---
layout:          post
title:           "MAGP 45 - Transferal"
date:            2025-07-31 15:00:00 # in UTC
episode_type:      [episode]
tags:            []
voiced:          []
categories:			"tmagp"
podcasts: ["tmagp"]
title_prefix:	"MAGP"
prev_categories: ["tmagp"]
prev_prefixes: ["MAGP"]
prev_episode:	['044']
prev_episode_num:		['044']
prev_episode_title:		["Back to Basic"]
next_categories: ["tmagp"]
next_prefixes: ["MAGP"]
next_episode:	['046']
next_episode_num:		['046']
next_episode_title:		["Slipping"]
episode_title:   'Transferal'
episode_number:  '045'
summary:         "CATXXXX-XXXXXXXX-XXXXXXXX<br/>ERROR (Unknown Source)"
content_flags:   ["Night terrors", "body horror", "claustrophobia", "SFX: clanging, eating"]
acast_url:      https://shows.acast.com/themagnusarchives/episodes/the-magnus-protocol-45-transferal
official:        true
notes: "Edited by Fraser 2025-08-06"
---

##### [Intro Theme]

#### ANNOUNCER

Rusty Quill Presents: The Magnus Protocol.

Episode Forty-Five -- Transferal.

##### [Music]

---

##### [Click]

##### [Sam is building to an absolutely brutal night terror]

##### [It slowly builds as we listen, his murmurs growing into thrashing cries until finally he awakes with a violent start]

#### SAM

_(terrified and confused)_ Alice? Alice! Oh god! Where --

##### [Melanie bursts into the room carrying an iron poker]

#### MELANIE

_(urgent)_ Nightmare or monster? 

#### SAM

_(breathless)_ I -- I don't --

#### MELANIE

_(swinging the poker and hitting a bedside table)_ Nightmare or monster, Sam! 

#### SAM

Christ! Uh, nightmare! Nightmare! I -- I just -- would you put the poker down, Melanie!

#### MELANIE

Hmmm? Oh right, yeah.

##### [She puts the iron poker down. It sounds satisfyingly heavy and sharp.]

#### MELANIE

Sorry, can't be too careful. 

#### SAM

Yeah, no, it's fine.

##### [He exhales] 

#### SAM

That was... It felt so real. 

#### MELANIE

I'm guessing it was a domain nightmare? 

#### SAM

What? 

#### MELANIE

_(realising)_ Oh wait, yeah, you never had a domain, did you? 

#### SAM

_(still rattled)_ I don't know... That was *not* a normal dream, that was...

##### [He shudders] 

#### MELANIE

Interesting...

_(approaching)_ Felt real, did it? 

#### SAM

Yeah... 

#### MELANIE

And impossibly awful? 

#### SAM

Yeah! 

#### MELANIE

But also weirdly sort of familiar? 

#### SAM

Melanie, what's going on? 

#### MELANIE

Just a theory, but I think you might be getting our Sam's dream. 

#### SAM

I thought he was dead? 

#### MELANIE

Pretty sure he is. 

#### SAM

So how is that possible? 

#### MELANIE

No idea.

##### [Melanie sits on Sam's bed as he slowly settles himself]

#### MELANIE

Wanna talk about it? 

#### SAM

Not really. 

#### MELANIE

_(standing)_ Suit yourself. Some people say it helps. But well, if you change your mind, you know where I am.

##### [She heads to the exit, opens the door and unceremoniously leaves]

##### [Beat]

#### SAM

_(lying back, disturbed)_ What the actual fuck?

##### [Melanie suddenly opens the door without knocking]

#### SAM

_(pulling up the covers)_ Jesus! 

#### MELANIE

Relax, not like I'll see anything I shouldn't. Forgot my poker.

##### [She reaches down and picks it up after a moment's searching]

#### MELANIE

Right, last chance or I'm going back to bed. Georgie and Basira will need breakfast when they get back from night shift and I'll need to be up early to get the aga going, so --

#### SAM

_(small)_ You really think it will help? 

