4:00

working as a police officer in Marsport, the

4:02

most dangerous city in the solar system. Well,

4:04

I think you really hit it on the

4:06

head when you talked about this noir feel,

4:08

because when I was listening to it, I

4:11

got so much Blade Runner from it. I

4:13

got, using an older reference, Outland, which was

4:15

an old Sean Connery science fiction movie, and

4:18

you really captured that kind of grizzled

4:20

outcast noir, but with this really realistic

4:23

sci-fi bent to it. One of the

4:25

kind of audio stories I like the

4:27

most are ones that offer real

4:30

world building opportunities, and you've

4:33

really fleshed out a very detailed

4:35

world of near future planetary colonialism, and

4:38

you utilized a lot of real life

4:40

scientific concepts. Yeah, well, the story is

4:42

based off of Police Your Planet, which

4:45

was written by Lester Del Rey. It

4:47

was released in 1953, and

4:50

it was really ahead of its time. We

4:53

had very little actual scientific knowledge about

4:55

Mars at that time, and

4:57

his story was highly accurate, and so

4:59

that set the framework for me to

5:02

take that baseline and expand it using

5:04

the theories and technologies and ideas that

5:07

we have today for how we could

5:09

actually terraform Mars. So

5:12

all of that was built into the story. The

5:14

fact that the challenges of

5:17

actually terraforming Mars are that not

5:19

only do we have to introduce

5:21

oxygen into the atmosphere, but we

5:23

have to create a magnetosphere that

5:25

protects it, we

5:27

have to deal with the chlorine

5:29

content that is inside the regolith

5:31

sand that's there. There's a

5:33

lot of very specific things

5:35

that you have to overcome in order

5:38

to actually terraform Mars, and those challenges

5:40

become part of the culture for

5:42

the people living on Mars, which is as

5:44

important as the technological hurdle is the psychological

5:46

hurdle of those things, and that plays into

5:48

the way the entire culture is built in

5:51

our story. I think you did such a

5:53

great job of incorporating those concepts into the

5:55

plot. One of the things I'd love to

5:57

hear you talk about is kind of what

5:59

this... earth exile race that

6:01

comes to mars what

6:03

makes her so special when someone just

6:05

arrives on the planet well i don't

6:08

want to give too much because you

6:10

guys gonna listen to the first episode

6:12

and before getting into more of the

6:14

twist and turn the plot the first

6:16

episode really is about acclimating to the

6:18

difference of what it's like on mars

6:20

the loneliness and the idea of being

6:22

separated from the people you love and

6:24

sent to a place that's 60 million

6:26

miles away from everything you know yeah

6:28

what does it mean to like find

6:30

work how do you interact with

6:32

local authorities when you have far

6:34

less protections than maybe you do

6:36

here on earth so all

6:38

of those things come into it we

6:41

had a really exciting thing back to

6:43

the science actually there's been a really

6:45

amazing thing that's happened with our real

6:47

world exploration of mars in

6:49

the last couple years and that's that

6:52

the perseverance rover on mars has two

6:54

microphones and so for the first time

6:57

in human history we can actually hear

6:59

the sounds of mars. End

7:02

so cool and one

7:04

of the great things is that everything

7:06

that nasa captures is public

7:08

domain it's usable in

7:10

any way that you want. I'm

7:12

so we've incorporated actual sounds from the

7:15

surface of mars into the design i

7:17

think that that's so innovative and you

7:19

know again i was think that science

7:21

fiction is best. What is rooted in

7:23

some real world concepts and you brought

7:26

that to another level in audio i

7:28

mean to use actual sounds from mars

7:30

i thought that was that was so

7:32

cool but in addition to getting a

7:34

hold of like this incredible outer space

7:36

footage you also got a hold of

7:39

an incredible cast. For this

7:41

new season and i love you

7:43

to tell us all a little bit about

7:45

the cast of the exile and how did

7:47

you get all of these people to do

7:49

this project that's the real question well. It

7:52

really starts with season one you know it all started alone

7:54

i keep saying this over and over again it

7:57

all started alone in the basement with me doing all

7:59

the voices and. slowly bringing people in that

8:01

I knew. I live in Los Angeles,

8:03

I work in the entertainment industry. I

8:05

have some friends that are working actors

8:08

and I very slowly started bringing people

8:10

in. But as I brought each person

8:12

in, they were so in love with

8:14

what we were able to create that

8:16

they then told their friends. And so

8:18

what started out with Sundeep Parikh in

8:21

season one and then that

8:23

led to Colin Ferguson and Tiffany Smith

8:25

in season two and Tiffany

8:27

Smith has led us to

8:30

all of these amazing people in her circle.

8:32

We have Phil Lamar in this season

8:35

who is basically a voice acting

8:37

legend. He has been in everything.

8:39

He's Samurai Jack. He is the

8:42

voice of Hermes Conrad on Futurama.

