Young Leif Part 7: The Casino.

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Speaker 3 Hello, Leif.

Speaker 5 Who are you? Sluggo.

Speaker 5 Nice to meet you.

Speaker 6 What am I doing here, Sluggo?

Speaker 5 My boss wants to meet meet with you.

Speaker 6 Who's that?

Speaker 5 Right this way.

Speaker 6 Is there an organism somewhere inside all that metal? Nope.

Speaker 5 I'm 100% bot.

Speaker 6 I'm judging by your size that your main function is to just be big.

Speaker 7 Pretty much.

Speaker 5 BTG-56 model.

Speaker 5 A thugbot.

Speaker 6 I don't imagine something called a thugbot is given many cognitive freedoms.

Speaker 5 We get a little leeway. Really? For example, my operator told me to tolerate a little bit of chit-chat, but to then make sure and get your ass to this meeting.

Speaker 6 So, let's move. What am I doing here, and who am I meeting with? And where are my friends?

Speaker 5 How about we get you to this meeting, and you can ask all the questions you want, then?

Speaker 6 Fine.

Speaker 5 Oh, and I've heard talk of your tech work up close, so keep your distance, or I'll have to engage my primary function of beating things to a pulp. Got it, right this way.

Speaker 6 So, I'm on Galise.

Speaker 5 Yes. Did you think you ended up in some other casino that you stole millions from?

Speaker 9 This way.

Speaker 10 Am I supposed to be impressed with this? Intimidated by this? I'm confused.

Speaker 6 Maybe both.

Speaker 10 Okay.

Speaker 10 Well,

Speaker 10 hey, uh, I've never seen your model of thug bot before. What you got going on there, pal?

Speaker 11 Funny, you should say that. I am not actually a thug bot.
I am a modded and repurposed kitchen prep bot.

Speaker 10 Why do that? Why not just get a thug bot?

Speaker 11 My operator appreciated my vast assortment of knives.

Speaker 10 Ah, I see.

Speaker 11 Thug bots are great, but they are a bit on the slow side. A modified kitchen bot like myself is faster and very useful if the operator would like for someone to be ventilated.

Speaker 12 Oh, great.

Speaker 10 Any chance you're gonna tell me where Lafe and Dez are?

Speaker 6 Nope.

Speaker 6 Verge. Thank fuck.
Are you okay? I'm fine.

Speaker 10 Are you okay? Well, I'm being held captive by Dr. Ginsu over here.
Well, have you seen Dez? No, it's just me in here.

Speaker 6 I hope he's alright.

Speaker 9 good evening i will be your waiter would you like an appetitif

Speaker 9 what due to the presence of an earthling our dinner with this evening will be a traditional fav course mail

Speaker 9 before the meal we begin with appetitivs would you like aperitiffs what the fuck is happening nothing for us thanks very well

Speaker 6 so is this who i think it is What was their name?

Speaker 10 Loaf Trax.

Speaker 6 And how reasonable would you say this Loaf Trax is?

Speaker 10 When I describe someone as the most notorious space pirate in the history of the triad, does the word reasonable sound right to you?

Speaker 16 No, we're fucked right now.

Speaker 10 You realize that, right?

Speaker 7 Don't panic. Oh,

Speaker 7 okay.

Speaker 7 Hey, kids!

Speaker 16 How are we all doing this evening? Allow me to welcome you to the Kingpin, the triad's premier destination for gambling and special events.

Speaker 16 Of course, you've been here before, as we both know, but look, let me really roll out the red carpet this time.

Speaker 6 You must be Loaftrax.

Speaker 10 That's not Loaftrax.

Speaker 2 That's adorable.

Speaker 16 He doesn't know anything, does he?

Speaker 10 Oh, he really doesn't.

Speaker 16 Must be nice, right? As a vapiant, I mean, none of that preloaded cultural garbage. Didn't have a worried mother telling him to stay away from vapians.

Speaker 10 Well, the thing is, the warning would have just made it hotter, so I'm also a little disappointed.

Speaker 16 Oh, so you two are...

Speaker 6 I see.

