[CLICK]
[ECHOING FOOTSTEPS, ONE SET OF WHICH HAS A DECIDED LIMP ]
MARTIN
Feeling better, Tim?
TIM
Yeah, thanks. Head’s a bit clearer. Nasty headache, but, uh, I think that’ll pass. Jon, how’s the leg?
ARCHIVIST
[Strained] It’s fine.
[FOOTSTEPS STOP]
MARTIN
Jon. Do you trust me?
ARCHIVIST
Wh—
[Deep breath] Yes.
TIM
Whoa.
MARTIN
Here.
[FABRIC RUSTLES, SLIGHT GRUNTING NOISES]
MARTIN
There, I’ve got you. You don’t need to make that worse by walking on it.
ARCHIVIST
Thank you.
TIM
What happened, anyway? Fuck, you didn’t get bitten, did you?
ARCHIVIST
Only by one. And Martin got it out. I’m fine.
TIM
But what if you’re…you know. What if you missed one? Will you end up like…
ARCHIVIST
I don’t know, I—
MARTIN
We didn’t. There was just the one. I’ll look again later, but I promise, Jon, you’re not Corrupted.
[BRIEF SILENCE, SAVE THE FOOTSTEPS]
ARCHIVIST
That’s twice now.
MARTIN
Huh?
ARCHIVIST
You keep using that word. Corrupted. That’s what you said Jane Prentiss was doing to the documents, too. And now…
I-it, it means something, doesn’t it? Something important.
MARTIN
…
Yes.
Look, Jon, it’s not that I didn’t want to tell you before. I did. I was going to tell you about all this after she attacked me the first time. Actually, I’d told Neens to come tell you if she didn’t hear from me. I thought Prentiss sent her an all-clear, but turned out she never got my text in the first place, so—
TIM
Sorry, Neens?
MARTIN
Melanie. King. She’s my stepsister. How do you think I was able to get hold of Hannah?
TIM
Han—wait, the nurse from Ivy Meadows? What’s that got to do with…hang on, Melanie King is your sister?
MARTIN
Stepsister. Her mum died around the same time my dad left us, and—never mind. It’s not important. But yeah, that’s why she came to make a statement in the first place. She hadn’t heard from me in a while and just…wanted an excuse to get into the Archives to see me, but without letting people know we knew each other. Making a statement seemed as good a reason as any.
TIM
Why was that such a big deal? That people not know she knows you, I mean? If I were related to Melanie King, I’d be bragging about it to everyone that came through.
MARTIN
It’s kind of a safety thing. We’ve had issues in the past with…people…finding out we know each other and using that against us. Not letting some of the more dangerous people out there know you’ve got someone who can be used as leverage keeps them safe. I guess we’re just so used to protecting one another that it’s second nature at this point.
Especially after Gerry.
ARCHIVIST
I suppose I owe her an apology. It was true, wasn’t it? Her statement. I-it wouldn’t go on the laptop.
MARTIN
Yeah, a lot of…those things are weirdly resistant to a lot of technology. It’s probably why the video file was so…
ARCHIVIST
Corrupted? Distorted?
MARTIN
Messed up. That wasn’t…I don’t think it was either of those things.
TIM
And we’re back to “Corrupted means something important”. Distorted does too?
MARTIN
I…sort of? It’s not as big as the Corruption, but…
Okay, look. It’s a lot to explain and I’m…I dunno. Do you want to stop and have me tell you about it now?
TIM
In this mess?
ARCHIVIST
No, I—you can explain it when we get out of here. When we’re safe. Just answer me one question.
MARTIN
Sure.
ARCHIVIST
Why didn’t you tell me before?
You—you said you wanted to, that you’d told…Ms. King to tell me and she didn’t, but…you didn’t, either. Why not?
MARTIN
When I first got back? You believed me. About what had happened with Prentiss, I mean. And you were anxious enough, I didn’t…it didn’t seem like the time to lay out exactly what we’re involved in. I figured when things settled down a bit, I’d tell you.
ARCHIVIST
And yet, you didn’t.
MARTIN
…No.
ARCHIVIST
Why not?
MARTIN
Elias. He called me up to his office for a “chat” the day Melanie came to make her statement.
ARCHIVIST
I—I remember. You, uh, you didn’t talk to anyone for the rest of the afternoon.
What did he—wait, does he know all this?
MARTIN
[Bitterly] Of course he does. You can’t run a place like the Magnus Institute and not be aware of Them, or what’s actually going on with the Leitners, or any of that. He knows, all right. And he knew when he hired me that I knew. He sure as hell knew before he sent me down to the Archives.
But he didn’t want you to know. I don’t know what his game is, I don’t know why it’s so important to him that you stay ignorant, but it is. I’m pretty sure he went out of his way to make sure you wouldn’t trust me, o-or believe me if I said anything, which kept me from saying anything at first. And then I got trapped, and we started…getting along better, and I was finally at the point where I was going to tell you everything. And then he talked to me.
