12 characters: Announcer, Tojo, Security Chief, Cmdr Peters, Lt Tojo, Controller, Communications Chief, Ambassador Five, Deserter One, Deserter Two, Newsreader, Correspondent
Click on a character's name to get their lines highlighted.
Cmdr Peters (51 lines, 770 words, 26.74%) - [Brian Hunt] Commander Peters is a bigger than life personality, the face of the mission, the commander of the asteroid. He has a sense of humor and a temper. [complete]
Security Chief (32 lines, 398 words, 13.82%) - [Kat Leroy] The asteroid's security chief, a hard nosed cop type. Non-American accent. [complete]
Tojo (58 lines, 751 words, 26.08%) - [Gwenith Knight] Chief Tojo is stuck in the past. [complete]
Lt Tojo (9 lines, 98 words, 3.4%) - [Melchizedek Cuta] Akio Tojo. Japanese accent. [complete]
Communications Chief (5 lines, 44 words, 1.53%) - [bot] Darius Ahmadi, the first communications chief. Hates to see innocent machinery attacked. Iranian accent preferred but ended up with Indian bot. [complete]
Controller (7 lines, 256 words, 8.89%) - [Mel Crochemore] Mission controller relaying Earth's decisions. Accent undetermined. [complete]
Newsreader (3 lines, 159 words, 5.52%) - [Curt Caster] Earth-based headline news reader. [complete]
Correspondent (1 line, 37 words, 1.28%) - [Tadhg O'Callaghan] News reporter on the scene. [complete]
Deserter One (11 lines, 111 words, 3.85%) - [Andrew Brisbane] A deserter. California accent. [complete]
Deserter Two (5 lines, 75 words, 2.6%) - [Jae-in Hwan] A deserter. Needs a non-American accent. [complete]
Ambassador Five (11 lines, 121 words, 4.2%) - [bot] One of the Centaurian ambassadors, temporarily awake. [complete]
Announcer (5 lines, 60 words, 2.08%) - [Erin Suminsby] Reads opening, closing and credits. [complete]
Script format: Margined | Marginless (for phone viewing)
Listen along as you read:
1 Announcer: Previously on 253 Mathilde...
2 SOUND: will insert clips of important things to remember at beginning of each episode
3 Announcer: And now...
4 Tojo: [sfx: suit voice] Doctor Singh, are you there? I can't see you, please respond! Stone, can you hear me? Wait a minute, all the damage is gone! And the sky! The sky is like the old days!
5 SOUND: walking in suit
6 Tojo: This is Chief Tojo, can anybody hear me?
7 SOUND: knocking on metal
8 Tojo: Let me in, please! Open up the airlock!
9 SOUND: more pounding
10 Tojo: I've only got an hour of air left!
11 SOUND: airlock door opens
12 Tojo: Whew!
13 SOUND: opening theme
14 Announcer: Quiet Please dot org presents Two Fifty Three Mathilde. The year is 2107. Fully equipped with engines and crew and launched last year, the asteroid 253 Mathilde is still in the main asteroid belt accelerating outward at a millimeter per second per second.
15 Announcer: Episode 23 - Origin
16 Security Chief: Commander, she says her name is Farah Tojo.
17 Cmdr Peters: That's an odd name. Arab and Japanese? Which does she look like?
18 Security Chief: Neither, I can't really place her because she looks very widely racially mixed.
19 Cmdr Peters: Whoever she's working for, it seems they've thought of everything to hide their origin. Did she give you a cover story?
