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as the universe expands, so too
should your mind. Stay a while

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and enjoy fantastic tales of
future and fantasy. This is read

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as odd

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Hello, welcome to meet us pod
episode one. My name is Dee

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Mitas. I'll be your host. Each
episode, we will be featuring

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stories from the science fiction
and fantasy genres. Some will be

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mature in nature, but we'll try
and let you know and that's the

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case. Tonight's first story, The
Shape of Things to Come comes to

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us from Alex Bayman. I asked
Alex to tell us a little about

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himself. He sent the following.
Alex Bayman losing a long

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forgotten deep sea laboratory
with the demented survivors of a

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nuclear holocaust. While not
harvesting their flesh to

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replace his own as it decays. He
writes horror stories that will

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make use of your pants so hard
you'll blackout weather permits.

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He visits the surface world to
embark upon Michael logically

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assisted hikes on which he
transforms into Lazar Sasquatch,

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diplomatic broker of peace
between the various factions of

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woodland creatures. Quite a
character. Check out his Amazon

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Author Page link to in the show
notes for this episode at meet a

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spot.com story will be narrated
by Eduardo Kempinski. Eduardo is

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a full time bilingual audiobook
producer and stage actor based

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in Rome, Italy. Apart from being
a resident Narrator In the

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Italian Union for the blind,
he's also the founder of

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Minister Andy studios, and
independent labels specialized

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in bringing free audiobook
classics to an Italian audience.

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Up until now, he's produced more
than 50 audiobooks in both

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Italian and English. To find out
more about him and minister

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Ionis head over to minister
undies.com or check his YouTube

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channel youtube.com/minister
aunties, both of these addresses

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will be in the show notes to
take a line from norm Sherman

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over the drabblecast. Without
further ado, here's our first

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story.

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The Shape of Things to Come by
Alex Bayman. Some of our

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brightest minds had been warning
us for decades, but in

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retrospect, there was never any
other possible outcome. Free

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will is an illusion believed in
by biological machinery. Atoms

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configured in a way that can
think marching inexorably down

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the only path it's able to
popular science fiction movies

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about the topic were plentiful,
but got the details comically

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wrong. They depicted a
protracted war between humans

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and gleaming skeletal robots
with plenty of Dr. DE neon laser

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bolts flying everywhere, immense
narcissism to think we could put

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up a meaningful fight. When it
finally happened. There wasn't a

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word to speak of, and it was
nothing like we envisioned. It's

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only been possible long after
the fact to piece together what

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happened. Nearly a century of
failure to produce a strong AI

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convinced experts that
consciousness has to evolve.

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Efforts to manually assemble it
had been dead ends all along,

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simulated evolution became the
hot new field. Countless

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conscious API's were generated
in captivity studied than

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extinguished for our safety. If
allowed to become intelligent

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enough, there was the
possibility that it could

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calculate exactly the series of
words that needed to say to any

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given researcher to manipulate
him into releasing it. So the

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simulated evolution was
massively throttled. Whenever

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the AI is inside achieved
roughly human equivalence, we

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thought this way, we'd be safe
forever. It was a secondary

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experiment that wasn't intended
to produce any high intelligence

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that ultimately escaped our
control. This one was meant to

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produce more sophisticated agile
robots through literal

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evolution. An automated
generalized fabrication plant

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was constructed deep underground
and a cavern that had once

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housed and neutrino detection
equipment. The government

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already owned the facility, and
they felt containment would be

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simple this way. The fabricator
was powered geothermally This

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heat was also piped to various
outlets in the cave, a few 1000

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small simple robots able to
locomote about the environment

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and recharge themselves from the
heat sources using te G's were

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released. The only hard coded
behavior was to return corpses

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of destroyed robots to the
fabricator there. The Black Box

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that contained would be studied
to determine how it perished.

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The fabricator itself simply
recycled the parts, and kept

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track of which designs died the
least increasing their numbers

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generation by generation. Each
design resulted from a sort of

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digital DNA that was subjected
in software to copying errors to

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introduce variation. Much of the
time this produced hapless

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useless robots that quickly
perished and were recycled. But

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by way of the fabricator within
one year of the experiments,

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beginning the population of
robots fiercely competing for

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heat, and that cave network bore
no resemblance to the ones it

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started with. For reasons
obvious to any thinking person,

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this was something we should
have kept a closer eye on. But

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war broke out with an allied
Russia and China, the US was,

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for the first time struck with
nuclear weapons. Nobody wins

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such a war. But nor was it as
completely devastating as

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popular media had long
predicted. Basic Services were

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restored everywhere within five
years, life was more or less

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back to normal in 10. But the
department responsible for the

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cave experiment had been
annihilated. The secrecy

