SCP: Find Us Alive - 49: Highway to Hiway

Episode Date: January 5, 2024

Love develops a plan. Raddagher tries to fix the oxygen recycler. This episode was written by Anna Maguire and features the voices of Logan Laidlaw (Harley), Jackson McMurray (Lancaster), Tasch Ritter (Klein), Tabi Bardall (Love), and Anna Maguire (Raddagher). Original music by Jackson McMurray. Sign up for our newsletter at findusalivepodcast.com for updates, info, art, and more. Join us on Patreon for exclusive behind-the-scenes content! Word of mouth is the best advertising, so be sure to share with your friends if you like the show! This podcast and all content relating to the SCP Foundation are released under a Creative Commons Sharealike 3.0 license. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Happy New Year, listeners. It's me, Anna, writer and director of Fine Us Alive and Eater of Holiday Baked Goods, specifically yours. I am scrounging your pantry for cookies and breads. It's 2024, so let's acknowledge some new patrons. Anomalous Coyote, Toxic Wolf, Sam C, Cessna Driver, Minga Tinga Flinga, American John, and Sock Time. Thank you so much for your generosity.

We could not keep doing what we do without you. Almost all our funding comes from sponsors on Patreon, so if you like this show and want to fund Tabby's Secret Tunnel Excavation Project, check us out at patreon.com slash Find Us Alive, or you can make a one-time donation at our website under the support tab. Patrons get a lot of cool

stuff like merch, bonus content, and visions of the future. Again, we are at patreon.com slash find us alive. Thank you so much for listening, and please enjoy the episode. And welcome back. Home once again. My chair is going to take up too much space. Oh, that's okay.

You moved me into the one next door. Yeah. Ingrid can help you if you're too tired for your walker. It's too small in here. You don't... You don't really have to live in here. It's just for sleeping. Okay.

Look at you. You're making so much progress already. I want to do more. You want to do more... What? More like what? I don't know. More.

I want to be better. You're getting better. It's great that you're motivated, but we have to go slow so you don't overdo. I want to walk normal again. You have to build up the muscle. I just want to be better. We can't just...

What about a goal? That's a really good idea. Love, what do you want to be able to do? Something specific. What do you want to do? I want to see highway. I want to make it all the way down. In your wheelchair?

In my walker. It's a really long way, love, are you sure? We can do it. We'll work up to it. Can you write it down for me? I'll forget. Yeah, I've got it. I think that was you.

Me? Time to help with the recycler? I don't want to leave. It's okay. We'll be all right. Back soon. Site 107 is unlike many foundation research sites for a number of reasons. It is entirely underground, first of all.

While many Foundation maximum security locations around the world are built partially underground, very few of them are entirely subterranean. Can you imagine how much it would cost? If every site were an underground labyrinth? I bet it would be a lot. I'm cataloging all our non-work activities. I've been continuing to blast my regular updates into the Great Beyond. But I was talking to Shao, and they figured that what we do in our leisure might be just as important as our escape.

They asked if I could put together some documentation for them. We might meet again, if they decide that any of that info, tattoo worthy. If you would have asked me several months ago if I thought I'd be working directly with Shao, I wouldn't have even guessed that it was a possibility. But I suppose there isn't as much of a hierarchy separating any of us these days. You did really good. I crossed a room. Well, Gravett says... I know what Gravett says. Where's Ingrid? She's helping engineering with the recycler right now. When's she going to be done? Um, whenever they finish fixing it, I guess. I miss her.

She'll be back. She isn't working on it all the time. What happened to it? Uh, love, she broke it. This is her consequence. What? She broke the oxygen? Why?

She thought it would get her back to you faster. Do you remember about the split? Uh, I think so. Did it help? Um, no, no. It really didn't. Can I walk some more? Let's rest.

for just a few more minutes. Yeah. I think it's good for everyone. I think it is, too. Only I'm worried about the boredom. They're figuring it out. And we're picking work back up in a couple days anyway. Yeah, you're right.

We've all needed a proper break after the last cycle. But you've seen how these people get when they don't have something to do. Oh, they'll find something to do. What about you? Cooking up any grand schemes? Nah. No. No.

Chapel advises against it. I have... There are more important things to focus on. How's that going with Chapel? Pretty good. It's going as well as it can, you know, given the circumstances. You can always talk to me, too, you know. You're too...

I don't know. You were too close to all of it. And every time I think about talking about it with you, I end up getting all resentful. I'm sorry to hear that. then. I've been taking some of the cleaning shifts lately. Oh? I thought maintenance was only giving those to the rogue faction. Oh, no. They've got a sign-up sheet outside the kitchen. It's, um, it's something to do. I might look into that. Oh, you should look into one of the book clubs. I'm afraid to look into the book clubs. I've heard. They're really fun. They have that debate coming up. It sounds like something

that could be a good time. It's the crime and punishment group versus the Hepatia group. Those are apples and oranges. What metric are they using to decide which book is better. Oh, it's not about the books. It's about the characters. What do you mean? About who would win in a fist fight, in a cage. Raskolnikov or Hypatia. Yeah.