8:44

He is a fantastic person and

8:46

just has been a wonderful performer

8:48

for us in this season. We've

8:50

also been able to bring back

8:52

Colin Ferguson who you might know from

8:55

Haven and Eureka and more recently the

8:57

Samurai Turn Pretty. We

8:59

have Trace Lisette. So this is a really

9:02

interesting thing. The original

9:04

story of the exile had

9:06

one of the earliest transgender

9:09

characters that I've ever found in

9:11

science fiction. It

9:13

was written in a

9:15

way where the lexicon didn't necessarily

9:17

describe them as such but their

9:20

character was very clearly intended to

9:22

be transgender and the

9:24

character was awesome. It's this smuggler

9:26

power broker. And so in finding

9:28

that we had this real opportunity

9:31

to present a co-lead and find

9:34

a really wonderful trans actor to

9:36

portray Mother Corey and

9:38

Trace Lisette has joined us who you

9:40

would know from Transparent and

9:44

it's just an unbelievable performance. We

9:46

also have Anjali Bhimani joining

9:48

us who is on Ms.

9:50

Marvel. We

9:53

have Raymond Lee joining us from

9:55

Quantum Leap and Caitlin Bassett from

9:57

Quantum Leap. We've got Todd Stash.

10:00

who was most recently on Star Trek Picard.

10:02

We've got Moana Vine-Troube, who was

10:04

in Silicon Valley and she was

10:07

in Werewolves Within, and she is

10:09

the voice of Squirrel Girl for

10:11

Marvel Rising. We've got Kevin

10:13

Smith, which is just bonkers.

10:16

We were so lucky that he said

10:18

yes, and he said yes during our

10:20

Kickstarter phase. And it really

10:22

helped open the doors for a lot of other

10:24

people, like Eugene Bird,

10:28

Tracy Toms, who was in

10:30

Rent and Deathproof. Sandeep

10:32

Parikh is back. He's producing as well

10:34

this season. We've got Malcolm Barrett from

10:37

The Boys and Average Joe

10:39

and Preacher. We've got Kevin

10:41

Avery from The Daily Show. Just

10:43

this unbelievable cast.

10:47

It's really incredible. I mean,

10:49

you really created a beacon for all

10:51

these people to create this

10:53

great audio fiction story. I mean,

10:55

like, it's a testament to the story that so

10:57

many people wanted to be part of the project.

11:00

I think that's so cool. I pinch myself every

11:02

day. Because, you know, I would have

11:04

never expected, you know, starting this out that

11:06

we would get here. But really, the goal has

11:09

always been to

11:11

make radio theater and audio fiction feel

11:13

like the movies. And I

11:15

think you do that almost better than anybody because

11:18

your stories are so immersive. When

11:21

you started envisioning the

11:24

Mars soundscape and what

11:26

the characters were going through, what was

11:28

the first thing you wanted to convey?

11:31

What were the first things that you

11:33

wanted to get out as a creator?

11:35

I wanted the loneliness that is caused

11:37

by that claustrophobia to be present in

11:40

every state because you are always living

11:42

life. And for the

11:44

most part, the haves on

11:46

Mars don't have to live their lives entirely inside

11:48

of the suits, inside of the rigs is what

11:50

we call them. But the have nots

11:53

do. And so they may

11:55

not have cell phones on Mars

11:57

because there's technological hurdles and limitations.

12:00

to how much technology they can maintain.

12:02

And so there's a low techness to

12:04

Mars, as well as this

12:06

separation between people that comes from

12:08

everybody having to live their lives

12:11

mostly inside of these suits. So

12:13

I wanted the experience of being

12:15

in the suit to have

12:17

just an impact on you from the

12:19

first moment you feel her put it

12:22

on. I wanted it to feel like

12:24

your entire life was spent inside this

12:26

bubble, and everything outside of

12:28

it was just a little bit fuzzy, a

12:30

little bit, you know, her voice bounces off

12:33

the inside of the suit. So whenever she's

12:35

talking and she's in a suit, you hear

12:37

the inside of her helmet. You

12:40

know, there's an air valve that's like right

12:42

behind your ear, because we're doing fully binaural,

12:44

fully immersive. So please wear headphones when you're

12:46

listening today, because when you put

12:48

the headphones on, that air valve literally is

12:51

in your helmet behind you. It's pretty amazing.

12:54

We're gonna be listening to chapter one today. Chapter

12:58

two and three are available on

13:00

your premium channels, which will...

13:03

So when this chapter, you guys will be

13:05

listening to part one, one-way

13:08

ticket today, but part two

13:10

will be available on our free stream if

13:12

you head over to Curious Matter, anthology

13:15

on your favorite podcast app. But

13:18

you can also get part three if

13:20

you subscribe to our early access, which

13:23

is through CMA Universe Plus

13:25

exclusively on Apple Podcasts. And

13:28

we are offering early access two weeks ahead

13:30

for anyone who subscribes to that. And it's

13:32

totally worth it because the story is so

13:34

engaging. I don't wanna

13:36

give too much away, but in all the

13:38

work you did in building it, and it's

13:40

eight chapters altogether, what was the most challenging

13:42

scene that you had to create? Without giving

13:44

too much away, what was the one that

13:46

sticks out to you most, and what went

13:48

into creating that? Yeah, so we have 46

13:52

cast members to date. It's actually eight

13:54

main episodes, eight mini episodes, and

13:57

then we're also doing eight after shows where we go behind

13:59

the scenes with the cast. But

14:02

I think the most challenging scene

14:04

so far to put together has

14:06

been the riot scenes that will

14:08

come a little bit later in

14:10

the show where you really get

14:12

the sense of this 360 environment

14:14

that you're in as people are

14:16

fighting for their rights on Mars

14:19

and like what it's like to

14:22

be in a police state, what

14:24

it's like to fight against it.

