MAG 190: Scavengers

Interactions with various survivors, recorded on location.
==Recording==
Laverne is trying to calm Celia, who is worrying about Melanie and Georgie being gone for too long. Georgie and Melanie return with John and Martin in tow just as Celia finds a running tape recorder among their supplies.
As Georgie introduces everyone to each other, Celia mentions that the domain she was trapped in took her name and Celia is the new name she picked for herself. She asks where John and Martin were trapped and John explains how they have been wandering the world and know Melanie and Georgie from before. Laverne recognises John as Melanie's old boss from Melanie talking about him during therapy. Celia asks Georgie about the tape recorder and Georgie has her turn it off.
The recording stops and starts several times as Georgie keeps turning the recorders off and even attempts to destroy them. She reluctantly lets the tapes run after John promises her that they will not hurt anybody. Georgie tells John that there are seven people in the tunnels now and that there used to be more, but they attracted attention and their numbers have dropped. She apologises for distancing herself from the Institute before, but John assures her that she could have done nothing to stop The Change since he, manipulated by Elias/Jonah, was the catalyst. 
Georgie then tells him that her and Melanie rescue people from fearscapes and bring them to the tunnels where they can eat and drink (thanks to Jurgen Leitner’s supply caches and a nearby supermarket fearscape). John asks about the Admiral, and she says that he was not immune to The Change like her and Melanie and is currently residing in a domain full of cats and prey. Georgie thinks he is happy there, but he does not recognise her when she visits him. She asks John how to turn back the apocalypse, but he does not know.
Melanie notices the recorder start and she lets it run after Martin tells her that it will stay on if it wants. She tells him that she has been working on her anger issues, even though her former therapist Laverne thinks she is a ‘chosen one’. She then congratulates Martin on his new relationship with John. They realise that they haven’t seen each other since before they were affected by the Lonely and the Slaughter respectively and that they do not really know each other. They playfully reintroduce themselves as their new roles as prophet and sidekick, prompting Martin to ask about how their positions as cult leaders came about. 
Melanie explains that they are immune since she severed her connection to the Eye and Georgie has no fear. This immunity is imparted to the people they save, though only partially and for a short time. They found Laverne in a Spiral maze and took her back to the safety of the tunnels, which motivated them to save more people. She says that explaining the Eye’s ascendance to those unaware was strange – they believed her, but some interpreted it in a religious sense. Melanie admits that her title of prophet was due to telling them of her (fabricated) vision that the apocalypse would end, since she felt guilty that they all looked hopeless. She expresses discomfort at being called ‘The Blind Prophet’ and names it as part of the reason why she and Georgie leave the tunnels so much, even though she thinks of her cult as good people. 
Martin asks about her new relationship, and she answers that she thinks Georgie is too good for her. She asks Martin the same, who says that, despite communication issues, it is working well. Martin tells her that on their journey he and John saw Daisy, who had turned into a monster, and Basira, who killed her and is now on her own route to the Panopticon. Melanie remembers to remind him to be careful of Helen, who tried to eat Celia and was in the tunnels a few times. She confessed that she was fond of Helen and thought she was an ally. Martin tells her that that John destroyed her in a standoff.
A wooden knocking is heard, and Melanie tells Martin that she promised to listen some of Arun’s new work. Martin offers to join her, but Melanie refuses. Laverne enters and invites him to a dinner of cold baked beans which he declines. He asks her if she believes that Melanie and Georgie are prophets. She responds saying that she is unsure – her experiences as Melanie’s therapist did not lead her to believe she was holy. She has listened to both Melanie's and the cult's explanation for their new world, neither of which make sense to her, but she chooses to have hope in the prophets anyway.
In a new recording, Arun asks Georgie and Melanie for feedback, who awkwardly express discomfort at the word ‘redeemers’ used to describe them in his poem. Arun recognises that they dislike being seen as saviours but admires their humility. He suggests that their immunity is fed by hope, much like the rest of the world is run by fear. John says he is wrong, and Arun, irritated, asks why John is allowed to join if it is dangerous for there to be more followers. Georgie explains that John is not a follower, but is able to travel through the world like her and Melanie. Arun apologises and leaves. Georgie suggests that they get some rest and discuss what to do tomorrow, before alerting John that the tape is running. The recording stops.
==Continuity==
*Lowri Ann Davies voices both Celia and Lynne Hammond from MAG 100.
*Melanie mentions finding her therapist, Laverne, in a spiral maze much like the one mentioned in MAG 100.
*Laverne first appeared in MAG 136.
Category:The Magnus Archives Episodes