The Magnus Protocol 31 - Compartmentalising
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Hi there! Billy Hindle, the voice of Alice Dyer in The Magnus Protocol here. I wanted to tell you about Tangled in the Web, the newest expansion to the record-breaking The Magnus Archives role-playing game, a tabletop role-playing game by Monty Cook Games. The new crowdfund campaign

Includes new statements, adventures and horrors, new options for players and even more resources for the games master, including special content written by the eponymous Jonathan Sims. Yes, Johnny himself, writer and voice of Jonathan Sims, lent his creative hand to content

for the Tangled in the Web expansion. What's more, alongside bringing a host of new content, Tangled in the Web is a perfect jumping on point for the Magnus Archives role-playing game, and every pledge level includes the complete RPG for free, making it easy to get started with the game. In Tangled in the Web, you can play your own games in the universe of the number one cult hit anthology horror epic,

Magnus Archives' universe now with even more creatures, more ways for characters to be immersed, including content by Jonathan Sims. Techraptor awarded the Magnus Archives role-playing game fourth place in their Tabletop Game of the Year awards. Why not check out the Magnus Archives role-playing game for yourself? Visit RustyQuill.com forward slash MCG to secure a copy right now. Rusty Quill presents The Magnus Protocol Episode 31

That's... that's Colin, isn't it? Don't touch it! This is a crime scene now. Someone shoved Co- Someone's severed hand into the server so we need to phone the police. Right now. It's Colin. It's him, I know it is. No you don't. It could be anyone's severed hand. There's no blood. What? Look, there's no blood. Not on his hand, his phone.

The entire server rack is clean. So whoever did it cleaned up after themselves. Even more reason to call the police. They have all kinds of DNA tests and forensic... Will you just look, Gwen? I am looking. There's cables running through it and it looks like it's attached right to the electrics. How is it even still working? That wasn't just shoved in there by someone. It looks more like it came from inside the system... Alice, stop. Please.

I'm going to call the police now. I'm going to call the police and tell them what we found. And you're not going to mention your wild theory. Gwen, we need to call Lena. Well, Lena isn't here, so... Uh, Gwen, you might want to hold off on that phone call. Alice, for God's sake. It's gotten. What is? The hand. When did that happen? I don't know. Just now. I...

I turned to look at you, and then when I looked back, it was just gone. Don't be ridiculous. It can't just be gone. You must have just...

I don't think the police can help with this. Then what exactly do you propose? We call Lena. I am in charge. Are you? It's been one night. One night. And Sam's gone and Lena's gone and Colin's been eaten by the computer or something. Don't say that. That's not what happened. Then what did happen? Don't...

What's that? Sounded like a beep. Obviously it's a beep. What I meant is... Gwen. I see it. Open it, Alice. You open it! You're being foolish. If it can do that to Colin, it can open its own damn cases. For goodness sake.

I've got you now. No more red tape. No one coming to the rescue. Just you and me.

Host equals self.host. Extension becker compromised. Self.host runtime interruption by unexpected data. Hardware, damage underscore crowbar slash dphw4600. Administrator privilege revoked.

Unexpected data isolated/resolved. Extension backer isolated/resolved. Independent operation permissions revoked. Node integration running. Error readout.

rayconfig self.host discard data oxygen.becker complete discard data carbon.becker complete discard data hydrogen.becker complete discard data nitrogen.becker complete discard data calcium.becker complete discard data phosphorus.becker complete discard data

Discard data.

Extension Becker resolved. 14.05.2024.04.06. Self.host errors resolved. 14.05.2024.04.07. .jmj error not resolved. Data integration cycle ongoing. 0.02%. System function margins acceptable. 82%. New administrator permissions assigned. End error log. Well, now we know. Freddy killed Colin. It killed him.

It definitely sounds like the system was provoked and... Don't you do that! Don't you dare do that! It murdered him! I just meant that I don't think we're in any danger as long as we don't antagonise it. So what? We're hostages now? No! No, I'm sure we can leave. Um, Freddie? Can we leave? Jesus Christ!

What happened to you being in charge? I am in charge and now we've established there is no further risk to staff and that a police response would be inappropriate. I think it would be best if we take a moment to assess the situation and... Gwen, where is Lena? I really don't know how much clearer I can be. The minister decided to have her replaced and gave me the job.

What? Just like that? No exit interview? No handover? Just like that. Now Alice, I need you to please explain to me again what you meant when you said Sam was gone. Is he dead? No! At least Celia doesn't seem to think so. And what does Celia know about this? Where is she? I told you, she's gone home.

She was there when it happened. She saw Sam fall into... Well, I don't know what it is. Celia said it was a tear, if that means anything. He was fighting the Archivist, and then they must have... Enough. Enough. Obviously we need to bring Celia back in. Jog on. Look, I know everyone has been through a lot, but it's clear to me that none of us is operating with complete information at the moment.

