The Magnus Protocol 44 - Back to Basic

Summary

The Magnus Protocol: Episode 44 – "Back to Basic"

Release Date: July 24, 2025

Overview

In Episode 44 of The Magnus Protocol, titled "Back to Basic," listeners delve deeper into the enigmatic operations of the OIAR (Office of Internal Affairs and Reconnaissance) and uncover dark histories intertwined with supernatural elements. This episode masterfully blends horror, mystery, and psychological tension, continuing the anthology’s legacy of delivering captivating and spine-chilling narratives.

Clara Vogelsh’s Interrogation

The episode opens with an intense interrogation scene featuring Alice Dyer and Clara Vogelsh, a former McDonald's employee. Alice, representing the OIAR, seeks crucial information about Klaus Schweitzer, a computer specialist tied to sinister activities within the organization.

Clara Vogelsh [08:14]: “...I already know what is inside. A name, a date and a time. My time. Every day I hold this letter and dare not open it.”

Clara recounts her past involvement with Schweitzer, detailing how he was coerced into developing a program designed to monitor and manipulate fear within individuals. Her narrative reveals the oppressive environment Schweitzer endured, blurring the lines between coercion and obsession.

Unraveling Klaus Schweitzer’s Legacy

Clara provides a harrowing account of Schweitzer’s work and eventual disappearance:

Clara Vogelsh [08:14]: “He was a computer coder from HFE. Good at statistics, at predicting people. This was useful to us...”

She describes Schweitzer’s relentless pursuit of perfection in his coding, which ultimately led to catastrophic outcomes, including the untimely deaths of several individuals connected to the project. The episode highlights the ethical ambiguities and the dark ambitions driving the OIAR’s initiatives.

The OIAR’s Role and the FR3D1 System

Transitioning to a conversation between Gwen Bouchard and Lena Kelly, the episode shifts focus to the broader operational mechanics of the OIAR. Lena elucidates the organization's mission to maintain a balance of "Dread," defined by four key elements: Death, Pain, Helplessness, and Wrongness.

Lena Kelly [18:29]: “Dread is organized into four key elements. Death, pain, helplessness and wrongness. It is essential that these four elements remain balanced.”

The FR3D1 system is introduced as the tool used to monitor and regulate these elements, ensuring that no single aspect overwhelms the others, which could result in catastrophic repercussions. This system underpins the OIAR’s interventions, dictating when and how to recalibrate the balance to prevent disaster.

Protocol and Ethical Implications

The conversation delves into the controversial "Protocol," a set of measures enacted to maintain secrecy and control within the OIAR.

Lena Kelly [21:03]: “Quarantine the problem, Collect the information, extract whatever's useful. Burn the rest. Blame someone else.”

This ruthless approach underscores the moral complexities faced by those within the OIAR, questioning the lengths to which the organization will go to preserve its objectives. Gwen Bouchard’s desperate plea for transparency reveals internal conflicts and the personal toll of adhering to such extreme measures.

Notable Quotes

• Alice Dyer [14:30]: “And that's everything. You never saw him again?”

• Lena Kelly [20:07]: “Then why come here for answers you don't trust?”

• Gwen Bouchard [21:29]: “Can I please just get one straight answer?”

These quotes highlight the characters' struggles with trust, secrecy, and the burden of knowledge within the shadowy operations of the OIAR.

Conclusion

"Back to Basic" serves as a pivotal episode in The Magnus Protocol, intertwining personal testimonies with broader organizational insights. It exposes the dark underbelly of the OIAR’s mission, exploring themes of control, fear, and the ethical boundaries of power. As the characters grapple with their roles and the consequences of their actions, listeners are left contemplating the true cost of maintaining balance in a world teetering on the edge of the supernatural and the human psyche.

Production Notes

This episode was written by Alexander J. Newell and features compelling performances by Billy Hindle (Alice Dyer), Anuja Battersby (Gwen Bouchard), Lorianne Davis (Celia Ripley), and Sarah Lambie (Lena Kelly). The intricate soundscaping and masterful editing by Rusty Quill and his team enhance the eerie and tense atmosphere, making "Back to Basic" a standout installment in the series.

Further Engagement

Fans can subscribe to The Magnus Protocol, access associated materials, or support the series through Patreon at rustyquill.com. Feedback and reviews are welcomed on various platforms, including Acast, Twitter (@therustyquill), and Facebook.

Transcript

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[Uncle]

I'mma put you on, nephew. All right, unc.

[McDonald's Employee]

Welcome to McDonald's. Can I take your order, miss?

[Uncle]

I've been hitting up McDonald's for years. Now it's back. We need snack wraps. What?

[McDonald's Employee]

What's a snack wrap?

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It's the return of something great. Snack wrap is back.

