021: The Return of Old City

produced by Julian Mundy, Mischa Stanton & Ian McQuown
written & Directed By Julian Mundy
sound design By Mischa STanton
[BACK]

[[INTRO]]

[[MUSIC: “Wild Plain”]]

>> Scene 01:

[[SFX: Feston and Serena walk down a broad service tunnel, surrounded by humming electronics and workers conducting an overhaul of the section.]]

FESTON: Okay, okay wait, this is definitely level four. There’s the depowered mag-rail point that would have made this way… way easier. So many stairs! Proxy has no idea how lucky she is, never having to do stairs ever.

SERENA: Just think of all the good it’ll do your glutes!

FESTON: What’s wrong with my glutes? [seeing Haegan] Oh bless the stars, I think that’s Haegan over there, finally.

SERENA: Bless. Do your thing, then. Why IS this place so big?

FESTON: I dunno, maybe we can ask them. Hello travelers, and welcome back to StarTripper!! My name is Feston Pyxis, with my extremely good co-host, Serena.

SERENA: Yeah yeah hey. Seriously, the ceilings are so high!

FESTON: And Proxy is currently down at the docking platform. Wanna tell the people where we are this time, Prox?

PROXY: [bwoip] Certainly! Our current broadcast location is the mobile mega-city designated “Quaromachus,” now derelict on the surface of planet Quaro. Formerly the greatest of the seven cities once floating in the skies of Quaro, the place is now known to most as “Old City” or “The Wreck,” since its scuttling in pre-Commonwealth-era warfare. This is where Gox Gumson’s coordinates have led us!

FESTON: Apparently, Haegan is in charge of rewiring the place! Must be some payday for a job this size! It’s like this: Quaran architecture is pretty angular, lots of function over form, but not ugly by any means, just HUGE. Leaving out the size factor, it could still be a pretty zowy place to live, just a little knocked around and weatherbeaten. The landscape of Quaro has gone through a lot, but there’s a sort of a… what’s the word, a *forbidding* beauty about it. Shadowy valleys that really set the mood, you know?

SERENA: Yeah, I’m feeling all inspired. Let’s not waste any more time, huh?

FESTON: Ohh my feet, though.

SERENA: The day isn’t over yet.

FESTON: I knowwww.

SERENA: Gotta get you doing sprints or something.

[[SFX: The pair continues on past a worker carting materials. TRANQUIL HAEGAN closes an access panel.]]

HAEGAN: There! That’s the last I want to be getting calls about this junction, you hear me? Three times it’s gone down this month! And what are you two looking at, don’t you have duties to perform?

FESTON: Er, no? Well, yes, but maybe we should explain first—

HAEGAN: Bored already. Miss Muscles, you look like you know how to give a smart report.

SERENA: Okay then. We’ve been looking for you, Tranquil Haegan. Gox Gumson sends their regards, and told us where you’d be.

HAEGAN: [tensing] They didn’t hire you to drag me to a museum opening, did they?

SERENA: No.

HAEGAN: [relaxing] Thank Zai for that. So what do you want?

FESTON: Oh right. Hi! I’m Feston Pyxis, this is Serena the Sapphire Blade. We have an Integrated Assistant we’d really like you to meet, if we can just take you aside for a couple ticks.

HAEGAN: Kid, do you see where you are?

[[SFX: A hover-transport zooms from down the tunnel, overhead and past the group, engine whirring.]]

HAEGAN: This whole blasted place is my problem, and we are in the final week of work! So unless you’re here to help me solve it, I don’t, in fact, have a “couple of ticks” to waste.

FESTON: Well, what do you need?

HAEGAN:You’re offering to work… here?

FESTON: Sure! We really mean business, Mx. Haegan. It’s a once-in-a-lifetime chance we’d hate for you to miss.

HAEGAN: Save the pitch already. The conditions are dreadful and the pay isn’t much better. Bunks on core level two for workers, and... I did say before about us only having a week, yes?

SERENA: Beats interning for Gox Gumson.

HAEGAN: [pitying] Oh you poor creatures. Well, fine, I suppose it wouldn’t hurt having a Circle outrider around to scare off overseers I’d rather not talk to; maybe move a heavy thing or relay orders when called upon. How does that sound?

SERENA: That’ll work. Glad the mark means something out this way.

FESTON: How about me? Scrap crew? Running cables?