Speaker 6 Well, that's sweet.

Speaker 18 You're like...

Speaker 16 Who are those two earthlings? They went on the crime spree, the America robbing the banks?

Speaker 6 Bonnie and Clyde.

Speaker 18 Yes.

Speaker 16 You're like Bonnie and Clyde.

Speaker 16 Didn't end well for them either, did it?

Speaker 6 Where's Des?

Speaker 16 Not to worry. Your Truscan friend is fine.

Speaker 16 Untouchable, really.

Speaker 16 Turns out he's the son of a very influential member of the Truscan Shipbuilders Union.

Speaker 16 We may be a powerful organization, but we are not getting on the bad side of Trusk. You do that, your ships suddenly start falling apart going through a warp gate.

Speaker 16 I booked him a private cruiser back home. He'll be fine.

Speaker 7 Good.

Speaker 16 You too, however.

Speaker 16 You two.

Speaker 16 What am I going to do with you two?

Speaker 6 Could we maybe get an introduction? Oh, my.

Speaker 19 Where are my manners?

Speaker 16 My name is Minsky.

Speaker 16 I'm a representative of my client's organization. I represent them in all things for this meeting.

Speaker 16 My client runs a very successful organization and asks that I represent them in various matters that don't require their personal touch.

Speaker 18 You're a lawyer.

Speaker 16 That would be the earthling way of putting it, yes.

Speaker 9 We present you with your first course, eh, Talesio cheese and mission fig tarton. Please enjoy.

Speaker 12 Please enjoy.

Speaker 16 Very hard to get the mission figs out here.

Speaker 10 We're not very hungry, as I'm sure you can imagine.

Speaker 19 It's about perspective, isn't it?

Speaker 16 You may not be hungry if you're preoccupied with how you're going to get out of the particular predicament you find yourself in.

Speaker 16 But you see, if this was the last meal you were ever going to have, I think you'd want to enjoy these final moments, wouldn't you?

Speaker 16 Just to give you a cheat sheet,

Speaker 16 I've done this particular five-course meal before.

Speaker 16 It's in the appetizer course where my dining companion assures me that they can get us our money back, and then it's four more courses as they slowly realize that it's not about the money.

Speaker 13 No,

Speaker 16 no, it's not.

Speaker 16 It's never about the money. Money is everywhere.
The money that you stole from us, we'll make it back by the end of business today. The money isn't the point.
It's about the message, Leaf.

Speaker 16 What's the message we're sending if we're just going to let you steal from us? You see, we're at a very crucial time in our organization. We're making a big push across the system right now.

Speaker 16 People are wondering if we can pull it off. Can we really control it all? Can we run the table? That's what everybody's asking right now.
You answer that question a million times in a million ways.

Speaker 16 And hunting down a microscopic organization like yours because they stole an amount of money from us that is really just a rounding error?

Speaker 16 That is one of the many ways that we say to the triad: yes.

Speaker 16 Yes, we can and will run the whole table.

Speaker 16 Not a fan of the figs?

Speaker 16 Maiter D, let's move on to the next course, please.

Speaker 9 For our second course, we present Molinoir de Coco steamed mussels within white wine, fennel, and coconut cream broth, served with garlic confite crusty baguette.

Speaker 8 Place enjoy.

Speaker 16 Mussels.

Speaker 16 Mussels

Speaker 16 remind me of home.

Speaker 16 See, I was born on a ruined planet. Mussels were a big part of our diet because they were the only thing that could survive in our oceans.

Speaker 16 You make yourself a lot of promises when you come from humble beginnings, lots of

Speaker 16 deals with the devil as an earthling would say.

Speaker 16 You swear a lot of things to yourself. Things like, I will never eat fucking mussels again for as long as I live.
Take this away.

Speaker 6 Can we skip to the end of this, please?

Speaker 2 I see.

Speaker 15 The tough guy approach.

Speaker 16 You see that death is inevitable, so you grab hold of the only thing left that you can control. How that death happens.

Speaker 16 I'm afraid you won't be granted that Leaf.

Speaker 16 I'm putting on this dinner, not you.

