---
layout:          post
title:           "MAGP 30 - Dead End Job"
date:            2024-09-12 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:	['029']
prev_episode_num:		['029']
prev_episode_title:		["Keyed In"]
next_categories: ["tmagp"]
next_prefixes: ["MAGP"]
next_episode:	['03001-s1-epilogue']
next_episode_num:		['030.01']
next_episode_title:		["System Update"]
episode_title:   'Dead End Job'
episode_number:  '030'
summary:         "CAT2RS3366-13052024-13052024<br/>Transmutation (human) -/- Isolation (urban)"
content_flags:   ["Entrapment", "Compulsion (supernatural)", "Mild body horror (SFX) and gore (described)", "Manipulation"]
acast_url:      https://shows.acast.com/themagnusarchives/episodes/the-magnus-protocol-30-dead-end-job
formats:
    Official PDF: https://rustyquillcom.sharepoint.com/:f:/g/ElFMfJSzHzRMhhWGghFX8E8Bg27o0_Amiemvu0Hqq8D6Yg
official:        true
notes:          "Edited by Anonymous 2024-09-13"
---

##### [Intro Theme]

#### ANNOUNCER

Rusty Quill Presents: The Magnus Protocol.

Episode Thirty -- Dead End Job.

##### [Music]

---

##### [Dial-up tones of a phone recording]

##### [The quiet rumblings of a train surround us]

##### [Sam's phone buzzes with a call; he sighs and taps it. It stops.]

#### CELIA

You can't ignore her forever. 

#### SAM

I just don't know what to say to her. I was kind of hoping she wouldn't check her voicemail for another few hours. 

#### CELIA

You really think she's that upset? 

#### SAM

Five calls in seven minutes, and a bunch of messages. 

#### CELIA

What does she say? 

#### SAM

Dunno. Can't quite bring myself to check just yet. 

#### CELIA

Alice means well, but she doesn't really understand. 

#### SAM

I don't know. Maybe she's right. 

#### CELIA

What? 

#### SAM

When I started at the O.I.A.R. she told me not to let it get to me. Now look at me. 

#### CELIA

You were attacked. 

#### SAM

Yeah, by something I released. Because I let stuff get to me. Because I got curious.

...

My head is killing me. 

#### CELIA

I'm not surprised. When I saw you lying out there, I thought...

_(stopping herself)_ Well. Yeah. Headache makes sense.

##### [She gets some painkillers from her bag and hands them to him.]

#### CELIA

Here. You need water? 

#### SAM

Nah.

#### CELIA

_(smiling)_ Ooh, tough guy.

##### [Sam gives a weak laugh that turns into a coughing fit.]

#### CELIA

You're lucky we didn't need to run to catch the last Oxford train. 

#### SAM

Or unlucky. 

#### CELIA

Second thoughts? 

#### SAM

I don't know. It's just starting to feel kind of faraway now. I was so certain we had to get to the Hilltop Centre ASAP, but now...

##### [He makes a non-committal 'mmm'] 

#### CELIA

Well, I don't think there's another train back til tomorrow morning, so we may as well do a bit of snooping. 

#### SAM

I know. Just wish I could focus properly.

##### [They sit in silence for a bit. The storm is quietening.]

#### CELIA

Rain's easing off at least. 

#### SAM

That's good. 

...

Thanks, Celia. 

#### CELIA

For what? 

#### SAM

For coming with me. You didn't have to. 

#### CELIA

It sounded like you'd have gone anyway. At least this way I can make sure it all goes to plan. 

#### SAM

_(small laugh)_ There's a plan? 

#### CELIA

Besides, you're not the only one who's curious.

#### SAM

Well, I still appreciate it. 

#### CELIA

Anyway, what if you were right? When you said we had to go now or something terrible would happen? You'd just had a weird monster in your brain, maybe it was the truth. 

#### SAM

Christ, I hope not. I do not feel up to an apocalyptic conflict right now. 

#### CELIA

Hopefully the painkillers should be kicking in soon. Rest up. We're safe here. 

