Metra Ep 4 - Sixty Days

Mythmaker's media presents audio story Jeanette by Adele as a glove for nose.

J. Davis as Corey, Corinna Schulenberg as Sam.

And Fred Inkly as Tyler. Featuring Aliyah Munch.

Sierra Ryan.

Christina Abando Sanchez as a wonderful tree nymph chorus. Yeah.

Change the mess. Change the world.

Welcome. We three tree nymphs are here to present to you episode four of the scripted serial audio podcast of Mantra, a climate revolution with songs.

Though in this episode, there aren't a lot of songs.

But be patient, because next episode, whoa! So much music. But for now, me too. Tom.

Alright, Mr. Multi, sir. We are approaching the destination. Okay. When we're stopped, you'll remain in your auto glide. Right. First, we'll get out of our vehicles. Make sure the area is safe and secure. Then and only then you'll exit your autoglide.

Yeah, got it, soldier. Thank you. It's a boarded up old music store. How dangerous can it be? They're desperate to sell, and I'm desperate to buy. There they are.

Good afternoon, ma'am.

Good afternoon, soldier.

Excuse us, we just looks like a nice lady. That must be her son. There's her daughter. Okay, all right. Nice looking family. Okay, soldiers. Okay. Let's come on, let's go. Let's go. Let's go. That's kind of ah, come on. It all looks okay to me. Come on. Let's go.

Mr.

Mulpee. Mr. Mulpeak, we haven't fully checked the area.

Thank you so much, soldiers. Great job. Now you can all just step aside, I'll take over, and you must be Diane.

Mr. Mulfi.

You can call me Tom. Now, let's get out of the sun, okay? And go see this gear. I've heard so much about.

You're in luck, Mr. Mulfi. You're here during our one hour of electricity a day. You can hear how it all sounds. Good. You can get as loud as you want. Nice. And this is the guitar we told you about.

A Gretsch Broadcaster Jr. That's a beautiful guitar. Look at that finish.

As your blue.

Whoa.

I'll let Max tell you all about the pedal board he put together.

What kind of rig do you have now, Mr. Mulpe? I I just got an old telly.

I run into a computer using an AMSIM. Wow, look at this pedal board. You know, when I when I when I got wind of the gear you all had a All these pedals. Yeah man. Best of the 2000 tens and twenties. And the world started falling apart.

Most of these pedals are programmable, so you can save your settings. And all controllable via MIDI using the MIDI controller. Nice. Modulation. Delay. Reverb. Yeah. All of it you can change instantly with the press of a single button. Nice. Wow. Yeah, you thought of everything here, Max. And uh MIDI controlled EQ and pitch shifting. Because playing solo will be using a looper, you need to be able to pitch shift the EQ quickly to provide sonic separation when layering tracks.

Right, right.

Wow. My mom said it was just you playing solo, right, Mr.

Like I said, straight into my computer. There's not a lot of rock musicians in the crowd I run with.

Yeah. I'm lucky I got my sister and my mom B jam.

Yeah. Where are the uh I don't see the dirt pedals anywhere.

Fuzz, overdrive, distortion. All underneath. What? There's a layer under Oh my god. Yes, sir. Lift it up right here.

Oh my god! Amazing! And just look at this thing. You have laid out all these petals perfectly. You cut the cables to size. This is the it is neat as a pin. How did you do the w what is that? What is that singing? Where is that coming from?

Just listen to the time distortion to those great box hands.

I think we're good now.

Okay. That's enough of me playing. Your turn, Mr. Mopy. Alrighty. Let me get a hold of that. Look at this baby.

Wow.

Beautiful neck.

Oh, please.

Wow.

Did you Yeah. I I did the setup. Wow.

Great setup. I mean, it's just it's just perfect play. And an amazing rig. Man, you know your stuff, kid. Thank you, Mr. Mulpe. Call me Tom. And and your name's Max, right?

Yes, sir, Mr. Mulpe.

You can call me Tom.

Uh oh okay. Um Tom.

Max, where did you learn to do all this?

My father taught me.

He died five years ago.

Oh. I'm sorry to hear that. I'm sorry to hear that. Max, let me tell you. Dad was a good teacher, and you were a good student. And you know what? This rig is so special. It's so special it needs a name. Why don't you help me name it, Max? Tell me what I should call this rig.

How about in honor of Mr. James Wyckoff?

Is that your dad?

Everybody called him Jimmy.

