Episode 8: Starforsaken

The Titan launches a daring rescue attempt. Tarsul tells all about their time on the Phalanx. And Alyss reveals her plan, which may be in jeopardy given the true nature of the gas giant…

CONTENT WARNINGS: Serious injury, sounds of pain, discussion of death, discussion of murder, gun, medical talk, peril, emotional distress, manipulation, entrapment, existential fear, food.

This episode, “Starforsaken”, was written by Emma Johanna Puranen and directed by Rook Mogavero and Emma Johanna Puranen. The script was edited by Rook Mogavero and Shaoni C. White. Sound editing was by Emma Johanna Puranen. Our cover art is by Tatyana Archtander. Music was composed by Emily Branam using copyright cleared content (or free content) within Emily's licensed and registered version of FL Studio 20. Sound effects are from freesound.org under CC 0, CC BY 3.0, and CC BY 4.0 licenses. For a list of freesound.org sound effects used in this episode, see here. A transcript of this episode can be found here.

In order of appearance, this episode featured the voices of

Nhea Durousseau as Alyss Obelus
Sam LaPorte as Jawn Batalha
Alexandra Rose DeAngelis as Woh Ollum
Omar Camps-Kamrin as Lowkey Madigan
Rook Mogavero as Chasma Jump Cannon
Sam Yeow as No Go
Alasdair Stuart as Malachi Tessera
Bonnie Calderwood Aspinwall as Pascal Almagest
Liz Morey as Kuzha Tvask
Axandre Oge as Valencio “Trip” Triptych
Stephen Indrisano as Tarsul

Additional transmissions were lent by Elena Asencio, Gemma, Katerina Klos, Giacomo Mantovan, Austin Nakamura, Nikko, Camilo Penaloza, Jeanette Puranen, and Timo Puranen.

Our vibe checker was Bruce the cat.

Transcript

[An alarm blares. Tense music plays.]

ALYSS
Jawn, which wire is power?

JAWN
No not that one! The purple one.

ALYSS
Who makes power purple?

JAWN
People who have taste.

ALYSS
Wire-stripper.

JAWN
Wire-stripper. Ah-aaAAAAaah! Mm, MM!!! Careful! Don't touch that!

WOH́́
Jawn, I hate to break it to you, but I think this eruption is gonna hurt the Titan more than Alyss is.

ALYSS
Someone catch!

[Something flies through the air.]

LOWKEY
Oof! Uh, got it! What do I do with this?

ALYSS
Doesn't matter-

JAWN
Don't lose it!

LOWKEY
O-okay! Uh- let me just find somewhere to put this… 

ALYSS
This is ignition, yeah?

JAWN
Ignition's neon green. Hey, someone grab some electric tape?

CHASMA
Sure, where is it?

JAWN
Medicine cabinet in my cabin!

CHASMA
Aye-aye!

[Chasma elbows their way through the cramped ship.]

CHASMA
Excuuuuuuse me, sorry, coming through!

NO
Of course.

MALACHI
Sorry, Chasma.

NO
Why did you let Alyss out, Malachi?

MALACHI
She said she could help. Skippers use analog, sublight systems— Tarsul and I have no training with that stuff. But Alyss seems to.

NO
Why were you talking to her at all?

MALACHI
I didn't seek her out. Alyss was talking to Ship, Ship passed the information on to me.

NO
It's a big risk, giving her free rein like this.

MALACHI
Dr. Go… we weren't about to let everyone die.

NO
I'm… concerned… about her history.

MALACHI
Is this about what Kuzha said?

NO
(sigh) I've got my eye on her, is all.


CHASMA
'Scuse me again, you two are blocking the hallway! 
Here's the electric tape!

JAWN
Hell yeah. This way we won't fry anything else… 

ALYSS
Okay… and this one…

[We hear a muffled "THUMP"]

LOWKEY
What was that?

CHASMA
Falling ice?

MALACHI
There's no sound in that vacuum, if we heard it it must be hitting the Titan.

WOH́́
Um, I don't want to rush you but are we nearly ready to take off yet? Because I don't know how much longer we'll be able to.

MALACHI
Soon. It might be about time for About Gardens — and the rest of you — to find something to hold onto… 

LOWKEY
And miss the show?

MALACHI
At least… grip something solid.

ALYSS
Jawn, rev the engine!


JAWN
Come on baby come on baby come on baby… 

[The engine grinds.]

ALYSS
Again.

[Grinds once more, no dice.]

ALYSS
Again!

JAWN
You can do it… 

[Still grinding.]

CHASMA
Is it working?

WOH́́
That doesn't sound right.

[Alyss punches the dashboard.]

ALYSS
Ugh! I need to use a drill and take out the locking pins.

JAWN
Urgh… then I'll have to replace so much of the main-

ALYSS
Jawn, this isn't working. I have to. It's the only way.

JAWN
You could at least apologise, y'know.