---

<!-- #### 2. INT. PADDINGTON STATION -- NIGHT, THUNDERSTORM

(ALICE'S PHONE) ALICE is frantically listening to her phone ring out.  -->

##### [Dial-up tones: another phone recording]

##### [Faint sounds of a thunderstorm; louder sounds of the phone ringing]

#### ALICE

Come on, Sam, you goddamned -- pick up pick up pick up!

##### [There's a beep as the call is rejected.]

#### ALICE

_(shouting at phone)_ It's *following* you, you stupid--!

##### [Footsteps approach:]

#### TICKET OFFICER

_(irritated)_ Excuse me miss, I'm going to have to ask you to reign it in. 

#### ALICE

_(not sorry)_ Sorry. 

#### TICKET OFFICER

I don't want to have to ask you to leave. 

#### ALICE

Okay! Alright! I get it!

##### [She takes a breath to compose herself]

##### [The ticket officer starts moving off]

#### ALICE

_(suddenly)_ Wait, where's the ticket office? 

#### TICKET OFFICER

Closed for the night. Machine's over there. 

#### ALICE

Are there any more trains going to Oxford tonight? 

#### TICKET OFFICER

Check the board. 

#### ALICE

_(vicious)_ I know I can check the bloody *board,* I just thought you might be, I don't know, *useful?*

##### [Beat.]

#### TICKET OFFICER

_(they're not paid enough for this)_ You have a good night, miss.

##### [Alice hurries over to a ticket machine and starts using it in a rush]

#### ALICE

_(mumbling to self)_ Right. O... X... Oxford, One. Adult. No railcard. _(louder)_ God, I don't know, "Anytime day return?"

##### [The machine beeps as she speaks and presses buttons]

*How* much?!

##### [Alice's phone starts to ring]

#### ALICE

Christ, now? Seriously?

##### [She accepts the call]

#### COLIN

_(phone)_ A-Alice? 

##### [He sounds scared.]

#### ALICE

_(irritated)_ Yeah, Colin, I'm here.

#### COLIN

_(phone)_ Are you in the office at the moment? 

#### ALICE

Uh, no. Why?

##### [She keeps pressing buttons; the machine gives a disapproving beep]

#### ALICE

_(muttering to herself)_ For god's sake...

#### COLIN

_(phone, shaky)_ I-I need your help. I'm, uh, I'm in trouble. 

#### ALICE

Like, right now? I'm not really -- I'm kind of in the middle of something... 

#### COLIN

_(phone)_ I messed up, Alice. Freddie's... I messed up.

##### [The machine starts printing Alice's tickets]

#### ALICE

_(stressed)_ Okay, I'll come round first thing tomorrow, okay, and then we can -- you can tell me what you think is going on with Freddie then, yeah?

##### [Beat.]

Colin?

#### COLIN

_(phone, resigned)_ Yeah, sure. Sorry to bother you. Goodbye, Alice. 

#### ALICE

Colin? Listen, I'll be there as soon as --

##### [Colin hangs up.]

#### ALICE

_(torn)_ Ah, crap...

---

<!-- 3. INT. OIAR OFFICES -- NIGHT, THUNDERSTORM (COMPUTER) GWEN sits alone in the office typing. She takes a moment and sighs. LENA returns to the office and approaches.  -->

##### [The O.I.A.R. microphone whirs on]

##### [Typing noises]

##### [Gwen stops, then sighs]

##### [Footsteps approach]

#### GWEN

_(wary)_ Lena...? 

#### LENA

_(slowly, coldly)_ I've just had a call from Trevor Herbert MP. 

#### GWEN

_(coiled)_ Oh. Did he... enjoy his visit? 

#### LENA

He certainly found it illuminating. 

#### GWEN

I'm glad.

##### [Icy pause.]

#### LENA

If my job was all that was at stake here, I'd probably praise your initiative. I have no idea where you've been digging these files up from, but you've certainly used them effectively, and *bluntly*... 

