EPISODE 95 – THE PHOENIX
PIP
This episode is dedicated to Lucille Farrell who will capsize in a gondola, drown in the Venice grand canal, and reappear as a professional flower-waterer for early mornings.
Thank you Lucille, and thank you to all our patrons who allow us to keep telling stories. If you’d like to become a patron, we’d be ever so grateful, you can find out more at ameliapodcast.com
But for now, enjoy the show.
PROLOGUE.
THE FIELD IN SCOTLAND, PRESENT DAY.
(THE COZY CAMPFIRE CRACKLING AWAY)
(KOZLOWSKI BRACES HIMSELF)
KOZLOWSKI
Yes. It is time.
(HE GETS UP)
I bid you goodbye, MIA Fox and JACKIE Williams. I have enjoyed your company and your stories.
And thank you for the clothes. The cheap fabrics should make for excellent tinder.
MIA
What are you doing? What is he doing?
(KOZLOWSKI STEPS UP NEXT TO THE CAMPFIRE)
Are you about to do fire-walking?
JACKIE
I think you're supposed to wait until the flames die down.
MIA
He's just standing there...
KOZLOWSKI
Farewell.
JACKIE
If he takes one more step -
MIA
Your trousers will catch on fire!
(LOGS TUMBLING AS KOZLOWSKI STEPS INTO THE CAMPFIRE)
JACKIE
What are you doing?!
MIA
He’s walking into the fire!
JACKIE
He’s crazy!!
Crackle of fire on fabric.
MIA
STOP!
(KOZLOWSKI'S CLOTHES BURST INTO FIRE AND THE FLAMES QUICKLY GROW TO ENGULF HIM. THE SAME SCREAM THAT WE HE HEARD AT THE END OF MAINE MOEPIRT ARTHUR AS KOZLOWSKI BURNS)
MIA
Shit!! He's on fire!!
JACKIE
FUCK!
The fire grows and grows.
MIA
Get out of there!!
JACKIE
Those cups! Is there anything in them?
MIA and JACKIE pick up the cups.
MIA
It's empty!
JACKIE
This one too!
MIA
This one's full!
JACKIE
Well, chuck it on him!
(ONE CUP OF TEA IS THROWN AT THE BURNING KOZLOWSKI, BUT TO NO AVAIL. THE FIRE IS IMMENSELY HOT AND LOUD.)
JACKIE
Shit!
MIA
Step out of there!
JACKIE
If I get him to the ground, I can quench the fire with my jacket!
(THROUGH THE FIRE WE HEAR KOZLOWSKI SPEAK)
KOZLOWSKI
(CALM, EVEN THOUGH IN PAIN)
Do... not... worry... friends!
(JACKIE TEARS HER JACKET OFF)
JACKIE
I've got to tackle him!
MIA
The fire's too big!
JACKIE
Ahh - !
(JACKIE IS ABOUT TO THROW HERSELF INTO THE FIRE. MIA HOLDS HER BACK)
MIA
(STRUGGLING TO HOLD HER BACK)
No!
JACKIE
(STRUGGLING TO GET LOOSE)
Let me go!
KOZLOWSKI
I... will... be... back...
MIA
Jackie, you'll burn to death!
JACKIE
He's burning to death!
MIA
How is the fire so big!?!
KOZLOWSKI
(WITH GREAT DIFFICULTY)
Death... is... life!
ROARING FIRE.
THEME TUNE AND INTRO
THE FIELD IN SCOTLAND. ABOUT TWENTY MINUTES EARLIER.
THE FIRE IS CRACKLING COZILY. WATER IS BOILING.
KOZLOWSKI
Look at that! The color of the smoke!
JACKIE
It is sort of blue.
KOZLOWSKI
That means the tea is ready! In only a few moments you will get to taste a beverage unlike anything you have tried before. Let me dish it out, hand me your cups.
(HE GETS A LADLE AND POURS TEA INTO THREE CUPS)
JACKIE
Here we go! Balder's root! The tea of life!
MIA
What does it taste like?
KOZLOWSKI
Bitter.
MIA
(SKEPTICAL)
Bitter?
KOZLOWSKI
But the sweet kind of bitter.
MIA
I don't much care for bitter.
KOZLOWSKI
It is sweet. But the bitter kind of sweet.
JACKIE
mocking him
So not "salty, the sour kind of salty"?
KOZLOWSKI
That too.
(CONVINCING HIMSELF)
Whilst we are waiting for the tea to cool and settle, I... I think I would like to tell you another story...
MIA
Another story?
KOZLOWSKI
I promise, this is the very last one.
MIA
Wasn't the one you just told us the very last one?
JACKIE
Yeah! Now we know how you met, where it all started. How your friendship began with you saving Maine whats-his-face's life.
KOZLOWSKI
True. You know Arthur's origins. But I have not told you my own.
JACKIE
Listen, we're very, very tired...
(YAWNS)
I just want to drink the potion, then go to sleep...
KOZLOWSKI
I promise, you want to hear this story. It is about a phoenix.
JACKIE
Another phoenix?
MIA
You've told us several phoenix stories. I think I'm phoenix-ed out for one night.
KOZLOWSKI
Those stories were all... deviations. This one is the truth.
JACKIE
What, you're saying this is like... the origin story for all the phoenix stories?
KOZLOWSKI
The well of pain from which all my other phoenix stories spring...
MIA
"Well of pain"?
KOZLOWSKI
If I do not tell you this story, this night has been for nothing!
MIA
It has absolutely not been for nothing! We have gotten a lot of information!
KOZLOWSKI
I mean for me! I have to tell this story. Just one more time, I must tell it exactly the way it was.
MIA
Can't it wait till morning? We'll probably be better listeners once we've had some sleep... Tell it over breakfast!
JACKIE
Do we have breakfast?
MIA
There may be some gummy bears in the car.
KOZLOWSKI
(SHOUTING. UPSET) I WANT TO TELL IT NOW!
MIA
Whoa... Ok...
KOZLOWSKI
I am sorry.
BEAT.
It is the story about Behrem...
JACKIE
Behrem? Your partner?
KOZLOWSKI
Yes...
MIA
OK. Tell us then.
(KOZLOWSKI TAKES A DEEP BREATH, TRIES TO START, GIVES UP)
KOZLOWSKI
I do not know where to start...
(PAUSE)
MIA
(HELPING HIM)
You were born in the ancient city of Tyre in Phoenicia.
(KOZLOWSKI SMILES, SWALLOWS A LUMP IN HIS THROAT, BUT HE IS STILL NOT QUITE ABLE TO BEGIN)
JACKIE
You were a dyer's son. Right? An apprentice to your uncle and father. You... looked after the family phoenix.
