

Okay. So I don't know how he's doing it either. Can we ask him?

[Host]

Sure, go ahead. It's clear he likes to banter.

[Jillian Jayes]

Sure.

[Host]

If you'd like to banter, by all means, banter.

[Jillian Jayes]

Yeah. You're not so bad at this yourself. What are you doing? What's your plan here?

[Host]

Generally, I like to win.

[Jillian Jayes]

Sure. What are we trying to win for? What's the object of this game?

[Host]

He kind of chuckles and he goes, oh, that's adorable. You want me to tell you everything? That's cute. Does that work for you usually?

[Jillian Jayes]

Often, yes.

[Host]

He laughs a little more and he goes, well, I suppose there's quite a lot of narcissists in this game. And then the. You see the things like. Like hover and they zoom through. Scriv down in the basement. I will mention again, that little fungal person looked up and said, are you going to get us out of here?

[Animus]

I'm just going to say yes. Okay, so.

[Host]

Okay, some quick hints here. Ready?

[Animus]

Yep.

[Host]

These are some things that I'm thinking of because I didn't know how you got. You all were going to do this. This is part of the fun of collective storytelling. Right? You don't know what people are going to do, and so you all kind of have to come up with ideas together and ask questions about what would make sense next. Here's what I can see, and then y'all can tell me what you see for each other. Because we've got. Remember, one move left. So here's what I see. Firefly and Specs, you could potentially use your hacked drones, the ones you. You at least have control of, to try to find a way out of the building for Animus and this. This group of people.

[Jillian Jayes]

Okay? And so we did. We did continue to have control of them, even though we lost the screens. Like, we couldn't get the visual feed on them. Okay.

[Host]

Correct. Basically, all he did was prevent you from broadcasting. He didn't want you putting this out into the world.

[Jillian Jayes]

Okay, but we can still move them around.

[Host]

Yes. You have not. You've managed to keep the signal. You've completely gotten them off the channel.

[Jillian Jayes]

All right, then there's another option.

[Host]

You can always go Firefly and Tear after the drones that are catching up with. With Ape. You don't know what it's going to do to the mutagen in your veins. Werebear is fully out, and he's suited up. He woke up when you started yelling at the computer and Banging on it. Because you were mad at Ellipsis. He kind of got up and he's like, what's going on? And he. He saw on one of the feeds, he's like, whoa, hey, that's Ape. And then like four seconds later, he's in his suit and he's like, oh, buddy. All right, I'm ready. Like, he has no idea what's going on. His hair is all goofy looking. So there's possibilities here for you doing multiple things with one move.

[Animus]

May I interject?

[Host]

Yes, please.

[Animus]

So I think I know how to get out of the building. Because I. I found my way in, I could potentially find my way out. However, I'll probably ask for some backup from some of the other Guardians to meet me outside. Because I know I'm not necessarily like a direct fighter, but I really want to make sure that we keep these people safe, and I want to try to get them out to safety somehow. Not necessarily you, but if we have other Guardians who could potentially meet me and we can team up, I will.

[Host]

Say this much about that. It is very dangerous for any of the Guardians to be on film at this point.

[Animus]

Okay.

[Host]

If any of the Guardians get spotted near. Near this mess, you don't know how they're going to bend it. But that's something that I will tell you that Jillian is having an absolute heart attack about. You're realizing, like, oh, boy.

[Animus]

Got it.

[Host]

This is no joke. Like, if they catch us on. If they catch Ape out there fighting with Giga City gold, oh, boy. Because you don't know how they're gonna spin it, but if these are the people that Tusk was saving and you are seen protecting a bunch of bricks who were stealing them away, that looks real bad.

[Animus]

Got it. Got it.

[Ape Canaveral]

I'm just on the comms, like, hey, guys. Things a little crazy out here. The city gold is bad, right? They seem bad.

[Animus]

Yeah, I think. I think we can all agree on that. I found some captives. They're in really bad shape. I need to get them out somewhere safe.

