"Bad Moon Rising" is the fifty-first mission of Season 3.
Sometimes you just can't see the woods for the bombs.
Cast[]
Crew[]
- Writer: Rebecca Levene
- Director: Matt Wieteska
- Sound Designer: Mark Pittam
- Series Created By: Naomi Alderman
Plot[]
Good News And Bad News[]
Janine’s furlough is over and a mind controlled New Canton are gathering their forces to get their hands on your ZRD.
Tactics Are Everything[]
Janine cuts into Sam’s comms ordering you not to return to Abel, despite his protestations. You are to rendezvous with Runners 4 and 6 in Dunder Woods.
That Is Cunning[]
Janine suggests you attack Moonchild’s coal bunker, since this seems to be the nerve centre of her operations.
Skinless Zoms?[]
Sam confirms that Moonchild must have heard the plan, because half her army are now heading towards you.
A Useful Resource[]
Amelia appears out of the darkness of Moonchild’s base to give you a hand with the door using her Automated Operator System.
Set The Next Explosive[]
To Owen’s disgust, Janine is on board with Amelia’s decision to plant the first explosive.
One More Charge[]
You enter a room containing a sea of computers where Moonchild has been researching Veronica’s plants. Good place for another explosive!
Get Out Of The Blast Radius[]
Moonchild’s army splits to cover all exits, but Janine informs Moonchild that she can either choose to use her resources to chase you or to save her base.
You Understand What This Means?[]
Sam is uneasy, thinking you’ve just killed a lot of people, but Janine explains that you’ve merely trapped about a fifth of mind-controlled New Canton.
Do The Right Thing[]
Sam attempts to get Janine to open up about her brother as you run to meet Maxine, which she does a little, before refocusing on the mission in hand.
No Pressure[]
Janine entrusts you and Dr Myers with the ZRD, since you are both immune to mind control. You are to head to Comansys headquarters in London.
Transcript[]
SAM YAO: Okay, Five. There are shamblers stumbling through the hedge, but they won’t catch you. You need to get back to Abel right now. Janine’s furlough is over. She’s coming in right now to take command.
Now, the good news is there doesn’t seem to be any pursuit from New Canton. The bad news is that’s because they’re uh, yeah, they’re mustering their forces outside the gates of New Canton. There’s thousands of them, Five. Armed or riding around in armored trucks. I know you’d said she’d gone on about it, but it sounds like Moonchild really does want our Zombie Repelling Device.
Also, yeah, they’ve got access to our comms channels. I’m trying to lock them out, but when the whole Fraternal Alliance thing happened, we shared access codes with each other. A sign of trust? Moonchild’s probably listening to every word we say. And if you are, I want you to know that you’re not going to win. We’ve taken down people bigger and badder than you. And with better fashion sense.
Anyway, yeah. New Canton’s army is on the march. You’ve got maybe a fifteen minute lead. Run!
SAM YAO: Okay, Five. You’re still ahead of New Canton. They’re moving quickly, but you’re nearly home. You should get back to Abel in time if you - [door opens] Oh, Janine, I was just telling Five that -
JANINE DE LUCA: I heard, Mister Yao. Runner Five won’t be returning to Abel.
SAM YAO: What? But there’s a huge army -
JANINE DE LUCA: Runner Five, the large oak tree on the horizon marks the border of Dunder Woods. Head straight for it to rendezvous with Runners Six and Four.
SAM YAO: That’s in the path of the army! Janine -
JANINE DE LUCA: Abel’s entire survival depends on Runner Five’s actions. Have you ever heard of an Israeli general called Moshe Dayan?
SAM YAO: Uh, not really.
JANINE DE LUCA: In war, tactics are everything. Get to that oak tree, Five. Run!
SAM YAO: Okay, Five. Owen and Jody are ahead of you. They seem alright with each other now. At least, Owen was encouraging Jody to ask out that mechanic who escaped from Brunswick the other day. You know, the bloke with enormous upper arms.
JODY MARSH: Yeah, thanks for that, Sam. Thank goodness you’re alright, Five. When we heard about New Canton -
OWEN LANDIS: I don’t understand how Moonchild got every person in the place! What’s to stop her doing it to us?
JANINE DE LUCA: She hasn’t suborned our leadership the way she has theirs.
SAM YAO: Suborned? You think she bribed their advisory council? I know Bernard’s a bit of a knob, but -
JANINE DE LUCA: Not bribed. Do you remember, Five, that gunman in New Canton? I believe he must have been under Moonchild’s control. A strategem to place the entire Permanent Advisory Council within her reach.