20 Security Chief: Some babble about investigating an anomaly. Maybe we're supposed to think she's insane, I'm not sure.
21 Cmdr Peters: But you said she asked for me by name?
22 Security Chief: Yes, she said she wanted to speak with Peters.
23 Cmdr Peters: Anything else I should know before we go in?
24 Security Chief: The space suit she was wearing -- some advanced tech there, the lab is pulling it apart for clues.
25 Cmdr Peters: Alright.
26 SOUND: door opens, interrogation room background as they stride in
27 Tojo: Who are *you*?
28 Cmdr Peters: I'm told you asked for me. Commander Peters, at your service.
29 Tojo: THE commander Peters?
30 Cmdr Peters: Only one I know.
31 Tojo: I guess you do look like him, I'm just used to seeing you being old in the holos.
32 Security Chief: Holos?
33 Tojo: Holographic recordings.
34 Security Chief: [sarcastic] Because those are totally normal things, sure.
35 Cmdr Peters: The Centaurians have holographic technology, are you working for them?
36 Tojo: I work for Mayor Peters.
37 Cmdr Peters: What city is he mayor of? Am I supposed to know him?
38 Tojo: He's your great grandson.
39 Cmdr Peters: [sarcastic] Of course... I'm 33, maybe I had a son at 11 years old and he had a son at 11 and he had a son at 11 who some city elected as their mayor while he was a baby. [serious] Now let's get serious. Who are you working for and what were you doing out there? Sabotage?
40 Tojo: I was investigating a temporal anomaly, probably some sort of wormhole, and apparently it transported me back in time more than a century. To you.
41 Cmdr Peters: This isn't some Stargate or Star Trek episode. We're not complete fools. You're in serious trouble here and you're not helping yourself.
42 Security Chief: Pretending to be insane isn't going to work.
43 Cmdr Peters: What went wrong to leave you stranded out there alone? Did you have an accomplice who was supposed to let you in discreetly but didn't show up?
44 SOUND: older version multicom alert, rustle of answering
45 Lt Tojo: [sfx: processed] Commander, Lieutenant Tojo here. We were investigating outside the airlock when *this* suddenly appeared.
46 Cmdr Peters: Looks like some sort of spy robot.
47 Lt Tojo: Near as we can tell. It seemed to appear out of nowhere, so we think it must've had some sort of cloaking field that failed.
48 Cmdr Peters: Be careful, sounds like advanced tech.
49 Lt Tojo: It's functional, but hasn't offered any resistance or made any moves. By all appearances it's not receiving any new orders.
50 Cmdr Peters: Okay Akio, bring it inside. Something else for the lab to tear apart.
51 Security Chief: But get the bomb squad to check it out first.
52 Lt Tojo: Yes sir.
53 SOUND: call end sound
54 Security Chief: You just heard we captured your robot. We'll figure out the country of origin, the programming and so on soon enough. You might as well tell us now.
55 Tojo: I don't know anything about a robot. Maybe they sent it through after me? Though it seems too soon for that... unless time is passing faster on their end of the phenomenon than on this end.
56 Security Chief: We'd better inform Earth control right away, especially now there's advanced robot tech involved. This plot could be bigger than we imagine.
57 Cmdr Peters: Yeah, they'll be annoyed I waited this long. Unfortunately that means I'll have to spend the rest of my day in an incredibly frustrating back and forth video conversation with 20 minutes between replies.
58 Security Chief: At least Earth is on the near side of its orbit.
59 Cmdr Peters: And the delay will get a lot longer in the coming decades, I know, doesn't stop it from driving me crazy.
60 SOUND: fade out fade in transition to communications section
61 Controller: We're very concerned about what this spy may mean. Commander Peters, I don't think you understand how fragile the situation is back here. Have you been following the international situation?
62 Cmdr Peters: Well, I watch the news. I know California's secession is causing a crisis and the United States has responded with a controversial blockade.
63 Communications Chief: Transmission sent. Should be at least 20 minutes to get a reply.
64 Cmdr Peters: Call me when it comes. I don't know why they can never get to the point, they seem to *enjoy* all the slow back and forth.
65 MUSIC: ticking clock or music link to indicate 20 minutes passing
66 Controller: Other parties are involved. This morning a Chinese cargo ship ran the blockade and was fired on, there were casualties, frankly we're very close to a world war here. 253 Mathilde is one of the few things uniting the world at the moment. Now you've found a spy in your midst. If some power is trying to change your little world's status away from neutrality, it could be the tiny spark that sets off the conflagration. We have to proceed carefully.
