"A Little Night Music" is the twenty-eighth mission of Season 3.
New Canton wants to test your mettle before the next big mission.
Cast[]
- Sam Yao (Philip Nightingale)
- Steffie (Six to Start Ensemble)
Crew[]
- Writer: Naomi Alderman
- Director: Matt Wieteska
- Sound Designer: Mark Pittam
- Series Created By: Naomi Alderman
Scenes[]
The First Checkpoint
Sam informs you that this mission has been set by New Canton to “test your ability under pressure”.
Tactless
You meet Steffie, New Canton’s best runner, who’s looking forward to working with you. She applies calming solution to herself to keep the zoms away.
Keep Up
Sam is anxious; his visuals aren’t great, but Steffie chimes in to let him know your path is clear.
Super-Hearing
Steffie is out of sight and Sam voices his concerns about her motives.
Get Away From Her
Steffie offers you some formula, convinced that your smell is attracting the undead. Suddenly she cracks, believing you to be a zombie.
An Unusual Problem
You keep ahead of the demented Steffie and head past some portacabins. To your horror, they start moving; they’re full of rats, feasting on zombies.
Save Yourself
You duck down an alley and manage to avoid Steffie, but the rats swarm forth and attack her.
On Our Own
New Canton inform you that all their runners are in need of extensive treatment after what happened to Steffie; Abel will be heading to Comansys alone.
Transcript[]
[thunder, rain]
SAM YAO: Alright, raise the gates. Let’s get rolling. [gate siren, gates raising] All clear, Runner Five? Yeah, follow the route marked out by the flags. Yep, sorry about the weather. Although I guess it makes it more of a test?
Right, now, I’ve got to go over this with you one more time, according to New Canton instructions. So, Runner Five, the purpose of this mission is to test your ability to perform under pressure, in preparation for our joint attack on Comansys. Comansys are on board a ship -
Well, yeah, yeah, we know that. Mission stuff, mission stuff… Abel have put you forward as their top runner. You’ll rendezvous with our own pick as our most experienced and competent runner, Runner Thirteen, and together, you will undertake an assault course across a half-completed building site. The high walls will make it difficult for you to maintain a line of sight with your partner. This will be a test of your comms operator, too – well, that’s charming, that is! I think Janine just agreed to do this because she’s determined to show the Ministry we don’t need another administrator.
So, yeah, I’ll be tested, too, to see if I’m right for the job. [sighs] I haven’t even got Paula keeping me company. Oh, the plasmapheresis to help her recover from falling into those calming plants went fine, by the way. I sat with her through it, but she’s taking a couple of days to recover.
Oh, looks like you’ve picked up quite a few spry shamblers. Better shake them off before you reach the first checkpoint. This New Canton Runner Thirteen’ll meet you there. Run!
[rain]
STEFFIE: Runner Five, over here!
SAM YAO: Ah, there she is! I’m patching you both in on my comms channel. Your only communications will be with me during this run, Steffie.
STEFFIE: Good to meet you, Five, Sam. I’m Steffie. I think we’re going to have some fun tonight! Some zoms on my tail already. This way. Good warm up, eh? [laughs] Down that slope to the left, come on.
SAM YAO: She’s fast, isn’t she? Still, I’ve seen you deal with worse terrain than this.
STEFFIE: Did they tell you I’m Runner Thirteen? Swapped the number with Eric. Everyone else is so easily spooked! Mind that root. I nearly tripped on it myself. Been looking forward to running with you, Five. The top runner from each settlement, teaming up to rescue our people from Comansys. All we need to do first is ace this mission. No problem for you, right?
SAM YAO: Hang on a minute – flattering Runner Five’s my job.
STEFFIE: Runners have to keep each other’s spirits up in the field. We’ll look after each other, won’t we, Five?
SAM YAO: [rummages] Okay, okay. Now uh, your route takes you through an old building site. Uh, it was meant to be flats, but it never got finished. It’s a big site. No one’s gone there in a while, so uh, so we’re not certain what you’re going to find. And my notes say there’s going to be a test of “your ability to respond appropriately to unforeseen complications”. Yeah, not sure I like the sound of that.
STEFFIE: Good thing we’re coming this way, then. Just a sec, got something I need to pick up. One of my stashes of um… Here we go! [unscrews lid] Problem solved! [pours liquid] You use this stuff, right? The calming stuff, keeps the zoms off?
SAM YAO: Yeah, we – is that the batch they made from the calming plants in the woods?
