"Electric Dreams" is the sixteenth mission of Season 2.
You peel off from a large group of decoy runners to explore a small plant and lab facility believed to belong to Van Ark.
Cast[]
- Simon Lauchlan (Thomas Nelstrop)
- Major de Santa (Tracy-Ann Oberman)
- Sara Smith (Clare Kissane)
- Jamie Skeet (Chris Rochester)
- Archie Jensen (Olga Leon)
- Sam Yao (Philip Nightingale)
- Maxine Myers (Sally Orrock)
- Professor Van Ark (Philip Jennings)
- New Canton Runner (Six to Start Ensemble)
Crew[]
- Writer: Rebecca Levene
- Director: Matt Wieteska
- Sound Designer: Richard Bell
- Series Created By: Naomi Alderman
Scenes[]
Top Secret
You and Archie peel away from the crowd to commence a secret mission.
No Soldiers, Just Zombies
Maxine reveals you’re heading to the small lab facility where the old tone generating box you found a few months ago originated.
Partial Intel
Archie finds a room full of tone devices much more sophisticated than the one you found, along with a book of research notes about tonal patterns.
Very Important Data
You hear the lab's speakers emit an ominous tone and Sam informs you that the whole horde is now heading for Archie.
Chop Chop!
Archie barricades herself in the lab as Sam attempts futilely to imitate the tone control. Luckily Archie manages to recode a tonal device which knocks over all the zombies.
Set-Up
The tones change and the zombies outside suddenly reanimate and knock out Archie. Van Ark's chopper descends from the sky to pick her up.
Transcript[]
[background chatter]
SIMON LAUCHLAN: This is fun, isn’t it? Hands up, who thinks this is fun? [crowd laughs]
MAJOR DE SANTA: Crucial mission, Runner Three. No time for hijinks.
SIMON LAUCHLAN: Can’t a man enjoy his job?
SARA SMITH: This isn’t a walk in the park, Three. Van Ark’s base in Linland Lake is very well defended.
JAMIE SKEET: Great. It’s a suicide mission. Why am I here, again?
ARCHIE JENSEN: Because I asked you to come, and good boyfriends do what their girlfriends ask! At least, some of the time. Most of the time. Well, maybe half of the time.
JAMIE SKEET: Yeah, I’m an idiot.
ARCHIE JENSEN: Anyway, we’ll be safe. There are lots and lots of us today. I can see Runner Thirty-two, and Runner Seventeen, and Runner One Hundred and Fifty-six. Oh, and there’s Runner Seven from Abel, and Runner Ninety, and -
SIMON LAUCHLAN: Yep, the gang’s all here. Everybody, make some noise! [crowd cheers, noisemaker rings]
MAJOR DE SANTA: Save that for the zombies, Three. Company’s approaching. Seems Van Ark got wind of our mission. Small group of hostiles coming in from your ten. New Canton, Group One to engage.
NEW CANTON LEADER: Copy that, Major. Group One engaging. [gunshots]
SAM YAO: Archie, Runner Five, can you hear me?
ARCHIE JENSEN: Sam, is it time?
SAM YAO: Yup. Van Ark’s soldiers are otherwise engaged while the crew of runners mount a decoy attack. And the orchard to your left will keep you hidden from the cameras. Think this is your cue.
JAMIE SKEET: Be careful, Arch.
ARCHIE JENSEN: I don’t need to be careful. I’m clever, instead. Come along, Five. Time for our Top Secret, hush hush, ultra important mission. So exciting!
SAM YAO: Okay. Runner Five, Archie? You’re approaching Dunderwood Village now. Just cut through that orchard to your left, and you’ll be there.
ARCHIE JENSEN: And Van Ark has a secret base here? It is a very silly name for a village with a secret base.
MAXINE MYERS: Maybe, but Zero Prime Electronics has a small plant and lab facility here. You remember that old tone-generating box you found, Runner Five? A few months back, now. It was smashed beyond repair, but we were able to read the serial numbers on some of the parts, and they definitely originated in this plant.
SAM YAO: We think this may be another of Van Ark’s satellite bases.
MAJOR DE SANTA: Stands to reason. Man likes to decentralize his resources. Nodal structure. Classic strategy.
ARCHIE JENSEN: Yes, that is very clever. Oh, but look, Five – an apple! Do you think it’s got a worm in it? I’ll just pick it, and [leaves rustle, apple crunches] Hmm… [laughs] No worm!
SAM YAO: Do you know what’s worse than finding a worm in your apple? [laughs] The zombie apocalypse! [imitates rimshot]
ARCHIE JENSEN: Mmhmm, yes, the zombie apocalypse is much worse than a worm. Even than half a worm, which would also be bad to find in your apple.