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[Rusty Quill]

Rusty Quill presents the Magnus Protocol episode 44 back to basic.

[McDonald's Employee]

It.

[Uncle]

You see this? People cannot even eat or drink without a screen. Now this coffee house used to serve the strongest mukafuk north of the spree. The children would queue outside for the cocoa. Now. Now it is just all smartphones and bad coffee and french fries.

[Alice Dyer]

Only Americans call them french fries.

[Uncle]

You see who can keep up decide for gidvy and flug. I am uncomfortable.

[Alice Dyer]

You didn't have to come with me.

[Uncle]

I am being helpful.

[Alice Dyer]

What exactly do you think is going to happen? She must be what, at least 70 by now?

[Uncle]

You do not think the old can be dangerous.

[Alice Dyer]

You're different. You're special.

[Uncle]

Thank you, Shern. But you are mistaken. The Starcy and I, we were Similar in many ways. We both relied on fear and knew how to wield it.

[Alice Dyer]

It's not the same racestvar.

[Uncle]

I usually spared the.

[Alice Dyer]

Is that them?

[Uncle]

Yes.

[Alice Dyer]

You sure?

[Uncle]

I am sure.

[Alice Dyer]

Clara Vogelsh. Mrs. Vogel, my name is Alice Dyer. I'm with the OIAR and.

[Uncle]

She wishes to know how you found her.

[Alice Dyer]

Oh, well, your name was listed in some records I found with the help of my experienced colleague Here.

[Uncle]

We're called Undeiiner sunden Richen. Guten Tag.

[McDonald's Employee]

Ich kennede stimmer.

[Alice Dyer]

What's she saying?

[Uncle]

Und ich kennedich klaser.

[Alice Dyer]

Sorry, this idea has to.

[Uncle]

Heinrich. The Ghsn Kara.

[Alice Dyer]

Excuse me. Look, I'm sorry. Inshul de gun. I don't want to be all tourist about it, but Heinrich said you spoke English. And my translation app isn't keeping up. Can we. You know.

[McDonald's Employee]

Who are you to travel with him?

[Alice Dyer]

What? Oh, okay. She was one of yours then, I take it?

[Uncle]

I told you I am helping.

[McDonald's Employee]

What do you want? English.

[Alice Dyer]

Okay. Well, I'm looking for someone. Someone I think you may have kept an eye on back when you were. When you were younger. Anyway, he was a computer guy. Big into alchemy tattoos.

[McDonald's Employee]

Schweitzer.

[Alice Dyer]

So you know who I'm talking about?

[McDonald's Employee]

Yes. I watched him work.

[Alice Dyer]

See? Do you know where I can find him or.

[McDonald's Employee]

No.

[Alice Dyer]

Oh.

[McDonald's Employee]

I do not know where he is. If I did, I would go and kill him myself.

[Alice Dyer]

Why? What did he do to you?

[McDonald's Employee]

Nothing you would understand.

[Alice Dyer]

Right? Shall we just get down to it then? Yeah. You don't like me. I get it. Honestly, the feeling is mutual. But you know something about Klaus Schweitzer, and I need to hear it. I was going to offer you money, but I'm not really feeling that now. So let's try this instead. You tell me what I want to know, or I tell everyone your ex Stasi. And then we see how people react.

[McDonald's Employee]

Ha. And then what? They beat an old woman to death? These fat, lazy children have no stomach for such work. Your threats do not frighten me. English. I will talk.

[Alice Dyer]

Christ, Heinrich. What did you tell her?

[Uncle]

Just remembering old times, huh?

[Alice Dyer]

So, Clara, tell me everything you know about Klaus Schweitzer.

[McDonald's Employee]

