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SMNTY Fiction: Terminus (Chapter 11.1) · Stuff Mom Never Told You

• 0:05
  Speaker 1: Hey, this is Annie and Samantha and.
• 0:07
  Speaker 2: Welcome to stephone never told your production of iHeartRadio, And
• 0:18
  Speaker 2: welcome to another edition of Sminty Fiction Terminus, Chapter eleven
• 0:24
  Speaker 2: point one. Because once again I'm really bad at controlling
• 0:28
  Speaker 2: my chapter link, which I've also discovered is a fan
• 0:33
  Speaker 2: fiction tag. Oh well, I like the introduction with that
• 0:38
  Speaker 2: voice like it was a specific like advertising. But yes,
• 0:41
  Speaker 2: I'm very excited I told you this chapter which did
• 0:45
  Speaker 2: get split into two. So this is part one of
• 0:47
  Speaker 2: chapter eleven. I am really really excited to talk about.
• 0:52
  Speaker 2: It's got a lot of issues, but we're going to
• 0:53
  Speaker 2: discuss them. So this is a once a month thing
• 0:59
  Speaker 2: we do. It is a bit more soundscaped, no, I
• 1:02
  Speaker 2: mean we don't generally soundscape, so it's more soundscape than
• 1:05
  Speaker 2: what we normally do, which is nothing. But Christina is
• 1:08
  Speaker 2: the one behind that makes it amazing. So to just
• 1:12
  Speaker 2: send the love to Christina, let us know, we'll pass
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  Speaker 2: it along.
• 1:15
  Speaker 1: It's been doing so much good work, really has putting
• 1:18
  Speaker 1: up with all of our nonsense.
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  Speaker 2: So yes, this is an ongoing thing and it is
• 1:27
  Speaker 2: based on a Nana Raimo National Novel Writing Month that
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  Speaker 2: my first one that I did back in twenty ten.
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  Speaker 2: It's not really edited. I like to look back and
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  Speaker 2: see what was going on in my head in this
• 1:38
  Speaker 2: month that I wrote this.
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  Speaker 1: But we're getting to some.
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  Speaker 2: Of the good. The climax is coming. I'm very excited.
• 1:46
  Speaker 2: So content warning before we get into this. Just in
• 1:50
  Speaker 2: general child endangerment, not so much in this chapter, but
• 1:54
  Speaker 2: it's just hanging over the whole thing. There is slutshaming,
• 1:57
  Speaker 2: we'll talk about it, a discussion of infertility, wanting to
• 2:02
  Speaker 2: have a kid and being unable to, toxic jealousy, which
• 2:07
  Speaker 2: I don't know if it's a term, but I'm putting
• 2:09
  Speaker 2: it in here. Mentions of violence, inadequacy, insults around the
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  Speaker 2: ability to be a mother, internalized ableism, shame and fear
• 2:19
  Speaker 2: around pregnancy. This chapter will make you mad. I put parentheses,
• 2:26
  Speaker 2: so that's fun.
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  Speaker 1: That is there.
• 2:29
  Speaker 2: It is all right. So here's my recap. Humanity is
• 2:33
  Speaker 2: dying out due to a sex based disease. There's a
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  Speaker 2: new government that has taken control as the population collapses
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  Speaker 2: in on itself, and they are ruling, reigning alongside a
• 2:44
  Speaker 2: religious group named arm and they control everything that has
• 2:49
  Speaker 2: to do with conception and if a child is born,
• 2:52
  Speaker 2: they control everything about that as well. Our main character,
• 2:55
  Speaker 2: Tilda escaped with her infant son, Madison. They have now
• 2:59
  Speaker 2: been on the run for seven years. They are being
• 3:03
  Speaker 2: followed by the Enforcers who work for the government, and
• 3:08
  Speaker 2: they have had run ins with them.
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  Speaker 1: Tilda was injured. She was shot. There was a car chase.
• 3:14
  Speaker 2: Tilda met a kind woman named Lynn, who helped Tilda
• 3:18
  Speaker 2: recover and told her about a resistance and a possible
• 3:22
  Speaker 2: cure for this disease that might be in Kansas City.
• 3:28
  Speaker 2: After a violent conflict with the enforcers that resulted in
• 3:32
  Speaker 2: a couple of fatalities, Tilda and Madison are saved by
• 3:35
  Speaker 2: members of the resistance and are taken to their secret headquarters.