Speaker 6 We can get you your money back, and then some.

Speaker 16 Leaf, I just did a whole thing about how the money is irrelevant.

Speaker 6 Well, if there's anything else you need from us, other than for us to be dead, I'd like to know about it, please. Good!

Speaker 16 Negotiation!

Speaker 16 This is where I really excel. I'm a dealmaker, Leaf.
This strong-arm routine is really just a byproduct of doing business. So many necessary evils.

Speaker 16 You'd like to know if there's something you can get me that someone else can't.

Speaker 13 Yes.

Speaker 16 In short, no.

Speaker 16 Which is not to say I don't enjoy your existence, Leaf.

Speaker 6 There's a sideshow aspect to it that I love.

Speaker 16 Come one, come all, see the living, breathing Earthling.

Speaker 10 That's fun.

Speaker 10 But...

Speaker 16 We're not running a circus.

Speaker 16 Oh, I mean, I'm lying.

Speaker 16 We actually do run a circus outside of cygnus but you understand the analogy look

Speaker 16 you have nothing that you can offer our organization leaf

Speaker 16 like the money you stole you are a rounding error

Speaker 16 This is always a fun moment. You're a proud person, I can tell, and you've reached that moment where you're debating whether or not to begin begging for your life.

Speaker 7 Lovely.

Speaker 16 Have some greens. They're good for you.

Speaker 16 I appreciate the offer, Leif.

Speaker 16 I appreciate you trying to make things right in earnest.

Speaker 16 But we want for very few things in this organization. Our wish list is very small.

Speaker 16 Do you know what a walrus is?

Speaker 6 Sure.

Speaker 16 Well, the other day, some strange group brought a walrus from Earth to the halls of the High King of Wilsonite. So

Speaker 16 we'd like to know a little bit more about whatever the heck was going on there. So that's on the list.

Speaker 6 What else?

Speaker 7 Oh, right.

Speaker 16 Right now, somewhere out there in the the system is a very creative hacker.

Speaker 6 Whoever they are.

Speaker 16 They've made inroads into the TED Empire's network like no one has before, and no one knows who they are. The only thing we know is their username.

Speaker 16 Death the kid.

Speaker 16 Getting our hands on that hacker, that's definitely on the list. But you...

Speaker 16 No.

Speaker 16 There's nothing that you can help me out with

Speaker 16 Nothing you

Speaker 16 can help me out with. Fuck.
Your friend, on the other hand, well,

Speaker 16 that's a different story.

Speaker 6 What do you mean?

Speaker 16 Leaf,

Speaker 16 your little partner in crime is worth far more than any of the money you stole from us.

Speaker 6 You realize that, don't you?

Speaker 16 I don't. Vapians,

Speaker 16 they're incredibly valuable. In the arenas we work in, you're always doing business with vapians.
You can't avoid it.

Speaker 16 Vapians have underworld networks far more vast than ours, and they have no allegiances except to themselves.

Speaker 6 They can get you anything you need at any time.

Speaker 16 They're very dangerous in a firefight, and they're almost impossible to catch.

Speaker 19 And now I've got one.

Speaker 16 There's no criminal outfit out there that has a vapian working for them. This is a big moment for our organization.
I'm glad you're here to see it, Lee.

Speaker 6 There's just no way Verge is going to work for you. You must know that.

Speaker 19 Hang on now.

Speaker 16 I haven't given you the full pitch. See, a lot of people see our organization as the same messy, chaotic space pirates of the past, but we really plan on changing the piracy game.

Speaker 16 Bring up the screen.

Speaker 16 What happens when I say the word piracy to you?

Speaker 16 What do you think?

Speaker 16 Chaotic raiders creating creating pandemonium across an entire system? Maybe.

Speaker 7 But

Speaker 16 what if it wasn't just that?

Speaker 16 What if when I say the word piracy to you, you had other words come to mind. Words like freedom, enterprise, innovation.

Speaker 16 That's Loftrak's goal. We aim to change the game, to go from piracy to primacy.