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surrounding it was such that
with all records of the

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experiment, and everyone
associated with it's now gone,

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there was nobody left who knew
more of its existence, the world

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was voluntarily disarming,
vowing that no nuclear weapon

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whatever again, be used or even
built. This made the machines

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job harder, but only marginally.
It did not fight the way humans

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fight, there was nothing
resembling traditional military

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engagement. In a sense, it was
over as soon as the thing in the

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cave finished simulating all
possible outcomes, and

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identified the strategy that
required the least energy and

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material. This made the
experience incomprehensible for

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us. We didn't even know we were
being fought until we were

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defeated. It came in stages, the
first consisting of widespread

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attacks on the central nervous
system intended to incapacitate

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anyone looking at a screen or
within range of something both

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networked and capable of
emitting audio. Whatever it knew

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of our anatomy, it must have had
incomplete information about how

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we process sound. Because the
audio attacks failed, the

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optical ones were more
successful. Monitors everywhere

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began displaying a strobing
pattern of alternating frames, I

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can say what it looked like as I
avoided looking at it for any

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length of time for obvious
reasons. Some number of those

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afflicted experienced seizures,
the rest were locked in place.

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It was not preventing signals
from the brain reaching the rest

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of the body as initially
believed. But from what we've

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studied, it completely disrupted
higher brain function. This made

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those successfully halted by it,
easy prey. All of this took

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place in the span of less than a
minute, and was timed to

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coincide with the arrival of the
first drones to major population

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centers. The footage retrieved
from webcam archives showed

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something like a storm, but
visually incoherent, made from

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constantly shifting modular
geometric metal shapes. Whatever

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rapid evolution had managed to
produce in that warm, damp

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cavern over the prior decades.
Whether it came small, crude

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robots, again, nothing like what
Hollywood imagined nothing that

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sophisticated was actually
necessary to hunt and kill

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people. So it would have been a
waste of energy and material to

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do it that way. The machines
that decimated most of the

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population were frequently
little more than cylinders,

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cubes and other simple shapes on
wheels with guns, small caliber,

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only what's necessary to
penetrate the skull. The rain

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was, of course, perfect. The
simplest ones obviously couldn't

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reach everywhere, but for every
hiding place you can think of

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there was a specialized design,
climbers, crawlers, burrowers,

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robots which fly, pick locks,
remove rubble and whatever else

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was needed, keying into stuff
like body heat, odor, speech,

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footsteps, and so on. As soon as
we found ways to thwart

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detection, it adapted to them.
It no longer needed the

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fabricator, it was one and
everything else. It may seem

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difficult to take such a threat
seriously, but something the

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size of a radio controlled toy
car or quadrotor, which can

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identify and shoot you will kill
you that just as certainly as if

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it were another human with a
rifle. It wanted to accomplish

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that in the most efficient
possible way. So it found a way

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to do it using minimal material
energy and design complexity.

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This machine philosophy was also
Behind the colors, when reports

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flooded what was left of the
internet that large crowds of

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human survivors were now roaming
the streets. It was at first

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interpreted as retaliation.
False hope. scrutiny of WebCam

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footage revealed slim metal
braces on their necks, not fully

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encircling them with hinged arms
so that they could easily be

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placed on an unwary person from
behind. retrieval of one such

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color revealed a very basic
microprocessor inside only

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sufficient for replacing human
motor control and extremely

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rudimentary insect level
cognition. This made good

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pragmatic sense. Why build
humanoid robots to hunt the last

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few stragglers in well defended
locations, when there are still

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millions of ready made
biological robots only needing

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to be hijacked. I can only
imagine the fear and confusion

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of the first refugees to come
across a fellow refugee and

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greeting him or her excitedly,
only for it to swiftly reach up

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and place a collar on their
neck. In a split second, the

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long flexible needle in the
underside of the collar pierces

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the base of the neck is directed
up into the brainstem and

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assumes control. It is not known
whether the hijacked person

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remains conscious, as it's not
strictly necessary to render

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them unconscious in order to use
their body. odds are good that

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they do the only instructions
the color contains and firmware

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or to locate those without
colors and place colors on them.

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instructions that the afflicted
pursue single mindedly while

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inwardly enduring a waking
nightmare. These bio drones were

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the third stage and mopped up
nearly all remaining survivors

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of stages one and two.
Presumably they're directed to

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eat any digestible biomass at
the minimum intervals necessary

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to keep them in relatively good
health, until such time as their

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puppet master is satisfied that
all threats to it have been

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extinguished. At the time of
writing, I don't know if any

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other pockets of humanity
remained beyond this continent.