14:26

And just the cacophony of

14:29

life that exists around you because we

14:31

wanted to make sure that inside of

14:33

that moment, those kinds of moments, if

14:36

you were to go back and listen a second

14:38

time, you would be picking out mini

14:41

stories of things and

14:43

people and events happening around you

14:45

that are mixed in to the

14:48

experience that, you know, the first time around, you're very much

14:50

caught in the main characters. But if

14:53

you go and listen again, you start hearing

14:55

these like mini stories pop out around you

14:58

because we use

15:01

part of our ambience. The way the way that

15:03

we create the world is to include secondary

15:05

and tertiary dialogues and things mixed back into

15:07

the ambiences, which is almost like doing two

15:10

shows in once. Right. I mean, like the

15:12

hardest thing to do is crowd sounds because

15:14

it's really doing twice, if not three times

15:16

as much work. Right. Well, you know, you

15:18

start with something that's really interesting. You know,

15:20

you start with some stock sounds, you create

15:23

this baseline and then you layer and layer

15:25

and layer and layer until you

15:27

hit that point where you're like, okay, that's it. All

15:29

right. We're at that point where it feels real. And

15:31

then you move on to the next challenge. Yeah. Well,

15:35

this is the exiles a little

15:37

bit of a departure for curious matters,

15:39

isn't it? It's season three, but it's

15:41

one continuous story where previously you were

15:44

more of an anthology. Isn't that correct?

15:46

Well, we're still an anthology. We're just

15:48

a seasonal anthology now, as opposed to

15:51

being our stories tended to be between

15:53

two and five episodes in prior seasons.

15:55

And we just decided, hey, you know,

15:58

people really latched onto the show. Star

16:00

Hunter in season two and really wish

16:02

there had been more to it and

16:04

we thought well why don't

16:07

we give our audience a complete meal

16:09

for the season so you know our

16:11

eight main episodes follow Bryce our eight

16:13

mini sodes will explore the world and

16:15

other characters in greater detail we

16:18

have just released our

16:21

interactive map of Marsport that

16:23

you can find on cm

16:25

anthology.com which you can

16:27

also learn more about the world and the different

16:30

domes and the different neighborhoods of Marsport which

16:32

is really important to how our story works

16:34

as a whole we really just wanted to

16:36

create something for our audience that let them

16:38

dive as deep as we felt

16:41

the story could go and we'll be posting

16:43

a link to look at that Marsport map

16:45

in our show notes and I highly recommend

16:47

that our listeners take a look at it

16:50

especially as you're listening it's some beautiful graphic

16:52

assets that you put together and it really

16:54

does aid the story in terms of understanding

16:56

kind of how Mars is set up and

16:59

it's a real location on Mars like

17:01

the actual like the the Capri

17:03

Peninsula where it all takes place

17:06

in the Mariner Valley and the Capri

17:08

Chasm that are all right there are

17:10

all real places on Mars so awesome

17:12

well I'm really excited to dive into

17:14

the first episode we're

17:16

gonna start playing it now and

17:18

just so everybody knows where to get

17:20

it where can everybody find the exile

17:22

yeah you can find us on all

17:25

your podcast apps we're also available online

17:27

at cm anthology calm or you can

17:29

find us on Instagram Facebook or

17:31

Twitter at cm anthology we'd love

17:33

to hear from you guys if

17:35

you like it please subscribe like

17:38

and review awesome well I can't wait

17:40

to share it with our listeners Jonathan

17:42

Pezza thank you so much for coming

17:44

back to Leviathan presents and without further

17:46

ado this is the first episode of

17:48

the exile Mars

17:58

Gateway this is Icarus Channel requesting entry burn.

18:02

We hear loud and clear, Chris 2. You

18:05

are cleared for a burn drop, Marker 2. We're

18:08

taking gateway and triggering burn down.

18:11

We're in the red. Go!

18:51

Marchmore Tower, carrier at bound.

18:53

Approach. The

19:02

The The

19:06

The The

19:11

The Yeah! Good

19:14

morning, Marsport. That was poison rain

19:16

by our own local troubadour, Suffer

19:18

City. This is Epidemic

19:20

Radio, and I am your cure.

19:22

Rand, as always, today

19:25

is gonna be a balmy 79 with a low tonight of

19:27

minus 103. That

19:29

big dust storm the sink sats were tracking

19:31

thankfully turned north out of the Mariner Valley

19:33

and is safely headed towards Orson Wells. It

19:35

appears that freight shipments may finally be back

19:37

on track. Icarus 2 should

19:39

be dropping its cargo right about now,

19:43

before slingshotting back towards our former

19:45

overlords. Never

19:48

kidding. I'm arriving at gate 3. Please

19:51

stand clear of the gate. A

19:54

local politician appears to be going from

19:56

Maisia, Norway. His reformer platform

19:58

is a star-kinder. trusted on Wayne

20:01

administration. Please proceed to a customs

20:03

terminal for processing. No

20:05

one is holding a rally tomorrow night. An additional

20:08

three amphitheaters should be a party, if you know

20:10

what I mean. Be safe out

20:12

there, kiddos. All fruits

20:14

and vegetables must be reported on

20:16

Form 11B. Step

20:18

forward, please. Name

20:21

and reason for trouble. Bryce Borden.