#### GWEN

I have no idea --

#### LENA

_(continuing regardless)_ But there is much more at play here than you know, and you are not prepared for the scale of responsibility about to crash down on your shoulders. 

#### GWEN

I'm sorry? 

#### LENA

No, you aren't. But I think you will be. 

#### GWEN

_(squaring for a fight)_ Is that a threat? 

#### LENA

Goodbye, Gwen.

##### [Lena moves to leave.]

#### GWEN

_(thrown, almost disappointed)_ What? That's it? 

#### LENA

That's it. Give the others my regards, and best of luck. You're all going to need it.

##### [Lena exits]

##### [Gwen sits in stunned silence for a moment]

##### [Then, slowly, disbelievingly: she starts to laugh.]

---

<!-- 4. THE HILLTOP CENTRE EXT. -- NIGHT, CLEAR (SAM'S PHONE) SAM and CELIA have just emerged from a taxi. Sam closes the car door behind them.  -->

##### [Dial-up tones: phone recording]

##### [A car door closes]

#### TAXI DRIVER

You're sure? There's not much round here... 

#### SAM

We're fine, really. 

#### TAXI DRIVER

Fair enough.

#### CELIA

Cheers.

##### [The taxi drives off]

#### CELIA

So I'm guessing that's it, then.

...You alright? 

#### SAM

Just checking for tape recorders. 

#### CELIA

Look, even if it was on the train, which we can't be sure of, there's no way it could have beaten us here. I mean, how many eyes did you say it had? 

#### SAM

*Plenty.* 

#### CELIA

Then yeah, I doubt it's getting a lift. So we're okay for now at least. Come on.

##### [Footsteps as they start walking] 

#### SAM

What unit did you say it was? 

#### CELIA

Seventeen, according to Helen's records, but it doesn't say if there was a shop there or anything. 

#### SAM

So how do we know which unit is which? Most don't even have signs left...

##### [A long pause.]

##### [Celia inhales, exhales, then points:]

#### CELIA

_(certain)_ This way. 

#### SAM

You're sure? 

#### CELIA

Call it a hunch.

##### [They continue walking again]

##### [Sam begins to hum to himself]

#### CELIA

Sam? 

#### SAM

Hm? Oh, sorry. This place is just making me a bit nervous, you know? 

#### CELIA

_(distracted)_ Mhmm. 

#### SAM

I don't think it's actually, like, properly abandoned. Some of the shops look in decent nick... 

#### CELIA

Maps does still list a bunch of businesses here, but no websites or opening times or anything.

#### SAM

I can see why... Like, that can't be a *real* dentist, right? 

#### CELIA

_(reading slowly)_ "We want your teeth." 

#### SAM

Yeah. That's not normal. 

#### CELIA

I think it's normal for here.

#### SAM

...Maybe we should come back in the daytime.

#### CELIA

What happened to stopping that "Archivist"? 

#### SAM

Yeah well --

##### [There is a gentle knocking from inside a nearby shop. They stop.]

#### SAM

_(nervous)_ Uuuhhhh... 

#### CELIA

_(ready)_ Shhhh.

##### [Beat. The knocking repeats.]

#### SAM

_(hushed)_ I think it's coming from that old appliance store... 

#### CELIA

Then it's not unit seventeen.

##### [She starts walking again]

Ignore it. 

#### SAM

But it looks like it's open... 

#### CELIA

Yes it is, and it's probably coming from inside a washing machine, or a fridge, or something else with a suspicious door and we both know what happens if we open it. 

#### SAM

_(following her)_ Yeah... I really wish my job wasn't to just learn about all the horrible things that can happen to you in a place like this. 

#### CELIA

Try to think of it as preparation. Now, I'm guessing that it's just around this --

##### [She collides directly with someone else]

#### CUSTODIAN

Hey! 

#### SAM

Argh!

##### [Celia shoves the custodian back]

#### CUSTODIAN

_(tumbling backwards)_ Argh!

