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"Natural Anthem" is the fifty-sixth mission of Season 3.

When Sam said he wanted to put zombies in a museum, this isn't exactly what he meant.

Cast[]

Plot[]

Where Are We Headed?[]

As you approach the Natural History Museum, Veronica McShell taps into you comms and asks you to swing by.

Shouldn't Have Come Here[]

You enter the museum to Sam’s poorly-hidden glee and head for the curators’ offices. As you run, the escalators mysteriously activate.

Is Moonchild Here?[]

Veronica directs you to a packet containing preserved seeds from the very first calming plants and offers you a new batch of serum.

There She Is Again[]

As you head towards the water cycle exhibit, Veronica warns you to stay away from a mysterious mind-controlled woman who seems to be following you.

And If It Doesn't Work?[]

Veronica begs you of all people to understand what’s happened to Iona Evans. Simon suggests putting her out of her misery, but Veronica refuses.

Back In A Jiff[]

Veronica uses a construction crane to lift you up to the giant blue whale model suspended from the ceiling. You use a pneumatic saw to start cutting the cables.

Exit Through The Gift Shop[]

The whale drops, pulverizing the horde below as you climb to safety and rewarding you with a safe passage out of the museum, serum in hand.

Transcript[]

SAM YAO: Okay, guys. Looks like Tony’s intel was pretty good. He found you a clear route around Hyde Park, and I’m not seeing much in the way of zoms or mind-controlled people anywhere in Knightsbridge.

SIMON LAUCHLAN: What’s the news on the home front, Sam?

SAM YAO: Quiet as the grave around here, but like, not in a sinister way. We’ve sent people into New Canton. Totally deserted. They’re probably all down in London. Well, that’s the less good part of Tony’s report. He went on a recce of Comansys Tower, and it’s knee deep in Moonchild’s forces, dead and alive. They’re surrounding it. They’ve taken over all the streets, and are standing there ten deep at least.

MAXINE MYERS: [sighs] That is not good. How are we going to get through them?

SAM YAO: With enormous difficulty? And we had some kind of Rofflenet ping from Professor Downes. She’s concerned about the ZRD interface, we think. She says she doesn’t know how the interface in the building could work like we think it’s going to work, but more research is needed.

SIMON LAUCHLAN: Hmm, helpful.

VERONICA MCSHELL: Hello? Hello! Sam, Doctor Myers, are you there?

SAM YAO: Veronica McShell! You’ll never guess what I’m looking at right now.

VERONICA MCSHELL: The London Museum of Natural History. I can see your runners coming up the road.

SAM YAO: Alright, take the fun out of it.

VERONICA MCSHELL: I think I can help you. I’ve been conducting research here at the museum, and – [sighs] There’s no time to explain. The sooner you can get here, the better.

MAXINE MYERS: What’s wrong?

VERONICA MCSHELL: Nothing yet, but we don’t have much time. You can come in through the east entrance. I’ve left the door unlocked. Hurry!

SAM YAO: Wait, what? No! She hung up already.

SIMON LAUCHLAN: What do you reckon? We are on a bit of a tight schedule, what with the satellites due to align in less than three days, and the whole world set to end shortly thereafter. Think the little nipper’s really got something for us?

SAM YAO: She’s fourteen! Also, one of the most brilliant scientists still alive!

MAXINE MYERS: Veronica wouldn’t call us in for nothing. Besides, Sam, don’t you want an excuse to look at the dinosaurs?

SAM YAO: Oh, come on! I’m not that easy to bribe. I mean, if you have a second, maybe you could pop by the main entrance and stare at the Diplodocus for a minute. But only if it’s on your way.

MAXINE MYERS: We’ll see what we can do. Where are we headed?

SAM YAO: The east entrance is on the other side of the building. Your way’s clear now, but you’d better hurry. It doesn’t sound like we have long.


[footsteps, door opens]

MAXINE MYERS: Wow!

SIMON LAUCHLAN: Would you look at that.

MAXINE MYERS: It’s beautiful.

SAM YAO: What do you see? You should be in the main foyer of the earth sciences hall. They’ve got the walls done up like the night sky, all the different constellations picked out in white. And there should be an escalator in the center that sort of sucks up into this big model of a globe.

