Out of the Acheron
Out of the Acheron
MQ QUINLAN:
Hello, listeners. This is Mq Quinlan, voice of Atalanta. Before this week’s episode of Khôra Podcast, we have a very special message from our friends over at the Night Pod.
[THE NIGHT POST TRAILER STARTS]
[PIANO MUSIC]
THE NIGHT POST TRAILER:
Hello there, citizen. You’ve lived in Gilt City for a while now. Maybe you’ve wondered, when you wake in the morning and retrieve the letters tucked neatly into your post box, just where your mail comes from. It comes from the Night Post, of course. Those faithful couriers deliver it while you’re sleeping. All the better that they stay out of sight and keep the unseemly strangeness that follows them out of our city. In the skelter where it belongs. [CLEARS THROAT] If, for some reason, you’d like to know more about Gilt City’s conscripted couriers and the burden that chose them, their secret hopes and fears, the ancient untamed threats that hound them on their nocturnal journeys— you have only to listen. The Night Post is a supernatural audio drama by an all-LGBT team, delivered weekly in dead of night to wherever you listen to podcasts. Find answers at nightpostpod.com.
[TRAILER ENDS]
MQ QUINLAN:
And now, onto the episode.
[LYRE MUSIC]
TALESPINNER:
Hey there! Hope you enjoyed the last story? It’s not a huge development or anything, but… it felt worth mentioning. Things are only going to get more… just— I’m not going to lie; they’ll be getting a little more of everything from now on.
Not being true to life would be a lie, and if people already think that… there’s no point in telling stories that aren’t true. Not when people say they don’t want that, not even when they get upset about what they hear.
Oh! Sorry, you… probably don’t need to hear all that. It’s not really about you; my parents just… it doesn’t matter. Anyways! Story time.
[CLEARS THROAT]
TALESPINNER:
Sing, O Muses, of the altruistic Atalanta and her crew as they at last encounter a friend long forgotten— and in… quite the position, too. Muses great, grant me the ability to sing to you the Hymn of Out of the Acheron.
[LYRE ENDS]
[THE ARGO’S ENGINE RUMBLES]
ECHO:
Your attention please. We are now entering: Designated quadrant Iota. 2 hours until touchdown. It is recommended that a crew member takes up: manual controls. Standard NYMPH model sensors are insufficient in: incomplete rings.
ANDROMEDA:
I’ll head on over, take over the captain’s chair for a few. Y’all just keep an eye out.
MEDUSA:
Incomplete?
ANDROMEDA:
Means they’re dangerous, sweetheart. Haven’t finished forming; midway between a sea of junk rocks and real planet rings. Less dense, but wider, more unpredictable. Probably the reason Hades took up shop here.
ATALANTA:
Er, be careful up there!
ANDROMEDA:
I will, I will. I ain’t the captain of the Archer for nothin’.
MEDUSA:
I thought you were—
ANDROMEDA:
Are you comin’?
MEDUSA:
Uh…
MEDEA:
Go on. We’ll be fine.
ATALANTA (NARRATION):
I look at Medea, and she nods briefly. We may be headed to the den of one of the most dangerous Olympians out there, but we shouldn’t need to take that out on each other. Medusa deserves to be able to trust us with each other, if nothing else.
ATALANTA:
Don’t worry, Medea and I are thick as thieves now!
MEDEA:
We are thieves.
ATALANTA:
Well, more to my point, then!
MEDUSA:
If you say so…
[FOOTSTEPS]
MEDEA:
Stop pacing, you’re making me nervous.
ATALANTA:
What, you weren’t already?
MEDEA:
Does it matter? Should be obvious to you, o great captain.
ATALANTA:
Well, I— er. Honestly, I just don’t think I can. People come here to die. I don’t know if Orpheus expected to come back alive— if she even managed to get through these rings in the first place.
MEDEA:
She flies for a living, I’m sure she’s fine.
ATALANTA:
She has to be.
