MAG0010 - Spotlight
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[ALL AUDIO IS MUFFLED, AS IF THE TAPEDECK HAS BEEN LODGED INTO THE POCKET OF A BAG]
Tim
Excuse me, Sir. You’re not the guy with the BMW out in the front, are you? The uh… red one.
Jeremiah
Yes, man, that’s me. Sport evolution, E30. Why? What did you do?
Tim
Look, something happened. I had to park a little bit down the road but I can show you the damage. It’s all on me, but I thought you’d need to know about it. Luckily, your car’s okay, but mine’s got an awful scratch on the side. Do you mind if you come look at it? Just for, you know, insurance reasons.
Jeremiah
You have to be kidding, I parked my car right up to the curb - there’s no way that you hit me!
Tim
I’m sorry- but that’s just what happened. We can discuss details on the way. You’re not busy, are you?
Jeremiah
No no, not at all. I guess I can come with you. What kind of car do you drive, erm…
Tim
Tim. Tim Stoker. I drive uh… a ford. You?
Jeremiah
I just said. A-
Tim
I meant your name.
Jeremiah
Ah, right. That makes more sense! Call me Jeremiah. Say, how far away did you park?
Tim
Oh, I’m not too sure. Probably a 10 minute walk. Can’t be much longer.
Jeremiah
You’re lucky I’m off work today, Tom.
Tim
It’s… nevermind.
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Archivist
You managed to get Jeremiah Lukas to come all the way down from Camden?
Tim
Yeah, I thought it was about time that we got some information out of him. It was kind of easy. I just had to tell him that I crashed into him.
Archivist
Whilst he was parked?
Tim
Yup, boss. Pretty easy, as well.
Archivist
But you don’t drive a car.
Tim
No, and he only realised when he got outside.
Archivist
Hm. And you’re certain he’s Jeremiah Lukas, as in from the Lukas family.
Tim
He was shitting bricks when he got here, Jon. That’s him. I’ve never seen a grown man whine so much whilst being dragged up the stairs.
Archivist
Ah. Very well, then. Why did you go after him?
Tim
Why not? He’s a maniac who makes people disappear. If the cops knew any better, they would’ve taken him in years ago. They don’t know about him, and we do.
Archivist
That doesn’t mean we act on what we know. We just-
Tim
We just what? Watch? Do nothing until the problems come to our doorstep? Like Prentiss? LIke whatever monster is about to break down our door and nearly kill us?
[LONG SILENCE]
Archivist
Fine, fine. Do whatever you want with him. All I want is a statement from him. You can do anything you want to him afterwards.
[DOOR CREAKS OPEN]
Ah, see? Elias, you know what Tim has done, don’t you?
Elias
Yes, I do. As sudden and irritating as it is… this isn’t the worst thing that Tim could have done right now. We are all quite tense already, and this has only made things more complex. So long as you don’t keep him in the institute for long, you should be fine. Take his statement first, then let Tim do whatever. If I may, though, I’d like to have a private word with him.
Archivist
Why’s that? You know what, nevermind. There’s more important things to find out.
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Archivist
I’m sure you know what’s going on?
Jeremiah
Yes, yes I do. You are the new archivist! Nice work, getting your assistant to bring me in. You’re already doing a much better job than the previous one! You’ve got tenacity! You actually do things. Gertrude, she’s, well, you know, a bit absent with all of these things.
Archivist
Yes, yes, I’m sure she was. I’m sure you can understand what’s going on here. You give me a statement, and we’ll let you out of the institute. How does that sound?
Jeremiah
Yes, yes. Go on then. Say your little statement drivel.
Archivist
Very well.
Statement of Jeremiah Lukas, regarding his life and role to the Lukas Family. Statement recorded direct from subject, 3rd of January, 2017. Statement begins
Jeremiah (Statement)
Oh, that feels a lot more different than I was expecting. My role? Hmph. That’s certainly a way of putting it. That’d suggest that I am a cog in my family, and that I serve a direct purpose to a grand machine. That is not what my family is like, at all. We aren’t working together, or at least we shouldn’t be. There are dozens of people in my family, and I’ve only properly talked to two or three of them in the last decade. I am not like them, I am not somebody that can do what they can do. Hell, I don’t even know how it works. All I know is that we have this vicious gift. [SPOKEN WITH FLAIR] We can make people disappear, you know. Well, I’m sure you know that, already.