I could have called him dad. Let's call it in honor of Max's dad, Jimmy.

Max. That's a perfect name. I'm gonna get a little plaque made up. I'm gonna have it mounted right here on the front of the pedal board. And it's never coming off. Okay. Thank you.

And as far as those two AC30s go, we have plenty of backup tubes for the amps. Nobody buys amps anymore.

You've got tubes for decades.

I'm not gonna need that many. But I'll pay for them anyway. How about that? And you can just keep the tubes. Uh, sell them again if if you can, if you get a customer, you know. So okay, I'm buying the guitar, the boards, the amps, everything. Man, I can't tell you how much joy just seeing this stuff is already giving me, much less me playing it. I sh you really did a beautiful job. And you know what? I'm gonna pay you all a fortune for this. That's right.

Well, okay, miss Mr. Mopy. Call me Tom. Mr. Mopy, I hope you make the right choice.

What do you mean? Tom Mopey.

The name is Mopy. Who the fuck are you? Whoa! Whoa! What it what is that little green fucking thing? She's a tree nymph. Soldiers! Soldiers, get in here!

Your security detail is currently being led on a slow walk back to the bubbles.

Following the siren song of a tree nymph, much like this one. Into the faults, evil king!

I am the only god that matters.

And now you're getting a sense of what we're capable of.

And where this goes, how deep this magic takes you, how much this hurts. It's up to you. Tremble in fear, humans.

What what is it you want? Tom Mulpey? Bubble billionaire? Evil King. Will you shut down the bubble security systems? Systems we know you designed.

Yeah. Yeah, why the fuck not? Well, hold hold it, hold it. Uh maybe. Maybe let's talk.

Wow. Not wow! We can't trust him. We barely took him into the myth. We don't control him yet.

Control me? How how would you control me? Explain this to me. By taking you to the end of the process, where you take a bite out of your own arm. What? And then, with just a single final high note. If you didn't then come aboard? Aglofonos takes you to the end of the myth.

Turns you into a pair of clacking jaws. Could have. Should steal.

Whoa.

Well, I would really like to dissuade you from doing that. So, um, your name is uh it was a aglofanos, right?

Yes, evil king.

Please feel free to call me Tom.

No.

Hmm. Okay.

And uh your two names were um I'm Corey.

And I'm Sam.

Well, nice to meet you, Corey and Sam.

Nice to meet you too, Tom.

Nice to meet you. Well, now that we're on a first name basis, uh, Corey, Sam, why would you want to turn me into clacking jaws?

The goal is to avoid that.

Okay, that's good.

I like that. The goal, through a judicious application of carrot and stick, is to convince you, the security forces, and all the bubble people that it's time to change.

To share the water, food, and medicine that you all are hoarding.

And stop drilling and burning.

And save my trees.

We're staging a revolution. Okay.

A climate justice revolution overthrowing the bubbles.

Wow.

And the myth systems that have brought us here.

The myth systems, too. Wow, okay. Yep. That was very, very uh ambitious goals there. Uh very admirable goals. Quick question. Am I dreaming all this? Understandable response. Well, that's not very reassuring. But yeah, hey, okay. Um, Aglofinos.

Yes, Evil King.

So, um, as I understand it, you are a tree nymph from Greek mythology.

Yes, evil king.

But despite being mythological, you really exist.

Yes, evil king.

Well, I'm either going fucking nuts or there's some kind of internal logic going on here that I'm not quite grasping yet. But either way, hey, what the heck? Let's just say this is really happening. Let's just say this is really happening.

You're taking this all remarkably well.

I've got my reasons, Sam. Now, you all must realize that soon security forces, lots of security forces, are going to be coming looking for me.

And we've got 99 more of her. My sister nymphs.

Singing tree nymphs who all have the same magic? Well, the Greek tree nymphs all have the same magic. The power to lure and repel with song. The power to recreate the myth of clack and jaws. But for my other sister nymphs, say from Eastern Europe, the Sub-Saharan Africa, South America, Pacific Rim, wherever. I have shared my magic from my Greek mythology with them. Something tree nymphs can do.

We use the other tree nymphs to subdue the soldiers. Then all the myth-making teams run the process on them. Myth-making teams? So you've got other people. Explain to me these myth-making teams. Two humans, one tree nymph.

And one of the two humans is a musician to provide accompaniment during the process?

Like Max was doing.

Exactly.

To create empathy.

Okay.

By the way, good job, Max.

Thank you, Mr. Mulfi.