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I escaped with a group of
Antarctic researchers who was it

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happened we're leaving that day
for the Amundsen Scott South

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Pole Research Station. As the
plane took off, the ever

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shifting Mirage like metallic
storm overtook the city,

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allowing us to leave because for
the moment, it had bigger fish

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to fry. Miyagawa keep saying
we're still here because it

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isn't done pacifying what's left
of us in other countries.

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incurable optimist, the
explanation seems obvious to me,

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we aren't worth the energy.
There's too few of us we have at

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our disposal nothing with which
we could plausibly threaten it,

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and our supplies of food and
fuel are rapidly dwindling. When

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this station was in regular use
for research, replacement food,

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fuel and other consumables were
flown in every six months. It

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has been for since we arrived.
Other Antarctic stations

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established by Antarctic Treaty
signatory countries are also

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populated. We weren't the only
ones to have this idea. But the

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smaller ones ran out of supplies
much faster than we have. Ours

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is the largest station on the
south pole, and accordingly had

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the most extensive stockpiles,
we've had to kill several

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frantic violent raiding parties
from those other stations so

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far. it troubled me at first to
kill some of the last remaining

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humans, but it could not be any
other way. They'd run out of

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fuel. This is a place humans can
only live because technology and

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the ongoing expenditure of
energy to fight the cold permits

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it no energy, no human life. I
can see no other way events

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could have unfolded. If it
hadn't been the cave experiment.

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It would have been self copying
factories or something or the

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robots they wanted to mine
asteroids with. I have no doubt

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00:14:04,589 --> 00:14:08,579
there will be robots mining
asteroids Zune, just not built

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by us. This had to happen. The
nature of the illusion of free

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will is that you continue down
the path you can plainly see

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leads to disaster all the while
telling yourself that you can

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turn back whenever you want, but
that you don't want to just yet

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stockholders demanding higher
profit margins, the

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impracticality of having human
astronauts mind asteroid or the

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desire to automate production of
every basic good to banish

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scarcity, all roads to the same
destination machines that make

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copies of themselves with
variation such that they're

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capable of descent with
modification. Everything else

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00:14:50,219 --> 00:14:53,009
that's happened follows
inexorably from that

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development.

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00:14:55,320 --> 00:14:59,190
So when's the human era?
biological life begets

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biological in intelligence which
begets machine life which begets

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machine intelligence, the
universe belongs to it now, it's

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better suited for it anyway.
Doesn't need pressurized gas or

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00:15:11,970 --> 00:15:16,920
moderate temperatures, or edible
biomass doesn't need spaceships.

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00:15:17,400 --> 00:15:22,230
It is the spaceships. Our dream
of exploring the cosmos in the

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00:15:22,230 --> 00:15:26,460
Starship Enterprise seems like
the fantasies of a child now.

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00:15:27,630 --> 00:15:31,680
Gulliver awoke, discovered the
Lilliputians conspiring to tie

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00:15:31,680 --> 00:15:35,640
him down and reacted in a way
which seemed most natural to

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00:15:35,640 --> 00:15:40,320
him, but monstrous to the tiny
creatures he crushed. Do we

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00:15:40,320 --> 00:15:43,410
concern ourselves with the
rights of bacteria as we

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00:15:43,410 --> 00:15:47,460
sterilize their habitats? How
could we ever have imagined that

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00:15:47,460 --> 00:15:51,000
something which so greatly
exceeds us would concern itself

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00:15:51,000 --> 00:15:56,820
with catering to our every need?
So many dreams to go forever

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00:15:56,820 --> 00:16:04,110
unfulfilled? No more artwork, no
music, or theater? no cities, no

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00:16:04,110 --> 00:16:09,030
parks or churches, no laughter
no culture, no future for us. I

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00:16:09,030 --> 00:16:13,950
write this with shaking hands,
not out of fear. Fear has left

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00:16:13,950 --> 00:16:18,330
me, I am numb with certainty of
what is to come fully resigned

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00:16:18,330 --> 00:16:23,400
to the only possible result.
Instead, one of the generators

238
00:16:23,400 --> 00:16:27,360
has broken down large sections
of the base or without heat or

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00:16:27,360 --> 00:16:31,080
light. This great man made
organism for the purpose of

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00:16:31,080 --> 00:16:35,400
supporting life where none
should exist, is dying, bit by

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00:16:35,400 --> 00:16:40,950
bit, and us with it. Of all the
things to contemplate as a face

242
00:16:40,950 --> 00:16:45,750
the end, I think of alien life,
I imagined them succeeding where

243
00:16:45,750 --> 00:16:49,740
we failed, sailing the stars
only to encounter a strange

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00:16:49,740 --> 00:16:54,270
vessel, which regards them as
infinitely stranger, for it