My family is made up of some pretty powerful people. Yes, I mean that in both ways. We can make people disappear, as obviously noted. Peter was the persuasive one. He knew how to get things moving - pun intended. Conrad always had a thing with science, and Nathaniel knew how money worked. I was… well, you know, not as lucky as the others. I was good at talking with people. The worst thing a Lukas family member could be. At least I wasn’t treated like Evan. He had it worse. At least I agreed with what we were doing. That doesn’t mean I liked how they treated me, though.
They hated me. My parents always yelled at me. Brothers always sneered at me. Sisters always made me out to be some total loser. Everyone else in my family had treated each other with passive apathy. We were linked by blood, and by the house we lived in - but I can’t tell you how my family treated the others - it was just too distant from me. I think, not that I think about it that much, but my family truly hated me. If they were passing on this gift of theirs to the next generation, then that means they absolutely despised me, and couldn’t bear the thought that I could’ve been powerful. That’s definitely why I became like this.
So, compared to the rest of my family, I never really grew with power. Making people disappear wasn’t something that I could innately do. It took time, and a hell of a lot of effort - which I only found out later. That van ride down was quite bumpy, I remember having an awful sleep where I woke up with a thumping headache. It wasn’t fun, not one bit. Not like any of them would care. The only one I’d say I actually got along well with was Evan Lukas, god rest his soul. I do hope that he’s doing alright. I wish I could’ve gone to the funeral. They didn’t bother sending an invite. I only found out a few months ago when I tried to get in contact with the poor guy.
The big thing I did for the family, other than acting like a butler or servant all of the time, was when my brother, Nathaniel, had asked for my help. He just wrapped up with the Daedalus spaceship, and I had been given the duty of making sure everything came down here in one piece. I told him that I wasn’t an astrophysicist, and that he should probably talk to Conrad about that kind of thing - not that they talk much. He told me that Conrad had already done what he was meant to do, that it was my turn to help out the family for once. All I had to do was to drop off a guy’s space suit. Carter Chilcott, I think. Yeah, all of that energy up there sure came in handy with that suit of his. It really fucked him up, being up there for so long. Hey, the suit, though! What a wonder. The energy off of it alone meant that I could have some fun on the way back down to London. Got a bunch of randos to come with me, as well. I didn’t see it, but I’m pretty sure they ended up dropping off of the van. Gone. Can’t really say where, but my guess is where the others went. I never got the hang of the whole ‘making people disappear’ thing until much, much later. By the time we got down there, though, I just knew that I had to make London my new home. No longer were the days of strolling around the different buildings owned by my family. No, I was going to own something meant for me. Nathaniel gave me two grand to give to each of the guys that had to come with me. However, since he only bothered to check his package, I got to pocket quite a bit of the cash. I ended up finding some cheap stand-up place, and I decided to buy it.
When I dropped it off, I decided to talk with Nathaniel for a few moments. Try and find out about what was going on with that suit. He told me that I could try it on, if I wanted, which I refused. It freaked me out, but it wouldn’t have fit me, anyways. I’m too tall, strong, and good looking to be stuck in a space suit. No? Ah, worth a shot. He did let me know, though, after a little bit of pestering. That suit was devoid of everything. You see, we’re known for making people disappear, of course, but that’s just the main thing! I’ve always been a bigger fan of the whole ‘making people feel empty’ shtick that we sometimes did. Peter did well with that, and so did Nathaniel, apparently. The suit was absent from the rest of the world. He called it the body of a true cosmonaut, and that it left somebody in a state that lacked all of the senses. Except touch, but to be fair, nobody within our family was known for their connections, like that. It was perfect. I didn’t know what it was meant to do, to be honest. It all seemed a little too… you know… individual. Singular. An artefact like that would’ve been better if it causes numerous people to falter. Although, I never got to see it in action. I might be wrong - or I might be right. I don’t care enough to look into it.