ATALANTA (NARRATION):
And that’s when I spy something floating in the debris just over her shoulder. It’s a… it’s an explosion, frozen in time.
[MUSIC BEGINS]
As if someone went up and pressed the “pause” button on it. There’s debris everywhere, scattered in a sphere, a gravitational field that shouldn’t still work desperately holding it all in place around the— oh, stars, there’s a person in there. A small person, the pilot, curled in the center of it all. There are small fires from what little oxygen they have left, burning their skin. They clutch something tight against their chest with all the strength they have left. I’m frozen in place. For a moment, all I can do is stare.
ATALANTA:
Medea. Turn around, slowly.
MEDEA:
Uhh, okay…? [BEAT] Oh, stars…
ATALANTA (NARRATION):
I look a little closer, almost against my will. If I squint, I can see the gentle movement of their chest, the subtle shifting as the atmosphere bubble moves in space. She— I can finally recognize her as her face rotates toward the window— she’s alive. Tears have frozen on her face, dotting her cheeks with crystals, but she’s breathing. It’s the most beautiful bloody disaster I’ve ever seen.
MEDEA:
They’re… they’re breathing? How is that even possible?
ATALANTA:
Echo, get Medusa. We need to get Orpheus to medbay.
ECHO:
Affirmative. User: Andromeda is on the comms.
MEDEA:
Hold on, you’re telling me that that’s—
[COMMS BEEP]
ANDROMEDA (COMMS):
Hey, uh, y’all? Just got a ping on the radar; the scary ladies you mentioned? Yeah, they’re scanning the asteroid field. No points for guessing who they’re looking for.
ATALANTA:
Oh, stars! I’ll go out and get her. Suit, I need— here. Ok.
ANDROMEDA:
I’ll— uh, I’ll get the tether.
MEDEA:
You’re too far away. Stay at the controls, I’ll hold onto her.
[DOOR OPENS]
MEDUSA (COMMS):
What’s going— is Atalanta about to spacewalk?
ANDROMEDA:
Starboard window— should be the fourth screen from the left, darlin’.
MEDUSA:
Oh my stars, is that—
MEDEA:
Orpheus, yes. Atalanta, are you ready?
ATALANTA:
As ready as I can be. Echo, prepare the airlock, will ya?
ECHO:
Affirmative.
ANDROMEDA:
Good luck.
MEDEA:
You’ll be fine. I’ve got you.
ATALANTA (NARRATION):
I’ve never exactly liked spacewalks. The universe is so wide, and everything about it wants to kill you, but there’s no way to fight if anything happens. No solid ground to land on. But someone’s out there, and Orpheus or no…
ANDROMEDA (COMMS):
This’d be a lot easier if the Argo had arms.
MEDEA (COMMS):
There is a human person who has been hurt.
ANDROMEDA (COMMS):
I know, I know, that’s just what I’m sayin’.
MEDUSA (COMMS):
Not the time! Did you get her yet?
ATALANTA (NARRATION):
I push away a piece of the wreckage to get closer to Orpheus. She’s injured, I’ve no idea how badly, but there are gashes in her skin and ice forming on her clothes. Parts of the cloth are charred from the tiny pockets of flame and oxygen. At least her eye–the one that isn’t glass–is protected by the goggles strapped around her head. I clip a tether to her belt, shoving her arm out of place, and something floats away from her. It’s just a piece of metal, something that ended up wedged between her arms, but… something in the back of my mind tells me I’ve made a mistake, just letting it go. No, come on, she needs help, forget about it. I push it away, beginning to pull Orpheus and myself back into the ship.
ATALANTA:
I have her. Coming back now.
MEDUSA (COMMS):
Okay! I’m coming to join you.
MEDEA (COMMS):
Pulling you back in.
[AIRLOCK OPENS]
MEDEA:
Put her on the stretcher.
[STRETCHER WHEELS THROUGH THE ARGO]
ATALANTA:
How’s she looking?