• 3:40
  Speaker 2: That is where we left off, so let us get
• 3:44
  Speaker 2: right into it. How are you feeling? Tilda blinked to awareness,
• 4:00
  Speaker 2: fragmented memories washing up on the shores of her consciousness.
• 4:04
  Speaker 2: Zulika perched on the bed across from her. You've slept
• 4:08
  Speaker 2: for almost an entire day. I thought I'd better wake
• 4:11
  Speaker 2: you up and see how you were doing. Pushing herself
• 4:13
  Speaker 2: into a sitting position, she eyed the woman opposite her Critically.
• 4:17
  Speaker 2: On shore, Zulika held out a cup of water for her,
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  Speaker 2: and she took it, sipping carefully. Madison pulled himself up
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  Speaker 2: next to her, rubbing his eyes, and Tilda passed the
• 4:27
  Speaker 2: cup to him. He took it wordlessly. Zulika smiled at him.
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  Speaker 2: His hair stood up on one side. I thought you
• 4:35
  Speaker 2: might like some food and then we could go onto tour.
• 4:38
  Speaker 2: Sound good? Tilda nodded, and Zu likea stood happily. Stay there,
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  Speaker 2: I'll bring you a tray. I figured you might want
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  Speaker 2: to eat in here. You probably aren't up to all
• 4:48
  Speaker 2: the questions you'll get from this lot. The woman left
• 4:52
  Speaker 2: Tilda stretched, vanishing the last vestiges of sleep. Madison passed
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  Speaker 2: the water back to Tilda, pressing into her side, watching
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  Speaker 2: the doorway fretfully. Neither of them spoke. Tilda didn't know
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  Speaker 2: what to say, consumed with nervous anticipation, red splottering on
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  Speaker 2: white replaying relentlessly in the back of her mind. So
• 5:13
  Speaker 2: you like a returned bouncing a large plastic tray? Could
• 5:17
  Speaker 2: you pull that table over for me? Tilda tugged the
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  Speaker 2: metal rolling table over. She imagined it was designed for
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  Speaker 2: people too ill to get out of bed, So you
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  Speaker 2: like a slid the tray onto the table. There were
• 5:30
  Speaker 2: modest foods, but Tilda was happy to see them. Sliced apples, oatmeal, carrots, celery,
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  Speaker 2: and a small cup of milk. You have milk, Tilda asked, dazedly. Yes,
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  Speaker 2: Suke responded, dragging a chair over. We have a few
• 5:47
  Speaker 2: domesticated animals and a small garden. Our responsibilities are divided
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  Speaker 2: to keep the place running, and we have a group
• 5:53
  Speaker 2: in charge of scaveching food, growing food, making sure there's
• 5:57
  Speaker 2: enough and so on. We don't have much milk, but
• 6:00
  Speaker 2: I thought, after all you've been through, you deserve some.
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  Speaker 2: Madison held the cup in his hands as though it
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  Speaker 2: were precious china. He'd never had milk before, at least
• 6:11
  Speaker 2: not memory. Drink it slowly, okay, Tilda instructed, quietly rubbing
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  Speaker 2: his shoulder. It's amazing what you've done. Tilda looked up
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  Speaker 2: at the woman, wary keeping from the enforcers all this time.
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  Speaker 2: Tilda didn't respond, not seeing anything amazing about it. Taking
• 6:30
  Speaker 2: a bite of oatmeal, Tilda asked, do the enforcers know
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  Speaker 2: you're here? Not precisely so, you like a scratched above
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  Speaker 2: her eye, sighing. They know there are some of us here,
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  Speaker 2: but not so many. I expect they think we're just
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  Speaker 2: a group of stragglers, hold up together, lost causes, low priority,
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  Speaker 2: so they don't know there's a resistance. Tilda found that
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  Speaker 2: hard to believe, not one that could do them any
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  Speaker 2: real harm. Pondering that, Tilda glanced over to Madison, who
• 7:01
  Speaker 2: replaced his now empty cup on the tray. She laughed,
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  Speaker 2: you've got a bit of a mustache there, mouse, sheepish.
• 7:10
  Speaker 2: He wiped his mouth with a cup of his jacket.
