Snipe | Part 2

Hey everyone, this is Robin. And this is Christoph. And we are here to introduce Snipe Part 2. If you were with us last week, you would have listened to Part 1 of our special edition story, Snipe. This is the third special edition story we're releasing here on our podcast feed. These special edition stories are us reopening the Leviathan Archives to bring you some old episodes that have never been released publicly in the free feed before. And I think in a lot of these special edition episodes, we've been trying to give a backstory to some of the characters and fill in some of the blanks. And in Snipe, I feel like there's a lot of subtlety where we know what we're talking about, but we try and unveil it very slowly. But if you haven't figured it out yet, this is the origin of the virus that brought down Leviathan. This is how Bennu was able to slowly begin to execute his treacherous plan of revenge upon Evangeline. And this episode is kind of is an interesting place in sort of our production history. So the special edition stories you heard previous to this, the rogue plague and internal affairs, those we made immediately after Leviathan Chronicles season one, they were meant to either introduce new ideas that we knew we had coming up in Leviathan Chronicles season two, or to give more backstory, which was the rogue plague on characters from season one. So this story we're listening to now, Snipe, was produced right after we made Leviathan Chronicles Season 2. And it was meant to tee up some stuff in Season 3. However, longtime fans may remember, we had a huge break between releasing Leviathan Chronicles Season 2 and Season 3. and I think you can kind of hear in this episode that there were a lot of elements we introduced here that because we went away for so long there's a lot of sort of strands that never got followed up on and you know some of that might be because we just kind of in that interim time we decided we wanted to go in a different direction in the story because we'd had so long and so much you know new stuff had happened in our lives and in the world and some of that is just you know producing these audio dramas is very resource intensive and we maybe threw too much on our plate that we weren't able to revisit everything we'd wanted to. And, you know, I know, Christoph, you can talk about how we're still planning on expanding the Leviathan lore in the future with some new types of media that hopefully we'll get to come back to some of the stuff you see in this episode. You know, we've got some concepts in this episode. There's something called Lockbox, which is a messenger group in Leviathan that I think we were hoping to do more with in Leviathan season three. And you'll hear comes up a lot in this episode, but never really came back. Yeah, there was a, again, this is, one of the things I liked about Snipe is like for the real Leviathan fans, there's a lot of insight if you're listening closely into how Leviathan is structured. And you mentioned the Lockbox group and also the Sea Snake division, which is kind of like the Q branch of Leviathan, the Monocle group, which is kind of like the high council meeting. And, you know, the Leviathan is almost like, if you could imagine, you know, a giant canvas that we're all aware of internally. But as Robin said, you know, we only have the ability to tell certain parts of the stories in our audio dramas. So we're almost like shining a flashlight on one section. And you're not always able to see all the other parts of the thread that make it. So in in 2026, we're certainly hoping to to kind of touch on some of those elements that we weren't able to in the audio drama through audio books and through ebooks that we're going to be releasing both on the feed and in Patreon. So we encourage you guys to to to kind of watch what we're doing there and check out some of the other stories that we want to tell. Yeah. And like, aside from the strands that we never really got to follow up on, the other thing that's striking to me about this episode is there's a lot of threads from very early in Leviathan that kind of went by the wayside that we started to try to bring back a little bit in Snipe, but never really fully got to develop again as much as we wanted to. You know, I know Kristoff is a big fan of these different watercraft that he wrote about in Leviathan Chronicles Season 1, and they come back here in a big way in Part 2 of Snipe. Yeah, we originally envisioned there's kind of two kinds of aquatic craft that Leviathan uses. And the ones you've seen the most of are the Zephyr craft. And if you can think of it, you know, an automobile reference, these were the big SUVs. These were the multipurpose, multifunction, larger submersible craft that were meant to hold, you know, 10 to 20 individuals are meant for scientific missions. There were kind of multipurpose underwater platforms that we could use. But there was another kind called the Vesper craft. And these ones were meant to be more of the fighter jets, more of the sports cars. of all the underwater vehicles. And when we were first conceptualizing Leviathan, I thought we were going to have more underwater battle scenes and these were going to play a larger role. And we didn't get a chance to use them as much as we want to. And in fact, we're going through, we actually have some old imagery that we created about the very, very old. Very old imagery. Way back before we had even made a single episode of Leviathan Chronicles. Christoph commissioned a bunch of artwork. Gosh, this must have been in like 2007 or 8 for all these different things that he had imagined in his head that he'd be included in the story. So I think the watercraft is part of it. There's images of both the Vesper and the Zephyrcraft that he was just mentioning. There's images of the Haitenshi submarine from episode one of Leviathan Chronicles. There's all these old images that our original web designers created for us that you still have. I hadn't seen them for years and he just sent me one of them. And I believe some of them are online right now on our Patreon if you want to look at them. And I think we'll be releasing more of them that you can look at as we find them. But to give you a sense of how these were done in