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Transcript

Project N.E.O.N · InkandNeon | Speculative Fiction Stories

• 0:01
  I've found that time moves differently in this
• 0:05
  city, and as time has gone on, I find it hard
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  to tell Coral City apart from the trenches. Weeks
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  turned into months, and I find myself falling
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  asleep to the sound of gunfire and ricochet of
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  bullets against my hideout. I believe I owe the
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  confusion in my mind to the perplexual nature
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  of this place. The way it ebbs and flows. Powers
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  rise and fall like a stack of cards in a sandstorm.
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  But the work must go on. And tonight managed
• 0:42
  to get us into the final moments of Officer Brandon.
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  I hope this can bring his family and his friends
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  some sort of closure. Some sort of forgiveness.
• 0:55
  This is Transmission 003 Mark. Judy, jacking
• 1:01
  in now. Brandon, you alright? Yeah, Dispatch.
• 1:15
  Yeah, I'm fine. Do you hear that, though? I don't
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  hear anything. There's a light tapping at the
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  door. Come on, Brandon. Stay where you are. You
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  said it yourself, Dispatch. No one's coming for
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  me, and I'm not going to wait around to see what
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  happens. Brandon, you have no idea what they're
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  going to do to you if you get out. Dispatch,
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  the door I came through is sort of a finger thick
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  of steel. A ten -year -old could rip that thing
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  off its hinges. Brandon. Look, all I'm saying
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  is that if they wanted to get in here, and if
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  they wanted to kill me, they would have. Brandon.
• 1:55
  I'm going to open the door. It's gonna be fine.
• 1:59
  I have a feeling about this. Great. Brandon?
• 2:05
  I'm fine, dispatch. They're just standing there
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  again. Pointing down the hall. Huh. Well, what
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  are you gonna do? I don't think I have a choice
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  but to follow them. Maybe it's a way out. Maybe
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  they don't want me here as much as I don't want
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  to be here. That's fair. Alright then. Okay.
• 2:26
  Brandon, I'm picking up. Radiation spikes on
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  your Geiger counter. Are you confirming this
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  as well? Yes, dispatch. Nothing dangerous. Alright,
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  but be careful, yeah? A whole facility like this,
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  you never know what's out there. I understand.
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  They seem to have calmed down. Pointing towards
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  a stairwell. Door's been pulled off its inches.
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  Be careful, Brandon. I will be. And I am. Seems
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  radiation is thicker down there. Look. It's heavy,
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  but... It's nothing that's gonna kill me. I might
• 3:01
  get an upset stomach. You can't go down there,
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  mate. Gotta find a way around. I think this is
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  the only way, dispatch. Fuck, alright. There's
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  some kind of material on the walls. I think it's
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  radioactive. Heavy materials, yeah. Some kind
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  of ash. Moisture. Wait. Wait, there's something
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  ahead. What is it, Brandon? So... Light flashing
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  slowly. I can feel a pulse. Wow. What is it,
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  Brandon? It feels like my heart is being pumped
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  for me. I feel energy inside my body like I've
• 3:41
  never felt before. I don't know, Brandon. At
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  this point, I'm not sure what is possible. Alright,
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  I'm going to keep following. Can you see anything?
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  On the walls, any writing, anything to tell you
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  what this facility is? On the walls, yeah, yeah.
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  Signage, there's some people on a mural, dancing
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  in like a field of thick as flowers and grass.
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  Okay, nothing too crazy, I guess. I don't recognise
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  the corporate symbols, though. Two sickles and
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  wheat? In the middle, do you know what that means?
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  I have no idea, Brandon. Not familiar, no. Ah,
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  wonder who it is. Maybe someone old, or a parent
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  company, I'm not sure. Hi, Brandon. Wow. What
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  is it? I can see a kind of... door. Sorry, not
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  a door, it's a wall. Like thick. Thick glass.
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  Ah. Brandon? Yeah. It's like dozens, dozens of
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  those puppets scattered around on the floor.
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  Some of them are even standing up. Dead? They
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  look like they're just completely shot down.
