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2:00

Enjoy

2:09

the

2:24

And with me as always are the

2:26

Gigasity Guardians, Gigasity Roll Call. And

2:30

Ants. And Firefly.

2:32

And Firefly! Champions

2:34

of the City.

2:37

Defenders of the

2:39

Peace. Heroes for

2:41

Justice. The Giga

2:43

City Guardian! No

3:08

further ado, if you've come with us

3:10

this far, you know what's up. I'm

3:12

gonna give a quick recap from last

3:14

session, because we've got a lot of

3:17

drama to get into, y'all. Drama. I

3:19

don't know if I'm ready for this.

3:21

I wasn't prepared for this drama. I'm

3:24

ready for anything. You knew it was

3:26

coming. Let's go. Yes, but I didn't

3:28

know how it would look. Well, to be

3:30

fair. Something's gonna be flying at my face

3:32

from left field. I'd like to know, is

3:35

it like a frisbee or a ball or

3:37

a pie? Flying object. And it's a brick.

3:39

It's a superhero story. I think you can

3:41

really, you can guarantee that literally there

3:44

will be things flying at your

3:46

face is probably, and you know, metaphorically,

3:48

since it's a story that I'm kind

3:51

of helping guide, you probably know there

3:53

are some, there are some things that

3:55

are metaphorically going to come fly. I

3:57

just know that animus needs some therapy.

4:00

curveball. Why throw it straight if

4:02

you can give a nice twist? Okay,

4:04

so let me let me set the

4:06

scene. Y'all are down in flipside. You

4:08

have found out more than perhaps you

4:11

realized you needed to know about

4:13

the bricks where they live and

4:15

how they live. You've met gigagayo

4:17

which seems to have the

4:19

remaining consciousness of Scarlet King

4:21

within it. Seems to be

4:23

some sort of monstrous plant

4:25

that is growing throughout the

4:27

city. You've met sister rose

4:29

who appears to have some

4:31

genetic connection to Jillian, and

4:33

is at least, if not a

4:36

leader, a very honored figure who

4:38

can gift non-powered people with the

4:41

spores, you've learned that

4:43

microbial, who animus rescued

4:45

from Tusk Corp, is

4:47

capable of shifting the microbiome of

4:49

those who are infected with the

4:51

spore to make them able to

4:54

maintain the change, which they cannot

4:56

do without his help. Scarlet King

4:59

was the one who used to

5:01

withhold the microbial treatments if

5:03

someone disobeyed her, if one

5:05

of her bricks disobeyed her.

5:08

But now, Sister Rose and

5:10

Microbial are allowing people to

5:12

choose to join their community.

5:14

You've met a host of other

5:16

bricks, you met Eelectric, Eelectric, back at

5:19

the beginning, you've seen skitter and

5:21

Echo Lowcat. Kentucky was in the

5:23

med room. I forgot to mention

5:26

him last time, but he was

5:28

getting bandaged up after his roughneck

5:30

fight with two-ton. And you've run

5:32

into a few others. Upcycle, who

5:35

does a lot of the gadgetry

5:37

and looks like they've based some

5:39

of their designs on Firefly, wearing

5:41

some very elaborate junk-based armor that

5:43

looks like it's taken some hints

5:45

from Jillian's designs. Yeah, we're going to have

5:48

to file a copyright notice on that. We'll come

5:50

back. Y'all have not monetized the Guardians halfway

5:52

enough. That's half the reason that Giga

5:54

City Gold has been so successful. You

5:56

do not have a PR or marketing

5:59

department. You should have... you know, action figures.

6:01

What are y'all doing out there?

6:03

Work. Perfect answer. All right, so.

6:06

We've been doing work. Getting things

6:08

done, that's what. So when we

6:10

last left, we had identified that

6:13

first off, animus is the result

6:15

of Tusk Corp experimentation with the

6:17

spores. Though she never understood the

6:20

origins of her power, it is

6:22

becoming clear that she was one

6:24

of the early experiments with the

6:27

spores. Whether intentional or unintentional is

6:29

unclear, but clearly her microbiome has

6:31

somehow shifted. So seems like it's

6:34

possible they've used whatever they've learned

6:36

from their capture of microbial to

6:38

effectively stabilize their modified version of

6:41

the spore. I thought the salsa

6:43

on Taco Tuesdays was just, you

6:45

know, naturally spicy. It's the special

6:48

sauce. The trail. It was a

6:50

secret ingredient in the cafeteria. I

6:52

had to miss his thinking that,

6:54

like, how did they do it?

6:57

I think we mentioned a water

6:59

cooler last time and I love

7:01

that idea. Although I was thinking

7:04

spores, you know, maybe through the

7:06

vents, you know, they're just pumping

7:08

the vents full of like microbes

7:11

and spores and seeing who it

7:13

takes on. That's so gross. I

7:15

don't know, but I'm not going

7:18

to look at tacos the same

7:20

way again. Don't blame tacos. Never

7:22

blame tacos. Tacos are never at

7:25

fault. Tacos are animus' favorite food.

7:27

It's canon now. Okay, that's it.

7:29

We've made a decision. So we

7:32

had left with the startling revelation

7:34

that both Wherebert and Jillian have

7:36

been injected with the Tusk Corp

7:39

variant of the spores, same as

7:41

the individuals who were saved from

7:43

the basement of Tusk Corporation, the

7:46

ones who were victims in the

7:48

megapede attack, which means microbial gave

7:50

you a choice. asked you if

7:53

you wished to join them. You

7:55

either decide to have your microbes

7:57

shifted to accommodate for this spore's

8:00

effect on your genetic structure, or

8:02

you decide to have them reject

8:04

it, so that the spore's cannot

8:07

take root in your system and

8:09

change you. Okay. I feel like

8:11

there are pros and cons. Could

8:14

I hear a little bit more

8:16

about what will happen? Like what

8:18

kind of change is going to

8:21

happen. Yeah, that was my question

8:23

as well. Do you want to

8:25

ask this in character of microbial

8:28

or of Sister Rose? Or, you

8:30

know, because they're all around. Ken

8:32

Tucky, by the way, has gone

8:35

over and found ape. Like he's

8:37

getting, he's got a huge bandage

8:39

on his side and he sees

8:41

you come in and he gives

8:44

a sort of like, you know,

8:46

a kind of sideways eye at

8:48

the rest of you, but he

8:51

immediately like kind of limps over

8:53

to ape and he sticks out

8:55

a huge hand. and says, uh,

8:58

I owe you one. Thank you

9:00

for your help. Oh, oh, no

9:02

problem, but, and, uh, if you

9:05

want to pay me back, you

9:07

can answer the question, if you

9:09

were going to wear pants, would

9:12

it be on just the front

9:14

two legs, or would it be

9:16

on, like, all four with a

9:19

big waistband kind of thing? Or,

9:21

like, how exactly? He grins and

9:23

he goes, I've never needed pants.

