ep08 - the blip and a bottle of antimatter

A comet appears where no comet should. And after the longest night of Jaran’s shift, someone finally speaks into the radio while he’s away.

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Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:19

Hey there, this is Jaman. I am the facility manager at the Deep Earth Anomaly Department located on the coastal strip in East Antarctica. I'm uh signing in for yet another cold shift. Okay, so a very large comet uh recently appeared in the sky. I think I got it on tape when Ingrid gave me the news and I asked her to monitor it. And sure, a comet in the sky over the course of history isn't that uncommon. You know, we've had many. We've we've had the Blythmoorse comet, we've had Uttois comet, we've had Marrow's comet, the Blythe Comet, the Ringer's Comet, the Clawfoot Comet, comet, comet, comet, you know, comets all around. However, Ingrid receives live data from the telescope on a daily basis, mainly to detect when a new crew is coming in, or if there is a satellite coming into orbit, or if just something else out of the ordinary occurs. You know, we are after all in Antarctica and the conditions are splendid for stargazing here, and also for keeping a track of the Swedes. Anyways, what I'm trying to say is that Ingrid hasn't received any intel on the comet, on the comet before it suddenly appeared between Orion and Eridinus, burning bright like a full moon. And it it's got a green hue and a long, fierce tail, she said, but no matter how bright the color, these things don't occur over the course of a few hours. You know, we would have spotted it months before it gained the size it currently possesses. So I'm I'm not sure what to think of it. I mean, I hope it doesn't hit anywhere near here, you know? You don't need to be a highly celebrated professor in highly advanced mathematics to solve the equation comet plus ice equals no dice. You know. It would be like that time we we had fireballs raining down from the blip. Not blip as in blip and blop, the alien entities. They would never do that, but the the blip hanging in the sky, you know, the round flying thing, you know, which completely obliterated the facilities to polar astrophysics in in Norway. These days, all that is left of them is a cold crater, you know, a few frozen bolts and uh some bottles of antimatter that I genuinely hope is preserved in the ice and will be for millions of years. Yeah, anyways, there's nothing I can do but observe and abandon my post if push comes to shove. I mean, if I could control comets, I'd wear a cape. And I'd call myself the cometh. Clean and simple. I don't think I'd have a tail though, as the superhero called the cometh. Because if I if I had a tail, I think that would come in the way of the the cat-like uh movements I'd have. And the first thing I would do would be to fly away, fetch a lifetime supply of of powder milk and fly back. But yeah, I'm keeping my eye on the comet, uh, as I don't trust it one bit, you know. I really don't want it to catch me off guard. You know, my job is, after all, to manage the the map to manage the deep earth anomaly department. And whatever Thomas Grind is up to, I don't want my name written on a page in his little black book, as it were. Also, I tried reaching out to the moon again to see if they knew anything about it, but nothing. I really do hope that Hugo is doing fine up there. I mean, radio silence doesn't necessarily have to mean that they're all dead up there. My radio doesn't work, and this place is teeming with life. You know, so all I can do is keep a positive tune. Well, it's been a long night tonight. Uh I've done mostly caretaking business today, which is my business, but it's not an exciting business. It's it's like buying strings for a guitar, you know, you need it, but it's not fun. Now, first the heater in the kitchen stopped working. So I did what I do best. I disturbed Joshua in his trials with a faster-than-light device. And he came into the room, had a look at it, two seconds later, it was fixed. It was almost like a gunman in an old western movie, you know. You're doing a duel, and then before you know it, you you're dead. I was so impressed that I just started laughing. So I think I forgot to say thank you. When I think back on it. Anyways, then the filter I installed to keep the salt from the blizzard from entering the facility, and thereby entering Ingrid's circuits got clogged, which caused the entire ventilation systems to malfunction, filling the common room and dormitories with blue smoke, and I had to tape every chink in Ingrid's armor, so to speak, and send her in to fix it, as the smoke would suffocate a human in seconds. In retrospect, I could probably have sent in the the gunman, Joshua, as he would have fixed it within seconds anyway, but I didn't have time to think about that because suddenly the generator also decided to stop working. You know, turning off all the power in the facility, leaving us in pitch black darkness. Now, I have been spoiled rotten with a good generator for sixteen years. So long, in fact, that I have forgotten where I keep the emergency flashlight, and I had to fumble about in total darkness to find it. After everything was done, I proclaimed, What a night! and I wiped pearls of sweat from my forehead and had a plan to dive down into my favourite chair with a good book and a hot cup of something warm. When Ingrid all of a sudden started spinning uncontrollably again. You know, I've seen that before. Unfortunately, this time the scissors were sharp, you know. Luckily, Joshua is stronger than a machine, so he came rushing in, he he grabbed her, he held her, and I turned her off. We then spent at least four hours putting her back together and um I'd say she's back to being herself, if not better. But yeah, these kind of nights they they happen pretty rarely. Yeah. Hello! Come in. Hey, what's up, man? Uh the toilets are cloaked. Of course they are. Um have you asked Joshua? Nah, he's he's very busy and I wouldn't ask him now if I were us. Which I am and I would do it myself, but I think I sp sprained my knee in the blackout. Oh yeah, that's right. I'll go have a look at it, you know, no problem. Thanks, man. I really, really appreciate it. No, no, no, it's fine. No, don't think about it. So sorry folks, I think it would be a uh short one today. Um so yeah, I think this is Jagon. Uh sign I'll keep the radio running until you get back if you want. I really I might have an idea to to fix it.