20:24

And I'm not really sure how

20:26

to answer that. Place your arm

20:28

under the scanner. Hold

20:33

on right here. Sir,

20:38

we have a yellow card. I was told

20:40

to ask for refugee status in accordance

20:43

with the charter. Just

20:45

a tick. Yep, she's

20:47

a GM. Big one too. Solid

20:51

green by the look of her. Ah,

20:53

okay. Copy that, son. Ollie,

20:57

processing room three. Over to the left. You're

21:01

my yellow card, huh? You're

21:04

a tough-looking customer, aren't you?

21:07

I guess I am. I'm

21:09

seeking refugee status in accordance with

21:11

the charter of Terran colonies. That's

21:14

a dangerous word around here. Refugee?

21:18

Colony. This here

21:20

is a sovereign republic. We

21:22

ain't no puppet state like the other dirt balls.

21:25

Not after a good start, Jimin. I'm

21:28

sorry. I was informed during

21:30

deportation you had to accept my

21:32

application for provisional settlement. I

21:34

could just diseasely let you starve to death here in the

21:36

terminal. Look, I'm

21:39

not here to make trouble. Oh,

21:42

I'm just yanking on you. We love refugees.

21:44

Ah, okay. I

21:48

see in your application you were a cop

21:50

on Earth. Something like that.

21:53

You planning on getting back into the trade? Your

21:56

big one with grav strength like you?

21:58

Always looking for help. bruisers in Marsport

22:00

City. Could it help get you a

22:03

referral? For a fee, of course. I'm

22:05

gonna try and steer clear of all

22:07

that. You

22:10

familiar with how things work

22:12

here? Meaning? Well,

22:16

the air, of course, is getting better

22:18

every year, thanks to the tradesmen and

22:20

their big machines. But still,

22:22

you walk outside without a helmet? You

22:24

dead right quick. We don't live that

22:26

luxury life you's used to. Free

22:29

air. Free water.

22:32

Everything here has a

22:34

price. Yeah. I

22:37

get you. Did you bring your

22:39

own rig? Yes. I'll

22:42

need to inspect it. Suit.

22:47

Helmet. I was told they're

22:50

top of the line. Kevlar and Nanowee. What

22:52

would an earther know about good gear? No

22:56

good this year. I'll have to confiscate it

22:58

for your safety, of course. Don't

23:01

make me change my mind about you. You

23:05

can purchase a new one at the terminal depot for

23:07

a nominal fee. Look. If

23:09

you don't want to buy one, what am

23:11

I gonna do? Welcome

23:15

to Mars. I trust it will

23:17

be all you hope for and more. Thanks, I

23:20

guess. But one more question

23:22

though. The yellow card. What'd

23:25

you have to do to piss off a whole planet?

23:29

That is the

23:31

question I've been asking myself for the last

23:33

six weeks, since the

23:35

Tribunal found me guilty and stripped me of

23:37

the only home I'd ever known. It's

23:40

the question I asked on the cramped three-week journey

23:42

in that tin can strapped

23:45

to an ion engine that pushed me like

23:47

a pond 150 million miles across the solar

23:51

system. And

23:53

the answer I've come to

23:55

is that the most dangerous thing

23:57

in this universe is... Truth.

24:04

One minute to new camera. That's

24:07

me. I'm getting off here. You sure?

24:09

This is a pretty rough learn. Even

24:12

MPF don't have the balls to

24:15

patrol here. Thanks. I'll

24:17

be alright. Not

24:19

that I'm one of those assholes with an

24:21

angel complex. I just happen

24:24

to be in the wrong place at the wrong

24:26

time when a toxic drop of information fell into my

24:28

mind. And started burrowing into me. The

24:33

kind of information that can spark revolutions,

24:36

you know. What was I

24:38

to do? I caught it

24:40

like the flu. And it

24:42

tore my life apart. And

24:45

now? Now I'm

24:48

here in X-Boxer, X-Cop,

24:50

X-Mother, X-Citizen of Earth stuck on

24:53

a mud ball the color of tried blood. Or

24:56

even the dust is trying to kill me.

25:12

The depot clerk at the terminal didn't even have

25:14

the shame to flinch when they

25:16

tried to sell me back my own pressure suit

25:18

and helmet at ten times the price I paid

25:20

on Earth. With

25:22

no choice and nowhere near

25:25

the scratch, I bought a used

25:27

local rig. Cheap plastic.

25:30

With a helmet that smelled of

25:32

stale sweat. It

25:34

might not be pretty, but it

25:37

would keep me alive. This

25:39

is you then, miss. Thank you. A-Lock

25:46

field is now safe

25:48

to exit the transport. New

25:59

Kinross had arrived. It had a dome at some point.