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  Speaker 2: Did you like it, he nodded enthusiastically, drawing a chortle
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  Speaker 2: from Zulaika. We'll get you more later, Madison blushed, munching
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  Speaker 2: on an apple slice.
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  Speaker 1: Could you.
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  Speaker 2: Tilda raised her eyes to meet zulikas, do you any
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  Speaker 2: real harm? Zulika considered her for a moment, then turned
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  Speaker 2: her a kitchen to Madison. Yes, she answered slowly. For
• 7:40
  Speaker 2: some reason, even though it was the response Tilda had
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  Speaker 2: been hoping for, the tendrils of her boding itched at
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  Speaker 2: the back of her brain. How many of you are there?
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  Speaker 1: Not sure?
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  Speaker 2: Couple of hundred. I guess you'd have to ask Mark
• 7:54
  Speaker 2: for the exact number. But Tilda was stuck on the
• 7:57
  Speaker 2: first part. Madison flabbergas did stuttered hundred. Yes, we've got
• 8:04
  Speaker 2: lots of us crammed in here, adults, mostly some children, children,
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  Speaker 2: Madison exclaimed, while Tilda asked simultaneously, there are children here, yes.
• 8:15
  Speaker 2: Zuleika's voice was wistful, almost bittersweet. Not many, but a few.
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  Speaker 2: Some were rescued by their parents and brought here. Others
• 8:24
  Speaker 2: were born outside of conception centers and came here for
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  Speaker 2: protection and our resources. We even had one born here
• 8:30
  Speaker 2: a couple of years ago. The mother was pregnant when
• 8:32
  Speaker 2: she arrived. She wanted to go into hiding. Tilda felt
• 8:36
  Speaker 2: faint for a moment processing this. Madison gawked at Zuleika.
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  Speaker 2: He'd never seen another child before. You can see them
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  Speaker 2: later if you like, Zulika offered, we have a playroom
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  Speaker 2: and a classroom. In her shock, Tilda momentarily forgot how
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  Speaker 2: to swallow and almost choked on a bit of carrot.
• 8:58
  Speaker 2: Appetites forgotten, Zulika rolled away at the table, and Madison
• 9:02
  Speaker 2: immediately hopped down. Tilda realized she didn't have her pack.
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  Speaker 2: It sat on the floor next to the bed. She
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  Speaker 2: wondered if it had fallen off in the night, or
• 9:11
  Speaker 2: someone had removed it for her, seeing her hesitation. Zue
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  Speaker 2: like I said, you can leave it here, no one
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  Speaker 2: will steal it. So it went against her instincts. So
• 9:21
  Speaker 2: the last time she left her pack, her desperation for
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  Speaker 2: supplies had led to their capture. The lingering soreness in
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  Speaker 2: her lower back made the decision for her, and she
• 9:30
  Speaker 2: left it sitting next to the bed. Zu likea tore
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  Speaker 2: to them around the underground complex, explaining its origins as
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  Speaker 2: an underground war museum, how the resistance had started as
• 9:40
  Speaker 2: just a few people, some that had defected from the
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  Speaker 2: state or conception centers, others just looking for some kind
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  Speaker 2: of meaning. Why are you here, Madison asked innocently, eyes
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  Speaker 2: wide as he stared at the rows of rooms, some
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  Speaker 2: occupied and some not. Tilda chided him for the personal question,
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  Speaker 2: but do you like to dismiss his apology? It's all right,
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  Speaker 2: I thought. I thought I could change things, make them better,
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  Speaker 2: have you? Madison took Tilda's hand, shying away from the
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  Speaker 2: passing strangers, openly staring at him. I hope so again.
• 10:18
  Speaker 2: Tilda could detect something like melancholy in the woman's voice.
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  Speaker 2: Are you ready to meet some of the other kids?
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  Speaker 2: Excitement and apprehension played on Madison's features, but he nodded emphatically.
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  Speaker 2: Tilda could feel his step quickened as you like had
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  Speaker 2: turned it down a corridor that had two large rooms
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  Speaker 2: on either side. We call this the children's corner. That's
• 10:39
  Speaker 2: the classroom. Madison stood on his tiptoes to see inside,
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  Speaker 2: and this she indicated the room on the right. He's
• 10:45
  Speaker 2: the playroom. Inside there was an odd assortment of toys, puzzles, games,
• 10:50
  Speaker 2: and books on the shelves and littered on the floor.
