Juno Steel and the Prince of Mars (Part 1)

—Juno Steel

**Juno Steel and the Prince of Mars (Part 1)** is the fourth episode of the first season of The Penumbra Podcast. It was released April 26, 2016.

## Overview

After an explosive murder case gone wrong, Detective Juno Steel is in the market for some slower work. His next client promises something quiet: a routine find-the-cheating-husband job. Well… it should be routine.

### Trigger Warnings

* Alcohol
* Death and violence
* Gore
* Deception and gaslighting
* Sudden loud noises
* Claustrophobic spaces

## Episode Summary

The episode begins with an ad by Saffron Pharmacies, with Julian DiMaggio, the Saffron Prince, promoting a product called "Koyakee-ne" over Juno's car radio. Juno, much to his chagrin, has come to the Saffron Pharmaceuticals office per request of Julian.

Julian remarks on their past: a decade ago, before Julian began his work with Saffron Pharmacies, Juno helped Julian defend himself when he was wrongly accused of a murder. Julian is certain that Juno can "save him" this time as well, and while Juno states that he's only agreed to *connect* Julian to people that can help him, Julian convinces the detective to help him himself.

Julian explains that his husband, co-head of Saffron Pharmaceuticals Anthony DiMaggio, has been missing for a week. However, he knows Tony is alive because of the Saffron Ticker his husband has — a device that allows stockholders to track the heart-rate of company execs. The location tracking function of the Ticker has been turned off for the past week, however, and the stockholders have begun asking questions. Julian also has information from Anthony's checkbook: a few hundred credits have been spent every day for the past three days. Julian is worried and upset by the possibility that Anthony has run away.

Juno gets into the Saffron Pharmaceuticals Central Office by using a key given to him by Julian. He stuns a guard dog he encounters and is scolded by Rita for it. Rita, on Juno's comms, guides him to avoid the land mines placed there for security, and after a small spat about how many pathways half a dozen is, Juno makes it past the worst of the office's security measures. Rita guides him to Anthony's office, only for Juno to find the desk completely empty, save for 50 creds and some fast food wrappers.

Juno is interrupted by a woman who enters Anthony's office and then escorts him out of the Saffron Central Office at gunpoint. Only after she has locked all the doors does Juno realize that the woman is likely a burglar and not a security guard as she claimed. Rita quickly finds Juno another way into the building: a sewer tunnel, much to her amusement and Juno's irritation.

While Juno makes his way into the building, Rita's scans show that the woman is in the basement searching around for something. Juno, following the woman, passes through a large door that Rita can't find anywhere on her map. He follows her to a room filled with lockboxes and is discovered. In the resulting scuffle, Juno pins the woman and retrieves her ID. The woman is Alessandra Strong, Private Eye. The two fight again, and Juno accidentally pulls a security alarm when he's reeling from a blow. Alessandra tries to use Anthony DiMaggio's key (revealing who she works for), but the security system refuses to return it to her afterwards.

Alessandra and Juno escape the building. Juno reveals his identity and then questions Alessandra further. She explains that she doesn't know the location of Anthony, having only been contacted by him through different payphones and only receiving payment through checks at drop-off points. Alessandra refuses to reveal any more information past that, however, so Juno kisses her to throw her off guard (a move he learned from Nureyev). During the distraction, he manages to steal what Alessandra took from Anthony DiMaggio's office: a small, red, crystal-like object. He calls Rita to describe it to her but is interrupted by a call from Julian.

Julian is in a panic. Anthony has appeared in their bed, seemingly out of thin air, and died from a stab wound  soon afterward. Over the comms, the HCPD can be heard bursting through the bedroom door, and Julian implores Juno to help him as the call abruptly ends. The episode ends as Juno calls Rita back, telling her to pick him up and drive the to of them to Hoosegow.

## Cast and Crew

### Cast

Starring

* Joshua Ilon as Juno Steel
* Kate Jones as Rita
* Kat Buckingham as Alessandra Strong
* Jason Mellin as The Saffron Prince
* Additional Voice Work by Sophie Kaner and Scott Galica

### Crew

* Kevin Vibert, Co-creator, Lead writer, Sound-effects designer
* Sophie Kaner, Co-creator, Director, Lead editor, Sound designer
* Ryan Meier, Recording engineer
* Ryan Vibert, Composer and performer of original music

## Quotes

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## Trivia

* When asked what their least favorite episode of the Juno series was during the fist Season 2 Q&A, both Sophie Kaner and Kevin Vibert replied with the Prince of Mars (Part 1) because they were uncomfortable with the scene where Juno kisses Alessandra without permission.
* In the commentary on Patreon Kaner said that they wrote the commercial at the beginning of the episode and The Saffron Prince as take on highly sexualized female mascots from contemporary commercials.
* The episode title might be a reference to the famous pulp novel *A Princess of Mars* *by Edgar Rice Burroughs*, which features a male veteran from Earth and a Martian princess. In Kaner and Vibert's version there is a female veteran and of course the titular Prince of Mars, who could be inspired by those characters.

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