Episode 2.03 transcript - “OUT THE WINDOW”

ADAM RAYMONDA: Windfall is intended for a mature audiences, see our show notes for more information. Listener discretion is advised.

[MUSIC: Windfall Theme starts]

[SFX: Three sets of footsteps slosh through the sewers and come upon Shaima, who is mounting something to the wall.]

SHAIMA: What the hell is he doing here?

BENNY: Hello to you too, Shaima.

CAS: We didn't have a choice.

KENDALL: He cornered us at Gert's and implied that he wasn't above spilling his guts to the Wolves if we didn't take him in.

SHAIMA: After everything she's done for you? Real classy, Benny.

BENNY: It's nothing personal, just self-preservation.

SHAIMA: Yeah, that's the problem.

BENNY: I, for one, am thrilled to be here.

CAS: That makes one of us.

SHAIMA: Did you at least get what I needed?

[SFX: Cas and Kendall open up their packs and begin pulling components out.]

KENDALL: Things were getting pretty hot out there, we couldn't stay as long as we would've liked.

CAS: Yeah, we're missing a few, but we were trying to find food too. We can only carry so much.

[SFX: Shaima rustles through their bags and begins to curse under his breath.]

SHAIMA: Half of this shit is damaged.

KENDALL: Isn't that like, your specialty?

SHAIMA: It's useless.

CAS: So you're saying everything we risked our lives to bring back today is utterly worthless, including Benny?

SHAIMA: Basically.

BENNY: Ouch.

KENDALL: On that note, I'm out. I've gotta shake off the residual failure of the day.

[SFX: Kendall stalks off.]

BENNY: Hey guys...

CAS:  Not now Benny.

SHAIMA:  Cas, you look exhausted you should-

BENNY: -That stabilizer you've got there isn't beyond repair.

SHAIMA: Benny, shut up, you're here three minutes and already driving me up the wall-

BENNY: Just give me that...

[SFX: Before Shaima can respond, Benny pulls the unit from his hands. There is a bit of a mechanic tinkering, before the sound of something working again.]

SHAIMA: What the...

BENNY: Not so useless now, am I?

SHAIMA: Where'd you learn to do that?

BENNY: Shaima! I'm hurt. You didn't think the only thing I was good at was drinking, did you?

SHAIMA: I mean kind of, yes.

BENNY: I contain multitudes.

CAS: I see the two of you have a lot to talk about. I'm gonna go find Helina.

[SFX: Cas leaves.]

SHAIMA: What about the rest of it? You think...

BENNY: Nothing is beyond repair, Shaima. And maybe nobody is, either...?

SHAIMA: For Wanda's sake... you can stay. But I'm keeping my eye on you.

BENNY: I wouldn't expect anything less.

SHAIMA: If you're gonna be down here, you're gonna work. Otherwise, I've got no problem kicking you out on your ass. Understood?

BENNY: Cross my heart.

[SFX: The conversation gets muffled underneath the sound of scrap being hauled and transition music ends the scene.]

[SFX: General noise of a group of people, murmurs of displeasure, soup is slopped into bowls.]

PAVLIMA: Gert you look exhausted.

GERT: I'm dead on my feet. You want your regular morning brew, Pav?

PAVLIMA: Yes please.

[SFX: A Hot beverage is poured into a mug, pav sighs happily.]

GERT: Here you go, love.

HELINA: I'll take a little more as well, I've got to get down into the Greenhouse and harvest some bowberry for later.

PAVLIMA: Can I help?

HELINA: Let me see your hands.

[SFX: Helina examines Pav's hands and chuckles.]

HELINA: Thanks anyway Pav, but your palms would be ripped to shreds in seconds. I might be able to use you in the clinic for a little bit this afternoon again, though?

PAVLIMA: Sure. Wherever you need me…It's a madhouse in here!

GERT: Yeah, it's been a rough couple of nights. I couldn't really take a break, every time I turned around somebody else needed something.

HELINA: You're a saint, this new batch is more difficult than the last. At least I can escape.

GERT: No rest for the wicked, and I've definitely earned that title.