KOZLOWSKI
(HE'S FINALLY READY TO TELL HIS STORY)
We had no phoenix. The rest is correct. I grew up in Tyre, but this story is about when I was a young man. When love took me on a journey that spanned every continent, every ocean, crossing mountain ranges and vast plains... finally bringing me here.
MIA
Here? Here here? You mean...
KOZLOWSKI
Yes. This very field.
JACKIE
Actually, I really want to hear this story.
MIA
You didn't have a phoenix?
KOZLOWSKI
We bought the color from the Aslan's. But before I tell you about them, I must tell you about me.
You see, I had a passion.
Dying fabrics is a chemical process, and sometimes a chemical process will surprise you. Take urine, for example. When leaving the body it is see-through or yellow, but when you dye clothes with it, they will be blue.
MIA
People do that? Ugh!
KOZLOWSKI
This awakened in me a great curiosity. How do the substances of the natural world really work? What are their secret properties? I started experimenting and researching all manner of things: Plants, herbs, rocks, salts... Today, we would call what I was doing physics, chemistry, biology. At the time, these fields of study were one and the same. They were known under one name...
MIA
Medicine?
KOZLOWSKI
...magic!
MIA
Oh!
KOZLOWSKI
My father encouraged my studies, as long as I upheld my duties. And one of my duties from when I was a very young boy was to run over to mister Aslan's house with a bag of gold, and return with...
JACKIE
Feathers?
KOZLOWSKI
A bag of feathers! Mister Aslan was a phoenix keeper, and we needed the feathers for our dyes. I loved going over to mister Aslan's house, because then I got to see my best friend: Mister Aslan's son.
JACKIE
Behrem?
KOZLOWSKI
Yes.
We were friends for years. Whenever I came over, first mister Aslan would serve tea, then he would let Behrem and I play in the courtyard whilst he counted the gold and prepared the feathers. Behrem and I would run around the yard, frightening the chickens! Playing at being pirates boarding merchant ships! As we grew older, our interest would turn to board games. Behrem would get so annoyed when I beat him at mancala, but playing pettaia, he always had the upper hand. We loved each others company, and when the time came for me to return home with the feathers, I never wanted to leave.
Then the day came when I turned fifteen and I had to go sailing with my uncle. It was a rite of passage for any dyer's apprentice; to join a merchant ship, selling the fabrics, meeting our customers all over the Mediterranean. Kings and queens, princesses and princes...
JACKIE
So your uncle didn't leave the family in shame, like in the other story?
KOZLOWSKI
He did not. As the younger brother he was responsible for selling our goods, whilst my father as the older brother produced the fabrics.
My uncle's ship would be traveling for the better part of a year, and I was scared of being lonely. As the youngest aboard I had little in common with the old sailors. So I asked if perhaps my uncle would need one more deck hand... and he said yes!
That was our first journey together, me and Behrem.
JACKIE
He let Behrem join? That's sweet!
KOZLOWSKI
We saw the world! Or so we thought. Little did we know that later, we would travel much, much further... But on this trip, the Mediterranean felt like the whole universe! We saw chariot races in Athens and heard Ziryab play the lute in the Emirate of Córdoba! We sailed under the Colossus of Rhodes and set up our stall next to the Temple of Artemis!
JACKIE
Wow.
MIA
That sounds incredible.
KOZLOWSKI
One evening, in Byzantium, Behrem and I had been given shore leave. The ship would only heave anchor at sunrise, so we had plenty of time. We had bought sweet tea and walked down to the riverbank. We sat there looking out at the ships sailing the Bosporus, discussing poetry and philosophy...
JACKIE
You mentioned this before - in the first story about you and Behrem. The two of you by the Bosporus.
MIA
Isn't the Bosporus Strait in Istanbul?
KOZLOWSKI
Istanbul used to be called Byzantium.
MIA
I thought Istanbul used to be called Constantinople.
KOZLOWSKI
This was before Constantine the Great re-founded the city.
MIA
Right.
JACKIE
Go back to the story!
KOZLOWSKI
Behrem and I were so caught up in our discussions, that evening became night. We looked at the stars, shared secrets... Completely forgetting about time.
Suddenly I notice the sun is about to rise. I panic! We only have a few minutes to make our way back to the ship! If we are late, my uncle will be furious! He will punish us! Or maybe they will leave without us! We get up and run as fast as we can, but just as we get to the docks, Behrem grabs me and pulls me behind a boathouse!
JACKIE
What? Why?
KOZLOWSKI
"Behrem!" I say! "What are you doing?! We only have a minute or my uncle will - !" And he kisses me!
(PAUSE)
Behrem kisses me. And I kiss him back. And we stop worrying about my uncle and just... kiss behind the boathouse.
MIA
That's really romantic!
JACKIE
Did you get left behind?
KOZLOWSKI
My uncle waited for us. It was no big deal. I had panicked for nothing. But maybe if I had not panicked, Behrem would not have kissed me. Who knows?
JACKIE
It is a really sweet story, but... so far we haven't met a single phoenix. Just some feathers.
KOZLOWSKI
Easy, JACKIE Williams. We will get to the phoenix soon enough. In fact, now it is time to skip forward a few years. Behrem and I are young men. We are going steady, and we have moved in together.
MIA
Openly? I mean, you didn't get in trouble? For being gay?
KOZLOWSKI
This was before the rise of the Abrahamic religions. Even Judaism was in its infancy. Times were different... in so many ways. For better and worse.
MIA
Huh.
KOZLOWSKI
One day mister Aslan passed away, and on this day Behrem learned... No.
(KOZLOWSKI SEEMS TO STRUGGLE)
MIA
What is it?
KOZLOWSKI
I need to tell the story in another order. I...
(HE TRIES AGAIN, BUT NOTHING COMES. HE ALMOST SOUNDS PHYSICALLY PAINED)
JACKIE
Telling this story is hard for you.
KOZLOWSKI
I have only ever told it once...
MIA
Only once?
KOZLOWSKI
Yes. Only once the way it really happened.
JACKIE
You mean without embellishing.
KOZLOWSKI
And inventing. And...
MIA
Lying.
KOZLOWSKI
But I want to tell it now. To you.
JACKIE
I feel... very privileged.
MIA
Yes. Yes, we do.
KOZLOWSKI
I will try.
I had a... wonderful childhood. But parallel to my happiness runs a darker story: The story of my country, Phoenicia. Phoenicia was a thalassocratic civilization -
JACKIE
A phallos-ocratic civilization?! What's that, a penis-state?!
MIA
He said th-allasocratic.