[Ape Canaveral]

I got some here, too. And they're on a roof. I can't. I can't get a man fight these guys. We need some help.

[Jillian Jayes]

So the things I have to consider in this moment are, number one, I'm worried about the things beyond the camera. Number two, there's captives that we need to save, and they are with Animus, who is our newest person, who, even if she can get them out of the building, we don't know about, like, how, like the rest of the escape maneuver Three, I've been injected with an unknown pathogen or something. Something is in my body that makes me feel bad. And I shouldn't really even be out of my hyperbaric chamber right now, but I am, and so is Werebear, and those are our, like, resources at this time. And then Ape is also in trouble and needs, like, support and needs to not also be on camera during that time. So this is a tricky situation, and I don't really know what to do. And I feel like, unfortunately, that I have to suit up. I think I have to put the suit on. I think I have to help the captives.

[Animus]

Okay, can Specs do the drones for me?

[Jillian Jayes]

Can Specs do the drones? Yeah, I want Specs to do the drones.

[Animus]

Yeah.

[Host]

Okay. There's a bond. Yes.

[Jillian Jayes]

Yes.

[Host]

So Specs can do the drones. That's one dice of this move. Even though you're doing multiple things here, it's still one move. Okay, this is what's cool about the narrative flexibility here. We can do as much with one move as we need to. Yeah. So we've got your suit. You're going to blast off, and you're going to try to nab the folks that were on that gyro grabbed, and you've got the location now, because you know where those drones that you hacked were originally going. So you're headed there. Specs is going to try to get the drones that he's controlling to lead you, Animus, and this crew out of the building. You don't think. Wherever those others got out, you don't think that they got out up top? You think they probably came in underneath? You think there's something going on there? So that's two. Do you have anything else that's going to help you here?

[Jillian Jayes]

Yeah, it's that I really can't stand Ellipsis. So I really. This is. This is fueling me right now because I really. I need to. I need to outsmart that guy. I need to have a win.

[Host]

So, yeah, I mean, in that matchstick, temper would also be perfectly appropriate here. All right, three full dice. Let's see what you get.

[Jillian Jayes]

I'm doing it now.

[Amanda Weldon]

Oh, I got a 6, a 5, and a 3.

[Animus]

Awesome.

[Host]

You can even level that up. Hold on. You can even boost that because you didn't use your boost last time, did you?

[Jillian Jayes]

Yeah, I did not use my boost last time, and I would like to, because I want a big win, mostly.

[Host]

Beautiful. You earned it on this one. It's fine. So you go blasting off, you scream through the sky, you See, you've got like little target locks and you're over boosting. And Firefly, when you get going, this, this suit has supersonic capabilities. It's incredible how fast you can move. And it's heatless. So you are tearing through the city at a breakneck pace. And you feel it. You're just like, this is what I needed to do. Like, you've been so frustrated. Every piece of this has been so confusing. And it hasn't just been a straight up easy to understand fight. A goal you could wrap your head around. And right now you really just want to win. And the speed and the air rushing past you, they invigorate you. And you see Gyro flipping down, back to the port. And you also see those drones hovering up. You actually tear through the drones and you literally, when I say you tear through the drones, you destroy. Like you blast directly through them. There are shatterings of golden dust and lands slam onto the rooftop. There are three figures there. And you can see Ape down there squaring off with a guy who looks like, this is a huge, meaty dude. Two ton's massive. He's really big. His hands are like shovels. He's got fingers like snoss edges. It's. It's rough. Okay, so you land right next to these bodies and you've got a call here. You can just rock it off with the bodies and just, just laugh as they tangle with Ape. Or you can try to take them. Like, you can, you can spot, you can see down near the edge of the port, there's a sewer out and you can see some movement in there. You can see these bricks running and they're, they look like, you know, the big guy, he's limping. It's clear. He's. He's not well. After that tangle with two tongs, you could catch up with them. It's up to you.

