- SFX
- high-heeled footsteps
- SFX
- footsteps stop, sound of an entry scan
- SLOAN
- William.
- DR. DANSE
- Sloan.
- DR. DANSE
- What are you doing here?
- SLOAN
- I told you I'd make my way down to your lab today. Did you get my text?
- DR. DANSE
- Text?
- DR. DANSE
- Uh, no, I've been attending to my research on the pebblewhack.
- SLOAN
- I can see.
- DR. DANSE
- Isn't it wonderful?
- DR. DANSE
- Its integumentary system allows for complete chromatic adaption to surrounding geological features.
- DR. DANSE
- Quite the specimen.
- DR. DANSE
- Almost… cute, in its own way.
- SLOAN
- That's not exactly how I would describe it. No.
- DR. DANSE
- Yes, yes, if it doesn't have fur, you aren't interested.
- DR. DANSE
- How many cats do you have again?
- SLOAN
- That's not exactly...
- SLOAN
- It's more complicated than that. I'm still reeling from the broodling that you let loose in my office. Every time I hear a bump or a creak, it gives me goosebumps.
- DR. DANSE
- I took care of it.
- SLOAN
- (Chuckling) You sure did.
- DR. DANSE
- You should see them now.
- DR. DANSE
- They've become quite, uh...
- DR. DANSE
- …Girthy.
- SLOAN
- I'm afraid I'll have to pass.
- SLOAN
- Bummer.
- SLOAN
- And anyways, that's not why I'm here.
- DR. DANSE
- Yes.
- DR. DANSE
- Why was that again?
- SLOAN
- It's about the... …evaluation I requested from you for Agent Reyes. Post-aberrant encounter with ATPC-0214.
- DR. DANSE
- Go on.
- SLOAN
- Control caught wind of it. And now she's interested in the report.
- SLOAN
- Has she contacted you at all?
- DR. DANSE
- Yes, she has.
- DR. DANSE
- I sent her the report immediately.
- SLOAN
- I see. For your report, I don't... …suppose my name was used?
- DR. DANSE
- Of course not.
- DR. DANSE
- I assumed if you wanted your name on the record, you would have made an official request.
- SLOAN
- Okay.
- SLOAN
- Good. You're correct, of course.
- DR. DANSE
- Is something the matter?
- SLOAN
- Uh, no.
- SLOAN
- Just trying to keep my name off of this as much as I can. I'm sure you get it. Everything is high stakes when Control is involved, and now everyone in orbit of the Hound case is under scrutiny.
- DR. DANSE
- So what's got everyone in a huff over that case anyway?
- SLOAN
- I can't answer that.
- DR. DANSE
- Ah. Of course.
- SLOAN
- Oh, no, not like that. I just genuinely don't know. My best guess is that this is somehow related to ATPQ-0112. After that case, TRU seems to be under the spotlight, and I don't like how interested The Curtain is in that stupid pendant.
- DR. DANSE
- Well, rest assured, I did my due diligence.
- DR. DANSE
- Agent Reyes's proximity to the plaster pig was adequate justification for his quarantine.
- DR. DANSE
- I don't think this is a cause for undue alarm.
- SLOAN
- Okay. Good.
- DR. DANSE
- So, since you're here, I've been meaning to ask you, has anything developed with Operation Capillary?
- SLOAN
- Ugh. Not this again.
- DR. DANSE
- Excuse me?
- SLOAN
- We've been over this. Yes, the location held incredible potential, but The Curtain is pursuing an alternative, and it suits my team's needs just fine. A safer, more stable alternative.
- DR. DANSE
- I...
- DR. DANSE
- You're talking about Lavender Lane?
- DR. DANSE
- You really think a spatially unpredictable Aberration with cognitive properties is more stable?
- SLOAN
- First of all, fallacy of composition.
- SLOAN
- You are way oversimplifying.
- SLOAN
- The Realtor is the only method of garnering any information for the house.
- SLOAN
- It's been separated and detained at this point.
- SLOAN
- Second, at least we know the capabilities of the house. Quantum and temporal properties that allow for an infinite storage container that also induces complacency in the occupants? It's perfect!
- DR. DANSE
- I'm not talking about containing witnesses, Sloan.
- DR. DANSE
- I'm talking about containing Aberrations.
- DR. DANSE
- I was just going to ask you to give Capillary a nudge.
- DR. DANSE
- See if there's any chance it will be revisited.
- DR. DANSE
- Control keeps rejecting my proposals to re-enter, and any additional requests from me will fall on deaf ears.
- DR. DANSE
- She thinks I'm too close to it all.
- DR. DANSE
- But you, maybe...
- DR. DANSE
- …Maybe you can find a way to convince the Mezzanine to restart the project.
- SLOAN
- How?