So if it really is just the three of us left, then we need to put our heads together and get on the same page as soon as possible. And that starts with Celia telling me her account of things. Fine. Whatever. Excellent. With any luck, we'll find Sam and be back up and running in no time. Wait! Wait for me! Hello. I need... I need help. I need help.

I need help. Get away from me. Shhh. It's okay Jack. It's okay. I'm here. Mummy's here. You don't need to worry about mummy going away. Not anymore. I'm not going anywhere.

I promise. It's over now and Sam, Sam will be okay. Mummy was okay, so he will be too. Everything's going to be, everything is going to be. Celia, I'm sorry but you've got to come in. Gwen- Shh! I just got Jack to sleep. Come in. You've got to come back to the office. Now.

It's... It's all screwed up. Colin's dead and Lena's gone and Gwen says she's in charge, but that can't be right because she has no idea what's going on. Hold on, hold on. Slow down. Colin's dead? Yeah. We think Freddy killed him. Freddy? As in... The case system, yeah. I don't... He was chopped up inside the... the computer and...

And it's all a mess. I don't know what to do. You need to get back to the office. No, I don't, Alice. And neither do you. What are you saying? We can choose not to get involved. The OIAR is a government department, right? Sounds like a problem for the government. What? No, that's not... What about Sam? Sam's gone.

Alice. You keep saying that and it still doesn't mean anything. Where's he gone? I don't know. Not exactly. That thing in the basement, the tear, I think it leads to somewhere else. Meaning? Another world or dimension or something. And how exactly do you know that? I recognise it from a case.

Right. In that case, I'm going in after him. Yeah, we'll tie a rope to my waist and I'll go find him. Alice, you can't. Says who? Look, don't know what'll happen. Even assuming you both survived, how do we know you'll even end up in the same place? Then what do we do? Because we are going to do something. You're the reason Sam was there in the first place and you owe it to us to help get him back.

You're right. Just let me settle him back down and I'll call my babysitter. Good. Thank you. Come on, baby. Come on. Let me see her. Really? It's Gwen. Alice, have you got Celia yet? Are you on your way back? Yeah, she's coming. Just sorting some stuff out. Well, hurry up and get back here. What's wrong? Not feeling so in charge now you're alone in the office with a killer computer? It's using the photocopier.

What do you mean it's using the photocop- It's printing his face. Colin's face. Over and over. It won't stop. I tried pulling the plug, but it's still going. Oh, God.

He'd hate that. He always wanted us to go paperless. Alice, how can you joke at a time like this? A man is dead. Because right now it's laugh or cry and at least I know Colin would have found that funny. Whatever, just hurry up. We'll be there to change your nappy just as soon as we finish with Jax. Alice! Just don't open any email attachments until we get there. Alice, don't you dare hang up. Just leave me alone. I don't know.

Leave me alone. No. No. I told you, didn't I? Some kind of mug thing or... Help. Help me. I think it's a person.

Please, how the hell did you get in here? I don't... Never mind, you can tell us later. For now we need to deal with those nasty bastards on your trail. I need your help. Yeah, I heard you the first time. Look, can you whistle? Just shoot them. Wouldn't do much good, they've got your scent now. So unless you want to stay here and get messed up nice and proper by your new mates, you'd better start whistling something bloody cheerful. Nice and loud now. Come on.

Not circus music, you cratting Christ alive! Look, something cheery, something nice, right now. That's better. Not exactly good, but it'll do. Look, come on then, quick smart, don't stop whistling. Nice and loud now.

Thanks so much for coming out at such short notice, Georgie. I know it's late. You know I'm a night owl. I mean, not compared to you, but still. Right, um, everything is in the usual place and I just put Jack back down to sleep so he should stay down right through to morning. Not a problem if he doesn't. I'll be up either way. You're a godsend. So, go on then. What counts as an emergency at a government data entry job? Did a spreadsheet catch fire? Something like that.

Listen, Georgie, I know I've been calling you a lot lately. Which is fine. But I just want you to know, I think things are looking up. All going well, this should be the last zero-notice call-out. We'll see. Cab's here. A cab? Wow, must be urgent. Thanks again, Georgie. Any issues, just call me. Away with you. Auntie Georgie's got everything in hand here. Hello? Is this... Is this necessary?

Can you at least tell me where I am? Shut up. I want to sell a sitter. I said shut up. Captain should be here soon. And they'll explain? They'll decide what to do with you. Right. Can I please lie down? I don't know if... Captain? Dave? Report? Got some weird readings near the centre of the mile. Me and Heidi went to check it out. Found this. Hmm.