9:26

And he, like, like, shakes his

9:28

hair back. pantsless kinship. We don't

9:30

need those human, yeah, pants. So,

9:33

meanwhile, you're having a, you've just

9:35

had like a very intense moment

9:37

where microbial leaned over and he,

9:39

the cap, it looks like he's

9:42

wearing a hat, but you realize

9:44

it's actually a mushroom cap. It's

9:46

part of his body. And he

9:48

sort of places you underneath the

9:51

halo of his head and touches

9:53

forehead to forehead and then he

9:55

pulls back a little and says,

9:57

you have a choice to make.

9:59

I cannot make it for you,

10:02

but we do. who have those

10:04

who can help with your decision?

10:06

Who can help with my decision?

10:08

So Sister Rose says, all of

10:11

us are comfortable answering any questions

10:13

you have, but we cannot help

10:15

you make the decision apart from

10:17

offering you knowledge. She says, there

10:19

is one among us who can

10:22

help you decide what matters most

10:24

to you. Who's that person? Microbial

10:26

says, we call her clarity. Oh,

10:28

I like that. That's appropriate. Can

10:31

I meet clarity? He says, certainly.

10:33

He makes a gesture. And you

10:35

see, she's actually in the room

10:37

with you. She's been walking around

10:39

and sitting with the different patients,

10:42

monitoring them. Most of the patients

10:44

from Tusk Tower are apparently in

10:46

some kind of unconscious trance. There's

10:48

a few of them who are

10:51

up and like clearly processing a

10:53

lot of things. So Clarity is

10:55

a, she looks like an older

10:57

lady. She's kind of frumpy. She's

11:00

wearing sort of a shapeless robe

11:02

and her hair is kind of

11:04

wild. She's got a whole lot

11:06

of jewelry on. She's brick red,

11:08

but her hair has not changed

11:11

color. It's stark white. And she's

11:13

got a very... kind aura about

11:15

her. Otherwise she looks human, her

11:17

skin's a little rough, and it's

11:20

reddish, but it's not dramatic. As

11:22

you're watching, she sits down next

11:24

to a patient and takes their

11:26

hands, and they talk a little

11:28

quietly, and then they look into

11:31

each other's eyes. The patient, it's

11:33

a young man, he looks like

11:35

he's probably in his 20s, he's

11:37

a little disheveled, looks like he

11:40

probably was going to work. He

11:42

kind of opens his eyes a

11:44

little and he says, I need

11:46

to go home. And she nods

11:48

and she says, Well, that's lovely.

11:51

I think you should do that.

11:53

And he kind of nods, and

11:55

they kind of share like a

11:57

solid knot, and then she sort

12:00

of pats him on the back

12:02

and she says, for now, why

12:04

don't you take a rest? She

12:06

stands up and kind of catches

12:09

microbial's eye and comes over to

12:11

you. She says, who are our

12:13

new guests? Would you introduce me?

12:15

Microbial says, well, certainly, this is

12:17

Jillian. And... He gestures, animus, Sam,

12:20

Brody. He gestures at Riptide. Brody

12:22

goes, hey, hey, like very chill.

12:24

So, what are y'all, what would

12:26

you like to do, say? I

12:29

would like to ask Sister Rose

12:31

and, and microbial, before I make

12:33

any decision, and I would like

12:35

to hear more about what is

12:37

going to happen to me. If

12:40

I were to say yes and

12:42

I were to be a brick,

12:44

I have a lot of responsibilities

12:46

in my life that I don't

12:49

feel like I can walk away

12:51

from, and especially like my mom

12:53

and my family, I don't think

12:55

I can not do those things

12:57

and not be a high school

13:00

student and all of that kind

13:02

of stuff. So I'm curious about

13:04

like what is going to happen

13:06

to me both to like my

13:09

body and then also like kind

13:11

of functionally as a result of

13:13

that. Like can I still be

13:15

a person in my regular life

13:18

or no? microbial kind of share

13:20

a look, and microbial actually looks

13:22

at you animus, and he says,

13:24

perhaps you would be better to

13:26

ask your friend. This is a

13:29

new variant of the spore. It

13:31

is modified from when they took

13:33

Sister Rose. Honestly, I kind of

13:35

just figured out or was told

13:38

that, um, what I can do

13:40

might be a result of this.

13:42

I didn't always do this, this,

13:44

whatever this. is. And while I'm

13:46

talking, I'm kind of messing with

13:49

that bracelet a little bit, that

13:51

I keep around my wrist. I'm

13:53

trying to figure out, am I

13:55

still me? Am I someone else?

13:58

Is this different? Sam, he sits

14:00

down next to Jillian, and he

14:02

says, look, I don't have the

14:04

same thing you got or any

14:07

of y'all, but I can say

14:09

that, well, if you don't know

14:11

how it's going to turn out.

14:13

Powers are going to change you

14:15

one way or another. You can't

14:18

keep living the same way because

14:20

you're different. I don't know if

14:22

I said that right, but that's

14:24

kind of how I think about

14:27

it. It sure changed my life.

14:29

He says, you ain't never had

14:31

powers outside the suit. You get

14:33

to take it off, you know?

14:35

I can't take this off. And

14:38

he kind of flexes his hands

14:40

a little bit. And he says,

14:42

and I know animus can't neither.