MAJOR DE SANTA: Eyes on the prize, chaps. Entering the village now. Zero Prime Electronics is at the end of the lane.
SAM YAO: Any sign of Van Ark’s soldiers? We’re hoping the attack on Linland Lake will have drawn them away, but -
ARCHIE JENSEN: No soldiers, just zombies. Quite a lot of zombies, and they’re all fast. We like fast zombies, don’t we, Runner Five? We have had many fun times together running away very scared from them.
SAM YAO: Damn. Well, I suppose it was too much to hope we’d drawn them all away. Lucky we prepared for this. You know what to do, guys. Get yourselves in position.
MAJOR DE SANTA: Sound off, chaps. Runner NC Twenty, in position?
ARCHIE JENSEN: Aye aye, Captain!
SAM YAO: Now, I think that’s what they say in the, you know, in the Navy. I think you should say, um -
MAJOR DE SANTA: No need for formalities, Yao. I can see Runner Five’s in position. Use the whistles now.
[Runner Five whistles, zombies moan]
SAM YAO: That’s great, Five. All those zoms are following you. Maxine was definitely right about that tone. If you veer around the churchyard and circle back, you should be able to keep ahead of them and keep them away from Archie.
ARCHIE JENSEN: While I go inside and look. [door opens, Runner Five whistles] I am inside. Ooh, it is very pretty. They have vases full of flowers on the counter and on the table and on that shelf. Except that they’re all dead and wilty, and it is a little bit spooky now.
SAM YAO: Okay, Archie. I’m going to try out Janine’s new signal booster on your headcam, see if we can get our own view of, well, you know, the dead flowers. Ah, and there it is, clear as day! Just have a quick look around for me. [shudders] [laughs] That makes me feel all dizzy.
ARCHIE JENSEN: How about if I nod my head up and down like this?
SAM YAO: Stop that.
[Runner Five whistles]
ARCHIE JENSEN: [laughs] Okay. Oh, look, a sign to the primary lab. I’m following it.
SAM YAO: Good. And Runner Five? Doing great out there. Twenty paces clear, and those zoms are still following you. Archie should have plenty of time to poke around inside.
MAXINE MYERS: Major de Santa, do you see that? Looks like Archie’s found the motherlode!
MAJOR DE SANTA: Jolly good show! What have you dug up there, Twenty?
ARCHIE JENSEN: Very exciting. It is a room full of many of the tone devices, only very much more sophisticated than the one we have. Also not broken. And here as well there are notes, research notes. Let me look…
[Runner Five whistles]
MAJOR DE SANTA: Can’t read through the headcam, Twenty. Tell us what you see.
ARCHIE JENSEN: Hmm… there are, um, many different tone patterns, not just two or three. There is a whole thick book full of them. And more than one tone means the same thing, as if there were several different families of tones for different zombies.
SAM YAO: So that means our runners out in the field might have the means to control those zoms!
MAJOR DE SANTA: Don’t know that yet, Yao. Can’t change a plan on partial intel. Carry on, Twenty. Keep looking.
[zombies groan]
SAM YAO: Runner Five? You might want to pick up the pace. I know running is tiring, and whistling – running and whistling, really not a great combo – but the zoms are starting to gain on you. Wait until you’re at the lych gate to whistle again, and Archie? Maybe, you know, hurry it up a bit? Runner Five can’t keep going forever.
ARCHIE JENSEN: But it is all so very interesting!
MAXINE MYERS: [sighs] What does it say, Archie? We aren’t mind readers.
ARCHIE JENSEN: The neural networks, once operationalized, can be remotely rerouted using subsonic frequency transmissions!
MAJOR DE SANTA: Layman’s terms, Runner Twenty.
ARCHIE JENSEN: He’s using aural signals to rewrite the brain’s own architecture so that it responds to different aural signals!
MAXINE MYERS: You’re saying he can change the tone response in zoms remotely? By sending out a different tone?
ARCHIE JENSEN: Exactly! It is called recursion – very clever! Also… [lab speaker emits ominous tone] Oh, yes, that is exactly how he would change the tone. Did the zombies respond, Sam? That is very important data.
SAM YAO: Get out of there right now! The zoms have stopped chasing Runner Five. They’re all running towards the lab entrance – every single one of them!
[zombies groan, Runner Five whistles repeatedly]
SAM YAO: Keep whistling, Five! There must be something those zoms’ll respond to. And Archie? Archie, you’re going to have to stop running. The zoms are at the door, it’s too late to get out. Just barricade yourself in, sit tight, and we’ll… we’ll find a way. We’ll get you out of there. Yes, yes, Five, that’s good! Try throwing stones at them. Maybe if you can get their attention -
[thump of a stone hitting a zombie]
MAXINE MYERS: Oh, that’s not going to work, Sam! They’re not interested in Five, they have their own instructions.