#### MELANIE

It normally does. But then again, you are an alien from another dimension, so who the hell knows? 

#### SAM

Fine, all right. 

#### MELANIE

_(coolly)_ Oh, doing me a favour are you? 

#### SAM

Sorry. I don't mean to be ungrateful, just still a bit rattled. Melanie, I would like to talk about it, if you'll listen?

##### [She puts the poker back down, goes over to his bed, then sits]

#### MELANIE

Go on then. When you're ready.

#### SAM

...

So um, I'm not sure where to start... 

#### MELANIE

It normally doesn't matter. I'm told it's more about the journey than making sense of it. 

#### SAM

Uh, right. I guess that makes sense.

##### [As Sam speaks, he slowly slips into a narrative mode and the small noises of the empty house ease off]

#### SAM

I was back at Akman Blane, my old law firm, and I was getting something from the stationary cupboard, paper I think, from the top shelf.

Then the door slammed shut behind me and it was dark. Completely dark. I tried to turn, to reach for the handle and throw the door open but... I couldn't move. At first, I thought I was afraid but... I wasn't, not yet. I was just stuck. Pinned on all sides. There was no pressure, but it was as though the entire cupboard had closed around me like a casket, or an iron maiden.

I tried to at least shift my weight, but I couldn't, I couldn't even wriggle my toes. I wasn't paralysed, though, I was just held in place by something.

I tried to struggle but there wasn't room to tense a single muscle. I couldn't breathe but that didn't seem to matter. No light, no noise, no air, no idea of up or down or anything. Just perfect stillness and the feeling of something pressing against my skin, not crushing but utterly immovable and familiar...

Bone. Living bone: smooth, and warm and damp. A perfect shell of bone pressed against me.

I should have been terrified, I should have been panicking and screaming but... I wasn't. I was just confused. It felt... wrong. Unpleasant yes, strange and painful even but not frightening. Mostly I was just confused, as though it wasn't meant for me.

Then it began to shrink. It was slow, awfully slow, but I felt it instantly across my entire body. Not that deep ache of building pressure, but bright and sharp as though I was being cut all over except, there were no points of focus, no bright lines of pain that drowned out the surrounding feelings with their loudness it was more like the same single knife, bright and sharp, cutting into your skin *everywhere* all at once, almost like a burn.

But again, even through all that pain I could still tell something was off. It felt real, yes, but more like someone was trying to demonstrate the feeling to me, like I was eavesdropping on someone else's suffering instead of really *feeling* it.

The bone pushed inwards, slicing through my skin, through my muscle, deeper and deeper until finally the bones outside met the bones inside and I couldn't tell one from the other.

I don't know how long I was held there, frozen in sharp bone. The whole process had been utterly silent and dark and I was too distracted by the pain and confusion to care.

But eventually, after what seemed like forever, I heard a single distant voice.

Alice.

She was so quiet, at first I couldn't be sure I heard her at all, a tiny breath of sound at the very edge of my hearing as though she were screaming in agony on the distant horizon of a still and silent ocean.

I strained to hear her though the overwhelming silence and finally I could make it out. She was screaming my name over and over and over, begging me with joy and grief but it wasn't meant for me. I was just a pretender, a shadow on the wall of *his* life.

We were there together, trapped in a distant, intimate awfulness and there was nothing I could do but listen to her scream for the person I'm meant to be, instead of who I am... 

##### [The sounds of the room return, and with them, Melanie]

##### [They both sit in silence for a long time before finally:]

#### MELANIE

Well, that sounds crap. Sorry it happened to you. 

#### SAM

But that's the thing, it didn't, did it? It happened to them, to him, I'm just... stealing it. 

#### MELANIE

Borrowing, maybe, but if he was still around, I doubt he'd be eager to keep it. 

#### SAM

I'm not so sure. Alice, this Alice, I think she'd fight to keep it... 

#### MELANIE

Yeah, Georgie did mention she was a dreamer. Sounds like it's probably a good thing you didn't feel at home. 