[Ape Canaveral]

Ape's been here, so Ape's gonna. Ape, when Ape sees Firefly, big smile, gonna look up and say, hey, follow him into the soar. I don't know what's going on, but that's where they're going. We gotta ditch these gold guys. You go after them.

[Jillian Jayes]

Yeah, okay. That's where I'm going. I want to go there.

[Host]

Okay, you, are you taking the bodies? These, these patients, they seem like they're unconscious, but they've been stashed here by Gyro. You think you can like grab them and still carry them and like hold them aloft, but it's up to you. Because if you leave them here? You're not sure.

[Jillian Jayes]

Oh, wait, I'm sorry. I want to take them and save them. That's what I. I want to do.

[Host]

Now there's a whole pile of more of these people going into the sewer. Out. That's the issue. If you grab these and go away with them, you're leaving the other ones to go with the bricks.

[Jillian Jayes]

I have to make a bigger pile. I have to make them all come together. And then. And then. There's got to be something in my suit. My suit must have some kind of, like, net situation or like a.

[Host]

You got straps, actually.

[Jillian Jayes]

Straps. Perfect.

[Host]

There are three bodies that have been three patients who have, like, sprawled out and have been reclaimed by Gyro before the bricks manage to get into the sewer. Out.

[Ape Canaveral]

You can carry three. This is Ape speaking. You can carry three. Just get in there. What are these guys going to do to you? I. I handle them easy. You'll be. You'll be fine.

[Jillian Jayes]

Okay. All right.

[Ape Canaveral]

I didn't handle him easy. But she doesn't know that.

[Animus]

Piece of cake. Piece of cake. Or a piece of banana.

[Jillian Jayes]

So that's what I do. I'll take all three of those, and then I'll go where everyone else is.

[Host]

So you strap them in, and you kind of lift off, and you see Gyro streaking towards you, and you just kind of, like, drop. And then you head for the sewer. Out. Ape, you see Gyro going after Firefly, and would you like to just chuck a piece of concrete and knock him off course? You guys have fixed the drama clock, so this is a freebie. You get to. You get to bong him one if you want.

[Ape Canaveral]

Yeah, I'm trying to make sure they can't follow Firefly. So if they're flying, then, yeah, I want to. I want to chuck a big. It's like Thor's hammer. It's a big piece of rubble with a rebar sticking out of it.

[Animus]

Nice.

[Ape Canaveral]

And I'm going to swing around and hurl it.

[Host]

Well, those two big dudes going at each other have bashed up the asphalt around here, and you. A big chunk of it, and you fling it right at Gyro's legs. You hit one of his boots, and all of a sudden he goes wonky and he starts falling sideways, and he sort of, like, is. Is accelerating, and Two Ton goes crap and then jumps, like, really high and goes floating after him. Clearly, he's going to try to. To grab him. You have a choice. Do you want to go to the sewer out or do you want to ditch? You can hear the cops coming through the streets. You can hear the sirens. If you stay here much longer, they're gonna find you.

[Ape Canaveral]

Yeah. I'm gonna go to the sewer and I'm gonna tell Animus where to meet us. And I'm hoping that she can get there.

[Host]

You're like, animus, meet me at. And then you're like, a place in the sewers near the. Like you can. This is the kind of thing Specs would ping. But Ape is just like, yeah, there's a sewer out. I'm going in. And off you go.

[Ape Canaveral]

Yeah.

[Host]

Meanwhile at Tuscorp.

[Animus]

Yep.

[Host]

You hear Specs Animus.

[Animus]

Yep.

[Host]

Specs is like, ah, nuts. He's like, she got out of the chamber and. Okay, hold on. I'm gonna find you a way out. The little drones start circling around. And he goes, I got it, I got it. Follow the drones.

[Animus]

Okay, thanks.

[Host]

And they. They lead you down the corridor. You're stepping over. These people are scrambling away from you. The. The little fungal figure is like, everyone up. And like, they all kind of stagger together.

[Animus]

Is a small one, like a child.