[Drilling noises.]

JAWN
How do you know how to hotwire a racing skip, anyway?

ALYSS
I'm surprised you don't.

JAWN
Yeah, well, I've never… I've never… had to steal anyone's ride before!

ALYSS
That makes you the lucky one.

[The drill stops.]

ALYSS
Rev the engine.

[Jawn does. It works.]

JAWN
Yes! We're in business!

[ROGUEMAKER Theme Song by Emily Branam plays.]

EMILY
(sung)
Ground control, send me down
I'm lost up here and I can't be found.

Ground control, are you there?
The voice in my head, it fills the dead air, says

"You've got time,
You've got time."

"You've got time,
You've got time."

EMMA
ROGUEMAKER: A science fiction podcast. Episode 8: Starforsaken

[Pascal is breathing heavily, well on their way to hyperventilation if not already there.]

PASCAL
Mayday mayday come in Trip, come in Kuzha, come in Titan, I am trapped in some sort of quake — the ground is unsteady, I- I need immediate extraction — I- (huh-hoohh) I've got the iridium, I just need someone to pick me up!

[Under Pascal's hyperventilation, we hear the static of the transmission.]

TRANSMISSION
machine - machine - machine - machine - machine - machine-

PASCAL
Stop it! Get off my airwaves! I never thought I'd say this but… I don't care about that right now! All that matters is getting the iridium back to the Titan.

TRANSMISSION
machine - machine - machine - machine - machine - machine -

PASCAL
I can't- oh, can't even see the gas giant - the machine - whatever - through this plume of… of… sublimating icy crap.

[We hear the transmission continuing to repeat under Pascal's breathing, then we hear them cry out.]

PASCAL
Ah! Oh stars I nearly fell. I nearly fell. I've got to get to higher ground. Ugh! TRIP! KUZHA! TITAN! Come in, come in, can anybody read me?

[A couple of beeps from the suit's comms, exertion noises as Pascal climbs.]

PASCAL
Crap. This is as high as I can go. And I may be above the falling ice but I'm still not out of the plume…  Ugh, ah, I can't see anything. TRIP, KUZHA, TITAN, COME IN!

[More beeps. Something starts cracking.]

PASCAL
Oh stars. This is it. This is it. This time I'm really gonna die out here. For-I-have-loved-the-stars-too=fondly its a LIE. I'm a liar! I'm scared! I AM fearful of the night! Not here, not here, anywhere but here- It's unsteady — I'm going to fall!

[We hear static, the transmission is using Jawn's voice.]

TRANSMISSION
Titan - Titan - Titan - Titan

PASCAL
Titan? Jawn, is that you?

[A rumbling sound.]

TRANSMISSION
Titan

PASCAL
Oh! Jawn, I see it! I see it, The airlock's open!

[Intense action music plays. There is a crackle over Pascal's comms.]

JAWN
(via comms)
PASCAL, YOU GOTTA JUMP NOW! PUSH OFF!

PASCAL
Okay, okay. I can do it, I can do it- aaaAAAAAAAAH!

[Pascal screams as they jump. Kuzha grunts as they bring Pascal in. There is a hissing sound as the airlock pressurises.]

KUZHA
You're fine. I have you.

JAWN
(over comms)
Are they in?

KUZHA
Affirmative. Pascal is inside the airlock.

[The music begins to fade.]

JAWN
Hell yeah! I'm gonna bring us higher, too much stuff collapsing down here, y'know?

PASCAL
Kuzha?

KUZHA
Yes?

PASCAL
Thank you. Here's the iridium.
(they drop the iridium)
Where's Trip?

[Scene shift. We're now in the cockpit. Boopy synths play in the background as we hear the Titan speed along.]

ALYSS
Arch ahead, go low.

JAWN
I see it. Hold on, folks!

[A whooshing sound as Jawn executes some sort of manoeuvre. They let out a "WOOHOOHOO!" as they do it.]
 
MALACHI
Oh, was the barrel roll really necessary?

JAWN
What's the fun of some obstacles to dodge if you don't dodge them with flair, y'know?

MALACHI
Well, it's a good thing I tied Tarsul's pod down in the brig… 

ALYSS
We're closing in on the location I'm reading for Trip's suit, half a click, bear left 30 degrees.

JAWN
Copy.


ALYSS
WATCH WHICH WAY YOU'RE GOING-

JAWN
hELLO THERE-

[Jawn swerves, and everyone sighs in relief.]

JAWN
Love a good giant obstacle hidden in the mist.
Is this the spot?

ALYSS
According to tracking.

JAWN
Hovering.

MALACHI
Does anyone see a spacesuit out there?

ALYSS
I can't see anything in this soup, but I've got a blinking light for Trip's suit on the map here.

[A beep as Jawn speaks on comms].

JAWN
Trip, come in, Trip, this is Jawn and the Titan. Do you read me?
    (beep)

[A tense silence, before Jawn repeats his message.]