MAXINE MYERS: What do you mean, “should be”?

VERONICA MCSHELL: I’ve disconnected the camera system in the building. We didn’t want my movements to attract the wrong attention.

SAM YAO: I guess you’ll have to fly blind for a while, guys. Let’s try and make that a really short while. Uh, Veronica, where’s everyone headed?

VERONICA MCSHELL: The curator’s offices, next door to the British geological survey room.

SAM YAO: That’s easy. You’ll go through the main hall, around the escalator, past the deli and the wind power exhibits, and straight through the gift shop. When you come out in the fossil room, take a left.

SIMON LAUCHLAN: How’d you know that without looking?

SAM YAO: Now, once you’ve been to the museum two or three or fifteen times, it’s pretty hard to forget.

[escalator starts running]

MAXINE MYERS: Veronica, did you just turn the escalator on for some reason?

VERONICA MCSHELL: It wasn’t me.

SIMON LAUCHLAN: Bloody hell. Moonchild! I knew we shouldn’t have come here.

VERONICA MCSHELL: I don’t think it’s her. Not yet. But we need to get to those offices. Hurry!

[footsteps]


[footsteps]

MAXINE MYERS: We’re at the fossils, Sam. Where now?

SAM YAO: There’s a big wooden doorway marked, “British Geological Survey”. It’s pretty hard to miss.

SIMON LAUCHLAN: The way these lights are flashing, I wouldn’t bet on that.

VERONICA MCSHELL: I’m here. I’m sorry, I thought we had more time.

SAM YAO: I’ve got bad news. I’m looking at the outside cameras, and it looks like Moonchild does know you’re there. There’s zoms streaming in to surround the building.

MAXINE MYERS: She must have spotted us crossing the front lawn.

VERONICA MCSHELL: It’s not – never mind for now. It’s through this door. [opens door] Runner Five, go to the filing cabinet at the end of the room and look for a padded envelope in the bottom drawer. In it are the seeds for the first calm plants.

MAXINE MYERS: You found them.

VERONICA MCSHELL: According to the museum’s files, they came up with an ice core sample in Greenland in the nineties. They’d been frozen since at least the Little Ice Age. They might have bloomed in the area even before the Vikings.

SAM YAO: So, what, the people at Comansys just planted them and hoped for the best?

VERONICA MCSHELL: The part of the seed that grows into leaves and roots isn’t exposed directly to the ice. So long as it’s not damaged, you can pull it out thousands and thousands of years later, and sprout it into a test tube. The hard part was figuring out the right soil to use. That was Cynthia Hill’s project.

MAXINE MYERS: That’s Moonchild’s old name.

VERONICA MCSHELL: She’s listed as coauthor on all of the early research articles. After Moonchild’s forces destroyed all the calming plants, and tricked us into destroying all of the extract, this is literally all that’s left of the plants in the world. I’ve saved a few of the seeds to try and grow a new batch of flowers. With the others, I made this.

MAXINE MYERS: Is that a test tube of the zombie repelling serum?

VERONICA MCSHELL: A refined version of it. I wish I could have made more. But that’s all there is. It might not be enough to get you into the Comansys tower, but it should at least help.

SAM YAO: Veronica, you’re a gem.

VERONICA MCSHELL: But now I need your help getting out of here. If she sees me, I don’t think she’ll let me leave.

MAXINE MYERS: She…?

[speaker turns on]

VERONICA MCSHELL: She’s here. We have to go.

MAXINE MYERS: Veronica, wait! Is Moonchild here?

VERONICA MCSHELL: Follow me.


SAM YAO: The zoms are through the earth hall entrance, guys, and it’s not looking good at the other two sets of doors. Where are you right now?

SIMON LAUCHLAN: Another room full of old bones. Really doesn’t have the kind of appeal it used to.

VERONICA MCSHELL: It’s marine fossils. We’re heading for the west side of the building.

MAXINE MYERS: Veronica, you have to tell us what’s going on. Who else is in here?

SIMON LAUCHLAN: Uh, did anyone else see that?

SAM YAO: See what?

SIMON LAUCHLAN: I saw something move around the corner.

MAXINE MYERS: I see it, too. It looks like some sort of flickering light.