HAEGAN: Hmm. Lorvian, aren’t you, Pyxis? Very good, you’ll be in the bridge office. We’re contending with months worth of clerical work -- the miscellaneous, you know -- but we’re coming down very close to the wire on things. You’ll be giving Bolo a hand.

FESTON: [fighting back The Horror] Oh… Okay, um. Yeah, can do, boss.

HAEGAN: Suddenly I find the two of you so much more pleasant. Who’s this person you want me to meet again?

PROXY: [bwoip] Pleased to meet you. We have a journey we would very much like to continue, with your help, Mx. Haegan.

HAEGAN: You’re friends with a navigational computer. I see…

FESTON: Oh, she’s much more than that. Makes you wonder what all the fuss is about, huuuh?

HAEGAN: Maybe later, right now we all have some damn work to do!

[[SFX: Haegan stomps off down the corridor, workers scatter.]]

FESTON: Oh, wait! Mx. Haegan! And they’re gone…

SERENA: No backsies, Mr. “Can-Do.”

[[SFX: They chuckle.]]

[[MUSIC: Lighthearted Lullaby.]]

FESTON:: Oh, Seffra Zai...

>> Scene 02:

[[SFX: Feston sits in a cluttered office, aquarium set against a wall. A comm rings in the background as Haegan rummages around, throwing things into a toolbox. He rolls back in an office chair.]]

SERENA: I thought we were in a hurry.

HAEGAN: Yes, we are! Please hold your keen observations until I’ve located-- There you are, you wretched thing. There, now hurrying will actually have a point.

[[SFX: The comm continues to ring while Haegan puts a final tool in the box and shuts it.]]

FESTON: Should I get that? Is that important?

HAEGAN: I’m not here, I’m just leaving! Serena the Sapphire Blade, we’re headed down to sub-deck six. There have been some injuries in the aft section, and I have little enough sleep left to lose over it.

SERENA: Copy that. You think you’ll manage in here?

FESTON: [too nonchalant] Oh, sure, I’m really starting to see the shape of it all now. Progress is being made!

HAEGAN: You continue to be adequate, Feston. Don’t shout if you need anything, lateral thinking is a valuable skill around here.

FESTON: Mmhmm.

SERENA: Shall we?

HAEGAN: Well, they’re lost without me, so I suppose we must.

SERENA: See you later, Feston. Hang tight, huh?

[[SFX: Serena and Haegan exit through an irising door, with humming dynamos out in the space beyond. The door shuts, and the aquarium tank burbles.]]

FESTON: [anxious] Travelers, I was only being half-truthful before. I’m starting to see the shape of this project, all right, and it’s all lopsided! It’s a shape with no name!

[[MUSIC: Space flutes with a good beat.]]

PROXY: [bwoip] In brief: the project to restore Old City is the brainchild of the Commonwealth Legacy Group. The CLG is a galactic organization committed to archiving the path of the Seffran Planetary Commonwealth, past to future. After nearly 500 years, a total power grid overhaul for a vessel the size of a small moon would be daunting for any overseer. The city is built in a hub-and-spoke manner, its various wards built on the wedge portions. Each “spoke” structure handles the various systems needed to keep the city running, routed through the central hub, also containing the primary comms array. The outer torus structure houses primary defense systems, the gravitic engines, and various passages into and out of the city. Site Manager Haegan seems to operate this site with a hands-on attitude.

FESTON: Hands on the hardware, specifically. Everything else seems to be tomorrow’s problem, and I guess all the days sort of blur together on a job like this. Right now, it’s me, Proxy, and Bolo back there -- say hi to the audience, Bolo!

BOLO: [A very large owl-person hoots from a desk nearby.]

FESTON: Just the three of us working on several months’ backlog of requisition forms, payment sheets, and work order documents. It used to just be Bolo, and, well, Bolo is a little narcoleptic. 

BOLO: [Hoots of protest become low snores.]

PROXY: I am assisting as best I can, but many of the documents in question do not have a corresponding digital copy. We will need every hour we can get.

FESTON: Well, sure, but it’s not my first time working a long one!

[[SFX: Bolo tips back in their chair, snoozing, and bumps a stack of datapads. The stack tips onto the desk messily.]]

BOLO: [wakes with a startled screech]

FESTON: Okay, I’m in a special hell that makes the Package Dimension look appealing, but I bet Serena is seeing some really cool stuff working out there with Haegan. See ya later.\, listeners! I’ll be here…. stupid Serena…

>> Scene 03:

[[SFX: Inside an enormous space, crews secure panels and run numbers on datapads. Haegan and Serena approach a huge machine, surrounded by workers.]]