[Host]

He's probably only. You don't know if it's a he. I should say they. They are probably about three and a half feet tall, but they don't look like a child. They're kind of thick bodied and have very short, stubby arms. They're wearing some sort of like a vest over a hoodie and a couple of different things. Lots of bags and pockets. And there's one thing sticking up above the shoulder, and it looks sort of like a shoulder slung sword. And you realize it's an umbrella. Oh, okay. It's not a. It's not a sword at all.

[Animus]

I was about to get really excited about the sword.

[Host]

Yeah. You know, prisoners generally aren't allowed to have these sorts of things. Or we don't know if they're a prisoner.

[Animus]

But hey, an umbrella can be good too.

[Host]

This is true.

[Animus]

So I ask them, are you able to walk? Better yet, are you able to run if we need to?

[Host]

He says, most of them can't talk yet. I've been doing what I can. Can't talk yet, but. But they can. They can walk, I believe. And he turns and he kind of holds up his hands a little and they sway a little bit. And then like, there's a couple of them nod and one of them shakes their head. And then they all sort of start staggering towards the doorway. And he says, I don't know how long we have.

[Animus]

Am I still feeling that sorrow from them. What am I feeling from them right now?

[Host]

He feels very sad. They feel almost like. Like floating. The grief is coming off of the little figure. Them.

[Animus]

Yeah. Okay, I'm gonna reach out my hand.

[Host]

Yep.

[Animus]

We're gonna get you out of here, but I'm gonna need you guys to be brave, but we'll do this. Okay. And I do want to touch just a little bit of that power just to help to, like, kind of harden the resolve a little bit as we get ready to go. I'm not. I wasn't gonna make it a move.

[Host]

But you get the feeling that the little guy is very determined. These others, it's almost like you can't feel their emotions. They're not.

[Animus]

Okay, I'm going to let that marinate while we're walking.

[Host]

In the back of my mind, they're not feeling nothing. They're a little bit, like, dampened, but they're staggering. After you. And they seem to be convinced to follow the little guy. Okay, you guys follow. You follow a trail of sort of broken doors to a side stairwell that goes down to a garbage area, and there's an open port, and the little drone sort of like hops and goes down into the chute.

[Animus]

Okay, we follow. I'm gonna. I'm gonna use that passive kind of sensing again to try to see if in case there's anything that comes up to intercept us that I'm somewhat ready, but we'll follow.

[Host]

You're not feeling any emotions from down there, but it's dark and it's garbagey. Oh, smells lovely. Yeah, it's really tasty. You go sliding down into the dark. There is a splash when you hit, and then there are more people splashing around you. And you have a little bit of a nasty moment trying to sort of get everybody together, and finally you're all sort of standing up, and the little one is. Is deeper in than anyone else. They're up to, like, their chest, you know, you've got up to your knees and they look at you and they go, I thank you. Those should not come any further. And he looks at the drones and he says, I will not take you unless they leave.

[Animus]

What do you mean, take me? They're showing us the way out. Do you know where to go?

[Host]

This is where I am most at home. Specs. Specs on the radio goes, I'm starting to get some problems with the reception. I could. I've got too many pipes. Cock created the. Can you hear me? The little. The little person reaches up his hand, and he says, I trusted you. Now I ask that you trust me.

[Animus]

Specs. I'll check in when I can.

[Ape Canaveral]

Can you, can you, like, sense motive?

[Animus]

Yeah, I, I, I can sense emotions, and that's going to be tricky with, with sensing motive.

[Host]

We're off the drama clock. But you can sense his emotions? Yeah, if you want to. You want to make a move on this? This is a move that you are choosing to make. Just to find out if you want. Or you can just roll with it and go with him.

[Animus]

I think I'm going to roll with it.

[Ape Canaveral]

Yeah. He seems like a fun guy.

[Animus]

I think I'm going to go, oh, my goodness.

[Host]

Oh, he, he's never heard that, by the way. Like, that's a character. He's never had to deal with the puns.

[Animus]

Oh, we must protect them. Okay, so I'll just say into the, like, specs, I'll check in when I can. Hey.