26:02

A giant vinyl fabric

26:04

and Kevlar bubble like the ones dotting

26:06

the rest of Marsport. Little

26:09

more than giant balloons held aloft by

26:11

the pressure differential created by the

26:14

air inside. The

26:16

giant concrete balustrades that had once held

26:18

it in place were now

26:20

only a graffiti covered Stonehenge-like

26:22

ruin, ringing the dilapidated

26:25

neighborhood. Hey lady,

26:27

you need a gun boy? I

26:30

get you wherever you need to go

26:32

safe, allay? 15 chits

26:34

per deal, Lilly. I'm

26:36

good. And cannot save you or

26:39

nobody these days. Tell you what, call

26:41

it 25. The knife on

26:43

my belt keeps the hungry sunken eyes in their

26:46

patched disposable rigs at bay. This

26:48

is the kind of

26:51

place no one cares about. Not

26:53

the cops, not the Gov. Not

26:56

even enough to provide these poor sods

26:58

here life-giving air. No one

27:00

looks too close at the things that go on

27:02

inside the hermetically sealed buildings of new

27:05

Kinross. And that

27:07

suits me just fine. I

27:13

don't know you. This

27:15

the chicken coop? I'm looking for

27:17

Mother Corey. How to often try your

27:20

game somewhere else, kid. Land

27:22

Gordon told me to find Mother Corey if I

27:25

ever ended up in Marsport. Assuming

27:28

that's you. Here's

27:33

Rocker's seat. Was about

27:35

to be a really bad day. Take

27:38

that knife out of sheath and toss it

27:40

over. Land's been a corpse three

27:42

souls. Gov pinned him

27:45

with multiple homicide and made him take a

27:47

long walk with no rig. So

27:49

I doubt he's been saying anything to anyone about

27:51

me. God

27:55

damn. My name is Bryce

27:58

Gordon. I just got off the transport. from

28:00

the terminal. It's like you're twins. We

28:03

were. You

28:05

can lower the pepper gun, Chell. Kick,

28:08

kick. Probably

28:10

need me. In that rig, I took you for

28:12

a local juicer or a stick-up

28:14

kid. The immigration agent worked

28:17

me pretty good. The graft is always

28:19

greener. Welcome to Mars.

28:22

I take it you need a place to flop. Among

28:24

other things. Follow me, sweetness.

28:26

Let's see if we can get you taken care

28:28

of. The coop

28:31

is bare bones, but it's safe. I

28:34

have arrangements with the local crews, and

28:36

we don't see much of the MPF

28:38

here. Nobody bothers my tenants or they

28:40

answer for it. You can buy water

28:42

from me or my grandson Chell downstairs.

28:44

Your grandson? Mother breeds like the best

28:47

of them. Kids

28:50

got a head full of regolith, but what can

28:52

you do? Blood is blood, right?

28:55

Cleaning sand is free. It comes from the tank on

28:57

the roof. The head is

28:59

shared, of course. Reclaimer in the

29:01

basement recycles everything, and we

29:03

waste nothing on Mars. Sounds good. You're

29:06

pissing shit? It all comes here. All

29:08

of it. That's the deal. I

29:10

get exclusive rights to your bio waste. Gotcha?

29:14

And how do I even? Zood will store your

29:16

urine. Just dump it here. And the

29:19

other stuff? Oh, that's up to you, baby.

29:23

This is you. Fuck

29:26

off. What

29:33

the hell, Cory? It's eviction

29:35

day, motherfuckers. We pay rent. Ouch.

29:39

Take care of the other one for me, would you, hon? I'm sorry about

29:41

this. I

29:47

didn't say kill the poor man. Sorry?

29:50

Bitches all hulk down on Earth's strength.

29:52

Jesus. Get with the

29:54

show, doll. 37% Earth gravity makes you Superman. You

29:58

get it? I

30:01

mean I knew that I was gonna be stronger. Wow.

30:04

God damn, G-man. What

30:07

does that even mean? One

30:09

G-demon. Hey,

30:12

Flauper, you dead? Grab

30:14

your friend here. If you can find

30:17

someone else to share with, you can stay. Otherwise,

30:19

cheers. Okay. Come on,

30:22

man. Get on. Okay.

30:24

Get settled in. If

30:27

you want to talk like that, it could find you work if you want

30:29

it. Thought I'd try my hand at the tables.

30:32

Always cleaned up on Earth and I hear the

30:34

security in the dens is less

30:37

than cutting edge. I

30:39

brought a little help with the odds. Oh,

30:42

snuck a scrambler up, huh? I've

30:45

got plans. I just need

30:48

a local fixer who knows the lay. A

30:50

lady after my own heart. My

30:52

taste is 15% Huron. And

30:55

that's the friends and family discount. Also,

30:58

you let me know if you decide to

31:00

hawk that gadget before you offload it. Call

31:04

it right of first refusal. Only

31:06

fair for your dear mother, right? Understood.

31:10

I don't plan on being here long, though. You

31:13

got somewhere else to be. Just

31:16

need to earn enough to buy my way out of this mess. Got

31:19

a thing for the blue marble, huh? Something

31:21

like that. Someone more like

31:23

it, but that's no concern of

31:25

mine, baby. Word of warning, though.

31:28

There's an order to things here. Don't

31:30

get dad playing with fire and all that. I'm

31:32

a big girl. Get some

31:35

rest. You look like the devil dragged you in.

31:38

Thank you, Mother Corey. Mama's got

31:40

you. And

31:42

sorry about your brother. He

31:44

was a good kid. Did he do

31:47

what they say? Does it

31:49

matter? To

31:51

me? Yeah. He

31:55

said that about you. Mother

31:57

Corey was wrong. Dead wrong.