SERENA: [yawns] So after this, there’s one left to check?

HAEGAN: You needn’t ask like we’re out of the high frit-stalk yet. There are six regulator banks around the hub, and we need the levels stable for each before we link them all together.

SERENA: Okay, stands to reason. Still, can I get an answer on the ceilings in here? It’s like the whole place is a size too big for most of the crew working it.

[[SFX: A lizard-person passes by, toolbox rattling, and chirps something to Haegan.]]

HAEGAN: [to the lizard-person] That’s fine, let’s have everyone at their stations, please. We’ll begin shortly. [to Serena] You’re not far wrong, to be honest. The native Quarans were a few feet taller than today’s Commonwealth average, hundreds of years ago. Changes to the Quaran diet seems to have diminished their stature, along with years of mild gravitational anomalies some time after the Diaspora began.

SERENA: I don’t see too many Quarans on the work crew.

[[MUSIC: Smooth space jazz.]]

HAEGAN: Old City is a divisive subject for some, my parent’s generation for example. They would talk about it, when they’d had one too many at dinner, and you could hear the bitterness. To them, it represents the chaos that came in the days before Zai’s abrupt disappearance, which paved the way for the Commonwealth to come about. The corruption and misrule that eventually brought it down, the willful ignorance. Then, there is yet another camp that just doesn’t see the point of investing in an outsized cultural curiosity.

SERENA: What do you say?

HAEGAN: I say: kak ‘em all, thank you very much! I got into this game because I was tired of seeing reminders of our galaxy’s bad decisions being swept away, left to moulder, just because Seffra Zai made sure the “good days” could come around at all. And in case you thought the good days would last forever, they won’t. This is the work that keeps the whole Commonwealth honest, and all I can do is pray that Zai would look at my work and say: “No notes, moving on.”

SERENA: Maybe some don’t trust an outsider with the reins of a touchy project like this?

HAEGAN: [scoffs] If my being Kraydis really is a problem, it’s not one of mine, and never has been. You don’t get to my level bare-assing your way through every job, the details matter more the higher you go. I am a systems engineer, Zenith-grade, which means I not only have the technical acumen to match a challenge like this one-- [shouting to a worker] Fire it up, if you please!

[[SFX: Several rows of switches are thrown, power begins to circulate from turbines around the space. The whole room begins to reverberate as energy cycles through the huge regulator.]]

HAEGAN: -- But also that these people trust me with their living spaces, their “home turf.” With their very lives, in fact. You have some idea what I’m talking about, don’t you, outrider?

SERENA: You might say that, yeah.

HAEGAN: Then you know that it isn’t just your results that matter. You have to make a place for other people, inside those results. I find it rather defeats the purpose of the work otherwise. [shouting to crew] That’s good, increase output steadily to sixty-five!

[[SFX: Workers holler and the turbines cycle up gradually.]]

SERENA: You know, Haegan, you’re smart, but that’s probably the most sense you’ve made all-- [day]

[[SFX: The turbines’ output falters, and the cycling of the regulator hitches in an alarming way.]]

HAEGAN: [shouting] Shut it down, shut it down now!

[[SFX: Workers rush about, powering down the turbines one by one, but a final one remains active. Its cycling revs up to an alarming degree, as the massive regulator chugs.]]

HAEGAN: Kak, something’s wrong with number three. Get down there, Serena. [shouting] You with the face scars! Grab that linkage and be ready to pull!

[[SFX: A worker -- KOZEK MCKLEE aka “Keenok Mackle” -- scrambles across the deck and grabs a cable. Serena leaps down an incline, drawing her segmented sword.]]

SERENA: Watch your hands!

[[SFX: Serena plunges her blade into the top of the turbine, forcibly powering it down. “Mackle” pulls the heavy cable and throws it aside as soon as the power cuts out.]]

HAEGAN: Whoever forgot to engage the safe-shutdown mechanism on Turbine 3: congratulations, you have made yourself a terrible enemy today.

[[SFX: An alien noise of dejection from downrange. The workers gather materials and tools to repair the damaged turbine.]]

SERENA: Thanks for the assist, pal. Hey, is your face all right?

MCKLEE: Yes, certainly, yes, no cause for alarm. The scarring took place some time ago, but, very courteous of you to ask.