14:44

Sister Rose says, it is an

14:47

adjustment, but we have a community

14:49

of people who understand what it

14:51

is like to live differently. Clarity

14:53

interjects here. She sits down on

14:55

the other side of you, and

14:58

she says, if you wish, it

15:00

is my role here to help

15:02

in decision-making. I cannot change what

15:04

you think, but I can help

15:07

you understand. What you want? That

15:09

is my gift. And everyone has

15:11

different gifts. All of them kind

15:13

of nod, and like, Sister Rose

15:16

says, one cannot be certain of

15:18

exactly how the spores will interact

15:20

with your genetic material. Animas kind

15:22

of sensing that she probably didn't

15:24

help as much as she wanted

15:27

to with her initial statements, because

15:29

there's a lot going on in

15:31

that brain. a lot going on

15:33

in that mine. with emotions and

15:36

things and trying to untangle things

15:38

and self-doubt and questioning and probably

15:40

a little bit of dissociation trying

15:42

to figure all of that out.

15:44

Then like takes a deep breath

15:47

with Wherever's help a little bit

15:49

of like a solid grounding presence

15:51

there and says look I'm not

15:53

going to tell you that thinking

15:56

back on it whenever this may

15:58

have happened to me it was

16:00

comfortable. But I think that whatever

16:02

this turns into, whatever you decide,

16:04

if you decide to go through

16:07

with it, I also feel more

16:09

like me than I somehow did

16:11

before. Obviously, it affects people differently.

16:13

Like this, I haven't met anyone

16:16

else yet who's been through what

16:18

I've, with these kind of abilities

16:20

that I can do now with

16:22

feeling these different things and projecting

16:25

them. I hope I do find

16:27

someone like that, and maybe I

16:29

could ask them questions. It seems

16:31

like maybe that was how my

16:33

body made it its own. And

16:36

maybe yours might feel like that

16:38

too. When you say I feel

16:40

more myself, a whole bunch of

16:42

bricks say something under their breath.

16:45

And they all not. And the

16:47

thing that they say is, in

16:49

imperfection, wholeness. Microbial says it under

16:51

his breath and you hear sister

16:53

rose murmur it clarity murmurs it

16:56

and like all of you have

16:58

this like what like something kind

17:00

of ripples through the room like

17:02

when you say that there's this

17:05

like little response from from the

17:07

bricks okay so I won't fly

17:09

that was a little bit creepy

17:11

everyone saying it all at once

17:14

but I don't disagree a little

17:16

culty kind of I wasn't gonna

17:18

say it so the way it

17:20

the way it feels when they

17:22

say it is like It's almost

17:25

like they're saying, they're saying Amen

17:27

to what you said. Oh, I've

17:29

got tingles. This is the thing

17:31

for animus. What you feel from

17:34

them is, you feel like recognition.

17:36

and welcome. Like you feel this

17:38

very strong, like, you're here, you're

17:40

with the right people, like, yeah,

17:42

that's us. You're sort of sitting

17:45

there and you're thinking through all

17:47

this? Jillian, and you feel a

17:49

hand on yours, and you look

17:51

up, and it's clarity. Her eyes

17:54

are pink, but they're very kind.

17:56

And she says, I understand that

17:58

this is a lot to think

18:00

about. If you'd like, I can

18:02

help with that. I won't know

18:05

anything, you don't want me to.

18:07

It's not a two-way street. I'll

18:09

just help you sort through a

18:11

little bit of how you're feeling.

18:14

I don't want to postpone this

18:16

decision. I would like to, I

18:18

feel like we have a lot

18:20

of things to do, so I

18:23

think we should kind of get

18:25

on with it, and I think

18:27

that Clarity, I would love to

18:29

hear what Clarity has to say,

18:31

so yes, please. It's like all

18:34

of those little voices telling you

18:36

all the things you need to

18:38

worry about. Oh my gosh, I

18:40

have tests coming up and wait

18:43

a minute. Jorge saw me going

18:45

in here and I don't have

18:47

any way to explain all these

18:49

other people who I was with.

18:51

And what happens if I get

18:54

out as firefly? And I can't

18:56

believe I did that to the

18:58

bricks and I feel so guilty

19:00

for that. And is this my

19:03

way that I have to use

19:05

to use to pull all these

19:07

ways in which you owe other

19:09

people or feel indebted? and really

19:11

clouding your judgment, they all kind

19:14

of fall away. And clarity looks

19:16

at you and says, now, what

19:18

question do you want to answer?

19:20

And you don't say anything, but

19:23

the question that you immediately think

19:25

of without any hesitation is, should

19:27

I do this? And she says,

19:29

good. What do you want to

19:32

do? She sees it in your

19:34

eyes. She sees the confirmation that

19:36

you know what you want to

19:38

know. And she says, what do

19:40

you? want to do. In that

19:43

moment, you have completely forgotten to

19:45

feel like you owe anyone. You're

19:47

not worried about what you owe

19:49

other people. The question is, what

19:52

do you, Jillian Jays, want? And

19:54

you feel uniquely able to answer

19:56

that question. So there you go.

19:58

If you'd like, you can roll

20:00

for this answer. Or you can

20:03

decide based on your character, what

20:05

makes best sense. But this is

20:07

unique clarity. You know what you

20:09

want to say. And it's about

20:12

you, not anyone else. I want

20:14

to, I want to say yes.

20:16

Okay, so you, you look at

20:18

her and you say, yes. And

20:21

you turn to microbial and you

20:23

say, I want this. A microbial,

20:25

like, there's a bunch of them

20:27

who kind of like, there's like

20:29

an intake of breath. Sam is

20:32

like, and he goes. Crud, I

20:34

guess I gotta go too now,

20:36

huh? Like, you laugh when he

20:38

says that and he kind of

20:41

grins at you and he kind

20:43

of scratches the back of his

20:45

head and he goes, I always

20:47

been a weird, I ain't nothing

20:49

new about being weird for me.

20:52

Okay, microbial says, please, I doubt.