JACKIE
Oh.
KOZLOWSKI
Phoenicia was a maritime state. The country consisted of port towns around the Mediterranean. We controlled trade and transport across southern Europe, northern Africa and the Middle East. We were an empire at sea. This made us desirable; for economic reasons, and military. The Assyrians, the Babylonians, the Persians, the Macedonians... everyone wanted to control the Phoenician port towns. There is hardly a day in the history of Phoenecia when we were not at war.
And war takes its toll. Not only on a country's population, and on its soldiers, but also on its natural resources.
MIA
But if you were a sea-country, what natural resources did you have? Oh, fish!
KOZLOWSKI
No. Birds!
MIA
Birds?
KOZLOWSKI
Specifically -
JACKIE
Phoenixes! Finally!
KOZLOWSKI
Yes.
MIA
Of course.
KOZLOWSKI
Phoenicians were the only people who knew the sacred art of keeping phoenixes. How to sustain their lifespan, how to make sure they regenerate. But after centuries of one army after another looting and plundering... the phoenix population had depleted.
JACKIE
Because they treated the phoenixes badly.
MIA
And they burned too often.
KOZLOWSKI
That is right. So on the same day that Behrem lost his father, he also learned that he was now the keeper of the very last phoenix in the world.
JACKIE
Oh shit.
KOZLOWSKI
Oh shit indeed.
MIA
The last phoenix. That's where you got that from. It didn't belong to a Chinese emperor.
KOZLOWSKI
And it did not pretend to be a chicken.
JACKIE
It belonged to Behrem.
KOZLOWSKI
At the time, Phoenecia was under attack by... the Assyrians, I think. We knew that as soon as they found out where the last phoenix was, they would come to take her. She was the pride of the household. A magnificent bird, dignified and stubborn, but kind.
MIA
Kind?
KOZLOWSKI
When we were children, and our games of being pirates became too wild, sometimes Behrem or I would fall and graze our knee. But then Panacea would come flying -
MIA
Panacea?
KOZLOWSKI
That was her name. She would stand next to us, tilt her head and cry on our wound... and the wound would heal.
MIA
Wow.
JACKIE
She understood you were in pain.
KOZLOWSKI
Phoenixes are wiser than any other bird. We all loved Panacea, her grace and antics. And we wanted to save her from the clutches of the Assyrians. If she ended up with them, she would surely die...
So we fled. Behrem took his sacred duty very seriously. He had sworn to protect the family phoenix, no matter what, and I would follow him anywhere...
And thus began our second journey. A much, much longer journey than our gambol around the Mediterranean.
To escape the Assyrians, Behrem and I went as far as we possibly could, all the way to the territories of Western Zhou. We disguised ourselves as farmers and joined the local village, working the rice fields at day, smoking herbs with the elders in the evenings and tending to Panacea at night.
But soon we learned that our secret had been discovered. King You of Zhou had got wind of what was living in our tent. So we had to flee again.
This time we went north. We lived with the Dolgan people by the Lena River, herding reindeer on the tundra. The climate was harsh - cold and windy - but in summer the fields were full of the most beautiful wildflowers.
But yet again our precious possession was discovered. So we moved again. This time we went south, to the African Savanna. Here we were all alone, our only neighbors were elephants and lions. For a brief moment we felt safe.
JACKIE
Among lions?
KOZLOWSKI
Little did we know that the Bantu people were expanding their territories. Soon there were people on the Savannah and prying eyes yet again... so we left.
Although we got better at hiding Panacea, sooner or later, we would always be discovered. It seemed impossible to keep Panacea's existence secret for long. So we decided the best thing to do was to keep traveling. Never stay for too long in once place. For many years, Behrem, Panacea and I were constantly on the move. We traveled over mountaintops and across vast plains, crossed rivers and sailed oceans, traversed deserts and plowed through the thicket of rain-forests.
Every place we went, we would adopt new disguises. As soon as we feared that someone had found out who we really were, and that we were hiding a phoenix, we would move again, and once more change our appearance.
This was when I first acquired my proficiency in prosthetics. Wigs, facial hair, costumes, masks... Even with the very basic techniques of the time, I discovered ways of changing our looks until we were unrecognizable. We were never the same two men for very long.
JACKIE
You saw the world from behind a hundred different faces.
MIA
A young man, an old man, a criminal, a warden...
KOZLOWSKI
A treasure keeper, a war hero...
JACKIE
Always on the run. Always a refugee.
KOZLOWSKI
Always moving, never settling. It was hard. I will not deny that. But traveling also had its benefits. Do you remember what my field of study was?
MIA
Prosthetics?
KOZLOWSKI
Before that.
MIA
Chemistry, physics!
JACKIE
Magic.
KOZLOWSKI
The ancient alchemies.
Everywhere we went I studied the local knowledge: Religion, myths, science... I sought out witches and medicine men, storytellers and historians, experimenters and tradition keepers. I wanted to know every rock, every herb, every substance on earth! I acquired unfathomable knowledge, unlike anyone else alive!
But there was one mystery that eluded me, and I became obsessed with unlocking its secret:
The mystery of the phoenix.
How could it live for centuries? How did it acquire its powers of healing? Why was its life force so strong, so unbreakable, that it could defeat certain death? And was there anything in nature that could give a human the same powers?
JACKIE
Like a powerful plant!
MIA
Or a root...
JACKIE
(COMING UP WITH AN EXCITING THEORY)
Maybe phoenixes have to eat Baldur's root to gain their powers!
MIA
They'd have to fly all the way to Scotland.
JACKIE
(SHRUGS)
Birds migrate.
MIA
Can we drink the tea yet?
KOZLOWSKI
Soon.
Living on the road, I saw so many ways of existing. Different cultures, languages, customs... I loved it! Always tasting, smelling, learning something new! But I soon realized that the world was too big and my life too short. Humans have such a limited window of time on earth.
MIA
It's like going to Disney World. Isn't it?
BEAT.
JACKIE
Disney World...?
MIA
There's no way you can do all the attractions in one day. You have to accept that you'll only ever experience a fraction of what life has to offer! And that sucks!
KOZLOWSKI
Unless...
MIA
Unless - !
JACKIE
Unless...
MIA
You buy a multi-day pass.
(JACKIE SIGHS)
MIA
So, you wanted to extend your lifespan?
KOZLOWSKI
I went to Behrem and I said: You and I do not have children. Who shall look after Panacea when we die? Should we not look for a way to live on?
MIA
He must have been excited by that! Getting to spend more time with you. And look after Panacea.
KOZLOWSKI
He was not.
MIA
No?