• 10:52
  Speaker 2: The walls had been decorated with blades of grass, dragonflies,
• 10:55
  Speaker 2: and flowers, with stars and planets on the ceiling. Children
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  Speaker 2: playing demanded all of Tilda's attention. Zulika called out, hello, children,
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  Speaker 2: I want you to meet Madison. She pulled Madison forward.
• 11:09
  Speaker 2: He stumbled, stupefied Madison. This is Sophia, a girl with black,
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  Speaker 2: curly locks of hair that looked a few years older
• 11:17
  Speaker 2: than Madison, smiled at him timidly, revealing a gap where
• 11:20
  Speaker 2: she'd lost one of her front teeth. Casey, a teenaged
• 11:24
  Speaker 2: looking kid with dark skin, nodded. And Phoenix, a red
• 11:28
  Speaker 2: head that Tilda placed at around three waves, happily at him,
• 11:32
  Speaker 2: Madison is going to play with you for a while, right.
• 11:35
  Speaker 2: Tilda clutched his hand impulsively, afraid to let him go.
• 11:39
  Speaker 2: He looked up at her, asking silently, forcing a smile
• 11:44
  Speaker 2: on her face. She released her grip by sheer force
• 11:47
  Speaker 2: of will, her fingers curling, aching to retake his hand
• 11:50
  Speaker 2: to keep him from leaving, but she let him go.
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  Speaker 2: He approached tentatively, kneeling down next to them. They all
• 11:58
  Speaker 2: stared at each other, women stared at them. Sophia broke
• 12:02
  Speaker 2: the silence. Do you want to play a game? Madison nodded,
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  Speaker 2: and she pulled him to a shelf where they perused
• 12:08
  Speaker 2: the games, Sophia giving basic rundowns of how each one worked.
• 12:13
  Speaker 2: Tilda watched, transfixed and didn't shift her attention when Zulka said,
• 12:18
  Speaker 2: come on, the leadership of the resistance wants to talk
• 12:20
  Speaker 2: to you. But Tilda couldn't move. Madison had never left
• 12:25
  Speaker 2: her sight other than when she slept or for a
• 12:28
  Speaker 2: minute here and there. The thought of leaving him here
• 12:31
  Speaker 2: filled her with dread and panic. Her hands itching to
• 12:34
  Speaker 2: reclaim his fingers fastened around her bicep, and she jumped,
• 12:39
  Speaker 2: He'll be fine here, I promise. Tilda swallowed. Where shouldn't
• 12:46
  Speaker 2: they have a supervisor? Casey is old enough to watch
• 12:50
  Speaker 2: over them, Soulika assured in grants across the hall, He's
• 12:54
  Speaker 2: one of our teachers. Madison, your mother and I will
• 12:58
  Speaker 2: be back in a little while.
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  Speaker 1: Okay.
• 13:00
  Speaker 2: Madison turned an uncertain gaze to them, but Sophia tugged
• 13:04
  Speaker 2: his arm and regained his attention. Tilda allowed Zulika to
• 13:08
  Speaker 2: lead her away, embarrassingly close to bursting into tears or
• 13:11
  Speaker 2: taking Madison and bolting. A part of her was missing,
• 13:15
  Speaker 2: a part she needed to breathe. She focused on drawing
• 13:19
  Speaker 2: breath normally as the rooms and halls blurred past. Eventually,
• 13:23
  Speaker 2: they came to a large dark room with a circular
• 13:26
  Speaker 2: table sitting in the middle, Mark, Taylor, Amelia, Adam, and
• 13:29
  Speaker 2: two other men. She didn't recognize that around it. Zulika
• 13:33
  Speaker 2: guided her to a chair and did the seat to
• 13:35
  Speaker 2: her right. Silence fell across the table. Tilda didn't notice
• 13:40
  Speaker 2: until someone broke it. This is Tilda Nohan. The others
• 13:45
  Speaker 2: regarded her steadily. Mark leaned forward, eyes on wavering from Tilda.
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  Speaker 2: Can you tell us why you are a state priority
• 13:54
  Speaker 2: number one? Tilda shrugged, and responded hollowly. I didn't know
• 14:00
  Speaker 2: I was, nor was she entirely sure what that meant,
• 14:04
  Speaker 2: but she was too embarrassed to ask. It doesn't matter why,
• 14:10
  Speaker 2: Taylor asserted, with the air of someone continuing an argument
• 14:13
  Speaker 2: that got interrupted. All that matters is that they are.