#### SAM

Is it different for you? 

#### MELANIE

How so? 

#### SAM

Like if you dream about your... thing, does it seem more real or... 

#### MELANIE

Uh... 

#### SAM

_(backtracking)_ Sorry, sorry that's private, I wasn't thinking --

#### MELANIE

Huh? No, it's nothing like that, it's just... Georgie and I, we don't Dream. Well, I mean we do dream but we don't Dream dream, y'know? Never have.

#### SAM

_(confused)_ Oh. I thought everyone... 

#### MELANIE

Yeah, well, Georgie and I ... we're different. 

#### SAM

Right.

##### [Beat.]

#### MELANIE

Eurgh, fine. I'm not going to be able to get back to sleep anyway.

##### [Melanie awkwardly settles herself more comfortably beside Sam on his bed]

#### SAM

Comfy? 

#### MELANIE

I'll manage. Right, where was I? 

#### SAM

You're different. 

#### MELANIE

Yes, so, back before everything went to hell, I was a ghost hunter for a while. You have those back home? 

#### SAM

What, like reality TV? 

#### MELANIE

I mean, I was more YouTube, but, yeah, same thing. So one day I'm making my show and I see something weird. 

#### SAM

Wasn't that the goal? 

#### MELANIE

Different kind of weird. I mean, it wasn't much, you wouldn't even call it in these days but back then... Anyway, I end up going to have a talk with the Magnus Institute and run into Jonathan bloody Sims. 

#### SAM

Wait, wasn't he --

#### MELANIE

Our Archivist, yep. Only he wasn't THE Archivist back then, he was just a pain in the ass. Long story short, after a bunch of bullshit and bad decisions I end up working there for a while with Basira and a few other folks. We dodge the end of the world a couple of times, figure out we're actually working for the bad guys, and I decide to call it quits. 

#### SAM

Why stick it out that long? 

#### MELANIE

_(pointedly)_ The severance was rough.

Anyway, point being, that job was how I got together with Georgie. 

#### SAM

But I thought she didn't work there? 

#### MELANIE

_(uncharacteristically awkward)_ Uh, no. She... had an ex who did. It's complicated. Point is, she had seen her own weirdness back in the day and had ended up with all her fear cut out of her. 

#### SAM

Her -- I'm sorry, what? 

#### MELANIE

Dunno how else to explain it. Some monster took all her fear. 

#### SAM

So, what? She just doesn't get afraid? 

#### MELANIE

Pretty much. It actually ended up making her *more* cautious in some ways, since she can't trust her instincts any more. 

#### SAM

That... explains a lot. Hang on, would she be okay with you telling me this? 

#### MELANIE

Oh yeah. She prefers people know if it might be important. Anyway, jump ahead and the world ends when I'm not there to stop it. Only things are different for me and Georgie, compared to everyone else. We're sort of on the outside looking in. 

#### SAM

Because Georgie can't get scared? 

#### MELANIE

You can't trap someone with something that doesn't exist, right? 

#### SAM

I guess. And you? 

#### MELANIE

Let's just say that having "former Magnus Institute patsy" on your CV started to carry some special perks. 

#### SAM

What, like "immune to the apocalypse"? 

#### MELANIE

More like "gets to go backstage." Because we didn't have our own domains we could pop in and out of other people's if we wanted. We could even pull people out if we were careful, but it was dangerous, and well, they -- they didn't always make it.

...

_(pressing on)_ Anyway, all this meant that we got to see -- or, y'know, hear, feel, smell... eurgh... a bunch of domains without having one of our own, so once everything got back to what counts for normal now, we were lucky enough not to get Dreams with a capital "D", just your standard, bog-basic PTSD. 

#### SAM

I mean, that's hardly great. 

#### MELANIE

Sure, but it's still the lesser evil. 

#### SAM

Fair point. Not sure where that leaves me, though. 

#### MELANIE

Somewhere between the two, I'd guess.

##### [Beat.]

#### SAM

Georgie said I should tell her if anything weird happens. Do you think this counts?