ARCHIVIST
What did he say?
MARTIN
…
[Softly] He threatened to kill you if I told you.
ARCHIVIST/TIM
What?!
MARTIN
You wanted to know why I had a second tape recorder? That’s why. I didn’t—it was just him and me in his office and I don’t have any proof, so I thought…i-if I keep one with me, if anything like this ever happens again, I can record it and I can…I don’t know. It made sense in my head.
TIM
But to kill…do you think he really would?
MARTIN
Without a moment’s hesitation. It wouldn’t be the first time, either.
TIM
Jesus fucking Christ.
ARCHIVIST
[Incredibly shaken] All right, let’s—let’s discuss this later. Above ground, maybe. Where there’s light. And when we’re not…when we’re away from the worms.
Is there someplace safe we can discuss this? Is here safe?
MARTIN
I think so. It’s more of a strain for me to See down here, and I am down here, so I think if Elias has a way of spying on us, it doesn’t work well down here.
TIM
It’s a strain for all of us to see down here. There aren’t any lights.
MARTIN
That’s…not exactly what I meant.
ARCHIVIST
We’ll add that to the list. I promised only one more question for now.
Let’s just get out of here.
TIM
Lead on, Macduff.
ARCHIVIST
It’s “Lay on, Macduff,” actually. And that doesn’t—
MARTIN/TIM
Shut up, Jon.
[CLICK]
[CLICK]
[FIRE ALARM BLARING IN THE BACKGROUND, SOUND OF WORMS SQUIRMING]
MYSTERIOUS FIGURE
Ugh—shit! Watch your step!
SASHA
I can see them, thank you.
MYSTERIOUS FIGURE
Great! Glad to hear it. Can you see where we’re supposed to go?
SASHA
It’s not like there’s a map. I don’t spend a lot of time in the maintenance areas of the Institute, but the boiler room should be—
MYSTERIOUS FIGURE
Who’s there?
SASHA
Elias!
ELIAS
Sasha. What are you still doing in here? You need to get out.
SASHA
The fire suppressant system—is it active? Did you find the switch?
ELIAS
There’s no point, I’m afraid.
SASHA
What? What do you mean?
ELIAS
[Almost pityingly] You can see how fast these worms are spreading. If they are truly as dangerous as Jon and Martin have believed them to be—and I regret to say I no longer have reason to doubt them—then they would not have come up here if there was any reason for them to still be in the basement.
MYSTERIOUS FIGURE
[Softly, somewhat panicked] No, no, no…
ELIAS
I’ve been trying to get to the boiler room since we were separated, but at this point, that is not the optimal course of action. We need professional help.
The fire brigade will have specialized equipment, and as soon as I get outside, I can call the ECDC as well, but for now, you need to complete the evacuation so they don’t need to worry about you when they get here. I cannot condone wasting lives trying to save the dead.
SASHA
What?! No! You don’t know they’re dead—
ELIAS
Sasha, if by some miracle they are still alive, how do you think they will react if they get rescued only to learn that you died in the attempt? Would you really be so cruel as to force them to live knowing you died painfully and unnecessarily—because of them?
SASHA
[Angrily] Don’t. Don’t you dare.
MYSTERIOUS FIGURE
Get out of the way, old man.
ELIAS
I’m sorry, who are you? This is a private—
[SOUND OF FIST STRIKING FLESH. ELIAS YELLS IN AGONY]
SASHA
Come on!
[RUNNING FOOTSTEPS, ECHOING SLIGHTLY]
SASHA
I can’t believe you just hit him.
MYSTERIOUS FIGURE
I can apologize later if your job is on the line.
SASHA
Are you kidding? I’ve wanted to do that for years. Never thought anyone would ever actually do it.
MYSTERIOUS FIGURE
Yeah, well, he was trying to stop us getting down here, and I don’t believe for a minute it was out of concern for your safety.
Boiler room, you said?
SASHA
Yes. Here it is.
[DOOR OPENS. PIPES HISS IN THE BACKGROUND. THE FIRE ALARM IS A LITTLE FAINTER HERE]
MYSTERIOUS FIGURE
Shit, that’s a lot.
SASHA
There! There’s the override panel. We just need to find the right one…
Of course they aren’t labeled. Of course not. That ought to be il—ouch!
MYSTERIOUS FIGURE
You okay?
SASHA
It bit me! Jesus, I didn’t think you could feel a spider bite…
MYSTERIOUS FIGURE
Where?
SASHA
Here.
MYSTERIOUS FIGURE
No, I mean, where’s the spider?
SASHA
Right there.
MYSTERIOUS FIGURE
Ah, there you are, you little bastard.
[CRUNCH OF FOOTSTEPS, RATTLE OF PIPE, GRUNT OF EFFORT]
[Low growl dripping with contempt] Mother, may I?
[THUNK OF A LEVER BEING THROWN]
[LOW HISSING NOISE]
[CLICK]