• 14:17
  Speaker 2: From what I can tell. Adam put forth, it's not
• 14:20
  Speaker 2: her they want, it's the kid her. They just assume kill.
• 14:25
  Speaker 2: Why were they speaking about her like she wasn't here
• 14:29
  Speaker 2: packaged deal? Taylor sat back in her chair, crossing her arms.
• 14:33
  Speaker 2: That kid is not leaving her side willingly. That has
• 14:37
  Speaker 2: got a brainwashed pretty good. Tilda's mouth fell open.
• 14:43
  Speaker 1: Taylor.
• 14:43
  Speaker 2: Amelia censured warningly what Directing her attention to Tilda, she accused,
• 14:49
  Speaker 2: how old were you when you had him?
• 14:51
  Speaker 1: Twelve?
• 14:52
  Speaker 2: Tilda stared at her colored draining from her face. Shut up, Taylor.
• 14:57
  Speaker 2: One of the men Tilda didn't know cut in. You're
• 15:00
  Speaker 2: just pissed as hell that she has a kid and
• 15:02
  Speaker 2: you don't under the tables, you'd like to gave Tilda's
• 15:05
  Speaker 2: fingers a brief squeeze. Back to the matter at hands, please,
• 15:10
  Speaker 2: Mark scratched his scruffy facial hair. If we're going to
• 15:14
  Speaker 2: do this, we need to act quickly. To Tilda, he asked,
• 15:18
  Speaker 2: do you want to undermine the state's authority and put
• 15:21
  Speaker 2: power back in the people's hands. Tilda stared at him blankly.
• 15:26
  Speaker 2: Who talks like that? He threw his hands up in frustration.
• 15:31
  Speaker 2: I have to say, I was expecting more from a
• 15:33
  Speaker 2: damn priority number one. I thought they wanted you out
• 15:36
  Speaker 2: of the way because they were afraid you'd start a
• 15:38
  Speaker 2: rebellion or something. I'm telling you they want the kid.
• 15:42
  Speaker 2: Adam interrupted, but Mark waved him off. Why did you
• 15:46
  Speaker 2: come here? Tilda floundered before venturing I heard there was
• 15:53
  Speaker 2: a cure. She sounded so naive even to her own ears.
• 15:58
  Speaker 2: Mark studied her for a moment, leaning back in his chair. No,
• 16:03
  Speaker 2: Tilda's heart dropped, but his next statement had her jerking
• 16:06
  Speaker 2: her head up to meet his cool gaze. But there
• 16:09
  Speaker 2: is a vaccine, a vaccine. Her lips were numb, her
• 16:16
  Speaker 2: mind racing as she computed what having a vaccine meant. Yes,
• 16:22
  Speaker 2: Amelia said, or there was one? Tilda mouth was and
• 16:29
  Speaker 2: Mark picked back up. A few scientists in Chicago developed
• 16:33
  Speaker 2: one a few months back. Don't know why, but the
• 16:36
  Speaker 2: enforcers destroyed the lab about a week ago. But we
• 16:39
  Speaker 2: have reason to believe that there was a second lab
• 16:42
  Speaker 2: when the enforcers didn't know about. There was an underlying
• 16:45
  Speaker 2: current in the conversation that Tilda didn't understand, but they
• 16:50
  Speaker 2: will find it soon. They're searching. So we need to
• 16:54
  Speaker 2: leave now if we want to have a chance at
• 16:56
  Speaker 2: getting there first. Tilda glanced repstitiously around the ta, trying
• 17:00
  Speaker 2: to get a read or why Mark would be addressing her.
• 17:03
  Speaker 2: He'd already made clear she was a massive disappointment. Why
• 17:06
  Speaker 2: everyone was staring at her. Her confusion must have shown
• 17:10
  Speaker 2: on her face. Mark specified, we want you to come
• 17:14
  Speaker 2: with us if anything. That baffled her even more. But
• 17:19
  Speaker 2: you said, think about what a vaccine would do. You
• 17:23
  Speaker 2: could protect Madison, your son from HSV five. We could
• 17:27
  Speaker 2: start to have children again. We could rebuild, We could
• 17:31
  Speaker 2: have hope. Don't you want to be part of that.
