SMNTY Fiction: Terminus, Part 3 (Chapter 4)

Tilda confronts someone from her past who places his faith in her, and gives her the tools to save her son.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:05):
Hey, this is any and Samantha. I'm f the stuff.
Won't ever told you protection if I hurt radio, and
welcome back to Santy Fiction. It's been a while. It's
been a while. We took a little hiatus, but we

(00:26):
are back. This is a once a month thing generally
that we do. It's ongoing right now. We're in the middle,
we're in the third part of a trilogy, and we're
in the final stretch. We are in the final stretch.
Everyone Christina puts extra work into these. It makes them amazing,

(00:48):
so as always, shout out to her, but also understand
if this isn't your thing. Also, apologies because it has
been a minute and I'm I would suggest going back
to listen to the last episode, but I'm going to
try to give you a really good recap. So content
warning mentioned child endangerment, disease into the world type stuff.

(01:14):
There's nothing too intense in this chapter, but just to
say that will be there. Also disclaimer, I didn't know
I was going to have to put into anything I've
ever written. I have driven motorcycles before, but it's been

(01:34):
a long time, so forgive me if I got some
things wrong. That's very specific and funny. Yeah, I was
reading good. I was like, I don't know, maybe that's right.
I can't remember, but when I wrote it, I had
ridden a motorcycle much more recently, so anyway, I also

(01:55):
know it's not as easy as described, so please don't yell.
Let me. Bella can do it. So can I. You know,
I've been thinking, we haven't finished our we got to
our twilight. We got to wrap it up. We have to. Also,
I wrote this during Eno Rama, which is no longer
a thing, and some of you have written in about it.

(02:16):
It dissolved and sounds like it was a long time coming.
People are trying to start up more local versions of it,
so check into that if you're interested. But basically that
for those who don't know, you would write a novel
during the month of November. It didn't have to be great.

(02:36):
And this is one of the things I wrote during
that and I've only very lightly edited it because I
wanted to see what I was going through when I
was thinking during it. But all right, here's the recap.
It has been a minute. So there is a disease
called HSB five that has pretty much decimated the human population. Basically,

(02:59):
it makes it hard for people to get pregnant. It's
a sort of one and done situation. So the government,
which is called the state in here, has set up
these conception centers, which are the only legal place to
try to have a baby. They work alongside the religious
entity ARM, and if a baby is born, they decide

(03:19):
where the baby goes. Our protagonist, Tilda, decides to run
off with her child, Madison, who was produced illegally. For
seven years, they evaded the enforcers searching for them, eventually
encountering a resistance and learning that ARM was responsible for
HSB five and that there had been a vaccine, but
they destroyed all but one. Tilda and Madison go to

(03:43):
the heart of the enemy in Washington, d C. To
try to retrieve it, and it turns out that the
founders of ARM are Madison's paternal grandparents and they've been
saving the vaccine for him. He gets it, but then
a skirmish ensues and Tilda is able to broadcast the
truth over the brick gas system and escapes. They are
then pursued not only by the state and the resistance,

(04:06):
who wants Madison to make a cure, but also new
enemies who seek to harm them Madison struggles with guilt
over the vaccine. That pair are attacked by a militaristic
group that severely injures Tilda and kidnaps Madison, and now
she's desperately trying to heal and come up with a
plan and find him rescue him. But it's looking pretty hopeless.

(04:30):
She doesn't know where they are. She's still wounded. She
took shelter in a church, and then she was interrupted
by someone, and that's where we left off, So let
us get into the fiction. Gasping, Tilda spun around so

(05:03):
rapidly she teetered on the edge of losing her balance,
reaching for the gun in her waistband, but missing widely
as her pat got caught on the door with a thud.
And she was going to infiltrate a military bass. It's
all right. Tilda's eyes darted around wildly until they landed
on the source of the voice, a man rising from
a seat at one of the pews, situated from the pulpit,

(05:24):
his hands outstretched to indicate that he meant no harm.
I'm not going to hurt you, he assured her, as
she fumbled behind her for her weapon, gulping great painful
gasp of air. Do you remember me? Tilda shook her head,
cursing herself for not checking the room when she'd entered,
like she normally would. She hadn't heard anyone come in,