KOZLOWSKI
Behrem and I had always discussed philosophy, ethics - we loved discussing! But we rarely agreed. That was what made the discussions so exciting! But when he disagreed with me on this, it annoyed me. How could he not see that this was the only way?
MIA
What was his argument?
KOZLOWSKI
He said: "Itthobal, do not forget, there is a system to nature. This system is holy. Whoever breaks the God-given rules commits hubris. We are men, and we should never attempt to be Gods."
JACKIE
He had a point -
KOZLOWSKI
(CROSS) He did not! To this day, I disagree! If Gods indeed made this earth and all the things on it, they made it for us to explore and -
MIA
- exploit?
KOZLOWSKI
(PASSIONATE) Utilize! We make penicillin out of mold! We use nitrogen to fertilize plants and feed millions! The world is full of discoveries waiting to be made, discoveries that will make life better, richer, more creative and sustainable!
JACKIE
That is also a point.
KOZLOWSKI
You do not live with a phoenix without being enthralled by its power. That is why phoenixes were only kept by certain chosen families. That is why the secrets of the phoenix were passed down from generation to generation. These families were respected and treasured, but also feared. They were more revered than priests, but more shunned than lepers. They were graced with the honor - and cursed with the burden - of being phoenix keepers.
And suddenly, I was one of them. Every day I looked into Panacea's eyes, when feeding her, giving her water. The phoenix has eyes unlike any other creature. Galaxies swirl in those eyes...
Behrem warned me, he tried to teach me the ancient ways, but I... learned like a student and not like an heir. Do you see? I was not a phoenix keeper's son. I was a dyer's son. The responsibility instilled in Behrem from the moment he was born, I could never feel.
Day by day, week by week my obsession grew. The phoenix has the power of life and death! It is the holy grail, the philosopher's stone! And then one day it was no longer curiosity, it was... lust. I did no longer want to know the phoenix... I wanted to become it.
The tea is done!
MIA
Oh.
JACKIE
Right. Yes. Let's -
(KOZLOWSKI HANDS OUT THE CUPS)
KOZLOWSKI
I hope you like it.
(JACKIE AND MIA TAKE A SIP)
KOZLOWSKI
Serefe! ("CHEERS" IN TURKISH)
JACKIE
Serefe!
MIA
Serefe!
KOZLOWSKI
(IN TURKISH) I hope it is strong enough...
(MIA AND JACKIE DRINK)
MIA
Hm.
JACKIE
It's...
KOZLOWSKI
Do you like it?
MIA
It is sort of umami... but the acidic kind of umami.
JACKIE
You think? I think it's more grassy. But the meaty kind of grassy.
MIA
It's not bad.
JACKIE
No, it's not bad.
(MIA AND JACKIE DRINK SOME MORE)
JACKIE
I didn't realize how thirsty I was!
MIA
Right?
KOZLOWSKI
Do not drink it all at once. Remember to savor it.
JACKIE
Yeah. It's not every day we drink a magic potion! We should commit this moment to memory!
MIA
So how long will we live? Now that we've drunk this?
KOZLOWSKI
I do not know. I cannot predict the future.
MIA
Come on! An estimate?
KOZLOWSKI
It is not healthy to know when you shall die.
MIA
Awww.
JACKIE
Don't worry about your lifespan, Mia! Think about how we'll be received when we return! When we were assigned The Amelia Project case, no one at the CIA expected this!
MIA
True.
KOZLOWSKI
Should I continue?
JACKIE
Sure!
(MIA AND JACKIE TAKE ANOTHER SIP. KOZLOWSKI CONTINUES)
KOZLOWSKI
One day I worked it out.
MIA
Worked what out?
KOZLOWSKI
How to gain the powers of the phoenix.
JACKIE
The powers we'll soon have!
KOZLOWSKI
All through our travels I had collected recipes and rituals, incantations and ancient algorithms. But although nearly every culture on the planet entertains the idea of eternal life, no one could tell me how to go about achieving it. But then one day I found the final piece of the puzzle, hidden in a place I did not expect.
JACKIE
Where?
KOZLOWSKI
With the Tohunga-tā-moko.
MIA
Who are they?
KOZLOWSKI
The Tohunga-tā-moko are the sacred tattoists of the Maori tribes in New Zealand.
MIA
A bunch of tattoo-artists knew the secret to eternal life?
JACKIE
Was that when you started tattooing yourself?
KOZLOWSKI
On our travels, I had admired body art from many cultures. But so far, I had refrained from marking my own body - for fear of making myself recognizable. Adding a beard is of little help if you can be recognized from the ink under your skin.
But even if I had been fascinated by tattoos and other body modification, it was only when I met the Maori people that I realized that some tattoos hold powers beyond the symbolic.
JACKIE
What do you mean?
KOZLOWSKI
Some tattoos perform functions. They imbue the bearer with strength or luck or wisdom.
MIA
Tattoos have magic properties?!
KOZLOWSKI
I hate to disappoint you Mia Fox, but the Chinese symbol on your ankle has no magic power.
MIA
You noticed that? It's a bit embarrassing. I was young, I thought it was cool to get "love" written in Chinese...
KOZLOWSKI
It says "feces".
MIA
...oh.
(JACKIE LAUGHS)
JACKIE
Oh, Mia!
MIA
Whatever! So... eh... some tattoos...? Tell us! What happened in New Zealand?
KOZLOWSKI
Nothing. I did not yet understand the implications of what I had learned. I did not have my realization until we were in the land of the Celts.
JACKIE
Celts? Wait... that's here!
KOZLOWSKI
From other travelers, I had heard talk of a field where special plants grow. Plants with properties with which I wanted to experiment.
MIA
Like... roots for example?
JACKIE
Finally! Now we're coming here!
KOZLOWSKI
We sailed all the way around the globe and landed right here, on that shore right there, in this very field. Right now, we are sitting exactly where Behrem and I built our hut. We were completely isolated here. The closest settlement was all the way south in Corrymuckloch. No one lived as far north as this. Up here it was only Behrem, Panacea and me - plus the plants and the herbs and the lapping waves.
Normally we did not let Panacea walk about outside. But here, we felt safe to let her fly, stretch her wings. And it was safe. But Panacea was out of practice, so on one of her first days here, she landed badly and scratched her wing on some rocks. She started bleeding.
JACKIE
Was she very hurt?
MIA
She's a phoenix, couldn't she just cry on her wound?
KOZLOWSKI
She could. A little wound is no big deal for a phoenix. But seeing her bleed...
Her blood was such a deep dark colour, so dark it was hardly red anymore. Not at all the color you would expect. I had never seen phoenix-blood before, but there it was, dripping onto the rocks, black as...