20:54

Within moments, he's simply touching you

20:56

and like coming close to you

20:58

and moving around your body. And

21:01

you don't feel any different. There's

21:03

no like distinct sensation, because what

21:05

he's doing is at the microbial

21:07

level. He's ceding your body with

21:09

all these tiny microbes, fungi, bacteria,

21:12

viruses that will help stabilize your

21:14

body through the spores transition. And

21:16

we will cut the scene there.

21:18

You've all had a chance to

21:21

take a breath to calm down

21:23

to get your bearings. Everyone can

21:25

heal a heart. Nice. Yay, because

21:27

I was down one too. Everybody

21:30

was a little... bit roughed up

21:32

but you're all back into yeah

21:34

fighting shape so that I can

21:36

really really lay the drama clock

21:38

on you. I have to have

21:41

you ready. You have to be

21:43

healthy enough for me to really

21:45

drama you. You do need a

21:47

plan to figure out what you're

21:50

going to do about Gagacity Gold

21:52

and Tusk Corporation because you've got

21:54

a deadline Monday. This is by

21:56

the way to be clear. You're

21:58

on this is Sunday. This is

22:01

Sunday morning bright and early. You

22:03

guys have this, you've got one

22:05

day left. So ellipsis gave you

22:07

an ultimatum. He said you have

22:10

to agree to stand down and

22:12

step away by noon on Monday

22:14

or I'm releasing the details of

22:16

who you are to the press.

22:18

And he made it very clear

22:21

that he would also help you

22:23

with your little condition if you

22:25

agreed to step down and step

22:27

away. There are different ways we

22:30

could play this. You guys could

22:32

decide, all right, we're going after

22:34

Giga City Gold, let's get them

22:36

before Monday. Remember, there's also a

22:39

summit on Monday where Tusk and

22:41

Gag City Gold are pushing the

22:43

mayor and the chief of police,

22:45

the commissioner, to issue a state

22:47

of martial law. to start arming

22:50

citizens against the brick invasion. They

22:52

want to try to revoke and

22:54

change some of the weapon laws

22:56

to allow for citizens to protect

22:59

themselves from what seems to be

23:01

an invading to them, or this

23:03

is the idea that they're promoting,

23:05

an invasion of bricks, who we

23:07

all know are attached to Scarlet

23:10

King and dangerous, right? After all,

23:12

we were so lucky, Firefly defeated

23:14

them last time. So that's the

23:16

situation you are in you have

23:19

a decision to make you have

23:21

until Monday High noon before Jillian

23:23

gets outed as firefly and The

23:25

the summit is going to be

23:27

held and ellipse told you he

23:30

was going to release it back

23:32

in his smarmy smug way. I

23:34

don't think we can wait around.

23:36

We get to go. Yeah, we

23:39

can't just, we're not just gonna

23:41

like step back. I don't care

23:43

if he gave us a deadline.

23:45

I don't think that that's the

23:48

right thing to do. We're not

23:50

just going to like step aside

23:52

and let them do whatever. That's

23:54

not a, you know, that's not

23:56

a thing that we would do.

23:59

I'm kind of thinking though, because

24:01

we could do all this planning,

24:03

we could go back and forth,

24:05

we could go back and forth,

24:08

but I think for us, but

24:10

I think for us, Our better

24:12

plans happen when we're coming up

24:14

with them on the fly. We're

24:16

not planners. When there's stuff that

24:19

we've got to deal with and

24:21

respond to because our best laid

24:23

plans previously have all gone awry.

24:25

You didn't lay them. You just

24:28

kind of ran out the door

24:30

and were like, let's go mess

24:32

with Tusk Corp. It was still

24:34

a plan. It was still a

24:37

plan. It was. It was. It

24:39

was. It was. It was. Okay.

24:41

Right, so I think lead us

24:43

back up through there. Let's bust

24:45

in, let's drag ellipsis out into

24:48

the daylight. Well, do we know

24:50

where ellipsis is? I don't think

24:52

we know where ellipsis is. I

24:54

think we have to figure out

24:57

who ellipsis is and also the

24:59

connection to Tusk Corp and Gigacity

25:01

Gold. I feel like there's a

25:03

lot of shady dealings that I

25:05

think they're trying to keep secret,

25:08

so we have to like expose

25:10

those things and what he's trying

25:12

to do in what he's trying

25:14

to do in order to do

25:17

in order to make. I like

25:19

how it's like, dude, let's go

25:21

assault the tower and you're like,

25:23

wait, no, we need to know

25:25

everything first. That is very true

25:28

to both of your personalities. Yeah.

25:30

I think we used the drones

25:32

against, and I know we tried

25:34

to use the drones before, but

25:37

that's because we didn't know who

25:39

owned them. There's got to be

25:41

some way to figure out where

25:43

the drones home is, right? Triangulate

25:46

and attack. Exactly. Sure. I'm just

25:48

going to touch my ear, like

25:50

specs. I know you're getting all

25:52

this, right? Did we set up

25:54

a relay successfully? Yeah, so spec?

25:57

by the way, is like, okay,

25:59

I'm having a really hard time

26:01

keeping up with what's going on.

26:03

What the heck are you doing

26:06

down there? Spex, I'm here with

26:08

a mushroom man, with a catman

26:10

dude, with a big plant that

26:12

used to be a witch, I

26:14

think. Listen, listen, listen, Spex, can

26:17

you triangulate where the signal from

26:19

ellipsis was coming? We just need

26:21

to know where ellipsis is, even

26:23

if you can only get it

26:26

for a second. Actually, that's what

26:28

I've been using the extra time

26:30

to do. I've been monitoring all

26:32

the social feeds that I've also

26:34

been trying to track the signal.

26:37

He's bouncing it off of Tusk

26:39

Tower, but it's not coming from

26:41

Tusk Tower. That's not the origin.

26:43

See, Firefly? Good thing we didn't

26:46

break in. That makes perfect sense.

26:48

Because they're shady. They try to

26:50

hide their tracks. Of course they

26:52

wouldn't put everything in one place.