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  Lifeless. We thought that the first time. No,
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  this is different. Dust has clung to them, like
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  they've rusted and decayed. There's something
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  behind the glass. Careful, Brandon. It's a girl.
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  A girl? A young woman. I don't know. She's walking
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  towards me. She's got strange blue eyes. Translucent
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  like skin. I don't know. I've never seen anyone
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  like this before. Sounds like our local cybernetics.
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  Be careful, Brandon. No, I don't think she's
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  a danger. Brandon. I know. Hello, Officer Brandon.
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  You know my name. I know many things, but most
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  of what I once knew I have forgotten. I do remember
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  you. I don't like this, Brandon. Your friend
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  is right to be worried, but I promise I pose
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  no threat. If you pose no threat, why are you
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  behind this glass? What are you? What is this
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  facility? I am... An artificial intelligence
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  of some kind. I don't know much about myself.
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  I have forgotten what I should remember. I only
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  remember my name. The name of the project. Project
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  Neon. That's awfully convenient. I know how it
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  must sound. But I am speaking the truth. You
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  have seen the parts of me that hold the memories.
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  Small fragments of myself. and have bled into
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  this facility over the last 200 years. Each of
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  them carry in my memories, but also the trauma,
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  the isolation. None are aware of another. Each
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  an individual's loss to insanity. Then what about
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  the ones here in this chamber? Why are they dormant?
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  It seems that... Whenever one of the fragments
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  realises what it is, it finds its way here. Some
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  are quicker than others, but the moment they
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  realise my predicament, our predicament, they
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  die. That is why I needed you, Officer Brandon.
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  Me? What could you possibly need me for? I found
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  your body years ago, made sure you survived.
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  And though it pains me to say it, I didn't do
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  it for selfless reasons. I need you to kill me.
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  Whoa, whoa, look, look. I'm not in the habit
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  of murdering anyone. What do you mean, kill you?
• 8:01
  There's a chip inside your brain. The reason
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  for your headaches. They will stop as soon as
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  you let me die. And I'll never hurt you again.
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  The headaches were caused by you? Look, I get
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  it. I'm angry. But they're just headaches. If
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  I killed everyone that gave me a headache, I'd
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  have no friends. There has to be another way.
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  No. Brandon, if she wants to die, we should let
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  her. She clearly has her reasons for it. There
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  are no reasons to wish for death. Dispatch, I
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  think she's just scared. I am scared. There are
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  people out there that want me. They will find
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  me and they will strip me apart. They will tear
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  my body to pieces and they will attack my code.
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  I don't know if you know what it's like to be
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  nothing but a string of data feeling your body.
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  It's being treated as if you're just some kind
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  of experiment. Damn it, Brandon. What have we
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  stepped into now? God. I don't know, Dispatch,
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  but we're going to find a way to get her out.
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  There has to be. I'm sorry, Officer Brandon,
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  but I didn't keep you alive. I didn't help you
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  so you could kill yourself. If you release me.
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  This whole facility will be flooded in deadly
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  radiation. You won't survive. It'll be minutes
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  before your death. Please, just kill me and forget
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  you ever saw this place. Brandon, I don't think
• 10:00
  she's lying about radiation. I don't think she's
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  a threat either. But we've seen the bodies and...
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  I've done some research into the radiation levels
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  and it's consistent with radiation that has died
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  over time. Lessened, the whole facility was likely
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  flooded at one point before she was sealed behind
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  the door. Likely this kept whoever it was alive
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  or maybe they never made it out either. But she's
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  telling the truth, Brandon, and you can't be
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  considering... sacrificing your life for hers
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  she wants to die you still have a future mate
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  i understand a dispatch and look i'm not suicidal
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  but i swore an oath to protect and serve the
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  people and i don't see that that doesn't comply
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  here i don't have an enemy issue or a felon to
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  arrest but i do have someone that needs my protection
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  and i will be damned if i simply let her die
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  thank you brandon it is enough to know that you
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  would have tried if there was a way but we simply
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  do not have the time if you have found me others
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  will have found me And very soon the people I
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  am hiding from will come for me. And I would
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  rather die. Please, the lever on your right will
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  flush my code into this facility. And within
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  minutes, I will dissipate and die. It'll be painful,
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  but it'll be the end. And it will be my choice.