67 Cmdr Peters: [out of patience] So what would you like me to do about it? And frankly why couldn't you have told me what you want an hour ago without this tedious banter?!
68 Communications Chief: Sent. You know you don't have to come in here for it, we could route it through your multicom.
69 Cmdr Peters: I don't want to feel like Control can follow me anywhere on the base, it's better to keep my frustration confined to communications section.
70 MUSIC: ticking clock or music link to indicate 20 minutes passing
71 Controller: We hadn't made the final decision yet, but we have now. We're calling you home. Escort the spy to Earth for further interrogation. You'll make some appearances, give some speeches, calm some nerves, remind everyone how small and fragile our planet looks from out there.
72 Cmdr Peters: [sfx: overlaps above line after first sentence] [incredulous disbelief] Excuse me?! I can't be away that long! Listen, we've been underway for over a year, it's time you stopped treating us like we're some sort of space station in Earth's orbit!
73 Communications Chief: Are you sure you want me to send that, Commander?
74 MUSIC: ticking clock or music link to indicate 20 minutes passing
75 MUSIC: should get emotional/dramatic behind the outburst coming up
76 Controller: It's not your decision, Commander Peters... nor mine. We have our orders. You'll be in a low mass express shuttle, we'll have refueling tankers matching your velocity en route, you can be on Earth inside two weeks. If we decide to send you back, or your replacement, that'll be just as quick. The secretary general expects--
77 SOUND: Cmdr Peters hurls communications console across room smashing into wall in pieces
78 Communications Chief: [alarmed and concerned] Sir!
79 Cmdr Peters: [like Han Solo] Boring conversation anyway.
80 Communications Chief: [alarmed and concerned] How *could* you?!
81 Cmdr Peters: Take the repair costs out of my last paycheck. And maybe you should keep a baseball bat in here so my successor can smash the consoles without skinning his knuckles.
82 MUSIC: music crests, calms and dips for link to less emotional scene
83 Ambassador Five: You requested that I come see you, human?
84 Tojo: Yes, Ambassador. I need your help.
85 Ambassador Five: I have been told that you are a spy.
86 Tojo: It's a misunderstanding.
87 Ambassador Five: And that you claim to be from the future.
88 Tojo: That's right. You're the only one here I know. Knew. I mean not very well and I was young but I met you a couple times before you left.
89 Ambassador Five: Did I wander out the airlock and swim home?
90 Tojo: You were transferred to an invading alien spacecraft that we believe took you back to your home planet.
91 Ambassador Five: A pleasant fiction.
92 Tojo: Oh! I know you're not really from Proxima, your people only have a relay station there! That proves I'm from the future.
93 Ambassador Five: You know nothing, your information is malicious rumor. What do you want from me, human?
94 Tojo: I want you to help me get back where I belong. I couldn't see a way back through the anomaly before, but I was confused and panicked. If you can get me back to the surface then I can retrace the footprints I left, maybe it'll work.
95 Ambassador Five: I could not help you if I wanted to.
96 Tojo: You have the super-human strength, the stun weapons you haven't told anyone about, the technological advantage to get me out of here and back to the anomaly!
97 Ambassador Five: We are being recorded, human. I now suspect your goal is to capture Centaurian technology for the advantage of your nation in the latest squabble. You will not involve me in your plot.
98 Tojo: Just look for temporal anomalies near where I was found!
99 Ambassador Five: [sfx: receding toward door] We did, there were none. Excuse me, I grow disinterested in this conversation now that I have discerned your motives.
