Juno Steel and the Embrace of Ice (Part 1)

Embrace of Ice poster by Ellison Estephan

**Juno Steel and the Embrace of Ice (Part 1)** is the first episode of The Penumbra Podcast season 4. It was released September 28, 2021. It is the first episode to have a promotional poster by Ellison Estephan.

## Overview

On the recently-frozen moon Io, Juno meets an old friend and reflects on the worst mistake of his life. It's just as a member of his family once said: "We may look backward only to ensure we have not walked this path before."

### Trigger Warnings

* Isolation
* Dark and claustrophobic spaces
* Sudden loud noises
* Violence; implied torture and death
* Discussion and use of firearms
* Discussion and use of alcohol and cigarettes
* Deception/lying
* Reference to persecution and public humiliation
* Derogatory language regarding mental health

## Episode Summary

Juno Steel and the Ruby Seven approach the frozen moon Io in search of his former detective partner Puck Falco. Puck, now a sheriff in a small town, gives Juno the run around before suggesting Juno drive them to the entrance of an abandoned mineshaft in the tundra, supposedly to look for a missing child named Derek Mathers.

In between interacting with them, Juno tells Ruby a story from the end of his days in the Hyperion City Police Department. He was happily working with Puck, with Rita as their secretary, and engaged to Diamond Hijikata, whose mother was the precinct's Captain. Captain Hijikata intended to take a promotion and hire Juno as her replacement, despite his relative inexperience, saying that Juno was "the only dame for the job" because he was unbiased in the internal search for dirty cops. Juno was apprehensive, but accepted. During dinner with her and Diamond, the Captain suggested Rita has been behaving improperly with the evidence lockup. Juno investigated the next day, instead discovering evidence that Hijikata herself was the ring leader of crooked cops, including Detectives Parsons and Cho, who had been taking bribes to turn a blind eye to robberies and other crimes. Parsons set Rita up to take the fall for missing and destroyed evidence, so Juno sent her home, telling her to wait for him to get in touch with her. He then visited Diamond, who had a history of pushing her mother's buttons through involvement with protests and friends who Captain Hijikata disapproved of, to ask for her help. Diamond agreed after some discussion that her mother must be the ringleader "Ms. Shot," but convinced him he didn't yet have enough evidence to convict her. Puck arrived at her front door, looking for Juno, so Diamond and Juno kissed each other goodbye, Diamond warning him to be careful.

In the present day, Juno mulls over the way a million people suddenly showed up in Newtown of Hyperion City, effectively covering up the THEIA brainwashing incident. He believes Dark Matters planted these people for just that purpose. He also wonders whether Sasha Wire, now director of Dark Matters, has remembered Puck and predicted that Juno would go to them for help. Juno fears he has little choice but to stay and see what Puck is up to: the Ruby is out of the fuel needed to travel between planets, and Dark Matters has frozen Juno's financial accounts.

## Cast and Crew

* Joshua Ilon as Juno Steel
* Chelsea Ruscio as Puck Falco
* Josephine Moshiri Elwood as Diamond Hijikata
* Regine Vital as Captain Hijikata
* Bob Mussett as Sonny
* Lydian Meloccaro as Detective Parsons
* Kate Jones as Rita

## Quotes

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## Trivia

* The restaurant where Juno meets with the Hijikatas is called the Coeur Lion. This is French for "heart [of a] lion," but it may have also been chosen because it sounds like "Corleone," the surname of an organized crime family in *The Godfather.*