The Invenios Expeditions | Chapter 6 - The Banker

This episode is made possible by the generous support of our listeners on Patreon. Join us at patreon.com slash Leviathan Chronicles to hear episodes ad-free, unlock exclusive content, and dive deeper into the Leviathan universe. We thank you for supporting us in making the Inveneos Expeditions possible. The Inveneos Expeditions A Leviathan Chronicles story Chapter 6 The Banker Lujani Somalia On a small hill off the remote East African beach, several trucks had pulled the Zephyr submersible onto land. For the last 48 hours, Leban and Sala were picking apart the Leviathan craft to find and extract some value from the vessel. Nothing. Sala gave a long stare to his elder advisor and lowered his head. Who knows? Maybe 400 miles? Look at the hull. This vessel is slow. It would take at least two days for to get back. So what? So look around. We have been tearing this ship apart, but we haven't found any clothes. They didn't even have cell phones. One of these contras could be a radio. No, no, no, you don't understand. That many people in such a small craft? They were running, Leban. Escaping from something. Like a lifeboat. Or maybe escaping from somewhere. Sala, are you serious? You really believe them? This Leviathan fleet? There's no record of these people. It's been weeks. No country is looking for them. When that many white people disappear in a ship like this, people look for them. Sala, look. What is it? Here. Under the pile is it. All the flashlight. There. What do you see? It looks like a safe. Could you open it? There's some buttons and a small screen, but I can't read the symbols. What do you mean? I think it's a code. I don't think we can open it. We did not come this far to walk away empty-handed. We will find a way to open it. We just need someone that can help us. I think he's waking up. Where am I? What happened? The Goddess William. What did they do to you? Water. Please. Some water. They burned him. As well as cut him. But barbarians. Just dehydrated. He needs water. Water! You need to give us water. It's no use. I heard the truck pull away with Sinclair after the door locked. This is your fault. My fault? You've got a lot to say for someone that hasn't even told us your name. Archie. Since you're a dark water agent, you can call me Archibald. Archibald? Please enlighten us as to how this is my fault. We're not supposed to be here in this hellhole. We were supposed to be at the rendezvous point weeks ago. All the other immortals have reached the Forbidden Island. You don't know that. I know that it was you that overloaded our Zephyr. It was all three of you that barged in with your precious parcel that put all of us in danger. Like you thought you were better than us with your dark water bag. My Serena had a duty to Evangeline and the entire Leviathan community. My Serena. What about my Jonathan? My husband for the last six centuries. I don't even know if he's alive or dead. My dear, I'm sure he's alive. You don't know. You can't. He was supposed to be on the ship with me, but instead we got the three of you. That's not fair. No. What's not fair is that you can touch the person you love. You and Serena can face this nightmare together. And the rest of us have to wonder if we're going to die alone. We're not going to die. I just need to find a way to get word to Leviathan. If I could get to the Zephyr, I could find a way to contact Evangeline or McKellen Orsel and tell them that we're- McKellen Orsel? McKellen Orsel, as I recall, the fall of Leviathan began when Councilwoman Orsel appeared on our doorstep from the surface. That's not true. If it wasn't for her, there'd be far more loss than you can possibly realize. Not just Leviathan, but the entire world too. Who cares about them? What in goddess's name do you mean by them? The mortals. Who cares about them? We were here first. This was our planet. It was us centuries before any of them were ever born. I find your callousness shocking. Go clutch your pearls, you panty. Look around! Every life, mortal or immortal, has value. Look at poor William. What value have these mercenaries afforded him? Cecilia, please, all of you, stop. No, Arch is right. We were here before they were. The world belongs to all that live upon it. And what have they done with it since we went silent under the water? Tell us what good they've done for the planet the last 300 years. I won't have this fight with you. We need to stick together now to find a way that the other immortals can find us too. They're not coming! And what makes you say that? Because we're all dead. All of us. There are no more star stones, there are no more communions, no more Leviathan. Hell, Evangeline could already be dead. You don't know that. Why you? What? Why did Evangeline pick you? It wasn't random. All of us were chosen to become part of Leviathan for a reason. Why did she choose you? I could ask you the same question. What quality of yours was so irresistible that Evangeline decided that she needed to keep you around for a few centuries? I was a