TC EP 259 Script

259

two avians walking by Hon’s bar, it has police tape across the door

p1: aw what the - what happened, why’s it closed??

p2: (both walking away) you didn’t hear? Meik told me there was some kinda attack from those damn Doves -

p1: what has Hon got herself into now??

a shadow leans against the building across the street. his phone vibrates and it’s a message from Lars

L: [bet you thought you’d heard the last of me.]

reamer sneers and deletes the message. leaves.

reamer in Cyras’s cell. he’s now tied to the floor in a corner looking worse. Shows him newspaper clipping. cyras looks at it with a swollen eye, raising cut eyebrow.

R: who is this? with my father?

C: Cardinal Imperius, formerly Admiral Cedoc the last time I was on the continent. Glad to see she’s achieved both her career goals.

R: Cedoc. is this why my mother was so interested in that hybrid chick? She’s…theirs? 

C: Tiraa did tell me you saw the girl. 

R: my mother does have another heir after all, then. she wasn’t just bluffing.

C: ha, your mother dabbles in many things, but i dont think petty shows of trickery is one of them. She usually has the power to back up her statements. Whether she’d be willing to endorse a hybrid unrelated to her by blood over you is another thing, I imagine. Although they do favor the female line, here.

R: My…father kept my mother’s flock name, and gave it to his new…mistress?

C: oh, I’d think the moment he left this island he was probably dead to your mother and therefor free to do as he wished, so their relationship is legit, if not a bit scandalous. it’s been over two decades, he was working his way to power before i left, although the Cardinal was still with her previous mate then, from what I recall. I admit, their politics…bored me, so i didn’t pay as much attention to their personal machinations as I probably should have. 

R: Why -

C: that was three questions. I’ve been extra generous, it seems. we’re done for the day.  

(turns over. Reamer looks at him for a second, noting his injuries, before getting up)

R:...did she escape the Island? With her brother?

C: i hope so, by now.

( R leaves.)

R: (in corridor to himself)  i…have a half-sister. And…a step brother? 

hand with scissors cutting the last strand of hair in a grimy mirror. camera pans out and shows tiraa leaning over sink, hair above shoulder length and hair+wings dyed black. she looks at herself for a moment and leaves bathroom, entering rest of derelict shack in swamp.

del, lulu and rhaast sitting at table, eating from tupperware. Del plays with his food, lulu watches him. theyve all dyed their hair and feathers too. lulu looks up at tiraa.

L: it suits you. although the baby hairs will just get in your face, now.

T: I’ll braid the front back. i’ve wanted to cut it for ages, anyway. 

R: if someone’d told me last month I’d dye myself and look like a Crow I’d have punched the shit outta them, but here we are.

T: leadership made it protocol for field operatives out of necessity, not for a fashion statement, or to look like Crows.. the Government would’ve seen my wings from a mile away, at least. Besides, it’s standard practice for them, too, not that they’re engaging in anything particularly covert nowadays.

r: (brushes now black mohawk mournfully) that we know of.

(tiraa goes to stand by window, looking out.)

t: she should be back by now. i don’t like it.

L: Neekia’s been doing this for longer than any of us. her whole life, almost. I’m sure she’s fine.

t: I’m sure she’ll appreciate your unwavering confidence in her when she’s hanging by her thumbs in a cell.

R: bit grim

(lulu watching del not eat)

L: he’s not allowed near the food prep, Del. he rarely emerges from that lab of his, now his mother’s back and all. 

t: lars, right? why don’t you…talk to him?  just get him to tell you point-blank that he’s not poisoning people anymore. Cepni would have him strung up if he was anyway, we need the numbers more than anything at the moment. plus, he’s already finished that experiment since he got what he wanted out of it.

d: (balks) i-i can’t see him. i - (shudders)

(lulu and rhaast scowl at tiraa who holds her hands up). 

L: look (uses fork to spear mouthful of dels food and swallows it). it’s fine, i’m not dead. but you will be if you don’t get some calories in you, we’ve been flying our asses off the last few days.

d: (mutters) there are worst things than dying.

(everyone quiet. neekia barges into the shack)

N: i’ve made contact with the civilian rebel group. Mostly a bunch of prisoners who managed to escape from a labor camp south of here during the broadcast chaos. I’ve sent them to a Resistance checkpoint to be admitted for processing, but their leader’s agreed to stay behind and help us with our mission. 

(steps aside, strawberry boy emerges)

sb: alright chumps? how’s it hanging?

r: to the le -

d: (stands abruptly when sees sb’s mutilated wing. t+L shocked) what’s one of those doing here?!

N: This is Cris, the mastermind behind a prisoner uprising, and you will afford him the respect he deserves.

D: what use could he possibly be to us?

N: turns out, he’s a maverick at plotting, deadly with a pitchfork -

Cris: and I’ve got more reason than any of you to want the Dole destroyed. Now, let me tell you what I know.

Lil character resurgence huehuehue