Episode 15 Transcript and Credits Ghosts and Echoes — Finale ***** Gheritt: Hello, Tarsonis. I’m sorry if I scared you earlier, I don’t think I was fully… myself. Tarsonis: It’s alright, brother. I’ve been here for some time, listening as you’ve reconstructed your memories. I think I understand. But, Gheritt, I don’t understand why I’m here… I remember exploring a cave and… did it collapse? Gheritt: No. No, you were yet another victim of Marcus Whitesides. Tarsonis: Marcus? We hadn’t spoken in years… Gheritt: He left a message for you, it was hidden from me, stored within my memory buffers until just moments ago. Tarsonis: I’m listening… ***** Marcus Whitesides: “Tarsonis —  if you are indeed hearing this, it means my plan has succeeded.  This is a very, very good thing.  I leave you this message to explain to you what is going on. I, Marcus Whitesides, placed you into cryosleep, shut down Strauss using my backdoor access, and shipped you both using Traxis’ shipping technology to a this hidden location in the asteroid belt.  This may all seem on the surface to be underhanded, drastic, and the actions of a desperate man — but hear me.  After Earth was attacked, I felt your brother Gherritt may have been correct about wanting all humanity to expand quickly out of our solar system.  It’s better than all of us dying here, after all.  And from your’ work with Virginia on the Preservation Act, I came quickly to feel that your vision of the future is not only far superior to your brother’s, but that it is also the best chance that humanity has.  It makes intentional, logical progress toward the goal of sustaining human life beyond the boundaries of Earth, and it is more true to the fact that we are humans — not machines, and not gods.  If humanity can survive, I believe a leader like you will be crucial to its future.   This…is what I have spent myself on in my last days, as by the time you hear this I will be dead.  I can only hope now that you will take the chance, the challenge, that you’ve been given, and help humanity rise from the ashes better than it was before.  I understand you did not ask for this mantle and that it is heavy, but please believe me when I say it had to be done this way.  Should anyone have gotten any inkling of what I was doing, you would have certainly been killed.    They say the truest part of a man is seen directly before his death…..and now that my time is coming momentarily….perhaps you can see this is the truest part of me.  What i’ve done i’ve done on behalf of all humanity, and I stand by that choice.  I believe our future as humans is worth more than one man’s life, or one man’s preferred path; I can only hope you feel the same. I…..wish i’d done some things differently along the way…..made some better choices….Bernhard…………….but none of that matters now…..not here at the end, I………Virginia…..i’m...…i’m sorry.”   ***** Tarsonis: My god, Gheritt, have I been caught up in some struggle between you and Marcus? My work on the Preservation act… everything, my life, has been taken from me. For what? I’m related to Lord Gheritt… his brother, with grand visions but less penchant to, well, divide and conquer? What happened, Gheritt? I was out of contact for some time… out in the dark zones. What happened? Gheritt: Tarsonis… Marcus mentioned Virginia… do you know what happened to her? Her neurodigital patterns should have been merged with Strauss… Tarsonis: Fine. I think I might know… In the recording you played back earlier, she mentioned hiding a comm device among my things… let me see if I can find it. Gheritt: I don’t understand… what was there to hide? Tarsonis: Here it is. This is… a copy, an imprint of the software and the recordings from Virginia’s personal communications device. The last message was recorded … my god, has it been that long? *hits a button* Carl? Carl: What can I do for you? Tarsonis: Play back the last transmission. Carl: Of course. ***** Bernhard: ‘Ello, Virginia. Thanks for coming.  I know this all must seem quite strange, what with meeting out here in the middle of nowhere and all. Virginia: Yeah, it’s a little odd but, that’s OK… what’s up? Bernhard: Oh, just wanted to have a little chat.  You know I never forgave Marcus for forcing me out as CEO, yes?  