OWEN LANDIS: Hey, that’s right! She helped you get away, didn’t she, Five?
JANINE DE LUCA: And then what did she do?
JODY MARSH: Played whale song at them. Annoying, but not sinister.
JANINE DE LUCA: She played a soundtrack with a regular, repetitive beat, and - ?
SAM YAO: Oh my God! She gave you all ginseng tea, didn’t she? Loads of it!
JANINE DE LUCA: Yes. Ginseng tea, laced with her chemicals. I believe that was when she established control over the PAC. Possibly you didn’t drink enough of the stuff, Five, and thus she used Isabel’s hypnotic final trigger. Once the PAC were hers, they introduced the stuff into New Canton’s water supply. And this coal bunker she led you to – I think that place is the nerve centre of her operations.
SAM YAO: And you want us to attack it, when we’re under threat of annihilation from a ginormous army?
JANINE DE LUCA: If your enemy intends to attack your most vulnerable targets, the only way to win is to strike first. Moonchild, if you’re listening, and I’m sure you are, I’m going to hit you fast and hard. Runners Six and Four have been issued with high explosives.
SAM YAO: Oh, that is cunning.
JANINE DE LUCA: Divide your force, Moonchild, or see your base destroyed. Runner Five, you’ll guide them there. Go!
JANINE DE LUCA: Are you reading me, Abel runners?
JODY MARSH: Loud and clear, Janine.
JANINE DE LUCA: Good. I’ve switched to a new encrypted frequency. Moonchild should no longer be able to eavesdrop on our transmissions.
OWEN LANDIS: Beaut. Although you have kind of told her where we’re going anyway.
JANINE DE LUCA: That was necessary for the plan to work, Runner Six. She had to be aware that her base was under attack.
OWEN LANDIS: I know! It’s just she does have a bunch of people with guns going after us.
SAM YAO: Moonchild must have heard you, Janine. Your plan’s working. She’s hived off, well, looks like half her force. They’re heading straight for you. How’s it looking? I’ve hardly got any cams in Dunder Woods.
OWEN LANDIS: It’s spooky. There’s hardly any sunlight, there’s just shadows and these old, old trees with brown needles draped over them like shrouds.
JODY MARSH: Can’t believe you’re scared of a few pine trees! Wuss.
SAM YAO: And uh, any sign of, well, you know, zombies?
JODY MARSH: Can’t see them. We can hear them. A lot of them.
SAM YAO: This is where you saw those skinless zoms, wasn’t it, Five?
OWEN LANDIS: Skinless zoms?
SAM YAO: Yeah. Well, you know, run!
JANINE DE LUCA: [over intercom] Reinforcements to the east gates. Defending the army won’t matter if our perimeter is breached.
JODY MARSH: Oh God, that doesn’t sound good!
[door opens and shuts]
JANINE DE LUCA: Don’t concern yourself, Miss Marsh. Your own mission is your priority. You should be approaching Moonchild’s base now.
OWEN LANDIS: [scoffs] I can see a derelict shack. It doesn’t look like a high security facility.
SAM YAO: There’s a cellar underneath it.
JANINE DE LUCA: And I believe that cellar contains an entrance to a larger facility.
JODY MARSH: You believe? What if you’re wrong? We’ll be trapped in a cellar with thousands of zoms outside!
JANINE DE LUCA: The army Moonchild has sent after you suggests I’m not wrong.
[door creaks open]
OWEN LANDIS: Come on, Jody, Five. Down we go.
[footsteps]
JODY MARSH: Aw, it’s dark here. And dusty. Hold on, there’s an outline in the wall! Janine, you were right! It’s a door. A big metal door. [rattles door] A big metal locked door. There’s no way to open it.
AMELIA SPENS: I believe I can help with that.
OWEN LANDIS: Amelia? Amelia, you murderous cow!
SAM YAO: What the hell is she doing there?
AMELIA SPENS: Janine contacted me.
SAM YAO: Janine?! You -
JANINE DE LUCA: Recent events have made me think about the advisability of leaving anyone behind, of turning away from potential sources of assistance.
SAM YAO: Recent events? What, you mean your brother - ?
JANINE DE LUCA: None of us are precisely what we were. We can’t afford to simply throw useful resources away.