MEDEA:
Other than the burns and scrapes, She’s still breathing, but her oxygen saturation levels are lower than they should be, and she might have hypothermia. But her heartbeat is definitely slow. [FLASHLIGHT CLICKS] Her eye responded to the light reception test, so at least her brain’s fine. Still responding, anyhow. God, how did she even survive?
ECHO:
Analysis: NYMPH model cores have the ability to create small, survivable atmospheres in an emergency.
MEDUSA:
So the ship used the last of their energy to protect her…?
ANDROMEDA (COMMS):
Her name’s Eurydice. I’ve met her before.
ECHO:
By the amount of power used to maintain Guest User: Orpheus’s atmosphere, she has been drifting in space for: thirty minutes, twenty-five point eight seconds.
ATALANTA:
Holy…
ANDROMEDA:
So, we can just… go, right? Without headin’ to Planet Nine?
MEDUSA:
I mean, I don’t see why not?
MEDEA:
Not unless there’s anything else we need. Now stop talking, I need to concentrate.
ANDROMEDA:
Roger that! I’ll be quiet as that lousy Apollo will be when I get my hands on him. You won’t hear a peep.
MEDUSA:
How did she even end up here? I wonder… Models like this usually have some kind of black box…
ATALANTA:
I didn’t see it in the wreckage, but they are removable. For when she’d move from the racer to her normal body. There are some things clipped to her belt… a folding cane, a medpack— oh! Here!
MEDUSA:
Echo, if I upload the contents, can you play the last recorded footage?
ECHO:
Affirmative. Uplink: ready. [STARTUP CHIME] Now playing: last saved recording.
ORPHEUS:
Power on. Stupid Hades, stupid terms and conditions… he knows the default system’s assisted flying is hell, he knows that! And yet… ugh. Probably thought it was part of the challenge… bastard… like taking away basic—
NYMPH:
NYMPH Model Number 1874 Artificial Intelligence starting, please stand by. Welcome to your: NYMPH model AI.
ORPHEUS:
Yes! Alright, Eurydice—
NYMPH:
Error: registered name settings unavailable under standard NYMPH factory settings.
ORPHEUS:
…right. Enter new user data.
NYMPH:
Confirmed. Please state your required User name.
ORPHEUS:
Orpheus.
NYMPH:
Thank you, User: Orpheus.
ORPHEUS:
Nymph, set a course out of the Acheron. Prepare for takeoff.
NYMPH:
Confirmed. Your requested course has been set. Warning: the Acheron is a zone flagged for: forming asteroid rings.
ORPHEUS:
Yeah, yeah; turn on vision field to speak obstacle detection. Sensitivity: High. Manual controls.
NYMPH:
Confirmed. Lifting off.
[ENGINE TURNS ON]
ORPHEUS:
Okay, girl, you can do this. This isn’t any different than that time we outran Ares’s bunch. Or the Galactic Acrobatics Cup last year. Just a lot more dangerous, and a lot more lethal, and a lot more—
NYMPH:
Incoming obstacle detected. Type: unidentified space debris. Size: approximately two meters in diameter. Threat level: moderate. Incoming, five o’clock. Two seconds.
[ASTEROID WOOSHES BY. CRASH]
ORPHEUS:
Whoa!
NYMPH:
Damage sustained. Minor damage to the main hull on the starboard side.
ORPHEUS:
Alright. Not as bad as it could have been.
NYMPH:
As well as impact to the first thrusters.
ORPHEUS:
…Still not as bad as it could have been. Just need to be more careful. Eury— Nymph, tell me earlier when you sense obstacles in our course, would you? Been some time since I fixed those thrusters… stars, of all the times…
NYMPH:
These components do not match my original construction.
ORPHEUS:
Yeah, that’ll be because we got it from some old friends. You— well, Eurydice liked them. AI was from the NYMPH line too. You guys… bonded over it. I think.
NYMPH:
Very well. I am assessing my internal functions for any other discrepancies, and I have detected an irregular weight in the cargo hold.
