Undertow - Intermission 2.0 - Iteration of a Killer
WE CAN DO THIS AGAIN… AND AGAIN…
EPISODE CREDITS:
A.R. Olivieri as Andrew Indri, The Gentleman
Ryan Hoyle as The Executor
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Dan Boud as the Narrator
Written by Damian Szydlo
Direction by Amanda Hufford
Sound Design by Chris Henry
Script Editing by Jupiter Sanders
Show theme by Doug Maxwell
TRANSCRIPT
[FADE IN]
[sounds of running up metal stairs outside as rain pours down, pistol shots fire and the sound of heavy breathing - story picks up after the end of the Transition minisode from season 1 with The Gentleman]
NARRATOR
The world turns and a man passes from it, soaked by the heavy rain… saturated right down to whatever might have passed for his soul these days. He’d lain his watch down beside a still image of his husband and had waited patiently. For hours. He’d told himself that his life couldn’t have ended any other way than as it was… in the rain, bleeding out cold and alone.
Death, as he would learn, wasn’t as certain a commodity as he’d imagined it to be. This passing would prove only to be the first of many for Andrew Indri.”
[The sound of medical equipment/electronics slowly fades in as the pouring rain fades out. Do this fade in as if someone is just becoming conscious of the sounds and the environment around them. After things come into focus for our subject, a voice begins to speak.]
INDRI
[to himself, perhaps in his mind]
“I’ve had this dream before…”
THE EXECUTOR
[ignoring the ‘waking’ Mr. Indri]
“Is there any greater wonder in our world than that of a birth? The touch of life. A gift… or perhaps more accurately a power the human species has; for its tenure… largely taken for granted.”
INDRI
“What… where am I. How is this…”
THE EXECUTOR
“Possible? The power of life: harnessed. Resurrection was once considered the providence of miracle; now flayed and spread out before man at the behest of unrelenting scientific persistence. Such wonder abounds where I’m from, Mr. Indri, and some of my colleagues have even grown satisfied by it.
INDRI
[groans uncomfortably, as if it’s the first time he’s moved his body in some time after a deep and comfortable sleep]
THE EXECUTOR
“Careful now. Take time to adjust to the realities of the flesh. The Lazarus Machine is unfortunately not perfect… Not yet.
I once imagined that if one were to find a way to unlock the touch of life… that their own hand might very well have become the hand of God himself. Naivety breeds such wonderful and idealistic theory. The unfortunate truth, I assure you, is that such advancement only creates more questions.”
NARRATOR
Instinct was a hard act to shake, especially for a man who’d trained it to a razor’s edge. As the world around him started to sharpen, to come into focus, the assassin who most had only dared refer to as ‘The Gentleman’ made quick notation of his surroundings. The room he found himself in could best be described as ‘sterilely decadent’. White walls, furniture and machines all rimmed and decorated with the strong, golden lines of Neo-Atlantian deco. Utility with an authoritarian flourish. The number one design preference of man made Gods, truly.
Despite the hard elegance of the room’s aesthetic, there were no personal items here at all. Nothing that didn’t belong, be it a piece of art work on a wall or a vase. No creature comforts to go along with the splendor. Not even a chair for the man who slowly paced around the cold slab where Andrew Indri now lay.
THE EXECUTOR
“You’ve always been a curiosity to me, Mr. Indri. Most subjects respond to resurrection by living through their final trauma. Gasping for breath or clutching wounds that no longer exist. That never existed. Not you. Your mind is unsurprisingly unique. You’ve somehow moved on. It is the same each time, without fail.”
INDRI
“I don’t dwell on things I can’t change.”
THE EXECUTOR
“Indeed. Fortunately for the both of us there aren’t a great many realities that cannot be manipulated… or conquered outright given the appropriate allocation of resources and the time to do so. Possibility is malleable.”
INDRI
“You didn’t answer my question. Where am I?... and who the fuck are you?”