The first time I saw Klaus Schweitzer, I was watching Schwarzworn Squad. Yeah, in Van's lower back. They thought they were punks, radicals would be anarchists. He was easy to see. His skin was covered into tooth. Strange diagrams on his arms, his chest. Even his face. They reminded me of my grandmother. She also held folk beliefs. He visited us Squad A few times, and I would have taken him if he was not already on the list. We needed computer people. I was chosen to make the offer because I was young and beautiful and he was ugly. It was the right decision. It was very easy. After we raided the squad, I made him the offer. He could work computers for me or join his prank friends. He agreed, of course. But I do not know if it was because he wanted me or because he feared me. Perhaps both. I think I knew from his fights. He was a computer coder from hfe. Good at statistics, at predicting people. This was useful to us. My superiors tired of arresting the guilty. Better to stop them before they could commit the crimes. The program was to track the fears of the targets and so predict disorder and disloyalty. Find the traitors before they knew themselves. It was a grand dream. Schweitzer did not want to work for us. But the idea. He longed for it. I think more even when he longed for me. So I gave him computers, files, data. Always he was asking for data. When he tired, I would encourage him. I was not very good at this. But when he was slow or stupid, I would scold him. This I was very good at. Soon he could not eat, could not drink, could not breathe without checking if it pleased me and if it did not. I did my duty and ensured he did his. He was an ugly, foolish man. But his work. His work was strange, almost wonderful, but never correct. No matter how I loved him, how I hurt him, he could not make it work. Again and again he failed. And so my superiors began to question me. So I pushed him harder, too hard. By the end, he did not know whether love ended and the fear began. But all that mattered is that we both knew he was mine. He could not live without me, and I wanted code. So he would code or die. I left him to work alone. That final time, he was already mine and would not disobey. I left him with food for one week and returned after two. By then he stank like a caged dog and he could not speak. But the work. I did not understand the code. It was kadowech. But the symbols. He had carved them into the walls with his nails, into the keyboard, into his own skin, copied from the photographs of old tattoos. He would shuffle in his hands in the glow of the filthy screen. It was hard to tell where his wasted body ended and the work began. But there was paper falling from the printer, completely clear, except for a list of names, dates and times. I knew the first name well. Karin Muller. She was A known thief and speculant at the Locale Handels organisation. And she was already due arrest the next day, at the date on the list. I attended the arrest, but it was not an arrest. There had been an accident. Von Muller had been killed by Fleisch Wolf. Her arm was caught in the mechanism and she was somehow pulled in. The second name was an old study made from the horseshuler. I had not spoken to Matthias since graduating, but I knew where he was working. I found him just as he placed the electric cable into his mouth. I read his watching notes before I called the fopo. It seemed he had been following special orders from a supervisor who had never existed. Every name I investigated from that list was the same. Broken and strange. It was not what we asked for. But Schweitzer had made something wonderful and terrible. I did not understand it, but I knew we needed it. I informed my supervisors and then returned to him, ready to take his work from him and hand him over. But when I stepped inside, I found he was already gone. He had left and taken the computer, the program, the data. Everything except his filts, his carvings. And a small envelope. This envelope. I have not opened it. I already know what is inside. A name, a date and a time. My time. Every day I hold this letter and dare not open it. Because what if that date is today and that time is now? I cannot know. But I cannot not know. All these years. And I cannot eat, cannot drink, cannot breathe without thinking of him. And this letter. I do not know if it was meant as a gift or as torture. Perhaps. Bose. All I do know is that however much he wanted me, he loved the program.

[Alice Dyer]

And that's everything. You never saw him again?

[Uncle]

Clara?

[McDonald's Employee]

No. Never. I do not know how he left the country, but if he had not, I would have found him.

[Alice Dyer]

And this place where you locked him in, where he finished the program, what was the address?

[McDonald's Employee]

There's nothing there now.

[Alice Dyer]

All right, fine. We're done. You can go. She left her envelope.

[Uncle]

Do not worry. I shall return it to her later.

[Gwen Bouchard]

Thank you. Do you have any sugar?

[Lena Kelly]

No.

[Gwen Bouchard]

I like your house. It's very. It's not what I expected.

[Lena Kelly]

What exactly were you expecting?

[Gwen Bouchard]

I don't know. Something less.

[McDonald's Employee]

Mmm.

[Gwen Bouchard]

Nice.

[Lena Kelly]

I see. Gwen, when I agreed to speak with you, I was under the impression that you needed to discuss something more substantial than my personal living arrangements. If that is not the case, then.

[Gwen Bouchard]

No. I mean, yes, I do. I was just making small talk.

[Lena Kelly]

Well, don't. You're not very good at it.

[Gwen Bouchard]

Oh, and you're just so. I am glad you're doing well.

[Lena Kelly]

Are you?

[Alice Dyer]

Yes.

[Gwen Bouchard]

Look, I know we had our differences, but I am genuinely glad you're okay.

[Lena Kelly]

Because you need something from me?

[Gwen Bouchard]

No. Well, sort of. But also because, well, you left so suddenly and there was no record of you anywhere.

[Lena Kelly]

Something I had orchestrated at considerable effort and no small expense.

[Gwen Bouchard]

I was starting to worry that you had been disappeared.

[Lena Kelly]

I see. Surely the Minister could have disabused you of that particular notion easily enough himself.

[Gwen Bouchard]

Oh, well, we don't. We haven't really been in contact since.

[Lena Kelly]

I'm sure he's very pleased with that outcome. Well, then, as you can see, I am perfectly content in my obscurity and would prefer to stay that way. So what is it that you need that is so urgent that it justifies invading my home like this?

[Gwen Bouchard]

I'm sorry if I overstepped, but what do you want?

[Lena Kelly]

Gwen?