##### [The mutual shock fades as they realise the custodian seems normal enough.] 

#### CUSTODIAN

Christ, what was that for? 

#### CELIA

Sorry, it was a reflex. 

#### CUSTODIAN

That's one hell of a reflex. 

#### SAM

Here, let me help. 

#### CUSTODIAN

_(standing with Sam's help)_ What the hell are you two doing sneaking around here at this time of night? 

#### CELIA

We could ask you the same question. 

#### CUSTODIAN

I work here. 

#### SAM

Sorry, you work *here?* 

#### CUSTODIAN

Yeah. I clean up, make sure everything stays locked up. 

#### SAM

Like the one with all the banging? 

#### CUSTODIAN

Ah, crap. Which one was it? 

#### SAM

Uh... Gray's Appliances? 

#### CUSTODIAN

Right, I'd better go lock it back up before... well... _(unconvincingly)_ Look, you two need to leave. It's not safe here, the -- the lights have mostly gone and the, uh... the structure is weak so --

#### CELIA

It's alright, you can just say it's haunted.

#### CUSTODIAN

...

_(relieved)_ Okay, yeah. This place is haunted, like *ridiculously* haunted and dangerous with it. I dunno if you're wannabe ghost-hunters or something... but trust me, this place isn't for you.

##### [There is a slight gust of wind and a suspiciously timed scrape of rusted metal]

#### CUSTODIAN

You should go. 

#### SAM

Celia... 

#### CELIA

We have business in one of the units.

##### [The custodian lets out a long sigh.]

#### CUSTODIAN

Fine, just leave me out of it. 

#### CELIA

If you like. 

#### CUSTODIAN

I do. Which unit? 

#### CELIA

Seventeen. 

#### CUSTODIAN

The old "Outreach Centre"? 

#### SAM

Yeah, I think so? For the Magnus Institute? 

#### CUSTODIAN

If you say so. No-one's been there in decades... Come on, I keep the front locked tight, but I can let you in the service entrance. 

#### CELIA

_(suspicious)_ Just like that? 

#### CUSTODIAN

You learn to go with the flow here, and stay out of the way of whatever goes on. I just keep it clean and lock up when I can. If you're stupid enough to go poking around... that's on you. I've said my piece. 

#### SAM

Well that's not exactly reassuring... 

#### CUSTODIAN

No, I don't imagine it is.

---

<!-- 5. EXT. OXFORD STATION -- NIGHT, CLEAR (ALICE'S PHONE) ALICE steps onto the pavement, getting her bearings. She spots a taxi and heads over. The TAXI DRIVER lowers his window.  -->

##### [Dial-up tones: phone recording]

##### [Footsteps as Alice heads for a taxi]

#### TAXI DRIVER

Where to? 

##### [It's the same taxi driver we heard earlier!]

#### ALICE

Hey, are there any other taxis working tonight? 

#### TAXI DRIVER

_(slightly offended)_ Probably, but I'm the only one here so you take it or leave it --

#### ALICE

Sorry, no, yeah. It's just -- I'm looking for someone. 

#### TAXI DRIVER

_(skeptical)_ Right.

#### ALICE

Uhh... This guy, Sam, have you seen him tonight? 

#### TAXI DRIVER

I can't tell you that. Client confidentiality, you know how it is? 

#### ALICE

Fifty quid. 

#### TAXI DRIVER

_(immediately)_ Yeah, I took him and a lady friend over to that creepy old shopping center up Cowley way. Weird, but I don't judge. 

#### ALICE

How fast can you get me there? 

#### TAXI DRIVER

This time of night? Ten minutes, easy. 

#### ALICE

Wicked, you're on. 

#### TAXI DRIVER

Look, it's none of my business but I'm not getting involved in any, like, crime of passion stuff, alright? I don't want to be a witness to anything. 

#### ALICE

No, no, it's nothing like that, promise. Now can we go? 

#### TAXI DRIVER

Sure, *after* I get the fifty.

#### ALICE

...Fair.