Hypatia? No. Yes. Because she was a real person and Raskolnikov is a fictional character. Raskolnikov literally kills somebody. That's what the whole book is about. That is his crime and the rest of the book is his belief. He kills a little old lady. And he had an axe. You said this was a cage match. He would be an old elderly woman.

woman. She'd be a corpse. She'd be a dead body. We're not having them fight at comparable ages? Because she'd beat him if he was amazing. She's a scientist. She does math. She can't fight. He's a brooding, starving kid who spent a million pages being sad. Yeah, this, uh, this actually sounds like a fun debate, actually. Right? I want to throw another party. I figured you do. I'm choosing to believe that means it's going well. Great to hear. Awesome. Over. How it's going. Elaborate. Over.

I don't know what they're doing on it. Why not? Is it because you're not talking to anyone? I don't want to talk to them. Then you're going to have a really hard time giving me updates. We don't need updates. We can't fix it. It's exploded.

It's only half exploded. I'm sure engineering can jury rig something. Maybe they can make use if you're not tying talents. You should talk. Talk to them instead of just lurking in the background. I'm not lurking. I can call up to whoever is in the surveillance office right now and ask them if you're lurking or not.

We can't fix it, Klein. It's broken. What do we do? We're not going to suffocate. It's going to be miserable toward the end of the cycle, but nobody is going to die. Then I don't know why I'm here. Yeah, you do.

Think about it some more. Make me some notes. I can't be on walkies all day. It's 3.44. They're talking about rewiring something. It just looks like they're playing with the wires. Hey, Officer Radigan from security. You found roaches in here. Come look. It's hard to move around in here. Three, that's true. Shame we don't have larger rooms.

Four, especially for wheelchairs. Then again, five, it's not like anyone was ever intended to live here to begin with. Six. How many more? Just four. You can do it. Seven. Is Ingrid told you much about her work with engineering? No. Maybe eight.

Maybe when she comes back again, you can give her some advice on how to make friends. Nine. Just one more. I'm not good at making friends. And yet, you still manage to be better at it than she is. That's ten, you're all done. How do you feel? Tired. Want to stop?

No, I want to see Highway. You know, some of these exercises look familiar. I did things like this in my PT regimen after I got shot. You were shot? Oh? Yeah, in the leg, before I joined the foundation. Oh. You have a lot of check marks for today.

I'm working hard. That's good. I'm proud of you. I want to see Highway. I know. You mentioned. Oh. A lot of check marks for today. Can we do the Kinek the dots one? Why did you call me here instead of Lancaster?

What are you supposed to be doing right now? Well, I guess that bodes well for your problem-solving skills. I don't want to rest. I want to see highway. You have to rest. You can't see highway until you do. I don't know how long you're supposed to be resting, but I'm telling the others that you're being sneaky.

No tricking anybody else into giving you overtime. Do you need anything before I go? No. Okay. Go to sleep. I'll see you in a few hours, probably. Can you do this in your normal office? I wish. God.

How many people is all that for? This is just for D-1. We don't have the equipment for modern PRI evals. Site 107 doesn't have any new hire shit. Oh. But at least we've got old reliable. And I can already tell his PRI is different than it was before. Well, I'm happy to help if you need me to.

I figured D1 would be the last person you would want to help. Well, why? He didn't do anything to me. He was aggressive. And the whole family stuffed in a crawl space thing? I don't know if this is a comparable punishment, client. I'll be honest, he's... He might not even be the original guy. He has the thoughts of the original guy.

How long has he been in here? I don't know. And you'd think going forward would be the fastest way to move, but you actually do kind of a side-backwards hop motion, and it'll move you a couple percentages faster. Remember that bunch of letters you had to enter for your name? It's actually a code that warps you right to the ending cutscenes, saving you about...

Hey, what's the matter? Can't tell from your face, but your body's got all kinds of... You look tense. You feeling all right? Fine. Look, I know you're not exactly zazzed about spending so much time with us, but we got to pay it forward to security, you know? On account of everything with Casey's Memorial,

we're real grateful for that. And if helping you is going to... If following you around is the best way to show Holly how we feel about it, that's what we're going to do, you know? Anyways, you should kick it with us some more. Dr. Few wants to learn how you do that thing with the ropes where you chuck it around yourself and then it turns to do a knot. I think he's going to use it for personal reasons.

Hmm. Nah, don't be like that. We've all wanted to crawl around in there at some point or other. What? In the ceiling, up above the tiles? Gotta have some way to pull them out. Real small space. Nobody wants to get nutty puttyed up there.