JAWN
Trip, come in, Trip, this is Jawn and the Titan. Do you read me?
    (beep)
Trip, come in Trip, this is Jawn and the-

[Jawn cuts off as the comms start to pick up static. Trip's message is garbled and barely audible.]

TRIP
 Look - (static) - light!

ALYSS
What'd he say?

JAWN
Trip, repeat that last.

TRIP
I'm - (static) - red light!

ALYSS
I got red light… what?

MALACHI
Oh! There!

JAWN
Aha! Good lookin' out, Malachi!

ALYSS
Stars, what is he standing on?

MALACHI
Is that a mining extractor?

ALYSS
It is! He's standing on top of a mining extractor, holding a flare!

JAWN
I don't care if he's standing on the Eiffel Tower, I'm going in.

MALACHI
Malachi to airlock, let us know the instant you get Trip inside.

KUZHA
(over comms) Understood.

ALYSS
Steady… steady… 

JAWN
Steadying!

KUZHA
(comms) I have him inside.

MALACHI
Copy that, Kuzha.

JAWN
Woo! Three for three!

MALACHI
Thank the stars.

JAWN
Now, let's get out of this plume and look for somewhere to land.

[The music slowly fades out.]

MALACHI
It looks like it's thinning out. You can see some stars now.

JAWN
Yeah, and there's our friendly neighbourhood gas giant again.
Wait. Are… you seeing what I'm seeing? I mean, I'm pinching myself and it isn't going away, so, y'know…

[Slow, music-box-esque music like "woahhhh holy shit let's all take a minute to look at this" starts playing.]

MALACHI
Is that… a ship?

ALYSS
Or a missile?

MALACHI
What is it doing? It looks as if it's headed straight for the gas giant.

ALYSS
Straight towards that storm.

JAWN
Are there other people here?

ALYSS
I… think we're safe in saying whatever the hell that is, it's Tracer in origin. No human or ǵnonw could make that… 

MALACHI
(sighs)
What a day.

[Scene shift. There's significantly less background noise, now that the Titan is no longer speeding through a field of debris, but we can faintly hear several conversations going on in the background.]

TRIP
Sorry about your spacesuit, Jawn. I must have punctured it getting on the extractor.

JAWN
Dude, what? Don't apologise! You made it out of that alive, that's insane! Your life is way more important than a hole in one of my spacesuits. I'll just buy a new one at the next port.

PASCAL
A few more seconds and the suit might have fully depressurised.

MALACHI
It's a miracle no one was seriously injured.

KUZHA
Agreed. (clears throat) Everyone, may I have your attention!
    (background talking stops)
Thank you all for your bravery and quick response during that… harrowing situation. It is thanks to you that we are all still standing here. I think, however, that… eruption makes it clearer than ever that we must get off this rogue as quickly as we possibly can. Pascal succeeded in finding an iridium core, so now even with our increased weight we can achieve lightflight to get back to-

NO
Wait. We can't leave yet.

KUZHA
Dr. Go, respectfully, I am in charge of this operation and I really-

NO
Operation? This isn't something you can sweep under the rug after everything we've just been through.

KUZHA
I am not sweeping anything under any rugs-

NO
We need to talk about it. All of us.

[A brief, tense pause.]

WOH́́
Um, actually I would like to know what in Lamth's name just flew into the gas giant! Was that some sort of Tracer weapon?

LOWKEY
Yeah, I'm with Woh́́! Like, why was the radio giving us clues about the eruption and how we had to go, what like, rescue people?

WOH́́
It seems pretty clear the Tracers on the radio can tell what we're thinking and doing.

TRIP
I… heard weird things over my comms out there, too.

PASCAL
Me, too. About… the gas giant being a… machine? And why did Trip find human-ǵnonw mining equipment on this Tracer planet?

TRIP
Oh yeah, folks, the Phalanx was here!

[Pretty much every starts talking at once, mostly along the lines of "what???" "wait, what??" "I'm sorry, did you say the Phalanx???" and a "Wait, what does that even mean?" from Lowkey.]

KUZHA
People, people! I assure you, there will be a full Joint-Government investigation conducted into these events the very second-

NO
You're not going to do it behind closed doors. If you want our cooperation, Kuzha, we need answers.

CHASMA
No Go, I'm liking this side to you!

NO
Kid. Focus. It's clear people… probably multiple people, here, know things they haven't told us. And Mx. Law-and-Order's methods aren't going to work for me. We need answers, starting with her. No Go points at Alyss.

ALYSS
Naturally.

KUZHA
(sighs) Dr. Go, I understand your curiosity,

NO
Curiosity? We've been through multiple life-or-death situations since our last Sleep. I think we're beyond curiosity.

