transcript

Speaker 1:
[00:00] Greetings, gentlemen and gentle ladies from Hell. You asked for them, and now we have them. You can access The Gentleman From Hell transcripts on our lowest $2 tier on Patreon. Season 1 is already up, and Season 2 transcripts will be posted later this week, and uploaded every week after each episode release. Also, please consider giving the show a rating and review on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. It really helps with visibility and helps us grow as a show and a company. As always, thank you so much for your support. We couldn't do any of this without you. Greetings, gentlemen and gentle ladies of hell. We just wanted to inform you that the roles of Wyatt will now be played by Malakai Lazuli and Lucy will be played by Zoe Lee. Thank you and enjoy the show.

Speaker 2:
[02:47] All right, this is the last of what we pulled from Price's room. I say we log everything we can into the system, transcribe it, catalog it, then let Hank comb through for patterns and anything that stands out.

Speaker 3:
[02:58] I'll also upload my files to Mephiteka. That way, he can cross-reference them with the journals and everything else we've gathered since arriving here. I've amassed quite a file over the years, emails and essays from various scholars I haven't had the time to properly evaluate.

Speaker 4:
[03:13] Hank won't have internet access with the Stormworld team, so the analysis won't be as deep as we'd like. But it still means trying to sift through all this ourselves.

Speaker 5:
[03:26] Dr. Aldridge, where'd you guys go?

Speaker 6:
[03:34] We're in the lab, Mic. What have you got for me?

Speaker 5:
[03:38] More like what I don't have, the security footage. It doesn't look white. More like it got hit with some kind of interference. Probably the same EM fields that have been knocking out our systems, especially since everything started scrambling around 3am onward. And just so you know, they just let Ryan out of the med bay and saying some pretty crazy shit.

Speaker 6:
[04:06] Where is he now?

Speaker 5:
[04:10] Doc set him up with some pills and sent him back to his room to sleep it off. I gotta say, he's got the rest of the fellas on edge. You wanna let me in on what the hell he's talking about?

Speaker 6:
[04:24] We're not positive just yet, but we're thinking the EM fields coming out of the gorge can interact with the brain, causing mild hallucinations. We won't know anything for sure till we finish our tests. But by the way, why have you been calling the shots? I haven't heard a peep out of Rosen since he told you guys to post up a guard because of the rope lines being cut.

Speaker 5:
[04:52] They called me this morning, said he wasn't feeling good, wanted me to fill in. So, where are those tests coming back? I mean, I did my fair share of ass in back in college. Sure as hell don't need to be tripping balls out of here in the middle of nowhere.

Speaker 6:
[05:11] I'll let you know as soon as we find something for sure.

Speaker 5:
[05:16] Do you think that's why Price might have lost it?

Speaker 6:
[05:20] I gotta let you go, Mic. We've got a video call with the captain waiting for us. I'll keep you updated.

Speaker 7:
[05:29] We need to come up with some kind of story that doesn't include monsters and demons where things could get pretty messy in here.

Speaker 4:
[05:38] I say we keep things to the bare minimum. Tell the captain only what we know for sure.

Speaker 8:
[05:45] What precisely would that be?

Speaker 2:
[05:47] Just like Sam said, we suspect those machines might have something to do with all this, that they could be made by... Well...

Speaker 3:
[05:55] Extraterrestrials, demons. I'm afraid there's only so much it can be watered down.

Speaker 7:
[06:02] Okay, so what do you suggest?

Speaker 9:
[06:04] Tell them that Ryan Guy is right? That a giant goddamn goat monster crashed through here and took one of the workers?

Speaker 3:
[06:11] I don't think telling the truth is our most pressing concern at the moment. I propose we play dumb, at least until we can prove something. In the meantime, we work around the clock until we can determine what is to be done. If anything.

Speaker 10:
[06:47] So, why did you want me on this little chit chat and no one else?

Speaker 11:
[06:52] Isn't it obvious? Because I trust you, and I don't trust them.

Speaker 12:
[06:58] As far as we know, they could be behind all this, testing out some new technology or another.