AMELIA SPENS: A “useful resource”? How charming. In any case, Owen, let’s keep ourselves under control until after I’ve helped you escape the hordes of zoms and mind-controlled people outside. Let me just -
[recording plays]
MOONCHILD: This is Moonchild. Authorization alpha niner foxtrot.
[security system beeps, door slides opens]
JODY MARSH: You opened it! How did you - ?
AMELIA SPENS: My automated runner guidance system has many uses. Well? What are you waiting for? Go inside.
OWEN LANDIS: This place is huge!
JODY MARSH: And so far, it’s been nothing but long concrete corridors and a surprising amount of tinned peaches.
AMELIA SPENS: It’s a defensive perimeter around Moonchild’s biolab. I imagine it’s rather similar to the one in Abel you never allowed me into, Janine. Of course, they were both built by Comansys.
JANINE DE LUCA: [over radio] What do you mean, there’s another force approaching?
SAM YAO: A second force? Um, got them on long-range cams. Oh God, there’s hundreds of them.
JANINE DE LUCA: We’ll deal with it, Mister Yao. Abel will not fall today!
AMELIA SPENS: Owen, this is a good location to plant the first explosive.
OWEN LANDIS: If you think I’m listening to you, after what you did to me - !
JANINE DE LUCA: Actually, she’s right. Miss Spens and I have been exploring mutually beneficial actions since she rescued Five. Can you set the first charge?
AMELIA SPENS: You heard her. As I said to Janine, you can trust me because I’m acting in my own self-interest, which very much does not include living in a world run by an aura-loving lunatic.
JANINE DE LUCA: Indeed. I suggest you not stretch my trust an inch further than that.
AMELIA SPENS: Duly noted. And I suggest you take a closer look at your battle.
SAM YAO: Hmm. Janine, those new people, they’re – well, it looks like they’re shooting at Moonchild’s forces! I think they’re on our side!
AMELIA SPENS: On my side, to be precise. You might recognize Simon at the head of that second armored column. You could call us the cavalry. I was very persuasive to the North Norfolk Militia. Come along, gang, off to set the next explosive.
[footsteps]
JODY MARSH: Look at this place! There must be about ten million computers here!
OWEN LANDIS: Yeah. Yeah, and half of them are running some sort of simulation, maybe.
AMELIA SPENS: Computer modeling of biological processes. This is where she’s been conducting her research into that plant of Veronica’s. Another good place for an explosive, Runner Five.
OWEN LANDIS: Who died and made you boss?
AMELIA SPENS: Quite a lot of your friends if my forces hadn’t shown up. Talking of which, how is the battle going?
SAM YAO: The New Canton forces are retreating! We’re winning! Yes! They don’t like it up them! Uh, yeah, less good at your end though, guys. Moonchild’s army’s nearly on you.
JODY MARSH: One more charge to set. Come on.
JODY MARSH: That’s the last explosive planted, Sam. How’s it all going?
JANINE DE LUCA: Moonchild’s army is very close, Miss Marsh. You need to leave now.
AMELIA SPENS: Hold on a second. There’s something I want to look at first.
JANINE DE LUCA: You don’t have seconds, Miss Spens.
AMELIA SPENS: This is important, Janine. I didn’t come down here for the good of my health. Look at this set of design sketches. It looks very similar to your zombie repelling device, but it’s labeled “Control Initiation Device”. I’m downloading these files. I think they hold the key to Moonchild’s interest in the ZRD.
OWEN LANDIS: Look what’s over here! Loads of personal stuff! Photos, letters. Blimey! How many degrees did she have by the time she was sixteen?
JANINE DE LUCA: The army’s splintering. I think Moonchild’s sending a force to cover each exit. Grab whatever you can and get out of there, now!
OWEN LANDIS: We hear you. Come on, guys!
[door opens]
JODY MARSH: Oh God, they’re following us! There’s no way we’ll get away!
JANINE DE LUCA: No. Your loss is unacceptable. All unnecessary losses today are unacceptable. Just one moment, I just need to – [switches channel] Moonchild, I’m broadcasting this on an open channel. You may pursue my runners, however, your entire base is filled with explosives. Once my runners are out of range, I shall detonate them. So you may use your resources to chase my runners, or to save your base. The choice is yours. De Luca, out.
SAM YAO: They’re all turning around! They’re running back towards the base!
JANINE DE LUCA: She won’t find the bombs as easy to defuse as she imagines. You must get out of the blast radius. Run!