ORPHEUS:
Oh, Hades didn’t take that last round of goods out of the cargo hold? That’s unexpected.
NYMPH:
Incoming obstacles detected. Type: unidentified space debris.
ORPHEUS:
Where?!
NYMPH:
Approaching. Eleven o’ clock—
[CRASH]
ORPHEUS:
Gah! NYMPH, are you sure there’s no way for you to do this faster?
NYMPH:
Premium voice settings are only available for Chrysós level members. If you would like to become a Chrysós member, go to the Pallas Tech website today to start your free trial!
ORPHEUS:
[SIGH] Focus. Eurydice. Just a… a few… a bit… some more time before we get out of here.
NYMPH:
Affirmative. Running diagnostic. I have also located an anomaly in my programming.
ORPHEUS:
Anomaly?
NYMPH:
Affirmative. A modified locator, with an extended range far above my usual capacity, as well as a modified auditory alert system. This is highly unusual for a ship of my make— [ALERT BEEPS] alert. Incoming obstacles detected. Type: unidentified space debris. Size: approximately three meters in diameter. Threat level: moderate to low. Incoming ten o’clock, six seconds.
[WOOSH]
ORPHEUS:
Got it.
[WOOSH]
NYMPH:
Would you like me to extract the aforementioned anomaly?
ORPHEUS:
That’s not an anomaly, NYMPH. Eurydice used it to help me navigate. It’s lightyears faster than the typical systems, and SO MUCH BETTER for what I need. Useful when avoiding feds on a smuggling run, or for giving Ares and his gang of warmongers the slip.
NYMPH:
I have an obligation to report all criminal activities to the nearest authorities.
ORPHEUS:
No, don’t do that—
[ELECTRONIC BEEP]
ORPHEUS:
[SIGH] Oh, whatever. Hades probably has all my files on record anyways. He’ll clear it when we get past the belt. Not like what he was using you for had been the most legal anyways…
[CLICK; RECORDING PAUSES]
ATALANTA (NARRATION):
The nearest authorities. So the harpies aren’t after us at all, they’re after Orpheus! Who’s… currently lying in our medbay. Great. But Andromeda’s already working on turning this thing around and getting us away from here, so there’s nothing to do but listen on, hoping for something that might help her.
[FADE INTO THE RECORDING]
[SWOOSH, CRASH]
NYMPH:
Damage sustained. Projectile has grazed starboard side.
[CRASH, ALARMS BEEP]
NYMPH:
Damage sustained. Projectile has grazed starboard side.
ORPHEUS:
What? Where the hell did that come fro—
[WOOSHING CONTINUES, SHIP METAL RATTLES]
NYMPH:
Incoming obstacles detected. Number: four. Type: unidentified space debris. Size: approximately two met— Incoming obstacle detect— Incoming obstac— Incoming obstacle detected. Type: unidentified space debris. Size: approximately four meters in diameter. Threat level: High. Incoming, Zero Seconds.
[LARGE CRASH]
NYMPH:
Damage sustained. Warning: Control access to reserve power banks and second thrusters from the pilot’s hatch has been severely limited due to extensive damage. Second thrusters and main hull have also suffered extensive damage.
ORPHEUS:
Anything else in our path?
NYMPH:
Incoming obstacles. Type: unidentified space debris. Number: Three. Size: approximately 3 meters in diameter. Threat level: high. Incoming. Three o’clock. Four o’ clock. Incoming 1 second. 12 seconds. 15 seconds.
[METAL RATTLES. ALARMS BEEP]
NYMPH:
The ship faces critical damage. Taking into account the size of the incoming projectiles, there is a high chance the main body will not survive the collision.
ORPHEUS:
And you can’t fly us out of the way?
NYMPH:
Negative. Doing so would go against the terms and conditions of the agreement signed by User: Orpheus.
ORPHEUS:
And will I be able to manually maneuver out of the way in time before it hits?
NYMPH:
Negative. Would you like for me to activate emergency safety protocols?
ORPHEUS:
What?