SAM YAO: Ah, no, that’ll be the water cycle exhibit. It’s just a bunch of video loops, nothing to worry about.

SIMON LAUCHLAN: No, it wasn’t the light. I could have sworn I saw a woman.

VERONICA MCSHELL: No, don’t go after her!

EXHIBIT RECORDING: Water is the source of all life on earth. Through the process of evaporation, precipitation, and condensation, water cycles from land, to air, to – Water is the source – the source – the source – [continues echoing]

SAM YAO: What? I can’t hear what -

SIMON LAUCHLAN: There she is again. Hey, get back here!

SAM YAO: What’s going on?

SIMON LAUCHLAN: She’s run off the way we came. I don’t know who it was. Some mind-controlled lass.

VERONICA MCSHELL: I know who it was.

MAXINE MYERS: I know, too. Oh, Veronica. Why didn’t you say something?

SIMON LAUCHLAN: What? What?

VERONICA MCSHELL: Her name is Iona Evans. She’s a friend of mine, and we need to get away from her as fast as we can.

EXHIBIT RECORDING: This process is known as the water cycle.


SAM YAO: Where are you now?

MAXINE MYERS: Headed past your Diplodocus.

SIMON LAUCHLAN: You’ll forgive us if we don’t stop and chat. Doesn’t seem like your friend’s being very friendly, Veronica.

VERONICA MCSHELL: It’s not her fault! You understand, don’t you, Five? I’m sorry to bring it up, but you do.

MAXINE MYERS: Yeah, we all understand.

VERONICA MCSHELL: When this all started, when I saw the first person turn gray, the spark of intelligence flick out in their eyes, and this horrible animal hunger glow there instead, I thought, well, this is it. This is as bad as it gets. But it wasn’t. What Moonchild’s doing is much worse. Mrs. Evans was my friend, and now she’s using everything I ever told her against me.

MAXINE MYERS: How long have you know that she was in the building?

VERONICA MCSHELL: Since I arrived. I think she’s been doctoring the water supply with the last of Moonchild’s ginseng tea. I haven’t drunk any, but… Mrs. Evans has been talking to me. Telling me how much happier I’d be if I just listened to Moonchild, that she and I could continue our research together the way we used to.

SIMON LAUCHLAN: The usual mind-controlled bollocks?

VERONICA MCSHELL: It’s not! It’s not bollocks. That’s the trouble! Together, we could push the boundaries of the research much further than I’ve been able to do on my own.

MAXINE MYERS: But you’d be working for Moonchild.

VERONICA MCSHELL: I know. I thought if I just ignored her… She didn’t try to do me any harm. I didn’t realize she’d use noise to draw zombies on me instead.

SAM YAO: We have to stop her.

SIMON LAUCHLAN: I’ve got a bullet that could take care of that in less than a second.

VERONICA MCSHELL: No, I’m not letting you kill her!

MAXINE MYERS: Look, I hate to say it, but Simon may be right. If she carries on like this, we’ll have half the zombies in London following us to the Comansys Tower.

VERONICA MCSHELL: Then we’ll just have to take care of the zoms.

SIMON LAUCHLAN: And how exactly are we going to do that?

VERONICA MCSHELL: Iona isn’t the only one who can think of ways to use the museum against people.

SAM YAO: The horde just breached the west entrance, and the main doors are going to go any second. Whatever you’re going to do, do it fast!

VERONICA MCSHELL: Alright. Doctor Myers, go back to the earth hall and lead the zombies my way. Simon, do the same in the opposite direction. Runner Five, you come with me.

SIMON LAUCHLAN: And if this brilliant plan of yours doesn’t work?

VERONICA MCSHELL: It will. Now go!


VERONICA MCSHELL: Sam, you know the mammals room, don’t you?

SAM YAO: Oh, yeah! Yeah, that was one of my favorites, after the dinosaurs. Aw, Runner Five, you’re going to love it. It’s packed with models of every kind of animal – rhinos, and elephants, giraffes, about a million whales hanging from the ceiling. But the best bit of all -

VERONICA MCSHELL: - is the life-size blue whale model hanging in the center of the gallery. Runner Five and I are looking at it now. I like it, too. Don’t you, Five?

SAM YAO: Oh, oh God, what are you planning to do to it?