flash. Remember some of our older fans? Remember when that was a big technology on the web? it gives a sense of the age, but it was really neat to see some of those vehicles come to life in this episode. So as we were re-listening, I really enjoyed that part. You know, it's funny, the other thing that struck me as we listened to it was, and we've mentioned this in previous shows, how there is often references to technology and things that don't exist really the same way anymore. So it's an interesting artifact to listen to, because we referenced technology that, you know, like I think there was a BMW 740 and a 386 processor. And, you know, these things were state of the art at the time, maybe not the processor, but it was interesting to kind of see those things that we've now, you know, we've got so well past. Yeah. If you listen to the earlier episodes of Leviathan Chronicles, there's a lot of stuff like that. There's references to Sony Ericsson cell phones. The one I ribbed Christoph about a lot is characters using a data pad, which he presented as this kind of like very futuristic technology. And hey, look, it's a data pad. I have two of them now. But they didn't exist when it first came out. There were no iPads. There were no iPhones. There were no iPhones. Yeah. The tablet computer was still kind of, it was on the verge of existing, but it was still more in the realm of sci-fi than reality, whereas now it's kind of a part of our everyday life. yeah so we won't talk much longer just one more thing I want to mention about this episode is you know in part one of Snipe we were introduced to I believe three brand new characters something nice about part two of Snipe is you're going to hear some familiar characters come back particularly Bennu and Evangeline and I just want to note that this is this was the final production we did that featured Bennu, the actor who played him, Max Vogler, who did a great job. We loved having him. So good. So good. But he, this was the last thing we did with him because at the time we were making this, we were still recording all our actors locally in New York where we were all still living at the time. Now none of us live there. And so we made this episode and Max told us when we were making this, I'm leaving New York and I'm probably going to stop acting after this. So this is Benu's one song. And that was it. Like we had no, if somebody left town, that was it. Like we couldn't, you know, it was very difficult to get people's performances back again. So hope everyone enjoys Benu's last performance here in Snipe Part 2. And we will be back next week with the start of a new special edition series. Thanks very much, everybody. Enjoy. Snipe. A Leviathan Chronicles story. Part 2. Look, I don't care what your other client said. You were seen and you were beaten. Your insistence on that highly recognizable outfit confuses the shit out of me, frankly. Oh, bless your heart. I'm sure you won't mess up again. The sad thing is, I'm not sure there will be another time. Take it up with the master key, not me. I have to go. I have a job to do. Yes, I will take care of your sloppy evidence. You owe me one. The man Elizabeth and Soichi had trusted with their highly sensitive message was preparing to port back to Leviathan via keyhole. He folded his cell phone and slipped it into his pocket, taking care to turn it off. Only Bennu and a few high-ranking lockbox members had access to Bennu's personal keyhole, held within his private quarters in Leviathan. Jed was only to use it if on diamond level in porting. He stepped out in the foyer outside Bennu's bedroom. He knocked politely on the door and heard swearing inside. Belatedly, he realized that it was the middle of the night within Leviathan City. Jed from Lockbox, Viceroy. Diamond level message from the surface, from Elizabeth Franklin and Soichi Honda. Understood. One moment. The man himself stood, his customary white robe on, and the hood down. Jed had spoken enough times to Evangelion's second-in-command that he no longer winced at the man's ruined face. never mind that he knew what happened to people who openly reacted to the thousand-year-old scars. Not that he believed Bennu was a violent man, but his close friend Casey in operations had been stuck in the same department for 40 years with no hint of a promotion. After once recoiling when Bennu's hood had slipped, and considering Evangeline had recruited Casey as a young prodigy for his ability to devise languages that machines could understand, it was a waste indeed. Come in. Can I offer you something? Uh, no, no, sir. Very well then. What is the message? Elizabeth says they have retrieved the item you asked for, but they had trouble at the drop. A woman interrupted them, shooting both mortals involved with the drop and stealing the case. They managed to get it away from her, but they were injured and she got away. They think the woman wasn't immortal. Not to mention that she escaped in a helicopter Elizabeth believes contained Leviathan Stealth Technology. Sloppy. So the case is safe? You're sure? She said they had the case. They gave me a dummy case in the event I was followed. That's all she said. And were you followed? All due respect, Viceroy, I'm the best in lockbox. So you think. Well, that's much more unhelpful than I expected my two best spies to be. How badly were they injured? A few broken bones, and Soichi had a cut on his face. They seem to be all right. Fine. Excellent work, Jed. Go to operations and have them give you a deep-water shuttle that houses two Vespers. When you surface, send the Vespers to the operatives and bring the shuttle back here. Tell our two operatives that I wish to see them. End the case as soon as they can get their worthless hides to Ambergris Research Station in the south of the Red Sea. There I will bring them by shuttle to Leviathan, if they can manage to keep away from any more mysterious women. I thought Ambergris was abandoned because of structural instabilities. Which makes it the perfect place to discuss sensitive issues. I would think someone from Lockbox would know that. Do you have any idea who that mysterious woman could be? This nosy breach of protocol rewarded Jed with a withering glare from the second strongest person in Leviathan