It's this one. Okay dokey. Nari. Nari, I'm on break. Is it the right room? Shut up. Lancaster, are you with love? Over? No, it's still, um...

We have another forty-three. We have another 45 minutes before I'm coming over. Uh, over. Do you know who's with her? Radiger, what's going on? She's gone. Oh, damn it. I'll call Harley.

She can't have gotten very far. Over and out. Nari? I'm getting the word out. Don't overwhelm her. Got it. Hey, don't you worry your little masked face, okay? We'll find her.

She'll be all right. I'm going to okay. Right behind you. Attention staff of Site 107. Agent Love. has gone missing from her room. Anyone in the general area of the dormitories, please keep an eye out.

Medical recommends that you do not try to move her if you find her. She's likely not going to be in a very cooperative state, so be gentle. Call into Channel 2 with any updates, over and out. I'm on my way up, be there soon. I sent Gillespie to tell engineering. Gillespie seems nice.

He talks too much. Yeah, so do I. Let's just find her. Love! You'll scare her. She's probably already scared. At least she'll know where we are. Really nice of everybody to help out. Hey, Dumb Truck! Come here!

No, we come back! Oh, he's really not very fast, is he? I spoke too soon, let's go! Is he leading us? He must be. I hope so. I really hope so. Otherwise, this is a big waste of time! What are you doing in here? What happened? Why didn't you call me? I got lost.

It was your goal to see Highway by yourself. It's taking too long. This is bullshit. It's bullshit. I'm trying to help you. Then leave me alone. We need to get you back to your room. I'm not going back to my stupid room.

Fine. Then let's go down to Highway's chamber. Oh. No? No, why not? You're already out here. But she's... And if you get tired on the way there, we'll just turn around and take you back.

And we'll try again tomorrow. I want to go by myself. But you can't go by yourself yet. So either you get some help or you stay up here. Which do you want? I want to see him. Rettiger? Want to push?

We found her. Safe and sound. Spread the word. Over. In AD1 here, you loud and clear, rova. Seems like it's all good. Over? I know. I'm there, too. Over. Oh, tell her engineering says hi. Engineering says hi. I don't know any of them.

They're Nice Love? Ready for a long trip Uh huh Oh It's gonna be a bit of a squeeze for your chair But we'll be able to get you in

Okay Here we go Klein move that sack Oh yeah sorry How do you feel tired We made it all the way though Yeah Where's the door

Uh that's the problem Love We can't let you in yet You're still a little too Yeah. I get it. I'm sorry, kid. It's fine. You're squeezing him again.

Oh, sorry. Where's... Highway. Yeah. Where's Highway? He's probably... Hold on. He's probably stuck to the wall up there. He likes to get into places we can't see.

But talking to this, and I bet he'll come out. Highway? Hi, buddy. Did you miss me? Oh. I've never seen him with this. He missed me. I want to stand up.

We might have to... There's not enough room for your feet. Here, why don't we... Another item in this place's long list of code violations. There we go. Okay. Grab my own. I got it.

I just want to touch the window. Hi, buddy. Can I have dump truck? Yeah, here. I've got you. I'm never going to be a real field agent. Am I? I don't think so.

I think that's okay. I think I could be something else. Can Highway come up to my room? Absolutely not. Fuck you. Dump truck? Attack. Good job.

You ready to go upstairs and take a nap? Yes. A real nap? No secret exercises. I am so fucking tired. Radiger, do you mind taking her up? I want to go over a few things with Klein while I'm here. Tell engineering I'll be late getting back.

You care about being late? Just tell them I'll be late. All right. Bye, highway. That's bright. Need my glasses? No, I'm okay. I'll just jump my eyes.

You did good today. I did, didn't I? But you should stop sneaking around. No promises. You love me. I do. Did you call me up here just so we can look at each other? No.

Well, uh... Thanks for helping with love and everything. Of course, happy to lend a hand. What else have we got in this place, you know? And, um... Or a little creepy. But not enough bad. Sorry for blowing up the recycler.

Oh, uh, thanks? I mean, it's not my recycler. I'm still sorry. Okay. We're playing some smash later. Want to come? No. But maybe another day.

Sure, I'll tell you when the next tournament is. Don't forget your costume. I'm not wearing a costume. Episode 49 was written and produced by Anna McGuire. The voice of Harley is Logan Laidlaw. The voice of Klein is Tosh Ritter. The voice of Lancaster is Jackson McMurray. The voice of Agent Love is Tapy Bardol.

The voice of Radiger is Anna McGuire. The voice of Gillespie is Cody Master Girl Littlefield. Original music by Jackson McMurray. If you like our show and want to support us, sign up for our newsletter at Find Usalivepodcast.com. This podcast, along with all content relating to the SCP Foundation, is released under a Creative Commons share-a-like 3.0 license. Thank you for listening.