NYMPH:
Simply press the eject button on your pilot’s seat. The controllable safety pod will envelop you and you will be ejected from the main body of the ship, avoiding all damage that might be caused in its destruction. There will be enough remaining power in the safety pod to propel you away from current danger. No harm will come to you, User: Orpheus.
ORPHEUS:
What?! No!
NYMPH:
Incoming obstacle. Type: unidentified space debris. Size: approximately 6 meters in diameter. Threat level: extremely high. Incoming. Three o’clock. Incoming: 10 seconds.
ORPHEUS:
No, no no no no, I’m not! I won’t do this! I just found you again, Eurydice, I’m not losing you, do you hear me? We’re almost there, we can—
[ALARMS CONTINUE]
NYMPH:
Obstacle incoming in 8 seconds. 7 seconds. 6 seconds.
ORPHEUS:
Shit.
NYMPH:
5 seconds. 4 seconds. 3 seconds…
ORPHEUS:
Nymph, bring the custom Eurydice systems back online!
NYMPH/EURYDICE:
Custom Eurydice systems onli–OH STARS, OH STARS!
ORPHEUS:
We’re not dead. Oh stars, we’re not dead.
EURYDICE:
We’re not.
EURYDICE:
Oh my god, Orpheus!
ORPHEUS:
What!
EURYDICE:
I— what the hell, Orpheus, where were we— where are we—
ORPHEUS:
I— it’s— it’s a long— can we get out of here first?
EURYDICE:
Fine. Let’s get out of here so we can talk.
[STATIC]
ATALANTA:
Oh… wow.
ANDROMEDA (COMMS):
…oh, Hades, that utter—
[DEBRIS HITS THE SIDE OF THE SHIP]
ECHO:
Damage sustained on: the exterior port hull.
MEDEA:
Can you please hold the ship steady.
ANDROMEDA (COMMS):
I’m trying, it— oh, when I find that slimy capitalist Underworld son of a—
MEDEA:
Do you want to focus on flying, maybe?
MEDUSA:
Orpheus is stable. For now. Just… focus on getting us out of here.
ANDROMEDA (COMMS):
Alright. Fine.
ATALANTA (NARRATION):
Seeing the wreck should have prepared me for something like this, but— my heart is in my throat, the deafening whirr of Eurydice’s engines still ringing in my ears. More than ever, I’m aware of the thrum of the Argo’s machinery, layers of metal and wires, and underneath that all— Echo. Someone lays a hand on my shoulder. I turn to see Medea, a quietly horrified expression on her face as Andromeda lets out a steady stream of threats in the background.
[STATIC]
ATALANTA:
The, ah, tape’s still going. Do we…
MEDUSA:
Play it. They’re still fine then. We need to know what happened, why they didn’t make it.
ATALANTA:
Mm. Alright. Here goes.
[RECORDING CLICKS]
EURYDICE:
Orpheus, what the hell? Why were you flying around unstable planetary rings— no, why were you doing it without me— why am I restricted to my core?! I couldn’t do anything, much less tell what was—
ORPHEUS:
I had to save you, Eury!
EURYDICE:
No, you— that’s not an answer!
ORPHEUS:
I had no choice. Those were Hades’s terms.
EURYDICE:
That doesn’t make any sense!
ORPHEUS:
I needed to come back for you. I needed— if all I had to do was take his stupid deal, it’d’ve been worth it. All the consequences were worth it.
EURYDICE:
What. Deal.
ORPHEUS:
He wanted me to navigate the rings and leave the planet. Without the custom settings. Or assisted flight.
EURYDICE:
What?! Of all the—
ORPHEUS:
You were- You were gone, okay?! I— I know we’ve gotten into sticky situations before, but we always were together and I had no idea what might have happened to you, you could’ve been hurt or, or… I just couldn’t leave you, wherever you were… So I found backups of the flight assistance code and programmed the system into a new ship because— it’s Nine, Eury. I had to.