26:55

He goes, also, I've been trying

26:57

to look up public record appearances

26:59

of ellipsis. He only showed up

27:01

visually on feeds, like in the

27:03

last couple months. I'm not even

27:06

sure. Like, we've never seen him

27:08

out. Like, did you guys ever

27:10

run into him when he was,

27:12

like, out there in the field?

27:15

No. Do you have a real

27:17

name? Do you have anything that

27:19

would suggest a name other than

27:21

ellipsis? He says... That's asking for

27:23

a lot. All I've got right

27:26

now is, you know, well, honestly,

27:28

just like a creeping sensation up

27:30

my spine, but also I do

27:32

have a location. Okay. But he

27:35

goes, it's weird, Joe. Where is

27:37

it? Under the school. Let's go

27:39

to the school. Under the school.

27:41

Can we get there from here?

27:44

Suit up first. Yeah. All right.

27:46

He goes, he goes, well, you

27:48

guys are already pretty pretty deep.

27:50

This signal is coming from deep.

27:52

It's pinged off several relays. I

27:55

don't think, like I'm not sure

27:57

if you could actually get down

27:59

there. from this school, but it's

28:01

gotta have an entry level in

28:04

like a subbasement or I don't

28:06

know. Maybe we can get there from

28:08

here somehow. How far do these tunnels

28:10

go? We need to get Firefly

28:13

in her armor though first. We gotta

28:15

get you in the old tin can. Yeah,

28:17

I don't wanna do that while I'm

28:19

still with all of the bricks though. I

28:21

wanna. Wait, let's figure out where

28:23

we are in relation to this

28:26

place in the school. Let's figure

28:28

out who can get us there,

28:31

because I think we'll need like

28:33

a guide, and then let's

28:35

get a little ways away, and

28:37

then I can try to summon

28:39

the suit. How does that work?

28:41

I think we said that I

28:44

could call it to me. Yeah,

28:46

you probably have to roll

28:48

for it. Oh yeah, definitely.

28:50

Sure. You feel a hand on your shoulder

28:52

with like a few little claws coming

28:55

out and that cat comes in

28:57

close close next to you and says

28:59

Did you think you shouldn't share

29:01

that you brought someone else with you?

29:03

I didn't bring anybody what are

29:06

you talking about? She picks the earpiece

29:08

out of your ear holds it up

29:10

to sister Rose and goes Apparently they've

29:12

been talking to someone else this

29:15

whole time They're not here.

29:17

It's not like there's a little

29:19

guy in that thing. It's like a

29:21

radio. Don't worry. Echo looks down

29:23

at you and goes, our secrecy is

29:26

our only defense. There are those

29:28

who would see us dead. I'm the

29:30

best defense there is. Don't even

29:32

worry about it. She rolls her eyes

29:34

and she says, I saw you. I'm

29:36

not impressed. Okay, well here's the deal.

29:39

We are all in a lot of trouble.

29:41

At some point we're going to have

29:43

to have to trust each other. So

29:45

are we going to get

29:48

caught up around understandable, understandable

29:50

concerns and hesitation and

29:53

walls that have been

29:55

built up? What do we need to

29:57

do to show you that we want

29:59

to? help in that we're

30:01

serious about this. Exactly,

30:04

because I've never punched a

30:06

cat, but if I have

30:09

to. Ape? No. Ape. Skitters.

30:11

You're going to go back

30:13

in the backpack. So at

30:15

this point, I'm going to

30:17

say Sister Rose puts a

30:20

hand on Echo Lowcat's shoulder

30:22

and says, Echo is one of

30:24

our most ferocious

30:26

defenders. Most of us

30:28

believe in nonviolence, but

30:31

we also do not

30:33

limit anyone's choices. We are

30:35

all individuals

30:37

and we must make our

30:39

own decisions. This is why

30:41

Echo and Skitter and

30:44

Ken went above. They

30:46

made that choice without

30:48

any direction from the rest

30:50

of us, although they did tell

30:53

us before they left. Echo,

30:55

I trust them. looks down at

30:57

ape, and then like, just kind

30:59

of nods, Skitter goes, yeah, no,

31:01

the ape guy's cool. Yeah, I'm

31:03

cool. I take my earpiece back. Thank

31:06

you. I just kind of brush

31:08

off a lot of

31:10

earwacks that's accumulated, pop

31:12

it back in. Ew, gross.

31:14

That's disgusting. It's perfect. For

31:16

the record, I do want

31:18

to say, if Echo Lookat is

31:20

one of your most ferocious

31:23

and passionate people down here.

31:25

I think we need your help,

31:28

specifically. Skitter

31:30

goes, dude, it's just like

31:32

fantasy hunt. Come on,

31:34

you love that game. That go,

31:36

like, gives him a look,

31:38

like an eye roll look,

31:40

although, again, it's that expressionless

31:42

cat face. It's really hard

31:44

to read. And she kind of

31:46

looks down at him and she

31:49

goes, easier to trust somebody

31:51

if you're with them. And

31:54

Skitter's like, I'm going. He runs up

31:56

the wall and he's upside down and he

31:58

looks down at you and he goes. And

32:00

you should see what happens when I spit.

32:02

I want to see what happens when you

32:04

spit. We are all very excited to

32:06

see what happens when you spit.

32:08

Echo is like, skitter. And like

32:11

he's like, what? He asked. He

32:13

goes, you got to forgive my

32:15

sister. She's like way over protective.

32:17

Sister. Did we know that already?

32:19

Nope. You did not know that already.

32:21

But you're finding things out. How

32:23

old are you skitter? He goes, I'm

32:25

12, like almost 13. No, no, too

32:28

dangerous for kids. We can't, we can't

32:30

be bringing kids along. Sorry, Skater,

32:32

you gotta sit this one out,

32:34

Bud. Skater looks down at you,

32:36

he goes, Kid, he jumps down

32:38

and he flips down and he

32:40

flips down and he flips and

32:42

he flips and he goes, I

32:44

make my own decisions and he

32:47

goes, I make my own decisions,

32:49

and he goes, I don't know, I

32:51

remember from school, it's like, it's like,

32:53

I don't. What are you, like five?