32:00

The only thing that mattered to me was getting off

32:02

this rock. When you've worked

32:04

the beats I have, you understand that

32:07

every society has a shadow, an underworld

32:09

working in the cracks and crevices of

32:11

the system. Turns

32:13

out the magic number to fake my own death

32:15

and buy myself a new life back on Earth

32:18

was exactly one mil. And

32:21

by three months into my stay, I was on track

32:23

to pull it off, too. I

32:25

just needed one last score. Mars.

32:30

Humanity's great endeavor. A

32:34

300-year mission to turn a barren

32:36

world into a new Eden. As

32:39

if it wasn't in our hands that it almost destroyed

32:41

the original. How would we

32:43

know anything about Eden? A

32:46

century and a half since the first

32:48

of the great skyscraper-like terraforming machines had

32:50

landed on the red soil, Mars

32:53

had come to symbolize something

32:55

else. Greed.

33:28

Shopify helps you sell everywhere

33:30

because they've got you covered

33:32

from their all-in-one e-commerce platform

33:34

to their in-person POS system. What's

33:37

so fantastic about Shopify is how, no matter

33:39

how big you want to grow, they provide

33:41

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33:44

business so you can take it to the

33:46

next level. Businesses that

33:48

grow, grow with Shopify. Sign

33:51

up for a $1 per month

33:53

trial period at

33:55

shopify.com/realm. That's all lowercase.

33:58

Go to shopify.com. to

34:02

grow your business, no matter what stage you're in.

34:05

shopify.com/realm. Last

34:09

call for bets. Please

34:20

confirm your selections. Let it ride. Everything

34:23

on Diamond Lagrange 4. No

34:26

more bets. The

34:28

orbit is now locked. Diamond

34:35

Lagrange 4 wins. What a streak! The

34:37

lady wins again. Please collect your

34:40

chips or bet again. Boss,

34:43

we have problem at high orbit tables. Yeah,

34:46

I've been watching her for the

34:48

last few. Let's go for one more. Move

34:51

everything to the field. I'm feeling lucky. Are

34:54

you sure? The odds of

34:56

successfully navigating the asteroid field

34:58

are approximately 3720 to 1. Let's

35:02

move this along. There's somewhere else to be. She

35:05

must be hacking the table somehow. See

35:07

how she stands? She's

35:09

a gym indefinitely. Maybe

35:12

ex-needle. Could be

35:14

on leave. The last stair in Meridians

35:17

pulled out more than a year ago. Oh

35:20

no no no. These ones are tourists

35:22

trying to pull a fast one. And

35:25

then rockhop. How do you want

35:27

to handle it? The

35:32

asteroid field wins. What a streak!

35:34

The lady wins again. Please

35:39

collect your chips or bet again. Hurry up.

35:43

You know what? Grab Dom and two others. I

35:46

want to talk to her first. After

35:48

that, make it clean, call the damn

35:50

badges. They'll make her disappear.

38:00

Now what took you so long? Kill

38:03

this guy, killer. Okay, so

38:05

I guess you already made a deal. I just want

38:07

to say one thing. You have five

38:09

seconds. I'm

38:11

really glad. Guns and

38:13

domes don't mix. He's

38:17

playing it here. 5468 requesting

38:19

backup. We have a female team

38:21

at football both fleeing north and the red light just surfaced.

38:24

Gotta get to the roof. Backup and

38:26

route. That's a negative on the valor. Can't

38:29

send that down. We're at top for maintenance. If I stayed

38:31

on Mars, most of the benefits of

38:33

being a G-Man would wear off within a couple

38:35

years as my muscles atrophied

38:37

and my circulatory system weakened. But

38:40

while I'm here, I'm taking full advantage

38:42

of this shit. The

38:47

12-foot gaps between buildings flew by as I made

38:49

my way back to the airlock where I had

38:51

stowed my helmet. One

38:53

of the most striking things about Mars

38:55

is how rudimentary life is here. The

38:58

last frontier. The

39:01

effort it takes to keep the 50 million

39:03

who call Mars home alive is all but

39:05

exhausting. There's no room for

39:07

anything else. Every other need

39:10

beyond air. Sustenance and

39:12

of course maintaining the domes was a luxury

39:14

that still had to make its way from

39:16

Earth. You have

39:18

to make choices about what stays and

39:20

what goes when your lifeline is

39:22

a spaghetti string of space freighters

39:24

long hauling across the cosmos. Not

39:27

that no cell towers, no mass transit,

39:29

no internet. Components

39:31

for most everything were hard to come by.

39:34

Then other choices were

39:37

simply about survival. A

39:39

stray bullet could travel miles and puncture

39:41

the skin of every dome in its

39:44

path. That meant

39:47

no firearms on Mars. It

39:50

was a line no one, not

39:52

even the hardest criminal, was willing to

39:55

cross. all

42:00

at once, armed to the teeth with

42:02

clubs, bats, and knives. Give

42:05

us that chip and we'll let you live, Jamin. I

42:07

recognized their leader at once, Mother

42:10

Cory's grandson. Seven

42:13

against two, if Izzy was indeed honest,

42:15

weren't the worst odds. It's

42:18

just Biz, not the person. Omega's

42:20

taken from you. You're

42:22

gonna water the sand right here.