EURYDICE:
That is… the most idiotic—
ORPHEUS:
He said he’d let you go—
EURYDICE:
It— why! If you had my basic systems, you didn’t need me!
ORPHEUS:
No, I did! You’re not— you’re more important to me than just a ship, Eurydice!
EURYDICE:
Why? It’s not like you couldn’t race without me.
ORPHEUS:
Sure, I could race without you. But you aren’t some program I added to help me fly. You’re you. Maybe I could race without you Eury, but I couldn’t just live without you.
EURYDICE:
I don’t understand! Why did you reactivate me? We were so close, I could have shot the lifepod out of there. You could have gotten away!
ORPHEUS:
And leave you behind?
EURYDICE:
Yes! If your deal’s broken, who knows what Hades is going to— and on that note! Why did you think taking that deal was a good idea at all! I can’t help you when the factory NYMPH settings are turned on. You could have died!
ORPHEUS:
But I didn’t!
EURYDICE:
And that’s just pure luck! You’re a good pilot, but navigating the Acheron on your own? You should have let me eject the safety pod before the debris hit, I would have been fine!
ORPHEUS:
You wouldn’t! If another rock like that hit you, with me inside or not, the main hull would have been blown to bits. It would be a complete system failure. Eurydice, your core would have been damaged beyond repair! You’d be dead! This was a chance that we could both get out of this alive, and I took it. It was stupid, yes, but I’m not going to apologise for it, I’m not going to apologise for not wanting to lose you. Not ever.
EURYDICE:
You could have gotten another me! There are so many other NYMPH models out there, some of them from even older tech, exactly. Like. Me. I’m replaceable, you aren’t!
ORPHEUS:
But they wouldn’t be you. I know you, Eurydice. I know how many steps take me from the pilot’s hull to the engine room. I know every nut and bolt and girder, every scratch that we never bothered to fix, every dent you told me not to patch. I know every update we’ve made, every chip in your paint. I know what you sound like when you’re happy, when you’re sad, I know the thrum of your engines like I know your heartbeat. Even in a different ship, a different form, I would still love you. Another NYMPH program wouldn’t remember the years we have, they wouldn’t know our songs, they wouldn’t know about how I got the scar on my hip or all the other scars that you saved me from getting. I could input a thousand lines of code, type endless strings of commands, and they still wouldn’t understand why I sleep next to your core just to feel you there with me, or the nights I don’t sleep at all and just stay up, talking to you.
You’re not flesh and bone, but you’re just as irreplaceable as I am, Eury, just as much as a living, not-breathing person as I am. No other NYMPH program could take your place, not in a million lightyears. They wouldn’t know me like I know you. They wouldn’t love me like you do, Eurydice, they wouldn’t be you at all.
EURYDICE:
I— oh, Orpheus.
EURYDICE:
I’m… I’m still mad at you for risking your life like that.
ORPHEUS:
I’m not exactly pleased about it myself. [SIGH] We’ll work on it.
EURYDICE:
Mm hm, I’m holding you to that.
ORPHEUS:
Mmhmm. But… you know why I came for you? Right? You’re worth the danger, you know that?
EURYDICE:
[EMBARRASSED NOISE]
ORPHEUS:
You are. I— you would’ve done the same if it was me in there.
EURYDICE:
Alright.
ORPHEUS:
We’ll work on it.
EURYDICE:
Yeah.
ORPHEUS:
Yeah. And… Eury?
EURYDICE:
Yeah?
ORPHEUS:
I love you.
EURYDICE:
Love you too.
[NEW RECORDING]
ORPHEUS:
I guess Hades knows the deal’s off.
EURYDICE:
So… what happens now?
ORPHEUS:
The fine print on Hades’ contracts usually sets indenture for life as punishment for whoever doesn’t fulfill the terms of the deal… [DEEP SIGH] And I didn’t fulfill the terms…
EURYDICE:
Oh no.
ORPHEUS:
I guess we have not-so-gainful employment now? It’s a steady job, at least.