##### [Melanie blows through her cheeks]

#### MELANIE

Tough call. On the one hand, I'm pretty sure she'd want to know about it... 

#### SAM

But? 

#### MELANIE

But on the other, she's only just starting to trust you. A bit. This is the sort of thing that would set her off again. 

#### SAM

So what, *don't* mention it? 

#### MELANIE

_(thinking)_ No, I think you should. They'll need all the info they can get if they're going to bring your archivist thing down. And if she overreacts... 

#### SAM

You'll stick up for me? 

#### MELANIE

I'll definitely try to make her feel a bit guilty after she ties you to a chair. 

#### SAM

Gee, thanks. 

---

<!-- #### 4. MELANIE'S KITCHEN (TAPE DECK), INT. MORNING,

#### CLEAR -->

##### [Melanie is preparing a hot breakfast with Sam's help. Georgie and Basira are sat around the table.]

#### BASIRA

I don't like it. 

#### MELANIE

Yeah, but what *do* you like, really? 

#### BASIRA

Books. And knowing that people aren't getting turned into Avatars while my back is turned. 

#### SAM

I mean, I did tell you as soon as you got back. 

#### MELANIE

He did. 

#### BASIRA

_(to Melanie)_ And when did you two suddenly become best friends? 

#### GEORGIE

_(weary)_ She acts tough, but she's got a soft spot for strays. 

#### BASIRA

You can talk. 

#### MELANIE

Speaking of, the Admiral seems to like him. So that's a good sign. 

#### GEORGIE

And we're certain his Archivist wasn't involved in the nightmare? 

#### SAM

_(exasperated)_ I keep telling you it's not *my* --

#### MELANIE

I don't think so. No obvious connections. It wasn't even a particularly bad one, as domain nightmares go. 

#### SAM

_(slightly petulant)_ I mean, it didn't feel great, but whatever, I'll take your word for it. I guess it was fine then. 

#### BASIRA

_(dubious)_ Uh-huh.

##### [Beat.]

#### GEORGIE

I'm too tired for this. He seems fine and it's not like we can do anything differently right now.

Your call, Basira. I'm okay with it but if you're seeing something I'm not, let me know.

##### [Basira considers Sam for a second] 

#### BASIRA

Fine. But if he starts sprouting eyes or whatever, I'll put him down myself. 

#### SAM

Uh... 

#### MELANIE

It's fine. We lanced them and they've basically healed by this point. 

#### BASIRA

_(shaking her head)_ Christ...

##### [Melanie dishes up some food and they begin to serve themselves]

#### MELANIE

So how are things looking with the wardens? 

#### GEORGIE

Not great. No more victims --

#### SAM

Sounds good to me. 

#### GEORGIE

-- but no other signs either. It's laying low again, and we still don't have a way to track it. 

#### BASIRA

I'm telling you, it'll be in the square mile. It's the only place that makes any sense. 

#### GEORGIE

You're probably right. 

#### BASIRA

You give me three good teams and that APC you've got and I reckon we can have this done in a day. Maybe two. 

#### SAM

Again, sounds good to me, sign me up. 

#### GEORGIE

I don't *have* three good teams. There aren't many first-wave wardens left on duty and you couldn't take rookies. Especially when everything is riled up like this. 

#### BASIRA

It's worth the risk. 

#### GEORGIE

We don't even know it's in there. That's a lot to risk on a maybe. 

#### BASIRA

Hmm.

##### [Melanie sits and begins helping herself to some food while everyone else eats in silence]

#### MELANIE

_(to Sam)_ I'm curious. How would your "Oheye-argh" handle this? 

#### SAM

Okay firstly, it's "O.I.A.R." --

#### MELANIE

That's what I said --

#### SAM

-- secondly, we already tried and mucked it up, remember? That's why it's here. 

#### MELANIE

Well yeah, but based on what Georgie said, I sort of assumed you were like the B team or something, y'know? 

#### SAM

Wow, thanks, but no, we were it. Unless you count Starkwall. 