SERENA: Oh, jeez, no it wasn’t. I feel like a total kak-head. I’m Serena, what do I call you?

MCKLEE: Very pleased to meet you, sword lady Serena. I go by Mx. Keenok Mackle, yes, but “Mackle” is just fine by me.

[[MUSIC: Piano with attitude.]]

SERENA: All right. Good lookin’ out, Mackle.

HAEGAN: [raised voice] All right, if nobody needs medical attention, let’s please try to keep it that way. I want that turbine working better than before!

>> Scene 04

[[SFX: Inside the office, an inner door opens and shuts. Bolo enters data into a computer as Haegan and Feston enter.]]

FESTON: I just don’t know why you want to go hiring more work crews. We can barely account for what the ones we have are doing.

HAEGAN: [impatient] I’m hiring them because we need them, and the CLG will get its tally at the end! I just can’t find every single receipt at present. I swear, two days in the trenches and you’d think he owns the place.

FESTON: Well, it’s a receipt for a replacement cargo shuttle, TH, kind of a big deal. Somebody has to bug you over this, and poor Bolo would stress-nap any time you came in before! Do you really want to have a conversation about how this office was being run?

BOLO: [hoots in an uncomfortable fashion]

FESTON: Yeah!

PROXY: [bwoip] Agreed. You will invite fewer questions later if we can tend to this now.

HAEGAN: [glowering] Fine. I will put off the very pressing grid diagnostic I had scheduled, to dig through my files.

[[SFX: The office door opens, and Serena enters with “Mackle” trailing behind. Serena hoists an enormous laser weapon over her shoulder -- “The Three-Headed Monster.”]]

SERENA: Just let Tessi know I’ll pass along her concerns like she asked. See you around.

MCKLEE: Yes, quite. Much to do!

FESTON: Oh hey, Serena!

MCKLEE: [seeing Feston, tenses] Er, yes, around. Around, is where I’ll see you, yes.

[[SFX: “Mackle” hurries off, and the office door slides shut.]]

SERENA: Wonder what that’s about. Eh.

[[SFX: Serena crosses the office and sets the Monster down.]]

FESTON: What’s with the artillery? Is that one from your collection?

SERENA: The Three-Headed Monster? Oh yeah, just wanted the computer geeks to check it over. The targeting sensor has been flickering on me, and uh, you don’t just let this one rip. I use her for the stuff way above my weight class.

HAEGAN: Hold on, I swear I heard you say “I’ll pass along her concerns” before, but I can’t have. I must finally be cracking under this insane job.

SERENA: Haegan, can you just-- [listen first?]

HAEGAN: [turning about-face] No! No I can’t. I have a receipt to find, apparently! [mournful] When it rains...

[[SFX: The inner office door slides open and shut, admitting Haegan. Serena advances a couple of steps before the door locks with a beep and an electric latching sound. Bolo types away.]]

BOLO: [hoots, exhasperated]

FESTON: Yeah, good thing those doors don’t slam.

SERENA: Big baby. How are you folks doing in here?

[[SFX: Something collides with the inner office wall.]]

HAEGAN: [heavily muffled] Aha! If I just move this--

[[SFX: Something mounted to the inner office wall falls off, crashing to the floor.]]

HAEGAN: [muffled] Kak! I’m fine!

FESTON: Okay, I guess. I do kind of miss sleep, but I swore off DaxxyCo drinks forever, so… Doing sprints does kind of help!

SERENA: Hey, see, not so crazy after all. Just, y’know, pace yourself.

PROXY: [bwoip] We have caught up with three weeks worth of progress, leaving us only… sixteen weeks worth before we reach the present SPC calendar date.

FESTON: Plus, me and Bolo are developing a kind of short-hand around here. When they’re awake.

BOLO: [Snores]

FESTON: We’re dealing.

PROXY: I have engaged protocols for regular one-tick breaks and reminders for proper hydration!

SERENA: [smiling] You guys are too much.

FESTON: We try. How about you, things going okay out there?

SERENA: Well, you saw. It’s a rocky patch right now. And somehow, when Haegan and I stand next to each other, I’m the more approachable one. I have a sword!

FESTON: Yeah, but not, like, in a scary way. I mean, call me crazy, but I think Haegan was expecting this job to be a little less, I dunno, “mind-crunching?”

SERENA: They did invent a really... REALLY filthy new expletive to call that guy on deck six. Crunch-stress could be a factor.