100 SOUND: ambassador begins to stride away, but is halted
101 Tojo: Ambassador!
102 Ambassador Five: Yes?
103 Tojo: You should try contractions. Just because Ambassador One won’t use them doesn’t mean you can’t.
104 Ambassador Five: I’ll consider that request.
105 SOUND: door opens, ambassador leaves
106 Tojo: [with a sigh, to self] I'd never have thought it possible, but younger Ambassador Five is actually even more irritating.
107 SOUND: door opens, Peters strides into interrogation room
108 Cmdr Peters: You've probably cost me my command here, hope you're happy.
109 Tojo: What? But you can't... I mean, you have a long future here!
110 Cmdr Peters: Huh, you say it like you care. Well, let's go.
111 Tojo: Go where?
112 SOUND: they start moving
113 Cmdr Peters: You're coming with me back to Earth, there's people there with a lot more questions for you.
114 Tojo: [excited] Earth! Wow! I never dreamed I'd get to see Earth!
115 Cmdr Peters: [perplexed] What *are* you, some kinda alien or a lunatic imagining you are?
116 Tojo: [excited] Does it feel as huge and wide open as they say, can you really walk for days? And weather, is rain and snow and wind as common as the holos make it seem?
117 Cmdr Peters: Guess they'll cut you open to find out which you are.
118 SOUND: door opens, another entry
119 Security Chief: Ready to escort the prisoner, sir.
120 Cmdr Peters: Okay, let's go.
121 SOUND: opening cell door, they walk out another door and down hall
122 Tojo: Why are we heading to the suit room?
123 Security Chief: I see you've got our base plans memorized.
124 Cmdr Peters: The launch pad isn't pressurized, we'll need to suit up.
125 Security Chief: She knows.
126 SOUND: door opens and closes behind them
127 Tojo: That's interesting, in my time we don't have local shuttles but our planetary decelerator ships are in a pressurized bay. Though the first one wasn't.
128 Security Chief: Don't let her draw you in, don't engage with the fantasy.
129 SOUND: they suit up
130 Cmdr Peters: Tojo, you had some other sort of suit before... these are our short range suits, you can practically just step into them and secure the helmets. They're a lot more awkward to move around in than the proper suits, but good enough for the short walk to the pad.
131 Tojo: I remember now, I've read about these.
132 SOUND: helmets attach and click
133 Cmdr Peters: [sfx: processed] Everybody got their suits activated?
134 Security Chief: [sfx: processed] Yes sir.
135 Tojo: [sfx: processed] Yes Commander.
136 Cmdr Peters: [sfx: processed] Hold onto the rail while we depressurize the airlock. You don't want to fall over in these suits.
137 SOUND: airlock depressurization effect
138 Cmdr Peters: Watch out!
139 SOUND: tussle
140 Tojo: I've got your weapon. You stay on the floor, I've got to get back to the anomaly.
141 SOUND: tojo moves off
142 Cmdr Peters: Aren't you going to go after her?!
143 Security Chief: Unarmed? The nearest weapons locker is a couple minutes, I'll be right back, meanwhile you follow her and make sure you keep her in sight.
144 SOUND: sec chief moves off
145 Cmdr Peters: [incredulous] She's already around the corner. You really want me to chase after an armed lunatic without a weapon? You do realize I'm still your superior officer... or did Earth send you orders to arrange a tragic death for me?
146 SOUND: ultra-quick transition accent sound, switch to Tojo's perspective
147 Tojo: You! Freeze! Hands up in the air.
148 Lt Tojo: [dejectedly] I give up.
149 Tojo: Now, very slowly, take that weapon off your belt -- by the nozzle end -- and toss it toward me.
150 Lt Tojo: Okay.
151 SOUND: rustling sound of doing so, and catching
152 Tojo: Alright. My footprints from when you found me, and the spot where you found the robot... should be right around here, right?