blacksmith. Just a blacksmith? I was the sole blacksmith in my village in Franconia, where my father and his father had been born. A plague had taken over half of our people, including my wife and youngest child. Evangeline had arrived in time to help cure the remaining half. And she admired your ability to shoe her horse? When a bandit tribe from Schwaben heard of the rich medicine woman, they sent a horde of killers and thieves to strike us while we weakened. And her lady defended you? I defended her. They snouted all of the remaining iron impuder to create a wall of blades that guillotine every horse and ladder as they entered the valley to our village. It came for us. We came for them. How brutally inventive. Oh, let me guess. Were you a queen's consort or perhaps a lady in waiting that Evangeline found charming and witty? I'm not surprised that your assumption and mine are equally crude. I was a field nurse in France during the Napoleonic War. The battalion I served had been pinned down by cannon fire near Chateau de Blois. I had to perform three amputations on soldiers that had fallen unconscious to save their lives before Evangeline provided our survivors with a means to escape. So she admired your ability to inflict your will on others, regardless of the cost. She admired how I valued human life. Oh, then admire this. Did you see what they did to William? Look at him. He was 400 years old. Do you realize that? Four centuries on this earth, four. They beat him within an inch of his life like he was nothing. These mortals don't deserve the earth that we helped create. I know and I feel your pain. I do Archie, but it's not them or us. We all came to Leviathan to make our world better. Them or us, Edward, we were here first. Now the two of you get out of my sight. How dare you speak to me? Come, my love, come. It's not worth it. They're just scared and upset. Let's save our strength. We can think this through together. Gently, Edward's hand found Serena's arm and led her away to the anti-tamber closer to the entry door where they could sit on the ground under a barred window looking at the African night sky. I need to get to the Zephyr. What's your idea? We have no weapons aboard. I need to get a message to Evangeline or whatever, mortals are still alive. Well, hopefully most of them made it to the rendezvous point. It gives us some hope of rebuilding. We need the parcel to rebuild. Regardless, I don't see how you could contact them. Almost all the power from the Zephyr is gone. There's one system that's independent. The failsafe. Serena, you're not thinking. It would alert them to our location, but at a cost. You mean save ourselves or save Leviathan. I'm afraid they're right. There probably is no Leviathan anymore. Now don't you listen to Archie or any of the others. We have hope. There is always hope. You know that, don't you? Hmph. My sweet poet. The others are just acting out of fear. That Archie is simply the most frightened. He tries to hide it through cruelty. What an embarrassment. What a waste of the divine gift that fucking selfish pig. I know, dear. They're just struggling to cope. They haven't been on the surface in decades, maybe centuries. You know these surface people better. Is it all like this everywhere? Is it all so desperate? No. Not everywhere, but... But what? Tensions are rising. In more places than ever before. It sounds like the world has never needed Leviathan more. Well, it's pity, isn't it? It's obnoxious that Archie, even Cecilia, to question us, our purpose? Yet understandable. How can you possibly sympathize? You forget, Serena. Some of us became immortal because we fell in love with our passions, without work. It allowed us to create sky tubes and luma flora and zefus. But some just came down because they were greedy. Not all immortals are noble. I'm like you, my love. And if Evangeline is gone, there's no one to keep them in check anymore. What do you mean, love? Without immortality to bind us. How soon, before every immortal on the surface realizes, it's every man for himself. From startups to scale-ups, online, in person, and on the go. Shopify is made for entrepreneurs like you. Sign up for your $1 a month trial at Shopify.com slash setup. Oh please, not that music. That music gives me nightmares from my childhood. Could we get something a little bit lighter, some lighter music here? Are you a fan of true crime TV shows? And what about Unsolved Mysteries, the show that jump-started all of our love of true crime? I'm Ellen Marsh. And I'm Joey Taranto. And we host, I Think Not, a true crime comedy podcast covering some of the wildest stories from your favorite true crime campy TV shows all the way to Unsolved Mysteries. Baby, you will laugh, you will cry, you'll think about true crime in a whole new way, and you'll also ask yourself, who gave these people mics? New episodes of I Think Not are released every Wednesday with bonus episodes out every Thursday on Patreon. And every Monday you can listen to our True Crime Run Down, where we go over the top true crime headlines of