MAJOR DE SANTA: Blast it! Van Ark knew we were coming.
[Runner Five whistles repeatedly]
SAM YAO: Yeah, but like, how? We haven’t transmitted any intel. We haven’t even told most people at Abel!
ARCHIE JENSEN: No need to worry. I am still here, and the door is locked, and… well, they are clawing at it really quite strong, but I have time. I have read all those papers, and the machines are here. My supervisor at Cambridge was always impressed by how I could assimilate information super quickly, even when I seemed… what was it he said? “To be thinking of nothing and talking out of rot.” I’ll read the papers, and I will find something.
SAM YAO: [imitates tone signal] No, no, that’s not – [imitates a different tone] Yes, yes, that’s it! [continues imitating tone] Try that, Five, try – that’s the tone controlling them now. [Runner Five whistles] Ugh, they’re ignoring it! And they’re nearly through the door!
MAXINE MYERS: Van Ark’s changed the pitch as well as the tone. They won’t respond to our dog whistles at all anymore.
SAM YAO: So what? What do we do? I am not leaving Archie there to die, that is not happening.
ARCHIE JENSEN: Archie is taking care of herself, Sam. Following through the diagram here, I have already recoded this device, and now – [device emits new ominous tone] Has it worked? Tell me if my idea was so clever after all.
SAM YAO: It has! You’re a genius, Archie! The zoms have all fallen down, it’s like you cut their strings.
MAXINE MYERS: I don’t know what you did, but -
ARCHIE JENSEN: Well, I replaced the chips in this device with the ones from that case, and broadcast a reset code for the five main -
MAJOR DE SANTA: Explanations later. Priority now is getting out. Five will drag the zoms clear of the door, Twenty, then you can shoot through. Chop chop, no time to waste.
[distant sound of a helicopter]
SAM YAO: Okay, Archie, we’re nearly there. Runner Five’s dragged four zoms clear of the doorway. You should be able to push it open and get out.
MAXINE MYERS: And look – getting out and safe is a priority. If you can grab any of that research -
ARCHIE JENSEN: I have all the research in my head. It’s very simple. Fourier analysis explains most of it quite well. I think there are only eight main functions, with many subfunctions available using subtle modulations. I have taken a lot of the paper, and one of those machines that is not broken. Mmhmm… we might be able to brute force it, jamming the control tones, and using… hmm. [ominous tone sounds] They’re changing it again! Wait! I have seen this pattern. I can reset it if I just pull out this chip, and -
SAM YAO: No, no! They’re getting up, they’re all getting up – Archie!
[ARCHIE JENSEN screams, and then her transmission is cut off by static]
MAJOR DE SANTA: Runner Five, get out now. That’s an order.
SAM YAO: No, Runner Five won’t leave Archie! You can still – you can still reach her. They’re ignoring you, you can save her!
[helicopter very close by]
MAXINE MYERS: Oh my God. Is that -
SAM YAO: It’s Van Ark! I can see him hanging out the side of that helicopter, and they’re… Runner Five’s too far behind. You’ve got to get out of there, now, Five, run! Those zoms are passing Archie up to him. I think she’s unconscious. I mean, she can’t be dead, can she? They wouldn’t bother if she was dead?
MAXINE MYERS: She’s alive, Sam. Van Ark wanted her alive. That’s what this was all about, this whole setup! A mind like hers will be invaluable to him.
MAJOR DE SANTA: Withdraw, Runner Five. We are not losing you, too.
PROFESSOR VAN ARK: Thank you, Abel runner, for delivering my package! Hope you’re not offended that this is a flying visit, but you know how it is. Places to be, people to… question.
SAM YAO: Come home, Runner Five. You did everything you could.
[helicopter flies away]
Codex[]
Supplies[]
The following supplies can be found in this mission.
(List may be incomplete.)
9mm Ammo
Axe
Bandages
Baseball Bat
Batteries
Bottled Water
Box of Lightbulbs
Mobile Phone
Pain Meds
Power Cable
Radio
Shirt
Shorts
Sports Bra
Tinned Food
Tool Box
Trousers
Underwear
Base Unlocks[]
The following objects unlock for your Base upon completing this mission.
Tall Radio Tower
- Description: Surely all radio towers are tall? Well, this one is even taller than normal. Which is useful when trying to 'Rofflenet' with settlements further afield than Abel's own backyard - like those in other continents...
- Cost: 20 supplies, 3 materials
- Effect: Increases defence.
Lecture/blackboard (addon for the Training Area)
- Description: Knowledge is power.
- Cost: 5 supplies, 1 material
- Effect: Increases defence.
Trivia[]
- Runner Five originally found the Tone-producing device in Season 1 Mission 4: A Lost Child.
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