(05:46):
because you were too busy crying, she thought angrily. Her
fingers closed around the handgun and she tugged it free,
bringing it around to point it at the man, her
hands shaking so badly she could barely aim. Then eyes
lowered to the gun and then rose back up to
her face. Okay, you're armed, I'm not. Can we just

(06:08):
talk for a second. Tilda said nothing, concentrating on slowing
her breathing and keeping the gun steady, thinking despairingly of
the car that was getting further and further away, the
brief respite from hopelessness reciprocally diminishing. She could just shoot him,
she thought, and then almost instantly recoiled as if he

(06:31):
could see the callous laziness of her thought. Tilda imagined
she could see fleeting disappointment on the man's face, but
it quickly passed, or it may have been her projecting.
My name's Merlin from the resistance we met. He stopped
when recognition dawned on Tilda's face, his shoulders relaxing noticeably.

(06:55):
I remember you, she whispered, hoarsely, her decular least with
the muted shock of returning memories forgotten about, and recalled
with dull surprise that you had forgotten them in the
first place. You we met before, though she not composed
a sentence but a jumbled mishmash of words. Merlin nodded encouragingly. Yes,

(07:19):
the last time I saw you was in Chicago, right
before he broke off, licking his lips before the bomb
went off. Tilda supplied for him mentally, and it hung
unset in space between them. She wondered how many people
the Resistance had lost that day, how many friends of
Merlin's had died. With some shame, she realized she hadn't

(07:40):
spared them a second thought. Tilda's mouth opened to apologize,
but she closed it, thinking that it would do no good.
Merlin seemed to understand anyway. We thought you had died,
he told her, and Tilda furrowed her brow. When we
heard your voice over the broadcast, as he shook his

(08:02):
head with wonderment, some people were angry. His voice faded
to a droning background sound. Suddenly, Tilda became aware of
the gun in her hand and almost dropped it, as
though it was hot. That was the first time she
shot someone, most likely killed him Chicago. An embarrassed flush

(08:23):
rose to her cheeks, and she tightened her grip around
the handle, her aim now unwavering. Merlin's face fell. I'm
not here to hurt you, he reiterated softly. Then what
are you here for, Tilda demanded, doing her best to
assert some authority into her tone. Merlin observed her with

(08:44):
bright brown eyes. For a moment, will you sit, he requested,
simply gesturing to the pews. Tilda shook her head, breathing
through her nose, her mind raising the implications of his presence.
The resistance could come barging in at any moment, or
they could be out side waiting for her. I understand,

(09:04):
he said, not without some sadness, but I'm going to
sit at least, and he did, perching on the edge
of the pew and pivoting his body to face her.
We heard about Madison, he started, and though this was
said gently, til To experienced this as a punch to
the gut, her heart plummeting into her stomach. The gun

(09:24):
twitched in her hand, her shoulders and wrist aching from
holding it upright, but she did not lower it. How
she forced out. Merlin ran a hand through his hair,
stopping when Tilda jerked at the motion. The people who
took him and who I'm presuming did that to you,
he gestured, with his chin at her face and bloody

(09:46):
clothes contacted us about collecting the reward. Only they want much,
much more than we can give. Tilda swallowed, taking in
his every movement and facial tick, trying to derive any
information about Madison from him. The fact that we're so
desperate to get him back piked their interest. They know

(10:07):
that they have us exactly where they want us, but
they also know there must be something about him, something
that makes him unique. He released a heavy breath and
looked up at her. She took a reflexive step back,
her pack brushing against the door. It doesn't take a
genius to guess that he might be immune to HSV five,

(10:30):
what with your broadcast about the existence of a vaccine
and the resistance's desperation to find you. As if a
frost was slowly making its way through her body, Tilda
went unnervingly still hardly breathing. Who are they, she managed
in a whisper. They're a faction of survivors that have

(10:53):
been trying to form their own society, separate from the
Conception centers. They have a complex just west of Christianburg.
They're heavily armed and well. He broke off, and then
continued delicately. Their viewed as quite radical and dangerous. They

(11:13):
take members both willing and not. Tilda's knees trembled with weakness.
The gun lowered fractionally as her tired brain rushed to
process this. If they know are they think Madison is immune,
she began, horror, nipping at her heels. They won't exchange him,
no matter what we offer, Merlin said, with brutal simplicity.