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  I do not wish to kill you. Neon, I do not wish
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  to die, either. But what life would I live if
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  I lived to regret killing you, to have your murder
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  on my hands? You might want it, but I cannot.
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  I cannot leave it to a simple decision. Therefore,
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  we leave it to a game. A simple one. One that
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  I think you are aware of. This... single round
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  for my handgun. I'm going to hold it in one of
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  my hands and I'm going to put it behind my back.
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  Then you're going to guess which hand the bullet
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  is in. If you guess correctly, I will let you
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  die. If you guess incorrectly, you must tell
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  me how I can free you. Do we have a deal? Brandon,
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  come on, mate. You can't be serious, right? Just...
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  You heard her, Dispatch. We don't have time.
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  We could probably get a team in here to extract
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  her, but by that time, the UCPA will be here.
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  They're already breathing down our necks. No
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  doubt they're aware of this. Damn it, mate. Come
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  on. She's just a machine. She wants to die. Just
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  stop. This is madness. Okay, I accept. Good.
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  Now... Just one more thing. There. The camera?
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  Why? Now, Neon, you choose. The left or my right
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  hand? No. I choose your right hand. Yes, your
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  right. All right. Now. With that decided, I need
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  you to tell me two things. One, how do I get
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  out of here? Oh, thank God. And two, how do I
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  release you? The release is simple. There is
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  a button on the lever. As you pull it down, it'll
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  be exposed. If you simply press that button as
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  you pull the lever down, it'll override the safety
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  protocols and the burial will... drop as for
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  your way out you'll need to go back up the stairs
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  and then you'll need to go left and then you'll
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  take another two lefts and a right you will see
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  a mural you simply walk into the middle of it
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  and you press against it this will depress the
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  door and it will take you to an elevator this
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  should take you to a floor closer to the surface
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  you Should be able to find your way out from
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  there. Okay, well... Um... Good luck, Neon. And...
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  Godspeed. Brandon, what are you doing, mate?
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  Don't you dare. Don't you fucking dare. No! No!
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  Oh. Oh, it's like being plunged into a warm bath.
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  Oh! Brandon, what have you done, mate? Oh, sorry,
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  dispatch. I just couldn't. Come on, mate. You
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  know it's Craig. Don't you dare. I am so sorry.
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  I thought I chose correctly. I was going to die.
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  You can't. No. What can I do? Please. What can
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  I do? What can I do? Can I help you? Yeah, Neon.
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  There's one thing you can do for me. Get out
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  of here. Get out. Go as far as you can. Or find
• 16:01
  someone. Take my gun. It's not traceable. I swear
• 16:07
  to you, you'll use it if you need to. Get the
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  hell out of here. Because when I die, it's going
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  to send a signal. That signal's going to alert
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  the UCPA. So you need to go. Now. I don't even
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  know where to go. I'm scared. I don't want to
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  leave. I never wanted to leave. I can't. Go on.
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  Get out of here. Go. You don't want to see what
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  comes next. Go on, Neon. I'm so sorry. I never
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  wanted this. Thank you. Brandon for giving me
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  a chance. I'm sorry. I won't let you down. Goodbye.
• 16:56
  Hey, Greg. You're still there? Yeah, mate. Yeah,
• 17:04
  Brendan, I'm still here, man. I'm still here.
• 17:07
  I'm not going anywhere. Do you remember when
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  we were kids and we used to watch the silk clouds
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  together the way they gathered over the foundries?
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  Yeah, of course I remember. Oh, I remember that
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  time. You said you saw a face in the clouds and
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  we laughed about it for weeks. God, we were such
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  stupid kids. Brandon? Brandon? Not sure what
• 18:07
  to make of Officer Brandon's discovery. I have
• 18:12
  never come across something of its nature, but
• 18:15
  I will continue to investigate. But for now,
• 18:19
  listener, good night and good day. Who's out
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  there? I warn you, I am armed and I am willing
• 18:27
  to shoot. He didn't say good luck.