MAG 197: Connected

A discussion on the edge of reality, recorded in Situ
==Recording==
Basira and John are traversing the web across The Gap in Reality as they head toward the middle, where Annabelle and Martin are waiting. John is able to think more clearly now that the camera has been destroyed but he cannot Know Annabelle's plan. When he tries, his mind is drawn in by the chasm below them and he almost loses his balance. All he manages to Know is that Annabelle's plan is tied up with the rift and the rift itself is simply "somewhere else".
Basira asks about the tapes and John confirms that the The Web has been using them from the start but he also finds it difficult to look closely at them. They discuss how to deal with Annabelle. Basira wants to hear her out and John tentatively agrees but warns that all bets are off if she hurts Martin.
In Hill Top Road, Annabelle senses that John is getting close. She awkwardly tries to make small talk with Martin, who accuses her of using him as bait to lure John into a trap. Martin and Annabelle realize that Basira is with John, which Annabelle says may complicate things. Annabelle, attempting to create a more dramatic atmosphere, gags Martin (much to his annoyance) and shape-shifts into a spider creature.
Basira and John arrive in Hill Top Road, and John immediately tries to smite Annabelle. She dangles Martin over the Rift, saying if he smites her, Martin will fall in. John relents. Annabelle explains that she wants to offer them a way out of the apocalypse, and sets Martin down. She explains that Martin came here of his own free will, and begins to explain her plan.
The post-change world is unsustainable, explains Annabelle, but only two of the Entities realize this: The End and The Web. John recalls the statement of Oliver Banks. Annabelle explains that the Web has an escape plan, to ensure the Entities won't starve. She explains the nature of The Rift, and reveals that their dimension is the only one among countless realities with Entities. Annabelle says that the Web intends to escape to the other dimensions, and by the Entities' natures, drag the others with it. She reveals that the Archivist was created by the Web, which marked John young and guided him, using the tapes to spin a web. She explains that if the plan works, the world will revert to normal, and the universes the Entities spread into will become like the world was before the Change, with the Entities being unable to directly manifest, working through Avatars. Basira asks how they would do it, and Annabelle tells them if they can destroy the Panopticon and the pupil of the Eye simultaneously, the Tape Recorders would become a powerful anchor, and would drag the Entities through The Rift.
Basira asks how they would destroy the Panopticon, and Annabelle reveals that the gas main underneath The Magnus Institute is still intact. Igniting it will blow up the Panopticon. She reveals that John's lighter is the perfect tool for the job. John threatens to throw the lighter into The Rift, but Basira reminds him that Annabelle still has Martin. John puts the lighter back in his pocket, and Annabelle releases Martin. John asks what's stopping him from throwing away the lighter now, and Annabelle tells him just his own indecision. She asks if John still intends to kill her, but he just tells her to go. Basira, John and Martin leave to think about what to do next.
==Continuity==
*Related Entity: The Web
*The gas main in the tunnels underneath the institute is mentioned in MAG 68 and MAG 161.
*John receives the Web Lighter in MAG 36.
*John was told the post-change world was unsustainable by Oliver Banks in MAG 168.
Category:The Magnus Archives Episodes