He blushed and looked down at his feet Is there anything else official you have to say or do you just want to ask more inane questions No, sir. That's all. Good. Now go do what I told you to. You're wasting time. Jed hurried from Banu's quarters, masking his smile on his way out. He passed by the incinerator on the way to the port and slipped the gun in the Shard of Glass Inn. If Elizabeth asked Bennu about it, Jed would rely on the reputation of Lockbox to shift the blame on the operatives. The evidence now destroyed, the woman in white's identity remained safe for the moment. Known only to high-ranking Lockbox officials, Jed entered a pushpod that whisked him to the West Hanger Bay. Leviathan's port was a vast underwater pool with no flooring drilled into the rock like the rest of the fortress, but instead floating platforms on water where vehicles waited to dive into the water to exit. The seaman on duty was Casey Oppenheimer, the poor, brilliant Codemaster, who was still working off a few decades' penance for openly commenting on Bennu's scars. The young man, frozen immortal forever at a gangly 16, was feeding what looked like a school of anglerfish, their phosphorescent lights dancing through the water. Hey, Casey. Got a job from the big man. Oh, hey, Jet. Check this out. I train these anglerfish to come when I call. That's as impressive as spit, Casey, but what are you going to do with a herd of anglerfish? A school of anglerfish, Jed? And all of these are female? How long have you lived underwater? Anyway, I was hoping to train them to form messages. You know, maybe get me back on Bennu's good side. Maybe get me promoted into lockbox. Hey, you putting a word for me? Jed was certain this idiot savant would never rise above machine maintenance, but he nodded, and Casey grinned and clapped his hands once. The fish moved in the water to form a shaky attempt at a capital H and a much better I, their phosphorescent pseudopods looking like a neon sign. H-I. Hi. Well, shoot my mama, I gotta admit that's pretty damned impressive. But how many messages can they send? Can they learn a new one? Yeah, well, that's the problem. It's taken me three years to teach them this. They do live for 30 years or so, so let's say it takes another seven years to get a full word out of them. We could do like one message for every lifespan. I could eventually have a school in a few years ready to report something. Uh, somewhere. Don't you think you should come up with a more efficient way of communicating? Hey, you try hanging out here for decades waxing ships and tightening bolts. I work with what I have. You do a lot more than that, Casey. I've seen the offensive capabilities you innovated on the Vespers. Not that anyone upstairs cares. Relax, Casey. I'm sure Bennu will forgive you in a few years. Anyway, can you get me a Zephyr towing two Vespers ready to go fully equipped with weaponry? Also, Bennu will need his own shuttle ready later on. He might appreciate it if you can get it done fast. Got it. Anything else? Nah, I'll put in a good word for you at Lockbox, Casey. The Anglerfish trick ain't efficient, but it's damn near brilliant. Hey, thanks a lot, man. Righteous. I'll see you in a bit. His errands done for his multiple clients, Jed contacted another lockbox messenger to drive the Zephyr towing the two Vespers and waited for Casey to be done prepping for his return to the surface. Fully healed and doting on each other more than ever, Elizabeth and Soiches soon prepared for their trip back to Leviathan by arguing about who should handle the sensitive material inside the briefcase. They had boarded the first-class cabin of the Eurocity train from Geneva to Milan, making a connection that would take them to the picturesque port city of Brindisi on Italy's Adriatic coast. Elizabeth nibbled absently on an apricot croissant, while Soiches sipped on a double espresso as the cypress-laden hills of Tuscany blurred by them. He held a copy of the Financial Times in front of his face for appearance's sake to avoid drawing attention to the fact that he was fighting with his wife. Look, you take the keyhole back and I can drive the case in the Vesper. No, I'm not leaving you behind. We need to protect this as well as we can. Yes, but don't you think two vehicles will attract more attention than one? Not to mention the fact that two will be harder to sneak through the Suez Canal. Yes, but two vehicles will better defend against an attack. Besides, we can duplicate the case and put one in each vehicle to throw off anyone watching us. Admittedly, that sounds like one of your better plans. Good. We need to hurry to Brindisi. On the regional train to Brindisi, Elizabeth and Soichi used their time in a private cabin to carefully mask the silver case housing the shifting virus with black tape, and then took a nearly identical case and masked it with identical tape as well. Elizabeth inserted a number of books into the case to give it the same semblance of weight, and then they sat, quietly exchanging glances at one another, as well as the sun-kissed vineyards of the passing Italian countryside. On Soichi's lap laid the London Times, headlining that a software company in Newcastle had been destroyed in a fire. Its secure server farm in London, where it kept its off-site backups, had also been destroyed. Police were still investigating. Do you ever wish you were mortal? That trips like this were made for pleasure? I find it pleasurable simply being with you. Soichi, you know what I mean. Oh God, Elizabeth, again? You're really still on about that? And you're still not caring, I see. You really miss your mortal life so little. Miss working in rice fields until the fungus ravaged my toes and my back was stooped by age 30. And to have my wife more likely die in childbirth than live to C-25. Miss getting attacked by whatever warlord wanted power that week. Miss kneeling on dry rice when I disobeyed my father. 