Juno Steel and the Terrible Waste (Part 2) is an episode of the Penumbra Podcast in the Juno Steel series. It is the tenth Juno Steel episode of season 5, and the 19th overall episode of the season.
Overview[]
They could've brought back people. Instead they brought back Workers.
Trigger Warnings[]
- Sudden loud noises
- Deception and betrayal
- Violence and threats of violence
- Use of firearms
- Death
- Abuse of the dead
- Abuse of authority
Episode Summary[]
Nureyev is fearful of the zombies due to his vision of Arthur Dodger during his bad trip. Melee returns to the house shaken up. the two are still focused on getting their loved ones back, and can't see them in the crowd. Juno reasons that they can defend the container, but the others urge him not to hurt the LifeUp workers, even stun blasts. Melee concludes that they're sieging and trying to trap everyone in Vivopolis and starve them out, then use their dead bodies to make more LifeUp workers. They conclude that the Lifers must not need feeding or sleep to maximise profits for the Dokana Group.
Juno calls up Rita and Mick to strategize. He asks Rita to pull off some hacking magic. He calls up Mick to ask about how he would fight Wilco. Mick reports back that Wilco is falling apart at the seams, and goes crazy when the lights turn on and off. Rita reports back that she's gotten into the wireless system, but can't access the gate locks so she can't help them. Melee brings up that she wired the system herself, and she has the water recycler (which uses the main computers electricity) at her place at the bottom of the ladder.
They arm themselves with trash to storm the bottom of the ladder. Short metal pipes for Nureyev, flat sheet of metal for Juno, iron rebar club for Melee. Melee emphasises that this is for defence, not killing the Lifers. Juno goes down the ladder first, and comes into contact with 5 lifers in Melees house. Nureyev and Melee take 2 each, and Juno takes one. He only has a defensive weapon so he struggles. He attempts to rip the Lifer's arm off, but it doesn't work. He charges forward and tackles the Lifer into a dark closet.
He investigates the closet and finds that the Lifer is unresponsive. When he turns on the light, the Lifer becomes animated again. He tests this theory a couple of times. He concludes that they have to turn off the lights, and shoots out the one in Melees house. all the Lifers stop moving. He calls up Rita and asks her to check if there's a receiver nearby, who reports that there isn't one inside the worker. They conclude that the executives are controlling the workers by flickering the lights in certain ways. They get Rita to hack the system through the toilet.
While she works on that, Melee asks Nureyev what he would do after he found Slip. Nureyev asks Juno why he tried to rip the Lifers arm off, and Juno tentatively tells him about Wilco. Nureyev realizes that because of Grandpappy's Recipe, the regenerating cell technology, the Lifers work much better than Wilco. Melee confesses that she also feels guilty about helping Dokana. Juno suggests that they try and leave without Slip or Melee's dad, but he is turned down, as expected.
Rita calls them back and says that the lighting system has been severed from the network. Juno decides that he's just going to shoot out all the lightbulbs. Melee is sceptical about whether he can do it, but Juno loves to show off.
They make their way to the main computer building. Nureyev helps them sneak in by using a thief's tool. He is confident and in his element doing this. He crawls in the window without Melee and Juno, who wait for him outside. Juno decides to follow him inside. halfway up the rope to the window, the lights in the building flicker off. Juno gets a bad vibe from the Ruby Seven.
When he enters the building, an Executive is waiting for him. The lights flicker back on, revealing Nureyev being held hostage and lifers all around them. The Executive controls the lifers with a device on his head. Juno is taken captive by two lifers. The Executive calls Juno exactly the person they've been looking for.
He calls Melee inside as well. Melee's father steps forth with a speakerbox around his neck. Juno notes that he bears no resemblance to Melee. She tries to talk to her father, who replies in the voice of the Executives, and berates her for attacking the Dokana Group. He tells her to stand down and thank them. Melee shoots her father in the head, and then shoots at the Executive, destroying the device on his head and freeing Nureyev. He tells Juno to not go after the Executive. They give Melee a moment to grieve her father, before she splits off from them to convince the others in Vivopolis to leave. Melee returns to Juno and Nureyev to escort them out, but they are attacked on the way out, with the Ruby being split in two by a stun net, and Juno being kidnapped.
Cast and Crew[]
Cast[]
- Joshua Ilon as Juno Steel
- Noah Simes as Peter Nureyev
- Kate Jones as Rita
- Melody Perera as Melee
- Stewart Evan Smith as The Executives
Crew[]
- Ginny D'Angelo as Head of Merchandise and Outreach
- Melissa DeJesus and Grahame Turner on the Script editing team
- Harley Takagi Kaner as Co-creator, Head of Episode Development, Director, and Sound designer
- Joelle Kross as transcriptionist
- Noah Simes as Production manager
- Kevin Vibert as Co-creator, Head of Operations, and Lead writer
- Ryan Vibert as Composer and performer of original music
- Jeff Wright as Graphic designer
Quotes[]
JUNO: You're not listening to me! The one thing every person in Vivopolis has in common is that they were willing to give up their lives for the sake of bringing back someone who died. That's real love. There's no faking it. And if that thing didn't feel any love in return, if it could just shoot her dead without a second thought-- NUREYEV: Stop calling them things! They are people! JUNO: I don't know that they are! I don't think a person could've done something that cold without a second thought. It's time to wake up and face it, alright? Dokana didn't bring back people, they brought back workers, and that's all they're good for now because that's what's good for the bottom line.
JUNO: Sorry about your dead dog, Mick, gotta go, bye!
JUNO: What d'you say? Now do I get to use my blaster? NUREYEV: Yes, Juno, now you get to use your blaster. JUNO: 'Bout goddamn time.