(11:37):
They'll try to find a way to synthesize the vaccine
from his blood, and if they can't, they won't stop trying.
They'll never let him go. They'd rather the world die
than give him to another organization, effectively giving up their
power to whoever they gave him to. He's not, Tilda started,

(11:58):
her voice cracking. He's not some thing to be used
or given. She tried again. He's a child, He's my child.
Merlin watched her with sympathetic eyes. I know tears pricked
at her eyes, but she blinked them back. You can

(12:18):
take comfort in the fact that they'll want to keep
him in the very best condition possible. At least they
won't hurt him the way he said it. Was very
aware that the words offered very little in the way
of comfort until to derive no reassurance from them. An
image of her child alone and scared at sterile white
rooms rose to the forefront of her mind and refused

(12:39):
to be uprooted or ignored. That still doesn't fully answer
my question, she pointed out, What is the resistance doing here?
We're here to confront them and take medicine back, he
told her. This is our last stop before we move in.
The higher ups are coordinating our plan of attack. Some

(13:00):
of our members have been sent ahead to scout their location,
the level of security. I'm on recon Officially, I'm out
looking for supplies. Tilda noted his use of the word officially.
She didn't have to ask the question for him to answer.
But I've been looking for you, Tilda swallowed, glancing down

(13:20):
at the gun in her hands, now aimed somewhere at
the floor. She didn't have it in her heart to
raise it again. Why. Of course, we've been looking for you,
for both of you. But when the people who took
Madison contacted us, we asked about you. They told us
they left your body on the side of the road somewhere.
He told her bluntly that they weren't sure if you

(13:42):
were alive or dead. And another thought came to her then,
demanding her immediate and complete attention. What if Madison thought
she was dead? We knew where you were coming from
thanks to your transmission and the general proximity of where
Madison must have been taken in order for the radicals
to have taken him, So we mapped out a few

(14:04):
possible routes that you may have taken nearrowing it down
to a handful of options. We sent out caravans searching
for any sign of your body. One of the groups
ran into some folks on horseback and asked them if
they had seen you. They were reluctant at first, but
when the situation was explained, one of them admitted that
they had seen you, that you were heading west on

(14:25):
horseback last they saw you. I'm told they were very
worried about the two of you. By the way, Tilda
dismiss this a detached anger that the groups she sheltered
with had given up their location to their resistance. For
all they knew. It could have been anyone, including the
radicals that now had her son, or other groups like them.
Merlin kept going. Now we knew which way you'd gone

(14:48):
and by which road, so we called the other caravans
in and launched a search and rescue of sorts. We
found the carcass of a horse in the middle of
the road yours. After a moment, Tilda nodded numbly, we
thought so, so we searched the hillside and found signs
that indicated someone had fallen down the side and was injured.

(15:10):
There was blood on the leaves at the bottom. Merlin's
eyes robed over hers, if searching for the injury that
could have caused this, but nobody. And tracks traveling up
the hillside back up to the road that matched your profile,
we knew you must still be alive and would be
heading in the direction you'd seen them leave with Madison,

(15:31):
presuming you'd been conscious when they left. With shame, Tilda
recalled her internal debate over whether or not she should
pursue Madison, that perhaps his capture wasn't out for her.
In light of the resistance's automatic assumption that she would
go after her son, the shame was magnified even more.
She hoped Merlin couldn't read it on her face. If

(15:55):
he could, he gave no indication of it. Most of
our party went forward, but one caravans stayed back looking
for any sign of you. We stopped searched the small
towns as thoroughly as possible on our tight schedule, but
though there were a couple of things we thought might
be a trace of you, we never found any concrete evidence.
Since you were injured and on foot, I thought for