32:55

No. I've been through extensive

32:57

military testing, civilian

32:59

rocketry. How long did that take?

33:02

I'm just asking how old you are,

33:04

dude. I'm not asking for your whole,

33:06

like, resume. Oh, I like this kid.

33:08

No pants? And maybe five? I don't

33:10

know, dude. Sounds like you should sit

33:12

this one out. And he gives you a

33:15

big grin. No. I'm over 20 years

33:17

old, a little kid, and listen. He

33:19

goes, how old is that in champions?

33:21

Maybe you should sit this one out

33:23

grandpa. And he like, he grins again,

33:25

and finally Sister Rose goes, that's enough.

33:28

She looks down and she says, we

33:30

do not discriminate based on age or

33:32

origin. Everyone is allowed to make their

33:34

own decisions. I turned to Firefly. Look,

33:37

look, Firefly, you gotta bring a

33:39

12-year-old with us into a very

33:41

dangerous situation. Don't say Firefly. Don't

33:43

say Firefly. That's perfect. You want

33:45

to say firefly because we've been

33:47

very careful and I think it's great. I

33:49

think it's great. Oh yeah, ape would say firefly.

33:51

Okay, so you say like, yeah, firefly, are we

33:53

really going to bring it? And like all of

33:56

a sudden, it's like you could hear a pin

33:58

drop. The whole room goes quiet and skid. goes,

34:00

dude, your firefly? And there's

34:02

like this long silence and

34:05

sister rolls, holds up her

34:07

hands and says, this is

34:09

a place of peace. And Kentucky

34:11

is like backing up and like

34:14

squaring up and looking

34:16

scared and like everybody's

34:18

just staring. And there's

34:20

this moment, you're gonna

34:22

have to say something, Jillian. Ape

34:25

just threw you under the bus.

34:27

I'm mad about. I'm Jillian. I

34:29

might also be firefly, but I'm

34:31

Jillian here right now. And also,

34:33

I mean, you know, harm. Somebody

34:36

in the back goes, it's a little

34:38

late for that, and there's like a

34:40

murmur of assent. Yeah, I'm sorry. I

34:42

thought that I could be stealthy, because

34:45

I didn't want to make

34:47

anyone feel uncomfortable. But I

34:49

realize now it seems kind

34:51

of like I was keeping

34:53

a secret, and that probably

34:55

is a little bit worse. You've

34:57

got a lot more to apologize

34:59

for than that. And there's like

35:01

a sudden tension in the air.

35:03

Could you say that again? Your voice

35:05

is a little hoarse. Oh, stop. It's

35:08

now the right time. Skitter cracks

35:10

up. He's the only person in

35:12

the room laughing. He like slaps you

35:14

on the shoulder and he goes, see,

35:16

we're gonna have fun, dude. And he

35:19

goes, awesome. I get to go on

35:21

a mission with fire fly. This is

35:23

so dope. Riptide pokes his

35:25

head in the rooms and he

35:27

goes, dudes, you gotta come check

35:29

this out. They got like a

35:31

whole thing. Come on. Sister Rose

35:33

is kind of like, yes, you should

35:36

go and look at the docks and

35:38

like kind of like shuffles you

35:40

out of the room. You should

35:42

go, dear. Clarity is like turning around

35:44

and like kind of like trying to

35:47

talk to people like there's some discussion

35:49

going on amongst the bricks. You think

35:51

it's time to leave for now. Maybe

35:53

you can talk deeply with the community

35:55

later, but probably this is a lot

35:57

to deal with in short order. Yeah.

36:00

Echo and Skitter are coming

36:02

with you. Ken is a little

36:04

dinged up. Riptide is like, so,

36:06

Manu, bro, eel. Oh, like, dude,

36:08

they got, like, the coolest sea

36:10

critters I've ever seen. I mean,

36:12

I guess, like, technically, they're not

36:14

sea critters. Some of them do,

36:16

like, the saltwater thing, but mostly,

36:18

they're like, fresh water, but they're

36:20

like cool with a lot of

36:22

the stuff that's in the fresh

36:24

water, in the fresh water, in

36:26

the sewers, like, like, like, like,

36:28

You get down to the docks

36:30

and you see the electric and

36:32

he's waving. There at the

36:34

dock is this massive globular mass.

36:36

And as you're watching, he tosses

36:39

something and it snaps out

36:41

of tentacle and grabs it

36:43

and then it absorbs it.

36:45

Dave picks up skitter to throw

36:47

him in. When you pick up

36:49

skitter, skitter flips and lands on

36:51

your back and he goes, cool

36:53

dude. All right, so run as

36:55

fast as you can. No, I want

36:58

to roll to get skitter off of

37:00

me. It's not unacceptable No, go ahead.

37:02

What do you got? Well, I was

37:04

thinking rash and cocky Okay, this is

37:06

definitely a brash cocky move. Yes. Yeah,

37:08

I'm the greatest one there is I

37:11

don't like him trying to upstage

37:13

me If you pick him up, he's gonna

37:15

do some stuff skitter likes to mess

37:17

around he kind of he kind of

37:19

reminds you of you of you honestly No,

37:22

well that's why. I turned the

37:24

firefly, I'm like, do you guys

37:26

really want, like, this small, annoying,

37:28

wisecracker around? We'll keep you around,

37:31

don't we? Hey! I am tall for

37:33

a chimp. Very tall for a chimp.

37:35

Yes, you are. Right over the plate,

37:37

and Animas just hit right

37:39

out of the park. Nicely

37:41

done scrive, yeah. Animas is

37:43

starting to feel more comfortable.

37:46

Y'all haven't really seen the

37:48

snarky side too much yet. I

37:51

think I'll just take two. I can

37:53

do rash and cocky, and I can

37:55

do great estate, but I don't do

37:57

great estate. So

38:01

that is a three and a

38:03

three unfortunately lovely you fail he is

38:05

on your back You can't have the

38:07

hardest time reaching him and he's

38:10

stuck on there like whatever kind

38:12

of bug-like stickiness he's got He's

38:14

definitely like grabbed on and he

38:17

goes oh hugs and he goes

38:19

get he up and he digs

38:21

his heels I want to I think

38:23

me and him both fall into the

38:26

water. Oh, oh I like that. Yeah,

38:28

okay. So a tentacle fishes you out

38:30

And Eil says, I see you've met

38:32

Fido. He says, Fido, say hello

38:34

to the lovely people. And a

38:36

couple of tentacles come out

38:38

and they wave. He says, heh.