the week. So come and join us wherever you listen to your podcasts. You're now listening to the trailer for Redacted, a brand new horror comedy. Today, we're playing a simple game of Call My Love. Okay, you've been uncharacteristically quiet. What do you think? Is that one of the victims? What do you mean, Reyes? No, cut it out, Jacob. Why are you pretending to be Jordan? Redacted is a brand new monster of the week horror comedy about Jacob Cain, failing actor who assumes his late brother's life and finds himself in the Redacted unit, a covert agency tasked with containing impossible creatures and phenomena known as aberrations. Inspired by late 90s and early 2000s television, featuring incredible guest writers from the world of podcasting, film, and games, welcome to the Redacted unit. Redacted airs Friday's 9 a.m. Central. Search Redacted on the podcast player of your choice or visit the redactedunit.com for more info. Hush. Hush. Sit down. Have this. No chair. Now the floor is your chair. Sit. We don't have much time. The king returns tonight. He said he wants to know the ransom. That's a fair pig. He said we'd have two weeks. He wants money that is your special. You shouldn't have to pay him anything. He needs more money to pay for more food to shove in his face. What do we do with this one? So, you are the secret keeper. That is what you said, no? That's good. Well, I like secrets. I know what it is you want. Oh, you do? Listen to this, Ahado. He knows what I want. Do you know what I want? I want. I want. Please don't hurt me. Where the hell are you? You're drunk. And I'll tell you what you want to know. Okay, Sasin Gre. This is your last chance. You won't be as lucky as William. Will he? Not even close. And make him lose both his arms. I'll tell you the truth. Tell me! But I won't do it with your god dog barking at me. And I'd... Like a glass of water. And then I'll tell you what you want to know. What you need to know. Ahado, bring the old man a glass of water. I'll stop it now. Speak while you still can, Sinclair. You're... you're thinking too small. That's what you need to know. And why is that? Tell me, how much we are worth to you? How much did you hope to get for us? I think ten million US tops. You wouldn't go higher. The fish wants to know his market price. Even if it was 20 or 30 million, it still wouldn't be enough. Not even close. Don't take me for a fool. Oh, I know you're not a fool. That's why you're going to keep me alive. And release me. Why would we do that? You know, everything they said was true. Every word you beat out of poor William. The underwater city, the long lifespans, all of it. It was truth. But not the whole truth. So they're hiding something. A secret. Well, we have a secret keeper. Tell me the truth that I don't know. I know you're much bigger than this place. That is not a secret. Look at this. He's trying to flatter you. Okay. Tell me more, Mr. Sinclair. I'd like to hear this. Yes. Tell me how big you see me. This entire camp is going to be yours within six months. You know it. I know it. You'll probably already have a plan in place to kill Sulla. Maybe you've paid someone to do it. Bloody hell, do you know that? Because I'm a very good listener. Ah, go on, Sinclair. Oh, but there's still the king, Bashir. Yes, he knows you'll try to kill him sooner or later. He'll give you the entire camp operation. He thinks it will be enough enough to keep you at bay. But he doesn't know you. Shut your mouth. Not like I do. I'll kill you. No, he doesn't know that it won't be enough. You want more than this camp. You want what he has. You want all the camps. You're not telling me anything I don't know. I'm telling you. You are thinking too small. You vastly underestimate your potential. He's trying to save his own life. I can help you get so much more than you ever dreamed. His language. You dream of generational wealth. And I'm offering you sovereign wealth. You dream of money. I'm offering you power. Let me kill him. If you knew how much you'd be giving up, how much meat you left on the table by killing me. I don't think you could forgive yourself. Not ever. What can you do for me? I can make you the most powerful warlord in Africa. Do you understand what I'm offering you? You won't be a pirate. You'll be a president. And how can you do that? With a word. Tell me the word. Illusinha. He's playing games with us. I have no time for your games. And neither do you. Let me gut him. Let me have his damped. It's the biggest secret of all. And it's right here in front of you, Cascio. The word. What does your word mean? It's my name. My real name. My family name. Illusinha. It was a valley in Spain where my family had lived hundreds of years ago. It was a tiny region, but our people were known as secret keepers. In fact, we were paid quite handsomely for it. You see, Cascio, we were mercenaries of the mind. We were very good with numbers. We were known for our photographic memories, our abilities to blend in to mimic any voice. And always listened to everything around you. People trusted us when