[Host]

But I. And, like, it gets more garbled as the little one turns and leads you into the dark.

[Animus]

Okay, we're doing it.

[Host]

And I'm going to cut to the sewer out, where Firefly, you have just screamed into this sewer out. And almost plowed into this group of bricks who's struggling along the corridor. The minute you arrive, you hear a yell, and it's like the cat, the cat, like, screams and starts throwing chucking claws at you like, Like a hail. The big centaur turns around and looks terrified, literally look of absolute abject terror. And he, he just, he runs at you, roaring, and he says, just run. Just run. And, like, runs at you and starts swinging madly.

[Jillian Jayes]

Why?

[Host]

Yeah, that's a, that's a good question.

[Jillian Jayes]

Why are they. Why what? Is, is there time to just inquire, like, what's up? Why, why are you upset with me?

[Host]

No, you don't, you don't have the time to ask that. They literally, they look. So I'll just let you know, they look like they've just seen somebody who, like, this is the, this is what you do when you are faced with somebody who you are convinced is going to destroy you. They look terrified for their lives and for the lives of their friends.

[Jillian Jayes]

Okay.

[Host]

Of you.

[Jillian Jayes]

Right?

[Host]

Of you.

[Jillian Jayes]

Right. Which. And I'm not terrifying, and I am only wanting to help people, and I'm not somebody that's going to hurt them without cause. So I would like to stop them from coming at me without injuring them.

[Host]

What kind of move would you like to make to try to do this? Because that's a move especially because you're burdened by three bodies. You're carrying three people.

[Jillian Jayes]

Yeah. So I can't really, like, I don't have full, like, agility at this time. Is there. Do I have any, like, force?

[Host]

You could try to influence them. I mean, if they are worried about these people, you could literally say, I. I. Please don't hurt me. These people are innocent. You could try something like that. That might slow them down, but you don't know.

[Jillian Jayes]

Well, they're already throwing things at me.

[Host]

Right.

[Jillian Jayes]

The cat.

[Host]

Well, they. They started that. Obviously, they saw your firefly glow coming down the tunnel, and clearly they have some reaction to you. That is very powerful.

[Jillian Jayes]

Yeah. So I would. I would like to try influencing them and say, like, stop. These people are innocent. I don't want to have trouble. I mean you no harm.

[Host]

Okay. The cat, like, flings the blades from her claw from her paw. They go spinning, and they strike right above your head. The big guy kind of just, like, blocks the tunnel, and he goes, go, go, go. And, like, yells it behind at the rest of them, and the rest of them start running. And he's. He's just standing there, like, all squared up, but he's actually trembling. He looks really roughed up, and he looks absolutely terrified of you.

[Animus]

Is there a history between you and the bricks?

[Jillian Jayes]

Oh, there is a history. That is a thing that happened, didn't it? Because the bricks were at the Scarlet King, and I. Because I destroyed the Scarlet King, and the bricks were there. Is that correct?

[Host]

You dropped a giant spore bomb onto the Scarlet King's lair, where there were countless bricks trapped in jail cells underneath the Earth. Good.

[Jillian Jayes]

Cool. There it is.

[Host]

At the end of the first brilliant firefly arc. Yeah. Granted, I want to make this very clear. You had a very difficult decision to make. Your suit was leaking, so you weren't able to go into the stratosphere to get rid of the bomb. You were worried about dropping it into the ocean because there's a lot of life in the ocean, and you don't know what that would have done to the city. And the island on which the Scarlet King had built their fortress was crawling with some very dangerous and very aggressive brick mutants. And at the time, you weren't really thinking very deeply about the fact that there were a large number of people imprisoned there for the Scarlet King to experiment on.

[Ape Canaveral]

And to her credit, the one that she did recognize were known criminals.

[Jillian Jayes]

So I feel like what I need to do most of all, perhaps, is, like, acknowledge and apologize or something. Like, maybe that would be more effective at this time, though, I don't know that.