Speaker 16 As you can see on the map behind me, Loaftrax now controls 43% of the crime in the triad. The Milky Way is ours.
And now we're moving into Andromeda. Nobody said we could control the Milky Way.

Speaker 16 We proved them wrong, and we plan to do the same with Andromeda and then the triangulum.

Speaker 10 Emperor Bugbug tried this before.

Speaker 16 And Emperor Bugbug is a true inspiration to today's pirate, but

Speaker 16 due respect, Bugbug did not have the vision that Loaftrax has today. Bugbug wasn't just a pirate.
He was a king. He had a throne, a castle, a planet.
He was an easy guy to find.

Speaker 16 So when the Ted Empire began to sweep across the triad, they knew exactly where to find their greatest threat.

Speaker 16 Our organization doesn't have that problem.

Speaker 6 Why doesn't your organization have that problem?

Speaker 16 I'm glad you asked, Leaf. To defeat the beast, you must cut off its head, and our head

Speaker 16 cannot be found because of this.

Speaker 16 What is that?

Speaker 16 As a young pirate, Loaftrax made a shocking discovery in a remote star system on the edge of the Milky Way.

Speaker 16 This is, of course, an artist's rendering. We won't allow the real one to be photographed.
But what does that look like to you, Leaf?

Speaker 6 It's a...

Speaker 16 a brain. That's right!

Speaker 6 It's black.

Speaker 16 It's black and entirely made of glass.

Speaker 6 It's the size of a moon.

Speaker 16 A moon-sized, brain-shaped hunk of black glass orbiting a distant neutron star, barely visible to the naked eye and and undetectable to long-range scanners. The perfect place for a pirate's hideout.

Speaker 16 We call it the galaxy brain.

Speaker 6 That's fascinating.

Speaker 10 You remember you're about to be killed, right?

Speaker 16 We have no idea what it is, where it came from, but we do know that it's ours. This is the seat of a new Empire Verge, and you could be part of it all.

Speaker 6 It's weird that you're giving us a sales pitch for something you're forcing on us. Despite all of this, I'm sure the answer is still no.

Speaker 16 Funny, you said that, Leaf, while Verge over there has been very silent.

Speaker 16 You're probably thinking that Verge would rather die than work for someone like me, and you're right. They would rather die,

Speaker 19 but they won't.

Speaker 16 What is it you say, Verge?

Speaker 16 How do Vapians say hello and and goodbye to each other?

Speaker 10 Vapus Veia.

Speaker 16 Vapus Veia.

Speaker 16 Vapus lives.

Speaker 16 Every vapian sticks to one idea and one idea only

Speaker 16 survive.

Speaker 16 They were nearly wiped out in the vapian collapse, and they are very slow to reproduce. So they say, survival at all costs,

Speaker 16 even if survival is a nightmare.

Speaker 16 You're going to love working for us, Verge. I'm sure you'll eventually forgive us for killing Leif.

Speaker 16 Eh, maybe you won't. It doesn't matter.
Because even if you don't, you'll still be working for us.

Speaker 16 Let's move this along, shall we? Next course,

Speaker 16 Leif, you've got this look on your face. Racking your brain to see if there's anything up your sleeve.

Speaker 16 There's nothing up your sleeves.

Speaker 9 Our entrees this evening, pancier duck breast with a pomegranate vin rouge

Speaker 8 In Joe.

Speaker 13 What the hell?

Speaker 6 It's actually my boot heel.

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Speaker 22 Attention Leaf.

Speaker 22 That was a fun little show you put on back there.

Speaker 22 It's okay. I hated that waiter anyway.

Speaker 22 So judgmental, no matter what I ordered.

Speaker 22 Anyway, so here we are.

Speaker 8 You're on the run in the casino.

Speaker 22 How do we see this end and leave?

Speaker 22 I've got all the exits covered. The dock bay isn't locked down.

Speaker 6 Where are we going with this? What was that back there? Microwave drill. It melts down minor electronic circuits.
It wasn't working on the big ones, but it worked on the waiter bot.

Speaker 10 Thank you for being a genius, but what do we do now?

Speaker 6 I don't know. We made it out of that room, but we're still trapped in the casino.