HELINA: Please, you're the polar opposite of wicked.

GERT: (snorting)You didn't know me in my youth.

LEBOOF: (pompous nosebleed) Hello, are you the ones in charge of this establishment?

GERT: In a manner of speaking.

LEBOOF: We were expecting a space of our own when we arrived. My wife has a nervous condition and she needs the quiet and the dark. This communal style living arrangement just won't do for us. We barely slept last night with all of the noise. It's unacceptable. What do you expect us to do?!

HELINA: (sighing heavily) Oh Gert, Gertie, Gertie, Gertie...what should we tell this man to go and do?

LEBOOF: Where is Willem? In fact, where is your manager, that chap who showed us in the other day, where is he?

HELINA: How fucking dare you complain—You know what, no. I'm out. Sorry Gertie, I can't deal with this. (calmly, scary, to Leboof) You should consider yourself lucky that we even took you and your nervous wife in.

LEBOOF: I don't know WHO you think you're talking to, but...

GERT: I got it Helina, go-

HELINA: Thanks Gert, sorry to leave you with these entitled pricks but if I stay...

GERT: I know.

HELINA: (mumbling as she walks away) I swear, I'll cram my foot so far up that little shit's ass...

[SFX: Leboof huffs indignantly.]

LEBOOF: This behavior, the tone, the staff here, it simply won't do. We came here in good faith expecting a basic standard of living, and we've been nothing but mocked for asking for some common decency. What can you do to rectify this situation?

GERT: Stay here. I'll be back in a minute, I think I have something that might cheer your wife up.

[SFX: The sounds of the common room drown us out of the scene as Gert walks away.]

[SFX: Slippered feet, running, out of breath panting.]

TIMMS: Wanda! I know it's you! I'm not charmed by these "whimsical" antics like your metal guardian is.

[SFX: Silence.]

TIMMS: I know you hacked the comms system! I could hear you listening in...

[SFX: More silence.]

TIMMS: You want to play hide and seek like a child? Meet your new mommy Wanda June! She's tired, she's out of fucks to give, and she's installing a fucking tracking anklet the second she gets her goddamn hands on you.

[SFX: Coninued silence.]

TIMMS: (into her comm) Yes. Hello. Unit 5, please seize Bimble from the Queen's quarters. You are instructed to forcibly remove one tooth every five minutes starting...

[SFX: Timer beep.]

TIMMS: Now. Until I say otherwise.

HUMAN SOLDIER #2: (crackly over comm) Copy on that.

TIMMS: So...Queen of the Proximans. Your move.

[SFX: There's a moment of silence before the comm crackles/beeps, the sound of frightened crying.]

HUMAN SOLDIER #2: Target acquired, beginning extraction one.

[SFX: A scream over the comm.]

WANDA: FINE STOP!

[SFX: Wanda emerges from behind an enormous velvet curtain.]

TIMMS: Unit 5, stand down, please escort Bimble back to the Queen's Quarters.

WANDA: (with dignity) Oh hello Timms. I didn't see or hear you there, this luxurious curtain is very thick, sound dampening, if you will. I was just searching for a raisin, that I'd dropped, and now, as you can see, I've found it. So I'll just be on my way now.

TIMMS: (yelling after her) I wasn't kidding about that anklet Princess. And maybe a fucking bell too.

[SFX: Wanda walks stiffly back to her quarters.]

[SFX: There's a sound of walking through the sewer tunnels as helina:  and cas begin to clear out a new living space.]

HELINA: Alright, we can work here.

CAS: (setting down a crate) Fantastic! What're we doing again?

HELINA: (laughing) Here, watch me.

[SFX: There's a sound of hands squishing into an extremely soft bag of dirt. After a few moments, she lifts a piece and presses it into the wall where it squishes more.]

CAS: Like this?

HELINA: Be careful!

[SFX: Cas attempts to follow suit when he stumbles and lets a huge chunk of soil fall into the water. it plops.]

HELINA: ...we don't have a lot of that.

CAS: What even is this stuff?

HELINA: It's moss!