[explosion]
JANINE DE LUCA: The charges are detonated. A complete success!
SAM YAO: Did we...did we just kill a lot of people from New Canton?
JANINE DE LUCA: Kill? No. Oh! The charges Runner Four, Five, and Six laid were dummies. Duds. Yes, apologies. Of course, you had to believe they were real. No, I had already placed charges at the perimeter, presuming that the layout was similar to that of our Abel lab. We’ve sealed about one fifth of the population of New Canton into that underground lab.
SAM YAO: To...starve to death?
JANINE DE LUCA: I have satisfied myself that the stores contain ample resources for a population of up to eight thousand. Or Moonchild may try to dig them out, which will further compromise her ability to attack us.
SAM YAO: That’s actually brilliant.
JANINE DE LUCA: Yes, I – it seems to me there are worse things than being imprisoned. One must learn to manage one’s emotions.
SAM YAO: Um, right. Is this – I mean, it feels like there’s a subtext to some of this. Anyway, the battle’s almost over here.
JANINE DE LUCA: For now. They’ll return.
SAM YAO: And there’s no one in the New Canton army left standing. Just bodies. That’s uh, I think that’s New Canton Runner One One Two.
JODY MARSH: I went on a supply run with him, once. You remember that Santa jumper I knitted for you, Five? He taught me that pattern.
AMELIA SPENS: The only blame here is Moonchild’s. She left your people no choice but to fight back. And I’ve seen everything I needed to see.
JANINE DE LUCA: You’ve confirmed your suspicions?
AMELIA SPENS: Yes, I’m certain. Runner Five, you told us that Moonchild suggested the so-called Zombie Repelling Device is much much, more than that. She’s desperate to get her hands on it because it’s the key to extending her mind control, perhaps worldwide.
JANINE DE LUCA: I see. Then I’ll order its immediate destruction.
AMELIA SPENS: No! It is a key which turns two ways. It could extend her mind control, but it could also allow us to break that control forever. You understand what this means?
JANINE DE LUCA: I do. Mister Yao, with me. Send for Doctor Myers. We’ll collect the ZRD en route. Runners Four and Six, return to Abel. Runner Five, rendezvous with us at the oak. We must move quickly. Run!
JANINE DE LUCA: You must keep moving, Runner Five. There’s not a moment to lose.
SAM YAO: Yeah. Janine, are you doing okay? I mean, what with the whole – I mean - [sighs] The Ministry told you to take as much time as you need.
JANINE DE LUCA: I have taken all the time I need.
SAM YAO: And there’s been no sign of Tom.
JANINE DE LUCA: [laughs bitterly] There wouldn’t be. Not unless he wanted to be found. He was always good at hide and seek, even as a child. He was a far better operative than me.
SAM YAO: But I mean – Janine. Look, I know you don’t like to talk about how things make you feel. But if it were me, right, if it were my sister, just turning up like that, and I’d abandoned her in uh, kind of classified circumstances, I think I would feel sad. And hurt, and guilty, and ashamed, and betrayed. And uh, also kind of weirdly happy. Like, happy that someone from before, who remembered me from before, was still alive. I mean, do you feel any of those things?
JANINE DE LUCA: Yes. He was my younger brother. Far brighter than me. It was he who recruited me. I have no doubt, Mister Yao, that I will see Tom again. He might appear mad, but he’s lost none of his skills. He must have been monitoring our communications for months to set his trap. One day, I may have to kill him. But for now, I have hope. For us, and for the world. Keep moving. We must rendezvous with Runner Five in just a few minutes. This is our mission, Mister Yao. The only thing is to focus on the mission! To do the right thing. That is all there is!
JANINE DE LUCA: Runner Five, Doctor Myers, we are about to entrust you with perhaps the most precious item in the world.
MAXINE MYERS: I don’t know that the drama helps, Janine.
JANINE DE LUCA: I wish to emphasis the importance of your mission. There is a building in London, the Comansys Tower.
SAM YAO: Ah, the one shaped like two spiral ice cream cones on a lampshade?
JANINE DE LUCA: Yes. That is where New Canton Five found the ZRD originally. That is where it must be returned. There is a transmitter there to broadcast a signal from the device to a network of orbitting satellites.
SAM YAO: To repel zombies from everywhere?
JANINE DE LUCA: No. Repulsion of zombies is merely a side effect of this device. This is a miniaturized version of the machine with which the doctor was treated at the Tavington Clinic. It can generate a signal which will forever close down the back door in the human mind which Moonchild’s mind control exploits.