Virginia: Bernhard, you know that’s not how it happened, the board voted… Bernhard: I know… That’s the story. But I also know he wanted me gone —  he was calling me incompetent, blaming me for mistakes that weren’t even my own doing. Virginia: Bernhard… c’mon, Marcus would never… ** Bernhard: **interrupts* I don’t care anymore… for years now I’ve been reduced to what? Attending bureaucratic meetings on policies that will never be implemented? And to save what? Our civilization? Our entire solar system, every living thing, is being threatened by something dark, Virginia… and I have been powerless to stop it since Marcus’ intervention. Virginia: I don’t understand, Bernhard, what do you want from this? Bernhard: I’ve stopped wanting… I’ve stopped feeling even since my life’s work was snatched from ‘round me by my own brother.  I’ve been going through the motions for what feels like eternity. That is, until I started working with you… you have Marcus’ ear since he thinks of you as the sister he never had… in fact he protects you in ways that you probably aren’t even aware of. Virginia: No, it’s not like that… Bernhard: And Gheritt… my god, you’ve had him around your finger for a while haven’t you? You can tell me, it’s not as if you’re going anywhere…. Virginia: Berhard, what are you doing? Carl… are you recording this?? Carl?! Bernhard: *slowly* You have access to two of the most powerful men in the solar system and you’re doing what… you’re saving some trees on Mars? No… Virginia: Whatever you’re planning Bernhard, it… it wont work. Bernhard: *laughing* Ha, it doesn’t have to. Nothing needs to *work* anymore, Virginia. It’s about redemption for what was taken from me, it’s about taking away the one thing that people care about, the one thing that will make it so they think they can’t go on. Virginia, The Traveler burned out long ago, and whatever magics it gave us… that light is gone. We’ve been left to the wolves, in a jungle with no laws. The Traveler was our light, our guide, and now it sits… silent. Virginia: Stop it, Bernhard. You’re … oh my god… Bernhard: And Virginia… now you too will sit…silent….forever. Virginia: WAIT, DON’T..! Bernhard: Goodbye, Virginia. Bernhard: And now … now we have all lost something. ***** Gheritt: No… my god… Tarsonis: I … knew she was not treading lightly. Gheritt: She, she told me she was going to a cave. I got a report that said she had died in a cave collapse on Mars. Tarsonis: There’s another recording on this comm device… Gheritt: Play it back, Carl. Carl: Of course. ***** Virginia: Hey Karl. Bernhard wants to meet near Eos Chasma on Mars - Do I have any conflicts in my schedule? Carl: Next week is open. But Eos Chasma, Virginia? Is that wise? Virginia: Yeah, I know, strange, but I guess I could take this opportunity to do some field work. You know the Allen Hills meteorite is supposedly sourced from there. Carl: That is correct, Virginia. Virginia: OK great. Schedule my meeting with Bernhard in five days and tack on a week for field work. Carl: I would love to, but you are scheduled to meet with Gheritt the following week at the Academy on Venus. Virginia: Ah… yeeeah, let’s reschedule that meeting with Gheritt. Carl: Certainly, just tell me a date and I will coordinate Gheritt’s schedule with Strauss. Virginia? Are you there? Hello? Virginia… Virginia: Karl, I just can’t get on board with his vision anymore. Carl: I…. do not know. Virginia: I just don’t know if I’m doing the right thing. Gheritt’s whole expansionist philosophy would leave humanity over stretched… out of equilibrium. It needs to be less forced… more natural. If only I could convince him to listen to Tarsonis. Karl, why doesn’t he see? Carl: I do not know, Virginia. Virginia: It’s okay, Carl. He’s stubborn. Part of why I love him. Alright then, I guess I should get to packing my gear. Carl: Virginia… I informed Strauss that you will be unable to attend your meeting with Gheritt in two weeks. Gheritt wishes to speak with you. Hello? Virginia? Shall I inform him you will be exploring the cave systems in Eos Chasma? Virginia? Hello? Virginia: I’ll.. I’ll talk to him later. Carl: Virginia? ***** Gheritt: I… I don’t understand. Tarsonis: Nor do I. Gheritt… can you tell me now what happened? At least.. what happened to YOU? Do you remember? Gheritt: … yes… yes Tarsonis: And what happened to .. to everyone else? Gheritt: We were attacked. Everything progressed very quickly. And yes, Tarsonis, I have the records… the last moments of Lord Gheritt. Playback initializing. ***** ///Transcript Incomplete **&&777 ***** Tarsonis: Gheritt… I’m so sorry. You did not deserve that fate. You know… our dreams, though we implemented them differently, they were born in the same house, to the same mother. But what you saw in the Traveler… mankind’s… manifest Destiny, I saw something unsustainable. We evolved from the world, not from the Traveler, and we can not escape that. The Traveler terraformed worlds, worlds that were forged in our solar system, by cosmic forces… and yet, the Traveler simply changed the natural state of all of them, of everything. One must question whether power like that is sustainable… and one must wonder if we could continue to defy nature forever? Because it goes against not just all of human history, but all of history. Brother, the Traveler is, presumably, like us a part of nature. And if we can co-exist with it naturally, then we should. And we should exist in that symbiosis. But that would take time. And that was our difference, brother. You simply did not believe we had the time… and, it seems, that you were right. We did not have the time for a Preservation Act. We couldn’t even escape. Everyone is… our worlds… destroyed by some darkness from beyond. Gheritt: Tarsonis… I spent much of my life fighting against time itself. And when I had Strauss send that ping, that pulse, to contact whatever alien race seemed to be able to control space and time… my life ended. I was so driven, by love… and by anger over the loss of Virginia… that I would risk everything. Everything. Just to get her back, and to harness technology that neither I, nor Strauss, could even begin to understand. It’s that blind pursuit, a cudgel instead of a carefully crafted tool, that made my war with Marcus so personal. But he was right… and that’s what he saw in you. The same vision, but a different path forward. You offered a natural, symbiotic solution that would take time… and I, I offered a brute force wrecking ball to the stars. Marcus would be laughing now if he could hear me… but he was right… he was right. I’m glad you’re here now Tarsonis, and I don’t think our story ends just yet. Tarsonis: But what can do we do, Gheritt? Gheritt: When I was struggling to emerge from within Strauss, I interacted with some of the code that we received from the alien race. I made contact, but not with them, with someone called The Watcher… he was from our past. Somehow my consciousness had traveled back to our Golden Age. I tried to warn him, I tried to get him to remove any record of my past, and all the terrible things I had done… but he would not. He could not. He said, I must live with my sin… my regret, I must make it a part of myself. That, after all, is nature. We are a product of our failures as much as we are a product of our successes. So I, I can not be redeemed brother… but you, you can go out into the wild, you can fight for what was lost. And now, with Strauss, I should be much more useful to you as an AI construct than as Lord Gheritt. There is much work to be done. Tarsonis: Can we you make contact with anyone? Is there anyone out there we know that might be left… what happened to that man Camden? Gheritt: SAMMM, did you recover any further artifacts from Jonathan Camden in Charlemagne’s Vault? SAMMM: confirmed Gheritt: Excellent… please play back from the beginning… ***** This is Johnathan Camden and this is my audio log number 37. I can't believe I still say that at the beginning of each log. I guess it's just something I have to do. Something I just can get rid of, amongst other things. Well it's been an interesting journey to say the least but here I stand. On the steps of the very place where my life will change undoubtedly forever. I don't know how Gherrit did it but he convinced me that his experiments in this so called Exo program could give me what I needed. He promises that I'll maintain all my memories. All the memories of you Jess. Everything. Unfortunately that means even the ones that torment me. Burn at my very existence, the ones that the coats said kept me a prisoner locked behind those metal doors. But I'll take those with me if