• 17:36
  Speaker 2: None of this made sense to Tilda. You don't even
• 17:40
  Speaker 2: know me, she pointed out weakly. And you want to
• 17:44
  Speaker 2: take me to help. Mark's eyes shuddered. Yes, Tilda was
• 17:52
  Speaker 2: shaking her head without even realizing it. She subconsciously looked
• 17:56
  Speaker 2: around her for Madison from beside her. As you like
• 17:59
  Speaker 2: I said, I'm sure this is a lot you can
• 18:02
  Speaker 2: think about it. We don't have time, Taylor snapped. If
• 18:07
  Speaker 2: she's too scared to get a vaccine for her son,
• 18:10
  Speaker 2: she's even more worthless than I thought. Smacking her hand
• 18:14
  Speaker 2: against the table, She stood abruptly and left the room.
• 18:18
  Speaker 2: Ignore her to you, like untoned, raising her voice to
• 18:21
  Speaker 2: address Mark, We won't be ready to move until at
• 18:25
  Speaker 2: least a day. Merlin and Holly are still out getting
• 18:28
  Speaker 2: vehicles and weapons. She can think about it. Tilda was
• 18:33
  Speaker 2: still trying to grasp what happened. You better make your
• 18:37
  Speaker 2: decision fast and the kid, Adam reminded Mark in a
• 18:40
  Speaker 2: low voice, we have to take the kid. No, Tilda disagreed, hmently,
• 18:47
  Speaker 2: I'm not taking him near enforcers. Oh so now you
• 18:52
  Speaker 2: want to play responsible parent, Adam sniped. Riled, Tilda retorted instinctively,
• 18:58
  Speaker 2: you shot two men dead in front of him. We
• 19:02
  Speaker 2: saved him and you, Adam argued, we protected him when
• 19:06
  Speaker 2: you couldn't, till to ground her teeth, simultaneously outraged that
• 19:10
  Speaker 2: he judged her when he hadn't been there during the
• 19:13
  Speaker 2: years of evading capture and agreeing with him and taking
• 19:18
  Speaker 2: him into a battlefield is the responsible thing. We're going
• 19:22
  Speaker 2: to get him a vaccine, Mark interrupted, the first one.
• 19:26
  Speaker 2: Your son will be the first of a new generation rebirth.
• 19:31
  Speaker 2: We could bring the vaccine to him. Tilda argued, failing
• 19:35
  Speaker 2: to comprehend how this idea made any semblance of sense.
• 19:38
  Speaker 2: Why were they looking at her like she was the
• 19:40
  Speaker 2: unintelligent one. Tension swelled in the room. Mark propped his
• 19:46
  Speaker 2: elbows on the table. The enforcers won't kill Madison. They
• 19:52
  Speaker 2: want him alive. Something in her mind shifted and fell
• 19:57
  Speaker 2: into place, a shadow like disgust dawning in the back
• 20:00
  Speaker 2: of her mind. Her mouth fell open, and she forced
• 20:04
  Speaker 2: it back shut with a click. Sighing, Mark said, think
• 20:09
  Speaker 2: about it. He swiveled to face one of the other
• 20:12
  Speaker 2: men in the room. Any updates on that broadcast? No,
• 20:17
  Speaker 2: The man a redhead ran a hand through his hair.
• 20:20
  Speaker 2: The signal as strong as hell. We've pinpointed the point
• 20:23
  Speaker 2: of origin at arms headquarters in DC. But as far
• 20:26
  Speaker 2: as hacking into it, he excelled heavily, I think remote
• 20:32
  Speaker 2: is out of the question. Don't get me wrong. We're
• 20:34
  Speaker 2: happy to keep at it. Maybe boosting our own signal
• 20:37
  Speaker 2: will help, But as of now I think it has
• 20:40
  Speaker 2: to be done manually at the main hub. He licked
• 20:42
  Speaker 2: his lips. We'd have to infiltrate ARM and jack the
• 20:46
  Speaker 2: signal that way. Silence fell as everyone digested that Tilda
• 20:51
  Speaker 2: only half listening and aching helplessness flourishing within her damn
• 20:57
  Speaker 2: Mark hissed. The redhead stared at his hand and as
• 21:00
  Speaker 2: palms flat against the table.