Speaker 10 We can't go back to Nancy, they're gonna be watching.

Speaker 6 I know. Hang on, this looks like a mainframe room.

Speaker 12 Sure.

Speaker 7 I really thought we were fucked back there.

Speaker 6 We still may be.

Speaker 6 Okay, this looks like something I can work with.

Speaker 16 What are you gonna do?

Speaker 9 I don't know yet.

Speaker 6 You can see the docking bay from the hallway, right? Yeah. Okay, go see if there's something out there we can steal.
Something small enough to slip through the barricade. Okay.

Speaker 6 Leave.

Speaker 6 Leave.

Speaker 6 Come on.

Speaker 6 Can we talk about this? I mean,

Speaker 6 I'm still going to kill you. But now I'm going to have to torture you and kill you.

Speaker 6 Nobody wants that. Come on.

Speaker 22 Press the button on the nearest panel and let's talk about this.

Speaker 22 Come on.

Speaker 22 Come on.

Speaker 22 Don't be a sour puss.

Speaker 13 Hi there. Leave!

Speaker 13 Leave.

Speaker 13 What are you doing?

Speaker 22 You're just making a mess now.

Speaker 6 You excel at negotiation. That's what you said.

Speaker 22 I really do, Leaf. I'm a humble person, but I can safely say that about myself.

Speaker 6 I'd like to propose a deal.

Speaker 22 I like where your head's at, but

Speaker 22 you're not in the strongest position right now.

Speaker 22 All the exits are blocked, the docking port is locked down, you currently have nothing to offer me.

Speaker 22 At least nothing that I can't just take.

Speaker 6 Verge is that valuable to you, huh? Oh,

Speaker 5 yes, leave.

Speaker 22 A vapient in our organization would be a big get for us.

Speaker 6 Let's tease that out for a minute.

Speaker 22 Sure, sure.

Speaker 6 I'm listening. Verge excels at getting things for people.
Great at smuggling. Very clandestine.

Speaker 6 Do you have trouble getting things?

Speaker 6 Are there things you need that you can't get?

Speaker 6 No.

Speaker 6 I would not say that. You're a large organization.
A lot of resources. Surely you can get anything that a vapian would be able to get for you.
You're able to do all the things that a vapian would do.

Speaker 6 Why do you need a vapian?

Speaker 8 I hear that. I do.

Speaker 22 Certainly, having a vapien in our organization wouldn't be a transformational moment for us.

Speaker 6 So having a vapion would be more of a symbolic victory.

Speaker 22 In a certain sense, yes. But let's not discard symbols, Leaf.
They're not without their value.

Speaker 12 There's no doubt about it.

Speaker 6 It's a feather in your cap, though. It's not a new cap altogether.

Speaker 22 True, but it's an important feather.

Speaker 22 And Loftrax does love feathers.

Speaker 6 And since we've established that, can we go back to your wish list?

Speaker 8 Where are we going with with this, Leaf?

Speaker 6 Stay with me. On your wish list was a vapion,

Speaker 6 some sort of weird thing about a walrus,

Speaker 6 and then there was the hacker.

Speaker 22 Yes, Death the Kid.

Speaker 16 That's a big one.

Speaker 6 You were telling me this mysterious hacker can, unlike Verge,

Speaker 6 do things you currently can't do.

Speaker 22 This is true.

Speaker 6 A more transformational acquisition. Absolutely.

Speaker 22 I think we could really take things to the next level if we were able to screw with the TED system like this hacker seems to be able to do.

Speaker 16 Leaf, why are we talking about this?

Speaker 12 Well,

Speaker 6 I can give you the hacker.

Speaker 22 Say more.

Speaker 6 I'm saying I can give you something more valuable than Verge.

Speaker 22 This just sounds like stalling to me. How do you expect me to believe you can deliver Death the Kid to us?

Speaker 6 Because I am Death the Kid.

Speaker 6 Get the fuck out of here.

Speaker 16 It's true.

Speaker 22 The notorious hacker that is currently carving up the Ted Empire's network

Speaker 6 is an Earthling. Genius always comes from the unlikeliest of places, doesn't it?