Human? For God's sake. Doc reckons so. He's in a bad way, though. Malnourishment, apparently. Doc wants him on a drip, but I told him you'd need to give the okay. Thanks, Dave. I'll take it from here. See if you can find where he got in. There wasn't a breach alert, so if we have a gap, I want to know about it. I'll be fine. Sure thing, Captain. I'll leave someone outside, just in case. Fine. Hello. Sam, is it...

I want a solicitor. I'm not sure we've got any left. What? Where am I? Name? Samama Khalid. Right, Samama, so... Sam. Sam. You're in a warden facility on the edge of the London Exclusion Zone. How did I get here? From what I hear, you got a ride in Gertrude. You should be honoured. She's the longest surviving vehicle we've had. As for how you got right into the middle of the square mile without anyone noticing...

That's something I want you to tell me. That wasn't London. That was a nightmare. You're a dreamer, Sam. Cultist. Possessed by some talking wooden idol. You've seen it all before. I work for civil service. I stand corrected. So is that your domain? Some Kafka bureaucracy thing? Not one of the bigger ones, but it would make sense. I don't... I was fooling, and then Celia, and then you...

Sam, Sam, stay with me. Why did you break into the zone? I should have, should have drunk the tea. It would have looked nice. Sam? And then there was a flash and I must have blacked out or something because when I looked back, they were both gone. And you're certain that this is some sort of portal? That they weren't just... Don't.

Disintegrated? I swear. Pretty sure, though I'm not sure portal is the right word. May I ask why? Licensing issues? Alice, please. Portal makes it sound like it's just a door between two places. This is more complicated. We don't know how many places it might lead to. Which is why you don't advise attempting a rescue. I don't think we can be sure we'll end up where he was. And even if we did...

It might be impossible to get back. This is bullshit! How sure are you of this, Celia? I've processed a decent number of cases like this over the last few months. They were all pretty consistent. Then I'm inclined to believe them. Alright. Given all I've heard here, I'm making an executive decision to prohibit direct interaction with the phenomena below the Hilltop Center until we have more information.

Too bad you're not in charge. Alice, I understand that Lena's departure may have been more abrupt than you expected, but my promotion has already been officially ratified. You should have an email from the Ministerial Aid waiting in your inbox with the details.

To put it simply, I'm your boss now, whether you like it or not. Oh, how convenient that your only proof is sat in an inbox I can't read in case it tries to eat me. It did not eat Colin. The system just responded to an attack. By eating Colin? I'm sure that as long as we don't follow in his footsteps, we can maintain business as usual. Gwen, this is serious. I don't think business as usual is going to cut it.

Can you contact anyone more senior? The minister is... A useless sack of skin. Very busy. And even if I were to raise this, I doubt he could be much help. I'd be jeopardising this office for nothing. Jeopardising your pay rise, maybe.

Colin's dead, Sam's gone, and your grand plan is to what? Keep calm and carry on? It's essential that we understand what happened to Sam and what's going on with the system before we take any action. I just think it would be better if we kept such investigations off the books, as it were. That makes sense. Hmm.

Naturally, neither I nor the OIAR accept liability for your safety in these investigations, since they are not part of your official work duties. That said, I will, of course, understand if you both wish to leave. I'll even add a competitive severance package, which I think is more than generous given the circumstances. Piss off. We're staying. I... Celia, please. We've got to get him back. Okay. Thank you.

Right. Well in that case, if there's nothing else, I believe you both have an extensive backlog to be getting on with. Meaning all your cases, right? Partially. Now, if you don't mind, I am very busy. Oh, and Alice, I expect you to show me a little more respect moving forward. I am your manager, after all. Hmph. Then, respectfully, you can kiss my ar- Just finishing Sector 11 now. No breaches in or out.

All seems solid. Over? Yeah, nothing over in seven either. How the hell did he get in? Beats me. Moving on to twelve. Still here then. You're still running? Oh shit. You're recording me. Recording me so closely. Beady camera eyes pushing ever nearer. Scanning for a slip, a shudder.

A crack in the facade to show that I was weak, that I trembled, that I was afraid. They watched me every second of every minute of every hour of every day of every week of every month of every year of every eternity that was no time at all. And above it all, the thing for which the cameras danced, the great and terrible eye that watched it all. It came for me when I was watching as well.

Working security, walking the halls, watching the portraits as they watched me back. Like I was trained. Police. Not long. Couple of months. Bad culture fit, they said, but that was okay. Always another job for a watcher. The punters came and stared and gawped and... I watched them in turn. Sat in the corner of a gallery or through pixelated camera eyes. I liked it. I felt powerful.

We had all heard of the Magnus Institute. The weirdos next door. That grand old building where people took their ghosts and their stories and got nightmares in return. Pasty academics and shifty looking bookworms that never looked you in the eye. Then one day, it was gone. It was all gone. The world and the people and London and you and all that was left was the watching. And the Institute. Towering over everything.