He and Debbie both helped us with the music. And then Diane supplied the teams with instruments. Really? Yeah, yeah.

And then they helped teach all the teams how to play their instruments.

Oh, they're a nice family, you can tell.

They really are.

Don't let it go to your head, Max.

I I won't. I won't, Mr. Mulpe.

Max, call me Tom.

Uh oh, okay. Okay. Um, Tom?

Okay, so this revolution includes some kind of magical thing called the process that includes a lot of music.

Because music speaks to the soul.

Yes, it most certainly does, Sam. It most certainly does. Okay, so you're gonna use music in the process that you're gonna use on the security forces.

All the way to the end of the myth, where, if they don't comply, then with just one more high note from her.

I turn them into clacking jaws! Shattering plastic teeth, actually.

We didn't want to deal with actual human remains.

See, plastic teeth were her idea. Tremble in fear, human!

Okay, and then as long as the soldiers remain compliant, we march them back to the bubbles.

Which no longer has your security system.

Suicide drones, shrapnel charges, electrified death nets. Yep, all that. All that. Then we use your access to open the gates. Then Aglofinos and her nymph sisters all sing and draw out the bubble people and the remaining security forces.

Oh, what do you do then? Just kill them all?

No. We win them over.

Heh. Oh Jesus, you're not kidding. Well, what are you gonna do then? Divide into breakout groups for discussion and sharing?

Well, Tom, the way you put it makes it sound silly, but ideally, yes. Oh boy.

My humans do have an irritating insistence on kindness and empathy.

Hopefully, having subdued the security forces, brought down the security systems, and magically drawn the bubble people outside.

We have an honest discussion about how we got here. How for decades we turned our backs on how a hotter world first impacts the most vulnerable, the least responsible for climate change, until, year after year, more and more of us got swept into those legions of displaced and dying.

Until the only ones remaining untouched, the only ones turning their backs, the only ones still drilling and burning fossil fuels are the ones most responsible for how we even got here. That's right. The people of the bubbles.

Who we intend to scare the hell out of because then, yes, we share stories about our lives, and then yes, discussion, questions, wherever a real dialogue might take us. Yes, all the silly things that just might make a real difference. Like music, beauty, fun, joy, things that might just engender real empathy.

If you don't speak to people's better angels, you're never gonna find them, right?

Well, I think you're nuts, but it usually takes a certain level of crazy to change the world for the better. And you seem like a fun bunch. I'm a firm believer that if you're gonna face death, you might as well have as much fun as possible, right? Exactly. But this is all predicated on the security forces either choosing between the revolution or becoming plastic chattering teeth, right? Yes. Bad news. Security forces have no choice over their own life or death.

It's a term for the 50 wealthiest families. I only learned about it while you were gone.

Right. A ruling class within the ruling class that enjoy absolute immunity for anything they do in their roles as the de facto rulers of the bubbles. Like I said, the elites wanted an anti-pacemaker. So I made them an anti-pacemaker.

What?

Dead instantly. Let me tell you, the elites treat those security forces like slaves, boss them around, work them like dogs, make them do things.

Unbelievable.

Yeah. But historically speaking, you know, uh huge amounts of wealth combined with huge amounts of power usually lead to huge amounts of venality and perversion. And corruption. Historically speaking. So, what I'm telling you is that the security forces are a waste of time. If you march them up to the bubbles in hopes of proving a point, well, you know what? The bubble elites are just gonna prove their own point. They're gonna kill your captives. I think what you need is a hostage.

It seems like this isn't the first time you've thought about this.

Seems like it. Keep talking. Look, in 60 days, there's gonna be a secret conference of the 50 bubble elites. These elites, they're gonna leave from separate exits of the bubbles to avoid attention from the other bubble people. Each elite will travel in their own autoglide, accompanied by their personal two-man security details, who will travel in a separate military vehicle just like the way I came here today.

Just like that. No air filtration, no clean water, no cooling. No security systems protecting them from the outside. Can we bring down your security systems? Let's bring down the power grid.

Easy peasy.

Sixty days.

Yeah, and over the next 60 days, I can deliver enough auto-jacking mines to halt that whole scattered convoy of bubble elites in one fell swoop.

Yeah.

Some of your tree nymphs can sing the soldiers off and away.

Then we run the process on the elites, put the billionaires into the role of Erasicthon.

Poetic Justice. And turn them all into clacking jaws!

Nope. At least not the ones who join us.