- DR. DANSE
- I don't know, Sloan.
- DR. DANSE
- Rig some containment breach?
- DR. DANSE
- Someone who got too curious and stumbled in on it?
- DR. DANSE
- I–I don't know, …come up with a story.
- DR. DANSE
- This is your area of expertise.
- SLOAN
- Did you forget what a mess that was? How many personnel were lost? Cover-up was a nightmare.
- DR. DANSE
- But-
- SLOAN
- Look, I'm sorry your little passion project didn't pan out, truly. But nothing about how things ended led anyone to believe that Operation Capillary had any chance of success.
- DR. DANSE
- My… little passion project?
- DR. DANSE
- Are you really okay with sitting back while The Curtain lets this opportunity slip away?
- SLOAN
- I am!
- SLOAN
- I am incredibly okay with that.
- SLOAN
- A category 5 Aberration with quantum, spatial, temporal, and cognitive attributes that keeps to itself when left alone.
- SLOAN
- Yes, believe it or not, I am okay with leaving it alone, William.
- DR. DANSE
- Well, I'm not.
- DR. DANSE
- This could have changed everything.
- DR. DANSE
- And this isn't just about me either.
- DR. DANSE
- The personnel left inside believed in the operation too.
- DR. DANSE
- They wouldn't have wanted it to just let it all be for nothing.
- SLOAN
- Well.
- SLOAN
- Then you'll have to be content with not being content. Because after that PR clusterfuck, you're lucky that there weren't more repercussions than being assigned back to the lab.
- DR. DANSE
- Have you forgotten that you owe me?
- SLOAN
- Come again?
- DR. DANSE
- The Reyes quarantine?
- SLOAN
- Hah! Oh, please.
- SLOAN
- You said it yourself. It was justified.
- DR. DANSE
- What isn't justified is omitting your name from the record to hide that it was all motivated by hurt feelings, Sloan.
- SLOAN
- Aha! Okay, William.
- SLOAN
- You know what also isn't justified? Bringing uncontained Aberrations into my office and setting them free.
- DR. DANSE
- That was an accident.
- SLOAN
- Yes, an accident due to a clear breach of policy and professional incompetence that could have easily resulted in a write-up, if not worse. But I kept my mouth shut, even after the little freak left its DNA all over my carpet.
- SLOAN
- So how about you stop pretending that you're the king of protocol?
- DR. DANSE
- How about you stop acting like I haven't covered for you on many an occasion?
- SLOAN
- Oh, so we're keeping score now!
- DR. DANSE
- Apparently we are.
- DR. DANSE
- Remember Becca, when she was exposed to the gristle thing's mucus?
- SLOAN
- Yes, yes I-
- DR. DANSE
- You came to me because you didn't want her loaded into one of Koška's vans and taken to a Curtain black site.
- DR. DANSE
- So I decontaminated her - again, off the record.
- SLOAN
- That was you paying me back for when I covered your incident with the botched sedative!
- DR. DANSE
- You know that wasn't my fault.
- DR. DANSE
- The field team didn't account for the weight of the overlapping woman and applied the wrong dosage.
- SLOAN
- Yes! And all personnel were locked into a parallel reality stream as a result. After which you called me in a panic because you didn't want to have to explain all that away to Control.
- DR. DANSE
- Which I thanked you for multiple times.
- SLOAN
- Thank you's don't erase paper trails. I have to bury them.
- DR. DANSE
- Hm. You're right.
- DR. DANSE
- It seems I didn't realize we had so many tallies on the scoreboard.
- DR. DANSE
- I suppose you and I are square.
- DR. DANSE
- In that case, I think it would be best if you and I kept things strictly professional going forward.
- DR. DANSE
- Protocol only.
- DR. DANSE
- No more favors.
- DR. DANSE
- No more off-the-record requests.
- SLOAN
- William, that's not what I...
- DR. DANSE
- I need to get back to work.
- DR. DANSE
- Unless there was something else you needed, Agent Summers?
- SLOAN
- No.
- DR. DANSE
- Then if you'll excuse me.
- SFX
- footsteps, then a frustrated sigh
- SLOAN
- Well, you fucked that one, Sloan.
- OUTRO
- Outro theme
- LYSSA
- Thank you for listening to another episode of REDACTED Postmortem, starring Lyssa Jay as Sloan Summers and Derek Moreland as William Danse.
- LYSSA
- If you've been enjoying REDACTED or REDACTED Postmortem, please feel free to visit our website at theredactedunit.com.
- LYSSA
- If you want to support us or hang out with some really cool people, you can check us out at theredactedunit.com/discord or at patreon.com/theredactedunit.
- LYSSA
- Otherwise, we'll see you on the next episode of REDACTED.
- LYSSA
- Thanks for listening.
Transcript from the production script, matched to the final audio.