300 years and you haven't forgiven him? Perhaps if he were here to ask forgiveness. Oh, really? If that's your answer, then you'll never forgive anyone anything. Can't you just ever move on? You're an immortal. You have wealth and the power to travel anywhere on Earth and experience anything your angry heart desires. And on top of it all, you have a woman who has loved you longer than possibly anyone has ever loved anything. Would you throw it away to live in an underground bubble just to spite a man who's so long dead he isn't even dust anymore? You still love me that much. You're a blind fool. But yes. Soichi looked out the window once again. and tried to appreciate the beauty of the Italian countryside. He tried to see it all out of his wife's eyes and not see an unfair world of pain and petty misunderstandings. Without looking, he reached out and grasped her hand, squeezing and feeling her warmth, which made the brooding emptiness a little easier for a little longer. The train continued on, past sundown, until finally crawling to a stop in Brindisi. The pair hailed a taxi to take them to the port where Jed instructed them to go. He stood there leaning against one of the pilings, wearing a loose linen shirt the color of the chocolate Elizabeth loved, and white pants that ended just above his tan ankles. His wide smile instantly elicited a blush on Elizabeth, and a pang of jealousy and soy chi. He quickly delivered Banu's non-too-pleased message. What did you do, Jed? Wake him up on the wrong side of the bed? Well, now that you mention it... Thank you for the speedy delivery of the Vespers, Jed. We'll need something fast to protect the package. All in a day's work. Be careful, both of you. They watched Jed walk away, quickly disappearing amongst the white stucco buildings of the port, knowing well that he would soon be in another city delivering another message to another immortal. All right, my love. Are you ready? Always up for a moonlight swim with a lover. Let's go. Under the cover of night, they rented two small sea kayaks and carefully paddled out to the area where Jed indicated the vespers were hidden under the surface. Elizabeth and Soichi carefully transferred the precious cases from the kayaks to the sleek Leviathan vessels underwater After she shut the hatch over herself, Elizabeth grinned and radioed at Soichi who had just situated himself in his own Vespa Hey Soichi, great to you I really don't think it's a good idea to With a quick wave to her husband, she banked her ship down and was gone in a sudden surge of seawater With its design inspired by angelfish, the Vespers were the fastest ships in Leviathan's fleet and came in multiple configurations. The Vespers driven by Soichi and Elizabeth were longer, modified versions that were designed primarily for stealth and the ability for entry and egress underwater. Soichi pushed hard on the throttle, angling his Vespers straight down in the blackness until he could finally see a faint trail of bubbles following Elizabeth's ship. Marriage is always a contest with you, my love. All right, fine. Let's see how good you still are. Contests make the marriage. Spicy. I know. They dove their individual crafts down into the dark water, stabilizing to depth of 1,500 feet, as both headed south through the Adriatic Sea. Soichi caught up with Elizabeth, traveling in her wake until he put on a burst of speed to pull up alongside him. You lose your head on a rooftop, but you're a regular Formula One driver underwater. I have a narrow window of interests. I see. Did that window notice someone following us? What? Komatana. Who is that? Can't tell what kind of craft, but it's at least as fast as we are. Well, we know of only one person who knows we have the case, and who would want it back. You think it's that woman again? She'd likely have access to a craft this sophisticated true. And if so, she shouldn't show up on our sonar since Casey perfected the anti-sonar shielding a decade ago. She wants to be detected. She's playing with us. Why? I have no idea. She's gaining on us. We have to lose her before we hit the canals. Even if she can't find us in the sea, she knows which way we'll be going. The other option would be to split up. That's a possibility, but I can't think of how we can do that in a 21 meter deep canal. She expected this. She's good. Listen, you head for the surface. If we split up, she'll have to decide who has the case and who does not. Cut around boats if you need to. You'll be faster than them. And you? Hugging the ground. I'm going to turn off the lights and move a little slower. Got it. See you in the station. And let's go to Paris. After all this is over, I've been missing that city. I'd love to. Instantly, Elizabeth yanked upward on her flight stick, sending her Vesper streaking towards the surface. She watched the waters slowly fade from black to finally being able to discern the faintest hints of blue. The sea life she could only catch glimpses of seemed to be growing larger and more numerous. Soichi's Vespa banked hard left to a tight corkscrew bowler, plunging his ship deeper and deeper into the ocean until his gauges read 4500 feet. Soichi checked his sensors and noticed the sonar showed nothing. They had lost their pursuer. Elizabeth, come in. I'm about 50 meters from the surface. What do you need? She's disappeared from my sonar. Are you still weeding her? No, I don't see any signs of her anymore. But she wouldn't have been put off by that simple diversion. Told you she was on our sonar by choice. So now we don't know who she's following. Soichi, Elizabeth, respond. Received, Bennu. Received. Go ahead. Are we encrypted? Encryption channel confirmed. You have the package and your instructions? Yes, we do. I'll expect you in Ambergris Station in four hours. Viceroy, isn't that station abandoned? It's a research center we don't use anymore, and it's not on a computer network. Therefore, it's the best location to explore the contents of your stolen case. Understood. Soichi will likely get there before me. We're trying to shake an agent pursuing us. pursuing us. We think it's the same woman who got to the case first. You allowed yourselves to be followed? You're the most ineffective spies ever to be employed by Leviathan. She has technology at least as good as ours. Maybe better. She's either Rebellion or someone who has stolen technology from them. Lose her. She can't obtain what she stole. What exactly do you think we're trying to do? Four hours. Bennu out. This may be difficult. We're still quite a distance from the Red Sea. Go ahead. I'll catch up. If I'm behind you, we