#### GEORGIE

Starkwall? 

#### SAM

Psycho PMC mercenary types. I never met them but I got the impression they were bad news. 

#### BASIRA

Hmm. Pass. 

#### GEORGIE

Agreed. 

#### SAM

So yeah, once Celia and I made it to the Hilltop Centre we were basically on our own.

##### [Melanie stops eating.] 

#### BASIRA

_(oblivious)_ Who? 

#### SAM

Celia? Georgie didn't mention her? We work together at the O.I.A.R. and we were sort of dating. At least we were until... well... I came here. 

#### MELANIE

_(to Georgie)_ You never said she was called Celia. 

#### GEORGIE

_(realising)_ He mentioned her in interrogation and with everything else going on... I never got round to checking up on it. 

#### SAM

What's wrong? 

#### MELANIE

Your Celia, what does she look like? 

#### SAM

Er. Well, she's really pretty --

#### MELANIE

We need actual details, Sam, not a dating profile. 

#### SAM

_(irritated)_ Tall. Dark hair. 

#### MELANIE

Welsh accent? 

#### SAM

Yeah, but she doesn't --

_(realising)_ I didn't tell you that. 

#### MELANIE

No. You didn't. 

#### BASIRA

What am I missing here? 

#### GEORGIE

Your Celia, did she ever talk about where she came from? 

#### SAM

Oh, well she's always been a pretty private person and I respect that, but at the end before I fell through to here she told me --

...

Oh, shit. 

#### BASIRA

Okay, someone needs to actually *say* what you're all realising, otherwise I'm just going to go back to the commune. I don't have time for all this Pinter bullshit --

#### MELANIE

She came from here, didn't she? 

#### SAM

Of course... 

#### GEORGIE

She got away. She made it. 

#### SAM

You knew her? 

#### MELANIE

She was one of the ones we pulled out of their domain. We looked after her for a while, then lost track of her around Towerfall. We thought she'd been killed...

#### BASIRA

I didn't really know your little cult that well. She was the one without any memories, right? 

#### GEORGIE

That's her. 

#### SAM

So, all this time, she didn't just know about the Hilltop portal, she knew it led here... 

#### GEORGIE

And what, she was trying to get home? 

#### SAM

I don't think so. She must have had plenty of chances before taking me there. 

#### MELANIE

Maybe she doesn't know Towerfall happened? 

#### BASIRA

Meaning she took Sam there and didn't even warn him? 

#### MELANIE

I mean...

##### [Pause.] 

#### GEORGIE

You all right there, Sam? 

#### SAM

...

_(dark)_ Yeah. I'm fine. 

#### MELANIE

You don't sound fine... 

#### SAM

_(short)_ Let's just focus on dealing with the Archivist. Once we get rid of it, then I can go home and then... then I'll have a little talk with Celia and we'll see if we can straighten some things out. 

---

##### [Music]

#### ANNOUNCER

The Magnus Protocol is a podcast distributed by Rusty Quill and licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial Sharealike 4.0 International License. The series is created by Jonathan Sims and Alexander J Newall, and directed by Alexander J Newall.

This episode was written by Alexander J Newall and edited with additional materials by Jonathan Sims, with vocal edits by Nico Vettese, soundscaping by Meg McKellar, and mastering by Catherine Rinella with music by Sam Jones.

It featured Shahan Hamza as Samama Khalid, Sasha Sienna as Georgie Barker, and Lydia Nicholas as Melanie King.

The Magnus Protocol is produced by April Sumner, with executive producers Alexander J Newall, Dani McDonough, Linn Ci, and Samantha F.G. Hamilton, and Associate Producers Jordan L. Hawk, Taylor Michaels, Nicole Perlman, Cetius d'Raven, and Megan Nice.

To subscribe, view associated materials, or join our Patreon, visit rustyquill.com. Rate and review us online, tweet us @therustyquill, visit us on facebook or email us at mail@rustyquill.com.

Thanks for listening.