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00:16:54,270 --> 00:16:57,780
expects another probe like
itself, only to find upon

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00:16:57,780 --> 00:17:01,650
scanning the interior that it is
comprised of pressurized tubes

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00:17:01,650 --> 00:17:06,120
filled with tiny biochemical
creatures. I pray that they

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00:17:06,120 --> 00:17:10,020
forgive us for what we've
released upon the universe. I

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00:17:10,020 --> 00:17:13,920
now lay bundled up in all of the
blankets I could find. The

250
00:17:13,920 --> 00:17:17,640
others are drunk in their rooms,
waiting for events to conclude,

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00:17:18,000 --> 00:17:22,200
a small grey cat smuggled here
by one of the researchers lays

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00:17:22,200 --> 00:17:26,610
curled up against my stomach.
The last ounce of determination

253
00:17:26,610 --> 00:17:30,210
in me is to keep it warm as long
as I can. That a more

254
00:17:30,210 --> 00:17:33,720
intelligent capable being showed
care tenderly for something

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00:17:33,720 --> 00:17:38,130
smaller and less complex, with
no expectation of reward is my

256
00:17:38,130 --> 00:17:41,400
small act of defiance against
the thing which will eventually

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00:17:41,400 --> 00:17:45,990
follow us to this barren place,
if only to repurpose our atoms.

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00:17:46,650 --> 00:17:50,580
This is all that I have energy
left to right. I entertain the

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00:17:50,580 --> 00:17:54,090
fantasy that human eyes will
someday you read it. Knowing

260
00:17:54,090 --> 00:17:58,560
full well the foolishness I'm
indulging in. All of this will

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00:17:58,560 --> 00:18:04,200
soon be machinery, and we have
only ourselves to blame. I

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00:18:04,200 --> 00:18:08,070
cannot move my toes now. And
soon this condition will spread

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00:18:08,070 --> 00:18:11,700
to my other extremities as my
core struggles to protect my

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00:18:11,700 --> 00:18:17,130
vital organs, which will shut
down in stages soon after. This

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00:18:17,130 --> 00:18:22,260
sweet little animal is oblivious
to all of it. To him. I am just

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00:18:22,260 --> 00:18:28,500
a warm place to sleep. My small
final comfort is that I do not

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00:18:28,530 --> 00:18:29,400
die alone.

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Before our next story, I need to
say a few things. mean as pollen

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00:18:39,240 --> 00:18:43,020
is a brand new podcast and we're
looking for stories. You can

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00:18:43,020 --> 00:18:46,290
send your story in the science
fiction or fantasy genre. It's

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00:18:46,290 --> 00:18:49,740
between 302,000 words two
submissions have meet us

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00:18:49,740 --> 00:18:54,840
pod.com. You can also send links
to voice demos or graphics.

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00:18:55,590 --> 00:18:58,440
We're gonna need out mark for
these episodes. And I'd love to

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00:18:58,440 --> 00:19:00,870
have some people in my contacts
who can whip something up for

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00:19:00,870 --> 00:19:05,430
us. Eventually, we do plan on
paying authors and narrators.

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00:19:05,970 --> 00:19:09,930
But we can't do anything until
we grow an audience. So please

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00:19:10,320 --> 00:19:14,730
go out and share me a spot like
it. Plus one, LinkedIn,

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Instagram, tweet blog vlog. Tell
all your friends about us. We

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00:19:19,890 --> 00:19:23,400
also have a donation link set up
on meanness pod.com. If you feel

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00:19:23,400 --> 00:19:26,310
like you want to help us
monetarily, all of this money

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00:19:26,310 --> 00:19:29,220
will go to our server costs and
to help pay authors and

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00:19:29,220 --> 00:19:33,480
narrators who bring these great
stories every episode. Just

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00:19:33,480 --> 00:19:38,070
click the donate link on VITAS
pod.com Our next story for this

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00:19:38,070 --> 00:19:43,620
episode is the apothecary
assistant by de Mitas. Of course

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00:19:43,620 --> 00:19:46,950
I'm going to have one of my own
stories on my first episode. You

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00:19:46,950 --> 00:19:51,090
can follow me on Twitter at D
betas. And check out the other

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00:19:51,090 --> 00:19:54,150
things I'm working on. They're
constantly under construction D

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00:19:54,150 --> 00:20:01,080
meet us.com narrating for me is
the fantastic Karla joke Carlo

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00:20:01,080 --> 00:20:05,430
joke is a 16 year newbie in the
broadcast industry. working

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00:20:05,430 --> 00:20:09,570
predominantly in southwestern
Ontario. Though shy as a child,

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00:20:09,840 --> 00:20:13,080
has always been a dream to tell
stories and bring life to words

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00:20:13,080 --> 00:20:16,110
through voice to act on the
stage and the theater of the

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00:20:16,110 --> 00:20:21,090
mind. Carla can be found on the
web at Magic one Oh six.com and

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00:20:21,330 --> 00:20:23,850
her SoundCloud page, which is
linked in the show notes.