CAS: I gathered that much, but what're we supposed to be doing with it?

HELINA: Well, for one, not dropping it.

CAS: Very funny.

HELINA: It's an air purifier. It thrives in dark, wet, places and it gives us a clean source of air.

[SFX: The squishing continues as they both reach into the crate and keep putting the plants up onto the wall.]

CAS: That's wild. And where'd you find it?

HELINA: Trade secret.

CAS: Whatever you say, boss… Hey, I'm getting the hang of this!

HELINA: (kissing his cheek) You are! And it's a good thing because it'll expand our living quarters. Speaking of our new roommates, how's the shit head?

CAS: Benny? He's alright. Shaima'll keep him on the strait and narrow.

HELINA: You sure that's a good idea?

CAS: Me? I'm not sure of anything, but he didn't give me any other choice.

HELINA: I find it hard to believe that that drunk could intimidate anybody.

CAS: No, but that doesn't mean he couldn't blackmail us.

HELINA: As long as he keeps his mouth shut around me, we won't have any problems.

CAS: He'll behave. He knows he has to if he wants to stay. You should've seen him, Helina, he was putting up a good front, but he was terrified.

HELINA: Damn...

CAS: It's not pretty out there.

HELINA: Honestly, it might be good that he's afraid. Maybe he'll turn himself around. I know it was just the kick in the ass I needed.

CAS: You're not wrong, but I feel for him, in a way.

HELINA: Why in the hell would you feel bad for a wretch like him?

CAS: I know what it's like to have Shaima breathing down your neck.

HELINA: This again? I thought you made up.

CAS: No, this isn't even about that. Things are pretty good between us, but my whole life, I've been trying to measure up to these impossible standards he set for me.

HELINA: He was looking out for you, is all. He loves you, and that's his fucked up way of showing it.

CAS: (sighing) I guess... But, that's Benny's problem now.

HELINA: Damn right, it is. And frankly? That's hilarious.

[SFX: The sound of their hands squishing around in the dirt intensifies alongside the sound of transition music.]

[SFX: A bells dings. first once, then several times. gert:  walks out in a huff.]

GERT: Didn't we settle this already? I know it wasn't much, but it's certain to calm a person's nerves. (under her breath) I never should've put out the bell.

LEBOOF: Ma'am, with all due respect when you told me you had a solution to my problems I thought you were being serious. My wife and I need a room, we need clean sheets. What we DO NOT need is an extra bowl of GRUEL.

GERT: (finally beginning to unravel) For the last fucking time, we are not a fucking hotel. We don't have a secret stash of luxury suites, we are in the heart of an abandoned sewage treatment plant- I'm not sure how that basic fact has escaped you?!

PAVLIMA: Gert, may I?

GERT: (exhales a "whoosh" of air through her teeth) Be my guest, if you can get through to this simple, simple man I'd owe you. I need a drink. Or three.

PAVLIMA: Go get one, you've been on your feet all day. I'll step in here.

GERT: Good luck.

LEBOOF: So I'm just being pawned off from person to person, is that it?

PAVLIMA: Sir, Leboof is it not? My name is Pavlima, if I'm not mistaken I made the ceremonial gown for your daughter Fatine's wedding?

LEBOOF: Oh, Madame Pavlima, of course, what a surprise and a delight to see you down here, albeit in such squalid conditions. Can you believe the disrespect-

PAVLIMA: -Mr. Leboof, if I may stop you there.

LEBOOF: Why of course my dear.

PAVLIMA: I know you to be a kind and reasonable man, so despite your exhaustion and the toll that these last few months have clearly taken on you, I'd ask you to remember your basic civility.

LEBOOF: I suppose I haven't been at my best...

PAVLIMA: None of us have, it's been difficult. But I'd urge you to remember one important thing, and I'd ask you to spread this message since you're so well respected among your community.

LEBOOF: (flattered) Well that's very kind of you to say-

PAVLIMA: (projecting her voice to be heard across the room) This is a voluntary living arrangement. You are here as the guests of our brave and generous grounder friends, by your own choice.

