The Silk Moth Dream (Season 1 Complete)

EPISODE 14: GOOD NIGHT

Straight to voicemail. Again.

"Nothing?" Ragnar asks, even though the call log is projected between the two of them. But his heavy frame leans forward on his elbows, focusing on the table as though in a prayer.

"Nothing," Shailene confirms flatly.

It's been twenty-four hours since Ragnar's received a curt message from Fiona and Seraph, and even more since anyone's seen or heard from them. We've decided to take a break from Left Behind, the digital telegram says. Don't worry about us. Take care. It's encrypted and virtually untraceable, although Fiona's the one they'd be asking to trace it anyways.

The call continues to ring and Ragnar sighs rather dramatically for his 53-year-old self. Shailene's head snaps up, feeling aggravated for no real reason except for everything. "What's your problem?"

"Nothing," Ragnar says, sighing deeply again. "I just think we shouldn't have pushed Fiona so hard. You know how she is with this stuff." He fiddles with a scrap on the table. "She's not made for war."

Shailene knows when he says we, he really means you. She can tell from the way that his sentences linger. "And I am?" She tries to keep her voice even, even though she just wants to scream. Fuck Fiona for leaving her, fuck Seraph, fuck all of this dogshit. "It doesn't take a genius to see that we have a good thing going. If you hadn't been so soft and just pulled the trigger with your Obsidian Tortoise connection, we'd have an army of magic monks after that first mission — instead of the zero that we have right now."

Ragnar shakes his head. "It's just not that simple, Shailene. We aren't totally sure of how the OBTO cloning technology works, or if it even does. Plus, Fiona's right — we don't even know what Seraph thinks of all of this."

Shailene rolls her eyes as the call goes to voicemail again. She re-dials. "It's not like Seraph himself will be hurt in the process — the original Seraph, at least! The clones will just be copies of him, only more obedient. They might seem like him, but they're just clones at the end of the day."

Ragnar gives her a look. "You know it's more complicated than that. At the very least, you could ask the guy."

Shailene sighs deeply. "I find it so interesting how you and Fiona live in this fantasy world, where we can have all these philosophical debates and wait for people to give permission on things. Ten years ago, when they abandoned us, did they ask for our permission? Or anyone's permission? From where I see it, we're trapped in a corner. Seraph is a person, fine, but he's also our only weapon here."

Ragnar scratches his head as the incessant ringing noise continues. "I agree with you to some degree but I just think there's some merit to what Fiona's saying. We need to really think about our end-goal and what we're doing here—"

"We are thinking," Shailene says hotly. "It's different for you and me, you know. It's easy for you to sit there and think it out because you won't be around to see everything go to shit. You don't know what it's like to spend your entire life fighting some fight that you didn't start — that your generation should have taken care of."

Ragnar says nothing, still fiddling with a scrap on the table.

Shailene stands up. "I know everyone thinks I'm extreme. I know you think I am made for war. But I want a regular life, too, you know. Fiona thinks she can pretend and delude herself into having one, but I know that the only way to get there is to end this fight. Destroy all unnecessary CO2 emissions, right here, right now. We take drastic measures because we are in drastic times. I don't want to be old like you and waiting around for someone else to finish the fight. I just want a normal life."