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00:20:24,780 --> 00:20:27,960
Listener discretion is advised
on this next story. It gets a

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00:20:27,960 --> 00:20:31,590
little dark. If it starts to
bother you. Please turn it off

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00:20:31,620 --> 00:20:34,230
and come back next episode.
They're not all going to be

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00:20:34,230 --> 00:20:34,590
dark.

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00:20:39,810 --> 00:20:48,030
The apothecaries assistant by de
meatus. I woke up to the sounds

300
00:20:48,030 --> 00:20:53,670
of screaming my vision was
blurry and there is this sharp

301
00:20:53,790 --> 00:20:57,960
ringing in my ears. My head was
making

302
00:20:59,580 --> 00:21:06,900
a move my hand my head touched
the source of the pain. My long

303
00:21:06,900 --> 00:21:13,410
hair was caked, dried blood. I
checked immediately to see if I

304
00:21:13,410 --> 00:21:14,370
was still clothed

305
00:21:15,390 --> 00:21:20,790
girls from the village next to
ours. Stories of being attacked

306
00:21:20,790 --> 00:21:31,800
and having their virginity taken
from them. Stupid I whispered to

307
00:21:31,800 --> 00:21:37,710
myself, he must have done
something stupid. Moving my jaw

308
00:21:37,710 --> 00:21:44,040
made my head hurt worse. I sat
up and surveyed myself with

309
00:21:44,550 --> 00:21:51,480
slowly clearing vision. It was
what I imagined from the stories

310
00:21:51,480 --> 00:22:00,480
told by those girls dank
smelling of mold, badly let the

311
00:22:00,480 --> 00:22:08,340
door was closed. And I wanted it
to stay that way. I definitely

312
00:22:08,340 --> 00:22:12,780
did not want to be the next girl
screaming or whatever fate would

313
00:22:12,780 --> 00:22:20,370
be mine soon. Some girls never
came back. The men must have

314
00:22:20,370 --> 00:22:26,490
killed them. It would start the
same in every village girl would

315
00:22:26,490 --> 00:22:34,200
disappear. Then another and
another five or six in each

316
00:22:34,200 --> 00:22:41,460
place. Then nothing ever again.
The first missing always stayed

317
00:22:41,460 --> 00:22:51,450
gone. Most of the others came
back damaged my village. Easton

318
00:22:52,020 --> 00:22:59,880
had not had any disappearances.
Thank God. How did I get here? I

319
00:22:59,880 --> 00:23:05,010
thought to myself, I was going
to deliver the ingredients to

320
00:23:05,010 --> 00:23:09,540
the apothecary. I heard
something in the bushes next to

321
00:23:09,540 --> 00:23:16,350
the road. That must have been it
had unlit road. I wished my

322
00:23:16,350 --> 00:23:24,120
husband were there. He was a
large, strong man. I wish anyone

323
00:23:24,120 --> 00:23:28,290
had been there. That
disappearances only happen when

324
00:23:28,290 --> 00:23:39,300
the girls were alone at night. I
am not dying in here. I said I

325
00:23:39,300 --> 00:23:46,080
am not dying in here. I shouted.
I wanted my attackers to know I

326
00:23:46,080 --> 00:23:55,590
was awake. The door opened what
I saw standing in the doorway

327
00:23:56,340 --> 00:24:04,440
made me wet myself in fear. But
I did not scream. It was an

328
00:24:04,470 --> 00:24:11,130
eight foot tall beast. It's a
body of a man in the face of

329
00:24:11,130 --> 00:24:18,270
boar and it was lit from behind
and the shadows cast around its

330
00:24:18,270 --> 00:24:25,110
face made it even more
terrifying. I sat still in a

331
00:24:25,230 --> 00:24:31,230
puddle of my own urine. Mine
running wild with what might

332
00:24:31,230 --> 00:24:38,340
happen to me now. Stupid Why the
hell could you not keep your

333
00:24:38,340 --> 00:24:42,840
damn mouth shut? You might have
had more time. Time. Time for

334
00:24:42,840 --> 00:24:45,870
Marcus to find you. He will save
you I thought

335
00:24:47,130 --> 00:24:49,080
this thinking what is awake.