can at least see who she's following. Received. Be careful. You too. Elizabeth shut off her radio, accepting no further incoming messages. She knew there was a chance the woman in white was likely listening in. They couldn't assume that her technology didn't have the power to override their security measures. And she and Soichi had been careful not to say who had the technology on their person. Luckily, Soichi and she had formed sayings long ago to communicate if they were being listened to. When Elizabeth had said for Soichi to go on ahead, she meant for him to stay where he was for 15 minutes, while she went ahead as fast as she could. Soichi held the real case, and she had the dummy, which was why she had gone off course instead of him. Of course, the pursuing woman could have figured that out, but they had to take the risk. They both understood that this briefcase contained a computer virus that could be used as a catastrophic weapon. Elizabeth continued her craft's ascent until she surfaced briefly like he went, Getting a quick look at the night sky, crystal clear here in the middle of the Adriatic Sea, hundreds of miles from the nearest city, and utterly bursting with stars. One day. She had hoped to catch the briefest glimpse of the moon before she maneuvered her craft straight down again, but was disappointed. After descending a few hundred feet, she fine-tuned her sonar to its highest sensitivity, in which she should have been able to detect anything moving underwater. Fear, though Casey said this would work. Great! He was right. Sure, it can work when you turn it up to 11, but you'll see every fish in the area. You're hunting fish aces, but if you're looking for an enemy, you're screwed. Her Vesper sonar screen brightly illuminated with hundreds of beacons in all different shapes and sizes Even if the pursuing enemy ship was being detected by her sonar it would be like picking a needle out of a haystack I hate it when the savanas right It doing me no good I really have to send Casey back to the drawing board Elizabeth kept her eyes open, but with only sonar screens and navigational gauges guiding her through the dark water, she realized she could have streaked right by the woman in white and not known it. She began wondering who could have sent this mysterious operative. She was clearly not working Who are you? You could be working for Black Door, or the Rebellion, or even Lockbox. Or maybe you're a rogue Darkwater agent for Bennu and Evangeline. Though I don't know why you would interfere with us if you were. But who knows what drives them these days. I don't understand half the things they do. Leviathan is going to pot and turning more and more into a military state every day. I guess when I get back to the surface I should research the company that developed this AI. See if I can figure out who funded them and who wanted them destroyed after they'd done their job. Soichi will help me. He loves a mystery. We'll do it together. Elizabeth sped on through the water, occasionally skimming the surface. She moved from the Adriatic to the Ionian, still not knowing if there was a tail behind her or her husband. She silently cursed Bennu. If she didn't have four short hours to get to the station, she could have easily lost the tail by diverting to the Adriatic Sea, or even the Black Sea. She longed to open her communication channel again, but was worried she would broadcast her location if she did so. For all I know, she could be waiting for us at the canal entrance. We'll see. I'm not entirely defenseless here. defenseless here. If this bitch likes to play rough, I'll give it to her in spades. I'll have to thank Casey for arming this vessel. I got torpedoes, wire netting, a homing beacon. Limited resources, but better than nothing. Soichi had received Elizabeth's hidden message, but thought he should be the one racing ahead since he possessed the actual package. Still, arguing with her would possibly give up their cipher, so he reluctantly dove his craft and crept along the dark floor of the sea. He could see nothing on his sonar, and allowed himself to relax slightly. He liked it when it was dark, but he wished he knew Elizabeth's location. He knew he would have to work hard to get to Benu in four hours, and allowed ten minutes to pass before he increased his acceleration. He rose about ten meters off the seafloor, sucking up massive plumes of sea sand and debris in his wake. Still, with his lights out, he pushed his engines to their maximum to catch up to Elizabeth. What was that? Computer, identify. Structural damages on starboard sensor array. Ballast at 45% efficiency. Hull integrity compromised. Inalyzing. Inalyzing. Fuck! Computer, activate shadow mode. Full stealth. Launch all defensive countermeasures. Goddammit, there's nothing on the sonar. Good shit. She's around here. She can hear the leak. I've got to act like I'm down. Dive in, assess the damage. Soichi let the ship drift as he checked his computer readouts. The glow of his monitor was the only light he allowed as he desperately tried to see if he would still be able to fulfill his mission, or even survive the experience. Or ever see Elizabeth. Okay. Taking on water. If hull integrity stays, I can go for about three hours before there's too much water to work the ship. Or breathe for eight. But the package, should I dare contact Elizabeth? Oh, well, the radio's gone. That's decided. I can't surface and signal other ships. That would expose me and put the Vespa and this virus in others' hands. Computer, calculate time to Andegree Station. Three hours, twenty minutes. Shit, that's close. Let's hope the computer's being conservative. Computer, take us to full throttle and pray. Soichi had lost his faith in the gods when he was eleven after a particularly bad beating from his father. In the hundreds of years since then, he still had little reason to believe. But now he named all the gods he could think of, apologized politely to them, and entreated them to deliver him out of this situation. The English phrase, there are no atheists in foxholes, drifted past his mind, and he found himself darkly amused by the phrase. Forced to take the shortest route possible, he increased his speed to the most the best we could handle, increasingly aware