VERONICA MCSHELL: The museum was in the middle of hanging a new set of dolphin models when the outbreak hit. We’ll use a construction crane to lift Runner Five into the rafters. After that, we cut the whale support cables, and the zombies won’t know what hit them!

SAM YAO: When did you learn how to use a crane?

VERONICA MCSHELL: I got bored. Runner Five, watch your feet getting in the bucket. There’s a saw in there for you. Gas-powered. [crane moves] Now, let’s swing you around. [crane moves] Good. Now, run along that rafter until you get to the head of the whale, and start cutting.

SAM YAO: Doctor Myers, Simon, how’s it looking?

MAXINE MYERS: Nearly at the end of the earth hall, Sam. It’s getting pretty hot in here.

SAM YAO: So, what, you’re picking up a lot of zoms?

MAXINE MYERS: Yeah, that, too. But I mean, literally hot. The heat’s on full blast.

SIMON LAUCHLAN: I’ll swap you, Doc. It’s like a bloody freezer in the central hall. I swear I saw frost on that statue of Charles Darwin.

VERONICA MCSHELL: You’re through the first cable, Five! Head down those stairs and around the parapet to get to the tail next. Everyone else -

SIMON LAUCHLAN: Back in a jiff!


VERONICA MCSHELL: That’s another. There’s only one support cable left. Run to the middle of the whale, and be ready to cut on my signal.

SIMON LAUCHLAN: Excuse me! We’ve got a delivery of zoms for a Veronica McShell!

VERONICA MCSHELL: Funnel the zombies under the whale, as many of them as you can.

MAXINE MYERS: I’ll go left, you go right. Let them run between us.

SIMON LAUCHLAN: Deal.

VERONICA MCSHELL: Cut the cable now, Five! The whale is coming down!

SIMON LAUCHLAN: [laughs] Thar she blows!

[whale crashes, zombies splatter]

SAM YAO: Oh, that poor whale.

VERONICA MCSHELL: Five, climb down the arm of the crane, and watch out for splatter.

MAXINE MYERS: It’s like we made zombie jam! I don’t think I realized you could mash organs like that. Runner Five, try not to step – never mind, too late.

SIMON LAUCHLAN: Look, a zom head landed on the horn of that rhino sculpture. Been impaled right through the eye. Ooh, what are the odds of that?

SAM YAO: I am so glad I can’t see what that room looks like right now.

MAXINE MYERS: You are not kidding.

SAM YAO: Okay, the fire door’s clear. Get out before that changes.

MAXINE MYERS: We need to get to the Comansys Tower before Moonchild puts the whole world under her control. At least you’ve given us some hope of succeeding, Veronica.

VERONICA MCSHELL: Good! Now, I want to get those seeds out of London as fast as I can.

SAM YAO: And what about Mrs. Evans? If she follows you -

VERONICA MCSHELL: I’ll deal with her. But I’m not letting Moonchild turn me into a murderer. After this is over, if everyone goes back to being themselves, don’t tell Mrs. Evans I destroyed the blue whale.

MAXINE MYERS: Our little secret.

SAM YAO: Now get going, guys. I’d say it’s the Final Countdown, only, you know, then you’d never get that tune out of your head.

Codex[]

Artefact[]

New Species Registration Form

Name: Veronica McShell

Request: New species name to be recorded. Samples enclosed in sealed containers A trough F.

Name request: Tanaecium Chrismcshelliensis

S03E56 New Species Registration Form

Supplies[]

The following supplies can be found in this mission.

(List may be incomplete.)

Bandages Bandages
Baseball Bat Baseball Bat
Batteries Batteries
Book Book
Boots Boots
Bottled Water Bottled Water
Box of Lightbulbs Box of Lightbulbs
Cooking oil Cooking oil
Cricket bat Cricket bat
Flashlight Flashlight
Football Football
Garden tools Garden tools
Hearing Aid Hearing Aid
Laptop Laptop
Makeup Makeup
Mobile Phone Mobile Phone
Money Money
Pencil Pencil
Shorts Shorts
Thermal underwear Thermal underwear
Tool Box Tool Box
Trousers Trousers
Umbrella Umbrella
Underwear Underwear
USB Key USB Key
Wild food Wild food

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