JACKIE
(SOFTLY) Ink.
MIA
Black as ink.
KOZLOWSKI
In that moment, my obsession burst into flame! It was like the fire of the phoenix already burned in my chest! It was crystal clear: I knew how I could gain the phoenix's powers! How its control of life and death could be mine, could be me!
BEAT.
JACKIE
(ALMOST SCARED)
How?
KOZLOWSKI
I could not know if the procedure would work, no one had ever attempted this before. But I believed it had to...
Only...
(A SUDDEN BUT LONG PAUSE)
JACKIE
Yes?
KOZLOWSKI
No gain comes without loss.
(ANOTHER PAUSE)
MIA
What is that supposed to mean?
KOZLOWSKI
There is no Yin without Yang.
MIA
Meaning...?
KOZLOWSKI
You understand!
JACKIE
I don't want to think it, so...
MIA
...you may have to say it.
(A LONG PAUSE)
KOZLOWSKI
In the process of transferring the phoenix's powers to myself... Panacea would die.
MIA
Fuck.
KOZLOWSKI
But it was too late. My mind was set. I could not stop. Not now... Not when I had uncovered the greatest secret in the universe! I had to see if it would work!
So late one night, after Behrem had fallen asleep, I sneaked out. He was lying over there. It was a clear night, a starry sky, a huge full moon. I carried Panacea down to the shore and started the ritual.
You see this tattoo right here?
MIA
The phoenix on your forehead.
KOZLOWSKI
That was my very first tattoo. It is not made with regular ink.
JACKIE
It is made with phoenix-blood.
MIA
You killed Panacea.
JACKIE
Wouldn't she just come back the next morning?
KOZLOWSKI
Not if I... not when I... She would not, because I drained her.
JACKIE
Oh, Kozlowski...
KOZLOWSKI
I put my hands around Panacea's neck, and her eyes filled with terror. I averted my gaze, clenched my teeth and tightened my grip. Pancea let out a feeble wail, she was trying to sing, but my hands were crushing her windpipe. And then she was silent, limp, lifeless. I took out my knife, inserted it under the keel bone, and cut. Her blood flowed freely, dark and thick into my cupped hands. I transferred it to my flask, distilled it, and used it - all of it - to carve her likeness onto my face. The ritual I had devised was very simple. The next thing I had to do was... step into the fire...
(BEGINNING DURING THE PREVIOUS LINE, KOZLOWSKI SLIPS INTO A TRANCE-LIKE STATE. HE STARTS HUMMING. IT IS THE "LAMENT OF A PHOENIX". THE HUMMING COMES TO AN END)
JACKIE
(SHAKEN)
What did you mean by "step into the fire"?
KOZLOWSKI
My plan was to come running up to the hut the next morning, shake Behrem, crying and wailing, shouting "Panacea! Panacea!" He would wake, run after me to her cage where I had placed a heap of ashes.
JACKIE
Faking her death, like you did in the story with the Chinese prince.
MIA
Only... in reality, you were covering up her murder.
KOZLOWSKI
The ashes would not stir, would not reform, and Behrem and I would cry together. We would hold each other as close as we could, lamenting the bird who had inexplicably burned for the last time. I imagined how mourning together would bring us closer to each other than ever before.
JACKIE
But... It didn't? What happened?
KOZLOWSKI
I never got that far. I had made our funeral pyre, Panacea was burning for the last time... The ritual was drawing to a close. Then I see... Behrem. He is walking towards me. He has woken up. He looks... stunned. The bird's flaming ashes are spiraling around me. I am standing in a whirlwind, vibrating with the forces of the universe. But from inside the fire I can see Behrem. Crying.
JACKIE
You are... in the fire?
KOZLOWSKI
I had to burn.
JACKIE
Like the bird!
KOZLOWSKI
With the bird. As I burn for the first time, I watch Behrem turn his back on me. By the time the sun rose again, and I rose from the ashes for the first time - Behrem was gone.
JACKIE
You burned and came back?!
MIA
Let's focus on the important thing! Behrem left you?
KOZLOWSKI
And I followed.
JACKIE
Yeah, but you burned like a phoenix?!
MIA
Poetic license!
JACKIE
I don't think it is poetic license...
MIA
(OVERLAPPING)
It's a metaphor! Let him tell the story, this is heartbreaking! So you went looking for him?
KOZLOWSKI
I would follow him anywhere.
MIA
Did you find him?
KOZLOWSKI
After three days searching moors and forests I found him on the shores of a Loch, just sitting there, completely still, staring into the distance. I ran towards him, flung my arms around him, but he did not return the embrace, did not move at all. "Look at me Behrem! Look at me!" I implored. And he turned and looked at me, his eyes filled with hatred. That is when I realised that no
apology would ever be enough, no explanation I could think of would ever console him. There was no way of justifying my betrayal. I had killed the very last phoenix, put an end to Behrem's sacred duty, erased the meaning of his life.
MIA
I... I'm sorry it ended like that...
KOZLOWSKI
He would never forgive me. I knew that. But I could not live without him.
JACKIE
An impossible situation.
KOZLOWSKI
Unless...
MIA
Yes?
KOZLOWSKI
I made that night go away.
MIA
What?
KOZLOWSKI
The night I betrayed his trust, the night I murdered Panacea.
JACKIE
You're saying you wanted to turn back time?
KOZLOWSKI
Sadly, that is impossible.
JACKIE
No kidding!
KOZLOWSKI
But there was another way to wipe the slate clean.
MIA
What's that?
KOZLOWSKI
A drug.
JACKIE
What?
KOZLOWSKI
I returned to our field and dug and chopped and grated and boiled... I distilled and distilled and distilled again, making a concoction so strong, so powerful...
Then I went out again to look for Behrem. Again I found him, but this time, I did not try to make him understand - I just offered him a drink.
He had not drunk or eaten for a week, his skin was cracked and grey, his breathing shallow. Reluctantly, he accepted the cup, but when I sat next to him, he turned away. I understood. I walked back towards the forest, and only then did he lift the cup. He drank. And I waited...
JACKIE
So this concoction... What did it do?
KOZLOWSKI
I spent the afternoon in the forest, gathering nuts and berries, and when the sun began to set, I returned to Behrem with my feast.
MIA
He rejected you, surely!
KOZLOWSKI
On the contrary. He was on the verge of starvation.
JACKIE
But you said -
KOZLOWSKI
He was pleased to see me. Pleased, but also... confused...
MIA
Confused?
KOZLOWSKI
"Who are you?" he inquired.
JACKIE
What?!