• 21:02
  Speaker 1: I know.
• 21:04
  Speaker 2: We have to get the message out there, Mark exclaimed.
• 21:07
  Speaker 2: The people need to know there's a vaccine. We'll keep trying.
• 21:12
  Speaker 2: We could start looking at training someone for infiltration, Adam suggested.
• 21:18
  Speaker 2: Amelia protested. They'd have to get into ARM headquarters, the
• 21:22
  Speaker 2: most heavily guarded building left, find out where the system is,
• 21:26
  Speaker 2: how to work it, send out the message, which, by
• 21:29
  Speaker 2: the way, would give them away immediately if they managed
• 21:31
  Speaker 2: to make it that far undetected. Sometimes sacrifices must be made,
• 21:37
  Speaker 2: Mark countered an eclipped voice. No one responded to that,
• 21:41
  Speaker 2: All eyes fixed on the tabletop in front of them,
• 21:44
  Speaker 2: unwilling to speculate on which of them may end up
• 21:46
  Speaker 2: with that task, Waiting for someone to volunteer or to
• 21:50
  Speaker 2: be volunteered. Tilda couldn't shake the overbearing sensation of feeling
• 21:54
  Speaker 2: young and naive. Why hadn't she realized it would be
• 21:58
  Speaker 2: like this? Keep working, Mark instructed, in the meantime, we
• 22:03
  Speaker 2: need to focus on getting the vaccine and finding some
• 22:06
  Speaker 2: way of replicating it. Does anyone have anything else? No
• 22:10
  Speaker 2: one made a move to speak, so Mark adjoined the
• 22:12
  Speaker 2: meeting soil To practically jumped out of her seat, striding
• 22:15
  Speaker 2: down the hall, only barely keeping herself from running, instinct
• 22:20
  Speaker 2: leading her to Madison. That brings us to the end
• 22:44
  Speaker 2: of this eleven point one chapter of Terminus. I did
• 22:49
  Speaker 2: want to my address a couple of things in this one, okay,
• 22:51
  Speaker 2: So first of all, yes, there was slut shaming. It
• 22:55
  Speaker 2: was very purposefully done. It's not something that I read
• 22:59
  Speaker 2: back on and was like, oh, I didn't know that
• 23:00
  Speaker 2: was slutshaming. I knew it was slutshaming when I wrote it,
• 23:04
  Speaker 2: and that was when I was thinking about this world
• 23:09
  Speaker 2: and how it would exist in this especially the religious
• 23:12
  Speaker 2: part of it that I just thought would rise up.
• 23:16
  Speaker 1: I feel like there.
• 23:17
  Speaker 2: Would be slutshaming of anyone who got pregnant outside of
• 23:22
  Speaker 2: a conception center, because it would be seen as like
• 23:25
  Speaker 2: you couldn't control the old self. And heavy quotes, so
• 23:29
  Speaker 2: it was purposely done, and I just wanted to acknowledge
• 23:32
  Speaker 2: that it's horrible and toxic and gross. And when I
• 23:35
  Speaker 2: was reading it, I was getting really mad and that
• 23:37
  Speaker 2: character because I know I said in the last edition
• 23:40
  Speaker 2: of this that I choose names very purposefully. I just
• 23:44
  Speaker 2: want to also say that character is not based on
• 23:47
  Speaker 2: Taylor Swift, even though she kind of is described looking
• 23:51
  Speaker 2: like her and her name was Taylor.
• 23:53
  Speaker 1: That is not where that came from. Oh my, yes,
• 23:57
  Speaker 1: that is not it. But also.
• 24:00
  Speaker 2: It's fascinating to me reading back over this because this
• 24:03
  Speaker 2: is a thing that sometimes breaks my heart in a
• 24:06
  Speaker 2: lot of media I read or write or see now
• 24:10
  Speaker 2: and I think it's I mean that in a way,
• 24:12
  Speaker 2: a good way, like in the in the Nicole Kidman
• 24:15
  Speaker 2: theater way where she's like, this is where heartbreak is. Okay,
• 24:19
  Speaker 2: some people don't know what I'm talking about her, like
• 24:21
  Speaker 2: what is going on? But I mean that in like
• 24:25
  Speaker 2: a good story way. I don't mean that in a
• 24:27
  Speaker 2: bad way, but where you think like you're going to
• 24:30
  Speaker 2: get to this resistance, you're going to get this cure,
• 24:33
  Speaker 2: You're going to like here's your hope, and it's just
• 24:37
  Speaker 2: not what you thought it was, and that disappointment and
• 24:40
  Speaker 2: that let down, and not only that in this case,
• 24:45
  Speaker 2: not only is is it not what Tilda thought? She's
• 24:51
  Speaker 2: kind of being villainized by everyone for having a kid.