(16:17):
sure we'd find you on that long stretch between Shawswell
and here. But if you were there, we missed you.
Tilda remembered the lights that had awoken her in the
middle of the night. Merlin drew her attention back to him,
red hues from the stained glass windows painted onto his face.
As the sun sunk lower into the sky. We were
ordered to give up on the search effort to find you,

(16:38):
Madison was our mission priority. If we happened to find
you along the way, great But I knew you must
be here. If you'd headed in this direction at all,
there was no way you could have gotten much further
than this on foot, especially if you were hurt and
without intel. I knew you couldn't be sure of which
way to proceed, that you'd hole up somewhere and make
a plan. So I put myself in your shoes, and

(17:04):
first I went to the police station. He smiled, and
lo and behold, the back door had recently been opened,
a woman's shoe prints in the dust. But you weren't there.
So I started walking, looking for a space nearby where
you might stop. When I saw this church, he shrugged.

(17:25):
I figured you'd be here. It's the last place i'd
look normally apart from school. But I thought with Madison gone,
He trailed off, leaving the impact of his absence on
her left unsaid. A burning embarrassment took hold of her
that she was apparently so predictable. If she had prided

(17:45):
herself on one thing over the years, it was her
ability to hide and remain undetected. Evidently that pride was misplaced.
No one knows I'm here. No one knows that you're here,
or that I was still looking for you, he told
her evenly. She tried to guess at the reason why
he'd continue to search her out, even though he'd been

(18:07):
ordered not to and to do so without telling anyone,
and could not tell anyone why. She asked, again, tired,
why did you want to find me? Merlin watched her
for a moment. It never sat well with me how
you retreated when you were at our base, after everything

(18:29):
you'd been through. I've always been sort of inspired by you,
I guess, Tilda wrinkled her face in confusion at this.
You gave up everything for your son, You managed to
evade the best of the best while on the run
with the child, and you chose to risk losing him
to get him a vaccine. And after all that, when

(18:52):
I heard your voice on the broadcast, you sort of
became someone A lot of us looked up to the
ones you hadn't pissed off by your refusal to return
to the resistance, he flashed her or I smile. She
did not have the willpower to return it. And then
the radicals contacted us, told us you might be dead.

(19:16):
I really really didn't want that to be the case.
It surprised me how much I didn't want it to
be the case, he admitted with the tired chuckle. I
guess I'd never seen a mother and child interact like
the two of you before. I was so obvious that
you loved each other that you do anything to protect him.
He shook his head, momentarily lost in his thoughts. Till

(19:39):
didn't know how to handle this situation, more at a
loss to his resence than when he had begun. When
we found out you were alive and that you were
carrying on on foot injured to reunite with your son,
I wanted to help that. I guess I couldn't stop
thinking about your kid alone with those people, and you've

(20:00):
fighting against everything to get back to him, even though
the odds were so heavily stacked against you. He favored
her with an appraising look, then at her half lowered handgun,
the butt of the shotgun protruding from her pack. You
must know that you have almost no chance. You know

(20:20):
that right Anger came to Tilda's rescue, and she heard
herself say through the roaring in her ears, I'm not stupid,
but I will do whatever I have to. I know
you will, he said, quietly, his eyes coming to rest
on the gun still in her hands. I want to

(20:41):
help you, to give you a fighting chance. Tilda bit back,
a tide of questions she still had. At this she
frankly could care less on the finer points of why
he wanted to help her at this juncture. She just
wanted Madison back. And how do you intend to do that,
she asked, taking the tiniest of steps forward information, he

(21:04):
responded readily, like what she pushed, taking another step closer,
like when the resistance is planning to attack, he offered,
And your end goal is what exactly? A part of
her was taken aback by the brazen nature of her question.
For me and Madison to reunite and part ways from

(21:26):
the resistance, Merlin hesitated. If that is your choice, he allowed,
but I would try to persuade you to stay. The
look on her face must have shown her opinion on that,
He rushed to assert. Look, you have every right to
be suspicious, and I honestly do believe that you'll come