[Host]

That it's a little early in the hello space. I think you're having a moment here where Jillian is like, why is this person scared of me? And then there's, like. There's like, a series of flashes of memory that just click through Jillian's mind, and she finds herself suddenly, like, slowing down and, like, kind of just you lock eyes with this giant centaur, and he can't see your face behind the helmet.

[Jillian Jayes]

Oh.

[Host]

But you have this moment where there's this change in your body language. He hasn't moved, and he's just sort of, like, shaking, wounded. And he's like, I'm not letting you hurt my friends. And he's just, like, squared up, ready to, like, fill this sewer tunnel as much as he can.

[Jillian Jayes]

Yeah, I don't want to hurt his friends.

[Ape Canaveral]

Yeah, tell him that.

[Jillian Jayes]

I would like to tell him that I don't want to hurt his friends.

[Animus]

They need to see that you're not a threat to them.

[Host]

He says, put them down. Why did you put. Bring them here. What are you doing here if it's not to hurt us?

[Jillian Jayes]

I'm trying. I'm gonna put them down. I'm putting them down.

[Host]

Okay.

[Jillian Jayes]

And I'm trying to be helpful. I'm trying to help because it looked like innocent people needed help. That's why I came.

[Host]

He looks at you and he goes, sell it to someone else. And then he goes and he slowly collects those bodies, and he's eyeing you the whole time, and he puts them on his back. And then he slowly starts backing down the corridor, his eyes on you the whole time.

[Animus]

What if you took the helmet off?

[Jillian Jayes]

I don't know if I'm ready to take the helmet off.

[Animus]

Yeah.

[Jillian Jayes]

Yeah. I feel like that's something I'd have to discuss with Specs just regarding taking the helmet off. I don't realistically, like, the reason to take the helmet off would be to show them that I'm not a threat, but I am the person. Like, even if I take the helmet off, I'm still the person that did it. And, like, the only reason I would have, like, I think the only reason that I could seem non threatening at that time is, like, maybe if they see that I'm a girl or something, but, like, I am still the person who did the bad thing. Like, I am still the person. So, like, they didn't know.

[Host]

I'm not thinking about this as being you're a girl or you're a kid. I'm thinking of it as being. Being able to see the expression on your face.

[Animus]

Okay.

[Host]

You are currently a faceless robot that has very negative associations for this particular person and for this group. So right now, they can't tell how you feel. Sure, you could say, I feel this way, but it sure doesn't show. So I was imagining it as an empathy move if you wanted to try it out, but if you don't, you can try to negotiate this some other way. He's backing away still. His eyes flicker. And you're, by the way, struck by, at this moment, all of you. He's disheveled, he's beaten, he's bruised, and he's just so beautiful. Yeah, he's just the most beautiful. Like, his hair is still, like, shiny. It's flowing. He's just. It's really unreasonable. He flicks past you to Ape and he goes, thank you. And he nods, and then he turns and he goes, I'm trusting you not to come any further. And then suddenly he. He turns and runs into the darkness. With all the bodies on his back.

[Ape Canaveral]

We'Re gonna follow him, right?

[Jillian Jayes]

No, I think that that's. We would be scaring him so much. We would be the bad guys.

[Animus]

That's amazing.

[Ape Canaveral]

Ape has visions of Planet of the Apes in his head. Just a monkey riding a horse, and he's real keen on it.

[Animus]

A beautiful, beautiful horseman.

[Host]

You'd be able to, like, you know, ride his shoulders. That's the best part. You know, it's a piggyback ride and a horseback ride. They'd be a cool team up, honestly. Like Ape on the back of. Of of Kentucky. There you go. There's his last name for you.

[Animus]

Yes.