KOZLOWSKI (CON’T)
I asked him questions, mentioned things that had happened, things that had not. He had forgotten about our travels, our disguises, forgotten about the Savannah, the tundra, the rice fields. He had forgotten our escape from the Assyrians. Forgotten about Ziryab and the Colossus of Rhodes and our first kiss behind the boathouse. After a while I asked him about his childhood, and it was like he had never had one. No mancala or pettaia, no playing pirates or scaring the chicken in the courtyard. No Mister Aslan serving tea to his young friend. No Itthobaal...
JACKIE
Wow.
MIA
So - did he fall in love with you again?
KOZLOWSKI
He looked at me and smiled. The way you smile at a stranger.
For a time, we wandered together. I cared for him. I taught him everything he needed to know to survive. And he was grateful to me.
MIA
So you got what you wanted?
KOZLOWSKI
Maybe I got what I deserved.
MIA
You murdered the last phoenix and erased your lover's memory! You deserve to be punished!
KOZLOWSKI
Exactly.
JACKIE
But it sounds like you and the new Behrem got on fine.
KOZLOWSKI
(WITH DISTASTE) "Fine."
Do you know how painful that was?
JACKIE
What?
KOZLOWSKI
We had scaled mountains together, made love in the snow, outsmarted the Amyrgians and Sagartians, taught each other sanskrit, told each other stories, so many stories -
JACKIE
So you had to rebuild your relationship, but -
KOZLOWSKI
- but now, day after day after day just that same, pleasant, beautiful, empty smile. It was... fine.
We built a routine. Fish day, chicken day, nuts and berries day, hog day... All very... pleasant. But not what life with Behrem had been about!
MIA
Give the poor guy a break! He just woke up without any memories and you want to go straight back to chasing lions in the Savannah?
KOZLOWSKI
I would have settled for a life of quiet routine with the new Behrem. But I could not get used to the way he looked at me. It broke my heart.
JACKIE
How did he look at you?
KOZLOWSKI
The way you look at a friend.
MIA
Is that a bad thing?
KOZLOWSKI
When he used to look at me, his eyes filled with fire, curiosity, intensity, lust.
JACKIE
I see...
KOZLOWSKI
Even when he looked at me by the Loch, his eyes burning with hatred, I preferred that! At least that meant something!
JACKIE
He was no longer in love with you, was he?
KOZLOWSKI
No. So I made sure there were enough chickens plucked and berries picked and bade Behrem farewell.
JACKIE
You accepted you could no longer find back to what you had? I think that was wise.
KOZLOWSKI
(A GRIM LAUGH)
You have learned by now that I do not give up.
MIA
Oh?
KOZLOWSKI
I thought: Perhaps I need to be a new person! If Behrem cannot fall in love with me the way I am now, then I must become someone new!
JACKIE
What, you put on a disguise?
KOZLOWSKI
I used prosthetics only to cover up the phoenix tattoo. But no. A fake beard may fool the Assyrians, but not a lover! But if the beard was real... If my jawline was sharper, my eyebrows neater, my face more symmetrical... For the first time, I tried my hand at surgery.
MIA
Operating on yourself? Didn't that hurt?
KOZLOWSKI
I was willing to take the pain. My worry was the scars, would they be disgusting to Behrem? But I need not have worried. There were no scars.
JACKIE
There were no - ?
MIA
The ritual!
KOZLOWSKI
I had become Panacea. Every cut I made, healed like nothing had happened. I discovered I could reshape my body any way I wanted.
JACKIE
Jeez!
MIA
That explains the crocodile skin. Why your body doesn't reject it. And the fingerprints!
KOZLOWSKI
As soon as my face had healed I sought out Behrem again. He welcomed this new stranger. Gave me shelter. Treated me... amicably. But still there was no passion.
I tried over and over and over...
JACKIE
Seeing the world from behind different faces. Again.
KOZLOWSKI
For how many moons I cannot remember. I did not want to lose Behrem!
JACKIE
Of course. You were soulmates.
KOZLovski
Not anymore.
MIA
Well, technically you were still the same two people, so -
KOZLOWSKI
Was he the same person? Without all the experiences that had shaped the Behrem I knew and loved? And was I the same person? Now that I had phoenix blood on my hands? In my veins?
I had erased him. And I had erased myself.
Then one day, when I arrived at the hut with a yet another new identity and knocked on the door, another man opened. Another... man. Behrem had finally fallen in love. But not with me.
MIA
You lost him.
JACKIE
You gained immortality.
MIA
But lost the love of your life.
KOZLOWSKI
I had made a mistake. A mistake I could never correct. I had acted out of greed and egotism, and the Gods had punished me. On that day, I swore to dedicate my life to helping others. Perhaps, if I filled my life with good deeds - and I knew I would live for a very long time - then perhaps I could one day make up for what I had done.
JACKIE
Wow.
MIA
Yeah. Wow.
KOZLOWSKI
Which is why I apologise for what I have just done.
MIA
What do you mean?
JACKIE
I actually thought it was very... moving.
KOZLOWSKI
I apologise for my actions here tonight.
JACKIE
Sorry?
KOZLOWSKI (CON’T)
I suppose there was an element of egotism to it.
JACKIE
Wait... What?
MIA
What are you talking about?
KOZLOWSKI
Your tea.
MIA
What about it?
JACKIE
Shit! MIA! I was so caught up in the story, I didn't -
MIA
What is going on?
JACKIE
Patience! It doesn't come from the root!
MIA
It doesn't?
JACKIE
No! He IS Patience!
MIA
Oh... Oh!
JACKIE
The memory erasure thingy, what was it made from?
KOZLOWSKI
You know the answer to that question, Jackie Williams.
JACKIE
Baldur's root.
MIA
The tea...
KOZLOWSKI
Like I said, I am profusely sorry for what I have just done to you.
JACKIE
Fuck! FUCK!
(JACKIE RETCHES. SHE TRIES TO THROW UP. IT DOES NOT WORK)
KOZLOWSKI
I am afraid it is too late.
MIA
What are you - did you - ? You fucking - ! Are we going to lose our memory?! Will I know who I am?
JACKIE
We did not distill the tea! So it is not so strong! Is it? Is it?!
KOZLOWSKI
First you will forget this evening, then the last week, then the last month, then... But I promise: I have taken your stories, and I will treasure them.
JACKIE
MIA! Mia, don't drink the tea!
MIA
What are you - ? We already drank it!
JACKIE
What? Shit! My cup is empty!
MIA
It's starting... You're forgetting things...
JACKIE
Forgetting what?
KOZLOWSKI
I must thank you though.
MIA
For what?
KOZLOWSKI
For bringing me here. It means a lot to me.