(21:47):
around on your own if we give you space and time.
Tilda very much disagreed with that notion. But the human race,
while it now has a surplus of space, does not
have much in the way of time, he said, somberly.
I didn't tell the others what I was doing, and
I won't tell them that I spoke to you, because
I don't want to force you to do anything, and

(22:10):
I'll grant you they might not take your desire to
part ways into consideration, not until they've created a working
vaccine from Madison's bood. At least, she found his honesty
both refreshing and disheartening. I'm betting on you, he said,
simply to do the right thing, or as right as

(22:30):
any avenue we have left to us in this shadow
of what once was. He shrugged, and as is the
nature of gambling, I might be wrong, but I do
know above everything that you will do what you think
is best for your sin so badly, Tilda wanted to
believe him. You've got to trust someone sometime, right, he said,

(22:55):
and Tilda responded, before she'd really thought about it, you've
been speaking time, Mother Merlin nodded. Homesickness in an intense
manner she hadn't experienced in a while, rose up inside
her so powerful her throat momentarily closed off. I never
asked for any of this, she heard her self murmur.

(23:18):
Worlds away. Unflustered, Merlin replied, I know none of us did.
Tilda looked at the gun in her hands, numb. She
almost admitted everything then, about how she felt unworthy, about
the doubt that plagued her decision to take Madison and
her ability to care for him, but the words lodged

(23:38):
in her throat. Merlin kept going, oblivious to the turmoil
begging to release inside her. We're moving in tonight if
our scouts get back without Intel influencing our plans. Otherwise,
like I said, just west of Christianburg. You can't miss it.
From what I understand, You're going to need to find
a means of transport. It just so happens that I

(23:59):
know where our working motorcycle is. He reached into his
pockets and held up some keys for her inspection. You
ever driven one before? Tilda shook her head, and Merlin snorted, yeah,
me neither. But it should be simple enough. Right at
the look on Tilda's face, he laughed, you'll figure it out.
I'm sure. The plan as of now is to strike

(24:21):
just before daybreak again, as long as we don't get
any news of obstacles from the people we sent ahead.
The radicals gave us a deadline. Right now, time is
on our side, and hopefully we'll have the element of surprise.
So you're suggesting I get there ahead of the resistance
and use their attack as a distraction. Basically, Merlin concurred,

(24:45):
and I see you have a few distractions of your own.
He indicated her visible weapons. Tilda remembered her earlier breakdown
about how useless they were in her hands, how powerless
she was even when armed, and looked away. Thought about
this for a moment. There these radicals, they're not going

(25:05):
to leave Madison just because you're attacking the base. If anything,
they'll use him as a shield. She managed to say
this in a fairly matter of fact way, even though
every cell in her body was screaming at the mere
suggestion of it. Merlin inclined his head solemnly. Yes, but
it's all I've got for you. It's a better shot

(25:26):
than you going it alone. At least now you know
what you're up against, and I can tell you the
plan is not to go in guns blazing. Infiltration in
a simple in and out would be ideal. You and
I both know the odds of succeeding are slim. Yes,
Tilda whispered, suddenly, feeling quite faint. She swayed on her feet.

(25:49):
Oh god, are you all right, Merlin exclaimed, half rising
from his seat. I'm sorry, I should have ast earlier.
I'm fine, she said, wincing at the rest veinis in
her own voice. You don't look fine, Merlin informed her seriously.
The moment passed. Untilda straightened. I'm fine, she repeated firmly.

(26:13):
Merlin did not look convinced. Maybe I should get you
some help, No, Till denied immediately. Now where is this motorcycle?
Merlin looked as if he wanted to argue, but at
the mualous expression on Tilda's face, he backed down. Garage,
he said, shortly two blocks west of the police station,

(26:35):
black sleek looking thing. I tested it up, reved up
like a dream, and you just happened to pawn this.
Til to ask, dubiously, Well, I was on a supply run,
Merlin reminded her, half jokingly. He tossed her the keys.
Tilda caught them and slid them into her pocket, not
relishing the fact that he would know where she was going.