Speaker 10:
[07:04] I honestly don't see how. I've been involved in that shit twice now, and I can tell you for a fact, whatever is going on, it's definitely not man-made.

Speaker 12:
[07:17] You know, this whole job rubbed me the wrong way since the very beginning.

Speaker 10:
[07:20] Now what are you on about?

Speaker 11:
[07:22] The Kirkbride group.

Speaker 12:
[07:25] When they hired me to come all this way out here, they were secretive.

Speaker 13:
[07:29] No real details, meeting, and out of the way places.

Speaker 12:
[07:33] Hell, we've done off-the-book jobs before. Military, rich families, but even they were more forthcoming than these people.

Speaker 11:
[07:44] Something tells me they're tied to it.

Speaker 12:
[07:47] Whatever it is.

Speaker 10:
[07:49] I don't know, Vera. Those two scientists who are with Jake and me, when those people in black robes came out of nowhere, they looked just as scared as we were.

Speaker 12:
[08:00] Be that as it may, I want your read on this conversation.

Speaker 11:
[08:04] You've seen your share of shit, same as me. Figure two bloodhounds are better than one.

Speaker 10:
[08:10] Sure, whatever you say. But how are we doing a video conference? I thought the internet was down.

Speaker 12:
[08:18] We established a local network right after our arrival.

Speaker 11:
[08:21] It won't be perfect, but I want to see their faces when we talk.

Speaker 10:
[08:30] You're the one who sounds like you've got a wee bit of the devil in you.

Speaker 11:
[08:38] That's them now.

Speaker 14:
[08:48] Captain, can you hear me?

Speaker 13:
[08:50] Barely. We should make this quick before the signal drops.

Speaker 11:
[08:55] What have you found?

Speaker 14:
[08:56] We're sending over all our findings right after we finished here. So far, everything we've recovered points to Price being the saboteur, but I'm not convinced he was in his right mind. His journal entries are disturbing, erratic.

Speaker 2:
[09:13] That's why we think this may still tie back to the elevated EN fields coming out of the gorge. They could be inducing hallucinations.

Speaker 13:
[09:22] We've been tracking those fields the entire time. They only spiked recently, well after Price would have planted the bomb or cut the rope lines. And why would it only affect certain individuals?

Speaker 15:
[09:34] Variations in physiology or neurology could explain that, but we don't have anything conclusive yet.

Speaker 13:
[09:44] And the two missing crewmen from Boreas, what, they just lost their minds and wandered off? Or are you suggesting Price took them?

Speaker 2:
[09:52] We don't know yet.

Speaker 11:
[09:55] Hmm, okay.

Speaker 13:
[09:56] I'll be honest, I find your theory extremely unsatisfying. If Price took them, how did he manage it without leaving a trace?

Speaker 12:
[10:06] Especially when he left a mountain of evidence in his own quarters.

Speaker 11:
[10:11] Where did he take them and why?

Speaker 13:
[10:22] I may not be a scientist, but I'm no idiot either. You might as well be telling me it's the flu.

Speaker 12:
[10:28] You've got nothing but conjecture, and it doesn't even line up with the effects.

Speaker 13:
[10:33] EM fields don't create maniacs, trigger group hallucinations, or turn ice cortex into Houdini.

Speaker 11:
[10:41] Would you care to try again?

Speaker 2:
[10:44] I know how this sounds, but we think the phenomenon might be connected to the machines we found in the ruins.

Speaker 14:
[10:51] There's some indication that, well, they may still be active.

Speaker 13:
[10:58] Ancient machines that cause people to run mad.

Speaker 15:
[11:03] Now we know how it sounds.

Speaker 11:
[11:06] Okay.

Speaker 12:
[11:07] I'm going to send you some data from the bridge.

Speaker 11:
[11:10] Perhaps you can make more sense of it than we can.

Speaker 13:
[11:14] And if you find anything, please let me know.

Speaker 11:
[11:22] Well, what do you think?

Speaker 10:
[11:25] I'd say they're holding something back. And they're scared.

Speaker 11:
[11:31] Yeah, that was my read as well. Every one of them seemed hesitant. I was almost embarrassed to say what they did. I'll accept a peculiar one. Dr. Gohlen. He didn't say a word, but his eyes? They told me he knew more than the rest of us combined.

