What Happened in Manchester (audio story)

was a P.R.O.B.E. audiobook released by BBV Productions on their website. It was written by James Hornby and read by Bill Baggs.
== Publisher's summary ==
Giles and Archie investigate a dimensional tear in Manchester, but soon get more than they bargained for...
== Plot ==
After Maxie Masters detects a dimensional tear, Giles and Archie MacTavish are sent to Manchester on Halloween to investigate its origin, believing it's an act of "toe rags" to be told off and their devices confiscated. They find the tear in a housing estate park, cutting into the Ryugu Network. Giles closes the tear easily but discovers a dropped pendant in the grass with a pentagram: evidence a dark ritual created the tear.
Meanwhile, Archie talks to some elderly locals and learns a group of youths may be responsible; they're accused of leading the neighbour Estelle's grandson, Ricardo, astray. He doesn't tell Giles he's investigating, as Giles is busy with the tear and he feels it could just be teenagers being loud. Archie discovers Ricardo has been getting more and more into the occult since seeing a show about ghosts, and that he has papers referring to the entities Abbadon, Kalshoth, and Yssgaroth. When Ricardo comes home, Archie allows the youth to escort him out.
P.R.O.B.E. wait until night for the cultists to return so they can stop the ritual but when they arrive, they find Estelle has been killed. The cult is carrying out a summoning ritual in the cellar but P.R.O.B.E. is able to interrupt it. Ricardo is angry: he believes the ritual is to bring his dead parents back. Archie and Giles try to reason with him that the cult leader Morozov is using him to summon a demon and has killed his grandmother.
However, P.R.O.B.E.'s interruption has interfered with Morozov's ritual and the portal opens with a shockwave that kills the entire cult bar Ricardo. Believing Archie has ruined his chances to bring his parents back, the fatally wounded Ricardo shoots him before collapsing. Giles claims he'll save Archie but both know he can't; Archie bleeds to death and his corpse is drawn into the portal, causing it to close.
Sir Andrew gives Giles a week of compassionate leave which he spends in a stupor, ignoring messages from his team for fear they'd see him break down. When Giles returns to work, Sir Andrew brusquely asks if he's adjusted to the loss; the lack of compassion causes Giles to finally understand why Tasha has issues with her father, and he is also jealous that Sir Andrew is able to detach emotionally from the loss of people. After assuring Sir Andrew he's fine, Giles releases his anger once the man has left and destroys his own office.
== Characters ==
* Archie MacTavish
* Giles
* Tasha Williams
* Andrew Williams
* Estelle
* Ricardo
* Morozov
== Worldbuilding ==
* A local believes they're playing Pokémon Go and mocks them for being dated.
* Giles and Archie have known each other for eight years.
* P.R.O.B.E. have "had their vehicle budget cut," forcing them to walk in Manchester.
* Archie finds papers in Ricardo's bedroom referring to the extradimensional beings Abbadon, Kalshoth, Yssgaroth.
== Story notes ==
to be added
== Continuity ==
* Due to his promises to Maxie, Giles has not told Archie that she's an alien. (PROSE: She Came From Another World!)
* Not even Sir Andrew is aware of Giles's surname. Other accounts show that he signed his name "Giles x" on P.R.O.B.E. documentation. (HOMEVID: Goo!)
* Giles is emotionally crushed by the loss of Archie, (WC: Manchester, etc.) who will later turn out to have survived, brought back to life by the Yssgaroth entity as a vampire. (PROSE: Preternatural Nights)
== External links ==
Category:True Origins short stories
Category:2021 audio stories
Category:BBV audio stories