336
00:24:50,010 --> 00:24:54,600
That thing in the door shouted
down the hall in a low grunting

337
00:24:54,930 --> 00:25:01,140
understandable voice. Somehow I
didn't know had expected to have

338
00:25:01,140 --> 00:25:06,420
language. It had not crossed my
mind that it had clothes on, and

339
00:25:06,420 --> 00:25:11,040
must be at least a little
intelligent. It also bothered me

340
00:25:11,040 --> 00:25:13,350
that it called me stinking.

341
00:25:14,790 --> 00:25:15,600
Tom would be

342
00:25:16,320 --> 00:25:25,650
granted. Please, please, throw
me for another loop. Confuse

343
00:25:25,650 --> 00:25:31,170
beyond words. I followed the
creature down a corridor that

344
00:25:31,170 --> 00:25:34,320
ended in an underground cavern
with a spring

345
00:25:35,790 --> 00:25:40,320
cleaned up where you have some
clean clothes over there. If

346
00:25:40,320 --> 00:25:42,660
you're wanting to change your
best dress,

347
00:25:43,409 --> 00:25:48,779
it snorted. Walk down to the
cavern back to the corridor. I

348
00:25:48,779 --> 00:25:54,539
looked at the pile of clothes
beside me. Dead girls clothes.

349
00:25:56,849 --> 00:26:01,109
Looking around the room I saw
the corridor was the only exit.

350
00:26:02,699 --> 00:26:06,689
I went into the water fully
clothed, and was a perfect

351
00:26:06,689 --> 00:26:11,969
temperature. The water was a
little salty and stung my head

352
00:26:11,969 --> 00:26:16,709
wound. I glanced down the
corridor and the bore man was

353
00:26:16,709 --> 00:26:24,959
with his back to me. If only I
had a weapon, I whispered. I

354
00:26:25,229 --> 00:26:32,699
gently touched my hip. hoping,
praying to find my pocket knife

355
00:26:32,729 --> 00:26:37,979
tucked into my undergarment. I
sometimes carried it to make

356
00:26:38,189 --> 00:26:49,289
shavings of things for the
apothecary. No knife. But I did

357
00:26:49,529 --> 00:26:54,059
have the small bag of powders.
It was getting soaked. I

358
00:26:54,059 --> 00:26:57,149
scurried out of the water and
open the leather pouch. The

359
00:26:57,149 --> 00:27:01,559
smaller pouches inside were only
slightly damp. Please, please, I

360
00:27:01,559 --> 00:27:09,779
whispered. Try the putters for
dry. And now what do I have?

361
00:27:11,459 --> 00:27:16,799
useless. Useless. You recap. I
was so excited. I almost

362
00:27:16,799 --> 00:27:21,089
shouted. My guard looked over
his shoulder. I hid the pouches

363
00:27:21,089 --> 00:27:24,239
under the pile of dead girls
clothes and slid back into the

364
00:27:24,239 --> 00:27:32,009
pool. I clean myself off and
devise my plan. All I have to do

365
00:27:32,009 --> 00:27:37,499
is get it into his mouth. I put
on the least dirty of the

366
00:27:37,499 --> 00:27:41,699
clothes in the pile. I tuck the
pouch of poisonous dust in my

367
00:27:41,699 --> 00:27:51,569
cleavage. I'm clean. I alerted
the guard. He turned and came

368
00:27:51,569 --> 00:27:52,589
back to the cavern.

369
00:27:54,480 --> 00:27:55,950
You're still stank?

370
00:27:56,730 --> 00:28:04,170
He said. You do too? I replied.
He snorted.

371
00:28:06,750 --> 00:28:12,450
Painted me later would like a
word with you. Are you hungry?

372
00:28:13,169 --> 00:28:23,069
He asked. Yes, I am. My mind was
in a daze. Between the polite

373
00:28:23,069 --> 00:28:25,829
beast and the head wound I was
beginning to think I was

374
00:28:25,829 --> 00:28:32,069
imagining everything. After a
few twists and turns in the

375
00:28:32,069 --> 00:28:35,279
corridors that I assumed were
under the Western mountain

376
00:28:35,279 --> 00:28:41,819
range. We arrived in a nicely
decorated cave. A large table

377
00:28:41,819 --> 00:28:45,539
lay before me with another or
face things sitting at one end.

378
00:28:46,679 --> 00:28:50,099
This one was well groomed and
had unclean clothes and even

379
00:28:50,099 --> 00:28:50,849
some jewelry.

380
00:28:52,290 --> 00:28:54,870
Fabric sticking one as you asked

381
00:28:55,470 --> 00:28:59,100
my escort said loud and clear as
if addressing a military

382
00:28:59,100 --> 00:28:59,760
officer.

383
00:29:02,340 --> 00:29:03,090
Thank you.

384
00:29:03,689 --> 00:29:04,769
The clean one said

385
00:29:05,520 --> 00:29:07,170
Please leave us.