Speaker 12:
[11:52] Still, I suppose time will tell.

Speaker 10:
[11:55] Then why send them the bridge data if you don't trust them?

Speaker 11:
[11:59] Because that's not all I intend to send.

Speaker 13:
[12:02] One way or another, I'll find out what they're hiding.

Speaker 10:
[12:06] Ah, pretty sneaky, Ms. Sherapova. Let me guess. You had Mr. Both put together some kind of infiltrator program.

Speaker 11:
[12:16] Something like that, Mr. Sharsteen?

Speaker 10:
[12:19] Well, while you enjoy your little game, I'll comb through the data they sent. See if anything slipped through the cracks. I'll also make sure Boreas and the rest of us are on full alert as we approach O-300. Whatever it is, machine, monster or electromagnetic anomaly, we know exactly when it's coming for us.

Speaker 3:
[13:30] We're sorry, the number you have dialed is not in service at this time.

Speaker 16:
[13:36] Doesn't have to try.

Speaker 17:
[13:38] I suppose he wouldn't have left me with a phone if he thought I could use it. But, at least I can record this.

Speaker 16:
[13:47] I'm the off chance anyone ever listens to it, provided I'm not around to tell them myself.

Speaker 17:
[13:59] This is Avery Price, and I just woke up inside a massive cave. Biggest I've ever seen. The creature just left me here. I assumed because he knows there's nothing I could do to escape, but I won't stop him. I don't know who or what he is, only that he's ancient and inhuman, and that whatever the underwater temple is designed to do, he's come back to finish the job. There's a dim, sort of blue phosphorance illuminating the whole place, and everything is slick with that weird black fluid. I've been finding all around ever since we got to Acofjord. The same stuff that started leaking from my pores, from my eyes, right before he took me from the outpost and brought me here.

Speaker 16:
[15:03] It's some kind of by-product of the thing's presence, I think.

Speaker 17:
[15:08] The contamination of our world.

Speaker 18:
[15:12] I feel the lack of a better way of putting it.

Speaker 17:
[15:19] I'm coming up on a different section of the cave. It's all carved, but it doesn't look like anything, any other ancient engravings you're likely to find. The stone's been worked to form recesses and gullies. There's weird tubes, wanting in and out of them. They almost look like massive electrical cables. Nothing here reflects a culture or a belief system of any kind, just... I'm following the cable-like structures to see where they lead. The cave gets even wider. The ceiling is covered in mist, almost like some subterranean weather system. The cables are threaded in and out of these mammoth black columns. Looks like they're made of... obsidian? Or even... anthracite. It's hard to tell. They're mixed with some... other elements. Maybe even a solidified form of the black fluid on them, though. There's more coils joining the several up in forward.

Speaker 16:
[16:40] The secrets, may be thousands of them.

Speaker 17:
[16:43] They're all converging within a single mechanism that's deeply recessed into the floor of the cave, and rises beyond the midst of the ceiling. A massive black pyramidal structure. The moats around the thing. It's filled with the black fluid. I've stopped circling around the structure pretty fast. I don't see any natural reason for the strength of the current. I'm gonna get right to the edge of the moat, see if I can get a better look at the structure. Besides the dark, they seem translucent.

Speaker 16:
[17:37] There's corpses in there.

Speaker 17:
[17:40] Holy Jesus Christ, that's Wyatt, Peter, the dead.

Speaker 18:
[17:49] Indeed. And so, so many others as well.

Speaker 9:
[18:10] What the hell are you?

Speaker 16:
[18:11] What the fuck do you want?

Speaker 18:
[18:13] Poor Avery. Just a bug staring into the sun. No idea what it beholds. No capacity to learn.

Speaker 16:
[18:28] That's not true.

Speaker 19:
[18:31] I saw things in your mud.

Speaker 15:
[18:33] You're throwing Harper away.

Speaker 19:
[18:36] Away.

Speaker 15:
[18:37] In the...

Speaker 16:
[18:38] In the hell.