---

<!-- #### 6. EXT. THE HILLTOP CENTRE -- NIGHT, CLEAR (TAPE

RECORDER) The Custodian approaches the electronics store where the knocking can still be heard. He sighs, irritated, sorting through a huge ring of keys.  -->

##### [Tape recorder clicks on.]

##### [Faint knocking]

#### CUSTODIAN

_(calling)_ Shut up!

##### [The knocking stops]

#### CUSTODIAN

_(muttering)_ Just one boring night. Is that so much to ask?

##### [He pulls down the shutter to the electronics store]

##### [He gives it a rattle to confirm it's locked, before grunting in satisfaction.]

#### CUSTODIAN

Can't believe I'm still here after all these years. Looking after this place is as much about what you don't see as what you do. The first time I came here --

##### [He coughs, confused by the outburst]

#### CUSTODIAN

The first time I came here I knew something wasn't right. _(more strained)_ I used to clean hospitals, and I know what dried blood looks like --

##### [He places his hand over his mouth to stop himself from speaking.]

##### [The ARCHIVIST emerges from the shadows.]

#### ARCHIVIST

SPEAK.

#### CUSTODIAN

...And here it -- it was everywhere... *everywhere*... 

#### ARCHIVIST

*SPEAK.*

##### [The dam breaks and the words gush from the custodian's mouth]

#### CUSTODIAN

I didn't believe it, of course. Didn't let myself recognise it but I still saw it, right from the start. In the corners, in the cracks. Was it from the victims of awful place? Was it mixed into the concrete when it was first raised? Or do the buildings just bleed? Is this place a wound that never fully heals? I don't know, but on hot summer nights I can smell it.

So why take the job? You wouldn't ask me if you could see my payslips for these last thirty years.

Life was bad when I met the owner. He smiled so wide, like he was so unbelievably pleased to offering me such an *opportunity.*

I asked about the blood, I couldn't help myself. He just smiled and added another ten grand to the salary. I didn't ask any other questions. I never even learned his name.

From that moment on it was just the three of us: me, the bloodstained silent concrete of the Hilltop Centre, and the dark.

In all my time, I have never come during the day. It would break some strange unspoken rule. I don't know if anyone has ever come here shopping, I don't know what shops are still open. I don't know if it closed down years ago and I'm just another ghost loitering amongst the great grey corpse.

I know that it gets other visitors, though. I know because I clean up bits of them sometimes. A patch of torn-out hair, a half-melted tooth, a rotted fingernail torn from the root. Never enough to matter to anyone else. I try not to see these days.

I ward people away at night, warn them that they shouldn't be here. Usually they listen, but not always. I remember the first time someone wouldn't turn away. It was the winter of ninety-seven. A man staggered up to me, stinking of cheap booze and piss. He wanted to buy a lighter. I told him to leave, I told him that all the shops here were shut. He called me a liar.

Then I noticed the light illuminating me from behind. One of the shopfronts, a newsagent I'd never paid much attention to, was open and apparently always had been. What's more, there was a haggard yet eager old woman I had never seen before stood behind the counter. I tried to warn the man but he just shoved me out of the way and walked inside. I went to clean the far side of the Centre and ignored the smell of burnt hair and charred meat.

It wasn't all death though. Sometimes people... arrived. Not often, but every now and then you'd find some thin, emaciated soul wandering around, lost and confused. Ambulance would come and take them away. Maybe they're fine, but I doubt it.

I only called the police once. Only once. It was the whimpering. There's always noises when you're cleaning, but you lock them up or curse them out and they shut up. But this time it didn't. It just kept on going, and going, from one of the clothing stores near the east exit. Patience, I think it was called.

And this time, I broke the one of the unspoken rules: I had a look.

At first there was nothing, just darkness and clothing and motionless mannequins. But the whimpering still filled the shop. I checked the mannequins and it was on the third one that I realized what was happening: why the outfit was so mismatched, why the clothes were been pinned in place, why it was bleeding, why it was whimpering...

Of course, by the time the police finally bothered to turn up there was nothing to show them. The woman had been taken when I went out to greet them, leaving only one more bloodstain.