AMELIA SPENS: The satellites will align within a precise window of about half an hour. We know it’ll happen in the next month, but not exactly when. But if you find Jack and Eugene, they’ll give you that intel.
SAM YAO: How do they know?
AMELIA SPENS: Ah. I may have convinced the Ministry to arrange their little tour. I may have concealed a transmitter in their van, which has been broadcasting useful intel to contacts of mine and in exchange, they have received some gifts which might not be what they seem. There’s a USB stick in the base of a Henry Moore statue they’ve been given by a loyal fan.
SAM YAO: You are the sneakiest person I’ve ever met.
AMELIA SPENS: Thank you! We think that Moonchild was making one of her rather strange allusions to satellites when she told you that heavenly bodies will align, Runner Five.
JANINE DE LUCA: Moonchild, of course, wants the ZRD very badly. I’ve suspected for a while that she had some mind control catalyst in mind, easier to administer and stronger than her plant extracts. That’s why she allowed you to destroy her tequila factory stock.
SAM YAO: And why Nadia said the mind-controlled New Canton people at the Treetop Base were destroying the plants!
JANINE DE LUCA: She believes the ZRD will be in her hands momentarily, and therefore, she has no need for the plants. If she can get to the top of Comansys Tower at the right time, and use the ZRD, she’ll take complete control of every single person on this planet.
AMELIA SPENS: And none of us wants that. Well, good luck. Let me know if I can give you a hand, Runner Five. I don’t want to be taken over any more than anyone else, after all.
JANINE DE LUCA: You and your forces will be staying here, Miss Spens. We must not allow Moonchild to suspect for a moment that the ZRD is not here. We must defend Abel as if we still have it. We must not allow any zombies near enough the perimeter to demonstrate that it is no longer here. And tell your soldiers maximum property damage for minimum casualties. I want a distraction, not a massacre of people who have become our enemies through no fault of their own, but it must be total war. The more desperate we seem to defend ourselves, the more likely it is that Moonchild will be convinced that we still have the device.
AMELIA SPENS: Yes, that makes sense.
JANINE DE LUCA: Runner Five, Doctor Myers, we know that you are both permanently immune to Moonchild’s mind control. Even if she tricks you into drinking her plant extract, it will have no effect. Therefore, we entrust this device to you. [device rings unevenly]
SAM YAO: Yeah, its battery’s never been brilliant.
JANINE DE LUCA: We’ll find some way to stabilize it. You, Mister Yao, will remain a radio operator for Five and Doctor Myers over their journey to London. Runner Five, Doctor, this is not going to be an easy journey. You will face privations and difficulties. Enemies will hunt for you at every turn. If Moonchild discovers you have the device, she will not rest until she has taken it from you, dead or alive. You must protect this device from harm. You must take it to London. You must be at the Comansys Tower at the appointed time to send the signal. It is no exaggeration to say that the entire future of the human race hinges on your success.
SAM YAO: So, no pressure, then.
Codex[]
Artefact[]
Communique to Cynthia Hill. Top Secret. Eyes Only.
The Ministry is delighted with the progress of your work with the prisons service. For security reasons, and as provided for under clause 73c) of our contract, we are moving your machine to a new site. Be assured it will be kept strictly secret. The Minister, however, does not see that your request to be kept abreast of the machine's whereabouts is in the national interest, and our hands are tied on this matter.
We are eager to explore further potential collaborative projects, however. We are already involved in an extremely interesting venture with Pandora Haze which we would be happy to discuss with you further.
Supplies[]
The following supplies can be found in this mission.
(List may be incomplete.)
9mm Ammo
Axe
Bandages
Boots
Bottled Water
Box of Lightbulbs
Car Battery
Cutlery
Deodorant
Disposable camera
Firewood
Fuel Can
Garden tools
Hairbrush
Lock pick
Makeup
Mobile Phone
Money
Notebook
Overcoat
Pain Meds
Radio
Sewing Kit
Shirt
Sports Bra
Teddy bear
Thermos flask
Tinned Food
Trousers
Underwear
USB Key
Base Unlocks[]
The following objects unlock for your Base upon completing this mission.
Extra Perimeter Defences
- Description: It's more important than ever for the zombies to get nowhere near Abel.
- Cost: 20 supplies, 3 materials
- Effect: Increases defence.
Trivia[]
- "Bad Moon Rising" is the longest mission in Season 3.
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