Speaker 18:
[18:40] Your grasp is so slight. A cobweb clutching at an avalanche. The path you speak of. We opened it a long time ago. That was the least of our labors. And just as mine is not yet finished, neither is yours.

Speaker 15:
[19:10] Please, stay away!

Speaker 4:
[19:49] That's them. Hank just finished downloading the last of the files.

Speaker 2:
[19:54] Let's get to work, then. Or let Hank get to work, I suppose I should say. Let's start out with that name we saw on the Wall of the Ruins. Hank, what can you tell me about the name Mergala as it pertains to the subject of Mephitica?

Speaker 19:
[20:10] Of course, Dr. Zahra. The name Mergala likely refers to an early Mephitican fertility figure, widely believed to be a precursor to the Sumerian wind demon, Lilitu, and later, in Jewish mythology, the first bride of Adam, Lilith. Mergala is described as the consort of a wicked creature that escaped from Diabolon, a realm considered a forerunner to the concept of Hell. According to the tale, she bore the creature six children, three sons, and three daughters, each said to be monstrous in form and nature. Despite this, Mergala is said to have defied her husband's command that she lie with other members of his grotesque retinue to produce more such abominations. When he moved to punish her for this defiance, the six children intervened, rescuing their mother and fleeing with her into the unknown. Apocryphal accounts written in early Sumerian offer a darker origin. These texts claim that Mergala was once a cruel queen of a distant, feral land and that it was this very reputation for wickedness that drew the risen demon of Diabolon to claim her as his bride.

Speaker 3:
[21:35] This symbol is always paired with the name Mergala. Can you translate it?

Speaker 19:
[21:41] Yes, I believe I can, Dr. Gohlen. The character is an almost exact match for the symbol representing the womb. Given its placement alongside the character for Mergala, the most accurate reading would almost certainly be the womb of Mergala.

Speaker 6:
[22:00] If the name of the temple is the Womb of Mergala, and we already know they were trying to communicate with some hell-like reality, does that mean they were trying to, I don't know, birth some kind of creature? A creature from hell?

Speaker 7:
[22:19] I'm still having a lot of trouble accepting that whatever it was we all saw was a... demon from hell.

Speaker 4:
[22:32] Maybe it was only what they perceived as a demon from hell. Given the technology and such, well, like I said before, maybe they were looking in the wrong direction.

Speaker 8:
[22:47] I'm not sure there's a relevant distinction. Both are objectively, or at least conventionally, batshit crazy theories. And besides, why would an alien look like some kind of demonic goat?

Speaker 2:
[23:04] Well, I for one find the distinction important. I'd sure as shit rather be dealing with an alien than a demon from hell.

Speaker 6:
[23:11] Something else just occurred to me. If Darrow was possessed by this thing and it led him all the way out here, then why didn't it have his expedition team dig it up? Why did he have to wait until we happened alone?

Speaker 3:
[23:26] That's an excellent question, Dr. Aldridge. I only wish I had an equally excellent answer.

Speaker 8:
[23:33] We just got that email from the captain. Looks like we got a bunch of telemetry from the ship's sensors and a sound file.

Speaker 4:
[23:43] Why don't we start with the sound file?

Speaker 7:
[23:46] Sure.

Speaker 6:
[24:12] What the hell was that supposed to be?

Speaker 7:
[24:16] That was picked up by the ship.

Speaker 2:
[24:19] It sounds like some kind of machine starting up, followed by screams.

Speaker 4:
[24:24] The screams are too distorted to know if it's one of our own people.

Speaker 2:
[24:28] What about the telemetry?

Speaker 8:
[24:35] In a nutshell, both the EM levels and the storm's intensity became significantly elevated shortly after they picked up the machine sound.

Speaker 6:
[24:44] I realize correlation doesn't equal causation, but at this point, I'm willing to draw a few conclusions. Like, whatever those machines are, whoever, or whatever, created them, they're behind all of this, somehow.

Speaker 3:
[25:04] I'm curious whether someone guided almost entirely by logic would agree with your assessment. Hank, given all the information we've provided, along with our own written accounts of these events, what would you determine to be the origin of the high strangeness we've encountered?