KUZHA
…be that as it may, you should rest assured that Alyss here will no longer be any of your concern.
Alyss, your help getting the Titan to launch for the rescue effort was commendable and will be noted in your file before the court. Maybe it will shave a month off of your sentence. For now, we should get everyone who needs to be there back into the brig and -
    (they pat their pockets)
Uh- huh?

ALYSS
Looking for this?

[A gun cocks.]

KUZHA
Huh. Looks like we will be adding 'disarming an officer' to the allegations. So much for your month off the sentence.

ALYSS
Here's what's gonna happen. Kuzha, you're gonna let Tarsul out of their pod. There is something absolutely critical that they need to tell us and that you all need to hear. Then, I'm gonna toss this gun out the airlock, so none of us can use it. Finally, we're all gonna sit down and have a nice long discussion, during which — No Go… Jawn… all of you — We will answer your questions. Understood?

KUZHA
Alyss, put the gun d-

ALYSS
(gun clicks) Understood?

KUZHA
Captain Tarsul is at the centre of a sensitive investigation, and -

NO
And aren't we ALL, at this point?

LOWKEY
Yeah, I'm sorry Kuzha, but if Alyss and Tarsul are gonna tell us what's going on here… like, that's sounding pretty good right about now. This has all been super confusing. I'm sick of not knowing whether we're all about to die or not, it's- it's really got me off my rhythm.

ALYSS
I'm not telling you anything unless Tarsul gets the same opportunity.

KUZHA
(tortured sigh) Fine. It sounds like you all know enough to be dangerous already, anyway… But I must say this: you are wasting all of our precious time.

ALYSS
Kuzha, I think they all want to know, just as much as you and I don't want them to. But if you value the continued existence of our two species — you will LISTEN.

CHASMA
OHMYSTARSYOUSHOULDHAVELEDWITHTHATCAN SOMEONEJUSTTELLUSWHATTHEFUCKISGOINGONHERE?

[Scene shift, transition music like "ooh it's ROGUEMAKER."]

TARSUL
Nice of you to let me out.
And to tie my pod down during… whatever that last escapade was about.

MALACHI
Seatbelts fastened, always, Captain.

TARSUL
Hmph. You, sir, are very… unnecessary with the flips and rolls.

JAWN
And you, Captain, don't actually strike me as much of a pilot if you can't appreciate 'em.

TARSUL
Jawn, I fly for Plutonic. Of course I don't actually care about flying.

CHASMA
Was that, like… a self-own?

KUZHA
Okay, okay, enough of that. Tarsul-

ALYSS
This isn't an interrogation, Kuzha. Tarsul's going to tell their story. And you're all going to listen.

TARSUL
Hmph. Right. (sighs) Can someone get me a water?

MALACHI
Of course! But we've only got Spacerade.

TARSUL
…that'll do.

[The door opens, presumably so Malachi can go get Spacerade.]

TARSUL
My name was Tarsul Dlon. Yes, Woh́́, I wasn't always Groupless. I had a Groupname once. The Dlon were tunnellers. Common as dirt on Tand. We didn't have much money, so, when I left and started my Wander, I took a short-term contract with Eccentric to save up for my travels. Not everyone gets their way paid for them. Space mining was an easy application of my tunnelling skills — it involved lots of knowing your way around rocks and explosives and machinery — and it's not like I had any idea what I wanted to do with my life, so it seemed as good a place as any to start.

[Malachi comes back in and hands them the Spacerade.]

MALACHI
Spacerade, Captain.

TARSUL
Thanks, Malachi. (they take a sip) I was assigned to the Phalanx.

[Assorted gasps/reaction noises.]

TARSUL
Yes yes, you see where this is going.

MALACHI
You're… the sole survivor? You're the miracle?

[Slow, let's-get-ready-for-some-backstory-exposition music.]

TARSUL
That's what they call me, but they're idiots.

ALYSS
Don't tell the end before the beginning.

TARSUL
Yes, as Alyss says, you need the whole story. Working for Eccentric was awful. Long shifts, low pay, lots of bureaucracy and petty managers going on power trips. I also witnessed them firsthand breaking AAA a couple of times and mining from living worlds, but that's neither here-nor-there compared to the scale of what came next. Towards the end of my contract, we stumbled upon two rogues in mutual orbit. A gas giant and… well, the Tracer world we're on as I speak. The Captain was thrilled, as you can imagine. Free resources. Pure profit. No laws or permits to hold us back. Stars. Do you know we already had a full load of rhodium en route to the processing facility, and we were just going to dump it to make way for this new find? So wasteful. I nearly blew off my arm extracting that rhodium.
I was on the prospecting team on the Tracer rogue. I walked around in those frozen cities, cities that hadn't felt the warmth of a sun in who knew how long. Cold. Dead. Empty. More machine than planet. None of us spoke, at first. It was all just so much. And then people started doing mental calculations. Thinking about what this find really meant. Captain Carpenter wanted a thorough investigation, solid facts to report — there would be a media frenzy and academic interest, plenty of parties for Eccentric to control the flow of this information. So, the science team worked non-stop.

