The Magnus Archives - Rusty Fears 7 - The Uses of Analog

Episode Date: June 25, 2026

This week’s short horror story, The Uses of Analog, inspired by the prompt "Video Store", is written by Aaron Swartz and read by Ryan Hopevere-Anderson.Content Notes:memory lossmanipulationDirected and Produced by April SumnerWritten by Aaron SwartzExecutive Producers Alexander J Newall & April SumnerFeaturingRyan Hopevere-Anderson as NarratorEdited by Nico VetteseMusic by Nico Vettese and Sam JonesMastering by Catherine RinellaArt by April SumnerSupport Rusty Quill directly by joining our new membership platform at members.rustyquill.com or on Patreon at patreon.com/rustyquillCheck out our merchandise available at https://www.redbubble.com/people/RustyQuill/shop and https://www.teepublic.com/stores/rusty-quillPre-order links for From the Library of Jurgen Leitner: https://rustyquill.com/novelSupport Rusty Quill by purchasing from our Affiliates; DriveThruRPG – DriveThruRPG.comJoin our community:WEBSITE: rustyquill.comFACEBOOK: facebook.com/therustyquillX: @therustyquillEMAIL: [e-mail] Magnus Protocol is a derivative product of the Magnus Archives, created by Rusty Quill Ltd. and licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial Share alike 4.0 International Licence. For ad-free episodes, bonus content and more, join members.rustyquill.com or our Patreon.Pre-order FROM THE LIBRARY OF JURGEN LEITNER, a Magnus novel releasing October 27th: rustyquill.com/novelBuy tickets to a Magnus Archives Live Show in Sheffield in July: crossedwires.live Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hi there, Billy Hindle here, the voice of Alice Dyer in the Magnus Protocol. As part of the Magnus Archives 10th anniversary, Rusty Quill is hosting a special Magnus live show at the upcoming Crossed Wires podcast festival in Sheffield. Join co-creators Jonathan Sims and Alexander J. Newell on the 5th of July for a new iteration of our live show Statement Begins, where you can hear fan-favorite statements, such as anglerfish, Red Live, and gain exclusive insights into the creation and history of the show straight from the creators themselves.

You can buy your tickets now, including limited numbers of meat and greet tickets, from crossedwires. Live, or the link in the description of this episode. Hi there, Jonathan Sims here, and before today's episode, I wanted to tell you about from the Library of Yergen Lightner, an upcoming The Magnus Archives prequel novel

available for pre-order right now at www. Rustyquill.com forward slash novel. Return to the world of the Magnus Archives in From the Library of Yorgen Lightner, an official prequel novel written by Nebula, World Fantasy and Aurora Award-winning author Pramie Mohamed with the help of yours truly. From the Library of Yurgen Lightner

explores an infamous organisation from the Magnus Verse for the first time, the perilous private library of the enigmatic collector, Jürgen Lightner. From the Library of Yorgon Lightner will be published. on October the 27th, 2006, and is available for pre-order now as a hardback, audio book and

e-book. Visit www. RustyQuil.com forward slash novel for more information. That's rustyquill.com forward slash novel, or click the link in the show notes of this episode. Mike had worked at Video Helps Stop VHS Rental and Repair for as long as he could remember. And it was an all right job, mostly. Then again, how was he to know? He'd never really done anything else. He'd heard that most people hated their jobs, so being bored most days seemed like it probably wasn't too bad in comparison. It was the same routine day after day, unlock the shutter and doors, send out any notices for tapes that were either about to be due or well past due, and wait. That was most of the job. Waiting.

And on the rare occasion, the dented bell above the door would signal a new arrival. Mike's heart would judder subtly in his chest as he waited to see which kind of visitor they were. Of the few patrons VHS could claim, there were two main types. Most were older. The kind of people who not only still had VCRs, but still used them. If it wasn't the old-timers, then the bell most often heralded a couple of twenty-somethings who would come stumbling in through the door, rifle through the car, collection while holding up this or that box to marvel at with the friends, before the inevitable

question of, how's a place like this even stay in business anymore, man? Would get thrown out like an afterthought. Mike would shrug, mumble something about a dying art form, and the 20-somethings would leave without renting anything. Both the older and younger customers were the first type. It was the second type of customer that meant Mike's heart could never rest easy at the sound of the bell. They came once a month, maybe, always right around closing time, and they always waited until the store was empty before marching right up to the desk like they owned the place. Maybe they did.

Mike really wasn't sure. They didn't like it when you looked them in the eye though, so when they rushed the counter like a storm front, Mike pitched his eyes down and waited to hear what they wanted. It was always the same thing. I need an edit made, they'd say. Mike would nod. What kind and how much, he'd ask. The answer varied somewhat.

Most often they'd say, I need a few minutes cut out, or sometimes I need 30 seconds spliced in, or I need a full wipe. Specifics didn't matter too much. Mike's next question was always, Do you know the terms? He'd get a nod.

or a grunt, or a horse yes, or a swear that stood in for agreement, and he would nod, finish closing up the store and lead the customer into the back and through there, into the very back. The back room of VHS was mostly normal. The very back room behind the false wall was not. Mike didn't know what most of the equipment did, and that was mostly what the room was filled with. Choked clots of cables, ticking eight tracks spinning like tiny moon. lights that blinked on and off like stars and sometimes didn't blink at all. It all fed into the chair.