42:25

Shell, I promise you are

42:27

gonna be the first to drop. Are

42:31

you still with me? By your side,

42:33

boss. Good night, Bryce. They

42:36

all came at once, except

42:38

for Shell, who disappeared into

42:41

the storm. There

42:43

were far more than seven, but

42:46

how many was impossible to know as they

42:48

darted in and out of my limited field of

42:50

vision? One

42:52

after another, they came in one after

42:55

another. I beat them back, cutting away

42:57

at cheap plastic and smashing in

42:59

the thinplex. Word,

43:06

word, these integrity is common.

43:09

Engaging in emergency fields. We'll call for

43:12

unity. Word, word, this

43:15

map of emergency fields

43:17

not complete. After

43:19

dropping below, call in. The

43:21

reason so many carried knives for self-defense

43:23

is that one good puncture to your

43:26

suit and you were on a

43:28

ticking clock. The

43:31

incoming attacks stopped. The

43:33

enemy knew it was over and

43:36

just watched as

43:38

the inevitable happened. I

43:41

cursed myself for my own stupidity

43:43

as everything went red. With

43:46

every ounce of strength I had

43:48

left, I tried to stay

43:50

on my feet. And

43:59

all... Just went

44:01

black Relax

44:08

baby No,

44:12

Bryce I Had

44:15

nothing to do with it the shit made the play

44:17

on his own The

44:20

kid patched you and brought you to me I

44:23

keep an epi booster on hand Even

44:27

so it was touch-and-go for a minute

44:29

there You've

44:32

been out for 18 hours glad to

44:34

see you came through it boss The

44:36

money they took it off you I

44:39

couldn't stop them. I'll get you your fee Just

44:45

need to get to my room I didn't keep our deal

44:48

wouldn't be honest kid has three

44:50

broken ribs I'm

44:52

alive Home

44:56

You did your job I'm afraid

44:59

there's more Shell

45:01

and two of the shits he runs with broken to

45:03

your room Under

45:08

the floor They got it all

45:11

I was asleep upstairs Shell

45:13

barred my door from the outside and

45:15

by the time I busted through they were gone He's

45:19

your grandson But

45:21

I am gonna find him and burn

45:23

him alive no you're not Tell

45:26

her you got bigger problems The

45:30

heavy whose parlor you hit last night ain't no

45:32

petty player She's

45:34

big seven largest cartel on Mars

45:37

Not top of the pyramid, but high

45:40

enough to call a hit Shiny

45:42

enough that every dirtbag and badge

45:44

alike will be coming for you

45:47

Fuck fuck fuck

45:49

normally the play would be a seat on

45:51

a freighter What are

45:53

my other options? You could

45:55

nullify the hit Pay the

45:57

police the join-up rate plus your bounty Put

46:00

on a badge and it becomes a shield against all

46:02

of this, but then

46:05

the MPF owns you What's

46:09

the bounty? 3 mil I

46:13

mean I

46:15

could scratch that together Shell's

46:19

crew knows where you are they'll sell that

46:21

info for a finder's fee The

46:23

gangs know not to make a play on my turf The

46:27

MPF though They'll be

46:29

coming Blend me the money.

46:31

I like you, but honey,

46:33

please What other option

46:35

do I have? What about another city?

46:37

I could possibly get you to OC

46:39

or Shell Batana Olympus

46:42

City is the safer bet I

46:44

have a shipment heading out in two days The

46:48

question is how to get you out

46:50

of the coop probably already watching

46:52

this place not probably But

46:55

here this lady bird. I

46:57

do this And you work for me

46:59

and me alone from here on Turns

47:14

out new kid Ross

47:17

had an interesting secret It

47:21

was one of the very first domes

47:24

on Mars It

47:27

had been built directly above the original colony

47:31

The first pioneers to brave

47:33

the new world and

47:35

built their home safely Beneath the

47:37

surface in the massive inert lava tubes

47:39

that criss-crossed the planet Mother

47:43

set up in the coop here entirely because

47:45

it still had access to the network through

47:48

the sub-basement a

47:50

smuggler's paradise This

47:53

time I was the

47:55

one being smuggled 100 meters below the

47:57

city from

48:01

the terraforming machines had forced those early settlers

48:03

above ground. But it

48:05

was all still here. Perfectly

48:08

preserved. Frozen in

48:10

time beneath the decades

48:12

of dust. A ghost

48:16

town. And

48:19

as I followed the paths Mother's crew used, I

48:22

felt like a specter floating

48:24

lost through some ethereal

48:27

half-world. A

48:29

shadow of the person I once was. The

48:36

hatch in the outskirts where Mother's contact would be

48:38

waiting to see me safely out of Marsport was

48:41

exactly where she said it would be. The

48:47

domes were more than

48:49

a mile to the west,

48:51

and as the vast Martian

48:54

landscape stretched out before me,

48:56

I couldn't help but smile.

49:00

It's a funny thing how hope

49:02

works. It keeps us going just

49:04

long enough. To

49:08

fall into the next trap. To

49:13

fall into the next trap. She's

49:18

down. Is

49:20

she still breathing? She's alive.