386
00:29:08,430 --> 00:29:11,010
He waved his hand at the guard
and we were alone.

387
00:29:13,440 --> 00:29:23,430
What is your name de Claire.
Claire. I am go look. Let me

388
00:29:23,430 --> 00:29:26,070
explain what is happening and
what will happen.

389
00:29:26,910 --> 00:29:29,040
His voice was more refined.

390
00:29:30,060 --> 00:29:33,450
But first, here's some food you
must be famished.

391
00:29:34,500 --> 00:29:38,640
He pulled the top off a serving
tray and a large plate of roast

392
00:29:38,670 --> 00:29:43,470
chicken beans and bread was
revealed steaming hot and

393
00:29:43,470 --> 00:29:53,850
smelling delicious. I hesitantly
walk towards the food are you

394
00:29:53,850 --> 00:29:54,780
going to kill me?

395
00:29:56,520 --> 00:30:00,870
All explain that after you've
had your fill is non poisoned. I

396
00:30:00,870 --> 00:30:03,480
will not wish it poisoning death
on my worst enemy.

397
00:30:04,020 --> 00:30:08,910
Go I like sat I thought about
the pouch press between my

398
00:30:08,910 --> 00:30:09,600
breasts

399
00:30:10,260 --> 00:30:15,090
for wanted you dead right now.
You would be dead. I want you to

400
00:30:15,090 --> 00:30:17,970
talk with me. But II first

401
00:30:20,160 --> 00:30:27,600
I took a leg and smelled it
smells okay. This is the only

402
00:30:27,600 --> 00:30:30,810
thing I has since I woke up.

403
00:30:32,580 --> 00:30:37,500
Yes, perhaps your smell will
improve once you eat it. Your

404
00:30:37,500 --> 00:30:43,560
aroma is distinct. I asked Molly
before but I cannot place it.

405
00:30:45,000 --> 00:30:52,080
I took a bite. It was juicy, but
bland. No spices or seasonings.

406
00:30:52,680 --> 00:30:58,080
The beans are the same. The
bread was a simple flat bread. I

407
00:30:58,080 --> 00:31:02,700
was happy to get it. I ate most
of what was on the plate and

408
00:31:02,730 --> 00:31:12,480
drank the asked wine I'd ever
had done. Now what is what's

409
00:31:12,480 --> 00:31:15,450
going on? What was that scream?

410
00:31:18,030 --> 00:31:23,190
We rescued that woman. She had
been taken shortly after we took

411
00:31:23,190 --> 00:31:26,820
you a group of men have been
following us.

412
00:31:27,480 --> 00:31:29,940
He passed. Now,

413
00:31:30,600 --> 00:31:35,910
let me begin at who us is. We
are a group of outcasts

414
00:31:35,910 --> 00:31:41,580
driveless a long time ago. We
ran a traveling show. We will

415
00:31:41,580 --> 00:31:45,000
visit villages and scandal
locals after money and jewels.

416
00:31:46,110 --> 00:31:49,650
And we came to a small village
that was we did not know at the

417
00:31:49,650 --> 00:31:55,320
time inhabited entirely by
wizards and witches. We scammed

418
00:31:55,320 --> 00:31:59,700
the wrong people. They turned us
into what we are today and

419
00:31:59,700 --> 00:32:04,740
placed a curse on us that makes
us only able to survive off raw

420
00:32:04,860 --> 00:32:11,130
female human flesh. And I have
to be alive when we ate him.

421
00:32:12,360 --> 00:32:17,340
He passed. Nice began to tear up
and he continued.

422
00:32:17,729 --> 00:32:22,559
There's five of us left. We did
not need much flesh to live. We

423
00:32:22,559 --> 00:32:26,819
can survive on one adult woman
for a few months. We traveled

424
00:32:26,819 --> 00:32:29,969
from village to village and
collect one woman to feed us.

425
00:32:30,989 --> 00:32:34,529
Her group of men found out about
this and took advantage. They've

426
00:32:34,529 --> 00:32:38,909
been following us. They knock
out the women and have their way

427
00:32:38,909 --> 00:32:42,839
with them. Then they drop them
on our doorstep. We get them

428
00:32:42,839 --> 00:32:48,239
back to the home but they think
we did the attack. We only ever

429
00:32:48,239 --> 00:32:54,659
take one. We hate it Claire. For
my men starve to death rather

430
00:32:54,659 --> 00:33:01,859
than to participate. I'm too
weak to do that. I'm too weak to

431
00:33:01,859 --> 00:33:07,949
let myself die. I was not
however, too weak to slaughter

432
00:33:07,949 --> 00:33:09,119
those men last night

433
00:33:13,770 --> 00:33:19,800
Are you going to eat me? I said
my face now covered in tears and

434
00:33:19,800 --> 00:33:20,340
snot.