• 24:56
  Speaker 2: Not everyone, some people are definitely on her side, but
• 24:58
  Speaker 2: it's also too kind of the real it's very sad
• 25:03
  Speaker 2: looking back at this of the Madison never having seen
• 25:07
  Speaker 2: another child before. That was his first time seeing other kids,
• 25:13
  Speaker 2: which all of their names. I was like, oh, I
• 25:15
  Speaker 2: know who I named this after.
• 25:16
  Speaker 1: But yeah, it was cool. It was cool and sad.
• 25:19
  Speaker 2: And this is also where I tried to write romance,
• 25:23
  Speaker 2: and it's clear I did not care about it at all.
• 25:30
  Speaker 2: So if you were picking up on some strange vibe,
• 25:33
  Speaker 2: that is what it was.
• 25:37
  Speaker 1: I like it as even better awkward romance. Oh so awkward,
• 25:41
  Speaker 1: and I knew exactly who it was.
• 25:42
  Speaker 2: And I would love listends to write in who you
• 25:44
  Speaker 2: thought it was, because I'm not going to say, because
• 25:46
  Speaker 2: when I was looking back over it, I was like,
• 25:48
  Speaker 2: there's nothing romantic about this, And this is in fact
• 25:50
  Speaker 2: kind of a like antagonistic.
• 25:53
  Speaker 1: Relations Is it like a second grade romance?
• 25:56
  Speaker 2: Oh yeah, exactly, like pulling the hair and then run away, yeah, runaway.
• 26:00
  Speaker 1: Yeah, no it is.
• 26:02
  Speaker 2: I mean it's not even like I remember thinking it
• 26:05
  Speaker 2: was going to be romance. But when I read back
• 26:06
  Speaker 2: over it, I would be shocked if anyone else who
• 26:09
  Speaker 2: read this thought there was going to be a romance.
• 26:11
  Speaker 1: It was like, no hints at all. He's just kind
• 26:13
  Speaker 1: of mean to her.
• 26:15
  Speaker 2: But anyway, perfect Looking back, I'm now like, yeah, you
• 26:19
  Speaker 2: probably were asexual back then, dude, I just didn't realize
• 26:23
  Speaker 2: did not care about any of that. But yes, I
• 26:26
  Speaker 2: hope that you enjoyed this chapter, even though it probably
• 26:29
  Speaker 2: really frustrated you and made you angry.
• 26:31
  Speaker 1: It did me too. And we'll be back with part
• 26:34
  Speaker 1: two uh next month.
• 26:36
  Speaker 2: But in the meantime, if you have any thoughts, any theories,
• 26:39
  Speaker 2: any guesses, or any suggestions for other fiction things we
• 26:42
  Speaker 2: could do that are in the public domain, that'd be
• 26:44
  Speaker 2: really cool. You can emailus atep Media mom Stuff at
• 26:46
  Speaker 2: iHeartMedia dot com. You can find us on Twitter I
• 26:50
  Speaker 2: guess uh mom Stuff podcast. You can find us on
• 26:54
  Speaker 2: Instagram and TikTok at stuff I've never told you. We
• 26:57
  Speaker 2: have a tea public store with some merchandise uh, and
• 27:00
  Speaker 2: we have a book that you can pre order at
• 27:02
  Speaker 2: stuff you should read books dot com, both as a
• 27:05
  Speaker 2: physical book and an audiobook things. As always, to our
• 27:09
  Speaker 2: super producer Christina who makes.
• 27:10
  Speaker 1: This happen, thank you, thank you, thank you, Yes.
• 27:13
  Speaker 2: Our executive producer Maya and our contributor Joey also thank you, Yes,
• 27:17
  Speaker 2: and thanks to you for listening stuff I've never told
• 27:20
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• 27:24
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