I got a caution for wasting police time. Serves me right.

The next day I got a call from the owner. The second and last time I ever heard his voice. He asked me if I was still happy working at the Hilltop Centre. He asked me if there was anything I wanted to know. He asked me where my daughter liked to shop.

I was never curious again. Even when I found the owner dead in his office, with every blood vessel stripped from his body and strung around the room in a grim cat's cradle. I just closed the door and kept cleaning and the payslips kept coming.

I try to take time off. Holidays are important. If you're here too long, too regular, you start to feel like you're a part of the place. Like it's getting inside you, making you a fixture... That's when I take the caravan and get some space. Remind myself of the world. Because at the end of the day, it's just a job.

But I still dream of the Hilltop. In my dream, it waits for me, silent, grey and eager for my company. Its concrete bones are streaked through with blood, like rippled ice cream, and I reach out for it. It's soft and cold and yielding and then the gritty mixture snakes up my arm and begins to harden. It pulls me onward, scraping off skin and tearing muscle, until I finally fall...

##### [The custodian collapses]

##### [He hits the floor oddly -- the noise sounds like a mix of flesh and stone]

_(strained)_ It is rough and cold and silent inside. The world is locked away and when I open my mouth to scream... the cold grey pours down my throat... and it fills my stomach with stone, fills my lungs with gravel and my blood... my blood...

##### [He is almost fully transformed. His voice is that of rocks grinding against each other.]

We are the hilltop. It is me and I am it and we are. We *are*...

##### [He is gone.]

---

<!-- #### 8. INT. HILLTOP CENTRE RETAIL UNIT 17 -- NIGHT, CLEAR

(SAM'S PHONE) Sam and Celia pick their way through the detritus of the abandoned space. Sam flicks a light switch a couple of times.  -->

##### [Dial-up tones: phone recording]

##### [Careful footsteps as Sam and Celia pick their way through detritus]

##### [A few flicks of a light switch]

#### SAM

The lights are gone. 

#### CELIA

So use your phone. 

#### SAM

Oh yeah.

##### [He taps at his phone, then makes a noise of discomfort]

#### CELIA

Alice? 

#### SAM

*Seventeen* missed calls. 

#### CELIA

Yeah. You going to call her back or... 

#### SAM

She can wait. Besides, I want to look around. 

#### CELIA

There's not much to see. 

#### SAM

Yeah... They must have completely cleared it out. 

#### CELIA

If they were ever here in the first place.

##### [Pause. Footsteps as Celia continues picking her way through the building.]

#### SAM

Maybe we should --

#### CELIA

There it is.

#### SAM

You've got something? 

##### [Celia grunts with exertion as she pulls something aside to reveal:]

#### CELIA

Stairs, to the basement.

##### [Footsteps as Sam comes over] 

#### SAM

Great spot! Well... _(dubious)_ After you... 

#### CELIA

And they say chivalry's dead. 

#### SAM

Look, last time I went into a basement I accidentally released a monster, so... 

#### CELIA

Come on.

##### [They begin descending the staircase]

##### [There is a growing glassy tone and their voices begin to slightly distort]

#### SAM

Do you hear that? 

#### CELIA

I hear it.

##### [They enter the basement]

##### [The tone is steady and louder now]

##### [There is also a slight wind, as though they were standing at the top of a precipice.]

#### SAM

_(awestruck)_ Do you *see* that?! 

#### CELIA

_(quiet)_ Yeah. I see it. 

#### SAM

What is it?

##### [Celia doesn't respond.]

#### SAM

_(fascinated)_ Look how it splits the light... like a prism... It's so --

#### CELIA

Dangerous.

#### SAM

_(simultaneous)_ Beautiful.

##### [Beat.]

#### SAM

Celia... do you know what this is? 

#### CELIA

Almost.

#### SAM

...Wait, what does *that* mean? 

#### CELIA

It's complicated. 

#### SAM

_(impatient)_ Then simplify it.

