Race Day 3
Cliff is driving down the road while his wife Domi sleeps. When he reaches for her hand, Domi promises to cut his fingers off and tells Cliff to faster. When she complains that they're going too slow, Cliff swears at her and Domi tells him to mind his tone.
Grace speeds up in last place and Arthur confirms that the GPS shows a fork in the road and they can take a shortcut through Steel City. She warns him that the population went savage after an industrial accident, and the troops the government sent in never made it out. Grace figures that it isn't worth the risk.
Julian gets a call from his superiors, who put him on hold. When they finally get back to him, they say that they've gathered the team. They congratulate Julian on the details of Blood Drive but have a few top-line notes. The Old Man told them to go without him, and they want to raise the stakes. Julian says that he'll look into it.
As the Camaro passes an abandoned gas station, the axle cracks and Grace pulls over. She warns that she doesn't have the parts, and Arthur suggests that they find them in Steel City. Grace admits that they have no choice but to take the shortcut now... unless the shortcut kills them. Once she makes the temporary repairs, they head for Steel City.
They pair drive into Steel City and see no one. Grace refuses to discuss her sister Karma, and Arthur explains that he's writing down everything that he's discovered and is trying to figure out Heart's game plan. Grace warns him that there is no game plan, but Arthur says that the evidence was handed down to him by the best person he ever knew. He made Arthur promise to carry on where he left off and finish the job he started, but Grace doesn't believe anyone is that selfless. Arthur asks Grace why she left Karma in the asylum, and she refuses to talk about it. They come to a dead end and trigger a tripwire, and a truck rolls in behind them cutting off their escape.
Cliff and Domi come to a newlywed on the rod having sex. Cliff refuses to stop and refuel, and Domi complains that he used to want to whether they needed it or not. The couple talks about their honeymoon and Domi describes how they took their time disemboweling the bellhop and listening to him scream. She complains that now they just toss them in the engine They signed up for Blood Drive because they hadn't dissected together in years. Domi complains that it isn't special anymore, and wonders what it might have been like if they married other people. Cliff insists that he's never considered it, and Domi goes back to sleep.
Chris wakes up in the Heart basement and realizes that he's stripped naked. Aki comes in and Chris tells her that he's not telling her anything. She says that he doesn't know anything she wants to know and says that she wants obedience from him.
Arthur and Grace get out and Grace warns that they can't reason with the inhabitants. As they argue, they hear people screeching and hide. A group emerges and prepares to take apart the Camaro. The Team Leader says to take it to the supervisor, and they go to work. Arthur stops Grace from stopping them, saying that they'll show them the way. The scavengers drive the Camaro into a cargo unit concealing a passage, and Team Leader figures that the drivers will be dead by sundown.
Once the scavengers leave, Arthur opens the unit and they go in.
At the scavengers' base, Team Leader knocks on the Supervisor's door. She comes out and admires the car, She leads her followers in a recitation of business jargon, and thanks synergy for providing them with low-hanging fruit. Grace and Arthur sneak up and Arthur figures that they should talk with them. Grace disagrees.
Supervisor tells her people that it's time to worship. She kisses the sacred bobblehead, while Arthur spots the exit. He tells Grace to drive the car out after he pries open the doors and distracts the scavengers. She figures that it's better if they slit their throats while they're praying, but Arthur objects. Grace tells him to choose between that or her running some scavengers over, and Arthur finally chooses the latter.
Cliff and Domi continue driving, and Clown Dick pulls up to them wearing a veil. Domi realizes that he got their kill, and digs out the parts of their previous victims from her bag. She finally locates a bag of liquefied bellhop and gives it to Cliff, and he tosses it onto Clown Dick's windshield. He skids to a stop, blinded.
The notes call continues for hours, and Julian explains that Blood Drive is a mood piece.
As night falls, the scavengers continue praying. Arthur comes out and calls to the scavengers, and says that he comes in peace. Supervisor tells them to check to see if anyone else is lurking in the shadows, she tells Arthur that the jargon is good for team building, and they don't dare walk to the main road. Supervisor asks what he's doing there, and Arthur explains that he's a racer who was forced to detour. When he says that they need to go on their way, the Supervisor wonders who else he means. Grace starts to attack her, but they hear screeching inside of the building. Supervisor realizes that Arthur didn't secure the doors behind them. The Glimmers come in, their eyes glowing, and the Supervisor warns that her team is scattered all over the place. The building lights flicker and the Glimmers advance.
Team Leader search for the intruders and tells him team to think outside of the box. The humanoids attack and kill them his lieutenant and then the others.