38:41

He wasn't exactly expected, but

38:43

he's turned out to be

38:45

a lovely help to the

38:47

community. Aren't you a good boy?

38:50

He's a good boy. And he

38:52

kind of like leansens down and

38:54

like scratches him and Fido kind

38:56

of like bubbles a little. Can I

38:59

see if I feel any emotions from

39:01

Fido? Yeah! Just curiosity. Oh yeah, Fido,

39:03

Fido feels like, uh, you know when

39:05

dogs are like, throw the stick? Like

39:07

the wiggly butts? Yeah, that's it. You

39:09

get super wiggly like you're full of

39:11

beans? Speaking of dogs, ape 100% like,

39:13

does the full body shake to get

39:15

all the sewer water out of his

39:17

hair? Does your hair like fluff up?

39:19

Fluff up and just flip sore water all

39:22

over water all over everybody, yeah. Skitter like

39:24

dude this jacket is down he like gets

39:26

the jacket off and he's like you know

39:28

how hard it is to find something and

39:30

then like you know poke extra arm holes

39:32

in it he goes I get it you

39:34

don't wear pants but come on man just

39:36

don't climb on me again and I'll get

39:38

you a special jacket from the Guardian's headquarters

39:40

what do you think he looks at you and he goes

39:42

okay I dig yours. He's like, whoa,

39:45

whoa, whoa, this one's mine. This style

39:47

is mine. We'll get you something different,

39:49

something a little more your speed, a

39:51

little less cool, but something that fits

39:53

you. Premonition of the future, he's

39:56

going to try to be just like you.

39:58

Sam comes over and he's like. So,

40:00

uh, we doing this? And he

40:02

goes, I don't know, uh, and

40:04

then he hits his little thing

40:06

and he goes, so Spex, and

40:09

he look, and Spex is like,

40:11

well, I can tell you where

40:13

the signal's coming from, do you

40:15

have a way to get there?

40:17

Riptide grins at all of you,

40:19

and he goes, come on, can

40:22

we do it? I totally want

40:24

to surf on this bad boy.

40:26

Well, so what does it look

40:28

like exactly exactly when it? It's

40:30

uh, so think of like, amoeba-like,

40:33

pinkish-red. You imagine that this thing

40:35

might have been a slime mold

40:37

or a fungus of some kind?

40:39

I thought it was going to

40:41

be like a sweet type of

40:43

thing. Slime mold sounds weird. Yeah,

40:46

well, do the tentacles get reabsorbed,

40:48

like they come out and then

40:50

come back? Yeah, they seem to

40:52

be able to form extras. Like

40:54

the pseudopod? Yeah, exactly. It's a

40:57

blob. It's like a blob. It's

40:59

like a blob. Can I tell

41:01

you guys, if you really want

41:03

to look this up, there's something

41:05

in our garden called, and I'm

41:07

not making this up, this is

41:10

actually the name, dog vomit slime

41:12

mold? Oh, I see that before.

41:14

Perfect. So it's like this weird,

41:16

like yellowish red. It does look

41:18

like dog vomit. We had to

41:20

look up what it was because

41:23

we thought it was a fungus.

41:25

Like wall of the prokaryotic animal

41:27

tree, they can actually move. They

41:29

can move three feet a day.

41:31

This thing looks like a plant,

41:34

but it can like ooze along

41:36

the ground. Here's the crazy part.

41:38

Ready? It can actually absorb like

41:40

dangerous rare metals from the soil

41:42

and process them. Cool. That seems

41:44

like a good thing to have

41:47

in your garden. They're currently experimenting

41:49

and trying to figure out how

41:51

to like get it. be able

41:53

to use it for like environmental

41:55

cleanup if they can modify it

41:57

in the right way. So, so

42:00

this is a giant slime mold

42:02

of some kind with like a

42:04

sentient slime mold. It's a sentient

42:06

slime mold. Wait, how big eight

42:08

points to those? How big is

42:11

this squid man here? Fido. Eel

42:13

goes, Fido! And like Fido surges

42:15

up onto the like docks. This

42:17

is like an area, it's basically

42:19

docks, and you can see there

42:21

are some little, there's some little

42:24

boat-like things and little boards. You're

42:26

not sure how all of them

42:28

work. Some of them look like

42:30

contraptions. You're imagining Upcycle has made

42:32

some interesting vehicles for under the

42:35

city. When it surges up like

42:37

this huge wave of sewer water

42:39

comes like over the edge and

42:41

Fido is massive. He goes, this

42:43

is only a little bit of

42:45

him. There's a whole bunch more

42:48

probably under the tunnel. He can

42:50

really change his shape quite a

42:52

bit. So it doesn't take him

42:54

long to get from here to

42:56

there. He just kind of shifts

42:58

his mass. Are you all in

43:01

need of a ride? Skitter goes,

43:03

dude, totally, let's go, let's go,

43:05

let's go, echoes, echoes like, if

43:07

you don't mind, echo nods and

43:09

kind of looks over at the

43:12

rest of you and nods, and

43:14

Wherebert's like, all right, let's do

43:16

this thing. Can confirm, Fido does

43:18

have feelings, let's be nice. Okay,

43:20

and this holds up her fingers,

43:22

like, Fido has feelings, don't be

43:25

mean. Yeah, let's, um, specs, can

43:27

I, can you send me my

43:29

suit? I, I wanted, I want

43:31

to have it before I'm getting

43:33

on Fido, our slime mold friend,

43:35

so that we, I have it

43:38

when we're ready. He goes, okay,

43:40

uh, can you ask somebody which

43:42

sewer line you're on? Because I

43:44

kind of have your position, but

43:46

I'm not sure which tunnels to

43:49

use. and says, I don't need

43:51

maps. She looks back at Eel,

43:53

and Eel says, I think in

43:55

the city waterways, he points to

43:57

the wall. a sewer map that's

43:59

been like clearly laid out on

44:02

the wall and it's got all

44:04

the different sectors. And it says,

44:06

he says, this is sewer line

44:08

C, C 46 in the city's

44:10

layouts. Cool. And then he grins

44:13

and he goes, he used to

44:15

be an engineer. Oh, neat. When

44:17

you say neat, he kind of

44:19

like, he like looks a little,

44:21

he's like, thank you. All right.