#### CELIA

Sam, listen... 

#### SAM

_(finally snapping)_ For god's sake, Celia! Enough! Okay? I'm sorry but enough! I know you want your privacy, but we're *way* too deep for that now! My head's *killing* me, I'm staring at god-knows-what and there's some... creature on its way to *record us to death* or whatever, so enough! No more mysteries, no more cryptic clues and weird half-truths, just for once I want to know what the hell is actually going on!

##### [Beat.]

#### CELIA

_(she sighs)_ It's a wound in the world. A tear between here and... where I came from. And it wants me back. 

#### SAM

What are you saying? 

#### CELIA

It's unbalanced. 

#### SAM

What? 

#### CELIA

The Institute, alchemy, all of it. It's all about balance. Dua prima, four elements, seven planets, it's all the same. You've got to keep things balanced. And if something is missing, if *someone* is misplaced, the equation. Doesn't. Balance.

And that's when things get bad. 

#### SAM

Bad how? 

#### CELIA

_(ignoring the question)_ It keeps pulling me back. Closer and closer. It __won't let me stay.__ 

#### SAM

But you don't want to go back. 

#### CELIA

_(somber)_ I don't remember much of how I got here. But I know there's nothing left to go back to. Here I have a life. I have Jack. He needs me.

I have to balance it. For him. 

#### SAM

...What are we doing here, Celia?

##### [Beat.]

_(in growing horror)_ All this digging, the O.I.A.R., the Magnus Institute, you just wanted to get me here... to make me *trust* you, so that what, you could just use me to pay off some kind of *cosmic debt?* 

#### CELIA

It was your idea to come here tonight. 

#### SAM

*Was it?!* 

#### CELIA

I'm sorry, Sam. 

#### SAM

So it was all a lie... 

#### CELIA

_(quietly)_ Not all of it. I really did like you. 

#### SAM

_(shouting)_ So what's the *problem?* We're here, Alice won't make it in time and I *know* you're carrying that knife. What happens now? You push me? Stab me? Or do I need to jump in myself? Come on, what's stopping you?

...

_(softer)_ What's stopping you, Celia? 

#### CELIA

I... I don't...

_(her tone changes)_ I don't -- when I first awoke I knew nothing, nothing but the dream of things that sliced my who from me with claws like scalpels...

##### [She stops, trying to fight the compulsion]

#### SAM

Oh god.

##### [A tape player switches on; with a burst of static our perspective shifts into it violently]

##### [Footsteps approaching.]

#### CELIA

_(still fighting it)_ They would hunt me and toy with what it meant to be *me* peeling away my layers first my name then my memory and then -- 

#### SAM

Get away from her! 

#### ARCHIVIST

AT LAST, IT IS MINE!

#### CELIA

...and then the fearless one reached in and grasped me, tore me out, leaving my story to fall away like autumn leaves... 

#### SAM

I said *leave her alone!*

##### [He charges the Archivist. They struggle. The glassy tones grow louder and louder --]

##### [A sudden burst of wind]

##### [Click.]

---

<!-- #### 9. EXT. THE HILLTOP CENTRE -- NIGHT, CLEAR (ALICE'S

PHONE) The taxi pulls over and Alice steps out.  -->

##### [Dial-up tones: phone recording]

#### TAXI DRIVER

This is it. 

#### ALICE

_(hurriedly)_ Cool. 

#### TAXI DRIVER

And like I told the others, there's nothing here so if you want me to hang around --

##### [Alice is already running]

#### ALICE

_(calling)_ Sam! Celia!

##### [It is utterly silent. Alice keeps moving.]

#### ALICE

Celia! Sam! Sam!

##### [Still nothing]

##### [She stops suddenly]

#### ALICE

Oh god. Oh god no, please... Sam, is that --

#### CUSTODIAN

_(a croaked whisper)_ Rough... and cold... and silent and whole... We are the hilltop... We are the hilltop... We *are*...

##### [Alice starts to back away.]

#### ALICE

Nonononono. Not again.

