TPM: Twelve Past Midnight The Series

Episode 13: Blowback

EPISODE 13
"BLOWBACK"

FADE IN

OPENING CREDITS

RECAP

INT. WHITE ROOM

CHARLES stands in the all WHITE INTERROGATING ROOM of the SYSTEM. CHARLES has the same defeated look he had from the previous episode.

SYSTEM
SHOULD WE BEGIN?

CHARLES
What's going to happen to my crew that you have held here...

SYSTEM
WE HAVE LET THEM GO, PENDING FURTHER QUESTIONS, WE BELIEVE ANY ACTION AS A RESULT OF THIS HEARING WILL TAKE PRECEDENCE.

CHARLES
How very kind of you.

SYSTEM
SHALL WE BEGIN?

CHARLES
Yes.

SYSTEM
AS A RESULT OF A SYSTEMATIC FAILURE IN YOUR TEAMS ALPHA LEVEL INITIATION TEST, WE MUST START WITH THE REFUSAL OF YOUR TEAMS ALPHA LEVEL STATUS.

CHARLES
Fair enough.

SYSTEM
YOU ARE NOT GOING TO ARGUE?

CHARLES
I knew going into this that there was a good chance that we would not rank, I am not going to argue over something I did not want to begin with.

SYSTEM
WILL YOU ARGUE ABOUT THE MEN AND WOMEN IN YOUR EMPLOY?

CHARLES
That's why I am here.

SYSTEM
THEN YOU UNDERSTAND THE CONSEQUENCES OF THEIR ACTIONS, AND ALL THAT CAN COME OF IT?

CHARLES
Yes.

SYSTEM
THREE OF YOUR TEAM MEMBERS, AUSTIN BLACK, NIKKI LYNN, AND EMMA LAIN WERE SENT TO BRING BACK A WARLOCK WHO WAS BELIEVED TO OF BEEN STEALING SOULS. NOT ONLY DID TWO OF YOUR MEMBERS OBSCOND AND LEAVE THE MISSION IN THE HANDS OF ONE SOLE MEMBER, BUT THE GROUP WAS ALSO UNABLE TO BRING BACK THE WARLOCK ALIVE AND...

CHARLES
I don't care about the mission parameters, I want to know what they did wrong beside the obvious.

SYSTEM
CLARIFY.

CHARLES
AUSTIN and NIKKI ran off, and left EMMA alone, that is the only infraction I see that they brought upon themselves.

SYSTEM
LETTING THE WARLOCK DIE...

CHARLES
As I am to understand by the report my THREE and BARRY posted clearly states that he committed suicide, therefore bringing him in was not going to happen. I want you to be real about this meeting. This isn't solely about what happened with the ALPHA MISSIONS, so why not say it, and let's get down to business.

There is a silence.

SYSTEM
VERY WELL...THIS LATEST INSTANCE, IS ONE OF A LONG LAUNDRY LIST OF ISSUES THAT HAVE BEEN BROUGHT UP TIME AND TIME AGAIN BY THE LIKES OF THE RECLAIMING UNIT KNOWN AS THE UNEVENTFUL, A UNIT THAT YOU ARE IN CHARGE OF. BECAUSE OF THE ACTIONS TAKEN AND THE MISTAKES MADE NUMEROUSLY, WE FEEL IT IS TIME THAT WE...HAVE A DISCUSSION ABOUT WHETHER OR NOT YOUR TEAM CAN HAVE A SUSTAINED FUTURE AS RECLAIMERS.

CHARLES
That's more like it.

SYSTEM
ARE YOU READY TO BEGIN?

CHARLES
More than you could know.

SYSTEM
VERY WELL.

EXT. SYSTEM BUILDING

EMMA comes out of the BUILDING as the group are waiting on her, SHANE and ANTHONY smiling as she comes over and hugs them, NIKKI looking her over as AUSTIN nods, a bit sheepish as SHANE taps her on the shoulder and half hugs her.