Episode 89 - Terminations

## Terminations

A black background with a simple white double border, the corners depicting small clusters of vines, some blooming others possessing thorns. Within the border a trail of paper is depicted, posed as if caught in the wind, all of which are white with the exception of the forefront one, which is red and reads "NOTICE OF TERMINATION. 2051. FIRED". Below this image but still within the border the words "89.TERMINATIONS" are written in white.

### Author

William A Wellman

Riot can't catch a break, Polly considers his career, and Danielle joins a movement. The theme of tonight's episode is Terminations.

> ***Content warnings**: Abuse, Ableism, Animal death (Bert as usual), Violence, Kidnapping and abduction, Death + Injury, Blood, Birds, Emotional Manipulation, Body horror, Smoking, Asking For Death*
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## Intro - Smile Still Knowing

Nikignik narrates to the Dreamers someone who is in the process of being fired, though their employer doesn't say those words exactly, the meaning implicit between talk of performance and budget cuts. He smiles at them, and they wonder if he knew how much they paid for medication each month, for food and insurance and gasoline and debt. That if they did not find a new job before the end of the week, they would be unable to pay rent. Did he smile still knowing those things, or did he smile to forget. That night when the rain fell (see the Night of Black Rains) they are relieved, as their bill would forever go unpaid.

Nikignik sits in what was formally an employee lounge in Box Cassiopia, decorated in such a way that it provided no comfort, and converted into a prison cell for the three people who resided within it as they await their faits.

## Story 1 - Stuck In A Box Screaming

Riot Maidstone (see Episode 86 - Royalties) yells at the door to the room she is locked in to open, and Marco Torres (see Episode 81 - Fears) tells her that not only wasn't there any Boxy control to the door, but she also didn't have any security clearance to open it. She is able to see all of her belongings on the other side of the hall through the door, and asks Marco Torres if he had any better ideas, but Valerie Maidstone tells her not to listen to him as he was a plant from Lady Ethel Mallory to ty and get information from them. Marco denies this and tells them it was nice to finally meet them in person and that he'd wished they'd been able to escape successfully (see Episode 72 - Errors), and she corrects him, that they had escaped but Other Riot had turned them in (see Episode 83 - Hopes). Riot starts trying to break a chair leg off, and Valerie tells her to stop, that acting out was only going to make things worse. Riot asks if she was her real mum, because she wasn't acting like Valerie. Breaking off the leg, she tells her that she'd always said to fight even when it seemed pointless, Valerie was a fighter. She tells her that she may have once been, but Riot didn't know what they [the Botulus Corporation] could do to her (see Episode 7 - Nightmares), that she should be terrified. She'd fought for years, and it hadn't made a difference.

Riot tells her that she hated that their relationship was mostly made of being stuck in a box screaming at each other, and Valerie tells her hat at least they'd be together, assuming that she wasn't going to run away again. Riot tells her that she hadn't intended to stay away forever, and Valerie asks her how long it'd taken for her to notice she was missing. Marco speaks up and tells Valerie that Riot had put alot of time into her rescue, he'd know as he was on her surveillance detail (see Episode 63 - Signals) and explains everything that Riot had been though. Valerie apologises, but Riot tells her that everything she'd done hadn't been enough. She asks her if she even wanted to come back to the Hallowoods with her, so much had changed, and she'd understand if Valerie wanted to stay in the Prime Dream with Other Riot instead of coming to see Riot's new life. Valerie tells her that she'd love to come with her, but she didn't know how they were going to get out. Marco speaks up again and tells them that if anyone could help them got out it was him.

### Interlude 1 - Home Security

Nikignik tells the Dreamers that if they were wondering the waist lands of America and they were desperate for shelter, for food, for weapons. they may find a house still in pristine condition. They may approach it, try to open the front door and not notice the little red eyes until it was too late. This would be a mistake, and it would be their last. Botco had been producing devices long before the Dreaming Boxes, security systems one of them, and some houses may be found to still be alive. They had what would legally be classified as burglary deterrents, and also be classified as deadly. Before attempting to break and enter, they should call "Hey Boxy", if they hear any form of response, they should not enter. There would be other houses that were well and truly dead.

## Story 2 - One Last Puff

Following on from the events of Episode 86 - Royalties, Tiff asks if Polly had thought running away would be so simple (see Episode 39 - Promises), that he was lucky he was one of his favourites and tells him to dismiss Mort and Yaretzi and make himself presentable. Polly reminds him that Tiff himself wasn't 'presentable', and that anything he had to say he could say in front of his friends. Tiff tells Polly that heh ad no desire to see Polly punished, as he had leadership potential. Polly reminds him that he'd had him filling out 17th century audits, which would not translate to a management position, but Tiff tells him that he'd [Tiff] filled out 18th century audits, that working on the ground helped build character. He tells him that he wanted him back in his office and explains to him that what Polly was doing didn't matter as much as he thought it did. It was fun to run around will runaways and killers, but Tiff suspected that Polly could already feel the listless lack of purpose setting in. The Industry offered safety, stability, and permanent purpose. Polly remarks that this purpose was consuming life and breaking it down into material goods, but Tiff tells him that this mattered because they were part of something bigger than them (see Syrensyr). One day when Polly outlived his friends, he'd see that.