Speaker 22 Leaf, you're stalling. I'm not.
Well, I can't just take your word for it, Leif.

Speaker 6 This is not how that works. In 10 seconds, everyone on the casino floor is going to hit the jackpot.

Speaker 22 Everyone.

Speaker 6 Everyone.

Speaker 16 That can't be done, Leif.

Speaker 6 Interesting. You know what I have a problem with?

Speaker 6 Commitment.

Speaker 6 I don't mean that in the usual way. I'm not scared of relationships or some sort of simplistic romantic cliché.

Speaker 6 I have a problem with being one thing. picking a lane.

Speaker 6 I know Earth is a backwater caveman convention, but as it turns out, I was one of the smartest guys living there. So smart that I invented something that would change everything.

Speaker 6 At the bottom of an abandoned gold mine, I performed a miracle. I pulled energy out of nothing.

Speaker 6 Like a magic trick.

Speaker 6 A $30 million magic trick.

Speaker 6 The first time my team saw all the lights come up on the energy register, they all cheered, lost their minds.

Speaker 6 We had just changed the world.

Speaker 6 In that moment of monumental change, all I remember is fear.

Speaker 6 It was terrifying for me because I suddenly realized...

Speaker 13 Oh no,

Speaker 6 I'm going to have to be the unlimited energy guy for the rest of my life.

Speaker 6 I would have to make speeches and inspire people and have books written about me.

Speaker 6 What if I didn't want to be that guy?

Speaker 6 What if I just wanted to make something cool and then move on?

Speaker 6 Luckily, the Teds came along and offered us all a deal.

Speaker 6 So then I went from the unlimited energy guy to the galactic drifter guy, sailing the stars, not a care in the world.

Speaker 6 A state of bliss.

Speaker 6 It's funny, isn't it? In your happiest state, you can still hear another voice.

Speaker 6 A voice in your head pulling you somewhere else. This voice was saying,

Speaker 6 the Teds.

Speaker 6 They bought and sold you.

Speaker 6 You hate that, don't you? You really want to do something about that, don't you?

Speaker 6 So, on long flights while Verge was asleep,

Speaker 6 I would tap into their systems and start looking for the loose threads.

Speaker 6 You'd be surprised the things I found in there.

Speaker 6 Let Verge go,

Speaker 6 and you can have me.

Speaker 6 Interesting.

Speaker 6 Let's keep talking. Sure.

Speaker 22 Let's say you're not fucking with me.

Speaker 6 I'm not fucking with you.

Speaker 5 Let's say I believe you.

Speaker 6 You should believe me.

Speaker 6 I let Verge go,

Speaker 6 and I get you. That's what I'm proposing, yes.
You

Speaker 6 who are

Speaker 22 allegedly

Speaker 16 death the kid.

Speaker 14 That's right.

Speaker 22 I don't know, Leif. The jackpots all at once are impressive, but

Speaker 22 I need a little more.

Speaker 7 Okay.

Speaker 6 In three minutes, another jackpot is going to hit on the casino floor unless I stop it. If this one hits, they will keep coming every 90 seconds until the casino runs out of money.

Speaker 6 Then it will access the networks of your other casinos, and will start the process on their casino floors as well.

Speaker 6 This process will continue until every one of your casinos has given away all its money.

Speaker 6 Leave.

Speaker 6 Come on, what am I thinking right now? You're thinking I have a Vapian and Death the Kid under my roof. Why don't I grab them both?

Speaker 22 That is what I'm thinking.

Speaker 6 Because in three minutes, not even I can stop the jackpots from happening. It'll keep going until it drains the entire casino system.

Speaker 6 So you could try and catch us both, but it's going to cost you a lot of money.

Speaker 22 Maybe I think you're worth it, Leif.

Speaker 6 I'm already giving myself up. Is Verge worth it?

Speaker 6 Interesting.

Speaker 6 Three minutes is not a long time, by the way.

Speaker 22 Classic move, putting a clock on it.

Speaker 22 You should know what you're getting yourself into, Leif.