153 Lt Tojo: Over there. About 5 meters.
154 Tojo: You stay here while I check it out.
155 SOUND: movement
156 Tojo: The footprints start here, so if I just step back through...
157 SOUND: movement
158 Tojo: [disappointment] Nothing.
159 Lt Tojo: [sarcastic] What did you expect, a magic portal?
160 Tojo: I thought if I found the spot I could go back... but there's no sign of anything here. Either it's a unidirectional wormhole, or this end has moved since I got here... or both.
161 Security Chief: Drop it, Tojo! Hands in the air! I mean, spy Tojo... Lieutenant, you can put your hands down.
162 Tojo: You have a weapon pointed at me, I have a weapon pointed at you. Seems like a stalemate to me.
163 Security Chief: Well, let's change the odds. Lieutenant Tojo, here you go.
164 SOUND: tossing gun
165 Lt Tojo: Now two of us have our weapons trained on you. You can only kill one of us before the other kills you.
166 Security Chief: If that's not good enough, more security are on their way.
167 SOUND: gun drops, hands raise
168 Tojo: I surrender. It's okay, I can't get back anyway.
169 Security Chief: Your associates ditched you again, eh? You expected them to be waiting here?
170 Tojo: You don't believe anything I tell you.
171 Security Chief: There it is, the first true statement you've made. Okay, move, this way.
172 SOUND: walking
173 Cmdr Peters: I see you've got our prisoner back, good work Chief. Bring her straight to the shuttle.
174 Security Chief: Already doing that. Where are you, Commander?
175 Cmdr Peters: I'm on board already.
176 Security Chief: We're just coming up on the ship now.
177 Cmdr Peters: I left the airlock door open for you.
178 Security Chief: Very considerate.
179 SOUND: footsteps change to metallic, hissing of air filling room
180 Security Chief: Don't try anything this time, you're not going to get me off balance by surprise twice.
181 Tojo: Where would I go now anyway? If I can't get home, at least you're taking me to Earth.
182 SOUND: taking off suits... actually chief only takes off helmet
183 Tojo: You're not taking off the rest of your suit?
184 Security Chief: I'm not going to Earth. I just want to make sure you get to your cell before I go. Stay three meters ahead of me, and know that if you make one wrong move I'll enjoy shooting you.
185 SOUND: inner airlock door opens and they stride into main ship
186 Cmdr Peters: Welcome aboard, prisoner.
187 Tojo: Thank you, Commander.
188 Cmdr Peters: I'm curious, why didn't you just shoot the chief and I when you had us disarmed?
189 Security Chief: Certainly would've bought you more time.
190 Tojo: You don't have stun settings on these things. What would happen if I killed one of my own great-great-grandparents? Would I even still exist?
191 Security Chief: [sighs] That nonsense again. You never give up, do you?
192 Tojo: It's hard to give up on the truth, even when it's not working.
193 SOUND: cell door opens, shove, cell door locks
194 Security Chief: Glad I'm not the one trapped with you for two weeks. Okay Commander, she's all yours, time for me to go.
195 Cmdr Peters: Well Chief, try to hold things together here until I maybe hopefully talk my way into coming back.
196 Security Chief: We're all hoping you'll be back... except maybe Ahmadi, he's pretty upset about the damage you did to his equipment.
197 SOUND: inner airlock door opens and chief strides out.
198 Tojo: You two...
199 Deserter One: Us?
200 Tojo: Are you guys guards?
201 Deserter One: What? No.
202 Tojo: Then why are you being sent back to Earth?
203 SOUND: controls being manipulated in distance
204 Deserter One: We had to beg for these seats.
205 Deserter Two: We're tired of wasting our lives inching through the asteroid belt, we want to get back to our families and friends before it's too late.
206 Tojo: [recognition] Returnists!
207 SOUND: shuttle engine starts and continues under
208 Deserter One: I guess that'd be a nice word for it, but they call us deserters.
209 Tojo: But you were volunteers first, right?
210 Deserter One: Yes. We have a right to change our minds.
211 Deserter Two: They promised an adventure in the stars, instead we got tedium in the asteroid belt.
212 Deserter One: [disdainfully] And military-style order, no real freedom.
213 Tojo: You don't like Commander Peters?
214 Deserter One: It's the autocratic structure I don't like, this mission should've been a democracy.
215 Tojo: Couldn't that get chaotic and dangerous over eight centuries?
216 Deserter One: If we can't hold together a fair democratic society with liberty and justice for all for 780 years, we don't *deserve* to reach Proxima.