[SFX: The general thrum of the room settles down a bit as people listen to Pav.]

PAVLIMA: By that token, you are free to leave and seek out more desirable quarters on the war-torn surface of our former city, or you're free to stay here, in relative safety, and accept their hospitality, such as it is. If you do choose to stay, I'd implore you all to remember your collective manners with regards to our hosts. I'd also suggest that, instead of making demands, we work together to help improve our current living situation for everyone.

[SFX: Pavlima's speech finished the crowd lapses back into thrumming. there are "Here, Heres!" and some grumbling.]

LEBOOF: (sighing) Madame Pavlima, you shame me.

PAVLIMA: That was not my intent.

LEBOOF: No, it was needed, and I take your point. I'll make sure everyone else understands as well.

PAVLIMA: Thank you.

[SFX: Gert walks up behind Pav with a low whistle.]

GERT: Wow.

PAVLIMA: Didn't you want to get out of here?

GERT: No, shockingly my headache just disappeared.

LEBOOF: I believe I owe you an apology Mrs...

GERT: Gert. Just Gert.

LEBOOF: I'm um... Claxon, Claxon Leboof. I'm very sorry for my tone, and behavior earlier.

GERT: Apology accepted, Claxon.

LEBOOF: I'll go talk to everyone.

PAVLIMA: That would be great. If you can check in with your group I'll come by in a bit and we can work towards getting everyone situated a little more comfortably for the night.

[SFX: Gert pulls a bottle off of a shelf and un-pops it.]

GERT: Here, take a swig and pass this around Claxon. Might improve the collective mood and your wife's nervous condition.

LEBOOF: This is very kind, thank you Gert.

[SFX: Leboof walks away.]

GERT: Let's go take a load off kid, you've earned it.

[SFX: Pav and Gert walk to her stockroom.]

[SFX: There's the sound of a small leak in the echoey sewer. Willem, Shaima, and Benny walk down a corridor before coming to a stop in front of a loud machine.]

BENNY: Oh, so this is what's been giving you so much trouble? I'll get the new stabilizer in, piece of cake.

SHAIMA: Don't get cocky now, Ben. Doesn't look good on you.

BENNY: Give me two seconds.

[SFX: Benny ascends a rickety staircase and uses a wrench to tighten some bolts, grunting. The mechanical noises stop.]

BENNY: Can you try it now, Shaima?

SHAIMA: (pulling a lever) Go for it!

[SFX: The machine starts to work normally for a second before sputtering to a stop again.]

BENNY: Ah, dammit. Give me two more seconds!

[SFX: Benny keeps working, and we pull in tight to Willem & Shaima's conversation.]

WILLEM: Who's this guy again?

SHAIMA: Old customer of Gert's. Honestly, when I found out I had to be babysitting him today I almost lost it, but he's pretty handy. Makes it kinda hard to hate the guy.

WILLEM: (chuckles) You were never much one for friends, were you?

SHAIMA: What the hell is that supposed to mean?

WILLEM: Ever since we were kids, you've been a loner. Always at that scrap shop fixing shit up. Never out playing ball with the rest of us.

SHAIMA: That was a long time ago, but even then I had a lot on my plate.

WILLEM: All I'm saying is you should ease up on him. It's pretty obvious he's trying to impress you.

SHAIMA: Maybe. I guess it'll be good to have some help around here. Next time something breaks I can send whoever's complaining to Benny instead of dealing with it myself.

WILLEM: I get what you're saying. Ever since your aunt took my people off my hands I haven't known what to do with all the quiet. It's nice.

SHAIMA: Yeah, it is.

[SFX: After a few more seconds of loud tinkering, Benny runs down the stairs, pushing himself between the two.]

BENNY:  (pulling the lever, grunting) Ta… (the machine starts purring, working well) Da!

SHAIMA:  Well I'll be damned. You're a natural at this stuff. Better than I would've thought.

WILLEM: I see you didn't need any of my help after all.

BENNY: (sheepish) My grandad spent twenty years in the guild, before the executions. He taught me a lot. I used to go stay with him when things with my dad were rough.