FESTON: Hey, we might be their last hope at salvaging this thing. Kind of nice to be appreciated in the workplace, huh?

SERENA: Sure, but they’re asking me to reason with this?

[[SFX: The door latch unlocks, the doors slide open.]]

HAEGAN: Found it! [seeing Serena] What is that gesture for?

SERENA: Nothing, we can talk about it later. The Grid 7 check is in two ticks.

HAEGAN: Marvelous, someone with their priorities straight.

SERENA: And unless we leave half-a-tick ago, we won’t make it by oh-900.

HAEGAN: [suddenly weary] Zai, I should just fully cyberize and eliminate sleep altogether.

[[MUSIC: Space Calypso.]]

PROXY: [bwoip] Our travels have shown you may be better off.

HAEGAN: You… What… Stop... being interesting! I’m busy!

SERENA: I can explain on the way, we gotta go.

[[SFX: Serena picks up her enormous weapon.]]

FESTON: Good luck out there, folks!

>> Scene 05

[[SFX: A vast instrument panel beeps and chatters with activity, downrange from a long array of thrumming dynamos.]]

HAEGAN: [voice raised] All right, everyone! If this works, our next task is a major milestone. We’ve done good work, now cross your digits! Mister Welkin, you are clear for final core linkage. Take it nice and easy now.

[[SFX: A different reptilian squawk comes from the deck a few feet below Haegan’s level. A few keystrokes initiate the movements of a large mechanical component, connecting with another and securing together.]]

SERENA: It’s really something, I’ll give you that much.

HAEGAN: Charitable of you. [to Mister Welkin] That’s good, cycle from ten to thirty-five, gradually. Begin priming sequence.

[[SFX: Over several seconds, the slow revving of dynamos and circulation of power causes the chamber to resound.]]

SERENA: But why is it you lose sleep over this stuff? Isn’t it kind of… I dunno, bad? Getting too fixated on a job?

HAEGAN: Old City is a problem child, but not the worst in the galaxy. Its loss is still a fairly recent hole in our shared history, which is why the CLG is so fixated. Old City was brought down in a radical revolutionary action, meant to seize control of the city from an oligopoly, but something went wrong.

SERENA: Pretty massive “something.”

[[MUSIC: Smoother space jazz.]]

HAEGAN: Quite. Old City’s propulsion systems shorted catastrophically, forcing most of the population to flee. Thus began the Quaran diaspora, and here Old City’s been ever since. I just don’t like to see something so useful left to rot. There is a violence to waste that I’ve never cared for. I grew up on Zai stories, so I love doing the impossible, right in people’s faces.

[[SFX: The gradual revving gains strength and becomes steady. There are some cheers from workers.]]

HAEGAN: [to the workers] Excellent! Keep an eye out, Mister Welkin, let’s keep those levels steady for two ticks.

[[SFX: Mister Welkin chirps.]]

SERENA: So it’s not a rep thing?

HAEGAN: Heh, no. Believe me, I’m familiar with how much the Circle values a good “rep.” My reputation already precedes me, and lounges around for a while after I’ve gone. You and Feston Pyxis are proof enough of that, if you could find me out here.

SERENA: You’re forgetting Proxy.

HAEGAN: Am I? If this is going to be a chat about fixations, I might have a word or two on the subject of your little IA friend. You’re going to some lengths over this, but your reputation doesn’t stand to benefit here on Quaro.

[[SFX: The power cycles continue, strong and steady. Pleased chattering, grunts, whoops, and guffaws come from the workers.]]

SERENA: Maybe. Maybe not. So now what?

[[MUSIC: Cascading horns.]]

HAEGAN: Now? With systems power mostly restored, we work on accessing Old City’s black box. That might just buy me a moment’s peace from those horrible, well-intentioned goobers at the CLG.

SERENA: Well, since you might not hear it from them: nice work. 

>> Scene 06

[[SFX: Bolo types at their desk. A scanner - softer, more sci-fi, but unmistakably a scanner - goes through a stack of documents one by one. Feston approaches.]]

FESTON: [days without sleep] Hey Bolo, how many more in that batch?

[[SFX: Bolo taps a datapad, rifles through a small stack of paper.]]

BOLO: [hoots to indicate “about ⅔ left”]

FESTON: Oh. Okay. No problem, lemme just get this one sorted out and I’ll be right with -- Zai-dammit!

[[SFX: Knocking into a desk causes another stack of forms to tumble to the floor, along with a thermos that clatters and rolls under a desk.]]

