Here We Go

Here We Go Part 19

[Next Day, Benjamin's RV]

As Ben gathered the materials for the next prototype, he thought back to last night. How he had lost his temper...had that flashback...and now, the repercussions of it.

He gave a small cough and felt the thickness fill up in his throat. He waited a moment for the mask to do its job and took a breath once it did. He had a feeling that Matt was feeling very similar to how he felt. Incredibly drained, along with the side effects that he had...whatever those were. Benjamin then turned his thoughts to the tape he had given Matt. The full tape...of Wes' murder. He had a feeling that the truth would shake them to their core. But, he did try to warn them. Naturally, like fools, they didn't listen. They probably would now. Now that it was a year late. Oh well. At least, in this case, he could say he tried. He went back to his work, wondering.

[Spellbound Studios]

Matt: Hey, Woods! Come here for a second!

Woods came over to where Matt, Bailey, and Sam were sitting, and saw the tape that Matt held in his hand. The tape from last night. The tape Ben had given them.

Matt: Is there a way you could digitize this for us, so we can watch it on Megadesk?

Woods grimaced. He hated tech. Which was interesting, considering he worked at a YouTube company, but...Eh. There was weirder. He took the tape and headed off to do that.

Sam: So what do we think is on that tape? Like, we already saw a murder. What could possibly be worse than that?

Matt: I don't know, but Ben really was insistent that it wasn't him, so...That means something. And I could see his eyes.

Bailey: Like behind the mask?

Matt: Yeah. It made him a little...little more human.

Sam: Yeah.

[An hour later, Megadesk Office]

Matt pulled the murder tape footage up. And, at first, it looked the same as the first time...other than the footage was a little clearer. They came to the gunshot...and shuddered. But, then they noticed someone jump out of the mountaineer.

All: Whoa!

Matt: Hold on! Who was that?

He backed it up just a little and saw it was a woman.

Sam: Who-?

Matt: It's Deb.

Laughs in realization.

Everyone went silent, not able to look at the footage, at the person who they thought they could trust.

Matt: It's Deb.

He rewinds the footage to the gunshot, then they all see something. He rewinds it one more time, to make sure. Deb pulls something off of Wes, then lunges out of the car, and runs away.

Woods and Sam seem to be shocked, and slightly in denial.

After a few minutes of talking about how Deb had been tricking them the whole time, Matt put the tape onto a flash drive, then emailed John Doe.

Matt: It's Time To Meet| We found evidence that we believe solves the crime. Please meet ASAP.

[An hour later]

Matt: John Doe emailed. He said he's waiting at the crime scene. And no cameras.

Sam: How is he here already?

Matt: I guess he read the email, came over, then replied. And when he says 'no cameras' I'm guessing he just doesn't want the big rig. So (grabs a small vlog camera) I'm guessing he'll be fine with this. I mean, he was fine with Woods having this aimed at the ground. I think he'll be fine with it done the same way this time.

They all nodded in agreement. Then Matt remembered Quinn's big camera rig.

Matt: Try and keep out of sight.

Quinn: Can do.

[Behind Red Base, Matt's cam]

Matt carefully stepped up the ledge where John Doe was waiting for him with a briefcase. Matt was careful to keep the camera aimed at the ground.

John Doe, voice disguised: So you have the proof?

Matt: Yeah, yeah, it's uh, give me a second, it's on this. (Pulls flash drive out, hands it to John Doe)

John Doe: Care to spoil who you saw?

Matt: Well, I don't know if you're going to believe me if I told you.

John Doe: Try me.

Matt: It was...Deb.

John Doe: Are you sure?!

Matt: It's on the flash drive.

John Doe: I find that hard to believe.

Matt: Yeah, well, it's true. We literally saw the flash of light, we got this tape from Benjamin.

John Doe: I'm familiar.

Matt: Yeah, well it's the whole tape. You can look at it closer with your team.

John Doe: Right... I just...I can't believe that. It's super hard to believe. I never would have expected that. But..I'm not surprised. That explains why it's taken me so long to solve this case. Have you heard from her?

Matt: No, not yet. We're, uh, trying to figure out what to say. Any ideas?

John Doe: Just tell her the facts. That's something she responds to.

Matt: I'll do my best. What's that? (notices briefcase, again)

John Doe: Well, like you, I keep my word. (Hands Matt a briefcase)

Matt: Thank you. I- I appreciate this more than you know. Bye.

Matt heads back to the others and tells them what had been said. They went inside and went through the briefcase. They were so eager to find that antidote. They were...until Matt pulled out a yellow serum. The ACTUAL counteragent.

Matt: No. No, no, no.

He rested his hands on his head, defeated. The effects of that serum...man, the others had no idea. Now he understood Benjamin's point of view.

[Ben's RV]

Benjamin was watching the video. It was some time in the future, but he saw the look on Matt's face when he realized that it wasn't the antidote he had been hoping for. Although Ben put on a facade of intimidation, he did understand how Matt felt. So desperate for something... that seemed just out of reach. Now Ben had given up. Deb hadn't saved him. She let him waste away. But, then again, she did murder her love, Wes, with hardly any issue. So, what did Ben mean to her? If Wes was so easy to kill...guess that put Ben pretty low on the spectrum then. Oh well. That was years ago. No point thinking about that now. Ben brought his attention back to the video.

And he couldn't help but feel like he was doing something a little bit wrong by not helping Matt. But, they had, for a year now, been making his life hard. So...shouldn't he return the favor?

Matt, in video: Is there anything we may have missed? Post your findings on Spellbound+.

Ben, chuckling to himself: I don't think so.

Yes, Ben did have a small sense of humor.