[Tarsul pauses and the music picks up.]

TARSUL
It's no wonder you and Alyss didn't notice, Jawn, even if you've been parked here for a few sleeps waiting for the delivery? You don't have the state-of-the-art prospecting equipment we did. And, compared to the Tracer world… it's easy to ignore an 'ordinary' gas giant. The science team confirmed several disturbing facts: one, despite its gravitational pull, the gas giant was hollow. Two, probes showed it was artificially constructed, and matched what we knew of Tracer design. Three… it's very unlikely the Tracers evolved on a rogue. Life wants… energy, to become intelligent, energy usually provided by a sun. So some interaction with that gas giant must have kicked the Tracers from their system and made their world a rogue. The science team found a pilot's seat in the gas giant. A control room. That thing… that machine up there ejects planets from their systems. The Phalanx crew who were in the know started calling it the roguemaker, which I thought was a bit dramatic, and they called the process of ripping planets from their suns systemforming, which I thought was just callous.
So here comes the part where you're going to hate me. I blew up the Phalanx. I did it to hide this place. To make sure no one else would ever find it. (a sharp laugh that sounds a little wrong) And as you can see, that's really worked out.

[The music picks up even more, as everyone takes a beat to let that sink in.]

JAWN
What?! Alyss, why are you working with them?

WOH́́
You're a murderer!

CHASMA
Fifty people were on that ship… 

MALACHI
Captain, you… why would you… 

CHASMA
Fuck!

ALYSS
Let them explain!
Tarsul, you're not helping your case.

TARSUL
That's because my case can't be helped. I did a horrible thing, and there is no pretending I didn't. You know that, Alyss.

[Alyss sighs.]

WOH́́
I don't see how there's anything they could possibly say that could explain that.

MALACHI
I can't understand this.

ALYSS
You all agreed you would listen.

TARSUL
I knew what would happen if Eccentric owned this place. If they had only found the Tracer world, that would be bad enough… imagine the horrible bidding wars for every piece of tech they developed from it, and how they'd fully control the supply so you'd have to sell your life to them to buy any of it… but the roguemaker was what made me do what I did. That thing terrifies me like nothing else. Eccentric, with the power to kill any planet? They'd have no competition. Nothing could keep them in check. Not Earth, not Tand, not J-Gov. We'd be living in Eccentric's galaxy. If we were even still living.

[This hangs in the air for a moment.]

PASCAL
How could you be certain that… killing everyone on the Phalanx would keep people away from here? How did you know Eccentric's CEO didn't already know?

TARSUL
You've seen this place. Something about the Tracer tech makes it a dead zone for comms. I was pretty certain word hadn't gotten out yet. Still, I had to act fast.

JAWN
It took me ages to set up my tightbeam, and I've only barely been able to… uh… 

ALYSS
Oh, Jawn, all cards are on the table at this point.

JAWN
I've only barely been able to tell my people I made it here.

PASCAL
Yeah, but how could you be certain-

TARSUL
I made a rash decision. I saw a doomed society before my eyes, and I took my best chance. And it was the right decision. I stand by that. I saved the whole surfaced galaxy.
Sometimes, I think my survival is my punishment. I spent so long in that escape pod I nearly died of dehydration before they found me. If you all think getting away from the 999 was bad… When they found me, I made up my story about waking up to the alarms blaring, and not knowing what caused the fire on the Phalanx, the story I'm sure you've all heard in the news. And I requested privacy. Anonymity. I've had trouble being around people, ever since the Phalanx.
I had drifted far, far away from the rogues… The way the ship exploded, there was no wreck to investigate, no reason to go looking for it, so I hoped the rogues would be safe. I wanted everyone to forget about it, as soon as possible.

[Kuzha slow claps.]

KUZHA
Well well well, they finally admit to it.

TARSUL
I always wondered if you knew.

KUZHA
It was a possibility we had considered. The Joint-Government considers every possibility. Unfortunately, there was simply no evidence. See, unlike Eccentric, we are burdened with the need to actually follow the laws. Thus, you were free to go after you debriefed.

MALACHI
Tarsul… why… why did you become a pilot? After all that?

KUZHA
You must understand how suspicious that looked.

TARSUL
Call me a glutton for punishment. I had the necessary skills, it was a good anonymous job where no one had to know me for long. The only person I was with was the flight attendant, but he was too busy talking to the AI.

MALACHI
Hey…

TARSUL
And I think in some sense… I wanted to keep an eye on things.

ALYSS
Well… there you have it, everyone. The gas giant machine — the roguemaker — is a super weapon that would completely tip the balance of power in our civilisation. A weapon that may well be the end of our civilisation. So I hope you'll understand that Jawn and I have to finish our mission to-

CHASMA
I'm sorry, like, how do we know that, exactly? That the surfaced gas giant is more than it seems? It sounds impossible!