FESTON: [so, so tired] I got ‘em, sorry.

[[SFX: Feston starts picking up the forms.]]

PROXY: Feston, perhaps you should sleep for a short period.

FESTON: No we got so much left, Prox. You want me to go and take an unscheduled nap, like some loose cannon? I like to think that this Lorvian is made of tougher stuff. Plus, Haegan would have my… they’d be mad.

PROXY: Yes, I must insist that you not sacrifice your wellbeing, if it only means appeasing Tranquil Haegan. I do not expect your vital signs to be optimal under these conditions, but you have reached the point of over-exerting yourself. 

FESTON: I know, you’re right, and you’re right to say so! But there’s a lot riding on this.

PROXY: None of that concerns me more than the safety of my passengers, let alone my friends.

FESTON: Thanks, Prox. But hey, TH is on a conference call with the Commission right now, I bet we’ll get a break after all this progress.

HAEGAN: [groans mournfully from inside the head office.]

[[SFX: The inner office door opens; Haegen enters and sinks into a rolling chair.]]

FESTON: So… it went… well?

HAEGAN: Oh, they were very pleased. Practically fawning over the news, rubbing their little palms over fresh data.

BOLO: [hoots, hopeful]

HAEGAN: No, the end date remains the same. I have two days to complete the work on Old City, and you have… more than that, but not very much. Whenever their accounts people arrive for the hard copies.

FESTON: Two days?

[[SFX: Haegan snores from the chair.]]

FESTON: [losing to sleep] Kak. Well. I guess I should get back to… it.

[[SFX: Feston slumps into a sitting position against the scanner, also falling fast asleep.]]

BOLO: [hoots, quizzical]

PROXY: Don’t worry, I’ll wake you when it’s time.

BOLO: [sleepy hoot becomes soft snores]

[[SFX: Bolo sinks into a doze as well, head dropping right onto a handy desk pillow.]]

[[MUSIC: Lullaby guitar.]]

>> Scene 07

[[SFX: Feston and Serena navigate the main dining concourse on a busy midday. Various workers eat and chat in alien languages, utensils clattering, and one croaks something to Serena as we pass.]]

SERENA: Hey, you too! Good luck out there today!

FESTON: [tired but not dying] Oh yeah, they’re supposed to be powering everything up for the citywide integrity test.

SERENA: You and Bolo are going to watch, right?

FESTON: Seeing the whole city light up after hundreds of years in the dark? Nah, I still have some filing to do.

SERENA: It’s hard to tell if you’re serious.

FESTON: I know. Maybe I will regain some sanity if I eat this pot pie. Hello, pot pie.

SERENA: Uh-huh. That thing is going to put you in a food coma. What you need is some protein. Don’t want you snoozing right through the big moment, do we?

FESTON: I’ll be fine, but if you’re so concerned, you mind grabbing me a smoothie? Throw some chopped wandanas in, please.

SERENA: Fine, but you’re drinking all of it, no matter what I put in.

FESTON: Wait, what are you gonna put in? Are you challenging me to a duel via smoothie?

SERENA: [voice trailing off as she heads to the smoothie station] I dunno, nerd, you wanna find out? Come and catch these hands, I’ll show you where you can put your wandanas!

FESTON: I’ll find us a seat. I swear, one tournament arc and it goes right to her head.

[[SFX: Feston passes some tables and takes a seat, setting down a tray of food.]]

FESTON: I guess it’s been a little bit since I spoke to you all, though, travelers. My apologies. It’s way different from back home. There’s a mix of people working the place, from a bunch of disciplines; some Quaran metalworkers, networking techs from Zethia, and there’s even a Quessic snake-person on security. Lemme tell you, they don’t… “come stricter” than that. [beat] I apologize to our Quessic listeners for that awful pun. All this to say that pulling stuff out of the trashcan of history is hard work, and it takes a lot of commitment to not outright botch it. I’m living proof, sure, but Haegan is the one who put all this together, way before we showed up. Say what you want about ‘em, but they’re not afraid of a big commitment. [beat] Jeez, the line for smoothies must be pretty long. Where is she? Hang on a tick...

[[SFX: Down the row, “Mackle” and some heavy-set workers head in Feston’s direction, talking low.]]

MCKLEE: [conspiratorial muttering] Now you’ve gone and checked, hmm? Much still to do, yes, but we will have to -- oh no.

FESTON: Hey! [genuinely unsure] Are you a hallucination because of no-sleep?