SHAIMA: Yeah, I remember your dad. Kind of a piece of shit, wasn't he?

BENNY: That's the understatement of the century.

SHAIMA: (laughing) Well, then, since that took up a fraction of the time I expected, who could go for a bite to eat?

WILLEM: Wanda, yes.

BENNY: I'm fucking starving.

[SFX: Transition music plays as the three walk back in the direction where they came from. The leak has been replaced by the sound of the machine working properly.]

[SFX: Gert and Pav have retreated to the quieter stock room. calm music underscores their conversation.]

GERT: I still can't get over that, it was very impressive.

PAVLIMA: It's nothing.

GERT: No it's not. You were good, and I think a lot of them listened. You're a born diplomat.

PAVLIMA: I just know them. I've been living around nosebleeds the past ten years. Besides, I'm glad to help, I've gotta admit I've felt a bit useless since Kendall and I first came down here.

GERT: Not anymore girly. I've got plenty for you to do now. Your primary task being to babysit the nosebleeds- talking that fancy talk with them and keeping them out of my tentacles.

PAVLIMA: They're not so bad, they're just scared. It's a big adjustment to move from the towers to below ground.

GERT: Nobody better than you to help them make that transition.

PAVLIMA: Thanks.

GERT: No dear, thank you. You've made an exhausted woman very happy, and for that, you get the good stuff. Come on.

[SFX: Things being moved around on a shelf, a box being opened, and Gert whooping.]

GERT: I was hoping I still had a bottle lying around! This is a trip, you're gonna love it.

PAVLIMA: What is it?

GERT: (opening the bottle) Before I even tell you, just taste it.

PAVLIMA: Okay… (she takes a swig) Oh my Wanda.

GERT: Good, right?

PAVLIMA: Good? This is the best thing I've ever had!

GERT: Nobody makes a musk-gin like those slime balls out in the East.

PAVLIMA: You've been to swamp country?

GERT: Don't sound so surprised, I wasn't always the "hearth and home" type, you could've asked my ex-husband, he always had plenty to say on the topic.

PAVLIMA: I don't mean that as an insult, you just don't seem like the wandering type.

GERT: (sighing, swigging) In a different time, wandering was all I knew how to do. When that castle showed up and those robes started to multiply I got outta dodge.

PAVLIMA: Where'd you go? What'd you do?

GERT: Honestly, anything I could do to make enough for a hot meal and a roof over my head for the night. I've worked security detail for mineral barons, shined shoes on a street corner… (laughing) I was even a lounge singer for a hot minute in Valencia before the club owner realized I couldn't carry a tune to save my life.

PAVLIMA: That's incredible.

GERT: That isn't even the half of it. I had a whole life out there before I came back home.

PAVLIMA: What brought you back?

GERT: Guilt. My brother and his wife got themselves killed in the conflict and my ex was saddled with their kids.

PAVLIMA: I'm so sorry...

GERT: It's in the past now. Vern never truly forgave me. Told me that traveling had been selfish, was so angry that I left, left him... but at the time, it was all I could do to survive.

PAVLIMA: To feel like you had some control over your own life.

GERT: Exactly.

PAVLIMA: Things with my family were the same. I never really knew who I was gonna be until I took the time to separate myself from them.

GERT: It's an important part of a person's development, striking out on their own.

PAVLIMA: (scoffs)If only they felt that way.

GERT: They never do.

PAVLIMA: Thanks for this, Gertie. I feel like Kendall's the only friend I have in the world sometimes.

GERT: Don't mention it. I'm always happy to lend an ear to whoever needs it.

PAVLIMA: Speaking of Kendall, I should probably go find her. She and Cas should be back by now.

GERT: Do your thing. We can pick this back up another time.

PAVLIMA: I'd like that.

[SFX: Pav exits the room and transition music ends the scene.]

[SFX: Root rustles around in his hay, trying to get comfortable, when light footsteps approach. root groans at the distraction.]

WANDA: (wincing) Mary! What happened to your dominant tentacle, Root!