something needed to be hidden. Money. Secrets. Sins. And with all the information I have... This is nonsense. I can help you ask the right questions, Cascio. Why are we wasting time? What information do you have? I know names. Achado, put your knife on his throat. Names, Cascio! Let me hear one of your special names. Michelen Orson. Let's see if it's worth more than your life. Michelen Orson. It's a very powerful name. You might not know it, but you should. She's about to become the richest woman in history. But I can control everything she has, every bank account, every asset. I can do it with your help, Cascio. Let him go. What help do you need from me? No. You're asking the right questions. Talk! I can prove everything. I can prove everything. The tall woman, Serena. I'll need her. She's something we call dark water, and that means she'll have codes. Codes to accounts only I know of. I need to get to them before Michelen also does. And where is this Michelen Orson? If she's still alive, she'll be dealing with a great deal of trauma. I don't know where she is. No! I don't know how to bring her here. This is bullshit! She needs something on our ship. What are you even talking about? I'm talking about the greatest transfer of wealth in human history. I'm talking about the sudden destruction of the richest country that ever existed. And their singular leader, their queen, trusted me with every bank account, every list, every ledger, every code. You want names? My name is Sinclair Rousseau Il Rossignia, and I was the banker of Leviathan. So now, let me ask you a question, Captain Karsha. Do you understand who I really am? Who are you, Sinclair? I'm not your prisoner. I'm your partner. You have been listening to the Inveneos Expeditions, a Leviathan Chronicle story, written and created by Christoph Leputka. To view the blueprints of the Inveneos, go to inviniosexpeditions.com. The Inveneos Expeditions is made possible by the generous support of our listeners. To listen, add free, and get exclusive bonus content and behind-the-scenes footage, become a subscriber at patreon.com. Slash Leviathan Chronicles. The Inveneos Expeditions was executive produced by Amish Jani, produced by Robin Shore, original music by Luke Allen, editing by Luke Allen and Robin Shore, sound design by Jonathan Stevens and Robin Shore, casting and production by Claire Dodan, directed by Christoph Leputka, starring Georgina Elizabeth O'Conn as Ahado, Paul Hikari as William, Lex Damon as Sunny Kasha, Tammy Klein as Cecilia, Time Winters as Sinclair Rousseau, Christopher Swindle as Edward Carnell, Michael Pizzuto as Archie, Brittany Cox as Serena Narobi, Isaac Robinson Smith as Muhammad Sala, Patrick Cabarty as LeBon Uggas, and Melissa Medina as the narrator. For a full cast list and to learn more about our other audio productions, go to leviathanaudioproductions.com or follow us on social media. Thank you for supporting Leviathan Audio and thank you for listening. The world of Sonic the Hedgehog has been thrust into a not so dark, not so stormy, hardboiled detective story that probably nobody saw coming. Follow Sonic and the Intrepid Chaotix Detective Agency as they take on their biggest case yet. This high-flying, action-packed adventure will take them across the world fighting for every clue they can find. It's one heck of a tale, which is good because this story might be the only thing that can save their lives. Wait, what? All will be revealed in Sonic the Hedgehog presents The Chaotix Case Files. Listen now, wherever you get your podcasts. The war is over and both sides lost. Kingdoms were reduced to cinders and armies scattered like bones in the dust. Now the survivors claw to what's left of a broken world, praying the darkness chooses someone else tonight. But in the shadow dark, the darkness always wins. This is old school adventuring and its most cruel. Your torch ticks down in real time and when that flame dies, something else rises to finish the job. This is a brutal rules light nightmare with a story that emerges organically based on the decisions that the characters make. This is what it felt like to play RPGs in the 80s and man, it is so good to be back. Join the Glass Cannon podcast as we plunge into the shadow dark every Thursday night at 8 p.m. Eastern on youtube.com slash the Glass Cannon with the podcast version dropping the next day. See what everybody's talking about and join us in the dark. Oh, the Regency Era. You might know it as the time when Bridgerton takes place or the time when Jane Austen wrote her books. But the Regency Era was also an explosive time of social change, sex scandals, and maybe the worst king in British history. And on the Vulgar History podcast, we're going to be looking at the balls, the gowns, and all the scandal of the Regency Era. Vulgar History is a women's history podcast and our Regency Era series will be focusing on the most rebellious women of this time. That includes Jane Austen herself, who is maybe more radical than you might have thought. 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