MIA
It does?
KOZLOWSKI
This field is a place of magic. I always feel especially refreshed when I regenerate here. In the place where I burned for the very first time.
MIA
Right. Of course... What do you mean regenerate? And what do you mean "burn"?
JACKIE
Mia! Don't forget! Stay focused! He just told us! He is a phoenix!
MIA
Like... from Arizona? I think they prefer "Phoenicians".
JACKIE
No!
KOZLOWSKI
Every so often I must renew myself, and it just so happens it is today.
(KOZLOWSKI BRACES HIMSELF)
Yes. It is time.
(HE GETS UP)
I bid you goodbye, Mia Fox and Jackie Williams. I have enjoyed your company and your stories.
And thank you for the clothes. The cheap fabrics should make for excellent tinder.
MIA
What are you doing? What is he doing?
(KOZLOWSKI STEPS UP NEXT TO THE CAMPFIRE)
Are you about to do fire-walking?
JACKIE
I think you're supposed to wait until the flames die down.
MIA
He's just standing there...
KOZLOWSKI
Farewell.
JACKIE
If he takes one more step -
MIA
Your trousers will catch on fire!
(LOGS TUMBLING AS KOZLOWSKI STEPS INTO THE CAMPFIRE)
JACKIE
What are you doing?!
MIA
He’s walking into the fire!
JACKIE
He’s crazy!!
Crackle of fire on fabric.
MIA
STOP!
(KOZLOWSKI'S CLOTHES BURST INTO FIRE AND THE FLAMES QUICKLY GROW TO ENGULF HIM. THE SAME SCREAM THAT WE HE HEARD AT THE END OF MAINE MOEPIRT ARTHUR AS KOZLOWSKI BURNS)
MIA
Shit!! He's on fire!!
JACKIE
FUCK!
The fire grows and grows.
MIA
Get out of there!!
JACKIE
Those cups! Is there anything in them?
MIA and JACKIE pick up the cups.
MIA
It's empty!
JACKIE
This one too!
MIA
This one's full!
JACKIE
Well, chuck it on him!
(ONE CUP OF TEA IS THROWN AT THE BURNING KOZLOWSKI, BUT TO NO AVAIL. THE FIRE IS IMMENSELY HOT AND LOUD.)
JACKIE
Shit!
MIA
Step out of there!
JACKIE
If I get him to the ground, I can quench the fire with my jacket!
(THROUGH THE FIRE WE HEAR KOZLOWSKI SPEAK)
KOZLOWSKI
(CALM, EVEN THOUGH IN PAIN)
Do... not... worry... friends!
(JACKIE TEARS HER JACKET OFF)
JACKIE
I've got to tackle him!
MIA
The fire's too big!
JACKIE
Ahh - !
(JACKIE IS ABOUT TO THROW HERSELF INTO THE FIRE. MIA HOLDS HER BACK)
MIA
(STRUGGLING TO HOLD HER BACK)
No!
JACKIE
(STRUGGLING TO GET LOOSE)
Let me go!
KOZLOWSKI
I... will... be... back...
MIA
Jackie, you'll burn to death!
JACKIE
He's burning to death!
MIA
How is the fire so big!?!
KOZLOWSKI
(WITH GREAT DIFFICULTY)
Death... is... life!
(ROARING FIRE)
A LITTLE FURTHER AWAY.
HAINES
Jackie's right!
COLE
What?
HAINES
We can put out the fire! Take off your jacket!
COLE
It's never going to work!
HAINES
It will, come on! NOW!
They burst out of hiding, tearing their jackets off and charging towards KOZLOWSKI.
COLE
Shiit!
HAINES
It's going to work! Hnh!
COLE
Huhh!
(COLE AND HAINES RUN AT KOZLOWSKI COVERING HIM WITH THEIR JACKETS. THEY TACKLE HIM TO THE GROUND IN THE MIDDLE OF THE CAMPFIRE)
Shit, your trousers are on fire!
(COUGHS)
HAINES
Fuck! It doesn't work! Abort! Abort!
(THEY ROLL OFF HIM, AND ROLL AROUND IN THE GRASS TO PUT OUT THE FIRE IN THEIR OWN CLOTHES)
My trousers!
(COLE SLAPS HAINES TROUSERS REPEATEDLY WITH HIS JACKET)
COLE
Argh! Come on! Come on!
(COUGH)
HAINES
It's out - it's out.
The sea! There's water! We can still save him!
(HAINES SCRAMBLES TO HIS FEET)
COLE
But we have nothing to carry it in -
(COLE GETS UP FOLLOWING HAINES)
MIA
Who the fuck are they...?
JACKIE
Grab'em!
(MIA AND JACKIE TACKLE COLE AND HAINES TO THE GROUND. LOTS OF TACKLING)
MIA and JACKIE
Huh!
COLE
What the - ! No!
HAINES
Ouch!
COLE
Get your knee off - ah!
JACKIE
You are under arrest!
HAINES
Let us go!
MIA
You have the right to shut up, you terrorist piece of scum!
COLE
Terrorist - ?! What - !?
HAINES
No! No! He's burning!
JACKIE
Who's burning!
HAINES
The surgeon!
JACKIE
What the hell are you on about?
HAINES
He's dying!
MIA
These guys are something else.
HAINES
Let go of me!
COLE
Haines... HAINES!
(BEHIND THEM THE FIRE IS FINALLY CALMING DOWN)
(DEFEATED) It's too late.
HAINES
No...
MIA
What is too late?
COLE
He's dead.
HAINES
Shit. He's dead for real.
(EMBERS CRACKLING. SILENCE. THEN:)
COLE
A whole man burned to cinders in less than a minute!? How is that even possible!?
HAINES
Who knows what substances he filled his body with... He was probably a walking wick!
MIA
You two shut up and stop talking in code!
JACKIE
We always end up with the weirdos, don't we?
HAINES
We're the weirdos? We're not the ones who drank a madman's potion and lost our memory!
JACKIE
What?
MIA
Shut it!
HAINES
Ouch!
(BEHIND THEM, SOMETHINGS STIRS AMONG THE EMBERS...)
COLE
(IN TERROR - HE CANNOT BELIEVE WHAT HE'S SEEING)
Haines... Look. Look!
HAINES
What?
MIA
So what should we do with these guys?
JACKIE
I guess we bring them back to...
(SHE CAN'T REMEMBER WHERE SHE IS)
...to...back to the base...
COLE
The embers... The ashes... It's forming...
HAINES
What do you mean forming? I can't see!
COLE
I mean... forming.
HAINES
She's got me in a headlock! Let go!