STEFFIE: Yeah, it’s great. Zoms steer well clear! Almost makes it too easy, you know? All those years of running away from them, and now here we are! They won’t come anywhere near me. You want some? No? Suit yourself.
SAM YAO: Hmm, probably best not to. New Canton’s guidelines do say “no artificial aids or performance enhancers to be used.”
STEFFIE: Oh, this doesn’t count. It’s part of our standard NC field kit these days.
SAM YAO: Also, there’s some possibility that it might make you really tactless.
STEFFIE: Right, are we good to go? After you, Runner Five. Let’s get our run on!
STEFFIE: That’s it, Five, show me what you’re made of!
SAM YAO: These visuals aren’t great. I’m trying to keep you on camera, but it’s patchy is hell.
STEFFIE: Sam, this is Runner Thirteen. Our approach to the site is clear. I see a large central structure, the unfinished apartment block in the route plan. Concrete walls, no roof.
SAM YAO: That’s great. Thanks, Steffie.
STEFFIE: You ready for the main event? Once we’re inside, visual comms will be compromised. Sam will do what he can, but don’t expect miracles. All we need to is run the route. Easy, right? Come on, Five! What’s the matter, can’t keep up?
SAM YAO: Steffie’s out of sight again, Five. Between you and me, I think she’s trying to put the “I” right back into “team”. Anyway, good news is that long-range cams aren’t showing any significant zombie activity outside the site, so you should be fine. [metal clangs] What was that?
STEFFIE: [sinister laugh]
SAM YAO: What is she playing at? Just stick to the route, Five.
STEFFIE: Woohoo! [jumps out in front of Five] What’s a matter, Five, scared? Just messing with you! Need to have some fun in the field, don’t you think? Shh, did you – yes, zombies, I hear them. At our three o'clock.
SAM YAO: Can’t see any zoms. Well, I can’t see anything.
STEFFIE: Did you hear that, Five? Sounds like a horde. Six or seven, at a guess. This way.
SAM YAO: She must have super hearing. Stay with her, Five, and if there are zombies there, you need to move!
STEFFIE: Psst, hey, Five – under here, quick! They can’t find us under here. Time to regroup, rethink.
SAM YAO: “They”? Who’s “they”? What “they”? [sighs] Five, I’ve managed to get another couple of security cams up. There’s nothing there! I’d stake my somewhat flimsy reputation on it. I’m analyzing the background noise on your mic feed, and I’m getting zip, nada, Cinco de Mayo.
STEFFIE: [unscrews lid] Why don’t you put on some of the formula, Five? If we both do it, the zoms won’t come anywhere near us, right? There. I hear them. They’re closing in on us. Come on, Five, you can’t leave this to me alone! Your body scent will draw the zoms toward us both. I can’t do this on my own. Don’t let us down!
SAM YAO: There are no zoms, Runner Thirteen. I don’t know what you’re on about.
STEFFIE: Why won’t you use the stuff?! Why not, what’s wrong with you?! Oh God… oh God, no, no! No, it’s you, you’re a zombie! Oh God, your skin, your face – no, get away from me, get away!
SAM YAO: This isn’t good.
STEFFIE: No, no! Stay away! [footsteps]
SAM YAO: New Canton, this is Sam Yao, at Abel Radio Control. This is an emergency. I’m activating this comms link as per your protocol. Uh, Protocol 1207. Come in, please.
NEW CANTON OPERATOR: This is New Canton, over.
SAM YAO: We have a um – a what do you call it? A developing situation. Something’s happened to Thirteen. The – oh, hang on, wait a minute. This is it. Is this it? This is the unforeseen complication, right?
NEW CANTON OPERATOR: No. The Black Swan Event has not yet begun. Your runner should stick to the plan.
SAM YAO: Well, forget the plan. Your Runner Thirteen’s gone mental. You’ve got to call off the surprise, whatever it is.
NEW CANTON OPERATOR: That’s not possible. The test event is – it’s out of our hands. There’s no way to stop it now.
SAM YAO: Oh, for - ! Alright, Five, I’ve cut comms with Steffie. Oh, God knows what’s made that poor woman crack. I’ve heard of it happening - one too many close calls with a zom. You need to get her back home for treatment before New Canton’s bloody out-of-context event. Is that her there, standing by that cement mixer?
STEFFIE: You’re a zom, Five, and we all know what to do with zoms! [metal scrapes]
SAM YAO: Standing by that cement mixer, swinging a big metal crowbar.
STEFFIE: I’m going to kill you, Five.