(26:57):
It could be a trap. The doubt must have been
and obvious on her face, because Merlin hastened to reassert
I'm not going to tell anyone. Hell, I won't even
know myself if you take the damn thing. I'm just
trying to do my part. I suppose if you do
escape with your kid, then the resistance doesn't discover a vaccine.

(27:18):
That's on me. I suppose for trusting you. Tilt his
eyes straight to the statue of the man behind Merlin,
hanging from the cross. I don't trust the Resistance. I know,
I already said, I don't blame you. Madison wanted to

(27:39):
go back, you know, she admitted, without really planning to,
if he could help with a care I told him
it wasn't safe. I understand, Merlin assured her calmly. I
don't know. She blurted out what I'll do if I

(28:00):
when I get him back. She corrected, I know that too,
but I can tell you as I'm sure you know,
the resistance will not stop looking. He'd be safer from
groups like these with us. Tilda did not respond. Merlin
stood slowly, watching Tilda as one might watch a cornered

(28:22):
animal liable to strike. I've said my peace. I know
you have no reason to trust me, but I promise you.
I have no intention of telling anyone I saw you.
There's no one waiting for you outside, and there will
be no one waiting for you at that garage. I
just wanted to give you the tools to get your
sent back. Tilda wavered on the verge of thanking him,

(28:47):
but refrained, still uncertain that this wasn't some elaborate trap.
For an awkward moment, they watched each other. I still
don't understand, Tilda confessed, helplessly. Why help me, because I
have to believe there's still some good in this world,

(29:07):
Merlin said flatly, or else was the point in saving it.
He took a couple of steps forward. Will you let
me leave? He gestured to her gun. After a moment,
Tilda retreated from the door, allowing him passage. Merlin proceeded
forward slowly, clearly doing his best not to spook her,
but he paused with his hand on the door. Tilda's

(29:31):
grip tightened instinctively on the gun, though she did not
raise it. I hope to see you again some day,
he said, quietly, not quite looking at her, and that
whatever you choose to do, you and your son are safe.
And then he pushed out the door. It swung shut
with a soft clock behind him, and Tilda stood immobilized,

(29:53):
her ears almost painfully tense, listening for any sound outside
of betrayal, but there was none. She retraced her steps
back down the hall and took the side door out,
adrenaline drowning out the pain of her injuries as she
darted behind the church and under an opening in the fence.
Not stopping, she crossed one street and then another, laser

(30:14):
focused on getting out of this place as soon as possible.
Even if Merlin was telling the truth, there was still
the possibility he'd been caught out, or he'd changed his mind,
some one else might spot her. She wanted to put
as much distance as possible between her and them as
quickly as possible. She looked to her left and right

(30:34):
for this garage once she'd gone two blocks and spotted
a sign with the zooming black carnet that read Shining
Garage and Auto Parts, and she jogged toward it, the
shotgun bouncing heavily against her lower back and almost surely
leaving a bruise. Tilda stayed alert as she ran towards it,
looking for any sign of the trail. She turned into
the parking lot, her eyes roving over cars and mopeds,

(30:57):
but not locating any sleek butt motorcycle. Looking behind her,
she ventured toward a set of metal garage doors, grasping
the handle of the closest one and hoisting it up.
Inside was a cement room outfitted with tool shelves and
work spaces, and in the center was a black, shining motorcycle.
Tilda glanced over her shoulder once again before slipping the

(31:17):
door closed behind her, leaving a little bit of space
at the bottom open to hopefully expedite her getaway should
she need to make one. Like it was a beast
that needed to be wrangled, She approached the bike, doing
her best to control the reflexive panics she got at
the thought of operating it. She fished the keys Merlin
had given her out of her pocket, briefly wondering how
in the world it could have been she made such

(31:39):
an impression on him. They'd only seen each other a
handful of times and had only spoken once. With a pang,
she realized that he'd seen her mother, spoken to her
more recently than Tilda herself had, and at length enough
for her mother to espouse under her many words of wisdom.
You've got to trust some one some time. Tilda ran

(32:01):
her hands along the motorcycle's handles its switches. She crouched
to take in the petals. Simple enough, she told herself, bracingly.
A glance outside the garage windows confirmed that she had
very little light left. There were both pros and cons
till leaving before the sun had set. She decided, without
giving it too much thought, that it was best to

(32:21):
leave sooner rather than later, even if that did leave
her more exposed. There wasn't much time before the light
was gone, anyhow. After familiarizing herself at the bike, clumsily
adjusting the seat, and giving herself a brief overview of
how she supposed it worked, she consulted her map, hazarding
a general guest to her location and determining her general
path out of White Pine. Tilda took a deep breath.