of the cold water spewing in. It didn't seem like a big leak, but all it took was one. He didn't even know if the mysterious woman in white, if that was who attacked him, was following. Part of the stealth package Casey had designed for them was a 30% increase in top speed. He thought he might have passed Elizabeth in the Mediterranean Sea, but he wasn't sure. As his growing panic was telling him he may never see her again. Sovici, you're in. Elizabeth? How's the radio working? Elizabeth, I've been hit. Sovici, you're in. Shit, it only received. I can't transmit. I wish I could get a message to her. Sovici, if you can hear this, the person is following you. I'm north of the Suez Canal. I'm going to try and take her down. I've got weaponry from Casey. If you didn't see me, dearest, wish for good luck. Good luck, dearest. Back off the coast of Egypt, Elizabeth was dodging and swerving in the water like a wounded fish, noticing with dismay that the waterways were becoming more congested as she approached the canal. She danced 20 meters below the surface, but was noticing huge freighters going the same direction she was, and prayed that Casey's anti-sonar technology would be effective. She charts going deeper as she tried to lose her tail. Okay, this clearly isn't gonna work. I need something else here. I've only got a few chances. I'm tired of running. Let's go to the offensive. Computer, prep line head torpedoes. Torpedoes active and ready. Good. Steady ahead. Bring up the guidance interface. Inside the dense heads up interface projected on the inside of her piloting helmet, her screen shimmered and was replaced by a distinct aiming circle, as well as telemetry tracking of her target. Fire torpedoes. Damn it! How could I have missed? She was locked in. Computer, prep another round. Hold still, you snake. Fire! God, how did she dodge that? This is water, not air. No one can move that quickly. Elizabeth cancelled the guidance interface and focused again on her forward momentum, as she now had to swerve and duck under the large freighters that were queuing to enter the Suez Canal. The canal still loomed a kilometer ahead, but a single idea came to her. It was an unlikely one considering that she had only one micro-wire net, and she would have to time her maneuver perfectly. The woman in white was closing in, and her computer systems told her that her pursuer's weapons were readying to fire. No time left. Elizabeth aimed her Vesper at a massive Cuban freighter about to enter the canal. She took careful aim behind her and released her net just as she dove under the freighter. The Chris Steel net had its own guidance system and quickly expanded to fill the space between the canal floor and the hull of the freighter above. The woman in white's craft fired, and Elizabeth could hear the incoming torpedo, but before it could reach its target, the torpedo became tangled in a deployed micronet, unable to propel itself through. When the pursuing craft collided with the torpedo it had just launched seconds ago, the results were catastrophic. For the days and weeks that followed, all news reports would be dominated by the brazen terrorist attack in the Suez Canal, of which the authorities still had no promising leads. Yes, take that you bitch. One hour to ambergris. 300 miles away, Soichi was taking on water fast, cold, deep sea water that most humans would never see or touch. He shivered in his frigid cabin, wondering how soon his immortal physiology would protect him from hypothermia. He had already protected the precious case with a waterproof bag in the emergency stores, and was trying his best to get to the Red Sea in time. He had made it through the canal without incident, arriving at the slow time of 2 a.m., and for a moment actually thought he might have a chance at getting to Ambergris Station in time. The water continued to rise in his cockpit, and he soon lost one of his two engines. Come on, you bugger. Think of something. anything radio happens. You can't die when you're so close. Elizabeth, I hope I can make it back to you. Hi, this is Rob Benedict. And I am Richard Speight. We were both on a little show you might know called Supernatural. It had a pretty good run. 15 seasons, 327 episodes. And though we have seen, of course, every episode many times we figured hey now that we're wrapped let's watch it all again and we can't do that alone so we're inviting the cast and crew that made the show along for the ride we've got writers producers composers directors and we'll of course have some actors on as well including some certain guys that played some certain pretty iconic brothers it was kind of a little bit of a left field choice in the best way possible the note from kripke was he's great we love him but but we're looking for like a really intelligent Duchovny type. With 15 seasons to explore, it's going to be the road trip of several lifetimes. So please join us and subscribe to Supernatural then and now. chaos of cyborg be awed by our incredible guests from familiar shows like oxventure and no roles barred search realms of peril and glory to find out more uh the regency era you might know it as the time when bridgerton takes place or it's the time when jane austen wrote her books the regency era was also an explosive time of social change, sex scandals, and maybe the worst king in British history. Vulgar History's new season is all about the Regency era, the balls, the gowns, and all the scandal. Listen to Vulgar History Regency Era wherever you get podcasts. The End was. After all, it was she who had something to worry about once he had the case in his hand, after he did what he needed to do. All thoughts of this strange new enemy left his mind, as a Leviathan Vesper floated by, slowly turning end over end. All my bloody stars, that's so itchy. Bennu sprinted to his shuttle in the connected room, climbed inside, and opened the docking airlock. As water rushed into the room and the doors opened, he started his craft and backed out into the depths of the Red Sea. He positioned the shuttle to follow the Vesper and caught up with it easily. It was getting tangled in a mass of black seaweed. He redded a grappling hook and shot it at the vessel. The hook punctured the hull well enough to grab hold, but not