MCKLEE: Let us say yes?

FESTON: You’re not, are you? They’re not, are they?

PROXY: [sounding a little dangerous] No, it is indeed Kozek McKlee. I made sure to log their biometric signature, after last time.

[[SFX: Stang the hyena-zoid makes a confused sound.]]

FESTON: Yeah, wait, you’re-- you’re Stang! You were there last time too, you pulled a knife on me!

[[SFX: Stang chitters, embarrassed.]]

MCKLEE: Well, I did hope to avoid this meeting, but perhaps, yes, that was always impossible. What are the chances, maybe, that you will accept I am only here with good intentions?

[[SFX: Serena approaches with two shakes.]]

SERENA: Got your shake, nerd, extra-- oh hey, Mackle, what’s up? I didn’t know you two knew each other!

FESTON: “Mackle,” huh? Good intentions? You wanna--

MCKLEE: [suddenly, to the whole room] FOOD FIGHT!!

[[SFX: The dining hall falls silent.]]

FESTON: Oh come on, that kak’s never gonna work.

[[SFX: Feston catches a whole serving of Freeboodle-style noodles to the face. The room erupts into a proper Foode Fighte.]]

[[MUSIC: Action acoustic.]]

FESTON: Ah! I can’t see!

MCKLEE: Very nice seeing you another time, Feston! [to the goons] Now, we go, yes! Begin phase two!

[[SFX: In the cacophony of flying food and shouts, McKlee’s gang takes off across the concourse.]]

SERENA: Feston! [effort] What in Zai’s name is happening?

PROXY: Kozek McKlee has infiltrated Old City, with multiple accomplices. This poses an enormous security risk to us all.

FESTON: We gotta stop them! That’s the motherless junk-eater who tried to steal Proxy! Throw those away!

SERENA: “Steal Proxy?” What are you-- hang on! [effort]

[[SFX: Two workers yelp under the force of the flung shakes. Feston and Serena dash across the floor, being pelted by other mealtime missiles. Finally they cross into a hallway, out of range of the hubbub.]]

FESTON: They’re splitting up! We’re gonna lose one!

SERENA: You stay on Scarface Fake-Name, I got Fuzzball!

[[SFX: The groups split at an intersection, with one of Kozek’s goons veering off to the right and away.]]

FESTON: Kak, this is bad! Proxy, call Haegan and loop Serena in!

PROXY: [bwoip] Emergency commlink established.

HAEGAN: [over comms] What is it, Pyxis, aren’t you on your way back from your lunch break yet?

FESTON / SERENA: We have a problem.

SERENA: Looks like a widespread breach, notify all security personnel that we are on high alert. No idea how many possible intruders, but they could have been here a while.

HAEGAN: What?! How did this happen?

FESTON: Food fight, long story! We’re on their tails right now, but one of ‘em gave us the slip. Could be headed anywhere!

HAEGAN: Acknowledged, and I’ll make sure all crews are notified. Kak, this is not the time for a full-scale mutiny, I’m not THAT bad.

SERENA: We don’t have anything to suggest that yet, but secure points one through-- just secure your shit, Haegan!

FESTON: I did say something before about all the new hires, TH!

HAEGAN: Enough! Deal with the things in front of you, and check in as needed! We cannot lose this site, I don’t give a good Zai-damn who thinks they can take it from me. End call.

[[SFX: The commlink closes.]]

PROXY: I will navigate as best I can. Calculating.

FESTON: You’re the best! Gotta run!

[[SFX: Feston increases his pace, closing slowly on McKlee. The swindler skids around a corner and Feston follows, narrowly dodging a thrown wrench.]]

FESTON: Hey, watch it!

MCKLEE: AGH! You terrible pest, you!

PROXY: [bwoip] Feston, I have extrapolated McKlee’s course, and I believe they are headed for -- [the main power regulation hub.]

[[SFX: A woop-woop style warning alarm sounds, and the hallway’s sprinkler systems activate.]]

PROXY: The main power regulator is at extreme risk, but other systems already seem to be compromised.

FESTON: [shouting after McKlee] So what is it this time, McKlee? Space cruisers too small-time for you, so you had to go for the whole Quaromachus? You SUCK, dude, it needs to be said!

[[SFX: McKlee pulls something, causing an equipment rack to crash into Feston’s path. He collides with it.]]

FESTON: Oh kak, they’re inside!