[Host]

All right, so we're going to close the scene as Kentucky slowly recedes into the darkness with all the extra people. You've just given this strange brick the last people who were rescued from TUS Corp. And we also know that Animus is walking into the darkness holding the hand of this strange little mushroom like person. After they've asked you to trust them, Specs is slamming on his keyboard and sort of. Sort of like in frustration because he's lost you, Animus. So the next morning, you all feel like you were run over by a truck. In Abe's case, you feel like you were run over by a truck shaped like a centaur. And Animus has not come back to the lighthouse. Riptide is making breakfast for everyone. He wakes everybody up and he's like, okay, so I saw a little bit of what happened, but, yo, you guys are like all over the news. And he clicks it on and he says, not, not actually you, but like, you know all the stuff that happened last night. This was the scene at Tusk Corporation this morning where Fred Tusk has declared that bricks, the mutant offspring of the Scarlet King, have apparently engaged in full terrorist actions against a major corporation. I'm going live to the scene now at the edge of Tusk Corporation. We can see some of the damage. Can you tell us what's going on there, Maggie? Yeah, good morning, Jim. I'm standing at the edge of Tusk Corporation. You can see some of the damage done to the building here. Some of the security cameras were able to catch some of what happened. I'm putting up what we've been given. There's a series of flickering images of a huge. It's Ken charging through the halls, breaking down a door. There's, there's a scene of, of the cat like creature. You see them and she whips claws and the camera goes out. There is a gathering crowd here, Jim, of, of anti brick protesters. There's a lot of fear in the city. I've been talking with citizens on the street. Here's some of what they had to say. There's a cut between a bunch of different people on the street. Well, I'm just saying I don't trust, you know, their kind. I mean, last time they were around here, you know what happened. That Scarlet King, I mean, they could be doing anything under the city. Well, I, I just want to feel safe when I'm walking my dog at night. And I don't think that's too much to ask. There's a few others. The general vibe is super anti brick. And that's when Fred Tusk steps onto a stage and begins haranguing the crowd. You hear a lot of what he said before, but he's got some additionals. I am calling for the establishment of an anti Brick task force. I'm going to be working with the mayor and the chief of police and Giga City Gold will be at the beck and call of the city. And I invite. No, I challenge the Giga City Guardians to step up and do what they claim that they do. Guard this city. Riptide kind of turns and looks at you guys and he goes, so I made breakfast. And he like, he points at the bowls and he goes, it's just cereal, sorry. And then he looks kind of awkward. And that's how we close. All of you are realizing that once again things have been flipped in terms of public relations and definitely not in the Guardian's favor.

[Ape Canaveral]

Abe says, oh, it's cereal. All right. And he takes a bite of Captain Crunch. He says, it's dead cereal. Go for a serious thing. I don't know if it reads.

[Host]

That was a great final line. Yeah, no, that's beautiful. Thank you for lightening the mood there. All right, y'all, time for some shout outs. That was. I'm up in the drama. We're getting close to our arc here, so I really appreciate how much y'all leaned in today. So let's start with shout outs and then move to talking about whether you want to have some lines added to your stories.

[Animus]

I would like to do a shout out to Firefly for making some snap decisions. And in mine and Animus's eyes really showed why you are the leader of the Guardians with, like, delegating the drones to specs and suiting up, even though you know things are still a little bit uncertain with yourself and just zooming right in. But then also kind of like, sensitively handling whatever was going on with those bricks. But, yeah, well done, Chief.

[Host]

Round of applause.

[Animus]

Thank you.

[Jillian Jayes]

Thank you very much. I would like to give a shout out to Animus for taking a big risk by following the. The fun guy whose name we don't yet know.

[Animus]

I will ask their name.

[Jillian Jayes]

Yes.

[Animus]

Promise. Next time.

[Host]

I'm trying so hard not to tell you. I'm trying so hard. Like, I want to share everything.

[Animus]

You seem very nice.

[Ape Canaveral]

I'm going to take a line, and I think what I want to give Ape just over these last two episodes, he was doing a lot of movement based stuff, and I want to kind of codify that. Yeah, let me workshop the exact line with you guys. But basically kind of able to move rapidly through difficult terrain. But I don't know exactly how to phrase that.

[Animus]

You mentioned urban jungle before. And you're the king. Like, King of the Urban Jungle sounds really cool, and I think it should go on a T shirt.