SPEAKER_00 8:11

You want to? Yeah. Yeah, sure. Fine. Just sit down. No problem. Cool. I appreciate this, man. Thank you. No worries, no worries. Let me check this out. See you then. Yep. See you, see you.

SPEAKER_01 8:33

Okay, so listen. This place, this facility, I mean uh it all seems nice and cozy, I'm I'm sure. Trust me, you know, I thought so too, to begin with. But listen, things are not what they seem. Jahan is blinded by it and he cannot see what is clearly right in front of him. You know if it's because he's disillusioned or if he's been alone for too long. I don't know, but whatever it is, he cannot see the reality of what is really going on down here. You know, what this place really is, what this place has been for centuries. I mean, who knows for how long? Now let me fill you in on the things being kept from us here, you know, kept from us by the Norwegian government. The deep earth anomaly department is not being run on the premise. The research suggests. It's it's all a ruse, it's all a lie. What I discovered behind the green door, I mean behind it there is there is this Hello? So yeah, the toilets uh the toilet wasn't locked at all. Uh works just fine. Are you you sure you pressed the flusher? Well now that you mention it, I I might have forgotten too. Sorry for wasting your time, man. I'm Man, don't worry. I think I need sleep, you know. I only got a few hours, so I'll get another few before my shift starts again. You know, we help each other out, alright? Of course we do. Of course we do. Just remember what I told you. About what? Um I'm just talking to myself. I think I'm I must I'm exhausted.

SPEAKER_00 10:23

Yeah, we all are, man. That's fine. Okay. Well, good night, ma'am. Yeah, okay. Good night.

SPEAKER_01 10:38

Like I said, what a night. But that is the job, I mean. It's an old facility and things break every once in a while. Also, I I'm beginning to think that the whole ordeal with Thomas King has made me work a little bit harder, you know. I mean, what if he is lurking around and spying on us, you know, observing us to see if we are doing a good enough job. You know, him being the devil doesn't have to be the only explanation. That being said, the ice and the snow and the blizzard would probably feel good for being somebody used to living in hell among flames and fire and heat. To Thomas Green, this would probably feel like a vacation, you know, which is why perhaps he's taking his time, prolonging his holiday. But yeah. I could speculate for decades and still not know what he's up to. He you know, he will show up when he shows up. And if he carries a pitchfork, then I'll worry. Right now I have other things to worry about, you know. Because in the machinery I heard a noise I'm not particularly a big fan of, so I'm just waiting for something else to go wrong, this shift that I have to fix, you know. I only hope that it happens before I go to sleep. This is where my head is at right now, you know. I'm hoping for something to go wrong sooner rather than later. Now I don't hope anything will go wrong down there, to be honest. I mean, the fluorescent spiders just moved into the machinery, and it would be inconvenient for my eight-legged friends to have to relocate again. I think they genuinely like it down there, you know. You know, the humming and the damp air and the dim glow from the machinery lamps. It is actually cozy down there. It reminds me of a city in a far, far future, you know. I wish I spoke their language though. That way I could ask them to web me a hammock. Imagine that.