Polly tried to figure out why Tiff was suddenly caring so much about him, when he figures it out. He tells Tiff that Lucy was mad at him [Tiff]. That he [Lucy] hadn't heard yet that two of Tiff's apprentices had quit, so he wanted Polly back before he noticed. He tells Tiff to start to draft what he was about to say into something that was legally binding and tells him that he would stop perusing him and his friends, no auditors, no mercenaries, no pt projects, he would leave him alone and never visit again, or he was going straight to Luc and telling him why Tiff's branch had such a high defection rate. Tiff summons a contract and gives it to Polly for review, and Polly signs it. He [Tiff] tells him that when he [Polly] did finally die, he'd regret the kindness he'd passed up, but Polly simply tells him that he'd see him in hell. Tiff leaves.

### Marketing - Reorganizational Factors

Lady Ethel Mallory interrupts Nikignik's broadcast with her marketing segment, however instead of the usual audience, she only addresses one ambiguous individual, and tells them that their employment was being discontinued. She tells them to sit with this and decide how they felt about it and tells them that it was not a personal decision and could have been due to any number of factors. They may think that with their termination they would be cast out of the Botulus Corporation, but they did have options. They could undergo a re-evaluation, and maybe Botco could find a new place for them, but if they were truly useless, they could become a normal Dreaming Box subscriber. She tells them just to think of it like retirement with no pay.

### Story 2, Continued - One Last Puff

Polly turns to Yaretzi, suddenly exhausted, and asks her who's blood was in her breath. She tells him that Barb was no more (see Episode 83 - Hopes). She had loathed him, and yet he'd offered up his life to save their family, so she asks if he [Barb] had gone back to the Industry. Polly says he didn't know. To come back from exile was death, but it was usually voluntary, he didn't know if anyone has been in Barb's position before. Mort asks if it was good if Barb was alive, and Polly tells him that he given how the Industry deals with ex-employees, it would be best that he was gone forever.

Rick Rounds speaks up, saying that there was no killing Polly anyway. He tells him that he understood Polly was probably going to kill him, but requests to be able to asks Polly one thing. Polly makes a sarcastic remark but doesn't say no so Rick asks why Polly had come into his life and ruined it. Polly tells him again that it was nothing personal, they'd been minding their business when he'd attacked them and hunted them to the ends of the earth. Rick tells him that he was still lying, because everyone he knew had thrown him out, and Polly must have caused it. Polly tells him that this had likely happened because Rick was cruel and insufferable, an accusation which Rick doesn't fight. Polly turns to Yaretzi and asks her what she thought they should do with him as he picks up a new umbrella. Yaretzi tells him that he was his quarry, and that she was going to fix Mort (see Episode 86 - Royalties), dragging him into the surf to start hammering his chest-plate closed. Polly offers Rick a cigarette, which he accepts, and explains to him that with everything he'd done to Polly, he couldn't imagine a world were Rick walked away and did anything good. Rick admits that he was already practically dead and tells Polly about Big Mikey and their time at the Overdue Cabin. He asks Polly to kill him, send him on to hell, but Polly tells him that hell wasn't real, Rick had forged his chains, now he was going to carry them far away from him [Polly]. Polly walks away to re-join Yaretzi and Mort.

### Interlude 2 - Not The Ocean, But The Currents

Nikignik tells the Dreamers that with so many Indescribable being overseeing aspects of life, one might wonder if there was one overlooking time. There wasn't. He had asked, few had as thoroughly sought out methods to undo the past as he had (see Marolmar). But time was not something that existed, it was a consequence of their actions only if they were very small and stayed quite still. To life indescribable, time was a blurrier thing—not the ocean, but the currents, and in it all was guaranteed only one thing: one could not go back. What had been done was done, and they had only an eternal future to make sense of the now.

## Story 3 - Always Cold

Danielle O'Hara asks Diggory Graves if the room they were in was could, and Diggory tells her that they could footsteps approaching them (see Episode 88 - Broomsticks), and Danielle makes an attempt to sit up straighter in her wheelchair. Cindy Lockheart opens the door and enters teh room, telling them that there were alot of questions that needed to be answered, how they'd given six people the exact same dream, and why Botco Drones raided Belfry, Montana. But the first question on her mind was, why are was Diggory wearing parts of her wife (see Rizwana Mirza). Diggory tells Cindy that they remembered her, but Rizwana had died many years ago. Cindy suffocates a sob, and moves on, asking them who they were, which leads on to them all introducing themselves. Danielle asks if they were the Stonemaids, she'd though they were only active within the Prime Dream.

Cindy tells them that they were always active on the outside, but most of their external members were ex-Botco employees who they'd snuck out. But they hadn't taken anyone who had spent their entire life in a Dreaming pod. Danielle explains how she'd gotten out (see Episode 72 - Errors), and her powers, and what had happened to the others (see Episode 83 - Hopes). Cindy explains that the Drones who had kidnapped their friends had split in three directions between Box Atlas (see Episode 87 - Boxes), Box Cassiopia (see Episode 86 - Royalties), and Box Orion (see Episode 87 - Boxes). Diggory points in a seemingly random direction and asks what Box was in it, which Cindy is able to identify as Box Orion and asks how they knew that. They tell her that it just felt like the right direction to walk in (see Percy Reed). Danielle asks if they were going to help them, and Cindy tells them that helping was their mission, welcoming them to the Stonemaids.

## Outro - Terminations

Nikignik waxes poetics backout Terminations. It was said that all good things came to an end, this was very specific. Would it not be more comforting to say all bad things come to an end? Or simply: all things end. Careers and homes, loves and lives, planets and stars. He tells the Dreamers that he found no beauty in endings, in paths cut off and stories left half-finished. If there was any good that came of loss, he believed it did not come swiftly. Like a plant it waited for the spring to emerge from the earth, soak in the sunlight of brighter days. The past was a little more beautiful in memory, and already a new beginning took root.