ROOT: Lieutenant Commander Antony, your highness.

WANDA: I won't lie, it's difficult to look at. Truly horrifying, just a little angry stubby-nubby thing.

ROOT: Madame is charming as always.

WANDA: We've no time for your sarcastic puffery, Bimble's stark rambling drunk and wearing my security anklet, we've got 12 minutes before they discover our ruse.

ROOT: And this all means?

WANDA: That we're leaving, now!

ROOT: You still haven't even told me your grand plan. Who am I to trust that you've thought it through?

[SFX: Wanda grumbles as she fusses with a key ring, trying and failing to open the cell before finding the right key.]

WANDA: Aha! If you must hear it, you'll have to do it on the move. Now follow me and keep your voice down.

ROOT: (unsure) I'm still not...

WANDA: You have a choice Captain. stay here, starving and under threat of further mutilation or do literally anything to help yourself. I'm leaving regardless.

[SFX: Wanda begins to leave, and Root groans as he follows her.]

WANDA: Decided to come with have you? Fab. Bloody asinine that it was a decision that required even a modicum of thought. (in a mocking whisper) Oh, I'm Captain Root, I'll just lie here quietly bleeding out in the hay like a stupid cow.

[SFX: The two tiptoe off together.]

WANDA: (whispering) There's something wrong with the other humans. From what I hear, many are being recalled to the castle.

ROOT: Ah, so things are about to get very crowded around here.

WANDA: Very crowded indeed. So now's our one chance to slip out of here without sounding the alarm. I just haven't quite worked out where we'll go after that...

ROOT: I believe I can take care of that.

WANDA: Good. I hoped as much.

[SFX: They find a door. Wanda punches in a code on a keypad before it slides open. she enters and begins packing a bag.]

ROOT: (clearing his throat) What's all this? It's quite dusty in here.

[SFX: Root bumps into something, making a loud clatter.]

WANDA: (exasperated) These are my parents' things, and if you break anything else I suggest you envision a life missing more than just a dominant tentacle.

ROOT: Sorry. It's dark and I'm very dizzy.

WANDA: Boo hoo. Put this on.

[SFX: Wanda hands something bulky over to Root.]

ROOT: Okay... what is it?

WANDA: Our ticket out of here.

[SFX: There's a rustling sound as they each work to jam themselves into Kurt & Jill's environmental suits.]

ROOT: It's rather small. I'm not sure it'll fit.

WANDA: Says the actual skeleton. I don't care if you have to jam your body into it like an over-stuffed sausage. Just do it, quickly!

[SFX: Root grumbles as we hear the sound of several zippers being pulled up. After it has quieted, Wanda tosses a heavy bag at Root, who groans from the weight of it.]

WANDA: You'll be carrying my things.

ROOT: Are you sure it's necessary we take this much?

WANDA: I have no idea when, if ever, I'll be back here. These are the last vestiges of my childhood. You're damn right we do.

ROOT: Noted.

WANDA: Now, this next part's tricky, but you'll have to trust me.

ROOT: I don't love the sound of that.

WANDA: Climb up here with me.

[SFX: There's another rustle as they climb up onto a windowsill Wanda hefts open the window and there is a huge gust of wind.]

ROOT: You must have taken complete leave of your senses madam, I'm not jumping out this window.

WANDA: You certainly are, if you want to get out of here alive.

ROOT: I'll be crushed in the fall!

WANDA: That's what the suit is for, you simpleton. There's a communicator in the helmet. On my signal, press the buttons in your palms. But not a second too late, or you'll fall to your inevitable death.

ROOT: My Queen, you know I'd follow you to the end of the world, but this... this is too much to ask, even for you.

WANDA: Poppycock! All you need is a little push.

[SFX: Wanda slaps Root on the back, who loses his balance and careens out the window. His screams fade away as wanda remains for a final moment.]

WANDA: (sighing) Goodbye, my glorious home. You were ever so wonderful, while you lasted.

[SFX: Wanda takes a deep breath and jumps out the window, screeching with joy. The gusts of wind overtake the scene as the ending credits music begins to play.]