I hope that's all of them. I hope that's some of them.

I would suggest grabbing those implant detonator buttons they all have and use them when you When we march the elites back to the bubbles! Yes!

Security forces are gonna be much less likely to shoot you if you have those. So, we march to the bubbles, bring down the security system and the grid, show the security forces on the wall that we have the anti-pacemaker buttons, sirensong them and the bubble people all outside.

Where we share our stories.

Engender a little empathy there, Sam, and who knows? This revolution might just succeed.

I am feeling a little uneasy about utilizing the threat of the anti-pacemaker devices. It's like holding a gun.

Soldiers on the wall will be holding guns, Sam. And sometimes a bully has to know you can throw a punch. I don't know. Maybe we can turn the threat into an invitation to something better. And I think I know how we can do that. Trust me. Okay.

Perfect. Can't wait to help you achieve all your goals, which hopefully includes you not getting killed. So now that I have been so unbelievably fucking cooperative.

You really have been.

Now you give me what I want.

Evil King, you do not make demands.

What do you want? Which of you two is playing music for your myth making team?

I am. She's not very good.

Sam is a beginner who is trying very hard.

Not hard enough. Haki, I've been busy.

Totally understandable there, Sam. I mean, organizing revolutions to overthrow oppressive power structures must be very demanding time-wise.

It has been.

And you've done an amazing job while I was gone.

But now you're back. And we were gonna write your songs.

It's okay, Sam. I don't need to sing.

But you were looking forward to it.

So maybe I can help.

Because what I want is this. I want to be the guitarist for your mythmaking team. That's it? I'll come out here every day over the next 60 days. And if you let me, I would love the opportunity to to write with you all the songs you need. Now don't worry, be because believe it or not, I used to be a pretty good songwriter. Maybe I still am, uh I don't tell people about this very often, but when I was younger, a lot younger, I had a major label record deal. Really?

Why?

She calls it Metra's mother.

Metra's mother.

Evil King, if you dare to so arrogantly suggest changing any of my songs, my lyrics, my melodies, I will smite you down so fast it's.

It was perfect.

What?

The lyrics, the melody, your performance. Absolutely perfect. I wouldn't change a thing.

You may continue.

Okay. So, so Max, the other myth making teams, what they're all like playing acoustic guitars, right?

Right, because of the limited power on the outside.

Figured. But for this myth-making team, for this amazing singer, I wanna do something really special.

Special sounds good.

Using the amazing guitar rig Max has put together for me, over the next 60 days, I'm gonna come out here every day and and work with Max to create the music and and soundscapes that this rig is capable of. I'm gonna get this place outfitted with with solar panels and wall batteries so that he and I can work every day for as long as we need to. And with each visit. Yeah, with each visit, I'm gonna sneak out a few more of those auto-jacking mines you're gonna need to pull this off. Smart.

They did that to you?

But you know what? Turns out they didn't even have to. Surgeon who cut me open saw all these fibrils growing on my heart. Turns out they're inside my heart, too. Turns out I have a very rare type of cardiac amyloidosis. It's very hard to pronounce and even harder to cure. It's basically incurable. So by the time Off-World is operational in five years, I'm gonna be a non-issue. So, a gluffinose, whatever you are.

A tree nymph.

Whatever that is. Look, little green lady, all I know is you've got an amazing set of pipes. So, in the time I have left, please allow me the incredible privilege of getting to play guitar with the greatest singer I have ever heard.

Human. I will allow you to be my lutinist.

You can call me Tom.

No.

Okay. So it seems like the little green lady is kind of on board. What about you two?

I'm agreeable. Corey, what do you think?

Well, if we say yes, it's a roll of the dice. He might be lying. And if he's telling the truth, the risk will be right. Okay. Tom Mopy. You can just call me Tom. Tom. I think you're a risk worth taking. Sixty days. Let the countdown begin. Let the music begin.

I have found my lutinous mentor.

A climate revolution with songs.

Starting by Jim, Mr. Commercial and Freddy. Yeah. Episode four features the superb vocal talents of Gordon McCullough as the security detail soldier. Christian Fawn is Diane. Luke Wingarden is Max. And Tom Mopy as Tom Mopey. And a shout out to our stellar ensemble of Jonathan Gregg, William Peaton, and Walker Schneckenberger. Dialogue directed by Emily Hartford. Singing sessions directed by Tom Mulby. Songs written by Aglofonos, Corey. Sam and yours truly, Tom Mopey.