SAM YAO: Oh, never mind getting her treatment. Just get away from her – run!
SAM YAO: Where’s she gone? Where’s she gone? [static] New Canton, come in. Come in! Oh, this is – this is just laugh-in-your-face, kick-in-the-balls brilliant.
STEFFIE: You can’t escape, Runner Five!
SAM YAO: There she is! Steffie’s on the first story of the building to your right. Keep moving. You’re ahead of her, just stay that way. Keep going, past those portacabins. They’re – those portacabins are moving. Portacabins should not do that! [explosion, zombies growl] Um, right. I can see two zoms. They’ve just burst out through the wall of that portacabin –
[squelching, rats squeak] Rats! That’s rats! Oh, gross! Hundreds of them, inside the zombies. They’ve eaten out through the intestines. They’re writhing, wriggling. Ugh, they’re digging in with their teeth, hanging off the zombie’s – is that rat babies? Nesting in its stomach? I’m going to puke. Ugh, God, this is sick, New Canton. Rats are bad enough, but zombies, too?
NEW CANTON OPERATOR: It was the test. We anticipate that the Comansys mission will be...disturbing. We wanted your runner to have to fight off not just zombies, but the rats, which have been feeding on them. Their bites will also be infectious. It is an...unusual problem.
SAM YAO: If one of those rats gets you, Five, you’ll turn in seconds. Run!
SAM YAO: That’s good. You’re outpacing the rats, and the zombies are just shamblers, but I can’t see Steffie.
STEFFIE: Going somewhere, freak?
SAM YAO: Don’t back up, Five. The rats are still surging behind you.
STEFFIE: Think you had me fooled, Runner Five? I see through you. You’re like all the other zoms – infected! [swings crowbar] Perverted! [swings crowbar] But we’ve got power over you now. Cower. Come on, cower! [swings crowbar] You’re meant to run from me, you’re meant to hide. Cower! Cower!
SAM YAO: Oh, God, she’s just standing there, right in the path of the zoms. There, to your left, there’s an alley. Quick, Five, run down there. Maybe Steffie’ll follow you.
STEFFIE: No, no, no! No, get off, get off! Stop, no! [screams]
SAM YAO: Oh God! She’s covered in rats, and now the zoms are – you need to save yourself now, Five. There, if you climb up that sand pile, there’s an exit from the site ahead. Go!
NEW CANTON OPERATOR: Mister Yao, could you please calm down? We need operational data from you to attempt to extract the...body of our runner.
SAM YAO: Calm down? Your runner went mental and tried to kill Runner Five!
NEW CANTON OPERATOR: We’re examining her pre-mission bloodwork. There seems to have been an excessive amount of the calming formula in Thirteen’s system. She had been increasing her dose without our knowledge or consent. Your runner should also be tested.
SAM YAO: Runner Five didn’t splash that stuff all over like it was eau de blooming Cologne, alright?
NEW CANTON OPERATOR: We’re calling in all our runners. Abel’s report on events at the Comansys treetop laboratories showed the advantages of the calming formula were too great to justify a delay in its use. The Permanent Advisory Council voted to issue it to our runners before testing was completed. We didn’t – it wasn’t anticipated that the side effects could be so extreme. We’re running up psych evaluations for all our runners now.
SAM YAO: And the bloody stuff didn’t even hold off those zoms in the end!
NEW CANTON OPERATOR: We’re aware the duration of effect is much shorter with our formula. We suspect that the plants we’ve grown ourselves do not have the potency of those grown by Veronica McShell.
SAM YAO: Yeah, as long as you re-evaluate it down the sink, that’s fine by me. [sighs] And what about the plan? We’ll need to come up with a new one.
NEW CANTON OPERATOR: We unfortunately may have to withdraw from the operation. Our runners will need extensive treatment.
SAM YAO: Right. That’s that, then. Well, Five, we’re still going to Comansys, and we’re still going to rescue our people. This just means we’re going to have to do it on our own.
Codex[]
Supplies[]
The following supplies can be found in this mission.
(List may be incomplete.)
9mm Ammo
Axe
Bandages
Batteries
Bedroll
Bottled Water
Car Battery
Cooking oil
Deodorant
Disposable camera
Fuel Can
Hairbrush
Hammer
Hearing Aid
Mobile Phone
Pain Meds
Pencil
Power Cable
Prescription Pain Meds
Radio
Saucepan
Shirt
Shorts
Sports Bra
Tampons
Thermos flask
Tinned Food
Whisky
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