49:25

Did you honestly think it would

49:27

be that simple to escape the

49:29

long arm of destiny? It's

49:32

a pleasure to finally meet you. Miss

49:35

Gordon. Guess

49:43

what more I'm gonna run around my hangman? If

49:45

you mess this up you really let me

49:47

die. You know that I'm afraid of tiny

49:49

spaces. How could you

49:51

leave me here too high? I

49:53

can't tell the difference in their faces. Monsters

49:56

come in different shapes and

49:59

sizes. ♪ Because

50:01

nowhere else to be ♪

50:04

♪ Small voices singing

50:06

set me free ♪

50:11

I hope you enjoyed this installment of The

50:13

Exile. If you just

50:15

can't wait for that next episode,

50:17

did you know that you can listen

50:20

to it right now? That's right.

50:22

You can get early access and ad-free

50:24

listening to every episode in the series

50:26

through our brand new CMA Universe Plus

50:29

subscription, exclusively on Apple Podcasts. You

50:31

can also connect with us online on

50:33

Facebook and Instagram under the handle at

50:35

CMAnthology. Want to dive even

50:38

deeper? Join us for a live listen.

50:40

Meet the cast and go behind the

50:42

scenes in our aftershows presented at twitch.com/

50:44

effinfunny. 7 p.m.

50:47

Pacific time on the Tuesdays, each new main

50:49

episode airs. For information about

50:51

the aftershow, merch, and a whole lot more,

50:54

check us out online at

50:56

cmanthology.com. Tonight's show starred

50:59

Tiffany Smith as Bryce Gordon and

51:01

featured the voices of Malcolm Barrett

51:03

as Honest Izzy, Eugene

51:05

Byrd as Shel Corey, Phil

51:08

Lamarr as the Station Chief, Trace

51:10

Lissette as Mother Corey, Sandeep

51:12

Parikh as Rand, Steven

51:15

Weston as Skag, Milana

51:17

Vayntrub as Fatsia Markov, Amy

51:20

Vorpahl as Three, with

51:22

additional voices by Jonathan Edelman,

51:24

Jason Irvin, Philip Gray, Matt

51:27

Hoban, Tien Nguyen, Bly the

51:29

Rene, and Melissa Starr. This

51:32

episode was written, designed, and edited by

51:34

me, your host, Jonathan Pezza. Voice

51:36

directing by Tiffany Smith and Jonathan Pezza.

51:39

The Exile was made possible by the

51:41

amazing support of our Kickstarter backers. Executive

51:44

produced by Scott Pezza and Dan Evans.

51:47

Co-executive produced by Richard J.

51:49

Pezza, Patrick Lepilato, and Derek

51:51

A. Hughes. It was

51:53

produced by Jonathan Pezza, Tiffany Smith, and

51:55

Sandeep Parikh. And co-produced by

51:57

Ali Mashayekhi and Jack Bowman. Assistant

52:00

editing by Mohamad Mois Riaz and

52:02

Francis Pezza. Original score composed by

52:05

Jonathan Pezza, with additional tracks provided

52:07

by Epidemic Sound and featuring the

52:09

musical talents of Tori Wolf, Suffer

52:12

City, Xperia, and Sight of Wonders.

52:15

The Exile is based on Police Your

52:17

Planet by Lester Del Rey, a literary

52:19

work in the public domain and was

52:21

produced in accordance with US copyright law.

52:24

Curious Matter Anthology is produced by the

52:26

Knightsville Workshop in association with F&Funny Productions.

52:28

Copyright Knightsville Workshop 2024, all

52:30

rights reserved. Make sure

52:33

to tune in next week for our very

52:35

first mini-sode titled Message in a Bottle. See

52:38

you then, and as always, thank

52:40

you for listening. Hey

52:53

everyone, thanks so much for listening. All the links to

52:55

the show you've just heard are in the show notes

52:57

below. Definitely check them out and subscribe to their feeds

52:59

if you like what you heard today. I hope

53:02

you enjoyed this episode of Leviathan Presents, and

53:04

maybe you've discovered a new show that you'd

53:06

like to binge. We're looking forward to bringing

53:09

you some more amazing audio dramas to discover

53:11

and letting you meet some of the phenomenally

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talented creators that are driving this renaissance in

53:15

audio fiction today. Stay subscribed to this feed

53:17

for more installments of Leviathan Presents, as well

53:20

as all the full episodes of the Leviathan

53:22

Chronicles, the Rapskallian Agency, the Invenios Expedition,

53:24

and all the other spin-offs we have

53:26

planned. This is Christoph signing off for

53:28

now. Thanks again for listening. I'll be

53:30

talking to you all real soon. Bye

53:32

now. Day

53:41

486 in space. Day 154 with no contact. anywhere.

54:01

No signals detected. Cassie, if

54:03

you hear this, I want

54:05

you to know I was thinking of you just

54:08

before it all changed. Atlas,

54:10

with the current rate of resource drain,

54:12

how much longer do I have? 17

54:16

days of sustainability relief. Choosing

54:18

the unknown is scary,

54:20

but sometimes you have to do what

54:22

scares you, because what's even

54:24

scarier is never giving yourself a chance.

54:29

Listen and subscribe to Man in Space,

54:31

available now wherever you get your podcasts.

54:36

If you ever somehow hear this,

54:40

you are my purpose. Here's

54:43

to what won't come easy. Here's

54:46

to tomorrow.