enough to destroy integrity, and he then began the laborious project of pulling it free back within the confines of the station airlock. It seems that I must do all of this myself. Can't trust blocks, can't trust spies, I'm surrounded by incompetence, all of them. Ah, you're free, let's get back and see if there's anything to salvage on this waste of technology. Once inside the lock again, Banu waited impatiently as the water drained around him, and finally he was free to exit his craft and open the Vespa. Dark, cold water gushed out and soaked his legs. Within, Soichi was slumped over the console, not breathing. Skin tinged blue from the cold and loss of oxygen. He pushed the body aside and reached for the case beside Soichi. Good man. If you'd lived, then you would have received a commendation and a promotion within Darkwater. Goddamn, why is this never easy? There you go, Soichi. You're going to be okay. Did I make it? You did. With seconds to spare, it looks like. Let's get you out of there and get you warm. With surprising strength, Banu helped Soichi from his dormant Vesper, and half carried him into the main chamber of the observation dome. Soichi looked around with half-lidded eyes. Dim lights flickered on the walls over long-dead computers. The station felt very sterile and lifeless. Banu carried him to a couch on the side, and deposited him neatly. You know, I will never tire of this feeling. What feeling, sir? The feeling of being underneath so many tons of water. One crack here or there and the dome splits and the water crushes us. We wouldn't even have time to drown at this depth. It's such a mortal feeling. But I guess you must experience that often as a member of Darkwater. So much time on the surface. I miss the feeling of risk, Zoe Jane. Being immortal removes so much uncertainty. So much spice. I can't remember the last time I had a good old-fashioned adrenaline rush. Spend more time up top. I don't like leaving Leviathan for the service. I fit in down here. While there, I am a scarred freak. Soichi looked up at Bennu and could nearly feel the water pressing in on them from the outside. Something was wrong. He could figure it out, but it made his aching lungs throb. He coughed and voided more seawater and wondered why Bennu wasn more concerned about him The Viceroy bent over the precious case Soichi had risked his life for Did you examine the case Elizabeth and I surmised it is some sort of viral AI One that shifts and learns It even controls the locks of the case itself. It took me some time to pick the lock. Ah. Is that why it's not fully closed? Yes, sir. I was afraid it would adapt so I couldn't beat it again. Sometimes I underestimate you, Soichi. If Sochi was stung by the backhanded compliment, he didn't show it. Bennu ignored him completely as he peered at the circuits and wiring inside the case. You've hooked it to a monitor? Yes. The internet? No, of course not. Good. No idea what would have happened if it had gotten out, released in the wild. Sir, the papers today said the company that developed this virus burned down yesterday. Good thing, too. We wouldn't want this duplicated and a tragic loss of life, I understand. Uh, yes. Sir, I had a question. How is this beyond even immortal technology? I mean, why would mortals create something like this? Clearly to take over a network and bring it to its knees. Very likely to target the internet. Then why- So, Ishii, you have done a tolerable job. You were beaten to the item and followed during your return to Ambergrim. But you survived and managed to get the case to me, and that indicates a successful job. So well done. It's a pity it will be your last job. Sir, what do you mean? Don't be stupid. You and Elizabeth are the only two people who know what this virus is, where it came from, and what it does. You're a threat to Leviathan. After centuries of oil service, suddenly you have decided you can't trust us? I simply can't afford to take chances. I appreciate the service, but no one can know about this. You die here, and I'll give you a hero's funeral in Leviathan. Banu reached into the pocket of his white cloak and pointed a polymer railgun directly at Soichi's head. If you shoot at me, and miss, you've damned us both. Damned? Damned? You simple-minded Barkar. I was damned the moment I set foot in Evangeline's cursed village. God turned his back on me the moment I laid eyes on her. Red-headed bitch. If I die here, crushed by water, it might even give me peace. But I don't deserve peace yet. Sir, please, think about what you're doing. Don't be tiresome, Suichi. Can you hold still? Suichi had fallen off the couch, the only movement he could manage. He realized he would have to kill Banu here and take his shuttle. But right now, he didn't even have the strength to get off the floor. Strangely, he realized that Banu wasn't approaching him, but rather backing away towards his own airlock. Another bullet struck him. out disintegrating half of it with the impact suddenly the airlock door next to Bennu slid open and Elizabeth stood there cheeks pale. What in the goddess's name is going on? Elizabeth get out we've been... So is she? So is she? Apologies my dear but all of this was necessary. You were my favorite between the two of you. Bennu why? Why would you do this? No time to explain Elizabeth. You're a bit late to the party I've been planning for quite a a while. Oh, and don't worry about leaving. Only one door is rigged to open again after it's closed, and that's this one. You will be remembered fondly. Thank you again for your service. As Soichi bled in his wife's arms, Banu aimed his railgun at the glass dome and fired. The thick glass cracked and spiderwebbed over the rim of the dome, allowing frigid seawater to spray inwards. Benu gazed once more at the two lovers and shook his head dismissively. He then entered his airlock and shut the door. What the hell? It was all the setup. All of it. I'm betting the woman in white was working for him. Did she follow you here? No. I lost her in the canal. What happened to you? Why did he do this? We have to get out of here. It doesn't matter now. We're trapped and you're bleeding badly. And I'm not going to leave you. Not ever again. She tenderly wiped the cold sea water off Sochi's face. What