44:23

So you know where to send

44:26

it. So you know where to

44:28

send it. And specs and specs.

44:30

Okay, I'll try, but it might

44:32

get lost. He says, let's see

44:34

what we can do. All right,

44:36

what do you got that's going

44:39

to use for this? Let's go.

44:41

Well, I built the suit. Boom.

44:43

And it's my power. Spex is

44:45

my wingman. This is true. That's

44:47

true. That's true. Can I use

44:50

my dream, which is I will

44:52

make amends with those I've harmed,

44:54

because I think that this is

44:56

part of that. Oh, I like

44:58

it. to help the bricks if

45:00

you don't get rid of giga

45:03

city gold. Yes. And especially ellipsis,

45:05

you're gonna have some trouble. All

45:07

right, here we go. Roll them

45:09

bones. Okay. High rolls four. All

45:11

right, success. So it's a success

45:13

of the trouble. But I could

45:16

use my special power, my special

45:18

ability. You could to move it

45:20

up to a full. If you

45:22

wish, or you could save your

45:24

special for when drama clocks happen.

45:27

Is there any way I could

45:29

take the damage for it? Like

45:31

say it comes in, it's coming

45:33

in a little off-center, and ape

45:35

does like a diving catch, but

45:37

it really kind of nails him?

45:40

You're invulnerable. I always imagine heart

45:42

loss for ape has more to

45:44

do with feeling embarrassed. Like I

45:46

almost imagine that you're more in,

45:48

you took a heart of damage

45:51

from skitter, just being able to

45:53

completely elude your grasp and riding

45:55

you like a pony. But I

45:57

don't know, that's totally legit. If

45:59

you would like to leap in

46:01

front of it and take the

46:04

hit, totally. We could also say

46:06

that your next move loses a

46:08

die. because you're kind of like,

46:10

your bell got rung by the

46:12

hit. Or we could say that

46:14

you lose a heart, your call.

46:17

Yeah, let me take the lost

46:19

die on my next role, I

46:21

think. Okay. I think it's coming

46:23

in, coming in real fast around

46:25

the corner. And first, everybody's excited.

46:28

And then kind of looks and

46:30

it's like, oh, it's not slowing

46:32

down. And Jill is just a,

46:34

she's just a human without a

46:36

suit right now, but hits her.

46:38

And if you don't intercept, it

46:41

might clobber Fido and you don't

46:43

know how Fido is going to

46:45

react to that. So I like

46:47

this as a heroic ape moment.

46:49

ape, tell us how you do

46:51

it. What does it look like?

46:54

This thing is coming speeding in.

46:56

It looks kind of like, it

46:58

looks like an air pod lasange,

47:00

but it's backpack. You know, it's

47:02

that perfect smooth oblong with a

47:05

little bit of a narrowing at

47:07

the tip. And it's, you know,

47:09

it's jettingettinging along. with that firefly

47:11

glow because it's using the firefly

47:13

engine. And you can see the

47:15

light coming down the tunnel and

47:18

Fido's getting really upset and Jillian's

47:20

like steps out onto Fido and

47:22

is like ready for it and

47:24

you see it's not slowing down,

47:26

it's not slowing for it and

47:29

you see it's not slowing down.

47:31

First thing I'm not mad at

47:33

Skitter, I just think he's too

47:35

young, but you know if he's

47:37

gonna come he's gonna deny someone,

47:39

but he's gonna say, like, like,

47:42

Just kind of buckles him in.

47:44

It's safe. Just for safe. Keep

47:46

the buddy safe. And then, yeah,

47:48

turns around, it says, I got

47:50

this, Joe. Come run a little

47:52

hot, up to Molly, and get

47:55

some like a baseball catcher stance.

47:57

Pounds like love a couple times.

47:59

Sam looks at you and goes,

48:01

you're a little small for the,

48:03

and like, that's when it hits.

48:06

Yeah, it's what it is. And

48:08

then just, yeah, completely smashes below.

48:10

a little crooked and I say,

48:12

here you go. Thanks. Thank you.

48:14

Echo says, let's get a little

48:16

further away from Central before you.

48:19

And nods at the backpack. Yeah,

48:21

absolutely. Okay, so you're on top

48:23

of Fido and he's sort of

48:25

squelching his way through the sewer

48:27

tunnel and you are leaving the

48:29

light of flipside behind. That phosphorescent

48:32

glow fades. And within a few

48:34

turns, you're submerged into absolute pitch

48:36

black. And that's when Jillian hits

48:38

the book. The suit lights up

48:40

and suddenly in the middle of

48:43

Fido's back, bathed in this strange

48:45

glow from the firefly engine. The

48:47

suit begins to emerge from the

48:49

backpack, like a flower blooming in

48:51

fast motion. All these petals and

48:53

intricate hinges, all wrapping around her

48:56

until before you stands, the most

48:58

powerful superhero in all of history.

49:00

Firefly. The voice when it comes

49:02

out is powerful. What do you

49:04

say, Jillian? We're ready. What

56:13

do you all think? Ape? I feel

56:15

like for Ape, Ape wants to,

56:17

wants to take the hit for

56:19

his friends. Ape is starting

56:22

to feel like if somebody's gonna

56:24

get hurt it might as well

56:26

be him since it's not

56:28

gonna be last. Oh I love

56:31

that. If somebody's gonna get hurt,

56:33

it might as well be him since

56:35

it's not gonna be last. Oh

56:37

I love that. If somebody's,

56:40

if somebody's gonna get a

56:42

drive, right? Bye.