WOH́́
Yeah, you're asking us to trust the word of this… this… mass murderer! What if Tarsul just made the whole roguemaker thing up to justify their own actions in their head?

ALYSS
Pascal, it sounded like you heard it, too.

PASCAL
Heard…?

ALYSS
This rogue. The Tracer homeworld. It's been speaking to us.

TARSUL
Over the radios. Using our own species' voices.

ALYSS
This place is a comms dead zone, like we said. Didn't you notice that a lot of the ads we heard when we were stuck in the interference were outdated? Or specific to our current situations. The rogue keeps all these old transmissions here. How it knows which ones are important to us, I don't know, but… 

TARSUL
I heard one about the Phalanx. When we were landing. It was my own voice, a log I recorded back then.

CHASMA
I… did get the preview for the next Dr. Sang… I thought that was real convenient… 

WOH́́
Chasma's phone finished our song! And I heard the 6EQ DJs talking about About Gardens specifically!

LOWKEY
Yeah, like, in the moment it was cool, but you're right, that was kinda weird… 

WOH́́
I told you all it was the Tracers.

TARSUL
Well, their machines, anyway. And since we've landed here, it's gotten more coherent. Now it can form new sentences from chopping up the various voices it already has. It can talk to us through any comms.

ALYSS
It warned us about the cryovolcano and helped us rescue everyone. And, Pascal and Trip, it sounds like it talked to you out there.

TRIP
It did, it…  Ow. Ow ow ow AAAAAHHH!

[Trip keels over in sudden pain.]

PASCAL
Trip, hon, are you okay?

TRIP
Yeah, yeah, I'm- I'm sorry… I'm- I'm- I'm fine… must be the, um, unorthodox diet. Here on the Titan. Um. Yes. My comms led me to the Phalanx mining equipment. It's- it's good to know I wasn't… hallucinating… 

PASCAL
Are you sure you're ok? Do you want to sit down?

TRIP
I'm fine.

PASCAL
O-kay. I heard… the rogue told me… it played some clips of what must have been people from the Phalanx, talking about their readings from the gas giant. Then it just repeated that the gas giant was a machine, over and over and over again. I… I'm an astronomer, I study gas giants, and while I don't study rogue ones necessarily… I've noticed since we've been here that… something doesn't look quite right with this one. The storms are too active for the low temperatures of interstellar space. So… while I appreciate everyone's scepticism, a-and I'm not saying Tarsul did the right thing… I can concur that that thing is not natural.

ALYSS
Thank you, Pascal.

PASCAL
I'm not done. I'm not saying that thing is a pilotable death machine. Just that, I do think the Tracers made it.

ALYSS
Well… the roguemaker is a pilotable death machine. And we have to stop anyone finding it. And Jawn and I can help with that.

JAWN
We can? Dude, we came out here to cloak the Tracer world, we didn't know about the roguemaker! I didn't sign up to make a machine the size of a gas giant disappear!

ALYSS
Why can't we? We have the cloaking device-

JAWN
It's only meant for one world, and besides, it-

ALYSS
We can build another cloaking device!

JAWN
Sure, if you wanna wait for HQ to figure out how to make a bigger one and then send it out here!

ALYSS
We'll figure something out!

JAWN
We don't have the resources, Alyss, that's why you and I were the best plan in the first place. I'm not even a real Canary member, I'm just some guy with a ride!

ALYSS
We'll figure something out.

TARSUL
I told you it wouldn't work, Alyss-

ALYSS
But it will, Tarsul.

CHASMA
Wait wait wait wait wait, back up, you have a cloaking device? Like, they don't even have those on Dr Sang — and, yes, even I will admit that the show isn't exactly scientifically accurate.

ALYSS
(sigh) Jawn and I work for an environmental advocacy group called Canary.

PASCAL
Oh, I've read about you! Aren't you… terrorists?

KUZHA
They are, yes.

ALYSS
We're an environmental advocacy group. We believe that people's current lifestyles are unsustainable. Our society takes whole planets' worth of resources from space to fuel luxury, and claims to have 'solved' our homeworlds' environmental crises by dumping our pollution into outer space. Moving our problem somewhere else isn't solving it. Have you looked at the Trash Belt in the Sol System lately? Earth and Tand used to have asteroid belts in their systems. Those are gone now.

WOH́́
Boo hoo, so some rocks are missing-

TARSUL
You can't really mean that, Woh́́. Rocks from space crashing into Tand gave our ancestors what they needed, the heat and minerals and water for life. You know that. And now they're gone and we need to travel farther and farther, to take more.

ALYSS
All so that just a few can live on the top. Do you want to know the real truth? Earth and Tand already have all the resources we need to live. We wouldn't need to take from the stars if we just gave people access to what we already have on our own worlds. But it would mean people giving up their fancy weddings on Saturn's rings and their monopolies and the whole entertainment industries that make their money off of convincing poor people of the lie that someday they could have that too, if only they worked hard enough… and no one wants to hear any of that. Instead of all this endless expansion, Canary tries to encourage people to use the resources we already have.