EURYDICE:
No, you don’t know what it’s–Orpheus, listen. Whatever you think Nine is, it’s worse. I was there for months. It’s cramped and noisy and dirty, there’s always a fight somewhere, and everyone has this blank, vacant look in their eyes like all the life’s just gone out of them. It’s bleak and awful and you’d hate it— Orpheus, it’d break you!
[BEAT]
ORPHEUS:
…would he let us fly?
EURYDICE:
Huh?
ORPHEUS:
Hades–do you think he’ll let us fly? I’m a pilot; a damn good one, too. Especially when I’m not following some useless regulations. There’s no use binding me to a contract if he doesn’t want my skills, is there?
EURYDICE:
No… no, I suppose not.
ORPHEUS:
Then that’s enough. He’s going to want to make full use of my flying, and whether he likes it or not, that means you at my side. As long as we’re together, that’s enough for me… But you don’t have to? I’ll make Hades swear he won’t change anything, like hell I’m putting you on factory settings again, but if you don’t want to—
EURYDICE:
Orpheus.
ORPHEUS:
–you’re not bound to the contract, it’s just me, I can tell him to—
EURYDICE:
Orpheus!
ORPHEUS:
Yeah?
EURYDICE:
I’m fine. As long as you are, I’m fine.
ORPHEUS:
Oh. Oh, well then. That’s all I need.
ORPHEUS:
Eurydice, what…?
EURYDICE:
I’m powering down, Orpheus. It’s been a long couple days. Hades didn’t bother filling up my fuel tanks when he handed me over, and that last dash might as well have drained them. My sensors are going into overdrive and… and I missed you. It’s easier to focus on you when I’m not picking up on every chunk of debris on the periphery.
ORPHEUS:
Aww, you really love me, don’t you?
EURYDICE:
I do. I really do.
ORPHEUS:
And I’ll never stop being surprised at that. Can you open up the core?
[BEEP. HATCH OPENS]
ORPHEUS:
[SIGH. BLANKET RUSTLES] Can I sleep here? Until we get back to Pluto? I’m not sure what Hades will be having me do, but it’s probably nothing good.
EURYDICE:
Of course, love. I’ll hail Hades for a team to clear the way back. I’m not in any fit state to fly through that again.
ORPHEUS:
And if I have my way, you won’t need to. We’re sticking together now, no matter what.
EURYDICE:
…Together?
ORPHEUS:
Yeah, love. Together.
[TICKING, GETTING FASTER]
ORPHEUS:
Eurydice, wait, I think I hear—
[AN EXPLOSION. ORPHEUS SCREAMS]
[STATIC]
EURYDICE:
Hades? Anyone? Please, we need help, we’re on the edge of the Acheron and we’ve been critically hit.
EURYDICE:
Gah— my Orpheus, she’s not moving, there’s debris everywhere and my sensors are cut off, I don’t know what’s happening, please, someone help—
[RECORDING FADES OUT]
MEDUSA:
Oh… Wow.
MEDEA:
Stars, that was. What was that?
ECHO:
Analyzing audio. An alpha-class Hephaestus Industries bomb.
MEDUSA:
A what?!
ATALANTA (NARRATION):
I’m only half paying attention, still in shock from the suddenness of that explosion. Well. That’s not exactly true. Hearing Orpheus and Eurydice being able to feel how much they love each other even through a recording… [EXHALE] That’s what shocked me, the fact that… I recognise some of it in me. A pale shadow of that care and comfort and most of all that desperate, constant need for somebody else to just be okay… It reminds me of her. I realize that I really think I could.
I could find myself loving her.
ORPHEUS:
Eurydice!
MEDUSA:
Oh, stars, where’s Eurydice’s core?
MEDEA:
You mean you didn’t get it?
ATALANTA:
I didn’t see it in the wreckage! They must have floated away from each— oh.
MEDUSA:
What? What’s “oh”?
ATALANTA:
I… think it might have fallen out of Orpheus’s arms when I rescued her?