[Gwen Bouchard]

I don't know what to do. Nobody does. We just turn up, sort cases, and then horrible things happen. There's no onboarding, no documentation. And it's not like the Minister has any idea what actually goes on at the oiar. And before you jump in with I told you so, I'm still not convinced you know any more than the rest of us.

[Lena Kelly]

Then why come here for answers you don't trust?

[Gwen Bouchard]

Because. Because for all our differences, I know that neither of us can stand to see a job done badly. So if anyone knows, it's you. I don't know why I even bothered.

[Lena Kelly]

Dread is organized into four key elements. Death, pain, helplessness and wrongness. It is essential that these four elements remain balanced. That is the purpose of the oiar.

[Gwen Bouchard]

Okay.

[Lena Kelly]

Too little of any one of them and we need to generate more. Too much of any of them and we need to increase the others to compensate. The FR3D1 system monitors these levels and anticipates what interventions are required in order to maintain balance. Failure to maintain balance will lead to horrible things happening. Which I am guessing is what has brought you to me.

[Gwen Bouchard]

But wait, that would mean. That would mean the system can only trend upwards, generate more Dread over time.

[Lena Kelly]

Correct.

[Gwen Bouchard]

So why not reduce them or just get rid of them entirely?

[Lena Kelly]

Because it can't be done. At least not to my knowledge. And there's no one else to ask? I believe the response team used to try, but in my experience, utilizing appropriately sympathetic externals has proved the most reliable solution.

[Gwen Bouchard]

That doesn't sound good.

[Lena Kelly]

Perhaps not, but it is the job.

[Gwen Bouchard]

Says who?

[Lena Kelly]

I don't know. Perhaps nobody. I never controlled the oiar, Gwen. I just worked there long enough to understand what the system needs. The only thing I have ever known with any certainty is that when the levels are unbalanced, terrible things happen. Leave it unbalanced long enough and the things you're worried about will become exponentially worse. I can only hope you've come seeking help before anyone is too badly hurt. Ah, that's a shame.

[Gwen Bouchard]

I.

[Lena Kelly]

Please don't give me details I'd rather not know.

[Gwen Bouchard]

So what's the protocol? Is that just the official name for keeping things balanced?

[Lena Kelly]

Now, where did you hear that, I wonder? In a sense, the protocol is the last resort for keeping all this secret.

[Gwen Bouchard]

What's wrong with transparency?

[Lena Kelly]

I wouldn't try it. Even if people believed you, which they wouldn't, it would make it impossible to properly operate. Too many motives, too many variables. Too many people looking to take advantage. So if it looks like so someone or something is going to sink the whole ship, you enact the protocol. Which is isolate, gather, control, excise and subvert.

[Gwen Bouchard]

Can I please just get one straight answer?

[Lena Kelly]

Quarantine the problem, Collect the information, extract whatever's useful. Burn the rest. Blame someone else.

[Gwen Bouchard]

Right.

[Lena Kelly]

Just do whatever it takes to keep things balanced. If you can manage that, Gwen, the rest will take care of itself.

[Gwen Bouchard]

Even if people die?

[Lena Kelly]

That's the job.

[Gwen Bouchard]

Thank you, Lena. If there's anything I can do to repay you.

[Lena Kelly]

Like giving me my job back? Oh, that was a joke. You can keep it.

[Gwen Bouchard]

Oh. Huh.

[Lena Kelly]

There is one thing, though. Oh, leave me alone, Gwen. Forget I ever existed. Not many of us get out unscathed. I'd like to stay that way.

[Gwen Bouchard]

I'll see what I can do. See you later, Lena.

[Lena Kelly]

No, you won't.

[Rusty Quill]

The Magnus Protocol is a podcast distributed by rustyquill and licensed under a Creative Code Commons Attribution Non commercial share alike 4.0 international license. The series is created by Jonathan Sims and Alexander J. Newell, directed by Alexander J. Newell. This episode was written by Alexander J. Newell and edited with additional materials by Jonathan Sims, with vocal edits by Lo Rianne Davis, soundscaping by Tessa Vroom and mastering by Catherine Rinella with music by Sam Jones. It featured Billy Hindle as Alice Dyer, Anuja Battersby as Gwen Bouchard, Lorianne Davis as Celia Ripley, and Sarah Lambie as Lena Kelly. The Magnus Protocol is produced by April Sumner, with executive producers Alexander J. Newell, Danny McDonagh, Lynn C. And Samantha F.G. hamilton, and Associate producers Jordan L. Hawk, Taylor Michaels, Nicole Pearlman, CT Raven, and Megan. Nice to subscribe view associated materials or join our Patreon visit rustyquill.com Rate and review us online. Tweet us at therustyquill, visit us on Facebook or email [e-mail] thanks for listening.

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[Alice Dyer]

That is a gamble. Money Expunge your podcast okay, what is endeavor?

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