PASCAL
By… marching at protests covered in fake blood, or blowing up co factories?

ALYSS
Allegedly blowing up co factories.

JAWN
Yeah, Tarsul's the one who blew up co property. Keep up Pascal.

ALYSS
So, after we found the Tracer world,

CHASMA
Hold up, how did you find the Tracer world?

ALYSS
Gravitational microlensing from investigating the Phalanx's flight trajectory.

CHASMA
Gravitational micro-what now?

ALYSS
Gravitational microlensing is a consequence of general relativity whereby-

WOH́́
OH MY STARS WE DON'T NEED ANOTHER SCIENCE LESSON WE BELIEVE YOU JUST TELL US WHAT YOUR PLAN IS.

ALYSS
An engineer with Canary reverse-engineered some of the Tracer tech here to make a device that can cloak this entire planet. Literally hide it. Make it undetectable by any of our sensors, and even if it were bumped into, the cloak wouldn't break from any of our weapons.

CHASMA
That's… super cool.

ALYSS
It is… until you think of what the Tracers might have made such a thing for. So, that's our proposal to you… we deploy this device. We figure out some way to similarly hide the roguemaker. And we get out of here. All of us.

JAWN
If we can even do that second part, which I don't think-

KUZHA
Absolutely not.

ALYSS
Kuzha… surely this whole place would just be a headache to J-Gov. Something else to worry about when you already have trouble keeping the cos in check.

KUZHA
I think you've misunderstood me, Ms. Obelus. I am not going to back off just because these rogues are inconvenient.

ALYSS
Look, it's risk/reward, isn't it? If there are too many risks, you're not being lazy by hiding the rogues, you're protecting people by hiding them.

PASCAL
I-I… I'm sorry, but if we're talking risk/reward, can we not take a minute to think about everything we'd be throwing away, by hiding this place? Sure, cos don't always use resources they find ethically, but, there are a lot of good smart people out there who could use this tech to really help people. The new cancer cure I helped find — we could never have figured that out without Tracer tech. How many similar cures are out there, right now, just waiting on this rogue?

ALYSS
These opportunities are all already available to the cos. There are so many wonderful, life-saving inventions we've already made that aren't reaching a fraction of the people who need them. I don't think the cos would suddenly change their ways regarding that, given this new find. They'd just add it to their treasure hoard. Rich get richer. You know all about that, Pascal. Those cancer treatments that you helped discover are blocked behind a paywall by Nevermore. You scientists have done your job. The trouble isn't that we don't know enough science — the trouble is access.

PASCAL
I… you're right, but, is that really a reason to hide this world away from everyone?

MALACHI
We don't have the authority to make those decisions.

WOH́́
And cos aside, what about all the people who have been wondering their whole lives what happened to the Tracers?

LOWKEY
Yeah this is… this is just TOO BIG to cover up!

ALYSS
You're all forgetting the roguemaker.

WOH́́
The roguemaker we aren't even certain is a roguemaker!

TARSUL
I told you this was no different, Alyss.

ALYSS
It is different this time, Tarsul. Because you're older and wiser. Because these people will listen. Because these people are not our enemies. Because we have a way out.
Don't you all see? We have to trust each other here. The only way out is if we trust each other. All of us. Right now. If we can't… if we can't, that's how things like the roguemaker happen. And that will destroy us all. If my thinking gets me killed, so be it. I'm done being a pawn in other people's games.

[Cautiously optimistic music starts playing.]

CHASMA
Uh, Alyss, while I love a rousing speech… some of us are young and have our whole lives ahead of us and don't have death wishes?

ALYSS
Of course not, Chasma. So I'll say this. I believe we here can work together and get out of this… without a civilisation-ending weapon falling into the wrong hands. But I'm not too proud to back that up with some muscle. If anyone here wants to hurt a hair on Chasma's head, or anyone else for that matter, you will have to go through me. Chasma Jump Cannon WILL get off this rogue, and go get their degree in… what was it?

CHASMA
Oh! Media studies.

ALYSS
Media studies! Wow, you really know how to knock the wind out of a dramatic moment, there.

[A pause.]

CHASMA
So… like… lemme get this straight… the reason we're all here… is literally just because the 999's flight path went closest to these rogues. Because your Canary is, like, flat broke?

ALYSS
Yes.

CHASMA
We have the worst luck in the universe.

[Another pause.]

ALYSS
Well. Dr. Go, any other questions?

NO
Hm. I appreciate your openness, Alyss. And you, Tarsul. I just have one more question, for now. Alyss — how did you decide to join Canary? What did you do before you became a space hippie?

JAWN
Uh, same question, actually?