Supervisor explains that the Glimmers used to be people, but they were mutated by a gasoline additive, Trioxin. It leaked into the ground water and mutated them. The Glimmers are addicted, deranged, and homicidal, and the city fell overnight. The scavengers survived because they use bottled water and juice, and now everyone thinks Supervisor is a prophet. They want the scavengers' gasoline, and the scavengers can't make it to the boundary before sundown. The doors lead to the road out of the city, but they need gas to open it. If they use the generator to power the door, the lights will go out and the Glimmers will tear them all apart. Grace figures that they're dead either way, and Supervisor pours out some gasoline and backs away. A Glimmer goes for the gas and Supervisor trains a light beam on it, blowing it up. She explains that they've killed thousand but they keep coming, so they need more gas. There's gas in the supply room... on the other side of the Glimmers.
Grace turns on the Camaro's headlights and tells Arthur to get to the generator. Supervisor warns that they'll attack if they smell the car, and Grace tells her that her car doesn't run on gas.
The execs continue giving notes, and Julian is less than thrilled.
As Arthur and Supervisor make their way through the building, she signed off on the additive. The city died because of her, and Arthur warns that the burden will crush her. She tells him that there are some darknesses that a person can't come from, Arthur says that there's always a way, and Supervisor asks what Grace meant about her Camaro not running on gas. He tells her that the car run on blood, and Grace locks him in the storage room that is all but empty. Supervisor apologizes and runs off.
At the Camaro, Grace opens the hood and feeds the engine a bit of her blood. She goes to find Arthur, and release him. He tells her that Supervisor is making a break for it and grabs some flares..
Supervisor turns on the generator and opens the door, and the lights go out. She gets in the Camaro, and the Team Leader arrives and realizes that she's abandoning them. he drags her out of the car and she hits the switch, turning off the engine. The Glimmers advance and tear them apart.
Arthur and Grace hear a woman calling for help, and Arthur goes to her. He slips in blood and slides past the corpse, and come face-to-face with a Glimmer just outside the light impersonating the woman's voice. Arthur slowly backs away and then stabs the Glimmer with a pipe and tells Grace that they can go. Using flares to hold off the Glimmers, they run for the Camaro. However, Arthur sees a tank of Trioxin with the Heart logo on it, and Supervisor's bloody corpse they get into the car and drive for the door. She turns on the headlights and the Glimmers in front of the Camaro explode. The green goo that makes up their bloods flows into the tank, and it acts like nitrous, accelerating the car so that Grace can drive out safely.
Chris begs Aki to stop, but she continues asking him questions about empathy and puppies. He finally says that he'll save the puppy, and Aki tortures him with electricity. She explains that she's conditioning him for a life at heart, and he must learn to sever himself from compassion. Chris says that he'll never join them and Arthur will get him free, and Arthur brings up footage of Arthur and Grace having sex. She says that Arthur has been distracted and won't be coming to rescue Chris, and continues the programming. Chris says that he'll let the child in the test die, and Aki tortures him anyway. She explains that she has to make sure that he's not telling her what she wants to hear, pulls a metal spike out of her mouth, and jams it into his stomach. Before passing out, Chris says that he barely felt a thing, and Aki lies next to him and promises that he'll feel what comes next.
At the checkpoint, Julian announces that they're waiting for Clown Dick, Grace, and Arthur. Cliff and Domi are in a tent, and Domi tells Cliff that it was a heck of a bullseye. He says that she's beautiful, and she apologizes for asking the question earlier. Cliff assures her that it's okay and says that he found someone in the cooler from their wedding. He shows her a blue eye and puts it in his mouth, and Domi kisses him and takes it in her mouth. Cliff says that it's their life and they're happy with it, and D I agree. Julian comes in and tells them that the carnage is about to begin.
Clown Dick is ahead but stops to kiss a girl. Julian suggests that he step on it, but Clown Dick gives him the finger. Grace and Arthur race past him and make the finish line, and Julian bows up Clown Dick's head. The crowd cheers and Julian tips the couple a salute.
As everyone celebrates, Cliff gives Domi a finger with a finger on it. She paints the blood on her lips, and Grace sees them. Arthur tells Grace that Heart is behind Trioxin, and she figures no one can stop them. Grace points out that she saw Arthur's face when he killed the Glimmer, and she felt like Arthur was willing to go dark with her. Arthur says that he does, and he believes that they're going to take Heart down and defeat everyone. Julian comes over and congratulates them on the show, Grace goes to the Gentleman's car where the Scholar is working and pours some of the Glimmer blood into the engine. It spins up, and offers to share it with him if he gets the bombs out of their necks. The Scholar warns that they're tamper proof, and Grace asks if he can mess with the activation box Julian carries. The man agrees that he can do it for four hours, and grace gives him the blood. She says that she's planning a family reunion, and the Scholar warns that she'll be dead when they inevitably find out. Grace looks over at Arthur and says that she might not die.
The Old Man paints his fingernails and watches Grace and Arthur on the monitors.
Written by Gadfly on Jun 29, 2017