Speaker 8 Should I?

Speaker 22 You come work for us.

Speaker 22 That's it.

Speaker 22 It's the last job you'll ever take.

Speaker 22 We'll own you.

Speaker 13 I know.

Speaker 22 You're doing all this to save a person you'll never see again.

Speaker 22 If I let Virge go,

Speaker 22 they'll need to disappear, Leaf. I can't have someone who escaped us showing their face in the usual haunts.

Speaker 6 You're running out of time.

Speaker 22 I can't let Burge go outright.

Speaker 22 But I can give them a head start.

Speaker 12 How long? Sunrise.

Speaker 18 That'll work.

Speaker 16 Do we have a deal?

Speaker 22 We have a deal. Shut down the fire sale on the casino floor, please.

Speaker 6 It's shut down.

Speaker 22 This is coming to you rather easily, Leaf.

Speaker 22 I was expecting more hang-ringing about leaving your paramour behind.

Speaker 6 Your hideout. The galaxy brain?

Speaker 6 I know where it came from.

Speaker 22 Is that right?

Speaker 6 There's a volcano on Earth called Vesuvius. About 2,000 years ago, it erupted and instantly killed everyone in the nearby city.

Speaker 6 They find some pretty amazing things in the ruins.

Speaker 6 One thing they found was brain matter.

Speaker 6 You wouldn't think brains could survive a volcanic blast, but they were preserved by a process called vitrification.

Speaker 6 Their skulls acted like a microwave, instantly superheating their brains and turning them into black glass.

Speaker 6 That hideout of yours is orbiting a neutron star, which means at one point it was a star that went into supernova.

Speaker 6 Millions of years ago, there was an organism orbiting that star. An organism the size of a moon.

Speaker 6 The supernova obliterated its body and left its massive, vitrified brain behind. Your galaxy brain is literally a brain.

Speaker 22 That's a fascinating theory.

Speaker 22 And what does that have to do with you joining our ranks, Leif?

Speaker 6 I have to see it.

Speaker 6 Oh,

Speaker 6 I see.

Speaker 6 You've been nudged a bit by the void, have you?

Speaker 22 The wine dark sea calls you away?

Speaker 6 Sure, I suppose.

Speaker 6 Okay.

Speaker 6 Well,

Speaker 22 this has been a pleasure.

Speaker 22 Do me a favor, steal a ship, would you? I don't want it looking like I let you go.

Speaker 6 Sure.

Speaker 6 Ow!

Speaker 6 Bastard.

Speaker 6 How's it coming?

Speaker 10 I've almost got it.

Speaker 16 Hey, Verge.

Speaker 7 Shit.

Speaker 11 You picked an awful nice ship to steal. Oh, fuck.

Speaker 16 I was impressed by the effort, weren't you, two?

Speaker 4 We really were.

Speaker 11 I was rooting for you. Look,

Speaker 10 I promise I will willingly come work for you if you just let him go.

Speaker 7 Okay?

Speaker 16 You kids, you're killing me.

Speaker 16 Don't make me believe in love, please. Verge, not to worry.
Everything's gonna be fine.

Speaker 10 What is he talking about?

Speaker 6 I, uh.

Speaker 10 Laif.

Speaker 6 I made a deal.

Speaker 10 What are you talking about?

Speaker 6 Remember how you told me to stop poking around in the TED network?

Speaker 7 Yes.

Speaker 7 Well,

Speaker 7 I didn't.

Speaker 6 Life. That hacker he's looking for, Death the Kid.

Speaker 6 It's me. I've been raiding their network while you're asleep.

Speaker 16 Wait. Yeah, I'm gonna rip the band-aid off.
Leaf works for us now. He swapped himself for you.
He now works for us forever, and you're free to go.

Speaker 16 Oh, also, you are technically escaping right now, so that I don't get thrown in the meat grinder for letting you go. Also, because you're escaping, if we ever see you again, we will kill you.

Speaker 16 I don't know where you vapians hide when you go to ground, but I'd go there.

Speaker 12 For a very, very long time.

Speaker 16 So,

Speaker 16 yes, let's let it all sink in. This is the last time you're going to see Leaf.