THE EXECUTOR
“A question that is redundant as you’ve already assessed the answer… haven’t you? Still, you want to hear it nonetheless so I will oblige.
You are atop the Core. Within the Kraken Megaplex. Very soon your optical faculties will properly adjust to your surroundings and you’ll see that my skin is grey. We have been through this before. It is the result of my transition.”
[the Executor continues to walk around before continuing]
“You’ll continue to bide time with more redundant questions as you work to identify possible weapons and formulate an escape plan. Sometimes you even succeed. I tell you this in hopes that we can avoid any unnecessary, wasteful delays. We have much work to do, you and I.”
NARRATOR
It was as if the man's words were one step in front of that lightning quick instinct the assassin had so greatly prized… had honed on his path to being the best killer for hire in the city. Calling the creature that paced the room a man might have been generous. It sure walked like one, played at mortality in it’s form… But this ‘thing’ that spoke to him seemed too perfect, like an angel with ashen skin. Much like the room in which he paced, jewellery and gold trimming embellished the utilitarian lines of the suit the being wore… these trappings were just like everything else in this place, though. A formula for power. Sterile and measured.
INDRI
“You say this has happened before? This isn’t the first time you’ve brought me back, then?”
THE EXECUTOR
“Correct. You are an extremely versatile tool. One of a kind, actually. Since your death more than a year ago, we’ve used your skills twenty-three times to a 98% success rate. You have attempted to escape eight times once your task is complete. This is impossible by design. We prefer to reuse and repurpose your material rather than resort to the rebirthing process but… you’ve often proven yourself to be as unreasonable as you are useful.”
INDRI
“That surprising? Doesn’t sound like I have a lot of incentive to cooperate, now does it?”
THE EXECUTOR
“You couldn’t be more incorrect. It is my hope that you will one day agree to join us, Mr. Indri. Here atop the Core. Once you’ve given up whatever it is that’s anchoring you. There is much work to be done yet before we reach that point, I’m afraid. Many more rebirths. One must earn his way into heaven through blood and deed. Mortality is a skin that must be shed with care.”
INDRI
[effort sounds as Mr. Indri sits up]
“You mentioned I had a 98% success rate. That’s not possible… I’ve never failed a mission.”
THE EXECUTOR
“Until the last one, that was true. You failed to assassinate your target and took your own life before you could be identified. We were unable to harvest the memories from that iteration. It is my hope that the anomaly will not repeat this time.”
INDRI
“Well, now. I can say with all confidence that I’ve never made the same mistake twice. Hell, the truth is I can barely remember anything not working out the exact way I meant it to. You should consider that.
Now. Who’s our target this time?”
THE EXECUTOR
“A criminal. Lin Feng Mein. She represents a complication that amounts mostly to… well, what might be considered a loose end left unresolved for far too long. When this job is complete you will contact me for our next step. As I said, we have much to do, Mr. Indri.”
INDRI
“I don’t work like that.”
THE EXECUTOR
“Excuse me?”
INDRI
“You’ll tell me the full scope of the job and leave nothing out. You can’t tell me that my past… what are they… versions?”
THE EXECUTOR
“Incarnations. Reconstructions.”
INDRI
“Whatever. Versions… agreed to work with partial details so that you could maintain an air of mystery. What happens after I kill the first one.”
THE EXECUTOR
“You move on to the next. A gated, carefully timed exposure. A measured culmination of execution. One that isn’t negotiable, Mr. Indri. Like you, I also do not make the same mistake twice. You will obey, carrying out this task to my specifications or we shall do this again… and again. Do we have an understanding?”
INDRI
“Well, shit. Seems you’ve covered all your bases, left me without much of a choice. Alright then, we’ll do it your way. For the time being.”
THE EXECUTOR
“You will find gear to your specifications inside the lift, through that door. From there, you will be escorted to a shuttle that will return you to the city below. Goodbye, Mr. Indri.”
[FADE OUT]