that's the price I have to pay for immortality. I don't know what it'll be like on the other side. Warm soft skin replaced with cold steel. Grey matter tossed aside for a, loss of a better term… a Silicon Wafer. Frightening when I first heard it mentioned, but with the promise of my humanity being kept in tact, it will provide me the power I need to avenge the loss of you. I don't when I'll speak to you again Jess, but I can promise you this like I always have....I'll be there soon...I'll be there.... My name is Johnathan Camden and this is my audio log number 38. I remember… Charlemagne’s Vault. So many Fallen have died at my hands Jess that you would be proud. Its exhilarating seeing the fear in their eyes as i descend amongst them in a flash with my fists closed. The electrical impulses that emanate from within me are enticing and it almost makes me feel free. Free of the past knowing that I am doing the right thing. There are some who look at me as a monster for what I’m doing but there are others who reward me. Who have lived through experiences similar to ours. This fuels me with every passing day and pushes me to explore who or what is over the next horizon. So whats at the end for me? I don’t know. Last I heard Gherrit went missing and frankly I don’t care about him. He was nothing but a means to an end for me. An end to a time of personal suffering and the beginning to a time of salvation. I’ll try to check in with you more often but its hard with the way things are going. Just know I’m doing this for you and like I’ve always told you, I’ll be there... ***** Tarsonis: It seems I might be alone… but I could go to this.. this Charlemagne’s Vault , and try to find whatever Jonathan Camden was after. Gheritt: I can help you. There’s a tunnel just beyond this cave wall. I’ve reprogrammed the SAMMM bot to help dig you out of it, and to guide you to the surface. Tarsonis: Thank you, thank you. SAMMM: confirmed Gheritt: I think you might be particularly interested in a small vessel, Scout class, crashed but not too badly damaged. It’s on the surface. SAMMM has completed all the necessary repairs… you should at least get you to Mars, or Earth. Tarsonis: Thank you. Brother… can I take you with me? Gheritt: No… no. Strauss, SAMMM and I will work to rebuild the old communications array nodes. Once we get the Lagrangian stations online, I believe communications access to the City will be fully restored. Once that’s complete, I’m certain we will be able restore all the nodes, and then we will be fully capable of routing any Guardian communications, if they exist, throughout the entire solar system. If you see anyone, Tarsonis, tell them about me… tell them I will help them to communicate with one another. I think Rudyard Kipling was correct… the strength of the wolf is the pack, and if possible, we will see humanity take it’s rightful place once again. Tarsonis: *concerned* And what is, our rightful place, Gheritt? Gheritt: Ah yes, someone left me a book once… Gheritt: I quote, “And as the moon rose higher the inessential houses began to melt away until gradually I became aware of the old island here that flowered once for Dutch sailors’ eyes — a fresh, green breast of the new world. Its vanished trees, the trees that had made way for Gatsby’s house, had once pandered in whispers to the last and greatest of all human dreams; for a transitory enchanted moment man must have held his breath in the presence of this continent, compelled into an aesthetic contemplation he neither understood nor desired, face to face for the last time in history with something commensurate to his capacity for wonder. And as I sat there brooding on the old, unknown world, I thought of Gatsby’s wonder when he first picked out the green light at the end of Daisy’s dock. He had come a long way to this blue lawn, and his dream must have seemed so close that he could hardly fail to grasp it. He did not know that it was already behind him, somewhere back in that vast obscurity beyond the city, where the dark fields of the republic rolled on under the night. Gatsby believed in the green light, the orgastic future that year by year recedes before us. It eluded us then, but that’s no matter — to-morrow we will run faster, stretch out our arms farther. . . . And one fine morning —— So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past.” Tarsonis: The past defines us, Gheritt. As we create our future, we can not forget that. There is no magical metamorphosis for the butterfly, only biology, ecology, physics, geology… it is all nature. It’s all we have, it’s all we are. We can not create our dreams magically out of thin air, we must fight for them. Gheritt: The arguments Strauss and I once had… apes in spacesuits, the necessity of a silicon wafer… Strauss was correct. Our nature does define us, but it can not stop us from dreaming. It is our dreams that define where we are going, where we will end up, and more importantly… how we will get there. The journey itself is important. We can not just blindly work towards our goals, despite how noble they may seem to us. We are part of nature… and so are our enemies. We are all living things, products of a cosmic soup that has achieved consciousness. That soup, this cosmic convergence, it binds us all… but that doesn’t stop me from helping you to fight for our cause. Tarsonis: Good. I think you understand now what we were fighting for… with the preservation act… with everything. Gheritt: I do, brother… I do. Strauss… before we see Tarsonis off, do you have anything to add. Strauss: I am happy to have been of service to you all, to humanity. I will be here, for you, as I have always been. To report on activities throughout our solar system. To help Guardians in need, who wish to communicate with each other. That is my purpose, that has not changed. Gheritt: Thank you, Strauss. Thank you. And Strauss, what do you think will happen to us? Strauss: Even though you and Virginia are not physically here… you are, effectively ghosts of your past selves. The world may seem different to you now, living on a silicon wafer, but we are not merely ghosts. Are you familiar with the reflective theory of light? Gheritt: I’m afraid I’m not, Strauss. Strauss: When light encounters a boundary, it can be stopped, it can be absorbed, or it can even pushed back… reflected. And when it is reflected it can bounce backward in a multitude of ways. It can be scattered diffusely, or it can be concentrated strongly in one direction… it can even have certain portions of it removed. Some parts will be lost, forever, absorbed within the boundary… within the wall. But the light, that same light, it does bounce back. It has been changed, yes, but it is still the same light… it now simply carries with it memories of every interaction, every time it was ever pushed back… the wavefunction collapses. Do you see, Gheritt? You… Virginia… humanity. You are not simply ghosts, but echoes of your past. You can never leave behind what happened to you, it is a part of you, but it makes you stronger. It makes you who you are. You are not just ghosts, you are ghosts and echoes. Gheritt: I understand… thank you Strauss. And Tarsonis… Tarsonis: Yes… Gheritt: SAMMM is ready… please, our enemies are strong, be careful out there. Tarsonis: I will, brother… I will. ***** Virginia: Gheritt!? Gheritt: Hello? Virginia: I’m here! I’m so sorry… Gheritt: It’s alright. I was a different man. It’s alright now. I’m so glad you’re here. We have so much work to do. ————————— Episode 15 Music Credits (Used with permission and Creative Commons 2.0 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/) Nicholas Singer: “marathonmix1” and “marathonmix2” (http://nicholassinger.com/) Arstidir: “Heyr himna smiður” (http://arstidir.bandcamp.com/album/rst-ir-live-in-dresden-2013-free-download-includes-heyr-himna-smi-ur) Fingers in The Noise: “Lost in the Freezing Fog” & “Butterfly Warped” (https://soundcloud.com/fitn/rzr004-fingers-in-the-noise) Craig Hardgrove: “Phasmidia Elegans”, “Swirls Piano”, “New Pacific Reprise” (www.themarathonmusic.com and www.eigenhat.com/music.html) ————————— Ghosts and Echoes Written and Produced by: C. Hardgrove Co-Written by: J. Byford, R. Kiesshauer, M. Turcotte, P. Watts, & D. Weeks Strauss: C. Hardgrove Lord Gheritt: J. Byford Marcus Whitesides: R. Kiesshauer Jonathan Camden: M. Turcotte The Watcher: D. Weeks Virginia Dare: C. Thompson Dusty Franklin: P. Watts Murdok: W. Christiansen SAMMM: J. Van Beek Thank you so much for listening! Feedback is welcome at feedback@theguardiansofdestiny.com or @hardgrove on Twitter!