Speaker 19:
[25:20] Certainly, Dr. Gohlen. Based on the data provided, it appears that the ancient machines discovered beneath the water may be under the influence of an unknown entity. Whether this entity is paranormal, extraterrestrial, or otherwise is still unknown, but its nature seems to defy conventional classification, potentially supernatural or cryptozoological. The entity may have been responsible for the ancient ruin and these machines. It likely entered a dormant state for an estimated 3,000 to 4,000 years. Now reawakened, it seems to be employing some unknown form of mental manipulation to pursue its ends. Primarily, the reactivation of these ancient machines, resuming a goal it was prevented from completing millennia ago. With the machines now operational, many of the reported so-called paranormal disturbances appear to stem from their activity. Finally, while these observations align with your subjective experiences and the historical context, they remain in direct contradiction to conventional science. I recommend continued objective analysis before adopting such extraordinary interpretations.

Speaker 4:
[26:47] At least Hank came to the same conclusion, giving the same information.

Speaker 6:
[26:51] And he's just as skeptical of that conclusion as we are.

Speaker 8:
[26:55] Can't say I blame him.

Speaker 5:
[27:00] Dr. Aldridge?

Speaker 8:
[27:04] Right here, Mic. What's up?

Speaker 5:
[27:09] It's Rosen.

Speaker 15:
[27:11] He's, uh, dead.

Speaker 5:
[27:14] Looks like he committed suicide. I went to check on him after he stopped responding on his walkie. Found him in the shower. Both his wrists slipped.

Speaker 4:
[27:37] I'm getting to think. We may already be too late to stop this.

Speaker 12:
[28:12] So, what is it you wanted me to see?

Speaker 20:
[28:15] I can't visually confirm anything because of the blizzard, but the instruments are throwing up anomalies. The sonar is showing a significant shift in the terrain around us. It's like the topography changed under our feet. I'm seeing ridges where there were none, depths where it should be flat. Something shifted out there, and it's big. We'll need to run another sweep, but right now the data says the landscape around us isn't what it was an hour ago.

Speaker 11:
[28:39] It has to be a problem with the instruments.

Speaker 12:
[28:42] Even with all that's happened, you're not going to convince me that all of Echo Ford just changed its shape in the span of an hour.

Speaker 21:
[28:54] Burt, are you there?

Speaker 10:
[28:57] Where else would I be?

Speaker 13:
[29:00] I need you and Jake to take a look outside. Use the thermal binoculars.

Speaker 10:
[29:08] Sure. What am I looking for?

Speaker 12:
[29:13] Anything out of the ordinary.

Speaker 10:
[29:17] That's a wee bit specific, but alright. Just give us a minute to suit up.

Speaker 13:
[29:25] Just radio me the second you know anything.

Speaker 10:
[29:28] Will do.

Speaker 21:
[29:56] What the hell are we supposed to be looking out here for?

Speaker 10:
[29:59] I got no idea. Just anything out of the ordinary.

Speaker 21:
[30:05] I gotta say, this is the worst blizzard I've ever been in, or even heard about for that matter.

Speaker 10:
[30:11] Same goes for me. Let's hold up here, and I'll take a look with the thermals.

Speaker 21:
[30:17] Sure thing.

Speaker 10:
[30:26] What the?

Speaker 19:
[30:29] What are you saying?

Speaker 10:
[30:31] I wish to fuck, I knew.

Speaker 6:
[30:42] Jesus, what the hell was that?

Speaker 10:
[30:45] I don't know. I pray we don't find out.

Speaker 1:
[31:06] The Gentleman From Hell is a Maltopia production. Today's episode was written by Mark Anzalone and voiced by Harper Tacent, Kelefi Forest, Mithun MK., Malakai Lazuli, Matt Van Hove, Zoe Lee, Gina Smith, Steven Zivic, Trenton Butt, Aubrey Akers. Sound editing was completed by Steven Anzalone, and script editing was conducted by Walker Kornfeld. Be sure to check us out at www.maltopia.com and follow us on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter at Maltopia. And for more exclusive content such as additional lore, stories and art, be sure to check out our Patreon at www.patreon.com/maltopia.