[Ape Canaveral]

King of the Urban Jungle is definitely. That's definitely the deed. Thank you so much.

[Host]

Well, and that lets you chuck the concrete that goes with King of the Urban Jungle, too. Right? Like, that's perfect. Scriv your boss. That's great. Thank you. I wanted to give a huge shout out to Amanda for really dealing with, like, one of the cool things about stories, but also one of the tough things about story games is you have that dual experience of you feel like the character, but you also feel like an author. And one of the hardest things for people when they start out is making the shift between author and character. They'll get really emotionally into a scene, and they're like, oh, boy. Like, I don't know what to do. And it's hard to step back for a second and be like, okay, what would be fun for the story? Because you're so in the moment, and I saw you in so many moments feeling conflicted as Jillian J's, where you were like, what would Jillian do? And you were Jillian. In those moments, you were like, oh, no, but if I don't do this. And, like, listening to the way you process that, I just was so grateful that you were willing to go there with us, because I know that can be, you know, vulnerable territory. And you leaned into it. You. You trusted us to help you through it, and you. You made it through with awesome, awesome, awesome moves. So I just was really impressed. Thank you.

[Jillian Jayes]

I have a line that I would like to add because of kind of what we revisited with the bricks, and I think I want to put it under. I'm going to call it a dream. But what I think it is is that I need to rectify a past mistake that I've made. I harmed the bricks, and they didn't deserve it, and I need to make it up to them.

[Host]

Make my piece. Yeah, like. Like, make amends with.

[Jillian Jayes]

Yeah, I will make amends with the.

[Host]

Bricks, with those I've harmed. Yeah, that's. That's. That's deep. Yeah. I wanted to. I wanted to introduce that eventually, and I didn't know if you would meet up with them in this episode. And I love that you came face to face with one of them and kind of got to process that. I appreciated that a lot. It was very dramatic. Okay, does everybody feel okay with their lines?

[Ape Canaveral]

Did Animus add a line this time?

[Jillian Jayes]

I'm.

[Animus]

I'm thinking through it, and because I'm still new to the system, I'm thinking through and hearing examples of what different lines could be. And I'm hearing your king of the urban jungle line. It's making me think about the thing I did with, like, channeling Werebear and trying to consider, you know, is, is there a line there? And is that something I could potentially repeat at some point if I'm able to, like, make a connection with others as well? So I don't like something about channeling.

[Host]

Yeah. Like, emotional channel. Channel. Or, like, you could channel the feel of someone else. Oh, how would you do that? Like Persona channeling.

[Animus]

Yeah.

[Ape Canaveral]

Channel, conduit, emotional avatar.

[Host]

Well, that could even allow you to do some cool stuff. Where you, like, pretended to be somebody, and even though you don't look like them because you're emotionally channeling their, you.

[Animus]

Give off that energy and it's.

[Ape Canaveral]

You.

[Host]

Like, people wouldn't look twice at you unless they were, like, looking directly at you and really paying attention. You would feel like that person.

[Animus]

I'll think through some. Some, like, words that fit that well, but I want to. I want to dig into that a little bit. I'll process it, though.

[Host]

That's a cool concept. Yeah. The rule, like, I think of it less as a system and more just like, what's a line that defines you. Right. Like a story. So as long as you've got, you know. And that's the hard part. The fun part is finding the right words that really make it. Make it come alive and make you able to use it when you need it.

[Animus]

Okay.

[Host]

Okay. On behalf of everybody on the Giga City Guardians crew, thank you so much for coming with us on this adventure. Stay tuned next time to find out about Flipside Microbial and all the rest of the bricks under the city, and also what Fred Tusk is up to. And finally, you can find us wherever you get your podcasts. And check us out at patreon.com storiesrpg where you can also find the downloadable game so you can play along with us. Thanks so much, everybody, and we'll see you next time.

[Animus]

Bye, everyone.

[Jillian Jayes]

Thank you. Bye.

[Ape Canaveral]

Gonna ride that horse, you gotta ride that horse.