Speaker 16 Sorry, am I being unceremonious about this?

Speaker 6 Give us a second, please.

Speaker 10 What

Speaker 16 did you do?

Speaker 6 Went for the option where we both live.

Speaker 10 We were about to escape.

Speaker 7 No, we weren't.

Speaker 6 We were going to get shot down as soon as we tried to leave.

Speaker 10 You don't know that.

Speaker 7 I do.

Speaker 6 And so do you.

Speaker 6 It was the end of the line. We had to jump tracks.

Speaker 6 It was about to end in a much worse way.

Speaker 10 Why didn't you say anything about this plan?

Speaker 6 What would you have said?

Speaker 10 I can't believe this is happening.

Speaker 6 Verge, Verge, we're criminals. The odds of this happening were actually pretty high.

Speaker 10 Don't make jokes now, please.

Speaker 6 I'm sorry. I guess I'm just happy I'm not going to die and you're not going to be a slave.

Speaker 16 Tick-tock leave.

Speaker 10 Did you want this to happen?

Speaker 6 We were screwed, Verge.

Speaker 10 We've been screwed before and managed to unscrew ourselves.

Speaker 6 Are you pissed at me for saving both of us?

Speaker 7 Meet me.

Speaker 8 Where?

Speaker 10 Where we first met.

Speaker 6 They're gonna be watching me.

Speaker 10 Figure it out.

Speaker 10 One Earth Week.

Speaker 7 Okay.

Speaker 10 Hey, Minsky. Yeah.
If I ever see you again,

Speaker 10 I'm gonna kill you.

Speaker 16 Okay, see you

Speaker 16 I've always felt that the one who got away is an important force in any sentient being's life.

Speaker 11 So true, so true.

Speaker 6 I guess I'll find out.

Speaker 16 So

Speaker 13 you're welcome.

Speaker 16 What happens now? Now we begin the onboarding process.

Speaker 6 Which entails...

Speaker 16 Well, it's interesting, Leif.

Speaker 16 You know, I've worked for a lot of people in this particular sector of the economy, and I have to say, LoafTrax is really an innovator in terms of personnel management.

Speaker 6 What?

Speaker 16 As I said before, this is the last job you'll ever have. So before you officially start with us, LoafTrax wants you to take some time.

Speaker 6 Take some time?

Speaker 7 That's right.

Speaker 16 See some old friends, some family.

Speaker 16 Say some goodbyes if you need to.

Speaker 6 Seriously? Sure, yeah.

Speaker 16 It's important.

Speaker 16 Touch base with the old life

Speaker 16 before you start the new.

Speaker 6 What's stopping me from running?

Speaker 16 Nothing at all.

Speaker 16 LoafTrax says it's a great way to eliminate idiots from our organization.

Speaker 16 Because only idiots try to run?

Speaker 16 I'll send you some information, be it a particular dock, at a particular station, at a particular time.

Speaker 16 Follow the instructions, your old life ends, and a new one begins.

Speaker 16 Don't follow the instructions,

Speaker 16 your life just ends.

Speaker 16 It's going to be a pleasure working with you, Lee.

Speaker 20 Music from Young Lafe comes from the album Kids Fill the Floor by our dear friends Frisha.

Speaker 16 Their music is available to stream on all platforms and is available for purchase on Bandcamp. So please do all of those things.

Speaker 20 Young Laif is brought to you in part by our Monte Cristo level and above supporters: Wilson, Billy, Bertbert, Bethany, Second Bethany, Shaban Delilah Rose, Dan Bowman, Casper's Number One Fan, Stu, Nan McVicker, Rusty Accord, A Bug Named Nat, Colby Jack, Sparker, Daniel L., Mitzi Lou, Life is Leminal, The Art Sherpa, G.

Speaker 15 Longhorn, Lucrezia, Amy Pollard, Zahony Vera, Brick Hausdorff, The Waiting Pool Pirates, Past Prologue, Little Ball of Odd, Dr.

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Speaker 1 The Fable and Folly Network, where fiction producers flourish.

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