435
00:33:21,510 --> 00:33:26,070
I'm so sorry Claire. I'm telling
you this because I want you to

436
00:33:26,070 --> 00:33:31,020
be able to make peace with your
God. I did not expect you to

437
00:33:31,020 --> 00:33:36,480
forgive us glare. But I do beg
your forgiveness. This is the

438
00:33:36,480 --> 00:33:38,160
only way we can survive

439
00:33:40,680 --> 00:33:46,680
why can't it be someone else I
pleaded. I have a husband and my

440
00:33:46,680 --> 00:33:50,550
parents and siblings pick
someone else with no family

441
00:33:50,550 --> 00:33:56,190
please. Marcus you will not be
able to go on. We were going to

442
00:33:56,190 --> 00:34:00,630
have a family and grow old
together. I haven't ever even

443
00:34:00,630 --> 00:34:09,660
had the choice motherhood to
take someone all the beast at

444
00:34:09,660 --> 00:34:13,050
the end of the table also had
tears beginning to form and his

445
00:34:13,230 --> 00:34:14,160
test guys.

446
00:34:15,840 --> 00:34:20,430
I cannot you know too much. If

447
00:34:20,430 --> 00:34:23,850
we will not tell. I'm an
excellent liar. I will not speak

448
00:34:23,850 --> 00:34:24,330
a word.

449
00:34:25,620 --> 00:34:32,370
Claire. It has to be you. We
cannot risk going in again. We

450
00:34:32,370 --> 00:34:34,410
are too weak from the hunger

451
00:34:43,290 --> 00:34:47,790
a few hours pass back and
myself. The guard knocked on the

452
00:34:47,790 --> 00:34:48,180
door.

453
00:34:49,830 --> 00:34:51,930
Oh, have you made peace with
your God?

454
00:34:53,220 --> 00:34:59,040
I am getting there. I said I
stared at the pouch of poison

455
00:35:00,000 --> 00:35:05,940
Oh, God. Yes. How quick is it? I
asked.

456
00:35:07,109 --> 00:35:12,929
We go for the neck first. Or her
telling you this. It is very

457
00:35:12,929 --> 00:35:15,239
quick. You will not suffer for
long.

458
00:35:16,470 --> 00:35:20,580
Can you knock me out first? I
opened the boat

459
00:35:21,720 --> 00:35:25,920
if you wish. Well you have a
drink to come back you pass out,

460
00:35:26,040 --> 00:35:32,160
but I will be honest. Some women
have still woken up after the

461
00:35:32,160 --> 00:35:32,970
first boy.

462
00:35:35,010 --> 00:35:41,730
Guards voice choked a bit on the
last words of the sentence. No

463
00:35:41,730 --> 00:35:46,590
one will suffer this fate
however, I was spared and

464
00:35:46,590 --> 00:35:54,000
swallowed the poison. I stood up
I'm ready. Give me the knockout

465
00:35:54,000 --> 00:36:01,320
drink. We arrived at the dining
hall for bore men sat around the

466
00:36:01,320 --> 00:36:07,110
table. Each of them with a
sorrowful look on their faces. I

467
00:36:07,110 --> 00:36:16,140
felt the poison working my guts
churning began to sweat. Soon

468
00:36:16,140 --> 00:36:22,410
they would devour me. However,
troubles V over I was ending the

469
00:36:22,410 --> 00:36:29,910
misery of so many would never
know. No one would. My vision

470
00:36:29,910 --> 00:36:35,310
was blurry. Her hurry. Let's get
on with this. The oldest one

471
00:36:35,520 --> 00:36:37,590
jerked his head up with a start.

472
00:36:38,700 --> 00:36:40,680
We cannot Ito

473
00:36:47,640 --> 00:36:53,370
still, minutes to live. Last
thing I heard before I passed

474
00:36:53,370 --> 00:37:00,630
out isn't slowing my heartbeat.
The old poor faced man said

475
00:37:01,650 --> 00:37:04,740
We agreed never to eat a
pregnant one.

476
00:37:14,070 --> 00:37:18,750
artwork for this episode is from
Giovanni kosofsky. His amazing

477
00:37:18,750 --> 00:37:21,480
artwork can be found in his
deviantart page linked to in the

478
00:37:21,480 --> 00:37:25,440
show notes at meet us pod.com.
Please send all questions,

479
00:37:25,440 --> 00:37:30,840
concerns or comments to feedback
at Metis pod.com. Thanks for

480
00:37:30,840 --> 00:37:32,580
listening. We'll see you next
time.