217 Deserter Two: [rolling eyes] Spoken like a typical American.
218 Deserter One: Proud Californian, actually.
219 Deserter Two: So you guys start a civil war at home and expect to be able to bring democracy peacefully to the stars.
220 Deserter One: The United States is structurally undemocratic and unjust! We tried to help them fix it, but the overrepresented states wouldn't budge and left us no choice!
221 Tojo: And you can't imagine how a similar disagreement might arise on 253 Mathilde and bring conflict without stable leadership?
222 SOUND: pause
223 Deserter One: [exasperated but not wanting to admit defeat] Well, who said conflict is always bad?
224 SOUND: a few seconds ambiance
225 SOUND: door opens, cmdr peters walks back in
226 Cmdr Peters: How are you guests getting along back here?
227 Deserter Two: Not too happy about being trapped with your saboteur.
228 Cmdr Peters: [disdainfully] You're lucky I didn't put you with the cargo.
229 Tojo: Don't worry, Commander! When we get to Earth, I'll convince them to send you back. Whatever it takes!
230 Cmdr Peters: Oh no, please anything but that!
231 Tojo: Do you *want* to step down?
232 Cmdr Peters: No, but that's why I don't want *you* making a case for me. If they think you want me back on Mathilde I won't have a prayer.
233 MUSIC: long linking music underlying the various transmissions and suggesting passage of time
234 Newsreader: It's Thursday March 3rd 2107. The American blockade of California was broken today when the Chinese navy escorted cargo ships to port. The world remains on knife's edge as the United States formally severed diplomatic ties with China over the incident. We go now to our correspondent in Sacramento.
235 SOUND: crowded street with traffic jam perhaps
236 Correspondent: Thank you, Sam. Everyone here is on edge, many are leaving the capital city fearing it'll be the first target for an American nuclear strike when war breaks out. Those staying put are split on their expectations.
237 SOUND: the previous line fades out while the following line fades in, overlapping
238 Newsreader: Tuesday March 8th 2107, and here's the headlines. The world breathes a sigh of relief as the latest shots fired between the American and Chinese navies near the Farallon islands don't seem to have caused an escalation. Negotiators from the USA, California and China met in Sacramento for a third day to try to plot a peaceful route forward.
239 SOUND: the previous line fades out while the following line fades in, overlapping
240 Newsreader: It's Wednesday March 16th 2107. With war averted in California, the world's attention turns to the recall of Commander Peters from 253 Mathilde. He's expected to land later today, and rumor has it he's being replaced. The commander is popular among his people, but not so much with mission control after a series of incidents...
241 SOUND: above line fades out
242 MUSIC: musical backdrop carries on a little bit, then ends
243 SOUND: cockpit background
244 Cmdr Peters: Express shuttle Enterprise requesting landing instructions.
245 Controller: Enterprise, proceed to Kulasekharapatnam Spaceport, Tamil Nadu, India. Landing zone two.
246 Cmdr Peters: Thank you, control. Auto-navigation locked in, commencing de-orbiting procedures now.
247 SOUND: controls and engine fire sounds that conveys the above
248 Controller: Please be aware that upon arrival you'll all be held in isolation for biological decontamination and examination.
249 Cmdr Peters: Why?
250 Controller: Just a precaution, we don't know where your prisoner comes from and you've been exposed to her.
251 Cmdr Peters: [sighs] Just when I thought things couldn't get any worse.
252 SOUND: end theme
253 Announcer: You've been listening to Two Fifty-Three Mathilde, episode twenty three: Origin.