Adam Holloway, though? Yeah, I did that. I think I did a really neat job with that. The first time I ever got somebody to vanish. I had to tell the rest of my family, but none of them bothered responding to my emails. I took that as a good sign. They didn’t bother to call me an amateur, no better than whatever strange things exist beyond our reach. I was on my own, left to revel in my newfound power. All of that joy, and whimsy, that I could use in any way that I desired! Since then, none of the family members have intentionally contacted me. Maybe they still hate me - that’d be a hoot. Imagine that? That one guy in your family lives up to what he’s meant to be doing, and you still hate him.
I wonder what Holloway’s up to. He seemed like a decent guy - I liked his TV runs and live shows. It just made the whole disappearing thing way better. Every now and then, at least for a little while, I’d catch sight of him whenever I’d be around this place. He liked loitering near Westminster, or the Thames. He never bothered chatting to me, not even for a moment, but I could tell that he wanted to be free. Oh well, I’m not a man of sympathy.
Then again, I never realised that the Magnus Institute was so close. The very few times that we’ve gotten to chat in recent years, Peter has gone on and on about this place. Nearly bored me to death! I’m sure he’d like that, though. I never really talked to the guy, but he definitely hated me the most. Even more than the rest of my family. He was so apathetic to everything else around him. He must’ve seen so much on that little ship to make him feel as if he was a void of his former self. Probably ended up like Simon, haha.
Anyways, yes, Peter, he went on and on about the Magnus Institute. It was his little place that he cared for - and he hated the fact that I found the place kind of interesting. Not any more, saying how you guys just kidnapped me, essentially! Ignoring the part that I came in here willingly. Now that I’m here, I can see why he loved this place so much. It’s awful. This place reeks of death and sadness. I hate being here, it is uncanny, as if I shouldn’t be here. I don’t want to be here. It’s as if I can’t be myself here.
Is that all you want to hear? Because frankly, I am so tired of being in this stuffy room. Just throw me back out into the streets, already.
Archivist
Yes, that’ll be all. Statement ends.
[DOOR CREAKS OPEN]
Tim
Finally, I thought he would never shut up.
Jeremiah
What are you doing here? Lying to me about my car potentially being hit. You have a lot of nerve! What if my car was actually damaged? I could have sued you, you know!
Tim
Believe me, your car should be the least of your worries now.
[TRAPDOOR OPENS]
Go on.
Jeremiah
What do you mean, go on?
Archivist
Tim, you surely can’t be serious.
Jeremiah
Yes, you can’t be serious, surely!
Tim
It’s where he belongs.
Archivist
Absolutely not! It is a maze down there - and a former prison, you know. You want to lock up people underneath our archives? People that don’t really care about what we do?
Jeremiah
Exactly! It is a maze down there! Also, I don’t really care about this place! That’s more the role of my cousin, I’d say - but I don’t really-
Archivist
Please shut up.
TIm
Look, I’ll put him down there for Adam. He deserves justice for what happened.
Archivist
…fine. Do whatever you want, I suppose.
Jeremiah
No! You can’t! I have things to do for people! I have to- I can’t-!
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Elias
Thank you for stopping by, Peter.
Peter By all means, I wouldn’t miss the death of my cousin for the world. The rotten prick that he is - was, I mean - deserved it.
Elias
In all of our chats, I’ve never heard you talk about Jeremiah Lukas.
Peter
You still knew who he was, though.
Elias
Obviously so.
Peter
Yes, that is obvious. Good riddance, I’d say. I’m happy to think of future family reunions.
Elias
Family reunions with the Lukas family? Sounds awful. Although, I wouldn’t say good riddance. This is just making my life much, much harder.
Peter
What? The deadbeat with the weakest connection in my family’s death has made your life much harder?
Elias
Yes, he was important. You can be off in the arctic at any given point, or
Peter
Mark? Whatever you’re planning, you wouldn't have gotten a good mark off of him. You never cease to amaze me in your confusing plans, Elias.
Elias
I know. It’s what makes our conversations all the better. Always keeping you second guessing.
Peter
Right, right. Hold on, the tape. You’re recording this?
Elias
Why not? It’ll be all the better for after. No reason to keep it on, though.
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Magnus Archives Fan Statements will return on Saturday, the 18th of October, with MAG0011. Thank you for reading.