(HE MANAGES TO TWIST HIS HEAD, WHICH IS STILL IN A HEADLOCK, TOWARDS THE FIRE)
HAINES
Let me see...
MIA
Don't move!
(HAINES SEES WHAT COLE IS SEEING)
HAINES
What the - What the actual -
(YES, HAINES, IT'S IMPOSSIBLE! BUT IT'S HAPPENING...)
JACKIE
What are we charging these two with again?
MIA
Well, they're the - They're the two - aren't they? Everything's a bit foggy right now, probably all this smoke but... but I know these two are -
(SHE HAS NO IDEA. IN THE BACKGROUND, THE ASHES KEEP REASSEMBLING. SOON A FAMILIAR SHAPE APPEARS)
HAINES
It's growing. The ashes... are growing.
COLE
It's him. It's another... magic trick.
MIA
I think it's drugs or terrorism maybe - It doesn't matter! They're bad guys!
HAINES
Hey! Hey! Mia! Jackie! He's coming back!
JACKIE
Who's coming back?
HAINES
The surgeon!
MIA
How do you know our names?
HAINES
Never mind, just look behind you!
BEAT.
JACKIE
(CHUCKLING)
Look behind us? How stupid do you think we are!?
HAINES
He is rising from the ashes!
JACKIE
You're right, MIA. These nutballs belong behind bars, criminal or not!
(KOZLOWSKI SITS UP AND DUSTS THE ASHES OFF)
KOZLOWSKI
(COUGHS UP SOME ASHES)
Hrm!
(KOZLOWSKI GETS UP AND STRETCHES, AS IF HAVING SLEPT IN THE WRONG POSITION)
HAINES
But he IS behind you!
KOZLOWSKI
Indeed I am.
MIA and JACKIE finally turn.
MIA
What? Who are you?
JACKIE
Where did you come from?
KOZLOWSKI
I am sorry to interrupt two officers of the law in the middle of apprehending two criminals. I shall be on my way.
MIA
Why are you naked?
KOZLOWSKI
I am going to the nudist beach for a morning swim. Good day to you!
(KOZLOWSKI WALKS OFF.)
MIA
Good day to you!
JACKIE
Did you see that tattoo on his forehead? That was something else.
HAINES
That! Was! The surgeon! You are investigating The Amelia Project! HELLO! Do you not remember anything!?!
COLE
Haines, it's...
JACKIE
MIA, have you got any handcuffs?
MIA
Sure - I - where are they? I can't remember where I put them.
JACKIE
Never mind, we have cable ties. Just have to get'em to the car.
MIA
Sure. Do you remember where we parked?
JACKIE
Parked?
MIA
The car.
JACKIE
Which car?
HAINES
Oh, this is just...
COLE
Listen, will you please let us go? We are special agents Henry Cole and Christopher Haines of MI5!
MIA
You're agents?
COLE
Yes.
MIA
I - oh! Oh, I'm so sorry!
(MIA LETS COLE GO)
COLE
Thank you!
MIA
Jackie! They're agents!
JACKIE
I thought they were criminals?
MIA
Can I see your badge?
(COLE PRESENTS HIS BADGE)
COLE
Here.
JACKIE
Oh. Well, in that case, I'm really sorry...
(JACKIE LETS HAINES GO)
HAINES
Cheers...
(HAINES STRETCHES HIS NECK)
COLE
Come on Haines, let's follow him!
HAINES
Yeah - uh - are you guys coming with us? The actual criminal is walking away -
COLE
(INTERRUPTS)
Give up! They can't even tell their fingers from their toes right now!
(COLE PULLS HAINES WITH HIM)
HAINES
Sure... Which way did he go?
COLE
That way!
(COLE AND HAINES RUN OFF AFTER KOZLOWSKI)
(A MOMENT OF SILENCE)
MIA
Where are they going?
THEME TUNE AND CREDITS
PIP WITH THE CREDITS
Stay tuned for the epilogue, but first the credits.
The Amelia Project is a production of Imploding Fictions.
This episode featured Hemi Yeroham as Kozlowski, Jordan Cobb as Jackie Williams, Erin King as MIA Fox, Benjamin Noble as Haines and Torgny G. Aanderaa as Cole.
It was written by Oystein Brager with story and dialogue editing by Philip Thorne, it was directed by Philip Thorne and Oystein Brager, with sound design by Eli Hamada Mcilveen and music by Fredrik Baden, graphic design by Anders Pedersen and production assistance by Maty Parzival.
If you’re hearing this, it means you’re listening on the public feed. The episode came out a month ago, without ads, on Patreon. The next two episodes will come out publicly in the new year, but on Patreon the next one will be out in the coming week! So, if you want to support our work, get early and ad free access, and if you want to browse our extensive library of audio and video bonus content, go to ameliapodcast.com today, and sign up as a patron from just five dollars.
Thank you to everyone who is supporting the show, and a shoutout to our super patrons. At the time of recording that’s:
Michayla Sullivan, Celeste Joos, Heat 312, Alban Ossant, Amélie and Alison, Stefanie Weittenhiller, Rafael Eduardo Wefers Verastegui, Alison Thro, Patricia Bohnwagner, Bryce Godmer, Cliff Huizenga, Michael West, Tim McMackin, Tibbi, Florian Beijers, Courtney Mays Rensen, Boo, Astra Kim, Olivea Dodson, Philip Hansen, Michael David Smith, LG, Ryan Burnett, Timotheus, Miss Nixie, Mystic Sybil, Tiffany Duffy, Jason Woods, Ryan O’Mara, Christine Bayuga, Stefan Hartinger, Lucille Farrell, Anonymous, Blythe Varney, Iris, Jade Pickering, Daniella Nissen, Matthew with Two T’s The First T is Silent, Kelsey Paige, Silas X, Isabella Arzeno, Geethebluesky, Canal Cryptid, Ethan Cobb, Helden Inkheart, Atiyyah Makada, Ent, The Slim Reaper, Maks Jaromin, DJ Goodall, Captaincache, Nitali Arora.
And now, the epilogue.
EPILOGUE.
(MIA SITS DOWN. JACKIE FOLLOWS SUIT)
JACKIE
I can't... I can't for the life of me remember how we got here.
MIA
Me neither.
JACKIE
Where even are we?
MIA
Look. The sun is coming up.
JACKIE
That's... beautiful.
MIA
Yeah.
(BIRDS START CHIRPING. MORNING)
JACKIE
The sky is all red like...
MIA
Fire.
JACKIE
(AT THE SAME TIME)
...feathers.
MIA
Feathers?
JACKIE
I'm sorry, but... I seem to have forgotten your name?
END.