(32:44):
Eyeing the machine. She tested to make sure the key
fit in the lock, something she should have done first,
but was a forgiveabhole oversight because it slid home fatalistically.
Tilda pulled open the garage door and quickly returned to
the bike, snapping up the kickstand with her shoe and
balancing on it as though it were a living thing.
Girding herself, Tilda cranked the key, wincing as the engine

(33:04):
at first sputtered loudly before waring to life with painful volume. Experimentally,
Tilda pressed down on what her experience on a bike
led her to believe would be the brakes. Sure enough,
that engine quieted with something like a resigned devil may
care attitude. Tilda lifted her feet off the ground and
placed them on the pedals, her balance wavering dangerously, and
she pressed down gently on what she presumed to be

(33:26):
the gas. Sure Enough, the bike shot forward, and Tilda
had to swerve to avoid a car, almost creaning into
another car in the process. Instinct guided her and she
righted herself, navigating out of the parking lot and stops
and starts in a much confused path. She took her
right on the road, hating that her hearing was impaired
due to the low rumble of the engine. At the intersection,

(33:48):
she stopped at the stop sign, looking both ways before
she nearly laughed aloud. There was no one else on
the road anymore, or bank stop signs. She flew past
the next few intersections without stopping, gradually appiling more and
more pressure to the acceleration, her hair whipping behind her.

(34:32):
And that brings us to the end of this episode
of Terminus Part three, which is called Finite. I love
a good title. I have all these titles. We're getting
close to the end, and I think it's got a
pretty it's building up. Just something got boom. Yeah. I

(34:53):
do have to say I'm not going to go into
it in depth, but I've mentioned before a lot of times.
When I go back over these, I'm like, oh, I
know exactly where I was in this point in my life,
at this point in my life. So I have ridden
motorcycles before. I had. I owned one in China, and

(35:18):
the first time I wrote it, I did it very
recklessly and I crashed immediately and I have a scar
from it. I was fine, it was okay, but I
just to reiterate, I do know it doesn't work, like, yeah,
that was my bad. But I did have somebody coaxing

(35:41):
me on. He was like, you can do it, just
do this, and I was like, okay, and no, no,
absolutely no. The motorcycle is also a reference to Silent Hill,
which is one of my favorite franchises. There is a
whole thing in the first game where you have to

(36:02):
you don't have to, but if you know what you're doing,
if you can find a motorcycle, and it changes the
ending of the game. So that was a reference as well.
I know I mentioned it before, but Merlin, the character
Merlin is based on someone I met in Australia who

(36:23):
was very tech savvy and his name is Merlin. I
was like, the coolest thing. But it was going back
over this and their conversation was very fascinating to me

(36:43):
because he's kind of basically like, I'm betting on you
and I hope that you I hope that you do
what I think is the right thing. But I'm going
to give you these tools and I hope that you
can save your son. So you shall see. Uh it
is to be continued, I think. I mean we could

(37:06):
have two chapters left. Oh that's coming, yeah yeah, yeah yeah,
and then we'll move into something else. Yes, But I
really hope that people are still interested. I have loved
hearing from people who are and write in h so

(37:26):
please keep that coming. You can email us at Hello
at stuff Onnever Told You dot com. You can find
us on Blue Guy at Moms podcast or on Instagram
and TikTok at Stuff I've Never Told You. We're us
on YouTube and we have a book you can get
wherever you get your books. Thanks as always too our
super producer Christina or executive pducer Maya and your contributor Joey.
Thank you and thanks to you for listening. Stuff Never

(37:48):
Told You is production of my Heart Radio. For more
podcast from my Heart Radio, you can check out the
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