And that was where Mike would always gesture for the customer to take a seat. Once, one of the more nervous customers had joked that the chair was straight of the Matrix. Mike had stared at the man's shoes. They didn't like to be looked at in the eye and then continued prepping the equipment he knew how to use. The customer had sat down eventually. Mike never had to worry about getting them into the chair. Just the other parts. Once they were seated, Mike would ask the next question.

Do you have the payment? He'd ask. And they'd hand him money. He counted it out of habit, not necessity. No one had ever tried to shortchange him, and he never needed to explain the rate. $500 per minute. When the money was counted, he would say,

set it aside and then he would look at the customer in the eyes for the first and only time during their visit. And the other half, he would ask. The answer varied too. My sixth birthday party, one would say. The day my son was born, one would be another's offer. First time I got laid, seeing Bowie live in 92. The first time I killed someone. cheap offerings usually especially compared to what they wanted done but always good enough no one tried to shortchange him with that half of the payment either

he wasn't entirely certain why maybe it was because he looked them in the eye he would let his eyes fall noticing passively the way the customer's body relaxed as he did and moved back to the equipment it was tricky to work properly but after all this time Mike had the knack for it and could cut, splice, insert, or rewrite the relevant segments as requested.

He could even snip out the pain of the procedure, which, judging from the way most of them screamed, must have been significant. After the requested work was done, he'd load in a blank tape and collector payment, labelling it carefully with the events it contained while the customer rebooted one system at a time, adding the new tape to the bank of others against the right wall of the very back. room. He'd give the customer however much time they needed to remember the necessities of breathing,

blinking, walking and all the rest, and escort them out of the very back room, through the back room, into the door, where they would hurry off into the night. They always seemed keen to get going after their business with him was concluded, which Mike didn't mind in the slightest. And then Mike would go home, which was the grey apartment above the video store. store and the only other place he spent his time and he'd sleep and dream of a shut door and a silent bell and smile or sometimes he'd dream of a set of tapes three and a wall of a hundred and frown and then he'd open the shop again the next day anyway it was an all right job the worst days were when fuchsia came in That wasn't her name, but it was the colour she always wore somewhere.

Sometimes a tie, sometimes a belt, sometimes a bracelet, sometimes makeup, sometimes streaked in her hair. So that was what she was in Mike's mind. Fuchsia. Fuchsia never came in for herself. Fuchsia came into place orders and to make sure they got filled to the letter. Fuchsia expected results immediately and didn't like waiting. Fuchsia made sure Mike understood how little she liked waiting. Mike wasn't sure why Fusia was so scared of him,

but he didn't worry about it too much. He just got on with things and did his job as he was told. Like the times when Fuscher would tell him to go in the back while she went and got his patient. She said patient instead of customer, which Mike didn't like. But he'd go into the very back room and begin setting up the equipment anyway.

and sooner or later, three or four big men would drag the customer into the room, shove them into the chair, and tighten the manacles built into the arms of the bulky contraption until they cut into the customer's thin wrists. Fuchsia was always very insistent that he'd do his job without complaint, even though he never complained or did anything but his job. So long as they paid, he would fill the brief just as they asked. He didn't like doing complete reformats, but they were part of the job, so he did them. He just didn't look those customers in the eyes and didn't label the tapes he made out of them. Sometimes in the long, quiet spaces where Mike sat at the counter and hoped the bell wouldn't ring, his mind would wander.

He'd think about the rows and rows of tapes in the very back room labeled in his careful handwritten. He'd think about the three tapes labeled Mike Pendleton in the same careful handwriting as all the rest. The first labeled Years 1 to 10. The second, Years 11 to 16. The third, years 17 to 24. He'd think about watching them. You wouldn't watch them. Mike had worked at video help stop VHS rental and repair for as long as he could remember.

And it was an all right job, mostly. And again, how was he to know he'd never done anything else? The Magnus Protocol is a podcast distributed by Rusty Quill and licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial Share-Alike 4.0 International License. To subscribe, view Associated Materials. or join our Patreon, visit rusty quill.com. Rate and reviews online, tweet us at The RustyQuil, visit us on Facebook, or email us via mail at RustyQuil.com.

Thanks for listening. Hi, Alex here, founder and CEO of Rusty Quill Limited. In case you haven't heard, there is now a Magnus Archives novel. The Library of Yergen Lightner is set in the world of the Magnus Archives and written by Nebula Award-winning author, Premi Muhammad, with our very own Jonathan Sims. The story follows Hugh, a universe. university dropout, desperate to find somewhere to belong and his new job at an esoteric library. The books he must investigate for the enigmatic Juergen Leitner are not normal,

because the library is not a vault, sealed and silent, but a hive, alive, buzzing, and ready to sting. The Library of Jürgen Leitner releases October 27th, 2026, but you can pre-order it right now in the US and UK from your local bookshop, or by using the link in the episode description. If you live outside of the UK or US, you may be able to make it. an international order for this first publication, but it depends on individual retailers shipping policies.