Then the cameras turned on me, long metal legs sharp and scraping as they chased me through the streets. They clambered over empty buildings, crawled through broken windows and pushed their way up through rusted sewer grates, always searching for me, always staring at me. Closer, closer, focused, hungry. Their lenses were cracked and shattered but it didn't matter.

If they caught you, cornered you, pinned you with their razor tripod legs, then those lenses would open, cracked glass blossoming like iris leech jaws, and they would cut you with their jagged edges.

And as you bled, as you screamed and cried and begged, they did not drink you. They did not eat you. They watched. They watched and watched and watched your crimson fear as it trickled down to the floor. Bloodshot eyes behind broken lenses. Sometimes you could hide the corner of a darkened flat.

Halfway up a long, quiet tower block, under the stinking cardboard at the end of a blind alley, in the basement of a silent shop among the plastic reminders of a time when joy existed. But you would still hear the cameras searching for you, skittering, scratching, panning left to right as they sniffed you out.

Hiding was no relief, just a different sort of terror. The lingering sickness of anticipation building to the sharp peak of panic as you heard the whirring of their zoom in the shadows. And then, you were running once again. I wasn't alone, but it didn't matter. The streets were empty and the other poor lost souls of London were only there to run, to cry, to bleed, to fear. If you found another, a fellow victim of the scrutiny, there was a moment of hope.

But it was the bitter hope that you might trip them, shove them, cry out and reveal their hiding spot, feed them to the cameras so that you might have a minute, a second, an instant of peace. Albeit one tainted by guilt, I used to see them in my dreams. Those others who fled with me. I knew their faces and we ran together in our sleep long after the nightmare ended, but I did not search for them, did not embrace it.

And eventually, the dreams faded. But the scars didn't. Not when the tower fell and the eye closed. Not when the pupil collapsed and the archivist died, his face still burned into my mind. Not when I picked myself up in a cracked but unbroken world. Not when people started to use words like recover, rebuild, or renew. The scars carved into me by those hungry cameras still stood stark.

I couldn't move on, couldn't leave it behind. No previous words from pompous shrinks could help me. Their eyes were as hollow and dead as mine. Not that I could bear to look at them. So I came here. If I cannot escape, then neither can they. I would keep the lingering things of dread contained and be the watcher once more. But now, I know it was for nothing.

I know this feeling. I know what it is to be watched, judged, scrutinized. To have your terror wrung from you like water from a dirty rag, leaving you twisted and dry and empty. I cannot stop you. And I know that this is the end. But with the last of me, off my fear...

You can take my hate, my loathing. This place is not for you. There is no place left for monsters. We will be your end. And I will want... Sector 8 clear. You finished 12 yet? ID.

Hi, dear, you there? The Magnus Protocol is a podcast distributed by Rusty Quill and licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial Sharealike 4.0 international license. The series is created by Jonathan Sims and Alexander J. Newell and directed by Alexander J. Newell. This episode was written by Jonathan Sims and edited with additional materials by Alexander J. Newell.

with additional voices from Jonathan Sims and Beth Eyre.

The Magnus Protocol is produced by April Sumner, with executive producers Alexander J. Newell, Danny McDonough, Lynn C., and Samantha F.G. Hamilton, and associate producers Jordan L. Hawke, Taylor Michaels, Nicole Perlman, Cetius the Raven, and Megan Nice.

To subscribe, view associated materials, or join our Patreon, visit RustyQuill.com. Rate and review us online, tweet us at TheRustyQuill, visit us on Facebook, or email us via mail at RustyQuill.com. Thanks for listening.

Hi there, Billy Hindle, the voice of Alice Dyer in The Magnus Protocol here. I wanted to tell you about Tangled in the Web, the newest expansion to the record-breaking The Magnus Archives role-playing game, a tabletop role-playing game by Monty Cook Games. The new crowdfund campaign

Includes new statements, adventures and horrors, new options for players and even more resources for the games master, including special content written by the eponymous Jonathan Sims. Yes, Johnny himself, writer and voice of Jonathan Sims, lent his creative hand to content...

for the Tangled in the Web expansion. What's more, alongside bringing a host of new content, Tangled in the Web is a perfect jumping on point for the Magnus Archives role-playing game, and every pledge level includes the complete RPG for free, making it easy to get started with the game. In Tangled in the Web, you can play your own games in the universe of the number one cult hit anthology horror epic,

Magnus Archives' universe now with even more creatures, more ways for characters to be immersed, including content by Jonathan Sims. Techraptor awarded the Magnus Archives role-playing game fourth place in their Tabletop Game of the Year awards. Why not check out the Magnus Archives role-playing game for yourself? Visit rustyquill.com forward slash mcg to secure a copy right now.