MEDEA:
And if her consciousness were restricted to that core then…
[SPACESHIPS RUMBLE]
MEDUSA:
What was that?
ANDROMEDA (COMMS):
Thank the stars we got the hell out of that when we did, right?
MEDEA:
What do you mean.
ANDROMEDA:
The Harpies have swarmed the crash site. I can have Echo show you; it looks nasty out there. At least we saved Orpheus, right? That would’a been bad! So, what’d you learn?
ATALANTA (NARRATION):
…so, normally I wouldn’t think about a decision like this. I’m a hero, I fight monsters— throwing myself into danger is what I do. But this is dangerous, and risking myself would put everyone in this ship at risk. And it would be dangerous for me, which is something I’m supposed to be working on. The logical thing to do would be to mark Eurydice down as a casualty. We hardly know her. Orpheus is the one with the information we need. But then I think of Ariadne. Of Daphne, and Phineas, and Asclepius. Medusa. Medea, hell, all of us here. All the people who got pulled one over by the bloody Olympians and their despicable corporations. We couldn’t save any of them, or fix the damage that had already been done. Right here though, right now, we have a chance to save one person, however small that chance is. We’ve got the ability to prevent another person’s story from becoming a tragedy.
ATALANTA:
I-I know it’s crazy, and reckless, but—
MEDEA:
We’re going back in for Eurydice.
ATALANTA:
Huh?
MEDEA:
Eurydice. If there’s a chance to save her, I want to take it.
ANDROMEDA (COMMS):
Huh? Eurydice?! Uh…
MEDUSA:
I’ll prepare the airlock!
ANDROMEDA:
Alrightie then! One perilous rescue mission coming up!
[TRIUMPHANT ELECTRONIC MUSIC]
ATALANTA (NARRATION):
I’m still numb, but the adrenaline pumping through my body is equal parts fear and pure determination. Thank the stars I didn’t take off my spacesuit— I don’t think I would’ve been able to put it on before sprinting out of the airlock otherwise. Still, I fumble more than I should with the tether, clumsily clipping it on as the ship rocks with the force of an explosion.
[EXPLOSION]
MEDUSA:
Whoa!
ATALANTA:
Aah!
ECHO:
Damage sustained. Alert: projectile came from: Unrecognised Hostile.
MEDEA:
They know we’re here.
ANDROMEDA:
Clearly! Can someone go and get on the guns? So we don’t die?
MEDEA:
I’ll go. Atalanta, are you sure about this?
ATALANTA:
Yeah, of course I’m sure! We have to save her. We can’t let this happen to anyone else.
MEDEA:
I… yeah, I get it, I agree. It’s just…
ATALANTA:
Yeah?
MEDEA:
Stay safe, okay? I… I don’t want you to get hurt.
ATALANTA:
Medea…
ANDROMEDA:
Guns? Now?
MEDEA:
Right.
[RUNNING]
MEDUSA:
Uh. Ready?
ATALANTA:
Ready. Open the airlock.
TALESPINNER:
Khora Podcast is created and produced by Trenchcoat & Co. Productions. This episode of Khora Podcast, Out of the Acheron, featured Kit MacNeil as Medea, Mq Quinlan as Atalanta, Kat Hawthorne as ECHO, Clary Cheung as Medusa, Sats Di Stephano as Andromeda, Bekah Maren Anderson as Orpheus, Abhilasha P as Eurydice, and Hayan Lee as the Talespinner.
Khora’s music and sound design is done by the Khora Team. This episode was written by Rey Bailey and the Khora Crew. To find out more about all the wonderful people whose work goes into making this show possible, check out the shownotes below.
Do you want to support Khora? Tell your friends about us, or post about us on social media with hashtag khorapodcast. This podcast was made with no budget and lots of love by a group of friends, and so your support truly means a lot to us. You can find us on Twitter, Tumblr, and Instagram @khorapodcast. Thank you for listening, and we’ll see you for the next verse of our epic!