KUZHA
(laughs) Oh ho ho, Alyss, did you really not hand your resume over to your new employer? No, of course not, why would you? Oh go on, the tale is yours to tell… 

ALYSS
It's nothing I'm proud of. It would take a long time to tell it properly — and I will, No, Jawn, I promise, I will tell you if you want to hear. You deserve that. Rest assured none of it has to do with this rogue or our decision here — other than to say that I know firsthand just how cruel a lot of these co higher-ups can be.

MALACHI
Well… we have… a lot… to think about. And a lot to decide. Perhaps for now, we all ought to sleep? Can we all agree not to murder each other for a few hours to get some rest and think about everything we've had handed to us-

[Malachi is interrupted by a scream of pain from Trip as he doubles over. Intense music like "oh shit" start playing.]

PASCAL
Trip!

LOWKEY
Trip are you alright?

MALACHI
What's wrong?

CHASMA
No one was anywhere near him!

PASCAL
Trip, hon, here… lie down, I've got you, can you talk to me?

TRIP
I… don't… know… 

KUZHA
Everyone stand back, do not crowd him.

PASCAL
Did someone hurt you?

MALACHI
I don't see any cuts -

CHASMA
Maybe it's internal? Did anything fall on you when you were outside?

NO
Shush, let him talk.

TRIP
No… I… don't… know… ughhh… my… knees… like… knives… 

PASCAL
Knees, hon?

CHASMA
The bends!

NO
Kid-

CHASMA
No, seriously! Trip's suit depressurised earlier, when he was rogue walking, so the nitrogen bubbles in his bloodstream would've expanded and they collect at joints and hurt like hell — I saw it on an episode of Dr Sang!

NO
This isn't Dr Sang-

ALYSS
Chasma's… actually got a good point. Spacers do get decompression sickness from all the pressure changes.

MALACHI
How do we help him?

CHASMA
Ummm in the show they had the patient breathe pure oxygen to flush out the nitrogen, and Dr Sang did some snappy procedure to the joints-

PASCAL
No one is snapping Trip's joints!

MALACHI
Pure oxygen, that should be doable. Jawn? In the airlock?

JAWN
Uhh not unless you want to run out of O2 in like a day… 

ALYSS
Can we put him in a pod full of oxygen, maybe?

JAWN
That could work, that could work… 

TRIP
Again… 

PASCAL
I'm sorry, hon, I'm so sorry… one more time… 

[Pod door closes.]

[A corrupted version of the theme song plays, repeating the line "Are you there?"]

EMMA
Thank you for listening to ROGUEMAKER. This episode, “Starforsaken”, was written by Emma Johanna Puranen and directed by Rook Mogavero and Emma Johanna Puranen. The script was edited by Rook Mogavero and Shaoni C. White. Sound editing was by Emma Johanna Puranen. Original music was composed by Emily Branam, who also sings our theme song. Our cover art is by Tatyana Archtander.

In order of appearance, this episode featured the voices of:

NHEA
Nhea Durousseau as Alyss Obelus

SAM L
Sam LaPorte as Jawn Batalha

ALEX
Alexandra Rose DeAngelis as Woh Ollum

OMAR
Omar Camps-Kamrin as Lowkey Madigan

ROOK
Rook Mogavero as Chasma Jump Cannon

SAM Y
Sam Yeow as No Go

ALASDAIR
Alasdair Stuart as Malachi Tessera

BONNIE
Bonnie Calderwood Aspinwall as Pascal Almagest
LIZ
Liz Morey as Kuzha Tvask

AXANDRE
Axandre Oge as Valencio “Trip” Triptych

EMMA
And:

STEPHEN
Stephen Indrisano as Tarsul

EMMA
Additional transmissions were lent by Elena Asencio, Gemma, Katerina Klos, Giacomo Mantovan, Austin Nakamura, Nikko, Camilo Penaloza, Jeanette Puranen, and Timo Puranen.

Last but not least, our vibe checker was:

BRUCE THE CAT
Mrow!

EMMA
For transcripts and more, check out our website, roguemaker.space.

If you want to make sure this ROGUEMAKER is not hidden from society forever, you can support us by rating and reviewing us on your podcatcher of choice. You can also follow @roguemakerpod on Twitter and Instagram, tell a friend about us, or buy us a coffee on ko-fi.com/roguemaker. That’s k-o dash f-i dot com slash roguemaker. Low risk, high reward.

Until next episode, take care of each other, and stay safe out there.


TRANSCRIBER'S NOTE:

Thank you for reading our transcript!  This was pasted in from the google doc (available here), so apologies for any spacing weirdness or formatting errors. This episode was transcribed by Rook Mogavero. If you've noticed any mistakes, have any accessibility concerns, or have any other questions/issues regarding the transcripts, please email us at roguesfpod@gmail.com and we'll do our best to address/fix whatever it is as soon as possible! Hope you're having a lovely day :) -RM