[[SFX: Feston scrambles past the equipment, racing down a different hallway. A door slides shut at the hallways end.]]

FESTON: Hyah!!

[[SFX: Feston sprints down the hall and through the re-opening door, to find McKlee in a server room, typing frantically into a console while machinery whirs.]]

FESTON: Step away from the console, McKlee! Last chance!

MCKLEE: [frustrated, frantic] Not my fault, yes! Not my choice, not my fault, not my problem!

FESTON: When are you gonna realize -- HYAH!

[[SFX: Feston lunges, tackling McKlee to the deck.]]

MCKLEE: [yelp of surprise and pain]

FESTON: When are you gonna realize that you ARE the problem? GUH!

[[SFX: McKlee turns over on the ground and sucker punches Feston, prompting a brief struggle, until Feston comes out on top.]]

FESTON: [breathing hard, coughing] Now spill it! What are you doing, and who wants it done? Are the crew gonna be hurt?

MCKLEE: [straining against Feston’s grip] They want this city, of course! Power, prestige, maybe a new hideout! I don’t know! They just told me where to go, yes, and how to do it best! No mention of harm!

FESTON: That’s not a guarantee of kak-squat, and you know it!

MCKLEE: No guarantees, not in this life!

FESTON: Why were you trying to mess with the power relay?

MCKLEE: You shamed me on Medroc, and now the Opaque Network will make me work like a lowly gunk-plunger until I appease them! I could have made the big time, yes, live easy until I die fat and happy! But no, you ruined it, you ruin everything!

FESTON: Oh, stuff it already. Serena, you all set on your end?

[[MUSIC: Tense bass.]]

[[SFX: A commlink opens. Stang yelps and chatters in protest over the comm.]]

SERENA: Yeah, no sweat. Me and Stinky are getting acquainted. You got Mackle, or, y’know, whoever?

FESTON: Yeah, got ‘em here. Something about an Opaque Network wanting to take over Old City?

SERENA: Opaque… oh, Zai-dammit! This sector is filthy with you guys!

PROXY: [bwoip] Patching Tranquil Haegan through.

HAEGAN: Well, people, I have good news and bad news. The good news is that nothing appears to be on fire, and security has intercepted anyone attempting to access the power relays prior to the kickoff. We are slowly regaining our grip on the site. The bad news is that there was definitely a breach in Communications that they kept quiet. We can’t be sure what might’ve gone out from the main uplink in the last two ticks. Brace yourselves for--

[[SFX: A proper “Threat Incoming” alarm sounds.]]

HAEGAN: For that. I’m seeing multiple slipspace signatures on the early warning system, just outside of planetary orbit. Several carriers, by my estimation, with possible escort craft. And no, before you ask, Old City weapon systems are NOT online.

MCKLEE: [seeing the tables turn] Hahaha! You’re kakked now, all of you! See how Kozek McKlee gets their justice at last!

FESTON: See, this is why you give the bad news FIRST!!

[[MUSIC: Wild Plain Remix"]]

– END OF PART 1 –

CREDITS: StarTripper!! was created by Julian Mundy, hey that’s me! And produced by Mischa Stanton, Ian McQuown, and me.

“The Return of Old City” was written and directed by me, & sound designed by Mischa Stanton, with a story by yours truly, and performances by Ian McQuown as Feston, Sierra Shay as Proxy, Sammi Lappin as Serena, and introducing Chijioke Williams as Tranquil Haegan, as well as Tobin Mitnick as Kozek McKlee, and Josh Rubino as Bolo. Recorded at a safe social distance with production help from Lauren Shippen and Evan Cunningham. Music by Ketsa. For more, check out ketsamusic.com. Additional music this episode by Soularflair, Jahzzar, and Blue Sky Moon.

Check us out on the Wave at StarTripperHQ.com for transcripts, merch, and links to subscribe on your podbank of choice, or on social media @StarTripperHQ where we love sharing fan art and other show-related stuff. Need the most recent show announcements or updates? Our Twitter feed is the best place to look.

If you want to support the show, and are in a position to do so, you can find us on Patreon. That’s Patreon.com/StarTripper. Even a regular $1 pledge helps us immensely to keep making cool shows for you, which we would love to keep doing.

Thank you for flying with us; and tune in next time for the thrilling conclusion. But for now, this week’s StarTrip Survival Tip:

Don’t judge yourself by trivial things like your income, or house, judge yourself by how many orphans you can carry out of a burning building. Hey, you never know!