really matters to me now is the fact that you're not going to make a date in Paris. Tell me how you're going to make it up to me. You're not going to be there either, my love. But if you stay with me now, I'll take you on another trip. Someplace extraordinary. Someplace surrounded by love and by light. It's just going to be another adventure. So would she? And adventure makes a narrative spicy. Elizabeth kissed her husband gently as the cracks grew thicker and raced across the dome. High-pressure sprays of water forced themselves through the glass, and then at once it all gave way. The dome imploded, and the two immortal lovers were crushed under millions of pounds of freezing dark water. A few days later, at the weekly monocle meeting in Leviathan, Bennu, Evangeline, and the other high-ranking Leviathan officials sat at an oval table, discussing the mundane activities of Leviathan. Rarely did such a meeting cause raised voices and storming from the room, but after the deaths of two of Leviathan's finest operatives, tempers were running high. Near as I can understand it. From the discussion I had with them, they were returning to Leviathan, and Soishi experienced a critical problem with his craft. They stopped at the research center to repair his Vespa, and it imploded. We specifically abandoned that station because of faulty design anyway. At the very least, it should have been locked down or destroyed. Convenient that the port would fail now when people go inside it, since it was abandoned decades ago. They likely triggered something inside. They most likely didn't know what they were doing or weren't familiar with the antiquated technology within. This feels wrong. I've had reports from more than one source that some woman in white is attacking immortals. Could be someone from the Rebellion. Could she be involved? Evangeline, you're getting paranoid. There's been no evidence of anyone meddling with this case. The only thing that happened was two operatives found some powerful technology, They stole it for our benefit, but then they and the technology were lost when the port imploded. Tragic, yes. Conspiracy. No. Do not call me paranoid. We have enemies that you cannot even imagine. I do not trust this accident and will be assigning people to look into it. I expect you to take my concerns seriously because, Benu, if you are not defending the interests of Leviathan, I will find someone who will. Before Benu could placate his mistress, she stood abruptly and swept from the room. The other members of the board looked at him nervously, unsure of what to do. Whether there is a plot against Leviathan or not, I do know one thing. Someone out there has the skills to create technology to harm Leviathan's computers. And if those fail, we're all in danger. We are immortals, but that didn't stop the forces of nature from killing our dear Soichi and Elizabeth. I will organize a complete overhaul of Leviathan's AI. We must update and upgrade all systems in order to prepare for any outside attack. Evangeline's right. We don't know who might be lurking about ready to strike the Eden Initiative, especially as mankind's technological capabilities grow with each passing day. Now if you will excuse me, I have taken the deaths of our friends quite hard and wish to be alone. The other immortals and group heads left the room, and Banu took a back corridor to his private chamber. Inside his bedroom, he unlocked the trunk that held his precious case. There you are, my sweet. So much potential in something so small. Once they upgraded the security system and he inserted the AI virus, Leviathan would start its slow slide into chaos, with nothing traceable back to him. It would lay dormant until he activated it, but he was still annoyed that the woman in white kept meddling. Bennu wasn't certain whose side she worked for, or what her motives were. As for Jed, he would take care of him shortly. He was the only one with definitive knowledge of the woman in white, and his infernal memory could be used as evidence against him. But he could be dealt with shortly, especially as a member of Lockbox delivering important messages to immortals on the surface. Everyone understood how dangerous the surface was as compared to the safety of Leviathan so many miles under the ocean. With one more look into the dark water through the portal monitor in his chamber, he locked his trunk, undressed, and went to bed, sleeping soundly. You have been listening to Snipe, a Leviathan Chronicles story. This episode was made possible by the generous support of our listeners. To listen ad-free and get exclusive bonus content and behind-the-scenes footage, become a subscriber at patreon.com slash leviathanchronicles. Snipe was written by Mer Lafferty and Christoph Laputka. Directed by Nobi Nakanishi Produced by Robin Shaw Executive produced by Amish Johnny Original music by Luke Allen Sound design and editing by Luke Allen and Robin Shaw Starring Nicola Barber as Elizabeth Franklin Nobi Nakanishi as Soichi Honda Max Vogler as Bennu Laura Post as Evangeline And Samantha Parker 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. Leviathan Audio Production Legendary stories, awe-inspiring sound, and endless adventure. Welcome to the realms of peril and glory. Explore the mechanically magical vistas of Vale, the paranormal mysteries of liminal London, and the cyberpunk chaos of Cyborg. Fall in love with our core cast or be awed by our incredible guests from familiar shows like Oxventure, Three Black Halflings, and No Rolls Barred. Ignite your imagination and discover the Realms of Peril and Glory today. Go to RealmsPod.com or search Realms of Peril and Glory wherever you listen to podcasts. You win. 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 at 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. The world of Sonic the Hedgehog has been thrust into a not-so-dark, not-so-stormy, hard-boiled 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 clothe they can fight. It's one heck of a tale, which is good, because this story might be the only thing that can save their lives. Well, if that's all, I can just dispose of you. Wait, what? all will be revealed in Sonic the Hedgehog presents The Chaotix Case Files Listen now, wherever you get your podcasts