##### [She gets back on her feet and starts running again.]

#### ALICE

Sam! Celia! 

---

<!-- #### 10. INT. MANAGER'S OFFICE -- NIGHT, THUNDERSTORM

(MANAGER'S LANDLINE) Gwen is poking around Lena's office. She opens a draw and pulls out a bottle.  -->

##### [Click of the landline beginning to record]

##### [A drawer opens]

#### GWEN

_(to herself, pleased)_ Lena! You dark horse...

<!-- She pulls out a glass tumbler and unstoppers the bottle. It sounds strong, and expensive. She pours herself a large measure. The phone rings. She hesitates for a moment then hits the speakerphone button.  -->

##### [Noises of her pouring a drink]

##### [The phone rings]

##### [She hesitates a moment, then picks up]

#### GWEN

Uh... This is the O.I.A.R., um -- Bouchard speaking. 

#### TREVOR HERBERT

_(speakerphone)_ Oh hello, Gwen! Just who I was after. 

#### GWEN

_(flustered)_ Oh! That's, uh... that is to say, what can I do for you, minister? 

#### TREVOR HERBERT

_(speakerphone)_ I'm guessing since it's you picking up that you've spoken with Lena then? 

#### GWEN

Oh, yes. She, uh, she left. 

#### TREVOR HERBERT

_(speakerphone)_ Didn't make too much of a scene, I hope? Difficult business, after all. 

#### GWEN

Oh no, not at all. 

#### TREVOR HERBERT

_(speakerphone)_ Great. In that case, congratulations are in order! I'm sure you'll do a fine job.

##### [Beat.]

#### GWEN

I'm sorry? 

#### TREVOR HERBERT

_(speakerphone)_ I'll get someone to put the paperwork across your desk first thing tomorrow and make it official, but let's not stand on ceremony. As far as I'm concerned, you're the ringmaster now.

Gwen? Are you still there? 

#### GWEN

Yes, yes still here! So... What do you want -- What should I do? 

#### TREVOR HERBERT

_(speakerphone)_ Oh, don't worry about me, I'll stay out of your way, I've never been one to micromanage. You have my full support. 

#### GWEN

Right. 

#### TREVOR HERBERT

_(speakerphone)_ Anyway, I won't keep you. Congratulations again and, er, best of luck!

##### [Trevor hangs up. Gwen stands there, silent and unsure.]

#### GWEN

Huh...

---

<!-- 11. INT. UNIT 17 BASEMENT -- NIGHT, CLEAR (CELIA'S PHONE) Celia is collapsed on the floor. There is no other sound save for the tones of the rift and even that sounds quieter, more balanced. A door opens upstairs.  -->

##### [Dial-up tones: phone recording]

##### [There is no sound save for the quieter, more balanced tones of the rift]

##### [From above, a door opens:]

#### ALICE

_(distant, calling)_ Sam? Celia?

##### [Celia rouses slightly]

#### CELIA

_(weakly)_ Alice?

_(louder)_ Alice! Down here!

##### [Footsteps as Alice finds the staircase and hurries down]

#### ALICE

Celia! Where's Sam? We've got to get out of here. That archivist thing, it followed you, it might be --

##### [She stops.]

What -- What *is* that? What happened?

...Where's Sam?

##### [There is a long pause.]

#### CELIA

It attacked us. He tried to stop it, to protect me, even though...

##### [She takes a shuddering breath.]

#### CELIA

They're gone, Alice.

They're gone. 

---

##### [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 Jonathan Sims and edited with additional materials by Alexander J Newall, with vocal edits by Lowri Ann Davies and Nico Vettese, soundscaping by Tessa Vroom, and mastering by Catherine Rinella with music by Sam Jones.

It featured Billie Hindle as Alice Dyer, Shahan Hamza as Samama Khalid, Anusia Battersby as Gwen Bouchard, Lowri Ann Davies as Celia Ripley, Sarah Lambie as Lena Kelley, with additional voices from Beth Eyre.

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.